“Come here, darling,” their mother said with a ringing laugh. The girl was pried from Cam even as she smiled warmly at the child.
“Did you sleep well?” Joel inquired in a quiet voice, and Cam noticed that he had come to stand beside her. He placed a hand on her elbow and guided her to the table. They sat across from the two elder boys who nodded a greeting and smiled broadly.
“Where’s Caleb?” Cam asked through a glance at Joel. He shrugged.
“I hope you had a pleasant sleep, Miss Camaria,” Belle was saying as she set a bowl of steaming, milky grain and berries before her guest.
“I did, thank you,” Cam replied. “Better than I have in a long time.” She quickly changed the subject. “How is Fiera? And where is Caleb?”
“Both are sleeping,” Belle said with a comforting smile. “Joel changed Fiera’s wrappings an hour ago. She stirred a bit in the night. I went in myself and explained to her where she was.” Belle chuckled. “She was a bit alarmed so Caleb came to see her. She fell asleep soon after that.”
“And has been resting peacefully since then.” Joel’s father scooted up to the table, still looking at Cam. “Now, if our guest would care to explain why my young son here,” the older man said as he nodded toward Joel, “brought a beautiful young lady here last night?” Cam directed her gaze once more to the older man. His short, graying hair framed a face set with similarly gray eyes that held no smile even while his lips twitched in amusement.
“Erland,” Belle clucked as she shook her head.
Cam glanced sideways at Joel who had flushed red. “To be quite honest, we came upon your…maze on accident. It was the only sign of civilization since we left the sea, and we thought it would be our only chance to find help. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around here…except for you.”
The man nodded. “It wasn’t always like this,” he said rather gruffly.
Joel shifted beside Cam, and two of the children clambered onto him. The silence seemed to fall into the room around unspoken explanations. Cam glanced down at her food, finding that she was quite famished. She was just starting to eat when the two older males rose and exited the tower without a word.
“They’re always out there hunting,” Joel remarked to Cam.
“Searching to be exact. Watching. They’re always watching,” Joel’s father added with a grim expression. Cam thought back to when she and Caleb had read the words carved on the maze’s entrance. The Watcher’s eye will ever be on thee.
“Watching for what exactly?” she inquired after swallowing the food already in her mouth.
Erland shifted to the side, his glittering eyes roving over Cam. “Where did you say you were from?”
“Mirabelle, Sir.”
Erland’s hands stilled, fork and knife poised in them. His brows shot up. “Mirabelle? That small province to the west?”
Cam stiffened slightly. “Well, I would call it something a little more than a province.”
Erland didn’t seem to hear her. “What in the world are three young people from Mirabelle doing out here?”
She ignored his question, deciding she too was in need of answers. “Why is that so strange?” she countered.
He shrugged a bit. “Just that we’ve never seen anyone from Mirabelle in these parts.”
A pause followed in which Cam found the quiet too unnerving. Finally, the children, who seemed to feel the quietness as burdensome, scampered from the room. Their shouts resumed once they had reached the halls. Cam smiled for a brief second before realizing she was left with just Joel and his parents. “Caleb, why aren’t you here?”
“What is this place?” she finally asked aloud. Erland’s eyes darted up, meeting her gaze. For a long moment, he did not reply. Finally, he folded his hands in his lap. “The Ruins of Enboria.”
“Never heard of it,” she replied shortly.
“Most people in the west haven’t.” He shrugged. “It was a small kingdom, established an age ago. It was besieged…by…err…another kingdom.” Erland paused to glance at his wife. “Enboria was the last great kingdom to hold Elyon as their god.”
Cam’s face lit up in recognition. “So like Spirit Followers?”
Erland scoffed, the reaction surprising Cam. He surveyed her for an unnerving amount of time. Cam’s hands fidgeted in her lap. Joel shifted beside her. “How have you come to know of the Spirit Followers? I would have thought them to be extinct by now.”
Cam’s brows creased in puzzlement. “Extinct?” Aloud, she said, “My father is one.”
“Hmmm,” was Erland’s first response. He frowned and then waved his hand as if it were not a major matter. “And you?”
