“You will tell us where our mages are!” Asagara shouted.
Talon could do nothing but feel the impending pain explode across his body—the never-ending pain. All he wanted was for the pain to stop, but to do so would destroy everything he had worked for: Azzellia, the Ashtari, everything he held dear would disappear.
Knowing this, Talon did what he had to. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Then you shall pay the ultimate price!” Asagara raised his right hand and sent a spike through his chest.
Talon woke with a start. His body was drenched in sweat, and he felt his chest to make sure he was still alive. He let his head drop back to his pillow and let out a deep breath. Just a bad dream. he thought. A frequent occurrence since his captivity among the mages.
He rolled to his side, thinking about how close he had been to ruin. A day later, and he would be at Mortham Tower, not here in his bed, surrounded by the royal guards and a few Ashtari. There was no going back to sleep. This was the same routine after every nightmare. He would roll to his side and get up after a few minutes.
With a sigh, Talon rolled off his bed and landed on his feet. A few weeks had passed since the battle at Elysian Fields, and he couldn’t recall the last time he slept well. Rubbing his eyes, Talon made his way to his closet and began dressing himself.
A nearby mirror caught his attention. Talon saw bags beneath his eyes and had to admit he didn’t look so great. Despite being fully healed, he wasn’t sure he would ever heal mentally.
Being alone frightened him at times because what if a group of mages caught him unaware? He had thought himself invincible until the day he was captured. At times he jumped at shadows—it was pathetic.
Enough! Talon thought to himself, feeling his anger beginning to rise. He refused to let himself feel pity. What happened to him was necessary. The experience had taught him much, and he would never leave himself that vulnerable ever again. Once he was dressed, he walked outside of his chambers where two Ashtari stood tall, along with two royal guards. Despite his insistence on not needing the royal guards, the commander of his guards, Rickard, had told him the royal guards were there to keep him safe. Tonight, Arthur and Peitar were guarding him, along with two of his five Ashtari: Lewis and Chesmarn.
His guards were used to his early outings. Talon saw it was pitch-black outside. What time was it? He shook his head; it didn’t matter what time it was. He didn’t say anything and walked. Like clockwork, Arthur and Peitar moved to his sides while the Ashtari stood close behind him. At least they let him lead the way.
Today, he was planning on going into his private quarters that he used to practice the power publicly. He didn’t feel like going to the hidden archives, let alone it was a pain to tell his guards to leave when he went there. He normally portaled straight to the hidden archives nowadays.
Upon reaching his training grounds, Talon raised his hands to motion he didn’t want his guards to follow. He opened the doors and summoned the power. All his fears and anxiety disappeared as if washed away by a tidal wave. Replacing his fears was newfound confidence. Nothing could hurt him when he had the power. He took a few deep breaths, feeling the power flowing through his veins.
This was the only time he felt good. A power user entering his barrier outside of Carhan caused him to look in the general direction, roughly five miles outside the city. It was only one person. Could be a mage sneaking in or someone who didn’t know they could use the power. The mages were always on his mind.
Over three weeks had passed since taking out Eshil Domain and forcing their king, Harold, to serve him. Why hadn’t the mages reacted? There was no doubt in his mind they heard what happened within a few days at most. That had to mean they were planning something, but what? There was no way for a power user to portal into Carhan without putting the power into a special stone he had crafted. That was his only solace, knowing the mages couldn’t appear out of nowhere.
The barrier outside of Carhan allowed him to sense any power user who entered the field, though he wouldn’t know how strong or who was coming. He imagined the day the mages arrived. They would come with hundreds of mages, possibly more. He needed to be ready for them and, in a way, he was. He had a plan in place.
His people had been more supportive of his Ashtari than he had expected. Talon would say seventy percent of his people supported them, with some creating flags with a sword on fire to represent the Ashtari. The Lords were another matter. Some were very unhappy with his power users. Talon made sure to have his spies keep a close eye on any Lord who looked to oppose him. He couldn’t allow the mages to find an ally so close to him.
Of course, how many of his people pretended to support the Ashtari because of their fear of the power? Talon doubted he would ever know. Ridding himself of those thoughts, Talon gathered the power and gripped a few of the training dummies. He ripped them out of the ground. He was focusing on using the power in precise movements. Causing things to explode was easy, but hitting a specific point on a target was much harder. He didn’t want to get sloppy.
He motioned with his left hand, and the three dummies he took were flying in circles around him. Talon raised his right finger, and a small flame hovered centimeters above his pointer finger. The targets were going at a slow, steady pace. He pointed and let loose a small fireball and hit his target, the right side of the chest, which burst into flames.
The flame above his finger disappeared, and he let loose a gust of wind meant to take out the fire. He missed his first attempt. Instead, a nearby cup went flying into the wall and made a loud clang as it bounced off the floor. The flames were starting to rise to the dummies’ right shoulder.
Focusing his mind, Talon tried once more, and this time hit his target. The fire quickly stopped, leaving a small smoke trail as the dummies stopped in place, floating a dozen or so feet from the ground.
