The Green-Eyed Man E-Book

Jennifer Ealey

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Stefan, one of the King's arms masters, is appointed to train and protect Sasha, the ten-year-old usurped Queen of Kimora. His green eyes are a color never seen among the people of Carrador.

This alone is enough to bring High Lord Tarkyn, forest guardian and sorcerer from the neighboring country of Eskuzor, to investigate. What he discovers turns Stefan's world upside down.

But soon, all other considerations are thrust aside when Sasha and her pale-eyed friend, Jayhan, are abducted by the Kimorans, intent on forcing Sasha to relinquish her amulet and her rightful claim to the throne.

Racing against time, can Stefan save the two and bring peace to the realm?

Leseprobe

THE GREEN-EYED MAN

THE DARK AMULET BOOK 2

JENNIFER EALEY

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Part I

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Part II

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Part III

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Part IV

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Part V

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Part VI

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Part VII

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Part VIII

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Part IX

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Next in the Series

About the Author

Copyright (C) 2021 Jennifer Ealey

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2021 by Next Chapter

Published 2021 by Next Chapter

Edited by Lorna Read

Cover art by CoverMint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author’s permission.

To all those men and women, who see each other as equal.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my sister and editor, Wendy Ealey, my proofreader Neil Gardner, my narrator William Merryn Hill and his wife for eagerly awaiting the next instalments, giving me the impetus to keep writing.

PARTI

1

Sheldrake and Maud had been summoned to the palace to confer with the King.

A dour, solid woman in black ushered them into the same study that Jon and Sasha had entered. On this occasion she was not glaring. In fact, she smiled in welcome, but her eyes narrowed briefly in warning.

The King was not pleased.

“Thanks Josie,” said Maud casually. “I’ve brought you a bunch of our lovely bottlebrushes. I’ll give them to you after I’ve seen Gav… His Majesty.”

Josie’s smile broadened. “Lovely,” she murmured as she withdrew.

Maud turned to the King and executed a low curtsey, lower than usual, while Sheldrake bowed, bending one knee. Gavin waited a moment before allowing them to rise, a sure sign of his displeasure. Once he had made his point, he waved them to armchairs and took up his favourite position, seated behind his desk. For a full minute, Gavin scrutinised them without speaking. They waited, knowing it was he who must speak first.

“So,” Gavin said at last, picking up a gold pen and tapping it idly on the desktop. “Do I have your complete loyalty?” Then he held up a hand. “No. Don’t answer that. Silly question. You’re bound to say yes.” He grimaced. “I know you finally told me about Jon and Sasha and that we have worked out their future living arrangements, but it preys on my mind that you did not do so straight away and that your loyalties may be compromised by your care for them. I have discovered for myself that they possess a vulnerable charm that is hard to resist. I need your objective reasoning and knowledge to help me decide what to do. Are you able to provide that? And can you explain your actions?”

Maud did not gush with reassuring words. In fact, she spoke with more reserve than usual. “I hope so, Your Majesty. As you say, Sasha and Jon are endearing, aren’t they? We have become very fond of Sasha and were stunned, as you may imagine, when we discovered that our recently employed stable boy was actually a stable girl. Then Jon turned up and decided to trust us with the knowledge that Sasha was the rightful, but usurped, Queen of Kimora; a fact he had kept, even from her.”

“And that you and he also decided to keep from me,” interposed Gavin, with a clear note of censure.

“Ah. Yes.” Maud looked uncomfortable

Sheldrake came to her rescue. “But not with the intention of deceiving you, Your Majesty.”

“We will come back to that. Go on.”

Sheldrake took up the thread. “By this stage, we had already begun to suspect that Sasha was someone out of the ordinary, Sire. People were looking for her, you see.” He drew a breath. “And then, on top of all that, Jon told us that he was Sasha’s elder brother.”

Maud gave a tight smile. “Not something you’d guess, really; with Jon blue-eyed, fair and blond and Sasha the complete antithesis; dark hair, eyes and complexion.”

“And we learnt all of this in the space of two days, Sire,” said Sheldrake. “It was a lot to take in.” He took a deep breath. “Sasha and Jon’s identities had far-reaching implications, Sire, for them, for you, for us, for our country and theirs.” He sat forward to give his next words emphasis. “But from the moment we knew who Sasha was, we thought through the ramifications of harbouring her, in terms of our loyalty to you and to Carrador. Under no circumstances would we compromise either.”

“I am pleased to hear it. I would, however, have preferred to be a party to the consideration of those ramifications.” Gavin’s voice was not sharp, but his face was still shuttered.

“We were concerned, Sire,” countered Sheldrake, “that you would not want to appear complicit in supporting a pretender to a neighbouring throne. So we thought that if you didn’t know about it, the issue could be avoided.”

Now Gavin did sound annoyed. “Sheldrake, I am quite capable of appearing ignorant of information, if it is politic to do so. I do it all the time.” He took a breath to rein himself in, then gave a faint smile. “You have not cornered the market on intrigue, you know.”

“I beg your pardon, Sire,” said Maud with true contrition, “I believe we have been remiss, but not through any desire to undermine you. You have our undivided loyalty.”

Gavin leant back in his straight-backed chair and let out a long breath. “I am pleased to hear that, and I accept your apology. I would never say this in front of my other advisors, but I depend very heavily on you two; you, Sheldrake, for your wealth of knowledge and contacts, and you, Maud, for your wisdom and the way you find patterns in that information to guide me.”

Maud smiled warmly at him, the need for formality past. “You are doing well, Gavin. You are a fine king; authoritative, but receptive and fair, or as fair as you can be. Regardless of our loyalty, it is in our own best interests, as citizens of Carrador, to keep you as our sovereign.”

Gavin gave a short laugh. “Thanks. Thank you indeed. Coming from you, who rarely praises and never flatters… ”

“Oh Gavin,” protested Maud. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“Yes,” said Sheldrake baldly. When she looked shocked and perhaps a little hurt, he smiled and added, “But… you are also warm and joyful and a tower of strength in times of trouble.”

This was said with such rarely expressed, deep emotion that an awkward silence ensued. It was broken by Gavin who said prosaically, “And she’s clever.”

