The Path of Decisions (18 page)

Darius could have talked his way in, but he didn’t want to cause a
scene right then. He wanted the Preacher inside Anikari as little as possible.
They took some blankets they had brought and laid down under some newly budding
trees to rest until the gates were open for the day. Darius didn’t trust the
Preacher and tried so hard to stay awake, but his body was just too exhausted,
and after fighting it for an hour, he gave in.

The next thing Darius knew he heard loud voices waking him up.
There were men on the road in the early hour. With a quick look around he
noticed the two horses and the Preacher were gone. If it would have helped,
Darius felt like shouting and screaming, but it would only give him a sore
throat.  He berated himself for falling asleep and not staying on guard.
Jumping up off the ground, he raced toward the city gates.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND A PROPOSAL

D
arius sprinted to the city gates as fast as he could. The puffs of
smoke rose from the early-morning vendors selling food to the growing crowds of
the day. The beautiful mid-spring morning was already warm, and many people
were out and about. Excitement filled the air as rumors abounded.

He began to look for the Preacher. He thought of telling his
father, but that would make him look incompetent. Darius realized there was no
way he could find the Preacher without help. Before getting too far into the
city, he turned around and headed back out to the farmlands. He would need
Christine and her family to help.

With his horse gone, he had to walk to Christine’s house. It was
good to stretch his muscles. He began to run. He took longer and longer strides
as the power built up in him. Not realizing how fast he had been going, he soon
found himself at the Anderssn’s property. He steadied himself against a tree to
catch his breath and balance.

Darius described the Preacher to Christine and Jain and explained
he needed them to gather some friends to help him look for the man while he
went back to his father and prepared for the large gathering.

Jain asked what the large meeting was about, but Darius couldn’t
tell him. He assured Jain, however, that it would be good news for the farmers.
Jain gave him a skeptical look but didn’t prod any further. 

Darius returned to the city and proceeded to his father’s office.
He was surprised to see Sean sitting on a chair talking to his father. This
time, though, he wasn’t wearing the smug face he usually displayed. His clothes
were ruffled and his hands tied. Sean turned around to look at him. He sneered
and turned his head away from Darius.

“Sean has been telling me who hired him to kidnap you. I think we
will wait until after the assembly today to determine what to do.” His father
smiled.

Richard called in two men. One took Sean to the prisons, and one
he introduced to Darius as Roland, a fit but older man who gave a flourishing
bow to Darius upon entering.

“Darius, I think you should stay in the castle until this
afternoon,” Richard directed.

Roland proceeded to inform Darius that he would escort him
anywhere in the castle that he would like to go.

“It’s only for your protection,” Richard said firmly.

Darius wanted to tell his father he didn’t need protection. His
power emerged stronger every day; he could always feel the sensation at the
edge of his consciousness. He wasn’t ready to tell everything yet, though, so
he walked out feeling like a prisoner. It was a fine line he toed. He could
slip away unnoticed, he was sure, but he was trying to uphold his father’s
faith in him. He wanted to run out and find the Preacher, but he knew that
wasn’t the actions of a king. He needed to be calm and calculating. He trusted
Christine and her friends to be discreet.

As he was only allowed to wander the castle grounds, the afternoon
dragged on slowly for Darius. He went to the library and looked at some maps of
Anikari and Forest View. He ate a boring lunch of cold chicken on fresh-baked
barley bread he had talked the cook into giving him early. The assembly was
approaching, and Roland informed Darius of the clothes he would have to wear.

While dressing in the royal colors for the announcement ceremony,
he struggled with Roland wanting to dress him. He had been taking care of
himself quite well out in the mountains and forest for almost the past year. “I
can dress myself, sir.”

“I am sure you can, Commander,” Roland said as he continued to
straighten Darius’s clothes, shine his leather boots, and clasp on his cloak.

