Eno shook his head. “I always thought someone would kill me and hang my head on a wall. The more protection I could get, the better.”

  “Look at how that worked out for you,” Otto said.

  “I know, but I lasted. I know a lot more now than I did then about survival,” Eno said. “I had over fifty years of living, and little of it prepared me for my transformation.”

  “How much magic could you do as a unicorn?” Gags asked.

  “Not much. I suppose that is different for everyone, but who can you ask?”

  “Miria,” Gags said. “I’ll ask Miria, but you’re right. Everyone is different.”

  “What makes you different?” Eno asked Gags.

  Gags sat back, but the door opened, and a short parade of boys walked in with food bowls. It smelled good, Gags thought.

  “We can’t join you, but we got the best we could,” the stableboy said. He brought up the rear. “I’ll fetch you when your lady and her friend are finished with their audience.”

  “Thank you,” Otto said and pushed a Baxterian coin across the table.

  The boy’s eyes grew. “I can’t take that. I’ll be whipped.” He left the room without touching the little tip.

  Otto shook his head. “Be thankful you grew up somewhere else,” He said.

  Eno filled up a bowl. “We weren’t given plates.” He looked around, confused. “We have to eat with our hands?”

  “I suppose so,” Otto said. He showed them a spoon with tines on the very end. “I had a blacksmith neighbor who made this for me. Occasionally, it comes in handy.”

  Gags and Eno weren’t so fortunate and helped themselves. Gags hoped they would pass a water barrel or something before they left.

  Eno had finished his initial gorging. The wizard looked fat now.

  “I asked you what makes you different.”

  “I’ll tell you if you tell me the same about you,” Gags said.

  Eno nodded.

  “I’m not good with projecting fire or lightning, a magician’s stock-in-trade, but I can walk on air, a few inches above the ground, which helps if I’m sneaking up on someone. I learned to create motes.”

  “What are motes?” Eno asked with an interested expression.

  “I don’t know what they are, but they are like a cloud of insects drawn to your face. They disrupt breathing and sight. I used it on the mama bear,” Gags said. “They can be very dangerous. I can make a little volcano of swirling dust or dirt. My talent is that I can create spell variations and pick up unique spells quickly,” Gags said.

  “You’d make a great apprentice.”

  “To a wizard?” Gags asked.

  Eno nodded. “What sets a wizard apart from a sorcerer or magician is their ability to create.”

  “I thought a wizard had much more power than other magicians,” Otto said.

  “Where did you learn about magic?” Eno asked.

  “They practice magic in Kernia. Most Kernians look more like you, Eno. They must have sailed south from Atto.”

  “That isn’t an easy trip,” Eno said, “especially once you’ve passed the Paratto Mouth.”

  Otto looked lost.

  “It’s like the Maritime Gap on the east side of Peria, then there are weeks to get from the mouth to the eastern tip of Oroia,” Gags said.

  “I never studied much geography,” Otto said.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” Gags said. “I had the opposite kind of childhood than these poor creatures have.

  “There isn’t much magic on Oroia,” Otto said. “It was said there was more magic eons ago, but I don’t know what happened.”

  “The world went from potions and devices to inner power,” Gags said. “I would guess Oroia was left behind since magical inner power isn’t common on your continent.”

  “Ann has magic,” Eno said.

  “I’ll bet her mother was caught by Baxterian nobles and made to marry Lord Pearton,” Gags said.

  “And her mother had magic?” Otto asked.

  “That would explain her power,” Gags said. “I don’t know how much she can do. Practice can make up for lack of power.”

  “Only to a point,” Eno said.

  “Agreed,” Gags said. “Now, what makes you unique enough to become a wizard?”

  “Inventiveness. You mentioned potions. I researched potions and charms.”

  “The daggers that your apprentice made for communication?”

  “An idea that I came up with, but my apprentice could take an idea and make it happen,” Eno said. “It was a dangerous talent.”

