"Prince Calitar," nodded Monte. "Someone has the ability to impersonate others. That scares me."
"I should send a note to the armory not to load my wagon," mused Kerzi. "There is no sense taking a load of weapons to Vineland. They would just sell them to the Borundans."
"There is no time for you to join me," Prince Derri shook his head. "I must travel with great haste."
"I will not slow you down," Talot vowed to the prince as he looked at the merchant and shrugged apologetically.
"Nor will I," added Monte. "After all we cannot let a prince travel the dangerous roads alone, can we?"
"I kind of thought you two might want to join me," grinned the prince. "In fact, I was hoping that you would."
"You will stand out without my wagon," protested Kerzi. "No one will believe you are a merchant warrior without a merchant."
"I will not be traveling in disguise," declared the Salacian prince. "There is no need to. The Borundans are not searching for me, only Antion. I am sorry, Kerzi. I know that you want to go, but it is not possible this time. I will see that Talot and Monte are replaced with a squad of Salacian soldiers for your protection."
"Don't bother," Kerzi said dismissively. "The Anatar-Kyland Road is so thick with Arin soldiers that no self-respecting bandit would come within a hundred miles of it. I will need no escort. You boys take care of each other. I want to see you all return safely."
* * *
The Borundan officer walked into General Ortega's office and waited to be noticed. The general stood staring at a wall map and finally turned around to look at the officer.
"Has there been any communication from General Wikner?' asked General Ortega.
"None," the officer shook his head. "We have not heard a word since King Garrick left the palace."
"Most unusual," frowned the general. "Are you sure about the reports of his troop movements?"
"Positive," nodded the officer. "The whole district between Tarent and Dulga is devoid of troops. They have all been ordered to the eastern border, supposedly for some training exercise."
"Bah," snorted General Ortega. "Since when did Wikner take such an interest in training? Something is afoot, and I do not get a good feeling about it. I leave Tarent for a week, and everything is amiss when I return. Where is Prince Zinan?"
"He has been gone for some time," replied the officer. "He appeared for a single day about two weeks ago and then disappeared again. As usual, he told no one where he was going."
"And what about Naveena?" asked the general.
"Something is strange there," frowned the officer. "She has not come out of her room for two weeks now. Servants deliver trays of food and collect them empty, but no one has seen Naveena or talked to her."
"Well," the general declared forcefully, "someone is about to talk to her. I must know what is going on. Wikner did not move his troops for a training session, and if he is doing something that might start a war, I need to be prepared for it."
"I would advise caution," warned the officer. "She has a temper at times."
"I am well aware of that," replied the general. "I have been the target of her tantrums before, but we have a country to protect."
The officer nodded and retreated from the office while General Ortega removed some papers from his desk. The general left his office and proceeded to the chambers of Naveena. He banged loudly on the door, but there was no response. Boldly, the general opened the door and entered the room. He found Naveena on the floor next to a tray of half-eaten food. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her nose appeared broken. One arm was twisted grotesquely, and her eyes were deep dark hollows that seemed devoid of life. She looked up at him and glared.
"Get out!" she demanded. "No one is to enter my chambers."
General Ortega refused to move. He was well aware of her power, and he was deathly afraid of it, but he could not leave.
"You need a wisper," he said softly. "What happened to you?"
"I am a wisper," retorted Naveena. "I will heal myself."
"If you have been healing yourself for the two weeks that you have been hiding in this room," frowned the general, "I can only imagine what shape you must have been in. Who did this to you?"
"Get out." Naveena tried to scream, but it came out in a choking voice.
Tears formed in the dark hollows of her eyes, and the general moved to her side. He bent down and extended his hand to the wisper.
"Let me help you onto the bed," offered the general. "The cold floor will not help your healing any."
"Help me and you will incur the wrath of the Crown," warned Naveena.
"Then let me incur it," shrugged the general. "You need to be in bed. Give me your hand."
Naveena stretched her right hand upwards and the general grasped it. He pulled Naveena to her feet and caught her as she began to topple over. He picked her up and carried her to her bed. As he placed her down on the bed, he noticed the strange twist in her leg. He knew the woman would never walk again.
"Incur the wrath of the Crown?" the general mused as he made the wisper comfortable. "Are you saying that King Garrick did this to you?"
"Not Garrick," sobbed Naveena. "It was Zinan. I must leave the palace before he returns. He thinks I am dead."
"You are in no condition to go anywhere," sighed the general. "Why did you call Zinan the Crown? Does this have anything to do with King Garrick's trip to Laborg?"
Naveena refused to answer. General Ortega felt as if she would have magically attacked him if she had any magic left in her, but she merely glared at him.
"Naveena," urged the general, "I must know what is going on. General Wikner's troops are gathered on the Odessian border, and I do not know why. Borunda could soon be embroiled in a war, and I don't know whom our enemies will be. We have been basing our defenses on an attack from Arin, not Vineland."
"I do not know the prince's plans for sure," Naveena finally said, "but I expect that General Wikner will be attacking Vineland to avenge the death of King Garrick. Now that I have helped you, you must help me. Get me on a horse."
