Second Born

by Lance Wilson

  “Your defiantly a thinking man aren’t you, I’m sure you have many more questions for me so why not ask them.” Mecmed asks calmly a sort of laugh in his voice, an air of cheeriness in it.

  “You said your father was taken from you, I assume you meant killed. How old were you” Mellyruna asks calmly. To understand something you have to know where it came from.

  “I was not much older then you, a year or two past my Kentonmen, as I said we were at war and he was in lead of our forces” Mecmed says and lowers his head. How could he forget that day, his father was a fool. He rode out with only half the army in order to save some pathetic town that had no real power. He told his father that the town wasn’t important and that if they died in the tragedy of war then that was just a sacrifice they would have to be willing to give. His father told him that he understood nothing of being a leader and that without the people your power was anything. Now look at him, a god proclaimed king, and his father, ha, his father died for those that he cared so deeply about, did they mourn him, no, they did what all people do, they told lies of the king, and went about their day. No matter, not long after he claimed the thrown he made sure that town burned to the ground and no one lived.

  “That had to hurt, I’m not sure I’m really aware of how much loosing my own father has affected me yet. May I ask why you choose the day you did for the attack” he asks calmly his head also hung low.

  “Timing, your father had been taken captive the previous night, and I knew that the Unagi clan worked fast. Also it was the night of your Kentonmen so I knew your guard would be down.” he says telling only the truth, it has always been a specialty of his to spot weakness and take advantage of it.

  “It was the night before our Ketonmen, neither my brother nor I were honored yet” Mellyruna says correcting him.

  “What, hmm, well maybe that is something I can remedy” Mecmed says and smiles wide

  “What are you talking about” Mellyruna asks now cocking his head.

  “Your Kentonmen, since you were not able to have one in your city, I would like to take the honor of holding your rite of passage in my capital. It is the least I can do for you and your mother. After all we can’t have you wandering this world still a boy in the eyes of the gods. It is time you took the place of a man. I can also name you as my successor to the Denerith elf kingdoms.” he says and watches as Mellyruna’s face flashes of shock and awe

  “But, why” it is all that he can ask, all that he can think of asking right now.

  “I told you, I never wanted war with the Unagi, but I had no choice. I want to show you want kind of person I really am. I think four days after we arrive should be adequate, I am not sure how your people celebrate the passage into manhood, but I would be honored if you would do things the Kainith elf way” Mecmed asks and lowers his head in a bow. Yes the flair for the dramatic has always helped in situations like this.

  “How do you celebrate the rite of passage?” he asks clearing his throat.

  “Well first there is the cleansing ceremony four days in advanced. You cleanse your mind, body and soul, and on the fourth day you put yourself at ease, then, there is a celebration where you are named in front of the kingdom, then a banquette, the likes of which I am sure that not even you have seen before” Mecmed says calmly and waits for his answer, although there is not much reason to worry, by the look in Mellyruna’s eyes he can already guess that he will agree.

  “In my family, we go to a mountain and have our futures foretold to us, and sometimes we are even given our true names. But I have already done that. I, I would like to celebrate with you, it might show that you mean peace with the Denerith elves.” Mellyruna says his head still spinning at what has just happened.

  “Good, and as I said, after the cleansing ceremony when you are now a man, I shall name you the guardian of the Denerith elves and my ambassador to them. As you said, it will show that we only mean peace” Mecmed says and smiles wide.

  This has become almost too easy. The boy is still lost in the world and has not had the chance to deal with deception such as this. Oh of course he will honor his word and name him the guardian of the Denerith elves and his ambassador, but what is that really, nothing more than titles. The real power still lies in his hands. Not to mention this will only draw him and Mellyruna closer, if he is lucky he can bring him into seeing things his way, the true way. The strong survive and the weak shall die, that is the truth of this world, a truth proven by nature itself day after day. The two then sit in silence for a while as he lets Mellyruna’s head get a grasp on things that have just been laid before him. Mecmed only lowers his head again and folds his hands in front of him giving him the illusion that he is asleep. After a bit of time of just staring out of the window Mellyruna drifts off to sleep himself, the long hard times of this whole few days still wearing on him.

  It is not tell early mourning when Mellyruna wakes again, normally he would just wake to a smile glint of light, but this time he is startled awake with the sound of horns being blown. The start of the horns makes him jump up slamming his head into the roof of the carriage.

  “Damn, ah, what was that, why the horns” He says now grabbing his head and sitting back down, his eyes closed but tears welling up no less.

