Discoucia

by Nicholas Lovelock

  The Ship had flown across the mountains of Fina and the lights of Evermore were ahead. “Are you nervous?” asked Jo, putting her hand on Lilia’s shoulder.

  “Not really, I’m prepared for this since he’s only a man after all,” she replied.

  “That’s one way to put it but don’t go in there guns blazing, my father is quite ill and he may be quite aggressive,” said Jo.

  “You know your father and I’m here to help him, so hopefully he shouldn’t do anything stupid,” said Lilia.

  “With respect, Lilia, he won’t do anything stupid because he isn’t stupid,” said Jo, standing up for her father who she thought Lilia was attacking.

  “Whatever, Princess,” said Lilia sarcastically, and she left the sitting room.

  The ship docked in the special port that was built outside the great hall, and a path above the buildings below extended to a large door on a balcony. Arthur led followed by Jo, and Lilia slinked behind. Arthur then circled round and walked behind Lilia, making sure that she didn’t run back to the ship.

  The great hall was lit up as it always was, only this time something had radically changed. There was a huge four poster bed at the end of the hall, and there was a large amount of people crowded around it. Jo ran down the hall, and Arthur with Lilia followed. People stared at Lilia and began to whisper among themselves, and when Arthur noticed he slowed down and stayed close to his sister. High King Olandine was laid in the bed now looking old and frail, nothing like he did when they left.

  “Father, what has happened to you?” asked Jo, who was starting to cry.

  “Can we have a moment of privacy please?” asked Arthur to the advisors who were clustered around the bed. Most of them shuffled off, but one woman stayed.

  “Who might you be?” asked the woman in a rude tone.

  “Sir Arthur Pageon, if you must know, and who are you?” he replied. “I am Katarina, advisor to his majesty,” she replied.

  “Where’s Kate?” asked Arthur.

  “She has gone on holiday to Portalia,” replied Katarina.

  “I see, well could you give the High King a moment with his daughter?” asked Arthur.

  “Very well, who is the person you are here with?” asked Katarina.

  “May I introduce my sister, Lilia” said Arthur.

  Lilia’s eyes widened since she was to be found out for sure. “It’s nice to meet you Lilia, how unfortunate that you bear the same name as the great traitor but thankfully she is now dead and a scourge eliminated from the land,” said Katarina. Lilia went red, but kept her anger inside and she refrained from punching Katarina in her stuck up face.

  “Yes, thankfully she has gone and we can get back to enjoying life without consequence,” said Lilia.

  “Excuse me?” she replied suspiciously, but any further conversation was drowned out by the King calling for Arthur.

  “Come here, Sir Arthur. Leave us everyone else!” he shouted, and all the courtiers and advisors left the hall.

  “So Lilia now that you have nothing, hopefully you will treasure this new part of your life as something better,” said the King.

  “Excuse me?” she asked, wondering how the king knew, but then thought that Jo must have told him.

  “I don’t care about the past, it has been and gone and all I care about is the future. There is no heir ready to take the throne, not now at least but if I can survive, then maybe one of my daughters could step up,” said the king.

  “I have a solution, not a permanent one but until a cure can be found for your affliction then I can stop your illness from progressing any further” said Lilia.

  “Do it, not for me but for Discoucia,” he said.

  “Why am I your heir father and not Alexandra? You said that I would never have to rule,” said Jo.

  “Alexandra is not ready to take control of the empire, and I said I wouldn’t force a kingdom on you since I want you to be free, so I shall not,” he said.

  “Thank you father, we shall try to find a way for you to be cured,” said Jo.

  “Sir Arthur, I have heard what you have done for us and I wish to reward you in any way you see fit. Ask anything and I will grant it as best I can,” he said.

  “There is only one thing I could possibly want, when you are cured and the kingdom is put to rights I wish to marry your daughter Josephine, but only when I can sort my premature age problem with the help of someone,” he said.

