"How can you let this happen?" King Stahl asked, his voice shaking with anger. When no answer came to him, he took three quick steps forward and punched the man in the face, sending him flying to the ground. "ANSWER ME!"
A short gasp could be heard from one of the nobles remaining in the hall. The king had never raised his hands against anyone in the court, not even the servants. Queen Mother Shial shook her head at her son's actions and said, "Stahl, sit back down, you won't help matters by losing your temper."
The King moved back to his chair, knowing that the Queen Mother was right. Once he sat down the Queen Mother turned to the man and said, "Sechal, stand up and answer His Majesty's question." Several of the older nobles in the hall grimaced at the lack of any honorific title before the man's name, knowing that the Queen Mother's temper was also at its end. The Queen Mother rarely calls any of the nobles without an honorific Lord or Lady.
Lord Sechal raised himself up, but not to stand, but to kneel. "I take full responsibility for this, Your Majesties, and I stand here, awaiting your judgement. I can say nothing in my defense, for there is nothing to defend me. I ask only that my family be spared from the consequences of my mistake, if only because of my loyalty to the kingdom in the past," he said after getting on his knees. An experienced courtier, Lord Sechal knew that there was no one who would be ale to help him, not when even the Queen Mother's temper was at its end. All he could do is hope that his family is spared from their fury.
Before King Stahl or Queen Mother Shial could answer, the guards announced the arrival of the Royal Healer. All the nobles quickly made way for the woman who quickly made her way to the King. "Your Majesties," she said with a courtesy, "Prince Xelloss' life is no longer in danger, but we have not been able to heal His Highness completely. The poison has been warped by magic and we cannot remove it."
"What will that do to Xelloss, Lady Celane?" King Stahl asked slowly.
"As long as we can keep it contained, it will mean that His Highness will tire easily, be more susceptible to illness and there might be some problems if he should work with magic," Lady Celane replied.
"You said, 'as long as we can keep it contained'. I want to know three things, how will you contain it, how long can you contain it, and most importantly, what happens if you can no longer contain it," Queen Mother Shial asked sharply.
"We contain it by magic, Your Majesty. We can contain it for at least 10 years, I would like to say indefinitely, but I have no confidence in that. As to what happens, it could be anything. Immediate death is a possibility, a prolong one more likely, but there is also a chance that after a long period, His Highness' body has adapted to it so fully that it no longer harms him," Lady Celane answered calmly.
"You said that there might be problems if he should work with magic, explain yourself," King Stahl said sharply.
"There might be problems because at the moment, the poison is still in his body. In fact, the poison has completely merged with His Highness' blood. We are using a spell to stop the poison from harming His Highness, but there is no way for us to remove the poison. Right now, we could literally say that magic flows in his blood, because his blood is both magical and poisonous. We draw magic from reservoirs, either natural or man-made, to cast our spells, and normally we take great pains to separate the magic completely and bring it into our control completely before casting a spell. But His Highness now have magic flowing in his blood, so spells cast by or around him could be affected by the wild magic in his blood. I don't even know what the effect of this will be on his ability to control magic," Lady Celane answered.
"What would you recommend in this situation, Lady Celane," Queen Mother Shial asked as she sank back on her throne in despair.
"My recommendation would be to keep a healer close to His Highness at all times. If there is any spellcasting to be attempted, it must be done in an open field with at least one Master around to contain any damage as well as to protect His Highness," Lady Celane replied.
"Both can be arranged without any trouble. 10 years you say? Well I am now ordering you to spend those ten years searching for a way to cure Xelloss. If there is anything you need that you cannot obtain, just inform me. But I expect to hear, within these ten years, that Xelloss is cured," King Stahl said. Lady Celane acknowledged the king's order with a slight nod of her head.
King Stahl turned his attention back to Lord Sechal who was still kneeling in front of the king. King Stahl stared at the lord for a moment and then with sigh, he said softly, almost as if to himself, "your family have served the kingdom faithfully since my ancestor established the kingdom. For the past five hundred years, your family has provided the kingdom with generals and warriors, diplomats and scholars, mage and healers. Every member of your family, past and present, has served the kingdom faithfully in the positions that they were given. For the past forty years you have serve me and my father before me well. More than one battle have been won because of your superior tactics and strategy." The king paused for a moment before stepping forwards towards Lord Sechal and to everyone's surprise, placed his hands on the lord's hands and raised him up.
"I apologize for hitting you, Sechal. Your only mistake was to leave the poison within reach of my curious son's hands. When you discovered that my son had drunk the poison, you did what I would have done. No one would have guessed that the poison would absorb your spell and twist it beyond recognition," King Stahl continued. "If you wish to take responsibility for this, then you can do so by taking on the responsibility of helping Lady Celane with her search for the cure."
"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty. I will do my best to search for the cure for Prince Xelloss," Lord Sechal replied gratefully. No one was more surprised at the King's words than he was. A quick death was all he had hoped for when the King lost his temper, not the apology that the King gave.
"Sechal, as His Majesty has already forgiven you, nothing more will be said of this in the future," Queen Mother Shial said coldly, her anger clearly still unsubsided. "As you have taken on the responsibility to search for the cure, you will have no excess time to attend the High Council meetings. If you have any items that you wish to be debated in the council, you can write it down and we will look it over."
"Thank you for your understanding of my future time constraints, Your Majesty. I will follow your orders and prepare a report if there is any items that come to my attention," Lord Sechal replied. The Queen Mother had effectively banished him from the High Council and was, undoubtedly, calculated to curtail his political presence and power in the court. But then, it wasn't all-bad; he had fully expected death so being banished from the High Council wasn't a bad alternative. Besides, by not actually removing him from the council, no one will be appointed to take his place. He might have lost a vote, but then his opponents didn't gain a vote in the process. Not that his opponents wouldn't do their best to remind people that he was a disgrace in the Queen Mother's books. His family would just have to do more to get the votes needed to push their proposals. All in all, it wasn't the worse that could have happened.
6 years later
"Your Majesty, King Learic's forces have lost Maram. King Falun's forces have declared martial law in the city and have ordered the city's elders and merchants to converge in the castle. The general currently in charge of the city is one General Jaina Sproris, and it is believe that she will want the elders and merchants to cooperate with her forces. She has a reputation of being a fair disciplinary in the region, so there is a very big chance that the city will cooperate. As for King Learic, so far there is no news of whether he has decided to retreat or attempt to retake Maram," Lady Mayu said.
