Читать книгу Prince of the Blood - Raymond E. Feist - Страница 9

BORRIC SHOOK HIS HEAD.

Erland asked, ‘What’s bothering you?’

Borric said, ‘What?’

‘You’ve been shaking your head “no” as you’ve been walking for the last couple of minutes. You’re arguing with yourself again.’

Borric made a sound between a sigh and a grunt. ‘I’m worried about Uncle Jimmy.’

Erland turned slightly as he picked up the pace so he could examine his brother’s face while they walked. The evening sky was turning inky as the middle moon hadn’t risen yet. But the balmy evening promised romance for those inclined and able to find willing partners. It was upon such a search the twins were now embarking. As they headed to where the ferry barge was tied, Erland said. ‘It’s not usual for you to concern yourself with others, let alone someone as capable as Uncle Jimmy.’

‘That’s why I’m worried,’ said Borric, halting to emphasize the point. He poked his finger on Erland’s chest. ‘“There’s nothing dumber in the world than a man with an erection,” he used to tell us, right?’

Erland laughed and nodded. ‘Except Uncle Locky. It just makes him that much more cunning.’

‘Only when it comes to finding a warm place to put his great sword. Otherwise he’s just as stupid as the rest of us.’

‘The rest of us except Uncle Jimmy.’

‘Right,’ agreed Borric. ‘My point exactly. He’s had his share, we both know that. But he’s always kept them at a distance and never made stupid promises. It’s like … he never found something he was looking for. Now he meets this woman and …’ He paused, at a loss for words.

‘Like magic.’

‘Exactly!’ said Borric. ‘And what better place to find magic than an island of magicians?’

Erland put a restraining hand on Borric as his brother started to walk again. ‘You think this is some sort of spell? An enchantment?’

‘Ah, a very special enchantment,’ said a gravelly voice from the dark.

Both brothers turned to see a stout figure sitting upon a tree stump not ten feet away. Because the man had been motionless, he had remained unseen in the gloom until he spoke. Coming closer, the young Princes saw the speaker was the old magician, Kulgan.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Borric, as if his suspicions had been confirmed.

Kulgan laughed. He stuck out his hand for a moment and then waved it impatiently. ‘Well just don’t stand there. Give an old man some help. My knees are older than creation!’

Erland assisted the old magician as Kulgan pulled himself upright, one hand in Erland’s, the other on a large wooden staff. The magician continued, ‘I’ll walk with you to the ferry landing. I assume you’re going across to find some trouble. Boys your age always are interested in trouble.’

‘The enchantment?’ said Borric impatiently.

The old man laughed. ‘You know, when your grandfather Borric was a little older than you, he was just as unwilling to wait. When he wanted an answer, he wanted it right now, by damn. It took a lot of years for him to get over that. Your father has the same flaw, but he hides it better. Arutha always was among the best I’ve known for recognizing limits.’

Erland said, ‘He has that knack, except when it comes to us.’

Kulgan fixed both brothers with a baleful gaze. ‘Limits? What do you spoiled children know of limits? Oh, maybe you’ve had to use your swords now and again, but limits?’ He halted for a moment, and leaned upon the staff. Tapping his head with one finger, he said, ‘This. Your brain. When you bring all your faculties to bear on a problem, try every conceivable solution in your mind, and still have no solution, then you’ll understand what limits I’m talking about.’

‘Father always said you were one of his most demanding teachers,’ said Erland with a grin.

‘Ha!’ snorted Kulgan. ‘Now Father Tully, there was an exacting taskmaster.’ His eyes looked off in the distance, reflecting for a moment, then he continued, ‘It’s a pity you never knew him. You were babies when he died. Tragic loss. One of the finest minds I’ve ever known … even if he was a priest,’ he added, unable to resist the jab at his old debating partner, and feeling sadness at the lack of a rejoinder.

Borric said, ‘Were you joking about the enchantment on Jimmy?’

Kulgan said, ‘You are very young, my Prince. You don’t know half of everything yet. Or a half of a half. Or even half of that,’ he added with a more than playful whack with his staff to Borric’s leg for emphasis.

‘Ow,’ Borric said, reflexively dancing back.

As Erland began to laugh, Kulgan gave him a bark on the shins as well, saying, ‘Just to keep things even.’

As both brothers made a show of being in pain, Kulgan said, ‘Now pay attention. I’m old and I don’t have the time to waste repeating myself.’

When the twins ceased their little dances of distress, Kulgan said, ‘The sort of enchantment I am speaking of is nothing you can teach. It’s not of the sort of magic men can employ at whim. It’s a magic the gods have given to only a few lucky men and women. It’s the magic of a love so real and profound that nothing can change you back once you’ve known it.’ His eyes again sought distant horizons as he said, ‘I’m so old I have to work to remember last night’s dreams. Yet there are times boyhood recollections come to me as if they were but moments ago.’ He looked at Borric, as if searching for something familiar in his young face. After a quiet moment, he said, ‘Your grandfather was a passionate man, and your uncle is, as well. So’s your father, though you’d not know it to look at him, he was trapped by your mother almost from the moment they met, though he was too thick to know it. He was incredibly fortunate to fall in love with a woman to whom marriage would prove advantageous for the nation. If not for that, your mother might have been a minor princess from Roldem or the daughter of some eastern duke.

