Aerenden: The Zeiihbu Master (Ærenden)

by Kristen Taber

  “It was time,” Miles repeated.

  Nick narrowed his eyes, prepared to argue, but stopped when the smile disappeared from the Elder's face.

  “Please, Nick,” Miles said. “I need you to let this go for now. I promise I'll share what I know in time.”

  Nick nodded and said no more about the subject. Miles had been a trusted friend for too long for Nick to doubt his motives now. Besides, if what had happened here had anything to do with Miles's strained appearance, Nick preferred to learn the truth when he felt less travel-worn.

  Miles removed Nick's bag from the horse's back, then led her toward a building at the edge of the village. The wood structure stood the size of a large, two-story house, though the two double doors at the front of the building hinted that it served as a barn.

  “Ambler,” Miles called out. Not ten seconds passed before a young man darted toward them from a door on one side of the barn. All bony arms and legs, the young man reminded Nick of a scarecrow. He halted in front of Miles, grinning as he snatched the reins from the older man's hands, and then raised a palm to the horse's muzzle.

  “Hey there, Equus,” he said to the horse. “I just finished rubbing down Barley for the night. Once your turn is done, I'll put you in the stall next to her. She'll be happy to see you.”

  Equus bucked her head against Ambler's hand and snorted. The young man's grin widened. “Don't get too excited yet,” he told her. “There'll be plenty of time for that later.”

  He turned to lead the horse toward the barn, but stopped when Miles coughed behind him. The boy snapped his gaze toward the Elder, and then his attention swung to Nick. A smile of embarrassment flickered across his face before he ran a nervous hand through his hair, causing short strands of black to stick on end.

  “I've been rude again, haven't I?” he asked.

  “A little,” Miles responded. “Please come back here so I can introduce you.”

  Ambler retraced his steps. The horse stayed behind, refusing to budge as she stared at the front of the barn. “Come on, Equus,” he whispered. “Do as you're told.”

  Equus swung her body around and followed behind the young man. When he stopped in front of Miles again, the horse pawed the dirt, snorting her displeasure.

  “Quiet,” the young man commanded. The horse obeyed, hanging her head as she waited.

  “That's better,” Miles said. He lifted a hand to the young man's shoulder. “I know you'd prefer to finish your chores for the night so you can go home, but the man I want you to meet is important. Ambler, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Nick. As you may already be aware, Nick is your King.”

  The young man's eyes grew wide as he swung them from Miles to Nick. “But that means…” his voice faded.

  “You've trained a royal steed,” Miles completed his sentence. “You should be proud.”

  A lopsided grin sprang across Ambler's face. He bent over and swung his hand at his waist in the most ungraceful bow Nick had ever seen.

  “She's fast,” Ambler said when he rose again. “She's the fastest horse in these parts. It's why I chose her when she was a foal. It took me weeks to break her. She broke a few of my bones first, but she was worth it. She even outruns Mardróch. I think she has a power that lets her do that.”

  Miles raised an eyebrow. “How do you know she outruns Mardróch?”

  “Well, she did once, anyway,” Ambler clarified. “About a year ago, I came across three of them in the woods. They wanted to take her so I told her to run as fast as she could. She lost them in less than a minute, and she's even faster now.”

  Nick nodded, then turned his attention toward the horse he had debated turning into dinner. She had trudged along so slowly on his journey that he had trouble believing she could sprint, let alone outrun Garon's monsters. Yet if she could do that, she might be valuable to him after all.

  “How old is she?” he asked.

  “Four,” Ambler responded.

  “No kidding,” Nick drew his attention back to the young man. His pockmarked face bore the acne of a child verging on adulthood. His voice no longer held the high pitch of a boy, but it still cracked on some words, serving as evidence of his young age. “How old are you?”

  “Thirteen,” Ambler answered.

  “So that means you broke in and trained a horse at nine?”

  Ambler's brows tucked together, and then lifted as laughter bubbled up from his throat. It abruptly stopped when Miles cast him a stern glance.

