Rich nodded groggily, just barely able to keep himself awake. “So, why did you do it? Probably not just because I’m such a great guy.”
Nadia snorted. “I couldn’t let you take all the glory, could I?”
“Not that anyone is going to believe you,” Joe said.
“Yeah, but I’ll know, and so will Rich. I don’t care about anyone else.”
Her face suddenly flushed, and she stumbled over her words for a moment. “I mean…you know what I mean.”
They all fell silent and heard the sound of approaching sirens. Rich opened his eyes a little wider and spoke to Joe. “I didn’t think I’d see any of you at the fair, but I’m really surprised to see you, Joe. Does the rest of the football team know?”
Joe gave Rich a look like a shoe about to crush a bug. “They will now, thanks to you. There’s a reason I wear a helmet to these things.” Unexpectedly, his face softened, and he sighed. “Whatever, man. I don’t really care anymore. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel pretty bad about what I’ve done to you. It all seems pretty stupid now.”
Joe glanced from side to side, as if to check for any eavesdroppers in the bushes. “I guess what I mean to say is…I’m…sorry.”
Rich met Joe’s eyes and knew instantly that he was sincere. “Apology accepted. I’ll try to stop being so weird, and maybe you’ll be less tempted to beat it out of me in the future. I’m thinking contact lenses or something. I’d like to see anyone punch those out.”
At this, all four of them laughed heartily and had to stop when Rich realized how much laughing affected his injured ribs.
It was then that Rich noticed the ribbon. It was dark blue, like the kind their high school’s cheerleaders wore with their uniforms. It lay limp and tattered across his lap. Rich reached down and picked up the ribbon between two fingers. He studied it, wondering if it was some kind of trick.
Rich inhaled deeply, and tears welled up in his eyes. He’d know that sweet scent anywhere. Rich clamped his eyes shut to hide his embarrassingly potent feelings. So she had admitted defeat after all. He opened his eyes to slits and deliberately looked over each shoulder. Mallory was nowhere to be seen.
The police and the paramedics arrived quickly and whisked Rich off for his second hospital visit that week. He lay on the stretcher in the ambulance, and Aaron’s face drifted into his subconscious. He wondered what Aaron’s disappearance meant, and if he’d see him again anytime soon. He wished he’d made good on his promise to get Aaron a gallon of chocolate milk. Maybe they’d have it where he was going.
Though Rich didn’t fully understand what Aaron had done, he knew that it must have been a huge sacrifice. Lying alone in his hospital room, Rich closed his eyes and whispered so no one heard, “Thank you, Aaron. Thank you.”
Chapter 14: Sir Rich
Rich stood in the armor he had earned at the head of the paladin table. Along the length of the table stood dozens of knights and their companions. In front of him stood his grandmother Minerva in a splendid yellow gown, her hair done up in a golden tiara. Next to her stood a man he’d thought he’d never see again—his grandfather, dressed in a new set of full battle armor and a golden crown to match his wife’s.
A pageboy dressed in green appeared at his side carrying a sword, long, slender, and practically glowing with energy. Its blade was covered with engravings and tiny inlaid jewels, which shifted colors in the light. It was the sword Rich had seen on the table just a few days before.
His grandfather lifted the sword ceremoniously and held it suspended in the air. Rich knelt before him and bowed his head. “Heinrich Wulfrich Witz,” his grandfather said solemnly, “I hereby dub you Sir Heinrich the Paladin and bestow upon you all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of our family.”
He tapped Rich on one shoulder with the blade and continued, “Do you accept this mantle of your own free will and choice?”
“I do,” Rich said.
His grandfather raised the sword and tapped him on the other shoulder. “Then rise, Sir Heinrich, and may your journeys be bright.” Rich rose, and his grandfather put a new chess piece in his hand—a brilliant white knight.
Rich replaced the pawn in his talisman with the knight, and the room erupted in applause.
They sat down then for a feast, the likes of which Rich had never seen. He didn’t recognize most of the food, but he didn’t care. He had stayed a solid week in the hospital following his fight with the Hydra, and the hospital food had made him think he’d never enjoy a meal again.
Knight after knight rose to offer their congratulations, and Rich accepted them graciously. St. George himself came and stood next to him, a curious gleam in his eye. “I say, dear boy. Is it really true that you slew your dragon with, well…a beverage?”
Rich shrugged and gave a thin smile. “Yeah, lemonade. It didn’t kill it completely, though it did help soften it up a bit.”
A red-faced knight with a nearly empty goblet raised his glass and interjected, “Never underestimate the power of a drink. I bet this one’s slain more than dragons.”
They all laughed as the tipsy knight attempted to raise the goblet to his lips, miscalculated, and fell theatrically from his chair. In a matter of seconds, St. George returned his attention to Rich. “Very well, my boy, but what are you going to do next? You certainly have a promising journey ahead of you.”
