The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (64 page)

“What’s happening on the sixth of April?”

“The day of the next council meeting. You’ll have to assume your father’s chair at that time, and that will make it official,” Laryn answered. Then she and Sister Agnes quietly left the room.

~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner that night, when Kevin and Chris went up to Kevin’s room, he told Chris what Laryn had said about naming a governor as soon as possible.

“Have you made up your mind between Karl and Steve?” Chris asked.

“I really want Steve concentrating on the slavery thing with Tyree, and I want him free to give me crash courses in economics, politics, and everything else I never thought I’d need to know.”

Chris nodded. “Karl will make a good governor. He’s down to earth and practical, and he’s a natural leader.”

“Do you think he’ll agree to do it?”

“I don’t know. When are you going to ask him?”

“I don’t know when the appropriate time will be, but soon. I need to talk to Laryn about that,” Kevin answered. “What do you think of Captain Lawrence?”

“I like him. Are you sure we can’t keep him on as Captain of the Guard?”

“Yes. After dinner, General Crandal asked when I was going to name someone else to that position. I told him that it wasn’t my guard and I don’t have the authority to name a captain. He agreed, but then he said that I’d have to take over soon.”

“Any particular reason he’s interested in whom you name as captain?” Chris asked.

“His aide has requested a position as a district captain and one of his captains wants to retire. So General Crandal is hoping that Captain Lawrence will agree to be his new aide. Then he can let his aide take over for the captain that wants to retire.”

“Are you thinking about Darrell for that position?”

Kevin nodded. “What do you think?”

“I think he could do it, but he’s going to need some help getting set up and organized,” Chris answered.

“I was thinking I might ask General Crandal to hold off making any changes for a couple of months so Captain Lawrence could help Darrell get started.”

“If Captain Lawrence is in the guard office, he’ll be the captain, no matter who has the title, and that would undermine Darrell’s authority. You don’t want to do that.”

“You’re right,” Kevin said.

“Maybe Captain Lawrence would agree to be available for advice for a while.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll talk to Laryn tomorrow and see what the proper protocol is for all of this. I don’t want to say anything to Karl or Darrell until I know it’s okay. We don’t want to seem over-anxious.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Sometime during the night, a soft light that slowly grew in intensity woke Kevin out of a sound sleep. When he finally shook off the last remnants of sleep, he realized that Yvonne was standing near his bed.

“Mother?”

Yvonne nodded. “I’m so glad you’re finally here, Myron. It’s been a long journey. One that began many years ago.”

“I feel like it’s just beginning,” Kevin answered, yawning.

“Yes, in a way, you’re right. This is a beginning. That’s what I wanted to speak with you about. Before you can begin, Badec must end, and you need to help him.”

“What do you mean?”

“For the past year, the only thing that has kept him alive has been his determination to live until you arrived.”

“Is he hoping to wake up, to see me, talk to me?” Kevin asked.

“No, he knows he’ll never wake up again. He’s hung on to life this long trying to give you as much time to get ready as he could, but it’s time for him to let go now.”

“Exactly what are you asking me to do?”

“You have to let him know that you’re here and that you’re ready to take over, that he’s held on long enough, that he can let go of life.”

“You mean you want me to tell him to die?” Kevin was aghast at the idea.

“I want you to let him know that it’s all right for him to die, that he can stop fighting so very hard to cling to life,” Yvonne said quietly.

“Wouldn’t you stand a better chance of talking to him? I mean, he doesn’t even know my voice or anything.”

“He’s so far gone that no one else can reach him. Laryn sits by his side talking to him every night. She has told him every day for the past month that you’re ready, that Glendymere says that your power is strong, that you’re on your way here, and that he can let go. But he can’t hear her anymore. I’ve tried to reach him, but he resists me. He senses that if he reaches out to me, he’ll lose his last hold on life. You’re going to have to let your power reach out to the power in him. He’ll know your essence. He’ll know it’s you, he’ll feel your strength, and then when you release him, he’ll be able to let go.”

“I’ll try. That’s all I can promise,” Kevin said slowly.

“That’s all I ask.” Yvonne began to fade away. “I must go now but I’ll return soon. Be well, my son.”

“Good-bye, Mother,” Kevin whispered as the room became dark again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Before daybreak Saturday morning, Kevin went to Badec’s room. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside his father’s bed, took his hand, and talked to him. He talked of his childhood on Earth, his foster parents, his Uncle Paul with the funny ears, his college years, and the jobs he had held. Then he told his father about the tornado that Paul had created, the other passengers on the bus, the time at the Gate House, the journey to Rainbow Valley, Blalick and his family, meeting Yvonne, and his training with Glendymere.

