Early
the next morning Boxt snuck out of the castle to meet with Heti. The two had been periodically meeting every
week or so to discuss how things were going with each other and with
Strom. They changed where they met every
time, on this occasion the met at a small boat house by the docks. Heti was always there first and when Boxt
made his normal late entrance, Heti greeted him with a loving, “How do you
fare, my brother?”
“All is not well, Heti.”
“What, How do you mean?”
“Crom told Ganesh and Valla about Strom’s activities,
and not surprisingly, they were not pleased.
Strom is being charged with treason and there is a bounty for his head.”
Almost immediately Heti’s face turned maroon, “Did
Crom not inform them of the fact that Strom saved his very life? That in doing so, Strom compromised his own
security, and hoped that Crom would not do what he did?”
Coolly Boxt explained, “Crom said all of these
things, but the integrity of the kingdom comes before that of a king’s
son. Strom’s only friend on the inside
is Aparthie but she has no voice.”
Heti was looking for a rational way to look at
Strom’s chances of survival. He was
grasping at straws and all he could come up with was, “The future king’s wife
has power though, does she not? She
holds the hopes of the people. She is
the only purity in the house of. . .”
“She is a fool,” cut in Boxt, “She does not even see
that her husband has no love for her.
Crom is her friend but he is her husband by contract only. She commands the loyalty of the people, but the
people are imbeciles. They are
sheep. Just look at how father commands
them all.”
“Hold your tongue!
Father is wise and is an orator of
the highest level. He claims that
when he destroys the house of Ganesh that he will take the hand of Aparthie and
the land shall see a unity that has not been since the poison plagued the house
of Ishmael.”
“So father has no loyalty to the memory of our own
mother. Is it good to have a king that
is not loyal to his deceased wife?”
“It would only be a marriage of politics. Much the same as she has now. Why do you despise father so? What are your reasons?” Heti had never seen his brother filled with
so much hate.
“There are secrets that I cannot reveal. But know this, my brother I have no
allegiance whatsoever with Ganesh or Crom.
I do this for your sake. Before I
bid you farewell, know that there are to be no immediate attacks on Strom or
any of the descendants of Ishmael.
Strength be with you.” Boxt was
becoming his father more and more.
“Strength be with you,” Heti was happy to know that
his father would be safe, for now.
###
More Greatest Evil
Comments
Post a Comment