Chapter XXXV

Chapter XXXVII




"Ah, Kalveston. It is so pleasant of you to come visit your 'old and feeble' guardian once again. One would have thought you had forgotten me, putting one away in this dark cave as you did." The man sitting on the floor of the dark room Kalveston had just entered laughed heartily at his own insolence. Age sat heavily upon his brow, but it was clear that his mind was as strong as ever. "But then, can one blame you? You are the Emperor, supreme head of an empire whose borders encompass five countries and more and know no bounds. Can you be blamed for shutting up the ancient relic which put you there in some dark corner?"

Kalveston snatched a torch from a bracket outside the door, placing it in another inside the room. The sudden introduction of light caused the old man to throw up his arms and shrink away into a corner. "Enough! Ah, I see that we may now speak properly."

"No! I can not speak in such bright light! Put it away, or you will get no answers from me!"

Standing in the center of the sparsely furnished room, holding the torch above his head, Kalveston said haughtily "If you were ten years younger and I were only a general once more, I might give your words more weight. It is unfortunate for you, than, that I am, as you have said, the Emperor, and no half-dead creature of darkness will deign to urge his will upon me! Speak now, for my patience ebbs swiftly!"

Uncovering his face, the old man spoke reluctantly. "You are the empire. You have everything. What could you possibly want from me, your old and broken tool!"

"I want the knowledge! Tell me everything!"

"Everything about what? There is nothing I have not told you already!"

Bending down to bring the flame closer to the other man, Kalveston growled "I want you to tell me everything you know of what is, what is to come, and how to make my people follow me."

"What messages could I have heard that you have not? How could I tell better than the next man what is to come? You rule by fear. You are suited to that manner of government, surely?"

"Yes, but I want to learn the other way, the way you know."

"The way of love?"

"If that is what you call it."

"That you will never learn. You might as well replace me back upon the throne and spread the word the old kings have returned from the dead." The old man laughed insolently, but still raised his arms swiftly as if to protect himself.

"What you speak of I will never do. I am the emperor!"

"Emperors who never leave their castles still find death in unexpected places."

"Why do I listen to a raving madman?" Turning sharply about, Kalveston left the room, carrying the torch with him.

Chapter XX

Chapter XX*
*To keep the story perfectly straight, be sure to have read Chapter XVIII first. Chapter XVII is also a major turning point. thanks.




“… that this city of my subjects, they having rejected my authority over them, is henceforth considered to be under siege until such time as the men of the city do renounce their treason, or until I return from Brandia, at which time the draft which the men are objecting to will no longer be necessary. In such a case, though, the leaders of the rebellion will not go unpunished. But all others shall be freely pardoned. This siege will be ordered by my good friend Sir Richard, who has been ordered to refrain from all violence against my people, but may order retaliation if the people do attempt to drive him off.



Your true King, Valun 111



When the Chairman had finished reading the letter, the guard spoke once more. “So we are doomed. The King has laid siege to our city unless you hand yourselves over to his judgment.”

“You are defying our authority again? You were ordered not to speak that way!”

“Will you only be content if I grovel on the floor before you, renouncing the way of a true subject? You should not act too hastily or too harshly, else I see fit to reveal your corrupt opinions from the wall-top, shouting so that all may hear. You and your dreams of a state within the city will come to nothing, and you will be the ruin of every man in this city, be they loyal to you or the King.” Snatching the arrow back out of the table, the guard threw it so that it became stuck once more in the wall directly over the Chairman’s head. Feigning indifference, he turned to leave.

Moments later, before the guard had crossed the room back to the door, the chairman had drawn a knife which he kept hidden under his cloak and threw it, burying it in the guard’s back. “Who shall discover our plans now, traitor? We do not answer to the Palace, and they shall find that the people of this city do not bend to the will of tyrants as easily as they hope.”

While all this was going on inside the city, Sir Richard and the archer had ridden back to Valun’s camp, where they separated and Richard rode directly into Valun’s presence. As he dismounted, the king asked him “Have they received my message?”

