The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear (3 page)

“No. I guess not.”

“Friends like to do things for each other, Bortram. Maybe you

don’t particularly like what he did, but he obviously liked doing it.

Maybe now, you should do something for him.”

“What?”

“Accept what he did graciously. I think it will make him happy.”

“Hm... so in fact I would be doing him a favor?”

“I think so. Of course, most of the time accepting a gift is a lot

harder than giving one. Not everybody can do it. Do it well, I mean.”

Bortram looked at him through the slits of his eyelids.

“It’s not just celery they grow in Ramaldah, I see. You’re wise

beyond your years. And as devious as a certain blond trickster I

happen to know. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Bonds of Fear

19

Anaxantis hadn’t said anything, and he secretly hoped February

the fifth would pass by without anybody noticing. After Tomar had

left with his stack of parchments he had stuck his head out of the

door and yelled for the page on war room duty.

“Ha, yes, Radyamirodyahendo, isn’t it?” he said when a cheerless

looking youngster entered.

“My Lord?” Rahendo said surprised.

“What?”

“You know my name?”

“Of course, I do. I know all your names. Son of the viscount of

Eldorn, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my lord. Only, everybody calls me Rahendo.”

“Sad. I never understood why people insist on shortening

perfectly beautiful names. Everybody seems to do it. Me, I like long

names and how they roll off the tongue. Radyamirodyahendo... it’s

not just a name, it’s a poem.”

“Even my parents can’t remember it, and they gave it to me. My

sisters do, but they only use it when they are mad at me.”

“I think it’s a shame. However... I called you because I want you to

make sure that nobody enters here between now and midday. I need

some time alone to think. So, lock the door to the hallway and keep

the key on your person. Let nobody through. And I mean nobody. Tell

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them to come back around noon. Understood?”

“Yes, my lord. You can count on me,” Rahendo said, with the

solemnity as if he was promising to fulfill a dying wish.

Anaxantis paced up and down the war room. After several

minutes he stopped before the big map of Ximerion that hung on

the wall and stared at the southern border, at the little pictograph

that represented the fort of Nira, where his father had made his

headquarters.

He frowned.

“What is he thinking? He will have known the gist in less than a

day and by now he must have had full reports about the proceedings

of the Amirathan Council. Is the secret charter his only instrument to

stop me? As long as he and Demrac think that I know nothing about

the existence of such a document, he might well take the risk. On the

other hand, he seldom lays all eggs in one basket. So, father, what else

do you have up your sleeve? What else are you planning? At the very,

very least you must have a fallback plan, some kind of safety net.”

He returned to his chair, put his elbows on the table, and rested

his head in his hands, his fingers deeply clawed in his thick blond

hair.

“Are you really not aware of what I am doing here? Can you really

not see the ultimate consequence? I had to play in the open. There was

no other possibility, no way to hide my actions. Surely, by now you must

have seen through my plans. All the signs are obvious and nothing

about them is covert for him who knows where to look. And if you have

seen through them, what are you going to do about it? How are you

going to try to stop me?

“My guess is you will wait until the very last moment. You won’t

Bonds of Fear

21

be able to resist this opportunity to bedazzle me with your superior

wisdom and experience. You will want my humiliation to be as big

as possible. Your triumph to be as sparkling as can be. Exactly this,

father, gives me some time to prepare. Precious little time, however.

And still I have no idea what you are planning. One thing is certain,

you can’t intervene personally. You might as well send an invitation

to Lorsanthia to invade, while we are having a little family feud. You

could always depose me, but you won’t. Your purpose is for this to be a

shaming lesson. You will probably not send one or both of my brothers.

You know all too well I would see them coming from afar. It would

be a disaster if I bested them. If they bested me, the end result would

be doubtful. They could simply step into my place, and you would be

exactly where you started. You have no choice but to work with trusted

agents...”

Anaxantis leaned back in his chair and deep furrows formed on

his brow.

When Bortram entered the entrance hall of the tower he saw that

the door of the hallway to the war room was closed. Before it stood a

deeply unhappy boy in a page’s uniform. It hung just a tad too loosely

on his frame. The poor guy seemed a bit simple.

“Good day, young man,” he said cheerfully and slowly, making

sure the youngster understood him. “I am Bortram, Bor-tram, a

friend of the lord governor. I wish to visit him. Could you open the

door for me?”

