The Stones of Earth and Air (Elemental Worlds Book 1)

by V. M. Sang

  As she stood up and escorted Klondor out of her parents' hut he turned to her and said, 'This doesn't mean I don't care about you or that I don't value your gift, but perhaps the future of an entire country depends on this. Pettic tells me this impostor is cruel and self-indulgent.'

  'I'll see you about it tomorrow, Klondor. You'd better go and leave me now.'

  Klondor returned to his hut where he spent the long day lying on his bed worrying that he might have put his betrothal at risk in his desire to help his friend.

  After a sleepless night, dawn eventually came and Klondor left his hut. People were preparing to go to work. They waved or hailed Klondor as he passed. Klondor half-heartedly responded and the villagers wondered what argument between the young couple had caused this.

  Eventually, Beline came out from the hut with her family. They left for their work, leaving Beline to talk to Klondor. She approached him quietly and beckoned him onto the veranda.

  The pair sat down on the mats and Beline began.

  'This was very difficult, Klondor. As you must know, to give away a betrothal gift is the biggest insult you can give to a girl. I began to doubt you loved me enough for a marriage.'

  At this comment, Klondor hung his head. He began to protest, but Beline stopped him.

  'Let me finish, please, Klondor. On further reflection I decided you did care and that's why you're asking me. If you really didn't care enough to worry about insulting me you would have simply given the sword to Pettic and hoped I wouldn't find out. No, I think this shows what a caring young man you are. You're obviously torn. You want to help your friend and not insult me either. It can't have been easy for you to come to ask me this. That was very brave too. You also care about someone you have never met, simply because your friend cares for him. You're a wonderful human being, my darling, and so I give you permission to give the sword to Pettic.'

  Then she kissed him and stood up. 'You'd better go and tell Pettic he can go home, hadn't you? I'll come to your village in a couple of weeks.'

  With that she left a startled Klondor looking after her.

  Chapter 8

  The three days since Klondor left seemed like three years to Pettic. He was particularly anxious because of what Blundo told him about the time passing differently in the other worlds. He did not know if minutes or years had passed in his world while he was in the world of Terra. This made him all the more anxious to get back.

  He would be sorry to leave the friends he had made here, but he did miss his home world. This was a much more primitive place with the huts being built of mud and thatch, not stone. Everything they had was either grown by themselves, made from the materials they found or from the animals they hunted. True, they wasted very little, but Pettic did miss some of the comforts of home.

  By the evening of the third day, anyone looking for him would find Pettic standing at the gate leading to Lake Village. As the sun sank below the hills behind him, he saw a figure on the road. He ran to meet it. The friends embraced and walked up to the village in companionable silence. Pettic did not want to seem to be too anxious to leave Terra so he curbed his impatience.

  When they arrived through the village gates, Klondor led Pettic to the guest hut where he was staying.

  'I spoke to Beline,' he began. 'She gave me a lecture on how important the betrothal gifts are and what an insult it is to part with them. I was very downhearted at this, but then she told me she'd think about it and let me know the next day what she'd decided. I hardly slept at all last night, Pettic. I was so worried she would refuse and also that she would be so insulted she'd break off the betrothal.'

  Here he paused and Pettic held his breath.

  'This morning she came to me and talked again at length. She talked about my bravery and what a good friend I am to be seeking to give away what must be very close to my heart (which indeed it is, as I reassured her). She then talked about nobility and honour. But to get to the point, she's agreed I can give the sword to you.'

  Pettic embraced his friend. 'I thank you with all my heart. You've risked losing the girl you love for me and my country. A country you don't know, and will never know. I can't do anything for you in return.'

  Klondor smiled. 'You killed the boar, remember. That has saved many lives and, incidentally, its skin has helped me win the love of Beline. No, you don't need to do any more for me or any of us here on Terra. When will you leave?'

