“Sire?”
The Knight’s attention returned to his Captain, “I still may need to punish these dancers and I would prefer if you had no conflict on the subject, understood?”
“Yes Sire.”
“Good!” The Knight’s mood lifted as he contemplated the mystery of this unique warrior he had chosen to be his captain. “He has the flame of a lion and the soul of a poet,” he thought, “like a razor sharp sword wrapped in silk. Will the silk foul the blade, or will the blade cut the silk? Time will tell.”
“Go now and get some rest I will be here a while yet. Sleep well Captain.”
“By your command my Liege.”
Before Yamikura had even exited the hall, the Knight was once again lost in thought. “How has something so mundane as crossing a few mountains become an insurmountable task? But more to the point, where and how were my men killed?” The Knight recalled the two men he had secretly dispatched ten years ago to map a route through the mountains, each an outstanding warrior, woodsman, and map maker. They were also two of his best assassins and spies. He had personally trained the agents to mute their flame and blend in with those around them. They would not have been detected or killed easily.
Yet this simple assignment had cost both of them their lives. The training they had received from their Sovereign had left a connection, a tether through which the Knight had felt their deaths from half a world away. They had died violently somewhere in the mountains, of that he was certain.
V
The tang of a cool sea breeze mixed with the sweetness of her tea to awaken Kalibra’s senses as she shared breakfast with her Knight high atop the Northern Ambassador’s Residence. She luxuriated in the mid-morning sun that warmed her skin beneath the light robe.
Lost in idle thought, her gaze drifted across the expansive view. From the sea’s distant horizon, across the brightly colored rooftops of Kingsport, to the mountains in the east, she purred with dual satisfaction. The beauty of the view accorded her a sense of wonder, while the warrior in her reveled in a single thought, “Always hold the high ground.” The gardens and palace were the only higher ground in sight. She gave a moment’s consideration to the pompous king and his solicitous High Councilor, then dismissed any threat from that direction.
Uncalled for and unwanted, thoughts of her years of imprisonment at the hands of the Red Knight surfaced. The pain and deprivation she suffered in that dark, damp cell had left its mark, and the contrast of her morning’s pleasure felt poignantly sweet. Slowly she turned to her lover who was pouring over sparse and contradictory maps of the mountain passes, she smiled as she placed a single kiss upon his cheek, then called him a bastard and turned back to the magnificent view.
The Red Knight didn’t even look up. “True enough” was his only thought, content in the knowledge that even an immortal will never live long enough to understand a woman, any woman.
“Yamikura!” The Knight summoned his captain and handed him the courier case and maps. “These are useless. See what is delaying High Counselor Deminar and his so called survivors, I’ll be in the ambassador’s office, have them brought here now.”
With nothing left to do but wait, the Knight returned to his breakfast but found his frustration to be a bitter spice that spoiled his food. He watched as Kalibra removed her robe to sun on a nearby divan. The Knight’s thoughts turned to a more enjoyable use of the time until Yamikura returned with the minister.
Kalibra lay relaxed and inviting before the brilliant seascape. His eyes drank in the beauty of her golden hair and sensual curves. Her toned muscles flowed beneath smooth skin that glistened in the morning light. His gaze drifted from horizon, to Kalibra, to the dagger on the robe beside her. He then recalled some reports he wanted to read before Deminar arrived and exited down the Pavilion’s steps unaware of the knowing smile that crossed Kalibra’s lips.
VI
“Myths and faery tales? I ask about mapping expeditions and you bring me myths and faery tales?” The Red Knight looked across the desk at the three expedition survivors who stood before him.
Deminar joined the three men. “These are not merely myths Sire. There is a tangible force that protects those mountains. If my Liege will permit.” The High Councilor walked around the desk and picked up a few of the many records scattered about. “From the most recent report to the earliest accounts of settlers on this coast and every report in between, they all agree in detail and in tone Sire. The mountains were given the name Warded as much to describe them as to name them.”
“You, redhead,” the Knight turned his attention to man on the left, “describe your experience.”
The man stepped forward with an air of self-confidence. He began to look to Deminar but caught himself and faced the Red Knight. “Sire, we had passed through the foot hills without incident and began to follow the natural terrain of valleys and mountain passes, as we progressed a sense of foreboding and danger grew among the men. Within a week every man had voiced their concern.”
While he listened to the man speak, the Red Knight noted telltale signs that all three men had a connection to the High Councilor. He thought nothing of it and had assumed Deminar would hand pick anyone brought to be questioned. He glanced over to Kalibra who was seated off to one side and was surprised to see that her reaction was much more visceral. Her body language spoke of insult and treachery. He briefly wondered why she would have such a reaction to these men but didn’t give it much thought.
“The first month was plagued by minor troubles. One was navigation, even though a good number of us, including myself, were experienced woodsmen and trackers, we would very often find that a full day’s journey ended in an area we had passed before.” The man appeared to be re-experiencing the journey as much as remembering it.
