Cheilin Saga ~ 20

 Cheilin Saga ~ 20 The Search

By Len Morgan

“This is where you lost them?”   Aldor asked gazing across the street from a second floor window.  Kalle nodded slowly.   “Do not feel you are in any way to blame, you could not know they were so well organised.   You have not been off duty in twenty hours” he observed “you should be resting; we may have need of your talents in the near future.   You did well to discover their back door; I doubt they even suspect it has been compromised.   Does it open from both sides I wonder?”

“The mechanism was unfamiliar but I suspect it does,” said Kalle.

They were in clear view of the alley on ‘Circle15’, in a safe house they had entered via ‘C14’.

“It is a good lead Kalle, the only one we have at this time, with luck it will provide us with the edge we need to preserve his life.”

Kalle knew that even now, at this late hour, all their agents would be looking out for Bordek and Hestor, and any of their known associates.   Once spotted, the news would spread like a heath fire on the wind.   All that could be done tonight had been done, so Kalle took Aldor’s advice and went home.

.-…-.

“You’re sure Hestor didn't return to the palace?” Sloan asked.

Aldor shook his head, “but as soon as ever he surfaces, I will know.   In the meantime all my people can do is search the rooftops and the gutters and keep their eyes and ears open hopefully a clue will come to light, sooner rather than later.”

Sloan nodded, “their descriptions have been circulated, I’m kinda taken with Dan, I’d hate anything to happen to him.   I like this job too but, how long would it last if he were gone I wonder?”

“Then ensure he stays right where he is.”

“Ah!   There you have it.   My mistake has always been in overcomplicating matters; well thank you for putting me straight” Sloan shook his head.

Aldor shrugged and left the small watch post, striding into the night, ‘the man is completely mad’.

.-…-.

“Why so angry Mawld?   It was never Bedelacq’s policy for us to befriend and make peace with our enemies, you know that,” said Mawgwrr.    “He just wants their blood spilled, and we have a mandate to do that.”

“But, what of our own people who die needlessly in the process?   Good loyal subjects with potentially long and productive lives ahead of them.” He said.

“We the elite are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that our lord receives his quota of blood at the appropriate times.   He doesn’t mind who provides it…”

“So it comes down to that!   We exist to feed him with blood?”

Mawgwrr did not reply to his taunt.   “I’m sorry we cannot count on your willing co-operation, and that makes you a dangerous man,” she added.   “You have more than a passing resemblance to a man we must discredit so, help us you will,” she said, mentally summoning another Bride.   “Sister Efelel will accompany you to the Cheilin Empire to ensure that you carry out your mission to our satisfaction,” she said, leaving them alone together.  

“Drink this!”   Efelel commanded.

He raised his arm to dash the beaker from her hand, but their eyes made contact.   It was as if he had been transfixed.

“I am now going to make you mine,” she stated in a quiet voice.   She entered his head, savouring the look on his face, like a trapped animal, his eyes revealing the terror.

“Drink!” she repeated.

He watched as his hand took the beaker. He felt the pale yellow liquid pass through his gullet; against his will.

Within seconds, itching began inside his skull, as though ants were building a nest there, burrowing and expanding with impunity, becoming familiar with their new abode.   He shivered in horror, his free will departed, and he submitted to his fate.   His brain was numb.  He began moaning involuntarily and slavering like a rabid dog.   Scratching frantically at his face and skull, crying and making pitiful mewling animal noises.  Finally, he gave voice to a primordial scream then lost consciousness.

“There, there my pet,” she cooed, snuggling him to her breast, enfolding him in her arms even as she spoke she was plumping his mind, making it feel more comfortable prior to taking up residence.  He would be the host; her pet.  She soothed his pain and calmed him until he was close to sleep, “Kiss me,” she whispered, he obeyed.

That kiss betrayed him; he was hers, and nothing he could do about that.   He was first domesticated, then indoctrinated, and fed full of propaganda.   He may have seen through it in his past existence but now he believed everything he was told.   She was curled up safely in his mind, for the most part just observing, directing his thoughts and actions when necessary.   Efelel was quietly pleased with the degree of success and control she now exerted over him.

Mawgwrr chuckled, “you see, the more wilful they are the more obedient they become.”

