Ardent

by Florian Armas

  “I accept,” he said after a brief silence, followed by all others.

  “Vava,” I nodded.

  “Kneel!” Vava ordered, and the men knelt on one knee, then swore their allegiance to me.

  “Boldur, leave ten Mountes here. Keep Farcu’s sword,” I told the men Boldur had chosen. “He will remain unarmed until his allegiance is resolved.”

  The castle of Leyona was five times larger than Mohor’s, and it took us a while until we arrived in front of the council room. Servants whispered in the halls and stared at us, but quickly took themselves out of our path, slipping into side rooms. Seeing Vava, calmed them. There were no shouts, and no one tried to run. Panic is the last thing you want when taking a castle; it leads to the wrong kind of events. In two places where long corridors crossed, I left ten guards to block any soldier trying to advance, or servants running to spread the news.

  “Here, I can’t help you,” Vava said, and opened the huge sculpted door of the council room for me. “There is not much love between me and the Secretary. We are ... too different.”

  With a deep breath, I stepped inside. The six men and one woman around the long table turned their heads toward me. I recognized Coleus among them. His eyes widened, and he inhaled deeply, seeming at loss for words.

  “Get out!” an old man ordered, and I recognized Balint, the second Secretary of Leyona.

  He must be Secretary, now. I decided to ignore him until the right time came. Dani, the old Secretary that I’d met once when I played the Lead Protector for him, died a few days after the Summer Solstice. Balint saw me once. Will he realize that I was in Leyona under my other name, Tudor? “Vava, Boldur, Garland, arrange our defense, just in case. Vlad, you come with me. There are no armed men inside.” I calmed my soldiers, and advanced fast toward the large sculpted chair at the other end of the table. There was only one chair of that size and quality and it was empty. Balint was sitting next to what I guessed was Leyonan’s chair. The woman occupied the other close one, in front of Balint.

  “Get out!” Balint repeated, and stood in my way. “That’s an order, young man.”

  When you have to explain your words, you no longer believe in your power. “Sit,” I said in a cold voice.

  “Guards!” he shouted, but went back to his chair.

  “Balint, I am afraid that your cry is useless,” the woman said.

  She reminded me a younger version of Drusila, and I took my time to evaluate her without looking too obvious. Steel with curly hair.

  “I very much agree with you, lady,” I said, and threw my body in the large chair. I am tired. At my sign, Vlad took the one at the opposite side of the long table, which could seat thirty people. Very different from my own council room. The table alone was almost as large as my room.

  “Then you should agree with me that your place is not there.” She gestured toward me, or toward the chair.

  “Here we disagree, my lady. This is my rightful place, and I am not here to kill you. Coleus, I am as glad as you to meet again. I count on you to make the introductions.”

  “That’s not your chair,” the woman said, her voice flat, and she seemed to have more wit than all the men together. “You came here armed like a thief. You can threaten us, but that gives you no more rights than any other thief. Sooner or later our guards will learn about you and find a way to enter.”

  “The thief who takes a fortress becomes its master, my lady.”

  “Make no vain boasts, young man. Pride comes with pain.”

  Coleus whispered something in the woman’s ear and she squinted.

  “Coleus, my patience with you is thin. If you have something to say, speak aloud or I will be tempted to silence you.”

  “I am a Sage of the Circle,” he growled. “You don’t threaten a Sage.” He clenched his jaw so tight I thought his teeth would shatter, and splinters would spread across the table.

  “Then be sage, Coleus.”

  “Why are you here?” he asked.

  “You disappoint me. Leyona is my fiefdom now, and this is my chair,” I slapped the hardwood of the armrest. “Your plot against Severin misfired, and Leyonan is dead. So are his sons. Devan will follow soon.”

  There was uproar around the table, and I let it run wild. At the woman’s gesture, it ended abruptly. Who are you? I knew that Leyonan’s wife had died a few years ago, and he did not remarry.

  “His Knights are now mine. Leyona’s Guard has sworn allegiance to me. The castle is mine. The city is mine. I suppose you are Leyona’s Secretaries. Pay allegiance to me, and I see no reason to fire you. Good Secretaries are hard to find.”

