by Chris Wright
'I have laid out a special party for Nadia and her friends tonight, but they have refused my invitation. Self-Pleasing has also laid out a party, and they have agreed to go there instead.'
Talora and I stood on each side of the Prince and held his hands tightly. 'Please don't give up,' I begged. 'Nadia needs you here.'
'Then she must see that for herself. Let go of me, Zephan. Let go of me, Talora. I am going now, back across the River to my Father's throne in the Heavenly City.'
Of course we stood aside, but I need hardly tell you we did it reluctantly. With tears in our eyes we watched the King's Son walk slowly away from Nadia. Not one of Nadia's friends pleaded with him to stay. Nadia didn't even notice him go.
We followed the King's Son as far as the River. When we got there he told us to rest after our escape from Shadow Hill, then to go back to Nadia who needed our help.
'And Max?' I asked.
The King's Son smiled. 'You will be seeing Max very soon,' he said.
I wasn't sure what the King's Son meant by that. I looked across the River. This wasn't the ordinary sort of river that runs through the countryside, where families sit down for picnics. I've already said it divides people from the land of the Heavenly City. Although angels can come and go across it, shadow angels can't. The Lord God has banned them from Heaven forever.
There is, however, a narrow path that leads to the Bridge, a wooden Cross fixed deeply into the rock of the riverbed. The arms of the Cross reach from one bank to the other, and are the way across, the Way that allows people to get in touch with the Lord God.
Before this Bridge was here -- and by the way, the King's Son not only had to build it himself, he had to pay for it -- it was very difficult to contact the Creator God. But now people can speak to him at any time. Indeed, he encourages everyone who belongs to him to use this Bridge all day and every day to keep in touch.
We said goodbye to the King's Son, and sat by the River to rest.
Talora saw them first -- Max coming slowly to the water's edge with an old man. Max kept calling him Granddad. I must say Max's grandfather looked happy and at peace as he shielded his eyes to catch sight of the golden hills of the Heavenly City in the far distance. Max was in tears. Slowly his grandfather put one foot in the River. Then he put the next foot in and turned to wave.
Max shouted, 'No!' but his grandfather just smiled and was soon waist-deep. The River was running swiftly far out, but it was calm near the bank -- although very deep.
'Come back, Granddad, I don't want you to go,' Max called as the old man was sinking deeper. Then as his shoulders started to get covered, Max's grandfather raised his arms, with his eyes fixed on the hills in the far distance.
'Look,' Talora said, pointing. 'See, some angels are coming.'
Suddenly the angels picked Max's grandfather safely out of the water before it could cover him. As he was lifted into the air he turned and called to Max. 'We'll meet again one day, Max. May God bless you and keep you.'
Then he was gone, carried to safety.
Talora looked at me, excitement in her eyes. 'The Lord God said I could help take Nadia to the Heavenly City one day. Oh, Zephan, maybe we'll be allowed to take Max and other people there as well.'
'If they belong to the Lord God.'
'Then we must make them,' Talora insisted.
I shook my head. 'Remember -- the Lord God lets everyone choose.'
'But we chose, too, Zephan. Chose to serve the Lord God when we were created.'
'We had one choice, Talora, and one choice only. If at creation we chose to disobey, there was no forgiveness, no way back. The Lord God loves his people in a very different way, and always forgives them when they ask to be forgiven.'
A little later two people appeared with another elderly man. This time there were no smiles, only tears. I recognised the two who had come with him -- Good-Deeds and Great-Hopes. When I say I recognised them, I mean that they looked very much like the creatures with the same names that had been making such a nuisance of themselves at Castle Nadia. But these creatures must belong to the old man.
The old man clung tightly to Good-Deeds. 'Stay with me,' he begged. 'I need you now, more than I've ever needed anything.'
Good-Deeds and Great-Hopes pulled themselves away. 'We cannot go with you,' Good-Deeds told him. 'We count for nothing on the other side. You have to go alone.'
'But I had such great hopes that all would be well,' the old man said. 'I've done so many good deeds in my life. Please come with me.'