It seemed that he was in full control, as before, but at a moment's notice, she could take command and lead him every which way.  They enjoyed sex, he was good, it bound him ever closer to her In thought and deed, she provided him with purpose direction and motivation.   Though satisfied with their bonding, Mawgwrr continued to oversee their development.   Mawld & Efelel were given an intensive training program designed to test both to their limits and forging their bond even closer.   They were bound for the Cheilin Empire, to spy for Blutt.   They were taught how to deceive, threaten, persuade, and inveigle themselves into the hearts of others.   They learned many clandestine techniques including how to use the minds of others as weapons against them.   Dreams, desires, prejudice, jealousy, and greed were just a few of the tools at their disposal.   Their instructions were simply to lay the groundwork for the assimilation of the Cheilin Empire.

.-…-.

 It was close to dusk when they entered the Eternal City, through the Southern gate.   They had the code names and locations of key contacts in the Blutt advance mission, established in Cheilin a century earlier, to insinuate themselves into society.   They ran a spy network that had spread throughout the city and outlying countryside.

At the junction of ‘Circle18 & East3’, they found ‘the Porters Ease’ an Inn of renown.

‘Here it is’ she spoke by mind link.   They entered the establishment and sat, as instructed, in a corner booth marked as reserved.  

“Ale for two,” Mawld called out to a passing waitress, as they sank into large upholstered easy chairs.  “Are there rooms for hire?” he asked when their drinks were served.

“Just one double at the top,” the girl replied.

“We’ll take it,” he said, “Is food available?”

The waitress left, returning with a menu from which they both selected venison stew.   They ate two helpings before retiring.   At thirty minutes past noon the following day they were picking over the remains of two roast chickens when the curtains to their booth were parted to reveal a young woman in her early teens.

She looked critically from Mawld to Efelel and back again.  

“If you are newly arrived in the Eternal City, I would stop and ask for news of home.” 

“It would depend on where you call home,” Mawld answered, glancing at Efelel.

 

‘She is O’Keffe, our contact.   She has never seen Bluttland, never even left this city, she was born here.’ 

“O’Keffe what kept you?” he asked.

O’Keffe answered his question with a thought, ‘She is one of his Brides,’ she gazed in awe at Efelel.

Efelel did not give an answer, it was not required, ‘will you be taking us to our contact now’  she sent that thought, while probing gently for information, but her probe was met by a firm block.

“Best not,” said O’Keffe.   ‘I know three contacts, outside my own cell; they each know two others besides myself.   If any of us are compromised we cannot be forced to give up more than those three.’

‘You will know of us.’

‘Yes, but you will wipe that, as soon as I deliver you safe to your destination,’ was her matter-of-fact reply.   “Now if you have finished your food we can go.”

“Lead on,” said Mawld.

They left the Tavern, with O’Keffe some thirty paces behind.   They went East then South then West and finally North, with frequent forays into Taverns where they tarried a while before leaving.   All the while O’Keffe remained outside watching for signs of pursuit, passing instructions to Efelel through the mind link until eventually, they arrived at their destination.

.-…-. 

Over the months Mawld began to familiarise himself with the man he was to become.   As a test, he began to frequent places know to have been visited by Aldor.   He tried to be innocuous and to go unnoticed but responded in a friendly manner to any who thought they recognised him.   Then, when Aldor was recalled to Sanctuary at the time of Sanko’s demise he roamed abroad becoming Aldor in reality.   Unbeknown to him, he even fooled some of the Tylywoch agents who should have known better.   Luck was on his side, and he began the process of blackening General Aldor’s name prior to his return to the City.   He had planned to shadow Aldor, in another guise, and improve his technique but, Aldor returned and departed for the cloistered Abbey of Samishaan before that could happen.   So, he continued to sow unrest amongst the normal populace by continuing to act in a brutish and arrogant manner.   He never actually gave his name but most people he contacted found him to be aggressive & abrasive, with more than an undertone of danger around him.   Then he forced his first duel and killed a man, out of hand, acting as though it were a joke.   Even regular acquaintances whom he had courted, to higher his standing, became uncertain and nervous in his presence.

That was when his accomplices began spreading rumours about his exploits.   Only occasionally did he actually do anything but it was invariably high profile and in poor taste.   Of course, the Emperor and his officers knew it could not be Aldor, but proving it was quite another thing.   All members of the Tylywoch were briefed to apprehend the impostor on sight but, somehow he was able to evade them and frustrate their efforts.   He remained at large and in the public eye flaunting all their attempts to get him.   Mawld knew one thing the Tylywoch and the Red Guard did not.   Prior to each appearance, the minds of all those present were scanned thoroughly and if there were any doubts, about those present, Mawld did not appear. 

(to be continued)

Copyright Len Morgan