The Eighth Warden Bk. 03 Ch. 01-02

"Why do you allow them so much power?" Sharra said. "You're the king, Marten. If the priests won't do as you say, they should suffer the consequences."

Marten shook his head. "I've told you before, it doesn't work like that. A kingdom, or even a small city, can't run on one man's whims alone. It's a balancing act. The king, the dukes and barons, the army, the knights, the merchants and guilds, the Church. Every element of society wields its own sort of power, no matter how small that might be. What would happen if the lamplighters all refused to work tonight? It would be chaos. Granted, it would be a small and short-lived chaos, because they hold very little power, but it's still power of a sort. My job is to balance them all against each other so that I have final say on the important issues."

Sharra rolled her eyes when Marten wasn't looking.

Rusol wasn't interested in hearing his parents argue about the subject again. To head them off, he said, "It wouldn't just be wizards, either. Leonis claims the same would hold true for elder and demonic magic."

"I don't see how any of this could be true," Marten said. "The gods grant divine blessings, and only divine blessings. That's how it's always been."

Rusol shrugged. "Leonis believed what he was saying. He's almost certainly insane, but I can't say whether he was lying or not. I don't trust him, and I don't think we should let him proceed."

"And yet, you left him alive."

"I need more time to plan. He's a true priest, and he brought more priests with him. I need a way to kill him and his men quickly enough that they can't heal themselves and retaliate. Besides, he plans to bring more of the wardens together for the ritual. If I can get two or three of them at once, without warning..."

"Smart boy," Marten said with a smile of approval.

"I was thinking perhaps a fast-acting poison rather than risking a fight."

Marten sighed. "I'm tempted to remind you about honor in battle, but I suppose talk won't do you much good when you're outnumbered. Yassi and Jasper are no warriors. If he's willing to return to Northtower, we could surround him with archers, but it would be hard to keep that quiet. Poison may be the safest option. Ask Kolvi to send word to her father. He knows poisons."

"I will," Rusol said, then made his excuses so he could go wash off the grime from the journey.

Stepping into his own quarters, he experienced a wave of pain and dizziness. He stumbled and grasped his head, bracing himself against a wall. The symptoms had started during that strange dream. The shadowy creature in the dream world had granted him divine blessings, as if he was a priest...but with those blessings had come the pain. It had lessened on the carriage ride back to Telfort, but it hadn't gone away entirely.

Most priests received just one or two blessings, if that. Rusol had been given many, along with instructions on how to use them. He knew how to heal, how to protect himself from physical attacks, and how to block magical attacks. Most importantly, he knew how to stop other priests from striking at him through his demonic side. Demonborn were susceptible to divine magic, but now he had a way to negate that disadvantage.

But at what cost? So far, he'd resisted the temptation to try those new spells, worried it would somehow give the shadow creature a hold on him. That wasn't how it worked with the real gods—once a blessing was granted, the priest had full control over it—but the shadow creature wasn't any sort of god Rusol had ever heard of. What if the rules were different?

He didn't want to risk it, but Leonis and the First could both wield divine magic. If he was to face them, he might not have a choice.

#

After her master headed for his quarters, Yassi continued on toward her own apartment. Samir walked with her, but he'd be leaving soon, and despite their time together during the long trip to Fort Northtower and back, she still hadn't gotten through to him. She couldn't tell him what Rusol had done to her, and he just couldn't see it on his own. He still thought of Rusol as a childhood friend—perhaps one who'd grown more curt and distant than in their youth, but still the same boy underneath it all.

"I wish you'd speak to me," Samir said.

"About what?" Yassi asked. Perhaps being silent wasn't the way to go about it.

"About anything! Are you mad at me?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we never talk anymore! Mother and Father ask about you, but I can't tell them anything because you never tell me anything. Why did you stop visiting home?"

"I've been busy lately. I'll visit them soon. I promise." When she broke that promise, it might lead him to ask more questions.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Yassi said, then had a thought. Could she say something generic enough that it wouldn't trigger the compulsion Rusol had laid over the warden bond, but specific enough that Samir would understand it? "I just think that sometimes, the people we grew up with aren't who we think they are."

Samir's eyes darted in the direction of Rusol's quarters. "Did he...do something to you? Did he hurt you?"

"Of course not," she said with a wide smile. "Don't be silly. I love it here." She screamed in her own mind as the lie came out before she could stop it. The spell Rusol had cast on her was insidious.

"I'm sorry," Samir said. "I know he wouldn't do anything like that. I just don't understand the way you've been acting."

"Don't worry about me; I'm fine. I'll come visit soon." Yassi wanted to cry, but the compulsion wouldn't allow it. She'd need to find some other way to reach out to her brother. They came to a stop outside her rooms. "I'd like to get some rest now. It was a long trip."

"I'll head home, then, but at some point, you'll need to tell me what's wrong."

She just smiled and hugged him, though she managed to avoid saying nothing was wrong.

After Samir had left, there was a knock at her door. She opened it expecting to find him, but instead it was Jasper.

"Well?" the elderly wizard asked. "Did you have any luck?" He didn't have to explain what he meant, and he probably couldn't have even if he'd wanted to. He was under the same compulsion as Yassi.

"Not yet, but I'm still working on it," she said.

"What happened in Northtower?"

"Rusol met with Leonis. He didn't tell me much, but I think he's going to kill him."

"Should we try to w...w...w..." Jasper grunted. "Should we try to w..." He gave up and slammed his fist into the wall.

Should we try to warn him? Yassi thought to herself. That must be what Jasper had tried to say.

"I don't see how we can," she said, cradling the old man's bleeding hand in hers. "We'd better go have Kolvi bandage this up."

"I don't like Kolvi."

"It's either her, or we ask Magnus to heal it."

Jasper grunted. "Fine. Kolvi."