Free Spellscribed Tales: First Refrain by Kristopher Cruz Page B

put his ear up near the wall and listened carefully. A few people were having a muted conversation on the other side of the wall. Joven pulled his head back and scanned the wall, finding a section where the mortar had fully fallen out. Putting his ear to it, he could hear almost all of the conversation.
    "What the hells went wrong?" one man asked, sounding older than Korvos. The other, definitely Korvos' voice, replied after a short pause. It sounded like he was taking a drink of something.
    "Look, Daelen's left with Gurn." Korvos replied. "He's out of the way for now. I've won the guardian position, so I'll be able to get closer."
    "You're going to need to look above any kind of reproach." The other voice replied. Joven frowned. Was it Davik?
    "Joven's not going to cause any more trouble," Korvos replied. "As far as he's concerned he lost fair and square."
    "Fair and square?" the other voice said. "You're the one who nearly lost."
    "True, but I had that in mind." Korvos replied. "His brother was quite capable at preventing that."
    Joven's expression became a grim mask. He knew now without a doubt that Korvos had cheated him.
    "It was a pretty fast reaction considering we had less than a day of notice." Davik stated.
    "Talen was already nearby, so I just thought to ask him to do it. You should stop distrusting him, he's been loyal to us for years." Korvos replied.
    "I still don't see how paying him would earn his loyalty."
    "Greed is a powerful motivator." Korvos replied. "But that's not all I have."
    "Whatever. Are we ready for the next step?"
    "Yes. King Gurn should have left by now, and we'll take the castle in cover of darkness tomorrow night."
    "By the time Gurn returns from his hunt, the guard will be loyal to us, and he'll have to fight his way through the city to try to reclaim it." Davik continued. "Excellent. I'll rule this mountain by week's end."
    "Do I still get to remain the Guardian?" Korvos asked.
    "Of course." Davik replied. "We just need to get rid of that bastard and his bastard of a son. They've been denying our heritage, and stomping on our people long enough. There's something very wrong with him."
    "What is it?"
    There was silence in response. "Just do your part." Davik replied. "It's not something I can explain."
    Joven had heard enough. He backed away from the wall and slipped back to the gates. He recovered his weapons and stepped out into the street. He had to do something. His brother Balen would have an idea. He knew military procedure like no one else, maybe they could come up with a plan.
    Someone trying to take over Balator was not an unusual thing. People tried from time to time to challenge the king for the right to rule.  It was not even considered dishonorable to do so; if you could prove you were more fit to rule, why wouldn't you?
    However stealing the throne by deception and trickery. It just didn't sound right. Joven knew that Balen would be on his side.
    Joven jogged up the mountain, doing his best to ignore the sting in his leg where Korvos' sword had cut him. He reached the  army grounds just barely thirty minutes later. After catching his breath, he walked into the yard. The military kept its presence so high up the mountain for several reasons; one was the proximity to the castle. Another was to acclimate the troops to working in higher altitudes; while yet another was even simpler – in order to capture the command structure of the military, one had to capture almost the entire city.
    Joven searched about as he walked swiftly through the expansive yard. Most of the bowl was dedicated to the military, and the yard could be used for training, practice formations, and handling all manner of drills. Balen had told him over twenty-thousand troops could form up in that yard and still have room to practice weapon drills. On the far side was the relatively tiny training ground for youths being taught weapon basics.
    Joven finally found Balen as he was exiting one of the