The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (16 page)

It was hard to
think at the time.

Yes, pillows are very frightening,
she said sarcastically.

We reached the
ferry in time and bought two tickets for the capital. The ferry was
actually a small converted fishing boat with benches in the hold.
The smell of the fish from the ships former role clung to
everything, including the merchant who was trying to get me to buy
a rug. He pressured me the entire time until I caved in a bought a
wide brimmed hat made from rough, black stained leather. It was
comical to look at but it seemed to go with my robe so I bought it.
I handed the merchant a couple of gold and he stopped pestering me.
Aaron just shook his head and tried to stifle a laugh when I put it
on.

I can’t believe you are making us look like
this
, Cathy said.

It will grow
on you.

Judging by the guy you bought it from,
Cathy started
. I’ll be shocked if
something doesn’t literally start growing on you.

I took the hat
off.

Good point.
Maybe we should get it washed.

Or cremated
, Cathy said.

Thankfully,
the ferry docked and I was able to get off before another merchant,
who thought I was an easy target, started pestering me. I fled the
boat and stopped at the end of the dock to wait for Aaron to catch
up. He walked out of the crowd towards me with a goofy smile on his
face.

“
I can’t believe you bought that,” he said pointing to the
hat.

“
He wouldn’t leave me alone,” I explained.

“
It looks terrible,” Aaron chuckled.

“
It works,” I said confidently.

No it doesn’t
, Cathy
said.

“
So, here we are,” Aaron said spreading his arm out to point
at the whole city, “Thurlborn Peak.”

I could see
why it was called ‘Peak’ now. The city rose up on four levels
around a large hill with a shining white castle at the summit. With
the sun low in the sky, the castle and upper level cast a shadow
over the rest of the city. It was intimidating to look at the
weight of my task slowly descend on my mind.

What if I
can’t do this? Why was I chosen for this?

“
The blacksmith and shops are down here on the lowest level,”
Aaron explained, interrupting my freak out. “The next two are
residential and the last level before the castle is a more high
ends market. All the rich people stuff is up there.”

“
Do you think I could make it to the castle before the sun
sets?” I asked keeping a steady voice.

“
If you don’t dawdle,” Aaron shrugged. “The Stairway of Kings
is at the end of this market. Take it right to the top. It saves
you from working out this maze of a town.”

“
Thanks Aaron,” I nodded.

“
No problem,” he said. “I’ll get my business done then meet
you back here. We might as well travel back to the farm
together.”

“
Sounds good to me,” I said.

But you need to head down to Nesqa after this,
Cathy pointed out.

I promised
Mary I would bring Aaron back safe. Besides we will be close to the
Szwen Forest. We’ll just go visit the Nao next.

Very well,
Cathy said.
Are you done freaking out now?

I don’t know.
I’m calm but not. It’s very confusing.

Just relax
, Cathy
said
. We have a long road ahead of us.
Trust in my calming, confident personality to help you through
difficult parts.

I’ll try.

I followed
after Aaron as he headed to the market. When he found The Steel
Anvil, he walked towards it without saying a word and I just
continued on looking for the Stairway. As I passed by a Tailor, I
stopped and looked at the hat I was carrying.

Think they can
help?

Nobody can help you with that,
Cathy
answered.

I entered the
Tailor’s shop and the clerk smiled at me before noticing the hat.
His smile twitched as he curiously waited to see what I would
say.

“
Uh, hi,” I started.

“
How may I help you?” he said pleasantly.

“
Is there anything you can do for this?” I asked placing the
hat on the counter.

“
Yes, the blacksmith is just down the street. I’m sure they
could throw it into the forge for you,” he answered still in the
pleasant voice.

“
No, actually,” I said nervously scratching my head, “I was
hoping you could, maybe, clean it up for me.”

“
Clean it up?” The clerk asked confused.

“
Yeah,” I answered. “And inspect it to make sure it is safe to
wear.”

He looked at
the hat, then back up at me. “I’ll... see what I can do.”

“
How much would it cost?” I asked.

The clerk
shrugged. “A couple of gold.”

I opened up my
coin purse and pulled out five gold coins.

“
Here’s five,” I said placing them on the counter. “Make it
quick.”

“
I’ll do my best,” the clerk said not looking up from the
money.

I turned and
left the shop in a hurry. I pressed on towards the stairs but
slowed as a pressure in my mind started to grow stronger. It felt
like a feeling of sadness but it was on the very edge of my mind
and was difficult to be certain.

Are you
alright?

Yeah
, she answered.
Why
?

It felt like
there was sadness in my mind but it felt far away. I thought that
maybe it had come from you.

My mind grew
quiet and the feeling on the edge of my mind disappeared.

So it was you.
Are you alright?

Cathy chuckled.
You really are
stronger then you let on. It’s incredible that you could feel that
after only two days together.

Let’s call it
good intuition.

Up ahead I
could make out the Stairway of Kings. Two guards stood nearby
guarding the way.

Be calm,
Cathy
said
. You don’t need to tell them
everything. Just who you are and that you need to see the King.
Something tells me that too much information would make you look
like a crazy person.

I’ll keep that
in mind but afterwards we are talking about why you are sad.

Fair enough,
Cathy said.

I approached
the stairway and the guard on my left raised his hand to stop me.
They wore heavy plated armour with the symbol of a dragon on top of
a mountain. The symbol must have been the official symbol of the
Balendar Kingdom.

