The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (16 page)

“
Before I tried to kidnap you the plan as it was originally
intended was that I would have helped you to realise your
abilities, if they were not already apparent, with the help of my
Master, a great and powerful wizard.”

“
Is
he nearby?” the princess asked.

Matthias shook his head. “No, he’s in Mahalia. But
I have a way to communicate with him
instantly
from here. Together, he and I would work
to make sure you could control your power as we travelled to
Olindia, where we would then try to stop the dragon’s release.
Meanwhile, in Mahalia my people will try to find and cut off the
people who are intending to free Sikaris.

“
In
case I were to fail?” the princess asked.

Matthias shrugged. “To put it bluntly, yes.”

The
princess paced the floor of her room. “How many people live within
the dragon’s reach?” she asked. “Hundreds of thousands?”

“
A
lot more than that,” Matthias replied.

The princess nodded. “How
many
of them will die if Sikaris is released
and I selfishly remain here?” She shook her head. “I
hate
this power.
You
call it a gift from
the gods, but all it has brought me this far is
pain
and
suffering
.”

“
I understand that,” Matthias responded. “What I’m
offering you is a way to stop events like those in your past from
happening
again
.”

Josephine sighed. “How could I avoid using this
power under such circumstances?
How
could I refuse and
live
with myself as people are killed in their masses?
I have no choice in this matter if I want to look myself in the eye
ever again.”

“
Then you
will
help?” Matthias asked
tentatively.

After a pause she nodded. “I will come on your
little
sojourn
, but under several conditions, all of which are
not
optional.”

Matthias smiled and nodded. “Which are?”

“
The first is that I will be accompanied by a full,
armed guard. I do not
intend
to
trudge
my way to
wherever
it is we are to go.”

Matthias licked his teeth with his tongue
awkwardly. “That may be a problem. Such a large guard is slow and
conspicuous. I…” Josephine lowered her head so that she was looking
at him over her brow. “
Ahem
. I’m
sure
that will be fine.”

She nodded. “Secondly, which seems to be a
given
anyway
, is that
you
will teach me about my energy
personally
. Now we are acquainted I do not wish
to meet any others of your kind if I can
help
it.”

“
Consider it done, Your Highness,” Matthias
replied.

“
Thirdly, you will give me your
word
that if I stop this
dragon-”

“
You
will
,” Matthias nodded. “I have every confidence in
you.”

“
How
inspiring
of you,” Josephine said acerbically. “Very
well.
When
I stop this dragon, you your people will allow me to return
home to Rina. I will
not
be made into a trophy for your people to wheel out
whenever there is call for it, or reprimanded for my use of this
energy. I am
not
going to become your puppet.”

Matthias took a breath. Then after a pause, he nodded. “You
have my word.”

“
Very well then,” the princess said, and gathered
her skirts. “Now
that
is agreed, we had best tell my
father
.”

“
Never!” The king barked, his face purple as
beetroot as he spat at the trio in front of him. “I will
never
allow it! And as
for
you,
Thadius! You have betrayed the orders of your king? I
should have your head for such a matter, friend or
not!”

“
Thadius did
not
betray your orders!” The princess countered. “The
wizard came to visit
me
, not the other way around. Your orders did not prohibit
such an occurrence.”

The king opened his mouth to bark a fierce
reprisal, but then considered the words she had uttered, before he
scoffed. “A
technicality
is no justification when you
know
it still goes against my
wishes!
”

“
He was following
my
instruction,” Josephine advised. “If you are to be
angry with someone, then direct it towards
me
.”

The king shrugged. “
I
would
if I thought it would make any difference to your
behaviour!” He threw his hands up. “Why do the gods
test
me so? Is running a
kingdom not
enough
in this day and age without a daughter who would sooner get
herself tied up in the schemes of a wizard than to listen to her
king and master?”

“
Father, my respect for you runs deeper than you
can imagine. But this concerns my
future
. I
had
to speak further with the
ambassador.”

“
The
consequence
of which conversation is that you intend to follow
a near
stranger
and a
wizard
to boot, into our neighbour’s land? To battle the Great
Dragon himself?” The king laughed. “What
sorcery
did you place upon her mind
wizard?”

“
I
told her only the truth, Your Grace,” Matthias replied
calmly.

