Sam ventured into the center foyer. Beautiful paintings of people who had to be Tig's ancestors lined the walls. Activity and noise came from behind the door to the kitchen and Sam decided to investigate.
“Greetings, honored guest.” Sam didn’t recognize the speaker who pushed a cart, considerably larger than herself, toward the circular table by the windows.
“Hi. Name’s Sam.” Other gnomes turned their heads at the mention of his name.
“Nice to meet you, Master Sam Elendahl. The food is just coming up from our kitchens in the main castle. Feel free to be seated.”
Tig and Amber joined him and as promised, the feast was incredible. They were all surprised by the special gnomish root beer, served in chilled ceramic mugs.
Sam broke the silence that had settled around them as they ate. “I’ve been thinking about how to get our supplies.”
Amber waved him off. “Sam, it’s too dangerous, we were all nearly killed.”
“Right. I’ve been thinking about that. Hear me out. When I wind-walk, I can see bad stuff from quite a ways off. I assume any demons out there already know where we are, so I wouldn’t be giving up any information by going out. And if anything is close, we’d at least be forewarned. Our biggest problem with wind-walking has always been that we didn’t have a safe place to hide when we stopped.”
“I don’t like it, Sam,” Amber replied.
“The map’s still there,” he said flatly.
“So is the money,” Tig added.
Amber looked down at the table and took a breath. “Then I’m going with you.”
“If we left right now we could be back before the meeting. And besides, I get the feeling the council meeting is for Tig more than us,” Sam said.
“I don’t like splitting up, but we should act sooner rather than later,” Tig agreed. “I can handle the council meeting if you don’t make it back in time.”
“No time like the present then,” Sam quipped. “Are you ready, Bert?”
Amber and Sam walked out to the central foyer and teleported to the Main Entrance Level. Still in their bathrobes, Sam grabbed Amber’s hand and cast the wind-walk spell. They flew like the wind through the hallway of gnomish homes and down the stairs of the marketplace. Several gnomes pulled their cloaks closer and looked vacantly through the siblings as they passed.
At the front door, Sam released the spell momentarily, surprising several nearby gnomes. They opened the front door, stepped through and pulled it closed behind them. Back into ghost form, Sam scanned the region in a 360 degree arc; concentrating on the east and the south. He located a few bright points, but none close by or near the area where they’d left the tent.
He grabbed Amber’s hand and ran up the stone stairway that led up to the top of the castle’s perimeter wall. He jumped off the edge and they settled gently to the ground. Exhilaration filled him as they accelerated down the path. Sam pushed their speed as hard as he could and found that he could manipulate the local wind currents, allowing even quicker travel. In less than a half hour, he was releasing Amber’s hand in front of the tent.
The meadow was in shadow and underneath the cover of the trees, it seemed like night. Sam noticed that the sun had moved behind a bank of clouds. He scanned the area, still surprised at the clarity and grateful for the extra safety his elven sight provided. His sweeping motion stopped. Sam was startled to see the glowing shape of a person standing no less than ten yards from their camp.
Amber saw it at the same moment and called out, “Hey, what are you doing there?” She took a step back toward Sam, taking his hand just in case. There was no response from the figure. “Look, we can see you. What do you want?”
The shape moved out from the trees. “Where did you come from?” a woman’s voice asked.
As she approached, Amber recognized the woman’s disheveled face as that of Kestra, the woman who had tackled the witch and sent her careening into the portal. Ultimately, this woman had saved her entire family. Amber had thought the woman was young, but something in her eyes told a different story.
“Are you okay?” Amber asked sympathetically.
“Not really.” Kestra was wary, but continued to approach.
“Amber, we can’t trust her, she was with that guy, Blackhall,” Sam said under his breath.
Kestra responded, “Your brother is right.”
“Are you still helping him?” Amber asked.
“No. He doesn’t put up with betrayal well. Look, I am starving. Do you have anything to eat? Then I'll be on my way.”
Amber had made up her mind. “I may regret this, but we can’t just leave you. We’re headed to a safe place. Do you want to come with us?”
“Where are your clothes?” Kestra asked.
Amber looked down at her bathrobe and smiled.
Tit for Tat
Parnassus Castle, Gaeland
Jar met the returning Sam, Amber and Kestra at the gate. “There are more in your party?” he asked, surprised.
Kestra raised an eyebrow at the gnome but remained quiet.
Amber replied, “Kestra is an acquaintance of ours from West Virginia who needs help. Is there a more direct route into the tower?”
“Yes, there is a ground level entrance on the side. Follow me.” Jar took off at a jog up the hill, past the main entrance. A well groomed flagstone path led to a flight of stairs, which in turn led up to a small stone arched entrance. “You’ll recognize this.” Jar pushed on the door. The heavy wooden door opened easily to the touch of the gnome who couldn’t weigh more than five kilograms.
“The council meeting is nearly finished. You might be able to catch the end of it if you hurry. I’ll take Kestra to the Guest Quarters and let Kat know she’s there.”
“Thank you. Kestra is in need of food and safety, but she’s not specifically part of our group.” Amber wasn’t sure how much they could trust the dark-haired woman. Yes, Kestra’s actions had saved the lives, but she'd also been in league with Finias Blackhall.
