Page 44 of Apple Boy

At the base of the tower, I saw an extensive dark opening at ground level. And as we traveled closer, it grew in size to reveal itself as an opening for a sloped roadway leading down beneath the tower. The horse took to the ramp with a measured gait and fascinated, Adam and I pressed our faces to the cool glass of the window like a pair of children, keen to see what was beneath the tower.

The grand circular underground cavern we found ourselves in displayed a high vaulted ceiling and smooth honey stone walls incised with all kinds of symbols and sigils that I did not understand. I recognized some of them as elemental and others representing the heavens from where the Star-fall stone fell. I was intrigued by the glyphs and swirls and wished that there was someone I could ask to explain what they meant, but again, there was not a soul around.

The coach driver seemed to know what to do. He turned the horse about so that it faced the ramp for the exit, and then called the beast to a halt. The circular room was faced with six shadowy arched doorways, and then I spied in the stone floor yet more of those peculiar cast metal grates that I had seen in the city streets and beside the hearth at Copperdall House.

The coach driver tugged on his bell. The sound swirled and echoed in the cavernous room. At once the nearest door to us opened, and a man came to greet us. He was in his middle years, slender with russet curly hair severely pulled back to reveal a strong, warm face and amber eyes. Over a generously cut white linen shirt and loose black Sereinean britches he wore a tunic of cardinal red that was embroidered in gold with an image of the tower. He carried a timber staff with a gilded tower emblem housed atop it. The man hurried across the underground chamber to open the coach door and lower the steps.

“Good day my lord, we have not yet been introduced. I am the new Chamberlain. My name is Elduin Hawk, and I am to accompany you to your meeting with the Great Council.” The man informed his diction precise and his voice softly spoken, as if he were a cleric of some sort.

“Well met, Hawk,” Ivon said, offering his chubby hand to the Chamberlain as he lumbered from the carriage. He gave the Chamberlain a firm handshake and said, “This here is my nephew, and his companion.”

Elduin Hawk did not offer either Adam or I his hand to shake; instead, he squinted at us then nodded his greeting as we stepped out of the carriage.

The air here in this underground chamber was stifling as if we had stepped into the bowels of the earth. I found the atmosphere quite oppressive and wondered how such heat was produced, but again, I seemed to have more questions than answers about the many unusual things I’d seen in Serein, and my list was growing ever longer.

With Adam staying close to my side we immediately accompanied Chamberlain Hawk and my uncle through the arched doorway and into a hall which led to a stairway that followed the curve of the exterior wall. To my relief at once the air changed, becoming cooler and fresher. We mounted steep honey-stone stairs, their treads worn by the footfall from years of usage, ascending to what I assumed was the ground level of the colossal tower.

The interior of the Great Council’s tower was not as rustic as I’d imagined. I was surprised by the high ceilings, lavish stucco plasterwork, and intricately tiled floors. The spacious hallway circumnavigated the outer wall of the tower, where every few meters, soaring arched windows were set to permit daylight to flood in. Sconces on the walls were lit by flames that burned with a strange rose-gold hue. I’d wager that the unusual color of the flame had something to do with the power that I could sense increasing with each step I took into the building. I found it peculiar that I could sense the power even though I did not have my Star-fall with me. The honeyed stone this tower was built from had bathed in magic, for possibly thousands of years before it was quarried and used to create the tower. So, even though the giant Star-fall gemstone that once sat at the pinnacle was absent, I believed that magic would never leave this building.

“The tower has eight levels above ground. Each of the seven floors above us house the many attendants who assist with the daily running of our extraordinary city.” Chamberlain Hawk explained proudly.

“This particular floor is where the Great Council’s chamber lies. The councilors are in the back chamber and ready to see you,” he said, the tip-tap of our booted feet ringing sharply in counterpoint as we made our way along the curving hall.

I could now sense magic here so acutely my teeth ached and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I reached for Adam and found that brushing my hand against his while we walked made the overwhelming sensation dissipate as if he had nullified it.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked.

