The Bright Wood

Chapter 14

I sat for ages in the dark room with the vent that connected to the council room.  I was waiting for the servant, Ruphean, to come back with my things.  Several guards have walked past this door in an attempt to find me.  One even opened the door to look inside, but I quickly hid behind a barrel.  He didn't look very hard, and he left almost immediately.  There was a problem though because when he left, he left the door ajar.
    
My heartbeat was the only thing I could hear apart from the constant drumming of feet on the hard floor.
    
More footsteps ran past the door, but this time, a guard shouted, "Hey, you!"
    
My heart stopped again.  I couldn't believe he saw me without even stepping foot into the room.  I nearly began moving from behind the barrel when I heard another voice.  Ruphean's words tumbled through the door I to the room. "Uh--um, sir.  I was just-"
    
"Haven't you heard the bells?  There is a dangerous boy somewhere in this castle, and you should not be wandering around."
    
"I- I was just getting something from this storage closet."
    
"Did you not hear what I told you, boy?  I said, 'you should not be here.'"
    
"Just let me do my job right now, Lord Krolyn's orders.  Would you like me to tell him I was late because a simple guardsman stopped me?"
    
"You've no right to talk to me like that you simple servant."
    
"And you've no right to keep me from specific orders."
    
"Argh!  Next time, boy..."  The guard walked away, and Ruphean's head popped in the doorway.  He looked worried until I stepped out from behind my hiding place.
    
"Oh.  The door was ajar.  I thought maybe they had found you or you ran without me."
    
"No, just a close call.  Where are my things?"
    
The servant lifted his shirt and a small, cloth bag fell onto the floor.  "This is all I could find in the basket where they put your things.  There was no sign of a seeing crystal."
    
I dug through the bag to see for myself.  Everything was there but the crystal.  I put the connecting stone necklace around my neck and a small sack of coins in a pocket.  "Where do you think it could be?"
    
"It could be anywhere.  Those are rare stones, and anyone who found it will have taken it for their own gain."
    
"Then we must find it before we go."  I closed my eyes and put a hand around the connecting stone. "Nox, I am in danger.  I need you to come to Ansia.  I am trapped in Lord Krolyn's castle, but I've a plan to escape.  You must meet me here on the roof, and take me away from here."
    
There was some time before I felt the presence of the familiar griffon's mind on mine again.  "Oh, Prince Connor.  Thank the homeland god!  We had thought you were lost to us, and Princess Rubell will be glad to hear that you are still alive.  I am on my way right now, but it may take some time.  Ansia is quite far."
    
"Just hurry.  I will be here." I broke off the connection, and turned to Ruphean.  "Who would have had access to the prisoners' belongings?"
    
"Well, the guard who was on duty at the time, but he did not have the time to go in there because Lord Krolyn sentenced him to death the moment he left your cell."
    
"Sentenced to death?"
    
"Well, apparently he was harsh in the way you were treated before Lord Krolyn came to see you, so he was, you know..."
    
"Wow, okay.  So, who else had access?"
    
"Well, just the Lord himself and the three knights."
    
"Who are the three knights?"
    
"Sir Alter, Sir Enric, and Madam Eroskee."
    
"Madam?  There's a woman knight?"
    
"It is said that she is the best.  Okay, so the only people who could have your crystal right now are Lord Krolyn, Sir Alter, and the madam."
    
"That doesn't sound easy."
    
"It won't be."  I thought for a minute.  How devastating would it be for me to leave the crystal?  Would it be better to just save myself and worry about the crystal later? 
    
"We're leaving it.  A simple crystal shouldn't be worth a life, much less two."
    
"Two?"
    
"Yes.  Mine and yours."  I gave him a confused look, but he just returned it.
    
"You value my life over the rare seeing crystal?"
    
"Um, yeah."  I said it in a  rude way, but I was frustrated.  We needed to hurry.  "What is the fastest way to the roof?"
    
