Fortunately, there were no casualties caused by Tobias’s escape. Even the guard who fell to the energy rays was still alive. He was badly burnt, but the castle healers were confident that he’d recover with time. He’d have a lot of scars to show for it, but he’d bear them proudly as proof of his valor.

  For now, the castle’s security was increased. The patrols were doubled and the squad holding the gate tripled. The remaining knights were dispatched across the city to try and find the wanted Court Mage.

  The city gates were closed. This wasn’t actually that big of a deal. All, except one, got closed for every night. Tonight, they were simply locked a little earlier. Normally, Westbridge had one special night gatehouse, that remained open after dark. This would be a slightly bigger problem, but fortunately there were taverns outside that unfortunate people who found themselves stuck outside could stay at.

  Unfortunately, this lockdown couldn’t last forever. In extreme emergencies, the gates could be kept shut for a few days, but this would be a massive inconvenience for the city’s merchants. Especially as harvest season was quickly approaching. Hakon considered such an order, but Marna persuaded him otherwise.

  Tobias was a powerful wizard. If he wanted to escape, he’d find a way, even without access to his laboratory. He’d already revealed his levitation abilities during his flight from the castle. For all anyone knew, he could simply cast another spell and fly over the city walls directly. The Royal Guard would scour the city looking for him, but if they didn’t manage to catch him within the next hours, he was probably already long gone.

  With the emergency meeting over, Varre and his chamberlain stepped out of the room.

  “Do you know what’s the best thing that came out of this entire mess?” the king asked.

  “What is it, your majesty?”

  “I got to miss Tobias’s training session.”

  Benjamin simply smiled at that.

  With that out of the way, they returned to Varre’s quarters. It was a long day. A long day filled with plenty of heavy decisions, some of which will need to be resolved tomorrow, but now, finally, the king could rest. The best reward he could have gotten.

  Unfortunately, things weren’t quite so simple. As soon as the king arrived back at his quarters, he was surprised to discover Lester there. The merchant was seated on a bench in the corridor. Even though he was one of the monarch’s councilors, and a personal friend at that, the guards stationed outside would not allow him in.

  “Lester? What are you doing here?” Varre asked.

  “What do you mean?” the Head Merchant laughed, “we agreed to have dinner with Nilo. He was supposed to tell his father’s messenger that he will stay in the capital. Remember?”

  Right. That happened, the king recalled. So many things had happened today, that he had almost forgotten about this morning’s conversation. Nilo was suddenly asked to return back to his father’s county in the West. The message offered no explanation whatsoever for such a sudden request. The young aristocrat decided to remain in Westbridge, until he received a proper reason to leave.

  At least Varre’d get to spend some time with his friends.

  The king sighed. “Sorry Lester. It’s been a busy day.”

  “I can imagine,” the merchant stood up and put his arm on his friend’s shoulder, “now come on, let’s head inside. I still don’t know what the hell happened out there.”

  The king approached one of his soldiers. “You there, guard. Go out into the city and bring Nilo of Quendon here,” recalling the last time he gave such an order, he quickly added, “I mean as a guest. Don’t beat him up or anything. Send out a carriage for him and bring him here.”

  The soldier saluted and walked down the corridor. Now, the two friends simply had to wait for the third one to join them.

  Fortunately, Benjamin had not forgotten about the dinner. While his liege was sparring with Kerryn, the chamberlain arranged everything with the kitchen staff. He had already vetted enough of them, that food could be prepared safely. The debacle with Tobias definitely brought a lot of chaos into the castle, but the chefs quickly went back to their work, once they were assured that everything was alright.

  In the meantime, Varre could focus on the far more critical task of stretching out on his sofa. He quickly brought his friend up to speed, explaining everything that happened during the Court Mage’s arrest attempt and subsequent escape.

  “But enough about that, Lester,” the king said, “how was your first day as Head Merchant?”

  His friend chuckled. “It will be a while before I get used to that title. Nowhere near as exciting as yours, I’m afraid. So far, I was just working with Treasurer Gruber.”

