Ways of Power 1: Power Rises (12 page)

18

              The persistent light finally eked its way into Rancoth's subconscious. He slowly opened one eye and quickly closed it again. He pulled the pillow out from under his head and planted it firmly over his face to block out the beam of sunlight streaming through the drapes.

He lay there for a moment wondering if Dorbin had purposefully positioned the opening so that the light would fall directly on his face. He certainly wouldn't put it past the mischievous old Dwalish man.

              Rancoth tried to go back to sleep, but his bladder began to nag at him threatening to spill its contents all over the bed if he didn't get up soon.

After a few more moments of stubbornness, he finally relented and tossed the covers and pillow off of him and on to the floor before running to the chamber pot. He stood before the receptacle, knees bouncing and pelvis swaying as he rushed to get his robe and undergarments out of the way.

              "AHHHHH……" He verbalized his relief as he managed to get his clothing out of the way just in time.

              "Nice little dance therre lad, maybe next time you'll not drrink so much, beforre bed eh?" Dorbin laughed.

              "Oh be quiet you old codger, or I'll finish in your boot!" Rancoth exclaimed placing one hand on the wall to brace himself as he began to melt with relief. He hadn't realized how much his bladder could hold at one time, but the pot was almost full.

              "Yeah well, if you don't hurry and leave some rroom in that pot forr me I'll have to starrt and finish in yourr boots," Dorbin said, still laughing.

              Rancoth's whole body shook, and he squeezed out the remaining few drops before covering himself up again, and sitting back down on his bed. He barely got out of the way as Dorbin ran to relieve himself. It was Rancoth's turn to laugh as he teased Dorbin's impatient gesticulations. "It seems I'm not the only one who had too much drink before bed. At least when I dance around it doesn't look like a fish flopping around out of water!"

Dorbin simply growled.

              Rancoth looked around the room. There were two disheveled downy beds, about eight feet apart. Rancoth's and Dorbin's traveling packs were leaning in one corner next to the dark wooden door, along with Dorbin's weapons and Rancoth's walking stick.

"Well, I don't envy the perrson who has to empty that out. It's filled to the brrim!" Dorbin exclaimed as he sat down.

              Rancoth chuckled, "So, shall we use our benefactor's token to get some breakfast before we meet with her?" He asked, thumbing the dragon ring on his finger.

              "O' courrse, but we shouldn't dally too long, we need to finish with McRroy's errand and get back to fetching that necklace forr Grrecrrum," Dorbin said.

              "Right, let's go," Rancoth said, jumping from his bed and grabbing his pack and stick. Dorbin followed suit, and they both headed down to the inn's dining hall.

              After a hearty breakfast of mutton stewed in barley, oats, onions, and carrots they headed back to the courtyard of the crystal dragon fountain. There was a new set of guards posted and Rancoth wondered if they worked in a twelve hour rotation like those of Tower City. One of the guards was a woman, and she easily took command of the situation. The younger male guard seemed content to simply stand there and look his part.

              The woman introduced herself as Alinea. She had dark skin, and extremely short curly hair. Her soft glowing eyes were a pleasant teal color that reminded Rancoth of his favorite robe. She had an alluring curvaceous body, accentuated by the light blue guard's robe she wore.

              "Come this way please. The Mistress is expecting you," Alinea said. Rancoth couldn't help but admire the way her robe hugged her firm rounded hips as she led them through the gate and towards a large house on the other side of the courtyard.

              Dorbin quickly jabbed him in the ribs and whispered harshly, "Quit drrooling, and pay attention to what's going on arround us."

              Snapped back to reality, Rancoth took in the surroundings. Obviously the woman had been meant as a distraction. Now that he had returned to his senses Rancoth observed the two rows of guards that were marching out from the white quartz barracks next to the house and making their way around the perimeter of the courtyard and behind the two of them.  They quickly stopped, and stood back to back, each one watching a row of fifteen guards surround them.

              "Something wrong?" Alinea asked.

              "What arre you playing at missy?" Dorbin demanded, axe and shield in hand.

              The woman looked at the two men with obvious confusion, but once she surveyed the situation further, realization dawned on her face. "You have nothing to fear, my friends. That is simply the day watch headed to the western perimeter to relieve the men and women who stood vigil last night," Alinea explained.

              Both Dorbin and Rancoth relaxed as the thirty guards met behind them, and made their way out of the gate. Rancoth shook his head; they were being overly suspicious of their host and needed to relax before they blundered things.             