Sheldrake let out a little breath of relief. “Naturally. I would not align myself with someone tedious.”

Maud looked from one to the other, smiling. “When you two have quite finished…”

“So,” said Gavin, bringing them back to business. “As you are aware, my father’s younger brother, Alfred, married Crown Princess Corinna, with the intention that he become Prince Consort when she became Queen, thus allying our two nations. Needless to say, that plan died in its infancy when my uncle and Corinna were assassinated. Until recently, I had no idea that my cousins had survived or that Queen Toriana was behind the attack.” He paused, tapping the gold pen on his desk, frowning. He looked up suddenly. “Are we sure the Queen is implicated? It wasn’t just a random bandit attack, as has been widely believed until now?”

“That is a good question,” returned Sheldrake. “Our only source of information about the actual attack is Jon, who was only twelve at the time. He did not say that the attackers were Toriana’s men.”

“However,” continued Maud, “from what he says, the attackers were clearly bent on obtaining the amulet, which is the symbol of authority and source of shamanic power in Kimora. Only a usurper would want that, don’t you think?”

“Not an evil, power-hungry shaman?” asked Gavin.

Maud and Sheldrake both looked sceptical.

With a slight smile, Sheldrake answered, “From the information I have gathered, Toriana fits that description pretty well. She has bound shamans to her will using shamanic powers, which has never been done by previous monarchs. She has misled her people into believing that she has the one true amulet. She threatens or imprisons families of shamans, while hunting down those who have not yet been forced into binding their will to hers.”

“And she has infiltrated your kingdom to do it.”

“I have tried to find witnesses to, or participants in, the attack on Corinna’s family.” Sheldrake shrugged. “Naturally, no one is talking. But interestingly, within months of Toriana ascending the throne, an elite band of the Queen’s warriors was sent by boat along the Kempsey River to quell a disturbance in a western province. Apparently, their boat capsized and all were lost.” The spy master leaned forward. “But even more interesting; apparently a freak wave rolled down the river and swept them away.”

Gavin looked from one to the other. “So you’re saying…?”

“Strong shamans can control the weather, currents and the flow of water,” said Sheldrake flatly.

Maud stood up and began to pace around the room. “Gavin, we are dealing with a very evil woman here. We must proceed very, very carefully.”

“I see.” Gavin stood up and crossed to a small side table that held a forest of cut crystal decanters and an array of glasses. “Drink, anyone? I think I need one.”

Gavin poured himself a fine old amber brandy and one for Maud. Then he looked enquiringly at Sheldrake who opted for port.

Once he had handed them their drinks, Gavin sat down, this time in an armchair, an indication that his suspicions of them had been allayed. He idly rolled his brandy around his glass, watching the light playing in the amber liquid. After a minute, he said, “It is uncomfortable for me not to acknowledge my cousins for who they are, but I think we are agreed that the risks are too high if we openly declare that we are hosting them. Sasha doesn’t just rival her aunt’s rule; the existence of Sasharia wearing the High Shamanic amulet actually invalidates Toriana’s right to rule. Toriana needs that amulet and she must force Sasha to say the words of power to pass it on to her.”

“The amulet protects Sasha,” Sheldrake reminded him.

Gavin sipped his brandy before putting his glass down on a side table. “Perhaps so, though to what extent I think none of us is sure. But it does not protect those around Sasha. All Toriana would have to do is threaten to kill or maim Jon or Jayhan. Sasha would do anything to protect them. And once Toriana had been given the true amulet, she would kill Sasha. Don’t you think?”

Maud felt her blood run cold. An involuntary shudder coursed down her backbone. “And already, a military force has made an incursion within your borders and nearly succeeded in abducting Sasha.”

Sheldrake laid a reassuring hand on Maud’s arm. “We think they were simply looking for unregistered shamans to take back and force into service with the Queen. They might suspect or hope or dread that Sasha survived the attack on her family but only a very few know for sure. And the only survivors of that attack are safely in your custody, Sire.” He stood up and paced to the window, looking out at white cumulus clouds billowing on the horizon beyond the lake. After a few moments, he turned back to face the other two. The lines in his face seemed deeper than before. “The force we tangled with may have been small, but where there is one small force, there may well be more.”

“I agree,” said Gavin. “Even though we have already made it clear to Toriana, have we not, that her shaman hunters are not welcome within our borders?”

“Yes, Sire, we have,” said Maud, tucking her legs up under her as she sipped her brandy, rather reminiscent of a cat. “And I am sure the message has had time to reach her.”

The King ruminated while he swirled the brandy in his glass. When he looked up, he had clearly come to a decision. “So not only has she had my uncle killed, she is continuing to hunt people within our borders, despite a clear prohibition from me. Still, I do not want to push Kimora to war with us. It would hurt both of our countries and their people. She may not care about that, but I do. But I do want these incursions to stop. Sheldrake, our borders are already guarded but obviously not well enough. Where are our weaknesses?”

Sheldrake crossed to the large map of Carrador that hung on the study wall. Using it to demonstrate his points, he said, “Two main roads run between our nations, one through the Great Forest and one to the south of it through fields and farms. These both have secure checkpoints that can be placed on high alert. There is also a narrow, twisting, overgrown path in the south of the forest but few people know of it or can even navigate it. However, a skilful elite force is much more likely to cut across the fields or infiltrate through the forest. There we have a problem.”

“Couldn’t we enlist the aid of the farmers near the borders?” asked Gavin, glancing at Maud for her opinion. “Perhaps offer rewards for information about strangers in the area or put them on a retainer?”

Maud nodded. “Good idea. I think rewards might be more motivating. I suppose you may get some who will try to falsify trails or give false evidence.” She looked at Sheldrake “But I presume your spiders could sort the wheat from the chaff, couldn’t they?”

Sheldrake looked pained, as she knew he would, at having his agents referred to as spiders, but everyone knew them as the King’s Spiders, whether he liked it or not. He sighed. “Yes. Time would be wasted, of course, following up false leads, but overall I think the idea has merit.” He shrugged. “It does not, however, solve the problem of incursions through the forest.”