Since Kevin was with his father when Sister Agnes arrived that morning, she asked the guard to have one of the household staff find her a comfortable chair and put it outside Badec’s door. Normally, she sat with Badec during the day. She handled his bath, worked with his joints, exercised his muscles, and fed him through a hollow reed, but all of her herbs and care had not been able to halt the inevitable. Now, she prayed for his release.

Sister Agnes came in several times that day to check on her patient, to wipe his forehead and arms, and to add some wood to the fire in the fireplace. Laryn came in for a few moments around lunchtime, stroked her brother’s forehead, kissed his cheek, and left. After Laryn left, Sister Agnes opened the door to ask Kevin if he would like some lunch. Kevin thanked her, but declined the offer, so she told Kevin that she’d be right outside the door if he needed anything.

Kevin talked to his father most of the afternoon. He thanked him for making arrangements for him to learn how to use his magical powers, and he spoke of his plans to carry on with Badec’s work. He told his father that his only regret was that he had not arrived in time to get to know him, that he would have liked that, but he understood the constant struggle that Badec was engaged in just to survive another day, and that the need to rest must be overpowering. Kevin told his father that he was home now, ready to carry on, and he told Badec that it was time for him to get some well-deserved rest.

Then he just sat quietly by Badec’s bed, holding his father’s frail hand between his strong ones, watching Badec’s chest rise and fall as the breaths became shallow and slow. He noticed that the fire in the red opal that rested on Badec’s chest was growing dimmer.

As the sunlight faded from the mountaintops and darkness settled over the valley, Kevin saw an orb of blue-white light slowly take form on the other side of Badec’s bed. As it floated near Badec’s shoulder, the light grew stronger and stronger. A few minutes later, Kevin saw a second orb of light take form over Badec’s chest.

As the light in the orb grew stronger, Badec’s breaths slowed and became weaker, and the light in the red opal began to flicker. With a final sigh, Badec surrendered his hold on life and both orbs began to slowly rise and drift towards the balcony as the light in the red opal died. Right before the orbs disappeared Kevin felt more than heard his mother say, “Thank you, my son.”

Kevin opened the bedroom door and told Sister Agnes that Badec was gone. As she entered the room to tend to Badec’s body, Kevin asked the guard who had been waiting with Sister Agnes to find Laryn, let her know that it was over, and tell her that he would be in his room if she needed him.

When Kevin reached his room, he washed his face and stretched out on the bed. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on his door. When he opened it, Chris was standing in the hall with a large tray in his hands. Chris walked into Kevin’s room and set the tray down on a table between the two armchairs. There was a sandwich, a bowl of soup, a fruit plate, and two large mugs of scog.

“Thanks Chris, but I’m really not hungry,” Kevin said as he looked at the food.

“I know you don’t want to eat, but you have to anyway. You didn’t eat breakfast or lunch. You can’t afford to get run down or sick right now, so you’re going to have to eat dinner. Remember, your health and well-being are my responsibility now.”

“It’s only one day. I can go without food for one day.”

“True, but you’ll be weak tomorrow, and tomorrow is going to be a rather busy day.” Chris sat down in one of the chairs and picked up one of the mugs of scog. “This food’s good by the way. Your cook is almost as good as Joan.”  Kevin sat down in the other chair and began to eat a little of the soup. “They all said to tell you that they’re really sorry that this happened so soon after we got here. They didn’t come up with me for two reasons. First of all, we knew you’d be tired and the second reason is that the guard wouldn’t have let them.”

“We’ll have to do something about that. I’ll talk to the guard in the morning and explain that they all have free run of the castle.”

“I don’t know if you should do that, Kevin.”

“Why not?”

“The more people that the guards are told to let pass, the less protected the family quarters become. We all feel that the area where you sleep needs to be secure, or at least as secure as we can make it. The grounds under the balcony are patrolled around the clock, a guard is stationed on the roof, and right now, only Laryn, Sister Agnes, and the two of us can get past the guard on the stairs. Maybe it would be best to leave it like that, at least for a while.”

Kevin nodded as he continued eating. He was surprised to find that the food did taste good and that he was hungrier than he had thought. After a few minutes, he asked, “What have all of you been doing today?”

