Forgotten Embers

Chapter 26: The Inquisitor

She looked at him, scared and nervous, her face only inches away for his own. He stared into her beautiful blue-green eyes, now shaded with fearful shock, and he felt a sudden cutting conviction.

'What am I doing?'

He stopped himself, easing off and pulling himself back from the table. "Sorry," he mumbled, placing his hand on the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Quince..." she began, her eyes watching him.

"No, it's okay," he told her, looking away. "You... don't owe me an explanation. I'm sorry," he said again quickly. "Look, I have a meeting about my apprenticeship. So, I'll... have to get going." He tilted his head back towards the door, letting out short nervous chuckle.

"Sure, Quince," she said with a soft smile, twisting her hair around her finger. "Thank you again for this," she added, tapping the book's cover.

He offered a small grin. "I've enjoyed this. If I didn't have this meeting today, I'd stay and learn some history with you."

She smiled. "Next time, then."

"Definitely," he assured her with a smile and a friendly wave as he departed.

He walked down the streets of Pyre, the rain still gently falling.

'Stephan... how does she know? Outside of the academy, we are forbidden to speak of him. Who would tell her? Mr. Ibori? No. He wouldn't involve her in this, but... she does remember him. So, then, there is something... she isn't telling me, and she isn't using the KLP, either!'

"Gah!" he cried out in frustration.

A few more steps and he stopped for a time. Caught up in his thoughts, he stared into his reflection in a puddle down below.

'Should I have said something? Should I have pushed her or been more forthright? Should I... turn her in to the men at High Palace? No...'

He kicked the puddle as he turned away, distorting his image as he sent the water flying in all directions.

'No, I need to get my mind off this. I have this meeting to go to. I'll be assigned to a member of the King's Court. I need to get my head together.'

He looked on to High Palace, setting his sights on the castle.

'Come on, Quince, destiny's calling!'

One of the guards met him at the gate and escorted him to a solitary waiting room deep within the fortress of High Palace. The room was a compact cube, which he estimated was about nine feet in any given direction. The door was easily recognizable from the outside, but it opened into the wall and was nearly invisible from the inside.

"Lord Kallida will he in shortly," the guardsman assured him.

He nodded an acknowledgement and watched the man as he left, paying careful attention to the door as it slid open, then shut again, noting its positioning.

'Just in case. Someone checking for it blindly would expect it to appear dead center, but it's about a foot to the left of that.'

The room was dark. Terribly dark. So dark, in fact, that he could not delineate between the floor, walls, and ceiling. Everything was swallowed up in complete blackness. Yet, there was light coming from somewhere, because he could still see his hand, though vaguely, and had some idea of depth.

'Still... I hate it when they pull things like this. It feels like I'm imprisoned. Ha! Maybe I would've been better to stay with Avera at the library, after all. Oh well...' he ran his fingers through his hair and brushed the tips of his fingers against his thumb nervously as he waited, 'too late now.'

An indeterminable amount of time passed. It felt to him like hours, though he assured himself it had been merely minutes. A door opened to his left, a dark silhouette appearing against the backdrop of the bright white rectangle of light pouring in from the outside world.

He took note. 'A second door, this one likely a limited access way.'

The silhouetted figure stepped forward into the room from the doorway, and the door closed behind him, leaving them in utter darkness. The man made his way forward and Kelvin felt him approaching as he made his way to the center of the room.

He swallowed, his stomach twisting. The room seemed darker than it ever had, the dim light fading further with every step this man took. The footsteps stopped, and he knew the man was standing right in front of him, though he could not see his face.

"Kelvin Q. Dehnhardt of Kindellend," came a voice from the darkness.

"Yes," he acknowledged, trembling in body, though his speech was unaffected.

"Tell me, what is it you desire?"

"What I desire?" he asked, taken off guard.

"Yes," said the voice. "Some men desire glory, others honor, praise, or acclamation. Some men desire wealth, wisdom, or reputation. Some men desire knowledge, understanding, or longevity. Some seek belonging, others love or reverence. There are those who seek justice, worth, or meaning. Then, there are, also, those who seek after secrets and ancient power and many other things. So, tell me what you seek. What is it you desire? Tell me, and I will tell you what manner of man you are."

"And what of yourself?" Kelvin replied carefully, "What manner of man are you?"

"You would answer a question with a question?" the voice seemed to hiss as it commented with deep interest.

"I would," Kelvin asserted. "How can I allow myself to be known if I know not my adversary? And if I know not what manner of man you are, how can I say what manner of man I am to you?"

