The Final Storm (41 page)

“So you caused this whole war, then?” Aidan said, and then he laughed too.

Antoinette smiled, but tears glimmered and ran down her cheek. “Aidan, what are we going to do?”

Aidan shook his head. “Where’s Robby?”

“I . . . I don’t know,” she replied. “The last time I saw him . . . he was fighting by the armory and—”

“And that’s where I got myself captured.” Robby’s voice came out of the shadows. He came into the light. His face was void of emotion. Aidan and Antoinette hugged him and then pulled away.

“So were you going to just sit there, hiding in the dark?” Aidan asked.

“What were you doing?” Antoinette asked.

“I was thinking,” Robby replied, but he did not elaborate and would not make eye contact.

“Robby, are you all right?” Aidan asked.

“What, are you kidding?” Robby exclaimed. “No, I’m not all right, and neither are you. Look around. We’re stuck in a cell in the city we were supposed to defend. So many died, Aidan. And . . . I don’t know where Trenna is.”

“Trenna Swiftfoot?” Antoinette asked.

Robby nodded. “She was one of the dragon riders,” he said sadly. “But the Wyrm Lord knocked them all out, and . . . she is my friend, and I let her down.”

“Robby, I don’t know if Trenna survived,” Antoinette said. “But you were fighting for Alleble! You were serving King Eliam, doing just what you were meant to do.”

“What I was meant to do?” Robby stared at Antoinette incredulously. “You mean that
chosen one
stuff ? So much for that—we’re caught! How’re we supposed to save the day down here?”

Aidan and Antoinette were speechless.

Robby stomped away and looked up at the window. “Any idea what time it is?” he asked.

“No,” Aidan replied. “With that storm and the Wyrm Lord’s breath, I don’t even know what day it is—much less the time . . . why?”

“He told me we will stand trial in the morning,” Robby replied.

“Stand trial?” said Antoinette.

“Who told you?” Aidan asked.

Robby ran his fingers through his hair. “Paragor.”

“You talked to Paragor?” Aidan exclaimed.

Robby nodded. “I followed one of the Sleepers into the armory, but it was a setup. Paragor was in there waiting. That’s how I got caught.”

Aidan had a feeling there was more to the story than Robby was sharing. “What did you mean by us standing trial?”

“Paragor said we’re each going to stand before him—in front of everyone—and then we have to make a decision.”

“The Scroll of Prophecy!” Antoinette whispered.

Aidan reached under his breastplate and retrieved the ancient segment of the parchment. “This is a piece of it,” Aidan said. “The end of it, but I can’t remember it all. Something like . . . ‘When the Witnesses decide, ancient deeds will be undone . . .’”

“‘Former deeds will be undone,’” Antoinette corrected. “‘The Seven Swords may be unveiled. Worlds once divided become one.’”

Aidan looked at Robby. “You know what we have to decide, don’t you?”

Antoinette answered first. “I do,” she said. “Kearn told me. He said we either have to give up our allegiance to King Eliam and serve Paragor or—”

“Or he’ll kill us,” Robby whispered. The cell became as silent as a tomb, and the three friends stared at the window.

“Stop pushing!” Mallik groaned as Nock squeezed by him through the trapdoor into the loft of the bell tower. “There is no more room! You will give us all away!”

“If I do not,” Nock whispered harshly, “then you certainly will! Lower that voice, hammer-meister.”

“What do you see?” Sir Rogan asked.

“There is a gathering upon the balcony,” Nock said. “But it is still too dark to see what they are doing.”

“What about on the ground?” Farix asked.

“Many soldiers—thousands,” Mallik said. “They surround the fountain and . . . oh, by the King’s grace, no.”

“What?” demanded Farix, but Mallik and Nock were silent. “I cannot bear this,” Farix said, and he yanked Nock down and forced his way into the trapdoor opening.

When he saw what was happening, Farix said, “No . . . not again.”

“Aidan, I don’t know if I can do this.”

Aidan stared at his friend and pity tore at his heart. Robby stood there trembling, pleading like a lost child. “I know it’s hard, Robby,” Aidan said. “But King Eliam called us, he gave us a mission, and promised us we’d never be alone. We can’t turn our ba—”

“Where is he now?” Robby asked, his voice rising, becoming more agitated. “We need him right now. King Eliam, where—are—you?!” Robby smashed his fist against the wall, and his head fell despondently.

