Finally Sauron found his voice, “How sire, we have no weapons to match his, and even if we did, to learn to use them as well as he would be impossible in the short time we have.”
Raven looked at them all and said, “The last resort must be used, we must make time our ally, that is why we will convene a time council.”
Now Andrew took the floor and explained to his father and Master Fields the purpose of a time council, to prevent as little ill effects as possible from changing an event in the past or future.
Master Fields asked then, “How do we know what will happen if we change anything in our future or past?”
“We really don’t know what will happen, or to be precise if we even have the ability to know that things have been changed,” Andrew stated. “That is why we have to approach this very carefully and with much input from us all.”
“Can we go back in time before Layton appeared, or at least before we meet him to correct the oversights we made that got us into this mess?” asked Lorriel.
This seemed like a good plan to everyone except Joanna who had the past changed for her benefit.
She raised her hand and when she had everyone’s attention spoke up, “I do not believe we should meddle in the immediate past to change things for what we see as a solution. It may seem like a simple thing to do, but the change and consequence could lead to more serious trouble than we have now. What if the enemy can get no useful information from you and decides to kill you all? And then go find someone else in the kingdom who will tell him what he wants to know. What would we accomplish in that?”
Andronicus spoke looking mainly at Raven, “Joanna is right. Do you think the enemy will be unable to find out what he wants to know if we correct those few small mistakes?”
Raven shook his head, “I think he will find the ancients one way or the other eventually. At this time he does not have a large force, and he does not suspect that we know so much about him. If he left us and went back just a few generations before us, they would not know of the danger he posed, nor feign from telling him about the ancients and how long ago they lived. I agree that it is up to us to solve this and put a stop to it here before he does find out more than we want him to. By just letting him leave we may be sending that problem on to someone else or the ancients themselves.”
Raven paused for a moment and then went on. “Master Fields believes there is a divine purpose for the talents we possess. Perhaps God gave us these abilities to be able to deal with the enemy ourselves, we must consider that possibility. Until now I have felt cheated, and wronged by our ancestors. I believed it was their fight, their problem, so why should we have to deal with it? But now I see that every threat to the ancients is ours as well, every fight of theirs is also ours. Without them our kingdom would not exist. It is a great kingdom, loved by us all in truth and loyalty. But more than that, it has been a haven of rest for generations, a place of peace and prosperity for over a thousand years. Should we let Layton Teal take that from the earth? Even if we do not survive, we owe the generations to follow a place such as this for their peace and safety.”
“We are with you, my king, whether we live or die,” echoed Sauron. The others nodded their support as well.
“Then we should go back to the days of the ancients and seek their help on how to defeat the enemy here in our own time. Does anyone have a better solution or answer than this?”
Everyone felt it was the best plan and would have the least amount of repercussions for their time. They would only meet the ancients and ask them how to stop Layton Teal, nothing more. Even Andronicus agreed it was probably the best plan.
Joanna brought up one last point, “Can we follow the ancients riddle and use the stones to send Layton back?”
“It may have been a good plan to the ancients,” Andronicus stated, “but it will not work for you. Sending him back would only delay his plans, and next time he would be more prepared. There is something else the ancients found out later about time travel that they did not know when they wrote the riddle of the stones. Even when using the stones, the time traveler has to travel to the time and destination with the stones. Even they could not send Layton back without Merry going with him and that was not an option for them. That is why the stones were forgotten in the vaults of the king’s castle. I did not say the stones were of no use, for they will enable the time traveler to travel farther back in time and include everything inside the circle of the stones as well.”
“Good,” Raven said, “then let us talk about what to do or not to do during this time travel over dinner.”
Layton Teal sat around the camp fire thinking, in a few days his search would end and he would be victorious. But for the first time he realized that his life was virtually over. This was the last challenge left him, finding the traitors and punishing them for their betrayal. But after that was done he had nothing left to challenge him. A sadness swept over Layton at this realization. He had spent his whole life clawing his way to the top, doing things no one else even thought possible. No one ever knew his motives, and once he reached the top as ruler of it all, it was a hollow achievement because it was the top. What had been life to him was the challenge, the conquering. But that was all over now except this last task. In a funny way he was thankful for the betrayal, it had given him something to do after he became ruler of it all for quite a few years now. He thought about finding them and just scaring them with the threat of death and then let them go, maybe even living out his last days in the past as they were. But Layton had never found out how to have peace and happiness in a normal existence. Come to think of it, he had never enjoyed life and did not know how. He also knew he could not let them go, for that would shortchange the experience of conquering this last challenge. He needed this last challenge to give him a sense of completeness, and then he could end his life. Maybe after this was all over he would leap into the unknown future for the final end of his days. As Layton Teal waited for the time to pass, he realized that all he had to show for his life was the satisfaction that he had done what no one else could do, he had conquered it all.
