The Oracle Sphere

by Travis Pond

  Tureis asked, “About the language. I understand it’s an ancient language. Is it the only language you can use?”

  “Yes,” Sepi said. “It’s an ancient language and there are very few books that still exist with which to learn it. The book you received in Kurith can teach you the language. Study it well, you will need to know how to communicate.”

  “Communicate? With whom?” Tureis asked.

  “With me, or King Seathan, or your father, or Emmett. Any number of council members. And we may need to communicate with you,” answered Sepi.

  At the sound of his fathers and Emmett also being on the Council, he smiled. So his father did have a sphere, as did Emmett and King Seathan. The idea of this was creating even more questions in his mind. Tureis knew he didn’t have the time to ask everything, but he hoped the book would give him some of the answers.

  “If I may ask, what else does the sphere do?” asked Tureis.

  Sepi held her sphere in the palm of her hand. “This sphere is quite an amazing object of power. All objects have powers given to them for specific purposes. Some have specific functions, like your book, where others have no main function at all, but are made to help provide the user focus,” said Sepi. “This sphere is special. The Matya used to create the spheres was so powerful that the they have no single function. Over the years, I’ve seen this sphere do many things. The secret to the sphere abilities lies in your personal Matya. There’s a connection that’s forged with the sphere and your Matya. The more your Matya is capable of, the more the sphere can do.”

  Tureis sitting back in his chair organizing in his mind all the information he’d just received. After a moment he asked, “My father’s on the Council of Matya?”

  “Yes he is, as are many others,” answered Sepi. “The Council is made up of many individuals in all the surrounding kingdoms. They monitor the Matya and its use. They are a relatively secret council, as many people are afraid of the Matya and its usage. Since all the king’s in the surrounding kingdoms possess activated Matya, the members of the council help to direct the kings as to how they can best use it to help their people and yet still keep it a secret.”

  “What about King Hamish of Zummot? Doesn’t he openly use his Matya and not always for the benefit of his people?” asked Tureis.

  “Unfortunately that is true. It seems King Hamish has become casual with its use and enjoys the power it gives him. He also has been known to use it in ways that go against the values established by the council. He’s repeatedly been counseled to refrain from using it for the purposes of personal gain and power, but he seems to conveniently ignore the counsel.”

  “Is King Hamish on the Council as well? Does he have a sphere?” asked Tureis.

  Sepi shook her head. “He is no longer on the Council. After repeatedly going against the directives of the Council, he was removed and his sphere taken,” replied Sepi.

  “What about him wanting to capture Seth?” asked Tureis.

  Sepi thought for a moment. “That’s a very good question,” she said. “It would be best to make a hasty return to Thaven for the protection of Seth.”

  “But what about King Hamish? What’s he planning? Why does he want Seth?” asked Tureis with some intensity in his voice.

  “I really couldn’t tell you. What he’s doing and why he wants Seth, I really don’t know. This is the first I’ve heard about it,” she said.

  Tureis sat back again looking up at the light coming in from the windows and said softly, almost to himself, “We need to know why.”

  “Excuse me?” said Sepi in a calm voice.

  “It’s like you said, understanding craves understanding. The feelings I’m having tell me I need to know why. It feels important to understand why King Hamish wants to capture Seth,” said Tureis.

  Sepi thought about this for a full minute. “What about this makes you want to find out why?” she asked.

  Tureis answered directly, “Because Seth is my friend and I’m concerned about his safety,” he said with some emotion in his voice. He took a deep breath and looked directly at Sepi. “Also, what does Seth have that King Hamish could even want? Nothing. He has nothing. But he is the Crown Prince of Thaven and that means he can be used for something. That’s what we need to figure out. Why does he want to use Seth and what does he ultimately want? I fear there’s more to it than a simple kidnapping.”

  Sepi took a deep breath. “I fear you’re right,”she said. She sat forward in her chair and looked directly at Tureis and asked in a very serious tone, “What do you propose?”

  Chapter 20

  - Training -

  Supper that night was very somber. After their meetings with the Oracle, each member of the group went off on their own, pondering the things the Oracle had told them. Since his meeting with Sepi, Tureis’ mind had not stopped turning. Over and over he replayed the altercation with the guards of Zummot and thought about every word of the letter. Could there be something he’d missed? Were there any other clues as to what King Hamish may want with Seth?

  Sepi had given Tureis the responsibility to discuss his idea they had agreed upon with the members of the group. He was waiting until after dinner and tea before discussing the idea. He was nervous, he didn’t know what the members of the group would say. Now that they had arrived in Saxon, there was no responsibility for any member of the group to stay. Seth and Tureis had only asked Braon and Eammon to accompany them to the Oracle and for protection along the way. They’d arrived in Saxon and had visited with the Oracle, so the task was completed and they were free to leave or go wherever they wanted.

  Tea was served and the servants had left the room. Finishing his tea, Tureis looked at the group and asked, “After tea would you all mind meeting me in the sitting room?” They all nodded as Tureis stood and left the room.

