The Pool And The Pedestal (Book 2)

by Daniel McHugh

  “She missed you near the end.” frowned the king. “It was then that she informed me of your steady correspondence.”

  “Like her sister, I believe she was a woman of hidden depth.” returned the prince.

  King Macin arched an eyebrow in surprise. Teeg answered the unspoken question.

  “It appears that Queen Lucyn has fooled us all. She is not the vacuous court butterfly she sometimes chooses to display.”

  “I could have told you that, Lord Teeg!” Macin laughed. “I’ve never met a more resourceful pair of scheming women in my life. All they attempted, they accomplished. That is, all except the friendship of their husbands.”

  “Perhaps you should honor her wish and make a last attempt to come to terms with Corad.” suggested Ader. “He agrees to let you command the Spear.”

  Macin pursed his lips and slowly nodded his head.

  “Perhaps. For now I agree with Manfir. The Spear is best served on the western edge of the kingdom. They are a well trained, albeit small force. They will be a test for any enemy they encounter from the West, be it Ulrog, Keltar or both.

  These decisions must be mulled over. Rash action is the downfall of great nations. We must think on all the information given us and solidify our plans. I suggest we break up this council and convene in the morning with clearer heads. A little sleep will do us all some good. I wish the General Staff to remain behind.”

  “May I stay as well, father?” inquired Manfir.

  “No, my son. You’ve traveled on a long journey and are fresh from battle. I want you to return to the Hold and rest. I require your mind fresh for the task we have ahead of us.”

  Manfir bowed to the king and turned to go. The General Staff moved toward the throne. Ader and his group gathered by the door.

  “We will all return to the Hold. Macin is correct. A good nights sleep will help all of us.” said the Seraph.

  “I will find my way back shortly.” replied Eidyn turning. “First I must speak with...”

  Lilywynn and her brother were nowhere to be found.

  “They have other duties to perform, Elven prince.” stated Ader brusquely. “Let’s remain focused on the task.”

  The Seraph turned and walked from the hall. The others followed. When they passed through the palace gate, Kael noted that Guardsmen replaced Udas’s troops.

  CHAPTER 3: THE ROARING HORSE

  Darkness enveloped the city. Lanterns, filled with pitch, cast shadows across centuries old cobblestones. Occasionally, a coach clattered past the group and they jumped from its path. Kael assumed many of these belonged to nobles not staying at the palace that evening. They turned a corner and Manfir nearly stumbled into a man standing in the middle of the street. The man wore a uniform unfamiliar to Kael.

  “Who goes there!?” gasped the man.

  “Pardon me constable.” replied Manfir. “I didn’t see you there.”

  The constable surveyed Manfir’s uniform.

  “A very large group of men to be moving about the city streets this evening , don’t you think sir?” asked the watchman. “You are granted clearance to be on the city streets at anytime, but these others look foreign and unfamiliar.”

  “I will vouch for them officer. They return from an audience with the king and are on their way to their quarters in the Hold.” replied Manfir.

  A tavern doorway, several hundred yards away, burst open and a group of men stumbled into the street laughing. The watchman rolled his eyes at Manfir.

  “As you can see, general. I’ve my hands full this evening. It’s refreshing to come in contact with fine men like yourselves going about the king’s business.” said the watchman. “These are troubled times, and some find it easier to drown their sorrows over too many pints, rather than face the situation before us. It makes my job that much more difficult.”

  Manfir watched the group of men stagger in front of the tavern as they shouted back and forth to one another. The watchman shook his head.

  “I usually don’t encounter a great deal of trouble at ‘The Roaring Horse’, but I was forced to tell the owner to get his patrons to finish up and move on three times. I fear I may run into trouble with some of these lads later in the evening.” said the watchman.

  The men in front of the tavern moved on, heading away from Kael and his group, shoving one another and laughing uproariously. Kael faintly heard one of the men shout to another as they turned a far off corner.

  “Cefiz, get back to the Hold with ya’. I think the matrons in the kitchen are lookin’ for someone to do the washin’ up!”

