The festival was always a place of unrestrained joy. The costumes lit up the summer's day, a riot of colour to rival any gardener's paradise. Music filled the air, festive beats lifted the spirits and made the people want to move, jump and sing. It was a time to celebrate being alive, celebrate the wonders of creation and be one with the community. The air tasted so heavenly with the chefs alongside the parade, every delicious thing ready to be shared with friends. An event like this you would expect the entire family to be there, but growing up Prince Zain learned fast that wasn't the case for his little brother. His brother was never allowed to attend events with massive crowds or anything that might overwhelm him, so Zain thought his brother would show some sort of emotion when the Festival, he never could attend was being held at the palace this year.
The square was a hive of activity. A caravan of colorful carts was being unloaded by acrobats, dancers, jugglers, strong men, and jesters. An acrobat back flips into her partner's arms. Jugglers practice their routine, sending batons high into the air.
Zain and Coda looked down from the balcony into the Main Square. Zain was beaming with excitement, as Coda was less so.
"Oh! Did you see that? Hahaha hah" Zain said, trying to get his brother excited.
"A man throwing sticks in the air?" Coda asked grimly.
Zain looked at his brother, taking in his mood.
"What's wrong?" Zain asked. Coda shrugged then turned away from the balcony, walking back inside his room. "It's the first year you have seen the festival. You've got dancers, jugglers and acrobats to entertain you. It must be a terrible burden."
Coda walked over, plucked a banana out of the fruit basket and peeled it and leaned against the nearby wooden pillar.
"Perhaps I'm less easily impressed than you." Coda mumbled before taking a bite.
Zain walked over with a smug smile and plucked the banana from Coda's hands.
"I'm really looking forward to it." Zain admitted. "You know the lady dancers and all."
Zain tossed the banana out the window and both boys ended up leaning over the balcony once more to see it land right in front of the count as he walked out the front doors; his eyes peered in a book he had been reading.
Zain smiled seeing the count's foot hit the banana and slip off his feet, landing on his back, dropping his book.
"Now that was funny," Zain uttered.
Coda looked at Zain and shook his head.
"You really have the mind of a child." Coda replied, turning away, stopping in his tracks, and catching Bayla jumping on the bed with her two best friends, Freya and Yiskah.
"Hey. Get off my bed. You'll ruin the sheeting"
They stopped jumping.
"You know, you're no fun." Bayla pointed out.
"Yeah, you're no fun." Zain agreed.
"I'd rather be no fun, then be like you." Coda taunted back.
"Uh, excuse me?!" Zain asked in a loud, surprised tone.
"Appalling table manners..." Coda went on.
"Er, now, hang on a minute..." Zain protested.
"Wonderful sense of humor. No, no, you don't have that either."
Zain reached on his bed and grabbed a large pillow before throwing it at Coda, who ducked right as the pillow, hit the wall behind him. Bayla picked up a pillow from the bed.
"Pillow War 737" she shouted before thrusting a pillow at Coda, who took it in the face and fell backwards. Climbing to his feet and grabbing another pillow from the bed as Zain picked the biggest pillow. The three and Bayla's friends started the fight and feathers seem to go everywhere, all unaware of the events about to take place or the ones that had already begun.
The Banquet Hall was packed an hour or two later. Knights and courtiers were tucking into a feast. They filled the Halls with entertainment... Everyone was enjoying the show, wowed by the skills of the performers. Coda was slumped down in the chair on the king's left next to Bayla as Zain sat firm on the right, his mother next to him. A large table full of plates, trays, and bowls of food sat before the royal family. Coda was picking feathers out of Bayla's hair and tossing them under his chair as she ate the cupcakes in front of her.
Coda glanced at his father, remembering what he overheard the night before.
Speaking to the man on simple matters was hard enough but could he really keep quiet when they were trying to take away one of his only real friends.
Though, even if he had the courage to say against the king, the large man probably wouldn't even hear them.
The drums were pounding, pounding, pounding, and his head with them. Pipes wailed and flutes trilled from the musicians' gallery at the foot of the hall; fiddles screeched, horns blew, the skins skirled a lively tune, but the drumming drove them all. The sounds echoed off the rafters, whilst the guests ate, drank, and shouted at one another below. His father must be deaf as a stone to call this music.
Coda sighed then plucked the last feather out of his sister's hair then sipped a cup of Crangrape and watched a few dancers prance to the sounds of the Northern theme. At least he thought it was meant to be "Northern theme" With these players, it might as easily have been "The Western theme."
