Within a day, the Paladians had come to within the periphery of the Alastand Plateau. Skirting this rise in the topography, they then headed for Caros, a small settlement consisting mostly of plains hunters, which was, perhaps, no more than half a day’s walk from the limits of Ked. The people of Caros greeted the strangers with evident equanimity and continued with their daily duties.
Jaegar remarked to King Pallan, “The Kae’lem mapmakers are proving their worth; everything they indicated on these maps has come to pass.”
King Pallan observed the Caros villagers silently for a short time more and said, “It was wise of you to purchase them, especially for a small price. These lands are not known even by Conrad and his dog.”
Jaegar responded, “Aye. Thank you, sire.”
In seeming little time, the Paladians came to within a short distance of the outskirts of the land of the Kedens. The landscape rose, continuously, at a shallow degree. Like a long scar, a narrow footpath of few curves followed the course of the rise, disappearing around a low ridge at the rise’s conclusion. Stationed at the path’s threshold were two soldiers, both with arms crossed, standing like statues.
Jaegar turned to King Pallan; Jardarah to Jaegar. Garan, who was to the left of Jardarah, stared the two men down now and then, growling softly.
King Pallan did not return a look to Jaegar; he continued walking toward the two sentries. “I see; Reydaren must be jesting.”
Jardarah taunted, “What kind of a king—war-arts practitioner—places two men at the end of a footpath, with no gate or wall to enclose the land?”
Jaegar cut in, “Sire, we could overpower them with the littlest of trouble.”
King Pallan took more steps toward the sentries, who pretended not to notice the column’s approach. “Do not doubt your enemy’s resolve, my good Jaegar. Besides, I have come here to trade—to seek a potential alliance with the king of this land, not to start a war with him.” He turned his head to Jaegar and smiled, just visibly; his first-in-command lowered his head somewhat, in shame.
King Pallan ordered the column to stop near the two soldiers, who stood a few feet apart (flanking the narrow footpath).
The guard on the left banged his metal breastplate and challenged the column. “Who dares approach the outer marker unannounced? This is the way to Ked, marker of the seven. State your business.”
King Pallan seemed perplexed at some of the man’s words. He leaned over to Jaegar and whispered, “Marker of the seven?”
Jaegar did not reply at once. With a shake of his head, he said in an equally quiet undertone, “I am unsure, My Lord—could be some kind of outpost or guard post indication.”
King Pallan took a step toward the two sentries, who did not budge the slightest at his approach or flinch at the number and kind of his followers. “I am King Pallan, of Paladia.” He made a half-turn back to the multicolumned group of warriors and civilians behind him. “And these are my people, escapees from a calamity.” He faced the two guards once again, squarely. “I have come to seek an audience with your king.”
The guard who had spoken responded, rather strongly, “My Lord has made no indication to us of such a request or visit. I ask you again, who are you and why do you threaten this land?”
King Pallan shook his head and placed his hands out as a gesture of good faith. “I do not come to threaten Ked. Nor have I come to trouble your king. I am King Pallan, the Third. The King of Paladia. And these are some of my people; warriors are with them to protect them and me. We are not an invading force … if we were, you both would already be dead.”
Immediately after King Pallan said this, soldiers appeared from seemingly everywhere; they had been hidden underground in small bunkers, the ground itself swinging up as if from a trap door; concealed behind bushes; and stationed at the bases of low hills in the preceding landscape—and they were now seen charging from the ridge in a wave. Evidently, the other soldier, on the right of the path, had used a hand gesture to signal trouble, alerting his fellows.
Garan made continuous pivots, scowling, with sword extended. Jaegar and Jardarah took out their swords and backed up to each other, their backs touching. King Pallan glanced around him; he had a look of subdued fright. Many in the column began panicking. The soldiers began protecting the civilians.
In very short time, the Paladians were altogether surrounded.
King Pallan raised his hands slowly and barked, turning his head to the side a little, “Nobody move.”
Jaegar remarked very quietly to Jardarah, “A clever ploy—making it seem as though they were the only ones to protect the road, path, to Ked.”
Jardarah replied mutedly, “Aye …”
The guard on the left of the footpath, leading to Ked, raised his right hand. The soldiers who had appeared from seemingly nowhere, in all around three hundred men, with others now appearing from various places, stood down a little. The guard announced, “You are to remain where you are, intruders, until my commander determines what to do with you. Have your soldiers, King Pallan, throw down their arms …”
King Pallan, scrunching up his face, shouted with veiled anger, “Do it.”
Jardarah and Jaegar backed away from each other. Giving each other looks, they placed their swords on the ground gradually, with marked hesitation. Jardarah, stooping, glanced up at Garan and commanded loudly, “Do it.”
Garan remained holding his sword tightly. With an alternating grin and scowl, he sized up the Keden soldiers. “No! These swine shall know what it is to threaten us!” He growled.
King Pallan, his arms still raised in truce, pivoted his head around and insisted, “Do it, Garan! You’ll get us all killed. We are outnumbered. Another time will present itself …”
The Keden soldiers seemed to tense; they had their eyes on the defiant Kae’lem soldier of fortune.
