Stasheff, Christopher - Her Majestys Wizard 2 - Oath Bound

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2024-12-04 1 0 891.71KB 397 页 5.9玖币
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
CHAPTER 1
Lovers' Quarrel
The horse was steaming, and Matt was fuming. They clattered in over the
drawbridge and past the guards with nothing but a perfunctory grunt. They exchanged
a glance and shook their heads.
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
Matt pulled up by the stables and tossed the reins to the first groom who came
running, then turned away on his heel, stalking toward the towering bulk of the
keep. The groom stared after him, shocked--the Lord Wizard was unfailing in his
politeness, with always time for a cheerful word or two.
But Her Majesty's Wizard was anything but cheerful, and in no mood to be polite
to anyone, least of all Her Majesty. The fact that he had to ride a mere horse only
made things worse. Of course, he had had to be content with ordinary mounts since
his dragon friend Stegoman had gone gallivanting off with his other friend Sir Guy
on an errand of errantry, a gallant mission to save the kingdom of Ibile from the
wretched stew of sorcery it had simmered into over the last two hundred years--and,
at the moment, Matt wished most ardently that he had gone with them. The danger
seemed of relatively little importance compared to the simple fact of a mission
worth undertaking. Not like this last little fracas, which...!
He stormed up to the doors of the royal apartments, but as he laid hold of the
handle, a sentry leaped forward, albeit with trepidation. "Nay, my Lord Wizard! Her
Majesty hath not given leave!"
"Too right she hasn't!" Matt snarled. Alisande seemed to have developed an
aversion to Matt's company lately, probably because every time he saw her, he
pressed her to set a date for their wedding: But they had been engaged for three
years now, so it wasn't surprising that Matt was getting a little impatient. It was
time to have it out with her. He yanked the door open and stormed into the
corridor, trailing a howling wake of horrified sentries and servants.
The queen looked up from her writing, blue eyes wide in surprise, then in
outrage.
It almost stopped Matt--not her rage, but her beauty. The oval face was framed
in a cascade of blond hair, unbound here in her private apartments, and set off
perfectly by the mauve of her casual gown.
Almost.
"Why don't you just say you don't want me around anymore?" Matt slapped his
gloves down on the table. "That last trip was something any village magician could
have taken care of. No, strike that--he would have sent his apprentice!"
"I did not deem a plague of locusts a trivial matter, Lord Wizard!" Alisande
said in a voice that would have frozen penguins. "It may be of little moment to
you, but the poor peasant folk thereabout thought it disastrous!"
"Sure, because their village magician had dropped dead two years ago, and their
baron was too cheap to hire a replacement! And don't tell me you didn't know that!"
"Assuredly, I did--and thought it your office to see to it! What, must I
undertake every smallest matter myself? Have I none to aid me?"
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
"Oh, come off it with the wounded violet routine! You could have told me why
the baron didn't have a magician, and I would have sent one out."
Alisande's gaze faltered. "Mayhap, yet still 'twas thy duty to see to his
installation."
"And just conveniently put myself out of your way for a fortnight, so you
didn't have to worry about my importuning you!"
Alisande tried to bring her gaze back up to his, but didn't quite manage it.
"Wherefore ought I find concern..."
"Because I keep pressing you to set the date! Which is scarcely surprising,
considering how long we've been engaged! But every time I bring up the subject of
marriage, you keep putting me off--and off, and off. Meanwhile, I hang around here
like your tame poodle--just another ornament for your palace, never getting to do
anything I really want to do!"
"Not what you wish! Pray Heaven any of us could do what we wished! And what is
it you wish to do?"
"Marry you!"
Alisande took a deep breath, fighting for patience and trying to still her
beating heart. "It shall come some day, Lord Wizard."
"Yes, I understand it will. I seem to remember some sort of promise to that
effect..."
"Promise?" Alisande's gaze sharpened "I made no promise!"
"Oh?" Matt cocked his head to the side. "Then what would you call those words
we exchanged on Breden Plain?"
