Shadowmage: Book Nine Of The Spellmonger Series (16 page)

“No, not at all!” Rondal blurted.  “You’re . . . you’re . . .
pretty!
” he said, scrambling for words to describe an irate girl armed with a razor-sharp blade, in front of her obviously deadly father and brother.  

Pretty
scary, corrected Tyndal, mind-to-mind.

“Then it’s settled,” Gatina said, sheathing her blade someplace that made it invisible.  “Sir Rondal of Sevendor, Knight Mage of Alshar, I name
you
my intended bridegroom!”

Chapter Seven

Escape Upriver

If the land of Enultramar has the Great Bay as its heart, than the great artery that noble organ can only be the mighty Mandros River.  Named for the ancient Imperial healing god (or the god was named for the river, as some of his principal shrines are to be found along its majestic length) the great littoral highway stretches from north to south over four hundred miles.  It is fully navigable from the mouth of the river on the Great Bay until the great lake at the foot of the falls of Falas, the eventual Ducal capital.  Legend says that a shrine to the god at the falls attracted the divinity to teach and heal nearby for years, and a great medical academy continues here under Ducal charter.

But the river is navigable beyond the falls, as well; when the first of the Counts of Falas ordered a passage cut to the top of the great embankment over which the falls tumbled, the Stairs of Falas – surmounted by a great crane capable of lifting all but the largest ships – became the agency by which the Great Vale to the north was eventually settled.  The rich and fertile meadows and forest there were reached by continuing up the Mandros beyond the falls, where the Narasi settlers established their sprawling estates that provide the bread for our great land.  But the Mandros remains traversable far to the north, beyond the former capital of Roen and to the feet of the Narrows in the north of the Great Vale.  It ties north to south, and ties the mountains to the sea in one long ribbon of splendor.

Duke Enguin the Black,

Letter to the Duke of Vore

“ ‘
Come to romantic Enultramar’
, you said,” Rondal chided Tyndal as they headed back to the docks of Pearlhaven, where the skiff Tyndal had commissioned to bring him here so speedily was moored.  “
’We’ll have a few drinks, see a few sights, kill a few Rats, rescue Ruderal, meet a few girls, and be back home by Briga’s Day’
, you said.”

“I think we could still make it back home by then,” Tyndal pointed out.  

“Nowhere in your proposed itinerary was me
getting engaged
!” Rondal fumed.

“Well, in my defense, if I
had
put it in there, it might have dampened your enthusiasm for the trip,” Tyndal pointed out.

“What the hells
happened
back there?” Rondal asked, in wonder.  “I was having a perfectly normal conversation with a couple of magical shadowthieves in a deserted shrine at midnight, and then
you
show up . . . and now I’m supposed to
get married?”

“She’s a hell of a girl,” Tyndal pointed out.  “Slender, if you like that sort of thing, but muscular.  The whole hair and eyes are a little creepy, but once she develops a little more, you could be looking at something . . .
special
,” he said, not elaborating on the term.

“She’s only
fourteen!”
Rondal protested.  “She just
turned
fourteen
a month ago!”

“And already looking out for her future.  Bright girl you have, there, Ron,” the blonde warmage said, enthusiastically.  “Psychopathic and demanding, but I always thought you’d benefit from a spirited girl.”

“I was just . . .
talking,”
Rondal said, dazed, as Tyndal helped him on to the skiff.  “And then . . .
I’m getting married
. . .?”

“It
is
quite sudden,” agreed Tyndal.  “But then these matters of the heart often are.  I blame the full moon glinting romantically off the bay . . . hard to keep control of yourself, in a situation like that.”

“I can’t . . . this is just . . . what am I going . . . where can I . . .”

“The embarrassing thing is going to be when people ask me what souvenirs I brought back from Enultramar,” he said as he nodded to the boatman to cast off, “and all
I
have to show for it is a rusty scimitar and an amusing tale of arcane urination.  While you’re showing off your beautiful, young, white-haired, purple-eyed . . .
wife.”

“How in nine hells did I get engaged?”
Rondal pleaded to the full moon overhead.

“Did you notice how your future father-in-law and brother-in-law didn’t try to dissuade her hardly at all?” Tyndal asked.  “It was like they
wanted
you in their creepy little family.”

“Ishi’s . . .
tits
. . . I’m . . . I’m going to
be sick
. . .” Rondal said, hanging his head between his knees.

