Chapter 17
One Madman
Ideron’s pen scratched against the paper as the last of his ink waned.
“Fetch me another bottle of ink, Eryn,” Ideron said curtly.
“Yes, master,” Eryn replied, dutifully searching through Ideron’s trunk for the vial and bringing it over to him.
“Good, now resume your Haga.”
“Master, I’ve been at this for hours,” the boy whined, “surely you need me to assist with preparing for—”
“—Your actions last night were deplorable. If you hadn’t been so intoxicated, you would have noticed Amka’s sudden movements through the keep, you could have prevented this entire debacle.”
“That’s a tad unfair, master!” Eryn protested defensively, “I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she’d killed Haiden and his father.”
“No, but we could have intercepted her long before she managed to get free of the keep. If you had returned to the room as I had instructed you to do, then I could have found you sooner and tracked her. But no, you had to go inebriate yourself further—an absolute disgrace to the dignity of a magi, I might add—and sleep in the stables with the horses like a peasant.” Ideron made no attempts to mask his irritation and his penmanship suffered as a result.
“Bah!” He pushed away the sheaf of parchment in front of him. It was an account of the previous night’s fiasco. Not only did Amka get away, but he had absolutely no information on what she had been hoping to achieve, nor who this false skeleton god character was. Sighing, he pulled the parchment back and continued.
… The Yashai Princess’ references to this ‘shaman magic’ concerns me. All previous Karsus reports from the war indicated that there was no Magi presence amongst the Yashai natives. Nor did they reference any specific deities beyond their archetypical pagan gods of sun and stars.
Princess Amka’s remarks to this ‘skeleton god’ indicated that she had known this being personally, which leads me to the belief that he is potentially a living man who has been elevated to the role of deity for the savages. I do not doubt that this skeleton god has deluded the Yashai people with ideas of his omnipotence by the use of runes and other known magi skills. Perhaps this man is simply an untrained prodigy raised among the Yashai or—more likely—he is a rogue magi defected from Bhalasi.
Either way, it is for these reasons that I have volunteered for the expedition south to pursue the Yashai Princess in her flight to her homeland. With none of her comrades still alive from the hostilities at the wedding, I—unfortunately—have little other alternative. However, I do not harbour any delusions that the girl had no other conspirators. There is a conspicuous Orak and an Aeth whose allegiance is unapparent, whom I will monitor closely.
The expedition itself is also cause for concern, Superior. Lady Torren, in her grief, has summoned a call-to-arms to exact vengeance for her husband and son upon the Yashai tribes of the south. The Citylords of Eard and Toon have already responded, indicating that they will rally their armies and follow the expedition. While I can understand the Tarongi peoples' collective anger, such a direct circumvention of King Merand’s authority is a strong political manoeuvre that lends to the rumours that the Lords of this region have an intent for annexation. In the interest of monitoring the situation here in Heraldforn I have decided that my apprentice—Eryn Ekstrom—will remain here as an intermediary Tal observer and will provide reports in my stead with updates on the political situation. It is my humble suggestion that you should envoy another Magi of our order to attend Lady Torren, and provide guidance in Timeran’s will and ensure the peace and unity of Urungeald.
Signed — Ideron Amurri, Magi of Order Litcus, Tal Eyne.
Satisfied with his letter, Ideron scrawled out his ciphering illusion runes on the parchment. Once finished, they began to glow and words on the page began to warp and change. His Superior would have Ideron’s matching runes to decipher the message when he received it. Even with the letter encrypted, Ideron still melted a blob of wax and sealed it with his stamp; a balancing scale, the signet of his order.
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“You will run this to the castle zhao nest,” Ideron said,
“Ugh, zhao give me the creeps, master. Feel like they’re going to rip me apart,” Eryn replied.
“They’re barely any different to birds,” he said, flatly.
“I haven’t seen many birds that look like they could eat me. They’re more like dragons if you ask me.”
“Dragons aren’t real—besides the vultures that have been flying around this hovel of a city would happily pick apart your flesh, I would think.”