Gavin frowned. “No, it doesn’t, and the border between our two countries winds through more than a hundred miles of forest.” He stood up and walked over to study the map closely. “Most of it follows the Charville River but that is no deterrent. There are many places where the river can be easily crossed… and most of them are deep within the forest, out of view of checkpoints or farmers.” The king straightened and looked at Sheldrake. “The stakes are high. We must secure our borders. I’ll give you a fortnight to consult and come up with a plan to secure the border within the forest. Meanwhile, we will strengthen our checkpoints and instigate incentives for farmers to be our eyes and ears. Agreed?”

This was a rhetorical question, but Sheldrake and Maud both nodded dutifully and soon afterwards were sent on their way.

Just as Josie was about to close the door behind them, Gavin called them back. “By the way, as agreed, I’ve arranged for a master at arms to take up residence with you. Don’t let his looks belie you. He’s good, very good. He will protect and teach Sasha and Jayhan. His name’s Stefan.” He flashed a knowing smile at Sheldrake. “If you’re wanting to do a background check on him, his men call him Stefan Longshanks.”

2

Stefan arrived two days later.

He walked up to the front gate late in the morning and peered left and right along the low, white-painted picket fence that fronted Batian House. It looked innocuous, but he was not fool enough to enter a mage’s house unannounced. He rang the big brass bell that hung on the right-hand side of the gate and waited.

A well-muscled man of above medium height arrived a couple of minutes later and stood looking down at him, studying him and the backpack slung over his shoulders. After a moment, the man said, “Good morning. May I help you?”

Stefan grinned. “I believe you are expecting me. My name’s Stefan.”

Leon’s eyes widened in surprise although he quickly quelled his reaction. Stefan knew he would be wondering at his short, slight stature and gave a mental shrug. “We are indeed. Just a minute.” Leon touched a series of points on the gate then lifted the latch and swung the small gate open.

As he stepped through, Stefan nodded his approval. “Magical ward, I’m assuming?”

“It is. I’m Leon, coachman, henchman, general factotum and recently, babysitter.”

When Stefan raised his eyebrows in query, Leon gave a short laugh. “Sasha and Jayhan get up to all sorts of tricks and I try to keep an eye on them amongst my other duties.”

Stefan nodded. “Pleased to meet you. Sounds like I’ll be sharing some of your duties. Well, the babysitting at least.”

“It’s not onerous. They are friendly and polite, just a bit too adventurous.”

Just as they reached the front door, it swung open and a tall, solid butler looked down his nose at him before glancing a query at Leon, who responded by saying,“Stefan, our new master at arms; Clive, our butler.”

Clive returned his gaze to Stefan, staring at him poker-faced for a moment, clearly taking his measure. Suddenly he smiled. “I believe the King thinks very highly of you. Welcome to Batian House. Let me take your backpack and I will show you to the salon and inform Maud and Sheldrake of your arrival.”

“Thank you. The rest of my equipment should be here later this afternoon.”

Left alone in the salon, Stefan studied the portraits on the wall, the dark wood wainscot and the small antique chandelier that hung from the ceiling before walking lightly to the window to gaze out into their lovely cottage garden. A ginger cat was crouched under a grevillea, swivelling its hips as it readied itself to pounce on a lovely little grass parrot. Stefan tapped the window, distracting the cat and startling the parrot into flight. Giving himself a little satisfied grin, he turned back into the room to find himself being surveyed by the lady of the house.

Maud, a vision in her billowing deep green, swept across the room, beaming and holding her hands out to take his. “How do you do? I see you just saved one of our little parrots. What a good beginning. I am Maud.”

“How do you do, Ma’am?”

“No, please call me Maud.” The door opened further and Sheldrake, dressed in his customary black coat and breeches over a white shirt, stepped neatly into the room. “And this is Sheldrake.”

Stefan disengaged his hands from Maud’s and gave a small bow. “How do you do? I have heard a great deal about you both. It is an honour to meet you.”

“Your reputation also precedes you,” said Sheldrake, smiling. “I believe the King put a lot of thought into your appointment. You are far and away their best marksman, I believe. So, welcome.”

Stefan grinned. “You did some research, did you? I thought you might. That’s why you two don’t look shocked, as Clive and Leon did. You could have warned them.” His green eyes twinkled up at them, the top of his light brown hair at the height of Sheldrake’s shoulder.

Sheldrake gave a little chuckle. “I want you to spar with Leon before he has had time to take your measure. He is big and strong but lacks a certain subtlety in his approach. I am hoping you may have enough time to train with him too.”

“Unarmed combat is my least favourite form of attack, but I will do my best.”

His eyes strayed to the door as Clive entered, carrying the best silver teapot on a tray with cups, sugar and milk. As he set it down on a low polished table in the centre of the room, Sheldrake’s eyes met his butler’s and they shared a private smile. Stefan’s brows twitched together, hoping he was not a source of amusement to them.

Maud noticed his disquiet and said, as she moved to pour the tea, “Our best teapot. I see you have already earned Clive’s approval.”

“Have I? I don’t know why. I’ve only just arrived.” Stefan accepted a cup of tea and blew on it to cool it. “Thank you. This will be most welcome. It was a bit further than I expected from the King’s palace.”

“Good heavens! You didn’t walk, did you? It’s over twelve miles. Didn’t they provide you with a carriage?” asked Sheldrake, shocked.

Stefan waved his hand at the view of the garden through the window. “It’s a lovely day for a walk and I saw some beautiful gardens on the way here.” He smiled. “I must say yours is one of the best. It will be a pleasure to stay here for a while.”

While Sheldrake and Maud were digesting this unexpected side of their new arms master, the sounds of chatter and laughter preceded the precipitous entry of two children, who drew up short at the sight of an unknown visitor. One was clearly the son of the house, dressed in expensive but practical shirt, breeches and jerkin, while the other appeared to be a stable boy, dressed similarly but in rougher plainer clothes. Two pairs of eyes, one piercingly pale and the other meltingly dark brown, stared at him.

Then the children performed neat bows and straightened, smiling.

“How do you do,” said Jayhan, on his best behaviour.

