by Blink, Bob
The King watched as the man walked off. He could see the heaviness in the man’s step. He probably shouldn’t have tasked the other with ensuring his son was properly hidden away, but there were not many in the court who knew exactly what the situation was with the boy. He’d been incredibly fortunate that the secret had been kept so long. Now was not a good time for the boy’s limitations to be revealed.
This marriage was very important. Not just for the political assurances the people saw in the joining, but for the future of his line as well. Once the princess and Awll were married he would have someone to watch over him more closely, and if the boy could sire an heir, the future would look brighter. It was important to Arotho that his line continue to rule Kellmore. He’d worked too hard to bring the country into line for it to be handed over to someone else. That’s why his beliefs about Briz were so damning. Of course there was always Neip, but he was young enough that Arotho didn’t know if something happened to himself whether the youngster would ever have a chance.
He wondered if Awll would be able to produce an heir. They had kept the boy ignorant of women because it would become obvious to any who slept with him that he had a problem. That would mean word would have spread. Now, it would be important for the lad to learn what had been kept from him. If he couldn’t produce, Arotho would probably have to get the woman with child himself. He’d be damned if someone else’s blood would serve.
The King walked over to his desk and picked up the note the messenger had delivered earlier today. At least the princess wasn’t sick. Perhaps it was somewhat callous that he was pleased that Mydra apparently had been spared thus far from whatever was going on in Branid. The King and his youngest daughter both afflicted with disease or poison. The exact cause wasn’t determined, but clearly Usaya thought that poison was at fault. The symptoms were frightening in their similarity to the plague that everyone thought was safely many years in the future. How had it been done? Usaya didn’t appear to know.
King Arotho could read between the lines. This was no simple thing and obviously Usaya was concerned that the King wouldn’t survive. She was letting him know so he could prepare for the likely news that his counterpart had passed. There was much to think about here. What would the agreements and alliances mean if that happened? A lot would depend on who assumed the throne afterwards. Prince Rhory was supposed to follow his father, but Usaya had indicated that Rhory was off like Briz engaging the invaders who were breaching the eastern borders. His fate could not be certain until he returned to Sulen. The twin brother Rhog was clearly in less favor with Usaya, and given what Arotho’s eyes and ears in Sulen had told him, he didn’t favor the lad either.
Arotho felt he was in a trap with no way to move. He was considering writing Usaya and asking her to send Mydra now despite the problem with her pregnancy. He could keep her hidden away safely. Perhaps his healers might even be able to see to the unwanted child as well. Meanwhile, he would have to accelerate the preparations that were being made for war. From everything that he’d learned from Usaya, there was little doubt anymore. War would soon be upon them. Briz had sent back messengers with very similar reports. It appeared that thus far Kellmore had faired better than Branid in terms of raids, but it was clear that the frequency and depth of penetration was increasing.
Arotho felt a momentary burst of pride at what Briz had accomplished. Briz had performed remarkably well, leading his men and engaging the enemy multiple times successfully. One of Arotho’s top military advisors had returned just the other day from the front with high praise for the lad. Then Arotho’s pleasure faded. If only he could know for sure if he was the boy’s father.
Frustrated, he tossed down the brief note from Usaya. He had no time to spend thinking about Briz now. He’d worried the matter of his son’s legitimacy for a dozen years and come to no conclusion. His senior advisors and military leaders were due in another glass to discuss what preparations remained and what actions might be accelerated. He was certain the capital could be defended. It’s location had been chosen with that in mind many years before. Much of the rest of Kellmore was not so lucky, and they would have to set priorities as to which areas they would sacrifice if necessary. That would help decide where his army would be located. There was also the matter of when to bring his army together. Too soon and he risked bankrupting the treasury and depleting the food reserves, not to mention disrupting families across the kingdom. Wait too long, and they wouldn’t be ready to fight when Lopal invaded.
They had already taken the preliminary actions necessary to prepare. The nobles had been informed and directed to gather food and prepare their subjects for war. Men of the appropriate age were to be identified and initial training begun. The leaders of the existing military had been ordered to start preparing for a swelling of their ranks. The great military machine was starting to move, and orders for armor and weapons already distributed to the makers of such items. Thousands of other necessary items were being ordered, and the gold was flowing from the kingdom’s reserves at an alarming rate. King Arotho hoped that the expected all out attack wouldn’t come until the following spring. That would give them far longer to prepare, which was why he didn’t think they had that long. Lopal had to be aware of the preparations that Kellmore and Branid were making, and would be foolish to allow them extra time. It appeared that Lopal had been planning and preparing for this for some time.
There was also the matter of the targeted attack on Branid’s king. If Usaya was right and it was poison, it was almost certain that Lopal was behind the matter. That might suggest that similar attacks could be directed at him. He would have to discuss the matter and see what precautions they might take to ensure he wasn’t poisoned. Perhaps his own healers would be able to make something of the symptoms and have suggestions what the poison might be and how it might be cured. He would be pleased to be able to pass such news back to Queen Usaya, although he wondered if it would arrive in time even if he knew the answer at this very moment.
