The King's Folly

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The King's Folly Page 31

by Robin Simmons


  Raven loved Master Fields almost as a father. They had fought side by side in the great battle and he knew more about Raven than anyone, so he did not evade Master Fields’ question.

  “Yes,” Raven said, “there is more to this than a friendly visit. You yourself know that I have special abilities that have enhanced my reflexes and coordination.” Master Fields nodded and listened intently to what Raven was saying. “Those abilities I have came from my ancestors. There were other abilities as well. Rebekka has received some from her ancestors as well. She can speak to a person without using her voice.”

  Master Fields looked at Rebekka and she smiled and spoke to his mind, “It is true, my beloved Master Fields. I have this gift. Whether it is a blessing or curse, I know not.”

  Master Fields was shocked. He heard Rebekka just as plain as day, but facing her, he knew she did not speak with voice for her mouth remained closed.

  Raven continued, “We sought the wisdom of the ancients and found a secret place that contains that wisdom. There is an old hermit there who is the Keeper of Wisdom. It is he who has summoned us by speaking to Rebekka, to her mind. He cares as much for this kingdom as we do and he watches over all that goes on here in Glenfair. His urgent summons must be answered, for Lorriel’s own gift has been awakened and I fear what she shall do may cause great harm to us all.”

  Master Fields kept looking back and forth from Rebekka to Raven shaking his head while trying to sort out what he had heard.

  Finally he spoke, “What gift does Lorriel possess that is so dangerous?”

  “She can travel through time to any place she desires. To what extent, I do not know yet. She came here and vanished yesterday before I could stop her.”

  Master Fields was now more perplexed and Raven could see this latest revelation tore at his understanding.

  He looked at Raven seriously and said, “I want to go with you to this secret place you have spoken of.”

  Raven looked at Master Fields sympathetically and said, “I will take you someday, but for now I need you to stay here and watch over the affairs of the kingdom, especially if Lorriel were to show up here, you are to make her stay until I return.”

  Master Fields nodded and then added, “I would not believe you save for the fact you have never lied to me.”

  Raven smiled, “The day our inner council made me accept the throne, I pledged to all of you truth and loyalty. This kingdom is to be built on trust so I cannot withhold this from you. You promised to always be truthful with me and likewise I do to you. I have not told you everything, but like Sauron, some things you must see for yourself if you are to understand. Soon in the future, I will take you to meet the keeper and then you will know all I know.”

  Master Fields accepted this with great appreciation, for he knew that something as special as this could not be shared with anyone Raven could not fully trust. It made him love and want to serve him the more. He left then to ready their horses for the journey north, while Raven and Rebekka made preparations as well.

  As they rode out, Master Fields watched them go and thought that he had always known Rebekka, Andrew, Lorriel, and Raven were special, gifted, and unique. “How often do gifted people like them come along? Once in a millennia? There has to be a special purpose for them to have such gifts at this time in our history and I believe I shall live to see it. The Almighty directs the affairs of men to what ends He sees fit. It is no coincidence that the four of them are here now and gifted beyond others.”

  Master Fields continued to watch until Raven and Rebekka were out of sight, turned and went back inside smiling to himself knowing that a new era of history was in the making. He wondered if the four of them knew that they were destined for something great.

  Andronicus was instantly aware that someone had shifted time. He had been created by those who understood the mechanics of time manipulation and was made especially sensitive to these temporal effects. He hurried to the room that housed some of the machines of the ancients to determine further what had actually happened. He was an android and not afraid but would have been if he had been programed for that emotion. Alert was the best way to describe him at this moment, and perhaps apprehensive. After all, he had been left here more than a thousand years to guard the kingdom of Glenfair and to keep the wisdom of the ancients, and above all else watch out for the evil enemy that had driven the ancients from the future to this place of refuge. As he entered the main house and into the room where the computing machines were, he saw a red light flashing on a console and knew immediately that the other machines had picked up the same shift in time he had. He stared for a moment at the blinking warning light, mesmerized that it should be active after so many years, hardly believing it to be true. The fact that it was blinking compelled him to deal with this as he had been instructed. Moving up to the computing machine, he asked it to locate where the time shift had occurred. A map was displayed and to his horror and amazement the shift in time had taken place at the far end of the garden by the falls. Now Andronicus was troubled, the enemy should never have been able to find this place, and if he did, all was lost. Just then a second thought entered his calculating mind. It had to be one of the ancients come forward in time to see him, so he started off to meet whoever it was, hoping that it was someone he knew as a friend and not a foe.

  Lorriel appeared at the top of the falls on the garden pathway that led to the crystal mansion. She began to walk slowly, once again taking in the beauty around her, enjoying immensely the garden and its soothing design of grass, flower, shrub, and tree. When she thought of her purpose here, she quickened her pace and hurried down the path toward the glass building.

  As she topped a small rise, she saw Andronicus coming toward her and called out to him, “Hello, keeper. It is good to see you again.”

