“Halt that order,” King Alrick said. The agonized king managed to crawl into his chair. Panting through his nose and grimacing, he said, “I’m not dead yet, Trenner. I’m still the king. I’m still in charge. Knights, stay your blades. And you, Trenner, get me some aid, damn you!”
Face paling, Trenner said, “Er, yes, your majesty!” He bowed. “Immediately.” He hustled to the door. The two soldiers who had escorted the queen opened them. He hollered down the hall, “Physicians! You, servant, summon the king’s physicians, now!” Holding the hem of his garments up, he hurried back to the king. “Your majesty, they’ll be here soon. Be strong.”
King Alrick sat up in his chair. His hand was on his belly, and his face was ashen. His eyes made a frozen stare at the window across the room.
“Your majesty,” Trenner said as he approached. He waved his hand in front of the king’s eyes. “Oh, gods, he has died. I’ve lost him twice. Guards, summon the queen, immediately.”
Another counselor entered the room wearing garb similar to Trenner’s. He was much older, bald, and wrinkly, and didn’t move too well. His expression was filled with worry. “The queen is dead,” he said, casting his glance at the king. “We just found her in her room.” His hands trembled. “Oh my, tell me the king is not dead too?”
“I’m afraid he is, Counselor Mather.” Trenner took a long breath. There was a flicker in his eyes. The wheels of his destiny quickly turned. “It was the work of these two assassins. Guards, depart, close the doors behind you. River Knights, stay.”
“So, these men on the floor are the assassins?” Counselor Mather asked.
“In a matter of speaking, yes,” Trenner said.
“No, he’s lying! How could they have murdered the queen when they’ve been here the entire time?” Dizon said. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “We saw the assassin. She escaped. Finster and Moth are innocent. All of these knights are witnesses to that.”
“Dizon, dear Dizon, you understand how the crown works. The loss of a king and queen in a single day. The tragedy will break our kingdom.” Trenner took the king’s crown and placed it on his head. “Unless we have leadership. Strong leadership that is swift to act, capture, and kill the assassins. And since King Alrick never married, or sired any proper children, that leader will be me. Don’t you agree, Counselor Mather?”
Rubbing his chin, Mather said, “Yes, it would be best for the crown. But there are formalities. There’s the ceremony. The coronation. Oh, and the funeral. My, that will be lengthy.”
“Yes, yes, Mather, I’m well aware. With that said, River Knights, as your king by proxy, kill all three of these assassin invaders. For the crown!”
“Aye,” Mather said. “For the crown.”
CHAPTER 56
The fire coursing through Moth’s blood turned to icy water. The strength in his limbs returned. He sprang to his feet and hit the knight nearest to him. The knight’s armor disintegrated. Without understanding, he attacked. From his punches came fire that cracked like thunder. A sword thrust slid into his ribs. He head-butted the metal face of the knight, sending him to the ground.
“To arms!” one knight yelled. “To arms!” The battle-hardened group of soldiers attacked as one. Skilled swordsmen, one and all, they swung at Moth with deadly precision. The blades bit into Moth’s wrists and thighs. Blood flowed. “He bleeds! He dies!”
Fighting like a tiger, Moth flung himself into the men. He punched a soldier, knocking the helmet from his head. A hard blow of his foot busted another’s groin. Biting a soldier on the sword hand, he wrenched a sword free. Strange powers channeled through his body. A blow from his sword turned a man to ash. Another knight drove his sword through Moth’s back. Like a bucking bull, Moth flung the man to the ground.
“Those eyes!” a knight said. “They are of a demon!”
Every armored knight came at Moth with everything he had. Points of steel sank into Moth’s body. They gored him, stabbed him, sliced him, chopped him. He bled, but his flesh mended. Moth made them pay. He rammed a knife under one man’s chin. He chopped the leg off another. He slipped away from a decapitating blow, but the razor edge of the steel cut open his neck. His legs wobbled.
“We’ve got him, knights! Have at him!” The knights chopped in a frenzy.
