The Twins

by Gary Alan Wassner

  Filaree adored Cameron too. She joked with him and teased him, but she knew the value of his friendship and loyalty, and she never took it for granted. He was a handsome man, slim and wiry but very strong, with curly brown hair and deep brown eyes. He towered over her in height, but he was agile and swift. Cameron could fight, indeed, and she knew that he would be a worthy opponent of anyone who challenged either her or him. His loyalty was unquestioned, and Filaree’s only worry thereon was that it was sometimes an overzealous one, that it could cause him harm if he reacted in haste or overreacted to what he perceived to be a threat to her welfare. But she too loved him, as he loved her, fully and honestly and thoroughly platonically. Together, they were a formidable team, each understanding the manner in which the other fought, able to predict the other’s movements and reactions, able to anticipate what strategies each would employ under difficult circumstances. They rarely had to talk in order to coordinate their movements while in battle. They danced the dance of war better than any other partners could. There was also little that they kept hidden from one another when it came to their quests, concerns and evaluations. In order to be the perfect team, they needed to keep one another totally aware of any doubts as well as confidences they may be harboring.

  It was no surprise thus that few men courted Filaree and few women pursued Cameron. Most assumed that they were a pair, in all ways, and they did not seek to challenge that relationship. Both Filaree and Cameron were reconciled to that problem, knowing that when the right person finally came along for one or the other, he or she would understand the truth and not be frightened by their friendship. In the meantime, they believed that they had no time for romance anyway, and they did not regret their choices. Both had their flings on their own time and they satisfied whatever yearnings and needs they may have had, but they deemed their purpose to be exalted, and they vowed that they would not allow personal feelings to come before the greater good.

  Although Cameron was never fully apprised of the heir’s importance, of the reason for the ‘calling’, he was told what he needed to be told and he did not feel deprived of information in this regard. He was a man of few words who only needed to be convinced of his purpose once in order to pursue it without hesitation. He believed in Filaree and her ability to discern the right path, and when it came to the ‘calling’, he immediately knew that he would sacrifice whatever was necessary to aid his Lady in the answering of that call.

  “Come, Cameron. We must mount and be off,” she called to him.

  “Yes, my Lady,” he replied as he deftly hoisted himself atop his steed, after first checking the girth under Trojan’s belly as well as Nico’s.

  They had a long ride ahead of them and the last thing that they needed was a loose saddle causing either mount irritation and thereby slowing them down. He checked the saddlebags, made certain the weapons were secure once again and then he was finally ready to depart. Filaree glanced briefly back at the castle, her gaze rising upward toward the tower where she knew her mother would be watching. Permitting her eyes to linger for only a moment, she turned swiftly away and urged her horse forward. Nico responded by breaking into a loping canter, her shod hooves clapping upon the cobblestones in a loud and rhythmic fashion, echoing throughout the courtyard, as Cameron spurred Trojan on, gingerly catching up to Filaree so that the two departed the gates side by side.

  They headed directly southward, toward Chilmark, a short ride from the outskirts of the city. They planned to cross the barren plains before nightfall, entering the Winding Woods in time to bed down for the evening. The woods would offer protection of a sort, if they chose their campsite well. One could easily get lost in the forests south of the Chilmark.

  The Winding Woods were so called because the trees that grew there rose in winding rows, spiraling to the top of the crest. They were so dense and thick with foliage that the traveler had to follow their path, not forge his own. The trees chose the direction that anyone who trespassed in their realm had to take. They were not related to the Lalas directly, perhaps more primitive, less conscious, but they communicated with one another in their own fashion, allowing some travelers to enter and exit safely, while trapping others indefinitely inside their twisted and confusing maze. No one had ever impugned the integrity of the trees in the Winding Woods. But, neither did one ascribe any ethical purpose to their behavior. They simply seemed to randomly pick among those who dared to enter, letting some through safely while inexplicably detaining others.

  Filaree and Cameron were prepared to take the risk of entering the Winding Woods, confident that they would carefully wend their way through to the other side, and reach the Tammell hills by the third day. Their real concern was reserved for the hills themselves, inhabited by wood Trolls who rarely left the dreary territory, but took sport with anyone or anything that chose to enter their domain.

  The Trolls were fat and ugly creatures, uneducated although mentally capable. They were generally lazy and slovenly, happy to trap the unsuspecting human or Elf and force him or her into perpetual servitude, until they chose to carve them up for a rare dinner. Few journeyed into the hills unless accompanied by a substantial force, and the Trolls otherwise kept to themselves for the most part. They lived in caves when available or carelessly constructed mud huts, and they scavenged for roots and mushrooms. Much to the surprise of most people and contrary to common belief, they rarely ate meat.

  Trolls were generally grumpy, dirty, and dumb, but they could be formidable enemies when angered. Their stupidity made them easy to outsmart but hard to defeat if they should come upon a party unawares, as they fought blindly and with unrestrained furor, carelessly ignoring their own wounds in the process. If they were discovered by one of them as they crossed the hills, Cameron and Filaree would have to fight their way out, no doubt. That prospect they did not look forward to. They discussed these issues as they rode, stopping only to eat some fruit and cheese and to water the horses occasionally.