"Learic lost Maram? How? He had at least ten thousand troops in Maram, it is not possible that Falun can take Maram in just a couple of days," Lord Trillen exclaimed, earning him a glare from King Stahl. "I apologize for my outburst, Your Majesty," Lord Trillen said quickly.
"Trillen has raised a good question, Mayu. How did Falun manage to capture Maram in so short a time?" King Stahl asked after a short nod in acknowledgement of Lord Trillen's apology.
"Your Majesty, my reports said that Jaina entered the city in the dead of the night with about twenty of her followers and managed to capture nearly all of Learic's officers and mages with a form of holding spell. They then did the same to the guards at the gates and then opened the gate for part of her army to enter. By dawn, they had captured more than half the army. The other half surrendered when they discovered that the highest-ranking officer among them that wasn't captured was their squad leader. So far, only a senior mage and his two apprentices, a handful of officers and several hundred soldiers have been unaccounted for," Lady Mayu replied calmly.
"Ridiculous, what you just said is impossible, Lady Mayu," Lord Trillen exclaimed. Most of the council nodded their heads in agreement.
"You are telling us that this Jaina had managed to capture an army about twice her size with just part of her army without losing a single one of her troops. Even if her entire army was made up of master class mages and better, she could not achieve what you have just told us," Lady Remeir added.
"Lady Mayu, even Xamin Yolin, were he still alive, could not achieve what you just told us, not unless his army of mages were twice their actual number. If I recall your last report, you told us that Learic had about 10 senior mages, 2 of them at the rank of Master. Add that to their apprentices and also the other mages in the army, he had a total of nearly 100 dedicated magic users. Some of his officers were also capable mages in their own right. It would take more than 50 Masters to hold this many mages, and that is if they caught each and every one of them by surprise. Just this General and twenty of her followers would not be able to do what you just describe," Lord Xanes said calmly.
"My lords are not the only ones who cannot believe these reports. I could barely believe these reports myself, but the fact is, Maram have been taken in one night with nothing more than light skirmishes around the city. My agents have never lied to me; they only report what they see so I have no reason to disbelieve them. They report rumors separately to my assistant for him to sort out. One of my agents was a mage in Learic's army and he has been captured. I got a report from him through one of his aide who managed to avoid the attention of Falun's army. His reports state that he was captured by a man who jumped down from the roof right in front of him. He didn't have a chance to do anything at all. The holding spell took hold as soon as the man touched him," Lady Mayu replied firmly.
"My Lords, I know what Lady Mayu has just told us is hard to believe, but please remember that Lady Mayu's network is the best we have and have never failed us before. Unless there is news to the contrary, I am inclined to place my trust on her sources. I will remind all of you that magic comes in many forms, it could be that this Jaina knows of a spell that is able to accomplish what Lady Mayu has just told us. One other thing to take note is that she might not even have used any complicated spells. All she needed was to keep them out of the way; it can be achieved in a lot of ways. At any rate, I will take this at face value and suggest that we start planning on what needs to be done in case Falun decides that he wants our land as well," King Stahl said before anyone else could say anything. Lady Mayu smiled gratefully at the King's trust in her.
"Your Majesty, I believe I have an idea of how Falun's forces was able to do what Lady Mayu's reports say," Lord Gabro said slowly. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "there is a rumor that there is a different type of magic user than those we are used to. This group of magic user uses magic in a way similar to blood mages, which is drawing most of the power needed to cast a spell from a living being. But, I stress a significant difference between this group and the blood mages that we hate. This group draws upon their own life force and reserves and there is no sacrifice or torture involved in their actions. I speculate that what they draw from themselves are not their life force but instead is a reserve of power that they had built up within their bodies."
"With all due respect Lord Gabro, it is pure madness to draw and maintain a magic reserve within the body. You yourself have seen what magic can do to our bodies when we hold it for any period of time. Building up a reserve and maintaining it within the body would destroy the person's body if not the mind," Lord Xanes said sharply.
"Lord Xanes, you might be the Court Mage, but do you dare say that you know all the ways of magic? You are indeed right to say that magic warps us when we hold it for a period of time, but can you be sure that it is impossible to hold and maintain it? These group may have thought of a way to do this very thing," Lord Gabbo retorted just as sharply. Then he sighed and said, "I admit that what I have just said is rumor, but the source is very reliable and I have already sent in men to confirm his report."
"Even if we take this to be fact and that there is indeed a way to do what you just said, that still won't explain how a small group of people can capture so many mages and officers," Lord Xanes replied.
"This group doesn't use spells Lord Xanes, at least that is what I am lead to believe. They don't even consider themselves to be mages. But the magic in their body gives them supernatural strength and also supernatural speed. It is also said that they can freeze a person by just touching a person. That would be consistent with Lady Mayu's agent's account of being held in place the moment the man touched him," Lord Gabro explained.
"You said you have sent in men to confirm this rumor, how soon do you expect their report, Lord Gabro?" King Stahl enquired.
"I expect their report within three days Your Majesty," Lord Gabro replied.
"Very well, report to me immediately when you receive the report. I wish to hear more of this group of magic users. If Falun has a group of these magic users with him, we will need to know more about them to better defend against Falun's forces," King Stahl said.
"As you command, Your Majesty," Lord Gabro said.
"We will continue this discussion after we receive more information from Lord Gabro and Lady Mayu. You may all go," King Stahl told the council.
"Lord Gabro, would you care to reveal this source that you claim to be very reliable to us?" Lord Xanes asked as most of the Lords and Ladies started to leave the table.
"To be honest, the source is none other than Lady Celane and Lord Sechal. They read about this form of magic usage in a tome they brought in Xa'ricar. They believe that these magic users might be able to help Prince Xelloss recover," Lord Gabro replied.
"Why didn't they inform me of this?" King Stahl asked before Lord Xanes could reply.
"Your Majesty, over the years, there have been so many false hope and promises from various sources that they no longer trust anything at face value. The reason they didn't inform Your Majesty would probably because they didn't want to raise any hopes," Lord Gabro replied.
