The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt Page B

return.
    Mary walks to the open doorway where she stops. The look she sends outside is one filled with both gladness that her husband has returned, and worry. She steps aside to allow Corbin to enter with Cyanna hugging him around the middle. By the look on Corbin’s face, whatever the meeting with the mayor had been about, it hadn’t been good.
    “Devin, take care of my horse, please.”
    “Ok, Papa.” Taking a last big bite of stew, he takes a slice of bread as he heads out the door to do his father’s bidding.
    As Corbin takes his seat at the table, Mary fills a bowl with stew and sets it before him. “What happened, dear?”
    “The Empire has done what we have feared for so long. It has launched an assault on Madoc.”
    “No,” Mary gasped.
    Corbin took a bite and nodded. “I’m afraid so. They have already pushed several hundred leagues north and have laid siege to the town of Saragon. The Madoc Council has sent runners to Castle Cardri for assistance. One passed through and gave the mayor forewarning.”
    “Are we in danger?”
    “Not at present. Their attack seems to only be against Madoc; so far. Though if Madoc falls, the Kingdom of Cardri will most likely be next.”
    “What does the mayor wish us to do?”
    “Right now there is nothing we can do. It’s the middle of summer and harvest is not far off. We cannot spare anyone. However, if the situation worsens, and they feel Cardri will be threatened, I’m sure levies will be summoned.”
    Elizabeth wrinkles her nose in confusion. “A levy, Papa?”
    He nods. “It’s where they summon all able bodied men for service. I don’t think we have much to be worried about, Devin’s still too young and they don’t enlist girls for fighting.”
    “What about James?” Cyanna asks.
    “James, I’m afraid, would be a prime candidate.” Glancing to James, he continues. “I don’t think you have much to worry about at the moment. If the war does come here, it is still a ways off.”
    James didn’t like what he was hearing. He definitely did not want to go into the army, especially not one in an age where doctors use leeches and hard liquor is the only pain killer to be had. Thinking of documentaries that described the Civil War makes a cold shiver go down his back. No matter how bad it had been then, here it would be worse.
    “The main thing the mayor wants us to do is to keep our eyes open for strangers and people asking a lot of questions. They could be spies scouting for the Empire.” Breaking off a corner from a piece of bread, he sops up the last of the gravy and eats it.
    Cyanna turns wide eyes to James. “Are you a spy?”
    “What?” Startled, he almost chokes on the mouthful of stew he had been in the process of chewing.
    “Cyanna!” her mother scolds. “That is not the sort of question you ask of a guest in your home.”
    Withering under the stern glare of her father, she says quietly to James, “Sorry.”
    “That’s okay,” he replies. “And I’m not a spy, just someone who has lost his way.”
    “That’s good,” she says. “I mean, good you’re not a spy.”
    “Who’s not a spy?” Devin asks as he enters through the door and returns to his seat at the table.
    “James,” Cyanna answers.
    Her brother glances to their guest with much more interest than he had previously shown. “Is he supposed to be one?”
    “No,” Elizabeth joins in, “he is not.”
    “So what’s the problem?”
    “The problem,” their father interjects sternly, “is people who only hear the end of a conversation.” He glares at his children, quieting them in a way only a father can achieve, then flashes James a smile that lasts only a second.
    Corbin stands and stretches. “James, let’s take a walk. That is, if your leg is up to it?”
    Surprised by the request, James comes to his feet and nods. “It can make it. The pain is not so bad anymore.”
    “Good, come along then.”
    Motioning for James to follow, he heads for the front door.