‘Your Aunt Carline was set upon marrying your Uncle Laurie within days of meeting him. And do you know what a fuss that caused? She was the King’s sister, and it could have been vital for Lyam to marry her off to a Prince of Kesh or Roldem, the Duke of Olasko, or an eastern noble to strengthen his rule, but she would have none of it. She made him name a commoner Duke of Salador so she could marry nobility, but your aunt would have still run off with him had he stayed a lowly minstrel.’ He chuckled. ‘Fortunately for everyone, your Uncle Laurie turned out to be a competent enough ruler.

‘The point is that you will feel needs as you get older, needs that carousing through alehouses with net-menders’ daughters will not satisfy, no matter how rosy their cheeks, sweet their laughter, or soft their arms may be. And the bed-silks of the nobility’s daughters will lose their lustre as well.’

Both Borric and Erland exchanged glances, and Erland said, ‘That will be some time to come, I think.’

Kulgan silenced him with another smack to his shins. ‘Don’t interrupt. I don’t care if you are a prince. I’ve whacked better men than you and of higher rank. Your uncle, the King, was a poor student and saw the flat of my hand more than once.’ He sighed. ‘Now, where was I? Oh, yes, true love. You’ll find as you get older that passion fades, but the need for a true mate deepens. Your father found it, Carline found it, your Uncle Martin found it. The King did not.’

Borric said, ‘He loves the Queen, I’m certain.’

‘Oh, in his way, certainly. She’s a fine woman and I’ll not hear any man say otherwise, but there’s love and there’s what our young Baron James has discovered. He’s a changed man, no doubt about it. You watch and learn. If you’re fortunate, you might witness what you will likely never know.’

Borric sighed and looked at the ground. ‘Because I am to be King?’

Kulgan nodded. ‘Precisely. You’re not as thick as I took you to be. You will marry for the good of the nation. Oh, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to satisfy itches with willing ladies of many ranks, no doubt. I know your uncle has given you at least a half a dozen cousins born on the wrong side of the blanket. Several of them will no doubt rise through the ranks of the nobility by the time it’s over with and done. But that’s not the same thing.

‘The King is very fond of the Queen, and from what I hear, she is an able confidant and wise counsellor, but she is still no more than a friend to him. Your uncle has to live every day of his life without that one special thing that your father, your aunt, and your uncle Martin were blessed with.

‘James has found the person whom the gods placed here to make his life complete. Don’t doubt for a moment that it was fated, and don’t think for a moment that he was taken unawares. What seems to you to be a hasty act of rash thoughtlessness is in fact a recognition of something so profound that only one who has known it can understand. The mind and logic have nothing to do with this; it is a thing of the heart and intuition. So, do you understand now?’

‘We should let him alone?’ said Erland.

‘Precisely,’ said Kulgan, pleased with himself. He smiled as he studied the Princes for a moment. ‘You know, you two are nowhere near the stupid pair of street thugs you resemble. Blood will tell after all, I guess. Now, you’ll most likely forget everything I’ve told you five minutes after you find an alehouse with a card game and a couple of amply endowed serving women looking to snag a rich gift from a young noble.

‘But with luck, at some critical time in your life, you will recall what I’ve said. It will help you make choices you must make, both of you, for the good of your nation.’

Borric shrugged. ‘It seems that the last few weeks have been dedicated to constantly reminding us of our duty.’

‘As it should be.’ Kulgan studied the boys. ‘You have been placed upon a high seat, Borric, and you one step below, Erland. You are not given all the power your rank carries for your simple pleasures and amusements. They come to you in payment for terrible sacrifices. Your grandfather made them, as did your uncle, and your father. I served with Lord Borric during the Riftwar and watched him order men into battle, knowing that many of them would not return. The ghosts of the many men who died under your grandfather’s command haunted his nights. As the ghosts of those who served your father haunt his nights. And while every one of those men died willingly in service to their King and Prince, still their deaths weigh heavily upon Arutha. That’s the sort of man your father is. You will come to know him better as you get older.’ Looking at Borric, he said, ‘And the day will come when you have to order men to go forth and die for the Isles, and unless you came into this world without a soul and heart, my young friend, your nights will be as haunted as your father’s and grandfather’s.’

