The Fenimeldiyaan: Rogue Time - Chapter 10

The throne room was all decked out in garlands of flowers, testament to the fast work of the palace slaves. From her kneeling position in front of the green crystal throne, Jaek, in the form of the Rani-to-be, looked up at all the Hindustani dignitaries who had come straight from the Rajah’s funeral pyre to attend the Succession Ceremony. The smell of smoke still lingered in her nostrils and she silently congratulated herself on a stunning performance, tearing her robes and wailing as she had lit the pyre. The Rajah’s other children had not suspected anything, for they were too overcome with grief to pay attention.

She felt drained, having over-extended herself in order to restore the adviser whom she had previously impersonated, as well as altering his memories. All she wanted was to lay down on Darshana’s bed and sleep for a week, but she had her part to play as the new ruler of Hindustan. The excitement which she had felt at seeing Darshan Yadav’s life ebbing away had worn thin by this time and the fussing of the advisers only served to irritate her.

She was dressed in the ceremonial ruler’s costume, which included a tall gold headdress and several layers of silk robes in green and gold. The headdress was cumbersome and felt as though it would topple from her head at any moment, and the layers of robes were confining. Coming from the icy world of Losintho, she was unaccustomed to the hot climate of Hindustan.

The chief priest, known as the Grand Pujari, approached the throne, bearing the sacred artefacts of succession — a religious text known as the Valwaad Hin, a shepherd’s crook and a sphere of the same green crystal that the throne was carved from. He turned and spoke to the assembled dignitaries. “Honoured Lords and Ladies of Hindustan, I call upon you all to witness the Succession of our new ruler, the Rani Darshana Yadav, eldest daughter of the one who went before, the Rajah Darshan Yadav, in accordance with the Sacred Rules of Succession”.

He bowed before “Darshana” then held out the Valwaad Hin. “The first duty of the Rani is to guide the people, to lead by example and to follow the traditions of our ancient faith. Do you, Rani Darshana, vow to undertake this sacred role?”

“Darshana” nodded and took the heavy book from him, holding it above her head. “I vow to lead our people in the ways of the ancients and set the proper example for them to follow” she replied. She then placed the book on one arm of the crystal throne.

The Grand Pujari then handed her the shepherd’s crook. “The second duty of the Rani is to protect the people from harm and defend them in times of conflict. Do you, Rani Darshana, vow to undertake this sacred role?”

“Darshana” accepted the crook and held it above her head as before. “I vow to protect our people from harm and defend them in times of conflict” she stated. She leaned the crook carefully against the other arm of the throne.

The Grand Pujari offered her the green crystal sphere. “The third duty of the Rani is to represent the proud nation of Hindustan as a symbol of strength, wisdom and good leadership, to uphold justice where necessary and show mercy where deserving. Do you, Rani Darshana, vow to undertake this sacred role?”

“Darshana” cradled the sphere in both hands and kissed it. It was heavier than it looked but she managed to keep it from slipping out of her grasp. “I vow to represent our nation, to show strength, wisdom and good leadership, to uphold justice where necessary and to show mercy where deserving”.

“You may now ascend the throne, Your Eminence” the Grand Pujari announced, smiling benevolently at “Darshana”.

Keeping hold of the sphere, “Darshana” got up from her knees and sat on the throne, taking the crook and resting it across one shoulder, using her arm to keep it in place. The Grand Pujari then placed the sacred text in her lap, open at the page where the Succession Prayers were set out.

In a clear, calm voice, the new Rani of Hindustan proceeded to read the prayers aloud while her ministers, advisers and other nobles listened intently. Some had their eyes closed and hands pressed together in prayer, while others maintained a more stoical demeanour. When the prayers were finished, musicians struck up a tune and everyone sang the traditional Succession Song.

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Andreas gave a sly grin and patted Morgan on the arm. “Don’t ye worry about me. I can handle the Chronomage. Just concentrate on yer self-control. The coronation of the Rani be taking place now, so most of the guards and warriors will be focused on that. Tis the best time to make our move. I’ve got back-up arranged if things get tricky. Let’s get going”.

He took hold of Morgan’s hand and invoked the invisibility spell. For some reason, the spell came more easily to him, indicating that the rogue Chronomage was not siphoning off his powers for the time being. He muttered a brief prayer of thanks before checking his map one last time.

