by Sharon Gibbs
Clarence arrived at the Chancellor’s manor where the garrison guarded the gates dressed in their uniforms. Clarence was surprised at how flimsy the metal looked.
‘Open the gates for the Chancellor’s Advisor,’ the guard at the gate called.
Promptly the gates were opened and Clarence passed through. As he rode up to the manor he noticed that the people from the town were armed. Clarence didn’t like the idea of the town’s people in battle with an army. They’d had no formal training and he assumed that the horde they expected had. These people were the shopkeepers, the blacksmiths and the farmers that lived and worked in Canameer. Clarence could understand their willingness to fight and protect their town, but the people would have little or no chance. Clarence hoped the Chancellor would listen to reason. Even the town’s garrison was only for show. Yes they trained, but their skills were used to entertain the crowds in the annual gala or lead celebrations in the town. They’d never been put to the test of a real battle before.
Clarence dismounted and the stable boy took his horse. He walked up to the front doors and made his way to the Chancellor’s office, on the upper floor of the house. He knocked on the door and was bid to enter. The Chancellor didn’t look pleased.
‘Where’ve you been?’ the Chancellor said as he slapped a handful of papers down on his desk.
‘I’d important things to attend to, Chancellor Evans,’ Clarence said.
‘What could be more important than our town? We need to prepare to defend ourselves against these barbarians who are plundering the land.’
Clarence ignored his question and asked his own. ‘Why do you have the people of the town armed to fight? They stand a better chance if they surrender.’
‘Nonsense, Clarence. The people have a right to fight for what is theirs.’
‘How can you say that? The people are untrained in the art of warfare. They stand little chance of survival. Their best option is to surrender peacefully to stay alive.’
‘I’ll not have it, Clarence, I tell you. If you interfere in this matter, I’ll have you held under guard in your room. I don’t want you to lead the people down another path. They want to fight for what is theirs.’
Clarence couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He tried one last time. ‘Please, Chancellor Evans, as your Advisor I implore you to think. You’ll lead the people into a situation where they’ve no hope of survival. It’ll be a blood bath and the people deserve the right to choose.’
‘I’m the Chancellor and I govern these people! I say they shall fight and protect what is ours. You’ll not interfere, Clarence!’
There was no chance to reason with the Chancellor. He was determined to have the people fight. Clarence was disheartened and he left his office. He sought out his room and changed his clothes. He dressed in simple trousers and a linen shirt. As he pulled on his leather boots he thought of the day ahead and what it could possibly hold. Then he stopped. What was the Chancellor going to do to him that the approaching army wouldn’t? He set his mind to task, and grabbing his cloak he rushed out of the manor onto the grounds. He walked around and spoke with the people to persuade them not to fight. If they were to raise a sword to attack, or at best defend themselves, they’d be sure to fall under another’s weapon. Some people were of like mind as the Chancellor and some were unsure what they should do. Clarence advised them the best he could and if the time came and they changed their minds they should lay down their weapons and find somewhere safe to hide.
A horn sounded in the distance. The garrison rushed to prepare as they now knew the horde approached. The drums pounded and could be heard in the distance as the army’s feet pounded the earth, in time to the beat. Lookouts were posted on makeshift towers of crude construction. They peered out from their posts to see the army approach en masse. Some travelled on steeds, but most marched in formation and carried their weapons of war.
At the front of the army, two riders carried the banners of their leader. The material flapped in the breeze as the horses galloped towards their destination and left behind them a cloud of dust as their hooves dug into the earth. High in the breeze the golden material of the banners flapped and briefly showed the red embroidered insignia of a snake, the emblem of the household of the Antrobus.
The men who stood watch in the towers called down to the people below.
‘To arms! To arms!’ the guards shouted as the horde drew into sight. The army separated into three groups, two large and one small. The small group headed into the town while the larger wings veered off to the left and to the right. Their mission was to surround the town.
Within this smaller group Lord Arnak and the Sorceress Athena rode their magnificent stallions. These massive beasts strode forward, their great hooves thrust into the earth’s crust with each step.
