A Sorcerer's Rings Read online

  Song of Sorcery

  Book Four

  By

  Guy Antibes

  Table of Contents

  Map of the Kerrothian Continent and the Isle of Dimani

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Excerpt from A Sorcerer’s Fist

  Copyright Page

  Author’s Note

  A Bit About Guy

  Books by Guy Antibes

  Copyright ©2018 Guy Antibes. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of the author.

  ~

  This is a work of fiction. There are no real locations used in the book; the people, settings, and specific places are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons, locations, or places are purely coincidental.

  Published by CasiePress LLC in Salt Lake City, UT, April 2018.

  www.casiepress.com

  Cover & Book Design: Kenneth Cassell

  ~

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ~

  Another episode of the Song of Sorcery is here. Ricky spends some time in Duteria, getting the grounding in sorcery that he never had. He gains new friends, and we see some characters from other books depart, permanently. I enjoyed supporting Ricky through his final schooling and exposed him to more political chicanery.

  As always, I’d like to thank Bev and Judy, my editor, for helping me produce this fourth book in the Song of Sorcery series.

  — Guy Antibes

  The Continent of Kerrothia and

  The Isle of Dimani

  Chapter One

  ~

  T obia, Hendrico Valian’s servant, had hired four guards to oversee the large chest containing over one hundred thousand Sealian Galleons, the largest gold pieces that the Parantian capital of Sealio minted. They entered the State Bank of Hessilia and stopped in front of a black counter.

  The clerk looked down at Ricky. The man must have been perched on a tall stool, for the counter was as high as Ricky’s shoulder.

  “My Lord wishes to deposit his fortune in the bank,” Minnie Castocca, Tobia’s wife, said. “I have drawn up the provenance papers and Lord Valian’s instructions.”

  “And your ‘Lord’ is lord of what, exactly?”

  “He is the heir to the duchy of Naparra. Everything is in there. He is also a highly-regarded performance sorcerer.”

  “Highly-regarded? The Duterians might have something to say about that,” the clerk said. “Where is your lord?”

  “He is here,” Minnie said, giving Ricky a bit of a bow.

  “A boy? A teenaged boy?” The clerk stretched over the counter and took the papers that Minnie presented.

  “What is he saying?” Ricky said. Tobia translated the exchange.

  “It all looks in order. I would like a demonstration of the boy’s power,” the clerk said.

  “Show him something,” Tobia said.

  Even without a command of the language, Ricky could tell a disdainful civil servant from a civil one. He sang and rose to the ceiling and drifted around the bank a bit before returning to Tobia’s side.

  “Is that adequate?” Ricky said.

  Minnie looked at the startled clerk. “I believe it is.” She spoke in Hessilian to the clerk. “He will need Hessilian identity cards for himself and his servants,” Minnie said. “Also please correspond with the Bank of Sealio. He has deposits in Sealio, Dimani, and Tossa. Where can I get our papers?”

  “Over there,” the clerk pointed to a sea of desks. “We can take the fee from your deposit.”

  After supervising the count of all one-hundred-twenty-four thousand, seven hundred and fourteen Galleons, Ricky looked over at Minnie who had just returned from the sea of desks with a fistful of papers.

  “The Hessilian city-states are a bit more bureaucratic than Paranty,” she said to Ricky. “However, these documents will permit us to travel between the city-states and, more importantly, permit Tobia and me to enter Duteria without a fuss.”

  Now that Ricky had dealt with the prize money from his winning presentation at Princess Pira’s Grand Performance, he walked out of the bank onto the streets of Torak, noticing the vibrancy of the city.

  “It is the commercial heart of the City States,” Minnie said. “Each city can have their coinage, but trade is based on Hessilian Eagles, which are valued about the same as Sealian Galleons.”

  “Even the architecture is different,” Ricky observed. He didn’t see the tile roofs of Tossa, but steeper dark-gray stone roofs.

  “Snow falls in Hessilia in the winter months. More than in Paranty. We are further north.”

  Ricky nodded. He had never studied Hessilia in detail in his World History class. “Everyone walks faster here,” Ricky said.

  Tobia laughed. “In Torak, business means busy-ness. Torak is the trade center in Hessilia. Let’s see if our baggage made it to our inn, and then we can get something to eat.”

  ~

  “I can’t believe I’m here,” Ricky said. “The ship wasn’t much different from the Dimani ship that I sailed on, except I couldn’t understand what the sailors said. Now everything is different, and I still can’t figure out what anyone is saying.”

  Minnie took a bite of the pork steak that she had ordered. “We let you alone on the ship since you were recovering, but now you’ll have to focus on learning Duterian. The Ring sorcerers don’t teach in Parantian. Duterian is a dialect of Hessilian, so you’ll understand most of what people from the other city-states are saying.”

  “How long will that take?” Ricky said.

