Wizard's Tower - Arc 3 - Chapter 46

As plans go, I was especially proud of this one. While the children had certainly crafted that horrendous hat as a gift to me, a whispered discussion with Kine had concluded that for all practical purposes, it was [High Priestess] Shaelra that had led them to their new homes and cared for them along the way. She certainly warranted it more than I did—in fact, I was pretty confident that I was only a surrogate recipient because she was off on her quest. 

That being said, I forwent giving my prepared artifacts to the heroes in favor of a much-needed rest while Kine set about seeing what those children thought of the idea. When I awoke, I was felt refreshed. After a quick cleaning spell, I dressed in a fine robe of green silk with white suns embroidered into the sleeves and a matching white hat. I was so satisfied that when I opened the door to find my seneschal Fentworth awaiting me I was humming a tune to a song long lost.

“My lord,” he greeted with a quick bow.

“My good man, what can I do for you?” I answered with a smile.

“The villagers are gathering in preparation of the ceremony, and Alderman Kine estimates it will be only an hour or so until they are ready.”

“By Elora’s Light, that is great to hear!” I answered and clapped him on the shoulder. He looked at me questioningly and I realized it might be a bit unusual to act with such forthright joy. I coughed into my hand and schooled my face into a more neutral manner, even if I couldn’t keep the smile from my eyes.

“Come then! Let us find something to snack on until the time is ready. Unless you have other duties to attend?” 

“You decide my duties, my lord.” He answered with dry humor, but I was already several steps down the stairwell.

“Yes, yes,” I answered as I kept walking. The song I was humming became a whistled tune.

After a quick snack of griddle bread and a chat with Fentworth where I approved stocking up on supplies and sundries that might be limited in the aftermath of the evacuation, we walked outside and down to the central part of the village.

As we walked, I took in the village. It had expanded greatly under Kine and Rhaela’s influence, despite her subversive allegiance, and many of the buildings stood two stories tall. Kine had kept to the circular pattern for the layout, and there were only a few services left to fill before it became a full-fledged town. The population was already viable for a township, and only needed the approval of a noble—I paused and considered that I had just been promoted to a position of authority under the self-appointed Queen Eistoni. 

I could very well declare it a town. Doing so, however, would be a use of the granted authority and a signal that I was in support of her rebellion. Not that I expected the Kingdom of Sena to view me as a loyalist considering how the last king had spoken of me. More than that, I wondered what would happen if I declared the village a town without reference to any grant of authority. Would it be recognized? Who would object? Baroness Lark? 

I shook my head of the thoughts as I approached the crowd. The villages were gathered and excited, with many of the festivities from yesterday still ongoing. Meats roasted over open flames. Froom’s mages tossed funny illusions at the children and other kinds of illusions at the adults. My not-yet assistant [Magus] Nichols joined to follow me, her having waited just beyond the crowd. A crowd which parted at my arrival to allow us to walk towards the freshly made stage.

Kine stood at the forefront of the stage, happily nodding along to an animated villager who may have had too much wine, while the heroes congregated in twos or threes and talked amongst themselves. Yet, my arrival had drawn all their attention, and soon the crowd fell into silent anticipation. Only the squeals of the youngest children and babes in mothers’ arms hung in the air. I pulled back my defensive wards so as not to unintentionally harm those around me as we walked through, and found myself looking forward to this ceremony. Even the crowd couldn’t dull my feelings, and I nodded or smiled widely at those I passed. 

As I took the stage, Kine offered me a low bow and a loud greeting, one I matched with my own shallower bow and followed with a wave towards the crowd. My seneschal Fentworth and [Magus] Nichols stood at the bottom of the stage, and simply watched from there.

Kine raised his hands and used a minor wind spell to project his voice, “Residents new and old, honored tradesmen visiting from afar, master mages working diligently to save our kind, I am honored to present to you the lord [Wizard] Nemon Fargus and the Heroes of Broken Collars!” 

