Liking how the woman’s mind worked, the king walked over to the hearth and selected a piece of kindling from the wood bin. He handed it to Steve.
“Burn this.”
Handing the book to the king, Steve walked over to the hearth and studied the burning fire. “I’ll restore it in just a sec, okay?”
The king nodded.
The flames in the fireplace went out with a soft whoosh. He held the kindling in his favored right hand and ignited the flames. He studied the thin piece of wood. Okay, sucker, burn. Suddenly red flames were mixing with the soft blue flames of his hand. The stick started to darken. Looking over his shoulder to verify no one was close, Steve focused on the burning piece of wood and sent a strong order to his jhorun: I want this stick burned to ash. Now.
With a flash of fire, the piece of kindling shriveled to a charred remnant of its former self. Seconds later, it crumbled into ash. Extinguishing the fire, he clapped his hands together, sending the last bits of ash into the hearth.
“How was that?”
The king was smiling. “Impressive. Very impressive.”
“That was awesome!” Sarah grinned at him. “That stick crumbled like those cartoon cigarettes do when they burn up suddenly.”
Mikal approached timidly, having seen what his new ‘protectors’ were capable of doing. No more eye-rolling here!
Sarah yawned suddenly. A long, drawn-out yawn that had her slapping her hands over her mouth.
“I am so sorry.”
“Nay, ye and yer husband have nothing to be sorry for. The two of ye had a long journey thus far. Go, rest now. We will talk more on the morrow.”
“Thank you, your majesties,” Steve said. He looked at Mikal, still staring at him with those bright, blue eyes. “Until tomorrow, sport.” He looked back at the hearth. The fire blazed back up as though nothing had transpired.
Sarah leaned close to the boy, whispering, “Don’t move for about ten seconds. I’ll put your slingshot back.” And in a louder voice, “Nice to meet you Mikal. See you tomorrow!”
Mikal grinned up at her. “Nice to meet you, too. Good night!”
As Sarah turned to follow Steve out of the room, she restored the slingshot back to its rightful owner, but not before hearing the queen ask her son what he thought of his new guardians.
“For old people, they are pretty cool.”
After Tristan escorted them back to their quarters (again), Steve collapsed onto the bed. Moments later he had sprung back up when he realized he had just laid on something lumpy. What was this?
“What’s the matter?”
“Did you know this was here?”
“Did I know what was here?”
Steve held up several piles of clothes. He unfolded a dark green doublet, with a pair of khaki trousers underneath. He held them up to himself. Damn, looks like they’d fit! Sarah looked at the second pile of clothes. There were several other folded doublets, all green, with several more pairs of trousers. All fitted for Steve.
“Apparently you get a new wardrobe,” Sarah commented.
“What about you?” Steve asked. Before she could respond, he caught sight of a couple of doors that were slightly ajar on the far wall. Walking over to the doors he pulled them open, revealing a large, walk-in closet with no fewer than twenty gowns in it. All in various shades of green. And, if he wasn’t mistaken, all would fit Sarah perfectly. Grinning that smug smile of his, Steve glanced over at his wife. She was busy inspecting one of his new doublets when Steve cleared his throat. Looking up at him, and then following his gaze into the closet, she stared open-mouthed at her new wardrobe selections.
“Who-o-a-a! Look at that! Where did those all come from?”
“I’d say from our gracious hosts. Guess we get to dress the part tomorrow.” Steve cracked another smile. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?”
****
Looking at his many reflections as they passed numerous mirrors on their way to the Great Hall, Steve couldn’t help but feel as though he was one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men. Dark green tunic, khaki trousers, and brown leather boots. All he needed to complete the picture was a hat. With a big feather. He chuckled. At least the material was comfortable and lightweight. Sarah was incredibly fetching in her floor-length gown. As with his new clothes, her dress was a lightweight material as well, with several swirl-type gold designs on the bodice. He wanted to inspect the designs a bit closer, but that sort of thing could wait. Don’t want to give off the wrong impression amongst their new friends.
