The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (36 page)

All of them were dressed in what Justin would call
medieval style; frock coats, string ties and the females wore long
skirts and blouses with puffy sleeves.

The entire group came to a sliding halt some ten yards
away from the teens. For a long moment, both sides regarded the other
without speaking. Finally, though, one of the servitors, who looked
like a fairly old man with a large mustache, dismounted and
approached Justin and his friends. He took off his three-cornered hat
and bowed deeply.

“
Welcome,
welcome!” he said in a resonating voice. The servitor was
plainly excited. “Welcome my ladies, my lords, to our humble
town. We,” he waved his hand to indicate the other riders, “are
beyond pleased to be able to host actual Titans in our home. We hope
to satisfy your every wish while you are here.” He bowed again.

“
My
name is Borgen and I am the leader of this little town. How may I
serve you today?” And he stood there looking at them
expectantly.

“
Um,
hi there,” Justin said dumbfounded. “I'm Justin McLeod.
This is Maria. Behind us are Julia, Yolanda, Jason, Richard and
Aaron. Nice to meet you.”

Borgen bowed once again. “The pleasure is all
mine, I do assure you.” The servitor looked a bit puzzled. “But
we were informed that there were eight in your party. Are you missing
someone or were we misinformed?”

Suddenly suspicious, Justin stared hard at the servitor.
“Who told you about us?” he said harshly. Borgen was
obviously taken aback by his question. His smile faded a bit but his
tone remained congenial.

“
We
were contacted quite some time ago by one of the Guardians. She told
us that you had entered into the lowest level of Sanctuary and that
you would eventually pass through our town. She requested that we do
anything within our power to aid you. Needless to say, we would have
done so in any case.”

Justin felt a stirring of hope. “Contacted by a
Guardian? Would you happen to know her name?”

“
Of
course, sir. It was a Mrs. Mallon, I believe. Charming woman, really.
She told us about the goings on up there,” and he pointed
toward the ceiling as he spoke, “and the trouble they were
having with those cursed renegades. She was quite concerned for your
safety and seemed relieved that we were willing to help.” His
chest expanded proudly as he added “But of course we would help
the descendants of our creators! How could we not? We owe them
everything, after all.”

Almost weak with relief, Justin looked at his friends.
“He knows Mrs. Mallon, guys. I think we're okay.”

Maria was still looking a bit suspicious, but nodded
slowly. “Okay, Justin. I'm willing to go on a little faith
here. For now, at least.”

“
Excellent.
Quite excellent,” Borgen said jovially. “Now, we have a
carriage on the way to transport you to suitable lodgings. It should
arrive momentarily.” He stepped closer to Justin and lowered
his voice. “Before it does, I was wondering if I could have a
private word with you and your comrades?”

“
Yes,
of course,” Justin replied, puzzled.

“
Good,
good.” Borgen turned to the other riders. “Would you all
kindly ride back and hurry up that blasted carriage? We simply can't
have our guests standing around and waiting on transport. Makes us
look bad, don't you think?”

“
Oh,
yes sir. At once,” one of the riders replied and the entire
group turned around and began to trot back up the street. Borgen's
mount remained standing where he had left it.

Borgen walked back and stood next to the door that the
teens had used a few minutes earlier. He motioned for them to join
him and they all walked over and stood around him in a semi-circle.

“
Sorry
for the secrecy and all, and I want you to know that I trust my
people but, well, with times being what they are, we can't be too
careful, now can we?”

“
We
don't know what you're talking about, Borgen,” Justin said,
totally confused.

“
Yes,
well, ahem,” the servitor looked off at his departing
companions nervously. “Very well then, here it is.” He
lowered his voice even more and the teens leaned in closer to hear
him.

“
We
were contacted a few days ago by the group calling itself the new
rulers of Sanctuary.”

“
The
renegades?” Maria spoke up angrily.

“
Yes,
exactly. They told us that you were coming this way and that we were
to capture you for them and bring you to them as prisoners.”

Borgen looked at them all anxiously. Justin tried to
suppress his feelings of anger and fear and stared at the servitor
curiously.

“
So
why are you telling us this? If you mean to capture us, a warning is
the last thing you should be giving us.”

“
Capture
you?” Borgen's tone was indignant. “I have no intention
of capturing you, for those traitors or for anyone else. The very
idea!” He seem genuinely offended by the thought and Justin
hurriedly apologized.

“
It's
just that we've had a tough time the last little while,” he
told Borgen. “And we're a little suspicious of strangers.”

The servitor's face cleared and he smiled with
understanding. “I can only imagine your trials, sir. Sanctuary
is a dangerous place, especially for those who are new to its depths
and secrets. But I can only assure you of your safety here. It is up
to you to trust us, or not.”

“
Borgen?”
Aaron said. “Why did you send your people off before you told
us this? Do you suspect some of them might turn us in?”

“
Turn
you in?” Borgen replied blankly. “My goodness, no. You
see, we servitors are a simple race. We, what is that expression, we
wear our hearts on our sleeves? Yes, that's it. My people would be
most distressed if it got out that these renegades expected them to
do anything as evil as capture Titans! Why, I don't know how they
would react.” His chest puffed up with pride. “We are
loyal to our creators. We will protect you as best we can, of that
you can be sure.”

The group thanked him sincerely but Borgen just waved
away their gratitude. “We have not done anything to earn your
thanks. But now, look; the carriage is almost here. We will speak
more when you have had a chance to refresh yourselves. This way,
please.”

