Serpent's Lair (The Forgotten: Book 1)

  *

  Lord Telvani strolled through the hallways of the palace contentedly. He had sustained no few loses of late, what with the dissolving of the Order – a secret group which tracked those who were marked as the Dark King’s descendants and kept blood-magic alive, and which he had been in the very highest ranks of. Not to mention the costly loss of his right-hand woman, Ranis. Her failure had definitely put a damper on his plans. Regardless, the situation had finally now been salvaged.

  His quick-thinking had led him to stand behind the claim of the new Queen to the throne which had automatically gained her trust. Not that it would have been hard to earn it anyway; the woman was determined to see the good in everybody, a trait that was not very practical in politics. Though it had taken him a fair amount of time to recoup, he felt reasonably certain that the new group that he had put together would serve its purpose. The Faithful were already infiltrating the Knights, a force that the Queen had put together for the purpose of educating and patrolling the countryside so that blood-magic would not take hold.

  Ironic, he thought, smiling to himself.

  One of his servants came scampering over to him, and Telvani paused and waited while the man bowed deeply before him. As he raised himself back up, Telvani waved a hand, giving him leave to speak.

  “News has come from the Faithful in Hardonia, my lord,” he sputtered and Telvani cringed.

  It probably wasn’t good news. So much for my happy musings.

  The servant went on, “They report that the lord there, Lord Morven, did not follow the proper procedures.” The man’s eyes darted back and forth. “Apparently he holds a fair amount of bitterness towards one of the commoners there. The man-in-question’s wife is said to be the most beautiful woman in the region and though Lord Morven courted her with lavish gifts and expensive offerings, she chose to marry this commoner instead, who is merely the town baker. It was a slight that Lord Morven took very personally.” The man was rambling on, and Telvani waited with diminutive patience for him to get to the point. “So, when the trackers discovered that the man’s daughter was one, he found himself unable to resist the chance to publicly humiliate him.”

  Telvani didn’t like where this was headed.

  “Lord Morven declared to the entire town, who was gathered for the Dragon Festival, that it was a new proclamation of the crown that children with strong talent were being gathered together for a divine purpose and that they should feel honored that their daughter would be among the first to be chosen.”

  Telvani nearly shook with anger. So much work has been put into rebuilding, all to be wasted by one foolish man’s pride?! The corners of his mouth turned down and he clenched his teeth.

  “How long do they celebrate the festival in Hardonia?” he asked finally.

  “Three days, my lord, today was the first.”

  “And do most of the people who travel for it stay in town?”

  “Most do, my lord.” The man’s voice wavered.

  Telvani stared down the long stone hallway in thought. The servant waited. Eventually the lord spoke again. “Then there is no helping it,” he sighed. “Order in the elite guards.”

  The servant paled. “Is that necessary?” he had the gall to ask. “It will not guarantee that all who heard it will be silenced.”

  “No,” agreed Telvani, humoring the man’s audacity, “But they won’t be talking about that anymore, now will they?”

  No sooner had the servant scurried away than the Queen appeared in the hall with him, followed by her usual entourage. Surprisingly, the King was not by her side, typically the two were nauseatingly inseparable.

  “Lord Telvani,” Queen Layna commanded with her tone that he stop and speak with her.

  He gave her a tolerant smile. “Yes, My Liege?”

  “I have been getting reports about a new group that has been going around the countryside in my name,” she began in a stern voice and a tiny bead of sweat formed at his brow.

  She couldn’t possibly have tied me to them…. “Oh? What are they doing?” he inquired, feigning concern over their activities, and hoping her answer would be one of ignorance. He was in luck.

  “We haven’t been able to figure that out,” answered Garrick in the Queen’s stead.

  Telvani fought hard to keep his lip from twitching. It irked him to no end that the Queen put up with such insolence, but her face was serene besides the faint look of disquiet.

  “But I don’t like it,” Layna asserted, “Amid our recent problems with the Order, I’m wary of any sort of group that bands together for an unknown cause. Especially when it’s groups of soldiers of the throne who are acting under the crown’s protection.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” soothed Telvani, relieved that this seemed to be the extent of her information. At this point it sounded as though she believed they had rallied together themselves. “But I will look into it for you. I’ll make it my top priority.”

  “Thank you Lord Telvani, you’ve been most helpful.”

  “It is my pleasure, Your Excellency,” Telvani bowed and turned away, not bothering to wait for her dismissal. Brought up as a commoner, she had no clue the respect that was due her station, and he wasn’t about to give it to her if she didn’t even know to demand it.

  “Telvani,” she called after him, and he paused again, hoping his irritation didn’t show. Her stare was suddenly intense, her sharp gaze seeming to penetrate into his very soul. An after-effect of having hosted the gods. It was unnerving and Telvani immediately lost his haughty attitude, checking to make sure his mind-shields were in place. “There’ve been several loads of prisoners that have gone missing or their paperwork has been misplaced. Do you know anything about this?”

