“We welcome you back, and thank you for bringing these new subjects of the restored kingdom,” Crystal told Theus gaily. “I hope you found the road?”
“It was easy to find, and a wonderful piece of work,” he told the granitine fondly.
“All of you will establish your places to dwell. The granitines will provide guidance for those of you who wish to be farmers; they have prepared fields all around the city. You will learn to live here and support the city, while new people will arrive and settle here to bring more hands to labor in the city and the fields,” Limber told them.
“And you shall be ruled by one of your own,” he said next. “Now, I will give you your first monarch, to rule over you while bringing back to the throne the old family bloodlines that ruled here in ages long past,” Limber announced, causing some in the crowd to gasp. “I call forth one of your own to be your ruler.”
Theus felt his heart start to race with shock, as he digested the comment.
“Thera, sister of Theus, daughter of Allise, come stand beside me,” Limber called.
Theus heard Thera scream in shock from her location behind him.
“Come Thera, first queen of the restored royal line,” Limber insisted.
There was a scuffling noise behind him, but Theus managed to remain facing in the direction of Limber, as his sister approached.
“My lord Limber, I am not worthy,” Thera responded as she knelt next to Theus.
Limber suddenly help a sparkling tiara. “I place this upon your head in recognition that your reign has begun,” the god spoke.
Theus watched the unfolding dramatic ceremony as he remained on his knees, stunned by the inexplicable elevation of his younger sister to becoming a queen. Just days earlier, she had been milking a goat on a farm in the Jewel Hills, and suddenly she was the new ruler of the city that he had labored to resurrect.
“You will be the queen, so that the ancient Limber tradition of royalty and ability may resume passing from mother to son to daughter to son,” Limber told her. “You will choose advisors and nobles who will assist you in the task of rebuilding this nation.
“And there will be no one more important to you than your brother, Theus, who shall be the Marshal of your nation, the leader of your armies, and the champion of the causes that I send him to triumph in,” Limber turned his massive frame to face Theus.
“I present these marks to you,” he suddenly held two golden arm cuffs, long tubular cylinders that the god reached down and affixed to Theus’s arms, covering them from the wrist almost to his elbows. Each protective device was finely etched with images of mountains and a shining sun above the peaks.
“Everyone shall know you as my special champion by these marks, and they will help to protect you as you wage battles on behalf of our nation and our world,” Limber told Theus. The boy felt himself tremble as he received the full force of the resurrected god’s attention.
“You have served me so well and faithfully in your trials and duties thus far, Theus,” Limber said. “And all the people of the nation, granitine and man, shall honor you for your service, and the sacrifices I know you have made.” The god was talking about his loss of Coriae, Theus knew.
“Now, the granitines shall lead all of you who have come here to be the new face of Limber, and they will take you to find the new homes that suit your wishes,” Limber spoke to the crowd, his arms open wide in a symbol of his embrace of the new residents of his city.
“I shall retire to my temple again. You all are encouraged to come to temple each day to pray to me, to tell me your troubles and victories, and to share strength as we fight against evil and challenges,” the god instructed his new subjects.
“Thera and Theus, you two shall come with me into the temple, to receive further instruction in the tasks that lay ahead of you,” the god looked down at the siblings.
“May I bring my mother?” Thera asked fearfully.
“You may bring the queen mother, through whose bloodlines you have inherited your throne,” the god affirmed in a kindly tone. He turned and began to walk back towards the temple.
“Mother, come on!” Thera called back to the plaza urgently, in a near panic at her sudden elevation.
“The other children!” her mother called back, motioning to the other four young siblings who clustered around her.
“We will take them to show them their new palace home,” Gem spoke up, as several granitines hovered nearby.
“You can trust the granitines,” Theus vouched. “Especially Gem,” he pointed out the small granitine. “And Rocky and Sandy too,” he motioned to two other of the stony entities who were close.
Allise accepted Theus’s recommendation as she tried to comprehend the extraordinary occurrences that were changing her family. Thera beckoned, and after a moment to hug her children, the mother let them follow the granitines away as she hurried up to meet her daughter.
Theus looked out across the plaza. Most of the people there were still standing and staring at the temple in disbelief of the scene they had just witnessed; a god had come to life, appeared before them, and spoken. But others in the group were already starting to gather their belongings, and were speaking to granitines, explaining what they wanted. Some gestured towards the livestock they had brought with them, while others were simply lifting their belongings from wagons so that they could control their possessions once again.
Vanline stood near the front. “Theus, my lord, what do we do with the supplies we have?” he asked.
Theus looked around, and saw Crystal resting nearby.
“Crystal, can you lead these wagons and their supplies to the proper places?” Theus asked his acquaintance.
“The granaries?” Crystal asked.
“What’s that?” Theus didn’t recognize the word.
“It’s where people store grains and farm goods,” Vanline answered. “Yes, that’ll do for now,” he told Crystal. “You lead the way, and we’ll follow.”
