Unbroken Kingdom

by Lorie Gurnett

  8

  Broken Bonds

  Walking through the dark tunnel illuminated with intense heat, Senora looked around as flames rippled like waves along the rock wall. She saw movement ahead. Cautiously approaching the scene, she saw Robert surrounded by a tornado of flames. She ran toward him. “Bobbie,” she said at the top of her lungs, but her voice was drowned out by what sounded like Sam’s voice.

  “You must choose,” Sam’s voice reached Senora’s ears. She stopped in her tracks seeing Robert fall to his knees.

  “Bobbie,” Senora called sitting up in her hospital bed. Was that a dream? The fire was weeks ago, and Robert still had not awakened. She turned to look at her clock. It read 3:00 a.m. She swung her legs over the side of her bed, reached for her crutches, and stood to her feet. As she winced in pain, she limped her way down the hallway to Robert’s room and sat in a chair next to his bed.

  “Hey there, Bobbie. It’s me again. I had another dream about you. Only this time, you were surrounded by fire. I heard an old friend’s voice. I’ll tell you about her, I promise. You just need to wake up.” Senora took hold of Roberts hand and brushed his forehead with her other hand. “You’re burning up.” It worried Senora to see his face turn fire red and beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

  Senora pressed the call button, followed by “code blue” alarms. Robert started shaking and appeared to be having a seizure.

  “Nurse, please help.”

  The nurses rushed into Robert’s room and quickly ushered Senora out.

  “Help him,” Senora demanded.

  “I’ll update you, dear. Try to rest,” a nurse said as she closed the door. Senora stood there feeling helpless. She turned and made her way to the hospital chapel.

  Sitting down in one of the pews, she prayed, “God, please heal Bobbie. He has so much he hasn’t done yet.”

  “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God beside me, I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”1 Senora looked up from her prayer and was startled to see the Tall Bearded Man towering before her.

  Taken a back, Senora nearly toppled out of the pew. “What’re you doing here? I haven’t seen you in two years. Now you return? And how’re you here and not in Treasure Kingdom?” Senora stammered over her words, as she clutched at her chest, gasping for air from the shock.

  “I come to bestow wisdom upon you,” he declared as he gently sat in the pew in front of her so he could look her in the eyes.

  She looked around as fear began to rise up within her. “What sort of wisdom?”

  “The illusion of safety is a hard thing to give up.” He gently placed his large hand on her shoulder.

  Before fear could take control, she grasped the back of the pew in front of her and dug her nails in. Taking beep breaths to calm her nerves, she asked, “Safety? Is Bobbie in danger?”

  “Sometimes God needs to pin someone down in a place where they have nowhere else to run and are forced to face Him, when they choose to depend on their comfort zones instead of God. It is natural for people to fear losing the things they possess and have control over. These are the things that will cost us in order to behave as God’s children. We are to show sacrificial love and care to the most vulnerable, ones who could never repay us.” He spoke as softly and gently as he could.

  Senora shuttered and shrugged the hand free from her shoulder. She stood and walked around the room, pondering, “I admit it is hard to see Bobbie in such a vulnerable state.”

  “The only way to obey God’s law is to believe that God exists, that He is good, and that He rewards those who seek Him. There’s no other way. God has your back.” He stood and moved in front of her, stopping her and forcing her to look up at him.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she considered the consequence that might be before Robert. “I do believe. But what does it mean that sometimes God needs to pin down someone? I am scared to lose Bobbie.”

  “The only way to overcome the fear of losing the things or people who give us a sense of security is to overcome that with a greater fear. If you’ve heard God speak, if you’ve heard the lion roam, then the fear of turning down God overrides your fear of everything else.”

  Senora stood taller as confidence and peace filled her up. She could feel the fear melting away. “I believe nothing is impossible with God, and Bobbie is in His hands. But will Bobbie die?”

  “For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal.”2 The Tall Bearded Man turned and walked back to a nearby pew and sat down.

