Chapter six

Two months went by with no hint about the games.. I was enjoying a nice evening with two women in one of the pleasure cottages strewn around in the green lands of the UKC, when suddenly the door was flung open, and Deemeon stepped in..

               “Having fun Hort” he said and took a seat signaling the women to leave.

               “Welcome chief.” I said slightly annoyed, “It’s an honor.”

               “You are travelling far from your base..”

               “I was not aware that there are restrictions on having fun here.” I played along.

               “No, Not at all.. have all the fun you want,” he answered jovially, “I know the games have been delayed and you guys are getting edgy, so it is better to put your minds at ease.”

               “Edgy? Who is edgy? If the games start tomorrow, it is fine by me.. if it starts next year, it is all right too.. I am not concerned about the games at all.. I am already the commander of Primore.” I got up to get some refreshments.

               “Are you really?” he cracked up laughing, “you seem to have very low regard to the current guy at the top.” I felt a certain degree of sarcasm in his voice. I stopped with my hand carrying the tray and turned to face him,

               “You seem to have something on your mind.. else you wouldn’t come all the way here to undermine my confidence.” He looked at my face for a long time without saying anything, as if he were trying to see through me.. I put down the tray and sat across from him,

               “something serious?” my mind was jolted back to the stormy night.

He finally spoke very slowly,

               “I was told, you come here into these grounds in order to meet with some sleazy individuals of suspicious backgrounds.”

It took me a few moments to realize that my original fear was unfounded, then I took my time to go over his statement before I slowly began to laugh until my laughter became uncontrollable .. he was surprised, I could see his brows raised in wonder.. and finally I calmed down..

               “told.. you were told?” I managed to speak coherently, “told by who? Come on chief, you know everything by now.. I thought you already know everything .. I have more enemies now than the whole country..”

When he didn’t respond, I continued,

               “Of course they shall fabricate all kinds of stories about me to undermine your trust in me.. I do not meet anybody here except the likes of people you just saw now.. if someone stops by unexpectedly, well.. they may come and go .. I have no interest except to prove myself in the upcoming games.”

He didn’t say anything.. then he stood up, paced the room for a while, then he walked to the door.. but he returned back to look at me,

               “You know.. I have never met anyone like you.. in all these years.. I saw all kinds of people.. but.. there is something strange about you. You are not the most confident of people, nor are you the most intelligent I met, but your naïveté baffles me.”

               “Naiveté..? I ‘m not naïve.. I am just an ordinary soldier.. just a.. a.. a dedicated soldier.”

               “No.. I have seen thousands of soldiers.. for thousands of years.. and I knew there is something peculiar about you.. that is why I went against the advice of my council to bring you.. I mean to save your life after your injury to join my ranks..I will find out.. I will”

               “thousands of years.. you cannot be much older than me.”

               “You think so?” He chuckled, “when you know how old I am you shall be really shocked.” He stepped closer to me and grabbed my shoulder, his hand felt like an ice cold vise, “about those enemies.. I know them too.. but you need to watch your step.. the more enemies you have.. the greater target you become.. if one doesn’t get you, the next one might.. the little people you saw in Redwood district, Foamville, or Yara are inconsequential, they compete for bread crumbs and  scrapes but you.. you are competing for a place in my high council.. remember that.”

He let go of my shoulder, and left the room.. yet, I felt like my shoulder would not recover for a long time. I sat down to think about this strange conversation.. I wondered who would it be the person spreading these rumors about me? Could it be related to my encounter with Freddy back at the BSC? Or this is just a new fabrication? Gradually I became more convinced that Pryade must be the culprit. May be I should confront him? Or, should I play it cool? I rode back to Primore and by the time I arrived at my quarters, I decided to fetch the commander and check him out.. I asked Alore about where he stayed, and wondered why I never pondered about that before. I was told he lived in the Palace!!

               “What palace?” I asked

               “Primore Palace. Every castle commander lives in the castle palace..” Alore answered with wide eyes for my ignorance.

               “Well, can you take me there..” I ignored his astonishment.

I was amazed how the Primore palace looked like a smaller replica of Deemeon palace. But, there was an additional strange building adjoining it, with high walls and a huge closed gate.. It looked vacant or abandoned.. when I asked Nancy, Pryade assistant, who rushed to meet us as she saw me coming, I was told, it was called the detention building.. it was rarely used to secure the residents in case of an unexpected invasion, or in case the residents needed to hold some captives before they are transferred to the proper directions. I entered the Palace  unhindered followed by both assistants.. and I found the ugly guy sitting at a desk with several charts spread out in front of him.

               “What brings you here now?” He said angrily as soon as he saw me at the door.

               “Oh, Hello to you too.. I thought you must have missed me since our last friendly conversation, so I came to see if I can help you keep your head above your shoulders before the expected inevitable repositioning.”

               “ha ha ha.. very funny..” he was not amused. “I have no time for your gimmicks.”

               “I am not the one interested in gimmicks.. I don’t go spreading rumors about my competition hoping to eliminate my rivals before they can have a fair fight.” I spoke while I was peeking at the charts on the desk.”

I could see a map which looked different from the one given to me.

               “You have no business being here.. leave before I am forced to throw you out myself.” He tried to look serious, but his ugly face couldn’t hide a sneaky smile which betrayed his culpability.

               “Very well.. I just got what I came for.” I gave him a challenging look and left the room.

