The Awakening

by Gary Alan Wassner

  Esta turned to her friend, “We have been riding long and hard, Marne. Perhaps we should allow the horses to rest for a few moments. Surely they must be tired by now.”

  “Yes, your Highness. I agree. They have earned a respite,” she responded. “I see a clearing ahead. If it pleases your highness, it would probably be best to let them graze there where the grass is abundant.”

  “Yes, I see it too. Follow me then,” she said, and spurred her mount onward.

  They both dismounted, rifled through the small bags that lay over the back of the plain, leather saddles they had chosen to ride upon, and retrieved a small amount of cheese, bread and some cider in a leather pouch. Queen Esta smoothed her rumpled skirts and sat heavily upon the ground beneath a large, spreading tree. Marne followed her lead and sat beside her. They ate without speaking for a few moments, not realizing just how hungry they had grown during the long, uninterrupted ride through the forests surrounding Avalain.

  “I was famished, Marne. I never expected edor cheese to taste quite so good as it did just now,” the Queen said with a smile.

  “Nor I, my Queen. It is normally rather pungent for my taste, yet today I too find it most delightful,” she replied, grinning back.

  Each of the women drank deeply from their respective flasks while they sat and talked beneath the broad boughs of the tree, side by side like two young schoolgirls.

  “What do you suspect this associate of yours has to tell us?” the Queen asked, somber.

  “I know not, your Highness. He indicated though that whatever it was, it required our immediate attention. I do not anticipate that it is anything we need to be worried about. I did not sense that anyone was in grave danger from his communication. He stated only that he needed to speak to you privately, in order to be certain that his words were not intercepted,” she answered.

  “What could he possibly know of my daughter from his position in Talamar?” she wondered out loud.

  Marne gazed into the distance. “News travels in all directions, my Queen. With that woman, the Lady Margot, in residence there, it is not surprising that scouts would bring her information on the whereabouts and movements of her enemies,” she speculated.

  “So you are certain that my daughter is already her enemy?” she asked.

  “I would suspect that to be the case. I cannot imagine anyone as vitriolic as she to be sympathetic to our cause. Sir Etan has been subjected to her powers of persuasion, so to speak, and we have all seen the damage that has occurred there.”

  “He was a fine man, I am certain, before she tampered with his mind,” Esta responded, recalling how deeply disturbed the Knight was.

  “What she preaches cannot be true. It can only be Colton who manipulates her from afar. Perchance Parsifal and his noble men will be able to constrain her influence and stop it from spreading further. Do you think they will be received when they reach Talamar?” she asked.

  “I hope and pray that they are not perceived as an invading force, but that they are at least allowed to approach the gates of the city. I have instructed the Knights to carry the white flag of truce as soon as they depart our borders. If she has spies out and about, as I am sure she does, they will see it clearly. The reputation of the Knights of Avalain will not be wasted upon even the people of Talamar,” the Queen pondered.

  “I surely hope so, Your Highness. In any event, they are well prepared to protect and defend themselves if the circumstances warrant such action,” Marne replied, reassuringly.

  “Yes Marne, they certainly are. There are few who could challenge the Knights successfully. I doubt even Colton’s servants would wish to do so without his direct assistance,” Esta reasoned.

  Marne stood up and brushed the leaves and twigs from her clothing. She looked at the position of the sun in the western sky, and then they began to gather the remains of their repast.

  “What could he possibly know of my daughter, Marne?” Esta continued to wonder. “She has been gone from here for a long time now. Where do you think he came upon the information that he so desperately needs to convey to us?”

  “Talamar has always been a crossroads of sorts, my Queen. The polong oil brings traders of all kinds to their gates. If I were to speculate, I would guess that a veteran of the recent war in Pardatha imparted some news, or perhaps he received a message from Filaree. Although he is not known to strangers to be an intimate of our court, he does have his own network that feeds him what he needs,” she ventured, hoping that at least this journey would bear fruit in the way of significant information.

