Forest & Kingdom Balance

by Robert Reed Paul Thomas

  He tried to leave; Dionara fought his will and held him there. Her flame, with a depth, purity, and strength unknown in the world, would not let him go. She absorbed his pain and anger as she wrapped it in the love of her flame and allowed him to burn with rage. He railed with hate and disgust at the boy that he was, he lashed out with all his power and might to burn him down where he stood. But his flame was no match for hers. Hers was a wellspring, she held him until his rage burned itself out and all that was left was her love. She kissed him, deeply, tenderly. “You now have an idea of how powerful my flame is.” Her soft voice filled him, “Froggy tells me that he cannot see its depth, even I don’t know.”

  She took him by the hand led him through the falls. “Let me show you what really happened.” They came to her younger self sitting in the shallows where John first perceived her. “Even with all the desires that filled you that day, you were still the perfect gentleman. Yes you could feel me and sense my flame, but you never once entered my mind.”

  Dionara ran her hand down the Princess’ long black hair. “I didn’t have these memories until Froggy woke them in me. When he gave me false memories and allowed me to bury the truth of this day, he unknowingly buried a truth that shocked even him.”

  John followed silently as she led him a few steps away. “This is when you started your scan, you hadn’t seen me yet. Watch my flame and listen to my thoughts” The young princess’ flame flared, “A boy! My warrior and protector!” The little girl thought. Her flame searched as her fantasy grew. “He’s magic!” As young John’s scan touched the young Dionara, a wisp of her flame crossed the gate, they watched as it found his flame and felt the wonder and delight that their younger selves shared.

  “You didn’t have a chance.” She turned and embraced him. “I thought of you all day, and the more I thought of you, the more my flame sought you out. You were powerless to do anything else. That little girl knew exactly what she wanted and she was born with the ability to get it. My parents died because the Red Knight trained his spies to go unseen, they died because this is the world that the Red Knight created.”

  She took his face in her hands. “Two things happened this day. My parents died tragically through no fault of anyone here, and this was the day we fell in love.” Their flames, entwined but apart for seven years, joined as one.

  VII

  “Me? An orphan? No.” They had talked for a week and Yamikura still wanted to know more about Forest life and the Kingdom. “Dionara is an orphan, not me. I had a loving father, uncles, and great many mothers. Although I must admit, I think of Esther as my true mother. She was one of the healers who was a wet nurse. She moved into my father’s rooms for the first six months after I was brought to the Sanctuary.”

  “Your parents were killed and her parents were killed. Orphans.” Catherine saw a parallel that he did not.

  “‘Your comparison is fact but has no truth’, as my philosophy instructor would say. My parents simply were not the couple from which I physically came. The emotional impact of the term ‘orphan’ has almost nothing to do with the definition of the word.” Yamikura paused a moment while he split the last three logs in the pile.

  “Agreed. Tell me more about the Sanctuary, you don’t mention your childhood much.” Catherine enjoyed his stories, when she could get him to tell one.

  “I thought the Kingdom was our topic? By the way, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but if all the places on the other continent used such simple names as ‘the Kingdom,’ wars would be a great deal more interesting. I can see it now, ‘Attack the Kingdom!’ The king would order, and the army would march out to war. Two hours later the army would march back, ‘I’m sorry Sire, which ‘the Kingdom’ was that again?’” Catherine joined in Yamikura’s laughter as he poured a bucket of water over his head to rinse off the sweat.

  “Well, it’s simple. We like it.” Her amusement faded as thoughts of the Red Knight returned.

  He felt Catherine’s sadness and knew the cause. “He’ll be here in a week, correct.”

  “Yes.”

  “I wish I could tell you that the solution is simple and give you hope. But I haven’t been able to think of a single approach that would effect his actions in any way. He is the Red Knight and his word is law. Civilizations are born, prosper, and pass, all the while he remains.” He sighed as he entered the bunkhouse. “What about the Caretaker, compared to him, the Red Knight is young.”

