The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (73 page)

Several of the sorcerers who had been uninvolved in the issue until now began nodding in agreement with Gwendolyn.

Kevin tensed as anger began to flow through him, and he addressed his remarks to Gwendolyn in a strained voice. “In Camden, we expect our citizens to fight all slavers who invade our shores, to resist capture, and if they are captured, to escape if at all possible. When slavers capture any of our citizens, our soldiers pursue them with two objectives in mind: first, to rescue the captives, and second, to apprehend the slavers. I feel sure that the citizens and armies of other provinces have similar orders.” Kevin paused and looked around. Several of the sorcerers had frowned a little while he was speaking, but once he stopped, most slowly nodded in agreement.

After a moment, Kevin continued, “Now, if our citizens are encouraged to fight the slavers, and to try to escape if captured, how can we turn around and state that escape is a crime? Is it acceptable for a captive to try to escape from a slaver before he or she has been purchased, and only a crime after purchase? Exactly when does a captive become a slave?” He paused for a few moments and looked around the room as if he expected someone to answer him. “Does my saying that a person is my slave make him my slave?” Several of the sorcerers looked confused, so he added, “If so, then I could look at any of you and declare you to be my slave and there would be nothing you could do about it.”

Gwendolyn visibly bristled, Malcolm’s mouth dropped open, and several of the other sorcerers narrowed their eyes and shot him a look that dared him to try it, but no one spoke, so Kevin went on. “What reason can we give a man who lived, worked, and paid taxes in our province to explain why he must accept forced servitude in another province just because a band of slavers invaded his home? How can we tell him that he must accept losing his wife and children to slavers just because the army he’s been supporting all of his adult life wasn’t there to stop them? Do we not owe this man and his family our protection? Is that not what he paid taxes for?”

Once more Kevin looked around the room, taking the time to look into the eyes of every sorcerer who would meet his gaze. “Before we can say that escaping from slavery is a crime, we have a lot of questions to answer.”

 Then he leveled a cold glare at Gwendolyn and spoke with such a quiet authority that a hush fell over the chamber as the other sorcerers strained to hear his words. “I am speaking now as the Sorcerer of Camden, not as the Master Sorcerer. I cannot and will not honor any such agreement until I have satisfactory answers to all of those questions. In the meantime, anyone who tries to take anyone from Camden by force, or anyone who commissions someone else to take any of our citizens by force, will be considered a slaver, a criminal, and we will make every effort to rescue our citizens and return them to their homes, no matter where we have to go to find them, and if at all possible, we’ll arrest the slavers and anyone else who is responsible for their capture. We owe our citizens that much.”

A hush fell over the council chamber and the tension in the room intensified until the air seemed to crackle with it.

Then Trivera, the sorcerer of Wyndsor, cleared her throat and said, “We had an unusually dry summer this year, and when our crops came in, there was hardly enough to feed our farmers, much less all the townspeople. We need to barter with someone who has a surplus of food. Did any of you have a good harvest?”

Jason said, “We did. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out. Do you want to bring your governor to Wellbourne to meet with mine sometime next week?  After we get the details worked out, you and I can transfer enough to hold your people until the boats reach Wyndsor.”

Trivera nodded and said, “Thank you, Jason. I’ll tell Governor Shardin the good news as soon as I return, and we’ll see you in Wellbourne next Wednesday.”

Geoffrey, Sorcerer of Havernia, added, “We have some surplus rice if you’re interested. I’ll check with my governor and let you know how much we can spare. Let me know how much you want and we’ll see what we can work out.” Trivera nodded to Geoffrey, thanked him, and then turned to her assistant to be sure that he had gotten it all written down.

Kevin asked if there was any more business that needed to be brought before the council. He waited a few moments to see if anyone else was going to speak, and then he thanked all the sorcerers for coming and adjourned the meeting.

Even if it had not been protocol, he would have stood up as soon as he closed the meeting. The stone chair was really uncomfortable. Kevin wondered if there was a reason for that, especially since all of the seconds had nice armchairs.

The sorcerers stood in front of their chairs, waiting while their assistants gathered their notes, and as soon as the assistants were ready to go, they followed their sorcerers out of the chamber. Kevin and Rolan were the last two sorcerers in the chamber and as Kevin passed Rolan on his way towards the door, Rolan placed his hand on Kevin’s arm.

“You might want to reconsider your stand on returning runaway slaves,” Rolan said in a pleasant tone.

“Oh? And why is that?” Kevin raised his eyebrows, lowered his eyes, and looked at Rolan’s hand.  

Rolan let go of Kevin’s arm and said, “Out of deference to your father, I feel that I should warn you that you’re making a big mistake by drawing a line in the sand and daring Gwendolyn and Malcolm to step over it. They would make formidable enemies. I’m just offering a word of advice out of friendship.”

“Friendship?” Kevin asked. “Didn’t you send out a couple of squads with orders to bring back my head?”

“There was nothing personal about that, but since you’ve been lucky enough to make it this far, you might want to be more careful about who you choose to go up against.” It was all Rolan could do to keep the scorn out of his voice.

“I think I made my views clear enough. They’re not going to change. But like you said, there’s nothing personal about it.” Kevin started to walk away, but then he turned back to Rolan as if he had just remembered something he wanted to tell him. “Oh, and while we’re here, I guess I should tell you that I’ve agreed to accept Landis as an apprentice whenever she’s ready to begin her studies.”

“You what?!” Rolan sputtered. Then he tried to gain control again. “She’s my sister, Myron. It’s up to me to decide who she studies with.”

“Your half-sister you mean, and actually I think it’s her foster father’s decision now that her father’s dead. Anyway, we’ve reached an agreement and it’s settled. Oh, and her other half-brother, Taelor, will be escorting her. I believe you’ve met him,” Kevin said nonchalantly.