  Lilia looked up at him in disbelief, as did Jo but The King didn’t look at all surprised. “I thought that was what you wanted, and I shall give you my consent but only if you can complete this task as you have stipulated,” he said.

  “Then I shall do my best, since the prize is more valuable than any treasure I can think of,” said Arthur. Jo got up and hugged Arthur, and then she gently hugged her father.

  “Go now and find me a cure, but first what is your plan Lilia?” asked the King.

  “Are you in pain?” she asked.

  “No, I just keep getting weaker and weaker,” he replied. “I was first hoping for that, but now I’m afraid of that,” she said.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Jo.

  “Well the Time Machine was calibrated to stop time all around the universe, but I can change it so it just focuses in one area,” she said.

  Over the next two days, Lilia built the Time Machine around the bed, and she covered the area between the bed posts with glass, so no air could get out. The king had about half an hour of air inside, but it had to be airtight for the Time Machine to work. It charged the air particles to stop moving and then in turn it stopped every other particle too. Jo was still very suspicious of Lilia but Arthur told her that Lilia was away from Harrha and would be a completely different person. Jo told him that he should not be blinded by love and to take things slowly.

  The King fell asleep and Lilia turned the machine on. It whirred to life, and the king stopped moving. This whole spectacle was witnessed by everyone in the Azure Hall and they were given strict instructions not to touch anything as it could kill the king, since only one charge was left in the machine.

  Katarina then unfurled a scroll of paper and ask for Arthur to sign it. Lilia and Jo were interested in what it was, and once Arthur had signed it and then was given a copy of his own to sign, which he was then given by her before she left them. “What was the scroll?” asked Lilia. “My payment for bringing you down, the funds have been transferred to my bank account in Gard where all my money is kept,” he replied.

  “How much did my father pay you for that?” asked Jo.

  “This much,” he replied, handing her the scroll.

  “You have got to be kidding, how much did I get paid?” she asked.

  “That’s a joint sum, and just so you know that I didn’t ask for money but it’s his way of keeping me employed,” said Arthur.

  Arthur, Jo and Lilia left the Hall and climbed aboard the ship. It started up, and sailed to the south east. It was spring so the weather was cold, but where they were going the sun always shone.

  Of course you realise this means Wardrobe

  The ship flew past the ruins of the fortress outside Evermore, and then strafed the ridge of the southern mountains. It was flying to the large extension of mountains in the south that split the main body of Discoucia from the kingdoms of Portalia, Tounin and Shoreton, which were ruled by Sir’s and Dukes but not Lords or Kings. Then when the ship reached the mountains, it would fly over them and come to the Granite and Sandstone Lands, and then Portalia.

  “So, let’s get unpacking,” said Lilia.

  “OK, there’s a lot of boxes, so we’re going to be here a while,” said Jo.

  “It’s a long way to Portalia, and when we get there I have to sign a load of papers to get us passage across the Archipelago and onto Lesiga,” said Arthur.

  “What was that mass of papers that Katarina gave you?” asked Lilia.

  “The High King wants all the islands and Lesiga to enter a united agree
ment, and he has given us something to give all the rulers of the islands, a golden bracelet with a precious stone in it,” said Arthur.

  “I have a question,” said Lilia.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “All those Ice Diamonds that you took from me, where are they now?” she asked.

  “They are in my safe in my study, along with the Snow Gold, why?” he replied.

  “I was just wondering, because all of the diamonds and gold that were supposed to be shipped to Harrha on the day of my invasion never actually reached me, so where are those?” she asked.

  “Five minute break, we’re going on a field trip to my study,” said Arthur. Lilia and Jo didn’t say anything; they just followed him out of the wardrobe and into the study.

  “Now, if you ever need money and I’m not here, there is this, but for the love of Authos, do not tell anyone or go on a spending spree, this is a reserve if we need it,” said Arthur, pulling the carpet back from the floor, revealing a metal door with a flat, ornate dial on it.

  “I thought that your safe was in the wall,” said Jo.