  “It’s complicated. Even though he’s taken human form ages longer than the Red Knight has existed, he was not born human. He existed in other forms far longer than he’s been human. If it were not for Palinar and his promise to him, he would have no interest in humanity. He came to this land to get away from humanity, and the atrocities we commit in the name of selfish greed. The Red Knight is the epitome of all that’s wrong with human kind. The Caretaker feels that humanity’s basest actions are not in balance, they only destroy and harm, they serve no purpose.”

  He put the split wood by the fireplace. “Some say that the purpose of humanity’s dark side is the heights we reach when we overcome it.”

  “That’s how Palinar convinced him, however he was able to show it in deeds, not just words. The Caretaker understands and actually agrees in principal. However, the fact is that in a world ruled by the Red Knight the heights are fleeting while destruction, avarice, and suffering are constants. A balance is never achieved.”

  Catherine considered her words and thought she had left the wrong impression. “The Caretaker is a noble being, he was honorable before humanity and honor existed. Even though his first instinct is to observe and not to interfere. I believe he would rid the world of the Red Knight if he could, simply to give humanity a chance at balance. More than that, he gave his word to Palinar to protect the sanctuary that he himself helped create.

  “He loathes inflicting harm, but he could cause the deaths of the Red Knight’s entire company, which by the way, so could I. But it would serve no purpose. The Red Knight would dust himself off, get another company and come back.” Catherine reconsidered her statement. “On second thought, the loss of Deminar and his cut throats would serve at least one purpose, it would give me a deep satisfaction.”

  She put aside her dark thoughts and returned to the subject. “The question is, can we convince the Red Knight to respect the Caretaker’s promise of sanctuary for the Kingdom? The Forest is irrelevant. He cannot enter here, only those whose flames have been touched by this land can enter or allow another to enter.”

  Yamikura sat in silence. He could feel Catherine’s presence with him and felt a keen awareness of the sadness that colored her being. He thought it through and knew what his heart, his honor, and his experience demanded of him. “The only thing the Red Knight can harm is the Kingdom, even though his conflict is solely with the Caretaker. He also knows that my service is qualified on the condition that I will not harm innocents. As far as I’m concerned, the Kingdom is as innocent as a babe in the woods. Which I should know better than anyone, since I actually was a babe in the woods.” He felt her smile.

  “Tell the Caretaker that I will do my best to convince the Red Knight to give up his plans and leave the mountains in peace. If I live, you owe me a smile and a well cooked meal, and I want that smile in person. Deal?”

  “Thank you.” Catherine’s love and gratitude seemed to fill the valley.

  VIII

  “How in all the known lands and vast seas can you think we’re safe?” Simon held his lips close to her ear.

  “Because the Ward of the Mountains told me.” Atheria whispered.

  Simon and Atheria huddled in the dark under their blanket. “I know, he told me too.” Simon tried again, “But these are the Warded Mountains, I would still feel safer if we weren’t here at all.” He couldn’t believe that they’d had the same discussion since the third day and she still didn’t understand.

  Simon was so relieved the morning after their first session with the Red K
night when Atheria woke up and said she felt fine. The second night neither one felt the fire from the Knight’s stare, no matter how he tried. That was the night the Ward of the Mountains spoke to them. He told them that the Red Knight wouldn’t be able to frighten them any more. Atheria accepted the Ward’s protection without reservation, Simon wasn’t sure.

  “Since Paladin’s first ship docked, there has been something in these mountains more powerful than anything known, and that power said one thing. Stay out!” Simon couldn’t seem to make her understand. “Now we go farther into the mountains every day and you think the Ward of the Mountains is warm and cuddly.”

  “Speaking of warm and cuddly,” Atheria nuzzle his neck and wrapped her leg around his.

  “Ah well, that’s the end of that discussion.” He thought, and then felt her hand. “Hey, no, no, no tickling!”

