The emperor looked puzzled. “I will confer with my daimyos about this matter.”
The Vizier beckoned the seven daimyos over, and they formed a semicircle around his chair. The discussion started out as whispers but became louder and more heated. After ten minutes the group broke up and the daimyos returned to their seats.
“I will grant your request of a trial by combat,” Nigoma said. “Because there were two victims, the prisoner will have to fight two battles. If he wins those two battles, then he will fight Ni to atone for the affront to Xi En. If he is victorious, then he will be set free and will be cleared of all charges.”
Sarah didn’t feel much better. Three battles in a row, and the third was against Ni, the second-best fighter in Xi En. She saw Winn defeat Samir, and believed he was the best fighter in Arath, but making him fight three times would tax him.
“The trial will be held a week from today. Now, we can get to the question that puzzles me the most,” Nigoma said. “Why are you here?”
“Your excellency, we came to ask permission to visit the Oracle of Isa,” Sarah said. “My husband has a malady that only the Oracle of Isa can cure. He needs her help desperately.”
“Princess, if your husband survives his trial, he can go see the oracle.”
“Thank you, your excellency.”
Chapter 19: Keyland’s Hubris
September 15, 850 A.A.
Keyland sat in his office. He was making the schedule for the next day. He had assigned the knights that would guard the entrances to the palace and was now in the middle of assigning guards to the royal family. Prince Devon was going to be in the city visiting certain business ventures and charities he was involved with. Keyland assigned to knights loyal to him to Devon. Devon’s wife, a pregnant Patriche, was taking a walk in the park. Two more loyal knights were assigned to her. Prince Henri was going riding with a lady friend, a daughter of a baron, Keyland thought. Four knights for him, but one of them was not firmly in Keyland’s camp. There might be some complications there, but if he assigned more than four knights, it would look odd and if he assigned a different knight then the knights that did not support Keyland might get suspicious. Queen Octavia was protected by her own knights and Keyland was not concerned about her. She was hosting a wedding tomorrow afternoon and all the Knights of the Pearl would be participating in the wedding which would be held on the palace lawn. The King would be attending the wedding but would be escorted by Keyland himself.
Thinking of the King made Keyland furious. Keyland’s swearing in ceremony as the commander of the Scepters occurred a week ago. It was held in the grand ball room in the palace and all the knights were assembled as well as the dukes of the realm and the major officials of the kingdom. When the King entered the room and sat on the royal chair that was used for ceremonies in the ball room, all the knights stood and Keyland knelt before him and gave his oath.
“I swear before my fellow knights, King Landis Lord of Aviel, and the Almighty, to give life and limb, mind and body, soul and spirit, to protect this realm and its ruler, King Landis Carrington, and to direct my fellow knights to do the same,” Keyland swore.
Landis stared at Keyland for a long moment. Then he rose from his chair and walked over to Keyland.
“Your father was my greatest enemy, and you, as the Duke of Barrington, have stood against me on almost every important issue in this critical time,” Landis said loudly, so that the whole ballroom could hear. “I do not trust you, Lord Vaux. I do not like having you as the leader of my protectors. Every fiber of my being tells me to reject your oath and you as commander of the Knights of the Scepter. Yet I will not. I will accept your oath and trust that you are a true son of Aviel. That you will put your political differences aside and carry out your office with honor. However, if you give me any reason to doubt you, if you displease me in any way, know that I will demand your replacement, and have you kicked out of the Order of the Scepter in disgrace!”
All Keyland could think to say was “Yes, Sire.” He was humiliated and shamed. It did occur to him that the King was right to have his suspicions, but Keyland felt that he should have voiced them in private. Letting the knights know that he really didn’t approve of their selection of Keyland as commander was bound to turn more knights against him. Though those knights wouldn’t be a part of his core group, the ones that had grave doubts about the King’s ability to lead the nation in the upcoming war.