“Yes. It was spotted, and I am confident that they have read it by this time, as it was sealed with your own seal.”

“That is all good. I deem now the time to tell you what I wrote.”

Sir Richard was startled. Sending his horse away under the care of a groom who had come for it, he turned to face Valun and answered “I was under the impression that the message was related only to the rebellion of the city.”

“That is true, but it concerns you, for I have warned the men of the city that I have ordered you to lay siege to their city with half of my force at your command. You are not to molest the people in any way, save if they attempt to drive you off by force. Then, you may defend yourselves. The siege will last until I return, or until the people deliver the leaders up to you to be punished.”

“But I am your General. I can not remain behind on a campaign of war!”

“I am the King of this land. It is my wish that you remain here to command these men. If the men appeared unwilling to follow me, I would not be acting this way. Besides, I have my Valkyries. They have sworn to defend me against all threats. I am safe from anything which may be worrying you. Lastly, I refuse to leave you any archers to assure myself that my word will not be broken behind my back. I expect you to camp the men out of range and make certain that they follow my terms. Now, I must go, or there will snow in the pass before the army reaches it.” Mounting his charger, which David had brought to his side as he was speaking, Valun concluded “Good fortune be with you my friend, and may the rebels change their minds soon enough that we reunite in Brandia!” Then he rode off to order half the force to break camp.

Camp was broken swiftly, and only an hour later, Richard was left alone watching the half of the force which Valun had chosen to follow him marching off toward the pass through the mountains which separated the two countries.

Richard stood motionless, watching Valun’s force until the last rank was no longer visible. When he could no longer see them, he turned and called to an aide “Sound the trumpets. Form the men into ranks, for I would speak to them.”

Nearly half an hour later, when the remaining men had been drawn up into ranks, Richard stood before them and announced “My good men! We have traitors in our midst! They are within that city! Your king has commanded that you crush them! But hold, we shall not attack them, for they are our own countrymen. We have been ordered only to wait outside their gates until they renounce their treason, nothing more. In this, you are doing as great a service to your King as are the men who have left you to follow him. Heed my words, and all shall be well!”

In the hours that followed, Richard spread his forces around the city so that several thousand men covered every wall of the city, closing off all entrances and exits to allow no food to pass within.

Early the next morning, sentries who had been placed by the council on the previous day came in to make a report. “My Lords, the army has camped itself outside our walls. They do not appear to have any intention of shifting themselves. To my mind, they wish to starve us out.”

“Who asked you, though? It was not any of us here, and we are the only ones within these walls who have any say in the matter. They will not cause us to submit. Instead, they will find that the will of the men of this city is harder to break than they have time to attempt. Resume your position, and report again tomorrow.”

As he returned to his position, a sentry thought to himself “Their control over the city is not as complete as they would wish. I am of a mind to leave the city now, and show these despots how loose their grip on the city really is.” Driven by that thought, he turned his steps not toward the wall where he had been stationed, but instead set his course toward a minor gate which was set in the eastern wall, let himself out silently, and proceeded across the open land which lay between the city and the forces loyal to the king.

Richard’s forces, not having to guard against any threat, as they were out of range of bowshot, were passing their time in wagering among themselves at dice and other contests. One man, who was only watching rather than participating in the games, looked up at this time upon hearing the harsh grating sound of the gate closing once more. A moment later, he spotted the erstwhile sentry emerging from the shadows where he had been hidden from the other sentries inside the city. At this, the man watching him from the ranks remarked to himself “Be he is a spy, or a deserter, he must be brought before the General, and I must be the one to do it.”

Accordingly, the man rose from his position, adjusting his sword and shield in preparation to run to the aid of the deserter. When his companions noticed his movement, and asked what he had in mind, he pointed toward the solitary figure who was still attempting to remain within the shadows for as long as he could before sprinting across to join the opposing side. “I” the swordsman replied to his confederates “will be the one to bring that man to our General. If I am shot in the attempt, I charge you to give my body the funeral rites due to an honorable man.”

“We will.”

