Anteas

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An insight into the mind of Anteas

Anteas, Royal Grand Vizier, and Master of the Calastian Battle-Mages, gazed out from his private study window, into the chill, crystal blue waters of Vashon Lake, and saw nothing of the beauty which lay before him. It was not that Anteas could no longer see beauty, or relish beauty's power; it was that for this moment of concentration, few things had beauty, beyond the beauty of swift justice and instant death. Anteas' mind was sharp,. the kind of sharp unwary assistants and Captains lost fingers from. Any Captain which had served under Anteas for any length of time, knew that he himself better be just as sharp if a question was posed to him. Know the answer, or find it fast, or have a brilliant strategy for acquiring the information, or ... There was no sense going into the unpleasantnesses which would follow, after all, what good was a Captain without a hand? Or a head?

"My Lord." The voice of Severtus, Anteas' secretary interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to face the battle mage.

"Yes Severtus, what do you bring?" Anteas asked.

"You wanted to be informed when Bront arrived. He is here, and waiting in your ante chamber." Severtus responded.

"Thank you Severtus, please see that he is comfortable and I will be there shortly." Severtus bowed and reached to close the double doors, "Just a moment," Anteas said, and Severtus stood straight once again.

"Yes my Lord?"

"Have the investigators finished their study of the break in?" Anteas asked.

"I believe so my Lord." Severtus answered.

"Anything new turn up?"

"Not much my Lord. The couple that helped them in the city has fled, and we are on their trail. The well pipes have been guarded against entry as you ordered, and the floor's reinforcement has begun, but as you know the work goes slowly. We discovered their identities, and it appears they are the same ones who broke into embassy in Shelzar."

"Yes, not much new there. Anything further on why they broke in? The obvious answer is for the Dragon Gem, if they knew about it before hand, however what escapes me is why they risked so much for an item only a few would know about and even fewer would know was here."

"No my Lord, we have come up short in that area." Severtus answered, keeping his eyes on his master's eyes with no shame.

"No." Anteas repeated, with a sigh. "No. This is our path, as I see it, to find the purpose behind the entry. I'm sure we can find the burglars, and put them to death, but the reason, the driving force behind this deed, is the prize."

"Agreed my lord, but would not this be answered once we have captured our prey?" Severtus asked.

"Possibly, and I am not suggesting that our actions thus far are not the correct ones, what I am suggesting is that we do not forget our true purpose." Anteas said, walking over to a table and pouring a glass of water. He then placed a small crystal in the glass, which chilled the water, causing droplets of condensation to form on the glass. "One should never forget purpose Severtus, it is the edge which separates the conqueror, from the slave. All our actions can be exact, but if purpose is not known, or realized, then the prize will always be out of reach. Just a few more dead burglars on spikes around the spire." He took a sip of the chilled water and turned to his aid. "We can always find volunteers for that position, but what we may not always have, if we squander our resources, is the purpose for them being there."

"I understand my lord and will see that we find our purpose and hold to our path." Severtus said, bowing once more and reaching for the doors. This time, he backed out of the room, closing them completely.

Anteas turned back to his view of Vashon Lake. It was beautiful, and on such a clear day as this one, with the mountains in the distance, he could easily relax here, as he had so many times before, allowing the view to wash over him. But today was not a day for relaxing; it was a day for realization, and action. Dar'Bront was here, to claim the body of his fellow wizard, for all the good it would do him. What was there about the body that Anteas had not already discovered? He could only guess, and that's what was on his mind at the moment. Anteas did not like to guess, he wanted to know. Facts, purpose, resolve. These were the tools of the conqueror. Guesses were for seers and star watchers.

The Penumbral were not very concerned that he had tortured and killed Dar'Antnor, they were only concerned that they could retrieve the body of the traitor as soon as possible.

Why?

Dar'Antnor was certainly not the most powerful of the Penumbral Pentagon. Anteas doubted he was even in the higher circles (as Dar' Antnor had lead him to believe), but he was a gifted mage, and one who understood warfare to a degree. He understood tactics, and campaigns better than Anteas first imagined

When the Dragon Gem first disappeared, right after the Penumbral left the Tapestry Room, it was naturally assumed he had taken it. There was strong evidence Dar'Antnor had plans to leave Vashon that night, and the door to the Tapestry Room being mysteriously locked, put the Penumbral on the torment table, and at Anteas' mercy.

Several hours later, Anteas was in doubt, not in his own skills in extracting information from a prospect, but in the guilt of the Penumbral. So, he decided to gather a bit of information regarding other areas, such as about the Penumbral Pentagon itself, its operatives in Vashon and any plans that Dar'Antnor might be privy too.

This course of action proved to be enlightening in two areas, first, the Penumbrals were far more advanced and a much greater threat than Anteas believed, and, the most important was, he wasn't lying about the missing Dragon Gem. He really didn't know what happened to it, or where it was.