Rich looked around the table to his grandparents and then back at St. George. “I think the time has finally come for a little family reunion. I think we’d like to see that.”
Murmured agreements rose from all around the table. Rich’s face fell a bit. “But that means getting into the Corridor of Keys. I need to find something that will act as the first key.”
Minerva beamed and clapped to summon a pagegirl standing only a few feet away. She whispered a few instructions in her ear, and the girl scampered off to return a few minutes later with a small red pouch. She passed the pouch to Rich, who looked it over curiously.
“Open it,” Minerva said. “I think you’ll recognize it.”
Rich slid his hand into the pouch, and his fingers fastened around the object inside. He drew it out and gasped. There in his hands was his missing Mickey Mantle rookie card in a plastic case. “Where did you find this?”
“Oh, Aaron helped with that. You know that day he left you alone? He went on quite the search to find it. It looks like someone sold it, and he had to track it down through a series of transactions. Don’t ask me how he got the new owner to part with it.”
Rich paused for a moment, imagining Aaron poking around baseball card stores, and he had to laugh. His face darkened a second later. Who had sold his card? His mother was the only other one who knew about it.
“Follow the instructions your mother gave you for using this key, and you’ll be fine,” Minerva said. “After that, I’m afraid no one knows.”
Rich nodded, straightened up in his chair. “So, when do we go?”
His grandparents smiled at each other and then back at Rich. “Only after you have a well-deserved good night’s rest,” said his grandfather.
Rich sat back in his chair and reveled in the warmth, the safety, and the love that wrapped around him tighter than he could have ever imagined.
Chapter 15: Behind Every Good Knight
Arlenen came to Rich again that night with a warm smile on his ancient face. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“Perhaps you are wondering why I keep visiting you.”
In fact, Rich had been wondering that for quite some time. Aaron had not gotten around to telling him, and in the excitement of the feast, he had forgotten to ask anyone else.
“Yeah
, I was.” He straightened and looked Arlenen right in the eyes. “I think I’m entitled to a few answers after all this.”
Arlenen’s smile didn’t fade. “Indeed you are. Let me first say that it is a strange coincidence that I met you when I did. Most do not meet me until sometime later in life, and certainly not at the same time as their initial quest.”
“Aaron said there’s a certain event that happens before you come, and that he never made it there.”
“Yes. That was unfortunate.” Arlenen clapped his hands, and the mists around them sprang to life in a montage of colorful images. Each image showed a knight with a woman, showing each other affection—embracing, kissing, dancing, and speaking tenderly. Rich suddenly felt as if he’d accidentally stumbled into the romance section of a bookstore or part of a Disney movie. The images swirled around him like bubbles on the wind, and one in particular settled directly in front of them. It depicted his grandmother and grandfather, much younger and sitting together in a shady clearing, talking, laughing, and stealing the occasional kiss.
The whole scene gave Rich a sort of sinking feeling. “Uh, this is…interesting. But what does it have to do with me?”
Arlenen leaned closer to the scene in the mist and lost himself with a nostalgic smile. “I brought them all together.”
Rich glanced around at the swirling scenes, his unease rising to the panic level. “You aren’t like Cupid’s great-great-grandfather, are you?”
Arlenen laughed heartily, his old eyes wrinkling with mirth. “No, no, no, but in our family, behind every good knight, there must also be an equally good woman.”
Rich couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He’d always pictured matchmakers as bumbling old women in homespun shawls.
“Heinrich, I come to a knight once he’s met the girl he’s going to marry.”
Rich coughed. Marriage? Nothing could be farther from his mind. Especially after this week. He’d had the closest thing in his life to having a girlfriend, and the experience had nearly killed him.
“Uh, well …cool, I guess,” Rich said. “I’m going to guess that you’re not going to just, you know, drop her name, would you?”
Arlenen shook his head and waved his hands to dispel the sickeningly sweet images. “No, but I am here to help you. It is up to you to discover her identity for yourself, but I will give you support and guidance. I have helped you during your quest because it was an essential stepping stone on your way to finding her.”
Rich gripped the sides of his head as if it threatened to spin off. He was supposed to be getting a good night’s rest, and now it would be completely impossible. Sensing his distress, Arlenen descended from his usual lofty position and placed a massive hand on Rich’s shoulder.
“This is a great deal to consider, I know, but it is also a life’s work—it does not need to be done overnight. This process is especially critical for our family, as the proper companion can be essential to a knight’s success. Together, you must lead the order and produce heirs who can carry on the family line. They must also be willing to adopt the risks that come with our lifestyle, and I can help with that.”
“This is a little much. You know I’m only in junior high, right?”
Arlenen lifted his hand, and the mists started curling around him, obscuring his face. “You can do this, Heinrich. Do not think of it as something that you must check off a list, but the beginning of a glorious journey you’ll take your whole life through. Don’t worry. This is only the beginning. You are not expected to start planning the wedding just yet.”