"My appeal, and your response. As I mind me, 'twas yourself who did give
promise that day, not I--and somewhat unwillingly at that."
"Well, I'm more than willing now!" Matt swallowed down outrage. "And you may
not have actually given me a promise, but there certainly seemed to be something
implied."
Alisande tossed her head impatiently. "In a moment of weakness, I gave you a
kiss, naught more--and, Lord Wizard, a kiss is not a promise."
Matt held his face impassive while he absorbed the hurt. Alisande saw, and
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
quailed within, but met wooden face with flint.
Finally, Matt said, "If that kiss happened in a moment of weakness, then you
have a weakness for me--which means that, underneath your mask of duty, you're
really in love with me, and hopefully, want to spend your life with me."
Alisande bridled, the more so because it was true. "You overreach yourself,
Lord Wizard. Yet whether I love you or not, I may not act upon it."
Matt just stared at her.
Then he said, "Let me get this straight. You love me, but you can't do anything
about it?"
Alisande kept her face hard. "You must know that a queen cannot marry for love--
but only for the good of the kingdom, using her marriage as a way of forming an
alliance, or in other ways benefiting her people."
Matt felt his stomach sink--he did indeed know. So, of course, he tried to fend
off the vision of a lifetime of hanging around the court as the bachelor least
likely to succeed, by going on the offensive. "That means that if I were the king
of some other country, you'd marry me?"
"Aye, if the goodwill of that land were of need to my own."
"Okay--so I'll go win a kingdom." Matt started to turn away.
"Speak not so foolishly, Lord Wizard!" Alisande snapped, with her first hint of
real temper. "Kingdoms are not to be had for the asking! To say such is nigh to
sacrilege!"
"Oh, come on!" Matt turned back. "There has to be a kingdom somewhere near that
has a rotten king, and needs a new one."
"Aye, both Ibile and Allustria--yet I do well but to ward against them, with
all my horses and all my men! How should we conquer them?"
"I'll find a way."
"You cannot!"
"I swear to God I will!" Matt shouted. "I'll kick that Ibilian monster-monarch
off his throne or die trying!"
Alisande blanched, and the throne room was suddenly as silent as a tomb, even
the guards staring in scandalized shock. Matt glanced at them out of the corners of
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
his eyes, and something inside him said, in a very tiny voice, Oh. I should not
have said that, should I?
Then Alisande caught her breath and shouted, "Guards! Seize that man! Bind and
gag him! Chain him to the thickest wall in my deepest dungeon!"
Matt stared, unbelieving. His one true love? Sending him into solitary?
Then the guards hit, and he believed. Two men hugged his arms and two more his
legs, picking him up bodily, ignoring his struggles. He opened his mouth to shout a
spell, but somebody's glove jammed in between his teeth. Enraged, he tried to spit
it out, but someone else was already wrapping a sash around his face and tying it
tight. He couldn't speak, he couldn't gesture!
"Well done," Alisande said, discreetly disregarding the guards' ashen faces.
"Now bear him to the dungeons, and chain him to the wall. Then mount guard over
him, inside the cell and out--and if he should even attempt to speak, give him so
shrewd a knock alongside the head that he loses consciousness again. Oh, be sure,
he must not speak! Or he will cast a spell!"
Matt felt his stomach sink, as the guards turned him about and headed for the
stairway. Alisande was right, unfortunately--and the guards had hit too fast for
him to get his mouth working. He was well and truly trussed this time--and not
liable to get out of it.
But his one true love! How could she do such a thing to him? Humiliate him so?
Not to mention the discomfort!
Easy--she didn't love him. He'd just been a valuable asset. A heavy mass seemed
to weigh down upon his spirits, as the guards hauled him down, down through the
keep and into the dark of the dungeon. Dark, yes, but no darker than the mood that
descended over his soul.
CHAPTER 2
Free Thinker
The blacksmith finished riveting the manacles chaining Malt's wrists behind him
and stepped back with a look of trepidation. "You know we wouldn't have done this
on our own, Your Lordship."
