Ancient Prophecy (9 page)

Two other candidates were running for the Presidency besides Suarez and Mitchel. Max Alvira and Jorge Rivera were moderate candidates for the office and had a fairly decent following. Dalgar organized the protests against only Suarez. He also started rumors that President Suarez was in negotiations with Targa to cancel all claims to the Disputed Area in return for an extremely large increase in his personal wealth.

Indeed, Dalgar arranged for one of his Black Devils to portray a Targan soldier carrying a diplomatic pouch. The soldier foolishly opened the pouch during one of his overnight stays at an inn in the Kalamaar Province and a mob attacked him. He managed to escape with only his life. The Cordonian who volunteered to deliver the pouch (laden with gold and a personal note from King Byron to President Suarez) was later found dead without the pouch. Everyone assumed that a bandit had intercepted the messenger.

Seeing the chance for political gain, candidates Alvira and Rivera publicly attacked President Suarez for his underhanded dealings. Candidate Mitchel remained aloof from the controversy and continued his normal campaigning. President Suarez, seeing his political fortunes disappearing, called on General Fernandez.

“Ah, General,” greeted President Suarez, “thank you for coming. Have you conducted an investigation of the incident in Kalamaar yet?”

“Yes, President, I have,” answered the head of the Cordonian Intelligence Division. “The reports of the number of people who saw the gold and the note that the Targan was carrying indicate that the contents of the pouch are without question.”

“Have you sent an Investigator to Targa to ask King Byron what the pouch was intended for?” the President demanded.

“I have, President,” the General replied. “The Investigator will not return for some time, though. President Suarez, I have worked under your command for several years and I find this incident disturbing. I do not like to think that you had anything to do with something this underhanded, but all of the evidence that I have come up with so far indicates that the pouch was genuine and intended as some sort of monetary payment to you from the Targans. Is there any possibility that King Byron would have intentionally sent the pouch as a way to influence the elections?”

“I don’t see why,” conceded the President. “Relations with Targa are fairly good right now. King Austin tried to start a war with us, but we all know what that was about. Since King Austin was revealed as a phony, there have been no further problems. Plus, King Byron seems to be quite a mellow individual. You may remember that I presided over his son’s wedding. You met him, I’m sure. Of course, he was known as Duke Whitley at that time.”

“Yes,” stated the General, “I remember him well. My sources agree with your description of King Byron’s temperament, but either he is trying to ruin you or someone invested a great deal of money to make you look rather bad.”

“Exactly,” agreed the President, “and you have to find out who that someone is. I see that both Alvira and Rivera have jumped at the chance to make people believe this lie. One of them must be behind it.”

“That is a possibility, President Suarez,” General Fernandez declared. “You must, however, understand that I do not work for your Presidential campaign and my investigation has to be impartial. I have men checking on both of their campaigns as well as your own. While I personally cannot fathom you being under the control of Targa, my office has no choice but to investigate your campaign thoroughly.”

“I understand completely,” the President said, “but I also do not expect your office to be adding to the deception. The timing of this incident was obviously arranged so that you would be unable to verify the facts with Targa in time for the election. If you do not find the culprit soon, Cordonia is going to have a vile man as its next leader.”

The General knew that the controversy over the Disputed Area was enough to depose President Suarez. Cordonians have long desired a seaport on the Sordoan Sea and giving up all claims to the Disputed Area would forever dash those hopes.

Candidate Mitchel made sure he wasn’t being followed and slipped into the woods at the agreed upon spot. Dalgar was already waiting for him.

“I take it that the Kalamaar incident was your doing, Dalgar?” Mitchel asked.

“Good evening to you, as well,” retorted Dalgar. “Of course it was my doing. President Suarez doesn’t have the intelligence to fatten his pockets and King Byron doesn’t have that kind of money to throw around.”

“Don’t become too infatuated with yourself,” chided Mitchel. “We are both here to serve Sarac, not ourselves.”

“True,” conceded Dalgar, “but I seem to be handling my part without problems. Even with the Kalamaar incident, you appear to be in last place. It now looks like no one will gain enough votes to guarantee election. Suarez has dropped even with Alvira and Rivera.”

