by Scott Warren
“Thanks,” I said. I tried not to shake as I climbed to my feet.
I stood and nodded to the two guards. “Take me to him.
Chapter 8
The inside of the fortress was much like the exterior, dark and dusty with lots of sharp angles and looming shadows. Old tattered banners hung from splintered polearms overhead as the guards led me into the Dark Lord Emperor’s throne room. On it sat the man himself, encased in black full-plate with a flowing sable cloak and a helmet crowned with dark gems. To his right was the royal vizier, whose presence gave me pause. The gaunt man was in flowing black robes, and a small gyrfalcon perched on his shoulder. Both squinted at me with similar interest.
The Dark Lord Emperor climbed to his feet. “Arturus Flamewakener, we meet at last. Long have I awaited this day,” he said, stepping down from the throne. Lightning crashed outside the high windows.
The guards nudged me forward with a prod from the butt of their polearms. I rubbed my back where they poked and looked up at the Dark Lord Emperor. “Really? I put it off as long as I could.”
“But you see,” said the Dark Lord Emperor, “You cannot kill me. For there is a secret you don’t yet know.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I didn’t plan on killing you. That’s literally never been my plan.”
“You see, your old master never told you what happened to your father,” the armored emperor continued, ignoring my responses.
I felt like we were having two entirely different conversations. “I didn’t really stick around long enough for him to tell me much of anything,” I said. “But I’m pretty sure I know where this is going.”
“No, I am your father!” the Dark Lord Emperor proclaimed. More lightning.
“Yeah I kinda figured.”
The Dark Lord Emperor finally paused. “Y-you did?”
I nodded. “I mean, the first thing people called me was Arturus Kingson. Kind of gives the whole thing away, doesn’t it?”
My father, the Dark Lord Emperor backed away a step. “That’s not true, it’s impossible!”
“Cut the crap. You have to admit it’s kind of obvious,” I said. This time the lightning crashed for me. And honestly? It was kind of fun, I could see why the Dark Lord Emperor enjoyed it.
The Dark Lord Emperor ran his hand over the top of his helmet, a gesture eerily like the one I had just made. “So, you knew?” he asked. He actually sounded disappointed, as if I’d ruined his big reveal.
“Look, it’s not all bad. Now I can join you, and we can rule the Empire as father and son.”
The Dark Lord Emperor looked away for a moment. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that,” he mumbled. He snapped his fingers at his vizier. “Rahim, what do you advise?”
“Behead the little worm!” Rahim hissed.
The Dark Lord Emperor nodded. “Both good ideas. I need some time to decide. In the meantime, take this would-be Dark Lord Prince to the dungeons, and kill him if he tries to escape.”
Fifty-fifty odds of keeping my head were the best chances I’d had in years. I grinned at the guards as they clapped heavy irons on my wrists and frog-marched me underneath the Dark Lord Emperor’s fortress.
Chapter 9
No prison has ever managed to hold me, but I resolved that this one would. At least until the Dark Lord Emperor made his decision.
The warden opened my cell and raised a key to my manacles.
“Don’t you want to leave these on?” I asked.
The warden tapped a finger to the side of his nose. “Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary, young lord. This is our most impenetrable cell. You’re quite secure in here, no one’s ever escaped.”
I shrugged and walked inside. The cell was a mix of masoned stonework and natural cave and looked to be meant to hold several prisoners. My only other company was a skeleton leaning against the wall, wrists still held in cuffs secured to an anchor in the stone. The warden tried to close the door behind me several times, but the latch didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Eventually he tied it off with a bit of loose twine and leaned a rock against it to give the appearance of it being closed and locked.
“Now don’t you make no attempt,” said the warden, winking rather more than was necessary.
“I won’t,” I said, and sat on the bench.
“That’s good,” wink, “because I didn’t catch much shut-eye last night.” Wink, “And I’ve got a few pints here to help pass the time.”
The warden moved the table over a few feet, then gauged the distance to my cell and moved it another foot closer. I think it was just far enough that I’d have to come up with some clever contrivance to reach him from between the bars. Once the warden was satisfied, he sat down with his ale and set to reading a copy of the Dark Empire’s extensive binding laws and regulations.
I crossed my arms and waited. Sure enough, it wasn’t but a few minutes until his head lolled back and his snores echoed up and down the hall. His keyring fell out of his pocket, thumping on the dusty floor just out of reach. Not that I needed it, since my cell had never been locked in the first place. I sighed, rubbed my temples, and pressed my back against the column to wait.
I didn’t have to wait long. A wet cackling began to issue from one dark corner of the cell, and out shambled a grey-bearded hunchback. He had a walking stick almost as crooked as his spine but not nearly so crooked as his teeth, which seemed at a loss for any unified direction or color. I was quite sure that corner had been empty when I’d come in.
“Ah, my young friend. Fate has brought us together. I have a proposition for you.”
I waited.
“You wish to topple the Dark Lord Emperor. I have the means; it lies within a secret temple.”
“And for some reason you need me to get it for you.”
“Just so, and the rewards will be beyond your wildest dreams,” said the old man, and he tapped out a sequence on the stones with his stick.
