Fated Love Chapter 17

Follow the scent to the Cask of the Fallen Prophet King.


                                    Chapter 17


"A shower." Leon announced grinning from ear to ear. Seth froze. Had he been joking? A shower? He'd had to have misheard him. "And a change in wardrobe will be in order too. I cannot have one of my subordinates walking around with rags and a coat of dirt so thick one cannot see their skin." Seth looked up. There was definably a hint of mocking humor to his voice but Seth knew he wasn't kidding. King Leon was dead serious. "Theobold." He said gesturing to one of the guards. "You are to escort Mr. Seth to Fenebrer. I want him bound until his training is complete." Seth felt panic rise in his chest.

"Umm… Really, there's no need for that now is there?" He asked trying to sound calmer than he was. "I'm not going to run. Really." He paused. "I really have no reason to run." He lied.

"Nice try Seth. You shouldn't underestimate me." The king smiled at him then. A cunning and mischievous smile that told Seth he knew more that he was letting on. So the old fart had been playing coy the whole time. Seth grinned. So he'd been right. It had been too easy after all.

"Fine." He finally stated calmly. There was no point in fighting anymore. Besides, he'd have his chance to get away. Patience was a virtue after all, and it was a virtue a thief knew better than any other. King Leon made a quick gesture to the guards and they hoisted him to his feet.

"Now, do you swear your loyalty to me, bound by your honor? A thief's honor?" Was he serious? Seth couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I swear pops. Can I go now?" He yawned, suddenly very bored.

"Yes, you may go. Make sure he gets to Fenebrer, Theobold." Seth just grinned. He had no intention of going anywhere. Not yet anyway. He would have his chance. It was only a matter of time before the old man let his true intentions slip and Seth knew deep down that once he found what he was looking for he was gone. As the guard led him from the room he glanced back to see the girl from the street standing off to the side, watching from afar. She grimaced as he winked at her and her reaction only made him grin all the wider. And as he followed the guard from the room he couldn't help but smile arrogantly. After all, he would be seeing her again.


* * *


Jed watched the guards drag the boy from the room. Something about that guy really got under his skin. Even worse, he knew he was going to see him again. For the life of him, he didn't know why, but he definitely knew. "So, where were we?" King Leon asked turning back to the table.

"Are you really going to have that street trash work for you?" Karen questioned venomously. Jed was surprised by her tone. King Leon looked up and smiled.

"Yes I am." He replied pleasantly.

"Why?" Jed decided to ask. King Leon looked back for a moment and realizing he wasn't going to get anything done until he explained what had happened turned his attention away from the table again.

"Let me ask you something Jed? What was your first impression of Seth?" Jed was puzzled by the question.

He shrugged. "He's a streetrat. He's arrogant and talks more than he can back up." It was a rather obvious response. Lord Leon grinned from ear to ear.

"I got that same impression. But I got that impression ten years ago when he walked into my palace and told me that in two days time at noon he was going to rob the crown jewel from the treasury. He was twelve then." Leon smiled almost nostalgically. "We never saw the jewel again. Naturally, we didn't believe that a twelve year old could possibly do such a thing. Two years later rumor surfaced that Syric Brokone had gotten his hands on the crown jewel." Syric Brokone. Jed knew the name. Who didn't nowadays? Syric Brokone was the largest underground criminal in Averon. In the past years Jed had even heard rumors that his power now stretched even as far as the Brakan Empire. "We didn't believe it at first until he sent an agent to us offering to sell it back for a very large sum of money, far more than the small but sentimental jewel was worth. I held a meeting with the council. The crown jewel is not measured in its actual value but rather in the sentimental value placed on it by having remained under this kingship for more than twelve hundred years, since the days of the rule of the prophet Kyre. Through a unanimous decision we bought the jewel back." King Leon laughed a little. "Two days later Brokone's messenger arrived with the jewel but during the trade Seth showed up. In the middle of day with hundreds of guards surrounding us he stole the jewel again. Nobody understood how it was possible. It has not been seen since." King Leon hesitated a moment. "Today was the first time since that boy was eight years old that we've ever gotten our hands on him. And do you know why we did?" Jed swallowed and shook his head. "I thought not."

Adrianna snickered nearby and Jed realized that he was obviously missing something. "You set him up." Karen suddenly said. "The whole thing was a set up."

