Into The Ruins (44 page)

Nals, Capital of Sedfair

Rigo was escorted from the cell alone for the second time in as many days.  Ash’urn and Lorl had been more than prepared to fight this time, but Rigo had asked them not to intervene.  He believed what the woman named Carif had said.  She would be venting her anger at Ash’urn before she did anything serious to him.  This unexpected arrival of a pair of their wizards, Casters he reminded himself, had to be something else.  From the unhappy looks on the faces of the two women carrying the magic enabling staffs, this might actually be something that was favorable to him.  One of the women he recognized.  She was the Caster who had been present when they were captured in the village near the Ruins.

They made their way back up the winding ramp toward the upper levels, but instead of turning inward toward the core of the building as they had done the previous trip, his escorts headed in the opposite direction.  Rigo followed along, three armed guardsmen in front of him, three in back, and one of the Casters on either side.  He smiled briefly to himself.  They afforded him more worry than was appropriate.  One of the guardsmen was more than sufficient to restrain him, and two would have been overkill.

Within a few moments Rigo could see the bright light of day.  It appeared they would be leaving the building.  This pleased Rigo immensely as he had been confined indoors for some time, and he eagerly anticipated the chance to see the sun once again.  The group exited through a large door, wide enough that three could pass abreast without difficulty.  They stepped into a large courtyard.  This was not the way they had come in, and Rigo took the opportunity to observe everything he could.  One never knew when such information might be of use. 

It was a gorgeous morning, and there were only a couple of clouds to be seen, the bright sun still making its climb higher.  The trees bore ripe fruit, indicating the lateness of the season, and Rigo guessed that in another month the leaves would start to turn in anticipation of the coming fall.  Today, however, it was warm, with just a hint of a breeze.  The air was incredibly fresh after the days of confinement indoors, and he filled his lungs, enjoying the faint odors that rode upon the wind. 

They were walking away from the building where he had been imprisoned.  Ahead, still some distance away, he could see an even larger structure that he hadn’t noticed when they had been brought here.  It had to have been hidden by the side of the mountain.  The structure was far larger than the building he was leaving, and surrounded by a double wall of fitted stone.  The walls were high and thick, and Rigo would have been willing to bet had been formed with the addition of magic to strengthen them.  Wide walkways were present along the top of each wall, and Rigo knew that armed men, especially archers would be positioned there in the event of an attack.  He was certain he was looking at a castle, and since they were headed that way, this might prove to be an interesting meeting.

The path they were following was contained within an enclosed space, protected by a continuation of the outer wall of the castle ahead.  The space joined the cluster of buildings he was leaving with the castle ahead.  Few people were moving around inside the walls as compared to the far greater number on the outside.  Obviously, this was a private connection between Sedfair’s wizards and the royalty that commanded this land.  It suggested an intimacy between the two groups that was far more formalized than anything that existed back in the Three Kingdoms. 

The hillside was steeply slanted in places, and as they walked down the middle of the pathway, Rigo could see over the lower set of walls toward the city and harbor beyond.  This place was far larger than the capital of Branid.  Rigo guessed the city was home to almost three times the number who lived in Sulen.  He knew he couldn’t judge the population of the land based solely on the capital city, but it was an interesting fact to tuck away.   The harbor beyond contained a number of ships.  It appeared to be a very large natural harbor, but was only marginally developed.  The shipping here was far less extensive than in the Three Kingdoms.  He didn’t know that much about ships, but something about the designs and the sails he could see suggested even to his untrained mind a less effective design than he had observed and ridden on back home.

“Keep moving,” the female wizard on his right commanded, although he hadn’t really been falling behind.  Rigo decided she didn’t like his studying the area as carefully as he was.  He’d heard one of the guards refer to her as Specialist Kimm.  Rigo didn’t know what a Specialist was, but he was certain she was in control by the way the guards deferred to her, and by the way she addressed the other wizard.  Twice she’d instructed the other what she wanted done, referring to the woman as Suline, without a title.  Rigo didn’t know if she lacked a title and what that might mean, or whether she was simply far enough beneath the other that no recognition of her title was felt important.  It was a matter of some interest to Rigo, as the one called Suline had demonstrated an effective familiarity with magic, and if she were a low level Caster, then the more senior woman might be quite formidable.  It was something to consider if he ever again regained access to his powers.

Now that they were approaching the outer wall, Rigo could see how impressive it was.  It stood just over three times his height, and as they passed through a double gate backed by a vertically raised metal grillwork, he saw that the walls were two paces thick.  The fortifications were in surprising contrast to the rest of the city spread out open and unprotected below.  Rigo assumed that the castle had been built in a time where such strength was required, but either through careful maintenance or the proper application of magic, the walls appeared almost new.

As they passed into the inner courtyard, they entered the shadow of the large structure immediately before them.  Scowling, Specialist Kimm instructed the guards to bear to the right, heading for a smaller door in the back of the building as opposed to the large heavily trafficked area toward the front.  Clearly she wasn’t pleased with bringing Rigo here, and he was beginning to believe it wasn’t because she felt herself above such duty.  Rigo was beginning to believe that despite the apparent closeness of the Casters and the Royalty, there might be a rift that could be useful to him.

They were briefly detained at the heavy door in the back, the guard there clearly recognizing Kimm and the guards who had come with them as being from the Caster’s Guild.  He sent his partner inside, and after a few moments a number of additional guards appeared.  After some heated discussion, Specialist Kimm ordered the six guards who had come with them to wait, and then they proceeded into the building, now escorted by nearly a dozen armed men from the castle.  If anything. Kimm’s expression was even more sour than before.  Rigo noted that Suline wasn’t particularly bothered by events, and was almost as interested in the sights as he was.

