With a plan in place, they turned their backs on Jacques’ home and headed south.
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
“What do you mean they destroyed the palace?” the Keeper demanded.
“They set a fire.” the commander answered. “Half of the building burned before we could get the blaze under control. The entire structure is on the verge of collapse.”
“How did they manage that?”
“I’m not sure. I do not know how they entered the palace without our knowing.”
“It is now your primary job to find out.” The Keeper was furious – partly because of anger but deeper due to the fear that now crept in. The Chokka was growing bolder and he was proving very dangerous. If they could assault the Eastern Palace undetected, they could come to the Northern Palace. He was well protected but he couldn’t defend against a fire that could be created at will.
He dismissed the commander and with the echo of the door latching shut, he leaned his head against the back of the chair. The Northern Palace was lost. And the girl was gone. “How did they do it?”
It was a bit premature for the girl to be released but he had nearly finished with her and had not doubt she would be able to serve her purpose. He had given her ajándék at the caves but had not had the time to guide that gift into functioning for his greater purpose. With her latest internment, she was now ready to serve his intentions of reconnoitering the new Chokka. He would have liked more time to push that mission deeper into her mind but he had not doubt she would perform admirably given the level that she had already been coerced.
He spent some time considering all that had happened. A knock on the door called him back from contemplation. The entrance of the Cancellarrii followed the knock. The Keeper smiled. “Good to see you up and about.”
“It feels good to be out the bed. Now, what about this attack on the North Palace?”
“I have one of your commanders investigating. I’m not sure how they entered without detection.”
“And why was that command not run through me?”
“You would have been briefed later today as our agreement dictates. Whether the command came from you or me is irrelevant.”
The Cancellarrii was agitated but was showing patience. “It’s bad enough that my men are out on patrol while I lay around in bed. Now, they do not hear the commands come from me. Respect is a fine line. When they don’t see me, they don’t fear me. When they don’t fear me, their judgment of me turns to pity.”
The Keeper understood the Cancellarrii very well. He, in fact, faced a similar existence. “You have my apologies, you are right.” The Keeper narrowed his eyes. “And now that you have earned such a rare honor, what do you plan to do with this opportunity?”
“I plan to lead my men to capture this missing Chokka. Time in bed has afforded me time to think. And I think we have not done enough of that. We have marched in and allowed this man to come back and take us for fools. It is time we quit doing that.”
“And what do you propose?”
“The woman is ready is she not?” the Cancellarrii asked, referring to Triana.
“She was taken from us but yes, she was prepared and we can track her thoughts, as well as the thoughts of others through her. Ajándék is a wonderful gift and it is even better when we control it.”
The Cancellarrii’s mask was not in place and he revealved straight white teeth in the formation of a smile. “Does she suspect why we chose her in the first place?”
“I do not think she does. I would imaging she amounts it all to bad luck.”
“Good. I guess it’s not all bad that they took her. Aside from a destroyed palace, it solved the problem of getting her reconnected to the Chokka. Now that we have her in position we can know where they will be. Plus,” the Cancellarrii’s smile returned as his thought formulated, “I was thinking we might try something more. I know our program does not call for mind control but can we use our device to interject specific thoughts into her mind?”
“We have only tested that on prisoners, which worked to some success, but it is theoretically possible.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. As I mentioned, it is time to out-think them. What better way to do that than to do the thinking for them?”
The Keeper nodded. “I’m impressed. You should get injured more often.”
“I’ll pass.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ll follow up with the girl’s programmer. You get your men ready.”
The Cancellarrii nodded and turned to go. “One more thing.” the Keeper said stopping him. “I’m beyond capturing the Chokka. Now I just want you to kill him”
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
Jims said goodbye to Krista and they were on their way. “Well that went smoothly.” Jims said after they had begun walking.
“What do you mean?” Babel asked.
“I mean
