Forgotten Embers

Chapter 35: The Bookkeeper

She waited by the gates of High Palace, watching the faces as they entered there. The guards wandered about, patrolling the masses as they flooded into the castle.

The King had sent out an invitation over the airways: there would be a public trial of Eliezer Webber, the former Ambassador of the Kingsmen and a nefarious enemy of the state. High Palace would be opened at noon and accessible to all. It was a rare opportunity. High Palace had not been made open to the public in years, and King Zephyr himself was a recluse to his people, having not made any sort of public appearance in over a decade.

The streets of the city were nearly empty outside of the Palace District, and many businesses had shut down for the remainder of the trial. The trial was also to be broadcast live and a recording made available on the KLP for those unable to attend, though she wondered how accurately the events were being recorded.

'If they are broadcasting it live, they wouldn't be able to edit it, would they? But then, what is it they're planning? They must have some way to avoid disaster with this. Of course, they might plan to change it later. Zephyr could issue a decree, and everyone would have their memories altered. No one would remember a thing that happened. How frustrating!' She was becoming increasingly annoyed just thinking about it. She felt her stomach turn. 'The KLP: they called it the perfect marriage of magic and technology... but it isn't. All it is is mind control.' She sighed. 'Mind control... what a sickening thought.'

Perhaps she had been pulled too deep into thought, because she hadn't noticed the guardsman as he approached her.

"You alright, lass?" he asked her, and she found his voice was strangely familiar.

Avera jumped as a jolt of anxiety rushed through her, spurring an inglorious return to reality. She looked up at the man and smiled nervously. "Oh, yes, sir," she muttered.

He grinned with amusement, "You don't recognize me, do you?"

"I, uh..." she said, looking the man over.

He was lean and muscular. He wore a helmet with a dark visor which covered his eyes and a tight orange beard which wrapped around his pale face. His uniform was that of an officer's with a high ranking insignia, one which Avera well recognized. It was the symbol of an eagle with outstretched wings and a rolled map in its talons, the emblem of the High Colonels.

The High Colonels were an elite team of military intelligence officers entrusted with the state's most sensitive secrets and high security missions. The group consisted of ten officers, each retaining a sponsoring member of the High Court. If a recommendation was made by one of the Court officers, the prospective appointee would then be interviewed by King Zephyr himself, and the nomination would be either approved or rejected based on his evaluation of the candidate. Once approved, a member of the High Colonels would report solely to his sponsoring Court officer, Captain Zahaynei, and King Zephyr, unless under the King's alternative direction.

'There's no doubt he's a Colonel like my father was, but still... I don't know him.'

"No, sir. I'm sorry," she said. "You must have me mistaken for someone. I don't think we've met." 

"You are Avera Ibori, aren't you? The girl who was here last night?" he asked her, maintaining a confident smile.

"Yes," she said with some surprise.

'Maybe we did meet.'

"Well, I'm Marcus Garner," he said, throwing up a fist and pointing his thumb back to himself with a broad grin. "I helped to oversee last night's rescue mission," he enthusiastically explained. "It was pretty strange the way that fellow jumped off the roof like he did. My men and I were relieved to get you back safe."

"Oh, yes," she said smiling. "I should thank you for that. You saved me from that maniac on the roof."

"No thanks necessary," he told her with a wave of his hand. "Though, I am impressed to see you here. If it were me, I would've been afraid to come."

"Well, my friend asked me to meet him here," she stammered. "He really has his heart set on coming. But I am a little nervous," she confessed.

"Aye! What kind of man is he to leave a lady waiting all alone in the street?"

"Well, uh... maybe he's just nervous, too?" she awkwardly suggested. "Ha!"

"Yes, I suppose that is a possibility," he chuckled.

"Oh, look!" she said, spotting Ben as he wound his way through the crowd. "There he is now!"

"Whe-oh," he said, his voice dropping off and his countenance changing. "Is... that your friend there?" he asked her, pointing a finger to a place in the distance.

"Uh... yes," she affirmed. "There, with the glasses."

Marcus stood as if paralyzed.

"Is... everything okay?" she asked him.

'Why is life always strange lately?'

"All's well," he muttered. "But your friend, he... has a remarkable likeness to a man I knew once."

"Oh, really?" she asked, turning his eyes toward him with interest. "What was he like?"

"He was, uh... a little more muscular, a little more built, very handsome, face like an angel," he told her. He kept his voice low. "His hair was considerably lighter, but the face and the eyes... overall," he breathed, "incredible."

"Interesting," she said flatly.

