"Mingo … Bix; a new era has dawned in Phoride with your acceptance to serve this man." Lloyd said to them, regarding Boyce. "In the shortness of time you will be told all about this young man and our plans to depose the ArchBishop."
Bix got up off the floor being helped by his bother. They both turned slightly, and faced Boyce.
"On this new day you have become honourable warriors — the lieutenants of the only son of Brook and Dearborne Scullion-Blue — heir to Phoride and the protector of the Northern United Alignment. This is Boyce Loebh Scullion-Blue." Lloyd finished.
Mingo and Bix gawked at Boyce then kneeled as they whispered his name in surprise. They new his great and respected name.
"Do not kneel, my new friends! We are all equal in the eyes of God. In battle, don't fight for me, but fight for the freedom of Phoride and for your families — as I will fight for the same. And from this time forward call me only by the name, Boyce."
"We pledge our lives to you, Boyce!" Mingo and Bix hailed Boyce as they slowly stood up.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Pomperaque woke up and Mingo had left Boyce and Lloyd's room, with
Bix. They had denied themselves the gold offered by Boyce and they
set out to meet many others like themselves, to encourage them to join
Boyce's cause.
Lloyd and Boyce caught themselves a few hours of sleep between the time that Mingo and Bix left, and Empal came to their room.
Empal had come to the room in order to receive his instructions from Boyce concerning the finalization of the invasion plans. He had also come to tall Boyce about the blue Mansion, since he wanted to know if it was possible for him to purchase it.
Empal came to their room that day carrying a large basket of fresh fruit, as if he was delivering the fruit to a buyer, and he woke them from their sleep.
When Lloyd let Empal into the room, he embraced both Lloyd and Boyce and welcomed them properly back into Boyce's city.
When the formalities of welcome were observed, the two men sat with Empal and ate the fruit that he had brought along with him, while Boyce listened to Empal's detailed first report that was assigned to him before they left Besten.
"The Blue Mansion has been sacked by Manguino's vermin before your parents' bodies were even laid to rest." Empal told Boyce. "The great building has been left unattended and abandoned since the time of their death, and although it had been put on the market, there has been no one interested in buying it."
The needed information that Empal was reviewing for Boyce, was depressing but Boyce was satisfied to hear that the Blue Mansion could still be his home.
He was strangely happy in realising that his old home was still his and available to him, but even though he legally held it as his own, to keep Halls from knowing who he was, he would have to buy it.
Empal was glad that he had finished giving his report. Now he could have his two friends recount their journey to him and possibly explain to him the reason for the tardiness of their journey from besten.
Boyce and Lloyd didn't leave out a single detail about their trip. Unusual as it was, Lloyd told of their meeting of Grenadine and his reactions to her. He told the story with such honesty that there was almost a feeling of melancholy in the room when he finally came to telling Empal about her death.
Empal could see, in Lloyd's face, that the woman called Grenadine had really left her mark on Lloyd's heart and he sympathised with him.
On the other extreme of Empal's sympathy for Lloyd, so was Empal's ultimate delight in
hearing the news of Boyce's marriage and to such a girl like Lilith; daughter of a Laurentine Consul.
Empal had envied them, listening to their adventures and their victories over danger and evil.
He had mentioned to them that he wished that he was young, like them, so that he could've made the journey with them.
"We would have cherished your company!" was the statement that Boyce made to Empal's wish, and it was enough to make Empal feel the importance that he held with both Besten and Virune.
"What of the Nolunge and Flinnd?" asked Empal. "Did those two peoples let you pass through their lands or did they go back on their word, also?"
Empal questioned with curiosity, since they told him that Sedara and
Palatka both rescinded their signed agreement of passage with the
Northern United Alignment.
"Everything was smooth with those two nations. They are learned and cultured peoples and they honoured the treaty." said Lloyd.
"Yes!" Boyce added. "And I would like to send to them a token of appreciation after Pomperaque becomes rightfully mine!
It neared noon when Lloyd and Boyce decided to mill around the town and finally go to Halls for a look around the lands-office.
Empal left them and returned to his stall where he opened it to public, later than usual. Oddly enough, no one had really noticed his late opening since it was an off-day for market and there weren't as many people buying goods in the towns square.
When Boyce decided to go to Halls, he and Lloyd split up. They did this for two reasons, namely; to keep anyone from possibly recognizing Lloyd, and have one supporter free to come to the aid of the other if there arose a situation where one might be imprisoned.
Lloyd had a task to do, which was to save time for him and Boyce, from having them to do it together. This task was the locating of Miel and Cassta — two of Brook Scullion-Blue's most trustworthy and loyal friends.
Boyce had hoped to seek out these men and persuade them, and their families, to follow him into forming a new rule that would prevent a monastic institution from governing the land.
Lloyd's job was just to find these men's residences and make a brief observation of whether, or not, the men and their families could still be loyal to a Blue rule.
Boyce, with Zoro on his shoulder, slowly made his way up Canon's Butte with his travel pack containing a small cask of gold bits. When he reached the top he looked at the enormity of the Halls Cathedral, which touched the blue sky above him.
The front gates were open and there were hordes of people walking about, doing business.
At the gate sat a notary vicar and he had all those who entered the cathedral state their name and reason for going in.
Boyce went in and the vicar stopped him and asked him to return. Boyce did as he was asked; the vicar wanted Boyce to sign in the visit logs.
"What is your name?" asked the vicar while he stared at the crow on
Boyce's shoulder.
"I am Boyce Loebh!" he answered promptly.
"What is your business here?"
Boyce smiled and looked around when Zoro cawed a few times.
"I am here to see the estates Cardinal. I would like to buy some property on which to live."
The vicar looked at Boyce suspiciously then proceeded with the questioning.
"You don't have a request for an audience with our estates Cardinal.
If you care to wait, he may be free to see you!"
"I will wait!" Boyce exclaimed, then he went over to a tree where a long rock post had fallen-over, and he sat on it.
The notary vicar rang a small hand bell and a young novice ran to the desk where the notary sat. He was given a slip of paper and some instructions. He ran off into the Cathedral's quadrangle and not too long after that, ran back with a slip of paper that he handed to the notary.
