by C B Samet
When the kiss ended, I was breathless and wanting more. I suddenly wished I had been kissing him every night. I put my head back down on his chest, confused and embarrassed and aroused all at once. Was it weakness that I could be swept away like this by a kiss? I was frightened to think how much I wanted to surrender myself to another kiss when I didn’t even know what Joshua was thinking.
Then, his hand moved from my neck to my back, and he let out a slow exhalation as though he was centering himself, calming himself. I dared to think that meant he felt the way I did. Hadn’t he told me he admired me?
Curling into a ball against him, I tried not to think of his lips and his body. I tried to shut out the images of him running on the shullby field or wrapped in cloth before the rafting trip or smiling playfully at me.
The ocean. Think of the cold, cold ocean.
The next morning we followed our usual packing routine and headed north.
As we approached the outskirts of Karnelik, I took in the familiar scenery. Rolling farmland filled with crops and animals stretched be- fore the town of small rock and wood homes with billows of smoke drifting up into the air against a background of breathtaking, snow- capped mountains jutting toward the sky. There were three enormous peaks—Mount Kapri, Mount Karn, and Mount Karmel.
Wanting to stretch my legs before we entered the town, I dismounted and walked beside Phobus. The air was cool in the valley as it seeped down the mountainside. It reminded me of the frigid mountain climbing that was ahead, but I preferred it to the harsh sand and burning sun of Optato. As we walked, Phobus bent his head down intermittently to chomp mouthfuls of fresh grass.
I kept my distance from Joshua, but glanced at him from time to time. He was tall atop Unis. That morning he had set me at ease. I woke near him, still thinking of the luscious kiss, but growing more self-conscious and insecure about it. I started to stealthily slink away from him.
Then, he had rolled over, pulled me close, and whispered in my ear, “I’m available anytime you want to duplicate that kiss.”
“Ah,” I said, nervously. I smiled at him and wriggled away. “I will. I will definitely take you up on that offer.”
Since then, he had occupied my thoughts for most of the day.
I led our weather-beaten party to the home of Vallik and his family, where I had stayed during my studies. We parked the wagon beside their two-story, wooden house and left the horses beside the spotted ox. I covered Phobus with my red cloak for warmth.
Before we could approach the front door, Vonik stepped out to greet us. He was tall and thin like his son, only with thinning brown hair.
“Abigail Cross!” he boomed in a friendly voice. After giving me a robust hug and gruff pat on the back, he looked around at my odd conglomerate of traveling companions.
“Vonik,” I began, “these are my friends, Inok, Allis, Joshua and Madame Q.” It was customary in Ballik culture to introduce individuals in ascending rank so the most important person’s name was emphasized in the end.
Without hesitation, he hugged each of them as a gesture of friend- ship. Inok returned the affection awkwardly, but everyone else took pleasure in the hug. Even the Queen seemed to throw her weight and heart into it.
“Please come inside,” he offered without prompting. “Sam and Alencia just finished making stew.” Sam was short for Samencia, Vonik’s daughter.
“Thank you, Vonik. I’m sorry to arrive unannounced and with such a large group.”
Alencia approached and gave me a customary squeeze. She wore gray thick wool pants and a plain white blouse. “Nonsense, Abigail,” she said. “Uninvited guests are the best kind. I can’t be faulted for an unclean house.”
As Alencia made her way around the group in hugs, her cheeriness faltered. Her face turned white as the mountaintops. She looked at me and then incredulously at her husband. Standing weak-kneed before the Queen, she was stupefied.
She sank to her knees with a quiet, humble “My Queen.”
Vonik looked at his wife, Madame Q, and then me with puzzlement.
I grinned sheepishly. “This may be a rather substantial guest to arrive unannounced.”
Realization spread across Vonik’s face, which paled, and he, too, knelt before the Queen. I tried to recall the last time I knelt before her. It must have been at the V-Day Ball, which now seemed ages ago.
