SWNOVELS Iceblade: Chapter 14
THE SHADOWBLADE WAS banished by the geas of the Power Mage Valara to wild and dark corners of the forest, unable to gather the army of adepts he needed to reclaim his home.
The story of Maratic, from the Eldaran archives.
.
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The king hesitates for a brief moment and then steps forward, pulls Marin to his feet and envelopes him in a fierce hug, tears pouring down his lined face. Even to my unschooled eyes this doesn’t look anything like monarch and subject.
It’s more like father and…
I hear the crash of shattering earthenware as if from a distance and only notice that I have dropped the jug when I feel the splash of hot water on my feet. Tandarion steps back in surprise to stare at me. Marin looks round in alarm––until he sees that the disturbance is only his resident problem getting into trouble once again. He shrugs and beckons me to come over to join him.
Mercifully, he grabs my arm before I get the chance to experiment with whatever confusing protocol I have learned from what just happened.
“This is Ariel, the Blade adept who has been training with the Eldrin.”
Tandarion cups his hand under my chin and gazes into my face as if trying to see through my eyes into the truth of my allegiance, motivation or any other aspect of my dubious background that has kept everyone so concerned. He speaks thoughtfully, almost to himself, although he is addressing Marin.
“Yes. Lania passed on your earlier messages regarding this… unexpected circumstance.” He releases me and steps back, finally focusing on my face rather than my questionable antecedents. “Ariel. I am grateful, and obliged to thank you for saving my son’s life after the battle with the invaders outside Corinium––”
Marin interrupts anxiously. “No! Please, my liege––”
The king holds up a hand to silence him. It might almost be a smile creasing his weary features.
“I think she announced that she had seen the truth of it when she dropped that pitcher.” He focuses back on me. “Regretfully, I am unable to grant you any meaningful reward for your service in our current situation. All I have to offer is yet another demand on your loyalty. You cannot reveal what you have learned to anyone. Not even among the Eldrin. On pain of death.”
“Of course… I swear I wouldn’t do anything against your wishes.” It comes out as little more than a whisper, so complete is my sense of confusion. Marin’s hand is back on my arm. He turns me towards the door.
“I’ll ask the servants to send in more water.” He leads me outside into the grounds and I wait for him to offer an explanation. He isn’t very forthcoming.
“The king’s command is final. I hope you understand that. You are forbidden to tell anyone.”
“Any clues about why? About what has been going on, why you didn’t think to lock the door if this reunion was supposed to be so secret?”
Marin walks past the lawns and neatly-trimmed shrubs and trees to the edge of the rose garden. He signals me to sit with him on one of the carved benches where no one can overhear us.
“We don’t… It’s not usually like that. I hadn’t really thought about how worried he must have been these last weeks. I suppose he guessed how many times I have almost been killed. Until now we have both been careful to keep it strictly formal, ever since I was sent to the Eldrin for safety when I was a child.”
Now I’m wondering why I didn’t see it straight away. The king only had one son.
“You didn’t die from poison when you were seven.”
He stares at his hands, the painful memory of that day plain on his face.
“No. I didn’t. As usual I was getting into mischief. On that particular occasion I was climbing up one of the half-ruined towers at the back of the castle grounds and I was late for dinner. Again. By the time I got there my mother was dying and my father would have died if he hadn’t become exasperated with my appalling manners and gone out to look for me after only taking a couple of mouthfuls of poisoned food.”
“So they hid you and put out the story you were dead while they searched for the assassin? Before someone tried to kill you a second time?”
“That was the intention. But they never did find who was responsible. Farang had covered his tracks too well. No doubt still in the early experimental stages of his long-term plan, making sure there was no betrothal between myself and Nemeria. Even the Eldrin didn’t discover the Fang’s treachery until after the Rapathians were on our shores.
“Tandarion made a very public list of the line of succession, so there were too many of them for the plotters to murder them all. I think the main purpose of the attack was to prevent the planned alliance between Samaran and Annubia. My father felt that both Nem and I should stay with the Eldrin for safety until the perpetrators were discovered.
“Then everything seemed to go quiet. Except that my father never really recovered. For fear that any mention of his weakness might encourage further attacks, the official story maintained that although he was perfectly healthy his grief had aged him. It seemed to work. We had fourteen years of peace.”
“It doesn’t explain why you stayed with the Eldrin.”
“Jantian brought me back to the palace in secret after two years. By then he had discovered that I had a strong affinity with the power of Maratic. The first opportunity in a generation to find someone who might one day be as powerful as Jantian and be able to take on the role of teacher and guide for the Eldrin. I had to choose between the two paths.”
