by Nyssa Renay
“Rioting?” I blurted out, disturbed by the thought. It was strange to hear this word used to describe anything relating to the people of Telshakra, but this was what Machoji had alluded to when I’d first woken up from surgery.
“Yes, Vigil, riots have become an unfortunate occurrence as of late,” Machoji regretfully explained.
“More like a nuisance!” the king barked.
“But why?” I asked, quickly regretting my kneejerk reaction as the king flashed me an angry look.
“The people of Telshakra have developed a strong opposition to the present practices of the Church and the Crown.”
“That’s enough, Machoji!” King Lexani snapped in warning tones. “Take all the guards you need from the stables or the training barracks, and if that’s not enough, tell the shepherds to make an example of someone.”
“Sire?” Machoji’s mouth dropped slightly in disbelief.
“You heard me! I’ve been way too lenient of this entitled bullshit for far too long. Ungrateful bastards,” he grumbled as he focused again on the fireworks display.
“But, Sire—” Machoji tried to approach his argument with a different angle but was quickly cut off by the king.
“That’ll be all!” Lexani insisted, purposefully avoiding Machoji’s irritated glare as he spoke.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Machoji replied, giving me a quick knowing glance, emphasizing the frustration the king was causing, and then excused himself from the balcony before retreating into the Rectory.
“Is everything okay?” I whispered to Raxis.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” he answered, surprisingly indifferent. “Just enjoy the fireworks for now.”
I tried to focus on the bright explosions, but it was difficult to stop thinking about this new revelation I’d just witnessed. The stark contrast between who I once was and the level I’d now achieved couldn’t have been more opposite, and I had no idea how I was going to bridge that gap.
When the fireworks were over, I followed the royal family into their dining room for a Festival of Ein meal that was sure to be the envy of every other celebrating family across the planet. I sat down at the prince’s right side and waited eagerly to be served by one of the dozen royal waiters standing patiently along the perimeter of the room.
There were traditional Festival of Ein foods spread out across the table, but I didn’t care about those. My eyes stopped on the sweetdough. The prince must have noticed my enthusiasm because he elbowed me and laughed. “If you finish that plate, the chefs will make more. Eat as much as you want, Vigil.”
“Oh…oh, Ein have mercy, I will!”
I ate more that night than I could ever recall eating at one sitting. Even through the sugary, blissful haze of the sweetdough, I was still troubled by the conversation between Lexani and Machoji about the Telshakran riots. I wanted to ask Raxis more about it, but whenever I went to bring it up, I noticed Shepherd Talmari’s watchful eye upon me. Shepherd Diabelle’s words echoed in my head, reminding me to keep my mouth shut for the time being.
-72-
When the meal was over, the lights in the room dimmed, and the waiters scurried together through the kitchen door.
“What’s going on?” I asked the prince.
He smiled. “Oh, you’ll see.”
There was an orange glow coming from the window on the kitchen door. It flickered in the darkness for a moment, teasing the dining room. The waiters pushed the kitchen door open and wheeled in a huge three-tiered cake with blue frosting and flaming candles. At first, I wondered if this was some kind of weird royal dessert and not what I actually hoped it was.
“Happy birthday, Vigil!” the king, queen, and prince shouted, large smiles on their faces. They all stood as the waiters brought the cake alongside the table near me. I got up and eagerly read the words written in dark gold icing on the top tier of the enormous cake:
Happy 20th Birthday, Vigil!
Love, Your Family
“Thank you!” I was truly stunned. This was the biggest birthday cake I had ever seen, and it touched me that they’d done this for me. Although the memories of the tiny cakes my mother used to make for me could never be truly outdone, it was nice to be part of a family again.
After supper, I joined the royal family for a fireside drink in their private parlor room. The king and queen sipped wine from gold goblets, while Prince Raxis and I both enjoyed a pint of Telshakran lager. Servants lurked in the corners of the room, waiting in the shadows for anything the royal family might need. I’d had that job before and I hated it; the only highlight of that servitude was getting to be around Eeliyah. But now, with my new circumstances, I barely saw her anymore, and it felt like what we’d shared all these years was starting to fade away.
“You okay, Vigil?” Raxis asked, noticing me deep in thought.
I jerked back to my senses. “Oh yeah! Today has been wonderful. Thank you again for the cake, Your Majesties. That was a great surprise,” I said, taking a sip of my beer.
“You’re welcome, Vigil.” Queen Minkara nodded. “Anyone who takes such diligent care of our son deserves to have at least a small token of appreciation on his birthday.”
“Speaking of which,” the king interrupted, “all this nonsense with these oppositionists has taken up what little time I’ve had away from dealing with the war, and I haven’t been able to check up on Raxis as thoroughly as I’ve wanted. But that’s what I have you for,” he chuckled, a note of scorn in his voice. “How’s he been doing?”
The question made me apprehensive as I noticed Shepherd Talmari glaring at me from the back corner of the room, waiting for my answer. The truth was that Raxis wouldn’t have passed any of his requirements at the academy if it hadn’t been for me and my own training with Shepherd Diabelle was suffering greatly because of it, but I knew the king didn’t need yet another excuse to belittle his son’s already low self-esteem.