  The sound of the group’s laughter faded and they disappeared around the corner. Manfir turned to Brelg and they shared a deep look of concern. The prince’s expression quickly turned to one of anger. He nodded to the watchman.

  “I hope you are not troubled by that group this evening my good man.” stated Manfir frowning. “However, if you are, please report it to me at the Hold. I am Prince Manfir.”

  The watchman’s eyes went wide and he quickly bowed to the prince.

  “I’m sure I’ll be able ta handle ‘em if I get any trouble, your highness.” stated the watchman smiling. “We’ve all got a job ta do, and I’ll handle mine. You just take care and handle yours.”

  “I will at that my good man.” replied Manfir returning the smile.

  The group moved off. By the time they reached the cross street, the rowdies were nowhere to be seen. Once again Manfir and Brelg exchanged a look.

  Fifteen minutes later they stood at the gates of the Hold. The guards recognized Brelg and the doors were opened. Ader instructed everyone to get a good night’s rest, and the group split up to their own rooms. The events of the day exhausted Kael and he fell asleep as his head hit the pillow of his bunk.

  Kael woke to the faint odor of stale wine and tobacco smoke. He sensed someone in the room. His body tensed. He opened his eyes a slit and noticed the door ajar. The curve of the mattress above, combined with loud snoring, told him Flair still slept. Near the end of his bed he could barely discern the steadily heaving form of Eidyn on the cot.

  He heard a light sniffle from the dark corner opposite the door. He slowly shifted his head and peaked in its direction. The faint torch light from the hallway bled into the corner. Kael made out some boots and a pair of legs extending from a tilted chair, but could see no more.

  He shut his eyes hard as the figure shifted the chair back to its proper position and unsteadily stood. The boy heard shuffling footsteps and the figure approached the bed. The smell of wine and pipe smoke became overwhelming. Kael could feel the presence of the intruder next to him. A hand softly grasped the blankets around Kael’s chest and drew them up to his neck.

  “Avra, by your good grace protect this one.” pleaded the slurring voice of Cefiz. “They were the sons you never gave me, and now one is gone. Don’t take this other from me.”

  Kael lay motionless, his eyes tightly shut. A wave of guilt concerning Aemmon’s death paralyzed him. Cefiz turned and stepped from the room into the hall. Kael lay there, enveloped in sadness.

  A thud reverberated in the hallway. Conversation followed. It started as a low rumble but began to rise and fall. Kael broke from his paralysis, slipped out of bed and crept to where the door lay ajar. He peered through the crack down the hall .

  Granu stood with a powerful arm wrapped around Cefiz’s neck. The giant pushed the cook’s purple face against the far wall of the hallway and drew Cefiz’s arm up against the Guardsman’s back. Manfir stood several paces away with a blade held aloft. Cefiz sputtered and kicked at the giant.

  “...I am a Guardsman!” came the muffled voice of the cook. “I’m on my way back to my quarters!”

  “I see no blood on your hands but if any occupant of that room is harmed, you will not live out this night. I ask you again. What is your name?! Why were you...” questioned Granu.

  “Keltar! Let him go!” exclaimed Prince Manfir upon seeing the captives face. “He speaks the truth. He�
��s been Kael’s protector much longer than you, and obviously handled the job more adeptly!”

  Granu grumbled and released his hold on Cefiz. The cook fell to the floor choking and catching his breath. Granu turned to Manfir.

  “I assumed your facility to be safe.” growled Granu. “With two of our comrades bunking beside Kael and the fact that we sleep in your most storied military fortress, I afforded myself some relaxation. I will not make the mistake again!”

  Manfir clenched his teeth and eyed the giant.

  “No one other than Guardsmen are allowed inside the Hold at night. Security wasn’t breached!”

  Cefiz stood and tensed as he took in the sight of the giant Keltaran. The cook seemed unsteady on his feet and Kael noted a bleariness in his eyes.

  “I’m still Kael’s protector! Who is this and what do you mean ‘longer than you’?” demanded Cefiz.

  Granu waved a hand in front of his nose as Cefiz closed in on him.

