“That proves nothing,” the minister snarled.
“It goes to Zollin’s character,” Brianna stated defiantly. “You have accused him of murder, but you have no proof. Yet many times he has had the opportunity to strike those in power down, and he hasn’t done it.”
“He healed me,” said one of the Royal Guards, stepping forward. “Last night, I got hurt. And Zollin healed me.”
“Who was King Hausey’s chamber maid?” Zollin asked.
“He didn’t have one, my Lord,” Homan said. “I saw to his needs.”
“Did you ever see me in his chambers?”
“Only when he summoned you.”
“Did anyone see me in the kitchens? Is there any evidence that I tampered with his food? Did King Hausey ever speak ill of me, or give any indication that I was behind his failing health?”
There was silence.
“Where is your proof, minister? You believe I did this because Branock told you so. And you believed Branock because you wanted to. You made him king because he was corrupt, just as you are.”
The crowd was loud again.
“Keynon, have your men stand down,” Zollin said quietly.
The commander looked at the ministers once more, then waved his guards away.
“No proof has been shown that I had anything to do with King Hausey’s death, but perhaps we may have proof that these ministers who have accused me are in fact abusing their authority. Would anyone speak to that?”
“I would,” said a well-dressed man near the front. “Heltch has been overcharging the dock fees since King Hausey died. I can’t prove it but I think he’s pocketing the overages.”
“Orrins has demanded more goods than the king gave him permission to collect,” said another man. From the way he looked the man was a farmer. “He doubled the number of cattle for the king’s portion.”
More and more people spoke up about the illicit dealings of the ministers. They weren’t all called out, but most were, and the crowed was getting angrier by the minute. Zollin eventually raised his hands and settled the people down.
“People of Yelsia, it was never my desire to be your ruler, but we are in desperate need of strong leadership. We need someone strong, someone who cares about the welfare of all Yelsians, and someone who understands the threats we are facing. I will take on that role until we are safe again. But I cannot ensure the safety of our kingdom sitting on a throne. That is why I propose that Chief Steward Homan be made regent in my absence. He will hold the power of the king until our kingdom is safe once more and a new king can be crowned in an orderly fashion.”
There was a lot of murmuring, but Zollin only let it go on for a few seconds before raising his voice once again.
“Homan shall oversee the ministers and ensure that there is justice for any crimes those in power have committed. He shall have complete control of the castle and the King’s Royal Guards. His word shall be law until the threats against us are no more. And I shall go to face these threats on the field of battle. But there are many here who could help me.”
Zollin’s last words were directed at the nobles.
“We need every able-bodied man moving east to fight the threat in Baskla,” he said.
“Isn’t the army already doing that?” asked one of the nobles.
“A goodly portion,” Zollin said. “They were sent by Branock to attack our ally. But King Ricard is not the threat, as you will see. We need you knights, and your war bands. Go to Ebbson Keep and I will meet you there. Together we will defeat this evil that spills over into our land and restore the peace with Baskla.”
The crowd cheered in approval and while not every noble looked happy about the way public opinion was swaying in Zollin’s favor, many of them nodded in acceptance. Anyone who had been in the castle knew Homan. He was nothing if not a stickler for decorum, and the fact that he was a servant meant he couldn’t betray them and try to steal the crown. Plus, he only had control of the King’s Royal Guards, Zollin had control of the army, which meant that the young wizard was truly in control of the kingdom - even if he didn’t wear a crown.
“Come Homan, we have work to do,” Zollin said.
Brianna led the way, and the three of them left the feasting hall the way they had come.
Chapter 5
Zollin, Brianna, and Homan, who still looked bewildered that he had been named Regent of Yelsia, huddled in a room.
“Now what?” Brianna asked.
“We have three major tasks,” Zollin said. “First, I need you to find out from the dragons if they will take us to Ortis.”
“To find Lorik?” Brianna said.
