Legend of the Book Keeper

by Daniel Blackaby

  With each new witness Cody felt all hope seep from his body. Kantan was no fool. Half the audience was in tears, the other half looked ready to pounce over the railing and strangle Randilin themselves. When the last witness left the stand Kantan sniffed as though caught up in emotion. “Hasn’t this trauma gone on long enough? Isn’t it time to turn the page and prevent the next generation from sharing our hurt. Evil men don’t change; they only contain the vice for a short while. Randilin should be executed before that evil breaks out again. I rest my case.”

  The crowd burst into applause as Kantan took his seat. One member of the crowd stood up and yelled out, “Why wait? Send him to the gallows right now!” Two guards escorted the screaming man out of the building. Cody saw that Randilin’s head was still resting on the table. What are you doing Randilin? Don’t give up now!

  Judge Silkian slammed his mallet onto the podium. “Order! Order! The trial has not been completed. Reverend Geoffrey, you now may take the stage and call your first witness.” As Geoffrey stood his large belly lifted the table. Stumbling backwards he knocked his chair to the ground. Several muffled laughs went out from the crowd. Cody hung his head; compared to the smoothness of Kantan, Geoffrey looked like a hippopotamus at the queen’s tea party.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” he began in trifling, clumsy voice, “we have just heard about the tragic effects of evil. Let us also not pretend that we haven’t all also heard the rumors of a threat growing out of El Dorado. Acts carried out by a merciless king, unwilling to forgive and let be. I ask you now, how much different are we than he?” Geoffrey let his question hang in the air like a vapor. The rambunctious crowd had been silenced. Cody had underestimated Geoffrey due to his appearance. A sense of hope slowly returned.

  “I will now call on several witnesses to testify on the transformed nature of the accused. For my first witness I call on Sally Peatwee, gatekeeper of the Second Passageway, and first-hand witness of the accused’s . . . dark incident. Sally, please approach the stand.”

  Between muffled sobs Sally recapped how, upon Randilin’s banishment, he had aided her in the protection of the passageway and provided her with valuable information about the current events of Upper-Earth. She shared how on several occasions he had aided Wesley in the security of the Book, often at the peril of his own life. Jade was next to take the stand. As always, she delivered her speech assertively. She recalled several of the events of their journey to Atlantis and how Randilin protected them and provided invaluable guidance. Prince Foz followed after Jade. His testimony was jumbled and often incohesive, but he passionately recapped how Randilin had displayed perfect compliance with the guards during his imprisonment. The young Prince reminded the crowd of the days before Randilin’s crimes, and how he had played such a valuable role in the very founding of Atlantis. Throughout his entire testimony his brother’s eyes never blinked, glaring wrathfully toward him. As Foz returned to his chair Geoffrey called his final witness—Cody.

  Cody nervously approached the stand. He could feel every eye in the room following him down the aisle. He took a deep breath; he had thought out a strategy for his testimony. Now that the moment had come, he just hoped it was the right one.

  Taking the stand, Cody looked out over the crowded room. It appeared to Cody that Geoffrey had the upper hand over Kantan. Cody crossed his fingers. Don’t blow it.

  Geoffrey paced back and forth. “So, Cody, we’ve heard some of your story from Jade’s testimony. But please, tell us in your own words how Randilin has proven his repented heart.”

  Cody took a deep breath. He told of Randilin’s rescue from the hotel in Vegas, and how he had saved them from Dunstan and his gang at risk of his own life. Cody stopped, and looked up to see Jade staring at him. He hoped she would approve of what he was about to do next. Cody began slowly, “I have a confession to make . . .” He paused, taking a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing. He pushed himself up to his feet. “The Code has returned to Atlantis. . . . I am the Book Keeper!”

  A loud gasp burst from the crowd, followed by rapid muttering and commotion. Cody continued, not daring to look back at Jade, “Simon Wesley died to protect this Book, and in his last breath of life, he gave his trust to Randilin to carry on his work. Wesley believed in Randilin, and so do I. I am the Book Keeper, and I say forgive and forget, and let us honor the dying wish of a founding father of this great city.” Cody flopped back in his chair, awaiting the detonation of the bomb he had just recklessly lobbed into the room. But the unexpected happened.