“I-I don’t know. I’m fairly new to their beliefs,” Cam replied. “And they may or may not have sent us on this quest…” she thought.
Erlandseemedto disregardher statement. “Mirabelle, as we have heard, became the home to the remainder of those who worshiped Elyon but called themselves Spirit Followers. They weren’t always right in their minds. They believed Elyon gave them abilities to speak directly to Him without the sacrifices. That Elyon would one day come to save His people by becoming flesh and blood himself.” Erland wagged his head. “But, that, young lady, is only a notion of one who creates falseprophecies.”
“Oh really, now?” was all Cam could think as her distaste for the man grew in her chest.
Joel shifted once more, and Cam couldn’t help glancing at him. Something flickered in the young man’s eyes. Something like demur or disagreement. Nevertheless, he didn’t speak whatever thoughts were weighing on his mind.
Joel picked up his father’s explanation of the Ruins of Enboria. “Most of the population here was comprised of those who had once come out of Perez, the now ruinous desert kingdom to the south. My great-grandfather was one among our people who called himself a Watcher”
Joel was cut off by another huff from his father. “Okay….another term he disapproves of,” Cam thought.
“Anyway,” Joel continued, “The kings of Enboria gradually became more and more entrenched in their own ambitions, leaving them without Elyon when Mingroth besieged them.”
“Mingroth?”
“The Valley of Poison,” Erland said simply. “Still a wormhole to the south.”
“Eventually, the peoplewere taken into captivity andthis place was left in ruins. This tower stayed intact. It was known as the Watcher’s tower and we’ve been here ever since. You see, my great-grandfather and his wife survived the attack and continued to raise a family here,” Joel finished.
Cam nodded as she soaked in the details of his story. “What…exactly is a Watcher?” she asked slowly. Erland’s brows disappeared into his graying hair.
“You are familiar with the Spirit Followers but do not know of the Watchers?”
“I uh…just last winter learned about theSpirit Followers. I still don’t know much…”
Erlandsighed. “TheWatchers areSpirit Followers. There aren’t many of them that claim to be Watchers. Watchers are those who claim to have certain Elyon-gifted abilities. They shout proclamations of a coming savior. Blubbering idiots with no real hope.”
Cam stiffened at his words, and silence passed between them. Cam set her own utensils down carefully, not entirely sure she was up to eating now. Something churned in her stomach.
“Where were we? Ah yes,” Erland continued. “Enboria was captured by thenow deceased king ofMingroth.” At this, his voice lowered to an almost inaudible tone. “Except...we don’t know if he’s actually dead. The queen, his daughter, may have just removed him. We’ve heard she keeps him locked beneath her castle…”
“Poison, that’s important,” Joel added. Cam raised an eyebrow. This history had never been taught to her, but then Silva and Kazbek had never bothered to educate her and her sisters on the countries and their history outside of Mirabelle.
“Their queen has just recently returned to the country. She was absent for more than a decade,” Erland remarked.
“How do y
ou know this?” Cam inquired.
“Our two oldest sons spy on their borders at times. We need to know that our family is safe, but, as far as we know, the Queen of the Valley doesn’t know of our existence.” At these words, Cam nodded, grasping an understanding of the family’s situation. They lived in the remaining ruins of an ancient kingdom, destroyed by worms who had come from a wormhole.
Cam glanced at Joel father. “Idon’tquite thinkI cantrust you. I’ll talk to Caleb later.” For now, Cam had another person to be concerned about. “I need to see my sister now.”
“Of course,” Belle replied. She led Cam from the kitchen and into a sunny, narrow hall. She opened a door to a tiny room, occupied by a hearth and bed. Fiera lay on the bed, covered in white blankets. She stirred. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Fiera,” Cam whispered, inching close to the bed. She bent beside her, grasping her sister’s bronze hands in her own sweaty grip. Cam’s heart thumped wildly as Fiera’s eyes fluttered open and darted over the expanse of the ceiling. Finally, they came to rest on Cam and recognition crossed her countenance. Her fingers tightened around Cam’s hand, and her face slackened.