The notary vicar looked over at Boyce and Boyce noticed it. He got up the fallen post and walked over to the notary.
"It will be a while but the estates Cardinal will see you." the notary vicar told Boyce.
Boyce leaned over to him then pointed over to the post where he was sitting before.
"Tell me when he'll see me. I'll be over there!" he said then slowly made his way to the rock post and then reclined on it. Zoro stood watch on his chest.
The wait wasn't very lengthy and soon one of the novices came over to him and woke him up.
"It's your turn!" the novice informed him, and taking his pack with him, Boyce entered the Cathedral grounds, following the novice and ending up at the door of the lands-office.
The boy left him there and knocked on the door before entering, not caring to wait for permission to do so.
The office was strange-looking for a lands-office. It had two floors and was full of books on both floors.
In the middle of the office was a rather large table where the estates cardinal was sitting with
his nose in a large book in which he was writing something.
He finally looked up from his book after Boyce sat down in a chair opposite him and Zoro jumped down on the table in front of him.
Overhead, standing against a railing, on the second floor, Cardinal
Orren looked down at the strange young man and his even stranger pet.
He wanted to hear what this wandering fool wanted in his office.
"You are Boyce Loebh?" the estates Cardinal asked him.
"Yes!"
"How can we be made of service, Mister Loebh?" the Cardinal asked him.
"I am looking to buy some property with a habitable building on it.
What I am seeking, is something that is quite large."
The Cardinal looked at him for a moment then stood up and went to a flat shelf and brought back a large portfolio of sketches.
"I have here some twenty sketches of sturdy buildings on good property.
Of course, most are probably out of your wealth capability."
"I would like to see whatever you have available regardless of the cost!"
"Very well!" submitted the cardinal and he handed Boyce the archaic looking portfolio.
Orren, from above had grown a little more suspicious and mistrusting of
Boyce. What's more, Orren detested Zoro's presence.
Boyce was dressed in clean clothing and he didn't smell as bad as when he first stepped into Pomperaque with Lloyd. He really loved his loyal women in Gothal for giving their dirty clothing back to them. It was that necessary little detail which helped to cause confusion in many people's eyes.
For sure Orren didn't understand how a rogue like Boyce could be so unaffected when he was told that he would most likely not be able to afford that which he sought.
Boyce went over every drawn likeness of the houses that were available, seeming quite uninterested in any one of them, including the Blue Mansion, which has had passed over.
"They are all well and nice, Cardinal, but I am searching for a large place with atmosphere. I, and my friend, are artisans and scholars, and we were hoping to use such a building, in-part, to expand your own Blaisaman; where we could teach the arts and other human studies."
The Cardinal sat down, at his side of the table, and questioned him further about his proposed academy.
"Do you have a license to teach in Pomperaque?"
"Not as of yet. I was planning to come tomorrow to inquire about a license." answered Boyce with an odd confidence that, in a way, inspired the Cardinal.
This same confidence inspired Orren in another ways — it made him angry.
Orren had read the prophesy given to Manguino by Jessuum Benitar and somehow he felt that maybe this man, below him, had something in common with it.
"I am planning on bringing to Pomperaque many diverse people from all over the continent." Boyce let the Cardinal know. "I am personally fond of philosopy and I would like, at the very least, half of the building to be devoted to that topic."
"Very well, Mister Loebh! I can only suggest one place that could be large enough to house such an academy. But I must inform you, that if you want it, you must also buy the all the land on which it stands!"
If there is plenty of land, reasonably priced, I would be happy to take it. We need the land to display works done by our students of sculpture." said Boyce. "Can I see a sketch of this land and house?"
The Cardinal laughed a little and Zoro cawed, and bobbed up and down.
"You have seen the drawing already!" the Cardinal informed him, and he took it out from the portfolio and handed it to him.
"I passed this by because it doesn't seem large — in the drawing, I mean!"
"Come with me and I will show you the real size, Mister Loebh!"
The estates Cardinal stood up and so did Boyce. He led Boyce up a spiral staircase to the second floor and Zoro flew to the top railing beside Orren.
Zoro was spooked by Orren and he quickly flew to a window on one end of the floor.
Soon Boyce and the estates Cardinal arrived at the same window and the cardinal asked Boyce to look to the far side of the valley.
"The rise, over there, Mister Loebh, is called Bimini Hill. The entire mount and the Mansion which stands on it was once the estate of several sovereigns of Pomperaque and Phoride." the cardinal said to him.
Boyce looked out the window, mainly to play along with the Cardinal but also it was the first time that he saw the majesty of the Blue Mansion in this vantage point.
"Oh, yes. I saw that place coming into the city, but I didn't realise that it was the same land as on the sketch. You are right. I probably couldn't afford to but that." Boyce stopped for a moment to look out the window the continued with a simple curiosity. "How much is the lands-office asking for it?"
"Seven hundred gold bits." replied the Cardinal.
"That is a great deal!" exclaimed Boyce.
"Seven hundred gold bits is for the Mansion and the land on which it stands!"
There was quiet again, except for Zoro's occasional 'zoar-caw' squawking, and then he flew out of the window, towards town.
Cardinal Orren peaked through a shelf of books that touched the ceiling, and he saw Boyce quickly turn to the estates Cardinal and nod his head to him.
"I think that I will buy it then!" he ejaculated.
"Good!" said the Cardinal. "Let us go down to my table and write up the papers!"
He took Boyce back down to his table, and while making their way down the stairs the Cardinal asked Boyce in what manner he would be able to pay.
They stopped on the spiral staircase and Boyce took the cask of gold from his pack and opened it for the Cardinal. The cardinal was amazed and pleased.
Above them both, Orren looked at the gold with surprise and contempt.
He felt certain that the crow man was not to be trusted.
When the papers were drawn up and Boyce counted out seven hundred gold bits to the Cardinal, he left Halls Cathedral and headed for the Blue Mansion, with his key.
Before he made his way up the path to the Mansion, he first stopped at the inn and had a drink while he waited for Lloyd.
