by Chuck Black
Malco was breathing hard, a mixture of fear and great relief on his face. He turned away to recover himself and then turned back to face Ganoaf with an expression of arrogant composure.
“Looks as though your little assassination attempt has failed, Ganoaf,” Malco said with a sneer. “You always were the impetuous fool.”
“Perhaps, Malco, but one moment longer and you would have been dead!”
Malco’s smooth facade momentarily crumbled as Ganoaf’s words hit him. He turned toward the warrior holding one of the blades at Ganoaf’s throat.
“Lowtar, do not completely kill him yet. Just make him wish you had.” Malco turned with an evil smile to face Ganoaf again. “I want to kill him many times.”
“Yes, my lord,” the gruesome warrior replied as he and four other Shadow Warriors brusquely escorted Ganoaf out of Lord Malco’s chamber.
Ganoaf glanced over his shoulder at Carliss, and she feared greatly for him.
“Don’t do this, Malco,” she shouted.
Malco came to Carliss and leaned down closely to her face. He smiled, and the elegance of his evil charm licked at Carliss like a serpent’s tongue. Most would have been hypnotized by his captivating gaze, but Carliss saw into his heart. She was repulsed.
“Ah, Lady Carliss.” Malco glanced toward the doorway. “Do not be so concerned about that imbecile.” He lifted a lock of Carliss’s hair in his hand. “You should be thinking of your own fate. If you like, I can arrange for you to stay here with me… or you can join the other miserable Followers in the pit and suffer their same end.”
Carliss dared to look straight into his eyes. “They have done nothing to you.”
Malco sneered. “It isn’t what they’ve done or have not done, my fair one,” Malco replied. “It is whom they serve. Killing His servants is almost better than killing Him.”
Carliss turned her head away from him and closed her eyes.
Malco chuckled, and the sound caused Carliss to cringe.
“What shall we do with her?” one of the warriors asked. “Is Lowtar to torture her too?”
Carliss looked back at Malco with fiery resolve, and he leaned in close to her face again, peering down into the depths of her soul. He tilted his head slightly. “What is it that makes you special?” he asked with squinted eyes.
Carliss stalled in her resolve, confused by that simple question. What does he mean by that?
Malco gazed a moment longer, then replied to his warrior’s question. “Don’t be so crude, Borad. She is to be my guest for supper tonight. Take her to the dining hall. And do something with… this.” He motioned dismissively toward the body of Baron Karoshi, which lay crumpled at the side of the room.
The warrior hesitated until Malco stared hard at him; then he bowed. “Yes, my lord.”
Carliss was escorted to the dining room and placed in a chair at the end of a long table. The room was adorned with regal tapestries, elaborate moldings, and a variety of artistic pieces that would have fit well in the hall of any king. The wealth of Lord Malco was indeed great, but thinking of Ganoaf’s current predicament kept Carliss from appreciating the splendor of the hall.
After a lengthy wait, Lord Malco entered the hall and sat down at the opposite end of the table.
“Ah… it is good to have such a delightful guest with which to dine.” Malco seemed to have completely recovered from Ganoaf’s assassination attempt. He lifted a goblet of dark wine to his lips. “You must try the wine, my dear. It is exquisite.”
Carliss just stared at him.
“It’s occurred to me that you may not even know what happens in this magnificent castle.”
Malco set the wine down, stood, and crossed the room to where Carliss sat. Chills went up and down her spine as he stood behind her chair and then leaned down and spoke closely into her ear.
“Come, my lady. Let’s tour the castle, shall we? We can have our meal afterward.”
His voice was alluring and repellent at the same time. Carliss closed her eyes and tried to ignore the temptation to shudder. She stood as he pulled her chair away, and he escorted her out of the dining hall. As they exited the hall, two guards at the doorway snapped to attention.
Malco led her down a wide and elaborate hallway decked with expensive-looking statuettes, paintings, and armor displays as well as ornate moldings and columns. He held his arm out for her to take, but she huffed and turned her head away.
