“What happened?” asked Oscar.
“Sarac’s people dressed as Red Swords,” scowled Zack as he moved toward the intersection of corridors. “They had a birthday cake for the queen.”
“It is not even close to her birthday,” retorted Oscar as he caught up to Zackary. “How many were there?”
“Four fake Red Swords,” reported Zack, “and four kitchen staff. They will never get out of the palace alive. We have to clean this city up before your son arrives.”
“We are doing the best we can,” sighed Oscar. “They have had close to twenty years to infiltrate Tagaret. They could be any citizen, and we will not know until they strike.”
Suddenly, a scream ripped through the corridor that made Oscar’s blood turn cold. He whirled around and raced for the King’s Chamber with Zackary on his heels. Oscar raced through the door and slid to a halt. He howled in rage as he saw Queen Marta skewered to the wall with a sword. The Red Sword standing near her turned and cackled with glee as the white orbs of his eyes glared at Oscar. He let go of his sword and pulled a dagger. With a swiftness that belied his recent death, the revenant threw the knife at Oscar Dalek.
Zackary Nolan moved quickly and dove at Oscar, pushing the prince out of the path of the knife. Oscar stumbled into a wall, but he swiftly rebounded and charged the revenant. The fake Red Sword grabbed the hilt of his sword and tried to pull it free of the wall it was imbedded in. He was not quick enough. Oscar’s sword slashed through the neck of the revenant. As the revenant’s head rolled across the floor, Oscar dropped his sword and raced to his mother.
Queen Marta’s blood flowed down the front of her white gown. Her eyes were closed and her breathing ragged. Oscar gripped the revenant’s sword with both hands and started to pull on it. The queen’s eyes flew open and a cry escaped her lips.
“No,” gasped the queen. “It is too late for that. Let me speak.”
Oscar nodded sadly and released the sword.
“Arik must be kept safe,” gasped the queen. “Promise me that you will give your all to see that he succeeds.”
“He is my son, Mother,” sobbed Oscar. “I would give my life to save him.”
“I am demanding more than your life, son,” the queen continued solemnly. “I am asking for the life of your princess, your soul, and your compassion to others. Whatever it takes. There is no time for mercy in this endeavor. Do whatever you must to ensure his success. There are no rules anymore. There is only his survival. Promise me.”
“I promise, Mother,” cried Oscar.
Queen Marta’s eyes closed and her head fell upon her breast. Her breathing was no longer ragged, for she had ceased to exist. Oscar slid onto the floor and cried.
General Gregor stepped into the room and surveyed the situation. He shouted out the door for healers to hurry to the King’s Chamber. He rushed across the room and examined the queen. When he discovered that she was dead, he knelt next to Oscar.
“Are you wounded?” General Gregor asked softly.
“Only in spirit,” sobbed Oscar. “Check on Zackary. He saved my life.”
General Gregor nodded sadly and rose. He walked across the room and knelt next to the unorthodox Ranger with the knife in his chest.
“How are you doing, son?” asked the general.
“I have felt better,” croaked Zackary as blood bubbled on his lips.
“Lie still and be quiet then,” ordered the general. “Healers are on the way.”
“It’s a lung I think,” gasped Zackary. “Hard to breath.”
General Gregor placed a calming hand on Zackary’s shoulder and nodded silently. Several moments later, the healers rushed into the room. General Gregor rose.
“Tend to this man,” ordered the General. “Make sure that he survives.”
General Gregor stormed out of the room to the corridor, which was now packed with Red Swords.
“Shut down the palace,” ordered General Gregor. “Nobody enters or leaves without my personal permission. I want every soldier accounted for immediately. That includes Rangers, Red Swords, and the regular Targa army. I want every person in the palace accounted for. They are to be locked in whatever room they are found in. The only things that move in this palace today are Red Swords, and even they are to be stopped if you don’t personally know them. If bodies are found, they are to be decapitated. The only exception is the queen. Move out.”
