by Caleb Monroe
Shadow tosses me the ball, and we play just like we did the first day I ever met Shadow. Who would have ever thought that little guy would change my whole life.
I could do this for hours, but we came here for a reason. I catch the ball one last time saying, “Time to clean up, bud.” We make our way upstairs, and when I get into the shower, I know that I will miss this once we are gone. I get cleaned up and trim my beard. I also take some time to cut my hair. Living on your own for twenty years really helps you get some practice in both the shaving and hair cutting departments.
I finish grooming and take a minute to examine the final product in the mirror. “I know I look the same, but nothing under the surface remains from whom I used to be.”
I silently stare at my reflection for a moment as I think about the fact that when I leave this house again, I will probably never return.
I turn to Shadow asking, “You ready? I think I am.”
Shadow chirps and together we make our way downstairs where I turn off every light and lock each door, once. We make our way to the back door, and once we get into the backyard, Shadow opens a portal that will take us back to the mountain on Liferné. We walk through the portal, and I must admit that I do it with a little trepidation, but that fear is diminished when the wonderful sweet air that fills this world touches my tongue.
A group of griffins comes running up to us, and I ask, “What do you think?” I turn around in a circle saying, “I look good, right?” The griffins chirp, while Shadow only shakes his head at my display. “What? I want to look my best for Cecilia tonight. A new haircut, fresh shave, new clothes, fresh deodorant.” I take the small bag full of extra clothes and cleaning supplies and drop them on the ground. “This is not food, don’t eat it.” I look at the young griffins saying, “Especially you guys.”
As I look above, the sun’s position tells me that it is time to go, so I hop onto Shadow’s back saying, “Captain is in charge. We will be back tonight, but make sure all of you help with the tunnel. It has to be done on time.” The griffins roar as Shadow and I take off into the sky heading toward the kingdom.
This flight always takes a few hours, but it never gets boring. I know that Earth will always be home, and that its forests will always be the most beautiful places to me, but Liferné sure is something to behold. I always find something new every time we fly around this world and am filled with awe at its breathtaking beauty. Today it is a small cloud of white and orange flowers that are dancing in the wind around us. This must be how they move around the world and pollinate new patches of land.
When we get to the kingdom, I tell Shadow, “Take me to the second ring and drop me off there.” Shadow chirps, and we head out over the giant first ring that holds all the farmers and their land. Many people see us flying above and shout out to us. I simply wave back to let them know I see them.
It takes a while to cover the ring, but once we get over the thick brick wall that separates the first and second ring, Shadow dives toward the ground, where I jump off once we get close enough. I land running but quickly slow down to a walking pace.
Shadow glides up next to me, and I tell him, “Go back for now and help with the tunnel. When night falls, come back and be ready to get me out of that party.” Shadow roars before taking off into the sky. I know he will not return to the mountain. He doesn’t like to abandon me.
I keep walking and everywhere I go I see builders stopping their work to shake my hand, smile at me, give a simple nod, or do anything that reassures me that this ring belongs to Cecilia. It takes a little while, but eventually I reach the gate that the craftsmen guild controls, which will permit me entrance into the third ring.
The gate opens before I can even ask for permission, and I am greeted by the guild master I met the other day. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he says as he comes through the opening doors.
I run my hands through my hair saying, “Yea, I thought it was time to clean up a little.”
“Your contact is waiting for you at my house.”
“Perfect.”
The guild master leads me through the ring and everyone appears to be happy to see me. I shake many hands and acknowledge everyone we pass. It seems that this whole ring has thrown in with Cecilia. That gives us three rings of support. I think we can do this even without the support of the royal ring, at least I hope we can.
“Come right inside, Jacob.” The guild master opens his door, and I find Tayus sitting at the table wearing his blue robes, a symbol of his belonging to royalty.
“I told you I would be here,” Tayus tells me in his usual confident tone.
“And dressed for the occasion, I see. That should help us to get through the next ring without drawing too much attention.” I walk over and shake Tayus’ hand as he gets up from the table. “I’m ready to leave if you are.”
“We can’t go with you dressed like that.”
I look down at the yellow robe I put on before coming and say, “What? This is my clean robe.”
“The color is wrong,” Tayus tells me.
“I happen to think I look good in yellow,” I say motioning to how well the robe fits me.
I hear the guild master’s wife, who is cooking behind us, snicker.
“Commoners are adorned in yellow, Jacob.” The guild master tells me pointing to his own robe lying on top of the chair I am standing beside.
“Wear this.” Tayus hands me a purple robe embroidered with all kinds of designs running up and down the arms of the robe.
“Purple? I’m not a king.”
I put the robe on as Tayus tells me, “On our world, purple stands for the lower royals. The ones who are new, but have not established their names yet.”
“The royals even rank themselves? That is just wrong.” I say shaking my head.
I finish getting ready and ensure that my sword is firmly attached for when this whole thing goes sideways. I tell the guild master and his wife thanks for helping us out before Tayus and I depart for the fourth ring.
