The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (15 page)

“I
will. Know that if I break my oath that I must forfeit my life at your
hand.
 
If you should break this covenant,
then your life belongs to me.”

“I
agree.
 
I have a feeling that desperate
times ahead of us, my good friend.
 
Let
us be diligent.”

“Agreed…now,
I must be off.
 
I need to inspect the
perimeter defenses before the day is done.
 
I will return in three days to follow up with you and to report to
Kira.
 
Keep her safe,” General Yukio
asked.
 
He took Marek’s hand and shook it
firmly.
 
He did an about-face and marched
back toward the front gate.

General
Marek watched him for some time as he walked confidently toward the outer
wall.
 
He had a feeling of dread come
over him that left him quite disconcerted.
 
He did not know the source of this apprehension, but he knew that something
was going to transpire that would alter the high elves’ future for ill.
 
He could not explain how he knew it, but he
did.
 
He decided that he had to share
this information with the queen.
 
She
would need to know about the secret passages along with everything else Yukio
had discussed with him.
 
This would make
her be on guard for anything, and she would have an idea of what options were
available to her if she needed to flee.
 
He looked again at the general marching off in the distance and saw his
friend turn around and wave at him.

***

Yukio
could see his friend still standing where he had left him.
 
He finished waving to him and hoped that the
good general would not let him down.
 
He
felt assured that Marek would defend her as well as he could.
 
He saw the high elf turn around and march
resolutely toward the castle.
 
Good, now he will go and tell the queen
everything we discussed.
 
This way she
will be prepared and will not have to rely on anyone to save her.
 
He smiled at his own cunning and continued
his march to the defenses of the outer wall.

***

Kira
walked resolutely toward the council chambers knowing that she would need to
talk with her loyal friend Bronwen Merindiel.
 
She had waited for a long time after her husband departed to make her
way back to the meeting hall.
 
She was
consumed with the uneasy feeling that something horrible was about to
happen.
 
She did not like the feeling of
not being in control and not knowing what to do in order to protect against the
unknown.
 
She felt that by speaking with
her mentor she would gain some insight and knowledge that would help her deal
with what she was experiencing.
 
He had
always seemed to have excellent council to give and was vital to her success in
leaving the woodland elves behind to start a new country.

As
she continued her walk, she came across General Marek, who appeared to be
heading right for her.
 
She could tell
right away that he had come to find her for a very specific reason.
 
She may not have her husband’s ability to
read minds, but she was a rather good judge of a person’s intentions by their
non-verbal communications.
 
It was clear
that the leader of her army was distressed about something and that she would
soon find out what was making him so agitated.

“My
queen!” hailed General Marek as he got down on one knee with his head bowed to
the ground.

“General
Marek, please rise.
 
You do need not bow
every time you see me.
 
Especially when
no one else is present,” she said as she brought him up out of his prostration
with one of her delicate hands.

“May
I have permission to speak with you in private, Milady?”

“Of
course, General; follow me to my private office.
 
We will be safe from unwanted listeners.
 
I get the feeling that what you are about to
share with me should be kept secret.
 
Am
I correct in my assumption?”

“As
always, Your Majesty…if you please,” he said with a bow while his left hand
gestured for her to lead them to her office.
 
He did not have any idea where it was located, and it was proper
etiquette to follow royalty instead of leading them.
 
He was grateful for the discretion Queen Kira
was using in this matter.
 
She could
probably sense the importance of his impromptu visit.
 
He never spoke to her aside from their daily
meetings during which he reported to the queen any notable events regarding
security.

They
walked briskly in the shade of the walkway as they neared the office of the
queen.
 
She came to an abrupt halt at a
wall that had a tapestry of Alanderas.
 
She looked at her general in such a way that made it clear he was not to
see how to open this secret door.
 
Marek
did an about-face and looked out over the courtyard of the queen’s castle.
 
She muttered some unintelligible words, and
an opening immediately appeared out of nowhere.
 
She motioned for him to follow her as she walked through the magic
door.
 
He immediately followed her
through the dark entry.
 

Once
they were within her impressive office, the door behind them disappeared.
 
The room was dark and filled with books and
scrolls.
 
This appeared to be the private
library of the queen as well as her sanctuary from the pressures of
leadership.
 
She took her seat behind a
massive black oak desk and motioned for General Marek to take a seat opposite
her.
 
He bowed slightly to acknowledge
the command and sat down.
 
She then
inclined her head to indicate to him that he was now free to tell her what
exactly why they had come here.

“Milady,
I have just spoken with General Yukio, and he has provided me with intelligence
that will prove beneficial for you to know.
 
He did not forbid me to share the information with you, so I felt it
prudent to tell you so you would be prepared for any eventuality,” General
Marek started confidently.