Lloyd soon came into the tavern and sat down with Boyce, at a table.
"Did you buy it?" he asked him.
"It was easier than I thought it would be!" he said, showing him the key.
Lloyd smiled at Boyce.
"I found our friends' homes and I overheard the younger man, Cassta I believe it was — saying to someone that he was getting tired of this life in Pomperaque and he was planning on moving to the Elkinnii Plains and live there!"
"Good!" sighed Boyce. "We still may be able to get the numbers that we need within the city."
"I had seen Mingo, earlier, and he told me that he had convinced a dozen of his peasant friends and relatives to join us. They are out, this very moment, looking for more of the oppressed to come in with us."
Boyce smiled with delight. He was happy because he had the Blue Mansion back and now the throng of peasant farmers that are willing to risk their lives for Boyce, son of Brook Scullion-Blue.
"If we can get Cassta and Miel to our side, they may just be able to get for us the Prominants that we need to join us."
Boyce had much hope and belief in his father's friends.
He would truly feel the power of a ruler, if those men served him as they served his father, he thought.
Cavander approached the two men and asked them if they wanted anything more to drink, or if maybe they were hungry.
"No!" said Lloyd.
"You can help us, however, if you have some time and friends who would like some work for a few hours!" inquired Boyce.
"What do you want done?" he sarcastically asked.
Cavander was playing in the way that he was asked to act before Boyce, treating them as lesser humans.
"Now, Inn Keep. There's no need to bite off our heads!" Boyce commented. "All I want is some help to move into my new house."
"And what new house may that be, may I ask?"
Lloyd was having a good time listening to the performing that Boyce and Cavander were doing and a few times he could hardly keep from laughing a little.
"It is the house on Bimini Hill!" he exclaimed with a proud smile.
Cavander was delighted beyond words when he heard that the heir to
Phoride had successfully reacquired his own estate.
"How do you come by purchasing that?" asked Cavander in an extremely agitating voice that was really beginning to bother Boyce.
"I had gold — so either say that you will give me help, in my moving into the house, or take your leave from me!"
Cavander smiled but only a trifle. He knew that he had actually annoyed the son of Brook Scullion and he also knew that he could not give him an apology while in public. He had, therefore, kept the taxing down, from that point onwards, and agreed to have a few men help him whenever he needed them.
Boyce and Lloyd made their way up to the Blue Mansion, after Cavander had agreed to give them help.
It wasn't a long way to walk to get to the Mansion's door, but the once gradual path leading
up to the top of the hill was now rugged and grown over with vegetation. The entire property was like this, from lack of use.
For a decade, since the executions, no one had been known to go up to the Mansion. Even coenobites had, for some reason stayed away from it. But it didn't matter now, because it was all Boyce's again.
They had finally made their way to where it all first happened.
Boyce's heart beat faster and faster, the nearer that he came to the door.
"Here it is, Lloyd!"
Lloyd saw Boyce's excitement as he put the key into the lock and turned it. He also felt a certain presence looming over the entire hill, as soon as they set foot upon it.
For Lloyd, this place had a different meaning then it had for Boyce. For him it meant the extension of his life which may have been cut short before he even had a chance to realize what life was. It meant the love and the admiration that he had for Brook and Dearborne, and this place was a reminder of evil's earthly triumph over good, through death.
"Would you have ever believed that I'd be back here?" a tear issued from Boyce's eye as he spoke and Lloyd cleared his throat, trying to keep from Boyce his own feelings about it all.
"It was predestined, Boyce!" he said then touched Boyce's shoulder to urge him to open the door and enter the house.
Boyce hesitated for a moment longer then smiled a little, and with a sigh he opened the door.
There was a sudden but slight whoosh at the door, as air rushed into the vacuum of the house.
It was dark and quite cool inside the house, in comparison to the intense heat outside, on this particular day. There was also a foul smell within which would have been more suitable for a
slaughterhouse. It was sour-like odour mixed with the linger type of stink of boiled chicken feathers.
They walked into the huge entrance hall and looked around the bare grey walls, and at the cracked ceiling covered with cobwebs.
"No wonder no one had come here since it was closed up!" said Boyce, his voice echoing far into the distant rooms, along with the clip-clop that their boots made on the solid wood floor.
"With enough helpers it won't take us long to make it liveable, Boyce."
Boyce nodded as he heard Lloyd's sentence carry throughout the mansion's vast number of rooms.
They walked further through the mansion going from the kitchen, to the ballroom, Dearborne's old parlour and to Brook's private den.
Every room, every corner of the great house was the same. The house was empty and stripped of anything of value, and of anything without value.
Blue-green lazurite no longer adorned the walls. There were no more crystals hanging from the ceilings, no more carpets were on the floor and there were no sculptures left in the hallways.
Only years of dust could be seen inside with the shells of hundreds of dead insects and arachnids strewn all over the place.
The windows of the mansion were still intact but they were so yellow and dirty that barely enough light penetrated into the interior, let alone having anything seen through them.
Lloyd took a knife from his belt and began to scrape some of the years from off the panes of glass in Brook's viewing den.
Shrieks echoed throughout the massive structure, as the dirt gave resistance to the knife grinding into the glass, but soon the windows of the den were cleared of dirt and the light of the afternoon sun shone through the cloud of dust suspended before the window.
Boyce jabbed Lloyd's knife into the seams and catches of the window and then pried it open with a creak that seemed to force itself into their very hearts.
They just stood there and looked at the once beautiful room that was nothing more than a void now. Absolutely nothing was left in the house after the monastic sacked it.
"Manguino is truly a mad dog warranted of dying!" said Lloyd.
"This was such a beautiful place, once!" was Boyce's only response.
Suddenly their came a loud shriek at the window and it made both men jump back in fright.
"Zoar-caw!"
Both men sighed when they saw that it was only Zoro perched at the window.
"It's only Zoro!" said Boyce. "I wondered where he's been all afternoon!"
While Lloyd and his friend looked over the house and decided what they needed to clean up and move in, Cardinal Orren was making his own assessments. His assessment, however, was not of buildings, but of the two strangers that came to Pomperaque, from the north.
