The Beacon: Excursion (4)
Episode 18: "Arrival"
The following day of travel began early and ended late. Still needing to send a timely message to the king, Adon sent Bandrick to the Thirty-Mile Station at midnight as planned. The rest of the crew bunked in the unburned stable’s hayloft and, after a light breakfast and hasty goodbyes, departed for Palisade before the sun cleared the still-snowcapped Dragon’s Teeth Mountains in the distant east. Reaching the next station just before noon, having changed out the draft horses several times along the way, they ate a quick lunch and rested for a few hours. When they returned to the road, they were led once again by a yawning Bandrick, who had secured perhaps too much sleep waiting for them to arrive.
Before long, he took them south down a busy cutoff, now called the Fairbank Road, that led to a lakeside town of that name opposite Palisade. Fifty years before, the cutoff had been a dirt track carved by the feet of travelers who did not want to go out of their way to Bridgeton, adding many hours to their journeys. But not long after his coronation a little more than a decade earlier, the current king’s father, Aldons, had ordered the cutoff paved, stifling travelers’ complaints and placating the western Dukes Mortimor and Forsettis, who had for generations lobbied for its construction. At Fairbank, after a swift passage along the relatively new road, Adon’s crew could take a ferry across the lake to the capital.
They arrived in Fairbank with the sunset. With the king’s gold, Bandrick, riding ahead, had secured the last ferry for their passage, and not long thereafter, the weary crew plodded aboard. Mast handed out dried fruit and meat and the last of the bread, which they ate silently. Exhilarated by their first boat ride, Mat and Mia stood at the rail and stared in wonder at the sight of Palisade sitting high above the chalky cliff they sailed toward. Except for Adon, the rest of the crew took the opportunity of a rocking boat to nap in the fading light.
For his part, the captain stood beside Mia, watching with amusement her ever-altering expressions rather than the view, which he had seen a thousand times. Her brother looked at the landscape with less animation but just as keenly.
“Look how white it is, Mattan!” she said with awe, so focused on the sight that she was unaware of Adon’s presence. “It is a place of noble kings, no doubt! So beautiful—like it’s covered in snow, even in summer!”
“Our mountains are taller,” Mat answered, “but the chalk makes this hill more impressive.”
“And look how it seems cloven in two like it was struck with an ax!” she continued, making a chopping motion with one of her petite hands. “And with the palace on top, it looks like it wears a silver crown! It glitters gold with the light of the setting sun on its windows!”
Mat merely nodded, looking toward the city’s southern docks and beyond, noticing its high, broad wall and the spreading homes and businesses beyond it. “Such a vast city,” he muttered almost inaudibly over the flap of the sails and the calls of the vessel’s sailors as they rode the easterly breeze. “And so many people.”
Following his gaze, Mia drew in a sharp breath. “Those walls remind me of so many stories in the books, Mat!” she said, grinning. “Old Haynalt and Rovendich and Covendich all had high stone walls around them, and I don’t remember one of them having fallen to enemies. It’s just like the old stories here.”
“Don’t be too sure, Mia,” Mat cautioned. “This is Margonne, not Penthor, and a few thousand years have passed. People here live in reality. They are not from the legends.”
“But the legends are real!” she argued, pouting. “You said so yourself!”
“I said they are about real people,” he corrected. “We know because the history books confirm that they lived. But we can’t be sure the legends passed down to us are entirely true. Stories like that tend to get exaggerated over time. You know that.”
“Yes, but Palisade is more like the cities of old than The Corner is or anything else we’ve ever seen! It is still the city of a king! Let me enjoy it for a few minutes before you tear it down!” By the end of her little tirade, her face had reddened.
Mat put both hands up in surrender. “I wasn’t trying to tear it down. I just want to keep you from being too fanciful about it. It’s a real place with real dangers.”
Adon chose that moment to clear his throat, drawing their eyes to him. “You’re both right in your own ways. It is a lovely city of mostly just and noble kings, and it also has its share of selfish, aggressive, uncaring scoundrels. But just because we have arrived in Palisade doesn’t mean we will cast you adrift to fend for yourselves. The Santinettas will look after you. In fact, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of us.”
