The Greater Challenge Beyond (The Southern Continent Series Book 3)

by Jeffrey Quyle

  He watched as she made a rude gesture, then he laughed, and backed away from the edge of the tower. He returned to his shirt and boots, and sat back down to work further.

  “Energy, please carry these words all the way to Brieed, in his quarters in the palace at Palmland,” he asked. “Keep them traveling in the right direction, and keep them strong,” he asked.

  “Master Brieed, it is Grange. I am using the power to try to send my words to you. Please use your power to send your words back,” he spoke, as he faced in the direction that he thought was where Palmland lay.

  “Master Brieed,” he tried again a few moments later. “I am using the energy to make my words travel in a narrow line towards you. If you hear me, please respond.”

  He sat attentively, waiting for an answer, wondering if he would hear any reply. Would Brieed receive his call, he wondered. Would it be soft, or loud? Muddled, or crisp and clear? Would it even arrive at all? There were so many potential obstacles in the way – mountains, forests, cities – he doubted the likelihood of success.

  He lay back to wait, and looked up at the moon, which was rising. He had a clear view of the moon, and Brieed did too, he thought to himself. Everyone under the night sky could see the moon, all at once, all together.

  That realization made him sit up.

  What if he could send his message to Brieed by bouncing it off the moon?

  It was crazy, and stupid, impossible to imagine.

  But his mind was suddenly considering the possibility in a hundred different ways.

  It was worth a try. There would be no harm, and no cost.

  “Energy, this will be a challenge, even for you. Make my words travel again in a narrow line to the moon, and then to where Master Brieed is in his quarters in the palace at Palmland,” he directed.

  “Master Brieed, this is Grange. This is crazy,” he began, watching the lit nodules of each word fly into space. “I am using the power to bounce my words off the moon to reach you. I need your help. Reply to me if you can. I am in the palace at Southgar, in a tower,” he explained.

  “Thank you,” he added softly, then lay back down and closed his eyes.

  He tried to imagine other ways to use the energy to make his words travel, but no ideas came to mind. The seconds passed and turned into minutes, and there was no answer. It wasn’t going to work, but it had been worth the try. He would go back to Huem’s temple in the morning, and ask if they had any other ideas.

  He rose and went down the stairs, then commanded his bed to float up to the roof, so that he could comfortably sleep under the stars. It felt good – delightful. The mattress was soft and fresh, easy to rest on. His breath began to fall into a regular rhythm of restfulness, when a voice suddenly spoke on the pillow next to him.

  “Grange!? This is extraordinary!” it was the voice of Brieed!

  Grange’s eyes flew open, and his head popped up off the pillow.

  “I am trying to bounce my words off the moon to return to you. What a clever idea! I never would have thought of that. I’ve never read or heard of any such concept,” the wizard said.

  “I hope you are well. Tell me how I can help, and tell me how you got to Southgar of all places!” he said.

  “Energy, make these words also go to Master Brieed, as the last words did. You did well, energy,” he praised the power.

  “Master, I am in Southgar. It took a long time for our words to travel off the moon to one another, maybe an hour to hear your response return to me,” he said. “I need to make my wand function properly. Can you tell me what I must do to make the wand be my own, devoted to my commands?” he asked.

  Chapter 15

  Grange felt a sense of elation at the unlikely success of the improbable effort to bounce messages off the moon. And he took personal pride in knowing that he had done something that Brieed had never heard of or thought of before.

  A large part of him could hardly wait for the next message to return from Brieed. But a more practical part wanted to get some sleep, to not be disturbed by intermittent messages flying through the ether ever other hour or so.

  With such confusion in his mind he dozed uneasily through the remainder of the night, until dawn’s first bright rays smothered the sparkling stars, and he awoke. There had apparently been no message from Brieed, or if there had been, he had slept through it.

  “Grange?” he heard a voice down below call up.

  “Hello?” he called back. He grabbed his shirt and stood up. It had been a female voice, undoubtedly Jenniline, but he still felt the need to be as presentable as he could.

