Varna Ch. 17

VARNA Chapter 17

- "Welcome home, Consul Kormis." said Sanatha. She sat on her throne, with two empty seats beside her - mine, and Saska's. She wasn't alone, though. Shel, her hulking half-orc bodyguard, stood close by.

Sanatha and I had arranged a small subterfuge for this audience. She met our visitor alone, while I stayed nearby, out of sight, but easily able to hear whatever was said.

- "Thank you, Lady." said our representative in Galtin's Port. "It is good to be back, even for a short time."

We'd met Kormis during our grand tour, when Sanatha and I, with Hurmas, Sezima and Durgat, had travelled to Galtin's Port aboard Captain Urbo's ship. Kormis had arranged a luncheon for us, so that we could meet a few of the city's prominent figures.

Kormis himself, though, I barely remembered. He was one of those smiling, unctuous people who make themselves useful without leaving any sort of lasting impression. But I was very interested to hear what he would say.

- "You have news for us, I believe." said Sanatha.

- "Indeed I do, Lady. Good news: the pirate Yavantay is dead. Stabbed to death, I am told. No doubt it was one of his many creditors. Borrowing large sums, in Galtin's Port, can be very dangerous."

- "Did you see the body?"

- "No, Lady. But I have it on good authority that he is indeed dead."

- "Did you have a hand in the matter, Kormis?" asked my sister.

- "Oh - no, Lady. I... I do not have the means, or the ability to arrange such a thing."

- "I see." said Sanatha. "And... was there anything else?"

- "Oh - yes, Lady. Varnan ships are once again welcome in Galtin's Port. The High Watchman has assured me that our captains and crews will be in no danger whatsoever."

- "That's nice."

- "Eh? Ah - yes. It's very nice, Lady. It should help to restore prosperity in Varna. Trade with Galtin's Port is essential."

- "Did you have any luck locating the man Gedere?" asked Sanatha.

- "Ah. No, Lady. As I said before, I lack the means to carry out a search of that kind. I made inquiries with the proper authorities, but... he has yet to be seen. I can, of course, continue to seek out sources of information regarding his whereabouts, if he is indeed in the city."

That was my cue. I walked towards the dais, as if I had just entered the room.

- "Here's my brother." said Sanatha.

- "My Lord." said Kormis, bowing.

- "What's the news?" I said, loudly.

- "Yavantay is dead, our ships are welcome in Galtin's Port, and Kormis can't find Gedere." said my sister. She turned her head to look at the consul. "Is that about right?"

Kormis looked distinctly uncomfortable. He'd been told that Sanatha was the reasonable one, the kinder of the two rulers. But he'd apparently failed to impress her, and now the Witch King, the Great Ogre himself was present.

- "As... as I was trying to explain to the Lady..."

- "I heard. You lack the means." I said. "But if that's the case, Kormis, why are you our Consul in Galtin's Port?"

- "My Lord?"

- "I understand why you didn't take sides, during our civil war." I said. "You'd only met a few of us. I don't blame you for staying... neutral."

- "But then a clear winner emerged." said Sanatha. "My brother and me. Yet you remained in Galtin's Port. Can you explain that, Kormis?"

He couldn't. Like a fish out of water, he could only move his lips, and try to suck in air.

- "You could have come home, to warn us of what was being plotted and organized. You could have written to us. Or you could have gone out on a limb, and tried to strike a blow for Varna. The death of Yavantay, or Beksha, before the invasion began, might have been of tremendous value."

- "My Lord! I... I simply don't have the means to..."

- "To write a letter?" said Sanatha.

- "No. I mean - the situation was... very fluid."

Sanatha raised one hand, and began writing in the air. "My Lord, My Lady." she said. "The situation is very fluid."

Kormis didn't know where to turn.

- "One last chance, consul." I said. "Is there anything you would like to tell us?"

- "My Lord... I don't know what to say. Matters in Galtin's Port are very... convoluted."

- "Last chance." I repeated.

- "Lord, we have so little sway in the great city. It's a nuanced balancing act, at best..."

- "So nuanced that you couldn't discover that Gedere is living in an inn called the Harp?"

Kormis had no more to say after that. In his own mind, he hadn't betrayed us, even while he knew very well that he hadn't lifted a finger to help us. The news of Yavantay's death had reached us a month ago.