  “All that you’ve seen fit to protect this evening are the contents of a bottle.” snarled Granu and he turned to Manfir. “If all of your trusted Guardsmen find their courage from the same spot as this one, you’ll be overrun in a fortnight!”

  “I need no courage to run a blade through you mountain dog! Just step toward the yard and...” began Cefiz.

  “Lieutenant!” shouted Prince Manfir. “Silence!”

  Cefiz locked his jaw and glared at the giant.

  “Prince Granu, I would appreciate it if you allow me to talk to Cefiz alone.” requested Manfir grudgingly. “He’s not aware of all that has taken place and I need to set him straight on a number of issues.”

  Granu narrowed his eyes at the lieutenant and gave a slight nod of his head to the Zodrian prince. The giant turned and strode back in the room he shared with Manfir, closing the door behind him.

  “What in Avra’s name is a Keltar doing in the Hold....” Cefiz began immediately.

  “Lieutenant Cefiz, I said SILENCE!” boomed Manfir. “You will get yourself to your quarters and clean up. I have nothing further to say to you. We’ll speak of this in the morning, when your faculties will allow you a better opportunity to comprehend what I am saying. Dismissed!”

  Manfir turned to go and Cefiz began to do the same. The cook halted and spun back to face the prince.

  “What is it?” questioned Cefiz.

  Manfir looked back at Cefiz.

  “What have I done to incur the wrath of my prince ... and my friend?” continued Cefiz. “Haven’t I done all asked of me?”

  “Have you?” asked a grim Manfir.

  “Have I?!” exclaimed Cefiz. “Have I?! How can you ask me that?! You of all people know what I sacrificed, yet you feign ignorance! I left my career and all I knew to play cook, janitor and nursemaid to that old warhorse’s family in the middle of nowhere. I might have gained a place on the General Staff by this time!”

  “And you might have been lying in a shallow grave along the northern marches for the past ten years.” replied Manfir.

  “Don’t belittle my contribution!” shouted Cefiz. “I’ve faced Keltaran ax and Ulrog cleaver protecting that sleepy little town. The fools think they live in a paradise far from the ravages of war. They’ve never known the truth. Nothing can come within fifty leagues of that place without our people knowing it!”

  “True, you’ve accomplished that part of your mission admirably.” stated Manfir.

  “Then why do you treat me so coldly.” pleaded Cefiz. “We’ve hardly spoken in years. You travel through Kelky and stare at me as if I’m a ghost. What have I done to set you against me? How have I displeased you?”

  Manfir’s head dropped slightly. He clenched his teeth and struggled with his words.

  “You’ve become soft.” growled the big man.

  Cefiz’s mouth opened and he stared back at the prince.

  “I ... I .. have tried to...” mumbled the cook.

  Manfir’s head came up and his eyes bore into those of Cefiz.

  “You have become soft.” repeated the prince sternly. “Ever since she left us. You slid further and further from us .... and from your duty.”

  Cefiz reddened and his eyes narrowed.

  “I’ve never shirked my duty.” snarled Cefiz. “She has nothing to do with this!”

  Manfir stepped forward and his face nearly touched that of Cefiz.

  “She has everything to do with this!” barked Manfir. “She is gone. It’s time to move on! We are left here to live the lives Avra gave us. You live in the past, wallowing in your own self pity, becoming your own best customer at both the table and the bar!”

  Cefiz’s fists tightened. His face contorted in anger.

  “I can still .... I’m every bit a Guardsman as any man on the line!” spluttered Cefiz.

  “Are you!?” questioned Manfir. “You were asked to perform a task. You accepted that task. Whatever personal reasons compelled you to accept don’t matter to me. A Guardian performs his duty no matter the circumstances.

  War is coming to this world. We all sacrificed up to this point, and will be called upon to sacrifice a good deal more. Now is not the time to show weakness. Now is the time to prove what type of men we are!

  Once you were the greatest warrior I ever fought beside. Does that same man stand before me now?”

  Cefiz reddened even further. He stared into the prince’s eyes as his own glazed over. He swallowed hard and bowed his head.

