The Book of One: A New Age

by Jordan Baker

  Ariana pursed her lips and looked into the dense forest surrounding them. She did not want to return to Maramyr, but it seemed the most sensible thing to do."

  "All it would take would be one crossbow and a good vantage point," Nathas told her, then gestured to the bodies of the assassins. "Those are Sandari Assassins, highly-trained and very expensive. Whomever paid to have them follow you may have hired more."

  Realizing he was right, Ariana nodded in agreement. “Yes, Captain.” she said. “I believe it would be wise for me to return.”

  “Aaron and Borrican. Since the two of you are obviously capable at defending her highness, you will accompany her back to Maramyr,” Nathas said then turned Aldos, his most trusted captain and perhaps the best fighter among the Academy Captains. “Aldos, select twelve trainees as additional escort and take them home.”

  “Yes sir,” Aldos snapped and set off to round up the trainees he already had in mind. Nathas turned to the remainder of the group.

  “The rest of us will continue onward and pay a to visit to Manfred. He is responsible for patrolling this part of the forest and it would not do for brigands or assassins to attack those travelling this way. We have received word that the Xallan Queen and her retinue are travelling to Maramyr to meet with the Regent. As much as I am no friend to the Xallans, I’ll not have any attempts made on the life of their Queen while she is a guest on Maramyrian soil.”

  Nathas had a few things to discuss with Manfred, first among them what he knew of the group of assassins. From the few tracks Nathas's men were able to find, it appeared that the assassins had not followed the princess from Maramyr but had come from the direction of Manfred's lands. Considering there were only a select few who knew about Ariana's outing with the Academy trainees, and Manfred was among them, it would be interesting to hear what the baron had to say about it.

  *****

  Not because she feared any kind of attack, but because it was the custom of Xallan nobility to travel under heavy guard, Queen Calexis and six legions of her most loyal soldiers travelled along the road through the Dark Forest to Maramyr. She was unimpressed with the few small towns they passed through but totally captivated by the amount of undeveloped land and virgin forests that stood in the Maramyrian territory. She was amazed that the Maramyrian population had not even begun to cover these vast reaches of land.

  One of the black robes who had travelled extensively throughout the kingdom explained to Calexis that the mating customs were quite different than those practiced in most parts of the Xallan Empire. She was shocked to find out that most of the people in the western lands typically mated with only one person and that for a person to have more than ten children was considered quite a lot. Calexis could not imagine being tied to only one person, one other body, for the rest of her life. It was almost offensive to think of. She hoped that Cerric would not be so prudish as his boring people. She enjoyed conquest so very much and this trip would be much more amusing with some play time in between what were sure to be a series of monotonous assemblies and meetings at court.

  From the trees, Brian watched silently with several of Kaleb’s men as the Xallan procession passed. They signaled several of the others who hid nearby to withdraw and they too headed back to their hidden camp deep in the forest. Kaleb greeted the news with a frown.

  “I don’t like it,” he said. “The Xallan war hit this part of the land worst of all. My father was a boy in those days, but he remembered it clearly enough to tell me. Without extreme measures, there is almost no way to win against the Xallans. They are an enemy that, no matter how many of them you kill, they just keep on coming.”

  “Word is that Cerric invited the Xallan Queen for a royal visit,” commented one of the men. Kaleb stroked his black moustache thoughtfully.

  “I don’t know what Cerric is up to, but he’d best be careful. The last time we fought the Xallans, the Council of Mages even had to seek the help of the Elves to drive them out. Men and steel wouldn’t suffice to stop them or even slow them down. Nowadays, with the Council gone, the Elves hiding in their forest, and who knows whether the Priesthood will be loyal to the crown or the people for that matter, we would be hard pressed to stop anyone from crossing our borders and simply taking over. As for the Priesthood, apparently they’re in bed with Calexis just as much as they are with Cerric, so I wouldn't expect much assistance from that corner,” Kaleb commented. “Cerric might be playing it smart, making friends with the Xallans. I've never liked the Regent, but he's far from stupid. If that's his plan, then for his sake, and for ours, I hope it works. If it doesn’t, we’d better be prepared. I want scouts sent eastward. It looks as though we’re going to have to resurrect the Bordermen.”

