by L. EE
“Yeah, I figured that out,” replied Andy. “But why did they stop?”
“With kappas, if the liquid in the bowl on the top of their head spills, they lose their stwength. You said that one spilled all its liquid and fainted?”
Andy nodded.
“Kappas awen’t used to seeing that happen. Maybe that’s why.”
“I heard Imogenia again, while I fought the kappas,” Andy added. “She threw a fit when they didn’t kill me.”
“Ah yes, my dear departed sister. I’m sure she wasn’t happy. Don’t let that worry you, Andy.”
“Oh, I won’t. She can’t hurt me or she would have by now,” said Andy matter-of-factly. “All she can do is stand by and hope something bad happens. Good luck with that. Sorry, but I don’t have the common decency to die.” Andy rolled his eyes.
The King and Mermin looked at Andy and then at each other, smiles creeping over their faces.
“What?” asked Andy, curious.
“That, Andy, is a brilliant observation! And I agree, you ought not to just up and die. Wouldn’t be right.” The King laughed.
Andy grinned.
“Aargh!” A shrill, frustrated cry filled the library.
“I guess Imogenia now knows we know,” concluded the King.
“Oh, before I forget.” Andy stood and walked to the book invisible to all but him. He slid it from the shelf and opened it. Then he dug in his pouch and pulled out six red dragon scales. He moved aside the page that covered the hidden compartment and laid them in the book. As he moved the parchment back in place, a message appeared: “Well done.” He smiled, closed the book, and replaced it on the shelf.
Turning, Andy asked, “By the way, why are there so many guards around the castle? And why is the fog still thick?” Nodding at Mermin, he added, “You invented that fog clearing machine. And why are there more vulture-people in the castle?” The questions tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
Laughing, the King replied, “Yes, we have much to catch you up on. A lot has happened since you left. But I’ve no doubt you want to say hello to Alden and everyone else. Why don’t you go see them. We’ll continue our conversation over lunch.”
No sooner had Andy opened the library door than a soldier came to an abrupt halt just outside, making him jump.
“Sorry to startle you, but I have an urgent message for the King.”
“Come in!”
The man entered, bowed, and began, “Your Majesty, Merk asks that you come and see the weapon you and he have been working on. He has a test set up and ready.”
“Thank you. Please tell him I will be there momentarily.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said the man, bowing again and exiting.
“Sir?” Andy asked as the King brushed past him.
CHAPTER FOUR
Hannah
Enticing smells of baking bread arrested Andy’s nose as he reached the bottom tread of the grand staircase in the entry hall.
“Umm.” The sound unconsciously escaped his mouth as he held his nose up, sniffing the air.
A servant girl passing by giggled.
He walked into the kitchen and immediately saw Marta at the sink against the far wall, her back toward him. Her bright purple hair had been pulled into a ponytail, and from this distance she looked to be washing carrots.
As he strolled across the room, other servants turned and were about to exclaim, but Andy quickly put a finger to his lips and motioned them to keep quiet. They watched with glee as he reach Marta and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and cried out, “Andy! Oh, Andy!” enveloping him in a monster hug. The other servants rushed over to hug him too, and a loud roar arose.
“When did you get back?” Marta asked when much of the hugging had finally subsided.
“Earlier this morning.”
“It’s so good to see you again! I’ll bake you some chocolate chip cookies this afternoon,” she suggested, beaming.
“It’s good to be back,” Andy replied. He wanted to add, “You have no idea how much I missed you,” but felt awkward.
“You’ll probably want to see Alden,” Marta added. “He’s out in the stables with Optimistic. You’ve got time before lunch to go see him if you’d like.”
Andy fondly remembered watching Alden ride his pegasus in the Tower Chase last fall. After one more engulfing hug from Marta, he turned to head outside. Andy saw her reach up and wipe her eyes as he left. Sure feels good to be missed, he thought.
