Forever Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 3) (8 page)

As they were admiring a sculpture of two swans facing one another, a young page, underdressed for winter, came running up to them.  By the time he had reached them, he was out of breath, so it took him several tries to spit out his message.

“The king,” the boy said, gulping for air.  “They say his life is failing.  You are to come at once.”

Prince Toknon, without another word, took off running for the palace, leaving Queen Elissa and the page standing underneath the twin swans. 

***

The page took it upon himself to lead the queen back to the palace.  As soon as they reached the palace, an older gentlemen apologized profusely for the prince’s quick exit and guided them through the palace to the king’s chambers.

A number of people were standing outside, talking in hushed voices.  As soon as the queen approached, they all became silent and turned towards her.

A young lady stepped forward and whispered to her, “The prince has requested that you join him in the king’s chamber.”

Toknon rose from the king’s bedside as soon as Elissa entered.  His eyes were red and tears stained his cheek.  She found it surprising and actually attractive that he had been crying over his father’s health.

“Is he…?” Elissa asked as delicately as she could.

“He is awake.  Come.  He wishes to see you.”

Elissa slowly stepped forward.  The door behind her closed, and she glanced back at it.  She was all alone, except for the prince and the king.  She felt uncomfortable in the presence of the king, which she knew was silly.  She still found it odd that she was the ruler of a kingdom.

King Lorraine was propped up by a large, fluffy pillow.  His face was winkled and worn, and his skin had an ashen tint to it.  His eyes were as red as Toknon’s, but not because he had been crying.  His grey hair had been trimmed short and was brushed back.  He lifted a hand from under the covers, which Elissa took.

“My lady,” the king said with a scratchy voice.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.  I trust your father is well.”  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He continued slowly, almost painfully, “He and I never met, but through messenger.  I can say he is a good man.  I wish it were he that had paid a visit to me.  Please tell him he should come once the snows are gone.”

“He remembers little,” Toknon said with a whisper.

The king squeezed her hand.  “I wish I could see the joining of our kingdoms.  It has been too long that we have been enemies.  It is good that we are now friends.”

“The people of our kingdoms will be friends,” Elissa said.

“Elissa, right?  Princess Elissa, you are such a beautiful young lady.”  The king closed his eyes and his breathing slowed for a moment.  With his eyes still closed, and his hand still holding Elissa’s, he continued.  “You shall make a fine bride for my son.  It is good for our kingdoms.”

Toknon smiled embarrassingly, and explained once again, “He does not know, or does not remember.”

Elissa smiled back, “It is okay.  He does not have much time, does he?”

The king’s breathing had returned to a slow and steady rhythm.  With his eyes closed, it was clear that king had fallen asleep.

“He has been ill for some time.  He is old and has lived a full life.  I guess it is just his time.”

Elissa did not know what to say, but she could feel the tears coming.  She remembered once again the pain that she felt when she saw her father’s body, and the pain that she continued to feel as she went through his funeral and burial.  It seemed as if she had cried for weeks.

The tears flowed because she was sad for the dying king, but also because she was utterly confused.  The man who led the army that killed her father stood just two feet from her and she had stopped feeling anger towards him.  At least until this moment.  The anger came back as she realized she never had this moment with her father.  She never had an opportunity to say good bye, at least not forever.  He had left with a promise to return, and he had broken that promise.  She was not naive enough to think that he was really at fault for breaking that promise, but if anyone was responsible, it was Prince Toknon.

The tears flowed because she was angry at herself for falling for this prince, this evil man who just so happened to have turned good when he needed something.  He was the enemy and he deserved to die for killing her father.

“I am so sorry,” Toknon said.

Elissa did not look up, she kept staring at King Lorraine, wondering when he would take his last breath.  She was actually looking forward to it, hoping it would break Toknon as much as her father’s death and broken her.

“I can see it in your face,” Toknon continued.  “You do not see my father, but you see yours.”

“How could you!” she screamed at him.  “How could you kill my father and then invite me into your home.  How could you!”

“I can say it a thousand times and I would mean it no less.  It is painful to see my father die.  As difficult as it sounds, I envy you in that you did not see your father die this way, to slowly go away.  I would much rather have him go quickly.”

She turned her head away from him, “And I wish that I had time to say good bye to my father.  To tell him I loved him.  To tell him what a great man he was and how much I will miss him.”  She snapped her head back to glare at him.  “And you took that from me!”

“I can only apologize so many times, Elissa.  It could easily have been me that was killed in that battle.  We have already been through this.  Are you going to yell at me anytime something reminds you of your father?  And then am I going to apologize a thousand times each time?  When will you forgive me?  I mean truly forgive me.  Not just with your words, but with your heart.”

