Chapter 53
The house was warded and those easy enough to spot–the spells were designed to warn of people breaking in yet not once an intruder got in. The wards hadn’t taken into account the hidden entrances. I was able to walk directly to my father’s study and stand outside his door eavesdropping on the people I could hear conversing inside. There were three or four – my grandfather, a younger man that I assumed was his aide, the wizard and an older man whose voice was gruff with authority.
They were discussing the news of our victory in Orleans, Albans and the towns between. Blackfin did not seem worried, he sounded almost amused as if I were performing to some task he had sojourned.
My grandfather’s reply was brusque, “he is amassing too great a powerbase, Blake. You’d best rein him in before he becomes too powerful to control.”
I heard footsteps coming down the hall and turned to face the surprised guard. Before he could shout a warning, I used the glamour on him. He had time for two words before he went under. “Tobias, wait.”
I paused and stared at his face. Not only was it familiar but I knew his name. Sergeant Amarice. “Take me someplace safe where we can talk,” I ordered and he turned around down the hallway towards the kitchen and the basement stairs. “Wait,” I said. “There is no one down here?”
“No.” His eyes were blank under my glamour’s hold and I could smell his blood. I wanted to tear into his throat and drain him until his skin whitened to the tone of potato flour.
“Go, then.” He walked neatly and precisely down the stone steps into the slate-lined cellar, cold storage and workrooms. I didn’t care to be down there as the only one way out was back up the steps.
“Why did you tell me to wait, Sergeant?” I was curious. He could’ve shouted or drawn the silver blade at his side but had done neither.
“I would speak with you, Lord Spencer,” he answered in a flat tone devoid of emotion. I released him from the glamour but kept my weapons ready.
“Why?”
He blinked as if he wasn’t quite awake. “I’ve met with your lady friend,” he started and shook himself awake.
“Where did you see her?” I snapped, worried that she had been taken by the wizard’s forces but he reassured me.
“We met in the forest, near Ayden just the other side of the Border Wall. She was recruiting Newlanders for your army.”
“And you signed up to join?” I scoffed.
“You have the Dracule’s glamour,” he returned. “Use it to see if I’m lying.”
“If the wizard spelled you, it could fool me,” I said.
“But you can read his touch on me,” he argued.
“What do you want?”
“To help you. To end this senseless war and open the Border to all of this land’s peoples. There is no Newlander or Borderlander race---we’re all one people. Survivors of a cataclysm that nearly wiped out our entire species. I am part human and do not wish to see either side destroyed like the Wizard wishes. I believe you have the power to stop the wizard, the Warlord and Lyr Averon.” He paused for breath and berated me. “Are you an idiot coming here?” His eyes glittered with a shine that I could not tell was fear or anger.
“I came to kill Blackfin and my grandfather,” I said mildly, feeling somewhat foolish in the face of his obvious distress.
“You’re mad. Besides, he isn’t here. He left to inspect the defenses around the last town you took. Albans. He took a division with him.”
“When did they leave?”
“Last night. The warlord is still here, he is supervising the rest of the troops left behind. He is not the same man I met earlier. He is a puppet under the wizard’s thumb. I would say he is bespelled.”
“I find that hard to believe. My grandfather is Lord of the Emperor’s entire Imperial Forces. Such a man would have an incredible iron will,” I protested.
“Not if he let his guard down. He trusts the Wizard through close association,” Amarice returned.
I made a face. “He is a jimsey and my grandfather killed his own son for that reason alone.”
“I have heard the Wizard say things to Gleneden no proud man would take. A warning---do not turn your back on either.”
“Noted. Now, get me out of here so I can track down Blackfin.” He nodded although I could see he was not happy with my decision to go after the Wizard. Seconds later, he called down to me that it was safe to leave the cellar.
I climbed and stood at his side in the hallway as he turned for the door out to the woodlot. We walked casually towards the barn and if the soldiers we passed eyed us curiously, that was the extent of their interest. Amarice told me that many new faces came in and out of the farmhouse.
Once inside the barn, I headed for the loft where I knew I could climb down the old Friendship pine, hide among its branches and worm my way up towards my men waiting at the caves.
Amarice gripped my forearm. “Tobias, be safe and we will prevail. Go quickly before someone gets curious enough to question who you are.”
I nodded and made my way up the hay ladder into the loft, still stacked full of last year’s hay. From there, I exited the window into the tree and descended on thick branches and heavy foliage.