PROLOGUE: The Great Hall
Dolbain walked through the hall, looking around him. He had seen it hundreds of times before, but still, there was yet another gorgeous detail he missed. The walls were covered in abstract images of the powers of the universe, as well as numerous images of the White Oleander, the flower sacred to the Oleanderites. At regular intervals were great big stained-glass windows, many with scenes from the Oleanderite docurine, surrounded on both sides by stone pillars half built into the walls, where gargoyles decorated their perches and above their heads, like a guiding light, hung elegant torches. The domed cieling followed the passage to it's end, where it opened into a vast room, that dwarved even the great frame of Dolbain.
The carpeted flooring of the room had various designs, all interwoven into each other. It would take the most observant man on earth his lifetime to figure them all out. All over the room were other people, all in small groups, intently conversing with one another. As soon as he came in, they all seemed to go silent, and turn their attention to him. He licked his lips with discomfort, and tried to ignore their prying eyes, but every way he could possibly look were those impertenant eyes, all focused on him, with slight wary murmurs of voices interrupting the silence every once in a while. Dolbain knew they were talking about him. He didn't care, all he wanted was to see the Crowned Chancellor and get out, and leave behind the suspicious stares, belonging to those impertenantly rude people.
He shifted his weight to his other leg as he stood near the center of the room. "You might as well get a knife to cut this tension," though Dolbain. By now, most people had gone back to their own conversations, to deal with their own situations. All but one, a woman he knew well from even before joining the Oleanderites. Nonae was her name, a name that carried much weight while he was growing up in the same neighborhood as her. She knew him well too. When other neighborhood boys would drool over her, Dolbain seemed to accept her as just another thread in the tapestry of life.
"So, what brings you back to our Great Hall?" she asked. He jumped. She had come up from behind, and he never heard or saw her until she asked him the question.
"I want to see the Crowned Chancellor...on confidential buisness," he replied. He knew her so well. "Here it comes," he thought, "she's going to interrogate me. 'What confidential buisness?'" He could almost feel the question in anticipation. But for some reason she didn't ask, but rather moved on to another topic.
"Still wearing the sword? I would've thought you would've disgarded it by now. It's not like you need it anymore anyway."
"Oh, you know why. It is, after all, a family heirloom. My great grandfather slaughtered many a Petrifyte with this sword. Just because I've learned to use the elements of nature doesn't mean I'm going to give up something like that. And despite my newfound skills, I still am a Commander in the Guard." There was silence for a while. He pretended to look past her and examine some of the other Oleanderites in the hall, but was still concious of her, standing there, looking for new things to draw attention to. It was yet another awkward moment in a place that was awkward for him, with the one woman who was awkward to him. He was glad when a man approached, and said, "The Crowned Chancellor will see you now."
Dolbain, with a goodbye nod to Nonae, followed the servant. He knew the way well, but it was a common courtesy for guests of the Crowned Chancellor to be lead to their destination. The man walked very slowly, but Dolbain was glad, this way he could think. The hallway seemed to tighten into a tiny tunnel as his mind wandered to Nanae. Suddenly a sharp cough woke him from his train of thought. The servant was gesturing toward the door, and Dolbain three feet past it without even realizing it. With a mumbled thanks Dolbain walked into the room. It was also elegantly decorated, but compared to the hall seemed to be a hoghouse. A man stood at the window, staring off into space. Purposely making a loud footstep, Dolbain stood there, waiting for the man to snap out of his own train of thought. The long brown hair dangled in the wind from the open bay window, over a bright orange cloak with the Oleanderite insignia, a flower with sharp blades for petals and a large equal-sided triangle in the center of the flower.
It was some time before Dolbain summed up enough courage to speak. "Chancellor, I am Dolbain. I wish to speak with you."
"I know. I was simply thinking how it came to be that you deserted us like you did. Did we not treat you like our own son? Did we not provide you with nourishment for your own ambition? I still do not know the answer."
"You and I both know why I left. It was for the benefit of both me and the Oleanderites for me to leave. I had no other choice." Dolbain grew annoyed.
"No matter. Let's get on to buisness. The Vaelic Guard has sent you to be the go between for themselves and me. We're both dominant powers today, and we both have the desire for peace. The Su'dah are too much of a threat, and we can't afford to be at each other's throats anymore. We must join to face the coming threat," he turned to face Dolbain now, and looked straight into his eyes. "I see you've done well. A Commander in the Vaelic Guard - that's impressive."
