“They were toy soldiers,” Nikiinsisted. “Besides, I refuse to put up with their insolentbehavior. Just because I’m smaller than them, they think they canhave their way with me. Well, they hadn’t reckoned with who I am.They’ll think twice at accosting a woman again.”
“I’m sure they will,” sighedFredrik. Niki was Fredrik’s only friend, but there were times whenhe wondered why women had to be so pushy. She seemed to delight inimpressing people with her magic, mindless of the possiblerepercussions if the wrong people knew of her ability. The onlyplace for a magician today was in the Black Devils serving the DarkOne and Fredrik had no desire to serve anyone. Anyone found withthe ability was given a choice of joining the Black Devils ordying. The only exception might be to endear yourself to one of thegreat armies. They would welcome the skill and give some measure ofprotection against the Black Devils, but that option also entailedserving someone. Fredrik wished Niki wouldn’t live sodangerously.
“What are you thinking about?”quizzed Niki as she cut slabs of turkey to put on the twoplates.
Fredrik snapped his head around andrealized that his mind had been far away. “Oh, I was just thinkingthat maybe we should head for the next town north. Perhaps it willnot be destroyed like this one. Cidal is a good-sized town andshould present some better opportunities.”
“Is there a palace there?”Niki inquired. “You haven’t forgotten your promise to make me aqueen have you?”
“I didn’t promise to make youa queen,” Fredrik reminded her. “I said I could see you in a palacesomeday.”
“It’s the same thing,”insisted Niki. “Let’s eat this while it’s hot, but next time try toremember some vegetables.”
“All right,” Fredrik agreed,“but in the morning we travel north again. Maybe Cidal does have apalace.” Niki actually brightened up at that statement and waseager to get to bed early so they could leave first thing in themorning.
The gray sky of morning came too soonfor Fredrik, but he slid into his brown leather pants, tan woolenshirt, and brown leather vest. Quietly he stepped outside andstrode down an alley that ran behind the businesses along thecoastal highway. In a short time, he came to the stables behind oneof the inns and spoke to the stable boy as he walkedpast.
“Can you believe it?” heasked. “After all these years, we finally have an Emperoragain.”
The stable boy started running to catchup to him. “What do you mean, an Emperor?” he inquired. “You meanhere in Forgum?”
Fredrik stopped and turned towards theboy. “Why, yes, haven’t you heard?” Fredrik asked in mocking shock.“He’s entering the town on the coastal road from the south at thisvery moment. Word is he’s looking for people to serve him in thenew palace they are going to start building tomorrow. Forgum isgoing to be the capital. I’d like to stay and tell you more, butword is that only the first few to greet him will get thehigh-paying positions and I want to be one of them.”
“But you’re not much olderthan me,” protested the stable boy.
“The new Emperor likes hispeople to be young,” Fredrik insisted. “Sorry, but I’ve got to bemoving along.”
Fredrik snickered to himself as hewatched the stable boy’s reaction. The boy was looking aroundfrantically to see if anyone would notice if he left his post.Fredrik continued sauntering down the alley and caught a flash asthe stable boy went running between buildings to the highway. Thefact that he didn’t run down the alley past Fredrik indicated thathe was willing to take the extra chance of getting caught by theinnkeeper to beat Fredrik to the Emperor. Fredrik smiled as heturned around and entered the stables. He quickly threw saddles onthe two closest horses and led them along the alley back to theshack.
Although he hadn’t awakened her beforeslipping out, Niki was already packed and ready to go. “We need tohurry,” Fredrik simply said.
Niki needed no explanation and mountedone of the horses. Fredrik mounted the other horse and they headedout of town to the north. “How much of a lead do you suppose wehave?” Niki calmly inquired as she inspected her face in a smallround mirror that she had acquired in Trekum and greatlytreasured.
“The boy won’t be too eager toadmit he was so stupid,” Fredrik commented dryly. “Still, we willhave an hour at the most, much less if the owners of the horsesdecide to leave. If we hear anything coming, we’ll cut into thewoods and watch them pass. We can determine if they’re looking forus before we need to take a different path to get toCidal.”
Fredrik looked admiringly at the darkgreen leather outfit that Niki wore today. Unlike the dress shewore last night, the leathers fit her exceedingly well. Of course,they should fit well considering the price he paid in Trekum.Fredrik had enjoyed life in Trekum, gambling with groups of guardsand mercenaries who had too much pay to know what to do with. Theyhad always considered Fredrik to have too much luck, but theyenjoyed his company and they always liked it when he brought Nikialong. Fredrik enjoyed the lifestyle of the old capital city, evenif there were occasional times when someone got an overheatedtemper during a game. It had been one of those occasions that hadforced them to leave Trekum. The guard had accused Fredrik ofcheating again and Fredrik had laughed at him as he always did. Theguard drew a dagger and was threatening Fredrik. All of this hadhappened before and Fredrik always dealt with it using words, butNiki had been along at that game and she did not realize that thethreat was just the guard’s frustration at losing. She reactedinstinctively and forced the guard’s dagger into his own stomach.The rest of the guards had leaped to their feet in anger and magicwas the only way that Fredrik and Niki could survive long enough toget out of the city.
Then there was the incident in Caldar.Niki again had used magic to attack guards that she thought weregetting overly friendly. Niki always seemed to resort to magicbefore trying any other way of handling things. It was a habit thatFredrik had to break her of if they were going tosurvive.
Fredrik’s thoughts were disrupted bythe sounds of galloping horses coming from behind. “No illusions,”Fredrik warned as he and Niki turned quickly into the woods. Theyhad no sooner secured cover, when a dozen Dark Riders appearedaround a bend in the road and went thundering past. The pair satsilently for several long minutes listening as the sound of thegalloping horses faded away.
“They certainly weren’t aftera horse thief,” Niki whispered.
“No, they weren’t,” agreedFredrik. “I’m glad I mentioned no illusions. Niki, I’ve beenthinking about the dangers of using magic too quickly. It is surelygoing to get us killed. I think this incident helps to illustratehow easily we could slip up. We were expecting someone after usbecause of the horses, so we had time to hide, but we cannot alwaysexpect to be lucky. We have to start being morecareful.”
“Careful?” snorted Niki. “Doyou mean like being careful when the guard in Trekum was going togut you? Magic is a skill just like wielding a sword. It is onlybeing smart to use it when you are endangered.”
“But sometimes using it canendanger you,” Fredrik insisted. “I only ask that you think of someother way before you resort to magic. Detection can meandeath.”
Niki sniffed and turned her horsetowards the road. Fredrik clenched his fists and gritted his teeth,but he followed her and soon the pair were back on their way toCidal. They rode on in silence for several hours, encountering noother traffic on the road. Eventually, they decided to stop earlyfor the night and worked their way down to the coast where theyfound a quiet clearing close to beach. Niki jumped off her horseand announced that she was going for a swim. Fredrik quicklygrabbed the reins of her horse and sighed.
Fredrik went about taking care of thehorses and setting up the campsite before he decided to check outthe beach. Niki was frolicking naked in the surf, but what caughtFredrik’s attention was the beautiful, wide beach. There was apoint sticking out directly to his right, but on his left was asweeping wide, white sand and shell strip stretching northward formiles. The lines of shells stretching along the beach culminated ina large mound of shells near the point. The beach in Trekum wasmuch narrower and people walking on them constantly crushed anyshells there.