“I am well, thank you, young man,” responded Stefan. “My name is Stefan.”

A slight interrogatory lift on the end of Stefan’s words prompted Jayhan to add, “Oops. Sorry. I am Jayhan and this is Sasha.”

“Hello. Are you our new master at arms?” asked Sasha. When he nodded, she smiled, “Your eyes are a beautiful colour. I’ve never seen green eyes before.”

Stefan blinked. His face scrunched in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, neither have I. I never thought about it before.”

“Then you and Jayhan are both special,” pronounced Sasha cheerfully. “His eye colour is unique too.”

“When will we have our first training session?” asked Jayhan eagerly.

“Oh yes, we are dying to learn how to fight,” added Sasha.

“I am not sure,” interrupted Maud, “that badgering someone is the best way to begin an acquaintanceship.”

Sasha coloured. “I beg your pardon, Madam. Um, perhaps I had better go. I need to check the poultice on Chester’s hock anyway.”

“No, Sasha, don’t go.” Maud’s voice had softened as she held an arm out. “Come here.” She wrapped her arm across Sasha’s shoulders. “I am not cross. I just think Stefan might like a little time to get settled and find his bearings first.” She smiled down at Sasha. “After lunch, perhaps you two would like to show Stefan around the farm and the stable and some of your favourite places in the bush?”

Sasha and Jayhan’s faces lit up. Maud hoped that Stefan had not been planning on having a formal relationship with the children because she doubted he would be able to maintain it by the end of the afternoon. But from what she had seen of him, he did not seem very formal or stringent.

“Sasha, have your ponies saddled up and ready after lunch. Who do you think for Stefan?”

Stefan cut apologetically into her thoughts as Sasha was running her mind along the row of horses in the stable. “If you don’t mind, something not too big and not too mettlesome. I like quiet, gentle horses.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise, their view of an arms master undergoing yet another revision. He just shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile.

Maud glanced at Sasha. “I think we’ll give him Maisy.”

Sasha’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Maud sighed in exasperation at Sasha’s lack of duplicity. “Yes. Really. She needs the exercise.” Narrowing her eyes, she added dryly, “Apparently she is getting a little tubby.”

“Oh, not tubby, madam. Just a little… hm… solid?” Sasha winced and looked beseechingly at Jayhan, who just chuckled and didn’t help at all.

Stefan watched this interchange, feeling once more that he was missing something. He frowned. “Well, I hope this horse is not so broad that I won’t be able to straddle her. I don’t have very long legs, you know.”

This sent Jayhan and Sasha off into gales of laughter. Maud frowned repressively at them before saying, “Don’t worry. They’re not laughing at you. They’re laughing at the thought of Maisy being that fat. She’s not at all, as you will see,” she folded her arms and added firmly, “and she has a wonderful temperament.”

Stefan was at a loss to see why this sent the two little miscreants off into renewed laughter. Sheldrake was unimpressed with their lack of manners and shooed them out with a flea in their ear, before apologizing on their behalf.

On the surface, Stefan accepted the apology but underneath, he was wondering whether he was about to endure yet another repetition of the teasing and bullying he had faced over the years because of his size. It was not a promising beginning.

3

After lunch, Maud excused herself, saying she wanted to check that the horses were ready. So Stefan was a little surprised when she wasn’t there to see them off on their tour around the property.

“Hello,” said Jayhan when he saw Stefan approaching. “I’m sorry we got the giggles. I promise it wasn’t about you.” He indicated a beautiful, quiet, grey pony. “This is my pony, Slug.” He shrugged. “I called him Storm when I first got him but…”

Stefan grinned. “He sounds perfect for me.”

Jayhan smiled back. “That’s what I thought, but Mum wants you to ride Maisy.” He nodded at a solid, dark brown mare that Sasha was just leading out of the stables. “She’s not much bigger than Slug but she is definitely kinder. Slug’s a pain. I have to turn myself inside out to make him trot and when he canters, he acts like I’m trying to kill him. He’s a lazy little layabout. We’re hoping Maisy might be able to sort him out.”

Seeing Stefan’s confusion, Sasha stepped in. “You know, like dogs affect each other’s behaviour sometimes. If the other two horses keep up a good pace, maybe he won’t want to be left behind.”

Stefan looked dubiously at Maisy standing stolidly beside Sasha. “I hope she doesn’t keep up too good a pace.” He walked up to her and, just as Sasha was about to offer to give him a leg up, leapt lightly into the saddle. He took the reins from her and gathered them, holding them lightly but firmly.

Sasha frowned at him. “I thought you couldn’t ride.”

“I didn’t say that. I just said I like placid horses.”

“Huh.” Sasha swung herself up with practised ease onto her wilful little pony. “This is Tosser,” she said, as her pony promptly lived up to his name by tossing his head and trying to nip Slug.

They walked their horses down the gravel road between the fields, with Jayhan and Sasha pointing out particular trees with bird’s nests in them, waving vaguely at the mob of sheep, introducing the farmhands, Jake and Thompson, to Stefan, and telling him about their tree house and the various adventures they had had together. Stefan’s apprehension that he might have to deal with being the butt of their teasing lessened. He wasn’t afraid of the possibility; it just wearied him.

As they neared the bushland behind the paddocks, Sasha asked, “Do you mind if we canter for a short while, just to the tree line so Mau… Maisy can try to sort out Slug?”

“Go on then,” said Stefan. “Come on Maisy, a canter if you please.” He pressed with his legs, increasing the pressure until the horse beneath him responded, changing straight from a walk to a canter. She had a rocking horse gait which Stefan found very comfortable. As he came up alongside Jayhan who was kicking Slug futilely, Maisy turned her head and nudged Slug sharply in his side behind the saddle. Slug kicked out a back leg then forced himself into a bone-shattering trot, but no more. Maisy cantered ahead then slewed into his path, forcing him to skid to a halt. Jayhan jerked forward in the saddle, nearly going over his stubborn little pony’s head. On Maisy’s back, Stefan sat firmly despite the sudden change in direction and made no move to direct her. Maisy tossed her head up and down, baring her teeth and even snapping a couple of times.

