Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1

by L J Dalton Jr

  The king read it and looked at the courtier “Jarom, please ask the crown prince to come see me at his earliest convenience.”

  “Yes, your majesty” and the courtier left to find the prince and tell him what his father wanted.

  Thirty minutes or so later Randall, the crown prince, came into the room. There was no mistaking that Randall was Fredicke’s son. Both men were tall with aristocratic features. Their hair was dark, although the king showed just a hint of gray, in spite of his 70 plus years. He and his son both shared the same brown eyes and tall frame. “I’m sorry for being tardy father, however your two granddaughters had me trapped and I couldn’t escape.”

  “Ha, they just have you wrapped around their little fingers Randall” replied the King.

  “I wish I was as stoic as you father and able to refuse what they ask.” replied the prince with a twinkle in his eye, knowing full well that his father was even worse than him in dealing with the two girls. Thank the great god above that they weren’t spoiled. Although his wives were able to reign them in when needed.

  “Well, hopefully you will learn from me when you have grandchildren of your own. Be that as it may, your sister, Alania, is having prophetic dreams again. Apparently, they are serious enough that Dravid and she are traveling here to talk to us personally.”

  “My sister does have the gift or maybe curse of prophecy. Sometimes it’s minor things like the time she dreamed I would break my arm and three weeks later I fell off my horse and did break it. But she is levelheaded and Dravid even more so. If they are traveling all the way here it can’t be unimportant.”

  Two weeks later Alina and her husband arrived at Nordport. They’d sailed down the great river Ro from Great Falls in the west to Nordport. They’d return via carriage. The first evening they got together for a family dinner. Neither the king, his wives nor his children were much on pomp and ceremony. Although they did know that both Alania and Dravid would have meetings and other obligations that they would have to attend to. Tonight, was for the family. The king’s two granddaughters, Christiana and Catrina were disappointed that the newest edition to the family Wrowina wasn’t with them. The girls were looking forward towards spending time with the baby. Christiana because she was betrothed and would be married before the end of the year and hoped a child would come quickly. Catrina because she was looking to get betrothed and hoped to beat her sister in being the first to bear a child. Brandt, Randall’s son wanted his uncle Dravid to spar with him and teach him some of what he knew about swordsmanship and shooting.

  After dinner was done the king dismissed his grandchildren. The girls were promised all the time they wanted with Wrowina when they made the Grand Tour and spent time at Great Falls. Dravid promised his nephew that he would teach him a bit about swordsman ship and shooting over the next week. Brandt was happy with that and went away. Both girls sulked because they thought that they were at an age where they could be included in important discussions. But their grandfather insisted.

  Once they had left, the king dismissed all the servants and told them to lock the doors and don’t listen. He would have dismissed the four guards in the room, but they would simply have ignored him. They were under strict orders from the two queens not to leave the room while this many of the royal family were in one place. Once the room was clear, Fredricke turned to his daughter. “All right Alania, please tell was what has brought you all the way here.”

  Alania told the story. “I have been having prophetic dreams. I’ve had the same dream several times, so I know that it’s prophecy not simply a nightmare. I see you Randall, and you sisters along with the children suffering a horrible fate. I see you are taken to an alpine valley and from there all I know is that terrible things happen to all of you. I don’t think I see it because it’s simply too gruesome for me and I wake up.” She looked at her brother and two sisters-in-law “Give me your most solemn promise that should you be taken prisoner and wind up in such a valley that you kill the children and then yourselves. I know that this is a most awful thing to ask, but once in the valley there is no escape.”

  Her father looked at her. “Daughter do you have any idea when this will occur or where this will occur? Do you have any idea of who is behind this? Did your dreams tell us anything that will help us avoid this? I’m too familiar with this gift to doubt that this is a very possible future. However, with all of these, it is not ordained. It can be avoided.”

