The Wizard's Misery The Chronicles of the Midlands Book One

Chapter Two

Theplump matron led her to the top of the stairs and showed her into aroom in the middle of the hall. "I'm Mrs. Lyons," sheexplained as she opened the door. She guided her into the sparse roomand went directly to the lamp sitting on a small table beside the bedand lit it. "Hurry up and put your stuff on that chair overthere and take off your boots and climb into bed," she said asshe walked over to a small fireplace and prepared to light the woodthat was already set up for a fire. The girl did as she was told andthen sat down on the bed with a sigh. She was exhausted and fear ofwhat could happen was making her compliant.

Soona small fire was burning and Mrs. Lyons turned to leave. "Nowget under that blanket and act like you're sleeping," she saidas she reached the door. "Maybe we'll be lucky and this willwork. Otherwise, it's going to go poorly for all of us." Withthat said, she quietly shut the door.

Theyoung woman was truly exhausted from everything that had happened andstill she clutched her dagger tightly as she lay in the bed. She wastotally unable to relax and began to go over everything in her mind.She began to think about home and her father and how he was going toreact if she was captured.

Herfather had been a guard in the king's army and after serving severaltours of duty, he settled on a farm at the outskirts of the town ofHalfaway. He soon married and quickly settled down to the farminglife, glad to put his military years behind him. It wasn't long andhe and his wife began expecting the birth of their first child. But,her mother had died of pneumonia when she was little girl, leavingher father to raise her as best as he could. They had grown to bevery close over the years that followed and he would be devastated ifanything happened to her.

Shepulled the dagger from its sheath and haphazardly turned it over inher hand. The blade glinted in the fire light as she thought moreabout her relationship with her father. Having been raised by the oldsoldier, she had ended up being something of a tom boy who enjoyedfishing, hunting and sword play. She and her father often enjoyedthese activities on the days that they weren't working the farm. But,this was all before Maledictor had killed the king and taken over thethrone.

Sheput the dagger back in its sheath but kept it strapped to her sideunder the blanket. She also kept her hand on the hilt so she couldaccess it quickly and her grip tightened on the handle as she thoughtabout all of the evil that Maledictor had wrought within the kingdom.

Maledictorwas a wizard who'd befriended King Henry while he was traveling theEastern Lands and when the King returned home, he brought him backwith him to be his new adviser. At first Maledictor had provenhimself to be an asset to the kingdom. But, over time his counsel hadchanged. He began advising the king to enact harsh legislationcreating hardship for the people. Acting out of character, the kingsanctioned these laws, causing his rule to lose favor with thecitizens while allowing Maledictor's power to grow within the court.

Bythis time, King Henry refused to listen to any reports spoken againstthe wizard and rumors that the king had been enchanted abounded.Through careful scheming and magic, Maledictor weaseled his way intobecoming the king's only adviser, a very powerful position in thekingdom. But, he still wasn't satisfied and plotted even further.

Deceitfully,he blamed the king for all the kingdom's troubles and fomenteddissension against him within the court. Maledictor then began toturn the generals against the king causing a divide within the army.Through these treacherous actions, more and more powerful peoplebegan to side with him against the king. Through his unnaturalinfluence over the king, Maledictor caused all who suspected histreachery to either be banished to the Western Wastes or executed. Itwas through the few who fled that a resistance movement began.

Theaim of the resistance was to have the enchanted king deposed and havethe evil wizard expatriated to the Eastern Lands. The goal was thento place the king's son, Prince Bryan, on the throne. Prince Bryanhad been one of the first to be exiled after Maledictor enchanted theking.