Outside the sleet still fell, but within the Northern Palace, the air was thick and hot. A fire roared in the hearth and rows of torches burned smokily from iron sconces on the walls. Yet most of the heat came off the bodies of the guests, jammed in so thick along the benches that every man who tried to lift his cup poked his neighbor in the ribs.
Even on the dais they were closer than Coda would have liked. Count Bastion, seated at the king's right sipped whatever drink was in his cup in preference, but ate little.
Coda could not fault him for his lack of appetite. The feast began with a thin leek soup, followed by a salad of green beans, onions, and beets, river pike poached in almond milk, mounds of mashed turnips that were cold before they reached the table, jellied calves' brains, and a leche of stringy beef. It was poor fare to set before a king, and the calves' brains turned Coda's stomach. Yet Zain ate it uncomplaining, and Bayla was too caught up with the sweets to pay much attention. Even mother, who was usually on top of everything seemed distracted with the Court Wives that kept approaching her.
Count Bastion murmured some words too soft to hear and went off in search of a privy. The cramped hall was in a constant uproar of guests and servants coming and going.
His mind still on Jolene. Coda finally looked at his father and found his voice squeaking out. "Are you really going to separate Jolene and I?"
The king looked at his son. "Where did you hear something like that?"
"I heard you last night," Coda admitted. "You were below my balcony."
"You're not supposed to listen in on others, and I do what I need to, to protect the kingdom,"
Coda looked away from his father, lowering his head. "This kingdom is nothing but a facade."
Endeavour jerked his head at his son.
"Welcome all," the ringleader yelled from the center of the hall, "the festival is about to begin."
Endeavour's eyes lifted from Coda to Bastion, who was grinning.
"What's on your mind, Bastion?" Endeavour asked.
"Nothing, your highness," the count said with a smile. "Just eager to see the show,"
Endeavour smirked.
"Never pictured you as a circus fan,"
"I just believe this one will be special, your grace." The count replied before looking over at a slumped down Coda. His arms crossed so no one could tell the face he wore was one that would have rather been anywhere but there.
The count looked up to see Coda's friend trying to make his way into the crowd, but he kept getting pushed and shoved by dancers and clowns. One ended up knocking into him so hard that he fell on his face. Coda must have seen this, because he flew up and Endeavor reached out fast, grabbing his arm. Coda glared at him instantly, and they seemed to have a conversation without speaking. When Luke got up, Coda hesitated before sitting down.
A clown got up on stage and started a juggling act that lasted about five minutes until the king leaned in close to Coda and whispered. The boy must of not liked what he said, for he leaned back and gave Endeavour a hateful expression, but the king's fist clenched tightly. It wasn't a minute later that the clown's shoes burst into the most beautiful flames the count had ever seen, startling the clown and having him drop the knives, almost slicing his feet off. This made the king burst out laughing, having everyone look from the clown to the king.
Coda blushed and tried to hide his face.
The ringleader stood there helping a clown who had just finished performing off stage. "and if you thought he was amazing folks, you have seen nothing yet. Prepare to see the amazing balancing act but to do this I am going to need a volunteer," The ringleader stepped forward and set his eyes on Coda, who had just looked up, like a deer seeing light.
"Prince Coda! What better or more fitting occasion for you to demonstrate your legendary bravery?"
Coda felt put on the spot, clenching a handful of blackberries in his hand as Endeavour seemed to fume. That eyes were on the frail-looking boy.
"He doesn't do well in front of crowds," Endeavour scolded. "Move on,"
The ringleader stood nervously. Coda could see his legs almost buckling. He glanced at the count before he nodded.
"Of course, your highness," He said. "I am sorry,"
The ringleader tossed Coda a green apple before he turned away and continued on with the show, ignoring his act was pushed aside.
"You didn't even give me a choice," Coda whispered rudely, whipping off the squished black berries with a scented towel. Endeavour looked at Coda and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not risking everything I built up to all be smashed by a freak show performance." Endeavour muttered to Coda in a low tone to where only Coda could supposedly hear. Coda looked away from him and back up to the ringleader, trying to hide the watery eyes. Zain looked past Endeavour to Coda with a concerned expression before his eyes fell to Endeavour and he leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath.
Coda was suddenly out of his seat and walking away from his family and through the hallway. He got to the end of the hall when he heard footsteps behind him. He darted behind a pillar just as the door from the Banquet hall opened up and Endeavour stormed out.
"Coda?" He shouted. "Get back here!"
Coda froze and plastered himself against the pillar, clenching his fist tightly in his hand.
"Coda?!"
