"I wish to complete my mission,” Rebenna told the queen firmly. “I will continue on, regardless of whether I have your assistance. It is likely that I'm already too late."
Queen Lena smiled slightly. "We will help you, but first let us take our leave of this assembly."
The crowd cheered and applauded their leader's decision. Looking down, Rebenna saw that both Caitlin and Ileana had disappeared. Without a word, Kellas led her towards a door to the right of the throne.
Chapter 20
Rebenna followed Kellas through another short series of doors which ended in a small, round room. It was as regal as it was cozy. Rebenna took it for Queen Lena's personal study. Kellas gestured for her to take a seat.
She took the proffered chair and gasped as the wood melded to the curves of her body. Settling in, she fixed the queen with an inquisitive stare. "Megar, I realize it has no bearing on our present situation, but what does Klem de Karr mean? I do not know any of the words." Though her understanding of the Old Tongue had increased, it was still far from proficient.
The queen chuckled. "Once again you display your wisdom, Flemakh. Your question has a great deal of bearing on our situation. Caitlin and her order are the Klem de Karr in Ancient Tongue, or the 'guardians of history.'"
Rebenna stared at her in confusion. "May I ask why my other question relates?"
"You need not ask my permission to ask a question, Flemakh," the queen replied seriously, though her eyes twinkled. "As to your actual question, I will answer in the form of a story."
Nodding to the queen, Rebenna burrowed deeper into the chair and felt the wood move in response. Behind her, Kellas moved, subtly reminding them of his presence. Only the three of them were in the room.
"Stay, Kellas, I have need of you." Queen Lena's tone was sharper that Rebenna had ever heard, but the warmth was still there.
"Of course, Megar.”
Queen Lena pressed her hands together. "Now, let us begin our story. I assume you know of Magdor of Darkness." At Rebenna's nod she continued. "After political offices were sealed from men, the strongest of our magic was also hidden from all but the monarch and a few chosen tenders. Not even the Klem de Karr, who store most of Savann's knowledge know the specifics."
Rebenna's face lit up. "The sacred items?"
The queen shrugged gracefully. "That is how the public knows the power that was stored, but that is not the entire story. You see, many years after Magdor's defeat, but still long before present day, the guardians of power issued forth a statement. They decreed that every person must have a chance to gain the power that lay hidden. That was when the legend of the sacred items was created. It is also when the office of the servants of the palace originated.
"You see, the servants of the palace serve dual roles. The first and more obvious is to serve the current monarch. They are forbidden the use of magic and marriage is discouraged. I assume you already know this.
"At birth two sets of tattoos are inscribed into the newborn servants. The first is the mark of servitude, which every male bears. The second is a mark of office. I have no doubt that you have already noticed it, especially since your guide bears the symbol multiple times."
"The arrow, the sun, and the moon?" Rebenna asked in surprise. "I originally thought that those were the mark of servitude, but then I realized they were not."
The laughter that was always just underneath the surface of Lena's words bubbled to the surface. "No, Flemakh, we do not brand our men from head to toe. However, you are correct in your assumption that those tattoos are the symbol of their office. In fact, they are a map....no, do not interrupt. Normally, I would make you discover where they led to by yourself, but as I noted before, these are not normal circumstances." She turned and looked toward the third person in the room. "Kellas, step forward."
Rebenna stared hard at her former guide and noticed a glazed look in his eyes. He stepped next to the queen and stood stiffly in anticipation. The lights that lit the room, powered by no visible fuel source, dimmed suddenly. Running her fingers down Kellas' arm, Queen Lena left faint glowing tracts behind, which quickly faded.
Then Rebenna saw the queen's hand move to the arrow above his eye and touched it gently. The effect was immediate. Gleaming, the tattoo became a vibrant blue; it hurt her eyes to look at it directly. Slowly, Lena fingers shifted and stroked the sun and moon adorning Kellas’ opposite cheek. They too blazed under the queen's touch — the sun a white-hot flame and the moon a pale, luminescent glow.