  “Just the horns of Bushi, they are welcoming us home, I thought that a young prince like you would be used to such things” Mecmed says and smiles up at him.

  “We, we are in Bushi, but it’s only three days trip by horse, the way my father talked about it, I thought it was on the other side of the lands.” Mellyruna says looking out of the carriage the bright sun shimmering now on his face.

  “Actually we are about three weeks trip by horse, but I know some tricks to cut the time quite drastically. And having spent some time in the Denerith elf kingdom it is like we are in separate worlds, though three weeks trip is not that far at all. “Mecmed says and smile over at him

  As they ride on he can hear the sound of gates being drawn and men forming around the carriages. From the sound of it they are soldiers of some kind. It doesn’t take much longer for the carriage to stop moving and then for the people to stop around them. Mellyruna stands to get out of the carriage but Mecmed gently places a hand on his shoulder.

  “I am sorry Mellyruna, here is a place of etiquette. I’m sorry but I must exit the carriage first, the people will expect it and anything else, well they might see it as an insult. So if you do not mind, you shall exit right after.” Mecmed says and smiles

  Mellyruna only nods, he was raised with the ideas of etiquette and knows that one slight slip could vary well have his head. With that Mellyruna sits back down and watches with great theatrics Mecmed exits the carriage, his arms wide as he is greeted with cheers.

  “People of Bushi, your lord king has returned to you. A victor now adding the great kingdoms of the Denerith elves to our own. Let us show them the light that is our lives and ways, let us show them that the Kainith elf people have found the path to true happiness.” he says calmly and then gestures with his right hand to Mellyruna to come out as he steps to one side.

  Mellyruna gently steps out of the carriage as Mecmed takes a few steps forward, giving him room so that the people may see him. At first the people are silent, but with a simple nod from Mecmed the people begin to cheer, not quite as loud as they did for him, but loud enough. Once his eyes are adjusted to the sudden light he gets a good look around him. Bushi is like nothing he has ever seen before. The castle is more like a palace built for show rather then defense. The main building of the palace is about three maybe four times the size as his castle at home. All around it are towers and spires just as beautiful, in the distance he can just barely make out a glint of something. The buildings are as white as porcelain and the tops are as golden as the sun. All around are banners of sky blue, gold, and white. All around him are the people of Bushi, shocked he can tell that all o
f them seem well taken care of, there seems to be no sign of starvation or suffering at all. The soldiers are much like those that raided his home, all are dressed in a kind of golden like armor with light blue cloth underneath. Their weapons are not like anything he has seen before either, they are single edged weapons that are curved but they widen three quarters of the way down, then narrow back into the tip, all this happens on the side without the edge. Once he gathers his senses he quickly focuses on his mother’s carriage. When her door opens and she slowly walks out the crowd cheers, Mellyruna also notices that this happens when Mecmed nods his head. So like with him the crowd wasn’t sure to greet her with a cheer of a boo, so they waited for there leader to guide them. He wonders how much else he blindly leads them into. He watches as his mother is gently taken by the hand by a guard and lead to Mecmed, as a queen would be lead to the king. He could almost imagine what they looked like, the perfect royal family, a god king father, the beautiful wife and queen, and of course the strong and young prince. But they weren’t the perfect family; there was the god king, and his two prisoners. Well treated prisoners, but prisoners just the same. But was that what they really were. Listening to him in the carriage it didn’t seem like it. He wanted him to be the ambassador to the Denerith elves, and to be their guardian. His mother, well he admits that Mecmed told him that he lusted after her, but also fell in love with her grace and power, and the way that she held herself in all of it. So now the question was, if they weren’t prisoners, but not nobles, what were they?

  The three of them walk though the crowd to the head of the palace where the doors are opened by two guards. Mellyruna’s breath is taken away as he looks in. The floor is covered in a lush light blue carpet, the walls are beautiful white stone, the walls are also lined with tall pillars that touch from floor to ceiling, the pillars are as white as porcelain with the classic crack like markings ranging from a light gray to dark gray, almost black. All the fixtures, anything of any kind of metal seems to be made out of gold, or at least a metal with a golden like look to it. Looking up at the high arched ceilings he finds someone has taken the time to paint a sky like background with clouds and scenes of gods and angels all are in battle, but it is such a beautiful kind of battle. The armor and weapons of the angles and gods are golden as well. He also notices that all the gods and angels seem to have a more Kainith elf like appearance. At the head of the room is a throne; the throne is large enough for a huge human, or large orc. It is a dark polished wood with cushions of royal blue, the inlay of vines and leaves are painted gold, it is a rather incredible layout for a thrown, to its side is another thrown, almost identical to the first, but on a smaller scale. Also lining the walls is guards on either side, these guards are dressed in the same manor as those outside. As they walk to the thrown each guard on either side drops to their knee throwing there right fist over there chest, each set drops one by one until Mecmed slowly turns once he is at the thrown and raises his hand, then and only then do the guards rise to there feet.

