Holtsclaw, page 6
part #3 of The Master Mage Chronicles Series
“You would that I had suffered a great loss? Some friend you are!”
They all laughed. The meal ended. They all returned to their rooms.
It was very late, approaching mid-night, when Marcus was aroused by an urgent rapping at the attic door. “I’ll be right there,” he shouted, at the same time pulling on a trouser and long-robe. A house-maid stood nervously in the hall.
“Sir Marcus, there be a boy at the front door. He says you know ‘is father, a stable-master? He says your animals be injured and be needin’ your attention. He be there at the door, waitin’ fer yuh.”
“Thank you. Tell him I’ll pull on some clothes and be right down.” He shut the door and invoked tiemp. It had been more than a turning since the last time he had done so, except when sparring with Moriah. He dressed quickly, donning an undershirt, robe, hooded cape and boots. He picked up his bo and slipped through the secret door to the supplies closet. He took down Edna’s box and retrieved a pair of daggers concealed in its depth. They were blades he had previously seized from thieves. He re-entered the attic and exited by the main door. Releasing tiemp he found himself but a few paces behind the maid.
She heard him walking behind and turned her head. “How, how did yuh get dressed so fast?”
“I anticipated something like this might happen,” he lied. “And had clothes ready and standing by.”
The maid shrugged and ran down the two flights of stairs to the front door. The stable-master’s son was there waiting. “Quickly, we ‘ave no time to lose!”
Together they ran. When out of sight of the Academy, Marcus came to a halt. “What is your name?”
“Michael, sir.”
“Well, Michael, I want you to tightly close your eyes, just for a moment. Can you do that for me?”
Michael nodded.
“Good, so do it now and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.” Marcus opened a portal to the rear of the stables, lifted the boy off the ground, and walked through. “Okay, you may now open your eyes.”
“Where are we?” Michael asked in alarm.
“Don’t be afraid, we are just behind the stables, Now, take me to my animals.”
The end of the stables where his animals were housed was in an uproar. Three men, including one from the village guard, were talking loudly and gesturing to something, or someone, on the ground. The stable-master pointed to Marcus as he approached.
“Here is the owner of the animals. Perhaps he can provide some answers. Marcus, quickly, over ‘ere.”
Marcus arrived to find a man lying face down on the straw. The side of his head was crushed. A limping Rex with mouth and jowls covered in blood, wagged his tail as Marcus approached. Max stood in the rear of the stable, shielding Wee from the turmoil.
“We was alerted by yur mule, brayin’ for all she was worth. We came out to see what you see now. We be guessin’ this man here got put down by yur pony. By the blood on yur dog, looks like a second man got away, but not without gettin’ a good bitin’. I guess yuh see the dog’s been hurt. He’s bleedin’ from the chest, looks like a blade wound. He’s standin’, so it can’t be too serious.”
The guardsman turned the man face-up. “You recognize this man?”
Marcus shook his head. “Never seen him before.”
“I do,” said the third man standing by. “He be one of the Tulley brothers. Always getting’ into trouble, those two. Chances are, all that blood belongs to the other one. I can show you where they live. T’ain’t far.”
He and the guards-man left, leaving Marcus, the stable-master and his son, Michael, examining the animals.
Marcus used mind-touch to probe Rex’s wounds. It was shallow, but probably painful. He forced the hound to lie on its side, then moved inside with gift and knitted the broken flesh back together. There was a more serious wound on his leg, the cause of the limp everyone had observed. A muscle had been deeply cut, nearly severed. Marcus brought that flesh together also, and called for some clean bandages. Michael dashed off to retrieve them.
“Any idea why those two would be messin’ with yer animals? I mean, they be good animals, but not worth all of this.”
“I think they think there’s something of value in my pack or tack. There isn’t, of course, as I’ve told you before. Now one lies dead, the other injured. All for nothing. I need to go and talk to the brother, once I get Rex here bound up. It looks like his water dish has been upset. Could you see that Michael gets it refilled? The dog will be wanting, needing, to drink in order to recover.”
