Leviathan's King (The Search for the Brights Book 3)

by Aaron Thomas

  “You laugh and make jokes while the throne remains empty and the world in chaos,” Mica said, shaking his one good fist at his side.

  “Calm yourself, Mica. You have to realize by now that Atmos was not worthy of the throne. I know it, my brother knew it, and my father left because of it. He was not in control of the power he used, and it consumed him. His decisions were made to control lands that were not his to control.”

  Mica was practically frothing at the mouth as he screamed at Brandon, “I knew you were another traitor as well! I should have been appointed the advisor, not you!”

  Brandon gave a chuckle, “Mica, you would have to know and understand the laws of the Elder Wizards before you could assume this position. You have broken a handful of those laws in the last few months. Atmos was lucky to have you like a lapdog to take the blame for his misdeeds. I’m surprised that the Elders didn’t remove you from existence already.”

  Mica took a few moments to try and calm himself physically, but behind his eyes his thoughts were venomous.

  “Wizard Parker, I need you to step down from the position of advisor. You are no longer needed or wanted in the Earth Realm,” Mica said boldly amongst the silence of the throne room.

  Brandon took a deep breath, “Wind Wizard Mica, Councilmen to the Earth Realm’s king, I hereby charge you with formally and knowingly breaking the Elder Wizard’s law and sentence you to death.”

  “You don’t have the -”

  A stone pillar erupted from underneath mica’s feet thrusting him into the ceiling of the throne room. Brandon quickly raised the sleeve of his robe to cover his head from the red droplets of blood that sprayed in the vicinity. The sound of stone meeting stone thundered in the great hall.

  Brandon shook his head and slowly lowered the stone pillar back into the floor. The great hall had been armed with traps that he only found out about when his father left the position. He’d never seen a need for them until that moment. He knew Mica would never stop trying to avenge the death of Atmos. King Atmos had never been worthy of the position and had been like a choking vine to the Earth Realm since his coronation.

  He wasn’t sure if it was the slow grinding noise or the sound of stone slamming into stone that drew the attention of the servants in the hallway, but Brandon was happy to see them. He started walking away from the half descended pillar.

  “Please get some more workers and clean up this mess. Also, have four bring fresh hot water to my chambers, it appears I will be taking a bath,” He said as kindly as he could, while using one of the late king’s dining napkins to clean his hands.

  **********

  When the city came into view, Bowie did what was asked of him, and alerted the guard by riding ahead. He met them and triggered a flurry of activity as they gathered their best dressed to meet their new king before he arrived at the gates. Shouts were made, and the lieutenant on duty asked questions that elicited answers Bowie had already given twice over. He guessed the man was nervous about being in charge of the new king’s escort. He left them to their exciting business and sought out a meal and a pint before he started playing cards in some tavern in the city.

  The cities guard knew him well by now and most enjoyed him coming by one of the taverns to hear his stories since departing Humbridge. They knew where to find him as he stayed at the inn nearest the western gate of the city. The inns and taverns where almost the same no matter which one you visited. Each one having been opened since the city’s victory over the Earth Realm.

  The inn he stayed at now was called “The Rising Bowmen.” He wondered if the name was supposed to be a tribute to him. When he entered, he almost immediately started to hear whispers about his great accomplishments in battle. Some stories made mention of a fierce woman with her beauty scarred by battle following him, others only spoke of him. Today most of the stories mentioned him only, at least the ones he could hear.

  He put down some copper pieces and was brought a plate of food and wine. The copper he put on the bar top would remain there until he left, neither the barkeep or Bowie picking it up. A year ago he would have gladly accepted free meals and drinks. Now it was given to him as long as he kept bringing in customers because of his fame. He ate freely, ignoring the whispers around him.

  Seeing Kilen riding past the window drew the attention away from him. It also pulled the inn’s customers out to the street. Bowie paid no attention to them as they passed by. He wasn’t mad at them for drawing attention away from him. Instead, he chose to see his friends as they were before Humbridge, just with a larger set of friends than before.

  Although, he was never sure he would get over the changes in Kara. She was a vision of Kilen’s mother’s beauty. He found Kara very attractive, but he knew he couldn’t be with her. The fact that she was a wizard now meant that she would live far longer than him, and he disliked the idea of leaving the world and a woman behind to fend for herself, even if she was a capable and powerful wizard.

  He laughed to himself under his breath as if he thought he had a chance with her anyways. The poor girl would probably be mortified if he had told her how he felt. Kara had practically been his little sister. Sure she told on them and their mischievous behavior more often than not, but he could see now that she was trying to look out for them.

  The door to the tavern opened just as he started to eat some of the potatoes that were put before him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman in a vibrant purple dress cross the room to sit down next to him. Auburn had been an ally for some months now and was faithful to him despite their constant bickering. He half expected that she would finally return home now that Atmos was dead. Instead, she spent her time window shopping in Basham or Leviathan as new storefronts opened.

  Today she was wearing a dress she was given during their first week together. She looked good in the dress and Bowie turned to take a glance at her before returning to his meal. Auburn ordered herself a plate of food, but the barkeep was too busy watching the commotion outside to fetch it for her. Bowie put his spoon down and slid his plate to her.

