by Philip Blood
Aerin glanced up toward her room; the door was open. "I guess I'll do that since you are such a fountain of information."
Katek smiled, "Good, then you'll be put to work and I won't have to load this stuff all by myself."
Aerin was far too worried to laugh at his friend's joke and headed toward the stairs. He met Tocor coming down carrying a large trunk.
"Tocor, what's going on?" Aerin asked the large Quarian, as Tocor passed him going down the stairs.
The rumbling of his deep voice seemed to move the very air, "Packing, we'll be leaving here soon."
Muttering under his breath, Aerin entered Mara's room. His teacher was using some cloth to wrap up a set of jars she kept on a shelf.
"Mara, what is going on?" Aerin asked again.
"I would think it was obvious, we're packing to go."
Aerin's voice faltered, "G-go? But... this is our home."
Mara paused for a moment, "Aerin, this is a city, one of many, and only remarkable because it is the largest this side of the Dragonback. But home? Home is where your friends are, this is but a place."
"But this is where my friends ARE!" his voice rose in volume toward the end, he was visibly upset.
Mara returned to her packing, "Your friends are coming with us."
That caused Aerin to pause for a moment, "But... Gandarel can't leave; he is supposed to become the Warlord!"
"Leaving won't change that; it's a title, not a place."
"But that's not the point, he WON'T leave."
That made Mara pause again, and she looked at Aerin, "He must. Now stop wasting my precious time, and go fetch Lor and Dono. I thought they would have been here by now, but I imagine they are out by the east wall waiting for their first look at the approaching army of Togroths. Get them both, and have Dono stop and pick up his things, no more than he can carry in one pack. Then get back here as fast as you can, we don't have much time."
Aerin left her room, more puzzled than when he entered. He climbed back to the roofs and headed for the east wall.
Gandarel felt like a bug under the eyes of a flock of hungry birds. The council members were all staring at him. He had just told them to prepare for a siege.
"What do you know of these weighty matters, Gandarel?" Niler asked in an angry voice.
"Mara advised me that this is best, and I trust her," he explained.
Councilman Enolive, normally Gandarel's lone supporter in the council, spoke up, "I warned you all, repeatedly, that this unknown vagabond woman teaching Gandarel was a bad idea. Now look at the fool notions she has pushed into his head. Gandarel, you know me, you know I have been your supporter in the past. In this case, you are better off listening to your trusted advisors, than some old woman."
Niler had noted the grudge that Enolive seemed to have against Mara in prior meetings of the council. Here he saw an opportunity to widen that gap and bring the boy back under his own sway. "Regardless of where the advice came from Enolive, I do not yet discount its validity."
"Validity... better to call it insanity! The Seat of Stone is here to watch for and stop any incursions from the Wastelands; I think this qualifies! We should marshal the Guardsmen, draft men of acceptable age into the infantry, and attack!"
Niler scowled at Enolive's outburst. "You would have us give up the advantage of the city wall's defense?"
Enolive turned to address Gandarel directly, ignoring the head of the council, "Gandarel, the Guardsmen were placed under your father's and his father's control to guard the lands east of the Dragonback, now it is your turn and duty to do the same."
Niler shook his head, "I forbid it, Gandarel is not yet come of age, nor has he stood before the King."
"The King is dead," Enolive reminded him.
"The Regent then, but he must do so before he can take command of the Guard."
"He commands now, unless a unanimous council overrules him," Enolive exclaimed.
Niler's bushy eyebrows were nearly meeting between his eyes from the intensity of his frown.
Enolive faced Gandarel again, his eyes so intense they almost seemed to glow from within, "Tell them, Gandarel, tell them to call forth the captains and sound the attack! It's time to defend the Seat of Stone."
Gandarel was confused, Enolive seemed right, it was his duty now that his father was dead, but he remembered what Mara had said.
"I must consider my options," Gandarel finally said.
Niler nodded, "Good lad, never make a decision in haste."
"But," Enolive added, "do not tarry too long, or you may get no choice at all."
Gandarel remembered his promise to Mara to return as soon as he could. "I must go see my teacher," he informed them.
"Which teacher?" Niler asked.
Gandarel realized that he only considered Mara his teacher at this point, the rest were just necessary evils. "I must go see Mara."
Enolive scowled, "Has this woman bewitched you or something? We are training you to be a strong man, like your father; he would never have had to consult with an old woman on matters of battle."
Gandarel fretted for a moment but then remembered his promise. "I swore I would return to speak with her after seeing the council," he said in explanation.
Niler pulled at his lower lip, "I see. Well, we cannot have you forsworn, but in the future, you had best be more careful of where and to whom you give your word."
Enolive gave a snort of surprise, "You're letting him go?"
Niler shrugged. "We will send councilmen with him this time, and Guardsmen. It cannot be helped. Perhaps we should also question this woman about why she is giving advice to Gandarel on how he should command this council!"
Enolive nodded, "I agree."
Niler continued, "I have never been completely satisfied with that woman's explanation of how she was in the Seat, uninvited, in time to save Gandarel from the Togroths. There is something wrong with her story. We granted her request in gratitude, but now that I think further on this, it is time for her to answer some questions."
