by R Cavanaugh
At that moment he was called back to his senses by the frantic whinnies of Infestus. He looked at Indifferens, whose gaze had left his being and was now focused on the door leading to the outside. Jasmine Traymeda had reentered the room.
“A stranger who brings news of the movements of your foe approaches the house of trees.”
Chapter 12
The Traitor among Them
The king was ready for anything. After the last two days he had experienced, he knew that he would have no other choice but to be ready. But what if he had fallen into an ambush and Jasmine had just sent off a signal to the other side? Or…
But before his thought could be finished, Jasmine Traymeda had made her way to the door and was letting in a heavily cloaked figure that was surprisingly wet. Could it now be raining?
“You have traveled far and at great haste to reach a master that will be enraged by what you will say.” Jasmine’s words filled the room with mystery and anticipation.
It was as the stranger was about to speak that a purely silver Cocker Spaniel came into the room and was about to shake off the fur that was drenched in water when he noticed who was in the room. Upon noticing, he and the stranger performed a very low bow.
“Your Majesty, forgive us for intruding, but the news we have cannot wait.” The voice belonged to a Dathen Griffen, a boy who had already established a place of usefulness when he joined the king’s league of most secret informants.
Dathen was a tall, skinny boy of about eighteen, with light-brown hair and light-green eyes. He wasn’t built for anything, really, except for work and hadn’t been doing it very long, as he was more lanky than strong in looks. His silver Cocker Spaniel, Proditor, stood just inside the doorway. His fur was matted with rain water.
“I must tell you that the Draughtningrs and Tungstons are, at this very moment, making their way to the center of the Forest of Magus. Somewhere in this vast forest’s center, they have a secret camp at which all of your greatest enemies are gathering to welcome the one they believe will lead the battle of victory against you. The one they believe is the rightful heir to the Tiara of Emerald Thorns.”
Here he paused, as if he were some sort of great actor on a stage set specifically for him and his grand news. Those who were in the room were like his audience, and he was about to amaze them.
“This person would be no other than Rose Heartington, who I have learned survived our capture by living on a little-known planet called Earth, to which there was a secret door only known to the great kings of the past.”
Igneous just stood there. He wasn’t sure if he was impressed or furious. Maybe it was a little of both. After all, this stupid kid decided to leave the others to tell him this oh-so-important news. Yet he, in the process, left before he could learn of the secret camp that would have made his information so much more useful.
“It’s Dathen, isn’t it?” Igneous decided he would be charming at first; after all, this kid was loyal and willing to do whatever it was that his king asked. “I must say I’m impressed with all that you’ve learned.”
“You are, Your Majesty?”
“Yes,” Igneous mused, “I must also inform you, however, that you are not the first to come up with this information. In fact the only new information you have provided is simply that you could have served me a whole lot more effectively if you had remained with the Draughtningrs until you reached your destination.”
It was at the end of this statement that Dathen shrank ever so slightly, and Proditor, had hidden behind him.
“Why, if I were in want of an information courier, I suspect I would have hired one, yet you took on the job without there being one to take.” Igneous’s voice had risen to a point of absolute destruction, and he was now only a foot or so from the cowering figures that were Dathen and Proditor.
“Sire,” Dathen pleaded, “we thought that you should be told tha—”
“Did it look as though I were finished!”
“No, but—”
“Then why are you interrupting me!”
“Because—”
“Well!”
“Because we had thought that you had summoned us, sire.”
These words had not come from the cowering figure of Dathen, but from Proditor, who had a proper-sounding sort of voice. It almost sounded like that of one’s personal butler, whose nose might be lightly in the air. With his warm brown eyes still upon the king, he continued,
“It is clear that Your Majesty did not send the message, and we were tricked by someone in the RTET organization who may be a spy among us.”
At these words Dathen, who at some point had ended up behind Proditor, was nodding in agreement, trying to convince Igneous that these were his feelings also.
“A king who rules with such fear should fear his own shadow, for who knows when it shall turn on him?” Jasmine had remained silent for most of the encounter between the two men and Proditor, but her voice had returned him to her house, the room with jars, and Indifferens’s penetrating stare.
“For a loyalty held together by fear will latch itself onto whichever fear is greatest.” Indifferens nodded in agreement as Jasmine spoke.
“Be warned that you seek something that may not be what you think it is.” Jasmine looked him straight in the eyes as she continued in a tone-dead voice, “She who is meant to rule is not meant to lead and conquer in battle. She can unite but not fight, for fighting is against who she will become. She will wear the Tiara of Emerald Thorns but will not be the one to overthrow the king.”
With these words Igneous, Dathen, and Proditor stared at her in confusion; this wasn’t what the prophecy had spoken of.
“You told me that the Heartingtons’ first female descendant would overthrow me.” Rage was building in him now. “You told me that the Heartington line was the only one that stood in my way of being the true king.”
“And it still is,” she said calmly, “and she will.”
