The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  None of the others had ever been on a horse before, and even mounting Buttercup turned into a comedy of errors for most of them, so Karl, Joan, and Kalen took turns leading her around the yard so that the others could get the feel of sitting on a moving horse. When everyone had had a turn, Kalen told them to go join Duane while he took care of his horse.

  While the guests had been busy with Kalen and Buttercup, Duane had set out targets for the longbow, crossbow, spear, and throwing knives. Karl, Joan, Darrell, and Steve all did well with the bows and arrows, and although Chris wasn’t very accurate, he at least hit the outside of the target. The only ones who were pretty much hopeless with the bows were Kevin and Theresa.

  When they got to the spears, only Darrell and Karl showed any real aptitude. Darrell was a natural with the throwing knives, but the only ones who showed absolutely no potential were, once again, Kevin and Theresa.

  Towards the end of the afternoon, Duane gave them wooden daggers and let each of them have a try at attacking him. Joan came into her own with a dagger, but Theresa couldn’t manage to keep a grip on hers, and Kevin’s flipped out of his hand with his first thrust.

  Both Kevin and Theresa were embarrassed by their lack of aptitude for violence and their inept performance with all of the weapons, and although the others tried to assure them that they would be fine with a little time and training, neither of them believed it. They both felt totally useless.

  During dinner that evening, Karl asked if they could get some good ropes. When Kalen looked a little surprised by the request, Karl explained that ropes came in handy for a multitude of tasks, including self-defense. Kalen asked for a few specifics about the type of ropes Karl wanted and said that he would do what he could. Duane just nodded.

  Then Steve asked about rifles and handguns.

  “Guns?” Duane asked the question as if he had no idea what Steve was talking about.

  “We don’t have guns here,” Kalen said quietly.

  “Do you mean that you don’t have any guns here, or that you don’t have any guns on Terah?” Karl asked.

  “We don’t have guns on Terah.”

  Karl and Steve looked at each other for a moment and then Steve nodded, “I should have known. That’s why you use swords and bows and arrows. It’s like medieval Earth. We’ll just have to think Middle Ages.”

  After dinner, everyone retired to the living room. Kalen and Duane had made some notes during the afternoon and had mapped out a training plan while they were preparing dinner.

  “We’ve come up with a training schedule and we want to see what you think about it,” Kalen began. Then he nodded towards Duane.

  “We’ve scheduled about three weeks for training,” Duane said. “The weather will still be a little uncertain for a while, and there’s no sense in your starting off for Glendymere’s before then. Even then, you might run into a stray snowstorm, but the worst of it should be over.” Duane looked at Darrell and said, “Darrell, we would like for you to begin training everyone in what you call martial arts. Would you be willing to do that?” Darrell nodded, so Duane continued. “We would also like for you to draw fairly detailed pictures of the throwing stars and fans that you mentioned this afternoon. We’ll send the drawings to Palladin and have him make some for you.” Then Duane looked around at the others. “We realize that three weeks is nothing in the study of any combat skill, but it’s a beginning, and I’m sure all of you will continue training after you leave here, while you are on your way to Glendymere’s, and then while you’re waiting to escort Myron to Camden.”

  They all nodded.

  Then Steve asked, “Who’s Palladin?”

  Kalen smiled. “He’s an old friend of mine. He’s the one who made those watches you’re wearing. He does exceptional metal work. I’ve asked him to make swords for you and he can make the stars, too.”

  When no one else said anything, Duane continued. “We’d like to do most of the training in small groups of maybe one or two. Xantha will work with you on horsemanship. You’ve all met Buttercup, and we have another horse, Star. He’s not quite as gentle as she is, but he’s not really spirited either. I’ll work with each of you on hand-to-hand combat, daggers, and archery, and Kalen will work with you on swords, spears, and throwing knives. However, Darrell will probably want to work with you as a group to go over basic moves. Right, Darrell?” Again, Darrell nodded. “Do any of you have any objections or suggestions concerning the overall plan?” Duane looked around, but no one had any comments.