Slug backed up, the whites of his eyes showing. Maisy snorted, then swung around abruptly and bolted up the road towards the bushland. Sasha put her heels to her feisty little pony and bolted after her.

Even though he was being carried at a full gallop, Stefan looped the reins over the pommel of the saddle before letting go of them entirely. Then he looked back over his shoulder, completely unconcerned at the pace, to see Slug galloping after them, his tail flicking in irritation. He leaned forward and patted Maisy on the shoulder. “Well done. You got that naughty little bag-o-bones moving.”

Then as the bushland loomed, he leaned even further forward and whispered into her ear, “And now I would like you to pull up.” Her ear flicked back and forth. For a moment, he felt her muscles bunch as she actually increased her pace. Stefan chuckled. He leant over again. “Now please, or I will have to use the reins.” Immediately, he felt the drumming lessen as her hooves hit the ground less forcefully and she gradually slowed to a stop. Stefan chuckled again. “I don’t know exactly what is going on, but you are no ordinary horse. I thought you might understand me. Usually, I teach my horses to respond to my voice, but you already do so with no training of mine. Interesting.”

Sasha and Jayhan caught up with them and pulled up their ponies. Tosser was, predictably, tossing his head with the excitement of a good run. Slug just stood there as placid and boring as ever, although Jayhan was a bit breathless. His face was glowing as he praised Slug and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder.

“That was better,” he said enthusiastically. “So do you want to come and see our creek? It’s not too far.”

They had stopped fifty yards short of the bushland and Stefan ran his eyes along the fence line to the left and right of him before asking, “Isn’t there a magical ward at the rear of the property?”

Jayhan shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. This isn’t the end of our place though. We have two hundred acres of bush out the back here. Miles more land than we have with sheep on it.”

“It makes a great playground,” said Sasha, grinning. “Maud and Sheldrake wanted to save some of the bushland before all the houses from Highkington took over. The outskirts of the city aren’t here yet. We are still quite a way out of town, but the city is growing.”

“Huh. That’s good.” Stefan let his gaze travel across the canopy of eucalypts, their leaves glistening in the sunlight and then lowered his gaze to the grevilleas and wattle growing between them, little gold pompoms and red intricate flowers dotted amongst their foliage. He watched a little family of blue wrens darting across the grass near the bushes at the edge of the forest and nodded at the brown wrens. “You know the duller brown ones are called Jenny wrens? And only the males have that glorious blue? Sad for the ladies really, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” said Sasha dubiously.

Stefan stored away the knowledge that Sasha wasn’t totally pleased about her future role as a lady of the court but didn’t comment. Instead, he said, “I come from the forest myself, you know. I grew up among trees and bushes and birds and animals. I’m glad someone wants to look after them. Let’s go and see your creek.”

As they urged their horses into motion, Sasha asked, “Which forest do you come from?” As soon as she asked, she realised she probably wouldn’t know it anyway. But surprisingly, she did.

“The Great Forest, the forest between Carrador and Kimora. My parents own an inn deep in the forest called…”

“The Creeping Vine,” chorused Jayhan and Sasha.

Stefan was surprised. “You know it?”

They nodded enthusiastically but then fell silent, glancing at each other.

For a few minutes they walked on in silence before Stefan reined up. He leaned forward and asked quietly in Maisy’s ear, “Can you hear or smell anything untoward in our surroundings? Is this a safe place for me to talk to these two?” Maisy did not respond but her ears flicked back and forth. “If all is clear, stamp your front left hoof.”

Maisy stamped her front left hoof and Stefan patted her shoulder in thanks.

“Excellent horse you have here,” he said conversationally to the children. “Now, before we go any further, let’s sort out our trust levels. You don’t have to tell me about Maisy here, but I can see you’re worried what you can and can’t tell me. Given your situation, Your Highness,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes and a slight bow to Sasha from the saddle, “I applaud your caution. I know who and what you are, Sasharia, and I know you, Jayhan, received a medal for saving her life. Not only that, I have also been told about the extraordinary power of your eyes, Jayhan, and the extraordinary power of your amulet, Sasha.” He grinned at them. “I don’t know everything, but I know enough that you can trust me with the rest when the time is right and it is relevant.”

Both children let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“So your inn, The Creeping Vine,” began Sasha, “is where we all met before we went into the forest to tell a small group of refugees that I… well, tell them who I am and that Jon is to be regent for me until I come of age.”

“And that’s where the attackers came and nearly hurt Sasha,” added Jayhan. “In the forest, not at the inn, although they did stay at the inn before going into the forest.” Catching an irritated frown from Sasha, he gave a lop-sided smile. “Okay. I’ll shut up now.”

“Aha!” said Stefan, ignoring the last little interchange. “Well fancy that! Then you probably met my father – he’s the innkeeper – and one or two of my brothers.”

Sasha thought back. “The innkeeper was nice; big and round and cheery. I think I saw one other man working there. Yes, he looked quite a lot like the innkeeper, now you mention it. Both had pale faces but black hair. I don’t remember what colour their eyes were, but not green. I would have remembered if they were green.” She hesitated then added, “They were a bit taller than you, I think.”

“Yes. A lot taller than me, actually. A good six inches.” Stefan gave a rueful grimace. “I’m the runt of the family, I’m afraid.”

“Who else is in your family?” asked Jayhan. Maisy sidled and grunted, making him add hastily, “if you don’t mind telling us.”

“No, I don’t mind telling you, but we might as well keep walking now that we’ve cleared the air a little bit.” When the other two horses moved forward, Maisy fell into step beside them with no instruction from Stefan. He noted it but kept to the topic under discussion. “I have two older brothers and an older sister and I also have two younger brothers. They all look alike… well, similar, and none of them looks like me. Even my sister, Marjorie, is taller than me.”

“Do you mind?” asked Sasha kindly.

Stefan smiled at her. “Thank you for asking. No, I don’t mind how I look or how I’m built, but I did get sick of being the brunt of the family’s jokes and being bullied by my bigger, stronger brothers.” He shrugged. “I guess that is part of the reason I became so good at fighting.”

