The Destiny of Amalah (60 page)

Garrick looked at Häkan with great pity, this was not the friend he knew and loved, or the guard commander whom he respected and it pained him to see one of his friends in this way. Garrick began to remove Häkan’s bloodstained outer clothing, and then he removed his shoes and feet liners.

‘Häkan can you understand me?’ Garrick asked gently, but Häkan simply stared into space and did not respond to Garrick’s questioning.

‘It is of no use Garrick; I think Häkan has seen too much and said all he can tonight,’ Thaddeus said.

‘I wonder what he did see,’ Garrick said thoughtfully.

‘As do I, but I wonder why he cannot remember.’

‘Trauma or injury perhaps!’

‘Perhaps, or it could be magic.’

‘We must get to the bottom of this and soon.’

‘Yes we must.’

‘And it kills me to say so but I wonder if my eldest son had any involvement in what happened this evening.’

‘So do I,’ Thaddeus said with remorse as he looked at Garrick.

‘Only Häkan knows what happened and he cannot remember anything, nor can he even speak at this moment in time.’

‘No he cannot, but he will and if his memory is affected by magic, then it cannot last forever.’

‘How long?’

‘I do not know it depends on the magic and the strength of the sorcerer or sorceress.’

‘I hope for Häkan’s sake, it does not last long. I will wait outside the room for Kalon. Will you stay here and watch over Häkan?’

‘Of course.’

Garrick took one more look at his friend and left the room; he closed the door behind him and waited in the wide corridor for Kalon and the two guards to arrive. He did not wait long and when he saw them in the corridor he walked halfway to meet them. He looked at Kalon before he spoke to the two guards.

‘You are here because my youngest son, First Captain Kalon Lord trusts you. You know that there has been tension among the guard of late and that things are not how they used to be or how they should be.’

The two guards nodded in agreement and Garrick continued.

‘Tonight Raynor was found dead and the Guard Commander was found unconscious next to his body; battered and bruised himself and with no memory of what happened. He is in that room,’ Garrick said walking and pointing at the same time.

‘The Guard Commander is dazed, confused and upset, and he is the only person who we have, who can tell us what really happened and that is where you come in. I want the two of you to stay outside his door until you are relieved. The only people who are allowed into that room are: myself, First Captain Kalon Lord, Thaddeus, Michael and the Empress, or, if someone is accompanied by me or one of those I have just said.

‘And Second Captain Lord?’ the guard asked.

‘No! Let me make this absolutely clear: myself, First Captain Kalon Lord, Thaddeus, Michael and the Empress. Absolutely no one else is to enter, unless we accompany them. Am I absolutely clear?’

‘Yes commander,’ they echoed.

‘Good – now take your posts men.’

The two guards took their post outside of Häkan’s room and Garrick and Kalon entered. Garrick went to Häkan’s side and spoke to him one more time.

‘Häkan my friend, I am going to leave now, but fear not; you will be in good hands. There are two guards at the door and only the Empress, Thaddeus, Michael, Kalon and I, will be allowed to enter. When I return I will return with some maids who will wash you and bring you some clean clothes. Try to sleep now Häkan,’ Garrick said, holding his friend’s arms to try and reassure him.

The three men left the room and Garrick had more words with the two guards’ before he was satisfied that he could leave them alone with Häkan.

‘What do we do now father?’

‘Now we tell the Empress what happened and then we find ten more guardsmen who we would trust with our lives, and they will be scheduled to guard Häkan until this is resolved or until he recovers himself.’

‘How long will that be?’

‘I do not know my son, but I do know it must be soon.’

‘Father I have been thinking, there may be a possibility that Waldon, Kenaz, Rakan and Rufus did have something to do with Raynor’s death; but there is also a possibility that Häkan did in fact kill Raynor.’

‘The thought did cross my mind,’ Garrick said quietly, his face showing the unbearable strain that he had suddenly come under.

Chapter 23

Garrick, Michael and Kalon found the Empress and they went back to her study.

‘It is with deep regret Empress,’ Garrick began; ‘that I must inform you that Raynor was found dead this evening – murdered in fact,’ Garrick finished.

The Empress instinctively put her hand to her mouth to stifle a cry and she sunk in to her seat, as Garrick relayed the rest of the evening’s events.

‘We have to act now,’ she said decisively, as she stood up again. ‘Michael, Garrick and Thaddeus I know how much Raynor meant to you and I am truly sorry for your loss. I know that the pain runs deep, but for the sake of everyone in this room and everyone in Amalah – we
must
act now. If this is Rakan’s doing we can no longer wait for him and the others to unleash whatever plans they may have for us, and now I dread what those plans are; because if they were involved in tonight’s events and in Gaerwen’s death, they have shown that they are murderers; willing, able and cold hearted murderers.’

Garrick went pale at the thought of his son being a murderer and in that moment he felt complete and utter despair.

“Dear god no,” he thought to himself and prayed to the gods above that it was not so. Kalon became crimson red and it was all he could do to control the anger he felt towards his brother. Things had gone beyond mere indiscipline and tension things had become irreparable.

‘What do we do?’ Thaddeus asked.

‘We question the guard and we question them all,’ Amara said flatly. ‘When?’

‘Now,’ she said purposefully, and with a new sense of determination.

‘I will see to it,’ Garrick said. ‘Kalon, with me,’ Garrick said with even more of a sense of determination.

Garrick halted at the door and turned back to the Empress: ‘From now on Empress, you will have a guardsman escort you at all times.’

‘I do not think…’

‘As the Guard Commander I say it is. I cannot continue in my role if you will not respect my decisions,’ he said firmly.

Amara hesitated and then nodded: ‘very well,’ she said acquiescing.’

‘Thaddeus, please remain with the Empress until a guard arrives.’