Keyland shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. He put the finishing touches on the schedule and called for his assistant, a squire named Lampert, and gave the schedule to him. He told Lampert to disseminate it among the men. He rose and put on his ceremonial armor and walked out of his office towards the King’s chambers. The war council for the day was about to begin.
Keyland and Sir Peary Hulce escorted the King to the chamber where the war council was held. General of the Army Coy and Fleet Admiral Nonce were waiting. The King sat and indicated that General Coy should start the briefing.
“Sire, not much has changed on the battle front. We still have 10,000 in Trellheim waiting to see if the Menegar host will return from their effort to find Aggenburg. The rest of our troops are here close to Alexandra, except for the 3,000 in the north. The total number is roughly 29,000, including the troops in Trellheim. The Menegar force numbers 32,000. Sire, we should consider calling half if not all our forces back from Skal, so that if the Menegar emerge from the Skal Mountains on our side of the border, we can protect Alexandra effectively.”
“No,” Landis said. “The Menegar won’t be able to find Aggenburg or their way across to Aviel. My spies tell me that the Menegar force has orders to destroy Skal completely before attacking us. They will come back to Trellheim, and we must leave our forces there as we have promised to do.”
“Sire, I accept your commands, but I want to reiterate that should the Menegar appear on our border they will in all likelihood attack and conquer Alexandra.”
“Weren’t you listening? I said they won’t. Nonce what is your report?”
“Sire, just today I have received reports that a large armada is sailing out of Jabari City, at least seventy ships. I fear they are carrying more troops to our borders and supplies for the winter. I recommend that we engage these ships immediately.”
“How many of our ships are near Menegar waters?” Landis asked.
“We have twenty ships that can engage them within twenty-four hours.”
“Not enough. Pull your ships back and only engage them if they sail into Avish waters.”
“Sire, it will take a week for them to reach our waters. In three days, I can engage them with over 100 vessels in the open sea. If we wait until they reach our waters, some of their ships will slip past our blockade.”
“That is a risk I am willing to take.”
The meeting broke up and the King was escorted back to his chambers. Keyland turned over the guard duty and walked back to his office with Sir Peary Hulce.
“The King seems to be making rash decisions despite expert counsel to the contrary,” Hulce said.
“Yes,” Keyland replied. “I think I have seen enough in my first week of being commander to report this queer and erratic behavior to the dukes, as is my duty.”
“I support you in that,” Peary said. “We need a stronger, more clearheaded leader in a time of war.”
Keyland made it to his office and bid Peary a good day. Tearance Fall was waiting for Keyland.
“How did it go?” Tearance asked.
“It was typical Landis,” Keyland said. “He rejected the general and admiral’s counsel and left Aviel at risk on land and at sea.”
“Peary saw this? What was his reaction?”
“He was very concerned and said that he thought we needed a new leader. We can count on his support.”
“Good. Now it is time for us to convince the dukes to act.”
Keyland and Tearance left the palace and made their way toward the Brighton Arms Tavern
where the northern and a couple of the southern dukes were assembled. Keyland needed ten dukes to vote to oust the King on the request of the Commander of the Knights of the Scepter. This was according to an ancient law written when there were only ten dukes. A convincing legal argument could be made that the spirit of the law intended for all the dukes to vote, but Keyland thought for his purposes ten would be enough. The dukes present seemed to think it was enough as well.
The dukes were gathered in the private meeting area and were talking amongst themselves when Keyland and Tearance walked in. The room became silent then Duke Clairsea spoke.
“Keyland, I understand that you have called us here today to discuss evoking the Commander of the Scepter’s vote of no confidence in the King. After just a week at your post are you ready to make such a weighty claim?”
“I am, Your Grace,” Keyland said. “I have witnessed enough during the time before I was commander and since that I unequivocally and without hesitation issue a vote of no confidence against King Landis. Not only has he increased the tax burden to unbearable levels, not only has he stolen the troops from our holdings, he now has ignored the advice of his military leaders on several occasions and put Aviel at risk by doing so. Also, I have the testimony of three-page boys that the King has defiled them.”
