Past the walls of a spacious castle, out of the city, beyond reach of the hills, within the sky, the glow of the sun was slowing altering colors as she laid down to rest. Warm tones spread out in her wake, forming the artist’s perfect painting – if only it could be captured by brush.

One such artist sat upon the battlements of a tower, away from most other beings for a time by himself to indulge in the fantastic work of brush and canvas. His eyes traveled carefully along the skyline, following the movement of the colors dying the clouds. Carefully he spread a tint of paint over the canvas, blending together three tones into one.

The sun was nearly completely hidden as he gracefully dabbed another color to the body of the sun on his page. With little light to go by, he decided his work would have to be over for the time being. Carefully he set his paints away to carry back down the long winding steps. Hopefully he would find Elam climbing the stairs soon, to help with returning his art materials.

Footsteps sounded softly against the steps and he turned his head up, waiting. Elam soon appeared with a candle in hand. Silently the boy took the painting materials and then waited while his master lifted his canvas with care and walked towards the steps, motioning silently that Elam was to go first with the light in hand. Obeying, the servant boy began descending the steps with his master following.

It was a sharp contrast to be within the closed, stone walls of the tower instead of being high up on the open tower, breathing in the fresh wind current and drinking in the sunset and falling evening. With an inaudible sigh, an off-handed comment passed through relaxed lips.

"What an elegant box – but a box, none the less."

Elam glanced back once, looking slightly concerned, but did not remark on the comment as he noted the other’s focus wasn’t on him.

"I daresay, isn’t that rather a strange group over there?"

"Don’t go near them!"

Fascination mixed with fear echoed around the city in murmurs as more and more people passed the corner where Players preformed incredible tricks and magic. Mothers pushed their children along, not letting them stop to view such wicked craft, while others would stop to stare and watch.

Two guards passing by paused to look over the strange group that had entered the city. Consulting one another, they decided to make a report of the Players and moved on towards the castle. Such a disturbance would not be accepted well in a city where the inhabitants were just finally starting to calm down.

"Will you be honoring us with your presence tonight, lord Narsus?" intoned the pale-haired, young king.

The figure bent over a large table covered with papers and sketches and drawing materials stood up elegantly yet quickly and greeted his king with a bow. "Pardon me, my King, for I did not hear you come in."

Smiling, the young king walked farther into the room and stood before the table opposite the older man to look over the items spread over the tabletop. "I imagine it takes quite an amount of concentration to be doing such work. I am amazed how far you have progressed. Now, back to my original question, will you be joining the ball tonight?"

"The ball? Aa, yes, if you so wish I may be present. I have not much else to do. The light is too poor by evening to do such work as this and I do not trust candles about so many papers." A strand of rich brown hair set itself loose and fell over smooth, creamy skin, causing one hand to raise and push back the rebelling strand.

As an odd silence continued to pass, the king gazed over the map sketches and running fingers over river lines, and the creator of those maps waited quietly for anything else to be spoken. "Pardon me, your Highness, was there something else you wished to speak of?"

Arislan drew his attention away from the maps and looked towards the other man. "Not at the time being, my friend. I shall look forward to seeing you tonight, then. Best of luck on your maps."

"Thank you."

The young king left with a nod of his head and the door shut behind him. Left alone again, Narsus tucked other loose strands of hair behind his ear before bending over again and comparing sketches to make sure everything was accurate. If he was to complete a map of all the lands that King Arislan had control over, he had to be sure it was precise for he, if not everyone else, would not settle for anything less.

His information had been gathered with a great deal of help and multiple sketches and notes were taken on the same areas to double-check that everyone had viewed the lands the same. By that point in time, everything was set, only needing to be placed down on one compiled map of all the data.

"You must allow me your opinion on this, for I have allowed in a small group of players because of a discomfort they were causing in the city. It is a long journey to the next town and at the time that my guards reported them, it would be late at night before they found a place to stay."

"Where are they staying here, might I ask?"

The young king tapped a finger against his delicate glass as he glanced around the room with a steady gaze, nodding a head in greeting to various nobles that met his gaze. "There was some room in the servants’ wing and I have them roomed there for the night. Come morning they should leave before trouble is caused, I’m assuming."

"Your decision seems well made, I would not worry over it."

The two turned towards a third man approaching, carrying his own glass of wine. For the occasion he had slipped from plain, loose clothing to an outfit of embroidered silk tunic over loose, navy pants and a midnight blue silk shirt.

"Lord Narsus, I am glad you’ve decided to join us this time."