  A few of the men seemed confused but a large number of them smiled and cheered. Brian did not understand what Kaleb meant and followed him back to his tent.

  “What are the Bordermen?” Brian asked. Kaleb smiled as he gestured for Brian to follow him inside where he proceeded to open a chest and dig around through the many document tubes inside.

  “The Bordermen were an order of men, mounted rangers, loyal to Maramyr, who had eyes like those of a hawk and who could ride like the wind. They would patrol our eastern border, watching for any sign of a raid or attack by the Xallans. In the days before the last war, attacking our borders was almost a sport for the Xallans and they did it often. The Bordermen’s job was fairly simple, but no easy feat. They would ride the borderlands watching for Xallans and, if they saw any, they ride for the border stations where border troops were regularly garrisoned, ready to push the Xallans back.”

  Brian scratched his head.

  “I can see us patrolling the borders, assuming that Manfred’s men don’t catch us, but what if the Xallans do attack us, we don’t have troops and I haven’t seen any border stations.”

  “You’re right about the troops. We are in short supply of trained soldiers, and it will be no easy task to solve that problem, but what we can do is to provide warning to the people of Maramyr and even to Cerric should he choose to put the king's army in the field. The border stations are there. You scouted the eastern forest on horseback two days ago, right?” he asked. Brian nodded. “You probably crossed a game trail that ran north to south.” Brian nodded again. “That was the first of the border trails.” Kaleb pulled out an older map of the area.

  Brian could clearly see Ashford and the Dark Forest and the Xallan border on the eastern side. Multiple lines, running were drawn running north to south in a kind of parallel curve that edged further and further towards the Xallan lands. Kaleb traced his finger along them showing how they widened in certain points then tapered back together at regular points along the map.

  “These are the border stations. Riders would run these trails, though big enough for one rider, would be too small and treacherous for an army to follow. The men who made these trails looked for high ground that offered a vantage point as often as possible so they could rise out of the trees and search for raiders. To the east, the forest thins into grassland and it is fairly easy to see if anyone is coming. If they spotted anyone, they would ride for the border station. Had you ridden south along that game trail you saw, you would have come upon a small hill just off the trail. There are probably forty of them running from the Kandaran range all the way south to the Ansari plains.”

  “So, the troops camped on these hills just waiting for the Xallans?” Brian asked. It sounded like it would be pretty uncomfortable to be a Borderman assigned to a station. Kaleb laughed.

  “Close,” he said. “They actually lived in the hills. The border stations were built long before anyone can remember and whoever built them buried them under the ground so they would not be readily seen. The border stations have working wells and can house about fifty men comfortably,” he explained. Brian had never considered the idea of living underground but he had another question.

  “Fifty men. If what you said about the Xallan numbers is correct, then how could fifty
men fight them off?” Kaleb smiled.

  “In those days, each border station was assigned a mage to help the soldiers. Our mages were the most powerful of all the lands back then and the few mages that the Xallans did have didn’t even hold a candle even to our lesser mages. The most common tactic was for the border mage to put a spell on our soldiers, enchanting them into multiple copies of themselves. While each soldier was one man, he felt himself swinging his sword at ten different Xallans at once. A garrison of fifty became a garrison of five hundred. A lot of Xallans fell to the magical swords of the Bordermen.”

  Brian pictured ten of him swinging ten identical swords on the battlefield and marveled at the power of such magic. He imagined how invincible he would feel having the ability to fight ten enemies at once, but realized that without the mages, such a thing was not possible. Even so, he liked the idea of helping to protect the towns like Ashford and the people who lived on farms like his parents.

  "I think I would like to become a Borderman," he told Kaleb.

