Orbelon's World (Book 3) (2 page)

   Had Orbelon discovered a means to liberate
himself from his prison world?

   Leth's mind flew back further, to the time of his first encounter with the ragged-garbed tenant of the Orb. It was more than three years past, just prior to Leth's accession to the throne. His mother, Queen Fallorn, elderly and with her health beginning to fail, had summoned Leth to her chambers within hours of abdicating the throne in his favour. It proved to be almost their last conversation, for shortly afterwards Fallorn succumbed to illness and within days had died.

   In this meeting Queen Fallorn revealed a great and profound secret to her only son, one of which she was the sole living custodian. It was something she bound him never to reveal to any other, save when and if the time came to pass the throne into the hands of his heir. It was a secret revealed solely to the ascending monarchs of Enchantment's Reach: the existence of the blue casket. Solemnly placing the casket in his hands, she had bidden him withdraw with it to his private study. There, when he was alone and assured of no interruptions, but under no circumstances before, he was to open it.

   Intrigued, Leth had followed her instructions and, bewildered and amazed, found himself for the first time in the unearthly blue domain of the Orb, confronting the extraordinary creature who dwelt there. At that time, in a conversation both mesmerizing and bizarre, Orbelon had seemed to mock Leth. He had made it plain that Leth was helpless there, wholly in his power. Though he might be King and potentate in his own domain of Enchantment's Reach, within the world of the Orb he was as feckless as an ape in a cage.

   Orbelon then led Leth to infer that his world, the Orb, might be a prison of sorts, though he also enigmatically described it as an existence and a "nowhere". To Leth's enquiry as to whether he, Leth, was now a prisoner Orbelon had given a cryptic reply, leaving Leth hardly the wiser. Subsequent discussions over the ensuing months had proved both enlightening and mystifying in equal measure. But always Orbelon had made it plain that he was absolute master here, and that without him Leth was unable to leave.

   And now the master had departed his house.

*

   Leth bowed his head in despair, and slowly knelt and held his children again.

  
Orbelon, Orbelon, are we to die here?  

ONE

I

   Queen Issul strode from her office, through the reception chamber where her private secretary, Hullie, sat at her desk, and into the corridor beyond, where she turned and almost collided with the still figure of the Lord High Invigilate, Fectur.

   'Oh!' The young queen took two steps back, quickly regaining her composure.
'Fectur!'

   Fectur slightly bowed his head.
'My Queen.'

   'What are you doing here?' She felt her anger rise. Anger that she should have let him catch her off-guard like this, anger at his presence, lurking like a felon at her door, and anger most of all at Fectur himself, for his schemings and manipulations, his deceits and duplicities that had brought so much suffering upon Enchantment's Reach and which, she had little doubt, had contributed immeasurably to the disappearance of her husband, King Leth and their two children.

   And she felt fear, too. Fear of Fectur's power, the labyrinthine workings of his formidable mind, his undeclared designs, the influence he exerted so insidiously in all areas of life, both within the great city-castle of Enchantment's Reach and beyond. A brilliant, ruthless man, Fectur, without conscience or scruples. She had learned in the most painful way that he was capable of anything. Absolutely anything. It was pure chance that had brought her back to Enchantment's Reach within hours of his coup against Leth. Leth and the children were gone, but she was not too late to force Fectur to relinquish the throne into her hands. A day more . . . would he still have done so, or would his power and confidence have been such that he would have openly defied her? Most probably, she reasoned, his men would have manned the city gate - she would have been led discreetly away somewhere; news of her return would never have passed beyond Fectur's ears.

   She took some small solace in the knowledge that he was not infallible. Not quite. She had wrong-footed him with her return. Lord Fectur had taken a gamble, making his move against Leth in the belief that Issul would not be coming home, at least not yet. She had embarrassed and humiliated him. He had not risked standing against her, for to do so was to threaten the integrity of the Crown, and plainly he had lacked the support for that. He had achieved Leth's overthrow through guile, deceit and the ruthlessly brilliant manipulation of circumstances. Leth's state of mind had been the pretext, and Fectur had persuaded government, army and factions that he was acting in the best interests of the Crown.

    With Issul's return that argument could only be sustained by his voluntarily stepping down. But he would not be beaten. He would be taking careful stock, awaiting and creating his next opportunity. His instinct was that of the spider that sits concealed beneath its trapdoor, allowing its prey to step too close. His jaws had closed once upon the flesh he sought, but, impossibly, it had struggled free. Now he had withdrawn again into the dark, where he waited, patient, still, and ready.