Relief washed over Mat’s face at the same time Mia turned and hugged Adon. “Thank you, sir!” the young man said with evident gratitude. “We are so used to doing everything for ourselves that we figured we’d have to do it here, too.”
The captain chuckled. “Ingrained habits are hard to break,” he said, “but being self-sufficient is a good one until it isn’t, if you catch my meaning. Why do everything yourself when you have friends to help?” He leaned his back against the rail, crossing his arms. “When we reach the palace, the king will probably give you your own rooms there for a time, but until he does, you can stay with me. He’ll want you close so he can ask you about the waves, and the masters at the Royal College can ask about your books.”
“We will stay at the palace?” Mia asked with wide eyes. “I won’t know how to act!”
Adon smiled. “Don’t worry. Knowing you are from The Corner, the king won’t expect you to have a courtier’s manners—at least not on the first day.” Mia’s head came up at that, making the old man laugh. “It’s not so bad, Mia! But it will be more difficult for you than Mat. His nature is quiet, patient, and calm. But you are far more expressive! In the palace, you will need to curb your natural impulse to react and respond, especially when meeting with the king. Otherwise, you will be considered ‘ill-mannered.’”
“I am not ill-mannered!” Mia said, green eyes flashing as she stamped her foot. Both Adon and Mat stared at her until she deflated. “I just did it, didn’t I?” The men nodded, trying to hold their grins in check. “This is going to be hard!” Mia wailed, sitting on the deck with her face in her hands.
Adon leaned down and patted her shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be. Just follow my lead or Mat’s.”
“Otherwise, we’ll have to gag you and tie your hands behind your back,” Mat said, snickering.
“Oh, hush!” she said sternly, but she could not hold back the laugh that escaped a few seconds later. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m trying to be angry at you!”
When they reached the docks and disembarked, Adon gathered his crew, informing them he would take the Oldhams to the palace. “Go home and get some rest. Come to my rooms tomorrow morning after breakfast—make it two hours after sunrise. We’ll be ready when the king calls for us.”
The others nodded and began moving away. Mast pulled his wagon next to Adon’s horse and asked, “What’d you say the name of that tavern on the Third Level was? Maybe I’ll try it out. See if it’s as good as you said.”
The captain chuckled. “It is. You’ll see. People call it The Alehouse, but the sign is just green with a mug of ale painted on it. Don’t judge the food and drink by how it looks. Give my regards to Clyve.”
Adon led the Oldhams at a trot to the Royal Road and then up the city’s levels to the palace. Seeing them coming, the guards at its gates ordered them opened and saluted the captain through. He steered them to the palace guard’s stables, where grooms took the horses, promising to deliver their saddlebags to Adon’s rooms momentarily.
The king himself, dressed immaculately as usual, met them on the steps before the main doors, flanked by uniformed guards. “Welcome home, uncle!” Lorens said with a wide grin. “Your son sent me a note that an agent sighted you boarding a ferry in Fairbank, so we knew you were coming.” His deep blue eyes swiveled to take in the two youths. “It appears you brought guests! Who do we have here?”
“Thank you, lord, for this unexpected welcome,” Adon said with a slight bow, returning the king’s smile with affection. “I brought the Oldham siblings from The Corner. The one bowing is Mattan, and his curtsying sister is Miandra.”
“Welcome to Palisade and to my palace, Mattan and Miandra!” Lorens said with a theatrical sweep of his arm. “Come inside! I ordered food sent to my study, so you can eat there while we talk. We don’t have time to dawdle. Events are moving too fast. This way!”
“My lord, should I call the rest of my crew?” Adon asked as they jogged behind the king’s long strides.
“No, let them rest!” Lorens replied over his shoulder. “I’m sure you can fill me in on everything I need to know.”
Suddenly turning right, the king opened a door, beyond which descended a long flight of stairs to a heavy, locked door. He produced a key and ushered them through into a dimly lit corridor that stretched beyond their sight. After a few turns, he rapped a pattern on a nondescript door that a bowing servant opened immediately.