  Once the last person had arrived and had taken a seat they all quieted down and looked at Tureis. He was a little unsure of himself as he’d never done anything like this before. He cleared his throat and said, “I first want to thank Braon and Eammon for all the help in getting us here safely.”

  Seth and Ailish echoed the gratitude.

  Tureis continued, “Along our journey we came across a group of Zummot guards posing as traders from Galaera. During that altercation Ailish discovered a note from King Hamish calling for the capture of Seth.”

  At the mention of this, Seth shrank in his seat and mumbled something to himself. Ailish scooted over on the couch, placed a hand on Seth’s arm and said, “What’s your point Tureis?”

  “The point is that I feel we need to figure out why King Hamish wants to capture Seth,” said Tureis.

  “Why us?” asked Ailish. “Why not the King’s Guard?”

  “They won’t expect us,” said Tureis. “We can figure out why they want Seth and inform King Seathan.”

  “What if we just go back to Thaven?” Seth asked. “Braon and Eammon can make sure we get back safely.”

  Braon shook his head and said, “First, I can’t guarantee that we can get back there safely. If you’re being hunted, we may never make it back there. We don’t know how many people have been sent to capture you. Second, if I go back to Thaven they’ll throw me in prison. I’d rather stay out of prison.”

  They all fell silent. After several minutes Eammon spoke up and asked very softly, “Why do you want to find this out?”

  That caught Tureis a bit off guard. He looked at Seth and then at Ailish. Shifting in his seat he looked at Braon and finally at Eammon. “First, I want to say these past few days have been nothing short of amazing,” Tureis began. “I’ve done things I never thought I’d do in all my life; fought thieves and guards, spoke to and learned from the Oracle, so many things. But the most important thing to me through all of this is the friendships I’ve made. Braon and Eammon, I consider
you close friends and I would do anything in my power for you--which is why I helped to break Braon out of the stocks in the first place. Ailish is my cousin, my family--again I would do anything for family. But Seth is my best friend and has been for many years. My father always said to be true to yourself and to be loyal to family. I would add to be to be loyal to your friends as well. I want to find this out because my friend is in danger and I want to know why.”

  Tureis sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. His hands were shaking slightly from the rush of emotion. After several moments of quiet, Eammon said, “I’m in.”

  This brought Tureis out of his thoughts, “What was that?”

  Eammon sat up and spoke more forcefully, “I said, I’m in. I’ll help you do whatever we need to figure this out. And I’ll help in any way I can to make sure Seth makes it back to Thaven safely.”

  This time it was Seth who sat up and spoke with calmness in his voice, “Thank you Eammon. And thank you Tureis.”

  Seth looked at Ailish. “What? Of course I’m in,” she said with a smile.

  Now the focus shifted to Braon. He looked uneasy as all the eyes seemed to bore into him. Finally he said, “I’m in as well. But I must be honest with you, I will do my best to also see that Seth makes it back to Thaven safely, but the fact is that I’m a wanted man in Thaven...no guarantees, but I’ll do the best I can.”

  All the eyes shifted back to Tureis. “Now what?” asked Seth.

  Tureis smiled in amazement as all of his friends had decided to follow him in his search to figure out the reason behind King Hamish’s desire to capture Seth. “Now we get some rest tonight,” said Tureis. “Luram said we could stay here as long as we needed. Sepi said we could as well. She recommends we prepare for the journey before we leave. We can stay as long as we need to but we should prepare in haste.”

  “The Oracle knows about this and she’s ok with it?” asked Eammon.

  “Yes she does,” said Tureis. “When we spoke earlier I told her about the note and King Hamish wanting to capture Seth. We discussed the idea of trying to figure out why. She contacted King Seathan and he’s given his blessing, including having Braon with us on the journey.”

  This caught all of the group off guard. Ailish seemed a little upset. “So you already had a plan and an idea before you spoke to us?,” she asked. “Why didn’t you talk to us first?”

  Tureis knew this question would come up. “I wanted to discuss it with you first,” he said. “But at the same time I wanted to do things the right way. When we got caught and banished for breaking Braon out of the stocks, one thing they said was we needed to learn to make better decisions.” Feeling emotion begin to well up inside him, Tureis took a deep breath. Calmly, he continued, “Well, I want to find out why the King of Zummot wants to capture Seth. No matter what we decided to do, I knew I needed to have the Oracle or the King’s permission first. That’s the right way to do this. And even if all of you said you wouldn’t help, I was still going to do it myself.”

  “I would do it no matter what as well,” said Ailish. “But, I agree, it’s good to have permission first.”

  “When do we leave?” asked Braon.

  “Sepi said she thinks we can be ready in about a week. I think that’s a good goal,” said Tureis.

  Seth looked at Tureis and asked, “Where are we going?”

  Quietly, Tureis answered, “Zummot.”

  After a good nights sleep and a chance to ponder the decision to go to Zummot, breakfast was very energetic. Everyone had questions and ideas on how to proceed. After the meal was finished Tureis stood, waiting for everyone to quiet down. “It sounds like everyone has thought about what we’re trying to do,” he said. “That is great. I liked the different ideas and plans being discussed this morning. I do think we need to prepare before we make a definite plan,” said Tureis.