Garan made furious looks to his left, then his right, then behind him. Facing forward again with his teeth showing, he only very gradually lowered his sword to the ground, with a death grip on it; he never took his sight off the nearby Keden guards.
The guard on the left of the footpath remarked, “Good—a wise decision.” He took several steps forward toward a stationary King Pallan.
Garan stood erect again, by degrees; his semi clenched hand was directed at his sword.
The guard who had approached King Pallan said, “You will remain where you are; any sudden moves and we will run you through. Do you understand, Palladian?”
King Pallan answered between his set teeth, “I understand; only, do not harm my people.”
The guard came a little nearer. “That depends on you and your people’s behaviour, on what my commander instructs.” He then sighed just loud enough to be heard, giving a quick look to his right. “Look, I do not intend to harm you or any of your people; just stay where you are. Until the signal comes …”
King Pallan nodded hesitantly; his hands were still raised, though he brought them down a tad.
The lead (evidently) guard received word from his commander via a messenger who had come down the path, nearly an hour later. After conferring for a few moments with the message bearer, who was himself a soldier, the head guard approached King Pallan and said, “My commander instructs me to allow you to pass. Regaan, my second-in-command, will take you to Paragon.” He removed one of his gloves and extended his hand to King Pallan.
King Pallan’s eyes were transfixed by the man’s extended hand for several moments. With a reassuring nod from the main guard, he lowered his hands completely, and then, with some trepidation, extended his right hand to the guard, who shook it gently.
“I am Harer, Keeper of the Path. I am sorry to have frightened you.” The soldier released King Pallan’s hand; the king drew it back cautiously.
Harer turned in place a degree; he began to survey the land behind King Pallan and his people. “We do not take our duty lightly; we can never be too watchful. We have had trouble in the past with ‘visitors’. No one is permitted
to enter Ked without our knowing … my commander’s. But we are a peaceful people; with much land to patrol. I hope you understand …”
King Pallan answered him in a moment, “I do. Let us begin again at working for peace.”
Harer remarked after a few faint nods, “Let us hope, my king. And now, Regaan and his men will accompany you and your people to Paragon. It is a little way from here.”
King Pallan responded softly, “Thank you.”
Harer nodded to him and turned to head back to the footpath, seemingly guarded only by him and another soldier. The Keden soldiers began to disperse; however, the tension remained high between both sides, subsiding only eventually.
With all their weapons confiscated, the Paladians were permitted to enter the footpath with Regaan and his soldiers in tow (the numerical advantage of Keden soldier to Paladian was nearly two to one).
The Keden soldiers led the Paladian escapees across a vast wilderness. Across streams, over hills, through vacant woods, across a shallow bog, until, after many hours, stone structures began to come into view. The peasantry began to intensify. A road of moderate width, straddled by two wooded hills, had several travellers on it. In the distance were the obscured traces of a city.
Regaan announced loudly from the rear, “Paragon is just over that hill.”
Jaegar commented dryly to Jardarah, “He was not jesting when he—Harer, I believe his name was—said that ‘It is a little way from here’.”
Jardarah shook his head moderately. “Pfft—bloody distance from that guard post. What do you think their force structure is to the east and west of that footpath?”
Jaegar pondered the question for several steps. “I don’t know; could be weakly defended.” He turned to Jardarah and warned, “But we don’t know; it could be equally defended. Perhaps, even more …”
Jardarah winced and vented something under his breath.
Garan remained silent as he surveyed the countryside with his keen, dark eyes.
The unarmed Paladians, trailed by Keden soldiers, marched over the top of the hill and down the other side. At once, a large settlement presented itself, of unfamiliar architecture. There didn’t appear to be any castle proper, assuming the castle of the land’s king was in its capital city. The settlement was comprised largely of low dwellings made from a type of stacked sandstone. Carts drawn by mules littered its streets, the streets themselves furrowed with their tracks. There was an air of agriculture to the whole place, which was simultaneously imbued with a type of urbanism that seemed to point to infinite possibilities—the vestiges of a hitherto unknown modernism.
Regaan herded King Pallan and his people down a long street, then around a square with a fountain. Coming to a small intersection, he directed them down a narrow road lined with fruit and vegetable carts. In a short while, a palatial stone house could be seen just beyond some hedges, at the end of the city street.
Regaan announced, “The winter residence of King Reydaren.”
King Pallan, who was alongside his lead soldiers, including Garan, the as-yet-unproven Kae’lem mercenary, noted to them, “He is aware of me, and I of him.”
Jaegar protested, checking his voice so as not to alert the Keden soldiers close by, “But what of that welcoming—we nearly lost our lives.”
King Pallan frowned faintly and conceded, “Yes, there is the matter of that … hopefully, he will be accommodating to us.”
King Pallan and his people were led into the courtyard of the large mansion. A maze of finely sculptured hedges lay before the impressive stone building, evidently the winter residence of King Reydaren. King Pallan and several of his soldiers, along with his scribes, were led, under guard, into the estate; the rest of the people were made to wait outside.
A well-dressed butler came into the spacious parlour at the front of the imposing building. “This way.” He turned and walked down a somewhat narrow hallway toward a closed door.
