The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (28 page)

My old friend Donkor had taught me how
to handle the patrols last time I was here. They can be sceptical
and unwilling to trust outsiders, especially Mages. It’s the type
of attitude that kept a person alive out in the forests. Being open
shows the patrols that you had nothing to hide.

The leader was silent for a second.
“You are Moumno?”

“
Yes,” I
answered.

“
Then you know when
the Red Sun will set?” he asked.

It was a strange question out of
context but it was a system worked out with the Emperor to ensure I
could travel to the forests and islands of Nesqa unharmed. “When
the Okoro dynasty comes to an end,” I recited.

“
Welcome, Moumno,”
the leader said, pressing his fist to his chest. “It is good to
receive you too, Lady Sandra Middleton of the Court of Balendar. I
regret to inform you that Emperor Naliwa passed away from illness a
cycle and a half ago. Empress Morowa has the throne and will take
your request.” He looked saddened for a second.
“Hopefully.”

“
Hopefully?” Cathy
asked.

“
It is not my place
to speak on this subject,” the leader responded and turned to one
of his warriors. “Baako, take them to Kay Julis and report back to
me quickly.”

Baako stood at
attention and pressed his fist to his chest. “Yes,
Kali.”

The leader turned back to me. “You
speak correctly about the Evenawks, Moumno. Hopefully you can
achieve your goal with the Empress. We would gladly march into
battle with the Balendians if it means stopping the Birds.”

“
That’s good to
know,” I said with a slight nod. “Please lead on,
Baako.”

He moved at a quicker
pace than we would have liked, but he ensured we didn’t fall
behind. We kept to the wider trails for protection against the
trees and pushed through the afternoon into the evening. Cathy, in
her heavy armour, was starting to look completely exhausted as we
emerged from the forest to the tall con’creat walls of the Nesqian
capital.

With the trees being too soft for
construction purposes, the Nesqian’s developed the technology to
form what they call con’creat from the natural materials around
them. Casting it into blocks, they use it to build everything from
walls, to forts to simple houses.

We circled around the
wall to the front gate and Baako explained our situation to the
gate guard before leaving to return to the border. I still had to
answer when the Red Sun would rise, but it was a small price to pay
to freely enter the great port city of Kay Julis.

Kay Julis, or the
Jewelled Isle in the modern tongue, is the capital of the Nesqian
Empire and their only city on Kalenden. The other cities rest on
other islands and are ruled by a Minister. After spending what felt
like forever in the forest or grasslands, the sight of the water
was uplifting.

“
It’s one thing to
see it through your eyes,” Cathy said dreamily. “It’s another thing
to see it with your own. I think we should live here for a few
decades after all this.”

“
I’d agree to that,”
I replied, heading down the path to the city itself.

The city lay at the
bottom of a ravine right on the water. Our destination, the palace,
was carved right into the far side of the ravine with a large stone
staircase leading up to the entrance. We just had to make our way
through the bustling city without getting lost.

Being the only city
on the continent, it was Kay Julis’ job to supply the other cities.
This left the street a bustling marketplace from sun up to sun
down. You couldn’t take two steps in any direction without someone
trying to get you to buy something. Despite the coin weighing down
my pack, I couldn’t think of a reason I would need a rug to fight
Desroche. Unless I made it fly or something.

The people watched us closely as we
travelled. Whether they recognised me from my previous time or not,
their stares were weary and hostile. It was almost flattering to
think that people would actually stop what they were doing just to
stare at us. Usually busy people ignore everyone around them. I
smiled, exchanged nonsense about the weather and continued on,
making sure Cathy hadn’t disappeared behind me.

By the time we
reached the stone stairs to the palace, the evening was coming to a
close. We hoped the Empress hadn’t ended council and retreated for
the night. Even if she had, I hoped she would make an exception for
an old friend. The palace guards checked our weapons and asked
their questions before granting us admittance.

When the door opened, it revealed the
skill of the Nesqian craftsmen. The beautiful throne room was a
giant circle with stone columns running around a large assembly
area. On a balcony sat the Empress on her throne, overlooking a
group of politicians and townsfolk bickering about their problems.
From the looks of things, we still had lots of time before the
Empress would be finished for the evening. Cathy and I approached
the group, hoping to find the steward and record our request.

We found a couple stewards writing down
on parchment and approached the closest one. “Nature of the
business?” he asked, not looking up.

“
War,” I answered,
hoping it would get his full attention.

It worked as he looked up at me fully.
“I beg your pardon.”

“
I am Moumno and this
is Lady Sandra Middleton of the Court of Balendar,” I started. “We
need to speak to the Empress about forming an alliance with
Balendar to fight the Evenawks.”

He studied us closely. “Moumno, you
say. Very well, wait one moment.”

The steward hurried off, disappearing
into a door under the balcony and reappearing next to the Empress.
She listened with a bored expression on her face before standing
up. “That will be all for today,” she shouted to the crowd. “We
will pick up again tomorrow.”

The crowd was outraged, voicing their
opinion loudly to each other. Empress Morowa didn’t seem to care
and followed the steward down the stairs before breaking off and
heading for a side passageway. The palace guard were already moving
quickly to calm the group down and escort them out of the
palace.

The steward headed towards us and
bowed. “The Empress will see you in the War Room,” he said. “This
way, please.”

He led us through the
crowd and down a passageway towards the War Room. The noise from
the assembly area faded the further away we travelled and by the
time we reached our destination, we were surrounded by
silence.

“
She will see you
now,” the steward said pleasantly before lowering his voice. “Good
luck.”