  'I'd like to go as soon as possible. I need to say my goodbyes to your family and some others here in Hill Village. I want to go soon because I don't know how long has passed on my world. It could be days, weeks or years, but I hope it's not years! Will you say my goodbyes to Beline for me. She's a beautiful girl with a beautiful nature to match. I'm sure you'll both be very happy.'

  The two young men who had found such friendship in a short time embraced each other, and if there were tears in their eyes, well, who could blame them.

  The goodbyes took longer than Pettic had thought. Everyone in the village wanted to shake his hand. He was, after all, the man who had rescued them from the 'Phantom Boar'. They found him an interesting visitor too, having come from a different world and one that had magic too. That he knew little about the art himself made no difference. He had a magic amulet to let him speak to them and understand their language. What was more, he was searching for a sword that had a gem imbued with magic.

  The people would have scoffed at the thought of magic not long ago, but now everyone acknowledged its existence, if not on their world.

  Cledo also came in for much fussing, especially from the children with whom he had played and obviously loved. He had been with children ever since he first came to the royal nursery as a pup and enjoyed their company still.

  Eventually, after half the day had gone, the villagers let Pettic go. He collected his few things and went to say his farewells to Borrin and his family. Klondor told him they were all going to come up to the cave to see him off, and, truth to tell, they all wanted to see for themselves how he was going to walk through a wall. Woller was to be in attendance too.

  The party ascended the path, down which Pettic had come with the priests, to the Holy Cave. They entered the large cavern with the square stone altar in the centre. The passage led off from the right hand side at the back. The party entered it. It was a tight squeeze as it was not very large, but somehow everyone managed to get in. Rolinda cried as Pettic embraced each of the family in turn and then, gripping Cledo firmly by the scruff of his neck, and hoping the dog would come through with him, he strode towards the cave wall.

  Saying a quick prayer to whatever gods were watching that the gem would not only allow him to pass, but the dog as well, he looked at the wall. He could not believe that this solid wall would soften and allow him to pass. He made a couple of false starts but aborted them just before he hit the wall. Then he had an idea. He turned to face the assembled crowd, waved, and walked backwards so he would not see the stone as he approached it.

  The mist surrounded him and the faces of the people in the cave faded. He turned as soon as they disappeared and checked to make sure Cledo was still with him. He found himself face to face with a very startled young couple.'Where did you come from?' queried the young man. 'I didn't see you up here when we got here.'

  'Oh, I've only just arrived. I came up the steep way. Better exercise, you know.'

  There was a way up to the standing stones that entered through the arch Pettic came through but people rarely used it, being a rather stiff climb. Also many legends and myths surrounded the stones, many telling of dangers, fairies abducting folk to their land and the returning folk finding many years had passed since they left. There were also tales of dragons and other strange beasts being seen in the stones. They were said to have come through the very arch that Pettic now came, and that was another reason not to enter that way. Who knew what one might meet either in the arch or its immediate vicinity.

  Pettic apologised to the couple and told them he woul
d leave them and began the walk down to the city. He shivered. It felt cold here after the heat of Terra.

  First he had to go to the home of the family that was looking after Cledo. The children squealed in delight to have the dog back, and Cledo greeted them enthusiastically so Pettic did not feel quite so bad at leaving him.

  'Did your business go well,' inquired Nontid, the stable hand.

  'Yes,' Pettic said. 'Very successfully thank you .'

  He left the dog and set off for the palace. He entered by the stable door because he did not want to draw attention to his return, especially not from Torren. He would prefer not to meet the impostor at all, but he supposed he would have to eventually. He knew he was being a coward, but who knew what reaction Torren would have to his absence. He had not even found out how long he had been gone. Not years, certainly, but was it days, months? It was still winter here, but winter of which year?

  Chapter 9

  He found out long he had been gone fairly quickly. As he passed Lucenra's rooms her door opened and the princess came out. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Pettic and then grinned.

