Out of the Faold (Whilst Old Legends Fade Synchronicles)

by Laura Abudo

  One god stepped forward, one who had taken to Amias previously and in hushed tones said, “Things are not right.”

  But he said no more. The goddess appeared. She serenely greeted them with a smile. “You are looking well,” she said. “The boy is getting big.”

  Coral smiled with pride, standing with Darius still asleep in her arms. The goddess’ eyes lingered on Coral’s. She looked to Pearl. She scanned her dress. Pearl felt guilt for not wearing the robes.

  The goddess whispered to her, “It doesn’t matter what you wear. But who you are inside the clothes, god-smiter.” And she smiled proudly.

  The god stepped forward with an urgent look on his face. She turned back to Coral and said, “Get to a Well.”

  And suddenly they were flung back, back to the campfire, back to the Marshalls. Their voices all called out as they re-appeared. Glory stumbled and almost caught her puffy skirts on fire. The King jumped up and caught her, offering his seat. He settled onto the ground next to Pearl, who seemed to hold onto her bedroll tightly as though she didn’t know she was sitting.

  “They are watching,” she told them in a whisper.

  Amias nodded. Krisa took Pat into the dark, Amias and Coral disappeared as well. Glory took Kel by the hand. The others stood around looking confused but sat to smoke their pipes and hum songs, knowing they’d get the news before long. Pearl lay down on her bedroll and tugged at Fredrick’s jacket. He moved to her side, a wicked twinkle in his eye.

  “With all these people here?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

  She swatted him with a smile then put her hand on his chest for support. “They took us there, to where they are. And there’s something wrong. One of them told us things are not right. And the goddess, the one who is always so lovely, she told us to get to a Well and they tossed us out.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked placing his face close to hers and a hand on her arm.

  “We told you of the well, the pool where we first met the gods,” she said to him, running a finger absently down the line where his cheek and beard met. “We had visions and they helped us. She’s told us to get to one. We must have to see something again.”

  “Is that the only well?” he asked.

  “No, there is another. Doran estate. Amias built it with the house. The gods have blessed it. It is the closest unless…”

  “Yes?” he asked moving his chin so her whole hand touched his face.

  She leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth softly then whispered, “Darius.”

  He looked puzzled as she jumped up from the bedroll, leaving him to take two deep breaths, one of joy at the kiss, and one of disappointment there were no more. Pearl pulled another Marshall off into the dark. Fredrick bristled in jealousy then realized he was stupid, she was just telling the man what had happened.

  “Darius?” he questioned silently, looking around at people slipping in and out of view. “And who is watching us?”

  The morning dawned finding Tomas and his friends still in the King’s library, feeling unwell with the cloud of pipe smoke and the smell of ale in the room. A few had stumbled out to go find their own rooms. Jimm had not come back. Tomas finally woke enough to give orders to clean the library and leave no evidence and to shoo his friends away with promises to go hunting later in the afternoon.

  Jimm was meeting with a guard captain arranging a sweep of the castle in search for Glory. She had disappeared. He couldn’t find her in her rooms, the gardens, the lady’s parlor, the brunch room, the kitchens, anywhere he could think to look. No one had seen her. He met with the kennel master, who assured him if he gave his mastiff a whiff of her they’d find her in the castle. Housekeeping opened up their rooms for him and he pulled the pillow sham from her bed for the mastiff. He smiled, knowing it was her bed by the multi-ruffled quilt, as opposed to the plain one on Pearl’s bed.

  The mastiff tracked Glory’s scent in different places but came to a stop and circled many times that one spot in the corridor outside the library. He lost the scent there. Jimm, puzzled, appeared distressed. His father wasn’t here to guide him. Tomas was sleeping off his irresponsibility.

  Hurriedly Jimm penned orders for the guard to spread out into the city and surrounding countryside in their search. He eventually went to Tomas with his concerns but his older brother didn’t want to hear about it, saying she was just pouting and she’d come back when she was ready. He wasn’t going to go chasing her down. That’s what she’d want him to do to prove she had control over him.