As they were speaking, a beautiful carriage, pulled by
two of the pegasi, rolled to a stop nearby. The servitors followed
behind it and nodded to Borgen as he approached.

“
We
hurried it along, Borgen,” one of them called out and Borgen
waved his thanks.

The servitor driving the coach climbed down, opened the
door and bowed the seven teens into his carriage. They climbed aboard
gratefully. Inside, rich leather seats and surfaces covered with
intricate designs awaited them and all of them sat down with relief.

“
Ah,
it's nice not to have to walk somewhere for a change,” Maria
said as she sat back.

“
I
know what you mean. And it's comfortable too.” Jason grinned
and stretched out.

The carriage began to move and the group spent their
trip watching the town go by through the windows.

“
You
know, this is a fairly big place,” Richard observed. “I
wonder what all these servitors actually do here?”

They saw a few dozen of the metallic humanoids during
their ride. They were walking the streets, tending gardens, laughing,
talking and generally going about their business as if it were a
regular human town. Justin found it more than surreal.

Their ride took about ten minutes and when the carriage
stopped, they found themselves in front of the largest building that
Justin had seen so far.

Three stories high and very wide, the stone building
looked out over a large town square with a golden fountain frothing
merrily in the center. The building had been accented with wooden
beams and shutters and its many windows were wide open. Music could
be heard coming from a second story window and the group wondered who
could be playing.

“
Oh,
that's Niall,” Borgen said with a roll of his eyes. “He
loves all sorts of music. Can play any instrument, but as you can
hear, is rather fond of the lute for some reason.”

After they had exited the coach, and thanked the driver,
who bowed and seemed a bit overwhelmed by their gratitude, Borgen led
them toward the house.

“
This
is actually my home,” he said. “It is also the Town Hall
and what meetings we have are generally conducted here. We have more
than enough rooms for all of you; whether you wish privacy or you
wish to share with a friend. The choice is yours.”

They approached the front door, but as Borgen reached
for the handle, the door swung open and a female servitor was
standing there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. She wore a
full-length dress covered in small flowers and a long apron over the
top of it.

“
Why
wasn't I informed that we were having guests, Borgen?” she
asked. She stood there and tapped her foot while Borgen looked
uncomfortable and glanced sheepishly at the teens.

“
Well,
my dear, you see, we were just informed that they had arrived and,
well...” his voice trailed off weakly.

“
Yes,
of course. Naturally I'm the last to know. And do you know who told
me? Phadella, that's who. Imagine my surprise that my nosy next-door
neighbor seems to know more about my husband's business than I do!”

Justin
grinned at Aaron, who was trying not to laugh out loud. He saw Maria
look over at Julia and Yolanda and mouth the word 'husband'
incredulously.

Meanwhile,
Borgen was spluttering a bit and his wife cut him off.

“
Never
mind. I'll introduce myself or we'll be standing here all day.”
She turned and looked at the teens and her look of irritation was
replaced by a wide smile. “Welcome to our home,” she
said warmly. “My name is Dhalena. You've already met my
absent-minded husband. And you are?”

Maria
did the introductions and the female servitor urged them to enter and
make themselves at home.

“
I'm
sure you are all tired and hungry. Come along and I'll fix you
something.”

They
followed her through the rambling house with Borgen trailing meekly
behind. There were colorful throw rugs on the floors, paintings of
flowers and sunsets on the walls and all the windows had full drapes
in various colors. The floors and walls were covered with glowing
wood, spotlessly clean.

After
she had taken the group up to the second floor and shown them to the
bedrooms where they would be sleeping, Dhalena allowed them to use
the washrooms and get cleaned up. Then they followed her back
downstairs.

Dhalena
led them into a dining room and asked them to sit at the long table.
It was covered with a beautifully stitched tablecloth and was large
enough to accommodate at least twenty people, so they had room to
spare. Dhalena drafted her husband to help her and the teens quickly
found themselves served with large bowls of thick soup, hot bread
fresh from the oven and large glasses of juice. They ate with gusto,
not realizing until then just how hungry they were.

After
they had finished off the meal with a variety of fresh fruits, the
teens were led into another room where many large, comfy chairs were
scattered about. They all found a seat and Dhalena left them alone
with her husband, after they had thanked her profusely for her
hospitality.

“
I
hope you are all feeling a little more comfortable?” he asked.
They all assured him they were and he looked very pleased.

“
I
am glad to hear it. Now, have you any questions? I have many myself
but you are the guests here and you should be allowed to begin.”

They all
looked at each other, waiting for someone to start and, surprisingly,
it was Julia who was first to raise her hand. Borgen nodded at her
and smiled.

“
Well
sir, I was just wondering. I mean, you're all machines, aren't you?”
Justin thought that it was an odd question. The fact that they were
bronze colored and made of titanium made it obvious that they were
machines. But Borgen replied quite seriously.

“
We
are indeed machines, young lady,” he said.

“
Well
then, why do you have food? You just served us a lovely meal, so you
have food in your home, right? So when we aren't here, what do you do
with it?”

Borgen
seemed to surprise Julia when he chuckled. “We have food, young
lady, because we eat. Of course, our main power source is something
quite different, but food is fuel to us as it is to you. And we enjoy
it. As you have already discovered, my wife is an excellent cook.”
He paused and winked. “As am I.”