Book I - The Magician's Boy (Chapter 4)

Though he treated the summons as an annoyance, Krutt couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“Think of the money I could be pulling in right now. The crowds I could be commanding. And yet, I would not refuse the King his wishes, as I hear it is some great honor to be chosen to perform for him. It is only just that he should choose me.”

Erich pulled the cart silently, knowing that his master was talking more for his own ears than for the boy’s. What a tantrum he’d throw when he found out it was all a mistake, that the King had not asked for him. It will have been the page boy’s fault then, and Erich hoped his master had forgotten the trick he’d played earlier to get the coin into the page boy’s hand. The magician was not stupid, and he’d be able to figure out something had been going on unless Erich gave him no other reason to suspect him.

The walk was long, longer than the distance they’d walked the day before. Because Erich had been able to see the top of the castle, he’d thought they were within a reasonable distance from the giant structure. But every step made the castle larger, and it loomed taller than anything Erich had seen before, even the canyon walls surrounding Tojo. The castle was a masterpiece of masonry and design, as several cylinders wove around each other and narrowed, eventually coming to a point at the castle’s peak. It was amazing, a colossus of human achievement. King Regynold must truly be the grandest king in all of Meil, to live in a castle like that. It was a humbling thought, and Erich knew Krutt was aware of it as well.

The closer they got to the castle, the more the scenery changed. There were less peasants scrounging about in the alleys, and more knights patrolling the Road. During the Market Fair, no chances were being taken. The boy pulling the cart that carried his master passed several knights and they paid him no mind. It wouldn’t last that way for much longer, however. Someone was bound to ask where they were going. But they hadn’t reached the gates yet, and maybe their guardsmen were in charge of the questioning of travellers. Erich was glad, however, that he had not chosen to go alone, as any one of these knights would have seen his face and caught him, as he was a slave and the property of a magician. He would have had to sneak through the alleyways, and by the time he reached the gate the sun would have been too low in the sky for the meeeting. As it was, he had less than twenty minutes until the sun reached the spot it was supposed to, although it was harder to tell now since the castle was so much taller and he had to judge the sun’s height from where he’d seen it previously.

As the boy pulling the cart approached them, the guardsmen of the enourmous gates relieved themselves of their posts temporarily and began walking toward him.

“A little welcoming committee, eh, boy?”

Erich grunted. Let the master believe what he wants. Three of the guardsmen formed a triangle around the cart, their hands on swordhilts.

“State your business,” the knight in front of them said. The authority in his voice told Erich that this man was the leader of the guardsmen. He hoped Krutt would see this and understand that there was danger. Handle it with discretion.

“Whoa, there. I am simply a magician on my way to the castle to perform for King Regynold. I have summons, you see.” Krutt spoke with a flourish, persuading the guardsmen to look into his eyes. They stood for a moment, entranced, before the leader broke off.

“Yes, I can see that. A fine magician, at that. Haven’t been that touched since I was a boy. You’re all right to go on in, but you’re going to have to leave the boy outside. No slaves are allowed within the castle gates. Strictest of policies.”

Erich glanced at Krutt, who glanced at him. Neither of them had planned on this. Would Erich still be able to meet his quarry from outside the gates? How would Krutt keep him from running if he so desired? The uncertainties were many. But a king was a king, and in Krutt’s experience they were never to be kept waiting.

“That’s all right then,” Krutt said to the guardsmen. He stepped out of the pullcart. “I guess I’ll have to pull this then.” He walked to where Erich stood and took the reigns from him.

“Stay out here near the gate or I’ll chop your head off with an ax. No bluff. I’ll be back before you know it,” Krutt whispered.

Maybe before you know it, too, Erich thought.

“Open the gates!” The leader guard shouted up to the tower guard. The enormous steel gates creaked open, disproportionately slow to the speed at which the tower guardsmen were cranking the wheel.

With that, his master began pulling the cart through the opened gates.

