The Inner Realm

by Dale Furse

  Ludo stared at Mike. His eyes made it clear he did not want the boys anywhere near his father.

  “Noor,” Horace continued, nodding to the young woman, “is one of my finest hunters.”

  Noor smiled as her cheeks reddened a little. “Thank you, Your Majesty and welcome, young travelers.”

  Terni grinned up at Noor.

  “Ooh, isn’t he cute,” Shank One said.

  “Shh,” Hankley and Two hissed.

  “And the pretty thing there is Vala. We are more than grateful her father was prepared to part with her.”

  “Sell her, you mean,” the prince sneered.

  “She may have been bought, but she is still a welcome addition to the palace.” He threw the prince a look of irritation before smiling at Vala. “Be careful of that one, boys,” the king chuckled, “Noor tells me she sometimes has a third eye.”

  “She’s still a servant,” said Ludo, ignoring the irritation on his father’s face.

  “What does he mean? A third eye,” asked Shank Two.

  “Yeah, what does he mean?”

  “I think he means she can sometimes see things no one else can,” Hankley said.

  “She sees things?” Two asked.

  “I mean, she can sense things, like if someone says one thing but means another, she will know.”

  “Check out the way the prince is looking at the young girl,” Two said.

  “Yeah, creepy.”

  “You’re right,” said Hankley. “By the look on Noor’s face she has also noticed the prince is somewhat of a lecher.”

  “Ooh.” Shank One pointed. “I think Mike saw him too.”

  “Shh,” hissed Hankley, but he was glad Noor and Mike would keep an eye on the prince.

  “The strong man who can’t stay still,” the king said, as the hunter accepted the plate Noor handed him, “is Cornel, Noor’s father and my royal hunter. He is also my general and the Duke of Zandell.”

  Cornel plonked a large piece of bread on his food. “Welcome,” he said in a gruff tone. He sat a little away from the group appearing to half listen to the conversation while keeping his ears out for something else.

  “He prefers the title, Royal Hunter, and takes his job seriously.” The king chuckled. “With Cornel on watch, everyone can sleep peacefully.”

  Hankley wondered if it were true. He hoped so.

  After serving her king, Noor hastened to intercept Vala who appeared to be about to serve Ludo his meal. Noor took the plate. “You get the boys’ plates,” she said, and handed Ludo his meal.

  “Oh, yes, she saw his grimy thoughts all right,” Shank Two said.

  Vala gave a plate to each of the boys and settled back with her own beside Noor.

  Hankley waved his hand at the wall and the picture zoomed in on the contents of a plate. It was more like a stew than a broth. His mouth watered. He could almost taste the thick vegetables. His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t eaten for some time. The last sandwich didn’t qualify as a real meal.

  “We’re not interested in their meal, Hankley,” Shank Two said.

  “Yeah, we want to see the humans.”

  “Fine,” Hankley said, and zoomed back out with a flick of his wrist.

  Mike picked at his food at first, but soon he was eating with gusto and mopping up the last of the gravy with his bread. The king appreciated his food too because as soon as he had devoured the last morsel, he handed his plate to Noor. Without a word, Noor re-filled it and handed it back. Terni took longer to finish his large plateful of stewed meat and vegetables.

  “Do you know how Mic—,” Mike began.

  Horace threw him a hard look that said, ‘say nothing’.

  “I mean, are you really a king?” Mike asked.

  Hankley guessed Mike was going to ask how his father had died and impressed with the boy’s quick thinking, smiled. The young man had brains.

  Horace’s shoulders relaxed, but with a full mouth, all he could do was nod.

  “Of course he is the king,” Ludo said. “You will keep your place or I will have you flogged.”

  Terni gasped and covered his mouth with his hand.

  Mike glared at the prince. “You’ll have me flogged? You and what army?” he scoffed.

  “Cheeky little mite, isn’t he?” Shank Two laughed.

  “Yeah, cheeky.”

  Hankley had to smile again, but Mike’s outspokenness worried him. “They do flog people on that world,” he reminded the Shanks.