As he crossed through the fog over the cobblestone terrace leading to the Cavalry Training Center, Andy could barely make out the shapes of the soldiers he had tangled with earlier. He nodded and smiled as he passed. They turned away.
The instant he opened one of the giant wooden doors, he heard a man’s voice cry out, “Whoa, Alexander!” followed by the whinnying of a horse.
“Sir Gawain!”
“Hello, Andy! Glad to see you again. I hope your parents weren’t too upset about the lawn.”
Andy laughed. “They’re getting over it. It’s good to see you again, too. I’m looking for Alden.”
“I saw him come in a couple hours ago. I haven’t seen him leave, so he must still be here.”
“Thanks, Sir Gawain,” replied Andy, waving as he headed left toward the stalls. He immediately saw two vulture-men carrying buckets of water. They scowled as he passed. Well, nothing’s changed with the vulture-guys. I just don’t understand why they always scowl. They don’t even know me.
He reached the end of the first row of stalls and turned right. Something small and colorful with wings zoomed past. It flew so fast he couldn’t make out what it was, but he could swear it laughed. Hmm…
He continued walking, passing statues of Sir Galahad, Sir Perceval, and Sir Bors, as well as statues of other knights jousting. As he passed by, each statue started moving; the key gave life to them all, just as it had Sir Gawain.
After passing many more stalls, Andy reached the one he remembered was Optimistic’s, but Alden was nowhere to be found. He must be in the arena. Choosing to explore a different route than he had on his previous visit to Oomaldee, he wandered past several more rows of stalls, awakening yet more statues. Another small winged creature whipped past. It laughed! I know it did! I heard it! What IS that thing?
Andy heard what sounded like the ringing of hammers against metal up ahead. Wonder what that is? He spotted a large room and headed toward it as yet another small winged creature flew past, clipping his ear and giggling. He swatted, coming up empty. Urgh, these things are driving me crazy! Then, stepping through the doorway, he felt a rush of heat; it reminded him of the oppressive heat of the Goldery he’d visited on his previous trip. There were three large furnaces near a door that opened to a grassy area out the side of the building. At least they have some air to help cool it down, he thought.
Three dozen men were working; some were pounding metal, others were hammering shoes for the pegasi, others were pouring molten metal into a mold. Andy had no idea what some of the others were doing. As he scanned the room, he noticed several more statues crammed tightly together in the corner to the left of the door. They appeared to be extras. Perhaps they’re stored here, Andy reasoned. They all started moving.
“Andy!” came a girl’s voice.
Startled, he looked around and saw a blond-haired girl about his age heading toward him. He immediately recognized her, smiled, and waved. She wore a blue headscarf and dress, the same as the first time he had met her. But this time, rather than being wet from doing laundry, Andy saw that her dress was streaked black. It appeared she had been helping stoke the furnaces.
“Hannah!” Andy called in return. “It’s good to see you again! But what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question,” she laughed. “I’m helping my father. He’s one of the King’s chief metalworkers. He’s been exceptionally busy lately. In addition to making shoes for the pegasi, he’s also forging weapons. He’s had to
work overtime for several months.” As she said this, Andy spotted a pile of swords and daggers stacked against a wall across the room.
“Weapons?”
“Yeah, ever since you found out that King Abaddon had breached the watchtowers near the Forest of Giants, the King has had my dad and the other metalworkers making weapons.”
“So that’s why there are so many guards around.”
“Yeah. Everybody’s a little jumpy about the whole situation. Come meet my dad.”
Hannah led him over to a balding, muscular man. He swung a massive hammer, sending sparks flying as it smashed the metal on the anvil in front of him.
“Dad?”
The man looked up, wiping rivers of sweat from his brow.
“I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Andy Smithson,” Hannah said.
“Never seen you ‘round before,” Hannah’s dad replied. “Why’s he dressed like the King?”
Andy didn’t know how to respond, so he approached and extended his hand. When Hannah’s father did not reach out to return the gesture, Andy wiped his hand on his T-shirt, pretending it was dirty.
