The Golden Apprentice - Tales of Death and Victory. Vol I

Year of the Apprentice - Chapter IX

I

24th day of Yonisea of the year 1308 a.C.D.

Ilvenya’s surroundings, Mirha.

The sorceress finally sees the tall walls of the city in the distance, the mining camps are finally left behind and the forest towers around her. She can hear the sound of the train approaching and stops her horse before reaching the tracks. It comes down from the Military City of Yona and its wagons are packed with soldiers going to the frontiers. One day since she left the villa and the whole kingdom fell to war, people are getting ready, whispers of an attack in Veren makes everyone nervous. 

She can’t wait to finish her mission and finally rest, her body aches from the long horseback trip across the kingdom. As the train finishes passing by, she crosses the tracks and the plainfield before reaching the entrance of the city. “Who’s there? Identify yourself!” The guard shouts from the tower next to the large gate of the city.

“I’m Tamara, from Mir’en, I come bearing news of the regent,” she announces and shows him the letter. 

“Open the gate!” He shouts again. 

As the gate opens she rides her horse in, the city is bigger than she thought it would be, not bigger than Mir’en of course, but it has many houses, stores and workshops. It is well protected and it seems to have enough men to fight in case it is attacked. “I need to speak with lord Noraz,” she says as she hops off of her horse.

“Do you really come bearing news about General Celeste?” A guard asks.

“Yes, she’s on her way here,” she nods.

The man signs positively and calls for a messenger to go forward to warn the lord about her arrival. They take her to a stable where she leaves her horse, and then she is guided towards a mansion in the center of the city. She crosses a well kept garden and enters the large house, it is different from any house she has ever seen in Mir’en. Everything in Ilvenya is different, it holds more similarities with the north than other cities in the kingdom. 

She is led to a salon with empty tables, it is large enough for a hundred men to dine. While the three tables are parallel to each other, the fourth and only table being used is in a different direction, set on the opposite side of the door in front of the fireplace. In the middle sits lord Noraz, his long beard is braided and his blue eyes are cold as he watches her approach. Next to him is his wife, Lady Dalia, a chubby brown haired lady with a gentle smile on her face. And their sons sit on their sides, the farthest from their father being the youngest, lord Lucca. He looks like a younger version of his father, but still quite similar to his mother as well, his beauty is as impressive as Yoren used to describe for hours at a time to a poor, bored Merwen.

Tamara stops in the center of the salon and bows to them, “My name is Tamara, I’m a messenger sent by General Celeste”.

“Tamara? No surname?” Lord Noraz asks rudely.

“My mother is a cook, we don’t have money for a surname,” she declares. “But I don’t need one, I’m a sorceress of the Dame of Whispers”.

“The goddess of secrets is taking sorcerers again?” The man looks at his wife and the woman seems nervous. 

“I guess we’re really set to have another war,” she says.

“I guess so,” he wrinkles his nose and looks back at the girl. “What is that message you were sent to relay to us?”

She takes the letter off her bag and shows it to the lord. “Do you want me to read it?” Tamara asks, he nods and gestures for her to start. 

The letter says: