“Yes,” she said, wiping her brow.
“Come!” Octiva snapped her fingers and the three royal guards were again in place and seemingly unaffected by Sarah’s attack. There were no traces of her spheres’ gooey film or any burn marks on the third guard’s arm.
Puzzled, she stepped around them and they seemed not to notice her.
“So what are they?” she asked.
Octiva laughed and said, “Royal guards.”
“But, but –” Sarah stammered.
“You came to see the Queen; here she is,” Octiva said.
In the Queen’s bedroom, Queen Zoe’s body laid still and her breathing remained fragile as the sun’s rays sprawled across her bed.
“Even the sun misses her,” Octiva said.
Sarah did not hear, for the watery voice of the Oracle spoke once again and she needed to listen. She stepped closer to the Queen and a crunch resonated from her feet.
Looking down, she noticed several scrolls tossed about the floor.
“What are these?” she asked, turning to Octiva.
“Those are the Antiqk crolls. The Queen studies them often for direction.”
“Direction?” Sarah smiled as she dropped to her knees and began to unroll scrolls. “We need direction.”
Octiva kneeled down on the other side of the Queen’s bed and started unrolling the scrolls tossed about there. “What are we looking for?”
“A map,” Sarah answered. The Antiqk scrolls were as old as Veloris; surely there was a map that listed the circles and their destinations.
Chapter Sixteen
The salty air blew across Orono’s nose and caused his eyes to water. The Labbia Ocean on the western coast of Saturn Four housed the most beautiful fish and aquatic animals in the entire Pixlis galaxy. The water held the same temperature through all rotations of fall, summer, and winter.
The temperature did not change much on Saturn Four; it kept a steady climate of tropical warm days and at night, cool comfortable winds from the oceans provided ideal sleeping weather.
Orono had never seen such a paradise of bright sunny weather backed against a crisp blue sky. He and MaxMion may retire to Saturn Four upon their departure from Valek.
“I meant what I said, Orono,” General Ogroth growled as he snapped a pair of handcuffs onto Orono’s wrists. “This had better be worth my time.”
“What are these for? I have committed no crime,” he said and within moments he had pulled the handcuffs apart.
General Ogroth’s eyes grew with surprise, but then he muttered, “Bah! Come.”
Flanked by heavily armed guards on both sides, he followed General Ogroth through the sandy blackened beach surroundings of the Aqua Circle and on to the flat forest that housed an entrance to the King’s castle.
The area was absent of people, despite the great weather. The king’s castle was nestled back against lush, rolling green hills and on either side was a small grouping of forest trees.
Saturn Four’s king surely knew how to live, Orono thought. Hunting forest on both sides of the castle, a fantastic ocean as the front yard, and rolling hills perfect for horse or danker beast riding in his back yard.
As they reached the castle’s gate, it was lowered to allow the General to enter. The gate itself was decorated with vegetation of every color. It glistened with moisture in the strong sunlight.
Orono secretly cursed himself for not asking for more payment.
“This way Orono. You are to remain in the guest quarters until further notice. I will come retrieve you when the king is ready to listen to you,” General Ogroth said.
Orono smiled and patted his stomach. “That is all satisfactory. When will evening meals be served?”
“As if you had a choice,” General Ogroth threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Orono remained silent, but he was beginning not to like the General. The sooner he got the business over with, the happier he’d be, he thought.
They arrived at a fork in the castle’s hallway and took the hallway that veered to the left. Chandeliers of clear sparkling crystal hung every few paces and their thick ivory candles illuminated the hallways.
On the walls were hand-sewn tapestries depicting various rulers of Saturn Four. The tapestries alternated with heavy gold candelabras that were secured with what Orono could only make out as silver.
Servants passed by the entourage with cool indifference. He noticed that none of the servants looked up; they all walked about with their eyes downcast at the shiny floor.
