by Ross Turner
The enormous building was exactly as Isabel remembered it, only this time King asked them politely to wait outside while he cleared the room for their use, as apparently some of the lower members of council were in session. He entered boldly and without hesitation.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” They could hear King’s voice through the door slightly ajar. “I am afraid I require immediate use of these premises, and so I must politely ask you to vacate the room until a later time!” Isabel chuckled outside and even Zanriath smirked. The quirky character of King that they remembered had not changed one bit with age, even if his face was lined with wrinkles and his hair had silvered. If anything, his demeanour had only grown more outrageous. His voice carried an air of finality but, as usual, there was a challenge.
“Chairman King!” The testing voice sounded in a self-important manner. “I am afraid we are conducting business that is of too great an importance to wait. You shall have to find use of another room.” There was tense silence for a moment, silence besides the sound of King tapping his foot impatiently on the stone floor.
“Too great an importance?” He asked dubiously. “Last time I checked these little gatherings were a chance for you children to decide how best to squander our peoples’ tax, and, probably more accurately, to decide how much you should increase your own wages by?” His mocking tone did little to settle his adversary’s hot-headedness.
“Chairman King!” He almost shouted, at the last moment remembering his place, presumably much lower down the food chain than King. “These meetings are of the utmost importance!”
“I’m sure they are…” King said inattentively as he turned his head back to the door. “Isabel my dear!” He called casually, apparently knowing they could easily hear him outside. “Could you please bring your little friend in here for me?”
Isabel almost choked as she covered a laugh, realising at that last moment the intent of King’s rude intrusion. She simply could not hide her smirk as she stepped back to allow Rose and Cole room to pass into the chamber.
The commotion that followed was as expected, and King practically basked in his clearly detested colleagues’ panic as they screamed and scrambled over chairs and benches, knocking them, and more often than not each other, flying, in a desperate attempt to flee the building. After a few short minutes the chamber was empty, and King picked up several upturned chairs and decidedly plonked his now older and slightly portlier frame on one of them with an ungracious huff.
“I’m so fed up of politics.” He stated, motioning Isabel and Zanriath and Cole to sit with him. “It’s all just too much hassle and backstabbing for my liking now.”
“I thought you handled that quite masterfully.” Isabel complimented him with another laugh. He returned her smile and inclined his head by way of thanks.
“I must entertain myself somehow. Especially now as I’m going grumpy and senile in my old age.” He laughed richly before speaking again, this time turning to the enormous beast still stood before him. “I do apologise.” King said, looking apologetically to Rose. “I do not have a chair big enough for you my friend.”
Once again Isabel and Zanriath could not help but laugh. Cole finally cracked a smile and showed some animation for the first time since reaching Kazra. Even Rose seemed to somehow break into a grin and walked casually over to King and sniffed his face inquisitively.
“Now now.” King said patting Rose almost affectionately on her enormous head. “Enough of that. I know I’m old now, but I can see the size of those teeth just fine from over there thank you.” He added jokingly. Rose’s grin seemed to broaden and she nudged the old man playfully, taking to him instantly, and simultaneously almost knocking him from his chair.
“You seem awfully calm King…considering…” Zanriath commented nodding slightly towards Rose’s hulking form returning to her place at Cole’s side. She lay on the stone floor with her head on Cole’s lap and breathed deep, heavy breaths.
“To be perfectly honest…” King began by way of explanation. “Judging by some of the rumours that have been circulating these past years about you two, I wouldn’t have expected anything less.” He told them with a broad grin.
“Rumours?” Isabel said suggestively, raising an eyebrow.
“Stories…” King continued. “Stories that have received untold embellishment. Not that I’m complaining.” He assured them. “Many of them are most entertaining, but it would appear Isabel that you have not grown to be forty feet tall, and Zanriath you do not have giant hands of stone that are constantly aflame.”
“How interesting…” Zanriath commented. “How has that happened?” He asked. King shrugged and pursed his lips.
“Like I said - simple embellishment. Quite often storytellers receive large amounts of gold in the bigger taverns here if they tell a story well. It’s a good way to pass the time, and it keeps patrons coming back. Although, it does seem to be a curious, albeit annoying, pastime of some of our more religious fanatics, which, sadly, I imagine is probably the more likely source.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at some point it was their ancestors who invented all of our more obscure religious teachings, more than likely directly from their bizarre imaginations. They were probably all just bored, or they were smoking any number of weird and wonderful substances…but that’s a conversation for another time.” King cut off quickly, eager not to be drawn into such a discussion.
“Indeed.” Zanriath replied, admittedly intrigued at the strange twisting of events that seemed to have occurred in Vak’Istor since their last visit.
“So…” King said decisively, cutting immediately to the point. “Tell me everything!” He spread his arms wide and his aged face beamed.
Isabel smiled and began reciting to him the events of late. The tale took some time, but it mattered not, for King was caught up so deeply within every part of it that he was actually a little disappointed when she began to draw it to a close.