“Then, until I return.” With this, the ambitious and alert soldier began sprinting across the open land toward the deserter, who had himself finally broken his cover and was running toward the other line at his greatest speed. Seconds later, at the moment that the moment that the two men met, they were finally noticed by the archers on the wall.

Noticing this, the soldier raised his shield to protect himself from shots from above. The missile aimed at him did deflect off of the shield, but the deserting sentry was not so lucky, being hit in the back. As he fell, the other man threw his arm around him and held him up long enough for him to say “I was wrong. Those men are still loyal to the council. Their food will last for months.” Then he fell dead.

Dropping the limp form, the soldier ran back to his own line, only stopping to inquire “On which side will I find the General?”

I heard that he had posted himself on the southern side only two hours ago. You are likely to find him there.”

“Thank you.” Immediately, the soldier left his companions to seek an audience with the General. Several minutes later, when he had traversed the whole distance separating him from the ranks watching the southern wall, he hailed a passing cavalryman who was walking his mount, calling “I seek an audience with the General! I have news which he will wish to hear!”

Nodding in acknowledgement, the rider only offered the messenger the reins of his mount. “I will tell the General of your request.”

“Why must everyone be announced to him? There is nothing occurring that would draw him away from his command.”

“That may be, but we must follow his orders in any case. I will return in a moment.” Saying this, the rider left to announce the message. He returned several minutes later, took his horse back, pointed out the direction in which Richard was to be found, and left.

The soldier who had come with the message immediately started on his way toward Richard’s pavilion. When he arrived, Richard called him inside and said “I have been told that you have news which I should hear. What would that news be?”

“Sir, less than an hour ago, I personally attempted to aid a deserter in his escape from the city. I was not successful, as he was shot by sentries on the walls, but before he died, I heard him say these words: “I was wrong. Those men are still loyal to the council. Their food will last for months.”

“It appears that he wished us to know that our siege is futile and it would be best to break it off. Yet he could still be no more than a spy sent by our opponents to convince us to leave anyway.”

“If he was a spy, it is not reasonable that his own side would have shot him dead.”

“That is true. But he may have only had himself sacrificed for the common good, in the hope that some man would do just as you did and allow him to pass the false message and save the city. So you see now that the message which you have brought, held up to the light, is of no consequence at all, and only resulted in another man’s death and your own shame before me. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Later that day, the same soldier was included in a party which stopped a caravan attempting to bring supplies to the rebels within the city. In compliance with their orders, they did no harm to the drivers, but confiscated the entire contents of the wagons and sent the drivers back with nothing but their mounts. A report of the incident was immediately brought before Richard, who, after looking over it and discerning what the city was in need of, said “They need all of these things? It would amaze me if they hold out for more than a week on what they have.”

The men who had brought the report to him silently left his presence to resume their positions, both confident that they would be crossing the mountains and rejoining the king before the week was out.

Chapter XI

Chapter XI




On that same morning in the city of Gaimaron, the people were aroused by the shouts of the sentries on the walls. The soldier who had brought the warning on the previous day was roused out of his cot by shouts of “The enemy approaches! Man the towers!”

Jumping up and donning his armor, the messenger ran out of his quarters, grabbed a spear from a rack standing in the pathway, and mounted the steps to the top of the walls, in a space of five minutes. When he had reached his station on the wall, he looked out and saw that he had not been far off the mark in his estimation of the opposing numbers. The advancing force spread out for one mile in every direction, even without counting the endless trains of supply wagons following the soldiers.

The messenger turned to the sentry standing beside him and said “Could I convince you that an entire country is mobilized against us?”

The other man, who was staring hard at the advancing force, replied “Yes, you could.” in a small voice.

“Well then, have hope, because I do not believe the truth of that statement.”

