The Questing Game

by James Galloway

  The other issue that had started really making the nobles start talking seriously about deposing Damon Eram were the visions. The first had been several days after the embarassing episode with Duchess Tarn. They were all in court as Damon Eram received an ambassador from Shen Lung, the great Empire of the Eastern Seas, a nation with whom Sennadar had no contact. They were exchanging pleasantries when Damon Eram suddenly jumped out of his throne and gaped at something in the air over the head of court. "Gods!" he had exclaimed. "What is that thing?" he demanded. Everyone looked up, and of course, they saw nothing. "Who brought that beast into court?" he demanded. "I demand it be removed!"

  "What beast, your Majesty?" the captain of the Royal Guard asked curiously.

  "It's right there!" he said, pointing at empty air. "It looks like some leather-winged bird with a scorpion's tail! How can you miss it?"

  "I see nothing, your Majesty," Shan replied.

  "Are you blind, man?" Damon Eram demanded hotly. He turned to watch the unseen thing, then he dove to the floor of his dais, his crown flying off his head and rolling on the floor. That caused the court to mutter and whisper, but Keritanima boldly stepped out of the ranks of the gowns and doublets and boldly reached down and picked up the heavy gold crown. She held onto it for just a short moment, as the Royal Guard watched her warily and the nobles stared, and then she held it out to the nearest Royal Guard to her. Still laying on the dais, Damon Eram glared murderously at her as the guard took the crown from her and started towards him, and then his eyes widened when his eyes met hers, and she gave him the slightest little wicked smile.

  "You!" he burst out, jumping to his feet. "Practicing Sorcery in this hall is forbidden! I could have you executed!"

  "Fetch your priest and have me questioned," she said calmly. "I did nothing."

  "I know you did that, daughter! I'll have you put on the rack until you tell me the truth!"

  "Then you'd best get your leather gloves, father," she said calmly. "I'll kill any man who lays a hand on me. If you want me racked, you'll have to string me up yourself."

  "That law no longer protects you, daughter!"

  "But all noble-born lords and ladies have the right to protect their lives from irrational orders," she said calmly, staring at him, watching his eyes burn at the word irrational. "You'd have me tortured until I said what you wanted to hear. I'll submit to magical divining, but I won't submit to being tortured into giving false statements." She looked to her sides slightly. "And since it's well known what I can do to people who try to put their hands on me, that means the only man that would dare try to put me on a rack would be you."

  Damon Eram glared at her, then staggered back as if backing away from some large creature. "This audience is ended!" he announced, ripping his crown from the hands of the Guard who handed it to him, then fleeing back to his private office behind the Hall.

  Keritanima sniffed loudly, then turned and stalked from the Hall. Creating an Illusion only he could see was easy enough. It was a matter of perspective. What he thought was this huge beast was actually no larger than a candle wick, but it was placed so close to his eyes, and set so only people looking at its front could see it, that only he could see it. Tiny movements of the Illusion made it look like it was streaking about the Hall, and doubling its size made it appear to rush him. Since he couldn't associate the Illusion with the rest of the Hall to determine its true size, it appeared to be much larger than it really was.

  It wasn't the first such vision that Damon Eram suffered. He suffered them at random times, in court, in the hallways, at parties, in private session, at the council of his new advisors, even in his private apartments. They made his eyes look haggard as he began to doubt what was reality and what was not, but there was a burning behind them because he knew that Keritanima was somehow doing it to him. He had indeed brought in a priest the next day, mainly because of the hard looks from court when he suggested the rack, and the priest was absolutely adamant that Keritanima was not lying about somehow using magic to mess with her father. He questioned her before court for nearly three hours, direct questions about her activities and her associations, even a blunt question as to whether or not she was involved in the round of assassinations that had killed most of his advisors. And court heard the priest swear up and down that she was telling the truth, that she was not in any way entered into intrigue against her father, that she was doing nothing to him.

  That seemed very hard for most of them to swallow, but the word of a priest was almost as towering as the power of the gods they served. If the priest said she wasn't lying, then no matter how impossible it seemed, she could not be lying.

  Two days after the questioning, Damon Eram cancelled court until further notice. He holed himself up in his room for two whole weeks, as a long line of doctors and priests filed through and offered suggestions. Damon Eram didn't order the presence of the doctors, so he was livid at their intrusion. He was absolutely convinced that Keritanima was doing it all to him, but not even the priest's magic would back him up in his belief.

  Keritanima was very pleased with the progression of things. She had her father completely disjointed, scrambling to make people believe that he wasn't losing his mind. Damon Eram's illness was all anyone could talk about in all of Wikuna, and many had started calling him the Mad King of Wikuna. Commoners and nobles alike began to quietly mutter about the king, about how Wikuna would be better served if someone else was sitting on the throne. Many even went so far as to say that the highly suspicious Keritanima would probably be better than Damon Eram, because at least she would be easier to get off the throne. That singular treasonous idea rippled through Wikuna like waves in a pond, setting the stage for very intersting events to occur.

  Such an idea was easy to talk about, but hard to organize. The army was still loyal to Damon Eram, so any attempt at physical force was out of the question. It was even harder because the successors of all the larger houses, with their large armies, had not consolidated their power enough to be able to use those armies in a revolutionary coup. Such an attempt would require alliance between the larger houses, and since nobody knew who had who killed, none of them trusted one another to do something like that. With Damon Eram sequestered in his chambers, ruling by written decree, nobody could get anyone close enough to kill him. That left all of Wikuna in a tense waiting game, waiting to see what would happen next, wondering at exactly what was going to come of all the uncertainty. Keritanima rode the storm calmly, keeping things just off-balance enough that nobody could make any attempt to take the next step. Keeping things as they were.

  And it remained like that until the day that ten thousand Vendari marched into the capital city.

  Chapter 16

  Keritanima awoke to Azakar that morning. He was in the bedroom she shared with Miranda, throwing open the curtains to let the sunshine pour in from the east. Keritanima had been awakened by him opening the door, where his iron-shod boots made a familiar clump-clump on the floor that identified him to her. She had been having a rather nice dream concerning Rallix at that moment, so the intrusion was quite unwelcome.

  Thoughts of the slender badger had not dimmed in her mind over the two months since the revelation that she wanted to pursue him. The situation she was in required her undivided attention, however, so she had successfully shunted thoughts of the man out of her mind to deal with more pressing matters. She had no intentions of letting him get away, but first things first. She'd be in a much better position to get her hands on him when she was the Queen. She could just command him to fall desperately in love with her. And if that didn't work, she'd use the ultimate tool of catching a man in Wikuna...she would bribe him. Rallix danced in her thoughts in quiet moments, private moments, times when she could allow her mind to wander, and they helped keep up her morale. Dealing with her father required her to stay up to all hours of the night, then turn around and wake up early to sift through the information Miranda brought in, make plans with her, and issue what o
rders she needed accomplished that day. The morning always began in earnest after she fetched their breakfast, then used Sorcery to kill any spies trying to hide out and listen in on them.

  Miranda yawned and rose up to a sitting position, pulling the shoulder of her nightshirt up off her arm. She had done her part in those months, using her ability to gather intelligence to the utmost, drawing information from the nobles, from the other servants, and even from the commoners. She was the one that retrieved the reports she received from Ulfan, reports of who had inquired to hire his men to kill who, and that let her stay one step ahead of the competition. There were some people she wouldn't mind seeing go, but there were others that she would prefer remained alive. Keritanima approved any contracts that Ulfan accepted by paying the contract price on anyone she wanted kept alive, then having Ulfan report back to the hiring party that the attempt on the person had failed. It had gotten a bit expensive, draining what small money she'd managed to amass in the public eye, because she really didn't want to have to go to Rallix for the money. Seeing him again would just put him back in her mind, and she couldn't afford to be distracted at the wrong moment.

  Keritanima was just a little nervous. The time for Sisska to get back from Vendaka was right on top of them, and when the Vendari showed up, she had to move fast. Nobody could miss a battalion of Vendari warriors marching into the city, and it wouldn't take long for people to wonder just who had called them in. She had to be in position before certain ugly truths became evident, truths that could get her killed by none other than the Vendari. She just couldn't go get her father when the Vendari arrived. There were some things that had to be done first, things that would make everything else fall into place if things worked as she planned.

  Keritanima tested the air blearily, and the truth crept into her half-awake awareness. She sat bolt upright in bed and nearly ripped the curtains down when she drew them, then bounded out of bed wearing a nightshirt that had rode up over her tail during the night. Azakar gasped and turned his back quickly as she raced to the door and threw it open, and saw Sisska standing calmly at the far side of the room, holding her lifemate's hands in the ritual greeting among Vendari.

  "Sisska!" Keritanima called happily, bounding into the room. She hedged in on Binter and held her hands out to the massive female, who was nearly twice her height, who gently took them in greeting. "Did things go well? Are you tired? Would you like to rest? What did the sashka say?"

  "Calmly, Highness," she soothed. "The sashka has come."

  Keritanima gaped at her. Bringing the king of Vendaka to Wikuna was not what she had in mind! She had pushed it by asking for the Vendari, but to have to explain herself to the king of her people! She wondered if Sisska could break her neck and make it painless.

  "Sisska, I didn't mean for you to bring the sashka!" she gasped. "He'll kill me when he finds out who summoned his troops!"

  "He knows who summoned my people," Sisska replied calmly. "When I asked for the warriors, he demanded the truth. I cannot disobey sashka. I told him."

  "You told him?" Keritanima said in a strangled voice as Miranda and Azakar entered the room. Azakar kept his eyes averted from her Highness' exposed posterior, working around so he looked at her from the side.

  "I also told him of your plan."

  Keritanima felt like she was about to faint. Any second now, she expected Sisska to grab her by the head and crush her like an eggshell. The sashka would probably reserve the honor of killing her for himself, however. So she had a few more minutes to live.

