Mestel had known for some time that Nero was not what he seemed. The elf was false. At first Mestel thought his feelings of unease were due to the fact that Nero was an Agent of the Armenien Crown; no doubt he lied more often than not in his profession. Over time, however, Mestel had come to realize Nero’s deception went well beyond what he originally thought. He didn’t have any proof, but he could feel it. He knew he was right.
His feelings had been confirmed more than a moon’s turn ago when Martel came to him in a dream. It hadn’t been a vision of the present or future, like so many other times.
Rather, Martel’s voice had pierced the darkness, saying, “I am pleased with your progress, my chosen. You are staying true to the path. Remember that I am always there to give you guidance, as I do now. The follower of Venal is not your concern. Focus on your mission and let him be.”
Mestel had headed his god’s command and left Nero to his own devices, even when he knew the elf was not being honest, which was most of the time. So far, his policy of non-interference hadn’t harmed anyone close to his heart, but Mestel often wondered what he would do if that changed. What if Nero was about to hurt Evisar, or Ellen, or Austen? Would he still heed his god’s command?
Mestel set aside the Armenien agent and thought about what he had accomplished this night. He and Austen had escaped the Sorcerer prison and a certain execution by Rafa and his fellow Sorcerers. They had saved the King of Kentar and gained his favor, possibly stopping a war between Kentar and Armena. And now he had a beautiful room all to himself with the promise of a day of feasting on the morrow. As he knelt before his god, he searched for his purpose beyond the next day. What could he do that would best serve Martel’s interests?
As he became one with his surroundings and his god, a feeling of despair overcame him. He couldn’t localize it, but he knew something was horribly wrong. What was it? He got up from his knees and decided to visit the wisest person in the castle.
Mestel opened the door to his room, walked out into the hall, and turned left. The guards stood at attention as he walked out the door and turned toward them. They relaxed somewhat as he turned again and knocked on the door in front of him. Mestel waited for more than a while at the door before remembering that Austen was hard of hearing. He knocked much harder the second time and heard the wizard stirring within.
The door finally opened, and Austen said, “What are you doing up so late?”
Mestel answered honestly. “I couldn’t sleep. Can we speak?”
Austen ushered him inside and said, “What seems to be on your mind?”
“I’m not sure, but I think the King’s life may still be in danger.”
Austen waved his hand dismissively in the air. “Bah, his life is always in danger. Why do you think he has so many bodyguards? He is a good man, but there is no end to those who want to do him harm.”
Mestel shook his head. “I’m serious, Austen. The King is still in danger, tonight.”
“You are just being paranoid and still thinking about earlier today. Do not be concerned. It was a close call to be sure, but now it is over.”
Mestel wanted to raise his voice above a whisper to drive home his point, but he managed to maintain control. “Was I paranoid earlier tonight?”
Austen looked concerned for the first time. “No. Have you had another premonition?”
Mestel hesitated. He hated to talk about the private relationship between him and his god, but under the circumstances he didn’t think Martel would mind. “No, I haven’t. It is just a feeling so strong that I can’t help but act on it.”
“Well, there you go. Back to bed, my young elf. Tomorrow we will celebrate our victory over Rafa and his failed attempt to assassinate my King.”
Maybe Austin was right. Maybe he was wrong in this case. It had just been a feeling after all. Mestel bid Austen a good night. He walked over to the door and was about to leave when something stopped him. He trusted his instincts, and more importantly, he trusted his god. Martel would not lead him astray. He resolved to see things through to the end. He let go of the door knob and turned around.
“I’m going to protect the King; are you coming with me or staying here?”
Austen chuckled into the brittle silence. “Did you have an epiphany just now as you reached for the door handle?”
Mestel did not hesitate for an instant. “Yes. Are you with me or not?”
Austen chuckled nervously and then looked down at the symbol of Martel burned into his forearm. He looked up again, with all doubt removed.
“I am with you, Mestel, but getting to the King is no simple matter. When he is in the residence, there are three checkpoints to cross, not to mention the three guards outside our door.”
“Then we should probably get started.”
“Hold on. Before we go through all of that and probably end up in prison again, you should go out into the hall and tell the guards exactly what is going on. They will be able to check on the King a lot faster than it will take us to break through security.”
Mestel had to admit the idea had merit; plus, he did not relish the idea of destroying whatever good will he had attained and possibly ending up back in a jail cell. “Alright. We’ll try it your way first. Excuse me.”
Mestel went out into the hallway and told the three guards the full story. The guards knew he had saved the King’s life earlier in the day, but it still was not enough to make him credible. Mestel said the King was still in danger, but not having any evidence meant the guards were skeptical to say the least. They eventually humored him by saying they would send one of the three back to the residence to check on his Majesty. One of the guards strolled around the corner, and Mestel heard boots on stone as the guard walked away. Mestel waited patiently by Austen’s room for the guard to return with any news. He did not have to wait long. A short time later, he heard the guard walking toward them down the hallway.