Raxis looked at me nervously, fearing his father’s disapproving nature.
“He’s doing well, Sire. His Highness excels in his abilities, far greater than expected of a potential only thirteen years old. It’s been my privilege to tutor him.” I took another sip of beer, and the king held his glass up high in a mock toast.
“I’ll drink to that!” Lexani grinned and took a massive swig of wine.
I let out a sigh of relief and met Talmari’s approving gaze as he quietly walked out of the room.
“Is something troubling you, Vigil?” the queen asked.
“He’s fine, Mother,” Raxis interjected.
“He’s not fine, Raxis,” she snapped. “Look at him…something’s wrong. What’s wrong, Vigil? Is there something about our son you’re not telling us?”
“No, Your Majesty,” I said quickly.
“See, everything’s fine!” The king laughed. “Don’t go poking for problems where there aren’t any, Minkara.”
“I’ll poke for problems where I please! Now, I get the distinct feeling Vigil is withholding something from us, and I want to know what it is. Sweetheart, please tell us what’s wrong. Whatever situation Raxis has gotten himself into can be fixed.” She smiled anxiously.
“I…I’m so sorry, Your Majesties. I didn’t mean to cause any arguments.” I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat wouldn’t subside. “It isn’t Prince Raxis. I…ah…I’m the one having a problem.”
“Oh?” The king cocked his head to one side like a puzzled dog.
“Yes, Sire. I…I need…” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. “Even though it’s been my honor to serve your son, I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t feel prepared for…for what’s to come after I graduate.”
“How so?” the queen asked.
“It’s just…with everything that’s going on…” It was hard to explain this issue without offending anybody in the room. I chose my next words carefully. “I feel as though I need more time to train myself in addition to assisting
the prince.”
“That’s nonsense, Vigil,” the king said dismissively. “You’re doing just fine at the academy. Don’t worry about what’s to come…you have no need to. Just focus on the job at hand and continue to help my son.”
“That’s the thing, Your Majesty,” I began. “My job is to protect the prince, and I barely survived the invasion as it was. I need to make sure my skills are as strong as possible in case I ever need to defend him like that again.”
The king stared at me for several moments before turning to his son. “You see that, Raxis? That’s what it takes to be a leader.”
“But, Dad…” Raxis moaned.
“But nothing! Vigil was just a potential, and now look at him! He’s a guardian because of his hard work. Once he became a guardian, he could’ve just sat back, enjoyed a life of luxury, and not given a damn about the war, but he didn’t.”
“The war?” the queen asked. “Wait…Vigil, you don’t actually want to fight in the war, do you? My dear, tell me that Vigil isn’t going to fight in the war, is he?”
“You want to leave me, Vigil?” Raxis was wide-eyed and terrified at the thought.
“No, Your Highness. Of course not,” I urged.
“Everyone, calm down!” the king ordered.
“Do not tell me to calm down!” Minkara shouted. “There are plenty of others you can send off to fight instead of him. I will not have either of my boys put in harm’s way ever again! I will not hear of it!” And with that, the queen stormed out of the room in a fit of frustration.
The king stood and reluctantly placed his glass on the table before moving over to slap me on the back with a well-meaning grin. “Not to worry, Vigil. We’ll work a new training schedule later this week. Okay?”
I nodded, forcing a smile. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Good night, boys,” Lexani said quickly as he lumbered after his wife.
“Good night!” the prince and I replied together.
Their arguing continued down the hallway, and I heard Minkara complain to Lexani, “This whole thing is your fault!” The king muttered something in return, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was before their voices eventually faded into silence.
“I’m so sorry, Raxis,” I offered nervously. “I didn’t mean to make you mother so upset.”
“Oh, don’t worry. She gets like that whenever she’d had too much to drink. I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” he replied dismissively before finishing off his lager. “Hey! Let’s go see if there’s any leftover sweetdough.” Raxis sprang to his feet and quickly headed toward the kitchens.
“Of course, Your Highness,” I muttered before hurrying after the prince.
I didn’t understand why the prince considered the queen’s behavior to be so normal. Even when my mother had one of her mental relapses, everyone knew it was nothing to take lightly. I got the impression the royal family wasn’t as close as I’d hoped.
-73-
I was able to avoid the royal family for most of the following day by helping their servants take down the Festival of Ein decorations throughout the Rectory, but eventually, I had to sit down to an awkwardly quiet dinner. No one said a word during the entire meal until Shepherd Talmari burst into the room, looking frantic.
“What’s going on?” the king shouted angrily as he stood up from the table.
“Sorry for the interruption, Your Majesties, but there’s been an incident at the academy!” Talmari said urgently.
“Have they been attacked?” Queen Minkara asked, sounding frantic.
“No, Your Grace. Some of the potentials…they’ve managed to escape the outer wall,” he announced.
“They’ve what?” the king raged. “That’s impossible!”
“That may be, Sire, but some of them have done it anyway.”
“I want those little bastards hunted down!” Lexani roared.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Talmari nodded and ran from the room.
“Vigil, Raxis, come with me,” the king demanded.
