Discoucia

by Nicholas Lovelock

  “That be I,” replied Arthur.

  “Would you please accompany me to see Sir Thomas,” he said.

  “Of course, lead on,” said Arthur. Lilia went with him, since she wondered what the guard might do if she went back to the ship. They entered the great hall, which wasn’t spectacularly huge like the ones they had visited but was cosier, with fine oak panelling and beautiful stained glass windows. At the end of the hall was a man sat at a table reading a large book.

  “So Sir Arthur, from what I’ve read you are quite the adventurer,” he said.

  “Well, I get around a bit I suppose,” said Arthur humbly.

  “And you Lady Lilia, I cannot find any reference of you anywhere, what is your last name?” he asked.

  “Duncannon. I was married once but I still remain Arthur’s sister,” said Lilia, who was amazed at how she came up with a name so quickly.

  “So, Lady Lilia Duncannon and Sir Arthur Pageon, it’s nice to meet you. I am Sir Thomas,” he said, stretching out his hand to shake Arthur’s.

  “It is nice to meet you too. We are on urgent business from the High King and I wish to offer you something in his name,” said Arthur.

  “Oh a gift, you upper class types are always doing that,” he replied.

  “Well it is more of a gesture of goodwill,” said Arthur.

  “So a gift,” replied Thomas in a deadpan tone.

  “If it makes you happy, then yes it is a gift,” said Arthur, producing a red silk bag from his jacket pocket. He handed it to Thomas, who examined it and then laid it on the table.

  “So what do I receive this gift for?” he asked.

  “The High King would like to have your allegiance, and if so you would become Lord Thomas of Seone,” said Arthur.

  “Only if I can meet Princess Josephine,” said Thomas.

  “Very well, she is asleep on my ship,” said Arthur.

  At this point Thomas changed his look. At first he was gradually beginning to like Arthur and when he heard that he could become a lord, he became even happier, but now he was slightly annoyed. This was not because Jo was asleep, but because he loved had her ever since he saw her as a child in Evermore.

  Sir Thomas came from a long line of money managers in Gard. They all attended to Lord Yage’s immensely huge pile of wealth as best they could, and now because of them the treasure pile was in order. Large bars of gold were being forged instead of coins, that way there was more space for jewels and gems in the vast treasure hall. It was a sight that Arthur would see in the future, but the amazing sight would be lost on him because his mind would be on other things.

  When the Calgarian family were wealthy enough, they bought the island of Seone from the High King and set about turning it into a sort of paradise above the waves. Sir Thomas Calgarian had a daughter who was being schooled in The Temple of Earthly Wisdom on the island of Ailu; however he never really loved her mother Lady Mary, but still loved Jo. When he was attending an archery contest he saw her for the first time, and at this time Jo was only 104, and was seven years older than him. When they actually met, it was at the after party in the Olandine mansion just outside the main walls of Evermore…

  Several Years Ago…

  “Hello, I’m Jo, what is your name?” asked Jo to the young boy who couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “I…I…” But Thomas couldn’t answer, he was too scared to.

  “OK ‘I’, it’s nice to meet you, is there some reason that you keep staring at me?” asked Jo.

  “Umm,” he replied, but was still too tongue tied to say anything.

  “Come with me, we can go out onto the veranda and you can tell me all about yourself,” said Jo, taking Thomas’s hand.

  Halfway through the main room that was full of people, they were stopped by the High King. “Josephine, where are you going?” he asked.

  “I was taking ‘I’ here to the veranda, to see if the air improves his vocal ability,” replied Jo.

  “I see, well first I would like you to meet Lord Logious Pageon, he is here from Fina with his two children,” said the king.

  “It’s nice to meet you sir,” said Jo.

  “It is nice to meet you to my lady, you shoot very well for a princess,” he said.

  “Thank you very much; you do a lovely job of pointing out my gender and heritage as something that should be taken into consideration when discussing my shooting ability,” said Jo, who walked off and left her father to apologise to Lord Logious.

