The Line of Illeniel

Chapter 13

We went to the Lancaster’s city house. I had promised to meet Marcus and Rose there before we set out for Washbrook. Once again we had to rely on Cyhan’s knowledge of the city to find it. Neither Penny nor I had ever been there.

Cyhan seemed on edge the entire way. He kept turning to watch behind us. “This is the most foolish thing I’ve ever known any man to do,” he said finally.

“Try living with him,” Penny added.

“What?” I could only assume they were talking about me.

Penny’s eyes lit on me, “What do you think? We’re walking around the city with several hundred pounds of gold, casually loaded onto a couple of mules. You’re asking for trouble.”

Ahh, of course, they were worried about the gold, “As far as anyone knows it could be sacks of grain loaded on those mules. Assuming you can keep your voice down about it.” I had already put shields around both of them so I was hardly concerned. I couldn’t imagine any street thugs being able to threaten us in any meaningful way.

“Grain isn’t that heavy Mort. Besides, plenty of people already know exactly what we carried out of that bank,” she replied.

“Such as?”

“Such as Mister Aston and everyone else that works at the Royal Bank, idiot.”

“I hardly think the bankers have any reason to rob us, they hardly seemed the type anyway. What would they do? Threaten us with their ledger books?” I laughed.

Cyhan snorted, “Very likely they’d hire someone else to do the deed.”

“You can’t hire thieves to steal gold. They’d take it for themselves,” I pointed out.

“You’re right,” Cyhan agreed. “They would hire assassins and let them have the gold as a bonus.”

“At least you have some sense,” Penny put in.

“What would they have to gain from that?” I was genuinely curious.

“Your letter of credit would immediately cease to be of value and the rest of the money would remain safely in the bank,” Cyhan answered immediately.

I had to admit they had a point. I hadn’t considered all the possible motives. Not that there was much I could do about it at the moment. I expanded my awareness to keep a better watch around us. I would definitely have to give some more thought to our trip back home. They knew we were leaving, they knew where we were headed, and they knew when we would be traveling.

We arrived at the Lancaster’s house. I had expected it to be magnificent and I wasn’t disappointed. It was actually built slightly back from the road with a small stone wall circling the property to provide privacy and protection for the family. A heavy wrought iron gate blocked access to the property. A bell stood beside it to ring for attention if there wasn’t anyone standing watch. Luckily there was someone there so we didn’t have to use it.

“Mordecai is that you?” came the guardsman’s voice.

I looked at him carefully; he was a man of nearly forty years, slim and sun-browned. “Wallace?” I asked. I wasn’t entirely sure, as a boy memorizing all the guardsmen’s names wasn’t high on my list of priorities.

“Hah! It is you boy! Glad to see you. Hang on I’ll get the gate open in a moment. His grace said you would be coming by today.” He worked carefully to unlock the gate and then turned a small winch to swing the doors wide for us. He could have used a smaller door built into one side of the gate but the mules were too bulky to fit in that way.

It felt good to see someone who knew me from my childhood days. It took some of the foreignness out of the situation. I hadn’t realized how home-sick the capitol had made me until just then. As I relaxed I felt the wind swirling around us and it almost seemed as if it were whispering. The air plucked at my hair and sent small leaves twirling about in the small inner courtyard. I smiled and took a deep breath. As the wind murmured to me I could see the trees along the western edge of the city, where the royal preserve came down to almost meet the city walls. A light rain there had scented the air with the fresh smells of earth and growing things.

Penny’s hand on my shoulder interrupted my reverie, “Mort, are you alright?”

“Sure why?” I looked at her, though it took a moment for my eyes to refocus on her.

“You were just standing there smiling and muttering to yourself. Who were you talking to?” her dark brown eyes were full of concern.

“No one, I was just listening to the wind… it was talking about the rain and…,” I caught myself. As soon as I had said the words, ‘it was talking’, her eyes had narrowed. “I mean I could smell the recent rain. It’s a lovely day out. I didn’t mean to worry you,” I finished instead.

