Broken Rule | Chapter 6
This post is chapter six of my not-previously-published epic fantasy novel Broken Rule. I'm serializing the first few chapters here on Steemit to see if there's an audience for serializing the complete story. If you like it and would like to see more, please upvote and/or comment to let me know.
The story so far:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapters 3 & 4
Chapter 5
Duke Gavril walked along the top of the outer walls of Castle Thornwood. It was a good way to relax after a long journey, and also a good vantage point to observe his growing army. Most of the men were still inside the walls, but more and more were arriving all the time and a secondary camp had been built outside to accept the overflow. It was unfortunate that matters had degenerated to a point where armed conflict was the only solution, but King Radoslav seemed impervious to reason. Baron Toma had reported that his final effort to have Gavril elevated to the position of Lord Marshal had fallen on deaf ears. Radoslav and his coterie of sycophants didn't seem to care that their weakness would invite attack from Tarkannan's enemies. Gavril wished that there was an alternative to going to war with the king, since that would also weaken the kingdom for a time. The important question was whether he would be able to win quickly and decisively enough to ensure the long term security of the kingdom before anyone could take advantage of the conflict.
As Gavril continued his circuit around the fortifications he noticed a man in an unusual long coat with his hands against the stonework, mumbling something under his breath. Gavril guessed that it was the wizard he had sent for, Jonas Terra. Wizards were rare, rare enough that most people considered them to be mere curiosities. As far as Gavril knew, Master Jonas was the only wizard active in all of Tarkannan. Gavril waved to the man.
“Your Grace,” Jonas acknowledged, “I wasn't aware that you had returned from Lake Serafim.”
“I've just arrived. We left right after the ceremony and made good time.”
“Ceremony, Your Grace? I wasn't informed of the details of your trip.”
Gavril scowled. Leave it to his wife to treat Master Jonas like a mere servant. Didn't she realize that the wizard prided himself on how much he knew? Offending him might cause him to seek patronage elsewhere. Gavril would have to work harder to cement the man's loyalty. “I was attending the name day ceremony for Willem Gorvy, my old squire. Sir Willem Gorvy I should say now, but it will take a while for that to sink in, I think. He was a good squire, and he'll make a fine knight.”
“Ah, pleasant news then. Had he been with you long?”
“Since before the war. In some ways I knew him better than my own sons. Most think he has a sour disposition and find his jokes too sharp, but I like him. Loyal and dutiful and a quick mind as well. It will be a harder life for me to not have him at my side." This brought to mind his new squire, a youth he had accepted in order to build political support from the boy's father. "Now I have this Greenhouse boy to take his place.”
“I've made his acquaintance,” said Jonas, and his expression confirmed Gavril's fears about his new squire.
“If he's even half the puffed-up buffoon his father is, I'm sure it couldn't have been a pleasant experience.”
“I'll not seek to debate you on the point.”
“If I didn't need the Tanga Valley and his father's support, I never would have accepted him.”
“Perhaps he'll learn something from you, and become a better man for it.”
Gavril grunted in agreement. He motioned to the walls, where Jonas had been holding his hands before Gavril had begun conversing with him. “I gather that you've begun to work your wizardry on my walls.”
“Yes, Your Grace, the same spell I used for Redwater Fortress. It's working best on the new construction. There are tiny cracks and fissures in the older walls and towers that limit what I can do. I can give the stone strength, but I can't create stone where none exists.”
Gavril thought about Thornwood Castle, the large fortification he had made his home after his new duchy had been cobbled together from baronies and counties that had been overrun by sea barbarians during the War in the South. “The old walls are the ones that withstood the barbarians when they attacked this place during the war and didn't need to be rebuilt. Ironic that they should now be the weakest.”
“If I were a poet, I might make some allusion to young men rising up to displace the old.”
Gavril chuckled. He wasn't one for wordplay himself, but he appreciated the way that the wizard had commented on something without stating anything directly. "The topic of young men rising up to displace the old seems to be on everyone's lips of late.”
Jonas gestured to the troops that seemed to fill the castle. “Can you blame them, Your Grace? Many in the kingdom see you as an ambitious man, and you give them no reason to doubt it.”
“It's a funny thing that ambition is seen by so many in the nobility as a flaw in a man's character. I find it to be a virtue. My ambition to lead men helped us win the war. Are you an ambitious man, Master Wizard?”
Jonas sighed. “I was in my youth. You have to be, to be a wizard. The power to bend the world to your will? In some ways it makes the ambitions of politicians and nobles seem trivial. But things change as we grow older, and I learned some harsh lessons. Now I take the work that patrons give me and being a wizard is far less exciting than it used to be. Had I known that this would be my life, perhaps I would have made different choices.”
“It's a sad thing when a man lets his ambition die, Master Jonas. I believe that you're still quite capable of accomplishing great things. I wouldn't have asked you to join me if I didn't.”
“You're too kind, Your Grace.”
“No, I don't think so. Tell me, this spell of yours that strengthens my walls, does it have application in offense as well as defense?”
“Not that particular spell, Your Grace. But I think I see where you are headed. Certainly I know spells that could weaken walls, if I needed to, although I'm reluctant to imagine a situation in which I would need to make use of them. It's one thing to work my spells from behind the walls during a battle, another to be out in front.”
