The House of Yeel (20 page)

They came to the front doors of the inner
keep. The guards recognized the pair immediately and allowed them
in.

“Where is Aruscetar? We’ve
requested an emergency meeting,” said Jymoor.

“He should be in the
audience chamber this time of day, unless he’s out inspecting the
walls,” said the captain of the gate. “Go to the chamber and speak
to the officials outside. They will probably grant you a
session.”

Jymoor and Yeel headed inside.

“I’m the Crescent Knight,”
Jymoor muttered to herself. “I can request a direct audience with
the king and get it!”

She wandered a bit, choosing a few wrong
turns. Yeel followed her patiently.

“It’s been a while since
I’ve been here, and I haven’t visited the palace many times,” she
explained.

“We could reason our way to it,” Yeel
suggested happily.

“My memory will get us close with a bit of
trial and error,” she countered. The two eventually arrived at the
entrance of the audience chamber. A steward stood outside with four
guards.

“We’ve been expecting you,”
the steward said. “The return of the Crescent Knight, and with the
Great Yeel.”

Something in his
voice
...
a bit of
skepticism, perhaps? The idiot.

“May we schedule a meeting with King
Aruscetar?”

“He’s told me to put you at
the front of the line when you show up. Since no one else is
currently in audience with the king, I can show you in
immediately.”

The steward went ahead to announce them.

“Such status! We merely arrive and get let in
right away! I guarantee you I would not have warranted such
attention before. Being the Crescent Knight is a wonderful
thing.”

“That is all true,” Yeel
said. “But remember you must master the armor’s mental effects or
you may suffer from egomania.”

“I can control it,” Jymoor said.

“Exactly what someone under the influence of
the armor would say,” Yeel observed.

“We can speak on this later, if I survive,”
Jymoor said carefully.

“Ah! If you survive. Good,
you still realize the potential for failure. That’s a good
sign!”

Jymoor gave him a grim look. They walked into
the throne room. A much smaller collection of lords and ladies were
inside than when they last visited. Jymoor spotted Seer Yune among
them.

The men and women with
real power
,
Jymoor thought.

They turned as one to regard
Jymoor and Yeel in the vast chamber. Jymoor didn’t feel nervous.
The armor bolstered her confidence enough to face them openly.
Still, she retained enough clarity to bow. Yeel did the
same.

“Rise and speak,” Aruscetar commanded.

“I’ve returned at last from
my mission to retrieve Yeel. We’d like to speak about coordinating
a defense of the city.”

King Aruscetar turned his eyes to Yeel.

“What assurance do I have this is truly
Yeel?”

“I found him at the Far
Coast. He lives in a floating house…and I’ve seen him perform
amazing feats. I’ve written of them.”

“I’ve seen nothing with my
own eyes,” the king noted. He traded looks with Yune, who stood
nearby.

Jymoor felt anger growing inside her.

He doesn’t believe me? I
should smite him.
She took a deep
breath.
The armor does make me
arrogant.

“We can take you to see the
house through Yeel’s magical doorway called the roveportal. Or, you
can ask any of those who came back with us. They’ve seen the house,
and they witnessed Yeel defeat a monster called
Slevander.”

“I have heard stories,” King
Aruscetar admitted. “But stories are stories. Can’t the Great Yeel
provide me a display of his power right here?”

Jymoor nodded. She turned to Yeel.

“Prove you’re
Yeel.”

“How?”

“Do something only Yeel could do,” Jymoor
hissed.

“It would take time, reagents, planning—”

“What can you do quickly? Right now?”

Suddenly Jymoor stood talking to Aruscetar.
She blinked.

“My king—” she started, then saw Aruscetar
still at his throne. The king stood.

“I’m impressed,” King
Aruscetar said. “Now please change into someone else. You’re
alarming my guards. And you’re alarming me, to speak
honestly.”

Yeel changed into a perfect copy of Jymoor.
This time she smiled.

