The Inner Realm

by Dale Furse

  Mike seemed to have settled into the saddle well. Hankley liked the way Mike’s back remained straight while he leaned over the pommel with his feet, heels down and forward.

  Poor Terni bounced and thumped against the horse’s wide rump, his head smashed against Mike’s back. Lucky the little mite was light.

  “I’m going to fall off,” Terni cried.

  “Be quiet and keep still,” said Mike.

  “I can’t. Please slow down.”

  Mike looked this way and that. He pulled the reins back as he sat upright, and the horse slowed to a walk. “Good boy,” Mike said, as he rubbed the base of the horse’s neck. He looked at the horse sweat covering his hand. “I think he’s thankful we slowed down. Poor thing’s tuckered out.” He rubbed his palm on his trousers. “We need to find him some water.”

  Hankley sighed. If Mike had ridden him any longer, the horse would have collapsed from exhaustion. Big heart, that horse.

  Shank Two let out an exasperated breath. “Move out, we can’t see how close Vala is.”

  “Yeah, show her too.”

  Hankley raised his index finger.

  Racing through the trees of Zandell, Vala wasn’t far behind the boys.

  Mike twisted and tilted his head around as if to listen. “Someone’s coming. I’m pretty sure there’s only one set of hooves though.” He felt the side of the horse’s neck. “You can’t go again yet, can you boy?” He turned the horse to face the approaching rider. “Maybe it’s someone who can help us find water.”

  Vala, hands hanging onto the pommel of her saddle, burst over of a clump of foliage.

  “Shit,” Mike said. He struggled to stay on the shying horse.

  Terni, his mouth open in a silent scream, screwed his eyes closed and hung on for his life.

  “Oo-aaah, he swore,” Shank One said.

  Hankley chuckled. “You’ll learn that is not such a bad word in the land of Australia on Earth.”

  “Look,” said Shank Two. “Mike’s not running.”

  Mike, resignation over his face, sat with a cowering Terni behind his back. Vala reined her horse in, her topaz eyes flashing like fire.

  “Why aren’t you moving?” asked Vala.

  “The horse can’t, he’s had it.”

  Vala slid off her horse, let the reins fall to the ground, and inspected Noor’s animal. “Noor won’t be too happy if you kill her horse. She loves him.”

  “You think he’s gonna die?” asked Mike.

  Vala shook her head. “I think he’ll be all right after a bit of rest.” She retrieved her reins. “There’s a small pond not far from here. You should hop off and give his back a rest.”

  “Terni too?” Mike asked.

  “Sorry, Terni, you’ll have to walk. It’s not far.”

  Mike threw his leg over the horse’s neck and slid to the ground before helping Terni off.

  “My bottom’s sore,” Terni said, rubbing his backside.

  “So does mine.”

  “Don’t be mean, Mike,” Vala said. She ruffled Terni’s hair. “Walking will help.”

  Hankley flicked his wrist. The picture vanished as he rose to his feet with a moan.

  “Hey.”

  “Yeah, put it back on.”

  “We can’t sit here for eternity watching the boys. They’ll be all right with Vala, she knows the land.” He moved behind the desk, opened the bottom right drawer and pulled out a large, leather bound book. “Here.” He held it out to the Shanks. “Oln will expect you to know a bit of theory when he returns.”

  “We have to study?” Shank Two stared at the book.

  Hankley circled the desk and shoved the book onto their lap. “What did you think you were going to do in training? Of course, you have to study. Every planet, plant, animal and mineral—everything in Oln’s realm in fact.”

  “Everything?” Shank Two looked as if he could cry.

  Shank One’s face lit up, a new light in his eyes. “Wow, everything.” He opened the book reverently. “Everything.”

  Chapter 9

  The pond, a welcome sight with the sunlight flickering on top of the water, looked inviting. Mike wished he could go for a swim. No. He and Terni had to keep moving. The tree trunks were darker pink around the water’s edge, and reeds waved at him in the slight breeze around the pond’s perimeter.