  “Pay allegiance or else,” the woman said. her eyes fixed on me.

  “You are free to leave Leyona, if that is your wish. Coleus, I’ve asked you to make the introductions.”

  “Codrin,” Coleus said, pointing a shaking finger at me. “From Severin.”

  “What exactly am I in Severin? Last time when we met there were some divergences regarding my position there.”

  “The commander of the army,” the woman said. “We all know the story.”

  “How do we know that he is not lying about taking the castle?” Balint asked.

  “Would you mind if one of us left the council room and reported back later?” the woman glanced at Balint then at me. “A master has nothing to fear.” The derision in her voice was so thin that I was unsure, until one man bit his lip to stop his smile.

  “Who wants to go?” I asked, and Balint stood up. “You must be the Secretary.”

  “Balint, the second Secretary of Leyona,” he bowed, the same slight derision I perceived in the woman filling his voice and bow.

  Then who is the Secretary? That woman? I have heard nothing about her. I should have asked Vava. I have neglected it, too sure that Balint was the new Secretary of Leyona; it was the normal way to advance in the hierarchy. “Vlad, Balint is free to walk anywhere in the castle.” The thumb of my left hand joined my ring finger in a circle, telling Vlad that Balint should not be allowed to leave the castle. “Vava, Boldur and five of his men will escort him, then bring him back when his curiosity is satisfied. Keep him safe.”

  “Vava?” the woman asked, her eyes thin, and she wove her fingers together under her chin.

  “You are getting the idea. Slowly, but you’re getting it. Coleus, may I ask you to continue?” I gestured at the people around the table, after Balint left the room, and Vlad returned to his chair.

  “Vlad,” Coleus pointed at him. “He is...”

  “My second in command,” I interjected.

  “Young wolves,” the woman said coldly.

  “Leyonan was older, indeed.” I pretended to watch the large candelabras, each towering at one end of the table.

  “You found pleasure in his death,” she said, staring at me.

  “There is no pleasure in death, lady. You started this game, not me. It did not occur to you until now that starting a game doesn’t necessarily mean winning it, and a hard price may have to be paid. You dreamed of victory; you got me. I am still trying to find an accommodation here, but it seems that I am alone in that, and my time is short. Devan, your second tool,” I glanced at Coleus, “is waiting for me in Orhei.”

  Coleus was fast in giving the names and positions of the all the remaining men around the table. His mouth closed just before he was to present the woman.

  “I am Maud, the Secretary of Leyona,” she said.

  Why am I in the clouds about your position? I did not ask Vava, but Laurent should have known. I remained silent, ignoring her little play.

  “That surprised you,” Maud smiled. She was around fifty years old. Still beautiful, and her smile was charming, yet something inside me felt like burning cold.

  “I can’t pretend that I knew who the new Secretary of Leyona was,” I shrugged.

  “It surprised you that the new Secretary is a woman,” she insisted in a way that annoyed me.

  “It surprised me. Nothing else. I kn
ow another woman who is Secretary of Severin. She taught me many things.” And Mara...

  “And you’ve learned.”

  “Being here now, I can say that I’ve learned my lessons. I wish others could learn too.”

  “You are generous and offer us a truce,” Maud said.

  “Not at all.” I leaned forward, grabbed a carafe of wine from the table, and filled a glass. I sipped, and let the flavor fill my mouth. “Good wine. Not from Leyona for sure.” Make the next step, Maud.

  “Surrender, perhaps?” she asked again.

  What do you really want? “Not at all.” I help up the glass against the light from the candelabras. “Dark red color. It fits.”

  “You want us to follow in Vava’s steps and become your Secretaries.”

  “I did not hide this, from the first moment I opened my mouth here.”

  The door opened, and Boldur coughed to make sure he was seen. Maud blinked once, but that was all. “I brought back Balint.” He ushered the second Secretary of Leyona inside, then closed the door.

  “The castle is occupied by ... foreign soldiers,” Balint said. “There are thirty men inside.”

