Knight of Endrell Book One: The Red Empire

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15

Ten more days were spent in Gis. The king ordered all his servants to begin the construction of a new city in the place of Gis, for the remaining free people who had maintained their alliance with him. "Let the new city balance the life giving soil," he said at one point, giving his servants the crystals used to build cities. In the meantime the king called for tents and tables to be set up and a feast to be prepared to celebrate the ending of the red curse. At that time, the king spoke with Evcan to reassign his regimen, after which he and his archers packed their things and left in a hurry.

Hundreds of tents were erected like a city with one massive tent in the middle, which was where the feast was held. During the feast the king offered a tribute of steracolite, to the Izzo. Steracolite was an ore of emerald, sapphire and ice – a crystal compound said to come from the stars.

Also for the first time, Kinai bowed and introduced himself to the king who shook his hand saying, "Son of Aminseth, Kinai of Endrell, thank you for answering my call."

He looked at Kinai with humble gratitude and bowed himself to the knight. He then invited Kinai to sit with him for the duration of the feast. A little later, Aitherion presented his son Kaitherion to the king, who encouraged them to sit beside him also so that he could speak with Kaitherion. In the time they spent together, the boy told him everything about the war from his perspective. At some point the king encouraged all the people saying, “Eat, drink and be filled! This is a time of great joy as we embark on the beginning of a new chapter for this land and for this people!”

Music and dancing filled the tents with instruments and voices praising a day of liberty from tyranny and death. There was food for absolutely every culture represented and plenty of it to go around. Torgan assisted in the preparation of the food. Kennate and Attul helped serve. Sayle Hyseria both served and ate very well with a pleasant smile and lots of laughter. She also entertained the children with parlor tricks and stories from her childhood. Besmo-Tek-Khan however, did not eat natural foods, neither did he enjoy the indulgence of festivities, and so he sat quietly outside on a self-made perch, meditating. Keig Reithking was of a similar disposition, being one who was not usually well received by mankind, though he was praised and thanked again and again by the people of the king. Still he departed from the feast and looked over the horizon to the south, thinking of his master, his homeland, and the Talcehar (Tal-say-har) barbarians fighting his people for the territory they lived on.

Even Knightegel who thanked the king for his wisdom and guidance took time away in a private tent, where he molted, shedding off a thin layer of armor to make way for a new growth of the material. After molting, he erected a black standing fountain from fire, having the appearance of a long Victorian column with sculpted swirling flame designs going up the neck of it, and capped by a thin fountain bowl. The fountain filled with water and rippled in the middle when its formation was complete. Knightegel then gently placed his right hand in the water with his fingers stretched out and summoned a fiery mirror into which he spoke, "Thre, dro, mer."

At his words the mirror showed a man on the other side. "Good to see that you are well, Danail," he said. 

"Glad to see you alive, Sorez. How goes the campaign?" said Danail.

"Completed in part; the will of the king is done in one region – on to the next." 

"That is wonderful to hear."

"How does my house fair, and what of Celeska?"

Dur-Ben-Anon sat at a private desk in another tent all to himself writing letters to his daughter. "My dear, Chasadina, I pray you are keeping strong in the cold of the Alkenre..."