Beyond the Wall

Chapter 1: Warning

Head held high, Lord Alberto Presagiar strode down the main street of Maestro, the large capital of the island of Amurallada. His personal assistant shuffled along behind, making sure to keep up with his sauntering master. The comparatively plain-dressed citizens of the city glanced over at the lord, taking him in for a second, then looked away. A Lord wasn't a too rare of a sight in the capital where all the Council of Lords was, so the common people weren't too surprised to see one.

But Lord Presagiar wasn't paying attention to any of this. A newly appointed lord, Alberto was looking forward to his first Council of Lords, the meeting where the King, his heir, and the province Lords all met to discuss matters of Amurallada. As the most recent addition to the Council, this was his first chance to make a good impression on the Lords – but more importantly, King Reynaldo and his son, Prince Ynfante.

Lord Presagiar turned off the main streets and ducked in between two double story houses. Light was instantly reduced. The servant quickly – and nervously – followed.

"Are you sure about taking shortcuts through dangerous alleyways?" pleaded the edgy attendant. "I mean, milord, can't we just walk on the normal roads?"

Lord Presagiar waved the question away. "Really, Baltasar, lighten up. We'll be fine. The faster we get to the Council, the better!"

Baltasar waited for a few seconds, then approached the matter again. "With all due respect, milord, this isn't Abedul. Robbers and thieves are plenty in large cities like this."

"Large city or the small capital of my province, there are few scoundrels who would dare attack a Lord," came the reply. "And if there is a criminal with such audacity, you know that I am a quite accomplished swordfighter."

"And I can use a bow," Baltasar murmured. "But that doesn't stop my worrying."

And with that the duo stepped back into a street from the opposite end of the alley. Baltasar's eyes tightened as he squinted against the returned light.

"See," boasted the Lord. "I told you, nothing will happen to us. There's no reason to look so tight-faced."

Lord Presagiar took off again, his long stride quickly distancing his servant. Sighing, Baltasar ran to catch up.

On the other side of the road, the Lord entered a wider alley. Red shingles rested around from the loose rooftops of the siding buildings. Various trashes haphazardly lay around, giving the alley a dirty look. Lord Presagiar strode right in, not even slowing, while Baltasar edged around rotting materials with a disgusted look on his face.

Near the middle of the pathway was a large bundle of worn black cloth. Slowing and eventually stopping, the Lord stared at it with a curious look on his face. The pile of cloth moved, showing that it was really was a woman, old and wrinkled, poor and miserable.

Baltasar made it to his master, who was standing over the homeless women. "Milord." His voice was anxious. "We need to go."

Lord Presagiar ignored his servant, continuing to stare at the crone. Out of his pocket came his hand, loosely holding a gold coin. It dropped into the women's lap. Slowly she moved to look at the object. Before the hag could do anything, the Lord was sauntering away again.

But Baltasar, who was last out of the alley, saw the look of surprise and gratefulness on the homeless woman's face.

*****

Lord Presagiar had to leave his personal assistant behind in a waiting room for the Council of Lords. Servants were not allowed to hear the political discussions that happened in the Council Chambers.

Stopping at the doors, Lord Presagiar stopped to take a deep breath. First meeting, new lord, lots of stress. A bad performance could get him replaced. Or even worse, his province given to Lord Salazar.

Lord Salazar was the Lord of the province bordering Lord Presagiar's. Lord Salazar's province – named Llanaras – bordered the forest of Bosque. When King Reynaldo decided to make the forest a whole new province – with Alberto Presagiar as its Lord – it cut down on Llanaras' logging profits. Immediately Lord Salazar had made his complaints heard, and so if the new Lord of Bosque made any wrong moves, King Reynaldo would begin taking Lord Salazar's argument seriously. And that would rob Lord Presagiar of his Lordship.

But this was no time for doubt. This was time for action!

And with that extremely short pep talk in mind, he pushed open the oak double doors and strode on into the Council Chambers.

He was immediately astounded by the largeness of the Chambers. The ceiling was dome-shaped, and at its highest point about a hundred feet from the ground. Paintings of glorious battles and hunts covered it. The walls were round and circled a large half-circle of increasingly high chairs. The half-circle of chairs faced a small platform with a table, where announcers could speak to the Council.

Already there were many Lords there, wandering near the bottom of the curved bleachers. Lord Presagiar recognized Lord Maydestone, Lord Esteban, Lord Melchor, Lord Almodóvar, and Lord Gaspar. No Lord Salazar. Thank the heavens.

The Lords were all moving around and engaging in quiet conversations with their peers. Lord Presagiar was usually a talkative individual, but in this case it would be considered a bit prideful to interject himself in another's conversations on his first meeting.

So instead he walked past them all, making sure to look calm and collected. He sat himself at the round bleachers, at his newly-made assigned seat. Then he waited.

To his surprise, Lord Almodóvar politely excused himself from Lord Esteban came over, a friendly greeting look on his face. "Welcome, Ninth Lord of Amurallada, Lord of the Province of Bosque. Am I correct in assuming that this is your first Council of the Lords?"

Lord Presagiar nodded, giving a returning smile. "I expect this Council will be quite enlightening."

The other Lord looked around, then lowered his voice considerably. "Just between you and me," he said playfully, a joking grin on his face, "Nothing much really happenings in these meetings. We eight Lords and the Crown King and Prince alone find it hard to agree on much, and now with another Lord things are going to just get harder. But it isn't my place to make commentary on the system we have been running with since the great plague."

Raising his voice again, and putting a more serious look on his face, the Lord completely changed subjects. "So, is Maestro much different than your province's capital of Abedul?"

"Yes, very much so." LordPresagiar feltthathecouldbeabitmore open, less formal, with this particular Lord. "In Abedul, there is a considerable less amount of beggars on the streets. Things are cleaner, and the people more friendly and trusting. It may be smaller, but I think so far I like Abedul more than Maestro."

"Yes, I can see that being true." Lord Almodóvar's face got a tighter look to it, and his blue yes deepened. "The larger the society, the less humane it becomes. We can see true human kindness and spirit in the closely knit smaller societies, where the bonds that bind their civilization are based more off the people and their personalities rather than the need for survival and the fact that they happen to be living together."

Then there was a short silence, and during it Lord Presagiar mulled over the other Lord's commentary. Inwardly he was surprised at the deepness of the words. It was obvious that there had a quite a long time of thinking put into it. "Wise words," he finally replied, not knowing what else to say.

Lord Almodóvar let another silence take over. His eyes went far away.

When finally he seemed to find himself again, he turned to Lord Presagiar. "Since this is your first Council, let me give you some blunt advice. Don't draw attention to yourself. Stay in the background. If you draw too many eyes to you, you will find you have a lot of enemies. The Council of Lord's can be a dangerous place under its formal surface."

After saying that warning, he stood up, signifying that their conversation was over. After shaking Lord Presagiar's hand, he slipped off the stage and back to Lord Esteban like nothing had ever happened.

It left the newest Lord wondering if he had gained an ally or received a disguised threat.