The Red Swords dispersed, and General Gregor saw Sheri standing across the corridor. Tears were streaming down her face.
“Is she really dead?” sobbed Sheri.
General Gregor nodded sadly. “I will get you a pass to leave the palace,” he offered.
“I should be with Darin and Daevo when they hear the news,” sniffed Sheri. “They will need someone to comfort them. They have taken to her as if she were their own grandmother.”
“That would be helpful,” nodded the general. “They seem to be losing everyone they love these days. I will have one of the men escort you,” he added as he signaled to one of the guards standing next to the door to the King’s Chamber. “You may end up in that room with the boys for some time until things become clearer in here.”
“There is nothing I will feel like doing today anyway,” sobbed Sheri.
General Gregor nodded and returned to the King’s Chamber. The two healers were just putting Zackary on a stretcher. He walked past them and approached Oscar.
“Your time for grieving will be short,” the general stated softly. “This city will not survive long without a monarch. Word of the queen’s death will spread faster than the rats can multiply.”
Oscar did not respond at first, but slowly he wiped away his tears and nodded. He rose to his feet and swallowed hard. He walked over to his mother and held her. General Gregor grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the wall and her body. Oscar gently laid the queen’s body on the floor and folded her hands over the wound.
“That presents a problem,” declared Oscar as he stood back up. “There is only one bona fide heir to the throne, and that is my son, Arik. You may recall that Princess Callie and I abdicated any inheritance to the throne before the Collapse.”
“Then Arik it shall be,” agreed the general. “We must find him and get him to return to Tagaret.”
“After this?” scowled Oscar as he pointed to his mother. “The last thing we dare do is to bring Arik into this city. We cannot allow him to be targeted inside these walls. At least now Sarac does not know where to find him. Once he is crowned, they will know for sure where he is.”
“There is no other alternative,” frowned General Gregor. “He has to be crowned. Even the Ancient Prophecy requires it. If he is crowned now, he can save this city from disintegrating. Otherwise, when he is finally crowned, there will be no city for him to rule.”
“I just promised our queen that I would do whatever it takes to ensure that Arik succeeds,” stated Oscar. “I know that means he must assume the throne of Alcea, but I will not allow him to be killed as my parents were. There must be another way.”
“I have ordered the Royal Palace sealed,” responded General Gregor. “We can keep it sealed for as long as necessary to ensure his protection.”
“Like you protected my mother?” retorted Oscar.
General Gregor bit his lip and maintained his silence.
“I am sorry,” apologized Oscar. “There was no call for that. The queen’s death was not due to any negligence of her followers, but that is precisely my point. There is no way that you can ensure complete protection. It is not possible.”
“You are correct,” the general nodded. “We have four thousand men here who would have gladly stepped forward to receive that sword thrust in place of the queen, but that is not how life works. We also have little chance of discovering all of Sarac’s people in this city. That is not only true now, but it will be true in the future as well.”
“I agree,” nodded Oscar. “Does it not make sense though to eliminate as many of Sarac’s p
eople as we can before Arik is summoned here?”
“Of course it does,” replied the general, “but within limitations. We cannot allow too much time to pass between the queen’s death and Arik’s coronation. There are many people in Tagaret who will seek to profit from her death. It is not only Sarac’s people that we must be concerned with. When there is room for somebody to seize power, expect to find people vying for that room.”
“Back to the Contest of Power?” questioned Oscar.
“Exactly,” nodded General Gregor. “We will end up right where we started. You were secluded when the Contest of Power began. I was here in Tagaret with your father. It is an insidious beast that has a thousand heads. People who King Byron greatly trusted ended up being lured into the Contest of Power. Many of them started with the best of intentions, but the game corrupts everyone. Only an active monarchy can dissuade the rise of the Contest of Power again.”
“I can see your point now,” nodded Oscar. “Still my primary concern is the welfare of Arik. How do you propose that we protect him here?”
