Three - Foundation Part Two

Together with Captain Cervik and four other guards, Alyena descended down to the lower levels of the palace. In contrast to the round shapes of the newer parts, there were sharp lines here.

The part they descended to was one of the oldest of the palace. Many corridors were dead ends and the dust hadn't been disturbed here in years. The corridors were also much more spacious than in other old parts of the palace. In some corridors you could easily walk with four people next to each other. All in all it took a while before the group had found the right corridor.

At the end of the hallway was a painting of a fight. This took up the entire width of the corridor. At first they couldn’t recognize what was on the painting because of the thick layer of dust. After one of the guards had carefully wiped it off, it could be seen that the painting depicted warriors of the old empire. The warriors wore metal plates instead of the usual leather armor used in the armies of today.

“And that while leather harnesses have been in use as long as the history books go back!” exclaimed Alyena. “This painting must really be ancient.”

Alyena studied her translation again.

“According to the scroll, there should be a door here. It's a shame about the painting, but we have to see what's behind it.”

Immediately the captain sprung into action.

“Tear down that wall!”

The guards rushed to carry out the order and within moments the wall with the painting was gone. Behind it was an entrance with solid wooden doors that were almost as big as the painting had been.

The guards tried in vain to open the doors. Not only were they closed with a large lock, but over the centuries the aging of the heavy oak doors had only made them stronger.

When it turned out that the doors would not just open, the captain ordered two guards to use their shoulders as battering rams with a run-up. With a loud bang they charged against the doors.

“Let's try that again,” Alyena said, “I think they moved a little bit. Maybe if four guards try it?”

When the guards charged against the door this time, something different happened. Even though the doors were still intact, the hinges were not. With an enormous impact, the doors fell to the ground at exactly the same time. The four guards tumbled after the downed doors, with one of them making an ugly fall.

“Well, that was easy,” Captain Cervik said. “I expected that it would take a week to have some experts break through those doors.”

Behind the doors was a large hall with several corridors that ran in three directions.

“I believe we found what we were looking for,” Alyena said. “Make sure that no one can just walk in here, and let someone get some more guards and clerks. I think we could use some help.”

“Yes, your majesty,” the captain responded, turning to a bunch of guards. “Jack, Nerv, you have heard her majesty. No one gets through those doors without permission. Roy, you pick up the guard squad on duty. They can support us here. Oh, and don't forget those clerks. There are probably a few in the service area.”

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The guards wasted no time and rushed to carry out their orders.

“Let's take a look while Roy gets the duty squad, your majesty,” captain Cervik suggested. “I have become curious about what can be found here.”

“You're absolutely right,” the Empress replied. “Let's split up and let each choose a corridor to see what's out there.”

“I can’t let that happen, your majesty,” was the captain's response. “I will not leave you unattended. We will all go together.”

With a deep sigh, Alyena responded. “I didn’t really expect you to agree with that, but I could try.” After which the three of them took the middle corridor.

Soon they came across rooms on both sides of the corridor. The entire structure down here had been built by the same large stones that could only be found in the oldest parts of the palace. The only difference was that here in different places the stones were broken, so that moisture had managed to enter. The rooms were almost three times the size of Alyena's bedroom, which was, as the bedchamber of the empress, pretty large. Unfortunately, one room after another turned out to be empty.

“If this continues, we’ll have destroyed that painting for nothing, Alyena muttered.

"”In that case, it's still a great adventure, isn't it?” responded Captain Cervik.

“Yes, but it wouldn't help us one bit in the war,” came the sour answer.

Almost immediately it turned out that she had spoken too early. The next rooms were all the complete opposite of the first ones! Each room contained parts of armor. Not the kind of equipment that had been used in recent centuries, but made entirely of metal. Helmets, cuirasses, shoulder pieces and much more.

“This is unbelievable!” exclaimed Captain Cervik. “I have never seen such armor. These must be hundreds of years old!”

“That’s a distinct possibility. The old empire left almost a thousand years ago. If I'm not mistaken, this is the kind of gear they wore then. I have read that in the books about their armies, in which such equipment is described. Oh, and I think there are also some statues in the storage of the palace that originate from that time. Maybe we can find some examples there.”

“Yes! I know where we have seen them before!” cried Captain Cervik enthusiastically. “Such armor was worn by those warriors in the painting in front of the entrance!”

“But how did they fight in these?” asked a guard. “They look so heavy that I think you can hardly move in them.”

“I have no idea. Maybe we'll find out somewhere here,” Alyena suggested.

“Still, I don't see how anyone would want to fight in this. Consider the cost for a warrior to have to buy such armor to join the army. My family could only save just enough to pay for my equipment. I don't even want to know how long we would have needed to work to buy a suit of armor like this.”

“That's because nowadays every warrior has to arrange his own gear and the officers also need to pay for their training. That may be useful for the treasury and for the nobles, who can maintain their important position, but the result is that we have fewer warriors. Imagine how many extra warriors we could deploy if everyone could just sign up.”

Suddenly they heard voices behind them with a moment later cries of astonishment.

“That will be the duty squad. Shall we meet them and put them to work?” asked Captain Cervik.

“Let's do that,” Alyena agreed.

Once back in the first room, Captain Cervik immediately handed out assignments.

“You are going to work in twos. Each duo consists of one guard and one clerk. Choose a room and write down what you find. If you come across anything that you don't know, or that looks important or dangerous, you'll come get me right away.”

Everyone rushed to get to work. For a moment it was chaos in the room, with guards and clerks running in all directions. One clerk just managed to hand over a message to Alyena before he was pulled away by the guard assigned to him.

When everything calmed down again, Captain Cervik turned to Alyena.

“Now we have to wait for them to come back. In the meantime, you can read that message that you have clamped in your hand.”

Alyena looked at her hand in amazement. In the chaos, she had completely forgotten the message that the clerk had given her. She quickly read the note, and immediately after that she started swearing.

“I forgot about the consultation with Count Griffith. That will start in a few minutes!”

Alyena looked longingly at the corridors where the guards and clerks had just disappeared.

“I have to run. If you find something that is especially important, I want to know right away. In that case, send someone to get me, Cervik! I will see if I can keep the consultation short, but knowing the count it will take a while.”