“You make no sense!” he roared.
“You never listen to me,” she spoke calmly, “or the meaning of what it is that I say.”
“You speak in a twisted language,” he fumed, “how could I possibly understand you!”
“If you were truly listening, you would understand all that I say and the meaning of all that I do.” She said this with an air of impatience. “Now would you and your frightened servant please leave? I was in the middle of poaching some froakes eggs when you so rudely arrived two days late, Mr. Stipes.”
With that she turned and went into the same room into which she had gone before and closed a very odd-shaped and heavy door.
“I will show you out, Mr. Stipes.” And it was with those words that Indifferens led them to the door, waited for them to exit, and allowed the door to close without another word from the three of them.
“Your Majesty, I have been so worried. These strangers come from out of nowhere, and—” But Infestus was cut off by Igneous holding up his hand to silence him. He turned to Dathen.
“Get your horse. You are returning to Decorus Regnum Corset with me. I want to see how much you really know about the resistance that perhaps, under normal circumstances, you may not be able to tell me.”
“Sir?”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll understand when we get there.”
And with those words, his mind turned to the castle and the bejeweled garden that produced the Tiara of Emerald Thorns. This seemingly insignificant headdress was making his days turn from bad to worse. Not to mention he hated riding in the rain.
Chapter 13
The Organization RTET
In a System of Tunnels under the Forest of Magus
Rose was tired, her feet were killing her, and she was surrounded by people who didn’t really know her at all. This war that they expected her to be at the forefront of just couldn’t be becau
se of her and her father. Her father, Nicholas, just couldn’t be the man they were calling Nicholas Heartington V.
He was a tall man, her father, just over six feet, and despite his massive size was a very gentle and kind man. He had warm blue-hazel eyes and a full smile that seemed to brighten the dreariest of days. His hair had not been black like hers but a very dark brown, with just a slight bit of wave to it. He had never been one to allow violence as a means to an end.
Yet she thought as she continued down the tunnel, her father’s explanations of why there was no family to visit or where her mother had gone had never been fully satisfactory. But why hadn’t he told her all of this before…
“Ouch!”
She had just walked straight into James, who had stopped very suddenly, and almost dropped the painting she had been carrying. She hadn’t realized how closely she had been following him.
“Shh,” whispered Don, “there are voices up ahead.”
“Do you suppose we’ve already been discovered?” Aphra inquired from behind Rose somewhere in the semidarkness.
At these words several swords were unsheathed, and they all held their breath.
“Who goes there!” The voice was male and deep. A brilliant light had appeared in the tunnel they were about to turn into.
“Show yourselves!” called another voice. This one was high and clearly female, yet it had a slight growl to it.
The light was growing brighter, and then suddenly moving figures appeared in the light, as if they had been born from it. Rose and the others raised their hands as a sort of shield to the light.
“I am Devin Draughtningr, and I have in my possession a basket of flowers in need of planting.” There was silence after he finished speaking.
Then, as if in response to what Devin said, the light dimmed some, and Rose could finally see who had joined them.
The first speaker was a man of medium height, maybe five ten, but his massive build and hard frame seemed to make up for his lack of height. He had razor-sharp blue eyes, almost like those of a bird of prey. Then there was his hair, sharply cut, sandy blond that probably would be wavy if it was allowed to grow out some. His attire was quite something, too, dressed in armor from head to toe, and it was almost all black, except for some streaks of silver throughout, and on the chest plate, a single rose was engraved.
“Devin,” he said in a sort of grunt, “you could have given me some warning. After all, it’s not like you to do things so spur-of-the-moment.”
“You could have been killed in one of your own ingenious tunnels.”
Rose looked all over for the speaker and then realized, in almost complete shock, that it had come from the black tiger right behind her.
The tiger looked right into Rose’s green eyes, scanning what must have been her innermost soul with his gray eyes.
A distorted, birdlike noise came from somewhere on her left, and there she saw a great, all-gray hippogriff: all gray except for the tips of its wings, which were white. It had fixed its gold eyes on the group and then spoke.
“I agree with Evan and Allegiance,” it said in a high, shrieky voice. “Why weren’t we informed that you intended to move the girl?”
Excuse me, thought Rose, but I have a name, and if animals are unable to use it, then I think I’ll just be leaving now, thank you. Deciding that she would rather not look at the two animals, she turned her attention to the new woman in the room. Her light, strawberry-blond hair was loosely braided with wisps that had freed themselves from the general bunch. She had soft brown eyes that just echoed warmth to Rose. She was about the same height as Rose. Actually, Rose thought, she could be taller. She seemed to be the same sort of build as Evan and was wearing the same armor, except where his was accented with silver, hers was gray.
“Nightmare, Allegiance, where are your manners!?” Her high voice rang through the cave once more. “There is, I’m sure, a good explanation, but now is not the time, and here not the place.”
“Vengeance is right.” Evan looked around as if the walls had eyes and ears. “We must get back to camp and figure this all out there.”
