NexLord: Dark Prophecies (7 page)

Once they were around the first corner away
from Niler, Enolive released his arm and Gandarel was shocked to
hear a quiet dry chuckle from the
bony
councilman.

"I haven't seen old Niler in such a rage in
quite some time; did you see how red his face had
become?"  Enolive asked with amusement in his voice.

Gandarel was speechless.

"You can relax; I'm not here to berate
you.  Unlike Niler, I still remember what it was like to
be a boy.  What you did was still
wrong,
though..."

Gandarel's surprise abated somewhat; he
figured the lecture from Enolive was now forthcoming.

"... you should have done it a different
way."

"What?" Gandarel blurted out, looking over at
the bony head of Enolive, the man's white skin always seemed thin
and stretched, but right now the mouth was showing a toothy smile
Gandarel had never seen there before.

"You cannot just disappear without anyone
knowing what happened to you, people get in an uproar! You are the
heir to the second highest seat in the land, my boy," the
councilman reminded him, poking him in the side with a bony finger
for emphasis.  "What you should do is tell them you need
a certain amount of time set aside for yourself."

"They wouldn't let me, Sar Corbin would
definitely forbid it; he considers my time to be his time."

"He cannot stop you, my boy.  You
see, even though you are too young to take the Seat right now you
still have certain rights and powers.  As heir no single
councilman can overrule you, only a unanimous vote of the council
can do that, and only until you take the Seat."

"Are you sure?" Gandarel exclaimed.

Enolive smiled.  "You really should
look at those law books that Niler keeps trying to coax you into
reading, they explain this very clearly.  When we get to
your chambers I'll point out the very chapter and you can read it
for yourself.  But mind you, Niler will try to
overpower
you by sheer will;
however, as long as you have one friend in the council he has
little real power over you."

Gandarel sighed and said, "The council will
just follow whatever he asks for anyway, and they will overrule
me." 

"Don't forget, I am a council
member.  Without my
vote,
they cannot overrule you.  If you ask
reasonably for some time to be set-aside for yourself I promise
that I will back you up.  I would say that three days a
week your classes should end by noon.  I wouldn't call
that unreasonable."

Gandarel was nearly speechless, and as
promised Enolive showed him the chapter in one of the law books
that covered the powers of the heir to the Seat.

Mara's method of discipline was much more
direct; she grabbed Aerin by his ear and led him straight across
the Inn courtyard to a horse trough, where she promptly pushed him
in.  He came up sputtering from the cold shock of the
water, but as soon as he had a breath she pushed him under
again.  After his third
dunking,
she let him clamor out. He looked very much like
a drowned rat, his hair hanging straight down in his face.

"Just when I thought I could trust you the
first thing you do is disappear in a strange city for hours, only
to turn up covered in who knows what!” she fumed.

"I'm sorry, Mara, I met some boys and they
were showing me the city, but then we got in Skulls Town, and we
were chased, and Lor yelled thief and we ran and had to hide in the
sewers..." he rambled, water sputtering from his lips.

Again Mara grabbed one of the twin handles
attached to the side of his head and dragged him toward the
Inn.  "We have a few rules we are going to discuss now so
there aren't any further misunderstandings.  I can see
that I've been too easy on you.  I was worried about how you
were handling your grief, but if you have the desire to get in
trouble…
well,
I suppose you've
recovered enough.  First rule: I'm the boss; you always
do as I say.  
Second
rule: you're always home by dark.
Third
rule: you tell me where you're going, and when
you'll be back, and IF I decide that you can go, I'll let you
know.  
Fourth
rule:
don't forget who your friends are, worry makes them really
mad.  Break the rules once and you'll be punished, break
the rules again and I'll turn you over to an
orphanage.  Got it?” she exclaimed, swinging the
wincing
boy around by his ear to
face her.

With wide
eyes,
Aerin nodded his assent.

"Good!” she exclaimed, and then hugged him to
her body.  "I thought we'd lost you."

"I... I'm sorry, Mara, it didn't seem like a
long time, but I promise that I'll never make you worry again."

