He ran back to the kitchen, pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured a little of the olium into the milk. Olium was a drug used to help animals relax when they were being treated for an injury. A little of it would knock a tocuss off its feet for hours. Neek put the cork and bottle on the table and grabbed the bowl from the rack. It was hot and he knew he was going to have blisters, but it was only a passing thought as he hurried to the steps.
He stopped close to the top and then as quietly as possible, advanced to the landing. He stopped outside the door and slowly tipped the bowl to spill the milk underneath the door. He didn't know how many snakes there were. He was hoping all would hurry to the milk and drink it. He stood there motionless with the bowl in his hand and waited. It seemed forever before he heard his father softly call out.
"Neek," he called, "I see six snakes near the door and all have drunk the milk. I do not know if there are more. You must carefully open the door and look around the room. Stay as far back as you possibly can and see if you find any other snakes."
Neek placed the bowl on the floor and gently pulled the door open. There on the floor in front of him were six banded snakes. They were motionless. He slipped his sandals off so that he would make less noise and quietly entered the room. He carefully walked around the perimeter of the room, keeping his eyes to the floor. He did not see any other snakes.
His father carefully stood and stepped away from the cushion. Neek grabbed a corner and slowly lifted the cushion from the floor to look underneath. He sighed with relief and then rushed to his father to give him a hug.
His father hugged him back and noticed that Neek was shaking. "Come, let me dispose of these and then we need to call a counsel with the tribal leaders." He looked down at his son. "Does your mother know of this?" he asked.
"No," Neek replied. "She went to get water and was not in the kitchen when I got the milk and olium."
"We need to check out the rest of the house," instructed Daveed. "There may be more." He glanced at the snakes to get his point across.
The elder disposed of the now dead snakes. As he was doing so, his wife Rissa entered, saw the snakes and screamed as the water skins fell to the floor. Her husband ran over to her to comfort her and to let her know that everything was alright. He told her that he needed to check the rest of the house and for her to wait outside with Neek. After a short time, he came out of the house to tell his wife and son that the house was clear and that he must have been the only intended victim.
His wife was shocked to hear what had happened and wanted to know who he thought might have done it and why.
Unfortunately he didn't have any explanations for her at the time. The tribal elders were assembled and the elder explained what had happened.
The tribal leaders were shocked that anyone would try to kill the elder. An act of violence against any individual of Cardel was punishable by that person being taken out into the White Sea with just a smock to wear and left there. No water or food was given to them. No one that had been sent into the White Sea had ever survived. It was a punishment that had not been needed for many years, especially when the act of one person would shame the entire tribe. Violence was not tolerated in Cardel. The elder insisted that Sir Taz and his guests be summoned to him. The tribal leaders believed that it may have been one of Sir Taz's companions that had tried to kill the elder.
Angelina was awakened by someone pounding on her door. She quickly got up and crossed the room. She opened the door to find a man dressed in warrior garb standing there. When the rest of her companions were gathered they were taken to the elder with the armed escort. Angelina didn't want to think about why they were being taken to the elder under guard. She glanced at Sir Taz with a questioning look but he could only shrug to let her know that he had no idea what was going on.
They were taken to the chamber where they had been before. This time they were instructed to remain standing. The warriors stepped back out of the way but were still guarding them.
Angelina was about to demand to know what was going on when the elder spoke. "There has been an attempt on my life."
This is not what the group had expected to hear. They knew something was amiss but weren't prepared for this. Almost at one time everyone began talking.
"Silence!" shouted Sir Taz and everyone immediate stopped talking and looked in his direction. "Forgive me, but it is customary not to interrupt an Elder when he is speaking." He glanced at Daveed and bowed slightly.
"Thank you," he gave a brief smile to Sir Taz before he continued. "Our laws are very strict. To harm another without cause is punishable by immediate banishment into the White Sea. It has been years since such action has had to be taken. There is only one among you that I trust completely and that is Sir Taz. I wish that I could say the same for all of you, but you are not from Cardel which means that you may hold other values." He received more than a few glares at that comment. "I mean no disrespect in saying that. I wish only to be honest with you."
"We may not agree," commented Angelina, "but I'm sure that I speak for all of us when I say that we understand."
"Just be aware of possible danger. One among you may not wish the journey to find its end."
Angelina noticed the shifty glances that her companions were giving each other and realized that she had say something to quench any growing suspicion before it got out of hand.
"I respect your advice and appreciate it," she began. "I have known most of these people since I was a young child and trust them completely. And I trust that Airic would not knowingly send me off with men that would do me or my companions harm. I may not know some of the men that Merk chose to journey with us, but I feel confident that they are good men who would never attempt to harm me or my companions in any way."
