Children of the Sun and Moon (25 page)

“You say we may
have more enemies,” came Koral’s confused voice.

Mekken nodded.
“As I said, I did not get close enough to determine anything, but I
can tell you this. The sails on those ships were like none I have
ever seen before. We best keep our guard up as we approach the
town.”

Everyone
agreed, and they quickened their pace.

As they
approached the town, the group slowed. The devastation was immense.
The twins were stunned; neither had ever seen such destruction
before. The elves, however, had seen this many times. Slowly, they
entered the town, everyone silent. They came around a corner and
heard Grund’s voice. All were relieved once they realized it did
not sound distressed. Mekken immediately moved off towards the
sounds, the others close behind. They found both dwarves in a small
house, and they were not alone.

“What took ye
so long?” asked Drundle, her voice filled with worry. “They be in
trouble here.”

“We came as
quickly as we could,” responded Glavlin. “What happened here?”

“They be
Easterners,” said one of the dwarves. She was smaller than Drundle,
with greying hair, but her voice and presence exuded strength.

“Are you
certain?” asked Gillock.

“We be sure,”
said another dwarf. “We be seein’ the ships many times o late.”

“Have they ever
stopped here before?” Gillock questioned, his voice now sounding
nervous.

“No,” said
Grund, annoyance in his voice. “This be the only time, and they be
taken most o the men. Some women 'n children be gone too.”

Koral sat down,
distraught. “Why did they do this?” she asked, her voice barely a
whisper.

“Because
Easterners collect and sell slaves. It's a thriving business for
them,” answered Gillock.

Easterners. It
was something, which frightened and intrigued Eric. They were
people of rumour, no one was really quite sure about them. No-one
except Gillock that is.

“But they were
headed for Keenley,” came Koral's voice in his head. It brought him
out of his reverie and he turned towards her. “Surely they would
not find anyone to buy them there,” she finished, horror now
showing in her voice.

“They are not
even supposed to be able to travel here,” stated Eric, moving
further into the room. “The sea has not let anyone travel between
here and the Eastern Lands for many years. How is it they can do
this?”

“That’s not an
accurate statement,” said Gillock. “The Easterners come once a year
to trade with Keenley. No-one is sure how they do it, and they will
not reveal their secrets. There are strict rules for dealing with
them that both sides must follow. I’m quite worried about what
their reason for this attack was.”

“Enough
talkin’,” shouted Grund. “These folks be needin’ help. We best be
movin’ off ta Keenley. That be the best place fer supplies fer
these folks.”

The others just
nodded, not wanting to upset the dwarf further.

“We will be on
our way,” said Glavlin quietly. “We will not be finding any
supplies here. We will have to make do with what we have.”

Eric was going
to comment but a shot to the ribs from his sister immediately
quieted him. Sore and not impressed with their situation, Eric
moved off towards where he had seen horses penned.

Grund moved
over towards the old woman. “When we be gettin’ to Keenley, we be
sendin’ back supplies 'n help. I be gettin’ word to Xamblers fer
help.”

The old woman
smiled and whispered something to Grund. He laughed, and moved off
to catch up with his friends.

“We will meet
up with the goblins, and head out,” announced Gillock. “They should
almost be here.”

They turned a
corner and found the goblins already a top horses, waiting for
them. “Wez thoughts bestes wez stayes hereses,” said Nak.

“That was a
good idea,” commented Gillock. “We will find no supplies here. We
must move off towards Keenley.”

Gillock rode
past them, and the goblins turned in behind Eric. He noticed the
sadness on their faces, and wondered if it was for the town, or
because they could not go and search for Dilmek.

“I am sorry,
Nak. I wish we could afford to go and search for your missing
friend.”

“Wez knowses.
Mores importants thingses do’ses,” he replied.

Eric did not
say anymore, but stayed with the group instead of riding off to
catch up with Koral. He felt it more important to stay by his
friend’s side.

“Sire, your
guest has arrived,” said the page.