  “For her and for you,” Gags said. “Did you work with spells?”

  Eno looked insulted. “Of course I did. I have an extended range of lightning, can concentrate air, and throw fire spears. I can make magic happen away from my body.”

  “Like?”

  “Setting something on fire from ten paces away without a fire spear,” Eno said.

  “Ah. I’ve never thought of spawning something that far away. I’ve always thought you had to touch your magic.”

  “But you didn’t get close to the bear,” Eno said.

  “I created the motes close to me and moved them to surround the bear’s head.”

  “If you can control magic from afar, then you should be able to initiate a magic spell from a distance.”

  “Something to contemplate another day,” Gags said.

  Otto shook his head. “I don’t know what you two were talking about, but I have no desire to know. Why don’t you eat? I do know magicians need to eat to make their power stronger.”

  Gags was going to give Otto a better explanation of storing magical energy, but he thought the better of it. Eno had already focused his attention on eating and refilling his bowl. The servants ate better than Gags had thought. Nothing was fancy, but it was good enough for him if messy eating with his fingers.

  They waited another hour before the stableboy opened the door. Eno and Otto were asleep, and Gags was thinking about what problems they might encounter in Castlewhit.

  “The audience is over. Your friends ate much better than you,” the boy said as he led them back out the same door, they had entered and back to the courtyard where the horses were.

  Ann and Lucian chatted while the others approached.

  “Success!” Ann said, showing them a token with a seal. It reminded Gags of the flags flapping around the courtyard with the same tree and bird motif. “She said it will work for me and one other.” Ann put her arm around Lucian’s. “Lord Browning’s bird message to Queen Mariam didn’t have the effect he intended.”

  “That leaves us three short,” Otto said.

  “At least someone can find Miria and give her the antidote,” Lucian said. “You and Ann can go. The token is for Ann and a servant. As much as I’d like to, you should go in, Gags.”

  “Perhaps some of us can find another way in,” Gags said.

  “No need to worry about it in Goldworthy. I was able to get royal supplies, including some wines,” Ann said.

  Eno’s eyebrows rose. “That is a coup, lady,” the wizard said.

  “We should be going,” Otto said. “We can talk on the road. I want to be well away from Sweetwood before we set up camp.”

  “I’m all for that,” Gags said, mounting his horse.

  They assumed the same formation as they left the castle and an honor guard closed around them as they left the palace grounds.

  Chapter Twenty

  ~

  G ags stared at the tiny fire with a cloak wrapped around him. The others had gone to sleep. They were now in the fief of Whistlane. Otto had suggested traveling overland through Whistlane without entering any habitations.

  The Whistlane lord had a reputation for unpredictable behavior. Laws kept changing in the fief, and people could be jailed for doing something that had been legal all their lives until recently. The best solution was to avoid everyone since they had enough supplies for the three-day journey from one end of the fief to the other.

  The first night was pleasant, finding a small clearing in the middle of towering trees. The ground was soft, and the air warm enough for Gags. This was their second night, and they camped in a shallow bowl at the top of a small mountain range. The altitude made it cold, and the breeze made it worse.

  He sat with his back to a rock, holding his staff upright to keep from falling asleep. A cracking branch put Gags on full alert. He spelled water and doused the fire, and moved to his right. An arrow or a crossbow bolt bounced off where he had just sat.

  Gags moved again in the moonless dark and stood, invoking night sight. There were six above him that he could see, taking refuge in the rocks surrounding the bowl. The camping spot gave some respite to the chill wind. However, they were at the bottom of the bowl and could be attacked from above on any side.

  The others slept as Gags airwalked in the darkness to the lip of the bow. Crouching down as soon as he did, Gags crept to his left, pulling out his boot knife, and walked behind an attacker, raising a crossbow.

  “Drop your weapon,” Gags said into the ear of the attacker before putting the man to sleep.

