Palace Politics

Muld deals with jealousy as he meets with the Losasidhe King and Queen

8.

Palace Politics

 

It was the middle of the afternoon when Muld was finally led into the presence of King Eiolmoel and Queen Synthaeia.   The Losasidhe court was as beautiful and airy as most Elven buildings, even one built on an island in the middle of a huge volcano’s crater.    The volcano was long dormant, but the steam from below heated the waters of the lake and made the Losasidhe capital (where most of the Elves lived) into a pleasant place, despite its far northern location.

As far as he knew, the island had no official name other than what the humans and dwarves called it, ‘Losahome’ which was a mixture of the Elven word for snow, ‘Losa’, and the human word ‘home’.   But snow seldom fell on the island, due to the heat of the steam of the lake surrounding it.

Muld found the throne room about as he had imagined.    In the center dais sat, enthroned, King Eiolmoel and Queen Synthaeia, surrounded by a handful of court officials and several guards.   Off to one side were five smaller thrones, one draped in black cloth.   On one of these sat Syndi, and next to her on a common stool sat Deryck, who was holding her hands and apparently working all of his charms on her.

Syndi had changed into a rich green robe that any wizard would have envied and she seemed quite animated, laughing, smiling and giggling like a young girl in the middle of her first crush.

Muld felt a burning sensation in his chest and the pit of his stomach as he looked at her staring at the handsome elf with the wide-eyes of a little girl.

The sight distressed him, for he had thought she was more mature than that.  

Of course that wasn't the only reason for his distress, he reminded himself, turning his attention to the King and Queen.

 

Muld bowed low, his head spinning a bit from his injury as he moved, but not to where he stumbled.

“Master Muld, welcome to the home of the Losasidhe people.”   King Eiolmoel greeted him cordially.

“Thank you, Your Royal Highness.”

“I apologize for your rough treatment of earlier.   That was most unfortunate.”

“It was quite… stimulating,”  Muld answered tactfully, smiling to show that all was forgiven.

“You have met Captain Deryck?”   Queen Synthaeia said with subtle spite, gesturing toward where he sat with Syndi, “You must forgive them, Master Muld; they are childhood companions who have not seen each other in several years.    As you can see, they are quite close.”

“There is no reason to apologize, Your Highness, I certainly understand.     They make a fine pair and certainly a charming couple.”   He looked Synthaeia directly in the eye and smiled, challenging her attempt to make him jealous or hurt.

“Indeed they do!   We are extremely fond of Captain Deryck, aren’t we my dear?”

The king nodded, though he was not smiling as broadly now, as if he had suddenly perceived something.

“In fact,” Queen Synthaeia continued, “Captain Deryck has been like one of our sons.    He is close to our eldest son, Elothmends, as well.     Such a fine, handsome and heroic man, who has achieved great glory and honor at such a young age.   He will certainly be wreathed in greatness for many years.”

“No doubt, Your Majesty.”    Muld responded, maintaining an ‘I-don’t-care-at-all’ casual smile as she spoke.   Inside, it was a different story and his reaction confused him.

“Captain Derych is the commander of our first airship, ‘North Wind’,” King Eiolmoel added as if to steer the conversation away from his daughter’s relationship, “What did you think of it, Master Muld?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Syndi and Derych were now listening to the conversation respectfully, but he ignored them as he spoke to the king, “It is a beautiful ship, Your Highness, but as I was saying to some of its crew, it would benefit from arcane engines.”

“Arcane engines?”  the king repeated, “Indeed!   That is what powers most of Marksylvania’s ships, is it not?”

“Yes, Your Highness.    King Eleazar has several airships being constructed for a sort of ‘air navy’ and this past winter there were many older wind-powered merchant ships upgraded with arcane engines and purchased by Marksylvania to serve as a make-shift naval force until the new ships are completed.   They were upgraded in Hamerforge, Your Majesty, so you may have seen a few of them making test-flights in the skies.    They have been arriving in Westmark every few days this spring.”

“We’ve heard about them and we saw one up close, which is why we decided that we needed our own airshps,”  the king replied.

“With this new danger facing Marksylvania and your kingdom from these pirates, speed and maneuverability are essential.    Traditional maritine ships turn slowly by wind power, and do hardly any better in the air.     The pirate ship that your daughter and I captured would be outclassed by the new Marksylvania airships and probably by the old ones outfitted with arcane engines.    Hopefully, the pirate captain Hobnail does not have other ships with arcane engines.”

“They have harassed our villages and people for several months now, but they move silently by night so I do not know of any arcane engines powering their ships.”

“Thank Yesh for that!   I fear, Your Majesty, that Hobnail desires to upgrade his ships, for that is, no doubt, why he wanted the cannons that my guild built.   If he thinks of advanced weaponry, then he will likely also think of speed, especially if he plans on raids in Marksylvania where he knows we have faster airships.”