It was indeed unfortunate that no idea how the poison had been delivered had yet been discovered in Branid. There were simply too many people required to keep the castle functioning to watch every move. He would simply have to restrict those who had access to the royal family to a minimum. He shook his head. Just the threat of an attack was burdensome. The precautions were going to make getting the necessary tasks completed even more difficult.
King Arotho looked up when he heard his senior aid clearing his throat. “Your Lordship, Captain Divid requests a moment of your time,” the man said.
Chapter 49
“Is this really the wisest choice for us?” Ash’urn asked as they sat in the bluish light cast by the spells of Rigo and Jeen that pushed back the absolute darkness of the depths of the cave they had been making their way through for more than a day now. They were wholly dependent of the magical illumination, having brought nothing that would burn or could be used as a torch. At least they had food and water for almost two weeks, more if they conserved. Actually, the limiting factor would be food because they’d seen that streams of water were not unknown as they’d made their way here from the entrance to the working mine.
“There was little other choice,” Kaler reminded the elder scholar.
“Perhaps we should have simply waited in the depths for a few days before attempting to sneak out down the valley rather than venturing into the very bowels of the land.”
Rigo grinned. It was obvious that Ash’urn was not one of those comfortable being buried under the ground so far away from the sun. If the truth be known, he didn’t like it much himself. “I’m certain this is the right way to go,” he said.
Ash’urn looked over at Rigo doubtfully. “We will have to be uncommonly lucky to find a way through to the far side if the stories about this place are true.”
“Luck isn’t the key factor at work here,” Rigo explained. The others looked at him.
“What do you mean?” Daria asked.
“I
think that magic has a great deal to do with how events are unfolding,” Rigo explained. “I lived more than a decade during which I never encountered anyone with any magical ability. Jeen has pretty much done the same. Ash’urn has spent a lifetime searching and gathering information with little success.
Even when I set out on my journey looking, I didn’t learn much. Thinking back, I was ignoring the drive inside me, heading in the wrong direction. But now, in the last months, all of that has changed. We have come together. Jeen and I have the power, and Ash’urn has had more useful tidbits than we can imagine. I’ve seen magic being able to influence events and I’m certain it somehow had a hand in bringing us together.”
“How do Daria and I fit into this?” Kaler asked. “Neither of us have power or any knowledge of it.”
“Both of you have been key to our success thus far and I sense have an even greater role to play in the coming months.”
“What does that have to do with our crawling through the dark in this cave?” Ash’urn asked unconvinced.
“If I’m right then events transpired to bring us to the Digs where there was really only one way to go if we wanted to escape. That suggests to me that for us, there will be a way through. Perhaps the only way to get through to the eastern edge of Lopal where we need to go, given the state of matters at the moment.”
“So we are being manipulated?” Daria asked.
“Aided,” Rigo corrected. “Whatever is pulling me to the Ruins has something to do with magic. I’m certain of it.”
“I can think of a lot of ways that would have been easier,” Ash’urn grumbled. “Why couldn’t this magical force just provide one of those bubbles like Burke had and take us where we need to go?”
“We don’t have knowledge of the magic required,” explained Rigo. “Whatever forces are being manipulated, they appear to be constrained by the abilities we have at the moment.”
“What do you expect to find when we get to wherever this place you are drawn to?” Jeen asked.
“Answers, for one thing,” Rigo replied. “I think we might learn a great deal more about magic and what happened to those who used to exist with the power.”
“And you think that is going to help us?” Daria asked doubtfully.
Rigo shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know I have to see this through.”
They fell silent for a while contemplating what might be ahead. None were ready to call it a day and seek sleep. Day and night had no meaning down here, but the sooner they pressed onward, the sooner the matter would be resolved one way or another. All were eager to see the sky once again. That alone was a strong motivator.
Rigo looked around, the view limited by the range of the illumination from the magic. The cave was a remarkable place. Far under the surface, they had found regions where the tunnel they passed through was small with barely sufficient headroom for a person to walk upright. A couple of places they had to crawl. In other sections they walked through vast caverns with the ceiling so high it was lost in the dark far above them. Rigo had launched a ball of light into the air to reveal the extent of one vast chamber and they had been amazed at the sheer magnitude of the cavern they were passing through. Always there was the dark. Just at the outer range of their light. It was darker than any of them could have imagined, all sources of light sans their own having been removed from this place. Without light there would be no hope of finding their way. Rigo marveled at the courage and skill of those who had made this journey the first time, not knowing where it would lead. And then to return to the beginning to show the way to others, making the long trek in the dark twice more.
They had had little trouble following the path. So many feet had trod this way that the ground was worn and flattened by the passage of footsteps. Even after many years the signs remained. There was no weather down here to wear them away, and things changed incredibly slowly here in the depths.
“Shall we go?” Rigo asked as he pulled himself erect. He leaned his hand against a stalagmite, one of many in this area. In a few places the stalagmites had merged with the corresponding stalactite to form a column. In the bluish light they looked to be wet, but did not feel that way. Nearer the entrance to the underground passage where the mine was located the walls had been hard rock, with few such structures. Since passing the underground lake some hours earlier, the frequency of the structures had increased markedly.