He put one foot in the River and tried to withdraw it quickly. The chill of the water must have scared him, but it seemed he had no choice but to continue wading in deeper and deeper to where the water ran fastest.
No angels came to carry him to safety as he disappeared from sight.
CHAPTER 30
Flames
That evening Nadia and many of her friends crowded round to the back of the castle where Self-Pleasing had laid out his great treat. They had obviously forgotten that the King's Son had invited them to a party of his own. We could sense excitement in the air as we slipped unnoticed amongst the group. Not one of them seemed aware that a line of wooden shacks had reappeared recently against the walls of Castle Nadia, built of old, rotting wood. I suppose it sometimes helps to have these things pointed out, but I knew no one would listen if I said anything. I thought I recognised two of Max's friends here, which surprised me.
'I trust you've all come to enjoy yourselves,' Self-Pleasing shouted from the top table. 'You are Nadia's true friends, and you have every right to be here.'
Nadia and her friends sat down and started to eat. The host looked delighted as he glanced around the tables. Everyone seemed to be having such fun. Suddenly Self-Pleasing jumped up and strode angrily to where a girl was sitting alone. She had no food with her.
'Are you feeling unwell?' Self-Pleasing asked loudly.
Everyone stopped eating to look at the girl.
'What is your name, and why don't you eat?' Self-Pleasing shouted, when the girl made no reply. 'You must speak to me if you don't want to be thrown out of this wonderful party.'
'My name is Love-God,' the girl said quietly.
'Love-God? What sort of name is Love-God?' Self-Pleasing demanded.
'That is my name,' the girl replied. 'You may ask the others if you wish.'
'It is,' someone called. 'It's a silly name, but that's what she's called.'
Everyone laughed.
'Well, it's a very strange name if you ask me.' Self-Pleasing's frown turned to a smile. 'Come now, Love-God, don't sit there all alone. Join in the festivities. Eat and drink, and you will soon be as merry as the rest of us.'
Love-God shook her head. 'I am a friend of Nadia,' she said. 'I came here to enjoy the party, but now ...' Then she began to cry. Love-God, surely, belonged to the Lord God in the way that Self-Pleasing and his companions belonged to Diabolus.
Nadia and her friends didn't seem so merry now, looking guilty for the way they'd been living.
'Cheer up,' Self-Pleasing said to Love-God with a big smile. 'We don't want any unhappiness here. Perhaps you're tired and need a good sleep.'
Love-God wiped her eyes. 'You're right, I am sad, but it's not because of the food or because I'm tired. Nadia has grieved the King's Son. The white flag is no longer flying. I do not believe he is in Castle Nadia any more.'
'What nonsense!' Self-Pleasing told her irritably. 'Why, even from here we can see Nadia's white flag on top of her castle.' He paused. 'True, it's ... it's not flying very high today, but I'm sure you'd be able to see it if you were standing up high enough.' He clapped his hands. 'Come on, this is no time for anyone to be sad.'
Conscience stood up. 'Love-God is right. Nadia's flag is no longer flying.' He turned to Nadia's friends. 'And where are your banners that you carried so boldly all those months ago?'
Everyone hung their heads in shame as they admitted that they'd not bothered to talk with the Prince for many weeks. Some said they'd no
t talked with him for even longer than that. Nadia looked more ashamed than the others, and she ran into her castle crying.
'You're nothing but a nuisance,' Self-Pleasing said to Love-God. 'What right have you to upset Nadia and her friends at a time of great happiness such as this? Shame on you. Now leave us alone!'
Love-God stood up slowly and walked away into the valley.
I could stay silent no longer. I jumped on the nearest table and said I'd seen the King's Son leaving the castle, unnoticed. Of course, saying something like that was asking for trouble, for Self-Pleasing immediately recognised me as his prisoner from the cave and he tried to grab hold of me. But as he reached out, Nadia ran from her castle gripping something tightly in her hands, holding it out in front like a sword.
And indeed it was a weapon -- it was the Holy Book the King's Son had given Nadia earlier. From the look of it, it hadn't seen much use. The cover seemed like new, and the pages inside unworn. Even so, it made a very sharp weapon.