“Yes. I need to know what he’s planning and hopefully have him join us in our fight with Amvyr in Baskla.”
“Alright,” she nodded. “I can do that. It may take a while to reach them. When do you want to leave?”
“Would tomorrow morning be too soon?”
“No, that should work. They’re hunting today. We could be ready by morning.”
“Alright that’s one thing.”
“We should deal with the ministers,” Brianna said. “They’re lying scoundrels.”
“That they are, but I think if we give them a little time, they’ll disappear on their own.”
“I won’t have to prosecute them?” Homan asked, a little hope entering his eyes for the first time since Zollin had recruited his help the night before.
“No, I don’t think so. Tonight I’ll send out orders for them to appear before you tomorrow. Order the most gossipy castle servant up with parchment and quills. I’ll let them hear what I’m doing and then you can send out the orders tomorrow. By that time the ministers will have heard that you will be questioning them. The honest ones will stay, the dishonest…”
“Will run for their lives,” Brianna said with a smirk.
“Which means you’ll have to find replacements, but since you know most of the courtiers and merchants in the city, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Make sure they know we expect them to act honorably and that you’ll be checking up on them. That should get things running more smoothly here at home.”
Homan breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t mind overseeing the castle, but he had spent his life in service and the thought of ordering noble born courtiers to do anything made him nervous.
“Remember, your job is to oversee the ministers and settle disputes, that’s all. I’ll take control of the army after we return from Ortis. If you need to reach me about anything, send word to Ebbson Keep.”
“I can do that,” Homan said, trying to sound confident.
“You’ll be great,” Brianna said. “My father always said that competence is three quarters honesty and one quarter skill. You’re an honest man and you’ve had responsibility over the castle for years.”
“I’ll do it,” Homan said. “But I won’t move into the king’s quarters. My own rooms are fine for me.”
“That’s another thing I need to do,” Zollin said. “Search the third floor for anything that might be out of place.”
“Maybe you’ll find something that will give us a clue as to why Branock ran,” Brianna offered.
“That would be nice, but I won’t hold my breath. Branock’s greatest skill is his cunning. He may have fled the capital, but he won’t want us to know why.”
“What’s the last thing you have to do?” Brianna asked.
“I need to get orders to Ebbson Keep and the army. And I need Mansel to be my eyes and ears without being noticed.”
“You think there could be trouble with the army?”
“I think that the greatest temptation, if the army isn’t being attacked by gargoyles, is for one of the nobles to try and take control of the army, march back to Orrock, and declare themselves king.”
“Would the army obey any of them?”
“If they build strong enough alliances with the right leaders. I’m not putting anything past the nobility at this point. They’re afraid of me, but we wo
n’t be there, and Yelsia’s throne has been empty too long. Homan can keep things running, but he can’t stop an ambitious noble from trying to take the throne.”
“Just another headache to deal with,” Brianna said.
They ate a light lunch then went about their tasks. Brianna went up to the roof, where she would summon the dragons through their mental link. They wouldn’t have to be over the city to communicate with her, but they might want to be close and she felt better contacting them from the castle’s tall watchtower.
Zollin went up to the third floor, where the king’s private quarters were located. The king had a large study and three sleeping chambers along with a large dressing room and a private armory, which also doubled as a treasury. The best wines and bags of gold coin were kept in the armory, along with the king’s armor and an array of weapons.
The third floor also had the chief minister’s suite of rooms. Many kings preferred to spend their time hunting, feasting, or simply touring the kingdom and the chief minister, sometimes titled Prime Minister, actually ruled the kingdom. Those rooms mirrored the king’s but were slightly smaller and didn’t have a dressing room or armory. There were two other suites of rooms, usually for family that occasionally lived in the castle or distant relatives that came to visit.
