The Elementalist : Next of Kin: The Kothian Chronicles (11 page)

Rylan sat in the dining room of the house, listening to his son explain everything in detail. Zack left no detail out as he explained his chance meet with Maxim, en-route to Pitford, and how he and the elementalist had become close friends. He did not leave out Mikel and Melia either, and even told them about Shadow as well, before starting on the events of late. He took them through the story of Maxim's abduction, his trip to rescue his friend, the fight at Denley and finally the battle at Pitford.

Zack could tell his father was upset, although he was doing his very best to keep his emotions in check. "How did you travel here so fast?" his mother asked. Zack gave a wry smile, "Magic... although we could not do it without Max," he added giving the young elementalist the credit he deserved. "He is by far the most powerful of all of us, I do not know why," he added sensing his father was about to ask about him. "I think he is Icenian," his mother said adding to the conversation. Zack did not know what that was, and judging by the look on his father's face neither did he.

Noticing all eyes were on her, Lana explained what little she knew about the far off land. "It is said to be half a world away. I myself have only read about them, and if he is indeed one, he would be the first I have seen," she told them. Zack was still a little confused, and enquired how she had come up with the assumption Maxim was an Icenian. "It is written that they all have red hair and bright blue eyes...A trait that is not seen in Kothia or its neighbours," she replied, though she did say she was only guessing, although if Maxim was, she was intrigued as to how he had gotten here. Zack told them that before Danton had discovered Maxim, he had spent a lifetime in an orphanage, before being forced onto the streets, scavenging for food. "Poor child, nobody should have to live like that...I am surprised such a thing even exists," she said clearly sympathetic. In Dewston and the lands around them, Rylan would never have allowed any person, young or old, to live hungry on the streets.

Deana had listened all the while to her brother explaining the entire story, and very unlike her kept quiet throughout. At least that was until she started giving her opinions on Maxim, "Well I think his hair and eyes are very pretty," she said as if trying to make it a point. "I'm not saying they are not sweetheart," her mother replied with a smile, "He is just different that is all I was saying," she added. "Well you shouldn't pick faults with people who a different," Deana added. Lana shrugged and looked to her husband and son for help, as if to say she had not said anything of the kind, but decided to leave the matter at that.

Only after Rylan had stood did the thought strike him, "How am I going to get to Pitford?" he asked. "Last I checked I was not magical as you lads are." Zack cast him a big grin, "That is why we have bought Samuel along. I'll be leading the way; you just need to hang on." His father did not appear overly keen on the idea, the look on his face was evident of that, but he said nothing. "I best go pack a few things then," he said gesturing for his wife to go with him, "You best see to your friends."

"Yes Zack, you have been a terrible host," Deana added.

"I have been updating father..." he stopped mid-sentence realising arguing with his sister was a pointless exercise, and one in which he evidently always came out second best.

By the time Zack had returned to Maxim and Samuel, the pair had finished off the plate of biscuits and the pot of tea. Deana followed her brother, and before he could speak, she decided too, "I apologise for my brother's lack of hospitality," she told them. Zack went to speak but thought better of it, as he noticed Maxim looking his direction grinning. "We understand he had other matters to deal with," Samuel said sounding rather eloquent. "We were brought tea and biscuits, my lady, although it would have been nice to have had our host's company," Maxim added in a similar tone.

"See I told you Zack," Deana said reprimanding her sibling.

"Will you pair stop encouraging her," Zack said, before realising both Maxim and Samuel had started laughing. "Oh yes, very funny, Deana is bad enough as it is without you playing along with her," he said.

"What do you mean by that Zack?" she replied stepping before him, with her hands firmly planted on her hips.

"Talk your way out of that one Zack," Maxim said still chuckling.

Chapter 14.

It was late afternoon before Rylan was ready to leave, and although the reason for him travelling was a truly heartbreaking one, he did feel a touch of excitement. Learning that his son had magical abilities had been a shock, being told he was to be whisked hundreds of miles away by their very use was just as much so. After giving his wife and daughter a farewell kiss, Rylan stood anxiously waiting for his son and friends to prepare themselves to leave. A small crowd had gathered, as rumours of magic being used had quickly spread around the town. There were many gasps; none more so than from Rylan himself, as with a flash of light he found himself standing in a very different place to the one he had been just a second before.

Without even having chance to get his bearings, Rylan was carried forward, travelling miles in mere seconds. Passing far out and beyond the lands he controlled, past villages and forests unfamiliar to him, heading for a place he had never visited before. Stopping only for Zack to check their location and to make sure all were still okay to proceed, they kept going. The last of the daylight was fading away as the four of them made the final leap up to the gateway of Pitford.