“
State your business traveller,” the guard with the outstretch
hand said to me.

“
I am Second Keeper Andrew Holcombe from The Tower of the
Watchful Eye,” I said confidentially. “I am here to speak to the
King on behalf of Keeper Jacob Anderson.”

“
A Keeper, here?” the guard said lowering his arm. “What
business does a Keeper of the Order have with the Great King of
Balendar?”

“
That is for his ears only,” I said looking the guard right in
the eyes.

“
Very well, Ser Mage,” the guard said. “Proceed to the
Castle.”

“
You better hurry,” the second guard said. “The sun almost
sets and the King will be heading to his evening
supper.”

I started
climbing the steps then stopped and smirked as an idea came to
mind. I turned back to the guards who were still watching me.

“
The sun will set when I am ready for it to set,” I said
before turning away from the guards and continuing up the
stairs.

Cathy chuckled.
‘The sun will set
when I am ready for it to set’?

I thought you
would appreciate me messing around with the King’s guard.

Don’t get me wrong, I do,
she
said
. I’m just wondering where that came
from.

I think I read
it in a book at sometime. Anyways, why were you sad?

She sighed.
Just this town. I
possessed a young Mage here a long time ago.

What
happened?

He was an orphan,
she
started
, a street urchin. I don’t know how
he didn’t get picked up and brought to your Order but he didn’t. He
fell to my trap in his first Demon Dream. He had no idea how to
protect himself from it. As soon as I took over, I searched his
memories and saw the life he had led.

Did you pity
him?

Cathy chuckled.
No. He was just a
human. Humans are weak. He had all this power and no desire to use
it. It was like he lived his life that way because that was how he
wanted it.

So what did
you do?

I challenged myself to make his life better,
Cathy answered.
If I
could turn him into a success, it would prove that I was right
about Human weakness.

I take it
things didn’t go well.

She chuckled sadly.
Not at all. I
started to gather some other street urchins and form an underground
criminal empire. Two days into it, a rival gang raided our
headquarters and killed every kid there, including
me
.

I continued to
climb the stairs in silence as I thought over the story.

I’m going with
- the reason you were sad is because you could never get the
criminal empire off the ground. Not because of the death of the
children.

Cathy laughed.
I was expecting you
to ask about the children. Yes, I had huge plans for the empire and
I underestimated the other gangs. I had learnt a lesson about Human
strength.

I’m sure if
you were to tell this story to a lot of people, most of them would
have expected you to have regretted the deaths.

Most people don’t realize that as an immortal soul, all I
want is to experience the Physical Plain,
Cathy said
. Seeing Humans that waste
their life really gets to me. What’s worse is that after I finally
get a body, Humans try and kill me as fast as they can. You can’t
expect me to be in a big hurry to feel pity or regret their
deaths.

I thought it
over as we drew near the top of the stair. I see what you mean.
That’s why I couldn’t choose a School after my Demon Dream. Why
bother joining the people who spent their whole childhood making
yours suck.

Yeah that’s not quite the same,
Cathy chuckled
. I’ve been killed 32
times. It doesn’t fall into the same category as being stripped
naked and hung upside down in library.

I sighed. And
here I thought I had repressed that memory.

Not very well, Cathy
said
playfully.

I reached the
top of the stairs and stood in front of the large white castle.
Guards were patrolling the courtyard in front of it and flags
bearing the same symbol as on the guards armour lined the path to
the front of the castle.

Back to
business then.

Chapter 14

Walking into
the castle, the intimidation feeling was amplified. The tall
ceilings and grand architecture made me feel small and like I
didn’t belong. Like a child apprentice walking into a Master’s
bedroom. It probably didn’t help that I was slack jawed gawking at
everything around me.

No. Don’t worry,
Cathy
said
. I’m at a loss for words
too.

That’s
rare.

And what does that mean?
She
asked.

You don’t shut
up.

A large man in
plated guard armour minus the helmet walked up to me with his arms
crossed and a weak smile on his face. “I’m Ser Larson, Captain of
the Guard, and you are in the White Castle, home to the Great King
Victor the 2nd. Do you have business here or do you need directions
back to the market?”

“
Huh,” I said snapping back to reality. “Sorry, I am Second
Keeper Holcombe from the Tower of the Watchful Eye and I seek an
audience with the Great King.”

“
Oh,” Ser Larson asked with a raised eyebrow. “What is this
about?”

“
My request is for His ears only.” I said.

“
I am in charge of His Majesty’s security,” Ser Larson said.
“If your request is important, Mage, then it is important enough
for me to hear.”

You might as well go for it,
Cathy
said.

“
Very well,” I said. “Keeper Anderson requests a Staff made at
the Forge of Kings.”

Ser Larson
scoffed. “That’s quite the tall order, especially in these times.
What makes your ‘Keeper’ think he can make such an order?”

“
I believe I used the word ‘requests’,” I pointed
out.

“
Don’t give me any lip, Mage,” Ser Larson spat. “Everyone
knows Mages don’t ‘request’ anything.”

“
Why wouldn’t the King fulfill my request?” I
asked.

“
Because he has enough to worry about,” he responded. “He
doesn’t have time to play ‘Make the Potion’ or ‘Summon the Frog’
with a bunch of magic users.”

‘
Summon the Frog’?
Cathy
asked.

“
Then how about this,” I pitched. “If I help solve some of the
King’s problems, you allow me to make the request.”