     "Why do you feel it's necessary to watch your western border?" Rancoth asked, hoping to get some information prior to their meeting with Patrina.

              "I thought it would have been obvious, but then you are strangers to this area. We must protect ourselves from the ferocious horde of barbarian Huldens, lead by a fearsome giant who periodically terrorizes our city," Alinea said with sincerity.

              Rancoth and Dorbin looked at each other. McRoy's camp was made up of mostly starving women and children--hardly a ferocious horde. On the other hand, the woman did not appear to be attempting deceit. Both men were eager to know more of the story behind the long conflict between McRoy and Illineas.

              As they came closer to the Head Mage's abode Rancoth studied it with interest. Unlike the majority of the city, which was built with clear or white quartz crystal, this mansion was built with stunning blue quartz. Its polished surface was almost indistinguishable from the bright morning sky.

The white drapes behind the large windows were closed and looked like perfect square clouds. The front terrace of the mansion had three tall rounded columns. At the foot of each one were three small crystal replicas of the dragon fountain. The home was breathtaking.

              As they climbed the steps Alinea said, "openai." The large blue crystal doors swung in, and Rancoth couldn't help but grin. He had always liked kineticists. "Please leave your belongings here. I assure you they will be quite safe," Alinea said without stopping. Both men shrugged their packs, and laid their weapons by the door, while Alinea commanded it to close behind them.

              There was an oval lavender carpet with a lace fringe on the dark wooden floor of the foyer. Standing on the middle of the carpet was another replica of the dragon fountain, though this one was made of silver rather than crystal. On either side of the carpet was the dual base of a grand circling staircase. These joined to form an upper tier that encircled the room, and lead off to different hallways and rooms throughout the top floor.

              Alinea led them behind the sculptor, and under the stairwell through a large open door that revealed a library to rival Grecrum's as they crossed the threshold Alinea announced their entrance and promptly left.

19

Rancoth and Dorbin were both surprised to see that Patrina was already in the library waiting for them. She was leaning back in her seat behind a rather small dark wood desk, her feet, in high heeled lavender boots, crossed on top of it. As they entered she looked up from the book she was reading.

She was a middle-aged woman, perhaps in her late forties, with silver-streaked short wavy auburn hair. Her whiteless glowing eyes were hazel with yellowish-green flecks. She had a lightly tanned relatively thin face with deep worry lines. She pulled down on the lavender trimmed deep purple robe she was wearing as she stood. It did little to hide her rather dumpy pear shaped body.

"Ah, welcome, gentlemen. Please come in, and have a seat. Can I get you something to eat or drink?" she asked with a quiet and yet confident voice. She ushered the two of them to a plush lavender couch.

"No," they said in unison.

"But thank you," Rancoth added.

"As you wish," Patrina said taking a seat in a high backed chair across from them.

"I understand you're a Magnatist," Rancoth said a little more tensely than he had intended.

Patrina smiled slightly, "Yes, that is true, but only a mediocre one. You have no need to fear, I wouldn't rip the iron from your blood even if I could. I'm afraid that I was not blessed with a powerful gift. I can barely bend a spoon." Her reassuring tone helped to alleviate a great deal of the men's anxiety, but also did much to add to their confusion.

It was usually the most powerfully gifted of Magi who rose to positions of power. Not because of some barbaric notion of “might means right” as among the Dark Magi, but due to people’s respect for those with the most impressive abilities.

"I'm sure however, that the discussion of my abysmal magic is not what the great Grecrum sent you here for," Patrina said. "Also, I would like to apologize for not meeting with you yesterday. I had to be sure you were who you claimed to be. I had one of my telepathic aides contact the Arch Mage. He wouldn't specify what your mission was, but he made it quite clear that I was to keep an open mind and hear you out. Which was an unusual order to be sure." She looked to both men inquiringly, waiting for their response.

Rancoth was equally perplexed by Grecrum's reply to the woman. Obviously the Arch Mage knew that Rancoth and Dorbin were in the area, and would have vouched for their identities. But what would have prompted him to say anything about an open mind? He would have had no idea about their waylay in the Hulden camp. Rancoth turned to Dorbin and cocked an eyebrow. Dorbin merely shrugged.

Rancoth turned back to Patrina. "Well, while we are on an errand for the Arch Mage, it's not by his order that we have come to speak with you," He said.

"Well then, what can I do for you?" she asked, with a friendly smile.

"First, I'm curious to know what happened to your predecessor, Breckliy?" Rancoth asked.

"Yes, I've been wonderring about that too," Dorbin added.

