by B. T. Narro
Andar had stood up straight to enjoy the sight of his nervous brother, but then he gazed at the princess to find her already looking back. He quickly hid himself again as he cursed.
“I have heard of you and your brother,” the king said. “Is it true you are bound by a stalwart link?”
“Yes, sire,” Leo said.
“That is interesting. I wish to speak to you and your brother about that later. For now, answer how you feel about destroying this expanding rift in foreign land.”
“Nervous,” Leo said with a squeak of his voice, eliciting more laughter. “But I look forward to succeeding. We’ve all learned that not only is it a danger to Analytes, but it will be to humans as well.”
“Not just a danger,” corrected the king. “It will destroy everything we’ve built, pushing us to the far corners of the continent. If we do not destroy it now, it will consume all of Aathon eventually, for it will be much too large to stop.”
“Then I am glad to be here,” Leo said in a strong tone.
“Aye,” agreed many.
The commander chimed in. “We all wish to destroy the rift.” He spoke as if this was wasting his time. “We’re eager to get out there and finish this.”
“The humans have not come for many years,” Dasfis told Jarrel. “Now it is difficult to believe that the sole reason you are here is to help us. So the questioning will continue until I’m satisfied.” He lifted a finger as if to point at another mage, but the commander interrupted.
“Sire, we are here to dispose of the rift. You can trust us, or we can leave if that’s what you wish.”
Tension filled the lavish room as mutterings broke out.
“Why do you threaten to leave, commander?” Dasfis asked, scowling. “Is it because you are worried about what my questions might uncover?”
“Sire, it was a long trip to get here. I am impatient because your questions are without reason. We trust you, as you should trust us.”
“Then why, commander, did you send a trap seeker into my palace?”
“A what?”
Andar’s heart slammed against his chest.
The king looked to his daughter, who spoke for him as Andar ducked down farther.
“I saw a man in uniform roaming the palace looking for possible traps. I assume he was sent by you or an officer because you do not trust us.”
Andar cursed to himself repeatedly. There were about a dozen Analyte guards behind him, but none were standing directly in front of the exit. If this went terribly, he might make a run for it.
No, they would assume him to be guilty of even worse transgressions if he was caught running. He had to be confident here. He’d done nothing wrong.
“That is a lie,” said Jarrel. “There is no one here with the task of finding traps.”
“My daughter would not lie!” the king thundered. “She was told this by one of your soldiers.”
“Who?” the commander asked.
“He didn’t give a name,” answered the princess. “But he had a memorable face and was tall. I can describe him…if he does not come forward.”
Skyfire and ash. She had noticed him here.
Trying to hide any longer would just be to his detriment. “It was me,” Andar announced confidently as he pushed through the ranks of mages. “I never told anyone, so I am the only one to blame.”
“Who do you think you are to enter the palace without permission?” scolded the commander.
“He didn’t just enter the palace,” Siki said. “None of my father’s men on the ground floor saw him come in, so he must’ve risked his life to climb in through one of our windows.”
Risked his life…Andar rolled his eyes. “It was an easy climb.” He finally got to the front, glad he didn’t see Leo on the way. An angry look from his brother would just make him more nervous now, and he could not afford to show it. “I was concerned for your safety, sir,” Andar told his commander. “I wanted to ensure there were no traps.”
“That is a lie,” Jarrel said to Andar’s surprise. Then the commander told the king, “None of my men have any reason to distrust the Analytes.”
“I do not distrust them,” Andar said. “We scouted ahead the whole way here, didn’t we? This was the same. It wasn’t as if—”
“What is your name?” the king interrupted.
“Andar Litxer, sire,” he answered.
“Leo’s older brother?” Dasfis sounded surprised.
“Yes, but he had no idea what I was doing.”
Silence followed. The king seemed to be at a loss for words. He said something to his son in Analyse. The prince responded with a whisper.
“Sire,” Jarrel began. “I don’t know the true reason as to why Andar went into your palace, but to show you that we can trust each other completely, I will send him back to Jatn where he is from. He will be removed from the army as well. No further contact. That will ensure he does not interfere with what is sure to be the successful destruction of the rift.”
Andar tried to hold back his anger, but it didn’t work.
“I am your strongest Ascendant!” he yelled. “The destruction of Jaktius Perl is far more important than anything that might happen between humans and Analytes here in this palace. You need me for that at least. Then do what you want with me!”
The commander’s face was red with rage as he looked over at Andar. “You will stay quiet until I finish here, and then I will figure out how you are to get back to Jatn.”
“This must be a joke,” Andar grumbled.
He knew he’d done wrong as soon as he’d opened his mouth. The commander was known to make examples out of anyone who disobeyed him.
“What was that?” asked Jarrel. “Say one more word, mage, and see what happens.”
A hush came over everyone. The commander reminded Andar too much of the overseer at the farm, Rhenol—a terrible leader who did not deserve the rank bestowed upon him. Andar fumed with anger.
“You are dirt compared to Rolan Kipper,” he said calmly and clearly.