  “That was brilliant,” said Thomas.

  “I’m not scared of anyone, they are all just people, just like me and you,” said Jo.

  They reached the veranda, and outside were two other children, one a boy with short brown hair, and the other a girl with red hair that grew down to her shoulders. “Good evening,” said the boy.

  “Hello, who might you be?” asked Jo.

  “Arthur, and this is my sister Lilia,” replied the boy.

  “Are you Lord Logious’ children?” asked Jo.

  “Yes, are you Princess Josephine?” asked Lilia.

  “I am, it is nice to meet you two, what are you doing out here?” she asked.

  “I don’t really like talking to people, and neither does my sister,” said Arthur.

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Jo.

  “Why are you out here?” asked Arthur.

  “I’m here with young Thomas, who seems to be gaining his voice back,” said Jo.

  “Aww that is cute,” said Lilia.

  “Hold on Lilia don’t be mean, we all were that young once and think about what would happen if we met Thomas here in the future?” said Arthur.

  “Hah, flashback humour,” shouted a woman in the crowd, who disappeared as soon as she had appeared.

  “I don’t know what that was about, but tell me Thomas what your surname is?” asked Arthur.

  “Calgarian,” said Thomas in a sheepish tone.

  “Oh, so you’re of the book keepers of Gard,” said Lilia sneeringly.

  “I don’t know, it must be a very interesting job, seeing all those gold and jewels and putting them in the right order,” said Arthur.

  “Why do you insist on ordering things?” asked Lilia. “Maybe you have an obsessive compulsion to order things?”

  “Why do you have an obsessive compulsion to disorder things?” asked Arthur.

  “OK, maybe you two should calm down,” said Jo.

  “Yes Princess,” said Lilia.

  “Don’t mind my sister, she is a little bit of a nutcase.” said Arthur.

  “It’s alright, but we are leaving you out Thomas, Thomas?” she asked, but he had gone.

  “He wandered off a couple of minutes ago,” said Arthur.

  “Oh, he seemed rather pleasant,” said Jo.

  “Anyway, I’m going to get something to eat, would you like to join me Josephine?” asked Arthur.

  “I would, and I bet I can eat more than you can,” said Jo. They ran inside and from behind a curtain, the docile and subdued Thomas watched the two, his heart filling with jealousy for the first time.

  Back on Seone Thomas had just remembered all this, and he looked at Arthur and Lilia differently. He didn’t say anything about what came into his mind and still wanted to see Josephine, so decided not to say something that would compromise the situation.

  “Sir Pageon, if you would be kind enough to fetch the princess I shall agree to your terms,” said Thomas.

  “Very well,” said Arthur, who left with Lilia out of the room and walked back to the ship.

  “Look, I don’t know if you remember but Thomas was that guy we met at Jo’s archery tournament,” said Arthur.

  “I remember, I don’t think I was that nice to him,” said Lilia.

  “Like everyone else, I think that’s a reasonable assumption,” said Arthur.

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

  “Protect my fiancée,” said Arthur, who climbed up the rigging to the deck followed by L
ilia.

  Jo was in the sitting room with Stuart, and they both were having tea. “Where did you get the tea from?” asked Arthur.

  “Anyone who is asking that question is thinking too much,” said Jo.

  “Alright, alright, but I need you to do something, something that will seem really odd but don’t treat it as such,” said Arthur.

  “Does this have anything to do with what you asked me to do last night?” she asked.

  “Honeymoon, Jo. No this is much different, come with me upstairs,” said Arthur, and they left Stuart and Lilia in the sitting room.

  Jo emerged about ten minutes later, wearing a white nightgown and with her hair in a mess. “I’m not going to ask,” said Lilia. Arthur came down as well, and led Jo out onto the deck. When Jo got out she saw that Sir Thomas was standing by a tree, watching her as she left the sitting room. When he saw Arthur, he changed his expression.

  “Good morning, Thomas,” she said.