Patrina pursed her lips, and studied the two men before answering. Rancoth stared right back and thought of how Grecrum had to have known of and approved of her ascension, but it was unlikely that the Arch Mage knew of the predicament that the city of Illineas had found itself in.

Grecrum cared little for the provincial geographical figureheads. They were elected by the local people to deal with local issues. The true government of the Light Magi kingdom lay in the High Council made up of the most powerful individuals of each school of magic. They selected from their own peers who would sit as Arch Mage to preside over them all.

Patrina finally broke the silence, "The local citizenry decided that Breckliy, while an apt transformer, was not up to the task of dealing with some trivial local issues. They elected me to handle things, and he has retired to a life of comfort in the Southern city of Rockton." Patrina smiled and seemed pleased with the way she had answered the question.

Rancoth smiled back, but only slightly, deciding that the time for pretense was over. "I would hardly call McRoy the Red a trivial issue."

Patrina's mouth dropped open. "How do you know about him?"

"We'll get to that later. Why don't you tell us what's been happening? It would make things much easier if we understood what was going on," Rancoth said, attempting to sound as neutral as possible.

"All right, but this may take a while. Are you sure you wouldn't like something to drink?" she asked with a long sigh.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"I could use some waterr thank you," Dorbin said.

Patrina stood, and left returning a few moments later with a tall steel pitcher of water and three glasses. She poured two of them, offering one to Dorbin, and keeping one for herself, the third she left empty in case Rancoth changed his mind. She took a few sips before starting.

"Many years ago their used to be a couple that lived on a hill to the south just outside of town. Both were considered prominent members of the community. The woman, Carcella, even sat on the High Council as the Conjurer's representative. The man was named Adroman, and he was born and raised in Illineas. He understood the inherent differences and superiority of the Magi race over the savage Elfkin, and the non-magic Dwalish, and Hulden people. No offense," she added glancing at Dorbin.

Dorbin grunted. "Continue with yourr storry."

Patrina smiled, and took another drink of water, "Carcella on the other hand, had been raised far to the southeast, somewhere on Sorcerer's Point. I'm not sure which city, but I do know it was one that was co-run by both Light Magi, and the Ray'Deeant Elfkin tribe."

Rancoth slowly inched forward on the couch; sitting quite literally on the edge of his seat.

"How the two of them met, I have no idea. But once they were married, and settled she began espousing her absurd ideals of equality among the races. Her husband unfortunately followed suit. With such influential people preaching about the idealistic utopia of diversity, it was only a matter of time before our beautiful city was swarmed with the poverty stricken masses of the nomadic Huldens. One in particular the veritable giant McRoy the Red, arrived with a young pregnant woman stating he wanted to lay down his battle axe in exchange for a plow.

"Few believed the savage-looking one-eyed behemoth, but in a relatively short amount of time, Carcella and Adroman convinced my predecessor's predecessor, a telepath named Shoutan to allow the Huldens to farm on the outskirts of town. The arrangement was a successful one, to most peoples’ surprise, and for a short time we lived in relative harmony.

"A few months later however a series of unfortunate events led to what is now our current situation." Patrina paused, to drink some more water, and to refill her glass.

Rancoth's mouth had become dry and he filled a glass for himself as well. "Please go on," he said, eager to hear what happened next.

Patrina smiled, and looked curiously at his fervent attention. "Well, to begin with, the Giant's woman died while giving birth to their baby girl. The hulking man was crushed, and turned to Adroman and Carcella for help and reassurance."

Rancoth couldn't help but wonder why his parents had hidden their interactions with McRoy and the rest of the Huldens from him. He vaguely remembered that the farmers around the area when he was growing up were not magic, and had different eyes from him. But his parents had kept him ignorant to the details.

"The next day Carcella, Adroman, and their young son, whose name escapes me at the moment, disappeared without a trace. Now abandoned, without anyone to govern his actions in a civil manner, the monstrous man showed his true barbaric nature and went on a rampage through the city.  McRoy accused Shoutan of exiling Adroman and Carcella due to his own racial motives. He screamed in the streets that Shoutan was planning on murdering all of the Hulden farmers, and that somehow Shoutan had started the genocide with McRoy's wife.

"This was all nonsense of course, drummed up by the giant's twisted imagination during his fit of grief. Shoutan attempted to console the man, and when that didn't work he tried to stop him. But his primitive mind was incapable of being controlled, and McRoy swung his giant battle axe, decapitating our leader--and my father." Tears began to well in Patrina's eyes, and she quickly took another long drink of water.

