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He stepped towards the king his sword in front of him.
He jumped upon the table and pointed his beloved sword at the king's throat.
Yelling and screaming was amongst the crowd. All backed away from the king's
table even the guards. Mrydè just kept looking threatening and seemed not to
be disturbed at all. While the king was squealing for help, Merogan prodded
the tip a little further against his throat. "Anybody moves, and your so-called
beloved king dies!" Mrydè slowly backed away. "That goes for you too, Mrydè!
Or is it your secret wish to make me kill him so that you can take over?" Mrydè
turned pale and froze. The crowd looked at him with a look of utter disgust.
"W-who are you?" squealed Kreneh.
"Who I am?" Merogan laughed loudly. "Just keep
in mind that you are the one that asked! I, my dear king," he bowed deeply,
"am no-one else then Merogan, warrior of Tyherdell!" The guest mumbled in astonishment,
all over the hall you could hear the word "Tyherdell" being whispered. Kreneh's
eyes widened in disbelief. "You may not recall, but you killed my father! Remember,
a nice Ixi called Ghisen!" He turned towards the guests. "The REAL king of these
people!" He waved one arm designating the crowd, the other one still holding
Kreneh down with his sword. He saw Merrhyna looking at him, tears welling in
her pretty eyes. Cold, he turned again. "This man is a pure criminal! He killed
my father, stole my sisters and tried to kill me, too! As I was the heir to
the throne! But he doesn't stop there, no! He's planning on raising the taxes!"
Great indignation floated across the room. "Don't you see this man is evil?
He's like a leech, sucking the pure blood out of you poor peasants, while the
Noble elite gets richer and richer upon your wrought backs!" As he gave this
speech full of fury he let his guard down, a young Zafara knight had crept up
and hit Merogan in the back with the hilt of his sword.
Merogan staggered for a moment and the king
found the opportunity to escape. "Arrest this Neopet, dead or alive!" he yelled,
several guards and knights were moving towards him. Merogan sheeted his sword
grabbed a long banner that hung from a beam and swung around the room, hitting
one guard with his feet, he swung again and reached a window. He turned once
more. "Don't forget Ghisen! Your true king." And he disappeared in the night.
"Follow him! Catch him!" yelled Kreneh. He looked
around him and suddenly saw Merrhyna. "Arrest that girl, she was dancing with
him!" One knight moved towards her, she panicked, the crowd around her still
doubting, didn't know whether to let her through or not. She pushed people aside
but didn't get far. When she reached a table she jumped upon it and went from
one table to another with her light dancing steps. Quickly she reached the door,
but it was being blocked by a mean-looking guard. Then she bowed for him and
started dancing, twirling and throwing her legs high in the air, until at one
time her foot reached the guards face and he fell. She grabbed his spear and
ran out of the castle.
She ran with all the strength she had, knowing
the whole Royal Guard of Meridell would soon follow her. Suddenly ,someone grabbed
her arm and bulled her in the bushes. She tried to scream but the arm had anticipated
this and put his paw on her mouth. "It wouldn't be wise to scream now." Whispered
Merogan in her ear. Slowly he let go of her. She looked at him. She hesitated.
"Are you really Ghisen's adoptive son?" He slowly nodded; she stared at him
in awe. "You know, for a great warrior you don't really know well how to handle
these situations." They both smiled. "We have to get out of here, do you know
a way back to the city?" She nodded. The slowly crept out of the bushes and
walked through the fields.
"I'm sorry if I got you into any trouble…I just
had to do something, I came here to avenge my father and…" She put a hand on
his arm.
"You don't need to apologize! You did the right
thing, something the people of Tyherdell should have done a long time ago! Now
come, we must hurry. We still have some time, they will first have to inquire
who I am before they find the Inn." They started running true the fields, Merrhyna
holding her skirts up as the green grass tickled her feet. In the East the sun
already started to rise and a red glow was laid on the city and on both fugitives.
The city was still sleeping as they reached the Jolly Gelert Inn. Kreneh had
arrested most peasants that were there, fearing a mutiny. Merrhyna unlocked
the door and entered the dark room; Merogan followed her closely and shut the
door.
"Lock it while I take care this!" She threw
the key to Merogan and disappeared behind the counter. Merogan locked the door
and left the key in it for safety. He walked over to the counter to discover
that a large piece of the floor was gone, uncovering a large hole under it,
with a staircase leading into darkness. He hesitated and bent over to peer,
but again darkness overwhelmed his eyes.
"Well, come on!" shouted Merrhyna. "Do you want
to get caught?" Surprised, Merogan slowly descended the stairs, but he couldn't
shake the feeling that this might be a trap. What if Merrhyna is a spy for
the king, and this dark hole is a trap! I am lost, I trapped myself by locking
the door! How could I be so blind? thought Merogan as he slowly drew his
sword and clutched it behind his back. When he came to the last step he turned
around brandishing his sword in front of him, but he saw nothing. His breathing
quickened as he himself could hear more then one person breathing. Suddenly,
a torch was lighted and he found himself amongst a strange crowd, standing around
him in a circle, with Merrhyna in front of him.