"You are probably right," King Stahl said. "No word of this should be said to anybody outside this room, especially not to Mother and Elan," King Stahl added after a moment's thought.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Lord Gabro replied with the rest of the nobles echoing his words.
"How is Xelloss doing, Sechal?" King Stahl asked as he approached his son's room and seeing Lord Sechal leaving it.
"Your Majesty," Lord Sechal said as he bowed smoothly to the king, "His Highness is resting in his room at the moment. I'm afraid that this morning's lesson has exhausted him."
"Has his condition gotten worse?" King Stahl asked as he quietly opened the door slightly to take a short glance at his sleeping son's figure.
"I'm afraid so, Your Majesty," Lord Sechal replied. King Stahl motioned for Sechal to take a place next to him as he slowly made his way back to his chambers.
"Sechal, Gabro told me about the alternative magic users that you have identified as possible source of cures for Xelloss. Be honest with me, what do you think are Xelloss' chances that the cure will be found in this type of magic?" King Stahl asked, his voice laden with worry.
"Your Majesty, both Lady Celane and I believe that this could really be the one that can cure Prince Xelloss' condition. From our understanding of the tome, people who use this type of magic are able to cure almost anything. But the origin of this form of magic usage is unclear and several references in the tomes point to it originating from the Vampire Lords of the north. Lord Gabbo has already sent in some of his men to Xa'ricar to see if they can find anything to support the tome. He has made it very clear to his men that they are to take no risk and to make absolutely sure that they are do not attract the attention of Falun's men," Lord Sechal replied.
"I don't care about what Falun thinks, Sechal. If I have to go to war with that fool to cure Xelloss, I will. As it is, from all reports, it seems that even if we don't move against him, he will soon move against us. Especially if he already has these magic users in his army," King Stahl said firmly.
"Your Majesty, are you saying that Falun has these magic users with him?" Lord Sechal asked in surprise.
"So it would seem, Sechal. If you want to know more, ask Gabbo, he will be able to tell you more. Just tell him that I told you to talk to him. I banned all talk of this outside the council. I don't want Mother and Elan to get their hopes up," King Stahl replied. Reaching his chamber, King Stahl allowed the guards to open the door and then paused to say, "Sechal, I mean what I said, if the cure is in Xa'ricar, then we will get it, even if we have to go to war. Falun might have the stronger forces, but Learic will welcome our help and I am sure that Prilian can be convinced to participate."
"Your Majesty," Lord Sechal started to say, but then stop. Taking a deep breath, he said instead, "I will talk to Lord Gabbo and Lady Celane now and see what we can do on this."
"Yes, you should talk to them now. I will need to get some rest right now before I address the other problems on my table," King Stahl said, entering his chamber and gesturing for the guards to close the door.
Lord Sechal stared a moment at the doors of King Stahl's chambers before turning around started making his way to Lady Celane's room. On his way, he stopped a young page and told him to find Lord Gabbo and ask him to meet him in Lady Celane's room.
"Celane, I am afraid that I have bad news," Lord Sechal said as he entered the room.
"In a moment, Sechal," Lady Celane replied as she quickly finished her spell on the guard's hands. Lord Sechal watched as the guard's wounds slowly closed. By the time the spell was finish, the guard's hands showed no signs of having been cut before.
"Thank you, Lady Celane, I will return to my duties now," the guard said, getting up and bowing to Lord Sechal and Lady Celane before leaving as fast as he can. Anything that constitutes bad news for any of the nobles was best not to be known. Especially if it involves Lord Sechal and his family.
"I see that you haven't lost your touch, Sechal. Your ability to clear a room must be the envy of every monster in the world," Lady Celane said sharply. Seeing Lord Sechal's serious face, she sighed and asked, "what happen, Sechal?"
"Let's see, Gabbo told the council about our discoveries, His Majesty thinks that Falun might attack us even if the two of us don't stir up anything in Xa'ricar and even if Falun doesn't attack us, His Majesty is ready to go to war with Falun if it means that Prince Xelloss can be cured. I think that's about all," Lord Sechal said, dropping down on a seat opposite Lady Celane.
"War, will it really come to that? We have been trying so hard to avoid the attention of Falun mainly because we don't want to trigger a war. Now you are saying that we might go to war anyway?" Lady Celane asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, Celane. I wasn't at the council, remember? I don't know what happen. We will have to wait for Gabbo to arrive and ask him what happened. I am just as anxious not to go to war as you are Celane. The people will never forgive His Majesty for going to war for Prince Xelloss especially if it is against Falun. Whatever this fool has done, Xa'ricar is still regarded as the most important defense against the Vampire Lords," Lord Sechal replied wearily.
"You still think the Vampire Lords are beyond the border of Xa'ricar even after what we have read?" Lady Celane asked.
"My beliefs are irrelevant, Celane. The ones we will have to convince are the people, not me. If the book is correct, then there will be no reason not to go to war with Falun. Xa'ricar's previous untouchable status would no longer apply. War will then became a certainty with the only factor being when. I didn't mention that His Majesty thinks that Falun already have these magic users in his employ, did I?" Lord Sechal replied.
"What?!!" Lady Celane exclaimed in surprise.
The door opened before Lady Celane could say anything else and Lord Gabbo let himself in. "The two of you wanted to talk to me?" Lord Gabbo asked as he made his way to a chair next to Lord Sechal.
"What happened in the council this morning, Gabbo?" Lord Sechal asked sharply.
"Lady Mayu reported that Maram has been lost, and the unusual circumstances on how it was lost led me to believe that it was done by people who practiced the type of magic that you two told me about," Lord Gabbo replied as he moved around in his seat to find a comfortable position.
"So, Maram has fallen," Lord Sechal said softly, as he started thinking of the consequential of this turn of events.
"You said it was captured in unusual circumstances, can you please elaborate?" Lady Celane asked, her face showing no signs of her earlier outburst.
Lord Gabbo then started to tell the two of them exactly what happened in the council meeting. When he finally finished, the three of them sat in silence as Lady Celane and Lord Sechal slowly went over his words through their minds.
