Unicorns' Opal (25 page)

Everyone looked towards the boys and slowly Konic nodded and waved them over.

“So you finally know the truth then?” Konic asked.

Arik pulled his father up and wrapped his arms around him. “Tedi told me,” confessed Arik. “That changes nothing, Father. I do not know who this Prince Oscar is other than the stories I have heard, but I know who you are and I love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

Konic returned the embrace and everyone was silent for a long time. Eventually, they broke the embrace and Tedi removed his necklace and held it out to Arik.

“No, Tedi,” refused Arik. “It may have been my parent’s necklace, but it means nothing to me. For you it is a remembrance of your mother. Keep it. It is yours.”

“Everything makes more sense now,” Tedi stated. “The marks on your chest and the fealty of the fairies all make sense. We should have guessed it when that happened. The Prophecy would not rely on someone who just happens to be along for the ride.”

“Does that mean that you are not still committed now?” asked Jenneva.

“Not at all,” grinned Tedi. “In fact, I think I like it this way better. I was not comfortable when everyone thought I would be the heir. This does not diminish my desire to see this through in any way. I want very much to be a part of what we are doing. I am just saying that I am relieved that Arik is the heir and not me.”

“So Arik is to be king?” Tanya asked as she approached. “Are we certain?”

“We are,” nodded Alex. “I am glad we know for sure too. There is already a growing multitude that seeks to bend their knee before the heir. It is necessary for the people to be able to see who they are fighting for.”

“Does this mean that I will have to change how I act?” questioned Arik.

“To some degree, yes,” answered Jenneva. “Not as much as you fear though. You will have to suffer people swearing allegiance to you and people will seek your permission to do things, but mostly we shall continue on as we have. We are a good group and we work well together. Little will change in our daily lives.”

“For now anyway,” chirped Midge as he fluttered down to Arik’s shoulder. “When you are king it will be different. Queen Mita will be thrilled to hear that you are to be the king.”

“Perhaps so, Prince Midge,” smiled Alex, “but that is not going to happen by itself. I think it is time to introduce our newest two members to our practice sessions so that they can work out the kinks in their long suppressed skills.”

“This could be fun,” Tedi grinned at Arik.

“Maybe it will be,” chuckled Alex, “but never sell an old warrior short. Fishing has not made their muscles go soft. You may realize how much you boys have yet to learn.”

***

The door to the room at the Sword and Shield opened and Larc slipped in and closed the door. He joined the figure that was already sitting on the floor in the dark room.

“You have taken a chance by coming into the city, General,” greeted Larc.

“I needed to talk to you and not one of your men,” General Gregor stated. “I want to be put in touch with Queen Marta.”

“That is dangerous,” frowned Larc. “It is safer if she is not contacted.”

“These are not safe times we live in,” retorted General Gregor. “It is necessary to our recruitment to convince people that we are working for the Royalty. That means either Queen Marta or the Heir. Which do you think is safer?”

“You have a point there,” conceded Larc. “Can you protect her?”

“You know I would give my life to protect her,” replied Gregor. “There is always a risk in life though. I cannot guarantee her safety any more than you can. All you can do is hide her and hope that someone doesn’t stumble upon her. That is a difficult task with one whose face is so well known.”

“Granted,” agreed Larc. “I will send word to her and seek her approval.”

“Good,” nodded Gregor. “Let her know that the Heir has been found as well. It may make her see things in the proper light.”

“Consider it done,” responded Larc.

“What is happening with Niki and Fredrik,” queried the General.

“Duke Everich has introduced them into Tagaret society,” explained Larc. “He has made it seem as if there is no direct connection or allegiance to himself, but many of the players are suspicious. Still, that will not stop the players from trying to win them over. There was an assassination attempt on one of the Council members recently. It failed, but had it succeeded, I have no doubt that someone would try to foist a friend onto the Council. The problem is that the players are so fragmented that they do not trust each other. Niki and Fredrik are considered outsiders and are therefore game for all. I would not be surprised to find one or the other on the Council soon.”

“Even though people assume that Duke Everich controls them?” questioned General Gregor.

