The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (7 page)

Matthias was a good foot shorter than the man, but
nevertheless he kept his cool and didn’t succumb to intimidation.
“I was just interested,” he replied, smiling.

Thadius looked at Matthias a moment with a look of
confusion on his face, and then shook his head.
“
Come
on,” he
sighed.

They
walked a few more minutes, slipping around the edge of a crumbling
building’s gardens and up another ladder, before Thadius spoke
again. “We talked earlier about faith,” he said.

“
What of it?” Matthias asked, as he peered down
behind him. All that stood between him and a fall back down
three
levels
was a rope bound around some fragile looking wooden poles.
He shouldn’t worry, he told himself, given that he could
easily
cushion his own
fall, but there was some inbuilt sense of human self - preservation
that made his heart pound, and he took a deep breath as he
continued shuffling across.

“
I’d
like to speak honestly,” Thadius said. “I think our journey here
has afforded us both a kind of rapport to do so, despite its
brevity?”

Matthias nodded.

“
Trust and faith amongst nations must be shared
both ways for it to be successful. Your people don’t trust us,
Matthias, and so, in turn, we don’t trust them. If you want me to
trust you - if my
king
is to trust you- for whatever reason, you have to trust us
as well. You have to speak the truth.
Whatever
it is you have to tell the king, if
you want him to consider your words with any kind of credence, you
have to be honest with the facts.”

“
What makes you think I wouldn’t be truthful?” Matthias
asked.

“
Your people have a knack for keeping information
to yourselves. You twist the fate of the world to your own ends and
dispose of those who stand in your way. Despite your relaxed
manner, your claims of being here to help, you are still a
Mahalian, working for
Mahalian
interests.”

“
My
people do what they do for the good of the world,” Matthias
responded.

Thadius sniffed. “Is that not the clarion call
of
all
oppressors? To
justify
their continued existence?”

Matthias smiled. “You are very forthright, considering who I
am and what you have just said about my people.”

Thadius stopped for a moment and hung from the
rung of a long ladder that seemed to climb for miles. “Perhaps
I
am
speaking out of
turn,” he said. “But I sense you aren’t the sort of man who is
deceived by empty platitudes.”

“
True enough,” Matthias nodded. “Anything
else
you have noted
about me?”

“
Just one thing,” Thadius said. “You’re a
little
young
to be an ambassador,” he replied.

Matthias smiled. “Thank you,” he said.

“
That wasn’t a compliment,” Thadius advised. “It was more of a
question, I suppose.”

“
I
told you to call me Matthias.”

“
Not
really an answer is it?” Thadius said.

“
No, it
isn’t
,” Matthias smiled.

“
I think you’re
intentionally
trying to annoy me,” Thadius said,
shaking his head. Then he turned and continued to climb. Matthias
followed.

The wood creaked as the two men hoisted themselves
upwards. Matthias stopped a moment to catch his breath, and turned
his head to look how high they were. Layer upon layer of wooden
boardwalks stretched out beneath them, and the wall of the city
wound its way around them. The trees in the fields looked
tiny
.

“
I thought you were in a
hurry
Matthias?” Thadius called down to him with
a smile.

Ignoring the comment, Matthias reached up and continued to
climb.

They
advanced for another few minutes in silence, until finally Thadius
reached a hand down to Matthias and he emerged through an opened
grate onto a cobbled street.

“
Well, here we are,” Thadius said.

Matthias tapped the cobbles beneath his feet warily. “How do
you keep this city from falling apart?” he asked.

“
You’re not the
only
ones who can work a little magic. But our wonders
come from hard graft. As you can
see
.” Thadius nodded behind the wizard, and Matthias
turned and looked up. An impressive sight had sprung up in front of
him. The building that lay before him was highly theatrical, with
ornamental turrets, triforia – shaped windows and decorative
cornices running around its exterior. The Palace was the icing on
the multi-tiered cake that was Rina, surrounded by greenery and
smaller gatehouses attached by stone arches and walkways to its
main bulk. Its limestone walls reflected the sunlight of the
mid-morning sun. A crow - stepped gable completed the front of the
symmetric building, with half a dozen gargoyles sitting atop their
steps and two large windows beneath their protection glinted in the
sunlight.

“
Impressive,” Matthias said, shielding his eyes to take in the
architecture.

Thadius chuckled. “Ah, you haven’t seen
inside
yet.”

As
they approached the palace, Thadius greeted two guards who were
standing outside the towering main doors that gaped open before
them. He walked into the vast entrance hall of the building and
beckoned Matthias to follow. Matthias passed through and looked
around at the grand hall. The floor was one giant, coloured mosaic.
He cocked his head as he analysed the scene it depicted.

“
It’s the End of Days,” Thadius advised, noticing him looking
at the floor.

“
It’s a little strange to show an image of the last battle in
the world’s greatest war in your entrance hall,” Matthias
commented. “It’s hardly a welcoming scene.”

Thadius looked perturbed. “It was commissioned
during the first few years into the rebuilding of Rina after the
old city was destroyed,” he explained. “King Ostavar ordered the
construction of a high scaffold to serve as the foundations for the
new palace. This palace. He chose this scene,” he indicated to the
floor “-because it was the moment when his father and Aralia’s
allies overcame the Dreadlord Tanzanal. It’s the
greatest
moment in our
history. I can’t think of any
greater
image to welcome visitors.”

