“You there, you’re new here, ain’t you?” Earwig asked. The girl ignored her. “You there!”
The girl looked up and saw the witch coming down the corridor. She knocked over her scrub bucket, getting up and fled down the stairs, still clutching the brush that dripped a trail out the front door.
“Magnosious drives away all the help. Oh well, I must concentrate on finding a rabid bat.” Earwig stumbled down the corridor. “Where to find a rabid bat?” She pondered the thought for the longest time, then remembered the cave at The Crypt.
“Magnosious,” the witch screamed at the nearest window. “Magnosious, get over here.”
The ponderous dragon stomped out of his lair. He was drowsy from his nap while digesting a prisoner when she summoned him. He stretched his wings, flicked his tail, and yawned before leaping into the air and soaring to the tower in a couple of flaps of his wings. Earwig heard the usual clinking sound of falling tiles, tumbling down the roof into the poison oak below as he landed.
“What took you so long?”
“I was asleep, dreaming of the aftermath of a battle. There were tasty bodies everywhere, all for me.”
“Before you drool on my balcony, remember soldiers are in armor, and that’s a lot of fiber.”
“Yes… They come ready to cook in their own cans. Snort a quick flame, and they’re still rare, just so. Makes’em crunchy.”
“You’re drooling again, Magnosious. Oh, never mind. I want to go to The Crypt.” Earwig crawled up on the balcony rail and wrapped herself around his fingernail, still black from picking charred prisoner bones out of his teeth. Magnosious placed her on his back, where she settled astride the dragon’s neck between two huge bony plates along his spine. He leaped into the air, flapped his wings three times, soared back over his lair, and coasted to The Crypt. He waited patiently along the ridge, while she peeked over the cliff’s rim.
“What’re you looking for?”
“I'm looking for the cave, where I last collected dead bats for the ingredients boxes.” She looked up and smiled reminiscing. “How I enjoyed grabbing fallen baby bats on the cave floor in summer. It’s a tad distasteful walking in all that guano. Still, it’s fun trying to snatch fallen bats before those ravenous beetles that devour them nearly as fast as you do a roasted criminal. That delicious aroma of ammonia is so invigorating. This will be fun.”
“Sounds repulsive to me,” Magnosious said under his breath.
“Magnosious!”
The great dragon was getting a buzz out of the vapors rising from The Crypt.
“Wake up!”
“You’re so demanding.”
Earwig heard the dragon mumble but ignored it. It’s not worth chastising a moody dragon, she thought.
Magnosious plodded over, and she wrapped herself around his fingernail. He lowered her to the cave entrance, where she scrounged through thousands of wiggling bats clustered here and there. She groaned more and more, pulling her boots out of the squishy guano and breathing the wafting plumes of ammonia.
Eventually, Earwig scraped two dozen sleeping bats from the chilly cave’s roof and dumped them into a canvas bag. She returned to the entrance, where Magnosious picked her up. Tickled by her success, Earwig giggled, causing her to roll back on the dragon’s scales nearly fall off. He adjusted for the foolhardy move and flew on to the witch’s dark tower. As tiles rained down, the terrified bats flapped around, trying in vain to escape.
“Now calm yourselves little batses. Miss Irkin is going to treat you real nice.”
Inside the tower workroom, Earwig dumped the bats into a cage, where the frightened creatures shivered and huddled together. The witch approached the cage, smiling. The bats looked at her, then hung upside down, covering their faces with their wings.
Earwig selected one particular bat that stared at her constantly. It lunged at her when she approached the cage.
I should be able to train that one to fly to Memlatec’s tower and bite him, she thought. I wish the nasty thing wouldn’t foam at the mouth like it does.
“Oh well,” she said, “you have to work with what you’ve got. Come here, little bat.”
When she reached into the cage to grab the rabid bat, all the terrified creatures exploded in flight to escape her grasping claws. The rabid bat took the opportunity to bite the purple crud out of her hand and continued to chew on it while she struggled to get her crumpled, wrinkled hand back through the cage opening. She snatched out the mangled pulp of a hand. The crazed bat flew out, too, and through the window. Screaming, the enraged witch tossed the cage of bats out the window after it.
