by Chris Wright
'What am I to do? What am I to do?' Nadia called in panic from the top of the castle. Then she disappeared from sight.
Within a few minutes she was back, wearing Great-Hope's helmet low over her eyes. She shouted down angrily at the King's soldiers to go away. Then her friends who didn't know and love the King's Son joined in by telling the soldiers to leave Nadia alone, for she didn't need them bothering her.
Max and his friends with the flags and banners sensibly decided not to get into fights and heated arguments. So they hurried to Mount Freedom, all the time calling out to the King's Son to help Nadia. I was surprised to see that as they called to the King's Son, they seemed to be at peace, trusting in his strength, not in their own.
Around Castle Nadia there was anything but peace. The Magnificent Great-Hopes was not only still alive, he was running around crazily. From a storeroom at the back of the castle he handed armour to Nadia's friends. I'd seen it all before in the town of Mansoul: the helmet of Hope, the breastplate to harden and protect the heart from feeling the love of the King's Son, and the shield of Unbelief to catch the King's words and dash them to the ground. Then there was the sword shaped like a tongue with its end on fire to speak evil -- not to be confused with the King's Sword I told you about just now -- and finally the shield for the mouth, which had to be worn tightly to prevent the wearer calling out to the King's Son for help.
Everyone put on the armour eagerly, calling up to Nadia, who was still on top of her castle, that they'd defend her to the end.
Choosing sat in pain on the grass outside the castle door, shaking his head sadly. Fragments of rock from the catapults had badly wounded his skinny legs, so he was unable to move around to give encouragement to his companions. However, in spite of them wearing Great-Hope's armour, one thing was obvious -- Nadia's friends were losing the battle.
By evening Nadia's friends collapsed in exhaustion, no longer having the will to fight for Nadia. A shout went up from the top of the castle. It was Nadia, telling them that the King's Son was standing by the white flag on Mount Freedom. Slowly and painfully her friends stood up, obviously wondering what the flag meant.
No one seemed to notice us as we swooped over the castle and joined the King's warriors on Mount Freedom. There we found Max and his friends, sitting with the King's Son who was writing a message for Nadia.
My dear Nadia, I wish you no harm. I have come to claim you as my own, to forgive you, and to make you new. Receive me now into your castle, and you will be mine and fly my flag.
The King's Son gave Max the task of delivering the message. After receiving a blessing, Max took it in his hand and made his way to Castle Nadia. Standing by the door he read the message aloud. Great-Hopes was back in his so-called palace behind the castle by this time, and realised too late what was happening. He hurried to the castle door, but not before everyone had heard what the King's Son had to say.
Great-Hopes pushed Max out of the way and called up to Nadia who was leaning out of a window with a puzzled look on her face. 'If you want to change your ways,' Great-Hopes shouted, 'you don't need to ask the King's Son for help. I can help you live a life that will please him.'
Choosing, who was sitting on the grass still bandaging his bony legs, turned to Great-Hopes. 'I have heard the message,' he told Great-Hopes. 'The King's Son says he must come into the castle.'
I was astonished to hear Choosing helping the King's Son. Talora looked equally surprised.
Great-Hopes seemed to be hiding his anger well. He smiled up at Nadia. 'Just a matter of words,' he called. 'It is not necessary to carry out the instructions exactly. Trust me, I will make sure the King's Son is satisfied with your behaviour.'
Great-Hopes hurried back to his hovel and returned with an armful of spears. He hurled these at Max and his friends, but they had already put on the gleaming armour supplied by the King's Son. The King's Helmets, Breastplates and Shields gave them all the defence they needed.
'To war, to war!' Great-Hopes screamed to Nadia. 'Do not surrender now. If you do, you will look foolish in front of your friends, and regret it to the end of your days!'
CHAPTER 23
Escape
As the not-very-Magnificent Great-Hopes fled to the filthy shed he called his palace, the King's Son ordered Max and his friends to gather round.
'The battle is not over yet,' he told them. 'There are two men in a dungeon, and I have to set them free.'