Zollin quickly checked the family suites. He’d never known them to be occupied. King Felix’s sons Willam and Simmeron must have lived in the suites but they were long empty. He found nothing out of place or even interesting enough to warrant his attention. They were well decorated with expensive rugs, tapestries, and furniture, but they were also coated in a fine layer of dust with no evidence that they had been used at all.
The chief minister’s suite had been given to Branock by King Hausey, but Zollin guessed that the elder wizard had moved quickly into the king’s private quarters once Hausey passed away. Still, he searched the chief minister’s suite extensively, but again found nothing out of place. Even using his magical senses, he could find nothing in the room that should not have been. Branock had emptied it completely of all his belongings.
Finally he went to the hand-carved double doors that led into the king’s study. Zollin remembered the fine reliefs. Each door was carved into the image of a horse on its rear legs, head thrown back, mane flowing, as its front legs pawed the air. He opened the doors slowly, letting his magical senses flow into the room. Again there was no hint of danger, no magical sensation that warned him that something was amiss.
A simple spell kindled a fire in the large fireplace where logs had already been stacked. The servants had cleaned and done all the things Branock had ordered them to do before leaving, so the room seemed neat. Another spell lit the lamps that were positioned on the walls. The study was an interior room, so there were no windows to illuminate the space, but Zollin could see sunlight shining beneath the doors to the other rooms.
There were books on the tall bookcases, but gaps as well. Branock had taken anything he thought of value. There were expensive tapestries and silver candlestick holders, but while those things had monetary value, Zollin knew the elder wizard had no need for riches. Like Zollin, he could transform one item into another, so creating gold or silver coins would always be a way for Branock to pay for the things he needed. It was knowledge that gave a wizard power, and books were treasure troves of wisdom just waiting to be explored. Zollin would have liked to have known what books the old wizard took, but there was no way of knowing.
There were clues that Branock had occupied the space. He hadn’t taken everything that he’d found useful in the suite of rooms. Zollin found jars of strange substances, many he couldn’t name, but he could feel the magical properties imbued in each. In one of the sleeping rooms the bed was gone, and in its place was a sturdy table. There were sharp knives on the table, some for slicing, others for dicing. There were several mortars and pestles, each made of different materials. In the hearth was a large black cauldron and Zollin could sense that magic had been worked in the room, but there were only traces, like the smell of smoke from oil lamps.
The armory was mostly intact. The gold was there, the weapons and armor were all in place, but much of the wine had been taken. And in one room there were restraints, manacles, whips, ropes, and thin wooden rods. There were blood stains on the stone floor, and Zollin could only guess what sadistic activities had taken place to satisfy the wizard’s demented desires.
Satisfied that there was nothing that might harm the castle’s inhabitants or that would give a clue to Branock’s sudden flight, Zollin retrieved the king’s seal and returned to his own quarters. The alchemy room was interesting to the young wizard. He recognized it, although he knew very little about alchemy. Kelvich, the old sorcerer who had taught Zollin to use his magic had shared how some wizards spent lifetimes exploring the natures of various substances. Many magical potions and spells had been created, but Zollin didn’t have any of the books that the Torr collected that might teach him more about the ancient art. The fact that Branock did, or at least knew how to brew potions, was alarming to Zollin.
Still, Branock wasn’t his biggest concern. At the moment, he needed to focus on the threat in Baskla. Winter would soon be over, and without the threat of cold to hold back the gargoyles, they could pour past the defenses in Ebbson Keep and invade Yelsia. Zollin could track them down and kill them one by one, but how long would such an endeavor take and at what cost. What he needed was to stop them before they broke through his defenses and better still, identify the evil spreading from Baskla and remove it completely.
A servant came to Zollin’s room with the ink and quills he had requested. The man was bald, with a large overbite and drooping mustache that covered his upper lip completely. Zollin settled at a table and spread the parchment before him. He wasn’t a scholar, but he didn’t need to be. The summonses had already been written and addressed with the name of each minister at the top. All Zollin needed to do was sign each document and stamp it with the large wooden seal. He dipped a quill into the dark ink and quickly scrawled his name at the bottom of the first parchment. Then, using a golden-colored beeswax candle, he dribbled hot wax onto the parchment and pressed the seal into the wax, leaving an impression that was unmistakable.
