Chapter 2.10: The Night of the Ill Omens (II)
The Legend of Sinardia, Part 2.
Some hours before in the Imperial Castle...
Astano, as he entered the Audience Chamber, in front of the Empress and her three maids of honor, was thinking about what he should say first. He didn't know how to begin because he didn't want his doubts to come to light. The Empress smiled at him too affectionately for him to believe that the smile was real. He was tired and discouraged but he couldn't, under any circumstances, let it show in this really dangerous moment. So he smiled the same way and leaned forward, as much as his aching back allowed him. "Damn," he thought, "this new carriage doesn't suit my spine at all… especially my lower back."
"Imperial Highness Abalina, I bring you news even if they are not very good. I don't know if you've already spoken with Duke Guonlorth…" he left the sentence unfinished.
The Empress pushed her chin forward even further, wondering deep down the reason for this circumstance, although she understood that, surely, it was because the news were really bad.
– No, the duke is not even in Sinardia. He sent a messenger saying that he was going down to the south and that he would not arrive but in weeks.
Astano swallowed: that cursed Being with the Silver Voice had slipped away and left him with a very serious problem. He cleared his throat and began:
– Well, Imperial Highness, the person we were sent to look for, was not located in the Sinningen Monastery. Guonlorth took several prisoners, but he could only interrogate the Abbot, who ended up dead. He was too old to bear it.
The Empress looked at him as if she looked at a cockroach crawling on the ground: that man was useless… Or was he angry with her for not having managed to get his daughter to marry Everingen? She should know by now that she had no influence over that fool…
– And what happened to the other prisoners? Did you interrogate them?
Astano looked at her and thought “if I fall, we will all fall down, my Empress…”.
– No, Imperial Highness, before we could do so, they escaped. That monastery does not have punishment cells as such: some rooms on the ground floor were set up and we believe that someone was able to access them and free them.
– And that headache of a monk?
Astano shifted his weight and continued:
– He escaped, although we could not find out how. Supposedly he was in his laboratory but we did not find any exit, other than the one we went up and no one went down there.
It was then that Kálada of Sinarden, as if to show her great intelligence, asked:
– I imagine it is a large building. Did you order them to search the cellars and other places where they could hide or escape?
He looked at her thinking “why do you always have to try to make yourself look smarter than the rest. Your fat double chin was not there”. But he smiled as kindly as he could and replied:
– Madam, the monk’s laboratory is located in a tower, there is no possible escape. Either you go out through the door that leads to the tower staircase, something they did not do because we would have seen them, or you cannot leave. As for the tunnels, it is true that there are some, but Duke Guonlorth went down with one of his snakes to inspect them. I believe they found one of those beings that transforms there, whom he ordered to follow the fugitives, but we do not know how many there are or what their destination is. In any case, I imagine that we will have news, but we cannot know when or how the Duke will receive it, since he is the one who handles these beings – as he said this he could not suppress an expression of disgust that the ladies present did not fail to notice.
It was then that a door opened and the sentinels let in a tall, elegant man, dressed in green with a short cloak and matching and fashionable tights and shoes. His expression was haughty and he did not seem very happy.
– Mother – said Holigen upon entering, bowing not too deeply –, what is happening today? I have seen a lot of movement in the citadel and its surroundings.
The Empress smiled and looked at him fixedly:
– Nothing, son, nothing is happening. We were learning the news of the trip to the Sinningen Monastery from one of the members of the search party, Chamberlain Astano.
The chamberlain, upon being appointed, bowed as protocol dictated before an Imperial Prince, who was not the heir, something that Holingen noticed but did not want to point out.
– So what? Any good results?
– The Abbot died and the friar escaped, although Guonlorth – the Empress told him – has sent someone in pursuit. But they have not found who we were looking for. We will have to look elsewhere.
Holingen nodded and then looked at Astano:
– To sum up: nothing has gone as well as planned. It seems that someone has started working against us. By the way, mother, the Chief of Intelligence wants to see us both later. It seems that he has something to tell us.