Lord Leon smiled mischievously. "Exactly Karen. Seth has an insatiable need to prove himself the best. So we spread rumor that we had found the jewel and then we let it slip that this time it had been fashioned into a very unique necklace that never left my neck." Lord Leon sat down in the chair. "The necklace was a fake all along. The boy is no fool."

"But how did the guards catch him then?" If he was really that good then how was it that the guards had so easily caught him in the street? Then it hit him. Jed turned to see Karen standing in deep thought.

"Karen." The king answered. "That's how." She looked up. "Seth got captured because of that girl right there. Seth got captured because he let us capture him."

"What do I have to do with it?" Karen asked in a strangely accusingly tone.

"You see Karen, when you've known Seth for as long as we have you begin to learn his habits. The one thing Seth can't resist is a target that can resist him. In this case, you. But he's picking in the ones he chooses. You see after our trap failed miserably Seth got away. I had expected that we would be able to catch him if he got close enough to me to take a necklace from around my very neck but I was obviously wrong. It seems there is no proper way to estimate what he is capable of. However, it seems that as he was running from my men he happened upon your little dispute with the local drunks. I have no doubt that he was very enticed by Karen's behavior. It was rather convenient that he happened to be there at the same time you were. Or rather, I should say lucky. So you see, in his attempt to make sure he would see Karen again, he let us catch him. And if he decides that he wants to escape then he will. But this time I have a little birdy on my side." Leon let out a very amused laugh and Adrianna yet again snickered. Karen's eyes suddenly went very wide.

"What are you not telling me?!" She spat stepping threateningly toward Adrianna. Adrianna simply laughed all the harder. Alexi stood baffled. Obviously he wasn't in on the loop.

"Let's just say my dear, that our little birdy says that Seth will not be leaving for a while." Adrianna replied with far too much amusement in her voice. "You see, when Seth sets his eyes on something, he doesn't quit. And in truth," She said with a grin, "he's never failed to get what he wants before." Jed let out a little snicker unable to contain it any longer. Karen looked like she was about to strangle someone. And something told Jed that someone was going to be that Seth.

"What are you laughing at?" She turned on Jed so fast he took a step back. He knew better than to test her. Sylvia began to tug on his hand.

"Let's go." She whispered into his ear. "I don't want to be here when she grows fangs." Jed tried to stifle the laugh only to choke on it. Sylvia's incessant tugging on his hand began to pull him from the room.

"We'll uh… see you later Karen." He waved as Sylvia pulled him from the room. She seemed incredibly eager to get away from that room.

"If I know Seth, he's not going to quit until he wins you over." It was the last thing Jed heard as Sylvia pulled him down the hall to the double doors. He guessed it was Adrianna who had said it. Sylvia led him down the hall a ways before finally slowing down.

"Why were you in such a rush?" He questioned.

"I want to go bed." She said lazily. Jed laughed and she gave him a glare.

"You didn't have to drag me along with you to go to bed you know." She cast a sour look at him. He should have known better than to try to slip one past her. Still, it had been a long day and sleep would probably do him some good. It occurred to him only now that he'd been holding back a yawn for some time and thinking back to the balcony made the bath an enticing idea once again. Jed followed Sylvia down the expanse of the hall, still holding her hand. She didn't say anything for the rest of the trip and each time she yawned he mimicked her, unable to resist the sudden urge. As they reached the double doors Jed noticed that the hallway was growing increasingly dark and the hall had turned from bright and yellow to a dim gray lighting. The palace seemed to lose much of its luster as it dimmed. Sylvia pushed one of the doors open and he followed her through closing it behind him. He glanced around wondering just where Seth had been taken. He didn't particularly care but one was entitled to their curiosity. As they began their ascent up the stairs Sylvia asked a question.

"So, you're not still mad at me." Her grip on his hand slackened a little. Reassuringly, he tightened his grip.

"No Sylvia, I'm not. I wasn't made at you to begin with. I'm just stressed." They reached the top of the stairs and turned left, following past the first door before stopping at Sylvia's room. She turned to face him.

"I'm sorry." Her sincerity made him feel like an idiot. She stared at the floor. "I'll give you some space from now on."