"I had finally received a report from some of our spies in Besten, and I found out that these two men had left Besten a little under a month ago." Orren said to the ArchBishop.
The ArchBishop sat in his chair, at his desk, in his office as he was asked to by Orren for the meeting with him today. Orren wanted the meeting this way because he was tired and somewhat repulsed, by seeing Manguino and Eckma fornicating, almost every time that he spoke to him. Now Orren knew that he had Manguino's attention, and he listened to Orren.
"Since they've left Besten they walked south west then disappeared until they were seen passing through Flinnd on horseback. Now they had entered Pomperaque, apparently to stay!" continued Orren while he tried to find fault with the two strangers from Besten.
"Fine, Orren. I agree that we should not trust these men but I can't understand why we have to be this fearful of them. How can two men pose us a threat?"
In his typical way Manguino had once again failed to see a potential danger.
As in any nation, the greatest threat, almost always, seems to be from strangers. Since they were not known … so Orren also believed.
These two strangers were not known. Except for their names; Boyce Loebh and Lloyd, and also the fact that each man carries with him a substantial wealth, without the slightest fear of being robbed, no one really knows who they were.
Then there was the crow that was the younger man's pet. It was a strange pet that, to Orren, seemed to be as great a threat to Phoride, as the two men were.
Yet, for all their feelings, neither man could quite understand why they felt uneasy with these two men's presence. They gave no indication of being treasonous and they had even taken up a peaceful residency within the city.
They heard the story of their wanting to set up an academy of arts and philosophy, to be run as a part of the Phoridene Blaisaman; but the fact that the Blue Mansion was bought, had both monastic men worried.
Orren had been studying Jessuum Benitar's prophesy, made for Manguino, but it was odd and open to innumerable interpretations.
Manguino himself had been wrong many times about the prophesy, seeing the doom of Halls, and the rest of Pomperaque, through natural elemental causes: fire, water, earth and air. Yet, with the several natural disasters that befell Pomperaque since the executions of Brook and
Dearborne; the earthquakes tidal waves, the three-day hail storm and the great fire of four years ago — that almost burned half of Phoride — before the rebuilding, the great city had always seemed to survive.
Cardinal Orren refused to believe in whatever the Benitar prophesy had to say. Like his father, years ago, he only believed and trusted in what he could see, feel, hear and smell, and touch. Anything that was beyond those senses were just illusions.
Orren had seen the Angels of Mons several nights ago, and he knew that they meant an impending doom, but he believed that the doom would not be that great since the Mons did not ride through the main streets of Pomperaque.
Since time immemorial; from the first time that vision had foretold doom, in the years before the nonexistent holocaust which ravaged the world, the mons had been an accurate omen that warned those who saw them, of incalculable disaster.
"I am apt to disregard Jessuum Benitar's prophecy, Almighty. It is difficult to understand and can be made to mean anything, but the Mons that I had seen, came in the night prior to the men entering the city." he said.
Manguino laughed a little when Orren said that to him.
"You are just like Allen was. You only believe in what you see and nothing more. Now, tell me … how many strangers came into Pomperaque — or to Phoride, for that matter — on the same day as these two Bestenese came?" Manguino asked him.
"There were many, your grace, but these men have something about them, something that I just can't explain!"
Manguino laughed and told Orren not to worry because nothing would happen unless he
asked for the prophesy to be read to him.
To make Orren feel better and calmer, Manguino offered to him a suggestion that he find himself some virgin and have his tensions relaxed through her.
"You'll feel much better!" he told Orren.
Orren left him, angry and unsure of his own suspicions.
He went back to his chamber and tried to study the prophesy some more, trying to use his logic this time.
Manguino also went back to his own chamber and jumped into the pool of rain water which Eckma was already wading in, and drinking the scum off the surface before he entertained his pleasure.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
With Cavander's help, along with some of his friends that were enlisted to the cause, the Blue Mansion began to take shape as the smooth clean structure that it once had been. Having the clean-up and all the detailed restoration take place over several shifts, the great estate began to resemble its old grandeur, with every hour that passed by.
Hundreds of litres of blue-green metallic paint was mixed and the walls inside the house were painted, and the local craftsmen — those masters working with rock, metal, glass and wood, designed and reconstructed duplicates of everything that was once inside the house. All the duplicates were made from the memories, of that house, that Boyce and Lloyd carried with them over the last decade.
Boyce ran about the entire estate with Zoro perched on his shoulder and he supervised the workers with every detail that they were doing. He wanted everything just as perfect as he could have it.
Lloyd ran around and did the same, but this all was really Boyce's dream and destiny needing fulfilment. All he was there for was to ensure Boyce's succession.
Dearborne's old parlour began to look more and more like it did on the day before the execution, and Brook's den had been reconstructed nearly to the last detail, the only item excluded from it all, being the computer that Brook had called his 'gadget'!
The land and its gardens were weeded and replanted with plants, and flowers, from all over Phoride.
The change that took place on Bimini Hill was so great and quick that the citizens of Pomperaque began to notice a strange presence emanate from it. Such a presence was unknown since the time that the Blue line had ruled from there, and now it was back.
During the night time, working only by the light from the stars and moon, and by the pole lights of the city, the outer walls of the Blue Mansion were painted with the purest white paint that could be mixed, and the following night they were polished until the whole building gleamed.
Many days had gone by but the building was finally ready to move the rest of the necessities into it. Most of the furniture, and other such things, were especially build within the house or garden, for the man for whom it was being made.
Boyce and Lloyd were pleased beyond their knowledge of words, to express how they felt. They knew that what had once been the home of a good, kind and strong man, was once again going to be the home of a man that would be as well-loved.
All those that put in their time and love for Boyce, knowing who he was, were pleased in their accomplishments and they gave praise to him in a grand ball that was given for him, and for Lloyd, when everything was finally completed.
Many people from all walks of Phoridene society were invited to the mansion for the ball.
Curious to see who these men were, many of those citizens that were invited had eagerly accepted to attend the ball at the new Blue Mansion.
