Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:11:20 +0000 (GMT)
From: ovote@unseen.is
Subject: The magician and the prince Chapter 3

Jamil was as happy as he could ever remember being, he had a warm bed to
sleep in, clean servant's clothes to wear and good boots on his feet, and
with the house insignia on the collar of his coat he had no fears the
constables would sieze him as a vagabond. He was free to run about the city
carrying out the errands Zachary or Sarah the housemaid tasked him
with. The master even gave him a small amount of coin for his pocket, and
made sure to tell him he was free to spend it as he wished. Tancred the
master's apprentice was nice to him as well, even though he had only had
this position for a week it felt as if he had known Tancred a lot
longer. Some people just fit together and became good friends easily he
often thought. And living in the streets as he had done for a long time you
learnt quickly who to trust and who to avoid. Now that he had carried out
his errands he would make his way back to his master's house, but on the
route he knew he would see Donae his sister, when he did he would give her
a secret sign that it was safe to come into the grounds of the house today
because the master would be out in the carriage, and that meant Zachary
would also be out. Sarah was always busy in the kitchen and her husband the
old man did little except light the lamps for the household now. That was
another kindness of the master, that he kept the old man when he was much
too old for work now. He had never known of a high born to act like this,
the lords of the city were always beating their servants, or throwing
people out of the hovels if the money for the rent was late. The homeland
of the master must be a wonderful place if everybody was as kind as he
was. Sarah gave him far too much food, used to scavenging for food he could
never eat it all. If he took it back uneaten she would scold him and tell
him to eat more to grow bigger and stronger. There was always enough for
him to put food aside for Donae to have. When Zachary drove the carriage
away from the house she was watching, and looked to see if anyone was about
and then crept into the grounds and around to the carriage house where
Jamil was waiting for her. As she sat making quick work of the food Jamil
had made ready for her he unwound the filthy rag from her foot, she had
been bitten by an angry dog when she was looking for a safe place to sleep
some night's past. The wound was dirty and running with pus and even though
Jamil had cleaned it with water each day it was not getting any better.

Zachary took his duties seriously watching the streets around the house, he
had been spying for the King in this city for a number of years, he knew
the rhythms and could sense the undercurrents well. Without his knowledge
Jacob had also increased his ability to see and hear what was happening
around them, so it was not surprising that Zachary had seen the girl hiding
in the street two or three times now. Mentioning this to Jacob he was told
to take note next time they left in the carriage, and then circle back to
the house and stop outside the gates. The sight of Jamil gently cleaning
the girl's badly infected foot was not at all what Jacob expected to see
when he stepped into the carriage house.

"What on earth is going on here young man?" He said to Jamil.

Jamil looked up at the three stood before him with a look of terror. Seeing
himself losing all that had come to him with this job tears came quickly to
his eyes as he tried to explain and apologise at the same time.

Jacob went on "We can't have this going on, whoever this is she needs
proper attention. Zachary go to the kitchen and tell Sarah to prepare a hot
tub. Jamil bring her over here into the daylight, let me see what's wrong
with that foot. Tancred please help Jamil with the child if you would"

Hearing Jacob's words and with the kindly tone of his voice Jamil calmed a
little and did as he was bid by the master. Jacob crouched down and took
hold of Donae's leg, raising it up as if to inspect the angry wound on her
foot. His touch alone was enough for him to know how badly the girl was
suffering from the infection, if it had been left many more days the
chances were high that living in the streets, and with no hope of
attention, the infection would spread throughout her and cause death.

"Who is this girl Jamil?" asked Jacob. As he explained that Donae was his
sister a little mental pushing from Jacob caused him to spill out the whole
story. Once Jacob heard how the boy had been undertaking all his duties,
and still going about the city caring for his sister and using the coin he
had earned to keep her safe he turned to Jamil and said "What a wonderful
young man you are indeed, she has a true champion in you. We must ensure
your efforts bear fruit and she stays safe and well. Come, bring her to the
kitchen and carry her if she cannot walk"

Once the girl was brought into the kitchen and Sarah had the situation
explained to her she quickly took charge, bustling the men out of the way
and getting Donae out of the filthy rags, then into a tub of hot water, and
pouring in to the water a large amount of disinfecting herbs. Prompting
Jamil to stay with his sister to ease her concerns at all the strange
things happening to her Jacob sent Tancred off to bring the medicine bag he
carried during his travels since leaving the kingdom on his search. To keep
their secrets safe from the growing number of people in the household he
had to be seen to treat Donae's wound by conventional means and not with
magick. Looking in the bag he saw there was little that would help this
particular type of injury, even though the treatment was unnecessary with
the magick healing that was already slowly working within Donae. He wrote
out a small list of medicines and asked Tancred to run to the nearest
Apothecary and get what was needed.

