Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 20:40:04 +0000 (GMT)
From: ovote@unseen.is
Subject: The Magician and the Prince - 10

A tale of magicians, magick and a lost boy. By saying this is a fantasy I
don't really need to stress that it is a work of fiction. Set in a nameless
land, maybe even a nameless world, our rules and conventions do not apply
here.

As always this free resource needs your donations to keep it alive, so
donate as much or little as you can afford.
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ovote@unseen.is

.............................................................................

Having been forced to act earlier than he had planned, his worries for the
children in the private club had overridden all else, Jacob now found
himself heading to the trading house each day to see if word had come back
from Jard or the Alver brothers. He did not want the voices of anger and
resentment to die away, and the arrests to have no consequences. But more
damage would be done if the anger peaked before all the pieces were on the
board. A great amount of innocent blood would be shed if the military
forces of the Grand Duke were turned on to the citizens. He visited the
children's home daily with the two boys, they being off as soon as possible
to ride the two horses brought back by Zachary and Jamil. A paddock having
been fenced off by workmen in the days they were travelling to collect
them. Tancred had been asked by Jacob to assess which of the two beasts
would be best suited to the long hard ride carry him to his meetings, and
had also made ready his travelling pack in Zachary's rooms over the
extended carriage house. Included within it this time was a lady's
travelling bag for him to carry while showing her to people of the
town. After what seemed to be an interminable wait word eventually came
that Captain Jard agreed to meet with the lady again in the same inn two
days hence. Jacob could only hope that during the time he was back in the
small town the two brothers would also arrive, or he would be forced to
make two separate journeys. He had no alternative but to leave the next
morning, so arranged with Zachary for him to come and stay in the city
house while he was away. Before leaving Zachary that day they made a final
choice which of the horses would be used for the long hard trip.


That evening he told the others in the house of his need to take an
unexpected business trip the following day and expected to be away for two
nights. After the children were abed, he wandered around the house setting
all manners of protections to keep them safe, returning time and time again
when he thought of something else that might occur. Rising early he broke
his fast before anyone else was out of their beds. As soon as Zachary
arrived he asked him to take him to the trading house, in the hope of a
message arriving on the dawn tide from the Alvers, and was then carried, in
the same manner as the previous time, to the children's home. Before
leaving Zachary he instructed him to ensure none went into the city unless
accompanied by one of the men at the house.


The journey that day would have broke any ordinary mount, but spelled by
Jacob he and animal flew the route as if it were winged. Slowing progress
only when he spied travellers in the distance, once past them the pace
stepped up again. This was another time he wished he had been given the
power of flight by those great mages of the past. But they had only
enhanced abilities, not created new. Arriving in the town late in the
afternoon he made his way to the livery stables to rest the house that had
performed so magnificently for him. It seemed that only a few seconds
passed between the dusty traveller leaving before a sharp rap came on the
livery door, looking up the stable man saw the well dressed lady stood
before him. Calling for a buggy, she instructed the man to carry her into
the town and take her to the inn where Jard had met with her the last
time. The meeting was set for noon on the day following, Jacob decided he
would stay overnight at that inn instead of taking another room, it would
be a move that threw Jard off his plan of watching for her arrival if he
took up residence that day as the lady. Jacob was playing games again,
sometimes he couldn't stop himself. The general hubbub of the inn quieted
as the lady stepped in from the street and made for the bar.

Knocking sharply on the counter she said "I'll take a room, and your best
room For two nights and possibly a third"

"Sorry ma'am there's someone in it" replied the innkeeper.

"Turn them out. New bed covers as well. And I mean new, not washed, if you
don't have new send the boy for them. I'll return in one hour" With that
she placed two large gold pieces on the counter, turned around and left the
inn.

Looking across to the docks from the main street of the town she could see
that one of Captain Jard's ships was tied to the dock wall. If she had
found that the Alver brothers had arrived she would have been likely to
stride down and go aboard now, have the meeting with the brothers late that
night and return home the day after. But it was not to be. Once the high
tide had peaked she made her way back to the inn. The next morning no signs
of the brothers materialised so she took up residence in the inn's private
room and sat awaiting Jard. Upon his early appearance she pointed to the
other chair, with the air of someone in complete control of the
circumstances of their meeting.

"There is more work for you, if you have committments for the remainder of
the summer you will need to break them. This contract will be for your
complete force until the first day of winter, and an option for longer
should it be necessary" As she was saying this she pushed into his
recollections of the sinking of the slave ships and knew all.

