War of the Wisps

The companions arrived back at Woadrok in the evening. The dragon flew down and deposited his riders in the palace courtyard, where they greeted the guards on duty. The men responded to their arrival with the now familiar protocol they’d developed for the dragon and his riders, sending a few in to inform one of the senior officials of their arrival.

Andrew’s eyes flickered from guard to guard. In the two day flight back to the capitol, all he’d thought about was the enemy spy. Could the spy be one of the guards? Would the mage even bother to hide their powers at all? Or, worst of all, was there only one?

“I don’t see why we should care so much,” Peter had said the previous night. “It’s not like our missions are a secret or anything. Does it really matter if whoever’s capturing the Wisps knows where we’re going next?”

Andrew nodded. He pointed to Jarnvaror. “Imagine what the Pirate captain could have done if he’d realized we were already in the city, instead of just being on our way,” he said.

Peter shrugged, but Anna nodded in agreement. “He’s right, Peter. We don’t really know what we’re dealing with. Only that whatever this group is, they have a lot of powerful mages, and they don’t mind working with bandits. They could set up an ambush for us.”

“Have you ever tried sneaking up on a dragon?” Peter asked.

“They don’t need to. They just need to catch us when he’s off hunting. We can’t rely on him for everything.”

“Once we tell the King and Queen, they’ll be able to root out the problem,” Anna said.

Andrew looked at her, not sure how to respond at first. He went slowly, organizing his thoughts as he went. “I’m not sure if telling them would be the best idea.”

“Why not?” Anna asked.

“They’re still kids. I’m not sure if they’d have any idea how to handle it.”

“I don’t like the idea of keeping secrets,” Peter had replied.

“And what about everyone else in the capitol?” Anna asked. “How will we find the spy if we don’t tell anyone?”

“That’s not what I mean,” Andrew said. “Really, it’s two things. I think King Henry will just start a search for the spy right away. If he does that, the spy is bound to get away.”

“We could ask him to be sneaky about it,” Peter said.

“Maybe,” Andrew conceded. “But there’s still my other concern. I’m not sure we could tell them privately, without all the guards and attendants present.”

“So?” Peter asked.

“So it’s hard to tell the King and Queen without telling the spy we’re on to him, too,” Anna explained. “But then, what do we do?”

“Is there anyone in the palace we think we can trust?” Andrew asked.

“Sol,” Anna answered right away. “And maybe Daniel.”

Andrew thought about the two of them. He didn’t have Anna’s confidence. They hadn’t interacted much with the Chancelor without the king and queen present. As for Sol… maybe the Archmage would be able to root out any rogue mage’s under his authority.. He looked back at the others. “Yeah. We should try and meet with Sol as soon as we can.”

The others agreed.

Now they waited in the courtyard. It was late in the evening. Young as they were, Andrew thought the King and Queen would likely both be in bed at this hour. That seemed lucky to him. They’d be able to get Sol’s advice even before reporting to the King and Queen. Or maybe they’d be able to talk to Daniel.

The head of staff came out to greet them and informed them that the other chief officials were all asleep, but that they would be summoned to make their report in the morning. Andrew felt a sense of disappointment set in.

Then Peter stepped forward. “Is there any chance we’d be able to meet with Sol in the meantime?” he asked. “See, Anna’s magic Anchor broke during the mission, and we’d like to talk to him about it.”

Andrew stared at his brother, not sure if the request was brilliant or would cocky. The Chamberlain thought for a moment, pursing his lips. “The Archmage may still be up tinkering in his office. Come, I’m sure he’d be happy to help with that.”

Peter grinned at the others, then went inside after the older servant. Andrew sidled up to his brother. “What was that?”

“I spent the whole flight today thinking of ways we’d be able to get in to talk to Sol together,” Peter said.

“Wish I’d been thinking of that,” Andrew said. “I was worrying about the spy.”

Peter shrugged. “Well, now we can see what Sol thinks.”

The Archmage was indeed in his office over the library. The door swung open, and Sol looked down at them, a little sleepily. Then his face split into a smile. “Welcome back, and good to see you. Thank you, Master Eli.”

“Of course,” the Chamberlain said. He turned to the Wisp seekers. “If you’ve no pressing needs, I’m afraid I must return to my other duties. Send for me if you need anything.”

The trio thanked him as well, then piled into Sol’s office. There was plenty of room for the three of them, though the mess made it seem more cramped. Sol took his seat and looked up at them. “How was your journey to Prohr?”

Anna answered first. “Things there were… difficult. We didn’t learn much, though Halcyon um…. Recruited several new Wisps.”

“Did he? Are they like him?”

“Now,” Peter said. “But not when we first found them.”

Sol nodded. “So they’re like the others. Interesting.” He seemed to think for a moment. Then he frowned. “Weren’t those Wisps in the hands of Pirates?”

“Yep,” Peter said.

“So you confronted them after all,” the Archemage said. “I’m glad to see you’re all alright.”

“Oh, yeah. You should have seen Anna stop him,” Peter said.

“Really?” Sol asked, looking at his informal apprentice.

Anna’s face turned red and she shook her head. “It wasn’t anything special. I just got lucky.”

Andrew saw Peter was about to recite the whole story, so he cleared his throat. “We were actually hoping to talk to you about something the pirate mage said.” Sol turned back to Andrew and gestured for the young man to continue. “He knew we were coming. To the city, I mean. They were expecting the three of us to arrive in Prohr.”