  Jutting above the trees in the distance, a snow-capped mountain range came into view. He led Noor’s horse straight to the water.

  “Wait,” Vala said.

  Mike halted and the horse stopped. “What?”

  Vala checked the horse’s coat as she held her ear against his side. “Okay, he’s calmed, you can take him.”

  Mike bowed. “Thank you, milady.”

  “Oh, you’re funny.”

  Mike laughed at her not-so-amused face and led the thankful horse to drink.

  He held his tongue at Vala instructing him how to unsaddle the horses. After they drank their fill, they picked at the grasses.

  Mike rested his back against a tree trunk and Vala leaned on a rock. Terni, lying full length on the ground with his head on her lap, was asleep within seconds.

  An uneasy silence grew around Mike. He fidgeted, plucking grass every now and then until he couldn’t stand the quiet any longer. “So,” he said. “Why didn’t you shoot us?”

  Vala’s eyes widened. “Why would I want to shoot you?”

  “Because Noor told you to, remember?”

  Vala giggled. “She didn’t mean that.”

  “It sounded like she meant it to me.”

  “We don’t go around shooting people.”

  Mike frowned. “Then why say it?”

  “Because she wanted to scare you into doing what you were told. We already figured out you’re used to getting your own way.”

  “No, I’m not.” Not any more anyway. Not since the baby arrived.

  “You are, and my guess is you’re also very spoiled.”

  “Not anymore,” Mike grumbled to the ground as he snatched at another stalk of grass.

  “What do you mean not anymore?”

  Was she interested or making chitchat? Maybe she was waiting for the others to get there. Mike studied her face. She was pretty with her round face, the cutest pug nose he had ever seen, and an even cuter dimple in the middle of her chin. Her expression looked sincere, but Mike wasn’t the best at reading girls’ expressions.

  “I admit I had my mother’s and Dan’s full attention until the baby made an appearance.” Vala’s mouth opened to ask a question, but he went on without a pause. “Why my mother had to have him, I’ll never know. All he does is cry. But I have to admit I quite like being my own man. I do miss hanging out at the rifle range though. They have heaps of old weapons there. One thing annoys me. I can’t even wash my dobok without worrying about waking the bloody baby.”

  Questions grew on Vala’s face as his story went on. Her blue eyes appeared confused.

  “Who is Dan and what’s the baby’s name and what is—”

  “Hang on, one question at a time, and after I answer them, it’s my turn to ask questions, okay?”

  “Yes, yes, well what is a dobok?”

  “It’s what I’m wearing. It’s a Taekwondo uniform. Before you ask, Taekwondo is a form of martial arts, a type of fighting without weapons.”

  “Are you good at this Taekwondo?”

  “Not really.” With all the practice he put in, he had hoped he would scrape through getting his black belt. Third time lucky. He was sure he could get the minimum points he needed.

  “Who is Dan?”

  “My stepfather. He married my mother when I was a boy.” Mike thought Vala looked like she was going to say he was still a boy, and challenged her with a look.

  She didn’t, she asked, “Oh, she knew your real father was dead?”

  “No. I guess she got sick of waiting for him.”

  She sucked in the side of her mouth as if she didn’t like Mike’s answer. “What’s the baby
’s name?”

  “Derek.” Before she could ask, Mike hurried on. “Yes, like the king’s son.”

  “And Noor’s one true love.”

  “Noor is in love with a bandit?”

  “I don’t know why he chose the life of a bandit instead of a prince.”

  “Does Noor know why?”

  “I don’t know, and it’s not your turn for questions yet. I want to know about you washing. Are you a laundry boy where you come from?”

  “No. I am not a bloody laundry boy. Men wash all the time. We clean and cook too. It’s called doing our part.”

  Vala shook her head. “I don’t believe it. That is amazing. You won’t find a man doing that stuff here, not unless he lives on his own and doesn’t have the means to buy a servant.”

  “Which is my question. How is it your parents sold you like a slave?”

  Her eyes were no longer inquiring, but bright with anger. “How dare you. I am not a slave. I am a servant—a handmaid, if you will. I am housed and looked after for seeing to the Lord Cornel’s needs.”