Ramon was already waiting with a welcoming party for them, as they passed in through the gates, and inside the outer wall. A guard of honour stood to attention as their special guest walked on by, and Ramon stepped alongside to chat. Just as on the previous occasion when they had rescued Oran, Zack and Maxim were almost forgotten now they had finished their part of the task. However, just as they did last time, Melia, Mikel and Shadow were braving the cold to greet them, only this time with Tia and Connor in tow.

Ramon led Rylan indoors, before heading up the main staircase, towards the rooms being used by the royal family. Although there were plenty of people about, Rylan noticed a certain sense of melancholy amongst them, but kept his opinions to himself as he listened to Ramon explain the layout of the main building. He did notice the flickering lamps barely helped the atmosphere, giving off barely enough light to illuminate their way.

After Zack had made his own way back in from the cold outside, he turned to Samuel, "Thank you," he said, "We hardly know each other, yet you have gone out of your way to help me." Samuel just shrugged, "I think the debt I owe you and the others far outweighs anything I have done," the young Bosarian replied modestly. Zack left it at that, and although he would have liked to have rested and relaxed with his friends, he knew he would probably be wanted by Ramon with the other royals, the upside of which would mean him spending time with his father during his short stay.

The guards on the doorway outside the room did not stop Zack entering, barely casting him a glance as he let himself in. On seeing him enter, Ramon gestured him to join them at the table, "I have ordered some food for us to eat whilst we discuss matters," he told him as the young royal sat beside his father. Anden, who was clearly tired, sat opposite, and Zack actually felt a little sorry for his younger cousin; things were going to get no easier for him over the next few days.

Ramon started by explaining everything that had happened over the past few days, and although Rylan had already heard much of it from Zack earlier, he listened allowing the seer to fill in any gaps. Before moving on to the funeral arrangements, Ramon had some surprising news and a suggestion that shocked Zack more than a little. Ramon explained how Pitford's fate had hung in the balance, when one young magician had risked everything to buy them enough time to retreat into the inner wall. When the name Kurtis was mentioned, Zack suddenly started taking notice. "The lad used every last ounce of power he had, striking down dozens of enemy soldiers," he added.

"Sounds like this Kurtis is a bit of a hero," Rylan suggested looking to the others for their reaction.

"Probably no more so than any other man or woman who placed themselves on the front lines in our defence," Ramon admitted, before explaining Kurtis' history.

Rylan was shocked that a boy who had tried to kill his own son had actually been allowed to live. "You must understand, under normal circumstances I would agree. However, he was not himself, and so blame cannot be placed upon him." Zack noticed his father did not wholly agree, but did eventually concede the point, "Perhaps he is not the hero I thought...Yet I suppose he has at least earned our thanks."

"He has earned my full pardon," Anden added to the conversation, catching the others a little by surprise.

Zack noticed his father looking at the crown prince, and although he knew his father did not agree, he would never openly say so, "As you wish," he finally said putting an end to the subject.

Zack was actually more interested in the food than the conversation, as Ramon ran the finer details of the funeral past Anden and his father. Tiana sat beside her son, teary eyed but composed as she listened in as her late husband's final movement were mapped out before her. Although neither Rylan nor Tiana thought the garden in Pitford a suitable enough resting place for a king, they both agreed it was probably the best of a bad lot. Traditional would usually see Anden make a public speech about the man he was replacing, although Rylan had offered to take his place, as the young crown prince already had enough on his plate.

Zack stifled a yawn, as the last of the funeral arrangements were finally agreed upon, and he was thinking the day was at last coming to an end. "Now on to the coronation and running of government," Ramon said shuffling through a pile of papers. "I would like to start by thanking Zack for coming up with so many ideas to help Anden," he added, making the royal realise he was going to be a part of the next conversation whether he liked it or not.

He noticed his father looking at him, smiling as Ramon ran through the idea of the high council, and the personnel involved. Naturally, it would depend on Anden having the final say on the matter, as he would be in overall command. Zack tried to watch his cousin for any reaction, but Anden appeared to be giving little away. Ramon turned to the crown prince and asked him his opinion, "So your highness, what do you think of having Zack as your advisor, and the elementalist as your protector?"

All eyes turned to Anden, who despite only being in his early teenage years showed an understanding beyond that. Having grown up, knowing one day he would be king, he was fully aware that once he did, his life would change dramatically. "Zack only advises...the final say is mine?" the crown prince replied verifying the point. Ramon nodded and agreed, "The final word is and will always be yours highness."

"Then I agree that Zack will be my advisor. I do not know this elementalist...Perhaps I should meet him and get to know him. After all, he will be following me around a lot. Is he trustworthy? I heard he came from the gutter, is that right?" Anden fired off the questions one after the other before allowing anyone to answer.