“We unpacked the wagons this morning, getting out the things we wanted to keep in our rooms and putting everything else in the castle storerooms. I brought your case up here and put it in the closet. Your clothes are in the chest over there, and your sword is on the floor right under the edge of your bed. I know you don’t need it, but I thought you’d like to keep it, and I didn’t know where else to put it,” Chris said as he got up, picked up the edge of the bed cover and showed Kevin the sword. Then he sat back down and continued, “You wouldn’t believe this place, Kevin. It’s so well-organized. There are a lot of people on staff, but not as many as you might think considering all the work involved. Everything seems to go like clockwork.” Chris reached over and picked up a piece of fruit from Kevin’s tray. “Then this afternoon we helped Laryn get the messages ready.”

“What messages?” Kevin asked between bites of his sandwich.

“The ones announcing Badec’s death. Laryn wasn’t sure it would be today, but she felt sure it would be soon. She said that the only reason her brother was still holding on to life was that he was waiting for you to arrive, and that now that you’re here, he could go in peace.”

“It was peaceful,” Kevin said softly. Then he told Chris about Yvonne’s visit the night before, the way his father had relaxed during the day as Kevin talked to him, and the two orbs of light at the end. “I’m sure the first orb that appeared was my mother. I wish I could have known them.”

“Maybe you’ll get to now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mother’s already visited you twice. I bet it won’t be that long before your father does, too.”

“I hope you’re right,” Kevin said. Then he turned to the plate of fruit and quickly emptied it.

Just as he finished the last of the fruit, there was another knock at the door and when Chris opened it, Laryn stepped in.

“I just wanted to check on you. Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired.”

“I’m sure you are. We just released the falcons with messages for the district sorcerers, our brothers and sisters, Kalen, Duane, and a few other close friends. I’ll take care of the official notifications later.”

“What about Glendymere?” Kevin asked.

“Freddy left as soon as Badec died, so Glendymere, Tyree, and Blalick’s family will know soon, if they don’t already. Now, you need to get some sleep. Do you want Agnes to prepare a sleeping draught for you?”

“No, I’m sure I’ll sleep just fine, but aren’t there some things that I need to do?”

“Yes, but nothing that can’t wait until morning. Sleep now. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Laryn said as she walked over to the door and opened it. Then she turned back towards Kevin and said, “And thank you, Myron. It was time.”

Chapter 49

Duty Calls

Kevin woke up shortly after daybreak Sunday morning. He was dressed and staring out the window, wondering what the day would bring, when he heard a light tap on his door. He opened it to find Chris standing in the hall with a large mug of coffee in each hand.

Chris handed one of the mugs to Kevin as he stepped inside and said, “I thought you’d probably be up by now.”

“Thanks,” Kevin said as he sipped the hot coffee. “I was thinking about venturing out, but I was putting it off. I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy day once it gets started.”

“You’re right about that. Laryn and I talked a little after you went to bed,” Chris said. “She’s asked all of the housekeeping and grounds staff to meet in the dining room at 8:00 this morning. She’s going to announce that Badec has passed away, thank them for their services while he was the Sorcerer of Camden, and then introduce you.”

“Thank them for their services?” Kevin asked in near panic. “Are they leaving?”

Chris shook his head no. “After she introduces you, you’ll thank them for serving your father and say something like ‘and I hope you’ll be able to stay and help us just as you helped my father.’ It’s more a formality than anything else, but Laryn says it’s important to let them know that you see them as people of free will, not as slaves.”

“Of course. I keep forgetting about that.”

Chris nodded and continued, “Then you’ll need to ask Cryslyn, the Head of Housekeeping, and Neiven, the Head of Grounds, to join us for breakfast.”

“All right. You wouldn’t happen to know if these people are male or female would you? I can’t tell by their names.”

“Actually I do. I asked Laryn about Cryslyn. She’s a woman about forty-five years old who has lived at the castle most of her life. Her mother was one of the cooks until she married a local farmer and moved away. Cryslyn has worked as a housekeeper, a cook, and the manager of the storeroom. She was named Head of Housekeeping about ten years ago.

“Neiven has lived here off and on since he was in his teens. He first worked as a stable boy. Then he left to apprentice with a dwarf blacksmith somewhere up north. When he came back, he asked Badec to hire him as the castle blacksmith. There never had been one before, but Badec liked the idea, so he set Neiven up in a shop near the stable. One thing led to another, and eventually Badec asked him to supervise all the stable, livestock, and grounds work. He’s been doing that for about seven or eight years now.”

Kevin shook his head and asked, “You got all of that from Laryn last night?”

“No, she told me about Cryslyn, but I met Neiven while we were unpacking. He told me most of what I just told you, but Laryn was the one who told me that he was in charge of the grounds. Nice guy, easy to talk to. Seems sort of laid-back and easygoing,” Chris paused to sip his coffee. “I haven’t met Cryslyn, so I can’t tell you any more about her.”

“Is there any particular reason that I’m inviting them to join us?”