  A man in the back of the room stood to his feet and began clapping. Another man joined him, and then a woman. Soon the whole room was standing in applause. “Forgive and forget! Forgive and forget!” the crowd began chanting.

  Cody risked a look back toward Jade. Her face was neutral, but beside her was Prince Foz who had an enormous grin on his face; he gave Cody two thumbs up. “Order in the court!” yelled Silkian as Cody returned to his seat.

  Foz grabbed his arm, “That was absolutely brilliant Cody!” he whispered into his ear.

  Jade leaned into the huddle. “And rash! Isn’t it dangerous to reveal our secret in this manner? Dace warned us not to mention it,” she probed sternly.

  Foz waved his hand. “Forget Dace. What Cody just did was leverage his position and power to sway the audience. His announcement has created a shock. Without much time to consider its implications, no one in Atlantis, including the jury, is going to want to stand up against the new Book Keeper right now. Don’t you understand? Cody has become more influential than the King himself! Cody, I think you may have just saved Randilin’s life.”

  Judge Silkian stood and raised his long fingers to silence the crowd, “Court is adjourned. The jury will discuss the evidence from both parties and make its decision. The ruling will be issued tomorrow. Court dismissed.”

  Chatter and gossip flooded the room as the crowd filed out. Cody scanned over the chamber for one man in particular—Prince Kantan. Their eyes locked, Cody gave him a smug grin, “Got you!” he mouthed victorious. Kantan raised his eyebrows and tilted his head like a curious dog. He motioned toward the jury box. Cody’s heart sunk. He suddenly recognized the jury—they were the dissenters whom Kantan had secretly met with in the alleyway. Kantan gave a mocking grin.

  “Got you.”

  Tiana

  Mornings to Cody were appalling on the best of days. When the fate of his friend’s life was to be decided, a fate which rested largely on the repercussions of his own rash actions, it was utterly dreadful. Cody tossed and turned in his bed. By the calm wafting through his window, he knew it was still early morning. He was due for a training session at the Monastery at noon, but he was lost in other thoughts. The previous day’s trial ran through his head over and over on repeat. He could recite the entire session verbatim. His shocking announcement had caused a rippling stir in Atlantis. Within an hour the entire city was abuzz with the news. Fincher Tople eventually had to be subdued by three guards as he chased down Cody for a desired interview.

  Cody rolled over and pulled the covers above his shoulders. He had become an instant celebrity; people were taking notice of him. It was everything he had always dreamed about, but as his eyelids drooped he wasn’t sure he had the energy to deal with his new status. He closed his eyes; Atlantis had waited centuries for a Book Keeper to return to the city, they could wait a few more hours.

  Cody took a deep breath. Only the front doors of the palace stood as the division between privacy and whatever craziness the day held for him. It was still early and Cody was hoping that most citizens, at least in the Inner-City, still were lying harmlessly in their beds. Cody crossed his fingers and pushed open the door. The moment he did so, he realized that his hope had been in vain. Several hundred people had assembled as a mob at the bottom of the stairs.

  Recognizing Cody, they started cheering and yelling, “Let us see The Code!” “Prove yourself to us, create something!” “Our roof has a hole, if you just had one q
uick second to stop by and create a new one . . .” “Hail the savior of Atlantis! Let’s use our Book to crush El Dorado once and for all!” “Create! Create! Create!” Cody stood dazed as the mob rushed the stairs. The two front guards crossed their pikes and stepped into the path as a barrier to separate Cody from the crazed crowd. Cody felt overwhelmed. Then he saw her.

  The rest of the crazed multitude dissipated into a blurry mist as he stared dumbly at the beautiful specimen before him. It was the girl he had seen the first day he arrived in Atlantis and again in the marketplace. He had been dreaming of her striking blonde hair, mesmerizing blue eyes and glossy red lips. She was perched casually against a wall, segregated from the rest of the crowd, and eyeing him curiously. Cody’s heart started to pound. The girl had a slender body that was covered in a tight snowy tunic and fastened with a silver belt. She was stunning.

