“Tern.”
“Tern. The fact that we don’t have all the details worked out yet doesn’t mean we won’t be successful. Now can we please stop talking and keep on going? Preferably in silence, which I understand is golden. I never in my entire life met anyone so devoted to making noise as you.”
“And I never met anyone so argumentative,” I said. But by then I was talking to her back. So I did the only thing I could.
I followed.
I saw the Lord Sarastro for the very first time standing with the sun behind him. A thing I’m absolutely certain he did on purpose, for he was absolutely blinding. And, for a moment, I must admit, my heart quailed. For it seemed to me there was no difference between the lord and the sun itself.
How can I set my will against such a one and survive, I wondered, let alone, triumph? Then, in the next moment, I answered my own fear with hope. Because I will do more than stake my will. I will stake my heart, also.
But it would not be alone. Mina’s would be with it. My eyes did not have far to look for her. Her father had placed her at his side, her eyes now unbound, and in them an expression that reminded me to hope.
And when I saw this, the brilliance of the Lord Sarastro seemed to dim, and I noticed that, though the light was bright, it was also low in the sky. The hours of the day were growing short. Soon, the night would come.
But if the Lord Sarastro were in a hurry because of this, he did not show it.
“I am told you are called Tern,” he said. “And that you are a prince in your own country. Are these things true?”
I bowed my head. “They are, my lord.”
At this, the lord motioned to the soldier who stood beside me. “Let his hands be unbound,” he commanded. “For if I take his word about these things, then I must trust that he is a man of honor.”
And so, at last, I stood unbound before Minas father and all whom he had gathered to him in this place that was most sacred to the magicians of his order.
“Why have you come here?” he inquired.
“Surely the Lord Sarastro must know that already,” I answered. “For I was brought here by his followers.”
At this, the lord’s lips twitched, whether in irritation or amusement, I could not tell.
“A clever answer,” he commented. “Let us hope, for your sake, you are clever with more than just your tongue. Why have you come into my country, Prince Tern? That is the thing that I would know. Speak true, for I will know if you are lying.”
“I followed where my heart led, my lord.”
“And it led you to my daughter, is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“It did,” I replied.
“And what would your heart ask of me?”
“That you give your blessing to Mina becoming my wife. For, this, we both desire.”
“Do you, indeed?” said the Lord Sarastro. “What do you have to say to this, Mina?” he asked, turning to her abruptly. “You have kept silent long enough.”
“The Lord Sarastro has not addressed me until this moment,” Mina said. “But since he has now, I will say this: Prince Tern speaks the truth, as you commanded. Therefore, I have nothing to add.”
“You desire to be his wife.”
“I do, my lord.”
“And what of the prophecy spoken at the hour of your birth? What of the pains I have taken to choose a husband for you? Do these things mean nothing?”
“What should they mean to me?” Mina inquired. “You have dedicated yourself to the prophecy, not to me. You do not know me, Father. Why should your mind choose for me, while my own heart goes ignored?”
“Father,” the Lord Sarastro said, and, to my surprise, I heard bitterness in his tone. “You call me that now, only when you want something from me.”
“Which only goes to prove I am your true daughter,” Mina responded. “For you have not claimed me until now, to help you fulfill your own desire.”
“And you think you know what that is,” the Lord Sarastro said. A statement, a challenge.
“But surely it is obvious,” Mina replied. “To marry me to the one of your choice, and so control the outcome of the prophecy. On the day I wed, the world will change. That cannot be altered. But you would try to have the world change according to your will. That is why you broke your own oath, and stole me away before the proper time.
“You do not think of me, but only of protecting your own power. If your efforts to this end mean nothing to me, we are even, I think. For my happiness means nothing to you.”
“Of course it does,” the Lord Sarastro protested, shocked.
“Then prove it. Let me marry Tern.”
“My lord!” the one called Statos suddenly burst out, as if he could hold himself in check no longer. “You cannot give your consent to such a thing. He is a stranger, unproven and unknown.”
“Then let me make a trial and prove myself,” I said at once, and I stepped forward, a thing which made the Lord Sarastro’s soldiers lay hands upon their swords. “For then I will be a stranger no longer. My worth shall be known.”
“You would undergo any trial I set?” the Lord Sarastro asked, and I could not read the expression in his eyes.
“I would, my lord,” I answered steadily. And I held those eyes I could not understand with my own.
“Without fear?” the lord asked softly.
“Of course not,” I replied. “But fear is no fit means to measure anyone, for fools have no fear, or so I’ve heard it said.”
“And so have I,” the Lord Sarastro said, and he released my eyes. “That is well spoken. Very well. Let you and Statos face the same trials together. By the outcome Minas husband will be chosen.”
I heard Mina draw in a quick breath, but before she could object, Statos spoke once more.
“How can you propose to test me like some stranger?” he demanded, and all there assembled must have heard the pain in his voice. “I have been your apprentice, and your choice to wed the Lady Mina, for many years. I have no need to prove myself.”
“Perhaps not,” the Lord Sarastro said. “But my mind speaks that this is the only way to be fair to all. Therefore, it is my will that you undergo these trials.”