  “Yes father, I have seen a way out. The last few dreams have a totally different outcome. I see a warrior-scholar, a young man, who has come through the gates that brought our people here from the home world saving everyone. I also see Catrina smiling pregnant and surrounded by three other children. I assume that these are hers. As Dravid has pointed out, we know from the few people who have come through the portals, they are more fertile than the people of this world.”

  The king was concerned and turned to his son. “Randall, neither you nor any of your family are to go anywhere without sufficient guards.” He held up his hand to forestall his son saying anything. “Also, I do not want the family traveling anywhere together. The only place this alpine valley can be is in the Sud Mountains on our southern border.”

  “Father” interjected Randall “you know we have to go on the Grand Tour. And this time not only my daughters must come but Brandt as well. He’s of an age and the people will expect to see us all. Since we can’t avoid this, we must take extra precautions. More guards, more caution. Our schedule is such that it will be difficult for anybody get enough men in place to do anything. They have to stay hidden long enough to strike at us. Doing that will be a very difficult undertaking.”

  “Your right, we can’t avoid the grand tour. And to strike so hard at the heart of the realm would take somebody doing something daring and getting away with it. We’ll redouble our efforts. One problem is that none of our neighboring kingdoms bear us such ill will. I doubt routing out their agents would do any more to ensure your safety other than them doing the same to our agents.”

  Randall’s first wife, Juliana, spoke up. “Father does it have to be another kingdom. Could some of the rich merchants either here or in another kingdom have designs on taking it over. The risk only makes sense if the ultimate aim is to weaken the monarchy so much that it falls. That means you sister-in-law,” looking directly at Alania, “are also in danger. Do you have any visions of that?”

  Shaking her head Alania replied. “I only see a dark future for my family if this comes to past. I don’t worry for Dravid, Lorina or myself; I worry for the children.”

  Fredrick looked at Dravid. “Dravid you cousin Machel is an unofficial part of our intelligence service. He’s we’ve never really had a threat to the realm during my reign or my fathers before me. Given the lack of threat, the service has been concentrating on keeping track of the other royal families and also looking for new processes that may help the kingdom. Your cousin is very smart as everyone knows, plus his business gives him access to many people in other kingdoms. I’m going to ask you to task him with helping us find out as much as we can about the plot.”

  “Your majesty, Machel is not only my cousin but my friend. We got in and out of trouble together as youths. Our families are close. In fact, there may be a marriage possibility in the future between our two families. That would bind the two families closer and have a powerful noble merchant family with close ties to the royal family. Machel has managed to grow the family’s trading business and has contacts all over. I will speak with him quietly. I’m sure this will shock him. Alania and I will dine with his family two nights from now. I’ll let him know and ask for his assistance. Although, this is so far outside the norm for the last 500 or so years that it may be difficult to track down. Hopefully his agents can at least get a clue.”

  After leaving the grownups, Catrina and her older sister Christiana headed to their quarters. They were only two years apart and both were daughters from Juliana. Catrina was the youngest of the two. Sh
e was 15 years old, nearly 16 earth years. She was built like her mother. Generous breasts, and wide hips with golden blonde hair and blue eyes. Her sister Christiana shared her blue eyes. She inherited more from her father than Catrina. While Catrina wasn’t short for a woman at 5 ½ feet, Christiana was almost three inches taller. She also had her father’s dark hair. Hair so dark it was almost black. Her figure was a bit slimmer than Catrina but still generous where men liked it. That they were so close in age, was very unusual for anywhere on Cornu. Most woman would be lucky to have two children, let alone two so close in age. Their father’s other wife, Severna, so far has only had Brandt. There was hope that she would have another. However, if she never had another child that would not be unusual. Population grew very slowly on Cornu. They knew that on the home world that it grew much faster and that woman could have many children. Also, that unlike on their world there were just as many boys as girls. Rather than 150 girls being born for every 100 boys on Cornu.

