The King's Folly

by Robin Simmons

  It was now spring and the weather was warmer, with flowers blooming on the plains. His life with Rebekka was wonderful, far better than he had thought possible. She was such a compliment to his character, filling in the needed deficiencies in him as if God had planned it that way from the beginning. He smiled at the thought of the truth he now realized. The Creator had fashioned marriage to be this way, but too many never realized the potential a man and woman offered each other in this bond. Raven felt very fortunate to be one of the lucky people on earth to have such a good wife. He realized that Rebekka was a great queen and good for Glenfair, but she was far more valuable to him as a wife than a queen. He vowed at that moment to never take for granted that she was first his wife and only secondly belonged to the kingdom. As he thought on these things, he realized now more than ever that he had to solve the second riddle before the summer feast. If he waited too long, the demands of the feasts and his appearances at each dukeship would bring him clear into fall once again.

  At that moment, Rebekka came up to him and looking on his face asked, “What are you contemplating?” Before he could answer, she shook her head knowingly and said, “The second riddle of the ancients. We must take care of that soon or the feasts will be upon us, and the next thing we will know, it will be fall or winter again.”

  How did she do that? Raven wondered. It was as if she could always figure out what he was thinking and answer appropriately.

  “Yes,” Raven said aloud, “We will have to take care of that soon or time will get away from us.”

  Rebekka came over and sat down next to the king, “It consumes you, does it not? We will have to go or you will never have peace.”

  How did she see these things so clearly in his life? He hugged her close and she yielded to his embrace, adding a hug of her own. He loved her so much more than he ever would have thought possible.

  It was getting on toward evening so they both retired and lay down to sleep. As he thought of the second ancient riddle, the haze of sleep began to take him and he dreamed for the second time of an impossible palace, beautiful like glass, high above all that was in the kingdom where the wisdom of the ancients was stored and kept.

  Terry Rollins came quickly into his father’s private study.

  His father stopped what he was doing and asked, “Do you have the report?”

  “Yes, Father,” Terry replied. “It is not good. Five people have died and more are sick.” Then he hesitantly said, “It is the ancient plague, Father. We do not know how but it has returned to curse us once again. How, after hundreds of years can it be upon us again?”

  “I do not know,” Jasper Rollins said, “but we must act quickly for the safety of the whole kingdom of Glenfair. We must seal off our pass and close our borders in the kingdom. No one is to leave until the plague is over.”

  Now Terry was frightened, “What if we all get sick. Who will help us then? Who will come to our aid?”

  Jasper did not answer right away, but finally said, “No one can help us. We are at the mercy of God in times like these. It happened to our dukeship once before, six hundred years ago. Many lost their lives then but we survived. We shall survive again. I must draft a letter to the Crestlaws, they are the closest, to advise them of the danger we face and to warn the rest of the kingdom not to come here. You must send it by courier but he is not to stop and talk to anyone. He is only to throw the note to the guards at the Crestlaw pass and ride away quickly. Do you understand?”

  Terry nodded and left to give the orders to close off the pass and their borders for quarantine and then returned to take the letter his father had written to a waiting courier giving him his father’s instructions.

  Jasper thought as he sat at his desk, First the war, then the king’s death, and now this. We have been cursed with adversity as of late.

  Andrew was awakened out of his sleep by a very vivid dream. He looked over at Lorriel and she was tossing and mumbling as well. He shook her and she awoke, sat up and looked into his eyes.

  “I have had an impossible dream,” Andrew said to Lorriel. “I have to tell you what it was. Raven, Rebekka, you and I were in this wonderful place, like a garden, and there was a building of glass that contained the wisdom of the ancients.”

  Lorriel’s mouth dropped open and she said, “I too was dreaming of the same place, and I had the same dream once last year. Do you think it has something to do with the ancient’s place above Brickens' Falls?”

