Black Coven (Daniel Black Book 2) Read online

  “We’re headed that direction anyway,” I agreed. “Might as well see what they say.”

  The city’s main roads were surprisingly wide and straight, hinting at some past effort at urban planning. We’d entered into what was apparently a trade district, where shops and inns lined the streets. Most were three-story buildings, and the traditional layout seemed to be a business on the ground floor and living quarters above it. Brick and wood were the main construction materials, but there was a fair amount of stonework as well

  I was a bit surprised to note storm drains along the side of the road, and a distinct absence of sewage in the streets. Unlike Lanrest, apparently Kozalin had a sewer system.

  We passed through another gate into what Carl referred to as the Wizard’s Quarter, and I noted approvingly that the walls separating the different districts of the city were as stout and well-manned as the outer wall. At least the extra manpower was being put to use.

  “How many districts does Kozalin have?” I asked my guide.

  “Five,” Carl answered. “The Trade Quarter we just passed through, and ahead is the Wizard’s Quarter. There’s also the Military District back east around Brokefang Castle, the Docks along the river, and the Temple Quarter in the middle of town. The defenses are all designed so we can hold out even if one district falls, and there are a lot of strong points and secret sally ports to make an attacker’s life difficult. Most of the defenses were built against the Saxons, or these days the Franks. But unless the dark gods send all their hordes at us I don’t think there’s any danger the city will fall to outside attack.”

  I nodded. “It looks like a good position, at least for us. I wouldn’t want to be one of these refugees.”

  Carl shrugged. “Nothing to be done about that. Better an alley in the Trade Quarter than a felwolf’s belly.”

  I couldn’t argue with that, although I suspected there would be trouble if something wasn’t done about them soon. No matter how oppressed the peasants were here, I doubted they’d just meekly sit in the snow until they froze to death.

  The Wizard’s Quarter was noticeably more prosperous than the Trade Quarter, with larger buildings that often had stone walls or even glass windows. Spacious villas were mixed in among the bookstores and merchants specializing in exotic materials, and there weren’t nearly as many refugees. Then we came to a broad plaza paved in marble, before a massive structure of dark metal.

  “The Iron Citadel,” Carl explained proudly. “Home of the Red Conclave for three hundred years now. Only mages and their personal retainers are allowed inside, but your people can wait in the plaza here. I’ll let the guards know to leave them alone.”

  I eyed the fortress thoughtfully, impressed despite myself. The walls were half again the height of the ones around the city, and the gates that stood open before us were made of metal a good four inches thick. Obviously the whole place had been built with magic somehow, although how anyone had conjured that much iron was beyond me. Getting pure metals took so much power even I had trouble with it, despite my cheat.

  Although, come to think of it, the fortress wasn’t rusted and it wasn’t the distinctive black color of wrought iron. It was more of a brownish gray, with a textured surface that showed a lot of subtle color variations. Interesting. I’d have to think about that.

  A squad of men in full plate armor directed traffic before the gates, but behind them I could see rows of large articulated iron statues along the walls of the entranceway that had to be golems. A tough place to break into, and come to think of it getting out might not be easy either. Better be on my best behavior.

  Fortunately I’d taken the time to question Cerise and Captain Rain about such topics as court etiquette and the customs of the Conclave. Making the right kind of impression here would be important.

  “Gronir, Daria, you’re on bodyguard detail. Cerise, you’re with me. Captain Rain, keep an eye on things until I get back.”

  Carl raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re taking a woman as one of your guards?”

  “It’s mostly a ceremonial position,” I pointed out. “Unless you think the High Adepts will take it as an insult somehow?”

  “No, it’s just odd. But so is everything else about you, so I suppose it fits.”

  Visiting mages were only allowed two guards inside the walls of the citadel, and I suppose Carl had expected me to take Oskar and Captain Rain. But the half-wolf couple would be a lot more likely to escape if something went wrong, and their keen senses might pick up interesting information.

