The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (15 page)

Matthias brushed the floppy hair from his eyes. “What’s
that?”

“
You haven’t run away. Even when you
had
the opportunity to
do so, when you could have killed me or taken the princess by
force, which I believe you were
very
capable of doing, you stayed to face the
consequences of your actions. So perhaps there
is
something that can be trusted in you.
What that something is, remains to be seen.”

Matthias nodded seriously to him as he left the room and the
door slammed shut again, and the sound of locks being barred filled
Matthias’s ears. He sighed and looked out the window. “If you find
out what it is, please tell me,” he whispered at the closed
door.

Princess Josephine slumped heavily down onto her
four-poster bed, before letting her body fall back onto the comfort
of the silken sheets with a sigh. She had endured a long
conversation- well, it was more an
argument
- with her father once the guards had
taken Matthias away, and time seemed to blur together as the hours
passed and she walked the palace corridors flanked by the ever -
present guards her father had
insisted
be thrust upon her whilst Matthias was close by.
Now she had retired to her room to think on the
events.

Her father had been enraged by Matthias’s
revelations to a point that no - one could reason with him. He
could not bring himself to accept the story he had told them about
the Akari creatures. The problem was she knew somehow that
Matthias
was
telling the truth. Within her there seemed to be an
instinctual confirmation that the power Mathias spoke of
was
that which she
possessed. But the question remained how that could be so? And why
would
she
,
amongst all others in the world- all those more capable people- be
selected by the gods?

When she had told her father she believed
Matthias, he had exploded even more than when he called for
Matthias’s removal from the room. They had fought for hours
afterwards, going over every word of the story, re - living the
years of terror within their minds. Now she knew what the energy
was that dwelt inside her, she felt an inkling of gratitude in
amongst her anger and distrust of the wizard, that he had given her
some answers at long last. But there was
much
more that needed to be discussed with him,
now the dust had settled and she had taken the time to gather her
thoughts. But the king had demanded that she not go and visit the
ambassador in his cell and going to speak with him would be
tantamount to treason against a direct order of the king, whether
he was her father or not.

She
lay on the bed for a long time thinking, until she noticed that the
sky had grown red-orange as the sun began another retreat beneath
the horizon, and so she got up and made her way to her door. As she
opened it two maids curtsied to her.

“
Go and fetch Thadius, Lynna,” she instructed to
the maid on the left. “Bring him here
immediately
.” Lynna curtsied and ran off.
Josephine shut her door again, sat down in a chair by the window
and waited, watching the sky turn to the deep - blue of
evening.

Some
time later there was a knock at the door and Thadius bowed his way
into the room.

“
Your Highness, you had asked to see me?”

The
princess stood. “My good man, I am pleased that you have come.
Thank you for seeing me.”

“
Anything for you princess. You
know
that,” he smiled at
her.

“
How
is your father?” she asked him awkwardly, rubbing her
arm.

“
Well, Your Highness. He is out of town at the moment,
visiting relatives in Chine.” She nodded, and then they stood in
awkward silence for a moment, before Thadius said: “Your Highness,
forgive me, but I gather that you did not ask me here to ‘catch
up’?”

“
No.
No I did not.” She exhaled. “I…” She paused a moment. “I need to
see the wizard, Thadius.”

Thadius sighed. “Your Highness, the king has
expressly forbidden you to go and see him. I
can’t
disobey those
orders.”

“
And so you should
not
,” she replied. “So I need
you
to bring him up
here
, to my chambers.”

Thadius looked puzzled. “But Your Highness
just
said
-”

“
I am not allowed to go and see
him
. But my father said nothing about
the ambassador coming to see me.”

Thadius thought a moment, a look of complete disbelief on his
face. But then he sighed, and for a brief moment, a smile appeared
on his face “As you wish, Your Highness.” He bowed again and left
the room.

Another half-hour later, Thadius reappeared, and with him was
Matthias, unbound and standing side-by-side with the
soldier.

“
Thank you for seeing me again princess,” Matthias said. “I
was beginning to get cold in that dungeon, and there are only so
many bricks to count to while away the time.”

“
I need to know something,” the princess said
without acknowledging what Matthias had said. “What will happen if
I do
not
help you to stop the dragon?”

Matthias shrugged. “We will try and find another way I
suppose.”

“
Is
there another way?”

Matthias smiled thinly. “I don’t believe so, Your Highness.
Not unless my people can find the people who are breaking the
dragon free. But time is running out for that hope.

Josephine sniffed. “I have a problem, ambassador,” she said,
and began to pace the room.

“
Please, call me Matthias,” he said. “What is it?””

