Eventually, the ogre’s spent energy caused him to hesitate a fraction of a second when withdrawing from a sword lunge. Saxthor took advantage of the exposure and drove his knife up into the ogre’s gut while forcing the ogre’s sword aside with Sorblade. A surprised look flashed on the ogre’s face. He looked down at the blood pouring down over his belt, then looked up at Saxthor and struck once more at the prince. Saxthor was prepared and drove Sorblade into the ogre’s chest. The ogre stood there for a second. Saxthor jerked back his sword, and the ogre fell forward, dead, on the street.
Sword in hand, Tournak came up beside Saxthor, looking down at the monster.
“Where were you?” Saxthor asked, hunched over, breathing hard.
“I was right behind you,” Tournak said. He grinned. “After sneaking around the country, it was good to see some action.”
“Great help there,” Saxthor said, “Next one’s yours.”
At the palace gates, guards held back the crowds, but most people were jostling past. In the confusion, Saxthor and Tournak slipped by the guards, engaged with the crowd. The two men hurried through the deserted palace. They occasionally passed servants, trying to hide valuable treasures from orcs and other looters, but most servants had abandoned the palace after the royal family fled.
Saxthor stopped one woman, scurrying past with a vase. “Where are the queen’s apartments?”
Restrained by Saxthor, the woman struggled, refusing to give out any information to strangers.
“I assure you I don’t mean to harm anyone or plunder the palace,” Saxthor said.
The woman was shaking and finally gave Saxthor directions. Released, she disappeared down the corridor.
Saxthor and Tournak hurried up the grand staircase to the next level. They went through the demolished banquet hall at the head of the stairs. True to the rumors, there were several sprawled bodies around the room amid lots of overturned and charred furniture.
The two men rushed through the banquet hall to the lesser of two doors at the back, leading to the women’s quarters for her entrance. They followed the corridor through the keep and up levels to the royal women’s enclave. The queen’s apartments were at the very end of the gallery. Saxthor and Tournak entered through the previously guarded door. Delicate treasures that had adorned the entrance hall were shattered or missing from their niches. Rich garments and other larger valuables lay scattered through the rooms. The long-gone servants had taken the finer, smaller things with them.
In the third room, they found a marble basin, containing a pool of clear water in a large, elegantly carved alcove. Saxthor looked into the pool; the water was pristine. Not knowing what power was in the water, the two men drained and refilled it with the water from a silver ewer, above the basin.
“It’s a wonder they didn’t take this ewer too. Keep watch at the door,” Saxthor said.
Tournak stood guard, while Saxthor performed his ritual. The prince drew out the Peldentak Wand and waved it over the basin. Nothing happened. He then touched the wand to the water, and ripples rolled out from the point of contact. The water turned black as coal, then red, then powder blue. Still nothing happened, so Saxthor thought of one other thing to try. He touched the Dragon Ring to the blue pool and again, there were ripples on the water. When the ripples smoothed out, the water turned to royal blue, and a message appeared to float, as gold lettering on the blue water.
Of Sekcmet Palace, there were three,
The first built by a king new to be.
The second palace o’er top the first,
Covered all but the gatehouse sunburst.
The second palace burned you see,
All was saved, was daylight’s key,
And that was used above the throne,
Its beam is cast for you alone.
Go to the metal disk on the wall,
Pointed out where the beam does fall,
And tap the ring you showed me here,
Upon the figure of the deer.
“Well, this riddle makes no sense to me,” Saxthor said.
“We’d better get moving,” Tournak said. “There seems to be more activity in the palace from the sounds coming up from below.”
They hurried back down the corridor and down the stairs to the banquet hall. They rushed through and over to the next official room, the grand audience chamber. There they found the splendid throne of Sengenwha’s monarchs. It stood in a large bay that enhanced the king’s aura as he sat enthroned. At the alcove’s apex was a huge golden sunburst, surrounding a large crystal. The sunburst was too high for daylight to strike it. Puzzled, Saxthor couldn’t see how it would cast a beam.
