by Rick Brown
“Is that happy? She looks like she want’s to kill Farloc.”
"It's her competitive side. Trust me. She's as happy as can be. Wanting to kill someone is just a side effect. Besides, she has been trying to kill Farloc for a half hour. She hasn’t succeeded yet.”
"It would be a shame to kill our first and only ambassador. If we do, no one will give us another one."
“I’m sure she won’t break him,” As Barad said this Brianna tossed Farloc over her shoulder and onto the ground. “Well, she probably won’t kill him anyway.”
Chapter 27
(Lee)
“Sire, we received word that Max has arrived at the gate,” Arthur announced as he found me sitting at my desk. Thank you Alynon, I thought. The ball is tonight, and more importantly, the confrontation with Lord Hannen is tomorrow. Until now we had no soldiers to contribute.
"Thank you, Arthur," I said out loud. "When he gets here, bring everyone into the conference room. I'll join them there."
“Yes, Sire.”
It was all coming together now. It had felt so unreal until Max joined us. Before that, it was just a game with my friends. Tonight we were going to announce ourselves to the very lords who once hired us as bodyguards. Tomorrow we are to face off against a corrupt Lord and his followers. My life has changed uncomfortably fast, I thought. Everyone was looking to a mere captain to regain a kingdom and stop a bloodthirsty god.
Alynon's coin chilled against my chest. I pulled up the chain and looked at it. The coin still looked brand new. As I reached out and touched it, I was suddenly whisked into a dark void. It was not like before in my dreams when I went to a place. This felt like the absence of all.
"Lee," I heard Alynon's voice. "There is evil nearby. Beware." Just as suddenly I was back in my seat. I sat up shocked by what had just happened. I looked at the coin in my hand. As I rubbed my fingers across it, the chill left, leaving it once again feeling like any coin. I slipped it back under my shirt.
“Evil is nearby,” I mumbled to myself. That cannot be good. Alynon has not communicated in some time, and this cryptic message is all I have?
I left my office and walked out into the central area. The room was mostly empty, except for Arthur who was approaching me.
“Sire, everyone is ready…” He paused as he looked at me. “Is everything alright? You look pale.”
I took a deep breath and regrouped myself. “I’m fine, thank you. Let’s go to the meeting.”
The conference room was full today. Everyone was there including Max. With him were Master Felps and Mistress Jacobs. The later quietly talking to Lenux and Brianna. I walked over and thanked them both for coming. Mistress Jacobs bowed as I approached. “Your Majesty.” She greeted. Master Felps gave an uncomfortable bow. No offense was taken since he bows to no one. I went forward and sat at the table, everyone else taking the cue and joining me.
“Max, thank you for coming so quickly. How did things go at the Fox Guild?”
"Better than it could have been. Some recruits were not thrilled with being part of another kingdom and were allowed to leave. Luckily, you were very popular within the guild, and the idea of following you was met enthusiastically."
“It’s true,” Felps interrupted. “Also the idea of taking on something so big was too good to pass up on.” A big grin on his face. Felps always did like a challenge.
"Thank you, Master Felps, and Mistress Jacob's as well," I responded with a nod.
Max glared at Felps, which the master chose to ignore. "As I was saying," Max continued. "With us, we have one hundred and fifty guild members here."
I sighed in relief. I wasn't sure what I had expected, but to gather so many on short notice was an amazing stroke of luck or maybe not as I considered how Alynon liked to arrange things. "How many magic users?"
Felps piped in again, "ten full-fledged magicians and seven recruits."
“That’s amazing!” Barad said in surprise. “ I didn’t even know the guild had that many.”
"Magic users are usually out on jobs. I cannot remember a time when I had so many in the guild at once," Felps answered. Yes, Alynon's fingerprints were all over this.
I looked around at the group. “Arthur, please ask Farloc to join us. He should be aware of what is to occur tomorrow.
Arthur nodded and went to the door to summon a page. A few moments later the page returned with Farloc.
"Please sit down and join us, Farloc." The elf looked nervous but did as he was asked.