  “Now let us tend to you first young Mellyruna. I know you haven’t eaten anything during the trip, none of us have. That will give you an advantage when it comes to cleansing the body. However I will have to have my sorcerer make a potion to quicken the pace, it should only take a day. However I will have you in a special room for this, it will not be pretty. I am told that during each phase a person may end up hallucinating and having visions. I don’t know if it can happen during any of the cleansing stages, but I know I had my vision of my kingdom and the role that it would play during the last phase, the cleansing of the soul.” Mecmed says and with that a guard from the wall walks up and stands beside the young prince.

  “Take him to the body cleansing room, tell him everything he will need to know. Skorm will be with him in only a moment” Mecmed says and gives Mellyruna a small bow of the head.

  Mellyruna only nods back and follows the guard out of the room.

  “Now as for you my dear, I shall add you to my harem, A guard will take you to the room, there you will do as you are told by Shaharazad we shall marry once your son has cleansed himself and is announced to the world as a man. ” Mecmed says and with a wave of his hand another guard goes up and takes her by the arm.

  Mecmed watches as they all leave his thrown room and then leans back in his thrown. Yes, this is all working perfectly, He shall send invitations to all the lords and he can use this as the first meeting on how to pave the way to his empire into the Denerith elf kingdom. As for Rin, well as long as he keeps in contact with the other lords then he has her in the palm of his hand. He controls the lives of her other children and by that, controls her.

  Mellyruna slowly walks down the halls with the guard. The halls are the same beautiful white marble with lush royal blue carpet and gold trim everywhere. They walk though the halls tell they come to a large oak door. To Mellyruna the door looks like any other, but then he hasn’t spent more then a couple of minutes here.

  “This is the cleansing room. Go in and wait for Skorm, he will give you instructions” the guard says and with that opens the door.

  Mellyruna is taken back by the size of the room. It is a huge white marble room but there is no beds or dresser, only a huge tube, large enough for at least two people, and a toilet in the corner, the room is also slanted down in a vary slight cone, and a grate in the middle.

  “How will I sleep” Mellyruna goes to ask, but the guard is already gone.

  Mellyruna only stands there looking around the room, he’s not sure how he is to stay here or what he should expect of his stay here all he knows is that he was told to wait here. It seems like only a few seconds before the door opens and a man walks in. the man is like no one else in the kingdom. He is not dressed in any of the normal colors. He is dressed in a black hooded robe that covers his entire body, and over his face is golden mask, the mask is like any human face, with black tribal like markings all over it and black eye holes. The man is also caring a crystal goblet with a bright almost glowing green, there is a fine smoke running down the goblet but it is not boiling. This must be Skorm, the king’s sorcerer. Just being in the same room, as this man seems to send chills down his spine.

  “So you are the one wanting to take the path down to manhood. This will help cleanse your body, in twenty-four hours my apprentice shall come back for you and clean you off. Now drink” the man says in a cool shadowy voice and extends the goblet to him.

  At first Mellyruna only looks at the goblet wondering if he should drink it, he doesn’t know this man. On the other hand Mecmed trust him and he was sent here to help him by Mecmed. Knowing that this is no time to turn around he drinks the liquid. There seems to be no taste to it and is about room temperature. He then hands the goblet back to him and watches as the man turns and walks out of the room. Mellyruna only looks around then sits on the toilet wondering what he should expect.

