Silver Mage (Book 2) (3 page)

CHAPTER III

The Mage’s tower was located near the edge of the city and was surrounded by the houses of many of the upper class mages. There was a noticeable difference between the houses surrounding the tower, and those found in the non-human district.

“Calm down,” Cass said, grabbing Bren’s shoulder lightly. “It won’t do any good to get all worked up before you even talk to the council.”

Looking down, Bren noticed that his fist was clenched so tightly that his fingers were turning white. “Thank you,” Bren replied, relaxing his grip and taking a few deep breathes.

The tower itself was massive and was so tall that it almost looked as if it would pierce the clouds in the sky. It was made of dark black stones that had awed Bren when he had first seen them, but now reminded him of the sickness that had spread through the upper ranks of the mages. They had forgotten what it was like to be hunted, and they treated the non-humans with contempt. Sae-Thae was the only non-human on the council, and that was only because he had been appointed by his father before he had disappeared.

“Bren!” A light voice yelled shortly after Bren entered the main courtyard to the tower. Turning to his right, Bren saw the source of the voice as a young girl, only a few years older than him
, rushed toward him.

“Faye,” Bren said, greeting his friend as he tried not to blush as he noticed how tightly her robes clung to her toned body. Faye had lived the most of her life on a farm and had been used to hard work,
and that hadn’t changed when she had come to the tower.

“What are you doing here?” Faye asked in a low whisper once she was near enough for him to hear her.

“Meeting with the council,” Bren said in reply, trying to keep the contempt out of his voice.

“Not picking another fight are you?” Faye said in concerned tones. “Many of the mages think you are out to destroy the tower, though most of those are just views that they are repeating from their teachers, but overall you aren’t thought of very highly by most of the mages. The few who have minds of their own understand you are trying to do what’s best, but it won’t help if you keep picking fights with the masters.”

“I don’t plan to pick a fight,” Bren said angrily. “Most the time, it’s the so called masters who start the fights in the first place.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” Faye said, giving him a harsh look. “You might be the king, but I still don’t mind kicking your hind end and if you won’t let me, I will have Cass do it for me,” She added, giving the tall warrior a winning smile. “From what I heard, he will do anything for a pretty face.”

“I would not,” Cass said coughing. “Well, I wouldn’t permanently injure him.” Cass added, getting a laugh from the other guards as well as Faye.

“Just try not to make things worse for yourself,” Faye said before running back toward the small group of girls she had been talking to before he had arrived.

Though Faye had went about it in an odd way, she had been right. He had to keep his cool today, and the best way to do that was to remind himself that he wasn’t only representing himself, but all the people in Torin, and that included the mages.

As soon as he entered through the large doors of the tower, Bren walked up to one of the large oaken desks. “I need a meeting with the council,” Bren declaimed confidently.

“The young mage who was working the desk looked up at him and gave him a withering glare. “I will notify the masters,” she said dismissively, as if he were no more than a peasant who had wandered in off the streets.

“See that you do,” Bren said, walking past the desk toward the stairs leading up to the upper parts of the tower.

“Sir, Guards are not allowed into the tower main,” One of the tower guards said, eyeing Cass and the others suspiciously. Bren could see the hate in the man’s eyes as he looked at them, but chose to ignore it. He was sure that it was one look that he had earned, after he had executed a number of their fellow guards.

“Cass, you will accompany me the rest of your men will stay behind,” Bren ordered and started to move past the guard when the man stepped in his path.

“I am sorry, but none of you will be allowed to go armed into the tower. We have our charges to worry about,” the guard said in a heated voice.

“You are welcome to try and disarm me, but I am sure that you will find it difficult without your head attached to your body,” Cass said through gritted teeth. “We are here for a meeting with the council, and if you refuse to step aside, we will simply move over you dead body…It is your choice.”

“If you cause any trouble, king or not, I will have you in chains in the dungeon,” the guard replied, as he stepped aside and let the two pass.

“I thought it was my job to get mad and you’re to keep me under control?” Bren asked as they passed the first level of the tower.

“That only applies to when you are dealing with the council,” Cass said lightly. “When dealing with people who jeopardize your security, I am allowed to do whatever I deem necessary to insure your safety.”

“Is that so?” Bren asked. “I still think that there was better ways of handling that situation. No reason to make more enemies than we already have.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cass said, dismissing Bren’s words. “There is nothing that you could have said to that man to ease his hate toward you. If you don’t remember, he was one of the guards who you had hogtied and ready for death.”

“Really, how do you remember his face?” Bren asked. “That was so long ago and there were more than a few people there at the time.”

“It is my job to remember anyone who might be a threat to you later on, and that includes anyone you had ready for the headsman’s block. They don’t tend to forget having a blade pointed at their neck.”

“You might have a point,” Bren admitted.

“Let’s just keep it where you worry about the political ramifications, and I worry about keeping you alive to worry,” Cass said with a smirk.

“Deal,” Bren said, grabbing Cass’s hand and joining him in a nice long laugh.

Bren and Cass continued up the stairs until they reached the top floor. It didn’t take long for them to find the door they were looking for, as there were only ten on the top level, all of them belonging to the members of the council, and the one at the end belonging to the head master Sae-Thae.

Bren knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer, hoping that the master was in his quarters. “What do you need?” A loud gruff voice said as the d
oor swung open to show a young Vathari mage with dark piercing eyes staring back at him. “You haven’t come to start more trouble with the tower have you?” Phena asked, giving Bren a scathing glare.