“Did Caleb knock me out?”
Cam only grinned as relief flooded through her. Her voice too shaky to make any sort of verbal reply.
“I feel horrible,” Fiera groaned. “Where is Caleb? I saw him”
“Still asleep, I believe. He came in the night, Fi. I’m sure he’ll come to see you again,” Cam’s voice was barely audible.
“Huh, he did start sleeping into half the day once the Apollyon ordeal was over,” Fiera said. Cam smiled, for Fiera was beginning to do the same.
The look was brief, however, for Fiera turned her head to survey the room. She frowned. “Where exactly are we? The woman who came in last night was kind but...when has people acting kind helped us?”
Cam replied in a low voice. “They saved you, Fiera. I could do without the man who runs this house. He’s as disagreeable as ship rat.”
Fiera mustered a smile. “If he’s ruffled your feathers he’s sure to make me irate. It’s good to see you and all, Cam, but why didn’t you bring food?” Cam grinned.
Fiera’s eyes went wide then. “And who might he be?” she whispered.
Cam turned to find Joel entering the room with a steaming bowl. He looked even better in the sunlight which gleamed over his bronze colored hair and made his glittering green eyes even more striking.
Joel grinned.
“Someone Caleb might become jealous of if you keep looking at him like that,” Cam whispered dryly.
“What was that?” Joel demanded.
“Oh, nothing,” Fiera said airily as she took the offered food and glanced at Cam. Cam nodded, assuring her the food was safe to eat.
“You seem to be in good spirits,” Joel said cheerfully.
Fiera released a dry laugh. “I have to after everything I’ve been through.”
Joel’s eyes glittered, and Cam wondered how far he would take a jest. “I’ve never been tortured before.” He leaned forward. “I find the notion somewhat romantic.”
Cam’s brows rose and she almost laughed aloud. “That’s disgusting,” she said.
Fiera leaned into her. “How much time exactly has he spent with Caleb already?”
Cam was laughing now and shaking her head. “None at all.”
Around another mouthful of food, Fiera said, “When you find Caleb, tell him to come to see me why don’t you.”
Cam nodded. “Her appetite has returned, good.”
“I’ll leave you two to it, then,” Joel said once Fiera had finished eating and he had gathered his dishes. He pointed toward a door connecting to thechamber. “There’s fresh bathing water drawn up in there. Call if you need anything.”
Cam smiled and Fiera wrinkled her nose as if realizing for the first time how filthy they were. “Can’t believe you’ve stayed in this room with us this long. We smell…”
“Awful, yes,” Cam said. She turned to Joel. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Andwhen you’re ready, I have something to show you.”
By the time Caleb had finally awoken and come to see Fiera,
Cam had related to Fiera all that she had discussed with Erland. “A ship rat indeed,” was what Fiera had said. She had then bathed, and by the time Cam was finished with hers, Caleb and Fiera were talking avidly over what had happened into the maze.
“It has the strangest shape, Fi. Never seen anything like it. Even while in Cinis Lumen. I never saw a map that looked like what we went through.”
Cam left them to it and went to find Joel.
Dusk had folded shadows into flickering shapes in the hall and along the stairs. Joel was sitting on the bottom stare, his hands folded together as he gazed through a window. He glanced to Cam when she approached him. “Show me,” was all she said. Her curiosity had grown since his departure from Fiera’s room.
He smiled. “Do you like to read?”
Cam found herself grinning. “More than most things.”
Joel’s smilewidened. “I’m goingto showyou my library.” With a smile, he grasped her arm and led her to the winding staircase.
Up, up, up it went, winding into the very top of the tower.
“I haven't been this high up since…” Cam started when they came near to the top. “Since Gnosi.” Joel didn’t seem to hear her. Even the towering tree houses of the Medulla Realm did not compare to this. By the time they reached the top, Cam was panting for breath. Joel seemed like he could still climb much longer. No doubt he came up here often.
With a hand on her back, he pushed Cam through a door, and she found herself in a small, circular room with a roof and wood-paneled walls filled with books. It was barren except for the books and the last light of day pouring through double glass doors which seemed to lead to a balcony.