He is truly amazing.

“Now that the matter of your
identity has been resolved, or at least, now that I accept that you
are extraordinary, if not the Great Yeel, I hope that you can aid
us against the invaders. If you can help us, I’ll be most grateful.
All of Riken will be most grateful.”

“I can’t do much all by
myself,” Yeel said. “I know a few clever tricks, and I’ve returned
with many brave adventurers who can bolster your defense. But it
will take more than that to save your city, I’m afraid.”

“Yet when you asked for audience, the steward
said you had come to help,” Aruscetar noted.

“Yeel has allies in another world, reachable
through his travel devices,” Jymoor said. “His allies can become
our allies,” Jymoor explained.

“By allies you mean…kingdoms
with armies?”

“Yes,” Jymoor said. “One
army, anyway. Yeel knows another very powerful wizard called Vot. I
mentioned her in passing before. She has assembled an army.
However, they have enemies of their own. Like us, they’re readying
their stand at a fortress called Ascara-home. Our proposal is that
we stand together. Riken helps Yeel’s friends, called the Ascarans,
then they will fight with us. Together, our armies can win two wars
where separately they’d fall.”

“Impossible! The army can’t
leave in such a time as this! Three great cities have already
fallen. Our capital is next.”

“But by helping Ascara-home,
you would gain Vot’s people as staunch allies. They would come to
our aid in turn.”

“What if our army is
destroyed in the fight for Ascara-home? Who will come back to
defend the capital? What if we leave and the barbarians arrive
while we’re marching off in some other world?”

“Timing is admittedly very critical here,”
Yeel said. “But remember, as long as we have the roveportal
deployed in Maristaple, we can return directly here. You must
understand concentration of force? Our two armies combined will
defeat the assault on Ascara-home taking less losses than if a
smaller army opposed the Meridalae there.”

Aruscetar looked away from Yeel.

“Yes, the armies would be much stronger if
combined. I will contemplate this,” Aruscetar said. “I can promise
nothing.”

Jymoor opened her mouth to speak, but Yeel
interrupted her.

“Thank you for your consideration, wise
monarch,” Yeel said. He looked at Jymoor. He placed a thought
directly into her brain without letting the others overhear.
“Without the armor, I dare say you would not contemplate arguing
with your king?”

Jymoor’s face turned red.
The armor had made her bold, indeed! Before she had left on her
mission, she was hard pressed to do anything but bow before the
king. Now she wanted to argue against his order, to convince him
with the fierceness of her spirit!

“Thank you for your consideration,” Jymoor
echoed.

“One final note, if I may. This information
is best kept secret. There are spies everywhere. Our enemies would
prefer to block any plans of cooperation we might make.”

The king nodded. “Of course.
I’m not an idiot.”

“I didn’t mean to imply
that, I assure you. I spoke only to remind and to implore for
further security measures.” Yeel watched the edges of Seer Yune’s
mouth turn up ever so slightly.

Chapter 15: Barbarians

Yeel sensed a change in
the human soldiers around him. Their movement patterns had changed.
Another squad of armored men hurried past
.

Not good. They are
alarmed.
Perhaps
the attack has begun?

He found Jymoor at the top
of the gate tower where they’d entered the city. She looked out
into the distance.

“What can you see?” Yeel asked. “My eyes,
without augmentation, are not good at distance.”

“The barbarian army is
arriving,” she said. Her voice was somber.

“I guess that’s not
surprising,” Yeel said. “We were talking openly about helping Vot.
No doubt Yune heard of it and told the Meridalae.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Meridalae always have
spies in high places,” Yeel said. “And one of them is Seer Yune.
She’s the one who altered my memory augment the very night I read
it. They may have learned of our proposal. The surest way to keep
us from our plan is to put Maristaple into immediate danger. Even
if they aren’t ready to attack the city, their presence here forces
the king’s hand.”

