Magician Prince (16 page)

“Looking forward to your first day as a
teacher?” Skynryd asked between mouthfuls.

Sane nodded eagerly, “I have trained a few
magicians over the years, but this will be my first opportunity to
train more than one pupil at a time,” excluding the time he spent
training the magicians under Janus’ control, he thought, but did
not add. Hundreds of magicians were collared and forced to learn
just as Sane was forced to teach. It made for a strange dynamic, as
no one actually wanted to be there. The one saving grace was that
any truly gifted students like Byrn would be lost amongst the
throngs of mediocre students so that Aurelia’s magician army would
not reach its true greatness, but that was a small consolation if
it came to a battle of Collective and kingdom magicians that would
cost many lives.

Who would be the next to take over their
training now that Kennath and Sane were both gone? There were a
handful of other free magicians in service to Aurelia prior to the
widespread usage of the control collars. Sane wondered what had
happened to them. They could have been taken captive as Sane was or
they might have fled, fearing the collars. It was also possible
that some continued to serve the crown willingly, but that seemed
unlikely.

A bell rang ten times in the courtyard and
Sane shoved the rest of his meal in his mouth. “I take it your
class starts at ten?” Skynryd smirked as Sane begged his leave. The
old father waved him off and said, “Go on. You don’t want to be
late. It sets a bad first impression.”

“Well, we can’t allow that, can we?” joked
Sane through a mouthful of sausage as he rushed for the central
courtyard.

A dozen students were waiting eagerly for
Sane when he burst through the castle door leading outside. He
recognized Tomlin who lounged in the back of the crowd against a
tree, but most of the students were unknown to him. They were made
up of former Ilipse citizens ranging in age from ten years to
forty.

“I am the sorcerer, Sane,” he introduced
himself hoping that he sounded formal, but not quite believing it,
“for those of you who do not know- a sorcerer is a rare type of
magician who has mastered two or more magical disciplines. My
masteries are in elementalism and manipulation. I am also skilled
in enchantments and, to a lesser degree, necromancy.

“Each of you has been recommended to work
with me, because you have shown an aptitude in more than one
discipline and I can offer you a method of training that most of
your previous teachers cannot. What I will be teaching you is how
to combine different disciplines of magic to increase your overall
effectiveness as a magician. This extends beyond combat situations
to common daily tasks, so there is something for everyone to
learn.” Sane nodded to a boy of ten at that, who seemed out of
place among the older students.

“Now you all know who I am, so tell me who
you are along with your primary disciplines.”

***

The aging sorcerer plopped down on his bed
and watched the sun setting outside his window, but he did not feel
overly tired. His students were all fast learners except for Tomlin
who excelled at anything involving enchanting, but struggled with
basic spells in other disciplines. Tomlin’s presence was an odd
choice to Sane’s mind, but several other masters assured him that
“the bard,” as Tomlin likened himself, was one of the most
accomplished magicians among the pupils when it came to success in
the field. Tomlin’s biggest drawback was his inability to learn the
transportation spell that made him reliant on others to travel
swiftly throughout the kingdom and that was why he had been
assigned to Sane’s special class in the hopes that the sorcerer
could help him overcome that hurdle.

The youngest student was a boy by the name of
Jin Tanner. His father was a leather crafter in Ilipse before the
Collective broke into the domain and freed most of the citizens.
The ones that did not leave with the Collective stayed behind
willingly believing that a lifetime of safety was better than
freedom in an otherwise dangerous world. Now those same people
would have been forcibly removed from their homes and conscripted
into Prince Janus’ magician army. Jin’s father died years earlier
of an infection that spread from his arm to his heart leaving the
young Tanner in the care of a family friend. Since coming to the
Collective, Jin showed a knack for magic that few so young, save
those from a gifted bloodline and raised in the ways of magic from
early on show.

A light knock at the door broke the
sorcerer’s mental review of his students and he sat up. He wasn’t
expecting anyone.

“Come in,” Sane bid the knocker.