All the while, Marcus had been kneeling next to Rex, petting him and keeping him still. Michael returned, and together they bound up the injured leg. There was little more they could do about the chest wound. Marcus had managed to knit the flesh and hide back together reasonably well.
As he got up to leave, he saw the guardsman approaching, shaking his head. “The second man was the brother, no doubtin’. T’was nothing we could do for him. His arm was half bitten off. Must’ah bled out on the way home. Sorry we couldn’t get anythin’ from him on who put ‘em up to this.”
Marcus nodded. “I understand. Thanks for trying, though. Looks like my animals are settling down. I suppose I need to get back to the Academy. I’ll just check my pack and be on my way.”
Marcus found nothing amiss. He retrieved a copper from his coin purse, it was looped firmly over the belt holding the blade, and gave it to Michael. “For running all the way to the Academy to get me. For watering Rex.” Then in a low voice, “and not mentioning exactly how we got here?” The boy nodded. The guardsman had already pulled the body of the first Tulley brother from the stall and was carrying it to the street.
----- o0o -----
The next day was a fourth-day. After Mage Charlotte’s class, Marcus went straight to the office of the Lord-mage. His outer and inner doors were open and he sat alone at his desk. Marcus knocked lightly. Lord Petros looked up, sighed, and bade him enter. “What now? More bad news?”
Marcus nodded. “Did you hear about last night’s trouble in the village?”
“No, but I know something happened. You left the Academy shortly after mid-night. That, by the way, was a violation of curfew.”
Marcus ignored the last. “I stable three animals, a horse, a mule and a hound. Two men tried to enter their stall and steal my pack and saddle bags. It did not end well for them.”
“Explain ‘did not go well for them’.”
“They died. My horse struck one, crushing his skull. The other was attacked by the hound He lost an arm and bled to death. My hound was wounded but will recover.”
The High-mage sighed. “So it has gotten worse. Just as I feared it would.”
“A question for you. You told you staff the coin was hidden outside the Academy?”
The High-mage nodded
“And that has now led to the death of two men.” Marcus said it as a statement, no emotion attached. “Unfortunately, neither survived long enough for questioning. And since the coin remains safe, I fear the attempts will continue. There is a way to discover the persons or persons involved. But you would have to agree to keep my method secret.”
“And what do you propose? I’m willing to try anything to bring this to an immediate close. Were it widely known a staff member here is a thief? Well, the reputation of the Academy would be irreparably harmed. The royals who send their children here demand the Abbey be managed to the highest standards. Which means, operate above reproach. What exactly do you propose?”
“I believe my primary endowment is in earth-gift. But like many mages, yourself included, there is a hint of another. In my case, I’m also a weak mind-mage. There are others who are stronger than I, of course. But I have the particular power to detect truth, or at least, the presence of lying. It has proven itself reliable many times in the last four turns since I emerged. Invite me to your staff meeting. Explain my presence either to provide a first-hand account of these events, or to justify my recent truancy. I will identify the person or persons involved. It would be unwise to make any accusations at that time. I would leave it up to you to confirm my suspicions, in your own way and in your own time.”
Lord-mage Petros sat quietly, rolling the idea over in his mind. “And you are confident this endowment of yours can be trusted? And would the person know you have identified him, or her, as the case might be?”
“Or them. Yes to the first, no to the second. As I said, it has never yet failed me. There has only been one person able to detect my mind-touch. And that appears to be a special case, for which neither of us has an adequate explanation.”
“And when would you like to conduct this experiment?”
“I would think the sooner the better, yes?”
“We meet every first-day immediately after last meal. There is a conference room next to this office. It would be very rude to be late.”
----- o0o -----
Marcus and Wilhelm had taken their customary trip to the stables. Marcus was pleased to see Rex in full health. The chest wound appeared to be fully healed. He obviously favored the wounded leg, but walked with barely a limp.
