This Is Our Legend

by Jamie Gandy

  “If I am honest, there were other reasons too, but I prefer not to talk about it,” he admits.

  “Why?” Catherine questions. I nudge my elbow into her side.

  “It does not matter why, Catherine. He said he does not want to talk about it.” A silence surrounds us for only a minute before we hear a chorus of laughter coming from up ahead. Within a heartbeat three young children come running towards us. The two girls look almost identical, with long beautiful sandy blonde hair, one, the slightly taller of the two, has wide bright blue eyes, and the other girl’s eyes glisten a bright green blue. The boy, who is much shorter than his sisters, with dark blue-green eyes and light blonde hair that brushes against his shoulders. He darts behind me while laughing. “Hide us!” he begs between giggles. The two girls hide behind Catherine and Sebastian just as a fourth child comes storming down the halls towards us. He looks like a much larger version of the first boy; however his light blonde hair goes an inch past his shoulders. All four of them are blubbering, and panting, with laughter.

  “Miss Layla almost caught me,” the older boy chuckles. He puffs out his chest in pride. “I think I lost her though.”

  “Thank the Creator!” The oldest girl exhales a sigh of relief. Her eyes finally move to my face and her mouth drops open. “Yo...your Highness!”

  “Sally, what are you thinking? There is no way she is…” the older boy’s words trail off as he looks at me. “No way!”

  The youngest boy, who has been hiding behind me, steps in front of me with wide innocent eyes. “What is a Highness?” he questions, his voice is so cute I cannot help but smile at him.

  “Highness is a title given to address a Prince, or Princess,” Sebastian simply explains. He moves next to the young boy and places a hand gently on his shoulder, while motioning towards me with the other. “This is her Highness Princess Esther Tora.”

  The three older children instantly bow in front of me. “Bow, you idiot,” the younger girl scolds her little brother, who still looks confused. “Mama said you are always supposed to bow to Royals.”

  “Your mother is right, however please stand up. “ I wait until they are all standing in front of me before sending a grin Catherine’s way as she steps to my side.

  “What are your names?”

  The oldest girl motions to herself. “My name is Sally Viorel, this is my brother,” she motions to the older boy, “Dylan, my sister, Pearl and my bro…” before she can get out the youngest child’s name he stretches out his hand towards me with a large smile.

  “My name is Daniel Viorel, but everyone calls me Danny.” I have to keep myself from laughing as I crouch down to take a hold of his very small hand. Instead of shaking it though he turns my hand around and kisses the back of it. “I have seen daddy do it before to mommy,” he giggles.

  “Already smooth with the ladies,” Sebastian smirks. “In the future, you may not want to copy everything you see your parents do, especially with someone you just met.” He pats Danny on the shoulder affectionately.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “SALLY, DYLAN, PEARL, DANNY! THIS IS NOT FUNNY! WHERE ARE YOU?”

  Danny releases my hand at the same time as a loud voice comes from down the hall.

  “Sounds like she caught on to our trail!” Dylan laughs. He is in mid turn to dash away when Sebastian snags him by the scruff of his tunic, stopping the boy in his tracks.

  “I think Miss Loyla has been running around after you four for long enough.”

  “But come on!! She is just going to take us back to our chambers and make us bathe!” Pearl silently pouts.

  “Oh, the tragedy!” Catherine mocks. She wrinkles her nose at the girl. “That explains why you all smell so awful. Poor Miss Loyla, it must be impossible to watch over you.”

  “Oh, Your Highness! I am so sorry if these little ones have been bothering you!!” Loyla’s kind round face appears in the hallway in front of us. She is in her late fifties, with long braided silvery hair that stops in the middle of her back. Her eyes are a pretty, yet tired, hazel brown. She bows when she reaches us. “Please forgive them, Your Highness.”

  “They were no bother at all.” I send Danny a warm smile. “You go behave Miss Loyla, okay?”

  “Yes m… Yes, Your Highness.” He returns my smile before he turns around and calmly walks over to Loyla. “I sorry, Miss Loyla.”

