Castle & Conceit

by Jeremy Dwyer

  Admiral Cassandra then turned to General Ptolemy and said: “General Ptolemy: Assemble and lead your troops into the Citrine Desert, to the west, near the coast of the Nabavodel Ocean. This threat is of great magnitude: even if its outward appearance is false, there is a real danger underlying it.”

  Cassandra drank the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean, which multiplied her own strength and speed greatly. She possessed those attributes, and thought in terms of those same attributes. Thus, she made her battle plans for herself and for her subordinate officers so as to overwhelm an enemy by using those same attributes on a large scale.

  “Yes, Admiral,” General Ptolemy said and he left the ship and went into the towns along the coast.

  ~~~

  General Ptolemy considered his tactical and strategic options. He would need well-equipped troops, and these would be too heavy to travel on the high speed scout airships that carried minimal weight. However, any number of large airships would be seen from too far away, giving advance notice to their enemy. He decided that they would march across the desert, instead, and there was a proven way to do so very quickly.

  General Ptolemy assembled and led ten (10) divisions, each with ten thousand (10000) troops, and these were cloaked and armored against the heat of the desert. The same crystals that gave lift to airships were embedded into their armor. From being charged by the many suns, the crystal-covered armors were designed to slightly lift and thereby lighten the loads the troops carried, reducing their fatigue and increasing their speed as they walked

  Then, General Ptolemy and his one hundred thousand (100000) troops began to march across the Citrine Desert. After a three (3) day journey, they approached closely enough to see the enormous, glimmering castle of glass, which was surrounded by two (2) rings of small stone pillars that were insignificant as they appeared next to the castle.

  The troops were utterly stunned, and filled with dread. Even General Ptolemy was startled at its scale. He thought that such a castle must house not just a single army, but an entire empire. The general – and many of his troops – wondered how such a castle could even exist. Yet, they were all trained for battle, and ready to die in battle if necessary, for they had honor and a sense of purpose, and that purpose was to defend the Jenaldej Empire from any threat.

  The troops were paid well, trained well and enjoyed remarkable qualities of life. Not even one was conscripted: only those citizens who had a sense of purpose sufficiently powerful to lead them to volunteer for the military would also have a focus and commitment sufficient for the high training required, and the occasional danger. It was only occasionally that a fool would challenge the Jenaldej Empire, and even less often that the fool would represent a sizable threat.

  The troops approached the castle of glass, and found it to have open doors, with many guards at the ready.

  General Ptolemy – and many of his troops – realized that these open doors meant that the Jenaldej troops were somehow expected, which meant that they had to be ready for a significant fight.

  General Ptolemy ordered a partition in the Jenaldej Army troops: two (2) divisions of ten thousand (10000) troops each waited outside the castle, ready to capture anyone who escaped; eight (8) divisions of ten thousand (10000) troops each then stormed the castle, to confront the unknown threat within.

  Octavian’s castle guards stepped aside, being under orders from Octavian – who himself was under advisement by Cassius – to simply allow the invasion.

  ~~~

  Cassius had a tactical plan, and had fully expected military resistance to the demands for tributes in diamonds and other gemstones that were made to the surrounding desert towns. Cassius knew who controlled much of this desert, and had a notion of the vast wealth that it contained. His goal was simple: to rule over the empire of which Octavian was the figurative head, and then to use the strength of that empire to conquer the richest empires of the world for himself. The constructor would multiply the strength of Octavian’s empire to a sufficient scale so as to enable his goals.

  Cassius knew, because of the report given by Rabanus, that these troops were from the Jenaldej Empire, and – like much of the world – he knew of their legendary wealth. Their defeat would be most lucrative for him: spectacularly lucrative.

  Cassius was waiting deep within the castle, in a secret chamber that he and the other advisors had designed the castle constructor to build, high above the lower chambers where the invading troops entered. There, in the secret chamber with him, were Gregory and Nikolai. They could see through the glass walls as the Jenaldej Empire’s troops entered. The castle was so vast that, even with eight (8) divisions each with ten thousand (10000) invading troops, Cassius and the other advisors were unafraid of being found.

  “Nikolai: Begin the process of division!” Cassius ordered.

  Nikolai drew a vial hanging on a cord around his neck and drank from it a potion made of the purest waters of the Kazofen Ocean. He was thereby energized, and the waters amplified his immense innate potential to control the structure of stone and crystal with great precision.

  Then, Nikolai began to touch a number of different glass panels on the hidden room’s glassy walls. He used his powers to alter their crystal structure and form a chain reaction throughout parts of the castle. These reactions, in turn, caused other, distant walls within the castle to change, to melt into liquid glass, to reshape, and then to cool, and to form new walls, thus breaking the connections of the hallways, forming smaller rooms.

  ~~~

  Judith – in her travel through small portions of the vast expanses of the castle of glass – could see the interior walls of the castle melting and reforming. She could see through some glass walls, and through these, the invading troops were visible to her, and they appeared to have the crest of the Jenaldej Empire on their armor. All this was stunning – and unreal – but yet she stopped to record it in her book. She was witnessing the waging of a war against the wealthiest and most powerful empire in modern recorded history, while looking through walls of glass, inside of a castle that was changing shape around her as she walked. Judith wondered if all of this was terrifying or awe-inspiring – it may just be the reason she chose to be Chronicler, even when the unfolding events of history were a terrifying, unreal dreamlike madness. Judith was somewhat more frightened than fascinated, however.

