Bronze Magic (Book 1) Read online

  “So, how did Prince Tarkyn suddenly know what you had all decided?”

  The woodfolk all looked at one another. By mutual agreement, Autumn Leaves explained the prince’s and their different forms of mental communication.

  When Danton had digested this, he raised his eyebrows and turned to the prince. “And more importantly, why was it not your sole decision, Your Highness?”

  The prince grimaced. “I think you will find very little around here is my sole decision, but least of all that one. The woodfolk have remained hidden from sorcerers and wizards for hundreds of years. It is not my place to disrupt that. Besides, just as you are, so am I pledged not to reveal their presence. So are all woodfolk. It had to be a full community decision.”

  “And if they had not decided in my favour?” asked Danton slowly.

  “I would have argued for you, if I alone had decided that I trusted you. But I would never have revealed the presence of the woodfolk to you and I would have had to let you go on your way, even if it had cost our friendship.”

  Danton nodded his head briskly and surprised them all by saying, “That is as it should be. You cannot break an oath, even for a friendship.”

  Tarkyn could not resist throwing a small triumphant glance at Autumn Leaves.

  “All right. All right,” grumped Autumn Leaves. “So maybe there are two honourable sorcerers. That still leaves thousands unaccounted for.” nce breakfast was over, Tarkyn looked around at his little cohort and sighed. “I suppose I had better have that discussion with the group that chose the encampment. Thunder Storm, could you please ask them to gather over on the other side of the clearing there?”

  Once the woodfolk had gathered, Tarkyn stood up, ready to head over to them. Immediately, Danton also rose to his feet.

  Tarkyn smiled, “No, Danton. Could you stay here for the moment, please? I need to do this alone.” When the sorcerer remained standing, the prince added, “Danton, you have my permission to be seated.” He looked at the others. “Perhaps you could explain about the oath to Danton while you’re waiting. There is a lot he needs to know.”

  The blond headed sorcerer sat down but sent a glowering look around the rest of the group who had remained carelessly seated while the prince stood. As Tarkyn moved away, he heard Waterstone murmuring something quietly to the feisty young guardsman that seemed to calm him.

  As the prince approached Tree Wind’s group, he saw them watching him apprehensively. He noticed Running Feet and Ancient Oak sitting deep in their midst even though they had voted the other way. Tarkyn had already decided that reading the riot act would only serve to crystallise this groups’ first impressions of him and would do little to further goodwill between them.

  So when he reached them, he said, “Shall we all sit down so we can discuss things in comfort?” Once everyone was seated, he asked, “Why do you think I wanted to talk to you today?”

  After a few moments’ silence, a scowly young man, reminiscent of Rainstorm, said, “Because we supported Tree Wind’s idea and you didn’t like that. You want us to support your opinions. My name is North Wind.”

  “And what were my opinions?”

  “Presumably to search out Golden Toad and his family at the southern swamp,” sneered the young man.

  Tarkyn looked around the group. “And what made you decide that searching for Golden Toad was my preferred option?”

  North Wind shrugged, “Obvious, really. All your cronies advocated for it.”

  The prince frowned, “All my what?”

  “You know, cronies. The people who keep company with you.”

  The prince’s face cleared, “Ah. You must mean the people who had enough courage to endure whatever I threw at them so that you, as a people, could uphold your oath.” Tarkyn took a deep breath to quell the anger he felt building up. “In actual fact, you all supported my opinion, for which I would like to thank you. Your option saved me from having to do two lots of searching.”

  Inevitably, Tree Wind spoke up. “So why didn’t you just decide to go with the better option instead of leaving it to chance?”

  “Because I do not want to decide for you. I want you to have the choice. I trust the judgement of the woodfolk. You have made decisions by consensus for hundreds of years. Last night, opinions were based on prejudice and because of that no one would shift and no decision was reached. If I had given myself the power to break the deadlock, I would have undermined the whole authority of woodfolk society.”

  There was stunned silence.