  “His needs?” Mike mocked.

  “Get your mind out of the pig pen. His and his house’s needs.” She raised her eyebrows. “Washing, cleaning, and organizing the cooking.”

  “Oh, that’s all right then. So long as you don’t do the cooking as well.”

  “I don’t understand your meaning.”

  “Don’t worry about it. So who cooks then?”

  Irritation rested on her face. “The royal kitchen staff.”

  When she smashed her lips together, the same dimples appeared in her cheeks as they did when she smiled or laughed. His heart and lower stomach jumped at the same time. Strange. He should have laughed at her funny face, but her over-reacting at his teasing made him more attracted to her. He looked away.

  When he got home, he needed to listen to girls more. He frowned, trying to think about what she had said.

  Sighing, he held his hands up, palms facing Vala’s narrowed eyes. “All right, all right, I understand. It’s sort of like the staff at Buckingham palace I guess, except they get paid for their work.”

  “So you do know about the workings of a palace, and I’ll get paid when I fulfill my contract.”

  “How long is that?”

  “Two years, unless the king either orders me back home or ends the contract early. I am tired. We should rest before we continue.” She eased Terni’s head onto the grass and lowered herself to the ground, facing away from Mike.

  “Fine.” His shoulders slumped. He wanted to hear her voice, angry or not. And he still wanted to know why her parents sold her in the first place. He stretched out, listening to her steady breathing. She was already asleep. He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep as well.

  ***

  “Time to wake up, children.”

  Someone spoke through Mike’s dream. Noor? Blast. He lost the image of Vala, but could still taste her lips and her fruity breath. He opened his eyes. “Huh?”

  “Get up. We have to get back to the king before nightfall.”

  Mike rubbed his eyes. Did she say, back to the king? Not likely.

  “Noor,” Vala said. She gazed up at the sky. “Oh, it’s past midday.” She jumped up and brushed her clothes off.

  Mike, still feeling the effects of the dream, couldn’t stop himself from picking a small dead twig out of her hair. Her smile was more than a friendly, sleepy smile, and he wondered if she could have had the same dream.

  “I see you two have gotten along.”

  Mike and Vala stepped away from each other.

  “Not really,” Vala said.

  “Not that much,” said Mike.

  A small smile appeared on Noor’s face as she squatted down next to a stirring Terni. “Come on, wakey, wakey.”

  Once everyone was alert, they saddled the horses and Mike lifted Terni onto Noor’s horse. He wheeled around. “We’re not going back to the king. We have to find the wall and our homes.”

  “I understand your need, but Mike, it’s not safe out here.”

  “You don’t believe us.”

  “I want to.”

  Mike threw a quick glance at Terni. “You might want to, but you don’t. Terni run your fastest around the pond.”

  Terni grinned and took off. In less than a few seconds, he rounded the water’s edge and stopped in front of Mike.

  Vala gasped and Noor’s bulging eyes still looked to the opposite bank of reeds.

  “Do you have any messengers on this planet?”

  “I’m sure we don’t,” Vala said, eyeing Terni’s feet.

  “Not that I know of,” said Noor, blinking at Terni. “I could have sworn to Azu, you ran to the left.” She pointed. “Around there.”

  “I did.”

  Mike put his hands on his hips. “The kid’s obviously from another planet so it stands to reason I am too. Now do you believe us?”

  Noor hunched down and inspected Terni’s feet and wings. “I did see these before, but I never expected them to do anything. I thought they were ornamental.” She peered up into Terni’s proud face. “You are fast.”

  “Thank you,” Terni said, as he threw his arms around Noor’s neck.

  Extricating her head from his grasp, Noor laughed. “You are most welcome.” She rose to stand. “I do believe you, but I’m not sure what the king thinks, and you know what Prince Ludo thinks.”

  “I don’t care what they think, especially Ludo. We’re going to the wall, or at least, to the place where it was.”

  Vala squinted at Mike. “I said we don’t go around killing people, but disobeying the king’s commands is punishable by death.”

