Methaphoras

4 HARVEST TIME

The administrator dictated a messenger to store his wrinkled rolls somewhere, after which he turned to Kayros and said:

'Coincidentally, I happened to be on my way to Lord Ardor. You can use my time window to meet to him.' As a matter of fact, he was about to summon an assistant Metha to Ardor but now the unfortunate one had to wait an infinity longer for his urgent and solemn interlocution. Kayros followed the civil servant, satisfied with the course of events. On the way, he considered that everyone in the palace followed a strict pattern but that their hidden cravings could be exposed with only a small inducement.

The white, wide marble corridors re-echoed the passes of the administrator, but besides that, one could hear only a faint rustle of passing staff and their conversations in muffled voices. Short orders sounded back and forth, keeping the administrative mill turning.

The differences in interior architecture with the palace of Taruko were obvious, as Kahn's residence was a clean, sober series of buildings, galleries, corridors, and courtyards. The Ar-dor complex, on the other hand, was more like a collection of temple buildings, not even in honor of himself, but merely to celebrate logic or straightforwardness.

With his sudden appearance in the palace, Kayros caused the necessary stir, since the rumors had predicted nothing about the visit of any high envoy from Di'aull. Thanks to the archivist, he passed by various control agencies in record time, of which the verification procedures only existed to filter the number of visitors Ardor could allow in a given cycle.

Despite Kayros' unexpected manifestation, there was no threat of chaotic disorganization and everything remained neat-ly under control. This thing, worth knowing, told Kayros that Ardor ruled with an iron fist, making every day equal to the next, always ready and prepared for the unthinkable. He was able to remember numerous palace administrations where the staff panicked in the presence of high and unexpected visits because, without permanent supervision, discipline automatically weakened there down to survival level.

When he gained access to the large auditorium, Ardor recognized him instantly, seated on his centrally placed throne. Immediately he stood up and then descended from the ten steps to show his respect for Kayros, who far surpassed him in supremacy.

Kayros took a quick and rigorous look at the whole, tasting the opulence of the solemnity used by Ardor to achieve his high goals in the ongoing power game. It was expressed from the way Ardor designed his halls, and the result even impressed Kayros, although the sorcerer actually preferred the neat disorder of Taruko's outdoor palace.

Ardor spoke, and the room trembled because of his, just used, official judgment voice:

'Welcome Lord Kayros, forgive us for the meager reception! We were not aware of your coming. I will have it be investigated at once who is responsible for this impertinent shortcoming!' Kayros made his voice sound reassuring and declared that no one could be responsible for any possible missing duty. There were only some unforeseen and urgent matters coming to the surface that justified a brutally enforced visit. Ardor nodded, lowered the judging tone of his voice, and sent everyone away in order to retreat himself together with the unexpected guest in a comfortable annex room. He offered Kayros a temporary body and a chalice of honey wine which he would normally refuse because of unnecessary waste of time if he only could resist the sweet taste of the tempting liquid. Ardor assured Kayros that not one stone would remain upon another in the search for the rest of the viper nest, even though Kayros stated explicitly that there was nothing to be found anymore. According to Kayros, Ardor's wrath was fiercer towards his ignorance concerning the usage of his cartographer's time and significantly less about the penetration of Helycons into his realm. After four carafes of sweet wine Kayros repeated everything at least twice before he collected himself and said goodbye. Before he left the tight halls of Ardor's court, he rewarded the official with a laissez-passer for the decompression hall, at which he did not forget the unfortunate Assistant Metha who still waited for his turn to come.