  He did the same to the second attacker, a woman, but the third attacker turned, sensing someone behind him. The arrow slowed as Gags applied magic to it as it was shot. He flicked the blade of his knife and deflected the arrow from its intended path.

  “There’s one up here!” the assassin said, and he tried to reload, but Gags pinched the man’s neck and left a third asleep.

  Gags heard a cry from across the bowl to see Otto wiping a dark-tinged knife blade on the fallen enemy. That was four down, and Gags saw the two others slip away. It was too late to follow them. Gags dragged down the first, and Otto helped him with the third attacker.

  The others were awake by then, and Eno relighted the campfire.

  “Attackers in the night,” Otto said, dropping the female assassin in front of the fire.

  Eno lit a bright magician’s light. “Let’s see what we have. There isn’t much to see here.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Otto said as he bent down to examine them. He lifted a knife from a sheath. “This is an excellent piece and well-maintained.” He looked at the hands of them all. “They all constantly train from the thickness and position of callouses. I’d say they are soldiers or guards of some kind.”

  “Of Whistlane?”

  “If they were Baxterian, their clothes would be different, although they could be paid by a Baxterian noble,” Otto said.

  Gags looked at their boots. “Not much wear except where the leather meets the stirrup. There would be horses tied up on the other side of the mountain. Are they after us for trespassing in Whistlane, or are they in the pay of Baxter?”

  “Or both?” Lucian asked.

  “Does it matter?” Otto said. “I think we are awake enough to start the day early and get out of Whistlane. One more domain, and we will arrive at the Castlewhit border.”

  As they were breaking camp, Otto approached Gags.

  “How did you sneak up on them?”

  “Airwalking. I’ll show you when the sun comes up. I’d rather not show Eno,” Gags said.

  “You don’t trust him?”

  Gags paused and then said, “Do you?”

  “About as far as I can throw you, not him, although with all the weight he’s putting on, I’m not so sure I can move him either,” Otto said.

  Otto tied the assassins and nodded to Gags.

  “Lucian, you are great at sleeping spells,” Gags said.

  Eno grunted, but Lucian ignored him and woke the woman.

  “Answer our questions, and we won’t hurt you,” Otto said.

  “I wasn’t paid to keep my mouth shut. Ask away,” the woman said. She eyed them. “I wouldn’t have taken the job if I knew it would have involved wizards.”

  “Only one,” Eno said.

  “Who hired you?” Otto asked.

  The woman gave Otto a crooked smile. “Alan Brooks. Know him? I don’t think you do.”

  Otto pointed his thumb up. “Who wants us dead?”

  “Someone in Baxter,” she said. “A lord of something or other. The lord of Whistlane received a bird.” The woman shrugged. “He had Alan Brooks hire us. The rest, you know.”

  “I’d like to know the lord’s name,” Otto said.

  “If wishes were fishes,” the woman said.

  “How did you know we were in Whistlane?”

  “The border is always under watch. You are the only group with four men and a woman to pass through. It wasn’t easy to track you here, but.….” She was full of shrugs.

  Eno stepped up to her and squeezed her ear. “That was a location spell. Now we will know where you and these two are at any time,” Eno said.

  The woman rubbed her ear as Eno pinched the ears of the other sleeping assassins.

  “You are going to let me go?” she asked.

  “Not exactly,” Gags said. “Tie their feet together, Lucian.” He came close to the woman’s face. “We want a head start. You’ll have to get untied and retrieve your horses if you wish to pursue us again.”

  “And if we get caught by you?” she asked.

  “How do you want to die?” Gags asked.

  “In my own bed when I’m a great-grandma,” the woman said.

  ~

  “Will the assassins pursue us into Dimple?” Ann asked. “I don’t trust the woman’s words, even if you put location spells on her and her two companions in crime.”

  Eno laughed. “I’m sure we can make good on Gags’s promise, but the location spell? That was a bluff.”

  “You don’t know a location spell?”

  Eno shook his head. “Any kind of spell can exist in our world, but I’ve never heard of a spell like that.”

