Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (top novels of all time TXT) 📗

take only what is on your person and enough food for you and your two servants to make the journey. The rest stays here.”

“So you plan to rob me as well? You are no better than a common bandit,” he spat at the ground.

“What you had came from the sweat of your people. You surrendered your right to it when you abandoned them,” I replied.

He looked at Penny, “At least return my sword.”

Penny glared at him, “It will go to someone who will defend their home.”

“You would leave me defenseless on the roads?” he asked me.

“I think you will find the roads clear,” I graced him with a cold smile.

***

We were almost back to Washbrook before Marc spoke, “You understand what this will mean when he reaches the king?”

I kept my eyes forward as I replied, “I have a fair idea.”

“You’ll be called before the council. He may even strip you of your title,” he informed me.

“I know, but I can’t in good conscience leave those people to the mercies of fate. Do you think I should have done otherwise?” I asked.

“You could have waited till after he had left. Then you would have been doing him a favor, protecting his people in his absence. He’d have been in your debt, rather than branding you a thief.”

I glanced at him, “Is that what you would have done?”

“It was never my decision, but if it had been... I don’t know. A year ago I might have killed him rather than let him return to the king, but now... I’m not sure. The goddess has shown me a new path, one open to all men. As I am now I probably would have waited until he was gone, though that might not have been the most tactically sound choice.” My friend paused for a long minute. If I had not known him so well I might have spoken, but I knew more was coming. “You still aren’t comfortable with my vocation are you?” he asked.

“I wish I could say I was. I trust you and I trust your intentions, but the more I learn of magic and the nature of the relationship between wizards and gods the less I trust them,” I answered carefully.

I had piqued his curiosity, “What have you learned lately?”

I studied him carefully before I continued. At last I decided to trust my friend and told him what I had read in ‘The History of Illeniel’.

After a long pause he spoke, “According to what you read the gods were once weaker than they are today? That goes against all current theological knowledge. What makes you trust it more than the words of the wise?”

“History is written by the victor,” I said simply. I didn’t need to expand on the statement; we’d had enough debates with his tutors over the years for him to understand my meaning immediately.

“According to what I’ve learned the victors of the sundering were the wizards of that time,” he responded.

“That is true in the most technical sense, but they were left diminished and vastly outnumbered. The religions of the shining gods, by contrast, had risen to much greater power. The wizards that remained had lost the trust of kings and men, while the gods had gained it,” I replied seriously. “I think that the bond was as much a political contrivance as it was a safeguard against another wizard opening a world-bridge.”

“Your own experience nearly drove you mad,” he answered.

“It may have appeared so... but I truly think I was simply adjusting to a new level of awareness. The wizards of old survived for more than a thousand years without a bond to protect them from madness,” I said earnestly.

He shook his head, “You seemed like you were losing your mind my friend. Even if I believe that, you can’t deny the bond protects you from being taken by one of the dark gods.”

“The operative word is ‘gods’, not dark gods,” I said. “When I met your goddess I got the distinct impression she would just as likely have ‘taken’ me as left me to my own devices.”

“I can’t believe that, you must have misunderstood her intentions. Besides it puts them at cross-purposes. If the shining gods want you as badly as the dark gods why would they have striven to create the accord that forces you to take a bond-bearer. If they wanted a wizard to create a world-bridge for them that would defeat their own purpose. Why would they do that?”

At first his argument struck me as logical. I hadn’t considered it from that angle before, but then a new thought occurred to me, “Perhaps they were afraid. As you pointed out at the start, technically it was wizards who defeated Balinthor at the end. More specifically it was one wizard that killed him, the archmage Moira Centyr. If you were an immortal deity wouldn’t you be afraid of someone who could slay a god?”

Marc laughed; the idea that the gods might be afraid seemed plainly ludicrous. “You mentioned the archmages in that history you read, yet you don’t even know what one is, do you?”

I had to admit my ignorance on that point, “Not a clue.”

“Then why bother thinking on them?” he asked.

“Because I think I was becoming one perhaps, and this bond, which the shining gods helped force upon me... has stopped whatever was happening to me.”

Marc gave me an empathetic look, “I think you should be grateful for it. I’m certain it was for your own good.”

I didn’t reply to that, I had made my argument knowing he couldn’t accept it. Still I couldn’t help thinking to myself, I’ve never liked anything that was done to me for my own good. It sounded like an excuse. Nevertheless it was an excuse I would have to live with.

***

A week had passed since my ‘visit’ to Arundel and things were proceeding smoothly. The area for the dam had been cleared and dug out so the foundations could be