The effect was startling, but not as much as much as the aftermath. Once both his facial tattoos had lit up, Kellas' eyes began to shine. At first Rebenna thought it was a reflection of the other lights, but she soon realized that they had their own powering source. She watched as the man she had grown to know a little was transformed into a puppet.
Finally, all three lights were extinguished suddenly and Kellas collapsed. Uttering a small cry, Rebenna ran to the kneeling man. His eyes were still blank and the muscles in his face were slack. She put a hand on his back reassuringly and then glared up at the queen, who towered above him. "If you already know the location of this power source, then why don't you just tell me? Why toy with your own subjects?"
I thought she was different, but it appears I was wrong. She is just like King Marus.
Looking down at her in true surprise, the queen frowned. "I am sorry if I offended you, Flemakh. I did not realize you were so sensitive. I had to activate the map in order to awaken the knowledge of the power's location inside Kellas."
Rebenna relaxed somewhat, but remained guarded as she looked at the powerful queen. "How long will it take for him to recover enough to guide me?"
"He will remain in this state until you complete your business. However, he will be able to guide you as he is."
Anger coursed through Rebenna again. "How can you use men without regard to their feelings? It is truly cruel."
Before the queen could respond, Smith's lilting voice rang out through the small chambers. "Dear, if you wish, I will accompany you as well. It is always nice to have engaging companions on trips."
Looking at her advisor, who had materialized suddenly, the queen was only slightly surprised. "It does not surprise me that you would want to be involved in this, Smith. I will permit it, though I fear that I always am too indulgent with you."
The sphinx smiled charmingly. "It is no fault of yours, dear. Honestly, how could you resist me?" She turned to Rebenna, who still stood protectively over Kellas. "As I told you before, I can transport us up to a day's journey away. I'm going to use that power now, so please do not be frightened."
By the end of Smith's sentence, they were already deep in the living forest of Savann once again, but the sphinx didn't seem to notice. She continued talking, "Now, don't be too upset with Queen Lena, dear. She is used to having her way and not thinking of her servants as full-blooded people."
Rebenna let out a bitter laugh while surveying her surroundings. "That is the problem with royalty, hereditary or otherwise."
"Yes, but you will not make that mistake, will you?" Smith said oddly.
Rebenna started so hard she shook Kellas, whose shoulders she still held. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded.
“Nothing dear. It was just a prediction, nothing more." Smith began to laugh. It rang out through the forest like rain falling in metal pots. "Come on, dear. Let's go find this mysterious power that the queen talked about."
Nodding decisively, Rebenna followed the sauntering sphinx and her mind-numbed guide down a path only they could see. She had to press herself to maintain their pace. Since she had not traveled without a horse since she was a little girl, she found that she was out of shape for walking.
She fell into step behind Kellas. Without meaning to, she realized she was watching Smith walk. As she moved, the sphinx’s muscles bunched and then released. Her tail swished slightly with each step she took. Noticing Rebenna's gaze on her, Smith laughed musically as the ambassador qu
ickly glanced away. "It is no problem, dear. Not many have seen a live sphinx in their lifetime, and you are handling it better than most."
Rebenna rubbed absently at the end of the scar running the entire length of her arm. "It still feels rude to stare. I guess my mother trained me better than I thought.”
"You know that you can worry about him, don't you dear?" Smith tone was comforting.
"I know," Rebenna sighed. "But my then my worry overwhelms everything I do. Then I can't focus."
"Well, then you'll be happy to know that we're less than a mark away from the entrance to the place we are searching for."
Managing to smile, Rebenna looked at the sphinx curiously. "Smith, truthfully, how did you get in that cave?"
"I told you the truth, dear. Like Kellas, I am bound by magic and cannot lie. You must be careful how you interpret people's statements. I'm sure you noticed that your guide made use of well-planned deception several times."