"Yes, I've been lucky. The Generalty took a liking to me. They put me in charge of the First Edict, the King's own bodyguards." Once again, someone was questioning him. He didn't like that. "Oh why can't you all just let me do my job already," he thought in desperation.
"I can never work with you until you tell me everything about why you left, you know that," the Chancellor carefully said.
"You want to know? Everybody wants to know. I walk into this hall, and all I see are people staring at me. Everybody's just looking, and not saying anything. You're the first who finally asked, and you're going to know. You people went too far. There was one Su'dah in that village. 'Kill them all, it's the only way to get rid of him,' those were my orders. A small, sleepy village with children playing, farmers innocently ploughing their fields, and the sweet smells of fresh baked bread and roasting meat from each of the houses. I couldn't kill so much innocence just to get rid of some pathetic misguided person who served the Darkness. So I defected to the Vaelic Guard, and told them to send guards to protect that homely little village from the next assassin you send after you find out what I did." Dolbain felt like he just threw a boulder he was carrying off of a cliff into the waters beneath.
The Crowned Chancellor stood there and listened, even after Dolbain finished, staring a hole right through him. He could see perfectly well the anger, the hate, the maelstrom in the soul of this man, the only Oleanderite to ever go against the will of the Chancellor, the only one who escaped his grip. "That will be all, Dolbain," the Chancellor said, as he tugged the chord to summon the servant. "Show this man out," he said to one of the two servants who came in.
"Goodbye and good luck to you, Dolbain. I look forward to working with you. Maybe one day you'll see the nessessity of what I ordered you to do, but it's obviously not today. Please send my greetings to the Generalty, as well as their wise choice for an adjutant he made when he thought of you," he said in a kind, fatherly tone, as he turned to the window. When Dolbain was gone, he turned to the remaining servant and said, "Tell the Hunters to have him killed, and to make it look like brigands. That man will hate us for the rest of his life." With that, he turned back to his window, which opened up onto a courtyard, a single figure walking through in the dusk. Only Dolbain. Soon, he rode out the gates of the fortress.
Dolbain walked through the hall, looking around him. He had seen it hundreds of times before, but still, there was yet another gorgeous detail he missed. The walls were covered in abstract images of the powers of the universe, as well as numerous images of the White Oleander, the flower sacred to the Oleanderites. At regular intervals were great big stained-glass windows, many with scenes from the Oleanderite docurine, surrounded on both sides by stone pillars half built into the walls, where gargoyles decorated their perches and above their heads, like a guiding light, hung elegant torches. The domed cieling followed the passage to it's end, where it opened into a vast room, that dwarved even the great frame of Dolbain.
The carpeted flooring of the room had various designs, all interwoven into each other. It would take the most observant man on earth his lifetime to figure them all out. All over the room were other people, all in small groups, intently conversing with one another. As soon as he came in, they all seemed to go silent, and turn their attention to him. He licked his lips with discomfort, and tried to ignore their prying eyes, but every way he could possibly look were those impertenant eyes, all focused on him, with slight wary murmurs of voices interrupting the silence every once in a while. Dolbain knew they were talking about him. He didn't care, all he wanted was to see the Crowned Chancellor and get out, and leave behind the suspicious stares, belonging to those impertenantly rude people.
He shifted his weight to his other leg as he stood near the center of the room. "You might as well get a knife to cut this tension," though Dolbain. By now, most people had gone back to their own conversations, to deal with their own situations. All but one, a woman he knew well from even before joining the Oleanderites. Nonae was her name, a name that carried much weight while he was growing up in the same neighborhood as her. She knew him well too. When other neighborhood boys would drool over her, Dolbain seemed to accept her as just another thread in the tapestry of life.
"So, what brings you back to our Great Hall?" she asked. He jumped. She had come up from behind, and he never heard or saw her until she asked him the question.
"I want to see the Crowned Chancellor...on confidential buisness," he replied. He knew her so well. "Here it comes," he thought, "she's going to interrogate me. 'What confidential buisness?'" He could almost feel the question in anticipation. But for some reason she didn't ask, but rather moved on to another topic.
"Still wearing the sword? I would've thought you would've disgarded it by now. It's not like you need it anymore anyway."