  “It was, but now that the ship is redesigned the safe is much, much bigger,” said Arthur, doing the combination.

  “Is it the same combination as before?” asked Jo.

  “Yes, 671967, come and see what is inside,” he said.

  The door opened and steam wafted out, but it wasn’t hot steam but cold, very cold. Arthur swung in followed by Lilia, and then Jo. The girls shivered inside, and when Arthur turned the light on, the room was full of Snow Gold and Ice Diamonds which were all in the same sacks as they were before.

  “This is slightly illegal isn’t it,” said Lilia.

  “Well it depends on how you look at it, you see you robbed them from Icester then I robbed them from you. By that logic I didn’t rob them from Icester, you did,” replied Arthur.

  “That’s specious reasoning,” said Jo.

  “It is, and if it gets me off a robbery charge then I’m good,” said Arthur.

  “How did you get all this stuff if the ship only appeared after you restarted time?” asked Jo.

  “I can explain that, you see when I did all the good stuff, getting rid of Lilia’s malignant influence and all I went to Icester which wasn’t cold. Time had stopped and I looted all the treasure out and wheeled it all the way to Cesta,” he explained.

  “That must have taken you years,” said Lilia.

  “It did but I never noticed, since it was all just one day forever,” said Arthur.

  “That makes sense but how did it end up here?” asked Jo.

  “No idea, I loaded all of it in the hull of the original ship but I think Archie decided to put it in a bigger safe,” said Arthur.

  “Can we get out of here, it’s freezing,” said Lilia.

  Back in the wardrobe the three were busy unpacking boxes and putting clothes on hangers and then onto racks. Jo and Lilia had brought up their suitcases too, and they were putting their dresses and other things onto the racks too. Lilia unpacked a box and found a strange costume: an owl head and a fancy suit. “Where did you get this from?” she asked, putting the owl head on.

  “From the Owl House in Gard, strange place, very strange place,” said Arthur.

  “I’m going to stick a mirror on the wall, that way if Archie is going to talk to us she can,” said Jo. As soon as Jo put the mirror on the wall, it began to cloud over just like it did on the way to Harrha.

  “Good evening people!” said Archie, who looked a little different than the last time. She had the same hairstyle, but had a beard, a long one that was about two inches long.

  “Umm, hello, you seem a bit mixed up,” said Jo.

  “I am duo-gendered you know, so I can do pretty much what I want,” she explained.

  “Thank you for the ship, it’s amazing,” said Arthur.

  “That’s OK, and do you have anything to say Lilia?” asked Archie, staring at her past Arthur and Jo.

  “With all due respect, Authos, I have nothing to say to you,” she said.

  “Very well, If you think that by being coaxing me into being angry then you are wrong, for you see I am quite patient and I see good in everyone, even you,” she said.

  “If you say so,” said Lilia.

  “Anyway if you two could come back to us, we need to talk about the adventure ahead,” said Arthur.

  “Always straight to the point,” said Archie.

  “Can I begin by apologising?” asked Arthur.

  “No not over the mirror, when you get to Vertise you can say what you have to,” said Archie.

  “Where are we bound?” asked Jo.

  “To Portalia and to the Sea Fort,” said Archie.

  “I have never been there, what is it like?” asked Jo.

  “It’s a desert mostly, but the main city is an oasis, a huge oasis,” said Arthur.

  “Is it beautiful?” asked Jo.

  “Yes, very beautiful, especially at this time of year,” said Arthur.

  “I’m going to pick some flowers, it will be summer by the time you reach me so I’ll say goodbye. However if you need me, just call into the mirror and I shall appear,” said Archie.

  “Thank you, and have fun with the interesting facial hair,” said Jo.

  Archie swirled out of view, and the lights in the wardrobe brightened up.

  “That wasn’t very nice, was it” said Arthur to Lilia.

  “I don’t trust her at all, she seems to be guiding everything here, and don’t you think that’s a little weird?” she asked.