The sweet smell of food filtrated into the hallway as they made their way past the kitchen. Orono’s stomach growled at the thought of eating fresh, delicious foods that were heated and warm, not cold and gritty, like gosha.
He knew that if Valek discovered his absence, it might mean his life. It was an agreeable risk, for with money from Saturn Four, he and MaxMion could flee.
Besides, he thought as General Ogroth opened the door to one of the guest quarters, Valek has his hands full with Amana and Richard of Earth 4016.
“Here is where you’ll rest until I come for you,” said General Ogroth.
The guest quarter was three times the size of Orono’s dungeon quarters on Solis. There was even a bed in it and the bed had blankets. He could hardly contain his glee. He may never leave this place.
Across from the bed resided a little wicker basket of fruit and a bottle of ale. On the floor, Orono noted the green leaves of alpine and oalka.
General Ogroth snorted, “Do not get too comfortable.”
He sat down on the soft bed and General Ogroth slammed the door shut. He could hear the jiggle of keys in the lock.
* * *
“MaxMion take this slave down to the cages. Make sure his soul is not with any others.” Valek dropped the sphere to the ground where it shattered to a thousand pieces and Marion’s soul floated out.
MaxMion reached out and snatched Marion’s soul by the arm. Powerless, he tried in vain to escape. Without a physical body, hitting or striking MaxMion was nearly impossible.
MaxMion was able to hold onto his souls by the little device planted into his arm that allowed him to cross the plane between physical and spiritual. “Come on now.”
The tugging caused Marion to flutter to the ground defeated.
As MaxMion moved the soul out of the office, Valek called, “I want him in the very next batch!”
According to the moons, the next batch should be processed within one full rotation. By then, he vowed to have Richard and his advisors back on Earth 4016.
“Valek,” Richard called as he poked his head into his office. “The advisors and I still have more questions, would now be a good time to discuss them?”
Inside, Valek tried to contain the rage that boiled almost to the point of spilling over. “The hour is late, Richard.”
“Yes, yes of course, but we need answers.” He entered the office and remained standing there with a look of disappointment on his face.
“Your answers will have to wait until morning, dear king,” Valek answered, his voice growing colder with each word spoken.
Richard, feeling the drastic change in temperature, wrapped his coat tighter about him as he took notice of Manola, then Amana whose blood still stained her shirt and pants.
“I apologize Valek if I interrupted anything.”
With nothing further the king fled the office for the smelly guest quarters.
“Wimp!” Valek barked. “Manola, take Amana to the dungeon and place her next to Orono’s quarters. I am not quite ready to make her a slave again. Perhaps Richard or one of his advisors would like some entertainment or even a gift.”
She yanked Amana’s arm and led her from Valek’s office. Neither of them heard Amana’s whimpering.
* * *
“I got it!” Sarah whispered excitedly and held up the map for Octiva to see.
“The map of Veloris?” Octiva inquired from her spot on the opposite side of the Queen’s bed.
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“An old map, perhaps even the first map ever drawn,” Sarah said, amazed.
“Come let us leave the queen. We have disturbed her long enough.”
Sarah followed Octiva out of the Queen’s bedchamber and into the hall where they could speak freely. There was no sight of the guards.
“This will show us how to get to Saturn Four,” Sarah said excitedly, glad to be able to help.
Octiva nodded in agreement. “How soon before you leave?”
Sarah shrugged. She didn’t know the time schedule. “Soon.”
“Be sure not to waste time. Marion and Queen Zoë do not have much longer,” she said, before turning and disappearing around the corner and in to the dark hall.
Sarah hurried down the stairs and on to Zykeiah’s quarters. Urgency fluttered nervously in her stomach and her tongue felt swollen and heavy as if it was laid with sturdy lead.
“What is it?” Zykeiah growled at the knock on her door. She was dressed in her robe and her feet were bare.
“We must leave at once,” Sarah said.
“How do we get there?” Zykeiah sighed.
“With this?” She held up the fragile scroll that unrolled into a detailed map of Veloris.