It was now late in the evening. Marcus sat in his living area, thinking through the next day’s pending events. What might happen? What could go amiss? One thing he thought possible was his inability to identify the guilty party. He had two tools at his disposal. First was Edna’s endowment of discernment, particularly for light- versus dark- mage influence. The second was mind-touch. A thief, and now accomplice murderer, would certainly have his or her gift darkened by covetous actions? He thought so, but wasn’t sure. Mind-touch would certainly work. But minds could be shielded by any mage of sufficient strength. In such a case, he would simply have to have greater strength. He had stored much of his gift power in the summoning stone. And the added depletion of porting, healing and using tiemp, left him even further diminished. He would have to summon back some of his stored power to ensure tomorrow’s success. He retrieved the summoning stone from the storage room, focused puert into its depths, and pulled.
The next day was not an ordinary one. His sparing with Moriah left her unusually exhausted. He, on the other hand, was invigorated, similar to the times he had accessed the flow of gift on new-moons. In the afternoon class with Mage Charlotte, he had to be particularly careful in gift-pushing small objects.
----- o0o -----
Finally, the time for last-meal came. Too anxious to eat, Marcus retired directly to the designated conference room and sat alone, waiting.
The Lord-mage was the first to enter. “I see you are here, well before time. Thank you. How do you want to do this?”
“I thought, sir, that I simply sit quietly in the rear of the room until you ask me to provide an account of recent events. Then you excuse me and I leave. It will not take me much time to do what I have planned.”
“That seems simple enough. I will make it my first order of business. Let’s not discuss the truancy. I don’t see this as a venue for punishment. I will state that it is only for passing information to those attending.”
A short time later the room filled with mages and staff. Marcus invoked Edna’s seer-gift before the meeting was called to order. He was surprised by the variety of endowments represented, And even more so by the great difference in power from one individual to another. There were neither pure ‘white’ nor ‘black’ mages, with one exception. A mage Marcus did not recognize was decidedly darker than the others. He was virtually black. And he was a mind-mage with a very weak endowment in earth-gift.
Lord-mage Petros called the meeting to order. “The first matter of business is an unusual one. As we have recently discussed, there has been a continuing threat to one of our interns. This has taken a decidedly serious turn in the last seven-day. Rather than try to describe what has taken place myself, I’ve invited Marcus of Iber to give an accounting. He was present for most of what happened. Marcus, if you please.”
Marcus had been sitting quietly in a rear corner of the room, partially obscured by a hanging tapestry. He had obviously been unnoticed by most of the attendees. As he walked to the front of the room he felt, rather than saw, the animosity flowing from Mage Charlotte. There was curiosity from Master Aaronson and the head house-mistress. He began his account.
“As you all know, I paid my tuition with a bar of gold that I personally mined from the Isor Mountains of Iber. There were two bars I brought across the Betting Sea to the mainland. Wanting to ensure there was sufficient value to pay tuition, I had both bars assessed and re-cast by the Royal Mint of Caldonia. They happily confirmed it to be gold of high purity, and readily exchanged one for two-hand crowns. The other bar I presented to High-mage Petros for my four-turn tuition here at the Academy. I know none of this is new, as Lord-mage Petros told me of his disclosures to you. Someone here, or someone you have taken into your confidence, has twice attempted to rob me of my two-hand crowns. The first was a search of my attic room, made possible by the theft of the head house-mistress’ keys. They were unsuccessful, as I do not keep the coin on Academy premises. The thief then had me followed to a stable I rent for my three animals, a horse, a pack mule and a hound. I am here to report that I was awakened shortly after mid-night last fourth-day, and summoned to those very stables. There I found the stable-master, a village guards-man, and a village resident, standing in my stable. They were looking over the fallen body of a man identified as a member of the Tulley family. His head had been crushed by my horse. My hound, wounded by several blade thrusts, was covered in blood about his mouth and jowls. A subsequent search found another Tulley. His arm had been severely bitten and mauled. He lay on the ground, dead from the loss of blood. Unfortunately, he had passed before the constable was able to perform an interrogation. I have been asked by Lord Petros to provide you a personal account of these events, to avoid the circulation of more rumors. He also asked that I make clear the seriousness of this affair. It has passed from theft to a related death of two men.” He paused, looking carefully over the attendees, then turned to the Lord-mage. “That, sir, is my report.”
