by Nic Weissman
The meeting with the Chamber was scheduled for that afternoon, so he'd only have one chance. Luckily, Zyrhaz was a close friend of one of the King's sons and knew that, at least, this one would listen to him. The carriage stopped. They had reached the main courtyard of the Palace.
*******
Devgon waited in the lobby of the Royal Office. He was accompanied by two people: a senior official of the Chamber called Pargepulax and Nelm, his faithful assistant. Their audience with the King should have already begun, although delays were common when you were going to see the King, so he tried not to worry.
As a full member of the Chamber, he had received the important assignment of negotiating a legislative change with the King that would introduce increased competition in a strategic sector, as was the stone sector. This would mean the need for new trade routes in all counties, and create many new business opportunities for the traders. Devgon was also the spokesman of the progressive sector of the Chamber, led by Les Geswek.
The progressive sector had proposed to boost many changes that would promote the traditional status quo against the immobility of the current conservative who led the legendary Lady Godiva. For example, they were in favor of aborting the trade agreements with the Duchies, and thus take control of the International Trade, where all the wholesale trade was done with the other countries. They also advocated the construction of new roads that would reduce transport time, even when they had to go through natural areas that remained unchanged today.
“Sir, do you want to review the documentation, while we wait?” Nelm said, always attentive and helpful.
“No, thanks Nelm. I went over it again this morning and it's very fresh in my mind,” Devgon said.
Nelm was an old man, but he retained much of his strength. He was extraordinarily clever and had a lot of experience. Devgon had wondered more than once how it was that Nelm hadn't gone much further in life. He did not feel better prepared than Nelm. And, of course, he often saw other people in various positions of responsibility who were less able or smart than his assistant. The positive side of all of this was to have the help of someone so capable. Perhaps what took away from his potential were his humility and, above all, his kindness. You couldn't get very far in this world of sharks where Devgon moved being a humble and good-natured person.
Nelm's past was a mystery. Devgon knew he wasn't born in Bor... and little else. His appearance betrayed a kind of classic elegance. He dressed well, but always in a very sober way, without stridency. One of the best tailors in Deepcliff probably gave him his clothes because they always looked impeccable. The only odd note of his appearance was a tattoo on his left forearm, a dragon or something, which was always hidden under his clothes. Devgon had asked him once about it, but hadn't received any information. “It was long ago” was all he got out of him. Nelm may come from a family of sailors or maybe had worked in that sector when he was young. Tattoos were also common in the kingdom of Bor among people of the entertainment business, but Devgon couldn't even imagine that Nelm had something to do with that world.
“Come in now,” a man said walking out of the Real Office's door.
“My name is Buldamus and I am the Chief Secretary of His Majesty. I think we've already met,” the man said, shaking hands with Devgon.
Indeed, Devgon had seen the man at other times at royal receptions or in other meetings with the King. Although, really, they had barely spoken.
“True. Let me introduce my companions. This is Pargepulax, who works with us in the Chamber and this is Nelm, my personal assistant.”
“Glad to meet you,” the man said, going into the room, without even looking at the others.
They all went into the room after the secretary and sat at a large table, following his instructions. Some lackeys immediately offered them refined drinks.
“Regrettably His Majesty will not be able to meet you today. He is dealing with other pressing matters. Certainly attending the many responsibilities he has as a King. But don't worry; your majesty has delegated to me the discussion you wish to have,” Buldamus said.
That proved most suspicious to Devgon. They had set that appointment with a month's notice and had stressed the need for it to be directly with the King. In addition, Devgon was one of the Sixteen, a member of the Chamber, not a single third class officer. This was outrageous.
“Sir, please, drink some water now. I think you were quite thirsty while we were waiting in the anteroom”, Nelm said, giving him a drink.
Devgon took the glass and drank. Nelm had understood that the secretary's announcement had him twitching and was giving him an excuse, even forcing him, to pause before answering. This way, he could avoid saying something in the heat of the moment that he would later regret.
“It's certainly a disappointment. I hope your majesty is well,” Devgon said, diplomatically.
“Oh, yes. The King is perfectly well. I'll tell him you send your greetings, of course,” said the Secretary. “And so? What is this about?” he added.
Then the three visitors struggled to detail as best as they could, and like they had rehearsed, the details of the proposal and the benefits it would bring to the kingdom, while downplaying the potential impact that change might have, and how they could mitigate the negative effects thereof. Devgon recited his part with professionalism, but sounded resigned. He knew that the meeting wasn't going anywhere.
When they finished, the Secretary made a couple of questions and then argued that it was an important change, that it wasn't the time to make changes like that in the Kingdom but that he would present the case to the King for his consideration anyway. Everyone nodded and thanked his attention. The Secretary promised to call them again if the King had interest in the matter, but made them understand that it was unlikely at this time.