Elissa sniffled unladylike and rubbed her eyes.  She turned away, hearing his words, but her anger had left.  “You are right.  I am sorry.  I see your father there, and I cannot help but to see mine.”

“We really are not the enemy.  We are your friends, all of us.”

She looked up at him through tears and let out a laugh.  “We really have already been through this before, haven’t we?”

Prince Toknon smiled back.  “Yes we have.”

A calmness fell over her now that the anger was gone.  She gently took King Lorraine’s hand.  “May I stay?”

“Of course,” Toknon said.  He watched her look at his father and realized that he was certainly in love with her.  He surprised himself at his own revelation.  He had always told himself that if it happened, it would only be a marriage of convenience.  They were too different, too far apart.  But he did not believe that any more.  They really were closer than he had realized.  He opened his mouth to tell her everything, to tell her about the Taran army that was going to come through Thell on their way to Karmon, but the words stuck in his throat.  If he were to tell her now, he would certainly lose her forever.  She would hate him for what he had done.  Not only had he been responsible for her father dying, he would be responsible for letting her kingdom come under attack by the Tarans.

Maybe she would understand that he had to protect his people.  If he didn’t go along with the Tarans, they would do more than just march through his land, they would attack Thellia first, and then they would move on into Karmon.  She was so forgiving about her father that she would certainly be forgiving about the Tarans.  No one had died, yet.  She would have time to prepare her forces and maybe they would be able to repel the Tarans.

But Thell wouldn’t be able to.  Their city had no walls to stop the centurions.  The castle was heavily fortified, but it would not stand against the siege engines that Taran would throw at it.  It would only take hours for her walls to fall.  And once the castle was taken, the rest of the land would be ripe for Taran to take over.  Thell would no longer exist.  And if the Taran commander was good with his threats, no Thellian would survive either.

He knew he had to protect Elissa, but right now he had no idea how he could save both her and his kingdom.  If he could convince her to stay here in Thell, then he could protect her.  But he knew she was anxious to get back to her own castle.  He would be too, so he couldn’t blame her.  And if he pressed too hard, he would risk revealing the Taran plot and then his kingdom would be attacked.

He looked down at his father and hoped that maybe he would survive through spring and Elissa would just stay until then.  But as he watched, he saw that his father’s chest stop moving and could hear the last breath leave his body.  For his entire life he had wished to be king, but now that it was upon him, he did not want it.  He could not be known as the last king of Thell.  That legacy would haunt him and his family forever.  Toknon looked up at Queen Elissa and took in her beauty.  He loved her and he would do whatever he could to save her, but his kingdom would have to come first.

Chapter Seven

The crackle and pop of a nearby fire woke Conner from his sleep.  He could feel the warmth of the flames on his back and the chill of the morning air on his front.  He sat up, pulling his cloak tighter about him.  His companion, looking as haggard and unkempt as ever, was tossing more wood onto the fire.  Conner watched him closely, still not quite believing that he was once the ruler of the Taran Empire.

“You finally are awake,” Hargon said.

Conner looked at the sun, which was well above the eastern horizon.  “It is late.  Why did you let me sleep so long?”

“You were very weary and weak.  You needed as much sleep as you could get.”

Conner rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself up.  “You healed me, though.”

“Well, I presume that death takes a lot out of someone.  Plus, we have a several day journey ahead of us.  You need to be fully rested before we start.”

“Are you sure we want to go to Iseron?” Conner asked, stretching a sore back.  His body was used to sleeping on the ground, but his body was rebelling against all that he had put it through the past day.

“I think it’s our only option.  Maybe we will find a ship there, but if not, we will need provisions.  We will not survive the mountains in these cloaks.  We will need thick fur pelts and a horse, if possible.”

Conner’s stomach rumbled.  “And food, I hope.”

“There is little to be had here, I am afraid.”

“We will need to find a bow and a hunting knife, too.  Unless we have a horse, we won’t be able to carry enough food with us, so we’ll have to find our own.”

“You can hunt, then?” Hargon asked.

“Of course.”

“I have spent little time outside the city.  Hunting and foraging for food is not quite my thing.  How far is it to your South Karmon?”

Conner stood up and stretched more, continuing to shake the stiffness out of his joints.  He looked to the east, but there were too many trees around them to see far.  “We’ll cross over into the White Mountains and then head south along the shore of the gulf.  If the passes are clear, then it could take us a good two weeks.  More if the weather goes bad.”

“You’ve been across the mountains before?”