Jacob took Zachary off out of the kitchen as the others busied themselves
with caring for Donae, walking into the carriage house he saw a quizzical
look on Zachary's face. Speaking not as master and servant, but as he
thought them to be, two equals engaged in a subversive role for their king
he said to Jacob;

"Are we doing the right things here, surrounding ourselves with people who
could bring us down by not knowing what who we really are?"

Jacob thought on this for a moment and decided to bring Zachary a little
closer into events and reveal some of the long term objectives of the last
few weeks. "Our task here is something that will take many years to come to
fruition, it may be that neither you nor I will be in this city when that
time comes. But what is happening over the boy Jamil is a secondary
undertaking, one that has took shape since I arrived in this
house. Pointing to the gates where the carriage still stood he said "I
could fill that carriage with silver and not have enough to buy the true
loyalty of a man who would turn his coat from the land of his birth, but
giving him love, kindness, and a life full of possibilities, instead of him
standing on a slave block with the brand of an iron on his face he will be
ours forever. In a few years we can bring him to our homeland and tutor him
in all of the secrets of our trade, and also in the ways of our best
serving men if he proves able. Once he comes back here he will be an asset
to any of the first families of this terrible city, all the while being our
man deep within his heart. And not just him, there are many, many just the
same as him who we can nurture, with no future and no families. Within a
decade we could have eyes and ears in every Lord's house in the city, even
within the palace if fortunate"

Zachary looked back at Jacob, his eyes widening at the endless
possibilities of it all came to him. At that Jacob continued "Don't look at
me as being the master tactician in this matter, this is Tancred's idea. He
saw this stretched out before him without any help from me" which wasn't a
full truth, but Jacob was using the opportunity of having Tancred thought
of like that as a seed for the years in the future when he sat on the
throne as Zachary's sovereign. That day would be quite a shock for Zachary
when he finally saw who the apprentice had actually been. The tale of the
new king planning and carrying out such a coup while still a boy would be
whispered from one of his spies to another.

Over the next days Donae was nursed by Sarah in the house, with Jamil
making every excuse to come indoors and see her recovering. While Donae was
still ordered to stay in bed and rest Sarah had gone about the city with a
purse of coin to procure clothing for the child. Told by Jacob she would be
staying and be a kitchen maid to assist Sarah she chose similar to that
which Jamil wore, but more suited to a girl, so it started to become
something of a uniform for the house. The house insignia was also
embroidered on Donae's new clothing. Although she would not be sent out as
much as Jamil, that insignia gave her an identity and proved her standing
in the house for the city constables. Jacob spent some time with Jamil,
praising him highly for the love and devotion he had shown to his
sister. Telling him how disappointed he would have been if Jamil had looked
on his own good fortune to cast her aside and make a life without her. He
told Jamil that from now on he would no longer sleep in the little room
over the carriage house, but instead both Jamil and Donae would have a
small room next to each other, on the top floor of the house, as their own
quarters. This was the best news Jamil could imagine when he looked back
just a few short weeks to a time when he slept deep in overgrown bushes
with rats or feral cats to contend with.

By now it was drawing close to the end of the summer, they could expect the
weather would close the mountain passes between the two kingdoms, so Jacob
felt he should send further coded information to the king that would
further reassure him that his heir was safe and well. This needed to be
done now because the city held a week long celebration to mark the change
of the seasons, and all the trading houses would close for the duration of
the festival. Sitting in the library he composed a letter, which he would
have Tancred copy in his own hand, addressed to his mother but still in the
tone of the young apprentice.

My Dearest Mama,

I am enjoying this time with Uncle Jacob greatly, he has taught me so much
about trading in just this short time. I am missing you terribly and hope
this winter will fly quickly so we can start our journey back to you as
early as we can. I have some lovely gifts for you, and even if I haven't
yet given them to you seeing them here, and knowing they are for you will
keep me happy.

I know Uncle will suffer the cold, he is already complaining of his old
bones as we often hear him doing when he is sitting in front of a roaring
fire at home. Let us both hope we have time for you to send a reply before
the snow stops passage of letters between us Mama.

Although the letter looked very formal for a boy to send to his mother he
had written it so it contained several key words within it that told the
king much more than reading the content ever could. Once it had been
rewritten by Tancred they went off the trading house that secretly served
the king, and sent it on it's way. Returning to their home Jacob found that
a messenger had called leaving him an ornately decorated letter. Opening
the magnificent envelope he found an invitation inside from the head of the
city goal.