“I tell you, I will not!” Statos shouted. “For you do not use your mind in this, but your heart. And not even yours, I think, but your daughter’s. You do the very thing you have sworn you would not. Already you have broken one oath. Now it seems you will break another.”
The Lord Sarastro’s face flushed bright red.
“Enough!” he roared. “Either face the trials that I will set or give up all claim to Minas hand.”
“My lord,” Statos said, his voice strangled as if holding himself in check only by the force of his will. “I will not, nor is that all. For I call upon those members of our order here assembled to witness the fact that you do me a great wrong.
“But I will stay while this prince faces his trials, and see the outcome. For he may fail, and, in his failure I may see my triumph.”
“As you will,” the Lord Sarastro said, and now I heard nothing but weariness in his voice. He turned to me. “Prince Tern,” he said. “Hear now the nature of your trials. Carrying what you have with you in this moment but no more, you must pass through the fires of hell unscathed and return from the embrace of Death alive.
“If you can do these things, my daughter will be yours.”
There was one moment of absolute silence. Then Statos laughed, and the sound was like the clash of sword on shield, metallic and harsh.
“But surely these are impossible tasks,” he said.
“How fortunate for you, then, that you refused them,” I heard the Lady Mina answer softly.
Statos flushed and took a step toward her. But, at a signal from the Lord Sarastro, the members of their order held Statos back.
“Do you accept these trials, Prince Tern?” the lord asked.
“I do accept them,” Tern answered in a steady voice.
And the
n, to the astonishment of all present, with the possible exception of me, for I knew her well, the Lady Mina stepped forward. In fact, so great was their astonishment that it seized all their limbs and held them fast. They made no move to stop her. And so, she walked across the circle and took Tern by the hand, gazing for a moment into his eyes.
“You are certain?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” she said. Only then did she turn to face her father. “I accept them also.”
“It is well that you do,” the Lord Sarastro said. “For you may not balk at the outcome. Now let him go, that the trials may commence.”
He still doesn’t understand, I thought. But, then, how can he? For he doesn’t really know her.
“I don’t think you understand, Father,” Mina said. “I will not stay behind like a small child to await an outcome decided by others. Tern is the one my heart has chosen. Where he goes, even into danger, I will go, also, for that is where I belong.”
“Do not be so foolish, Mina!” the lord exclaimed, and I realized then that this possibility had simply never entered his mind. “The trials are for Tern, to determine his worthiness.”
“And what of my own worthiness?” Mina inquired. “Or is that already decided for no other reason than that I am your daughter? You treat me like a prize at the village carnival, my Lord Sarastro. But I am not some thing for you to give away. I am myself. I have a mind and heart of my own. And both say this: I will go with Tern. I will not stay behind.”
Slowly the Lord Sarastro moved to where his daughter stood, took her face gently between his hands, and tipped it up.
“It seems you have been telling the truth,” he said at last. “For I think I do not know you at all. But this much I can see for myself: that your mind is set. Very well. You may go with Prince Tern.”
“No! Wait!” I cried.
For, in that moment, I saw that it was not only Mina who had spoken true. Gayna had spoken the truth, also. A time to aid Mina and Tern had, indeed, presented itself. Not in the way we might have hoped, for escape was plainly impossible. But, if there’s one thing life has taught me, it’s to be prepared for anything.
And so, I dropped down from the tree in which I had been hiding, much to the delight of Mina and Tern and the consternation of the Lord Sarastro and his soldiers.
“Lapin!” Mina cried.
“Spy!” the Lord Sarastro said, and he signaled his soldiers forward. “How did you come to know about this place? How long have you been here?”
“Which question would you have me answer first?” I managed to get out before the soldiers surrounded me and pinned me fast by both arms.
“I’d show a little more respect, if I were you,” the Lord Sarastro said.
I did my best to make a bow. Difficult, given my present circumstances. “You misunderstand my intentions, my lord. I wish only to give your daughter a gift.”
“What gift?”
“If I might have the use of my arms?”
At a nod from the lord, the soldiers released me, though they stood close and tense as I reached inside my cloak.
“The bells!” Mina exclaimed when she saw what I intended to give. “Oh, Lapin.”
“Bells,” the Lord Sarastro said. “You wish to give my daughter a set of bells?”
“It is all I have to give,” I said simply. “For she has had my heart from a week after she was born. She may not carry a weapon, is this not so? But surely she may take a gift from an old friend. It is only a simple set of bells.”
“There is nothing simple about these bells, I think,” the Lord Sarastro said, and he came close to study them, though he made no move to take them from me. “For I have heard tales of them before now.”
“Do not permit this, lord,” Statos burst out suddenly. “You cannot trust him. He serves the Queen of the Night.”
“That is so,” I answered. “But I am also myself. I have my own will. I know my mind, my heart. That is more than you can say, I think.”
“Enough!” commanded the Lord Sarastro. “I will permit this gift if you answer me this question: How did you come to know the location of this grove?”
“I told him,” Gayna said. And she dropped down beside me, her skirts flaring like a great golden bell.
“Gayna,” Lord Sarastro said. “I suppose I should have known.”