“What was I thinking?” She wiped the foamy bat drool off her wounds and dipped her hand into boiling water. She let out a gut-wrenching, blood-curdling, scream that caused Magnosious to smirk and chuckle in his lair. The poor witch wrapped her steaming hand with dirty rags. Surging pain caused blue sparks and flashes to shoot from her teary eyes. It was a light show for the dragon.
“Old woman!” Earwig stumbled back down the stairs looking for the wretched old woman who tended her in her recent illness. “Where are you?”
The poor servant got up off her knobby hands and knees, put away her pail and brush, and went to see why the witch was screaming this time.
“What you want now?”
“Go to the cellar and find the red spore mushrooms. Boil up more of that hog’s-foot stew and feed the bulk of it to that thing growing in the cellar tub.”
“You want me to feed that thing again?” The old woman looked up at Earwig and grabbed the stair rail. “You seen it lately?”
“Do as I say! Bring me more broth and rip off a handful of that thing. I need a poultice for my hand.” Earwig’s eyes flashed scarlet, holding a rag around the bloody pulp at the end of her arm.
“Excuse me, I know you said to feed it again, but did you say you wanted me to tear off a chunk of that thing?” the old woman asked with enormous eyes staring directly at Earwig. “You sure that’s what you said?”
“Yes, you fool, and be quick about it.”
The charwoman turned and hurried down the stairs, her knees creaking all the way to the kitchen level. This time she grabbed her hat, shawl, and the few personal items she owned. She crammed her belongings into a sack and headed out the kitchen door.
“The witch has never been in the kitchen. I’ve cleaned dead things off the walls. I’ve grubbed through horse crap for those nasty mushrooms. I’ve cleaned the worst bedpans and outhouses. I’ve even boiled bile to feed the unspeakable, but I’m not tearing off a piece of that thing for life or limb,” said the old woman as she tugged on the Earwighof’s side gate, closing it behind her.
She never did get to tell her tale to the locals at the alehouse. Magnosious was making his rounds about the estate that evening. He chomped the crunchy bones of another unlucky traveler caught too close to the gates.
* * *
Memlatec paced his bedroom floor. He had seen what happened to the Prince of Hoya, how quickly the wraith had crept into power, and replaced the Tashian guards. The Dark Lord had neutralized the strongest fortress on the northern border. News of the happenings at the Talok Tower amplified how deeply the infiltration and undermining of Neuyokkasin’s defenses extended.
If Saxthor hadn’t discovered the two threats, Dreaddrac would've controlled the provinces of Talok and Lemnos before Konnotan even suspected its presence, he thought. Southern infiltration is more serious than anyone realizes.
A knock at the door startled the usually unflappable wizard.
“Who is it?” Memlatec’s body went rigid. His powerful stare fixed on the door.
“What’re you doing up at this hour?” Aleman asked though a yawn from the other side.
“I could ask you the same question. Come in, Aleman.”
“You want something to drink?” Aleman stood there half-awake in his nightshirt, scratching his head. “I was on my way to the kitchen and thought I heard you pacing. I’m not cooking no food
at this hour, but I could fix you some tea.” He yawned again.
“No, thank you. I was thinking through something. You go on back to bed.”
“Back to bed? I can’t sleep if you’re up traipsing around all night. You’re not turning to that black magic stuff, are you? I ain’t working here if you’re getting into that crap.” His sleepy eyes suddenly twinkled.
“Now, Aleman, don’t get yourself in an uproar over nothing.”
“Nothing! You call black magic nothing?” Aleman puffed up his defiant chest facing the sorcerer with his hands on his hips.
Memlatec shook his head. “Now Aleman, don’t get all wound up standing there like some old bull about to scratch the ground, with head down, ready to charge.”
“We just ain’t getting mixed up with the likes of that Miss Earwig. I’ll be packing my bags if you mess in black magic.”
Nothing to say then until the storm blows itself out, the wizard thought. “We fight against the dark forces here, don’t we, Aleman?”