  I bet he could win over even the most angry person with his adorable face and sincere voice.

  “Oh, fine,” Dylan mutters. He waits until Sebastian releases him then he follows his sisters over to Danny and Loyla.

  “It was lovely meeting you four,” I call after them.

  Danny waves farewell even as he walks away, his smile still intact.

  “He is so precious!” I coe.

  “Probably a little too cute,” Sebastian smirks. “He is going to be big competition with the ladies when he gets older,” he laughs.

  “I doubt you will have to worry about him becoming competition,” Catherine’s remark makes me raise an eyebrow in confusion.

  “Meaning?” I inquire.

  “Meaning…” Catherine’s cheeks instantly grow a shade darker when she realizes that both of us are now looking at her. “It means nothing,” she defends.

  “As if I will let nothing be an answer. What were you going to say?” I press her.

  “You two are the adorable ones,” Sebastian’s voice is so full of warmth and affection that both our cheeks flare a dark pink. Catherine and I watch as he starts to lead the way down the hall towards the Royal Gardens.

  “He is so handsome,” Catherine whispers once he is out of earshot.

  I laugh out loud. “You like him, huh?”

  “It would be hard to deny.” She smiles at me as I lean my shoulder tenderly against hers.

  “He is a good guy.” Our conversation soon comes to a close when we reach the Royal Garden. As soon as Sebastian reaches the entrance his entire face flashes with terror before he runs into the Garden. A bolt of fear ignites inside of me.

  Catherine and I race after him until our eyes fall on the form of my mother lying in a bed of Bluebell flowers. My body goes still as I helplessly watch Sebastian crouch down at her side.

  “Catherine go find the Royal physician and tell him to go to the Queen’s chambers.” When he looks up from my mother to see us both still standing frozen his handsome amber eyes darken with seriousness. “GO NOW!” he commands.

  His voice snaps us both out of our trance and Catherine whirls around on her heels and runs out of the Gardan.

  “Your Highness, I have no idea where the Queen’s chambers are, so I need you to find a Soldier to have him help me.”

  “I can guide you to her chambers!” My mind is racing, my heart beating so fast I can barely breathe. I want to run to her side, I want to wrap her in my arms, but his scolding glare stops me.

  “No! You must keep your distance. We have no idea what is wrong with her, so we cannot risk you getting too close just in case.” His arms carefully wrap around my mother’s back and under her legs to lift her up into his arms. As he lifts her into his chest, I can see splotches of blood on her mouth, chin and dress. “Hurry!”

  I swallow back my panic enough to obey his command. I dash out of the Gardan and run until I find a Soldier making his rounds down the hall. I nearly collided with him.

  “Your Highness, what is the matter?” His eyes are wide with shock at my state.

  “It is my mother! She is ill. Please go back to the Gardan and help Sebastian take her back to her chambers! The Physician will be on his way soon!” My words are flying out of my mouth so fast that I doubt he understands a single word. Thankfully though he is able to make sense of what I said enough for him to rush past me towards the Royal Garden. Once he is out of my sight I fall to my knees and burst out crying, begging the Creator and all of Heaven for my mother to be okay.

  Chapter Twenty-One:

  ♔ Kage Tora: ♚

  I can see the
m standing before me, like a herd of corralled cows being prepared for the slaughter. Wide-eyed, shaking, screaming in terror. A dozen children are surrounded by an army of men. I try to move, I try to run towards them to stand between them and the charging horses, but my feet are frozen in their spot. ‘Stop! As your future King, I command all of you to stand down!!!’ I want to scream the words out to the empty vessel of men, however my lips will not part to allow the words to escape. The pounding of hooves vibrates throughout my entire body, heightening the fear bubbling inside of me.

  Like a lifeless, unmoving stone, I am forced to helplessly watch as the army of DragonsDome men run down every one of the frightened kids. Their cries of pain are drowned out by the neighing of the stampeding horses. When the last child falls to the ground in her own blood, one of the men guides his steed over to the center of the now lifeless bodies. He pulls off his helmet and laughs as he drops it to the ground.

