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Friday, July 28, 2017

Chapter 23

One week before the events narrated in the previous chapter transpired, Gerion the lawyer was meeting with three of his clients.  The first two were a pair of rabbits, husband and wife, both of whom had made some fortunate investments and, as a consequence, had awaken one day to find themselves rather wealthy. 
The Third person was Jeraddin.

Gerion, a vole, was seated behind his desk, in front of him lied two documents. He took out a monocle from his breast-pocket and looked at his trio of visitors who occupied the three chairs facing his desk. In the corner of the office stood a service wagon, which had come in loaded with refreshments, but was now quite empty.

"Now then", the lawyer said. "You have read the contracts, is there anything you wish to ask before signing them?"

The Husband shook his head.

"Everything looks just fine to me." He gazed lovingly at his wife. "What about you, my love?"

The Wife, paws resting on a belly heavy with child, imitated the gesture made by her other half.

"No, I quite agree with you. We've seen the property and we think that it'll be the ideal place to raise our children, the old house was beginning to be a bit cramped. Although, I do have a question for you, Sir."
She turned to Jeraddin.

"Yes?" The lynx asked.

"I didn't ask before, but why did you decide to sell such a beautiful place?"

Jeraddin shrugged and put on an apologetic smile.

"Financial difficulties", he said. "The upkeep on a place like my ancestral home has really made hole in my bank account."

Naturally, you my most esteemed reader know that this is not the real reason for Jeraddin selling the place, but of course,he could not tell the truth, even if he had wanted to.

"Well", the husband said with a chuckle. "In a moment, your financial troubles will be all but over, old boy."

If only my real problems could be solved so easily, Jeraddin thought.

Standing up, the three of them walked up to the contracts and read through them one last time. They then took the quills that Gerion handed to them and moments later, the contracts were signed. The deal was sealed by Jeraddin and the couple shaking each other's paws.

"There", Gerion said, patting the contracts. "That's that. I must say, I'm glad that we were able to come to such a quick agreement."

"As am I", said the husband. "You have the deed to the property with you, I assume?" He asked.
Jeraddin nodded and, reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, which was draped over the chair's chest, produced an old rolled-up parchment, tied together with a red ribbon.

"Here it is", he said.

"And here's the money", said the rabbit, producing a signed check. The two objects changed hands.

"Splendid", Gerion said, rubbing his paws together. "I think this calls for a toast. What say you to opening a bottle in celebration?"

*****

As he entered the throne room and began the walk up to the throne itself, Jeraddin looked left and right, observing the people gathered in it: There were the expected guards, standing stiff as statues, the occasional twitch of the facial muscles, being the only indication that they were in fact alive. There were groups of courtiers; richly clad lords and ladies gathered together in little groups. Some of them acknowledged the lynx's presence with a nod, which he politely returned. A few of the younger ladies  tried to flirt with him, fluttering their long eyelashes and giggling coquettishly behind their fans. To no avail, Jeraddin paid them no heed; his mind was elsewhere.

Standing around the throne were the members of the royal council and Jeraddin noted with some surprise that Cornelius was not among them. Had the old boy shuffled of the mortal coil? Sad, if that was the case. There was the one-eyed fox, Lorenzo, arms crossed and with a dagger in his belt and a faint smirk on his face. Standing next to the throne, their eyes downcast were some of the Queen's chambermaids, pretty things each and everyone of them. Nasari wasn't among them. This surprised Jeraddin, since he thought that the Queen would keep his wife close-by, to remind Jeraddin what the prize would be for any lack of co-operation.
Finally, sitting on the throne which had once belonged to her father, the royal scepter in her hand, was the Queen herself.

Stepping in front of the throne, his face an impassive mask, concealing the bile rising up in his throat, Jeraddin bent his head and got down on one knee, staring dagger's at the Queen's foot.
Argath looked down at the figure in front of her and smiled contentedly; there was something quite intoxicating having power over people. For a moment, she wondered if her fa...if her predecessor had ever felt the same way. What was she thinking? Of course he had, the old hypocrite . Alas, all fun things must come to an end and so, Argath decided that Jeraddin had humbled himself enough:

"Arise, General" she said. "We thank you for answering our call so swiftly."