  "Well, Brian," the man said with a smile. "That's one recruit already. Only a few thousand left to go."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  By the time Nathas returned from dressing down Baron Manfred for his failure to properly patrol his holdiings, the City of Maramyr had descended into a frantic state preparing for the arrival of the Xallan Queen. Streets were swept, shops restocked, the latest in fineries put on display and the palace was decorated with bright silk banners flying the Fresh paint was still drying on so many of the city’s establishments, Queen Calexis arrived at Maramyr in royal style. The city gates were opened wide and the people cheered in the streets for the first visit in generations of a ruler from the east.

  The city guard was bolstered by several regiments from the regular army and assigned to assist with dealing with the crowds of people that had flocked to the city for the event. They were worried that, with such a large number of Xallan soldiers accompanying their queen, any accident or small altercation could quickly get out of control and the last thing anyone desired were hostilities with the Xallans. The people, however, were in a good mood since Cerric had declared a week of festivities and opened the kingdom's tightly-held coffers, so the inhabitants of the city were for the most part on their best behavior.

  In the palace yard, guards stood in formation, wearing their parade uniforms and every boot and metal surface was polished to a bright shine. At the top of the main steps to the palace itself, a royal greeting had been prepared. Cerric, Dakar, Ariana and a number of the more prominent Maramyrian nobles waited patiently for Calexis’ procession to make its way through the city. Borrican stood with them at Cerric’s invitation, the sole remaining representative of the kingdom of Kandara.

  Borrican’s uncle, Duke Boric had sent word of his investigation into the border conflicts between Kandara and the Xallan Empire. He had travelled throughout the region looking to discover the source of the unrest in order that a peaceful solution might be found. However, the word that had been delivered to Borrican by his uncle’s messenger was that whomever or whatever was making the attacks was coming from the Xallan lands to the east, not the Kandaran mountains to the northwest.

  Many of the small farmers and mountain sheep herders in the eastern foothills, on making their usual visits to the nearby towns and villages, had found them burned and empty. The few survivors said that attacks usually came at night and none of them were able to describe who or what had killed their families and burnt their homes. All anyone knew is that the attacks came at night and they were swift and violent. He and his men planned to travel north to Icebreaker Pass where a small garrison guarded the seldom travelled and precarious route through the Kandaran range. The messenger had told Borrican that he should return to Kandara if the Xallans continued to complain about Kandaran raiders. It was an obvious lie and, with Calexis’ upcoming visit, Duke Boric suspected that it was one likely intended to undermine relations between Maramyr and Kandara.

  Borrican shifted uncomfortably as the Xallan procession came into view. Trumpeters began their performance of an old Xallan theme they had prepared as the first soldiers of Calexis’ imperial guard entered the great palace yard. Fanning out into the space left for their own formations, the mounted Xallans made way for the great carriage bearing their queen. Riding atop an ornate open carriage draped with fine fabric and furnished with thick cushions was the Xallan Queen herself.

  Even Borrican, who had tentative feelings of hostility and definite suspicion toward the Xallans was impressed. Calexis was beautiful. Her dark hair fell in great curls over her shoulder, pressed down above her brow by a fine, jewel-encrusted, crown. She wore a dress of black fabric so fine that it was translucent and revealed everything that was not already left bare by the low cut at her breasts and the high line cut from the bottom from which she draped one of her long, bare legs. Borrican saw Ariana purse he lips in obvious disapproval. Cerric, on the other hand, seemed most taken with the Xallan Queen. Borrican was not surprised.

  The procession stopped as Calexis’ carriage reached position before the palace steps. Cerric began his descent while the Xallan queen waited in the comfort of her carriage. At the bottom, Cerric reached a hand up to the carriage and Calexis took it casually in her own and smoothly swung a leg down to the first of the palace steps. As she walked up the steps with the Regent-King, a low murmering was heard from the Maramyrian soldiers.