  “I think all those years on Harrha alone have made you paranoid, thankfully we got to you as soon as we did,” said Arthur.

  “I am not paranoid, I don’t rush into things without thinking them over first,” said Lilia.

  “What is there to think over?” asked Arthur.

  “You seem to have fallen under her sway quite quickly,” said Lilia.

  “I don’t like your tone,” replied Arthur.

  “Hold on you two, if you have any questions for Archie then you can ask her yourself but listen, instead of getting at each other, we should be thinking about cleaning, now apologise to each other,” said Jo.

  “You must be joking,” said Arthur.

  “If you can’t apologise to your sister in person then how are you going to apologise to Archie?” she asked.

  “I’m so sorry Arthur for pointing out your immeasurably gullible personality” said Lilia, in such an overly sweet tone that she was obviously making fun of him.

  “I’m sorry too Lilia, it’s so good to hear that you remember that word since you will probably need to continue saying it for the rest of your life,” replied Arthur.

  “OK you two need to see someone, someone professionally trained in family problems, and I think I know the very person who by an astonishing coincidence is on holiday in Portalia right now,” said Jo.

  Over All The Seven Sea’s There Was A Phantom Ship A Comin’!

  The night paled slowly into dawn, and the stars one by one disappeared from the beautiful velvet sky that was slowly receding across the desert. Arthur walked out onto the deck and was taken aback by how warm it was. He took off his jacket, and put it on a hook in the sitting room. This would be the last time he would wear a jacket for a while, because the night was nearly as warm as the day here.

  “When we reach the city I shall try to find Kate, and she can help you two out,” said Jo.

  “We don’t need any help,” said Arthur.

  “Yes I’m perfectly fine, I know Arthur has his faults,” said Lilia.

  “Excuse me?” said Arthur.

  “Not now, save it for counselling,” said Jo. Ahead in the distance was the City of Portalia, which like all the other cities in Discoucia was named after the country it was in.

  The City sat at the edge of the desert, and was built on top of the only mountain south of the massive mountain range at the centre of the southern lands. Gradually the city became much bigger, a
nd the walls of the city were made further out to accommodate the cities size. The architecture here was completely different to Discoucia’s, and took on a different style altogether. It was strikingly similar to that of middle age Persia, and the people here were all mixed colours. The people who had lived there the longest had naturally become tanned, but the sailors who fished in the Infinite Sea came from the north or the east, so they were either white or slightly darker.

  The city had the distinct aroma of spices, and through the wide streets people walked to the Sky Port to see what had happened the night before. A ship was smashed and its wreckage burning on the main landing. The people came to watch as it was cleared away by the local military, and when the ship tried to land, it was turned away by another, smaller ship.

  “I’m sorry, but you cannot land here, but if you follow me to The Sea Fort, you can land there” shouted a soldier from the deck of the smaller boat. Arthur waved, and the Nostradamus followed the small boat across the city. Instead of the city having a castle at the top of it, the Sea Fort actually backed onto the sea itself, in a miracle of underwater engineering. It had several strong-looking towers and a huge building in the centre, which was presumably where the ruler lived. It had six towers, arranged in a rectangular shape, with three on one side and three on the other side. There were large glass windows that sat between the towers, and for a fort the whole place looked quite inviting.

  The ship followed the smaller ship to a grassy lawn, but it actually parked on the cobblestone road instead, since landing on the lawn would probably churn up the turf. Arthur ran out onto the deck, and saw that a man was running out of the building to the ship. Arthur leant on the prow of the ship in a nonchalant manner, and awaited the man to arrive.

  “Good morning sir,” said Arthur.

  “Good…morning…Sir Arthur…please…could you come with me, and bring your two friends with you, it’s urgent that you come at once,” he said.

  “OK, I’ll just get them,” said Arthur, who ran back into the sitting room to wake up the two girls. Arthur banged on Lilia’s door, and she appeared with her hair in a mess and wearing a yellow dressing gown.