Together, they walked into the Great Hall (without Tristan’s help – Sarah had watched him intently the last couple of times they had been escorted from their room) and looked around. There were general murmurings everywhere as people conversed with one another over what today’s activities would bring, whether the weather would hold for the harvesting of the crops, and so on.
Sarah selected an empty table off to the side and sat down. Steve sat down at the other side and looked around.
Noting that the Nohrin were finally sitting, Tristan caught the eye of the head of the kitchen staff. The soldier looked pointedly at the young couple then back at the king’s chef. Several other servants gathered behind her. Is that them? Her eyes asked. Tristan nodded. Yes, take care of them.
The king’s personal chef selected her most efficient server, a young peasant woman, and whispered instructions to her. The girl darted off at once to the table where Steve and Sarah sat.
“So, I wonder how we go about getting something to-”
At this time the servant girl arrived. She introduced herself as Julia, and very politely inquired what they would like for breakfast. Certain that a glass of cranberry juice and a bagel with cream cheese were out of the question, Sarah went with their waitress’ opinion. “Julia, what do you like to have for breakfast?”
Surprised to have her opinion asked of her, Julia paused a moment as she thought about it. “I like to have a glass or two of tara juice, with a chedra.” Julia smiled. “Maybe two.”
Steve leaned forward. “What’s a chedra? What’s in it?”
“Bread and cheese, mostly.”
“Is tara some type of a berry?” Sarah wanted to know.
“Aye, they are small red berries that grow in the southern valley.”
“Okay, then, I’ll have a glass of tara juice and I’ll try one of those chedras. Thanks Julia.”
Uncertain whether or not these chedras would actually fill him up, Steve hesitated. Sarah, knowing her husband well, spoke up. “My husband would like something heartier. What would you suggest? What do the soldiers usually have in the morning?”
Certain she would be reprimanded if she suggested gruel and sausage for the famous Nohrin, Julia looked quickly over to her supervisor. Watching intently, the chef was ready with her response: Give them whatever they want.
At that moment, Mikal came running up to them and joined them at their table.
“Good morning to ye!” he said to his newfound comrade-at-arms. “And to ye,” he added to Steve.
“Mornin’!”
“Good morning, Mikal,” Sarah said. She looked at the bright boy before them, an idea occurring to her. “Listen, we could use your help.”
“Sure, anything!” Eager to please, his enthusiastic response made them both smile.
“My husband was wondering what to have for breakfast. We don’t know what’s good here, and he usually has a large breakfast. What do you think he’d like?”
Mikal thought a moment, and then looked at Julia. “Bring him some sheppard pie. I bet he’d like that.”
Doing his best to act as nonchalant as possible, Steve inquired what was in it, knowing full well what was in the Irish version he was familiar with.
“It’s a pastry type of thing,” Mikal explained. “It has meat, some cheese, and-”
Steve slapped him on the back. “Sold!” He looked at Julia. “I’ll have some of that sheppard pie.” Deciding to risk the tara juice, he also
ordered a glass.
Mikal, wanting to impress his new friends, also ordered the sheppard pie with a glass of tara juice.
Across the Great Hall, the queen stood, watching silently. Her precious son was laughing and having his morning meal with his new protectors. They were getting along spectacularly, she mused. Her husband came up behind her.
“What are ye doing?”
Putting her fingers to her lips, she shushed him and pointed to where their son sat, eating his breakfast.
“Mikal has taken to them very fast. They are quite good with children.”
****
“So tell me about your jhorun,” Steve said amiably to Mikal, as they walked outside into the fresh air. “We heard something about you enhancing other peoples’ jhorun. How does that work?”
“My jhorun is so lame that even a troll would laugh,” Mikal said miserably. For the umpteenth time he wished his jhorun was something different. “I can make someone’s jhorun stronger.” He eyed Steve. “Want me to enhance yer jhorun to try it out?” Another pyrotechnical demonstration would be an awesome way to brighten the day!
“I’ll take a rain check on that,” Steve muttered. “It’d be my luck that I’d blow up half the castle. As curious as I am to give that a try, I still have to learn how to control mine better. I’m still learning new things all the time.”
