The King's Descendants

by Robin Simmons

  The King’s Descendants

  Book Three in the Trilogy of Glenfair

  By

  Robin Simmons

  

  Contents

  Chapter 1The Coronation

  Chapter 2All Things Must End

  Chapter 3The Hunt

  Chapter 4The Evil Plot

  Chapter 5Love Almost Lost

  Chapter 6The Time For Truth

  Chapter 7The Final War

  Chapter 8The Ending Of An Age

  

  The King’s Descendants

  Book 3 of the Kingdom of Glenfair

  Prologue:

  Lucinda stood appalled at the burned castle. Its doors were charred and shattered, hanging at odd angles. she stepped through the ruined doors and called out. There was no answer, only the silence of the empty courtyard. Tentatively she took a few steps into the courtyard of the king’s castle and listened. She could tell the destruction of the castle had been very recent, for she could still smell the smoke from its burning. She had no idea what had happened, or where everyone had gone. An eerie coldness swept over her as she realized she was alone. Lucinda had never felt this way in her whole life and she started to turn and flee when movement at the burned gates caught her eye. A figure clothed in rags, hiding its features approached her.

  “So, you are searching for the inhabitants of this castle. They are gone, dead, destroyed. The whole kingdom is destroyed.” Then he began to laugh wickedly. He came closer and paused. Lucinda could tell whomever he might be was observing her with interest. Then he spoke again: “I thought I had killed you. No matter, this time I shall make sure you are thoroughly dead!”

  Lucinda almost panicked at that moment, but was able to concentrate on the past she knew so well. She could see the stranger reaching out for her as the surroundings began to shimmer and change, and heard him scream with rage as she vanished from his grasp. At that moment the courtyard of the king’s castle began to take shape, only this courtyard was full of life and noise. She saw the astonished face of Master Rollins, and she tried to take a step toward him, but every thing went black.

  Lucinda faintly heard someone calling her name. As her head began to clear she could make out the face of Master Rollins staring down at her. Then she saw Edward and Adriell were there too. She sat up quickly and saw the great hall of the king’s castle and she began to cry. Master Rollins knelt down beside her and hugged her close.

  “You will be fine. You have become a time shifter like your mother, has the time shift frightened you?” Somehow Master Rollins' words settled and comforted Lucinda.

  “How do you know that?” Lucinda asked.

  Edward smiled, “Master Rollins watched you appear out of thin air in the courtyard. I think it has frightened him much more than it has you. You could only do that if you had shifted time.” Actually, Master Rollins was not as shaken as Edward expected him to be at such an unexpected event. He had explained the time shift in such a calm and rational matter it surprised Edward. The way he had comforted Lucinda was unusual as well. There seemed to be more than Edward could see under the surface. He would have to ask Master Rollins about this sometime.

  Lucinda exclaimed, “The time shift did not frighten me at all, it was what I saw there that did. When I felt the change come upon me I could not resist traveling in time. Father warned me this would happen, and I should have consulted Jason and the rest of you. Instead I decided to travel alone, two years into the future. The Prescott castle and this castle were empty and burned. There was no sign of any one in the king’s castle except the stranger I met.” Lucinda shuddered as she remembered that evil laugh. “He said that the whole kingdom was destroyed and that you were all dead. He said he would make sure I was really dead this time. As he started toward me I concentrated on the courtyard in this time, it was all I could think of.”

  “What did this stranger look like?” Edward asked.

  “I did not see his face, for it was covered. But the voice sounded like that of Andronicus. I know beyond any doubt it was not Andronicus, because, whomever it was, he was completely evil.”

  Edward now felt the pressures of being King and having to decide what was best for the whole kingdom. He had learned this from his father, Raven, the greatest King Glenfair had ever had. Why did he feel so helpless, inadequate for the task that lay before him. Had his father ever felt this way when faced with a terrible crisis? It seemed the whole world was upon his shoulders, a dark cloud of evil on the horizon that he could feel, yet neither see nor touch. If what Lucinda said was true, the whole kingdom was in danger of being destroyed, pillaged and burned. Adriell, Lucinda, and Master Rollins waited anxiously for Edward to decide on a course of action. Finally he turned to them and said; “We must go to Andronicus and ask his advice on what we should do to stop Glenfair from being destroyed. Adriell, contact Andronicus and inform him we will be coming.”

  Adriell, concentrated her mental powers and spoke out for Andronicus to hear but there was no answer. She tried again and still there was no answer. With her face turning pale she said to the rest: “Andronicus does not answer, neither can I feel his presence at all, it is as if he has vanished.”

  My mentor and teacher, Master Fields, felt compelled to record the stories of Raven Kallestor and his friends. He wrote of their heartaches and triumphs, victories and defeats, that the world might know what made Glenfair great, and what a true king ought to be. I thought it fitting as the successor to my master, and the holder of his former office as weapons master, to write as well concerning the Royal House. I dare not write of Raven, Andrew and their wives, for who could add or expound more eloquently than that which Master Fields has already written. Nay, I write of the King’s descendants, his son and daughter, and his nephew and niece. For as great a danger to the kingdom awaits them as their fathers ever had to face.