"There appears to be no way to avoid going to war, not if Falun's already has these magic users in his service. He didn't lose a single soldier during his capture of Maram, which in itself will prompt him to push forward. His soldiers' confidence will be sky high. From what we have seen of him, he is one ambitious bastard who could well think that after this capture; his soldiers would be able to give him the world. Maram might very well be the first stop of a plan to rule the world. I mean, if I have an army that can capture a city without losing a single soldier, I would do the same," Lord Sechal said as he finally broke the silence.
"As much as I hate to admit it, you are right Sechal. Lady Mayu's agents are the best we have and have rarely led her on the wrong path. Damn that blasted Falun, why can't he have made his move after I died? I am too old to have to go through worrying about the safety of my children and grandchildren," Lady Celane said grimly.
"There is a good side to this information of Lady Mayu, Celane. It practically confirms your guess that the Vampire Lords are no longer in the north of Xa'ricar. Because, if they were still there, then it would have been impossible for Falun to be able to attack Maram, even if he can guarantee that they won't lose a single soldier," Lord Gabbo said.
"Is it possible that Falun holds Xa'ricar so tightly that no one dares to oppose him?" Lady Celane asked.
"No, because if that was the case, we would have heard about it long ago. We might not have any agents in Xa'ricar itself, but we do have agents in their other cities. No, we have to assume that that Falun acts with, at the very least, the blessing of Xa'ricar's elders," Lord Sechal replied before adding, "there is something that I do not understand about this. The tome, Falun's attack on Maram and the way of his victory, all of it leads one to believe that the Vampire Lords are no longer an immediate threat to Xa'ricar and the rest of us. But, if the Vampire Lords are no longer a threat, whether they are gone or something else, why didn't any of us hear about this? There is no possible way for Falun to keep this a secret."
"You asked that when we first examined the book, Sechal, and nothing we have heard since have told us an answer to your question. Dwelling over it now will give us nothing but headaches," Lady Celane said. "Gabbo, I hope your men brings back answers instead of more questions for us. I have enough headaches trying to find a cure for Prince Xelloss as it is, I definitely can do without anymore troubles to think about."
"Speaking of Prince Xelloss, do you still think that these magic users are capable of healing him?" Lord Gabbo asked.
"If the tome is correct, and these magic users really use their own bodies as a form of magic reservoir, then yes, I believe that they will be able to help him. The magic and the poison has combined perfectly, almost as if they were made to do just that and nothing else. I can no longer contain the poison and everything I do now is just to counter whatever the poison does to his body. At the moment, the only thing it is doing to His Highness is make him easily tired, but I do not know how long I can contain the effects to only that," Lady Celane answered.
"His situation has gotten that bad?" Lord Gabbo asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Lord Sechal replied sadly. "At the moment, Celane is the only one who have been able to help Prince Xelloss. None of my spells work anymore, and the same goes for everyone else. We don't even dare cast spells near Prince Xelloss anymore. The poison in Prince Xelloss' body reacts violently whenever we cast any spell near or on him. Only Celane has been able to successfully conceal her spells around him."
"I think it is time I got back to Prince Xelloss' side. Gabbo, you will need to keep us both informed of anything your men find in Xa'ricar. I have no faith in my own ability to help Prince Xelloss any longer. I am also afraid that if things get any worse, even these magic users will not be able to help," Lady Celane said sadly as she started to get up from her place.
"I will also have to find Prince Elan and see if I can keep him occupied long enough to let Celane and Prince Xelloss get some rest. He seems to have this notion that all Xelloss needs is more exercise and no matter how we try to
"I will make sure that both of you are kept inform of my discoveries and the council meetings. Try and rest more, Celane, you look like you haven't been sleeping for months," Lord Gabbo said as both he and Lord Sechal stood up to leave the room.
"I have been sleeping, Gabbo, just not as well as before. Don't worry about me, I may be old, but I still have several more years left in this old body," Lady Celane answered before ushering them out of her room.
"In our previous meeting, Lord Gabbo told us that he has sent his men to investigate about this new type of magic users. Since you called for this meeting, I assume that you have received a report from your men?" King Stahl said once everyone was in his or her places.
"Your Majesty, my men have indeed reported back to me, but I am afraid that they do not have an answer for us at this moment," Lord Gabbo replied. "But," Lord Gabbo continued before anyone could reply, "they have brought to me a request that I will now convey to this council."
"A request, Lord Gabbo? What type of request, and by whom?" Lord Xanes asked.
"The request is by one of Xa'ricar's Royal Historians and the request is for safety for him and his family. The request was made to my men after, I am ashamed to say, this man discovered their activities. This request is made with the promise that all our questions concerning this new type of magic users will be answered. As my men have so far failed to discover anything of value, I am incline to admit that this may be our best way of discovering the truth in this matter," Lord Gabbo replied.
"Xa'ricar's Royal Historians? You are talking about defection, Lord Gabbo, an act that Falun is sure to seize upon as a declaration of war. We cannot give him this excuse," Lady Remeir said.
"Lady Remeir, I understand your concern, but whether or not we go to war has already been decided the day Falun captured Maram. The way he captured Maram will give him all the justifications to try and conquer not only Learic, but the world," King Stahl said. "I have already talked to King Prilian and Queen Kaede on this and we are of the view that Falun will not stop at just taking Maram. At this moment, we still do not like taking Learic's side in this as none of us wants to destabilize Xa'ricar and give the Vampire Lords a chance to attack. But, at the same time, we realize that if we do not stop Falun now, there is a very big chance that he will over stretch his forces and leave Xa'ricar vulnerable to the Vampire Lords. Thus, the three of us are still in discussions on what we will do, although I am of the view that Falun should be removed as soon as possible," King Stahl added.
"Your Majesty, you speak of a preparation for war against Xa'ricar," Lord Trillen said, tumbling over his words.
"Yes, that is what we have to be prepared for," King Stahl replied grimly.
"So may I assume that I have My Majesty's permission to promise this man and his family safety in our kingdom in exchange for his answers?" Lord Gabbo said tentatively.
"Yes, bring him in as soon as possible," King Stahl said to Lord Gabbo. King Stahl then stood up and said, "I realize that none of you here wants to go to war with Xa'ricar, whether it's because they have a bigger army, or you do not like war, or simply because it is Xa'ricar, our first line of defense against the Vampire Lords. Your reasons could be any of those, or something else completely, but I stress that Falun has prepare for this war for years, and that unless we start our own preparations, we will be destroyed by Falun."