“I am not sure,” admitted General Gregor. “The first thing we have to do is locate him. That is no small feat in itself.”
“The fairies will find him,” suggested Oscar. “Those little people are much more dedicated to him than we humans are. Wherever he is, I feel confident that the fairies can find him.”
“Alright,” continued General Gregor, “then we must convince him to return to Tagaret.”
“That will be a problem in itself,” frowned Oscar. “He is not happy with this whole monarchy thing. He prefers to be out with the Sword of Heavens chasing the Darkness away.”
“Then he must be made to understand the importance of his return,” shrugged the general. “The last time he was in Tagaret, he said he was heading towards the Southern Mountains. If we can arrange to get him to Trekum, Larc’s people can smuggle him onto a ship to Tagaret. We could arrange for the ship to arrive at night and hustle him into the palace. Similar to how we brought in Queen Marta.”
“I can go along with that,” nodded Oscar. “What then? Do we keep him prisoner here in the Royal Palace while we continue to track down Sarac’s people?”
“I do not like the term prisoner,” frowned General Gregor. “It is disrespectful, and we mean him the best of intentions.”
“Let us not bandy about with words,” sighed Oscar. “Whatever we call it, your proposal for his safety is to keep him locked up for his own good.”
“I would endeavor to convince him to remain out of the public eye,” nodded General Gregor. “I do not like this any more than you, but I will not let anyone get close enough to kill him.”
A pair of Red Swords entered the room escorting Konic Clava. They looked expectantly to the general for his instructions.
“Lord Clava is free to go wherever he wishes,” declared General Gregor. “Spread the word that I will distribute a list of such people by morning.”
The Red Swords nodded and departed. Konic walked across the room and gently placed his hand on Oscar’s shoulder.
“I do not know how to express the sorrow I feel,” Konic said softly. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
“Thank you, Konic,” replied Oscar. “Your words are not necessary. Your devotion to Arik and his grandmother is well known.”
“We are talking about how to protect Arik when we bring him back to Tagaret,” interjected General Gregor.
Konic looked at the body of Queen Marta and the headless corpse of the revenant. He shook his head slowly. “I do not know how much I can offer to this conversation,” he stated, “but I am willing to stand by Arik’s side every moment of the day when he returns. When is he returning?”
“As soon as we can find him,” answered the general. “He must be crowned now.”
“I can tell you this about him,” declared Konic, “he will take Queen Marta’s death very hard. He had become very close to her in the short time they have known each other. I suspect that they were very much alike in many ways.”
“Will he object to being protected?” questioned General Gregor.
“Over-protected?” interjected Oscar.
“I am not sure,” hesitated Konic. “I have never pampered Arik, and so he has grown up depending upon himself. Still, he is an extremely intelligent lad. He knows what is at stake in this contest. My approach would be to explain the facts of the situation to him, and then let him make his decision.”
“And if his decision is to continue running around with the Sword of Heavens?” posed Oscar. “What then? How will we protect him?”
“Have faith in your son, Oscar,” Konic said comfortingly. “He is the Child of the Ancient Prophecy. We are not. I know all of us in this room would gladly give our lives for his safety, but we must remember that it is his life to live.”
“That is putting an awful burden on a young lad’s shoulders,” objected General Gregor. “No person in history has ever attempted to carry such a burden.”
“True,” nodded Konic, “but there has never been a need for one to carry such a weight. You were young once, Oscar. You were forced into providing for your family early. I have heard many tales of your wondrous beginnings. What would you have done if you had found yourself in Arik’s position?”
“I don’t honestly know,” conceded Oscar. “There is much to admire in Arik, and you raised him well enough to analyze things before acting. Perhaps I am too upset with grieving to think clearly about it now.”
“Are you suggesting that we do not do our best to secure his well being?” inquired General Gregor.
“General,” smiled Konic, “I learned a great many things when I traveled with the Alcea Rangers. Let me answer your question with another question. If it was young Alexander Tork that we were talking about, would you seriously be considering locking him in a room to protect him?”
