Myst raised an eyebrow at Ious, “Leed on Captain…”
“Damien Favier, adjutant for the Lord High Constable, I have a RC coach to take us.”
Myst nodded his head, “Then leed on Captain Favier, to your Royal Constabulary coach…”
It took them quickly to the Grenelle neighbourhood in southwestern part of the city, to an alley off Avenue Nelaton, a pair of city watchmen in blue guarded the entrance directing passersby away from the area. Near by a larger group dressed in the more formal grey uniforms of the Royal Constabulary stood by looking important, and as the coach pulled up they suddenly attempted to look more alert and engaged in their duty... .
Captain Favier led them to a rubbish can at the end of the cobbles, the body of a female Wild Elf lay nude, broken, and eviscerated. A RC detective and a surgeon from the Royal Hospital in leather smock stood to one side looking at them questioningly.
“Let me guess,” Myst said, “the heart, liver, and ovaries are missing, or partly consumed…?”
Both elves jumped at that, “How… Yes, yes that is correct,” replied the surgeon, “Expertly removed.”
Ser Ious shook his head sadly, “He feeds on them…”
The others looked at him now, “The Dark Lord.” The blood seemed to drain from the faces of the elves within hearing.
Myst squatted next to her body, both careful not to disturb anything and in respectful for the creature of light who had been so brutalised, “Does anyone recognise her,” he asked? When no one answered, he continued, “She will have been a prostitute, a street worker, they prefer them.”
“Ser, why is that,” asked Captain Favier?
Myst looked to Ious, who answered, “it feeds on the life force as well as the organs, and a street prostitute will have many males in a day, so they will not be polluted by Xe, he does not like that at all, it's why they choose low level prostitutes, usually at the end of their ‘day’.”
“That,” Myst added, “and they are the ones most likely not to be missed, or reported missing, or cared about…”
“How do we stop a Dark Lord,” the RC detective asked.
Ious turned to him, “You don’t. The Constabulary’s Knight-Justicar’s have a Special Intervention Group detachment that will try to destroy him.”
Myst glanced at Captain Favier who nodded, “They are being staged for deployment now, and there are additional special assets from the Military Intelligence Service searching the city for signs of the creature.”
Myst bowed his head and told her farewell, “Navaer neth, neledh Eru. Gûr lín ú-eritha hîdh bor vi taur...” (farewell sister, go to God. Thy heart shall rest in the forest no more…)
Standing he and Ious shared a silent look, a promise of vengeance. “Now Captain Favier, if you could drop us off on your way back, we have someone to meet.”
As Myst was climbing into the RC carriage, Shen Ramzes was waiting on the rooftop of the building above the alleyway. She sat behind the sights of a compound crossbow looking down at the group of Sun Elves. She had been waiting for a while, since the prison break, and she was cold, yet well hidden by her magic and a cloak of shadows that helped her remain unseen. When her prey had arrived she had taken the crossbow bolt, dipped the steel bolt head in a glass vile of poison from the Night Cobra, and to assure the kill she had cast multiple Death Magic spells on it, to insure the kill if the initial wound or poison failed, not that it was remotely likely, but failure was not something the Dark Lord would accept, not after he had baited the trap himself...
Light wisps of smoke from the cities fireplaces and cooking fires drifted on a almost negligible wind. The sun was high overhead in a clear almost cloudless sky, so she was careful not to cast a shadow the prey would notice. She had pulled back her mass of smoke black dreadlocks and tied them with a black silk cord. A last check using just her eyes to check the kill zone, “no movement or shadows in any of the windows across the street, the grey and blue slate roof tops were clear, passersby below, but no one was looking up, not even their police..., sheep,” she thought.
Her lower peripheral sight caught the movement of the target returning to the coach, her breathing slowed, she took up the slack on the trigger, a moment more and he would pause climbing the step, framed beautifully… “now,” she squeezed the mechanism released and the bolt shot away true to its target.