“Mordecai!” Marc shouted as he came out of the house to greet us. “How did it go at the bank? When I told father you were going he thought we might need to send a troop of guards to keep them from locking you up. He seems to think they’ll be none too happy to see you.” For a holy man and a saint he seemed remarkably like the same old friend I had always known.

“Hah!” I answered, forgetting my mistrust and his new profession. “They were only too glad to greet us with open arms and throw open their coffers! They sent us along with this as a token of their kindness,” I gestured at the mules and their heavy load.

Penny frowned, “He means they nearly tossed us out before he threatened to turn the bank into a pile of rock and sand.”

Marcus laughed, although she hadn’t been making a joke. Penny was none too happy at how I had handled things at the bank. I couldn’t help but wonder at his good mood. “What’s got you so happy?” I inquired. “Did you make up with your father?”

Marc’s face fell a bit, “No, he’s still mad as hell about my choice, but he’s adjusting. I’m just happy in general, though seeing you is always a plus. Since I accepted the goddess I’ve felt better in every way you can imagine. It’s like hearing music for the first time, after having been deaf my entire life.”

He did look happy, but his reasons for it soured my own mood a bit. I changed the subject, “Has Rose showed up yet?”

Marc’s eyes shifted, showing a hint of pity. He was probably inwardly lamenting that I would never know his goddess’ grace. “No she hasn’t come by yet. Who’s your large and well-muscled companion there?” He indicated Cyhan who was standing silently beside Penny.

“Oh! Forgive my rudeness. Cyhan I’d like you to meet my good friend, Marcus Lancaster. Marcus this is Cyhan. The king has sent him with us to train my bond-bearer.” I stepped back and the two of them shook hands quickly.

“By bond-bearer he means me,” Penny put in. She was making sure I didn’t forget who my choice was.

“The fighting prowess of the Anath’Meridum is legendary. Seeing you I begin to understand why,” Marc said as he released Cyhan’s larger hand.

“I was never chosen,” Cyhan replied, “but I have been involved in the training of several.”

“He taught Mort’s mother, Elena,” Penny added. Cyhan grimaced slightly when she said it.

“Why the face?” Marc asked. “You must be proud to have had such a student. My father tells me that Elena was the deadliest fighter he had ever seen.”

“The Anath’Meridum are not judged by their fighting skills, but by how they live up to their oath and their pact. In that Elena was a failure. My shame lies in that I trained the first and only Anath’Meridum to willfully break her oath.” Cyhan’s statement was devoid of emotion though it struck me like a slap in the face.

“What is that supposed to mean?” My voice was cold.

“Nothing more than what I said. My intention is not to offend, but Elena broke her oath and failed in her trust. There can be no greater sin for one of the Anath’Meridum,” the big man replied coolly.

“So you would rather she had stayed and died? That I had died with them? Is that it?”

“It is not my place to judge such matters. She failed and now we face possible war as Gododdin maneuvers to get their hands upon an unbound wizard.” Cyhan’s face might as well have been carved from stone as he spoke.

“For someone who trains elite bodyguards you seem to feel it would be better for me to be dead.” I was angry but I kept my emotions in check.

“You clearly do not understand the Anath’Meridum,” the warrior replied.

“You don’t understand the first thing about me,” I shot back.

“You are angry because I said your mother was a failure. Yet if you examine yourself better you may understand some of my feeling. Your friend stands before you, and yet he has become something very close to what the Anath’Meridum are meant to prevent. Can you still trust him when you know he bears a being within him that hungers to possess you? Has he not failed you in much the same way?” He spoke calmly, which only drove the spike into my heart that much more painfully.

“You arrogant bastard!” I had lost it. Without thinking I drove my fist at him. At close distance and with little warning even someone like me should have connected… but I didn’t. Without seeming to move the warrior turned slightly and my fist found only air. With a smile he caught my elbow and his other hand came up to push my shoulder. A few seconds later I was looking up at him from the ground.