The wall guards stood in silence for several minutes after that, watching the enemy’s methodical advance. But after ten minutes, the messenger started up and shouted “I must run to the king! I advised him to charge, but I grossly underestimated the force! He will kill himself!” Dropping the spear, he careened down the steps with all possible speed. Pushing his way through the growing crowd of soldiers, he dashed into the castle at top speed, found that it was completely empty, and then continued to run until he reached the front gate. There he saw the king and all of his cavalry, in full armor and advancing toward the gate. Hurrying to the front line, he shouted out “Stop, My Lord, and listen to me! I was mistaken! This is no advance guard! It is the main force! You will die after only a minute!”

“Now hear me!” Torlan thundered in reply “Are you prepared to swear that you saw no archers?

“Yes.”

“Then I am resolved to go. But If I fall, continue to fight to the last man so that my line may continue to hold the throne.” Torlan paused for a moment, staring hard at the messenger. “Before I go to my death, though, I would know why a simple man-at-arms takes such a personal interest in his lord’s fate.”

“If you please, Sire, I am your younger brother.”

“Anybody who is bold enough may say that, but can you prove it to me?”

“Yes, I can. Here is the deed which I have carried with me since our father gave it to me when I left.” Reaching into his bag, the soldier extracted a piece of parchment which he had retied carefully after opening.

Torlan took the parchment, opened it, read the contents, and then shouted out for all to hear “It is true! He is the Prince Railon! And as such, he is the next heir to the throne, so long as he survives this battle! All must heed his commands!” Dropping his voice, Torlan added to Railon “You should have told me at an earlier time. I do not back away from my resolutions. I may rest easy now, knowing that so long as you live, there will still be a true king on the throne of the Gairbairns.”

“At the least, permit me to send some spearmen out alongside you, for you must admit that you don’t believe that all of those men walked the whole way.”

“If you can find twenty men willing to come within twenty minutes, I will wait, but you must hurry, for the time is ripe to strike their camp.”

At these words, Railon left the gateway with all speed. As he went, he met several armed men, each of whom he stopped to make his request. Every man heeded his words when they discovered that he was the prince and that they were supposed to protect the king. When Railon reached the wall, he passed the word along, and the required number of men immediately left for the gate. This done, Railon resumed his post in order to watch the ensuing battle, as he was not to risk his life on the ground until Torlan fell.

He did not wait long. Five minutes after he regained his post, the gates swung open wide and the cavalry of Gaimaron thundered across the drawbridge, flanked by the twenty suicidally brave and loyal spearmen. As the banner of their house was unfurled by the wind, Railon heard Torlan, sitting astride his armored charger, and who had yet to lower his visor, shouting “Gairbairns to the flag! Whosoever shall return alive, without having first charged deep, shall be a coward! Whosoever goes that far, and still returns alive, is worthy of the highest honor short of the throne! And now, let us prove what we are made of! Talimarion!” with this final cry, Torlan lowered his visor and set his steed to galloping the final two hundred yards.

The one hundred cavalrymen spread out behind the king, with a spearman running alongside between every five horses.

From the top of the wall, Railon could see that there were some stragglers in the farthest ranks of the enemy, but for the most part the huge force arrayed against them was lined up and ready for battle. Railon could now see what Torlan had meant; a few minutes earlier, the cavalry charge would have been a complete surprise, but the time he had been given to find spearmen had cost them that chance. Only seconds from the time when Torlan had shouted his battle cry, he collided with the front ranks of the vast Naibernese force sent against him.

Sweeping aside two footmen with two swings of his blade, he reared his horse up, and took a strike on the light armor he had ordered to be fit there. Coming down, he gave his horse some slack and charged forward, clearing a path with the iron horn fitted onto the horse’s mask. By this time, the rest of his small force had reached the battle. And there was chaos all the way along the front line.

Railon stood watching grimly as the battle unfolded. When Torlan reached the fifth rank of the opposing force, though, Railon could hold back no longer, and yelled aloud in a futile attempt to make his brother come back. But, as Torlan could not hear him over the clash of battle, he resumed his silence. Ten minutes later, the numbers of the enemy finally gained a firm hold on the overwhelming advantage which they should have had during the entire battle, and the horsemen, who had been well protected thus far by the flanking spearmen along with their own skill, began to fall.

