Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (50 page)

“
A light was shining
forth from the chest, which grew even brighter when I opened the
chest, and then it narrowed into a pinpoint of light, a beam that
traced its way towards a window. I looked out, and saw the light, a
faint, distant beacon, reflected back here from somewhere on the
mountainside. I assume that was your friend here,” Lagotaq said,
nodding towards Oaka, who appeared to quite like the Red Sword with
the wide grin on his face, “And I had some idea of what it meant,
but I wanted to be certain. After that, I ordered some of my men to
go investigate.”

“
We reached the foot
of the Old Smoko mountain range, and then concealed ourselves as
best we could in prime positions,” The Squad A leader, who had
promised the group an explanation before, said. “Squad A in the
grove and the rest of us in the copse, to defend ourselves or to
attack whomever might be coming. We sent out scouts, one of whom
started to climb the Old Smoko in order to meet you all, and
another of which spotted the approach of Coe Aela’s men--armed, and
searching, oftentimes looking up the mountain. We judged the
situation accordingly, and reacted as we saw fit. We only took you
all into custody to be extra cautious.”

“
You touched the Red
Sword, Your Grace.” Basha said to Lord Lagotaq.

“
What?” The Duke of
Coe Wina asked, as the others stared at Basha in shock.

Oaka sheathed the Red
Sword, satisfied for now that he had a Sword of Arria, and was
indeed a potential Knight of Arria, just like Basha and Monika
were
. H
e would not be left out, a follower or hanger-on like Fato
and possibly Gnat were. He returned to the group, and listened to
the conversation more attentively than before, though he was
thinking to himself that he was indeed grander than any nobleman
Sisila might have had.

“
You touched the Red
Sword when you handed it over to Oaka without getting burned, Your
Grace.” Basha said. “It has been my experience that those who
have...a certain power, or can touch one Sword in particular, the
Black Sword, can touch all of the other Swords without getting
burned.” He said. “They might feel uncomfortable, but they
can.”

“
Who are you?” Lord
Lagotaq asked him.

“
My name is Basha,
your Grace. I am on a quest from Coe Baba to fetch Tau’s Cup, and I
wield the Black Sword.” Basha said, deciding it would be his duty
to introduce everyone again. “This is--” He started to
say.

“
Monika,” She spoke
up on her own, stepping forward and bowing. “Your Grace. I am of
the Windbow society from the Za Desert, I was trained in the Water
techniques at the Valao monastery in Angora, and I am an associate
of your country’s Border Guard. I wield the Blue Sword.” She said,
and then stepped back.

“
It is an honor to
meet you.” Lord Lagotaq said, though he seemed a little
tense.

“
This is the most I
have ever heard you say, concerning--” Basha said, turning to
Monika.

“
My name is Gnat,
your Grace,” The girl said, interrupting Basha, “I was a servant at
Coe Aela until they came and changed everything.” She indicated the
group. “Basha said I should come with them on his quest, after I
helped them escape, and I also fetched back the Black Sword when it
was stolen from Basha’s pack by Captain Goga. He was going to use
it.” She insisted. “That would have been scary, your Grace. I can
touch the Black and the Blue Swords without getting hurt, but they
do not belong to me. Nisa touched the Black Sword once, just for a
moment, but she got burned from it, just handing it over to me. And
Captain Goga could touch the Black Sword as well without getting
hurt, I think. I wonder if that means anything.” She
added.

“
I think it does.
Thank you for helping out this group, Gnat, you have done well.”
Lord Lagotaq said, staring in astonishment at the girl. “Perhaps we
might go inside to continue these introductions,” Lord Lagotaq
said, turning away and heading into the castle, “And I can continue
my conversation.” He added in a low breath to himself.

The group members glanced uncertainly
at each other, especially as a few of the guards that had escorted
them all the way up here to the second bailey followed them into
the castle. “Are we in danger again?” Oaka asked the others in a
low tone. “I missed part of the conversation.” He said.

“
I don’t think so,
not really.” Basha said. “Lord Lagotaq was telling us that your Red
Sword reacted when you started your fire on the mountainside, like
it was alive and knew where you were, and Lord Lagotaq sent his
guards out to investigate. I think he knows or suspects that we
might be Knights of Arria. But I think it’s safe.” He added,
marveling, “We were on the Old Smoko mountain range.”

“
I hope so, Basha.”
Oaka said, glancing back at the guards. “I hope so as well. But at
least we are ready this time, if things go wrong,” He said,
thinking of the Swords.

“
Are we?” Basha
asked.

“
I think so, at least
we are together.” Oaka remarked.

“
Good to know.” Basha
said, nodding.

Defeat,
bittersweet defeat, Doomba sighed to himself. He could feel it from
far away, Goga had failed in his task. Perhaps he should have let
the Black Wolves tear up the Knights of Arria before they even
arrived at Coe Aela, but it was too late now. As far as Doomba was
concerned, with such monstrous failures behind them, both Fobata
and Goga were dead to him. He
had to look to other Followers and Servants now.

Doomba raised his
head
then
, the mask shifting with him, as
a
gruelmoff flew in through
the window of his throne room, although there wasn’t a window as
such as much as there was an opening into the nothingness inside,
without having the bird go through the entire castle to reach him.
The bird had flown a long way, at great speed, to convey what was
obviously a very important message to Doomba as quickly as
possible, so Doomba had allowed this convenience for the
animal.

“
Speak,” Doomba
ordered.