  Cerise, of course, was accompanying me as my apprentice. If the Conclave accepted me as an ally that would give her access to the citadel as well, and provide a ready explanation for her own magic. Anyone perceptive enough to see exactly what kind of magic she wielded would probably see her binding as well, and conclude she was an enslaved witch that I was trying to hide. Either way would work for most purposes.

  The citadel’s entryway fed into a huge hall, big enough to use as a ballroom or to muster a battalion of troops. Wide stairways covered in decorative ironwork swept up to balconies on the second and third floors, and servants dressed in the distinctive red and black livery of the Conclave bustled about everywhere.

  Carl led us up a stairway to the second floor, and through another iron gate into what I guessed must be the interior of the main tower. From there we circled an ornate audience chamber that didn’t seem to be in use, and made our way up another flight of stairs to a meeting area that was laid out along more practical lines.

  The sounds of an argument were audible all the way down the hall.

  “...I’m telling you, we don’t have the manpower! This weather working has tied up half our membership, and we’ve lost four Adepts to those rescue operations you insisted on. We barely have the resources to maintain our existing commitments, let alone tackle another major project.”

  “Then drop the damned weather spell! It isn’t going to work anyway, Lukas. The gods aren’t going to let you reverse Fimbulwinter, and keeping trade going-”

  “Trade with who? There’s snow falling in Sicily, Caspar! No one is in any better state than we are.”

  “Yes, and we’ve got thousands of craftsmen ready to keep plying their trades if they can just get raw materials. Damn it all, man, the ocean isn’t going to freeze! We just need to keep the ice out of the harbor.”

  The speaker was a muscular young man dressed in a suit of armor that must have cost a fortune, considering the amount of gold inlay it featured. The gold circlet he wore identified him as royalty, so that was easily explained. The man arguing with him was much older, with thinning hair and a long grey beard, but he held an iron staff set with a fortune in jewels and his crimson robes looked fancy enough for a king’s court. A small crowd of assorted servants, retainers and onlookers stood about the room, all of them looking like they were trying to spontaneously develop the power of invisibility.

  “You want us to work fire magic on water? Hah! You have no idea what an undertaking that would be,” the old man protested. “We’ve no time for such absurdities.”

  The prince looked about ready to explode at this, so I stepped forward. “This sounds like something I could help with.”

  The both started at the interruption, and turned to glare at me.

  “Who are you supposed to be?” The old man spat.

  “Daniel Black, wandering adept,” I replied smoothly. “I just got into town, and I was coming to pay my respects. I don’t mean to slight the ability of your people, Your Wisdom, but if the prince wants the port kept free of ice that sounds like something I could handle for you.”

  “How?” The prince asked suspiciously. “I thought that sort of thing was beyond what a single wizard can do?”

  “Ordinarily it would be, Your Highness. But I’ve made a bit of a breakthrough with large-scale earth magic. I can enchant boulders with volcanic heat, strongly enough to last for several decades, and drop them in the river to keep the water warm. It will
take a lot of them to cover an area that size, but I should be able to do it in a few days. Maybe a few more to clear a channel to the sea, depending on how wide that needs to be. Of course, once the river freezes completely we’ll get salt water filtering upstream to fill the channel, but I think we’ve got more urgent things to worry about than that. Unless there’s something living in the river that’s likely to cause a problem?”

  The old man gave me a measuring look. “No, the Elb was cleared of monsters ages ago. You’re that fellow from Lanrest, aren’t you?”

  “Guilty as charged, Your Wisdom.” That being proper address for a High Adept, which he pretty much had to be if he was shouting at a prince.

  “Mmm. I’ll want to talk to you about that, but not now. I’m sure you acknowledge the Conclave’s primacy in Kozalin’s magical affairs?”

  I nodded carefully. “Of course, Your Wisdom. I was actually coming here to offer my services to the Conclave. In circumstances this dire wise men must stand together, or else we’ll all be eaten separately.”

  That got a snort.

  “If only everyone saw things that way,” he said ruefully. “Very well, young man. You may ply your trade here as an ally of the Conclave for now, but plan to attend the council meeting this Frey’s Day.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it, Your Wisdom.”