“And so here we are.” Isabel concluded. “We need you to spread the word for us King.” She said seriously, eyeing the old man as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Hopefully we can stop things from getting that bad…but if we can’t…we need Tamarack to be more prepared this time around.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” King concurred. “It will be as you say. I will warn the people and, as far as I can, rally them ready for confrontation. We are by no means warriors, but there are a goodly number amongst us who, shall we say, would oppose another invasion rather strongly.” King stated, his voice now grave and somewhat melancholy. “Come.” He said rising to his feet sombrely. “The hour is growing late and I have a banquet of state to attend this evening. You will all be my honoured guests.”
“A banquet of state.” Isabel said questioningly. King smiled almost childishly, entirely unable to hide the fact that he so clearly enjoyed playing Chairman.
“An overly grand title perhaps.” He admitted. “A spot of supper where us bigwigs get together to talk posh.” He flashed a smile and Isabel laughed again.
“Sounds interesting.” She admitted.
King led them from the chamber and outside towards an enormous, towering structure across the way - a place he described as the only suitable residence for legends such as themselves to be accommodated, and indeed also prepared for King’s little spot of supper.
As it turned out, the grand banquet of state was not at all an ill-fitting title for their supper meal, and indeed, the accommodations King secured for them were fit for royalty.
The following hours were spent in their rooms, as King so delicately put it, in preparation: Isabel was attended to by several handmaids who measured most professionally every inch of her body, and seemed to almost construct her gown for that evening as they went along. They were even more busybody than those in Akten on Avrik had been the last time she had attended such an event, for Kambeth’s father’s ball.
Much the same occurred in Zanriath’s fitting room; the suit he would be a
dorned in materialised as the time ticked by, and was tailored perfectly to his broad frame.
Cole too was outfitted in a suit, but for some strange reason, the tailors decided to leave Rose be, for, Isabel imagined, she would be quite startling and memorable enough as she was.
Rose simply waited, rather impatiently, as Cole struggled with his unnecessary number of assistants.
Sometime later they were ready and King ventured up to their rooms to meet them. He wore a most regal looking outfit, including a royal-looking doublet, a cape trimmed with blue, and he held a cane that he had not had before. Clearly these events were taken rather seriously.
As they followed him down the long winding staircase leading back to the street, the walls were decorated with countless men and women of power, presumably all holding a position within the council. He explained briefly what was to come. His voice ran in fits and sprints and Isabel struggled to keep up, both with his tumbling explanation and his animated pace.
Considering that by now King’s age should have slowed him at least slightly, he seemed almost totally unaffected by his years, and his eyes sparkled as mischievously as ever. Isabel gathered that the excitable old man enjoyed such events as these, and that they were in for quite a show.
They only markers that age had even attempted to touch the delightful man were the lines on his face, the streaks of grey in his hair, and the slight croak in his voice, which was barely even noticeable.
Finally they reached the tall wooden doors of the banquet hall, a little further to the south of the council chambers, and the guests were filing dutifully inside, all dressed in their finest gowns and suits and frocks.
“It shan’t be I announcing your entrance this time.” King told them. “As the honoured guests you shall enter last, and you shall see me seated at the far end of the hall at the head table.” He explained. “There shall be empty seats for you there.” He cast a quick glance over to Rose. “And plenty of floor space for Rose too.” He assured. “I do hope you like pig?” He asked her pointedly, raising an eyebrow in question. Rose’s ears pricked up and she lolled her tongue from her mouth playfully, an odd expression for such a ferocious looking beast.
King only laughed and nodded enthusiastically.
“Ok then.” He said. “No point us waiting out here in the cold. I shall see you all shortly.” And with that, he strode ahead and entered the banquet hall to a grandiose declaration of his arrival. The doors remained open and Isabel took Zanriath and Cole’s hands, one in each of her own.
“Shall we go?” She suggested, hearing the announcer clearing his voice to speak again. They both nodded. Zanriath smiled, but Cole was still unsure, and his free hand rested absently on Rose’s huge bulk. “Don’t worry sweetheart.” Isabel assured him.
“I’m worried we should be moving on.” Cole said. “Aren’t we wasting time here?” Isabel thought to herself for a minute.
“I don’t think so.” She finally said. “I think we need this chance for everybody to see Rose.” She explained, looking up thoughtfully at Cole’s demon.
Rose looked back almost questioningly, mirroring Cole’s thoughts. Isabel continued.
“Things are different here to back home Cole. As you can probably imagine, these ‘nobles’ will be rather apprehensive of Rose here. But they’re all so caught up in their own importance that we need them to see her up close.” She clarified. “Give them chance to get personal, so that we make sure they’ll all take action. We need Tamarack mobilised, just in case.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Cole agreed.
“These are the type to say they’ll take action, but then never to speak of it again.” Zanriath explained. “If we terrify them, it will have much greater effect.” He winked slyly at his son and Cole nodded and smiled in reply.
Then from inside the great hall the chatter quietened and a ringing announcement signalled as the cue for Isabel and Zanriath’s entrance. Isabel kissed Cole lightly on the forehead and entered the great hall with her husband. They were met by rapturous applause and cheers from all those in attendance, although, Isabel imagined, also some disappointment, since she was not forty feet tall.