  In the bright sunlight of the afternoon, the translucent fabric of Calexis’ dress revealed practically everything, her round breasts and her finely shaped bottom dropped more than a few jaws as she ascended the stairs. One of the guards lost his grip the ceremonial lance he had been holding and it clattered as it fell to the floor. Cerric half-turned to glare at the noise but the trumpeters quickly covered the disturbance by playing a Maramyrial royal standard. Once the procession was halfway to the top, two of Calexis’ generals and several of the black robed priests followed.

  At the top of the steps and with a better or at least much more close up view, it was all Borrican could do to keep himself from staring at the Xallan Queen. He could sense Ariana’s immediate dislike for the woman and decided that he would be better not to get caught staring, well not too much anyway. In an attempt to pull his eyes away from Calexis' alluring figure, he looked instead at the princess and smiled at her but she did not appear to be in a particularly jovial mood. He watched as Ariana smiled when her uncle Cerric introduced her to the Xallan Queen. Borrican could tell that the princess was merely putting on a show for her uncle's guest. When it came to Borrican’s turn, he forced his eyes to stay upright as Calexis neared him.

  “And this is our representative from Kandara, Prince Borrican, second son to King Eric. Perhaps the two of you will have a chance to discuss some of what is going on in the north country,” Cerric said. Borrican kept his eyes fastened to the Xallan Queen’s face, but she did not return the gesture. . He tensed as she ran a hand up his chest. Finally, she made eye contact with him and gave him an impish smile.

  “I am honored,” Borrican mumbled the usual public greeting, somewhat embarrassed and a little confused for he could not understand how he it was that he could feel somehow violated in a way that was not altogether unpleasant.

  “Delicious,” was all she said and then turned to follow Cerric into the palace.

  Inside, the palace servants had prepared an elaborate feast in the great hall and made arrangements for a small orchestra to play gentle variations of some Xallan music intermixed with Maramyrian traditionals. Calexis’ seat had been made especially with soft velvet cushions and situated next to Cerric at the table.

  Once everyone was seated, Cerric picked up both his and the goblet that was placed before the Xallan queen and had it filled by a waiting servant. According to tradition, he poured the wine between the two cups, intermingling them so that should either of the cups be poisoned, then both should share the same fate. He handed Calexis her wine and raised his.

  “
To a new age between us.” he toasted. Calexis smiled.

  “To a closer understanding.” she responded and they both drank.

  The heavy doors to the great hall were closed to drown out the sound of the trumpeters and the crowds from the city who, now that the nobles had made their first toast, began their own revelry. Borrican sipped his wine as servants carried out trays of food for the first course of the meal. Calexis sampled a mushroom pate that was a Maramyrian delicacy and moaned her delight. Ariana, who sat next to Borrican on the other side of Cerric from Calexis, kicked his foot. He half-turned his head.

  “She’s worse than a cat in heat,” Ariana muttered in a low voice, speaking in Kandaran. Borrican swallowed uncomfortably, trying not to choke on his wine. There was no doubt in his mind. This was going to be a long dinner.

  *****

  Ariana returned from a morning ride, the only peace of mind she had enjoyed in the long week of meetings and festivities during the visit of the Xallan queen. Immediately upon her arrival at the palace, she discovered she had received a message. The mage-priests at Blue Island had honored her request to study with them. Her uncle had been opposed at first to her going but she could no longer hide her power from him. A few days ago, she had accidentally set fire to her bedroom during a nightmare. Luckily, the guards on her door had been awake enough to rescue her and dowse the flames. She told them it had been a candle but Dakar, Cerric’s mage advisor knew better and she suspected he had said as much to Cerric.

  Knowing she could no longer hide the truth, Ariana had simply asked her uncle whether Dakar could contact the mages of Blue Island on her behalf. The response had been prompt; the Priesthood indicated that they would be more than happy to assist Ariana in coming to terms with her newfound powers. Glad of the news, she went straight away to the armoury to request an armed escort for her journey.