At this Railon decided on the safety of the soldiers, regardless of what Torlan wanted. He turned, and staring down at the mass of people below, yelled out “Pass the word! Blow the gate-horns!”

Soon, he heard the astonishingly loud and deep sounds of the two horns placed near the gate, which were blown to announce the opening and closing of the main gates. Railon began to feel more hopeful at the sight that the sound of the horns had an immediate effect on those Gairbairns who were still alive, a group which included king Torlan. The remaining soldiers turned their horses and charged for the gateway, with a large group of enemies hot on their heels.

The remaining spearmen turned and began to backpedal toward the gates with all possible speed. The slow speed of their movement gave Torlan time to fight his way out and gallop toward the gates of the city. As if that had been the original plan, (though there had not been anything planned) the spearmen turned again and ran hard for the gates as soon as the king had passed by.

The last man squeezed through the gates with barely inches to spare before he would have been crushed between them. As soon as the gates were barred, the portcullis was dropped, an action which rendered the gates nearly invulnerable to ramming.

When the gates were shut, Railon immediately left the wall and ran to the gate to meet Torlan returning. On arrival, he grabbed the horse’s bridle and looked up at the king sitting astride it. “I am very relieved, brother, that you decided not to get yourself killed today, although there will be several other opportunities for that.” The king removed his helmet, shook his long hair out of his eyes, and replied “I may die, but I may not die in battle as I wish to. I have been badly injured.”

“Then why are you so calm! Anybody would be badly injured if they had been surrounded as you had! In fact, most anybody would have died! For your own sake, go find the healers, along with the rest of your force!”

By your request, I will do so. I was still able to hold up long enough to test you to find whether you really cared.” With that, Torlan trotted off through the street, smiling widely.

Railon stood at his position for several minutes before returning to the wall-top. When he reached his position on the wall, he saw that the band of enemy soldiers who had chased the cavalry back to the castle had stopped in front of the main gate, and were sitting in a circle around a patch of ground which held a tall stack of brush, which one man was busy trying to light.

“That can not succeed. Spears away at the gate!” Railon exclaimed, hefting his own weapon and sighting down its length. When he saw that the other sentries were ready, he let fly. Their aims were true, and all of the soldiers in front of the gate were cut down or injured.

Ready once more, Railon shouted “Clear the gates!” Immediately, the portcullis was raised and the gates swung open to allow the clearing crew to remove the debris and bodies to one side, and swiftly reenter the city, closing and locking the gates once more.

Confident that another attack on the city would take some time to organize, Railon left his post to discover how Torlan was faring. He soon found the king lying comfortably in the large building not far from the castle which was commonly called the Hospital. In reply to Railon’s question, Torlan replied loudly

“It is the truth I tell you when I say that the armor I had fitted for Longtrack saved both of our lives several times in that battle; although I am afraid he came off worse, having lost the end of his tail by way of an ill-timed swing from a sword. As for me, I am well enough to survive, but my armor sustained considerable damage. I consider myself lucky to have gotten out of that with nothing but aches and bruises.”

“That is entirely too true, brother, but what shall you do for your horse? Surely you must understand how important a tail is to a horse’s sense of honor?”

“Truly, I did not know that horses had a sense of honor, but if they do, then Longtrack’s is clearly evident.” After a short period of complete silence, Torlan concluded “But that is a small matter, for the other horses’ tails will serve him just as well, though it will look strange.”

A short time later, Railon left the hospital and returned to his post on the wall. Looking out at the opposing force, he saw that there was very little movement going on in the camp. Turning to a sentry standing next to him, he inquired why.

“Only one reason for it, Sir; they thought they would arrive at night and take us by surprise. Seeing as they couldn’t do that, they’ve been overwhelmed by heat that we are accustomed to.”

“That is good. Now we can watch in shifts so as to be alert when they try to attack tonight. Get some sleep.” Railon replied, stepping away from his post. “If I am wanted, I shall be in the castle.”

Going straight to the castle, Railon gave his true name to the gate-wardens and searched all over the castle until he discovered the bedchamber he had used before leaving on his adventures. Removing his armor, he stretched out on the bed and was soon asleep.