Antoinette drew near and put a hand on his shoulder. But Robby shrugged it off and yelled, “He’s going to kill us! You know that? He’ll make an example of us and slaughter us like cattle. And for what, Aidan? Pride that we stood our ground?”

“It’s more than that,” Aidan whispered. “The Scroll says—”

“You’re willing to die for a piece of parchment?” Robby shrieked.

“No,” Aidan replied, and now he grew angry. “But I am willing to die for the one who spoke the words in it! King Eliam has a plan through this . . . a plan for good.”

“What good can come of us dying?” Robby demanded. “This is death, Aidan. This is real. Any minute now, they’re gonna come for us, and we’re all going to die.”

“So be it!” Aidan shouted. He charged up to Robby. “If I’m going to die, I for one want to die justly with the praises of the true King on my lips!”

Aidan continued to hold Robby with his eyes for a moment. Then he turned and walked away.

“But, Aidan . . .” Robby’s voice was thin and scared, but quiet. “If he kills us, it’s over.”

“No,” whispered Antoinette. And this time when she put her hand on Robby’s shoulder, he did not shrug it off. “No, it will not be over. We will go to the Sacred Realm Beyond the Sun. And there . . .” She paused, tears welling in her eyes. Robby turned to look at her. “There we will be welcomed by all the faithful servants of Alleble who have gone before us.”

“Trenna?” Robby whispered.

Antoinette nodded. “And there we will finally have answers to all the questions that haunt our minds.”

“You mean,” Robby said, “you have questions too?”

Antoinette burst out laughing through her tears, and she hugged him. “Of course I do,” she cried. “We all do.” And then Aidan was there. And they held one another for a long moment.

But soon after, heavy footfalls approached. The cell door swung open. The doorway and the hall beyond were choked with soldiers. They rushed in, grabbed Robby, and roughly drew him from the chamber. The cell door slammed shut, and they heard Robby’s fearful voice. “Aidan . . .”

Aidan cried out, “Never alone, Robby!” And then a guard shoved Aidan hard into the shadows of the cell.

“This is madness,” said Kaliam, looking up both sides of the torchlit hall. “We will be caught.”

“Do you see anyone in this corridor?” Naysmithe asked.

“No,” Kaliam replied.

“And you will not for some time,” Naysmithe said, waving them to follow. “Paragor and his lot have gone to the balcony.”

“The balcony?” Lady Merewen asked. She turned to Kaliam, and his eyes widened with sudden recognition. But Lady Merewen was still confused. “If Paragor is going to the balcony, then . . . where are we going?”

“To the Library of Light,” Naysmithe replied with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“But The Stones of White Fire,” Kaliam said. “We can pass, but Lady Merewen will not be able to.”

“She will today,” Naysmithe replied, and ambled ahead of them at great speed.

“But why are we going to the Library of Light?” she called after him.

His voice drifted back like the echo of a memory. “We go to witness the dawn.”

Aidan and Antoinette waited in darkness and in silence for what seemed like an eternity until, at last, they heard again the sounds of marching feet. They stared into each other’s eyes even as the guards took hold of Antoinette. She did not utter a word, but a gleam in her eyes and the peaceful expression on her face spoke volumes to Aidan.

The cell door slammed shut, and Aidan stood alone in the center of the room.
“Believin’ in something is a special thing, my boy.”
Grampin’s voice came back to Aidan.
“It can be risky ’cause if ye believe in something, ye stand up for it . . . ye fight for it . . .”
He smiled, remembering his wheelchair-bound grandfather helping him to understand. It all seemed so long ago. Finding the Scrolls in the basement, being welcomed to Alleble by Gwenne, the adventure in Mithegard and beyond. So much had changed.

Aidan reached beneath his breastplate and once again removed the small segment of the Scroll of Prophecy. He looked at the old words, transcribed by Zabediel but spoken by the one true King. Aidan smiled and spoke then to King Eliam. He spoke aloud, saying things he had always wanted to say to his King. And though he never heard the familiar voice in reply, Aidan knew he was not alone in that cell.

“It is time,” came a voice at the cell door. Aidan turned as if from a dream and saw the soldiers standing there.

“Come on, then!” demanded a guard. “Get moving!”

“Here now,” said another, pointing at Aidan. “He has on our armor still! I will be bound if some Alleb spy will stand before the master in the garb of Paragory!” The guard disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a bundle of clothes and a pile of tarnished armor. “Put these on . . . spy!”