To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6 Read online

Her long tresses of auburn hair flowed over her shoulders and stopped half way down her back. Her clothing was that of a Sentinel, topaz blue wool, except she did not wear a helmet or have a miniature crossbow clipped to her belt. She preferred a daggerlance, a dagger with a black handle and a blade that shined like a mirror, which she kept sheathed at the hip. Touch the ruby in the gold setting on the handle and a four pace-long lance of light would shoot out and punch a hole in whatever it was aimed at. Daniel was confident of his mother’s ability to use it. The falcon in flight clutching a lightning bolt in a sky of blue, the symbol of house Benhannon, was embroidered on the upper arms of her jacket. She hugged him and then stepped back. Those dark brown eyes were always welcoming when focused upon him.

  Ronn Benhannon ran the thick fingers of his left hand through his dark hair which was neatly trimmed, and smiled. Daniel equaled him in height and shoulder-width, but his father’s muscles were bulkier. The mountain carpenter also had on the uniform of a Sentinel and like his wife, chose not to wear head gear. “You must have moved that manta far faster than a hawk can fly.”

  Sero cast a spell and sealed the hatch, Simon had the glazed look of a person communicating through an array, and Carlos, eyes scanning the area as if danger might pop out at any moment, did not comment. Tim chuckled and said, “Daniel taught the ray how hover in place and to fly so fast not even sound can keep up with it. By the time someone on the ground hears the manta, it is long gone and well out of sight. Manta One is as deadly in the air as it is under the water.”

  “I would dearly love to see a flock of rays providing air cover for our ground forces,” said clean-shaven Chuc Carlin, whose low brow made him appear dimwitted, even though his mind was actually sharp as the diamond blade on Daniel’s crescendo. For once the officer was not chewing tobacco. The Lieutenant of the Benhannon Guard commanded the sixty men assigned to the facility and was a former member of the Ducaunan Royal Guardsmen.

  Duncan Hawk, a typical Ducaunan with dark hair and eyes, whose lean frame made him appear to have missed more than a few meals, saluted Daniel and Admiral Dukane, in that order, and then stepped forward. The man was a year younger than the Royal Knight he served and possessed a maturity that earned him the golden anchor on each of his blue shoulder stripes, and command of the RiverDancer when Daniel’s parents were not aboard. Duncan was in the process of growing a short beard, perhaps to make him seem older. He did appear less boyish. The patrol-boat had been a gift from Daniel to his parents, but they needed a crew. The former Royal Guardsmen, like Chuc, had proved his worth while fighting alongside Daniel on a special mission and afterwards volunteered to continue serving the Chosen Vessel.

  The Lieutenant Commander glanced at the ray and his lips formed into a smile. “I would like to see the manta fly, but have to admit I prefer fighting from the command deck of a Benhannon Wager-class Patrol-boat.”

  His preference was not surprising. “The command deck is where you belong,” Daniel agreed. “I am a little surprised neither Silvia nor David is here,” he stated, and then cast Find All, focusing the spell to the south.

  “Your Teki escorts volunteered to ride out, meet, and divert the intruders,” his father replied. “According to Accomplished Obennen, seventeen out of the one hundred-fourteen people have continued on towards this facility while the rest had to stop. The forest and foliage is so thick the main force could not proceed with the wagons.”

  It was probably a good idea to send the couple, that way if the intrusion was inadvertent; a pair of Teki would not draw suspicion, and could hopefully convince the people to take a different route to the river. “Hopefully,” and, “if”, were not good enough, Daniel wanted to know for sure who was coming and why? And also be sure his two friends were not about to die.

  Through the Symphonic he sensed the people his father had spoken of, more he recognized them, all of them. It was the Forager Troupe of the Reshashinni Teki, Daniel knew because he had once shaken the hand of every male and been hugged by every female of the troupe. It was while being among them he had learned of his status as the Chosen Vessel of the Creator. Silvia and David were about a quarter of a span from intercepting the group of seventeen that had continued on after the others had stopped. She and her husband would soon be close enough to see and recognize the representatives sent from their own troupe.

