The Twins

by Gary Alan Wassner

  “I will do all that I can, my Lady. I have summoned those whom I have chosen to aid in this quest. They are in route to my side as we speak. His lessons will begin as soon as they all arrive,” he told her.

  “You must know, Baladar, that the Tomes of Caradon are unclear in parts. I have read the portions pertaining to the ring over and over countless times. In some places reference is made to a gold band and in others, a silver one. The pages are old and worn and hard to decipher, but I cannot tell for certain if the ring is one and the same, manifesting as gold at times and as silver at others.” After saying this, she looked intently at Baladar. “Have you ever seen it change? Has its appearance varied at all?”

  “No, my Lady. As long as I have had it in my possession, it has remained a band of gold,” he replied.

  “The elders were never in agreement on this matter. I, for one, believe that there may be two separate and distinct rings. I only wish that the ancient books were more definitive on this point. But, there is no doubt who the bearer must be. The Gwendolen heir, Davmiran as you call him, is the one who will lead the quest for the First. The prophecy would make more sense to me now if the ring were mutable and we could witness its changeable nature. But, alas, there is but one heir, so there can be only one ring for him to bear,” she said deep in thought.

  A moment passed before she turned and looked at Baladar again, fixing him with her sharp eyes. “Make sure he learns well. His power will be great.”

  “I have picked his aides with great care. They are all three noble and strong. Together, we will do what we must,” he said solemnly.

  “Are they all three of human descent as well?” she questioned, a hint of concern coloring her voice as she leaned lightly upon the quartz throne.

  “Yes, my Lady, they happen to be. I am not as familiar with comparable individuals of Elfin or Dwarven descent. And the other major races do not serve the same side as we do. Why do you ask? Have I chosen poorly?” he asked, troubled by the thought.

  “No, I have no doubt that you have chosen well and with great care, Baladar. But, there will be a role for each race to play in the quest, as is written, and I surmised that perhaps that role would begin with the boy’s education. It is not foretold as such. But, all who serve the light must participate in the effort to protect, preserve and renew it. That much is ordained!” she spoke, and she closed her beautiful eyes momentarily.

  When she opened them again, she caught and held Baladar’s gaze with her own and spoke with quiet strength. “The trees are dying, Baladar. I feel their pain daily. It takes a tremendous toll upon me. My powers are great too, but they are being spent in other areas now. The land suffers from each tree’s loss and I must compensate for that. I must strive to maintain the balance. Therefore, I cannot be of much assistance to the boy. I feel the Dark Lord’s presence growing stronger and stronger. As our shields weaken, his grow in power. His arms reach out and touch all that is clean, transforming it into that which is vile and dirty. He approaches. Eventually, he will find the boy, Baladar, and he will come to him. When that moment is upon us, you must be certain that he is prepared! Realize the gravity of these times. Our future rests upon his young shoulders… and yours!”

  “I will do my best, my Queen.”

  “Your best, Baladar, may not be enough!” she cautioned him and then she withdrew within herself momentarily.

  Calista raised her majestic head once more, her expression distant and pensive.

  “I once knew Colton, the sorcerer, very well. We had developed a close relationship, a trusting one at one point in time. He was always detached and suspicious but I was nearer to him than he was to any other. He appeared then to be good and noble, or so it seemed, in ages past when he dwelled among the life givers. But, he was plagued by dreams that relentlessly tormented him, and as time passed, they grew more frequent and unbearable for him and he had to isolate himself from the rest of us. He no longer sought my council, nor would he accept it when I approached him. He suffered mental pain that seemed to explode unexpectedly and uncontrollably, born of the negativity of his essence, manifesting itself in waves of power unleashed randomly, and all the time he refused aid of any kind,” she paused, her fragile head tilted to one side and her sparkling eyes staring at nothing, lost in a painful reverie.

