Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series (18 page)

The king stood next to Flare and stood there quietly until the hunters had stepped away. He leaned over to Flare and spoke quietly, so that no one else could hear. “I cannot believe that you hit that third target. That was the best shot I think I have seen.” The king said, a smile cracking his lips.

Flare smiled back, “So you're not mad at me for showing up Darion?”

The king looked to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, and then said, “Absolutely not! I have made the mistake of spoiling that boy, and it's good to see someone stand up to him. I think that you'll be an excellent influence on him.” The king started to step away, but then thought better of it, “Don't tell anyone I said that.” He said, pointing his finger at Flare, “Oh, and I would watch my back for a while if I were you.” He added.

Watching the king walk away, Flare shook his head. 'How do these problems always find me?'

Chapter 6

After the archery contest and the disappearance of Prince Darion, the hunting party called off the hunt. As they rode their horses back to the stables, Hortus and the other nobles carried on a congenial conversation with Flare. They seemed to appreciate the skill he had shown in the archery contest, but even more than that, they appreciated the honor and dignity he showed after winning the contest. He didn't gloat at beating the crown prince, but instead had congratulated him on how well the prince had performed. Although Prince Darion was probably a bitter enemy, the other nobles seemed to at least respect him now.

Reaching the stables in the middle of the afternoon, Flare jumped out of the saddle and handed the reigns over to the stable boy. The rest of the hunting party was not as used to being on a horse as he was, and they got down much slower, some of them almost falling off. A smile broke out on his face at the sight of so many nobles gingerly dismounting; he tried to cover up his smile but failed miserably. No one noticed though, as they were too busy paying attention to their aching and popping joints.

King Darion didn't say anything to Flare as he left, but the king did nod at him, so at least the king didn't hold any grudges over the argument between Flare and Prince Darion.

Flare left the stables and walked slowly through the palace. Although he hadn't realized it, he also was a little sore after the hunt. A nice hot bath and some food sounded excellent. He still hoped to check out the hallway, but that would have to wait until later this evening.

As he was walking though the hallways towards his room, a young page came running up to him. “Excuse me, Sir. I was instructed to give you this letter.” He said as he held a letter out to Flare.

He took the letter, and without even looking at it, he said, “Thank you.” The young boy started to leave, but Flare stopped him. “I want you to have a chambermaid draw a hot bath for me. Oh, and have her bring some lunch with her. Okay?”

Smiling, the boy quickly answered, “Yes sir. I'll go there right now.” He then quickly turned and ran off down the hallway.

Flare watched him run off and smiled to himself at the energy and excitement of the young boy. Then remembering the letter, he opened it and hastily read it. He almost groaned at the words, though. The letter was from Cassandra and she wanted to have dinner tonight. He shook his head, 'At this rate, I'll never get to that hallway.'

Flare walked slowly toward Cassandra's room. It was early in the evening, with the sun having set about an hour previously. The lack of sleep was starting to affect him, and he felt lethargic, although the hot bath had helped tremendously. He had soaked for almost an hour, and then gorged himself on the food the chambermaid had brought. Between being tired and being full of food, he was ready to go to sleep, but he doubted that Cassandra would want to sleep anytime soon. He smiled at the thought, but it lacked any real mirth.

Reaching the door, he knocked and waited until he heard Cassandra telling him to come in. Opening the door, he stepped inside. It was dark inside but his eyes adjusted quickly. The room was cleaner that normal, without the usual books and magical instruments spread around. Several candles were lit and placed around the room on tables and bookcases. There was also a large candle stand sitting next to the bedroom door, which had one huge candle on it. A rug, which was new, sat on the floor in front of the couch. Cassandra sat on the couch leaning against the couch arm, with her legs resting beside her. She was wearing a transparent negligee that was long enough to cover her ankles, and she was smoking something that left a haze in the room. Her hair looked extremely sexy hanging down around her shoulders.

A smile grew on Flare's face as he watched her. A familiar warmth spread through his mid-section as he admired her figure through the negligee.

He walked over to the couch and sat down to Cassandra's right and she moved her legs for him. She smiled, but her eyes seemed a little glazed over, and he wondered what she was smoking. “Hello, Flare.” Her smile grew even bigger, “Did you have fun on the hunting trip today?”

His smile vanished, “You heard about that? Does everybody in the palace know?” He asked incredulously. It was bad enough that the Crown Prince was furious with him, but now that the whole palace knew about it only made it worse.

“Of course everybody knows! Didn't you grow up in a royal court? You can't keep things like that quiet.” Cassandra said, her eyes were still glazed over and her eyelids drooped like she was having a hard time holding them open.

Flare just shook his head; he should have known that word of his argument with Prince Darion would have spread through the palace like a wildfire. There were few things that nobles enjoyed more than gossiping. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “So what is everybody saying about the argument?” He muttered through his hands.

Cassandra giggled, “Nobility love talking about a scandal, and you sure put prince Darion in his place. People will be snickering about it behind his back for quite some time.”

She leaned forward and put her right hand on the back of Flare's neck, and started massaging his muscles. His sore muscles felt so much better under her strong touch, and he closed his eyes in pleasure. She quickly moved her left hand to the back of his neck and massaged with it as well. She moved from a sitting position to rest on her knees behind Flare so that she could massage his neck better. “I heard another rumor today as well; do you want to hear it?” She asked as she continued to massage his neck.

Flare's eyes were closed and rolling back into his head as he answered, “Sure. What is it?”

“I heard that Hannah spent the night with you last night.” She said slowly.

It took a second for the words to sink in, but then his eyes popped open and he opened his mouth to speak. The only think that came out was a howl of pain as Cassandra dug her thumbs into his back and neck.

