LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE STATE OF THINGS - SECTION 14
After Magistrate Yakove Zewe’s departure, Judicial
Commissioner Birgergu Gunt had ridden his closed carriage at breakneck speed to
the residence of his good friend the Provincial Governor Rexi, in order to
submit a report. On his arrival,
however, he was informed that the Governor was away on a short pleasure trip
and was expected to return in a fortnight.
After leaving a message with Rexi's trusted aide, Birgergu returned home
not in the least bit ruffled by the distant smoke and the glow of the fire on
the horizon; subsequently, he entered his study in order to manage some pertinent
neglected matters. First, removing a specific document from his locked cabinet,
he placed it under the lamplight and perused it carefully searching for key
correlations (crucial parallels, any links) or discrepancies between its
account of facts and the detailed report of the Magistrate’s.
All was in accord, save for one: the glowing
description of the stranger's horse remarkably resembled Yakove's account of
Fradel Rurik Korvald's mount.
It could very well be a coincidence. This gave Birgergu no concern as, shrugging his shoulders slightly; he put the reports aside and picked up another document from the pile for examination. Despite his outward calm, however, he was inwardly fuming over the failure of the bandit's attack on Fradel, which now complicated matters greatly. He frowned, thinking of the berating he would get from the hot-tempered Governor, and then his thoughts reverted to Fradel's letter. Dropping everything, he rang for his trusted steward and verbally relayed his wishes to him.
That night a cloaked figure quietly stole through the
darkened alleyways to rendezvous with another whom, scaling the city wall with
a cat's agility, vaulted onto a waiting horse and galloped into the hills.
At dawn the next day Birgergu's trusted aide handed him a packet. After examining the contents in his study, Birgergu donned (gave) a wry smile and cast both the letter and its wrapping into the fire. A short time later the aide returned with an urgent message from the Governor and Birgergu made haste to respond to the summons.
"It has already been taken care of, Your
Excellency." Birgergu assured him.
"Then why do you bother me with this?" Rexi shoved (thrust) the report in Birgergu's
face.
"I have no time for such trifles. You are dismissed." Before the Commissioner of Justice could even
respond Rexi turned his back on him and stormed out of the anteroom.
"I'm
surrounded by incompetents.” His voice trailed off as he began to muse:
How can I ever gain favor with His Excellency (Eunuch)
Egil Viggoaries when a simple matter like this cannot even be resolved. That idiot Birgergu assured me of Fradel
Rurik Korvald's demise; that he would disappear without a trace. He's as incompetent as that doltish
brother-in-law of his. They've both
managed to botch things up oh, so perfectly!
I should have taken the matter into my own hands from the outset, instead
of relying on that idiot.
His steps had led him into his private chambers. Entering in a huff, he sank his heavy frame
down on the couch. Seeing his foul mood,
the servants all kept their distance, all but hiding in the corners.
Seething in anger, Rexi reflected on the origins of the Eunuch's orders, the ongoing struggle between Prime Minister Lamont Gudaren and the Minister of Internal Security Egil Viggoaries, as each vied (contended) for significant clout (portion of power) at Imperial Court. Viggoaries's latest attempt to undermine Lamont's inroads with the emperor’s favorite concubine, Lady Sejon, had led to the confidential word sent to him to oversee the Eunuch's interest in the matter of the Lady's favorite poet, Fradel Rurik Korvald.
Rexi still
remembered his delight at accepting the task and his assurances of prompt,
favorable results. Angrily he stamped
his foot to purge his mind of the ugly, stubborn trepidation (foreboding) of the
possibility of dud (failure), but the persistent, gnawing doubt and the
consequences of a repetition of Birgergu's inability (incompetence) to set
right what, by now, had gone so terribly wrong, so terrified him that all the
blood drained from his face. A cold
shiver ran down Rexi’s spine, as his mind viciously fixed on the notorious
reputation of Egil Viggories’s brutish intolerance of the least flop (failure).
Springing to his feet, his brows stubbornly knit together, he paced the floor
in agitation.
"What is it, darling?" the bewitching beauty
but half his age mewed. Her eyes still
puffed from sleep; she had parted the bed curtains alluringly. Though it was nearly noon, she yawned and
stretched, settling back into sleep.
How beautiful she is! This enchanting siren was a recent
acquisition from his previous excursion.
Recalling the pleasures of last night, a smile grew on Rexi's lips, and
the color returned hotly to his cheeks.
Going over, he gently sat at the edge of the bed. Her sweet perfume assailed his nose,
intoxicating his senses and enticing him to fondle her cheek once more.
"Oh, let me sleep!" she purred. "I'm tired. You wouldn't let me nap at all last night."
Grinning mischievously, he followed her under the
covers as all his previous concerns and fury dissipated in her scent.