  Once the two girls reached their rooms, Christiana turned to her sister “Something is going on Aunt Alania and Uncle Dravid don’t show up suddenly unless it’s important. Oh, I know that they visit every year, but they bring the whole family, so grandfather can see his other grandchildren. Alania has the gift of prophetic dreams. Imagine that it has something to do with those dreams. It can’t be that she had a vision that Serverna would have another child or something like that. Those things she would have sent a letter to grandfather and father. No, it’s something more serious.”

  Catrina was silent for a moment. Her sister knew that she was gathering her thoughts. “Your right Christiana, this is something serious. No matter what, I think you and I need to take precautions. We’ll know if we’re in danger if father starts insisting that we wear our concealed knives. Could it be something with your betrothed, Roddrick? Is he in danger or not suitable in some way?”

  “No Cat he’s been tested and he’s fertile. They did the usual, they had him spill his seed and it was looked at under strong magnification. It was deemed no better or no worse than the average man. The fact that his father sired two sons and two daughters is a point in his favor on that front. Also, everyone approves of him, even you Cat. If you’d had any question about him, I would have hesitated much more. He’s nice and handsome. I’ll have no trouble producing an heir with him. We’ll find out eventually what’s going on. But just remember I need you by my side when I finally have to take over the kingdom.”

  “Don’t worry sister, I wouldn’t be going anywhere. Once you and Roddrick are married I’m going to have to find a husband. Then we both have to choose second wives. On that I haven’t any idea. Of, course I best find a husband first.”

  “Yes, but those are good problems to have. By the way do you know where our little brother Brandt went?”

  Catrina laughed. “He went off to do whatever he does. He’s pretty oblivious that Aunt Alania and Uncle Dravid’s visit really means much more than that. Dravid will work with him on his swordsmanship, which is what he wanted. From what I’ve observed he’s fairly proficient now. But he’s very persistent about being the best swordsman he can be. He isn’t interested in girls yet. Although there are several young girls who will be quite happy to entertain him once he comes of age.”

  “So, Chris are you going to keep Roddrick suitably entertained prior to your wedding? Both of you are going to be ‘anxious’ with the wedding coming up.”

  “Hah Cat, leave it to you to think about sex. Yes, our mothers taught us how to please a man without lying with him. I hope Roddrick’s mother has taught him well. If not, I’m just going to have to take that in hand and show him. I’ve got a complete set of lotions that our mothers gave me.”

  “Oh, let me see Chris, please.”

  “Ok here they are.” Christiana opened a box with a row of jars in it. She took one out. “This is to be used when you are fertile. You put it on your husband, and it slows his response, plus it causes your internal muscles to contract, making it easier to ‘milk’ him. Both our mothers say it’s very important to get the most out of the man so that the chances of getting pregnant are better. You should start off on top and then at the proper moment roll over, so your husband is on top. That way you get the most of his seed. It’s apparently very pleasurable to both.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard that, but how do you know when to switch positions?” Asked Catrina.

  “You’ll just have to know, I guess you have to practice.” Said a smiling Christiana.

  “Speaking of that, can you imagine when all this explained to Brandt. I hear that boys are very embarrassed by it. That is until some girl gets him alone and shows him why he should pay attention. He’s not quite old enough, but once he’s fourteen or so, one of the young girls will want to practice her technique on him. That should get him talking to his mothers.”

  Both sisters laughed and then separated to do what they wanted before bed.

  The next day, Randall sat and talked with his two daughters. “The royal family may be in some danger. How much I’m not sure. But until the danger is passed, I need both of you to be careful. First, I want you both to wear your hidden knives I know that you don’t like to wear them, but I must insist. Then there will be more guards around. Don’t try and slip away. Both you and the guards will get in trouble if you do.” He knew that the guards getting in trouble would be a bigger incentive for them to behave than threats to themselves. Both girls knew that both he and his father adored them and had trouble disciplining them. His wives had no problem doing what was necessary.