  After a couple of minutes, Theresa said, “I have a question, but it has nothing to do with any of this.”

  “Certainly, my dear,” Kalen said gently. He was afraid that she might try to back out now that she had been exposed to the violent aspects of this adventure.

  “I noticed the aloe plant that you have in your kitchen. Or, at least, aloe’s the name that I know it by. Do you have medicinal herbs on Terah?”

  “Herbs are the only medicine we have here. Why?” Kalen asked.

  “Well, I know a little about the herbs found on Earth,” Theresa said. She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “My grandmother uses herbs for treating wounds and illnesses. She taught me as much as she could whenever my father let me visit her. I’d like to gather some herbs and prepare a first aid kit for the journey.”

  “Is your grandmother a healer by any chance? Can she use her hands to slow bleeding, warm muscles, and soothe pain?” Kalen asked quietly.

  Theresa blushed. “I know a lot of people don’t believe in that type of thing, but I know it works. She’s used it on me, and I’ve even done a little of it myself.”

  Kalen turned to Duane and said, “We need to get Drusilla.”

  Duane nodded.

  “Excuse me, but who’s Drusilla?” Theresa asked.

  “She’s the Sister of the Chapel of Light in Drisden. It’s about 15 miles southwest of here. I think you should talk to her, Theresa. She’ll be able to answer your questions about herbs a lot better than we can. She’s a healer herself,” Kalen answered. Now he understood why Pallor had chosen Theresa. A healer would be a wonderful addition to the group. Things were beginning to look up.

  “It’s been a long day and it’s getting sort of late. If there’s nothing else, I’d like to go for a short walk around the yard before going to bed,” Steve said as he stood up and stretched.

  “Oh, before you go, there are a few more things that I’d like to mention.” Kalen looked at Steve, who nodded and sat back down. “I’d like for you to put some thought into the types of supplies you might need for the trip to Nandelia. We’ll need some time to get everything together. I’ve already bought some staple goods, and a few months ago I bought another wagon that you can use. Palladin has it right now, making a few minor adjustments. He’ll bring it when he comes in two weeks. Actually, the timing on that’s pretty good. He usually visits when winter breaks, so no one will think anything about it when he closes up his smithy and comes up here for a vacation. Anything he can bring with him will help. We don’t want to arouse any more suspicion around here than we have to.”

  Kalen leaned back in his chair and continued. “I have a collection of human clothing and boots that I’ve accumulated over the years. As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, we’ve been planning this for quite some time. I know you don’t want to go through them tonight, but you need to do it soon so that we can get the clothes you want to wear cleaned up and altered. You need to get used to wearing them and moving around in them so that you’ll blend in with the rest of the humans when you leave here.”

  Darrell laughed. “We’re going to attract attention when we leave here no matter what we’re wearing. Look at us. I’m black, Theresa’s Hispanic, Karl looks Indian, and the rest of you may be white, but no one would believe you’re related.”

  “You’ve got a point. You can do a lot with clothing, but you can’t disguise race,” Chris said.

  “What do you mean, race? You’re all human, aren�
��t you?” Kalen asked, confused by their comments.

  “We may all be human, but we’re not considered the same race, and there are some places on Earth where that matters, where being a different race is grounds for getting beat up or worse,” Darrell said.

  “I knew things used to be bad on Earth, but I thought that they were getting better. I guess humans always have to have someone to hate. Here, a lot of them hate dwarves, or elves, or brownies, or so on, but not other humans simply because of skin color.” Kalen paused before saying any more. He wasn’t sure that now was the right time, but he went ahead anyway. “But there is one prejudice that you do need to be aware of. There are a lot of people out there who hate Myron because his great-grandmother was an elf. He has elven blood in him. Some humans consider him a half-breed.” Kalen shrugged. “Of course, that same elven blood is what makes Myron’s power so strong, and in order to keep it strong in his family line, his son will probably need to marry an elf, but that’s something we’ll worry about later.”