"Most of you are aware of what is to come, but not all. Our original intent in coming to Vennean was to warn King Kendrick of a conspiracy we uncovered while employed by the Alsselyian church. After review of the evidence, it became clear that a faction of the Vaelin lords were conspiring with Dommeran, with a goal of nothing less than turning this kingdom over to our enemy. “Most already knew this, but Whilhoit and the new people from the guild mumbled to those around them.
Whilhoit spoke first. “Is that why we were attacked at Lord Faluth’s?”
I nodded. "It was. Lenux and Bri were witnesses to a conversation between Lord Hannen and known Dommerian agents discussing the attack. At the time they intended to have Lord Hannen serve as interim king until he could hand the kingdom over to Dommeran."
“That’s disgusting,” Mistress Jacobs said, a deeply offended expression on her face. “Such a betrayal.”
"Tonight's ball has two agendas. The first is what it claims to be, an opportunity to introduce the reborn kingdom of Alsselya to the nobility of Vaelin. The second agenda is to use this opportunity to gather Vaelin's trusted lords together and address the betrayal head on. That is to take place tomorrow.
“All the same, I want everyone on their toes. There will be hostiles at the ball tonight. Stick together and avoid any conversations about Dommeran.
“This leads me to my final warning. I won’t name names, but some of you know I have a very special contact. That contact has warned me that evil is nearby.”
“What kind of evil?” The quiet Farloc surprised everyone by asking.
" I wish I knew. I will tell you my information comes from someone very knowledgeable. It is not to be disregarded. All I was told was ‘evil is nearby.' It is an ominous enough warning that everyone should be alert." The elf nodded to my answer.
"So, it is a ball. You can drink, but not too much. You can converse, but keep to safe topics. Remember, you are now Alsselyians. Don't embarrass us."
Brianna cleared her throat and looked meaningfully at Barad. “What?!” he asked indignantly. Then he turned to me. “Now that we are aware of what is going on, I’m going to have to insist you have two guards with you tonight.”
Whilhoit joined in. “Well said, sir.”
I took a deep sigh. I knew this was coming. “Very well. Whilhoit, please choose two men that are discreet.”
“Of course sire. I can certainly vouch for one of them. It will be me,” he said with a smile.
“Well I can’t ask for better then,” I said with a smile.
“I would like to organize some sneaks into the party,” Mistress Jacobs stated.
“Almost every lord and lady in the kingdom will be here tonight. Do you have sneaks that none of them have hired in the past?”
She gave a brief sigh. “That will make it more of a challenge, but we have some new recruits that are ready.”
“How many do you have?” Arthur asked.
She thought for a moment. “I have four that are ready and unknown to anyone. I would have ten others in support of them.”
“I will request uniforms from Chamberlain Merret,” He said with a nod.
“Yes,” she replied. “That will do. Make sure we get a mix of wait staff and castle errand boys. No one notices them.
“Also,” she said to everyone. “I will introduce those disguised as wait staff to you, only take drinks from them. I have seen too many times someone drugged at an event like this. Sometimes by me,” the last she said with a slight s
mile.
"I'd like to remain here. I hate going to balls, and I can bring together the rest of our guild members and prepare them for tomorrow," Max excused. I couldn't blame him. I would have volunteered to stay behind myself if I could. Instead, I just agreed with him.
"That's for the best. Currently, they are not aware of our new affiliation with the Fox Guild. Let's leave it that way until tomorrow. Mistress Jacobs, Master Felps. I would like the two of you to attend the ball tonight, but not as representatives of Alsselya. The two of you have enough standing to attend the ball on your own." They both nodded.
I turned to the elf. “Ambassador Farloc. Every lord and lady at the ball will try to corner you. I request that you stay with me. Between myself and the escort, we should be able to afford you some protection.” He nodded gratefully to me.
I looked around at the group. “Well, if that’s all, let us prepare for a party.”
As everyone started to head for the door, Barad made his way over to me. “What are we going to do about that warning you received?”
