They walked farther still, noting the largest tent was closest to the castle doors. She could hear the hammering and taping of metal on metal, and the sizzle of heated steel thrust into large buckets of water.
“Farlow, I thought you said things back home had evolved a bit more since we’ve been gone? It looks like medieval America here,” Sheree stated.
“You have to understand, my lady. It’s only been a year since they last saw you here. For all the advancements of the world you’ve been living in, time did not move as fast on this side,” Farlow shot back over the joyful voices of the children weaving throughout the group as they walked.
Chris watched Farlow look at the children playing. He smiled, then a deep sadness overtook him, and he looked away. Chris thought how lovely it would be if they were nothing more than mere children playing in the dirt.
“Mother, you have to understand. The land is dying. With little to no food, water, and other resources…well, how could a civilization advance beyond what you remember it was? Any changes that have been made to the homes can’t be utilized by those who have fled their homes.” Ty spoke in a hushed voice, so those who lived within the castle walls had not overheard him. He did not want to remind those people of all they had to endure, while he was coming from a place that had things like internet and cell phones.
“Indeed,” Sheree reluctantly agreed. None of them could have realized such things were happening in their home world while they had been away. Their memories of home were closer to what they were seeing than the comforts they had left in Cherry Valley.
Chris watched as the rest conversed while making their way to the hall, where they would be received. She vaguely remembered what her own home looked like, marveling at how similar each of the castles had been. The stone pillars that lined the wider halls were decorated with the carvings of their realm’s chosen animal. In Regalis, her home, that animal was a bear. The animal of Corinthia was a fish, which she assumed was because the eastern borders of the realm were designated to fishing. Corinthia had become the producer of aquatic foods for all the realms.
Each of the realms were known for their own means of trade. All the realms shared a border with the ocean, but many of the people who could fish well just happened to settle in Corinthia. Regalis was mainly known for their dairy farms, just as Largania was known for distributing steel. Ormshire, before the curse, had produced much of the wheat for the four realms, as well as rice, soybeans, and corn. The rainy seasons the realm had endured, and the fact that it never got cold enough to frost, made it the perfect place for corn fields.
Chris remembered, from the short amount of time spent in Ormshire castle, that their animal was a lion. As for Largania, she couldn’t recall. She hadn’t been there since she was a small child.
They walked in silence through the vast halls and up a small staircase to the dining hall. It was unusual for a lord to receive guests anywhere other than the throne room, but in this case, she hoped very much that they had thought to arrange them a few tidbits to snack on.
The hall was just like the rest she had ever seen; large wooden pillars and crossbeams in the rafters. The torches had been replaced by what looked like oil lamps. The candles above the pillars had melted wax down the sides, to the floor and the tables below. The seating arrangements had been different than she had ever seen. They were lined around the room and reminded her of a high school cafeteria in the other world.
The man himself was not what she had expected either. He was tall—barely six-feet—but tall, nonetheless. His face was obscured by unruly, blond facial hair, but enough was visible to see that he appeared happy to see them. He was scruffy looking, unshaven, unwashed, and his blond hair on top of his head was short, but she could still tell it hadn’t been combed.
Cantothos bowed to Renee and then took her hand to kiss her family’s ring. Before he could look down at it, Renee politely took back her hand.
“Please pardon my meeting you here,” Cantothos started, “but we are in the middle of making preparations for more visitors.” He motioned to the vast room, which Chris could see was also harboring bedrolls and such along the walls. “Many more of the people are in need of shelter,” he finished.
Renee quickly remembered her station, as she was once again in the presence of a lord of Pylira.
“Lord Cantothos, I am honored that you would receive us at all. I am sure you questioned if it were me you would be receiving at any rate? Please allow me to ease your mind, Sir,” she responded in kind.
“Of course, Highness, there had been some apprehension to whether or not it was truly you. However, here you are, and you’ve brought allies, I presume.” He nodded in the direction of her friends, who had kept their distance to allow the two to converse.
“Yes, of course. Nobody here wishes you or your people harm.”
“Princess…they are your people; I am not one to judge. Had the roles been reversed and my child wandered into your lord father’s court, I know he would not object to his arrival. I respect my king and the hard decisions he has had to face in the wake of such times as these.”
“I’m sure he will be happy to hear of it, when I arrive at the palace. I will be sure to tell him of your generosity.”
Cantothos bowed again and urged the rest of her companions to enter farther into the hall.
“Please come…sit. I shall have food brought. I can see from your weary faces that you must have been traveling a great distance to get here.”
Chris held onto Farlow, who’d been holding her upright once she had left the confines of the wagon. He brought her to Renee’s side and sat her down at the closest table, where Nolan had helped Tabby sit as well.
“Lord Cantothos.” Sheree stepped forward.
“My lady. I pray you’re well. I had wondered at our last meeting if we should see each other again.”
“Yes, I am well. I wish we had come here under better circumstances. However, we have solemn news that needs attending.” She walked with Cantothos to the far end of the hall as he shot out directions to his staff for food and drinks to be brought to his guests.