Chapter IV (villians)

Chapter IV

Damrod had returned to the capital city of the empire of Naibern nearly three weeks ago, but until now had not been summoned into the presence of his Emperor. When the attendant had come for him, he had risen slowly and come after the man in a foul temper. In truth, he was worried for his life, but he had found that behaving as if he had been wronged in some way lessened the feeling of fear which rose in his mind when he thought of his meeting with the Emperor, which must come, and was more likely to come to a bad end for himself than to improve his prospects under the Emperor’s rule.

At the moment, he was following the attendant down a long hallway which was lit so poorly that the walls looked black. Even the attendant he was following was garbed in a black tunic. Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, he exclaimed loudly “Darkness and gloom everywhere! One could think the Emperor is trying to make his subjects as gloomy as he is himself!”

The attendant, who was accustomed to outbursts such as this one from men who had been called to wait on the Emperor, made no reply, continuing down the long passage without a pause.

Damrod and the attendant had been walking in this manner for some time when they finally halted before a set of  large double doors which were as black as the rest of the building had been. Signaling that Damrod remain where he was, the attendant reached toward the door and grasped the large knocker situated in the middle of it. Having knocked several times, he waited silently for the call from a voice which proceeded from the other side.

The call was not long in coming. “Bring him into my presence now, though he hardly deserves to be seen!” cried the voice, in a tone which showed clearly just how low the Emperor considered most of his people.

The attendant pushed open the door, stood to one side as Damrod strode in after him , and retired once more, shutting the door on his way out.

As the emperor did not appear to be in a hurry to speak with him, Damrod was afforded ample time to study the ruler he had followed blindly for the past several years. It was not his height which made the emperor imposing, for Damrod could see that the man was no taller than he was himself. Rather,it was the face which intimidated a man. the face was worn with age, which only added every year to the hard scowl which seemed etched into the emperor’s countenance. he had a long scar on the left side which came down from his ear, coming within a fraction of an inch of his jaw before it stopped abruptly. The Emperor had black hair which had only recently begun to whiten at the edges. From the hair, Damrod continued to observe his ruler in a state of awe, letting his eyes wander until he came to the man’s astonishingly dark eyes. They were dangerous eyes, fitting perfectly within the man’s dangerous face. Once Damrod had looked into those eyes, he could not bring himself to look away, standing as one hypnotized by the fearsome stare of his ruler.

After a moment of this, the Emperor broke the silence by exclaiming “You may want to explain this, if you think it will save your life!”

Looking down at the paper the Emperor had thrown at his feet a moment before, Damrod saw the letter which Valun had sent explaining his view of Damrod’s true character.

After allowing his servant a moment to observe the note, the Emperor spoke again. ‘He desires me to exile you to a lonely island. Why should I not do so?”

“I only followed your orders, my lord.” Damrod replied, still staring at the letter.

“What am I to do with a servant who is away for as long as you were and does not once report back to me?”

“I believe those men know of you. Do you think I would have survived long if I were found to be sending messages to Naibern?”

“A good servant does not speak so to his master! Their new king sent me that! Why did they not rise up against him?”

“I can not tell you that, my lord. Mayhap they have, but I would not know, for I was sent away before it was written.”

“If you were the king, how came you to be sent away?”

“This king Valun arrived with thousands of men at his back. I could not stand against him. I was lucky enough that he did not have me executed then.”

“Would you like to show them how stupid they were to let you live?”

‘Yes. If that is your order, I would gladly do so.”

“I have been mustering the army in the days since you returned. If you had not been glad to do so, you would have had led them at the end of a pike. You will have the honor of invading the land of Corridane. Before the month is out, all those little countries will have fallen to me!”

“My thanks for the honor, my lord. May I have leave to prepare myself?”

“Go do so at once. I will order the armies to march within the day, but you shall have ample time, for the Gairbairian invaders march first.”

With a deep bow, Damrod took leave of his lord’s presence. Immensely relieved that he was not doomed to die, he went hurrying off to find a set of armor that might fit him.

Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Damrod had returned to the capital city of the empire of Naibern nearly three weeks ago, but until now had not been summoned into the presence of his Emperor. When the attendant had come for him, he had risen slowly and come after the man in a foul temper. In truth, he was worried for his life, but he had found that behaving as if he had been wronged in some way lessened the feeling of fear which rose in his mind when he thought of his meeting with the Emperor, which must come, and was more likely to come to a bad end for himself than to improve his prospects under the Emperor’s rule.

At the moment, he was following the attendant down a long hallway which was lit so poorly that the walls looked black. Even the attendant he was following was garbed in a black tunic. Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, he exclaimed loudly “Darkness and gloom everywhere! One could think the Emperor is trying to make his subjects as gloomy as he is himself!”

The attendant, who was accustomed to outbursts such as this one from men who had been called to wait on the Emperor, made no reply, continuing down the long passage without a pause.

Damrod and the attendant had been walking in this manner for some time when they finally halted before a set of large double doors which were as black as the rest of the building had been. Signaling that Damrod remain where he was, the attendant reached toward the door and grasped the large knocker situated in the middle of it. Having knocked several times, he waited silently for the call from a voice which proceeded from the other side.

The call was not long in coming. “Bring him into my presence now, though he hardly deserves to be seen!” cried the voice, in a tone which showed clearly just how low the Emperor considered most of his people.

The attendant pushed open the door, stood to one side as Damrod strode in after him, and retired once more, shutting the door on his way out.

As the emperor did not appear to be in a hurry to speak with him, Damrod was afforded ample time to study the ruler he had followed blindly for the past several years. It was not his height which made the emperor imposing, for Damrod could see that the man was no taller than he was himself. Rather, it was the face which intimidated a man. The face was worn with age, which only added every year to the hard scowl which seemed etched into the emperor’s countenance. He had a long scar on the left side which came down from his ear, coming within a fraction of an inch of his jaw before it stopped abruptly. The Emperor had black hair which had only recently begun to whiten at the edges. From the hair, Damrod continued to observe his ruler in a state of awe, letting his eyes wander until he came to the man’s astonishingly dark eyes. They were dangerous eyes, fitting perfectly within the man’s dangerous face. Once Damrod had looked into those eyes, he could not bring himself to look away, standing as one hypnotized by the fearsome stare of his ruler.

After a moment of this, the Emperor broke the silence by exclaiming “You may want to explain this, if you think it will save your life!”

Looking down at the paper the Emperor had thrown at his feet a moment before, Damrod saw the letter which Valun had sent explaining his view of Damrod’s true character.

After allowing his servant a moment to observe the note, the Emperor spoke again. ‘He desires me to exile you to a lonely island. Why should I not do so?”

“I only followed your orders, my lord.” Damrod replied, still staring at the letter.

“What am I to do with a servant who is away for as long as you were and does not once report back to me?”

“I believe those men know of you. Do you think I would have survived long if I were found to be sending messages to Naibern?”

“A good servant does not speak so to his master! Their new king sent me that! Why did they not rise up against him?”

“I can not tell you that, my lord. Mayhap they have, but I would not know, for I was sent away before it was written.”

“If you were the king, how came you to be sent away?”

“This king Valun arrived with thousands of men at his back. I could not stand against him. I was lucky enough that he did not have me executed then.”

“Would you like to show them how stupid they were to let you live?”

‘Yes. If that is your order, I would gladly do so.”

“I have been mustering the army in the days since you returned. If you had not been glad to do so, you would have had led them at the end of a pike. You will have the honor of invading the land of Corridane. Before the month is out, all those little countries will have fallen to me!”

“My thanks for the honor, my lord. May I have leave to prepare myself?”

“Go do so at once. I will order the armies to march within the day, but you shall have ample time, for the Gairbairian invaders march first.”

With a deep bow, Damrod took leave of his lord’s presence. Immensely relieved that he was not doomed to die, he went hurrying off to find a set of armor that might fit him.