  “Yeah, like after he’s born,” Kevin muttered. “And that’s assuming I live long enough to have children.”

  “You know, there’s an old saying: ‘If you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight,’” Steve said.

  “Well, you’ll be in plain sight when you leave here, but I don’t see how that’s going to help,” Kalen said.

  “No, what I mean is we need to invite people to look at us,” Steve said. “All through history, there are stories of people, from murderers to kings, who traveled incognito by traveling with a circus, with minstrels, or with a carnival. People look at what you do, but not really at you.”

  Joan nodded. “That’s true. Half the time our friends didn’t recognize us when we were working at the Pioneer Village. They watched us, and they watched what we were doing, but they didn’t see us.”

  “We also don’t want people wondering where we’re from, or where we’re going. We need to be like gypsies, like traveling is our way of life. I don’t suppose you have a traveling circus hiding in the wings, do you, Kalen?” Steve asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  “In the wings? What do you mean?” Kalen frowned, very confused.

  “It means that you have one waiting for us somewhere. You don’t, do you?” Steve asked.

  “Sorry, no. I didn’t think of that, but I would have been afraid to do it even if I’d thought about it. The more people who know about you, the more danger you’re in. Before Yvonne died, she told Badec that Myron would be seated as the Master Sorcerer one day. We aren’t sure whether she was saying that as a seer, or as a mother, but she definitely didn’t say anything about the rest of you. We’d like to see all of you come through this in one piece.”

  “Believe me, so would we,” Joan mumbled.

  “It was just a thought. We may be able to come up with something later. Right now though, I’m going for a walk. Good night all.” Steve stood up and left the room.

  Conversations broke off into small talk, and after a bit, Kevin slipped out the front door and walked to the edge of the woods. The sky was full of bright stars. As he stood there staring up at the sky, he felt someone approaching.

  “You okay?” Chris asked as he walked up behind Kevin.

  “Yeah, just thinking.”

  “Mind some company?”

  “Not at all,” Kevin answered.

  “You haven’t said much since this morning. How do you feel about being Superman for this place? Or maybe Merlin?”

  “It would be funny if it weren’t so real. The scariest part is that everyone else seems to assume I can do this.”

  “Well, you have to admit, they’ve gone to a lot of trouble to pull this off. They must have some reason to believe you’re the one to do it.”

  “Chris, I don’t even believe in magic.” After a couple of minutes, he asked, “Do you remember what Kalen said about that war in Europe? I can’t get that out of my head. It sounded like a nuclear blast, and I’m supposed to go up against something like that?!”

  “No, from what I understand, you’re supposed to prevent it.”

  “I have a feeling those ‘challenges’ that he mentioned are going to be the same thing, just on a smaller scale, with me, and probably all of you, right in the middle.”

  Chris shrugged and said, “I never did plan to die of old age, did you?”

  “Never really thought about it to be honest.” Kevin looked back up at the night sky. “I’d kill for a cigarette right now, and I haven’t even wanted one since I left college.”

  “I never smoked. Too scared of cancer. Seems almost funny now. I really don’t think cancer is going to be a worry for either of us, do you?”

  Kevin laughed. “No. Heart attack, maybe. Like the first time some guy in a long dress and a pointed hat says ‘Wanna fight?’”

  Chris laughed and asked, “What makes you so sure it’ll be a man? I imagine sorcery is an equal opportunity employer.”

  “Now there’s a thought. What do I do if some woman wants to fight?”

  Chris shrugged. “Whatever you have to do to survive. But don’t worry about that now. You’re not a sorcerer yet, and I thought you didn’t even believe in sorcery.”

  “I don’t. This is a case of brainwashing. If everyone else assumes that I’ll become a sorcerer, and says so often enough, I’ll end up repeating it, even if I don’t believe it.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m not so sure about it either. I realize everything seems to depend on it, but I have a hard time picturing you working spells.”