  Morning arrived and the camp went about tasks that had become routine as they began their tenth day. The trail had widened out just as Joshua had said, and only ventured into the higher reaches when necessary. The majority of the trail wound between the peaks, though the company could tell that they were always gaining altitude.

  “High Councilor Deminar, good morning.” Joshua greeted the councilor in passing as he went to check on Ular and the slave hunters as they packed.

  “I know we could use the extra sword arms,” Ular spoke to Joshua as they met, “but this lot’s a surly bunch.”

  Joshua agreed. “He didn’t have much choice, they have the most experience with the mountains and they’re the best trained. Their meanness will come in handy if we face anything out of the ordinary. No matter what comes at us, they’ll fight it. They may loose, but they’ll never run. How many men in that so called kingdom on the coast do you think you can say that about?”

  “I see your point.” Ular considered the situation. “The thing about using a wolf as a guard dog is that you have to make sure the tether is strong and doesn’t reach the house.”

  Joshua looked at his fellow Guard, then felt his arm muscle, “Seems pretty strong. Maybe we’ll start calling you Tether.” Joshua slapped him on the back and went to check the rest of the pack up.

  Kalibra entered the Red Knight’s tent in answer to his summons. Three of the Crimson Guard stood around him with swords drawn. She nodded her head to him with a questioning look.

  “Oh them, they’re just decoration, sit down.” He motioned to the chair across from him.

  She sat in silence as he stared at her. “How dare he.” She thought, “If he thinks those three are enough to kill her, he’s mistaken.” The longer she sat, the angrier she became. “He wants that little slave bitch in his bed. He’s tired of me and thinks he’ll leave my body with the rest of the camp’s garbage.”

  Kalibra leapt, her sword was free the instant she moved. One Guard blocked her blade, the second grabbed her wrist and the third held her from behind. She struggled fiercely for a moment, and then stopped. “What was that?” She knew that she had wanted to kill him, a silly notion since she had done it twice the night before. She knew why, though the idea of him bedding the slave was laughable. “Why did I attack?” She wondered.”

  “You can let her go.” He ordered and dismissed the guard. “Please, sit.” He handed her the mug of tea she had each morning when they were together. “Feel better?”

  “You’ve asked me that before, remember?” She sipped her tea and hoped that there was an explanation sometime soon.

  “Yes, I remember,” He picked up his own mug and faced her. “Do you remember our second day in Kingsport when you killed three men for no reason and left a mess in my office?”

  “Vaguely.” She pretended to be disinterested and sipped her tea.

  “Would you like to know why you killed those men?” He asked

  “Those men died because they were scum whose only allegiance was to Deminar.” At least she knew what that was about.

  “True. Well, there are ten men outside who are far more disreputable and any one of them would try to put a knife in you if Deminar wished it. Did you want to get some exercise this morning, I’m sure you’d be able to finish off four or five before the rest ran off.” He waited for an answer.

  “No.” She said in bewilderment and wondered if he had eaten any strange mushrooms lately.

  “By the way, I apologize for the guards. I wanted some time to talk to you and not delay our departure. That, and we won’t be able to re-provision for clothing anytime soon.”

  “Are you going to tell me what this is all about, or do I need to draw my sword again.” She waited.

  “Amazing. You can’t even see it. You, my feisty Warrior Queen, were manipulated into killing those men. I just showed you how it was done and you still think that killing them was your idea. You, who never once trusted any council but your own, accepted an idea that on its face is absurd.” He sat back and sipped his tea.

  “I still don’t know what happened a few moments ago, but as for that vermin in your office, it was just common sense to make sure they did no more harm.” He was wrong and she knew it.

  “What harm were they doing?” He asked.

  She gave it some thought. “I don’t remember, but they were in up to their necks.”

  “All right,” he agreed, “we’ll assume that they were involved in something threatening.” The Knight held up an apple. “One last request and then I’ll discuss my theories with you. You see this apple? I want you to take it from me when I say ‘go.’ Understood?” Kalibra looked at him like he had lost his senses. “Good. Now sit back, relax and close your eyes.”