“And this is?”
“A map, an ancient map of Veloris. On it are destinations circles to other worlds.”
“Wow!” she said.
“So we must leave soon.” Sarah rushed over to Kalah’s door and pounded hard until he opened it.
“What?” he barked as he opened his door.
“Get your gear, Kalah, we are leaving. Tonight.”
Zykeiah’s watched from her doorway, the map still in her hands.
“Tonight? Evening meals have not been served and the night air will be freezing –” Kalah scoffed and shuddered at the thought.
Sarah gave Zykeiah a nervous glance.
“Now!” Zykeiah demanded firmly as she handed the map to Sarah. “We leave within the hour.”
Groaning, Kalah slammed his door.
“Come in, you can assist me,” Zykeiah said to Sarah.
Her quarters were neat and orderly. Nothing was out of place, each dagger, flower and log was settled in its place.
To Sarah’s surprise, Zykeiah bent down and pulled out a ratty sack made of cloth from beneath her bed. She then pulled out a second sack made of hide. She unrolled the leather one to reveal four glistening daggers similar to the one she wore on her thigh. They glowed in the warm reflection of the hearth. The points were coated in a glimmering, milky white coat that seemed wet.
She silently counted them with her lips barely moving. When done she rolled them up again and secured the leather belt tightly. She whisked them onto her back and secured them about her waist so that they would not fall or slide down during her ride.
Next, Zykeiah lifted the ratty, less polished sack to the bed. She piled vials of various herbs and rock salts along with socks and still more vials. She had almost emptied her chest of herbs.
“Will they not break during our journey?” Sarah asked.
“No,” Zykeiah muttered before adding, “They are not glass.”
“What are the vials for?”
“Valek and his witch, Manola.” Zykeiah pulled the drawstrings tight with sharp, rigid precision. Sarah could hear the zing.
“Here,” Zykeiah tossed the sack toward her. “You carry this one.”
Extraordinarily light, Sarah slung the sack over her shoulder and hardly felt it at all.
She wandered out into the hallway and pondered whether she needed anything from her quarters. She was a guest, but Veloris had become more of a home than she ever had before. She was reluctant to leave it, yet she had to. Marion needed her.
She followed Zykeiah to the Great Hall, where they were to gather prior to their departure. The pulsating light still generated its eerie orange glow as Sarah dropped the sack to the table.
“Kalah was right; we must eat well before departing. We may not have another opportunity to do so,” Zykeiah said before disappearing into the kitchen.
She had changed dramatically since Sarah’s first encounter with her in the hallway. She rarely smelled of danker beast and smelled more often of fresh cut flowers and forest.
Suddenly, commotion erupted from the kitchen, laughter and a couple of shrieks, then more laughter.
Zykeiah’s feminine scent was deceiving, for she was as tough as any male. Sarah thought back to the heated moment when Zykeiah sliced Amana’s cheek without fear or hesitation. Kalah, the man of the group, had fled. Suspicious and direct, Zykeiah embodied a sea of contradictions: one, the soft tender woman who landed Marion’s heart and within moments the dagger-slicing, second in command, leader of the Minister Knights.
And still Queen Zoë knighted her.
It was only now that Sarah could understand why. As she watched the commanding woman order with vigor the servants, Kalah and her, around with direct, firm commands; it became clear.
Zykeiah simply knew how to handle herself. She was a natural born warrior.
With two bowls steaming from heat, Zykeiah returned from the kitchen. “I made the servants serve us a little early.”
“Good, we need to eat,” Kalah announced just as Sarah bit into her piping hot hencken.
She quickly spit it out and reached for her ale to cool her searing tongue.
“Too hot?” Zykeiah gingerly placed a torn piece cautiously in her mouth. “Good.”
Kalah sat down between them. He peeked in to Zykeiah’s bowl and said, “Good indeed, roasted henckens with peppers.”