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
Matt glowered at him, but he couldn't keep it up. Reluctantly, he nodded. It
wasn't just fear of his magic--the common folk all liked him too well to do
anything against him. Most of them, anyway. He gargled something that sounded like
grudging acceptance.
Relief washed the smith's face. "Godspeed you, Lord Wizard. Heaven knows, you
have served her Majesty too well to deserve such as this!"
" 'Tis not for you to say, Smith!" the captain of the guard snapped. "Out with
you, now. 'Tis enough for you to know the Lord Wizard will not seek revenge."
Matt muttered and nodded. He couldn't really blame a man for doing his job
properly. He shrugged.
The smith broke into a grateful smile, hoisted his portable anvil, and went out
the door.
"We shall leave you now, milord," the captain of the guard said. "Yet I, too,
would have you know, 'tis not by my wish you are here."
Matt didn't know whether he was trying to mend his fences, or give support--but
again he shrugged the apology away. The man was just doing as he was bound to do,
by his oath of service. Alisande was his queen, after all.
The captain seemed faintly relieved. Had he understood Matt's thought so well
as that? But no, Matt hadn't recited a telepathy spell. How could he, bound and
gagged?
"Even so, I mislike coming between a man and his leman," the other guard
growled.
Matt understood--domestic disputes were always rough on the cops. But don't
worry, boys, I won't hold it against you, he thought as hard as he could.
Again, the look of relief. "Is there aught to make you comfortable, milord, ere
we go?"
Matt nodded, working his mouth around his gag, then miming the act of drinking
water.
"Aye." The captain hefted a wineskin. "There must be two of us for when you
wish to drink henceforth, must there not? Unstop his mouth, soldier--and stand
ready to smite him if he should speak a single word."
The guard nodded as he untied the sash, face hard. "I would I did not have to,
Lord Wizard, yet such is the queen's command."
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
The gag came out, and Matt drew a long breath of clean air with relief. The
captain held out the wineskin, and Matt leaned back and drew a long draught. Eyeing
his jailers warily, he decided not to try speaking even to thank them, and opened
his mouth with a sigh.
It was a new and more comfortable gag they put in--no doubt the captain wanted
his glove back--but to say a gag is "more comfortable" is to say a torture is "less
painful." Matt resigned himself and slumped back against the wall with a sigh. It
was going to be a long existence, with a very dry mouth and aching jaws.
The guard finished tying the gag back in place, Matt sat down with a groan, and
the captain nodded, turning to go. "May all be as well for you as it may, Lord
Wizard."
The door slammed shut, but there was still a torch, since the remaining guard
needed light. After all, there wasn't much point stationing him there with his
short cudgel, if he couldn't see whether or not Matt had worked his gag loose.
And Matt was certainly in a mood to try, feeling angry, vengeful, betrayed,
rejected, and bewildered. Where had he gone wrong? How had he lost Alisande's love?
Or had he ever had it in the first place? Was it class paranoia, the nobleman's
antipathy toward the social climber? Or was it just friction between man and mate,
telling her what she wanted to hear but in the wrong way?
No, it couldn't be that. He had told her he loved her in fifty different ways,
fifty times at least in the last three years, some of them as ardent and romantic
as any woman could want--and she had certainly responded; he could have sworn she
was burning to answer his fervor with her own. But something had held her back...
Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To treat me so discourteously,
When I have loved you oh, so long,
Delighting in your company!
She had even worn green sleeves when they were questing together!
The guard shifted nervously and glanced down at Matt, commiserating. Matt felt
an irrational flash of gratitude toward the man, and tried to smile reassuringly.
But his mind strayed back to Alisande--didn't it always? He tried to pull himself
out of the slough of despond, but the betrayal weighed on his spirits too heavily.
What ails thee, captive Knight at arms,
Compelled to enforced loitering;
Where niter gathers on stone walls,
And no birds sing.