The guard turned the corner, walked up to his fellow guardsmen, and answered their unspoken question. “Nothing is wrong. The King is fine.”
The Sergeant in charge accepted the expected answer without question and turned back to Mestel. “My trooper says the King is fine. Don’t worry, my young elf friend, the King is well-guarded.”
Mestel wanted to tell the pompous guard that he had also been well-guarded earlier today when he was almost assassinated, but instead he said, “Thank you for checking. I feel much better now.”
Mestel retreated a few steps and went back into Austen’s room. Austen looked surprised when the door opened and said, “What do you want now? I’m getting too old for surprises. I heard through the door that everything is fine.”
Mestel came right up to the old wizard and whispered, “The soldier wasn’t gone long enough to check on the King. He thinks I’m just a strange elf who got lucky the first time. The King is still in danger.”
Austen stood silent in front of Mestel. Finally, he said, “You do have a point. He did come back awfully quick considering the King’s quarters are one floor up and on the other side of the castle. I suppose the soldier could have had one of his friends go and check on the King?”
“Possibly, but then why did he come back and tell us the King was fine before he knew for sure.”
“Another good point.”
Mestel knew he was running out of time. “Look, we can sit here arguing all night. I’m telling you that your King is in mortal danger for the second time today. Are you going to help me get past the guards, or do I need to do it myself?”
“No, of course not. You have proven yourself to me many times over. Here is what I propose we do.”
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The Sergeant in charge was bored. Guarding these newfound elves all night was not what he signed up for. He was supposed to be guarding the King and his family, not playing babysitter to a group of foreigners with more luck than brains.
The elf archer who had saved the King earlier was in the old man’s room do
ing gods knew what. It was very late, and he hated to speculate. Suddenly the old man’s door opened, but no one came out. The door closed again with no explanation.
This is just too damn weird, he said to himself. He nudged the other two guards, saying, “Go check it out.”
His two friends walked over to the old man’s door and knocked loudly. It took a long time for the old man to answer, but finally he said, “Yes.”
“We saw your door open and shut. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, that was an accident, sorry.”
The two guards looked at him and shrugged their shoulders. The Sergeant motioned for them to come back and resume their post. As they moved back into position, he thought he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and looked down both hallways. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“I thought I heard someone behind us.” All three of them looked to the right and left behind them, but saw nothing. The Sergeant contemplated sending his men to check it out, but he thought better of it. He didn’t want to look foolish for a second time.
________________________________________
Mestel watched as Austen cast invisibility on them. They could not see each other, so they held hands as Mestel opened the door and slowly walked out into the hall. He had to walk fast enough to avoid the guards, but slowly enough to remain stealthy. As Austen walked into the hallway, he slowly shut the door behind him. Mestel moved to the far side of the hall and leaned against the wall.
The Sergeant in charge nudged the two soldiers with him and said, “Go check it out.”
The two soldiers reluctantly moved forward and one of them knocked on Austen’s door. Mestel moved himself and Austen farther down the hallway, still leaning against the far wall, so they were in between the Sergeant guarding the passageway and the soldiers at Austen’s door.
When Austen replied, “Yes,” it sounded like Austen was still inside his room speaking through a thick oak door. Mestel nearly gasped outloud, even though he had been expecting the trickery.
The soldier who knocked said, “We saw your door open and shut. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, that was an accident, sorry.” Had Mestel not been holding Austen’s hand, and known with absolute certainty he was standing right next to the old wizard, he would have sworn Austen was in his room trying to sleep.
Mestel moved along the wall and scooted past the Sergeant guarding the way to the rest of the castle. At their closest point, Mestel and Austen each passed within two feet of the Sergeant, but he was either hard of hearing or assumed the soft footfalls were from his soldiers. The invisible pair continued slowly down the hallway away from the rooms, walking ever more quickly as the distance between them and their escorts grew. At one point, Austen must have tripped over an outlying stone in the floor, because Mestel felt him stumble and heard his belongings clank around.
Mestel pressed on but heard the Sergeant say, “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“I thought I heard someone behind us.”
Mestel looked behind and when he saw the guards were not pursuing, he counted the encounter as a victory and moved on to the next obstacle of the night.
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Lidea led Nero down the passageways of the castle, acting like a giddy lover. They passed a solitary guard on the way to her room who looked at them playfully but made no move to stop the pair. Lidea opened the door to her room a short time later and led him inside. Once the door was closed, she dropped the pretense and moved quickly about the room.
“Let’s get what we need and head out. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“I thought we had all night.”