My Friend Jacob,

Having enjoyed our time together recently, and the stimulating conversation
I wish to invite you to a private evening with some of my close friends at
our club nearby. It is to be held on the main night of the Summer
festival. My carriage would collect you and bring you to my home where we
can take a light supper beforehand.

Sir Samuel Alver.

Having already given Sarah and her husband leave to travel to a nearby town
for the duration of the festival, to visit their daughter and their
grandchildren, he felt that this brought him an opportunity to make the
moves against Sir Samuel he had promised himself. Telling Zachary his only
duties during the festival would be to take Sarah to her daughter's town,
and collect her again at the arranged time for the return journey he
allowed him the rest of the week away from the house. The streets would be
impassable in the daytimes for the carriages, many of the piazzas and
streets were blocked by street theatres or temporary markets, any moving
around had to be done on foot. Finally he suggested that Sarah take Donae
along with her because Sarah's grandchildren were both girls of a similar
age to Donae. The house would be empty save for Jacob, Tancred and Jamil,
although the two boys would also be away for much of the daytimes enjoying
the entertainments, returning only as evenings fell. For all of the week
they would eat at the tea shops and eating houses of the city as needed.

Jacob had already decided that keeping this house fell into line with the
long term plans of the kingdom, and had told the trading house to negotiate
a price for it's purchase from the landlord. Althought finalising the sale
would take more time yet they had made agreement for the sale. Upon that
agreement Jacob had a sigil designed, the same as the insignia embroidered
on the servant clothing. Tancred and Jamil went out into the city and
Tancred bought enough lower quality clothing for the two of them to wear
during the street games of the festival. Some of the chasing and ball games
boys got up started off with few rules, and those were soon ignored, so
clothing was often an early casualty of the rough and tumble sports. Ripped
trousers or missing sleeves were commonplace, and it wasn't unknown for
some boys to come home wrapped in tablecloths grabbed from the tea shop
keeping their boyhood from sight. Despite any cuts and bruises the boys of
the city loved every minute of every day, putting aside their
responsibilities and just being children. One of the final tasks Sarah
carried out before Zachary took them off was to heat a small metal sigil
and scorch the house insignia into this clothing, once again keeping the
boys identified as belonging to the house.

During the festival the three went out in the city each day, and Jacob
arranged times and points to meet the boys, him taking his rest sitting as
peaceably as possible in the busy tea shops. He was never far from them,
and although they didn't know it he was able to keep them in his mind at
all times and know they were in no danger. Tancred was able to just be a
happy boy at play, but to Jacob he was still his prince to be carefully
guarded. Even from a distance should any event threaten the boy, he could
stop it in an instant, and Jamil being a boy that had survived the dangers
of the streets for nearly three years was the best companion he could have
found for Tancred. Each night the three returned to the house happy but
with the boys exhausted, by the time they had bathed away the grime of the
day the boys were fit for nothing but falling into their beds and sleeping
until morning. The main day of the festival was much more restrained, with
ceromonies to celebrate the successes of the year, and to look forward to
the year ahead. There were none of the games going on through the streets,
instead they all wandered the street markets, the boys buying puzzles and
games that would be good to have in the long winter months. They returned
to the house while Jacob made ready for the arrival of Sir Samuel's
carriage. Dressed in his finest clothes he looked every bit the rich,
prosperous merchant. With a little time to spare he double checked the
wards of protection he had set to keep Tancred and Jamil safe while he was
away from them. Taking Tancred to one side he quietly told him that nobody
save him could now enter the house, that he would be away until very late,
and not to stay awake for his return.

Jamil didn't understand the feelings he held for Tancred, he had quickly
become the best friend he'd ever known, even friend was something of a
strange term for Jamil. The boys and girls he had spent life on the streets
with were more of a band who worked with each other, survival as the thread
that ran through everything. Working with someone to steal food from an
open door didn't always mean that the morning after that accomplice, and
the spoils, were gone as he slept. The boy that helped you one day could
just as easily hold a knife to your gut next time they met. When things got
too hectic during the street games Tancred was the one who pulled him aside
out of the path of larger boys that would have trampled him underfoot. When
they stopped to buy sweets from a street vendor Tancred was first to offer
coin for them both, asking Jamil which they should have. He could no more
put into words the concept of brothers in arms than an eagle could tell you
how it soared in the skies, to both the boy and the eagle it was instintive
and woven through every fibre of being.