“If you’ll follow me?” Jar said. Instead of using the teleportation circle, however, Jar led her to a stone stairwell.
Amber called after Kestra’s retreating form, “We’ll catch up to you later this evening.” Kestra nodded her understanding.
“Residence, please,” Sam said, once Kestra and Jar had disappeared up the stairs. He and Amber were standing together on the tower’s teleporting circle.
They joined the meeting already in progress in the dining room. Sam suppressed a giggle when he saw four gnomes, apparently the council, dressed in formal attire, sitting on ornate chairs carefully set on top of the dining table.
An elder gnome in the middle of the four stopped speaking as they entered and stood. “Ah, we had hoped not to miss the young Elendahls. I must admit to stalling.” The gnome was shorter and considerably plumper than Jar. His white hair was wispy and his ears seemed overly large for his head. His elegant robes were made of silk and he carried a gnarled staff as tall as he was. “Please allow me to introduce to you the Council of the Gnomes of Parnassus.”
He introduced himself as Pex and the other members were: Jade, Quark and Nerla. Pex was by far the oldest, if not the best dressed. That honor would go to the middle-aged female named Jade, who, like her name, wore beautiful smooth green robes. The council members each bowed as they were introduced.
Pex continued, “Prince Tigerious has filled us in on your journey to Gaeland. We are sorry that you have been separated from your families, but honored to have you with us.” Without giving Sam or Amber a chance to sit, Pex turned to Tig, “Prince Tigerious, since we’ve concluded our business, I recommend we adjourn.” His voice lifted as if asking a question, but Tig was confident that Pex already considered the meeting to be finished.
Tig fumbled for words as Pex and the council stared at him. “Er, yeah, that sounds fine.”
Pex walked across the table and pushed his hand out toward Sam and Amber. They took turns shaking hands or fingers, depend
ing on which side of the shake you were on. Once greetings were complete, the council bid them good night and walked ceremoniously down an ornate staircase that had been pushed up next to the table and somberly strode out of the room single file.
Sam waited until the gnomes had utilized the teleport circle and then said to Tig, “What the heck was that all about?”
Tig smiled. “I’m not completely sure. They were mostly worried that we were here to move back into the castle and revoke the agreement that was put in place when my family left the castle in their care. Once I told them that we were just trying to get back to West Virginia, it seemed like the meeting was over. Pex, the old guy, just kept talking, but I honestly couldn’t tell you what he said other than they think we might be a safety hazard if we keep walking through town. He reminded me of my principal.”
Amber smiled, “Weird. At least we’re safe, though. You’ll never believe who we ran into.”
“Demons?”
“No. Remember, Kestra, the dark-haired woman with all the tattoos that pushed the witch through the portal?” Amber waited for recognition to register. “Anyway, she was in bad shape, asking for food, so we brought her back with us.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Tig asked.
“Not sure there was much else we could do. She looked pretty rough and she did save our lives. I felt like we owed her something.”
“You’re right, of course. Maybe she actually knows what Blackhall is up to.”
A knock was heard on the dining hall doors. “Am I interrupting anything?” The voice belonged to the red-haired gnome Kat.
“No, what’s up?” Tig tried to keep exhaustion out of his voice.
“We’ve prepared a small dessert and wondered if this would be a good time?”
Tig smiled. “Yes. Dessert sounds great.”
“I also noticed you had left some packs in the entry. Might we clean them for you? I assure you we won’t misplace anything.”
“Are you sure you want to?” Amber asked, “They're very heavy.”
Kat returned her question with a warm smile. “We’ve been preparing for the day when a Parnassus would return for a very long time. I’m honored that it happened on my watch. Please let us make you as comfortable as we can.”
Tig’s face reddened at Kat’s unabashed gushing. “You’re kind of hard to say no to.”
***
Mid-morning the following day, Sam awoke in the overstuffed bed, fully refreshed. He remembered Kat’s words about a Wizard’s Library and discovered he was no longer interested in sleeping. He put on the traveling clothes the elves had supplied and standing on the teleportation circle, said, “Wizard’s Library, please.”
The circular room was every bit as large around as the Main Entrance room, but the ceiling soared sixty feet. The room was cut down the middle, half filled with aisles of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves generously spaced like spokes of a giant wheel. The shelves were made of carved, richly toned wood and packed with books, most of them inaccessible given how far off the ground they were. The book aisles ended five feet from the outside wall where tall windows poured light into the middle of the book stacks. Luxurious chairs were found at the ends of many of the aisles.
The other half of the room was divided up into three primary zones. The first was a massive round table encircled by a dozen high-backed chairs. The second was anchored by a great stone fireplace, not currently lit. Stacks of firewood, loaded into iron banded shelves flanked both sides. Off center from the fireplace sat a desk opposite a waist-high u-shaped row of shelves. The final zone was a comfortable seating area complete with couches and wing-backed chairs.