  “What do you mean by prepare? How do we prepare?” asked Ailish.

  “Well for one thing we could work on fighting,” said Seth. “I know we could all use that.”

  “I would be happy to teach,” said Braon. “It would be good for all of us to work on fighting skills. You never know what we could come across where we’re going.”

  “I agree,” said Tureis. “Eammon, Luram said he wanted to show you something as well this morning. He’ll meet you down by the stables when we’re finished here.”

  For the next week they practiced fighting each other and some of the servants around the grounds. Tureis and Ailish also spent several hours each day reading and studying. During the week they had each gone to visit with Sepi on different occasions both individually and together as a group, without Braon. Sepi had given them good advice on what to look for and how to proceed. She also lent them books to read that would help prepare their minds for using the Matya to aid them along the way.

  One time during their visit, Sepi entrusted a bit of intelligence to just the three of them with the strict request they not to share the information with anyone, including Braon and Eammon. They were also to search for someone. Sepi didn’t give them many details, just a way they could recognize the person and what to do once they made contact. This person would give them vital information and could be trusted.

  Late in the afternoon of the seventh day, Sepi visited with Tureis alone. “Do you feel prepared for the journey ahead?” Sepi asked Tureis.

  “I think so. We’ve studied and practiced what we can. I think we’ve done all we can do here. The rest we’ll have to learn as we go,” replied Tureis.

  “One can never fully prepare for every situation,” Sepi agreed. “What you’ve done this week will help you greatly. I feel you’re ready to go.”

  “Then we’ll prepare to leave tomorrow,” said Tureis.

  “There’s one thing I feel I should tell you before departing,” Sepi began. “I wish to be clear that you are the leader of this group. There may come a time when as a leader you need to step aside and let Seth take the role as leader. You will know when the time comes. It’s important for the kingdom that Seth follow you on this journey, but anytime his title as Crown Prince is needed, you need to make it look as though he’s in charge. Seth understands this as well.”

  Tureis nodded his understanding.

  Sepi continued, “Keep the information you learn close. You may share parts of it with the members of your group, but be careful how much you share. Sensitive information may be best to keep to yourself and Seth or Ailish and not make it known to everyone.”

  “Why?” asked Tureis. “Is there something about Eammon or Braon I need to know?”

  Sepi shook her head, “It’s just good practice to limit who knows the information,” she said. “I would appreciate it though if you would share the information with myself and King Seathan as well, but no one else on the council—even your father.”

  “Really?” asked Tureis, a bit taken back by the idea of not sharing information with his own father.

  “Keep the information to a few certain people,” said Sepi in a serious tone. “King Seathan will share your information with your father and Emmett as well. Let the King share the information, that’s his role.”

  Tureis got up and walked to the window briefly looking out. He turned to face Sepi and asked, “I need to know something. What kind of person is King Hamish?”

  Sepi looked seriously at Tureis, feeling his concern, “King Hamish is a man who loves power and glory more than anything else. He didn’t used to be like that,” she said. “There was a time he was kind and generous.” Sepi paused, reflecting on a memory. She continued in a quiet, reverence. “His oldest son was killed by an executioner from another kingdom. King Hamish thought, and still thinks, it was King Seathan that sent the executioner. I firmly believe King Seathan would never do such a thing.”

  Sepi stood, walked over to the window and s
tood next to Tureis. She continued, “Ever since that day he became cold and bitter, and his unjustified lust for revenge on King Seathan has consumed him. He’s also figured out how to manipulate the Matya for evil and has become very powerful. Whatever he wants with Seth, you can be assured it’s evil.”

  “Did anyone ever figure out who sent the executioner to kill the son of King Hamish and why?” asked Tureis.

  Sepi shook her head and softly said, “No one ever did.”

  Tureis joined the rest of the group at supper. Everyone was already seated, talking and laughing when he arrived. As he entered the room, Ailish noticed a change in Tureis’ expression and asked, “What is it Tureis?”

  He announced to the group, “Tomorrow we leave. We’re ready, or as ready as we can be.”

  The supper that night was a feast in honor of their leaving. When Luram was informed the group was planning to leave in the morning, he had decided to prepare a large send off for the group. Luram even joined them, telling stories, answering questions and enjoying a merry mood.

  While tea was being served, Luram stood and said, “In honor of your journey, Sepi requested that she give a gift to each of you. Earlier this week Eammon took your empty traveling bags and brought them to me. Eammon has spent many hours this week making this for you.” Luram paused and Eammon lowered his head, a large smile on his face. “This is the first time Sepi has done something like this for anyone visiting here, and I really don’t know if anyone other than Eammon could have made them.”

  Luram clapped his hands and servants came into the room holding their bags. Ailish and Seth had excited looks on their faces as did Tureis and Braon. Eammon sat back with a large grin on his face. “They look like our original bags,” said Ailish.