  Was it his imagination or did her tone have a hint of accusation? “Missing prisoners? No, no I haven’t heard that, but it is disturbing news.” The Queen was much too involved in matters she should be leaving to her underlings. He had hoped that with her pregnancy that it would have allowed him more leeway to conduct his dealings unhindered, but even in this delicate state she had tramped all over the countryside and kept visiting the prisons hoping to educate and rehabilitate the inmates. And having the baby around was no better, half the time she just brought it with her to meetings when it should be being brought up by its nannies. “We can’t have that, now can we?” he appeased her. “Which ones?”

  “There have been a number of instances,” Garrick came forward and handed him a scroll and she continued, “and I believe that at least a handful of high-profile nobles who were involved with blood-magic are among those who have disappeared. We need to locate them right away.”

  Telvani unrolled the list and briefly looked it over. It was fairly complete. Maybe only one or two had been missed. She certainly was doing her homework. He raised his eyebrows as he read down the register, “Lady Edlyn, Lord Farthen…this is serious.” He would seriously need to warn them to go further into hiding.

  He looked up to find the Queen watching him attentively.

  “Well,” he pronounced, rolling the parchment back up and hitting his hand against the end of it, “you’ve given me quite a lot to look into. You must excuse me as I am eager to get to the bottom of this straight-away. These are some very disturbing events.”

  Queen Layna nodded to him and he bowed again, quickening his pace away from her so that he would not be called back for another round of questions.

  He hastened to his suite and commenced to furiously writing several letters. When he had finished, he folded them and dripped wax onto each from his candle, watching the surface harden just a bit before pressing his ring into them.

  He called a servant in to take the messages away with instructions where to send them. He needed to both alert those who they had already freed to lay low for a while, and to inform the Faithful in the prisons to halt their missions for the time being. He needed to tread car
efully where the Queen was concerned. She was smarter than she looked, despite her foolish trusting nature.

  Once that task was accomplished, he made his way to the Hall of Records where he spent the afternoon poring over the reports. To any observers sent by the Queen, it would appear that he was indeed looking into the disturbing news she had just brought him. In reality, he was scouring every page for records that could link him to any of the dealings. He had brought with him a special ink that covered up the previous markings to match the color of the page, making it look as though nothing had been written there before. He only had to use this twice, and even those were distant connections.

  When he felt as though there was nothing linking him to any of his projects, he pushed the chair back from the table, scraping its legs across the floor. He received a few pointed looks for the grating sound, but he ignored these, returning the ledgers to their spots and rubbing his tired eyes. Too much focusing at words two feet from his face. He needed to get outside.

  He strolled out into the gardens, enjoying the cool breeze as evening settled in, and the solitude of the night as most of the other people had retired inside. His reverie did not last long, however, as a servant soon rushed out to find him.

  “Lord Telvani,” the man stopped before him and bowed deeply, waiting until he was acknowledged before standing to relate his message.

  “Yes?” Telvani granted him.

  “The King and Queen request your presence in the throne room immediately, my lord.”

  Telvani sighed. “Very well.” He followed the young man back towards the palace with annoyance. It would be so nice to go one day without having to interact with their Majesties.

  When they reached the throne room, the huge wooden doors swung inwards to receive him and he slowed his pace to a cautious walk. The King and Queen both sat at their thrones; it was unusual for them to take such a formal position to receive him, and lords and ladies lined the path to them. He walked among these, searching their faces for some clue to the purpose of this summons, but they all wore looks of curiosity. Apparently they had no more idea than he did, but had simply gathered to be the first to spread the court gossip, or were here for their own matters to be settled by the Queen.

  The noble class had gone through a great upset when Queen Layna was crowned, between many of them ending up in jail for their involvement in the Order and blood-magic, and Layna’s inclination for those of the lower class who she had exalted to noble status, things were still working themselves out to get to a new normal.

  He reached the dais on which the thrones stood and kneeled before it.

  “Rise,” King Gryffon spoke first. “Lord Telvani, we asked you here today about a matter of great importance.”

  Telvani remained silent, waiting for him to continue. Queen Layna spoke next.

  “I brought several matters to your attention this morning,” she said and looked at him expectantly.

  He nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

  “Additional information that has just come to light, combined with your actions since learning of these issues…” she began in a voice that told him that she knew.

  Telvani began to sweat. The only thing now would be finding out just how much she knew. He steeled himself for the final blow as she opened her mouth to speak again…

  But then suddenly both monarchs tensed simultaneously, and the Queen burst from her throne. She broke out into a sprint down the hallway with the King at her heels. Lord Telvani felt a rush of relief, even if that relief would probably only prove to be momentary. He entertained the notion of fleeing while they were preoccupied, but found that too many of the guards’ attention was on him. It would be fruitless, and would only solidify his guilt when he did not yet know how much they knew. He still had the chance to talk himself out of it. So instead he followed the King and Queen curiously, trying to maintain a semblance of propriety while keeping up with the racing couple. Most of the courtiers followed suit.