Both brothers said nothing. At last Kulgan turned back toward the imposing edifice of Stardock. ‘It’s turning cool. I’ll find me a fire to warm myself next to. You go find whatever trouble you can.’ After he took a few steps, Kulgan halted, turned and said, ‘And be cautious of some of our fisher lads. Make free with their women and they’ll have their scaling knives out before they remember you’re royalty.’ He studied the twins’ faces a long moment, then added, ‘Take care of yourselves, boys.’

Borric and Erland watched the old magician head back to the entrance of the main building of the Academy, then resumed their walk to the ferry. As they came to the beach, Erland said, ‘What do you think?’

Borric said, ‘About what he said? I think he’s an old man with a lot of strange ideas.’

Erland nodded in agreement as they signalled to the ferryman they wished to cross to the beckoning lights of the distant town. While they waited, Borric turned and stared into the gloom at the doors where Kulgan had passed. For a brief moment he pondered the old magician’s words, and wondered if the reason he felt so uncomfortable with what Kulgan said was because he didn’t understand what Kulgan said, or because he did understand what Kulgan said.

The wind blew softly as Gamina and James walked along the shore, silently sharing the evening. James felt both invigorated and exhausted. In his thirty-seven years he had shared little of himself with anyone. True intimacy seemed impossible for him, but in Gamina he found someone able to break past previously unbreachable defences. No, it wasn’t that way, he amended silently to himself. She hadn’t broken past anything. She simply found the door waiting for her to open.

A scented breeze blew out of the south, the fragrance of distant orchards and fields in bloom across the Vale of Dreams. Middle moon rose in the east, a copper disc in the dark night approaching. James turned to his intended bride. He marvelled at the arch of her neck, the way her fine pale hair seemed to float about her face and shoulders, a nimbus of white tinged smoky grey in the twilight. Her pale eyes regarded him, then she smiled and his spirit leaped. ‘I love you,’ she said.

‘I love you,’ he said, not quite believing his own joy. ‘And I must leave you.’

She turned to watch the moon for a long moment, then her thoughts came to James. No, my love. My time here is over. I will journey to Kesh with you.

James gathered her into his arms. ‘It’s dangerous. Even for one of your gifts, there will be peril.’ He kissed her neck and felt her shiver slightly in response. ‘I would be more content within my mind with you safely here.’

Would you? she asked. I wonder … She stepped slightly away and studied his face in the fading light. ‘I fear you might retreat within yourself, Jimmy, and after a time you would convince yourself what we have found here was an illusion and those barriers against love and pain would then be restored, stronger, higher, and more firmly buttressed than ever before. You would find a reason to journey back to Krondor another way, and you would find reasons to postpone your return to Stardock. For a time you would convince yourself that you intended to come for me as soon as possible, but there would be one reason then another to keep you away. And always one reason or another to keep you from sending for me. After a time, you would simply put all this away from your heart and forget.’

James looked stung. Newly discovered feelings rampaged through him and his usual pose of relaxed confidence was absent. He looked nothing more than the boy he had never truly been, confused and disturbed by the loving attentions of a woman. ‘Do you think so little of me, after all?’

Touching his cheek, she smiled, and the warmth of her loving gaze swept away the fear again, as it had a dozen times during the day. Gamina had read James’s heart and soul when she had revived him upon the lakeshore and had shared herself with him, both her body and heart. Still, trust for James was grudgingly surrendered, even to the woman who had touched him as no other had. ‘No, love, I do not underestimate you. But I also do not underestimate fear. My talents are not just magic as others upon this island know it. My skills are also in healing the mind and heart. I can share things with those who are weakened in spirit and sick of mind, and help them, sometimes. I can listen to dreams. And I have seen what fear can do. You fear being left again as you were by your mother.’

James knew she was right. Even as she spoke, the feelings of that dreadful night returned, when as a child of six or seven he stole out of his mother’s crib, the stickiness upon the floor her blood, the horror of knowing only utter abandonment. Unbidden tears came to James’s eyes. Gamina gathered him into her arms and let him vent his pain. You will never be alone again, came her thoughts in his mind.

He stood motionless, holding her as if she were his only connection to life. And as it had before, the pain slipped away, leaving behind a tired but warm and relieved feeling. Something angry and festering within him for years had been lanced, and poisonous fear and loneliness were draining away. The wound wouldn’t heal in the space of a single day, or even many days, but in time it would heal and James of Krondor would be the better man for the healing. Her voice came to him as she said, And it is my fear speaking, as well. Doubt can make us all vulnerable.

‘I have no doubt,’ he answered simply. She smiled as she again hugged him tight.

The sounds of footfalls upon the ground and a pointed clearing of a throat signalled Locklear’s arrival. ‘Sorry to intrude, but Pug would like to see you, James.’ He smiled apologetically. ‘And your mother would like you to join her in the kitchen, Gamina.’

‘Thank you,’ Gamina answered. She gifted Locklear with a warm smile and kissed James on the cheek. ‘I will see you at dinner.’

He kissed her again, and she headed toward the kitchen. James and Locklear walked toward Pug’s study. Locklear cleared his throat in a significant, theatrical manner.