Renee and the others sat, and in no time, they were presented with plenty of food and drink. Sheree took it upon herself to deliver the news to the lord regarding their queen’s misfortune. She gave him instructions to have her body fitted into a casket for proper transport to the palace, and a messenger was dispatched to announce the arrival of Renee and Ty to Corinthia, but nothing of the queen’s death. Renee wanted to be the one to deliver that news in person to her father.
“From here, we can take the road through the forest of the fae and make it to the palace in a day, but we will have to use the roads,” Ty spoke only so Renee could hear.
“Why use the roads? I thought we would avoid them.” Renee looked to him with fear in her eyes.
Chris studied the two as they spoke in hushed voices. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she turned her attention to the small boy who was called Leffe. He lay on his belly in the center of the room, playing with a small statue; the same statue he had been playing with on the road.
“What do you have there?” she asked him.
“This? It’s a statue of King Rowan.” He raised his hand to her so she could see.
“What are you doing with it?”
“My father gave it to me. He said it should be a reminder that things will get better because he’s a great king; our only king. Not like that fake king.”
“Do you mean Ourobus?” she asked shyly.
“Yes…that’s him. He’s so bad that he turned into a dragon, and he’s stuck inside his castle. He sets people on fire when he gets mad.” The boy spoke so fast, Chris didn’t know if she had heard him right.
“A dragon?”
“Yup, and he eats people.”
“Leffe!”
“Yes, Father?”
“Go play with your toy outside, please. Our visitors need their rest,” Cantothos said to his son.
“Oka
y. See you later.” The blond-haired boy jumped up and waved to Chris as he left the room, with a smile only fit for a small child.
“He’s a dragon?” Chris asked Cantothos loudly for all in the room to hear, then he looked at Ty. “Why didn’t you tell us? How are we supposed to defeat that?” she yelled.
“Christina!” Renee stood and gave her friend a stern look. “My lord, my friends are in need of healing. Might you have a healing maga in your realm that could see to their wounds?”
“Certainly.” The lord bowed and spoke with a short-haired woman, who had produced their meal. “Talena will take you to your rooms and have the healers meet you. If you’ll excuse me, Princess, I do have more arrangements to make.”
“Of course,” she said, and quickly added, “we shall like to leave by daybreak. It would be easier, with mother, if we had a more suitable wagon and a horse or two. I will, of course, make sure they are returned to you.”
“Those arrangements are already made. There will be a steed for each of you, and of course, your mother will be preserved and travel as a queen should. I hope you have safe travels.” He bowed and exited the room.
The castle was warm and cozy, Chris noted as she settled into her room. The healer had visited and made light work of her wound, and not even a scar was visible.
Tabby, on the other hand, had not been so lucky. Chris could hear her screams from down the hall and ventured to her friend’s side as the healer worked on her wounded back.
“You have small shards of wood festering inside it. I will have to clean the wound and try a bit of magia to get it to come to the surface, but I don’t know if I can get it all out,” the old, round gentleman told her.
Tabby put up a hand for him to stop for a moment so she could catch her breath. She motioned to her brother to hand her his belt, and she slid it between her teeth.
“That can’t possibly taste good,” Renee scolded her.
“It’ll do,” Tabby spoke through her clenched teeth around the belt. “Get on with it.”
The old man moved his long beard over his shoulder to keep it away from Tabby’s back, placing a liquid inside of her wound. He placed his hands over her and whispered a few words under his breath.
Chris recognized them from the healers she had seen work back home.
“Sollevare verso l’alto, purificare.”
The little splinters of wood wiggled to the surface of Tabby’s skin, and she screamed with them. The old man grabbed a pair of tongs and removed each small splinter, placing them in a silver bowl. He pushed his fingers over the area where the wood pieces had been and moved it around.
“Argh, what now?” Tabby yelled.
“Sorry, dear, just seeing if we were able to get them all.” He sat back and rubbed his palms together as if he heated them in the cold.
“And?” she asked impatiently.
“Oh…yes…I do believe I have gotten all of them. Now to heal this cut.” He placed his hands over her back once again and closed his eyes.
Chris watched as a small white light moved from one end of the cut to the other, sealing the wound as it went.
“Thank you,” Tabby said to the old man.
“Well…” he looked down, confused. “I hadn’t started yet.” He gave her a quizzical look. “Maybe Cantothos is right. Maybe I am losing touch with reality.” The old man laughed as he held the nearby table to steady himself onto his feet.
“Thank you, sir.” Ty shook the old man’s hand and walked him to the door, closing it firmly behind him.
Ty turned back to his sister and cocked his head to the side. She smiled at him, a half-smile, and looked to Farlow.
“I can explain?” she stated, yet she posed it as a question.
“Explain what, little sister? How the old man healed you without using magia, or how you healed yourself?” Ty said, sitting on the bed next to her.
Nolan hurried to grab all the cloths stained red with Tabby’s blood and threw them in the fireplace. When they had gotten to their rooms, all the fires had already been set ablaze for them, and warm bowls of water were left for them in the bathrooms.
“Spill,” Chris told her friend.