I shrugged, “Not sure what we can do about it. It’s too vague for specific defenses. Besides, I’ll have Whilhoit and another guard with me. If nothing else, they can buy me some time to zap someone with magic.” Zap probably wasn’t the most sophisticated of words, but I had yet to come up with something more profound.
Barad looked like he wanted to complain more but let it slide. “Fine. I need to relieve some stress before going. Want to go to the yard?”
"That sounds like an excellent idea. Meeting the kingdom royalty has me nervous."
We two took the familiar walk down to the training area. With the ball tonight the yard was empty. We chose our practice swords and once again went into our familiar dance. The worries of the night melted away as we practiced our everyday routines. With the new techniques we picked up at the temple, we were far more dangerous than we were even at the Fields of Alynon. To a bystander, it would appear we were moving at reckless speeds, but this was all in practiced control. We finally stopped as the skies started to threaten rain. Our bodies steaming in the cool winter air.
“So how are you and Bri?” I asked as we started back up towards our suite.
He gave a shy smile. “We’re good. We both like to argue, and making up is fun.”
I decided to leave that last part alone. “Well, you two are good arguers.”
“We’re good at other things too,” he said with a bigger smile. I could only roll my eyes.
Back in my room, I found a warm tub waiting. I may have been king for a few months now, but I haven't yet tired of the perks. Sitting back in the tub, I closed my eyes and relaxed. I used a trickle of magic to keep the tub warm. Outside I could hear the calming sound of rain as it started hitting the windows. Bliss.
After the bath, I found the servants had laid my suit on the bed. I may have accepted some of the benefits of being king, but I still chose to dress myself. Thanks to the alterations Crowler made, the suit was easy to slide into. My hair, on the other hand, had grown long since my days as a soldier. For tonight's occasion, I had to let a servant come and tie it up for me. It was tied back with a silver colored twine to match the buttons on my coat. I had to admit it looked much better than I could have done. Thanking her, I went into the main room.
The room was full as Max had gathered the guild members to discuss strategy for tomorrow. The others were gathering as we waited for everyone to get ready. Mistress Jacobs and Master Felps had moved to another location so they could arrive independently from our group.
Farloc approached me as I entered. He was dressed in a green tunic for the ball. He had joined our group in our practices, and I had to admit he made us better. Tonight though, that cocky, better-than-humans attitude was gone. His usually pale skin was now ashen white. “Farloc, how are you doing?”
“I must admit, I am nervous about meeting so many humans." He stated though I could see it pained him to say.
“Don’t worry, so am I.” That didn’t seem to help.
“It is bad enough being in this city. I haven’t seen a tree since I have arrived. Now to be thrown into a congested room of humans. Some of whom, as you told me this morning, are our enemies. My instincts are screaming danger, but I am unsure if that is due to our situation or if they are warning of real risk.”
“Well, if you need to I am sure you can sneak in a knife,” I offered.
“I already have five. Are you saying I need six?” He responded with a straight face.
I froze a moment trying to think of a reply to that, but he took it as agreeing. "Yes, you are right, I'll go get another." With that, he disappeared.
While I was trying to recover from that, Brianna approached. She looked beautiful in a blue and silver dress. Her red hair pinned up with silver jewelry. "Well," I said. "You are obviously not working incognito tonight."
“And miss this opportunity? I get to attend a king’s ball!” She squealed. “I’ll get to hobnob with royalty.”
“Once again, Bri. I am royalty,” I sighed. She just stuck her tongue out at me and grabbed us two wineglasses off the table.
“Here you go, Your Majesty,” She said with a smirk.
“Well, it’s progress,” I muttered.
“It’s the best you’ll get,” Barad stated as he joined us. He looked dashing in a new suit made for this occasion. It was in the blue and silver colors of Alsselya, as everyone in our party would be wearing tonight. “Where is Farloc?”
“He’s turning himself into a walking armory,” I replied.
“Good idea. I wish I had thought of that,” Barad replied. He and I only wore a sword on our sides. “How many is he bringing?”
"I believe six was the last count," I answered.
“Is that all?” Brianna asked.