Darius nearly choked as he observed himself in a full-length
mirror.
I am going to be announced as the next king!
The thought seemed
almost blasphemous. It had never even entered his mind. What would ruling
entail? Whom would he choose as his councilors? Surely some of the existing
councilors had masterminded his kidnapping to gain some political advantage
from Richard.

But that would be in the future. Darius continued to assure
himself he had plenty of time to learn. King Edward was still young. In fact,
he was two years younger than Richard, even if he was ill.

My father should have been king
. It was still somewhat confusing, but King Edward had
explained it to him twice now. Since Richard was alive when King Charles had
officially disowned Alric, his father was under the same decree.

Later in his life, King Charles’ heart had softened, and he had
allowed Richard to become a noble and even add a San to his name. He had
informed Edward on his deathbed of the situation.
Why couldn't Edward have
had more children? Then we wouldn’t have to mess with all of this.

“Darius?”

Darius turned around, the familiar voice snapping him out of his
thoughts. “Cray! What are you doing here?”

Cray had been Darius’s teacher and trainer at the Elite camp in
the Superstition Mountains. Still a master swordsman in his sixties, the
dark-skinned man had been legendary throughout the Realm army for years. He had
been one of the first to notice and comment on Darius’s power.

“Coming to hear the big announcement, same as you, I suppose.”
Cray nodded to Roland, and Roland walked a discreet distance away from the two
men, although he stayed in the suite of rooms.

Darius thought it unexpcted that the guard had followed Cray’s
unspoken directive. He didn’t know that the old time general still had any pull
in the castle.

“But why?” Darius asked.

“I am the King’s uncle. I have uh… you might say… an interest in
the outcome today.” Cray’s eyes kept flicking around the room nervously.

“I didn’t know King Charles had brothers.” Maybe this was a way to
get out of taking the crown.

“No. I’m not related to Charles,” Cray almost spat. “To his wife.
I am his wife’s younger brother.”

“Does King Edward know you are here?” asked Darius.

“We don’t get along well.” He glanced around behind him.

“Why?” asked Darius instinctively.

“Because he should have never been king!” shouted Cray without
thinking. The echoes of his voice bounced off of the high stone ceilings.
Roland glanced over but then continued to be busy doing something else.

Darius stood still, not knowing for sure what to say. This was not
like his trainer. He looked tired, nervous, and strained. Darius guessed
everyone was worried about the succession of the King, and everyone had their
own ideas and candidates.

“There was another son you know. Charles’s first born, Alric,” Cray
continued, lowering his voice to a more controlled level.

“So I have been told.”

Cray looked at Darius but Darius said nothing. He could not betray
his true identity yet, though he was sure Cray surmised the connection.

Cray continued. “Then you were taught that Charles sent him away
to war, eventually getting him killed. He was the rightful heir. He was kind
and strong and would have made a great king.” His voice lowered almost to a
whisper for the last sentence. “He was my friend.”

Darius wanted to say something. He could tell that his trainer was
pained still at the thought of losing his friend so many years before. But he
stayed silent until Cray understood that he would receive no new information
from him. “You were his friend,” was all Darius could say.

“You must excuse me, I need to go.” Cray turned around and bumped
into Richard, who had just entered the room.

“Cray! I haven’t seen you in years. Seems retirement has been
treating you well.”

Cray grunted, “I’m busier in retirement than I was leading the
army.”

“Have you two met?” asked Darius.

“Cray was my sword teacher years ago.” Richard smiled.

“Darius, remember when you knocked me off the wall and I said
there had only been one other time?” Cray asked.

“You mean...” Darius stared at his father.

Richard smiled. “I used to be quite a swordsman. That is, until I
got into this councilor position and spent much too much time in meetings and
formal banquets.” He patted his stomach.

Cray slapped Richard on the back as he once again tried to exit.
“You’d better watch your son, Richard, he may be better than you.”

As he reached the doorway, Cray stopped and turned as if to say
something.

“Cray?” prompted Richard.

Cray hesitated a minute, then turned around and left as quickly as
he had entered.

