Forest & Kingdom Balance (22 page)

One morning smoke was seen in the east, and the king
sent a messenger for news. He returned long before he was expected,
his horse nearly ridden to death. He announced that the Red
Knight’s army led by the Crimson Guard was sweeping across the
kingdom. I have never been as heart sick as when I watched the life
drain from the king’s face. I set up the defenses and advised those
whom I thought would heed my words, which were, “Surrender as
quickly as possible.”

I took solace in the knowledge that the merry king
and I would share the same fate before the sun set that day. I
barricaded his personal suite and left only a single route to the
king. There I stood. I would use whatever skill, experience and
training I possessed to keep my oath.

It was barely mid afternoon when three men entered
the hallway, two of the Crimson Guard and their captain. Bathed in
the hubris of his station, a Crimson Guardsman approached the door
and ordered me to step aside or be cut down. A moment later he was
dead. The captain and remaining Crimson Guardsman advanced in rage
at their fallen comrade. Though it took a bit longer, they too were
dispatched quickly. Over the next half hour, the nine remaining
Crimson Guardsmen entered the hallway in small groups to join their
brethren.

When the Red Knight entered the hall, he saw his
entire Crimson Guard dead and one man standing at the door, me. He
approached slowly and kept his sword in its scabbard. He glared at
me, a gaze that would strike ultimate fear into to strongest of
hearts. Not I however, not that day. I simply stood there, my
weapon at the ready, calm and relaxed. I watched as the Red Knight
contemplated this mystery that stood so casually before him.

“
You are the king’s guard?” The
Red Knight asked. “Are you of this realm?”

I held my stance and replied. “I am not of this
realm, however I have given my word to protect the king and that is
what I shall do.”

“
Your duty was complete when the
Crimson Guard entered the hallway, the king has been defeated. His
kingdom no longer exists.” The Red Knight spoke calmly as a matter
of fact.

“
My oath was not to the kingdom,
but to the man. Your point is irrelevant.” I spoke in a measured
tone.

“
I see.” The Red Knight continued,
“I do not wish your death, to kill a warrior who can defeat the
entire Crimson Guard would be a great waste. Do you know who I
am?”

“
You are the immortal Red Knight
and my death is imminent, that I cannot change. I can only choose
the manor of my passing. As for my prowess, you may have over
estimated me, they did not all enter at once.”

I almost smiled as I saw the Red Knight shake his
head at the absurdity of my appraisal. “Well, I shall take that
into consideration. Thank you.” He then looked at the bodies of his
men that surrounded him and sighed. “I wish that I had come in
first, these were excellent fighting men.” He spoke more to himself
than me.

“
Your guardsmen were true warriors
who perished as they had lived, such is the life we have chosen.” I
remarked and stood fast before the door.

“
How shall we resolve this?” The
Knight paused as he looked at me, “Would you feel that your oath is
fulfilled if I give you my word that the king will not be harmed? I
have need of this kingdom’s location to gain advantage in my
efforts against the Emperor. I have that now and the king’s death
is unnecessary.”

I allowed myself a moment’s hope for the jolly old
king, the Red Knight was known to be many things, but duplicitous
was not among them. “I would.” I answered.

“
Good. Now move aside.” The Knight
started for the door but I did not move.

“
I have yet to hear your oath good
knight.” I said and raised my blade.

The Red Knight stopped cold. “You are correct.” He
said, “I give you my word that the king will not be harmed by me or
those I command. He will be taken to a place of comfort and cared
for until my campaign has been completed. I am the Red Knight and
this is my oath. What is your name?”

“
Yamikura.” I answered as I
stepped aside.

“
Of course, I should have known.”
He commented as we entered the hall. “Yamikura, shall we see the
king and tell him of the holiday that awaits him? By the way, now
that you are no longer attached, perhaps we can discuss your
services. I have need of a good personal guard.”