We casually cross the rest of the third ring, and as we approach the gate to the fourth ring, Tayus quietly tells me, “Allow me to handle all of the talking, and try to keep your head down.”
“Got it.”
We reach the front of the high, dense metal gate protecting the royals from everything below them and Tayus shouts, “Open the gates! This is Tayus, head of the royal guard and son of Pontis, the rightful king of Liferné.” He turns his head to me and whispers, “I hate having to announce that, but it does produce results.”
The large metal gates swing open, and you can hear the gears straining as they move the doors. If the living conditions were not enough, the metal wall designed to protect this royal ring should persuade anyone who thinks otherwise that Pontis clearly favors his Elite. When the Mortem Mangoners do attack, this wall will do a superb job of slowing them down, unlike the brick and wooden walls surrounding the lower rings.
“I am amazed at how different this ring is from the others. They have electricity, brick houses, personal security.” I duck my head down as a patrol of soldiers come near us. “They even have plumbing. Why should they get to keep all of this for themselves?”
“Because my father believes they are better than the other citizens of our kingdom.” Tayus plainly says.
“It can’t be that simple.”
“But it is. My father grew up in a family that despised the lower-class citizens of this great kingdom for no other reason than that they were not as wealthy as they were, and because they did not live a lifestyle that aligned with our own. There is an unhealthy perspective that has thrived for centuries within the royals of our kingdom, and that view is that if you are not one of the Elite, then your life is worthless.”
I put on my best mask that will hide the contempt I feel for these people that fall into the same line of thinking as Pontis. I cannot afford to draw any attention toward myself as we make our way closer to the castle wall.
“I miss
when my uncle, Cecilia’s father, was king,” Tayus tells me. “Things were finally heading in the right direction then. He was the one who was responsible for the engineering advancements that set this ring apart from those below. He started here where the funding was available, but he always planned to expand all you see to every part of the kingdom. This was supposed to be a small sample of what the entire kingdom was meant to become.
“You can understand how much that angered the royals. The idea that they would have to share their wealth in a manner that would benefit those they believed were not worthy infuriated them. That is why when Cecilia left, they immediately built that wall. It was easy from that point for Pontis to create the type of kingdom he always thought we should be.”
“Those walls won’t be here for much longer. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Look down while I get us inside.” Tayus and I have reached the monstrous castle walls made from the copper-like metal that the rest of the castle is constructed from.
“Who goes there?” A soldier yells from atop the one-hundred-foot wall encompassing the castle.
“Tayus!” That one name is all that is required to gain us entrance.
“Here we go,” I whisper.
Chapter 7
As the doors open, my ears quickly get bombarded by the sounds of blowing horns. “Introducing, Tayus, Son of the Most High Pontis,” a man standing in a yellow robe next to the door shouts as we walk through.
“That was quite the entrance.” I say.
“I detest these events, but at least the courtyard is stunning.”
I follow Tayus’ eyes and see the beauty he is referring to all around us. Each of the statues depicting kings and queens of old that adorn the walkway in the courtyard has been covered in simple white flowers, and the entire ruby-red walkway has been lined with torches that add a great ambiance to the darkening sky. Even the statues of griffins have been dressed up with jewels and flowers for tonight’s gala.
“How do we get in from here?”
“We walk in, Jacob.”
“Oh, okay.” Months of hiding and sneaking into houses has jaded me.
Tayus leads us to the door to the throne room and two soldiers bow to him as they allow us entrance. The large throne room has not changed since the last time I flew through here. The floor is still divided into the sections denoting the rings that make up this sham of a kingdom, and the brilliant white throne still sits in a position that declares the dominance of whoever sits in it.
Tayus notices that I stopped when we entered. “Come with me. We have to go upstairs to get to the actual party.”
I silently follow Tayus as he takes us to a hallway across from the hollow pipe-lined hallway that produces music when air flows through it. The hallway takes us to a set of winding stairs that appear as if they are constructed from pure gold. The stairs shine brightly when set against the dark blue carpet that covers the floors of the landings.
We climb the stairs, which lead us to the center of a large rectangular platform that breaks off into four different stairways at each corner. “We must take this path,” he says while pointing to the stairs on his left. “They will take us to the pyramid that is on the east side of the throne room where the party is being held.”
I am about to say something when I hear voices coming from below. I turn around and see a family of four coming our way. I quickly step behind Tayus trying to hide my face from the newcomers.
“Tayus, is that you, my boy?” asks the man in white robes with red jewels sewn into the sleeves, along with a circle of the same red jewels across his chest.
“Yes, it is. How are you doing this evening, Conner?” Tayus shakes the man’s hand, and then gives the woman next to him a kiss on the cheek.
“Do you remember my wife?”
“Of course. Lovely to see you again, Jeanette.” The woman blushes from the flattery. “Shall we proceed to the party? I would hate to keep my father waiting.” The way he speaks seems so out of character. His accent has become much heavier.