Talon did this for hours. Various forms of exercise, whether it was cutting a specific piece of a dummy off or causing the right hand of a dummy to explode. Each movement had to be precise, for a move like this could save someone’s life in battle or allow him to incapacitate someone without killing them. He spent some time meditating and went through over a dozen dummies.
Once the sun began to rise and the darkness disappeared, did Talon let the power go, wistfully. The confidence disappeared, and it didn’t take long for his fears to try and creep up on him. He forced his feelings down, for he had important matters to do today. He was going to be holding an audience, his first one since his captivity.
Corvin had been dealing with his people for the past few weeks, but now it was time to get back to his duty. His people deserved answers and his support. He could no longer sit back and wait. When the mages decided to come, he would be ready.
It was times like this that he missed his father. Talon wanted advice, yet there was no one he could go to. His uncle was dead, having been killed trying to betray him. He wasn’t close to his cousins, even though he had ordered the rescue of Norman when he was captured by the rebels. Right now, his cousin was speaking to some lords to prepare them for the upcoming war against the Durmaddons.
It was time to go to the throne room and prepare for his first visitors. Talon wiped off his sweat with a towel, took a nice drink of water, and walked out into the hallway. Arthur and Peitar were in the same positions as when he had left, along with Chesmarn and Lewis.
Talon didn’t say anything as he walked towards his throne. He wanted nothing more than to delay this audience, put more time into preparations, but he couldn’t afford to do so. Not now, not when a war was coming. The war was going to be here soon, he could feel it in his bones. It wouldn’t be long until he wished he had more time to prepare, of that he was certain.
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Before long, he was at the doors of the throne room. Putting on an impassive face, he opened the doors where a group of guards stood tall. Two at the bottom of the stairs where the throne was, two halfway up the stairs, and one on each side of the throne itself. Talon walked past the guards and up the stairs. Arthur, Peitar, Chesmarn, and Lewis followed and stood behind the chair while he took his seat.
There was a servant by the great doors, waiting for Talon’s command to summon the first person. Talon found himself squeezing the armrests and forced himself to loosen his grip and relax. He couldn’t show weakness, especially to his people.
“Bring in the first person,” Talon said.
The doors opened, and in came a man in armor. Talon saw nothing to showcase which family this person came from, but he looked like a knight.
“Your grace,” the man said without so much as a bow.
That angered Talon. Why was this random knight showing him such disrespect?
“I am g-”
“Why do you not bow?” Talon said coldly. Was this man a spy? Were the mages trying to catch him off guard? What if this was a power user? He probed the man and sensed nothing, but a skilled power user could hide their ability to use the power.
“Apologies, your grace,” the man bowed deeply, not even raising his head as he continued. “I was in such a rush that I forgot. I have an urgent matter concerning my wife.”
Talon tapped his fingers on the armrest, staring at the man before nodding. “You may rise. What is the matter?”
The man rose from his bow and looked up at the king. “My name is Moland, and I come from Yuland.”
Yuland was a small village, a couple hundred miles from here. What matter could this man have that required his attention? Talon found himself wondering.
“My brother, Sir Desmond, has kidnapped my wife. I am told he is in Carhan, hiding, and need help in finding him. I’ve been searching for her in Carhan for a week, and I fear he has done her great harm. I haven’t seen her in three weeks and greatly seek your aid,” Moland said. “If—”
“Enough,” Talon said, and Moland closed his mouth and waited. He didn’t have the patience to listen to a long story. “You’ll have assistance in this matter. Dolan will ask you some questions, you will answer, and he will assist you.”
“Thank you, your grace,” Moland went to turn around, stopped himself, bowed, and then hurried off. One of the guards escorted Moland out.
“Bring the next one in,” Talon said.
Next came a farmer, with two grown men dragging along two children. The farmer was an older man, no less than sixty, and stopped with the two kids. He bowed, “Your grace,” he said.
“How can I help you?” Talon said.
“My name is Barris Sanvor. I am a farmer, working hard to provide food not only for myself but for nearby villages. A couple of months ago, a few of my cattle and pigs were stolen! I begged the local guards for help, but they were no use, and I found some chickens go missing a couple of weeks later. Then—”
“I get it,” Talon said. He heard someone behind him sigh, though he couldn’t tell who. “Get to the point, I have many things to get to today.”
“As you wish,” Barris said. He scratched his short beard before continuing. “I discovered these two kids were behind the theft, and I wish for justice. The village guards won’t do anything to help me, and it took me a long time to capture these ruffians, so that—”
“Yes, yes,” Talon said. What was with these tales? He didn’t need every single detail. He looked at the kids, who looked to be young teens. A matter such as this wouldn’t normally come to him, but then he understood why. These weren’t commoner kids; he could tell by the disgust in the kids’ faces and their smug looks. There was no fear in the children’s eyes. “What do you kids say?”
“This old man is crazy. Why would we do such a thing?” the first kid said. There was a giant smirk on his face. “You can ask my father, Lord Ubriant. We don’t need to steal cattle or pigs to feed ourselves.”
“Why you—”
“Silence,” Talon said. No, these kids didn’t steal the cattle or pigs because they needed it. They were doing it to have fun, he was sure of it. This wasn’t the first time a lord’s kids did something like this, knowing they wouldn’t get in trouble because they were dealing with local guards. It made sense why the farmer brought the kids here. “May I ask where Lord Ubriant is?”