  'Pettic!' she exclaimed. 'I'm pleased to see you back. It hasn't been long though. I thought it would take longer than a week to find the gem.'

  Pettic grinned to hear the time had passed slower here than in the world of Terra and told Lucenra so. She said she had to go to see her father and would be back soon. She told Pettic to go and wait in her rooms as she was anxious to hear his story.

  Pettic stood in the princess's rooms looking at the portrait of her parents that stood over the fireplace. It was a cold day and he walked over to the hearth and held his hands out to the blaze. After a few minutes he walked over to the window and looked out. Snow still lay on the ground, just as it had when Torren went to meet the mysterious magician in the clearing in the wood. It was turning out to be a hard winter, and Pettic shivered, remembering the heat of the world he had just come from.

  How would Klondor have reacted to this cold? he wondered.

  Just then the door opened and Lucenra returned. She closed it behind her and went to warm her hands at the fire. She wore a blue dress trimmed at the neck and cuffs with the fur of a fox. She pushed her hands into the sleeves. Although the fire kept the living area of the princess's apartment warm, moving about the corridors was cold.

  After getting warm, Lucenra walked over to the window and stood looking out next to Pettic.

  'It was hot there,' he said, without looking at his companion. 'Far hotter than it ever is here. I had to wear a white robe most of the time or be cooked.'

  'Was it Igni, then, that you arrived in?'

  'No! Strangely enough, this hot place was Terra. It was very similar to here, but the people seemed much more primitive.'

  'Tell me all about it, please,' Lucenra said, moving to a seat and patting the space next to her to encourage Pettic to sit too. He left the window and went to sit next to her. As soon as he sat he began his tale, starting with his arrival in the cave, and ending with his return through the cave wall.

  Lucenra listened in amazement at the tale, then Pettic lifted the sword and showed her the emerald in its hilt.

  'My earring is still warm when I'm near it,' he told her. 'I wondered if it would stop reacting once I was back here. Not that there's any reason it should, though is there? That was an irrational supposition on my part.'

  'We must take this sword to Blundo as soon as we're able,' Lucenra said. 'I think it would be better left with him, too, for safe-keeping. We don't want Torren to get wind of what we're doing. He'd no doubt steal any or all of the artefacts if he knew.'

  'If Blundo's right, then he'd only need to take one. All four are needed to get into the Bubble.'

  Lucenra asked many questions about Pettic's adventure, especially about the whirlwind courtship and betrothal of Klondor and Beline.

  'I wish I could have known her,' she said. 'And Klondor too, of course. They both sound wonderful people. And to be always summer. How marvellous! I hate winter. I suppose if it's always warm there's no need for them to build stone houses for warmth.'

  'No. Their houses are built to keep the heat out. They have no windows at all, only a doorway, which is closed by a bead curtain. The curtain is held back during the day to let some light in, but the huts are surprisingly cool with no windows to let in the heat.'

  They talked on for some time, Pettic wanting to know what had happened in the week he had been away.

  'I think mother and father are beginning to notice something about Torren,' the princess told him. 'He behaves well enough around them, but some whispers have been getting through, I think. Father sent for Torren a few days ago. I think the Duke of Kroldor complained to Father about that game of cards you and Torren were playing with his daughter and her friend. He went home in a huff, anyway.'

  Pettic put his head in his hands. 'I tried to stop the game, Lucenra, really I did, but Torren was having none of it. I really had little choice.'

  The princess placed a hand on his arm.

  'I know you wouldn't have humiliated those girls voluntarily, Pettic,' she said quietly. 'I only hope Torren didn't decide to put the blame on you. That's the sort of thing this Torren would do, you know.'

  'Yes, I suppose he would.' Pettic sighed. 'Would your father have believed him if he had?'

  'I don't know, Pettic. I wish I did.'

  Pettic went back to his own apartment and sat down. Lucenra had told him she would come later to see Blundo. Pettic found the valet the king had given him checking through his clothes and putting those that needed cleaning onto the bed.