“What? For revenge?” asked Jayhan, a hint of eagerness in his voice.

“No, young sir.” He reached over and ruffled Jayhan’s hair. “Not for revenge. To protect myself.”

“Oh.” Jayhan thought about it for a minute. “Hmm. I can see that if you tried to take revenge on them, there’d be five against one coming back at you even worse.”

“No, they didn’t usually gang up on me. Usually just one or two poked fun at me or sometimes started to get physical. Sometimes the ones not involved would even tell them to lay off. Mostly they thought they were being funny. But if anyone outside the family picked on me…” Stefan gave a short laugh. “Well, you don’t pick on the Vine family; that’s all there is to it.”

Jayhan considered him. “So would you protect your sister or brothers if they needed it, even after they treated you badly?”

“In a heartbeat,” said Stefan.

4

Sasha, Jayhan and Stefan met at mid-morning the next day in the space behind the stables where Leon kept piles of gravel, soil and sand, stacks of firewood, scrap pieces of metal and wood and some of his tools. He had cleared a roughly circular sandy patch in the middle to use for fighting practice until they could set up an area in one of the paddocks and was now sitting on a pile of firewood watching to see what they would do.

Maud and Sheldrake also wandered over to watch and, rather to the mage’s surprise, so did the rest of their household; Eloquin the governess, Clive the butler, Clive’s wife Beth who was also the head groom, Rosie the maid, her little brother Edgar and even Hannah, the cook. At the last minute, even Jake and Thompson, the farmhands, came running to join them, wiping their hands on their breeches and looking a little sheepish.

Stefan stood in the middle of the sandy patch, hands on hips and gradually turned a full circle to observe his audience. Eventually he said, “You do know I am not an entertainer?”

This produced murmurs among his audience but failed to move any of them.

“Please, sir,” said Rosie, “we’d like to see what you do. We’re all very excited to have an arms master in our household. We promise we won’t come every morning.” She glanced at Sheldrake. “Anyway the master won’t let us. We usually have lots to do, you know.”

Stefan turned a puzzled frown to Sheldrake, who looked just as bemused as he did. “Huh. Very well. Well, I can’t do this alone. So, who would like to shoot some arrows?” A forest of hands went up, making Stefan laugh. “You’re an enthusiastic lot, I’ll give you that. Leon and Beth, can we set up a hay bale as a target? I don’t want to blunt my arrows by shooting into a tree or the side of the stables.”

He reached down and rummaged in his big tote bag, which had arrived by coach several hours after him. He withdrew four bows and set about stringing them as he spoke, pausing occasionally for grunts of effort. “We will begin with each of you trying to draw back each bow so that the string is level with your right ear, unless you’re left-handed, in which case it will be your left ear.”

He demonstrated with the first strung bow before setting it down and moving on to stringing the second as he spoke. “The stronger the bow, the greater the distance you will be able to shoot. However, if the bow is too difficult for you, your accuracy is likely to be affected. So it is a balance. You can also increase your distance to some extent by angling your bow upwards, but that requires more practice and accuracy.” He grinned. “Then of course, there is the wind to consider.” He glanced around. “But there is little wind this morning and we are in a sheltered spot here, so that won’t be a factor we have to worry about today.”

When he had the bows all strung, he lined them up on the ground and asked, “Okay, who’s first?”

Rather to his surprise, Sasha and Jayhan hung back and allowed the servants to have first shot. When Stefan looked enquiringly at them, Jayhan shrugged and said quietly, “We will be training with you often, whereas they will not have the same chance. So it is better to give them the most time today.”

“Well said, young man. However, I do want you to try the bows today so that I can order one to suit you.”

Jayhan’s eyes widened. “My own bow?”

Stefan smiled. “Yes. On the King’s orders. Once he decides to act, there are no half measures. You too, Sasha… and Leon.”

Only Leon and Jake could draw back the full-sized bow, but Sheldrake, Thompson, Clive and Beth could draw the second largest to Stefan’s satisfaction, while Hannah, Rosie and Maud could manage the third largest. Much to their disgust, Jayhan, Edgar and Sasha were only able to convincingly draw back the string on the smallest bow.

“Don’t look so disappointed,” chided Stefan. “These are not the smallest bows in existence; only the smallest bows I thought worth bringing with me.” When this did not console them, he added, “Once you have mastered a bow of this size, you will naturally graduate to a larger one as you grow older and your arm strengthens. Anyway, small bows are much handier for carrying around. I often use a small bow even now, when I am travelling light.”

With the bows chosen, he set up the targets and, using the small bow, gave a demonstration of how to hold and aim an arrow. Then everyone took turns in using the correct bow for their strength. Their lack of skill led to high hilarity as many of the arrows missed the hay bale altogether, skidding along the ground or sailing over the fence into long grass in the adjoining paddock. Stefan made a mental note to enlist the children in a treasure hunt for the arrows hidden in the grass, knowing they would not be easily found.

When they had tired of this, Hannah and Rosie enlisted Jake and Thompson. The four of them slipped away to the kitchen, returning shortly afterwards with trays of lemonade and sandwiches.

“Thank you, Hannah,” said Sheldrake. “Do we have time for more? When do you need to start dinner?”

“If this counts for lunch, sir, I could spare another couple of hours.” Hannah gave a warm smile. “It’s like a holiday, isn’t it, sir? A rare thing indeed.”

Sheldrake gave a little shake of his head and smiled in return. “I don’t know what’s come over me. A new member of the household does not usually warrant such attention.” He heaved a contented sigh. “But it is enjoyable for a change and I hope that every staff member can spend some time with Stefan learning at least the rudiments of self-defence.”

Hannah glanced at him, worried. “Are you expecting trouble, sir?”

“I hope not. No, I don’t think so, but I hope not anyway.”

This did little to reassure his cook, who determined to speak further at a later date with Maud. After the archery came sword play, using wooden practice swords that Stefan drew from his apparently bottomless tote bag. He only had six of them, so he paired up people of similar strength and let the others watch as he took them through the rudiments of stance, grip, basic thrusts and parries. Then they swapped so that everyone had a turn.