The mages let out a collective sound of “oooohhh.” Some sounded amused, but the air was heavier with worry.
“Who is Rolan Kipper?” Andar heard the king ask someone as the commander spoke.
“Officers, take this fool outside and make him pack his belongings right now.”
Hands wrapped around Andar’s arms. He pulled back to stay put, for he was not nearly done with this idiot of a commander.
“You care more about having a fancy room in the palace than figuring out how to stop the end of our world! I heard what you said in here!”
They pulled him hard around the crowd. He passed by the commander on his way.
“You’d better watch what you say,” Jarrel warned.
Andar stiffened every muscle to stand his ground. This was probably the man who had killed the last commander. Jarrel was a sickness. The army was a wound, and he was filth.
“You’re no commander. You’re as dumb as a carriage strapped to the front of a horse, and about as useful as well!”
A few men stifled their laughter. Andar caught his brother’s eye as Leo giggled with a hand over his mouth, then quickly shook his head at Andar.
Andar had so much more he needed to say, though. This was the man known for letting criminals go free if they paid enough. He gave officers whatever they wanted so long as they repaid the favor. This was a man who cared about nothing but the cushiony life provided to him as the commander. He was a shadow of Rolan.
“It’s no wonder Jaktius Perl has no bounds. It’s linked to your stupidity!”
A strong wave of laughter broke out at that one. Andar had been saving it for the right occasion.
But he started to regret it as he watched the commander cock back his arm. Andar didn’t have time to link anything as the fist came at him. Instinctively, he tried to move away, but the officers held him.
The laughter came to a sudden halt as pain spread from his jaw across his face. He cringed in agony.
He couldn’t move his jaw as his teeth ground together.
When he looked back at the commander, Jarrel had a knife near Andar’s throat.
“Say one more word.”
Andar mustered up the worst look he could show the commander as he held back the last insults. He glared at the princess next. Look at what you did.
The officers escorted him out of the palace and back into the camp. They threw him down in front of his tent and told him to pack his things. He gave them a look challenging them to hurt him again. When they didn’t, he turned around and stepped into his tent.
He started to pack with rage, throwing everything in front of him into his bag. He could hardly see straight, he was so mad. After a little while, he realized he had to start over because he had thrown half of Leo’s clothes into his bag.
He finished and calmed down a little. He sat and tried to think of what he could do to stay. If he was going to be removed from the army or even imprisoned, perhaps he still could convince Jarrel to let him help destroy the rift first. They needed his assistance. The Analytes had tried for years to destroy or even stop its growth, with no success. There was no telling what having a number of human mages here, only some with real skill, would actually do.
Andar’s father was likely to be there as well. There could be a battle between the armies. Andar’s presence could make the difference in whether his father, or especially his brother, came out alive.
He cursed as he realized how badly he’d messed everything up. And now the commander knew that Andar despised him. He might even be smart enough to realize that Andar suspected him of killing Rolan and wanted to see where his room would be in the palace out of a need for revenge.
Just as how word had spread of the stalwart link, it was also common knowledge that it was Rolan who first took interest in Andar. Many people knew they had become close.
There was nothing Andar could do now, though. He left his tent. Two men were stationed near him, no doubt watching to ensure he stayed put.
Andar paced for hours, angry, hungry, and thirsty. He hoped he would see Leo before leaving. Where was his brother now? Could everyone still be in there with the king? It didn’t seem likely.
Would Andar be allowed to take his own horse to Jatn, or would the commander waste more men just to ensure Andar arrived? The latter seemed more likely, though it would take many men to ensure that Andar would not run. He feared that he should, for what would the commander do with him when all of this was done? Potential rebels had been killed or imprisoned for a lot less.
He was surprised when the princess showed up with a retinue of Analyte guards. “What are you doing here?” Andar asked.
Though her appearance hadn’t changed since he’d last seen her, she was no longer a beautiful Analyte woman to him. The sight of her did nothing but bother him.
“I am to speak with you before you leave.” She made it sound like it was a chore. It probably was.
“Does your father want to punish me as well?”
“That depends. Why were you really in the palace?”
He didn’t want to lie any longer. It shamed him. But the truth would get him killed.
“Suddenly you can’t speak?” she asked sarcastically. “You had quite a mouthful of insults earlier. I expected to hear some about me now.”
“I have nothing to say.”
She mumbled something in Analyse, then said, “That’s a shock. I thought you humans enjoyed complaining about others above your rank.”
“I didn’t know you Analytes were so smug.”
“Smug?” she asked, not aware of the word.
“Just get on with your business,” he said.
“First I have to find out if we can trust you.”
He gave a cold laugh.
“I’m serious, Andar Litxer.” She leaned toward him. “Truthfully now, can my family trust you?”
“Why would you want to?”
Her face twisted. “Do you have no respect? I have never heard so many questions to my own. Answer me now, or I will let you leave in disgrace.” She checked around to see if anyone was listening. Many stared at her, but they kept some distance.