Duke Dubar
smiled. “Please show him in.”

The page
quickly moved out, and motioned for Baron Lychen to enter.

“It has been
too long, old friend,” said Dubar, moving towards the baron.

“Yes it has,”
responded Lychen, embracing the duke.

“You may leave
us now page. We will call should we need you.”

Again, the page
quickly moved out of the room and Dubar motioned the baron to take
a seat.

“Have they
arrived yet?” asked Lychen once he was certain they were alone.

“No, but it
will be any day now,” responded Dubar.

“And you are
positive they will help us? I cannot afford to let Jeremy remain
king.”

Dubar smiled a
very wicked grin. “The Order has put my soldiers to work in case
the twins should come here. Captain Moore is using this time to get
his men ready for an attack. So even if the Easterners help only
slightly, we will have enough power to take over Klayhern.”

“And no one
suspects what the soldiers are doing? I noticed you have put a
curfew on the city as well. The people do not question any of
this?” Baron Lychen was a bit skeptical of the duke and his
tactics

“Of course not,
it was decreed by the Order. Well, I may have added a bit to the
decree, which was read to the people, but they will not question
anything. Fear of the Order has kept them in line for this long and
I do not see that changing anytime in the near future.”

Now it was
Baron Lychen’s turn to smile. “I must say you have impressed me. I
did not think we were ever going to be able to get rid of the king.
Now, it is my time to impress you.”

Dubar was happy
to hear Lychen was impressed with him, but his last comment
unnerved him. “How so?”

“The Order was
kind enough to send me some of their top Maget soldiers to protect
my land some time ago. They have been patrolling my lands, keeping
things in order.”

Dubar was
becoming annoyed. “Is this going somewhere Allen?”

“Well, you see.
When everything started to go wrong with the king’s family, I put
out a summons for all able-bodied men to come see me. They were
then sent to the barracks where the soldiers have been staying and
are now part of my army.”

Dubar laughed.
“There are not many men who would go against the king. How is it
going to help us?”

Lychen laughed.
“The soldiers have ways of convincing people to their cause. All
those men are now loyal to me, and are training as we speak. In a
months’ time they will be ready to attack the unsuspecting
king.”

Dubar’s face
lit up. “An army so close to the king, this is fabulous news! We
can use them in a surprise attack much sooner than I had imagined.
Maybe we will not need the Easterners help after all.”

Lychen looked
confused. “For a war, we will. I do not have enough men to fight
off the ones Jeremy is training right now.”

“What do you
mean?” asked Dubar, confused.

“General Traug
has joined ranks with the king. All of the men loyal to him have
also joined and it is rumoured the king has reinstated his personal
guard.”

Dubar was going
to ask how he came by this information, but decided against it. The
less he knew the better. “So your little army could attack and
confuse the king and his men. Then once the easterners are ready,
we start the war in full. It may work, but I have a better
idea.”

“And what is
that?”

Dubar smiled.
“Your men should attack as soon as they are ready, as you have
planned. Their goal should not be just to confuse and upset, it
should be to find Jeremy and eliminate him.”

Lychen now
understood Dubar's reasoning. “We get rid of the king, and then we
use the easterners to go in and clean up the rest. It takes the
blame off us and puts it onto the Eastern Lands. The people will be
so outraged their king was assassinated, they will not question it
when you assume power.”

“Exactly,” said
Dubar smugly.

A knock at the
door brought them both back to reality. “Enter,” shouted Dubar,
annoyed with the interruption.

Sol entered.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sire. I’ve been informed that eastern
sails have been seen on the horizon. They should be in the harbour
by morning.”

Dubar clapped
his hands. “Perfect! Thank you, page, you may go.”

Sol bowed and
backed out of the room.

Once the door
closed, Dubar again turned his attention to the baron. “In one
months’ time, Jeremy will be destroyed and I will finally sit on
the throne!”

He poured them
both a glass of wine. “A toast to us!” shouted the baron and drank
deeply.