Theus watched Vanline turn, and then he saw Eiren, staring at him from further back in the crowd. There was confusion on her face, and awe, and perhaps something else. Theus tentatively raised his hand in a small waving gesture, then turned and hurried to catch up with his sister and his mother, who were on their way into the temple behind the god who had already entered.
“Theus, what have you done?” his mother asked as the three of them walked together to enter the temple.
“I never understood what was happening, not completely, until this moment,” he answered. He thought back to the very first time he had head the Voice speak to him. He had been newly introduced to Grant, and had been in a rainstorm wanting to help catch run away livestock in the camp of the memory stone traders.
Ever since that time, through his adventures, except when he had been in the darkness of the evil lands where Ind’Petro and Donal had influence, the Voice had directed him and coached him and advised him. And the whole time, the Voice had actually been the god Limber.
“Follow me,” Limber pronounced in his deep, rich penetrating voice, as his figure suddenly shrank to a size little taller than a human. He led the way into a small side chapel off the larger sanctuary, and sat in a seat that suddenly seemed like a throne.
“You are the heirs to the tradition of lost Limber, and now your birthright is available. But you will have many labors awaiting you along the path to securing your legacy,” the god said.
“Thera, my queen, you will lead the people of the city. You will help them recreate the thriving vitality that is the potential of this city. There will be many hard decisions, many sleepless nights, much information to gather, but I know that you will do it. Find advisors who you trust, such as your mother, and spend many long hours getting to know the city and the people well. Rely on the granitines to give you information as well,” the god directed, as he looked at Thera.
“I will do as you command, my lord,” Thera bowed.
“And Theus, you too will have difficult work ahead of you, just
as you have come along a difficult path already. I am pleased with you, my son.
“More work remains, for the evil remains alive and at large. As we speak, Ind’Petro has driven Donal to seek to invade a new land, to capture more territory and more riches, and to perform more sacrifices, as a means of advancing Ind’Petro’s plans; if the invasion of Great Forks succeeds, there will be blood in the streets of the city, and many of your beloved friends will die,” the god warned in a stern voice.
“You must go to Greenfalls, and first fight a battle there, to help your friends throw off the shackles of hypocrisy and corruption, which will also deal a blow to Ind’Petro’s desires. And when that is accomplished, you will lead an army from Greenfalls to Great Forks, to help in the battle against Donal’s forces from Southsand.
“You must win those two battles, Theus, so that you can go to Southsand once again, and go to Donal’s tower in the palace, to destroy the temple to Ind’Petro that has been sanctified there. Destroy that temple, and you will destroy Ind’Petro once again, returning his evil to the obscurity that can pose no further danger to our world,” Limber instructed Theus.
“I will do my best, my lord,” Theus tried to accept the daunting tasks that the god had placed upon his shoulders.
“Destroying the temple in the palace, the final task, will be the most difficult, for you will be fighting the forces of a god, one who is desperate to endure. You will need this special weapon,” Limber reached up, and pulled an object down from the shadows near the ceiling of the enclosed chapel. It was a horn.
The instrument appeared to be an ordinary brass trumpet, something that Theus remembered seeing musicians play for dances while he had been in Stoke, back when his relationship with Coriae had granted him access to the lifestyles of the nobles and royals and wealthy.
“Just use this to destroy Ind’Petro’s temple?” Theus asked in bewilderment, after he received the bequeathment of the horn from Limber. He held it in both hands, slightly elevated so that he could study the sacred device.
“It will be a simple task,” Limber assured him. The god suddenly rose to his feet.
“You Allise have served all mankind. Through you the ancient blood of Limber was preserved, and these children you have raised have the good hearts and strength of character that will be required for them to carry out the great challenges that await them. I honor you for the love and time and concern you have invested. Your life has been well-lived,” the god told the awestruck mother.
“Now, all of you depart and prepare to carry out your actions that will rebalance the world, and bring freedom to people throughout our lands,” he added. And then he was gone.
“Where is he?” Thera asked in astonishment.
“He’s wherever he wants to be,” Theus answered. He rose to his feet, and extended a hand to help his mother rise as well.
“Hey, what about me? I’m your queen now,” Thera stated indignantly as Theus ignored her outstretched hand.
He grinned, then helped her rise as well.
“If you’re a queen, I ought to be an emperor or something,” he retorted to his sister.
“You’re not; you’re my marshal,” Thera said calmly, then stuck her tongue out as they walked, and Theus angled the horn so that it fit inside the pack he wore.
When they emerged from the temple, there were still several people standing on the plaza, watching.
“Mother, what do I do now?” Thera asked in a low voice.
“You go to the palace to find out where you live. You go find out where the caravan of supplies that Theus provided is stored, and you go find Vanline, and you ask him to work for you as your royal steward,” Allise offered advice.
“Why Vanline?” Theus asked. “He runs caravans.”
“He’s organized, he knows how to handle goods and complicated situations, and he’s just seen a god come to life. I think he’ll be impressed by that, and will want to help,” Allise advised.
Eiren cautiously walked up the steps to join the group.
“Theus, are you truly going to lead an army?” she asked him.