This didn't mean that the Penumbrals didn't have it, only that Dar' Antnor didn't know where it was, or who took it. It was as much of a surprise to him as everyone else. So, after extracting some other information, Anteas put him to rest. He wasn't a sadist, just a realist. Quick death was fine with him. Some leaders needed their bruised egos repaid, and in his younger days, Anteas experienced this need as well. But now, in his wiser years, he realized that death was death, and pain was only profitable if the person feeling it was going to live afterwards, or for information. Justice was for someone else, he had other things to do during his days left on this plane.

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A conversation between Anteas and King Virduk

King Virduk rode out onto the grassy plains, one hand gracefully guiding the large black warhorse over the rolling hills, and his left holding the Scythe Falcon with practiced ease. Riding with any bird of prey at a full gallop is a skill few master, but riding with a Scythe Falcon was a skill even fewer attempted. While the kestrel's wings are folded there is little to worry about, but if the falcon becomes startled or simply feels it is loosing its balance, the razor sharp wings could unfold, and behead a rider, or at the very least, amputate an arm at the shoulder. King Virduk had worked with this particular raptor since it hatched, and was very aware of the dangers, but the Scythe Falcon was the best hunting bird in the lands and Virduk loved to hunt. Only Anteas, riding beside him, knew the bird's wings were magically bound while wearing its hood.

"So we know who attempted to steal the Dragon Gem from your Spire." Virduk said, without the tone of question in his voice.

"True, but not why at the moment." Anteas responded. He was older than Virduk, but still had a grace and command in his posture on a mount few could ever match, no matter how young or strong.

"And this matters?" Virduk asked, looking over at his long time friend and advisor.

"I believe it does, yes."

"Why?" Virduk asked, leaning forward just slightly to counter balance his weight as the huge stallion started up a low hill, the heat of his mount steaming in the chill air with his breath as he spoke. "Why bother with this minor detail. They don't have the gem, obviously, so what use could they be? Higher a professional and be done with it."

"Sire, it is not this simple I suspect. Death, although well deserved for the entry, is final, and these are skilled thieves if nothing else. They may be on the trail of the Dragon Gem as we speak." Anteas said, keeping up with his king easily. "If they are, they are probably skilled enough to take it from who ever took it from us, and therefore can tell us much more once they have it, leading us to the true thieves as well."

"There is some logic in that, yes, and we should find out who this other thief is, after all, he has escaped all our detections, and eluded us completely hasn't he?"

"Yes, he has my Lord, completely. Not even a trace of his presence in the room or outside. But I have been thinking about that as well, and it is possible that the Dragon Gem itself left the room with no aid."

"Come again?" Said Virduk, slowing the stallion to a walk as they reached the bottom of the next hill.

"I have been studying the information we have on the gems, and it is possible that the gem left of its own design. In all the records I have of the gems, they never stay in one place, or with one person for very long. From the historical accounts we have, they are lost or stolen most of the time, but looking at the time lines in order and complete, the periods they are with their masters is uniformly small, so it is possible that each of the former owners thought, just as we have concluded, that their gem was stolen, when in fact it is possible the stones simply relocated themselves" Anteas explained.

"You are serious? The Dragon Gem decided it was time to go, and simply vanished from a room which no one can enter using any magical means?" Virduk asked, bringing his mount now to a complete stop. The stallion responded and stood at attention. Not even flicking its long black tail. "

"Why not?" asked Anteas, "Many powerful artifacts have a history of doing exactly the same thing. "

"Those are magical artifacts, these are just gems with no magical properties at all." King Virduk said, "Or, have you found that this belief is in error?"

"No, that appears to remain true. I've yet to read an account which suggested the Dragon Gems themselves had, or have, any magical properties, other than being very good as a focus of power." Anteas answered, "Which would seem to suggest that my theory is in error, as you pointed out, but what if the Dragon Gems had a watcher? What if the Gems themselves had no magical properties, but the artifact they were originally made for, did? And what if this artifact was calling them closer to rebuild itself?"

"That is a large stack of 'what if's' Anteas, this isn't like you, is there something you are not telling me?" Virduk asked.

"No, well, yes, but all mere theories. Not worth going over right now until I've learned more about both sets of thieves." He admitted.

The rest of the hunting party caught up with them, and King Virduk turned slightly in his saddle to watch his wife, Queen Geleeda, ride her white mare down the grass knoll. He found her absolutely stunning in the morning light. There was something about the light of morning that showered through her golden hair, and turned her eyes to sapphires.

Anteas also turned to see the Queen, with different thoughts in his mind, which he suppressed as soon as they surfaced. He had lived his life knowing his next move, his enemies, and their strengths with absolute precision, however Geleeda remained beyond his understanding. He knew that she was a danger to both his king and his country, but how and why was not known. Another mystery in a life with few mysteries; he would solve these soon. Both of them.

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