  “I am anxious to reach Pardeau. My heart yearns for news of my daughter,” Esta brooded.

  “Mine too, my Queen, though surely not as sorely as yours,” Marne responded.

  “Let us go then. We have rested long enough. The horses should be satisfied by now. If we travel until the sun sets today, tomorrow we should arrive at our destination by late afternoon,” Esta said.

  “Yes, exactly what I anticipated,” Marne concurred.

  “Do you know where precisely we will be rendezvousing?” she inquired.

  “Yes. I know where we must go to, though I have never been there before. He provided me with details that should make it simple for us to find our way.”

  “Good. The sooner we hear what he has to tell us, the more comfortable I will be. It is the uncertainty that weighs so heavily upon my breast,” she concluded.

  With those words, Queen Esta rose, straightened her own cape about her and walked toward her horse. Marne watched from a few paces behind, her own heart warm with admiration for her Queen. As she proceeded to follow her into the pasture, she heard a noise in the woods to her left. Her eyes immediately darted in the direction of the sound and her hand reached instinctively behind her back for her bow. Before she could even withdraw the light, wooden weapon, a rabbit scurried from the brush, saw her standing in the distance and bolted in the opposite direction once again. Marne breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked to catch up with her mistress.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Treestar sat upon his throne, preoccupied with what he believed was soon going to engulf his city and his people. His long beard hung almost to the ground, and he cupped his chin in both his hands with his elbows resting upon his knees. He was so entranced that he did not even notice his wife as she entered the high ceilinged room. Elsinestra looked upward and was momentarily disheartened by the color of the morning sky. Once again it was a grey day, and the clouds barely moved, hovering ominously in the southern sky as if waiting for a signal in order to advance upon Seramour. She feared that they would soon shut out the city’s daylight entirely. As it was, the dismal sky cast an unsettling pall upon the normally sanguine people of Seramour.

  “What troubles you so, beloved?” Elsinestra asked softly as she approached the carved Noban throne.

  Treestar lifted his head at the sound of his wife’s voice and smiled at her, though his brow remained furrowed and strained. He reached his hand out and she grasped it firmly.

  “The days to come will be hard for our people, dearest. We will not be spared this time,” he said with pursed lips.

  “The hope of the world lies within our very walls. It will be worth whatever it costs, my husband, if he fulfills his destiny,” she responded.

  “Is destiny something we can predict? What if he is not the one?” he speculated, looking off into the distance.

  “You have spent time by his side, as have I. I harbor no doubts, my love. But as in all births, there will be pain. Of that, I am certain. We cannot avoid it,” she said with a firm voice. “Seramour has been a safe haven for our people for countless tiels. You have served them well, Treestar. Now it is time for us all to grit our teeth and recognize that our world has changed. If we wish to see tomorrow, then we must struggle today. We have no choice,” she said candidly.

  “Choice? We always have a choice, my dear. It is not the absence of choice that creates the dilemma. It is the evaluation of our option
s.”

  “You speak foolishly, my love. You know as well as I do that we can pursue only one path. Your wisdom is great, my husband. Do not try to make me believe that you ever considered abandoning Dav in the hope of sparing our city and our people. These dark thoughts cross all of our minds at some point, but they are merely loose threads caught up in the maelstrom of our uneasy days. They were never meant to be a part of our weave,” she replied, and her delicate voice was tinged with concern.

  “I would never ignore our responsibilities, Elsinestra. You know me better than I know myself. But, I do cherish the memory of those days when our sole concerns were the summer crops or the number of babes born in the past season. It is my melancholy that inspires my solicitude, not fear or indecision. I pine for our people, and I desperately long for our son,” he admitted finally.

  “Ah, my husband, so you finally admit that you miss him?” she said, placing her hands upon his stooped shoulders. “A moment does not pass wherein he is out of my thoughts. We have been blessed with his presence so infrequently in the past, that I thought I would grow accustomed to it. To have to endure the absence of all of our sons at the same time….”