Since they were invisible, there was no need for creeping stealthily. Instead, they marched boldly past the parade ground, heading towards the grey stone prison block. There were only two legions at the parade ground, but Morgan could not help shivering at the sight of the two thousand Hindustani warriors in their gleaming polished armour. Each one carried two of the traditional curved scimitars, plus several daggers and a good supply of shurikens.

As they approached the prison, they saw two guards dragging a young man with blond hair and grey eyes. By the look of him, he was probably an Albionite.

Morgan already knew what Andreas would do. The man simply could not walk past and ignore the prisoner. He tried to grab Andreas’s arm, but the agile little Spy Master slipped away.

Morgan felt Andreas taking some of his powers in order to cast an immobilising spell on the guards. The young man’s eyes widened in astonishment and he moved away from the frozen guards.

“Ye be free now, pilgrim” Andreas whispered to the fair-haired young man. “I won’t ask what ye did to end up here. I assume ye be from Albion, right?”

The young man looked around, but saw no-one. “Who’s there?” he asked. “And no, I’m from Vordelle”.

Andreas cancelled the invisibility spell for a split second. “Vordelle, ye say? Ah, there be no end to that Chronomage’s tricks. Anyways, I be Andreas and I’ve got friends from Vordelle. Matter of fact, tis why I be here, to rescue one of me friends. Ye got two choices — ye can either take yer chances on yer own and run for it, or ye can come along with us on the rescue mission”.

“I was already trying to help someone escape” the young man said, blinking in confusion as his rescuer vanished from sight. “He didn’t seem to want my help. He said his friend would be coming soon. I suppose that means you”.

“Aye, I suppose it does” Andreas answered. “Well, ye along for the ride or ye going it alone?”

“I think I’ll stick with you” the young man said. “Thanks for the rescue, by the way”.

“Pleasure” Andreas acknowledged. “Now, let’s make ye invisible too”. He proceeded to extend the spell to include the young man.

Morgan was in a state of panic, heightened by the fact that Andreas had made himself visible for a short time. Fortunately, none of the warriors seemed to have noticed. “Can we go now?” he asked, tugging on Andreas’s arm.

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By the time the Succession Ceremony had finished, Jaek was beyond exhausted. She made a brief inauguration speech to the assembled people in the throne room, then excused herself, saying that she had urgent matters of state to deal with. The people bowed their heads as she left, murmuring blessings to her.

She hurried to the Rani’s apartment, hoping for a chance to rest. The effort of maintaining the appearance of the Rani was draining her powers and she needed to return to her own form. However, before she reached the door of the apartment, she sensed a familiar and most annoying mind signature. “The Carpathian!” she growled, using her enhanced senses to track his exact location. “He must have a death wish to come back here. Very well, I shall grant his wish!”

She borrowed some of the Carpathian’s power to translocate herself over to the prison block. She could sense two other mind signatures along with him — Morgan and Cliff. Cliff would present no problem for her but the other two might be able to overcome her if they combined their powers. She had to act quickly before they noticed her.

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Andreas staggered and his invisibility spell failed, revealing him and his companions to the two legions of Hindustani warriors. Several of the warriors approached, scimitars drawn and shurikens clutched in their other hands.

“What happened?” Morgan asked. “I felt someone taking power from us. Was it the Chronomage?”

Andreas nodded, his face set in a grim expression. “Aye, indeed. We’ve got no chance of fighting two legions. I’ll have to risk a translocation”.

He concentrated, but nothing happened. A shuriken whizzed past his shoulder, followed by several more. He dodged them and aimed energy strikes at the nearest warriors.

Morgan had his rapier out, trying to fight off three warriors at once and feeling overwhelmed. His dark powers called to him, forcing him to fight an internal battle as well as a physical one.

Cliff carried no weapons. The dagger at his belt had been removed by Jaek before she had translocated him to the prison. He was the first to be recaptured. Two warriors grabbed him and dragged him off to the prison block.

Andreas sagged with weariness, still flinging energy strikes and dodging scimitars and shurikens. “I be sorry, pilgrims. I got ye into this mess and I don’t see any way out of it right now”.

“There’s only one way” Morgan stated, giving him a knowing look while parrying a thrust from one of the warriors. Anger boiled within him and he let it emerge, waiting for the flames to appear. However, nothing happened.

The imposing figure of the Rani Darshana appeared in front of them. “Little spies, I have you trapped now” she declared. “Guards, seize these traitors and set my Grand Inquisitors onto them immediately”.

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“Can’t sleep, eh?” Andreas asked in a kindly tone, giving River a concerned look. “I used to suffer from nightmares. Still do at times”.