King Stahl looked each and every noble in the eye before he added, "for the past thousand years, Xa'ricar have maintained an army purely to defend against the Vampire Lords, and we, together with the other kingdoms have always send our soldiers to their aid. Xa'ricar have been the center of all negotiations among the kingdoms, with Xa'ricar themselves maintaining neutrality. But since Falun came to the throne, he has increased his army steadily and increased taxes to fund his army. For years he has attributed his need for a bigger army to the threat of the Vampire Lords in the north. But his lies have been laid bare the day he laid siege to Maram. Whatever provocation Learic has given does not justify his attack on Maram. Our need for a whole and stable Xa'ricar is great, but it does not mean that Falun can do as he pleases. By attacking Maram, he has declared war on Learic. At the very same time, he has weakened Xa'ricar's defenses with his action. If he is allowed to stay in power, then we will all be in danger, whether it is from Falun seeking to expand his land, or the Vampire Lords breaking through Xa'ricar. It is for these reasons that I am now preparing for war together with King Prilian and Queen Kaede."
"Your Majesty, Lord Sechal, Lady Celane and I have talked about the situation with Xa'ricar and Lady Celane, and all three of us agree on one time," Lord Gabbo said. Seeing King Stahl gesturing for him to continue, Lord Gabbo added, "we all agree that the Vampire Lords are no longer an immediate threat to us. None of us know how Xa'ricar have been able to keep this a secret, but we are in agreement that the Vampire Lords have probably lost their hold on the north."
"Impossible, how could the Vampire Lords suddenly disappear overnight?" Lord Trillen said, his voice the loudest among the lords voicing their thoughts on Lord Gabbo's words.
"We did not say overnight, Lord Trillen. Based on the tome that Lord Sechal obtained, it would probably have been about two or three hundred years ago," Lord Gabbo answered sharply.
"Two or three hundred years ago? Lord Gabbo, there is no possible way for Xa'ricar to be able to keep this a secret for so long from all of us," Lord Xanes replied.
"That is where you are wrong, Lord Xanes," Lady Mayu said, as she slowly stood up and gestured for the nobles to quiet down. After getting the council's attention, she began, "Your Majesty, fellow council members, although I have never seen this tome that Lord Gabbo had referred to, I do believe that they may be correct in saying that the Vampire Lords no longer hold the north."
Some of the lords and ladies started to protest, but ignoring their words, King Stahl asked her to continue.
"I have received reports from my agents in the past concerning a rumor among the higher ranks of Xa'ricar's army that the Vampire Lords no longer being any threat to Xa'ricar. This rumor started during the early years of Falun's reign when he started to increase their army. Those that started the rumor soon died of various 'natural' causes," Lady Mayu said, pausing to take a breath. Taking advantage of Lady Mayu's pause, Lady Remeir asked, "what has this rumor got to do with what Lord Gabbo told us?"
"Lord Remeir, a total of eight high ranking members died, including two generals. All of them died at different times and all of the deaths were seemingly natural, and at that time, I filed it off as just a matter of a power struggle in Xa'ricar that had resolved quickly. I gave no thought to the rumor itself. But if we assume Lord Gabbo's observations are true, then combined with my reports, it would mean that if the Vampire Lords really has lost control of the north, then this is a closely guarded secret that not even Xa'ricar's army knew of," Lady Mayu said.
"Ridiculous, Xa'ricar's army patrol the border, they would be the first to know about any change in the north," Lord Trillen replied. Some of the nobles voiced their agreement but Lord Xanes, raised his hands to silence them.
"Lord Trillen, I am afraid that you are wrong in this. Xa'ricar's army patrol only their walls and make no venture to the north. The north is watched by an elite group of mages in Xa'ricar. I myself have no idea on the identities of the members of this elite group, as their identities are a closely guarded secret. Perhaps Lady Mayu knows more about this group," Lord Xanes said after getting everyone's attention.
"I am afraid I have nothing on this group either, Lord Xanes. I am also aware of the existence of this group, but none of my agents can tell me anything about them," Lady Mayu replied.
"Lady Mayu, at this moment, I think it is more important for your agents to concentrate on giving us an accurate number of the army that Falun can raise as well as when and where he intends to strike next. Lord Xanes, you will need to send in some of your stronger mages to our outlying cities and boost their defenses. Lord Trillen, I want you to get in touch with King Prilian and Queen Kaede and ask them to arrange a time and place where you can meet with their generals. We will need to plan on how we can defend our cities and at the same time, whether it is viable to help Learic openly," King Stahl said, waiting for each of them to acknowledge his command before he carried on, "Lord Gabbo, when can we expect this man of yours to come?"
"My men reports that he is ready to move immediately," Lord Gabbo replied.
"Very well then, arrange for him and his family to come over as soon as possible. Once he arrives, we will convene another meeting to listen to what he has to say," King Stahl said. "Lord Gabbo, informed Lord Sechal that I want him to bring this tome of his to the meeting. The meeting is now adjourned. You may now leave and carry on with your work. And remember, no one is to talk about today's discussion, not even to your spouse."
"As you command, Your Majesty," the nobles in the room said in unison. Then one by one they started to leave the room.
"War with Xa'ricar," King Stahl said to himself once everyone had left the room. "A year ago, I would not only have laughed at the idea, I would have thrown the one who suggested it out of the room, and yet today I am the one who is suggesting this. I wonder how much of this is for Xelloss, and how much is really because I thought Falun is a danger to everyone." Shaking his head, King Stahl stood up and walked slowly out of the room to head back to his chambers.
"Lady Celane, may I enter?" Prince Elan asked as he waited outside the Lady Celane's room. The day opened almost immediately and Lady Celane, Lord Sechal and Lord Gabbo stood up to greet him.
"Of course you may enter, Your Highness," Lady Celane said with a slight curtsy. Both Lord Sechal and Lord Gabbo gave a slight bow to the young prince and then as the prince made his way to one of the chairs in the room, Lord Sechal said, "Your Highness, Lord Gabbo and I will take our leave now so that you can talk to Lady Celane in private."
"There is no need for the two of you to leave, Lord Sechal, Lord Gabbo. I would like to talk to the two of you as well. Of course, that is if you have the time for a short chat with me," Prince Elan replied as he sat down. Indicating that the three of them should sit as well.