The other councilmen nodded and muttered agreements with Niler's suspicions.
"Come with me, Gandarel," Niler said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "let's go and speak to this woman."
Gandarel sighed. Oh well, he thought, I did promise to return as soon as I could, but I didn't promise I'd come alone.
Finding Lor and Dono was not as easy as Aerin had expected. Looking out over the east wall was not a normal endeavor for his friends, so he had to start by reaching a high place near the wall and then look for logical places where they might go. After searching for over two hours, Aerin was about to give up and head back to search other parts of the city and check to see if they had shown up at the Villa. He paused one more time and considered the rooftops before him and likely places to perch. His eyes fell on the actual guard towers that were spaced along the outer wall. One of these had another building near; the gap was wide, but not impossible to leap. It would be daring and dangerous to actually sit on the guard tower itself as an approaching army arrived. When applied to Lor’s personality, that thought alone made Aerin think he might have found the solution. He started working his way in that direction.
Gandarel arrived at the gate into Mara's inner courtyard with a vast entourage. The entire council had come with him. Hork, High Priest of the church of The Hand, had got wind of the expedition and come along as well. There were thirty Guardsmen to protect the council, as well as fifteen battle priests from The Hand. The battle priests were there ostensibly to help protect Gandarel, but they were grouped around Hork the entire trip.
They had to hammer on the gate, four separate times before someone answered. Katek opened the door a crack and saw Niler standing before him and the rest of host behind.
"What do you want?" Katek asked.
Niler's chin rose slightly as he spoke in a demanding tone, "Open this door! The council has come to speak with the woman of this house."
"I have orders not to let any strang
ers in," Katek explained and started to close the door.
"Young man, we are not strangers, we are the council!"
"I'll have to go ask," Katek replied, unimpressed. He had been a gladiator, and the local council was nothing to him, just another group of officials.
Gandarel stepped forward so that Katek saw him, "Tell Mara that I have returned, though the council decided to come with me."
Katek nodded and closed the door.
"Do you always have this much trouble getting in here, Gandarel?" Enolive asked him.
"No, but I don't usually come in through the door," he answered.
"But, then..." Enolive looked around for another entrance and saw none.
"I have another way in," Gandarel said, evasively, he didn't want the council knowing about his dangerous travels over the High Road.
Just when Niler was getting red enough in the face to explode, the gate finally opened wide, exposing the courtyard within.
The council poured in, flanked by the guards, and then followed by Hork and his priests.
Mara met them in the center of the courtyard. She had Tocor and Yearl standing to either side. Tocor was dressed in his large robe with the hood up, and Yearl stood dressed in his dark purple tunic and black leather pants.
Katek closed the gates behind Gandarel’s troop once they were all inside.
Gandarel noticed a sudden hardening of Mara's eyes as she saw Hork and his battle priests at the back of the group. He knew that look and wondered what the final outcome of this confrontation would be; he was just glad she wasn't aiming that look at him.
"To what do I owe this sudden visit of the austere council?" Mara asked, though her frank tone belied the deference of her words.
There was a hiss of recognition from Hork as he took in the Willowman standing to Mara's right.
"This is my house, and you are my guests. I will not tolerate any insults to my friends," Mara said in a hard voice, looking at Hork.
The fat priest stepped forward and angled the knobby top of his cane at Yearl. "Ye shall not suffer a Willowman to live in the presence of humans." He quoted from the book of The Hand.
"I'm sorry, but that line has been miss-translated over time, what it really said was, "Willowmen seldom choose to live among humans," Mara answered.
"You blaspheme!" Hork stated, his face turning a nice shade of red in his anger.
Mara didn't back down, "And you feed the Dreadmaster with anger and fear."
"Enough!" Niler stated forcefully, "We are not here about Willowmen; we are here to see if it is true that you have put notions into this boy's head. He has stated that you told him what to demand of the council about the deployment of the city’s defenses. If this is true you are skirting close to treason!"
Hork was barely containing himself and made various gestures against evil in the direction of Yearl. His battle priests all had their hands on the hilts of their weapons.
Mara did not answer Niler's accusation instantly; she considered the situation for a moment and then spoke. "I had hoped that Gandarel would present these suggestions as his own, but regardless of that, I stand by my advice."
"Treason!" Hork nearly screamed.
Mara spared him a withering glance.
Niler was quieter, but no less grim, "This may indeed be treason against the state."
Mara actually laughed. "And how do you come to this wild conclusion? I think you might find that if you look in your books of law, any citizen of this country may petition the Warlord to state any suggestion they want. Now, the Warlord has to set a meeting, and traditionally does this at specific times and while in the main audience chamber."
"I am more familiar with the laws of this state than you are, madam," Niler answered in disdain.
Mara merely raised an eyebrow, but let the statement pass.
"What you said is true, but only when the Warlord sits in state, with his council there to advise him. By subverting him in private you have committed treason," Niler accused. He raised a hand to have the Guardsmen apprehend Mara, but her voice forestalled his command.