“So that you can tell them that you realize the next week is going to be rough, that you know it will play havoc with their schedules and routines, and that they should feel free to ask for extra help whenever they need it. Again, this is mostly formality.” Chris paused and then added, “I imagine a lot of the things that you’re going to be doing for a while are going to be ‘formality’ types of things.”

“Also known as politics,” Kevin agreed. “What comes after breakfast?”

“Laryn wants to talk to you. From what she said, I think the two of you are going to discuss what will be happening over the next few days and what you’ll need to do. That should take most of the morning.”

“I want you to be at that meeting too, Chris. And take good notes.”

Chris nodded as he picked up the two empty coffee mugs and headed for the door. “It’s about time to head down. We don’t want to be late for your first speech.”

“Have I ever mentioned that I hate public speaking?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Chris replied with a chuckle. “But something tells me that you’re going to get plenty of practice. Come on, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After breakfast, Kevin, Chris, and Laryn went to what was now going to be Kevin’s office. As soon as they walked through the door, both of the pages who were there that morning stood up as if awaiting instructions. Laryn shook her head and the two young men sat back down at the table where they had several sheets of paper with lists on them spread out between them.

Laryn opened the door to the inner office, turned back to the pages and said, “We’re not to be disturbed unless there is a dire emergency, and by that I mean lots of blood or smoke.”

The two pages grinned and the tension that had been in the air seemed to ease. The older one nodded at Laryn and said, “Understood.”

The inner office was smaller than the reception area, but it was still larger than any office Kevin had ever worked in. Across the room from the door was a large executive-style desk, with a high back captain’s chair behind it and three armchairs in front of it. Off to the side were two small secretarial desks with straight back chairs. One large table and several small tables were scattered around the walls.

Laryn motioned for Kevin to sit in the captain’s chair behind the large desk. Chris sat at one of the small desks and Laryn collapsed into one of the armchairs.

“I suggest, for a while at least, you conduct business from this office and let Chris and the pages handle the outer office. It’s quieter in here,” Laryn said.

“But isn’t this your office?” Kevin asked.

Laryn shook her head. “Not anymore. I cleared my stuff out last night.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Kevin protested.

“Yes, I did,” Laryn answered. “You’ll want to go through the letters in the top right-hand drawer soon, but they’ll keep until after the funeral. Some of those letters have been in there for a year. Another week won’t make any difference.”

Kevin nodded. “When will the funeral be held?”

Laryn sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Next Saturday, the twenty-third of March. It’s customary to have funerals within three or four days, but since Badec was the Master Sorcerer, we have to give people about a week’s notice. I added the date of the funeral to the messages as I got them ready to go out last night.”

“Where will the funeral be held?” Chris asked. “And what’s involved?”

“The funeral itself is more like a procession than anything else. Sister Agnes has taken Badec’s body to the chapel to prepare it for burial, and the body will remain there until Saturday. Neiven made a coffin for him a couple of months ago and it’s already down there. Sometime around 10:00 next Saturday morning, the family will go down to Milhaven. By the way, Chris, as Myron’s assistant, you’ll go with us. At noon the coffin will be placed on the back of a wagon and we’ll escort it to the family burial site, which is in the forest, about three miles from here. Mourners will be lined up on both sides of the road to watch the procession pass, but the only people allowed in the procession will be family, close friends, provincial sorcerers, Federation representatives, and district emissaries. When we get to the burial site, only family members will go in. I’ll take you there sometime this week to make sure everything is ready.”

Kevin nodded again. “How many people do you think will attend?”

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a couple of thousand,” Laryn said with a shrug.

 “Do we need to do anything about housing or food for all those people?” Chris asked.

“No. The people of Milhaven will play host to the emissaries from the districts. The council sorcerers and Federation representatives will arrive that morning and leave shortly after the burial. The only ones we’re going to play host to are family and close friends, and Housekeeping already has a list of those,” Laryn explained. Then she took a deep breath and said, “I don’t really know of any way to break this to you gently, so I’m just going to say it. By the day of the funeral, your people have to be ready to take over. While we’re escorting Badec’s body to the burial site, Governor Wrenn’s personal belongings will be moved out of the governor’s house and the new governor’s belongings will be moved in. Captain Lawrence’s things will be moved out of the guard barracks and the new captain’s belongings will be moved in.”

“So, I need to name a new governor and captain during the next week, right?” Kevin asked.

“No, you need to name them today.”

“Today?! Why so soon?” Kevin felt panic begin to take hold.