  “What do you call holding people against their will?”

  “It’s for your own good,” Noor said. “Think of the little one.”

  “I want to go to the wall with Mike,” Terni said, his chin stuck out in defiance.

  Vala stepped between Noor and Mike. “Noor, while I was chasing them I thought about what they said. Now Terni has proven he is from another place, I believe Prince Ludo was mistaken. Prince Ternith and Eva are not dead.” She tilted her head a little. “Maybe Mike and Terni could get them to come here, or come back with proof Prince Derek was telling the truth.”

  Noor let her horse’s reins fall to the ground and began pacing back and forth.

  Mike was thankful she was thinking about it, but after a few long moments, he wished she would make up her mind. It didn’t matter. He would find a way to escape again.

  Noor stopped and faced Mike. “But the ramifications are immense.” She began pacing again. “That could mean this morning’s arrow was meant for the king, and Ludo could very well be the shooter. I have to find Derek. He has to find the king and keep him safe. But… will King Horace believe his youngest son could do such a thing? He never did before.” She gazed at Mike, eyes full of questions.

  Mike wasn’t even sure she was talking to him, let alone asking a question. “What?” he asked.

  “I have to find Derek.”

  “Go then.”

  “I can’t leave you out here.”

  “Maybe Derek will find us.” Mike shrugged a shoulder. “He did before.”

  Anguish and uncertainty filled Noor’s face as she swung into her saddle.

  Thankful she didn’t start pacing again, Mike followed her lead and scrambled onto his horse. It felt right thinking of the horse as his. The animal might belong to Noor but Mike had somehow connected with him. He wondered why he had never thought to ride back home.

  Noor insisted she would ride with them.

  Mike didn’t care. He was elated to at last be on his way, and quickly shot Vala a smile.

  Close to the edge of the forest, the trees thinned and Mike stared at a mountain range in the distance. “The wall is not near the mountains,” he said. “In fact, I only saw the tips of the mountains when we came through.”

  Noor turned the horse east. “I know of a place where you can’t see the mountains f
or the fall of the land. We will go there.” She seemed reluctant to leave the trees.

  Maybe Derek and his gang of bandits didn’t leave the forest. Mike studied Noor’s profile. Strong straight nose and thin lips didn’t sound all that attractive, but she was quite good looking. Still appearing absorbed in her dilemma, she screwed up her face.

  They rode without words across the treeless plain, each with their own thoughts. The landscape was boring and, after a couple of hours, Mike wondered if they’d ever get to where they were going until a group of palm trees appeared in the distance.

  “Trees,” Terni exclaimed.

  “Not far now, little one,” Vala said.

  It was mid-afternoon by the time they stopped at what looked like an oasis plucked from a picture book, except grassy plains surrounded the water hole instead of sand. Although the leaves of the trees were similar to palm fronds, instead of a single trunk, these trees had three or four.

  “The water bubbles through the sandy bottom,” Noor said. “It’s sweet and cold.”

  Mike slid to the ground. Muscles he never knew he had ached.

  After Noor helped Terni off the horse, she climbed a grey-trunked tree close to the water’s edge and disappeared behind large flat orange leaves. “Here, catch,” she said.

  Mike looked up in time to catch a yellow, smooth-skinned fruit.

  “Here’s another one,” Noor called, and let a smaller fruit fall so Vala could catch them.

  Mike passed his fruit to Terni, so he could catch a second one.

  Noor scuttled to the ground with another. “Peel it first,” she said, and plonked down at the foot of the tree.

  Already eating her fruit, Vala sat beside Noor.

  Mike peeled half of his and bit into the juicy flesh, which tasted like a cross between a mango and lemon—sweet and tart all at once. Terni, of course, managed to get juice all over his face and yellow smudge joined all the other stains on the front of his tunic.

  Mike took Terni to the waters edge. “If those fruit are anything like mangos and you leave the juice dry on your skin, you might get boils,” he tried to explain as Terni struggled. He gave up. “Suit yourself. Just know those boils will hurt.”