To Be Chosen (11 page)

“We are pleased to have you with us,” Queen Cleona told him
in a surprisingly strong voice.

“I am honored to be here,” Daniel replied, and then bowed from the waist.

The Queen snapped her fingers and Sir William Bonner, a middle-aged man who seemed to have more vitality than men half his age, stepped forward and handed her a sword while a gray-haired attendant handed a belt to Sir Carlo.

Cleona arose from the throne and walked down the seven steps to stand right in front of Daniel. She had to look up at him and after a moment he got down on his knees because it did not seem right to be looking down on someone of her importance. She smiled and tapped both of his shoulders with the flat of the blade and said, “For actions of uncommon valor, I dub you, Sir Daniel Benhannon, Royal Knight of the Realm of Ducaun. Take your sword and greet your fellow Knights who are here to welcome you into their brotherhood,” she said in a powerful voice made stronger by the acoustics of the room, and then handed the sword to Daniel; offering him the hilt.

Daniel took the sword. His reflection in the wide blade was clear as a mirror and the weapon, cross guard and all, made of high quality tempered Zunean steel, was the finest in the world. The handle was gold with a black grip that would keep it from slipping in the heat of battle. Everyone in the room applauded as he stood up and turned to face Sir Carlo. The Knight put the black diamond studded belt on him and Daniel sheathed the sword in the scabbard, again to much applause.

The Queen made a speech, telling of Daniel’s deeds, making them sound more heroic than they actually were, and encouraging everyone to come and meet the twenty-first Royal Knight of the Realm of Ducaun. Which, unfortunately they did. Daniel had little time to himself from that point on. All of the Knights introduced themselves and welcomed him as did many of the lords and ladies of the court. Silvia, David, Jared, and Marcus managed to get through the crowd, and Daniel was glad they had been allowed in to see the ceremony, but there turned
out to be little time for chat.

A thin-faced girl came forward, begging his pardon for the interruption, and told him, “Her Majesty would have a word with you in her private chamber.”

She then led Daniel away from his friends and into a room with comfortable chairs and an elegantly carved table, along with several paintings on the back and side wall. One was a picture of the palace and the other a portrait of the Queen’s mother. Cleona was sitting at the table. She waved the servant away and then gestured to Daniel, “Come, have a seat and we will talk,” she said in the manner of one who is accustomed to being obeyed. He had to readjust the sword on his hip in order to comply.

She stared at him for the longest time without saying a word, studying him, assessing him, and finally nodded her head after coming to some conclusion. “You believe I have given honor where it is not deserved
.”

“Almost every little boy plays at being a Royal Knight of the Realm, bringing justice to the oppressed, and having adventures. I stopped pretending before age ten. Life in the mountains, particularly in winter, can be hard and the realities of survival tend to strip away boyhood fantasies early on. I n
ever expected to be knighted.”

“Did you not do the things I described at court?” the Queen asked.

“I did,” Daniel admitted. He wanted to go ahead and tell her about his abilities and about his concern for her life, especially after seeing her face to face and realizing how sick she actually was.

“I have been told you have acquired another title since leaving Aakadon,” Her Majesty said and paused to give him time to speak if he so chose, when he did not she continued. “Your being the Chosen Vessel does not surprise me, it would explain your strength and success at striking blows against the Serpent Guild that has so infected my kingdom. To think, their headquarters was right under my nose and I never suspected. I suppose we are going to have to convince the Grand Maestro that you are the one to lead us in the fight against
Tarin Conn. We must also convince him to remove the Silencing.”

“Is that why you made me a Knight of the Realm, because you believe I‘m the Chosen Vessel?”

Cleona shook her head. “No, I knighted you for the reason stated in the ceremony. Preparations for your knighthood have been under way ever since word of your Silencing reached the palace. Your new title I only learned this day. Be that as it is, I require men of strong character to act in my name and be the extension of my power wherever it is needed throughout the realm. This is not an empty honor, this title comes with heavy responsibilities and I do not bestow it lightly.”

Daniel gave a quick nod of the head. “I did not mean to suggest otherwise. I sincerely hope there is some kind of training program because I do not feel qualified to judge concerning matters of the law. I don’t eve
n know what half the laws are.”

“Law books will be sent to your estate, study them, civil, criminal, and military. There are differences and matters of jurisprudence you will have to become familiar with, but I am confident you can fulfill all of your duties,” the Queen replied and smiled as if waiting for him to ask a question, and looking forward to giving the answer.

The most obvious flaw with her plan that Daniel could see was; he had no estate. “I’ll have to get back to you on where to send those books,” Daniel told her. “You see, I have not had time to buy land and build any dwelling on it.”

Cleona clapped her hands loudly and two men came in, one a young male servant carrying a map, and the other a gray-haired man dressed in a brown wool suit and a white silk shirt with gold cufflinks. The servant spread the map across the table and placed a paper weight on each end to keep it from rolling shut, and then exited the room. It was a map of Ducaun showing all of the jurisdictions in the realm and all the lands owned by the various lords. Each district was shaded in a specific color. Purple represented the lands personally owned by the Queen. There was a district about thirty-five spans southwest of Ducanton that was shaded in light blue and Benhannon Estate was printed in nea
t letters within the blue area.

“Yes, I am giving you that land. It was given to me by my mother when I was sixteen years of age. It has been in the Ducalin family for generations. Close your mouth, I will not hear of you refusing this gift. Do not think I give it lightly. As a Royal Knight of the Realm you are now of the nobility, but landless and therefore have no voice on the Council of Lords. I am not talking about a ranch or farm, but an area large enough to be considered a jurisdiction. When you take possession of the land I am granting you, you will become a Lord of the Land as well as a Royal Knight of the Realm, thus giving you a say on the council. As a Knight of the Realm, you are obligated to support me and as a Lord of the Land, I can use your voice in council, both to sway it my way when necessary and to actually
hear what you have to say.”