“You’re going to be
married
,” Tyndal said, cheerfully, taking a seat next to his friend.  “That’s
so
much more permanent than
sick!
”

“Married . . . I’m . . .
I’m too young!”
he declared, looking stricken.  “Shit!  
She’s
too young!  She’s no more than
Dara’s
age!”

“But
far
more sophisticated, socially speaking, I’m guessing by the aggressive way she stripped you bare to the bone with her pretty lavender eyes.  She could have eaten you up like a pullet,” he chuckled.

Rondal clenched his eyes shut.  Then opened them.

“Well, they
were
kind of pretty, weren’t they?”

“Distinctive,” agreed Tyndal.  “She’ll be
quite
the looker, some day.  If bearing your children doesn’t ruin her,” he added.  “It does, for some women, you know.”

“WILL YOU SHUT UP?” Rondal cried.  “This is not a godsdamn joke!  
She’s serious!”

“Oh, she’s
deadly
serious,” agreed Tyndal, pulling a flask from his belt.  “She knows which end of a sword is the pointy one, too.  That might not bode well for your future domestic relations, but if you keep sparring, you
might
just win an argument one day,” he consoled, as he handed the spirits to Rondal.

“You’re
enjoying
this, aren’t you?” he accused, miserably, as he sucked down the spicy spirits like a drowning man drinks air.  

“Do you
jest?
” Tyndal asked, intently.  “This has to be the
single funniest thing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life!”

“What about Ruderal and his mom?”

“They aren’t nearly as funny.  But they’re safe with the Sisters of the Foam, eating through their pantry like river drakes in an orphanage,” he dismissed.  “The cook is a fat little nun who
loves
the way the boy eats.  They’re
fine
,” he emphasized.  “I warded the place up tighter than a temple virgin, and I’d know if a Rat got within a mile of them.”

“Why did you leave them in the first place?  
Against
orders?”

“You never told me
not
to leave them, if they were safe,” Tyndal said, defensively, as he took the flask.  “I couldn’t very well let you walk into a trap without some reserves ready to rescue you, could I?”

“
What
trap?” demanded Rondal, angrily.  “I told you I was going to meet an
informant!
  And you thought I was going on a
date!
 
There wasn’t any trap!”

“And yet here you are,
engaged to be married
,” Tyndal nodded, pleasantly.  “
Clearly
you had everything under control.”

“What are we going to do?” Rondal moaned.

“I’m thinking a spring ceremony, something simple, just family and close friends,” Tyndal continued.  “Because this isn’t really a ‘we’ sort of problems, is it?” he pointed out, intently.

“All right, I’m actually
asking
for your advice, now,” Rondal said, after stewing in silence for a few moments.  “The shadowmagi are clearly strong allies, and they could be a
huge
asset to Anguin’s ability to take over here, someday.  Not to mention ideal help against the Brotherhood, who are going to be
very
unhappy after we stole their prized wizardling and wrecked a major depot of theirs.  House Furtius could be key . . . but how do I secure their loyalty and assistance without
also marrying their daughter?”

“If you ask me, it sounds like a perfectly reasonable political marriage,” Tyndal pointed out.  “No better way to tie them to our fortunes than by making Kitten your wife.”

“That is
not
how I would prefer to proceed,” Rondal replied, through clenched teeth.   “Unless
absolutely
necessary!”

Tyndal seemed to come to the end of his teasing and heaved a sigh.  “Fine.  We can get around this.  You’re right; they
could
be incredibly powerful allies here where we have none.  They could be instrumental in toppling the Brotherhood.  Pissing them off would be a generally poor idea.”

“You have re-stated the situation admirably,” Rondal said, his head hanging.  “Now what can I do about it?”

“Didn’t you say Atopol and Hance were going to be in touch with us before we left?”

“They’re supposed to,” nodded Rondal.  “He – Hance – has something he wants me to deliver to Duke Anguin, the next time I see him.  He said he’ll make contact with us on our way upriver toward the frontier.”

“Then let me take care of everything,” Tyndal said, soothingly.  “I know what to do.”

“Gods!  Why is it every time you say something like that I expect to wake up in a low-class brothel a hundred leagues away, with a funny taste in my mouth?” accused Rondal.

“Because a life of errantry and adventure is always
so
much better when you have some idiot standing there, watching you,” Tyndal said, sagely.

The trip up the Mandros River was largely uneventful, until they made port at Atarapus.