Conner begins to laugh and Tayus responds in kind by producing the most ridiculous fake laugh I have ever heard. “He does hate being made to wait.” Conner slaps Tayus on the shoulder saying, “Let’s go up.”
I let Tayus go first, while I quietly fall behind, trying to go unnoticed. We climb a few more flights of stairs to a hallway that leads toward two hand-carved doors that have what looks to be gold dust placed into every swirl. The entire hand-crafted door glistens as the soft light from the torches reflect off it.
The doors are opened for us by two more soldiers standing guard for the party. That really puts a damper on my exit strategy. We walk into the room and Tayus allows his royal friends to mingle while he waits for me to catch up.
“What do I do now?” I quietly ask.
“Stay behind me and don’t talk to anyone. You look different enough not to be noticed from afar, but these people see your face every day plastered on every wall throughout their ring. They will know you if you get too close.”
I shadow Tayus’ every move as he makes his way around the large ballroom. From outside, this room is constructed to resemble a pyramid, but from the inside, this room is just a large rectangle making up the bottom portion of the pyramid.
On any given day, this room would be nothing more than a dull place where the only accent for the eyes would be the floor, which was designed with a pearl aesthetic. However, for this ball, the royals have dressed it up with jewels hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers; flowers are hung from the walls; the tables that line the outsides of the room have small, hand-carved statues of griffins all over them; there is even one painting on a wall placed above a beautiful black brick fireplace that depicts the Flowing Range. As we move around the room, I notice the style in which the picture was painted almost makes it seem like the grass covering the mountains is moving.
As I continue to glance around the room, I see another picture on the adjacent wall that depicts the coronation of a king, which is hanging above a particularly rowdy group of royals who seem to be enjoying the drink of choice for this party. I am not sure who the king in the picture is, but there are griffins drawn standing next to him, making me think that this was one of the first kings of Liferné.
As I continue to look around the room, I notice that along each wall a soldier is standing at attention, vigilantly scanning the room. I try to figure out my exit strategy and have only come up with cowering behind Tayus.
Tayus walks toward the far-right corner of the room, and when he does, we pass a group of royals who are dancing to the soft music. In the opposite corner of the ballroom is a small six-piece musical group serenading us.
The musicians are playing string instruments that look like they came right out of a Dr. Seuss book. Each instrument is a different bright color and size. For a moment, I am mesmerized by the dancers, because their robes make them appear like they are floating across the ballroom floor as they dance in perfect harmony with the timing of the music.
Tayus gets my attention when he slaps my arm saying, “Oh no. Hide. Hide now!”
I have learned to not question him, so I quickly pivot around to get behind a waiter who is carrying a tray of brightly colored fruit. I follow him until I get to the rowdy royals over by the bar. I stay on the outside of their circle, which gives me the advantage of seeing Tayus hug his father.
“I was starting to worry that you might not come, son. You know how much I hate when you are late to our parties.” Pontis says all of this with a smile, but there is a noticeably angry undertone when he speaks.
“I apologize, Father, but I was merely out doing my job.” Tayus struggles to keep the warm smile on his face.
“And your job could not wait until after this party? You know how important this night is to your family.” Pontis is now talking through his forced smile.
Tayus lowers his head before saying, “I know what tonight means to YOU, Father. I am truly sorry for
showing up later than you wanted, and I hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course he can forgive you, Tayus.” A woman wearing the same fashion of blue robes as Pontis comes up beside him and kisses him gently on the cheek. “He is the one who sent you on that horrid mission to find and kill Jacob and his beast.”
“Just because I gave him that order doesn’t mean he can embarrass me on this momentous night. This is not the way the son of a King behaves.” Pontis cannot hide the frustration on his face.
The woman gracefully moves over and puts one arm around Tayus saying, “This is not the time to berate our son, Pontis. If anything,” she begins to raise her voice to be heard over the noisy party, “you should reward him for risking his life to bring that murderous off-worlder and his beast to justice!” The rest of the room takes notice of her declaration and they respond by cheering and applauding Tayus for his courageous undertaking.
“My son was given the task to rid our city, our world, of the one who is trying to destroy everything we have built to make this kingdom wonderful and beautiful. This Jacob would have our walls torn down and subject us to living on equal footing as those in the lower rings, and I don’t know about you, but I am not willing to place myself on the same level as those kinds of people.”
The room begins to cheer louder and even the dancers have stopped to listen to this absurd and degrading speech. Pontis moves over to stand next to his wife and son proclaiming, “She is right! We are the royals, the Elite of this world, and we must stand together against the man who is trying to tear us down. He would have you share what you have earned with those less fortunate and allow them to think that they are our equals. But fear not! For my son, Tayus, will find Jacob and he will kill him. We will be safe and our utopian kingdom will continue to exist.”
Again, the room erupts into cheers. The atmosphere in this room makes me sick. I swiftly move around the group of raucous royals and make my way to the door. If Cecilia does not show up soon, I will have to try and get out of here unnoticed.