The garrison worked to organise the people into some sort of order, but they’d no idea what to expect. Fear and terror struck some of the townspeople and they dropped their weapons and ran to find their families.
Clarence ushered the women, children and any men who would listen towards the back of the estate’s grounds in hopes they’d be able to breach the walls and escape before it was too late.
The army thundered towards the town and screamed out their war cries as they came. As Arnak and Athena rode through Canameer, they noticed the absence of activity on the streets and they continued down the road which led to the gates of the Chancellor’s manor. The garrison’s soldiers who’d been posted at the gates stood with their weapons drawn and were the first to fall. Many inside the confines of the estate saw how easily these soldiers were taken down. A quick blow was all it took from the heavy weapons the army held. Fierce men clad in heavy armour rode up to the walls of the estate and dispatched all who stood in their way.
Most of the town’s people held their places as the garrison’s leader shouted his orders. A few dropped their weapons in fear and hoped it wasn’t too late to escape the army as it gathered.
Captain Royston Hark led the onslaught. He stood outside the gates and bellowed his orders.
‘Open the gate in the name of the new Lord of these lands.’ The men inside the estate stood their ground. Royston ordered his men to break the chains. They began to hack at the steel that held the gates closed. They swung their battle axes against the metal that stood between them and the people beyond. Before long the chains gave way under the constant onslaught of their steel and then his soldiers poured through the gates. All inside who raised weapons to the invaders were slaughtered with little effort. Only a few men had enough skill to combat the onslaught and then they didn’t last long, as the sheer number that crushed their way through the gates over ran those inside. The soldiers dispersed around the grounds to gather the people as they tried to flee.
Lord Arnak and Athena rode through the entrance to the grounds as the rest of their army rampaged through the town.
Arnak’s horse danced around as it felt its rider’s rage build. ‘Where’s the town’s leader?’
None left could speak. Fear drove them to remain silent.
Arnak jumped from his horse’s back and grabbed the man closest to him by the front of his shirt. He drew him in and the man could see this tyrant’s rage as it pulsed through this veins. Arnak spat in the man’s face as he yelled, ‘Where’s your leader?’
The man was terrified as this fierce warrior dressed in thick leather armour filled his vision. ‘In the manor,’ the man finally stuttered.
Arnak threw him to the ground and walked towards the manor house. His men had already dragged those who had been cowering inside out onto the steps and cast them below into the courtyard. Soldiers from Arnak’s army had scoured through the manor’s grounds and searched for those who’d tried to flee. Many had managed to climb to safety over the walls, but Clarence was still inside the grounds helping the people as they fled.
The soldiers ripped people down as they tried to climb to freedom and tore them from the arms of their loved ones. Any who
rose up and fought against the army were dispatched quickly, while others were herded into groups.
As they gained control, the army manoeuvred the people around to the front of the manor.
Arnak stood at the top of the stone landing and looked down at the crowd before him. He stood with his feet set apart, his sword drawn from the leather scabbard that hung at his side. The tip of the steel rested on the ground in front of him, while his hands balanced on the hilt. To his right, Athena waited, draped in a long black cloak that pooled on the floor at her feet. She’d covered her head with the hood to conceal her face from the people’s gaze.
Chancellor Evans was dragged from the manor and placed in front of the new Lord.
‘Kneel,’ the soldier behind him yelled.
Chancellor Evans wouldn’t kneel. He wouldn’t concede to these tyrants. Two soldiers forced him down before Arnak. But before Arnak had a chance to speak, Athena saw Clarence.
‘Wait!’ Her right hand flicked out from her cloak and red bolts of magic shot from her hand. She’d seen Clarence in the crowd that cowered before the stairs. Her magic caught him off guard and penetrated his body. It wrapped itself around him and held him prisoner. Her magic burned through Clarence as he was trapped, barely able to draw breath. Unable to move he stood there frozen.
