Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger (24 page)

CAracusS frowned and demanded, “Didn’t you
hear me? That sorceress bitch is on the loose and you’re worried
about stirring up trouble? Don’t worry, that woman will spread the
word about what we’ve done and we’ll have plenty of trouble. She
MUST be silenced, and soon!”

“I’ll take care of her when the time is
right, besides you need to stop worrying about that and start
worrying about how you’re going to raise an army for the war with
Pruta,” he advised with a straight face.

The necromancer had been about to ask the
man how he was even going to find Lady Ardellen when the last thing
the nobleman said fully penetrated. At that
point,
CAracusS closed his mouth with a snap, thought for
a moment and then said, “As far as I know Lindankar is not at war
with any nation right now.” And a frown of thought appeared on
Jatar’s face as the necromancer tried to figure out what the man
was blathering about now.

“Technically you’re correct, you’re not at
war… yet, however unless you want to be at war with both Pruta and
Olsk simultaneously let me make a suggestion: support Pruta and
start placing blame on Lord Armal for initiating the murderous
attack on Lord Rinholt,” he explained and then nodded his head up
and down as if confirming his words beyond reproach.

“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
CAracusS thundered.

“
Well,
it
seems that Lord Armal fell face first on the dagger I secretly
borrowed from Lord Brik Rinholt. Then he went down to the same room
and fell on the dagger I borrowed from Lord Armal’s recently
murdered body, but after I rearranged things it really looks like
the two Lords murdered each other, and people do seem to jump to
conclusions. It continues to amaze me; how about you, aren’t you
amazed?” he asked flippantly.

CAracusS was gasping for air like a fish
that popped out of its bowl and he finally managed to sputter, “You
did WHAT? That wasn’t part of the original plan, you fool! You
can’t just murder two ruling Lords!”

“
Of course,
I can, I mean, well, I DID, so it is certainly possible, but you’re
the one who will look like a fool if you don’t calm down and get
ready to act normal. I hear footsteps approaching and I don’t think
it’s going to be your afternoon tea. Remember to support Pruta and
act as their ally, then just move in and start giving helpful
orders to their leaderless country.
Right
this wrong
which was
done
to their beloved ruler by the heinous… and now dead…
Lord of Olsk. By leading Pruta’s army of retribution in the
destruction of Olsk you can take Olsk under your control, and then
just keep ruling Pruta when the smoke has cleared,” the
irrepressible noble explained to CAracusS.

“That’s insane, it’ll never work,” CAracusS
said, his mind working furiously as the echoing footsteps
approached.

“That’s exactly why this will work; no one
will believe the trustworthy Jatar would be insane enough to murder
two Lords and attempt to take both their countries!”

Before CAracusS could answer the footsteps
stopped outside the door and there was a knock followed by a
servant’s hailing voice that called out with urgency, “Lord
Ardellen, are you there?”

“Yes, come in,” CAracusS called out after a
slight pause.

The door opened, but the servant hesitated a
moment before speaking, “Lord, I have some terrible news, Lord
Armal and Lord Brik have murdered each other and we don’t know what
to do.”

“What?” CAracusS exclaimed with terrible
acting, and then spared a dirty look in the direction of his
companion before adding, “That’s impossible, are you sure?”

“Yes, milord, they were just discovered,
both dead, and apparently at each other’s hand.”

“This is dire news indeed. Take me there, so
I can decide what we should do,” CAracusS ordered, and then
followed the servant out of the library.

After the door had closed the nobleman was
alone in the room. He took out a coin and looked at the face
imprinted in the metal. “Well you handsome Darknull, we really had
some fun today,
a good time was had by
all
! Tomorrow’s show should be equally amusing.” He laughed
and then tossed the coin into the air, caught it and put the
likeness of himself back into the inside pocket of his fine
doublet.

The great Gellern forest surrounded
Elizabeth and the knights for many leagues. A light breeze caused
the tall green grass of their forest glade to sway while the
bubbling sounds of the nearby stream called
softy
to their ears in a natural chorus.