Hopefully we are almost there, thought Rose.
“Dathen?” Marina said in a shocked sort of way “Dathen?!”
Everyone looked around as if he were about to pop out of thin air. Then most everyone looked very grim.
“How long has he been missing, I wonder?” Devin said in a quizzical sort of voice.
“He could have slipped away at any time, and we wouldn’t have noticed until we stopped to see if everyone was all right,” hissed James with fire in his eyes. “Who knows when he left and how much he really knows.”
“I always thought he was a little too inquisitive,” pondered Aphra. “He really didn’t need to know so much, as he was only a servant, but I thought nothing of it.”
Oh great, thought Rose, now we have a spy on our hands. Wait, she thought, what’s wrong with me—we, our. I’m not part of all of this—or am I? No, stop kidding yourself, this isn’t about you, remember…or is it?
“Wait, what are you all saying?” Pricilla squeaked with horror and fear, her gray, curly hair falling out of its knot, her pale green eyes filling with tears. “Are you saying Dathen is a spy for the king? That he has been informing on all of us?”
Rose thought that must be so awful to comprehend, and she felt bad for that frail-looking woman.
“Mother,” Marina spoke softly, her warm, hazel-green eyes staring into her mother’s, “This is not your fault. You raised him the only way you knew how after Father died.” Marina’s black, curly hair shook as she did with anger at her brother, her thin frame as strong in will as she was physically.
“I’m sorry, ladies, but now is not the time.” While Liam spoke these words, Don and Topaz were nodding in agreement.
“Especially in light of these new facts, I suggest that we move on from this place, and once we reach our destination, discuss this and all previous matters in full.”
And with Don’s final two words, everyone was gathering their things—everyone but Pricilla, who seemed unable to find the strength to lift her load. As her daughter was about to try to manage it, Rose held out her hand.
“Let me share your load.”
Pricilla looked stunned, and everyone stopped.
“I don’t have anything to carry except my feet, so I thought I might be able to help you.”
No one spoke, but they continued to stare just fine. Then James walked over to where the three women were standing and held out his hands too.
“I think I might be able to spare a hand as well.”
With that James carried his own load plus some of Pricilla’s. Rose too carried a small load of objects, leaving Pricilla to carry only her grief. Now, Rose thought, I have more to concentrate on besides my thoughts. Oh, how much longer to we have to go before we’re there? Oh, Rose, she thought, stop complaining.
“Wait.”
Rose jumped slightly and dropped a few things in the process.
Nightmare was looking at all of them with incredibly focused eyes. Her head then turned to the tunnel. “I think we should make sure that we can’t be followed from this point on.”
Allegiance turned to look at Evan and then the others. “It could mean we leave the fate of others like us up to the king.” His eyes were looking to see if anyone objected.
“Evan,” Aphra whispered, “are there any more of us to come?”
“The Cryptic Conspirators have already joined us, and all the Thorns have been in camp for weeks.” Evan pondered for a few more seconds. “Vengeance, is there anyone else I should be expecting?”
“No.” Vengeance sighed, “Danny was killed, my sources tell me, and his sister has decided to stay in position in case we need her. She has also sent information my way that some of the others are remaining to help from the insid
e.”
“So,” said Liam.
“So,” stated Don.
There was silence. It was almost like they were at a funeral and were about to bury any hope of going back to their lives the way they were before. Aphra, James, and Topaz exchanged glances and then took several steps to where Nightmare and Allegiance were standing. They looked back at the others and then tied several ropes to the beams holding up the walls and ceiling. They walked as far back as they could go and looked at the others.
“Get ready to run, everyone!” cried James.
Then he, Topaz, Aphra, and the two animals pulled hard, and everyone bolted down the passageway. They heard the loud rumbling of the walls caving in behind them, and Rose feared the worst for those that had done the pulling.
Soon they all stopped, out of breath and exhausted.
“James?!” Rose called, starting to panic as she saw everyone but him in the area. “James!”
“Stop your hollering, Rose,” James emerged from the cloud of dust and was covered in the stuff. “I’m fine.”
Then without thinking she dropped everything she was holding and belted him in the jaw. Now her hand hurt, but so did her heart; she had feared that she had lost him and knew that she still loved him.
“You are the weirdest woman,” he said, standing up, shaking his head, and smiling, “that I have ever known.”
“And you are the biggest ass I have ever met.”
Then she ran forward, and they hugged each other.
“Are all women raised that way on Earth?” Aphra questioned Don.
“Heaven help the men if they are,” Don said, petrified and puzzled.
“We still have a little ways yet, ladies and gentlemen,” came Evan’s voice from up ahead.
Rose walked with James the rest of the way, carrying her share and the painting. She listened as James told her all about how the tunnels were built and how it had been a huge accomplishment to complete them without the king finding out. He told her all about his horse, Valor, and about the time when he had first met him.
