The Mage in the Iron Mask - Brian Thomsen [65]
"I was taught by the best," she cooed.
"Indeed you were," he conceded.
"Stay right there or risk my wrath," McKern instructed Rassendyll, and then headed over to his old friend.
Honor saw him coming, and quickly put up his hand.
"I know, I know," the retired swordmaster said. "As senior Cloak you are bound by your office to protect the High Blade, but I really thought you would be allied with me on this matter. Selfaril killed our best friend, and the murder of a High Blade must be punished."
"Be quiet, you old fool," the mage said in a derogatory tone that was obviously saved for only the best of friends. "What makes you think that this fellow is Selfaril?"
"I'd recognize that voice anywhere," Honor countered. "He sounds just like his father."
McKern scratched his head for a moment.
"Now that you mention it, his voice is awfully familiar," the mage agreed.
"It's Selfaril, I tell you!" Honor insisted, restraining himself from flying into the uncontrollable rage that he had previously allowed to overtake him.
"There is another possibility," Mason said turning to Passepout and Volo. "So, you two know each other?"
Volo answered, "You could say that."
"I remember clearly now," Mason stated. "The Hawks are looking for both of you. You are Volothamp Geddarm, a writer of some kind, right?"
"And if I am?"
McKern just shook his head, saying, "Let us not waste time with such foolishness. Neither of you has anything to worry about from me. Though I am sworn to protect the High Blade, I have no desire to do his dirty work. If he has dispatched the Hawks to find you, you can be guaranteed that it is dirty work indeed."
"Why are they looking for us?" Volo asked, his eyes surreptitiously darting across the room to make contact with Chesslyn. She was equally attentive for the answer.
"I'm not quite sure," McKern replied judiciously. "Something about an escaped prisoner."
"That would be me," Rassendyll confessed, seeing no reason to continue the charade. "My name is Rassendyll, formerly a student at the Retreat."
Chesslyn jumped into the conversation. "The Retreat," she offered. "That's where I met Mr. Geddarm here. We decided to travel together back to Mulmaster out of concern for our own safety"
"Why?" the senior Cloak asked with all the delicacy and demanding nature of a grand inquisitor.
"Because of what we found there," Volo answered.
"What did you find there?" Rassendyll interjected, more scared than he had been since he left the Retreat.
"Everyone was slaughtered," the master traveler explained. "Not a single person was left alive. We found a blood-encrusted crystal wand that was left behind."
"Thayan raiders, no doubt," McKern observed. "No doubt the High Blade's men will deal with them."
"That's what we thought," Chesslyn inserted, "but while we were there, we observed two of the Hawks apparently looking for the wand as if they knew what to look for. Neither of them seemed even remotely concerned about the dead bodies or what had taken place there. It was as if they already knew that it had happened."
"Indeed, that is odd," McKern agreed. "As of this morning, there was no word about an attack on the Retreat, and, given the concerns of the Cloaks, that is extremely odd indeed. No doubt if it had been an attack by Thayan raiders certain political concerns would have brought it to our attention."
"Maybe the Tharchioness had arranged a cover-up, or perhaps the High Blade was withholding the information from the public until his bride had once again returned to the east," Chesslyn posited.
"Or maybe the High Blade himself was involved,"
Honor added with a sense of knowing finality. The blind swordmaster then turned his attention back to Rassendyll. "You there," he said. "If you are a student mage of the Retreat, why were you spared, and imprisoned?"
"I have no idea," Rassendyll replied. "The best that I can remember is falling asleep on watch, and then waking up bound and blindfolded