  “So you are not afraid.” I stared at Balint, whose eyes widened. “Frightened people see two soldiers for each one that’s actually there. You’ve halved the number of my soldiers inside the castle.”

  “I might not have seen all of them,” Balint shrugged.

  “And each of those savage Mountes counts for two,” Maud said.

  “That’s interesting.” I swirled my glass and stared down into its reddish depth. “You’ve started a war that’s killed hundreds already, and the body count will do nothing but grow, yet you call them savages. But who am I to whine about that? I won this chair because of your war, and I intend to keep it.” Some of you I will keep when I return. Some I will expel. Which ones will betray me? All? “Those Secretaries who want to leave are free to leave. The ones who stay will pay allegiance to me.”

  No one said anything; they did not even look at me, yet I could feel the malice and distaste in their eyes. I did not belong to Leyona. The silence grew. None of them left their chairs. What I shall do if they refuse both to pay allegiance and to leave? I can’t let such disobedience go unpunished. Sometimes, the road to disaster starts with small steps.

  “We thank you for your kind offer, but we are too troubled by what has happened to our Lord Leyonan,” Maud said, looking absently. “I am afraid that we can’t give you a clear answer so soon. We need to mourn him first. You know what such a loss means. Then, with clear minds, we shall decide.”

  You know who I am. “You may be right,” I shrugged and stood up. “Leyona is filled with too many memories and old ghosts. Cleuny is a nice place in the mountains, and it is not haunted. I will return in one turn to see if you need relocation, and make every effort to help with your recovery. Maud, may I have a word with you? What’s behind that door?” I pointed to a sculpted red door on my left. Leyona’s council room was a piece of art. Six sculptures looked on from the sides. Three sages: Philosophy, Art and Science, and three soldiers: swordsman, archer and spearman.

  “My office.”

  “Please.” I opened the door and realized that it was not painted; its wood was light red, spiked with darker veins. The sculpted roses looked almost real. She followed me silently.

  “Where is Garland’s wife?” I asked when I closed the door, watching her tightly.

  “Who is this Garland?” Maud seemed genuine in her faint surprise.

  “The man Leyonan sent as spy into Severin after kidnapping his wife.”

  “That one? There was no kidnapping. His wife felt in love with Victor, Leyonan’s elder son, and they’ve made this ... arrangement. A clever woman. She is carrying Victor’s bastard.”

  How is it that Laurent is not aware of this? “That killed two birds with one shot.”

  “We needed a motivated man to work for us in Severin. It seems that Leyonan’s death changed Garland’s drive.”

  “Dead men carry no sticks. Where is she?”

  “In Victor’s apartment, of course.” And... I stared at her. “The second floor of the left wing of the castle. Ask any servant about Victor’s apartment.”

  “Is there any other way to ask?”

  “That stupid Garland still wants her. Ask for the Yellow Apartment. I doubt that Garland will not figure to whom the apartment belongs.”

  “Would it be too difficult for you to work for me?”

  “A great step you’ve made from Knight to Grand Seigneur.”

  “I am accustomed to it; it was an even greater step from King to vagrant. I will return.”

  Leaving the council room, I found only Vava, Boldur and ten soldiers. The soldiers were eating, and I nodded in appreciation at Vava, for the arrangements.

  “Where is Garland?” I asked.

  “Inspecting the castle with Laurent and three other men,” Boldur answered. “They are in the right wing now. If you need an office, we emptied that room,” he pointed to a door at the end of the corridor on the opposite side of the council.

  “I need it. Vava, where is the Yellow Apartment?”

  “The second floor on the left wing. Do you think it is worth the pain?”

  “It’s not my call,” I shrugged. “Send two men after Garland. Vlad, come with me,” I said and opened the room’s door.

  There was food on the table, wine and water. I filled a cup of wine and threw myself in a chair. “Eat, I am not hungry.”

  “You were tougher with the Knights than with them.” Vlad gestured toward the council room.

