Forgotten Embers

Chapter 41: Consent

In the chambers of the High Court of the King were gathered nine of the ten ruling sages. They stood each in his place before the judgement seat where Zephyr sat. Kallida stood in the place of the second with Dehnhardt standing close behind him. There was an emptiness to his left. 

"Where is Blackridge?" Kallida inquired in the form of a harsh whisper directed toward the young man standing behind him.

"Uh..." Kelvin moved his feet, uneasy. 

'I wish I knew. He should have been here by now.' 

"Like I said, all he told me was that he had some brief business to attend to that demanded his immediate attention," he reiterated to the Inquisitor for what must have been the fifth time, "and he told me to go on with you." 

"I know, but I don't like that," Kallida whispered back again. 

"Does the Inquisitor have something he would like to share with the Court?" Almauni's voice boomed from the place of the fourth seat of the Wartime Counsel. 

Jasper Almauni was a muscular man, large in stature. He was a beastly man with tanned skin, a grizzly beard, and wild hair like raven's locks. 

Kelvin froze. 'Some of these men... give me the creeps, and I don't like it. It's amazing, but... I was quite fortunate with my placement. It's good that I didn't make a request, because I wouldn't have had the audacity to ask to be paired with the Archmage, anyway.' He looked to Kallida, who seemed likewise appalled. 

"We were merely discussing the whereabouts of the Lord Archmage, who is missing," Kallida sent back sharply, "as you can well see!" 

"Yes, where is Master Blackridge?" Zephyr asked curiously, leaning forward, his chin resting on his knuckles with interest. "Mr. Dehnhardt?" 

"Ah," Kelvin squeaked, moving a bit to his left and taking a few steps forward. "My Lord the King... and members of the High Court, I... well, I don't know where he is. He said he had business to attend to briefly. That was all," Kelvin told them, stepping back. 

"That is highly unusual," Iphor commented.

"It is," the refined Rosenfelt agreed from the eighth seat, "and much more so for Lord Blackridge. He's always so quick to come!" 

'Rosenfelt might not have been a bad man to work for,' he thought as he considered the slender man with the wispy white hair, bushy eyebrows, and handlebar mustache. 'Although, domestic affairs isn't exactly my ideal position.' 

He turned his face to the door, longing for Blackridge to walk through it with some over-the-top apology which Zephyr would quickly dismiss out of fondness. He frowned with increasing concern.

'Last night he said there was a personal matter, and the guardsmen said he freaked. I just hope... I mean... because, I really like working for him.' 

"Well, gentlemen, I don't kno-" Zephyr began, being interrupted by the sound of the opening of the chamber doors. It wasn't Blackridge. It was two other guards dragging a red headed man behind them. 

'What! That man's an intelligence officer!'

"What is the meaning of this?" Zephyr demanded. "Dragging an officer into my court!"

Kallida's eyes widened as the men approached, and he seemed to become uneasy. 

'He must know the man.' 

"My Lord King Zephyr," one of the soldiers responded, and Kelvin recognized that they, too, were of the intelligence corps, though not officers, "we bring you Marcus Garner of the High Colonels. We discovered him in the KLP and Processing Lab destroying our systems and resources. Being as Captain Zahaynei is otherwise occupied, we weren't sure where else to take him."

"A High Colonel, eh? We haven't had much luck with those lately, have we, Master Kallida?" the King replied, addressing the Inquisitor.

"No, my Lord," Kallida grudgingly admitted, "we haven't."

"What was the extent of the damages?" Zephyr asked, addressing the guardsman.

The man shook his head. "It's all shot," he told him. "It will take us at least a week to get the systems back online and our blood storage is..." he shook his head again, looking out into the distance as if to visualize the word, "shattered. Sir, there's blood everywhere. There are no independent vials." 

"Well, my, my, that is quite the impressive show of derision, isn't it?" Zephyr smirked as if somewhat impressed. "And at such a convenient time. Officer... Garner, was it? Yes, let me guess - you are... related to Dorcus. Is that it? A brother, maybe? I suppose foolhardy zeal to be a family trait."  

Marcus looked up at him, his blue eyes glinting with newfound hope. "You," he said, the two soldiers continuing to hold him by the arms as he kneeled before them, "understand nothing at all." 

"Oh? Don't I now? Explain it to me," Zephyr said shortly, adjusting his positioning.

"You," Garner told him plainly, "have spilled many a man's blood. You have drunk the blood of righteous men and bathed in women's tears. You have robed yourself in another man's garments and built your throne on treachery. All of us you have made accomplices to your evils - your lies and your murderous works. Still, you do not relent! You, being unsatisfied with your place, no matter how lofty, have resolved to make a war with Himmel, and I will not consent to it! Not this time."

Kelvin was taken aback. 'What is with these people? What do they not understand? A High Colonel... a man could live a comfortable life with that kind of position. There's a lot of prestige with it, and he's a handsome man. What more could he hope for? Why throw it all away? For what?' 

"The Ambassador, then," Zaphyr said coldly, his voice dripping with distain. "I see. Well, I can't very well keep an intelligence officer who has elected to maintain sympathies with someone who so clearly defies our form of government." 

Marcus remained silent. 

"My Lord, if I may," Rosenfelt courageously interjected. 

Zephyr gave him an intense look of surprise and warning. 

"We could acquit him," Rosenfelt boldly suggested. 

"What?" Zephyr nearly fell out of his seat, his eyes bulging with anger. 