“No,” said the page, as if this refusal was personally hurtful to

him.

“No?”

“No.”

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“You have the key though?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where is it?”

“I have hidden it, sir.”

“I see. Well... eh... Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you do know that I am indeed a personal friend of the lord

governor?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you know that friends visit each other all the time, don’t

you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You also know that friends like to tell important stuff as soon as

possible to their friends, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir”

“Good. Just keep him saying ‘yes’ and then spring the question.

He will say ‘yes’ out of sheer habit.”

“So, if you had something important to tell to one of your little

friends, you would tell him immediately, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then, I am a friend of the lord governor and I have something

important to tell him. You understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Right. To tell him my important news I must be able to speak to

him, mustn’t I?”

“Yes, sir.”

Bonds of Fear

23

“And he is in the war room, isn’t he?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then, to get to him I must go through the door, mustn’t I?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you know where the key is, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir”

“So, in order for me to get through the door, you must open it for

me, mustn’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“See, the conclusion is inescapable. You have to open the door for

me.”

“No.”

“No?” Bortram asked, stunned.

“No,” came the monotone and morose answer.

At that moment Hemarchidas came into the entrance hall.

“Bortram, where is Anaxantis? Why are you wasting time talking

to that page?”

“He has locked the door and he refuses to open it.”

“Nonsense,” Hemarchidas said resolutely. “Boy, open that door

now. Immediately.”

“No,” Rahendo said sullenly.

“Why not?”

“He said to let nobody through.”

“Yes, of course he said that, but he meant unannounced visitors,

servants, messengers and such. Not his close friends. Obviously.”

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“Come back around noon. Understood?” Rahendo said.

“What?” Hemarchidas yelled.

“Come back around noon. Understood?”

“I heard you the first time, you impertinent young fool.”

Rahendo looked sadly at the ceiling, as if what he wanted to

convey was somehow written there.

“He said ‘Let nobody through. And I mean nobody. Tell them to

come back around noon. Understood?’ So: Come back around noon.

Understood?”

“Are you slow, boy?”

“No.”

“Then open that blasted door. Now.”

“No.”

“Give me the key.”

“No.”

Hemarchidas looked exasperatedly at Bortram, who was

chuckling at the sight of his friend getting the same stubborn

treatment as he himself had experienced a few minutes ago.

“It will keep till midday, Hemarchidas. Let’s go. Maybe he really

doesn’t want to be disturbed. You know how he gets.”

Hemarchidas threw his arms in the air.

“I suppose so.”

Leaving, Bortram turned around and winked at Rahendo.

“We’ll come back around noon. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Bonds of Fear

25

“So the question is who will be his agent in the event Demrac fails?

Is he already here? Has he been embedded in the army from the very

beginning? Or will he arrive by the time his intervention could become

necessary? Could it be one of my friends? One of those with weaknesses?

“Damn it. I hate to be blind. Lorseth is probably riddled with father’s

spies and informers, and I have exactly nobody in his entourage.

Mother might still have some contacts in Ormidon and maybe even

in father’s army, but I have no secret means to contact her, and I dare

not endanger her position in Soranza. If that is where she is. Ehandar

had informers in the Royal Administration. Precious few though. I have

his ring, so I could try to contact them in his name. Tell them how the

renunciation was a ruse. But they might have been turned months ago.

No, that’s too dangerous.”

Without knowing it he felt the same mixture of mounting panic

and growing doubt Ehandar had felt months ago creep into his heart.

“No, no, no. That way lies certain doom. I cannot, I will not give

in to this. I will not be overwhelmed by terror. I have come too far.

And I am not a helpless lamb. Should I close my southern border? That

would be as good as a declaration of independence. No, I am not ready

for that. I must work the other way around and begin closest to myself.

With those who have access to me. My friends...”

He sighed. He found the prospect most distasteful.

“The first thing I must know is if my most trusted circle is as

impregnable as I hope it is. As it must be. As repulsive as it is, I must

continue to set a trap to find out. This afternoon I’ll put the second

piece in place. If it works, in the worst case I’ll have certainty. In the

best case, I’ll have fewer doubts. Setting a trap for two people might

even tell me something about a third.”

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Bonds of Fear

27

“You can open the door now, Radyamirodyahendo,” Anaxantis

yelled around noon.

Moments later he heard the sound of the lock turning.

“Had any trouble?” he asked, smiling at the page. The boy was