“I know,” stated Mitchel. “Even if we got rid of Alvira and Rivera, I would have trouble beating Suarez.”

“Don’t worry, Mitchel,” bragged Dalgar. “I have plans for those two that will guarantee that you are the next President of Cordonia. All you will have to do is not make any mistakes. We can’t get near Suarez as long as he is President, but the other two will be easy. You do need to develop a message, though. I want you to immediately adopt every position that Alvira has, except for his criticism of Suarez. In fact, do not criticize any of the candidates. You have to be the candidate who gets along with everyone.”

“Why do you want me to imitate Alvira?” Mitchel asked.

“Your standing with the Black Devils and Servants of Sarac is assured,” answered Dalgar. “We now have to capture the more moderate portion of voters. Your message has to move toward the moderate position held by Alvira. After Alvira drops out of the race, change your position again to match Rivera’s statements. You must be particularly careful after Alvira drops out. General Fernandez has been poking around his campaign as well as Rivera’s. Obviously, Fernandez doesn’t consider you enough of a threat to bother investigating you.”

“Why is he investigating the other candidates?” the candidate asked.

“Because he has worked for Suarez for a long time,” Dalgar replied. “He may well be the only person in Cordonia who doesn’t believe that Suarez would sell the Disputed Area. He’s checking to find out whether Alvira or Rivera was behind it. After Alvira drops out, Fernandez will start investigating you. Trust me.”

“You have been right so far,” conceded Mitchel. “I will heed your advice.”

“It will probably not be safe for us to meet again until after the elections,” declared Dalgar. “If there is something important you need to talk to me about, have dinner at the inn by the docks. My man will see you and I will get in touch with you. Go now and I’ll watch for anyone following you.”

Dalgar made sure that no one was aware of the meeting and then took the long way back to town. His men had been trailing Alvira and Rivera for weeks, so Dalgar knew within a couple of hours when Alvira would be returning home. Alvira was first on Dalgar’s list because the man lived alone. Dalgar had about two hours before the tavern where Alvira always had dinner started to get crowded. He knew once the crowds got too thick, Alvira would retire home.

Dalgar slithered through the bushes and crept to the rear of Alvira’s house. He tried the rear door and found if locked. He did not want to leave any marks of forced entry, so he started checking the windows. All of the windows were shuttered, but one on the side of the house had been left unsecured. Dalgar checked his surroundings before he hoisted himself up and through the window.

It was now quite dark, so the Black Devil had to feel his way around. He had not been able to get a layout of the house beforehand, so he checked each room. Dalgar found the bedroom and slid under the bed and closed his eyes.

Three hours later, he heard the front door close. Dalgar pressed his ear against the floor and listened intently. He detected only one set of feet walking and relaxed. He still had several hours to wait. Alvira came into the room with a candle and set it down on a table. He pulled a chair up and sat down, dumping a pile of papers on the table. Dalgar quietly inched his body further into the darkness on the far side of the bed.

Alvira sat for several hours reading the papers and practicing a speech out loud. Dalgar found himself getting irritated listening to the same speech over and over. Finally, the candidate readied himself for bed and blew out the candle. Dalgar waited another two hours while Alvira snored.

Dalgar slowly slid out from under the bed. He stood watching the sleeping candidate, wondering if he could smother him without the man waking up. Dalgar did not want any sounds of fighting to arouse the neighbors. Finally, he made up his mind and tossed a Freeze Ball at the sleeping form. He casually walked over and took the man’s pillow and smothered him with it. Satisfied that Alvira was dead, Dalgar lit a candle and went in search of a trunk.

The only trunk Dalgar found was smaller than what he wanted. Dalgar dumped the body into the trunk and fought with the lid. Eventually, Dalgar had to break a few of Alvira’s bones to get the body stuffed in the trunk. He dragged the trunk to the front door and returned to the bedroom. He straightened up the bed and cast a Reflecting Pool spell to give him Alvira’s image. He blew out the candle and returned to the front door. Opening the door, he dragged the trunk outside and closed the door. Within a half hour, he had arranged to have the chest picked up and shipped to a couple of his Black Devils who would dispose of it. He returned to his new home and went to bed.

