The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (26 page)

“
She is in the custody of a crime lord. Someone who wants
influence over your Emperor,” I said boldly not taking my eyes off
him but aware of the tension of the other guards. “Tell me, has
your Emperor been acting weird lately. Maybe making questionable
orders?”

The leader
stared at me in surprise before sheathing his sword. “How do you
know this?”

“
Because I know where she is,” I smiled.

“
Tell me,” he said quickly.

I shook my
head slowly not taking my eyes off of him. “I will only speak about
it to the Emperor. Take me to him.”

The leader
nodded slowly. “Yes, of course you will.”

He motioned
with his hand and the other guards stepped out from the bushes. I
stopped scanning with my mind and watched as the leader pulled out
a piece of cloth.

“
You must be bound, to ensure no funny stuff,” the leader
said.

“
I’m not much of a comedian,” I said. “But…”

I held out my
two hands palm up so my wrists could be bound. The leader walked up
to me with another guard. The other guard pulled out a jar of Red
Jacket honey and began to smear it on my wrists. My fingers, hands
and wrists started to tingle.

“
Clever,” I said.

“
You are not the first Mage we have bound,” the leader said,
“and you won’t be the last.”

He tied the
cloth around my honey covered wrists and secured it tightly. I gave
a few practice tugs on it and nodded to the leader.

“
Lead on,” I said.

I’m still waiting for cake
, Cathy
said excitedly.

Me too.

Chapter 22

The land of
Nesqa is as beautiful as it is dangerous. My ‘escort’ grew annoyed
at my constant questioning but seemed happy to school a Mage in
information about the province. The tropical forests of Nesqa are
home to some of the most poisonous plants. My ‘escort’ chuckled
about how only the top Nesqian doctors could turn these plants into
healing aids. I decided not to mention the alchemy classes I had
growing up.

When we hit
our first town, I had to stop and admire the architecture. In
Balendar, the buildings were made from wood and stone but in Nesqa
I learned that the buildings were made from something they called
con’creat. They would create large smooth blocks of it and build
their bungalows and watchtowers. My escort told me their ‘Maiseons’
had developed this technique because the wood form tropic trees
that grow native to the area are too soft for construction.

Looking at the
Nesqian towers and houses reminded me a little of the Tower of the
Watchful Eye. Cathy said it was possible that during the Tower’s
construction both Nesqa maiseons and Balendar engineers had a hand
in it.

All day we
continued south finally making it to the ridge overlooking the sea,
the sparkling blue water a welcome sight from the green of the
forests. With the walls to the capital in sight, I was getting
excited to finally have these bonds off my wrist. The tingling was
driving me crazy.

“
Kay Julis,” my escort said, “The Crowned Island. Home of the
Palace and capital of Nesqa.”

“
It’s beautiful,” I replied looking out over the water. I
noticed several ships sailing between islands and pointed with my
bound hands. “That’s a lot of ships.”

“
Ferries between the various cities,” he explained. “The
forest here is too dangerous to be trying to build large cities
around. The islands hold all the major cities: Kay Naro, Kay
Alvara, etcetera, etcetera.”

Why did I never try to come here in the past?
Cathy asked, most likely to herself.
It is so beautiful
.

The looming
con’creat walls of the capital cast a welcomed shade over us as the
two gate guards watched on with curiosity. Their armour looked more
designed for combat then my escort’s armour. A thick hide covered
the chest and back and a battle skirt like piece to cover the upper
legs. The armour was designed to protect the major organs while
still keeping the wearer cool in this environment.

“
Another Mage?” one of the gate guards asked as we
approached.

“
He has information for Emperor Naliwa,” my escort
answered.

“
A group of Mage’s already came through here and left,” the
gate guard said.

“
What colour robes were they wearing?” I asked.

The gate guard
gave me a sharp look. “Blue and Red.”

What would
Elemental Mages be doing here?

I don’t know,
Cathy answered.
But it can’t be a coincidence a team of Spiritual
mages gets killed by Elemental Mages, a possessed Elemental Mage
helped a group of bandits AND a team of them are sniffing around
the capital the same time we bring a map with the location of the
Princess. Be on your toes.

“
I bring him from the East,” my escort said to the gate
guard.

The gate
guard’s eyebrow twitched in intrigue. “An interesting development.
Go ahead.”

The second
gate guard motioned inside and the gate started to rise.

“
No funny business, Mage,” the first gate guard said. “We are
always watching.”

“
With my hands bound like this,” I said raising my hands. “The
most I could do is scare some children with shadow
puppets.”

“
Is that some sort of Moumno trick?” the gate guard asked
defensively.

Moumno?

Demon is my guess
, Cathy
answered.

“
Only if you find cute little bunny rabbits to be evil,” I
said as I curled two of my fingers to make a poor example of a
rabbit.

My escort just
shoved me forward from behind as the gate guards gave me a confused
look.

“
What’s wrong with you, Mages?” my escort hissed as we pressed
on down the street.

“
I blame our upraising,” I answered. “Being torn away from
your family at a young age can’t be good for some
people.”

“
We are still masters of our own lives though,” he replied.
“You can’t hide behind excuses just so you can treat people around
you poorly.”

“
If only more people tried that,” I said.

“
If only people tried, period,” he grumbled.

We walked in
silence along the dirt road. The city lay at the bottom of a ravine
right on the water with the walls protecting the only visible way
down. The Palace was visible from here. It had been carved right
into the side ravine with a large staircase leading from the city
below.

