Free The Queen of Mages by Benjamin Clayborne Page A

you? If you’ve got a girl half so
beautiful to bring to the ball, I’ll eat this table.”
    Skender raised up his left hand. A golden
band glittering with iridescent onyx stones encircled his ring
finger. “My betrothed, sadly, remains in Blackwall.”
    Liam coughed on his ale. “The likes of you,
getting married. Gareth! I thought a valo was supposed to
protect his lord.”
    “Knives, plots, poisons, that’s easy.
Protecting a man from himself, that’s where it gets tricky.” The
red-haired valo chuckled, but the eye he cast toward Skender
was wary.
    “So, Dardan,” Skender said. “No doubt you’ve
heard about the regiments his majesty dispatched to the northern
passes.”
    “Of course.”
    “Where does your house stand on the
Vaslander threat?”
    Liam glared at Gareth. “Well no wonder.”
    Gareth at least had the good sense to look
embarrassed. “Just doin’ as I’m told.”
    Dardan tapped a finger on his mug. “You know
as well as I do what our position has to be. What I’d like to know
is why your father’s so bent on starting a war.”
    Skender’s eyes narrowed a little. “A fair
question.” He sipped at his ale again. The cup was still nearly
full. Either he can’t hold his liquor… or he prefers to be the
only one sober. It occurred to Liam that there were benefits to
being the last man standing.
    Skender went on. “I know how you love to
study history, Dardan, so you’re well aware of how much damage the
Vaslanders did to Blackwall in the last war.”
    Dardan nodded. “I’d think Duke Terilin would
want to prevent war, not engage it.”
    “Any wise man would, but, ah… Do you know
how my mother died?”
    Gareth was holding very still now, staring
down at the table. Liam thought he could see the man biting his
tongue.
    Dardan shook his head. “I only knew she’d
died in the war, along with… others.”
    Skender took another tiny sip of ale, as
casually as anything. “Father moved us all to the south of the
dukedom when the Vaslanders invaded. My mother, my sisters, and I
were all taken to an old castle in the southern hills, and then
again south to Gravensford when the Vaslanders came closer.”
    “Gravensford? Doesn’t the royal family have
an estate there?” Liam asked.
    “The very same,” Skender said. “Many nobles
of Blackwall were housed there during the war. My mother, however,
felt as strongly about the defense of Blackwall as my father did,
and refused to stay long. She left us children in the care of
others, and returned north to help my father.” His smooth tone
never changed, as if he were recounting a day at the shops on
King’s Street. “By then, we had pushed the Vaslanders back north a
ways, and reclaimed the keep at Iceford. Mother saw to the defense
and the wounded there, while father led sorties north, to weed out
pockets of Vaslanders who still held some towns and villages.” His
black eyes gleamed in the candlelight, and he paused for a moment.
“He returned to find Iceford under attack. Forces spread too thin
had let a band of Vaslanders slip through and reach the castle.
Somehow they gained entry, and…” Here he paused, his voice showing
a little strain for the first time. “Few in the castle survived.
Father found my mother in the kitchens. She was still warm.” He
sipped at his ale again and fell quiet.
    No one else spoke, either. Gareth no doubt
knew this story already, which explained his grim expression. Liam
felt sick.
    “So you see,” Skender went on after a
minute, “my father has quite enough reason to hate Vaslanders, and
to want them all dead. He will not risk them reaching his borders
again. I find myself compelled to agree.” He smiled again. “But
this is such a sad topic. Tell me more of this lady of yours,” he
suggested.
    Everyone seemed relieved to change the
subject. Dardan spilled everything he knew about Amira, which still
wasn’t much. Liam found it interesting that the summer ball and the
prospect of courtship