Chapter 6

Bone tired and eye sore, Achmed made his way down to the Loritorium. He had been up for what must have been days on end now going over the plans for the security of the mountain. Not only was he sleep deprived, but he had been on constant alert since this most recent attempt on his life. He felt that living as a king in his own mountain kingdom may have begun to soften him and allow him to let down his guard.

Now, since the last attack, he was constantly searching the air for unfamiliar vibrations and strange rhythms. All of his senses were on overload and he needed a place to relax and let his alertness go for a moment. The Lortoritum was the best place that he could think of for that purpose. It was, without a doubt, the most secure place in his entire mountain. There was only one way in and it was loaded with security measures, not to mention the one entrance itself could only be reached through his bedroom which was now under heavy guard.

He had debated whether to go down. He knew that Rhapsody was on her way and that she would be there within the next few hours. He wanted desperately to meet her upon her arrival like he should have the last time she came to Ylorc, but he wasn't sure that he could stand another moment of the tearing vibrations that ripped at his sensitive skin for a moment longer.

He would emerge just as she arrived and bring her back down here with him. After all, this was the place where they had sealed their new life together, what better place than this to welcome her back.

But then the thoughts that he had been fighting off since she had left came back to haunt Achmed's mind. What if in the time that she had come she realized what a terrible mistake she had made? He knew that she was all that he had ever wanted for an achingly long time now, but he also had never expected that she too would feel the same for him. It never added up right in his mind that she should choose to be with him.

It would just fit that coming this close to holding his desires that it should fall from him. That was how he had come to see life, as a constant struggle for desires that would always be just beyond reach. At least, that was how he perceived his own life. Rhapsody's on the other hand…

Rhapsody, though she had faced many trails, always seemed able to touch and hold on to her desires and dreams. She had crossed time and space to be reunited with her first love. She brought the Lirin together again and became their Queen. Whatever she set out to accomplish, she did it. How could it be that someone who could have anything in life would choose him?

Shaking his head of these thoughts, he moved closer to the sleeping child and looked down upon her peaceful face. This child was all that he could ever be certain of. As long as the world turned, she would need to be protected from the F'dor and it was his duty to give protection. No matter what else might happen, this child was his first priority.

Drawing peace from the certainty of that fact, he sat down beside her bed of stone and leaned with his back against it. Feeling another rush of weariness, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted into a light slumber.

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It was not very long after that Rhapsody arrived at Ylorc. When, again, Achmed was not present at her arrival, she knew where to find him. This time, not as consumed with grief and self doubt, she had no problem going to him instead of waiting for him to come to her.

Quietly, she slipped into his chambers and undid the locks to the Lortorium entrance before descending down the passage. When she reached the room of her destination, she could faintly make out by the light of the fire well a darkened form leaning against the bed of the sleeping child. A peaceful smile crossed her face as she carefully walked over to both the sleeping child and sleeping king.

When she reached Achmed's side she kneeled down and positioned herself by him, leaning against the living stone and laying her head on his shoulder. No sooner had her head brushed against him did he wake up. Rhapsody was surprised at his sudden start and tensing when he awoke before relaxing once again. Normally, Achmed would have known, even in his sleep that it was she who was so near him and would not have given such a reaction to her.

Slowly sitting up and looking at him she asked, "Achmed, what's wrong?"

He sat still for a moment longer before replying in his usual cynical tone, "You startled me out of a sleep I had no intention on taking and ask me what's wrong? You're lucky that I didn't kill you on the spot."

"Achmed, you always know when it's me."

"Well, this time I didn't," He said with a ring of finality. He had no intention of discussing with her what had happened while she was gone; it would only upset her. Besides, he didn't even want to admit to himself how close he had come to dying, let alone to his love.

"I am sorry," Rhapsody amended, but with a hint of further question in her voice. She knew that he wasn't telling her something, but it was apparent that he was not going to tell her anything more.

"But this is no greeting to give a lover after months of separation," she said as she approached him once again, giving him a warm embrace, followed by a deep kiss. As they reluctantly parted Rhapsody said, "I have missed you. Tell me, what has been going on around here since I left."