“
Father, I
am
going with the ambassador.
Believe
me, it is not my preferred choice, and it
may even be the
worst
decision I will ever make. But I
must
help defend our people-
all
people- against
this threat.” She swallowed. “I feel deep within me that it is the
right thing to do.”

“
And if I do not
allow
it to be so?” The king
rumbled.

“
Whether you permit it or not I
will
be going. Your alternative, Your
Grace, would be to
imprison
me,” the princess said bluntly.

King Arwell looked aghast and turned to Matthias.
“You have poisoned my own daughter against me,” he growled. “You
have done what I
never
thought would have been possible.”

“
Your Grace, I only want to
help
,” Matthias replied. “I made a
mistake with my recent actions, but it was a mistake borne out of
good intentions. I have pledged to teach your daughter how to
control her abilities and she has my
word
that once this situation is over I will return her
to you.” Matthias shook his head. “I know there is nothing more I
can
do
to convince you of my good intentions.”

The king raised a hand to his brow and placed the
other on his hip. “Even
if
your intentions
are
just, this is my only daughter. Would
you
let your own child
go on such a dangerous journey?”

Matthias shook his head. “I can't answer that Your
Grace, not having been a father. How
could
I measure your fear without that
first-hand experience? There is nothing comparable to the love of a
parent to their child, or so I understand.”

“
Father
,” Josephine whispered softly. “One day you will
not be here to protect me and I
will
have to stand on my own. What kind of a future
queen will I make if I ignore the greatest threat to our people for
centuries and hide away in a corner under your arm? I could never
call myself the defender of the phoenix throne should my lack of
action now result in the deaths of
millions
.”

The anger in the king’s eyes began to fade,
replaced with a sorrowful expression. He exhaled heavily.
“Your
mother
was always stubborn, you know,” he said. “But I
swear
you are a
hundred
times
worse!”

Josephine smiled. “So you
will
let me go?” she asked.

The king nodded. “I suppose I will,” he said
reservedly. “But only with a pledge from
you
Thadius, that you will look after her
yourself!”

Thadius bowed his head. “I would want nothing more
than to protect the princess, Your Grace.
However
, surely there is someone
better
suited to carry out
such a task? One of your generals perhaps?”

“
Thadius, there is no one I would trust more
than
you
with my daughter’s safety,” King Arwell replied. Then he
scoffed. “Perhaps I
would
have sent the king’s hand, had I not just sentenced him
to
death
for betrayal!”

Thadius flinched. “Oh yes, of course. I’d forgotten about
that Your Grace.”

The king nodded. “You are the most trustworthy
of
all
my men. You always
have
been. It is about time you rose to the position
you have denied yourself for so long,
Sir
Thadius Wilhem.”

Thadius swallowed and his eyes bulged. “Your Grace
I… I don’t feel
ready
for such an honour.”

“
You have earned a knighthood a
hundred
times over! No more will I
accept your refusal! You might not feel you have earned it, and I
have tolerated your refusals before because I think a great deal of
you. But this time I command it. You are charged with my daughter's
wellbeing on this journey.”

Thadius swallowed and knelt down. “I will serve you well, my
king.”

“
You’re damned right, you
will!
” the king smiled and then, his expression
growing icy again, he looked to Matthias. “And if this wizard
betrays us one more time, I want you to
personally
take his
head
off.” Matthias held firm his stoic
expression, not even swallowing at the prospect.

Thadius nodded again. “It would be my
pleasure
, Your Majesty,” he chuckled.

The king stroked his beard. “This morning I awoke
with the greatest thing on my mind being what I was to eat
for
breakfast
. Now I have a daughter with the fate of the
world
resting on her
shoulders.” He turned and strode to a set of double windows, laying
his arm against the alcove. “It is a dangerous world out there and
you have never been in it, my daughter. You cannot
possibly
know
how
many dangers await
you.”

The
princess swallowed. “I will be well protected, Your Grace,” she
said.

“
You are a brave girl, Josephine. You always
have
been. But I know
you do this out of a duty to the people.” He turned to face her
again. “There
is
still time to walk away from this.”

“
If
I can learn to control these powers, then it will be all the better
for me as well as your people.”

The
king took a deep breath and nodded again. Then he looked to
Matthias. “When must you go wizard?”

“
As
soon as possible, Your Grace,” Matthias replied.

“
I
thought
you might say that,” the man said gruffly. “Thadius,
prepare an escort to accompany you to Olindia.” He looked pensive.
“Perhaps I should come with you as well.”