01 Ascension by Brock Deskins

Author:Brock Deskins
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

King Jarvin Ollandar sat in his study, the weight of responsibility and treachery heavy upon his shoulders. It was no secret that someone was actively pursuing his throne, but whom, and how many, was still a mystery. Jarvin knew that he could probably execute ten of his ranking nobles and be confident that eight of them were guilty of actively plotting his overthrow. Some kings might do exactly that in his position. But he would not. He would show his people that he was a man of decency that would lead with honor and integrity, even if it killed him, which it probably would.

What was even more nerve-wracking was the absolute failure of his most skilled and trusted people in finding even a single piece of the fabled armor that helped establish the first line of succession. Many expeditions had not even made it back to report on their failure. Given the secrecy surrounding these expeditions, this spoke of traitors within his castle and very close to him.

Jarvin saw the door to his study open a crack and the wizened face of one of his counselors appear. “You sent for me, Majesty?”

“Yes, Magus. Please come in. Would you care for a drink?”

Magus Illifan smiled and shook his head. “No thank you, Majesty. I am afraid it is past the hour I would deem appropriate for drink.”

Jarvin scowled at the old wizard and inclined his head toward the crown that rested upon the table. “Put that thing on your head and any hour would not only feel appropriate, but positively essential.”

“I imagine so, Majesty.”

“Is there any word from the latest expedition?”

The Magus’s face fell. “I am afraid not, Majesty, and they were expected back a fortnight ago.”

Jarvin set his glass on the small table next to him and scrubbed his face with his hand. He massaged his temples, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed exhaustedly.

“Aeger, I fear there are spies not only within my castle, but very close to me. It is inconceivable that so many parties of such skill and loyalty seem to vanish.”

“I am sad to say you likely have the right of it, Jarvin,” the senior counselor replied, taking a cue from his liege that formalities of title were not necessary.

“So what shall I do? How do I know who I can trust? How do I go about ordering these expeditions without half the castle knowing about it?”

“I do not know, Jarvin. Even within your most elite of guards and soldiers, there are chains of command, supply requisitions and such that anyone even close to your inner sphere can easily pass on to your enemies. The only way around that is to create a small, special group of highly-skilled soldiers that are completely unaffiliated with any of the castle staff and who operate with complete autonomy. The problem there lies in the fact that it would be nearly impossible to find enough people with the requisite skills and whose loyalty is unquestionable. Anyone pulled from

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.