"Your Highness is most kind, of course we have the time to talk to you," Lord Gabbo said as the three of them exchanged a short look of apprehension before sitting down. "If I may ask, Your Highness, what is it that you wish to talk to the three of us about?"
"I will get straight to the point. I want to know the result of your investigation into these new types of magic users. More specifically, I want to know if they can cure my brother," Prince Elan replied as he leaned back into the chair to look at the three of them together.
"Your Highness, I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about," Lady Celane replied smoothly without changing her expression.
"Don't play games with me, Lady Celane. Or do I have to ask Grandmother to ask you for the answer?" Prince Elan replied sharply.
"Your Highness, I am afraid that we cannot tell you what you wish to know. His Majesty has given specific instructions to the council that we are not to discuss this matter with anyone. Even if Queen Mother Shial were to ask us this question, our answer will still be the same," Lady Celane replied without changing her expression.
"Your Highness, if you really wish to know more about this, then you will have to ask His Majesty or at the very least obtain His permission before we can tell you anything," Lord Gabbo added before Prince Elan could reply.
"I would advise against any outburst, Your Highness," Lord Sechal said as Prince Elan jumped to his feet angrily. "You are already fifteen, too old to have throw a tantrum, not to mention that it is unbecoming of the Crown Prince to start screaming and jumping around like a 5 year old," Lord Sechal added dryly.
"Your Highness, I understand that you are concern about Prince Xelloss, but as Lady Celane said, we are under strict orders from His Majesty to keep our silence. All we can say is that the matter is under discussion. When His Majesty thinks that it is time for Your Highness to be informed, we will be sure to leave nothing out," Lord Gabbo said, worried that Prince Elan will lose his temper.
Prince Elan just stood silently in front of the three of them, eyeing each of them in turn. After long moment, he let out a loud sigh and said, "I told him that his wouldn't work."
"Him, Your Highness?" Lord Gabbo asked in surprise.
"Prince Xelloss, if I don't miss my guess," Lord Sechal said, looking pointedly at Prince Elan who just dropped back down onto the chair.
"His Highness must have been awake just now when you came in with the news, Gabbo," Lady Celane added.
"Xelloss heard something about new magic users before you left his room. He sent a page for me to try and see if I can get anything from the three of you," Prince Elan said rather sheepishly.
"So you thought to act the spoiled prince part and bully the information from us," Lord Sechal said. "It would probably have worked with most of the other lords and ladies, you certainly acted it without a hitch. But you forgot that Celane and I watched you grow out of that phase. We knew the moment you asked that you were acting."
"It wasn't a complete failure, at the very least, I now know that Father knows about this and has ordered you three to keep it a secret," Prince Elan replied. "I guess I should go now, Xelloss will want to know if I discovered anything."
"Your Highness, His Majesty does not want to inform you or Queen Mother Shial because he doesn't want to lift your hopes again for no reason. So it would be for the best that you don't tell Queen Mother Shial about this in case our research turns out to be fruitless," Lady Celane said as Prince Elan started to stand up. The three of them stood up as well and then bowed to him as he left the room, saying, "don't worry, I also don't want her to be disappointed if this turns out to be nothing.
Once the door closed, Lord Gabbo quickly cast a small ward incase Prince Elan wanted to eavesdrop and said, "that was Prince Elan?"
"He has changed significantly from the spoilt child that you knew him as, Gabbo. He still has a temper, but it isn't like it used to be. Few among the nobles know of this since he is kept busy with lessons, so most remember him as the spoilt child of yesteryears. As you know, he is very close to Prince Xelloss, but what you do not know is that two years ago, Prince Xelloss nearly died in front of him. In fact, if it wasn't for his quick reflexes, Prince Xelloss would have died there and then," Lady Celane said.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" Lord Gabbo asked in surprise.
"Because there wasn't any need. What actually happen was that the two of them were playing in Prince Xelloss' balcony and at that time, Prince Xelloss had a relapse and nearly fell off the balcony. Prince Elan was the one who caught and pulled him in. I was there in the room with two guards, but none of us were close enough to act. That incident shook Prince Elan and showed him how serious Prince Xelloss' illness was. Ever since then, he won't even let Prince Xelloss near any balcony or window for months," Lord Sechal said.
"Well, it is good to know that our future king isn't a spoilt child," Lord Gabbo said. "You told him that you knew the moment he asked, but how?"
"Well, that is simple, no one knows about this but the members of the council. If someone had told him about it, he wouldn't have to ask us. So he or Prince Xelloss must have overheard one of us talking, and I can only think of this morning that we happen to talk in their presence," Lord Sechal replied.
"So, which one of us gets to tell the king what happened just now?" Lady Celane asked, purposely eyeing Lord Gabbo as she talked.
"Why are you looking at me?" Lord Gabbo asked indignantly.
"Well, you were the one who came into Prince Xelloss' room and started talking about it," Lord Sechal answered
"True, but the two of you are the ones with special positions in court. His Majesty would take it a lot better coming from one of you," Lord Gabbo replied quickly. "Besides, I am busy coordinating the safe transit of a certain Royal Historian from Xa'ricar to the palace. I won't have time to talk to His Majesty except to tell him when to convene the council meeting again."
"Don't worry, Gabbo," Lady Celane laughed, "we aren't really going to ask you to tell His Majesty about this. Sechal will be the one to do it, since he has the most free time."
"A bit quick in changing sides, aren't you Celane?" Lord Sechal asked with a grin. "Well, since both of you are so busy, I will have to be the one to do the dirty work. I think I better get it over with now, gives His Majesty a chance to calm down before seeing this man."
"Well, then, I think it is time we all went about with our work. We don't want people to start thinking that the three of us spend too much time together in my room, goodness knows what rumors will appear," Lady Celane said as she started to get up.
"Well, it depends on who is the one starting the rumor, the maids will probably go about spreading the rumor that the three of us have some sort of special relationship," Lord Sechal said as he also stood up.
"While some of the nobles will probably think that we are plotting against them," Lord Gabbo added as he also stood up from the chair.