   Issul suppressed a shudder. She needed him. It was an unpalatable fact, but Fectur was invaluable, and therein
lay his strength. Many of Enchantment's Reach's most skilled troops were under his direct command; his intelligence network extended everywhere, holding stores of knowledge and information that the Crown needed in order to function effectively; and his police and security system held sway over far too much of the little kingdom.

   And now Orbelon was proposing that, to have any chance of rescuing Leth and their children - and indeed, of saving Enchantment's
Reach from the advancing Karai and their god - Issul must leave the city-castle again, this time to journey into unknown Enchantment. In effect Orbelon was asking her to hand power and virtually complete freedom of choice back to Fectur.

   The Lord High Invigilate stood motionless, his short stubby fingers linked before him, observing her with a smile of cordial hatred. 'You have heard the sad news?'

   'Of Duke Hugo?' she gave a curt nod. 'Word arrived a short time ago.'

  
'Such a tragedy. A great loss, for Enchantment's Reach as much as for you and your family. My heart goes out to you all.' He tutted, but his eyes were blank, the pupils pinpoints. 'The poor Duchess. How will she take the news?'

   'She will not be told yet, Fectur. Do you understand?' Mawnie - Demawndella - Issul's sister and the wife of Duke Hugo of Giswel, was confined in a state of delirium in her apartment within Orbia palace.

   'The Duke was unwise,' said Fectur. 'The King's orders were explicit: to remain within the castle. For some reason Duke Hugo saw fit to disobey and launch a sally against the Karai. No doubt he believed he had good cause, but . . . he has paid the most terrible price. Many good men lost their lives, and Giswel Holt is weakened.'

   'How many were lost, Fectur? Do you have more details than I?'

   Issul had only recently received the news, brought by pigeon. Pigeon flights had ceased for some days, she had learned, for fear of interception by the Karai. Now the defenders of Giswel Holt reasoned correctly that the Karai would be unlikely to want to prevent this news reaching the capital.

   'Some dozens, it would appear,' Fectur replied.
'Footsoldiers, horsetroops and several knights. Prince Anzejarl has now divided his army into two. A considerable force remains outside Giswel Holt's walls, while the bulk of the army is thought now to be marching north, towards us.'

   Issul took sober
note of this. The Karai could be here within days. The city-castle itself was a difficult prospect to lay seige to, situated as it was upon the vast, soaring scarp from which it and the kingdom drew its name. The season was late-harvest, so store-rooms were well-stocked. But the city-castle had become severely overcrowded with refugees who had fled from the towns and villages of the region which lay in the enemy's path. More still poured towards the city gate. And the Karai had access to much of the harvest, too, plus good supply lines leading back into the Mondane Kingdoms they had conquered before turning upon Enchantment's Reach, and to the Karai lands themselves. They had formidable allies in their ranks, creatures of Enchantment, somehow under the command of Prince Anzejarl: slooths - monstrous winged beasts for which cliffs and walls were no obstacle. The slooths were fearless, fleet in the air, and deadly. Issul had already witnessed their impact in battle, and had received accounts of the panic and destruction they had caused when Prince Anzejarl had unleashed them upon Enchantment's Reach and other, less well-defended towns. And there had been additional reports of huge, brutish troll-things moving with the Karai army.

  What else? It had been established beyond all reasonable doubt that the
Karai were led by one of the mighty god-beings who ruled Enchantment. The precise identity of this 'god' was undetermined, and the fact of its existence had not been made public for fear of inciting the populace, and worse, one or more of the factions. The factions had worshipped such beings before the practice was banned by Leth's forbear, King Haruman. Worship still continued clandestinely, and if it were officially acknowledged now that one of the so-called gods gave patronage to the Karai, and indeed led them to war against Enchantment's Reach, the consequences within the kingdom would have been catastrophic.

   Rumour was rife, of course. Most of the factions were vociferous in their claims that the current strife was due to the gods being angered at the Deist Edict which
prohibited worship. They had become even more vocal with the appearance of the slooths, and it served no one's interests, not even Fectur's, to have such knowledge broadcast. As it was, as far as she was aware, even Fectur, though he might strongly suspect and even believe in the intervention of a god, had no actual evidence. It was Leth who, in discussion with Orbelon, had confirmed the existence of the Karai 'god', and apart from these two, only Issul and Pader Luminis of the Arcane College were aware.

   Orbelon had told Issul that there were as many twenty three of these beings dwelling in Enchantment. One was Triune, who she had already encountered. They were Orbelon's
enemies, and he had himself been one of them before his defeat, banishment and separation from his soul. He confirmed that they were not truly gods, although their power, compared with ordinary folk beyond Enchantment's borders, was immense, and in that sense put them on the level of deities. He described them as nodes of consciousness formed out of the chaotic energies that created Enchantment, and declared that they were doomed, only half-knowingly, to forever wage war upon each other and the world in order to continue to exist.

