A Clash of Magics by Guy Antibes (read this if txt) 📕

“Presidon. He didn’t have a lick of magic. Do you?”

“I have a lick or two,” Trevor said. He pulled out the ancient rod and pointed it toward a signpost, and let fly a single pulse of red light. The pinpoint of magical light smoked a bit.

The officer’s eyes grew. “You should have entered the magic competition!”

“Not my thing,” Trevor said.

Trevor bowed to the man and went to the water table, where he downed a mug of water. That was too close, he thought. He purposely lost the next match, holding his sword with as limp a wrist as he could manage.

Win walked up. “That’s better,” Trevor’s friend said. “No one will notice you in the archery contest.”

“And no one has seen you fight with a spear, right?”

“Almost right,” Win said, “but no one in Presidon has seen me fight competently with a spear.”

They watched the rest of the sword matches. The field adjourned for lunch. The final matches were scheduled for an hour and a half past noon.

Win and Trevor sat in the shade of a barracks that faced the main field. The soldier that Trevor had fought brought along another young officer and sat down next to them.

“I don’t know how either of you learned magic, but we both know who you are,” the former opponent said. “Your secret is safe with us. What brings you back to Tarviston. You must know your life is in danger.”

Trevor introduced himself as Linny Volst and Win as Win Zutterak. “I’ve been dodging and not-dodging assassins since I left Presidon,” Trevor said. “I have no designs on the throne since I have secured another domain elsewhere.”

“Not a kingdom?” the other officer asked.

“I don’t need or want a kingdom,” Trevor said. “I married a week ago, and assassins invaded the room I spent the first night with my wife.”

“And you lived to tell the tale!”

“My wife suffered burns. We married in Jiksara. I decided I had to put the assassins to an end if I was to live the rest of my life in peace.”

“You aim to kill the queen and the princess?” one of the officers said. Trevor could hear the wariness in the man’s voice.

“No. I had an understanding that I would remain in exile when I left Presidon the first time. I held up my side of the agreement, but assassins attacked me before I even reached the border. I’ve been attacked many times since the usurpation. I want a better understanding. I am hoping that Lilith remains a reasonable ruler as regent.”

“Unless she is blindsided or overruled by her mother,” one of the officers blurted out. “We won’t say a thing unless you physically attack the princess.”

“And the queen?”

Trevor’s former opponent pressed his lips together before he said. “We will have to see about that. What will you do now that you’ve been exposed?”

“Have I been exposed?” Trevor asked.

“No,” both officers said.

“Win and I will play in the final matches, but we won’t prevail.”

The officers nodded. “A final goodbye to Presidon?”

“Not the final one,” Trevor said. “But my farewell to the Presidonian army.”

They ate their lunch while Trevor told them about the battle of Khartoo.

“We have lived such sheltered lives,” one of them said with a grin.

~

Trevor wasn’t entirely comfortable with the officers’ assurances that they wouldn’t expose them. He would remain wary.

Contestants and former contestants mostly filled the stands, but more townspeople were looking on than Trevor expected. The magic competition was held with man-shaped targets. Even Trevor would have done well with his magic rod, but no one could throw a lightning bolt. Presidon was still a sheltered place.

He went down to the field for the archery competition. The army provided bows and arrows, and Trevor took a quiver full. He looked up at the stands and met Princess Lilith’s eye. Could she have identified him so quickly? Trevor turned away and shot as accurately as the winner, but his target was a spot in the third ring.

He walked off the field, glancing at Lilith, and their eyes met again. She rose and left the royal box. Trevor sighed. It was time to meet his sister again. He walked out of the arena, looking for Win.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a guard. Trevor didn’t recognize him.

“The princess gave me this for you.” The guard presented Trevor with a royal token and a folded paper. The guard turned on his heel and left Trevor staring at the man’s back as he disappeared into the crowd.

He unfolded the paper. It was in Lilith’s handwriting.

“You can use this token to get into the castle. I will meet you in your old quarters in the tower at sunset. You will excuse the condition of the rooms.”

After he found Win, he left the tournament grounds. “Take Snowflake and find a stable close to your mother’s flat. If I don’t come back, return to Jilgrath and give Snowflake to Volst. Can you do that?”

“What are you going to do?” Win asked.

“Lilith recognized me immediately. She has given me this,” he pulled out the royal token. “I will meet her in my old rooms at sunset.”

“You go through any castle gate, and you’ll die,” Win said, “token or not!”

Trevor shook his head. “I’ve never thought Lilith was my enemy. I don’t think she ever was, but Mother was her ally. I don’t think the queen is the princess regent’s ally anymore.”

They returned to their quarters and packed their things. Trevor loaded what little he had brought with him onto Snowflake and said goodbye to Win at the army stables.

“Take good care of Lissa if something happens.”

“Won’t she be the Duchess of Listenwell?” Win said. “She can take care of Siranda and me.”