~
At cockcrow that morning, as Birgergu received
Fradel's letter, Magistrate Yakove and a few of his close associates had raised
parting toasts to the scholar and had escorted him to the city gates. Despite his protests, Fradel had been
constrained to accept the protection of a squad of fifteen stout, well-armed
bodyguards under the leadership of a lieutenant Zujor. They were to deliver Fradel safely to the
borders of the province.
With the walls of the great city long since lost in
the distance, the party of seventeen traveled the lugubrious road at a canter
for half a day, each cocooned in their thoughts.
The
uninspiring, desolate ground they traversed was but occasionally dotted with
naked hillocks and the monotony left them riding in the miasma of a dream.
Fradel's reverie meandered to thoughts of his blood
brother, Nevetsecnuac Alric Therran Valamir, and a troubled expression crossed
his face. To purge his heart of this
longing and regret, he turned his gaze to the limitless sky, not heeding the
refreshing wind that caressed his exposed neck.
He watched with misty eyes the white, billowing clouds as they
converged, then parted, and then sailed (wisped) away across the sky. When he lowered his gaze and looked ahead, he
saw a small, scrub-covered knoll in their path, a precursor of a number of
undulating, forested hills that skirted a great mountain whose peak seemed to
scratch the clouds.
I don't remember ever having crossed such a mountain. Fradel
reflected, surveying these strange surroundings. Yet, if it was the guard's aim to injure
me, they could have done it long ago.
Opportunities had abounded on that desolate path, so devoid of
habitations or inns.
He was about to
query the stone-faced horseman alongside him regarding this choice of route
when, quite precipitously, Fiery Comet halted and refused to advance any
further.
Misconstruing this delay as Fradel's intent, Zujor
left his scout and approached to reassure the scholar.
"The
reconnaissance bodes well. The forest extending
beyond these hills is clear of any danger.
If you desire, sir, we could take a short sojourn here and lunch in the
shade of those trees."
Before Fradel could respond Fiery Comet, in another
surprise move, suddenly bolted off on a course tangential to their line of
advance (intended direction).
Zujor shouted Fradel to stop as he and the rest of the
guards simultaneously fell into a hot pursuit.
That same instant a shrill whistle was heard from behind the woodland hill
as a large body of armed brigands poured onto the road, brandishing their
swords, charging by with the force of an avalanche out to bury its prey.
Only the scout stood on his ground, a look of mute surprise froze on his face as his head hit the earth. Alarmed, Zujor ordered two of his ablest men to forge ahead after the swiftly disappearing Fradel as he and the other dozen wheeled their horses about to bar the road at a defile between two hillocks.
"And just where do you think you're going,
knave?" Zujor bellowed at the top of his voice. So fierce was the lieutenant's cry that the
point rider's horse stumbled, toppling its rider to the ground.
"Clear the way if you wish to live!" boomed
the voice of the new Bandit Chief, as he whipped his horse to the fore.
"Our
business is not with you. We only want
revenge on the cursed scholar Fradel."
As he
brandished his sword his men let up a mighty yell to spur their murderous
charge.
"You'll have to go through me and Hell
first!" Gritting his teeth the
brave Zujor glowered at the new Bandit Chief as he steadied his horse, and his
squad lowered their lances to meet the charge.
The fierce
fighting and bloodletting that ensued lasted several hours. Swords flailed the
air and spears thrust out like pumps as the horses' hooves churned up the
turf. Though lieutenant Zujor and his
men were all competent fighters, their adversaries, the bandits, were
impregnable (in numbers) and unsurpassed in their cunning and maneuvers.
When Zujor's strength ebbed, he was mercilessly cut down, sliced clear through from shoulder to waist and the four remaining guards dispersed in panic in all directions.
A small force was allocated to hunt them down while
the main body of bandits, responding in one voice to their Chief's command,
forged ahead after Fradel.
Riding their superb beasts on the wind, they soon
overtook the two guards. As a few stayed
behind to engage the soldiers, the rest chewed on the dust trail Fradel had
left behind. The distance between Fradel
and his pursuers widened further with every minute. Fiery Comet, unequaled in agility and speed,
pushed on until, diving into the wall of the forest, they were both lost to
human sight.
For countless hours the relentless bandits scoured the
dense forest, an evil place with hidden dangers of its own where ancient trees
dramatically screened out the sun or altogether, turning day into night,
blotting out the sky. A lookout,
climbing to the top of the tallest tree, ardently surveyed the area beyond the
forest with his eagle eyes until finally, he spotted a lone, snaking trail of
dust in the southeast that disappeared into a crevice between two hills.
Racing towards
it, they traversed a great distance until the strengths of both men and beast
were spent beyond their endurance. It
was as though Fradel had been swallowed up by the earth or had vanished into
thin air. With the valley veiled in the
shadows of twilight they set up camp, not daring to concede defeat and resolved
to continue on with their search at the first break of day.
(END OF SECTION 14)
