FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (49 page)

     For the first time since they had arrived, they would be dining with the royal family, Prime Minister Trex, the Council of Ministers and the Provincial and the Oceanic Guard Commanders. The King and Queen of Free Falls, King Fulmar Patrum and Queen Rose Soll Patrum, sat at the head of the table while Prime Minister Trex and his wife, Winter, sat at the opposite end. The other ministers, all dressed in their elegant social garments, sat on the left of the king while Prince Patrum, the Elementhars and the five military commanders sat on the right of him. The prince and the military commanders were in their military uniforms.

     Servants appeared with the evening meal. Lance had never seen so much food in his life, not to mention the artistic way in which they were plated and served. Everyone sat solemnly, except Clover, who was still quite nervous. The king afforded a slight smile and began to speak.

     “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The queen and I welcome you to our dinner table. As there are a few unfamiliar faces amongst us today, please allow my son to do the introduction. Eagle, please do the honours of introducing our guests,” said the king.

     “Yes, father,” said Prince Patrum.

     Prince Patrum then stood up and adjusted his uniform. All eyes were on him.

     “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you for providing me with the opportunity of honouring my saviours. It is my greatest pleasure to introduce them to you,” he said.

     He proceeded to introduce the Elementhars to all who were present. When he introduced Clover, two of the recavians gave wide, mischievous smiles. The prince paused, glanced at Clover and started smiling as well. Clover lowered her head in embarrassment. The king and queen looked puzzled. So did the rest of the guests.

     One of the recavians stood up. He bowed to the prince and to the king.

     “Please forgive me, Your Highnesses, ladies and gentlemen. It is just that I have never thought I would meet my daughter whom I have not spoken to, or more precisely,
who has not spoken
to me for the last six years, at the royal dinner today. As a matter of fact, this was the last place in Free Falls that I would expect to see her,” said the recavian.

     Clover kept her head down. She felt a mixture of embarrassment, happiness and longing, but she tried very hard not to let them show.

     “How have you been, Clover
?
Interesting dinner dress that you are wearing,” the recavian said smiling as he turned to look at his daughter.

     “Good _ of this, I… father
!
” Clover cried out as she got off her seat, ran around behind Lance and Spirit, and hugged the recavian tightly. The other recavian who smiled also got up and gave Clover a hug.

     “Father, Cousin Uncle Anvil, I am so sorry
!
” Clover said to the both of them.

     So emotional was she that she had spoken in modern Farhayvenyte, instead of its olden manner.

     Now Ray and Lance knew why Clover was so nervous. Her father and cousin uncle were seated just a few chairs away from her. This was more than just a dinner for Clover. It was a family reunion. A family reunion after a parting of six years
!

     King Patrum could not stop himself from laughing. Queen Patrum elbowed her husband in the arm, to remind him to behave in a graceful manner. The king gave his wife a funny look and shook his head, and then started laughing again.

     “So, this is the rebel of the Genox family
?
The one who strayed
!
I have heard countless stories about you. The intelligent little girl who rejected the Genox family tradition and ran off to an Elementhar monune. Well personally, I am glad you did so, or else my son would no longer be with us today,” commented King Patrum after a short while.

      Clover smiled and presented a slight bow. Then the Genoxes hugged again. Queen Patrum was in tears. So was Missus Trex. Prime Minister Trex shook his head in disbelief. The rest who were present were smiling.

     Finally, Clover returned to her seat. Her face was as bright as sunshine and her cheeks were glistening from her tears. Her father and cousin uncle radiated the look of pure joy.

     Prince Paltrum continued on with the introductions. The Council of Ministers who sat across Ray, as he found out, were Health Minister Heart Nieven, Wealth Minister Cap Coxen, Agriculture Minister Chip Shale, Education Minister Gush Pattal, Construction Minister Chisel Bildox and Administration Minister Key Sheppal. The Provincial Guard Commanders were Recavian Sabre Plazer, commander of 2
nd
Ocean; Recavian Hawk Loyz, commander of 3
rd
Ocean; and Clover’s father, Recavian Hammer Genox, commander of 4
th
Ocean. The Oceanic Guard Commanders were Clover’s cousin uncle, Recavian Anvil Genox, commander of 5
th
Ocean; and Recavian Harpoon Ordell, commander of 6
th
Ocean.

     Dinner began casually enough and soon the dinner table sounded busier than a market place as conversations and discussions evolved as steadily as the dinner courses that were being served.

     Clover exchanged seating positions with Lance and Spirit, so that she could sit next to the recavians. Recavians Hammer and Anvil Genox swapped places with the other recavians so that the Genoxes could sit next to each other.

     “I heard that you are a master of two elements now, Clover. Is it true
?
” asked Hammer.

     “True _ it is of this, father,” answered Clover.

     “Six years for two elements
!
I was told that this is fast
.
Are you ready to come home
?
” asked Hammer.

     “Welcome _ am I of this, father
?
” asked Clover.

     “Of course you are
!
You are my daughter, Elementhar or not
!
Your mother misses you a lot. She cries almost every day. You could have written to us. Half the time we did not know whether you were alive or dead,” said Hammer.

     “Sorry _ I am of this, father
!
Forgive _ I thought you would never do of this of me, so I tried to distance myself. Hate _ I thought you do of this of me for life and that I have been disowned,” said Clover.

