Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (53 page)

Nodding, Sebastian replied, "I know that, your majesty, but you will understand shortly."

The mage gauged the room. A dozen soldiers, the same general as the day before and two lesser scribes supported their king.

"Are all these men people that can be trusted with your greatest secrets, King Qeyless?" he asked placing meaning into both his words and his look to the king.

Qeyless' eyes glanced almost without his intent, but the king sent the two scribes away. His personal guards and general remained, though the other man's hand remained touching the pommel of his sword as if wondering if he would have to defend his king.

"I trust these men with my life. My secrets aren't as important as that for the most part. These are men who protect my family as well. Now what do you have to tell me, mage?"

The king's attitude remained annoyed. It was early and Sebastian sensed that Qeyless' lack of sleep continued to make him testy.

"I have nothing to say, but I conferred with King Alain and Raven Leros in Hala. They have lifted the restraint of what I may show you."

He gestured to the guards along the wall to his left. "If your men could move towards you so I might have this wall?"

The guards were waved aside by the king. The men moved closer to Qeyless or by the door right behind Sebastian looking tense.

"Door," the mage called on a gate directly before the wall. It was only wide enough for two people at a time on this side, but the other point was the gate in the fire wizard's courtyard.

Swords cleared their sheaths as the guards and general pulled their weapons in fright. Sebastian remained calm and stated, "We've cracked the emperor's portal magic. King Alain will be here shortly."

Two Southwall guards stepped through the gate making sure that the way was safe. The men looked as shocked as those in the room. Like those from Sileoth, these men hadn't been through a portal before or even seen one in use. King Alain came through by himself after them surprising Sebastian slightly. There were no more guards impressing the point that the king was here to visit someone he considered a friend as much as an ally.

Blinking to recalibrate his senses, Alain managed to find King Qeyless after a moment and greeted the older king in a friendly manner, "Greetings, king of Sileoth."

Wide eyed, the hosting king took another long pause trying to fathom what he had just seen. "Welcome, Alain, my friend, you both honor and surprise me with this... visit."

King Alain laughed and gestured to his two bodyguards stating, "I would have come alone, but we are still getting used to this new magic ourselves. My men wouldn't let me come on my own even with Sebastian here."

The door's golden glow had faded at the king's nod. Sebastian stepped back towards the guards behind him showing no fear. It was getting a bit crowded now, but there were still places to stand. Alain's guards held the same positions along the wall. They had moved to either side of the gate and remained where the edges had been.

Noticing the crowded feel of the room, Qeyless dismissed half of his guards from the chamber.

"I am glad that you still consider me enough of a friend to come almost alone," Qeyless stated with a smile as he shook the other king's hand. There was a pair of stuffed leather chairs which were positioned directly in front of each other by the guardsmen. The kings sat down and Qeyless sent another of the guards to the door to order drinks and snacks for the two men.

King Alain gestured to Sebastian and admitted, "Though your guards may be well trained, I would hazard that Falcon Sebastian could dismantle the lot of them by himself. He is not only a well trained battle mage, but an innovative caster of magic.

"This gate you just witnessed was discovered by High Wizard Darius from Enchwold's school, you know, the immortal wizard. Sebastian figured out the spell before Darius could bring the magic to us in Hala though. This young man actually knows a great deal of magic that most mages and even many wizards don't in Southwall. He is rather unique."

Qeyless looked at the mage and stated, "He seems too young to be that dangerous."

Again King Alain laughed sounding surprisingly carefree. "I didn't ask my young falcon to go find the father of kings without reason. You've met the grandfather, Gerid. Even the immortal has said how impressed he was with Sebastian.

"Our ravens have been debating on officially naming him a new designation called owl because of his ability to discover so many new spells," Alain said bragging once more. Sebastian felt both a bit embarrassed from the glowing report and a little worried. After being told to hide his magic from Sileoth at first, now he had to adjust to being outed for his many other skills and spells.

The mage was glad when the two men turned to other things, though the ongoing issues concerning the war for Litsarin made for rather tense talk as well.

At one point, Qeyless expressed another concern, "I am still rather surprised that you have had no word from me since your fleet arrived. I sent word of confirmation of their arrival and subsequent sailing to Litsarin long ago.

"You don't think the black ships have started raiding so far north that they attacked the merchant vessels I sent the messages with, do you?"

King Alain's eyes sought Sebastian's briefly in an unexpected need for support from the mage as he replied quite sincerely, "I doubt that it is the black ships we need to blame. The emperor has been seeding my southern cities with ideas of rebellion and secession.

"If word has been going to New Harbor to be relayed as you said, then I fear that there is still more that needs to be done in that city. Sebastian led a team which captured many of those trying to lead my people astray."

Qeyless frowned and nodded in turn, "So he attacks your country as he did mine. Litsarin had men trying to inspire rebellion as well, while others have been here trying to stir up a need for war with Southwall 'to take back what is ours', or so they put it."

"They seem to have become somewhat successful in the southern cities which have often questioned why they still need to send men and money for the wall up north. While my guardian cities have dealt with the enemy consistently over the generations, those living in peace to the south often question why I am their king."

Sebastian was shocked that the younger king, only a few years older than the mage in fact, would admit these things so candidly with the elder king. They were allies, but admitting weakness was a rarity among kings who normally did their best to show only strength.

