Islands of the Inner Sea by LJ Chappell

Author:LJ Chappell [Chappell, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Asquith Publishing
Published: 2018-11-20T22:00:00+00:00

2

As the wagons followed the slow road south-east towards the White Mountains, they were watched from a suite of basement rooms in an annexe to the Azure Palace. A figure hunched over a round table, muttering: from time to time his head twitched awkwardly. In his right hand he held a staff. An image of the caravan hovered in the air in front of him: he flicked his finger, left and right, and the view rolled forwards and backwards so that he could briefly study each of the wagons and the honour guard that flanked them.

‘They are leaving now, the tricky priests from accursed Corvak,’ he said to himself. ‘And they didn’t notice anything.’

Twice, and they hadn’t noticed anything. He had been nervous, thought that all those priests being so close was a risk. He had heard the tales, and who knew what powers they really had, but he hadn’t needed to worry at all. They hadn’t suspected anything. Instead, everything had gone the way they had planned.

And they had been so transparent, so childish: pandering to the Crown Prince, treating him like he’s oh, so special. But that’s only because they don’t know. That’s only because they think they can use him in the future. They want him to love them. But they don’t know, do they?

If they knew, they wouldn’t have treated him so nicely, wouldn’t have flattered him, wouldn’t have given him those things and plotted with him.

‘But it won’t do them any good, will it, Mouse?’ he said aloud, gleefully. ‘It won’t do them any good at all. Hateful priests.’

The stupid, hateful, greedy priests hadn’t suspected at all.

I was too good for them. I’m too good for everyone. And nobody knows. I come out of my dungeon and I do as I am bid, and then I slink back to my little cell, despised and all alone.

‘All alone? Well, not completely alone, eh Mouse?’ He banged on the floor with the end of his staff, as if expecting to provoke some reaction. There was no sound and no answer. He looked over his left and right shoulders as if afraid someone might be behind him, might be listening to him.

‘We’ve made him do things and say things, and then we’ve made him forget. And he doesn’t know. And we’ll make him do more things, because we’re not finished yet. And he won’t remember. Oh no, he won’t remember. He never remembers, does he.’

I hear you ask: “Are we sure he’s forgotten? Are we sure he’s forgotten everything?”

Well, of course he’s forgotten, Little Mouse, otherwise he’d tell somebody and they’d send people to stop me …

And what about the stupid old man, running away – running away to Arafel, lovely warm Arafel?

He won’t find his brother there. No, no. His brother’s running as well, but not to Arafel. He found out, found out. He was cleverer than we thought, cleverer than the black lord thought, and now he’s running to tell the others, but he should hide instead.

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