“If you want to attack me magic would be a better course of action. Your anger does you no good service.” His words mocked me without emotion.

“Like hell,” I said and swept my legs across to knock his feet out from under him, at least that was the plan. He was ready for it and rather than let me sweep his legs he leapt upward and toward me. As he came down he drove his right boot into my midsection, even with my shield I felt the force of it. He had meant to drive the wind from my lungs.

Marcus had never been one to stand idly by, when he saw Cyhan’s foot hit my belly he stepped up to defend me. He moved gracefully, like a natural boxer, one hand lashing out to strike the bigger man in the stomach. Being quick he almost landed the punch, but the older warrior was quicker, bringing one hand down he knocked Marc’s jab out of line. I rolled out from under his feet as they began trading blows. Marc was quick, he had always been a natural athlete but he was no match for the older veteran.

They ducked and wove for several long seconds, neither seeming to have an advantage, till Cyhan brought his leg up for a swift kick. Marc’s hand instinctively went down to guard his midsection and he turned to avoid it, as he did Cyhan’s right hand rushed forward to slam into his temple. He dropped like a felled oak.

I had not been idle, regaining my feet I rushed my foe from behind. With his attention firmly fixed on Marc he should not have known I was coming, yet somehow he anticipated me. Twisting Cyhan spun and I passed through where he had been standing. He didn’t let me go peacefully by however; he caught the back of my shirt as I went by and lending force to my rush he sent me headfirst into the building that stood by the gate. Despite my shield I almost went unconscious as I rammed into the stone face first. If it had not been for my protection I might have broken my neck. I wound up dazed and lying on the ground. Woozy, it appeared to me as if two or three separate Penelope’s were attacking at least two giant men with large walking sticks. Maybe that was my staff? It was hard to tell, I was seeing double and my vision was blurry.

Wallace had jumped into the fray as well, sword in hand. Cyhan took the sword out of his hands as though he were a child and sent the guardsman down with a simple palm strike. Using the sword he blocked Penny’s next swing of the staff. “Time for the lessons to begin,” he said smoothly.

“Go to hell! You’re just an over-sized bully!” Penny drove the end of my staff at his midsection like a spear but he stepped into it, letting the tip slide by him. Running the sword up along the length of it Penny was forced to drop the staff suddenly, that or lose some fingers. She swung at him with her fist as she let go. You have to admire the spirit of a girl like that.

Cyhan released the sword to fall beside the staff and idly brushed her punch aside. Almost without trying he slapped her across the face with his open palm. I saw her head whip to the side as she reeled from the blow. I was trying to rise but my legs seemed to be made of jelly and I struggled just to stay conscious. Marc seemed to be out cold.

Penny wasn’t giving up. She bore a large red hand print on one cheek, but she wouldn’t quit. Growling she swung at the burly warrior again. Moving lightly on his feet he let her fist glide past and slapped her again. “Good! You have spirit, I was afraid you’d be a shrinking violet,” he taunted her.

They had several more exchanges of blows. Well that might be too dignified a way of putting it. She swung at him and he slapped her… repeatedly. Every time she closed she caught another open palm across the face. She had red marks on both cheeks and as blurry as my vision was I thought she might have a split lip as well. She was watching him carefully though. The next time she attacked it was a feint, pretending to swing at his midsection. He started to move his feet but she planted her foot down hard on top of his and brought her fist up to strike him solidly in the face.

The blow hardly moved him. Cyhan stopped and looked at her calmly, “Excellent, you’re learning already.”

An inarticulate howl issued from Penny’s throat. I had to give it to her; the girl had an excellent battle cry. Without moving she struck again, but he calmly raised his foot, bringing hers off the ground. A small push and she went over backward to land hard on her derriere. “The lesson is over girl. We’ll continue more this evening after you’ve had time to recover your wits,” Cyhan turned away and walked over to check on Wallace who was starting to rise. “Sorry about that, are you ok?” he asked the older man as he offered his hand.