“Please,” the Queen began, “please stand.” She raised them up by their elbows gracefully. “I am a guest and this is your home. Thank you for allowing me to enter. We are here because we are outcast from Marrington Castle, which has fallen to evil. We have no right to ask of your hospitality to allow us to stay for a few days, but we ask it anyway. We are on a journey to try to stop the conquest of all of Marrington.”
Alencia nodded. “Of course, you may stay as long as you like, my Queen, though other families may have more suitable accommodations.”
“I assure you that our presence is only temporary, and I would prefer to stay with friends of Abigail.”
Alencia and Vonik nodded in unison, faces still aghast with disbelief.
Before I could contemplate the Queen’s words and decipher if there had been a compliment gifted in them, there was a flurry within the main rooms of the three-bedroom house. Sam, Alencia and Vonik fluttered around completing dinner preparations, dressing the table, and adding logs to the fire. With a little effort, we were able to squeeze everyone around the table. Vallik’s poor family was so high strung with royalty in their home that I poured everyone a glass of moon juice in hopes that the social lubricant would calm their nerves.
Soon stew simmered in bowls before us and conversation flowed. To a raptured audience, the Queen explained the evil spirits had conquered the castle and intended to spread like a plague even as far as Ballik. Alencia tore at her bread nervously and gulped down her moon juice.
“We’ve got to call an emergency town meeting,” Vonik declared. “We must join the fight, defend the kingdom.”
“Please do,” I said. “We intend to raise a Champion to lead an army against them. First, I need to find a Warrior Stone.”
Sam scoffed and her parents shot her a warning glance. “You spent enough time with the Dubik gypsies, Abigail, to know the lifetimes they waste rummaging through petty stones,” she defended herself. “Now Vallik is one of them, wasting his life in the icy cliffs, for what? Che stones and silly religious artifacts.”
I understood her bitterness. They now knew that Vallik joined the gypsies and must resent them for it. Their only son was part of a strange, pacifist cult that was targeted unfairly for extinction. Perhaps his younger sister felt abandoned.
“I’m sorry, Sam.”
She stared at me for a moment, probably realizing that I had known before her own family knew his chosen path. Softening a bit, she shook her head in resignation.
I continued, “I’ve seen enough bizarre things in the last few days, though, to know Chevorik Ambria are powerful stones in the right custody. And I know this force we are up against is not going to be defeated by man and will alone. If people far more worldly and intelligent than I claim to know the recipe to raise a Champion, then I’m going to gather those seemingly silly religious artifacts and put their potential power to work.”
Sam gave me a crooked smile, swallowing a mouthful of food. “I used to think you were scientific and logical to a fault, Abigail. It is strange to hear you talk about evil and Champions and mystical stones.”
“It’s strange to hear myself as well,” I admitted.
“Well, if anyone can help you find the stone you’re looking for, it’s Vallik. He’ll be on the eastern front of Mount Kapri this time of year.” She looked back to her food, her short brown hair falling into her eyes.
The Queen turned to Vonik. “I would like to speak before your council and implore everyone’s help, but if I emerge from hiding, the Malanook will descend upon this town and slaughter everyone before you even make it to the battlefield.”
Vonik
nodded solemnly and poked his utensil at his stew.
“I will send my runner, Inok, in my place so that they know a representative of the Queen speaks on my behalf.”
Inok tried to stifle his surprise. I tried not to enjoy his discomforted squirm too much. He didn’t seem like a political spokesperson; but then, I didn’t seem like a protector of the Queen. We were all assuming roles outside of those to which we were accustomed.
I sipped my water, thinking of how many Ballik warriors there might be. A few hundred?
“How many Ballik blades do you think there are in Karnelik?” I asked.
Vonik thought momentarily. “Not counting the Muglik-owned blades, probably at least one for every man, woman and child in town. Several thousand, I suppose.”
