In Foreign Courts

Ch. 10

The butler, knocked on one of the doors in the King's private chambers before opening it for me.

The room reminded me of home excluding the few obvious displays of wealth. It held no people, only a table with three chairs. There were paintings of ships in war framed in gold and silvers. The walls were red and the few furniture in the room appeared to be darkly stained. The only light source was coming from the large fireplace that was decorated with gold and jewels that glimmered in the flickering flames. The images depicted was that of the main gods.

I gently touched warmed metal admiring the two main gods of the King's Religion. They were shown as they always were, the two gods shaking hands. The god of war, Cathal, holding a dagger behind him and the god of kings, Arawen, holding a bloody crown behind his. Arawen was displeased with the lack of kings and was loosing power so he made a deal with Cathal to create rebellions and mayhem throughout the country. The deal came at a cost for Arawen and his soul was shattered into pieces, combining the new kings to give them guidance and power. Cathal angered at Arawen sudden gain of power kept the wars and rebellions until he captured a piece of his soul to keep and torment. Starting the never ending wars of kings as they fight to combine soul through war.

"It is a wonder what greed can do." The deep voice of King Alexander said startling me out of my admiration. The king stood with a tall, gaunt man dressed in a the black robe of a high priest from the Mage's cult.

"Yes. It is." I replied staring at the strange man who followed like a shadow.

"It can turn ones ambitions to nothing but dust." He said in a heavy voice "It can be devastating to see all you hold dear fall apart by your own impatience."

No one spoke or moved as the king looked into the fire. He stood there waiting as if he would see a vision in the flames.

The robed man's face was now visible without any dark shadows for him to hide. His face was rather handsome despite the arcane features and markings. His eyes were all black with no white or color making it impossible to know exactly where he was looking. His facial features held the inhuman quality of looking simultaneously healthy and dead. Sunken yet colored cheeks, thin skin that you can see veins but not pale and no wrinkles or expression even when he speaks. He stood tall and still only moving when the king did something I could never do despite all my training.

The King made the first movement by shaking his head slightly before turning to look at me. "We have much to discuss, my dear" he said taking my arm and walking us into another room.

This one was overly decorated with silver curtains, large flowered vases, paintings, and gold trimmings that covered the walls and furniture. It looked as if every representation of wealth one could possibly think of was put in the room.

Once all three if us were seated he started to talk. He did not waste time on pleasantries, unless he believed asking about his son was polite.

"How has my son been treating you?" He started and without waiting for a response he said "Not too well, I would imagine. He has no want for politics, you know and you seem to only know politics. That is if King Philip's letter held any truth."

I smiled politely "He has been treating me well and I am sure my Father's words were an exaggeration. I am not very charming."

He put his hand to his face in a somewhat dramatic manner to show he was thinking despite him already clearly knowing what he was going to say.

"Charm is not the only important thing. One also needs knowledge."

"Another fault of mine. I am ashamed to say." I said quickly.