Regaan motioned quickly for King Pallan and his delegates to begin following.
Jaegar commented quietly to King Pallan, “Almost like home …”
King Pallan shot back softly, “But not.”
Olish, Hadarah, and Yarek surveyed the hallway and its quirky décor, in many ways similar to Paladian tastes, but in others altogether strange.
The butler opened the door at the end of the hallway, and after freezing momentarily at the threshold, gestured with his right hand for the rest to follow him down another hallway.
Jardarah whispered to Jaegar and King Pallan, “Where is he taking us?”
Jaegar quipped, “How the devil should I know? Presumably, to the chamber of Ked’s king.”
Jardarah grumbled to himself faintly as Garan frowned.
The mansion was surprisingly quiet. Save for some help dashing across hallways, opening and closing doors, or an infrequent guard walking the corridors, one would think the stately house was unoccupied. After traversing several corridors, the butler led them down a final hallway. At its end were two guards standing before a shut door.
The butler noted quite calmly, “My Lords, may I present the entrance to my lord’s resting and decision chamber.” He gestured at it with his hand, halting some ways down the hallway from the two sentries, who made no indication at their arrival.
Olish said to King Pallan, speaking just above a whisper as he brought his mouth near his king’s ear, “It has been said, recorded in the archives in a few places, that the people of Ked were once Paladian—many centuries ago.”
King Pallan scanned the hallway thoughtfully, remarking its furnishings with his guarded eyes. “Yes, I can tell; there are similarities between them and us, it would seem.”
Regaan said with firmness, “Enter.”
The two guards standing by the doorway at once stepped to the side a bit, placing their hands on the hilts of their swords.
King Pallan turned to Regaan and then faced the guards at the end of the hallway. Quietly, he commanded his followers, “Come; do as he instructs.”
Olish, Hadara, and Yarek crowded behind Jardarah and Jaegar, who themselves followed close behind their king. Garan remained behind them. A few other soldiers from the regiment were also present, in case of need. However, including Garan, all the Paladians were without weapons.
After a momentary pause before the two sentries, King Pallan nodded for the soldier on the left to open the door. He turned and opened it on cue.
Upon entering, the Paladians were immediately directed to the centre of a large room. Toward the left, from the perspective of the doorway, was King Reydaren seated on a throne and a young woman of uncommon beauty dressed in a white gown, her dark-auburn hair up in a bun.
Garan grunted and growled at his prodders. Olish, Yarek, and Hadara came closer to Jaegar and Jardarah, who ushered them to the front of the group, beside King Pallan.
“Ah! Come-come, my good king.” King Reydaren motioned hastily for King Pallan to come closer to the throne, which was elevated on a wide platform, with several steps leading up to it.
The young woman who stood to the left of King Reydaren seemed to be checking a grin—almost as if she had been told a righteous joke and was doing her best to prevent an outburst of laughter. King Pallan eyed her with suspicion.
King Reydaren made a slight turn to her and said, “My daughter, Lady Alina.”
King Pallan bowed to her slowly.
Around the periphery of the kingly chamber were guards and scribes, along with players of musical instruments. For the time being, they were silent.
King Reydaren laughed heartily and continued, “My good King Pallan—what brings you to my humble kingdom?”
King Pallan hesitated for a second; he seemed slightly irritated at the King of Ked’s flippancy. With a subtle nod, he revealed his purpose, after a fleeting turn to his followers. “I have come to seek an alliance with you.”
Lady Alina put her hand to her mouth and began to chuckle, her cheeks growing rose-coloured.
Kin
g Reydaren made a hasty clearing of his throat and, with a smile, said loudly, “An alliance, you say?”
Lady Alina could hardly control herself; her shoulders were bouncing up and down, her hand still near her mouth.
King Pallan peered at her. His expression conveyed thwarted fury.
King Reydaren leaned forward in his throne. “Forgive my daughter.” He then leaned back by degrees, at times laughing himself. After settling fully into his seat, he nudged his heavy, furry, dark-brown robe to the side. “It is just that—an alliance—with you?”
King Pallan made a very slow dip of his head.
The Keden monarch laughed vigorously, his protruded belly beginning to dance. “Now, that is quite the news, eh, Lady Alina—I mean, what does he take us for?” King Reydaren then grew serious and, leaning forward in his throne, remarked quite coldly, “You are lucky, my good friend, that you and your friends bring mirth to my daughter.” He eased back into his gold-framed chair with deep red cushions.
Garan attempted to fly at King Reydaren, after evading the grasps of Jardarah and Jaegar, but King Pallan arrested him, saying angrily, “Settle yourself; now is not the time. Remain calm.”
Garan showed his teeth to King Reydaren and his daughter.
King Pallan reaffirmed, “Be still, Garan; now is not the time. It is their game … for now.”
With much hesitation, the Kae’lem mercenary stepped backward; he then stormed behind the scribes with both his hands in fists, lowered at his sides.
With a step forward, King Pallan spoke up. “I fail to find, my good king, what is so amusing.” He gave both King Reydaren and Lady Alina challenging looks; the two of them were holding in laughter. “I have come here in good faith, and you have done nothing but provoke me and my people.”
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