Most of the guests were surprised upon entrance to the great building. Memories were rekindled and many citizens had tears in their eyes and lumps in their throats. It was remarkable that no one commented on the Mansion's old sameness during any part of the ball. Not a single guest questioned Boyce, or Lloyd, about how they made everything in the house to be as it was years ago. They just took it in stride and tried to have a good time; and for the first time, in a very long while, the Phoridenes did enjoy themselves.
Amongst the guests invited to the ball were Miel and Cassta, with their families, and several higher coenobites from Halls. They were Manguino and his wife, Orren, Polis and Cardinal Levy.
Miel and Cassta came to the ball for much the same reason that everyone else did, curiosity. When they came in, it was as if they walked through some door that threw them back into time, to the night when the Mansion saw its last festive night, the evening of Brook and Dearborne's fifteenth anniversary of marriage.
When they saw Boyce he looked familiar to them but while at the ball they didn't discuss it. Only once that night when they came to meet the two men, Boyce had mentioned that he would like to speak privately to them the next day and they had agreed.
The arrangements had been made so quickly that their entire intercourse seemed to take place in the span of time it took the men to shake hands.
That was Boyce's only contact with the two men, all evening, and later Empal mentioned to both men that it would be to their benefit to listen to and to respect the young man called Boyce
Loebh, and that made both men wonder since they knew that Empal wouldn't say such a thing to them unless it was serious.
Manguino and Orren had walked through the Mansion and finally Manguino ended up at the room which was once Brook's private viewing den. That was the room Brook and Dearborne had been taken from before they were executed.
Manguino felt discomfited standing there and Orren couldn't help but notice it. Everything in the house was just as it was before it was ravaged by him and his men, thought Manguino. He was petrified to open the door and looked inside but Orren had never seen the original room and what it contained, so he bound into the room and looked around at the rock walls, drapes, shelves of books and the large wooden cabinet.
The room was beautiful; decorated with small statues and paintings, and although it wasn't an identical duplicate of Brook's den, it closely enough resembled it to warp Manguino's mind back to when he had the cabinet opened to his view and saw Brook's computer.
The ArchBishop had finally summoned ample courage in order to enter the room and he let out an exasperated breath which sounded like he was in pain, when he saw the room. He quickly stepped over to the book shelves and read the names and titles on the books: Lapinz, Argynossti, Smarte. All were identical to those books that Brook kept there.
"This is some room!" said Orren and oddly glanced over at Manguino.
"What's wrong?" he asked the ArchBishop.
"This room is hardly different than Brook Scullion-Blue's was, so long ago. How did these men know what was within? How did they know what was in every room, within this house?"
Manguino trembled as he spoke then he looked at the far curtained wall and went over to it.
He violently pulled the curtains away from the wall exposing a dingy grey.
"Why did you do that, your Grace?" asked Orren.
"This wall was supposed to be white in the centre. If it was, I don't know what I would've thought!" he answered.
He looked at the large wooden cabinet near the entrance and went to it. He tried to open it but it was locked. He shook his head towards Orren then punched at the cabinet doors.
"Just like Brook's, always locked until the day that I finally knew for sure what was inside!"
Manguino was feeling ill and angry, and most of all frightened.
"You were right to suspect these men, Orren!" he told the cardinal.
There was a sudden angry and loud voice blaring from the entrance to the room.
"What are you doing in here?" It was Boyce and he majestically trooped into the room and glared at the ArchBishop. "I don't mind if the guests roam around the house, but I do mind if the guests try to destroy the things that are within the rooms!"
"We are not destroying anything, my young friend!" Manguino assured him while he was leaning against the cabinet.
Boyce looked around the room and saw the undraped wall.
"Why is that curtain pulled away?" he demanded.
"Why isn't that wall white?" asked Manguino.
"White?" questioned Boyce. "Was it white, originally?"
Manguino nodded his head.
"I wish that I would have known this, earlier. I want this place to be as authentic as possible to its original interior!"
Orren and Manguino looked at one another with puzzled eyes and Boyce continued.
"I had found out the history of this place from a few of the towns' people and I had decided to talk to a few of the people who have been within this house when it was lived in by the ruling Lord. I had every detail of their memories reconstructed. My academy will have the atmosphere it needs, to inspire our artisans and great thinkers."
"What's in here?" Manguino demanded of him, touching the cabinet with a few pats of his hand.
"Nothing is in there!" replied Boyce.
"Open it for me!" Manguino threw another order at Boyce.
"I don't believe that I am obliged to do so without being given a reason for my opening it!" Boyce denied obedience to them, knowing exactly who both of these men were.
"If you are to live in Pomperaque," said Orren. "you must learn to obey the ArchBishop. He wants you to open that cabinet and you will open it!"
Boyce put on a bewildered expression then sighed, nodding his head as he went to the cabinet.
He took a key from around his neck and put it in the slot of the cabinet door. His actions with the key, and the manner in which he used it to open the doors, disturbed Manguino but he made himself think that Boyce was told about the way that Brook handled the cabinet key.
Boyce slowly opened the cabinet to reveal the empty interior.
"There!" Boyce exclaimed. "I had told you that there was nothing inside!"
The ArchBishop Manguino breathed more easily when he saw that the cabinet was truly empty as this stranger called Boyce, had truthfully told him.
"I would think that you would like to mingle more with the common folk." said Boyce. "I had heard some rumours that you, ArchBishop, don't present yourself to the people as much as you should!"
Orren didn't like what Boyce had said and he was ready to say something to him until Manguino stopped him by raising his hand.
Manguino made for the door and Orren followed him. It was obvious that the Almighty wanted peace, for now, and Orren held to his respect of it.
However, before the two men totally exited the room, Manguino turned around and saw Boyce closing the cabinet doors. He smiled at Boyce and asked him a question while Zoro flew into the room and to his shoulder.
"Tell me, Boyce Loebh … do you know what was inside the cabinet?" he asked him.
Boyce shrugged and a squawk came from Zoro.
"No, I don't!" he answered. "Apparently no one knows. It ruins the authenticity — I feel. Besides that …" Boyce smiled back at him. "… it must have been something that really annoyed you."