Barris coughed, as if he didn’t want to speak of it. “Your grace, you must understand—”
“Don’t beat around the bush. Tell me,” Talon said.
“As you wish,” Barris cleared his throat. “I knew the guards would let these kids off with no punishment. My sons and I took the kids and brought them here. I left a letter to Lord Ubriant, which was delivered three days after I left, so he couldn’t catch me.”
“I see. So, you kidnapped two kids so that you can be sure they are punished?” Talon said.
Barris gulped, clearly afraid of what was going to happen to him. “Y-yes,” he said.
“If you were in any other kingdom, your life would be forfeit,” Talon began, watching the old man pale even further. “However, I know what lords do to keep their children out of trouble. The two kids will help you around your farm, for free, for the next year. Lord Ubriant will pay you for the loss of your cattle and pigs. Furthermore, I will have a small group of guards escort you home so that Lord Ubriant knows you have my support. He will receive a royal note, directly from me, for his crimes and if he has any complaints, he can come see me personally.”
The look on the two kids’ faces was almost worth laughing at. Their jaws had dropped, and their eyes were as wide as onions. They clearly hadn’t expected to be punished for their behavior. Talon would not let such a thing happen in his kingdom. “One of my guards will work out the details, and you shall leave sometime this week.”
“T-thank you, your grace, thank you so much,” Barris stammered, bowing repeatedly. “I won’t forget this.”
Talon motioned with his hands, and one of the guards went up to Barris and escorted him out. He couldn’t stop himself from sighing. This was a waste of his time.
“Your grace, if I may,” Peitar began, stopping himself until Talon gave him the go-ahead.
“You appear rather irritated. I have never seen you so… impatient like this before.”
“I need these audiences to go quickly. There are a lot more people to go through, and I don’t have the time to listen to long stories, or else I’ll be here all week!” Talon said. He could feel his anger starting to rise and forced it away. There was no need to be mad at Peitar for telling him something he already knew. “Bring in the next person.”
The audience continued for the next eight hours. Talon found himself losing his patience with anyone who overexplained the problem and forced many to get to the point. There was nothing noteworthy. A couple of lords had a spat over some land, a lot of commoners were asking for support because of a lack of food or infrastructure due to bandits. So many small issues that kept getting worse.
When the last person left, he told the guards that the audience was over and to tell anyone in line that they’ll have to wait until next time. He was drained. Talon had forgotten how exhausting it was to listen to so many problems and then bring judgment. How many did he misjudge? He felt bad denying aid, but he couldn’t provide help to every person asking. He remembered his father telling him the same thing when he attended his first few audiences.
Talon remained on his throne for some time, unmoving. It was nice to just sit and think for a moment. A couple of power users had entered Carhan during his audience. Each time he felt a power user enter the barrier, he tensed, awaiting the moment the mages came. What were they doing? Hoping to drive him mad with impatience?
He didn’t know how long he sat there, but after a while, he stood. “Peitar, Arthur, what do the people say about my ability to use the power?” Talon asked. If anyone would get the truth, it would be his friends.
“Most support you,” Peitar said.
“What about the ones who don’t?” Talon pressed.
“They want you to hand yourself over to the mages and disband the Ashtari,” Arthur said when Peitar remained silent.
“Not surprising, foolish, but not surprising,” Talon said.
“I worry some may try to help the mages get to you,” Arthur said.
“That’ll never happen,” Chesmarn said.
“No, it won’t,” Talon agreed. He wondered if the small group of people who wanted him to give himself over to the mages would change their minds when the Durmaddons attacked. He wasn’t stupid; he knew more people disliked him than he thought. His earlier estimation of thinking seventy percent of his people supported him was likely wrong. He couldn’t blame them. Almost five years had passed since the Durmaddons' first raid; why were they waiting so long to attack? It was a question he asked himself all the time and one he never got an answer to.
“We did as you asked and dressed as commoners. A lot of people talk about how great it is that you aren’t letting the mages push you around,” Peitar said.
“I got the same answers from a lot of the people I talked to as well,” Arthur added.
“Let’s hope the support continues then,” Talon said and walked down the steps. He wouldn’t silence his critics, not unless there was a serious threat. Besides, that would be how a rebellion starts. Silencing a group of people always made them more powerful and dangerous. He hoped his people wouldn’t try anything stupid.
Talon noticed he was still holding the power and had been since the beginning of the audience. He reluctantly let it go. There was no point in holding onto it anymore. He walked towards his chambers. It was time to get some rest; he had a lot of planning to do. Corvin was going to update him on the royal army, and Qidan would be visiting soon enough to update him on the School of Power. He also wanted to go into the hidden archives at some point to see if he could find another useful technique. There were still so many moves he didn’t know about, and he yearned to learn more.
Before he knew it, Talon found himself in bed, staring at the ceiling. He wished he could fall asleep while holding the power. That would be the only way he would rid himself of his nightmares. Reluctantly, he found himself falling asleep, and the nightmares began once more.