  “Oh,” Ambler said. He blushed and stared down at the ground. “I didn't mean to be rude again. I thought you were joking. I'm an Equine Master.”

  “I gathered,” Nick told him. “Equus hasn't quite learned to listen to me yet, but she seems to understand you. Can you talk to her with your power?”

  Ambler nodded. “If you want, I can tell her to do a better job of obeying you. She's strong-willed, but once she realizes that I want her to listen to you, she will.”

  “That would be helpful.” Nick brought a hand to Ambler's shoulder and squeezed it in a gesture of forgiveness. A toothy grin erupted on the young man's face.

  “So I take it I asked a stupid question,” Nick said. “Is Equus not the first horse you trained?”

  “She's not, but I shouldn't have laughed,” Ambler said. “I forget that other parts of Ærenden don't have my power. It's somewhat common here. There are four Equine Masters in this village, including my father, brother, and me. The next village over has six, although they're a smaller village than we are. Four from the same family.”

  “That's good to know,” Nick responded. “So what age were you when you trained your first horse?”

  “Five,” Ambler answered. “My father broke her in, but I trained her. I was seven when I broke in my first horse. Equus was my fifth. She was also my hardest. No other horse has come close to giving me as much trouble.”

  “She's just my type of horse, then,” Nick said with a smile. “I need a fighter at my side. I'll be sure to cherish her and take good care of her.”

  Ambler's face brightened. He drew up taller. “You want to keep her?” he asked. “When the Elders requested four horses, they said they would be returned to us. But if you want to keep her, it would be a great honor.”

  Nick inclined his head. “The honor would be mine. If you can bear to part with her.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Ambler nearly stammered. “I can't wait to tell my father that the King chose my horse. He'll be so proud.”

  “Then go finish your duties and head home,” Miles said. “Late tomorrow afternoon, I want you to stop by the guest cottage. I think Nick will benefit from instructions with his new steed.”

  “Really? I get to teach the King?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “I can't wait!” A broad grin spread across Ambler's face as he opened the double doors to the barn and disappeared behind them. Nick held a less enthusiastic opinion about the lessons, but he kept it to himself.

  “Speaking of the guest cottage,” Miles said, turning to Nick, “let me take you to it. You look like you could use some sleep and a good meal. There's a pot of hearty stew warming over the fire. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

  Nick could not agree more.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  MORNING BROKE the horizon, slicing the shadows that blanketed the village with blades of yellow light. Cobblestone moved from black to gray and brown. Houses escaped their slumber, winking at Nick from windows both lively and bright. The village loomed large, spreading beyond the edge of Nick's sight in every direction. Skinny and wide, tall and short, each unique residence welcomed him with colorful paint trimmed in pristine white. Birds roosting on rooftops flapped their wings, basking in the warmth of the formerly wayward sun. There would be no rain today, not even an errant cloud remained in the sky. It seemed surreal, perfect, as if war had never touched this region, and did not know this village existed.

  This village felt special, and not just because of its surreal
nature, though it took Nick another few minutes of wandering to figure out why. The streets and alleys that paved the town did not form a grid pattern, like in every other village in the kingdom. They stretched outward like spokes on a wheel. He traced them back to their hub, and his heart beat faster when he saw the pearl-white stone standing in honor at its center.

  Nick felt drawn to the stone, though he dared not touch it. Despite the fact it had withstood centuries, he could not shake the thought that a single breath or fingerprint would dissolve it into dust. But that did not stop him from examining it with the wonder it commanded.

  It seemed smaller than he thought it should be. It only came to his shoulder, and stretched no wider than the trunk of a young birch tree. Nothing elaborate decorated its surface. No ancient characters announced its purpose. It rose as a four-sided column, forming a pyramid at its apex. An obelisk, as he had come to know the shape on Earth, though here it had a simpler name. They called it the Timekeeper.