"Welcome to the Circle of The Cursed!" she whispered
in his ear as she came closer. He frowned and glanced around nervously. She
put both her hands around his that were clutching the sword, she slowly pulled
his fingers away from the hilt and took the sword from him. She smiled and put
it on a wooden table behind her.
"Why don't you sit down?" said an old Meerca,
that Merogan recognized as the old tailor. He spread out an inviting arm pointing
at a chair. As Merogan moved towards the chair all sat down around the table.
He felt better now he was nearer to his sword, maybe he could grasp it an run
for it if he was quick enough.
"Maybe we should tell him who we are." Said
Merrhyna in a hesitating voice. Merogan looked at her sharply, she saw the distrust
in his eyes and felt deeply hurt. Go ahead Brethe, tell him you are the eldest."
She said to the Meerca.
Brethe frowned took a deep breath and looked
at Merogan. "We are a secret society that thinks Tyherdell should never have
disappeared and Meridell should never have been founded! We are the last true
Tyherdell warriors, we still train our children and when we can we live according
to the old uses of Ghisen's time. When the city was built a few of us moved
here to found some society. We tried to persuade the peasants that followed
Kreneh that they had made a mistake, that he was not be trusted! Some believed
us, others told knight how we felt. Some of us have been hiding for twenty years!
Not me, I was more careful in haring my ideas and never compromised myself.
But others did, they only had the best interest of Tyherdell at heart and paid
for it with their lives. Yet after all this time we kept fighting, even after
Tyherdell was cowardly destroyed. We swore that when things would go bad the
warriors would arise again. And so we kept waiting until the time was ripe and
then you came into the city." He paused.
"B-but why didn't you tell me about this? I
almost got myself killed in that castle and you-"
"They weren't sure of who you were! Apparently,
Brethe suspected it when he examined your sword. But he carefully kept it to
himself. Even I did not know."
"I suspected you would find a subtle way to
prove your existence to Kreneh and Meridell. Your father was never very subtle
either. But I have a question for you. Are you trained in the Warrior arts?"
"I-I think so. Phédry tried to teach me. He
saved me of the flames…"
"Phédry? Phédry is still alive ?" said Brethe
"No, he… died about a month ago. It is then that
I decided to come here…"
"Phédry was a good person, very loyal to your
father. He was also a dear friend of mine. I last saw him sixteen years ago!
I can't believe he raised you all by himself. Most of us thought you were dead
or indeed hidden somewhere without knowing whom you were. But that answers my
question, he was a good warrior. We practised together, sneaky devil he was!
You must be well trained indeed to escape a room full of guards!"
"I think that we must now discuss the critical
situation! The king will launch his Royal Guard into the city in search for
this reckless young Lupe! What if they discover the corridors of Meridell? What
will we do then? All we have been working on in patience might be destroyed
because this so-called son of Ghisen threatened the king!" said a blue Gelert
sitting across Merogan. He was wearing some fine clothes and appeared very neat,
he was one of the aristocratic minority that contributed to the Circle of the
Cursed.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Thryhen! Nothing
is sure yet and sooner or later we were bound to be discovered!" Hissed Merrhyna.
"Now! I think the time has come to plan an attack on the castle. Most soldiers
will be out searching the city, looking for two persons, Merogan and I. They
know not about you nor the Circle! They couldn't, unless we have a leak…" She
paused and looked sharply at each member of the Circle. The silence was heavy,
the faces were distorted. "We have to attack, we have to rise the people of
Meridell! Merogan has brought doubt in their hearts thanks to his speech!" She
looked at Thryhen. "They will side with us, they must! They are not blind but
scared. Relieve them of their fear and you will find the warriors of Tyherdell."
They all looked gravely, sunken in deep thoughts as the silence weighed more
upon their weary heads.
"I agree with Merrhyna. We must attack as soon
as we can; we must call a great meeting for all the Meridellians we trust! And
attack at night!" Said a young red ixi girl, dressed in a green dress, ribbons
of the same colour tied in her red hair.
"That is Madness, Delia! How can we be sure
that not one of them will go and tell the King?" said Trhyhen.
"We don't. How do you know that one of us is
not a spy?" replied Delia.
"She is right! We have to take a risk! Call
a meeting this afternoon! This is our chance; the whole royal guard will be
outside the castle! We use the secret corridors to irrupt in the field behind
the castle, they will not know what happens to them!" suggested Merrhyna.
"I disagree! The young and reckless way is not
always the good one!" yelled Thryhen. Shocked by the raised voice, Merrhyna
kept quiet and sat back down, mumbling something that could not be heard.
"I think… IF you plan some sort of attack, it
should be rather strategic, try to avoid real battles! We need to surprise them
inside the castle and capture the king and his guards. Casualties will fall…
but not many should! Too many have already suffered…" Merogan's voice ended
in a soft whisper.
The Circle stared at him with such looks as
if they were about to tear him apart…
To be continued...
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