Mara grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed
him to arm’s length so she could look into his
eyes.  "Don't make promises you can't keep, especially to
friends," but this time she brushed the wet hair out of his eyes
and gave him a little smile, the thin lines in her skin crinkling
even more.

"Am I really your friend, Mara?” he asked in
a small voice.

She considered the young boy before her and
the courage in which he had handled the loss of his parents, the
honesty in his eyes touched her and she had a sudden
feeling.  "Yes, Aerin, you and I are friends, and we are
destined to be great friends," but then her face turned stern
again.  "But don't you forget my rules!"

"I won't, Mara, and I really am sorry."

Mara nodded.  "I know you are,
Aerin.  Now let's get you dried off and put to bed, it's
been a long day."

Gandarel stopped outside the council hall and
worked up his courage.  He had just decided to forget his
whole plan when he saw Councilman Corbin coming around the
corner. 

"And who gave you leave to come out of your
room?" the councilman asked, gray bushy eyebrows rising in
question.

That pushed Gandarel over the top; he opened
the door to the council chambers and entered without answering
Niler.

"Gandarel Trelic, I asked you a question!"
Niler exclaimed, following him into the chamber.

The remaining eight council members
were
already inside the room and
seated around the wide rectangular table.

Gandarel's voice cracked a little as he
answered meekly.  "I'm here to address the council."

Again he hovered on the edge of his fear,
thinking about leaving quickly, but Enolive caught his eye and gave
him a slight nod of reassurance.

Gandarel held onto the reins of his fear.

"So you're here to apologize for your
behavior, well, get on with it," Niler exclaimed, taking his seat
at the head of the council table.

Gandarel went to the opposite end and stood,
facing the group of expectant faces.

"Yes, I am here to apologize for my causing
you worry today, it won't happen again," he said with eyes
downcast
.

The men all nodded.

Niler spoke in a condescending
tone.  "Fine, boy, we will consider it a closed matter,
but you will still recite the pages I assigned you tomorrow, so you
had best go back to your room and get on with
your penance."

Niler's tone struck a chord in Gandarel and
he raised his eyes to take in the table of men.  "I'm not
through, yet," he said a little louder, a dose of his father's
famous anger spreading through his veins.

Niler just raised those bushy eyebrows at him
again.

"I am sorry, but I am also not completely to
blame.  You called me a boy, and yes that's what I am,
and it's high time I had a chance to be a boy."

Niler's glare deepened.

"From here on I want three afternoons a week
to use as I see fit; to be 'a boy' as you put it.  At
other
times,
I will continue to
take your instruction, as my father would have desired."

Niler shook his head.  "Completely
out of the question, perhaps if you hadn't pulled this stunt today
an hour or so a week could have been arranged..."

"I want three afternoons a week," Gandarel
repeated.

Niler stood. "I said no."

"As heir to the Seat of Stone it is my
command," Gandarel almost whispered, but he got it out past his
wildly beating heart.

"What… who has put this nonsense into your
head?  Until such time as you take the Seat the council
shall decide what is best for you!"

"No, the council is only in support of me,
though I understand you can override my decisions if you choose,"
Gandarel explained, then added, “You may read it if you like,” and
he opened the book he had brought with him to the marked page and
passed it down.

Niler looked it over briefly. "I am familiar
with it, boy; don't try to teach your teachers.  You
argue a moot point, yes you can decree, but I overrule, and that's
the end of it."

Again Enolive gave him a slight nod and a
wink, encouraging the young heir.

Gandarel swallowed and then answered Niler
Corbin.  "Only a unanimous vote can overrule me."

"Fine," Niler said,
glowering.  "All in favor of overruling this ridiculous
notion say, `Aye'."

There was a chorus of Ayes around the
table.

"Now get back to your chambers and start
reading..."

Niler was interrupted.  "I say
`Nay'," Enolive proclaimed.  "The boy is within his
rights to have some time to himself."

Niler was speechless.