The gruelmoff landed upon the floor,
and inhaled deeply to revive itself, before it began, “‘My lord
Doomba, your Follower Fobata is grieved to say that the travelers,
who arrived here at Coe Aela as Lord Crow warned us on Markee 14,
have escaped. They seem to have received help in their escape from
a servant woman, who prevented Goga from confiscating the Black
Sword that one of them possessed. This seems to indicate that they
were Knights of Arria, though we cannot confirm this. I apologize
for this misfortune, as we had no warning beyond their date of
arrival of who to expect, and we were unprepared for such a
possibility. We had as many guards as we could possibly arrange on
standby to make sure that they could not get out through any
possible exit, but they somehow seemed to have found a way. My
brother Goga and most of my guards are now searching across the
country for the group, to destroy them if they cannot be captured
again, and I am taking measures to search for the servant woman
responsible in aiding them so that she can be punished as well.
Just in case anything goes wrong with Goga’s search, I urge you
send out your creatures to find them as well. Sincerely, Lord
Fobata.’” The gruelmoff completed the message before it promptly
collapsed upon the floor, and died from exhaustation.

“
Useless. Utterly
useless.” Doomba said, staring down at the gruelmoff carcass on the
floor. “What a waste.” He muttered, and called upon a gringrok to
dispose of the carcass. As the gringrok dragged off the carcass,
with several more waiting outside the throne room in anticipation
of the feast to come, which would be fulfilling even though
gruelmoff meat was not delicious, Doomba contemplated the full
extent of what he did and didn’t know, based on the
message.

Travelers, yes, they
were in a group, the Knights and the tiger amongst them, Coe Aela
on Markee 14, yes, he had not known the exact date, which did not
really matter to him in the end, but he had known the location,
and
…
Lord Crow? What had Lord Crow been doing, telling Lord Fobata
about these travelers coming to visit him without telling him
anything else? Did Crow know that they were Knights of Arria, and
that the tiger of light was amongst them? What had Lord Crow known
about these travelers in the first place?

Doomba would have to settle this matter
with Lord Crow before too long, otherwise he might begin to suspect
what one of his most loyal Followers had been doing. Passing on
barely more than a hint of such important information to Lord
Fobata the imbecile, who was bound to have failed in this mission
without understanding who he was dealing with or what he was
supposed to do, and certainly Lord Crow had not told Doomba
anything of what he might have suspected or known about these
travelers. For this offense alone, Doomba could destroy Lord Crow
without any other excuse needed, but he paused here a moment to
think.

Lord Crow had served him loyally in the
past, and had provided him with useful information such as ‘The
Tiger’s Prophecy’, which Doomba could not discredit too quickly or
else he might lose a reliable source of power, someone capable of
coordinating and guiding other Followers in the right direction. Of
course, Lord Crow might also be a threat considering that his
personal influence had grown, in both the social realm and in the
responsibilities granted to him by Doomba, over the years, and he
could use that influence to the detriment of Doomba’s efforts if he
so desired, pushing Followers in the wrong direction, or blocking
them entirely, and it might be for the sake of destroying him in
the end.

Doomba had put too much trust into this
man, who might not deserve it. Who was Lord Crow that Doomba should
fear him? Who was Lord Crow that Doomba should set such store in
him? Who was Lord Crow to think that he could stand above any other
Followers? It was foolish, in a way, to think of Lord Crow as a
threat, he was nothing compared to Doomba, an ordinary man just
like any other, and yet he was not completely harmless.

He had some skill and
intelligence, after all, coming up with plans to take over the
kingdom and finding out secrets kept hidden from Doomba’s
sight
. H
e knew more than he expressed, which made him someone to
consider. Not every man was like him. For now, Doomba would observe
Lord Crow whenever he got the chance, to ensure that the lord was
going about business as usual without any hidden or deceitful
activity upon his account, unrelated to Follower business, of
course. And then, if anything should come up that seemed too
underhanded even for a Follower, Doomba would press upon his crony
in every way possible until Lord Crow broke and confessed to
treachery, or died, though breaking and confessing to treachery
would probably lead to death.

One final question
remained, though: who was the servant woman who had helped the
travelers, the Knights and the tiger, escape? That was something
Doomba would dearly want to know, the first proof that the tiger’s
protectors existed.
They
would be severely punished for having kept the identity of the
tiger a secret from him for so long.

One of
the
gringroks slipped back
into the throne room, wiping off some drool and gruelmoff blood,
before it said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Apparently, the great
creatures in the Pits have stopped working.”

“
What?” Doomba said, swiveling his
head around to glare at the beast.

“
Yes, a
Trolla came with the message. It didn’t want to see you, though.”
The gringrok said, cowering back slightly.

“
Insubordination, never have I tolerated such…” Doomba
paused and frowned to himself. “The great creatures have stopped
working, the flooding in the tunnel, the escape attempt, the stolen
equipment and the disturbance
s…yes, something is going on down there, but maybe it’s not
the Trollas who are to blame. Maybe one of the great creatures is
causing the riot. We know how to punish them, though, don’t we?”
Doomba asked.

“
Right
away, sire, I shall pass along the message.” The gringrok said,
scurrying off.

Chapter 16: Cacophony Chaos

Confusion and disorder is a common
thing to

Recognize in the chaos that is life.
Recognizing

What to do in these situations, when
the maelstorm

Can open up and swallow you whole, is
another matter.

--
A saying from Pinal

Hastin wandered
through the park in front of the town council hall, unable to
imagine how so many people could squeeze onto this plot of land,
especially since it had been taken up by trees, bushes, benches,
and even a clock tower. But they managed somehow, with only minor
spillage out onto the street that surrounded what had once been the
town square the children had fought over so many years ago. All of
these witnesses
,
lumberjacks, farmers, mill workers, wives,
husbands, shop owners, craftspeople, even a few members of the town
militia
,
all of these people here to watch as the candidates running
for mayor of Coe Baba stood up in front of them to give them great
soaring speeches on why they should vote for this particular
person.