  “I most certainly do,” Andrew said. “Only what, I do not know. We must journey there with Rebekka and Raven before the summer feast, or otherwise I fear the king will not have the time until winter. Maybe we should send for them to come as soon as they can get away so we can find out what all this means.”

  At that moment came a knock forcefully at their door. It was Sauron calling to Andrew. As Lorriel made herself presentable, Andrew went to answer the door. When he opened it, Sauron came in with his face white and ashen.

  You could hear the fear in his voice as he spoke, “A courier has come from the Rollins Dukeship and thrown a note to the guards at the main guard housing. He then rode away quickly before anyone could talk to him.”

  Andrew, seeing the fear in his father asked, “Is it war again, Father?”

  “No,” Sauron said sadly, “another enemy has struck us, the plague.”

  “Are you sure?” Andrew asked, and now Lorriel was listening intently.

  “Here is the note,” Sauron responded as he handed it over to Andrew.

  Andrew read the note with Lorriel looking over his shoulder and reading as well. It described how in the northeast corner of the Rollins Dukeship five people had died and about a dozen animals so far. It also mentioned that many more people were already getting sick, and the symptoms were an unquenchable thirst with no fever, then terrible bruising followed by vomiting, then bleeding from the mouth and ears and finally death. At that moment Lorriel went limp and fell to the floor, surprising Andrew and Sauron. They lifted her and placed her on the bed, calling for the servants to bring some water.

  As Lorriel was coming to, Sauron said to Andrew, “This was the same plague her mother died from.”

  Now Andrew realized why Lorriel fainted as she read the letter, and a great sympathy filled him for the memory that came rushing back to haunt her. As Lorriel sat up and drank a little water, Andrew asked Sauron what could be done.

  “Nothing,” he replied. The borders of Rollins Dukeship had already been sealed off. No one was to be let in or out. They would try to keep the plague confined to the northeast portion of the kingdom. All they could do was wait for it to run its course and pray that it did not move to other parts of the kingdom.

  Now Andrew took charge, “We must send word right away to the king and let him know what has happened and to the other dukeships as well.”

  Sauron nodded and went to awaken the couriers that would ride south to inform the king and others.

  After he left, Andrew turned to Lorriel, “I am sorry that this has brought memories back of a painful time for you.”

  “I am all right now,” Lorriel said. “It just shocked me so hard that I went numb all over. Now I feel for the poor people of our kingdom who have died and will die. I wish Raven were here. I am frightened of what is going to happen.”

  “I am scared, too,” Andrew said as he pulled her close to him. A plague is an enemy you cannot fight or face with a sword.

  Raven sat bolt upright in bed. He knew that the dream had come right as he fell asleep. He looked over at Rebekka and she was tossing and turning, mumbling in her sleep.

  He woke her and she sat up in bed as well and looked strangely at Raven saying, “I was having the most unusual dream. Andrew, Lorriel, you and I were high up above the kingdom in a beautiful garden, and there was this place of glass.” Rebekka looked at Raven and then said plainly, “You were having the same dream too, were you not?”

  Raven nodded and then said, “I
have had this dream before, awhile back. But this time it was different. It had a sense of urgency to it.”

  With that, he sprang from bed and called loudly for some servants, who appeared very quickly at his door.

  “Go get Master Fields and tell him to come here.”

  He then turned and said to Rebekka, “Get dressed. We are going now, tonight, to the Crestlaws.”

  Rebekka nodded and added, “This has to do with the ancients. Do you think they are calling us somehow?”

  “I do not know,” Raven replied, “but I feel we must go now and find the way there and Andrew and Lorriel must be with us.”

  They had just finished dressing when there was a knock at the door. Raven opened it and there stood Master Fields with a concerned look on his face.

  “What is it, Sire?” Master Fields asked.

  “The queen and I must journey immediately north to the Crestlaws. Will you look after things here while we are gone?”

  “Yes, Sire,” Master Fields said, then added. “Is something wrong?”