The riddle said nothing about focusing the sunlight from the window onto the crystal, he thought. The riddle did say the cast-beam would be for me alone. It must involve sunlight.
“Tournak, guard the door, while I figure this out.”
Around the room were a series of brass disks embedded in the wall just at the height of a man’s hand if stretched high. They alternated between figures of deer rampant and dragons rampant.
Any disks, displaying the rampant deer, could be the one the riddle spoke of, Saxthor thought. What does the burning of the second palace have to do with this? Daylight’s key has to be the sunburst. What does it all mean?
“You’d better hurry and figure it out,” Tournak said from the door.
Saxthor looked at the sunlight on the wall and noticed that it passed below the sunburst. Then he looked at the window, where the sunlight came in. The second renovation of the palace had added a balcony whose stone canopy blocked the sunlight. If the daylight is cast for me alone, it would have to be me shifting the sunlight beams to the sunburst.
Saxthor rushed over to the window. He focused the sunlight through the Celestial Blue Fire Topaz in his dragon ring to redirect it up to the sunburst. As the blue light struck the crystal, the light fractured into various colors, streaming from the crystal. Rays shot all around the room, but only one struck a deer on a brass disk. As it did so, the deer absorbed the blue rays. Saxthor knew he had it right as the other rays were the different colors, and none hit a deer disk.
The prince hurried to the disk tapping the glowing deer with his ring. The first strike produced a clear metal tone. The second strike produced a lower thud as though the rampant deer wasn’t metal. The third tap and the creature leaped from the disk, causing Saxthor to jump back, surprised.
The hand-size deer stamped around on the floor for a moment then looked up at the prince. Its eyes were pale blue, and they sparkled far more than they should have for so small a creature. The deer stamped his hoof several times, then lay down on the floor and curled up.
“What do I do with a miniature deer?”
“Whatever you’re going to do, you need to hurry,” Tournak said. He was watching the activity in the corridor from the door crack and hadn’t seen the deer. “The servants are panicking, and I hear armor clanging that can only mean soldiers. Whose soldiers, I don’t know, but in either case, finding us in here isn’t going to go well.”
Saxthor looked down again at the deer now transforming. The pale blue eyes grew in brilliance that seemed to be spreading through the deer. In a flash, the deer disappeared into its eyes as a flawless, identical pair of aquamarine gems each the size of a quail’s egg.
Saxthor didn’t have the time to wonder at what happened. These were the last items, as Memlatec had put it. Grabbing the Aquamarines of Unity and tucking them in his pocket, Saxthor headed for the door.
The two men heard the distant clanging of armed, organized marching.
“The orcs have stopped looting the city and are marching as units,” Tournak said. “We need to get out of here fast.”
“I’m coming.”
Tournak started to open the door. “Trouble! They’re coming up the grand staircase in force.”
Clanging armor mixed with many boots striking the stone steps rang like metal drums through the palace. Saxthor grabbed To
urnak’s arm, and the two raced down the hall away from the stairs. Any second, the orcs will be able to see us on this level, thought Saxthor. His heart raced.
Tournak spotted them first and pressed Saxthor out of sight against the wall just in time. When the orcs entered the throne room, the two continued down the hall, looking for a staircase, which might lead to the lower levels. They heard more troops coming behind them.
With no place to hide, they ducked into a nearby room. The chamber was dark and had no other exit. As they listened at the door for the orcs, they heard a cohort approaching their hiding place. Saxthor cringed, but the steps continued down the corridor. They’re taking over the palace and stationing guards at all entrances and exits, thought Saxthor. Soon the orcs will occupy the entire palace cutting off our escape.
“Should we try to slip out between groups moving in the corridor?” Tournak asked. He jerked around at a noise behind them.
“What was that?” Saxthor said. Not waiting for an answer, he drew Sorblade. The blade’s glow was faint; the enemy wasn’t in the room with them.
Tracing a whimper, Tournak found a maid crouched behind an overturned chair, at the back of the room. She looked up at them, shaking, then jerked her terrified head back and forth between them and dropped her head, choking back tears.