He jumped forward off of the couch and spun around on Cassandra. “What in the name of the abyss was that for?” He shouted at her.

Cassandra was still sitting on the couch on her knees and looking at him with an innocent look. “Is it true? Are you continuing to have sex with a woman who is most likely a spy?”

'Well, of course,' was the first thought that popped into his mind, but he knew better than to say that to any woman, especially Cassandra. Make her angry, and she just might turn you into something despicable. “Listen,” Flare said in a much more diplomatic tone, “I can't just stop seeing her.” He quickly continued at the sight of Cassandra's eyebrow going up, “We think she's the spy. If I don't see her, then they will send another spy, and I won't know who it is, at least this way I can watch her while she's watching me.” It sounded logical to him; he sure hoped that Cassandra agreed.

Cassandra was busy quietly appraising him. “So you're telling me that the sex has nothing to do with it?” She asked calmly.

“Well, I .. uh .. , I mean, you know that sex is good, but I believe I have to watch her so that I know who is spying on me.” He said trying hard not to lie. He was a little confused by her attitude. She was acting liking they were in a committed relationship, and he had cheated on her. While they were sleeping together, there wasn't any commitment between them. “I thought that we agreed there wasn't any commitment between us.” He said quietly, wondering if it was the right thing to say.

Cassandra smiled a tired smile, “Flare, I'm not jealous. Well, maybe a little, but I'm also concerned that she might find out about us and that would get me in a lot of trouble.”

'Fool!' He thought. 'Why would Cassandra be jealous? She could have almost any man she wanted, of course she was just looking out for our safety.' He felt embarrassed about miss-interpreting her comments. He face got warm and he knew he was blushing. “So, are we okay?” He asked, still somewhat confused.

Cassandra smiled. “Yes, we're okay. Just be careful.” She got up and walked around to Flare and handed him a pipe that had smoke coming out of the end of it. “Here, try this.”

“What is it?”

“Don't worry about it, just try it. Trust me, you'll like it.”

Flare woke the next morning in Cassandra's bedchambers with an aching head. Sitting up in bed caused a cold sweat to break out all over his body, and he thought he might get to see last night's dinner again. He sat there for several moments and the nausea slowly lessened. He was surprised to see that Cassandra had already left. Finally the pain lessened to a point where he felt good enough to get out of bed and get dressed. He took his time putting his clothes on as each movement seemed to cause another part of his body to start hurting. As he got dressed, the events of the previous night slowly came back to him. Whatever Cassandra had given him to smoke had made him feel wonderful. His senses had been heightened, and life's pressures had seemed insignificant, but today every part of his body ached. The drug had heightened the sex as well, but even so nothing was worth the way he felt now. He quickly decided that if Cassandra offered him anything else, he would pass on it.

Fully dressed, he started toward the door as fast as he could; even so, his fastest was rather slow. He paused as he walked passed a mirror and observed his image. His skin was pale and sweaty, and his eyes were blood shot. He shook his head at the sight, definitely not touching any more of Cassandra's wonder drug.

As he stepped into the hallway, the guard on duty snapped to attention. The guard then took a closer look at Flare and asked, “Are you okay?”

Flare smiled at the guard, hoping to put him at ease. “I'll be okay. I just had too good a time last night, if you know what I mean.”

The guard smiled back at Flare, “I don't know from first hand experience, but I can only imagine what a magician can do to you.”

Flare let the comment go and walked slowly back to his room. Along the way, he stopped a page and ordered a plate of food be brought to his room. He was not the least bit hungry, but if the after affects of this drug were anything like ale, then food would help him feel better.

Upon reaching his room, he lay down on his bed and waited for his food, which arrived shortly thereafter. He got up and quickly forced the food down and then lay back down for a quick nap.

He awoke several hours later, around noontime, feeling remarkably better than he had this morning. He sat up and stretched, and none of the earlier soreness bothered him. 'Maybe I'll look into that hallway today after all.'

Early in the evening Flare was walking down the hallway toward the intersection that had been haunting his dreams. The hallways were practically deserted, because it was time for the evening meal. In a way, it was a relief to finally get an opportunity to investigate the mysterious hallway, but frankly, he was a little scared of what he might find. If his dreams were even close, then he might not come back from this little excursion, but it was better to find out what was causing his nightmares than to just continue having them.

His sword was strapped to his back and it was unusual for him to wear the sword around the palace, but he was afraid that he just might need it tonight. Although he wasn't sure what good a sword would be against the specter of his dreams, but he had to know what was causing them.

He arrived at the intersection without any problems, and he stopped and observed the hallway. The sight of the intersection caused his heart to race a little bit, as this had been the scene of numerous nightmares, but it was strangely serene and quiet. His eyes sought out the three stones that were the key from his dream. Was his dream just a dream, or was there something more to this hallway? Would the stones open up a secret door with a ghoulish specter waiting on him?

Flare continued to stand there for several more moments, now that he was actually here, he wasn't in such a rush to confront his dreams. He felt a little drop of sweat run down his back, despite the coolness of the air, he also could feel little beads of sweat forming on his forehead and for the first time the thought occurred to him to turn around and leave. He contemplated leaving for just a moment before he dismissed it. 'One way or another, this ends tonight,' he thought in a calm resolved manner. Now that his mind was made up, it was easier for him to step forward.

Looking around to make sure that there was no one else in either hallway, Flare drew his sword. Then, with one final look down the hallway, he pushed on the stone that had cracked first in his dream of several nights earlier. The stone gave and slid in about an inch, making almost no noise as it slid. Breathing deeply, he turned back around and located the other two stones in the upper right corner. He pushed on the second one, and it too slid slowly into the wall. With his heart beating a little more rapidly, he pushed on the last stone. The last stone slid in silently and then stopped moving.