Chapter 2 -
Odekieser downed his breakfast with hardly any thought as he watched Cloise trot down the hallway to the library.
"An arch nemesis hmmm . . " Odekieser rubbed his chin. "Its been far too long since Ive had one of those. I do hope I haven?t grown too soft for it" He began to pace back and forth in his chamber. "In these late years, I've been filling my life with meaningless parties and wealth. What if I have been away from the action for too long. All the more reason to put him down before he becomes a threat"
That threat would need to be dealt with before the day's end and Odekieser couldn?t keep from feeling nervous. A way to take his mind off the upcoming event came to him suddenly
"The Pigeons!" Thousands of Pigeons lived in the city below and there were always several of them flying past Odekieser's hilltop manor as long as the sun was shining. Shooting down a couple dozen of the flying rats usually lifted his spirits a bit.
The stone walls of the hallway reverberated with the sound of Odekieser jogging out to the balcony. He never reached the balcony. Instead he slid to a halt two doors short of his destination upon hearing a familiar voice coming from inside.
"Oh, Oh dear.. This cant be right.. Oh no... "
This was the library and the voice belonged to Cloise. Odekieser pushed the door open and poked his head inside. The wonderful smell of old books and old wood paneling filled his nose.
The library was one of his favorite rooms. An enormous two floor room with an opening in the top floor and a vaulted ceiling.. It was almost like being outside. The library contained all of the books Odkieser had acquired in his life. Some of them well over two hundred years old. It also contained a large desk and file cabinet that Cloise used to manage his correspondence and schedule. She was there now with papers scattered everywhere looking very distressed and muttering to herself.
Odekieser's voice filled the room. "What seems to be the problem?"
Cloise jumped two feet into the air and upon landing quickly covered two of the papers she was looking at with a large book.
"Oh ahh nothing.. nothing at all!" She spurted.
Odekieser made his way over to the desk. In such close proximity he loomed over the small girl. "Something is wrong here. What did you just cover up?" He said, his voice becoming lower
"Ahh, Just something I was working on, nothing important." Cloise managed a weak smile and rocked back and forth on her feet.
"You know what happens when people try to deceive me dont you?" Odekieser's voice was almost a growl."
"Y.. yes"
"So tell me!"
"That schedule was for last friday" She almost whispered . . .
Odekieser's ears were good and he heard it plainly . . He stood frozen for a moment . . .
"Then the fellow that is supposed to rise to power . . ."
Cloise nodded without making eye contact and the room fell completely silent except for two increasingly loud heartbeats that Odekieser alone could hear.
Odekieser looked away for a moment. "I need some time to think about this" His tone was somber.
Looking back at Cloise his voice lowered once again. "I think you know what punishment this calls for."
Her now pale face shot upward. "No.. You cant mean"
"This was was a grave error on your part and now there are consequences to be paid" He paused a second or two. Cloise clinched her fists and began to shake. "Two days strait locked in a room with an overhead speaker system playing every boy band there is with some Aaron Cater thrown in for good measure"
"Noooooo!" Cloise screamed and fell to her knees "Please have mercy! I tried to keep the schedule in order! I really did!"
"Silence" Odekieser boomed, He already gripped a cord that opened up a trap door leading to the aforementioned room. "Do you have any idea how much trouble this is going to cause me?"
"But Sir!" Cloise was now pleading with her hands together and tears in her eyes, "Think about what happened to Rodriques!"
Odekieser glared at her. She had a point. Rodriques had been his bookkeeper before Cloise up until he had made a similar mistake. After the punishment he was able to do little more than drool and wet himself.
Cloise was too valuable to have her reduced to a similar state.
Once again Odekieser looked his maid strait in the face. "Did you get the information on this person I asked for."
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Cloise stuttered "Y-yessir I Found his birthplace, family history, his aquaintences, education, even love life!"
Yes.. She was far too valuable.
"Very well" Odekieser sighed "One month, no Internet."
Though she was terribly relived, Cloise couldn?t help from looking as though someone had just kicked her cat.
"Now then, First of all tell me who this person is and why he is now my arch nemesis,? Odekieser said beginning to pace back and forth once again.
Cloise rushed back to the desk and after shuffling through some folders produced a spreadsheet with an old news article of some sort attached to it.
?Well?.? She began ?His name is Leon Beringer. It appears that you burned his hometown to the ground when he was five. He was the only survivor."
?All this over a town?? Odekieser seemed surprised, ?So what was the name of this place?"
?Five lakes?
Odekieser seemed jolted for a moment but composed himself and replied ?No. Never heard of the place?
After Pursing her lips in thought Cloise had an answer.
?Come to think of it I think you once mentioned this place to me. It was the one with the cows?
An enormous grin spread over Odekieser?s face.
?Ho ho ho. Ahhh yes, the cows. I remember the place now. He he, those poor cows.? Odekieser chuckled as he entertained the memory a while longer. ?But really, this whole thing must have happened around fifteen years ago, and its not like they didn?t have it coming.?
?Twenty years ago? Cloise added.
Odekieser stopped pacing ?That would make him twenty five years old! What has taken him so long??
Cloise nodded. ?As far as I can tell he only discovered your connection to the incident five years ago. Since then he has been very active in politics and last Friday at nine forty five he became head of the New Five Lakes city state.
Odekieser groaned ?So I am facing a politician? I thought this was going to be interesting. Years ago he would have left, out sword in hand and eventually arrived at my doorstep with a hoard of angst or adventure driven young people by his side. The whole affair would have been over in three weeks."
?Well, he is also a master of two of the old world fighting styles and in addition to that he has begun recruiting mercenaries and other people with a grudge.? Cloise thought she saw sweat beginning to form on Odekieser?s forehead.
The master retained his composition
?This may be quite an interesting development after all. Now. Show me the rest of the information you have on Lord Beringer. I need to know what he is capable of and who his allies are."
?Right away,? Cloise began to shuffle the papers around frantically. ?Umm.. I know its here somewhere. I can find it. It's got to be right around here.?
?Take your time,? said Odekieser trying to remain calm.
?Cloise is a smart girl but she has some . . . skills she needs to work on.? Odekieser said to himself.
Indeed he wondered why he was so lax with his maid. None of his other servants were shown this kind of leniency. However she tried so hard and showed so much promise. But, was that it? Was there a possibility he could actually be fond of this creature?
Cloise was, as far as he knew an abandoned child with no family he knew of. When he first met her she was an indentured servant of an Archduke he was visiting eight years ago. That same day he won her from the Archduke in a bet. At the time he was more interested in showing up his rival than acquiring a maid but now he couldn?t imagine getting along without her.
Still . . . Fond of her . . . like that? No, Never.
Besides, mixing with them could only be trouble. Still, these people around him did make his life interesting enough to continue. Which is probably why he so enjoyed being one of them.
Part written by
Trent Cantrell.
Major big thanks goes out to Trent for writing this section of the story!! If you want to join the ranks of contributors, all you have to do is click the little button in the lower right hand corner of the entry that says "Comment on this" in REALLY small text. Just use the anonymus entry feature and mention your name within the bulk of the text (you'll understand once you're there). Then I'll get about putting it up and we'll go from there.
laters . . .
- butcher Current Mood: 
hyperCurrent Music: The Cutman Sonata ( http://remix.overclocked.org/ ) 
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