Aleman relaxed a bit, and let his arms drop to his side. “Indeed we does.” He cocked his head and leered at Memlatec. “You ain’t pulling something over on me, are you?”
“I’ll take some tea if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Thought you didn’t want nothing?”
“Well, I do now. Come on; I’ll walk you to the kitchen, so the trolls don’t get you.”
Aleman did a double-take at Memlatec, one eye leering, “Who told you where the kitchen was?”
Memlatec laughed. “I followed you one dark night during a thunderstorm so you wouldn’t hear my footsteps.”
Aleman’s mouth dropped open at first before he realized Memlatec was teasing. By then, the wizard was at the door, and the two of them headed off toward the kitchen.
“Followed me in a storm indeed. I’ll fix you some tea, but now that you’ve shook me up, I’ll be needing something stronger to help me sleep.”
Memlatec put his hand on Aleman’s shoulder. “You need something to settle your nerves, what with all the pacing going on around here.”
“Yes, indeed.” Aleman’s head nodded. “What with all these orcs in the kingdom, it’s a wonder a body gets any sleep at all.”
Memlatec stopped and turned Aleman to him in the hallway. “What do you mean all these orcs in the kingdom?”
“They be everywhere, from what I hears.”
“Well, don’t you repeat that to anyone. We don’t want panic over imaginary orcs.”
“Who’s to tell? I seldom get out of this dust trap except to market, and no one comes to see me.”
Memlatec smiled, and the two walked on to the kitchen, where Aleman fixed the wizard tea and himself a tankard of ale. While Aleman buzzed at the fireplace, Memlatec reflected back on his earlier thoughts.
I wonder how far south the infiltrations reached. Has Dreaddrac compromised Sengenwha as well? I must request an audience with the queen tomorrow.
*
“Welcome to our noble wizard whose timely action saved our northern provinces of Talok and Lemnos,” Queen Eleatsubetsvyertsin said. Prince Consort Augusteros stood by the enthroned queen. The great throne room had emptied following the formal audience. Memlatec stepped forward and bowed.
“Greetings and good health to your majesties,” the wizard said.
I see no visible excitement or distress, she thought. “What did you wished to speak with us about, Memlatec?”
“Your Majesty, I am deeply concerned about the northern defenses. If the Dark Lord has infiltrated both our northern strongholds, he has penetrated a lot further around the peninsula. We must learn the extent of his influence and warn the neighboring kingdoms to beware.”
“Agreed.”
“First, let me recommend you make no new appointments of anyone without a thorough investigation of their background. Second, I urge you to send a letter to King Calamidese of Sengenwha, informing him of our discoveries here, and urging him to examine any recent appoints within his household.”
“King Calamidese? You know well the history of our two kingdoms, Memlatec. You can’t imagine King Calamidese would listen to our counsel.”
“Your Majesty must warn him.”
“Very well, anything else you wish to propose?”
“I suggest you send a similar letter to King Grekenbach of Graushdem and make every effort to forge a bond between your majesties.”
She nodded. “Yes, we agree wholeheartedly. It’s long past time Graushdem and Neuyokkasin reconciled.”
“I believe Prince Saxthor has visited Graushdemheimer. I heard of his acclaim even in Hoya as he and his companions slew a number of trolls that plagued the village of Hern. Prince Saxthor is a national hero in Graushdem. This would be a most auspicious time to open diplomatic communications with the king.”
“Prince Saxthor is a hero here on the continent?” Eleatsubetsvyertsin bolted up from her throne, her scepter tumbling to the floor. “We demand details of the events. How is it they know of my son’s accomplishments in Graushdem, and we here in Neuyokkasin do not? Why would he be in Graushdem and not here at Konnotan after seven years?” The queen turned to the chamberlain. “Send for Chatra Rakmar at once!”
“Forgive us, Your Majesty, for the prince’s sake, we’ve tried to avoid publicity as much as possible,” Memlatec bowed.
The queen sat back down, accepted the scepter from a guard, crossing it in front of her, and listened with pinched lips and furrowed brows. “Continue.”