Theus stood and listened to her question, while he examined the gleaming ornaments on his arms. They had some weight, but seemed lighter than he expected; they had no effect on his arm movements at all. And they seemed to fit his arm so snuggly that he could barely detect the seam where they met his flesh.
“Lord Limber has told me that I must go to Greenfalls and fight a battle there, and then take an army from there to go to Great Forks to fight another battle,” Theus answered.
“Will you take me with you? Will you let me serve you?” Eiren asked.
Theus looked at the girl in surprise. He hadn’t anticipated the question, hadn’t anticipated that Eiren and Vanline might separate.
“Are you free of your contract with Vanline?” he asked to temporarily stall giving an answer.
“Yes, I offered to work an additional trip. I worked one trip going east with the supplies, and then the extra trip coming to Limber, so my work with him is done,” she smiled, proud of her ability to interpret the agreement on terms favorable to her point of view.
“I’ll go tell him myself if you like, just to prove that I’m right,” she asserted. “And then you’ll have no choice but to take me along.”
They started walking in the direction that Vanline had taken the wagons of supplies, but soon spotted the caravan leader walking back alone.
“The granitines are directing the unloading of the wagons, so I thought I would go talk to your sister, the queen,” Vanline explained to Theus when they met. The trio turned and walked back past the temple and toward the nearby palace.
“What will you talk to Thera about?” Theus asked curiously.
“And by the way, I’ve completed my contractual obligation now,” Eiren quickly inserted her comment, interrupting the conversation.
Vanline turned to look at her as the group crossed through the gate in the palace walls. “I suppose you have, haven’t you? You’re counting the trip to Limber as a second journey?” he asked, and she nodded.
“How may I help you?” a granitine appeared to ask the visitors.
“We want to see my sister,” Theus explained. “Will you lead us to her?”
“You mean the queen?” the granitine clarified.
“Yes, my sister, the queen,” Theus agreed with a slight degree of annoyance.
“Follow me,” the granitine spun and began to speed away, then led them through a number of corridors to a sunny area where they found Thera and Allise and Crystal.
“This will be our residential wing!” Thera told Theus in delight when the two groups met. “Can you imagine each of us living with our own room? With privacy?” she asked her brother with a laugh.
“We came here because Vanline wants to talk to you,” Theus explained their appearance. He was curious to see how the conversation would proceed.
“Your majesty, we’re unloading the caravan loads of supplies at the granary. The work will be finished soon. I presume there are other things you need done around the city,” Vanline spoke up.
“I don’t know; I haven’t thought about it,” Thera answered.
“You need someone to help you run things here, and I believe you should name me as your steward to make sure that the operations of the palace and the kingdom are carried out appropriately,” the caravan leader proposed.
Thera cast a sideways look at her mother.
“Well you are organized, my brother tells me, and you know how to handle complex situations,” the young queen appeared to be considering the proposal.
“I accept your offer. You are hereby named the steward of the palace. I don’t know exactly what that means, but we’ll work it out,” Thera agreed.
“And what about you Theus? What are your plans?” she asked.
“I believe that Eiren and I will be leaving very soon,” Theus answered.
“So that’s why you’re finished working for me? You’re cha
sing after this boy?” Vanline asked in astonishment.
“It’s not like that,” both Theus and Eiren said in unison, then looked at each other in astonishment.
“Well it’s not,” Eiren spoke first. “I think you need help, and I know I’d like some adventure, which it sounds like you’re going to go looking for.”
“I’m just taking her along because she asked me to,” Theus reinterpreted the situation.
“You’re going to need me; you know it,” Eiren spoke up.
“I,” Theus began to refute her, then paused, as he recollected the assistance he had needed unexpectedly at various times – from Amelia warning him to leave, to Torella helping him disguise his entrance into Donal’s tower, to Coriae walking with him through the market in Great Forks, looking for ingredients to fight his injuries. “I may need a hand from time to time,” he agreed.
And we’re ready to go, aren’t we?” he asked her.
“I’m as ready as you,” she affirmed defiantly.
Theus looked out the window at the sunlight that was shining upon a garden outside. There appeared to be enough light available to allow him to make the journey to Greenfalls, carrying Eiren as his passenger.
“We’ll need some money. Can you take us to the treasury to have some coins for this trip?” Theus asked the granitine that stood nearby.
“With her majesty’s permission,” the creature agreed.
“I have a treasury? With money I can spend?” Thera asked alertly.
“And you’re going to have to spend a lot of it,” Theus warned. “I used some of it to purchase the caravan of supplies that Vanline brought.”
“As your steward,” Vanline spoke up, “I suggest that you and I should go visit your treasury to see what the royal riches look like.”
The whole group followed their granitine guide into a lower level of the palace, where Theus raised a glowing hand to provide illumination. The other members of the group gasped when they saw the sizable hoard of coins that lay in the treasury chambers, while Theus directed Eiren to collect a handful for use on their trip.
Once they were all back on ground level, Theus was ready to depart.
Unpredictable Fortunes (The Memory Stone Series Book 3) Page 23