“Very well. Perhaps after you’ve seen my wealth and power, you will be a bit more amicable.”
As they walked, Carliss had to keep reminding herself where she was and who she was with, for the castle was pleasing to behold. Carliss had never seen anything as elaborately festooned as Malco’s castle. Every servant they met bowed low before him, and the guards and warriors all snapped immediately to attention when they passed. The great hall of the castle was breathtaking, far surpassing Karoshi’s, with an arching painted ceiling and grand ivory pillars standing guard to a massive marbled chamber.
“Your wealth is great indeed, Malco,” Carliss said as she gazed up at the fabulously ornate ceiling. “The esca crystals…how do you make them?” Her voice echoed in the great hall as she turned to look into his eyes.
Malco stopped and turned to face her. He squinted as though he was trying to discern her sincerity. Then he slowly smiled, and Carliss knew he could not resist an opportunity to boast of his greatness, even if he didn’t fully believe she was being influenced.
“So you’ve already learned of the source of my wealth,” he said. “Come with me.”
They exited the great hall and walked through a series of corridors and chambers until they reached what must be the heart of the castle. They entered a curved hallway that encircled another great chamber. Warriors standing guard at two massive doors snapped to attention as they approached.
“Have they begun yet?” Malco asked.
“Just now,” one of the warriors replied.
Malco looked at Carliss. “Now you shall see my secret to great power—power my Vinceros enjoy, and power you could enjoy too, Lady Carliss, if you are willing.”
Carliss looked at Malco and then to the doors, wondering what great mystery waited on the other side… wondering if she dared even look upon that which made evil even greater.
THE SECRET OF LORD MALCO AND MOORUE
Malco nodded, and the two guards opened the doors to the mysterious great chamber. As Carliss and Malco entered, the piercing squeals of a large hog filled the room. Carliss looked on in wonder as a barred cage holding the animal was slowly lowered by a winch through a wide opening in the floor of the chamber. A supervisor stood on a platform just at the edge of the opening and gave orders to the two men who were working the winch. White-clothed servants stood near a platform waiting for something. Around the opening in the floor were hundreds of tightly spaced barbed projections pointing to the center where the cage was, and just above them were two dozen brightly burning lamps. Carliss could just see the top portion of a wide circular staircase winding its way down into the darkness. A locked trapdoor apparently gave access to the staircase.
At first Carliss thought the opening in the center of the chamber encircled some darkened dungeon below. But then she realized there was no dungeon below at all. The chamber opened directly onto the swamp of Moorue—the abode of the esca lizards. The darkness must mean that dusk had already fallen.
Squealing echoed through the chamber once again as the hog began to charge the bars of the cage in panic. The sound unnerved Carliss.
“What’s happening?” she asked Malco.
Malco had been smiling ever since they entered the chamber, and Carliss couldn’t suppress the shudder that convulsed her back and neck muscles at his evident glee.
“We are milking the esca lizards,” he said. “Watch.”
The lower portion of the cage entered the shadow of darkness where the light of the lamps could not reach, and the rope that held the cage began to sway from the poor hog�
�s failed escape attempts. Soon the rope was all that Carliss could see, and the squeals of the hog were mixed with an eerie and familiar sound. Carliss backed away at the sound, but Malco grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.
“There’s nothing to fear, Lady Carliss. The lizards live in the shadows and do not come into the light. You are safe,” he said, seeming to enjoy her discomfort.
The men on the winch continued to lower the cage until the taut rope became limp, indicating that the cage had reached the ground below. The hissing sounds of a hundred esca lizards filled the chamber, and the panicked squeals of the hog transformed into bellows of pain. After a few moments, the hog became silent, but the hissing lizards did not.
The supervisor ordered the winch to be raised, and the men on the winch worked much faster to raise the cage than they had to lower it. Each clank of the winch brought apprehension to Carliss. She could hardly bear to see the final state of the poor creature, yet she could not look away.