Unfortunately Max and his friends were unable to find the way in to rescue Conscience and Understanding. I wanted to help, but all I could see were brambles and nettles where I was sure the metal cover to the dungeon had been. Great-Hopes must have performed some sort of trick to confuse anyone wanting to mount a rescue.
That was when I remembered how I'd escaped from the dungeon with Talora, by squeezing through the narrow passage. 'We'll help you rescue them,' I said. 'There's a ventilation tunnel.'
'Let me go,' Max said.
How could I explain that the rescuer needed to fly up to the metal cover to bang on it from the inside, without giving ourselves away? 'We know the way,' was all I said.
I went first, and Talora squeezed after me into the darkness. It was dangerous, and certainly not exciting, for we had no idea if we would emerge in the right place. Maybe the tunnel divided into two along the way, and we'd take the wrong turning and become stuck for ever. I wondered what would happen if we couldn't get into the dungeon and signal where the cover was to Max and his friends who would be waiting outside. Maybe the King's Son would never be able to enter Castle Nadia.
When we reached the tightest spot, I stopped crawling and called back to Talora. 'I can smell the prison. We're nearly there.' I've already mentioned the smell -- how disgusting it was. I can't even start to describe it. You'll just have to use your imagination -- and then try and picture it ten times worse.
I went a short distance further, forcing my way between the dark slimy walls of the tunnel. A voice suddenly called out of the blackness ahead.
'Who are you?'
'This is Zephan again,' I whispered, as I squeezed out of the ventilation hole. Well, you feel like whispering when you're on a dangerous mission in enemy territory. I thought I recognised the voice from our earlier visit. 'Are you Understanding?'
'Understanding is my name,' the frightened voice said.
'Then I have good news for you.' I was glad to stand up and stretch. 'The Son of the Lord God is at the door of Castle Nadia. He wants you two out of here.'
'Do you think we would still be here if we could escape?' Conscience asked from the darkness.
Understanding crept over to me. 'It is partly our fault,' he explained. 'Great-Hopes sealed the outside, but this place is of our own making. You cannot understand how a person could be so foolish as to make his own prison, but that is exactly what Conscience has done. This was once a wide hole that was quite shallow, but he has dug it deeper and deeper, piling up the earth at the sides so the shaft has become very deep and narrow. And now there is no way for us to escape.'
'But why keep digging down?' Talora asked.
'Because Conscience has been behaving stupidly.' Understanding sounded angry. 'He is not to be trusted any longer. What hope is there for any of us now?'
'We've come to get you out,' I said impatiently. 'But we have to do it quickly.'
'I do not see how,' Understanding complained. 'You have already tried to push the heavy cover aside, and we cannot escape through the tunnel.'
'I'm going to fly up and shout,' I explained. 'There are people up there, but they can't find the cover. Great-Hopes has concealed it.'
Talora said she'd stay below, to give me a bit more room. I flew up, my wings knocking heavily against the walls, but I got there in the end and clung onto the iron ring under the grating.
'I'm here! I'm here!' I shouted as loudly as I could. I just had to hope someone outside was close enough to hear me.
Then we heard scraping and scratching noises, and a voice s
houted, 'This is Max. If Conscience and Understanding want to escape from their prison, the King's Son says they have to call out to him. Tell them to do it now before it's too late.'
I dropped down quickly to be with Conscience and Understanding. 'You must trust the King's Son,' I said, sensing some doubt in the long pause before either of them spoke.
'We have no other way of getting free,' Understanding admitted reluctantly. 'I will call out to the King's Son for help.' But he stayed silent.
'Go on then, call,' I urged.
'Help,' Understanding called feebly. 'Help.'
Conscience joined in, and each time they called their voices became louder and stronger.
Suddenly I caught hold of the two men and pulled them to the side. 'The cover is coming off.'
Understanding and Conscience cried out in distress as the sunlight dazzled their eyes. The group above quickly lowered a rope ladder. As the two men emerged from their prison, some of Nadia's friends pushed Max away. When they saw the prisoners hiding their eyes, they turned to each other in alarm.
'The soldiers have blinded them,' they told each other. 'See, we knew something terrible would happen if Nadia talked to the King's Son. What hope is there for her now?'