  She took a bite and slid it back. Auburn had done this before, she would wait until she thought he was and done would take the plate from him as if it wasn’t his. He took a drink of his wine and put it down when there was only a swallow left. When he did, Auburn finished it off and let out a sigh as if disappointed.

  The red-headed girl looked over her shoulder at the crowd by the windows, “What are you going to do now?”

  Bowie cleared his throat, “I suppose I’ll go back to making arrows. I should be able to convince people that I’m not an old man now. If that’s the case, I should be able to get full price for my work. They sometimes shorted me trying to claim in was a false master fletcher. How about you?”

  He waited for an answer but didn’t receive the usual retort from the girl. When he looked over at her hands, she was holding the water imbued ring he had given her. The blue gem shone brightly against its silver band and would catch the eye of any jewelry coinsure. She put the ring on the bar and ran her finger around its circle.

  After a sigh, she took a deep breath and spoke softly, “Listen, this is hard for me to say so I’m just going to say it without you interrupting.”

  Bowie didn’t say anything but laughed a bit inside as he could never get a word in unless she allowed it.

  “I will be in town for a while if you need me, or want me to go somewhere,” She said, continuing. “If you decide you want me with you, I need you to understand something. When you gave me this ring, I was a bit sarcastic, and I was like that for two reasons. First, I wanted to see your face so I could determine if you really thought of me as a woman worth marrying. Second, if you hadn’t thought of asking me to be your wife, I wanted to put the idea in your head.”

  Auburn stood but kept her voice low, “As soon as you gave me this ring you knew I would be able to think clearly. You knew the earth magic detriment would have no effect on me. Since then I have made every effort to p
rove to you my loyalty and my worth.”

  The ring made a scraping sound as she slid it across the bar until it touched his plate.

  “When you figure out what it is I am to you, whether it be wife or friend, you find me and give me that ring in a proper way. After you make your decision there will be no going back to the, we are kissing, we’re not kissing thing. It will be one way or the other so I can figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life. Until you make your choice don’t you dare leave town,” She said with a punctuated last word.

  Auburn took her hand off the ring. Bowie watched as Auburn stormed out of the bar with cheeks as red as her hair. He contemplated what just happened and slowly slipped the small gem and piece of metal into his pocket. She was gone, but her words still lingered in his mind blocking out the rest of the tavern’s noise as it returned to normal.

  On the one hand, he knew leaving town in defiance of her warning would only end in pain. On the other hand, she said he couldn’t leave town until he decided. She didn’t say he had to tell her what he decided. Happy once again, he ordered a mug of ale.

  **********

  Brent drew Kilen’s attention to a large number of soldiers riding out on horseback from the western gate. Near the front of the horses, riding in pairs towards Kilen was a banner that bore the symbol of the Water Realm. Kilen sat a little higher in his saddle as they approached. Brent pulled his horse up beside Kilen.

  “Perhaps now would be a good time to resume wearing your crown?” Brent asked.

  Kilen nodded and pulled the crown in its velvet cover from his saddle bag. He carefully positioned it on his brow and felt the addition of the four elements flowing through him. Closing his eyes, he used all four visions at once to find his friends. They were strewn about following in their respective locations. Joahna was sitting only two horses behind in a torch that Kilen requested always burn so he could hold his fire elemental. Jase blew through the crowd and the others walked as winged men who guarded the king.

  He thought someone would question it, but no one did. Of course, they were more concerned with Paul talking to himself than Kilen holding four elementals at once. Remembering his new spirit wizard friend, he waved to Paul and took a deep breath as he moved close enough that they could talk.

  “Paul, when we get back in town it would be wise if you would stay away from the castle until I call on you. You could stay with my friend Leroy, so I know where to find you. I know you have lots of gold to spend so don’t feel as if you're confined to his quarters,” Kilen said in a hushed tone. “Before we return, I need my imbued wind dagger back. I wouldn’t want to make you conspicuous.”

  “Of course, Majesty. I will wait for your summons,” He said just before smiling and muttering something under his breath. As soon as the dagger left the man’s hands, he slowed his mount to ride beside Leroy’s cart.

  Brent spoke as he left having heard the order, “You think it wise to release a mad man in our streets with a flame-imbued dagger?”

  Kilen cleared his throat, “He’s not as mad as you think him. Besides, I’ve seen him wield two elementals at once, and that power is rare and can be used to our advantage.”

  “At what cost? An unruly wielder in Leviathan could kill many men before being taken down. You of all people should know the chaos that a fire wielder can bring,’ Brent said. He then turned to Kara, “No offense.”

  She gave a half smile and nodded. Kilen wished he could explain everything to Brent, but wasn’t sure it was the right time. His newly formed realm had just won a war and defeated a tyrannous king under overwhelming odds. Having doubts in his position could cause an uprising that wasn’t worth his revelation.

  “The dagger does two things for him. It ties him to me, and it allows him a way to protect himself. I hope you realize I trained him to control himself while we came to Leviathan. His power will be a great asset in the coming months,” Kilen said confidently.

