“Forgive me, I seek audience with King Robert of Brackenfell Castle.” Garion spoke, addressing the trio feasting at the table. The purple haired woman was first to speak. “Let me remove his tongue.” she hissed. “He did ask for forgiveness dear.” croaked the balding man from the chair. The Giant sized man was the last to speak. Placing his cutlery down on the table and gesturing for his team of staff, one hurried to clear the table in front of him while another approached with a small gold crown. Both wore uniforms of purple and had long hoods covering their faces. After the servant had carefully placed the crown on the giants head he left the room quickly, seemingly scared.
“I am King Robert, please forgive my house guests, I am sure they will forgive me for leaving the feast early.” The two shared a glanced with each other before returning to there vast piles of food.
King Robert stood up from the table and approached Garion. “King Robert. I am the wizard you sent for from the Guild of the Glade” Garion said to the king as respectfully as he could muster. “Ah yes, I did send for a wizard, I am unsure of the custom here, please forgive me” the king replied, his voice somehow both calm and commanding at once. “Take him to the library,” croaked the balding man in between mouthfuls of food “you take him to the library, he lives there blah blah blah and so forth.” That seemed to be enough for the king to remember some previous conversation and he began to speak again, “Oh right yes, please follow me this way, honoured Wizard” this line brought a cackle to the couple sitting at the table “There is no honour among witches” heaved the woman in-between chuckles.
The king turned red as he ushered Garion from the feasting hall and back into the castles vast network of torch-lit corridors. “I do apologize for my guests’ attitudes, they have differing views to me when it comes to your…profession”
Garion raised an eyebrow at this. “But you the king right?” he asked, unsure of the customs of these strange new people.
“Yes I am the king, but I am the fifth King Robert, the third was my father, he died in battle. The fourth was my older brother, he became king at 10 years old. During the power vacuum that occurred after my fathers death, my mother found out she was with child. My brothers reign came to an end a week after I was born. I have been king ever since.”
This took Garion by surprise, of all things he had expected from this giant of a man, he had not expected brutal honesty. “I’m sorry about your family,” Garion said caringly to the king. “so was that your mother at the feasting table?”
This brought a laugh out of the king. “No. heavens no. so after my mother passed away I was left ruler of the kingdom at only 5 years old, the nobles were unwilling to repeat the power vacuum struggles of my brothers reign and sent me here to rule, from my uncle the Duke of Brackenfell's castle.”
Well that explains how this king managed to look so regal but didn't seem to know anything a competent king should know. His uncle and the purple haired woman had clearly been ruling in his stead. Garion made a mental note to change that if he could.
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They came to a spiral staircase at the end of the corridor. Dust covered the stairs. “The library is up those stairs.” The king gestured up the stair case, “I have been unable to take the first step up since our previous wizard died. Your first task is to lift whatever curse he has placed upon the staircase so we can gain entry.” With that he stepped back clearly trying to give Garion some space to work.
Garion surveyed the staircase, he could feel a faint magical energy radiating from it, “What happens if you try to go up?” Garion asked the king tentatively
“The stair retracts into the floor, try for your self, its quite safe” Garion stepped onto the stair, but his foot fell through to the ground below. It was a simple trick, earth magic. Garion pulled a long wizards staff from inside his cloak, the king let out an excited gasp as the staff appeared. Garion glanced over at the large man in the crown, “How does it fit inside the cloak?” asked the king in an excited voice, Garion gestured for the king to come close as if he was sharing a secret. The king leaned in eagerly. Garion looked him seriously in the eyes before whispering “Magic” the king rolled his eyes and Garion returned to the illusionary staircase. He was lucky it was a basic illusion if the previous wizard had left something more deadly, of of a higher level the Garion would be able to break he would have had to return to his glade in shame. But earth magic was similar to green magic.
Garion knelt down and placed his hands at the foot of the stair case, he could feel the magic of the spell. Like a cold sturdy magnetic force. He called forth his own magic. Gathering his power into his hands. He felt the warm heat of a summers day washing out across the spell, washing away the magnetic earth magic illusion. He stood back up and placed his foot on the step once more, solid now, the next seemed fine too. They climbed for three floors before they came to a door. Thankfully no illusion this time just a rather large amount of dust. Garion paused, taking in his surroundings. “How long has it been since you've been in the library?” Garion asked the king.
The king thought for a moment as if doing a complicated spell of his own to discearn the amount of time. “It would be five years or so I guess, I was maybe 15 then I’m 20 now”
Garion reached forwards for the door handle. No last minute wards or curse shot out at him. “And how did they die?” Garion asked
“Nobody knows really, they found his burnt body in a field to the north.” the king said quickly as if he’d done the best research he could on the matter.
Garion opened the door. The pair walked into the circular shaped room and looked around. The smell hit Garion first. The smell of burnt forests and rotten wood. The pair gazed up at the rotting tree in the centre of the large circular room. It had been burnt out as if struck from within by lightning. Blackened and charred with some kind of rot running through it, the last half a decade had not treated this tree kindly. A tear rolled down Garion's cheek at the sight of a tree of this sized being burnt like this. This must have been the previous wizard’s Heart Tree. Every wizard is given one seed. Just one. It connects them to the fundamental forces of magic. Once planted, that wizard is rooted to that place. Only one thing could cause a heart tree to burn from within this way.
Garion reached up to his chest with his free hand. Underneath the many layers of fabric tied around his neck was the seed of his own heart tree, yet to be planted. He felt it reassuringly. “Your Highness, do you know what this means?”
The king jumped. He hand been busy looking at the book shelves on the wall and had apparently forgotten Garion was there. “What the burnt tree means?” he asked curiously, “No idea. Why, what does it mean?” the king pressed.
Garion let out a long breath. “The only way this tree could burn from the inside like this. Is if it’s wizard was burnt to death in dragon fire.”