Moments later,
they were both passed out in their chairs. When Sol was certain the
drug had taken hold, he moved into the room. He moved quickly, not
sure how long the drug would last. He wrote his note to Vernia and
made sure to use Dubar's official seal to close it. Then he put it
into his robe and went about finishing his work. He dumped the wine
out the window and replaced the flask with one almost empty and not
drugged. He then found some of the guards and told them to move the
men to their beds. The two always drank in excess so the order
wasn’t questioned. He only hoped Dubar and Lychen truly believed
they had drank themselves into a stupor, and did not suspect what
he had done. When all was taken care of, he sent the parchment to
the Tower and went to his room. He hoped his news was not something
Vernia was already aware of, but brushed the thought aside. How
could she know about the baron’s plan to attack? He just hoped she
responded with his orders soon.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Jeremy paced,
aware that Korben was waiting for a response. “Are your scouts
certain?” he asked, the concern in his voice apparent.

Korben
understood why the king was worried. Late last evening, two men,
who have been training as scouts, reported to him about a small
army massing in Sprague. It appeared that Baron Lychen was going to
move against them. “Yes, your highness. They brought back a very
detailed report.”

Jeremy stopped
and plopped himself down onto his throne. “This is most dire news
indeed. What are we to do?”

Korben sighed.
The men were training, and with the general's help had been
progressing far quicker than expected, but they were not ready for
a fight. “We must move the villagers inside the castle, and fortify
the defences.”

Now Jeremy
sighed. It had been so many years since the fortifications had been
used. They were in such disrepair he was not certain if there was a
point to fortifying them. “We are months away from being able to
fortify the town. Those defences are far too old to be of use.”

“I know,
Jeremy, but we must try.”

Jeremy stood
and placed his hand on Korben’s shoulder. “I know you are right.
Begin moving the villagers inside. Once we are certain the town is
clear, start working on the fortifications.”

“Do not worry,
your highness,” said Korben, reverting to formalities. “My scouts
are certain they will not be able to mount an attack for at least
two months. The baron's men are still finishing their training.
He's not going to let them move against you unless he's certain
they can defeat you. Lychen also doesn't know of your own men
training again. This all may work out.”

Jeremy smiled
at Korben's optimism. “You always did look to the bright side of
things. Koral takes after you.”

Jeremy’s smile
faded when he mentioned his daughter. Korben could see the pain in
his eyes. “They are safe. Elizanne and Gillock are with them, I am
sure of it. If anything had happened to them, we would have
word.”

Jeremy nodded
and moved off past Korben. Korben followed, not speaking any more
on the subject. When they exited the throne room, Jeremy moved
towards the library, Korben towards the barracks. Korben wanted to
stay with the king, but knew his duties came before friendship.

As he neared
the stables, the magic he had sensed previously suddenly returned.
He decided to investigate what it could be and was stunned to see
Payton standing over Robyn, threatening him. He wanted to
intervene, but realized it wasn't Payton speaking. His speech was
far too formal to come from a soldier. Not knowing what was going
on, he decided to confront Payton.

He moved in,
grabbed Payton, and threw him to the ground. Quickly pulling his
sword out, he placed it on Payton's neck. “I don't know who you
are, but you have some explaining to do.”

Payton's face
turned into a sneer. “I knew one day you would figure it out,
Korben Captain of the Guard. I was just conversing with my friend
Robyn, nothing to concern you.”

“Malena,” spat
Korben.

“How
impressive. I did not think you would come to the right conclusion
so quickly. You really do possess unusual abilities for a lowly
soldier. No matter, I am done with this body. You may have your
second in command back now.”

Payton suddenly
shook, and lay still. Looking up at Korben, quite confused, asked,
“Why am I at sword point?”

Korben felt
Malena depart and knew it was again Payton speaking. “How long have
you been working for Malena?”

The tone in
Korben’s voice frightened Payton. He had not heard him ever speak
with so much hatred before. “What are you talking about?”