The Grim Conspiracy

by C. Craig Coleman

  Before the door closed, it flew open again. Numa pranced up beside her husband. A handsome, well-muscled slave wearing nothing but a loincloth followed and stood head-bowed behind her.

  “Icky, I need another litter slave. One of mine lost his footing and fell over into a pit yesterday. I found this one for sale. He wasn’t expensive. You don’t mind my having him, do you?”

  Ickletor hated the heat that flared in his face. He remained outwardly calm and controlled his voice but knew his ruddy face exposed his rage. Numa’s victorious smirk made clear she knew he dared not deny her insult. He waved them away without a word. As she left with her new toy, Ickletor knocked over the remaining queen game piece leaving only the high priest piece standing alone. He smiled and took a sip of his beer.

  “A king has need of a legitimate queen to produce his heir,” he mumbled. Alone later, he withdrew the Book of the Underworld from its hidden cell and began searching through the various spells in earnest.

  *

  Three days later, Numa was traveling to her private preserve along a steep trail when a sudden violent thunderstorm formed over her litter. In the torrent that followed, a lightning bolt shattered a tree overhead. As it toppled, it swept Numa and all her husky litter bearers off the cliff to their deaths in a swirling pool below.

  22: Malladar, The Seer & Bobo

  Malladar stood up and stretched his back. It had been a particularly strenuous climb up the steep rock face of the challenging mountain. He looked out over the foothills and the plain beyond as he waited for Toda to catch up. He heard the wheezing and grunting even before the priest clawed his way up over to the ledge beside the prince.

  “You’re getting slower and slower old man,” Malladar said.

  Toda slid down against the back wall of the ledge to squat on his butt. His exaggerated gasping and groaning caused Malladar to chuckle.

  “Are we… at the moon yet?” Toda asked, “I’m seeing stars.”

  “You poor old thing.”

  “That’s right; make fun of me. I probably won’t last to sunset. I do hope I live to see your imaginary seer we’ve searched for into the clouds.”

  Malladar bent and tried help Toda up by his elbow, “Let’s keep going.”

  The priest pulled back his elbow and pouted. “No, wait, if this is to be my last day above ground, you won't begrudge me a simple snack before I go, would you?”

  “Toda, it’s not even noon yet, and you’ve already had two snacks since breakfast.”

  Toda groaned and moaned, wheezed, and flailed his arms struggling up at a snail’s pace. Malladar grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

  Without so much as a thank you, Toda rummaged around in his pack for food. He was chewing when Malladar started climbing again. Seeing his stall had failed, Toda crammed the food in his mouth and chewed frantically.

  “Wait for me! Don’t leave me here,” Toda said, making a big show of swallowing.

  Malladar soon sidestepped around a boulder and came upon a tiny clearing before a cave. An older woman sat rocking in a weathered chair. She was watching him when he looked up and saw her. He nodded, hesitated a second, then approached her. She nodded and kept rocking.

  “Good afternoon, we’ve come a long way to speak with you. My name is Malladar of Tigmor, and my friend is Toda of Octar.” He looked back, no sign of the priest. “We brought you some foods from the village at the foot of the mountains.”

  The old woman kept nodding and rocking. Her grin remained fixed on her tanned and wrinkled face. She said nothing.

  Malladar thought perhaps she was hard of hearing and stepped closer. “Would you be the renowned seer everyone speaks so highly of?”

  “Does the noble Malladar of Tigmoor know this lowly seer’s name?”

  Malladar couldn’t hide his embarrassment. “I beg your pardon, but no one has mentioned your name, great lady.”

  The seer chuckled. “I’m neither great nor a lady. I am the seer you seek, and my name is Vakku.”

  As Malladar was about to speak, terrible gasping and wheezing noises erupted from on the other side of the boulder that had hidden the seer’s enclave. Malladar’s eyes spun in his head.

  Vakku chuckled, “I think your friend may need your help.”

  Malladar lowered his head, shaking it. “I hope you will forgive him. He’s not my friend but unrequested baggage.”