“What would you suggest that we do, Master Muld?”   The King asked.

“Your Highness, I would be glad to give to your people as a gift, the cannons that Hobnail stole from our guild.”

“Cannons?”   King Eiolmoel inquired and Muld quickly explained the arcane technology to him.

“All I would ask, Your Highness, is to be allowed to take this captured pirate ship back to Westmark so my guild can upgrade the vessel and utilize it to hunt down these pirates.”

His bold words seemed to get the attention of Derych.   Muld thought he heard a slight snicker from his direction and then the airship captain spoke up, “I wasn’t aware that you were so martial in character, Master Muld.”

Muld turned to him, smiling, but his eyes icy, “When offended or slighted, I can be, Captain Derych.     These pirates threaten the safety of everyone and need to be stopped.”

Derych kissed Syndi’s hand and stood up, speaking as he casually walked over to him, “I quite agree, Master Muld, but I think there may be a better use of the pirate ship as a decoy.”

“A decoy?”  He asked, but already his sharp mind had figured out what the handsome Losasidhe man had in mind.

“The pirates would want this ship back.    If they knew of it floating lifeless over the mountains, perhaps with one of their anchors dropped to keep it stationary, then they would try to retrieve it... if nobody was around.”

In spite of his dislike of the man, Muld smiled at the plan.   “We could leave the cannons where they were - the pirates would think that the ship was empty and when they arrived to tow it back to their base, we could attack by using them.”

Derych nodded, “You could use a scrying ball to contact us aboard the North Wind and we would come to your aid.   Then we’d hopefully have living pirate prisoners to interrogate and another airship.”

“It might work,”   Muld responded, turning to King Eiolmoel with a questioning look.

“I like the plan, gentlemen, and I believe that Master Muld’s aggressive stance is the right approach.”   The King turned to Muld.

“Master Muld, I would propose this for your consideration; we use your captured pirate ship for bait, with you and a small crew hiding aboard, with your arcane cannons.    Captain Derych will command the North Wind with a sizable force aboard his ship.    Between the two, perhaps we could even capture Hobnail himself!”

The three men seemed pleased with this plan, but suddenly there came a feminine voice from behind them.

“That sounds too dangerous to me,”   Syndi said, standing up now and joining them.

“Princess Synthaeia, sometimes danger is necessary,”   Derych said with the very slightest of a condescending tone to his words as he smiled charmingly at her.  

“Well, what happens if the pirates show up in two or three ships… or maybe a whole fleet of them?   They may have figured out what happened by now and be expecting a trap.”   She smiled back at Derych, but was clearly challenging him with her eyes.

“It is a risk worth taking,”   Derych replied quickly with a shrug, as if to show his bravery.

“Well, perhaps you should get Muld’s opinion on this, as his ship would be at the mercy of the pirates until the North Wind arrived.”

Derych turned back to Muld with a smug look, “Well?   What do you say, Master Magician?”

“I agree - it is worth the risk,”   He replied, though he was rather troubled by the points that Syndi had made.    He wasn’t about to back down and lose face.

Syndi sighed in frustration and looked to her father, “Daddy, surely you see my point?”

“I do, my dear, but these brave gentlemen are right.   We need a bold move to stop these pirates.    We shall go through with the plan.”

Syndi frowned and shook her head, but then said, “Well then I am going to be part of it.”

“No!”   Muld, Derych and Eiolmoel said as a chorus.

“Now look; I boarded that vessel by myself and rescued Muld - I think I can handle myself.”   She stood there with her hands on her hips, looking defiant and incredibly beautiful at the same time.

“That is no place for you,”   Queen Synthaeia offered her opinion.

“Her Majesty is right, Syndi,”   Derych gently added, working his smoothness on her, “Sneaking aboard a ship is admirable, but fighting off a crew of pirates is something else.    You should stay here and wait for us.   We can celebrate upon our victory.”

“If there is a victory to celebrate,”   She snapped, no longer smiling at the airship captain.   He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder and she took a step back to avoid it.    Muld managed to hide the smile that tried to cross his face.

“It’s too dangerous,”  The King told her as if talking to a child.

Syndi crossed her arms, “That is why they need me.”

“Need you where?”   Derych snorted.

“He needs me!”   She pointed at Muld.

“I can manage without you,”   He responded, knowing it would offend her.

“You haven’t done so well so far!”   She snapped back.

“Well we did capture a pirate ship.”  

“Yes, Muld, we captured it.   How will you activate all those cannons alone?”

“Your father has wizards here; the firing of them is simple enough for them to learn.”

“Then teach me how to do it!”   She was almost shouting.

