Fay Tale - Chapter Nine

Anand woke knowing the solution to his problem. He also woke chilled thanks to the hole Bremen had torn in the sheets.

The king made a mental note to declaw the miscreant before slipping out from underneath the covers. He dressed simply in clothes well-made but devoid of decoration before pulling a more ornate over-robe on over the ensemble. Bremen refused to emerge from under the covers so he slipped out of his chambers alone.

“Your Majesty.” Both royal guards saluted him.

Anand nodded in acknowledgement then set off down the corridor. Royal dignity and his leg so notoriously unreliable this early in the morning kept his pace slow and measured. Just as his leg warmed from the movement and he was able to increase his pace, the journey ended. He stood at the end of an empty corridor in front of a small door.

Anand pulled a red-tasseled cord which hung from the wall then waited. A full quarter-mark passed but the king showed no sign of irritation or impatience. The Royal Judge and Advocate was a mage of no small means. Anand would rather Lady Aisha finish her working rather than have the castle fall about them because she had rushed to do his bidding. He suppressed amusement over the thought of the Lady ever rushing to do anyone’s bidding, royal or no.

Eventually the door swung quietly open. Anand walked inside and continued through the Lady’s formal magisterial chamber. He passed through a second door, which was cleverly hidden in the wall as a painted design, and into the next chamber. It was much larger, a full half wing of the castle devoted to her magical studies. Unlike the first chamber, the king now glanced about in appreciation of the wall-to-floor cases filled with books, which the Lady hoarded with scholarly passion.

He found her sitting on the floor with a pile of books in her lap, one hand running a delicate claw across the bindings of others on a shelf. Her tail, tufted like a lion’s, twitched as he approached.

“The practice room has been prepared,” she said without looking up. “You may proceed.”

Anand inclined his head in thanks before heading to a larger door set between two large bookshelves. Before he entered Anand slid out of his ornamental over-robe and set it neatly folded on a shelf. At his touch the door slid open, and he stepped inside.

The room was smaller than the large library but still a good size. Heavy straw mats lined the walls and floor, rustling slightly with each step. The king grabbed a set of leather belts hanging from a rack at the right side of the room, slipping one over each shoulder. They crossed across his chest comfortably and easily held a large number of throwing weapons. Anand walked to the center of the room and breathed deeply the distinct smell of the straw mats.

A sudden breeze whipped past his head, sending his dark hair streaming back. Immediately a knife spun in the direction the air current had gone. A shriek indicated the king’s aim was true and moments later a small whirlwind formed and drifted forlornly to the ceiling.

All around him air wisps of the Folk danced in anticipation. They loved the game the Lady and human king played many mornings. Here they were not scolded for whipping past ankles to trip up an unwary foot or into the eyes of an opponent to momentarily blind them.

“The attack was elementary in its straightforwardness,” the king chided as the defeated wisp floated upwards.

A rude hiss of air was his only reply. Without Bremen to interpret, Anand could not understand the language they spoke but nevertheless the little elementals managed to make their feelings quite clear. He fended off two more wisps, both young judging by their impatient strikes, and sent them sailing up to join the first. The rest held off, indistinct swirls among the straw and stone.

Suddenly one slashed head-on, seeming to repeat the impatience of the first. Anand sent a well-place throwing needle through its center, but another wisp blasted through its relation and nearly caught the king full in the face. Only an ungraceful dodge saved him. He whipped out a knife and missed the retreating wisp but had no time to correct it for three others swarmed him, determined to keep the king off-balance. He sent out three knives in quick succession, then a fourth when he instinctively knew he would miss the second attacker.

He hit all his targets, but their ‘demise’ was ultimately successful as a fourth, which had stayed hidden near the floor, blasted upwards and into the back of his head. Anand’s head snapped forward, stunning him, and two other wisps landed hits before he recovered. He snatched a needle from the belt and instead of throwing it gripped it tightly and thrust it into the oncoming wisp inches from his face. It blasted away, startled by his unexpected attack.

Anand judged he had about forty more seconds before the wisps which had been ‘defeated’ rejoined the others. They were supposed to congregate at the ceiling and not attack until the round was over but the little creatures had little self-control once a game began. Anand was quite certain they cheated by coming to life again, but it was beneath his dignity to quibble over the inaccuracies.

He used the remaining seconds to finish off as many wisps as he could, but his accuracy was wanting as they lingered at the edges of the room, wary after his ruthless attack of the wisp who had gotten too close.

Once the wisps who were first hit zipped down to join the fray again he was finished. He simply couldn’t combat the numbers and after taking several hits in quick succession he shouted the word of surrender. There was a buzz of dissatisfaction among the wisps, but in the end they all retreated.

Anand leaned against the wall, breathing hard. While he recovered the wisps began zipping around blowing the throwing implements into piles. Eventually he recovered enough to walk around and collect them, occasionally setting aside one which had been blunted by hitting the stone under the straw mat.

He glanced over as the entrance slid open, revealing the mage. “I see the opening gambit failed,” Lady Aisha said as she walked in. “You lasted longer than they expected.”

“Indeed.”

“I informed Na’mar the strategy was ill-conceived. You would not drop your guard as you entered the room. He did not listen to reason.”

“Perhaps he will listen to experience.”

“Unlikely. He is reckless by nature.”

The wisp in question reversed direction in protest. Aisha ignored it as she also took belts and crossed them across her chest. Outside her rooms she favored long, heavy robes which added a great deal of somber dignity to her persona. Inside them her natural fur coat along with whatever decoration she deigned to use was modest enough by her standards.

She glanced at the king who finished tucking a knife into his belt then nodded once to indicate his readiness.

Together they faced the flurry of wisps and lasted quite a bit longer before Aisha called a halt to the exercise. The king glanced upward and the wisps graciously separated into two groups, depending on which defender had ‘defeated’ them. Anand surveyed the results with a slight frown.

“Adequate but insufficient were your life truly in danger,” the Lady said.

“My skill with a blade would not have saved me had Scylla truly decided to end me,” he returned.

“And I would be unable to hold back a rockslide or earthshake if I were careless enough to put myself in a circumstance where they might occur.”

“You believe I should not escort the tribute.”

“I believe it would be best to reassign the task to someone more dispensable.”

“If Scylla loses her respect for my authority-”

“You must choose someone who adequately represents your authority to her. I do not suggest a mage, for they make many of the Folk wary and uncooperative, nor would I volunteer myself even were that not the case.”

“I would not ask it of you,” the king replied, bowing slightly. He received a brisk nod in response before she began gathering her weapons again.

They fought two more rounds before Anand needed to stop, both from the effort and from his own time constraints. He moved slowly, gathering both his and the Lady’s weapons while she fetched water and a stool for him to sit on. He deposited the weapons beside the belt racks then sat gratefully on the stool. Aisha took a long drink from her water flask then set it aside and began sorting the weapons into piles on the floor beside her.

When Anand made no move to leave, she finally looked up.

“Is there an additional task you wish me to perform?”

“I wish to know what you have seen.”

The emphasis he placed on the last word made it clear this was no ordinary seeing. Her tail lashed once.

“Regarding whom?” she asked warily.

“The ogre you allowed to enter Eirendyr.”