In awe, Sam wandered toward the book stacks, a strong sense of vertigo threatening to overtake him as he craned his neck upward trying to see the books on the top level. Slowly he made his way around the stacks, trying to get a feel for the breadth of subjects in the library. He was disappointed to discover that very few books were written in English. He finally took a volume from a shelf and marveled at its pristine shape. Tucking it under his arm, he walked back to the center of the room and said, “Residence please.”
***
Amber leaned through Tig’s door, checking to see if he was awake, “What do you want to do about Kestra?”
Tig pulled himself into a seated position on his bed, “I wonder what she knows about Blackhall.”
“Let's see if she is ready for breakfast.”
A small voice piped up from behind Amber, “Would you like me to invite the wyrdling to join you for breakfast?”
Amber turned to see Kat. “Wyrdling? Do you mean Kestra?”
“Yes, Milady.”
Amber looked to Tig who nodded his agreement. “Yes, thank you, Kat. And please, just call me Amber.”
***
The four of them sat around the dining table. Sam found it difficult not to stare at the tattoos which crawled up Kestra’s neck and peeked out from under her sleeves. Her long black hair had been neatly cleaned and brushed. Two gnome girls had positioned themselves behind her and were braiding it.
A steady stream of gnomes rolled steaming platters out of a mechanical dumb-waiter onto waiting carts, which then rolled down a metallic track over the edge of the table, sliding the plates into the center serving area. The delivery of the food was fascinating and kept the kids entertained for several minutes.
“I never did figure out how you found our tent,” Amber said.
Kestra didn’t answer, but finally shrugged and said, “I guess it is just something I do.”
“Were you looking for us?”
“I picked up your trail two days back. I figured if you were still alive, you probably had received some help.” Kestra made a point of looking around the room. “It appears I was right.”
“Do you have any idea what this is about? Why was Blackhall trying to kill us?”
“Blackhall is very dangerous. I’m happy that you survived.”
Kestra's tight-lipped behavior frustrated Amber. She had to remind herself that this woman had saved her family.
Tig picked up on Amber’s frustration and stepped in, “So what’s your next step?”
“Not sure. Many things have changed. Have you figured out where we are?” Kestra seemed genuinely interested.
Sam lifted his hand to grab their attention. “We are in a place the locals call Gaeland. The map shows it to be an island about the size of Texas. Who knows, maybe it's the only thing on this world or maybe it’s in the Bermuda Triangle.”
Kestra smiled for the first time. “How do you know all this?”
“Check this out.” Sam pulled the case from his belt, removed the map, and spread it out on the table, taking a position next to Kestra.
“Nice. Where are we?”
Sam and Kestra reviewed the map for several minutes as he explained all that he had learned. When she was satisfied with the information, she sat back and asked Tig and Amber. “What's your next step?”
“We're headed to the place Sam showed you. It’s called Gestal. Someone there might have answers.”
“Who's that?” Kestra asked.
“Want to come with us?” Amber responded before Tig could answer.
Kestra grinned and nodded her head to one side. “When do we leave?”
Tig and Amber exchanged a look. When Amber shrugged, he responded, “How about after breakfast tomorrow morning?”
To Gestal
“Tomorrow after breakfast, then,” the mysterious Kestra responded, standing to leave.
Amber pushed back from the table, “I'll take you back down to the guest quarters and we'll ask about a pack for you.”
As if on cue, Kat appeared. “Mistress Amber, if I might, would you allow me to take care of Miss Kestra’s needs?”
“Sure. That would be great.” Amber's look of befuddlement at Kat's sudden appearance surprised no one.
“Kat, would it be hard to find Jar? I was hoping to talk with him today,” Tig asked.
Tig stifled an eye roll. He had asked Kat to call him Tig, but even with constant reminding, it was an uphill battle.
“Do you think it would be okay for us to go out there and talk to him?”
“Oh, yes, sir. I’m sure that is quite acceptable,” Kat replied, sounding flustered.
“Cool, you guys want to come along?”
***
Outside, the courtyard was a beehive of activity. Brightly dressed gnomes armed with small rakes and flat-bladed shovels worked hard, their heated breath created small puffs of steam as they exhaled. Jar was up on the perimeter stone wall.
“What are you guys up to?” Tig asked.
“Cleanup!” Jar offered cheerfully. “Those birds make a terrible mess when they attack. Not sure what good they are against demons, but against just about anything else, they do a great job.”
Upon closer inspection, Tig realized they were sweeping up small pieces of the stone birds that had sacrificed themselves in the demon attack. The gnomes were loading the pieces into small hand carts and ferrying them back to the castle.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked.
Jar turned to face Tig and Amber and nodded.
“We’re headed to Gestal tomorrow and would like to know what we're getting into.”
“High Lord Gest rules the town and surrounding area. If you stay to the main streets you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Best be inside before dark, however. Thieves and cutthroats abound. Do you have any monies?”
“Some. Is the town well-guarded?”
“Well enough. A wall encompasses it and Lord Gest has near twenty score arms-men.”
***
In the Wizard’s Library, Tig lay back on a long comfortable couch and Amber sat across from him in a green velvet high-backed wing chair, her long legs propped up on a low marble table.
Lesser Prince (Guardians of Gaeland Book 1) Page 23