He slammed his fist onto the table causing the bowls to fly in to the air. “Food now!”
Sarah had to scoop the remainder of her meal from the table where her bowl had crashed, spilling its contents.
The older servant wench scurried out of the kitchen with a huge bowl in her two tiny hands. She placed it in front of Kalah with speed, just as another servant hurried to the table with a large mug of ale. They both retreated to the kitchen with equally quick speed.
He ate his meal and hurriedly devoured the small henckens. Sarah was only at the beginning of her hencken when he signaled for another two bowls.
“You may not want to eat too much, Kalah,” Sarah warned as she recalled the dizzying power of the circles. Too much food on the stomach could make him very ill.
He briefly stopped chewing to glance at her with a scowl before resuming his meal.
“You would be wise to listen –” Zykeiah warned.
“What does she know?” he said hotly with a mouth full of hencken.
“She has seen a great deal more of Solis and Valek then you,” Zykeiah concluded.
“You have been acting more and more like you are the commanding knight, Zykeiah. You are only a few days removed from your knighting.” His voice lowered to a deep rumbling and his eyes darkened to a smothering gray, like the angry clouds of an approaching snowstorm.
Zykeiah’s own electric eyes grew more intense as her hand crept toward her dagger. The air seemed to swell, thicken and then compress.
“Where were you great, daring Kalah, as Marion’s soul was stripped from his body?” she asked.
His color drained from his face as if he had been slapped. Zykeiah’s hand crept closer to her dagger.
The two continued to stare at each other as Sarah got up from the table and moved to the table across from them. They had to work this out themselves. The two servants and the servant wench had come from the kitchen into the Great Hall. They fell silent as the two knights verbally sparred.
Finally defeated, Kalah grumbled an “okay”, forever scarred by his cowardliness.
Zykeiah smiled as she returned to her seat and meal. The kitchen servants smiled at each other and returned to the kitchen. The Great Hall itself seemed to breath a sigh of relief as Zykeiah announced, “There will be no more questions as to who is leading this journey. I do not assume this lead out of arrogance or pride, but out of necessity. No one kno
ws Solis better than I. Nor has either of you been to my native planet of Saturn Four.”
Sarah secretly relished the explanation. Just the fact that she explained it to them demonstrated her growth as a knight in such a short period of time, since Marion’s removal from Veloris.
“I trust you, Zykeiah. I will follow you until we recover Marion and I can wet his face with my tears of joy,” Sarah declared then blushed as she wondered where such a strong statement had come from.
Kalah looked up and across to her, and then Zykeiah before agreeing. “Fine, but we go together from here on out. As a team.”
“So it shall be,” Zykeiah agreed, then fell silent as she finished her evening meal.
The servants solemnly removed the empty bowls and mugs as Kalah and Zykeiah gathered their belongings without comment. He had only brought two small sacks of goods made of smooth, slick leather that was free of stains or mutations. Somehow Sarah thought he would have brought more. He always wanted more, so she found it odd that he had brought along so few things. Did he not understand that they might not return?
Chapter Seventeen
“Come, it is time,” General Ogroth ordered.
Orono could hear the hissing release of the heavy lock as it unfastened.
A frown nestled deep within the bushiness of General Ogroth’s face as he greeted Orono, and the door swung open. He grunted in Orono’s direction and two hefty guards the size of stone pillars cut from the Death Trunk Mountains flanked him.
General Ogroth disliked him; his every action and articulated speech betrayed his opinion. Yet, his desire to know the secrets of Solance outweighed his desire to strip the hairy, smelly skin from Orono’s deceptive hide.
“What do you put in the pillows?” Orono grinned. “I slept like the dead.”
“And yet you still awoke.” General Ogroth pointed at the two guards. “See that this room is searched and cleaned. Double check to make sure all is accounted for.”
The two walked down the illuminated hallway, Orono struggled to match pace with General Ogroth, who could hear Orono’s wheezing.
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