  Eventually, when no one spoke, the prince said mildly, “None of you has given me a chance. You left me on the second day after my arrival, injured and unconscious, and haven’t come near me again until two days ago. I know you resent the oath. I know you resent me. But I am not my father. He never had to live with the oath as I have done.” Tarkyn ran his hand through his hair. “I am not asking you to like me or even to come near me. But I do want to make sure that your decision-making ability is not crippled by prejudice. Sometimes I will be right. Sometimes I will be wrong. Just as all of you are, from time to time. Don’t use my opinion as a foil for your own. Listen to my opinion but make your own decisions based on your own knowledge. You are strong independent people. Make sure you stay that way.”

  Tarkyn stood up and left without another word being spoken. Tree Wind and her group watched him walk back across the clearing in silence. When eventually they spoke amongst themselves, it was clear, even from a distance that they were still stunned.

  As the prince approached his own group, Danton stood up and bowed. Tarkyn wondered why he had never noticed before how intrusive court etiquette was on other people’s lives. The prince acknowledged his liegeman’s bow with a courtly nod then indicated that they should both sit down.

  Rainstorm was round eyed. “Hi, prince. What did you do to that lot? They look pole-axed.”

  Ignoring Danton’s pained expression, Tarkyn glanced over at them then returned his gaze to those around him. A small smile played around his lips. “I didn’t get angry, if that’s what you’re thinking. Although I came close when one of them referred to the home guard as my cronies.”

  “Very restrained, Your Highness,” said Thunder Storm, with a smile, “I think that remark might even have taxed my temper.”

  The prince raised his eyebrow in surprise. “Thunder Storm, I’ve never seen you even the slightest bit angry.”

  Thunder Storm’s smiled broadened. “Perhaps I should have said, ‘That remark would have taxed my temper, had I been you.’”

  Danton looked on, speechless at the woodman’s temerity, and waited for the inevitable set down.

  Tarkyn merely waved his hand and smiled, “Much more accurate, Thunder Storm. Well, it did, but I was determined not to give them more fuel for their fire against me.”

  “So what did you say?” pressed Rainstorm.

  Tarkyn shrugged, “Not a great deal. I said that if they allowed me to make the decisions, it would undermine woodfolk society. So basically, they should not be too influenced by my opinions one way or the other and should remain independent.”

  The prince then found himself surrounded by another group of thoughtful people.

  After a moment, Autumn Leaves asked, “But is that what you set out to do? I thought you wanted them to listen to you as forest guardian?”

  Danton frowned, “Forest what?”

  Tarkyn waved a dismissive hand, “I’ll tell you about it later…I do want them to listen to me. But I don’t want anyone slavishly following or opposing my advice. You should know that by now.” He gave a little smirk. “And I did happen to mention how they had all left me for dead when I was injured.”

  Waterstone smiled, “Light begins to dawn. You are a cunning bastard, sometimes, young Tarkyn.”

  “Thanks,” Tarkyn might have said more, but he was overridden by strangled roar at his side. He turned to see Danton, hands clenched at his sides, bright red in the face, his tolerance levels overloaded, explod
ing with wrath.

  “How dare you speak to His Highness like that?” The guardsman’s voice was shaking with anger. “I have tried to allow some leeway but this is more than enough. You show him no due respect. You do not stand for him. You do not bow to him. You abuse the privilege of using his first name by being overly familiar. And now you use words to describe him that I would be ashamed to repeat.”

  “I was actually being complimentary,” replied Waterstone mildly.

  Danton turned his wrath, unabated, onto Rainstorm. “And you, how dare you just refer to his lordship as ‘prince’ in that disrespectful manner? And dispute his right to your protection?”

  Rainstorm’s eyes snapped in anger. “That’s it. I’m going to have to kill him.” Before anyone could stop him, the young woodman swung a fist at the guardsman but found his arm blocked. He swung wildly one fist after another in quick succession until he had connected often enough to send the guardsman sprawling.

  “Rainstorm! Stop this!” ordered the prince.