  “What about your new office?” Varre urged, “is it satisfactory?”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Lester admitted, “I don’t think I have one yet.”

  “You haven’t…” the king facepalmed, “and here I was thinking that I’m way too busy. That should be your task number one pal! Here is a new order, directly from your own monarch! By tomorrow evening, I want you to show me the new office you’ve prepared for yourself. Got it?”

  The Head Merchant laughed. Then he stood up, and did a deep, mock bow. “As your majesty commands. That is an acceptable order.”

  “Good. I’d hate to have you executed if you refuse it,” Varre stretched out on the sofa even more, “so what’s it like working with the Treasurer anyway?”

  Lester’s eyes lit up. “He’s an expert! You should see his office before nagging me about mine. It’s like a library! There’s just rows and rows of shelves, holding all manners of reports and documents. He even has a few assistants just to help him keep track of everything.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The king almost yawned. “I’m glad you’re happy at least. So is that what you guys did? Read through all of his reports?”

  “Well, a bit,” the Head Merchant explained, “I do need to be aware of your finances after all. They will impact my decisions on what we can afford to buy, and how quickly we need to sell your inventory. I’ve even seen your treasury!”

  “Oh?” that interested Varre a little more, “is it like a room filled with gold coins? Could I swim in it?”

  “Okay, I haven’t been in the actual treasury,” Lester admitted, “but I have seen the reports about it. I don’t know about swimming in it, but there should be enough to bathe in at least,” he joked.

  “Then I guess I have a new mission for tomorrow. I’m going swimming!” the king laughed.

  “Your majesty,” Benjamin interjected, “while all of your requests can be accommodated, of course, please remember that you already have a busy schedule prepared. There’s another urgent council meeting. We need to figure out a replacement Court Mage as soon as possible. And then training sessions with Kerryn and Lora, of course.”

  “More training? After today’s escapade?” Varre protested.

  The chamberlain nodded solemnly. “Kerryn insists that upholding a regular regimen is absolutely imperative. Especially since you have a lot of progress to make up for. The guards will ensure your security and besides, an experienced adventurer will be very useful in case your former Court Mage decides to attack you somehow.”

  The king sighed. “You sure you don’t want to switch places Lester?”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I think half the country would rebel the second my ass touched the throne,” the Head Merchant laughed, “besides, a seat on the Royal Council is far more than I could have ever hoped for. I still can’t believe I’m on the Council!.”

  “Fine, suit yourself. I’ll find another sucker to switch with someday,” Varre winked.

  Lester straightened up again. “Oh, but I did start examining some of your properties. As you know, you’ve acquired quite a lot of them recently.”

  “Exactly! I still can’t believe the Council wanted me to just start handing them out to random nobles,” the king rubbed his temple.

  “I guess that’s what most other monarchs would have done,” the Head Merchant shrugged.

  “Well, I’m not ‘most other monarchs’. I hope that once everything stabilizes, I’ll be able to retire and party all day in some fancy pleasure palace. Do any of my new mansions fit the bill?” Varre wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Hey, every ducal manor is a pleasure palace compared to my house,” Lester joked, “I may be the son of a wealthy merchant, but your family is on another level! But, to be honest, I’ve only really began evaluating their worth so far. The manors in the city are valuable, but I think the country estates will be even more impressive. Especially if you want to stay away from politicking.”

  “Trust me, you don’t know the half of it. But I thought as much. I mean I’ve already experienced one mansion. My father was a duke too. Don’t get me wrong, it was great. Far bigger than anything I’ve lived in before. But the bathroom was disappointing. And I mean it’s not like the manor was so big I could get lost in it or anything either,” the king said, forgetting about a tiny detail.

  “What do you mean?” the Head Merchant asked, “haven’t you lived there your whole life?”

  Varre immediately realized his mistake. “You know what I meant. I mean it’s huge sure, but not as big as the castle. I guess if I want a real palace, I’ll just need to build it myself,” he tried to quickly change the subject.

  “That’s definitely something I’ll want to see,” fortunately, Lester did not dwell on the point too much, “and I suppose you have the resources to build it now.”