'Nadia is doomed,' a girl said. 'I've just heard that Prejudice has been killed in the fighting.'
'And Blindfold,' a boy called.
'I think Hesitate is finished too,' another added.
Choosing started shouting in front of the castle, and everyone hurried to see him calling out to Nadia's friends.
'I have checked on the dead and wounded,' Choosing announced, in a surprisingly powerful voice. He'd bandaged his legs and was able to get around quite well now, although he moved slowly. I even thought he'd put on a little weight, and certainly his voice was stronger. 'The only people who are dead are the some of Great-Hopes' companions from round the back of the castle. The King's Son is waiting on Mount Freedom for Nadia to invite him in.' He turned to Nadia. 'What reply shall I give him?'
'Tell him I claim the peace and forgiveness he offers,' Nadia called from the doorway of her castle. 'Tell him I want him as my King.'
Choosing wrote a message begging the King's Son to forgive everything Nadia had ever done wrong, and to come immediately and make the castle his own. He gave it to a girl called Try-Hard, with instructions for her to hurry across to Mount Freedom. In all the excitement we forgot that we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves by flying, so we launched ourselves into the air and were on Mount Freedom before Try-Hard arrived. This sounded good.
Try-Hard handed the paper to the King's Son, but the sun shining off his armour made her screw up her eyes as though she was unable to see clearly. She must have thought the King's Son turned away without reading the message, for she turned quickly and hurried back to the castle with bad news.
Choosing told Try-Hard she must try again. He wrote another message, but once more the shining armour dazzled Try-Hard. She returned to the castle to say that she believed that the message had still not been read.
'Let me take the message for you.'
Everyone turned to see who had spoken. Young Good-Deeds made his way to the front again.
'I'm not afraid to see the King's Son,' he boasted. 'I know he turned me away once, but this time he will be pleased to see me.'
Choosing nodded in agreement. 'All right, you may go again.'
But Conscience had now recovered from his time in prison, and he held out his hand to stop Good-Deeds going. 'Don't be so foolish,' he told Good-Deeds. 'If the King's Son sees that Nadia relies on messengers such as you, he will think she doesn't really need him.'
Nadia nodded thoughtfully. 'Yes, Good-Deeds, as far as the King's Son is concerned, you're worthless.' She turned to Conscience. 'So who do we send?'
'Send Tears,' Conscience told her.
Nadia sighed, but looked calmer than she had been for days. 'Yes, I want to send Tears.'
CHAPTER 24
Sending Tears
Choosing stood on tiptoe and looked around. He didn't have to look far to see Tears sitting on the grass, her head resting in her hands. She looked up with a sad smile and said, yes, perhaps she should be the one to go.
No one seemed to have noticed us flying backwards and forwards between Castle Nadia and Mount Freedom, so Talora flew with me as we followed Tears across the valley to Mount Freedom where the King's Son stood watching the castle.
'Please don't be angry with Nadia for sending messengers to you so often,' Tears said, looking at the ground. 'If you could only show her that you're ready to listen ...' She stopped, unable to speak for the tears streaming down her face.
The King's Son put his hands on Tears' shoulder. 'Tell me,' he said, 'where is Nadia's young friend Good-Deeds? I expected him to come again.'
'Nadia wouldn't allow him to come,' Tears explained. 'She said Good-Deeds isn't worthy. And neither am I worthy,' Tears added quickly, 'but Nadia thought you might listen to me asking for mercy and forgiveness.'
'Go back to the castle,' the King's Son replied.
Tears began to turn away.
'Don't go so quickly, because I have a message for Nadia,' the King's Son said, making Tears turn back. 'Tell her I am pleased she has sent you, but now she must come herself. I want no fine clothes to impress me. She is to come here to meet me now, dressed just as she is. And she is not to bring Good-Deeds or Try-Hard, or any of their companions.'
I noticed that the King's Son had to turn away as he spoke, to hide the sadness in his own eyes, while Tears went back to the castle looking dejected.
'Well?' Nadia asked as soon as Tears came back. She stood in front of her castle, the door behind her slightly open.
