The Reckoning - Book Two

Chapter Thirty Three - Arden

"Good news brother, I have received the information we have been waiting for and I am ready to make our next move." I smile as I walk into the war room and towards my brother as he stands over the table wearing a serious expression; in truth I was almost certain it was his only expression for I have never seen proof otherwise.

"That is good news indeed, but it is not time for us to make our next move. We need to continue drawing their army further into our kingdom, they are still too close to their own lands." Callin replies, not bothering to look up from his map.

I sidle up to the large map, it had been made from fallen trees in the dark forest, every kingdom, every village, every road and every landmark had been gouged into the all but useless dark grey wood. You couldn't use it to light your fire and keep you warm, nor could you use it to build your houses and keep a roof over your head. But our father had decided he would use it to design a map of the world and plot his revenge and need for control into the dammed wood.

"I tire of waiting brother, we have waited for years, we have spent enough time waiting, more than enough time!" I reply, picking up one of the chiselled iron horses on the map that represented a battalion of our enemies men.

Callin sighs, glancing up at me for a moment.

"You need more patience Arden, I will not have my plan come to ruin because you possess the patience of an impetuous child and cannot wait a little while longer." He chides, like an adult reprimanding a child and I can't help but bite back.

"I have exercised patience! I have waited, we have waited for nearly one hundred years! I have had enough of patience! I want to take this next step in our plan and secure our position of Wyndelle once and for all." I insist, slamming the iron horse onto the cursed table willing him to hear me, to acknowledge me, to see me as his equal, not his little brother.

I stand waiting for a reply and am met with only silence and I think he can't be bothered to answer me as I go to leave the war room he shakes his head.

"Well you are not King dear brother, I am. So when I say we wait. We wait." He looks up from his map to meet me across the table, icy blue eyes-a perfect replica of my own-stare at me and all I can do is nod.

There would be no room for conversation or persuasion. He wielded that crown like it gave him the power of life and death themselves, and in his own way he was proving that to be true.

"Very well Your Majesty." I bow respectfully. "I will wait." I say glancing at the table again. "I am sure I can find something to entertain me, the world of dreams and nightmares are always a place of great entertainment."

I turn and leave the war room and its master to themselves. Callin always preferred solitude over the company of his council. They were a necessity to him, but always seemed taxing to his own patience.

I had thought he would have been more pleased with my news, it had been no easy feat and it was essential in our plan succeeding. At least I believed it to be.

Instead he had reacted as he always did, with the calm arrogant exterior our own father used to carry, only without the random moments of manic rage that would take over father in fits and hysterics.

No, instead Callin was always calm, always in control, he was cold and ruthless, what any good leader of Nievenyth should be.

The ice that covers our mountains should be what shields our hearts and minds. They were words I had heard countless times and still believed to this day.

There was too much in this world that would distract and disarm you if you allow it to. Our own father had nearly lost his mind because of the love of a woman. He made sure that his own sons would not share the same fate.

And while I believed those words and values to be true I could not deny my connection to the world of dreams and nightmares had changed me.

Walking among the imaginary world of males and females, fae and humans meant the lines between fantasy and reality often blurred. Having seen what resides in the very depths of someone's mind means my own will forever be different.

It is a heady feeling to exist in someone's mind, creating a world for them that offers pure joy and happiness and then in an instant to take it away and turn it into only pain and sorrow.

I would often take a trip down to the cells, ice clinging to the stone walls, breath coming out in puffs of white and witness the vermin and fodder that existed beneath our feet.

Thieves, murderer's and traitors, males and females who had been sentenced to a life of pain and torment without the relief of death.

There I would visit the deranged and desperate minds of those forgotten souls and I would discover new ways to entertain myself. Some I would leave trapped in a never ending nightmare for days at a time, others I would create a parallel existence in their sleep, only in my version I would create monsters and horrid creatures that seeped out of the stones that surrounded them, and then they would disappear. Soon they wouldn't know if they awake or sleeping, constantly waiting for the monsters to appear in reality, unable to separate truth from lie and their minds would slowly begin to fracture. Then of course there was one that I gave special attention to.

"Hello Hadie," I smile as I approach the cell and look down at the huddled shape in the corner. It flinches, a flash of dirt covered skin and dull brown eyes.

The cells reek of unwashed bodies, vomit and faeces and the always enticing scent of decay.

"It's been some time Hadie, so I thought I would come visit you." I smile again at the small shape. She shifts, her long brown hair hangs matted and wild down her back. She sits hugging her knees to her chest, dirt covered bare feet against the grey stone as straw and muck surround her.

"Come on Hadie, don't be rude, come and say hello, you know I don't like it when you're rude." I tell her, crouching down to the ground in front of the cell.

She unwraps her arms from her legs and begins to crawl towards me on her hand and knees, pallid dirt covered skin clinging to bones. She nears the cell, resting on her knees and head bowed in front of me.

She wore no bruises or scars, I never felt the need to beat her, using my hand to punish her felt so primitive when I held something much more deserving.

"Do you know why you're here?" I ask as I often did, testing how much of her mind she held onto, what scraps of memory were still floating around.

She nods, eyes still downcast.

"Tell me, tell me why you're down here." I say gently, watching her small hunched over form tremble.

"I did something bad." Her small voice announces in answer.

"Yes you did, you did something very bad. Can you tell me what it was?"

"I...I...I was a maid...here in the castle..." She mutters softly.

"You were a maid in the castle, you had the honour of serving the royal family. What happened next Hadie?" I ask.

She whimpers quietly and says nothing.

"Have you forgotten already?"

"I did a bad thing." She mutters and I let out a resigned sigh.

"If you have already forgotten what you did then you won't learn your lesson now, will you? I am going to have to remind you." I tell her firmly and she looks up at me suddenly, small brown eyes glistening with unshed tears stare at me.

"Please no, please don't, no more...no more nightmares, please I beg you..." She sobs, gripping the bars of the cell.

"You need to know why you are down here Hadie, you need to know why you are being punished." I say standing and looking down at her crumpled shape as she grips onto the cell bars and sobs desperately.

Yes, if I needed to wait a little while longer before I can take the next move in our plan then I would have to entertain myself down here.