'You've led us astray,' she told Self-Pleasing as she opened the Book. 'We listened to you, and believed you had much to offer. But it says here you're an enemy of the Lord God. His Son told us to destroy all his enemies.'
With this speech everyone turned on Self-Pleasing, but he escaped into one of the wooden shacks behind the castle, slamming the door shut. We could hear him pushing several bolts into place as the angry crowd gathered outside.
'Burn the place down!' Conscience shouted.
'Yes, burn the place down, and burn Self-Pleasing with it!' Nadia called out.
Talora stood with me while Nadia set fire to the rotten wood. As the flames leapt high into the night sky, I saw a sudden movement among the bushes and thought I caught a glimpse of Self-Pleasing running away. What that possible?
Now, that might have been the end of things, a happy end, but I sensed something evil nearby. A few flaps of our wings took us high into the air, before we swooped across the open countryside to Shadow Hill. There we found Diabolus watching from the wood. We saw him shudder as the flames from Self-Pleasing's house lit the night sky, squirming uncomfortably as though he felt himself to be on fire.
'That castle will be mine one day,' we heard him mutter angrily. 'The King's Son will never be able to hold such a place against my mighty army!'
We certainly didn't wait around, but flew quickly back to Castle Nadia. In the way that we can sense evil, shadow angels can sense goodness and love -- and they don't like sensing us any more than we like sensing them.
When we got back, the fire had burnt itself out and Self-Pleasing's shack was just a pile of glowing embers. Nadia and her friends stayed watching, excited that they'd found the courage to destroy Self-Pleasing's house. But I was pretty certain that its owner had escaped into the night.
CHAPTER 31
Messages
The next morning a heavy darkness hung over Castle Nadia. Love-God stood outside the castle door and told everyone that they'd been foolish to forget about meeting with the King's Son every day, or to come to his feasts.
Nadia listened carefully. 'I am undefended,' she said in alarm. 'I forgot to check who was building around my castle. I've not cared for my armour, and last night was the first time I used my Sword for ages. What am I to do?'
Some of Nadia's friends said the same thing as they walked around in confusion. Knowledge appeared and stood in front of them. I remembered how the King's Son had appointed him earlier as the Keeper of Wisdom to help Nadia, but no one seemed to know who he was. Perhaps they'd not seen him around for some time. I wondered if he'd still make a reliable leader.
'Listen, everyone,' Knowledge said. 'There is only one thing to do. You must each send a message to the King's Son.'
'What do I write?' Nadia asked.
A general murmur went up from Nadia's friends, for they clearly wanted Knowledge to tell them exactly what to put in their letters.
'Do you want to know the King's Son again?' Knowledge asked.
Everyone did.
'Then I'm sure you can think of the right thing to say. I will deliver the messages myself.' With that, he walked away.
And that was it.
Nadia and her friends discussed among themselves what they should each write. One friend said he ought to admit he'd forgotten the Lord God, while another thought it would be a good idea to admit that her memories of the King's Son had grown faint. Another said she was going to ask the Lord to have mercy, and ask him to keep her safe.
Some of the messages were long, but I could see that many were just a few lines. What did they say? It's not for me to read other people's letters, but I guessed everyone was pleading for forgiveness so that they could know the King's Son again.
'I will use the Bridge over the River to take your messages to the court of the Lord God of Heaven,' Knowledge announced, as he climbed on his horse. 'I believe I shall find his Son there.'
Then he galloped off, clutching the letters tightly with one hand and the reins with the other. Nadia and her friends said every word of their letters had been carefully written, so they hoped the King's Son would make himself known to them again -- as soon as he'd read them.
A little later we heard a buzz of excitement. Knowledge was back in a cloud of dust, his face far from happy. 'The door of Heaven was shut,' he explained gloomily.
'Did you knock?' Nadia asked.
'I knocked,' Knowledge said.
'Did you knock hard?' one of Nadia's friends called out.
'I knocked hard, and I knocked for a long time. A guard came out and asked me why I'd come. I explained why I was there, and the guard told me to keep hold of your letters and wait. I waited a long time but no one came to the door. And now I've come back.'
