Capriones 8/16/2006
Disclaimer: We shall make use of several of the characters from The Slayers, none of whom belongs to us.
Chapter Twenty-Seven -- Prince Randolph
It had been a terrible day and an even worse night. When Zelgadiss failed to recover promptly, Amelia broke down. She was overwhelmed by the profound fear that she may have contributed to his death. Sylphiel remained to comfort her after Xelloss rushed Zelgadiss away. After a short time, the two young women moved to Xelloss' tent where they avoided curious eyes and, when night finally ended the painful day, slept fitfully. As the following morning dragged on without word from Xelloss, Amelia had refused to eat, but Sylphiel succeeded in getting her to drink some tea. Zelgadiss had not returned, nor had Xelloss, Lina, or Gourry. There was nothing to do but wait, and hope. The two young women were seated on pillows, when a young boy's voice called from outside the tent.
"Princess, Queen Zelas asks for you to join her immediately."
Terror struck Amelia at the servant's sudden appearance. Amelia was worried that Zelgadiss' absence had been discovered, that her sham marriage to Xelloss had been unveiled, or that her night with Zelgadiss had been revealed– or all three. Her nerves were already raw from worry; this might prove too awful a trial for her. Sylphiel reached out and touched her hand reassuringly.
"Go ahead. I'll follow you and keep out of sight," Sylphiel whispered. "We have to stick together, Amelia."
"Thank you..."
The prince nearly filled Zelas' tent with his imposing presence. Like Prince Philionel, Randy was more than average height with the musculature of a wrestler. He wasn't dark like his older brothers; his fine, blonde hair hung limply and looked matted even when clean. His broken nose lent character to his robustly handsome features and his overall rugged masculinity sparked Zelas' interest.
"Prince Randolph, hello," she said, smiling slightly and extending a hand, which he took and kissed lightly. "My name is Zelas, Queen of the Capriones."
"Zelas, an uncommon, but lovely name," he said, his voice carrying a ragged edge no amount of training could smooth out; it was a male family trait. "Nice to meet you."
Zelas felt his eyes rove over her body quickly before sliding away self-consciously. He appeared uncomfortable in her presence. She was a woman of loose morals, a wild, free creature, who knew how alluring she was to men of suppressed natures like him.
"What can I do for a prince of Seyruun?" she said suggestively.
"I'm looking for something. Two people, outlaws."
"And you believe I'm harboring criminals of Seyruun here?" she asked, her smile bemused, watching him from beneath her eyelashes.
He blushed, answering quickly, "Not knowingly, I'm sure."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose while sneaking glances around the room. Whatever he was looking for, he would not find it in her tent, she was certain. She might as well savor the moment while measuring the man. Zelas invited him to choose a pillow cluster to lounge on with a graceful sweep of her arm.
"Would you like refreshments after your long ride?"
"Um, no, thank you." He continued to stand. "I'm looking for a man, a small one with unusual scarring and a girl, an outlaw sorceress named Lina Inverse."
Zelas understood that Lina had spent the previous day in the company of her son, Gourry, and neither had joined her for dinner or returned to their tents last night. From her standpoint, it was safe to say another wedding was soon to be announced. Returning her thoughts to the moment, she could smile sincerely, because, technically, Lina wasn't there in the camp proper. Zelas didn't feel the necessity to admit to this man that Lina ever had been there.
"My son owns a slave who's scarred. I have no idea where he is currently. Lina Inverse... I know who she is. She isn't here. You are welcome to look around, if you don't believe me."
Randy appeared to be discouraged by this news. A low rumble escaped his throat and the prince's brows drew together. "I'm not looking for a slave type. The man I want would be defiant. Well, I'll have that look around. There is an object of great value, a stolen item, which bandits may have traded... possibly it's here."
Zelas wondered who sent this man. He clearly wasn't here on his own accord. He lacked the enthusiasm necessary to carry out his job, so, she wondered, what was he really here for? Her thoughts were interrupted when Amelia pushed through the tent flaps, a servant at her side.
"Queen Zelas, you called for me? Is something the matter?" she asked, her voice shaking.
Amelia was totally unprepared to see Prince Randolph with Zelas. "Uncle Randy?"
"Amelia, dear," Zelas said, meaning to comfort her realizing that the poor thing must think that her father sent this man to bring her back. "I'm sorry to disturb you. I know newlyweds enjoy their private time together, but your uncle has come looking for a scarred boy and a sorceress, neither of whom are here to my knowledge."
She paused, letting the information sink in and the color to return to Amelia's face before continuing. "He is also looking for an object we may have received in trade. To show our cooperation with the royalty of Seyruun, I'd like you to be his guide." Zelas looked directly at Randy adding, "She is recently married to my son."