James said, ‘You’ve got something on your mind. Out with it.’

Locklear’s words came in a rush. ‘Look, we’ve known each other, what, twenty-two years? In all that time I’ve never known you to show the least bit of interest in women—’ James gave him a strange look and he amended that to, ‘—I mean interest in marriage, at least. Now, out of nowhere, you suddenly walk in and announce to all that you’re getting married! I mean, she’s certainly a beauty, with that nearly-white hair and all, but you’ve known—’

‘I’ve known no one, nothing, like Gamina,’ Jimmy interrupted. He stopped his companion with a restraining hand to Locklear’s chest. ‘I don’t know if someone like you can understand, Locky, but she’s seen inside of me. She’s seen all there is to see, the bad I’ve done and felt, the things that I’ve only hinted at to you, and she loves me despite those things. She loves me, anyway!’ He took a deep breath. ‘You will never know what that means.’

He resumed walking and Locklear hesitated an instant before catching up. ‘What do you mean “someone like you”?’

James halted again. ‘Look, you’re the best friend – perhaps the only real friend – I’ve ever known, but when it comes to women … you have no … consideration. You’re charming, you’re attentive, you’re persistent, and when the lady in question wakes up in your bed, you’re gone. I don’t know if you’ve ever really loved a woman, and sometimes, I’m not entirely sure you really even like them. You certainly don’t take their feelings into account. Why some woman’s brother or father hasn’t run a sword through you … When it comes to you and women, Locky, you just are not very constant.’

‘And you are?’

‘I am now,’ James answered. ‘As constant as water running downhill.’

Locklear said, ‘Well, we’ll see what Arutha has to say about this headlong flight into matrimony. We court Barons need his permission to marry, remember?’

‘I know.’

‘Well, I’ll leave you to your meeting with the spellcaster,’ Locklear said as they reached the door to the Academy building. ‘I expect he’ll also have a thing or two to say about you spiriting away his daughter.’ Locklear left James alone at the entrance.

James entered the building and made his way down a long corridor to the base of the tower, the top of which housed Pug’s study. He mounted a spiral stairway and climbed until he reached the door of the study. As he raised his hand to knock, the door swung open to admit him. Stepping through the portal, he was not surprised to discover Pug alone in the study, some distance away from the door. After he was inside, the door closed behind James without apparent aid.

‘We need to speak,’ Pug said, as he rose and beckoned James to a large window. Looking out, he pointed at small lights which dotted the far shore. ‘People,’ he said.

James shrugged. He knew the sorcerer hadn’t called him to his presence to discuss the obvious.

‘When we came to Stardock over twenty years ago, this was a barren patch of ground in the middle of a deserted lake. The shore was a bit more hospitable, but this Vale was the scene of constant warfare between the Kingdom and the Empire, between rival border lords, or gangs of renegades. Durbin slavers raided, and simple bandits plagued the farmers as much as locust.’ He sighed as he remembered. ‘Now people lead relatively peaceful lives. Oh, there are occasional problems, but for the most part, things in the area of the Great Star Lake are quiet. And what caused that change?’ he asked James.

James said, ‘It doesn’t take a genius to deduce your presence here caused that change. Pug.’

Pug turned away from the view of the lake shore and said, ‘Jimmy, when we first met I was a young man and you were a boy. But in the time between then and now I’ve encountered more than most men could imagine in a dozen lifetimes.’ With a simple wave of his hand he created a cloud in the middle of the room, less than two feet in diameter. It shimmered, then appeared a hole in the air, through which James could see a strange hall. It was a hall hanging in the midst of a grey nothingness, along the path of which doors were spaced every dozen yards or so. The grey void of nothingness between the doors was so absolute that even the black of night seemed rich and alive in comparison. ‘The Hall of Worlds,’ said Pug. ‘By this path I have ventured to places no human has seen, nor will likely see again. I have visited the ashes of ancient civilizations and seen new races aborning. I have counted stars and grains of sand both, and find that the universe is so vast that no mind, perhaps not even that of a god, could encompass it.’

Pug waved his hand and the image vanished. ‘It would become easy to dismiss the concerns of those who live in such a tiny place as the Vale as trivial.’

James crossed his arms as he said, ‘Compared to that, it is trivial.’

Pug shook his head. ‘Not to those who live here.’

James sat without Pug’s leave and said, ‘I know there’s a point to this. Pug.’

Pug returned to his own chair behind his study table and said, ‘Yes, there is. Katala is dying.’