Michael was managing to stand by holding
onto a small fallen log while Elizabeth sat on her knees and held
out her arms in outstretched invitation.

The
one-year-old
decided that the open arms of his mother
were a worthy goal and took a step away from the log. Surprise
instantly appeared on his tiny round face, as if to say, ‘Hey,
what’s going on here? Stop the world, it’s moving on me!’

After that first
step,
the little explorer swayed back and forth violently
for a few heartbeats before his sense of balance adjusted to the
new sensation. Having mastered the new trick of standing unassisted
he burst out with a high pitched scream of pure delight, which
abruptly cut off when it caused him to sway again and nearly land
on his posterior.

He recovered without falling, but the last
sway took him too far forward and his choices were fall or save
himself by sticking out a foot. His foot lurched forward, just
catching himself from falling and his new inertia kept him going
forward, so he had to get his other foot moving to save himself.
And so,
forward
motion was
discovered and young Michael started to walk. He took three shaky
and rapid steps before falling into the waiting arms of his
teary-eyed
mother.

Elizabeth scooped up her son and clutched
his small body to her breast while she told him how he was the most
wonderful and clever boy ever born, which of course he already
knew, but he didn’t bother to inform her of that since he hadn’t
discovered how to form words quite yet.

As she held her young son, Elizabeth’s
thoughts went out to her lost husband,
“I wish you had been with
me just now, my beloved, to see your son’s first steps. I promise
you this Jatar, one day your son’s steps will shake the world, and
in your
name,
he will accomplish all that you dreamed.”

Gustin walked up to where Elizabeth was
holding Michael.

“Good morning, milady, how is everything
with you this morning?”

“I feel better today Gustin, Michael just
took his first steps,” replied the proud mother.

Gustin beamed and said, “That’s wonderful,
though I remember my mother telling me that once I’d taken my first
steps and discovered that I was now mobile, I started getting into
everything in sight,” he admitted while taking a seat next to her
on the fallen log.

Elizabeth gave him a half smile and
answered, “That’s the way of children, everything must be explored.
It’s part of the survival instincts of the human race; we’re driven
to learn as much as we can because knowledge brings safety.”

“Well that’s true most of the time, but I
grew up in the northern province where there are many high places.
Our village is at the foothills of the northern range which gives a
young child plenty of opportunity to discover the effect of
gravity. Too much knowledge of falling is bad for your health,” the
big man
stated
with a sorrowful
smile, and then he sighed.

Elizabeth was curious, she didn’t know much
about the big knight’s youth, but she replied, “That’s what parents
are for; they’re around to temper the child’s insatiable curiosity,
to make sure that it doesn’t get them into danger.
Unfortunately,
everything in life is a
double-edged sword; the curiosity that drives a child to learn for
its future safety can also put that child in extreme danger. Life
comes with no guarantees, you roll your dice and see if you get the
skulls or the roses,” she philosophized.

“That’s true,
milady,
and my older brother Dern rolled poorly; he died
in a fall off a cliff near my home. My father found him; it was a
hard time for my family,” Gustin reminisced.

“I’m sorry Gustin, how old were you?”
Elizabeth asked, placing her hand on his big wrist in sympathy.

“I was five, and I remember that my father
took me aside that day and he told me that my brother had many
important things in life that he was supposed to accomplish. Then
he told me that if I wanted I could help my brother accomplish
those tasks.

“I remember his words
clearly
as if he said them yesterday. I told my
father that I would try really hard to help Dern, but my dad warned
me that I was not to live my life for my brother, but it was all
right to do a little extra now and then in memory of Dern.

“I’ve never forgotten that promise and I
think of my brother often. If fate had not stepped in that day
perhaps Dern, son of Yul the blacksmith, would have become a Knight
Protector instead of me. My brother has been my inspiration and
when Jatar knighted me he knighted Dern as well. He is always with
me, in here,” Gustin said tapping the center of his chest with the
large forefinger of his right hand.