In the middle of the afternoon, after another refreshment break, he introduced hand-to-hand fighting. He was so quick, lively and encouraging that no one grew weary of the lessons.

He began by standing with his arms loosely at his side and inviting Beth and Maud to lift him up. They did this with relative ease and lowered him back to the ground looking a little puzzled. Then he bent his knees slightly, held his arms crooked before him and focused hard. When he repeated the request to lift him, Maud and Beth stepped forward confidently but found it took everything they had to shift him even slightly. Lifting him into the air was out of the question. After a few minutes of strenuous effort, they stood back puffing and grinning.

“Are you using magic?” demanded Sheldrake.

Stefan laughed. “No. Not at all. You can all do it. Pair up and try it. On the second try, imagine yourself as a tree rooted into the ground, your weight low, heavy and connected to the earth. You’ll see.”

Once they had all tried this to their satisfaction, he asked Rosie and Hannah to step forward to demonstrate fighting techniques. He used them as models to explain low and high blocks and the use of fingers in the eyes and a kick to the crotch, all in slow motion and not connecting.

“These last two are fighting dirty,” he explained cheerfully. “But if you ever find yourself in a position where you have to fight, don’t pussyfoot around. Fight fiercely and fight dirty. For now, let’s just practise the low and high blocks in pairs. One person, try to attack; the other, block. Three minutes, then swap. I don’t want to hear any sounds of flesh connecting with flesh. This is just shadow fighting to get the hang of it. All right?”

When they had finished, Stefan gave them a flourishing bow and said firmly. “And that is it for today. You have all done remarkably well. You must be exhausted, but I hope you have learnt something and if you wish it, I can organise further training for you around your other duties.”

A ragged round of applause greeted this pronouncement, but a couple of voices were raised in protest that they hadn’t seen Stefan fight. Then Jake urged Stefan to challenge Leon while others urged Leon on. Sheldrake watched with his arms folded, a gleam of anticipation in his eye.

Leon stepped up to Stefan, whose head barely reached his shoulder. But instead of squaring off against him, he put his arm across the smaller man’s shoulders and turned to the onlookers. “I may look big and bovine, but that doesn’t make me totally stupid.” He shot a speaking glance at Sheldrake as he said this. “Stefan didn’t become a master-at-arms without being an accomplished fighter. I’m more of a street brawler myself, but I have nothing to prove and neither does Stefan. I have no doubt he’d wipe the floor with me, but I would rather he taught me how to do that, than have him do it to me now.”

Although a couple of them were still disappointed, they knew an impasse when they saw one and the rest chuckled quietly and left, well satisfied with the day’s activities. As the crowd dispersed, Stefan smiled up at him. “You know, it is a nice change, not having to prove myself.”

Leon gave him a slow smile in return, clapping him on the shoulder and removing his arm. “Even if I could beat you, which maybe I can and maybe I can’t, I wouldn’t do it to a newcomer, just to satisfy this lot.” He shrugged. “Besides, what’s in it for me? If I win, I look like a bully; if I lose, I look like a fool.”

Stefan raised his eyebrows. “You could do it to let me show off… ”

Leon scratched his chin. “You know, I didn’t think of that. Do you want to?”

A derisive snort of laughter was his answer.

5

Just as the family were finishing their dinner, a knock sounded on the dining room door and Clive popped his head in to say that Stefan had asked to see Sheldrake.

Sheldrake wiped his mouth neatly with his napkin before informing Clive that they would see him in the salon in fifteen minutes. “And bring down the fine Montreyan port that Argyve gave me the other week.” He smiled at Maud. “Will you be joining us, my dear?”

“I will. I don’t want Stefan to get into the way of only conferring with you, do I? Besides, I want some of that port.”

They finished their coffee, bid Jayhan and Eloquin goodnight and made their way downstairs. They came upon Stefan in the hallway, squatting down, intent on scratching a large tortoiseshell cat under the chin. The cat was purring its appreciation and pressing itself up against his knees.

“You asked to see me?” asked Sheldrake dryly.

Stefan turned his head but did not immediately stand up. “Oh, hello. You are wonderfully punctual. Good to know.”

“That cat is George and he knows he should be in the kitchen,” said Maud, with an edge to her voice that George ignored.

Stefan gave him a final stroke and stood up. “He must have followed me in. Would you like me to take him back before we get started?”

“No,” said Maud, sailing past Sheldrake who was holding the door open for her. “He’ll wander back when he’s ready.”

Sheldrake and Maud arrayed themselves in armchairs before him and waved him to another. Stefan sat down neatly and attempted a smile. He was just about to speak when Clive arrived to deliver a tray bearing a cut glass decanter of a dark ruby port and three glasses. Stefan looked a bit startled. After all, he had eaten his dinner earlier with the servants in the kitchen.

“Don’t worry,” said Maud kindly, “we won’t force port on you every time you want to see one or both of us. It is our custom to have a quiet drink after dinner and we thought you might like one after you did such an excellent job with the staff today.”

“Besides,” Sheldrake added shrewdly, “I suspect you have quite a bit you need to discuss with us, now that you’ve seen the place.”

Stefan accepted a port from Clive and nodded his thanks. “I do.” He waited until Clive left, then began, “Firstly, I need to know who among your staff knows Sasha’s true identity. I’m feeling my way in the dark, not knowing who I can say what to.”

“Oh, of course you are. So silly of us not to have thought of that.” Maud rolled her port in her glass, enjoying the blood red light that shone through it. “Leon, Clive and Beth know. Eloquin also knows, since she dines with us, but she is not as involved as the other three. Hannah, Rosie and Edgar and the farmhands don’t know.”

“And why is that?” asked Stefan. “Are they untrustworthy? I thought your staff were particularly recruited for their discretion. Unlike other households, none of them is ever heard to gossip or let slip information about you or the household’s affairs.”

Sheldrake took a sip of his port, allowing the silence to linger. “You are correct. Sasha’s revelations are relatively new to us and I suppose we are still feeling our way. Edgar only started with us a few weeks ago and Rose, his older sister, has always shown an antipathy towards Sasha, which concerns us.”

