treacherous and unprincipled man, Majesty. He is ambitious as well. Will he make a reliable ally? He could promise support but turn on you in a crisis if he sees a better opportunity.”
“We can’t trust him, but we must have an ally. We can’t stand alone against the empire should war come. A treaty between Velstorbokkin and Senoshesvas, once known to the emperor, would at least be a deterrent against a brazen surprise attack on us. I must to go to Senoshesvas at once to confer with King Nindax face to face.”
The chatra rushed up to the king who was again looking out the window toward Senoshesvas. Dark storm clouds swirled over the horizon. “Majesty, you must not travel personally to Senoshesvas. They refuse even to allow Velstorbokkin ships to land at any coastal harbor, and to attempt travel through the Urgenak Forest would be insane.”
“I must go. Without the alliance, I’m a dead man anyway. Sooner or later, the culprit behind this assassination attempt will get through my guards unless I secure a treaty with Nindax. That will make seizure of the kingdom unpalatable at my death at least.”
*
King Nemenese left the capital in the early morning hours with only his chatra and son aware of his destination. He traveled through a foggy chill with only eight of his most trusted bodyguards, lest he draw attention, traveling through the kingdom or alarm Nindax at his approach. They reached the Urgenak Forest at the southern border late one afternoon and camped for the night at the forest edge. The huge, twisted trees loomed ominously ahead of them like a defiant army drawn up arm-in-arm for battle. The massive sprawling and interlocking limbs blocked out the daylight, keeping the forest floor in perpetual darkness. No woodcutter had entered the forest in generations.
“Secure the horses well, and post a guard through the night,” Nemenese ordered. “No telling what will be hunting during the night around here. The guards will be held responsible for maintaining the fire through the night.”
“Are the stories true?” the captain asked Nemenese. “Do the dead walk that forest at night?”
“No one knows for sure. Over the generations stories change and get embellished. Perhaps there is nothing more than tales born of fear.”
“They say the dead live again over and over in there. What’s the real story behind those tales?”
Nemenese sat by the newly blazing fire and poked at it with a stick. “Sit here next to me, and enjoy the warmth before the night air chills our bones,” the king said, allowing the captain to sit in his presence. “Long ago, even before the Powteros Empire, back when the Occintoc Empire was still in infancy, the kings of Senoshesvas and Velstorbokkin went to war in their bid for empire. They committed massive armies, conscripted from all their subjects that fought a ferocious battle in those mountains. The would-be victor hoped to lead the combined might of the two kingdoms and challenge the infant Occintoc Empire, but with such high stakes, it was a bloodbath. They sacrificed a generation on both sides in that battle. The kingdoms could never again successfully challenge the empire.”
“Neither side was victorious?”
“The might of both kingdoms was lost in those three days of battle. The Occintoc emperor was enmeshed in the consolidation of his new empire and failed to capitalize on the opportunity to seize the devastated kingdoms. Senoshesvas and Velstorbokkin retreated behind their mountain defenses and waited for an attack that never came.”
“But what of this forest?”
“The death and destruction of their generation in that battle, fought here in these mountains, left the kingdoms devastated. As word spread of the annihilations on both sides, none would venture there except the scavengers that robbed the dead and dying. Soon, word spread from those parasites, perhaps to scare off competitors, that the souls of those killed in agony there were walking among
“We can’t trust him, but we must have an ally. We can’t stand alone against the empire should war come. A treaty between Velstorbokkin and Senoshesvas, once known to the emperor, would at least be a deterrent against a brazen surprise attack on us. I must to go to Senoshesvas at once to confer with King Nindax face to face.”
The chatra rushed up to the king who was again looking out the window toward Senoshesvas. Dark storm clouds swirled over the horizon. “Majesty, you must not travel personally to Senoshesvas. They refuse even to allow Velstorbokkin ships to land at any coastal harbor, and to attempt travel through the Urgenak Forest would be insane.”
“I must go. Without the alliance, I’m a dead man anyway. Sooner or later, the culprit behind this assassination attempt will get through my guards unless I secure a treaty with Nindax. That will make seizure of the kingdom unpalatable at my death at least.”
*
King Nemenese left the capital in the early morning hours with only his chatra and son aware of his destination. He traveled through a foggy chill with only eight of his most trusted bodyguards, lest he draw attention, traveling through the kingdom or alarm Nindax at his approach. They reached the Urgenak Forest at the southern border late one afternoon and camped for the night at the forest edge. The huge, twisted trees loomed ominously ahead of them like a defiant army drawn up arm-in-arm for battle. The massive sprawling and interlocking limbs blocked out the daylight, keeping the forest floor in perpetual darkness. No woodcutter had entered the forest in generations.
“Secure the horses well, and post a guard through the night,” Nemenese ordered. “No telling what will be hunting during the night around here. The guards will be held responsible for maintaining the fire through the night.”
“Are the stories true?” the captain asked Nemenese. “Do the dead walk that forest at night?”
“No one knows for sure. Over the generations stories change and get embellished. Perhaps there is nothing more than tales born of fear.”
“They say the dead live again over and over in there. What’s the real story behind those tales?”
Nemenese sat by the newly blazing fire and poked at it with a stick. “Sit here next to me, and enjoy the warmth before the night air chills our bones,” the king said, allowing the captain to sit in his presence. “Long ago, even before the Powteros Empire, back when the Occintoc Empire was still in infancy, the kings of Senoshesvas and Velstorbokkin went to war in their bid for empire. They committed massive armies, conscripted from all their subjects that fought a ferocious battle in those mountains. The would-be victor hoped to lead the combined might of the two kingdoms and challenge the infant Occintoc Empire, but with such high stakes, it was a bloodbath. They sacrificed a generation on both sides in that battle. The kingdoms could never again successfully challenge the empire.”
“Neither side was victorious?”
“The might of both kingdoms was lost in those three days of battle. The Occintoc emperor was enmeshed in the consolidation of his new empire and failed to capitalize on the opportunity to seize the devastated kingdoms. Senoshesvas and Velstorbokkin retreated behind their mountain defenses and waited for an attack that never came.”
“But what of this forest?”
“The death and destruction of their generation in that battle, fought here in these mountains, left the kingdoms devastated. As word spread of the annihilations on both sides, none would venture there except the scavengers that robbed the dead and dying. Soon, word spread from those parasites, perhaps to scare off competitors, that the souls of those killed in agony there were walking among
Similar Books