  Toda’s arm reached around the boulder grappling and clawing to hold on. His pale body rolled against the rock into view. He saw Malladar, sucked air as if his final breath, and sank to the ground. Then he noticed the seer rocking in her chair and shot up straightening his robes. He bowed profusely but appeared to be too exhausted to speak.”

  Rolling out his arm to point to Toda, Malladar said, “This is my boat anchor, Toda.”

  “Welcome Toda of Octar,” the old lady said. “Perhaps you should sit down and rest.”

  Bowing again, the priest sat on the ground and leaned against the mountainside. Before Malladar could speak, Toda’s snoring provided yet another embarrassment.

  “Please forgive him. He’s not used to great exertion… any exertion actually.”

  “Let him rest. It’s the Prince of Tigmoor that seeks knowledge of The Eye of Dindak.”

  “How did you know who I am and what I’m searching for?”

  “They don’t call me The Seer without reason, lord prince.”

  “Will you share what you know of this eye stone and why it’s so special?”

  At that moment, a jaguar crept up above the cave paws hanging over the entrance. Malladar crouched into a defensive posture with his blade drawn. “Don’t move!”

  The rhythm of the old lady’s rocking never varied. She chuckled, “Come down here, Bobo.”

  The jaguar leaped and Malladar sprang forward to protect the old lady from the attack. Her cane flew up stopping him in mid-step. The jaguar landed unconcerned, lay down beside the seer’s rocking chair, and yawned.

  “You must forgive Bobo. He was very protective even as a kitten.”

  Malladar was staring when Toda awoke suddenly, saw the humongous jaguar as death incarnate, and slinked around the boulder heading back down the trail.

  “Please excuse Toda.” Malladar hurried back and returned, dragging Toda by his collar, eyes bulging. “Sit.” Toda plunked down on the ground eyes fixed on the big cat.

  The seer rose from her chair and walked with Bobo beside her into the cave. “Come come,” she said over her shoulder.

  Inside the cave, strong conflicting scents filled the air. Some Malladar recognized but many he’d never smelled before. The seer lit several oil lamps before searching a crude cupboard filled with various wooden and ceramic containers. She took down a wooden box beautifully made but dry and pale with age. She pressed different sides in a sequence only she knew, and the top of the puzzle flew up. The stained nails of her long, sinuous fingers plucked out a folded piece of bark paper. She shuffled to a chair and snapped her fingers. The fire in the fireplace flashed to life. She unfolded the brittle paper with care, smiled, and showed the blank paper to the prince. Her eyes twinkled in the firelight.

  Motioning Malladar over to her, she pressed and rubbed the bark against his forehead then pointed for him to sit in the chair opposite her. She sprinkled some mineral into the oil lamp beside her and waved the bark around in the smoke. As Malladar watched, letters then words began to appear on the document.

  “This message is for you alone,” she said.

  Malladar sat forward, “For me? How would it know me? I never knew there was such a message intended for me.”

  The old lady extended her hand with the bark. As Malladar reached and took it, she resumed her rhythmic rocking.

  “When wisdom pales with knowledge forgotten,

  Ignorance is revered and science banished.

  There will come a man who will aid darkness

  Yet bring light to restore order to the world.”

  He looked at the old woman, confus
ed. She rocked, but her sly smile was gone.

  “Seek the jewel and fulfill the prophecy and your destiny. Take care. I hope you are worthy of the challenges.”

  He looked down again at the paper. A map was forming. When he looked up again, the seer was translucent, mostly faded away.

  Bobo walked over to him and licked his hand then lay down beside him.

  Sand grounding under Toda’s feet announced he had come to the cave’s entrance. He looked around, “Where is she?”

  Malladar folded the paper and slid it into a pocket next to his chest. “She’s gone.” He stood and Bobo with him.

  Toda’s puffy eyes gawked at the jaguar, “Gone where? She hasn’t come out of the cave.”

  Malladar and Bobo ambled over to Toda who appeared too terrified to move. As they were leaving the cave, the fire and flames of the oil lamps burned low. When they stepped outside, the cave behind them was cold and dark.