  'My Lord,' bowed Larro, 'I'm pleased to see you back. Was your business successful?'

  'Yes, thank you, Larro. Most successful. Have my parents written while I was away? I'm anxious to see how they're getting on at the castle. I won't be able to go for some time and I'm a bit concerned about them.'

  'Yes, My Lord,' replied, Larro. 'The letter's there on the mantle.' With that he continued to sort through the clothes.

  Pettic opened the letter. His mother, it seemed, had taken to being Lady of the Manor, or should we say Castle, as though born to it.

  But then again, she was always bossing me about, so a few more folk don't seem to faze her at all, wrote his father.

  The letter went on to talk about the stock and how many animals there were and the harvest, which animals his father had chosen to slaughter for the winter and which to keep as breeding stock for next year.

  Pettic smiled on reading that his parents had managed to take on this new role. It was not so very different from running their own farm except in scale. There was also a steward to help his father and a housekeeper to help his mother.

  He decided to send for his brother to come to court as soon as this business was over so he could learn something of the ways of the nobility. After all, he was an earl's brother, and currently his heir.

  Pettic sent for some food in his room. He did not yet want to meet Torren. He thought that the false prince might decide something very unpleasant for him since he had been away without telling him. Perhaps for the next trip he should tell Torren something. Make up a reason for a visit to his castle. After all, he'd not actually been there since his parents moved in.

  Just then a knock came at the door. Pettic's valet opened it and announced 'Her Royal Highness, the Princess Lucenra.'

  The said Royal Highness entered and went up to Pettic.

  'I think we can go now,' she told him. 'We've finished luncheon and my father's busy with kingly things. Mother's going to see the Duchess of Hemmling and Torren's going out with his new guard friends. The other children are in the nursery with Nanny.'

  The pair set off to the tower. After climbing the many stairs, they came to the magician's door. Pettic knocked and Blundo's apprentice. admitted them. As soon as he saw who it was, Blundo excused his apprentice, telling him he could have the rest of the day off. The young man quickly ran down the stairs as though h
e thought his master might change his mind.

  'So you've returned, I see. Did you get the gem?' he said.

  Pettic showed him the sword. Blundo then wanted to know all about the world of Terra and how Pettic found the sword.

  'A world without magic?' he exclaimed when Pettic told him. 'How can that be? It's hard to think of living without magic.'

  He listened carefully to all Pettic had to say on the subject of the world of Terra, exclaiming every so often. Lucenra listened carefully for the second time and seemed as interested as before.

  'We thought it would be best if you kept the sword,' Pettic said to the magician. 'It'll be safer here than in my apartment. Few people would dare steal from a magician.'

  Blundo readily agreed, and taking the sword he put it in a cupboard and locked it with magic. Then Lucenra and Pettic descended the stairs and left the tower.

  Just as they passed the end of the corridor leading to the stables, who should come striding towards them dressed for riding, but Prince Torren.

  'Pettic,' he called. 'You didn't tell me you were back. Why not?'

  'He's only just got here, Torren,' lied Lucenra. 'I met him just a second ago as I was passing.'

  'Well he's here now. I was just going riding. Come on, turn round and come with me. Your horse must need exercise. He's not been out in over a week.'

  Lucenra turned to her brother. 'Pettic has just got back. Don't you think you should give him time to rest before he goes out again?'

  Torren was about to round on his sister when Pettic stepped in. 'It's fine, Lucenra,' he told the girl. 'It's true that Mistro needs exercise. I'll go with the prince. I'm not too tired.'

  Lucenra was about to argue when she saw the look in her brother's eyes so she turned away and continued down the passage towards the comfort of the nursery where she had been so happy as a child.

  The ride was not as bad as Pettic had expected. Torren did not abuse his horse and seemed to genuinely enjoy the ride. He was almost pleasant to Pettic and they rode for quite a distance away from the city.