“Taelor?!” Rolan gasped as his face went red with rage. He snapped his jaws shut to keep from saying anything for a minute. Then he hissed through clenched teeth, “I’ll have to insist that you return him to me. He’s my property.”

“Well, you see, this is one area where we disagree,” Kevin said in a patronizing tone. “I don’t believe that one person can own another, so that invalidates your request.” An icy coldness crept into his voice as he added, “I’ve promised them my protection and I will perceive any move against them as an attack on me personally, so it might be a good idea for you to call off your bounty hunters and anyone else you’ve sent out looking for either one of them.”

“You’re making a big mistake here,” Rolan growled.

“And you’re saying that out of friendship, right?” Kevin asked sarcastically. He waited a heartbeat before he continued in a voice that was tinged with menace. “Is that the same friendship that had you skulking about near our castle the day before my father became ill?”

For a minute, Rolan stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring at Kevin. When he finally spoke, his voice was red hot, but there was a hint of fear under the anger. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“No, not yet. I’ll be sure to let you know when I do though,” Kevin answered evenly, turned away from Rolan, put his arm around Laryn’s shoulders and walked through the chamber door.

Chris had been standing at his desk, a few feet behind Kevin, listening to the entire exchange. He acted like he was still gathering his papers while he watched Rolan out of the corner of his eye. He waited to follow Rolan out of the room rather than get in his way. He wasn’t all that sure that Rolan wouldn’t go after him out of spite.

Once Chris stepped outside, he found Kevin and Laryn waiting for him near the chamber entrance. Kevin turned to him, smiled pleasantly and asked, “Are you about ready to go?” while Rolan glared at the three of them from the other side of the clearing.

Chris didn’t bother to answer; he just placed his hand on Kevin’s arm and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were standing in Kevin’s office. After his stomach settled, he said, “You really should warn me when you’re going to do that.”

“I’m sorry. When you put your hand on my arm, I thought you were ready to go,” Kevin answered.

“I’m not talking about that. I meant that little conversation with Rolan.”

“Oh, that. I couldn’t warn you. I didn’t know about it myself until it happened, but I have to admit it felt good.”

“Well, you have definitely made an enemy out of him,” Laryn said in a tight voice. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”

“He was my enemy before I ever heard of Terah, and we knew that going in. At least now it’s all out in the open,” Kevin said. “But I do have a question. What happens if I have an accident, or end up in a coma? Who takes over the Master’s Chair then?”

Laryn sighed and said, “There is no one to take over. You’re it. There’s no one else who can step in. We’d all probably end up in the middle of another magic war.”

“So all of this would have been for nothing?” Chris asked.

Laryn nodded. Then she looked at Kevin. “Myron, you need to find a wife, and soon. And you need to produce an heir. And until you do, you need to be really careful!”

~ ~ ~ ~

At dinner that night, Chris gave Tyree and the rest of the Tellurians a blow-by-blow account of the council meeting and the first part of the conversation with Rolan, but he left out everything about Landis and Taelor, as well as the bit about Rolan having been around the castle right before Badec became sick. They were pleased with the way Kevin had stood up to Gwendolyn, and since they were used to thinking of Rolan as an enemy, they weren’t the least bit upset that Kevin had stood up to him, too. But Kevin couldn’t help but wonder what their reaction would have been had Chris told them the whole story.

While they were drinking scog after dinner, Kevin heard Xantha’s voice in his head.
“I’ll be landing in about fifteen minutes. Want to meet me out at the stable?”

“I’ll try. If I’m late, don’t leave. I’ll get there,”
Kevin answered mentally. Then he said, “I think I’ll go for a walk before heading to bed. It’s been a rather long and exciting day. I need to relax.”

Chris gave him a funny look, like he didn’t really believe him, but he didn’t offer to go with him.

By the time Xantha landed, Kevin was at the stable and had even managed to find a bucket of oats.

“You’re learning,”
Xantha said as he began to eat.

“I’m surprised to see you. Is there any particular reason that you’re here?”
Kevin asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes. Hayden asked me to deliver a message,”
Xantha said as he continued to eat.
“He and Duane have discussed the plans with Landis, and she would be pleased to be your apprentice, provided you survive that long.”

“I don’t think that last bit was part of the original message, was it?”

“No, that was from me. After all, I know what happened at the council meeting. Now Rolan will feel like he has to come after you. Congratulations. You went from being a minor irritation to being a major thorn in his side.”

“I can always count on you to look on the bright side and make me feel better,”
Kevin said sarcastically.

“I do what I can.”

“Everyone else thought things went well today.”

“I bet Chris and Laryn weren’t too pleased with that little exchange. Rolan is devious and clever, and as evil as they come. You need to be more careful around him. If he could get to Badec …”

“Okay, Okay. Point taken.”

“Now, on to more important matters,”
Xantha said.
“You need to find a mate, and soon. We have no way of knowing how long you’re going to last, making people mad like that, and you need to have an heir. And while you’re at it, you need to give some serious thought to naming a second.”

“You’re a little premature there, aren’t you? I don’t have a wife, much less a child. And I don’t need to name a second until I have a child, right?”

“That’s true, but you don’t want to wait until the last minute and let all the good people get away, do you?”

“Do you know something I don’t?”
Kevin asked with a frown.

“No. I just point out potential snags so that you can deal with them. Now, as far as a mate’s concerned, the offer of assistance is still open. Just say the word and I’ll have candidates lined up outside your door. You can take your pick!”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Touchy, aren’t you. Well, I’m off. See you soon,”
Xantha said as he took one last bite of oats and leapt into the sky.

Kevin wasn’t ready to go inside yet, so he decided to walk through the gardens. While he was wandering around, he thought about what Xantha had said, about the people he trusted moving on with their lives.