"Of course, your Highness wished it so." He turned his face to the groups of noblewomen casually holding fans by their sides while they chatted with noblemen standing by with a refreshment in hand. The social gatherings were not his style, only appealing in the beginning when things were still new and interesting. By the point that the war damage was cleared, everything seemed quite dragging.

From beside Arislan, Daryoon spoke again. "What was so disruptive with these Players?"

Considering that, Arislan began, "The guards said that the performance was exotic and used magical tricks not appealing to the public. I unfortunately was too caught up this afternoon to view these Players myself so I could not say what else might be disturbing about them."

"Anything out of the balance will upset human beings, Sire," Narsus commented, sipping lightly at his drink before continuing. "It is not at all surprising that different Players would cause suspicion. I must admit to being curious now, however."

"True, I’ll agree to that." The young king seemed to ponder a thought for a time, then, coming to a decision, turned attention to both friends. "Well, shall we ask for a special performance here?"

Causing surprise once again with his actions, both men paused for a second before taking in the idea. "Is that such a good idea, my King? Here too there might be discomfort," Daryoon remarked.

Arislan nodded once in agreement and turned an eye to Narsus but his advisor did not seem to have an opinion on the subject. "I still think it would be rather interesting. I’ll send someone to prepare them, then have the announcement made. At least something will differ for once during these monotonous balls."

As he left to do as he said, Daryoon watched after him, a blank look on his face. Narsus smirked, downing another swallow of wine. "He doesn’t need my help so often, now," he commented, turning his attention to Daryoon.

"He’s changed quite greatly throughout these years."

With a rather airy tone, he companion replied, "Responsibility does that to one, you know."

Daryoon gazed sidelong at his friend. "Yes, I do. You’ve changed quite a bit."

Giving a start at the subject moving to himself, Narsus focused fully on the present, slowly blinking at the blue eyes on him. "I hadn’t known there was something noticeable. I’m loosing my touch." He twirled the remaining wine in his glass, not parting gazes with Daryoon, knowing there was something else yet to be said, to be mentioned and then discussed. ‘What is it? Come out and say it, stop leaving me guessing.’

Just then the announcement was made that a traveling group of Players, special guests to the castle, were going to perform as a means of entertainment. Anyone interested was directed to the indoor tournament hall used for dueling and various competitions during the wintertime or poor weather days.

Moving along with the flow, Narsus walked along with the crowd, setting his near-empty glass on the tray of a passing servant before looking back to find Daryoon following along.

"This should prove to be interesting, I’m sure," Narsus remarked as they entered the tournament hall, making their way towards the first row of benches just before the cleared area in the middle. Arislan had already taken his proper place in the designated area for higher nobles and he motioned Daryoon and Narsus to him, gesturing to open seats just beside him.

"They’ve agreed to do this in trade for the rooming and food they receive for this night. I do hope it will be entertaining."

"They would not be Players, my King, if they were not entertaining," Narsus said with a slight upturn of lips.

It took some time for people to settle in along the rows of benches and then for it to quiet down as the room dimmed as torches were put out until only about fifteen wall torches lit the huge room. In the mysterious silence a low tapping of fingers upon a drumhead began to sound and following it was the mystical lilt of a flute.

A fire burst to life in the center of the clear area, awakening gasps from some of the crowd. Around the red fire – for no other colors hinted beneath – danced four figures. They twirled and spun, sometimes with a partner and other times solo. With the flaming light, dark costumes were revealed against two male and two female bodies. The males both wore loose, gauzy pants that fluttered with motion. Their top was merely a vest from some unknown material, tied together with leather. The women wore long skirts of the material akin to those of the men’s pants and over their top they wore a short, formfitting vest of their own with an alteration of design to be more feminine. All four were barefoot and had their hair loose, flowing as they moved.

The dance continued, enchanting the viewers to keep their attention riveted to the performance. For how long the foreign sounds continued, how long the four figures glided about, no one could quite keep track of the time. However, it did abruptly stop, breaking the spell like a snap of fingers disconnecting hypnotism.

A bit breathless, as if he himself had been the one performing, Narsus easily concluded why the people within the city had been disturbed by such an involved, spell-binding performance. This was only the beginning, he reminded himself, and with anticipation he waited for what would come next.

"I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a dance, have you?" Arislan gazed at the red fire where the forms of the Players were moving about in preparation.

"Not in my life," Daryoon murmured, suspicion raising at the back of his mind. He glanced towards Narsus, who seemed quite taken and was fully focused on the Players gathered.

By some mysterious means the room was filled with a dim, grey-blue light akin to mist. The four dancers began flipping, jumping, tumbling, twisting their bodies into all sorts of positions while the three other members gathered loosely about the red flames with their arms outstretched and fingers touching. The tall male began to murmur words unknown to the audience and then it became a chant echoed by three voices. The four players continued on with their floating movements matching water with grace and flow.