They swept up between the long tables of guests towards King at the far end of the hall, seated centrally and not surprisingly somewhat regally at the head table. They nodded and smiled and waved as they walked arm in arm, Zanriath dressed in a handsome, dark suit and white shirt, and Isabel in the radiant blue dress, draped to the floor, that had been created to fit her frame perfectly that very day.
Her amulet cast golden streaks of light out to her onlookers, matching Zanriath’s eyes perfectly, and the lush blue of her dress gave her a positively majestic appearance.
After several minutes the applause died down and Zanriath and Isabel were seated on King’s right hand side. There was one free chair remaining to his left.
There appeared to be some confusion up by the door as the burly man who had announced Isabel and Zanriath’s entrance argued with King’s messenger that he could not possibly be announcing two more arrivals, when there was only one more free seat remaining. Apparently he took precision and accuracy very seriously as part of his job role, and King sighed deeply as he turned to Isabel and Zanriath.
“Martins is a kindly man…” He whispered quietly, inclining his head to the somewhat bulky announcer who was still arguing with his messenger. “But he’s a little past his prime, and takes life far too seriously. I always like to muddle the announcements a little that I give my messenger to pass on, just to keep him on his toes.” Isabel was forced to hide her smirk, though with limited success, and Zanriath was coaxed into a concealing coughing fit.
Martins continued to argue for a few minutes before, however, he was cut short, as the heavy wooden doors swung open with a loud and startling crash. Cole strode boldly in to great hall, dressed in a dark, handsome suit, similar to the one his father wore.
There was confusion at first, as most attending had no idea that Zanriath and Isabel even had a son, but then confusion was replaced by fear and Rose entered behind him, emerging from the outside darkness like an enormous, hulking menace. Her silhouette stalked behind Cole and all but engulfed him as she entered the great hall.
The reaction was mixed, though spectacular: some screamed, some attempted to flee, and some simply fainted. It was exactly the reaction Isabel had been hoping for. What better way to shock the upper class into action than to put them in, seemingly, mortal danger?
As the throng of guests suddenly became overly animated and the scrabbling began, King’s booming voice silenced them all.
“BE STILL!” He roared across the hall, somehow his authority frightening the guests even more than Rose had done. “I present young Colvan, son of Isabella the Eternal and Timeless Zanriath, and his demon, Rose!”
His words were met as expected - with absolute bewilderment. Cole rubbed Rose’s neck gently and the guests apprehensively retook their seats, though those closest to Rose, as she and Cole moved slowly towards the head table, turned a ghostly white and shook quite visibly. Clearly when the demons had invaded the island twenty years ago it had been nothing short of a disaster, especially to evoke this much of a reaction.
The only noise was the strangely ominous clicking of Rose’s claws against the marble floor, which did little to settle the heightened nerves all around.
Eventually they reached the head table. Cole took his seat at King’s left and Rose sat on her haunches to the side of the table.
Isabel stood to address the room before anybody could say anything else.
“There is, once again, a threat to our great kingdom.” She began clearly. She gestured to her left with her arm as she continued. “Rose here, is my son’s demon, and she is quite probably the only demon in existence without malevolence in her heart.”
The eyes of her audience flitted between her and the monster to her left, still full of apprehensive fear.
“But there are more demons. They are
coming, as they have done before, to claim Tamarack and to destroy us!” Her explanation was becoming a speech, and she suddenly felt as if she was attempting to enlist an army. Her statement was received with gasps and a few more fainting’s, but she continued nevertheless, rising and lowering her tone in crescendos. “But this time they won’t find the going so easy! This time we will be ready for them!”
Curiosity flared amongst her audience and their fear began to be slowly replaced by determination.
Her incitement continued for perhaps a minute or two more, which proved to be more than ample time for her to gain the support of the whole room.
Soon, once the initial fear and shock of her news had passed, the people were cheering and clapping and were wholly behind Isabel. Even she was surprised at how quickly and how easily she had managed to incite this upper class of this almost completely turmoil-free nation. She imagined it was not entirely her own doing, but that mattered not.
Though, for some reason, they decided to postpone their wartime preparations until after dinner.
Food was carried out on tremendous silver platters from the extensive kitchen, and laid about the tables until they groaned under the enormous weight. Cole looked with uncertainty to Rose, whom by now was ravenous, and back to King, who only smiled and winked slyly back at him, not bothering to conceal his childish smirk.
Next, between them six waiters carried from the kitchens an entire hog, laid, still steaming, on a vast serving dish. Obviously still wary of the hungry demon, they deposited the hog on the floor, a few metres from Rose, and scampered back to the kitchen. Rose eyed the feast and looked to Cole.
‘Is that for me?’ Her words sounded. Cole only nodded, somewhat joyously, taking glee from his Rose’s excitement, and watched as she somehow smiled, and then proceeded to tear great chunks from the cooked pig, bone and all, unnerving those sat closest to her. The snaps and crunches of her monstrous jaws making light work of the entire hog were almost enough to put those close enough to hear off their dinners entirely…almost.