  Daniel almost breathed a sigh of relief, but held back the impulse. Those people were not only friendly to him, they had all vowed to serve the Chosen Vessel, and yet the question of why they chose to come troubled him a little. The Seer for the troupe was among the seventeen headed for the naval facility and her talent was likely how they knew where to find him. A bad feeling over what she might say twisted his innards a tad, leaving him uncomfortable, but not enough to cause panic. They were allies and if she needed to tell him of something her granddaughter had not yet discerned, he was better off hearing it sooner rather than later. Ignorance of coming danger never made anyone safer; it only made them feel better until the last horrifying moment.

  While he was pondering the matter, Marsha Obennen, an Accomplished whose yellow-gold hair was similar to Sherree’s, and who recently gained her second lightning bolt, stepped from the door to the right and out onto the dock. She wore the topaz blue silks with the hooded cloak, the standard silver belt and buckle with the falcon in flight clutching a lightning bolt emblem in the center of the oval, and a medallion depicting a sword with a lightning bolt blade, which identified her as a member of the Defense Department. “Greetings, Maestro. All Accomplisheds under my command are on the porch of the bungalow and are ready to defend against the intruders.”

  That meant twenty-three Aakacarns up top, the others were out on the twenty-six patrol-boats, and Marsha brought the number in the facility to twenty-four. One spell-caster would be enough to overpower the people who were approaching, even if every member of the troupe was a highly skilled warrior, and yet it never hurt to be prepared for a greater threat than what met the eye. Daniel and she exchanged the respectful nods due fellow Accomplisheds and then he said, “You have done well and it is wise to take such precautions. Silvia and David have just met the group and will soon be leading them this way. I want to accompany you to the top level so we can meet our guests.”

  “Guests?” his father and mother both asked at the same time.

  Simon, who evidently finished with the silent conversation through his array, shook his head. “I can only identify David and Silvia, how have we gone from intruders to guests since disembarking from Manta One?” Clearly the Chief Aid had been multi-tasking.

  Tim shrugged his shoulders as if Daniel knowing something other people did not was hardly surprising, Sero simply stared at his Maestro as if waiting to be of help, and Carlos was staring to the south, no doubt focusing his own scan at the troupe.

  It was mostly because of his parents and Marsha that Daniel chose to answer quickly rather than spend a little time teasing his Chief Aid. “While I don’t know why they are here, I do know who has come to visit. Ruth, Samuel and Silvia’s grandmother, is part of the seventeen people headed this way, so guests they are, although uninvited.”

  “Well then,” his mother said, “we should prepare the dining-room. Daniel, everyone, let’s get upstairs.”

  She began ushering all of them towards the door from which Marsha had exited. Daniel walked along with his mother. Going to the dining-room was what he had intended to do next, so he refrained from pointing out that he was in charge, and should have been the one to give the order. Titles like, Royal Knight of the Realm, Lord of the Land, Maestro of the Atlantan Guild, and Seven-bolt Accomplished, seemed not to matter to his parents.

  Her confident smile faltered slightly before she reinforced it and the slip gave him the impression things may not be all that they seemed.

  Surely she has gotten over the fear of his spell-casting ability after all this time.

  He had a feeling she and his father were very much aware of his other designa
tions, but were trying their best to treat him like a normal person, which few people did, not that he blamed them. Folks tended to be uncomfortable around someone who could kill every living thing within a thirty span spherical radius of where he stood and do so faster than a tall man could stride across a small room. Aakacarns could throw up a defense shield to protect themselves from such a deadly burst and yet even they were wary of him, especially if he had his crescendo in hand. He understood the nervousness but also knew the fears were ungrounded because he would not do such a deed. People were frightened by the fact that he had enough Potential to bring about death on a vast scale. Spell-casters in the past had committed atrocities and abused their power, so the fear of what could be done was unfortunately not unprecedented.