"Yes, he did," Rebenna agreed. She was thinking of the cloak he had worn and his altered accent.
"If you want, I will tell you as much as I am allowed. You see, I cannot give away another person's secret." Rebenna nodded and Smith continued, "I assume you remember the story I told you of Prince Thomas? Good, good, that is the beginning of my next story.
"Fifty years later, the guardians of power issued another statement. This time it was a warning. They said that a war would soon be fought over the power they guarded. In order to protect their secret, Savanns had to take several steps.
"Firstly, we had to repudiate any kinship we still held for the Noennaans, who had broken off from us hundreds of years back. This is what caused any animosity you may have felt back in Lenna Queeka.
"Secondly, we were to spread rumors that the hidden power lay in Malzepher. Unfortunately, dear, this has had some rather dreadful side effects."
Rebenna looked at Smith in complete confusion. "I'm not sure that I've understood anything that you just said."
Tail lashing slightly, Smith shook herself. "I'm sorry dear. I'm not a very good storyteller for a sphinx. Let me try to explain better. You see, hundreds of years ago Noennaans split with the Savanns. This was called the schism.
"They split because the radical faction, the ancestors of the Noennaans, wanted to unleash the power that had been secreted away back into the world. As was to be expected, most Savanns were appalled by this suggestion. Though they disliked doing so, the Savanns cast the Noennaans out into the desert.
"Now that you have that background information, hopefully my story will make more sense. About fifty years ago, the Noennaans were preparing to invade Savann. They had finally gathered enough power to possibly succeed, and they had not forgotten the power that lay untapped in their original country.
"That was when the guardians of power issued their statement. For years there had been rebellions in the western lands of modern day Malzepher. The guardians sought to take advantage of this by making the Noennaans think that Savanns had given the secret power to the rebels near the coast. The ploy worked, and Noenna's attack was diverted. Noennaans brought down their fury upon their own country instead of Savann.
"Sadly, dear, the distraction also had undesirable affects the guardians had not anticipated. In an attempt to show the Noennaans they had no magic, Malzepherians began to destroy all magical creatures within their own borders. The word 'magic' became so charged that at the end of the Revolution both countries utterly rejected the use of magic in any form.
"Queen Lena sought to rectify this situation by appealing to the royalty of Malzepher. She appointed my mate and I, who were native to those lands, to fulfill this duty. It was purely coincidence that Prince Thomas found me after my mate had been killed.
"Being who he was, Prince Thomas agreed to my plan and accompanied me to the cavern on Mount Slate. I knew it had been the home of many magical creatures at one point, and that it was perfectly safe. Once inside, I agreed to guard the cavern until a person I thought was well suited to the purpose came in search of the 'Items'.
"As you know, Prince Thomas died on his way down the mountain. It was then that, in her grief, Queen Minna decided to stomp out all rumors of the powers, as they had fought a war over them already. Noenna did not follow suit. They still remember the powers they could have possessed, and so they attacked Malzepher again, hoping to succeed where they had once failed."
Trying to understand, Rebenna looked at Smith. "So, that is why Delmer knew nothing of the powers?"
"Yes, dear, it is."
"I think I understand," Rebenna asserted hesitantly.
Smith smiled. "Even I, who have lived through many of these events, do not understand some of the logic behind them."
"Smith, how old is Queen Lena?" Rebenna asked pensively.
"I can't tell you exactly, because I don't know. She was just beginning her reign when I was born, and I am by no means young. Magic tends to prolong a creature's lifespan. It is likely that she will rule for some time yet."
"Kellas told me that monarchs are not necessarily hereditary in Savann," she said, glancing at his blank eyes. "How are they chosen instead?"
"Once a woman believes she is strong enough, she will challenge the current queen. They will fight each other through physical, magical, and mental means. If the challenger wins, then she becomes queen. If she does not, then no harm is done. Challenges for the throne are encouraged.
