Bonus Chapter
Benjin
Benjin listened to the start of the annual Provincial Council’s Summit with half an ear as he readied yet another experiment.
He should have been there himself, seated by King Haldric’s side to serve as his magical adviser.
But given the current crisis, Haldric had understood when he’d requested to keep working instead.
Several months ago, a farmer had discovered the first signs of a blight in one of Leonia’s crops. Such things happened from time to time, and no one was particularly concerned…at first.
Usually, a lifeflame wielder or two could be tracked down to cleanse the affected plants before the blight became too severe. As the governor of Ilthabard’s central province where most of the kingdom’s crops were produced, Duchess Iliana kept a number of such casters on retainer.
However, this particular blight proved surprisingly resistant.
It didn’t take long to determine that it was magical in nature.
The blight spread far more aggressively than any normal sickness should, and despite every effort to cleanse the affected crops, both with magic and with more mundane methods such as fire, it continued to fester.
Haldric had charged Benjin with devising a cure, or at least a way to slow or halt its advance. Benjin swore he was close. But so far, he’d come up empty. This was his first real crisis since adopting the title of Grand Magus, and he was determined not to let Haldric down.
Hence why he was in his palace workshop rather than at the Summit.
Part of him felt guilty for leaving Haldric alone there in a room full of predators waiting to pounce.
Yet over the past few years, Haldric had proven himself a more than capable ruler.
With his aunt Duchess Janelle’s help, he should have no trouble keeping the governors in line.
And even though Benjin wasn’t there in person, he’d made sure he could still step in if necessary.
It really was an ingenious bit of magic.
He’d used a mix of Conjuration, Abjuration, and Divination runes to bind two tall mirrors together and swap their reflections so that what each one saw and heard was echoed by the other.
Placing one mirror in his usual spot to the left of the king and the other here in his workshop provided easy two-way communication.
Benjin was quite proud of the trick, though Haldric jokingly complained he only did it so that he had an excuse to skip out on more meetings. Which…fair.
While the governors bickered over the latest tax rates and soldier allotments, Benjin held his breath, watching the spell he’d readied dance and sizzle over a small sample of blighted wheat.
He’d long since abandoned his attempts with pure runeflame. While a decent Restoration spell could counter the blight for a time, like lifeflame, it consistently failed to remove it entirely. The rot always came back.
For this latest round of efforts, he’d turned to an unlikely source of aid—Lady Katalin’s mage, Percival. Benjin had been highly skeptical of trusting one of Dexil’s old contacts, especially one who’d been instrumental in creating the curse that stole his and Haldric’s memories.
But after Dexil’s execution, Katalin had done a thorough investigation and ultimately cleared Percival of any foul intent. She assured them that he’d been as duped by Dexil as the rest of them and was horrified to hear how his research had been misused.
It had taken Benjin several months of begging (and Katalin’s assistance) to finally convince the curmudgeonly mage to send some of his materials so that Benjin could attempt his own fusions. This latest spell did exactly that.
While Benjin couldn’t work with dawnflame directly, he could modify his arcane runes to siphon it from a device Percival had lent him. The small glass sphere inlaid with thin obsidian wires sat glowing beside him.
In theory, reinforcing the Restoration magic with dawnflame should bolster the effect, much the same way it had Dexil’s memory curse.
Hope kindled in his breast when the blighted sample of wheat seemed to grow hale and hearty once more. The instant the spell concluded, Benjin grabbed his instruments and began examining it, his heart pounding.
Had he finally done it? Was this the breakthrough he’d been waiting for?
His shoulders slumped when he discovered the seed of corruption still present within the sample.
Another Void-cursed failure. The spell had successfully returned the wheat to its natural state but had failed to remove the curse itself.
Based on his past failed experiments, in a day, maybe less, the wheat would be as blighted as ever.
Mention of the blight through the mirror caught his attention. Turning away from his failure, he focused in on the conversation taking place across the palace.
“—can’t wait any longer!” Duchess Iliana was saying.
Gone was her usual good humor, her face grim and drawn.
Given that it was her province of Leonia facing the blight, Benjin didn’t blame her.