‘Bring him to me!’ Athena said as she pointed Clarence out in the crowd. Soldiers dragged him towards the bottom of the stairs and dumped him before her. As Athena looked down at Clarence she held him with her power and then she turned her attention to her brother.
So that’s how they’d attacked the Keep. She was a Sorceress and she held the power of dark magic. Clarence could feel it burn through his body.
Arnak looked back to the Chancellor. ‘So, Chancellor of the manor, leader of the people.’ He mocked the man before him. ‘Will you kneel before me and concede to my rule to spare your life?’
‘I’ll never bow before a tyrant like you!’ the Chancellor said.
The soldier who stood behind Chancellor Evans struck him across the back of the head with his studded leather glove and knocked him forward. His head crashed onto the stone stairs and the impact split his forehead open. Blood gushed from the wound as he struggled back up to his knees in front of this man who would be ruler.
‘Obviously you’ve little value for your life, old man,’ Arnak said.
Before the Chancellor had time to reply, Arnak whipped his sword through the air to sever Chancellor Evans’ head from his body. The head bounced as it struck the ground and rolled down the stairs towards the people gathered below while his body crumpled in front of the new Lord. The people were shocked beyond belief at this sudden act of reprisal and it reinforced his orders. Submit or die!
Unable to move, Clarence watched all the horror from where he lay slumped at the bottom of the stairs.
Arnak then turned his attention to Clarence. ‘What do we have here, dear sister?’
‘He’s a Wizard my Lord. We should kill him now and be done with him. He probably escaped from the Keep.’
Arnak walked down the steps towards Clarence. The soldier who’d brought Clarence forward raised his voice. ‘Kneel before your Lord and Master!’ Clarence struggled to kneel but the magic that held him was so strong, he could barely move.
‘Please, sister,’ Arnak said. ‘Let him kneel.’ Athena released her hold on him just enough so he could manoeuvre himself onto his knees and then she again tightened her restraint. Arnak leant forward. ‘Who be you, Wizard?’
‘I’m Clarence Musat. Advisor to the now dead Chancellor of this town.’
‘And are you a Wizard?’
‘Yes, I trained at the Keep before I was requested here.’
‘I see,’ Arnak said.
‘Brother, you should kill him now!’
‘Why? Do you fear this man you hold prisoner?’
‘No, my Lord. I feel it’s better to deal with him now and be done with him.’
‘But, Athena, he’s the Advisor of this humble town. I’d like him to remain here in his role.’ Athena stared at her brother. Had he lost his mind? ‘Yes, dear sister. He must stay on as Advisor.’ He then directed his next declaration to Clarence and the people as they watched.
‘This man here, your Advisor, will stay on in his role,’ the Lord said and then he laughed. He spoke directly to Clarence. ‘Yes, you’ll be Advisor, to all the rats that live in the sewers beneath the manor house. I sentence you to live the rest of your life as prisoner here, held in the dungeon, if they’ve one.’ He laughed again. ‘Once a month you’ll be paraded around the town square, to remind the people that it is I who now rules here.
‘I am the new Lord! Lord Arnak! I rule!
‘All will submit to me or meet the blade!’ Arnak said. ‘No Wizard will stand in my way!’ Arnak held his arm out towards Athena. ‘The great Sorceress here is more powerful than any Wizard you have left! Look how she holds your Wizard prisoner.’ Arnak looked to Silas Remon. ‘Take him away and find somewhere to house him.’ Then he spoke to Royston Hark’s men. ‘Gather all the male children and assemble them here in front of me.’
The soldiers hurried to do the Lord’s bidding. They pulled children away from their mothers as they screamed and battered those who tried to interfere. Then they lined the boys up in front of the Lord.
‘Are these all the male children?’ Arnak had become annoyed with all the noise. ‘Silence!’
‘Some of the people did escape over the walls, my Lord, but they’ll not get far. We’ll catch up with them eventually,’ one of his soldiers said.
‘Eventually? Go now, before you find yourself at the end of my sword, and bring them to me!’