  The plains were devoid of people and few animals dwelled upon them. The rain settled swiftly into the hard soil, leaving large crevices and dry gullies everywhere. Wherever it did not drain, it froze in standing pools during the winter months. Very little grew and there was not much that was desirable about Chilmark. It did provide the city and castle with a natural defensive barrier, as no one could hide therein due to the lack of vegetation, and it was also hard to build structures in the cracked and fissured ground. Even if an army did approach Altair and the city of Avalain, it would be hard put to camp in the plains of Chilmark and lay siege to it. They provided no sustenance to an army and no shelter from either the elements or bombardment from the castle above.

  “Ride next to me Cameron. The path widens from here on and the soil is harder. Trojan will not lose his footing as easily,” Filaree said.

  “How do you know that the woods will welcome us, Lady, and not prevent our passing through?” Cameron asked, concerned about the rumors he had heard his entire life.

  “I am not certain of anything, but I am not unprepared.”

  Filaree reached into her blouse and withdrew a carved pendant shaped like a tree, though black in color, hanging from a thin, gold chain.

  “Do you see this, Cameron?”

  “Yes, my Lady. It is quite beautiful,” he responded, leaning over as he rode to gaze upon it.

  “Beautiful and functional. My father gave this to me when I was a young girl. He was born here, as was I, and he spent many a day learning about the countryside. My father loved all that lived in nature, and he craved understanding and knowledge. The Winding Woods was a place where he ventured often as a young man. He told me many stories of his sojourns there.” Filaree replaced the token and drew her reins in tightly, abruptly stopping her forward motion. Looking at Cameron quizzically she said, “You know, you resemble him. He was not a man of many words, but his heart was pure and his purpose clear.” She loosened her grip on the leather straps and Nico proceeded forward once again.

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p; “I am honored that you think so. Although I did not know him, I was told he was a good and noble man,” Cameron replied, catching up to her again.

  They were trotting now, careful not to lead their mounts into areas where the soil was too cracked and their ankles could get caught and twisted.

  “The necklace I showed you was given to him when he was a boy, by Pembar. Do you remember being told of him?” she inquired.

  “Yes, my Lady, but I did not believe he was real. I thought he was just a legend, a character in tales told to frighten children,” Cameron said.

  “Well, so did I until my father gave me this. I thought he was kidding when he told me that Pembar lived in the Winding Woods and that one day, when he was exploring near the base of the trees, he was approached by the odd, aged man. He shuddered in fear, initially, he told me. He spoke to me like a young boy. He said that he had never been so frightened in his life. I remember thinking it so strange that my father would be frightened by anything. That moment is so vivid in my mind, Cameron, it is as if it was yesterday,” Filaree said, sounding childlike in her reminisce. “The already ancient man befriended him and taught him all that he knew of the trees. Pembar was a strange, old man, my father said, but he was good. His ways were different than other people’s, but he served the right side and he recognized the virtue in my father. Pembar just preferred to live apart from people and that was hard for most folk to understand. And, as he aged, he looked more like a shabby, straggly tree than he did a man. The legends just rose around him.”

  “I heard all of the tales, but I never thought that he was real. When I was a child, Pembar was a character in a bedtime story who gave me nightmares. My father used to warn me about wandering away and getting lost in the woods. He used to tease me by saying Pembar would find me and make me his slave. I never knew or suspected that he was a real person.”

  “He was real, Cameron, and he gave my father this token, this black tree. He said that it would identify him as a friend of the woods, as a person that would never harm a tree needlessly. He told my father that if he wanted to learn about the Winding Woods and their ways, then he would need to identify himself to them, so he wore it always until he gave it to me. The trees there were not smart like the Lalas. They could not reason, he told my father, but they could distinguish good from bad and they reacted instinctively to their recognition. The necklace just assured him of that recognition.”

  “Your father spent a good deal of time in the woods?”

  “Yes, quite a lot. He told me that he loved to enter and to follow the paths that the trees created. They changed each time he stepped foot in the forest. He was fascinated by them. He went to them often, and as he grew older himself, he would spend days at a time there, worrying my mother no end. He used to tell me that he learned to revere the mysterious in nature because of the forest, how it changed for no human reason, how the woods lived and grew as a unit as if the forest was really one tree rather than thousands. He was very fond of the Winding Woods,” Filaree said. Talking about him brought her great joy.

  “I had no idea, my Lady, that anyone ever went in and out of there often,” he said, astonished at her father’s boldness.

  “Well, he did, Cameron. And he told me that the time would come when I would need to also. He knew, Cameron! I really believe that he knew even then that this time would come,” she said contemplatively.

  “So, the pendant identifies us? As friends?” he asked.

  “Yes, I think that is correct. I feel that we will not be harmed or led astray. I think that the path that will open before us will lead us directly to the Tammell hills. The trees of the woods have protected our kingdom for centuries. Is it not strange to you that we have never been invaded from the south?” she asked him.