“Syndi, I don’t think your father wants-“

“I don’t give a damn who wants it or not!”   She yelled, shocking all of them.    She turned to her father, “Daddy, I don’t mean any offense to you, but I am not a child any longer.    I don’t want to stand around wringing my hands like a good little wallflower.    I am a grown woman and I have earned a right to participate in this, and I intend to do just that!”

“You’re not acting like a ‘grown woman’ at all,”  Her mother mumbled from her throne, and Derych snickered slightly in agreement.   

She glared at him, “I was almost beguiled by you.   My eyes are open now.”

Derych laughed as if her words were a flirty jest and leaned toward her.    She knocked his hand away.    

“Syndi,”   Derych said as if trying to win over a spoiled child.

“Don’t try smooth talking to me, Lord Derych,”   She said coldly, which made her mother gasp at her hatefulness.

Syndi turned to Muld, “I’m part of the Practical Magic Guild, aren’t I?”

“Yes.” 

“Then it is settled; I’m going to help my guild.”

“Syndi-“ Muld said gently, but she glared angrily at him, her lovely green eyes warning him not to challenge her.

“Alright.”  He turned to the King and shrugged and, though he was frowning, Muld thought he saw more than a bit of amusement in her father’s eyes.

 

***

 

They spent an hour making plans, and then Muld was shown to his guest quarters for the night.    As he was led away, he saw the queen grab her daughter by the arm and leave with her in another direction, whispering to her angrily; the words not reaching him.   He could easily imagine what was being said.

   The plan that they had formulated was that they would rest tonight and bait the trap the following morning.    Muld would have three of the Losasidhe wizards to assist him, as well as Syndi, aboard the pirate vessel.

 

Muld lay back on the soft bed, glad for the softness for his throbbing head.   He had not received any sort of healing after he’d been struck and he wondered if perhaps he had a concussion.

The pillows were so soft though that he found his eyes growing heavier and heavier.    He was on the verge of sleep when the door was flung open with a bang, causing him to jolt to wakefulness.   

She came in like a tornado, her hands clenched at her side and her green eyes flashing like lightning.   Syndi stormed through the door and slammed it shut with her foot, mumbling something mostly to herself as her glare scanned the room for him.

He was tempted to hide under the bedcovers from her gaze, but she spotted him at that moment.

“THERE YOU ARE!”  She shouted, and he knew immediately that his headache was going to get worse.

“I am so mad I could just spit fire!”  She growled, stomping over to the bed and plopping down on her butt with such force that he was almost flung off the side.

“Uh… what’s wrong?”   He dared ask.  

“As if you didn’t know!”  She snapped back.   Even scowling, she was extremely lovely to behold, but he wouldn’t dare say that.

“Did I do something?”

“DID YOU DO SOMETHING!!?   ARE YOU SERIOUS!?”  She screamed at him and he cringed, holding his forehead.

“What’s wrong with your head?”  She asked in a still irritated, but at least softer tone of voice, “They didn’t heal you, did they?    Oh, that Derych!   I could just kill him!”   She growled in frustration and leaped off the bed, sending Muld bouncing around again.

She stomped over to a cabinet in one corner of the room, rummaged through it for a moment, then returned with a small corked bottle, which she flung in front of him.    Thankfully the little bottle didn’t break, but bounced off the soft mattress.

“Drink it!” She snapped, “You’d better thank Yesh that I don’t give you poison after the way you behaved today!”

Muld didn’t argue with her but popped the cork and drained the contents.     Warmth filled him and his head ceased hurting almost at once.   It was a concentrated healing potion.

“Thanks,”   He said to her as she sat on the bed across from him, her arms tightly folded across her chest and her lips still showing her fowl mood.

“Muld, why in the world did you have to try to one-up Derych?”

“One-up him?   What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, “Oh please!    You know exactly what I’m talking about!    Trying to be the bigger hero with the pirate ship!”

“I did no such thing!”  He replied with feigned offense.  

She smirked at him and said icily, “Well then what would you call it?”

“I was merely trying to help!   Using the pirate ship as bait was his idea, you know!”

“Oh, I know that!”   She shook her head, “But I expect stupidity from him… not from you!”

He didn’t know exactly how to respond to that statement, so he just took a deep breath and said, “Actually, it isn’t such a dumb idea, Syndi.”

“Oh no, of course not!    Put five or six wizards in the middle of the air on a pirate ship with cannons that they have no experience using in battle and expect them to hold off all the experienced pirates that take the bait, hoping that Captain Perfect and his airship’s crew will manage to arrive to assist on time!    That is assuming that the wind is favorable for the North Wind when the pirates attack!   Of course you strategic geniuses didn’t think of that factor, did you?”

“Well, it would be tough to plan out all the possible variables.”