‘Yes, my Lord,’ the soldier said and he slowly retreated. He gathered four others and they set off in search for those who’d escaped.
Athena walked along the line of boys. Fearful of what was to happen next, the children sobbed. As Athena inspected each boy, she grabbed him by the chin and lifted his head towards her face so she could look into his eyes. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, she dropped the child’s chin and moved on to the next.
When she reached the end of the line, she was annoyed that the One they sought wasn’t among the group assembled. ‘My Lord, the One we seek isn’t here!’
‘Where is he then?’ Arnak said and began to pace as his temper rose yet again. ‘You said he’d be at the Keep and then you said he was here! Do you even know where he is?’
‘He was here! I felt the boy’s essence. That’s why we travelled here. Whoever is with the boy must have enough power and knowledge to cover their tracks. We’ll find him, my Lord, he can’t hide forever,’ Athena said and then walked away.
Clarence was imprisoned in the Chancellor’s manor. Down in the cellar there was an old vault where many items that the Chancellor valued had been stored. After the soldiers defeated the locks, Arnak’s men took out anything of value and had it carried upstairs for the Lord to view. Then they threw the Wizard inside the vault and locked the door. Clarence was still bound by Athena’s magic and could barely move. Nevertheless, two soldiers remained behind to guard him until further instructions came from their Lord.
As Clarence lay on the floor, he thought about Christopher and Henry for the last time before he cleared his mind. He focused his energy, as he did when he went to the caves, and locked all memories of Henry and Christopher away. He worried the Sorceress would be able to sense them and find out where they’d fled. While they knew the child was of the Prophecy, they didn’t know who he was.
Arnak and Athena walked down the stairs from the kitchen into the cellar where Clarence had been imprisoned. It was stocked with all the needs of the household, from sacks of grain and barrels of salted meats, to shelves crammed with preserved fruits and vegetables stored in glass jars and heavy crocks, for use over the winter months. Barrels of wines and ales were stored in racks on the far walls, while sacks of potatoes and onions were piled high and waited for the kitchen
hands to come and collect them.
Over in the back corner, surrounded by sacks of grain, stood the vault. Its walls and floor were made from heavy stone slabs while the ceiling of the vault was the floor of the kitchen, which was directly above them. A solid door made from oak hung on thick metal hinges and a heavy metal bar slid along the face of the door into holders on each side. Locks were then placed at each end to seal the door.
The soldiers jumped to their feet as the Lord and Athena entered the cellar. Arnak instructed the soldier who stood closest to the vault to open the door and allow Athena access to the Wizard. As the door opened they could see Clarence as he lay on the bare stone floor. Athena stepped forward and reduced her magic to allow the Wizard some freedom to move.
At last, Clarence thought as the pain receded a little. His body was near exhaustion as he’d struggled to manage the pain she’d inflicted.
Athena stepped back from the doorway. She lifted both her hands and held them in front of her. The red essence of her magic could be seen when she began to weave her web. It shone from her hands and her spell grew and the air sizzled with her power as she cast her magic forth to cover the vault. Within the vault Clarence could feel only the pulse of her magic as it plagued his body. The web was cast and Athena withdrew the power that held the Wizard paralysed.
Clarence felt great relief and his body no longer burned. His muscles could relax and he no longer fought for every breath he took. Athena had cast her power over the vault to hold Clarence prisoner inside. He’d be free to move around within its walls, but would be unable to escape. The walls, floor, ceiling and door were now spelled and would hold him prisoner for all eternity. While inside the vault Clarence’s magic and all other magic except Athena’s would cease to exist. It had become a void she’d created from herself and only her magic could be cast within. Athena took off the belt she wore. It was a long chain with links fastened together to form the body of a snake. At one end of the belt was the head of a serpent, with ruby red jewels set into the eye sockets. The hooked fangs could fasten into any link along the snake’s body, thus the belt could be made to fit any size. It could even be made small enough to be a collar and left a long length of chain which became a leash.