"Oh, you know why. It is, after all, a family heirloom. My great grandfather slaughtered many a Petrifyte with this sword. Just because I've learned to use the elements of nature doesn't mean I'm going to give up something like that. And despite my newfound skills, I still am a Commander in the Guard." There was silence for a while. He pretended to look past her and examine some of the other Oleanderites in the hall, but was still concious of her, standing there, looking for new things to draw attention to. It was yet another awkward moment in a place that was awkward for him, with the one woman who was awkward to him. He was glad when a man approached, and said, "The Crowned Chancellor will see you now."
Dolbain, with a goodbye nod to Nonae, followed the servant. He knew the way well, but it was a common courtesy for guests of the Crowned Chancellor to be lead to their destination. The man walked very slowly, but Dolbain was glad, this way he could think. The hallway seemed to tighten into a tiny tunnel as his mind wandered to Nanae. Suddenly a sharp cough woke him from his train of thought. The servant was gesturing toward the door, and Dolbain three feet past it without even realizing it. With a mumbled thanks Dolbain walked into the room. It was also elegantly decorated, but compared to the hall seemed to be a hoghouse. A man stood at the window, staring off into space. Purposely making a loud footstep, Dolbain stood there, waiting for the man to snap out of his own train of thought. The long brown hair dangled in the wind from the open bay window, over a bright orange cloak with the Oleanderite insignia, a flower with sharp blades for petals and a large equal-sided triangle in the center of the flower.
It was some time before Dolbain summed up enough courage to speak. "Chancellor, I am Dolbain. I wish to speak with you."
"I know. I was simply thinking how it came to be that you deserted us like you did. Did we not treat you like our own son? Did we not provide you with nourishment for your own ambition? I still do not know the answer."
"You and I both know why I left. It was for the benefit of both me and the Oleanderites for me to leave. I had no other choice." Dolbain grew annoyed.
"No matter. Let's get on to buisness. The Vaelic Guard has sent you to be the go between for themselves and me. We're both dominant powers today, and we both have the desire for peace. The Su'dah are too much of a threat, and we can't afford to be at each other's throats anymore. We must join to face the coming threat," he turned to face Dolbain now, and looked straight into his eyes. "I see you've done well. A Commander in the Vaelic Guard - that's impressive."
"Yes, I've been lucky. The Generalty took a liking to me. They put me in charge of the First Edict, the King's own bodyguards." Once again, someone was questioning him. He didn't like that. "Oh why can't you all just let me do my job already," he thought in desperation.
"I can never work with you until you tell me everything about why you left, you know that," the Chancellor carefully said.
"You want to know? Everybody wants to know. I walk into this hall, and all I see are people staring at me. Everybody's just looking, and not saying anything. You're the first who finally asked, and you're going to know. You people went too far. There was one Su'dah in that village. 'Kill them all, it's the only way to get rid of him,' those were my orders. A small, sleepy village with children playing, farmers innocently ploughing their fields, and the sweet smells of fresh baked bread and roasting meat from each of the houses. I couldn't kill so much innocence just to get rid of some pathetic misguided person who served the Darkness. So I defected to the Vaelic Guard, and told them to send guards to protect that homely little village from the next assassin you send after you find out what I did." Dolbain felt like he just threw a boulder he was carrying off of a cliff into the waters beneath.
The Crowned Chancellor stood there and listened, even after Dolbain finished, staring a hole right through him. He could see perfectly well the anger, the hate, the maelstrom in the soul of this man, the only Oleanderite to ever go against the will of the Chancellor, the only one who escaped his grip. "That will be all, Dolbain," the Chancellor said, as he tugged the chord to summon the servant. "Show this man out," he said to one of the two servants who came in.
"Goodbye and good luck to you, Dolbain. I look forward to working with you. Maybe one day you'll see the nessessity of what I ordered you to do, but it's obviously not today. Please send my greetings to the Generalty, as well as their wise choice for an adjutant he made when he thought of you," he said in a kind, fatherly tone, as he turned to the window. When Dolbain was gone, he turned to the remaining servant and said, "Tell the Hunters to have him killed, and to make it look like brigands. That man will hate us for the rest of his life." With that, he turned back to his window, which opened up onto a courtyard, a single figure walking through in the dusk. Only Dolbain. Soon, he rode out the gates of the fortress.