  “I do not know,” Raven answered, “but we will find out. If I need you, I will send for you.”

  Master Fields nodded then left to go to the stables to get their horses. It was still early evening when Raven and Rebekka started out for the Crestlaws. They had retired early so it really was not too late a start to travel that far. Raven estimated they would arrive at the Crestlaws in time to get some rest before morning came.

  As Rebekka rode along side of Raven she asked, “How is it we can both have the same dream?”

  They had discussed in detail what each had dreamed and it was almost identical.

  “I do not know,” replied Raven. “How is it you always know what I am thinking?”

  Rebekka thought on this before answering, “I do not understand how, but I sense your thoughts, not every detail, but a general sense of what is there.”

  Raven shook his head and laughed, “It is a good thing we are husband and wife if you can sense what I am thinking. Otherwise, it would be very embarrassing.”

  “That is what I love about you,” she said. “You are more transparent than any person I have known, and I have never been disappointed.”

  Time passed quickly as they talked more about what the dream had meant and what they would find at the falls to solve the second riddle. In a short time they were closing in on the Crestlaw lands and their ears picked up the sound of a galloping horse headed their way. Raven hailed the rider as he came to a screeching halt before him.

  “Your Majesty,” the courier said as he recognized the king, “I was sent to inform you of a terrible tragedy. The Rollins Dukeship has been struck by the ancient plague and they have quarantined their dukeship.” And then the courier added, “What are you doing here? I expected to find you at the castle.”

  “We have come on an urgent mission to see the Crestlaws,” was all the king said.

  With that the courier nodded, turned around and rode with them in escort back to the Crestlaw castle.

  When Andrew learned of the king’s arrival he was astonished, for he had not been up more than an hour after being awakened by the dream.

  When Raven came into the large hall, Andrew met him and asked, “How did you know to come here in this crisis?”

  “I did not know of the plague,” Raven answered. “We were coming here because of the dream we had of the Hall of Wisdom.”

  “You had that dream, too?” Andrew asked. “That is what awoke me before I found out about the plague. And not only that, Lorriel was dreaming the same dream.”

  “So was I, as well,” Rebekka added. “So it seems the four of us were dreaming of the same place on the same night. I do not believe that it is a coincidence.”

  “Nor do I,” Raven said. “Tomorrow we must go and solve the second riddle of the ancients and reach the Hall of Wisdom.”

  “What of the plague?” Andrew asked.

  “I know not how to help my subjects at all against a plague. That kind of enemy I cannot fight,” Raven said sadly. “That is why we must find the Hall of Wisdom tomorrow. For if it really is the place of wisdom, then maybe we can find a cure before more people die.”

  “It is as good a plan as I have heard,” Andrew said. “Besides, there seems to be some urgency for us to find this place as soon as possible.”

  They agreed to follow that plan in the morning. So Andrew called some servants to escort the king and queen to their quarters for what remained of the night.

  Morning came too quickly for Raven. As he awakened, Rebekka was sitting up looking at him. He looked into her eyes and she smiled back at him. They dressed and when they came down to the large hall for breakfast, Andrew and Lorriel were already there.

  Sauron joined them and Raven could not help but ask him, “Did you have any strange dreams last night?”

  “No,” answered Sauron, “why do you ask?”

  “Just wondering,” Raven said.

  “What are you going to do today?” Sauron asked. “I hope you are not thinking of going to Rollins Dukeship.”

  “No,” replied Raven, “but we are going to try and find some way to help if we can.”

  Sauron nodded and silently went back to eating, feeling there was nothing anyone could do. But he knew the king had to try. When Andrew and Lorriel finished, she went to prepare their provisions while Andrew went to ready the horses. Raven and Rebekka walked out into the courtyard to talk.

  Rebekka looked at Raven and said very seriously, “This morning I woke up first, and as I looked at you I asked you to wake up in my thoughts and at that moment you did.”