Rancoth and Dorbin looked at each other with bewilderment. This was not the tale either of them had expected, and offered as many new questions as it answered. Both men decided to wait and let the woman continue at her own pace. Clearly they would have more questions for McRoy.

After a few minutes, Patrina took a deep breath and continued, "It was Breckliy who managed to bring order to the situation. As you already know he was an apt Transformer. He turned the gargantuan man into a tree, and the great axe used to kill my father into the dragon fountain that now sits in the courtyard in front of the Capital House of Illineas.

"Breckliy, our city savior was promptly elected as our new leader, and he began the arduous task of getting the Hulden farmers under control.

"Breckliy was not an unreasonable man, and he returned McRoy to normal, with the agreement that the giant and his people could continue farming but would be subject to strict regulation. Evidently McRoy's time as a tree had calmed him.

"He made a public apology to the city, and agreed that he and his people would live by Breckliy's terms. For a time things were smooth again. We would periodically have to annex a farm, or restrict some of the Hulden's resources in order to accommodate our own projects and city expansion. But McRoy remained true to his word and the Huldens abided by our laws with little complaint. That all changed however, about a year ago."

"Why did it change?" Rancoth asked.

"I don't know, apparently Breckliy's generosity was no longer enough for them. They began raiding the city, stealing materials and supplies from their betters. Our citizens demanded retribution. I'll admit that I was one of the loudest voices among those who wanted to bring McRoy and his band of marauders to justice. Breckliy felt that further restrictions would only exacerbate the problem. After a few months of his inaction the people elected me to do what he wouldn't.

"Once I was in control, I restricted the Hulden's movements and reclaimed all of the most desirable land for our own people, as repayment for items lost to the thieves. McRoy and his people were left with the territories not wanted by any of the citizens of Illineas." Patrina finished her story with a self-satisfied smile.

"And when was the last rraid by McRroy?" Dorbin asked.

"About six months ago," Patrina answered.

Rancoth sat in silence for a moment, not sure how to proceed. It was obvious to him that McRoy had gone crazy at the loss of his wife, and Rancoth knew all too well how such a loss could drastically affect the psyche of the surviving spouse. Why McRoy blamed Patrina's father however, was still a mystery. McRoy had left the incriminating history out of his plea for help from Rancoth and Dorbin. All that aside, it was clear to him that the situation had gotten far out of hand.

"What would you say if I told you that the Huldens were starving to death? Would you think that a just punishment for the crimes they committed against your city?" Rancoth asked, curious to see how deep the woman's anger and prejudice ran.

Patrina laughed, and responded with sneer. "Ridiculous. While they may be mindless barbarians, the Huldens are a resourceful people. And, they still have plenty of land. For a group of 'farmers' that should be all they need."

              Rancoth cocked his eyebrow, "Are you accusing me of lying? Were you not told by the Arch Mage himself to listen, and keep an open mind?" he demanded.

              Patrina removed the sneer from her face and quickly back tracked. "I simply meant that you must be mistaken. I'm sure that things could not be all that bad; if they were, wouldn't the raids have increased rather than died off? And, besides," Patrina smiled before continuing, "a month or so ago, one of McRoy's men came to me, and informed me that his own people grew tired of the giant, and that they were thankful for my restraint.

"He told me that the Huldens were doing fine, but if I would support him, their representative, in overthrowing their crazed dictator, he, as their new leader, would be happy to bend himself and his people to my governance, in exchange for a few paltry additional supplies," she finished with a grin.

              Rancoth and Dorbin exchanged a knowing glance. Crujen's strange hiatus finally fit into place. He must have realized that the pending intervention by Rancoth and Dorbin would upset his mutinous plans, and had panicked. He must have thought that bringing the information of their arrival would convince Patrina that McRoy was planning another raid, only this time with magic, and that she would finally act on his behalf.

              "Very well, if you're so confident in your position, I suggest we pay a visit to McRoy's camp. If all is as well as you think it is, Dorbin and I will tell the Arch Mage that you have things well in hand, and we will support you in your efforts to dispose of McRoy in favor of your ally in his camp." Rancoth grinned slightly. "What do you think of that?"

Dorbin nodded his head.

Rancoth hopped that meant that Dorbin was satisfied with the way he had phrased the proposal. It left the woman floundering because she couldn't refuse and still maintain her supposition about the situation. It also offered the possibility of help and support for her from Grecrum, arguably the most powerful Magi in the whole world.