  “Good hello Princess, it’s lovely again to see you,” he said, obviously very nervous. Jo remained on the deck, as Arthur had told her to stay there.

  “I see that you have beaten your shyness,” said Jo.

  “I see that you look as beautiful as ever,” he replied. Arthur didn’t really know what to do, and he turned around to see that Lilia and Stuart had gone up to his room and were watching out of an open window.

  “I was wondering if you would stay for dinner,” said Thomas.

  “I’m afraid not, we were only here to carry out my father’s orders and we must leave now for Vertise,” she said.

  Thomas now had become angry, because when his family had moved here he got everything he ever wanted, but the one thing he truly desired was in front of him and he couldn’t have it. “Very well, once again the influence of our parents dictates our lives,” said Thomas.

  “I’m sorry, I hope you will agree to the proposition of my father,” she said.

  “Yes I think I will, being a Lord has its advantages like being able to visit Evermore,” he said.

  “Goodbye Thomas,” she said, and the ship’s engines started up and it lifted off. Jo walked back inside with Arthur, and they began their journey to Vertise, almost.

  The ship was about a quarter of a mile from the high castle, and it suddenly stopped, and descended. Arthur walked to the flight deck, which had windows so clear that it was like they were not there. “Why have we stopped?” asked Arthur.

  “It looks like a sea creature is in a spot of bother,” said Corky.

  Sure enough the Sneaky Sea Creature was struggling to swim, and in broad daylight it looked quite silly. “Land in the sea, we’re going to pick this one up,” said Arthur.

  “Yes sir!” said Corky, who brought the ship down onto the calm sea next to the creature. Arthur walked onto the deck and looked over the banister. The sea creature grabbed onto the rigging with webbed hands and panted from exhaustion.

  “It looks like you are in need of assistance,” said Arthur, who climbed down and held out his hand.

  “Thank you,” it said, and took Arthur’s hand. Arthur hauled it onto the deck, and it rested with its back on the banister. It had a large mouth, and two evil looking eyes, and a long tail. The green scales glistened in the sunlight, and with its feet stretched out it looked almost human.

  “OK. This has never happened before so I’m just going to come out and say it, who is it that I have the honour of addressing?” asked Arthur.

  The creature took its head off; and Arthur saw that it was a woman, with long black hair and brown eyes. “Lady Mary Calgarian” she said.

  “The absent Lady Calgarian I see,” said Arthur.

  “Are you going to take me back to him?” she asked in a proud voice.

  “Oh no we’re not going back to Seone any time soon, you’re with us to Vertise at least,” said Arthur, sitting next to her.

  The ship lifted off, and a spray of water filled the air as it rose steadily into the sky. It then continued on its course to Vertise, the garden island and the shrine of Authos. “So tell me, Mary, why you would want to leave such a nice well balanced individual like Sir Thomas?” asked Arthur.

  “I take it from your wording that you could already guess,” she replied.

  “I think that we are doing you a favour, because anyone who would want to leave someone bad enough to swim across the open sea must be desperate,” said Arthur.

  “You guessed it; I was heading for Vertise because one of my family is a gardener there, and he could help me,” she said.

  “What was he doing to make you want to leave?” asked Arthur.

  “He had a shrine to Princess Josephine which I accidently discovered, and when I confronted him about it he got violent. I said I wanted a divorce, and he imprisoned me in the bottom of the castle,” she said.

  “That part seems to make sense, but how did you get this costume?” asked Arthur.

  “It was given to me, by a strange woman who visited my cell,” she said.

  “I thought so, she said that she would influence things,” said Arthur.

  “Who are you talking about?” she asked.

  “Would you believe Authos?” asked Arthur.

  “No, I’m afraid not,” she replied.

  “Oh well it is pretty unbelievable, but at least you are safe,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “This is what you want, what you really really want?” asked Arthur.

  “Yes, you got me out of a loveless marriage and when I tell my father about this, he will get me a divorce straight away and then he will ruin him,” she said.