The crowd cheered loudly in response, and I saw more than one babe tossed into the air and caught. I took a few more steps to stand beside Kine and turn my body so that I could see Leslie and the others as they lined up behind me. I was a small bit annoyed that they were willing to present themselves so cordially here, but had been so informal at their feast, but I didn’t let that show on my face. 

Kine continued, “Some of them you know well, and others are new faces, but each one played a valuable part in the quest to stop the evil slaver god from visiting this world and chaining us all. I will now ask them to step forward when I recall their names and feats.”

What followed his words was a long ceremony where he would call a name and tell several tales regarding things they had done over the course of their adventure. How he recalled it all in such a manner was beyond me, but he must either have prepared all night long or had another mage with his speech reading it off to him via wind magic. Knowing my former apprentice, it could easily be both. 

After an hour and a half or more, the sun was beginning to set and my face was feeling tight at having held my smile for so long. It was something that I‘d done before, yet it had been a while and I had forgotten how taxing it was. Plus, the tip of my nose itched terribly, but it would be unseemly for me to scratch it from where I stood. Not that conduct such as that mattered to Meathead, who had scratched his rear no less than four times and was now shifting from foot to foot with impatience. 

When last Leslie was called, and I presented to her the warstaff I had crafted, I could hear the mutters from Froom’s mages across the crowd. Words greed and envy were the highest topics among them, though several of the more lecherous mages spoke of other things. Thankfully, I was the only one who could hear such whispers, otherwise, I feared Leslie might not appreciate the words spoken of her even if they were compliments in an odd sort of fashion. 

“And finally, we have a gift from the orphaned children of Sena to present!” Kine called as the crowd was beginning to grow unruly with the long ceremony. “Children?”

Five young children came from behind a building to the right. Each child was no more than eight years old, and four held a familiar box at each corner. The fifth led the way in a march, some silly imitation of the guards, yet the lad was no less serious than they. 

There was a bit of a jostle as they reached the stairs, and one of the girls almost tripped, yet soon they overcame that and stood before [High Priestess] Shaelra. She looked down at the children with a motherly smile and opened the box containing the Hat Which All Abhorred, and lifted it high into the air for the entire crowd to see.

“Thank you, children,” she whispered to the five, who turned and marched off the stage with their empty box. 

For my part, my smile didn’t feel taxing at all anymore until she stepped forward and turned in my direction holding the horrendous thing. 

The [High Priestess’s] voice was melodious and carried far into the crowd and she began to step in my direction. “[Wizard] Fargus on behalf of these orphans who would be lost if they weren’t here today and the Sisters of Elora who could not carry the weight of their burdens until they leaned on your strength. On behalf of the Heroes of Broken Collars, we present to you this gift of thanks. Made with the love and admiration of more than a hundred children and blessed by Elora’s Light.”

My eyes widened, and it took every ounce of my self-discipline to stand and smile where I was. Every instinct in my mind to me to flee. Tens, no hundreds of illusion and invisibility spells crossed my mind in that instant, but a calm and peaceful presence from the woman allowed me to overcome my fears and humiliation. It was the second time I had felt it from her, and it must have been a skill because I detected no magics from the woman. 

Biting my tongue to keep any foul words from my mouth, I withdrew my own perfectly acceptable hat and closed my eyes to accept my fate. One day. I could wear this for one day and be fine. There was no shame here. I repeated these words over and over to myself as I felt the hat touch my head and the crowd let loose a laughter-filled cheer. 

With the stupidest hat I had ever seen in my life resting atop my head, I raised a hand and smiled at the crowd, all while ignoring Mena’s belabored laughter behind me. I kept my forced smile on my face as I ignored it when she fell to the ground and clutched her sides. I said nothing when Leslie couldn’t look in my direction and Kine quickly disappeared after a guilty look. I acted as though it didn’t bother me at all, without saying a word, all the way back to my tower rooftop. There, I demanded several bottles of plum wine and stared at the stars shining on my reflection lake. 

And when I was certain that I was alone on the top of that tower, that no one could see me, I touched the hat on my head and smiled.