  “I did not fathom then just how beyond hope he was. His strength was mighty but flawed, and some of the others believed that such flaws were disgraceful. They had no compassion for his suffering and therefor precipitated his descent. I was the only one who had any sympathy for his anguish and he bitterly rejected me. His mind and mine worked in such different ways that neither of us could possibly hope to understand the other, though I tried. It pained me deeply to witness the continual deterioration of one so strong, and it frightened me as well.”

  Calista walked before the quartz throne, gracefully sat upon it, and her skin immediately took on the colors and appearance of the translucent rock.

  “I was not fool enough to be naive about just how formidable an opponent he would become. The others were more arrogant. Colton’s fall was fast and furious, as he lost control more and more often, until he was no longer welcome, until he could no longer dwell amongst us, as he not only was endangering himself, but others as well. He refused help of any kind from me and no others offered theirs.”

  Baladar remained standing before her, fixed in his place as if frozen to the very ground upon which he stood. It was obvious to him that her feelings for Colton were at one time mixed, and it surprised him profoundly. He had always and only thought of him as the epitome of evil and he could barely conceive of him any other way. The Lady stared at him, a knowing smile upon her face, as if she had read his thoughts.

  “He and I were close at one time, yes, and therefore I was the bearer of the news that he would have to leave, that he could no longer abide in our realms. This enhanced his bitterness, but he was able to cushion his plunge before his ruination somehow, finding refuge among the twisted and the outcast, feeding ravenously upon their negative energy. He never forgave us and his hate for our world is beyond measure. And his enmity for me is just as extreme, if perhaps a bit more personal,” she related, a sad and ironic expression marring her beauty.

  “He has spent tiels feeding off of those he has come to rule, and his power has grown and grown. Even I cannot stand against him alone, unaided by the trees who never accepted Colton from the beginning of time, sensing before we could, his fatal imperfections. And they, alas, are weakening each day now, departing one by one, relinquishing us amidst their extraordinary despair. My time too is running short. I feel the fabric wearing thin. Beware that you do not take too long to prepare the boy,” she said, piercing him with the intensity of her gaze.

  “I will begin as soon as possible, as soon as I return and awaken him, my Lady,” Baladar answered.

  “Express no sadness for the child, Baladar. His slumber is not peaceful! There can be no peace whilst the trees and the land suffer so. It is but a waste of precious time, and if he is not awakened soon then the weave will be beyond even his ability to mend it. There is no room for regret here. He did not choose his destiny, but it remains his nonetheless! His full strength will be required. He cannot be led astray by self-pity or doubt,” she rebuked him in warning, her cheeks flaring crimson.

  Baladar’s chest rose. “I shall not, my Queen. I vow that I will train him well. He will be prepared properly and he will lead us forth into a new age. He will fulfill all that is prophesied for him, of that I am certain.”

  Calista stood up, majestic and wise, and walked to the tapestry hanging on the wall to the side of the throne. Raising her arm, the tapestry flew away, revealing a niche in the granite wall. With one hand, she reached in and withdrew a simple pouch of scarred leather, pulled taught with a cord of rawhide.

  Handing it to Baladar, she said, “Give this to him to keep with him always. Only at the moment of gravest need may he partake of this powder of creation, made
from the Lalas itself. He must choose well and carefully, Baladar. This powder will save his life, but only once. If he wastes it unnecessarily, he may doom us all.”

  With that, the Queen of the lake bid farewell to Baladar, kissed him on the forehead and walked back to her throne.

  “Farewell, my Lady. I have lingered longer than I should have. This is but the beginning, but one last question if I may?” he asked. Calista nodded her permission. “Should the need arise, may I visit you again?” he queried, expecting the answer to be affirmative.

  “I fear not, my devoted Baladar,” she responded, as he paled noticeably at her reply. “I must concentrate upon the darkness now that the boy has come, and I cannot weaken. It will require all of my energies and I must not allow myself to be distracted. Perhaps some time in the future we will meet again, but I will not allow my pathways, my secret ways, to be opened to anyone until Colton dar Agonthea is vanquished or the First falls! I will do my best to aid you in ways you may never know. I will never cease my efforts on your and the boy’s behalf, but I must toil in my own manner. Alas, I must do so in solitude. Remember! My shores will be sealed to all until such time as the trees are safe or a power greater than mine breaks through,” she said, causing Baladar to frown with concern.