  Jimm shook his head. He left Tomas stewing in his self-absorption. He called for a horse to be prepared and he went off in search of Pearl and Krisa and his father. They would know where to search. With only two guards in tow, Jimm took off to the south after the Marshalls.

  “Darius,” a voice whispered to him. “Darius.”

  He turned over and said, “Why is everyone always waking me up?”

  His mother smiled at him and kissed his cheek. She pulled him up into her arms. He looked around and found the Marshalls all watching him, the King, Pearl and even Glory in her fancy dress in the middle of camp.

  “How did you get here in that dress?” Darius asked her, his eyes half open in the morning sun.

  “Darius, remember the day in the jail? And where we went?” Coral asked, keeping her question vague.

  “Yes,” he told her.

  “When you made that place, the girls told you not to make a well like at home.”

  “Yes, I didn’t make one!”

  “I know,” she smiled. “But I want you to make one now. Are you able to? In that place? Just like at home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you take us all there?”

  “All of us?” he asked surprised. “Even the King?”

  Coral hadn’t thought of that possibility. He wasn’t a Marshall. He hadn’t entered the first well and the gods told her never to bring any others to their spot. Just the girls and the Marshalls.

  “Yes, the King too,” Pearl told him and nodded at Coral. “That’s our place, not theirs.”

  Darius nodded. Pearl held Fredrick’s hands as she faced him. The Marshalls all took deep breaths waiting for the sensation. They were yanked sideways and then forward into a blizzard of bright colour that settled around them peacefully. The Marshalls all gasped in surprise and delight, recognizing the Doran estate. The King almost toppled over at the adjustment he had to make in balance but Pearl’s hands steadied him.

  Coral rushed over to the new well in the copse of trees behind them. It shone bright blue surrounded by the familiar white stone with markings. She slipped off her riding boots and stockings and looked back once before stepping into the pool.

  Amias turned on the spot looking at everything. A tear ran down his cheek. “Darius, you made this?” he asked.

  The boy nodded guiltily. “We made it together. The grey was so…I didn’t like it so we come here sometimes.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Amias told him, tousling the boy’s hair.

  The image in the arch moved as the puppies in the kennel jumped around their crate. Pearl smiled. The King walked forward.

  “Can we see where the boys are?” Fredrick asked.

  An image of Tomas waking in his father’s library chair appeared, to the King’s disappointment. The friends were there too amid a mess of food and ale and ashes. A deep frown crossed his face. Jimm was animatedly talking to a maid, who led him into the Doran suite. He picked up Glory’s pillow sham, held it to his face and smelled it gently.

  Glory’s face turned red. Pearl looked at her curiously. They watched as Jimm took the sham back out to the kennel master. The image strayed to the puppies again but Pearl tapped Darius’ shoulder and he went back to Jimm who held out the fabric to the mastiff.

  “They are looking for me,” Glory said.

  “Jimm is looking for you,” the King said gruffly.

  The puppies filled the arch again as everyone waited for Coral. It took s
ome time but she finally emerged dry and safe and looking serene but puzzled. The others went. They had a debate whether they should let Darius go. Coral and Amias took differing opinions. One reasoned that he wouldn’t understand what he saw. The other reasoned it was his well and he’d never been in one before and it may help give him a skill that could help protect him in the future like it did for the girls. That argument won out.

  After what she witnessed in the Well, Coral insisted the King enter. Pearl looked at her questioning because she hadn’t seen anything of Fredrick at all and she worried. He emerged baffled at what he saw. He saw futures of the people around them, events in which they performed heroically, of what they would become. But he saw nothing of himself. He saw nothing of Pearl. And he worried.

  Coral asked them all to keep information about others to themselves, as it is not good to share too much of the future. They agreed, knowing that just by knowing a tidbit could change the course of things to be.