“Why,” Barad asked. “How many are you bringing?”
“A lady never tells,” she said with a mischievous smile and walked away. Barad followed after her with a smile that said he was going to find out, one way or another.
I mentally wished him luck, hoping she didn’t stab him in his pursuit of the truth. Alynon and I haven’t yet had an opportunity to work on healing. He’d have to heal on his own.
As promised, Mistress Jacobs’ sent her sneaks who would be secretly working as servants tonight. We familiarize ourselves with each of their faces and agreed we would only take food and drinks from them tonight. Once we were confident we could recognize them, they hurried off to join the staff working the ball.
It felt awkward just standing there, but I didn’t want to wrinkle my suit, at least not until I was introduced at the ball. Arthur walked over with a knowing smile. “Nervous, Sire?”
I nodded. “There’s a lot of pressure on us to perform tonight. We will need the support of the lords for military action. The future of Alsselya is riding on our convincing the lords that they will benefit from its existence.”
“Many will already believe that. Vaelin prospered with Alsselya as a neighbor. Now they can feel Dommeran breathing down their necks. Necks that will likely be cut if Dommeran takes our kingdom.”
“That would be a compelling reason,” I agreed.
He reached up and straightened my collar. “Alynon has chosen his champion well. Smile at the ladies and look the men in the eyes. They will respect you.”
With that, there was a knock at the door. A servant announced administrator Waith had arrived to guide us to the ball. I smiled at Stiven and waved him over.
“Your Majesty. You very much look the part of king tonight. That is good. In fact, your entire party wearing matching uniforms will make an undeniable statement about the return of Alsselya.”
Just then Farloc returned from his weapons gathering. Stiven’s jaw dropped as he approached us.
“Administer Stiven Waith, I would like to introduce Ambassador Farloc of the Elves.”
“It is an honor to meet you, ambassador. I was unaware we had an elven visitor in our kingdom.” Stiven tur
ned to me, “Well, Your Majesty. You never fail to surprise. I’ll need to send word ahead so you can be properly announced.”
I turned to Arthur, who had a broad grin on his face. “We didn’t inform them that Farloc is here?”
"And miss that moment?" Arthur asked. With that, he started laughing out loud. "I thought his eyes might pop out." He said as he doubled over laughing. I looked at Farloc who just shrugged.
Stiven came waddling back, puffing as he did so. "Ok, I have sent word ahead. It would have been nice to have been forewarned of the situation," he stated with a sidelong glance at Arthur who was now showing great interest in a very boring ceiling. "Ambassador, am I to understand that by you being here the elves acknowledge King Eberon as the rightful ruler of Alsselya?"
"We do," Farloc responded in his usual abrupt way. I smiled at him. He really needed to soften those edges to be a proper ambassador, but in the week of his being here, I was considering him a friend.
A grin split Stiven's face. "That is truly wonderful. Some lords might have hesitated for Vaelin to be the first to acknowledge Lee as King, but now that someone else has, and not just anyone, but the elves! Oh, this is marvelous. The respect towards the elves runs deep in Vaelin. With this, there is little doubt to the outcome of tonight."
Farloc glanced at me briefly, but I could see panic setting in. “Ah, Stiven. Farloc is rather new in his role. I don’t think we should throw him directly to the wolves. I thought he would remain with me tonight.” Once again that earned a grateful look from Farloc.
“Oh. Yes, I see,” Stiven said as he looked at Farloc. “That would be fine. In fact, the optics of the two of you side by side will go over well.
"Well, if there are no more surprises," Stiven said with another glance at Arthur. "Then I see no reason to dally any longer. Shall we go?" I nodded as we herded everyone towards the door.
Chapter 28
(Lee)
As we moved down the hall, I glanced behind me, my chest swelling with pride. The delegation from Alsselya was resplendent in their uniforms. If tonight were only about making an impression, then we were guaranteed success. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I considered as my smile slipped a bit. There were some at this ball that were determined for us to fail. Stiffening my shoulders, I continued to follow Stiven, changing my mindset to that of a warrior. It would be needed tonight.