  Raven started to brush this off as nothing but decided to listen attentively to what she was saying.

  Rebekka continued, “I know sometimes I can sense your thoughts, but this morning I felt as if I could speak to you with my mind. I do not know how but I feel I called to you and that is why you woke up.”

  Raven nodded reflectively, “A lot of strange things have been happening to us. Maybe today we will get our questions answered.”

  At that moment, Andrew came in and let them know they were ready to depart. So they followed, mounted their horses and headed for the falls.

  It was a wonderful spring day, and because of the beautiful weather, it was very hard to imagine that one-fourth of the kingdom was locked in a deadly plague. They passed the main guard house that kept the Crestlaw pass and soon the thunder of the falls could be heard. In a short time they were close to the falls, so they dismounted and staked their horses, allowing them to graze as they walked the remaining distance.

  As they walked, they repeated the riddle and discussed what it could mean:

  “The path of wisdom leads to the falls, come feel its mist and touch its walls, then find the wisest feathered friend, and keep him from ever seeing again.”

  Raven knew they would have to enter the mists because of the riddle. He also knew that the entry would be somewhere in the cliff face, so they walked first to the cliff face and then followed it into the mists. Although the sun was shining and it was a warm spring day, the mist chilled all of them as they entered. Raven walked touching the wet cliff face with one hand as he carefully stepped closer to the falls, thinking this is what was demanded of the riddle. When they reached the pool of water that formed at the bottom of the falls, they all stopped.

  “What do we do now?” Andrew yelled over the roar of the falls.

  Raven looked. There was a narrow ledge of rock that ran to where the water fell out almost an arm’s length into the pool. There it widened out to a wider platform for standing but dead-ended in a wall of rock. He knew most assuredly that it was there the door to the cliff face would be. He had gone out on this ledge several times growing up. It was something to do as a young man, getting so close to the falls. There were hand-holds in the rock and you could only slide along until you reached the wider platform.

  Raven yelled back to Andrew, “Let
us go to the wider ledge of rock,” and he pointed to the place.

  Andrew nodded, for he too in his youth had climbed along the narrow ledge to the platform.

  They all started slowly along the thin edge, inching their way toward the platform when Raven called back. “No ladies are to take a swim today, please, so be very careful.”

  All he received was a glaring stare from Lorriel when he said this. After their painfully slow progress on the wet shelf finally led them all to the wider platform, they began to look and feel the surrounding rock.

  “I hope we find the door soon,” Lorriel said, “for we are all getting wet and chilled.”

  At that moment Rebekka shouted and pointed, “Does that look like an owl shape in the rock above the platform?”

  Raven looked. It did not look like a very good representation of an owl, and then he remembered the ancients could have carved a perfect replica in the rock. But that would draw too much attention; it would be out of place. The ancients used natural formations to hide their latches and doors. Now as he looked with more interest, he could see an owl in the rock. That was their wise feathered friend.

  The eyes, Raven thought, something about the eyes,

  Then he remembered the rest of the riddle, “And keep him from ever seeing again.”

  You would have to poke the eyes out of something to keep it from ever seeing again. Raven went over to what resembled the owl, placed his fingers on what looked like the eyes and pushed. They depressed and the rock that dead-ended before them on the platform began to open. All four of them scurried into the lighted chamber fleeing the spray, thunder and water of the falls. Raven closed the door after they were all in and the room was much quieter. A muffled roar was all that could be heard of the falls.

  When the secret door had opened, the light evidently had come on. It was the same type of light they had encountered in the chamber at Happiness Creek. Now everyone was silently surveying the interior of the large carved room. As they looked around, they all came to the same conclusion--there was nothing there except for a door at the opposite side of the chamber. All four of them walked slowly toward that point with excitement and apprehension. Everything in their beings told them there was something behind these doors that their experiences in life had not prepared them for. When they drew close to the door, it opened almost silently, revealing a large closet or small room shaped of some kind of metal.