“It may seem that way, but the castle wakes up early and half the night is already gone.” Lidea went to her end table, pulled a dagger out of the only drawer, and threw it at Nero. Nero caught the blade deftly by the hilt with one hand. “I am not the best fighter, as I perform other services for the Guild. I can get you upstairs and into the royal residence, but the rest will be up to you.”
“How are we going to get to the residence? You said something about three checkpoints?”
Lidea hurried to stand next to Nero and then stopped cold, adding emphasis to her next statement. “The Benjin Family has ruled Kentar since its inception a millennium ago. Sometimes they have ruled wisely and sometimes tyrannically. The one thing that has remained constant throughout their time on the throne, has been the family’s unrelenting lust. There is a passageway right outside my door known as the Mistress Passageway. It is a secret passage that leads directly upstairs to the royal residence. Only the King, his son, and a few bodyguards know of its existence. It will take us past two of the checkpoints.”
“And what about the third?”
“We will have to improvise when the time comes.”
Nero was not liking his chances. “Great.” They were trying to finish a job in one night that Rafa had planned for over a year. Still, if he succeeded, his standing in the Guild would be greatly increased. He might finally have the power to actually make a difference in his god’s war against the Krone.
Lidea said, “Are you ready to go make history?”
Nero winked at her playfully and said, “I always am.”
Lidea accepted his flirting with a smile, and then they were off.
______________________________________
With their invisibility intact, Austen led Mestel to a secret passage that went up one floor, completely bypassing the first ring of security. The unlikely duo emerged from the passageway and proceeded down the hall. After twenty paces they came to the first fork where the original hallway continued straight and a secondary hallway turned left, toward the King’s residence. Mestel looked to the left and saw two guards standing at the second checkpoint.
Mestel pulled Austen back behind the corner and said, “It’s pretty much like you said. Are you ready with plan B?”
“Ready.”
Without another word, Austen brought one of his spells to life. When he was finished, a ghostly knight stood a few feet away from Austen, complete with full plate mail and a drawn sword. The knight bowed slightly to Austen, turned around, and began walking. The knight walked past the second checkpoint and continued down the original hallway, but he did not do it silently. Decked out in full armor, the ghostly knight made quite the racket.
Mestel heard Lieutenant Capstone say, “You two come up and take our place at the second checkpoint. Something strange just walked by, and we have to check it out.”
Mestel heard two soldiers farther back in the castle respond with an affirmative. Mestel watched with a smile on his face as the guards at the second checkpoint walked quickly up to the intersection and moved to the left after the conjured knight. As soon as the two guards rounded the corner, Mestel took Austen’s invisible hand and moved quickly forward. He hoped to get past the second checkpoint before the replacement guards took up their positions, but he hoped in vain.
The King’s bodyguards were well-trained – no doubt the best of the best. As Mestel moved quickly forward, one guard appeared from a passageway up and to the left, and another one from the right. They seamlessly moved into position, standing side by side, taking up the entire hallway. There was not enough room for Mestel to sneak by with Austen.
Mestel retreated back around the corner and whispered, “Any idea how we can get past that second checkpoint?”
“Not really. I have to save my other illusion spell for our retreat. The knight will only fool them for a short time, and our invisibility spell will run out soon. We need to act now.”
Mestel bent down and picked up a small stone. “All right, I will throw a stone down the hall and hope we can sneak by. Stay right behind me.”
______________________________________
Lidea led Nero to the Mistress Passageway not more than ten feet away from the door to her room, and led Nero up a small spiral staircase.
Once they got to the top, Lidea turned to him and said, “There will likely be two guards right outside this door and two more on the other side of the King’s suite. They know about the passageway, and they know I visit the Prince often. Let me go out first and try to draw the closest two away. I will try to lead them around the corner. When I do, that will be your opportunity to go into the King’s room, which will be the first door on your left. You will be on your own after that, since I will have to go to the Prince’s room in order to keep up pretenses.”
“I understand your womanly ways will probably work on one guard, but how will you lure two guards away from their posts.”
Lidea smiled but looked unsure for the first time in the evening. “I’m not sure, but I will improvise and come up with something. Look for your chance. There may not be much time.”
“Once the deed is done, what do I do?”
“You will have to improvise as well. You can take the Mistress Passageway back to my room and then stumble back to your room after a particularly fun evening.”
Nero smiled confidently and said, “Sounds like I had a good time. I’m curious, is this story fact or fiction?”
Lidea smiled back flirtatiously and said, “Here we go.” She tapped on a stone and the wall came in toward her. Nero noticed a book shelf connected to the doorway, which probably explaining how the passageway remained hidden. Lidea moved into the hallway and disappeared from view.
A few moments later, Nero heard a male voice coming from the hallway. “What are you doing here?”
Do the Gods Give Us Hope? Page 44