Call of the Kings by Chris Page

frozen everyone whilst we take stock of the situation.’
    ‘We are indebted to you, sir, and to you, miss,’ the baron said in his quivering voice, the chivalry of an old school gentleman couching his words. ‘My sons and I were close to death when you intervened.’
    ‘This foul earl is taking liberties with the collection of the geld?’
    ‘It’s more than liberties. Every few weeks he comes here and asks for more. His greed is boundless. It’s got so that we can’t pay any more, he’s had everything. All we have left is this house and our lands, and Swein was about to take that,’ one of the sons answered.
    The baron spoke. ‘I do apologize. I have forgotten my manners in the strangeness of the situation. This is my eldest son, Cyrille.’ He indicated the one who had just spoken with his eyes. ‘And this is my youngest, Julien.’ He looked the other way. ‘I am the Baron Tennant de Corbierre.’ Had he been able he would have bowed to them at that point.
    ‘I’m Tara, and this is Twilight. He’s the cleverest wizard in the land.’
    ‘Aaahhh,’ said the baron, raising his white old eyebrows. ‘Wizards, eh. Now I understand a bit more.’
    ‘Could you please release us from this bondage?’ Julien asked. ‘I would like to kill Swein and all his men.’
    ‘I’m sure you would,’ said Twilight. ‘But that is slaughter in cold blood and I cannot allow that, however justified you may feel. Be patient, your turn will come.’
    ‘You mentioned that you’re on a mission involving Swein,’ said Cyrille. ‘May I ask what that mission is?’
    ‘We’ve come to save the Abbess of Leominster, Edgiva,’ replied Tara. ‘Swein has her captive in Hereford Castle. Have you heard anything of this lady and her capture?’
    ‘Only rumours,’ said the baron. ‘Nothing certain, although Swein wouldn’t hesitate to do such a thing if he had a mind. He’s that evil. ‘
    ‘Why don’t we ask him?’ Twilight said, walking over to the frozen earl, who had his sword held downward with a snarl of domination about to break out on his immobile face.
    ‘Before I do, I’ll just have a look inside his head.’
    He paused for a few moments in front of the earl.
    ‘Mmmm. As I suspected, nothing much in there but greed, ambition, and hate, and a glowing and all-encompassing infatuation for the abbess.’ Twilight turned to Baron Tennant de Corbierre and his two sons. ‘An infatuation he manifests in strange and disturbing ways.’
    ‘I can imagine,’ said the baron.
    ‘What ways?’ Tara asked pertly, already suspecting that it had become an adult question and she would be denied a proper answer.
    Twilight looked at her and then ducked the issue as he had with his own children.
    ‘I’ll tell Katre and she can decide if you should know,’ he said. Teaching the young Tara how to cope with the Cowering Dead and the Equinoctial Mists and how to handle and kill savage, brutal people through the use of the enchantments was one thing - but telling her about the sexual antics of depraved men - something completely different. He’d left all of the basic birds and bees stuff with his own children to Rawnie, who had coped perfectly.
    ‘Coward,’ sniffed Tara.
    Twilight nodded acceptance of her accusation and tapped Swein on the shoulder. Give him a real nasty villain any day.
    The earl came to in a bile-spitting, screaming rage. For two minutes he screamed every epithet he could lay his tongue to at Twilight without repetition. There was nothing, NOTHING the old sorcerer would ever do that would protect him from Swein’s revenge. There was no place he could hide, no hole deep enough or dark enough or far enough away. Swein would find him and feed his flesh to the wolves and drink his blood; even death wouldn’t stop him. Twilight tapped him on the shoulder again and the tirade stopped in mid word. He looked down at Tara, who smiled sweetly back at him.
    ‘And I suppose you’re going to ask my mother to tell me