"Not a horse," the general shook his head. "I will summon a wisper for you. You are too weak to heal yourself, but I need to know more about this threat to the king's life."
"I have no more to offer you," Naveena shook her head. "Call it a hunch or a premonition. I just think that Prince Zinan will be returning to Tarent as the king. I must leave the city before he returns."
* * *
The king and queen of Vineland sat on one side of the table, and King Garrick and Princess Belinda sat on the other side. Over a dozen personal guards stood at the two sides of the room. Six Vinelander guards stood behind the king and queen, and six Borundan guards were behind King Garrick. It was an unusually high number of personal bodyguards for such a small, intimate dinner, but the royals were effective in ignoring their presence.
"You promised that you would give a hint about your mysterious instructions when we met," stated King Gregory. "Why were we asked to bar entry to Prince Zinan?"
"Did he show up here and try to gain entrance to the palace?" asked King Garrick.
"Indeed he did," nodded King Gregory, "and he was refused entry as you requested, but I do not like to be rude to my neighbors. Can you explain what is going on?"
The Borundan king sat quietly for a long moment before answering. "My cousin does not agree that I am old enough to marry," he stated. "It has nothing to do with Princess Belinda in particular, he just thinks that I should wait a few years before marrying. As you know, he can be rather persuasive. I did not want him to get here ahead of me and attempt to dissuade you from this marriage."
"Ah," King Gregory nodded, not quite convinced that he was hearing the truth. "So the ban of entry for Prince Zinan should be lifted now that you are here?"
"No," King Garrick responded too quickly. "Leave the ban in place until after the wedding."
"But why?" frowned King Gregory. "I do not understand. Surely, the prince will be att
ending the ceremony?"
"Excuse me," King Garrick said as he rose suddenly. "I do not want to be a poor visitor, but I have developed a throbbing headache. Perhaps we can continue this conversation tomorrow?"
"Of course," sighed King Gregory.
King Garrick strode out of the room, and his six bodyguards quickly formed a cordon around him.
"Something is not right here," frowned King Gregory. "We have never had a visitor who needs six guards around him constantly."
"Don't forget the fifty men in the barracks outside the palace," interjected the queen. "The Borundan king is traveling very much like a man afraid for his life."
"And Prince Zinan appears to be the threat," nodded the king, "but why hide that from us? Had we known about the threat to King Garrick's life, we could have arrested the Borundan prince instead of turning him away at the gates. It makes no sense."
"Perhaps I should go talk to him?" offered Princess Belinda. "Maybe I can get him to open up."
"No," the queen replied quickly. "Let the Borundans deal with their own problems. King Garrick is safe within our walls, and tomorrow you will be the queen of Borunda. Whatever claim Prince Zinan might have on the Borundan throne will end tomorrow. You should go get some sleep. You will have a busy day tomorrow."
Princess Belinda nodded politely and rose from her chair. She hurried out of the room and up the stairs. She reached the top of the stairs just in time to see the six bodyguards usher King Garrick into his chambers. She frowned and turned towards her own room.
* * *
The corridors of the royal palace in Vineland were dark and deserted, the torches having been extinguished hours earlier. A small group of men moved stealthily through the palace and halted outside the door leading to the suite occupied by King Garrick of Borunda. When the men were ready to attack, the leader kicked the door open. The men swiftly filed into the room as the Borundan soldiers scrambled out of bed to respond to the threat. The heavy snaps of crossbows echoed loudly in the chambers, and screams of pain and fear rang out loudly. In seconds it was over, and seven Borundans lay dead in the suite.
"Reload and take up the positions assigned to you," ordered the leader as he walked to the window and dropped a copper coin to the ground below.
The men moved quickly out of the room and into the dark corridors. Several bells rang in the lowest levels of the palace as those who had heard the screams summoned servants. No one dared to venture into the dark corridors to investigate for themselves.
Down on the ground level of the palace, Belon heard the distant screams. If he had not been listening for them, he might not have realized what he had heard. When he heard the coin drop to the ground, he smiled in satisfaction. The officer ran towards the barracks where the Borundan soldiers were housed. He banged loudly on the door, and the door opened promptly.
"What is it?" groused a Borundan officer.
"Your king is under attack in his chambers," Belon said excitedly. "I think he is being attacked by his own men."
The Borundan officer shouted to the rest of the men in the barracks and soldiers leaped out of bed and grabbed their swords. The Borundan soldiers raced out of the barracks in various stages of undress and stormed the main entrance to the palace. Remarkably, there were no Vinelander sentries to bar the entrance. The man who had answered the door was the last soldier to leave the barracks. Instead of racing after his fellow countrymen, he halted outside the barracks and confronted Belon.
"Why aren't your people protecting King Garrick?" he asked.
"We dare not enter the chambers of King Garrick," replied Belon. "Such an action could cause a war."
"You fool!" snarled the Borundan officer. "The death of King Garrick will surely cause a war. Have you not thought of that?"
"Not if the king is killed by Borundans," retorted Belon. "My men will safeguard the royal family of Vineland. That is our job. You should go do yours. King Garrick is your responsibility."