  ~~~

  The Jenaldej troops became separated from each other, divided by the newly formed walls of melting and cooling glass. They found themselves trapped in various newly created small rooms. Then, the glass walls changed, and became darkened like smoked glass, by Nikolai’s masterful crystal manipulating powers, magnified in him many times over by drinking the waters of the Kazofen Ocean.

  ~~~

  The danger was all around Judith, yet she never was trapped by the shapeshifting walls, always finding her way into open chambers. The dark glass walls of these rooms admitted no light or air, suffocating the Jenaldej troops in the darkness. The number of their troops that fell by this tactic was eighty thousand (80000), which were all who had entered the castle. Their corpses littered the floors of the vast and glimmering glass castle, but the gruesome sight was hidden away behind the dark glass walls of the airless rooms which trapped them.

  ~~~

  The castle was utterly vast, even if one subtracted from it all these rooms which were now the tombs of the invading troops. Cassius calculated that if those rooms were left permanently sealed and were never again usable area in the castle, Octavian still had a larger castle over which to imagine himself to rule than any Imperial Prince could ever hope to enjoy. And Cassius still had a larger castle over which to actually rule than anyone with a lesser mind could ever fully realize.

  Cassius could see that his plan had worked. But the work was not over. Through the glass walls he could also see the twenty thousand (20000) Jenaldej troops positioned around the outside of the castle, waiting for Octavian’s forces to try to escape.

  Those seemingly
insignificant pillars outside – those pillars that the invading troops merely noticed, and that made up the castle constructor – would now prove to be quite significant. Cassius held up his staff that was used to start the constructor to build the castle.

  “Gregory: Once again, I need you to produce the signaling light to activate the constructor,” Cassius then said.

  Gregory then drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his own vial and was energized. He again generated beams of carefully angled light from his hands and projected them through the lenses atop the staff that Cassius held.

  Beams of light briefly shone from it toward the crystals atop the inner twelve (12) pillars, and those crystals once again became bright and glowed white hot, absorbing the powerful light from the suns overhead. Then, beams of light shone from them; this time, instead of shining from one crystal to another, they shone right down on, and through, the twenty thousand (20000) Jenaldej troops outside the castle of glass, burning every one of them to ash, and melting the armor that they wore by the intensity of the light. Not even General Ptolemy escaped.

  Cassius, Gregory and Nikolai could see through the glass walls of the castle what happened outside. The burning beams of the crystals then ceased, and Cassius knew that the powers given by the constructor were greater than that of any army, even an army of the greatest empire of history.

  “Victory! The constructor is greater than even multitudes of soldiers. All that we demand shall be ours,” Cassius said.

  “Indeed, the Imperial Prince shall be pleased at the expansion of his empire,” Nikolai said. In fact, Nikolai was pleased, and considered himself to be essential to the operation of the constructor, so that Cassius would always work with him and share any power equally. Nikolai did not have any genuine interest in sharing the spoils of war with Imperial Prince Octavian, whom he realized was a conceited fool.

  “Yes, Imperial Prince Octavian shall want for nothing. All that he gazes upon shall be his,” Gregory said. Yet, Gregory knew that Octavian gazed only at himself, whereas Gregory could see the vast fortunes that were now within reach, so he was more than pleased. Gregory considered his own contribution to be at least equal to that of Nikolai, but possibly more. He wanted more than one third (1/3) of any spoils of war. Yet, he was not prepared to stake his claim until he saw the proper moment.

  Cassius looked to both Nikolai and Gregory and thought of them as useful fools – clever enough to help design and operate the constructor, but not likely essential for much longer, now that the initial design problems had been solved. However, he knew the greatest fool of all was Octavian, and he wanted to make sure it remained that way.

  “The Imperial Prince is most pleased to gaze upon his own reflection in the facets of a diamond; yet, when he does so, he is looking away from all others, such that they cannot see his very handsome face and admire it,” Cassius said.

  “His primary focus is on that which he values most. Does this trouble you, Cassius?” Gregory asked. His true intention, however, was that Octavian should continue to remain blissfully unaware of his surroundings, so he preferred Octavian’s self-obsession.

  “When his subjects cannot stare at him in awe, that denies him the full appreciation which he deserves. I suggest that the Imperial Prince should be given a scepter, upon which the finest, clearest diamond is held up high. As always, it should be a crystal in which his image is visible when he peers into it; yet, it will position his gaze so that all people around him may also be able to take pleasure in the sight of his countenance,” Cassius said.

  “I will make him such a scepter,” Nikolai said. He wanted the honor of giving Octavian the scepter so that he would be held in high regard by the Imperial Prince, for whatever that might be worth at the proper time.

  “I suggest that you do so at once, Nikolai. We must soon give our report, and presenting this scepter as a gift at that time will be most appropriate,” Cassius said.