Conner shook his head.  “Only coming west.  And I’ve never been in the mountains in the winter.  I’ve had no desire to and no reason to.  If we can avoid it, we should. I only know of the mountain passes that I took to come over here to Taran.  There could be others, but I don’t know of them.  And if the passes are closed and the snow is too deep, then we’ll have to wait until spring.”

Conner knew that they could not wait that long.  There was no desperation in Michael’s voice or demeanor, but there certainly was urgency.  Getting to the Ark of Life as quickly as they could was important, but Conner had other reasons to get back home.  He really missed the South Karmon, and of course Elissa.  The thought of her being there kept him motivated to keep moving towards home.  He was still frustrated with himself for leaving in the first place, but it was certainly possible, if not very likely, that if he had stayed, the Royal Guard would have arrested him for killing Neffenmark.  If he had stayed and somehow kept from getting arrested for killing his kingdom’s king, he would never have met the emperor or Taran.  He would never have been killed in the Taran fighting arena, which means he would not have met Michael and been given the task of finding the Ark of Life.

Behind Hargon, almost directly above his head was the bright star that had been visible day and night for many months.  At first he had been distracted by it, always looking at it, always wondering what it was.  But after so many months, he was so used to it that he hardly noticed it anymore.  But there it was, shining brightly down upon them.  It had been when he first met Elissa that the light came and he could not help but think that the two were related.  Was it really possible that the bright star somehow foretold the destiny that was being laid out before him?  He finally understood something that Michael had said.  Michael had been waiting for him to die so that they could meet.  And yet, for him to die, and fulfill his task, he would have had have to been revived.  It could not have been coincidence that Hargon had happened upon him just at the right time.  It had to be something bigger, much bigger than he could understand.

A shiver went up his spine as he realized how many different pieces had to fall in place just at the right time for him to meet Michael.  So many different people, from so many different parts of the world, needed to be doing the right thing and in just the right place.  And if all these things were coming together at this one point in time, and he was right in the middle of it, then maybe this task was truly something much bigger than he had imagined.

Conner’s heart started to race as the realization of what he could be involved in came over him.  This wasn’t a game.  It wasn’t the life or death of a princess; it was so much bigger.  The fate of the entire world could rest on his shoulders and he needed to be strong enough to handle it.  But he was just a barely a man.  The task at hand was just too great for him.

Hargon looked at him and said, “It is time to go.  We’ve already wasted too much daylight.”

“Just another moment,” Conner said softly.

“What’s wrong?”

“This.  All of this.  Whoever Michael is, whatever he is, he asked me to do something that I can’t do.”

Hargon scratched his beard.  “What do you mean, you can’t do it?”

“I’d always wanted to go to Taran.  I’d heard stories from travelers who would come through my village when I was a little boy.  They told grand stories of adventure and wonders.  They would spend hours just describing the city and how wonderful it was and how big it was.  And it is.  It is great.  It is huge.  It’s bigger and better than I could ever have imagined, but I spent most of my time there in a cell, fighting for my life.  I had to kill to survive.  And not just kill, but slaughter.”

“We all have those things that we must do.”

“Yeah, well, I just want to go back to my old life.”

“And where was that?”

“I lived with my aunt.  But I spent most of my time in the woods, hunting and camping.  It was quiet and peaceful.  No one was trying to kill me or asking me to do things I could never do.  I can’t steal this Ark!  Why would he ask me to do this thing?”

“It sounds like you had a boring life.  We’ve been in the woods just a couple days, and I want to kill myself because I’m bored.”

“You’re an emperor!  Talk about living an exciting life!  You are the ruler of the greatest empire the world has ever known.  You can do anything you want and you can have anyone do anything you want!”

“Have you taken a good long look at me?  My hair is tangled and ratty.  My beard is long and it itches like you can’t believe.  My brother has been trying to kill me for years and he will be doing whatever he can to find me.  He will tear apart my city if he thinks I’m still there.  He’ll hunt me down to the ends of the earth, if need be.  How great is that?”

“Listen,” Hargon continued after a moment to take a deep breath.  “I didn’t live a great life.  I couldn’t just ride outside the city and see the countryside.  I couldn’t make friends with anyone I wanted.  I had to act a certain way, say things the right way, always be the emperor and never just Hargon.  So don’t go holding me up as the person you’d rather be.  As a matter of fact, I envy you.  I’d much rather be you than me.  Especially since you are also about half my age, and I’d like to be young again.”

“I’m not sure I can do this.”

“Finding the Ark?”

“Yes.  Finding it, hiding it.  All of it.  If I have it, don’t you think your brother and the Deceiver will come after me to try and take it back?  And it’s not like I could ever stand up against them!”  He let out a long sigh.  “I wish Master Goshin were here.  He always knew what to say.”

