The High King: A Tale of Alus Read Online Free Page A

Returning inside the house long enough to grab up his sword and to let the others know of his departure, Simon ran to the barn to saddle his horse and rode after the young men.
    The vizier followed his lord through a small, dank hallway deep under the castle. It was proving to be an exceedingly long passage, long enough to make the man wonder if they still remained beneath Grimnal Keep. They finally arrived at a small wooden door framed in iron. It was reinforced with cross plating of iron as well to make it exceptionally strong, and heavy as well by the grunt that he heard the soldier give in front of him as he pushed the door inward. Why such a door would be hidden away down here, was beyond his speculation. He had never been informed of its existence or its reason in all his years as vizier and he prided himself on knowing just about everything that went on inside the Grimnal.
    That was until now, as he found the reason inside the room on the other side.
Men robed in red looked in the direction of the doorway. There were a few tables with books cluttering them and scattered among glass tubes and metal instruments which the vizier had never known to exist before. Behind the men, stood a large, stone table, which lay only a few feet from the base of the back wall. There was an unusual grouping of stone inlaid in a rough pattern set into the stone wall beyond the gray stone plateau. If it had actually led to an opening in the surface, he would have thought that it was an oval doorway.
A tall, red, robed figure moved towards them from the group of mysterious men. His robe bore inlays of gold and ebony unlike any of his fellows. "Lord Merrick," the man greeted in a deep voice and bowed slightly, "you've come to oversee the last piece of the gathering?"
"Yes, Kalem, are our friends ready to join us?"
The other man nodded, "Oh most definitely, my lord. They tire of the wait to come to our world and have readily offered their services in exchange for our freeing them from its ruinous existence."
The vizier watched his master smile coldly as he replied, "Good, then my plans go as expected. Begin the ritual of gathering."
Krulir looked about warily. He seemed to be the only one present that had absolutely no idea what was transpiring here, but he was unsure that he should ask of it where Merrick was concerned. "Sire?" he ventured carefully.
"Yes, Krulir?" Merrick questioned without deigning to look at him. He was forcing the vizier to tread on treacherous ground intentionally.
"What is this gathering?"
"I have enlisted allies to help enforce my will upon all of the North Continent. The plans have been in progress since the first resistance to the taxing half a year ago. Now be quiet. Wait and watch."
A scream echoed throughout the chamber from a side door that he had not noticed when he had entered. A young woman was dragged into the room struggling against her captors. She was completely naked Krulir noticed as they dragged her to the stone table. His chest pounded quickly and his limbs went numb as he realized what her role had to be in this ritual.
The robed men tossed her onto the hard slab with all the care of a hog thrown into the slaughterhouse. Her wrists and ankles were then chained to rings set into the corners of the table, even as she screamed on and on.
King Merrick's eyes suddenly flashed with anger before he quickly stalked forward towards the table. The vizier hoped that he too felt the sense of disgust for such a sacrifice as well as he, but those hopes were dashed as he struck the woman sharply across the face.
The victim lay dazed for a moment.
"Why did you not bind the wretch's mouth as well, Kalem? The wench is hurting my eardrums!"
The man looked at him stone faced and answered, "The ritual requires an unclothed virgin, sire. Even a cloth gag would throw off the content of the spell. Besides, the spirits seem to relish the anguish in their victims screams," he replied with a grim smile. Kalem nodded to the other