   Orbelon did not know which of these beings aided the
Karai. He informed Issul that outside of Enchantment's borders his ancient enemies were deprived of much of their power. Hence the creature which led the Karai, and which reportedly took the form of a red-haired woman of astonishing beauty who had established herself as the consort of the Karai Prince Anzejarl, was unlikely to be the 'god' itself. More probably, she was a sorcerous projection, simulacrum or bound servitor of the 'god'. Nonetheless, he believed her quite capable of summoning other allies, other magics, should the circumstances demand.

  Deep within the forest to the south of Enchantment's Reach Issul, whilst held captive by a
Karai raiding party, had discovered a secret underground bunker constructed by the Karai using human slaves. Within lay a mysterious thing, a manifestation of strange and powerful magic, called a Farplace Opening. From here, according to Orbelon, things of Enchantment could issue forth. Orbelon spoke of Reach Riders: awesome phantasmal entities, the very expression of Enchantment itself. These bringers of destruction would pave the way for Enchantment to grow, to return the world to its own condition of chaotic flux.

   And there remained another abiding mystery: that of the Legendary Child. According to the teachings of the outlawed faction known as the True Sept, the Legendary Child was the spawn of a god whose advent was predicted at a time of great crisis. The child was also Queen Issul's nephew, though none but Issul, Pader Luminis, and now Orbelon, knew this. The child, named Moscul, had been born in the most terrible circumstances, pushing himself from the lifeless womb of Issul's deceased younger sister, Ressa, the twin of Mawnie.

   Issul, only half-aware at that time of the preachings of the True Sept, and not wanting to believe, had brushed aside the facts of the unnatural birth. In accordance with Ressa's plea before her death, she had taken Moscul and hidden him with a poor peasant family in the tiny, outlying village of Lastmeadow. Inadvertently Issul had helped to nurture the Legendary Child, had allowed him to develop and grow, undiscovered and unopposed.

   In one of the guest apartments within the Royal Palace of Orbia the leader of the True Sept, Grey Venger by name, waited. Fanatically opposed to the throne, and half-crazed with hatred for King Leth, Venger was the only man believed to hold the secret of the Legendary Child's purpose. So far Issul had put off speaking to him, but she knew that she could not delay much longer.

   It was all too much. Issul put her hand to her brow.

   'You are unwell, my Lady? You look tired and pale.'

   'I am fine.' She had barely slept in days and her mind could barely take in what was happening. But she would not give Fectur the satisfaction of knowing this. 'Is your account reliable?'

   'It was sent by one of my own people within Giswel Holt, and carries coded signals. I would be aware if it had been tampered with.'

   'Is there anything else?'

   'Soldiers returning to Giswel Holt reported seeing large grey creatures, trolls. It was these beasts which inflicted the greatest damage upon our troops, and took Duke Hugo's life.'

   Issul nodded to herself. Fectur's report seemed to differ little from the one she had received, though of course he might not be telling all. It was unsettling news. Hugo's death was a severe blow. Almost certainly he had blundered into a trap set by Prince Anzejarl. And with his loss came the first reliable sighting of Anzejarl's trolls within the borders of Enchantment's Reach.

   All else aside, with Prince Anzejarl's army on the move and so close, was there even time to follow Orbelon's plan and travel to Enchantment?

   'I want an emergency assembly this afternoon in the Hall of Wise Counsel,' said Issul abruptly.

   'Another?' Fectur scarcely troubled himself to disguise his sarcasm.

    'Yes, another!' she snapped. 'All knights, senior military officers, security and intelligence officers, advisors and officiers will attend. I leave it to you to arrange.'

   Fectur did not flinch, but she saw the flicker of suspicion and resentment in his cold carp eye.
'Very good, my Lady.' He reached into his robe and brought forth a scroll bound in crimson ribbon. 'Here is the report you requested.'

   'It is late.'

   'I have been very busy.'

   She took the scroll, curious as to its contents. How would Fectur have accounted for his conduct during her absence, most especially his overthrow of Leth? He was too clever to incriminate himself, but in covering his tracks Issul hoped he might at least have left clues that could help her understand just how he had accomplished his feat, and perhaps more importantly, name or give credible indications as to the identities of his closest accomplices, or at least those distinguished figures who had most readily given him their support. Many of his henchmen she already knew, but to establish himself as Regent Fectur would have needed the backing of the highest ranking ministers, knights and the heads of the numerous factions. The factions were influential in the politics of Enchantment's Reach, but their greatest weakness had always been their conflicting beliefs and inability to find accord between
themselves. That they had demonstrated unity now intrigued Issul; that they had done it behind Fectur's banner was a matter of enormous concern.