Chapter 6
The darkness outside poured into the Regulation Committee chambers. Torches on the columns in the room cast everything in an eerie glow. On the crystal throne, Vale sat in a blue robe looking a mess with his tousled hair. Prode sat in his usual seat, facing his brother, for the first time in silence. Ara abdicated his, now usual, seat next to Vale and instead took Plucid Duru’s seat aside Prode. They sat in silence for several moments until Forr came in with swollen, red eyes and took his seat.
“The woman who tried to kill Vale is named Sorpa Veneficus. I have seen her in my visions. I’ve come to the conclusion that she is the one who hired Scurus Subo to kill him.”
Prode spoke up immediately, “Who is this Sorpa Veneficus lady? You were acting like we should all know who this is. Why have I never heard this name before?”
“Probably because it was assumed that the threat was dealt with,” Vale sighed. “We have never met her before, Prode, although we only just missed having the same encounter that Forr had with her. We suspect it’s been about a year since anyone has seen her.”
“What do you mean?” Prode sounded frustrated. “Has she been in the castle before?”
And so, Forr began to tell the story, as best as he could remember, of the time a year ago, when he, Opo, and Queen Jenneka had first met Sorpa Veneficus, in that very same room.
“The monthly meeting of the Regulation Committee had just ended. It had been quite the lively event. Prode had just been elected Ambassador of Tacia. Vale had been invited to watch the proceedings. Prode was thrilled. He had longed for months to be put in office, but he had never expected anything so prestigious. He had sat there in his new seat, beaming during the whole meeting, and kept interjecting with nonsensical ideas and suggestions, as was expected for someone new in a position of power.”
“That is not true!” Prode interrupted.
“Let him go on,” Vale said.
“At the end of the meeting, the Queen dismissed the Ambassadors, but asked her bodyguard, Opo Scoloos, and I to stay behind. Before we could begin discussing anything else, there was a knock on the heavy doors to the chamber and Kally, who was a new guard at the time, came in and handed Opo a small bit of parchment.
“It said that there was a woman named Sorpa Veneficus outside who had absolutely insisted on meeting Queen Jenneka in person.
“It was certainly an odd request from a lady that she’d never heard of, but the Queen was kind and inquired what the woman’s purpose was at Ivory Towers.
“Opo had scoffed and said, ‘It says here that she is looking for a job in the castle and that she has talents that will prove greatly useful to both you and the Royal Army.’ And he asked if he should turn her away.
“The Queen seemed not at ease with the request. It was rare indeed that an Elite would apply for a post within the castle by approaching the Queen in person. After a moment, however, she asked that the lady be shown in.
“Moments later a tall, horribly thin woman strode through the chamber. She wore a long, flowing black dress that looked as though it had been moth-eaten. Her skin, what little could be seen, was the color of snow, and her long black hair was scraggly and disheveled. She glided across the room, towards the throne and I shuddered looking at her.
“She wore a black funeral veil that covered her face but one could make out that her face was just as pale, bony, and cold as the rest of her body. The sight of her sent a shiver up my spine and, glancing around; I could see that she had the same effect on Opo. Queen Jenneka, on the other hand, seemed utterly terrified. She was beginning to sweat and her nails were gripping into the armrests of her throne.
“Sorpa walked with a man who was even more gauntly thin than her. The man was shrouded in a gray cloak and wore gray bandages that covered his entire face. I felt uneasy watching these two and was surprised at myself. I’d met many different kinds of people in my travels, some unpleasing to the eye, but I’d never been put off by them. This time, however, was very different.
“Your Highness, it is a gift to be able to see you again after so long,’ the woman croaked with a half bow.
“Opo and I shuddered at the same time. The woman’s voice was like death. She spoke as if she was breathing with the whisper of a breeze. The Queen had composed herself and remained completely detached from the woman’s eeriness and, it seemed, from what she even had to say.
“The Queen responded sweetly that the woman was mistaken, that in fact they had never met. She then asked the woman how far she had traveled to get to Ivory Towers.
“‘My name is Sorpa Veneficus,’ she had said ‘and I have traveled a long distance to pledge my services to you. It is my belief that we have the ability to greatly assist each other in future endeavors.’
“She continued proudly and without hesitation that she came from the realm of Tacia, deep within the forests and that she’d spent several days traveling in order to meet the Queen.