The princess nodded. “I might not have been
exposed to your people in their previous visitations to Rina, but I
know full well what your kind do to women who use a power. Do
you
expect
me to
believe
that
your
people, who
abhor
women who can wield energy, will simply let me continue to
live as a princess without any intervention, when my part in this
little quest is completed?”

Matthias paused as he thought. Then he continued. “There are
far greater issues at hand,” he said.

Josephine’s eyes narrowed. “That is not an answer.” She shook
her head and snorted derisively. “My father is right, you have a
gift when it comes to speaking ambiguously.”

Matthias continued. “We
must
continue to try and find the people
responsible and throw our efforts into
that
,” he said.

“
And
if you cannot find them in time? As you freely admitted, the sand
is very much at the bottom of the hourglass in relation to this
matter,” she said.

“
Then the dragon will escape,” he said.

“
For what
reason?
” she asked. “Are you telling me this prophecy did
not tell you why these shadowy people would work to release a
creature capable of wreaking utter devastation on this
continent?”

“
I
can only imagine that answer will become clearer in time,” Matthias
replied.

Josephine raised a hand to her forehead. “So if I
do
nothing
, if I ignore your warnings and sit tight here in Rina, a
lot of people will
suffer
.” She sighed. “How do you even
expect
me to stop the dragon escaping, if I
haven’t got a
clue
what I am supposed to do? I have never been able to control
my power! I was only able to suppress it with the wise woman’s
help!”

“
There are some similarities between the different
powers. If the gods have given you this gift, they
must
be confident that
you will be able to use it. You wouldn’t give a hammer and an anvil
to a blacksmith without them knowing what to do with them, so why
would they give you something
you
couldn’t use?” He smiled. “
Somewhere
within you is the knowledge to
wield your power. It just might need
nurturing
, which is where we can help. Where
I
can
help.”

The
princess nodded hesitantly and then moved to the window. The sky
was dark now.

Matthias watched her. “Your Highness, you hold
the
pure
power. It is the strongest energy ever created. It is
simply too almighty a power to be suppressed forever. You act like
a conduit for the power: it funnels itself through you like an
aqueduct. I doubt that what this wise woman taught you, whoever or
whatever she was, will last for any considerable length of time.
She will have only put a cork in the pipe, shored up the defences
inside of you with a few loose logs against a
torrent
of energy. However much it
may
seem
to be stable within you now, I believe it will unleash
itself again eventually,
regardless
of the lengths you have gone to stop it. It is the
will of the gods. You can dam up the river, but eventually the wood
will rot and water
will
flow again. It’s only a matter of time. My people
can
help.”

“
Mister Greenwald,
forgive
me if I am blunt, but I would sooner trust
the dreadlord
himself
than your people right now,” said the
princess.

Matthias nodded. “I understand,” he said. Then he took a
breath and started forward towards her. “Then trust me,” he
said.

“
Trust my erstwhile kidnapper?” she mused.

“
Your Highness,” Thadius interrupted, looking
awkward, “Forgive me if this is not my place, but I feel obliged to
speak on this subject.” The princess looked at him, surprised a
moment, but then nodded for him to continue. “I do not wholly trust
Matthias. Since he came here he has given me - has given
you
- very
little
reason
to, and his actions have been dishonest, to say the
least
, in what he attempted to do. But in remaining he
has
shown a glimmer of
loyalty. And I do believe that what he has told us about the dragon
and about
you
,
is true.”

“
Are you saying you think I
should
help?” she asked.

“
Princess, we have known each other for a long
time. I have served your family for my
entire
life. Your safety is my
first
priority. But I
also believe in you, Your Highness, in
everything
that you do, and if this
is
your calling, then
I know you can do it.”

Josephine smiled. “That was laced with positivity,
Thadius!”

“
I
know,” he said chuckling. “I think I might be coming down with
something.”

“
I have never
known
you to be so…
progressive
.”

Thadius smiled back. “I imagine it won’t last for
long, Your Highness, should you decide to do this. But if you do,
then I know you
can
do it.”

Josephine turned back to Matthias. “There is a
problem, however, in that I do
not
trust you, Matthias, in
spite
of your protestations. My father says you
are unlike any wizard he has ever met, but that does not
necessarily mean you are more trustworthy than those that have come
before you.” Matthias opened his mouth to speak, but she held her
hand up. “
Ah-ah!
I have not finished.
If
the stakes are as high as you say, if the dragon is so
close to being freed, then perhaps I have no more time for such
matters. What I
do
need, however, is
honesty
. If this
is
required of me, then I need my questions to be answered
with
absolute
candour. There are to be no more lies or
falsehoods.”

Matthias nodded. “I will speak the truth on those matters
that concern you, princess. You have my word on that.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Should I agree to
assist- and I am not saying I
will
- then what would happen then? Are there other
wizards that are to accompany me on this
journey?”