'I wonder if he knew Casper.'

"This man, what happened to him?" she asked.

"He... left," he told her. "He had kind of a family crisis."

She held back from laughing. 'Well, that's a diplomatic way of saying it.'

Ben came and greeted them, dressed in his usual vest and shirt sleeves with matching trousers. Today, the color was sand accompanied by a deep red-violet tie with a gold pin of the armorial crest attached to the center of the knot.

'What was he thinking wearing that here?'

"Benjamin, you say?" Marcus asked him.

"Yes, sir," Benjamin pleasantly asserted. "Benjamin Palmer."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Benjamin," the officer told him, shaking his hand. "My name is Marcus Garner."

"A pleasure, sir," he assured him.

"I like that pin you have there," Marcus stated, and Avera began to feel uneasy.

"Oh, this?" Ben asked him, indicating the crest. "Thank you! Actually, it's an old family heirloom. It was my father's, and now it's mine, but I always wear it when I'm thinking of him."

"Your father's not around, then?" he asked him.

"No, sir," Benjamin earnestly confessed. "I lost my parents when I was very young. There are times that I miss them very much, and there are times that I have regrets about everything that has happened. I was looked after by my family's servants, and they have loved me as a child. I have grown, and now, I long to be a better man, to live well, and to conduct myself appropriately to the task of life ahead of me. I have received favor from the King of Himmel and his servants. They have blessed me with life," he told him, a soft smile returning to his face. "I am grateful to them both."

"This kingdom," Marcus said, speaking slowly with an air of sympathy, "is quite different than the one your parents knew."

"I appreciate that," Ben said softly.

"Things have changed a lot around here," Marcus told him, "but maybe they're ready to be changed again... for the better this time." He smiled. "Let me walk the two of you inside."

He escorted them into the building, past the rivers of people and the various security checkpoints to the service desk. Behind the desk sat a heavy set woman with a security badge and a low-ranking guard uniform. Her hair was dark and wavy, pulled back loosely in a ponytail with a red headband. Her skin was tanned and flawless. Her eyes were a dark and captivating brown with long eyelashes that fluttered about.

"Hello, Helena!" Marcus said in friendly greeting.

"Marcus, how are you?" she asked, happy to see him.

"Doing well! As always, doing well," he said with a smile. "Hey, Helena, these are some friends. I would like them to be put in my section," he told her. "That's..."

"Right up front, practically," she told him, checking the capacity sheet. "We can do that, but I'll still need the names and occupations."

"Thanks! Uh... this here," he said, reaching past Ben and placing his hand on Avera's shoulder, "is Miss Avera Ibori, daughter of the noted Colonel, Tyberion, and she is a..."

"Student, ma'am," Avera told her with a pleasant smile.

'This could get complicated with Ben.'

"Thank you, honey," Helena said sweetly. "And for you, sir?"

"Now, this..." Marcus went on, moving his hand over to Benjamin, "is Mr. Benjamin Palmer." Helena typed something on her holodex and made a face, then began flipping through the pages of one of her piles of papers.

'Oh, no! What's wrong?'

"But you won't find his name on the census forms," Marcus added, quickly correcting his error. "Benjamin is an orphan boy my sister raised. He lives outside of the city."

'What!'

"I didn't know you had a sister, Marcus," she said with surprise. "Your two brothers are all I ever hear about!"

"Yes, well, I... don't really mention her much. I haven't seen her in some time. It's kind of a complicated situation, really. Strange... family dynamics, you know?"

'I can't believe this. Is Dorcus really his sister?'

"Uh-huh..." Helena gave Marcus a distinct look of skepticism. "Okay, then what is it this orphan boy does?"

"Ben? Well, he's a... uh..."

'Oh no. He didn't think this that far through, and neither did I!'

"Bookkeeper, ma'am," Benjamin told her, saving Marcus from his struggle to come up with an answer.

'Ah... well, he does keep the books, doesn't he?'

"And where is it you keep books for, young man?" Helena asked him, still seemingly unconvinced.

"For the North Pyre Kingsmen Congregation," he told her.

"Mr. Waverley's church?" she asked with puzzled surprise.

"Yes, and I can't think of anything that has left me more shocked than hearing what a terrible, ungodly man he's turned out to be. I always thought him quite gentle and rather inspiring."

'Clever wording, Ben.' Avera smiled.

Helena shook her head. "It just goes to show you, you never can tell."

Marcus grinned, clearly pleased with Benjamin's performance. "Well, maybe you can about some things," he said, lightly shuffling the hair of his newly adopted nephew.