“Why are we wasting time discussing roads when we should be devising a plan to save what’s left of my precious crops! ”
Across from her, Duke Haggerty snorted from behind his bushy beard.
“And what would you have us do? More likely than not, it’s just a nasty bit of wild magic that crossed over the Void Peaks from the Netherwaste to our south.
Such things happen. All we can do is tighten our belts and let it run its course until it burns itself out. ”
Benjin bit his tongue. When belts needed to be tightened, somehow it was only ever the lowborn who bore the brunt of the scarcity. No matter how bad the blight became, he doubted any of the people in this room—himself included—would ever feel it.
Duchess Iliana glared at Duke Haggerty. “Easy for you to say! Just because your lands in the mountains are already desolate is no reason to let mine fall into ruin as well!”
The two dissolved into heated bickering. Benjin caught Haldric sigh and cover his eyes.
“Enough!” Duchess Yasmine cut in, slamming her fist on the table.
Her voice was as crisp and no-nonsense as ever.
“This blight is but a distraction. My scouts along our western border report increased Nalaxian troop movements. No doubt this blight is a curse concocted by their necromancers to weaken Ilthabard ahead of an invasion.”
Huffing, Duchess Iliana rolled her eyes. “By the Goddess, Yasmine, not everything is about Nalax!”
“Says the person obsessed with their precious plants,” Duke Haggerty retorted.
Duchess Iliana whirled back toward him. “Leonia supplies over half the nation’s food! If our crops fail, who will pick up the slack?” She gave a derisive snort. “You?”
Things were quickly spiraling out of hand.
Clearly sensing the same, Duchess Janelle chimed in, her voice booming over the other governors.
“May I remind you all that we are on the same side. We all want what is best for Ilthabard. Now, seeing as we have no proof of the blight’s origin, we should avoid jumping to any hasty conclusions and remain focused on the problem at hand.
While we continue to seek a more permanent solution, maintaining order and handling any food shortages must be our top priority.
To that end, the Lowborn Council has proposed a rationing system that will provide equal relief to—”
Duchess Iliana’s chair scraped against the floor as she leaped to her feet. “We’re talking about my crops and my province! What right do these upstart peasants have to dictate what I do with my food?”
Once again, Benjin had to stop himself from an angry retort.
They were still recovering from Grand Magus Dexil’s failed rebellion.
Forming the Lowborn Council had helped, but there was still plenty of unrest among the people, and many who remained on the fence whether or not they could trust the new king to actually be more than talk and change things for the better.
It was bad enough that none of the Lowborn Council were present for this meeting.
Haldric had fought for their inclusion, or to at least let them send a single representative.
But the best he’d been able to manage was to allow them to voice their concerns to Duchess Janelle ahead of time so that she could relay them—a concession he’d been forced to make to appease the other governors.
Benjin didn’t envy Haldric his position. All eyes were on him as he did his best to chart the treacherous path that had been laid before him as king. Yet Benjin had no doubts that he’d continue to rise to the challenge.
Sure enough, King Haldric spoke now, interjecting over Iliana’s protests. “I hear your concerns, Duchess Iliana. Of course you shall retain final say over any decisions about what to be done with your crops.”
Duchess Iliana settled back into her seat with a sharp nod, looking at least partially mollified. Haldric glanced over to Janelle, whose eyes narrowed before she too gave a begrudging nod. He swept his piercing green gaze over the rest of the table before continuing.
“However, we thankfully are not without options…or friends. Thanks to our alliance with Khordan, we need not worry about having enough food to survive the coming winter. I’ve already reached out to Lady Katalin to discuss the prospect of aid, which she is happy to coordinate.”
That raised a whole new round of murmurs and objections. Duchess Janelle appeared supportive. Benjin knew that Haldric had already discussed his plans with her at length. But the reaction from the other governors was mixed at best.
“Whatever eases our burden is fine by me,” Duchess Iliana said. “Though why waste time on food? Khordan has a surplus of dawnflame wielders. Get them to send their paladins and priests to bless my fields and cleanse my crops so we can get back to business as usual!”
Haldric hesitated. “That’s not exactly the sort of aid that Lady Katalin is able to—”