Sanatha agreed with me, in this case: we had Kormis beheaded. That left us looking for a new consul in Galtin's Port.

Together, we interviewed a promising candidate.

- "We know you're more than capable." I said. "The question is, do you want the job?"

- "For how long?" asked Captain Albo.

- "Five years? After four, you can let us know if you'd like to come home, or stay longer."

- "Can I take a few members of my former crew?" he asked.

***

We received word that another Portoan delegation would be making their way to Elmina. They gave us plenty of warning that they were coming: six months' notice, in fact.

These emissaries, though, were not concerned with trade, or with marriages of alliance. There was little doubt about the purpose of their visit, either; they were coming to see me. Why else would three Magisters of the Topaz Order travel all the way from Portoa, except to see the Witch King?

- "They're here to find out if you've gone mad." said Glasha.

She was right. According to the precepts of the Topaz Order, which we'd learned from Durgulel as children, it was dangerous for a person to dabble in more than two Schools of Magic. One was difficult enough; two could strain the mage's mind and body. Any more than that, and the practitioner risked a plunge into total insanity.

From the perspective of these venerable scholars of Magic, I must have appeared, from a distance, to be a prime candidate for this condition. Now they were coming to verify their diagnosis at close range.

Sanatha seemed to be more worried about it than I was.

- "What do we do?" she asked. "How do we prepare?"

- "We don't do anything." I told her. "You only have to be your normal gracious self; I can play the cranky old curmudgeon."

- "Old?" scoffed Saska, with a roll of her eyes. She was pregnant again - a state of affairs which neither of us had planned, but which she accepted with good humour.

'As long as you're not expecting annual children for the next decade', she'd said.

Glasha was still concerned. "We mustn't take this too lightly. These are powerful mages - and they may have made up their minds before they even left Portoa."

- "You're right." I told her - in private. "I don't want San or Saska worrying about it, though."

- "You have to tell your sister." she said.

We took precautions, including looking up the members of the delegation, and learning everything about them that we could.

The representatives of the Topaz Order travelled in style. They came with twenty armed guards, and an equal number of servants, and several boatloads of luggage. Clothing? Scholarly texts? There was no way of knowing.

Renna, as our Chatelaine, made our guests comfortable, and found suitable accommodation for their large entourage.

We gave them a day to rest, after their long voyage, and then scheduled a brief first meeting. There were three prominent Magisters; they were very surprised when I would only admit two of them to our first encounter.

- "This... this is an outrage!" protested Master Rophiar, the head of their party. He was an elderly man, with a full grey beard, and a completely hairless head. He wore a flat cap to conceal his baldness.

His second was Master Edon, a younger man with a dark beard who liked to wear a complicated cloth wrapped about his head. Edon was more diplomatic.

- "We do not understand, Lord. Why will you not see all three of us?"

I'd met them in our audience chamber, with Murzosh standing behind my chair, and Glasha seated beside me. Sanatha was out of sight, but able to listen to the proceedings.

I smiled. "Master Edon, I will allow you and Master Rophiar to remain in Varna. But your colleague, Master Aveus, is a time-walker. Once he got to know me even a little bit, he would be able to eavesdrop on my every conversation, and even observe me in my most intimate moments, with my wife or my lover. You have attempted to introduce a spy into my household, Sirs - you can hardly expect me to be pleased."

- "But - how?" that was Rophiar.

- "You may remember the name of Durgulel Kischay, Master Rophiar. He was tutor in magic to my brothers and me, and to my sister. He was also a time walker who took advantage of his privileged position in our household. He spied on us for our enemies, during the mercenary invasion. I will not endure that again."

Rophiar did not look happy. Edon once more attempted to smooth things over.

- "I apologize," he said, "on behalf of the Topaz Order. It was not our intent to insult or offend you, Lord Tauma."

- "And yet I am offended, Master Edon - just as you would be if I tried to bring a spy into your house. You have presumed upon my hospitality."

- "I can only apologize once more, Lord. How may we make amends?"

- "You can't." I told him. "We will have to try to begin afresh. But your Master Aveus is not welcome in Elmina. If he remains here, I will not run the risk of him getting to know a member of my family, or a friend - or even a servant. I would suggest that he return at once at Portoa. Otherwise, he will be confined to his chamber for the duration of your visit."

- "But -" sputtered Rophiar. "We need a three-man delegation."