“You’re going to hang them aren’t you, sire,” said the servant. “Those bloody crooks’ll get what’s coming to them.”
“Each minister must give a reckoning,” Zollin said, hoping he sounded serious. “Homan will see to that.”
“He’s a good man, that Homan, if a bit on the particular side, if you take my meaning. Likes things a certain way, is all. Of course, I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. Sees things in black and white, with no room for imagination.”
Zollin nodded. Homan obviously knew his people. The servant couldn’t stop talking and Zollin was sure that word would spread quickly about the fate of the corrupt ministers.
“Let’s just say that I agree with you,” Zollin said. “You would not want to be on Homan’s bad side in this case. He has the full authority of the crown to mete out justice on my behalf.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” the servant said, unable to keep the jeering grin from his face. “Them that deserve a comeuppance will get it, that’s only fair.”
Zollin finished signing and sealing the orders and gave them back to the servant, who hurried away. It seemed as if things were falling into place, but Zollin still had a feeling that he was missing something important. He sat alone, pondering the situation. If he found that Lorik was defeated, or worse yet, another enemy to Yelsia, he wasn’t sure what he would do. And if he managed to convince Lorik to join him in rooting out the evil in Baskla, what then? Would they divide the kingdom? Should they install a new king? Zollin didn’t like the idea that Lorik had all of Ortis, Falxis, and Osla to rule on his own, but he doubted that he could convince him to give up the other kingdoms either. His well-laid plans could crumble to pieces, but he couldn’t give up. His sense of responsibility weighed heavi
ly on him and he feared that if Yelsia fell, the evil spreading through Baskla might grow too strong for him to stop.
Chapter 6
As soon as the council was finished, which is what Zollin’s meeting with the nobles and citizens of Orrock was being called, Mansel got busy preparing to leave Orrock. He didn’t mind leaving the city, it held too many bad memories for him. And truth be told he enjoyed life on the road. A good horse, his sword, and adventure were all he needed. He had just gone down and selected himself a horse from the king’s stable. He didn’t think Zollin would mind too much, considering the fact that he and Brianna traveled almost exclusively on the backs of dragons. Persey, the stableman who had helped Mansel get Danella and Vyctor out of the castle, gave him a hard time about taking the horse, but he also saw to it that Mansel had the best saddle in the tack room, and went over the horse’s hooves and shoes himself.
The kitchens were busy preparing for the meeting at noon, but Mansel noticed there seemed to be new life in the castle. The servants were excited and went about their tasks with enthusiasm. Mansel considered that he too felt that at last things were moving in the right direction. He would forever see Zollin as both the clumsy son of his mentor and as the unbelievably powerful wizard who had become his close friend. Yet it made him happy to think that Zollin would ascend to the throne. No one deserved it more in Mansel’s mind. Zollin may not have had the pedigree of a noble, but his magical power was much more important than lineage, especially when Yelsia so desperately needed a powerful leader with real integrity.
At his room, which was much nicer than even the best inn Mansel had ever visited, he gathered the rest of his things. Servants had cleaned his clothes, although there were blood stains, and if he pressed his face against the fabric he could still smell the sharp scent of salt water from his adventures on the high seas. He had to shake those thoughts away, stuffing them deep down inside himself, along with his grief over loosing Nycol and Quinn. He felt guilty for the way things had turned out with Danella and Vyctor. His plan of sailing south with the young lovers was, in the end, a poor choice. And while Mansel knew that Vyctor died protecting Danella, and that in similar circumstances he would have done exactly the same thing, he still felt guilty when he thought of the young man’s death.
Controlling Chaos (The Five Kingdoms Book 12) Page 4