  "He considered the situation for many nights, and then he decided that yours was the higher honor," she continued calmly. "Long have the Vendari considered Damon Eram a dishonorable king, who brought shame to his crown and his people, and because we are subject to his power, brought shame upon us. When I praised your honor and your worth as queen, he decided that you would serve our honor better than your father. He is not here to stir up trouble, as I think you hoped we would have. He is here to put you on the throne."

  Keritanima very nearly fainted at that. "He's supporting me?" she said weakly. "His oaths of fealty--"

  "They were broken when Damon Eram dishonored us," Sisska explained.

  "When did he do that?" Keritanima asked curiously.

  "The day he tried to order us to kill you," she told her with unwavering eyes.

  Keritanima stared up at her blankly. "He tried what?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

  "Your father tried to order us to kill you," she repeated. "Because we are trusted by you. But to do such a thing to a child is the worst dishonor, and we refused."

  "You never told me about this!" she accused loudly, yanking her hands out of Sisska's.

  "Because he ordered us not to," she replied. "Now that he no longer commands us, we no longer have to obey his orders."

  "Did he--" Keritanima started, looking at Binter, but the massive Vendari simply nodded.

  "I'm going to--he's really not--rrrrrrrrrrraaauuuggghhhh!" she screamed furiously, slamming her hands to her sides as her eyes began to burn with irrational hatred. Had he really gone that far, to try to have her Vendari bodyguards kill her? What was he thinking? He had to know that they'd refuse, because they could bring no harm to those they protected! But to think that he'd go that far--it was an insult at the most personal and deepest level!

  Sisska put her huge hands on Keritanima's shoulders, effectively pinning her in place. "Do not get excited, Highness," she said soothingly. "Nobody will get away with anything. Sashka is waiting for your commands."

  That brought her back to some sense of control. She reached down and pulled her nightshirt down daintily, which just rode right back up when her tail started slashing the air behind her. "Tell sashka to quarter his troops, and be silent about why they're here and who summoned them. There are some things I have to do before he can move."

  Sisska nodded. "I expected that to be. I will return to sashka and give him your commands."

  "Binter, go with her," Keritanima ordered. "I won't stand in the way of your reunion. Azakar will guard us til you return."

  "My thanks, Highness," Binter said simply. "Defend them with honor, mizsa."

  Keritanima gave Azakar a slight smile. Binter had just called him "brother," about the highest honor he could receive. Azakar just gave him an eloquent nod, and turned to get into his armor.

  "You're looking very well, Sisska," Miranda greeted. "It looks like the time on the road was good for you."

  "Three months of hard travel is always good for a Vendari," she said simply. "How have things fared in my absence?"

  "Rather well," Miranda grinned. "Keritanima is all but running the Palace, she has the city wrapped around her finger, and she has everyone thinking that her father is crazy."

  "In other words, things are normal," Sisska said with just a hint of a smile.

  First Binter, and now Sisska makes a joke? What was going on in Vendaka?

  "More like on schedule," Miranda winked. "And we're getting down the the last few items on the list here. Let Zak steel himself, and then we'll go get the Chamberlain, Kerri," she told the fox Wikuni. "That should give you time to dress. Unless you want to take your clothes off in front of him again, that is."

  "Things must have been interesting while I was away," Sisska noted.

  "I'll tell you about is as we go to sashka, Binter promised.

  "Just leave out the embarassing parts!" Keritanima told him as she turned to go back into her bedroom.

  "Which were those, Highness?" Binter asked directly.

  "Oh, nevermind!" she snorted, but her mind was racing. The Vendari were here, and they were on her side! That was incredibly wonderful news. She had still been having nightmares over something going wrong and the Vendari finding out who had summoned them, and for what purpose. They would have killed her immediately. But now things had to move fast, very fast, making the holding games she had been playing all fly out the window. She had to have everything in place by tonight.
There was no other choice in the matter. By tonight, her father would have tried to summon the commander of the Vendari complement and found out why there were there. Vendari being who they were, they'd tell him exactly why they were there. And she didn't think her father would take kindly to hearing from the king of Vendaka that he was there to kick him off the throne. It could start a very bloody civil war, and that was something that Keritanima needed to avoid at all costs.

  Keritanima opened the little hidden cubby in the fireplace and drew out the satchel of papers. She filed through them and pulled out a stack of parchment, twenty-eight pages. She then addressed them one by one, folded and sealed them with her personal crest, and set them methodically on the table in order. Each one was addressed to the current head of the other twenty-eight noble houses, and each one said exactly the same thing. She replaced the satchel and checked the seals, and then wrote the name of the recipient of each letter under her crest after ensuring that the seal was good.

  She was on the last few when the Chamberlain entered her room. He looked very uncomfortable, mainly because nobody outside of the Princess' inner circle had ever seen her personal bedchamber. Such a momentous occasion made him wonder if she had had him summoned in there so she wouldn't have very far to drag the body.

  "Good," she said without looking up. "I've been waiting for you, Lord Chamberlain."

  "What business do you have with me, your Highness?"

  "I want you to deliver these messages for me, my Lord Chamberlain," she said calmly, not bothering to look at him as she addressed the last one, then set it aside so the ink could dry.