Secrets and Guardians: Devious Intentions by H. Chambers (summer beach reads txt) 📖

Thirteen years later......

Eldin sat back in his creaky old oak chair. It was old when he first arrived at the castle, five years ago, he probably should have asked for another one but had never quite got round to it. Anyway he had grown fond of the old chair and it would probably be one of the few things he would miss when he left. Leaving was the only thing on his mind as he reached out for the overly ornate wine goblet, filled with dark red wine. As he drank the aches and pains in his body began to ease, his eyes closing in thought. He was only in his early fifties, but the last few months had been a bit of a strain, he didn't like being away from Riftdale and the Library. He longed for the routine, the peace, the toilets. The capital, Landra, might seem to be a thriving town with people always rushing here, there and any other place they could think of, but to Eldin it was just noisy, overcrowded, rat infested and smelly. At least the wine was good.

It was his own fault that he was sitting in this creaky chair, in a small room, in a large castle. Five years ago he had agreed to come and teach the Prince and Princess. Riftdale could always do with the extra money and at the time he had wanted the prestige associated with the job. Well, lessons taught and lessons learned. Princess Amicia, 'Ami' to her friends, so Princess Amicia to him had been fine to teach. She enjoyed most of her lessons and although she wasn't the brightest student at least she tried. Hylaw on the other hand had become an absolute nightmare. If arrogance equalled intelligence, Hylaw would be the greatest student that had ever existed. Hylaw was naturally smarter than his sister but had recently lost interest in learning anything. He spent the time messing around, disrupting Eldin's carefully worked out lesson plans. Eldin had wished he could just take him to one side and give him a good thrashing, or better still just tell him where to go and never come back. At least now, with the King probably only having a few days left to live, he would soon be able to leave. Prince Hylaw would become King Hylaw and he would become redundant. He liked the King but wished he’d hurry up and die. Prince Hylaw was now eighteen, old enough to take the throne; he would then be Aberrling's problem. Eldin smiled at that thought, Aberrling was probably the only person he considered a friend in Landra. He was the King’s advisor, his right hand man, some even dared to say carer, a man who was far cleverer than he appeared. As if on cue there was a knock at his door.

'Come in.'

Aberrling entered and took his usual seat. Unlike Eldin who was tall, thin and still had a reasonable head of black hair, all being it was showing signs of grey, Aberrling was short, plump and completely bald.

'I'll get straight to the point Eldin.'

'Please do.'

'When, oh how do I say this, when our dear King passes, are you leaving?' said Aberrling.

'I think you know the answer to that, my dear friend. I have not made a friend in Prince Hylaw, I made a commitment to the King, which I tried to fulfil; once the King dies I will be free to leave,' replied Eldin.

'I thought as much,' said Aberrling sitting back in his chair, obviously ready to say more, but thinking about how it should be phrased. 'I will miss our chats.'

'As will I.'

'I was wondering if I might have the book? I think I would like another look at it,' Aberrling asked.

The book Aberrling was referring to Eldin had bought from a merchant along with three others. It was well known that anyone from the Scholastic Guild paid good money for books regardless of content or condition. This particular book had fascinated Eldin, who had then lent it to Aberrling. He seemed to be even more taken by the book's contents than Eldin. It was a small book, the first half concerned itself with reading body language. The premise was that you could tell whether a person was lying or telling the truth by how their body reacted. The second half of the book explained how to put someone in a trance like state; so you could then ask them questions which they would answer truthfully or ask them to do things which they would obey. There was more to the book, but that's what interested Eldin and Aberrling the most. So they had practised on people, without them knowing, first on the body language and then the 'trancing' of people, as they put it. 'Trancing' was mainly tried on prisoners with varying degrees of success, but some success they did have, so they kept trying. Aberrling began to spend a lot of time practising on one particular prisoner, a spy called Brandon.

It was some weeks later that Aberrling had come to Eldin's room looking as if he had just seen a ghost.

'I have just nearly had an innocent man hanged,' sighed Aberrling. 'Fool that I am, I missed the obvious flaw in that book.'

Eldin looked at Aberrling, 'What flaw?' he asked.

'One man's truth is another man’s lie,' replied Aberrling.

'What do you mean?'

'Think about it, supposing you told Glint something, a lie but he believed it to be true, when he then told other people it would be 'his' truth. He would be unaware that what he was saying was in fact a lie. If he told me, whatever it was, I, reading his body language would also believe it to be true,' said Aberrling looking as if he was confused by his own explanation.

Eldin adjusted his black robe and sat back in thought.

'Oh dear,' he said eventually.

After that Aberrling didn't bother with the book anymore; relying on his own instincts, spies, informers and the occasional bribery to ensure the safety of the kingdom and, not least, himself. Eldin was therefore surprised by Aberrling's request for the book.

'I had Glint make a copy of the book,' said Eldin.

'What! You let your apprentice read it?'

'That is what he does in his apprenticeship, when I was an apprentice you'd be very surprised at some of things I was given to transcribe. One day you will have to come to Riftdale and see our library it is a wonderful sight to behold,' said Eldin. 'So anyway, yes you can have the book. I will ask Glint to bring you the copy.'

'You’re probably wondering why I appear to have changed my mind about the book,' said Aberrling thoughtfully.

'I think it might have something to do with Drumlin and his sons?' replied Eldin.

'Kerdred's envoys insist they have no intention of invading Daranel, but who would have thought Kerdred and his brothers would have invaded Korin. I sometimes feel the King has been unwise not to have helped Korin more. Now that Kerdred has made his brother Hawke, King of Korin, I wonder what ambitions Kerdred's youngest brother, Tremlin has. I'm afraid that when our King dies, Kerdred might just see Daranel as an easy target,' said Aberrling.

'Kerdred, King of Thantos, when his father dies, Hawke, King of Korin and Tremlin, King of Daranel,' mused Eldin. 'That I would not like to see,' he added.

'I told the King many years ago, I thought that had always been Drumlin's plan for his sons,' said Aberrling.

'As you know I have no love of Prince Hylaw; will he take this threat seriously?' asked Eldin.

'Unfortunately, when I approached him on the subject, he said there would be no problem as he would have Princess Amicia marry one of them,' sighed Aberrling.

'After the way he’s been behaving lately, that's the sort of dumb thing I would expect him to say,' replied Eldin, 'I understand why you want the book.'

'Yes, I need all the help I can get, especially if I can perfect the trancing, I have a few prisoners who I believe know more than they are saying and they are not the sort that would break with a bit of torture,' said Aberrling.

'I sometimes forget how difficult your job must be at times,' said Eldin looking very concerned.

'My friend, do not worry about me, I am at my best in a crisis,' smiled Aberrling, 'I must go now, with the King dying there is a lot I need to attend to'.

When Aberrling left, Eldin's focus returned to his wine. He thought about the King, Prince Hylaw, Aberrling, but soon his thoughts drifted back to his concerns about 'Truth'.

As a scholar, his whole life was supposedly about gaining knowledge and ultimately wisdom. As he was now on his third goblet of wine his