  “Oln said we can’t interfere, but I don’t want the princey person to hurt the boys,” Shank Two said.

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  Me either, Hankley said silently.

  Ludo’s face went red and he opened his mouth to speak.

  His father stopped him with a raised hand. “You won’t have anyone flogged,” the king said. “Not without my order to do so.”

  Ludo threw his spoon into the empty bowl and as its clang echoed around the camp, he stormed back into his tent.

  Sighing, Horace watched his youngest son stride away. “I don’t know what to do with him,” he said more to himself than anyone.

  “Thank you,” Terni said, holding the empty plate out as if he didn’t know what else to do with it.

  Noor took the plates from both boys.

  Once Horace finished his second helping and washed it down with a large tankard of ale, he sat back, eyed the boys, and licked the froth from his mustache. “You can speak now,” he said.

  “Ooh, look.” Shank One pointed to the viewer. “There’s blood on Mike’s shirt.”

  “It doesn’t look like much. He’s probably scraped himself on something.”

  “What if it is bad?”

  Shank Two patted One’s chest. “He’ll be fine, brother. We’ll be watching over him until he returns to his home world.”

  “Yeah, we’ll watch over him.”

  “Ssh,” Hankley hissed.

  Mike glanced in the direction of Ludo’s tent before speaking. “Why didn’t you want me to ask questions about my… Micah in front of your son?”

  “I have my reasons. Now what were you about to ask before?”

  “Do you know how he died?”

  With a sad face, the king’s eyes roamed around the campsite. Noor had edged closer and Cornel now appeared to have his attention fixed on the group around the fire. Vala had already begun washing plates in the stream.

  “She’s also got good hearing,” said Hankley. “I’ll bet you anything she can hear every word.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Shank Two.

  “Because if she couldn’t she’d have gotten closer, and check out her face. She is listening.”

  “Yeah, Vala is listening,” Shank One agreed.

  “My sons were attacked as they made their way to Rael with Micah’s young wife,” the king said, bringing his gaze back to the boys. “Ludo, then a child of seventeen, had followed his brothers that night. He reported he had hidden in a ditch and saw Derek, my third son, slay Micah and push the handmaid and Ternith off a high cliff. He was hysterical when he returned, yelling and screaming at me to kill Derek before he killed us all.”

  Mike swallowed. “What was Micah’s wife’s name?”

  The king thought a moment. “Eve, Eva, something like that.” He looked at Noor.

  “Eva, Sire,” Noor said with a nod.

  “Yes, that time in my life is very hazy.”

  “You were unwell for a long time, Sire,” Noor said.

  Mike frowned and stared at the king. “Eva is my mother, and she is very much alive.” He looked at Terni. “And so is Ternith.”

  Terni nodded.

  The king was silent for a moment.

  “What did Derek do?” Mike asked.

  “Derek returned to the palace with Micah’s lifeless body.” Grief filled the king’s eyes. “He related a fantastical story neither my wife nor I could believe. He said he fought alongside his brothers. He said Ludo had arrived dressed as a bandit with mor
e brigands behind him. Although Ludo told his men to fall back, Derek admitted he had attacked his brother.”

  The king sighed. “That was the only time their stories agreed. Ludo said Derek attacked him and ranting that Ludo had killed Micah and caused Ternith and Eva’s disappearance.”

  The king shook his head and snorted in disbelief. “Derek said Eva had entered a door in a wall that had appeared out of nowhere before Micah was injured. Micah, having been run through with a sword and close to death, had begged Ternith to follow Eva and make sure she arrived in the northern kingdom of Rael unharmed. Ternith refused, but Micah pleaded with him. Finally, Ternith hurried after Eva but went through a different door. He and the wall disappeared before Derek could stop him.”

  The king paused for a moment, and then continued. “Derek said Ludo had used black magic to make the wall appear and then vanish. Ludo said Derek was mad.”

  “What about the other men there?” Mike asked. “What did they say happened?”