  “We never shall, I suspect,” he replied. “He must fulfill his own destiny as must his brothers as well, though I wish with all my heart that it lay here, in Seramour.”

  “Perhaps it will at some point in time, dearest husband. We are fortunate that we have one another,” she said, and she kissed him lovingly upon the cheek. “And we have our fate yet to determine. We have sheltered the heir up until now. It is time to pass the torch to the others,” she commented stoically.

  “I know. I had already reached that conclusion before you entered the chamber. We cannot abide any longer. With each moment, the enemy draws closer. The sooner Dav is awakened, the better able we will all be to determine the next course of action.”

  “Shall we summon them, my love?” she asked tenderly.

  “Yes. I will go myself,” he replied as he rose slowly from the throne. “I wish to lead each one to him. Will you prepare the boy?” he asked.

  “Of course, my darling. At once,” she said, anxious to have one more moment alone with Dav. She knew that in a matter of hours nothing would be the same, and even though she cherished the thought of him being brought back to consciousness, she harbored a slight bit of reluctance to lose him to the world. “We will meet in the Chamber of the Stars, as we planned.”

  Treestar turned to his wife and placed both his hands upon her shoulders. He stared deeply into her clear, blue eyes and he recognized immediately the pain she suffered at the prospect of no longer having the boy under her care.

  “It is time, my beloved, to move on. We knew all along that our guardianship was only temporary,” he said adoringly, agreeing with her previous sentiments. “They will protect him from now on.”

  “I know, Treestar,” she replied in a soft voice, her eyes downcast and saddened. “The younger ones must always leave if they are to fulfill their portions in life. I think that perhaps Davmiran filled the hole in my heart that Elion’s absence has created. Now I am about to lose him as well.”

  “Have you forgotten your other two sons, Elsinestra? They will return home soon. The palace will be full of laughter once again,” he reassured her.

  “You misunderstand me, my darling,” the Queen said, turning her back upon her husband. “My instincts tell me that Seramour is no longer the haven it once was. It is not the laughter of my sons that I crave. It is a tranquility of the soul that I desire; for me, for you and for all the people of Lormarion. That will not be achieved until Colton is stopped, and until the Gem is found and allowed to radiate once again. I am sad because we cannot offer a refuge for our loved ones. For the first time in our lives, it is better that they are not by our sides,” she continued. “My greatest dread is that I will never see them again.”

  Treestar’’s eyes flared. “Is this a premonition or a fear?” he asked, alarmed for the first time.

  “Merely a fear, my darling. No more than that. I would not conceal it from you if it were otherwise,” she replied, and turned away from her husband.

  “What is it you are afraid to tell me then?” he asked, sensing her avoidance.

  Elsinestra inhaled. “A great evil is approaching our city. What form the attack will take, I cannot predict. The sooner the boy is revived, the sooner he must depart Seramour. I have known this for quite a while now. They arrived just in time. I was already contemplating just how and where to move the heir should our time have run out before his teachers came,” she admitted.

  “Our place is here with our people,” Treestar asserted.

  “I know that, my husband. Would that I could depart with the boy, but it is not possible for me. Besides, I could never leave you,” she said, tilting her head and looking at her husband through tear streaked eyes, though her lips still curled up into a beautiful smile.

  “We will live to see them all again,” he said forthrightly. “That is my premonition, my beloved.”

  “I hope you are right, Treestar. But now I must go,” she said somberly. “The precious minutes of our final moments together are slipping away even as we speak. Reality will consume him in but a short time, and us as well. It is not that I am being selfish, and that I would wish to have the boy remain incoherent and ineffectual. I simply suffer the pain of knowing what he must face when he awakens,” the Queen stated.