Daniel took in the details of the Benhannon Estate as depicted on the map while the Queen told him all of the reasons, political and otherwise for why she was giving him the land. The estate was enormous, a rectangle twenty-five spans from east to west and sixteen and a half spans north to south. It was huge to him but actually the smallest of all the lord holdings. Most of Ducaun, many of the smaller towns and villages, were outside of those districts and not controlled by lordships, those areas were self governing and often it was up to the Royal Knights of the Realm to bring the Q
ueen’s justice to those places.

If he was reading the map correctly, there was a community of farmers scattered within his holding. In the southern part of his estate was a manor house not far from a lake. He wondered what it looked like in reality. He smiled, thinking it was a good thing he hired an account manager.

The Queen smiled as well “Jefferom Dubojerno here is the Royal Treasurer. He will be releasing to you one thousand gold coins, one thousand silver coins, and one thousand copper coins. This amount is given to each Royal Knight of the Realm upon receiving his commission.”

“My thanks for all you have given, my Queen,” Daniel replied. “Master Jefferom, please get in touch with my account keeper. His name is Jared Benfyllon and he is out enjoying the festivities.”

“I will do so right away, Sir Daniel,” the Royal Treasurer replied, and with a nod from the Queen, went off to take care of business.

The Queen looked askance at her newly dubbed knight. “You have an account keeper already; good. The servants and staff running the estate have been serving the royal family for generations and I cannot dismiss their loyalty. I am bringing them here, so you will need to hire your own people to manage the estate for you, particularly since there will be times when your duty will cause you to be away for extended periods of time.”

He was going to find out just how good Jared and Marcus were at their professions, because he was going to be relying heavily on them in the near future. All of this was fine but it was not addressing his real concern, the life of the Queen. She was springing surprises on him, now it was time to turn and turn about. “I have a concern I would like to share with you,” he began, not sure of the proper way to express matters to royalty.

“You need not be. Your name is so well known at this point I suspect you will have plenty of applicants to fill the needs of
your estate,” Cleona responded.

He was not communicating his concern very well. He would have to do a little better. “A Teki seer told me that if I did not come to you here, you will be dead within a year.” There, he said it.

Cleona’s eyes widened. She likely was not used to being addressed so bluntly. “You speak your mind, that is good,” she replied evenly. She did not seem overly concerned, which was strange seeing as she was just told of her impending death. “General Tallen has spoken to me of your skill at healing the most grievous of injuries. I suppose if we can persuade Efferin to lift the Silencing on you, perhaps you can do what no one in the Aloe Guild has been able to do.”

Should he tell her? Should he offer his services as an Accomplished? She is going to want to know how he overcame the Silencing, which could lead to revealing what he truly is. Choices: leave, stand and watch, or help. He looked into her bloodshot brown eyes and made up his mind. “Efferin Tames does not know what I am about to revea
l to you,” he began to explain.

The Queen sat back in her chair as if preparing to hear unpleasant news. “There are many things I would never reveal to that man. You are now one of my Royal Knights of the Realm and what concerns you concerns me and those concerns are none of
the Grand Maestros business.”

“I am not an Aakacarn. I am an Aakasear,” Daniel confessed.

Cleona stared at him blank-faced. “I must admit my ignorance when it comes to matters of the Aakacarns. I do not know the distinction.”

“It means I can compose my own Melodious spells, Aakacarns cannot, they can only cast spells written by an Aakasear,” Daniel explained.

Cleona’s eyes blinked and she leaned forward. “But that sounds marvelous, why do you make it sound like a bad thing, and why keep it from Efferin Tames?”

Daniel smiled. He was talking to a politician; she would understand this part anyway. “Because he and I are equal in potential, we both have six lighting bolts on our shoulders.”

A grin formed on her face as she heard just how powerful her Knight was, and then her eyebrows drew down and she became angry. “He did not Silence you because he thought you were a danger to the world, he did so because he thought you were a danger to his career.”

“He did exactly what I wanted him to do. He used the baton of Tarin Conn to free me from the link I once had to the Dark Maestro, then Silenced me with it, and now both of them think I am no threat and are leaving me alone; so far anyway,” Daniel told her and then sat back and watched as the Queen’s expression changed again.

Her lips curved into a knowing smile and then she shook her head as if not quite seeing the benefit. “I understand that you wanted your link to the Dark Maestro removed, who would not, and wanted Efferin to think you safely out of his way, but the price was high,”

“The price was not so high, slightly inconvenient, yet not a problem for an Aakasear with enough time on his hands,” Daniel told her.

“Are you saying the Silencing is lifted?” she asked and her eyes were filled with hope, speculation and excitement.

“No, my original repertoire of spells is gone. If Efferin finds out that I can compose my own Melodies and summon potential, he will see me as an enemy and attempt to destroy or imprison me,”

“I see the political ramifications but why would he act so irrationally?” Queen Cleona said while rubbing her narrow chin.

“Tarin
Conn is the only other living Aakasear in the world and I don’t believe we can convince Efferin that I am the Chosen Vessel. He will only see me as younger version of the Dark Maestro,” Daniel explained.

Cleona sat in thought for a good tenth of a mark and then let out a sigh. “I believe you are correct. That man will come after you one way or another so I think it best we keep your other talents on a need to know basis.”

“May I assess your health?” Daniel asked.

The Queen nodded eagerly.

“I will have to touch you,” he told her.

She laughed. “I have been through the procedure before with Accomplished Chen.”