“Master Goshin?”

“A friend of mine,” Conner said with sadness in his voice.  “Your brother killed him, right in front of me, and right in front of everyone in the area.”

“Tarcious always liked theatrics.”

“Your brother is pure evil.  I am going to kill him.”

Hargon smiled.  “If we catch him together, I’ll hold him down.”

Conner let a laugh out. “Deal.”

“You’re not alone in this.  I am here with you and the two of us together can figure this out.  You’re not worthy, I’m not worthy, but someone has to do this.  It might as well be us.”

“Let’s get moving, then.”

***

As the sun climbed the sky on their fourth day out from Tara City, Conner took the lead through the thick underbrush of the Taran wilderness.  They avoided the main highway between Tara City and Iseron, which made their journey longer, but allowed them to avoid being seen by travelers and patrolling centurions.  Being far off the beaten path also gave them the confidence to light a fire at night to keep them warm.  Although the memory of bandits was fresh in his mind, Conner knew that if they didn’t keep a fire lit at night, they wouldn’t survive the cold night.

Following game trails kept them moving quickly, although not quite in a straight line.  But it kept them from having to force their way through thick underbrush.  Mostly they walked single file in silence.  There was little to say between an emperor and a simple commoner, but Conner was glad for the silence.  He spent much of his time thinking of Master Goshin, replaying the many lessons that he had been taught.  And besides, if they had been chatting, they never would have heard the voices.

Conner had come to a stop first, raising a hand to silence Hargon when he had started to ask a question.  He closed his eyes and tuned out everything around him.  He focused not on any words that were being said, but just on the voices to try and discover where they were coming from.

Finally, Conner pointed in the general direction that the game trail had been taking them. 

“They are ahead of us,” Conner said softly.

“Bandits?” Hargon asked.

“I don’t know.  Could you understand them?”

“I thought I could hear some Taran words, but I can’t be sure.  How far away?”

“Voices in the forest are hard to track.  Sometimes they carry a long way, but not always.  We should check them out.  If we can be quiet about it, they will never know that we are near.”

“Should we not keep going to Iseron?”

“We have to know who it is.  If they are bandits, we’ll just hunker down and let them leave the area and then we’ll head on to Iseron.  If we just continue on, they may hear us, and if they are bandits, then we’ll be in trouble.  Unless you can do one of those fireball things like your brother can do?”

Hargon let out a grunt, “Of course not.”

“Stay low and be quiet,” Conner ordered.  With slow, patient steps, he led them towards the voices.

The game trail met up with a small creek that continued in a general southeasterly direction.  The scent of salt filled his senses, so he knew that they were close to the Gulf of Taran once again.  The trail came to an end soon after they had followed the creek, but they continued moving through the light underbrush.  With all the leaves gone from the trees and bushes, it made it easier to find a quick way through the trees.  It also made Conner feel better about the possibility of bandits in the forest.  With no leaves, it would have been difficult, but not impossible, to find good places to hide.  But now, as the sun hovering above the western horizon, he was more worried about surviving the night in the cold than bandits.

Louder shouts caused Conner and Hargon to freeze.  They were close, maybe a hundred yards away through the trees.  Although there were no leaves on the trees, the forest was still thick enough that they couldn’t see too far.  The creek widened and its high banks flattened, which made it easier to walk next to the water.  Conner continued onward cautiously.

The creek made a sharp bend and then opened up into a lake.  A large tree had fallen at the entrance, which partially obscured their view of the lake.  Conner climbed up on the log and looked out onto the open water, ignoring Hargon’s incessant questions about what he saw.

“If you want to see,” Conner shot back with a whisper.  “You come up here.”

Conner stood precariously on top of the fallen tree, using only his balance to keep him up.  It had taken an acrobatic move just to get from the bank to the tree in the first place, something Hargon knew he couldn’t do.  He kept his mouth shut and waited for Conner.

After some time, Conner jumped back down to the bank of the creek.  “There is a ship,” Conner said.  “And a small boat rowing from the ship to shore.”

“Is it a Taran ship?” Hargon asked.

“I don’t know.  I’ve seen some Taran ships and this one doesn’t look like it.  It’s much different.”

“I think we should try and see if they’ll take us to Iseron, or at least see if they have some supplies.”

Conner looked hard at the former emperor.  “What if it’s a Taran Naval ship filled with centurions looking for you?”

Hargon just shrugged his shoulders.  “What if they’re not?  What if they’re just merchants who don’t know anything about us?  Do you want to spend another cold night out here?  With only roots and bugs to eat?”