  “You have never been selfish, my beloved. It did not occur to me that you were being anything other than protective. But go to him now. Be with him as you were when he arrived. Even in his insensate state, I am certain that your gentle hand and loving touch reaches him,” he replied, and he kissed her upon the cheek.

  “I will see you in the Chamber of the Stars, dearest husband,” she declared, and left the room in a fluid swish of her paneled skirts.

  Robyn opened his eyes a moment before Treestar knocked upon his door. He rose from the stiff-backed chair, walked over to the heavy, wooden panel and pushed down upon the lever that released the latch. He pulled it inward and stood face to face with the noble King of Seramour.

  “You expected it to be me?” he inquired of the Chosen.

  “Yes, your highness. I felt your approach,” he responded matter-of-factly.

  “I have come to summon you to the boy’s side. The ceremony must begin shortly. Time is not on our side, I fear,” he said to Robyn.

  “It is not time itself we need fear,” Robyn replied.

  “No, it is not. But we should delay no further in any case,” the King said. “Have you looked out of your window yet this morning?” he asked.

  “I have, though it would have mattered not whether I saw the sky. I can feel the evil approaching. Even the air itself is infused with his loathsome scent. It pains me to breathe,” Robyn choked on the words.

  Treestar tilted his head in consternation.

  “You cannot imagine how it pains me to know that Seramour has been defiled so. In all the tiels that I have ruled, no enemy has invaded this city, and now Caeltin does so without even sending in a single soldier.”

  “He is like no other enemy Lormarion has known,” Robyn replied laconically.

  “Alas my friend, you are most correct. Come now, follow me. We will go to the boy. Therein lies our future. First though, we must gather the other two,” Treestar said, motioning to Robyn to accompany him.

  They walked down the wide hallway, carpeted with the beautiful, woven rugs the elves were incredibly adept at making, turned around a sharp corner and stopped before a door of plain wood that was embellished with strips of dyed and tooled leather. Treestar pounded upon it and the door opened almost instantly.

  “You must have been waiting for us,” Robyn said to Filaree, as she stepped into the hall.

  “Actually, I was,” she replied. The warrior maiden was clothed in a tunic of brown suede, cinched at the waist with a braided silk cord. She had on high boots of the same color, and her ha
ir was pulled sharply back and held fast by a golden brooch. “I have been anticipating your arrival.” She greeted the King respectfully and then she placed her hand upon Robyn’s. “Let us gather our other friend,” she said, leading the way down the hall toward Cairn’s chamber.

  When they arrived at the room in which Cairn was staying, Robyn approached first and Treestar backed up a pace, as if this had been rehearsed. He carefully scrutinized the frame of the door, as if he was looking for something he had left there during a previous visit, and his eyes finally settled upon a spot somewhere near the latch on the right side. The Chosen then lifted his arm and let his index finger trace the place where the door met the frame.

  Treestar looked on warily, but said not a word. Filaree watched with complacent eyes, unconcerned. When Robyn was finished, he stepped back and motioned to the King to approach.

  “We felt it was prudent to provide some additional protection for our scholarly friend,” Robyn said in way of an explanation.

  “What did you fear here in the castle?” Treestar asked, somewhat disturbed by the idea that his guests did not feel safe within his own walls.

  “Nothing in particular,” Filaree quickly responded, not wishing to either alarm or insult the King. “Cairn is especially vulnerable to certain things during his efforts to assess our circumstances. Robyn wished only to further insure his safety.”

  “There is more to this than you wish to reveal to me here and now,” Treestar replied knowingly, though not in anger. “At some point, you will kindly inform me,” he said politely, and his words caused both Filaree and Robyn to blush noticeably.

  The King stepped up and knocked once upon the door to the scholar’s room. There was no response. He knocked again, and shortly the door opened a crack, and then all three of them could see a bright, yellow eye peering guardedly into the hallway. Once Cairn saw who was there, he opened the door fully and stepped out to join his friends.