“Are you all right?” Saxthor asked.
“She’s terrified, too frightened to move or answer,” Tournak said. “We mean you no harm; we’re trapped in here too.” He looked over at Saxthor and shrugged.
“Hiding in here won’t save you,” Saxthor said. “You need to get out of here out of the palace. You can come with us if you like, but they’ll find you in here, and the orcs won’t be kind.”
The trembling maid looked up at the last comment. She studied both their faces, her trembling subsiding. Her voice was low. “The palace was abandoned at dawn except for a few older, devoted servants that had nowhere else to go. Those few were hiding the palace treasures wherever they could. I wanted to stay but decided too late it was useless and tried to run away. When I heard orcs in the street out front, I rushed in here to hide.”
“Is there a secret staircase or tunnel leading out of the palace?” Saxthor asked.
“Not that I know of-- wait, I remember one, back out of sight staircase.” She looked up, a beam of hope on her face for the first time. “It’s down the hall, off the banquet hall, where the servants take food to and from the king’s private quarters.”
“Take us there,” Saxthor said. “At least it’ll get us to a lower level. The kitchens must have a delivery door.”
Tournak frowned. “I’m sure the orcs are eating everything in the kitchens, as we speak.”
“That’s still the only chance we have. It’s better than staying trapped in here.” Saxthor lifted the reluctant girl to her feet. His smile seemed to reassure her.
As the noise died down, the three fugitives slipped out and hurried down the dark spiral staircase to the kitchen level far below. They could hear orcs, knocking around vessels searching and gorging themselves. The squishy chewing mingled with bangs from bones hitting the walls and jealous threats. They approached the disgusting racket with Saxthor in the lead but soon stopped. They came to the stairwell’s cracked kitchen door. Saxthor peered through the slender opening.
There were about a dozen orcs scrapping over the foodstuffs. From the chaos, it appeared no one was in charge. One grabbed for a half-eaten, meaty bone. Another, closer to it, smashed his hand with a heavy wooden rolling pin. Howling, the wounded orc snatched back his crushed hand, and the rest of them laughed.
What can we do to get us past them? Saxthor wondered. Tournak nudged him from behind, the Peldentak Wand he whispered in his ear. Saxthor nodded and withdrew the instrument.
Tournak put his finger to his lips for the maid, as Saxthor circled them with the wand. The pale ripple assured the men they were inside the invisibility circle. Tournak faced the terrified girl and put his hand over his mouth, pointed to the orcs, and put his hand over his eyes. He nodded and looked with his head turned slightly. Still terrified, she shook her head sideways, resisting venturing out into the kitchen.
Tournak again touched his finger to his lips and shook his head side to side. He then pointed to the orcs and covered his eyes then pointed to Saxthor, himself, and the girl.
“They can’t see us,” he said in her ear.
Saxthor nodded. “Make no sound. They can hear us.”
From her puzzled look, she still didn’t understand, but she got between the two men and followed along as they stepped out into the kitchen. She was wide-eyed, standing exposed, facing the orcs, but she said nothing. Watching her, Saxthor took her hand and tiptoed across the kitchen floor toward the other side.
The orcs were fighting over meat in a cool storage cellar. Their arguing and scrapping covered the slight sound of light tiptoes on the floor. A bone flew between Saxthor and the maid. He dodged it; she almost screamed. Saxthor looked hard at her and squeezed her hand, stopping her just in time.
An orc glancing their way looked puzzled and scratched his head.
He must have seen the bone disappear in midair, then reappear before it hit the wall, thought Saxthor. We have to hurry before he comes over to investigate. The three moved across the kitchen toward the window light. The girl must have realized Saxthor was trying to find a door to the outside. She pointed to an alcove. They changed directions and moved to the door. Ever so slowly, Saxthor turned the handle, opening the door to the street. He turned to see a puzzled orc watch the door open by itself.
