White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Read Free

the capitol of the country, where the king ruled and defended the kingdom from the Dark One and his armies. North was Norcrom, the second of the six guardian fortresses which served to garrison and maintain the great wall known as Northwall. To the west a single paved road exited the town, but it was only a mile west before it split sending one path to White Hall and the other veered to the south and Cadmera.
    Cadmera’s road would continue on to Red Hall. Though it was nearly as close as White Hall, most wizards found northeast of the Cadhalla River would travel to the school near the center of the northern half of the country. Piotr couldn’t say that he knew much of those facts; but even a boy of fourteen, somewhat out of the loop on his farm, had heard some of the stories.
    Now he faced the town with its wood and stone buildings centered on the paved road that was the heart of Delanne. Trade flowed through the town and servicing those travelers was a large part of the economy. Banks, inns and other services for men living on the road, which a boy of fourteen wasn’t supposed to know about, lined the streets or occupied others close to it. Barns, granary storage and pens helped increase the sales of the local farmers as well, so Delanne was a mix of buildings from smaller houses to large inns and warehouses.
    “Now I wonder where we can find them,” Rikard mused loud enough for Piotr and Niklaus to hear. His twin had joined the other two for the trip. Having never been a night away from each other since the womb, the two boys could feel the strangeness of the future upon them. Though they had their differences, the twins still often seemed of one mind and separating them just seemed wrong.
    “We could ask in the center of town?” Niklaus suggested. Unlike his twin, the elder boy felt as comfortable in town as at the farm. He was the one who often tried to get his other brothers to go to Delanne more frequently, though their father tended to keep them too busy to do it very often.
    Urging the horses pulling their cart to keep moving, Rikard looked for the strange clothing which would single out wizards from the regular citizens. Wizard robes were well known to the eyes of the people of Southwall, since their harvest of children with magic occurred so regularly. Some saw them with dread. Taking away their children didn’t set well with parents; but wilders running around destroying their towns or worse was far less attractive to the people who would be harmed by children losing control of powers beyond most people’s imaginings.
    A few men were relaxing in front of a barber’s store, another business which seemed odd to a child whose hair had been cut by his mother all his life. Rikard called out to them, “Have the wizards been through here?”
    One of the men looked at the farmer with a slight frown. “From what I hear, they are still searching the north side of town, damn wizards!”
    The man beside him shook his head, but answered with a different question, “You are looking for wizards? Do you have need of a wizard’s magic or have you come to give away your children, farmer? Most don’t come looking for wizards unless their children are out of control, but your boys look well mannered and calm.”
    Unsure of how the men would view his son having magic, Rikard replied, “It is better to get their opinion sooner than later. I need my boys to help on the farm. If they are going to take one of them, it is better to know now.”
    The second man looked more discerning and followed up the answer with another question, “Such worries usually mean that you believe one or both have magic about them.”
    Rikard didn’t feel the need to answer the comment and chose to find a place to park his horses and cart. A stable wasn’t usually free, but the farmer was regular enough with his business that friends were willing to settle his animals for just the cost of some feed.
    Leading his boys behind him, the man