  “Father… why… why would you do this?”

  “Only the strong deserve to live. Are you strong, my son, or will I have to cleanse the earth from your weak heart!” He points his blood-soaked sword towards me as the smile crawls up his lips. This man looks ten times more scary than the Infrits had. This man, Kallai’s King, my father, causes the blood to grow cold in my veins.

  “Will you be my next victim? Or will you rise up to be a King like me?”

  “I will never be like you!” I scream at him.

  “Very well!” He kicks his heels into his horse’s sides and instantly the large creature charges towards me. My father’s blood-stained sword stretches out towards me, well prepared to strike me down the way he had just done to the innocent children.

  The earth quakes as the blood darkens the skies above my head.

  “Father...why?” I jerk up in bed gasping desperately to catch my breath. It takes me a couple of moments to realize that it was only a horrible dream. When my heart rate finally returns to normal, I notice a strange glowing perfectly weaved web on the ceiling above my bed. In the center a black and yellow spider patiently watches me. As if she had a first-row seat of what I just experienced.

  “Is the why important?”

  “What?”

  “You asked the King for an explanation of why. Does it matter what the reason is? Would him explaining himself make you more understanding of his actions?”

  ‘Am I losing my mind? Is it really talking to me?’ I silently question myself.

  “Yes, I am really speaking with you. Unlike the dream I just coaxed out of you, I am very much real.”

  I ignore the fact that the arachnid somehow just heard my thoughts. “You made me have that dream?”

  “Yes. I feed on the nightmares of those that sleep in this room, it gives power to both me and my web. I can never control what the nightmare is about, that comes from the person’s own heart.” I watch as she leaves her web by stringing herself down until she is a couple feet above me. “All fears have a deep root of truth laced inside of them. Which makes your dream quite interesting, and tasteful.”

  “I guess I should not be surprised by a creature like you living in one of DragonsDome’s chambers.” I lay back down until my head is resting on my pillow. Making it easier to keep an eye on the spider.

  “From the outcome of your dream, I can assume you must have learned a very unpleasant truth since being here. You are smart to be wary.”

  “If talking spiders are not enough reason?” I feel a halfhearted smile lift the edges of my lips; however, it quickly disappears. “I bet a creature such as yourself hears a lot of secrets in this StrongHold.”

  “I do. Secrets, like nightmares, can be very delicious to devour.”

  “I am sure they are.” I fold my hands behind my head as I stare up at the golden glowing web. “What kind of power do you possess from consuming nightmares?” I curiously inquire.

  “There is no limit to the power I can contain, it all depends upon the dream. Your dream was quite overpowering. The fear alone you felt will sustain my mana for a very long time.”

  A sigh exhales from deep within me without meaning for it to. “At least it benefited one of us,” I mumble under my breath. “Tell me, have you ever heard in on any conversations from my f… the King and Sir Aeron?”

  “Perhaps.” She pulls herself back up to the center of her illuminating web. For a for seconds she tunes the strings before she balls up something between her legs and climbs down the wall to the head of my bed. Before I have a chance to sit up, she is crawling onto my pillow. “There is power in knowledge, but can you maintain such power, wisely?”

  “Does it matter to you regardless of my answer?”

  “Probably not.” she stretches out her front two legs that she carries a small piece of her golden web between. “I do advise you think very carefully before you unravel these webs.”

  I grab the radiant substance I am offered. “Very well, I will wait until I return to TigersKeep.” I watch as the ball of web in my hands melts away into the center of my palms.

  “My magic will keep it sealed inside of you until you are ready to learn their secrets. All you have to do is think about them and they will be revealed to you.” My eyes follow the spider as she climbs back up the wall to return to her dwelling place.

  “Thank you.”

  “Remember, be certain of your decision,” she silently warns me.

  “I will.”

  ⚔-♚-⚔

  The dining hall is full of both TigersKeep Knights and DragonsDome Knights. It is loud from the mindless chatter of the men; however, it is obviously clear to me that there is an underlying tension between them. ‘I have never been to any Stronghold with so much hatred between the Knights.’