  “No worries father” answered Christiana. “We’d already guessed that it might be something like that. We’ve both got those horrible knives strapped to our thighs. Of course, it will be very hard to explain when boys are rubbing their hands underneath our dresses.”

  “Yes father, it’s most off putting for boys who are getting bold with us to find us wearing knives. It tends to cool their ardor. Which is not what we want.” Added her sister smiling sweetly.

  Randall just shook his head. “I’m guessing that’s the best I can hope for. And cooling boys’ ardor is not something I object to until you are betrothed and it’s with the man you are to marry.” With that he left still shaking his head.

  After their father left both girls started to discuss what they’d just learned. It was clear that their aunt’s prophetic dream involved the royal family and they were included in whatever it was. They finally decided that this meant Alania either saw them kidnapped or killed. They agreed to consider what else they could carry that would help them defend themselves. Both girls were strong willed and would not go meekly. They’d fight and if they could; they’d kill or seriously injure anyone who tried to hurt them. They agreed to research what other simple weapons they could conceal on their person to help. The girls knew that their mothers would be armed as well and neither of them were shrinking violets.

  Two nights later Dravid and Alania had dinner with his friend and cousin Machel and his two wives. They passed a pleasant meal. The woman talked about children and Alania mentioned once again that it seems at least of her daughters cast covetous eyes on one of Machel’s two sons. This brought some laughter all around. Although under the laughter was some real thoughts about fortuitous marriages between families. They all knew that inbreeding was bad. Some of the southern kingdoms where a good example. Some of them still encouraged marriages between close relatives and many of the children of those unions died when they underwent the ‘choosing’, as it was known. This was always a worry. The choosing usually happened around 8 or 9 years of age. The child came down with a fever for anywhere from three to five days. Only healthy children survived it. Severely handicapped children did not. Some apparently healthy children didn’t either. Everyone suspected that those children had some hidden defects. Two hundred years ago, it was believed that this was because the family had somehow displeased the God Head. Now, it was realized that it weeded out unhealthy children.

  A
fter dinner the woman left and Machel led Dravid to his study. It was a wood paneled room filled with books. It had Machel’s desk with two chairs in front of it. This was for meetings. It also had several comfortable leather chairs. The room was lite by oil lamps. The two men sat down and Machel poured a drink for himself and one for Dravid.

  After Dravid got his drink he started. He explained the whole thing to Machel. The dreams that Alania was having and what they portended. There was no need to convince the Machel of the prophetic nature of the dreams. It was well known that every couple of generations one of the royals of Nordia would be born with the gift of prophecy. In the past they had predicted floods and other catastrophes. This allowed the kingdom to prepare. It saved lives and limited damages. It also endeared the royal family to the people. Machel was well aware that his friend and cousin, Dravid, was married to a royal princess with that gift.

  When Dravid finished, Machel cursed. “Dravid, clearly you, your wife and the royal family take this seriously. I know of a couple of the other royal families on the continent who would have both the desire and the means to pull this off. It would take a considerable amount of gold and silver to pay for this to be done. I can think of a couple of outlaw bands that operate out the Sud mountains who could be bribed enough to do something like this. It would have to be enough that all of them could disappear into the southern kingdoms. They would be hunted men. It wouldn’t only be Nordia that would be after them. Practically all of the kingdoms would want their heads. If for nothing more than to make an example of them. If they were caught their deaths would not be easy. Also, this would require planning and intelligence. It would be beyond the capabilities of these bands to gather such intelligence. There are some shadowy figures that might be able to put this together. I’ve only heard rumors of them. I’ve never gotten much more. And in all honesty, I never felt the need to look. Also, it worries them that Alania has warned your brother-in-law and sisters-in-law to kill the children and then themselves, that it would be a mercy. What could they have planned? Ransom seems out of the question. The only thing I can think of is a slow a painful death. One that they would let the whole continent know about.”