Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

First you must go to my temple, to present yourself before the priests there. They must hear my words and prepare to give you a place among them. The goddess spoke within his mind. “Yes my Lady,” he answered and then he turned to head for the temple of Millicenth. He had no more doubts about the future.

I woke early the next morning. I had slept more soundly than I had in weeks and for a change I felt fresh and rested. Penny lay beside me, snoring softly… for once. I watched her for a few minutes, marveling at her beauty. I still didn’t understand what she saw in me, but I hoped her eyesight never improved. Remembering her promise from the night before, I decided to see if it was still on the table for discussion.

I eased closer to her and began kissing her neck softly, while my hands… well let’s just say they roamed a lot. The general idea was to get her into such a state that she would be unlikely to refuse me when she finally awoke. It seemed to be working. When her eyes opened I covered her mouth with my own, hoping a kiss would seal the bargain. For a moment it worked, I could feel her excitement, but then she pushed me back.

“Oh you play dirty!” she exclaimed as she untangled herself from the bed sheets.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying.” I was in a good mood despite her strength of will. Was she panting? It might have been my imagination.

“You keep that up and we’ll be in separate beds till the wedding day,” she retorted. I was pretty sure she was bluffing.

“You did trick me last night. That was hardly fair,” I smiled at her.

“What isn’t fair… is you working yourself to death in front of me.”

She might have a point there, but it reminded me of my plans. “Oh that’s right! Where’s your chain shirt? I’ll do it first, and then I can go see how Dad is doing with the molds.”

“Molds?”

I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about our plans yet so I filled her in. She liked the idea and agreed to come along to the smithy with me so that Dad could use her pendant for the molds. Her only condition was that I eat breakfast before I got started. She seemed to think I would starve myself to death if I didn’t eat in front of her.

Dorian came in while we were eating. He looked tired. “Got any more of that?” He motioned toward my food.

“Sure,” Penny said and she got up to make him a plate.

“You look like shit,” I opined.

“This is what you looked like last night, so don’t get too cocky,” he responded. “I spent the entire night looking for your monsters.”

“Well I’m glad you did, I slept better than I have in days,” I tried to sound grateful. He ate with us and then I got busy working on Penny’s chain shirt. Penny went ahead and took her pendant over to my father before she went to see the architect.

“What are you going to tell people?” Dorian asked. I had just finished with her chainmail byrnie and was preparing to head over to the smithy.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s worse, panic or fear of the unknown.”

“I spoke to some of the townspeople this morning; right after the sun came up. They’re worried,” Dorian added. “If they don’t hear something soon they may panic anyway. They haven’t failed to notice me, especially now that my armor sparkles like this. People know you called me for a reason.”

Dorian could be awfully smart sometimes. It was easy to take him for granted but he was a careful thinker. “What do I tell them? That some sort of undead monsters are prowling around?”

“You’re their lord, they need your leadership. Explain things to them and maybe they’ll surprise you,” he commented.

“No one else here is capable of fighting those things…” I started.

Dorian cut me off, “You are mistaken if you think that’s how this works. Where do you think the Duke of Lancaster gets his power?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer me,” Dorian said stubbornly.

“The King of course,” it seemed obvious to me.

“Wrong. His power comes from those that serve him. A duke, or a count…,” he looked at me pointedly, “…receives his power from those who do his bidding. Without them he is just another man.”

“I’m a wizard, and they still can’t deal with those things,” I countered.

Dorian stood up and walked over to a small tree that stood by the house, drawing his sword he swung at it. His newly enchanted blade cut through the sapling as if it were made of paper. It toppled slowly over, narrowly missing my outdoor table. Dorian looked a bit surprised; at a guess I would say he hadn’t tested the sword since my efforts to enchant it the day before. He paused, then remembered his train of thought, “Who cut that tree down?” he asked.

Idiot, I thought, He cuts down my pear tree and then asks me who did it? “I’m telling Penny,” I replied sarcastically, as if we were still kids.

He gulped nervously, but went on, “Come on Mort; answer me… who cut the tree down?”

“When Penny asks I’m telling her it was you, but it was my enchantment that made it possible.” I took a sip of water, looking at him over the rim of the cup.

“Who’s hand held the blade?” he replied.

“Yours my good friend, it was definitely yours,” I said, nearly laughing, sometimes I crack myself up.

Dorian threw the sword on the ground, “Can it cut a tree down now? Get up sword! Go cut that tree down for me!” He was yelling at the blade and pointing at another small tree.

I was beginning to wonder at his sanity. “Come on Dorian… calm down. Obviously the blade can’t do anything if you don’t hold it. Well technically, I might be able to make it work without holding it… but I think that’s not your point is it?”

“Damn right it’s not! I held the sword. I cut the tree down… with this hand,” he held his large hand up, making a fist. “And who made the sword, before you enchanted it? Who built this house? Look around you! Everything you see was made by plain old everyday people, your people! You can improve on some things with magic, surely, but you are just one man. True power lies in the people around you. As the Count di’Cameron you have been given their trust, it is up to you to use it wisely. Hide everything from them; treat them as children and you throw away your power, you cheapen their strength. Talk to them, trust them, let them help you and you will learn what true strength is.”

I had never heard Dorian give such an impassioned speech before, and it cut through my arrogance, touching my heart. “Dorian, you’re right.” For a moment he reminded me so strongly of his father that it almost brought a tear to my eye. I got up and hugged him. “As long as I have friends like you things will always work out. If it weren’t for you and Penny I don’t know how I would manage all this.”

“I’m glad you realize that,” he answered gruffly. He always got a bit uncomfortable when I was overly emotional.

“Let’s go see how far Dad is with the pendants, maybe we can help him. When they’re ready I’ll talk to everyone. I won’t tell them till I can at least give them some small measure of protection,” I said.

“At least you have a plan,” Dorian replied. “Any plan is better than none.” Together we went to the smithy, there was much to do.

The next few days passed by uneventfully. Dorian took to sleeping during the mornings, since he spent the nights patrolling. His speech had made an impact on me, so I let him do it, while I used the days to make enchanted pendants for the townsfolk. After four days I had over sixty of them ready, which I figured would be enough for everyone to have one. I intended to keep at it though; there would be more people as time went on.