3. Special Assingment

     "Devron Valian," said a voice.  The guard turned and saw another member of the company beckoning him to follow.
     "Sir?" asked Devron.
     "Please don't delay.  The prince has called for you himself.  It is not wise to make him wait long."
     "Yes sir," replied Devron, following immediately.
     He had been caught off guard and day dreaming it was true, but nothing had in his wildest dreams had prepared Devron for a meeting with the prince himself.  It had been a strange day by all accounts, resulting in a promotion and a request to speak with the heir to the Angeli Empire himself.  Devron was beginning to feel that nothing would be strange after this day, yet he began to wonder as he entered the private study of Marcus Angeli and noted that there were more than ten of the guard in attendance already.
     "Well, now that you are all here, I have something to say to you that is of the utmost importance," said the young man with the beard that was quite clearly new and grown for the sake of giving him an appearance of age and distinction.  "You of the Salvorian Guard are chosen to accompany a trusted and devoted member of my council, Adrius the Black, on a journey to Carthor for the purpose of negotiating the return of my sister and brother, Annea and Herclius."
     A tall man crowned with a full head of gray hair stood up from where he had been sitting, turning and facing the guardsmen.  His penetrating eyes passed over each man as if their innermost secrets where revealed to him in a moment, and then he turned away as if they were irrelevant to his other occupying thoughts.  Devron felt slightly insulted by the dismissive air the gray haired man known as Adrius the Black had adopted, but he was a known wizard and well remembered as a man not to be crossed openly or in ones thoughts if that were possible.  It was widely thought that he could read minds as easily as a monk read a well loved book.
     "Carthor is a dangerous place," said the leader of the guardsmen assembled.  "May I ask your highness of the urgency of the matter?"
     "You may," answered the prince, exchanging glances with Adrius.  "The urgency involved stems from the fact that my sister and brother have been placed under arrest and thrown in the tower dungeon.  We have received word that they will be executed if my father the emperor does not pay a heavy endowment or extend extremely lucrative terms of trade to the merchant barons of Carthor.  Your mission, is to rescues my family members at all costs, and to elude the lords of Carthor.  My father the emperor will not concede either demanded to these rebellious people, and so we must call on you men to do what diplomacy cannot under the leadership of my councilor."