“Uh, Bertram?”
“Yes?” He was unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.
Sunshine motioned him to come back to the table. “There’s a reason some of these pages seem thicker than the others, see? There are two pages stuck together.”
Bertram stood and went over to the book. Squinting, he noticed that the edges of the page were uneven in places, and it did appear that two pages were stuck together. “Yes, that’s right. Some of the earlier ink they used would become sticky over time if it wasn’t used sparingly.”
“These are quite stuck together,” she said. “I’m not sure how we can get them apart without ripping the paper.”
Bertram rubbed his hands together. “It’s possible. I’ve done it before, but it will take some time. Run off to a seamstress and get us a needle.”
***
Rayne squared up his body, trying to get the staff he was holding behind his head to rest evenly on his shoulders. From each end of the staff hung baskets filled with rocks. The officiators explained that each basket was made to be the same weight by using a large balancing scale.
The last event of the day required the participants to race the same two hundred paces as they had in the first event, but this time carrying the heavy baskets.
Waiting for the officiator to make sure everyone was ready, Rayne again sized up his competition. The man who had won the rock-throwing contest looked comfortable, while the man who had won the first sprint looked like his knees were about to buckle.
“Go!”
Keeping his back straight once again and letting his legs do the work, Rayne found himself starting to fall behind the pack. A quarter of the way in, he took a quick glance to either side. Many of the men were treating the event as a sprint, hunching over and running as fast as they could. The sprinter had already fallen over and was out of the race.
By the halfway mark, Rayne started to catch up to the crowd. Some of the men who had done well in the rock-throwing contest were starting to cramp up and were slowing down.
Rayne felt his legs aching from the strain, but he still felt strong enough to push on. As he closed in on the finish line, several men collapsed from exhaustion or slowed down so much they were moving at a snail’s pace. The man who had won the rock-throwing contest had already finished, well ahead of the rest of the group.
Rayne crossed the finish line, made sure he was clear of any other of the participants, and then lowered the baskets to the ground. Looking around quickly, he noted that he had finished in the top five and therefore earned three more points. All that was left was to walk off the cramps forming in his legs and then wait until everyone else had competed.
***
Standing in the middle of the field with all the participants, Rayne waited anxiously for the officiators to finish posting the final results from the first day’s events. He had no doubt that he had done well enough to qualify for tomorrow, but he wondered where he would place in the overall standings. The last race had been run with another strong showing from number 13 of Erd. One of the officiators climbed a ladder next to the wooden score board. Rayne’s guess was correct as number 13 from Erd was the first to be posted with a total of twenty points. Number 24 from Regne was listed next with fourteen points, followed by Rayne with his twelve points.
The board held enough space for the top sixteen participants. Each of these men would qualify for the next day’s events. After watching the officiator place number 12 from Lewyol in the sixteenth position on the board, the crowd cheered and the participants started to move off the field back to their districts. Approaching the Lebu waiting area, Rayne felt a hard slap on his back.
“Rayne, my boy, well done! Well done indeed!” Governor Nash said. “I don’t believe anyone from Lebu has placed that high in the first day’s events since, well, I guess since your father.”
“Thank you, Governor,” Rayne said. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“Bah! Now you’re just being modest. You understand what doing so well means, right?”
Furrowing his brow, Rayne thought a moment. “Well, aside from qualifying for tomorrow’s events, I’m not sure.”
Nash laughed. “Ah. I don’t know if I should be happy or sad for you when I tell you the news then.”
“Oh?”
“The highest-scoring participants are invited to have dinner with the king in the castle,” Nash said. “Of course, ‘invited’ may be misleading. It’s more like ‘required.’”
Rayne looked over to where the participants from Lewyol were gathered. “Do I have time to go find someone first? I was hoping to meet up with her after today’s events.”
“Afraid not.” Nash shook his head. “After I skipped lunch with the king today, he sent a couple of his guardians to remind me to be there tonight as soon as possible after today’s events. You’ll have to catch up with her later. I’ve already told your grandparents so they won’t be worried.”
***
“Have we met before?” Caldre asked Rayne as they were introduced.
“I don’t believe so, Magistrate,” Rayne said politely.
Caldre narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man carefully. “You seem very familiar to me—are you sure you’ve not visited the castle before?”
“I’m sure, Magistrate.”
“Very well then. Go ahead and have a seat. The king and his father will be out shortly.”
Rayne thanked Caldre and then found his seat at the table next to Governor Nash and Lady Linden. Leaning over, Nash asked in a whisper, “What was that all about?”
Rayne glanced over to where Caldre was being introduced to one of the participants from Erd, a thickly built man with dark hair and a fairly large, bulbous nose.
“I’m not sure, exactly,” Rayne said. “He thought that we may have met before, but I’m sure we haven’t. Perhaps I remind him of someone.”
“Perhaps,” Nash said, exchanging a meaningful look with his wife. “But not to worry. Let’s enjoy the meal. Just remember to stand when the king arrives and be seated when instructed. The king’s father will probably have some words for me because I missed lunch today, but I can handle it. It would be best if you kept quiet and didn’t speak unless you are addressed.”
