through the rest of this day and that is to deliver my wife, Penelope Illeniel and her guard Sir Dorian Thornbear to me now, safe and unharmed.”
His eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. “Bold words from such a young man, are you certain you have thought this through properly Mordecai? You really shouldn’t threaten the man that holds your wife and unborn child’s lives in his hands.”
My eyes narrowed at his words. “And you shouldn’t attempt to use hostages against a man who can kill you on a whim,” I replied.
The King laughed as he answered, “If I die you will never see them alive. You can count on that! Do you understand? You’re playing at games you are ill-equipped for, boy.”
“Your threats do not hold power when those you threaten no longer fear you,” I replied.
“Careful child, your words here will determine the fate of your loved ones,” he said sternly but I could detect a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. He was beginning to realize I had moved beyond the point of being coerced.
“That is the first and most basic lie used by the corrupt to assert their will via threats and extortion. I will not accept responsibility for your actions. If I cannot stop you from harming them I will at least make certain you never repeat your evil deeds against others,” I declared.
Edward sneered, “Such noble words from a man who is dooming his wife and child to death at the hands of another.”
“Your twisted delusions have made you incapable of ruling. I doubt now that you ever understood the nature of a ruler’s power,” I answered, deliberately goading him.
“You seek to lecture me on the basis of power? I rule by the divine right of kings. None of your feeble words can change that and your ‘magic’ is insufficient in the face of the power of a nation,” he replied.
“That is where you are mistaken. The ‘divine right of kings’ is a farce. A wise man taught me the true source of a ruler’s power,” I said remembering Dorian’s words from the past. “It lies in the people that serve him. The strength of his people is a gift that a true king must cherish and nurture, and in that you have failed. None of this would have been necessary Edward, but for your constant failure. Failure to put your people first, both during the war with Gododdin and again when you forsook the people to make a deal with the shiggreth. And for what? The chance to coerce and control me? If you had been a good king I would have served you without coercion.”
As I spoke I could feel Cyhan’s eyes boring into me. Rose was watching me as well, and I had a feeling there were others, though my mind could not find them. There was another presence in the room, and it lay heavy upon the air, like a great power held in check.
Edward had to know by now that I wasn’t bluffing. I had come to kill him. Yet he still showed no fear. “You fool!” he shouted at me. “You spout that tired old philosophy at me and yet it still isn’t true! My power is from the ‘consent of the governed’? Lies! My power is granted me by the gods themselves!”
I had had enough. My decision had been made before I entered the room and our conversation had merely served to reaffirm his madness. Lifting my hand I held a small pebble on my palm. I had picked it up from the road during our walk to the palace. “This stone will be your end Edward. I would not waste anything more on you now, and in truth even this is more than you are worth.” Raising it to my lips I blew upon it and said the words that would send it hurtling with lethal speed at the King, “Tielen striltos.”
A flash of golden light, visible only to my arcane senses, flared near the King, and my stone struck an invisible shield in front of him. Where before he had stood alone with only Cyhan beside him, there were now two more figures. The golden glow emanated from a young woman and I could feel the shield she had erected around herself and Edward. She was either a wizard or a channeler. Cyhan still had made no effort to move. He was still and silent.
“Where did they come from?” Rose asked beside me.
“I don’t know, but it appears that Edward has reinforcements. You should leave now Rose,” I told her. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
She spat at the ground in the most unladylike gesture I had ever seen from her. “I’ll be damned first.”
The woman standing beside Edward was slender, with light brown hair and fair skin. Examining her more closely I realized she was hardly a woman at all, but rather a tall teenager, still gangly and awkward. She was dressed richly in a dress made of golden satin but her face gave away her lack of experience.
The second figure was that of a well-built man, tall and perfectly formed. He kept his face hidden in the deep recesses of a hooded cloak but there was a sense about him, an air of menace I couldn’t yet define.
“Who is the girl Edward?” I asked casually.
He smiled, “Allow me to introduce Elaine Prathion. I suspect you may have met her father already, have you not?”
I winced inwardly. Now I knew why Walter’s daughter hadn’t been there when they liberated the rest of his family. I ignored the King and addressed her directly, “Elaine, listen to me. This man has no hold upon you, not any longer. Your father helped your mother and brother escape early this morning.”
Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she stared back at me and I could hear Edward’s laughter as she replied, “Celior has told me of you. You are a pestilence that will bring the destruction of the world if you are left to fester unchecked. I serve the true King, Edward, for he has been ordained by the gods to lead us through these dark times.”
Stretching out her hand she said something I couldn’t hear and a searing beam of light lanced from her hand toward me. Unconsciously I strengthened my shield but I needn’t have worried. Although her power was strong it was nowhere near enough to penetrate my defenses.
“Elaine, stop, you have to believe me. This man has been using you to control your father for years.” I pleaded with her, hoping she would hear me.
“She will not listen to you,” said Edward looking past her. “She listens only to me, and her god.”
“Very well then,” I replied and raising my staff I threw my power against her shield in a manner meant not to pierce but to crush. My aim was to overwhelm her so quickly that she collapsed from the strain rather than die trying to match me.
For a moment it appeared my plan would work. Her shield buckled and her hair flew back as she fell to one knee under the sudden strain. My respect for her grew however as she stabilized her shield and slowly stood back up despite the pressure. I could see the muscles in her jaw clenching and sweat was beading on her brow but she wouldn’t surrender easily. Clearly she was stronger than her father.
I briefly considered using my staff to focus a line of fire that would slice through her shield, but I knew that would be instantly fatal and I really didn’t want to kill Walter’s daughter. My hesitation cost me precious seconds however and she regained the initiative. Gesturing at the ceiling above she made a pulling motion with her hand and I looked up to see part of the ceiling collapsing inward; tons of granite were falling toward my head.
Trying to stop that much stone with just my shield would probably have been immediately fatal and even if I succeeded it would certainly render me unconscious. Instead I spoke and gestured at the floor around myself and Rose. The giant blocks that made up the floor swung up and over us to form a shallow arch. I had positioned them to brace each other and I added my shield to help hold them in place.
Thankfully the massive bulk of granite absorbed much of the impact, and my shield managed the rest. Without waiting for the dust to clear I located Elaine with my mind and tried a spell I had once used with great effect against Cyhan, “Grabol ni’targoth.” A hole opened in the stone beneath the teenage girl and suddenly bereft of support she fell losing her grasp on the shield around her at the same time.
With another word I sealed her within the stone. I was careful to avoid injuring her and I knew the tactic wouldn’t hold her for long. Crawling forward I drew Rose with me until we were free of the massive pile of stone rubble that had fallen over us. “Is she dead?” Rose asked as we emerged.
“I’m trying not to kill her.”
“Fool!” she shouted, “This is your only chance to kill the King. If you play nice that girl will kill us and then Penny and Dorian will die for nothing!”
I ignored her and focused on Elaine. An explosion of rock told me she had escaped from my stony prison but she vanished as she emerged. She had taken refuge in the Prathion’s famous invisibility, a few months prior I might have been helpless to predict her movements, but having known Walter I knew a lot more about the ability now. If she was invisible to the eyes she couldn’t see, if she was invisible to magesight she couldn’t sense anything magically, and if she was invisible to both she was effectively blind.
She wasn’t deaf however.