“Like what?” the boy wanted to know.
“For instance, last night. I thought for certain I had burned you. I didn’t realize I wouldn’t burn something I was touching if I didn’t want it to. Makes me wonder what else I can do and not know it.” Steve looked down at his new shadow. “Does that make sense to you?”
“Sure, by the time people here are yer age, they already have their jhoruns figured out.”
Sarah stifled a giggle. Steve glanced over to his wife. “Find that funny, do you? Snot.”
Wanting to change the subject before Mikal started asking more questions, Steve asked if their young friend might be able to show them around.
“I am under orders not to leave the castle without an armed escort,” Mikal complained, “but that does not mean I can not show ye around the perimeter. Not much to see. It’s rather dreary.”
Sarah laughed. “Says you! You live in a castle! In our world, there aren’t many castles around. We’d love to learn more about this one. I have a good friend back home, Lia, that absolutely loves castles. I want to be able to tell her as much as I can remember when I see her next.”
“Alright, follow me then.” He walked over to the moat and started walking along the water’s edge. “Bredo lives in there. He’s nice.”
“Did you say a burrito lives in there?” Steve asked, certain he had heard that wrong.
“Bredo is the serpent that guards the moat.”
“A snake? How big?”
“The largest I have ever laid eyes on. Ye do not want to go in there.” Mikal laughed. “A villager lost several bolgers in there once. Bredo got ‘em before they made it out. Wish I could have seen it.”
Making a mental note to not take a dip in the moat, Steve walked on, following his wife and their new friend. A sudden thought had him calling out to their small tour guide.
“Hey Mikal!”
Mikal glanced behind him, slowing his pace so Steve could catch up.
“Your father mentioned something about making an area specifically for use by dragons.”
Mikal nodded. He knew of the large area in the northern orchard. “Why do ye want to see that? It is boring.”
“Steve is fascinated by dragons,” Sarah explained. “If it were up to him he’d seek out the closest one and hop on its back.”
Mikal turned to give Steve an appraising stare. “Ye want to ride a dragon? Ye would not last long.”
“So I’ve heard,” Steve said. “I’d just like to see one.”
Walking alongside the young prince, Mikal started telling them all kinds of stories. Stories about adventures he and his friends had undertaken. All of his stories had the same theme: tales on how he was unjustly grounded for numerous happenings he really didn’t have a part in. They also learned that Mikal was extremely dissatisfied with his jhorun. Apparently it wasn’t considered very cool to have a jhorun that couldn’t physically manifest itself. “What fun is that?” he muttered darkly.
“I think it’s a very practical and powerful jhorun,” Sarah said quickly. “Being able to boost the strength of anyone’s jhorun must be incredibly useful.”
“Ye sound just like my mother,” Mikal accused.
“Sounds like your mom is pretty smart, huh?”
Mikal snorted. “She’s smart for a grown-up.” Remembering Sarah’s help from the night before, he looked over at the foreign woman. “Thanks again for hiding my slingshot for me. Had mom or dad caught me with that it would have been confiscated until I was old enough to marry. How did ye do that, anyway?”
“My jhorun is teleportation,” Sarah said. “Like yours, my jhorun won’t manifest itself either.”
“Teleportation? So ye can move things around?” He mulled that over a moment. “So that’s how ye kept getting the ring back without taking it out of my pocket.”
Sarah nodded.
They continued walking for another ten minutes, moving well past the outer castle garrison. Large fruit trees had been planted about three meters apart in rows of ten, of what type Sarah couldn’t say. She studied the heavily laden trees. She then stooped down to the ground to pick up one of the half-rotten fruits, rotating it in her hand. This one resembled a fat purple pear. She held it out to Mikal.
“What type of fruit is this?”
Mikal glanced over at her. “That is a jansa.” He pointed to the next grove of trees, with a round, yellowish citrus-type of fruit hanging from the branches. “Those are sidah. And those are loken,” gesturing to what looked like elongated red bananas in the next grove over. “The best tasting are the sidah. I do not care for loken. Jansa is also good, but messy.”