  “I’m up here, in the roof,” he called. “”I’ll be down in a moment.”

  “Don’t bother,” the woman’s voice called, sounding much clearer. “I’m here already,” and with that, Hope came into view, her head rising above the floor level of the stairwell.

  “What a marvelous idea!” she said enthusiastically as she emerged from the tower and stood upon the roof.

  “You’ve got such a wide panorama. You can see the whole city from here!” she told him as she slowly circled near the edge of the roof, strolling easily along.

  She had a buoyant stride, Grange thought, as he watched her. She was graceful. When he had known her before, in the wilderness, as a captive of the Bloomingians, she had not had so much spirit visible, but now that she was home in the palace, all her spirit shone through, brightening her already lovely face. And he had been such a lost and confused spirit himself at the same time, no one could have seen the two of them wandering in the wilderness and have predicted what their circumstances would be at that moment.

  Something similar must have been passing through Hope’s mind as well.

  “Who would have guessed that the lost boy who rescued me from captivity would end up being all that you are?” she asked as she finished her encirclement of the tower top and approached him.

  “If father knew what a wonderful home you’ve made here, he might regret giving it up!” she smiled at him.

  “I haven’t had many visitors to show it to, so he probably doesn’t know,” Grange told her. “Perhaps we better keep it secret.”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Hope said with mock solemnity.

  “What brings you up here so early in the morning?” Grange decided he needed to ask. Hope wouldn’t have come alone simply to visit – there had to be some purpose.

  “It’s about your mate,” Hope said. “I mean, about your duty to marry one of us,” she corrected her language. “My sister Paile is already engaged, and in love, so I ask you not to choose her as your bride,” Hope explained. “And Brigin is too young to be married yet; she needs time to learn more about life, and who she is.

  “I have two other sisters, plus Jenniline, of course,” Hope continued her catalog. “I didn’t know if you had settled on Jenniline already as your choice?”

  “Your sister has made it quite clear that I am not to consider her as a potential bride,” Grange replied. “And from what I’ve seen of her force of will, I’m not sure that even Acton could overcome her objections.”

  Hope laughed sweetly. “Well, I came to tell you that if you wish, if I am acceptable, I would be willing to let you have me, and prevent all the nonsense and suspicion and concern that a prolonged, drawn-out inspection of the others would cause.”

  “Thank you for telling me,” Grange replied. “I’ll keep that in mind.” His heart was beating rapidly.

  “Oh my!” Hope said. “You’re turning quite red. I’m sorry that I’ve upset you so much.”

  “You may not have upset him, but you’re giving me some palpitations,” Jenniline’s voice rose from the top of the stairs, where she had stood unnoticed by the other two.

  “I believe that the king’s court needs for him to go through the full process of fairly considering every possible princess,” the counselor said as she stalked over to the pair. Hope’s hand was in his, Grange belatedly discovered, and he immediately released his grip on the girl a
s Jenniline stared at the intertwined fingers.

  “We don’t want any girl to feel short-changed,” Jenniline said. “And it can’t hurt for him to meet more members of the court before a decision is made; he needs to get to know the royal family and the nobles,” she point out, “for his own good.”

  “Grange, can you hear me?” Brieed’s voice suddenly sounded in the air around them.

  “What in the world?” Hope exclaimed, whirling around to find the source of the voice.

  Jenniline pulled her sword free and also looked around for the possible threat.

  “I heard your message last night, but it seemed too late to speak further, especially if our words spend an hour traveling,” Brieed said. “I want to know more about this need you have for a wand. Let us talk tonight, at your sundown. Send an explanation to me about your circumstances, you marvelous power.

  “There’s never been such a wizard! I’m so glad to know you’re alive, as the others here will be. We’re anxious to see you return someday soon to Palmland,” Brieed’s message ended, as the two princesses kept looking in vain for the source of the voice.

  Silence followed.