“It is a funny game they play,” explained Larc. “It started out as several groups vying for control of the Council, but it has denigrated to the point that previous allies are now enemies. An unknown actually has a better chance of getting on the Council than one who has been in the game for a long time. Nobody trusts anyone any more. Players have shifted allegiances too many times.”

“I understand that, but why choose someone that is sponsored by Duke Everich?” quizzed the General.

“Because there are few players who are not aligned with someone,” responded Larc. “Everyone knows that Niki and Fredrik are new to Tagaret. While Duke Everich is obviously trying to control them, many think they can best the Duke at the game. In fact, they will count on Duke Everich to back Niki and Fredrik and they will hide their own involvement in trying to control them. It is a dangerous game.”

“Are you able to track who is trying to influence them?” asked the General.

“We are trying to,” frowned Larc. “Meetings are held in secret mostly. I am afraid we have little information to go on. I have some men that cater the larger events and some who are musicians, but nobody that would be acceptable as a guest to these affairs. Plus many more meetings are personal visits. We could never keep track of those.”

“So it gets even harder to get information than before,” sighed General Gregor. “Even if Fredrik or Niki gain a seat on the Council, does that help us any?”

“That is a priceless question,” responded Larc. “They both fled from the Rangers and are now housed in splendor. I suspect that we might have more to fear from them than the players do. You did hear about the attack on Alex and Jenneva?”

“Yes, I did,” nodded General Gregor. “Do you think they had anything to do with that?”

“I am fairly confident that Dalgar was behind it,” reported Larc, “but someone had to pinpoint the room for the Black Devils. The room shared by Niki and Tanya was also attacked. Tanya, Arik, and Tedi reported in to get their messages, but Niki and Fredrik never did. That tells me that they did not plan to leave Tagaret. I suspect one or both of them told Dalgar where to find the Rangers.”

“That is most serious,” frowned General Gregor. “Is there a way for you to approach them and find out where their loyalties lie?”

“I could risk men to do that,” answered Larc, “but could we truly believe the answers. Why expose my men to learn something that would probably not be the truth?”

“So we just let their actions speak for their intentions?” inquired the General.

“Until we can find a way to verify their words, yes,” replied the head of the Spiders.

“Yet in doing so, we will have appeared to have abandoned them,” the General pointed out. “That may not be a wise path to tread either.”

Larc sat silently for a time before responding, “You are correct. Perhaps I should create a test to find out their allegiance. I could let each of them know that Alex was back in town and where he could be found. We could monitor things and find out who shows up to greet Alex.”

“Play them separately,” suggested General Gregor. “Use two different locations. They may not both think alike.”

“Actually, they rarely see each other as it is,” informed Larc. “I think it is deliberate on Duke Everich’s part. Their mansions are far apart. Suitors have been encouraged for Niki and potential brides have been introduced to Fredrik.”

“So the Duke seeks to separate them,” remarked the General. “That is interesting. I wonder if he distrusts one of them or he is just trying to double his odds of becoming king.”

“It could be both,” reasoned Larc. “I will try to put more assets on the problem.”

***

Sarac hurled the book at the bookshelf, his face red with rage. Lattimer heard the impact followed by several more books cascading to the floor. He shook his head and hurried into Sarac’s study. He stood in the doorway momentarily as he assessed the situation. There were times lately that even Lattimer had to watch his step around Sarac. The rages came more frequently and lasted longer with each passing day.

“Is there something I can get for you, Master?” Lattimer asked after determining that this was not likely to be one of the more violent rages.

“Yes there is, Lattimer,” sneered Sarac. “You can bring me the heads of the Prophecy Children. How long must I wait for results? I have thousands of men spread across the land and they cannot even find two children. Why is this, Lattimer?”

“Alex and Jenneva keep the children on the move,” Lattimer explained as he had every day for the past month. “They change direction frequently and their moves are not predictable. We will prevail, Master. It requires time and time is on our side. They cannot evade our forces forever.”

“Grand words,” growled Sarac. “They have managed to evade us for seventeen years so far. How much time do you think we have left?”