Cam halted as Joel closed the door behind him. “Don’t uh…mind the mess. I haven't exactly organized my collection in several days.” Cam laughed, and Joel shot her a quizzical look.
“Severaldays?” Camexclaimed. Heshrugged. “Mysisters thought I was crazy for reorganizing my books all the time. I thought my collection was extensive but this…” Cam’s eyes were sparkling when she began circling the room to gaze at each individual shelf. Her eyes roved over the leather spines set with golden letters. She knew only a few of the titles. Many were in languages she did not know.
“I have been an avid reader since my eighth birthday. My mother gave me a book then, and I haven’t stopped since.”
Cam turned to smile at him. “I was six. My best friend from my village gave it to me. He had tried to read it but could never complete it. I read it in a day.” With thesewords, Cam rose on her toes to trail her fingers down a spine with bright red words. The Scarlet Spy and Other Legends. Cam glanced at Joel. “May I?”
“By all means.”
Cam slipped the volume from the shelf and held it in both palms. Idly, she flipped its thin pages as Joel continued to speak. “I have collected most of these from the King’s Library which once stood north of here. In the castle. Most of it was destroyed, but some of the books remained in decent shape when my brothers and I saved them from the rubble. Many I cannot even read due to their foreign qualities…but they look nice.”
With a small smile, Cam turned the page to view an illustration drawn with a black pencil. The picture depicted a dark forest in which a shadowy figure was prowling. The only color in the picture was the figure’s ruby red cloak. “Do you have a favorite?”
Cam glanced up at Joel who had suddenly gone red in the face. She laughed as he scratched his ear. “I wish…I wish I could say my favorite is the one you’re holding. The Scarlet Spy is a good one, but my favorite is actually…” Joel reached over her head to slip a smaller volume from the shelf. “This one.” Cam took the book in her palm. And she laughed.
Joel glanced sheepishly at her. “You have to read it right to left.”
Cam
tried to roll the words off her tongue, but the placement of the letters was too foreign to her. Joel read it aloud. “Ahava Aghraa. It’s of the old Enborian tongue. One like our own, just...much older and less refined,” Joel stated. “It means, Love’s Beckoning.” The book also possessed the frilly name of the author in lettering stitched with gold thread. “I doubt even I would read something such as this,” Cam said at last.
Joel gently took the book from her hands. “It isn’t all it seems. It holds sieges, riddles, spectacularly brilliant villains, and...forbidden romance too. Though, the author was some sort of Enborian poet who wrote mostly...more detailed works of the...physical attributes of humans.”
Cam smiled up at him. “If you say so.” Her smile faded, however, the next second. “Why did you bring me up here?”
Joel was replacing Love’s Beckoning and The Scarlet Spy and Other Legends on the shelf as she asked this. He turned his gazeslowly toher, andhis brows furrowed. “Why not? I don’t get to show this to...well, anyone. It is a blessing from Elyon that someone has come here that I can share this with.”
Cam couldn’t help herself. She met Joel’s gaze. His was sincere if not a bit confused. He was kind...a trusting person. “You were almost killed, Cam, by people you just met. Be careful.”
“I just, everything outside of Mirabelle is so new to me,” she said.
Joel nodded. “I can understand that,” he said softly. “There are few places I have been outside of this…” He was leaning now against one of his shelves, arms crossed over his chest. He regarded Cam quietly for a long moment. She did the same to him.
Finally,hesighed. “Ididn’t bringyouup heretojust show you the books.”
Cam started. “Oh no…”
Joel approached her slowly, softly. “I know the maze was confusing. It is unlike any maze you have probably seen or ventured through. Maybe this…” he pointed toward the glass balcony doors, “Can clarify.”Curiosity mountedwithin Cam. She glanced to the doors where the gleaming sunset could be seen.
Joel placed his hand upon Cam’s shoulder and pushed her gently towards the door opposite from the one through which they had entered. “Don’t…be alarmed by what you see. This view isn’t one you’re used to.”
Keepers of the Crown Page 10