“Are there any questions by those present?” There was total silence in the room. “Then you are dismissed, Marcus. Thank you for attending.”
Marcus left, knowing exactly who the guilty person was.
----- o0o -----
Early the next morning, during first-meal, Marcus was summoned to the head-mage’s office. “So, you know who the culprit is?”
“Yes, sir, I do. It was not the person I expected. You have not one problem, but two.”
Lord Petros grew cross. “I send you to fix one problem. And you bring me two? Well, first things first. Who is the thief?”
“In my case, so far, there is but attempted theft. It is your Academy accountant, Mage Brian. He is a merchant-mage, as you know. But what you do not know is that he has a profound weakness for cards. He has accumulated a considerable debt, to the staggering amount of over seven crowns. He has stolen this amount from the Academy treasury. He greatly fears an audit of your vault, as it would surely expose the theft. Stealing my crowns would allow him to replace the missing coin, and provide him with more gambling resources. The death of the Tulley brothers was not anticipated. They have been friends of a sort, often sitting at the same gaming tables. Mage Brian is beside himself with grief and guilt. But he still contrives desperately to steal my coin.”
Lord-mage Petros was silent. His hands were steepled and his face drawn in sadness. “I have known Mage Brian for many turns. And yes, I know also of his fondness for cards. I had no idea it had gotten so serious. And I was aware of the missing crowns. It’s one of the reasons I leapt at your offer to pay a full four-turn tuition in advance. Understand, Marcus, that with only one-fist interns, at three crowns per turn, our income is not small. On the order of three fists per turn. Even so, we take no great profit. Seven crowns will be missed. And I will have to find a way to deal with Brian in some discrete way. Otherwise the scandal could well become public.”
“Please, confront him soon. Otherwise, attempts on my coin will continue.”
“I will. Promptly. Today.” He sighed wearily. “And now on to the second problem? I feel, somehow, I’m going to like this one even less.”
“Are you familiar with dark mages?”
“Myths of such. I seriously doubt they exist.”
“Unfortunately, they do. We recently had a painful encounter with one in Iber. And that was after he was cast out of Caldonia. If you doubt my word, you may consult with your friend Lord High-mage Batholomew. He knows all the particulars. Dark mages arise from the desert kingdom of Illium. In fact, there is an academy, much like Holtsclaw, dedicated to the teaching of the dark arts. Their preferred method is to infiltrate the royal families with mind-mages, and then use their gift to persuade those royals to adopt policies and practices to their benefit. Your problem is that you have a dark mage operating here. I would think his task is to mingle with the young royals and gain their trust. And eventually influence them when they come to positions of authority or power. I do not know his name, only his appearance. When I can identify him with certainty, I will leave it to you to have him dismissed.”
The shock of this revelation was clearly written on the Lord-mage’s face. “And you are sure of this?”
“Absolutely. May I now be released to my classes? As we agreed, everything is now in your hands. Please, let me know how you resolve matters with Mage Brian.”
CHAPTER
FOUR
M arcus was still holding considerable gift power. He had run a risk in revealing so much of his endowments to Lord-mage Petros. But eliminating the greater risk to his person was even more important. Until the issue with Mage Brian was concluded, he would retain the extra gift he was holding.
It was mid-morning break when he finally made his way to the training area. All of the first-turns were working as a single group under Master Aaronson.