"It was my duty, Your Majesty", Jeraddin answered in an even tone. "How can I be of service?"

"It is our wish", the Queen said, twirling the scepter, "that you shall invade the kingdom of Frigonia."

Ah, so that's it, Jeraddin thought.

"Your Majesty, our two kingdom have been at peace for years. May I ask the reason why?"

"You are a solider, do you need a reason for carrying out your orders? Especially ones that come directly from your Monarch?"

"Nevertheless, Your Majesty, it would ease my conscience if you had the grace to provide me with one."

The Queen shrugged.

"Very well; we have received a report that Frigonia's king is currently planning a surprise attack on our territories. Does that reason satisfy you?"

No, Jeraddin thought, it does not. Who sent you this report? Has anyone else seen it? Anyone on the council? Not that it would matter; no doubt many of the council members would be eager to give the Frigonians a bashing. After all, its not that long ago since our two nations were at war and some wounds never really heal.

Naturally, he did not say any of this out-loud. Instead, the words that came out of his mouth were the following ones:

"Perfectly, Your Majesty, I'm grateful for your indulgence."

"We're pleased to hear it. Now, we wish you to leave for the Northern border at your earliest convenience, it would not be good if the Frigonians found out that we have anticipated their little ploy."

With that, the Queen stood up in her full height. As she did, the tiara she wore became slightly askew and when she reached up to adjust it, she dropped the scepter, which hit the floor with a tinkling sound.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Argath pointed to the symbol of her power and ordered one of her chambermaids to pick it up. However, before the maid had the chance to do it, someone else had already snapped it up.

"Once again, General, the promptness with which you come to our assistance do you great credit. Now, hand us our scepter, if you please. Rend unto the Queen what is the Queen's, or however it goes."
She smiled, exposing her sharp teeth.

Jeraddin weighed the scepter in his paw, it was heavier than it looked. The Queen's physical strength must be stronger than he thought, judging by the ease with which she had twirled it. For a moment, Jeraddin toyed with the idea to bring the thing down upon Argath's head, but he dismissed it almost immediately. Still, it was a beautiful thought.
Just then, a voice called him back to reality:

"General", the Queen said, her smile obliterated. "We do not like to repeat ourselves. Our scepter, now."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I was merely admiring it for a moment."

He bowed and presented the scepter to the queen, who took it and put it down on the pillow-clad pedestal, placed next to the throne.

"We shall leave the finer detail of the Frigonia business to your discretion, general. We have every faith in your abilities."

She sat down and made a dismissive gesture, indicating that the audience was over and that Jeraddin could leave, but to her surprise, he did not move an inch.

"Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask you."

Argath's eyes narrowed. A favor? What could he possibly be asking for? Oh, of course!

"The crown sees no reason to refuse a request from such a loyal and diligent subject as yourself, general. Yes. you may see your wife."
She turned to the same maid who she had ordered to pick up the scepter.

"Since you and Nasari are such good friends, I don't suppose you'd have any idea where she is at the moment, Miranda? I gave her the day off you see", she explained to Jeraddin, looking at that moment as the very picture of benevolence.

Moving closer to Jeraddin, Lorenzo put one of his paws on the lynx's shoulder.

"Her Majesty is so generous, isn't she, General?" He whispered. "Truly your wife is fortunate to have been granted the privilege to be in her presence everyday. Don't you think so? Of course you do, the mere thought has rendered you speechless with joy."

At that moment, Jeraddin's head flashed with images of him wresting the dagger from Lorenzo and plunging it in the fox's remaining eye. It was a mental image that was not displeasing and he smiled inwardly at it.

"I saw her head out into the garden, Your Majesty", said Miranda. "Do you wish for me to go and fetch her?"

Before the Queen could answer, Jeraddin spoke up:

"Beg your pardon, Your Majesty; there's no need for this young lady to trouble herself on my account. I shall go to my wife myself."

"Yes", the Queen said in a dry tone, "I have no doubt that you two could use the...privacy." Once again, she stood up and turned to her maid.

