The Archmage unbound

Chapter 19

It took me several jumps to get my entire entourage to my house in Albamarl. I took Sir Harold and my honor guard first before bringing Lady Rose on the final trip. Including Harold I had ten men with me, all of them armed and well acquainted with battle. Unlike most of the nobility in Albamarl I had a large number of veteran warriors now, men who had already faced death once and were ready to do so again.

Dorian and Harold had spent an excessive amount of time worrying over which men to send with me and I had no doubts that some of them were being considered for eventual induction into the Knights of Stone.

Marc took a long look at Sir Harold, resplendent in his enchanted plate, and the other armed and armored men that had come with me. “You’ve decided to invade the capital?” he asked.

I laughed. “Not yet, I think the king can be trusted to hold to his end of the agreement.”

“Ten men won’t be enough if he doesn’t, not even with that one,” he replied, pointing to Harold. “Where did you get that armor?”

“I’ll explain that later, for now suffice to say that Sir Harold here is much more of a threat than he appears,” I said.

“Glad to make your acquaintance my lord,” Harold said politely with a small bow in Marcus’ direction.

Marc gave him his full attention, “I’m not a lord anymore. I surrendered those rights already. Still I am happy to have met you as well, though we were not properly introduced.” He gave me a pointed stare as he said that last part. “If you’re going to start knighting people you need to learn better etiquette Mort,” he added for my benefit.

“Actually, since you ‘surrendered your rights’ as you put it, he isn’t required to introduce anyone to you,” Rose informed him with a wicked smile.

Marc winced visibly, “Ouch Rose! I see you haven’t lost your sharp wit.” He waved us all down the corridor toward the stairs leading to the first floor. “Would you like some wine? I took the trouble of restocking Mort’s cellar while I’ve been here.”

I gave him a sharp glance.

“Don’t worry I haven’t been over doing it. Our promise still stands,” he reassured me quietly.

Several minutes later we were all seated in the front parlor on the ground floor, sipping at our wine. I tried to have the honor guard join us but Harold explained that would only make them more uncomfortable. Instead he set them the task of figuring out their sleeping arrangements in the guest bedrooms.

“We’ve had a lot of excitement here since you left,” Marc began.

“It’s only been two weeks, I wouldn’t think a shut in would see much in that period of time,” I commented with a grin.

He gave me a somber look, “It wasn’t necessarily good excitement if you take my meaning.”

“How about we stop talking and you fill us in,” I answered.

Lady Rose snorted with suppressed laughter at that but she held her tongue and we let Marc give us the news. “The Baron of Arundel has been executed,” Marc said bluntly. I gaped but Rose leaned over and put her hand over my mouth before I could speak. I unconsciously noted that she smelled pleasantly of lavender.

Marc continued, “Two weeks ago, immediately after you met with the king, he announced that the Baron had entered the royal palace and attempted to assassinate him during a personal meeting. Apparently this was Baron Arundel’s reaction to being notified that he would be stripped of his lands for his cowardly behavior during the recent war with Gododdin.”

“That’s bullshit!” I exclaimed.

Rose looked at me crossly, “Would you just let him finish?”

I closed my mouth and Marc looked back and forth between us a few times, trying not to smile. Finally he went on, “He was apprehended red handed inside the palace. According to his majesty he slew four priests, one of each of the various churches, before then attempting to take the king’s life. Several guards stopped him and by their accounts the blood and violence in and near the king’s chambers was something remarkable to behold. I’m sure you wouldn’t know anything about that would you Mordecai?”

“You know damn well what happened in there, I told you myself,” I said.

Rose broke in, “Don’t goad him Marcus. What else happened?”

“Poor Sheldon was taken into custody, clapped in irons and the next day he was marched to the gallows. He was kept bound and gagged and was hanged without preamble, pretext, or even being allowed last words,” he said smugly. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fellow if you ask me.”

Sheldon was the baron’s first name as I recalled from our brief and unpleasant meetings half a year ago. “But he was a lord!” I protested. “Isn’t there some sort of rule about executing nobility?” I didn’t bother bringing up the matter of his actual innocence. I had been in the circles of the powerful long enough to know that guilt or innocence were tools of convenience for those in control.

“The king retains the right of high justice,” Rose informed us. High justice, in case you were wondering was what the courts called cases involving the death penalty. She continued, “In a case involving treason or a direct assault upon his person he is well within his right to bypass the Lord High Justicer and pass sentence directly upon the offender without trial.”

