Terragone's brow knitted in confusion. What did this man want with him?
Kessil walked up now, “And what would you want with the prince?”
“Well a little confidential talk would be nice. I have a question to ask him. Might you be the prince?” he directed this question to Terragone.
“And if I am?”
“There's no need to be afraid of me if you are. Just take a look at me and you'll see that I'm harmless enough.” and the man rode up closer to Terragone and swiped off his hood.
Terragone was quite close enough now to be able to see that this was an old man of a slight build. He couldn't see much of the man’s face, so he called for a torch. One of his other knights quickly complied and walked up with the flaming stick in his hand.
“You weren't bluffing were you?” the stranger said as he watched the knight approach, “How many are out there?”
“Plenty. Now, what do you want with me?”
The man's face lit up with joy and relief, “So you are the prince. Jolly good. I don't suppose you'll kill me after all.”
“I might, if you don't tell me why you were waiting for me.” but Terragone wasn't very worried. He could see now how harmless this man really was. He carried no weapon, except a dagger at his waist and by the way he held himself on his horse, it didn't look as if he intended to use it. His face had an innocent expression and he seemed genuinely pleased to be in their company.
“Well then, let me start with an introduction of myself and whatever recommendation of myself I can give. My name, your highness, is James Redmond. I am a good friend of Helix the elf whom you might know and you might not. It was he who saw me off on my journey to meet you, though the idea itself was mine. Don't ask me where I come from. It would only puzzle you, but you may know that I have just recently come from up north. I'm a very honest man and I don't think I've ever stolen anything and I’ve never killed anybody. I do have a tendency towards being a bit ornery and stubborn, but only in areas I am particularly set in. Other than that, I would say I'm a man to be trusted and I'm not too afraid of danger. I can travel through thick and thin, as the last few days have proven, and I won't slow you down.”
Terragone was following so well until that last phrase. “What do you mean, you won't slow me down?”
“Well,” and James smiled warmly, “I’m going to travel with you.”
9
James in Royal Company
“What?” the prince glared at the man who was still sitting calmly on his pony.
“I'm going with you to the Jagged Mountains. I planned at first to ask your permission, but now that I've met you, I think you might say no, so I won't give you that option. I'm going with you and you can't stop me.” James said this with a determined kick of his foot. Thing is, the pony didn’t understand that it was a gesture of determination and thought it was meant for him and so started trotting. James quickly corrected his noble beast and had him stopped in no time, with very little damage done. The other knights were now gathering around in curiosity.
“You can’t command the prince to do your bidding.” one man exclaimed, having overheard James’ statement, “Do you have no respect for the law and leaders of Gailli?”
James turned rather sharply to the questioner, “You sir, have no idea what I've been through. If you did, then you would probably treat me with more respect. As to Gailli's laws, I don't know them and don't care to know them. However, surely there's something in them about treating strangers with at least some amount of courtesy.”
The fact of the matter was, that there were such rules. Rules that knights were to treat strangers, and especially the elderly, with a great deal of courtesy. It was considered part of the sacred code of knighthood to treat all men (and women, of course) with great respect and honor. Many of the knights bowed their heads in shame at having forgotten this virtue, while the one who had spoken the rebuke actually apologized to James and offered to help him down off his horse.
Terragone did not share in his knights’ shame. It did make him curious though. And uncertain. He looked at the stranger who was gently scolding his own knights and realized that there was something uncanny about the man. He looked a bit odd to be sure, but there was something else, something he couldn't quite figure out. Burning questions began to eat away at Terragone. Who was he? Where was he from? And why was he here now? And how had he just single-handedly turned his whole company of armed and trained knights to shame and apologizing? And the stranger had been the one to make the disrespectful remarks in the first place. Peculiar man indeed.
And what was James thinking?
Well, he knew he had to be careful how he went about convincing this prince that he should be let along. He seemed a very serious sort of ruler and very strong too. He was well-armed and had the distinct advantage. James would have to use tact. When he tried the old, there’s-only-one-option-here-and-it’s-mine method they’d all seemed to bristle. His own nervousness was making him unfortunately impulsive and it was fast getting him in trouble. Fortunately, quick thought had turned the tide for the time, but he still had to convince that no-nonsense man gazing at him so fixedly that he wanted a nice resourceful man like himself in his entourage.
James’ opinion of Terragone was sure. He had to be about as stubborn a man as he himself was. And if he didn't judge wrong, this would boil down to a battle of wills, not weapons. At least he hoped so. He’d be in bad shape if it came to blows. He looked over at the prince again. He was still glaring but he opened his mouth to speak.
“It's dark and my men have had a long and wearisome day. Camp is set up over the rise of that hill. You will come with us for now and I will speak to you later.”
James raised an eyebrow and said very, very quietly, “Oh?”
“Men, let’s return to camp, Sir Lavison and the others will be wondering what has become of us.” and the prince turned sharply and rode back the way he’d come, completely ignoring James.
“Oh, so there's even more of them.” James said in an undertone, as he turned Frederick about so as to follow, “Interesting. Well, at least I'll be safe.”
