Chapter 4

A Poor Liar

Lyude did not sleep well that night. In his dreams he was haunted by his brother's last words to him and the lie he was expected to live. He saw King Ladekahn's face, full of anger and disappointment. He saw Ladekahn calling for the guard and himself being escorted away. All the while his brother's words rang continuously in his ears. "You no longer exist."

Lyude jumped awake to the sound of a knock at his door. Cold sweat drenched his brow. He hugged his knees to his chest a single tear streaking down his face as he closed his crimson eyes tight. Would it be like this for the rest of his life?

"Ambassador?" came Matthias' voice.

"Yes?" said Lyude once he had regained his voice.

"I bring a message."

"Just a moment." said Lyude. He wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly dressed. He opened the door once he was finished. "Can I help you?"

"The king has invited you to dine with him this morning. Would you attend?" Asked Matthias.

"It would be an honor." said Lyude.

"Follow me, then. That is, if you're ready."

"I'm ready." said Lyude as he pulled on his gloves.

He wasn't. He had absolutely no appetite, but he knew that it would be rude to refuse. He certainly didn't want to seem aloof either. One of his greatest enemies in this adjustment would be the stereotype that his people were all snobbish and condescending in manner. If there was one thing that could save him, it was his respect for other cultures and ideas. He pulled his military discipline to the forefront of his consciousness and adopted his flat expression and proud demeanor. It hid his exhaustion, and poor mood.

King Ladekahn was awaiting him in the dining hall when he arrived. The table was much too large for two people but two settings had been placed. One at the head of the table and one on the right hand side.

Lyude had half expected to be sitting across from him, almost twenty feet away. He would have almost preferred it. Sitting a king's right side was a great honor, one he did not deserve. It also suggested that King Ladekahn did not merely wish to dine, but converse as well. He took his seat quietly, staring at the table cloth.

"Is something troubling you, Ambassador?" asked Ladekahn. Lyude made no response. "Lyude?"

"Huh?" said Lyude with a start. "Oh, I apologize, your majesty."

"Is there something troubling you, Lyude? You seem quite preoccupied."

"Tell him!" Lyude's conscience was screaming it, "Tell him!" Lyude closed his eyes. "Nothing, sire." he said, "I...was just thinking. My imperial sailboat was badly damaged on the way here and I was wondering if I would be able to repair it."

"I see..." said King Ladekahn, "So, Lyude, tell me a little about yourself. I've already read your file, but that doesn't tell me much about you."

"There's little to tell, really." said Lyude. "I was raised and home-schooled by a foster nurse named Almarde. I began fervent music lessons when I was six after I was sent to have my magnus read for military placement. I have an older brother and sister in Mintaka. Nothing very interesting."

"I wouldn't say that." said Ladekahn as he drank from his glass. Lyude took a bite of toast and chewed quietly. "What happened to your ship?" asked Ladekahn after a moment.

"I won't know until I get it opened up. The instruments went haywire on me early yesterday morning. When I began running a sweep of the ship's systems, there was a small explosion and my entire control array was disabled. I had to manually disconnect the rudder, sails, and steering in order to get here."

"I suppose all Imperial soldiers have a degree of mechanical capability." said Ladekahn.

"A degree." agreed Lyude. "All soldiers are trained to run simple maintenance on their vessels and take care of simple repairs."

Ladekahn nodded. "I understand that you will be required to continue your training and studies alongside your new duties. What will you require in order to do this?"

Lyude stopped with a bite of sausage half way to his mouth. He set his fork down pensively. "That may be difficult, come to think of it. I have written drills that I am to follow, but no available sparring partner."

"I'm sure that we could arrange for one of the knights to aid you." said Ladekahn. Lyude looked doubtful.

"I don't know, your majesty. The weapon I am assigned would not make for a fair fight considering the exercises. Perhaps an archer, but even then..."

"Hmm... I will watch you run some of your exercises on a dummy and discern what will be required. You will not improve in your abilities fighting against a scarecrow."

Lyude smiled, just a little. "I expect not." he said.

Ladekahn nodded. Pleased to see a hint of humor in the boy. "I would expect you would like to have your ship repaired as soon as possible. I will have it towed to Nashira so that you may have a proper look at it. Just let me know when you are ready to go."

"That is very kind of you, your majesty." said Lyude. "I really should try to get it operational. If you require nothing of me, I would like to assess the damage this morning."

"Very well." said Ladekahn and sent a server with the order. When Lyude excused himself and prepared to go to Nashira, the head knight came out into view. "He's lying." said the head knight.

"Through his teeth." sighed King Ladekahn.

"He isn't much of a liar, but it's clear that we can't trust him. He should be sent away immediately."

"Not necessarily, Captain. A poor liar often signifies a reluctant liar. I do not think the boy intends harm... I'll give him a little time. Perhaps there is something more to this than we know."

Matthias was assigned the task of escorting Lyude to Nashira. He would be his guide and aid him with the repairs if necessary. As they walked through Sheliak, Matthias pointed out areas of interest and was pleased to find Lyude an active and genuinely interested listener. The people in the street stared at him strangely. An old man even spat at his feet. Matthias stopped to scold him but Lyude touched his shoulder and shook his head. "It's all right. Don't worry about it."

"I will worry about it, Ambassador. You are a guest of the king and therefore are to be treated with respect."

