The ceilings were not as high as most of the palaces Tom had been in, but they made up for it by having exquisite paintings depicting the history of the elves. Every now and then, a light-well would extend up to the blue sky, providing ample lighting for the windowless corridors. Alvis showed Tom in to a large room with a throne in the centre, sitting ramrod straight in it was a middle-aged man. His once handsome features had been weather beaten in to rugged good-looks and his pale blue eyes gleamed against his tanned complexion.
'Prince of Harrowden.' The King said. 'It has been a long time since our peoples talked, I hope that our previous encounters will not colour this meeting.'
Tom wore a puzzled frown.
'What past encounters? I didn't know that Harrowden had anything to do with the elves?'
'Ah. Then the bad blood has been buried, and rightly so. A tabula rasa, as the saying goes.'
The King rose from the throne and Tom saw that he was tall, more than a foot taller than him, and despite the broad shoulders, the king moved as quietly and gracefully as the rest of his subjects, practically gliding up to Tom. He bent and offered his hand, which Tom accepted.
'Now, Prince. What can you tell me about the dark army marching across Halva?'
'The Archmage is invading.' Tom said. 'I don't know why, but it all appears to have been triggered by me.'
'You?' The King was surprised. 'And what makes you so special?'
'I'm a mage.' Said Tom. 'I was learning to be one, anyway. I got to The Book of the Mage, and then this situation just sort of unfolded.'
Tom explained his journey to this point, while the King listened intently.
'You have been brave, resourceful and foolhardy in equal measure I think.' The King sounded like he was talking to child. 'When the Archmage learned of your existence, the pax that has been in place for hundreds of years was broken.'
'What pax?' Tom felt guilty. 'No one told me about a pax.'
'Then you have not been told the whole truth.' The King said. 'Every ruler was present at the signing. Your distant ancestor Fiolden signed for Harrowden. The pax said that the lands of Illumare would be the sole realm of the Archmage and no attempt to destroy him would be mounted. In return, the Armage would stay in Illumare and not try to conquer the rest of the world.'
'Fiolden? He ruled Harrowden over six hundred years ago. The Archmage has changed several times since - why hasn't the pax been broken by those new Archmages?'
'I suppose the previous over-throwers either had the element of surprise or were not in line for ruler of a country.' The King surmised. 'Your existence can be construed, especially in light of your forced ignorance of the pax, as an attempt to destroy the Archmage by one of those who signed the pax.'
Tom put his head in his hands.
'So it's all my fault.'
'No, whoever manipulated you in to becoming a mage is to blame. And those that did not stop you from becoming one.'
Tom looked up at the King.
'What can I do?'
'There are two choices. You can destroy the Archmage, or you can try and broker a peace.' The King replied. 'Before you can do either, the dark army must be taken care of.'
'How can I do that?'
'You cannot. To stop the advance of the dark army will require a lot of force. More than any country has under their command. You will need to create an alliance.'
'Will you consider being part of this alliance?' Tom asked the King.
'Maybe. But I will not send my people to die needless deaths, I will need to think about what to do and whether we have returned to the world too soon or too late.'
Then the audience was over. Tom begged the King to join as Alvis led him back out of the chamber.
'Freyr is a good King.' Alvis said. 'He does the right thing more often than not. You need not worry so much, we will most likely be part of your alliance. How else will we ever get to enjoy this beautiful world again?'
Tom was placated a little, but still anxious. The meeting had taken more out of him than he had expected and he took to bed again until supper.
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