The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (5 page)

He stood and stared at the building a moment
longer, and in his heart he felt a great weight of uncertainty fall
upon him. He had kept such feelings at bay so far on his journey,
but now he had finally arrived, the reality of his situation hit
him. There
should
have been another way, a way that
didn’t
involve so much subterfuge. Perhaps Jadin
had been right about his people. But equally, perhaps the man was
wrong about
him.
Was
he a good man? The term had been diluted to a point he
couldn’t even tell himself any longer. He shook his head. The only
other way didn’t bear
thinking
about. If he
didn’t
do this, then the girl’s life would be over, one
way or another.

He
took a deep breath and grasped the golden door handles. “Right
then, now comes the hard part!” He pushed the handles down; the
latch opened slipping from its housing, and shifting his weight, he
thrust the heavy doors inward and made his way inside.

The
room was dark to Matthias’s eyes after being in the bright
sunlight, and it took a while for his vision to adjust to the
shadowy recesses of the room. When the green spots had finished
dancing in front of his eyes, he focussed on a chipped, splintered
table that stood in front of him, a layer of varnish peeling off
from its topside. A man clad in military uniform sat at one of the
five chairs set at regular intervals around the oblong surface. He
was well built and stocky, with broad shoulders and a square
chiselled jaw, a prominent nose and dark, slightly curly hair that
covered his ears. Compared to the man, Matthias was a stick insect.
He looked up from a worn, leather-bound book to look at
him.

“
Good afternoon,” the man said, standing. “My Lord?” he
ventured the title, looking at Matthias’ rich clothing. “Do you
require some assistance? Are you lost?” His pale blue eyes studied
Matthias intently through heavy lids and black – ringed
eyes.

Matthias bowed his head and smiled. “Good afternoon. I do
need your help. That is, if it’s not too much trouble?” Politeness,
he had found, often got you everywhere. Well, perhaps not always,
but it was the best place to start.

“
Please,” the man said, and beckoned to one of the empty
seats. Matthias took it gratefully, and could not stop a sigh from
leaving his lips at the relief of being off his feet for the first
time in almost two days. The man took the seat opposite, pulling
his trousers up to waistline level as he eased himself back into
the chair. He clasped his hands in front of himself and smiled.
“Well then, My Lord, how can I be of help?”

Matthias took a breath. “Please, I am not a noble. You don’t
need to refer to me as such.”

The guard nodded. “Of course. How
should
I address
you?”

“
My
name will be enough. It’s Matthias Greenwald.”

“
Very well then, Matthias Greenwald, I repeat my question: how
can I be of help to you?” he smiled.

Matthias took a breath. “I am here to speak with King Arwell.
I would like to meet with him. As soon as is possible. Please,” he
added for good measure.

The
guard’s brow furrowed. “The king?” he repeated.

“
That’s right,” Matthias nodded.

“
His
Majesty, King Arwell?” the guard clarified.

“
Yes, that’s the one. Unless you know of another?”

The
man looked away a moment, stared inwardly, and then addressed
Matthias again. “Why?” he asked.

“
I
have some important information to bring to him,” Matthias told the
man. He knew what would come next.

“
What sort of information?”

There it was: the question he had dreaded being
asked because he
knew
he could give no answer. “Extremely private information,”
he tried, enunciating the word ‘private’ heavily.

The guard scratched his rocky chin awkwardly. “You
are foreign?” he asked. Matthias nodded. “From where?” Matthias
opened the top of his coat and pulled his pendant from his shirt,
and indicated with it to the guard. “You are a
wizard?
” the guard asked with a mix of
surprise and trepidation.

“
I
am,” Matthias nodded. “But please, don’t roll out the red
carpet.”

The
guard looked at him with astonishment. “You… I…” he shook his head.
“Are you an ambassador?”

“
I
suppose you could call me that, yes,” Matthias smiled. “It’s as
good a word as any.”

The
guard nodded as if trying to arrange the information in his mind.
“Ambassador, I must say that with all respect,” he began, tapping
the sides of his hands on the table awkwardly, “You cannot just…
pop in and request an audience with the king like this!”

“
I
know it isn’t exactly proper,” Matthias nodded. “But I felt the
need to arrive unannounced.”

“
For
what reason?”

“
Because the information I bring is sensitive, and I didn’t
want it to be known by other countries or people that I am
here.”

The
guard stared him in the eye, and stroked his stubbly chiselled chin
again. His look of absolute puzzlement would have been comical in
different circumstances. There was a moment of awkward silence as
Matthias and he sat whilst the man engaged in silent analysis.
Matthias sat patiently, his expression as fixed as a statue, and
awaited a response. The guard opened his mouth, but no words came
out, and so he shut it again, rethought what he was going to say,
and then, taking a breath again, continued.

“
You must understand that I can’t just simply take
you to the king. Your identity has to be confirmed for a start.
Moreover, the king has to
accept
your request to see him. He is, after all, a busy
man.”

“
Understandable,” Matthias nodded. “Ask what you need of
me.”

“
Very well. Let us get the basics out of the way. Do you have
your proof of identity? Your papers of entrance?”

“
Papers? No, I have none,’ Matthias answered
calmly.

“
You have no papers?” The man exclaimed. “Then how
in the names of the three gods did you get
into
the city in the first place?
No - one
gets into Rina
without being issued with papers!”

“
Let’s just say I found a way in. As I said, I am trying to
remain hidden. I could not risk being compromised.”

“
By
our own guards? The men trusted with the safety of this
kingdom?”

