Free Blood and Honor (Forest Kingdom Novels) by Simon R. Green Page B

his head turned away and his eyes squeezed shut. Slowly, gradually, the lightning strikes grew farther apart, and the thunder lost its roar. The wind died away to nothing, and the rain lost its sting.
    Roderik clambered to his feet, and raised his hands above his head. The rain spattered on his upturned face as his brow furrowed in concentration. A breeze blew from his hands, building quickly into a roaring gale. Gawaine staggered as he felt its first touch, then realized what was happening and threw himself to the ground. Jordan did the same. The heather was pressed flat by the howling wind. Jordan dug his fingers into the muddy ground to try and anchor himself. Roderik stood tall and proud, unmoved by the tempest he had summoned into being. The rain began to die away, and a gap appeared in the dark storm clouds. A shaft of morning light fell onto Roderik like a spotlight. More breaks appeared in the clouds as the wind broke them apart and moved them on. The rain gradually stopped, and was replaced by the returning sunshine.
    Roderik lowered his hands, and as quickly as that, the gale died away to a wind, and then to a breeze, and then was gone. For a while there was only an echoing silence, and then one by one the birds began calling to each other in the heather. The storm had passed, leaving nothing behind to mark its fury save a few patches of blackened and smoldering heather. Gawaine got to his feet, nodded briefly to Roderik, and sheathed his ax. He moved away to calm the terrified horses, while Jordan and Argent got up and went to join Roderik, who was rubbing tiredly at his temples.
    “Are you all right, Rod?” said Argent anxiously. “I never knew you had so much Blood.”
    Roderik gave him a quick, reassuring smile. “I’m fine, thanks. Just a little out of practice. It’s been a long time since I dared use my air magic in public.”
    “Why’s that?” asked Jordan. “I thought you said strong elemental magic was a mark of status in High Society?”
    Roderik smiled sourly. “It also makes you a target for intrigues and assassinations. The fewer people who remembered I was Malcolm’s cousin, the safer I was.”
    He swayed suddenly on his feet as a wave of tiredness caught up with him, and Argent quickly took his arm and helped him sit down. From the way Argent fussed over Roderik, it was clear the two of them were old and close friends, and Jordan decided his presence was something of an intrusion. For want of anything better to do, he walked over to help Gawaine with the horses. The hobbles had kept them from bolting, but their nerves were shattered. Their eyes were rolling wildly, showing the whites, and it was some time before the horses would let anyone get close enough to begin calming them. Gawaine and Jordan stuck at it, talking slowly and smoothly, and gradually the horses began to respond. Normally, Jordan wouldn’t have had the patience, but as it was, he welcomed the chance to do a little quiet thinking. Roderik had said the sudden storm had been caused by High Magic, which suggested two things. Firstly, there was definitely a traitor among Roderik’s people. The mercenaries finding them might have been just an unlucky break, but the storm had been planned and delivered right to them. And secondly, it was now clear that Prince Viktor had some very powerful enemies. Elemental magic might be fairly common at Castle Midnight, but High Magic was a different matter. High Magic meant a first-class sorcerer, and there weren’t many of those left in the world these days.
    “Who do you think was responsible for the storm?” he asked Gawaine finally.
    The knight frowned, and took his time about answering. “High Magic, rather than Blood magic. That narrows the field, but there are still too many suspects for my liking. Any number of people could have good reason to want to stop us reaching Castle Midnight. Sorry I can’t be more specific, but the castle’s lousy with magic users of one kind or