Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

“If that were true then the most likely location for it today… would be here, in this house,” I noted.

“Assuming they didn’t have a secret storehouse somewhere,” Rose pointed out.

“True,” I agreed, though I personally doubted they would let something that important be kept away from this house. Usually the best protection a wizard can provide is his own presence. “What else did you discover?”

“The early clergy believed that Balinthor was primarily after Illeniel’s Doom, and that his attempt to wipe out humanity was merely a secondary goal of revenge.”

That was news to me. Moira had barely known of its existence, much less thinking it could be the dark god’s primary motivation. I would have to question her more closely later, for it appeared the priests of that ancient time had known more about the doings of the Illeniels than their fellow wizards had. “That will deserve a lot of consideration later, anything else?” I asked.

“Well I’m not sure if this is important, but it is certainly interesting. It seems the Iron Brothers keep a secret compound in the woodlands to the northwest,” he replied.

Rose spoke up, “How secret?”

“So secret that they’re hiding its existence even from the other churches,” he answered with a roguish smile.

“How did you find out about it?” I said.

“Purely by accident,” he replied. “If I hadn’t decided to stay with the Doronites I never would have known a thing. As it was I just happened to hear someone complaining in the dining hall one day and it piqued my interest, after that it was mainly a matter of paying attention.”

“Any idea what they use it for?”

“Not a clue,” he admitted. “They send a small load of supplies and sundries every few weeks and apparently those chosen for duty there find it exceedingly boring.”

I took a deep breath, “Well if that’s all your news I suppose I should bring you up to date on matters back in Lancaster.”

“Good, I’m tired of wondering what you and Rose have been so tense about,” he said mildly.

I glanced at Rose for support but her expression told me that this would be my tale to tell. I took another breath and jumped in headfirst, “Things went badly after I left Penny and Dorian in Lancaster last week. They were ambushed in the guest room they were given. Miriam was stabbed and she and Penny were both abducted.” Marc’s eyes grew round as I spoke, but he made no move to interrupt.

“Dorian gave chase and saved Miriam. I believe he nearly saved Penny as well, but they were surrounded in the forest by a large group of shiggreth and overwhelmed. He and Penny, along with almost all of the kidnappers are now dead, or worse than dead,” I finished.

True to his upbringing my friend kept his calm after I had finished. When he finally spoke it was to ask questions, which I answered as best I could. Over the space of a half an hour I related what had happened after I had found out, omitting my near destruction of everything and focusing on my rage and near murder of the surviving witness instead. I told him about Walter and my thoughts about his possible future usefulness.

When he had run out of questions and I had run out of things to add we both sat silent for a long while. Rose watched us from a short distance away. She had remained quiet the entire time. My guess was that she didn’t trust herself to speak on the topic yet.

After some time had passed Marc leaned back in his chair and looked at me, “You know what this means?”

I had some inkling what he would say next, but I simply nodded.

“There is a certain king that needs killing,” he supplied.

Rose leaned in, “Yes!” It was the first time she had shown any enthusiasm in the conversation.

I stood up and my nervous energy set me to pacing. “I agree with you, though he isn’t the only one, nor should he be the first.”

“The shiggreth?” he said questioningly.

I nodded, “They were already on the list but now they will be first. I want to save Edward for last.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because someone is talking to them,” Rose interrupted. “They should not have known that the King’s operatives would be escaping with fugitives on that particular day, and in that particular place. That means either they have spies in high places or someone has established some sort of alliance with them and is feeding them information, someone close to the King.”

“Exactly,” I affirmed. “What was a simple war of humanity against the creatures of darkness has now been complicated. Very likely someone on our side has thrown in with the forces of evil. We need to know who before we remove the King from power.”

I could see Marc’s mind had already caught up with us and he was working ahead to try and figure out the best course of action. “We need someone inside the palace,” he said finally.

“What were you saying about being a ‘spymaster general’?” I reminded him.

He shook his head, “In this case I’m the wrong choice, even more so than with the clergy I am too well known among the nobility.”

Rose agreed with him, “No offence, but even given Marcus’ exalted social standing; he was raised as country gentry. This will require someone with an intimate knowledge of the city and the people that call it home, particularly those in the palace.”

The two of them exchanged glances. As usual when it came to intrigue they agreed with one another. “You’re suggesting that you can find the information we need?” I said looking at Rose.

She smiled in a fashion that reminded me of her usual confidence, “Of course I am. Marcus needs to finish ferretting out the secrets of the priests. I suspect that he may be close to something that may be important.”

“Aren’t you too well known to sneak into the palace?” I said, bringing up one of the arguments Marc had used to rule himself out.

She raised her eyebrow again, “Why Mordecai, who said anything about sneaking in? Do you have such a low opinion of me? I will discover what we need to know through various contacts. I think it is not too far from the truth if I say that I know absolutely everyone important in this city, and if I don’t… I know someone else who does.”

A cold shiver went up my spine. Rose could be rather intimidating when she put a little effort into it. Then I realized I was the only one left without an assigned task. “What will I do to keep myself busy in the meantime?” I wondered idly.

Marc gave me a wicked grin, “You should check with my father. It’s been a few days; I suspect he’s got news by now.”

“What makes you say that?” I inquired.

“My father loves to hunt. I dare say he is nearly as knowledgeable in the forest as his master huntsman, William, and William is far from the only hunter in his employ. If he has not managed to trace at least some of them by now I’ll eat my hat,” he informed me with a certain amount of pride.

“You don’t have a hat,” I pointed out.

He groaned wearily, “It’s a figure of speech. Anyway, you’re so used to thinking like a wizard you forget that men are not helpless without magic. He won’t have been idle while you were here, but he may need your help when he finds them.”

The next morning I returned to Lancaster. We had talked long into the night but in the end we didn’t have any better solutions than what we had started with.

Stepping out of the teleportation circle I spotted two men standing guard within the building that held them. They had already taken note of my appearance and were opening their mouths to speak. I was too quick for them however. “You!” I said sharply. “Where is the Duke presently?”