Jacob's Reign

by Jonathan Giddinge

  Chapter Seven

  I woke late the next morning. I had not slept that well for many years. I suppose that my body just gave up and got the rest it needed. I felt refreshed, like I had slept for a month. After I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I saw that my belongings were sitting on a chair next to the door, and on a small table sat a bowl of water. I washed up, got dressed and attached my holster. After strapping the bottom of the holster around my thigh; keeping it from moving as I walked, or ran, I attached my chest plate and wrist band before I grabbed my pack and hat and left the small room. Once outside, I was met by the queen’s guards. They didn’t look menacing, they just stood there.

  “Morning,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

  One of the guards pointed to a large building and I supposed that she wanted me to go there, so I did, and they followed. Inside the building were four rows of tables, it, like the other building, had tall ceilings and everything was crafted expertly from wood. I saw the queen sitting by herself and she waved me over.

  “Did you sleep well, Jacob?” she asked.

  “Better than I had in years.”

  “Good.”

  Just then a young woman placed a plate with two fried eggs in front of me. “Fresh eggs?” I asked.

  “Would you prefer them cooked another way?” the young woman asked.

  “No. This is perfect, thank you.”

  She walked away, and I dug in to my breakfast. The eggs were hot and tasted like heaven. I hadn’t had eggs in years, all of our chickens died in a particularly nasty dust storm.

  “Is it good?” the queen asked.

  I looked over to her and nodded my head. My mouth was full, and I didn’t want to spit food when I talked.

  Every single woman in that dining hall was gorgeous, not one blemish, oddly proportioned face, or rough skin. It was as if each one was plucked right out of my dreams of perfection, even the older women were nearly perfect. Too bad they didn’t need a man, I would have been willing to help them out. Even the warriors, with their muscles and broad shoulders, were still better looking than most women I’ve seen.

  They went about their days as if everything was normal, as if a society of only women wasn’t strange. I suppose to them, it wasn’t. I had so many questions for them, but I didn’t want to be impolite. One question on my mind was the obvious one, what about love? I didn’t ask about it though, I thought it would be rude of me to pry.

  “Is your mind still set on the valley?” The queen asked.

  “More so than ever,” I responded.

  The queen pulled my seer’s stone medallion out of a pouch and held it in front of her. I put my hand to my chest and realized, only then that it was gone. This could end badly, I thought.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  “My medallion.”

  “Magic?”

  “Some believe so.”

  “Do you believe so?”

  I nodded, “Mostly,” I said.

  She pushed her empty plate to the side and laid my medallion on the table and stared at it.

  “If I remember, your father said his wife was a medicine woman,” she said.

  “That’s right.”

  “Her powers passed to you then?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Does this lead you to the valley?”

  “No, not exactly.”

  She glared at me, wanting more of an answer, so I gave it to her, “The night I became Chief of my people, I had many visions. One of them was my people in a new land. After looking through the maps that my people had made over the years, I saw the valley and just knew it was the place in my vision.”

  “You see the future, then?”

  “Sometimes, I guess. I don’t really know. It’s all new to me.”

  The queen placed a hand on the medallion for a moment, then pushed it away, sliding it over to me. She seemed disgusted, or maybe aggravated when she did. I picked it up and placed it around my neck and under my shirt.

  “What is the world out there like?” she asked quietly as she leaned into me.

  “Big, nasty, unforgiving, and in some areas, there are creatures that have to be seen to be believed.”

  The queen stood, “It’s time for you to leave now,” she said with a hint of anger in her voice.

  I didn’t want to upset her, she controlled my only way back, so I stood and left the dining hall.

  Once outside I was led by the guards to the edge of the bridge. There was a gathering on either side, I guess they had never let any strangers pass before, so it was kind of a big deal to them. The queen approached me before I crossed; she stopped me.

  “Be careful, Jacob. There are monsters out there you couldn’t imagine in your darkest nightmares,” she said.

  My eyes got big at this news. It sounds like something she could have told me before. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “The raiders are not the only disfigured people in the world. What you will find in the mountains are worse than any raider you will ever come across. They leave us alone, but they live not too far from here.” She handed me a small, leather wrapped box. “Extra ammo, it will fit your gun,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I said as I removed my pack. I put the box in one of the side pouches, for easy access, and returned the pack to my shoulders. “By the way, I didn’t get your name,” I said.

  “May your ancestors watch over you,” the queen said, ignoring my inquiry.

  I chuckled at the thought of the ancestors, no doubt my father and Amos spread the lies to them as well. I didn’t want to say anything to her about it, I figured I had bad-mouthed my father enough. She was clearly taken by him and even more so by Amos and I didn’t want to ruin her memories of them.

  I smiled and nodded my head before I turned and made my way across the bridge. Looking over the edge, I saw just how fast the water moved. There would be no way to survive a fall, no matter how deep or shallow the water was. I made my way across to the other side of the river camp with everyone staring at me. It made me nervous and extremely uncomfortable and I wanted to run to the end of the camp, but that would be rude. I turned back once I reached the edge of the camp for one last look, then I consulted my compass and headed west. It would be at least another day of walking before I got to the point where I had to head north toward the valley, maybe more with rugged terrain.

  As I walked further from town, I kept hearing what the queen said to me, ‘There are monsters out there you couldn’t imagine in your darkest nightmares.’ I kept my head on a swivel, looking out for the monsters she spoke of. I couldn’t imagine any human worse than the raiders.

  The landscape was beautiful, it was like nothing I had ever seen. The path that I walked along was flanked by green trees that must have been at least thirty feet tall. Grass was below my feet and all around, and the birds were singing their cheerful songs. It was hard to think that anything monstrous could live in a place like this.

  Nearly three hours into my trip I stopped, sat down on a large fallen tree and hydrated myself. I then pulled out a handful of nuts and looked out over the river which I could see to the south. I felt an odd peace fall over me as I imagined leading my people along this same road to their future home. We are the Valley People, it is only fitting that we returned to a valley.

  TO BE CONTINUED