“The hour grows late, my lord.” Statos spoke up once more. “The sun is going down. You should make a decision, and let the trials commence.”
“Give my daughter your gift, Lapin,” the Lord Sarastro said. “Then let Tern and Mina be taken to the place of trial.”
Trial the First, and Trital the Second
Any person of sense would have been absolutely terrified.
But, as I think my story’s already proved, the one with sense in my family is my younger brother, Arthur. He’s the one who took the traditional route, inheriting a kingdom from our father. Me, I set out to roam the wide world to see if I could find my heart. And I had done so.
Naturally, having been successful, I wanted to live as long and happy a life as I possibly could. I’m not a complete idiot, after all. As Mina and I followed the Lord Sarastro to the place where we would undergo our trials, my heart did beat quickly, it is true, but more with anticipation than with fear. My heart had accomplished its mission. It had found its match. No trial Mina’s father or anyone else might set could take that away from me.
Not far from the location of the sacred grove, the trees of the forest gave way altogether, and the sheer rock of the mountain itself rose straight up in a great wall. Upon its face were carved a series of symbols, all depicting the sun on its path across the sky. The Lord Sarastro moved to the one in the very center, where the sun was at its fullest and brightest, and struck the image three times with the staff of his order.
At that, with a motion that was all the more astonishing for the fact that it was accomplished in perfect silence, a door in the rock wall swung open. A series of white stone steps plunged straight down. As I stared at them, I felt a sudden burst of fierce heat.
The fires of hell I thought.
“This is your last chance to turn back.” the Lord Sarastro said. “Once you have set your feet upon this path, there is no other course but down. If you walk the path to the very end, you will be successful and emerge upon the other side. If not, you will be lost forever in the bowels of the very earth itself. No power in the universe will be able to call you back.
“Do you still accept these trials?”
“I do, my lord,” I answered steadily, and felt the way Mina’s hand tightened upon mine.
“And I do, also,” she vowed.
“Then let these trials commence,” the Lord Sarastro said. “And may the strength of that which you hold in your hearts be your shield and your reward.”
“I can’t believe I’m thinking this,” Mina said as we made our way down. We had been moving steadily downward for the space of no more than a few minutes. Already, the heat was near to overwhelming. And now we could hear the fire’s roar. It had a voice like a living thing, a hungry predator whose only thought is to devour.
“What?” I asked.
“We’re facing trials which could end our lives,” Mina went on. “But all I can think is, who knew that hell was so close? Just a short flight of stairs away.”
“Perhaps it is some magic of your father’s,” I suggested.
“Perhaps,” Mina agreed. “And perhaps hell is this close to us every single day. Perhaps it is only our commitment to joy which holds it down, for do not those who give up joy claim to suffer hell on earth?”
“I have heard it said so,” I acknowledged, and gripped her hand all the tighter. I could feel the way the sweat pooled in the very center of her palm, but whether from the heat or from fear I could not tell.
“It’s getting hotter, Tern,” Mina gasped. “Do you hear the way the fire roars? The path and walls have a strange glow. Do you see it?”
I nodded, for I did see
it. The white stone on which we walked was stained red as blood.
“I think we are very close now. Are you sorry you came with me?”
“Of course not,” Mina said. “Now is hardly the time to start asking silly questions. You should save your strength.”
“Just one thing first,” I said.
And I took her in my arms and kissed her. The first kiss that we had shared. It wasn’t much like other first kisses, I think. Her lips weren’t smooth as rose petals, but dry and chapped from the heat of the fires of hell. But the touch of them so filled my heart with music that, for the instants the kiss lasted, I no longer heard the fire nor felt its heat. All I heard was the music of my own heart. All I felt was joy.
When it was over, Mina lifted a hand to my cheek.
“Your eyes are as white as ice,” she said.
I smiled. “Let us hope it is ice enough to put this fire out.” Then, still hand in hand, we turned to face the fire’s glow. As it turned out, Mina was right.
Hell was close.
The turn of the very next corner brought an end to the passage. Here, in spite of all my joy, all my desire to be brave, I stopped short. Before us, a great lake of rippling flame spread out. So vast, it completely filled my vision, even when I turned my head from side to side. It had no end, this lake of flame.
This is the worst thing about hell I thought. Not the heat, and not the pain, though these were horrible enough. But most horrible of all was that it had no end. Once hell takes you, you are there forever. There is no way out.
“How do we cross? Can you see?” I asked.
For, as I stood there, it seemed to me that my eyes began to dim, and the only sense I truly possessed was that of my ears, and they were filled with the fires roar. Then I felt Minas touch upon my arm.
“There, Tern. I see a way!” she said.
I shook my head to clear my vision, and looked to where she pointed.
Across the lake of fire, like an arm reaching out to ask for help, stretched a single span of stone. From where I stood, I judged it wide enough for two people to walk side by side, but not a single step wider. Hungry tongues of fire lapped up at its deck. With every step we took, Mina and I would feel their touch. Yet the Lord Sarastro had said we must pass through the fires of hell unscathed, unharmed. If we could not, we would lose the trial. Then Death himself would come to claim us.
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