It was almost 8 pm Thursday night before Alfric Hobart was able to answer the summons to Hubert Blackstone's house.
Alfric sat in the sitting room listening to the noise that was coming from the dining area. It sounded like Blackstone was throwing a party.
The old wizard floated out.
"Did you people rescue King Zander?"
"Yes."
"What about Horatio Zaravan and his daughter Celeste?"
"Horatio Zaravan threw himself over the balcony and splattered all over the pavement. Celeste is now barking mad. She tortured Zander for months and is heavy with his child."
"That is not Zander's child."
"How do you know?"
"Because she was already pregnant before she held Zander hostage. Horatio Zaravan knew this and asked me if there was some way to solve this issue."
"Whose child is it?"
"The same one who kidnapped and tortured Zander Tamein. Also the same one who made Celeste go mad."
"Alastaire…" Alfric Hobart sighed heavily. It always came back to a few bad players who caused most of the destruction.
"So now that the King of Topaz has died, what do we do?"
"Nothing for now. Things are coming to a head to the point where we may not have a kingdom left to have a new king. In any case, Cobalt Osiris is the de facto King of Topaz at this time, even if he does not seem to act like one."
"If he doesn't want to be king, doesn't he have a couple of boys he could pass the throne to?"
"The twins, yes. They are twenty-two years of age and will be solid dependable leaders of this kingdom in the near and far future, if Topaz even has a future that is."
He snorted. "The twins are sitting around my table at the moment with their future wife. She is a beauty!"
"There is one of her for the both of them?"
"That is as it should be. You of all people should know that."
Alfric scratched his chin. "Are the boys ok with that?"
"They are already besotted with her. They will work it out between themselves. I have great hopes…"
Alfric Hobart "Are you going to tell the boys about the throne?"
"No. I'd just as soon see them escape this place. It's going to get ugly fast."
"My men are already in place at the stations in cities around Topaz. If we have enough mages to port them through…"
"I will coordinate that effort tonight with the Council of Mages. We need to protect the pyramid and the school."
The men spoke quietly for a few more minutes until a young boy wandered into the sitting room. He had blonde hair and bright curious blue eyes.
"Is this Annette's boy?" Alfric asked, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes he is," Blackstone confirmed. "Simon is a super sharp one. He is the smartest mage of his generation."
Alfric nodded with pride. "I look forward to seeing what Simon can do."
After leaving the Wizard Blackstone's residence, Alfric ported to the House Jaynami fortress.
Borlik Jaynami was inside his War Room discussing various details with all his advisors and war captains.
His exalted position as Head of House Jaynami belied the fact that the man was barely 5' tall. It was an impressive height since that was fairly tall for a dwarf.
Alfric Hobart waited until the silver-haired wiry warrior finished with his direct-reports before showing himself.
"Well, look who the cat dragged in. If it ain't old Al Hobart."
Borlik twirled his curled mustache. "What might I attribute to this meeting in the middle of a war? Are ye friend or foe?"
Alfric Hobart slapped Borlik Jaynami on the shoulder. "Foe, of course. Why else would I be here, eh?"
Borlik chuckled. "It's been a long time brother. How is my little sister?"
"Pearla is doing well. She's got a brand new baby to care for so I don't see her much."
Borlik Jaynami narrowed his eyes at Alfric Hobart. "Are you that spritely that you got my sister pregnant again, you old fool?"
Alfric Hobart laughed. "No, no. We're a bit beyond the pale for that capability. This new baby belongs to the Queen of the Northern Realm."
"They sure do work fast. Didn't that Queen just get married like six months ago?"
"Haha. Yes. But the child is a bogwarg. Mighty ugly one too." He laughed fondly.
Borlik Jaynami pulled on his long silver beard. "Does the King know about this little bogwarg baby?"
"Not that I know of. She got him while the King was away."
Borlik Jaynami gave a wry look. "Well that's gonna end well…"
"I have no doubt. The child is an orphan she picked up in the bog."