"That wouldn't be too bad, it will keep them on their toes trying to figure out what the three of us are plotting," Lord Sechal said. "Get some rest, Celane, you will need it. Once the man is in, we won't get any rest at all."
"I think I will do just that. Prince Elan and Prince Xelloss will probably be too busy trying to figure out what is happening to disturb me," Lady Celane replied.
Prince Xelloss:
"So? What were they talking about?" I asked the moment my brother opened the door.
"Only that Father has ordered the council to say nothing about this to anyone, Grandmother included," Elan answered.
"So, there really is a different type of magic users that we have never heard of?"
"Yes, but I don't think they know much about these magic users either," Elan replied. "I told you acting the spoilt prince won't work, even if they did buy that act, which Sechal and Celane didn't, those two wouldn't have said anything. All I got out of them was that Father don't want anyone to know."
"Why doesn't Father want us to know?" I asked.
"Apparently it is because he doesn't want to raise our hopes too much. He probably wants to tell us only after they confirmed that it can help you," Elan answered as he sat down on my bed.
"Wait a moment, don't you think that something is strange about all this?" I asked as I thought of something. "Why would the council know and discuss about this? The council has never talked about my condition before."
"I never thought of that. There must be something more going on than just a cure for your condition," Elan replied as he sat up. Elan went out of my room and started talking to the guard.
"Well? What did you talk to the guard about?" I asked the moment he closed the door.
"I asked him when was the next council meeting scheduled to be, but he didn't know," elan answered as he sat back down with a grin. "But he did know that some of the guards are on standby for a secret emergency council meeting."
"If the guards are on standby, that means that Father is waiting for something to happen or arrive and that whatever it is cannot wait," I surmised.
"I think Father must be waiting for someone to arrive. This person must have something to report and Father wants the council to hear him make the report," Elan replied.
"Elan, remember that combined spell you showed me last month? The sound magnifying and wall weakening spell that you said cannot be detected?" I asked excitedly as a plan formed in my mind.
"No, Xelloss, we are not going to eavesdrop on the council. Father will be furious if he finds out," Elan replied.
"Only if Father finds out, and you did say that the spell cannot be detected," I said.
"Xanes is in the council meeting, Xellos, he might detect it. Besides, he will definitely ward the room," Elan replied, shaking his head.
"No he won't, Xanes will only search for spells inside the room, he won't look for spells on the wall of the room next door. As for his wards, unless he uses a ward of silence, we will be able to hear everthing they said," I told him. "Come on, there's no harm in trying, if Xanes uses a ward of silence, then we can leave. But at least we tried," I added as I tugged at his shirt.
"Why are you so insistent on finding out what the council will be talking about? You never bothered about the council before," Elan asked, looking me in the eye.
"That's because this time, they are talking about me," I replied. "If they are talking about me in the council, that means they believe that this time, they have gotten the cure. It might be that these new magic users have named a high price for my cure, one that Father must discuss with the council. I want to know what it is and whether the price is worth it."
"Of course it is worth it, this is your life we are talking about," Elan exclaimed.
"What if they asked for a piece of our land? Or maybe these magic users are like blood mages and want us to sacrifice people? I don't want people to get hurt because of me," I replied. "Please, Elan, I really want to know what they are discussing."
"Alright. I will go cast the spell now and when the council meeting begins, I will come and get you," Elan replied with a sigh.
"Thank you, Elan, thank you," I said as I hugged him happily. "I promise that from now on, I will listen to everything you tell me to do."
"That's enough, you are going to squeeze me to death if you don't let go," Elan laughed as he pulled me off him. "I am going now, get some rest, I will wake you up when everything is ready."
"Xelloss, wake up. The meeting is about to start," Elan said as he shook me softly.
Wiping my eyes, I sat up with his help. "The meeting is about to start?" I asked sleepily.
"Yes, come on, let me help you dress. We need to figure out a way to get you out of here without the guards following us," Elan replied as he helped me get up.
"Can't we just tell the guards that we want to see Father and that we will wait in the room where you cast the spell?" I asked.
"That's a good idea, Xelloss. But we will have to look out for Grandmother, if she sees us, we will never be able to get to the room," Elan replied as he helped me into my clothes.
"Well, are you ready?" Elan asked as we stood at the door. I nodded and he opened the door and we walked out of the room.
"Your Highnesses," the two guards said with a bow when we walked out.
"Geran, isn't it?" Elan asked one of the guards who nodded. "We have something important to tell Father so if you will please escort us to his chamber," Elan told him.
"As you wish, Your Highness," Geran replied, gesturing that we should move ahead of him. As we went past him, he turned to the other guard and said, "Heran, make sure no one enters His Highness' room."
We made our way to the council room and feign surprise when we were told that Father was in a very important council meeting and did not want to be disturbed. "If that is the case, we will wait for the meeting to finish in this room," Elan said as he pointed to the room next to the council room. "Xelloss needs to rest before he can walk back to his room." I made a face at him but followed him into the room. I noticed that Geran assumed a position outside the doors and started to say something but Elan gestured for me to keep quiet.
I waited for the door to close before I turned to Elan and asked, "why didn't you send Geran back to my room? People will know we are here if he stands outside."
"Xelloss, Geran is assigned to protect you, there is no way I can send him away. Besides as long as he is outside, no one will come in unannounced. Come on, we can listen to the meeting over here," Elan replied as he led me towards two chairs that he had placed near the wall. As we reached the chairs, I could hear faint voices from the other side of the wall and I pressed my ear to the wall to hear better.
"You mean to say that the Vampire Lords have lost control of the northern regions over five hundred years ago? This is ridiculous, there is no way that Xa'ricar can keep this a secret from us," someone who sounded like Lord Xanes said.
"You are Lord Xanes, am I correct?" an unfamiliar voice asked. "Have you ever sent a scrying spell to the north? Have any of you?"
After a moment's silence, Lord Xanes replied, "I would have to admit that I have never tried a scrying spell to the north, and doubt that anyone here has."
"I would dare say that no one has tried a scrying spell for over a hundred years," the man said. "The reason I know this is because of the spell mist between Xa'ricar and the lands in the north. The spell mist separating the north and Xa'ricar has been vigorously maintained even after the Vampire Lords lost control. It intercepts spells from both sides and absorbs them into itself. Within the palace, there is a small crystal that is linked to the mist and everytime a spell is cast into it, the crystal would glow and vibrate. It has remained silent for the past hundred years."