- "Perhaps we could substitute a more junior mage, to replace Aveus." suggested Edon.

- "Such as?"

Rophiar glanced quickly at Edon, before turning back to me.

- "Master Rederi?"

I sighed.

- "Gentlemen, your embassage hangs by a thread as it is. You've brought a spy to my house, and now you want to replace him with a an assassin. Rederi is a renowned practitioner of body magic. Are you not aware of the story of my brother, Nathal?"

- "There are... tales, Lord." said Edon.

- "My brother absorbed more of Durgulel's lessons than any of us knew. When we fought outside Whydah, he was preternaturally fast, and incredibly strong. He would have killed me - except that my magic was stronger."

I had to take a moment to breathe more normally - without drawing on the aether on to do so. "Is that not why you are here, Masters? To ask me about magic, and to determine for yourselves whether I've lost my mind or not? Then let us dispense with spies and assassins, for a while, and deal with each other honestly and openly."

Rophiar and Edon exchanged another look.

- "As you wish, Lord Tauma." said Edon.

***

- "How did you know?" demanded my wife. "And why didn't you tell me?"

Saska was angry. I'd kept her out of the loop, so to speak, because I didn't want her (in her condition) to worry. She had enough on her plate. I apologized for that.

- "As for how we knew... these mages are well known, in Portoa. Most of them supported themselves, at one time or another, by tutoring and taking on students. Many of the more senior members have written treatises on magic. It's not that difficult to discover their specialties."

- "And it was only natural to suppose that they would bring a time-walker." said Glasha. "And an assassin - or two."

- "We've neutralized one of each." I said.

- "But how many more are there?" asked Saska.

- "That remains to be seen."

Our second meeting was significantly calmer, though not much friendlier. Master Rophiar continued to wear an offended expression, as if he were the insulted party. He then let Master Edon do most of the talking.

- "We are told that Master Durgulel was killed during the late war. There are witnesses who affirm that he was slain at long range - by magic."

- "Yes." I said. "That was me."

- "You admit it?" said Rophiar.

- "I just said so. Durgulel was assisting my enemies by time-walking, and informing them of our plans. Should I have allowed him to do so?"

- "My Lord," said Edon, "it is not the fact that you killed this man which is the issue. It is the means by which you did."

- "Magic, you mean?"

- "More precisely, the type of magic. Would you be willing to provide a demonstration of this magical skill for us?"

- "A demonstration?" I said. "Am I some sort of trained monkey, that you expect me to perform for you?"

At that point, I grew annoyed. It wasn't what Edon had said; it was what Rophiar did. While his colleague spoke to me, I naturally focused my attention on Edon. Rophiar took advantage of that focus to surreptitiously gather a small amount of aether.

Rophiar was a practitioner of Mind magic, just as I was. He might have been using the aether to sharpen his wits, as I often did. Of course, if he also practiced a second School, he might have been preparing some kind of offensive magic.

Once might have been a reflex, or a habitual response. But when Rophiar did it for the third time, I'd had enough. I took a deep breath, and gathered a large quantity of aether myself.

Both mages stood up immediately, and sought to pull in some aether for themselves - there wasn't much available, though, after what I'd just done. Both men also took a step back, bracing themselves as if they expected to be assaulted.             

- "My Lord!" said Edon. "What are you doing?"

- "He's preparing to attack us!" shouted Rophiar.

I was still seated. I made an effort to keep my voice especially calm.

- "Why on earth would you think that, Master Rophiar?"

- "You gathered aether!"

- "Is that a prelude to a magical attack?" I asked, innocently.

- "You know very well it is!"

I stood up, slowly, keeping my hands at my sides.

- "Then tell me why, Master Rophiar, you summoned small quantities of aether before I did? Not once, but three times?"

Edon looked confused. "He would not."

- "He did. Three times, as I said. If gathering aether signals a threat, then your colleague was preparing to attack me. Master Rophiar, you are no longer welcome in my audience hall - or anywhere else in the palace, for that matter. You may remain in your room, or return to Portoa. I would recommend the latter option."

- "My Lord." said Edon. "This is -"

- "Unfortunate? For your mission, perhaps. For me, it is troubling. First a time-walker, and now this provocation. I will acquit you, Master Edon, of wrongdoing, in this case - one last time. I will speak to you tomorrow... when I am calmer."