He stared right into Manguino's eyes than asked him if he would tell him the contents of the cabinet, but Manguino just continued to smile and left the room without telling him.
Boyce let Zoro onto his left forearm and stroked him while the bird balanced itself.
"That, Zoro, is a man that ancients called 'an ass-hole'!" he said to the crow.
Zoro cawed, as if answering, and Boyce left the room with him, too.
Downstairs, the party was coming to an end and Lloyd was saying good-bye to everyone, and he reminded Mingo and Bix to bring their friends over to the Mansion tomorrow for their first class.
Late into the night everyone was finally gone and the two men felt extremely good in having their confusion tactics work on those who were unfriendly present here on this night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The following morning the men went to market and sew Empal. They bought from him some of his special fruit from the lands to the west, called Ïÿnondan, and they asked his opinion of last evening's gala.
Empal was pleased for its success and he told them that many others thought so, as well. He also told them that Miel and Cassta were expecting them in Gothal for a luncheon.
Boyce was ultimately pleased because he had a chance to see his wife and Lloyd was also glad for being able to see Sister Rhonta, to argue some more Smarte with her.
The two men went to the town stable and borrowed a couple of horses and rode into Gothal, as soon as they finished their talk with Empal.
Gothal was close, just a few kilometres from Pomperaque's northern gates but Boyce pushed the horses hard to reach Gothal as quickly as possible, Zoro riding all the way on his shoulder.
He went to the Abbey of Our Holy Saint Mariot, where Lilith was staying and found her in her job today, tilling and trimming the flower and tree garden.
She was grimy from the dirt and heat but the sister in charge of today's work let her off her job, under the circumstances, and Lilith had a very quick bath before going to her husband, waiting for her in her bed.
Rhonta was happy to see Lloyd but all they did was talk while she was in a room repairing some clothing.
She was a full nun, as she was when she cared for Lloyd until he recuperated. For the innocent kiss that she gave to Lloyd when he and Boyce left Gothal, for Pomperaque, she was highly reprimanded and she was made to work in the abbey kitchens until just recently.
Lloyd was disappointed, and she was probably more disappointed than he was, but they were both mature enough to understand the circumstances in which they both lived, so both made the most of their time by talking.
At noon, Boyce left Lilith's bedroom and went to the Abbess's private dining room where Miel and Cassta were both waiting for him.
Lloyd wasn't there and Lilith stayed in bed, waiting for Boyce to return while she pictured in her mind the account that Boyce gave to her about his reintroduction to Pomperaque.
He walked into the dining room with Zoro and the Abbess Mariot (as all abbesses were called Mariot, since the first one that found the child called Sunshine, so long ago), was serving the table where the men sat.
She curtsied to Boyce and left the room as both Miel and Cassta took to their feet and watched him approach them.
They both came from behind the table and they embraced Boyce with tears streaming from their eyes.
"Empal had told us who you are, Boyce Loebh Scullion-Blue!" said Miel between sniffles.
"We didn't know that our great friends had any children, Master Scullion! Where did you stay as a child? How is it that your father didn't tell us?" Cassta asked desperately.
"I remember both of you so well, Cassta and Miel. My father only had two friends that he trusted with his life!" said Boyce.
"How do you remember us, Boyce? We had never seen you before this day!" Miel's tears subsided allowing wonder to dry them.
"I was hidden before everyone's very eyes and there wasn't a soul in all of Phoride that knew. Only Empal was told and that was just before my parent's death." said Boyce and he then proceeded. "I was Boy, my parent's servant!"
Astounded, the men kissed Boyce's right hand and they didn't even pay attention to Zoro cawing at them.
"How it is to me, now, to realise that a great ruler truly served his people!" Cassta praised Boyce.
"I had once served, both of you, with things of substance and now it is time for both of you to serve me." Boyce's voice sounded demanding.
"Yes!" the men echoed one another.
"We kneel, humbly, before you Lord Scullion-Blue." promised him as he and Cassta went on their knees.
Boyce put his hands on each man's shoulders and told them to rise. He let them know that
they had no obligation to kneel before any man, even if that man was their leader.
"From this time on, neither you, nor any of those who you persuade to join me — to help me reclaim Phoride in the name of my father — shall kneel before me. Only God, who speaks to men's hearts deserves to be knelt before. I am not God. I am just a man and because I am just a man, I need loyal friends to help me regain my birthright an share my sceptre with me, in this land."
"Only a truly God-sent leader would speak that way. We will die for you, Boyce!" Miel vowed and Cassta nodded to Miel's offer.
"You did not die to protect my parents, old friends!" Boyce sounded stern, his voice mirroring the guilt felt by both for their passiveness when action was the necessity. And Boyce continued, "But I will die for you, if it be so ordained."
Both of the men's heads sank down upon their chests in a visible shame, and both had weepy eyes.
Boyce motioned for them to return to the table. They sat down and ate the banquet that was prepared for them by the abbey sisters and they discussed the plans that Boyce and Lloyd had agreed to with the Northern United Alignment, concerning the invasion of Phoride.
Boyce told the men that it will be their job to find loyal and trustworthy Prominants that would join his side in order to abolish the canon rule forever and return him as their heir apparent to the Blue descent.
Everything was agreed upon. Plans were set and fealty was paid through vows and oaths, and when the meal was finished, the men returned to Pomperaque.
Boyce returned to his Lilith's bedroom and made love with her once more before the invasion was to come over this troubled land, and so separate them for a while longer.
Zoro squawked, having been left out in the garden by Boyce before he went to Lilith.
Zoro flew back to Pomperaque and circled it until Boyce and Lloyd left the abbey for their second time.
Risking another reprimand, Sister Rhonta kissed Lloyd good-bye when
Lilith did the same to Boyce.
When the men returned to Pomperaque they rode right for Empal's stall.
Zoro had already soared down onto Boyce's shoulder when they road through the town's gates, and to Empal's kiosk, Boyce let Empal know that the invasion could commence.
Empal knew the rest. He had made his plans with the alignment, too.
This was the day that Empal would fly back to Virune and Besten, on his Kenttitian Eagle, and tell his people and Harvard Bartlett that it was time to mobilize the armies for their advance on Phoride.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The days and nights passed by with an odd swiftness that has never before been seen or felt.
