by P. G. Thomas
Lauren shook her head, “Each day his armies get closer.”
“I’m sure Tranquil Fury will extend them a warm welcome,” but Ryan was uncertain about Eric these days.
“It just feels wrong sitting here, but I can’t go out and do anything either. The elves are still showing up, and we don’t have any threats to show them. We do have a very pleasant and gracious host from the enemy, who will be more than happy to tell them to go back to the forests. Then, when we do call them again, they won’t show up. Just leave me alone Ryan, I want to be by myself.”
Late in the afternoon, Arora, Nur, Brook, Lindo, and Fritza came rushing into the backyard, all speaking at the same time.
“Quiet, one at a time.” Lauren raised herself from the grass, calling out to the cook for bean juice. She looked at the Earth Mothers, “What’s the latest bad news, Korg has a twin brother?”
Arora spoke, “It gets worse. Three Earth Mothers visited us from the south port town. They arrived with the Royal House group.”
Nur jumped in, “They want to know why we are ignoring Mother. Why we do not answer her?”
“What?” asked Lauren.
Fritza was shaking, “They say that Mother has been sending us messages, but when we refused to answer, she sent them to find us. To find out what has been happening.”
“Mother is talking to others. Is she talking to you?” asked Lauren.
They all replied, “No!”
“Is that odd?”
Arora shook her head, “Months, years can pass without words from Mother. It does not be odd.”
“However, nobody has ever had to deliver one of her messages.” Nur reached for a mug of the bean juice, “This does not make any sense.”
Fritza knocked over her mug when she set it down, her hand shaking so bad, “We do not know why we cannot hear Mother.”
“When was the last time that Mother talked to you?” asked Lauren.
“Before you arrived,” responded Nur.
Lauren looked at Brook and Lindo. “What bad news do you wish to share?”
“Korg visited us today. He presented us with papers to sign, granting his group safe passage, and he had similar papers from the south port town. He wants his men to start investigating some of the charges against the Royal House, and he says he has more men arriving in a few days. Some of which will visit the north pass town, but the rest will stay to protect Alron. We refused to sign it, but the other three Mayors did. Krooni would not, but Korg didn’t seem to care.”
“The bastard mayors probably took a payoff.”
Brook was rubbing her shoulders, like a chill was running through her body, “His words he chooses carefully, but a force his voice carries. Gracious he does not be, but offensive either.”
Lauren was wringing her tri-wood staff, “The people have warmed up to him like a lost puppy found in the rain. If they keep doing that, he can crap in the middle of town, and they would worship it as if it was a gift from Mother. In a few weeks, he’ll take over this town, telling them that it is for their own good, and they’ll believe him. Damn it all! I’ll be at your place for breakfast tomorrow, and the six of us will meet with these Earth Mothers. Until then, go back home and do whatever you need to do, so you can reach Mother, beg her if necessary. I need to talk to John so go home, and we’ll talk tomorrow and pray.”
As the Earth Mothers boarded their coach, Lauren sent all of the runners to search for John. As she walked by the kitchen, grabbing a fresh pot of bean juice, she sat down beside Ryan, “Somebody just broke the hourglass. Time is slipping through our fingers faster than we drain wine bottles.”
“We don’t have much time, do we?”
“No, Ryan, we don’t. In a couple of weeks, Korg might just control the west under the hoax of protection.”
Eventually, John came running into the backyard where Lauren updated him on the three strange Earth Mothers, and how distraught the Alron Earth Mothers were. Then that Korg was extending his range of authority, at his own request, “John, I need some freaking evidence to prove Korg is lying, that he’s a threat to the west, and I need it now.”
“All of—”
“John, just get me the evidence!”
“Lauren, it’s not that simple. Evidence doesn’t grow on trees.”
“Maybe it should.”
John quickly assembled a speech in his mind on reasonable doubt based on Lauren and Logan being twins. How back home, DNA would conclusively prove the argument against any lies, but here there was no such scientific validation to their arguments. “You and Logan are fraternal twins—”
“I don’t need a speech John, I need evidence. Find me something, anything. Just make sure it shows Korg and the Royal House to be what they are, murdering invaders.”
*******
Lauren advised Panry the night before on what had happened at the Earth Mother’s, and that they would be going over early. When she stepped out of the house, a carriage was waiting for them, and Panry, seeing that Lauren was nervous, rode with her.
“Where is your staff?”
“Every time I meet an Earth Mother, they’re always more interested in it than with me. I grow tired of watching people fondling that piece of wood.”
Panry nodded, “The thief guild reported about Korg, who the Royal House talks with.”
“How bad is it?”
“The list of people that does not talk to the Royal House is shorter.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. Panry, has Mother ever talked to you?”
“When I first received my call to be Earth Guard, and when I accepted it.”
“Does it make any sense that the south port Earth Mothers would receive messages from Mother, but the Alron Earth Mothers wouldn’t?”
“I am not an expert on how Mother talks with her daughters. I have heard some only hear her once when the gift is first recognized. Others, much from Mother they hear. Trickery I expect we shall find this ploy to be. Earth Mother, you are Mother Chosen, do not doubt this.”