  “Good,” the prince put in. “We can always use another wizard. What do you want for this work? I’ll warn you, the treasury is under quite a strain at the moment.”

  “Right now there are more urgent things than gold on my mind, Your Highness. The last place I tried to settle down in fell to an army of giants not four days after I arrived, and I have quite a few survivors with me. So, perhaps a place where I can build a home, and permission to fortify it to the extent that I can?”

  He frowned. “There aren’t any unoccupied estates within the walls.”

  “Oh, I can do my own construction. Stonework and healing are my main talents, and I can throw up a decent fortification in a few days. I just need a spot to build on that isn’t going to end up cut off and surrounded by monsters.”

  A crafty look stole over his face. “Ah, I see. In that case, I’ve got just the thing. More space than you could possibly need, as long as you build out instead of in. I’ll have a man show you there. Agreed?”

  So, he was planning to have me build in the breach? That seemed like a sensible plan, killing two birds with one stone. I was planning some serious fortifications anyway, so I could make it work. I nodded.

  “Agreed, Your Highness. I’ll get started on the harbor as soon as I get my people under shelter.”

  He nodded. “Good, I’m glad that’s settled. Aron, what’s next on the schedule?”

  One of the servants in royal livery stepped forward. “Ah, the meeting with the military supplier guilds, Your Highness. We’re actually going to be a bit late for that.”

  “Then we’d best get moving.”

  He nodded to the old wizard and strode away, surrounded by a gaggle of guards and servants. A moment after the party cleared the room one of the servants came scurrying back to me.

  “Adept Black? I’ll show you the way when you’re ready.”

  I shook my head. “So that was Prince Caspar?”

  Not being an idiot I’d long since quizzed Captain Rain about the royal family of Varmland, since there’d been a decent chance one of them would be holed up in Kozalin. Prince Caspar was the king’s oldest son, although he had a sister and two younger brothers somewhere.

  Carl chuckled. “That was a crazy way to introduce yourself, Daniel. Boss, don’t let the ‘I’m just a crafter mage’ facade fool you. This guy’s a hell of a war wizard. Saved my ass from, what was it, eight mountain trolls?”

  “Only five,” I corrected.

  “Only, he says! I don’t know if I’d have made it back if he hadn’t shown up when he did. Oh, Daniel, if it wasn’t already obvious this is my boss. High Adept Lukas Steelbinder, the guy who runs the Conclave’s military forces.”

  “I also oversee cooperation with the Crown and local military forces,” Lukas put in. “All of which demands far too much of my time these days. Carl, we’ve called off the rescue effort. Is your team ready for another mission?”

  Carl’s face turned serious. “I’m afraid not, sir. We lost four men, two of them to that last troll attack, and half the rest are casualties. Daniel patched them up enough to make it back alive, but we’re going to be keeping Elin busy for a few days.”

  Lukas frowned. “Elin is no longer available for healing. I’m sure your sister will tell you the tale. Well, in that case I’m assigning you to the Citadel Guard until further notice. Daniel, what about you? I notice you aren’t traveling alone?”

  “No, I have decent little fighting band. A dozen professional soldiers with magic weapons, a pack of heavily wolf-aspected hunters, and magical transport that can cross snow at a good speed. Oh, and I have two apprentices. Cerise here is excellent at killing things, up to and including demons. Avilla is more of a support type, so you probably won’t see much of her.”

  He gave Cerise a sharp look. “Demons? Hmm. Yes, I see. Well, keep in mind that a wizard is responsible for the conduct of his apprentices.”

  “Of course,” I agreed. “I don’t expect any problems at this point, but I keep a close eye on them both.”

  “Good. Well, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I believe I have a long list of appointments that the prince interrupted.”

  Once we were out of the room Carl shook his head. “If something’s happened to Elin that’s bad news. She’s an ugly little mutt, but she was the best healer in the city. Her mother was an undine of some power, though you wouldn’t know it to look at her.”