Matthias raised his hands defensively. “Point taken.” He
gazed around. The walls were wood-panelled and gold-lined, the
ceiling painted a navy blue with oval with gemstones inset into the
plaster for stars. Sited in the curved corners of the ceiling were
four angelic creatures garbed in white robes, their blue faces
staring down at the tiled floor. Matthias lingered on them a
moment, eyes wide.

“
They’re the Akari,” Thadius advised.

Matthias nodded. “I know who they are.”

Thadius followed his gaze to one of the four
figures. “Sometimes I spend time staring up at them like you are
now, admiring the workmanship. They’re brilliantly carved,
fascinating to look at. Of
all
the mythical creatures I have read about, they are
the most interesting to me.”

Matthias looked at him in confusion. “Exactly what books have
you been reading?”

Thadius shrugged. “I’m not sure. My father gave a book to me
on ancient myths and legends when I was younger. I don’t remember
the author. Why?”

Matthias shook his head. “No reason. Please, can we go to the
king now?”

Thadius nodded. “If you have finished critiquing our
architecture?” he said acerbically.

Thadius led Matthias into an adjoining corridor, where
enclosed lanterns hung at regular intervals in the ceiling. The
floor was carpeted with a deep red rug that stretched its entire
length and at its end was a flight of stairs, which Matthias was
led up to another corridor, this time bare of carpet and tangibly
cold by comparison. They ascended again up a tight spiral staircase
into another equally drab walkway.

“
This isn’t the way I’d normally take guests,”
Thadius advised. “It’s not
exactly
the most glamorous way around the palace, but it
is the quickest.”

"Quick suits me very well," Matthias replied. “As you may
have noticed.”

Thadius nodded. “It’s probably just as well. You
may have cast your
artistic
eye over more of our workmanship.”

Matthias smiled. “I had no bad thing to say about the quality
of the floor. I was merely curious about the subject matter. I fear
I may have insulted you again Thadius.”

The
soldier turned to look at him. “I’ve got thicker skin than you
might believe, Matthias Greenwald.”

They
walked along on silence for a time, until they reached a large,
closed set of doors. Two guards flanked them either side, each man
holding a partisan decorated with tassels of gold fabric beneath
the spearheads. On seeing Thadius one of the men reached around and
opened one of the doors, allowing them through. Thadius nodded
thanks to them as they entered the next room.

Red
marble pillars flanked them to either side of the long chamber,
holding atop their delicately carved tops a series of golden
arches, etched with blue, mottled patterns stretching from one end
of the room to the other. The floor depicted another tiled
scene.

“
This one may be more to your liking,” Thadius
quipped.

“
I
don’t recognise the setting,” Matthias commented. By the looks of
it, the scene seemed to tell the tale of a gathering: a large
marquis dotted with fluttering flags along its top sat in the
middle of the depiction, surrounded around its perimeter and the
field beyond by soldiers and nobles in their best livery. “It’s
beautifully complex,” Matthias complimented and knelt down to feel
the tiles with a hand. “The intricacy is stunning.” As he knelt,
Matthias followed his eye line to the far side of the room. At its
end a throne stood centrally atop a dark varnished, wooden dais.
The intricate oak chair contained detailed carvings of ivy leaves
and stems flowing around the legs and climbing the back like a real
plant would have. The ivy leaves themselves were covered with gold
leaf, and the backrest of the throne was a deep - red, silken
material. Beside it to the right, a wood carved griffin reared up
on its hind legs and on the other side a phoenix sat proudly with
its wings curled around its body, inspecting the two newcomers from
its jet - black, beaded eyes. In each far corner, two gilded stand
- lamps stood unlit. There wasn't any need for them that early in
the day, especially as the ceiling above them was made entirely of
glass encased in thick lead frames, covered in more gold leaf,
revealing the bright azure - coloured sky, dotted with white
clouds.

“
A beautiful room, isn’t it?” a voice said from the
doorway behind, and Matthias rose and turned to the owner. “You can
even make out the looks on the faces of the people portrayed on the
floor. It almost seems a
shame
to walk over them with heavy, muddied boots
sometimes.”

“
Your Grace,” Thadius addressed him, kneeling.

The
king strode into the room confidently, a black and silver, fur
lined overcoat wrapped around his neck and shoulders. He passed
them both and walked up on to the dais, where he circled the throne
and stood behind it a moment, stroking one of the Ivy stems.
Thadius looked up at Matthias.

“
Are you forgetting something?
” he
whispered.

Matthias caught his eye and gave him a puzzled look. Then he
realised what the soldier was talking about. “Oh yes, of course!”
he exclaimed with a start and lowered himself to one knee. From his
crouched position, head lowered slightly in deference, he looked at
the king properly. The man was tall, well above the height of an
average man, and his dark brown hair, that hung to neck length, was
mottled with strands of grey, giving away his not insignificant
years. He had pock – marked cheeks and a square - cut beard, which
masked his pale, white skin. Despite his ageing appearance, he
still cut a confident and regal figure as he looked down at the
pair of them, wrapped within his bulky, intimidating
overcoat.

“
This is the Throne of Althern. It was made for my
ancestor King Thesius some three hundred years ago. It has had to
be reupholstered a few times, but otherwise, it is all the original
wood and in magnificent condition. Ahem, that
is
, until I carved my own name into its
back when I was five years old.” He stared down to the back of the
throne and smiled as his eyes picked out the unseen carving. “But I
was only young and knew no better.” He looked up again and as if
properly noticing his guests for the first time, strode forwards to
the edge of the dais and looked down on them. “Gentlemen,” he
addressed them.