As the top of the cage pierced the light, she caught a glimpse of movement in the murky darkness below. The cage continued to sway in jerky motions, and the hissing of the esca lizards rose in volume. Soon all but the lower portion of the cage was visible, and Carliss saw hundreds of snakelike movements in the darkness.
A few more clanks of the winch brought the prone form of the hog into the light, and the hisses of the esca lizards turned to shrieks of anger. Carliss watched in amazement as hundreds of six-legged lizards scurried from the hog and through the bars of the cage, leaping to the swamp below. The tail of one lizard was pinned beneath the fallen hog. It thrashed violently to free itself, the poisonous antennae barbs striking repeatedly at the hog’s massive body. This caused quite a stir among the supervisor and the white-clothed servants. Suddenly the lizard shrieked, bolted through the bars of the cage, and disappeared into the darkness below, leaving its tail beneath the hog.
“They’re vicious little creatures aren’t they?” Malco said with a gleam in his eye.
The cage was raised to a platform where the white-clothed servants worked quickly to remove the hog.
“See the welts on the animal?” Malco asked.
Carliss peered closer and saw hundreds of pairs of swollen marks on the skin of the hog. She also saw teeth marks and torn flesh between each welt—the identical markings she had seen on Dalton.
“The welts are caused by the esca poison. My men must work quickly to extract it before it diffuses into the body of the hog.”
Carliss realized that all of her muscles were taut from having witnessed this strange event. She took a deep breath and tried to relax.
Malco walked toward the other side of the chamber, where his servants loaded the hog onto a wheeled cart. He motioned for Carliss to follow. She joined him, knowing that if she somehow survived her visit to Malco’s castle, anything she learned would be useful.
They followed the men into another chamber, which reminded her a bit of Petolemew’s study. A strange array of instruments was used to extract the poison from the hide of the hog. Dozens of men worked quickly, filling small mortars with the bright yellow fluid.
“This is only the first step in a very complicated process,” Malco said proudly.
“A process you stole from someone else,” Carliss said without thinking.
Malco looked at Carliss as though he wanted to strike her. She imagined that no one in this castle ever dared speak to him in such a way. He grimaced, then smiled.
“I have refined what was once a very crude and unusable process. The poison in its raw form is quite deadly and dries up within a day or two. It was necessary to find a way to transform it into this.”
Malco lifted a small bowl from a table nearby and poured some of its contents into his hand. He held it for Carliss to see. In his palm was a small pile of sparkling clear crystals, each one the size of a kernel of wheat. Light from the nearby lamps gleamed off the faces of the crystals, and Carliss was amazed. They were beautiful.
“The crystals can be ground up into powder and dissolved in water, making paradise as simple as drinking from a flask. A more powerful effect is gained by putting the crystals directly beneath one’s tongue. The results are vivid and immediate.”
Malco picked one of the small crystals and held it before Carliss.
“Place one of these beneath your tongue for a moment, and you can open your eyes to a world of delight.” Malco’s deep blue eyes gazed into Carliss’s like those of a serpent hypnotizing its prey.
“May I see the rest of your process?” Carliss asked quickly. She looked across the chamber through a set of open doors that led to a much larger room. She caught glimpses of tables, instruments, cisterns, and vessels of all shapes and sizes. The room was full of people working busily at a variety of tasks.
Malco’s nostril’s flared. He put the crystals back into the bowl.
“Do you really think I would show you all of my secrets?” he asked with a smirk.
Malco escorted Carliss back to the dining hall and seated her back in her chair. Then he clapped his hands, and servants brought in trays of food that would have been the envy of the wealthiest lords in all of Arrethtrae—roasted game hens, spiced mutton, roast pork, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and soup that filled the air with an aroma that beckoned one’s tongue to taste of it.
Carliss’s stomach began to howl in hunger, for it had been a very long time since she ate. But she hesitated as she thought of Ganoaf somewhere in the bowels of the castle. In an instant, her hunger was blunted by a wave of anger—for Ganoaf, for the Followers of the haven who had been taken captive or worse, and for the countless lives that Malco was destroying through the esca powder.