“That is my point, Muld!    This whole thing is ridiculous!”

“Okay; so what would you have done, then?”

“I would have asked for experienced air crew members to fly the pirate ship back to Westmark.   Then you could have fortified it and returned with some of Marksylvania’s powered airships to hunt down the pirates.”

“Well, that was my original plan, but it would take time to implement.”

“So what if it does, Muld?   What would be the hurry?”  

“Well, it is a moot point now, Syndi, as the plan is set into motion.”

“All because you were jealous of Derych.”   Syndi said in a ‘matter-of-fact’ tone.

“Jealous?   Me?”

“Don’t try to deny it, I could tell.”

“Why would I be jealous of him?”

“You know darn well why!”

Muld just played dumb and shrugged as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

“You saw us together...”

“Yeah... so?”

“You grew jealous... admit it!”

“Syndi, why would I be jealous of you and Derych?   Obviously the two of you had some sort of relationship with each other, probably long ago when both of you were more-or-less children.   It really is none of my business.”

“That’s right, it isn’t!”   She snapped.

“The two of you make a handsome couple,”   He said with his best faked smile.

“Thank you, I think so too.”   She was calling his bluff of course, so he just couldn’t back down.

“It looks like your mother approves of him, too.”

As he expected, that scored a point, and she frowned slightly, then quickly put the mask back up.    “Derych is an old friend of the family from the very best noble line of our people.”

“So why’d the two of you lose touch with each other?    Your father acted as if the two of you hadn’t seen each other in years.”

“He has been serving as a diplomat to the dwarves in Hammerforge for several years.”

“Ah, I see.   So you’ve been pining away missing him?”

She frowned, offended, “He may have pined after me, but I didn’t sit around thinking about him.”

“Really?    You both seemed so happy together.”

Syndi’s frown deepened, “Look, Muld, though it really isn’t any of your business, I will set you straight as I can see you are dying to know.     Derych was a childhood crush of mine, but he was a few years older and always treated me as just a kid.”

“Until today?”  Muld interrupted, and by Syndi’s glare, he knew he had hit the nail on the head.

“He just saw me differently,”  She said cautiously.

“Well, he certainly loved what he saw, that is for sure.    I’m quite certain that he doesn’t look at you as a child now, my dear.    You should have no trouble keeping him focused on you.”

His remarks surprised Syndi slightly, for she had expected him to ridicule the relationship.    She was silent for a few moments, then said in a calm voice, “He might be physically attracted to me, but he still treats me like a child.”

“Well, why don’t you prove to him that you aren’t a child?”   Muld suggested gently.

“How?”  She asked, looking up at him.

“By showing him how confident and mature you are.    You took the first step this afternoon by defying him.     Be who you are, Syndi, and who you want to be.   Don’t let anyone - not your parents, not Derych, not even me, tell you who you should be or how you should act.    You are an extremely intelligent, extremely beautiful young woman that can do anything you set your mind to and be anything you desire to be, as long as you are willing to work at it.”

 

Her pretty green eyes softened and a slight smile crept across her lips, though she tried to keep up the air of being annoyed at him.

“You were jealous,” She flatly stated after a quiet moment.

“I could never compare to Derych, Syndi, so really, it would be foolish of me to be jealous of him.   I was, however, worried that I had lost a dear friend to an arrogant, c**k-sure man who would do his best to dominate you, one way or another.    I would hate to see all your potential as a Practical Magician -and even more so as a Sorceress- be lost by becoming a trophy wife or mistress of a man who wouldn’t respect your intelligence and independence.”

“Perhaps I was just playing with him - giving him a taste of his own medicine,”   She suggested, holding her chin up proudly.

“So you’re going to reject him and break his heart?”

Syndi smiled mysteriously, “I don’t know... it is my decision.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Dinner will be in half an hour, Muld.     There should be some suitable clothes for you to select from in the wardrobe.”

“Clothes for me?”  He grinned, “I get to dress up too!”

“Well, it is better than the impoverished look that you favor,”  She kidded with a sincere smile, standing up, “Pick out something nice and be prompt so I don’t have to listen to mother, okay?”

“Alright.”

Syndi opened the door and paused, looking back at him, “You were jealous.”

Before he could deny it again, she had exited, closing the door behind her.

Reviews

[Elina]

Another great chapter, Eddie!

"It was the middle off the afternoon when Muld finally was led..." I believe you were wanting "of" instead of "off." Also, it might flow a little better if it reads, "was finally led."
"Of course that was the only reason for his distress..." I think you were wanting "wasn't." ?
"He turned to the King and shrugged and though he was frowning, Muld thought..." Perhaps add another comma before "though."
"...be prompt so i don’t have to listen to mother..." "i" should be capitalized.

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina, I appreciate you reviewing it.