  Andronicus stopped in front of Lorriel and looked at her intently for some time before he spoke, “I do not know you so you are not from my past, but you know me so you must be from my future. Tell me, from how far in the future have you come back?”

  Lorriel was stunned for a moment as the words of Andronicus settled upon her understanding, “Of course he would not know her. They had not yet met in his time. How foolish she was to forget that this was the past.”

  Now she spoke more measuredly, “I have come from only a little over two years in the future. I am sorry for the confusion over knowing you and expecting you to know me. My name is Lorriel Kallestor, and we will meet again in the future, and there will be others with me when we meet again. I have come back in time because of a very urgent matter I would like you to help me with.”

  Andronicus again looked thoughtfully at Lorriel and spoke, “You have inherited your ancestor’s ability to shift time which is a rare and unique gift, but also one of great responsibility and power. How long have you had your abilities, and how did you recognize your potential? As far as I know you are the first besides the ancients who has ever had this ability and used it.”

  Lorriel answered, “In reality, I only knew of this gift today in my time, and this is only my second shift in time.”

  Now Andronicus was startled at this revelation, “You should not have come so far in time on your second trip. It could be dangerous, but never mind that. Come to the house with me and we will have some refreshment and discuss this in greater detail.”

  The two headed down the path that led to the glass building and upon entering, Andronicus motioned for Lorriel to sit while he went for refreshment.

  As he started to leave, Lorriel spoke to him, “Please, Keeper, my reason for being here is urgent. We must attend to it right away.”

  Andronicus looked at Lorriel with a very puzzled expression and said, “You are a time shifter. We have all the time you need. What is your rush?”

  “It is not me, Keeper,” Lorriel stated. “Someone of great importance to me needs your help, and her time is running out.”

  Andronicus then sat down and said, “Tell m
e about the burden on your heart.”

  Lorriel proceeded to tell Andronicus of the plague in the future and of the cure they found here in the stored wisdom of the ancients, in their computing machine, and of how they had helped the people of that time and saved lives. Then she told him of her mother’s death from the poisoning and it being the reason she had come to this time several days before her mother died.

  After showing Andronicus the formula for the cure of the poison, they returned to the sitting room, and after they were seated Andronicus asked, “Why did you come here instead of to your mother’s side and administer the cure yourself? Why come here?”

  “I did not want to run into myself in the past or anyone else that might see me and guess that I had traveled in time.”

  Andronicus nodded in approval, “Yes, it would not be good to see yourself. We do not know what the consequences of that action would bring since no one has ever done that before. There seems to be an innate understanding that time travelers have not to be in the presence of their past or future selves, as if they know somehow that it would be harmful. Now tell me, would you have me administer the cure to your mother?”

  “Yes,” Lorriel stated, “only I want you to bring her here and cure her in this place. I do not want her staying in the castle.”

  Andronicus was confused once again, “Why would you want me to do this? There seems to be no logic in this action at all.”

  Lorriel sighed and then spoke, “There will be much heartache and pain in the next two years in our family. Before I knew I could cure the sickness Mother had, I often thought it was a blessing for her to have died before we had all the pain and suffering come upon us. There is such sadness, war, and death that will come upon the Kallestor family, the likes no one should endure if they could be spared such pain. That is why I wish you to bring her here to cure her. She will be alive and spared great tragedy at the same time.”

  “Will not her disappearance cause much more difficulty for you than her death?”

  Lorriel shook her head, “No, this is what you must do. I will tell you how you can enter the castle unseen through secret passages that no one knows about yet.”

  “I do know about the secret passages in the castle,” Andronicus said, “but please, go on.”

  Lorriel continued, “While it is still dark, early in the morning you will build a pyre just outside the castle and place a decoy on it that would look like the human shape. After you remove Mother from the south tower, set the pyre on fire and bring her here. Everyone will think that she died early and the doctor in fear of the plague burned her body to stop the plague from spreading. He will deny it, but everyone will think he did this for all of our good and the kingdom’s safety.”

  “Are you sure this will work?” Andronicus asked.

  Lorriel looked him very seriously in the eye and stated, “The plan will work fine because the burning was shrouded in mystery. Only now I know the doctor was telling the truth and did not burn the body, it will be you burning a decoy instead.”

  Lorriel said this with a smile, now knowing that it was she herself that devised the whole mystery surrounding her mother’s death.

  “Will you do this for me?” Lorriel asked.

  Andronicus started to say something but then stopped and just nodded.

  Lorriel stood and said, “I will return now to my own time and come here with the others and see Mother.” She hastily added, “Do not let her see us when we come the first time to this place. I do not want to know I have the ability to travel in time before I discover it on my own. I may attempt to time travel too soon and fail, and if that happens I would be discouraged about trying again, and then never travel at all and Mother would not be saved. So you must not tell me you have seen me before nor allow me to see Mother until we come for the purpose of seeing her, knowing she is alive, do you understand?”

  Andronicus nodded. “More than you realize,” he said.

  And then he stated, “Do you understand, daughter of Kallestor? Everyone will think her dead so she will have to remain here for the rest of her life.”

