The three of them sat in the office together, the room dark but for some small light from the lamps in the hall and a chamber candle which Dorcus had lit and set on the desk between them. They sat each in a chair, sipping on hot tea as they discussed their plans.
"So, they will arrest you, then?" Benjamin reconfirmed after rehashing some of their previous conversation.
"Yes, I think that's best," Eliezer agreed. "It may cause Adrien some serious problems if they don't find me, and I would hate for them to come here and find the two of you along with me."
"Will they kill you?" Ben asked, his heart unwilling to ask anything less direct.
"No, I don't believe so," his friend assured him. "Although, I think they'd like to."
Kelvin walked down the cluttered halls of High Palace uncomfortable with all that he had seen. The term "enemy of the state" had left him with a much more sinister impression than that of the mild-mannered man who had met them at the door of the Kingsmen congregation early that morning. Generally, an arrest was made with much yelling and screaming of curses and revilings on the part of malefactor, but Webber had conducted himself with unparalleled dignity and given himself peaceably to their charge. He hardly spoke a word, even when the soldiers mocked him.It was an embarrassment to Kelvin to have been associated with such an apprehension, one in which justice seemed crueler than the man at fault. And for all of that, Kallida had recovered a ring, one which he now held and was sent to be delivered to Blackridge along with the simple di
He made his way speedily through the hidden passages down narrow, winding stairways to the dark dungeons deep below High Palace, saluting no man on the way.The rough and unfinished halls of the prisons below were primarily made up of crudely carved out tunnels winding through the uncut earth. It was much busier in those burrowed halls than it had ever been, their uniquely distinguished guest attracting a myriad of government officials and their guards.He eased his pace as he approached the door leading to the prisoners' hall. He could hear voices coming from behind the door as the men engaged in celebratory remarks of lighthearted banter and cheerful mockery. His heart sank.'How can I go in there with such revelry?' He slowed his pace almost to the point of standing still,
"Gentlemen," he said gruffly as he pushed through the door."Lord Blackridge!" the men called out as they parted, surprised by his stormy demeanor."Where is he?" he demanded."Right in there, sir," one of the soldiers indicated, pointing t
She waited by the gates of High Palace, watching the faces as they entered there. The guards wandered about, patrolling the masses as they flooded into the castle.The King had sent out an invitation over the airways: there would be a public trial of Eliezer Webber, the former Ambassador of the Kingsmen and a nefarious enemy of the state. High Palace would be opened at noon and accessible to all. It was a rare opportunity. High Palace had not been made open to the public in years, and King Zephyr himself was a recluse to his p
Eliezer watched as the grand courtroom began to fill with people. He stood at the front of the room behind a partition which came to about the height of his waist with a guard set at either side. He scanned the sea of faces, passively watching the entrance for Benjamin. There were rows of benches throughout the room with people standing behind and a balcony above from which the citizens could observe the proceedings.He saw Benjamin and Avera as they entered, escorted by a red haired officer, his helmet tucked away beneath his
Blackridge watched as Kallida stepped out and addressed the accused. "State your name for the record, please, sir.""Eliezer Horatio Webber," he replied humbly."And, Mr. Webber, could you please state your occupation for us?" Kallida requested, arching around the front of the floor with his hands folded in silent consideration."I am a Kingsmen clergyman," Eliezer stated, his eyes watching Kallida as he circled around him."Mr. Webber, as a Kingsman, do you consider lying and deceit to be immoral?" Kallida asked him with a quick glance and a clever smile."I do," Webber replied simply."Then tell me why, Mr. Webber, you have lived for the past twenty years under false pretenses and a fraudulent identity!"'Kallida's a fool if he thinks this will work. Painting Eliezer as two-faced and self-interested is about as credible a cause as claiming that the sky is grey because it has clouds in it. The fault in the approach is with Eliezer, himself. The man is too meek to be believed as a conm
'They're so cruel,'Benjamin pondered.'It's harmful to their humanity, but still they persist in it.'He had watched helplessly from the crowd as Kallida continued his dedicated character assassination. The conversation had moved from the Ambassador to the Kingsmen, then to the Armorials, and now to Caliphus. They met in a discreet contest of words as two men battling over a ship's rudder, the gentlest t
He sat with his back against the wall, his knees bent, and his hand pressed against the ground beneath him, slowly brushing over the rough and compact dirt. He sighed and closed his heavy eyelids. 'Lord, I'm tired.'"Hey, there! No sleeping!" Benson barked from the other side of the prison's bars.
Eliezer stood before the mirror in the cramped washroom, carefully guiding the straight blade razor across the skin of his cheek, and he watched as the bristly grey hairs of his face wafted down into the sink in front of him.
The sky had calmed, the warriors collapsed, and the guardsman that remained had ceased to fight after the sudden silence which had crossed their transmitters. Justice and Kypher had made their way up to the top of the tower where Zahaynei stood giving orders, and they threw him down. So, now there were no orders to be had and there was no more reason for them to fight.Kelvin could see on the faces of the remaining guardsmen that their will to fight had ended. The battle was lost and they knew that it was. Even so, she wondered how things had gone for the others on the inside of those castle
Benjamin entered the grand throne room with his sword in his hand as his heart beat heavily in his chest. He had run through the castle walls to the place which Adrien had described for him - a large room devoid of light and fashioned out of darkness itself.There was on the throne a man who sat on the throne in a reclined position, seeming to float in the darkness above him, and relatively unbothered by the disturbance of his guest. This man Benjamin recognized as the reclusive king whom he had seen before attending Eliezer's trial. This was Almast, the glorious king on whom the kingdo
Adrien's sword clashed against metal and he performed a sweep kick maneuver, knocking his opponent to the ground just as he had done with many men before him."Stay down and surrender your sword," he commanded, holding the pointed blade to the guardsman's chest.Adrien smiled with some faint relief as the m
The clacking of his boots echoed in the empty halls of Zephyr's fortress as he ran, sword in hand, back towards the battle.'Why?'The scene replayed in his mind, tormenting him. It was all so surreal.
There was a faint noise like footsteps coming from the hall, and Eliezer heard it, so he left her there alone with a sweet kiss of her cheek."Stay here," he requested softly with a brush of her hair and a loving squeeze of her neck. "I'll go and scout it out. I want you safe."Dorcus offered a short nod and an appreci
They ran together through the vacant halls of High Palace, and he took her hand in his, keeping her close to his side as he led her through the dark interior of hidden stairwells to the dungeon depths below the castle.They had infiltrated Zephyr's fortress, having left the others to strive with his forces in the field, and parted with Benjamin, wishing him well in his confrontation with the wicked King who ruled over Pyre.
The sirens blared and the halls convulsed with magic as the mages prepared a defense and the guardsmen ran off to battle. An announcement rang out through the stone walls around him, and the voice of the man from the intelligence corps came seemingly from all around him, yet remained as clear in his head as were his own thoughts."The enemies have broken through the walls, and are now approaching the eastern lawn. They are not to reach the palace under any circumstances. All members of the army, intelligence, and magicians' corps are to report to their
Adrien raised his head to the sound of the black waters ritual as the unending voice of the tiny, minuscule dragons berated him. To the others there, it was a sound like a high pitched scream, but to him it was the words of the dragon tongue which led to the creature's summoning."Dezu draco mortek, dominus mundus, dominus coelum. Dezu exsindo haxikus vestris mortek. Detraxis amarte portentik glaukxis. Exuros pux hominus exis fazik malumi provenias," the voice of the dragons repeated in the harsh tones of their dark melody, and it drained in his