"Ambassador?" grumbled the old man, suddenly striking at Lyude with his cane. "AMBASSADOR!" Lyude backed up in shock. He had suddenly found himself in the center of the scene that was quickly developing. This was a bit far. "Why in the world would an Imperial be allowed to live here as a soldier? Go back to your fancy shiny city where you belong you snoot boot of a whelp."

"Enough!" said Matthias. "Ambassador, I'm so sorry, perhaps you would be more comfortable with guards as well?"

"No. It's all right." said Lyude. "I do beg your pardon, my good sir, but may I ask the reason for your hostility?"

"No, you may not ask the reason for my hostility! Fancy talk. Typical of a Mintakan buffoon. Go home!" said the old man.

"I'm sorry if my presence disturbs you, sir." said Lyude. "But I have done nothing to deserve your hostility. Would you kindly postpone your judgement?"

The old man opened his toothless mouth and closed it in astonishment. He grumbled something incoherent and stomped off as well as his limping gait would allow. Lyude nodded to Matthias and they continued. Once they were out of the city Lyude released a sigh and shook his head wearily.

"I can't believe you just let that man talk to you like that." said Matthias. "He should have been thrown in prison for such blatant disrespect."

"I hope one day to eventually earn the respect of the citizens."said Lyude. "Either way it seems I am off to a bad start but I did not wish to begin my ambassadorship with being the cause of an arrest."

"I guess I see what you're saying." said Matthias, "But I'm truly sorry for your troubles. That is not the way of Diadem."

"I wouldn't judge your country by the actions of one man." said Lyude.

"Well, I should warn you that he may not be alone in his feelings."

"I have no doubt. I came here to be of use to our nations, I can't cower at the first sign of trouble. As you know, relations between our two nations have never been exactly sound. Perhaps with a little time and greater understanding of one another that can change. Wow... this is beautiful."

They had just reached the cloud passage and Lyude looked over it's beauty appreciatively. "The cloud passage? I suppose. I guess after a while you just get used to it." said Matthias. "What is Alfard like?"

Lyude shook his head. "Nothing like this." he said. "Most of the country is dusty and infertile. There are two main settlements. The small mining village of Azha, and the capital city of Mintaka. Azha is a simple mining village, worlds apart from Mintaka but invaluable nonetheless. The lava caves are located there and the villagers work the mines and ship their supplies to the Imperial fortress, a large training facility and home of Emperor Geldoblame. Mintaka, where I was born and raised is a city of gold and is bolstered by the latest of our technology."

"Wow. I bet it's really a sight to see." said Matthias.

"It's beautiful in it's own right." said Lyude. "But trees and flowers are a rare sight. There were once a few colonies of trees in Azha, rather large ones. But they rotted from the inside long ago and became hollow vestiges. The Azhans live in them now."

"They live in hollow trees?" Lyude nodded.

They walked quietly the remainder of their walk to Nashira and discovered when they arrived that Lyude's boat was already there. A small girl looked up at Lyude curiously. He smiled at her, suddenly reminded of Scalla. He pushed the small child from his mind, the last thing he needed was to dwell on past friendships. He climbed into the boat and checked the controls again. Just as before, nothing was operational. He manually opened four panels: two on each side.

"Can I help?" asked Matthias.

"Make certain that no one is on the docking bay." said Lyude over the side. "I'm not sure how fast these will move when I release them."

Matthias ushered a few villagers from the docking area and gave the all clear. Lyude pulled a central lever and four thin legs came out of small holes in the side of the ship setting down on the ship's dock. Lyude worked a crank until the legs held the ship about sixteen feet in the air. He put on a thin tool belt with oddly shaped tools and a sturdy harness. He lowered himself from the deck until he was completely under the boat. He set a clamp on the rope to hold it in place and pulled a large panel from the bottom of the ship, which he took back to the deck before lowering himself again.

He took some extensions from the harness around his waist and hooked them into some loops under the boat. He turned the clasps on the main supports of the harness and was able to pull himself upside down and have his knees set firmly on the bottom of the boat as he worked. His long red hair dangled and blew in the wind. There were a few chuckles, but Lyude paid no mind.

He found the problem immediately. A small detonating unit was planted on the computer's main unit. It had disintegrated many of the filaments and wires and had been set to explode at a certain command. One that the saboteur had no doubt Lyude would use.

He removed a small laser tool from his belt and carefully cut the unit loose, placing it in a small bag he had strapped tightly to his hip. He slid his knees back and allowed himself upright. One could not stay in the upside down position too long. It would make the job a lot easier if he could bring the ship over land. At the moment, the only thing under him was air. Though the dock was just a few feet away. He checked a few other things and then released the extensions. He got back into the boat and manually lowered it. There was nothing he could do.

"Well?" asked Matthias. "Can you fix it?"

"No. It's too badly damaged. All the memory in the computer banks is lost. I can't even get communications up without certain parts."

"Any idea what happened?"

"Yes. I know what happened." Lyude said. He had reverted the detonator to a magnus for later study, but Matthias need not know the details of that.

"Well, I've been instructed to show you around, so I suppose I should introduce you to Reblys." said Matthias. "He can tell you anything you'd like to know about Nashira."

"Reblys?" said Lyude. "Is he the leader of this village?"

"Yeah, sort of. Follow me, please."

Lyude nodded and followed Matthias into a nearby bar.