  “Half of them agreed with Ludo’s recalling of the events, and half said Derek was telling the truth.”

  Hankley noticed tears gathering in Noor’s eyes.

  The king continued after a small pause. “The one thing that all concerned concurred on was, the queen was responsible. She did not want Eva going to Rael. She wanted Zandell and Rael to go to war.” He blinked his sad eyes. “She was insane and had left the palace by the time I rose from my sick bed. I searched for her but never found her.”

  His voice hitched at his last words. Hankley smiled as the ever-insightful Vala handed the king a mug of ale.

  He swallowed some of the liquid, and then said, “Both my sons’ stories appeared fanciful and confused. I could not accept either son would harm his brothers. I ordered physicians to attend to the boys until they were once again well. After some weeks, the physicians concluded the events the boys had witnessed were so traumatic; their minds could not handle the truth. They said it was better they don’t remember—for their sanity.”

  Sadness washed over Mike’s face as he took in all the king had said. Hankley knew Eva’s stories would never have mentioned his father dying, or Ternith following her, because she never knew. Understanding merged with Mike’s sorrow, as he seemed to realize his mother had somehow traveled to Earth by the same wall that had him and Terni now sitting in a king’s camp.

  Mike took in a breath. “Derek was telling the truth.”

  “If what you say is true, part of Derek’s story is also possible, but Ludo would no sooner harm his brothers than I would any of my sons.” The king gazed into the dark. “Perhaps the physicians were right. Ludo was young, and his mind could not comprehend his brother’s murder. Neither could he understand a magical wall of doors through which Ternith vanished. Derek, at twenty, might have been able to take in the wall’s reality, but not Micah’s death. Now that I have brought Micah to mind, I see you are the likeness of him. As Terni is of Ternith.” He paused. “I find this all much too hard to believe.”

  Mike frowned. “My mother looks at the moon funny sometimes as if she is still waiting for my father to appear.”

  Hankley saw pain fill the boy’s eyes as Mike realized that would never be possible. Hankley thought about the last time the wall malfunctioned. Gart should be made accountable for what he has put those people through.

  Tears tracked down Noor’s cheeks. “Derek was telling the truth.”

  The king said, “The boys could be proof, but I don’t know.”

  Noor sniffed. “Why would Prince Ludo say Derek pushed Eva and Ternith off a cliff? Why would he lie?”

  The king said, “I will stay with the physician’s theory. When we return to the palace, I will speak to all the physicians again.”

  Shank One said, “Something’s not right with those people. Of course Ludo lied. It stands to reason, if Derek had told the king the truth, Ludo lied.”

  Hankley stared at Shank One. He never thought of One as a thinker. Shank Two did the thinking for both of them. He returned his gaze to the people of Zandell. His mind filled with thoughts of how the gods’ mistakes were not as easily ignored, as the gods would have their servants think.

  “Do you think the boys made the wall appear without knowing it?” Two asked.

  “No, it’s impossible,” Hankley rubbed his face with both hands, “I think.” He wondered about the coincidence of it all. Oln had told him many times, there was no such thing as coincidences. Everything happens for a reason and their job was to find out what the reason was.

  “Yeah, but,” Shank One said, “even if the boys have a connection to the world of Zandell, and each others’ worlds even, that might explain why the wall appeared to them now. But what about when their parents walked through the doors? They didn’t have any connection to any other worlds, did they?”

  Hankley blinked at One while Two eyeballed his brother.

  Again, Hankley wondered about One’s insights. He would never have given One’s ideas a second thought before.

  Shank Two must have seen the confused look on Hankley’s face because he said, “I know how you feel. Sometimes it stuns me when he gets to the crux of matters with such ease.”

  “He’s done this before?”

  “Lots of times. As a matter of fact, that’s how we came to be in the Inner Realm. One had suggested we speak with Oln at the All Realm meeting. And he’s the one who spoke to Oln. I had no idea what to say. He gets talkative when he feels strongly about something.”

  “Yeah,” One said. “So what do you think about the boys then?”