Myst sent a wave of Earth Magic to check the area as he was leaving, the thought of a Dark Lord making him paranoid, his foot slipped on the metal step as the magic told him of the threat above and behind him on the roof and he changed his direction with a backward lunge.
“Thud!” The metal bolt head splintered wooden door of the coach, punching thru into the carriage.
The shouts of “Wear the roof,” and “assassin!” Broke the quiet as the constables rushed to surround the building.
“You can get off me Ious...”
Ious hopped up, drawing his sword, “sorry--- I must have triped…”
Myst gave him a grim smile as he gained his feet, “Sure must have, but thanks.” He looked to his right, “The shooter is now across the alley on that roof.”
“That building,” shouted Captain Favier pointing to the building Myst had indicated.
The City Watchmen were blowing their shrill brass whistles calling for help and more watch and constables were running down the street in their direction.
Myst had drawn his sword and dashed toward the building, he flung out his left hand and a blast of green magic took the door out of its frame. Myst did not pause as he rushed thru into the building, derelict he noticed, stairs to the right… Ious was behind him as they raced up the stairs to the third floor.
“Which way,” Ious gasped looking around instantly taking in, “long single room with large windows spaced every yard or so on both sides, peeling formerly white but greying plaster walls exposing red bricks, thick old dusty plank wood floors, small round table with chairs, a few chest, papers strewn across the floor,...”
Myst ran to the right of the stairway and found a door leading up to the roof, they dashed up flung themselves thru onto a landing between roofs, a steep pitched grey wood shingled roof behind them, a sheer brick wall before, the wooden landing filled with debris, old pots, a milk pail, an old cargo rope hung carelessly from metal hooks in the brick…
Myst sent a wave of magic out searching, there were so many elves in the area showing up in his head… “The white building maybe” he nodded at a building across another ally, shrugged, sheathed his sword in a quick motion and took off running, and leaped… and made the tall open window sill of the floor below the one he had jumped from, and tumbled across the floor into a room the twin of the one across the street. A crossbow bolt slammed into the wall behind him as Ious tumbled into the room behind him. Myst sprang up drawing his weapon, as he saw Shen Ramzes across the room in the midst of casting a spell, a mass of black fire churned in her grasp. She was too far away for him to reach before she finished.
Ious sprang to his feet and released a dagger in one fluid motion. Shen Ramzes staggered back, her spell interrupted as the dagger protruded from her shoulder. She scowled at Ious, and hissed a vile curse in the dark speech, Myst charged at her but she had pulled a spell gem from her belt and crushed it disappearing in a flash of black magic.
“She’s going to hold that against you…” Myst joked.
“Blagh, I hope that’s the only thing thing she holds against me, as she is the first truly unattractive elf I have ever come across!”
“Her, Shen Ramzes that is, her physical appearance in the nicest thing about her, the rest is markedly less pleasant… But you are right about that, now her killing partner is a different matter altogether, Paras Korfu is a man killer in more ways than one, and if one is here, bet the other is too.”
“Thanks, I think I’ll pass on both of them, my wife is annoyed enough with me as it is...” Ious replied still looking at the place where the Shadow Elf assassin had disappeared. “Those
teleport gems are frightfully rare and expensive…”
“I think making her use it pissed her off more than your dagger did,” Myst walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Come on, let's find the Captain and get out of here.”
~
Their first stop was Princess Dominique Sundragon residence, it was across from the city island and near to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was certainly rather grand, as in a big castle like structure, not in attractiveness, and not really a palace in that only military regiments as well as the city watch and a prison were housed there..., and royalty showed up only in the direst of emergencies as it enjoyed a rather sinister and unpleasant reputation.
Princess Dominique Sundragon also did not live there, but on the other side of the quay from the Grand Palace, next to the Grand-Pont bridge and built into the side of the city canal about fifteen feet below street level, was a fortified tower the size of a reasonable large mansion, looking to Myst like a boxy wedding cake. That is were Princess Dominique lived, one because she wanted her own independence, and secondly and significantly more importantly, the Princess wanted to be an Archmage and tended to blow things up or at least set them on fire, and this was the safest place the Emperor could find to house her.
