The Seer King: Book One of the Seer King Trilogy by Chris Bunch Read Free Book Online Page A

expression on Lance Karjan’s face that he agreed completely with
that.
“But I’ll chance the boy remembers what I did, and maybe, when he grows up,
if
he grows up, which seems unlikely in these lands, will return my boon to someone.” I glanced at Karjan. “Don’t bother showing me what you think of
that
idea, soldier. And thank you for being so quick. Next time, I must be a little swifter.”
    I got a smile from the bearded cavalryman, and we rode on. Indeed, the People of the Hills were all the same. No doubt the women and the old ones were uniformly wishing they could have a dagger and one minute’s chance at one of us with our back turned, and then two minutes to rifle the corpse.
    Sulem Pass opened out, until it was almost a mile wide, the hills around it low and rolling; so as long as we carefully approached the roadside gullies that cut the land like knife scars, we would have adequate warning of an attack.
    Laish Tenedos rode in silence for a while, then said, “Now that boy poses a good riddle for a judge who has yet to take his appointed bench. Should I be merciful, and pray this changes the endless back-and-forth of murder begetting more murder causing still more bloodshed? Or should I choose the other way of ending these problems? Dead men carry no feuds.”
    I did not wish to comment, but that did give me an opening. “Yesterday, sir,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “you said you hold radical ideas. There are many people who believe many things in Nicias, some far beyond radical, but the Rule of Ten does not generally silence them, or … send them out to be slain, until they have a following, or at any rate a chamber where audiences may gather.”
    “A good point, Damastes.” This was the second use of my first name, and from then on it was continual, except in formal circumstances, most unusual for the vast difference in rank between us. But for some reason it seemed proper. “I’ll tell you a bit of myself.
    “I am from Palmeras, as I said. Of my family, I’ll say nothing now, save that they gave me enough money so I could devote myself to the study of magic, since I’d shown evidence of the Great Talent as a child and, not understanding me well, left me alone. I returned the favor, although, if circumstances come to pass, I may find use for two of my brothers in the fullness of time.
    “When I was sixteen I was fortunate enough to win a competition that enabled me to leave Palmeras for Nicias, and complete my studies.
    “Sometimes,” he said, “I dream of my island, and the sharp, dry smell of the rosemary under a summer sun, or the tang of our resiny wine, and wish I’d never left. But even then, I sensed my destiny.”
    I’d begun to let go of the idea that Tenedos was a madman, but this word,
destiny
, made me wonder once more.
    “I apprenticed myself to a master wizard,” Tenedos went on, “and studied under him for five years. When I was twenty-two, I knew I must set my own curriculum, be my own master.
    “I traveled for four more years, visiting every state in Numantia, studying the Art under any savant who would have me. But I knew what I sought would lie beyond sorcery, and so I read greatly about our history and especially about our wars.
    “Do not sneer, but I sometimes wish my life had taken a slightly different turn, and I came from a military family, because I feel an affinity for the battlefield, for the army. I wondered then, and wonder now, why magic has played so little a part in the great battles, and know, deep in my guts, this shall not always be the case.
    “But that is for the future, and I was talking about my past. One day, sitting at the feet of a hermit in faraway Jafarite, I knew suddenly and completely what actions must be taken, and taken quickly, to save my beloved Numantia. I returned to Nicias last year, and that was when my troubles began.
    “I set up practice as a seer, but discouraged the common visitor who wanted no more than a love