  They headed towards the nursery and Telvani wondered if perhaps all the fuss wasn’t just that the baby had taken a fall and set off the parent’s wards. How disappointing that would be. Although if it was a bad enough fall to kill the child perhaps it would be useful. He had originally hoped to gain access to the girl in order to groom her to be his protégé and then do away with her parents once she was under his thumb. But not only was the child kept securely under unbreakable wards at all times, but the King and Queen proved too powerful themselves to assassinate.

  Not that he hadn’t tried.

  When they reached the doorway to the nursery, the Queen skidded to a halt, causing the King to run into her. She let out a strangled cry and rushed inside and Telvani picked up his own pace to see what was going on. The bodyguards pushed past him and raised their swords, ready for a fight. This served to further pique his curiosity. What was going on?

  As he rounded the corner of the doorway, the child came into sight, glowing in a faint blue light and hovering above the floor. Telvani raised an eyebrow. Well, this is interesting. Both her parents were frantically throwing spell after spell at the enchantment, but surprisingly none were doing any good. The Queen rushed forward and tried to physically remove the child from the glow, but it only gave her a nasty shock and repelled her backwards. Telvani bit back a malicious smile.

  The glow around the little girl grew steadily brighter, and the King and Queen’s efforts increased accordingly, but still to no avail. The non-mage bodyguards stood around awkwardly, their swords falling to their sides uselessly, and those who had talent added their strength to their charges’. Finally, a loud *pop* was heard, and little Phoenix disappeared.

  Queen Layna and King Gryffon stood staring at the empty space for a long moment. Then they gathered their immense combined strength, ready to follow the child wherever she had been taken…

  …when they were unexpectedly struck down. Their legs gave out beneath them in unison and they crumpled to the floor. Telvani winced mockingly as the Queen’s head collided with the ground with a resounding thud. Lucky for her there was a thick carpet in the nursery for the child’s own falls.

  Telvani stood still, looking around warily, aware of the possibility of an attack on his own person. The guards stared dumbly at the scene, and one raced into the hall to raise the alarm. After a tense moment during which no more magic could be felt, he tentatively moved forward and examined the two prone bodies. He held his middle and pointer finger to the Queen’s neck and felt her pulse, strong and steady, though her skin was ice-cold. He repeated this for the King with similar results. He could sense a faint glow around the two of them as well, akin to the one which had just appeared around their child.

  Some sort of stasis spell perhaps? Unable to take them out completely, so whoever did this froze them and surrounded them with wall upon wall of illusions that they would never be able to find their way back to reality on their own? How delightful. Someone had gone and taken care of his problems for him. Of course, stealing the heir could mean he had an unknown foe, and one who could incapacitate the two most powerful mages in the country. Possibly problematic, but potentially very useful – also not immediately relevant. It would all depend on who this person, or persons, were and what their plans were.

  Collecting his thoughts, he stood and addressed the nearest guard. “Put these two in their bed in the royal chamber and post guards at the door. No one is to go in or out except by my command, understood?”

  The man looked doubtful for a moment, but given the circumstances had the sense enough to agree to this. Several other guards helped him to move the limp bodies and Telvani turned to the rest of the spectators. Luckily, it was only guards who had made it into the room and he ordered the door shut.

  “No one is to speak of this to anyone,” he ordered, “not even your wives, or your mothers, or even your dogs. If word gets out that the King and Queen were attacked, i
t could both jeopardize our investigation into the matter and cause a panic within the populace. Neither of these will help us protect the King and Queen.”

  The guards listened with rapt attention, their eyes wide. As he finished his tirade, they all looked around at one another and then back to him, nodding. When they all had agreed to this – and given their oaths – he smiled, ordering them back to their posts. He strolled out into the hallway where many of the courtiers had followed, though many were turned away if they weren’t high enough rank to be in the hallways that led to the royal nursery and chambers.

  To those who were assembled he stated, “The Princess Phoenix had a bit of an accident, so the King and Queen will be indisposed for the remainder of the day. They have left me to carry out the rest of the business for today.” He gestured towards the throne room and led the procession back to the rest of the crowd still mulling about.

  He made his way straight to the thrones, lifting his cloak out around him to better sit and lowered himself into the Queen’s throne. He smiled.

  “Now, what was next on today’s agenda?” The lords and ladies exchanged glances with one another nervously, unsure of what to make of this sudden change. Then someone spoke up.

  “I have a grievance against my neighbor’s livestock using my grazing land which needs to be remedied.”

  Telvani dove into the work of wading through the nobles’ disputes. It was tedious, but worth the credit he would get for having so swiftly dealt with the emergency and having made the day still run smoothly. He would have to make a showing in front of the Council to keep any power he may immediately gain from this, but for the moment, seeing as how the Council was not in session, the country was under Telvani rule.

  He smiled grimly.