The last part about the page boys Keyland had made up on the spot, but he figured he could make three-page boys lie about the King abusing them if necessary.
The dukes roared and argued and yelled for three hours about the decision to vote to remove the King. Finally, Tearance Fall took the floor.
“My Lords, please hear my words. The case your peer, Duke Barristan, laid out before you is true but not complete. I have it on the strongest authority that the King directly thwarted your vote to not send a rescue party after Winn Vaux and sanctioned a rescue party anyway. I also know to be true that Princess Sarah and Admiral Nonce’s own daughter, Bevy, were a part of that rescue party. I also know it was for naught because the wreckage of the ship they used, the Lydia, was found off the coast of Xi En. In addition to Princess Sarah and Bevy Nonce, Johnny Hill, Svae Norvesk, Alana Pervis the Baroness of Weyton, and Vant Resbon, all heroes of the realm, were lost. These deaths can be laid at King Landis’s feet. What more do you want to convince you that Landis is not fit to be king?”
There was silence in the room. After a moment a vote was called. When the votes were counted, it was unanimous. Ten for, zero against. The King would be removed from office on the morrow.
It was a beautiful late summer’s day, the sun was shining brightly and there was a light, cool breeze in the air. It was a perfect day for an outside wedding. It just so happened that the King and Queen were hosting a wedding at Vandileigh Palace that very day. Queen Octavia was hosting the wedding of her good friend Duchess Tuxley’s daughter, Cinda Hollistay, to Bradik Harkness, Earl of Redstone.
It was as close to a royal wedding without being one as could be. Just about all the fineries and lavishness were put into the planning of the ceremony and reception. All the Knights of the Pearl would be present in full armor as the groom was a former member of that group. One of the few differences between this wedding and a full-on royal wedding was the guest list. The couple had requested a small number of guests, and besides the Knights of the Pearl there were only 100 guests invited.
The wedding was to take place at noon, and as the time neared Landis retired to his rooms to be dressed for the event.
“I hate these damned weddings,” Landis said. “Wiliston, consider yourself lucky that you don’t have to attend.”
“I love a good wedding, Sire,” Wiliston, the King’s valet replied. “The couple is lovely, and the receptions are so fun, with the dancing and all the food and drink.”
“Have I ever told you that you were an idiot, Wiliston?”
“Repeatedly, Sire.”
“Just dress me in peace and quiet, if you please.”
Wiliston didn’t reply, he just continued dressing the King. He was halfway done when there was a knock on the door of the King’s chambers. Wiliston hated interruptions. He cursed in his mind and stopped what he was doing to answer the door.
“Leave it,” Landis said to Wiliston. “Go away!” He shouted.
The knocking ceased and Wiliston went back to his work. Suddenly, the doors to the chamber slammed open and the King jumped back so far that he knocked Wiliston down. Through the door came Keyland Vaux, the new Commander of the Knights of the Scepter, dressed in full battle armor, and eight other knights, one being Tearance Fall, and ten of the dukes.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Landis shouted. “You better have a damned good reason for this, Vaux, or I will have your head!”
“I have a perfectly good reason, King Landis,” Keyland said. “As the Commander of the Knights of the Scepter, I have issued a vote of no confidence. The ten dukes before you, as required by law have found that you are a traitor and that you should be removed as King. It is my duty to carry that out.”
Landis was shocked. It took him a moment to speak. “You all betrayed me. I should have never trusted a Vaux, a mistake I will never make again. You ten are forfeit of your lands and possessions.”
“You have no authority to take anyone’s lands any longer,” Duke Boniton said. “Your reign is over.”