"Peace can be a bad thing for people. They forget that others fight for them. This war in Litsarin is the first real strife my people have had since the initial rebuilding following the Cataclysm. They complain about keeping a navy and army. They complain about taxes, but that is what those without vision are like," Qeyless agreed with his fellow king. Both men knew the aggravation of lords and common folk both disputing why things were run as they were.

The kings continued to speak like old friends and peers who could understand all that came from being king. Eventually they wound their way to the state of the war.

Qeyless was the first to truly bring it up again, and Sebastian had a feeling it came from Alain trying not to be rude. Southwall had an investment in the war as well, but Sileoth was the one being attacked by the Dark One this time in force.

"I won't bandy about trying to gloss over the facts. We are losing the war in Litsarin."

Alain nodded and replied gently, "I was afraid of as much."

"Their warlocks are powerful and there are reports of both soldiers and wizards wearing black armor which absorbs the elemental spells of the wizards."

Sebastian spoke up, even though the discussion was technically between the two kings. "Your wizards need to use strong light spells to disable the armor. It will probably take more than one strike to make a piece of gear like that useless, but it does work."

The kings looked at him. Alain nearly hid his frown, but Sebastian could make it out. King Qeyless was more interested in the owl's take on the armor and his nonchalant attitude related to it as if it were a minor obstacle.

"You have dealt with the armor or been advised about it, falcon?" he asked.

"I came across his Wizard Hunters wearing the armor on my journey, which eventually brought me to Tarmand a few months ago. They used their black ships against us as well. Light spells can disable their night magic and armor. Darkness shields used by your wizards would be just as strong against their elemental spells, but the warlocks know to use light spells to render them useless.

"Once both sides are using the same magic, it becomes a matter of tactics to determine who will win. At least then, your wizards will be fighting an even battle, even if they have soldiers in the strange armor."

"And you've fought their monsters too, I suppose," the Sileoth king questioned matter-of-factly.

"Some," Sebastian nodded.

King Alain said in a surprisingly calm manner, "Falcon Sebastian has had a swift baptism of fire since rising to his position. His talent with magic has most likely been conveyed to you along with news of the Winter's Edge tournament this year."

Looking at bit surprised, Qeyless looked at his fellow king and gestured with his finger towards the mage. "This is that mage?"

Alain nodded.

"The wizards were buzzing about the unusually talented battle mage who surprised everyone by going quite deep into the tournament. I believe that you had to pull out of the tournament in fourth due to illness?"

"My magic was dangerously low. I couldn't fight without risking my life. It wasn't considered worth the risk just to try and win a tournament, even if it was a king's tournament," he finished with a smile and a nod for his king.

"Even if it was my tournament, I can't fault him for withdrawing. Sebastian has been quite useful to both me and the country in general with his ability to decipher new magic both before and since the competition," Alain acknowledged giving away more secrets to the other king. He kept a stone face attempting to hide the worry he had when his king offered up the mage in such a way.

Qeyless eyed him like someone seeing dinner when he was hungry, and the king asked, "Well, since the falcon is so well versed in dealing with this enemy, what do you suggest, Sebastian? We have a tentative hold on Litsarin, but our walled towns are falling, while we can barely send any support to help them with these black ships plaguing us."

With the question put to him, the owl thought of what Southwall and Sileoth were capable of doing to prevent the raiders from destroying their ships. Taking them out of the equation, then it would fall to their combined forces being able to defeat the army of the emperor with its warlocks and monsters. Wizard hunters were among their weapons, but without support Helsen and the smaller towns would fall.

"Well, with what we officially have, the wizards must guard the ships with light and darkness spells. There are two possible things I can think of to further shift the balance, but I would have to talk with two of our allies to see if they would part with the forces needed to assist us."

"What forces are you speaking of, falcon?" Qeyless asked even as Alain nodded his head looking curious as well.

"Well, first we could ask Mar'kal for support from their dragon mages. A team of flyers is in White Hall right now already trained by a pair from the dragon city," Sebastian used the nickname for Mar'kal reminding the kings of the power of their long time allies. The mountain city hadn't always been the strongest participant in the affairs of men, but they knew the Dark One to be their enemy as well.

"Second, I would have to ask Lord Grimnal if his people from the island would be willing to help. They are a small tribe, or whatever you wish to call the people of the island, but they might have a way to assist here as they did near their island," the mage replied doing his best to avoid speaking of the merfolk in particular. He wasn't guaranteeing either faction would actually come, but Sebastian knew that, if he used his portal magic, the underwater warriors paired with the dragon mages' flight would wreak havoc on the black ships of the emperor.

There was no guarantee that the emperor didn't haven't a batch of sea orcs hidden somewhere. The merfolk had stories of such creatures which had been used to help set off the quakes of the Cataclysm. Still, it was an option which could help clear the sea lanes for the ships bringing their troops.

"Once we take back control of the sea, fighting the emperor on Listarin can become a reality. We can assume that his attack on the Twins was simply a distraction to keep Southwall from committing more troops. There is the potential that the Dark One has enough soldiers to commit to two battlefronts, but if that were true why hasn't he pushed against the wall harder?

"So we go with the assumption that Litsarin is the only target at this point. They are using portals to bring the armies and monsters to drive away the few troops you have there.

"We are new to the magic, but already have some wizards who can travel well enough to assist once they have the points in mind. We can use a portal in Tarmand or wherever you are staging your soldiers to help move your people across the sea without even risking your ships. Maybe King Alain can contribute a little more of our army to assist the same way."