  Lorriel nodded and then said, “I must go now. Please do as I have asked for I fear anything that could rob me of this chance to save her.”

  Before she closed her eyes, Andronicus said, “When you return after time travel, it is best to return to the same time and place that you left.”

  Lorriel nodded, closed her eyes, imagined the place and time of her first departure. She then willed herself there and vanished.

  After she vanished, Andronicus thought, this will be a hard lesson for her, but very necessary. I will also have to keep my eyes and ears open to the Kallestor family and see if there are any more surprises. After more than a thousand years, it is good to finally have some things happening again. Maybe there will be other interesting developments.

  One thing he did know was that in the future Lorriel and others would find their way here before she knew of her abilities.

  Would they solve the riddles? he wondered. They must if they are to come here. Amazing, he thought, after a thousand years it is finally happening.

  Raven and Rebekka reached Crestlaw Castle by early evening, and upon entering the courts were greeted by Andrew.

  “What brings you here to visit us, Your Majesty,” asked Andrew. “Is it urgent business?”

  “Yes,” replied Raven, “where is Lorriel?”

  “She is up in the far west corner of the castle meditating. She does that often in the early evening. Would you want me to send for her?” asked Andrew.

  “No,” Raven spoke, holding up his hand, “if I have guessed right, she will come to us soon. Come we must talk of important matters concerning the keeper.”

  Andrew looked suspiciously at Raven and Rebekka before turning and leading them inside so they could talk privately in comfort.

  After being seated, Raven turned to Andrew and said, “The keeper has spoken to Rebekka and requested our presence. The four of us must go to see him tomorrow and find out why he has summoned us to come. I believe it is because of Lorriel. Do you remember that the keeper said she possessed a power greater than all of ours? Well, I believe it has manifested itself.”

  “What power could Lorriel have?” Andrew asked.

  Raven sighed and then spoke to Andrew slowly, “Yesterday, about this time I was in the great hall and Lorriel appeared to me out of thin air. She then asked what day it was and when I told her, she explained to me that she had traveled back a day in time and also to the place of her wishing, the great hall.”

  Andrew was shocked, “How can this be? Where did she get such ability?”

  “The same place we got all of ours,” Raven replied, “from our ancestors.”

  Andrew just looked at Raven blankly so Raven continued. “Andronicus told me our ancestors came to this valley from the far distant future. One in their company could travel in time and brought all our ancestors here to flee an ancient enemy, thus beginning the kingdom of Glenfair. This woman who had the ability to shift time married a Kallestor and Lorriel is her descendant and has received her abilities. Andronicus can tell if time has shifted, so when Lorriel traveled through time, he spoke yesterday to Rebekka for us to come and see him, knowing that Lorriel had traveled through time. That is why we are to visit him tomorrow. There is something else,” Raven went on. “Before I could talk long with Lorriel, she thought of Mother and the plague and said she could save her and vanished before I could stop her. I fear grave things could happen if she does what I believe she will.”

  Now Andrew with his gifted analytical mind began to piece everything together quickly, and when the full impact of what Raven said settled upon him, he turned pale and spoke with fear in his voice, “If she alters the past, it could have grave consequences, even harmful ones for the future, our time. Lorriel is impulsive and does not contemplate the consequences of her actions. I fear her emotions this time have clouded her reason concerning her
mother.”

  Rebekka spoke up and asked, “How can we know if our time has been changed or altered by what Lorriel will do in the past?”

  Andrew, now with his mind analyzing all the information stated, “I do not believe we can know if things have been changed. Maybe only the time traveler can tell if things are different when she returns to her own time. We will have to talk to the keeper about these things tomorrow.”

  Then Rebekka spoke again, “If Lorriel went to save her mother and she succeeded, then should not her mother have survived the plague and be alive at the Kallestor castle now? But we all know she still died. That is what we remember.”

  Raven was contemplating what Rebekka said when they heard Lorriel yelling for Andrew.

  “Andrew, Andrew,” Lorriel shouted as she ran into the room. She stopped mid sentence when she saw Rebekka and Raven sitting there as well.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “The keeper summoned us to come yesterday at the same time you appeared to me in the great hall. We came here at the time you left believing you would return to the same time. We are to go tomorrow and meet with him,” said Raven.

  “Yes, yes,” said Lorriel, “mother is alive and with the keeper. We must go and see her tomorrow!”

  Raven, Rebekka, and Andrew all looked at each other in silence, all wondering the same thing, “What had changed that they were unaware of?”

  “Yes,” Andrew said, “we will all go tomorrow and see the keeper and your mother. There are many questions that will need to be answered, I am sure, but for now we should all get some rest before our adventure.”

  Raven and Rebekka were tired from the trip and welcomed the opportunity to retire. But Andrew knew that Lorriel would not be ready for some time to go to sleep. Her excitement and emotions were soaring high at the moment. So bidding the king and queen good night, Andrew and Lorriel went for a walk to ease the tension and excitement of the day’s events.

 

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