The Mirror Mage | ONC2022

13. First Cut

(Author's Note: dedicated to Elisabeth_Long and her blood chilling paranormal story, Midnight Calling!
The photo above is another one from the Hungarian horse farm, the rider was controlling 10 horses  - astonishing!)

The Rider's breath was hot in his ear. The knife was cold against his throat. Ben swallowed.

"So then, Ben Lucas." The Rider's voice was an angry hiss. "Thou are from the Mirror Worlds, that's true. Maybe thou are a mage... and maybe thou aren't. But thou are certainly a rider, I have no doubts whatsoever. Are thou here to take my place?"

"What? No!"

"Thou can't tell me it's a coincidence thou arrived just before the summer solstice!"

"What? I'm sorry, I don't understand. I didn't intend to come here at all! It was a pure accident!" Ben protested.

"Was it? I find that hard to believe!"

"Believe what you like! After all, it was someone from your world that pulled me here!"

"What?" Now it was the Rider who didn't understand what he was hearing.

"When I started to fall into the mirror, back in my own world, someone from here grabbed me by both arms and pulled me through! Otherwise, I might have ended up anywhere."

The Rider was silent. Ben could almost hear the thoughts whirling in his head before he seized on the answer.

"Uldon! It had to be Uldon. There isn't anyone else. But why?"

Ben started to nod and got a shallow nick across his throat. He froze. The knife was far too close for comfort; far too close and far too sharp. Under other circumstances, he would have thoroughly enjoyed being held against the Rider's hard body, but right now he needed to get free.

"My lord? Could you put the knife away, so we could talk about this? I swear to you on my life, I did not come here to try and take your place. I am no threat to you."

The Rider hesitated for an agonising moment before he lowered the knife. Ben spun away to face him and saw the Rider's eyes widen at the drops of blood across Ben's throat. He didn't apologise. Evidently, he was not yet convinced of Ben's innocence.

"But why would Uldon bring thee to Rhillion?"

"I don't know. But unless he can see into my world from here, he couldn't possibly have discovered I could ride. In fact, he couldn't have known anything at all about me, as an individual, before I arrived."

"That's true," the Rider conceded, with some reluctance.

"Other than the fact that I could fall through mirrors, I suppose. I'm guessing that's not something that happens to everyone who looks in a mirror, or else this world would be full of teenagers and actors."

"What?"

Ben rephrased hastily. "Being able to travel through mirrors must be a rare thing."

"Yes, it is," agreed the other man. "Uldon must have been seeking a mage, that's the only thing that makes sense. But for what purpose?"

Ben didn't know and didn't really care, but now they seemed to have got that sorted, he thought he deserved some answers.

"So why did you think I was here to take your place? And what does the summer solstice have to do with anything?"

The Rider's fingers tightened convulsively around the knife.

"The solstice is the one time I can be lawfully challenged."

Ben didn't think that meant he was going to be taken in front of a court. This was a primitive world, from everything he had seen so far.

"Challenged? You mean like a duel? A fight, to see who is stronger?"

"Something like that. Any person who thinks they can ride better than me, has the right to challenge."

"And if they win?"

"They become the next Rider. The position is only mine for as long as I can hold it."

For some reason, Ben had thought the position was hereditary, though he realised he had no grounds for that, other than the customs of Earth.

"This tradition seems very strange to me. Is this always the way the Rider is chosen?"

"From the dawn of history. The Rider must show themselves to be strong and capable, like the horses we breed."

"And what happens to the loser?" Ben dared to ask.

"That depends. If they are young, they return home and they might come back to try again another year. And if they are old... they might be happy to retire to a smaller holding."

"But what if they are still in the prime of life?" Like you. Ben didn't quite dare to say those words aloud.

The Rider looked bleak. "That... would be hard. I have been the Rider for five years. I wouldn't know any other way to live." He stroked Lio's nose, gently.

And you were prepared to kill me first, when you thought I was going to defeat you, thought Ben, beginning to feel a bit shaky now the adrenaline was wearing off. On the surface, a challenge to see who was the better rider seemed a civilised way to determine the next leader, but Ben realised that to the man in front of him, it still came down to a matter of life or death.

He couldn't help wondering whether the cloaks and side saddles were a not-so-subtle way of limiting the competition.

For a brief moment, he wondered about offering to show the Rider some of his stunt riding skills, some tricks he could use to counter any competition, but the recent attack on himself was too raw. The cut on his throat stung, reminding him of how near he had come to death, or at least serious injury. What if the Rider took his offer the wrong way and only found further reasons to dispose of him? He didn't imagine there would be much of an outcry if he disappeared in the middle of the night. Or on the ride back to the Keep...

No, he would keep his tricks to himself. He would keep a low profile, offer again to muck out the stables as he had offered before, and even ride on a damned side saddle if he had to, just to keep the peace. He wouldn't have to do it for long.

In only a few days, the Guild Master's envoy would arrive at Rider's Keep, and instead of taking mage lessons here, Ben would seek permission to return with him, or her, to the capital, Sunia, and the mages' headquarters in Tower Vierrac.

He would be far safer there, amongst the Mages.