“He would never stand for it,” frowned General Gregor. “I would have no more chance of keeping him locked up than…”
“My point exactly,” smiled Konic. “Just keeping Arik alive is not enough. He has the Ancient Prophecy to fulfill. All that we can do is support him and advise him. Give him the straight facts. Give him your best advice. Offer him anything that he wants.”
“Then step back and get out of his way,” nodded Oscar as he smiled. “You have much wisdom yourself, Konic Clava.”
“I do see what you are saying, Lord Clava,” sighed the general, “but I have just witnessed the death of a queen that I was extremely fond of. She died in a palace, which has access restricted to it. It has a full roster of three thousand Red Swords, each of who is sworn to protect her life with his own. To make matters worse, someone who was already dead killed her. The only way I can think of performing my duty towards Prince Arik is to sneak him into the city and hide him away somewhere.”
“Then let that be your advice to him,” countered Konic.
“What would your advice be?” asked General Gregor.
“To be careful,” Konic replied after a moment’s hesitation. “To seek the advice of those you trust, but above all, remember your goal and make steady progress towards it.”
“I think you leave too much to chance,” the general shook his head. “As a military mind, I like to have a solution to each problem before it occurs.”
“If man was capable of such feats,” smiled Konic, “nothing would need changing in our societies. There will always be a problem for which we have not planned. Today is a good example. I think the more prudent approach is to be prepared as an individual. Know you capabilities and limits, and seek to know the same of your opponents.”
“Philosophy will not hasten the return of Arik,” interrupted Oscar. “I will leave the discussion to you two gentlemen on what our advice to Arik should be. I am going to get the fairies to begin searching for their Bringer.”
Chapter 7
Concentration of Evil
Alex heard the tinkling of the alarm wire that he had run around the c
ampsite. He rose silently and grabbed his sword. Arik and Tanya rose also while Jenneva got up and gently woke Prince Darok.
“I am going to be the bait,” Alex said softly. “I will stand in the moonlight in the center of the clearing. Jenneva, I want you to put a physical shield over me until the first intruder enters our campsite. Darok, I want you to go with Jenneva and protect her from attack. Pay special attention to anyone trying to circle around behind her.”
Silently, Jenneva moved away from the sounds until she found a large tree for protection. Darok took up position behind her. Tanya moved to the right side of the clearing. She leaned her sword against a tree and filled her hands with three Lanoirian Stars. Arik went to the left and duplicated the preparations. Alex stood squarely in the center of the clearing with his large sword leaning against his leg. Three Lanoirian Stars also filled his hands.
With a nod from Alex, the four unicorns spread out at the sides of the clearing. Everyone waited silently. Within moments, the sounds came closer, and it became evident that over a dozen bodies were moving directly towards the campsite. The unicorns moved quietly into the forest. Prince Midge eased off of Arik’s shoulder and flew into the trees towards the sounds.
Alex studied the areas of the forest before him where the moonlight filtered through the trees. Standing in the moonlight himself, Alex searched for the first sign of who the intruders might be. He did not have to wait long.
Alex saw the first goblin warrior approaching stealthily. He stood his ground. Suddenly, the goblin spotted Alex and shouted something to his fellow goblins. Stealth was abandoned as the goblins surged forward. Alex scanned the charging goblins looking for any that might be archers. As long as no arrows were about to fly towards him, Alex stood in the center of the clearing and waited for them to get closer.
“Drop the shield,” Alex said softly to Jenneva.
Jenneva immediately complied. When the first goblin reached the edge of the clearing, Alex let fly his first Lanoirian Star. It caught the grotesque goblin in the center of his head. The goblin’s momentum carried him to within several paces of Alex before crashing to the ground. Alex ignored the first goblin as soon as he had thrown his Lanoirian Star. He stood calmly and dispatched two more Lanoirian Stars as the rest of the goblins entered the clearing.
Emerald of the Elves Page 8