Leaving the grove of loken trees behind, the trio came upon the recently created dragon lair. Steve was unimpressed. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, only that he figured there should be more than what they found. Bare, rocky terrain with a few large trees in the distance met his eyes. The only vegetation dotting the landscape was small, chalky green bushes that were trying to grow in the stony earth. The one odd thing, though, was that there was an enormous mounded section of earth that was swelling gently upwards, as if an underground giant was pushing straight up.
Looking around, Steve was discouraged. It’s rather sparse, he thought. You’d think the king could have done better than this for the dragons.
That thought vanished from his head as they approached a mound of rocks and discovered it to be an opening to a vast tunnel angling steeply downhill. Steve’s mouth opened in shock. Look at the size of this tunnel! You could drive two semis side-by-side down this thing with room to spare. How big are these dragons anyway?
“What’s down there? Think we can take a look?”
“My father hollowed out a large cavern down there,” Mikal explained. “That’s why the ground here looks like someone is pushing up from below.”
“The mound is the roof of the cavern?” Steve whistled. That must be some cavern! He guesstimated it to be roughly three thousand meters square.
Sarah turned to Steve. “I don’t want to go down there. It looks really dark, sweetie. Can we look at another time?”
Looking longingly at the dark tunnel before them, he shrugged and turned to go.
Suddenly four men wearing dark clothing came boiling out of the depths of the cavern. Sarah screamed a warning, grabbed Mikal, and held him close.
“Grab ‘em! Quickly now!” the leader barked to the henchman closest to Steve. Before he even realized what was happening, a thug had him in a bone-splitting bear hug. Thick, muscled arms held him firmly in place. “As long as ye have him close, he cannot harm ye!”
With Steve incapacitated, the tw
o remaining thugs menacingly approached Sarah, who had shoved Mikal behind her.
In a surprisingly calm voice, Steve addressed his assailant. “You have one chance, buddy, to let go and haul ass outta here.”
Laughing heartily, the leader of the motley gang turned back to his victim. “Gag that scum, now!” He returned his attention to the two thugs who were approaching Sarah and Mikal.
“Will ye hurry up? We need to get out of here! Just kill the woman and grab the prince. Go!”
In one swift, fluid motion a goon had an arrow fitted to his bowstring. He pulled back and took aim at Sarah. But before the arrow could be released, it vanished, the bow following shortly thereafter. Dropping his now empty arms down to his side, the dimwitted thug looked to his boss for the next set of instructions.
Their leader, however, never got a chance to say a word, for in that moment, high-pitched screams pierced the air. The thug restraining Steve had just discovered he was holding a six foot three, white-hot poker. While Steve’s clothing remained unaffected by the sudden appearance of the searing heat, his unfortunate assailant’s apparel instantly burst into flames. Tattered bits of flaming cloth fluttered off the wailing thug, who desperately tried rolling on the ground to extinguish himself. Not making any headway, he then sprinted the ten or so meters to dive into the northern tip of the moat. Unfortunately for him, the largest serpent in captivity was waiting.
Snarling in anger, the leader leapt towards Steve, intending to do him in as quickly as possible.
Intense hatred permeated Steve’s body, causing his jhorun to also seethe in anger. Realizing his jhorun was clamoring to be released, Steve flung out his arm, palm facing out, as though he was performing a traffic stop. A jet of pure fire erupted from his hand and hit the approaching mercenary square in the chest. Clothing incinerated in a flash. Screaming in pain, the engulfed man threw himself into the moat as well. Liking cooked food just as well as raw, Bredo flicked his tongue in the direction of his barbecued snack and hurried to retrieve it before it sank all the way to the bottom.
Behind them, back inside the castle, Steve could hear soldiers talking and laughing with one another, completely oblivious to their predicament. Sarah and Mikal were in danger. He needed some help and he needed it now. Raising his left hand, he shot three jets of fire straight up. That should get someone’s attention, Steve thought. Now to deal with these last two pricks. There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone so much as lay a finger on his wife or the young prince. Scowling, Steve turned to face his two remaining opponents.
Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy Page 21