At the camp, all the remaining knights and servants watched curiously as the stranger got off his horse and walked over to the fire to warm his hands as if they'd all been expecting him. Sir Lavison hobbled over to where Terragone was dismounting.
“Who is he? Someone you know?”
Terragone shook his head and handed the reins to a servant.
“What does he want then? Why’d you bring him here?”
Terragone watched as James, rubbing his cold hands together vigorously, requested a plate of food.
“He wants to travel with us. I don't know why yet, but I aim to find out. But tell me,” and Terragone turned to his knight, "You know people fairly well, right? So what is it about this man that seems so off?”
Sir Lavison watched James for a few moments before shaking his head, “I don't know. Something is very different though. He looks and dresses normally enough for a traveler. But his speech is quite unusual. He seems out of place in this setting, like he’s not actually much of a traveler. Do you suppose he might be nobility of some sort?”
“No. He has no decorum or finesse. He is disrespectful, but quite innocent of it somehow. Yet he looks too intelligent to be some heathen from the wilds.” and Terragone sighed in puzzlement.
“Do you think he'll tell you the truth when you talk to him?”
“That I can't tell you. He looks honest enough, but looks will ever be deceiving.”
Sir Lavison nodded in agreement and went over himself to speak to the man.
James saw him coming and hurriedly swallowed the mouthful he had been chewing for the last few minutes. It wasn't very well-cooked in his opinion. To be sure, it was thoroughly cooked, but it came at a dear cost seeing as its texture was that of boot leather. He set his tin down and watched Sir Lavison's unsteady approach. He wondered what Helix would say if he could see him now, here in a
camp full of professionally trained warriors, calmly gnawing at tough venison without a care in the world. That latter part wasn't true of course, but he knew he looked carefree enough to all those around him. In reality, his mind was quite busy, senses as sharp and suspicious as ever.
Sir Lavison sat down near him, legs crossed Indian-style. James silently offered him the cut of meat he had no intention of finishing. It was sad really, that no one had taught anyone in this camp the first thing about barbecue. Couldn’t be helped, he supposed. Sir Lavison smiled but declined the food.
James thought he knew what question this special attention was coming to and so said, “I suppose you’re here to talk?”
Sir Lavison smiled again, “You are a very straightforward man. Yes, but I should probably wait for the prince to join me before I ask anything he might want to hear too.”
James looked over into the darkness to where Terragone was leaning against a tree and watching them, “He surely is a solemn guy, isn’t he? But if it makes a difference, I think he's already listening.”
“Do you not respect authority?” Sir Lavison asked quietly, but not accusingly.
James shrugged his shoulders, “I do respect some authority, but he has no authority over me. I'm sure he's a very nice person deep down inside, but he's not done anything in particular in regard to me that inspires any desire to submit myself to his princeship. I'll stay in my independent little bubble for now thanks, and let him glare in his.”
Sir Lavison tipped his head, “So you aren't from around here? Did you come from Essa?”
“Nope.” was James' short reply as he began to draw in the dirt with his fork.
“Thaxa or Falair then?”
“Nope and nope.” James was tracing out the likeness of the prince as he watched them from his tree. It was a pretty good drawing too, for someone who'd not really had a lot of practice.
“From where then? Across the sea?” Sir Lavison was perplexed.
“I wish, but no. I’m from Nebraska.”
The answer put a funny look on the knight’s face and James rubbed out his other picture and began to draw another while the memory of it was still fresh on his mind. He was so busy with this he didn't notice the approach of the object of his first drawing. I suppose after hearing the odd answer, Terragone was determined to have it all out with this stranger.
“Who is that?” he asked as he glanced down at the ground James was scribbling in.
James looked up in surprise and, seeing who it was, said confidentially to Sir Lavison who was just now taking notice of the face in the dirt, “I told you he was listening. It is your knight here.” addressing Terragone now, “Just now he made an expression worth reproducing and so I have, however crudely.”
Sir Lavison snorted, and just the slightest gleam of amusement passed over Terragone's face.
“I see.” the prince responded as he slowly lowered himself down opposite James.
Sir Lavison quickly found a stick and began altering the image, “You have my chin all wrong. You see, it is not nearly so sharp, more of a gentle sweep than your rough angle. Of course, you've only just seen me, that explains it, and it explains why you put my eyes so close together. See, this is a much better representation.” and he pointed to his own drawing in the dirt.
James looked at it, and then at him, “Yes, it is better, but you haven't made your eyes nearly big enough. You didn't see them just a moment ago, but they almost seemed about to pop out of your face.” and James deftly adjusted Sir Lavison's drawing himself, enlarging his eyes in a bit of exaggeration.
Terragone grunted.
“Hey! You messed it up!” Sir Lavison complained, “And my eyes were not that big. Only cyclops have eyes that big.”
James looked up in interest, “There are cyclops around here?”
“No, of course not.” Sir Lavison said this as he quickly reached over and smeared out the drawing.