Gavril smiled. He should have expected that Jonas would be a cautious man. As rare as wizards were, Gavril couldn't blame him for being reticent. He would have to reassure the wizard that Gavril valued him as highly as he thought he deserved. “I don't anticipate any siege actions any time soon. But, if the need ever arose, be sure that I take great pains to ensure the safety of those I trust and rely on. And reward them well when they endure hardship on my behalf.”
“Are you saying that I would be well rewarded if I were to assist in cracking the defenses of those who might oppose your ambitions?”
Gavril would need more time to gather enough strength to move openly, and suspected that a cautious man like Jonas would appreciate the ability to deny involvement in any conspiracy should Gavril's plans fall apart before then. “Master Jonas, you have an active and devious mind. I thought it was clear we were just speaking theoretically." Gavril saw the wizard's shoulders relax slightly, and decided to address a new subject with him. "Anyway, if I were to discuss my ambitions with you, I suspect that I would be more inclined to focus the discussion on the longer term. There are more advantages to associating with a wizard than help on the battlefield, are there not? I understand that you have begun to educate my sons.”
“Yes, I have begun lessons in history and geography as your lady wife requested. But from the tone of your question, I wonder if you are interested in me teaching... other things.”
“I notice that you have no apprentice.”
“That is true. And young Rurik is a bright lad. I suspect he takes better to intellectual pursuits than to his training as a knight.”
“An observation I have made myself.”
“It's a big thing you suggest. And there's the First Law to consider.”
Gavril found it difficult not to roll his eyes at the wizard. He could understand that the man was cautious, but this seemed excessive. “Naturally, I would have to officially disinherit him," said Gavril. "But he would still be my son and Cyril's brother. We would make an arrangement with him as we have with you, but we would also share the bond of kinship.”
“That would of course satisfy the letter of the First Law, but there are people in this world who might have a different interpretation than yours.”
“I am a duke and my opinion of the law is quite influential.” He gestured to his troops to underscore the point. “And the opinion of the King of Tarkannan is even more influential. But naturally, the question of whether to take an apprentice is your choice alone. I would not dream of imposing my will on you in that manner. You are my guest, after all.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“But if you should wish to discuss it with me, or if there are any other idle philosophies that you might wish to converse upon, I am happy to speak to you at any time.” Gavril shook Jonas's hand and continued his walks around the castle's walls. He hoped he'd be able to secure the wizard's loyalty soon. Too many aspects of his plan were still in motion for Gavril to feel comfortable. He turned his mind to his upcoming meeting with Lord Conti of the Torzani Council of Lords. Gavril hated the playing the political games that the Torzani loved so much, but access to Conti's gold would allow Gavril to accelerate his plans. As with many things, Gavril resigned himself to some temporary unpleasantness in order to achieve the greater good.
Jonas ran the conversation through his mind again. The Duke had all but confirmed that he was planning to move against the king and wanted Jonas's support. But he hadn't said so openly, clearly a signal that he wasn't ready to put his plan into practice just yet. Did Jonas want to be included in that plan? Part of him said no. But then why had he come here? Jonas suspected the Duke was up to something when he'd first offered his patronage, but he'd accepted the position anyway. There had been other offers, safer offers, that he could have accepted. Had the ambitious young man he'd used to be pushed him to it, not yet drowned by years of tedium, as Jonas had believed? Could he go back and be that man again, accomplish the dreams he had dreamed back then? Had he accepted service with a duke as a path to achieving service with a king?
And now the question of an apprentice. Should he take the boy Rurik as an apprentice? His own apprenticeship hadn't ended well. As a boy, he had dreamed of nothing but magic and ran away from his unremarkable village to go to Old Harbor, where he'd convinced Master Sebastian Bucephas to take him on. It had been glorious in those early days, learning his first spells. It seemed as if there was no limit to what he could do, no end to the wonders he could perform, and living and working with Master Sebastian had been fun and exciting. The man seemed to think that all of life was a game, meant to be enjoyed.
Eventually Jonas had to find a room of his own to spend the nights because Sebastian had taken a lover, an exotic woman from some far off land, and wanted privacy. She had begged and begged Sebastian to marry her, and he finally relented. They were married in secret, and they were happy for a time. The woman became pregnant and bore a son, but the happiness didn't last. With the babe not a day old, the Black Circle came to Master Sebastian in the night. Jonas still remembered what he saw the next morning when he arrived at Sebastian's house for his lessons. Sebastian was still lying on the bed, with a large knife in his heart, pinning a paper message to his chest. It read “All must obey the First Law.” The baby was dead as well, his head horribly twisted, his neck broken. Jonas never found out what happened to Sebastian's wife. He fled the city immediately and never went back.
Sebastian had let his heart win out over his judgment. He broke the First Law, and he paid a steep price for it. The First Law was real, and for wizards it was deadly real. Jonas shouldn't risk his life for some scheme of the Duke's. And yet he was here, he had accepted the duke's patronage, even though he had guessed what it would mean. Was there some part of his spirit rebelling against the Law? Or perhaps he was rebelling against fear of those who would enforce it. Should he take Rurik as his apprentice? Was it worth the risk? Or was the risk in his mind, from that part of him that feared to be associated with the duke, the part of him that was content to quietly grow old, and let his life become nothing but meaningless routine?
He walked several steps down the wall, touched the stone, and recited his strengthening spell. Casting this spell was usually relaxing, soothing. Going through the same thoughts, the same words, over and over again, had a numbing effect on the mind, but it wasn't enough to drown out the weightier matters anymore.