“My name’s Cadfael,” Hannah’s dad finally said. “If you’ll excuse me, I best be gettin’ back to work or I’ll be late for dinner again. Good to meet you, Andy.”
“Good to meet you, too.”
Hannah motioned toward the door through which Andy had entered the foundry and followed her back out to the stalls. The temperature was noticeably cooler out here, and he wiped sweat from his brow onto his sleeve.
“Where did you go and when did you get back?” Hannah asked.
“Long story as to where I went, but I got back earlier today.”
“Why are you out here in the stables?”
“I was looking for Alden. I wanted to see him and let him know I’m back. He wasn’t in Optimistic’s stall when I checked.”
“Well, maybe he is now. Come on, I’ll help you find him.”
Hannah and Andy headed back toward Optimistic’s stall. As they arrived, Andy heard Alden calmly talking to Optimistic as he finished brushing her. Andy and Hannah were about to stick their heads over the door when they were dive-bombed by three more flying creatures.
“Ugh! What are those? They’re driving me crazy!” Andy exclaimed, swatting at empty air.
“Those are pixies,” Hannah replied. “They can be a real nuisance.”
“I’ll say!”
“They like to try stealing pegasi. Mind you, they always return them, but still.”
“What? But they’re so small. How?”
“Get enough of them together and they can create chaos. When they’re not trying to steal the pegasi, they love to tangle up their manes.”
“Yeah, and it’s a huge pain to untangle!” The voice came from the other side of the door. Alden popped his head over and saw Andy and Hannah.
“Andy! You’re back!”he exclaimed and quickly joined them.
Optimistic whinnied and stuck her large, fuzzy purple head out the stall door, batting her long flowing eyelashes. She ruffled her wings at the excitement.
“When did you get back?” Alden asked, beaming.
“This morning,” Andy replied. “Oh hey, let me show you something.”
Andy made a fist and held it up. “Make a fist,” he instructed both of them. Andy grabbed Alden’s wrist and brought the top of their fists together. Then he did the same with Hannah’s. “It’s a fist bump. You can greet people that way where I come from.”
“That’s weird,” commented Hannah, giggling. Then she added, “What do you mean ‘where you come from’?”
“It’s a long story, Hannah,” Andy replied, trying to avoid answering.
“That’s what you said a couple minutes ago, too. What did you mean?” objected Hannah.
“Don’t worry about it,” Alden interrupted.
Hannah furrowed her brow and shook her head.
“What?” asked Alden.
“Boys!” she huffed under her breath.
Andy and Alden glanced at each other and laughed.
Alden, Andy, and Hannah talked as they walked back to the castle. When they reached the kitchen, Hannah left them to help her mother in the laundry. Marta told Andy and Alden to get cleaned up for lunch since they were sweaty and rather odoriferous, to put it nicely.
Reaching the fourth floor, Andy turned and started down the hall toward his room. Every statue he passed greeted him and welcomed him back. He reached the door to his room and the two-foot-tall Sir Lancelot statue that stood in a niche to the right squeaked a cheery hello. He still held down the head of a captive under his foot. The small man on the ground struggled as he had the first time Andy saw him.
“Will this barbarian never learn?” Sir Lancelot said, shaking his head.
Andy chose not to comment, but instead smiled and waved as he continued past.
Entering his room, he found it exactly as he had left it. Well, maybe not exactly—his bed, still situated along the middle of a long stone wall, had been made. The poufy, silky covers looked inviting. Foggy sunlight struggled through the window to the left. The dressing area and mirror still stood at one end of the sparsely furnished room. Two wardrobes and a large, lumpy overstuffed chair sat nearby. At the other end of the room stood a large stone fireplace. He walked to the dressing area and checked inside one of the closets. Hanging in perfect order were several blue T-shirts, each bearing the king’s crest on the left sleeve. As always, there were no wrinkles in sight. That always made Andy laugh because his clothes never looked that way when he had to do laundry. He pulled out a drawer. Sure enough, several pairs of clean blue jeans lay neatly folded.