Saxthor pushed the girl outside; Tournak followed. Saxthor watched the orc as he closed the door. The soldier rose to investigate but looked back at the sausages his companions fought over. He turned back to the fray and Saxthor, Tournak, and the girl made their escape without incident. Once in the street, Saxthor returned the Peldentak Wand to its case and hid it once again in his coat.
“I’m not sure what just happened, but I thank you both for getting me out of there,” the girl said. She reached up and kissed each one’s cheek, then turned and rushed off down the street. Saxthor put his hand on his cheek, then saw Tournak smile at him. He felt his warm blush as the two men headed back to the embassy.
They were horrified, seeing how much of the city was in ruins as they passed. Sacking and looting had gone on all day and rubble of broken treasures, smashed in a frenzy, littered the streets. The citizens had largely deserted. The two men worked their way through the quiet lanes, avoiding the orcs cohorts that seemed everywhere. Eventually they made it to the embassy, still in Neuyokkasinian hands.
Their escape was unnoticed, that was, except for the Dark Lord and his wraith, who had recognized the energy ripple, when Saxthor used the wand to create the invisibility veil.
Saxthor and Tournak knocked on the embassy gate. The guards recognized and admitted them at once. As the doors closed, Saxthor turned to the officer in charge. “Has the ambassador’s group returned?”
“No, Your Highness,” the captain replied. “We watch the street constantly. We’ll admit them the instant they come back.”
“Double your guards on the gate and post sharp-eyed men on the embassy roof for an early warning of changes outside the walls.”
“I’m surprised the orcs haven’t attacked the embassy,” Bodrin said.
“The Dark Lord’s forces must be unsure what to do about foreign embassies,” the captain said. “Without direct instructions from Dreaddrac, they wouldn’t want to risk provoking a war with other kingdoms before their master is ready. They must know the Dark Lord has a plan, and they don’t want to preempt it. So long as no one violates the embassies, they can excuse the turmoil as an internal dispute between allies over the treaty.”
“They’ll soon grow bolder,” Saxthor said. “Have all off duty guards and embassy personnel convene in the recreation hall.”
When assembled, he addressed the remaining personnel. “Pack your belongings at once. The
embassy staff is to pack all crucial state documents and prepare to leave the embassy. Destroy any papers we can’t carry with us.”
“There shouldn’t be much, the embassy has just reopened,” an embassy official said.
“I’m not sure what the situation is in Botahar, but it can’t be worse than here. I’ve reason to believe Dreaddrac stationed most forces in southern Sengenwha. I believe they're there to prepare for a strike across the border to seize and establish a foothold in Neuyokkasin at Heedra. Orcs ordered back to take Sengenwhapolis will have come from around Botahar. Therefore, I expect our best chance of escape would be to cross the hills to the east. From there, we rush to Botahar and escape before the enemy notices our presence here. Go and pack. We’ll leave after dark. You’re dismissed.”
Saxthor went to meet with Tournak in the main embassy building. Tournak had gotten something to eat, changed clothes, and awaited Saxthor in the reception hall.
“What’s taking Bodrin and the ambassador so long?” Tournak asked. He handed Saxthor some food and drink. “Tonelia went with them.”
“Tonelia is missing, too? I don’t know, if they don’t return soon, we’ll have to go look for them,” Saxthor said. After a few bites, he put down the cold roasted bird. “Bodrin shouldn’t have put Tonelia at risk.”
“You know Tonelia, Bodrin probably didn’t have much say about it.”
I’ll go clean up; if they aren’t back when I return, we’ll go look for them.”
It was dusk when the watch from the embassy roof alerted Saxthor that the ambassador and his party were approaching the embassy. Saxthor and Tournak met the group entering the compound, as the gates closed behind them. The ambassador hustled his cloaked and hooded party into the reception hall in the embassy building’s interior. Not until they reached the hall’s security did the other three people remove their hoods, revealing King Calamidese, the dowager queen, and the princess royal.
The Neuyokkasinian Arc of Empire Series: Books 1-3 Box Set High, Epic Fantasy on a Grand Dragon Scale! Kindle Edition Page 86
