The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus (60 page)

The winds turned finicky making the trip take two days longer than planned, but eventually Xerese watched as the Shadron pulled into a city that appeared smaller than Solan even at a quick glance. There was no real defensive wall around Patris. Solan and a handful of border forts were the first line of defense and Patris was a merchant city with a much more modest military presence than in the marq's city.

When they docked, it was a surprise to see a greeting party complete with a carriage and horsemen waiting for her as well. While Alexander hadn't come himself, she assumed that it was more because of the unspecific timing of the ship while he was busy running the city which kept him away. A quick ride through Patris with her companions led to a castle that was more like a mansion with a protective wall and towers surrounding it.

Solan's castle had been massive, towering perhaps a hundred feet at the peak of its highest towers. Even the bulk of the main castle had been sprawling and solidly built as a fortress sitting so close to the border of Tseult.

Patris' castle was modest in comparison, though still quite large. It was only about half as high, though it was also nearly as long and wide. The outer wall was lower and not as thick, though it would resist a normal attack well enough, she assumed.

Entering the courtyard in front of his castle, Xerese was pleasantly surprised to see her cousin's pretty wife standing with an entourage waiting for her with a smile. Heralin was only a little older than Xerese and the two had met a few times before leaving for Southwall. The visit had been short the last time, but along with Annalicia, the three young women had become fast friends.

Heralin hurried towards her cousin by marriage and gave her a hug.

"I am so glad to see that you are safe, Xerese!" the lady of the house exclaimed happily. "When Alexander received the message from the carrier bird, our hearts became lighter. Now if only Annalicia could return safely, maybe this year can turn around."

"Itan told me of Carland and Persimee," Xerese said avoiding using the word of their deaths or worse possibly their murders. "Princess Deeanne also miscarried her first baby because of poison smuggled into the king's castle. Who would attack women and unborn children? They must be complete cowards to try such things.

"Assassins even tried to kill Itan and Rianne. He's been interrogating them since they were captured, but Itan wouldn't tell me if they cracked and told him anything."

"Well maybe he was afraid that you wouldn't keep the secret and just air all of the dirty laundry in an open courtyard?" the brunette replied gesturing with her hand as she laughed.

Blushing in embarrassment, Xerese glanced to those around her. Toman and the others knew all of this anyway, but she didn't know how much had been made known to the population of Patris. The losses of the princess and lord of the next major city between them and Yalan were likely news for anyone to hear; but the recent event in Solan had to be guarded a bit closer she realized.

Heralin stepped back and looked at the four companions standing just behind Xerese. "So who are all of these friends of yours? I recognize your guard... Toman, I believe."

Her guardsman bowed to the dark haired lady of Patris and replied, "You have a good memory, my lady."

"That is Quela, who is now my personal wizard, I guess, and Nico and Oywen, who is also a wizard. They're refugees from Tseult basically, but haven't decided where their futures will be just yet."

The other three bowed or curtsied, greeting Heralin with simple hellos.

"There wasn't too much of a message from Itan about what had happened, of course. A carnal gull can only carry so much or be forced to rest more often. Just from your companions, I can guess that you have quite a few stories to share while you are here."

Xerese winced and asked, "How long do you think that will be? I am sure that my mother will be worried by now. We were supposed to be back months ago."

Leading her cousin by the arm towards the front doors of the castle, Heralin said, "I am not quite certain. There are other things that Alexander says that he must tell you. Philip has been keeping him abreast of as much as he can, but horse messengers are slower than carnal gulls even if they can carry full letters. If we send him a letter in response, the days continue to grow in the exchange."

It was common knowledge, of course. A horse messenger or a bird could only cross the miles so fast. Wizards were supposed to have special apparatus for speaking across the miles, but the wizards and gear needed were very rare also. Time was needed to exchange information and patience was needed, though sometimes patience wasn't enough. Life happened while the letters crossed the miles, so sometimes the response was too late.

Entering the castle, Xerese was impressed with the simple taste of the initial hall. Drapes and stone floors that glistened from immaculate care presented the entry furniture, paintings, and other decorations perfectly without being overwhelming to the eye. Some castles were so ostentatious that the content was almost offensive visually.

"Did you decorate the castle?"

Heralin glanced away from Xerese's face and shook her head. "Believe it or not, much of this is from Alexander. Some existed before us from the former mayor. He was a lesser lord and older, I guess. Alexander worked with him in the change."

"Alexander took his city from him?" Xerese questioned having never discussed the appointment of her cousin from that side before.

"Well, the king appointed him, but the former lord was well taken care of by King Orlaan. He still lives nearby in a beautiful home in the western hills. He is older than the king and was starting to have trouble getting around these halls from what I hear. Now he lives in a single story mansion and still has servants to attend him."

"He didn't have other family that could continue to run the city for the king?"

Heralin frowned slightly at the continued questions and said, "If you are appointed a city, you know that you will be taking someone else's place. These are the king's cities, so he appoints the men and women who rule for him. Not every decision is loved, but I think King Orlaan does what he can to take care of his family and the lords serving him also.

"Now stop interrogating me about something I have no control over, silly girl, and let's find Alexander."

Annalicia stood leaning against the helmsman's cabin. Circular, thick, glass windows dotted the cabin in front and back to give him a degree of vision as he steered the ship. Other members of the crew would shout directions and distances while docking or traversing difficult waters taking some of the pressure off of the helmsman's shoulders at those times; but while at sea they mostly did their best to keep the ship pointed in the direction that they intended to go.