***

- "You cannot lose your temper, my love." said Glasha. "You can't let them goad you into doing something rash. That's obviously what they're hoping for."

- "I know. It's... difficult, though."

- "Let me be there, tomorrow. It may help."

In the end, I agreed to let her accompany me. I also permitted Edon to bring two junior magisters from their party with him. We surprised them, though, by meeting them outside. The location we chose was down by the river, where Glasha and I had often trained. In addition to Murzosh, I brought Enneiros and half a dozen elves, including Taerentym.

- "Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to meet again, and for including my colleagues." said Edon. He introduced them. "This is very important, Lord Tauma. If I brought home a report that only I had witnessed, many of the Order would have doubted my observations."

- "They would believe that I had bewitched you? Or that you had fallen under my spell?"

- "Something like that." he admitted. "It does not help that Master Rophiar now believes that he is justified in holding a grievance against you."

- "I will write a letter to the Topaz Order, explaining what I have done so far, in dealing with your mission - and why. If you would be so kind as to carry it for me?"

- "Of course."

- "Then ask your questions, Master Edon."

- "Thank you, Lord Tauma. May I ask first: how many Schools of magic have you practiced?"

The answer to that question would have been enough to condemn me, had I replied with any number higher than two. Fortunately, I was able to tell Edon the truth.

- "One."

All three Portoan mages were stunned.

- "One?"

- "One." I repeated. "Mind magic."

- "That's..." Edon had been about to say the word 'impossible'. "That is... difficult to believe. Which School of Magic did you use to kill Durgulel?"

- "Mind."

- "That's -" Edon looked to colleagues before turning back to me. "My Lord, we have spoken to witnesses who saw you sink a ship. That vessel was several hundred yards away at the time. There is no mind magic capable of such a feat."

- "As it is taught in Portoa, perhaps not."

- "I don't understand."

- "May I ask about your mission, Master Edon? Why exactly are you here?"

- "We - to meet you, Lord. Your magical skills are already the stuff the legend."

- "That's an evasion. Let me tell you, then: first, you were sent to find out if the Duke of Varna is stark raving mad - as I should be, if all, or even some of the stories are true. Second, even if I wasn't obviously insane, you were to discover if I was practicing multiple Schools of magic - because if I was, then I would inevitably go mad sooner or later."

Edon didn't answer me.

"Third," I said, "You were to discover if I'd been practicing forbidden schools of magic, such as necromancy, or trying to assure my own longevity. You came to examine the Witch King, to make certain that I was not breaching one or more of your most important rules. Am I wrong?"

- "No. Not... not entirely, Lord."

- "And should I have proved to be insane?"

- "My Lord?"

- "Did you not come prepared to assassinate me, if it turned out that I was indeed mad? Or dabbling in multiple schools, or forbidden magic. Who would have attempted it? One of your two colleagues, here?"

The two junior magisters wisely avoided eye contact with me.

"No doubt Master Aveus would have gone home to Portoa before that, so that he could time-walk and spy on me if the first assassination attempt failed. Am I mistaken in any of the essentials, Edon? Or the particulars?"

- "Lord, this is not..."

I didn't interrupt Master Edon this time. He couldn't finish his sentence.

- "Very well. You have insulted me, introduced a spy into my house, and tried to provoke me into some act that you could describe as madness. I am not at war with the Topaz Order, though - so I will tell you the truth. I was trained by Master Durgulel. From him I learned your way of mastering the aether."

I went to stand beside my lover. "May I present the Lady Glasha? Her father is fey, and trained me in magic after Master Durgulel. As you may imagine, the fey have not been taught the methods of the Topaz Order - and yet they are capable of potent magic from a young age. It may comfort you to know that they have prescriptions against attempting to master different types as magic, just as you do."

- "My Lord." protested Edon. "Are you seriously suggesting that you can perform fey magic?"

- "I was trained by the fey - just as I was by one of your Order. Lady Glasha's father was just as surprised by what I was capable of as you are. He consulted some of the elder fey. I suppose that you are aware that they can be very long-lived."

- "Yes."

I decided to leave Rhigen's and Naevys' names out of my account. "I met a fey who knew the founder of our dynasty, Arivan Cunedda. He assured me that Arivan had fey blood."

Master Edon was taken aback. "That is... difficult to credit. Can this be proved?"