It was Xander Necros who entered his room and
closed the door behind him. The grandmaster took a seat in the open
chair nearest the window without waiting for Sane to offer. “How
was your first day?”

The sorcerer exhaled, but could not suppress
the smile that creased his face. He did not want to. “It was
different from my usual one-on-one teaching, but rewarding too.
They are a talented group as promised.”

“Good. Good,” Xander nodded, “It pleases me
that things are working out so nicely- with you and Byrn.” The
grandmaster’s eyes drifted off to the town below them. It was still
early in the evening and Wolfsbane was abuzz with activity as
magicians of various professions traded or hocked their wares to
one another. Some were offering magical devices or charms beside
others displaying more traditional items like food and
clothing.

“This is an amazing city to behold,” Sane
followed Xander’s gaze across the crowd, “I never thought I would
see so many magicians living together free and in peace.”

“It is a fragile thing,” Xander regretfully
admitted, “Peace. You know as well as I do that Aurelia will never
truly agree to peace. It may last for a week, a month, a year, or
even decades, but it will break eventually. Some like Byrn may
condemn me for what I did in Colum, but it was that act that got us
this offer of an alliance that Byrn has been championing since his
return. We must either be their slaves or their masters. There is
no middle ground.”

“After my sister’s death, I would have agreed
with you.” It pained the old sorcerer to say those words, but he
knew it was the truth. “But I think that Byrn could finally change
that. He has the king’s trust.”

“Do you trust Byrn?” Xander asked abruptly,
but continued to stare at the people below, “Given that he is a
prince.”

“He is a magician first and a prince second.
That is why I trust him and more. It is why I now follow him. If
the alliance is successful, then I must accept that Janus will one
day become king, but as an acknowledged prince Byrn will have some
sway in how the kingdom treats us. Through his bloodline he can put
an end to our suppression.”

Now he had the grandmaster’s attention that
looked Sane squarely in the eye for the first time since his
arrival in Wolfsbane. “Word came earlier today from some of our
members abroad; Kale is dead and Janus is now king. If everything
you have said about Janus is true, then he would never agree to an
alliance with us and it now falls upon him to acknowledge Byrn as a
legitimate member of his household.”

Sane’s knees suddenly felt weak and he had to
take a seat. King Kale was dead and with him died any chance of
ending this war quietly. “Has Byrn been told?”

“There will be no truce, Sane. So I must know
where do your loyalties lie?”

“You needn’t ask. My time with the kingdom is
done unless we can put Byrn on the throne.”

Xander gripped his staff so that his knuckles
turned white. “You need to give up that dream. Byrn will never be
king. The people would never stand for a magician king just because
of his parentage.”

“Then it would be a civil war. If Janus was
out of the way some would follow Byrn as the rightful heir out of
loyalty to the bloodline or an opportunity to improve their own
houses’ ranks, especially if we could convince the queen to back
him. That along with the Collective providing their support would
make a formidable force. It may take time, but a future in which
magician and non-magic user live in peace would be possible.”

Once more, Xander turned his attention to the
town below. “You are too old to be so naïve,” he whispered under
his breath, “We can rule them or they can rule us as it has always
been for as long as I can recall.” He stood suddenly, or at least
as suddenly as any man over seventy years can stand. “You raise
some interesting ideas, but how can I trust him when I know he is
hiding something from me. Byrn is far more powerful than when we
last met. As angry as I was at the way he spoke to Alia in the
dining hall, I would not miss something like that.”

Pursing his lips, Sane thought for a moment
before framing his answer. “Byrn is slow to trust… as are you. You
have more in common than either of you might care to admit at the
moment: Firm in resolve, natural leaders…”

“He could one day lead the rebellion if I
were not around,” Xander added looking to Sane for confirmation
that the sorcerer did not feel comfortable giving. “You doubt that
or are you just trying to be diplomatic? We shall see.”