"Thank you,” Gandarel said in acceptance of
his win, “I will now retire to my chambers.  Tomorrow
will start my first day of afternoon free time.  Good
night all," Gandarel gave them the proper quarter bow reserved for
esteemed colleagues as taught by his protocol instructor, then he
wheeled around and walked out with his head high, once the door
closed he gave a whoop of glee.

Inside the council
room,
the boy's yell was clearly heard. 

"I hope you're ready to explain your
actions," Niler said grimly to Enolive.

"I have nothing to explain.  The
boy was within his rights and wasn't asking for more than was
reasonable.  Now shall we get on with other business?"
Enolive asked innocently in the face of
Niler’s
anger.

Aerin awoke to the low sound of voices in the
room.  He realized he had been hearing them for some time
in that stage between being asleep and fully awake.

"...but you've told me before, the Prophecy
is often vague, how can you help it along when even you don't know
what it means?"  Tocor asked, and the large
Quarian's
voice was deep and gravelly.

Mara answered him.  "I’m fairly
sure of this part, Gandarel is the one.  'Son of Warlord
and future NexLord', is fairly obvious.  We must get that
boy under my instruction soon; he is already at the age where I
must begin."

Aerin cracked an eyelid and saw Mara's gray
hair; she was sitting with her back to him.  Tocor sat
across from her with his arms crossed on the
table.  Aerin shifted slightly, trying to get a look at
Tocor's
hands, he still had not
seen them.  The Quarian usually kept them within the long
sleeves of his cloak. 

Mara noted Aerin’s slight movement even
though he was behind her chair. 

"Good morning, Aerin," she said
pleasantly.

He greeted them
both
and sat up stretching.  "Mara, do I have
'chores'?” he asked.  His role within Mara's group was
still unknown to him, and he wanted to have time to meet his new
friends.

Mara turned to consider the
boy.  "I've never raised a child before, let me
consider.  What is your ambition in life, Aerin?" she
asked abruptly.

Aerin was puzzled.  "What do you
mean?"

Mara turned her chair so she could look at
him more comfortably.  "When you have grown to a man what
do you wish to do with your life?"

"Father told me I was going to be a scholar,
like him."

Mara frowned a little.  "That's a
worthy goal, to be sure, yet is that what you desire?"

The boy rubbed at his sleep encrusted
eyes.  "I'm not sure, but it's what my father
wanted."

"Aerin," Tocor suddenly barked, "catch!" and
tossed an apple at the boy, it came at a fast pace.

Aerin caught it just before it struck his
chest.

Tocor's hand had already moved back within
the robe before Aerin thought to look at it.

"He has good reflexes and coordination,
Mara," Tocor noted.

"Indeed," she replied.  "Perhaps...
Aerin?” she asked, interrupting herself.

"Yes, Mara?"

"Just for fun, if you could do anything in
the whole world, be anyone, with any skill, what would you do?"

Aerin thought for a moment.  "I'd
have friends like Ragol did, and we'd be the best fighters in the
land, then we'd stop the Togroths from killing any more
people."

Tocor glanced at Mara with amusement in his
eyes.

Mara scowled.  "Ragol, Ragol,
that's all I ever hear."

"He was the greatest NexLord to ever live; he
stopped the Togroths and the Dreadmaster!"  Aerin
exclaimed.

"Ragol was a fool," Mara noted.

Aerin was shocked; the Legendary Ragol had
been his hero for as long as he could remember.  "He was
not!  Nobody listened to him... they were the
fools!  If he was alive in this age he would have done
something about the Togroths and maybe my parents might still be
alive!"

"Ragol was a fool because he believed people
would listen to his warnings because of who he was, and when they
didn't he grew angry, like a fool.  But enough of the
past, that happened over three hundred years ago, we were talking
about your future.  I'll consider what you've said and
we'll start your instruction
soon
if you want it.  As far as chores, eventually I'll have
some for you, but
for now,
you
have it easy.  Just remember, don't
stray
away unless you get permission from Tocor,
Yearl or me."