size of the search parties to groups of five men each. The next day I lost an entire patrol group and I knew we were getting close.”
“They seem pretty bold. Surely they realized that would give away their location,” I pondered aloud.
James snorted, “They’re desperate and they knew we were drawing close. It was only a matter of time. I mobilized all my armsmen at that point. We swept through the hills leaving no stone unturned in that region.”
“When was this?”
“Yesterday,” he said with a smile. “We found their hole. There’s a cave out there, and they’ve gone underground. My men have them bottled up now.”
“What if they have another exit?” I worried the enemy might circle around and attack Lancaster while he was focused on their ‘lair’.
“That thought occurred to me,” he said. “I sent a message to you yesterday, asking for men and assistance.”
I frowned, “I haven’t been home yet, but I’m sure Sir Harold will respond in my stead.”
“I received a reply late last night. He promised to be here before noon with as many men as he thought he could safely muster without endangering the defense of Washbrook and Castle Cameron,” said the duke.
“Then he is on the road as we speak,” I observed. “How soon do you plan to leave?”
“As soon as he arrives.”
I rose abruptly, “Then I have some preparations to make.”
James chuckled grimly, “You always do… heaven protect us. Best hurry, I won’t hold the men up if you haven’t returned by the time he gets here.”
Walter looked up as I entered the room where I was keeping him under, ‘house’ arrest. “How are you feeling?” I asked. He looked tired and he had dark circles under his eyes, but somehow I could tell he was starting to recover.
“Now that the fever is gone much better,” he said plainly. “Though I have to admit this necklace makes me feel blind and helpless.” He held up the necklace I had used to block his magesight as well as his power.
I had spoken to the guards as well as those in charge of keeping his wound clean while I was gone and they had informed me regarding his condition already. Yesterday the fever from his wound had broken at last, signaling that he would most likely survive. He was still quite weak though. “Think you can ride?”
He made a face, “It won’t be pleasant, but yes.”
“How do you feel about the shiggreth?”
“As any decent man would feel, they are an abomination and a threat to all of us,” he responded promptly. After a pause he added, “They also scare the living daylights out of me.”
“A reasonable response, though I have to say… most decent men don’t even know they exist,” I sat down next to him so I could see his face more closely as we talked.
He looked at me with anxiety in his face, “You’ve found them haven’t you?”
“James Lancaster has,” I informed him. “We ride from his keep in a few hours to burn them out of their nest.”
“You know they eat magic as easily as men’s souls don’t you?” he said nervously.
“I’ve fought them before,” I told him. “I’d like you to see what happens today, and it is entirely possible I might need your help.”
He gestured at his wounded leg, “I’ve just returned from death’s door. I’m not sure how much help I will be, especially with this.” His hand touched the pendant at his neck.
“My father was friends with your older brother, did you know that?”
He nodded.
“Why didn’t you say anything about it?” I said curiously.
“I’m a prisoner. Anything I say will just make it seem as if I’m trying to curry favor. Besides you never knew your father, so there was no way to verify the claim,” he answered rationally.
I liked his answer. “If I take that necklace off will you give me your word on something?”
He looked at me suspiciously, “Perhaps, it depends upon what it is. More importantly, of what value is my word to you?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, but I trusted what Penny had told me. I also found that the more I talked to Walter the less I hated him. He definitely wasn’t a man given to violence or aggression. If anything he might even be something of a coward, though I had no way to judge that yet. But I got the impression he was at the very least a man of compassion, a man who had been badly used. “Its value will depend upon how you honor it. Betray me and you will never get another chance,” I responded somberly.
“If it conflicts with my need to protect my family I won’t give it. If I give it and discover later that my family is jeopardized by my keeping it, I will break it without a moment’s thought. Is that the sort of honor you would trust?”
I thought of Cyhan and his unbending oaths. If I had not known him I might have had a different answer, but now I had a wiser view on the matter. “It sounds exactly like the sort of honor I would trust. Help me with this Walter, and if it is possible I will do all I can to help recover your family safely.”
He sighed, “Fine. Tell me what you want me to swear to.”
“Swear you will not seek to escape or use your power to oppose me. Swear you will follow my orders, except and until they endanger your family. Swear that, and I will remove the necklace.”
Walter watched me carefully as I spoke and when I finished he answered, “I so swear.” A moment later he added, “I see why the king fears you now.”
“What do you mean?”
“If he had been like you he would never have taken my family hostage, nor would he have needed to do so,” he explained.
“You don’t know me Walter,” I replied.
He laughed, “On the contrary I was watching your every move for almost two months. I think I know you fairly well. Your people trust you and your armsmen would walk through fire if you asked them to do so.”
His praise was honest but it made me uncomfortable. And what about my wife? I thought to myself. The last part of the fairy tale should have been that my wife was the most beautiful woman in the land and that every man was jealous of our happiness. I swallowed as a bitter knot rose in my throat.
I ignored his comments and reached over to gently grasp the necklace. With hardly any effort I picked out its voice and in an instant it became a part of me. I pulled it apart as though it were made of soft cheese instead of metal. Once I had it off I put the ends back together and watched the silver chain reform as if it had never parted.
Walter watched with keen interest, “How are you doing that? I can’t sense any power being used at all.”
“I just listen,” I said patiently.
He snorted, “If my wife were here she would say that rules me out as far as being able to do whatever it is you just did.”
I laughed politely, but thinking about his wife didn’t make me feel any better. Glancing down at the necklace I decided I had better remove the iron sphere just to be safe. The last thing I wanted was an accidental explosion. Repeating my action of a moment ago I separated the iron ball from the silver clasp.
Now that his magesight was restored Walter could sense the power stored within it. “That’s what you had set in case I broke the necklace? I doubt there would have been anything left of me. How did you manage to store so much energy in there?”
“That’s a conversation for another day,” I told him, not wanting to get into the details of how I had rediscovered the art of enchanting. “I’d better get rid of this.” I had a chest full of similar explosive iron balls, tucked away, and the pouch at my belt allowed me to safely store and access them without actually carrying them around with me, but I wanted to make one further point while I had Walter’s full attention.
With a word I formed a shield around the iron ball and then I redoubled it. Once I felt sure it was strong enough I pulled the glass ball that matched it from my purse and swiftly broke it with a second word. The iron ball exploded silently.
The force of the explosion in my hand was incredible and it came very near to exceeding my ability to contain