  But the woodman’s blood was up and he took no heed. Danton scrabbled to his feet just in time to brace himself as a wiry ball of fury threw himself at him. The wind swirled leaves and dust around them as Rainstorm bore Danton over with the weight of his rush and punched him hard on the jaw.

  “Enough,” said the prince sharply. This time, Tarkyn did not wait for Rainstorm to respond. “Shturrum,” he intoned at the two men and dragged the now unresisting woodman off the guardsman. When he had created sufficient space between them, he released the spell. Rainstorm immediately turned his ire on the prince and charged at him instead. The trees around the clearing thrashed in a sudden gust of wind.

  Tarkyn frowned in consternation but dealt with the immediate problem by waving a languid hand and intoning, “Shturrum” again, this time only at Rainstorm. He glared at the unmoving young woodman. “If you wish to be released, you will have to calm yourself first. I don’t know whether you were unaware, or whether you had forgotten, but Danton guaranteed to use no violence of any kind against woodfolk. So, well done on attacking someone who couldn’t fight back.” The bite of sarcasm in his tone was chilling. He continued in a quiet, disdainful voice, “And I would not suggest that you continue your attack on me. You are surrounded by people who will not stand by idly and watch you do it. But before any of them has time to react, I can assure that I will send you flying to land hard against that tree behind you. Don’t think you will enjoy it. It will hurt – badly. I don’t impose many boundaries but there are some and you have just crossed them.”

  With a wave of his hand, the sorcerer released his spell. Rainstorm’s face suffused with chagrin and tears sprang to his eyes. He looked around wildly at everyone, then turned on his heel and ran.

  “Ooh dear,” said Tarkyn quietly, “I think I may have been a little too harsh.”

  “My lord, how could you say so?” said Danton hotly, as he rubbed his bruising jaw. “He tried to attack you. He should be severely punished.”

  “He already has been,” said the prince ruefully. “He is still young and his emotions are undisciplined, not unlike my own, I would have to say.” Then Tarkyn turned on his liegeman and let fly. “But you, Danton, have no excuse. You presume to order these people around and to impose you own expectations on them, in direct contradiction to my own. I am very displeased. You have had the barefaced audacity to come in here and throw your weight about without even consulting me on my wishes. You are welcome to your own expectations but you have no right to impose them on anyone else.”

  Danton bowed stiffly. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness. I will strive to do better.”

  Tarkyn took a deep breath and relented, “I’m sure you will. You did well not to retaliate. Now, let me see to that jaw of yours.”

  “In what way, Sire?”

  The prince gave a short laugh. “To heal it, Danton. One of those new skills I was mentioning.” Tarkyn put his hand on the guardsman’s shoulder. “Close your eyes. Now take the power I am sending you and direct it into the damaged tissue of your jaw.”

  Danton hesitated briefly but then did as he was asked. After a couple of minutes, he opened his eyes and gazed in amazement at the prince. “That was impressive. I’ve never come across anything like that before.”

  After a moment, Danton turned his attention to Waterstone, made him a small bow and said formally, “Waterstone, I apologise for not heeding your words. And for trying to impose my opinions on you.” He ran a shaky hand across his forehead. “To tell you the truth, I feel a little out of my depth. All the rules I am used to, do not seem to apply here and suddenly, I do not know how I should behave.” He looked at his prince, “The last thing I want to do is offend you, Sire. Perhaps if you could spare the time, at some point, to explain your expectations….”

  “I will, Danton, but not now. You all need to get some rest. I suspect everyone’s tolerance levels will improve after some sleep. Meanwhile, I need to go and repair a young woodman’s opinion of himself. I believe we are all meeting at lunchtime to work out our course of action. So, Danton, I will see you in three hours’ time.”

  Tarkyn walked off into the forest in the direction the feisty young woodman had taken. He wandered aimlessly for a while then thought about where he himself tended to go when he was upset and headed down towards the stream. The waters were still higher than they had been when he first saw them, but the stream was well within its banks and burbling calmly across the rocks. Tarkyn followed the stream around a bend and then, clearing a small overhang of bushes, came upon Rainstorm and North Wind, sitting on the bank of the stream, deep in conversation.