"Very well," the voice answered. "I am a man of power," he told him, and a pattern of glowing purple appeared in the floor as he said it, the eerie glow lighting their forms from beneath.

Suddenly, the two could see each other as they stood face to face and less than two feet apart.

Kelvin dropped to one knee and bowed himself. "Lord Master Inquisitor," he said humbly before taking again to his feet.

On Kallida's face came a small, devilish smile. "Well? I'm waiting," he spoke with elongated tones.

"I am your servant, sir, the son of a fisherman, seeking to prove himself worthy of the King's favor."

"I hope you are aware," Kallida began slowly, "that I came in here with very high expectations of you." Kelvin stood at attention, his muscles tense and unmoving. "I have not been disappointed," Kallida told him. "You answer very wisely."

Kelvin bowed his head, "Sir."

"Do you have a preference as to which of us you should be assigned?"

"A preference?" Kelvin's eyes widened.

'Was it not enough to have been considered for an apprenticeship at my age? I have nothing to my name. Then to be given to one of the kingdom's ruling members, but now... a preference? It's beyond me.'

"My Lord," he said simply, "it would not be right of me to say."

"I don't see why not," Kallida answered him without hesitation and spoke without any hint of emotion. Kelvin was taken off guard and his face showed it. Kallida smirked. "Perfect marks in nearly every category of study, a vigilant fighter, an observant tracker, an artful debater, a willing understudy, an eloquent persuader, an innovative thinker, a quick disguiser, a brilliant strategist, a reliable tactician, a skilled swordsman, and a marksman without equal, more than able to lead and order forces, and all of that without any formal training. It seems to me that you would excel regardless of where I place you, so the question is not so much where you would succeed as it is where you would like to." He paused and their eyes met. "Of course," he continued, "I could place you, if that is what you want."

"I would prefer it," Kelvin asserted, his eyes locked onto Kallida's in the faint purple light.

"You know," Kallida began, tilting his head back, "many make it here and no further. They never see my face," he told him. "They allow themselves to be fully open, they answer all my questions, and they never think to ask a word of who I am or who they're dealing with. They don't count the paces to the door as you did."

'What!' A look of surprise came over Kelvin's features.

"What?" Kallida went on, "You didn't think I'd noticed? You counted the steps I took from the door as I entered the room. You followed me with your eyes despite my having plunged us into utter darkness. I'm quite confident you did the same with your own steps when entering and with the guard when he exited. Tell me, Mr. Dehnhardt, am I wrong?"

"No, you're quite correct," Kelvin affirmed, a small grin coming across. He was impressed.

"Tell me, then, Dehnhardt, would you aspire to one of the ten?"

"I might," Kelvin responded.

"I see." Kallida smiled, and he seemed as an animal who had captured its prey. "And, tell me, would you be willing to kill for it?"

"To kill...?"

'That's a strange question. Surely, he would mean in war or on the field of battle. He couldn't mean...'

Kallida's eyes watched him.

'No...'

"In war or in peace, for your own personal ambitions or a united cause, there is no difference. Does this bother you?"

Kelvin's fist clenched. "Doesn't it you?"

"This position is a lifetime appointment," Kallida told him. His words were cold and unfeeling. "Do you understand? These seats are not vacated by accident. A man does not attain to so high a position without bloodshed. Generally, a seat is gained by means of a duel, that is the preferred method of our King. There are times that a seat has been won through guile or treachery, though that is much less common. Still, we are... careful."

"It was my understanding that the Court vacancies are filled by appointment," Kelvin replied quickly.

"When the positions were created, the sages were appointed," Kallida explained, "but, as of now, only one remains."

"I see," Kelvin muttered thoughtfully, lowering his head and staring at the ground.

'Bloodthirsty arrogance! They have such a lust for power that they have become almost inhuman, having totally abandoned any reservation regarding the spilling of blood. I don't know that I could ever be witness to it, let alone partake. Is the expectation that I become accustomed to it, because I'm not sure I want that. I have no qualms in an honorable challenge, but to kill a man for his place, a noble man to take his office, a goodly man for selfish gain?' He shivered, repulsed by the idea.

"Doing some soul searching?" Kallida said with a smug smile. "Thanks to our little discussion here, I now know exactly with whom I should pair you. It's a complex assignment, but you may be just the man for it. You prefer the position given through appointment to that obtained by ambition and bloodshed?" It was only a half question. "I'm not wrong," he added without taking a breath.

"Ha," Kelvin breathed, raising his head again. "I admit, you're correct."

"Very well," Kallida began with a peculiar glee, making Kelvin no less nervous. "I will appoint you as apprentice to the Archmage, and I will oversee your progress as you go."