"As I have said princess, I do not wish to offend you. I merely wanted to tell you my thoughts." The Elder walked over to Angelina and took her hands in his. "It is better to be overly cautious than not at all."
"Thank you for your advice." She gave his hands a slight squeeze in appreciation before releasing them. "I don't mean to offend you, but is there any possibility that someone from Cardel could be responsible?" When his eyes narrowed she hastily continued, "I understand the strict laws of Cardel and that it is very rare for anyone to disobey them, but there is a slight chance." She let her last remark trail off. She didn't want to offend the elder or tribal leaders by her remark but felt it fair enough since they themselves were being considered.
"Yes, there is always the possibility," he conceded. "It's just not one that we like to think about; however, we have taken this into consideration as well and things are being looked into. He stepped back and extended his arm toward the awaiting guards. "If each of you has nothing to hide then you won't mind explaining your whereabouts to these gentlemen."
Sir Taz was the first to speak up, "We understand the necessity and will all be more than cooperative." He strode over to the nearest guard and was escorted to another room.
One by one the remainder of the group entered separate rooms where they were questioned. Once everyone had explained their whereabouts they were taken back to the main room. They were given mugs of hot nectris and platters of thinly sliced meat and wedges of cheese to eat while they waited.
It was almost an hour later when the elder entered through a side door and came over to the group. "I apologize for any inconvenience, but it was a necessity," he sighed before continuing. "We have substantiated everyones stories and you are free to return to your quarters."
The group was escorted back to their rooms. Angelina wanted nothing better than to crawl into bed and get a few minutes of sleep before the evening meal but she and Elise motioned to Sir Taz, Lord Farley and Merk to step inside for a moment.
When they had entered and the door was closed behind them, Elise began, "I don't believe that someone in our party is responsible for this." She received nods of agreement. "What I'm curious about is why would someone go after the elder instea
d of coming after us?"
"True," commented Lord Farley. "Especially since each of us were in our rooms alone and would not have been so lucky with the snakes."
"I haven't been in Cardel for many years but I know that our laws are still in force and anyone who attempts to or kills another Cardellian is sentenced to death. It is very rare that any Cardellian would harm another." Sir Taz shifted on his feet, "but as I have said, it has been many years and things change."
Angelina was pacing back and forth in front of the bed. She stopped and turned toward Sir Taz, "Will we be able to have an audience with the elder again? Did anyone say anything to you about whether or not his meditating worked?"
He noticed her anxiousness, "Since we all have been cleared as possible suspects I'm sure that the elder will contact us. He may send a servant or another to speak with us. The tribal leaders are very upset at what has transpired and will want to keep him under their watchful eye until the person responsible is caught."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," responded Elise.
A young servant opened the door. "Excuse me. Tor is expecting you for the evening meal and asks that you join him immediately." With that, he turned and hurried off to inform the rest of the group.
"We can continue this discussion with my father. He should have more information for us about the attempt on the elder's life and if anything was said to him." He grabbed the slightly opened door and pulled it open the rest of the way. "I suggest we join the remainder for our group."
They followed Sir Taz out of the room and joined the rest of the party. There were armed guards that escorted them the short distance to Tor's dining hall.
Tor greeted them as soon as they arrived. He was standing at the far end of the table. "The guards are for your protection, not because you are still under any suspicion," he explained.
"Protection from what?" inquired Sir Matthew as he seated himself on a soft pillow between Lord Ackbar and Thaddious.
"I believe, as I'm sure most of you do, that your arrival in Cardel and the attempt on the elder's life are related and I do not wish to have any of my guests murdered while under my tribal protection." When all of his guests had been seated, he then sat down.
They were each given a bowl of brown rice with large chunks of sweet fish meat in it and platters of fruit, thinly sliced meat and bread were brought out as well. Conversation was light and did not refer to the recent attack or what was thought about their arrival at Cardel. There would be time enough after dinner for such discussion.
Chapter 29
Loose Ends
Across the city the man with the scarred face quietly slipped between the buildings of Cardel and made his way to the house of Alleed. He was dressed in the rich red and yellow satin garb of the house of Alleed and anyone who saw him would dismiss him as an advisor or messenger. No one would dare stop him as he hurried along as if he were on an important mission.
It was easy to enter the house of Alleed. Once he was in, he hurriedly climbed the steps to the second floor, carefully looking around to make sure he wasn't seen. He silently glided past the rooms of Alleed and his wife and stopped outside the door to their son's room. He entered and quietly closed the door behind him.
Frelish was playing with his pet, Keats. Keats was a small cat like creature with large eyes and ears. It was a great night hunter. Frelish looked up at the man who entered his room. The man removed his hood and Frelish smiled at him.