Randy did not react to the import of the news.
Amelia, however, agreed immediately, relief apparent in her voice. "Yes, ma'am. Uncle Randy, maybe you should describe this thing so I can help you search?"
As Amelia and her uncle left the tent, Zelas summoned her servant. "Have Xelloss follow them, and warn him to hide his slave."
"He's not here," the servant said looking over his shoulder just to be certain Xelloss hadn't snuck in behind him.
"Good, that's what I want, but find Xelloss."
The servant fought with his confusion a moment. He hadn't seen Zelgadiss either, but it was Xelloss whom he had meant.
"I haven't seen him." However, since he knew her next command would be to find him, he simply nodded, adding, "But I will!" and rushed off.
Unsuccessful at seducing the man, Zelas now wished to rid the settlement of the bothersome prince. As far as she was concerned, Prince Randolph was a dead loss. She felt no allegiance to the nobility of Seyruun, but she required their armies to fight her battle against the cardinal. All in all they were a lot of trouble to her; that's what Xelloss was for. Why have clever, resourceful sons if not to ease the burdens of her life? Hopefully, Xelloss would prove correct and Valgaav would bring the Cepheid tribes to her aid. She wouldn't wish to ask Milgasia to intercede on their behalf; she already owed him far too much as it was.
Zelas brushed away past memories with a toss of her hair, preferring to clear more space for future planning than to dwell unnecessarily on the past. Then there was her other son. If Gourry were to marry the sorceress, then her circle of power would be complete. That might be arranged today.
"Locate Gourry for me and bring him here. I'd like a word with him," she ordered another servant.
Amelia trotted alongside her uncle, her mind lost in worry concerning Zelgadiss' welfare. She had no idea whether or not he was alive. She did not notice how odd her uncle was acting, his agitation, until an hour's fruitless search began to tell on his nerves.
"This is ridiculous. I'll never find it this way."
"Well, if I had a better idea of what it was you are looking for, maybe I could help more," Amelia suggested.
"That's not good," he muttered, more to himself than in answer to her. "I'll have to call in the guard."
As he trampled over her foot in his sudden change of direction, Randy's irritation grew. "Get out of my way!" he said furiously.
"The guard?" Amelia wondered, nursing her bruised toes with a healing spell. "What guard? Daddy's guard? You brought them with you?
Randy ignored her and stomped off the way he had come. Amelia's thoughts turned to Lina and Gourry. So their trip had been successful? She was about to ask her uncle about them, when it occurred to her that he had just told Zelas that he was looking for Lina. Hadn't Randy seen Lina in Seyruun and come to help? Hadn't Randy been sent from her father, bringing the palace guard with him as aid for their cause? The horror struck her just then, than it wasn't the palace guard her uncle was summoning, but Rezo's Red Guard! She looked hard at his retreating back wondering what had changed her uncle so much. He hadn't greeted her, asked about her, or even recognized her! She kicked herself for not noticing his odd behavior immediately.
Oh, Zelgadiss! Please be okay!
Amelia and Randy had walked to the outskirts of the settlement. A scattering of tents and caravans were to their left and to the right a copse of trees, large enough and dense enough to conceal the guardsman.
"If you've brought the Red Guard here," Amelia shouted. "I'll stop you! They are unrighteous murderers! They don't abide by their own laws! They'll kill these people without due cause or a trial!"
Randy turned around, his frown twisting into a sneer as he curled a lip. "Yes, they will. Every man, woman and child will die until I've found what I'm searching for."
Amelia realized with an icy chill that Xelloss and Zelgadiss would be returning and so were Lina and Gourry and they'd be heading into a trap. Innocents were in danger! The possibility of terrible devastation required extreme measures to prevent it. Amelia wondered if she had the courage to stand up to her uncle and the Red Guard, alone if it was required, in order to ensure justice was served.
"This is a nightmare!" Amelia shouted.
"No, it is worse. It's real and you won't wake up from it."
"Why are you doing this, Uncle Randy?" Amelia cried out in a last desperate appeal to his better nature. "You were always looking for the peaceful solution. You were never a murder!"
Randy laughed at Amelia. "You've always been an opinionated creature, with an excessive need to dictate what is right and wrong. Do you remember once, when you were just a child visiting Atlas City, you were nearly killed trying to defend some mad, outspoken revolutionary? The wretched man was making a ridiculous speech in the street and a contingent of the Red Guard attacked him. You strode in shouting like a... a barrack room soldier. Called the guardsmen terrible names and shook your fist up at them, threatening them!"
His voice rose in incredulity. "The most absurd thing about it all was that you didn't even agree with what the man was saying, but, as you told me later, it was the principal of the act. He had the right to speak out and that was worth saving, you said."