  Master Robert Rollins

  Chapter 1

  The Coronation

  “The land mourneth when it looseth a good king. But its mourning be forgotten if it crowneth another like unto the last.”

  --Chronicles of the Ancients

  It was a warm spring day with a light breeze blowing as two women and two men gathered around the grave of the King. They were all silent until Edward spoke:

  “Today the kingdom loses the greatest King it has ever had. He saved our land in the Wickshield war and he fought for our very existence against a powerful and evil enemy. Because of his sacrifice for the kingdom he was greatly loved by all. Father, believe me when I say that you have taught me how to be a great king. I promise I will sacrifice myself for our people, and I pray that I will be half the King you were.”

  After Edward finished, the four came forward and each placed a single white rose on the grave of the King. Adriell was last, and as she placed the rose on the grave she knelt down and said quietly, “I love you father. When my time comes, will anyone place a single white rose on my grave? I hope it will be so...”

  As Adriell stood and walked over to the others she heard Jason speaking to Edward.

  “My father sends his deepest sorrow that he was not able to attend this funeral. You know they were the best of friends and he would be here if he could.

  “I understand Jason. I know your father would be here if his age and condition would allow him. And I know he is pretty much confined to the Crestlaw castle.”

  “I will use a wagon and bring my father next week for the coronation. His father, Sauron, placed the crown on your father’s head during his coronation. I think what keeps him alive is wanting the honor of placing the crown on your head, Edward.”

  Edward smiled at the thought of Andrew performing the cor
onation. The Kallestor and Crestlaw bond continued as strong as any human friendship could.

  “Make sure you come a day early so your father can rest before the ceremonies begin.”

  Jason smiled at Edward and clasped his hand with a firm grip, “We look forward to returning, for the next meeting will be a joyous occasion for the whole kingdom.” Jason and Lucinda then departed for their home leaving Adriell and Edward to walk back to the castle alone. As Adriell walked beside Edward a voice came into her mind causing her to stop.

  “Please accept my deepest sympathy in the loss of your father, we were the best of friends. I will miss him greatly.” Edward noticed Adriell’s stillness and at first was concerned, then realized it was Andronicus that was speaking to her. He waited patiently as Adriell continued to listen.

  “I have a surprise I want to show all of you after Edward’s coronation. Will the four of you please come as soon as you can following the ceremonies?”

  “We will,” replied Adriell.

  She noticed Edward staring at her, waiting patiently for her to tell him the reason for her pause.

  “Andronicus sends us his sympathy concerning the passing of our father. He says there is a surprise he wants to show the four of us after the coronation.”

  Edward nodded, it would be good to get away to the wonderful retreat at the top of the falls after the formal ceremonies were completed. That was the way of things in Glenfair, sorrow mingled with joy. Death ushering in new life. A paradox of the human condition that seemed to be the foundation of their existence.

  Andronicus watched the funeral from the top of the falls with an optical device and his enhanced vision. It was from this place that he watched most of the events that took place in Glenfair. The passing of Raven Kallestor, the greatest king Glenfair ever had, brought him great sadness. Of the original seekers who had found this place after a thousand years, only Andrew Crestlaw was still alive. With pain he thought back to the death of Rebekka two years before. He missed the presence of her mind, the telepathic talks they used to have almost every week. That reminded him, he should contact Adriell and pay his respects for the passing of their father. He would also invite them here to share in the triumph of his project after the coronation. After the contact with Adriell was finished he began to walk down the garden path that led to his home and the project that had consumed his time the past few years. The death of the King had once again reminded him of the urgency of his task. As Andronicus continued walking toward the glass Hall of Wisdom that was his home, one of his servo motors in his leg locked up. He patiently waited until his circuitry readjusted for its failure and then continued on toward the laboratory. Although Andronicus had lived a very long time in human terms, he was wearing out. It had been more than a thousand years since he had been brought to Glenfair by the Ancients. The ancients, as Glenfair’s people now called them were people who had come back in time from the future to escape terrible oppression. Mary Sheldon was a time shifter who had the ability to transport people and equipment through time with the help of an invention by Samuel Crestlaw, the isolinear resonating stone. They had come back in time to hide and had started the kingdom of Glenfair and had built its castles and the Hall of Wisdom at the top of the falls. Andronicus was the only android they had brought back in time with them. They had placed him at the top of the falls because he had the ability to sense a shift in time and warn them if the evil tyrant, Layton Teal came looking for them. He had cared for the garden and Hall of Wisdom since that time. But now he had to face the inevitable, he was dying. He knew machines ceased to function as human bodies did, although much slower. He would have let nature take its course if it had not been for the friendships he had formed these last few years. King Raven, Rebekka, Lorriel, and Andrew had sacrificed so much for the kingdom. They had defeated the evil Layton Teal, howbeit, their happiness had been shortened considerably. First by forced separation, and second by a shortened life-span, a consequence of long time travel. He owed them so much, not just for saving the kingdom, but for giving him something he had never experienced -- friendship. He was determined to help their children, and their children’s children for years to come. But that was not possible in his current condition, hence, his great project the past few years.