“He had just spared the life my friend, how could I
turn him down?” Yamikura shrugged. “A few years later, once Kalibra
had settled the issue of her father, I sent three of the Guard to
escort the king back home. The last I heard, things were getting
back to normal. The guardsmen returned with the king’s tribute to
the Red Knight, twenty wagons of potatoes,” he grinned, “and I had
someone check every wagon to be sure that his daughter was not
among them.”

VII

“This is bad, this is very
bad.”
Atheria could not hide her concern as she helped Simon
onto the bed.

Simon smiled between the winces. “Lighten up
Sparkles, I’ve had worse.”

“Once maybe, and you spent a month
in the healer’s compound.”
She kept her thoughts to herself,
she was too worried to argue with him.

Atheria gathered up what they had left of the salves
and herbs, it wasn’t much. The door to their suite opened and
Desiree entered with the healer right behind her. “Thank Spirit!”
She startled herself, she hadn’t mean to say that out loud. Just as
she let herself breath, the Red Knight and two of the Crimson Guard
entered. She dropped to the floor and saw Simon try to swing his
legs off the bed.

“Stay in bed.” The Knight said off hand and motioned
Atheria to rise.

Desiree immediately backed away with her head bowed
and took up station on the far side of the room. The Knight spoke
briefly to the healer then turned to Atheria and Simon. “You will
not be required to attend Kalibra’s training from this point
forward. I will be leaving soon on an expedition into the mountains
and you two will accompany me. I need you able to travel as soon as
possible.”

“The Warded Mountains!”
Atheria’s fear of the Knight was compounded by the thought of their
certain death in the mountains.

The Knight spoke to his men as they left. “Be at the
training room in the morning, rotate groups of three and watch
yourselves. I will let her know that if any of you are not able to
join the expedition, she will have to stay behind. That will keep
her in check.” His voice trailed off as Desiree closed the door
behind them.

Atheria felt powerless, she didn’t know what to do.
She moved to the side to give the healer room to work, and was so
upset that she almost called Desiree ‘Elder’ as she approached.
Desiree’s eyes widened briefly accompanied by a stern look.

“Don’t worry dear,” Desiree’s expression softened as
she hugged Atheria, “Simon will be as right as rain before you know
it. As for your adventure into the mountains, I suspect the Wards
will be too busy with the others to bother about two Mindow slave
dancers.” She smiled and wiped the tears from Atheria’s cheek. “You
take care of Simon and let the powers that be worry about the rest,
all right?”

Desiree left the dancers as quickly as she felt she
could, she should have left an hour ago.
“If I
had, that witch queen would have killed Simon.”
She couldn’t
allow that. She hurried to the housekeeping office below the
kitchen. “Sandra!” She called her assistant.

“Yes Desiree.” Sandra followed her into the
office.

“You have the house, I’m off to give that fruit
merchant a lashing he’ll not soon forget. How dare he send an
entire shipment of spoiled fruit, doesn’t he know who it’s for!”
Desiree played up her rage and increased her volume for whatever
spies he had on her. “I had to apologize to him personally last
night, there wasn’t a single piece of edible fruit in the
house!”

She left by the back of the residence and headed for
market road. She was relieved and a little surprised that she was
allowed to leave.
“I hope Isabelle received the
message. If she did, then she’s been waiting more than an hour, she
probably thinks I’m dead.”
She couldn’t tell if she was
being followed, it didn’t matter they knew where she was going.

Desiree entered the fruit market and went straight
to the seller. “Where is the owner?” She demanded.

The counter man gave her one look and dismissed her.
“Be on your way Mindow before your tone gets you a beating.” He
turned away.

She moved up closer and lowered her voice. “I am the
head of household for the Northern Ambassador’s Residence. You do
know who’s staying there, don’t you?” The counter man turned white
as he nodded. “Well then, unless you want me to point you out to
him as the person who tried to give him rotten fruit, I suggest you
get your sorry excuse for a petty mongrel ass to go fetch your boss
for me. Yes?” He disappeared from the shop while Desiree took a
seat next to a curtain.

“Isabelle, are you there?” She whispered.