More stairs?
Cathy
asked
. What is it with humans and grand
staircases?

Classic ‘upper
class’ attitude. You have to be above everyone because you are
superior to them. That’s why the Tower is the largest building.

But why would you want to be so detached from
everyone?
She asked.
I would rather be on street level and just have everyone
throw themselves to their knees when I walk past them.

Annnnd I’m
going back to reality.

The city was
bustling with energy as people were running about their
lives...

What would you do if you were the ruler?
Cathy said.

...My escort
pushed me through the crowd. The interesting thing about the Palace
was...

You can’t just ignore me,
Cathy
said.

...that you
could always see it no matter which road we turned down. It was
another example of the upper class attitude...

La la la la la la la la la la
, Cathy
sang.

I sighed.

I’m not
ignoring you. I am trying to focus on the path ahead of us so we
don’t walk into someone.

I know,
Cathy
giggled
. I am just having some fun at your
expense
.

I shook my
head.

“
Why’d you stop, Mage?” My escort said. “Keep
moving.”

Now look what
you did.

You’re welcome
, Cathy
giggled.

We reached the
stone staircase and began our long ascent to the top. My escort was
already looking tired from the trip and I waited a couple of times
for him to catch up. At the top we were both breathing heavily and
my escort motioned towards my sword.

“
Time to hand over your weapons,” he said.

“
I’m shocked you let me keep them,” I responded.

“
I’m confident in my binding skills,” he smiled. “Go ahead.
Draw your sword like you would attack me.”

To humour him,
I grabbed at my sword. My bound hands made getting to the handle
difficult and when I finally got a grip on it, it fell out of my
hands as I pulled it out.

“
See,” he laughed as he picked up the sword. “Did you want to
try the staff now?”

“
I’m fine,” I said.

He laughed
again and removed the staff from my pack behind me. He held it up
and admired it for a second. “Dibs on this when you die,” he said
as he turned me towards the front door.

“
The Mage has information about Princess Morowa that he wishes
to share with the Emperor,” my escort said to the palace guard
protecting the door.

The palace
guard nodded and pulled open the door and we followed him in. For
being a hole in the ravine, the Nesqian’s did an amazing job of
making it look regal. The throne room was a giant circle that
dropped down into the assembly area. The Emperor’s throne was along
the far wall overlooking the assembly area on a balcony. Currently,
there was a group of people on the assembly floor discussing
something with the Emperor.

My escort
moved me around the outside of the room so we didn’t disturb the
group. The palace guard was already running ahead to a door at the
far end of the room that must have led up to the Emperor’s balcony
throne.

That would be my guess too,
Cathy
said.

I know you
aren’t big on polite talks with authority figures but I might need
your help on this one.

A little nervous?
Cathy
chuckled.

The Red Jacket
honey has left me sapped. If I say the wrong thing our story comes
to an end quickly.

Well I don’t know how much I can help,
Cathy said.
The honey has been
leaving me a little out of it. Haven’t you noticed how quiet I’ve
been?

...

Ok besides the ‘la la la’ moment earlier,
Cathy said.

I suppose.
Still do what you can.

Ok
, she said.

I looked up to
the Emperor and saw the palace guard talking with the Emperor. The
Emperor started scanning the room before stopping and staring
directly at me.

Whatever you do, don’t start waving like a madman,
Cathy said.

Wasn’t
planning on it.

The Emperor
stood and turned back to the group. “I will take care of this, but
there is nothing I can do at the moment,” he said before turning to
my direction. “Bring me the Mage.”

“
You’re up,” my escort chuckled.

“
Wish me luck,” I muttered as he grabbed my arm and led me
into the centre of the assembly circle.

The Emperor
looked down from his position on the balcony. “This better not be
some trick from your Tower. We have plenty of trouble on our
own.”

“
This is no trick,” I responded. “I have been tracking the
bandits across Balendar and now they are in the jungles of Nesqa. I
have a map of the place she is being kept.”

“
Show it to me,” he boomed.

I started to
go for my pocket but stopped when I realized there was no way to
get it with my hands bound. “A little help,” I said to my escort.
“The pocket closest to you.”

My escort
removed Mongoose’s map and document and handed it to the palace
guard from the Emperor’s balcony. He took it and returned up the
stairs to the Emperor quickly.

I wouldn’t
want that job, Cathy said.

The Emperor
studied the document and map silently but grew visibly excited.
“Where did you get this?”

“
From the dead hands of the Mongoose himself,” I
responded.

“
Then you have my thanks for saving me a trip up there,” the
Emperor said. “But it still doesn’t help me.”

“
That is why I asked to be brought here,” I started. “I am
here on a different type of business as well. I wish to offer a
trade. I will return the Princess to you in return for a Demon’s
Bane Flower.”

A light murmur
spread throughout the assembly room and the Emperor stood up. “You
will do well, Mage, to remember that my daughter isn’t a
possession,” he said coolly. “But I hear what you are saying. The
Ba Moumno isn’t something we share lightly to outsiders but given
the situation. I will gladly reward you for the safe return of my
daughter.”

“
Thank you, your excellence,” I said with a slight
bow.

Ha!
Cathy exclaimed.
You didn’t need me at all.

You can never
predict everything.

The Emperor
returned the map and documents to the palace guard and he hurried
down to return it to me.

“
Oh, and Mage,” the Emperor started looking at me with hate.
“If any harm finds my daughter I will not hesitate to declare war
on your Tower. We have had enough of magic and would rather see
ourselves die then remain slaves to your Masters.”