That news, unexpected as well as shocking, caught James by surprise. ‘I thought she appeared unwell, but dying …’

‘There is much we can do here, James, but there are limits. No magic, potion, charm, or prayer can do more for my wife than has already been done. There is a link between healing magic and something profound in the human spirit.’ He grew thoughtful and barely masked the pain his voice did not betray. ‘I think it is natural for all things to die, eventually, even the longest lived races, the elves, and great dragons.’ He looked at James, without words for a moment, then added, ‘If it is time, no magic or spell can prevent this. Katala … is ready to die. Soon she will journey through a rift back to her homeland, the Thuril Highlands on Kelewan. She has seen no kinsman in nearly thirty years now. She will return home to die.’

James shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could say. Finally he asked, ‘Gamina?’

‘I’ve watched my wife grow old before her time, James, though had this illness not developed I would have had to face this burden eventually. You can see I have not aged measurably. Nor will I in your lifetime. I may not be immortal, but my powers make me long-lived. And I’ll not watch my children and grandchildren grow old and wither while I stay as I am.

‘I will leave Stardock within hours of Katala’s departure. William is firm upon his soldier’s path, having forsaken his magic gifts. I wished it were otherwise, but like most fathers I must accept that my own dreams are not necessarily my son’s. Gamina has talents, as well, not limited to magic, but rather stemming from an unusual mind. Her mental speech is both magic and natural, but her sensitive nature, her empathy, her caring, these are special gifts.’

James nodded. ‘I can’t argue that. Her mind is … a miracle.’

Pug said, ‘I agree. I’ve studied my daughter’s talents more closely than any upon this world and know better than even she what the extent of her talents are … and her limits. She would have chosen to stay here, had she not met you, to take over the burdens her mother leaves behind, Katala has been the true leader of our community for most of our time here. I wish to spare Gamina this. She was a child burdened with great sadness and pain at an early age, much like you, I suspect.’

James gave a slight nod. ‘We’ve shared things …’

‘No doubt,’ said Pug with a wry smile. ‘But that is as it should be with lovers, husbands and wives. I will lose much when Katala departs, more than perhaps even she suspects.’ For an instant, Pug stood exposed to James and the young Baron saw a man isolated from others by unknowable responsibility, and one of the few who could ease that great weight, one who could give him a few moments of warmth and comfort, was slowly leaving him. For just a moment, Pug revealed the depth of his pain, then the mask was again in place. ‘For when she leaves I will begin to concern myself with those grand issues I’ve given you but a glimpse of, and leave behind the “trivial” concerns of Stardock, the Vale, even the Kingdom.’ He looked off in the distance, as if his mind was elsewhere. ‘The Kingdom is my birthplace, Jimmy, but all the world is my home.’ He let out a deep breath, then smiled. ‘I wish for my loved ones what any man must wish: safe homes and fine children, lives unspoiled by turmoil and strife. In short, I wish them to be as happy as possible. And Gamina has shown me what is in her heart, and it is you. I wish to grant you my blessings.’

James let out a long sigh of relief. ‘I hope Arutha is as understanding. I need his permission to marry.’

‘This is no difficulty.’ Pug moved his hands and created a grey smoky sphere in the air. Within it, shapes began to form, then suddenly James was looking at Arutha in his study in Krondor, as if a window appeared between two rooms but a wall apart. Arutha glanced up as if at them and with an uncharacteristic display of surprise, half-rose from his chair. ‘Pug?’

Pug spoke, ‘Yes, Highness. I am sorry to intrude, but I have a favour to ask.’

Arutha sat down with obvious relief there was both a reasonable and friendly cause for the sudden apparition in his study. He put down a quill with which he’d been writing and said, ‘What may I do for you?’

‘You remember my daughter Gamina?’

Arutha said, ‘Yes, very well.’

‘I would like to see her married … to a man of some rank. One of your young court Barons.’

Arutha looked past Pug, caught sight of James, and smiled, his eyes revealing a rare amusement. ‘I suspect we could arrange a state marriage to one of our bright young men, Pug. Do you have anyone in mind?’

‘Baron James seems a most promising young man.’

Arutha’s smile broadened, to what James could swear was almost a grin, something he had never seen his Prince do before. ‘Most promising,’ he intoned in mock-seriousness as he returned his attention to Pug. ‘He stands to be a duke someday if his more impetuous nature doesn’t get him killed along the way, or banished by an angry monarch to the Salt Marsh Islands. A wife might be just the thing to rein in some of that recklessness. I had given up on his ever developing an interest in family. I am pleased to be wrong. I was ten years married at his age.’ Arutha sat an instant, lost in thought as he recalled his own youthful feeling for his wife, then looked past Pug at James, with a rare expression of deep affection apparent. Then he resumed his more familiar stoic demeanour. ‘Well, if he agrees, then you have my permission.’

Pug smiled. ‘He’s agreed, have no worry. He and my daughter are much in agreement on this course.’

Arutha sat back in his chair, a more typical half-smile on his face. ‘I understand. I still remember my own feelings for Anita when first we met. It can come suddenly. Very well, we’ll have a state wedding as soon as he returns from his envoy to Kesh.’

‘Actually, I was thinking of something a bit more timely. She wishes to accompany him on his envoy.’