  She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her foot defiantly. “Why do you speak in riddles? I don’t understand.”

  “A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.”3

  She slumped her shoulders and walked over, sliding into the pew next to him. “Please answer me plainly. What time is it?”

  “And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not here to call the righteous, but sinners.”4 He tapped his hand on her knee to assure her everything would be ok.

  “Will you heal him? Please grant me a piece of wisdom.” She turned to face him more directly and grabbed the back of the pew once again.

  “He has his own journey. Don’t give up on him. He’s strong, but he’ll need you in time.” Suddenly, Senora was alone. She stood and hobbled back toward Robert’s room. A nurse met her in the hallway.

  “There you are. You need your rest, dear,” the nurse stated.

  As Senora wrapped her arm around the nurse’s neck, she leaned on her for support. “Bobbie? How’s Bobbie?”

  “He’s stable. Let me help you back to your room. Rest now, and you can see him again in the morning,” she said while directing Senora back to her room.

  Senora nodded and leaned on the nurse for support as they walked back to her room. Senora sat on her bed as the nurse helped lift her tender feet. Senora rested her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” The nurse covered Senora with a warm blanket. “Rest now.” Senora watched as the nurse left the room. She caught a glimpse of the Tall Bearded Man smiling, nodding, and fading away as she closed her eyes.

  Sam and Robert returned to the castle and rode up to the stables. As Sam dismounted, two guards approached them and pulled Robert off the horse. Robert struggled to get free and regain his balance.

  Tossing the reins to a stable boy, Sam stormed up to the two guards. “Wait. What’s the meaning of this?” she reached for one of the guard’s arms and tried to pull Robert free.

  “Lady Kat’s orders. He’s going to the cell block,” the guard said as they dragged Robert away as he kicked at the ground and struggled to get free.

  “Believe me; I’ll have a talk with that young lady,” Sam declared as she crossed her arms, and her hair glowed crimson. She turned on her heel and headed to the throne room, entering the room with a bang.

  Her eyes shot up toward the door as Katerina jumped at the sound. “Lady Sam, please come in.”

  Sam speed-walked right up to Katerina with determination in her eyes. “Why did you order Bobbie to the cell block? Is he our prisoner now?”

  She rolled her eyes and looked back down at the map before her. “I don’t know him, and you said it yourself: you didn’t trust him. I’m preparing to fight Lucas; I don’t need a spy with us who can betray us at any moment.”

  Sam placed her hands on the table as fire flared in her eyes. “I understand, but he passed the test.”

  Without raising her head, Kat stared at Sam’s hands as they began to glow. “Test? What test?”

  Smoke started to rise from the table just below Sam’s hands. “I took him to the Revealing Cave of Exposure.”

  Katerina lunged at the table, slamming it slightly into Sam’s stomach. “What? If he was working for Lucas, you might’ve endangered us all. How dare you reveal
part of our training grounds!”

  As she regained her balance, the glow subsided. She took a deep breath and stood her ground. “He passed.”

  Kat tossed the map aside and jumped on the table, and within seconds, she was standing in front of Sam. “That’s not the point.”

  Turning her back on Katerina, she tossed her hair and stared out the window. “I didn’t expect you to understand. You’re just a child.”

  Katerina grabbed Sam’s arm and turned her to face her. “You’re lucky Princess Delores held you with such regard, or I would send you to the cell block.”

  Brushing Katerina’s grasp on her arm, she stared down at her. “I’m sorry, but I told you I would keep an eye on him, and I have. He hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary that would cause him to go to the cell block. Please, release him.”

  Busying herself with gathering the maps and supplies she had knocked off the table, Katerina looked up briefly. “What’s he to you? Won’t he distract you?”

  Sam knelt and helped Katerina pick up the mess on the floor. “I can focus. You know this.”

  Sighing in defeat, she stood, tossed the mess on the table, and yelled, “Fine! Guards.”

  Three guards entered, “You called, Lady Kat?”