‘Of course,’ Thaddeus nodded.

‘Very well,’ said Garrick as he nodded at the Empress and then at Kalon.

Garrick and Kalon left the room and went in search of the guard; they found four Majors and eight guardsmen and briefed them in the guards barrack room.

‘Go and find Captains’ Adeyemi, Blake, Second Captain Lord, and Rufus Mallory and arrest them on sight. Do not speak to them, except to tell them of the arrest and bring them to the palace dungeons. Do not speak of any of this to anyone. When you have completed your tasks, return here to await further orders,’ Garrick commanded.

Garrick dismissed the guard and he waited in the room with Kalon. For the most part, the father and son sat in silence, engrossed in their own thoughts. It was just over an hour before the four Majors reported back to Garrick and Kalon and told them that all four men were in custody in the palace dungeons.

Garrick gave his orders to the Majors and they left the four men in the dungeons for over an hour, under guard, before they went to interrogate the three Captains and Rufus. The Majors interrogated the four of them for hours and for all of those hours the four friends remained unmoved by the Majors’ manner and questioning.

They all remained calm and collected and answered questions with one word answers or one line sentences, and they all gave the same unbreakable and flawless account of their whereabouts over the evening. They were giving nothing away nor were they displaying any emotion; the Majors’ eventually finished their questioning and reported back to Garrick and Kalon.

‘Release them,’ Garrick said dejectedly.

The four Majors returned below and released the four friends and Garrick left Kalon to select the guards who he trusted most and arrange cover for Häkan’s room. Garrick left and found Amara’s most trusted maids and took them to where Häkan was and when they arrived, Häkan was in the same position that Garrick had left him in.

The maids washed Häkan and put clean clothes on him and put him into bed. Garrick stayed with Häkan for a while before he left him for the rest of the morning and went in search of Kalon. He found his son who was still working hard and the two of them found Michael, Amara and Thaddeus on the balcony. Garrick told them of the arrests and interrogations and how the Majors had not been able to extract any information from any of them.

‘Perhaps they had nothing to do with this,’ Michael said.

‘And perhaps their accounts were just too perfect for me to believe that,’ Garrick said.

‘The question is where do we go from here?’ Thaddeus asked.

‘We find out what we can and we do what we have been doing – we wait! We wait for Häkan to remember, or we wait for Rakan and the others to slip up,’ said Amara.

Daylight had broken and neither of the four men or Amara had gone to bed yet but now, when they had done all they could do, they retired to bed for a few hours before they rose to start the day again.

As the new day went on, news began to spread of Raynor’s demise and of Häkan being found at his side. The news spread and soon the story was being slightly altered each time and although the people were more than willing to listen and talk, for the most part many felt the same thing – shock, horror and fear. Shock that someone had been murdered; horrified at the thought, and fear, because murder had become a thing of the past. Now there was a real fear that there was murderer in Amalah, probably or possibly, walking among them and fear that it may happen to any one of them.

Despite Raynor’s death, the celebrations went on, even though they now seemed marred by the death of Raynor. As the remaining days went by and the people still celebrated, questions were being raised about what was being done to find the killer and or, where was Häkan.

Rakan and his friends continued to spread gossip and raise doubts and fears among the people; while Amara, Michael, Garrick Thaddeus and Kalon tried to alleviate the fear and doubt and put right any gossip that was being spread throughout Amalah, but they soon realised that whoever was spreading the gossip was doing a better job than they were at eradicating it. The four men also took joy in feigning indignation at their arrest to Garrick, Kalon, Thaddeus and they took special pleasure in feigning their indignation towards Amara and Michael.

The celebrations continued but they were marred and when the end came: Amara, Michael, Garrick, Thaddeus and Kalon were relieved.

‘I do not feel in the spirit of celebration anymore,’ the Empress said sadly.

‘Nor do I,’ Michael said.

‘It is out of place with how I truly feel,’ said Garrick. ‘One friend is dead and another is dazed and confused, with no memory of what happened, and he could be the one friend responsible for slaying the other.’

As the people left Amalah City; Amara, Garrick, Michael, Thaddeus and Kalon, investigated relentlessly to try and establish what had really happened on that fateful night but it was to no avail. Rakan, Rufus, Waldon and Kenaz went about their lives as normal, and without remorse despite being responsible for such wicked deeds, but they were beginning to notice the whisperings and black looks that certain members of the guard often directed their way.

‘They suspect us,’ Waldon said.

‘So what?’ replied Rakan.

‘So, we must be careful,’ Waldon added.

‘We are, and besides, when the Majors’ interrogated us, they discovered nothing. There is no need for alarm Waldon.’

‘What happens now?’ Kenaz said.

‘Now...’ Rakan said smiling; ‘now I go and see the Empress about a seat on the council, considering that there are now two available seats, I hope to get one, but if Raynor was correct about them suspecting me’ he began.

‘Then you have no chance,’ Rufus finished.

‘I shall try a spell,’ said Rakan. ‘One that will make the Empress amenable to my suggestions,’ he mused loudly.

‘Let us hope it results in the seat, Salwar so requires you to obtain,’ Rufus said slightly exasperated. ‘Although I think Salwar’s plan is quite ludicrous. If we want power we should take it – not wait around for Amara and the council to give it to us.’

‘I agree,’ said Kenaz.

‘I also agree,’ said Rakan. ‘And if Salwar’s plan does not work…’ Rakan then trailed off. ‘Well I will leave you now. I have a spell to perform and a seat on the council to attain. When I return, I hope to be a newly appointed council member.’

Rakan stood up and left the dank room in the northeast tower and Kenaz followed, leaving Rufus and Waldon alone. Waldon stared ahead, his intense brown eyes fixed at the open wall and Rufus stared at him intently.