'I had no idea!' I yielded, 'Believe me mister wizard!
Don't lie to me, son,' he replied but it sounded as if he was going to break off my head. 'I know all your thoughts and your plans are as simple and poor as you are. To agree with everything I say, to say ditto to, nod your head and to buzz off as soon as possible this is what you have in your mind. And to steal my purse if you are lucky enough.'
Well, he was wrong about the purse, though. I am a good boy, I am, to steal money from the wizard. I aimed at Agrippa's bag not at his one. But in general he was right, all what I wanted was to get out of the warehouses and then you can't catch the wind in a net. Even the Royal guard had no chances to catch a thief in in Docs area.
'Silly boy you are and silly indeed,' said the wizard in in fatherly tones, gave way to my hair and caught my arm at the same time skillfully. 'I have seen so many people like you, so many scoundrels in total that there are less residents in some towns although you all are the same.'
My arm was shot through with a throb of pain as the wizard scratched my wrist with the tip of his dagger which he produced in no time from nowhere. Wow, how nice the dagger was. It was made of silver but red rocks were imbedded into its handle. Rubies, I guess. I wish I could pinch it…
'Blood is a great thing,' said the wizard smacking his lips and looking at the blade of the dagger smeared with my blood. 'It's food for somebody and life for others…As for us, the wizards, it's the most powerful tool and the most important ingredient. Do you know Erast, that blood is the cornerstone in every second ceremony or ritual?
Chris,' I timidly reminded my name to the wizard. 'My name is Chris, Esquire.'
Hardly had I said that when my head slowly moved aside as the wizard slapped my cheek in what may seem nonchalant way. He was old and hit me without a hook but it hurt as if I was conked real hard. He proved to be quiet tough.
'Your name is Erast,' he reminded me in a friendly way, 'Erast von Rut, the third son of baron Joachim von Rut. You will have some time to learn your genealogy by heart on the way. By the way, Chris the Tout does not exist any longer; he has died today here, in that barn. Although he has a chance to resurrect someday providing you will do exactly what I shall tell you to do it will hardly happen as you will not want it to come back yourself.
Why so?' I exclaimed surprisingly. 'I was given that name when I was born and was called so after Christopher Robinson, a brave bear and boar hunter. I am proud of it.
It is the name of a thief and a loser, the one who dwells in the town slums,' said the wizard and gave an approving look to Agrippa who had started dragging the corpses to the middle of the barn. 'You will spend the nearest year or probably more than that among those who are absolutely different from the current circle of your acquaintances. And believe my words, when everything is over you will not want to come back to the old reality if you manage to survive though. The society itself determines the way of life and moulds personality. Having spent some time with those who are morally higher, better and smarter than you are, having reached them and having become almost like them you will be unwilling to go down. It was not I who conjured it up, this is the way the human psyche works. You can go down forcefully but not voluntarily…'
'Holy Miralinda, where does he want to stuff me to?' I wondered having a bad feeling about it.
'All right,' said the wizard and loosed hold having scratched my coagulating wound with the tip of his knife. 'While we are chatting the blood is coagulating and this is what we don't need at all. Don't worry, stand still and nothing wrong will happen to you.'
Agrippa, who was throwing the Caterpillar's mutilated body onto the Fat Go's corpse, produced a loud laugh.
The wizard pressed my forehead with his right finger still holding the dagger with my blood smeared along its blaze in his left hand.
He gave me a wink and uttered several words in a singsong voice using the language unknown to me. It was not the Common language, and not Falcon; nor was it the tongue of severe and silent dwarfs who dwelled under the Alinar Mountains as I heard them speaking in the market several times. Anyway, I almost immediately guessed what it was about but the guess did not make me very glad. That polar beaver was doing what he was skillful at- he was wizarding and the witchcraft aimed at me.
Besides, they were magic formulas rather than words and I remembered old toothless Rufus telling about these tricks in a dosshouse. He was the man who knew everything about life, a real governor. Some lads gossiped that he used to be a gentry and a courtier, took a high position, had real power in the kingdom and ate from gold and silver plates in his palace. On top of that, he knew much more than he needed to and one morning he was found dead with his throat cut. That was a real pitty for me as he generously shared his knowledge with the roofless riff-raffs and many of the things he told us settled down in my head. My memory is real good and if I see or hear something once I shall keep it in my head forever.
A sparkle of fire came through my forehead, the blood on the tip of the knife burnt with a light-blue flame ad a wave of warmth rolled along my veins.
'Strong boy you are,' approvingly murmured the wizard looking at me. 'Your congenital mental defense is perfect and it will be an excellent helping hand for you.
Helping hand in what?' I asked and started growing dim. My eyes were focused on the dagger tip where the fire had lost its blue colour and became bright yellow.
'In future,' informed me the wizard and cried out a strange word.