The servant snapped out of his confused state, regained a sense of duty, and nodded.  "Follow me."  He stepped out of the room, looked down both parts of the hallway, and ran out.
    
We ran through several different hallways before coming across our first group of soldiers.  "Halt!" they shouted. 
    
"Any experience with a sword?" asked Ruphean.
    
"I can handle one," I replied.  The servant went to a nearby door, kicked it open, and grabbed two swords.  "Oh, convenient."  I grabbed the hilt of one and rushed towards the guards.  The clang of sword hitting sword seemed deafening.  The loud sound attracted the attention of several more palace guards.  One of the men I was fighting let his attention waver for just a split second, and I used the distraction to my advantage.  I came upon the guard suddenly and pushed him hard.  His balance wavered, and he fell, toppling several of the guards behind him.  I used the time to turn to my ally, Ruphean, but when I went to help him, he seemed to be doing just fine on his own.
    
Suddenly, a huge barrage of soldiers rushed into the corridor.  There were so many that I couldn't even try to fight against them.  They stormed on top of both me and Ruphean, and we both fell to the ground.
    
I could not end like this.  I was sure that I had a greater purpose for my kingdom, and what about the legends?  Did they predict that my downfall would take place in Lord Krolyn's castle at this time?  Surely not.  I pushed with all my might against the soldiers, but their swords just continued to cut my skin.  I pushed again, but this time even harder.  I pushed harder than I ever thought possible.  I yelled at the top of my lungs to push even more. 
    
Suddenly, a blue, shimmering orb emerged from my hand, and it expanded.  It grew and enveloped both me and Ruphean until we were completely inside the bright bubble.  I was completely confused and perplexed by this occurrence, but I continued to push anyway.  In one split second, the entire sphere burst and all the guards were on their backs, motionless.
    
"What are you?" was all the wide-eyed servant said when the light from the burst died completely.  "Nevermind.  We need to go."
    
I stared at my hands in awe.  Did I just do that?
    
"Come on!"
    
I shook myself out of the trance and stood.  "Are we near the roof?"
    
"We will go through a council room where there is a high window.  It will be faster than getting to the stairs.  We are almost there."
    
We ran through a few more hallways and never ran into another troop of guards.  Ruphean rushed ahead and grabbed the handles of a large door.  "This is it."
    
"Go. Hurry!"
    
We burst into the room where we stopped abruptly.  The Lord Krolyn himself stood in the center of the room with his back facing us.
    
"Ah. Connor, how good of you to join me." He turned slowly. A momentary look of surprise fluttered into his eyes when he saw Ruphean.  "You."
    
"Um... Your highness... I was just..."
    
"I thought you were loyal to me.  You will suffer the highest of punishments. You will scream the loudest of screams and still no one will hear you."
    
The servant stumbled backwards. In fear, but I stepped forward.  I was sure that whatever I had done to get rid of the soldiers would also work on this man.  "Let us pass.  I do not fear you."
    
"Brave words, lad.  I've no doubt you heard everything I said to Sir Enric earlier."
    
"You knew?"
    
"Not at the time, but I do now.  You are powerful and would make a great ally, but I am still stronger than you.  I could break you as easily as a tooth pick."
    
"Then why don't you?  You killed Enric without a second thought."
    
"Because I do not want to.  We are still friends, after all."
    
"I am not your friend."
    
"You will change your mind soon."
    
"Let us pass," I repeated.
    
"As you wish, my friend."
    
I knit my eyebrows in confusion.  He would let us pass without a fight?  "I want Ruphean as well."
    
"Ruphean? Ah, the servant. Why have you interest in a simple servant, a disloyal one at that?"
    
"You wouldn't understand."
    
"Whatever, just go."
    
I grabbed Ruphean's arm and led him towards the window.  I kept my face to Lord Krolyn the whole time, afraid he would do something to attack us, but we made it to the window safely.  I pushed Ruphean through and turned to go myself, but I was stopped.
    