River wiped away her tears and tried to remember how to project telepathically. “Not nightmares. Memories. Bad ones”.

“Share them with me” Andreas invited, moving over and sitting next to her.

She shook her head. “I can’t share these with anyone, not even you”.

“Aye, course ye can” he replied. “Whatever it be, I promise I won’t judge ye. We all have our dark sides. To hide from them be counter-productive. We must acknowledge the darkness which lies within us in order to overcome it. Ye’ll feel better if ye share it”.

“That’s what Dorrie said” River projected, remembering how the old woman had comforted her back at Iereth’s house.

“She were talking sense” Andreas acknowledged. “Now, let’s see what be troubling ye so, eh?”

She did not object when he initiated the mind merge. She felt him accessing her memories but it was an oddly comforting experience. In return, he showed her more of his childhood. She saw the young boy Andreas hanging from a tree in the vast gardens of the elegant mansion. He launched himself from a branch and landed on top of another boy, one whom River had not seen before. Once he had taken the boy down, he held him down, keeping one arm across the boy’s throat and squeezing hard. At first the other boy struggled, but after a few minutes he fell still and his skin took on a bluish hue.

“I were eight year old when I took me first life” Andreas informed River, breaking the mind merge. “As ye can see, it weren’t exactly in self-defence. That boy, Giorgio Petillo, insulted me street friends and I went into a fit of rage. Twas no different from what ye did to yer brother. Matter of fact, I also killed one of me half-brothers, although I were much older when I did that. I promised I wouldn’t judge ye. Will ye condemn me for what I did to Giorgio?”

River’s eyes were wide with astonishment after what Andreas had shown her. “But my brother didn’t insult anyone” she protested. “He never deserved to die”.

“Neither did Giorgio” Andreas said. “Listen, me dear, we all do things in anger that we regret later. Ye have to accept that and try to move on. I’ll keep yer secrets and teach ye how to prevent others from accessing yer memories without yer permission. Would ye like that?”

River nodded.

Andreas’s face changed at that moment. “Twill have to keep for later” he told her. “I be needed over in Hindustan. Seems me other self ain’t managing too well. If the others wake up, tell them I’ll be back soon as I can. Tell Dorrie and Iereth to follow after me. Tis very important. And tell Elaine that I might need her help too”.

Before River could respond, he had translocated away.

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Elspeth awoke to the harsh jostling of someone's hand on her shoulder.

"Wake up!" A woman whispered, and Elspeth recognized it as the voice of Elaine. Her newly-purple hair hung down over her silver eyes, making the old woman break into a chuckle. But as Elaine pushed her hair behind an ear, Elspeth noted her wild eyes and grim expression. "They're coming!"

"Who's- who's comin'?" the old dragon asked, yawning. But she lifted herself up with a groan, scanning the area for enemies. A faint sound of clanking met Elspeth's ears, and she altered her hearing to that of a dragon so she could hear it more clearly. Definitely clanking, and definitely not a welcoming sound.

"She's up? Good," Iereth grumbled. He held a sword, scanning the nearby ridge where the noise seemed to be coming from.

Elspeth eyed the weapon with distaste. "What're ye doing with that, boy?" Turning to Elaine, she asked, "What's happening, Silvereye?"

The young woman sighed deeply, fidgeting with the fabric of her tunic. "That's the sound of an army, Mrs. Andarsen. The soldiers of Albion."

"What the hell're they doing out? I haven't seen this kingdom go to war in all my time!"

"Well they sure are going to war now," Iereth called out over his shoulder. Elspeth hadn't noticed he'd gotten so far ahead. She broke into a speed-walk to catch up.

Glancing around, the old woman finally acknowledged that someone was missing. There was Elaine, Iereth, River... "Where's Andreas got to?"

"He's left to help out his other self," Elaine explained, ducking into the underbrush as a row of soldiers appeared over the ridge. The others followed her hastily.

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Ramsey rode the updrafts, humming as the chilly breeze snaked its way between his scales. He wished he could do this more often, but in a land where dragons were often hunted, he had to lay low and pretend to be just like everyone else. Of course, that didn't stop him from going on the occasional flight.

"Ladiesss and gentleman, we'll be experiencing a bit o' turbulence during the dessscent," Ramsey called back, turning his head so that Lias and Rachel could more easily hear him.

It had taken longer than he'd thought to locate the small copse of trees where Elaine, Elspeth, and Andreas had been staying. But that was to be expected; it had been two decades since Ramsey had flown passengers.

