Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (68 page)

Reading the letter from the emperor, his order to join Kolban made him wonder what might have changed. He didn't leave right away choosing instead to spend time with Sylvaine in an intimate way. Sex with the dark haired beauty was just one of the benefits of bringing her back from the brink of death. They had been in love before their separation, but now there was nothing standing in the way of their love, at least as long as Acheri was kept blind to it.

Palose made sure to go to the emperor's spire fortress early enough to avoid making his ruler angry, but not so early to have clipped his time spent with Sylvaine too short. As usual, the guards passed the dark mage through. One of the men who served as messengers and guides led him through the halls of the spire castle. Ascending a few flights of stairs, the mage thought that this was a rare visit. Above the first two floors were the living quarters of the emperor and many of his upper echelon of advisors.

Passing servants and guards, who sometimes gave him an appraising look as the mage passed along the halls behind the guide, Palose noticed as the decorations of the halls began to change. The lower hallways were often Spartan. Decorations were reserved for the great halls and meeting rooms to make more of an impact. The difference between the castle of the emperor and those of the lords of Southwall was that it was meant to give a sense of awe and power, while the southern lords attempted to make the stone around them a home.

A dark haired girl awaited him to the man's surprise. Her interference disrupted the guide as well. The servant knew the princess well enough to avoid showing any emotion that might get him killed. Though Palose wasn't among those who lived in the emperor's castle, rumors made it out into the city about the princess's temper. A few who couldn't hide their thoughts when Acheri had interfered or otherwise disrupted their lives had been punished or even killed. Her magic power was so great only Kolban could truly stand up to the girl. She shared in the emperor's original power, but he still held back much from the sister created from the experiments which had extended his life.

"I can take him to the emperor. You are dismissed," the young beauty stated to the guide.

Smart enough to avoid saying something that might get him killed, the guide said nothing and turned back the way he had come.

Acheri's eyes followed the man for only moment before letting a smile cross her features. Her dark blue eyes seemed to glow with that smile as the princess let true happiness light her face since she was alone with the mage for once. The biggest complaint Acheri had for her brother was that he always tried to see Palose without her, but she always managed to find them when the mage came for a visit. She obviously had spies watching out for him, but the princess and emperor never argued about whether she was exceeding her bounds. Kolban seemed to love his sister. She was part of his essence, but a separate being as well. Palose guessed that it would be hard to hate someone that close to you.

The whole concept left him a bit confused. Acheri was Kolban and Lanquer was the cast off brother from the same experiment. Then there was the elder brother, Garosh, a giant made from a different part of the emperor's essence years ago. That experiment had ended with the giant's death at the hands of his younger brother only months ago.

Kolban's power had increased with absorbing his magic from the giant. Whatever similarity in strength to his siblings there had been had become a greater chasm after that; but none of the three had ever seemed to be bothered by the death of Garosh or Kolban's consolidation of his strength. The power had been lent to the other three, but Kolban was the true emperor and the others only lived because he had chosen to give them life.

The whole concept of this strange royal family could barely be understood by the dark mage, though he had witnessed all but Garosh's creation and birth. For Kolban it had been a rebirth, of course, as the emperor had switched bodies to regain his youth and health.

"What are you thinking about, Palose?" Acheri asked searching with those dark, blue eyes again. A bit of a frown touched her lips with thinking that he had less than his full attention on her. She held his right arm hugging him to her side with both hands wrapped around it like a pair of snakes.

"Just thinking how different each of your siblings are," Palose stated with a smile that he hoped didn't look forced. He hated speaking his thoughts, but the man knew better than to resist Acheri's curiosity.

The princess frowned and retorted, "When you are with me, I would hope that my brothers would be far from your thoughts. Am I not attractive enough to keep your interest?"

Again the mage thought of a snake wrapping around him as he made the smile bigger replying, "You are very beautiful. I can't imagine any woman would compare to you, but I am here because the emperor called me to him."

Palose's eyes wandered away with a frown as he added, "Though I am surprised that he thought to send me a message here. He had Lanquer find me on the battlefield to summon me last time. You would think that the emperor would have sent word there again."

"And yet here you are," the girl returned with a devious looking smile.

A sudden thought came to the mage and he found himself asking the princess before thinking his question through. "Can the emperor see the future?"

"You can call him Kolban when you are with me, Palose," Acheri sniffed with annoyance.

Palose never knew what to call Kolban. Most of the time it was best to speak to him as a king or emperor might demand of his subjects. When they were alone, aside from the usual guards, the emperor seemed to prefer speaking with him as an equal. For most, a resurrection man was considered little more than one of the raised dead, like a wraith; but Kolban had always treated him like a close friend even before he had surrendered his old body to make the siblings and place his mind in the new body.

No one had ever said that the emperor had future sight, but there had been a sect known as the Visionaries in the past. For all anyone knew, there still might be seers in that mysterious organization working behind the scenes. They had missed the Cataclysm and the emperor's return to Alus apparently, but maybe some had survived.

The dark mage realized that Acheri had avoided answering the question though she was telling him to be more familiar with the royal family.

"You're thinking again," the princess said with a sigh.

"You have at least some of his memories, don't you? Did the emperor have the sight before changing bodies?" the mage asked again ignoring her attempt to derail his thoughts. He was pushing more than he usually would dare, but if Palose had to deal with the emperor having such great power, he would know how far to push his personal agenda.

While the mage had followed Kolban's wishes when they were made known, Palose had been mostly on his own for finding a path since coming to Ensolus. Even the warlock responsible for bringing him to life and bringing him to the capitol had spent little time trying to force the one called Betrayer into a certain direction.