The Archmage frowned. “Well that’s… odd. He knew you were coming, not that you’d arrived?”

Andrew and the others nodded. “He said one of his informants in the city told him. We’d caught him off guard because he didn’t know we’d already arrived, but…”

“Not as as off guard as he might have been, I imagine,” Sol said. He leaned back in his chair. “I wonder if some criminals could have intercepted our letter. Or perhaps the nobles let people know?” Sol asked hopefully.

Andrew shook his head. “We arrived before the letter.”

“Jarn is a lot faster than most birds,” Peter added.

Sol nodded, folding his hands, his face hardening. “Yes… Well, if it wasn’t intercepted, then you suspect someone told them by magic.”

“To be fair, it didn’t occur to us that it was intercepted,” Peter pointed out.

“That seems unlikely, though,” Andrew said. “How often are messenger birds lost or intercepted?”

Sol shrugged. “It happens,” he said. “But… not that often.”

“So someone could have let them know by magic?” Anna asked.

Again, Sol nodded. “I know of a spell that can allow for that. There’s a simple one that works for communicating from one end of the city to another. But longer distances are tricky. The spell becomes less stable. It can be done, but you need skilled mages on either side to maintain the spell.”

Andrew nodded, feeling his fears confirmed. “So there would need to be some spy here talking to someone in Prohr.”

Sol nodded. “Yes. And that someone would have to be privy to your destination.”

“I didn’t think you kept that secret,” Peter said.

Sol shrugged. “We don’t,” Sol admitted. “Not strictly, anyway. Daniel believes that it would be impossible to really hide, but trying would draw even more eyes. I’m inclined to agree. Hiding a dragon is… well…”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Peter said, flashing a grin at Andrew.

“So what do we do about it?” Andrew asked.

“I don’t know,” Sol said.

“Can you think of someone who might be the spy?”

Sol shook his head. “There are plenty of mages who could do it if they were motivated to., but… Well I can’t think of any that are interested in your work. And if the mage is someone unknown, or trying to hide themselves… well, I haven’t been looking for anything like that.”

“Couldn’t you find them by sensing spells, the way Anna did while we were looking for Wisps?” Peter asked.

Sol thought for a moment. “I can cast out feelers. But, in this city, there are plenty of mages compared to around the kingdom. Not to mention wealthy people who buy enchantments for themselves or those they employ. I’d have to think about how to sift through them all.”

“And in the meantime?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah, is there any way we can help?” Anna added.

Sol thought for another moment. “You haven’t told anyone else?” Sol asked.

“Not since we got back,” Peter said.

“The knight commander in Prohr was with us when we encountered the mage,” Anna pointed out. “He told Lord Mac’Fureigh.”

Sol nodded. “But no one since returning? Good. We don’t want the spy learning they’ve been found out. It will be more difficult to find them.”

“We thought of that,” Andrew said. “But what do we do?”

“Nothing,” Sol said.

“Nothing?” Andrew repeated, stunned.

Sol nodded. “Yes. Nothing. Well, almost nothing. Keep doing missions like normal. Act like you don’t know anything. Try and convince the spy you just got lucky. And if you have to deal with any mages on your future missions, assume they knew you were coming.”

“We can’t help find the spy?” Anna asked.

“That is how you help,” Sol said. “I’ll poke around. You play dumb.”

“You’ll be on your own?” Andrew asked. “What about bringing in the Scepters, or Chancellor Daniel?”

Sol shrugged. “The King and Queen are too young to handle something like this. As for the lord chancellor… I suppose I could let him know, if I can catch him on his own. In the mean time, keep your eyes pealed and your mouths shut.”

Andrew looked at the others. Peter was grinning, as if the whole situation was just a game. Anna’s face was set in determination. He turned to Sol and nodded. “We’ll do our best.”

“Good. Oh! As part of the ruse, we should probably have something that this meeting was about, other than just a personal greeting and, you know, talking about the spy.”

Andrew nodded and gestured to the others. “Peter thought of that already.”

Anna held up her broken magic anchor.

Sol blinked. “My. You will have to tell me about the adventure in more detail. Later, of course,” he added. He turned around and began rummaging through his drawers. “For now, though, you can use this.” He turned around and handed a gem to Anna, much the same as the cracked one added to her bracelet. Then he held out a small scroll. “I actually had this in mind. It’s about the—”

A knock at the door cut him off. All four turned to look, just as the door swung open, and in marched Lady Thalia. “So you are back!” she spat. “And just what are you doing here?” Sol opened his mouth to reply, but the queen mother held up a hand to forestall him. “Not you! You!” and her gaze swung across the trio.

“Well, everyone else was asleep,” Andrew said. “So we came to ask Sol to replace—”

“That’s not what I mean, young man!” Thalia interrupted. “I mean why are you back in the city!”

Andrew blinked. “We… We completed the mission in Prohr,” he managed.

“Prohr!?” Lady Thalia snapped. “We sent a letter about an urgent mission for you a day ago! Whatever the state of things is in Prohr, you are needed in the Green Vale! Why did you come back?”

“We had already left Prohr,” Anna interjected. “We missed the letter. What’s going on in the Green Vale?” she asked.