“Not what I meant, the zhao just look dangerous”
“Either way—you’re taking this to the nest. Have the zhao handler send it to Tal Eyne,” Ideron said, proffering the sealed letter, “and you will return here to continue your Haga. I have some preparations to make for the expedition in town,”—he held up his hand as Eryn’s mouth opened to speak—“no, you may not accompany me.”
The boy left the room with the defeated look young men often have when they are denied what is in their nature. In Eryn’s case that is gawking at the Heraldforn locals and drinking more wine than his body can manage—and that’s some amount.
Ideron made his own way into town. There was a hubbub of activity in the aftermath of Lady Torren’s reckless proclamation. The name Zanzo de la Cruz was being shouted as the saviour of the Yashai betrayal. The merchants in their stalls were eagerly calling out ‘discounts’ on their weapons and armour of the ‘finest quality’. Armour flecked with rust and blunted swords that would have better use melted back into the forge than on a battlefield. As Ideron made his way down the main market thoroughfare, a street bard kicked into a painfully altered rendition of the classic ‘Siege of Uruz’. It was a common trick of unscrupulous bards, to take a known melody and alter the lyrics so that it reflected current events.
“...And the blood of the Torrens flowed,
Amka, the Knife of Yashai fled,
Her thirst for death unslowed,
As Haiden’s heart bled”
Ugh, terrible rhyming. Ideron grimaced at the performer who was little more than a beggar with a lute. The song divulged further into the great deeds of Zanzo de la Cruz. Zanzo was a enigmatic character and Ideron was determined to find out more about the man and his role in all of this. He couldn’t help but admire the man’s talent for alluring so many to this task. One madman makes many madmen and many madmen make madness. And this whole endeavour was nothing short of madness. But Ideron had his duty, and his duty was the directive of God himself, so he would play his part in this madness.
His eye caught the sight of the two youths at a merchant stall. Along with purchasing some supplies himself, this was why he had come to the market. He approached the pair casually.
“So we are to be travelling companions, I hear,” Ideron began in a cordial manner. The boys looked back at him as if they had no idea who he was.
“Ideron Amurri,” he reminded them, “Magi of Tal Eyne. You boys are sir Zanzo’s squires, correct?”
“Aye,” the uglier of the pair replied, “I’m Jax, this is Eli.”
“I was hoping to speak with your master, where is he?”
“He’s with the Lady Tor—” Jax began but was silenced by a jab to the stomach by Eli. “Sir Zanzo is preparing for the expedition. We can send a message to him if you please, Mr. Ideron, sir.”
“I see,” Ideron replied and made a show of appearing put out, he had no intention of speaking with Zanzo, “perhaps one of you can assist me. I have questions about the Orak and the Aeth that will be accompanying us south.”
“Mercy ain’t coming with us,” Jax groaned, “it’s just Greeves.”
“Greeves is the Orak,” Ideron said, nodding, “I see. Do you know why Mercy is staying behind?”
“Well, I think her Da told her not to…” Jax trailed off to a mumble after receiving a hard look from Eli, “I don’t know.” Jax shrugged, “just not I guess.”
“How did the pair come to be Zanzo’s employ?”
“Lord Zanzo hired ‘em to hunt game along the road,” Jax replied.
“Why you so interested in ‘em,” Eli narrowed his eyes, “and why don’t you just ask ‘em yourself? They’re still in the fortress.”
“Perhaps, I will do just that,” Ideron lied, he had no intention of interrogating either the Orak or the Aeth just yet. Not until he had gleaned some insights into what schemes that pair might be involved with. The fact that they were separating was even more suspicious. Fortunately, Eryn would be remaining in Heraldforn so he would be able keep a vigilant watch on the girl. He made a mental note to include that in his instructions for Eryn.
“C’mon,” Eli tugged at Jax’s sleeve, “Zanzo wanted us to wait for him at the Buggery.” Ideron stepped away from the boys but overheard their conversation as the made their way down the straight.
“Isn’t that the weird brothel we saw near the gate?”
“That’s the one,”
“Why does he want to meet us there?”
“Don’t know, something about…” The sounds of their conversation drowned amongst the growing crowds and eventually they were out of sight.