The grandmaster went to leave, but stopped
when his hand turned the knob. “I have not been honest about my
reason for coming to see you. There is a part of me that still sees
you as a lackey of the crown, but I am trying to look past that,
because I need to extract a promise from you,” his head shook like
he was trying to remove dust and cobwebs from an addled brain, “I
am not long for this world, Sane. I don’t believe that Byrn has any
intention of taking Alia as his wife and therefore cannot be relied
upon to protect her. As her only living relative besides myself,
promise me that you will do all within your power to keep her and
my grandchild safe after I am gone.”

Seconds ticked away as Sane stood dumbstruck
in front of his brother-in-law. “You are dying,” he whispered in
surprise. Of all the things that he could have expected this man
who was well past his prime to say that was one thing he thought he
would never hear. Finally he managed an answer. “Of course, Xander,
it is the least I can do in Avelice’s memory.”

At that Xander clapped Sane on the shoulder
in thanks…

…And the sorcerer’s world was shattered.

A vision of growing darkness overtook him
once more. Byrn’s hand reached out to grab Sane as black energy
flew off him in waves. His touch was like ice on Sane’s shoulder as
Byrn grabbed him and death oozed from his very essence. The
sorcerer tried to push him away, but Byrn gripped all the harder
for his struggles.

His eyes were as cold as his grip and
conveyed no sign of life. This Byrn was a soulless abomination of
the man Sane knew. Slowly, inevitably, Byrn pulled in Sane until
the husk of a man’s lips were almost against the sorcerer’s
ear.

“Don’t let him take me,” Byrn’s whisper was
hoarse and raspy not unlike a dead man who refused to accept his
fate.

“Who?” Sane begged for an answer.

The husk turned his head to look behind him
and Sane followed his dead eyes to the countenance of Xander
Necros.

Light swirled around Sane as he fell to the
floor of his room. Xander was standing over him in surprise. Sane
recoiled as the necromancer offered him a hand, and Xander’s face
changed from one of concern to open hostility.

“You had one of your famous visions.” It was
not a question. “What did you see?”

Sane’s mind raced as he tried to find a way
out of this situation. For all of his experience and talent, Sane
was little more than an annoyance to the grandmaster of necromancy.
He had to get away and he had to warn Byrn, but before he could do
either of those things he had to buy some time.

“I think you have a good idea,” Sane said
getting to his feet carefully. He tried to act indignant to mask
his fear. “I saw you and Byrn…”

He let the rest linger hoping that Xander
would fill in the blanks while Sane tried to edge his way toward
the room’s open window and his staff. It leaned against the wall
barely an arm’s reach away, but Xander already had his own staff in
hand. He could kill Sane in an instant with a number of simple
spells before Sane could reach the device and cast a protective
spell if the grandmaster guessed what he was up to, but as long as
Xander thought Sane might know something of value he would hold off
on killing the sorcerer.

“I take it things did not end well for your
former student,” Xander smirked; already believing victory was in
hand. “We don’t need to be at odds in this. I meant what I said
about you taking care of Alia. Surely you must know that once I
have taken Byrn I will never be able to see her again. My
daughter’s feelings are too strong for him and it would be too hard
to put her through something like that.”

Dust flew as Sane lunged toward the staff,
but Xander was too quick. A bolt of dark energy flew from his cane
and shattered Sane’s staff as if it were made of glass, but Sane
ignored his weapon and dove out the window.

Gods, protect me,
he thought as he
hurtled toward the ground that rushed for him. He reached into the
left sleeve of his robe and pulled out the wand Byrn gave him.
Summoning as much wind as he could, Sane barraged the ground below
him. He only meant to slow his decent to a speed that he could walk
away from, but over-corrected and threw himself back into the air
at an angle that left him on a collision course with a castle
wall.

A ball of magical energy enveloped the
sorcerer and he filled it with water to absorb the impact as the
ball crashed against the wall and bounced off. Sane spun around as
the bubble rolled to a stop and he released the magical barrier,
causing the water that had surrounded him to pour out in all
directions. He wished he could lie there for a few minutes more,
but Xander would not be far behind.