  Andronicus reached the workshop he had set up within the Hall of Wisdom and turned on the lights. Before him stood the android body he had constructed to replace his own failing one. He viewed his workmanship with satisfaction and a little amusement, for it was a younger looking version of himself. He had been altered by the ancients to look like an old man so whoever found him would not feel immediately threatened. He had worn that appearance for more than a thousand years, it was time for a change. Andronicus turned on the computers and other diagnostic equipment and ran the body through its tests. Everything was perfect. It was an exact duplicate of himself (save for the younger appearance) with one exception: The safety restraint against harming another human or android had been disabled. He had been very fortunate that the ancients had left enough spare parts and triberridum alloy to complete his task. The difficult part was the programing. He found information on that as well in the stored memories of the computers the ancients had left him. It had taken him years to diagnose the positronic pathways and alter them to accept his memories and knowledge. More challenging still was tracing the thread of restraint against harm through the network of programing. It seemed impossible at first to remove any part of it without causing system shutdowns. Model after model failed his computer simulations. He was about to concede that the human programmers had accomplished something he could not undo when the computer informed him his prototype was running and had not crashed. He tested and refined the positronic model until he was satisfied that he had accomplished his purpose.

  The reason it was so important to him that the prohibition against harm be absent was his experience with the evil of Layton Teal. Layton was an evil and powerful tyrant that the ancients had fled back in time to hide from. When Layton came to this time searching for the ancients, he brought his cruelty and death with him. He would have killed Layton himself but his programing prevented it. As a result, all of his friends had suffered greatly. He had vowed if there ever was a way to keep others from Layton’s fate he would.

  That brought him back to the task at hand, it was time to activate the android and transfer his memories into it. Andronicus hesitated at the switch that would flood power to the central core of the androids mind. He had to allow it to become sentient in order to transfer his memories to it. He had wrestled with the moral dilemma of bringing into existence another conscious being, only to have its memories erased and replaced by his own. He knew that in the future he had come from, androids had their minds erased and reprogrammed often. Almost every new owner did this with their androids. But they were machines without emotion, and would suffer no regret or sorrow from such an action. He was different, possessing both emotions and personality. The clone he had constructed would posses such emotions as well. Andronicus brushed all these considerations aside. His clone would only be conscious a short period of time. And besides he was its creator and he could do as he pleased with it, could he not? Andronicus reached out to activate the switch that would power this new android for another thousand years....

  The wagon arrived at the king’s castle bearing Andrew Crestlaw. Edward met them at the front gate in time to help Jason ease Andrew from the wagon. Edward smiled as Andrew got his feet steady and with his hands on Jason slowly straightened up.

  “Come,” Edward stated, “there is refreshment in the great hall for you. You honor me by coming here for the coronation.”

  “Nonsense,” Andrew said with a wave of his hand. “For four generations the Crestlaws have placed the crown on the head of the Kallestor kings at their coronation. It is my privilege and duty to do so for you, Edward. My father Sauron placed the crown on the head of your father at his coronation, I will likewise do the same for you.”
>
  Edward admired the determination he saw in Andrew and once again motioned for them to head to the great hall where refreshments were to be served.

  Andrew shook his head, “There is someone I must see first. I have not been here in some time and wish to go there.” Andrew was pointing toward the royal cemetery where Lorriel was buried. “Come,” Andrew said to his daughter Lucinda. “You must come with me.”

  The others watched as Andrew, leaning on Lucinda’s arm headed for the grave of Lorriel. Edward watched them go and reflected on the passing of his own parents. He knew the stories of their great time travel through the centuries. The time shifter aged very rapidly, living less than a third of a normal life span. But the others who traveled those great leaps in time aged prematurely as well, howbeit much slower. Andrew was barely 50 years old, but he looked 80. Edward watched for a moment longer and then headed into the castle with Jason.

  Andrew and Lucinda stopped at the grave of Lorriel and stood silently for awhile. Finally Lucinda broke the silence.

  “Father, why did you want me to come with you to the grave and not Jason?”

  Andrew did not answer right away, but finally spoke; “Your mother died early because she used a very rare and special gift.”

  Lucinda interrupted her father, “I know all of this father, you have told me many times. I love hearing the stories of you, aunt Rebekka, uncle Raven and mother. How mother took you all back in time to visit the ancients so you could learn how to defeat the evil tyrant, Layton Teal. And I know she was a hero and saved us all from the evil tyrant’s plot.”