{"id":134,"date":"2010-01-15T13:36:13","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T20:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/?p=134"},"modified":"2010-02-11T21:34:08","modified_gmt":"2010-02-12T04:34:08","slug":"chapter-seventeen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/2010\/01\/chapter-seventeen\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Seventeen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n

Chapter Seventeen<\/h1>\n

In the Tower of Valles, where the walls are covered in cream and gold and the floors are of the finest marble inlaid with silver patterns that swirl and intertwine in intricate designs that delight the eye and mystify the mind, the Magistrate stands before a crystal sphere suspended within a gilded frame.\u00a0 Beside him, the diminutive man with the horse-shoe of silver-white hair adjusts his spectacles before returning his gaze to the image inside the misty interior of the sphere; a ship can be seen tying off at a black pier that he recognized at once.\u00a0 That was the pier at Corrac’amor, northernmost point of the island and the last refuge for any on their way to Deisarch Dain, the Southern Keep of Evermist.\u00a0 The smaller man nodded thoughtfully.<\/p>\n

With a dismissive noise, the Magistrate touched the frame with a finger, careful of his lacquered fingernails and the image faded back to a mist that roiled within the sphere.<\/p>\n

“Much needed reinforcements, my Lord?” ventured the small man as he pushed his spectacles back up his nose with one finger.<\/p>\n

“This last attack was the worst in my memory, Valenz.\u00a0 He<\/em> very nearly succeeded this time,” the Magistrate said with a sigh.\u00a0 He moved away from the sphere, stroking his dark beard as his gaze wandered out the windows and towards the sea.<\/p>\n

“I don’t understand Him, Valenz,” he said quietly.\u00a0 “But then, I never have.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Yes, Lord.”<\/p>\n

“And how many have I seen in the last four seasons?” he said, changing the subject dramatically.\u00a0 “Five hundred?\u00a0 A thousand?\u00a0 And still not a suitable Apprentice to take on the burden!”<\/p>\n

Behind him, Valenz rubbed at his forehead and nodded sadly.\u00a0 “It’s the solstice, Lord,” Vlanez offered after a moment to get him back on track.\u00a0 “Always stirs Him up.”<\/p>\n

“Is it?\u00a0 Already?” the Magistrate asked without turning from the window.\u00a0 “Which one?”<\/p>\n

“Summer, Lord,” Valenz answered.<\/p>\n

“Ah.\u00a0 How the time flies.\u00a0 What year?\u00a0 Never mind, I don’t want to know.\u00a0 I miss the sea, Valenz,” the Magistrate all but whispered.\u00a0 Before Valenz could say anything to that, the Bells of the Tower began to chime calling the fourth hour of the morning.<\/p>\n

“The Triad will be climbing the Tower steps,” Valenz announced quietly; always a touchy subject.<\/p>\n

“Ah, my trusted advisors,” the Magistrate snorted.\u00a0 “Always with them it’s the same; ‘Pirates’ this and ‘trade’ that and ‘whine whine whine’.\u00a0 I’d have you deal with them if I could.\u00a0 Well, with the Merchant at least, but I don’t think his replacement would be any better suited to the task nor any brighter.\u00a0 Might smell better.\u00a0 Does the man bathe in urine or just sleep on a bed of feces?”<\/p>\n

Valenz smiled sadly, “Not that I am aware of, Lord.”<\/p>\n

“This last attack, Valenz, it was the worst I can recall.\u00a0 He nearly breached the wall and the casualties…\u00a0 I think the Engineers are hiding something.”<\/p>\n

“Perhaps,” Valenz acknowledged.\u00a0 Personally, he felt that the Engineers were hiding quite a bit, but he had no proof.\u00a0 Their Towers were the only places in the world denied to him.\u00a0 Which rankled.<\/p>\n

From beyond the gilded doors of the Sky Tier comes the sound of a gong to announce the arrival of the Triad.\u00a0 The Magistrate sighs again, turning to cross the few steps between he and the Dark Throne, taking his seat carefully so as not to be stuck by the thorns so deceptively hidden throughout it.\u00a0 They were there as a reminder, as if he or anyone else who’d ever sat in this chair needed to be reminded of the danger they were in.<\/p>\n

“Time to return to the shadows, Valenz,” he said over his shoulder, waving those lacquered fingernails in his direction.\u00a0 The diminutive man smiled and bowed, backing into the sole shadow of the room and seeming to vanish within.\u00a0 Clearing his throat, the Magistrate called out, “Who seeks to be in my presence?!”<\/p>\n

“The Triad seeks to learn the status of the Wall!” cries the Harker beyond the door as he strikes the bronze gong.<\/p>\n

“The Wall still stands,” the Magistrate replies, attempting to sound as grave and serious as he should.\u00a0 He hated all the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Tell your friends:<\/em>
\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved Chapter Seventeen In the Tower of Valles, where the walls are covered in cream and gold and the floors are of the finest marble inlaid with silver patterns that swirl and intertwine in intricate designs that delight the eye and mystify the mind, the Magistrate stands before a […]<\/p>\n

Tell your friends:<\/em>
\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a>\"Add<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,9,12,10,11,8,7,13,14,6],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}