  Malladar petted Bobo. “I think she’d waited for us for a long time.”

  23: Nokmay Attends Court

  Nokmay and Eva walked towards Tigmoor past fields where farmers stood watching the witch walk by them. She didn’t appear to notice them, but Eva saw the fear in their eyes. She looked ahead from a mile beyond the city walls. Tigmoor, the city, made a splendid impression on her.

  “Don’t pay attention to the antics of the peasants, Eva. They are beneath you. If you show them the slightest attention, let alone kindness they will swarm over you begging for this and that to alleviate their plights. Didn’t Ickletor teach you anything?”

  Eva shrugged, “There are some well-muscled men among them. Never hurts to look. Ickletor has been so absorbed with his new book of late; he pays no attention to me or anyone.”

  “And what new book is that?”

  “I don’t know. Ickletor has become obsessed with it, whatever it is. He locks himself away with it. I only know about it because I brushed past that nasty assistant of his one day and rushed into Ickletor’s office. Father looked so shocked being caught unaware. Next thing I knew he’d jammed that leather-bound thing in a drawer and slammed it shut turning the lock before even looking up to greet me.

  “I didn’t know your father could read.” Nokmay chuckled then stopped abruptly.

  “I asked about it. He said it was something he got as part of the reparations from the war with Tigmoor.”

  The witch stopped and turned to look Eva in the face. “Was that about the time those strange storms occurred over his estates beyond the city?”

  Eva looked bored with the conversation.

  “Eva! Was that about the time those strange storms occurred over your father’s estates beyond the city walls?”

  Eva shook her head and spread her hands. “I suppose so; I didn’t pay much attention to it.”

  Nokmay drew Eva into an alley and turned to face her.

  “I fear your father has foolishly opened the Book of the Underworld.”

  “Book of the Underworld?” Eva repeated.

  “There was a civilization here long before the people we know that living here now. They were much more advanced than these people are today. They developed the physical aspects of their civilization to be renewable. That’s why there are no great monuments today. Eventually, they delved into forces of nature, basic forces, and energies. As power seduced them, corruption soon followed. They began to use powers for their own purposes that should never have been disturbed. In the end, those forces, far more powerful than they understood overwhelmed and consumed them.”

  “So?”

  Nokmay’s frustration showed as she shook her face. “One book survived, Eva. It’s called the Book of the Underworld. Certain powers had kept it hidden since even before I was born. Back years ago the last war between Octar and Tigmoor ended in Tigmoor’s defeat. A general fearing for his life told Ickletor of the book to ransom his life. Ickletor secured the book as part of Tigmoor’s tribute and reparations. Until now, Ickletor didn’t take the book seriously and put it away. Now he’s looked at it, and it may be gaining control of him.”

  “Why didn’t the kings of Tigmoor simply destroy the book if it is so dangerous?”

  “They feared it so much they dared not try to do anything to it. Eva, that book has a life of its own. Perhaps it wanted Ickletor to find and take possession of it. I don’t know. Now I’m certain Ickletor has opened it and become too curious maybe fascinated with its possibilities.”

  Eva looked askance at her mother. “Why do you think that?”

  “I saw something in the visionary pool when we returned. The fool has experimented with one of its spells. I know Ickletor can’t read much of it or understand what those spells can do. He’s playing with fire.”

  “Is it truly that powerful… powerful enough to have a will of its own?”

  “I’m quite certain that it is. I felt the ancient primal energy even through the vision though I didn’t recognize the source. No one today knows what it can do.” She looked hard into Eva’s face, “You must never mention the book, or that Ickletor has begun to experiment with it.”

  “Very well, Mother, I’ll never mention it, definitely not here in Tigmoor.”

  They walked on in silence until they approached the city gates where Eva smiled at the guards. “My my, now that is a pair of handsome men in all their finery, you must admit.”