“Like hell it is, Wiliston, my sword!” Wiliston had snuck to the back of the room when Keyland and the dukes barged in. He grabbed Landis’s sword and threw it to him. Landis drew it in one smooth motion and stabbed the man nearest to him, Duke Boniton, in the heart.
“To me, to me!” Landis yelled. “Treachery and betrayal. All those loyal to the King, to me!”
Keyland had thought to move all the Knights of the Scepter that were loyal to the King to the outside of the palace. What he didn’t count on was that the Queen was emerging from her chamber with an escort of six Knights of the Pearl. Keyland had brought eight knights with him, but it turned into a pitched battle. The Queen and her lady’s maid were trapped behind the knights who were battling in the hallway. Keyland let the knights fight it out with the dukes mostly cowering as he attacked the King. Landis was old, but he was still good with the blade. Keyland swung a vicious blow at the King’s head but Landis moved out of the way easily and struck Keyland in the side. Keyland was at a great advantage because even his ceremonial armor protected most of him. It left him exposed at the inner thighs, under his arms, and his face was exposed as well. Keyland feinted high and swung low at Landis’s legs. Landis jumped back just in time and got a thrust in under Keyland’s arm. Keyland cursed. He could tell the wound wasn’t serious, but he was bleeding profusely. Keyland launched a series of blows at the King, who blocked them, but was driven backwards against the wall. Keyland changed angles and launched a side blow that Landis was not ready for, and surely would have decapitated him, but something hit Keyland from behind and knocked him over. He looked up and cold steel was flying toward his throat. He rolled to his left and hopped back up on his feet with an impressive display of strength and flexibility. He saw the Queen laying on the ground beside him, she was the one that knocked him down. He had an urge to stab her, but he wanted her alive, so he turned his attention back towards the King. He did so just in time as another thrust was aimed at his legs. He parried that blow and twisted around and struck at the King’s chest. The blow landed and Landis had a stripe of red blood appear on his shirt. Landis yelled out in pain and Keyland struck again, this time cleaving into his neck. The King fell down and in an instant the life left his eyes.
“No!” Octavia wailed.
Keyland walked over to her and pulled her up by her hair, or he tried to. She was wearing a wig and when Keyland pulled it off her he threw it aside and grabbed her real hair and pulled her up. He looked over and all the fighting in the hall was done and three of his knights were left standing. The lady’s maid was dead along with the Pearl Knights.
“Argos take the Queen and lock her in our tower
. Pendle and Fall, you are with me. We go to rally the rest of the Scepters. Today is the day we rid ourselves of the Pearls and the Carringtons for good.”
Keyland, Pendle, and Fall hurried to the Scepter’s tower, and found the remaining Scepter’s in fighting armor. Keyland went to the front and addressed them.
“Good knights today is a day of great sorrow. I heard of a plot by the Queen to kill the King and take over as the ruler of Aviel. I took some men to protect the King, who was meeting with some of the dukes in his chambers. Alas as I arrived the Knights of the Pearl killed our King and attacked us. The Queen has been captured but the Knights of the Pearl must all be treated as traitors and killed! We must attack now!”
All the knights gave a shout and mounted their steeds. Keyland mounted his as well and led the knights to the palace lawn where the wedding was to take place. The Knights of the Pearl were all standing around where the guests were seated at three span intervals. They were each carrying a silver satin flag and were facing inward toward the wedding guests. As the Scepters approached, the Pearls on the far side tried to warn the ones directly in the path of the Scepters but the guests were loud. They tried to cross the area through the guests but then the guests noticed the coming Scepters and started panicking. The Scepters reached the wedding area and slammed into the Pearls on that side and into the guests who were running every which way. The Scepters took advantage of the surprise and their superior position on horseback and easily slayed half the Pearls in mere moments. They ran their horses through the crowd and fought the remaining Pearls. The Pearls fought bravely but they were outnumbered and overwhelmed. They killed some of the Scepters but eventually all the Pearls were killed as well as many of the wedding guests.
Trials of a Champion Page 24