The fire changed its colour from yellow to red, the roof of the barn started whirling like a merry-go-round in the main square of the town during market open-air celebrations and I lost my consciousness.
'What I'm telling you, Agrippa, is that he is rather strong,' the wizard's voice was the first I heard when I came to myself. 'He lost his consciousness only during the third stage of the spell and it's the prohibited ritual, don't forget about it.'
Based on the smell of leather and sweat I guessed that Agrippa was carrying me on his shoulder. So touchy, isn't it?
'What is prohibited mean?' I couldn't help asking, 'and what you did it all for if it's not a secret?'
'Oh, he has come round at the end,' he said and I immediately felt sorry about asking it.
Having realized that I came to myself, Agrippa dropped me down to the ground caring nothing about following the proper ceremony.
'Now you'll walk by yourself,' he said gruffly.
'I shall,' I agreed showing my complaisance and clearly realizing that it was deadly wrong time and I was completely wrong lad to show any conceit.
'Curiosity is a wonderful quality,' said the wizard and stretched his hand to me in an extremely polite manner. 'So, you would like to know what the prohibited ritual is?'
'Well, yes,' I admitted and shook off some dirt from my ass. 'And one more thing, how is it connected to me? Master…
errr… And what is your name? I remember the name of that one, he is Agrippa, but not yours.
Simply because nobody pronounced it,' explained the wizard. 'Why should any lad, especially the agile one, like you know it? But now, when everything fell into place we can get acquainted. My name is Gaius Petronius Tullius, however you can call me Master Gaius. I am a wizard of the ninth degree of ordaining and belong to the Strengths of Life conclave.'
piteAlthough he said a lot I only could understand his name. Despite the rest was said in the Common language it remained an enigma to me. I was not educated enough to understand all that.
'Don't wrinkle your forehead,' asked Master Gaius, 'all in good time, I shall explain and tell you a lot. All what you need to know, to be exact.'
I liked to study and so I began to think of not beating feet from that old timer. On the one hand, he was rather ugly but he knew a lot and besides I guess he should feed me. If he took me somewhere, guess he would not kick the bucket from hunger.
'You won't be able to run away,' sarcastically said the wizard and had to do nothing but snatch my teeth thinking that I loudly expressed my thoughts and now I had no chances to do it.
Agrippa laughed looking at me.
'I'm very old, young man,' softly chanted Master Gaius, 'and so your face is like an open page of a book for me, excuse me for the banal comparison overused by the novelists of all ranges and ranks. There are some clichés, you know and you cannot help using them. Let me tell you what, your mimics is… not perfect to say the least. We shall have to work hard over it. Agrippa, you see it's a real trouble. We have a lot to do and are pressed for time.
''ve got one more question here,' I asked thinking that the situation would not become worse and pulled the sleeve of the wizard's coat. 'And why…
You won't be able to run away,' said Master Gaius, nodded understandingly and produced a small transparent measuring tube made of oriental glass from a pocket of his road caftan. It was a very expensive thing; I saw some of them in the market. 'Have a look.'
There was some sand in the tube shimmering with all the colours of the rainbow. There was little of the sand there and I suddenly felt cold in the lower part of my belly. I don't know how but I realized that there was my own death in its beauty.
'Look, how smart he is. I wish I hadn't recently called you unpretentious,' said Master Gaius admiringly. 'You don't know what it is but have guessed that it's not a simple thing, this is what I can get from the expression of your face. Have a look,' he said, slid the glass with his finger and whispered something.
The sand inside the tube began to twist in a little whirlpool and something like liquid fire ran along my guts.
'Now you see,' patronizingly said the wizard and raised his finger. 'I simply showed what it all was about. Your blood and your life as a whole is now in my hands. If you run away or become disobedient or simply pull a trick I don't appreciate at all, I won't scold and will never try to catch you. I shall simply make your blood boil like oil in a frying pan.'
He slid the tube with his finger but this time it was made in a much more powerful way. This time it seemed to me that my guts and veins would explode because of the powerful strain.
'You have some questions, don't you?' asked the wizard and winked.
'Plenty of them,' I said in a trembling voice. My knees doubled up under me but I was alive anyway and while you are alive you have to live, this is how Jock taught me. 'The first and the most important one. Will you ever give that thing to me or am I your slave forever?'
'Well, that street rat might not be that good-for-nothing,' said Agrippa. 'At least he behaves with some dignity. In fact, he is much better than the sludge in camisoles who are always trying to beg something from you.'
'He has been grown up in the street,' said Master Gaius and put the tube back to his pocket. 'The option is rather limited there-either your character is forged or you simply die. I know it from my own experience. As for the answer to your question, son, I shall give you your life back as soon as you do me a favor and you must do it perfectly well, here's my hand on it! More than that, if everything is finished in the way I want it and you somehow manage to survive, I shall give you an award. Believe my words, it will be a good and fair award.'