"Will you just stop," His mother's voice spoke before Coda heard more footsteps. "Will just care for once, show your sons you love them and stop pushing them away? They are both hurting because of what you're doing."
Endeavour stopped and looked at her.
"I am preparing this kingdom for the future," Endeavour stated coldly. "Feelings don't matter,"
"These feelings do matter, because it is these feelings that shape the people they will become." His mother said. "They have done everything you said, they have given everything they ever had and all you do is raise your expectations and make them feel worthless. When are you going to see this is not working?"
Endeavour let out a growl and stomped down the western hall.
"W-Where are you going?" His mother shouted, but her husband didn't answer and stepped out of the side door into the courtyard.
Coda watched his mother glare at where her husband once stood, her fist clenched and shaking.
He watched his mother looked around before returning to the banquet hall to be with Zain. Coda stepped out from behind the pillar, lowering his head and turning to go to his chambers; he trudged up the stairs and pushed his chamber door opened before wandering in.
The click of the door latch made him look up before something shoved him hard in the back. He fell forward, stumbling into the chamber. Coda moaned and forced himself on his knees before looking behind him to see something out a horror book it seemed.
The person in front of him wore a tattered dark grey mantle with a five-pointed star, or pentagram, contained within a circle patch on his left arm. The hood that kept low and was completely black, and only the eyes that were deep inside showed a little red light. He was a man made of metal... some kind of mantle man.
He stepped into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
"The special one..." It spoke in a metallic tone, almost like a machine.
Coda's eyes widened as he remembered what his father said about people coming for the flame from the South and West. He brushed off this warning because he believed they thought it was a relic and wouldn't think they would look for a human... but he was wrong. So wrong.
"You will make a fine gift." Coda caught his breath at the abrupt. "I've been searching for a relic, a book even, but it never occurred to me until I saw those eyes..." The mantle man walked towards Coda, who scrambled backwards... "That the flame might have been a human. Why else would Endeavour keep you so close, unless you offered him something he had to have?" The man went on. "I denied it at first but then I recalled, it's always the ones you don't expect, then I remembered how possessive of his youngest son,"
Coda's back touched the wall behind him, trapping him in the corner of the room. The mantle man only coming closer.
Coda's mind was racing, trying to work out how this had happened and how to get out of here. "You can't tell him. He'll kill you! He kills anyone that finds out,"
The man just stood there, as if this was news to him. Peering into Coda's deep blue eyes.
"Like who?" The man then asked.
Coda only shook his head. "Who?!"
He sounded machine like but by his curious nature and how he carried himself, Coda conducted there was a human underneath the metal.
"Who has Endeavour falsely executed?"
Coda shook his head once more.
He leaned forward, grabbing Coda's hair and pulling him to his knees. Coda gritted his teeth to keep himself from shouting.
Do something, Coda thought through the pain as he clenched his fist.
Coda felt a familiar tingling feeling come in the tips of his fingers as his chest burned a bit. Coda's eyes widened before the blue flames lashed out, startling the man until he let go and folded nearly double, grunting in pain.
Coda scrambled to get past him and for the doorway.
A metal hand grabbed for Coda's ankle. He pulled hard, dragging Coda back into the room. Coda twisted, lashing out with his free foot and catching the man above the red, glowing eye. He released Coda with a spat curse and fell backwards.
There would have to be a human under that suit, Coda thought.
He launched himself towards the door and pulled it open. The light from the oil lamps hanging on the corridor wall outside streamed into the chamber. He scrambled out, pushing the door closed, and ran off down the corridor. Behind him, he heard the crash of the cabin door hitting the inside wall as the man pulled it open.
Coda heard the thudding of feet as someone chased after him.
The corridor ended in a junction; Coda went left, heading for the stairs, down to the people and to safety. But he must have gone wrong somewhere because there was no sign of the stairway. Instead, the corridors took him deeper and deeper into the west wing of the palace.
Coda almost started shouting several times but had to hold it in, knowing if he did he would give his location away to the mantle man.
Faced with the choice of a stairway that led up and going back again, he chose to go up. From somewhere behind him, Coda heard footsteps. Someone was still on his trail. He kept moving.
Coda was sweating, partly because of the chase and partly because of the heat emerging from his body.
He went round a corner to find a large door ahead of him. It was shut. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, but there was no point going back. He could only go onward.
The hallway ended in a wall, with no doors or windows nearby. It was dark where he was, even his blue eyes vividly glowing from the raging flame he couldn't see well in the dark. It was a dead end. No way out.
The shadows between the parts of the hall shielded him. He tried to make himself as small and quiet as possible. Pressing his back against the wall, flat as he could go.
