Death Comes To All (Book 1) (64 page)

As
unlikely as Bloodheart believed that to be, however, that seemed to
be the case. A battle mage, trained in the use of his power, might
have been able to defeat his shadow dragon. He was beginning to think
that perhaps he would not be able to defeat this opponent as easily
as he had hoped.

“
This
single man has done more than just elude my men,” Bloodheart
replied. “I sent one of my shadow dragons to hunt the man, and
my beast found him outside of Miani. According to reports I have been
given, the beast followed him out into the swamps. What happened
there I cannot say for certain, but my shadow dragon has been
destroyed. I fear I may have underestimated this man. I will not
allow it to happen again.”

“
What
about these stories I have heard about a battle mage? Is there any
truth to these rumors?” Slyvax asked sweetly. Bloodheart felt a
stab of apprehension at this. Slyvax was a dangerous man, who was
never sweet to anyone. He only showed his enemies a smile just before
their execution, or before some torture he was relishing the prospect
of. Kindness was as foreign to him as breathing air would be to a
fish. “You wouldn’t be hiding anything from us now, would
you?”

“
I
hide nothing,” Bloodheart replied instantly. Nor did he.
Keeping some information to himself wasn’t the same as hiding
it, after all. “I had also heard those rumors. That was all I
believed them to be at the time. I would be interested in knowing
where you have heard them. You wouldn’t have put spies in my
cities, would you?”

“
Of
course not,” the elderly mage replied, that false smile never
leaving his face, mocking him. Bloodheart knew immediately that it
was a lie. His magic told him that. He knew as well that most of the
mages around him would know the same thing. Bloodheart struggled to
keep his own boiling anger contained.

“
People
in your cities talk, just as they do everywhere. Peasants have
nothing more to do than to gossip, and much of that gossip can reach
the ears of those who listen.”

“
You
should know better than to listen to the rumors of peasants,”
Bloodheart growled. He didn’t believe for even a single second
that Slyvax heard about the battle mage through peasant rumors. He
most likely had spies hidden in every aspect of Bloodheart's
government, maybe even one or two hidden inside of Bloodheart's own
personal guard. Bloodheart had two spies posted in Slyvax's
bodyguards. Neither of the two men were foolish enough to think
otherwise.

“
I
do not take them as truth, Bloodheart, but I would be foolish to
dismiss them entirely. That is why I am asking you now whether or not
there is any truth to them.”

“
Perhaps,”
Bloodheart admitted, knowing it would be unwise to attempt lying to
anyone in the council chambers. Many of the men present would have
spells in place to warn them of falsehoods. That might very well be
what Slyvax was hoping to get him to do. It wouldn’t be all
that difficult for Slyvax to turn the rest of the council against
them if they caught him in a lie.

“
I
would like to point out, however, that I had no evidence of that
being the case when I sent the dragon after him. Now he has defeated
my shadow dragon, so even if he’s not a battle mage, he at the
very least must be a powerful mage of some sort.”

“
That
is not so great a feat,” Slyvax announced. “You put too
much stock in your shadow puppets. You always have. Now your foolish
pride has allowed Goldstone's son to escape your grasp once again.
This would make three times now, by my count, that this one has
escaped you, the first time when he was but a child. Perhaps you are
not worthy of the lands and title you hold. Perhaps the council may
need to consider appointing someone more worthy to control those
lands.”

So
that was his play,
Bloodheart thought grimly.

Everyone
knew that Slyvax had four sons that would soon reach an age where
they would want land for themselves. His own land would go to his
eldest boy, as well as his seat on the council, but for the other
boys it was unlikely that they would get anything at all from their
esteemed parentage.

If
he could procure Bloodheart's lands for one of those boys, it would
reduce much of the conflict between his sons. Slyvax himself had only
been a second son, elevated to his position after a riding accident
had removed his older brother from his path. While Slyvax would never
admit it if he did have something to do with his brother’s
fall, the crafty old man had little doubt that his sons would gladly
kill each other for the position of power he held.

If
he could procure a second major land to rule, particularly one that
brought a seat in the council along with it, it would help alleviate
matters. Not to mention the fact that, with two of the brothers in
the council together, it would strengthen the position of both.

Bloodheart
understood the man’s ambitions with startling clarity. Of
course, he also realized how foolish they really were. The other
mages would surely see the threat implied by such a strong position,
and would never allow such a thing to happen. Someone else, less
qualified perhaps but certainly someone less dangerous to their own
positions within the council, would be appointed in Bloodheart's
place. Not that Bloodheart had any intentions of allowing anyone,
neither Slyvax nor any of the others who would likely be clamoring
for his position, to wrestle from him what he had risked so much to
attain.

Perhaps
it’s time for me to consider taking a wife, or at least a
concubine who can bear me a child.

With
a son to take his place should something happen to him, the vultures
like Slyvax would no longer see his lands and position as something
they could obtain for themselves. He didn’t have time to court
a woman of prominence, which he would have preferred to do when
considering a wife. So yes, a concubine, one easily bent to his will
with only a minor expenditure of magic or coin, to bear him a son
would be ideal, for now. He could take time to find a proper wife
later.

“
Enough
of this foolishness, Slyvax,” Wolfere bellowed.

Wolfere.

The
very thought of the name sent a shudder down Bloodheart's spine.
While Slyvax was powerful, his magic was nothing when compared to the
awesome power of Wolfere. Now the undisputed leader of the mage's
council, Wolfere had appeared almost out of nowhere about twenty
years before. So great was the strength of his magic that when the
one of the ruling mages died, of natural causes as far as anyone
knew, Wolfere stepped into his place without anyone saying so much as
a word against it.

