Shadowmage: Book Nine Of The Spellmonger Series (64 page)

“Well, won’t they be disappointed when they try and their cupboard is empty,” Tyndal said, arrogantly, as he took the special wand out of his belt.  Gareth had built it with a massive hoxter pocket.  Tyndal began pointing it at the stacks of gold and pronouncing the command word.  Each time he did, the affected gold slipped effortlessly into the pocket dimension tied to the wand, where it would wait safely – and without mass – until called forth.

It took nearly an hour to remove all of the gold within the four chambers of the great arched vault.  They spared no treasure as too small, stealing every penny they could find, every paltry gem, every pearl.  The volume and weight of the treasure was massive, but then so was the hoxter pocket.  When the last coffer full of silver had been transferred, the four of them wandered around the empty vault, determined not to let a single coin remain.

That was when they were surprised . . . by the Spider.

The man apparently didn’t expect anyone else to be in a secret clandestine vault, so when he turned the corner into the chamber he was more than startled to see Tyndal and Rondal scrying the walls, each with a baculus in their hands.

The slender crime lord didn’t hesitate to draw a dagger – no mere shiv, this was, but a foot-long spike of sharpened steel meant for disemboweling.

“Who the hells are
you?
” the Spider demanded. 

“Oh,” Tyndal said, turning around as he walked in, a torch in his other hand and a basket over his shoulder.  “Remember us?  We’re robbing the place.  Don’t worry, we’re about done here.”

“It really
did
take a lot of work,” agreed Rondal, turning to face the Spider.  “There was a lot of treasure to take.”

“You!” the man spat, when he recognized them both.  “You’re the—”

“The knights magi of the Estasi Order,” Tyndal interrupted.  “Who have sworn to bring the Brotherhood of the Rat to its knees in vengeance for slaying our friend.”

“Which we’ve essentially accomplished, tonight,” added Rondal.  “Without any gold, it’s going to be very difficult for you to pay off the Iris,” he observed.

“How do they usually handle collections?” wondered Tyndal, aloud.  “I’m sure they’re willing to be generous.  Lord Whiskers seems like a
reasonable
man.”

“He is most certainly
not!
” sputtered the Spider, as he looked around at the empty vault.  “How in nine hells did you get the gold out?” he demanded.  “There’s only
one
way in here, and you can only bring up as much gold as a man weighs!”

“We don’t like those rules,” Tyndal said, distastefully.

“We changed them,” Rondal agreed.  “That’s what wizards
do
.  We change the rules.  Where once you were the mightiest criminal enterprise in the west, now you are indebted and beholden to your greatest rival.”

“You . . . you can’t
do
that!” the Spider said, passionately.  The dagger in his hand began to shake.

“We just did,” Tyndal chuckled.  “How
will
you explain that to the rest of the council, I wonder?”

“And what will the rebel council do when they find out their criminal henchmen are now taking orders from Merwyn?” speculated Rondal.  “I can’t imagine they’d like that.”

“Oh, gods . . .” the Spider said, shaking uncontrollably now.  “What have you
done?”

“We finished our mission,” Tyndal stated, flatly.  “And now we’re going to leave you here to explain how all of the gold disappeared.  Feel free to blame it on us.  I’m
certain
your fellows in the Brotherhood will believe you.”

“They’ll . . .
kill
me,” he gasped, sliding to the floor, his eyes wide in panic.  “They’ll assume that I stole it – only
five
of us can even get down here – and I’m the only one in almost a month!  As soon as they find out, they’ll think . . .
they’ll think that I did it!”

“Because no one would ever believe that two buffoons like us,” Tyndal said, indicating himself and Rondal, “would have the intelligence or skills to accomplish such a task.”

“In fact, we had a little help,” he said, summoning Atopol and Gatina with a nod.  Both shadowmagi had faded from sight when the Spider came, preparing to strike if needed.  With the criminal mastermind bawling on the empty floor of his treasury, his dagger at his side, forgotten, there seemed little need. 