Eric stood as close to gate as he could, and the whole time he squinted around, trying to see the woman he was here to meet. Where was she expecting him to be? Obviously not inside, if slaves weren’t allowed in. Somewhere on the outside wall surrounding the gates? She hadn’t said that. He checked the sun. It was considerably lower than it had been even when he and Krutt had arrived. Had he missed her? Finally a voice sounded in his ear, although it was not the one he had expected.

“Magician’s boy.”

It was the lead guardsman, the one who’d been so touched by the magician he’d let him in, speaking from his left shoulder. The boy’s head shot around and his eyes found the man’s face. He’d used the same words the woman had used the night before. After a moment of uncertain fear, Erich understood.

He’d been expecting to meet the woman here, but that was obviously wrong. He wouldn’t meet her, but one of her affiliates. The guardsman. He would be able to tell Erich what he’d been summoned here for.

“Yes, sir.” It was a formality, one he was sure he no longer needed, although it wouldn’t hurt.

“My name is Breyda. It’s not important. We have a limited time to speak, and I’d be grateful if it were my lips that moved most often. Understand?”

Erich nodded. He was ready.

“I’m part of a secret organization, one that tracks illegals into Meil. From the outside. The old world. We keep them safe. Before you ask why, you need to know that the illegals are the ones keeping Meil alive. Keeping it in the luxurious state it’s in at the moment. It’s not known how, not yet, but we know that if we keep enough of them alive, something far greater will happen. This is where you come in.”

“But I’m not…I’m not an illegal! I was born in Tojo, and when I was three Krutt stole me from my mother!”

“Please, boy. I don’t have time to argue with you. Your mother arrived in Tojo twelve years ago, carting the baba she’d smuggled across the great Wall. Krutt stole you because of the power you hold.”

Erich laughed. This was all absurd. He’d been tracked by a secret organization out to protect anyone who’d gained illegal entry into Meil? From the land the men in beeries called Mer’ka? He was no illegal, and the idea of him holding power within himself, that was a scream.

“If I had power, Sir Breyda, I would have used it long ago to gain my freedom. From the magician.”

Breyda’s face was set with grim lines denoting his anger.

“I will not be laughed at, not by a magician’s boy. You must believe, because it is in your greatest interest. Someone is planning to kill you, and it’s going to be soon. I tell you this because your life is one that we cannot lose. Too many others… too many others from the outside have already been slaughtered. If you are lost, the destruction of the entire land will begin.”

Erich’s smile left his face. This was serious. They meant it. He was an outsider, a boy from Mer’ka. And he was in danger.

“Who is out to kill me? Is it Krutt? The magician I’m a slave to?”

Breyda chuckled a bit.

“No, no, boy. He needs you more than you know, and it’s the reason you cannot escape him. You’re the source of his power as a magician, and the brand on your face completes his control over you. He drains it for himself, and at night while you lie awake it fills again for him to drain again the next day. In the castle his powers will be much lesser than the times at which you are at his side. Even so, he is a good magician. My King Regynold will be pleased, even though the man was not summoned. That was your trick, I gather? Very clever.

No, the man who is out to kill you is much more powerful than your magician. He’s a man of political strength whose agenda is reliant on many subversive relations. He’s got friends of power in Agrotian, where the wild men train, and from many of the other kingdoms as well, including Mercha and Rina and Tojo. I do not know what form he’s chosen for your death, or from which direction it will come, but I must tell you, it will come. And it would help if your magician was no longer holding a whip over your back. I’ll take care of that once he returns.”

“I don’t understand, sir Breyda. This is all too strange. How does the politician know who I am to kill me? I am just a slave boy, I should not be known to anyone in prominence.”

“Take a look at your skin, boy. It’s darker than that of any other person in Meil. Not much, as your mother was a lighter skin than most of the outsiders, but it’s still noticeable to those who know to look. This is not a force designed specifically to kill you, young Erich, but rather many of you. A net force, to kill many at once. You are not the only one we’ve had to warn. Just know that. Now move away, if I’m to be seen by one of the enemy they’ll know what organization I’m a part of and I’ll be jeopardized. Move!”