“Well, I just told you I wasn't from around here, so I expected some slack in light of my ignorance. If cyclops don't live around here, where do they live?”
“Very far north, and there aren't many of them left.” Terragone answered shortly, much more interested in what James had said before that, “You say you're not from around here, but where are you from?”
James sighed in exasperation, “I already told you. Nebraska. It seems wrong that a man of my age would have better memory than a man of your age, but so it would seem, is the case.”
“Where is that?”
“You'll just have to trust me when I say that it's too confusing.” James smiled and vainly hoped that would work for him.
“If you don't tell me, you will definitely not be traveling with me. You will explain yourself.”
James could see that the prince wasn't kidding, “Fine,” and he raised his hands in symbolic surrender, “I come from a small town in Nebraska which is in entirely different country and planet and universe than this. And let me say straight up that I think there is no way to get there from here save by magical means. Of course, I can't prove any of what I’ve just said, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about that. It's the truth and there's the end of it.”
“Or you wish it was the end of it,” and Terragone narrowed his gaze, “Now, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt for the time being as to where you come from. I’ll take it for granted that what you say is true. For now.”
“Ha!” James burst triumphantly.
“But we are far from over. Why are you here now, and why do you want to travel with me?”
“It's rather wrapped up in the same mess of where I've come from.” James said cryptically, hoping to discourage him here too.
“I’ve got time.” was all the response he got.
“Well,” and James looked around for any possible distraction. Sir Lavison was watching him curiously and Terragone was glaring at him piercingly. The other men were either stretched out sleeping or pacing around in the dark, keeping watch. Nothing, nothing to distract.
“Well,” he said again, “have you ever heard of Cliff?”
Needless to say it was a couple hours before that chat was over, and I have no intention of burdening this page with it all. We've heard it before.
In the end, everyone was weary. It was quite a bit to take in and Terragone said he would make no decision before tomorrow, and stood and walked away into the darkness.
Sir Lavison slowly got himself up too, “Quite the tale, stranger. But for now you must get some sleep. We rise early tomorrow.” He pointed to where a blanket had been laid out for him and walked out into the dark night.
James fell asleep very quickly that night, the first of many where it wasn't raining. Terragone and Sir Lavison however, did not sleep well at all as their thoughts coursed in strange waters. Not being elves, with their long memories and many years knowledge, they knew little to nothing about the times of Cliff and whether or not his story was true. Was this stranger just an honest man with some questions, or was he a clever charlatan? They really had no way of knowing the answer to that for certain. He looked honest and his story seemed to ring of truth, but what if it was a disguise and a ruse? But Terragone had to decide. If all this man wanted to do was see some old legendary places and needed a company to travel with, it all seemed safe enough. But what if he was a blackheart? Well, the man was greatly outnumbered here. The man had also made it quite clear that there would be no leaving him behind unless Terragone bound him or killed him, and neither option sat well with the prince. This fellow was set on coming, even if it meant following at a distance and getting food by his own means. Well, it would probably be wiser to have him with them and under their watch then have him wandering about doing who knows what sort of mischief behind their back. He could always send him back to his father if he became truly troublesome. Still, he hated the way that would look to his father. Like he couldn’t handle a little old man. Well then, the stranger could accompany them, provided he behaved. The decision made, T
erragone could finally fall asleep.
—————
Morning dawned with bright rays of sun sparkling on every dewdrop, creating the illusion of a valley of diamonds. Everyone was in a glorious mood and getting along together famously. They had already eaten and were now packing up and erasing all signs of their stay.
But what about James? What was he doing? Well, he wasn’t still asleep. Nor was he posed on his grey pony with excitement spilling over from his eyes to every other feature. He wasn’t helping with the packing either. So what was James doing while all his new comrades packed up and prepared for another day's trek? He was on his one-hundredth chew of some cut of meat he was given for breakfast. He'd tried to eat quickly like all the others, but alas, he could not keep up. How they managed to eat this food so rapidly was a mystery and he wished very much he knew their secret.
“Hurry up Master Redmond.” Sir Lavison called out as he walked over to check on his horse before they moved out.
“I'm trying to.”
But as he still made no progress and was feeling a bit rushed, well, he just spit the cold lump back onto his plate when no one was looking. He then stood, dumped his plate's contents on the ground carefully, and put a rock on top of it. He then looked about to ensure nobody had seen him. He went over to Frederick and put his plate in his saddle bag and then put himself in the saddle. Everyone was mounting now and James saw Terragone give a nod to a knight named Kessil who was in the lead, and they started off. Terragone and Sir Lavison gravitated to the rear for now, while James held a position relatively central.
It was a beautiful day for traveling. The sun was warm and was slowly drying the land from days of rain. Everyone was lighthearted and cheerful. James was rather neglected though. Everyone seemed to prefer to stay within their own little cliques and avoid the stranger in their midst. This didn’t bother him overly though. No, rather he took this time to whet his imagination and make up stories for the knights around him. He was getting very into an emotional tale about one of the older knights (there were even tears standing in his eyes), when someone rode up beside him.
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