Footsteps, and then silence as the man reached the floor. Coda felt his body shaking from the thought of what if this guy manages to actually get him...
"You don't have to be afraid, you know." The man said. "The Brotherhood has no intention of killing you. We know how a Keeper's power works so killing you would just be a waste of time."
Coda felt the calmness of the voice, the reasonableness of the words, and the heat of the flame lulling him into a trance. He shook his head abruptly. He couldn't let himself be hypnotized by the mantle man.
He lunged forward and lashed out with a long thin blade, trying to catch the side of Coda's head. Coda ducked back, and the blade hit the side of a stone pillar. Something shot up through his system and sparks flew across the room. Coda felt them burn his face. He brushed at his hair in case any of them had caught in it. The man pulled the blade back.
Raising it over his head, he brought it crashing down towards Coda's scalp.
Coda raised his hands, and a flame emerged. The blade hit the other side of the hallway, the energy nearly knocking Coda to his knees. The vibration transferring from the fire felt like it might tear his arms from their sockets. He brought the fire around and caught the mantle man's arm. The man actually screamed and staggered back.
Coda's suddenly nerveless fingers dropped his fire. The mantle man was standing in a half crouch, cradling his right elbow in his left hand. His face was probably twisted into an animalistic snarl under that mask.
Coda turned and ran.
The hallway ended in another junction, with more hallways heading left and right. Coda took the right-hand one and tore along it, stopping only when he heard voices. Voices of laughter and music.
The noises were joyous to Coda, who had not seen or heard any other person since the man had started chasing him. Finally, he could stop running!
He followed the voices and came up on the upper ballroom balcony.
He tried to see where the mantle man was. No luck. The man had vanished... Maybe he got scared that Coda had found people and backed off.
Coda stopped at the door and reached out for the doorknob when he heard a familiar voice. "Your highness, there you are!"
Bastion. A shockwave goes through his body.
"Oh, hey! Um, you startled me a little," Coda offered as an excuse for his shaky voice. He looked around for the metal man but saw nothing.
Did he stop because of Bastion? Was he just waiting for Bastion to leave?
Bastion smiled and said nothing, but Coda could see that he was examining Coda closely. "Your father sent me to find you but I was wondering if we might have a little chat?"
"I-I think you should call the guards," His words were rushed.
Bastion's eyebrows lifted. "Oh?"
Coda pointed behind him. "There was a man wearing some kind of metal suit, he was chasing me."
Bastion looked behind him, seeing nothing out of place. "I'm sure it might have just been a drunken knight and this will just take a few minutes." He reached toward Coda to put a hand on his shoulder, and a sting shot through his gut that made him flinch involuntarily, jumping back. Bastion eyed Coda curiously, but his face betrayed nothing.
Coda knew the sting was the flame, giving an alert but besides finding him imposing. The man had been at his father's side for decades.
"Like you, I do not wish to see Jolene sent off to live at nunnery or boarding school." He let this hang in the air between them for a moment, watching Coda's face closely.
"I know it might sound silly," he laughed gently, running his fingers through his hair, "And you and I are not on the same page very often but this is something we both have in common." He placed his hand on his shoulder again, briefly, and Coda looked up at him. "You and Jolene should stay here as you wish,"
Coda stared at the floor and nodded almost imperceptibly.
Has he been reading my mind? Coda thought. And he wasn't saying this last night. In fact he was staying the opposite. So what changed?
Another sting, shot through his system. This one was worse than the last.
Coda placed his hand on his chest and looked behind him, expecting the metal man to attack.
But the hallway was almost barren, besides the vases and wolf tapestries.
"See, all you have to do is side with me,"
Coda went silent, unsure what he meant.
"Side with you about what?" Coda began slowly.
"A simple argument your father and I just had," he smiled kindly. "Nothing more,"
"About what?" Coda asked, his gaze shifting around. "Maybe you should call the guards. I think that metal man is watching us."
He's not smiling now. His mouth was set in a hard line, and his eyes bore into him, and Coda noticed with alarm that they went black. He stepped closer, closing the gap between them.
Coda felt a new fear emerge. For the count.
"I don't think I should, to be quiet honest." Bastion said. "I mean, with a power like yours, it would be a waste on the guards,"
Bastion reached out so fast, grabbing Coda by the upper arm with a strength that made the boy yelp in pain.
"So how does this Eternal Flame work?" His voice was a low hiss. "Does it know I am evil or is it showing me mercy?"
Coda stared at him, unable to even respond.