The wizard bowed again. “Send like letters to Duke Jedrac of Hador and the Duke of Heggolstockin, copying King Grekenbach as their overlord with similar offers of diplomatic communications. All the peninsula’s kingdoms must work together as one to confront Dreaddrac.”
“There’s something else?”
“You might put the prince consort in active charge of the army. He can command a thorough investigation of the rank and file to ensure loyalty here. We must begin defensive preparations for the future confrontation with Dreaddrac. It will come soon. The situations in Hoya and the Talok Tower are sufficient warnings the Dark Lord intends to move in the foreseeable future, perhaps as early as the coming spring.”
A silence fell over the room. The queen cleared her throat.
“We presume you’ll present extensive resolutions to the council. You know there will be arguments over which policy to take for this and that. We will have to exert our authority to force the resolutions and actions. Many of the councilors will refuse to see the threat or do not want to face its severity. They will resist expensing funds on a military expansion they deem unnecessary at present.”
“One more thing, Highness, if I may be so bold.”
“You’ve asked for the world thus far; one more thing cannot matter,” The queen squeezed Prince Augusteros’ hand.
“I expect Your Majesty would like to name Prince Saxthor, the Prince of Hoya. I urge you to postpone the appointment for now.”
“Why would you make that request, Memlatec? You’ve been the prince’s greatest proponent.”
“He’s on a most important journey at present, and he wouldn’t be able to take up his responsibilities right away. Naming him to the title would only draw dangerous notoriety to him far from home and exposed.”
“You know of the journey; you sent him on it,” the queen said with a stern glare. “We think you have failed to tell us much about this mission, but we shall not press you since we know you’ve the prince’s best interests at heart. Let us warn you that no harm had better befall Prince Saxthor while on this mysterious mission.”
“Your Majesty, I can only tell you that it’s a most important undertaking and that it’s dangerous. I cannot protect the prince while he’s traveling. Still, I have confidence that he’ll succeed in his objective and bring more to Neuyokkasin than you can fathom.”
Eleatsubetsvyertsin noted the wizard’s intense expression, his violet eyes bright. Even she knew better than to argue when the sorcerer had such a
n intense stare.
“Come with us to the council chamber.” She rose and led Augusteros and her wizard to the room behind the throne room. When the door closed, she continued.
“What of Crown Prince Augusteros?” the queen asked. “How shall we convince him to return? We summoned him home from Powteros months ago, but he refuses to return. It would be a diplomatic disaster to have to ask the Emperor of Powteros to force our crown prince to return home. Either Augusteros doesn’t want the responsibility of ruling here, or he aspires to rule in Imperial Powteros.”
“To be frank, Your Majesty, I fear Crown Prince Augusteros would be better left at the Powterosian court. He’s too ineffectual to govern this, the largest state on the peninsula. Under his rule, the kingdom would collapse into warring states within a year ending the dynasty.”
“You’re bold, wizard.”
Eleatsubetsvyertsin sat down at the head of the council table. The prince consort stood behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder. The queen put her hand on his but held her gaze on Memlatec.
“Your Majesty asked for my counsel. May I continue?”
“Yes, yes, continue.”
“Augusteros insists on remaining in the imperial capital. If Prince Saxthor returns in time, request, perhaps insist, Crown Prince Augusteros renounce his claim to the throne in favor of Prince Saxthor. If you must expedite it, have Crown Prince Augusteros renounce in favor of Prince Consort Augusteros, to rule for his son Prince Saxthor should anything happen to Your Majesty. For the present, do nothing and hope Prince Saxthor returns in time to make this unnecessary.”
“We shall consider all you have said, Memlatec.” The queen looked up at the prince consort. “You must know we value your counsel above all others, but this has been unexpected and troubling.”
“I’m honored, Majesty.”
*
Memlatec bowed, backed out of the chamber, and turned down the hall. The guards weren’t at the doors.
Has the queen sent them on some errand so our conversation wouldn’t be overheard, he thought. There are no guards in the hallway or at the door at the far end. That’s odd. She wouldn’t have sent them all on errands.
The N Arc of Empire- Complete Series Page 64