“We can not rely on Nikali,” said Forman.
Heric turned around to face his two most trusted members of the Royal Council. “We will not win without him.”
“Yes, we can,” said Forman. “We would have had them at the river had you not destroyed the aqueducts.”
“They broke through the lines, Forman,” argued Heric. “It was the only way to prevent them from getting any further.”
“I had the situation under control. If you hadn’t caused a distraction with the aqueduct Tcher would not have gotten through the last line of defense.”
“We do not know that,” said Quaet.
“I do know that,” said Forman. “I was there. I was in the battle. I saw everything. It was under control.”
“I could not guarantee that,” said Heric. “I had to think about everybody in the Capitol.”
“If you were on the field you would have made the same decision I made,” said Forman.
“But I wasn’t on the field,” said Heric. “You, yourself, have been pressuring me to take my place above the battle. You did good enough, Forman. Let it go.”
“No,” said Forman, “I will not just let it go. You need to trust me, Heric. I am your confidant. Just because you were not in the battle does not mean it was lost without you. The next time you need to give me complete confidence in the victory.”
“There will not be a next time, Forman. I am returning to the fight. My injuries are healed. I will lead from the field from now on.”
“That is absurd,” said Forman. “There is no need for you to do that. I am here for that reason. You do not need to be down there. You do not need to rely on Nikali. Quaet is an overcautious old man that clings to the old ways. Put your confidence back in me, Heric. We can win this war together.”
Heric shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “I have already lost too much since taking this position. I’ll do this on my own.”
Forman stood there in shock. “Then you don’t need me,” he told his emperor. Deep down he knew it was true. Heric no longer listened to Forman. He was just there to pull Heric out of the fire. Even that task was becoming too difficult.
“I step down as Emperor Confidant,” said Forman. “You have your Royal Council to listen to, and I can not stand here and watch as Nikali gets pushed over the edge. If that is what you want then I will not stand in your way, but I will not stand beside you either. You can control Nikali. I hope it is for the better. You do not need me anymore.”
Forman turned around. He pushed past Quaet to get through and leave the narrow hallway. The older man stumbled but kept to his feet. Heric and he watched Forman disappear around the corner.
Heric felt more alone than ever. His cousin shut him out and his friend walked away.
Chapter 47
Forman was alone in his quarters. He began packing his things as soon as he returned to his room. Heric had not tried to stop him. It would have done no good. Forman had given his life to Heric, and it had gone unnoticed.
All of his belongings went nicely into his satchel. He kept little from his life before the palace. The home he was born in was destroyed during the Prial/Tcher War. His family was slaughtered. His only salvation was joining the Eluan military at a young age. Once he became a part of their team they took care of him. Despite all of his anger he had found a family with his fellow soldiers.
Forman remembered the faces of the men that killed his parents. He never had a chance to get his vengeance. The legion that destroyed his home met their end in battle days later. It did not stop Forman from training to become the best he could be. He would not let something like that happen again.
Heric had taken a liking to him. It wasn’t before long that Heric had asked Forman to join his ranks. Together they excelled farther than they could have alone.
All of that was now gone. Forman had overstepped his bounds. Despite all his dreams and plans he had reached his peek, and it would never have been good enough. His last act of servitude was delivering a package to the training center. Forman regretted his decision, but to protect Heric he needed to put faith in his orders.
The door to his room opened, bringing Forman back to the present. His packing was done. Nothing Heric could say was going to keep him around. He needed to be free from the Caning shadow.
But Heric was not at the door. It was Quaet. He was escorted by six guards. They stood behind him at attention.
“Tell Heric I am done,” said Forman. “I am not coming back. I do not want to see what Eluan becomes.”
Quaet stepped into the room. The guards remained at the door blocking the exit. It forced Forman to have to stay and listen.
“Heric is too proud to ask for you back,” said Quaet. “I will though. You have a level head, Forman. You have been valuable to Heric and to the Royal Council. Emperor Cyrus liked you. He saw a fire in you.”
“I may have proven myself in the past, but those days are gone and they are not coming back. I refuse to stand around and watch Heric grasp at every decision he has to make. You can walk him through each one. You seem to find fulfillment out of that.”
“I find fulfillment out of performing my duties, as should you,” said Quaet. “Heric can not rule alone. We are here to help him.”
“He can,” said Forman. “That is what I am afraid of.”
Forman pushed pass Quaet. Then he arrived at the door. The guards did not budge.
“Get out of my way,” ordered Forman.
Quaet lowered his head. “I hoped it would not have come to this,” he said. He then took a step back to stay out of reach of Forman. “You were the Emperor’s Confidant. That comes with responsibilities and consequences.”
“Tell your men to move,” said Forman.
Quaet continued talking, ignoring the former confidant. “You know our battle plans. You know our weaknesses. You know Heric too well. Being a confidant is a duty for life. Leaving the position must be agreed upon by both parties. But in times of war there is little choice. You will be detained in the palace dungeons until it is deemed responsible to allow you and your knowledge back into the world or until your death.”