Before Wallace could reply a voice came from the direction of the gate, “Oh dear! Am I interrupting something? Again?” Rose Hightower stood in the open arch. I tried to explain, since I was the nearest to her, “Nothing to worry about Rose, we’re just getting the hell beat out of us,” but my voice didn’t seem to be working properly. All I got out was a gobbledy-gook of mismatched syllables.

Penny spoke up, obviously embarrassed, “Uh, hello Rose. We… ahhh…” She was at a loss for words.

“We were just having a lesson in hand to hand combat while ironing out some personal differences,” Cyhan answered for her. He was trying to wake Marc up as he spoke. “I think I may have hit him too hard. Anyone have some water?”

Hit him too hard? He had knocked him cold and then tried to use me as a battering ram. The warrior had a talent for understatement. “Msh goon keek err ash ooo bshtid,” I said clearly. I won’t bother to translate but you can rest assured it was a dire warning to him.

“Once you cool off you’ll rethink that,” Cyhan looked at me. He was fluent in ‘incoherent-rage’ apparently. Either that or he simply knew whatever I was saying must be a threat.

“What is going on here?” James Lancaster was standing in the yard. I hadn’t noticed his arrival but then my powers of observation weren’t at their best just then. It took several minutes of explanation to satisfy him. A bucket of water had roused Marc so he was able to answer a few questions. Eventually the duke got enough information to have an idea what had happened, “So you knocked my son on his ass…” He was giving Cyhan a hard look.

For his part the veteran trainer didn’t look the least bit embarrassed, “Yes your grace.”

“A week ago I might have had you flogged for such an insult,” James stepped forward and held out his hand. Cyhan took it and the two men clasped arms. “Thank you,” James said. I might have agreed with his sentiment, except that I had just had the sense knocked out of me.

Half an hour later we were all safely ensconced in the duke’s house, drinking tea and nursing our wounds. I had gotten the worst of it, my head still felt a bit dizzy. Marc was a bit unsteady as well, but Penny showed the most obvious outward signs. Both of her cheeks were red from repeated slapping and her lower lip was swollen. The looks she gave Cyhan across the table might have burned a hole in the wall. I’ve never understood how women do that, but having been the recipient of a few similar looks in the past I found it unsettling.

“My apologies for insulting you Mordecai,” Cyhan said, quite unexpectedly. “I spoke only truth, but I did it with the deliberate intention of testing you.”

“Being tested isn’t big on my list of favorite things,” I replied. “I hope you learned what you needed. I won’t go easy on you next time.” By that I meant I wouldn’t refrain from using magic against him. It was clear that the man was nearly invincible in physical combat.

He laughed, “I warned you to use magic at the start as you’ll recall. In any case I learned what I needed to know.”

Rose was intrigued, “And that was?”

“That he’s not afraid to take on a larger opponent, if he feels that he has been wronged. Many men shy from such a fight.”

I felt a bit better hearing that, till Rose continued, “Is that a good thing?”

Cyhan frowned slightly, “In most ways men are measured, yes, if he was to be a soldier or knight, certainly. As a leader, and as a wizard, it isn’t so good. He let his emotions take charge of him, overruling his better judgment.”

Rose grinned impishly, “Does that apply to the others as well?”

“Not at all,” Cyhan answered immediately. “They all fought for different reasons. Marcus for example, he didn’t step into the fight until it was clear I might seriously injure his friend. That’s a mark of strong loyalty and a sense of fairness. He didn’t intervene till it was clear I meant to take advantage of his friend once he was down. On the other hand, he fought as if we were in a boxing match. There are no rules in a brawl, such foolishness cost him a headache and a taste of dirt.”

“I’m not sure that it would have mattered, you fought like a lion,” Marc interjected. “I’ve never seen anyone move like that.”

“You have a lot of natural talent. You could be a real threat with some training,” Cyhan said. “Penny on the other hand, was my primary target for the test and I was pleased with the result.”