“I do not need to tell any of you that the forests are not the most hospitable place for an Elite to call home. I’d never heard of living so far from civilization. The Queen asked her what her offer was to Ivory Towers that had caused her to travel so far. Sorpa smiled through her veil and apologized for her rudeness. She started to introduce her assistant but confessed she didn’t even know his name. Her behavior was getting more peculiar by the moment and I could sense Opo reaching for a dagger on his belt. Sorpa turned to the frightening man beside her and ordered him to take off his mask.
“The gaunt man reached up and slowly began to remove the thick, heavy bandages that shrouded his face. When at last they were all off, he turned and faced the Queen and we all gasped.
“The man’s face was rotting. Pieces of his white skull were clearly exposed and the skin that was left was a foul color of green. His eyes were sunken so far back into his head, they almost couldn’t be seen. His hair was mostly gone, save for a few long strands that hung over his disintegrated face. This man, by all accounts, had to have been dead for several weeks.
“Opo drew his dagger and cursed at Sorpa. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was unreal. Flakes of rotten skin on the man’s face continually flaked off as he stood there.
“Without a word, Sorpa Veneficus pointed at the skeletal man and the most horrifying thing happened. The man’s beady eyes rolled even further into the back of his head and his knees buckled. He crumpled to the floor like a child’s doll and a great cloud of dust came up from his body as he fell.
“I stood there with my mouth agape and announced that the man was dead, though it probably did not come as a shock to anyone.
“The Queen was furious and demanded to know what was going on. She asked Sorpa why she’d just killed this man before her and couldn’t believe how audacious she was for doing so in a palace filled with security. Sorpa Veneficus just smiled. She asked for our patience before we made any conclusions. She then looked back at the man’s corpse and waved her hand at him once more.
“Remarkably, like a monster out of a nightmare, the man’s bones linked back together and he began to scramble to rise. He slowly crawled onto his knees and then got to his feet and faced Sorpa with no words spoken and no expression on his face. Still dead and yet not.
“Necromancy is the dark art of conjuring dead spirits for one’s own personal use or gain. It is a completely unethical practice and a vile disrespect.
“She defended herself by claiming that she could not help the special power that the gods selected for her. She ranted how the spirits were happier reunited with their bodies than they were floating through the astral plane for an eternity. She claimed she was gracious enough to grant the gift of life. I disagreed and told her that most people would tell her that it was not her place to decide such things. Who was she to say that it is not one’s time to die after the gods have made it so?
“The Queen began to speak to the man. I suppose she wanted to see
how genuine all of this was.
“Sorpa let out a laugh that sounded like the creak of an old door and apologized to the Queen saying that the man couldn’t hear or respond to what was said to him.
“When the Queen asked why, Sorpa told her that he would only obey her. She said if a person was dead for a long time, it was terribly difficult to extract their soul from the netherworld. The result that we could see was along the lines of a mindless slave. She insisted that a remnant of a soul is better than no soul at all.
“The Queen had seen enough and was furious. She told her that Ivory Towers had no use for dark arts like this. How in the world could mindless slaves, rotting away help the kingdom?
“Sorpa was persistent and remained completely nonplussed by everyone’s horror. She gestured at the corpse and said it was just a small bit of what she could do. She claimed to be able to resurrect masses of corpses at a time. She shared her vision of a massive, new and improved Royal Army that could not be defeated because as soon as one falls, he would get right back up again.
“She attempted to seduce Queen Jenneka with a vision of controlling an army that is completely unstoppable.
“Judging by what we had just seen, we gathered that it would hardly be the Queen controlling this unstoppable army and Her Highness insisted that she was fully content with the army that she had and saw no reason to ‘improve’ them. Even more so than that, what need would she have for an invincible army? Eliantar had not been at war in over 300 years.
“The woman maintained her confidence and spoke of an ancient evil that had reawakened. Skarsend, the fallen god of death and darkness had been freed from his confines and was once again planning to destroy Eliantar. It was up to Queen Jenneka to do whatever was necessary to stop this threat to her land.
“The Queen stared hard at Sorpa Veneficus for a minute before she told her that she wanted her to leave the castle immediately and never return. She further said that she never wanted to hear that Sorpa ever used those foul powers again. She told her that her power was evil and had no place in Eliantar.