Tacking for the best winds to propel a ship along when the breeze wasn't necessarily on their side meant using compasses and star charts in an effort to keep the course as well. While Annalicia knew less about steering a ship, as a wizard, she could help take some of the worry out of the equation.

Her magic often channeled the wind. Every day the girl pushed herself to bring a stronger breeze to drive the Sea Dragon towards Malaiy as quickly as possible. Jezra and Ivanor spelled Annalicia when she had driven herself too far. While resupplying with food, drink and rest, the men did what they could to keep up her work.

The Sea Dragon had made it back to New Harbor in record time shaving three days off the time it took to go to Hala. That had been with the winds feeding the sails from their back or in a crosswind from the west. At times, the wizard had to fight those same winds to push them faster.

She found that Yara and the others had already left by the time they arrived to check in with the team. A wizard in charge of the guild knew the lady from Malaiy from her short stay in New Harbor and let her know that word had arrived from Hala. Sebastian had returned somehow and appeared in the capitol. Unfortunately, he either didn't know much more or the wizard didn't feel that she needed to know how it had happened.

The remaining wizards had boarded another ship and left almost immediately. Annalicia had made the Sea Dragon leave only a day before the mage had returned and wished that the letters from her father hadn't driven her to leave so soon, even if the Sea Dragon was months behind schedule.

After a short stay to trade and pick up supplies, the Sea Dragon was on the move again. The wizards forced the ship through the channel heading west against both the wind and current until they could turn south after clearing Sileoth. They topped off their supplies in Silmaris, the last piece of inhabited land between North and Taltan far to the south.

Karlaan knocked the man's sword aside. Another recruit to what he thought might be his army; the man had no training and couldn't use the standard blade well enough to be a threat to anyone but himself at this point.

"No, no, use two hands for now and let's do it again. Simple thrusts, then a slash; you need to get the basics down before someone shows you how to use it in a way that you won't live through to learn from your mistakes," he told the recruit with a sigh. The problem with this potential army was that they were all potential and no talent. To bring this rabble against a trained army would result in a slaughter.

The brothers had taken over a field with ample room and no real obstacles for a mile around. While they could be seen, by the same token they could see an enemy scout just as easily. At least that was their thinking.

Karlaan had seen a few things that the others had not in his young life thanks to Caldrefan. He knew that magic could do things that these people couldn't understand. If a wizard used his magic, Karlaan had a feeling the open ground would only be used against them.

A soldier approached, one who wore his sword in a scabbard like it was another appendage that he was born with. He was one of Karlaan's successes, though he knew that he couldn't have been this man's only teacher for him to be so confident.

"What is it, Udan?" Karlaan questioned seeing the man's path would end in front of him.

"There is a message in the main tent," the soldier stated plainly.

"Keep on working as I showed you and try not to maim yourself or anyone else," Karlaan ordered the recruit before hurrying towards the tent. It was large and served as a portable temple or shrine. The brothers had brought Sordrian's statue with them in the hope that it would help inspire the masses trickling into their camp.

Entering the tent, Karlaan found himself alone except for one elder of the brothers.

"There's a message for me, Bovan?"

The old man pointed towards the statue with wide eyes. "Sordrian called for you."

Nodding as if the statue talking to him happened every day, Karlaan waved the older man towards the door. "If Sordrian wants to talk to me, I think that you had better step outside. You don't want to risk our god's wrath if he didn't invite you to speak with him also."

Bovan hurried out in a shuffling way and Karlaan thought that the man moved like he was days away from being put in a grave.

"Don't risk our god's wrath?" the metallic voice spoke with amusement.

"I assumed that you called me to speak alone,... Sordrian. You don't want anyone familiar with you to figure out that it is just magic, do you?" he replied in good spirits. "Do you have news or should I go back to trying to teach peasants how to wield their swords? I may as well be teaching children. Is this the army that you expect me to use to dethrone Orlaan?"

"Maybe," the voice mused and he could tell that Caldrefan was actually willing to consider the validity of this army of peasants, "but I think King Tylus is about to gift us with what we need soon."

"The king of Tseult will side with us against his ally? Have you turned him away from Orlaan or made him think to attack Malaiy for himself?"

"Neither, we defeated the army sent from the border forts and used magic to turn them against the king already. He will either send a fleet or another army from the south. Once I defeat them, the north will be ours to use to attack Malaiy starting with Solan.

"Marq Itan managed to evade our assassins, so it won't be quite as easy as I'd hoped; but the eastern defenses will fall to us before we push towards Yalan."

"You sound confident," Karlaan noted.

"My plan will work. Once Solan is defeated we will meet in Patris before pushing against Yalan."

"We represent another distraction for Orlaan if we remain here," the younger man reminded his master.

"By the time we are in Patris, you will need to join us. King Orlaan won't leave you to catch him from the flank or from behind while trying to deal with us. Even though they may be ineffective as novices, you could use their numbers to sweep towards the castle if that was the plan. The king and his advisors don't know what we are up to, so they will most likely be too cautious to leave your army alone."

"Should we start raiding the southern part of the city?" he asked bored with just trying to train an army, when he could lead them against a weak target to help soften Yalan up for whatever Caldrefan was planning.

"No, they are likely to have set traps for your people. Your raid would turn to defeat before you could see the trap closing.