Penny bared her teeth at him. I swear the girl is half wild-cat. “You’ll be less pleased next time,” she warned.

“You mean in an hour?” he smiled at her.

She lost her fire, “What?”

“From here on we’ll be training every evening. While we travel you’ll train during the rest stops as well. You showed some good instincts, a quick eye, and a lot of spirit, but you fight like a child. That must change.”

“I don’t understand why she has to be trained like a soldier,” I put in. “We can form the bond without any need for that.”

Cyhan raised one eyebrow, “It has everything to do with the bond, but not for the reasons you might think.” He stood up, “Follow me; it’s time for your second lesson.”

I winced, I had a feeling this would hurt.

Back in the yard Penny and I stood side by side, for some reason he wanted us both there. I stared at him uncertainly, “Alright, so what do you plan to teach us, oh wise master?” My sarcasm was legendary. It didn’t seem to faze him though.

“Let us assume, for the present, that you and she are already bonded. Why do you think that Anath’Meridum are taught to fight?” he said.

“Presumably to protect their wizard from unscrupulous thugs,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “But I don’t need someone else’s protection. My magic shields me more effectively.”

The big warrior chuckled, “It does eh? Prepare yourself then, I’m going to try to kill you. Put up your defenses and show me how impossible it is.” His confidence was unnerving.

I already had a shield around me but I reinforced it just to be sure. As long as he didn’t fling me into any more stone walls it would be very difficult to wound me and if I was using magic against him he would never get the chance to do that again.

“Ready?” he asked. I told him I was.

He went from motionless to blinding speed almost before I realized it, but I was prepared nonetheless, “Shibal,” I said as he came at me. Nothing happened.

Rather than strike me directly he stepped past and his arm came up. He’d put one leg behind me and his arm swept me from my feet with very little force. I hit the ground hard but my shield kept me safe regardless. “That sort of thing isn’t going to be enough,” I snapped at him as I rolled away. He didn’t reply, but I heard a sharp yelp from Penny.

My eyes took in the scene quickly and I felt a fool. He still stood where he had tripped me but his hand held a sharp blade to Penny’s throat. He looked at me without moving the cold steel, “You’re dead.”

I stared, uncertain while my mind worked out what had happened. His attack on me had been a decoy while he got close to her. Finally he removed the knife and stepped away. “Now do you understand? Anath’Meridum are trained, not to protect you, but to protect themselves. Once you form the bond the easiest way to kill you will be her, and there are a thousand ways to do it.”

“Why would any wizard consent to such a thing then? It makes no sense,” I blurted out.

“Because they were going mad… she’s your only hope for sanity. The bond will anchor your mind to hers. Madness drove Jerod Mordan to form a pact with Balinthor and nearly destroyed our world. That is why they agreed to it, to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. The bond will not only ensure your sanity, but will make it impossible for any being to enter either of your minds again. Tell me the truth Mordecai… you’re hearing voices already aren’t you?”

I stared at him blankly. What he said was truth, I’d heard it before, but I hadn’t realized he knew about the voices. “Well… no, not exactly.”

“The bank shook while we stood inside. I don’t know what you told that fat banker, but I’d guess you threatened to destroy the entire place. That’s not the sort of thing a sane man would say. Just an hour ago I saw you muttering to yourself when we came in… talking to things only you could hear. Don’t lie to me; your sanity is hanging by a thread. What will you do when it is gone? Who will you kill? You might even hurt your friends. That is why your ancestors agreed to the bond.”

I listened and even as he spoke I could hear a massive drumbeat beneath us. The earth was alive, even if I was the only one that could feel it. Lies; do not listen, they want to geld you. You cannot trust their words. I closed my eyes, wishing I could shut out that voice but then the voice of the wind began whispering to me again. In my mind I could see the forest beyond the city, where the wind was capering among the trees while the birds kept up an incessant chatter. Maybe I was going insane.