“Sorpa looked as though she couldn’t believe her ears. She was in complete shock that her grand idea to help the Queen was rejected. She stared at all of our faces but found only disapproving eyes staring back. Even my fear had been overcome by my repulsion of this woman.
“She threatened that we would all regret this day and would find the time comes when the power that we shunned is the same power that destroys everything we hold dear and then it will be too late.
“As she turned to leave she again waved her hand at the corpse who, for the last time, fell to the ground in a pile of bones and dust directly in front of the crystal throne. Her long black dress and wild hair billowed around her as she stormed out of the Regulation Committee chambers. She never looked back as the heavy doors slammed behind her.
“For a few minutes we all stared at each other not knowing what to say about what had just happened. It certainly wasn’t every day that such a lunatic burst through the castle doors and threatened the Queen with dark powers like these.
“The Queen asked me if I had any hints of foreboding while the woman was there and I confessed that I had not then or leading up to it, but that I would retire to my quarters and give it more thought.
“She turned to Opo and told him he knew what he needed to do. Opo nodded and left.”
When Forr had finished telling his tale, Ara found his mouth hanging open. This was the most abnormal thing that he’d ever heard.
Vale said, “Mother confided to Forr that she’d wisely sent Opo to follow Sorpa and find out as much as he could such as where she was from, who her friends were, or anything of importance and then…dispose of her.”
“What did he find out?” Ara asked.
“Not much,” Vale sighed. “He returned a few weeks later. He had followed her, as she had claimed, deep into Tacia, into the forest. He had removed her threat from this world, but didn’t give any details. I doubt that he took much glory in it. To my knowledge my mother had never asked such a favor before. Forr and my mother put it out of their minds. The deed was done. To add to that, Forr had concluded that he sensed no danger from that woman.
“I suppose warning signs were there, however. Opo was never the same after that. Even after he’d returned from killing her, he just stayed very distant at times and then overly protective, after Mother’s death especially. He wouldn’t let anyone leave Ivory Towers without an escort. I suppose it’s possible that perhaps he found more in that forest than he was willing to let us know. Maybe he never did kill her and was too ashamed to let us know. It’s difficult to guess and impossible to know, especially now that he’s dead.”
“Well, I’ve got to tell you that I would have really appreciated a little warning on all of this since I am Ambassador to Tacia,” barked Prode. “Why was I kept in the dark about this?”
“Your mother wanted to keep it quiet,” Forr responded. “I don’t think that she thought this woman was going to be any threat once Opo went after her. Why cause a panic when there’s no cause for concern? I saw no danger, but…”
“But, you’re losing your foresight. We know,” Prode snapped.
“Where do we go from here?” Ara asked, quickly diffusing Prode. “Should we send troops to Tacia to hunt this woman? Since Prode knows Tacian geography so well, he can supply the men with maps for the deeper, wilder parts of the realm. They can have the entire area combed in a week or two if we send out half of the Royal Guard.”
“No!” said Vale. “I think that would be a very dangerous idea. I agree with my mother’s thinking on this matter. We can’t overreact and cause hysteria until we have more proof than just an old threat from a potentially dead woman that we can’t completely justify. Forr may have had a vision about her but, and forgive me my friend, by his own admission his powers are suspect as of late. I am going to seek her out myself and see if she even still lives. It’s still highly likely that Opo did, in fact, kill her.”
“You mustn’t!” retorted Ara. “As your personal bodyguard I have to tell you how unwise it is to let you leave this castle. Royalty has no place going on secret missions looking for dangerous criminals.”
Prode leaned over and whispered, “Don’t forget that he’s the Crown Prince of Eliantar. I don’t think you can refuse any request that he makes. I’d start packing your bags…and watching your tone.”
Ara squinted his eyes at Prode, “Packing my bags? Why would I be packing my bags?”
“I agree Prode,” Vale smirked. “Ara, I wouldn’t want to find myself in a position of danger so I am asking that you accompany me when this year’s Grim has ceased. We will not tell anyone other than Prode and Forr what our plans are so we don’t cause anyone to fret without reason. It is of utmost importance that no one knows what we’re doing until we apprehend the necromancer, Sorpa Veneficus.”