Andar let out his breath. He had not actually considered her question until now. Could they trust him? He was so frustrated and uncomfortable through his hunger and thirst that he couldn’t figure out why his loyalty would be important. He was sick of lying to the point of nausea.
“Yes, you can trust me.”
She squinted as she stared at him. He felt a spark of heat as he gazed into her eyes and could no longer ignore her beauty.
“Then escort back to the palace me.” Her common tongue was a little off.
“Escort you, why?”
“Do you know nothing of Analyte customs?”
“I don’t,” Andar admitted, just wanting this conversation to be over.
“It is improper for you to follow behind a woman of higher rank. You will lead me back into the palace.”
“For what purpose?”
“If you truly trust, then you will stop asking questions!”
“Fine.” Anything was better than going back to Jatn where he would await further punishment.
He walked back into the palace with the Analyte guards flanking him. He caught many troops watching him. The commander would certainly find out about this.
Good.
“Wait here,” Siki said after they’d arrived. He stood by the entrance feeling a bit foolish, but eventually another Analyte came and brought him deeper into the palace. Soon he found himself in an office of sorts with the king seated behind a desk. His daughter stood at his side.
Andar took the seat on the other side of the desk. “I apologize for lying earlier.”
By their cold looks, it was clear that this was not enough.
“And for entering the palace without permission.”
“Why did you really climb the walls?” Dasfis asked. “I don’t want to hear another lie.”
“You won’t believe the truth,” Andar told him honestly. He expected the king to demand the answer nonetheless, but Dasfis furrowed his brow.
“Is your reasoning related to Rolan Kipper?”
Andar was horrified. If this foreign king who had just met Andar had figured out Rolan was involved, the commander certainly knew it as well.
“It is related to Rolan,” Andar admitted. “What do you know about him?”
But the princess gave Andar a hard look, reminding him that he should not ask questions.
However, her father did answer without much reluctance. “Only what Jarrel Marks told me. I questioned him after you left. He said Rolan was the commander before Jarrel, but he was killed.”
In the silence that followed, Andar could feel that they expected him to speak. Did they want to hear him make the accusation that seemed to be on everyone’s mind?
“You want the complete truth?” Andar asked, “No matter what problems it might cause?”
“Always,” answered the king.
“I think Jarrel killed Rolan. He was next in line to be commander, and many people did not like the way Rolan ran the army. He favored the citizens over his own men, seeing to their issues and punishing the soldiers who took advantage of them. He offered no perquisites to the higher ranking officials, expecting more out of them instead. He was loved by honest, good men, and hated by everyone else. Jarrel is the opposite.”
“I had figured that soon after meeting Jarrel,” Dasfis said to Andar’s relief. “But what I still fail to understand is why you climbed one of my walls to enter my palace in secret.”
Andar swallowed nervously. He wasn’t sure if he could really trust this royal family, but the alternative was to submit to whatever punishment Jarrel ordered.
“I wanted to find out where the commander would stay so that I might see the back of his bare leg. I have been trying to get a glimpse, but he hides himself whenever he disrobes. I was there when Rolan was murdered. I watched the killer run. He h
ad a deep gash in the back of his leg from where Rolan cut him with his sword. There would still be a scar there.”
The king listened without moving a muscle until Andar was finished. He spoke with his daughter in Analyse for a little while, both showing Andar many inquisitive looks as if trying to determine his honesty.
Eventually the king told him, “In our land, a commander in Jarrel’s position would be confronted. He would be forced to show his bare leg. But we understand that humans have a different culture, one often based on lies.” He stood, prompting Andar to stand as well. “Before we go on, answer if you are really one of the strongest Ascendants as you claimed to be earlier.”
“I am.”
“Prove it to me.”
Andar concentrated for a moment and soon his complex link was done. “Lift your arm, sire,” Andar requested.
The king did, and his daughter’s lifted as well.
“Hold yours steady, Siki,” said Dasfis. “I will test the strength of his link.”
She grabbed her wrist and made a tense face. Dasfis struggled as he pulled on his arm. Andar held the link steady with ease, though it did stretch a bit as Dasfis managed to move his arm, dragging Siki’s in the same direction.
Soon the king stopped and looked over at Andar with disappointment. “While your skill is impressive, Andar, an Ascendant of the highest level would have chosen a more difficult link. Everyone knows that a bond between relatives is easier to hold.”
“Relax your arms,” Andar instructed.
They dropped their arms to their sides.
Andar raised his hand into the air. The king and princess mimicked him inadvertently.
“Now test the strength again,” Andar encouraged. “Both of you at once.”
The king and his daughter wrestled not only the Artistry holding the link but each other as they swung their arms around. Andar’s danced around wildly as they battled. It felt so strange that he almost lost his concentration.
“Enough,” the king said with a little smile.
Andar broke the link.
“A three-part link with such strength does make me inclined to believe you might be one of the strongest mages, but I hope you are wrong. We need many of your skill level if we hope to destroy Jaktius Perl.”
