The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The three travelers were exhausted from their grueling ride from the village near the Sentinel Tree to the palace. The storm that came upon them the first day had drained them of everything they had. Wilhelm had fallen asleep standing in the doorway of the palace as they waited for the steward to fetch someone. Jeremiah and Chloé helped him to a chair where he could rest more comfortably.

Nìa and Prince Ryan came into the entrance hall, following the steward. The queen and her daughters had taken pity on Nìa and gifted her with many dresses. Chloé saw that Nìa wore a beautiful dress that was robin's egg blue and trimmed with exquisite white lace. Nìa ran to her and gave her and then Jeremiah a hug. She then went to see Wilhelm.

They were all weak from travel and could say little, but after speaking with them briefly, she asked the steward to bring her a list of ingredients that she jotted down for him and sent him on his way. He returned a short while later carrying most of her supplies. He left again and returned with three empty wine cups on a tray with some food from the kitchen.

She began mixing the ingredients together and when she was finished, she gave each of the weary travelers a cup to drink and said, "I added a little cinnamon and sugar to make it taste better, but this should help you to regain your strength quickly. They each began to drink. The concoction was soothing to their sore throats brought on by the storm and after a few minutes they were feeling much better and able to speak.

Jeremiah was the first to speak, saying, "We need to see the king so that he can stop the defensive attack on the ships coming this way." Nìa explained to the group that they were aware of the reasoning for their arrival. She told them about the conversation that she had had with Jäkob and that Ryan was working on a solution to the problem at hand. Ryan then explained that the mind of his father was not easily swain, but that he had already requested an audience on their behalf.

"How long do we have before we may see him," asked Jeremiah. "It won't be until morning, I am afraid," said Ryan consolingly. Wilhelm spoke up, "We don't have that long to waste," he said. "Those refugees will be here before sundown tomorrow, and if all the preparations have been completed, it will take hours to reverse what's been done," he said, becoming angry.

"If this mission of yours is so dire," Ryan began to ask, "why would you not have used our Sentinel Tree to make it here more quickly." Wilhelm replied, "We sought the wisdom of the council before we made our trek. They refused to hear us, so we had to take a different path so as to not raise suspicion with the council. I feared that they may try to stop us. The order in which they do such things is sometimes counterproductive and we hadn't the time to waste."

"We would have been here by this time yesterday; if it weren't for a fluke storm that hindered us," said Wilhelm aloud, and then to himself, "The council's doing, no doubt." He didn't want the others of his party to think that the council might be against them. He knew that council's ways were set and that they do not like to differ from the way they process actions.

They had left on their mission without the blessing of the council. He knew that he would have repercussions, but this was too important to ignore. From what he had seen at the riverfront, there were thousands of people on those ships, and everyone of them needed him to do this.

"My father, King Arlos, is not an easy man to be persuaded," said Ryan, reminding them while interrupting Wilhelm. He will expect proof; evidence that what you say is true." Jeremiah stood face to face with Ryan and raised his voice saying, "The only proof that I have is that on the morning two days past, I saw with my own eyes, my captain trailing behind a fleet of ships filled with many people that I know and love along with many others."