Arutha’s features darkened. ‘I do not think I should approve. James may not have told you of the dangers—’

‘I have a clear idea of the dangers involved, Arutha,’ Pug interrupted. ‘But I think you have no idea of my daughter’s talents. I know much of what transpires in Kesh. She will aid your sons and envoy should trouble arise.’

Arutha considered this for a moment, then nodded. ‘Given that you are the girl’s father, I expect she has some abilities that may stand her in good stead should things prove difficult.

‘Very well, let us do this much. Marry them as quickly as you judge proper, then when they return, we’ll have a state wedding and festival in their honour. My wife and daughter would never forgive me for letting an excuse for new gowns pass them by. We shall have to do both.’

James looked surprised. ‘State wedding?’

Arutha nodded once, emphatically. ‘Gamma’s a royal cousin by adoption – unless you’ve forgotten – all of Pug’s family are. Our cousin Willy will be Duke of Stardock if I don’t make him Knight-Marshal of Krondor first. You’re marrying into the family.’ Then in mock-doubt, he sighed, ‘Though that thought brings me only the coldest comfort.’

‘Thank you, Arutha,’ said Pug with some amusement at the banter.

‘You are most welcome, Pug. And … Jimmy,’ he said, again with a genuine smile.

‘Yes, Arutha,’ said James, returning the smile.

‘May you be as happy in your marriage as I am in my own.’

James nodded. While Arutha was never a demonstrative man, James remembered years ago when Anita nearly died; the grief Arutha had endured was still keenly recalled. Only a few besides James knew how deep was the Prince of Krondor’s love for his Princess. ‘I think we shall be.’

‘Then I have a gift for you, an early wedding present.’ He opened a small chest atop his writing table and withdrew a small parchment scroll. ‘I shall give it over when you return, but for the present—’

Pug interrupted. ‘I can bring it to him now, if you wish, Arutha.’

If the Prince was surprised by this offer, he showed none of it. He simply said, ‘If you would be so kind.’

Pug waved his hand, closed his eyes a moment, and the document vanished from Arutha’s hand, appearing in his own. Arutha’s eyes widened slightly, his only reaction to the sorcerer’s ability really to move the parchment over such a distance in an instant.

Pug handed it to James. ‘For you.’

James opened the document and read. His eyes widened briefly. ‘It’s a patent of Office. Earl of the Prince’s Court. And King’s Minister.’

‘I was going to give that to you on your return, anyway. You’ve earned the rank, James. We’ll discuss holdings and revenues when you are back in Krondor. You will also assume the duties of Chancellor of the Western Realm when Gardan retires.’

James grinned, and Pug and Arutha both remembered the boy thief they had met years before. ‘I thank His Highness.’ He could not help but laugh. ‘But how many times has Gardan attempted to retire?’

Arutha seemed unable to avoid being amused in return. He laughed. ‘Every time he tried, I promoted him to a higher office, but now that he’s Duke of Krondor, I can’t find another unless I abdicate.’ Arutha’s face lost its smile. ‘No, in a year or two, he’ll return to Crydee and take up fishing and annoying his children as he spoils his grandchildren. You get the Chancellorship, Locklear will get the Exchequer, Valdis: Knight-Marshal and William: Knight-Captain of the Household. I’ll decide who gets to be the new duke then.

‘Now, let me return to work,’ said Arutha.

Pug said, ‘I bid you good evening, Highness.’

‘Good evening, to you, my lords Duke and Earl.’

Pug waved his hand and the image of the Prince vanished. ‘Astonishing,’ James said. ‘With that trick,’ he looked at the parchment he held, ‘and these armies …’

‘Which is why we must talk of things other than your wedding, James.’ Pug moved toward a table and indicated a decanter of wine. James poured two goblets of a fine fortified red. As he sipped, Pug sat and motioned for James to do likewise. ‘Stardock will not be allowed to become a tool of any nation. I have plans to prevent that.

‘My son will not inherit the title of Duke of Stardock. I think he prefers the life of a professional soldier, in any event. No, the two men you met upon landing, Watume and Korsh will be given sovereignty over this island after I depart, with another yet to be chosen, a triumvirate of magicians who will decide the good of the people here. They may expand that council as they see fit in years to come. But Lyam will not always sit upon the Throne of the Isles and I would not give over the power of Stardock to one like Mad King Rodric. I met him, and had he mustered magicians such as we have here to his cause, the world would have trembled. I also remember the havoc created by those magicians on Kelewan who chose to do the Warlord’s bidding during the Riftwar. No, Stardock must remain apolitical. Always.’

James stood up and said, ‘As a noble of the Kingdom, I fear you come close to treason.’ He took a few steps toward an open window and looked out into the night. Then he smiled. ‘As a man who learned to think for himself at an early age, I applaud your wisdom.’