"Book two, section five, paragraph three and I quote: 'Any citizen may speak freely to the head of state without fear of reprisals if the head of state has given them leave to speak,' end quote. Gandarel," Mara said, fixing her gaze on her student, "have you agreed to accept me as your teacher and given me leave to speak to you?"
"Of course, Mara," he answered.
"And in my capacity as a citizen, I have spoken freely."
Niler ground his teeth together but nodded. "Then I see no further evidence of treason, at this time," he added. "However, we did not come here to arrest you, we came for answers. What purpose do you have in demanding Gandarel's promise to return to this place during this crisis? He should be in the Seat of Stone, surrounded by his council and his Guardsmen, instead of in danger wandering the streets during this terrible time. We are here so that he does not break his word, a word that should not have been asked or given. What have you to say to that?"
"I say that his word is his own to give. I have my reasons for asking him to come."
"Which are?" Niler prompted, glancing around at the obvious packing going on in the courtyard.
Mara's next statement was so wildly unexpected that the council was momentarily stunned. "Gandarel must leave the city, with me, before the siege begins."
Finally, Niler exploded, "What... this is treason!"
Mara was exasperated, "Again, that word, I think you should look it up before bandying it about incorrectly. I did not say I was abducting him, he would have been coming under his own free will."
"He has no free will! He is under the command of the council until he has come of age," Niler sputtered, his face red.
Mara sighed, "Everyone has free will, at least everyone alive… regardless of laws."
"You impinge on the laws of the state! I accuse..."
"Are you actually going to say treason again?" Mara interrupted. "I have told you that I was going to ask Gandarel to leave the city; there is no way to assign treason to the intention to ask someone if they wish to leave a place."
Niler was furious, and the powers to put two words together coherently had suddenly left him, so Enolive stepped into the gap. "Let's put aside these various accusations for the moment."
"By all means," Mara agreed.
"Why are you counseling the boy not to fight for this city? It is his duty, a duty set by the King and his forefathers. To allow this army to ravage the countryside, destroy other smaller towns and villages, and perhaps," and here he paused in horror, "even cross the Dragonback to attack the west for the first time in history, would be a dereliction of the Warlord's duty."
"It wouldn't be the first time the Togs reached the west," Mara said and then added, "but regardless, this cannot be helped. I feel for the villages and towns the Togroths will destroy, but we cannot stop them at this time. Their numbers are too great. Any of our forces who attack them would be killed, and then the Togs could stay in the east permanently without fear of the Guard. Once they hold the east they could prepare for that attack on the west that you so fear."
Enolive straightened his skinny frame to his full height, "Nonsense, how would you know about the size of this army? It has not yet reached the city. Have you spoken with the man who first came to report their approach?"
Mara shrugged, "I don't need to since I've already read about it."
"Read about it!" Enolive exclaimed, "How?"
"If you have read the prophecies of Gold you would know of the siege, and its outcome," Mara stated.
"You’re basing your cowardice on that old piece of garbage? I have ten prophecies, and each is different. That is the worth of those documents."
Mara shrugged, "I have found this one to be true."
Niler had regained control and now spoke, "Well, I can tell you this, Gandarel is not going to leave this city, whether we fight or wait out the siege."
Now it was Mara's turn to
look momentarily angry, but she controlled herself quickly. "He must leave. You do not understand the danger if he does not. I quote, "For if the son of the Warlord is to..."
Enolive answered in anger, "I will not stand here and listen to you quote that stupid text, written by the hand of a charlatan! The truth is you are a coward, and you wish to run before the battle commences. You have counseled Gandarel to have us seal the city so that no one can leave, except you, I see? You will run, and you want to take the leader that these people turn to for their strength? You realize that without the symbol of the Warlord here to strengthen the resolve of the Guard, this city could well fall?"
"It will not fall, if battle is not engaged the Togroths will retreat," Mara stated, but her voice sounded less impressive to Gandarel than it had. Enolive was making good points that the young heir could not refute.
"They will retreat for no reason, right when they have this city under their thumb? You are insane, much like the crazy woman who wrote this nonsense. We must attack before we are weakened from short rations before they get entrenched around the city. Only then can we defeat the Togroths and send them fleeing back to their Wastelands, as in the battles in the Final war!"
Mara knew she had lost this argument. They would not believe the prophecy, and without that, there would be no convincing them. She feared what would happen if Gandarel did not leave. "If we attack the Togroths everyone will die, men, women, and children. They will sack and burn this city to the ground."
"You are a coward," Enolive hissed.
Gandarel swallowed in a throat gone dry, he was disturbed by Mara's words, and against his better judgment he had to agree with Enolive. With Mara telling him to decree that everyone is to remain in the city, but then leave the city herself before the Togroths could arrive, she seemed to be fleeing and leaving the city to fend for itself.
"Gandarel is leaving with me," Mara stated, suddenly her voice was different, cold and powerful. She glanced to Yearl and Tocor. Yearl reached for his sticks in the sheath behind his back, Tocor already had his metal staff in his hand.
"What is this?" Niler stated with his eyes widening.