  The Red Knight with every once of his will sent his thoughts to Kalibra, he commanded her not to move, she was frozen, her muscles could not respond and would not respond. “Go!” He said.

  Kalibra snatched the apple and took a bite in less time than it took to open her eyes. “Thank you,” she said as she chewed, “I didn’t eat much this morning.”

  “Well, that answers that question.” He sat back and took a drink. “I can whisper in your ear, but I cannot control you.”

  “That’s been true since the day we met.” She mumbled through the apple.

  “When you first came in I sent my thoughts to you. I thought about getting rid of you, of how the guards could kill you, and how you would be replaced by the slave girl. I could feel your anger grow and I fed it like wood to a fire. It didn’t take long for you to react exactly as you did in my office.”

  “No.” She corrected him, “In your office I had good reason.”

  He let out a breath of exasperation. “They are so much better at this than I am.” He acknowledged. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had to learn something new, but I always was a quick study.” He finished, more to himself than her.

  “What did you feel when I held the apple?”

  “I had this feeling that I shouldn’t move, that you didn’t want me to take the apple.” She stated as a matter of fact.

  “Then why did you?”

  Kalibra laughed, “I do things that you would disapprove of several hundred times a day. It’s my hobby.” She smiled and took another bite of the apple.

  Joshua stuck his head through the opening. “My Liege, the camp is packed, all that’s left is your tent and contents.”

  “Proceed.” The Red Knight left followed by Kalibra.

  The Red Knight rode alone in silence. He thought about the slaves, were they were, what they were doing. He had done this all day, every day since the third day of the journey. He tried to feel what they felt, hear what they thought. It was slow but he had made progress. That first night when he had broken through to the girl and felt her fear, he knew that he was moving in the right direction.

  The second night was shock. He felt nothing from the slaves. It took him a few moments to realize that it was not his inability. He could tell that they had been touched. The enemy had sniffed the bait. However, if he was very still and very quiet, he could feel the emotions of the people around h
im. Their thoughts were more difficult, they were muffled and fragmented, but they were there. It helped to let his mind drift. When he did, their thoughts were like distant voices too far away to understand. He would let his mind drift toward theirs and their voices became clearer.

  Then he waited to hear a voice in their minds that was not theirs. While he waited, he wondered. What was intuition? It was knowledge he always had and trusted. The few times he disregarded it, he usually ended up on a slab in a dungeon, or worse. The memory of waking up in the middle of the sea filled his mind. “Two years.” His entire body shuttered with the thought. There was a time when he loved the ocean. No more. He would take a ship only at great need, and then, only his flagship. He buried the memory of his swim back where it came from, very deep.

  Intuition could be the undeveloped ability to hear other’s thoughts. It was more than that he knew, but that could be part of it. What about a person’s flame? The flame was how he saw a person’s abilities. He could feel a person’s flame more than see it. It could be simple or complex, powerful or weak, bright or muddy. He smiled and looked back at Deminar and his men, “those are some very muddy flames.”

  “Kalibra, the most mysterious flame of all.” There were great healers whose flames were not as bright, great scholars whose flames were less complex, and the raw power of it is unmatched. His carnal need had dwindled to nothing more than the occasional pleasant dalliance a thousand years before she was born. Then she came to his bed. Her flame crackled and grew with lust and need. She consumed pleasure like oil on fire. He felt his flame engorged with hers and he rediscovered the lust of youth.

  The Knight had to adjust himself in the saddle. “That subject might be best kept for a different time.” He decided. His mind calmed and he listened for distant voices. “He’s worried.” He let his mind drift closer. “She’s just enjoying the ride.” He tried to open himself to whatever there was to hear. “And everyone is saddle sore. Ah well, I’m patient, my time will come.” The Red Knight relaxed and allowed his thoughts to wander.