  “Remember Mary you have a daughter, and I don’t think you should subject her to her father being ruined. Secondly, he couldn’t help it that he loved someone that he could never have. When a person truly falls in love nothing will ever really erase that feeling, they can have all the most beautiful people thrown at them but that spark that first ignited their heart will never be extinguished, and you unfortunately married a man who was already sparked,” said Arthur.

  “That’s a lovely way to put it, but it doesn’t make me feel any better and imprisoning me wasn’t a normal thing to do,” she said.

  “I know it sounds like I’m defending the guy here, and he does have an unhealthy obsession with my fiancée which I will let slide because he couldn’t help it. Getting back to your imprisonment, his world was crumbling around him and people do things that they later regret in those times, and I think he will to. I would suggest that you take a break from him, he will see that imprisoning you didn’t work and that you are not an object that is under his control, and that you are free,” said Arthur.

  “And what if he doesn’t change?” she asked.

  “Then at least your father knows he will be able to help, who is your father anyway?” asked Arthur.

  “Squire Peter of Alkenwedge and Tanalos,” she said.

  “I see, well he can give you all the help; you need and it’s a pity he isn’t closer,” said Arthur.

  The Garden of Authos

  The ship was now in sight of Vertise which looked like a tropical paradise even from a mile away. In the centre was a massive stepped pyramid, and on its various tiers trees and plants grew, so it looked like a mountain. “It looks incredible,” said Arthur.

  “It does, doesn’t it,” said Mary.

  “You can go into my sitting room and take off your costume, Mary, Jo will find you something to wear,” said Arthur.

  “Thank you, you’re very kind,” she said.

  “Yeah, it’s what I do,” said Arthur, brushing his lapel.

  The ship landed at the base of the pyramid, which had small steps leading all the way to the top. “I think she wants us to climb to the top,” said Arthur.

  “The worst thing is, I think you are right,” said Jo. The five of them had congregated on the deck, and just stared up at the colossal structure.

  “Couldn’t we fly up?” asked Lilia.

  “Somet
hing wrong with your feet?” asked Arthur.

  “But that’s effort,” she replied.

  “Yes, yes it is,” said Arthur, who jumped off the boat and began to climb.

  It was midday and the further up they climbed, the hotter it became. “I have to admit, she picks the perfect places in the perfect times,” said Arthur.

  “Who does?” asked Mary.

  “Archie, or as you would know her, Authos,” said Arthur.

  “I still don’t believe you,” said Mary.

  “You’ll see,” said Jo, who was struggling to keep up with Arthur and Stuart. They got about halfway, and then decided to stop. They took a detour to the side, and walked off around one of the many forested tiers of the pyramid.

  “I like it here, she hasn’t got something that shows off but something that works with nature,” said Jo.

  “I think it looks like a mountain,” said Lilia.

  “Maybe that was what she was going for,” said Arthur.

  “CORRECT!” boomed a voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere.

  “I think we better continue upwards,” said Arthur.

  “There’s something I don’t understand. Spacey” said Stuart.

  “And that is?” asked Arthur.

  “Why did Jo have to wear a white nightgown and have messy hair when she was already up and dressed?” asked Stuart.

  “I thought that she should look normal, since it seems that Sir Thomas wanted Jo just as she had been before, regal and perfect. Of course I can’t erase one of those things, so I went for normality to soften the blow,” explained Arthur.

  “I see, so you tried to make her look less desirable on purpose?” he asked.

  “If that is even possible,” replied Arthur.

  “Thank you,” said Jo, who was catching up with the two men. Lilia was behind with Mary, and the two seemed to be having fun bashing how stuck up Sir Thomas was.

  They finally reached the top, and on the large stone plain that lay around them was a simple throne in the centre, and someone was sat on it. “Archie!” shouted Arthur, who ran to her. Jo was amazed that Arthur had any energy left, but she tried her best to run after him. Stuart waited for Lilia and Mary.