“Panry, I haven’t heard from Mother since we were at the Ironhouse mine.”
“You are different, not like any other Earth Mother or Earth Daughter that I have met. Her silence to you validates her trust in you. Guide you she does not have to. Instead, she can focus elsewhere.”
“Still, there’s nothing more comforting than a Mother’s voice, telling you that you are doing a good job.”
“My voice may not be comforting, but you are doing a good job,” replied Panry, which caused her to chuckle.
They found the Earth Mothers sitting at the dining table, their appearance showing their distress. “Did you pray to Mother?” They all nodded in agreement, “Did she answer you?” All were silent like Mother’s replies, “Look, they are playing games with you. You’ve had longer periods where Mother didn’t talk to you, and they know that. You should’ve denied their story, and it would’ve thrown them off their game. When you reacted like you did, it gave them an advantage. We’ve had a tremendous amount of success here, ousting the spies and traitors, finding the elves, making the alliance with the dwarves. Mother didn’t need to guide us. Now let’s have breakfast, and later we’ll meet our southern friends.”
*******
Logan and John wandered down to Pintar’s, and even though the day was short, the line into Pintar’s was long. Since they only wanted to eat, they bypassed the crowd, entering to watch the spectacle from inside the inn.
John was nibbling on his meal, “Watch what happens after the midlander stops talking.”
Logan turned in the direction that John had nodded, watching when a midlander stood from the table and another sat down. The Royal House agent listened carefully for fifteen minutes, making notes in one book. Then, even though the midlander wanted to continue asking questions, the Royal House agent set his one book down, picking up a pad of paper with printed information on it. The agent transferred some data from the first book to the pad, checked off a series of boxes, and th
en would examine the midlanders’ eyes, ears, and mouth, followed by a series of questions, but they were not close enough to hear what the questions were. Each time a midlander left a table, and a new one sat down, the agents would repeat the same process.
After watching for several hours, Logan looked at John, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to fill out the second document after they asked their questions?”
John pointed at a midlander heading towards the door, who was a carriage driver they had used many times. Paying their bill, they followed him out into the street, and when they were a safe distance from the inn, they approached him to inquire about the interview and medical examination. However, before John could finish his question, he became agitated, blurting out that he was late, and hastily ran to the other side of the street.
Logan scanned the crowd, “I’m getting a bad feeling,” as an unusually high number of people were now staring at them.
Chapter 12
It was mid-morning when a servant led the three middle-aged Earth Mothers from the south port town in. The first Earth Mother was named Fern, who looked a little older, her hair just beginning to show signs of going gray. Page was the second to enter, nondescript in every way. The last was Petal, who was extremely small compared to the first two, being not even five feet tall, and each wore six pins on their blouses. Having asked about the pins ahead of time, Lauren had arranged hers so that five showed, hiding the remaining six under a handkerchief.
As a servant served tea or bean juice, Arora made the introductions. Lauren was caught off guard since there were no menacing features about the three ladies, and even their perfume had had a sweet, subtle fragrance.
When the servant left, Fern spoke. “Have you thought about what we said yesterday? Why you cannot hear Mother? Why you do not answer her?”
Lauren had no interest in giving her friends a chance to fall into the same trap two days in a row. “Mother spoke several months back, telling us to wait.”
“To wait for what?” asked Page.
Her answer was elusive, like the charges made against them, “She never said.”
Page shook her head, “Mother wants you to come with us to the south port town, so we can help heal you, so once again you can hear her words.”
“If we needed healing, would Mother not be able to heal us herself?” asked Lauren.
Fern shook her head, “Mother says you have the plague. Being foreign to her, she does not know how to heal it. She says the plague blocks her voice and images.”
“She is concerned about you and with what is happening here,” Page added.
“I know it may be hard to believe.” Petal spoke softly, “I was helping with plague victims on the Bright Coast. I became infected, and after the Royal House healed me, Mother welcomed me back once more.”
“We have all had the plague,” advised Fern, “That is why Mother contacted us to help you.”
Lauren was starting to lose her footing, “Where’s your Earth Guard?”
Fern looked to the ground, “Plague. They thought they were protecting us, but in truth, they stopped us from getting help. They went mad, attacking themselves. By that time, we were deep in also delusion. The Royal House found us, helped to heal us, as they have helped many of Mother’s children to heal. You six and your Earth Guards need to be healed.”
“Because we work with the Royal House, they protect us,” added Page.
Petal nodded her head, “Mother has blessed this union and the Royal House.”
“We can help.” Page’s words sounded genuine, “Please come with us, and let us heal you.”
Fern looked down to the ground, “Mother is concerned. The loss of lives in the west has been great. She is afraid your actions will start a war with the Royal House, and she does not want to see that happen.”
Arora was visibly shaken, “Can you prove we are infected?”
“Have a servant bring in seven glasses of water,” requested Fern.
Brook rang a bell, ordered the water, which arrived a few minutes later.