– Very well, said the Empress, so we will. – Then she looked at Astano and continued – Good morning, chamberlain, you may leave now.
Astano bowed to the Empress and walked backwards until he reached the door. The door opened, he left the room, and when the doors closed he was able to straighten up. He told himself that there was no time to lose: he must do everything possible to leave the city in the next two days. Whatever his daughter Liriana felt, she would come with him, even if he had to give her a sleeping pill and carry her unconscious out of Bonardia.
Then he smelled something new: he recognized it immediately and it was good news. Frey Kaistos’ group was not far away, although he sensed someone he had never sensed before. Now, if someone asked him who this entity was, he would not be able to say what it was, much less recognize it.
The wolf climbed a hill from where he could clearly see the whole place: the forest in front, the lush green valley on either side and the river behind. He ended up howling so loudly that people who normally frightened those around them trembled with fear. But he felt happy and free: he had no doubt that this nightmare would end one day.
One of the gates of the Prayerful's monastery opened and four figures carrying two people entered through it. Then the gate was closed and the small bridge raised and the portcullis lowered. They made sure, of course, that no one could enter through there, following them.
Quickly, other nuns of the Order came out of other neighbouring rooms and helped carry both the former head of Intelligence Mirondar, who was still with his eyes wide open and almost popping out of his sockets, muttering something that no one could understand, and a young woman who was lying inert now on a small bed in a nearby cell. They had called the person in charge of health care at the Monastery and she had given orders that, without delay, they should go and find a friar, Frey Amoravildo, of the Non-Military Order of the Mendicants of the Divine Witness, but in silence, without causing a scandal. They had to prevent it being known that they had arrived safely there. Desa Akrovia smiled:
– Sister, don't worry: the Chief of Intelligence knows perfectly well who has freed these two prisoners. If they haven't come yet, it's because they have to prepare themselves, not because they lack information. And, by the way, we must prepare ourselves too.
Then another dozen nuns dressed in the order's habit and a cape, under which the weapons they carried were visible, entered the small room. They bowed to Desa Akrovia and one who was wearing a tunic visibly different from the others (hers had red trim, unlike the rest which were blue and Desa Akrovina's which had gold trim) said:
– Desa, we have followed your instructions to the letter. Only those of us who you ordered, remain here. The rest have left throughout the day to the determine destinations.
Leovildo then said goodbye saying:
– Sisters, I am sorry to say goodbye but I need to get to our house as soon as possible.
– Fine, but Nate Karas and Nate Lóradai will accompany you, and they will tell me if anything happens in your return home when they come back here. Don't worry, they are very prepared to carry out that task.
They both bowed and went after Grand Master Leovildo towards another postern gate, from which their monastery was not far away.
Desa Akrovia continued looking at the wounded. Nate Ramalia, the head nurse, first recognized the unfortunate girl and said:
– Desa, there is nothing to be done. She is dead although I do not doubt that they have tried to do something more than kill her.
– I know - she answered -. It was the new Head of Intelligence. He is a different creature from any I have been able to study. I have no doubt that the Lord of the Necromancers has done everything possible to create new entities more dangerous than those we know, right? – and he looked at Malaban.
– Yes, I have no doubt – he moved forward and looked at the bed and then looked at the nurse who answered, looking at him:
– I can't do anything for her, you try. We need to find out what they really did to her.
And she went to the other bed. Mirondar, who had already been given a powerful sedative, had remained silent but his face with wide-open eyes of terror had not changed. She felt his pulse and then put her hand on his head:
– What exactly has happened to him?
Nragar stepped forward and spoke in that deep, hoarse voice of his:
– I think that, although we do not know exactly, we can get an idea. They have tortured him terribly during the days he has been missing.
She shook her head from side to side.