"Turbulence?" Lias asked, a note of fear creeping into his voice. Ramsey felt the snake-man and the young woman tighten their grip.

"I'm going to land in the treesss there," the old man told them. "Can't risk being seen by the guardsss."

Rachel nodded even though Ramsey couldn't see the gesture. "I've had more than my share of that," she sighed, remembering the Hindustani soldiers that she'd just taken out. She wondered whether or not they'd woken from their deep sleep. She was curious as to how long such a curse lasted, but dismissed the thought; it would have been a terrible idea to stick around and find out. Especially since the performance had drained her last bit of energy.

Lias and Rachel both let out squeals of surprise as Ramsey folded his wings in and dove out of the clouds. The dragon narrowed his eyes at the buffeting wind, hoping that his passengers' cries would be drowned out by the sounds of clanking metal below.

The sounds of clanking metal?!

There, strewn across the countryside below, were hundreds upon hundreds of the King's soldiers. Each wore a tabard with the colours of Albion: gold and white, with a roaring red lion on the front. Each held a weapon of destruction. And each marched towards the Hindustani capital.

"Ramsey!" Rachel called out as the dragon slowed to a hover, descending into the trees. "We can't. They'll see us!"

The dragon shook his head. This was bad. The King had finally decided to mount his attack on Hindustan, and at the very worst time, too. Ramsey had been unable to find Gerald and Morgan, and now he couldn't even find his wife and her companions. Where would they have hidden themselves when they saw the soldiers coming? Ramsey lowered himself into the midst of a wide clearing, not wanting to risk any hasty landings. He had passengers, after all.

"What do we do? Where are your friends?" Rachel asked, standing on tiptoe in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the soldiers. But the three of them were too far into the forest.

The dragon said nothing, shifting back to his human form and pulling on his tunic and trousers. Both garments were caked with blood and mud.

"Let me try," Lias offered, turning into a gigantic silver snake. He flicked out his tongue, tasting the air. Maybe he could sense something the old dragon could not.

Rachel took a step back, eyeing Lias. "Can you find any sign of them?" 

After a few seconds, Lias changed back to his human form and pointed to the east. "I can sense that they've been through here not too long ago."

"Then we'd better get going," Rachel said, glancing at Ramsey. The old dragon nodded, embarrassed that he had missed the scent.

"Aye," he nodded. "We need to get to them, and fast."

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They moved through the trees, making a quick pace away from the approaching army. Iereth kept his sword sheathed, yet his hand constantly tapped the pommel. Was it right to run from the army? Iereth gulped, wondering if it would be better to try and stop the army altogether. Maybe then, matters could be solved with words if the soldiers remained still.

He looked at the others. They were slightly ahead of him, yet he could easily catch up with the group. Elspeth was a dragon, surely she could protect River. Not to mention, both girls had a fair amount of magical skills.

Iereth paused and then took a step backwards. Maybe, if he could slow the army down, they'd have a better chance of escaping. Iereth scraped his mind for the right incantation while he slinked away, back towards the army.

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To put it simply, Lias's chipper mood was coming to an end. He wanted to talk with the dragon, but the dragon only wanted to find his friends. And now there was an army. The smell of their approaching sweaty mass made his tongue curl in disgust.

Holding back a very snide comment, he led the dragon- who was in human form- and the sorceress towards the strongest scent of their friends.

"Do you hear that?" Ben asked.

Will snored loudly, but Ben ignored him. A friendly ghost instead nodded eagerly and licked his transparent lips. "An army! An army is near!"

Ben knew what that meant. There would be some sort of battle, and several corpses to care for. He glanced at Will and frowned. He promised to help him but the deceased needed him as well.

"Maybe they have the same destination as us?" Ben nodded. There may be a chance that army was headed right for the capital of Albion.

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Morgan's eyes widened. He very clearly remembered Andreas saying that the Grand Inquisitors weren't kind in their methods, and he had no desire to experience that torture. After trying once again to tap into his darkness to no avail, he raised his rapier helplessly. "I tried to warn you," he said over his shoulder to Andreas.

Two of the warriors approached Morgan. He moved forward to engage them, failing to see the third man behind him. He got clubbed on the back of the head with a sword, and he stumbled forward. Instantly, the other two grabbed him, and one pinned his arms to his side, holding a knife to his throat. The warrior pressed it against him just enough to draw blood. "Andreas!" Morgan cried helplessly, staring at his friend.

"Surrender, or the boy dies," the warrior holding Morgan warned Andreas. "Make your choice."