Richard dismissed Roland, and side by side, father and son left
the castle. Their strides were similar now. Darius glanced out of the corner of
his eye at his father and wondered if he had been too harsh on him the last few
years.

“Did you know Cray is King Edwards’s uncle, on his mother’s side?”
Darius asked.

Richard nodded. “He usually tries to hide from it.”

“He became angry talking about Alric. I don’t think he realizes he
was your father.”

“That is unlike Cray. Usually he has complete control over his
feelings. Everyone is on edge today it seems.”

A coach pulled up to take them to the meeting in the coliseum. The
footman opened the door, and they entered. It was just the two of them. The
curtains were open, allowing air to breathe through the carriage.

“Will they accept me?” Darius whispered.

“They will have to.” Richard’s voice was gruff. “There will be
civil war otherwise.”

“But won't some of them think we are making the relationship up?
I’m so young. I am not even twenty yet.”

“Remember, you aren’t king yet.”

Darius nodded.

His father continued. “Others in our past, even Charles, have been
young kings. Charles was close to your age when his mother, the Queen, died and
he became king after her. Anikari has always protected and defended her leader.
The farmers... and the other cities, especially Belor and Mar... who knows?”
Richard shrugged to let Darius know he wasn't so sure about them. “Though I
hear you have some inside influence with the farmers.” Richard smiled.

Darius’s cheeks reddened, but he didn’t say a word. It wasn’t only
what his father said, it was the way he had said the words. With a smile
.
How I have longed for that smile!

In front of the carriage they heard shouting and commotion. The
guards leading out in front of Darius and Richard halted their horses. Some
townsman had fallen off his horse in the road and yelled in pain. The guards
went to go look. As they did so, someone rushed to Darius’s side of the
carriage, leaned in, and whispered, “Red and purple,” then disappeared.

Darius tried to see who brought him the information, but they left
faster than they had come. All he knew was that it was a young man. The man who
had fallen off of his horse seemed to be suddenly feeling better.

“What was that?” Richard asked.

“Just some information,” Darius smiled.

“About what?” Richard was annoyed.

“Doesn't a future king need to be informed?” Darius was having
fun. His father was not amused.

They continued their ride into the coliseum itself. Darius began
to feel overwhelmed by the size of the gathered crowd. He had been to the
coliseum many times before but never for the naming of an heir to the throne.
Red
and purple!
That's what the messenger had said. The colors of Belor and
Anikari.

Darius looked around, trying to see if there was any sign of the
Preacher, but among so large a crowd it was impossible. Colors swirled
everywhere, signifying a city where each person had come from… colors tied to
hats or as sashes around waists or as cloaks. Denir in blue, Mar in yellow,
accented by a multitude of other colors, Sur in gray, Forest View with green
and black and Tean with earthy brown, and red from Belor if anyone actually
showed up from there besides the Preacher. In all the swirls of color how would
he ever find one man?

His mother already sat on a raised stand above the level of the
crowd. The wives of the other councilors sat next to her. The Queen, had she
still been alive, would have sat at the head of the group. Darius and his
father made their way through the crowds toward an even higher stand. Here the
King’s chair sat tallest, with his three closest councilors on his right and
the other councilors on the left. An extra chair sat on the right for Darius.
They
will never believe it. Me, a king?

Darius took his seat and looked out at the crowd. They all seemed
to be looking at him. Well, why shouldn't they? They would wonder what he was
doing up with the councilors. His cloak moved about him in the slight breeze.
As one of the King’s commanders, his sword was at his side. By now everyone had
heard of his victory in Denir. He hoped no one knew about Belor, at least his
professed siding with the Preacher. But he had to keep the ruse up with the man
to get him to come with him to Anikari. His hope had been to turn him in and
get him in prison. However, since he had escaped and was now probably in the
coliseum, Darius would have to be careful. He continued scanning the large
assembly. He had to be prepared for something to happen.