Moth swung wildly. His body lost hunks, bits, and pieces. The backs of his legs were clipped. A spear thrust impaled his chest from one side to the other. He grabbed a knight’s wrist and chopped off his arm. A dozen blows entered his body.
A knight knocked Moth’s sword from his hand. Another chop to the backs of his legs dropped him on his knees. A death blow arced down on his skull. Inches from his face, it froze in space and time.
***
“That will be enough of that,” Finster said. He stood at the edge of the table with a haggard look on his face. The specks in his eyes glowed green. Dizon stood by his side. She’d managed to awaken him. He thrust his hand forward. All of the knights lifted into the air and flew into the wall. There were only four of them left. Eyeing Moth, he said, “I should have let them gore you. You’re a glutton for punishment. You know that, don’t you?”
The sinew, bone, and cartilage started to mend all over Moth’s body. The gaping wound in his neck sealed. He pulled the sword out of his back and a spear out of his belly. He dropped them on the floor, sneering at the knights as he did so.
“Counselor Trenner,” Finster said. “We’ve had an excellent evening with you and the king, but now we will be leaving.” His eyes casually swept the blood-splattered room. “I would suggest that you leave us alone too. There is a true assassin out there, and I aim to find them. Don’t,” he said, making the entire dinner table quake, “get in my way. Do I have your word on it?”
Counselors Trenner and Mather, flecks of blood on their faces and clothing, nodded. “Of course. Of course.”
“I don’t know how you are going to spin this with the people, but I suggest that you put the blame where it belongs, with King Rolem. If you put it on us, I’m liable to come back, and it won’t be pretty.” He took Dizon by the hand. “It’s a shame about the king and his mother. They served good wine and seemed to be nice people. Very uncommon with the crown. Try not to ruin all they have striven to achieve.”
Two chairs scooted out from behind the table. Finster sat on one of them and put Dizon on his lap. “Moth, take a seat.”
Moth grabbed his chalice and sat down.
Powered by thought, Finster lifted them into the air. The large rectangular double-hung windows leading outside flew open. He looked at Trenner. “Oh, I’ll be borrowing these chairs but won’t be returning them.” They departed from the castle, flying on the chairs with the wind in their hair, faces set against the warm breeze.
With her arms around Finster’s neck, Dizon said, “Do you think Counselor Trenner will keep his word?”
“Of course not. The criers will be calling for the head of Finster the Kingdom Wrecker in the wee hours of the morning. Do you like the sound of that?” he said.
“No, it sounds awful.”
“Yes, but I meant Finster the Kingdom Wrecker. I just came up with that. Don’t you think it has a nice ring to it?”
She nodded. “I suppose. But, Finster, what are we going to do?”
“I’m thinking.” At fifty feet high, they sailed through the air, making their way toward the city. The clouds were thick in the heavens, leaving them as nothing more than black dots in the sky. He sped forward, turned, and faced Moth. “Do you have any thoughts on this?”
The savage faced ahead, expressionless.
“Thanks to you, Moth, a good king and queen are dead all on account of your foolishness. Was I not clear when I said we need to maintain a high level of discretion?” Finster unleashed his disdain. “And all of this because you wanted to play at the Gauntlet! Now, you’ve wrecked a kingdom. A kingdom that could have been our ally.”
“He could not have known about this assassin,” Dizon said. “Could
he?”
“There is no telling what he knows. Perhaps he planned all of this all along. Either way, at least I know what Rolem the Grand is up to.” Finster rubbed his fingers into his temple. “He’s sent an assassin after me and Moth. A very clever one at that.”
“Do you think it was the Circle?” she asked.
“I can’t think of anyone else better to hire if I were to try to kill me.”
“Moth saved you, or else your throat would have been as open as a cleric’s book. I couldn’t have defended you from the likes of her, or him.” Dizon kissed his cheek. “She can turn from one person to another, and vanish.”