“Why choose? Surely a king who had power like Jantian’s would be just what is needed at a time like this when we have been invaded?”
Marin shakes his head. “That is exactly why the laws of Samaran forbid any Power Mage from becoming king. Remember what Jantian said about the fall of the Knights of Eldaran. You have heard the saying. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You only have to look at Rapathia to see what goes wrong when the Emperor has too much power with no oversight or advisors. The two roles must be kept separate and in balance.”
“Could you change the law?”
“No. I wouldn’t want to. I have chosen my path and trained for it. There is no going back now. My commitment is to protect my father and then protect my cousin when he comes of age and takes the throne.” Marin takes a deep breath. “If Samaran is still independent and still has a throne for him to occupy. Making sure that happens is my job.”
“I didn’t quite mean you personally wanting to change the law. Could anyone else change it?”
“Possibly. That is why it is so essential that no one knows who I was before Prince Tieran became Marin al Valaran. There are always factions looking for a figurehead to represent their interests and it could divide the country. No matter how much I might refuse to cooperate, it could still set the scene for civil war.”
“Who else knows about you besides Jantian?”
“Nem, obviously. Deris was brought to Maratic as a child because of his gift and the three of us trained together. Brac was with the Eldrin patrol that wiped out the bandits who killed your father. He found me in a snowdrift and managed to get me back to Maratic alive, but not before he had heard enough of my delirious ramblings to figure out who I was. He had the sense to make sure no one else overheard. When I recovered Jantian redeployed him as a sort of unofficial bodyguard. And now there’s you.”
“Nemeria didn’t just decide to join the Eldrin as a career. She followed you there, didn’t she?”
No wonder she has always been so protective and suspicious.
“Probably with some persuasion from my father, although she’ll never admit it. I don’t know how I would have coped without her during those first two years after watching my mother gasp out her life on the palace floor. Watching my father trying to revive her even though he was barely still conscious.” Marin turns away, trying to close off painful memories. “Come, we need to check on Deris. May be our last chance. We ride north tomorrow.” He starts to walk slowly back to the house.
It gives me a few minutes for more questions. “Marin? Where to this time?”
“Another owl-message from Alina. Six cohorts of Rapathians have been sent north to form a wall behind the Samarian army, making sure that every last Samarian soldier has no choice but to defeat the Northlanders or die in the attempt. The only good news is that the number of Rapathians is less than was originally planned because House Raksan and its allies are busy fighting House Kandil.”
So Trengar’s sacrifice wasn’t wasted. I wonder if he is watching from somewhere in the next paradise. I hope so. I look up at Marin and raise a questioning eyebrow.
“I know the plan was to bring the rescued generals with us so they could retake command of the army and turn against the invaders. What happens now we don’t have them?”
He gives a resigned shrug. “I have to do it.”
“How?”
“I have signed letters of commission from both of them. Plus as much instruction on their standard strategy and deployment of the remaining captains as they could pack in to the time we had.” He pauses, his furrowed brows reflecting troubled memories of those sessions. “They were both in terrible pain from their injuries, barely able to hold the pen to sign the letters, and yet they insisted on taking no rest until we were finished. Witnessing that kind of courage… it’s a lot to live up to.”
“Now you know how I feel, trying to live up to the kind of loyalty and discipline you and the Eldrin demonstrate all the time.” It’s my turn to pause as I think through what my role will be in all this. “So, how many Rapathian officers do I have to ambush so you can take control of this army?”
“We have to warn the Northlanders first.”
“Don’t dodge the question. How many?”
“Only two. The hard part will be getting past all the sentries and guards. We can give you more backup this time if there is more space to operate than there was at Farang’s lodge.”
My focus is on one Rapathian general I would very much like to ambush if I get the chance. I hope he hasn’t stayed in the capital to continue his fight with House Kandil.
“Does the Emperor let his nobles take time out of busy international conquests for private feuds? It seems out of character for his usual iron-fist way of controlling things.”
“He can only control what he knows about. Alina said Akadian had convinced Purmut that six cohorts was more than enough to keep the pathetic Samarians in order.”
I fight off the anger that erupts inside me at every reminder of how my sister gets her information from Akadian. I try to focus on what lies ahead.
“So Akadian is leading this Northland invasion?”
“Probably the only way he could deflect the Usurper’s attention away from his personal feuding. I expect that internecine scrap is being carried out by his deputies.”
I decide not to mention to Marin that there is a score I need to settle with Akadian on several counts. If he puts a veto on it, that would leave me with the difficult choice of disobeying orders again.