– They have treated him with extreme cruelty: he has hardly any marks of physical torture. But the torture on his soul has been brutal. He is dying of unfathomable fear. I do not know exactly what they have threatened him with but…
Malaban stepped forward:
– For her, we cannot do anything now. At least, her soul is now at peace. They have made her suffer too, but I think they were saving her for something even more terrible: she even seems to have the mark of the Dark Lord, as if they were saving her for him. Now, that has ended: bury her as secretly as you can. It is better that they never find her at all.
Then he looked at Mirondar and said:
– His case is different – he looked at the head nurse –. You, sister, have made a careful and accurate analysis of the situation. I have bad news to bring to you: they are still torturing him. I am going to try something: it is dangerous because they will be able to know that I am here, but we must free him from what is gripping his poor soul.
He sat beside him on the bed and put both hands on his head. He closed his eyes and, after invoking the Single One and the Three Dragons, began to try to enter his soul. The struggle was terrible: they were interested in that soul because it knew many secrets and, with them, they were going to be able to force people to do what they wanted, even if it was against his will. The terror they had instilled in him was to try to break his barriers. Mirondar was trying to protect those secrets even at the cost of his soul, in a laudable but extremely risky display of moral strength and loyalty to the oaths he had made. But by endangering his soul, he was causing it to be torn apart and for them to try to tear it apart and send it into the void.
Malaban felt his terror and began to fight against that evil presence that tried to destroy everything good in Mirondar and transform it into terror and evil: they wanted him to end up asking to be left alone even if it meant sending him into the void. In a few minutes, he had been able to defeat that dark and gloomy presence, forcing it to abandon the soul, which they had already believed to have defeated.
Malaban was sweating profusely and ended up fainting from the effort he had made. Nragar, despite having seen him in this situation before, looked worriedly at the wizard, but with his big hands there was little he could do in this situation. The head nurse put cold poultices on him to lower his temperature a little and in a short time, the wizard was able to sit up and eat some dried beans and a few nuts. The color returned to his face and then he looked at Mirondar who, now calm, was quietly eating a bowl of soup.
Desa Akrovia, who had gone out to make some more plans, came back in and went to Nragar.
– I don't know what plans you have…
– Tell me what I should do and I will do it.
She smiled.
– You see, we need you to station yourself outside the port. I must await a tragic outcome here, but I cannot leave until it happens, and I cannot abandon the sisters I swore to protect with my life.
Malaban stood up and spoke:
– Great Abbess, we will go there without delay. Tell us what you are waiting for and we will gladly help you.
It was Mirondar who spoke then:
– Desa, I have never told you enough how intelligent you are, but there is something you don't know and you should know: The Empress gave the order to dissolve your order weeks ago. But she has been waiting for the most propitious moment for her to execute it.
She looked at him, with a fierce look and said:
– I didn't know, but I imagined it. If it weren't for the fact that I have to wait for the interview with Prince Holingen, I would have already left.
Everyone fell silent and then she continued:
– I know it's a ruse: they want to take me alive, but there's no need to worry: I know the Monastery, they don't.
She smiled and then left the room, with the feeling that all this had been planned many years ago. If the rumors were true, the Empress would realize her blunder, when it was too late…
In the northern Black Castle of the Lord of the Necromancers, his lord was making his way through the halls to his throne. Everything was cold even though all the fires were lit. But, when lit by the evil of this world, they never gave off heat, they only gave off the cold of evil and supreme injustice.
When he finally reached his throne and sat down on it, he began to think about the Empress's Embassy: it had not yet arrived, as his faithful Guonlorth had told him, but it was not far off. Their alliance was really important to him: they both needed each other, although she was only going to be a pawn in his game, despite what he believed otherwise.
– «Yes», he said smiling at the ghost-man at his left side, «she is going to be very useful to me. The hatred she has inside is going to be the key to absolute power, Rotten Eyes».
– «Yes, Lord».
It reminds me of the atmosphere of a movie I saw as a kid. But I can't remember the title. Nice done, Mercedes. Besides, I love wolves ;-)
Thanks Mercedes, I'll do my reading soon and let you know!