"I think with the help of the demons already in our domain, we should be able to bind them," the practitioner said as he crossed the room and grabbed a scroll from his desk. "Take this to our contact in the demon territory and we will see if we get a positive response."
The scribe took the scroll and left to accomplish his dark task. He could not help but think that this proposal had the ring of disaster about it. If they could not control these new demons, it could mean the destruction of Articia.
The master continued to read the tome to look for additional clues to creating an unbalance that would give the darkness more power. King Henry's brood is troublesome, especially the young princess, he thought. Her reported power is immense. We will have to eliminate her soon be!ore she matures and has the ability to take the citadel down.
…
"Baron Gerund, you take great risks meeting with our kind," the demon in the center of the chamber said to the lord of the northern wastes. The demon stood a full twenty hands tall, much larger than the man who stood nervously beside the great beast. It seemed rather impatient with the man from the north. "We have not had our morning meal yet and you know we prefer man meat to any other sustenance on your world."
"I appreciate that you have not succumbed to your natural instincts and have accepted my request for an audience," the baron responded. The baron was tall for a human but seemed like a dwarf standing next to the demon. "I have a proposal for you and your kind that I think you will find agreeable."
"You assume too much, human. Our kind rarely finds our dealings with your species to be agreeable. But I will tolerate you for the moment; it might be interesting to hear how you think we can have any kind of alliance." The demon stopped walking and stared down at the baron.
"You know of course about the birth of the royal children. They have now reached the age of fourteen." The baron was on the verge of terror having the demon stare at him; it took all of his willpower to keep from fleeing from the chamber.
"Yes, we felt their arrival long ago. It created quite the uproar here in our domain. Do not think that we are not aware of the relevance of their fourteenth year," the demon replied.
"It created quite a commotion amongst my allies as well. We have come to like our current position and our authority, and the larger royal family threatens our lifestyle." The baron moved back a step to put more space between him and the demon.
"We care not of such things; your human politics are trite and meaningless to us," the demon responded.
"Yes, but you do care about the royal family's relationship with the elves of the Vale. An alliance with me and mine is an alliance against the elves and the dwarves."
The demon considered the words of the human at his feet. How he despised their existence. The demon thought of the weak truce they had with the accursed warriors of the light, though the elves and the dwarves were not natural Artician beings, they were loyal to the Artician king. The elves had come in pursuit of the demons. The dwarves had arrived by accident. Being miners, they had come through the rift in search of rare metals and could no longer return to their own world. Both races had become a thorn in the side of the demons.
"Go on." The demon seemed more interested now.
"Our practitioners of the dark arts, our mercenary soldiers, and the noble families that do not support Henry would join the demons and goblins against the royal family and their allies. This alliance will give those who support the dark lord an advantage." The baron finished, waiting for a response from the demon.
"Your proposal is intriguing, Baron, but I foresee a problem," the demon cautioned.
"What problem?" the baron asked.
"The youngest children of Henry must die before my kind will take action to usurp the throne of Articia."
"We have a plan in place to eliminate the royal children; it has already been arranged," the baron replied. "My people have had our eyes on Henry's heirs for years and have started moving to eradicate the brood."
The baron noticed the demon had raised eyebrow and heard him murmur, "So you think you can exterminate the whelps." The demon crossed the room so quickly that the baron, caught off guard, howled as the demon grabbed the startled baron with one of its enormous hands and held him against the wall.
"It will be interesting to see your people at work. I will give you this one chance to get the job done." The demon dropped the baron to the floor. "I suggest you leave our domain before the feeding frenzy begins." The demon left the baron shaking on the floor as it exited the main chamber.
…
"So, do you think they have any chance of successfully completing that task?" the lesser demon asked as it stepped out of a hidden clutch in the wall of the room.
"No, I think they will fail miserably. They do not know what they face in the brood, and when they return to report their failure, we will be able to bind them to us. Soon they will come to beg us to complete the task that they cannot." The demon looked away as if scanning something a great distance away. "And they cannot even guess the great deception that has been placed in front of them."
"Our dark lord will be pleased," the lesser demon noted.
Chapter 4
A Hidden Conspiracy
Alec grasped the wooden sword tightly despite the renewed pain that shot up his side and his arms. The red welts on his body were the cause of his discomfort, but he still lifted the sword to block his sister's attack in his attempt to receive no more bruises. Alec preferred competing with his sister at archery, or horseback riding, in which he was particularly talented. Nevertheless, here he was again, in the training yard taking another beating from his sister Ava. Alec had become an excellent swordsman, mostly thanks to Bryn's training and his dislike of the injuries he received from training with his sister. They learned early from the many sparring contests that Bryn arranged; the only people in the castle that could best him with a sword were his brothers Tristan and Dominic, the king himself, his sister Ava, and of course Bryn. In fact, Alec cannot remember anyone who even caused Bryn to break a sweat in competition.
Ava swung to his left, her sword making a loud thwack against his sword. His fingers instantly went numb. How is Ava using magic to do that again! He thought. The wooden swords they used for practice did not make the same satisfactory clang as the swords that clashed in battle, but they could still cause pain. Grunting with effort, he ducked again and aimed low for her legs. As agile as ever, she jumped the sword and came crashing back on the attack.
His feet skated across the gravelly dirt as his breath came quickly. Feinting to the left, he tried to trick Ava by coming under her swing. She pretended that his action fooled her until the last second when she backed up and quickly came up under his sword. It was one of Ava's signature moves, and he felt stupid for falling for it every time despite his knowledge of the tactic. His sister used the same strategy when she played chess, sacrificing her queen just to make the final checkmate with a pawn.
Ava stepped into his swing and was about to disarm him but Bryn intervened. "I almost forgot; you two need to get ready for the banquet your parents are holding for your brother's coming-of-age ceremony. Go now, or you'll be late."
Ava groaned, irritated that the spar ended just before her victory. Alec grinned, silently thanking the gods for his escape from additional bruises on his hammered body.
They hurried up to their bedchambers. The castle had a secret passage from the training ground to the sitting area of their rooms. The twins had discovered the dank and long-forgotten passage many years ago. It became important for the twins to use this route to the training grounds so that Ava could avoid being discovered running about in trousers. Her regular antics had already caused a stir among the royal