'Go and try again,' Choosing pleaded. 'And wait longer this time.'
Knowledge sighed, but agreed to return once more to Heaven with the messages. It wasn't long before he was back to say that again he'd been told to wait for an answer. He'd not waited, because it seemed to him that no answer would come.
'So here I am,' he explained sadly.
Nadia began to cry, and this set everyone off. 'Let's all go and meet with the King's Son, and beg him to return,' she said.
That night, the Bridge across the River was full of messengers coming and going. Talora and I could see that they each carried their own letters, pleading with the King for his Son to speak to them again but, like Knowledge, no one was prepared to wait for an answer. The next night the same thing happened. And the next night.
As you can imagine, with all this coming and going there was quite a lot of noise. Talora said we ought to pay another visit to the Shadowed Wood and see if the companions of Diabolus had noticed what was going on.
CHAPTER 32
Self-Pleasing Again
As we pushed our way through the horrible trees, we could still sense evil in the air. And there, sheltering in the cave, we found the creatures that had tied us up earlier -- including Self-Pleasing. I'd suspected at the time that Self-Pleasing had escaped from the burning shack, but I couldn't think how he'd done it. The creatures were busy writing a letter of their own by the flickering light of their fire. From their chatter we realised that they were planning revenge on Nadia and her friends for trying to contact the King's Son.
So, even while Nadia and her friends were sending their letters to the King, this evil lot sent a letter of their own to their leader. Now, that's the sort of letter that needs to be read. Invisible to these creatures -- although they occasionally shifted uneasily -- I leant over their shoulders and read:
To our Great Lord Diabolus,
We beg you to remove the disgrace that the King's Son has done to Castle Nadia and other castles in this place. Nadia and her new friends will be at your mercy, for they have been unable to contact the King's Son. If you capture Castle Nadia you can be sure we will come to your help immediately.
It sounded a scary letter, but first it had to be delivered. Maybe with Talora's help I could snatch it
from them. Self-Pleasing, the leader of the gang, agreed to act as messenger. I still don't know how it happened, but Self-Pleasing managed to get out of the cave with the letter before I could do anything. Talora put her foot out to trip him up, but he staggered away into the darkness and disappeared. The evil companions in the group looked puzzled to see Self-Pleasing stumble, so at least it gave them something to worry about!
While the gang was waiting for Self-Pleasing to return, I took the opportunity to glance round the cave. The only thing that looked new was a pile of large bags at the back. They seemed to be full but I had no idea what was in them, and if I started to open them the creatures would be sure to notice.
It seemed a long wait before Self-Pleasing came back, but he looked excited as he pulled a grubby letter from his pocket just as the sun was rising through the unhealthy trees. He read it aloud to everyone's great delight -- well, to everyone's great delight except mine and Talora's.
My Dear Self-Pleasing,
How excited I am to learn that Nadia and her new friends are no longer talking to the King's Son. How happy I am to hear that you are all well, for I want you to put my plan into action to destroy Castle Nadia and the castles of Nadia's new friends. I have already instructed you what to do, and I know you have prepared well. So set out as soon as it is dark. Tonight.
Your Caring Master,
Diabolus
'Will you take me with you?' a voice growled from the heavy shadows.
'You?' Self-Pleasing said in disgust. 'Why would I take you?'
'My name is Self-Righteous,' his companion said, emerging into the firelight. 'I can do a lot of damage.'
'Indeed, yes.' Self-Pleasing sounded thoughtful. 'You could certainly help smash Castle Nadia to the ground, and then ...' He paused and licked his lips.
'Yes?' his companions asked together.
'Then we will rebuild it especially for Nadia, using the plans Diabolus will give us.'
The creatures let out a scream of triumph.
'Please let me go with you,' another said, emerging into the light.
'Certainly, Forgetfulness.' Self-Pleasing scratched his chin. 'Diabolus said you are like a poison. Poisoning Nadia would seem like a good idea.'
Everyone smiled, although some looked disappointed at the thought that Self-Pleasing might not choose them.