Inside, the footsteps of the group echoed off the stone walls as they made their way down a long, marginally lit hallway.  They had gone about half the length of the hall when the guards leading them made an abrupt turn.  A short distance after the turn, they stepped into a second hallway, this one far wider and more ornate.  Tapestries hung on the walls, and the stone floor was now a carefully inlaid geometric pattern of colored stones.  The hallway was lit by frequent balls of glowing light, clearly magical in origin.  Swords were hung from the walls, and a number of huge paintings depicted battles and scenes that Rigo guessed were other cities in Sedfair.

Finally they came to a pair of large and ornately carved wooden doors.  Half of their escort took up positions along the wall adjacent to the door, and the others filed in ahead of Rigo and the two women Casters.

“Let’s get this over with,” Kimm grumbled, and gave Rigo a bit of a push toward the door.

Rigo stepped through the doorway ahead of the two Casters and preceeded them into the room, noting the richness of the carpet on which he walked.  In here his footsteps were completely muffled, and the sounds he heard were quiet murmuring of the four people seated in the raised chairs at the back of the room.  Large galleries occupied either side of the room, with seating for perhaps fifty, but no one else was present today.  Instead, the guards who had guided them had taken up positions on either side of the four seated individuals.  Off to either side, Rigo noted a score of archers standing ready.  All had crossbows charged, but not currently pointed toward him.  He knew it would only take a moment for them to raise and fire if needed.

The room was marked in the now familiar symbols that indicated his magic would be of no use in here even if he hadn’t been banded.  He detected the blocking came as a surprise to the two Casters, as Suline gasped a little as she entered, and Kimm shot a glance of frustration at the markings displayed openly on the walls.  Rigo noted that the crystals on top of their staffs were now dull and dark.  Clearly, their magic was cut off as well.  Another interesting development.  If the people here were closely linked with the Guild Casters, wouldn’t they want the two Casters to have full access to their powers just in case the need arose?

Rigo studied those ahead of him as he walked forward as directed.  Three women and one man. Rigo had been in the presence of enough royalty to detect the subtle signs provided by the arrangement of the seating and the posture of the participants.  The older woman in the front was the one in charge.  The others must be some kind of advisors.

“Halt,” Specialist Kimm muttered in his ear.

Rigo came to a stop and waited to see how this would proceed.

“Your Majesty, Queen Rosul, I have brought the intruder as you have requested.  This place is unacceptable.  I cannot guarantee the prisoner will be properly behaved, nor can I protect you here.” 

“I do not require your protection,” the Queen snapped.  “You do not think two score armed guardsmen are capable of defeating a lone man?  We both can see that he is doubly banded, and if the bands had not cut off his magic, he would have long ago escaped when you moved him from the special cell.”

“I still must object . . .”

“Your objections are irrelevant.  You may leave if you wish.  I do not require your presence.”

Kimm cursed softly and shook her head.  “I will stay and hear what the prisoner has to say.”  It was not like she had any say in the matter.  Carif had made it quite clear she was to be present for all discussions.  They must know what the stranger told the Queen.

“Then you may do so.  However, you and your associate are to step aside.  You may wait in the back of the room until we are finished here.”

The breath hissed softly from Kimm as she endured the insult, but then nodded to Suline toward the back and they walked quickly to stand on either side of the large door through which the group had entered.

Rigo had watched and listened to the exchange with growing satisfaction.  There clearly was an opportunity here.  The Casters, especially the woman named Carif, were his enemies.  Anything he could do to make these people his allies he believed would be useful.

The Queen turned her attention back to Rigo.  The two other women had been studying him the whole time.  The man had shifted his interest between Rigo and Specialist Kimm.

“I am Queen Rosul.  I am the ruler of Sedfair.  I am told your name is Rigo and that you understand a little of our language.  Is this true?  Do you understand what I just said?”

“I understand you very well,” Rigo answered fluently.  “My understanding of your language has grown significantly in the past few days.”

“That is remarkable,” The Queen said upon hearing his response.  “Where did you receive instruction in our language?  I have been led to believe you come from outside Sedfair.”

“I cannot explain how this has come to be,” Rigo said.  “I have never been tutored in the language, yet after arriving here I find it known to me.”

“There is no reason to lie.  That you planned to come here and obtained instruction is obvious.  We are not going to progress if you choose to withhold such simple facts.”

“I have no reason to lie to you,” Rigo replied. 

“One always has reasons to lie,” she countered.  “It’s often a matter of finding out what the intentions really are.  I had hopes we might be able to come to an understanding and exchange information.”

“That would suit me as well,” Rigo said honestly.  “I find my current situation to be undesirable and not one that I would like to see continue.  If I can enlighten you about matters in a way that would change this, then I am eager to do so.”

“We will see.  A lot depends on how truthful I sense your answers to be.”

Rigo nodded.  Then he looked at the three others sitting alongside the Queen.  She noted his look.

“Sitting beside me is my consort, King Kall.  On either side are my most trusted advisors, Lady Alani and Lady Kalli.”

Rigo bowed toward the King respectfully.  If the King was secondary to the Queen in a situation like this, then women were clearly in charge here.  It was an interesting insight and one he’d look forward to discussing with Ash’urn. He now understood why they might have taken Orna earlier.

“Are there more of you?” the Queen asked suddenly.  “Can Sedfair expect to be invaded by a number of your countrymen, or friends looking for you?”

Rigo smiled.  “Is there any answer I can give you that you would believe?  There is no way to verify what I tell you.  Having said that, no one else from my homeland has plans to come here.  Until our arrival, we had no knowledge of your existence.  The way is long and difficult, and requires an ability that very few possess.”