They stopped before what Myst could only describe as a ship's gangway that went from the quayside street level to the second floor opening in the tower. It was about twenty feet long suspended over the canal bank. Before the ‘gangway’ stood a half dozen guards in House Sundragons colors; the black silk caps that Myst thought looked like a bag on their heads, and with dark goldish brown breeches with gold stripe inserts, a thick dark gold leather jerkin, but underneath a short balloon sleeved shirt of thick gold, red, and silver stripes. Those last Myst assumed were the personal colors of the princess.
“A princess lives here,” Ser Ious asked incredulously.
Myst gave him a shrug, “a strange one by all accounts, I don’t know her well.”
“By that you mean you haven't slept with her…”
Myst shrugged again, “not that I recall,” then approached the guard with the black and yellow braided cord tied around his waist.
“Ser Mystros Sunstar to see the Princess Dominique.” He told them grandly.
One of the guards turned and hustled across the ‘gangway,’ it swayed slightly as he crossed and disappeared into a heavy wood and iron door.
“A couple school girls could hold this building against a company of Imperial Guards,” Ious whispered. “And with that box tower on top you could see anyone approaching for blocks, she must have a great view from her bedroom windows.”
“That’s true, but more important is the safety to the city if the princess decided to blow the place up practicing her Air Magic.”
“Is she that powerful,” Ious asked him.
“Kayla says she is above Master Level, as well as being driven to achieving greater power, and somewhat recklessly arrogant, so the blowing up is definitely a possibility…”
A few minutes of standing there and the guard returned with a dark haired female Sun Elf, in a dress the same colors as the guards shirts, came out to them, “Welcome Ser’s, I am Princess Dominique Castellan, please follow me.”
She led them up the bridge and into the building, it was about a hundred feet long and about fifty wide, five large two story windows overlooked the canal and the city island beyond. The room looked much like most grand salons, only it had a much more masculine feel, no six shades of marble covered in gold leaf here, this was dark wood and old leather.
The most unusual thing about the room, and it had both Myst and Ious doing a double take and nearly stopping short, was what they both would have described as a giant glass fish bowl turned upside down. Inside standing among bottles, chalices and other laboratory paraphernalia, an elf stood at a work table, a stunningly beautiful elf with ringlets of curly dark strawberry gold blonde hair, a book in one hand and the other held up with a ball of turquoise fire dancing above her fingers.
The Castellan, led them to a seating area off to one side and bade them sit on a leather and brass nailhead sofa, “Please wait here, my mistress will be with you..., shortly.” She walked away to a desk on the other side of the room between a staircase leading to the upper levels and another going below.
“I didn't like the way she said ‘shortly,’“ Ious told him in a low pitched voice.
Myst grunted affirmatively, “we may be here awhile.”
“What is the princess wearing?”
Myst had been wondering the same thing, she had on a full dress, black with a blacker shade of black trim, three quarter length sleeves, and a full bodice, with no cutouts or plunging necklines that plunged below her waist as was the trend.... “Well Ser Ious, if your where a cultured elf and not a provincial hayseed, you would know that…, it looks like she’s wearing a gnome dress, only cut a few sizes larger they normally tend to be.That has to be the most conservatively modest thing I have ever seen a female elf wear.”
Ious gave him a mildly dirty look, “Skut. She even has her belly button covered, isnt that bad luck? ”
“Ture, but then why did you just call her a skut?”
“I called you a skut…”
Myst quickly stood and gracefully bowed “Your Highness,” a surprised Ser Ious hurried to emulate him, while simutainiuly giving Myst the evil eye, not haven seen her approach as Myst had. “Pay back brother,” he thought, and the smile of Myst face told him Myst knew exactly what he was thinking…
“What, is it that you wish of me Ser Sunstar.” Princess Dominique asked with a regal chill. She didn't even bother to acknowledge or look at Ser Ious, and strangely enough Ser Ious was fine with that.