Malco returned to his chair and took a deep drink from his wine-filled goblet.
“Come my dear, don’t be so foolish as to refuse such delicious food. Dine with me.” Malco lifted a slab of mutton to his mouth and tore away a large piece of it with his teeth.
“I’ll not drink or eat any of your food, Malco.” Carliss crossed her arms in defiance. “All of your gain comes at the cost of innocent lives.”
Malco laughed through a mouth full of meat. “Those who purchase the Waters of Moorue are not innocent. Of their own free will they choose to partake. I force no one.”
Malco tore a game hen in half and took a large bite. “No, my dear Carliss, what you see here is simply the beauty of economic advantage. And I, in return, give people great pleasure whenever they want it.”
Malco stopped chewing and stared at Carliss for a moment. “I am told that you experienced the effect of my crystals once. Tell me,” he coaxed. “Was it such a horrible experience? How could something that pleasing be as bad as you say?”
Carliss remembered the dream she’d had about Dalton and how difficult she had found it to wake up. The temptation to live in her dream had been powerful. Only now did she realize that Salina must have tainted her water.
She looked back at Malco. He had great power and wealth because of the fantasies of men and women who refused to face reality for what it was, who refused to hold themselves accountable for their own actions. It was a pleasure-filled state of existence that led to an apathy and laziness that the King never intended for His people.
“Because, as is the case with all of Lucius’s evil plots, it destroys people from the inside out,” Carliss answered him boldly. “And they become your prisoners in the end.”
Malco tore off another bite from the game hen. “Prisoners?” he mocked. “I have no prisoners and have harmed no one.”
Carliss leaned forward. “Really? And what of those who become so enthralled with your dream world that they walk across the bridge into the swamp to their deaths? And what of the Followers you’ve taken from the haven? Are they being well treated or tortured like Ganoaf?” Carliss’s fury rose higher. “What I see here is the propagation of evil and deception!”
“Lady Carliss, don’t be so dramatic.” The Shadow Warrior spoke with airy condescension.
“I wager that if you were to try the full effect of my esca powder, you would see things quite differently. What do you say?”
“I do not wager with evil,” Carliss spat back. “I rebuke it in the name of the Prince!”
Malco grimaced, then lifted his chin to regain his composure. He stared at Carliss as he finished chewing his last bite, then lifted a napkin to his lips and wiped them without taking his gaze from her. He stood and walked the length of the table, his steely eyes fixed on Carliss all the while. To Carliss he seemed larger than before. His display of charm slowly vanished as he neared. He grasped the arms of Carliss’s chair and abruptly turned it to face him directly. He leaned down close to her face. The smell of garlic and other spices was on his breath.
“I have been ordered to attempt to sway you over to our cause, you Knights of the Prince… and you in particular.” Malco’s voice now fully revealed the darkened state of the soul within him. “But quite frankly, you disgust me.” Malco leaned closer to Carliss. She tried to turn away, but he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.
“Actually, you all disgust me. Even the Vinceros disgust me. I hate you all. This kingdom is full of half-witted fools, and I would like nothing more than to kill all of you miserable Arrethtraens.”
Without warning, Malco grabbed Carliss’s neck and began to squeeze. She grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled, but his grip tightened. He pressed his thumb and his forefinger into the base of her jawbone until the pain was unbearable. She couldn’t help opening her mouth to relieve the pressure, and as she did, Malco poured the entire contents of a small vial of crystals beneath her tongue. She tried to spit, but Malco slammed her jaw upward, pushing her head against the back of the high chair.
“Now you will live in my world and never return, fool!” Malco said with a loathsome voice. He laughed as Carliss continued to fight against him, but his powerful muscles would not yield.
She closed her eyes in an attempt to fight against the power of the esca crystals. Malco’s laughter echoed in her mind as the horror of the moment faded away into dreamscape. For one brief moment she wished she were anywhere but here, fighting against the darkness of Lucius and his wicked Shadow Warriors. She thought of the carefree days of her youth when she was just a child on her father’s farm, catching snowflakes.