  “May the trust you showed me in the past be rewarded here in the present, my prince.” murmured Cefiz.

  Manfir softly put a hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder.

  “I pray it will, my friend.” stated the prince. “Go now. It’s late.”

  Cefiz bowed once more and moved away. Manfir watched him walk down the hall, then entered his room. Kael slowly closed the door and fought tears away until he succumbed to sleep.

  CHAPTER 4: SHARDS OF ROCK

  Kael’s sleep was troubled. His mind crowded with images of Ulrog priests and Malveel marching down the main street of Kelky. The Ulrog dragged villagers from their shops and homes, and threw them into the center of the road, where the Malveel waited to question and kill them. Kael frantically ran from building to building trying to warn the villagers. They paid no heed. The people carried on with their lives, unconcerned and unprepared for the insanity in the streets of their village.

  Kael realized he hadn’t gone to his own house yet. He ran through the back alley of the village and entered “The King’s Service” through the kitchen. As he ran into the main hall, he glimpsed his mother and Aemmon being dragged out the front. He leapt over upturned tables and sprawled chairs. Kael reached the front door in a heartbeat. As he burst through, the threshold caught his foot. He stumbled and fell to the dusty street. His eyes shot up and locked on the image of his dead mother laying at the feet of an Ulrog priest and a Malveel slowly dragging the corpse of Aemmon in his direction.

  Kael sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and panting. Darkness filled the windowless room. The young man could hear only the sound of Flair snoring. Slowly he slid from bed and dressed. He crept over to the door and slipped out, noticing Eidyn in the same position as the night before. The empty hallway flickered from the sputtering torch light.

  Kael moved East down to the end of the hallway. He found a stairwell recessed from the yard. The boy climbed up one flight in order to survey the training area from the balcony above. He turned onto the wide walkway. On his right, the balcony opened to the yard below except for a quartet of evenly spaced, enormous support columns.

  Dawn approached. The sky above held a pinkish hue and faint light filtered into the yard. Morning doves cooed and fluttered on the roof above. Kael moved to the middle of the first wide opening set between the columns. He peered over the stone balustrade. He strained to make out the training equipment on the far end of the yard.

  Curses rose from the yard below. Kael released the rail and moved to the next open area. He positioned himself mo
re centrally over the yard and saw it more clearly. The sky lightened rapidly. Below him, in one of the training squares, stood Cefiz. The cook of “The King’s Service” grasped a short sword in one hand and a small round shield in the other. In front of Cefiz stood a tall thick post with a long crossbeam forming two arms. Affixed to one wooden arm was a cruel looking battle-ax. The other held a large, heavy-headed hammer.

  Cefiz leaned forward, catching his breath. After a moment, the cook approached the post and slashed at the ax. The yard rang out with the sound of steel on steel. The force of Cefiz’s blow spun the post and the hammer shot toward the cook’s head from the opposite direction. Cefiz ducked and his shield shot up to stop the weapon. The Guardsman quickly spun and hacked at the hammer. Just as rapidly, the ax split the air in the opposite direction, heading toward the lieutenant. Cefiz ducked and let the ax pass over his head. His blade rose and made contact with the hammer, stopping it immediately.

  The boy had never seen the kindly cook so engaged in any task. He also had never seen his friend partake in anything so strenuous. Cefiz always allowed others do the physical things in life. The cook remained happy by keeping his kitchens tidy and the customers well fed.

  “It appears your friend decides to change his ways.” rumbled a voice behind Kael.

  The boy spun and searched the balcony. Leaning against a wall in the heavy shadow cast by the upper floor stood the dark figure of Granu. Kael frowned at the giant. He still questioned the huge man’s motives and felt uncomfortable with the way the giant treated Cefiz the night before. Kael found his reaction hard to explain, but he filled with uneasiness about the situation.

  “I hoped to spend some time alone ... collect my thoughts.” complained Kael. “Why do you sneak around so?”

  Granu smiled and stroked his chin.

  “My apologies for interrupting you.” began the giant. “But I am uncertain about the duration of our stay here and decided this to be my most opportune time to get out of our quarters. They are rather .... cramped.”