Tabby looked around the room at her friends. The only ones who had not joined them were Sheree and Chase, who had found refuge in helping the castle prepare for more of the townspeople to arrive.
Farlow gave her a nod and she sat up. Ty, Renee, Farlow, and Nolan all sat looking at her, waiting for her explanation. She lifted a hand, and with the wave of her index finger, the fire went out.
“Where did you get that neat trick?” Renee clapped her hands together.
“It appears Queen Renal stole my magia from me at birth.”
“Why in the world would she do a thing like that?” Ty looked to Farlow with an accusing glare.
“My mother had her reasons for what she did. Only she could say, and since she is no longer here, my sister thought it was wise to return what was taken,” Farlow said to all of them.
“I spoke to Calipee; it’s all okay. I know why Renal took them, and I know why I have them back. Father would have taken them from me. He wanted more power. Now, we have the upper hand and more magia on our side,” she said to Ty.
“She’s right, Ty,” Renee started. “He has no idea, and its more help on our side.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at the ring that sat on her wedding finger. Chris could see her friend struggling. She just wished she knew what would help her find her way.
The evening wore on, and they all called it a night early. When the sunlight broke the night’s sky, they were already on horseback heading for the forest of the fae, with the exception of two. Lady Sheree and Chase had decided to stay back and help those Cantothos expected to arrive. After cowering in front of the beasts in the flatlands, Chase felt his presence was better served helping others.
The air up the mountain was usually cooler than in the flatlands, and it steadied out as the land flattened to signify the borders of Hearthstone. They traveled in silence, only stopping for short amounts of time to relieve themselves and eat. The horses Cantothos provided were strapped with saddle bags full of bread and cheese, and each of them had a skin of water to get them through the journey.
Chris marveled at the queen’s casket. They had only expected a plain box, sealed to preserve her from the elements, but Cantothos had requested a more ornate container for their queen. The carvings alone probably had taken the caretaker the entire night to complete.
The edges were rounded like that of crown molding. There was a wooden sigil of Hearthstone on the top—a heart with a crown around it—fashioned with an affixed pink, heart-shaped stone in the peak of the crown and a ‘K’ etched into the heart. Chris overheard the caretaker tell Renee that the queen would be safe from the elements, but when it came time to present her to the king, the top could be easily removed. He had also told her that it was lined with red velvet padding. The ladies of Lady Irene—wife of Lord Cantothos—had cleaned her mother, brushed her hair, and dressed her in one of Lady Irene’s gowns to hide the hideous markings at her wrists and feet.
Chris doubted, by the look on Renee’s face, that she had listened to all the caretaker had told her, but she did give the man her thanks before he excused himself back to his duties. She admired her friend for taking on the role in which she had been raised, concluding she would be a gracious ruler one day.
“We can stop for the night, if need be, and be there by mid-day tomorrow, or would anyone wish to carry on?” Ty asked the group, pulling Chris from her thoughts. It should only have been a day’s journey, but they would have to go a bit slower with the casket following.
“I would like to continue,” Renee spoke up. “If any of you would like to, we could rest for a while.”
They all agreed to continue through the night. None had thought it a good idea to linger in the forest of the fae longer than necessary.
Chapter Twenty-three
The Forest of the Fae –
Present
The forest of the fae was not a scary place…if you were a fae. I remembered the stories my father told me and my sister about the forest and its little inhabitants. The fae that lived in the forest were not like the fairies, such as Farlow. The fae in the forest were small fairies; as small as a silver dollar. There were all types of fae in the forest, which is why nobody particularly liked traveling through it. All of them were quick as lightning, and if they didn’t want to be seen, they weren’t. In the daylight, the reflection of the sun on their wings made a slight shimmer in the air as they flew, but you really had to focus to see it. At night, they were invisible when in flight.
With my memories intact, I could recall all my childhood and stories, which were mostly designed to scare little ones from going to the forest so they wouldn’t wonder in and get lost. As I grew and became less naive, I came to realize that some of the stories were true, but others were embellished.
The truth of them was that many of the fae were tricksters, and they really didn’t like people walking through their forest. The forest was their home, and it had been since before Renal gave the land the name Pylira. They had enjoyed the peacefulness of the land before humans moved in and started building the realms. My father told me they would visit Pylira by night and move anything that was outdoors and not nailed down. For weeks, neighbors argued over stolen and moved belongings, until King Rowan posted guards outside at night to catch the culprits. He had no idea that they could not be caught.
The men said they saw the items moving through the village on their own. Not wanting to believe spirits roamed their new home, Rowan sat one night with his guards. He grabbed a fishing net and attacked a sack of apples moving across the yard.
Once he saw the little fairy, he communicated with Queen Renal, who sent one of her children to the palace to speak with the small fae. Their voices were too high-pitched and too small for human ears to understand them. More of the fae came to the palace after witnessing their friend’s capture. Renal’s daughter, Trista, helped Rowan communicate, and a mutual agreement was formed. They would stop moving the belongings of the villagers, and the townspeople would not venture into the forest.
The Curse of Ormshire (The Beast Within Book 2) Page 20