brush up on a few things before I move on this. I assume you can have it
delivered discretely?”
“Of course. No need to forewarn the witch. Well, I’m glad we have an
agreement. If you’ll excuse me I have another appointment soon.”
He headed off down the wall rather than asking for a lift to ground
level. A sign he wasn’t as comfortable with magic as he acted? Or perhaps just
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a reluctance to put himself in someone else’s power after making demands?
I watched him go thoughtfully. For obvious reasons my knee-jerk
reaction to priests who wanted to persecute witches wasn’t very favorable, but
in this world magic was actually real. For all I knew Hecate really was an evil
goddess, and based on her own comments Cerise had a habit of playing with
fire. I didn’t think I’d actually use whatever spells were in this book, but it
could be informative reading.
Besides, pretending to cooperate for a week seemed less likely to make
me a new enemy than just refusing outright.
I worked until nearly sunset, finishing another tower and a good stretch
of curtain wall beyond it. My guard squad changed shifts sometime during the
afternoon, and one of the men in the new squad did a fairly neat job of
manufacturing an opportunity to pass me a small book bound in worn leather.
Which meant my guard detail was infiltrated with people willing to do
favors for Holger. One more thing to worry about, as if there wasn’t enough on
my plate already. I made a note to check with Avilla about how the recruiting
was going, and switch to having my own people watch my back as soon as
possible.
By the time I started to make my way back to my temporary home my
brain was aching from channeling magic all day. I trudged wearily down the
length of the wall I’d built, my cloak pulled tight against the wind. My face
was a bit numb despite the warmth of the enchanted garment, and I can only
imagine how frozen my escorts must have been. Maybe I should put in some
kind of overhead cover, or a passageway through the wall itself?
I was still turning over possibilities in my mind when I opened the door
to my tower, and was interrupted by shouting from below.
“Now what?
I shook my head and hurried down the stairs with the six men of my
escort trailing along behind me. I noted in passing that no one had been
guarding the door, which didn’t do much to allay my growing concern. Had a
monster gotten in somehow? I could make out Avilla’s voice now, along with a
bunch of angry men.
I reached the bottom floor, and circled around to the storage area that
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took up a quarter of the floor to find it was full of shouting people. There was a
small pile of sacks and boxes against a wall, which Cerise was standing over
with her knives out. A rotund and rather foppish-looking young man surrounded
by four guards was shouting at Avilla, who glared back at him murderously.
Gronir and another man I vaguely remembered as one of the refugees were
standing beside her clutching their spears, obviously ready to defend her if the
interlopers made a move. A couple of Captain Rain’s men stood back from the
whole mess, looking like they had no idea what to do.
“Hey!”
No one heard my shout. Damn it. I made a tiny bubble of force
overhead, and grew it into a thick disk that covered half the room’s ceiling.
Then I canceled the spell. The thunderclap of displaced air shook the room,
and shut everyone up momentarily.
“Everyone, shut up! Avilla, what’s going on here?”
As I’d suspected, she recovered from her shock faster than the men at
arms. “We caught these people trying to steal our supplies, Master Black.”
The fop flushed. “Now see here, wench! I’m Lanrest’s duly appointed
tax farmer, and you’d better adjust your tone if you expect to live in this town.
My uncle doesn’t suffer rebels in his lands.”
“She’s not a subject of your Baron,” I said firmly, striding into the
room to put my hand on Avilla’s shoulder. “She’s the apprentice and personal
retainer of a traveling wizard who happens to be saving your sorry asses from
the giants right now. Do you have any proof of who you are?”
I glanced around the room, and found that my escorts had joined the
spectators by the door instead of moving to back me up. One of them nodded.
“That’s him, sir,” he confirmed. “Squire Cezary, the Baron’s nephew.”
“There, you see?” The idiot said self-importantly. “Now get your
people out of my way. My uncle has declared an emergency tax of a thousand
silver pennies on the town, and after this fiasco I’m taking a hefty share of it
right here.”
He stepped forward confidently, and ran face-first into the invisible
barrier I’d conjured in front of him.
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“Ow! My nose!”
“Go bother the peasants, junior. I’m not falling for that.”
He glared at me and clutched his nose. “You can’t do that! That’s
assaulting a noble, with magic no less! My uncle will hang you for this!”
I snorted. “Your uncle needs me to build a real wall around his town so
you don’t all get killed when the giants get around to you. Cerise, you’ve been
reading up on customs around here. Do you know anything about this?”
She gave me a puzzled glance, but then understanding blossomed.
“No, master. I know a lot of the nobles in this part of the kingdom use
tax farmers to collect from their towns instead of trying to do something
complicated like licensing or property taxes. But I’ve never heard of something
as crazy as sending a tax farmer after a noble’s party. If he’d pulled this on a
visiting baron it would probably start a war.”
Cezary sputtered. “Noble! I don’t see any livery on these servants, and
you haven’t a single real man-at-arms. You’re just a jumped-up hedge wizard
with delusions of grandeur. If you know what’s good for you you’ll stop putting
on airs and start showing some deference for your betters.”
“Betters!” Avilla fumed. “Our wizard is worth a hundred of you, you
worm!”
He scowled. “That’s it, I’m out of patience. I’m assessing a two
hundred silver fine for obstruction of my duties, payable immediately. I
suppose your so-called apprentices would fetch that on the open market, if you
don’t have the coin-”
He self-important demands were cut off when I slammed him into the
wall with a burst of force magic. His men went for their swords, and I did the
same thing to them. They hit the stone in a cacophony of rattling steel, and
found themselves pinned a foot off the ground.
I released Cezary, and stalked across the room to punch him in the gut
while he was trying to regain his balance. He folded over nicely, but I wasn’t
satisfied with that. I grabbed his arm, spun him around, and planted a kick in
his ass that sent him sprawling on the stone floor at Avilla’s feet. Another burst
of force magic flipped him over, and pinned him to the floor on his back.
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I walked over and put my boot on the middle of his chest, and pushed.
He choked, and scrabbled at the floor.
“You’re a complete dumbass, aren’t you Cezary? Well, let me see if I
can explain this in small words. Your job is robbing your uncle’s subjects to
fill his coffers. I’m not one of your uncle’s subjects. So you can take your