  Most of the day had been spent waiting as people took turns at the Well. When Darius drew them back to the camp they found they were no longer alone. The Marshalls scrambled to positions protecting the King and the women.

  “Where did they go?” Vunn screeched in fury.

  The goddess said nothing, just stood watching the arch. The other god stepped closer. The others watched.

  “They were right there. Now they are gone. The horses are there. The beds, the fire. They aren’t here. Where are they?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know,” she finally replied.

  “Have you given them a world of their own?” he snarled getting into her face.

  “No,” she insisted. “I can’t do that. How did you get yours?”

  “I took a wrong turn,” he mumbled, turning toward the arch.

  “And they destroyed it,” she said. “So you came here.”

  “Yes, to annoy you.”

  “You don’t annoy me,” she told him, turning away. She walked over to the other god. They shared a look of fear. She put her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath, bracing herself for the onslaught.

  Vunn yanked her arm, pulling her away from the other. “No, I don’t annoy you. I excite you. Don’t I?”

  “If that’s what you think,” she laughed.

  And Vunn took her. Right there. The god stood over them watching the arch, saddened, pleading with the god-smiters. What Caris had to do to keep Vunn’s focus off of the god-smiters was destroying her. And destroying the rest of them with her. He looked around at the empty shells of the images of gods around them. The two struggling on the ground and he were the only three left.

  Jimm and his guardsmen stood in the middle of the camp wondering where everyone had gone. The Marshall’s horses were there, the fires still smoldering or had gone out, bedrolls still spread on the ground. Yet no people. There had been no thievery. His father’s overcoat was folded neatly like it had been used as a pillow. He sent a guard to see if they could be found within walking distance. In the late afternoon sun he stood baffled. First Glory and now everyone else.

  He turned to build up one of the fires to settle in to wait when the world seemed to twist. In front of him appeared his father, the Marshalls and the others. He fell over backward in his shock, the guard pulling his sword.

  “Whoa, whoa,” Amias’ voice called out, advancing on the guard as the Marshalls surrounded the King and the ladies.

  “Jimm?” Fredrick called out.

  The boy jumped up, still unsure if he had seen what he thought he saw. His eyes swept the crowd in front of him, landing on Glory.

  “Oh, Glory,” he cried. “How did…I was so worried. I couldn’t find you.”

  “I’m okay,” she said, smiling at him.

  “That dricker Tomas wouldn’t…” he began.

  “Jimm!” his father barked.

  Glory patted King Fredrick’s arm and said, “That’s alright. Tomas is a dricker. Thank you, Jimm for your concern.”

  Pearl snorted at Glory’s use of profanity. Coral coughed and the rest of the Marshalls laughed at seeing their little princess talk like a ruffian.

  The consensus was that they would spend the night where they were and just head back to Danyc in the morning. They’d send the two guards to the garrison to inform them the King was not coming as planned. The fires were lit again and people settled in to welcome Glory and Jimm into the campfire stories. The men smiled when Glory sang for them the old tunes.

  Jimm turned to her and asked, “How are you going to ride back to Danyc in that dress?”

  Glory demanded, “Why is everyone so concerned about my dress?”

  She stood up, lifted the top layer and yanked the crinoline down to her ankles and stepped out of it. Pearl howled in laughter, falling down onto her bedroll, the men cheered and whistled and Jimm turned bright red. Darius grabbed the frilly layered underskirt and ran away with it into the dusk. Krisa ran after him.

  Fredrick propped himself on his elbow looking down at Pearl still laughing. “This ride has been good,” he told her. “Thank you for inviting me.”

  She smiled at him. “It was like this. Friends, out here. No castle walls, courtiers, just being with each other.”

  “You miss it. You miss being the child hanging from the tree. Riding with the Marshalls.”

  “I can still do those things,” she laughed.

  “So why did you arrange the ride?” he asked, curious.

  “Coral says it best.”

  King Fredrick sat up and looked at Coral. He asked, “Why did we come on the ride?”