"Does this mean that you have my reward?" he delightedly asked as he jumped up off of the floor and ran over to the man with the scarred face. "I told you I could do it and it would be easy."
"Yes," replied the man in whisper. "You did very well indeed. Worthy of a great warrior." He pulled a pouch out from under his cloak and handed it to the boy.
Frelish took it and hurriedly poured the contents out onto the floor in front of him. Gems of all sizes, shapes and colors sparkled up at him. A king's ransom. Frelish was quite pleased with himself. Now when he ruled he would be the wealthiest of the tribal leaders and they would all look up to him. He looked up to thank the scarred man but the man had already disappeared. Keats came over, attracted by the brightness and began to bat the gems around.
"No Keats," scolded Frelish as he pushed his pet away. These are mine." With that, Frelish picked up Keats, tossed him out of the room and shut the door tightly.
Frelish returned to his pile of gems, laughed and grabbed up a handful and watched them sparkle as he tossed them across the room and onto his plush bed. What fun he would have with these he thought. He noticed that his hands were oily from the gems, but figured that they had been polished and some of the oil had been left on to help create the shine.
He stuffed the remaining gems back into the pouch, wiped his hands onto his leggings and ran across the room and jumped on the bed so he could inspect each one of them in more detail. He didn't realize that the oily poison had already seeped into his skin and he would be dead within the hour. He emptied the pouch and picked up a large emerald. He smiled to himself at the thought of how he would be the envy of all of the other princes.
It was getting late and she was getting impatient. She had finished two glasses of wine and was still waiting. Surely by now the elder would have been found dead and the notice of his death would be spread throughout Cardel. A sharp knock startled her and she jumped up and raced to the door. She took a calming breath and opened the door. She was expecting to find a mourner there notifying everyone in person about the death of the elder, instead she came face to face with Madina's servant.
He didn't wait for an invitation and pushed past her into the house. He was now dressed in the standard white garb of the people of Cardel.
She closed the door and whirled to face him. "Why are you here?," she hissed at him. "You said that we were to meet after the announcement was made of the death of the elder. I hope you were careful enough not to let anyone see you coming here."
"My dear lady," he replied in a soothing voice. "I have been called away on urgent business and wanted to make sure that you received your reward before I left." He smiled at her, "You wouldn't have wanted me to leave without giving it to you, would you?"
She eyed him with suspicion, "Of course not," she replied cautiously. "You can leave it and be on your way. I certainly don't want you to be late on my account."
"That is very kind of you." He removed a heavy pouch from under his cloak and handed it to her. "Madina thanks you for your help and wishes you the happiness that you deserve." He brushed past her and turned back toward her when he reached the door. "Take my advice, leave Cardel before the elder is found. You may have a better chance of getting out of the city." He quickly turned and exited her home.
She didn't realize until that moment how scared she was. She had been thinking that maybe Madina would have her do the work and then have her disposed of. After all, if she were going to kill someone she certainly wouldn't want any witnesses. She quickly packed the pouch full of money away in her things, grabbed her other bag filled with provisions and headed out the back door. Her tocuss was waiting there, munching on the straw she had given it. She loaded her stuff onto the tocuss, climbed up and wrapped her cloak around herself as she headed out of the city. It wasn't until she was far enough out into the White Sea that she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't until that moment that she knew she had gotten away with it. It was a wonderful feeling. She turned her face to the evening sky and took a deep satisfying breath.
She stopped once it was too dark to travel and made a small fire with the wood she had brought along. After eating a small snack she decided to open her pouch to find out just how much money she was given. She feared that if she opened it in front of the scarred man that he would take offense and she didn't want Madina to be angry with her. She untied the draw strings and pulled open the pouch. Out came a bright orange and white mist. She dropped the pouch, jumped up and backed away. The mist began to swell. The woman ran f
or her tocuss and jumped on it, digging her heels into it to get away as fast as possible. Her tocuss raced across the sand, huffing at the exertion.
She didn't care where she was going as long as she was getting away from the mist. How stupid she had been to think that it would be easy. She chanced a quick glance back. The mist was swirling around her campsite, the light was intense. It looked alive. She again urged her tocuss to move faster. Fear tore though her.
All of a sudden she saw the light of the mist go out. As she looked back, all was in darkness. She slowed her tocuss. At least she was alive. The light flared brightly once more and shot across the dessert in a flash. She didn't even have time to scream. No trace of her or the tocuss remained.
Chapter 30
Murder of a Prince
Screams were heard throughout the house of Alleed as Rencha found her son dead on his bed. He had not joined them for dinner and Rencha figured that he and Keats were playing and he had forgotten about the time.
The Uzan Crystal Page 25