“Yes.” A soft voice came from the other side of the
curtain.

Desiree hunched over and pretended to review notes
in her lap. “We may not have much time, I don’t know how far away
the owner is.” She caught her breath and began. “In all the weeks
I’ve been there, last night was the first time that he
‘accidentally’ allowed me to overhear one of his discussions. I’m
sure he suspects me and that I’m being watched, be extremely
careful when you leave.”

“You won’t believe why he suspects me. He thinks the
Mindow are the ones keeping people out of the mountains!” Desiree
casually looked around. “He found records from the first ten years
after the fall and there are thousands of Mindow listed as escaped
with no notation of capture or death.” Her head drooped a bit. “My
life may be forfeit because some lazy mongrel son of a sow couldn’t
keep his records straight.”

Isabelle tried to calm her fellow elder. “You don’t
know for sure and you’re still free, take that to heart. Can you
make it to the safe house from here?”

“No.” Desiree drew a deep breath. “If I disappear,
or especially if drink my vial, his suspicion will be confirmed and
we’ll have every armed soldier, slave hunter, and mongrel with an
ax in Old Town. They’ll tear it down and round us up, then we’ll be
given to Deminar to answer questions we know nothing about.”

“Aside from Atheria and Simon, he hasn’t given us a
second thought since he arrived.” Isabelle tried to rationalize and
dismiss Desiree’s fears.

“Heed my words, for they are not idle. You sent me
in there because you believe that I’m a good listener. My skill is
not only to hear, but also to understand. I have studied him and
learned that he takes no action until he is confident of his
knowledge. When he does act it is deadly swift,” she hesitated,
“and he is not one for half measures.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. Then Desiree
spotted the owner coming down the street. “We are on a razor’s
edge, do nothing to arouse suspicion. He may let us pass if he is
unsure enough. Pray that he does. Two nights hence is my regular
visit to Old Town, if I’m still free have the decoys ready and I
will attend the meeting.” Desiree stood as the owner entered.

“You! I would speak to you! How dare you send rotten
fruit to the Red Knight’s table, he should flay you alive!” It was
the perfect opportunity for Desiree to release some of her
anger.

A few hours later in the ambassador’s office, the
Red Knight called in a rather nondescript man in journeyman’s
clothes. “Report,” was all he said.

“Nothing my Lord.” His strong young voice seemed at
odds with his appearance. “Although I doubt that you will ever have
rotten fruit again. Once that woman gets going, she uses language
that would blister a stone.” The two men chuckled at the thought of
soft-spoken, demure Desiree swearing like a dockman. The
nondescript man left through the private side door he had arrived
from.

VIII

Dionara sat beside the lake enraptured as her life
force intertwined with the vale. She felt the lightest touch of a
scan.
“Ah! Froggy’s on the hunt.”
Before
he even perceived her, she closed all access and his scan passed
her by. When his scan was concentrated on the far side of the vale,
she opened only the verbal part of herself.
“Not
even close!”
She sent and allowed just a hint of her triumph
to accompany the thought.

“Now take a hike, I officially
declare this a day of rest. After the beating you gave me
yesterday, I need some time to pick out just the right mountain to
drop on your head.”
Her mental barriers went full up and her
thoughts were hers alone. He not only couldn’t tell where she was,
he couldn’t even tell where she wasn’t. Most likely he had
concluded that she was off sulking, just as she wanted him to.
“Excellent, now to work!”

After many days, and a lot of headaches, she had
finally found that battle-ax he had spoken of. Yesterday, through
brute force alone, she was able to enter his mind. It was only a
partial victory, it took intense concentration and she still didn’t
have complete access. Then she discovered it. At the height of one
of her attempts to break his block, she suddenly released her
effort. He thought she had just retreated, but she had lingered a
moment to rest and ‘leaned’ her mind against his.

She drifted past his block like smoke through a
wicker basket. As far as she could tell, he had no idea. She
retreated quickly and feigned fatigue. She didn’t want him to guess
what she’d discovered.