  Coral paused then smiled at Pearl. “I think I said, ‘A woman wants to feel the road under her horse, listen to stories and the voices of men. Hear the sounds of leather and tack and feel the air on her skin. She wants to catch the eye of her man across a camp fire and smell the pipe smoke in his beard.’ Is that how it went?”

  Pearl nodded and lay back down. Coral and Amias smiled, the married men thought of their wives and families. Krisa had wrestled Darius back to camp so she and Pat disappeared together. Fredrick leaned back again, resting his head on his hand, watching Pearl as she avoided eye contact.

  “I don’t have a beard,” Jimm stated loudly. Everyone laughed.

  Fredrick leaned closer to whisper, “So you didn’t come out here to be a little girl again?”

  She looked at him a little surprised. “No.”

  He waited for a response to his unasked question. She took a long time, stared at a button on his jacket, before looking like she was going to answer. “Well?”

  “It’s nice not having people call you ‘Your Majesty’ and bow and curtsy all the time isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he nodded, realizing the people around him hadn’t treated him like the King all day. He was just Fredrick.

  “I am Pearl. You are Fredrick.”

  “No robe, no crown,” he said.

  “A woman and a man.”

  “You came here to be a woman, not a little girl,” he told her.

  “Coral became a woman out here. She fell in love with a wonderful man over a campfire. I think I just wanted to test my luck.”

  A shiver went down his spine as he realized what she was saying. She really was giving herself to him. In a precious way. He touched her face softly and she closed her eyes.

  Darius called out, “Pearl, Pearl.”

  She sat up, taking him into her lap. “Did you think you’d be able to outrun Krisa?” she asked him.

  “No one can outrun Krisa,” he laughed.

  Fredrick stood and walked away from everyone into the dark. Pearl’s eyes followed him with a worried look. Amias noticed. Coral nudged Amias to follow Fredrick during one of Jimm’s hunting stories.

  Amias found Fredrick squatting down in the field just before the trees. “Are you okay?” he asked him.

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t look okay,” Amias told him.

  “I guess I’m just…shaken.”

  “The Well is
unusual.”

  Fredrick nodded. “It tells us much but leaves things unanswered.”

  “It does,” Amias agreed. “What is troubling you?”

  “Pearl.”

  Amias hesitated. As her guardian he became defensive, but he realized the man before him needed him to listen. As a friend. “Yes?”

  “I care about her a lot. You know that. She tells me all the time the reasons I shouldn’t, why I’m a silly old fool.”

  Amias smiled. He could imagine Pearl telling the King he was a fool. “I’m sure that’s one of the reasons you care about her.”

  The King chuckled. “You are right. But I’m scared. It was the Well.”

  “What about it?”

  “I didn’t see her. Where did she go? It’s like she’s disappeared,” he spoke, straining to withhold emotion. “I saw everyone else.”

  Amias stood there remembering the feelings he’d had when he had first gone into the pool of blue. He came out worrying about Coral because he didn’t see her. He didn’t see himself and he didn’t see the woman he loved.

  “I am not going to tell you what I saw of you or Pearl,” Amias told Fredrick. “But I will tell you something that may help you.”

  The man stood up, his face emotional in the darkness. “Please.”

  “I have a question for you,” he said, already knowing the answer. “Do you care about her because she is god-smiter, the little girl who took down a demon, the person who stands by you in your war room as a trophy? Or do you care about her as a friend, as a woman.”

  “She has been in my heart from that first day I found her in my garden. Not in the same way,” he added quickly. “She was a spunky little dragon making me laugh. And she still does. She keeps me on my toes, she’s my friend, and I can’t imagine being without…”

  Amias nodded, not making him say anymore. “When I went into the Well, I saw nothing of Coral. Coral saw nothing of me. Pat saw nothing of Krisa, and she nothing of him.”

  Fredrick’s eyes met Amias’ in the near darkness. He wiped away an invisible tear and nodded his thanks. “I think she feels the same way.”