Flux

until you grew completely sick of them and never wanted to see one again.”
    Footsteps and loud voices suddenly echoed nearby, and then the door nearest them burst open. The advisor was back, and two uniformed guards. A young man was with them. He was probably in his early twenties, Miner reckoned, and about Miner’s height but much lighter in build. Not thin like Ennek, but wiry, perhaps a little delicate. He had sharp cheekbones and full lips and his long hair was thick and glossy and black as coal. He was quite beautiful and his eyes glittered with intelligence. But there was no warmth in those eyes, no humor that Miner could discern, and although his clothing was much simpler than the advisor’s, the young man carried himself so regally that there was no question he was the king.
    Ennek had moved close to Miner as they heard the group approaching, and now the king walked up to both of them. Miner had no idea what the proper protocol was for greeting royalty, and in the end he simply followed Ennek’s lead, standing there motionlessly and without expression.
    The king looked back and forth between them. “Which of you is the messenger?” he demanded. His voice was almost as high-pitched as a woman’s but he spoke their language nearly as well as a native.
    “I am. My name is Ennek.”
    The king made a face as if he found the name distasteful. “And who is this?” he asked, pointing at Miner.
    “Miner. He is my companion.”
    Another unhappy face. “And you were sent by that wizard? Akilina, yes?”
    “I was.” Ennek lifted her pendant in his hand. “This is her sign.”
    “I know that! Do not treat me like a fool.”
    Miner could see Ennek trying to rein in his temper. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I wasn’t certain how much you knew about Akilina.”
    “I know that she is a nuisance, pretending to command territories that are rightfully mine and disrupting travel and trade.”
    “She’s not really my favorite person either.”
    The king cocked his head a little. “Then why run her errands for her?”
    “She did me a favor. And then she demanded repayment for her efforts.”
    “You were a fool to accept a favor from a wizard.”
    Ennek nodded. “Believe me, nobody knows that better than I. But I was desperate. I had no other choice.”
    That was a lie, Miner thought. The choice had been his, not Ennek’s. It was Miner who had incurred Ennek’s debt. But Miner didn’t say anything.
    The king huffed impatiently. “Give me the message, then.”
    Ennek walked over to his bag, which he’d left on a bench as they were eating. He rummaged in it for a moment, found the scroll buried at the bottom, and lifted it free. He passed it to the king, who took it the same way a man might take a rotting fish.
    As everyone else waited silently, the young man unrolled the piece of parchment and began to read. His expression began as impatient and a bit angry, but as his eyes scanned the writing he went very pale and practically sparked with fury.
    “What is the meaning of this?” he yelled, thrusting the scroll towards Ennek.
    “I haven’t read it myself. I don’t know how to read your language. But I assume she’s demanding that you stay out of her lands and threatening you if you don’t.”
    “ Her lands? They belong to me!” The king’s face had gone from white to bright red. “How dare she attempt to menace me? And with the likes of you !”
    “Look, Your Majesty. I don’t want to harm anyone. But I’m telling you, she is very powerful and so am I. I saw those lands and there’s nothing especially valuable there anyway. Let her have them, at least for now. Maybe you can gather some wizards of your own and find some way to fight her, or—”
    “Quiet!”
    The advisor had been watching all of this very carefully, and now he came a little closer. “Sir, what he says is true, about Akilina in any case. I know nothing of this man’s powers. But before you were born she laid waste to many miles of land and hundreds died.”
    Ennek added, “If you’ve never seen what magic can do in skilled hands…it’s terrible, it truly is. I could destroy your entire beautiful harbor, but I really don’t want to. Give me your word that you’ll leave her be for now and abandon your claims on those lands and I’ll consider my task complete. Miner and I will leave and—”
    “Do you honestly think I would negotiate with you?” The king’s lips curled. Then he whirled toward his advisor.