The wall slid away, revealing a vast red desert of rolling dunes beneath the sun setting in a sky full of stars. I stared at the hole, and then back at the old man. “Are you kidding me?” I asked.
The geezer cackled again. “I assure you, the treasure is quite real.”
“No, I meant that,” I said, pointing to the desert. “The Capital is on a plateau in the middle of a forest. There’s not even a desert within a hundred miles of here.”
The old man shifted uncomfortably.
“Plus, I came at mid-morning,” I said, pointing to the cell opposite us. “Look, there’s a window over there. Not only is it not sunset, but it’s completely overcast.”
I crossed my arms. “Besides, your hump just adjusted itself. And your beard has hooks in it. I’m pretty sure you’re the vizier in disguise. It’s a well-known fact that all viziers eventually betray their masters.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” the old man protested, but a tiny voice whispered from under his shirt, “Rahim, he’s on to us!”
I turned my back on the pair. “I’m quite content to wait, thank you.”
There was a quiet argument behind, then nothing. When I looked again I was alone in the cell once more. Annoyingly, the opening to wherever was still there. I leaned a loose board over the hole, so I wouldn’t have to think about it and tried to sleep. I must have been successful because the next thing I remembered was the warden shouting that I’d escaped.
It took almost a minute to get his attention as he looked for me everywhere except my cell. But once he saw me he calmed down. “The Dark Lord Emperor is calling for you,” he said.
I undid the twine and pushed the door open, sliding the rock across the dirt. “About time.”
He offered to walk me back up to the throne room, but he really did look tired, so I assured him I could find my own way. Once I navigated the twisting tunnels I found the throne room in much the same state that I’d left it, with the Dark Lord Emperor brooding in his throne.
“Arturus Kingson. I am conflicted. I have
considered your suggestion, but I can’t let you enter my service without first proving your worth. My advisors have counseled that I give you some quest or trial.”
“Can I offer a suggestion?” I asked.
The Dark Lord Emperor shrugged. “That seems expedient.”
I nodded. “How about I root out corruption in your ranks. If I expose a plot against you would that work?”
The Dark Lord Emperor climbed to his feet. “That would indeed be an adequate service to me.”
I pointed to the vizier. “He’s plotting to overthrow you,” I said. Lightning and thunder crashed outside the fortress.
Chapter 10
Preposterous, Rahim is my loyal servant,” said my Dark Lord Dad.
“He’s a vizier,” I said.
“So?”
“So?!” I demanded. “Why do you even have a vizier? You’re not a Sultan or a Caliph.”
“I…” said the Dark Lord Emperor, and then stopped. He turned to Rahim. “Why do I have a vizier?” he asked.
“Because you are a fool,” Rahim snarled, raising his and hand and pointing his index finger at my father. He began to chant a spell at the Dark Lord Emperor, but I was ready. I pulled the None Ring out of my pocket and flicked it in his general direction. For some reason the artifact is attracted to extended fingers. The thing just loves being worn, I suppose. It changed direction midair and shot directly onto Rahim’s hand. Everyone in the throne room except him vanished. The vizier stopped, caught off guard, and looked at the now empty throne room. I had already covered most of the distance before he realized things were not going as he planned, and I sunk my fist so hard into his midsection that the None Ring popped off and dropped flat on the floor at his feet without even bouncing. He doubled over, eyes bulging as he wheezed. I grabbed the now-visible gyrfalcon from his shoulder.
“Fess up, or I’ll brain your little bird noggin,” I said, shaking the falcon.
The gyrfalcon squawked, flapping its wings to no avail. “It’s true! Forgive me, Prince Arturus! I didn’t want to, but he made me! I’ll tell you everything!”
“I think I’ve seen enough,” said the Dark Lord Emperor, descending from his throne and approaching Rahim. “Take him down and see that he gets his reward.”
Lightning streaked across the sky outside the window.
“His eternal reward.”
Epilogue
With the position of vizier vacant I offered my services. Having proven myself, my Dark Lord Dad accepted, and I even got a free bird out of the deal. It turned out that the Dark Lord Emperor wasn’t terribly interested in the day-to-day running of the empire, so I was able to enact several policy changes to better the citizens and provide better healer services for the Imperial Army, as well as hire a decorator to redo the fortress interior.
Mara had suggested that I make overthrowing my father impossible, but the problem is that when it comes to prophecy nothing is impossible. What I had done instead by usurping Rahim was make it inevitable. After all, it’s a well-known fact that all viziers eventually betray their masters. It seemed to have worked, as fate stopped pushing and pulling me toward magic swords, and mysterious figures could now enjoy a drink without the threat of violent death hanging over them. Princesses became less common as well, aside from the ones that visited the fortress. I felt no ill will toward the Dark Lord Emperor. He was as much a victim of these legends as I was. Still, after a few years of ruling by proxy I overthrew him right to a retirement village in the southern part of the country. He’s still there. Dark Lord Dad spends his days riding horses, polishing his armor, and recruiting the local boys to harass the caretakers. It turns out he’s happier without having to worry about me gallivanting around the countryside raising rabble and riots.
As for Mara, she stuck around for a while. I did owe her a new sword after all, after she lost the Sword of Half-Truth protecting me. And I happened to know of a blade lodged in a church yard nearby.
The End.