  The prince sketched a small bow and said, “My apologies for intruding,” and stepped back, preparing to leave them to it.

  Rainstorm threw him a black look. “No. Please don’t feel you have to stay. I wouldn’t expect you’d want to speak to us any more, now that you have a fellow sorcerer to talk to.”

  As Tarkyn paused, working out how to respond, he was startled by North Wind saying, “I don’t think his sorcerer friend is feeling much happier than you at the moment. To give him his due, the prince threw his weight around in both directions.”

  Rainstorm stared angrily across the water. “I bet he didn’t call Danton a coward.”

  As North Wind met Tarkyn’s eyes, the prince indicated himself and then pointed away with a query. North Wind shook his head and pointed downwards, indicating that he should stay. Tarkyn sat down quietly behind them with his back to a tree.

  “I don’t think you’re a coward. Hot-headed maybe but not a coward,” said the prince quietly.

  Rainstorm sent him a smouldering look over his shoulder. “Oh yeah, right. You think I would knowingly attack someone who couldn’t hit back. In my experience, that’s a coward.”

  “I presume from this, that you didn’t know Danton had agreed not to use any violence?”

  “That’s not the point, Your Highness. The point is, you thought I might have known and still attacked him.” Rainstorm picked up a stone and threw it with some violence into the stream.

  North Wind again surprised him. “The prince said you either forgot or didn’t know when you hit Danton.”

  Tarkyn raised his eyebrows, “You must have been listening closely. I didn’t think you would be able to hear from the other side of the clearing.”

  North Wind gave a wry grin, “Autumn Leaves relayed the confrontation to me.”

  “I might have known our peacemaker would be in this somewhere.” Tarkyn looked at Rainstorm’s stiff back and grimaced, “Rainstorm, Danton overstepped the mark and so did you. It happens to all of us some time or other. That’s when we find out where the limits really are.”

  “You’re bloody lucky the prince didn’t belt the living daylights out of you, charging him like that,” put in North Wind. “I would have, in his position.”

  “You couldn’t lay a finger on me, if I didn’t want you to,” sneered Rainstorm at his friend, determinedly unbendi
ng.

  “I meant if I was the prince, you grumpy bastard,” he said, rolling his eyes in the prince’s direction.

  Tarkyn gave an answering smile but held his peace. A long silence ensued, broken occasionally by the splash of a stones being thrown into the water. Tarkyn found himself a stick and kept himself amused by breaking it slowly into little pieces. North Wind glanced at him after a particularly loud crack as a piece of stick broke off and saw what he was doing. A slow smile dawned on his face and his eyes went out of focus. A moment later Rainstorm looked around too.

  Tarkyn laughed quietly. “Would you like to see another one?” he asked, as he dropped the last of the first stick and picked up another.

  “Very funny, Your Highness,” scowled Rainstorm.

  The prince’s smile faded. “Don’t call me that. I like you calling me ‘prince’. Don’t take what Danton said to heart. He just doesn’t understand yet.” Tarkyn proceeded to destroy his second stick as he talked. “And Rainstorm, I do thank you for standing guard all night long, last night. It was a long, long night for you who stayed awake. Embarrassingly, despite my best efforts, I’m afraid I slept through most of it.”

  Finally Rainstorm began to unbend. “I don’t know how you could have, with that unknown quantity sitting so near.” He threw another stone into the water. “You wouldn’t be much good as a lookout,” he added as a final jab.

  Tarkyn shook his head ruefully. “I must have felt safe enough with you all guarding me. I told you, princes are a constant drain on the people around them. On the bright side, it’s lucky I wasn’t as overtired as the rest of you, or I might have waded in and returned your attack.”

  “I am not overtired,” stated Rainstorm baldly.

  Tarkyn raised his eyebrows. “Aren’t you? It’s probably the adrenalin then. Because the others have all gone to have a rest before the lunchtime meeting.”