Shadow of the Crown

3. Revi

Three

Revi

Summer 961 MC

Revi Bloom, Royal Life Mage, awoke to limbs that were painfully cramped, while his neck was pushed awkwardly forward. He tried to straighten it, but the top of his head struck something. Reaching out with his hands, he found himself surrounded by bars. The movement caused him to shift slightly, and he began to sway. He opened his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness, and then slowly, his surroundings emerged. He was sitting in a small cage, big enough only for him to squat with his legs crushed against his chest. Twisting his head up, he saw chains dangling the cage from above, and he assumed they were attached to the ceiling.

Uttering the words of power to summon his magical light, he was rewarded with... nothing. In shock, he concentrated again, trying to draw forth the magic that lay within him, but he was unable to find it. A momentary sense of panic gripped him, and then his intellect took control.

"Magebane," he muttered. He knew of the herb but had never experienced its magic draining effects first hand before.

The arrival back in Wincaster had been glorious, with a celebratory feast. The king had even toasted to their health; oh, how he had fooled them all. Revi swore. He should have known better. Now, he was hanging here, a prisoner, unaware of the fate of his friends.

As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he could make out shapes and outlines. Off to the side, light seeped through small cracks in a shuttered window, slowly revealing the room in more detail. One wall was curved, and he took it to be the outside wall of a tower. The small size of this room meant it could not be one of the towers on the city walls, so he surmised that it was, in fact, likely one of the small towers that decorated the top of the Palace. The room was a half circle, with a straight wall opposite the curve, containing a doorway.

Shelves lined the wall to either side of the door, and on the curved side, where his cage hung, there was a work table of some sort, littered with papers and other oddities. He strained his neck trying to get a better view, but his cage was a tight fit, and the table was behind him; he couldn't move his head enough to see it all.

Revi considered himself an educated man, perhaps even one of the most learned men in the kingdom, though he was too humble to admit it. To his mind, one thing was perfectly clear; whomever captured him wanted him alive for some reason, and that meant he still had a chance of surviving his current predicament. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax, breathing deeply to calm his rising panic, concentrating on each muscle. When he finally felt the pressure leave him, he began to look inward, to find his own inner sanctum in his mind.

As peace descended, he imagined himself standing in his home in Wincaster, looking about his library. Why did the king capture them all? They had speculated about a darkness behind the throne. The witch Albreda had even warned them, but they had returned from Weldwyn in triumph, forgetting about the shadow that gripped the land.

He tried to look at it dispassionately, separating his feelings from the situation. He was a Life Mage, and though his training had been incomplete, he knew his very existence threatened something. Did the unknown shadow understand how to use gates? He thought it unlikely. No, it was more probable that his existence as a Life Mage was the problem and, to his mind, there was only one explanation; the presence of a Death Mage, a vile necromancer.

His presumption led him to his next train of thought, for why would such a person be interested in him? His master, Andronicus, had not completed his apprenticeship before the old fellow had succumbed to death. Now, he wondered if the demise of his mentor had been natural after all. Was it a necromancer that had slain him? He knew they had ways of carrying out their objectives without detection, but little more.

In Weldwyn, they had concluded that warriors bane was the ingredient used in two poisonings. Could Andronicus have been killed in a similar manner? He thought back to the old mage's final words. The man had been out of his mind, surely not the symptoms of warriors bane, though he couldn't rule out a different poison.

Revi had to accept that at least he was alive, for now. If his captor wanted something, he would find out eventually. He must bide his time, try to gain what rest he could, and wait for the effects of the magebane to wear off.

A rattling of keys pulled him from his musings, and then the door opened, flooding the room with light. Revi blinked his eyes, letting them adjust. The outline of a person blocked most of the doorway, but beyond, he saw a curved hallway with steps leading up and down.

"I see you've awoken." The woman's voice broke through the silence of his prison. She stepped into the room, placing her candle holder onto the worktable, casting a flickering light throughout the tiny chamber. Revi twisted in a vain effort to make out her features, but the cage kept him still.

"You're an enigma," the woman announced. "You're barely trained, and yet you exhibit sparks of inspiration. One moment you're scarcely able to cast a simple healing spell, the next you're the close confidante of the princess. Or at least, you were. That particular chapter of your life has been closed."

"Why am I here?" Revi demanded.

"Why, indeed?" she mused.

He heard her fumbling around at the work table, seeking something, but his close quarters prevented him from seeing any details. Suddenly, her face loomed in front of him as she stepped from behind the cage. He instantly recognized her features; Lady Penelope Cromwell, mistress to King Andred, the late King of Merceria. She stared back at him for a moment as if sizing him up.

"You have something I want," she said at last.

"What could I possibly have that would be of value to you?" he responded. "I have little in the way of belongings."

"Foolish boy," she said. "It is not your possessions I covet; it's the location of the tower. Give it to me, and I will allow you to live."

Revi was confused, surely everyone knew of his tower. "It's in town," he replied, "I'm surprised you didn't know."

"Don't play games with me, Master Bloom. It is the tower of Andronicus of which I speak."

Now everything fell into place. Andronicus had told him of a tower but had died before revealing its location. He was about to say as much, then checked himself; the only thing keeping him alive was knowledge he didn't possess. If he were to reveal his ignorance, his life would be forfeit.

"I shall not divulge it," he stated.

A look of anger exploded on Penelope's face. "How dare you refuse me," she said. "I could have you killed for that."

"Then kill me," Revi retorted, "and you'll never know its location."

"You are too smart for your own good, Life Mage. You seem to forget, some of your companions are still alive, under lock and key. Will you be so glib, I wonder, when I haul them up here and start killing them?"

Revi remained calm, he had expected as much, but at least now he knew at least some of his friends were still alive. "I hadn't thought of that," he replied. He must buy time, let her think she was making progress, "I shall consider your words."

Lady Penelope stood there staring at him. Revi stared back, noticing she didn't blink.

"Very well," she said at last, "I shall give you some more time to consider your circumstances."

She disappeared from his view, and then he heard her at the workbench. She appeared a moment later, a small vial in her hand.

"Before I go, you must drink this; we can't have your magic returning."

"I'd love to oblige," replied Revi, "but I can't move. I'm afraid I'll have to decline the kind offer."

Penelope's face broke into a wicked grin, "A minor inconvenience, soon remedied."

She moved behind him. He heard the rattling of chains just before he felt his cage lifted on one end while the other dropped, leaving him lying on his side. A hand reached through the bars to hold something beneath his nose. His immediate reaction was to cough, but as he did so, she poured the contents of the vial into his mouth and pinched his nose.

He coughed and sputtered, but the damage was done; the harsh liquid found its way down his throat.

"See? Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

A knock at the door interrupted her, and she turned in irritation.

"What is it?" she yelled.

"News, my lady," came the reply.

She wheeled back to face the young mage, "I'll come back and check on you later; it seems I have more pressing affairs that need my attention."

"I'll be here," promised Revi, "though if you're coming back, I'd appreciate some food."

Penelope glared at him before turning to the door, which opened to reveal a member of the Royal Guard. She exited the room, closing and locking the door behind her, but the candle still burned on the workbench, illuminating all within.

Revi strained to listen, as the voices rose in the hallway.

"Spit it out, man," she hissed.

"There's some trouble, my lady. One of the princess's entourage is unaccounted for."

"Who?" she demanded.

"The captain of her guard."

"Fools," she fumed, "no one was to escape. Search the city, leave no stone unturned, and seal the gates. No one goes in or out until he's found."

"Yes, my lady," replied the man.

Revi heard their footsteps receding. It appeared not all of his friends had been captured!