“Yes. The Circle. They have special powers and abilities. We saw that firsthand, didn’t we? Bloody assassin almost pulled it off too. It worries me. With this power, I shouldn’t have to worry. I’ll have to rectify that.” Finster turned his chair in the face of the wind. “Anybody could be anyone trying to kill me. I can’t let that happen.” But, if I had the rings of power, I wouldn’t have to worry about it, now would I?
CHAPTER 57
Wincing, Alexandria stood alongside the King’s Road that led to the palace. A small group of her assassins were with her. Together, they had watched Finster and the barbarian sail right over their heads, sitting in chairs, heading toward the city. As best as she could see, they were all alive and well. It was a testament to their power. She’d almost had one of them. Finster.
So close.
“Are our eyes in place?” she asked the assassin standing at her side. He was a man, little bigger than her, dressed in a comparable weather-beaten hood and cloak.
“Yes, our eyes are everywhere, as always, High Executioner.”
“Let’s go then. It will be interesting to see what Finster’s next move is.”
King Rolem’s orders weren’t entirely explicit. She was to kill Finster and Moth and retrieve the rings and the stone. She never would have guessed her journey would have led her to the king of Rayland’s castle. It presented an interesting opportunity to learn more about Finster and the barbarian. It wasn’t her intent to kill Finster, so much as to feel him out and find a weakness. The same for the barbarian. But when she realized the drunk had exposed himself, she took a chance.
Alexandria killed the queen and stabbed the king. Why not? Rolem needed this kingdom weakened anyway. At the same time, she got a crack at Finster, thanks to his dulled senses, letting a knight give him a whack in the back of the skull. She was just one second too late to deliver the fatal blow. That’s when the savage pounced on her. If she hadn’t gotten her poisoned blade through his skin, he would have crushed her to death. She’d felt three ribs crack from Moth’s efforts. She’d fled. It had been a long time since she’d been so close to her own death. Still, it was almost a perfect night.
There was another caveat too. Her eyes weren’t the only ones in the room. When she was disguised as the queen, the guards who’d escorted her into the dinner chamber were her assassins. They saw a full display of the savage’s bizarre powers. There was water, fire, and lightning shooting from his body, they reported. It worked, then stopped. The savage pulled weapons from his body like they were acupuncture needles. Alexandria’s poison didn’t stop the savage, and it was the most lethal in the kingdom. Steel didn’t end the brute either.
She rubbed her sore jaw. Her face got smashed when she wound up underneath the savage who pounced on her. She tasted blood on her lip. She’d failed once; she wouldn’t fail again.
Moving forward, she pondered. What linked the savage and the sorcerer together? One thing was clear. In order to take down one or the other, they would need to be separated first. Based off current history, that shouldn’t be a problem.
The game is set. We’ll see.
CHAPTER 58
Hours after the incident in King Alrick’s dining hall, the counselors and remaining knights were still there. The physicians who responded were sent away. They kept the doors closed and were staging what had happened. “Not that I question your wisdom, High Counselor Trenner,” Counselor Mather said, “but contacting King Rolem might be premature at this junction.”
The crown was tilted a bit on the short white hairs of Trenner’s head. He paced on the other side of the room, away from the spilt blood, with his hands behind his back. “Did you not see what just happened here? The savage murdered our finest knights. The sorcerer, this Finster, flung the rest of them away like a child tossing his toys. We cannot have power like that wandering the kingdoms unchecked. They are a threat. A danger.”
“But Finster said that he was on our side. It was King Rolem whom he warned us about.” Mather’s old, wrinkled hands shook as he spoke. “I think he was honest. I believe things just went… awry.”
Trenner spun on his heel and faced Mather. “Awry? You call the king’s dining hall, sticky with blood and reeking of the dead, awry? The king and queen are dead, and we can’t put a face on it. Don’t be foolish, Mather. We need all the help we can get. What servant am I if I cannot protect our people? No, we will send an emissary now.”
“I’ve seen many things in my decades, and I’ve never seen it work out when one makes a hasty ally out of a potential enemy.” Mather coughed into his fist. “I just want to have that on the record.”
“I didn’t ask you to render me your opinion, now, did I?”