  “It is up to you,” Tobia said. “It may take weeks, or it may take months or years.”

  “Weeks sound better,” Ricky said.

  Minnie chuckled. “Then we will have to get to work when we get back to the inn. I asked for some basic language texts. We can stay in Torak for two weeks while we communicate with your Parantian banks to see how much of your wealth King Leon will permit you to keep. The clerk assured me that they would send out birds before night,” she said.

  Ricky felt a power-link engage in his mind.

  You haven’t drowned yet? Princess Pira said. I waited a full week before trying to contact you.

  Ricky mouthed ‘It’s Princess Pira’ to his servants. He rose and walked outside, sitting on a bench in front of their inn.

  I have made it as far as Torak. No other ships could have reached here, Ricky said. Is the king acti
vely seeking me?

  My guardian has graced me with his absence, Pira said, but my contacts haven’t heard a thing about you other than your being branded a traitor to the crown, of course.

  Of course, Ricky replied. What about General Farlotti? He seemed to be reluctant to capture me.

  He was upset enough after being blown into the sea, but I think you read him right. He is caught between his duty to Paranty and his duty to my guardian, the princess said. We had to return to Dimani for sails and arrived a day later than scheduled. General Farlotti stayed behind in Dimani and took a ship north to oversee his troops’ return to Paranty. He had no desire to stay in Dimani after you revealed Prince Ticco fabricated the gold discovery. Subjugating another country isn’t cheap when there’s no gold to pay for troops, tents, and food. Do you miss me yet, my lord?

  Ricky panicked. He didn’t want to flirt with the princess. I spent the voyage recovering from my wounds, and today, I deposited one hundred twenty-four thousand Sealian Galleons in a bank which shall remain nameless.

  Don't you trust me?

  I heard that princesses don’t last long under torture, Ricky said, grimacing as he said it.

  He nearly felt a sigh

  You are right. I’ll leave you in a moment, but I did want to say your little Mara won’t be returning to Tossa. I heard some ancient books were recovered in that city. My guardian seemed a bit smug when he boasted about that fact.

  Ricky made a sound that attracted the attention of a few passersby. Another secret revealed. I’ll tell you about it another time, if there is a need.

  There will be, Pira said. I have to go. Think of me, and I’ll think of you.

  I am at your service, Princess Pira, Ricky said with another groan.

  The link died. Ricky walked back inside the restaurant and described his conversation.

  “So she’s not upset with you?” Tobia said.

  Ricky shook his head. “She could be upset with me, and I’d never know it. It’s like she wants to be friends.” Ricky shivered.

  “More than friends?” Minnie asked.

  Ricky had to nod. “I’m sure she’s playing with me, so I play along, wincing after each conversation.

  “You could do worse for a girlfriend than Princess Pira,” Minnie said. “She is smart, powerful in her way, and I am sure she respects you.”

  “So does Effie Asucco.” Ricky talked for a bit about his Tossan friends. “I don’t know when I’ll see them again.”

  “You can always invite them to Duteria. Once you get established, you can even pay their way.”

  Ricky nodded. “I can, can’t I?” The thought made him feel a bit better. Ricky had choices to make, and Minnie and Tobia didn’t treat him the same way Saganet and Merry did. They were less like parents and more like friends, but he wondered if they would behave the same if he didn’t hold their contracts. He thought about that for a moment.

  “I want to cancel your contracts,” Ricky said. “I still want to employ you both, but as employees, not as contract servants.”

  Tobia and Minnie laughed. “We already are. Servant contracts are illegal in Hessilia, in all the city-states. We were free the minute we walked off the ship,” Tobia said. “Since we are currently unemployed, Minnie and I will take you up on your offer. We know you are good for the money.”

  “After my fortune, are you? It would be easy enough to swindle me, since I have no idea what I signed or what you told the bank clerk.”

  “Use that as an incentive to learn Duterian as quickly as you can!” Minnie said.

  ~

  The next day, the three of them bought clothes suitable for Torak and Duteria, but that was Ricky’s last time out of the inn for ten very long days. Tobia and Minnie relentlessly taught him Duterian. They would switch on and off, even during meals.

  Ricky’s head ached with all the effort, but Minnie proclaimed that he had made progress. He thought of the trouble Mara had had with Parantian, not knowing how much was fact and how much was fiction. Still, he didn’t want to be stuck like her, not being able to progress because he couldn’t pronounce the harsher way the Hessilians spoke.

  By the time they headed out in a modest carriage that Tobia had purchased, Ricky had progressed to basic phrases, enough to understand that he had recovered about half of the money that Duke Noacci had given him, but there were more reports to come in. King Leon impounded only some of his Sealian funds. That was good news since Ricky thought he had lost it all.

  They spent the night at a village inn. Tobia took Ricky out into the pleasant twilight.

  “There is a fine blacksmith in this village. He makes solid swords. I’d like enough of an advance on my wages to buy one,” Tobia said. “I’d like you to meet him.”