Dalgar played Alvira for close to a week. The speech he gave the first day was the one that Alvira had irritated him with the night before. Dalgar found that he had memorized it from listening to Alvira’s practice. Dalgar knew Alvira’s schedule, but he was not aware of what happened in each of the meetings. Still, he was able to fake it well enough. Several times campaign workers or advisors asked him if he was feeling well. Each time Dalgar knew that he had acted out of character and pleaded weariness from the long campaign. No one argued over the explanation.

Over the course of the week, Dalgar escalated his attacks on Suarez. Towards the end of the week, he started complimenting Mitchel for his rational views, which of course, were Alvira’s views. At the end of the week Dalgar called a meeting of all of his advisors and informed them that he was withdrawing from the race. He explained that with four candidates, Suarez would win because the other three would split the rest of the vote. He told them that he planned to endorse the candidate whose views most closely reflected his own and asked everyone to rally behind Mitchel. He asked them to not only support Mitchel, but to actively work to see Mitchel elected.

There was a howl of protest from the loyal workers, but in the end they all agreed that beating Suarez was the most important task before them. Dalgar thanked them for their efforts and announced that he was immediately going on vacation to relieve the stress of campaigning. No one ever saw Alvira again.

There were two weeks left until the elections and Mitchel started adopting Rivera’s views on everything. He was getting a lot of support from Alvira’s people and Fernandez was, indeed, checking up on him as Dalgar had said he would. Dalgar meanwhile was trying to figure out how to get to Rivera. The man was married and had three children and someone was around him all of the time.

Dalgar did not have much time to make his next move. If Rivera wasn’t out of the race soon, there would not be enough time for word of his leaving to reach the voters across the country. Dalgar had planned to replace Rivera with himself as he had Alvira, but he couldn’t wait for an appropriate time when Rivera was isolated. Finally, in desperation, Dalgar walked up to the door of Rivera’s house and knocked. One of Rivera’s aides answered.

“What can I do for you?” the aide asked.

“I am from candidate Mitchel and I would like a word with Rivera,” Dalgar stated.

The aide escorted Dalgar into the candidate’s study and closed the door behind them. The aide offered Dalgar a chair and then stood in the corner and waited for the meeting to be over. Rivera greeted Dalgar and asked what the meeting was about.

“Well,” sighed Dalgar, “I was hoping to discuss this in private.”

“We are as private as we are going to get,” remarked Rivera. “What does the good candidate, Mitchel, want of me?”

Dalgar shrugged and continued. “Mitchel feels that with both you and him in the race, Suarez is certain to win reelection.”

“That is quite possibly true,” verified Rivera. “Is Mitchel proposing to step out of the race and throw his support behind me? It is an arrangement I would be rather pleased with.”

“I’m sure you would,” answered Dalgar. “Actually, he just wants to meet with you to discuss the possibilities. Whether he steps out of the race or you do, I think, is a matter of negotiation, but obviously one you must consider it if Suarez is to be beaten.”

“As I said,” reiterated Rivera, “if Mitchel is willing to step down, I will accept the support of his followers. Otherwise, I’m afraid that there isn’t anything to discuss.”

“Do you mean that you would let Suarez win?” queried Dalgar.

“Why not?” retorted Rivera. “I had this Mitchel checked out. Basically, he has no history. He left Cordonia close to ten years ago for who knows where? He didn’t even vote in the last election and now he shows up and wants to be President of Cordonia. Why should I think that he is any better than Suarez?”

“Well, you know what Suarez is,” stated Dalgar. “How could you let a crook like that hold office?”

“I know no such thing,” clarified Rivera. “Just because I take political advantage over another candidate’s misfortune, doesn’t mean that I really think he is guilty of such a foul deed. Sure, I’ll bash him in speeches and hope everyone in the world believes that he is on the take but, frankly, I rather doubt that he is. He has had every opportunity to sell the Disputed Area throughout his term and now, just weeks before the election, he gets caught doing it. Very improbable if you ask me.”