"If you're wondering how I figured it out. I can tell you honestly that it wasn't hard when I really started to think about it." Bastion smiled once more. Only this time Coda could see a sinister motive lurking behind those dark eyes. "I mean your father guarded you more than his heir, his first born and how you know exactly what the Southerners are after despite the fact, you are never at any of the meetings. Now be the pliant boy I know and come with me." Coda pulled back in an attempt to free himself, but his grip was too strong. The hallway still empty, no servants or other staff passing by to come to his aid if he were to struggle.
"If you scream, I will kill that little curly haired sister of yours. Do you understand?" he explained matter-of-factly. When he looked up, his eyes were flashing with lightning. Coda stared at him in disbelief, than nodded. He yanked him down the hall and pulled him into another darkened hallway where three men in the mantle suits stood.
"You've met The Brotherhood already." he spit. "Killers, robbers and kidnappers," He jerked Coda close and pulled him closer to the men. "They do anything as long as I pay them." Bastion smiled at his own words. "Even slay a royal family."
Coda felt frozen to the floor. No way was this true. He was sure he just hit his head somewhere?
"I don't have quarrels with your mother and sister. Your mother has no claim and your sister is too young to understand much but your father and brother...Their royal blood and for that. They have to die." His voice was still bright, cheerful, but his eyes were black and soulless. "I was going to kill you, to be honest but I don't want to shed more blood then I have to and I hear killing a Keeper is hard. I just have to make everyone think your dead."
Trembling, Coda felt Bastion's iron grip on his arm remain as he led Coda toward the side entrance to the Dining Hall where his family was.
He had to get out of this. Why wasn't the flame working now?
"Keep up, boy. We aren't out for a stroll," he snapped.
Coda wince in pain as his grip tightened. As they reached the kitchens, one door opened and two younger servants whose faces Coda vaguely recognized entered with baskets of produce from the winter greenhouse. Upon seeing them, they smile. "Your Highness!" one of them, a willowy girl with braces and a sandy blonde ponytail, greeted him. "Count Bastion." She smiled at Coda.
"Hello, ladies!" Bastion's voice was jovial, his hand still clamped onto Coda's arm. He extended his staff toward the ponytail girl, patting her on the shoulder, than letting the top of the staff lingered. Coda watch in horror as she jolted, her eyes rolling back into her head as the basket of broccoli and winter squash tumbled to the floor. She dropped like a dead weight as her friend recoiled and dropped her own basket. Before she could scream, and without breaking his grip on Coda, Bastion swung his staff towards her. It was over in a heartbeat, and she crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Coda stared a few moments until Bastion yanked him around the bodies and scattered vegetables and pulled him out the door.
Coda looked back; thankfully they are breathing. "Why? Why did you do that?" He finally manage to ask at him.
"I couldn't always do that, you know. Concentrate the electric shock to just one hand." He was conversational, his tone terrifyingly nonchalant. "Look at the things we've accomplished! And here we are, on the cusp of something really spectacular."
The temperature outside was crisp and his cheeks stung as Coda pulled him over the stone bridge spanning the palace moat, the wind whipping through his thin sweater. They passed the statue of Theodore Wolf.
"Where are you taking me?" Coda asked, his strong tone unmatched with the terrified beating of my heart.
"The eastern side of the throne room. In case anyone tried to escape that direction," he flashed Coda a wink then grinned, a sickeningly cavalier gesture that made his stomach churned.
Silently Coda stumbled along with him as he pulled the boy through the trees, over ground where the last hint of snow hadn't quite melted yet, his shoes were growing more sodden by the minute.
Trembling, he gripped the metal handrails of the spiral staircase and force himself to focus only on the steps in front of him.
If I look anywhere else, I will vomit or pass out. Coda thought. If I do either of those things, everyone I love will die. Coda climbed slowly, treading carefully on the narrow metal stairs. The handrail was freezing, and his fingers begin to go numb. At the top, he crawled onto the platform, then leaned against the metal wall, shaking as Bastion came up right behind him. "Get up," he commanded, and a flash of anger burned through him.
A few blue sparks shot out around him, drawing Bastion's attention. He watched the sparks slowly disappear.
"So what makes the flame emerge?"
"My hatred for you," Coda growled out, trying to catch his breath in the cold air.
He was stunned into momentary silence, and for a second, Coda wondered how much he was going to regret that. Then Bastion only chuckled. "There's a little spirit. I like it."
He waited for Coda to stagger to his feet, then followed him to the wide glass door centered along one wall of the tower. It's unlocked, and Bastion shoved him into the tower room. The space was entirely open, encased on all sides by floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Now let's go see your family one last time,"