  “Who was that? Where is he?” Jenniline asked.

  “That was a master wizard, Brieed,” Grange answered. “He’s in Palmland.”

  “That’s impossible!” Hope said. “Isn’t it?”

  “We just discovered a way to use our powers to talk to one another, but it takes an hour to talk and get an answer back,” Grange explained. “I need him to teach me something important for the upcoming war.

  “We’ll discuss it tonight,” he finished.

  “And you and I have some things to discuss as well,” Jenniline. “Sister dear,” she turned to the amazed Hope, who was staring at Grange in fascination. “You’re excused to leave, but save spots for us to join you at breakfast, will you please?”

  “Yes, Jenniline,” Hope said obediently. “I thank you for your time, my lord, and I hope I didn’t disturb your morning,” she bobbed a quick curtsey to Grange, then descended from the roof.

  Grange looked at Jenniline, trying to judge her mood. He suspected he might face a difficult day.

  “How in the world do you make your words go all the way to Palmland? Would I even understand how you do it? How far away is Palmland?” his counselor asked.

  “Let me see,” Grange tried to reckon the distance. “I sailed for about a week from near Palmland, and then I must have walked through the wilderness for about a month all told, to get here,” he guessed.

  “We found out we can bounce our words off the moon, using our powers,” Grange explained.

  She looked at him through slitted eyes, trying to judge the truthfulness of his words, then seemed to decide to accept what he said.

  “So did you invite sweet little Hope up here? Did you bounce some message off the moon to reach her as well?” Jenniline asked. “Didn’t we discuss this yesterday?”

  “I didn’t invite her,” Grange answered. “She came on her own. I was surprised when she appeared.”

  “And she’s offering herself to you in marriage?” Jenniline asked.

  “Well, I think she’s trying to protect her sisters from having to marry me,” Grange answered thoughtfully. “She didn’t really seem enthusiastic about marriage herself.”

  “That girl is turning into a martyr – first going down to try to save me in the wilderness, now throwing herself away on you,” Jenniline mused.

  “I don’t think I’d be that bad as a husband,” Grange said defensively.

  “Oh hush now!” Jenniline told him. “That girl is beautiful. When she has her big dance next month to formally introduce her to society, there are going to be sons of rich merchants and mighty nobles lined up, and our father is going to have his pick of what new riches or allies he can expect to receive when he marries her off to.

  “I’d be just as good as someone she’s forced to marry just for politics,” Grange protested. “That is,” he added lamely, “if I really intended to marry a princess from here, which I’m not.”

  “Enough of this nonsense,” Jenniline cut him off. “Today we’ll go get some breakfast, then we’ll go get some proper clothes ordered for you to wear.”

  “Can we go to an armory, or someplace to practice fighting?” Grange asked. “I need to knock the rust loose.”

  “An armory?” Jenniline brightened. “That’ll be easy – it’s right here in the palace. We can introduce you to lots of people there. They’ll all be eager to prove they can beat you.”

  “They might, the first few times, until I get back in shape,” he conceded.

  “And also, but probably not today, we’ll schedule an appointment to present you to father,” she told Grange. “We’ll wait until you’ve gotten the right attire from the tailor, of course. And we’ll have to decide exactly what your message is going to be.

  “It wouldn’t really do to go in and say something inflammatory,” she continued. “Although,” she conceded, “you seem to keep your temper in check pretty well. I thought that you would have cut off Sweyn’s fingers by now.”

  “That reminds me, we’ll have to pay another friendly visit with him today,” Grange agreed.

  “Let’s go meet Hope for breakfast, and get the day started,” Jenniline said.

  “Just a moment,” Grange asked. He turned his face to the western sky, where the moon had almost set, and he asked the energy to help him deliver his words to Brieed.

  “Master, I will speak with you this evening, and send you my story,” he reported to Brieed.

  “You do some astonishing things,” Jenniline spoke softly, as she watched glowing parcels of light carry his words through the morning sky, quickly disappearing into the distant western sky.