  Hankley shook his head. He had to adjust his whole thinking about Shank One. He always presumed he had far less brain cells than Two, and Hankley never really thought Two had many anyway. He gazed at the Mornt on his left. One’s feelings about the boys were potent. Hankley hoped it would not get them in even more trouble with Oln.

  “Okay,” he said to both Shanks, “One’s right. That might explain why the boys have a connection with other worlds but their fathers had no such connection. The designers found the fault with the wall last time and fixed it so maybe the same thing has happened again. I was going to talk to them about it.”

  “Maybe we should talk to the designers now,” Shank Two suggested.

  “Yeah, we should talk to the designers.”

  Hankley nodded. He preferred One’s parroting of Two’s suggestions over speaking his own thoughts. For some reason, Shank One having and using his own brains unnerved Hankley. He had been certain the position of wall keeper would stay his, but with One carrying on like that, he could no longer be confident.

  The Shanks and Hankley set out along the gold street toward the offices of the designers.

  Once inside, Hankley did not hesitate. He strode around the studious, orange-robed designers and their great drawing boards to the back and stood in front of the massive mahogany desk.

  The man behind the desk looked up. He wore an orange robe, but his belt had red tips indicating he was in line for a promotion to the red robes. They were the top jobs, Oln’s keepers of the Inner Realm, his right hand men. Hankley would like to wear the red robe, but he would prefer to jump the robes between. He did not like the white or the orange-robed occupations.

  “Hankley, nice to see you again.” Cord stood, smiling. He was tall, and dark skinned with an athletic build. His smile turned into a mischievous grin. “You’ve done something to the wall again, haven’t you?”

  Hankley’s cheeks burned, but he could not help but smile at his friend. “Shut it, Cord, and no, you know very well it wasn’t me.” He half turned to where the Shanks had stopped and were talking with a platinum-haired woman in a white robe. “What’s Rone doing here?”

  “Oh, she comes by every now and then,” Cord said. “I think she’s pushing for a promotion.”

  “I thought she liked being an artisan,” Hankley said, and wondered what she talked about with the Shanks. He remembered the first time he met her. She was hanging about the designer
’s offices last time the wall played up. However, once it was fixed, she disappeared and he only saw her in his dreams after that. Now she was back.

  A voice shouted from the back of his mind, there is no such thing as coincidence. He made a mental note to speak with her and see what she was up to. He looked back at Cord. “You already know about the wall.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Of course, Oln spoke to me before he left. I’ve been expecting you.” Cord walked around his desk. “Leave the Shanks with Rone,” he said, “and come with me.”

  Hankley moved to tell the Shanks to wait, but Cord held his arm.

  “They will wait. They are not as stupid as some people think. I would be proud to have them join the orange robes.”

  “You think they could handle all the mumbo jumbo you designers speak?”

  “Don’t go jumping to conclusions about them. Like I said, their smarter than they look.”

  Hankley frowned as he followed Cord through a door. He had already realized they were indeed more intelligent than they let on. Why would they hide it?

  The room they entered was smaller. It had pale, blue carpet and two burgundy sofas facing each other over a low mahogany coffee table, much warmer. Cord’s orange robe clashed with the sofa when he sat down. Hankley sat opposite.

  “The wall has disappeared,” Cord said, shaking his head. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. Even Gart’s meddling last time didn’t make the wall vanish.”

  “So where do you think it is?” he asked.

  “I’ve no idea, Hankley. It’s gone.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Gone.”

  “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

  “I would have said yes before, but not now.” He clapped his hands together twice.

  “Tea?” he asked Hankley.

  “I can’t stay for long. I’ve got to get back to the wall office in case the wall returns.”

  A green-robed servant brought a tray laden with a pink teapot and two green and yellow cups. Hankley eyed the chocolate biscuits on a purple and red plate. “You like a bit of color in your life, don’t you?”

  “I did wear the white robes of an artisan before I took on the orange robe,” he said in a matter of fact tone. He poured the tea and handed Hankley a cup.