A Royal Audience

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 19467

The D'Honaire party arrived at Caemlyn, having had an uneventful journey. Within the hour, Fred and his father were told that the King required their immediate presence in his audience chamber. He wanted to speak to them in private in advance of the public reception and celebrations.

Neither Fred nor his father had expected to be called for by the King quite so soon. Duke Dred had hoped first to get a chance to meet his Lord Speaker and to find out about recent events in the Royal Court. That would no longer be possible. Fred had a much more serious worry, of course: that his cursed sword might compel him to commit regicide.

"Would you please wait outside for just a moment?" Fred asked the messenger. Once the man had left the room, Fred said to his father: "Could I leave my sword behind, sir? Especially as this 'Watcher' that the mages were arranging for me doesn't seem to have turned up yet. I didn't much like the idea, but he might at least have provided a measure of protection for the King if he had been present."

Duke Dred's face was a picture of consternation. "Certainly not!" he barked. "You know perfectly well that for an audience of the King you would not be properly attired without your sword. You might as well tell me that you wanted to meet him whilst wearing your nightshirt. As to the 'Watcher', this is to be a private audience, and I doubt that the King would permit this Carradene fellow to be present, for all that the White Hand may vouch for him."

So, fearing the worst, Fred reluctantly buckled on his scabbard, and then he and his father were escorted into the King's presence. The footman bowed and departed, living them alone with King Emry.

"Welcome, Duke Dredrik and Lord Frederigo, Dragonslayer!" King Emry said. "It is a long time since I've had guests that I was so pleased to see. I have already heard the gist of Fred's story, of course, but now I would like to hear it from his own lips. I've arranged for our meeting to be strictly private, so that you can both be perfectly frank and need not worry that you are being indiscreet."

So Fred told his tale again, though he found it very hard to concentrate at first, fearing that his sword might at any moment compel him to attack his monarch. However as time went by and nothing untoward occurred, he began to relax just a little. Though he mentioned his belief that his sword was cursed, he had enough sense not to say that he feared that the King might be its intended target.

When he had finished, the King said: "A strange and fascinating tale, my dear Fred. You have freed the Kingdom from a great evil, though it seems that there may be at least one even greater evil still besetting us. I must congratulate you on your bravery and determination, and on coming through such terrible experiences alive and well.

"One little thing surprised me, though as things turned out it's not really very important. You said that when you saw the portrait of the Lady Tabitha against a background of black clover you realised that the cryptic words of that ghost, whom you called the Woman in White, must refer to her. That is possible, of course, though she appears to have had only a very peripheral role in your adventure. However, at the point earlier on where you recounted how the ghost gave you that strange message, I assumed that the words referred to the Aqualarian princess. After all, in a pack of cards, clubs is a black suit and the suit also symbolises the warrior. And dwarves love gold and jewels, so this Tarin could have been the Knave of Diamonds."

"But Astra wasn't a queen, Sire," Fred pointed out. "Besides, she was already dead by this point, so how could she be said to be still in the game?"

"I don't think one should try to interpret these riddles over- literally, Fred. Actually, by the time of her death she may well technically have been Queen of Aqualaria, even though she was unaware of it. For as you have no doubt heard by now, Queen Heliastra is reported to have died in a riding accident some weeks ago. With the princess missing - and we now know to be dead - there is considerable confusion in Aqualaria. At the moment, Astra's younger sister is acting as regent, advised by her father, [3774] but she cannot be crowned queen until they know for certain that Astra is dead. So Astra is still having an effect on events, even after her death, and in that sense she is 'still in the game'. Some of my dukes are urging me to take advantage of the confusion in Aqualaria, and to take military action against them. It is a tempting idea; it would keep the nobles busy, and distract them from any thoughts of plotting against me."

Duke Dred started to speak, but Emry held up his hand.

"There is no need to protest, Dredrik. I know that your own loyalty is above question, but I am afraid that not all of my dukes are of the same unimpeachable integrity."

"Sire," Fred said, "please do not do this thing. Many would die in such a war, and I feel that taking advantage of Astra's death in such a fashion would amount to a betrayal of someone who was a brave comrade in arms of mine."

"Hmm. I will bear your objection in mind. In any case, action against Aqualaria may have to wait. Apart from this mysterious Green Flame, I am concerned by what you have told me about these dwarves. Do you think that they could come to pose a threat to us?"

  1. Fred thought for a moment before he replied.

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JH

5/12/2002 2:07:21 PM

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