  “Okay,” Grange said, pleased to have impressed the unflappable Jenniline, “let’s go eat breakfast.”

  They ventured down the stairs, and Grange followed Jenniline through the various buildings to enter a large dining hall, where Hope sat with a group of young men surrounding her in an otherwise nearly empty room.

  Jenniline and Grange headed straight over to her table.

  “I saved these spots for you,” she indicated the spaces on either side of her, where the two newcomers took seats under the baleful glare of Hope’s companions.

  “This is my sister Jenniline,” Hope unnecessarily introduced one, “and this is the Champion of Acton, and the man who rescued me from the Bloomingians!

  “This is Tomas, and this is Kiergar, and this is Remar,” she introduced the three men closest to her. “And these are my other friends,” she summed up the other four who sat around the table.

  “Grange said he’d like to work out in the armory,” Jenniline told the group, as servants brought a pitcher of juice, and a plate of toasted bread. “We’ll go there this afternoon, after we run some errands. He’s very good, you know,” she told the crowd.

  “May I come watch?” Hope asked.

  “You can come join the practice if you want,” Grange told her.

  “You fancy you’re pretty good?” Remar asked skeptically.

  “Or do you just steal a win when you can?” Kiergar asked, in a hostile tone. “I heard that last night the Acolyte of Acton called you a pickpocket, and told you to leave the temple. Was it true?”

  All eyes turned to Grange.

  “That’s more or less true,” Grange hesitantly agreed. “Hockis was a con man in Fortune, but,” he paused, “if Acton trusts him then that is the God’s decision,” he spit the words out, wanting to say more, much more, but refraining.

  “You were a pickpocket?” Hope asked in shock. Her body seemed to shrink away from his.

  “For a time,” Grange admitted, seething inside at the disclosure. He wasn’t proud of that part of his past, but he couldn’t deny it. Hockis had cleverly managed to damage Grange’s reputation, and Grange suddenly realized it would prove difficult to repair.

  “We need to move along,” Jenn
iline said suddenly, grabbing a piece of toast as she stood. “Come along, my Champion,” a subtle note of discord in her voice.

  They left the hall, hearing the voices buzz in low tones behind them as they walked away. When they left the room and went around the corner, Jenniline stopped and thumped her hand against Grange’s chest.

  “What’s the story here? Are you a hero or a thief?” she asked angrily.

  “I was a thief, but it seems like a long time ago,” Grange told her. “And I’m told I have to be a hero, even though I never planned to be one.”

  “You’re a mess,” she replied. “Father may refuse to even see you, if he’s got an excuse like this.”

  “It’s all in the past, and I can’t change it,” Grange said, frustrated that something that seemed so long ago and so far away had burst into such a complication in the here-and-now.

  Jenniline removed her hand from his chest. “Let’s go to the tailor and have your clothes prepared, and I’ll think while we walk,” she said, then resumed leading him through further portions of the palace complex that he didn’t know.

  “This man needs clothes suitable for attending the royal court and moving about the city,” Jenniline said abruptly as they entered the quarters of the tailors and seamstresses who were sewing and fitting various items as they sat in a room with large, north-facing windows that invited plenty of sunlight inside.

  “I’ll measure your young man, my lady,” one elderly man rose from his work and approached. “It’ll be the day after tomorrow before I can start working on his things though – I’ve got a backlog ahead of him.”

  “From what I hear, I think it’ll be a good idea to wait a couple of days before trying to approach the court anyway,” Jenniline said, giving Grange a sideway glare.

  She stepped back as Grange was thoroughly measured, then she led him outside into a garden.

  “How are you going to perform if I take you to the armory?” she asked. “Everyone there is going to want to take a shot at you, especially now that you’ve been called a thief, and admitted it.”

  “I’ll need a few matches to restore my timing,” Grange replied, started to grow tired of being reminded of his past. “I’ve been in prison, tortured, and trying to recover for the past month, you know.”