  Most of the time he pretended not to see the fear in the eyes of people as he spoke to them or in folks who skirted around wherever he happened to be. They wanted his protection, not his company. He understood and held no bitterness towards them. The reaction of the people of Bashierwood, particularly Val Terrance, to the exposure of his talent back on Mount Tannakonna, taught him early on not to resent the fear. Reasoning with people who were terrified of him proved to be difficult. Only a greater fear persuaded them to accept his help and even after the danger was past, few of the people he had grown up with wanted to be anywhere near him. Proud of him they might be, but he knew they were glad he no longer lived among them.

  “If you greet them with that face, the Teki will flee back into the woods,” Tim apparently felt the need to point out as they entered the stairwell and started up the steps.

  Daniel did not realize he had been frowning. Without immediately making a reply, he cast an illusion and then retorted, “Then this one will surely send them screaming off into the night.”

  Simon chuckled. “Nice one, but if you want to wear Tim’s face, you might want to stoop a little to make up for your differences in height.”

  Daniel ceased the Melody and the illusion vanished. “That would not be the only difference, Tim would not be wearing the silks of an Accomplished, but a full illusion was not necessary, the look on his face was worth the small effort, and all I was hoping to see.”

  Tim smiled and eyed Daniel up and down. “Frankly, I never thought you looked more handsome. Perhaps you should consider wearing my face on a full time basis. People will know us apart by your the ungainly height.”

  They were half way up to the bungalow and Daniel smiled at the response. “Six and a half cubits is not that much taller than six and a third, and besides, Hound-pup, it was not me who stumbled on the trail during our last foot race.”

  “No, but at least you are not scowling now,” Tim said, and he was right, providing living proof that not everyone from Daniel’s past wanted nothing to do with him. The drummer was a good friend.

  Daniel’s mood was lightened and he appreciated the people in his life who were able to bring about that change.

  They all entered the bungalow and went into the dining-room. Tea was steeping and places were set at the table, word must have spread ahead of them. Through Find All, he sensed Silvia and David lead the Reshashinni onto the porch. Only two Accomplisheds were on the porch by that time and ten Benhannon Guardsmen. The reduction was no doubt due to the change of status from intruders to guests and also to keep hidden the fact that many more people lived in the building than the limited above ground space could account for. Four of the seventeen guests followed the couple into the bungalow and moments later the spell Daniel had been using to track them was no longer necessary.

  His mother and father immediately took on the role of host and hostess, they did live in the bungalow after all, and it was fitting for them to step forward first. But Silvia was the first to speak. The diminutive former acrobat, four and a half cubits in height, and cousin to Samuel, was standing to the right of her husband. The bright green trousers, tight yellow shirt with orange stripes, and broad leather belt around her waist, were typical color choices of the Teki, a cultural thing and to be expected. A hand-sized crossbow hung from a clip at her left hip, exactly like the ones worn by the Chosen’s Sentinels and soldiers of the Benhannon Guard. At her right hip were a daggerlance and a black copper-capped club called a nightstick; aim the thicker black end at someone and touch the sapphire set into the copper, and the spell, Sleep Time, would render the person unconscious for a day. Black hair framed a pretty face and flowed over her shoulders in waves down to her lower back. She also had thick eyebrows, long lashes, and dimples in her cheeks. “Lady Miriam, Lord Ronn, I present to you my mother’s mother, Ruth, Seer for the Reshashinni Teki.”

  The gray-haired woman, wrinkled and wizened, with a floral-patterned violet scarf on her head and a dress that seemed to take in every possible shade between red and violet, stepped forward. “I am pleased to have this opportunity to greet the parents of the Chosen Vessel. You have raised him well,” she said. The woman had to be ninety at the least.

  “We are pleased to meet you as well,” Ronn replied in a neutral tone.

  “I thank you for the compliment, but cannot say I am pleased by the heavy chores you placed on my son,” Miriam was quick to say. Daniel knew she saw him as being about twelve years old and caught up in something she really rather he had stayed away from. He did not choose to be Chosen and yet she seemed to think he somehow could have avoided it.

  Silvia quickly introduced the man standing right behind the Seer. “This is Enrick Krellig, Chief of the Forager Troupe of the Reshashinni Teki.”