In a moment of exceptional wisdom I closed my mouth and tried to think things through. Obviously Sheldon had been innocent of the charge, but that was irrelevant. What really mattered was why the king had chosen to execute him after our conversation.

Marc spoke first, “You were a real inconvenience to his majesty, but after your meeting with him your circumstances changed. Now, assuming he can capitalize upon your heroic efforts in the war, you could be a great asset to him.”

“Which would tend to make Lord Arundel’s position a complete reversal of that,” Rose added.

Marc nodded, “On top of that, Edward had a rather large mess that needed an explanation…”

“And he decided to kill two birds with one stone,” she finished for him. “Though it might be better to say he killed one bird to take care of two problems.” The two of them were nodding and smiling smugly at each other, seemingly satisfied with their mutual cleverness.

I put up a hand as though I were in class, trying to get the tutor’s attention. Neither of them noticed. “What is truly amazing,” said Marc “is how quickly he came to a decision after Mort left.”

“Excuse me…” I said.

They both ignored me as Rose spoke again, “He’s been the monarch for a long time, but it really is frightening how quickly he came to such an effective choice. Most men would have blundered or hesitated.”

“Hey!” I said loudly, waving a hand between the two of them. They paused to grace me with curious looks. “Would either of you political masterminds care to explain this to me in terms an ex-commoner can understand?”

“I’ve never thought of you as a commoner,” Marc objected.

Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well he is a little common you have to admit Marcus.”

Marc chuckled, “True, but I’d never have said it.”

“You just did!” I complained. “Besides, the last time I checked being a commoner was nothing to be ashamed of, and after meeting Sheldon, being a noble certainly isn’t always something to brag about.”

Rose patted my shoulder, “Don’t act so wounded, we were just teasing. After all, you still hold the highest station here, and Marcus is the commoner these days.”

Marc winced visibly at the reminder. “What her ladyship is trying to tell you is that the king decided to simplify his situation after making peace with you,” he said, returning the conversation back to its intended course. “Returning you to the fold and rewarding you for defeating Gododdin makes you a hero and would have put Sheldon in a very awkward position. At the very least it would have created division and in-fighting amongst the nobility. Many of the other lords would have felt a lot of sympathy for Arundel after the way you abused him.”

“He abandoned his own people,” I reminded him.

“I understand that, but what you have to understand is that for many of the lords that is a small matter beside humiliating the man, abusing him in front of his servants, taking his possessions, and then sending him packing with nothing but the clothes on his back. Especially since the man that did all that was seen as a ‘commoner’ as you just mentioned,” Marc explained.

“And executing him will make them feel better about me?” I asked sarcastically.

Rose spoke up, “Not exactly. What it does is send an immediate message that the king is very serious about rewarding you. It eliminates your most prominent enemies at the outset and also neatly clears up the matter of several violent deaths that occurred within the royal palace. That will give pause to anyone that might think to create trouble, for they will know quite clearly which side of the matter the king is on.”

It all sounded very neat and precise but I didn’t like it. As usual human lives were being treated with little more concern than a player has for his chess pieces. “That’s wonderful for me then isn’t it?” I announced with a bitter tone.

“For the most part,” Marc replied.

“And what happens when I become ‘inconvenient’ one fine day?” I asked pointedly.

“That’s a possibility that all men of station have to consider. In general there are two practical strategies for dealing with it,” he said.

He paused and I gave him a flat stare, I didn’t feel like playing twenty questions. Eventually he decided to continue despite my lack of prompting.

“The first,” he said sourly, “is making damn sure you don’t become ‘inconvenient’, as you put it.” He paused again, but I merely stared at him some more.

Rose winked at me. “What is the second Marcus?” she asked gaily.

“Thank you Rose,” he told her. “The second is making sure you always use a taster before you eat, keeping a lot of men like Sir Harold there around, and always wearing a chain shirt.”

I raised an eyebrow, “I don’t recall you ever doing any of that.”

“I was never important enough,” he said bluntly. “You, on the other hand, have more attention focused on you than even the king does at the moment. It pays to be ready for the worst.”

“You’ll be glad to know that you and Dorian are in complete agreement,” I said dryly.

“You can add me to that list,” said Harold, speaking for the first time.

“How would you like to be my new food taster?” I shot back, but I smiled to let him know I wasn’t serious.