“Because you only have seven days to make the transition, counting today. Governor Wrenn will need as much time as possible to bring the new governor up-to-date on matters that have not been settled. He’ll need to discuss each of the eighty districts, the ministers, their concerns and problems, records of taxes collected, taxes due, who gets how much, finances for everyone on the government payroll, and probably a dozen more things that I don’t even know about. And I imagine that Jana will want to meet with the new governor’s assistant, too. She’s been Governor Wrenn’s secretary for the last ten years, and probably knows more about the mechanics of running his office than he does.”

“Do you mean that as of next Saturday the new governor will be on his own?” Chris asked.

“Yes and no. The responsibility will be his and he’ll have to make the decisions, but Wrenn’s new house is right outside Milhaven. I imagine if you and your governor ask him to serve as an advisor for a year or so, he’ll agree, but you need to make it a paid position, maybe pay him a certain amount for the entire year, or for each month, or maybe even for each consultation. I don’t know how he’ll want to set it up, but he’s an honest man. He’ll be fair.”

“Okay,” Kevin said slowly. “Should I approach him with that idea today, or should I wait and let him get to know the new governor first?”

“I’d wait until after the funeral. If your governor and Governor Wrenn hit it off, he might even volunteer his services, you never know. You might be able to make a similar arrangement with Captain Lawrence, but that will depend on where he ends up. I’m sure he’ll have quite a few offers over the next few days.”

“I know that General Crandal wants Captain Lawrence to take over as his aide. If he does that, he should be in the area.”

“If he takes that position,” Laryn replied. “He’ll probably decide what he’s going to do within the week,”

“What about you? I’m going to need a lot of help.”

“I’ll be around. I’ll move into one of the family rooms for a month or so, and then I’ll probably move into the guest wing, but I have no plans to leave the castle.”

“Thank you,” Kevin said, relief washing over him. “Now I’ve got another question. A few minutes ago you mentioned a Federation. What’s that?”

“I wasn’t going to say too much about that until you got past the April meeting of the Council of Sorcerers, but you represent the human race on the Federation. The Federation of Terah meets twice a year, usually on the first day of spring and the first day of fall. I filled in last spring and last fall, but they voted to wait until the humans had a functioning Master Sorcerer for this year’s spring meeting. Since everything had to be settled one way or the other by the April meeting of the Council of Sorcerers, the Federation meeting was postponed one month, until the twentieth of April.”

“Who’s on the Federation and what’s it for?”

“I’ll go over all of the names and tell you a little about each one later, but each race and all magical animals have representatives. The main concern of the Federation is to preserve harmony and peace among the various groups. Humans can fight amongst themselves and the Federation won’t interfere, but if it threatens to involve anyone else, or to destroy any of the lands, the Federation will take action. It was an informal group until the great magic war. After that, they took on the role of watchdog.”

“I guess that makes me responsible for making sure the humans behave, all over Terah.” Kevin was daunted by the enormity of the idea.

“More or less, but the other sorcerers on the council will help along that line. No one wants a war with the dragons, and the dragons see themselves as the final line of defense against destruction. They’ve agreed not to meddle in human affairs only as long as the actions of humans do not threaten anyone else. Even the slavers aren’t willing to risk the ire of the dragons by trying to capture other races,” Laryn explained.

“I guess you’ll brief me on the council sorcerers before I go to that meeting, right?”

Laryn nodded. “And at some point I’ll fill you in about each of the eighty sorcerers that you’re supposed to supervise and help. Some of the ones from nearby districts will probably come to the funeral. We’ll need to start going over all of that soon, probably tomorrow, but right now …”

“Yes, I know. A governor and a captain.”

Laryn nodded. “The directors of Milhaven and a few of the other nearby towns will probably drop by sometime today to offer you condolences, as well as their help with housing and feeding the funeral guests. And don’t be surprised if a couple of the local sorcerers come by to talk about Badec and welcome you to Camden. It’s going to be that type of week.” Then she stood up, stretched, and said, “I think I’ll go get some sleep. You don’t need me for what you have to do right now, and I haven’t been to bed yet.”

“Thanks, Laryn.” Kevin nodded.

“See you at dinner, when I hope you can introduce me to the new Governor of Camden and the new Captain of the Guard. Good luck.”

After Laryn had closed the door behind her, Kevin stood up and walked around his office to stretch his legs. “Do we ask Karl first and then tell Steve what we’re doing, or should we talk to Steve first?” he asked Chris.

“You’re afraid that Steve will be insulted, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about there, but if it would make you feel better, let’s find Steve and tell him what you have in mind.”

“Would you go find him? I hate to send one of the pages.”

“Be back in a few minutes,” Chris said as he headed out of the office.