"The two contenders for the throne currently are Caitlin and Ileana. Klem de Karr are generally not considered candidates, because that would put too much power in a single woman's hands. Caitlin hopes to change this policy. Personally, I believe Ileana is by far the wiser of the two. She is not her mother's daughter as much as Caitlin would have you believe."
The sphinx paused briefly and pointed towards mountains that had suddenly appeared before them. "It seems we have reached our destination. From here I think we should allow Kellas to lead"
The peaks were covered with snow and glistened in the sun. Three of the mountains extended into the forest through which the three of them walked. Kellas led them towards them unerringly, right through a small crevice Rebenna never would have noticed, had she been alone. His soulless shuffle echoed off the narrow passage. As they walked, the space between the walls shrank and Rebenna hunched over. Smith seemed to not even notice the change.
The walls are going to crush us! Why doesn't Smith care?
Normally Rebenna was not claustrophobic, but she could barely resist the compulsion to turn around. Finally, the choking sensation became so bad that Rebenna was forced to shut her eyes and feel her way forward. Once her eyes were closed, the feeling of being trapped eased.
I will never get used to magic. She shook her head with her eyes still shut.
In front of her, she heard Smith gasp in awe and dared a peak through half-closed eyes. What she saw in the distance struck her mute. Inside the cone of the three mountains was a deep lake, formed by glacial melt. It must have been frigid, but in the soft glow of the sun, water had never looked so inviting.
The shore of the water gleamed in the light, making the fine white stones look like snow. From the cliff on the opposite side of the water, three waterfalls surged, freefalling into the lake below. The air in the secluded crater was still, for no wind could reach it. The tall trees growing on the mountains and in the flat area that ringed the lake stood in silent guardianship over their charge.
"You have arrived," a solemn voice announced.
Rebenna whirled around and looked for the owner of the voice. She scanned the rocks behind her for a fair amount of time before her eyes dropped and she saw the speaker was a girl of about eight. Surprised, she bent over so she was eye to eye with the young girl. The ambassador was about to speak in the soothing tone of voice that an adult uses to address a child when she noticed the girl's eyes. They were completely black.
"Ah, I see you have not made the mistake of several others. This is a good sign. Follow me, my children. I w
ill take you to the other guardians of power." The girl still spoke in the same serene tone of voice she had used before.
Following the broken path, Rebenna noticed for the first time the small group of houses built of rock. They were easy to overlook when contrasted with the lake. She looked toward Smith; the sphinx inclined her head slightly and gestured toward the girl they were following. Looking to her other side, she saw that Kellas had returned to his normal state and was glancing around, bemused.
They walked past the small houses and turned down towards the whitewashed shore of the lake. On the sand waited four more figures of various sizes. Rebenna did not make the mistake of assuming they were ordinary children again. She bowed deeply, as she would to king or queen. Smith and Kellas hastily followed suit.
"You are welcome here, Flemakh, as are your companions. Before you ask us for help, which we will gladly grant, allow us to explain who we are." The eldest of the five, at least in body, stepped forward. She was a girl who appeared to be around fifteen years of age with black hair that swept her feet. She was around Rebenna's own height and had the same large, dark eyes as the smaller girl.
A boy, who looked to be only slightly younger than the girl stepped forward to join his companion. "We are the Kotai. Savanns generally translated this title to mean 'guardians of power', but it means much more than this. Among other things, it can mean wisdom, truth, sage, or mystic. We are all of these things."
The guardians of power and the sacred items...they are the same thing.
A younger boy who looked to be around eleven years old took up the story effortlessly.
"After Magdor was defeated, the current queen tried to seal the strongest of Savann's powers inside five vessels. Her plan was flawed, and the power rebounded upon her, destroying her in the process. Such ultimate power and knowledge cannot possibly be stored within material items, for they have no soul for the power to commune with."
The next to speak was the last of the five, another boy of about nine. "The queen's successor realized this and asked for people to willingly step forward to become vessels for the power."
Homecoming Page 19
