Caleb shrugged. ‘I thought Father let me go wandering around, hunting, fishing, and trapping because I was useless at magic’
Miranda smiled gently. ‘If Magnus had wanted to wander around, hunting, fishing, and trapping, your father would have let him. That was the lesson he learned from William.’
‘So Father doesn’t talk much about the past.’
‘No, mostly because he doesn’t need to dredge up the painful memories; he has enough pain right now to deal with.’
‘So you’re saying Father never talked about the Dread.’
‘Only a little, and I suspect he’d say much the same that Tomas has and will say.’ She stood up. ‘We must go. I really didn’t mean to talk so much about your father, but the question you asked put me in mind of something that has long since been a struggle for me, the part of my husband I cannot touch: his memories and feelings for his first family’
They fell silent, and at last Caleb said, ‘I worry about him, too, Mother.’
Miranda’s eyes welled up and she blinked. ‘You’d think after all we’ve been through I’d get used to—’ She cut herself off and stood up. ‘We need to go and speak to our guests.’
Caleb followed his mother through the long halls of the villa until they reached a clearing to the west of the largest building on the island, save for the empty castle on the distant bluffs overlooking the sea. A series of benches had been erected, forming a semi-circle. Miranda had called together forty of the most powerful magicians not in the Conclave, an equal number of clerics of the various orders – most of whom had already reached an agreement with the Conclave, or who were more or less favourably disposed to them, and four of the most senior members of the island community. Many of these gathered folk greeted Miranda and Caleb, others were intent upon their own conversations. She ignored the preening representative of the faction known as the Hands of Korsh at the Academy. Keshian traditionalists only slightly less hidebound and reactionary than the other faction, the Wand of Watoomb, they were too caught up in their own self-importance to be of any political use. The good thing was that they had isolated themselves from social conflict and national politics so effectively that neither the Kingdom nor the Empire viewed them as a threat. Had either monarchy possessed a hint of just how much magical ability existed on the Island of Stardock, she was certain their reactions would be quite different. She also liked the fact that Stardock drew attention away from Sorcerer’s Isle. To the rest of the world a mad magic-user, ‘the Black Sorcerer’, lived here alone. Over the years that guise had included her father, her husband, Nakor, and any number of students adept enough to scare off pirates or more innocent vessels that had wandered off course. A little blue light sparking in a tower window of the old castle, some horrible noises, and if necessary a hideous illusion or two on the beach below, and they gave this place a wide berth.
Now Sorcerer’s Isle resembled a spring garden party at the royal palace at Roldem, save that there were few beautiful ladies and no dashing young courtiers present.
Miranda said, ‘Thank you all for coming,’ and all conversation stopped. ‘Tomas of Elvandar should be here in a while. But before he arrives here, I wish to say something.
‘Each of you is known to the others, if not by sight, then by reputation. Each of you is here because you are acknowledged as both a master of your arts and an influential member of your particular orders or societies. I can do no more than beg you to believe that what you are about to hear from Lord Tomas, as fantastic as it may sound, is the truth.’ She heard the dragon approach before she turned and saw it. Those sitting in the semi-circle in front of her looked up in astonishment.
Caleb walked over to stand next to his mother and whispered, ‘Gold is better.’
The dragon Tomas rode now dwarfed the red one he had ridden earlier. This majestic creature had a head the size of a freight wagon, and its wingspan could have covered the entire width of the main building on the island, with the tips touching the ground. The massive dragon touched down as lightly as a leaf fluttering from a tree and Tomas leaped down from its shoulders, more of a drop than jumping from a rooftop. He thanked the dragon and it sprang into the air, spiralling away in a steep climb into the evening air.
Without preamble, Tomas said, ‘That you are here means that Miranda and Pug have confidence in you, and confidence will be required. I bring you a warning, and it is most dire.