“Where are you going?” she cried out, but the king completely ignored her as he left the room with us in tow.
“Your Majesty, where are we going?” I asked, trying to keep up with the king’s angry stride.
“The royal command post,” he snarled. “I’ve let this shit go on long enough!”
“Why are they trying to escape the academy?” Raxis asked, dumbfounded.
“Because they’re weak…and don’t want to fight in the war,” I lied, preemptively trying to cut off the prince’s questions and keep in the king’s good graces.
“Exactly! Ungrateful bastards,” the king grumbled.
We followed Lexani up into one of the highest towers within the Rectory. At the top, there was a room different from all the others I’d seen there. As we stepped up into the command post, I was absolutely stunned by what I saw.
The walls were covered with video screens, much larger than the ones I’d seen in my youth. Each massive screen was monitored by a royal guard and flashed live early sunset images of different areas of the academy grounds. I was taken aback at seeing almost every corner of the place I had called home for so many years on these secret screens.
“Whoa,” was all I could manage to say.
“Your Majesty!” one of the royal guards shouted, quickly standing at attention, which caused everyone in the room to follow suit.
“Tell…me…everything!” Lexani commanded.
“The cameras picked up images of seven deserters, Sire,” Talmari stated from behind a large table in the center of the room. He was leaning over a map of the academy and its surrounding areas. “We’ve caught and questioned only two of them so far, but both refuse to talk.”
“And the others?” Lexani asked.
“They’ve managed to get outside the perimeter wall,” Talmari said.
“How the hell did they get out?” Lexani growled.
“We’re still looking in to it.”
“Someone had to have let them out.”
“I agree, Sire, but for now, we need to contain this problem.”
“Send a message to the academy,” Lexani growled. “I’m authorizing an immediate lockdown of every building. Tell the rest of those idiots to get out there and catch every last one of them!” The king’s face was beet-red as he made his way over to where Talmari was working and pointed to areas north and east of the Shepherd Academy on the map.
As the prince and I stood in the doorway, I gazed about the room. “Your Highness, when did they put cameras at the academy?”
“My father had them installed on my first day,” the prince replied, somewhat embarrassed.
“I had no idea.” I was mesmerized. The Church had been watching us all this time. One of the cameras was set at an angle high above the colossal stone wall. It displayed shepherds and royal guards walking back and forth on top of the wall while they scanned the wilderness beyond for any signs of the fugitives. “Is that by one of the skyforks?” I asked Raxis, pointing at the screen.
The wall behind the skyfork building when we’d stopped my uncle’s attack loomed in the distance. It appeared to be much larger from the camera’s vantage point than I remembered.
“Umm…yeah. I think that’s the wall between the water skyfork and the air…no, earth. Definitely earth,” Raxis confirmed, looking at a map posted on the wall just a few feet away from us.
I walked over to get a closer look at the map. It showed all the main buildings of the academy: the shepherds’ tower, the coliseum, the dorms, even the chow halls. Surrounding the entire academy, including the skyforks, was a mammoth five-sided wall enclosing everything within.
“It’s massive,” I muttered aloud.
“Yeah. My father said it was built by the Council of Ten, thousands of years ago to protect the potentials…and keep them from escaping,” he explained, seemingly realizing how contradictory his statement was.
“
Well, it doesn’t seem to be working right now,” I remarked as Talmari motioned for us to join them at the table.
“Any potential who cannot be accounted for will be considered a deserter and punished accordingly upon their capture.” Lexani scowled and banged his fist on the table.
Talmari nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
It took only a few minutes for the king’s orders to reach the academy. One of the camera views zoomed in on the entryway at the shepherds’ tower, and we watched as half a dozen shepherds ran out, including Shepherd Diabelle.
A pair of glowing white headlights darted around the corner, stopping short just in front of the shepherds. The vehicle reminded me of the truck Shepherd Machoji had used to get us to the skyfork building, only this one was larger and much more rugged. It had tires half as tall as the tower’s doorway, and an open area behind the front cab where shepherds held onto the railings as the flatbed sped off.
I imagined it would have been extremely loud if we’d been standing close to this thing as it drove away, but these video screens had no sound. Everything we saw before us played out in complete silence.
A couple of the screens switched views, showing a range of angles broadcast from the cameras mounted on the vehicle. The guard operating the roof camera adjusted the shot, giving us all a clearer view of those on board. It was bizarre to see so many shepherds acting like hunters on a safari, stalking potentials like sport.
Once the truck had made its way through the perimeter wall’s armored gate, the vehicle rumbled off into the dense, thick forest that lay beyond it. The path twisted and turned so rapidly, I feared they would crash into a nearby tree.
“Raxis,” the king said, grabbing his son by the arm and leading him to stand close to the screen. “It’s time for you to start learning what it means to be king.”
I could see the look of fear in the prince’s eyes as he turned to get my attention.
“Watch the screen!” Lexani snarled, forcing his son to look at the monitor. “There comes a time when a true king has to rule by force…to make an example of those who forget their place! Sometimes a king can be too lenient and let his guard down, as I’ve done with these deserters. I gave them everything they needed, yet still they throw it my face…your face, too, and now they’re going to pay the price.”