The award was not a bad thing but the idea of laying down my life on the way to get it not so much pleasant.
'We have to go, Master' said Agrippa and looked around. 'A little fire has just burnt out and pretty soon there will be a lot of guards here. What do we need such talk to the Order men for?'
I looked in the same direction where he was looking at and gave a whistle-it looked like the very barn, where the Fat Go chapel men found their eternal rest and I, to my own cost, got either new master or employer, was burning. It was burning merely, the bluish puffs of smoke and even tongues of flame in it were clearly seen in their demonic dance. It seemed to me that the neighboring barns joined that strange dance as well. If that was so smoldering ruins were highly likely to be what would remain of the block tonight and more than that, the fire could hit the town too.
'An attempted arson of the town property is punished with fifty whips and half a year of labour in a quarry,' I informed the wizard with a note of fear in my voice. 'And as for the one like that…they can hang you as Judge Adams is not an easy going person. All those who knew him personally said me so.
We are not going to have a conflict with the Royal Justice,' agreed Master Gaius. 'Besides, there is nothing else to do in that town. It's time to go.'
The wizard cheerfully left for the area where there was hubbub in the street mixed with 'fire' yells.
'I simply don't get where we're going?' I asked Agrippa who only chuckled hearing the words of his master.
'What the…' I heard the usual slip of the tongue but to my utter astonishment he did not complete the phrase, changed the tone to a normal one and said, 'pretty far away, baron, pretty far away. As far as duchy Himmelstain is. Have you heard anything about it?
Nope,' I shook my head. 'Guess it's not far from the Western Ocean?
Not exactly so but yes,' confirmed Agrippa.
'Woow,' I mumbled. 'Not so close. Guess, it's a real shithole.
A shithole,' replied Agrippa and shrugged his shoulders.' It's a duchy, not even a kingdom.'
Once I happened to see Ragellon map and I was surprised how much it reminded me a patchwork blanket which a drunk tailor's apprentice was trying to sew on his knee.
After the end of the Century of Troubles which had changed the way of life in Ragellon once and forever, the old state boundaries became a history and the century-old orders and laws collapsed like a house of cards. New and young kingdoms of different sizes popped up like mushrooms after a spring rain on their rubbles. Their size mainly depended on how many soldiers their rulers could recruit at the same time and what kind of heritage the king received. And on the new ruler's will, of course.
For example, Iront, which used to be a small state, due to king Lindus' the First will and to the fact that the Order of Truth was established there, promptly managed to gain a great deal of land during the decade and now it was playing the first fiddle in the orchestra of the central kingdoms. I should also add that king Lindus the Eighth, who was enthroned Iront at the moment, determined Ragelloin policy basically by himself and, apart from the rulers of the neighboring states, even elves and dwarfs had to consider his opinion into consideration which meant something at least.
And Frotir, on the contrary, located at the Western Ocean which, before the Century of Troubles, used to be a state of a significant size collapsed into pieces immediately after the plague had sent the king and his family to the best of the worlds. Nobody had been able to collect the lost lands together and they turned into several kingdoms and more than thirty sovereign duchies.
To tell the truth, the rulers of these kingdoms and the sovereigns of the neighboring states tried to conquer the independent duchies from time to time or at least to impose vassalage on them but it was in vain. The dukes, who were not on friendly terms with each other in peaceful time, got united in time of war and all together stood up to defeat the aggressor and after that they continued to dislike each other. Theoretically speaking the duchies could be ravaged with fire and sword but who needed the burnt out land without vassals? The answer was nobody, of course.
On the other hand, Rufus, gods rest his soul, supposed that this state of things would be over sooner or later and there would be somebody who would be able to swallow the duchies first, then to do it with smaller kingdoms and after that the way to proclaim himself the emperor would be free. He called it 'genesis of power'. Besides, he was confident that the emperor's name would be Lindus. Perhaps he was killed for such ideas in the end, who knows?
Well, but I diverted somehow. The point was that we were heading to one of the duchies.
We left my native town very fast as the fire was enormous and I could see the tongues of flame during three hours after we came through the western gates. Probably the living blocks were affected and Master Gaius philosophically commented it on saying that 'fire purifies. And besides, new life will grow fast in smoldering ruins.'
Having said that he put spurs to his horse and it ran faster.
I was also riding horseback, I had to as Agrippa forced me to do so. Frankly, it was my first time and if it were not for that strong man with his huge fists I would never ever do that.
You can hardly imagine how strongly my ass hurt after the end of the first day! It was something terrible! And my thighs sore too.
But I had to do it as master Gaius was not kidding when he said that I would have to learn a lot. The problem was that I did not imagine how much.