One by one the others stood and glumly started after Rigo. He led, and Jeen brought up the rear. That kept the others between them and in the area that was lit by the two balls of light created by the two wizards. As before, they walked seemingly without a sense of progress. It was hard to measure one’s gains when nothing could be seen beyond the short distance they were able to illuminate. No distant landmarks could be watched as they approached, and then marked as they disappeared in the distance. Structures would appear abruptly, and disappear just as quickly.
“It sparkles,” Jeen said some time later as their path brought them close to converging rock walls as the pathway narrowed.
Rigo had noted the same thing, and stopped to look closely at the surface when their path brought them close. “It’s the small rocks that are embedded in the stone,” Rigo said finally.
“Idiots,” Ash’urn said good-naturedly. “They aren’t rocks. Those are raw gems.”
“They don’t look like much,” Kaler observed, running his hand over the surface and trying to dig one of the objects out of the rock.
“They have to be cut and polished to look like the kind you normally see,” Ash’urn told him.
“There certainly are a lot of them,” Daria noted.
“This is probably where they were formed,” Ash’urn mused. “The ones that are found in streams and such probably broke free and were washed down the river from here.”
“What river?” Kaler asked.
“There’s none here now, but this path we are walking was more than likely cut by water that flowed through here in the far past.”
“This seems like a good place to stop for a while,” Rigo said when the path widened out and revealed a large flat where they could rest for a while. Truth was, he was getting hungry.
The others agreed. They could use a break and a few hours sleep, and stopping here would give them a chance to examine the gems more closely.
After they selected a spot for their packs, they sat down and dug out their skins of water and something to eat. Rigo satisfied himself with a strip of cured meat and one of the pears. Daria and Jeen walked off to have a look at the gems, electing to eat later. Before long they returned with a half dozen of the transparent stones in hand.
“They are remarkably large,” Jeen noted. “I wonder what they are worth?”
“They all look the same,” Kaler noted, handing the two that Daria had passed to him back to her.
“That is to be expected. Whatever these are, it is a result of the materials in the walls of the cavern and the conditions here. I would be surprised to find more than a single type in a given location.”
Their conversation soon waned. The situation was not one to spur a lot of talk, and they began to drift off one by one. Ash’urn had used his chanted spell to mark the boundary of their camp, so they would be alerted if anyone or anything approached. It seemed an unnecessary precaution down here, but Daria had insisted.
Rigo had been asleep for several hours when he felt a pull at his shoulder. His eyes flew open and he saw Daria’s face close to his own.
“What?” he started to ask, but she indicated he should be quiet.
She leaned close and whispered, “There’s something out there.”
“Someone?” Rigo asked softly.
Daria shook her head. “Something else, and it passed through Ash’urn’s boundary without alerting him.”
That was enough to bring Rigo fully awake. Quickly they woke the others. By the time they were all up and moving, the sounds were unmistakable.
“It snorts like some kind of an
imal,” Kaler observed.
“How could it get so close?” Ash’urn wondered aloud. “Even an animal should trip my defense barrier.”
“There,” Jeen said pointing.
There was no mistaking the location. Out in the dark, beyond the range they would normally be able to see, a flickering light pulsed erratically and was slowly moving their way. As they watched it grew closer and they could see a vague outline of the shape in the odd lighting that seemed to occur randomly over the surface of the creature. It appeared to be the size of a medium bear, but the shape of the head appeared grossly different. Unfortunately they couldn’t see much detail.
“If it weren’t for the darkness down here, I doubt we could see the lights on it,” Daria mumbled.
Just then Ash’urn caught a breath. “I’ve seen one like that before. It looks very much like the creature that was destroyed by the visitor to my village so long ago.”
Just then something in the creatures demeanor changed. It raised it’s head as if to smell the air. It was obviously aware of them. With a loud bellow, he started moving quickly in their direction.
“Spread out,” Daria yelled.
Kaler stepped forward and sought protection from a large rock as the others stepped backwards. Daria and Ash’urn climbed a large boulder in an attempt to get out of reach, while Jeen and Rigo moved off to one side. The animal was moving surprisingly fast now, and as it passed the spot where Kaler had hid, the fighter swung his sword powerfully. Unfortunately the blade rang as if it had struck stone and surely would have snapped despite being the best Kellmore steel available if not for the fact Rigo had magically strengthened the blade.
The creature bellowed and started to turn toward Kaler. Several blasts of energy shot from small appendages on the head of the beast, but which fortunately were poorly aimed and missed the young fighter. Rigo noted that the shaft of his staff was glowing very faintly blue where the necklace was embedded in the wood. Magic! The creature had the ability to use magic. Rigo could see his friend would soon be trapped or blasted with the unknown energy being released by the creatures, and unleashed a series of his most intense fireballs at the thing, whatever it was. That drew the creature’s attention and ire, but did nothing to slow it down. It was obvious the magical fire had no real effect at all.