  Nikolai then drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and he was energized. He touched areas of the glass walls of the room and liquefied a small portion of the crystal. He began to mold the glass like clay, and formed it into a long scepter with a mount to hold a diamond. Once the shape was set, he solidified it again.

  “This should please the Imperial Prince,” Nikolai said.

  “I’m certain it will,” Cassius said.

  ~~~

  However, unseen by the advisors or by the troops, were five (5) dark figures, all of whom were drinkers of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean. These were unseen by each other, as well. They stood outside the perimeter of the constructor’s pillars and were safe from the assault. These dark figures, however, served different powers.

  There were three (3) spies for the Jenaldej Empire, assigned to report on the proceedings in the event of danger or a need for reinforcements, and so that the battle could be recorded for military training purposes. Seeing what transpired, they returned to Admiral Cassandra to give a report. Their escape from this battlefield was first by walking past sand dunes for cover, then by escaping quickly using small scout airships when out of sight behind those dunes.

  The fourth (4th) dark figure was a Hidden Paladin, sworn to defend the cause of righteousness against those who gain their powers from the dark spirits, whether from drinking the waters of the Zovvin Ocean to call into the spirit world, or by serving causes of hate and destruction and shedding so much blood as to rouse the interest and evil desires of the many wicked forces in the spirit world. This particular Hidden Paladin recognized the severity of this battle and this grand castle and knew that it must be reported to the others, who would begin to gather against this evil of great magnitude. The Hidden Paladins were masters of hiding and escape. They were never seen by the evil powers until it was time to strike. Just as important, the Hidden Paladins had no names of their own: these they surrendered so as to become of one mind and purpose. They served the cause, and were absolutely one with it. This one made his way back to a secret location, by a secret means, and signaled to the others using a method unknown to outsiders. The Hidden Paladins were planning to strike against Imperial Prince Octavian and his forces, and would be there at the proper time and place.

  The fifth (5th) dark figure was a rare type of chronicler – a man named Yasushi – who was of the tradition of Obscure Watchers. These chroniclers were different: they did not have the ultra-long lives of the drinkers of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean, or follow the ordinary Chronicler’s Oath that allowed them to stand visibly in the secret chambers of history, in the presence of kings and generals, noting their battle plans and keeping their confidence. Rather, they hid in the darkness made by the powers of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean, seeing without being seen, and they wrote all that they could see into their books, taking their knowledge to Emeth, for immediate recording, and for immediate release to all of the world to read. They did this without the years, decades or even centuries of delays that were sometimes required to keep the confidence according to the Chronicler’s Oath.

  Kings and generals considered these Obscure Watchers to be no better than spies, or even worse than spies, accusing these so-called “chroniclers” of sabotaging their legitimate war efforts in the name of history, affecting history’s outcome. This interference was argued to make for an invalid chronicle of that same history. The traditional Chroniclers – most of whom were drinkers of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean – and who stood visibly before the powerful actors of history on the world stage, keeping the full Chronicler’s Oath, were generally accepted, and actually gained and kept the trust of the powerful, even in history’s most dangerous and difficult hours.

  The Chroniclers of the Oath were regarded as trustworthy, and called so in recognition. The Obscure Watchers, however, were almost completely distrusted and almost universally hated, by a great many powerful people seated upon the thrones of the world. Still, some called them the “Revealers of Truth”, who exposed the secrets of the wic
ked who were planning their wars, and did so in the present time, during the lifetimes of the people who would be affected by those wars, and be caught in the crossfire, or have their personal wealth seized by the covetous kings. More than one nation had their battle plans revealed, and lost their war and even their entire homelands, from the exposure brought to their schemes by the Obscure Watchers. They were almost completely trusted, and almost universally loved, by the ordinary people of their day, who simply wished to live in peace and prosperity.

  CHAPTER 19: Reports of War

  Cassius, Gregory and Nikolai left their secret chamber and went to visit Imperial Prince Octavian in his throne room. Nikolai held the scepter he had made earlier.

  Therein, they saw Octavian, seated upon his throne and gazing at his reflection in the walls and ceiling of the glass throne room, as well as in a diamond that he held in his hand. He did not trouble himself to look at the advisors.

  “Pardon us, please, Your Imperial Majesty. We bring you good news,” Cassius said.

  Octavian looked toward the advisors for a moment and then returned to looking at the diamond he held in his hand, admiring the reflection he saw within it. “My three (3) most trusted advisors bring me good news. Yet, all around me, reflected many times over, is the good news: the image of my perfection,” Octavian said.

  “Indeed, you are magnificent, Your Imperial Majesty,” Cassius said.

  “So magnificent, Your Imperial Majesty, that we have brought you a gift,” Gregory said, wishing to share a claim to the scepter that Nikolai held.

  “A gift?” Octavian asked.

  “This scepter, upon which the finest diamond can be placed – one in which your most handsome reflection can be seen, by you and by all,” Nikolai said, holding the scepter in both hands and showing it to Octavian.

  Octavian looked at the scepter in Nikolai’s hands and said: “Nikolai: Place this diamond into it.” He handed his diamond over to Nikolai.