3,000 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE:
Rebekka stared at the surrounding world about her, everything had completely changed. There was noise and people all about her and she found herself in the middle of a bustling city. Carriages not pulled by horses were hurtling at tremendous speeds in every direction, and some even traveled in the air. The smell and noise assaulted her senses when she was suddenly shaken out of her observation by someone tugging on her arm.
It was Elise, and she said curtly, “Come with me.”
Rebekka did not think to resist for she was at a loss from all the sights and sounds around her. Her shock subsided and she guessed she had been taken to the future by this young woman, probably to the enemies time. They walked a short distance to a tall building that stretched to the sky. In fact, most of the buildings were very tall and obscured the surroundings so you could not see what lay beyond them.
As they began to enter the tall building Rebekka saw men on either side of the door snap to attention and salute Elise. Military, Rebekka realized, observing their uniforms and behavior. She could see others noting Elise’s presence and every one was snapping to attention, and people were trying to look very busy. Such attention this young girl demands, thought Rebekka, but then realized she must have been at the enemies disposal night and day if he needed her time traveling talents. Elise’s reward was the power and recognition her position with Layton Teal had given her. It all began to make sense now, everyone was afraid of this young woman, not because of who she was, but because of her connection to the enemy. She walked right past them to a door that slid open as they approached. Rebekka recognized it as a traveling room like the one that took them to the top of Brickens’ Falls. They entered and Elise spoke to a man that was inside the room, stiff at attention. She told him to take them to the 67th floor and the man pushed a button that had some markings on it and they
began to move upward. When they stopped and the doors opened Elise and Rebekka exited into a hallway with lavish decorations and rugs on the floor. It felt soft and squishy under Rebekka’s feet. They walked to a room, Elise took out a card and inserted it into a slot and the door opened. She motioned for Rebekka to enter and they went in to a large room with other rooms connected to it.
Elise sat down in a very plush chair and exclaimed, “Oh, my feet are killing me.” She bent down to remove her shoes and there was an audible sound of ripping fabric. Elise sprang back up with surprise and embarrassment. She kicked her shoes off and then pushed a button on the arm of her chair. Immediately the door opened and a woman came in.
“What can I do for you chancellor Elise?” the woman said as she bowed.
“These clothes are poorly made for the pants have ripped.”
The woman hesitated not knowing what to say. Elise saw the hesitation and demanded, “Well, what have you to say?”
The woman cast her eyes downward and commented, “I do not know how, but you have filled out to the figure of a woman since yesterday. Those clothes no longer fit you.”
Elise walked to a mirror and looked, at first shocked and then pleased by the figure she saw. She had filled out in places that women do when they mature.
Elise turned to the woman and said, “I shall need new clothes immediately, the latest styles and shoes as well. Also some functional outdoor recreational clothes as I have on now.”
The woman looked over her figure and her feet and then was gone in a flash. Elise went back to the mirror and looked herself over once again. She had not grown taller, but definitely had grown in other places, including her feet. They were wider than they used to be and that was why her feet hurt.
Elise had almost forgotten about Rebekka until she heard her say, “How old are you?”
Elise walked slowly toward Rebekka and stated, “I am fourteen years old.”
Rebekka thought to herself, “You are no more fourteen than I am, unless something drastic has happened to you.”
Elise sat back down and sighed, “Boy, am I ever glad to be back to civilization, there was nothing I enjoyed about that place I took you from.”
Rebekka smiled and replied, “I was thinking the same thing about this place. It is too noisy, too many people, and it smells stuffy, not like the air of Glenfair. May I look out the window?” Rebekka asked.
“Sure, you can go out on the balcony if you want, you’re sixty stories up, I’m sure you won’t disappear.”
Rebekka went to the window and figured out how to slide the glass door open and stepped out on the small balcony. They were high up and she gasped as she looked down. She had only been higher at the top of Brickens’ Falls. From this height she could see over most of the buildings, or between them, to try and guess where she might be.
She was surveying the surroundings when she stopped and stared, “No it can’t be,” she said to herself. But there was no mistaking Brickens’ Falls. This city was in the kingdom of Glenfair, between the Crestlaw’s garrison and the falls. Someday all these people would live in Glenfair? It seemed too much to believe at first, but she reconciled it with the fact that she was far into the future.
She went back inside where Elise was being attend to by several women bustling here and there with clothes and shoes. Rebekka sat down and watched the whole spectacle unfold before her. Finally the women were gone and they were alone and Elise turned her attention to Rebekka once again.
“We will go out to eat tonight, and I will treat you to some fine food.”
Rebekka squinted her eyes and said seriously, “You are treating me rather casual for a prisoner are you not?”
Elise smiled back and said, “He told me to bring you back in four days, he didn’t say we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. Besides, I could have you killed if I told them Layton wanted it done. No one questions me because I answer only to Layton.”