He opened the door to the War Room and
we entered. A large table was the focus of the room with chairs
circling around it. Even in this simple room, the craftsmanship of
everything was evident. The Emperors and Empresses of Nesqa were
proud of what they had and were not afraid to show it.

It had been a couple
of cycles since I had last seen Empress Morowa, then Princess, and
it didn’t look like she had changed too much. Her face betrayed her
age, making her look like a child in adult clothing. Her medium
length hair was braided from the back and draped over her right
shoulder. The only difference was the tired, almost vacant look in
her eyes. I hoped the day of listening to her people hadn’t
exhausted her and left her uncaring.

“
Imagine my surprise
when my steward tells me ‘Moumno’ is here to talk about war,”
Empress Morowa said in a flat tone. “It’s déjà vu all over
again.”

I chuckled and sat down close to her.
“Yes, it would be nice to meet under normal circumstances.”

The Empress turned to
Cathy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“
Sandra Middleton of
Davalin, Lady of the Court of Balendar, blah blah blah,” Cathy
answered. “Too many titles to keep track of now. We are here to
discuss an alliance between our two nations, Empress. I speak on
behalf of the King.”

“
My steward told me
as much,” Empress Morowa replied in a bored tone. “Frankly I don’t
see the need for such an alliance. The Birds are always a nuisance
and their recent little aggression doesn’t need to be treated like
a problem.”

“
Balendar’s royal
family lies in ruin, the capital is on the verge of falling and a
wanted criminal is brainwashing the Evenawks into an army,” Cathy
pressed calmly. “It has become a problem worth
discussing.”

“
Sounds more like a
Balendar problem than a Nesqa problem,” Empress Morowa said. “Why
should we care or assist in the matter?”

“
The enemy we face
isn’t planning on stopping after Balendar falls,” Cathy countered.
“Nesqa will be next. He will ensure every man, woman and child has
been enslaved and bows before him.”

“
During our travels
we have stumbled upon camps set up to increase his mind control
power,” I explained. “He will march on Balendar to enslave it then
send both armies into Nesqa. You won’t stand a chance against both
armies. We need your help to stop them now.”

She looked at me, but
I got the feeling she wasn’t really looking at me. She seemed to be
staring past me at something that wasn’t there. “When it comes to
that we have our armies and the forest to protect us,” she said
dismissively. “Nesqa will not fall.”

“
You will face an
army that can fly and a man not afraid to burn a forest to the
ground to get to you,” Cathy pressed. “Hiding here only delays the
inevitable.”

“
We have no reason to
join you for this,” she said sternly, rising to her feet. “Balendar
can solve its own problems. They always have. If any problems come
our way then we will handle it ourselves. Like WE have always done.
Our talk is over. Thank you for coming. I will have a scout escort
you to the border.”

“
Are you okay?” I
asked the Empress, rising to my feet.

She was taken aback,
but recovered quickly. “I’m fine.”

“
If there is
something bothering you, I’d like to help,” I offered, taking a
couple of steps closer to her.

She looked straight at me for the first
time and cringed like she was expecting me to hit her. “That won’t
be necessary,” she answered weakly.

I raised my hands
defensively. “I’m sorry. It’s just been a couple of cycles since we
last saw each other and it just seems like something is bothering
you. Please talk to me. I don’t mind helping if there is a
problem.”

She looked down into her hands and
started playing with her rings nervously. “That won’t be necessary.
It’s...nothing.”

“
Are you...?” I
started.

“
I SAID I’M FINE!”
she shouted, heading for the door. A guardsman opened the door to
check on the noise. “The meeting is over. Please see our guests
out.”

She hurried past the guard and he
turned to us with a sympathetic look. “This way, please,” he
said.

I was really
concerned for the Empress now. After I rescued her from bandits,
our time together was short, but she seemed to be alright. After
her little display, I think maybe she was holding everything in.
Throw in the death of her father and the stresses of the job and
she has become the person I saw today.

If I had time I would
stay and try to help her out but our mission was too important
though. Based on our limited interaction with Nesqian warriors,
they were itching to fight the Evenawks. If the Empress was going
to hide in her palace as the world burned around her then we needed
to go behind her back and rally some volunteers.

And there was only one man that could
help us out.

The guard led us out
of the palace and we began the long descent down the stone stairs.
The sun had disappeared over the horizon completely and it was time
to grab a Nesqian dinner while we planned our next move.

“
That could have gone
better,” Cathy said.

I sighed. “Everything she had been
through seemed to have a more negative effect than I thought.”

Cathy nodded. “Looks
like it but what could you have done? She looked and acted normal.
We couldn’t stick around here and play babysitter. Her family
should have been able to help her through stuff.”

“
Yeah, a part of me
still feels guilty though,” I answered.

Cathy laughed. “You’re too caring for
your own good sometimes. What’s the next move? I assume you have
been working on something.”

“
What? You aren’t
three steps ahead of me?” I asked with a smirk.

“
I never said that,”
she smiled. “I just want to see how far behind you are.”

“
We need volunteers,”
I replied. “Meaning we need to find Donkor. If there is an Evenawk
camp on the border, you can bet he is investigating it. Meeting up
with him and getting a volunteer army together will help us stop
Douche-roche.”

Cathy laughed. “Douche-roche. I like
that.”

“
If I remember
correctly,” I said thoughtfully, “Donkor’s mother lives close by.
She can point us in the right direction and maybe tell us a good
place to sleep for the night.”

Cathy jumped the last couple of steps
and turned to me. “Lead on then.”

Chapter
25

Donkor’s mother lived
in a secluded bungalow along the shore. Despite being the Empress’s
aunt, she wanted to get away from the life of politics and focus on
raising her son. Given the special nature of her son and what he
had become, it was a pretty sound strategy.