  “The Knights are more or less soldiers with a bigger ego. They deal with both ends of a sword, and they respect it. As long I have more soldiers than the remnants of Leyonan’s army and I’m able to keep their sons separated from them, there will be few issues. The thing is to have some of them truly on my side when the war ends. Secretaries are different kinds of animals. Subtler. I can’t deal with them now, so I have to keep them together where I can have under watch. Some don’t have other paths in life, and will prefer the job, it doesn’t matter who the ruler is. Some may have second thoughts. They may betray me now, or in five years. And the Circle will stick their noses in everywhere. After we leave, they should watch each other. When I return... If I return... I may be able to select my own secretaries. I think I heard Garland’s voice. Come with me and see what happens in the Yellow Apartment. I need a ... neutral observer.” And some men to restraint Garland if...

  The Yellow Apartment meant nothing to both Garland and Laurent. Vava came with us, and three Mountes.

  “You are still afraid that I will kill someone here,” Garland laughed when I left his men behind. “I may, if my wife and son were treated badly, but not tonight.”

  “Leyonan is dead by your sword, and I heard nothing about bad treatments.” I suppose that Victor treated your wife warmly... “It should be here,” I stopped in front of a yellow door with black spots. I touched the wood, and it was not painted. I almost felt the smell of the sculpted grapes. What kind of wood is this? “Leyonan had an artistic side,” I glanced at Vava.

  “His father restored the castle. Leyonan indulged more with wine than with poetry.”

  “We never know where the drunkard ends and the poet begins,” I laughed. “It’s from an eccentric Arenian thinker. It may be that he was just trying to absolve himself.”

  “Yes,” a woman’s voice answered when I knocked in the door.

  “That’s not Lina,” Garland whispered.

  “Vlad, you come after me, then you, Garland. Be quiet,” I stared at him. “I apologize,” I said to a young woman after I opened the door. “We are looking for Lina.” I stepped inside.

  “And why are you looking for her?” a brunette woman standing at the window turned her head, a beautiful one.

  Sometimes, is better to have a less good looking wife. She seemed to be pregnant, but my angle was not good enough; I was seeing mostly her back.


  “Do I know you?” she stared at me, “I understood there was some agitation in the castle.”

  “We haven’t met before, but I have brought someone you have not seen for a long time.”

  “Quite a secretive man you are,” she laughed.

  “Is anyone else here, apart from your child and the maid?”

  Lina shook her head, frowning after I mentioned her son too; he was not in the main room.

  “Garland, you may enter,” I said, watching the woman carefully. On my left, Vlad was doing the same. Her eyes widened, and her hand touched her lips. Nothing else moved.

  “Lina!” Garland burst inside like a gust of wind and took her in his arms. “You are free now.”

  “Oh Garland,” she whispered, turning and lacing her arms around his neck. “I prayed each day for you to come and free me. Thank Fate, you arrived just in time. Our second child will be born in one month from now. Kiss me,” she leaned her head back.

  “I can’t stand this,” Vava whispered and disappeared from the door.

  “Child?” Garland asked with an afterthought and stepped back after their long kiss ended.

  “Yes, Garland,” she guided his hand on her stomach. “It’s been almost eight months since the last time we saw each other. It was so hard, Garland, to be jailed here.” She wept instantly, and brought his second hand onto her left breast. “Look how my heart is beating. The child grew inside me. I think it is another boy. I am huge,” she underlined her round curves with both hands. “Daniel will be so happy to see you again. Come,” she took his hand again. “He is sleeping now, but I will wake him.”

  “Garland, I need you back in one turn,” I said.

  “Who are these men?” Lina asked.

  “Codrin is the new master of Leyona,” Garland gestured at me, “and Vlad is his second-in-command. They helped me to free you.”

  “Leyonan?” she asked, her eyes narrow.

  “Leyonan is dead, and his sons too,” I said coldly, watching Lina.

  Her upper lip tremored slightly, and that was all. “Oh, then we are really free. Let’s tell Daniel.” She turned abruptly and pulled Garland after her toward a side door.

  “Well?” I asked Vlad, when we were back, and alone, in the room which was now my office.