"We suddenly have a craving for sweets. Go down to the kitchen and tell them to prepare us a cake, then have it brought up to our chambers."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

****

Jeraddin left the throne room with a feeling of relief. As he walked through the hallways of the palace, he wiped his lips, which had touched the Queen's ring in a farewell greeting, with his left paw. What he really wanted to do was spit, but he couldn't find no place to do it. At least being summoned to the palace meant that he would be reunited with his wife, if only for a brief moment. Jeraddin could hardly wait to see Nasari again, it felt as if forever since he had last looked upon her. He wanted to take her in his arms, to hear her voice. The thought of it caused a smile to appear on his hitherto solemn features. 

"General, a moment of your time?"

Startled, Jeraddin turned around and found himself face to face with Felix.

"What can I do for you, Councilor?" He asked, hoping that the conversation wouldn't take too long. Then, he remembered something that had puzzled him.

"How is old Cornelius?" He asked. "I couldn't help but notice his absence."

Felix sighed.

"Cornelius has been...banished from court", he said.

"For what reason?" 

"It has to do with this war against Frigonia. Cornelius spoke out against it, said that we should try to negotiate, Her Majesty was furious."

Knowing the history between the two councilors, the lynx studied the lizard's face, trying to discover any sign of satisfaction on it, but found none.

"I can guess what you're thinking", Felix said, "but in this case I'm in complete agreement with Cornelius. I was about to back him up, but when I saw the Queen's reaction... I'm ashamed to say it, but my courage failed me. Besides, I thought I would speak to the Queen, convincing her to let Cornelius back on the council in due time."

"I see. Well, I wish you good luck with that.

"Thank you. However, that is not really the reason why I approached you. There's something I think you should know."

"What is it?"

Felix looked around, then motioned for Jeraddin to come closer.

"Well", he began, lowering his voice. "Cornelius and I suspect that this whole thing about Frigonia planning to attack us is merely a falsehood, cooked up by the Queen. Probably with the help of that blasted fox of hers."

"I wouldn't put it past her", Jeraddin commented dryly.

Felix, who had hoped that this revelation would come as something of a surprise, found himself somewhat disappointed.

"In that case, General, you know the Queen better than either of us."

Jeraddin shrugged.

"Perhaps, but why tell me all this?"

"Because your word carries weight. If you were to publicly express your doubts regarding the justification for this war, many people would take them seriously. If public opinion turned against this war, I am positive that we could pressure the Queen into opening negotiations with Frigonia, thus clearing up any misunderstandings and hopefully avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

Having said all this, Felix waited for Jeraddin's answer with his arms folded. He was confident that the lynx would see the logic in his proposition and agree with it.

"I am sorry", Jeraddin said, turning his head so as to avoid the councilor's eyes. "I can not go against the Queen."

The General's words hit Felix like a slap to the face. He stood there, mouth open and eyes blinking in surprise, as if he could not believe the witness of his own ears.

"Why?" He asked, when he had mastered his feelings.

Jeraddin sighed. He felt bad having to turn Felix down, but what other choice did he have?

"Its not for my own sake that I refuse" he said, "but to protect those I care about. Forgive me, but I can not offer another explanation. Farewell, councilor, give my regards to Cornelius when you see him."

With those words, Jeraddin turned around and walked out the door that lead to the garden. As he
watched him leave, Felix thought about what he had just said: Protect those I care about. What had he meant by that?
 Putting the little gray cells to work, Felix recalled that the General was married and had two children and that the entire family had been present at the  feast which had ended with the death of the king. Felix himself had not been able to attend the feast, having been confined to bed with the flu. Because of that, he had only learnt about the events that had occurred through second-hand sources and so, he had originally resumed that the family had returned home afterwards.

That is, until he had learnt that not too long after the feast, the wife had moved into the palace, as one of the Queen's chambermaids.

Felix had seen her briefly a few times, a feline with black fur. Attractive, but with something sad about her, which he could not really define. Why was this woman living here in the palace? Felix had never really thought about this before, having had other things on his mind, but now he was beginning to wonder. Jeraddin's words had hinted that his wife was actually a hostage, but it seemed incredible. The General had always been a loyal servant to the crown, why should the Queen require a hostage to guarantee his continued loyalty?

Felix pondered these questions while walking back to his quarters in the palace. As he rounded a corner, an idea suddenly popped into his head. It was an idea so terrible that it caused the iguana's head to spin.

No she couldn't have..he thought, before his legs gave way under him and the floor came closer and closer.






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