“Understood.”
***
Bertram wiped his brow once again, trying to make sure no drops of sweat fell onto the paper before him. Although the spring evening was cool, he was sweating profusely as he slowly worked the needle back and forth in an effort to separate the pages that were stuck together.
He and Sunshine had taken turns throughout the afternoon with the painstakingly slow process, but they had made steady progress and were nearly finished. The pages had indeed been stuck together due to the excess of ink. They had agreed not to read what they had uncovered until the pages were completely separated. It was tempting, and Bertram found himself catching snippets of words and phrases here and there, but he tried not to concentrate on them. What he had seen were mainly names and dates, which led him to wonder what it was about these people that made them important enough to be included in the Tome of Laws.
“Almost done, Bertram. Nice and easy,” Sunshine said, sounding as tired as Bertram felt.
And just like that, the needle slid past the last stuck part and allowed them to open up the pages.
“All right, here we go,” Bertram said nervously. He turned to the page before and read: “When the firstborn child of the king and queen reaches the age of twenty-one, he or she shall become the new king or queen. The former king and queen will become councilors to the newly crowned leader of Bariwon. An arranged marriage will…” He turned the page and read, “not be allowed for the heir to the throne. History has shown us that such arranged marriages have caused conflicts between noble and powerful families in the kingdom. We include several examples of problems that come from these types of arranged marriages.”
The majority of the hidden two pages listed names
, dates, and situations where arranged marriages caused issues or conflicts. Nearing the end of the last missing page, Bertram read, “Each person of the kingdom will be allowed to marry whomever they desire, regardless of rank, wealth, or ties to noble families. This includes the king and queen. If the king or queen does not marry, or if he or she does marry and is unable to produce an heir, a new king or queen will be chosen twenty-one years after the crowning of the king or queen. This new leader will be …” He turned the page and read the next paragraph. “selected by a Shoginoc. In the spirit of competition that is part of the history of the kingdom, each district will have the chance to participate. Whoever brings to the kingdom the most worth, as decided by the Hierarchy of Magistrates, will be declared the winner. Twenty-one years is to be the standard period of time that any leader will be on the throne, and therefore, the Shoginoc will be used to select a new leader for the kingdom if an heir is not produced in a timely manner.”
Bertram stopped and looked at Sunshine, his face pale. “Do you understand what this means?”
Her eyes wide, Sunshine responded, “Yes, it means the Shoginoc has been performed incorrectly for generations.”
***
“Nash, why don’t you just ask someone?” Linden asked, walking next to Rayne and following her husband down a passage in the castle.
He didn’t stop or look back. “Because I’m not lost. I’m just exploring a little.”
Linden looked at Rayne and rolled her eyes. He tried to suppress a smile but wasn’t very successful. Taking two quick steps forward, Linden grabbed her husband by the arm. “Nash, it’s been many years since you’ve been this far into the castle. I think we’re going in circles. It wouldn’t hurt to ask someone where your old quarters are. I’m as interested as you to see if the window is still bricked up, but we’ve been roaming for a while now.”
Nash threw his hands up in disgust. “It’s just that they’ve changed or moved all the tapestries, so I don’t have any markers to remind me which way to go. Or the markers I do recall are not where they were before.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like many people come down here very often,” Linden said. “Perhaps we should turn back.”
“I have a better idea,” Nash said. “Rayne will stay here. We’ll go on a bit further. If we don’t find it in the next few minutes, I’ll shout and Rayne will help us get back.”
Before his wife could object, Nash strode off down the hallway.
Rayne looked around and noticed several tapestries hanging from the walls. One off to his left, next to a door, depicted a large tree on a sloping hill with the castle in the background. It looked like it had been hung hastily, and there wasn’t a plaque indicating what it was about. He found the scene peaceful, but somewhat haunting.
His reflections were interrupted when the door next to the tapestry suddenly opened.
***
“We have to take this information to the leaders,” Sunshine said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Bertram chewed on a fingernail before he responded. “Yes, they need to be told, but we need to figure out the right time to tell them. Perhaps it would be best if we waited until after the Mortentaun is over.”
“Actually, since all the governors are here, this would be the perfect time,” Sunshine exclaimed. “This is so exciting! We’re experiencing history.”
“I suppose we are,” Bertram said hesitantly, “but I think we should tell the hierarchy before we tell the rest of the court.”
“All right, you stay here and I’ll go get them,” she said, heading to the door.
“You want to go now?” Bertram asked.
“Why wait?”
Before responding, Bertram glanced down and then back at Sunshine. “Very well, but please be careful and don’t tell anyone else until we get the hierarchy here to discuss this. Understand?”
Sunshine gave Bertram her best smile. “Why are you so worried? This is wonderful. I’ll be fine.”
She finished walking across the room and opened the door quickly. As she stepped out into the hallway, any thoughts of the Tome of Laws or the hierarchy vanished.