'You have to meet the King's Son,' Tears explained.
Nadia gasped in horror. She said she wasn't wearing her best clothes, and as she looked at them they seemed to get more soiled. She began to cry. 'I can't go yet. I have to change into something cleaner.'
'No,' Tears told her. 'The King's Son wants to meet you now, dressed just as you are.'
Nadia started to brush her clothes down, but it was a hopeless task. 'I can't go like this,' she protested.
'Dressed just as you are, is what the King's Son said,' Tears repeated. 'And you cannot take Good-Deeds or Try-Hard with you, or any of their companions.'
For a moment Nadia hesitated, and I was expecting her to storm back inside her castle and slam the door. But no, she'd made up her mind and began to cross to the camp on Mount Freedom where the King's Son ... But he was no longer there. He was hurrying over to greet Nadia. And when I say hurrying, it was as though one moment the King's Son was on Mount Freedom, and within an eye-blink he was here with Nadia.
'Tell me, Nadia, what do you want me to do?' the King's Son asked.
Tears stood close to them both.
'I have come because you called me,' Nadia said.
The King's Son looked at her. 'You had Great-Hopes and Good-Deeds. And what about Try-Hard? Were you not content with them?'
Nadia knelt down with Tears. 'I was, because I had no idea there was a better way,' she said quietly.
'And now you want me as your King?'
'I do,' Nadia whispered.
Tears nodded her head in agreement, then slipped away leaving Nadia alone with the King's Son. Nadia dried her eyes and stood up. 'I accept you as my King,' she cried out happily. 'Come into my castle and be my King for ever.'
The King's Son waited for Nadia to lift the heavy latch. Then, in his armour of gleaming gold he entered with her. Only a few of Nadia's friends had stayed to watch.
'Whatever's going to happen now?' I heard a girl whisper. 'I think Nadia's gone mad.'
'The King's Son may not have come in peace,' one of the boys said.
'I don't think he really wants Nadia to be his friend,' another boy whispered. 'It's a trick, to punish her. Nadia is making a big mistake.'
Of course I wanted to see what was going on inside Castle Nadia. The Lo
rd God had said we couldn't enter these castles, but he had told us we could watch and listen. And I could see that one of Nadia's windows was wide. The problem was that the window was high up, but we had an easy way round that. We spread our wings and took off. My wings felt more bruised and sore as time went on. It must have been squeezing through that narrow tunnel that did it, but they worked well enough.
As we perched on the ledge of the open window we could hear Nadia talking to the King's Son. 'Please come in peace,' she said quietly. 'I don't want to fight you any more.'
We saw the King's Son take Nadia by the arm and go out with her through the castle door, never saying a word.
'Where are they going,' Talora asked, as we flew high above the castle. 'Is the King's Son leaving?'
'I think he's taking Nadia to find the Magnificent Great-Hopes. Yes, he's stopped at the door of Great-Hopes' fleapit.'
I jumped as a trumpet blast sounded over the castle, and everyone fell to their knees. As the King's Son came to Great-Hopes' door he touched it, and it crumbled into a pile of dust. Great-Hopes had dressed himself in armour, but the warrior angels dragged him out of the ruins and ripped it off. Great-Hopes stood there in his shabby underwear, no longer magnificent.
When he saw the King's Son, Great-Hopes fell to his knees and begged for mercy. And the more he begged, the smaller he seemed to grow, until he looked like nothing compared to the Son of the Creator King, the Lord God of the Universe. But as Nadia turned round to see what her friends were thinking, Great-Hopes broke free and raced down the hill.
If this were all that happened, it would be amazing. But there was much more. Many of Nadia's friends, who had come to help her fight the King's Son, knelt down and begged for forgiveness too. The King's Son gave them peace and pardon, and welcomed them into his family.
'You are children of the Lord God now,' he told them. 'You are my brothers and my sisters.'
As the King's Son led Nadia back into her castle, from the sky came the sound of angels singing. The most beautiful singing they'd ever heard -- so Nadia's new friends said. Across the hills and valleys we heard singing coming from other castles, and as night fell there was much joy in Heaven and on Earth.