“And that reminds me,” as she pushed a button and the woman appeared once again. “Get this woman an evening gown, we are going to eat at Jansboqué this evening.”
“What is your name by the way?” Elise asked.
“Rebekka,” was all she offered.
“You used to be queen of this place, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” replied Rebekka, again this was all she said.
“I’ll bet you had all kinds of servants to pamper and do anything you told them to do, just like me,” Elise stated, as if it must be true.
Rebekka tried to calculate her answer for she now saw that Elise likened herself to a queen, though she did not have the title.
“As a matter of fact,” Rebekka replied, “it is nothing like that at all.”
“I don’t believe you,” Elise replied, “all people in power use other people.”
Rebekka sighed, “Let me tell you about the kingdom of Glenfair since you know nothing of what it is like.”
“Before you do,” Elise quickly interjected, “promise me something.”
“I cannot promise anything until I know what it is,” Rebekka stated.
“Promise me you will tell me the truth, nothing made up about Glenfair as you call it.”
“That I can promise,” Rebekka said smiling. “I love our kingdom with all my heart, it is the most wonderful place to live, and its people are wonderful.”
“What do you make them do?” Elise asked.
“I do not make them do anything, no one is made to do anything in Glenfair if they do not want to. Even the servants that live with us in our castle do so of their own freewill, they have a place to live and are provided for. It is the life they choose to live, and I love all of them who live with us. They could leave to go anywhere, live and work anywhere they wish. People live together and work together to make Glenfair a wonderful kingdom. In fact we have two feasts a year where the whole kingdom celebrates together, it is a wonderful time.”
Elise’s eyes were down cast, “That is not how it is here in this time. Layton said people are slaves to the state, to serve others.”
“You mean,” Rebekka corrected, “that people are Layton’s slaves, he is the state is that not true?”
“For some,” Elise answered, “but not for me! I can do what I want,” she said plainly. Rebekka felt sorry for Elise, that she could not see the truth.
“Layton treats you well because he needs something from you. If you could not shift time would he treat you this way? Where would you be then? By the way, where is your family, you are awfully young to be alone?”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Elise replied. “Its time for us to go to dinner.”
Just then the woman returned with the evening gown for Rebekka, gave it to her and left without a word. It was elegant and Rebekka had never seen anything like it before.
“Get dressed,” Elise commanded.
Rebekka looked at the dress and could not find a way to get into it. She looked at Elise with a question in her eyes and Elise softened a little and showed her how a zipper worked. Rebekka thanked her and began to dress. The woman who brought it was an excellent judge of size for it fit perfectly once Rebekka figured out how to get it on. The woman also was wise to give her a loose fitting dress similar to the one she had on so attention was not drawn to her pregnancy.
Elise commented, “You look very beautiful,” but lingered a moment at her stomach.
“So do you,” Rebekka returned in a truthful gesture. They smiled at each other and started to leave.
Rebekka looked at Elise and asked one question, “Tell me the truth, do you like Layton?”
Elise’s eyes teared up at this question, “No”’ she said, “I hate him!”
They arrived at Jansboqué and the ride there was quite interesting to Rebekka. Having had wild rides on horses in her youth, she was not shaken by the mechanical wagon that carried them at a tremendous speed to their destination. They mostly sat in silence for the trip to the restau
rant, but when they arrived the excitement Elise had was infectious.
“Just wait,” she said, “you will have a great time tonight!”
They went in and wonderful smells filled Rebekka’s nostrils, all kinds of spices which reminded her suddenly that she was very hungry. They entered and were quickly ushered to a table, even though the place was packed with people. They sat down and Elise proceeded to order for them different foods that Rebekka knew she had no idea what they were.
Elise smiled at her and said, “I have ordered plenty of food, so if you do not like one dish there are plenty of others to choose from.”
Rebekka smiled back but thought, “She does not look like a child, but she acts still very young.”
At that moment Rebekka knew that Elise had no idea of the consequences of helping Layton Teal accomplish his task, and that she was not an evil person, just easily persuaded and tempted in her youth. It was apparent she greatly enjoyed her freedom, position, and the possessions Layton had provided her. The food came and most of it was very delicious, but lacked that home flavor foods do when prepared in restaurants.
Elise asked Rebekka if she liked the food and Rebekka replied, “It is all very tasty and exotic, but I will take barbecued Tor any day over this.” Rebekka thought that at first she might offend Elise with this statement, for she was still cautious of what she said to her.
Elise replied, “I have never eaten Tor before, we have only a small herd of the creatures in a preserve. Maybe someday I will have to try it.”
Rebekka looked at Elise and decided to gamble a little because she was in such a good mood after coming back to her own time.
“How far into the future have you brought me Elise?”
The King's Ancestors Page 14