“I think that’s wonderful Gustin, and I’m
sure Dern is proud of his younger brother. In these last two days
you have shown yourself to be a knight in more than just name,”
Elizabeth said and moved her small hand to his huge shoulder.

She got to her feet and picked up Michael as
she said, “Where is Hetark, he promised to continue my lessons this
morning. He’s probably off trying to shirk his duty by working real
hard on the horses or something; the nerve of the man,” she said
with a grin that showed she only
jested
.

“
Actually,
I did see him over by the horses, milady. May I escort you there?”
Gustin offered.

“Why thank you gallant knight, that would be
appreciated,” she answered with a nod of her head.

They walked off toward the horses with
Elizabeth’s hand placed gently on Gustin’s forearm and Michael held
safely against his mother’s hip.

Major Harland Von Dracek rode his tired
horse into the palace courtyard in Tarnelin. Leaping down from the
saddle he cast the reins into a waiting lackey’s hands and headed
for the main entrance. The door guards recognized him and let him
pass without hail. He took the Grand Stairs three at a time,
practically knocking a servant over as he crested the top. “Where’s
Jatar?” he demanded grabbing the startled servant by the upper arms
and giving him a shake.

The scared man stammered as he tried to
answer, “H-H-H-He and the rest of the st-st-staff are in a meeting
with the emissaries from Pruta, Sir.”

“Where?” Von Dracek barked, giving the man
another shake.

“The conference room in the east hall,
downstairs; look for the red door on the right, sir,” he finally
choked out.

Von Dracek released the servant, turned and
went down the stairs at the same pace he had ascended. Making a
left turn he traveled down the wide east hall and the heels of his
boots echoed in rhythm with his fast pace. He found the door and
without knocking he turned the handle and entered.

A person’s voice stopped speaking as Von
Dracek opened the door and all eyes in the room turned to see who
had dared to interrupt the meeting.

“What is HE doing here?” a
Prutian
officer burst out.

From the center of the table, CAracusS, in
the body of Lord Ardellen, turned to address the
Prutian
officer. “This is Harland Von Dracek, a
Tchulian major and more importantly the man who saved me from the
recent assassination attempt. He is now acting as a military
advisor. You are all familiar with the expertise of the Tchulian
mercenaries, they are arguably the best fighters in the world and
Von Dracek is a battle proven Tchulian officer.”

There were a few scowls, but most of the men
in the room gave Von Dracek an appraising look with grudging
respect on their faces.

Von Dracek took a seat next to CAracusS.

The
Prutian
officer was standing at the podium in front of the long table where
everyone was seated. He cleared his throat and then continued from
where he had broken off, “As you all know our Ruler was without an
heir, so it will take
some time
to
sort out the various claims to the throne. Lord Armal obviously
knew this when he decided to murder Lord Rinholt. He probably
thought that Pruta would be an easy conquest once our leader was
dead and our political situation in transition, but our military is
ready, and we commit ourselves to the protection of Pruta and the
destruction of Olsk!”

After he finished his speech the officer
took his seat. A Prutian emissary directed a question to CAracusS,
who he saw as Lord Ardellen. “Milord, I’m not yet clear on exactly
what was found. You are an impartial witness and you were nearly
first on the scene, could you explain what you found and your
conclusions?”

During the officer’s
speech,
Von Dracek gave CAracusS some extremely puzzled
looks, particularly when he heard that Lord Rinholt was murdered by
Lord Armal. CAracusS signaled back for him to wait by shaking his
head almost imperceptibly. The necromancer stood up and walked up
to the podium to face the assembled men. He put a grave look on
Jatar’s face and said, “I was in my library when a servant told me
that Lord Armal and Lord Brik Rinholt were dead. I immediately
followed the servant down to the room where they had been
discovered by another one of my servants and Lady Rinholt.”