Adam leaned in and said, “T’be honest, I’m nervous as a bride on her tuppin’ night, but apart from that, this is turning out to be quite an adventure, don’t ye think? The fellas in the tavern’ll never believe me when I tell ‘em I was granted a meet with the Great Council of Serein.” He said softly, his words ringing as if he was speaking in a place of worship.

“So you don’t feel… tingly?”

“When you touched me, aye, but that’s nothin’ new!” Adam sent me brief heated look and saw the suggestive smile that lit his face. I supposed that now I had initiated him into the pleasures of bed play, like me, he would think of little else except what we would do the next time we were alone! I found it curious that he seemed to have absorbed whatever magic I’d pulled to me on entering the tower. I wondered if he could somehow store it, or if the magic was gone for good once it passed from my flesh to his.

We stopped outside a room with expansive black double doors. Incised upon each was a gold tower with the Star-fall stone depicted, shining radiantly from the pinnacle.

“A moment, please gentlemen,” Chamberlain Hawk excused. He entered the Great Council’s meeting room and closed the door succinctly behind him.

“Are you well, nephew?” Ivon asked.

I nodded, wondering if he could read the concern etched upon my face. “Fret not! I will do Thorn proud, uncle.” I reassured. Before I’d left on my travels, my Father shared many of the secrets he learned in recognizing hints, gestures, and expressions commonly used when deal-making. He also schooled me in the appropriate etiquette for each province that I would visit.

“Inform the council of all you have told me, only then can we discuss how to prepare for what ill winds come from Osia.” He advised sagely, his broad hand clasping my shoulder. I nodded in agreement. I was still unsure if I could trust the council, so no matter what, my secrets were my own and would stay that way.

The door to the Great Council’s chamber opened, and Hawk coughed to gain our attention. Somberly he announced, “The council is ready for you now.”

Led by the Chamberlain, we entered an immense circular hall. The wall lanterns here too burned with the same unusual flame I’d seen in the hallway. The concave ceiling was ornamented with the most beautiful vibrant murals in blue, red, green, and gold, and in the center of the ceiling was situated an immense circular opalescent glass window. I looked up at the opaque glazed oculus and was reminded of the moon above me.

Seats were laid out in a half-circle facing a crescent-shaped dark lacquer table with ornate high-backed chairs for seven. One more chair was set at a small lectern to the right of the table where parchment, pen, and ink awaited a scribe.

We took our places sitting directly opposite the semi-circular table. Three might knocks of the Chamberlain’s staff on the tiled floor sent a ringing sound echoing in the circular room, the Chamberlain called,

“All rise for the Seven.”

We did as commanded and rose as a door at the back of the room carved with all kinds of unreadable symbols upon it opened, and the seven councilors, dressed in long cardinal red robes trailed silently to their seats at the table in front of us. A generously proportioned man wearing a black tabard featuring a gold embroidered tower on his chest scurried in behind them, and climbed onto the box by the lectern. He sat and immediately took hold of his dipping pen and began to write. The scritch-scratch of his nib on parchment was audible from where I stood.

The council numbered three women and four men. A tall, fine-boned, scholarly woman took the central chair. She had an elegant, yet time-worn face; her long mane of silver hair was twisted into a braid and fell behind her back. Her elegant hands were ring-less and clasped at her flat belly. The woman’s presence was erudite, and there was no doubt that she held the agency in this chamber. She gave a cursory glance around the meeting room, and then her eyes rested on me. She measured me through narrowed silver eyes. Did she know who I was? When she sat down, the other councilors mirrored her and sat. Then with a curt nod, she permitted us to also take our seats.

A strange recurring tapping sound stole my attention. Curious, I turned towards it and watched, as with pinched lips the Chamberlain strolled to the main hall door and opened it. A flurry of color and feathers swooped in as Mr. Percheval, and Mr. Wrenfrey flew through the doorway and took a turn of the meeting hall, joyfully soaring up and circling the opalescent oculus window, their bright plumage taking on an iridescent quality as they bathed in the peculiar radiant light emitted by the internal moon window.