‘Then you will also understand why I trust you will always remain a voice of reason in the Congress of Lords.’

James said, ‘A small voice, but one that will attempt to speak on behalf of your vision.’

Pug said, ‘I don’t think your voice will remain small very long, my lord Earl. Arutha has plans for you and when he speaks, the King listens. No, you will rise to a position of great importance one day.’

James said, ‘Perhaps, perhaps not, but at this moment, I’m just another court Earl.’ Then he grinned as he added, ‘Still, Chancellor does merit some attention.’ He lost his grin and spoke seriously. ‘I will try to make others understand. But you realize many will be of the mind that if you are not clearly loyal to the Kingdom you must be an enemy?’

Pug only nodded. ‘Now, to other matters. We shall have a priest over from the village on the lake shore, no temples stand upon the island itself, and our relationship with those who practise clerical magic is not, shall we say, entirely cordial.’

James smiled. ‘You poach their lands.’

Pug sighed. ‘So many think. In any event, the only clerics I found reasonable men are either dead or distant. I’m afraid as our power here grows, so does the suspicion of the great temples in Rillanon and Kesh.’ Then his expression brightened. ‘But Father Marias who oversees the small Church of Killian in the village is a decent enough man. He’ll agree to a wedding.’ Then Pug’s face relaxed into a wide smile. ‘More to the point, he’ll certainly agree to the feasting.’

James laughed aloud, and as thought of his wedding to Gamina swept through him, he was both awed and delighted by the sensations thinking of her caused. Then Pug said, ‘I do not expect you to understand what I’m about to say. But should you ever come to a time when you need to say something upon my behalf, say this, “The last truth is that there is no magic.”’

James said, ‘A very odd thing for a magician to say. I don’t understand.’

‘I don’t expect you to. If you understood what it meant, you would not be travelling to Kesh; I would persuade Arutha to keep you here. Just remember.’ Pug read his future son-in-law’s face and said, ‘Go find my daughter and tell her we’ll hold the ceremony day after tomorrow. No reason to wait another four days to next sixthday – we’re breaking enough traditions as it is.’

With a smile James placed the half-finished wine upon the table and left the room. As hurried footfalls echoed down the steps of the sorcerer’s tower, Pug turned to look out the window and spoke softly to no one, ‘We could all use a dose of revelry. Too many dark days are coming.’

The entire town of Stardock as well as a major portion of those from the shore who could find a way across the lake stood in a large circle around the portly priest. Father Marias smiled and beckoned James and Gamina to stand before him. He was a red-cheeked man, a baby who had never matured, but one whose thinning hair was turning silver-grey. His green robe and golden tabard were threadbare and often washed, but he wore them as proudly as any lord. Marias’s eyes were almost alight with pleasure at a wedding. His flock were fisher folk and farmers in the main, and all too often his duties consisted of burying them. Weddings and dedications of babies to the Goddess of All Living Things were especially delightful.

‘Come along, children,’ he said as Gamina and James advanced slowly. James wore the clothing he had brought along for his presentation to the Empress, a tunic of pale blue, dark blue leggings, and black boots. Over this he wore a white surcoat sewn with gold thread. On his head he wore the latest fashion, a large beret which hung nearly down to his shoulder on his left side, a silver badge and white owl’s feather setting it off.

Locklear stood beside him, similarly attired, though his clothes were even more richly fashioned in russet and gold hues. He glanced about, convinced these new fashions appeared ridiculous, but no one seemed to notice. All eyes were upon the bride.

Gamina wore a simple gown of lavender colour, set off with an extraordinary string of pearls around her neck. The gown was cinched at the waist by a wide belt studded by matching pearls and a silver buckle. A garland of flowers circled her brow, the traditional ‘bride’s crown’.

‘Now, then,’ Marias said, his voice betraying the rich, almost lyrical accent of one who was born along the south coast of the Kingdom Sea, near Pointer’s Head, ‘seeing as you’ve come before me with the stated intention of marriage, I’ve a few things to tell you.’ He motioned for James to take Gamina’s right hand in his and he placed his own pudgy hand over theirs. ‘Killian, the Goddess I serve, looked down upon man and woman when they were created by Ishap, the One Above All, and saw them apart. Man and woman looked heavenward and cried out in their loneliness. Hearing them and pitying them, the Goddess of Green Silence spoke, saying, “You shall not abide apart.” She then created the institution of marriage as a bond to bring man and woman together. It is the melding of souls, minds, and hearts. It is when two become as one. Do you understand?’ He looked each in the eye and in turn Gamina and James nodded.

To the assembled crowd, Marias said, ‘James of Krondor, Earl of the Prince’s Court and Gamina, daughter of Duke Pug and Duchess Katala, have come to this place and company to pledge themselves one to the other, and we are to bear witness to that pledge. If there is any here among you who knows why this should not be, speak now or go forever in silence.’ If there was to be any objection, Marias didn’t wait to hear it. Plunging on he said, ‘James and Gamina, understand that from this moment forward, each of you is now a part of the other. No longer separate, you are now as one.