For awhile we couldn't hear anything clearly as the nobles in the room started talking amongst themselves. "Elan, do you recognise the voice?" I asked softly.
"No, I don't think I have ever heard this voice before. I wonder who..." Elan broked off as we heard Lord Sechal's clear voice.
"Lord Endrik, much as I would like to know more about what happened, we have something more important to discuss. We can talk about how and when the Vampiric Lords lost their hold of the north in another meeting. We want to know more about these magic users who now occupy the north," Lord Sechal said.
"Lord Sechal, what would be more pressing is the magic users that Falun has, not the ones in the north," a man said before Lord Endrik could reply. I turned to Elan and he mouth back to me, Lord Trillen.
"Lord Trillen, I understand that you need to know more on the numbers that Falun has, but I need to know the skills and abilities that the north has. Prince Xelloss' life depends on it. Besides, you will need to know what they can and cannot do to make our plans. The numbers and the placement of these magic users in Falun's army can wait," Lord Sechal replied.
"Lord Sechal wishes to know if the magic users in the north can heal His Highness?" Lord Endrik asked. "Although I have not seen His Highness, I would say that the chances are high that they can. As I said earlier, I have been studying the northerners for over thirty years and my understanding of their powers are that there are few things that they cannot cure. I will explain to you their concept and way of using magic."
Lord Endrik paused for a moment before continuing, "these people are like a reservoir of magic. They are somehow able to draw in, contain and then integrate the magic into their body. The amount of magic that they are able to integrate into their bodies and subsequently control depends on the amount of time spent in drawing and cultivating the magic. Like normal magic users, there is also a difference in the ability of a person to cultivate the magic. People who are considered to have a strong ability will usually be able to integrate more magic faster into their body. They have a way of evaluating this ability of a person just like we have a way of knowing if a person would be able to control greater amount of magic."
"Once they are able to integrate some magic into their bodies, then they will start training on controlling the magic. This training would be similiar to what you would be given if you were a soldier except that they are also learning to control the magic flow within their body. Behind every strike, whether it is with their bare hands or their weapons, is raw magic. Some of the stronger students can kill a normal person with a single punch. The masters can kill without touching you. We can cast a spell to disintegrate a target, most of them can achieve the same result with wave of their hands. There is also a spell that we use to give our messengers speed, they can achieve the same speed without the need of a spell. They also do not need spells to give them supernatural strength."
"Lord Endrik," Lord Trillen said as Lord Endrik paused for breath. "Magic running through their bodies, attacking with raw magic, killing with a blow, supernatural speed and strength, all these are descriptions of the Vampire Lords."
"Lord Trillen, these people's way of magic usage is descended from the Vampire Lords," Lord Endrick replied calmly. "There are two school of thoughts among the Circle, one being that one of the Vampire Lords taught his followers this way, whether as an experiment or otherwise, and the second being that they studied and finally were able to copy the Vampire Lords' powers. What we know is that for about fifty years or so, the Vampire Lords used these people as their army. Our records show that these people started to meet secretly among each other in the year 564. In 573, three of the most powerful Vampire Lords were killed in the same night. Within a month, the Vampire Lords were either dead or in hiding. A handful managed to escape to the far north, but the rest perished. By 575, there were no longer any sightings of any vampires, not the Lords, and certainly not the weaker vampires.
"An interesting history lesson, but perhaps we can get back to the matter at hand?" Lady Celane said sharply. "Supernatural strength and speed are all very well, but they cannot heal a person. The Vampire Lords were not known for their healing ability either, unless you call being turned into a vampire, healing."
"Forgive me for diverting, Lady Celane," Lord Endrick said smoothly. "These people have managed to discover a combination of magic and herbs that have been able to heal all sorts of things. I have heard rumours that Prince Xelloss is suffering from poison and rogue magic in his blood, is this correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," Lady Celane replied.
"Well, if that is the case, then these people should have no problems healing His Highness. For these people, normal poison do not work as well and in fact, most of the stronger ones can force the poison out with their own magic. Because of this, they have developed poison that interact with magic to devastating effect. I believe that His Highness will find the cure in the north," Lord Endrick said. My heart rosed as I heard his words.
"Will these people be willing to come south?" Father asked.
"No. King Falun tried several times to get them to help him, but no one was willing to come south. In the end, he gotten his trainer by kidnapping him. If you seek their help, you will have to go north," Lord Endrick replied.
"How? How are we to bring Prince Xelloss north, past Xa'ricar and the spell mist?" Lady Celane asked.
"I can send him there with a spell, but it must be soon. King Falun might think that I am dead now, but he might remove my access to the spell mist just the same," Lord Endrick replied.
"Your access to the spell mist?" Lord Xanes asked.
"A group of us are keyed to the spell mist, and once keyed, the spell mist will ignore our spells. Traditionally if anyone of us wishes to retire, the king will erase our part of the key. This is actually to protect us since the spell mist have the ability to draw us into it. People who are part of the Circle when they die are normally left keyed to the spell mist as the key adds to the power of the spell mist," Lord Endrick explained.
"You emphasized on Circle, I assume this Circle must be the elite group that watches the north," Lady Mayu asked.
"Yes, we answer only to the king and we are responsible for the maintenance of the spell mist. The Circle was charged with the responsibility of maintaining the illusion that the Vampire Lords still hold the north as at the time of their defeat Xa'ricar was extremely weak. We were given wide powers to ensure that the secret was kept," Lord Endrick replied.
"If that was the case, why did you leave Xa'ricar and ome here? Surely no one could have harmed you?" Lady Remeir asked.
"No one but the king, that is. Two members of the Circle have died in unusual circumstances recently and I believe that the king himself was behind their murders. Both of them have been opposed to the king's plans to engage the north and I have no doubt that the king have finally decided that he is strong enough to deal with the Circle members who opposed him," Lord Endrick. "In the last ten years, the circle have split to two factions, those who supported and aided the king and those who opposed the king's plans. I happened to be on the wrong side in the king's eyes and after the death of two of my friends, I decided that I could be next so I took the chance to leave the city when I could.."
All comments please send to me at l_atheist@yahoo.com.
Atheist Lee