Mars Underneath The Sceptre of Eternity

The Traitor

D'eimeonn looked in the mirror; it was hard to believe that he was wearing expensive breeches and doublet like any other warrior and also carrying a new cloak depicting the royal escutcheon of Karzond Dynasty. He looked at his own image, his skull shaped head without ears and hairs, small, thin skeletal body and big black patches in place of eyes were not looking manly. No, he was no man, but 'a Marsman, a Ogganesian, son of the Red Planet, original inhabitant of Ogganesia', as Chief Grusxo told him once.

Affectionately he touched the sword hilt; he had no skill in sword fighting, he had discovered that his physical strength was not equal to Neo Martes soldiers; but he was fast enough to avoid opponent's strikes and he could see in the dark, which others could not.

King Ergonn had chosen him as his First Guard. Harold Suas Montem's younger brother Arold was appointed as the Second Guard; two of them would remain with the King unless and until he formally chose nine Eagle Guards and successfully cross the Terra Tenebris to prove his calibre. Mountain clans hardly received any honorary position in the royal court of Aquillon. So, they had vested their full strength for Ergonn. Earlier D'eimeonn had little knowledge of politics, but now he was taking a keen interest in it, because every news of Aquillon city was important to Chief Grusxo.

Since the day, King Ergonn had discovered the magical power of his sceptre, which was unknown for many years; the Grand Seer had started projecting him as the King of Mars. Widow Queen Zealeoness and her cousin H'orden's influence had ended with Zealeoness's imprisonment; but H'orden still lingered in the court. He had offered his daughter's hand to end family feud.

The heavy wooden door of the room was opened, his mother Rurzda entered; she was wearing a red half-sleeved blouse with lace cover and heavy floral embroidery on its bodice and a same coloured long skirt bordered with white laces. She was looking different than the other days; D'eimeonn had usually seen his mother in old, moth-eaten clothes, not in silk, velvet and laces. D'eimeonn smiled at her, "Mother!"

"Yes, dear;" she asked, "Going to meet our Saviour?"

"Yes," he replied,

His mother asked again, "Hope, the King believes you and assigned you with responsible jobs?"

"He has no other way; his own people are his enemies; though some fears him as a sorcerer."

"The Grand Seer is a bit confusing." D'eimeonn touched the mirror's wooden frame. It slide aside revealing a small door in the wall. D'eimeonn kissed his mother's hand, and draped his whole body in a crimson coloured hooded cloak and concealed his face properly under the hood. He entered the door and started getting down through stone stairways; the steps were steep and narrow; the passage was dark and damp, but his vision allowed him to see through the darkness. After a long walk through a dark tunnel, he appeared at the other end of the tunnel, where an open vast field was waiting for him. He started walking very fast; his walk was faster than horses. He crossed villages, crop fields full of red wheat, millets and small red flowers. All those crops and plants were not Martian vegetation, but introduced by the Ancient Colonizers; he recalled Chief Grusxo's speech and felt angry. Chief Grusxo, was an amazing person, he visited all Martian cities and organised Old Martes thralls under his banner. His speeches inspired, brought new hope as well as dreams; today he was arriving at Terra Aquillaan and he would stay in the capital city of Aquillon for two nights. He would meet all former thralls at a cave across the Garret hill. Chief Grusxo's followers had named it the 'Cave of Hope'.

D'eimeonn crossed the Scarlet Ville, the farmhouse of the palace; then the Red Field, the vast grassland of the kingdom, then he entered the Red Forest and finally entered the Garret Hill region. Finally, he reached to his destination.