"Don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have taken my problems out on you." He pulled her hand up and kissed her knuckle. When he let go she looked up he smiled charmingly at her. "I'm sorry okay?" She giggled and nodded. "Is that what was bothering you all day?" She bit her lip confirming his suspicion. He smirked before embracing her in a tight hug. "I'm going to go take a shower." As he started to pull away she held tight.

"Can I come?" She whispered into his ear. It wasn't a serious question, just Sylvia trying to lighten the mood. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and pulled away.

"No, I think I'd rather bathe alone." He replied sarcastically making her smile in amusement. He pulled away and started to step away before he turned back to and leaning gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He attempted to pull away and she leaned in, following him and moaning in protest. He chuckled, his lips still to hers before pulling away. "Goodnight Sylvia." He whispered as he leaned in toward her ear. "I love you." And then he turned and walked across the balcony to the other side leaving her alone with her thoughts. He didn't look back. The last thing he wanted her to see was the self satisfied grin stretched across his face. It would do no good to encourage her. With Sylvia, that was the worst thing you could do. It was only when he heard her door open and then close did he dare to look back. She wasn't there anymore, having entered the room.

The first room Jed checked was his, the first door from the stairs and on the right. The room was surprisingly large and much the same as Sylvia's had been, a bed with a fluffy red blanket and a canopy with red curtains to help shield the lighting. His room however, was surprisingly dark and he noticed that someone had already lit the two lanterns in his wall. He walked to the wardrobe and found a stack of undergarments folded and place neatly in the bottom beside a stack of trousers and various styles of shirts. Hanging on a hook on the wall of the wardrobe was a soft white bathrobe. A gold colored bar ran across the inside of the wardrobe from which various jackets and shirts hung from. Jed was uninterested in most and reached down to retrieve a pair of boxers and then the robe from the wall. He closed the door of the wardrobe and glanced around the room. Unable to find what he was looking for he accepted that towels and washing necessities must be in the washroom. Stretching his arms out with a quick yawn he took one last look around the room and headed out the door.

The bathroom, Adrianna had said, was at the end of the hall just as he'd suspected to begin with. It was farther than it looked and he guessed the shine of the walls must have thrown off his eyes in some way. In their first hours here the castle had been a wonder but after having a day to get away and let the excitement over the place die down he came to realize that although beautiful, it was all vastly overrated. Just another over extravagant building for some of the higher class. A sigh escaped his mouth. He'd met the king and he'd seen firsthand how the man could be classified as humble but looking around at such an exquisite palace made him wonder how every else believed it. "I met the king." The thought danced in his mind. "Is this what my life is going to be like?" In truth, the thought had never really left his mind. He was Jedida Lewin but was he truly a prophet? Was he really their "savior?" He pondered on it for a moment. "How do I feel about all this?" He questioned to himself, as though asking aloud was somehow going to make it clearer to him. As he grabbed the doorknob to the bathroom and twisted it occurred to him just how little he understood of how he really felt about it all.

The door opened to reveal a vast room. He was standing on a balcony overlooking the bathroom. The balcony was small, no more than a dozen feet wide in any direction and to both sides stairs circled down the walls of the circular room to the first floor. A decorative rail ran across the front of the balcony carved with an assortment of creatures Jed recognized as only native to the Forbidden Wood. To his right at the end a Hippogriph stood proud with its wings bent up to connect with one of the two tails of a Manticore. The other tail stretched on to connect to the wing of an Imp and as he followed them around he admired the creativity of a rail created of mythical creatures, all connected to one another by a wing or a tail or in some cases even a tongue. He turned to his left and followed the balcony down the steps, passing the beautifully carved Pegasus connecting the unique balcony rail to the tradition yet elegant stair rail lining the steps. The stairs weren't steep and stretched nearly half of the dome shaped room. As he reached the first floor and peer around he saw that another window similar to the one atop the palace covered this room but unlike the other no stone walls covered it and nor did it rise high into the sky but rather stretched over the room with a small arch. The room was lit by a set of lanterns spread through the room but the daylight had not completely vanished and a dim ray of light leaked through the glass ceiling. He looked up and smiled as the glass room reminded him of Hara Hall and the almost wonderful night he'd spent with Sylvia. The memories that followed removed quickly removed that smile.

