The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (74 page)

 Karl and Joan were already knee deep in the politics of Camden, but he doubted that they would be willing to devote more than a couple of years to it. Then they were going to want their own place, their own farm, and he couldn’t blame them.

He had noticed that Steve and Laryn were spending quite a bit of time together lately. If anything developed there, would they be willing to stay at the castle? He doubted it. And Tyree had a home somewhere south of Milhaven that he would want to get back to before too long.

Darrell would probably stay at the castle for a while as Captain of the Guard, but he’d probably move on eventually, too. He was too restless to be tied down to one place for very long.

Theresa would stay in the chapel in Milhaven for a little while, but she was going to want her own chapel, and he had no doubt that the Sisterhood would find one for her.

Then he thought about Chris. When he had asked Chris to be his assistant, Chris had agreed to stay with him through the first council meeting. At the time, that had been enough. The April meeting had been their driving goal since the first day they had set foot on Terah and Kevin had never really thought about anything beyond it. He hadn’t expected to survive to see that day, much less anything afterwards. But here he was. The first council meeting was over. They had made it. Now what? Did Chris think of this as a long-term position or did he have plans of his own?

As Kevin contemplated his uncertain future, his fingers found their way to the chain hanging around his neck. He chuckled as he thought about the key they’d used to get to the meeting, the key to Terah. What he really needed was a key to understandin
g
Terah. Every time he thought he was finally getting a grip on this world and how to survive in it, something else popped up to point out just how little he actually knew.

Then his mind drifted to the other key, the silver one, the one that would open the Gate Between the Worlds, the key that could take him back to Earth.

Back to Earth. The thought whirled around in his mind. He could go home. They could all go home. He had a way to get them out of here, away from Terah, away from the dangers they faced every day just by being around him, and take them back home, back to electricity, cars, computers, microwaves, hot showers, television, telephones, and a thousand other conveniences that they’d taken for granted. They could leave the constant threat of magic wars and deadly energy bolts behind. They’d all be far away, away from Terah, away from Glendymere, and Xantha, and Blalick and his family, away from Duane, and Kalen, and Laryn.

The more he thought about it, the more uncertain he became. Did he even want to go back home? Would the others?

While he was pondering that, another, more disturbing thought crept into his mind. What if someone else got hold of that key? If he left, he’d have to give it back, and it would go to the next Master Sorcerer. Who would that be?

He thought back to the sorcerers he’d met that morning. If there were a magic war, which one of them would emerge the victor? Gwendolyn? His father had implied that her power was stronger than most of the others. What if she won? Or what if all the strong ones killed each other off and somehow Rolan managed to take the seat? What if Rolan had access to Earth?

Kevin shuddered as he pictured a sorcerer, any sorcerer, on Earth. A silent and invisible hand stealing anything, any time, from anywhere. Anyone who got in the way would vanish in a burst of light, and no police force or army would be able to do one thing about it. One quick turn of the key and the sorcerer would be gone in a flash, off to cause mayhem somewhere else.

No, he couldn’t take the chance of unleashing anything like that on Earth. He’d have to stay on Terah, if for no other reason than to protect the key and see that it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

But what about the others? Should he offer them the chance to go back, or should he just keep quiet and see how things went? It was definitely something to think about, but it could wait until tomorrow. He’d had about enough for one day.

Kevin left the gardens and climbed the stairs to his room. He had just settled down on the couch when someone knocked at his door. As he started to get up, the door opened and Chris came in with a pitcher of scog, two mugs, and a few cookies. “I thought you might like a late night snack”

“Thanks,” Kevin said, reaching for the tray to set it down on the coffee table. “What did you think of today, seriously?”

“I’m not sure. I think you handled the meeting just fine. And, like you said, we’ve known all along that Rolan was your enemy. My only concern is that now he knows that you are his enemy, and that makes him just that bit more dangerous. He would have found out before long anyway. I just wish we could have put it off for a little while.”

“To be honest, I was sort of looking for a way to tell him about Landis and Taelor. I wanted him to hear it from me, not from someone else.”

“I sort of figured that was behind the whole thing somewhere, but I still think we could have waited, a couple of months at least.” Chris shrugged. “In the long run, I doubt it will make any difference, and you’re right that it would have been a big mistake to let him hear about it from someone else.” Chris handed Kevin a mug of scog and then fixed one for himself. They sat quietly for a few minutes, drinking their scog.

“Chris, I need to ask you something. When I first asked you to become my assistant, it was for while we were with Glendymere. Then, right before we left Rainbow Valley, I asked you to be my assistant here,” Kevin began.

“And we said that I would until after the first council meeting.”

“You said until after the first council meeting. What I said was to let me know if you ever wanted out. What I want to know is how do you feel about it now? Do you want out?” Kevin asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Well, let’s take a look at it. You’ve been the Sorcerer of Camden for right at three weeks. During that time, you’ve demanded that some corrupt sorcerers return money that they extorted from their neighbors and sicced district ministers onto some others. You’ve served notice to all of the seated sorcerers that from now on you intend to play havoc with the slave trade, at least as far as slaves from Camden go, even to the extent of marching into their homes to rescue any of our citizens who are being held there. You’ve infuriated one of the most dangerous sorcerers on Terah by granting asylum to two people he wants to see dead, and then you topped it off by letting him know that you suspect that he had something to do with your father’s death. The way I see it, at the rate you’re making enemies, someone needs to stick around to keep the knives out of your back,” Chris said with a grin.

Then, after a couple of minutes, he looked at Kevin very seriously and said, “I’ve been truly scared more times in the past year than I have in the rest of my life put together. But I’ve also felt more alive, and I’ve had more fun than I’ve ever had before. I don’t know what’s waiting for us next month, or even next week, but I do know that I don’t want to miss it. I’ll be here until you kick me out to make room for someone who actually knows what he’s doing. But even then, I’ll be around if you need me. Like I said before, I’m in for the long haul.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After Chris had gone to bed and the castle was quiet, Kevin stepped out on the balcony. He listened to the faint footsteps of the guards as they walked their rounds.

His thoughts strayed back to his life on Earth. He had been content going to the office during the day and playing on his computer in the evening, but in all fairness he had to admit that his life had been dull, even boring. No, even if he could, even if the key wasn’t a factor, he didn’t want to go back to Earth. There was no way he could go back to that now.

Chris was right. Life on Terah was scary, and it was often frustrating, but it was also exciting, and most of the time it really was fun. Kevin smiled as he thought back over everything that Chris had said, and although he had no more idea what the future held than Chris did, he was happy with his life. He gazed up at the same stars that he used to look at back on Earth while he was trying to figure out who he was and where he fit in. Now he had his answers. For the first time in his life, he really felt that he was where he belonged. He was home.

And the Saga Continues …

The Dragon’s Flame

The Chronicles of Terah #2

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