  Mustering up all the smoothness he could manage, Cody puffed out his chest and strutted down the remaining stairs, heading straight toward her. She watched him with amusement, but made no sign of moving away. Sweat rolled over Cody’s neck. When he finally stopped, he was only inches from where she stood. Her warm breath rolled gently over his face. From close range he could see the sparkling flash of glitter on her two painted cheeks. Cody’s mouth felt sticky, as though all the moisture had been vacuumed out. Besides Jade, none of the other girls at school had ever given him as much as a second glance. Those days are over. As he had seen the jocks at school do many times, Cody ran his fingers through his hair coolly and opened his mouth, “Hi, the name’s Cody . . .” On the last syllable his voice erupted into a horrifying, mousy, squeak; like grating pointy fingernails being dragged roughly down a chalkboard.

  His face flushed; he could feel his heart thrashing in his forehead. He wished he was dead. The blonde girl’s thin lips parted into a half-smile. “That was precious,” she said casually in a teasing voice. Cody felt dizzy. There were many ways he would categorize himself in that moment, but precious was not one of them. Moronic, perhaps, but not precious. “It’s the . . . power from the Book. . . . Sometimes it’s flowing through me so intensely that it affects my voice,” he stuttered weakly trying to salvage his decimated dignity.

  The girl reached out her hand and wrapped it around his. Her skin was silky and warm as it pressed against his. “My name’s Tiana. Although the way you’ve been spying on me I’m sure you already knew that . . .” The words floated from her scarlet lips like a song and sank into Cody’s pores. He tried to come up with a witty reply but, coming up empty, merely gave a dumb grin. The girl pushed herself off the wall so that her body was almost pressing against his. “Word has it that you’re our new Book Keeper now. That’s impressive . . . I think,” she added playfully. Without lowering his gawky grin, Cody turned back to the stairs, sighing deeply and relaxing his muscles.

  “Gadour!” With a flash of light a pebble appeared on the steps; it was slowly growing in size. Cody closed his eyes in concentration and waved his hands in the air. This action wasn’t necessary, of course, but performance was everything. The crowd inhaled as the pebble grew into a rock—a rock formed in the unmistakable shape of a heart. The heart reached the size of a human heart. Cody opened his eyes. “Gai di Gasme!” The rock instantly stopped expanding. Cody glanced back at Tiana who returned an irrepressible grin. He winked. “Fraymour!” The rock heart burst into flames.

  The crowd cheered boisterously at the sight. “Gai di Gasme.” Cody sensed Tiana’s soft hand cup the back of his neck, pulling him toward her. He then felt warm, moist pressure against his cheek. The crowd erupted even louder.

  “I’m surprised. You are quite the romantic, aren’t you?” said Tiana in her tranquil voice.

  “Yes, truly amazing,” came a straight voice. At the top of the stairs stood Jade with a blank expression on her face. “Unfortunately, Barbie here is going to have to wait until later to see a few more childish magic tricks. Because, if I’m not mistaken, Romeo was supposed to be at the Monastery almost an hour ago for training.”

  Tiana eyed Jade humorously. “Well, it looks as though someone didn’t have enough time to primp this morning. Although, as they say, even a master sculptor’s final statue can only be as lovely as the original stone he is given to work with. Anyways, I’m sure I will see you around, Cody,” she planted another lingering kiss on his cheek, keeping her eyes focused on Jade the entire time. Pulling her lips away, Tiana disappeared into the crowd.

  “Jade, I was just . . .” Cody called up the stairs, uncomfortably trying to stomp out the flame from the flickering stone heart, but with an echoing bang, the door slammed behind Jade and she was gone.

  Terminated

  The nerve! A pillow catapulted across the room, collided with the wall, and fell to its final resting spot on the floor beside other discarded items such as an opened book, a dirty shirt, and several coins. Jade’s burning red face surveyed her room in search for any other object that might be chucked. Realizing she was out of bullets, she instead released a venomous shriek. Yanking her left shoe off her foot, she sent it to join the pillow. Her right shoe was quick to follow.