“Food was a constant issue throughout. In area after area where man has never set foot, where game should be plentiful, none could be found. We protected what food we could find, especially at night. Whether it was guarded, hung high in a tree, or covered in a stone mound, more often than not it was gone in the morning with evidence that some predator had found and made off with it unseen. Eventually we ended up divvying up whatever we found that was edible and each man was responsible for his own.”
The Red Knight noted each of the other two men had an equally somber expression as they nodded in agreement. He glance at Kalibra to read her sense of it and to his surprise, found her seething with anger. “Strange. What is she seeing that I’m not?” The Knight’s attention returned to the speaker but the question lingered.
“The second month we started to make some headway by shear force of will, that’s when the deaths started to occur. Men I knew to be as sure footed as a mountain goat became absentminded enough to misstep and fall to their death. Rock falls were common, and the large predators we had seen evidence of, showed up unexpectedly and often.”
“We lost a third of our expedition in the second month, it was at that point that a number of men decided to return. Of the original sixty, twenty-two were dead and another twenty-four decide to head back to the coast. My fellows and I,” he nodded to the two men next to him, “were among the small group that pressed on.”
As he said ‘pressed on,’ the Red Knight noted the look the man gave the High Councilor. Apparently before they left, Deminar impressed upon them that failure was not an option. “A likely death before them and a sure death behind them.” The Red Knight did not let his amusement show but turned to Kalibra to see if she recognized the man’s plight. The only thing the Knight saw in her was anger. Although to anyone else her mood would not have been easily read.
“The following weeks,” the man continued, “were a struggle just to survive. First we lost”
Kalibra launched from her chair, sword free. The first of the speaker’s silent companions dropped to his knees while his head rolled elsewhere. The second man barely had time to move before Kalibra’s blade deftly slid between his ribs and withdrew, piercing his heart.
The speaker leapt back to no avail, the fully extended stroke that would have decapitated him became a clean slice of his carotid artery.
“Spies? You treasonous worm!” She shouted at a stunned Deminar. Her final stroke met steel as Yamikura’s blade intervened. If it were not for her friendship with Yamikura, the ensuing match of speed and skill would have been a toss up. Even with her hesitation and his speed of movement, his free hand was just able to grab her sword wrist while his blade momentarily delayed her stroke.
“Kalibra!” The Red Knight’s shout filled the room.
Interlude
Flight
Wind streamed beneath his wings.
“Idiot!” His mind shouted. “How could I be that stupid!” John did not experience the exhilaration he normally felt in flight, his thoughts were consumed by reliving the scene again and again. “Relax. Soar. Catch the wind.” John repeated to himself as he flew effortlessly skyward and sought wind currents that would best hasten his speed to the gate.
“Peace. Find your center.” John’s inner flame brightened as his thoughts calmed. “The Caretaker will need to monitor and hopefully diminish the after effects of my blunder.” He then dismissed a past that he could not change and his thoughts turned forward. “I’ll have to take over with Dionara, I’ll need to be centered and balanced.” He told himself. “Peace.”
He landed below a rise just to the west of the oak that shaded Dionara. John then opened his mind to the Caretaker. In a brilliant flash of white light, John stood on legs once more, naked; mind, body and soul.
Chapter Three
History Lessons
I
“What!”
Dionara felt as if she was falling without moving, suddenly she was filled with the rage and pain of her parents’ death. “My mother was Queen! You know nothing of her. How dare you! Her family was one of the most respected in the Kingdom.” Dionara rose to a defensive posture as her hand dropped to find the hilt of a sword that was not there.
John instantly knelt before the Princess, head bowed. “I am so sorry my Lady, please forgive me.”
Dionara stood there a moment as her rage subsided, then found herself about to wield an imaginary sword to decapitate a man she had just met for the grave offence of offering his condolences. The pain she had long lived with was slowly overcome by a sense of profound foolishness.
The moment passed and she lowered herself to sit cross-legged before him. Resting her head in one hand, she placed her other hand below John’s chin and raised his head. “It’s been a long day.” She said and smiled, surprised to find herself lost in his deep, beautiful eyes. “Be a dear and grab the wine and some fruit for us, would you? Let’s eat down here, it’s more comfortable.” She leaned forward and placed a kiss of apology on his cheek.
“Yes my Lady.” John’s anxiety from her reaction was replaced by embarrassment as he felt himself flush in response to her kiss.
Dionara gazed off into the distance as John set out their impromptu picnic. “Thank you.” She said absently, then took sole possession of the wine decanter and poured herself a full glass. John grabbed an apple and lain on his back while Dionara watched dapples of sunlight play across him.
“Froggy was about to answer any question I had when he was called away, but now I’m not so sure I want the answers. Why don’t you tell me of your forest home instead.” Her eyes lingered to enjoy the magnificent view, the rolling hills of his exquisite form accented by the sheen of forest green.
John turned on his side to face her, “Yes my Lady, but I must caution you that the Forest’s tale is interwoven with the Kingdom’s.”
Her desire to be free from the weight of her duties resurfaced. “Please, call me Dionara. Perhaps if we simply talk as friends I may be less inclined to behead you with my imaginary sword!” She made the motions of withdrawing a sword and brandishing it about. She returned the sword to its imaginary scabbard with a visible exhale while shaking her head in self-judgment.