“You should ask them to bring them all to Marrin Beach,” I said quietly.
During the rest of dinner, ominous discussions continued.
As Vonik and Sam cleared the table, I tried to lighten the mood. “Joshua and I will scale the mountain tomorrow, find the Warrior Stone, and we will have the last needed component. Once the Avant Guard is summoned, the Malanook will be defeated.”
“You are very determined, Abigail. Remind me never to cross you,” Sam said.
The table laughed.
“What’s this Champion look like?” Sam asked, sitting back down at the table.
I looked at the Queen, who stared at me impassively. “I don’t know,” I answered. The Seventh Champion of the year 7077. “They have been different every time.”
“Legend has it,” Joshua entered the conversation with enthusiasm, “that five thousand years ago, the greatest Champion defeated Malos without bloodshed on the battlefield. His name was Marc Stallik.” Joshua soaked in the surprised expressions from our hosts.
“Was he from Karnelik?” Alencia asked, knowing the name re- vealed his origins.
Joshua nodded. He went on to describe his fierceness that only a mythology book would have indulged so lavishly. Nevertheless, the story had a profound effect on his audience, and I watched the spirits of everyone lift. This was what they needed to hear. This was the hope and inspiration they needed to take before the council so that the Ballik would join us in battle.
As the candles dimmed, Joshua’s story of Stallik ended. We retired to guest rooms. Sam’s room was fixed for the women—myself and the Queen—and Vallik’s old room for the men—Joshua, Allis and Inok. Sam made herself a bed on the lounge in the main room near the fire.
We took turns bathing and dressing in clean clothes. It felt good to be back among civilization with running water and a roof over our heads.
Lying alone on padding on the floor in darkness, I felt strangely empty without Joshua. I only had a few nights with him, compared to over two decades of nights alone; yet somehow, a part of me was missing him tonight.
“Be careful tomorrow,” the Queen said in a whisper, lying in Sam’s bed.
It was also awkward sleeping in the same room as the Queen.
“Yes, mum.”
She added hesitantly, “You have done very well.” I realized that this was the first time we had been alone since the wagon ride into Taxco. “I have felt nothing but your disdain for me,” I said honestly. The darkness was somehow empowering.
After a moment of silence, she spoke carefully. “I can see how you would mistake my feelings that way. My feelings were more of my disdain for myself.”
She was silent again before continuing. “It is not by accident that you became my servant, Abigail. Aman foresaw that you would help our country out of darkness. Paul was ordered to stop your college funds and lead you to apply for employment in the castle so that you would be with me when Malos attacked.”
My head spun with the design of it all. “You could have just asked,” I snapped, not liking the way fate seemed to reduce me to a mere puppet.
“No, I could do nothing to single you out for fear that Malos would target you for immediate extermination. You had to hide amongst my ranks as a servant, and you could not know your purpose,” she explained.
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “And Paul’s purpose?”
“His death was a tragedy,” she said with genuine sadness. “I believe Malos thought Paul was his mark and that is why he was killed so quickly during the invasion.”
“And for this, you have expressed no feelings of remorse or sorrow. I haven’t even had as little as an apology.” I didn’t care that I was being insubordinate.
Releasing a weary sigh, she said, “It is even more abominable than you have imagined. I am sorry that your brother was killed and that you have been manipulated into playing the role of servant and savior. And I am sorry to inform you I am responsible for your parents’ death as well.”
My heart quickened.
“Your parents were world travelers both in their archeological studies and as trusted messengers for me. In twenty years they never once failed a mission. And they did not fail their last mission either. To our dismay, it was discovered that a group of fishermen landed on Mulan Island and found the amber scepter belonging to Malos. It was happenstance and without malicious intent. Nevertheless, the scepter was always safely kept on the island for the next rise of evil; and we feared that if it was lost or damaged then the ancient council’s magic might be undone. After retrieving it, we needed someone skilled and willing to return it to Mulan. Your parents accepted the task and succeeded, but it cost them their lives.”