"Without the KLP, it would be difficult to continue this process with Ambassador Webber as you had originally planned it," Rosenfelt continued. He addressed the room, unwilling to face Zephyr directly, and his eyes turned often to Marcus. "This man's concerns are not his own," Rosenfelt told him. "This nation is inhabited with Kingsmen, many of whom share in these convictions. We could very well avoid much unpleasantness by simply acquitting the Ambassador." 

 "Master Rosenfelt," Zephyr snapped with open hostility, "another word like that and I'll have your head and not just your thoughts!"

The door opened once again, this time to another officer, a guardsman. He was a nervous man, fair skinned with deep blue eyes and light brown hair. He was running and nearly fell on his way through the door. 

"King Zephyr, my Lord!" the man called out frantically as he approached. 

"What now?" Zephyr demanded, jumping to his feet in agitation.

"O King, I..." he stopped, freezing at the sight of Garner. "Colonel Garner!" he exclaimed in horror. "No... not you, too." 

"Benson!" Kallida erupted. "Tell us what happened! Who relieved you of your post?"

"Why... Colonel Garner did," he said as if baffled. "But that's just it, sir," he went on, "because when he did he said that Lord Blackridge had need of me, and when I found him..." Benson paused, his body trembling.

"You have seen Blackridge, then?" Zephyr inquired of him.

"Yes. Yes, my Lord, and..." he continued as if pained, "Lord Charlenade was dead, my Lord, along with the others of the mage-royal. Lord Blackridge had killed them. He said to consider it his resignation, that he would have no more a part of your bloodshed. Rather... an ironic statement, as I look at it."

'He did what?' Kelvin felt as his heart sank and pain began to pulsate through him. 'No... no, he couldn't. Did he plan this? Is that why he sent me away? But... why?'

The room was caught in a shocked silence, and Zephyr closed his eyes tight, his head turned down and to the side. "Would any of you others betray me?" he snarled through clenched teeth. "It seems to be the time for treachery," he said, his eyes moving to each member of the silent court, his gaze penetrating with a hot intensity. "No one? Now is your time," he jeered, beginning to descend the great white stairs with slow and deliberate steps. "Allow me to remind you all of something, being as it seems to be so easily forgotten: I am the King, and I will not have my authority questioned! Especially not by the High Colonels or any of the members of this court!" he scolded them, his voice raised. "I suppose, Colonel Garner," he paused, drawing his sword, "that Ambassador Webber," he said with an icy glance towards Rosenfelt, "is no longer imprisoned. I must congratulate you on your heroism." His manner was menacing as he stepped onto the floor, his words a mocking rebuke. "I must assume by your lack of answer to my earlier questions that I was correct."

He continued to address Marcus harshly as he walked between the court officers, five men aligned on either side of him. There was a stress on every one of them, a danger for their lives, and each man stood watching the floor in front of him so as to avoid their eyes making chance contact with their king's. 

Kelvin watched Zephyr as he went. Some of the officials had sweat dripping from their brows and trembled in terror before him. A chilling, ghostlike presence lingered as he went and the authority of death swirled around him. Kelvin swallowed hard. This was not the sort of thing which he enjoyed. 

'Lucky I was here and not with Lord Blackridge... or else...' a shiver went down his spine. 'Still, I wonder if he planned that... that I not be there. It seems that he did.' 

The guardsmen released Garner and backed fearfully away as Zephyr approached, the sword in his hand two-edged and black. 

"You are a relative of Dorcus Garner?" Zephyr asked him.

"I am," Marcus stated, his eyes beholding the King. 

"Where is she?" Zephyr asked him, considering his polished blade. "Tell me, and I'll let you live."

Garner's breathing hardened, every man's eyes turned on him for an answer. 

"I'd take it," Kallida muttered in little more than a whisper. 

"Eh!" Kelvin squeaked, his face turned to Kallida in surprise. 

'Does he really think so little of his own heart?' His gaze fell again to Garner. 'This is a real quandary for any man.'

"Even if I knew, I would not tell you," Garner said. His voice was firm but wavering, and he paused. "But as it is," he confessed, "I do not know." 

"Then I'll tell you what I will do. I will send out the guard and take them in their flight, these men you and Blackridge released. I will command the men to follow them and pursue until they have found the Seer's apprentice, and when they find her, which they will, they will bring her here to me and the Ambassador along with her. And, having them both, I will delight in their agony as each pleads for the other's life." Zephyr spoke his words like venom which he injected slowly into his victim's veins, and a wicked smile spread across his lips at the thought of it. "Then, I will hold a public assembly whereby to execute them both. But I will torture Eliezer beforehand with Dorcus watching as I do, and I will abuse her in his presence, also. Then, when the time does come to execute them, I will kill her first, and I will do so right in front of him. Oh! Only a fool would make himself so vulnerable!" he laughed with sadistic delight, his words brimming with excitement. "I will at last see him fall helpless before me, and then, only then, will I take from him his own life, also, and I will watch with pleasure as the lifeblood drains out of him and the light of his eyes is finally extinguished. You have spared them from suffering, but I will see to it that their suffering is multiplied before I've had my fill of it!" Zephyr proclaimed. "Your sister will suffer much for the man you have released, and you may count yourself culpable!" 

He raised his sword, taking the handle in his hands and bringing the point down upon Marcus's back. Garner fell forward with a pained cry as Zephyr quickly withdrew his bloodied sword. 

Kelvin looked on in horror, his eyes wide and heart racing. 

'He... killed him! I suppose... that's just... the way it has to be. But, still, I wonder... if they will kill Blackridge like that, too.' He paused. 'A war with Himmel, eh? I've heard of better things.' 

He looked to Kallida, who was biting his lip, keeping his black eyes down as they flickered, deep in thought. 'So much for Kypher being a far cry from divine retribution.'