Borlik Jaynami laughed, but then his eyes grew serious.
"So what's the plan Al, or is there even a plan?"
"We only have one plan, Borlik. Win the war. What's going on with you and Paulson Monteceto? Weren't you tight friends? Why aren't you talking anymore?"
"That traitorous fat-bellied vermin. If I get my hands on him, he will be rolled in dough and oil-dipped for betraying Topaz Kingdom!"
"So we are going to be fighting against the House Monteceto troops, eh?"
"A crying shame too, since I know all the Monteceto warriors well. He tried to get me to turn against the Topaz Council of Mages but a man's gotta have integrity or he's not a man."
Borlik Jaynami slammed his hands on the table before him. "I told him he could go where the sun don't shine and if he didn't go there, I would put him there."
"I have men waiting at the border stations. There is no way to get them here without portals since there are no trains that reach Topaz."
"We have mages ready to port them through."
"Where are you getting the mages to do that?"
"We got the women involved. Everyone has been forewarned. They are all in mage bodysuits waiting for word to begin."
"You're pulling in women wizards to fight a war?"
"We need every able-bodied wizard to lend a hand or we are all going down with the ship. The women of Topaz are fierce and strong."
"That I do know. My beautiful Pearla is one such Topaz woman."
Borlik Jaynami stood up from behind his desk and strode out to where Alfric Hobart was standing.
Dressed in his heliotrope purple cloak with the ermine fur trim over the basic black mage bodysuit and combat boots, he looked every inch the War General of Topaz.
He pulled out a map from the stack on his desk and shoved it into Alfric Hobart's hands.
"Every red dot is a spot where we have a group of mages waiting to port your men in. The women are not super strong mages, mind you, but they will take turns until they are depleted of energy."
"You have four groups around the pyramid. Good."
"That's our weakest point. We have to hold the line at the pyramid or Topaz is completely destroyed."
"What about the Academy?"
"We don't have enough people to protect the Academy. All we can do is try to keep the city intact."
"Are the women ready to port the soldiers in?"
"As soon as I give the word, they will be in their designated spots within fifteen minutes."
"Mind if I borrow your scry-visual? I need to tell my men to get ready to move their troops in."
Borlik Jaynami waved a finger. An entire wall behind him turned into a scrying glass.
Alfric nodded. "Go tell your women to get ready for my men's arrival."
Fifteen minutes later, the women of Topaz congregated around the various areas that had been designated as portal entries. They ranged between the ages of fifteen all the way to the indeterminate elderly.
All wore their black mage bodysuits and combat boots. All had grim determined faces.
Their men were already at the front lines. They needed to do everything they could to send support to help their husbands and fathers, sons and brothers.
In no time at all, portals began opening and the warriors from the north came streaming through.
The stronger mage women could handle maintaining the portals by themselves. The younger girls were paired up, one on each side, keeping the portal stead so the men could run through.
Once enough of the warriors had streamed through, those who had mage training were able to take over for the weaker girls and kept the portals opened for the troops to continue coming.
It took over an hour. Reports began streaming into Alfric Hobart's hands. A full 50% of the troops had been able to make it through before the wizards ran out of power to port.
Borlik Jaynami's face began to harbor hope. It was not going to be as one-sided as they feared.
"If we have one more day, the women will have recharged enough of their energy to open the portals once again."
Alfric Hobart shook his head. "Don't count on it. Even though we've done it as quietly as we could, the enemy already knows we have sent reinforcement troops. They won't give us a second chance to send in more."
Borlik Jaynami scowled. "If I know anything about how Paulson Monteceto operates, he will wait until the morning to begin the fight. He hates fighting before his breakfast eggs and bacon, the fat slob."
"My captains are waiting for word. I am placing them under your control since you know the layout of this city better than I do."
"Thank you, brother." Borlik Jaynami sighed. "May the Goddess bless us all."
Alfric Hobart nodded.
As Borlik Jaynami had predicted, the fight began at exactly 10 am right after breakfast the next morning.