Forman rushed the guards in the hallway. He may have been bigger than them, but they outnumbered him. He got stuck in the middle of the group. They held him down. One of the guards slipped a handful of roots and grain into Forman’s mouth. It was a numbing agent used on prisoners to incapacitate them for transport.
Forman felt his legs lose their strength. His tongue felt twice its size. Then he blacked out as Quaet and the guards surrounded him.
“It is your duty to sacrifice your life for the Emperor.”
Nikali and Cassandra had not left the training center in days. The room was packed with all their followers from Myrus having no other place to go. The room quickly became filthy. None of them noticed.
Aul came into the training room. He was one of the few that freely left. He returned with a package in his arms. It weighed him down. He slouched forward as he walked to Nikali.
“There was a package for you at the door,” Aul told his commander.
“From who?” Nikali asked.
“There was no detail of sender, sir” said Aul.
Nikali rolled his head in interest. In Aul’s arms was a packaged wrapped in cloth and tied with string.
“Very well,” said Nikali. “Give it here.”
Aul dropped the package in front of Nikali and Cassandra. It landed on the stone ground with a loud thud.
Nikali ran his hand across the sides. It was jagged and not one piece. He could feel four different sections.
“It’s books,” said Nikali. His smile grew larger than ever. He untied the string and unwrapped the cloth to reveal four books bound in leather with silver trim across the spine and pages.
“These are beautiful,” said Cassandra. “They are in wonderful condition.”
Suddenly, nothing else mattered in the room. Nikali and Cassandra looked over their new treasure with desire.
Nikali stared at Cassandra. They both had the same idea. There was only one place these books could have come from.
“Alexus must have had them hidden for years in that hiding place,” said Nikali.
“He would have been killed had he been found with them,” said Cassandra. “He had to.”
“Why is that?” Nikali asked. He looked at the books again to try and discover what Cassandra was talking about.
“They are from Prial,” she answered. “The silver lining was how they bound their books. Their libraries were magnificent, so I’m told.”
“He had a servant girl from Prial,” said Nikali. “I’m sure he could have talked his way through a few books.”
Cassandra opened the top book. The pages fluttered about, free from their twenty year confines. The pages were sprinkled with illustrations. The text overflowed the pages. The author of the books was mad with information. As she glanced at the pages her face scrunched up in confusion.
“That’s strange,” she said. “This is not the Prial language. I’ve seen it written before. I do not recognize this.”
Nikali took a closer look at the pages. “Is it an older form?” he pondered. Then his eyes grew wide. He started to recognize several words in the book.
“This is written in Louson,” muttered Nikali.
“The kingdom beyond the canyon?” Cassandra enquired.
“Yes,” said Nikali. “Alexus taught us their language growing up to prepare us for our alliance. It was the first time our world was going to meet the Lousons officially. Only Alexus and a handful of others had met them before.”
“Then what is Prial doing with a book in Louson language? This book is old Nikali. The ink is turning yellow. It is over a century old.”
“They must have known about the Lousons long before us,” said Nikali.
“How long did Alexus know this?”
“He must have been lying to us for decades,” he said.
“What does the book say?” she asked.
“It talks about using arcan,” said Nikali. “It will take some time to go through it, but they had a better understanding of arcan than I have ever seen.”
The two of them were focused on the books. Every page showed drawings of people using arcan in ways they had never imagined. There world was opening up before them. All they had to do now was find the opportunity to use their power.
Across the Eluan Empire, at the edge of the Cylo Forest a lone man struggled to clear the woods. He was Luca of the Tcher Elite Guard. His left leg was badly bruised. It pained him with every step he took. His left arm was useless. It was broken and mangled days previous.
The sunlight broke across his face. It offered the first comfort he had been given since entering the forest. He never looked back toward the trees. He could still hear the screams in his head. The forest growled back at him, beckoning him to return.
Luca continued to stumble out toward the open road. He needed to seek help. It would be his last duty for his master before he died.
Chapter 48
“Are we sure they are still alive?” Heric asked. He stood at the head of the table of the Royal Council. The entire group was together with the exception of two. Heric stood alone on his end of the table. The seats to his right and to his left were vacant. Forman now resided in the palace dungeons under rule of law. Nikali could not be bothered to attend the meeting.
Luca’s body had made it all the way to the Capitol. His dying words were passed down from carriage driver to carriage driver. The body reeked along the travel and no one wanted to go the whole journey from the Cylo Forest to the Capitol.
Upon arrival at the Capitol the body was verified by Heric himself, and then was quickly disposed of, but not before Mylo’s clothes and belongings were taken. They were evidence enough that he was once a member of the Tcher Elite Guard.
“They are all dead,” said a member of the Council, confidently. “This was a member of Aldrin’s top guard. If he was that badly injured then the others must be as well.”
“Luca said they were all still alive,” countered Heric. “They are in Hilldad.”
“That was before he made his escape,” argued the council member.
“His escape could have cost them their lives.”