The fire began to shift, dancing and spinning with its own piece of life. The chant pulled it to-and-fro, hints of other colors slipping in from green to purple then to black to white. Fog-like shapes appeared for a few moments before the audience, doing their own tricks and dances while interacting with the Players before disappearing away as if they were never there.

It came about that other handful of magical performances passed and all seven Players joined together to form the small spells to cast figure images and to change one thing to another. Then all but one, and that was the tall male, glided to various audience seats and urged four members to the center to join in for the final act of the night.

One male and one female from the earlier dances approached the area before the King and his companions. The female’s dark eyes rested on Narsus and with a slim, pale hand she reached out with her palm up, offering. The male bowed silently and motioned to the center, obviously wishing the royal advisor to step forth.

Intrigued and just a bit wary, Narsus stood, casting a glance to Daryoon and Arislan before following towards the center with the two Players. Behind him, Daryoon’s eyes narrowed with distrust of the situation but Arislan seemed simply fascinated with all the events.

The guests of the performance were led about the fire as shadow creatures twined about their limbs and bodies and danced before and around them. One of the Players went about transforming a scarf to a rich-looking necklace and handed it to one of the noblewomen encircling the red flames. Another had an egg to a bouquet of lovely flowers in a mixture of colors. Then there was a candle to a brilliant, sharp dagger and an earring to an intricate wineglass.

At one point Narsus was sure that he felt a tiny, sharp jolt of pain above his elbow but after reaching there discretely, he found nothing. He left it be, paying attention to these performers. One of the women tossed up a small cloth bag and as it fell, its contents spilled open and over the mysterious fire, the players, and the audience members having been brought forward. The smell mixture was intriguing and was not at all unpleasant.

The Players cast the four back to their seats as viewers and continued on to do more tricks and dances and acts. Never once, however, were any of their voices heard clearly throughout the entire performance. And at no point did Daryoon trust any of the events that were taking place before him.

Once the night of the ball had passed, once again started the daily life for those in the palace. Narsus retreated to his map-making while he could for the task was solely his, now, and it let him be on his own and away from the noisy, back-stabbing court life of game-faced courtiers.

He started his work at any time between first light and midday and then worked until the light was too poor to see by. Rains were setting in, however, and clouding the sky with darkness and there was no light to work by. On such days, Narsus found other means to keep himself occupied if he was assigned nothing else to do. At the most recent event of too little light to work by, Narsus approached Arislan for any task but found himself being cast off to take care of himself for he looked ill.

That was rather a surprise and Narsus waved it off, thinking the idea foolish. He was not one easy to be sick and in all actuality he only felt a bit stiff-limbed but none the worse for wear. Still Arislan did not listen and nearly ordered him to retire to his room and take some rest.

When he returned to his chambers, Elam jumped up from his place at the fire and almost immediately commented on the extreme paleness of his face. Frowning that yet another person had commented that he looked sick, Narsus moved towards the full-length mirror beside his wardrobe.

"What is this…?" he muttered to himself, raising his hand to let his fingers trail along his face.

The pallor of his face was so great the he found himself nearly white. Even his lips had paled considerably and looked old and unused. What disturbed him most, however, was the dull light of his eyes that wouldn’t even carry and expression of confusion, as he was feeling at the time. Their tone had dropped and paled to a hazel tone and looked odd to him after being used to a rich eye color.

"Master, you just rest up an’ I’ll go get whatever you want! I’ll run get some tea now, right?" Elam looked worriedly over Narsus and then hurried out of the room and towards the kitchen to fetch the tea he had in mind.

Dropping his hand and instead using it to steady a bout of dizziness by resting it on the wall, Narsus moved his gaze to his free hand as he held it up. His fingers were twitching and trembling in a nervous state, bringing a deeper frown to his lips. There was no illness about the castle, however, nor even a mere cold. It simply didn’t make sense. He had felt fine for the past weeks, even at the ball a fortnight back he had been feeling fine – not even the typical headache from those sorts of gatherings.

The floor rolled under him and he stepped uneasily towards the bed to lie down. Eyes un-focusing, he saw the blurring of lines and colors as he went to meet the floor, landing on the flagstones painfully on a shoulder. His mind and sight went in-and-out of blackness and he remained staring before him, feeling extremely odd.

"My lord Narsus!" the door had been opened and Elam rushed it.

‘What the blazes is going on here…?’

| End Prologue |

*** *** *** Until Next time… TBC *** *** ***