Ramon was about to give a reply when he realised the most qualified person to do so would be Zack, and gestured a hand for him to do so. Rylan watched on carefully as his son answered, "Maxim was found in Woodhaven, living rough that much is true. However I would trust him more than any other man I know," Zack said in defiant tone. Anden looked at him, tilting his head just a little to one side as if considering something. Tiana, Anden's mother spoke next, "I do not like the idea of some filthy wretch from the gutter defending my son...I'll have Commander Porter assign a couple of his best guards."

Zack tried to bite his lip and say nothing but he felt anger building up inside. "Max is not a filthy wretch," he snapped, "As far as guards go, what use would they be against an enemy magician? Maxim could wipe out a score of men with but a click of his fingers," he added feeling his emotions getting the better of him. Ramon placed a placating hand on his shoulder, "Okay I am sure the Queen did not mean it in an offensive way...She is just trying to do best for Anden," he said. Tiana scoffed at her nephew, having no knowledge of magicians, she clearly did not rate them very highly.

Ramon thought it best to explain, and hopefully defuse the situation before it got out of hand. "Highness," he said, "If not for us magicians we would not be sitting here now. As far as Maxim goes, he is the most powerful person I have ever known, as from where he originates I do not know, I only have what Rylan has told me."

The queen was about to speak again, but Anden beat her to it, "I think Mother," he said, "That if Ramon and Zack are sure, then I should give this...Maxim," he said checking he had the name correct, "A try. If he is as powerful as they say, then I will have sufficient protection."

The conversation moved on, as Zack glared for a while at his aunt, something that did not go amiss by his father.  Although it was clear, the queen was not overly pleased that her son had to run everything via some mishmash of a high council, her son appeared keen enough to give it a try. Anden may have been young and well educated, but he was also wise enough to know others knew more about such matters than he did.

Rylan eventually thought it best to call a halt to proceedings, as he noticed his son struggling to stay focussed. "Perhaps Tiana, Anden, we may get some rest, we do have a rather traumatic day ahead of us tomorrow," he said making excuses. Fortunately, it appeared both his aunt and cousin seemed as exhausted by proceedings as Zack did. Ramon was happy to let things be, although he would have liked to have discussed all the finer points of the high council, the proposal at least had been accepted in principal.

Zack wished his father goodnight, before slowly strolling down the dimly lit corridors, back to his own room. He was glad to find on his arrival only Mikel, Maxim and Shadow were present within. "Melia has taken the others next door, Samuel is a little worn out and she wanted to make sure he was okay," Mikel told Zack as he closed the door behind him. The royal's first concern was to make sure Maxim was fine, having been the one expending all his energy to get them to Dewston and back. Maxim appeared in better condition than he was, testament to the young elementalist's great power.

Zack immediately prepared himself for bed, undressing before slipping his nightshirt over his head. As he slipped between the sheets and rested his head down on his feathered pillow, he mentioned to Maxim about his earlier conversations. "Anden would like to meet you...Although I am not sure my aunt is overly keen on you being the one to protect him." Maxim turned to look at his friend lying there staring up at the ceiling, "I'd be happy to meet them...if you could introduce us perhaps...after the funeral of course," he added thinking it would be best left until after then.

There was a short silence, as Zack pondered about the information his mother had given them about Maxim's whereabouts. "Max...Do you know where you are from?" he asked. Maxim pondered, "I do not know...Funny you should ask that question...I have been having a few strange dreams of late...and I'm certain I have seen my mother's face."

"Really...What does she look like? Mikel sat up suddenly taking an interest.

"Mikel," Zack hissed.

"Oh yeh! Sorry forgot...the whole being dead thing...Sorry Maxim."

"I don't mind...I never even knew her" he replied.

Maxim settled back down before realising he had not answered Zack's question, not that he had an answer to give him. For as far back as he could remember he had lived in Woodhaven, which is precisely the reply he did give. "Why do you need to know?" Mikel asked him wanting to be part of the conversation.

"It was something my mother said...She seems to think you are from a place called Icenia...or something like that."

"Never heard of it," Mikel replied almost instantly, before deciding to drop his head back down on to his pillow.

"In all honesty Zack, neither have I," Maxim added before doing likewise. The young royal realised he wasn't going to get any answers that helped, so decided to call it a night and settle down to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a tough day, for his father especially, and he did not want to spend it yawning.

Ramon settled down for the night, knowing the next few days were going to be hectic ones. He closed his eyes after extinguishing the lamp beside his bed, and fell almost immediately into a deep sleep. His subconscious mind started creating an image, and although he was not in control, he knew it to be a possible future.

The pictures flowed down a corridor; one he thought was possibly in the keep at Pitford, and into a large room.  Sat at one end upon a large wooden chair was a young king, whom he immediately recognised as Anden. His vision was possibly showing him the not too distant future, although beside the king was a blurred figure. For a few moments he was puzzled as to what or whom that might be, before he had a thought of a possible answer. He slept calmly as the image appeared to show no immediate dangers, with the new monarch seemingly laughing to whom or whatever was stood beside him.