Burning tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, and I was grateful for the darkness between us. My blood was boiling, and grief paralyzed my body.
“So I have ruined your entire family, Abigail. The disdain you perceive is the disdain I have for myself and the decisions I made that led to your plight.”
Bitterness seemed to swell my tongue and dry my mouth. I could not speak. Anger and despair suffocated me. Finally, after a deep breath, I was able to heave out an audible sentence. “We are all just your servants that you manipulate to your will.”
“No, Abigail. The Cross family have all taken part in saving our kingdom. I never intended for it to be at the expense of their lives.”
I clenched my fists, eyes shut in anger and outrage. “I will complete this mission, but after that, we are finished.”
She was silent a moment before replying sullenly, “I will respect your wishes.” Her words floated in the darkness.
7
The Queen and I didn’t speak the rest of the night, nor the next morning. Putting distance between us in climbing Mount Kapri was a welcome reprieve.
Sam lent me her spare snow leopard coat, insulated pants, and ice boots—just as she had the last time I visited Karnelik. Vonik loaned his bear furs and boots to Joshua. Wrapped in brown shag, he almost looked like a bear. We ate a sizable breakfast of biscuits and pork before heading north to Mount Kapri. Vonik, Alencia and Sam gave heartfelt hugs and farewells.
Inok approached me awkwardly and placed a hand on my shoulder as I secured a rope and pickaxes into my backpack. “Be safe, Cross.”
I nodded and returned the shoulder pat. “You’ll do fine speaking on our behalf to the Ballik Council,” I reassured him.
I turned to Allis and gave him the affectionate farewell of the Caballus with my right fist to my heart, then extending my right arm with open palm over his heart. He grinned pleasantly and returned the gesture. I did not speak or make eye contact with the Queen, which I was sure no one would think strange, since I was, after all, merely a servant.
“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Joshua commented.
I realized that we had been hiking for two hours in silence and had reached the base of Mount Kapri. We adjusted our gear—my backpack with climbing equipment and food and Joshua with the tent—as we prepared for a steeper ascent.
“We are just game pieces in all of this. I feel manipulated and deceived and disgusted with it all,” I replied.
We climbed. The air grew colder against my exposed cheeks.
<
br /> “Did something happen last night?” His keen perception never ceased to amaze me.
“Yes,” I said between breaths. “The Queen informed me that my parents are dead because they were returning Malos’s scepter of power to the Serpent Volcano as an errand for her. My brother is dead because of his loyal service to her. And I am her servant, who can do her bid- ding until I also die an untimely death.”
He was silent for a moment. “She said all of that?”
“Well, except that I die an untimely death, but it seems to fit the pattern.”
“That’s terrible.”
I was grateful he didn’t try to justify her actions. I knew that in reality she was doing what she thought she needed to do to save the kingdom, but I still was angry that it was at the expense of my family.
I left out that my leaving the university and working as a servant was all a farce, concocted by the Queen and my brother to keep me in the castle walls.
“You don’t have to be a game piece,” he suggested. “You can stop being manipulated and leave the quest any time you want.”
“Quit?” I asked, panting. I shook my head, reaching for the next protruding edge of a rock to grasp above me. “I don’t want to quit. I want this to work and I want the Champion to destroy Malos. Maybe even more so knowing it wasn’t just Paul’s life he took.” I added, “I know what you’re implying. I know I have a choice. I still feel manipulated. I still feel how unfair it all seems. But I can’t quit. If I quit, more people will die.”
He was silent for a moment. “It is very unfair,” he admitted.
I looked down at the great furry bear scaling the mountain beneath me. It was comforting to see him breathing as hard as I was with the strenuous climb.
“I’m pitying myself enough for the both of us. Don’t pity me; just lift my spirits somehow, like you always do.” I mustered a smile, then turned back to climbing.
