Return to Arrazuole (Part2)

Chapter Four

         Sarne watched with grim pleasure as the bodies of hundreds-no thousands-of dead children were thrown into a blazing heap in the courtyard. The smell of burnt flesh rose like a phoenix from the flames, enveloping the castle in its grasp, but still Sarne showed no emotion. Even as the sound of desperate cries, from all around the kingdom, floated on the air to his ears-his gaze never flickered from the scene below him.
         Satisfied that his generals had everything under control, Sarne moved away from the window. He was finally beginning to relax after all the night’s events.  Now, he could start to plan the future movements of the Justai. There was still a lot to be done, resistance in the kingdom was rife and needed to be stamped out quickly.
         “Master!’ The door to the makeshift headquarters slammed against the wall as two of Sarne’s generals entered, dragging between them an elderly man, beaten and bloodied.  A Setti no doubt, thought Sarne, his eyes filling with contempt. It was clear from the shoddily made clothes, most likely pieced together from old sacks and discarded pieces of leather, and the stench of rotting garbage that now filled Sarne’s nose.
         “We found this one hiding in the kitchen master.” His general’s voice was harsh as he forced the man onto his knees.  The man was visibly shaking with fear, and beads of sweat were forming his forehead.
         “So? Why bring him hear, just finish him off like the others.” Sarne didn’t have time to be bothered by trivial matters when he had many more important things on his mind. Sweeping past the assembled men, he made his way to the door before the next sentence froze him to the spot.
         “Master! He says he has information regarding the princess….and the child.”
         Sarne’s blood began to race through his veins. He allowed his black eyes to fall on the man, who stared at the floor with a look of sheer terror.
         “What do you know?” Sarne spoke each word succinctly, his eyes never leaving the man.
         At least, the man raised his eyes and looked directly at Sarne, his terror growing as he did.
         “P..Plase, meister, “ he spoke in the broken accent that most Settis possessed. “I was theres, I saws whait happened. If, if mesiter will spears me life, I will tells meister everythink. “
Sarne attempted to conceal the excitement building in his soul.
         “Go on.”
The man looked straight into Sarne’s eyes.  He already had a weeping head wound that was slowly dripping blood down his face.
“Does I has meister’s word?” The man’s voice trembled as he spoke.
“I give you my word”
The man visibly relaxed. He drew a long, shuddering breath before continuing to speak.
“As I says, I was theres. Whens the knights cam, I was ups in the gallery. And the princess, she cams running, screaming ins the bedchamber. Thens the baby cams, and there weres all this screaming and knights. That’s whens the princess gavs the baby to her maid.”
Sarne felt every hair on his body stand on end.
“Then?”
“The princess, she tolds her maid to gets the baby out of the kingdom! She tells her to go to the Uripideus and gavs her a letter. That’s whens the princess ranned away, to the tower, and the maid escapes ” The man finished his tale breathlessly and looked expectantly at Sarne.
The Uripideus! He should have known. It was probably too late by now. The baby, for all he knew, may not even be in the kingdom anymore.  But he would soon find out…
He turned abruptly back towards the door before his general’s voice stopped him again.
“What shall we do with him master?”
Sarne appraised the man with his eyes more thoroughly; he was old, at least sixty. Weak, and probably diseased. The grey hair on his head was sparse and exposed large areas of his scalp. 
“He has served his purpose, we have no need for him now. Kill him.”
A desperate plea hit Sarne’s back as turned away from the pitiful scene.
“But, meister gavs his word!”
Exhaling slowly, Sarne gently made his way over to the man. Tears were streaming down his wrinkled face. Sarne placed his hand on the top of his head, smiling softly,
“I lied.”



Chapter Five

         “What’s going on here?!” Jenna’s voice was overflowing with the fear and confusion that had enveloped her.  She suddenly realised she was grasping the stranger’s arm in her hand.
The black eyes found hers and drew her deep inside them, she had the oddest feeling that she was seeing straight into his soul. 
“I don’t have time to explain now. You are going to have to trust me. Both are lives depend on it.”
Jenna found herself nodding marionette like, all power drained from her body. As that terrible sound pierced the still night again, she clutched his arm even tighter.  She found the courage to look at him again, but his eyes were squinting into the darkness beyond them.
He slowly manoeuvred her so that she was directly behind him, forming a human wall between her and whatever was out there.
“Don’t move, don’t make a sound,” he whispered.  Jenna had no intention of doing either.  She watched, dumbfounded, as he fumbled through the folds of his clothes and carefully removed a small circular disk. Only a few inches wide, and less than an inch deep, it appeared to be etched with various markings that Jenna didn’t recognise. 
Seeing her perplexed expression, the mysterious stranger said softly,
“A Ray-Tarli. Very powerful” Nodding as if she understood, Jenna continued to watch as he raised the disk to the level of his eyes, and muttered a language she had never heard before.
“Argh!” Jenna shielded her eyes as a blinding flash of light emanated from the disk, eventually reducing to a continuous beam of white light that landed on the ground several feet in front of them.  Jenna was relieved that the darkness all around them had been penetrated, but that relief was short lived once she had seen what the light was now showing them.
Just sneaking into the illuminated area were dark shapes that she at first thought were horses. But as she looked harder, she realised they couldn’t be.  Instead of solid flesh and bone, there was just a thick, swirling black fog that appeared to take on the shape of horses. Their legs rearing back from the sudden light as if it hurt them.
“What…..” Jenna couldn’t find the words to continue.     
“Shadow Knights.” The words hung in the air between them.
As Jenna turned her attention back to the scene in front of them, she noticed that the horses weren’t their only visitors. Atop each one was a swirling fog that had the distinct shape of a man, and a very large one at that.  By now, the ‘horses’ had moved away from the light and back into the darkness beyond, the light now illuminating an apparently empty courtyard.
         “Please tell me what’s going on,” Jenna begged through tears that were now streaming down her face.
         Not moving the disk, the stranger stared down at her and hurriedly delivered his explanation. 
         “They are Shadow Knights, sent after us.  As long as we have the light, they cannot hurt us. Which way is the park?” 
         Confused by the sudden turn in the conversation, Jenna raised her arm in the direction of Central Park.  Still holding the disk in front of them, the stranger pulled Jenna around and edged them rapidly towards the entrance of the courtyard, breaking into a run once they emerged onto the street.
         “Where are we going?” Jenna averted her eyes from the glare coming from the disk as she tried to keep up with her companion.
         “We need to get to water,” was the only answer she received.


