Mask

Chapter 2

Duke Anatolius knew they would come. Maybe not tonight, maybe not the next ,maybe not even this month. But he knew that at first chance the Chancellor would not hesitate to send one of his agents, his "Hoods", to strike at the duchy. So he had prepared. His home was now probably the most heavily guarded building in all Olenshirr, maybe in all of the country, second only to the king's , the Royal Palace of Eiova. The duke had called on the Grand Mage of the Shade Tower and had ten more battlemages commissioned to garrison his home and the Palace of the Duchy. It had cost him hundreds of golden eagles, enough to purchase ownership of eighty or more well to do inns in the Eaglewing district. More money than most of the lesser noble families ever laid eyes on. Duke Anatolius also hired several of the finest mercenary companies to serve as his household guard. He now had a small army of four hundred men living on his estate with round the clock guard duty . All this under the Chancellor's nose . Not a single crevice in his home was left unwatched. His doors and locks would be reinforced by one of his mages on the morrow. Soon the Chancellor and his dogs will not be able to touch me. But he found he was steadily running out of resources . An army of four hundred meant four hundred mouths to feed and four hundred men to pay. And for everyday the mages spent in his service they demanded gold. The battlemages were the most costly part of his guard but they were the most valuable,he knew. No ordinary soldier could stand against a battlemage and they were feared by all ; what with their crimson cloaks and black armor they were easily idenfied and all men, whether highborn or common, knew to steer clear of their path.

The Duke had not felt such calm for weeks; not since the Chancellor had hinted at his knowledge of the duke's actions during the meeting of the Ruling Council . He had known then that the Chancellor would move against him. That night the duke had lain with his wife for what he believed to be his last time. Ravishing the homely woman until tears streamed down her cheeks. When he was done he sent her from his chambers and summoned up one of the servants. She, at least, had been more enthusiastic to fuck a duke, but ended up weeping all the same. Once his seed was spent and he sent the servant away, Duke Anatolius found that it was not entirely possible to fuck away one's fears. That night he had sat awake all night praying to Talul and begging for his life. After begging for hours he began to curse the god. He cursed the god loudly and silently then began to beg once more; with the addition of tears. Talul proved merciful, and that night no hooded phantom man in a mask paid him a visit. Anatolius knew the visit would come eventually and began to build his defense at the first light of dawn.That was two weeks ago.

The duke had no one to turn to for counsel or protection.His wife was nothing more than a breeding cow and the king was a boy surrounded by bootlicking sycophants too afraid of the Institution to move against the Chancellor and both had dismissed his fears as folly . The Grand Mage of the Shade Tower had offered him help but only at a price. I am protected nonetheless. Despite the lack of assistance, Duke Anatolius felt he had turned his home into a place no man could breach.

His candleflame danced gracefully, flickering eerily and casting its light on the letters that rested on his oaken desk. The letters, the cause of this whole bloody mess. The duke sighed and leaned back in his chair of velvet cushions.What have I come to? He looked around the solar he had not left for three days. The walls were made from the same polished black stone as the building's exterior and were lined with Camontrian paintings from before the Rise,from before the greatest nation on the continent was drowned in blood shed by demon men of flame and shadow;the death of the ancient empire along with all its culture had rendered the paintings priceless. To his left underneath a bright painting of a ship at sea was a fireplace cut into the stone wall and crackling in an attempt to burn away the winter cold.The marble floor was covered in a carpet of the finest Attiran make,soft and intricately woven . Hanging on the wall behind his great oakwood desk and his chair was his sword. The moon silver blade ,Stormpoint, had been wielded by the ruling houses of Olenshirr for a millennium and the Anatolius family for four centuries.