  Pointing at Sam, she nodded toward the guards, “Yes, bring the one they call Bobbie here.”

  The guards bowed and back out of the room. “Yes, my lady. Right away.”

  Sam tossed the rest of the mess on the table and started organizing it again. She reached out and squeezed Katerina’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

  Looking up with concern in her eyes, Kat stared at her. “You think you can trust him?”

  “I do trust him; he has earned that. There’s also something that draws me to him,” Sam pondered as the guards returned with Robert in tow.

  “Sam, what’s going on?” Robert looked back and forth between the two, examining their expressions to see if he should be preparing for another fight or if this would be a friendly gathering. The guards shoved him forward and he fell before them on his hands and knees.

  Squaring her shoulders and attempting the most demanding voice she could, she said, “Silence! I’m Lady Kat. Sam has spoken to me on your behalf. To test your true loyalty, I am sending you two on a quest.”

  Sam walked over to Robert and helped him up. Startled by Katerina’s words she looked over her shoulder in surprise. “Quest? What kind of quest?”

  Turning her back to them she spoke softly, “You’re to go to the Waterfall of Tears, find the Crystallite Truth Gem, and bring it to me,”

  “We can do that. Right, Sam?” Robert replied. Sam just glared at him, turned her attention back to Katerina, and bowed her head.

  “As per your request,” Sam replied. She grabbed Robert’s arm and pulled him out of the throne room.

  “Hey now! Why the hostility?” Robert asked Sam once they entered the courtyard.

  Stopping abruptly, she turned and found herself standing nose to nose with Robert. “Why did you say that?”

  Staggering back, a little off balance, he scratched the back of his head in confusion. “Say what?”

  Pacing back and forth and throwing her hands in the air, she said, “That we could do that?”

  Robert walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in and smiled. “You don’t think we can?”

  Turning away again, she kicked at the ground and stared up at the throne room window. “You don’t understand. You don’t know the terrain. The Waterfall of Tears? The Crystallite Truth Gem? Shadows at every turn?”

  Robert stood in front of her and took hold of her hands. “Hey, I believe in you. We escaped Lucas once. Right? Besides, what’s a Crystallite Truth Gem?” Sam looked into Robert's dark eyes and saw such confidence behind them.

  Relenting in her protest, she released one hand and lead Robert toward the stables. “It’s a Jewel of Truth. When someone holds it, they’re forced to only speak the truth.”

  “Oh, so it’s like a truth serum but in the form of a crystal.”

  Stopping and considering his analogy, she just smiled and continued into the stables. “Um, sure. If you say so.”

  He squeezed her hand, and as their hands swung back and forth together, he smiled. “We can do this together.”

  “I know we can do it. It’s just…” Sam looked back at the castle. “Kat.”

  Looking over his shoulder at the throne room window, he shrugged. “Lady Kat? What about her?”

  Sam rubbed her chin between her fingers as she considered all the angles. “I’m not sure. It could just be her grieving the loss of her mother, but I felt she was hiding something.”

  Confused, he looked back at Sam. “Hiding something? What made you think that?”

  She shrugged and pulled her hand away. “Just a feeling I get. Why on the brink of war would she send us away? Especially, to find something that has only been whispered about.”

  Speed-walking to keep up with Sam, he got in step with her. “What do you mean, whispered about?”

  “Never mind! She has requested. It’s not my place to question.” Sam mounted her horse; she reached out her hand to pull Robert up behind her. They rode out of the courtyard and turned toward the Sheol Mountains.

  Robert jumped at the clap of thunder when he looked toward their destination. “That looks like quite the storm brewing,” Robert said as he pointed toward the mountain.

  “That’s Sheol Mountains, the border of Shadow Dominion,” Sam declared.

  “Shadow Dominion? I thought we were going to the Waterfall of Tears?”

  “We are, but the Waterfall of Tears is on the other side of Shadow Dominion.”