  The stout man, perhaps thirty years younger than Ruth, had silver hair and a wide mustache that twitched into a smile at the speed at which the former acrobat had made the introduction. His eyebrows were thick and nearly touching. A scar marred his right cheek and his bright green shirt with orange and yellow diagonal stripes was tucked into a pair of an even brighter shade of green voluminous pants. “I also greet you and sympathize with the shock you must have felt at learning your son is not only a spell-caster, but the one destined to face the Dark Maestro.”

  Ronn gave a slight nod of the head. “It certainly required an adjustment on our part, on everybody’s part.”

  Daniel’s parents did not want anyone’s sympathy, he knew well. What they wanted was for the chore to be done so everything could go back to the way things were. He had grown beyond the life of a mountaineer and had many responsibilities insuring his life would never again be simple. What’s more, he did not want to go back, which did not mean his parents could not go back to the life they had enjoyed. All he wanted was for them to be happy and he was sure the feeling was mutual.

  Silvia went on to introduce Simon, Sero, Carlos, Marsha, Tim, Chuc, and Duncan. The other two Teki were Stephanus and Sasha.

  Sasha was a young dark-haired girl in a bright orange dress. This time she was actually wearing shoes. The last time Daniel had seen her she preferred to go around bare-footed. Her job was to tend to Ruth’s needs and the youth was also a fledgling Seer, which explained why she was staring at Daniel with wide-eyed wonder. Every Seer could see the glow radiating from the Chosen Vessel, even Tarin Conn, had he been in present company; as if the Dark Maestro would be, Daniel shook his head at the wayward thought.

  Stephanus was the troupe’s strongman. The violet shirt with bright pink stars barely contained his bulging muscles and his shoulders were as broad as Daniel’s, although the man was only five cubits tall. He took a seat at the dining table along with everyone else. Daniel sat at one end and Ruth on the other.

  David Cresh-Gerabolli, about equal in stature to Stephanus, although much leaner, wearing bright blue pants and a yellow shirt with red horizontal stripes, had been the juggler for the troupe until choosing to be an escort to the Chosen Vessel. David had a knife on each hip, many blades hidden within his clothing, and in his boots. He also had a crossbow clipped to his belt, but rarely used it. His eyes were dark brown and his hair was longer than most men wore, slightly below his shoulders. One of the many blades he used
was a daggerlance and he always seemed ready to draw and use it at a moment’s notice, even among friends.

  Ruth leaned forward, locking her eyes on Daniel. “I have a revelation and you might as well hear it now. Win before the fall or you might not win at all. Beware the ancient power of the west. In winning there is loss. The seven ancients will be your allies, some more than others, but never your friend. So I have seen and so it will be.”

  “Can you be more specific?” he asked. “Do you mean if we have not won the war by the end of summer we will lose?”

  “The west; Serinia has not been an ally of ours, and we know the ancient Tarin Conn was born on that island,” Simon began speaking his thoughts. “Does your revelation mean the island nation is actually going to turn on us and Aakadon, possibly siding with the Serpents?”

  “The butcher’s bill always gets paid,” Chuc reminded everyone, not that Daniel needed reminding, having witnessed the payment often enough, too often. The Lieutenant finished the comment by saying, “A certain amount of loss is often the price of winning.”

  Ronn and Duncan both nodded their heads in agreement with the statement.

  Marsha sighed before saying, “The ancients could be the guilds of Aakadon.”

  Daniel understood her sadness at the possibility of being correct. She had been the one to suggest to him in the recent past that the leaders of the Aakacarn city would recognize and welcome him as the Chosen Vessel. Their rejection had become a great eye opener. She, and everyone who had been restored from Condemnation, were shunned by their associates and ended up joining the Atlantan Guild. The fact that she was happy to be an Accomplished of the Defense Department did not mean she forgot how she had been treated by her former affiliation.

  Daniel shared her interpretation of that part of the revelation and that of Chuc as well, about the price of winning. And it would not be surprising to have yet another timeframe, in which the near impossible had to be achieved, imposed upon him. Simon might have been right about Serinia.