Gail Martin - The summoner

"He doesn't have to," Jared fumed. "All he has to do is live long enough to reach Dhasson and others will make him a rallying point."

"Then we have to make sure he never reaches Dhasson."

Jared stood and walked to the window of his chamber. It was autumn and only the thick stone walls of the palace kept a chill from the room. His sable brown hair fell in soft waves to his shoulders, framing a face that would have been handsome but for the arrogant turn of his lip and the hard glint in his brown eyes. The resemblance between Jared and his younger half-brother was unmistakable, though Tris was as fair in coloring as Jared was dark. "What do you suggest?"

"You are certain he is heading north. Only a few roads lead there. Hire a tracker to find him and reward him well for the hunt."

Jared wheeled on the mage. "That's it? I could have come up with that. Can't a mage do better than that?"

Arontala fixed him with a cool stare. "There are uses for magic and uses for men. My magic confirms that your brother is alive and heading north. But without more precise information, I cannot summon harm without laying waste to a good bit of the population along the northern route." "Then do it!"

Arontala looked faintly amused. "That would not be wise, sire," he replied, moving away from the wall. "Even you rule by consent of the people. My power can't alter that should enough of them seek to change it. There are still whisperings about your father's death. And about your suspicious dark mage," he added with a hint of irony. "They fear you, but they do not hate you. Yet. Wait until your brother is dead before you make your presence more onerous to them, or you will provide him the opening you wish to avoid."

Jared turned back to look out the window. "Then hire your assassins and pay them well. I want Tris dead." "As you wish, my lord."

Jared looked back at him over his shoulder. "And the other matter? Did you secure it?"

Arontala crossed the room, but Jared did not see him move. It was an annoying habit and Jared suspected that was precisely why the mage continued to do it. Arontala lifted the bowl with the soldier's blood and let his finger run along its rim. The mage's tongue wet his lips as he raised the bowl and began to drink, Jared saw a flash of white teeth that made him shiver.

"Feed your filthy habit elsewhere," Jared snapped. "A mage that can only go about in darkness is only half of use to me."

Arontala ignored the command and set the empty bowl aside, his mouth immaculately clean.

"You should not speak of what you do not comprehend, my liege," the mage said dryly. "If you prefer, I can feed otherwise, but I am not sure that even you are strong enough… yet… to harbor a rogue vayash moru with impunity."

"Your precious dark gift has done me little good," Jared growled. "And as for rumors, do you think the commoners would believe I would give safety to one of your kind… after we've gone to such pains to exterminate the others?" He paused. "I still think they could have been turned to be… useful to us."

"Ah yes," Arontala said in that smooth voice Jared found so mocking. "Jared Drayke, slayer of vayash moru, defender of the kingdom. Even I could not turn and retain control of so many of… as you put it… my kind." "Even you?" Jared sneered. Arontala made a dismissive wave. "There are still the palace ghosts." "The dagger which slew your father was spelled to destroy the soul as well as the body. His body was burned, and the ashes mingled with dryroot and scattered under a full moon. There is no magic that can bring him back," Arontala replied. "And the others?"

"Some of the spirits were banished," Arontala replied. "They cannot return unless I bid them come. As for your stepmother and her brat, their spirits are still here under my watchful eye," he said with a lethal smile as he walked around the pulsing, red orb in the center of the room. "They await the Feeding," he said, his hand hovering just above the surface of the orb. "They are quite safe in my Soulcatcher," he smiled.

"There is still Bava K'aa," Jared snapped. "I saw what she could do."

"Bava K'aa is dead."

Jared turned toward the mage and shook his head. "She was a mage. A strong one. She could will her spirit to remain."

"That was why we set the warding around the throne room when your father fell," Arontala replied. "And why I set the spell to banish the castle ghosts. If her spirit is here, which I do not sense, she did not come to Bricen's aid."

Jared began to pace. "No, she didn't," he replied softly, as if answering himself instead of Arontala. "But she always favored Serae's brats. And I think she always meant for Serae's son to rule." He looked up at the mage. "I want you to find her body and destroy it."

Arontala returned a skeptical look. "Bava K'aa was buried within a citadel of the Sisterhood. Nothing short of war could breach their protections."

"Why are you so clear on what can't be done and not on what can?" Jared exploded. "You're supposed to make sure that nothing interferes. If you can't do that, perhaps there's a stronger mage who can!"

Arontala looked faintly amused. "Perhaps. But I sense that you fear something more than Bava K'aa's ghost."

Jared stopped pacing in front of the empty hearth and stared into the darkness of the opening. "I've always heard that sorcerers must have a mage heir." He turned to face Arontala and forced himself to meet those mocking, dark eyes. "What if my cursed brother is her heir?"

As usual, Arontala's eyes revealed nothing. "You have no reason to believe that. Your brother has shown less interest in magic than he has in ruling. Really, Jared, if you thought him to be such a threat, why didn't you kill him yourself? You had plenty of opportunities."

"If he has Bava K'aa's power," Jared continued doggedly, "do you realize what that means? He could summon her spirit to fight me, use her powers against me and take the throne. If he becomes a Summoner, if he inherited grandmother's gift, then both the spirits and the undead heed his command." "You are worried about children's tales and ghost stories."

"Then prove me wrong," Jared hissed, turning on the mage. "Drive out the Sisterhood. Make sure Bava K'aa can't return from the dead. And find my brother!"

"As you wish, sire," Arontala answered with a low bow Jared was not altogether sure was respectful. "But there are a few more details in which you might be interested."

"Speak."

"I have set a barrier spell on the border with Dhasson," Arontala reported, a smile at his own cleverness touching the corners of his thin lips. "It is particular to your brother. It will summon every dark thing in the Northern Lands as soon as he breaches the border." Arontala smiled his pleasure. "No one could withstand those… things… and live."

"No one but a mage," Jared muttered darkly. "My brother has the lives of a cat." He paced. "And while you tell me you are the strongest mage in the Winter Kingdoms, you have not told me who made those dark beasts, since they are more than you can conjure."

It was the first time Jared scored against Arontala, and the mage turned with a dismissive gesture. "It does not matter who made them," he said. "What matters is that we have made them useful."

"It doesn't matter who made them," Jared echoed dryly, "until that mage appears and demands his due."

"There are more pressing matters to worry about," Arontala responded impatiently.

"Like my brother."

"He is only an average swordsman, my liege," Arontala replied with patronizing mildness. "Even with help, there are too many of the creatures to fight. He will not survive crossing the border. Not for long."

"Your assurances are hollow," Jared snapped. "I can't rest until he is dead."

"You will not wait long, your majesty," Arontala answered, gliding to the window. "Have you so little faith?"