While they were dismissed and escorted to the door, Devgon wondered what had gone wrong. They had kept the initiative a total secret. Only key members of the progressive sector knew about it. They had prepared the meeting with the King in advance, without specifying the object thereof. They knew that a lot of the conservative sector of the Chamber would object. That's why they had included the vote on this initiative on the agenda of the previous evening. This made it almost impossible for anyone to have time to access the King and disrupt his plans. But somehow, this was exactly what had happened.
*******
Vargarr waited in the lobby of the Royal Office. The Major of the Royal Army of Central Bor County hoped to meet with the King this afternoon. One of his contacts in the Court would seek to facilitate a brief "aisle" encounter, although the success of the attempt wasn't guaranteed. If this didn't work, Vargarr had to try again days later. In the weekdays it was more difficult for him to access the monarch, because of the enormous pilgrimage of interests parading by the Court seeking the royal attention.
Vargarr knew the King in person from the time when they both were at the Military Academy. The King was a senior officer in training when he was just a newcomer cadet. The then Prince had made serious attempts to avoid any privilege in the years of the Academy. First of all, his father, at that time the King, had given him specific instructions in this regard. Secondly, he understood that he could only get a true formation if they treated him like everyone else. Still, this goal wasn't achieved in all occasions.
Chance determined that a camaraderie formed among them, that almost reached the level of friendship, and that was only interrupted when the Prince finished his training and was sent abroad to learn Diplomacy and other things during the following years. Vargarr didn't see him again until, years later, he was promoted to Major of Central Bor and began to have access to the Royal Palace and some of the circles where the King moved.
The door opened, and three men came out of it. One of them was Devgon, whom he saluted in passing without stopping. There was no problem that people knew they knew each other because, in any case, they had met in public places on several occasions. But it was best than no one perceived
how close they were, especially at this time when important plans were underway.
“Come in, Vargarr. Nice to see you again,” the secretary said while patting him on the back.
Vargarr entered and the Secretary closed the door. They chatted for a while and then the officer took him to a gallery of the palace that was close to the gardens. Vargarr should wait there. The King would pass through there between two of his meetings and the Secretary had told him to stop for a few minutes to talk to him, if his schedule permitted it. They waited.
A while later, the royal party made its appearance in the gallery. Among attendants, butlers, secretaries, and a couple of sycophants, about a dozen people were surrounding the King. When the King finally reached the place where Vargarr was waiting, he greeted him warmly. Then, with a gesture, the King told his party to leave them alone and they left and waited at one end of the gallery while Vargarr and the King sat right there and talked.
“What brings you here, dear friend?” the King said.
“You are always very kind to me, Your Majesty. Thank you very much,” the Major said.
“Oh, let's cut the formalities, shall we? I don't have much time, I'm afraid,” the monarch said.
“Sure. I'll cut to the chase. We want to make some military maneuvers in the Mositus mark. Besides the troops of the Mark, some detachments from Bor County will participate,” Vargarr explained.
“I understand. And you come to me because General Bellish doesn't approve,” the King said.
“We really haven't requested permission yet, because we already know the answer. He always opposes to these things. I fear that this leaves the Army unprepared to respond to a possible invasion. That's why we want to do it. They're just a few practices. They don't hurt anyone,” the Major argued.
“Bellish always says that we could provoke the orcs in the process,” the King said.
“The orcs don't need to be provoked. I say that sooner or later we will face them, and my responsibility is to make sure we're ready. Also, I give you my personal guarantee that at any moment, not a single soldier of the maneuvers will approach within three leagues of the border,” Vargarr said.
“I understand. Ok, you have my approval. One of my secretaries will give you a certificate to present to Bellish. To calm the old man, we'll include in the certificate what you mentioned about the minimum distance to the border. You are responsible for it,” the King concluded.
After making a gesture to one of his secretaries, and giving them brief instructions, he said goodbye to Vargarr and continued his way through the Palace, surrounded again by this numerous party.
CHAPTER 10: TRUTHS AND SECRETS
The next morning was chilly. Cold dew covered most of the grass. The breathing of the horses could be seen clearly in the air. One by one they all approached the fire, which had remained overnight, to feel some heat. Ithelas was preparing a soup with some herbs for breakfast. The taste of it was better than Erion expected and he especially appreciated that it was quite hot. This comforted him.
“How do you feel?” Ithelas asked as he offered him a second pot of soup.
“I feel good. Sleeping helped, I guess,” Erion said as he brought his bowl so Ithelas could serve him again.
“I'm glad. It was lucky that we could treat you almost immediately after that monster bite,” Ithelas reasoned.
“Yes. By the way, I haven't thanked you. What was this concoction you gave me? I think that was what really made me feel better,” Erion inquired.
“It was a neutralizer. It stops the spreading of the venom in the nervous system and helps the body expel it through its pores. I prepare it myself with three herbs,” Ithelas explained.