“Meet the scions of House Salaines, loyal Magelords to Duke Anguin, our sponsor in this endeavor.  Soon House Salaines will be plotting the overthrow of the Duke of Rhemes and his cronies.  Including what remains of the Brotherhood.  Without your treasury to back you up, you’ll hardly be capable of supporting them by beating the common folk down anymore.  Hells, I doubt you’ll be able to pay your own men, after tonight.”

“You
can’t
leave me here!” the Spider said, alarmed, as the four of them began to make preparations to leave.  “You can’t!  The first time I mention that the treasury is empty, they’ll . . .
take me with you!”
he demanded.

Rondal snorted.  “
Why
would we do that?”

“Because I
know
things!” the Spider insisted, desperately.  “I know things about the Council, and the Rebels, and Count Rhemes . . . I was the bloody spymaster of the Brotherhood, damn it,
I know things!
Valuable things!  Things you will want to know, if you intend on fighting them!”

“I’m unconvinced,” Tyndal decided.  “You’ll try to put a knife in either of us, the moment you can.”

“And go where?” he asked, sagging in despair.  “You don’t understand –
no one
steals from the Brotherhood. 
Especially
not the members of the Council.  The penalty is death. 
Eventually
,” he added, shuddering.  “Take me with you, I
beg
of you!  I will serve you as faithfully as any slave!  But without protection, my life is worthless!”

“It’s not worth much
with
protection,” Rondal sighed.  “All right.  We will take you into service, until you try to betray us . . . and then you will have wished that we’d left you for your brethren.  But we can’t have you struggling while we make our escape.  Tyndal?”

His partner nodded, and then used a stunning wand on the Rat.  He pulled him upright, holding him at the shoulder, and used the Ways back to Sevendor.  Rondal stretched out his perceptions and did likewise with the Cat and the Kitten.  In a moment they were back in the Rat Trap, with a very well-trapped Rat . . . throwing up in the chamberpot he’d left out for the purpose.

“That was one highly successful mission,” Tyndal gloated, as he led the unconscious criminal to a chair and dumped him unceremoniously.  “You watch him – he should be out for at least six hours.  I’m going to find Festaran and bring him back here.”

“Why?” Gareth asked, suspiciously.

“Because otherwise
we’ll
have to count all the loot, and I am far too lazy for that.”  Sir Festaran’s main magical Talent was the surprisingly useful ability to accurately estimate nearly anything.  While it made him less than an ideal conversationalist, Rondal agreed that he would be able to give them an idea of how much they’d stolen faster than any other way.

“Now that we have it, what are we going to do with it?” asked Atopol, curious.  “That’s more gold than . . . well, than I’ve ever seen,” he confessed.

“As we were agents of His Grace on this mission,” reasoned Rondal, “I think it’s only fair that the majority of it go to his treasury.  After all, this profit was made by undermining his laws.”

“Minus a reasonable fee, of course,” Tyndal added, hurriedly.  “After all, we wouldn’t want our friends in House Salaines to come away with this without some gain.”

“And there’s the matter of
our
ten thousand ounces of gold,” Gareth reminded them.  “They still owe us that, too!”

“In all fairness, we did steal that from them,” Gatina pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean they still don’t
owe
it to us,” Gareth said, with a sniff.  “Really, we entrusted it to them in security, and see what happened?  Not even the thieves of Enultramar are safe from the thieves of Enultramar.”

“I cannot argue with that reasoning,” she decided.  “Nor do I find fault with the plan to give the majority to Duke Anguin.”

“From what I’ve heard from Lady Pentandra,” Tyndal agreed, “he can use it.  The duchy is near bankrupt, even though it’s functioning.  Without more coin it will take decades before Anguin is in a position to assail the south.”

“Why assail it?” Atopol asked, curious, as he took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs from Rolone.  “From what my father says, at least a third of the nobles would rise for him, should he appear.”