“
These are treacherous times,” Matthias replied with a raised
brow. “You might trust them, but I am afraid I don’t.” Matthias
thought for a moment as the guard’s face became ever more
concerned. The man was shaking his head, clearly vexed by it all.
An idea came to Matthias and he placed his hands behind his neck,
undid the latch holding the chain and locket and gave the pendant
to the guard. The man studied what he had been given blankly and
then looked up at Matthias.

“
My
identity,” Matthias said with a smile, folding his arms.

“
You
expect this jewellery to confirm your identity?” the man exclaimed,
holding it up by the chain. There was more than a hint of disbelief
in his voice as he stared at the grubby, battered pendant swinging
within his grip.

“
That is a wizard’s pendant.”

“
I
know
what it is, sir,” the guard replied. “But how does it help
me prove who you are?”

“
They are only given to a wizard who has been
admitted to the Order. It should at least prove to you I am
from
where I say I
am.”

“
For all I know this could have been
stolen
from a wizard and
you could be an imposter!” the man declared
loudly.

Matthias smiled and shook his head. This
infuriated the man even further. His eyes were sharp and analysing.
“Believe me, if anyone tried to steal a pendant from a wizard, they
wouldn’t try again. To us, these pendants are like an arm or a leg.
Wizards have died rather than lose them. Men have died stealing
them – or at least,
trying
to.
Never
in our entire
existence
has a pendant found its way into another’s hands.
I would
destroy
that pendant or destroy myself before giving it up to a
thief. To give that to you as I do now feels as if I am ripping out
my heart and placing it in your hand.”

The
guard probed Matthias’s eyes as if he were peering into the inner
recesses of his soul, looking for any hint of deceit in those deep,
hazel eyes. He fumbled absently with the jewellery in his palm,
stroking the rough arrowhead with his thumb. Then he sighed again
and put the pendant carefully in his pocket. Matthias watched it
intently as a mother watched her child when being held by
another.

“
I
will take it to the king and I will tell him what you have told me.
You are free to wait here, though I cannot say how long I will
be.”
“Thank you. What’s your name, by the way?” Matthias
asked.

“
My
name is Thadius. I’m an officer to the Knights of Aralia. And on
occasion I also sit here and tend to this place, on a quiet day
like this,” he added. “I will return as soon as I can.” He snorted
as he stood up from his chair. “I’ll say this for you; you’ve
certainly made my day a lot more interesting.” He moved quickly to
the back of the room and opened a door, and spoke in hushed tones.
A moment later, another guardsman appeared. “This is Lauric. He
will be here to assist with anything you require whilst I’m gone.”
The man nodded to Matthias and he in turn bowed his head. With
that, Thadius turned and marched through the main doors.

Matthias watched him go and drummed his fingers on the table.
Lauric stood in front of him and for a moment there was an awkward
silence.

“
Can
I get you anything sir?” he asked.

Matthias shook his head. “All that I need is to see the king
as soon as possible, and with any luck your friend will be able to
help me with that request.”

The
man nodded. “As you say, sir,” he said. “Well, if it pleases you I
will get back to my duties?”

Matthias nodded back. “Don’t let me keep you from what you
were doing.”

“
If
you should need anything, please call me. I will only be through
here.” He indicated through the door.

Matthias thanked Lauric and he swiftly retreated
to the back rooms. The wizard breathed a sigh of relief at being
left alone at last and sat back in the chair. His neck felt bare
without the familiar feel of the steel-threaded thong and the
pendant’s weight on the top of his chest. It felt alien to him.
Being without it took him back a fair time into his past, before he
had become a wizard.
Simpler times
, he mused.
Times when my head didn’t swim with information
and ideas. Before plans and deceptions.

After a time his relief at being left alone dissolved and the
lack of any presence grew disconcerting as he continued to pine for
his beloved jewellery. For a moment he considered going to find
Lauric, if only to distract himself from the silence in the room
and the thoughts in his head, but then he thought better of it.
After all, what would he even speak to the man about anyway?
Instead he rose from the table and took a tour of the room. Though
the cubical office was flanked by three tall, wide windows, they
failed to pull the room from the darkening influence of its
mahogany wood panelling. He considered lighting the candles
suspended from the wrought iron chandelier above his head, but
thought better of it, so instead he looked at the paintings that
covered the walls through the penumbra.

There were portraits of various generals and
commanders of the King's Guard through the many ages of Aralia’s
past, spaced across the walls in date order. The depictions grew
cruder and simplistic the older they were and Matthias had to
stifle a laugh as he reached the last picture. Dated some five
hundred years ago, the subject had his eyes crossed and a nose
sticking out where an
ear
should have been. It was either that the artist
had a
very
poor grasp of perspective, or the subject was the
ugliest
man Matthias had
ever seen. Each portrait he moved to revealed a different style of
clothing and a different set of hairstyles unique to the era they
were from. They all shared
one
thing in common though: they all looked as pompous
as sin. And they all had big chins. He felt his own
unconsciously.

After a half hour or so of studying the pictures and letting
his mind wander as he stared closely at the cracking oils on the
canvasses, Matthias sat down at the table again. He settled himself
into a comfortable position and picked at a chip in his staff
absent – mindedly, before running a finger down the dead root that
twirled around the staff’s lower segment, from another plant that
had eaten into the branch. He contented himself to this
preoccupation and his daydreams for another half - hour until his
thoughts were interrupted by the re-entry of Thadius into the room.
Matthias stood on his arrival, his face alert with anticipation.
The man coughed awkwardly as he approached Matthias.