He was starting to like the young man. He seemed very friendly and helpful. Maybe it was a true vocation. Most of the people who became clerics sought the protection of an order to be able to make a living and secure a job for their entire life. Others chose that path because of vagrancy. In some orders, you could find work as a pastor in a church, where normally there was little to do. But few, perhaps a minority, had true vocation to the service of the community and of course, to their god.
“Before starting this mission we must clarify some things,” Thost remarked, catching everyone's attention.
The man knew how to talk. He was obviously used to it.
“We haven't come here to form a single group by choice. Somehow, it has been literally imposed on us, and I want to know if anyone has a problem with all of us working together,” the knight asked.
Thost paused and looked at everyone present. Samar started speaking.
“It sounds like a dangerous mission and I agree that if we work together we will have more possibilities. But I think we should set some rules first. I trust my life in Thost or Ithelas at any time. But I just met you,” the elf explained.
“I think we'll make a good group together. Think of the spiders. I think we wouldn't have survived without your help. And surely you wouldn't have as well. I'm glad to be working together on this,” Ithelas reasoned.
Now it was Erion and Mithir's turn. The young magician spoke next. As usual Erion reproduced his brother's comments with his voice.
“Everyone in this group has different skills. Our client certainly had this in mind when he chose us. The reward indicates that the mission is very important to him and, therefore, has inconvenienced himself to create this group,” Mithir described. “I have been thinking about the spiders. I think they served an additional purpose, other than testing us as a group.”
“And what would that be?” Thost said.
“As Ithelas said, we could only survive an encounter like that fighting side by side. That forced us to start working together even before we knew each other's names. A bond of cooperation formed between us, although at this stage it is still very fragile. A single episode of intrigues and lies between us, just one misunderstanding, and this confidence is fully dissipated and the mission, and the group itself, will be in serious danger.”
“The magician is right. We must learn to trust each other if we are to succeed. It is very important to be honest, especially in everything related to this mission. I think we should explain what exactly is what we want, what we want to accomplish,” Ithelas requested.
After looking at each other for a moment, Ithelas decided to break the ice.
“I'm seeking two things. The first, and most important thing, is to help and support my father. The second is that, with my reward, I can make a contribution to my Order. The finances haven’t been well lately, and that severely limits how and when we can help the community,” Ithelas explained, sincerely.
Erion decided to take the floor. So far, he had only talked to serve as a spokesman for Mithir.
“Even though I don't disregard a good adventure, the real goal for me is the money. I would like to be rich someday. This is difficult to achieve just by working as a merchant, so that's why my brother and I accept occasional jobs.”
Erion paused and looked at the rest of the group before continuing.
“I have a second objective, which I've been going around in my head. I didn't like the ambush that Phoroz sent us at all. But, without going into what his motives were, I have to assess that in the two years that we have been doing errands for him, this is the first time that something like this has happened. I think that it was an exception that won't happen again. Assuming this hypothesis, I will comment that Phoroz has been a good customer so far. He always pays on time and the rewards are reasonable and proportional to the extent of the work. I would, in principle, like him to be happy with our work and continue receiving large jobs in the future,” Erion explained, telling them only a part of their true motives.
“The reward is definitely a good one,” Samar said, after a moment of indecision. “But what interests me is the adventure itself. Although it's not part of the job, I would love the opportunity to kill a vampire. Those creatures are a terrible plague. My people fought them for centuries in the Sec
ond Age. Now it seems like a nightmare of the past because there hasn’t been any news of their presence in Ellis for a long time; at least since my birth. This may be one the few occasions where I'll have a rival up to par with my archery.”
“One of the first things we have to do is informing ourselves and learn everything we can about vampires,” said Mithir. “To my knowledge, an arrow won't do any harm. There are only two or three ways to kill a vampire. I read something somewhere, but I can't remember the details. Moreover, I think that while it is important that we have a plan prepared, the best and most prudent thing would be to follow Phoroz's advice and try to avoid an encounter with the monster.”
“Well, it seems that there is a slight difference of opinion on what to do with the vampire. Let's do this. Let's follow the young magician's advice and collect as much information as we can about these monsters, while we prepare for the mission. Once we have all the details we can gather, and before leaving for our destination, we can sit again and agree on strategies and objectives. It is important that we agree and act together, if we want to survive,” Thost argued, and after a pause asked. “Do we all agree?”
Everyone agreed to postpone the decision, hoping to gather more information. Mithir spoke again.
“Regarding to what I want, I'd say three things. The first is to help my brother. The second is the reward in itself. Some of the things I like are very expensive: magical reagents, books of sorcery, wands and other artifacts. I would also like to have my own lab someday. All of this can cost a fortune. A reward like this doesn't even give me enough to start. But I'm young and I have time,” explained the magician.