Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

“Stop that Rose, and you as well Dorian. I’ve told you both to call me by my name. This isn’t some state function, it’s dinner, and this is my home,” I said.

Dorian chuckled; they both loved teasing me with my newfound station. “Careful Rose, we mustn’t offend our kind host,” he said in mock seriousness.

“Very true Dorian! Please forgive us Mordecai,” Rose responded, joining him in the game. As she spoke she put her hand lightly across his forearm. It was a small gesture, one intended to emphasize her words, but I would have bet a pound of gold he’d never move that arm so long as her hand rested there. She probably knew it too. Women are devious.

I sighed, pretending to be annoyed so they could continue their game. “Could I get some wine?” I spoke loudly enough for the man passing behind to hear, for I assumed he was one of the serving staff. Yes, I do have serving staff now… not to mention hiring a full time messenger. Whoever it was ignored my request and continued on, passing through the doorway that led to the kitchen. “That’s odd,” I said to Penny, “Did I speak too softly?” I hadn’t bothered to turn my head so I wasn’t entirely sure who had ignored me.

She smiled at me, “It might help if there had been a servant near enough to hear you.”

“There was!” I protested, “A tall fellow, almost my own height.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken this time Mort. No one has gone by for a minute or more, but I think I see one of the maids coming now…” She lifted her hand and waved one of our servers over, Lisette was her name I thought. She quickly hurried off to fetch a cup and some wine for me.

I frowned and closed my mouth. In point of fact I hadn’t actually looked around but I was so accustomed to using my ‘extra’ senses that I hadn’t needed to do so. I was quite certain a man had passed by, even if Penny hadn’t noticed him. There was little point in arguing though; in any case the wine was coming so I had nothing to complain about.

“Mordecai, you never did answer my question,” Rose reminded me.

I was startled from my thoughts, “About?” It took me a moment before I remembered. “Oh, the armor!” I exclaimed. “I’d rather not talk about it here. I’d like to keep the details quiet until I’m ready to announce the plans. Perhaps we can discuss it later?”

“Ooh a mystery!” Rose replied with a twinkle in her eyes.

“It isn’t anything that exciting, trust me,” Penny assured her. “Of much more interest would be the topic of your visit with Cyhan today. You still have not told me how it went.”

Apparently Penny was not alone in her curiosity, for everyone leaned closer. I took a deep breath, hoping to finish the tale in one go rather than have to repeat myself. “It went about as well as can be expected. He and I agreed to disagree.”

Rose broke in, “That sounds remarkably civilized when the disagreement was over whether you have the right to continue breathing.” The humor in her voice was gone now. Rose had been quite angry about Cyhan’s decision to end our working relationship so violently. I wasn’t quite sure if it was because he had hurt Penny in the process or the fact that he might have killed Dorian in his attempt to get to me.

Dorian laid a hand on her shoulder, as if to calm her down. The gesture made the two of them seem very familiar; although I’m sure he didn’t realize it. “Rose, he may be our enemy now but to give the man credit he was only acting according to his oath and his principles.” I couldn’t help but wonder that just an hour or two prior he had been chiding me for letting my enemy walk free yet now Dorian was defending the man.

Rose gave him a sharp glance, “Honor be damned! He turned his sword against his student and his friend,” she said, looking at Penny and me each in turn, “and against you.” She punctuated the end of her sentence by jabbing Dorian firmly in the chest. “Any oath that requires such a thing needs to be re-examined. Blind obedience is the refuge of a fool too scared to think for himself!”

Penny’s face was a study in conflicting emotions but she put her feelings away and tried to steer the conversation back to practical matters. “All those things aside, what did you do Mort?”

“I sent him back to the king with a message,” I replied simply.

“A damn foolish thing to do,” Dorian supplied.

Rose snorted, “We agree on that at least.”

“You’re probably right, but I wouldn’t have the man executed for doing his duty,” I answered.

Dorian grimaced, “His duty will see you dead and he should not be taken lightly. I can respect his decision but when you have a sworn foe in your grasp you don’t hand him a dagger and turn him loose.”

“What message did you send him with?” Rose asked quietly.

“The king has asked me to meet with him, privately. I changed the time and place and sent the information along with Cyhan,” I said.

Penny looked at me sharply, “You said you weren’t going.” She kept her voice level but there was a certain amount of worry in it.

“I changed my mind. I’m still not going to meet him at the time and place of his choosing; rather I’ll meet him on my own terms.”

“That’s wise, since it’s even odds your meeting would be an ambush. Getting rid of you would solve a lot of the King’s problems at one go. Where do you intend to meet him?” Rose asked intently.

I smiled, “In his bedroom.”

“Somehow I doubt his majesty will agree to that,” Dorian observed.

“He won’t be given the option to decline,” Penny snapped at him impatiently. The tension in her shoulders was unmistakable. “Are you sure this is wise? This isn’t what we discussed earlier.” She and I had gone over the topic the night before and now I had changed the plan.

To give her credit, my wife is no shrinking violet. I had come to respect her as a woman of courage and determination, but she was sometimes a bit timid when it came to risking my health. I suppose that made some sense, considering she was expecting our first child. I glanced down at her already swelling waist. Looking up again I met her eyes, “I’m sorry love. I know you’re worried, but I have to clear things between myself and the king or we’ll never have peace. I think this is the only chance we’ll have.”

She saw the look in my eye and knew there was little sense in arguing. “You’d best be right, or I’ll make sure you spend whatever’s left of your life regretting it.” It was no idle threat coming from her.

“Our child will have a father,” I assured her. Penny’s determination was possibly one of her most beautiful qualities.

“A surprise meeting will introduce a certain amount of tension into your discussion. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Rose asked, breaking into the conversation again.

“Absolutely,” I stated. “Edward needs to understand that I’m negotiating from a position of strength or he’ll never respect any bargain we make.”

The discussion went on for a solid hour after that, but I had already made up my mind. When all was said and done, no one liked my decision but there weren’t any better suggestions made. Only the future would tell whether it was a good idea or not.

The next morning I decided to take a break from my usual routine. Rather than head to the forge and resume work on my next bit of armor crafting I went looking for my other childhood friend. Thanks to Dorian I had paid better attention at dinner the night before and managed to notice a notable absence at the table.

I wondered how many other meals Marc had missed without me bothering to ask about him. Times like this made me realize that I wasn’t exactly the best friend a fellow could have. Sure, I had plenty of excuses… a new wife, a county to run, but I still couldn’t allow myself that luxury. Excuses would always be plentiful, true friends were not.