Pulling a small cloth bag from her pocket, Fern poured the contents onto a napkin beside the glasses, and two dozen small white stones, the approximate size of small candies, rocked back and forth in the napkin. Fern looked at the stones, “Earth Mother, point out one stone—do not touch it, just point it out.” Brook pointed to one of the larger stones. Fern picked it up, confirming that it was the stone that Brook had selected. She put it in her mouth, rolling it around with her tongue for thirty seconds, before spitting it into the glass of water. Nothing happened. Fern looked at the six, “Mother showed the Royal House these stones, but they only work on the gifted. It was her way of showing that she was helping the Royal House, being her gift to them to help us. With our minds deluded, we would only believe in her, so she provided them with a gift to help us heal. Now do the same. If the water stays clear, you do not have the plague. The darker the water turns, the more severe the infection.”
The five Alron Earth Mothers stared at the rocks and water. Curiosity and dread, wrapped in uncertainty filled their emotions. It seemed like such a simple test. It was their water, and they had their choice of stones.
Is it a trick? Arora picked a stone from the edge, mimicked Fern’s actions, and then spit the stone into the glass. Slowly, the water turned gray, as Arora’s eyes went wide with fear.
Fern tried to comfort her, “Your infection is only slight and easy to cure.”
Brook stared at the glass of gray water, tried to fathom how they had manipulated it. However, she was also curious. She had always trusted Mother and her gifts, so she took a stone from the middle and did the same. When she spit it into the glass, the water also turned gray. Without thinking, Lindo and Fritza did the same, and two more clear glasses of water turned gray. All four Earth Mothers looked to Nur, who reached for a stone, pulled her hand back, and then looked at the four glasses of gray water. Reaching for the stones, she closed her eyes and selected one. Having spent a great deal of time with Zack, she had been around Lauren more than the rest, which increased her fears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she spit the stone into the glass. The horrified gasps from Arora and Brook shocked her eyes open: the water was a deep brown color.
Fern looked at Nur, “We need to get you help immediately.”
Lauren had watched the five glasses of water become un-pure. She remembered talking to John about evidence. Is it a trick or truth? Lauren carefully examined each stone, determining that there was no difference. Holding her left hand in front of her right, she concealed the chosen stone, which she then placed in her mouth. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, as she swished it back and forth. Pushing it onto her lips, she heard it splash into the water. Immediately it began to change color: gray, dark gray, brown, and within seconds, it was black. Lauren dropped the glass of water in horror.
Page very calmly looked at Lauren, “You should come with us right now. A healer from the Royal House came with us. You need to see him!”
Lauren looked down at the large black stain on the rug, looked at the five Alron Earth Mothers, their faces white. When her stomach turned, she pulled out her handkerchief to cover her mouth, exposing the six pins. Jerking herself to her feet, she ran out to the carriage with tears streaming down her face. As Lauren burst through the front doorway, Panry whistled, and Earth Guards surrounded the coach. When he was sure that Lauren was unhurt, he whistled a second time, sending the carriage speeding back to the house. Ryan was sitting in front of the house, as a favor to Panry when the coach arrived, and when he opened the carriage door, he saw Lauren crying uncontrollably. Picking her up, he carried her towards her room, calling to Gingaar, who followed them upstairs.
Once in the room, Ryan had to hold Lauren down so Gingaar could rub a large red flower below Lauren’s ear, causing her to fall asleep.
When Ryan turned around, Panry was there, “What the hell happened?”
“It is a mystery to myself, but you are good with such, so l
et us go to find out what happened.” They ran down to the front of the house, taking the same carriage back to the Earth Mothers. Without knocking, they entered, finding only Nur in the front room, as she comforted herself with a bottle of honey wine.
It took some coaxing, but slowly they had her to repeat what had happened. “When Earth Mother spit her stone into the glass, Panry, the water turned black. We were wrong because there is a plague, and we are all infected.”
Ryan, seeing the six glasses of water, retrieved each rock, wrapping them in a napkin. He then found the one from Laurens glass on the rug.
Nur was wiping the tears away, “Panry, they said their Earth Guard were also infected. They became delusional and attacked themselves.”
When Ryan helped Nur up to her bed, Panry talked to the various Earth Guard captains, making it very clear that the south port Earth Mothers were not allowed to talk to the Alron Earth Mothers, unless he was present.
As they walked back to the house, Panry was upset, “What trickery have they performed? And in name of Mother, that is foul.”
“I have the stones and will give them to John. He might be able to figure out something, but what if it isn’t a trick?”
“I do not believe that. Earth Mother is Mother Chosen. If Mother does not agree with her actions, she would have stopped her.”
“If there’s a plague that interferes with Mother, she might not be able to stop Lauren.”
“Ryan, climb the tallest mountain, scan horizons far. All that you will see is Mother. Her range is great as are her powers and sometimes her tests.”
“Then why doesn’t she do something about the Royal House?”
“Mother does not provide us with food. She provides the bounty for us to harvest. If you could just push a button, having a meal appear, fat and lazy we would become. She provides food, but it is our choice if we want to eat. She does not serve us but guides and helps us.”
“We have a saying where I come from. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”