“Which third?” Rondal asked.  “And what of the other two-thirds?  No, Anguin cannot merely show up at Falas and claim the throne, though that is his right.  He needs a more cautious approach.  And one destined to win more than a third of the people to his banner.”

“Until that time, we can prepare Alshar,” Atopol suggested.  “We have the makings of a cell system, here, and if we continue to expand and recruit those nobles who are already inclined to support Anguin first, we will know who the other two-thirds are – and what must be done to contend with them.”

“Enough strategy and planning for one night!” Tyndal declared.  “The mission is over.  The victors are home, safe.  Why are we not celebrating more raucously?” he complained.  “There are bottles and bottles of wine out there waiting for us, and serving girls’ bums to be pinched!  Come
on!
” he urged, shrugging off his armor and throwing open the door of the Rat Trap.  “If we cannot bask in the glory of the tale, yet, then let us at least drain a bottle or two in our own honor!”

Rondal smiled wanly at Gatina and she returned it.  “I’d like that,” she agreed. 

“I would, too,” Rondal said.  Much to his surprise, he found he was being completely sincere.

Chapter Thirty

Loiko Venaren

Relations between Alshar and Farise have always been tangled; since the first days of the Dukes, when the Narasi came to Alshar, the Imperial officers in charge of Farise refused to acknowledge or honor the overlordship the Narasi Dukes demanded.  While Alshar was too diffuse to resist the Conquest, at the time, Farise enjoyed a smaller harbor and lands, making it a nuisance, not an obstacle to trade between Alshar and the rest of the Five Duchies. 

Yet despite being on two different sides, politically, the folk of the Great Bay and the folk of Farise have enjoyed a long common history and a mingling thanks to their proximity by sea.  No doubt the Doge of Farise will soon accept the authority and leadership of the Dukes, yet whether it will fall under Alshar, Castal, or even Remere’s influence is yet to be seen.

Letter from Baron Roladenas to Duke Ostin of Vore

Minalan the Spellmonger, Baron of Sevendor, friend to the Alka Alon, and Master of Magic in Castalshar was one of the last people Rondal expected to find knocking on his door the next morning was… but there he was.

They’d returned their friends to Falas, after celebrating, vowing to return soon with their share of the gold.  The Spider they secured in Brestal Tower, under the watchful eye of the Sevendori guards who trusted that Sir Tyndal and Sir Rondal knew what they were doing when they arrived with a prisoner and instructions that he speak to no one.  He expected that it was a messenger from the captain of the tower asking for more explanation.  But when Rondal opened the door to the Rat Trap and found his old master there, he didn’t quite know what to say.

“Good morning!” Minalan began, walking in without an invitation.  “Is Tyndal around, too?”

“And Gareth,” nodded Rondal.  “Master, what are you doing here?”

“Surveying my domain,” Minalan said, taking a seat in front of the empty fireplace.  “Iyugi came up to the castle, yesterday.  To offer his . . . condolences,” he said, the word biting to him.  “He had quite the tale of your errantry in Enultramar.”

“It was . . . it was . . .”

“He was
brilliant
, Master,” Tyndal said, from the doorway.  “Rondal planned and led the entire mission,” he boasted.  “From the plan to infiltrate the Brotherhood to—”

“Yes, yes, I want to hear all about it,” he assured.  “But not at the moment.  In fact, I wanted to invite you to Vorone, for a little un-official meeting of the warmagi, in a few days.  There have been a lot of developments, and I think it is time for a council, Vorone is far enough away from spies that we can talk in candor.  And that way you can share what you’ve learned in Enultramar with Lady Pentandra.  Anguin’s court wizard will want to know every detail.

“But that is not why I dropped by this morning.  I also heard you dropped a prisoner off at Brestal Tower—”

“Master, we
had
to,” insisted Tyndal.  “He is a senior operative of the Brotherhood with a wealth of information on their business in the south.  His knowledge extends too many other areas, as well,” he added.