“I am a counselor.”
Trenner’s fists balled up. His long face seemed to extend even further and redden. At the top of his lungs he shouted, “And when I am crowned I’m going to take your head off!” His chest heaved. He caught his breath and took a seat at the cleaner end of the table. “I’m sorry, old friend. It’s been a hectic evening. If I’m going to be king, I suppose I should have better control over myself.”
“It’s quite understandable.” Mather patted Trenner’s shoulder. “The weight of the world rests on the shoulders of a king. And you need your health. After all, if something happened to you, the next in line is me, and I’m too old to handle all of this.”
Trenner let out a chuckle. “Yes, yes, that would be preposterous. Why, the land barons and merchant seamen would run you over.”
“Yes, if I were a younger and more able man, I’d be tempted to swipe the throne myself. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamed of it.” Mather wheezed and coughed into a handkerchief. “Did I ever tell you what I did before I came to serve the crown?”
“No, not that I’m really curious, but please humor me.”
Mather leaned over and whispered in his ear. “I was an assassin.” With a smooth swipe of a claw-shaped dagger, he slit open Trenner’s throat.
A River Knight advanced on Mather.
Mather coolly wiped the blood on his handkerchief. Straightening from his slouch, he said, “Who would you rather be in charge, me or him?”
The captain of the River Knights, possessing the lone seabird on the crown of his helmet, said, “You, Counselor Mather.” All four knights took a knee.
“Good.” He shoved Trenner’s dead body out of the chair. “Now, make him look like the savage did it.” He rolled his arms and stretched his back. “It took me almost fifty years, but the perfect moment finally presented itself. One is never too old to be prepared. As for Trenner’s plans, well, I couldn’t have agreed more precisely with him. It’s good to be the counselor, but even better to be the king.”
CHAPTER 59
Finster literally dropped down from the sky with Dizon on his lap, landing softly on the terrace. It was there that Dizon pleaded to come with him and Moth. “It is too dangerous to stay,” she argued. “You know they will come for me and kill me.”
Finster wouldn’t have been so reluctant to take Dizon if it wasn’t for the little girl, Rinny. “I’m not bringing a child along. She brings no value to my ambitions whatsoever. To put it in layman’s terms, she’s useless,” he said. “Most children are for that matter, unless they are rowing your boat or stitching clothing together. As you can see, I have no need for either.” He he
ld Dizon’s hands. “I won’t lie. I’m fond of you. Just move away from Rayland. A woman as savvy as you will do as well elsewhere as you do here.”
Stroking his cheek, she said, “It’s not about that, Finster. I want to be with you. You give me life. I enjoy it.”
“Being in my presence for an extended time will only bring death. You saw what happened in the castle. I travel a roadway of nothing but trouble.”
Suddenly, Rinny let out an excited “Wheeeeee!”
Moth scooped up the girl in his hands and placed her on his shoulders. She seemed like a tiny doll sitting on top of his massive frame. He still sat in the chair he’d flown in.
Finster’s eye twitched. “Don’t try to force my hand, Moth. The woman and the girl stay. That’s final.”
Moth looked at Finster with his deadpan stare. His chin shook a little left and back to the right.
“Did you just communicate with me? Was that a head shake or a no?”
Rinny crossed her arms over her chest and gave Finster a smirk. “Looks like we’re going with you, Lord Finster. Come now, I’m ready to fly.”
“It looks like you are attached to us for the moment, Lord Finster.” Dizon kissed him on the cheek. “Give me a moment. I’ll gather my things.”
***
Two days had passed since the night of the massacre at Castle Rayland. They flew northeast through the sky for as long as Finster could hold them. They landed leagues from Rayland, ditched the chairs in the woodland, and walked to a small town where they paid for rations and a pair of sturdy horses. Now, they rode with their faces to the sun while bristling winds tore at their faces. They avoided the roads that led from Rayland to Varland. They moved beyond those caravan trails toward the lakes, where the wilderness overtook the roads.
The Red Citadel and the Sorcerer's Power Page 19