Erich wandered away from Breyda, and found his way back in front of the gates. One of the other soldiers moved up to him, and pushed him onto his back.

“No slaves this close to the gate. Go back to where you came from, dirt of my boot.”

Erich got up, rage pounding in his throat, and moved back. Finally he stopped, and stared at the soldier, even as he’d stopped noticing the boy. Krutt would be angry, Erich was not as close to the wall as he’d said he’d be.

As he thought of the man, he saw Krutt walking out of the palace, pulling his cart behind him and laughing jovially. His performance had obviously struck the right feeling in the King, and perhaps he would not be so angry at Erich. The gates opened again and Krutt plodded toward him.

“What are you doing this far from the gate, boy? I told you to stay up there until I returned!” His eyes were on fire, he was energized from his performance and wanted to lay into his property.

“The guards, they told me to-”

“I don’t give a beast’s flank what they told you to do. I gave you an order, and you failed to follow it. Deserves a bit of punishment, in my book.”

Krutt’s right hand went flying through the air and landed like a brick on the side of Erich’s face. The boy dropped to the ground. Looking up at his master, he could see the glee in the man’s eyes. There was nothing else the magician would rather be doing at that moment.

“I’m sorry, master.”

“You’re sorry? Ha! And you think that’s what I’m looking for – an apology! Come on, boy, stand back up here. You can disobey me, you can stand up to me, can’t you? I mean, I’m not that big, am I?”

Erich stood up, his fists clenched. The rage that had been boiling at the guardsman now changed its course. He would kill Krutt. He didn’t know how, but he would do it. Nine years is too many, too many.

Breyda, who had been walking calmly over, nudged Erich out of the way and spoke to Krutt.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not sure the slave you’ve got here is properly registered. Would you mind pulling your papers for me?”

Krutt stared at the soldier incredulously, his mouth hanging open and his eyes widened.

“Eh? This boy? Well…can’t you see the mark on his face? That’s the only registration I’ve ever needed.”

Breyda stepped forward. He was nearly a head taller than the magician, and bulging with muscles. His sword hand went to his hilt.

“You have no papers."

Krutt was even more confused now, and Erich saw him swallow.

“Ah, well, maybe, in the cart there might be some - ”

“You’ve been illegally transporting stolen goods, is that what you’re trying to say, Magician?”

Krutt’s face hardened. He puffed his chest up and stepped forward into Breyda.

“I have not! This boy has been my property for the last nine years, and he is not stolen goods. I will not stand here and be insulted by a laborous swine not fit to lick my boot! I’ve just spoken to King Regynold, and I’m sure if I went back in there I could have you removed from your post, soldier.” He spat the last word as if it were some bug caught on his tongue. Then, without warning, he wound up and punched Breyda in the jaw.

Breyda’s response was quick, and frightening. He swept his leg behind Krutt’s, knocking the magician to the ground. His left hand drew his sword from its scabbord, and its point was bearing down on the man’s chest in less than an instant. A quick thrust and it was back in it’s scabbord. Erich flinched as Krutt’s scream filled the air. He watched as the dying man felt the hole in his chest, felt the fiery warmth as his lifeblood soaked his tunic, and was not altogether saddened.

“You are nothing to me, maggot,” Breyda hissed at Krutt. Krutt’s eyes were spinning wildly, and Erich doubted that he heard anything the soldier was saying to him.

Breyda strolled away, leaving Erich standing in front of his dying master. The boy stepped forward and leaned in close, catching the man’s strong breath in his nostrils.

“You took me from my mother. I am glad to see you die like the beast you’ve been to me.” The boy inhaled and spit with all his force into the magician’s face. Turning, he began his walk back into the streets of Hatha.

He was the magician’s boy no longer.