  “Yes, but I always assumed that it was because of the dryness and the exposure of the plains,” he replied.

  “Partially, that is correct. But the woods could have served as shelter to an invading army. The trees could have provided material for war machines and ladders, not to mention weapons. But they never did… for anyone!” she commented.

  “I hope you are correct, my Lady. I am not anxious to spend eternity wandering in circles when we have so much to attend to,” he said only half seriously, yet concerned nevertheless.

  “Neither am I, dear Cameron. Neither am I.”

  With that remark, Filaree spurred Nico on a little faster, gaining the lead and breaking into a canter as the ground was easier to navigate at this point. Cameron hurried to catch up, and they rode in silence at a swift pace for the next few hours.

  As the sun began to set, they had reached the exact point that Filaree had planned to reach, having had nothing delay them up until now. The two travelers dismounted and let the horses graze in the short grass that ringed the edge of the plains. They provided them with water and some honey laced grain, and then they began to pitch the small tent that would shelter them for the night against the evening chill. Cameron gathered some wood and started a small fire. Filaree prepared some food she withdrew from her saddlebags and then sat down by the fire to eat, offering Cameron a dish as well once he completed his task.

  “What ever happened to Pembar?” Cameron asked as if he were holding this question in for quite some time.

  “My father never told me for certain. I do not know if he knew himself. But he did remind me over and over again that, as time went by, the old man grew more and more treelike and tended to remain in one spot more and more often. He said that Pembar no longer wished to move about, that, and he joked or I used to think that he was joking, he was ‘planting roots’. If I were to guess, Cameron, I now believe that he was hinting at the possibility that Pembar mutated into a tree in the end, just as trees change into rock after centuries, but my father never actually said that,” she said, while preparing the food.

  “Could that be, my Lady? Do you think?”

  “Anything is possible, and I do not discount the supposition. After all, what other end would have been more fitting for him? Perhaps we will find him when we enter the woods,” she replied teasing.

  “I suppose it is imaginable,” he said thoughtfully. “The world certainly is a strange place, my Lady. But I hope that if it is true, and that if Pembar is a living tree in the Winding Woods, that he does not hold it against me that I feared him as a child and played along with the other children when they teased him during our games.”

  “I doubt he will remember you, Cameron. Have no fear, he was the brunt of many a joke and the bogeyman for many children, and besides, he was not known to favor boys like the lake sprites do. Perhaps some of those ladies will be visiting the woods too,” she said laughingly, knowing how he always shuddered at the thought of being captured by the sprites, even until today. “If he is waiting in the forest for unsuspecting children, then I think he will pass you by. Cameron, you are no longer unsuspecting, and the last time I looked, you had grown up,” she kidded.

  “Yes, but when I hear you speak of Pembar, I feel like a child once again. It is good to finally know that he was kind and not evil. Now, I feel more grown up, my Lady,” he said with a chuckle. “But, please, do not remind me of those pixies on the water. I will never outgrow my fear of them!” he responded seriously, shuddering at the thought.

  “I was only kidding about the sprites, Cameron. I am sorry, that was unkind of me. But, I am glad that I was able to educate you with regard to Pembar. Now, let us hope that we are permitted to enter the woods, and more important, exit the other side without delay, as I hope. I will display my token prominently and with pride as we travel. Unless the trees have come under the influence of the other side, we shall be safe and our journey will continue unhampered,” Filaree spoke with conviction, as she prepared to enter the tent and retire for the evening.

  Cameron remained outside for a while after Filaree went to sleep, watching the plains for any sign of danger. They were both not terribly concerned that harm would come to them here, so after he g
ave the Lady Filaree enough time to settle herself and hopefully get some needed rest, he crawled into the tent himself. He heard her softly breathing as he lay down beside her, covering her with the stiff blanket so she would not be chilled during the night. He too fell asleep quickly, and they both slept soundly until dawn.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cairn dug the long pole into the soft mud, propelling the raft further into the lake, and the black waters parted as they sprang ahead. There were approximately two hours left before the sun would rise, and Cairn wanted desperately to be close to the opposite shore by then. Being only near to the land could be dangerous. The Selgays were vicious animals and they wasted no time in attacking as soon as their keen eyes spotted prey from their vantage points in the rocky crevices of the Thorndars above.

  Calyx sat vigilantly at the stern of the raft, gazing expectantly at the dark sky. No Selgay would have an easy time with him, Cairn thought, while Tomas, unconcerned, was curiously humming to himself as if he did not have a care in the world.

  “I love the water at night,” Tomas remarked suddenly.

  “Well, my boy, this water may be beautiful, but the hills harbor some very dangerous birds, and we must cross with haste,” Cairn responded .

  “They will not harm us,” he said matter-of-factly, gazing into the water over the side of the raft.

  “Can you be so sure of that, Tomas?” Cairn asked, for the tone of the young boy’s voice was so compelling.

  “Yes, Cairn of Thermaye, they will not harm us. Besides, we will be across before it gets light,” he said.