     “Do not be silly, girl
!
You are my daughter and I will always love you
!
How could I ever disown you
!?
” said Hammer as he hugged Clover.

     King Patrum turned to speak to Ray.

     “Elementhar Iddell, I have heard that you were there when the Serpentians attacked Fort Eastguard and that you have fought nobly and bravely. Should you agree to it, how long would it take for you to train a pond of my soldiers to be Master Elementhars
?
” asked the king.

     “Laws _ ours of these forbid me to do such a thing for you, King Patrum; so I apologise deeply,” said Ray in a casual tone.

     King Patrum was slightly taken aback, unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the Elementhars’ way of status indifference. The king was used to being addressed as ‘Your Highness’ all his life. But he kept in mind that Elementhars have never pledged allegiance to the throne, so no allegiance was owed to him; and that they had always provided an essential service to the wellbeing of Free Falls.

     “But if innocent people are getting killed and you can do something to stop it, will you still cling on to your laws
?
Should
you still cling on to your laws
!?
” argued King Patrum.

     “Yes,” was Ray’s simple answer.

     “But what about people’s lives
!?
Do you think that it is right for you to do nothing and let them get killed
?
” argued King Patrum further.

     “Yes,” was Ray’s simple answer yet again.

     King Patrum shook his head. Ray’s answers were downright shocking. The king decided to rephrase his original question. He was hoping to get a better answer this way.

     “How long does it take for an Independent Elementhar of sufficient quality to train a pond of my soldiers to become Master Elementhars, Elementhar Iddell
?
” he asked.

     “Time _ of this, it may take five years at best, but with Independents, it will most likely take ten years; provided that you managed to find a high quality Independent who is willing to do the job,” answered Ray.

     King Patrum shook his head in disbelief. It takes three months for a Provincial Guard to be trained to the rank of servian and approximately one and a half years for a recruit to be trained to the rank of convian. Why would it take 10 years to master Elemental Sorcery
?

     “Can my soldiers be good Elementhars as they are, or would they be required to have a significantly different quality and mindset
?
” enquired the king as he retained his composure, despite the fact that his curiosity of the strangeness of the Elementhars’ way was growing stronger.

     “Qualities _ of these, that which are required to be a good Elementhar are not any different from what are required to be a good soldier. Mindset _ of this, some changes would be required of your soldiers, so as to harmonise with nature as it is a requirement in Elemental Sorcery,” replied Ray.

     “Do you know of any Independents who are of sufficient quality who could help us
?
” the king asked further.

     “Know _ unfortunately, I do not of this of any Independent at all, King Patrum. News _ however, we have received of these that there are some of the Independents who are of sufficient quality, although they could never be as good as Ordered Elementhars. Independents _ there are also some of them who were former Ordered Elementhars, and they would be of equal quality to Ordered Elementhars,” answered Ray.

     Both King Patrum and Prime Minister Trex nodded their heads and smiled. Ray had given them an idea of how they could get what they wanted.

     “I certainly do hope that we can find an Independent whose skills and quality are equal to yours, Elementhar Iddell, and who is willing to help us. It is very hard to administrate and take care of Free Falls when we are constantly harassed by the Serpentians and the Aridytes. Therefore, the sooner our soldiers are trained in Elemental Sorcery, the sooner we can defeat them. And the sooner we defeat them, the better it is for us,” said Prime Minister Cayman Trex.

     “Ah
!
That is enough hassling our guest for this evening. Come, let us finish our meal and turn our attention to more pleasant topics,” said the king candidly.

     Lance stared at his plate silently. Suddenly, he stood up and looked at the king.

     “Demons _ King Patrum, why do you and your government not protect the people of Free Falls from the threat of them
?
Abandon _ why have you and your government done of this to the people who live in the outskirts and in the villages
?
” he said in an outburst.

     Prime Minister Trex was shocked at Lance’s rather rude and direct questions. He stood up from his seat and stared down at Lance, and was just about to speak when King Patrum raised a hand and stopped him. Seeing the king’s gesture, the prime minister sat down. King Patrum looked sympathetically at Lance. Prince Patrum had mentioned to him about Lance’s history and the king acknowledged the legitimacy of Lance’s question.

     “Lance Arman, I know of your history and of the reason why you have asked me these questions. The answers that I am going to give you will not be pleasant but rest assured, they shall be the whole and complete truth,” said the king.

     King Patrum paused momentarily, sipped some wine, cleared his throat and then looked Lance straight in the eyes.

     “It is true that the solemn duty and function of the king and the government is to take care of and to protect the people, as well as to administrate and to provide justice for them. However, these are truly massive responsibilities that require tremendous resources such as soldiers, healers, craftsmen and also a multitude of equipment and supplies. Unfortunately, these are the resources that we do not have much of. I would like to station a river of soldiers in every village if I could. I would like to place at least three healers in every village if the kingdom had that many of them. I would like to build a fort in every village if our treasury could afford them. But the truth is that I
do not
have sufficient amount of these resources. Our kingdom is fighting confrontations on two fronts. We face the Serpentians in the east and the Aridytes in the west.  Every soldier that I have is needed to protect our borders. Every healer that I can find is sent to the front where they are needed the most. And the least of all, we are not qualified or knowledgeable enough to fight demons. The fighting of demons has always been the role of the Elementhars and against demons, the military has always been proven to be ineffective. I hope you understand our limitations,” explained King Patrum.