He washed up and dried himself off. As he pulled on a fresh pair of jeans, he realized they still fit. I haven’t grown at all, he whined to himself.
“Stop whining! I hate whiners.”
What?
“I’m back,” continued his inneru. “Just got the latest performance report from your conscience. Seems you’ve improved a bit, but there’s still lots more work to do. It gave you a C. And as you know, a C is average and just passing. I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that.”
Oh. It’s you, thought Andy, unenthusiastically.
“Nice to see you again, too,” continued his inneru, clearing its throat. “Headquarters told me you were back. Sent me lickety-split. You made quite a sudden exit. I nearly got caught in the jet stream and sucked into your world. Jumped out of your head in the nick of time, I did. I landed hard and hurt for months. I’ve been enjoying myself not having to look after you. Been playing mind games with other innerus.”
Just so you know, I didn’t want to leave.
“That may be, but I could see it coming.”
Easy to say after the fact. Just leave me alone, would ya?
“I’m afraid that’s quite impossible, as you know.”
Argh.
Andy entered the dining hall to familiar sounds of clanking plates, cups, and tableware. Familiar crimson, aqua, and gold banners representing each of Oomaldee’s communities hung on a side wall. Three long tables were aligned under them. The servants were scurrying about, bringing in spectacular dishes. As they passed Andy, the smells of turkey, dumplings, and fresh bread wafting off the platters made his mouth water.
“Andy!” sounded the King, sitting at one end of the long main table. As always, Mermin sat to the left of him. Andy joined them, taking the seat opposite Mermin. No sooner had he sat down than Andy saw the familiar scowling face of a short, bald servant with curiously long arms that extended nearly to his ankles.
“Razen, Andy has joined us once again,” announced the King cheerfully.
“So I see, sir,” Razen responded in a less than excited nasal tone.
Andy immediately realized he had never heard Razen speak before. His voice was high-pitched. Probably can’t get much air through that long, beak-like schnoz of his, Andy reasoned, suppressing a giggle.
Andy watched Razen w
ork his way down the table, tasting small portions of each dish. After several minutes, he pronounced the meal safe to eat, bowed to the King, gave Andy another scowl, and headed to the middle of the table where there was one chair still empty.
In a surprised tone, Andy said, “Huh.” He had never seen Razen eat at the King’s table. “Never happy is he?” Andy intoned.
The King laughed and said, “He’s always been a hard one to satisfy. He has extremely high standards. And he demands those around him to rise to those standards.”
Sounds like Dad.
“That’s why I promoted him,” the King finished.
“Promoted him, sir?”
“That’s right, Andy. With my schedule getting so busy, I made him Operations Manager of the castle and its staff. Everyone now reports to him. In fact, I’d like you to report to him as well.”
“But, sir,” Andy protested.
“It’s all right. This way you’ll have someone to help you if I’m not available for some reason. Razen’s doing an amazing job. Never has the castle run this efficiently.”
“But he hates me,” objected Andy.
“Oh, he doesn’t hate you, Andy. As I said, he just has extremely high standards that he expects everyone to rise to. I appreciate his honesty; he always lets people know when they don’t quite measure up.”
“But he’s a vulture-man,” Andy argued.
“Yes, I’d noticed, but I still trust him completely.”
“Responsibility, diligence, and dignity are the keys to success in life.” The King’s mantra ran through Andy’s mind.
“What’s wrong, Andy?”
He shook his head. Despite the unattractive prospects, Andy knew any hope of not reporting to Razen had evaporated. His mind turned to the King’s earlier comment. “Why is your schedule getting busy, sir?”
“Ah, this is where we left our earlier conversation, isn’t it? As you’ve heard, we’re building weapons and preparing for war.”
“I saw men in the foundry making swords and daggers,” interjected Andy. “Hannah said everyone’s jumpy.”