The house being empty save for the two boys they chose to sit in the
kitchen and take their evening meal from the cold meats and bread left for
them. Talking of the fun they had shared during the week, laughing at some
of the escapades they had gone through. In due course they readied for bed,
and Tancred suggested they both use the large bathing pools to clean
themselves rather than Jamil having to draw water to fill the tub in the
servants quarters. Neither boy gave thought that they be seeing each other
unclothed for the first time, to both it was no different than jumping into
a river to play. Immersed to the neck in the water Tancred's thoughts went
back to the times he had swam with his friend Darius, and inevitably to the
feelings that had come to him at those times. Guiltily he realised that
Darius had ceased to seem so important to him now, indeed it was a little
difficult to picture Darius' face lying on the warm sand, and the features
he was seeing in his head made Darius look rather like Jamil. Banishing
such thoughts from him he concentrated on bathing instead. To Jamil the
three separate pools were a luxury he could never have imagined, so he made
the most of this new experience. When they both had finished bathing and
dried they robed themselves in the light luxurious robes, Tancred having
brought one of his own for Jamil to wear. Having lain for a long time in
the scented waters they both laughed as they compared their water wrinkled
fingertips as they went to the upper floor of the house. Reaching Tancred's
bedroom he asked Jamil should they play some of the games bought through
the week. Jamil chose a board game where each player had an army, and
battles were fought out on the board between the two sides. Tancred had
played this game often with his tutors as a way of learning military
strategy and expected to win easily. He was very surprised to find his
teachings had left him unprepared to match an enemy who did not know those
rules of engagement. His opponent Jamil could only play this game as if a
guerilla army, and his attacks on Jamil did not work out the way he
expected. Jamil's attacks often left his army suffering many casualties,
with many of Tancred's red wooden playing pieces stacked up near
Jamil. After five games he had only won once, with Jamil being victorious
three times and one game coming to an inconclusive draw.

The night grew late as they talked their way through the events of the
games, with Jamil explaining the best way he knew why he had made some of
what to Tancred were strange, but successful, moves on the board. Taking
Jamil's hand he raised it above their heads and said "We salute the victor
of the great war, General Jamil" and pulled Jamil close to give him a
military style kiss on each cheek. With their heads close together their
eyes met, in one of those instants that last a lifetime each boy saw the
love that had grown for each other, the need for each to show that love
couldn't be hidden as their lips touched and they pulled each other
close. Did each kiss last a moment, a minute or an hour? Neither knew nor
cared, as they lay together in that embrace of joy, their hands moving up
and down on each other sending a message of love through their
fingetips. Knowing that even the thin silken robes they wore to be a
barrier between them they pulled them open and feel each other's naked
beauty touching and joined together. The intense heat and the hardness of
Tancred's member as Jamil's hand touched him there was almost too much for
the boy to bear, his hand pushing between them to grasp Jamil in the same
way. Opening his mouth he felt Jamil's tongue on his they rubbed their
bodies together. The boys, lost in feeling they could not control, the
throbbing of Tancred's member held in Jamil's hand became too much and he
felt the pulsing of his seed between then, in almost the same instant he
felt the release of Jamils's seed on his stomach. The tides of the seas
would have been easier to stop than the seed of those two boys in love with
each other. No words were needed as they lay together basking in the
afterglow of that first time of loving, their essence becoming as one they
held each other close. The tears of Jamil's happiness kissed away by
Tancred, the taste of their seed on each other's fingers as they took them
in their mouths. Neither boy had been schooled in the arts of the
bedchamber, but this night they were each other's teacher, and each other
willing student. As they discovered a world of love in that room they
slipped into sleep wrapped in each other's arms.

Jacob stood in the dark and watched Sir Samuel's carriage pull out of the
grounds of the house. His face was without expression and after a moment
turned and opened the door. Pausing only to remove his outer cloak he
climbed the staircase to his bedchamber. He wanted no wine after the sights
of this evening. Seeing the door of Tancred's bedchamber ajar, with the
light spilling from he went to turn off the lamp. Stood at the foot of the
bed he looked down on the naked boys asleep before him. Their arms around
each other and the smell of lovemaking still in the air. Reaching for the
cover he pulled it gently over them, and leaning forward he kissed each
gently on the forehead. Whispering to them "Sleep well my beautiful
children, together you will bring this depraved city to it's knees"

Extinguishing the lamp with a glance he closed the door of the bedchamber
and retired to his own, the beauty of those boys holding each other
starting the difficult process of banishing the horrors he had witnessed
that night.

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

Not wanting to mix the dark events surrounding Jacob's night with the story
of Tancred and Jamil it will be told in a separate chapter next.