“Has Yune been thrown in the dungeon?”

“I haven’t told the king
yet. I feared making such an accusation against his mistress would
simply anger him and cause him to reject our argument for
cooperation with Vot.”

Jymoor opened her mouth then shut it
again.

“You’re right. What about
the barbarians? Why are they on the side of the
Meridalae?”

“They probably aren’t. The
Meridalae are masters of manipulation. They seldom do their own
fighting. For all we know, this plan is a century in the
making.”

For the rest of the day,
Jymoor watched the enemy encircle the castle and create huge camps.
She gave steady reports to Yeel, who couldn’t see it by himself.
All the while, the soldiers within the castle made their last
preparations as well. The last few shacks were cleared from outside
the wall. Though the vegetation had been cut away weeks ago, scouts
milled about outside the wall, making sure everything was in
order.

As night fell, Yeel turned to Jymoor.

“I’m going to head back to
the house and look for my spyglass. You’re welcome to join me if
you wish, assuming you’ve been using the cerebral nutrient
replenisher and don’t wish to sleep.”

“I think I will.” She smiled at Yeel.

They walked through the roveportal back to
the house. Jymoor looked around the water room.

“It can be creepy here. It’s
so large. The armor comforts me, though. Aren’t you ever afraid
here?” Jymoor nestled a bit closer to Yeel.

“I guess I’m used to it. I
have, after all, been living here a very long time. And I’ve never
had any trouble in the house, at least not major trouble. An
occasional wild animal is the worst thing the house has let
in.”

“But how do you know some
Meridalae didn’t just walk up to the front and go in, just as I
did? Maybe they’re in here now.”

“The house won’t let most
in. It can detect many dangers.”

“So I got in because…I was
only a harmless scout.”

“That’s one way to look at
it.”

“So…what’s the logical
location of the spyglass?”

“Hmm…the glass is for
distance sight. The lower level east-west corridor is the longest
straight corridor. With a spyglass, I could clearly see down it. On
the other hand, the observation lounge at the top level looks out
over the Far Coast…”

“…
and one might make use of
the spyglass from there,” Jymoor finished. “Let’s try this
observation room. I’ve never seen it. How did you manage to
remember it?”

“Oh, I just assume a wonderful house like
this, with such an opulent water room, must have a nice observation
spot at the top.”

Jymoor laughed.

They wandered, taking every
stair they found until finally, Yeel led the way into a round room
at the top of Yeel’s house. The room had three long divans and a
few bits of furniture, but no windows.

“There are no windows?” Jymoor asked. Yeel
grabbed one of the rods and lifted it. As one, metal panels on the
walls rose up. A light breeze came into the room. Jymoor peered
out.

“I got my directions mixed
up. I guess the coast is over there,” she said, shifting her
position. “I can’t see much tonight except the stars, though. It’s
very romantic.”

“Then use the night glass,” Yeel said,
handing her a deep blue looking glass.

Jymoor hefted the new spyglass to her eye and
gazed out toward the coast. She made an appreciative sound.

“Amazing! The view is pretty clear. It would
be even better if the mist in the south cleared a bit.”

“There it is,” Yeel said. He grasped another
spyglass in a long tentacle.

“Look at all these rings!” Jymoor said. Yeel
looked over. Jymoor had opened a small chest beside the divan. It
was filled with dozens of bright rings of gold and silver.

“Oh yes. That is only one of my stashes I
feel sure.”

“Are any of
them…special?”

“They all are. Why else keep them?”

“In what way?”

“I have no recollection. Oh.
Except for that one. And that one. And that one…”

“Anything that could help us
with the siege? Yeel, what if the solution to our problems is an
artifact here in your house, but you don’t remember it?”

“Well, yes, it’s possible…I
mean, life comes with no shortage of problems. You’re really
luckier than you know, having such a sharp memory. Anyway, these
rings likely won’t help us in the big picture.”