“Alex and Jenneva have done the hard part for us,” Lattimer pointed out. “Finding two children out of all those living was an impossible task. Now they have identified them for us. They have been lucky so far, but they cannot possibly survive.”

“They cannot be allowed to survive,” scowled Sarac as his rage started to subside. “Tell me the latest news.”

“I thought you did not want to be bothered with the daily tales of progress?” Lattimer asked cautiously.

“I do not want to keep hearing about our failures,” corrected Sarac. “I so wish that I could go after them myself. Kill just one of those Children and I will be free to wreak devastation on everyone else. Are we sure that Alex and Jenneva have both of the Children?”

“No,” replied Lattimer. “We know they have found at least one. The Sword of Heavens would not activate without the touch of one of the Children. There is no way to be sure that they have found both though.”

“Very well,” Sarac sighed. “Bring me up-to-date on the situation.”

“Alex and Jenneva turned up in Tagaret with the Children,” responded Lattimer. “Dalgar had some Revenants attempt to assassinate them. All six Revenants died a final death.”

“Final?” quizzed Sarac. “All of them?”

“Yes,” nodded Lattimer. “They were all beheaded. There was also signs of a magical defense which indicates to me that our Revenants almost succeeded.”

“Why do you say that?” inquired Sarac.

“Jenneva has been loath to use her powers,” explained Lattimer. “She knows that we can locate her if she does, and if we find her then we find the Children. The fact that she responded magically means she had to in order to save her life.”

“Good,” sneered Sarac. “It is about time that she started feeling penned in like I do.”

“The army immediately sealed the city,” continued Lattimer, “but they managed to escape somehow.”

“Are you sure?” inquired Sarac. “How do you know they are not just hiding there?”

“We aren’t really sure,” admitted Lattimer, “but the searches in Tagaret have failed to uncover them and there has been another incident in Sordoa that appears to have their mark on it.”

“What type of incident?” asked Sarac.

“Another squad of Dark Riders was slaughtered outside Toresh,” replied Lattimer. “Twenty men were murdered in an ambush. While it could have been bandits or one of the rogue armies that infest Sordoa, this particular squad was tracking the parents of two of the boys. They had just entered Toresh with drawings of the fathers and our agents in Toresh sent them west in pursuit of the men. It is too much of a coincidence that the squad was then attacked by bandits.”

“I agree,” stated Sarac. “So they are heading south for some reason. What could it be that they are after?”

“I have a theory about that,” murmured Lattimer, “but it will take the next sky clearing to validate it.”

“What is the theory?” queried the Dark One.

“I think the Sword of Heavens requires the gems in order,” answered Lattimer. “If I am correct, they must find the Unicorns’ Opal next. If the theory holds, we will be increasing the odds of catching them because we will know where they are going next.”

“Hmm,” pondered Sarac. “That is wise thinking, Lattimer, but there are no known unicorns in Sordoa.”

“I know,” frowned Lattimer. “That is why I said it was a theory. They could be heading the wrong way or the theory may be invalid. Time will answer the riddle though.”

“Well our time is running short,” scowled Sarac. “I want you to send emissaries to the goblins, yaki and ogres. I want their forces to start readying for an attack on Tagaret. If we cannot find the Children, we can make it impossible to have an Alcea to rule over.”

“A sound solution,” grinned Lattimer. “Actually we have so many solutions to this prophecy on our side that I find it hard to believe that they can be successful. It will take a great deal of time for those armies to prepare. It is wise to get started on that plan of attack now. They are not groups that will fight together well.”

“Tell them that the Dark One commands it,” scowled Sarac. “I want none of their petty bickering to get in the way of my victory. Anyone who refuses my orders is to be killed. Make an example of them so that the others will tremble in fear.”

“It shall be as you command,” nodded Lattimer. “Dalgar is also working on a plan to consolidate rule over Tagaret before the Children arrive there. If he succeeds, the Children will need an army just to enter the city.”

“Good,” smirked Sarac. “If the army does try to enter, make sure that Dalgar destroys the city before allowing them to enter. They shall have no Alcea to rule.”