"Jard replied "That will mighty expensive Madam, I have a large force and
the expense of maintaining it does not come lightly"

"You have 327 active men Captain, the details of your force are well known
to us. You will be required to keep a peace and protect civilians, and also
to hold a sizeable group of people. Few of your men will likely be engaged
in fighting with trained military men "

There was no question of Jard not complying with the lady, his choices in
this were made by the spelling that was now in control of him. Naming the
city she then set out the full scope of the job to be done.

"Some of your men will make their way overland in small groups to the city,
furnished with enough funds to sustain them as they live as ordinary
men. The rest you will hold offshore on your ships until the evening tide
of the day in question. On that high tide, make way into the harbour and
deposit your men. Your men in the city will meet up with you and carry out
the tasks set, they will carry full details to you on that night. By the
time the city rises in the morning all the people named on lists and maps
provided will be in your custody. Your men will show a strong presence in
the city to keep order as the news is announced" Surprise will be complete,
most of the men you will be tasked to hold will be found drugged with a
strong sleeping potion, they will not fight"

This was of course a very basic outline, for as time went on refinements
would be continual, and Jacob expected to spend nearly all of his time
sitting with the trade master to finalise plans for the coup they intended
to mount.

After Jard and the lady had spent some considerable time answering all the
questions he had thought of she asked "What will be your fee for this
work?"

It took some time before he replied "I will require One Thousand gold
pieces for each month from today, for this part month you will pay the full
amount"

Her reply came instantly "Agreed" It was, after all, Sir Samuels' gold she
was spending.

Seeing that speedy answer Jard made the comment "I should have set Two
Thousand pieces as the price, I let you off lightly"

As with the last meeting she left him without words at her closing
remark. "I would have paid up to Three Thousand Captain"

As she pulled back the curtain to leave the room she turned to him and said
"All your men are to be furnished with a coat of the same bright colour so
they be clearly identified as the keepers of order. You will have no
trouble providing that from the large profit from the sale of the wine
carried from the ship on your last business. Send your man, that you
designate leader of the shore party, to me today. I will have instructions
for his place of lodgings. If I am not here, he is to wait and to stay
sober. "With that she left Jard to his sorrow over the coin he could have
been counting, and her knowledge of his good fortune found on the slave
ship that bloody night on the open seas.


Back in the room upstairs at the inn Jacob lay on the bed reflecting on the
steps taken, and the steps yet to to take. If this next meeting went to
plan then all the moves ahead of him would be made much easier. While it
was so that he could make the right circumstances come about with his
spelling, he much preferred that a man was not made to do the things he
would never ordinarily carry out. It lay easier on his conscience that a
man first had the will within him to do the right thing for his fellow
man. Closing his eyes he rested until near the time of the evening
tide. When he rose he slipped quietly down the stairs and, finding the inn
busy and with no eye turned toward him, slipped out the back door as Jacob,
then walked down to the harbour. A sailing schooner was in the process of
making fast, having arrived on the tide, he paced the dock impatiently as
he awaited any passengers that may disembark. He cursed his
shortsightedness in not seeing the need for the Alver brothers
earlier. After the few passengers had left he enquired of the schooner's
mate of their route, and was rewarded by being told the vessel had indeed
called at the island port where the Alvers lived. He learnt also from him
that over the next few tides there would likely be another two vessels
making a stop at the town. Returning to the inn he went in and took food
and ale at the bar counter. After a time spent in conversation with some of
the other men in there he bade them goodnight and left the inn, quickly
going around to the back door and making up the stairs to his room.


As dawn broke the next day Jacob was already pacing the dockside. The wait
as the ships came in, and were made fast, seemed to be taking twice the
time for many of the many tasks to be done. As had sometimes been remarked
in the past, the eternal man most surely didn't have eternal
patience. Eventually his agonised waits of the last days were rewarded as
he recognised the figure of Thomas Alver emerged from a doorway and look
out on to the town. Following him was another man who he assumed was
Simon. Hailing Thomas from the dockside Jacob went to meet them at the foot
of the gangplank. After Thomas had introduced Simon and Jacob to each other
He walked with them into the town, to the inn where they had booked
rooms. Fortunately not the same inn he stayed at as the lady. When they had
made themselves comfortable in one of the rooms Jacob warded the room to
prevent anyone outside hearing them speak, and then brought them up to date
on the progress on their former home. Turning to the city he told of the
things that had happened since Thomas's last visit, leaving until last the
night of the raid and the events of the days since. Hearing the torments
that the poor children had been forced to endure Thomas held his hands over
his eyes and wept. Simon's reaction was to fly into a rage, and Jacob was
glad he had placed the wards. With the force of the man's anger he felt
sure that the innkeeper would be banging on the door fearing someone being
murdered if he hadn't. It was clear that of the two Simon was the
firebrand.