  They strolled to the end of town. Ricky picked up the smell of a forge before Tobia turned down a lane.

  “Is that you, Toberu?” the blacksmith said as they entered the smithy that was brightly lit with torches.

  The blacksmith used Tobia’s Gruntalian first name. Ricky couldn’t understand everything said after that, but it appeared Tobia and the blacksmith were cousins. After hugs and back-slapping, they sat down. The smith beckoned Ricky to do the same.

  “You are noble?” the smith asked.

  “Yes,” Ricky said, not knowing what else to say. He listened better than he talked.

  The man nodded. He turned to Tobia, and they talked while Ricky tried to pick out words in the rapid stream of conversation. The smith disappeared into the smithy and returned with a sword enclosed in a worn leather sheath. He gave it to Ricky.

  “What do you think?” he said. Tobia had to help with a few words.

  Ricky pulled the sword out of the sheath, and his mouth dropped open. He had never seen such a blade before. It had straight edges tapering until it curved into a point. Both sides of the blade showed wavy forge marks. The steel felt solid. Ricky swung the blade, disappointed that it was much too heavy of a weapon for him.

  “I’ll buy it for you,” Ricky said to Tobia in Parantian. “It is beautiful.”

  Tobia and his cousin negotiated. They both enjoyed the dickering, it seemed to Ricky, and then they slapped their right hands together. Ricky guessed it meant they had struck a deal.

  “Ten eagles,” the smith said, looking at Ricky, who plucked the coins from his purse, making it much lighter.

  “Can you find your way back to the inn?” Tobia said. “Take the sword. I’ll not be needing it for what I intend to do.”

  Ricky lugged the weapon back to the inn. Minnie waited for him in the little lobby.

  “Did Tobia talk you into buying him a little toy?” she said with a smile on her face.

  “I don’t know how much Hessilian I learned, but Tobia was very happy to visit his cousin.”

  “I’m surprised Tobia was able to talk him out of that.” She took the sword from Ricky and pulled it out a few inches from the sheath. “It’s worth over one-hundred eagles. His cousin probably spent months making it.”

  “I paid ten eagles.”

  Minnie slapped her knee. “You were robbed. Tobia should have gotten that for free.”

  She gave the sword back to Ricky. “He’ll be a handful tonight, assuming he makes it home. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other,” Minnie said. ”He’ll be wearing that tomorrow, and you’ll be wearing your sword, as well, when we enter Gruntal. The city-state of Gruntal is to military etiquette as Duteria is to sorcerers. A man or youth won’t get any respect if they enter the city unarmed, no matter how much you have deposited in the State Bank of Hessilia.”

  ~~~

  Chapter Two

  ~

  T he black stone walls stretched for miles on either side of the massive iron-bound gate that led into the city-state of Gruntal. Guards carrying pikes with pennants trailing in the breeze walked the walls.

  “What are they guarding against?” Ricky asked Tobia, as the carriage moved slowly in a long line waiting to enter the cit
y. “Or are they keeping people in?”

  Minnie leaned forward and parted the closed curtain with a finger to look out. “Practice, drills, whatever it is to continue to improve their relative position in the Gruntalian military rankings,” she said. “Those guards may spend the day practicing riding horses with lances tomorrow, or how to mend armor the next.”

  “How does anything real get done?” Ricky said.

  “Oh, it does. Not every citizen wishes to train every day of their lives,” Tobia said. “I was one of them until I found I had talent.”

  “You lived in Gruntal?”

  Tobia nodded. “There is turnover in the military,” he said. “My cousin didn’t like putting up with smug officers and left, taking his sword-making skills with him. The Supreme Commander himself tried to talk him into staying, but he left and hasn’t regretted it. Me, they just patted on the head, patted me on my bottom, and sent me on my way. Good swordsmen are as common as flies.”

  “Not so common as you might think, young Valian,” Minnie said.

  “Hey, it’s my story,” Tobia said. “Prepare to be challenged. There are protocols for such things in Gruntal. Anyone likely to challenge a visitor will be surprised by you, no doubt.”

  “We will have to fight to the death?”

  Tobia stuck out his lower lip and shook his head. “Not at all. You will see dueling sites spread across the city. Duelists have to use the provided wooden swords. The officers don’t want to spend excessive money on healers to fix up trained men and women who can’t keep their aggression in check.”

  “You’ve dueled?”

  Tobia nodded. “Many times. I’ve only lost a handful. You’ll see the difference between a well-trained swordsman and one who has had sporadic training. Most of the Gruntalian military are more than competent.”

  A woman wearing a dark blue uniform decorated with gray cording knocked on the carriage door. “Papers, please. I’ve already talked to your driver.”

  The woman looked at the first set of papers. “Dastoya? Are you Gruntalians?” she asked Minnie.