  “What? You mean we have to go through Shadow Dominion? Why didn’t you say that before?”

  “Why do you think I glared at you?” Sam directed her horse closer to the building storm.

  Senora was startled awake by a clap of thunder outside her hospital window. “Quite the storm brewing,” a nurse said as she entered Senora’s room. She turned to close the blinds on the window.

  “Could you please leave them open?” Senora asked as the nurse paused to give her a strange look. “I like to watch the colours of the lightning.” The nurse smiled in amusement and left the room again. Just then, Senora saw a big spark of forked lightning shoot across the sky followed quickly by a giant clap of thunder, which sent the walls of her room shaking.

  Senora shivered with delight. “God, you’re so creative and powerful. Thank you for sharing this beauty with me.” Soon, Senora’s thoughts turned to Robert. She stood, reached for her crutches and limped to his room. Making her way to his bedside, she sat down in the nearby chair, and held Robert’s hand. “Hi, Bobbie. Just wanted to tell you of the beautiful storm we’re having. Such majestic colours. You should wake up and enjoy the sight with me. Jo and Sylvia had to return to work and school. They send their love. Your mom should be by later today to see you. She would be overjoyed to see your dark brown eyes again.” Senora jumped at another clap of thunder. “My feet are healing nicely; I think I’ll be off the crutches in a few weeks. They remove the bandages in just a few days. Your mom dropped off another letter for you. I’m not sure if you want to hear it or not. She read you the first one, but she wanted you to wake up and read this one yourself.”

  Another clap of thunder rattled the hospital walls.

  Robert jumped as another clap of thunder shook the ground beneath them. Their horse stumbled and paced. Sam dismounted and grabbed the reins to calm the horse. As the horse reared slightly, Robert fell to the ground.

  “Easy now. Are you ok, Bobbie?” Sam asked.

  “I’ll be fine.” Robert stood and brushed the dirt from his pants, feeling a little embarrassed.

  “We’re close. I’ll send the horse back. He’s too jumpy and will draw attention to us.” Sam turned the horse around and released it to return to the castle. “He knows his way back.” Another clap of thunder turned their attention
toward the mountain. “Be on your guard, for Drayvon attacks your dreams. He could turn your dreams against you, and they’d become nightmares.”

  Waving off her warnings, he put on his bravest face. “My whole life, I’ve lived in a nightmare, and I’m still alive. I’ll not be shaken, not even by this Drayvon person.”

  “Many others have underestimated him, even me. Don’t be so sure.” Sam said as she gathered some supplies in a satchel she had taken from her saddle before the horse left. She tossed it over her shoulder and looked Robert in the eyes.

  Placing his hands on his hips and hanging his head, Robert quickly scratched his nose and placed his hand on his hips again. “I’ve already lost so much-lived in terror and torture. What more can he do to me? Except take my life?”

  Storming up to Robert, she punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t say that, Bobbie. Drayvon has a way of smelling your fear. More than you might like. Just be careful. We’re at the border of Shadow Dominion. Why would Kat send us this way?” She breathed heavily through her nose as she stared into the thick forest before them.

  Following her gaze, he said, “Do you have doubts?”

  Shaking her head sadly and with less confidence than he had seen in her before. Sam said, “she just seems off.”

  He reached for the satchel on Sam’s shoulder and took a step closer the forest’s edge. “She just lost her mother. She’s young.”

  Shrugging, she tilted her head slightly and smiled. “That must be it.”

  Looking up toward the storm raging overhead, he looked at Sam with concern. “Is the Crystallite of Truth worth the risk?”

  Squaring her shoulders, she punched Robert again in the shoulder and stepped into the forest. “I don’t know. But she’s acting queen right now. I have to follow her orders.”

  Turning his attention back to where Sam just vanished into the trees he shrugged and followed. “Is there a way around Shadow Dominion?”

  “It would take too long. Lucas’s growing in strength. We need to defeat him.” Sam looked over her shoulder at him and smiled again.