John’s flame burned bright as he watched her. Her physical beauty was striking, but that could be seen by anyone. John however was one of very few that could also see the radiant, untapped power she held within. He was overcome with a sense of loss as he watched her flame diminish with self-criticism and doubt. He also found that being near her had intensified his own guilt in the tragedy of that day seven years ago.
Pain washed over him, the mistake he had made was as fresh in his mind as the day it happened, and as fresh as it had been every day since. It was the first time he had ever seen her and he allowed himself be enchanted by her beauty, both body and flame. His duty was to protect, not to indulge in adolescent fantasy. He had failed.
By force of will he calmed his thoughts and allowed the pain to fade as the Caretaker had taught him. His calm demeanor never wavered, no one other than the Caretaker and Catherine were aware of his struggle and he would keep it that way. He silently renewed his vow to restore some of the damage that he had wrought in full knowledge that the pain and guilt would return to haunt his nights and drive his actions.
John took a bite of the apple as his focus turned to Dionara’s education. “Beginnings are a delicate time.” He thought. “As you know Dionara, your people came from the coast some four hundred years ago to found the mountain kingdom as an oasis from a world in constant conflict.” He paused to choose his words carefully, “Over the years, the reasons and details of your kingdom’s birth have been allowed to fade from memory. This was a conscious choice made as a gift of peace to your subjects by the Kingdom’s councilors, the royal family, and the Caretaker.”
He looked into Dionara’s flame to judge her mood, she was hesitant but willing to listen and find her answers. “It became custom that as members of the royal family reached the age of twenty-one, they were brought to the Forest for a deeper understanding of the Kingdom, the Forest, and their roll in the Kingdom’s security. Your father was brought here on his twenty-first birthday and was met by a Sentinel like myself, someone born with the special abilities needed to help the Caretaker protect us. First visits of the past have always been a time of wondrous discovery for the royal, and of celebration in the Forest. Unfortunately Dionara, you have come of age at a time of great peril and eminent danger for us all.”
“Danger?” Dionara felt immediate concern, “What danger? My councilors have said nothing about a threat. If you have knowledge of such a threat I need to know it now and must return to the castle at once.” Dionara’s holiday demeanor left her as she began to rise and look about for Foil.
“There’s no need to go my Lady, your councilors are fully aware of the danger and know that you are here. Everything that can be done is already in preparation. The most important of which is that you need to learn of your heritage and understand the full truth of the outside world.” John invited her to retake her seat.
Frustrated, Dionara sat once more. Her playful mood replaced by concern. “Continue, and please, it’s Dionara, not ‘my Lady.’” She tried for a soft tone in her voice but was only partially successful.
“I’m sorry Dionara that your day of discovery must also be one of awakening to danger, but these are the times we were born to.” John’s voice held the softness and compassion that Dionara had hoped she could project.
She looked into his eyes and felt something stir within her, a feeling that she had never experienced before. It was a feeling of power, but also warmth and somehow love. She began to question who she was, and then put aside the thought. “You were telling me of the danger to my kingdom, what type of danger is it?”
“For you to truly understand the threat, you will need to know how we in the Forest and Kingdom came to be.” John looked into her flame and saw that she was ready to listen.
The Red Knight
Ages ago when all of humanity lived in scattered villages on the continent across the sea, it was a time of awakening as people began to discover the advantages of community, farming, and working together for mutual s
urvival. Naturally, it was also a time of those who used force to take anything they wanted. This should have led to a natural progression that would eventually have brought about a strengthening of community, and from there, the rule of law for the common good.
Unfortunately something happen very early on, before this natural progression could take place. While raiders and marauders were still a dominant force, there came a day in a small village that reshaped the world. While the event’s exact date and location have been lost to history, its impact is still felt today.
One crisp fall dawn found the villagers already hard at work to prepare winter stores from the their harvest. The peaceful scene was suddenly shattered by a frantic alarm as the dust from mounted raiders could be seen in the distance and everyone in the village knew that they would shortly be fighting for their lives. Barely armed, most with farm implements, the men stood together to face the threat. Among the village’s defenders stood a boy in his teens. It was his first time to stand proudly among his father, brothers and uncles to defend his home. Pride and duty beat back the fear that rose within him.
The young boy stood forth to challenge one of the first raiders to enter the village, a great iron axe swung down, aimed for the young boy’s head. The boy tried to duck but this only caused the blow to catch him squarely between neck and shoulder. Through leather, muscle and bone it nearly cleaved him in two. His last thought as he felt the deathblow strike was one of disappointment and shame at being so useless. The raider rode on, unaware of the brilliant crimson light that flashed behind him.
The boy, dumbfounded, suddenly found himself alive, nude, and standing on a pile of bloody clothing that he had just been wearing the moment before. Unable to comprehend what had just happened, he stood there unmoving while another raider came up from behind and sliced his head cleanly from his body. Again there was a flash of crimson light and again the boy stood. This time though, he moved.
Forest & Kingdom Balance Page 6