  “Human father?” I asked

  “Half human, half grendelkin. It kidnapped her mother and raped her, kept her with child for a few years before the faerie lords caught up with it. They don’t like to kill children, but of course the mother didn’t want anything to do with the little monsters. The Conclave agreed to take in Elin as long as she manages not to eat anyone, and then she turned out to take after her mother in magic. Anyway, I’d better find my sister-”

  “Carl!”

  A gorgeous redhead stepped out of a side passage, and enveloped Carl in a hug before I’d had a chance to properly register her presence.

  “Oof! Watch the ribs, Mara.”

  “Aww, can’t I be happy to see my big brother?” She pouted. “I was getting worried about you.”

  “Yes, well, my relief party went missing and then I got into a bit of a fix with some rock trolls. You can thank Daniel here for getting me out of that in one piece. I’d probably still be out there dodging monsters without his timely intervention.”

  “Really?” She released him, and turned to me with a speculative look. “Thanks for that, then. Carl’s a bit of a goof, but I can’t exactly get a replacement for him. I’m Mara.”

  She shook my hand, something that normally only men did in Varmland, and I couldn’t help checking her out. She was tall, only a couple of inches shy of my own six feet, with long legs and an athletic build. A narrow face, with a pointed chin and a cute little upturned nose, and green eyes that sparkled with inquisitive intelligence. Her skin was several shades darker than I was used to seeing here, maybe halfway between the usual Scandinavian pallor and a more Mediterranean olive. Her hair was her most eye-catching feature, a lush mass of flame-red curls far too vibrant to be natural. Her dress was a little shorter and a lot tighter than was considered proper in this country, although back home it wouldn’t have attracted any comment.

  Her aura, however, was stunning. A tightly leashed shroud of fire magic cloaking a deeper well of brilliant gold, far stronger than anything I’d seen before. Certainly more powerful than her brother, although I was less sure how she’d stack up against the High Adept. Steelbinder’s magic had been mostly artificial, a carefully-woven maze of layered enchantments whose full potential was difficult to e
valuate. Mara’s was all innate, a passionate blaze of wonder with only a few superficial hints of the more deliberate complexities I was coming to associate with wizards.

  Interesting.

  “You’re quite welcome, Mara,” I answered her. “Too bad you weren’t there, or you’d have toasted the trolls before I showed up.”

  “That’s what I keep saying,” she huffed. “Only no one will listen to me.”

  Carl sighed. “Yes, well, Mara’s power is good but she’s still working on the academic side of things. She hasn’t actually made adept yet, so the Conclave doesn’t want to send her into battle unless the situation is desperate.”

  She rolled her eyes the way only a teenage girl can. “Yeah, yeah, the old men don’t think I’m ready for real magic. You’re pretty perceptive, though. I’ve been learning to cloak myself as a control exercise, and most people don’t see through that.”

  “I can see magic a lot more clearly than most wizards,” I told her.

  “Hey, if you’re not an adept yet does that mean I can actually say hi without a lot of bowing and scraping?” Cerise put in.

  “Of course you can,” Mara replied. “I hate that shit anyway. Oh, you’ve got some interesting magic going on. I like the tail.”

  Cerise grinned. “Yeah, it comes in handy. I’m Cerise, this big lug’s apprentice. You should come out and visit sometime, after he builds us a place to stay. Knowing him he’ll end up working himself to death trying to save all the refugees personally, but Avilla and I will need someone to show us around.”

  “I could do that,” she agreed. “Assuming things don’t get too crazy.”

  “That reminds me,” Carl interrupted. “What happened to Elin? I gather she’s alive, but Steelbinder said she wasn’t available for healing?”

  Mara’s gaze fell, and her hands clenched into fists for a moment. “Yeah, it’s pretty ugly. They sent a team to Tartarus to find out how bad things were, and something really nasty followed them home. There was a big fight in the Chamber of the Door, and Elin got caught in the crossfire. She’s fucked up really bad. Her magic is barely enough to keep her alive, so the Conclave is going to have to do without their miracle healer.”