Boyce and Lloyd didn't appear to do much else than run the learning sessions in the Blue Mansion, catering to whomever, and from whatever, class they were from.
One cardinal attended the first two days of the academy's opening and he reported to the ArchBishop Manguino that everything was being handled straight as in the Blaisaman and that political ideologies were discussed as philosophical arguments rather than as private opinions.
Everything in the academy was normal and there were no conspiracies or treasonous talk being made within the mansion and so the cardinal stopped attending the classes there.
The second day after the cardinal stopped coming to the classes Boyce and Lloyd finally began to teach all those enlisted to their cause, about the Twentieth Century civilisation.
The great book that Brook had given to his son and Lloyd, was passed around to each person that knew how to read the written English, which had survived to some extent, since that fallen age.
Those capable of reading the book, read it aloud to those who could not, and all those who had been made familiar with the ancient book, gawked at the wondrous pictured in the book. The pictures were of strange machines that could fly and ships that travelled space, and there were pictures of giant buildings that touched the skies. They were great hollow mountains made by man, out of glass and steel and rock.
The most loyal and m of the more intelligent students were taught how to battle, hand-to-hand, with someone. They watched the hours of demonstrations presented by Lloyd and Boyce.
However, due to the lack of time available to them to train, all that they could do was watch Lloyd and Boyce's movements, then later teach other; again, by demonstration and example.
Several months of military training were condensed into a week of intense study and what's more, Halls never knew what was happening.
Throughout the two men's instruction, Zoro was present, relentlessly perched; either on a piece of furniture on upon Boyce's shoulder.
To many of those loyal citizens there to learn Boyce's knowledge, Zoro became a symbol of freedom from the evil monastic rule.
Boyce, with his interesting pet, had become quite popular in Pomperaque, the word passing throughout the entire land of Phoride in a manner that resembled that of legend.
Orren was certain that the two men from Besten presented a clear and present threat to the ArchBishop and his established rule on this continent. He couldn't allow his feelings to go without notice and he discussed the prophesy, given to Manguino by the Seer, Jessuum Benitar, with other cardinals who specialised in the interpretation of scripture and prediction.
All of them agreed that the Seer's words were indeed strange and non of them could agree on
their exact meaning, so the Cardinal Orren took to examining the recorded text by himself.
With every subsequent reading of the words, Orren became more frustrated and less did he succeed in his understanding of any of it.
He hoped that he would soon free whatever hidden meaning was held within the vision that Jessuum conveyed to Manguino when he began to degenerate his power and standing, for the sake of copulating with Eckma.
Pure thought and logic slowed Orren's perspective for the explanation of the prophetic forecast.
It happened one night that something that resembled an answer came to Orren, and it was a strange coincidence that Manguino had glimmers of thought that were similar.
In their like dreams, certain lines in the prophesy seemed to repeat themselves and both Manguino and Orren began to realise their meanings.
The lines that held the most clarity for them were: 'Four great elements, ride on high' and 'Black feathers from his shoulders jut'. These lines reflected the omen and possibly even the new strangers. However, there was no proof that they were upon the correct considerations.
The next day that ArchBishop and Cardinal Orren confided to one another about their dreams and about the interpretations that came to them thereof.
Manguino told Orren that he heard the prophet's chant repeating itself through his mind and peaking in clarity and volume at certain lines.
Orren had said the same thing to the ArchBishop and they discussed their dreams, and what they thought their dreams meant, over the span of several hours since they woke.
Both men were eager to strip clean the text of the prophesy in order to reveal, to themselves, the long awaited answer.
"I understand the Mons, Your Grace!" Orren blurted out to the
ArchBishop. "It was the night before the two strange Bestenese entered
Pomperaque. I saw the Mons."
Orren paced about the ArchBishop's office, and Manguino sat at his desk in his respective garb, listening to the great Cardinal Orren.
He walked back to the desk, from the window, lifted his palms before him as if weighing the air that he passed through.
"The Mons were four, each on a horse, and each rider was clad in armour and was the same colour as the horses. They were in the sky. So I believe now that our Seer's predictions may be true. The Mons are these four elements that ride on high."
Manguino sighed and rocked back and forth in his chair. He was pleased to have made some head-way in answering the puzzling prophesy. Yet, somehow he felt that there wasn't enough proof to be able to point to Boyce and Lloyd and say that they were involved.
" 'Black feathers from his shoulders jut' …" said the ArchBishop. " … is strangely similar to that Boyce Loebh and his dirty crow. There is one point, however, that has me question if that is so."
He stood up and moved around to the front of the desk and sat on it. He motioned with his hands as he spoke to Orren, giving him his explanation and other questions concerning it.
"That odd crow rides on Boyce Loebh's shoulder, it doesn't just from it. Shoulders are mentioned instead on of shoulder — this may be misleading! It may be making us seek the reality of the forecast by invoking within us our own dislikes for these men." he said to Orren.
Orren nodded and then shrugged while the chair on which he sat gently swivelled to and fro. He looked right into the ArchBishop's eyes as he thought that the ArchBishop may actually be right.
"I understand your thoughts. We don't want to make it a habit of unjustly accusing those people that we do not trust only in order to quell our own fright. Both of these Bestenese are popular with the people as being great teachers. My men have reported to me no treasonous news about them."
Orren raised himself from the chair and went over to the chiffonnier behind Manguino and poured himself some wine.
"The Mons just rode across the Phoridene sky. They never rode in the streets. Whatever happens will be minor." he said to Manguino before he gulped the glass of wine into his gut.
"We should keep our wits about us and look for some strangers with black feathers either growing out of their shoulders or adorning their apparel."
"I will get some of my men to watch out for that happenstance." Orren promised his master. "I will also put the Phoridene army on battle-alert. I feel that to be the prudent action."
"We should wait, at least for a few more days and I don't believe that the army will really be needed."
Orren became tense and he Questioned the ArchBishop's reasoning for not letting him ready for defence. Afterall, Orren was in charge of the army.