When Thomas had recovered sufficiently enough to speak he said through his
closed hands "Our Father did these things to both of us. He raped us night
after night for all the years we lived with him"

It tore Jacob that he could not spell the two in a way that would make the
admission bearable, but he needed them with the anger and hurt raging
inside for the questions he would soon ask.

Continuing he told the brothers "It is very clear from the documents found
that your father was a leading member of that club, and owned a sizeable
stake in the building itself"

It took some time for the meeting could continue after that news. After a
time to allow the brothers to regain a part of their composure he made a
statement to them "This evil cannot be allowed to go on, these men, from
the Grand Duke down, must be pulled from power. And there are men who are
prepared to do it"

As the meaning of his words sunk in they silently waited his next words,
which were not what they were expecting. "In the weeks since we met last
I've heard many stories about the love the people of the city still hold
for your mother. That same love is in their heart for you Thomas, and you
Simon. Can you put aside your vow never to return, and join us in removing
them?"

Jacob sat in front of them, waiting to see which of the two would speak
first. Sensing inside Simon a burning rage and visions of a mob dragging
the Grand Duke and his cohort through the streets. In Thomas's mind were
doubts of himself, unsure he had the inner strength to be a part of any
such revolution. He did not acknowledge Simon's whispered Yes the first
time it was given. He pushed that thought to reinforce itself in the young
man's mind.

It was repeated firmly "Yes ... Yes I will, and so shall you Thomas"

"But so many will die or be hurt Simon, the soldiers will be turned on them
at the first signs of rising. We've seen that before, the carts drawn
through the streets with blood running from them to show example of the
fate of those who cross the palace" replied Thomas to his brother.

Jacob was quick to counter that thought. "Our plan involves no citizen
bearing arms, there is already a great force who will take the palace, and
the homes of the high born. The people will rouse from sleep with men
patrolling the streets keeping order that morning. The military locked in
their barracks with the armouries secured against them. Not a man of the
city will perish, not a child orphaned, nor will a wife be widowed"

He went on. "There will be a group of people who will take charge only
until the people themselves decide who will lead. And, following an
election of any named, a council will sit who will forge a place for all to
live in peace with their neighbours, and also in peace with other lands. No
more rape and murder. No more will people live in poverty. And no more will
the city be at war with other lands"

Jacob had described the island home of the two brothers to them, a place
they had come to love over the years since they fled the city with little
but their lives. They had worked steadily in the time since, with Thomas
becoming a lawyer and making a comfortable living. If he saw the parallels
between the two places he did not say as the idea sunk into him
further. But slowly Jacob answered all the questions of the two men over
the next hours in that room, with a little help from his gentle spelling he
brought them to firmly believe in the idea of bringing about this
change. It was late in the afternoon before they broke from that fateful
meeting, the men hungry and thirsty, they made their way down to the main
room of the inn and called for food and ale. It had been decided that
Thomas would return to their island home and put matters of business in
order to allow both brothers to be absent. While Simon would travel quietly
from here to the city, and take up residence in Jacob's house with him and
the children. In due course Thomas would sail openly to the city and rejoin
his brother. At no time did Jacob want either man to be seen as an
instigator of revolt by the city authorities.


The lady had not been seen in the inn since leaving early that morning to
greet the dawn tide. Jacob smiled at the mystery that would be pondered on
if she never appeared there again, her travelling bag left, and found empty
when eventually opened to search within. Looking at the sun, now sinking to
the rooftops, through the glass of the inn's windows he thought of the
enjoyment of a ride through the night, arriving home and being able to sit
to break fast with the children. His horse in the livery was well fed and
rested, he needed no light to guide him or mount on that ride, he would
ride now he decided. Furnishing Simon with ample coin to buy horse, and
buggy if he wished, he bade him wait until his brother left for home before
he started his on his way to the city. The three made their way to the
livery stables and said their conspiritorial goodbyes.


Jacob sat at table that next morning enjoying the joy of the children, when
they woke up to find him sat there, looking no different than he would had
he only travelled the steps down from his bedchamber. His mount grazing
peaceably in it's paddock above the city at the new children's home.