The room they entered, spacious and comfortable and carpeted in deep blue, lacked what most studies featured: a desk. Instead, it centered on a stone fireplace on the right-hand wall, before which stood a low, oval table with four crimson-leather wing chairs spaced around it. Opposite, an intricately carved sideboard offered silverware, plates, glasses, several covered platters of food, a pitcher of water, and various wines and liquors in decanters. A bookcase crammed with colorful leather-bound, gold-lettered volumes on diverse topics anchored each wall, while the rest of the wall space contained framed maps, a few portraits, a couple of landscapes, and at least one hunting scene. A second door in the middle of the far wall went almost unnoticed among all the furnishings.
“Edgar, prepare plates for my three guests,” Lorens ordered as he breezed past the servant, “and I will have a glass of wine. Oh, and I will probably want tea after a little while.”
“Yes, lord.”
The king waved them to seats around the table, and he sat in what was clearly his chair, an oversized and well-used one with a plump, Margonni-purple pillow leaning against each arm. Edgar brought Lorens’ wine immediately and asked Adon and the Oldhams what they desired to drink. All asked for water after Adon’s request for ale was met with a polite, “I’m sorry, sir. No ale is available at the moment.”
“Pity,” Adon said with a sigh, and the king smirked.
“Uncle, start with the raid on Sixty-Mile Station,” Lorens ordered. “Leave out no detail.” He listened intently while Adon gave him a thorough account of their early suspicions of Genubah, the Leitan’s unsuccessful attack at the campsite, and the murders and the theft of the riding horses at the station. The king asked a few questions to clarify some points but otherwise remained silent. Once Adon finished, he shook his head, saying, “I will ensure the widow receives compensation. Poor woman.”
“Aye,” Adon agreed. “With the loss of her husband and sons, she suffered the first sorrows of this conflict. We cannot call it otherwise. The raid was an act of war. The Leitani are rising.”
Lorens inclined his head. “I agree. We are at war with a Leitani faction. I should tell you that the Prophetess came to see me the day after you left.” He smiled a little sadly. “She asked me to tell you she had her first vision, but she wishes she hadn’t. You see, in her vision, she saw one of her people, a man—she called him a warrior-priest—praying to Azuri for our destruction. He was bowing and chanting before an altar somewhere in the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains, above the treeline. Anyway, she believes the warrior-priest is the leader of the rebel Leitani, and”—he paused dramatically, eyes twinkling—“responsible for the waves of evil. She called them ‘emanations of Azuri.’”
“So, the warrior-priest is some sort of Leitan sorcerer?” Adon asked.
The king shrugged. “Evidently. The Prophetess said she was completely unaware of such of thing among the Leitani—that there hasn’t been a Leitan sorcerer since Chogan. She was almost beside herself with worry and horror.”
Adon finished his glass of water and asked for wine, which Edgar brought to him promptly. “So, it seems several of us came to the same conclusion independently,” he said after taking a sip. “The waves of evil and the uprising are related. The timing is no coincidence. We are witnessing a plan being executed.”
The king’s face turned stony as he looked into the fire. Finally, he said, “Uncle, I don’t like it one bit! I hate having to wait for the next blow to fall!”
The captain nodded. “Aye, it would be easier if a host appeared at the gates. Then, seeing it, we could act. But this infernal strategy of emanations and lightning raids goes straight to the heart and nerves. I feel it, too, my lord. It makes me fear what tomorrow will bring.”
A note:
Mia’s mention of Haynalt, Rovendich, and Covendich refers to the three major cities of Penthor on the continent from which the Taurani people sailed. Haynalt was the kingdom’s capital city, built beside the continent’s greatest river, which connected the Penthori to all the major nations and brought it great wealth. Rovendich and Covendich marked the west and east ends, respectively, of a major highway running through the center of a vast forest that covered two-thirds of the kingdom. All three, as Mia said, were heavily fortified against assault, and no army ever successfully conquered them. However, in the cataclysms that prompted the Taurani migration, Covendich fell to a dreadful earthquake that split the city in two and killed many thousands of Penthori. The resulting ravine filled with water from underground reservoirs, creating a new lake and river.
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