Before him were several pools of water in the floor and under the balcony was a set of doors that he assumed stretched on to the main hall of the castle. To the sides of those doors sat two tables with a large stack of towels on one and cleaning supplies on the other. He walked over and set his boxers and robe down on the table before retrieving a bar of soap and a towel and turning back toward one of the baths of water in the floor. The bath was an interesting design as he'd never seen a bath built into the floor before. In the castle they bathed in tubs that they filled using pipes coming from the wall. There he'd have to pull on a small chain on the wall to have the workers pump water to his tub.  There was even a pipe attached to the bottom of the tub and he simply had to pull the plug to let the water drain. It wasn't the best system and often they would pump a little too much water causing the tub to spill over once he'd climbed in but regardless, they'd at least had a system worked out for it. Even in the fort and in the inns along the way he'd bathed in tubs although he'd had to heat the water and pump it to the tub himself. It was often a long and annoying process and he'd usually skipped heating the water. But the baths here were different. They were bowls carved into the floor and there were several holes in the rim of the bowl that he guessed water pumped from to fill the bath. A strange metal plate sat in the center of the bowl that tweaked his curiosity but not enough to investigate.

Jed pulled his boots off and set them beside the towel on the side of the pool, wriggling his toes and stretching his feet after a long day of walking. The water was warmer than he'd expected as he dipped his toes in but he found it to be comfortable and undressing he slipped down into the warm bath. In the bottom of the pool he ran his hand curiously across the gold colored plate and as he glanced around the pool he found a small bar sticking from a notch in the wall of the bath. Pulling on it the plate folded in from the middle and the water began to drain. Instantly he pushed it back up, relieved to see the vent close.  Lying back against the wall of the bath he began to relax and let his mind shut down. For a time he just lay there in the warm water staring off into the sky as it darkened. Even after he retrieved the bar of soap and bathed he still found himself unable to drag his body from the comfort warm water.

Jed lost track of how long he lay in the bath. The water began to cool and eventually began to lose any and all heat. Lifting his hands he stared at the pruning that seemed to be getting excessively worse. The bath had been so relaxing but staring at the shriveled fingers and feeling the now uncomfortably cool water he decided it time to get out. He reached over and pulled the little lever down watching as the small plate of the vent once again split down the middle and folded in allowing the water to pour through the hole in the floor. It was strangely interesting to see how it worked and it took several more movements on the lever before his curiosity was satisfied without it opened and closed. Still, he couldn't guess how they could possible make such a device work with the bath built into a stone basin in the floor. Still, where there's a will, there's a way. That's what Lewin had always said anyway.

Jed climbed from the bath and wrapping the towel around himself and gathering his things he walked to the table. Unsure what to do with the used bar of soap he simply set it on the corner of the table separate from everything else. The room was surprisingly cool and arid and the chill encouraged him to dry and dress quickly. Hanging the towel over the corner of the table he tied the robe's belt at his waist and retrieving his clothes started back for his room. As he reached the second floor balcony and exited the washroom through the door he couldn't help but notice how the hallway was now lit by lanterns hanging from hooks high on the wall. He'd noticed the hooks before but hadn't paid them any attention. Still, it seemed strange how lanterns seemed to appear or light so mysteriously yet he saw nobody to do them. As he followed the hall back to his room the candle light danced across the walls and floor in red and orange flickers as though the darkness tantalized them to reach out for it. It was quite the pretty sight.

His room was dim and it was now hard to make out much with the lanterns in his room set into indentations in the walls. He dropped his clothes on the floor near the bed unsure where else to put them. He noticed a stack of folded clothes now sat on the floor beside the wardrobe. Despite his inability to make them out in the dim light he had no doubt they were his, returned after by the servants after they'd cleaned them. Jed yawned and with a tired sigh he climbed under the comforter, not at all surprise as he felt Sylvia's warm figure already there waiting for him. Her presence brought a comforting smile and he snuggled close to her. She smelled sweet, like strawberries and he reasoned she must have used a new conditioner in her hair. As he snuggled up to her she mumbled in her sleep and rolled over laying her arm on his chest. Almost as if his warmth was a magnet she curled up to him burying her face in chest. He blushed. He loved when she did that. Still smiling he leaned down and kiss her softly on the head, not really sure where. "Goodnight Sylvia." He whispered and closing his eyes he fell in to a deep and peaceful sleep.