  “We have talked long enough. Now go. You have much work to do. Firstspeed, my son,” she said with finality, smiling sweetly at him.

  Consumed with sadness and a terrible sense of loss, Baladar realized that this answer was definitive, dictated by circumstance and fate. He turned and began his journey back home, disheartened by the thought of possibly never seeing the Lady again in this lifetime, but ultimately focusing upon his overwhelming determination to carry out his appointed task.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Baladar traversed the pathways back to the edge of the woods, experiencing once again the unsettling but euphoric passage to his plain of existence, when Porta appeared, calm and rested. Mounting his steed, he spurred him onward. As he cleared the dense brush, he became aware that more time had passed than he had realized. To Baladar, it seemed as if only a few hours had gone by since his arrival at the island on the lake. But as he had come at night, and now the sun was nearing the horizon in the western sky, he recognized that at least perhaps nearly a full day had elapsed, if not more.

  Suddenly, his skin prickled as a feeling of foreboding overtook him, and he felt an urgency to return to the castle as rapidly as possible. Expectation quickly transformed itself into concern as he rushed through the brambles, pressing Porta’s sides with his heels, a reckless abandon forcing him forward. Bursting out of the woods, Baladar galloped forth to the stable gates.

  Halting in a swirl of dust, he wasted no time in jumping from his seat on Porta’s bare back and leaving his friend to be attended to by his stable-master. Unaccustomed to his liege Lord behaving in so rash a manner, Tanner, the master of the horses, rushed to his aid only to receive a curt nod and witness the back of his lord’s robes as Baladar rushed off to the castle with hardly a word spoken, leaving him standing wide-mouthed and startled. Porta whinnied in salute to Baladar, but he was already gone.

  Baladar’s concern mounted as he neared the main entryway to the keep. What had been a bustling court the evening prior was now empty of everyone except some housemaids and a young page. Of course, all of the evening’s guests had gone home by this time, but the aides and servants who arrived with Lord Kettin should have still been milling around. Something was amiss! He never did trust Kettin and having left him alone to his own devices in the castle was probably a mistake.

  He burst into the great hall thinking of only one thing when Grogan, the head of his personal guard, rushed into the antechamber with a cortege of attendants, all fully armed and obviously agitated.

  “My Lord,” he said as he bowed deeply to Baladar. “I am afraid there has been an incident in the castle during your absence. It seems sir Dalek and Lord Kettin had been drinking rather extensively after you departed last evening. They apparently began arguing rather boisterously over Kettin’s interest in Dalek’s niece, you know the wench named Daria with the beautiful eyes, when Lord Kettin pulled out a dagger and thrust it into Dalek’s side. He died immediately, your lordship. He did not suffer,” Grogan said sadly, staring at Baladar with his shoulders back and his body stiff.

  Baladar felt as if someone had hit him in the stomach with the end of a jousting stick.

  Dalek dead? Is the boy safe?

  Not wanting to alert anyone else in the castle to the youth’s presence, Baladar knew that he had to dwell here for a while and learn all of the details before he could slip away and attend the boy.

  “Dalek? Ah, this grieves me deeply. Were you able to assess blame here, Grogan? Was Dalek at fault? Did Kettin suffer injury?” Baladar queried, wishing that it had been Lord Kettin who would soon lay upon the pyre instead of his good and loyal aid, Dalek.

  “Lord Kettin feigned weakness afterwards, my Lord, and expressed outrage at his treatment under your roof, but he was unhurt. All who witnessed the incident swore that Dalek never raised a hand to the Duke’s son. I interrogated those present and I have determined that Kettin provoked the attack, for what reason I could not ascertain. He harbored no ill will toward Dalek previously. He is on his way back to his father’s lands as we speak. He retreated to his rooms immediately after he, pardon me your lordship, murdered Dalek, expressing no remorse whatsoever, and he alerted his attendants that he would be departing straightaway in the morning.