  Kevin laughed again and seemed to lighten up a little. “I wonder if I’ll have to have a big black cauldron, eyes of newt, bats’ wings, spider webs and all that other mess – ugh! Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.”

  They both laughed at the idea of a big pot boiling away with Kevin standing over it, stirring with a big black stick. Then the laughter died away as a meteor streaked across the sky and drew their eyes back to the night sky.

  After a while Kevin broke the silence. “There’s something that Kalen said tonight that’s sort of bothering me. I may be reading something into it that isn’t there, but I wonder if you noticed it, too.”

  “You mean that comment about the fact that they’ve been working on this little party for quite some time now? Yeah, it hit me. It probably hit all of us.”

  “Maybe this team was not a last minute random thing. After all, there’s the fact that Theresa’s grandmother’s a healer, and I get the feeling that that’s hereditary, too.”

  “But that came as a surprise to both Kalen and Duane. They had no idea that she was a healer,” Chris said.

  “True, but didn’t Kalen say that the team was Paul’s responsibility? What if he spent the last couple of years finding everyone and maneuvering all of you into position?”

  Chris thought for a minute and then shook his head. “I don’t see how. No one told me to interview for that job, or to move to Omaha. I just happened to see the ad in the newspaper. Anyway, how we came to be here really doesn’t matter at this point.”

  “If everything they’re saying is true, I would have had to come, but the rest of you didn’t. You should have been given a choice,” Kevin said quietly. “If they had asked, what would you have said?”

  “I’m not sure. There’s a part of me that has always wanted this type of adventure, but basically I’m a coward. I don’t know what I would have said is someone had asked,” Chris answered. Then he shrugged and said, “Oh well. I guess we should go back in before they send out a search party.”

  As they approached the house, they heard someone singing. When they entered the living room, they found that Joan was singing lead, with Theresa harmonizing and singing backup. Karl waved to them and motioned them to a seat. Everyone else, including Steve, was already seated.

  When the song was finished, Karl said, “We were thinking about what Steve said, about hiding in a group. What if we were the group? Joan and I have both sung on
stage at the Pioneer Village. Theresa’s sung solos at church, so she’s used to singing in public, too. Do either of you sing?”

  “Well, when I was in college, I was the drummer with a group. We played in some clubs and for some local dances. I even did a little backup singing, but I’m not what I’d call a singer,” Chris answered.

  “Once again, count me out. I can’t carry a tune in a teapot. And musical instruments were not on the list of approved activities in my household when I was growing up, too noisy. Sorry.” Kevin was beginning to wish that he really were a sorcerer. At least then he would have something to contribute.

  Karl looked over at Steve and raised his eyebrows. Steve said that he had sung with a faculty glee club, but he had never sung by himself except in the shower. Darrell said that his singing experience was pretty similar to Steve’s.

  “I still bet we could come up with a pretty good traveling minstrel show,” Karl said. “I wish we could get hold of some of our old instruments. I used to play the fiddle and the bass. Joan is great on a harp and she also plays the recorder and flute. She used to play an old fashioned fife at the Pioneer Village.”

  “Well, I used to play the guitar,” Theresa said. “I’ve even played a little banjo. When I was in high school, I played the flute and recorder too. I tried the piccolo once, but I didn’t have too much luck with it. Probably because I didn’t practice.”

  “Is there any way we could get some of these instruments, Kalen?” Joan asked. “This idea might work if we have the right props.”

  “I can probably figure out a way to get a harp and some type of fiddle. We have those things on Terah.” Kalen turned to Duane and said, “Duane, can you get the flutes?”

  Duane nodded. “I’ll have to send Xantha though. It’s too far for any of the birds to try to carry one back. Let me go see if he could fly out tonight. At least then no one would see him.” Duane stood up and headed out the door.