  She shivered. The thought of those puffy red lips made her feel queasy. Those. Stupid. Ugly. Red. Lips. She wanted to peel them off the Barbie’s pale, plastic face and smack them across the fiend’s cheek. The thought of the girl’s face sent another shiver down Jade’s back. She felt dirty. She needed to shower.

  The warm water soothed as it rolled over her gawky shoulders and fell down onto her toes. How Atlantis had managed to have working showers was beyond her comprehension. She focused her mind on this mystery; she desperately needed a solvable problem. Something that she could accomplish. Something that would make her feel competent. Anything to get her mind off that prissy girl. That girl. Jade grabbed a wad of soap and smeared it over her body, rubbing it hard against her skin until it began to burn. The blonde girl had polluted the air and made it toxic. Jade felt contaminated.

  She was happy for Cody, of course. Honestly. When she had first met him, he was an awful sight. He was plump as a globe; a kid who continued to put on weight in preparation for a growth spurt that had gone on strike. He was quiet and mostly kept to himself; a solitude that all his classmates had been happy not to disturb.

  She never really could pinpoint what exactly had drawn her to her unexpected future best friend. All she knew was that something about him was different. Underneath his quiet demeanor was a boiling passion and a free spirit chained by insecurity. Over the next six years she witnessed that spirit break free. He gained confidence; so much so that even the other classmates seemed willing to accept him back into the world of the living. He was rough around the edges, but Jade always knew he had more character than any of the dimwitted, bimbo jocks all the girls batted their fake-eyelashes at. Now one of those girls had finally noticed what Jade had seen all along; she should feel happy for him—but she was miserable.

  You’re acting like a jealous child! She ran her fingers through her long dark hair as it fell heavy against her back. It wasn’t fair. Cody was hers. She had been by his side when no one else had. Most importantly, she had seen his worth before he became the wretched Book Keeper! That stupid, ugly Book!

  Now, it wasn’t that Jade desired him in any romantic way. Never. He was like her little brother. She cared about him sure, but love? She remembered how cute he had been on the train to Las Vegas after she had spent the night on his shoulder. He had played cool with the skill of a firstgrade drama student. His eyes were beaming and no matter how hard he tried, his mouth kept sneaking into the shape of a smile. That night he had been hers. His shoulder was hers to lie upon and she was his to protect. But those days had come to an abrupt halt. Barbie’s disgusting, vomit-inducing kiss on his cheek had been the termination of that contract. Over. Gone. Done.

  Now that that phase of their relationship was gone, she realized how much she had enjoyed it. The way Cody looked at her for the last several days felt good. It made h
er feel like a lady. For once, she felt attractive, and she liked the feeling. But she was going to be a big girl. So what if Cody and his new ditz were friends? She wasn’t so weak that one lousy kiss on the cheek would ruin her. She was strong. Jade slid to the ground and pulled her knees into her chest. Only the shower water washing over her masked the tears that poured down her face.

  Sentenced

  Cody stepped into the Monastery unevenly, his head still dizzy from the elevator ride up. He rubbed the back of his hand where Tiana had touched—perhaps the elevator wasn’t the only thing that made him dizzy. Cody could still hear his heart beating. It was growing louder . . . and louder. Wait. That’s not my heart . . .

  Suddenly a huge wave of water came crashing over the third story balcony. Cody threw his hands above his head, “Byrae!” A gust of wind came billowing through the front door and collided with the crashing water, sending it splashing against the wall. “Gai di gasme,” Cody surveyed the now completely soaked room.

  From the third balcony Xerx glared down at him. “Not bad, Book Keeper. That was some testimony at the trial. You just couldn’t wait to announce your secret to the world. Well, have fun rolling around in your newfound fame and bliss, because very soon everything is going to change. When that time comes we’ll see what you’re really made of. As for me, I’m not holding onto too much hope.” Xerx let a large gob of saliva drip from his mouth and drop toward Cody’s face.

  “Byrae!” Cody yelled again, just in time; a gust of wind sent the clump of spit flying out of harm’s way. “Gai di gasme”.

  “Ooff!” came a startled voice. Cody followed the trail of the spit across the room—right into the surprised face of Lamgorious Stalkton who stood in the open doorway. Cody looked back to the balcony; Xerx was nowhere to be seen. Great, just great.