“That could have been why his injuries were so severe. They attacked him when he ran,” said another.
“It is hard to believe Aldrin and the others are still alive,” agreed Quaet. “The avadons have overrun the Cylo Forest for over a year now. We have heard no word from either of the cities that reside there. But the fact remains Luca and the others were alive for some time before his escape. There is a chance they could still be alive, including our Empress. For her alone it is worth sending in an army to rescue them.”
“You must be mad,” said a member across the table. “We are barely defending our walls against the Tcher army at our doorstep, and you want to send out more of our men to rescue a handful of our enemies.”
“I want to send out an army to rescue our Empress, and get into custody the master of the enemy at our doorstep. With Marina and Aldrin safe and under our watch the war will come to a swift end. It is a risk I would take,” said Quaet.
“Tcher has remained heavily on the river. Our numbers have kept them from advancing, but we have not had any success in fighting them back. If they see a weakness in our defenses because we decided to fight on two fronts they will surely take advantage.”
“There are no two fronts,” said Quaet. “We send an army to the forest. They return victorious.”
“The avadons have never been that easily defeated,” argued the council member. “And if we provoke them it is safe to assume they will leave their homes in the forest and return to the main lands of the empire. Then we will be fighting two fronts; Tcher in the east, and the avadons in the west.”
Heric cut off the argument. “Eluan can not risk fighting a war like that. The Avadons already sent a hurting blow to us last year. Tcher has done even worse, now. We can not fight both at the same time.”
“Are you abandoning your empress?” Quaet asked.
Heric remained silent for a minute. Then he replied, “I see very little choice.”
“What about Tcher?” asked a member at the other end of the table. “Shouldn’t they want their leader back? Perhaps we can form an alliance with them and attack the avadons together.”
“There will be no alliance with Tcher,” said Heric. “They can not be trusted. Once word reaches them that Aldrin has been captured and possibly killed there will be a fight for who takes control of the islands. Their succession is based on strength and violence. Half his Elite Guard are dead. It will be pandemonium.”
“Are you suggesting we do nothing?” Quaet asked.
“I am suggesting we wait,” said Heric. “We spread the word about Aldrin ourselves. Tcher will fall under its own weight, and Eluan will cut right through the remains. Then when the Capitol is no longer threatened we will send an army to rescue the survivors of the group in the Cylo Forest.”
“That is a good plan,” said a woman entering the room. “But we have another.”
The Royal Council looked over to see Cassandra dressed in general’s garb approaching the table.
“What do you think you are wearing?” Quaet fumed. The rest of the council discussed amongst them the change in the situation.
Cassandra came to the table and sat down at Nikali’s empty seat on the right of Heric. “I am a leader in Nikali’s legion. It is only appropriate I wear the proper wardrobe.”
“You are a whore,” said Quaet. “A whore being led by a bum. You have no right to be wearing those colors or to even be in this room.”
Cassandra looked at Quaet. She scanned the rest of the table; every seat filled with men. A smile grew on her face. “There are no secrets from me. I know you all well enough that none of you will stop me. Nikali has the right as a member of the Royal Council to name his generals. I have every rig
ht to do what I want.”
Many of the men at the table dropped their heads. Quaet stood up straight and looked toward his emperor.
Heric turned to Cassandra. “You have word from Nikali?”
“Yes,” she said. “I heard your plan for the Cylo Forest. It’s fine if you want to recover dead bodies. Nikali sees things a bit differently.”
“Does he have a plan?” Heric asked.
“Nikali will go to the forest. He and his legion will raid the avadon camps and we will rescue your empress.”
“He is ready?” Heric asked.
“For a price,” said Cassandra.
“I have already given him the power of the Royal Council, and more powerful Tamor Blood than Eluan has seen. What more could he want?”
“Do not listen to her,” said Quaet. “Nikali is taking advantage of you.”
“Nikali just wants to see a better future,” said Cassandra.
“Nikali already said he would help me when I needed it,” said Heric.
“True, but you do not need him now. You already have a plan in place. A good plan. The avadons can kill Aldrin all they want. The Empress dying is unfortunate, but life will go on.”
“Hold your tongue,” said Quaet.
Cassandra kept talking, ignoring the old man. “But there has been a change. A helping hand. Nikali will risk his own life to go into the forest for this opportunity. It is beyond the promises you made to each other.”
“What does he want?” Heric asked.
“He wants to fly,” said Cassandra.
“This is absurd,” said Quaet. “They can not help us win this war, Heric. This legion of theirs is a joke. They are laughing in your face.”
“The war is nothing to Nikali,” said Cassandra. “Tcher can have the ocean. They can have the land. Louson can wither away on their side of the canyon. Nikali wants the skies. Imagine, my Emperor, a city in the clouds. All we need from you is cooperation, and it begins with the raid of the Cylo Forest.”
“You have my cooperation,” agreed Heric. “Get the Empress, get Aldrin. End this war.”
Eluan Falls: The Tides of Utter Undoing Page 19