“I feel like a mouse the cat does not see”, he thought ruefully.
Myst took a breath, “His Imperial Majesty has asked me to look into a mystery involving a Dark Lord in Palantar meeting with a noble Sun Elf lady…” Myst went on to explain leaving out the detail on what the Sun Elf Lady had on her signet ring, only telling her it was a high blood signet.”
She had sat on a leather chair across from the sofa that had to Myst the look of a throne, particularly with her sitting in it. She had not given them permission to sit, so they stood before her.
“Well Ser Myst… As I’m sure you know there are eight Archdukes and seventeen dukes, between them they have,” she paused briefly thinking, “Sixty nine, wives and daughters who could have been your suspect. And they are all in the city now for the Imperial Birthday celebration.” She frowned slightly, “Oh, and if you include The Family, then seventy two, with my aunt, sister and myself.” She held up her left hand and the black on yellow dragon topped with a crown signet that looked exactly like the one he had seen, even the skin tone on her hand was right.
“Does, your Highness suspect anyone of them who might be willing to treat with the Shadow ELves?”
She stood up, “I believe it is time for you and Ser Ious to leave,” she commanded, “If there is anything I think you should know I will have you informed.” She swept away like a majestic ship of state, as they bowed.
“Damn, she knows my name,” Ser Ious told him as they left.
Myst broke into laughter, “a dangerous thing to be sure… But maybe she just thinks you're an idiot.”
“I doubt I’m that lucky.”
Myst looked over at him with a serious expression, “So do I.”
~
The Imperial Palace was magnificently huge, it’s western facade an immense two hundred ninety yards long, done in a early baroque-style, Myst had been told the rooms alone totaled 1,304,600 square feet of space set in a series of buildings with a massive park like courtyard and another beautiful park to the west of the palace.
Myst hoped that today he could miss a trip to the Grand Dome and the Swan Throne, it would impress Ious he knew, but he was not ready to see the Emperor, not that he or most sain elves ever was ready to see the Emperor, not if they were smart....
They were wandering behind a page in white silk through one of the great galleries, massive golden columns set in twos lined the way holding up a vaulted dome-like ceiling decorated with statues of gold; angels and nymph frolicked and above them in masterwork painted scenes achingly beautiful of Avandar, or of kings feasting in times long ago, and elven princess bathing under waterfalls, of the forest sky at night with comets blazing through constellations of stars… and all lit by massive golden chandeliers sparkling with magical candles too numerous to count, giving off a perpetual dazing glow.
Myst whispered to Ious, “Stunning.”
Ious looked over at him, “This? Well, I suppose it's nice enough… Oh, you mean the palace, with you I figured we were talking about the snooty pages rearend, those silk pants are going to burst!”
Myst refrained from laughing out loud when the page who had not bothered to even speak to them, threw back her shoulders at Ious’s comment.
The page stopped before a set of ten foot tall mirrored gold doors, stepped to the side and nodded her head and gestured with her left hand palm out, “His Royal Highness will see you in the White Drawing Room.”
The doors open silently with her last word, before them was an ‘intimate’ room, the coffered gold ceiling soared a good forty feet above, covered in a slightly darker gold diamond pattern. And suspended was a great multilayered crystal chandelier sparkled with light, four smaller versions lit the four corners of the room. Walls of creamy white trimmed in patterned gold leaf was interrupted by faux matching columns and on the far drawing room wall three great windows overlooking the courtyard gardens, on the wall to the right a fireplace, and the wall to the left a great door leading to another chamber, both the fireplace and doors were flanked with ornate mirrors more than twice Myst size, ‘smaller’ gold lamps held onix statues of elven girls dancing, and chairs and couches of gold with gold silk coverings filled the room.
They walked into the middle of the room, standing on a red and gold flowered carpet that Myst thought could be used as a tennis court. He noticed another fireplace on the wall of the door they had entered thru, and a matching door on its other side.
Darkness has Fallen (Elf World Saga Book 2) Page 12