I saw pale kings, and princes too,
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all,
Who cried--"La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!"
Again, the guard turned to him, and this time his expression would have done
credit to a bloodhound. Matt tried to smile bravely, but he wasn't really up to it.
This was ridiculous! Here he was, just making the guard and himself both
miserable. He had to jolt himself out of this self-pity and get back in action! It
was a time to be doing, not moping!
Do what?
Good question. In Merovence, magic worked by chanting poetry, sometimes
reinforced by gestures--and he couldn't chant very well if his mouth was stuffed
with a gag. Gesturing was possible with chains on his wrists, but somewhat limited.
Besides, gestures couldn't do anything alone.
For a life to dwell
In a dungeon cell
Growing thin and wizened
In a solitary prison...
He broke off with a shudder. He had a momentary vision of his future...
My hair is gray, but not with years,
Nor grew it white
In a single night
As men's have grown from sudden fears.
The guard sniffed and wiped a tear as he glanced at Matt out of the corner of
his eye. Matt plucked up his spirits to wink, and take a playful kick at the man's
knee with the ankle that was not fastened to the wall. The guard looked surprised,
then grinned down. "Eh, your Lordship! I should ha' known naught would keep 'ee
down for long!"
Matt winked again, though he felt like crying, before his attention strayed
back to his dilemma. Finally, he began to feel indignant, a very healthy sign.
Definitely better than moping. The ignominy of it! He, the topmost wizard in the
land--thanks to all the verses he knew that this land had never heard of--chained
in dungeon vile and not able to do a thing about it! And all because Alisande had
been quick enough to think of a gag before he did! She may have tired of him, but
she wasn't about to let him go--oh, no! Salt him away in storage in case he suited
her whim again! How like a woman, always to want a new beau for her string!
For a moment, his resentment submerged in admiration of her. What a woman! Such
presence of mind, such quickness of wit, to realize in a split second that, gagged,
he couldn't work magic, and so couldn't escape. Such determination, such tenacity,
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Her Majesty's Wizard #2 The Oath Bound Wizard
such selfishness!
Well, that wasn't really fair. Her kingdom came before herself, in her own mind-
-that's why she was a good monarch. But could he really manage having a wife who
thought her kingdom was more important than her husband?
She appeared again before his mind's eye, and he knew in a moment that he
could. After all, that devotion to duty was part of what made her admirable.
But did she always have to be so damned right?
Yes, she did--at least, in public matters. The "Divine Right of Kings" really
worked, in this universe. Nice to know he ranked as a public issue. On the other
hand, it might have been nice if, to her, he'd been more than a national asset.
Or was he? Come to think of it, if she was in love with him, it was a personal
matter--and, in personal matters, her judgment could be flawed.
The old scientific instinct stirred in him. How about the empirical test? After
all, who knew for sure that he couldn't escape?
Everyone, that's who. In this universe, magic worked--and it worked by poetry.
But a spell had to be recited aloud in order for it to work--everyone knew that!
His spirits slumped again and, for the first time in three years, he found
himself wishing ardently that he was back in the old, familiar, dead-end college-
campus life he'd known before.
I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my days.
I'm going back to East Virginia,
The place where I was born and raised.
The guard turned to him, startled, alarmed. Matt frowned up at him. What was
there to be alarmed about?
Matt's going.
Excitement spun through him. The guard had picked up his sadness before--that's
why he'd been looking sympathetic. And he was resonating Matt's feelings of longing
to go, now!
And why not? Matt had been thinking in verses!
Then why didn't all his thoughts make spells happen?
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HerMajesty'sWizard#2TheOathBoundWizardfile:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/C...20Majestys%20Wizard%202%20\-%20OathBound.htm(1of397)[10/31/200411:04:08PM]HerMajesty'sWizard#2TheOathBoundWizardCHAPTER1Lovers'QuarrelThehorsewassteaming,andMattwasfuming.Theyclatteredinover\thedrawbridgeandpastthegu...

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