  Before the two men could fully indulge in planning out this massive project, they heard a knock on the door. “Your majesty,” a voice said, “we’ve brought sir Nilo here.”

  “Perfect!” the king clasped his hands, “come in then!”

  The door swung open and a dishevelled aristocrat ran inside. Two guards quickly followed behind him and started going through the living room, as if checking for hidden threats.

  “Nilo?” Varre instantly stood up, “what the hell did they do to you?”

  The nobleman ignored his friend and rushed over to the nearby table. He picked up a carafe filled with wine and poured himself a glass. His hands were shaking so bad, that he spilled half of it to the ground, but no one cared about that at the moment.

  Nilo picked up the overfull glass and downed it in a single gulp. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and finally looked at his two friends. “Guys. Someone… Someone tried to kidnap me!”

  “What? Was it Tobias?” the king exchanged nervous glances with his chamberlain. Could it be? Would that damned wizard act so quickly? But why would he go for Nilo of all people? Questions raced through his mind, but he couldn’t come up with any reasonable explanation.

  The young aristocrat collapsed onto a nearby sofa. “I don’t know. I didn’t see him there.”

  “Relax,” Lester put a hand on the noble’s knee, “tell us what happened.”

  Nilo took a deep breath, as Benjamin began arranging a second carafe of wine. “I was relaxing in the garden, when I suddenly heard a noise from the stables. I thought it was one my horses. You know how it is, maybe one of the stableboys forgot to lock it up or something. I went to check it out.

  “Everything seemed fine, but then I heard a noise from one of the stalls. The empty one in the back, you know the one. I called out, to see if anyone was there, but no one answered. So I came closer to get a better look

  “I kid you not, but two hooded figures jump out at me and try to tackle me to the ground! I call for help, but I then I saw a third one close the doors to the stables. I was trapped! I tried fighting them off, but then one of them threatened me with a dagger! I had to surrender.

  “They tied me up and discussed what to do next. I had to sit there and watch. That’s when I realized it. I knew that voice.”

  Varre was leaning forward in his seat, eagerly listening to this story. “Who was it?”

  Nilo took this opportunity to down a second glass of wine. “My father’s gods damned messenger. He wanted me out of the capital so badly, that the bastard was willing to kidnap me!”

  “Are you sure?” Lester asked, concerned.

  “Absolutely,” the aristocrat nodded, “this guy was one of my father’s most loyal knights. He’s always been sending him whenever he needed to make sure that an important message arrived in time and in secrecy. I’ve seen him many times over the years.

  “I couldn’t believe it either! Not at first. I asked him if it was really him, but he just told me to shut up and gagged me to make sure. Together with his thugs, he finally decided to put me on a wagon, cover me with hay and try to drive out into the city. I won’t lie, as scared as I was, I was at least glad that it was someone I knew. I’ve no idea what got into my father to do this, but he would never kill me.

  “Suddenly, we heard knocking on the door. That’s when I started screaming for help. I was muffled, but thank the gods, whoever was outside still heard me and realized something was wrong. Apparently, one of your Royal Guards had arrived at my manor to pick me up. He was going around, looking for me together with my butler.”

  Nilo paused to nod gratefully at the knight who brought him safely to the castle. “Anyway, your guard realized that something was wrong and kicked the doors down. You know how strong they are when they enhance themselves, that shoddy piece of wood stood no chance. Neither did those thugs.

  “The knight fought two of them, while the third, my father’s messenger, ran away. You’ve seen my stable, there is an exit leading straight onto the street. Your knight made short work of the thugs, but by the time he finished, father’s bastard was already gone.”

  “Forgive me, your majesty,” the guard bowed his head, “I wasn’t fast enough.”

  “The important thing is you got Nilo here safely,” Varre answered before turning back to his friend, “listen, you’re not going home tonight. It’s too dangerous. You’re staying at the castle with me. In the meantime, I want the guards scouring the city. Keep your eyes peeled for both Court Mage Tobias, and… who is this messenger guy anyway?”

  “Capucine,” the nobleman replied, “Capucine of Lessay.”

  Just what could be so important?