  Gags shrugged. “Eno fooled me, too, Ann.”

  “Not me, but I’m a little better read on magic than you are,” Lucian said. Otto, what do we have to beware of in Dimple?”

  “Nothing that I know of. I’ve never been to Dimple, but we should stay close enough to the border to find out if we can get entry plaques to Castlewhit,” Otto said.

  They approached a border station on the Dimple side.

  “What is your business?” the guard asked.

  Otto moved forward. “We are heading to Castlewhit from Baxter, and Dimple is our last stop along the way.”

  “You need tokens to enter Castlewhit.”

  “I have a token,” Ann said, pulling out Queen Mariam's pass.

  The guard looked it over. “It is for you and your servant. There are five of you.”

  “Three of us might be staying in Dimple until our lady’s business is finished,” Lucian said. “Is there anything keeping us from spending a few days in your country?”

  “As long as your name isn’t in the book,” the guard said. “Bring the book!”

  Another guard brought a ledger. “This is current as of this morning,” the guard said. “Tell me your names and where you are from.”

  “Real names,” Gags said.

  Eno sighed. “Eno Banban from Gaolong on Atto.”

  “Otto Long from Baxter.”

  “Ann Pearton from Baxter.”

  Lucian and Gags gave their names.

  “There is a Lord Vingus Gags from Peria in the ledger,” the guard said. “Your name arrived this morning.” He went through the recent entries and shook his head when he was through. “You’re the only one.”

  “What happens when my name is on the list?” Gags asked.

  “We have a saying in Dimple. ‘You have to sing for your supper,’” the guard said, “and that applies to you, Vingus Gags.”

  “I’m a terrible singer,” Gags said.

  “What are you good at?” the guard said.

  “What do I look like I’m good at?” Gags asked.

  “Eating,” one of the guards said to laughter.

  “I’m a soldier,” Gags said. “So?”

  “Then you will go to our capital where you will fight in a challenge. If you win, you can stay. If you lose, you’ll have to leave immediately,” the guard said.

  “And if I don’t want to leave?”

  “Your name on the list makes you undesirable. If you refuse to abide by our rules, you’ll be killed and tossed over the border with Castlewhit. That is where you are headed, anyway. We will let you reach your goal,” the guard said, “maybe not in the shape you’d prefer.”

  “Where is your capital?” Gags asked.

  “Greystone is a day away. Dimple isn’t very large, but you’ll have to travel restrained. Those are my orders for everyone in the ledger. Give me your weapons. I’ll assign escorts,” the guard said.

  In a few minutes, Gags rode ahead of his party, flanked by two guards. A collar with rings on either side attached to ropes held Gags in place. He didn’t fight the humiliation.

  Gags had prevailed in tournaments before; this time, he had no incentive to let another win. He hoped his passive approach at the border would work by quickly winning any challenge in the capital. Knowing Oroians penchant for trickery, deception, and cruelty, he had to be prepared for tricks.

  ~

  “Do you let Whistlanians enter your borders?” Gags asked his escorts.

  “Not at all. Whistlanians are vicious dogs. I wouldn’t have guessed you would make it across their country without picking up an escort.”

  “Like this one?” Gags said, tweaking the rope attached to his collar.

  The two guards laughed. “More or less. Weren’t you challenged?”

  “We kept out of everyone’s way and traveled cross-country. There was an altercation last night, but we all took care of it,” Gags said.

  “Did you fight?” one of the guards asked.

  “I was there,” Gags said, not directly answering the question. “What are the challenges like?”

  “Each one is different. For soldiers or highwaymen, it is whatever you wish.”

  “I can use my staff?” Gags asked.

  “I already answered that. Anything that you wish to bring.”

  “And who will I be fighting?”

  The two guards laughed. Gags knew he wasn’t in on the humor. “The Dimple champion, of course,” a guard said. “She is undefeated.”

  “A woman?” Gags asked.

 

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