Dealings in the Council of Avalhein - Chapter 17

Dealings in the Council of Avalhein

Chapter 17

A young lad tapped his foot on the marble floor. There was something inside his shoe that annoyed him but kept him comfortable at the same time. His lace-up shirt and baggy linen pants were clean and tidy, free from the muck that often coated them. A formal occasion, after all, demanded a formal get-up. He flipped a coin and it whirred with a soft metallic ring and landed head-up on his open palm. He grinned widely and shifted in his position.

The white marble pillars stood out from the reddish tint of the marble floor. Alabaster statues paraded alongside the colonnade, their heads crowned with wreaths of golden trefoil leaves. Their faces were noble and grand, without even so much as a creased forehead and down-drawn eyebrows. They were fair and proud. Their chins were held high as they sat on swords, bulls, shields and anything that can conceivably be sat upon.

“Any time soon, young master. The king should arrive soon” said one of the palace servants that he had paid with gold to keep a lookout for the monarch’s arrival. The old man had told him that to find complete peace, the king would have to be ‘taken care of’ properly and that he was the best child for the job. He didn’t fully agree with the geezer’s nihilistic point of view, but the glittering heaps of gold were enough to silence him.

He tapped his shoe on the floor again and winced as the small round object in it wedged itself between his toes. He bit back a curse as he slowly drew out his foot from the leather and withdrew the coin that was stuck in between his large toe and the next one. He laughed ruefully and told himself “A coin in your shoe? Dervyn, you should know better” It was a custom for luck and for what he was about to do, he would need all the luck he could get.

He dropped the coin and it rolled across the floor. It came to a stop and fell on the marble with a soft clink near a soft velvet slipper. The king had arrived. The entire hall fell into a deep bow.

Dervyn prayed against all odds that the king would not spot the coin. The king did, and looked quizzically at the coin when he picked it up. “To whom does this belong to?” the king asked. Nobles clamored to see the little glittering circle of gold. Devyn raised his hand slowly and everyone fell silent. He walked up to the king and took a deep bow.

“Your Majesty, I am sorry. I did not mean for the coin to roll into your possession.” Dervyn reached for the glittering circle, but the king hesitated. “Please, my King, it is a valuable family heirloom.” The lie was plain and concise, meant to be hidden in plain sight and not under a mask of woefully wonderful acting.

The king looked at him blankly. “All the luck I need indeed…” thought Dervyn as he looked at the king impassively. The king smiled cruelly at him. His robes rustled as he moved and his crown shifted on his head.

“Pick it up, boy” said the king contemptuously. The coin fell to the floor, glittering and hit it with a clink. Dervyn’s eyes followed it downward. So did everyone else’s. A look of triumph appeared on the king’s face as Dervyn appeared to bend to pick the coin up. He changed his motion and the look on the king’s face was replaced by an expression of anguish and a wordless howl emanated from his parted lips. Dervyn smiled and made a break for the door before anyone managed to get a grip on what happened.