“Why does everyone assume that I came just to start trouble?” Bren asked in a defeated voice.

“Maybe because trouble seems to follow you around young man,” An older voice said from inside the room.

Phena stepped aside, letting the two enter, but she kept her eyes on them and if it wasn’t his imagination it looked as if she was looking at Cass more intently than usual. “What can I do for you Lord Farlane?” Sae-Thae asked with a flourished bow, his ash grey skin making it hard to make out if he was smiling or not in the dimly lit room.

“Its Lord Torin now,” Bren said embarrassedly. “Secondly, don’t lord me Uncle. I am here on private matter at the moment. I will deal with the state affairs once I can get all of you in one room,” Bren added with a sly smile.

“Trouble it is then,” Sae-Thae groaned. “Well, before I find out how many fires I will have to put out tonight, why don’t you tell me why you have graced my study.”

“I was hoping that you might have found out more about the location of the veil?” Bren asked eagerly. “My own research has halted because of everything else that has been going on as of late.”

A deep set frown spread across the head masters face. “I hate to admit it, but all I have right now is theories. We know that the veil is to the north, but that still leaves a large area to inspect. I had thought that it might be in the Twilight Valley, but have since learned that it can’t be there. To tell the truth, I am baffled about its location. As soon as I think I have found it, something else rears its head to prove me wrong.”

“So you have run into dead ends as well,” Bren said disappointedly. “I thought I had found it shortly after I took the throne, but it turns out I was wrong about its location. It’s almost as if something is moving things around just so we can’t locate it.”

“I will admit that my god was not at all pleased when I asked him about the veil,” Sae-Thae said, his face furrowed in thought. “But, I doubt that even the gods have to power to move the veil around, though it would be easy for them to lead us astray about its location. We need to tread carefully young man, it seems as if many people would prefer that the veil remain hidden.”

“I thought that the Vathari were all about rushing in head first?” Bren asked with a thin smile on his face.

“Then you have us wrong Bren,” Sae-Thae responded harshly. “We are about winning, and one doesn’t live long enough to win if they don’t look where they’re going. Now, let’s set aside this talk of the veil, and why don’t you tell me what trouble you have brought before the council this time?”

“The council has requested more funds and this time I expect them to give something back in exchange for them,” Bren declared, his face set in determination.

“And what would you ask in return?” Sae-Thae asked, his face unreadable.

“That they send mages to help prepare the houses for the coming winter.”

“It sounds reasonable, but you are sure to find a little resistance. Many of the masters are still not too keen about you having even the smallest amount of say where the tower in concerned. I suggest you tread lightly when you are in the council chambers this evening.”

“I will take that under advisement,” Bren replied calmly.

“I hope that you do,” Sae-Thae said, sighing heavily. “Now, while we wait for the other masters to get themselves around to answering your request for an audience, why don’t you tell me how things are going in the town below?”

Bren spent the better part of an hour telling Sae-Thae of what had been going on since his last visit. Most of it was small things, but the elder mage still seemed interested.

Bren was starting to run out of things to discuss when a young mage appeared at Sae-Thae’s door with a nicely folded letter, telling him that his audience with the council would be shortly and that he should head to the waiting room.

After bidding farewell to his friend, Bren made his way down the stairs to wait to be called in by the council. He knew that it wasn’t going to be a short wait. The council of mages loved to see how long they could keep him waiting. Bren was sure that they were hoping that he would get mad and burst into the council room.

To pass the time while he waited, Bren had brought along a thin leather-bound book that had once belonged to the king of a small country. Unlike
Torin, the country had not been created for the magical races and mages, but it still had some of the same problems that he faced. It was an enlightening read, but not very entertaining. The council called him to attendance shortly before he reached the half-way point in the small diary.

Upon entering the council chamber, Bren noticed that while Sae-Thae was in the middle, Master Turneal sat to his immediate right. He knew that among all the masters, he was the main problem. Bren had done some research on the masters past and had learned that prior to coming to the tower, Turneal had been the leader of a large group of mages that had hidden in the wastes north of Abla.

“King Torin, it is a pleasure to have you greet us this day,” Sae-Thae said, bowing his head slightly. “I do wish that you would give us more time to prepare for these little meetings in the future.”

Bren took the comment at it was meant to be taken. Sa
e-Thae was his friend, but the Vathari took his post seriously and while he would welcome Bren anytime on personal matters, when it came to the tower, there were protocols that he should follow.

“Masters of the tower, I graciously thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Bren offered in the way of an apology more to Sae-Thae than to any of the other mages. “I received a letter a few days back with the request for more funds from my coffers, and while I do not mind helping the tower, I find myself in a dilemma. Many of my people’s homes are not prepared for the winter. As you know, while dwarves and elves have great skills in their own, right few of them have the skill of enchanting. I ask that in return for funds, that the council select mages to help prepare the less fortunate of my citizens for the coming winter.”

“You mean the non-humans,” Master Turneal said in a slightly raised voice.

“The bulk of those in need are of the magical races,” Bren admitted without hesitation.

“Our mages have much more important things to attend to than repairing thatch on someone’s roof. Leave that job to the workmen,” Turneal added in a dismissive tone.

“I understand that as well,” Bren replied, trying to make his voice slightly disappointed. “Then, I must deny your request for funds. As your mages have more important things to do than tend to roofs, my coin will have to pay for the workmen to take over that task. I am afraid, that it will leave my covers unbearably light for some time.”