A few days later, the date for the games was announced, the OC Front had begun the skirmishes against the enemy and it was expected to have some troops drawn into the designated area for Primore to take over.. I was exercising with Alore and shortly after I decided to have some rest, so I sat down at the rest area of my garden and my assistant brought in some refreshments,

               “these games are expected to be very exciting Master Hort.”

               “there is a lot riding on the results Alore”

               “Indeed Master Hort, “ He said cheerfully, “But it is fairly obvious you are more than ready to take over the command.”

               “Alore, why do you always call me ‘master’” I wondered.

For some reason he was taken aback by my question. He did not answer right away, as if he was picking his words carefully,

               “I used to be the assistant to Commander Bryane before his promotion,” he said, “He insisted that I address him this way all the time.. so it was .. I mean,, I expected you might want me to address you the same way.”

               “No.. not at all.” I was a little surprised myself, especially seeing how the expression on his face betrayed a strange kind of relief.. or, may be .. Ah, I cannot find the word for it.. then after a short hesitation he murmured a few strange words,

               “You are still Vino..  Wow.”

               “What do you mean?” I chuckled, “What is Vino?”

He looked around suspiciously, then he whispered,

               “Don’t mind me trying a small test.”

               “Test ? what test W___”

Before I could finish my words, he took his dagger and cut himself. I yelled at him instinctively,

               “Are you crazy? Why did you do that?”

The poor guy was so happy and I was so confused.. I snapped at him,

               “Get some bandages fast.. you are bleeding.” I was getting angry.

               “Never mind, I shall heal. But, please.. please do not let anyone see you reveal such emotions, it is very dangerous.” He went inside, got some bandages and came back..

               “What kind of madness is this?” I yelled at him again.

               “Sorry.. I had to be sure. Remember, a few days ago we were at the council building, and a big row started between Sal and Morton .. about that woman Millie?”

               “I vaguely remember something like that.. I didn’t know what it was about and I left because it was getting noisy and irritating.” I shrugged.

               “Well, that woman preferred Sal over his rival Morton, So Morton ended up killing the woman for rejecting him..”

               “What? That is insane.” I scoffed

               “No. this is quite normal here, anyway, When Sal knew about it, he got very angry, picked the fight with Morton and ended up being killed himself as well.”

               “Whoa.. wait.. normal.. are you serious?”

               “Yeah.. these are the citizens of Vycee.. they do not live.. they exist. And then they .. well, no longer exist.. they are just like the rats or bushes.. when they cease to exist, they become feed for the fire..”

               “Oh, but Alore, if this guy Sal wanted to avenge the killing of his woman, this must mean that they also value their life and care for others too..” I tried to find some reasoning behind the behavior

               “No.. Sal was not fighting for Millie’s death.. he was fighting because he was denied what he wanted.. it appeared as if he had a lofty reason but the reality is something else.”

Alore was now sitting next to me and we were talking as equals.. I was still mulling this whole story in my head and trying in vain to find some sense to it.. after a long silence he said,

               “If you betray any real feeling for another person, any hint of caring about someone other than yourself, you are going to rouse suspicion that you are out of control .. you can be hurt badly.. very badly.”

His words would ring in my ears for a very long time.. and the challenge would come to pass only a few days later.. in the games.

There was a common saying in Primore castle, the sun rises in the west.. it was meant to be an inside joke.. indicating how the idle citizens there do not start their day until late in the afternoon. However, on the day of the games, everybody was at the battlefield early in the morning. These lazy bums were armed and ready.. although the enemy troops had thrown a curve into the plans of Bryane, the newly installed commander of the OC front, and instead of running into the prepared gauntlet to be trapped, they had a plan of their own, and came in with cavalry and galloped into a forested area which was pretty good to defend. It made the process very challenging for us. Our troops were divided into two groups, on the one side Pryade and Oldefol were at the front line and I was heading the other half with Pruste.. Bryane troops were stationed back at the front in case the enemy fell back trying to escape.. the waiting was tense and nerve wrecking, until I heard the galloping of a horse behind our lines .. which turned to be Deemeon making everyone aware that he was watching closely how the battle would unfold. After making his presence evident to everyone, he lingered in front of me to give me an unmistakable warning look.

It was almost midday when the sound of the horn announced the beginning of the fight. I cannot even tell which side started it.. but our lines rushed to surround the enemy position, while there troops emerged out of the forest from all directions. No plan could anticipate what happened next.. I was busy trying to stay on top of my horse with blows coming from everywhere.. my sword was drenched in blood.. I was injured but I didn’t even realize it at the time.. until I saw Pryade desperately trying to find his target against an elusive soldier who seemed to give him a very hard time.. I drew near to see the outcome.. only to be shocked.. it was Freddy..

I cannot explain what I did next.. I rushed like a madman and struck Pryade javelin before it hit the intended target.. He was stunned, and without hesitation he raised his sword and came at me shouting and cursing, I was only delighted to have my chance to hit this pompous ugly idiot, I was laughing and he was screaming, we fought fiercely and I got injured again till my sword found its mark and sent his sword flying .. he tried to get his dagger out but I found great pleasure in kicking him off his horse.. he fell to the ground and instantly tried to raise his head out of the dirt and stand up, my sword was on its way up in the air, when I felt a massive blow to my head, my sword blade was smashed.. so, still holding the hilt I fell to the ground and had a glimpse of the fiery eyes of Deemeon glaring at me.. then all lights went out.