  “Prince, are you even listening to me?”

  The sound of Hector’s voice draws me from my thoughts. I look sideways at my friend to see the serious expression on his face. “Sorry, I was not paying attention.”

  “Obviously.” He mockingly rolls his eyes. “You have been very distracted for days now, are you alright?”

  “I am perfectly fine,” I lie. As much as I have been wanting to tell him everything about my father and Aeron, for his own safety I have had to keep their official meetings strictly to myself. Thank the stars Hector has had the good sense of not asking any questions about our private discussions. I lean towards my friend and lower my voice. “Have you noticed the thick tension between our men and those of DragonsDome?”

  “Since day one. They really do not seem like they trust each other, or even like each other.” Hector keeps his own voice equally as low as my own. “I wonder why that is.”

  “No telling,” I remark. I take a drink from my glass of water as my dark gaze scans the room. A sudden chorus of noise sounds at the entrance to the dining hall as a young man, not much older than Hector, rushes first to Aeron and whispers something into his ear before he kneels in front of the King. His head bowed. “Your Majesty, a messenger has arrived from TigersKeep Castle. He frantically needs a word with you in private.” When his head finally lifts, his eyes stray from my father until he is looking at me. “You too, Your Highness.”

  “Nunzio, bring the messenger to my study at once, we will wait for him there,” Aeron orders. Once the young man, Nunzio, disappears from the dining hall DragonsDome’s Head Knight rises from his chair and guides my father, Adir, Hector and I out of the room, down the hall to the grand double doors that has become a familiar place for my father in I the last few days.

  Only a few minutes pass by before the doors open again and Sebastian steps into the room. Instantly he kneels and bows his head to his King. “Your Majesty…”

  My gaze shifts to Hector to see his own startled expression before I look to my father.

  “Why are you here? What is so urgent to have ridden all this way by yourself?” my father questions him.

  Without lifting his head Sebestian responds. “The Queen has fallen gravely ill, the physician has run out of options to treat her condit
ion. He does not believe she will live much longer…”

  My entire body begins to violently shake, I have to take several deep breaths before I can contain my composure enough to move towards Sebastian. I do not wait to hear my father’s words. “Did you bring Ziv?” The racing of my heart feels like a stampede of bison, threatening to crush me. Sebestian finally lifts his head, only to meet my panicked gaze.

  “Yes, Your Highness. She is in the courtyard; she will get you to the Castle faster than any steed.” He does not have to tell me this, he knows I already know exactly how fast the Unicorn is. She is likely the exact reason why it was him that was sent to deliver this news to us, and no one else. His amber eyes are full of their own layer of heartache and sorrow, not for himself but for Esther and for me. I can see as clear as day.

  “Hurry to her side, son. We will be there as fast as our steeds will carry us. Please reassure her that I am coming!” my father’s plea means nothing to me; however, I nod at him before running out of the room, down the hall until I eventually come to the DragonsDome courtyard. A crowd of unwanted gawkers are surrounding Ziv where she uncomfortably stands. “Be gone, all of you!” I warn them. Like roaches to light they scatter, to the Unicorn’s delight. As I reach her, I quickly mount the shimmering creature. “Take me to her, Ziv. Run faster than you ever have. Get me to my mother!”

  Her understanding neigh answers my desperate words mere seconds before her powerful legs kick off the ground to carry us straight out of DragonsDome’s StrongHold, and towards TigerKeep’s Castle.

  Chapter Twenty-Two:

  ♔ Kage Tora: ♚

  Once we come into sight of the Castle, I notice that the large gates are closed. ‘No surprise,’ I think to myself. Ziv comes to a skidding stop a few feet in front of the gates. “Guards, open the gates, this instant!” I call up to the two men on post at the top of the wall. Within a minute the wooden gates began to crackle as it opens. Ziv trots inside and quickly picks up her pace towards the inner Castle. As soon as we reach the courtyard I dismount and make my way into the halls until I reach my parents chambers. ‘Why are there no soldiers posted out here?’