‘James, this woman seeks to spend her life with you. Do you take her to you as mate and wife, without reservation and knowing that she is now one with you, holding her to you, and putting away any other, from now until death?’

James nodded, as he said, ‘I do.’

With a wave, Marias motioned for Locklear to hand James a golden ring. ‘Put that upon your bride’s hand.’ James did as he was asked, placing the ring upon the ring finger of Gamina’s left hand.

‘Gamina, this man seeks to spend his life with you. Do you take him to you as mate and husband, without reservation and knowing that he is now one with you, holding him to you, and putting away any other, from now until death?’

Gamina smiled and answered, ‘I do.’

Marias instructed Gamina to place a ring upon James’s hand, and she did so.

‘In as much as James and Gamina have agreed to live as one, in the sight of gods and men, we do hereby bear witness.’

The assembled company of guests repeated, ‘So do we bear witness.’

With a grin, the ruddy-cheeked priest said. ‘Well, that’s it, then. You’re married.’

James glanced around. ‘That’s all?’

Marias laughed. ‘We keep it simple in the country, my lord. Now, kiss your wife, and let’s get on with the feast.’

James laughed, grabbed Gamina, and kissed her. The crowd cheered and hats were thrown in the air.

At the edge of the crowd two men did not cheer as they observed the celebration. An angular, thin man with three days’ growth of unshaven beard, took the other by the elbow and led him a discreet distance away. Both were wearing clothing best described as ragged and torn, and both would have warranted a wide berth from anyone with an acute sense of smell. Glancing around to see they were not overheard, the first man said, ‘Earl James of Krondor. Baron Locklear. That means those two red-haired fighting lads are Arutha’s sons.’

The second man, stout and short, yet powerful in the shoulders, was obviously impressed at his companion’s keen observation. His cherubic face appeared almost innocent as he said, ‘Don’t see many Princes in these parts, ’s true, Lafe.’

‘You’re a fool, Reese,’ answered the other in a gravelly voice. ‘There are those who would pay well to know this. Get to the Inn of the Twelve Chairs at the desert’s edge, they are almost certain to ride that route. You know who to ask for. Tell our Keshian friends that the Princes of Krondor and their company ride from Stardock, and travel not in state, but in stealth. Their numbers are small. And wait there for me at the inn. And don’t drink up all the money he’ll give you or I’ll cut your liver out!’

Reese looked at his companion as if such duplicity was unthinkable.

Lafe continued, ‘I’ll follow after them that’s here and if they change route, I’ll send word. They’re surely carrying gold and gifts to the Empress for her birthday. With no more than twenty men at arms, we can be rich for life once the bandits cut their throats and give us our share.’

Glancing around the deserted shore, the man named Reese said, ‘How can I get there, Lafe? The ferryman’s at the wedding.’

Hissing through teeth black with decay, the taller man said, ‘Steal a boat, stupid.’

A glimmer of delight at the obvious answer shone in Reese’s eyes. ‘Good. I’ll get some food, then—’

‘You’ll go now!’ ordered his companion, pushing him off to an uneasy trot toward the shore and the unguarded boats. ‘You can steal something in the town. With everyone dining here, that should be easy enough. But a few still linger, so be cautious.’ Reese turned and waved then scampered along the shore, looking for a boat small enough to manage alone.

Snorting in derision, the man called Lafe turned back toward the feasting. His hunger told him that Reese’s suggestion wasn’t all that bad, but his avarice made him alert to the every move of the wedding party.

The two Princes sat quietly at the dinner table, oblivious to the joy of the newlyweds. Each was intent on their own impatience to be on their way. James had been uncommunicative about when they were leaving, though Locklear had mentioned their stay wouldn’t be extended too long, despite the unexpected events of the last two days.

If the twins had been surprised by their mentor’s sudden encounter with love, they were equally unsurprised by the hasty permission from their father and the quick wedding. Little in their lives had allowed them to take anything for granted.

The twins lived in a world of the unexpected, where the tranquillity of the moment could be shattered at any time by disaster. Warfare, natural cataclysm, famine, and disease were constant threats, and they lived most of their young lives in the heart of the palace where they had observed their father dealing with such problems on a daily basis. From the most important border clash with Kesh to deciding if one guild or another had jurisdiction over a new trade, their father had dealt with problem after problem.

But as they had when watching their father, their present mood didn’t reflect the excitement of the moment. Rather they were bored.

Borric drank deep of a simple ale and said, ‘Is this the best they have?’

Erland nodded. ‘I expect so. From what I can see, ale isn’t a major concern around here. Let us see if there’s something better in the village.’ The brothers stood up from the bench, bowed slightly at the Baron and his new Baroness, who nodded briefly in return at the Princes leaving the table of honour.