"Just more and more preparations for your damned moot. There's a lot of security concerns this year with the death of your husband."

Nodding, Rhapsody could tell that there was still something that he was holding back but decided to let it go and move on. "Well, I'm here now to help with whatever I can. Meridion will be along in a day or so, he suggested I leave a little before him as he wrapped things up back home."

Nodding, Achmed reached his arm out to warp around her shoulders as he began to guide her towards the exit. "Fine. Though I do have some questions for your son, it is nice that he has allowed us a day alone together."

Rhapsody smiled and allowed herself to be taken back up to the King's chambers.

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Meanwhile, in Bethany, another couple was having a conversation of a different kind.

"Now Leah, you really have lived up to everything you said you would, accept one small thing. The moot is a week away and I still have not heard what the plan is for getting the Cymrians to elect me as their next Lord instead of that stuck up son of Rhapsody's," Tristan began as he sat up in the bed that they had been sharing.

Rolling over on to her stomach and looking up at him, Leah replied, "No, I haven't. But I believe now would be a perfect time to clue you in." With that, she slid off of the bed and walked over to where her cloak lay thrown over a desk at the other side of the room. Tristan could see her reach into a pocket sown to the inside and pull something small out.

"This," she began as she walked back over to Tristan, "is a very powerful drug. The person who ingests a few drops of this will fall into a deep sleep. So deep that to the untrained eye, it will seem that the person is dead."

"Interesting, go on."

"The plan is that at the moot, the night before the election is held, you shall be the one to fall into this deep sleep. I will then use what skill I have at making it look like you have been grievously injured and that somebody had attacked you. With that, the Lady shall be summoned to your tent to examine you and declare that you are indeed dead."

"Wait, I'm not sure that's a good idea, she will probably be able to tell I'm not. And besides, where does me faking my death get me in respect to becoming Lord? They have a tendency to only elect someone who is alive."

"Patience, dear one. The girl will find you dead; she has been fooled by the drug before and will so again. Now, after she has determined that you are truly dead, I will ask her to herald this news to all of the Cymrians at once at the moot on the morrow. I shall tell her that it would be good for everyone to get a good night's sleep before hearing of the terrible news and it would be such an honor for your death to be herald to the people by the Lady herself. Then, after she leaves, I shall administer the antidote to you, where upon you shall awake and stay hidden in your tent until the morning. Then, right after she announces your death to the people, you shall show yourself. You shall claim that it was her own son who attacked you and that she knew it, that she was covering for him. And, in fact, she had known that you were not dead and simply left you to die so that you would not get in the way of her son's election.

This will, no doubt, cause the Lady great pain as she will have lied to all of her people once again in reporting your death, making her not much use in her son's defense. And it will also leave enough doubt in the minds of the people that Meridion may not be the best choice for the job and leave you with a fair amount of sympathy votes."

Tristan thought this over for a moment before asking, "And how does this win me Rhapsody? You said before that if I played my cards right I might gain her, how does calling her a liar and conspirator win her over to me?"

"This part shall be up to you. You must go to her after you are elected with apologies and comfort. She will be quite distressed over the whole affair. I will have the evidence that you will need to prove to her that it was her son that had attacked you but you have since discovered that she had nothing to do with it. This should at least crack her shell a bit for you to begin inserting your charm."

"And hopefully a bit more than that," Tristan said with a wicked smile. "This could work. Of course, if it doesn't, I could be in a lot of trouble."

"Well, the worst that could happen is that they still don't elect you, though I can't see how that would happen. They will never find any evidence of the drug and that is the only thing that could tie any of this back to you. And if, by chance, they begin to suspect you, I will have left evidence behind that it was me who had engineered the plot and I will be long gone before anyone could lay a hand on me. So you see, you really can't lose here, no matter what the out come. If it should fail, you at least got a few months of wonderful pleasure from me with no repercussions to you. And, of course, if it doesn't, then you will be the next Lord Cymrian."