Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

“I do not! You sick sister-lover! Wait till I tell your sister you tried to kiss her!” I shot back.

“I knew it was you all along! Who else could get into this place?” he retorted.

I grinned, “She doesn’t know that.”

“Fine,” he said standing up again. “Truce?” he asked, but he was still chuckling as he held out his hand.

I gave his hand a mock-suspicious glare, “I’m not sure that thing is safe to touch,” I said, but then I broke into a grin. I hugged him instead and then we sat down to talk. “How have you been doing?” I asked.

“Good,” he replied, “When there isn’t anyone sneaking up on me and pretending to be my sister.”

“I just wanted to test out the new spell,” I told him.

He snorted, “It’s impressive I’ll admit, though the voice needs a lot of work. I’ve never seen you do anything like that before though.”

“I started experimenting with illusions a few weeks ago. So far they seem fairly simple, as long as it is something I can imagine easily,” I said.

“And my sister is someone you imagine regularly I take it?” he said with a wry smile.

“No damnitt! Anyone I’ve known for a long time is fairly easy. I picked your sister because she seemed the most reasonable person to visit you, besides myself of course. If I try to do a stranger I’d almost have to be looking at them when I cast the spell in order to create a decent resemblance.”

Marc sat up straight for a moment. “Mordecai!” he exclaimed, “Have you shown anyone else your illusions yet?”

“No why?”

“Think about it, the possibilities are endless. You could imitate anyone, the king, the head of the bank… or someone you wanted to frame for a crime!” he announced. As he spoke I could see the gears in his head turning. Marc was extremely intelligent, almost as smart as myself in our academic studies as children and infinitely more devious. If anyone could think of useful ways to use deception, it would be him.

“I’m just planning to sneak into the palace, I don’t need to commit crimes or blame innocents at this point in my career,” I told him.

“Just don’t tell anyone you can do this. So long as you are the only one that knows you have a tool with few limits. Once people know what you can do it will be the opposite… any crime could be laid at your feet,” he explained.

I hadn’t thought of it in quite those terms but I could see he was right. What at first had seemed like a simple spell was fraught with all sorts of major social implications. If I could impersonate someone I could do anything… and if people knew I could impersonate anyone I could be implicated for anything that happened out of the ordinary. Rumor and scandal could easily become the rule of my life. It almost wasn’t worth using the spell at all. I shook my head, “Let’s just finish this experiment. I need to test another spell, one that should provide a better imitation of someone’s voice.”

“Anything would be better than that awful falsetto you used,” he jibed again. “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Not much, just hold still,” I said and then I reached out and touched his throat while vocalizing my new spell. Then I opened my mouth and repeated what he had just said, “Anything would be better than that awful falsetto you used.” The words emerged in an exact replica of Marc’s voice… at least as far as I could tell.

“Is that what I sound like?” Marc said, rather surprised.

I started to reply, thinking it was an honest question but he didn’t wait for an answer.

“Damn, no wonder the ladies find me irresistible!” he stated matter of factly.

I repeated my disguise spell and a moment later he was staring at his own face as well, then I spoke up, “Damn, no wonder people think I’m a conceited ass!”

“That’s not what I said,” he replied adroitly. “If you’re going to copy me you need to stick to the proper dialogue.” He stared at me for a moment longer before continuing, “That really is unnerving… like staring into a mirror that has a mind of its own. Hey! I don’t suppose you can use that spell on someone else could you?”

I thought about it for a moment, “I think I can, why?”

He grinned, “Make me look and sound like you. I have some things to tell you.”

I could only imagine the mayhem that might ensue if we started an insult contest while disguised as each other. In fact the vision kept me spellbound for a solid minute before I replied, “No, absolutely not.”

Marc glared at me, “Why not?”

“This power is too great to be put in the hands of the feeble minded,” I told him solemnly.

“Spoilsport,” he replied glumly.

“Did you deliver Rose’s missive to her father?” I asked suddenly, changing the topic.

He switched gears and leaned back in his chair and putting his feet up on the table, “Indeed I did. I left it with the doorman. None of them saw my face.”

“That’s a relief then. Any luck with the research yet?” I asked.

His face fell, “Not so far. Do you see how many books are in this place? It could be a year before I’ve checked them all.”

“Well, keep your eyes open for interesting information, even if it isn’t directly related to the gods,” I reminded him.

He gave me a look that told me I was restating the obvious again. It was a frequent flaw of mine. We talked for a bit more before I took my leave and headed into the city. I had a lot to accomplish and it wouldn’t do to waste any more daylight.

I kept my senses alert as I left the house and stepped onto the common road outside. It would be a reasonable guess for the king to figure out I was using my father’s house as a means of ingress and egress to the city, but I didn’t need to confirm the fact for him. I didn’t sense anyone nearby so I relaxed and began walking slowly up the road.

Before I had stepped out I had copied the features of Cecil Draper. I hoped he wouldn’t mind and in any case I hadn’t known him long enough to do a perfect job of it. I doubted anyone in the capital would recognize him anyway so I should be effectively anonymous.

I spent the next couple of hours circling the royal palace slowly; paying particular attention to points where I thought the wall might be relatively unobserved. If I could find a good enough spot I might try to enter during the daytime. If not I would have to wait for cover of darkness.

The palace had an outer wall that encircled the entire building and its gardens, providing privacy and security for both the king and those who enjoyed his hospitality. That outer wall was nearly as impressive as the wall that surrounded the city itself and likewise it was guarded by towers every fifty yards or so. The towers themselves were only fully garrisoned during an active defense. During normal, peaceful times there were only guards stationed in the corner towers, with regular patrols walking the walls between them.

For a normal thief or assassin that would be just as formidable a barrier, but it made things much easier for me. With my senses I could easily find the locations of the guards patrolling and assure myself that there were not others waiting within the wall towers. That made it fairly easy for me to guess at whether I was actually being observed at any given moment.

After my second full circuit of the perimeter I chose my point of entry, a shadowed portion of the eastern wall, near the middle of that side. I left the road and moved up near the wall where one of the towers bulged outward, using it to shield me from view in one direction at least. The afternoon shade made it more difficult to see me but it was by no means impossible. Any passerby would be able to spot me quite easily, as could the guard in the tower on the southern end of the wall I stood against… should he bother to look out and downward.