  Skorm makes his way though the halls, just like with Mecmed the guards quickly step out of his way, and those that are merely standing watch lower there heads and place a fist over their hearts in salute. And why shouldn’t they, he is Mecmed’s sorcerer and perhaps one of the most powerful mystics in these lands. He moves his way quickly though the halls deep into the heart of the palace. Soon he stops in a hallway in front of a portrait of one of the old gods, Mecmed had destroyed all the other portraits of the old gods, all but this one, the one of Hades god of the underworld, and the only reason he spared this one was on Skorm’s orders. He smiles at the portrait of the man, the man is huge in build with gray blue skin and black hair that hangs down as if it were wet. His eyes are a bright amber color and he wears the armor of the he was so feared for, blood splattered black armor with golden inlay. He also wears a black ram skin with the head over his right shoulder and the rest hanging on him much like a roman toga. In his right hand is a blade, huge in width and thickness but only of average length for a long sword, the hilt is small, just barely past
the blade itself and the handle is not decorative at all. But the pummel is in the shape of a ram’s head. At his side stands his faithful hound Cerberus, the three-headed hound that guards the gates of the underworld. He has head that the hound also has made some appearances in portraits and statues of Ares, the god of war, which in his mind does make sense. Looking down the halls in both directions he sees that no one is around him so carefully he lets his fingers drift to the frame of the portrait. There he flicks a switch and the portrait swings out reveling a passageway. Quickly he slips into the passageway gripping a handle on the back of the portrait closing the passage as he moves in. Once the door is closed the passage is pitch black, but he doesn’t need to see, he knows there is a torch waiting to be lit just to his right, he knows cause he was the only one who found this passage and that is why he made this the way to his own quarters. Taking hold of the torch he mumbles a word of two in ancient elvish. There is a quick burst of bright green sparks then just like all the other times the torch blazes to life. The passage is not like the rest of the palace, it is dark and dingy, webs hand in corners and in the distance he can here the sounds of rats moving about. He only smiles under his wolf mask and makes his way though the passage. There are many turns and twists but no other passages connecting so there is no need to worry about getting lost, not that he ever could, this part of the palace, the under belly of it, this is his realm. He moves through the passage until soon he comes to a door, the door is huge and made of some kind of wood, but the wood is old and by the look of it could use some tending too, the wood looks old and decrepit, but he knows it is still solid. The knocker in the center is a brass rams head, but it is tarnished and now and looks more green then gold. He only smiles and turns the handle and pushes the door open. The room is like none other you will find in the palace. It is as big as perhaps the thrown room itself, but at least four floors under the palace. The room itself is round and all along the walls are pillars. Thirteen to be exact, he has counted many times over. Over each of the pillars is a high point archway, and in the center of that is carved symbols, symbols in which he has yet to find in any books. He is sure that this was a way to summon things through the pillars, using them as archways to other dimensions, but he has never found any of the books left behind by the old mystics that were here before him, if they left any at all. Instead he has used the space between the pillars to place his shelves for his own library, a library that is a collection of books all about the lost arts, mostly the dark arts. Except for one space, in-between two pillars, under the archway that has a symbol that reminds him vary much of a moon he has his alter. A long black stone slab supported on brass legs with clawed feet, black trim along the side of the stone. Here he lays all of his most important items, this is where he does all of his work, makes all his potions and when the mood strikes him, peers into his crystal to see what might be of interest to him. It was here that he learned of Mecmed’s attack on his own home, yes, this palace was once his own king, taken without force. He was that kings mystic as well, not that he has liked any king, but they serve there purposes. The table is about twelve feet in length and five in width, the stone is about two feet thick as well, it is heavy, and he is not sure what it is made of. He only knows that one day when he was exploring the underbelly of the palace he found it in one of the other chambers, like him, the old mystics were using it as an alter, but there tools were long gone, all but one, a crystal, a milky white crystal carved in the shape of a thin but wide knife. That of course is put away now, somewhere where no one but himself knows. He can only guess that it was used in perhaps some kind of sacrificial ritual, but it doesn’t matter now. Until he can find something about it in a book or by talking to other mystics he dare not even touch it. As Skorm looses himself in the thoughts of the past he hears footsteps approach, then to his left he watches as one of the bookshelves swings open and a woman walks out. She is dressed much the same as him. A long robe with a hood, black with golden trim and a red lining. Like him, her face is covered with a mask, but hers is white porcelain with red and blue tribal markings. Once she makes sure the bookcase is closed sealing the way she came in she bows to him then drops to one knee making sure not to raise her head. Skorm gives her a bit of a nod and walks over to his alter then lowers his hood revealing his long greasy black hair, then she listens as he lays his mask onto he stone. Raising herself to her feet she waits to be addressed, he is her master, has been for almost her entire life. Ever since he found out that she had the gift of both magic and prophecy. She was once a princess here, but her father gave her to this animal in order to make her strong in the gift, but he has done nothing but use her to do his meaningless tasks, no matter, she has learned anyway, learned when he wasn’t looking, going through his library bit by bit and now, now she is strong enough to perhaps even rival him.