Chapter Six

         Arriarna treaded cautiously down the expansive hallway in the ruins of the old palace, unleashing an audible shriek as a rat scurried across the cracked stone floor in front of her.  Through the dim light that came from gaps in the boarded up windows, she attempted to make sense of her surroundings.  But it was a futile task, she could barley see two feet in front of her. Everywhere was darkness, shadows and shapes she couldn’t discern.  Why did The Council have to meet here of all places?
Using her hand as a guide, she felt along the rough, un-plastered walls until it gave way to a low, sunken stairwell.  The stairs turned sharply to the left, and she could just make out the glow of the candles from far below.  Scooping up her long skirts into her hands, she gingerly made her way down the stairs, her footsteps echoing in the narrow chamber.
She felt an immense sense of relief when she finally made her way down to the subterranean vaults, which seemed like another world compared to where she had alighted the stairs.  Unlike the upper reaches of the ruins, the walls and floors here were bathed in a warm orange glow from the hundreds of candles that blazed all around her. The air had an almost sweet scent from burning incense, and articles of human occupation adorned the passageway.
Picking up her pace, Arriarna glided swiftly over to a gold, gilt edged mirror, its glass dirty and streaked from years of neglect, but still useable.  Her blonde hair was so pale it was almost white, falling in soft waves beyond her shoulders and held back by a single blue ribbon. The ribbon matched the colour of her eyes, which shone with an inner light as bright as the flames of the candles. Her delicate, finely sculptured features spoke of generations of noble breeding.
She gazed at her reflection with a critical eye, then gasped with barely suppressed horror as she spotted a loose thread of silk dangling from her cornflower blue dress, the pearl button it was attached to beginning to fall away from the bodice.  She sighed inwardly; it would have to be disposed of as soon as she got home. It was a shame, it was one of her favourite gowns……
Her revere was broken by the sound of footfalls descending the stairs.  She glanced at the newcomer who was now approaching, her face showed no sign of excitement or expectation.  You could always tell a scholar at first sight, thought Arriarna.  They took absolutely no pride in their appearance. As if they had to prove to the world that they cared more about cultivating their minds rather than their looks.  The faded brown robes he wore fell clumsily to the floor, hiding all but his aging head from view.  A matted, grey beard hung from his pointed chin all the way to his waist.  She turned her attention back to the mirror, her companion joining her by her side.
“ Everything is ready, soon Javai will return with the princess and The Council’s work can really begin.” The gruff voice betrayed the age and weariness of its owner.
“I don’t understand why we insist on restoring the royal family,” Arriarna ventured in a haughty tone, her eyes never leaving the mirror, “I never really cared much for them.”
         An impudent snort then,  “Your family never did.”
Arriarna struggled to retain her placid expression.  Few noble families had survived the Great Rebellion unscathed, Arriarna’s was one of them.  Their wealth and influence extended across all the lands of the Kingdom.  They were much better to have as allies rather than enemies, hence The Council needing their patronage.
“Come now, we must join The Council. They may return any minute, and Sarne’s spies are everywhere.”  He surveyed the hallway fearfully, as if he expected one to suddenly jump out at them.
“Go ahead, I shall join you shortly."Arriarna heard his hurried footsteps racing down the passageway before fading away into the distance.  A carved, marble font protruded from the wall underneath the mirror, its contents a glistening pool of cool water.  Arriarna plunged her hands into its depths, and splashed the refreshing liquid onto her tired face. She gazed down upon the swirling surface, but, instead of her own reflection staring back at her, the water’s surfaced continued to swirl, as if moved by some unseen force.  A myriad of colours swept through the water, silvers, blues, deepest black, then finally began to come together into a coherent shape.  Soon, Arriarna found herself looking into the eyes of a battle-scared knight.
“You are very difficult to get hold of. We have been trying for some time.”  The voice from the water spoke sweetly, but an underlying threat was evidently present.
“I have been busy.”  Clearly, the two were not strangers.
“Well, you will just have to make time. Sarne needs to see you tonight. I need not tell you that the matter is most urgent.” 
“I will be there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have important matters of my own to attend to.”  The face in the water glowered briefly before the water swirled into her own reflection once more.
Arriarna tightened the ribbon in her hair as she smiled satisfactorily to herself in the mirror.  For one instant, the brilliant blue eyes flashed the richest shade of red, before returning to normal just as quickly. Turning sharply on her heels, she strode down the passageway towards The Council.

Return to Arrazuole (Part3)  (E) a new york waitress discovers her destiny.... #1452972 by tag2412