  Circling the stone, Nick found the side of the pyramid that gave it its name. Yellow lines glowed from within the quartz. Two lines represented hours and minutes. One faster-moving line represented seconds, and a smaller and faster line represented centiseconds. The lines pointed at twenty-four glowing numbers, which formed a circle. Every clock in Ærenden had the same face design and the same color quartz, and they all received their power from the Timekeeper, ensuring every part of the kingdom remained in sync.

  He frowned, remembering the first time he had seen something with a similar design on Earth. Shortly after the portal between Ærenden and Earth delivered Nick into a vacant forest, Uncle James found him and brought him to his new life. The large metal vehicle his uncle drove had been overwhelming. The speed at which they fled down the road felt unnatural. And the small phone James used to call Aunt Vivian seemed impossible. After they merged onto a highway, mingling with other metal beasts of varying sizes, their horns hollering as they raced by, Nick turned his attention away from the mass confusion and wondered if he would ever understand this world enough to accomplish what he had come to do. Then he saw the mini-clock attached to his uncle's wrist and grew excited with the possibility of finding something to link the two worlds. Uncle James laughed when Nick asked if Earth also used magic to manage their clocks.

  As Nick soon discovered, nothing on Earth had been the same as its Æerenden counterpart. Those first weeks had been confusing, at best, but he pushed through them with his mission in mind. The woman he had come to protect would soon be his Queen. Her confusion when she returned to Ærenden would be no different from his on Earth. She had needed him to understand it so he could protect her as she learned.

  Nick sighed. Now Meaghan did not need him any longer. She risked her life on the other side of the country while he stood in the protection of a sleepy village. He would give anything to have it the other way.

  “Wow! I can't believe I'm actually seeing this. I thought it was a myth.”

  The declaration came from behind Nick and though the man's voice was not immediately recognizable, his identity was unmistakable as soon as Nick turned to face him. Of average height and build, with a round face and pale blue eyes, Zellíd would be forgettable if not for the drastic color changes he made to his hair on a regular basis. Today, his spikey hair moved from bright orange closest to his scalp to green at the tips. The man's resemblance to a pumpkin was so strong that Nick could not contain his laughter.

  Zellíd grinned. “You like it?”

  “Yeah,” Nick admitted. “But you do realize you resemble—”

  Nick stopped short of naming the Earth fruit, realizing Zellíd would have no idea what he meant.

  “A flame gourde?” Zellíd asked, mentioning a similarly colored Æren counterpart. “I know. I did it to cheer up the boy.”

  “Aldin,” Nick realized. “How is he doing?”

  “Okay, I guess, for a child who watched his mother die. He also laughed when he saw my hair.”

  “I imagine so.”

  Zellíd approached the stone. “Neiszhe is doing what she can for him, but he's having trouble adjusting. Anyone would in his situation.”

  “I'm sure it's not helping that his father's away,” Nick said, then changed the subject. “Miles tells me you'll be the Head Guardian going forward. There are three other Guardians here, correct?”

  “I'm the only one,” Zellíd responded, his voice distant as he stared at the stone. He pressed his palm over the numbers, seemingly untouched by the same sense of fear Nick had felt for the stone's safety. Zellíd closed his eyes and smiled. “This is truly amazing. I've always known time was controlled by magic, but I didn't realize the stories of the stone were true. I thought time was something natural like our powers are.”

  “I guess we know differently now,” Nick said. “What do you mean you're the only one? This village is too big to have only one Guardian. There should be at least four.”

  “There used to be,” Zellíd said. He broke his connection with the stone, and turned to face Nick. “I'm the only Guardian assigned here now. I understand the others have disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” Nick asked, frowning as he scanned the houses surrounding him. “Are you serious? What exactly happened here?”

  “I don't know,” Zellíd answered. “I only know that your mother told me I'd be assigned here. She handed me a commcrystal and then stood guard while Miles explained what I needed to do.”

  “So you know you'll be training everyone?” Nick asked.