  “Eva! Do not smile at every man you meet! You’re here to be a mistress to a king. If you flirt with the common soldiers, you’ll anger the nobility. You’ll need to curry their favor to keep a position at court. They’ll be jealous enough as it is. You must have a convincing self-assurance that you are superior or they’ll crush you. If you show signs of being a wanton slut they will convince Agmar you are a disgrace to the nobility and the throne. If a pubic scandal erupts, he’ll expel you at once. He’s a patient man, but all men need to think they are unique and desirable especially royalty. Wound his pride favoring another man, and you’ll be thrown out with nothing at best.”

  Eva frowned, “Father said you seduced him as a wanton harlot.”

  Nokmay kept looking ahead, but that made her smirk. “I did my part, yes, but your lusty father thought he raped me. That is your heritage, my dear.” She then glanced at her daughter.

  Eva grinned, “So I came by my robust nature honestly. What else could you two expect?”

  They walked on in silence to the palace gates. Alerted to expect the witch, the guards ushered them through where they were met by one of the king’s great noble lady attendants.

  “This way please,” she said her tone aloof.

  Eva started to step forward, but Nokmay thrust out her hand, stopping her.

  “Madam, we are here to present my daughter to King Agmar properly at his court reception.”

  The assistant scanned the two women up and down, thinking them beneath her patron’s time. A condescending sneer flashed before the woman’s face morphed into the most insincere trace of a smile.

  “Yes, of course, but the king is presently reviewing tedious petitions, petty squabbles, issues that would bore you. He instructed me to show you to his private audience chamber. I’m sure he will be with you in due time. She turned to lead them down the hall.

  Nokmay’s head bobbed up and down. Eva once again started to follow, and the witch’s arm stopped her. The witch’s glare lowered a tad; she began to mumble something. A frightful smirk spread over her lips when the woman ahead of her stumbled. The attendant began to tremble and tried to cry out. All she could do was croak like a frog. Her color began to change from mocha to a greenish-brown. She fell first to her knees, then forward-leaning on her hands. Her eyes bulged as her legs drew up towards her body. Her thighs thickened and her feet expanded and elongated. Her slippers split. Long toes pushed them away while the toes grew webbing. Croaking frantically, she half hopped, half crawled off down the hall.

  Petrified, others in the hallway had stopped moving and stared at the transformation. They then turned as one t
o gawk at Nokmay. When she laughed, they broke into panicked running in all directions away from the witch and her daughter.

  “What have you done, Mother?”

  Nokmay took Eva’s arm, turned the two of them around, and started them walking back to the grand reception hall.

  “I thought you just told me to play nice.”

  Nokmay’s face showed no emotion at all, but she patted Eva’ hand. “My dear, one does try to play nice. However, sometimes, it becomes necessary to establish the rules. I think within minutes, everyone in the palace will know I’m not to be trifled with. Agmar should have known better.”

  Eva looked ahead with a newfound respect for or possibly fear of her mother. “And I thought father was ruthless.”

  Nokmay turned to Eva outside the grand reception hall, “Your father has been too lenient with you, my dear. You will soon learn to behave as I tell you to. You have a role to play here. I mean for you to get into a position where you can play it. Now get control of your lusts and focus on King Agmar’s seduction!”

  Nokmay clacked her staff on the stone floor while staring at the guards standing at the sides of the reception hall doors. They glanced at each other and then opened the massive oak doors.

  With Eva at her side, Nokmay strode past the court announcer who stood in awe. They progressed up the main aisle with courtiers shuffling backward as the witch approached. Before the dais, Nokmay waved the current petitioner out of her way. He bowed to Agmar on the throne, dipped his head to the witch, and scuttled back to the side out of the way.

  Agmar ignored the sorceress; his eyes fixed on Eva who curtsied low. He beamed as she rose slowly being sure the teasing exposure of her breasts were visible to him. Agmar rose, stepped down from the throne, and lifted Eva’s face. Smiling, he stared into her eyes. She blushed appropriately and stepped back beside her mother. The king returned to sit on the throne and then addressed Nokmay.

  “Your daughter is lovelier than the reputation that precedes her proclaims.”