Acheri's eyes looked troubled a moment, though the look passed quickly as she mused with a smile, "I have his general knowledge, though his specific memories seem to fade more with each day that we are separated. Even on my birth, I couldn't say that I could recall all that had happened in the emperor's previous life. There are some things and components like speech and magic that are as clear as anything."

The girl looked up at the ceiling as they slowly walked to find the emperor's chamber and she contemplated with a softer tone for the mage. "I think Kolban intentionally fed us much of what we needed to know, but he blocked the core of what he is. It wasn't his desire just to make copies of himself."

She grinned freeing a hand to push up at her smallish breasts and added, "It would have been awkward for me to have a male mind, wouldn't it? I am all girl; if you ever wish to check."

Blushing slightly, Palose recalled for the princess, "I was there when you were born and saw you while in the tank as well. I know that you were always physically a girl. When you came out, it was certainly strange to realize that your mind was completely different from the emperor's. You are definitely the sister of Kolban and nothing less."

His words were chosen tactfully and he hoped that they would satisfy Acheri.

She smiled showing a little wickedness before replying, "Hmm, I forgot that you saw me as a bare child leaving the womb. Of course, I have been a woman from the start, even if this body is not as old as I truly am."

Lifting an eyebrow curiously, he asked, "Were you a part of Kolban's mind before joining with this body? Or have you only been conscious since he placed his power and memories inside of you? If you existed before hand, then how old might you truly be?

"Otherwise, though you look like a teenage girl, you are actually younger than you look."

Acheri frowned at his reply and complained, "I did not say that I existed before I was born, but my mind was fully grown when I..." She let out a little growl and shook her head before going on, "Even I have trouble explaining it. Just know that, if you ever wish to, I am... mature enough for any relationship you might desire."

Trying not to swallow hard at the thinly veiled proposal, Palose wondered if she was right. There were certainly aspects to the princess which seemed mature enough, but she was still often petulant like a toddler wanting to get her own way. Realizing that such a proposition put him in a precarious position that he had no desire to be in, Palose was glad to come to a guarded door.

The orcs in their dress armor noted the mage and the princess trying to avoid making eye contact with the latter. Acheri's power could be felt by those without magic almost as well as those with, so most knew that she was likely the second most powerful being in Ensolus. Trifling with the girl wasn't a good idea, so many avoided being acknowledged at all for their own hoped for safety.

Entering through the doors, Palose's eyes looked around quickly noting the finery inside. Gold and crystal decorations sat on tables or special shelves. Dark stained wood was offset by gold leaf and draperies mostly in rich reds. A sitting room with stuffed couches surprised the mage as Palose noted the first truly lavish room he had ever visited in the emperor's castle.

An open set of doors on the far side revealed a bedroom almost as fancy as the outer room. The two rooms were just part of the entire suite that Kolban called his home.

The boy emperor spotted them from the bedroom where he had been straightening some papers on his desk. With the war, Kolban apparently couldn't leave such matters alone even when he might plan to relax in his rooms.

"Ah, Palose, you're here and I see that Acheri found you this time," the emperor greeted him fondly. While his facial features had a certain familiarity to Acheri, his hair was lighter and gray eyes looked on them rather than the girl's darker blue. He was also still shorter than his sister.

With bodies only grown to early teenage years, the girl had grown faster than Kolban, but it was likely only a short term situation if he was hitting the usual final stages of growth of a young man. His brother Lanquer had matured more, but came from a different source for material, so it was like comparing half brothers.

Acheri answered before the mage declaring, "I won this round!"

She giggled joined by her brother's chuckle. It had apparently become a game to the princess to reach Palose before he could see the emperor first. An ongoing complaint of the girl had been that Kolban hadn't told her when the mage was coming to visit, though they were never social calls anyway, Palose thought.

"You finally did," Kolban acknowledged his sister's accomplishment, though Palose was uncertain that it deserved praise. "Unfortunately, I need to speak to him of matters of the war. Could you give us a moment?"

He could have demanded that she leave, but the emperor seemed to have a soft spot for the being he called sister. Acheri stepped back from the bedroom doors and went to recline on one of the couches in the sitting area. She kicked off her slippers letting her skirt slide up to her knees revealing her smooth white skin as the girl placed her feet on the arm of the chair looking to get comfortable.

Kolban's eyes met the mage's and he shrugged. "Anyway, as you might have noticed, the enemy has apparently discovered how to not only close our gates, but open ones of their own."

Palose nodded staying silent to avoid speaking over the boy. Though the mage looked a few years his elder, the wisdom and knowledge accumulated inside the emperor was that gathered over a millennia. While Kolban stifled his power, what was let escape felt many times greater than his own. It was disconcerting, since Palose's power had grown to that of a strong warlock since coming to Ensolus and using his magic to join with other wizards who had died. The shared power had increased his own, though a few resurrection men and women had brought no magic and had grown capable of using it to a point now as well.

"Have you noticed any unfamiliar uses of gate magic within the city?" the emperor continued even as Palose pushed thoughts of aura aside.

The new question raised a flag of warning in the mage's mind. He tried to conceal any worry, but asked, "You mean beyond the gates that I have made or the other warlocks with the skill?'

Kolban smiled shrewdly and waved off the worry saying, "I know that you have a couple spare gates inside the city. I mean, have you sensed others beyond our warlocks who might have usurped a gate or managed to blindly form one inside the city?"