CHAPTER 18
Rayne and Sunshine stood there a moment, neither one speaking.
“Sunshine!” Rayne said once he got over his initial shock. “What a surprise!”
He noticed her eyes grow wider and saw her take a step back. Putting up his hands, he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Sunshine, who Rayne suspected was never at a loss for words, didn’t respond. Instead, she started to tear up. She blinked and looked at him again as if with new eyes.
“What’s the matter?” Rayne asked.
She shook her head, then swiftly came to him and embraced him tightly, resting her head on his chest. “Nothing is the matter. Just the opposite,” she said, her voice shaking.
Rayne had thought so much about her over the past few months. He couldn’t believe he’d not only found her, but that they were in each other’s arms. “I tried to find your family at the Mortentaun today,” he said, “but I kept missing you. Did you get the message I left for your brother?”
Sunshine took a step back, then reached down and clasped Rayne’s hands in her own. “No, I haven’t seen my brother. But Rayne, you must understand—I thought you were dead. I was told the guardians found your farm and that you and your father had been killed.”
Rayne gasped. “Who told you that?”
Sunshine looked up and down the hallway. “Not here. Come with me,” she said, then led him back into the room.
Sunshine brought Rayne inside and closed the door. She introduced him to a tall, thin man.
“Tell us what happened,” Sunshine said.
Rayne eyed the magistrate warily.
“You can trust me, Rayne,” Bertram said.
Sunshine nodded emphatically. “Magistrate Bertram is a good person, Rayne. I trust him. Please tell us what happened.”
Rayne sat down on a rolled-up tapestry next to Sunshine, across from where Bertram sat. “Fine, but first, I have to know. What are you doing here in the castle, Sunshine?”
“You don’t know?” She sounded surprised. “Rayne, I’m a savant. I thought you knew, else why would you be in the castle?”
Bertram interrupted. “Obviously you two have some catching up to do. Rayne, why don’t you go first?”
Rayne nodded. He told them what had happened to his father at the farm and how he had moved to Lebu to live with his grandparents. He downplayed how well he had done in the Mortentaun, but Sunshine wouldn’t let that slide, complimenting him on scoring high enough to be invited to the castle.
After Rayne explained how he had ended up in the hallway moments ago, Bertram clasped his hands together. “Rayne, I must ask. Why were the guardians after you and your father?”
Sunshine spoke up and gave the magistrate a quick accounting of what happened in town the day she met Rayne. She finished by saying, “Bertram, these were bad men. They were threatening me. I still shudder when I think about what they would have done to me had Rayne not stopped them. I can’t deny I’m relieved they are not still out roaming the kingdom. What Rayne did was a selfless act.”
“I understand why you are asking, Magistrate,” Rayne said, stiffening. He turned to Sunshine. “Bertram is a magistrate, Sunshine. He’s committed to uphold what is found in the Tome of Laws. It’s against the law to strike a guardian, isn’t it, Magistrate?”
“Yes, it is.”
“But Bertram!” interjected Sunshine. “Can’t you see that—”
She stopped when the magistrate held up a hand. “You need not worry. The law states that guardians are not above the law. If two or more people are willing to testify that any action against a guardian was in self-defense, or defense of the helpless, that overrides the law against striking a guardian.”
Bertram looked squarely at Rayne. “In fact, that may be one of the more noble acts I’ve heard of in quite some time.”
> Rayne shied away from the compliment. “Thank you, Magistrate. I’m sure many others would have done the same, had they been there.”
“Perhaps at one time they would have…” Bertram said softly, casting a glance at the Tome of Laws lying on the table next to him.
“Rayne!” came a muffled shout from behind the door.
He stood quickly. “Governor Nash! Please excuse me a moment.” He dashed to the door, jumping over the various objects and tapestries strewn about. He opened the door to see Nash and Linden in the middle of the hallway. They both turned at the sound.
“Rayne, my boy!” Nash said, somewhat out of breath. “What are you doing in there?”
Rayne bowed. “My deepest apologies, Governor. I hadn’t intended to leave the hallway.”
Linden stepped forward. “Are you all right? You look different somehow.”
Rayne felt a presence behind him. “It’s my fault,” Sunshine said as she moved next to him. “I dragged Rayne into the room. I’m sorry if that caused any problems.”
Nash peered back and forth between Sunshine and Rayne. “Rayne, is this the person you have been looking for all day?”
He nodded, his cheeks turning red. Sunshine smiled and took Rayne by the hand.
“Ah,” said Nash and Linden at the same time.
After everyone was introduced, including Magistrate Bertram, who had joined them, Rayne and Sunshine were given a few moments alone before going their separate ways for the evening. Bertram remained in the hallway with the governor and his wife, while Sunshine and Rayne returned to the room.
“It’s funny how life is, isn’t it?” Sunshine asked.
Rayne smiled. “Yes. I didn’t think I’d run into you here, but I’m glad I did.”
The Hidden Sun (Bariwon Chronicles Book 1) Page 19