Belon turned and hurried off. The Borundan officer returned to the barracks and quickly finished dressing. His gut was screaming to him that something was wrong about the whole situation, but he could not figure out what it was. He knew that the men assigned as the king's personal bodyguards were unlikely to attack King Garrick, but he had to admit that anything was possible in the murky arena of politics.
The Borundan officer moved calmly towards the entrance to the palace. He saw no need to rush upstairs when fifty men were already on their way to a suite that could not hold half of them. He was more concerned that a lone assassin might try to escape during the confusion, so he stood silently just outside the doors of the palace. Suddenly, he heard shouts and screams coming from inside the palace. Clashes of metal upon metal rang out, and shouts of an ambush were clearly heard. The officer cautiously slid the door open and listened.
The heavy song of crossbows filled the air and screams immediately followed. Loud cursing and swords clashing came from every direction, and it became obvious that the Borundans and Vinelanders were fighting inside the palace. While the battle made no sense, the officer knew that to enter the palace was to die. As he thought about escaping, he suddenly noticed that not a single Vinelander was visible on sentry duty.
The officer thought about opening the gates and fleeing into the city, but he knew that he needed a horse to escape Laborg. Without one, he would be easy prey for the Vinelanders. The officer raced along the front of the palace and turned the corner towards the stables. Halfway along the building in front of him, a body plummeted to the ground from one of the upper stories. He drew his sword and approached cautiously. He heard the man gasping for breath and then heard him call weakly for help. He recognized the man's voice. It was one of his soldiers. The officer sheathed his sword and knelt by the man's side.
"What happened in there?" the officer asked.
"It was an ambush," gasped the soldier. "The king was already dead. They killed him with a crossbow. I tried to escape out the window, but I should have realized the height. Wasn't thinking."
The officer could do nothing to help his man. He rose and raced for the stables to secure a horse. Borunda had to be informed of the treachery before the prince arrived for the wedding, and that meant that someone had to survive the ambush. The officer raced around the corner of the palace and slid to a halt in front of the stables. Belon stood waiting for him with two Vinelander soldiers bearing crossbows.
"Going somewhere?" asked Belon.
"You treacherous dog," snarled the Borundan officer. "Do you really think you will get away with this?"
"I already have," smiled Belon as he signaled his men.
Both crossbows fired, and the quarrels slammed into the officer's body. The Borundan grimaced, but he did not cry out as his body tumbled to the ground.
"I want a count of bodies immediately," ordered Belon. "If we do not have fifty-seven dead Borundans, I want to know about it before I explain to King Gregory what happened tonight."
"Some of it will be hard to explain," commented one of the soldiers.
"I don't think so," smiled Belon. "Just make sure that the quarrel is removed from Garrick's body and a few sword slices are evident on his body. Cut off a limb or do something to make it obvious that he was attacked by a sword. The rest will be easy to explain."
Chapter 46 - Treachery
Treachery
Tabansi was asleep in his small room over the tavern when a loud knocking awoke him. He grumbled loudly as he crawled out of bed and shuffled to the door. He cracked the door slightly and a short wiry man barged in.
"It's happened," the small man said excitedly. "Just like you predicted."
"King Garrick is dead?" asked Tabansi.
"He must be," nodded the wiry man. "The whole palace is awake with torches burning in every room. The soldiers are carrying bodies out of the palace and heaping them in a pile. Almost all of them are Borundans."
"You saw this with your own eyes?" questioned Tabansi.
"I
did," the man nodded. "There must be forty or fifty bodies at least."
"And one of them is King Garrick?"
"That I can't say. You don't expect me to go up and ask them, do you?"
"No," shrugged Tabansi as he handed the man two silver coins. "You did good. I need someone with a horse to deliver a message for me."
"My cousin has a horse," offered the wiry man. "Does he get paid?"
"I will pay him well," nodded Tabansi. "Send him to me right away."
Tabansi watched the informer leave and then walked to the window and gazed up the hill at the palace. A smile began to spread across his lips as he realized that he would soon be an important man in the new Borundan city of Laborg. He quickly wrote a note informing General Wikner of the events at the palace and waited for the rider to come and pick it up.
* * *
Belon halted outside the king's chambers. He calmed himself from the adrenalin rush associated with the destruction of the Borundan contingent. As he straightened his uniform, he wondered what would happen next. He had fulfilled his portion of the agreement with the Borundan spy, but he realized that he was only a small part of the political intrigue being played out. Belon inhaled deeply and opened the door to the king's chambers. King Gregory sat in a chair in his chambers while the queen stood behind him. Belon bowed respectfully and closed the door.
"Just what is going on out there, Belon?" asked the king, "and why won't your men let me out of my quarters?"
"You are being kept safe, my king," responded Belon. "Princess Belinda is also being protected. As for what is going on, King Garrick was not satisfied with just your daughter. He decided he would take Vineland as well."
"What?" scowled the king. "That is preposterous. Are you telling me that on the eve of his marriage he sought to kill the royal family and take over the throne?"
"That is exactly what he planned," nodded Belon, "and he almost got away with it. If I had not been suspicious about the large escort he brought with him, he might have succeeded."
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