He
ruled his land wisely, the people of his land might truly be said to
love him, and after ten years on the council had been voted into the
role of the council’s leader. If anyone had said anything
against it, Bloodheart knew nothing of it. He certainly wasn’t
foolish enough to cross the dangerous man. Wolfere was considered to
be a fair man, but no one was foolish enough to disagree with him
without good reason. Bloodheart wasn’t going to make that
mistake now.

“
We
are not here to chastise Bloodheart for his failures. Not yet at any
rate,” Wolfere continued. Now that he had gotten their
attention he spoke at a lower, calmer voice. “We are here to
address the dangerous situation that has arisen. It could just as
easily have sprouted from your own lands, Slyvax, and I am certain
that you would not be so hard on yourself should you have failed to
recognize that danger. Bloodheart did what he could with the
knowledge he had been given.

“
Now
we are faced with another question. Bloodheart, you are now aware of
what faces you. Can you say, in honesty, that you can defeat this
enemy on your own? If not, I would recommend the council grants a
portion of its power to you, just as they had to defeat the elder
Goldstone thirty years ago. What say you?”

Bloodheart
considered his answer carefully. The elder Goldstone, Fallon, had
been one of the most powerful mages in living memory. Even Slyvax
would not have dared to cross him on his own. They had needed the
magic of nearly a dozen mages to control a dragon powerful enough to
defeat that man.

Could
it really be possible that his son is as dangerous as he was?

It
seemed unlikely, but Bloodheart had to admit it was possible.

Still,
he could not risk looking weak in front of the other mages on the
council, especially not with hungry wolves like Slyvax clamoring for
the slightest opportunity to take what he had risked his life to
gain. Bloodheart might still need their assistance at some point, but
he was not yet defeated. He still had other means at his disposal to
deal with Fallon's son.

He
wondered briefly if Wolfere had some other agenda in mind. He had not
been in the council when Goldstone had been destroyed. No one had
ever heard of Wolfere at that point in time. Surely he would have
heard everything that had transpired though. He would know how
dangerous Goldstone had been, to all of them.

He
didn’t trust Wolfere, any more than he trusted any of the mages
in the council. Still, he had no reason to actively distrust the man
either. Certainly not like he distrusted Slyvax. So far Wolfere had
always treated everyone fairly, though distantly. He never took sides
for personal reasons, but instead always attempted to find solutions
that would prove profitable to all.

He
treated the people who lived in his lands the same way. All of his
peasants reaped the benefits of his wise leadership. His method of
leadership put him at odds with many of the other ruling mages,
however his uncanny sense of business somehow allowed him to turn a
greater profit, both for his subjects, and for himself. Fallon
Goldstone had been destroyed by the council because he had put his
people above the other mages. Wolfere was not like him in that
aspect. He did not put his people first as Goldstone did, but profit
instead. If his subjects profited as much from it as he did, so much
the better, in his own mind at least.

With
the money he gained from those profits he gained greater power than
many of the other mages. Regardless of how powerful a mage's magic
might be, the golden rule still applied; whoever has the gold, makes
the rules. In the many years that Wolfere had control of his lands,
he had gained for himself a good portion of that gold. Bloodheart, as
rich and powerful as he was, had no other choice but to comply with
the decisions of the vastly richer and far more dangerous Wolfere.

“
I
believe that I can still handle this upstart on my own,”
Bloodheart answered at last. “I have other means at my disposal
to deal with this situation. Should additional forces be needed, I
will send word to the rest of the council. However, I would like to
mention that, should this second attempt fail, then this Raiste
Goldstone, or whoever is with him anyway, will have proven himself
more dangerous than Fallon Goldstone was thirty years ago. No one man
among us would be able to deal with this man easily.”

“
No
one is questioning your ability Bloodheart,” Wolfere said
seriously. “If this man is truly a battle mage, however, he
could very well be, as you have stated, more dangerous than any one
of us could handle safely. Are you certain that you wish to attempt
to deal with this threat alone for a second time? You’ve
already failed once.”

This
last was meant clearly as an undisguised threat. Wolfere's meaning
was clear. If Bloodheart did not believe he could handle Raiste
Goldstone, he should say so now. Should he fail a second time, than
Wolfere might not stand in the way of men like Slyvax, who hungered
for his lands like greedy dogs. He would not only be on his own
against Goldstone, he would be on his own in all things.

“
The
powers of a battle mage are almost impossible to predict,”
Bloodheart answered, trying to think of a way to word things that
wouldn’t cause him to appear weak. “If this one is as
powerful as some of the battle mages in antiquity, than he might
prove to be more than I can handle on my own, as has been suggested.
That, however, has yet to be determined. He might have defeated my
shadow dragon, but that is not the only weapon I can wield.”

Wolfere's
eyes widened for a second as understanding dawned. “So you plan
on sending
them
?” he asked, a sour look of disgust on
his face.

Only
a few of the mages knew of the mercenaries Bloodheart employed for
some of his less pleasant work. The fact that Wolfere was aware of
their existence did not surprise him, nor did the knowledge that the
man found
those creatures
repulsive.
Most men who learned of
them
felt
so.

“
They
will accomplish the task,”
Bloodheart replied in answer.

They
most certainly would, he knew, or else he would not have said
it. He was not so foolish as to tell a lie in the council meeting.
Unfortunately, those he would send were as unpredictable as they were
deadly. Bloodheart didn’t control
them,
not like he did the dragons. It was not magic that brought him their
loyalty, but promise of coin; a lot of coin.

Still,
as expensive as
they
were,
their work, on the rare occasion he had employed it, spoke for
itself.
They
would be able to
find Goldstone, regardless of where he might be hiding. He felt
confident that not even a battle mage would be able to stand against
them
.