The mists surged, and both Rich and Arlenen vanished.
Rich sat straight up in bed. He took a minute to catch his breath and then lay back down, eyes wide open. He stared at the ceiling, and one by one, went through practically every girl he’d ever known.
Angela? he thought. She’s nice, but I think she just kind of feels sorry for me. She is pretty enough, though, and smart.
He shook his head and continued cycling through. His mind soon settled on the most unlikely choice of all.
Nadia? I mean, she is a girl, and about my same age. But she can barely stand me. And she’s so bossy.
He shook his head even harder. That would really be the day.
At last, he stopped trying, figuring that he might stay a bachelor for quite some time.
Unable to sleep, he rose, switched on a table lamp, and knelt by his modeling table. He brought out the scene he’d been working on earlier in the week, with the scene of the white knight and the black knight galloping through the forest. He removed the figures and instead selected two others.
The first was a brown-haired knight without his helmet, and the second, a fair-haired maiden in a flowing white dress. He chose a large tree near the center of the forest and placed them together. Curiously, they fit perfectly and seemed content just to be close to one another.
He resisted the temptation to add any ogres, goblins, or wizards to the scene. Instead, he left them blissfully alone, in the first scene he’d ever done of that type. He considered it for a full minute without taking his eyes away from the couple. All at once, his heart swelled with longing. He wanted that someday. Wanted it to be real and to mean something.
Someday. Maybe. It’s going to be a while.
He sighed, switched off the light, and returned to his bed. Before he drifted back off to sleep, a saying his mother had often used drifted across his mind. It matters not how rough the road, but who’s with you to share the load.
Someday.
EPILOGUE
Phillip’s sour mood felt as out of place to him as a daffodil in a rose garden. He sat in the deep velvet armchair by the fire, staring intently into the flames and stroking his neatly trimmed beard. He drank a glass of water and said nothing, content to stare and think.
There was a knock at the door, and a worried feminine voice. “Come in,” Phillip said.
His wife, Berjye, entered the room carrying a tray of food. “Come, Phillip. You must eat something. What has come over you today?”
Phillip shook his head and said nothing for a long moment. “It…it is strange. I feel all out of sorts today. Someone has been on my mind today whom I haven’t thought of in quite some time. What’s more, I think I had forgotten that I’d forgotten him.”
Berjye set the food down on a low table next to her husband, knelt in front of him, and took his hands. “What is this person like? Do I know him?”
“He’s a young boy. A slight little lad with brown hair and spectacles. As I recall, he had a wonderful sense of humor and an even better smile.”
Berjye studied her husband’s face, her own lost in confusion. “None of our children wear spectacles, so I don’t think I know anyone like that. Who is he?”
Phillip released his wife’s hands and stood by the fire, resting his hand on the mantelpiece. “I think,” he began, leaning heavily on the mantle as if to support a great weight. “I think he’s my son.”
Berjye dropped Phillip’s hands and shook her head. “Your son? Not one of ours? What do you mean?
Phillip fixed her gaze with his dark eyes. “My dear, I must have had a life before I came to be here. Just because I cannot remember it does not mean it did not exist. Whatever the reason, I think the memories are trickling back to me.”
His wife wrinkled her nose. “Sounds like someone had too much to eat at dinner.”
Phillip shook his head. “I’m serious, Berjye. I know you don’t like the fact, but what if I really did have another family before I came here? Before I stumbled into this haven from the maze? Who knows how long I’ve been away from my former life? I need answers, my dear. I cannot be at peace until I have them.”
>
Berjye clasped her husband’s hands again. “We are your family now, no matter what happened in the past. If you go, what’s to say you’ll make it back? Then we will be without you as well.”
Phillip embraced his wife, and her head dropped to his shoulder. “You are imprinted on my heart. I will always find my way back here. I will return to you, I promise.”
Berjye pulled back and studied her husband through teary eyes. “When will you go?”
Phillip sank back into his chair and stared into the fire. “Soon, I think. I don’t sleep well, I cannot concentrate. I need to figure this out. I hope you understand—I’ll come back a better man.”
He reached into his shirt and withdrew a talisman hung on a silver chain. It consisted of a silver cage containing a tarnished white rook piece. “Perhaps I might finally find out what this means.”
1About the Author:
2
Michael Young is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Western Governor’s University with degrees in German teaching, music, and instructional design. He puts his German to good use teaching online German courses for high school students. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and his two sons. Michael enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music, and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
He is the author of the novels the Canticle Kingdom series, the Last Archangel series, and the Chess Quest series. He also authors several web serials through BigWorldNetwork.com and publishes anthologies for charity in his Advent Anthologies series. He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights, Meridian, The New Era, Allegory, and Ensign.
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