  “Sure, but not by myself. Miles told me to select three Guardians to help me. Trustworthy Guardians, to use his exact wording. I think it's obvious why he said that.” Zellíd tapped the stone. “I'm sure Angus has told Garon where the Timekeeper is located by now. He'd cause a lot of confusion by getting rid of it, and this village.”

  “True,” Nick agreed though he loathed the thought. Muffled footfalls caught his attention from the right and he turned toward them, nodding in welcome at Miles as the Elder approached.

  Miles returned the gesture before clapping a hand on Zellíd's shoulder. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “I appreciate your willingness to take on the challenge, and I'm not going to lie to you, this will be a big challenge.”

  “I'm looking forward to it,” Zellíd said with a grin.

  Miles chuckled. “I have no doubt, but please don't think my intent is to send you directly into battle. While every village has to be wary of attack, this one stands out for Garon no more than any other. As an Elder, Angus did know the Timekeeper's location once, but he's long since forgotten it.”

  “How is that possible?” Zellíd asked.

  “There's a spell attached to the stone,” Miles told him. He reached out to press his fingers against the stone and smiled when it surged brighter before fading again. “Have you touched it yet, Nick?” he asked, then smiled when Nick shook his head. “You must,” he insisted. “It's important.”

  Nick brought a tentative hand to the stone, touching it first with the tips of his fingers. When he felt the hardness of it, and the warmth humming through it, he laid his palm flat against the quartz. The glow emanating from the stone surged as it had for Miles, and Nick felt heat burst through him in response. Instead of fading as it had with Miles, it continued to brighten until Nick had to turn his head to keep from hurting his eyes.

  “What's going on?” Zellíd asked in a hushed voice. “It didn't do that when I touched it.”

  “It recognizes him,” Miles answered. “It was given its power by the first King and Queen and it recognizes the current rulers.”

  Nick removed his hand and the stone returned to its normal brightness. Zellíd reached out to touch it again.

  “The glow isn't just a basic illumination spell, is it?” he asked.

  “No, it isn't,” Miles said. “It's also a memory spell. Those who are in its presence recognize it and know it's here, but once they leave the boundary of the village, their memory of it disappears.”


  “So when I leave here, I'll forget my village has the stone?” Zellíd asked. When Miles nodded, Zellíd turned his eyes toward the stone and frowned. “I understand the stone's need to protect itself, but I don't see how that prevents anyone from talking about the stone while they're here. What's to stop me from telling my mother about this through a commcrystal? Or what if there were a traitor here? What would prevent them from telling Garon?”

  “Another portion of the spell,” Miles answered. “It makes you incapable of talking about the stone to anyone outside the village. We're able to have this conversation because we're within the boundary, but if I were to move outside the boundary, you'd find that any thought you had of the stone would be blocked from leaving your lips. Even though I know about the stone and you could see me, you wouldn't be capable of speaking to me about it.”

  “That's good to know,” Zellíd said, but his frown remained. He furrowed his brows as he continued to stare at the Timekeeper. “It had to recognize Nick for him to remember the stone, didn't it? If he hadn't touched it, he wouldn't have remembered it.”

  “That's correct,” Miles confirmed.

  Zellíd looked up at him. “Then what happens to it when no one knows about it? If he and Meaghan were killed in battle, then how would the next ruler know to come here if I couldn't tell them about it?”

  “It's our job to prevent that from happening,” Miles responded. “So it isn't likely, but for the interest of this conversation, I'll entertain the possibility. The Head Elder remembers the stone, so I could bring the next ruler to touch it.”

  “And if you were dead?” Zellíd prompted.

  “Then the spell would allow the Head Guardian of the village to talk about it to one person. In this case, that's you. You would have to choose that person wisely because they would remember until they were in the presence of the stone. If they were entitled to keep their memory, the stone would recognize them. If not, they would forget once they left. But if you told the wrong person, you could bring destruction to the village.”