  “He said to tell you, my Lord, and please forgive me, these are his words, not mine, that it was clear that his presence was unwelcome in your home and that he feared for his safety under your roof. He ordered me to emphasize to you that he felt his treatment here was an insult to him and to his father, and that he had to believe that you intended it to appear that way. He said to tell you that the offer of alliance he carried with him on the Duke’s behalf would have to be withdrawn and reconsidered, under the circumstances. He said that other options had to be addressed and that old affiliations may have to be reevaluated, that the wind has changed direction. He said to tell you that his father would not take this incident lightly, as he, his heir apparent, was threatened and that his very life was in danger while he was supposed to be under your protection.” Grogan bowed his head apologetically and waited for instructions.

  “Thank you, Grogan. I appreciate your candor,” Baladar responded. “I would never hold you responsible for the words of such a one as Kettin, Duke Leonardo’s son. I wonder if his father was privy to who took part in these depraved actions. Kettin surely had another agenda when he arrived here, outside of the realm of a friendly visit, and I fear that Dalek suffered the ultimate fate so that Kettin could foster this ruse. I am deeply aggrieved,” Baladar said with much sentiment.

  Returning his attention once more to the situation at hand he then asked, “By the way, when did our uninvited guest finally depart, being that he felt so unsafe here?” While he questioned his Master at Arms, sadness and anxiety was making it difficult for him to stand inactive, but he did his best.

  “He was late to rise, your lordship, and he needed time to gather his men and deal with some private matters. He demanded a hot breakfast for them all before he left, which he did not attend. I bade them farewell, nevertheless, but he was not present when I did so. He could not have rejoined the others until they were mounted and ready to go, as I never saw Lord Kettin again. The group did not embark until well after 9:00 in the morning. He was quite secretive about his leave taking prior to then, pretending that he was unsafe, and he desired that we remain well out of his reach and sight until he cleared our lands. He chided me and warned me that if I followed him he would take that as a sign of aggression and that as he was already the victim here, it would only exacerbate the ill will. He mentioned how much he disliked being spied upon, insinuating that we were watching him too closely.”

  Baladar scowled, “I take responsibility for this situat
ion. Whether or not what Kettin claims has any truth to it, we shall all bear the brunt of his visit. I am afraid that we will one and all learn in time what the true purpose of his sojourn here was. I should never have quit the castle until I was able to determine his true intentions.” He paused for a moment, anxious to attend to other matters. “Grogan, secure the gates and post a watch. We must now be vigilant at all times until the Duke and I can meet face to face and correct this wrong, if such can be done at this point. I have some thinking to do and pressing matters to attend to. Forgive me. Temian, see to Dalek’s arrangements, and make sure that he is properly handled. He was very dear to me and we shall all sorely miss him.”

  Baladar turned and walked away, hiding his anxiety as he slowly made his way out of the hall toward the master stairway.

  Once out of sight of Grogan and his men, he bounded up the steps, taking two at a time, and headed directly for his rooms. His trepidation was mounting as he neared his private suites where the boy, Davmiran, lay sleeping. The ring hanging beneath his tunic was burning his skin, and he winced in pain.

  Flinging the door open, he entered the chamber and gasped at what he saw. The boy was gone! His bed was empty and not a trace of him was to be found.

  How could that bastard of a Duke’s son have known he was even here? Baladar thought furiously. I must find him and bring him back immediately. What chance have we without him? The world is on the brink of chaos and our one hope has been kidnaped by a fool! he declared silently. Does he even know what he has done? I must catch up with him and retrieve Davmiran! he thought as he considered his options, fearing now with the loss of the boy, that the death of Dalek, his loyal and trusted aide, was merely a foreshadowing of the disappointment and sorrow that was to come.

  Baladar poignantly remembered Calista’s words, yet the true weight of the past day’s deeds had not fully descended upon him. He was unwilling to accept that the heir would not be found. The thought was inconceivable, after having waited so long and so patiently, that he could have slipped through his fingers so quickly.