Chapter 32-Confession
The wall slammed shut behind the twins as he spoke, and they knew they were trapped, but it did not appear André was angry, instead he looked at them for a moment before saying:
“What I want to know, is not only how you figured out how to get in the tower, but how you got in, for most Water conjurers never find out how to enter that building, and more than that, neither of you can control water.” A guilty expression appeared on the twin’s faces as they struggled to find a believable response. Before Irgen knew what he was doing, he blurted out:
“Mom showed us how to get in, and she opened the entrance too.” Idus nodded his head in agreement at the lie.
“Your mother showed you, is that so?” He turned and looked at the castle as though in thought. “But then where is Jennifer if she showed you how to get in? But perhaps more importantly when did Jennifer learn to enter that tower?”
“She ummmm wanted to give us something to do while she looked after Gregory.” Idus said excitedly and this time Irgen nodded affirmatively with him.
“Gregory? Wait what happened to Gregory?” André asked sharply.
“Ummm, Gregory, he just had a little accident this morning, maybe you should go look after him.” This time both of them nodded in agreement.
“I shall… But after you answer my question, how did your mother know how to enter the tower?”
“Well maybe she knew all along, she just didn’t want you to know she knew how to enter the tower.” André grinned at his boys antics.
“Alright you two out with it already, you’re mother is an Earth conjurer, she couldn’t enter this place even if she knew how, and more importantly only the true descendants of Perseus know how to enter the tower, and only they have the power to open the entrance. I know you opened it. You are my sons, direct descendants of Perseus, only you could have opened it, but how? You are not Water conjurers. And since you are my sons you will stop lying. It is a foul, uncouth, and unbefitting of a Tuerl practice.” He gave the two of them a stern look only a father could give. Irgen quailed under the firm glare. He knew their game was up, years of doing the same thing with his mother had taught him that. He had hoped his father was a little easier to trick, but obviously not on this matter.
“Well father, Idus had a dream-I swear he did. We didn’t tell you because we didn’t think you’d believe us.”
“A dream, you say. That’s very interesting. Tell me Idus what did this dream entail? And when do you have said occurrence?”
“Ummm. Well you see dad,” he paused; he had just called his father dad for the first time. “After Gregory’s accident, the two of us got bored…and so we decided we would explore the towers, but to no avail, because we found there were no doors or entrances, so we sat down in the shade, and I fell asleep and suddenly I found myself in a dream. In the dream I saw an old man in a toga. He picked up the stone and changed it into water. He opened the passageway and then a young man snuck into the tunnel behind him before it closed. When the tunnel reopened, only the young man came out, and he was carrying Alecto’s staff and sword.”
André sat down wordlessly on the ground. His right hand was pushed against his right cheekbone in disbelief. “You mean to tell me, you were an eyewitness to the only betrayal ever committed inside these walls.”
“Betrayal?” The twins said at once.
“Yes, betrayal. I am afraid, Idus, you saw the only murder committed in this peaceful asylum throughout its many long years of existence. You saw Aristotle and that was the last time he was seen alive in this life. He is your great ancestor. Spartans think he was only a great philosopher, with his flaws of course, but Aristotle, like many others during the ages of the world, wanted to give back to the non-magical folk. So he learned their arts, their cultures, and in the end spawned his own era of learning.”
“Most believe that after Alexander’s death in 323 BC. Aristotle exiled himself from Greece and went to Chalcis, where within a year he died, but the truth is that on his journey to Chalcis he did a complex piece of magic and created a fake double of himself, and he returned to the magical world to live the rest of his days in peace, but it was not to be so.”
“Soon after his arrival the Tenebri managed to bribe a young impressionable lad, ironically enough named Alecto, to steal the treasured artifacts kept hidden in the tower. Whether he was hired to kill Aristotle as well is uncertain, but it was inevitable. Only Aristotle or one of his sons could open the entrance. For the Tenebri it was just an added benefit.”
“Hang on dad. Why did they want to steal the artifacts in the first place?”
“Well besides the fact that they are incredibly powerful, the prophecy of course!” His jaw dropped as he looked at the two’s befuddled looks.
“You’ve heard about Alecto’s prophecy right?”
“Well yeah, but nothing about sacred artifacts.”
“Hmmmm. Well I guess it is about time you learned about everything. Let’s go inside, I suppose it’s time I filled in my own sons about the very prophecy, which is already ruling their lives, but before we go… You never answered me. How did you get inside the entrance?” Idus grinned mischievously back at him.
“Today we learned about Telepathy, and Idus and I figured out how to activate the link between us. I am not a Water conjurer, nor is Idus, but through a united purpose we become one. Together we can control at least three of the elements and perhaps we will figure out how to control all four of them soon. So it was a simple matter really. We didn’t know exactly what to do, but it seemed that the rock did it itself.” André beamed with pride at the statement. He beckoned his two sons towards him and put his arm around both of their shoulders on the way inside.
“I knew the two sons of mine would have the noble commission of being Water conjurers.” They grinned at his one sided supposition as they went inside. As they entered the castle, to their left the last light of sunset vanished like a candle being blown out.
The Brothers Tuerl & The Staffs of Zeus Page 32