“And we are not convinced of their acting skills, if we are trying to maintain Sasha’s deception of being a boy when outsiders come to visit,” added Maud. “We decided the fewer who knew the better…” Her tone indicated that it was open for discussion.

Stefan looked into his port, then took a little sip. His face lit up. “Oh, very nice.” He did not seem to have an obsequious bone in his body. After a moment he asked, “What does Leon think?”

“We didn’t ask him,” replied Sheldrake.

“Ahuh. Or Clive or Beth?”

Sheldrake frowned. “No.”

Stefan cocked his head to one side. “Is it worth me venturing an opinion? I don’t want to waste your time… or mine, if it comes to that.”

Maud and Sheldrake exchanged a glance.

“You are very cocksure, young man,” said Sheldrake repressively.

Stefan just grinned. “No, I just like to be clear. If you don’t want my opinion, I won’t give it. After all, you haven’t asked anyone else’s.”

“We are the master and mistress of this house, Stefan. It is our decision,” said Maud firmly.

Stefan restrained himself from saying that was obvious and merely said, “Of course.”

“Go on then,” urged Sheldrake, leaning forward. “Tell us what you think.”

Stefan leapt lightly to his feet and took up a position in front of the window before turning to address them. “I think you are both very clever, can command magical powers although I am not sure what they are yet, you have great influence at court and are kind to your staff and people you know.”

“But?” asked Sheldrake dryly.

Stefan gave a grunt of laughter. “But… I think perhaps you underestimate people… in particular, your staff.” Before they could respond, he waved his hand. “A simple example is Leon, who knows you think he’s not clever… hence the remark about being big and bovine… but he took all of two seconds to overcome his surprise at my size when we first met. I was never going to catch him before he had my measure. His fighting technique may be unsubtle… I haven’t seen it, I’m just going by what he said… but he knows his limitations, which is worth its weight in gold...” He paused. “Shall I go on?”

“Please do,” said Sheldrake, in a tone that did not bode well for Stefan’s future with them.

“From what I saw today, Hannah has remarkable hand-eye coordination, even though her girth means she mightn’t be able to move very fast. Rose is very competitive and, given a chance, would strive to develop her fighting skills.” Stefan nodded. “You’re right, though. She does resent Sasha. Perhaps she is aware that he/she is getting special treatment and doesn’t know why. You see? Competitive… and hierarchical. She firmly believes that indoor servants should be given precedence over outdoor servants.”

He crossed to the table where he had left his port, picked it up and sipped it, taking a moment to savour it, before continuing, “Jake is enthusiastic but clumsy. He does what he thinks a bloke should do, without thinking it through. Now, he really isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed and he was the one goading Leon to fight me. Luckily, he will follow Thompson if Thompson leads, and Thompson is sensible and quietly competent. He has trained with a bow at some time in the past and was better with the sword than anyone but Leon. Beth has excellent reflexes and anticipation; you could see that from the blocking exercises. Clive lacks confidence in himself but may be good if he trusts his instincts. Same with Edgar.”

“My word,” breathed Maud, “the amount you learnt in one morning.”

Stefan gave a self-deprecating shrug. “That’s my job, training people. If I don’t know where they’re starting from, how can I know what to teach them?”

“And what about Sasha and Jayhan?” asked Maud.

“Oh!” Stefan grinned. “They are full of energy and enthusiasm. Jayhan curbed his natural impetuousness to let your staff have first turn. Impressive in one so young. Made Rose a bit uncomfortable, though. They are both quick and agile but Jayhan has a tendency to get carried away and fall over his own feet, so to speak.”

Sheldrake chuckled. “A masterful description of my son.”

“And what about Sheldrake and me?” asked Maud.

Stefan shook his head. “I have no idea. You both masked your strengths.”

After a considering silence, Sheldrake stood up and crossed to the tray where the decanter stood. With a wag of the decanter, he offered Stefan another, before pouring another for Maud and himself. Stefan took this as a hopeful sign that they weren’t about to toss him out on his ear.

Sheldrake sat down, leaned back and crossed his legs, all aimed, Stefan suspected, at keeping him in suspense. “And what,” asked Sheldrake, “is your opinion about informing all the staff about Sasha?”

Stefan hid his satisfaction at being asked and answered matter-of-factly, “I would consult with Beth, Clive and Leon before making a decision, because they know your staff better than I do. But from my short acquaintance with them, I think that if you include them and train them, you more than double the defences around Sasha. An hour, even half an hour, a day would improve their fighting skills immeasurably.”

“But what about the risk of them spreading the word about Sasha, especially Edgar?” asked Maud.

“You’re right,” Stefan answered, skipping a few lines in the conversation, “I think Rose will change her attitude if she understands why. Edgar would be well-intentioned, but his little mouth might run away with him in the village or with his mother. Jake could also be a problem if he felt the need to brag after a few pints in the pub.” He looked at Sheldrake, “Any suggestions, Master Mage?”

Sheldrake frowned at his casual tone, but bent his mind to it nevertheless. He sipped his port and gazed into it, then looked around the room and generally kept the other two waiting for a good five minutes. At last he said slowly, “If and only if they are willing, I could bind them from using particular words; for instance Queen, Kimora, amulet, shaman.”

Instead of being impressed, Stefan gave it his consideration and then said dubiously, “But you could say those, hmm, concepts without saying the actual words, couldn’t you? A female leader from a neighbouring country, for instance?”

Sheldrake stared at him icily. “I thought that by the time they came up with an alternative like that, they would have remembered to keep the secret.”

“True. Good point,” said Stefan, completely unfazed by Sheldrake’s obvious dislike of having his ideas vetted. “Any other ideas?”

Maud smothered a laugh as Sheldrake’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head in outrage.

“You know,” continued Stefan, aware of, but unmoved by, Sheldrake’s reaction, “it’s a bit tough for a little boy not to be able to talk to his mum. Who else is in their family? Could his mother be trusted to keep this secret?”

Maud thought for a minute, keeping a weather eye on Sheldrake. “I think there are a couple of younger children, too. Their father died a few years ago. I know nothing about the woman but I suppose we could find out easily enough. Sheldrake’s network could tap into the village gossip.”