“You
are wise to share with me secrets that my husband did not choose to tell me
about.
 
He is probably testing your
loyalty to me by confiding in you information that I would need in order to be
prepared.
 
He knew that if you were true
to me that you would tell me everything he told you.
 
So, go ahead and reveal to me what he told
you,” commanded the queen kindly.

General
Marek then related all of what General Yukio had told to him.
 
She seemed to take the information well and
knew that her husband had prepared for the worst.
 
She only loved him more for his preparation
and for his methods of revealing such information to her.
 
She would be ready for an attack from any
direction.
 
The main difference now as
that she knew of an escape if the worst should happen.
 
She was extremely grateful for Marek’s
diligence and honesty.

“Thank
you, General.
 
I believe that my husband
has chosen his confidant wisely.
 
He knew
that he could trust in your loyalty to me to pass along this vital
information.
 
Now I will be prepared for
anything that may take place.
 
It is
comforting to know that I have an escape plan.”

“What
would you like me to do now, Your Majesty?”

“I
want you to inform the home guard that they are to report any suspicious
behavior to you immediately.
 
Tell them
to have a full guard every hour, day and night.
 
We must be vigilant if we are to survive the storm that is coming.
 
Once you have instructed the troops, return
to me.
 
I will be in the council chambers
speaking with Chairman Merindiel.”

“Milady,”
he said with a low bow.
 
He then stood up
with a smile and did an about-face.
 
He
marched resolutely toward the place where the door had been and was surprised
to see it had reappeared.
 
He walked
through the exit quickly and headed for the barracks of the home guard.
 
He knew that what he had done was right.
 
He knew now that he would be able to keep the
queen safe from any assassination attempt.
 
Now it was up to Yukio to keep his end of the bargain.

The
queen watched the general march out the secret door and had a sense of peace
come over her.
 
For the first time in
many days she felt that she was safe and on the right track.
 
She knew that no attempt on her life would be
successful with the new information she had.
 
She was now prepared for any eventuality.
 
She knew that she would feel even more
comfortable when she had shared these things with her trusted friend,
Bronwen.
 
He would be able to give her
additional advice about the situation.
 
He would reinforce what she had been told and help her think of more
options that were available to her.

She
continued to think over the information she had received as she walked to the
meeting hall.
 
She began to formulate
different scenarios in her mind about possible assassination attempts.
 
She then carefully thought of ways to thwart
each and every attempt on her life.
 
She
was so consumed in her musing that she did not notice the clouds breaking up
and the sun peeking through openings in the covering.
 
The rain had stopped, and a fog began to form
as the sun heated the drenched mountain city.
 
Her line of sight became compromised, and she immediately had a feeling
of dread come over her.
 
She snapped back
to reality and took notice of the physical changes that were taking place
around her.
 
She took a deep breath to
calm herself down.
 
There is nothing to fear. I am almost to the council chambers, and then
I will be safe within its walls
.
 
She
also knew that there were guards watching her as she moved along the walkway,
so she really had nothing to worry about.

As
she approached the main doors to the chamber, a rush of uneasiness came over
her as she reached to open the main doors.
 
Instead, she turned about and headed for the rear entry.
 
She did not want to be caught by surprise if
there was a trap set for her in the council room.
 
She knew that she could trust Bronwen, but
she did not know for certain that he was even in there.
 
She reached the back door and pushed against
it gently.
 
The door opened just far
enough to allow her to peek inside the room.
 
She immediately saw that Bronwen was there with a few of the other
council members.
 
She then opened the
door all the way, which made a creaking noise that got everyone’s attention.

“Queen
Kira, what can we do for you?” asked one of the council members with a bow.

“You
all can leave so that I may speak with Chairman Merindiel in private,” she
ordered the extraneous council members to depart.
 
They did as she had commanded.
 
They all bowed and immediately left the hall
through the double doors at the front.
 
Light began to fill the room through the glass dome.

“Milady,
what is it that I can do for you?” queried her good friend Bronwen.
 
He whispered as though they may be overheard.

“Is
it safe for us to talk here?”

“I
cannot be entirely certain, Your Majesty.”

She
nodded that she understood and then went around the room searching out any
possible spies.
 
She did not find one, so
she gave up the search.
 
She then
approached each door and magically sealed them.
 
Then she put a sound shield on the walls, the floor, and the glass
ceiling.
 
Once she had completed all of
these tasks, she turned again to her friend and smiled warmly.

“We
should be safe now to speak our minds without being overheard.”

“I
am certain that your magic will keep us safe and what we say a secret.
 
What is it that you have come to speak with
me about?”

“I
need to bring you up to speed on our situation.
 
I have received information from very reliable sources that there will
be attempts on my life.
 
I want to share
with you what I have been told from General Marek in particular.”