Free The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen by LR Manley

step forward. “Come boy, don’t be frightened. Tell us what you
saw .”
      Jared
started to reply but his mouth was dry. “Could I have a drink
please?” he stammered after swallowing.
     “ But of course. Excuse our
eagerness ,” the old man waved
his hand and a jug of water and a tankard appeared. Jared gingerly
reached forward and picked up the jug. It was cold against his
fingers as he poured, splashing the liquid onto the floor due to
his shaking hands. He raised the cup to his lips. It tasted of
strawberries and was very cold. He gulped it down then replaced the
mug.
     “ Now ,” the old man said gently. “Please can you tell us
what you saw? Don’t be frightened.”
     “ The
man…thing….Rancidrain, whatever you called him. I heard him in the
room of the hospital, Sophie’s room. I looked in to see what was
happening and he attacked me. When I tried to leave he did
something to block the door. Mordalayn saved me and there was a
bright light and, and…”
      The
council members looked at each other and then back at Jared. The
rat figure then spoke, his voice deep and gravelly. “Did he say
anything to you?”
      Jared thought and then added
“he was just horrible to me and he was begging Mordalayn not to
hurt him but... .” Jared
thought for a moment then added “before he knew I was there he said
something about not wanting to do anything but ‘they’ had made him
and he just wanted to be left in peace.”
      There
was a murmur around the table. The man at the far end stood up. He
was dressed in armour like the soldiers on the dock but the colours
were purple not red. He glared at Mordalayn and Jared then said to
everyone. “I believe we all know who is responsible for
this!"
      The old man held up his hand.
"Lighvoor while you are clearly angered over King James’s attempts to usurp our
authority our entire standing army is only two thousand men. The
majority are trained only in ceremonial duties.”
     “ But
Council this boy has heard…” 
    “ Precisely nothing that can aid us in any
way .” He turned to Jared.
“Did Rancidrain mention any names that you
heard?”
     “ No sir, just that ‘they’ had
made him do it. He said that more than once .”
      The old man turned back to the
assembled council. “I believe the best thing we can do is keep the
boy with us. We can find out whether he’s in danger and exactly
what our enemies are planning to do. This attempt was deliberate
and audacious. The fact that they sent someone as useless as
Rancidrain makes it clear that they are unable to move en
masse .”
      Mordalayn then interjected.
“With respect Council, the creature had this on
him .”
      He approached the table and
placed a block of bro wn stone
from his pocket on it.
    The one eyed woman gasped and there were angry murmurs from
the table. She leaned forward and picked up the rock. It morphed
and changed in her fingers to the rainbow blade again, the lights
bright and this time there were what looked like fireflies flashing
above it, the colours lighting up her face and the wall behind her. 
    “ So you think
you have no proof” she hissed. “Who but an Anghofian assassin would
wield a rainbow blade?”
      There were murmurs of
agreement from the table. The man in the purple robes banged his
fist on the table. “Since Our Lady was taken from us this…usurper
of power, this, this hateful, ungrateful wretch...! We MUST act
now, we have all the proof we need. We shall have more when
Rancidrain has been questioned .” 
    The old man spoke again. “Lighvoor your passion for your
given role is commendable but we need to know exactly what is
happening. Any move or accusation against King James will only
further convince his cautious allies that he is in the right.
Further, Rancidrain is stubborn as he always was and may tell us
nothing or a mixture of lies and half truths .”
     “ He won’t if you give him to
me .” 
    “ Lighvoor, remember your place!”