  “And if he defies you?” Brent asked.

  “Then I will still be the one that holds four elementals against his single flame. Besides, just as Jace and Gortus held back skills from me, I didn’t divulge all of my secrets to him. You will see, he will be very useful,” Kilen said as the riders from Leviathan approached.

  In the front of the line, the familiar face of Wells greeted him with a salute.

  “We have been waiting for you, Majesty,” He said, pulling his troops off the road to let Kilen pass.

  A single whistle sent half the troops and the flag bearers ahead, keeping pace with the few thousand soldiers now following Kilen.

  “I am sorry to keep you waiting, Captain. How is the city?” Kilen asked.

  The captain pulled a scroll from behind his back, “We have organized and occupied three-quarters of the city’s buildings with needed shops and storages. The housing for all soldiers and civilians are being tended to next. We should be able to have the task finished within the week. The largest problem we have is finding enough doors and shutters to secure the buildings they occupy. I spoke with Master Peter this morning and he reported that our livestock and beasts of burden are climbing by the day. We should have enough to make it through winter shortly.”

  “Master Peter? From Humbridge?” Kilen asked.

  The captain smiled, “Right, I forgot to mention that Daniel, your friend from Humbridge, is the new stable master and the hero of the battle, Majesty. Under your wife’s direction, he wielded the Hammer of Tilrick the Warlord. He sustained numerous injuries but has since made a full recovery.”

  Kilen realized his mouth was hanging open when Brent startled him by giving a cheer.

  The cheer encouraged the captain, so he continued his report with a renewed vigor, “We receive four ships of supplies and trade from Basham daily. We also have set up a dock to build more ships so we can get more transportation to keep supplies at a max for the city. Currently the populous is just over ten thousand soldiers and thirty thousand civilians. The queen has ordered we keep the majority of the soldiers outside the city for training. Once training is complete, they will be sent to their respective stations around the realm.”

  Kilen nodded, “Have we heard any word from Alexander and the Elders?”

  “The only word is that the Elders failed in their first attempt. We won’t know more until the Commander releases the wind wielders from their training and give the okay for them to travel. He says that the Wind Realm has defenses against them,” Wells said disappointingly.

  Brent cleared his throat drawing attention, “Perhaps this is a topic that should be discussed amongst the throne room where rumors would be kept to a minimum?”

  Kilen agreed, “Captain, take command of these troops and have them join the other soldiers in training. I have done my best with them, but they will need a more regimented training.”

  Captain Wells saluted, “Of course, Sire. These men will safely escort you to the castle where I will join you later.”

  Kilen listened as the commands were being issued and soldiers peeled away from the precession. The escort that Wells left fell in around Kilen, forming a barrier of armored men and horses. They kept looking about as if they felt an attack was imminent but little did they know they were nothing in comparison to his unseen protectors.

  The sound of hooves tripled in intensity as they met the crystalline-like stones of the city. For a moment Kilen thought his heart began to beat in unison as he started crossing over the cities bridge. Seeing the city from outside the walls and filled with people was pleasantly different from when he left. It was intimidating knowing that the inhabitants would look to him for guidance and judgments. He was sure there were so many people more appropriate of the position he now held.

  The people of the city quickly moved out of the way as the sound of horse's hooves in unison clattered along the street. Kilen looked about, taking in the changes that were made. The city streets were filled with markets and people exchanging goods. The buildings that were once empty now stood with
wares displayed and doors on hinges, making them safe. Clothes lines and latrines lined the alleyways giving the feeling that the city had been lived in for months.

  As some people recognized who he was, they bowed as he passed. Soldiers saluted and stood to attention. The crowd saw some of the others and before he knew it every civilian face was against the clear stones. He tried to tell them to rise but was stopped by Brent.

  “They should show you honor. You have given them hope,” Brent uttered so only Kilen could hear.

  He passed through the city in what seemed a longer ride than climbing the roads of Ellipse. Watching all the faces of children and elders bending knee despite their age seemed to slow time as he passed. He barely noticed the wind dancing above his head and the stone and ice-like horses following behind him. He was in awe of what the last few months had brought into his life.

  He felt dizzy looking up at his new home and palace. The front grounds were almost completely covered with horses, soldiers, and what he assumed were servants. His assumptions were verified when men came to take the reins of his warhorse. A second man lent him a hand as he dismounted from his horse and that's when he saw his friend sitting on a bench to the side of the palace doors.

  Daniel stood slowly, letting a length of chain fall to the ground from his lap.

  “Welcome home, friend,” He said simply as he came to full height.

  Kilen approached and gave him an unreciprocated hug. As he backed away from his muscular friend, he received a salute.

  “I’m sorry, I should have greeted you differently,” Daniel said apologetically.

  Kilen gave a small chuckle, “You mean like staring at me through a kitchen window in my house? Or maybe offering me a drink at the inn in Humbridge? Daniel, we will always be friends first. Besides, I hear you saved this city and my wife. You should never have to bow to any man for what you have done.”