Randy smirked. "Too bad you didn't let them kill me then, because then I wouldn't been captured and brainwashed later into killing the king, my father, and now you, too."
"That man I saved...back then... was you?"
"Oh, yes. I was a brave man."
"You k-killed the k-king?" As the initial shock wore off, the contempt in her face was plain. "And you call yourself a brave man? I won't let you hurt these people! Fight me here, one on one!"
Randy attacked first, opening fire with a volley of Fireball spells. Amelia deftly dodged or countered them with new spells she had learned from Zelgadiss. The few days of training were paying off! What she really wanted to try was the powerful Ra Tilt spell, but her uncle's attack continued unbroken, giving her no opportunity to carry off a lengthy incantation.
When the bombardment cut off unexpectedly, Amelia didn't hesitate. She drew her sword and began the spell. She nearly choked on the magic words when without warning skeletal creatures appeared to rise from the ground. Randy was summoning demons! Now the onslaught was from all sides at once, and she had no time to think. Amelia relied on her fighting skills and courage to face them down, but that courage nearly failed when she glimpsed men in ankle-long robes, swords gleaming and held high, at the forest edge. At his word, she figured, they could cover the short distance in minutes to join in the attack. She didn't think she could beat her uncle, his denizens from Hell, and the Red Guard at once!
She let out an involuntary squeal when a boney hand shot out, snatching at her cape. There was a dry, scraping followed by a ripping of fabric as she spun away from its grasp.
"Ahhh! Go away!"
Amelia wasn't the only one who recognized the danger. Capriones were fleeing the area, dragging children, carrying the weak, scattering she-knew-not-where. She heard a voice shout a warning over her shoulder.
"Get down!"
Amelia was jerked backwards a step under the pull of power surging beyond her field of vision. Instinctively, she threw up a shield, the strongest she could devise, flattened herself onto the ground, and then thanked the gods for Sylphiel.
Sylphiel was not a talented magic user, but she had overheard Lina repeating the incantation and watched her practice often enough to attempt casting it herself. Hoping that it wouldn't blast away any portion of the settlement, she let out the final words of her spell.
"Dragon Slave!"
A pulse of energy roared from the priestess' hands, over Amelia's barrier, blasting the monstrous, bony demons helter-skelter. Had the spell been delivered by Lina, its force might have cratered the area for miles around, but low-powered as it was, it was effective at altering the odds for the moment.
When the dust cleared, Amelia, Sylphiel, and Randy remained standing, the demons gone, reduced to piles of broken bones, the immediate area swept clean of structures and people. In the distance, Red Guard on horseback were emerging from the cover of the trees untouched by the spell. When she searched his face, Amelia was certain there was hope left, that there was some goodness left in him.
"Uncle Randy!" Amelia cried out. "Please stop! You can end this madness, and madness it must have been to have made you kill grandfather!"
"Father was weak, unwilling to defend us from our enemies and uphold the law."
"Enemies? You mean he didn't agree with Cardinal Rezo and would not condone the massacre of magic users? Help me fight injustice! Fight against Rezo and for justice, for what is right! You can make a difference and atone for your mistakes, offer redress for your misjudgment, starting here and now with these people!"
"That is not achievable. It is too late. What happens to these people doesn't matter. We must save our own," he said.
"It matters!" she said urgently. "If you allow this injustice without doing all we can against it, what are we worth?"
Amelia looked at him, her eyes entreating him to change his course of action and join her fight. Hearing the passion in her voice moved him; he looked away from her, avoiding her eyes, pretending to be thinking deeply of spiritual matters.
"That is just like you, full of pity and anger and courage, bound on some cause, not listening to anyone who tells you the impossibility of it," he said with derision.
The vision of Rezo's face appeared in his mind, reminding him of his recent actions and promises. For him, there was no going back. He had killed his father, the king. He had forsaken his sworn duties to his country. He had no choice but to do as the cardinal had ordered.
Amelia watched the emotional turmoil run across her uncle's face. Softening some, and then hardening, a cruel smile twisted his mouth into an unrecognizable mask. She hadn't convinced him, she thought with sorrow, which meant that she must prepare to defend the Capriones and herself from whatever would come next. Carefully, she recited the Ra Tilt spell and garnered her strength for the resulting conflagration.
Randy roared an oath, expelling a fiery spell Amelia didn't know. She released her own casting an instant later as she shouted the power words: "Ra Tilt!"
The spells collided, threatening to annihilate both castings, quenching their force, but Amelia's was stronger, riding over the other, enveloping Prince Randolph in a glowing miasma.
End Capriones, Chapter Twenty-Seven.