"We don't need tension between ourselves, Your Holiness!" Orren finally said. "We have to be ready for anything. The people of this city, and outlying towns and villages, have been behaving very strangely in recent times. They don't seem to be expressing their dislike for their living conditions and over-taxing. They wane in their fear of you. Something is very wrong."
"You are surely like your father, Allen, was. You worry too much, Cardinal. We should not worry about anything. We are strong and no sane person would try anything against us. I am god of Phoride, and of this hemisphere. Gods cannot be harmed."
The ArchBishop has always been thought of as a god, and has been made to be worshipped as much but he had never before shown that he believed it, too.
Orren left his presence and called a necessary meeting with the higher cardinals and convinced them to back his giving his army a full alert status.
Later, Manguino called on Orren to bring the two strangers to his office for questioning. He was seemingly having second thoughts about his own suspicions but, being a god, he didn't admit to it.
That afternoon Boyce and Lloyd came to Halls to see the ArchBishop. Boyce had Zoro on his shoulder and it was making a great deal of noise, listening to it echo throughout the cathedral and looking as if it was enjoying itself.
Lloyd felt uneasy because this would be the first time that the members of Halls could see his face clearly and he prayed that no one would recognize him, from that day in the square, a decade ago.
They entered the ArchBishop's office with a majesty and saw Manguino sitting at his desk with Orren in a chair off to his right side.
"We are pleased to have this visit, my friends!" said Manguino and he smiled. "We would like to congratulate both of you on your successful start with your school. I may be interested to attend some of your lectures one day soon, but before I do, I would like to know something about your backgrounds."
Boyce and Lloyd looked at one another and Zoro jumped off of Boyce's shoulder and glided to the window. Boyce and Lloyd waited for a moment and Lloyd knew that he had to speak since he was the older of the two.
"We are honoured to appear before you!" said Lloyd and he moved closer to the front of the desk. "Thank-you for your notice and maybe with your satisfaction we may be able to join our academy with the Blaisaman?"
"Anything is possible!" exclaimed Orren in a snide voice.
The men didn't understand the tone coming from Orren but they took it in stride. They didn't want anything to anger them this afternoon since they were supposed to be intellectuals, not barbarians.
Both knew that it would be difficult to keep their anger subdued but it was necessary for the success of their years of planning for the take-over of Phoride.
"I would like to know of your educational background!" Manguino said and motioned to both of them to sit down and they did.
"We had many years of study at the Blaisaman in besten and we have travelled and studied, in many other places before deciding to come here."
Boyce spoke slowly and steadily to the ArchBishop and Orren, trying to ensure that each word sank into their minds.
"How long did you travel and how did you come to be in our city? You have not been seen travelling along the known caravan routes and this makes us curious."
Orren was the type of man that dove right for the heart of whatever he wanted to know. He could not engage in side-stepping discussions because they became dull and took too long to reach the information that was desired.
"We have been travelling, fairly extensively for almost ten years now. We have been to nearly every part of this continent, always taking routes that were not extensively used." said Lloyd.
"Just as our trip from Besten to your city." said Boyce. "We travelled as directly south as we could, going through the Dark Forest, Sedara and Palatka. In fact, we were just leaving Palatka when Urre's government was toppled!"
Lloyd wasn't pleased with Boyce telling these two evil clerics about their taking the passage through the Dark Forest. He saw the two men's expressions when Boyce told them that.
"How very interesting that you survived passing that inhospitable forest." jeered Orren.
"Yes, it was interesting," began Boyce. "but it wasn't as dangerous as our avoiding of the Elkinni slavers."
Lloyd felt better now, and more at ease. Boyce was adding some fantasy to the truths that he had told them earlier. He was satisfied that Boyce was handling the situation and so he relaxed more.
There was a shaky silence that rippled through the mood in the room.
All four men had experienced it, and when it came about, Zoro became spooked and flew out the window and back to the Blue Mansion.
As it flew back to the Mansion, Empal was coming down, on the
Kenttitian Eagle, to the clearing in the Joenine Forest.
Zoro swooped up into the air and after displaying some silly-looking acrobatics, he soared down to the roof tops of the mansion.
Only Orren saw Zoro fly out. Boyce an Lloyd were both too busy keeping their thoughts in
line while in their hosts' presences, but this effort of their's appeared to be to no useful avail.
Orren had come right out to them and told them both about his idea behind a prophesy that they had been given.
Manguino sat back and studied the men's expressions but didn't see too much that was odd or revealing.
"I must tell you both that we do not like your presence in Phoride. We do not trust you, but in so long as you keep to what you have been doing you will be tolerated."
Boyce felt like laughing and he had to ask the cardinal exactly what he meant.
"I meant to say, " Orren replied. "that you will continue to teach in accordance to those rules and methods, as are followed by other learning institutions, within our domain. No personal thoughts or opinions concerning the certain 'questionable' topics, will be allowed."
"You two are doing fine as academicians but we do not want to find that treason is being discussed at the mansion." added Manguino.
Boyce and Lloyd said nothing, they just bowed their heads in submission, necessary as a sign of protocol.
They stood up and bowed to the ArchBishop and waited for their dismissal from his office. Following a few moments of intense glaring between themselves, Manguino gave them leave and they left.
Orren walked around to the front of the desk and made his way to the window and looked down to the interior of the quadrangles where many novices reclined, near the fountain.
"Can you believe their supposed travels?" Orren asked but more as a statement.
"You never know with the human animal, my loyal friend. Men have lied since their
dawning. There is no such thing as truth, only variations of an accepted lie!" commented Manguino.
"We should have asked how they survived their passage through the Dark Forest." said Orren, then he gave a little laugh. "Maybe the gremlins helped them through."
Whatever the case may be, Orren, I am not certain that they should be totally mistrusted. They do not appear to have a threatening quality about them."
"I still believe that we should keep them both under surveillance for a while."
"Alright. Do that, for your own benefit and arrange for me a social evening. I want to celebrate my safety."
Orren wanted to disapprove his request but he knew that Manguino would only get someone else to do it for him.
He agreed and left the ArchBishop's presence, to carry though with the order.