"Oh, Connor.  Aren't you forgetting something?"  I turned, and Krolyn was standing much closer with my seeing crystal in hand. "You want to keep it, do you not?"
    
"I do not think I could get it back without a fight."
    
"Ah, but you are wrong. Here."  He held out the stone.  I stood there, not wanting to take it.  "Well if you will not have it..."
    
"No." I reached out and grabbed it from his hands.  I realized how idiotic the move was when I did it, but I could not let the stone go now.  Nothing happened.  Krolyn simply turned and walked away.
    
I turned and slid out the window.  Ruphean was standing there looking down at the ground.  "What now?"
    
"We wait."
    
"Wait for what?"
    
Right on cue, Nox burst out of the sky with the familiar soft wave of light.  Ruphean became wide-eyed. "Our ride," I said cheekily.
    
Nox landed on the roof right next to us and knelt down.  "Right on time, Nox. Thank you."
    
"I am just glad to see that you are well, your highness."
    
We climbed on, and we took off, leaving the castle well behind us.

Once we were well out of sight of Lord Krolyn's palace, I felt safe talking to Nox.
    
"Nox, back in the palace, I did something."
    
"What is it?"
    
"I, well, I can't explain it really.  Except that, well, when we were running for the roof, we became surrounded by soldiers, and I was worried that we wouldn't make it.  I did something that I thought wasn't possible."
    
"What was it?"
    
"Well, I've only seen it done once before... by the princess."
    
"Princess Rubell?"
    
"Yes. It was like lightning in my hands, pure, blue electricity."
    
"Strange.  You've no lamier blood in you?"
    
"You mean, 'do I have any lamier ancestors?'"
    
"Yes."
    
"Well, no.  I'm from the other world.  A lamier is what the princess is, correct?"
    
"I believe so, yes."
    
"Hm... maybe I'm just gaining some of the powers of this world."
    
"I've never heard of such a phenomenon, but that is the only explanation."
    
Our conversation was interrupted by Ruphean. "Where are we going?!" he yelled over the wind beating our faces.
    
"We will travel through the Sky Kingdom to reach Bright Wood more quickly than if we traveled over the sea!" I replied.
    
"But...but that's Galoddem!"
    
"Yes... Is that a problem?!"
    
"Set me on the ground!"
    
Nox, hearing the conversation, turned her head and looked at me.  I nodded to let her know that we should land.
    
On the ground, Ruphean threw himself off the griffon and began running towards the woods.  I hopped off as well, and shouted, "Ruphean!  What are you doing?"
    
"Nothing!  Just let me alone."
    
I started running after him.  "Stop!  That is an order!"
    
"This isn't your kingdom! You can't order me here!" he called over his shoulder.
    
"Then, please stop?!"  Suddenly, the running servant tumbled to the ground when Nox decided she would help me and pounced on top of him like an excited cat.
    
"Ugh, get off of me!"  He continued to yell and scream as I walked closer to the struggling boy.
    
"Thank you, Nox."
    
"Anytime, your highness."
    
"Now, Ruphean.  When Nox lifts off of you, you are going to calmly get up and explain, okay?"  I emphasized the word "calmly."  After struggling one last time under the weight of the griffon, he sighed and nodded.  Nox opened her wings wide, flapped twice, and landed firmly on the ground several feet away from where I stood.  Ruphean got to his feet slowly.  I held my hands in front of me both to show that I wasn't going to try anything and to protect myself if he tried anything.  "Now, why is it that you won't go to Galoddem?"
    
"I just... I don't like it there."  I gave him a look to show that I clearly wasn't buying it.  "I... I don't know.  I um... I can't tell you."
    
"Why not?"
    
"I just won't."
    
"If you don't tell me, I'm going to strap you up and take you there forcefully.  Then, maybe I can find out when we get there."
    
"No don't... please, you wouldn't."
    
"Yeah? Try me."  I took a step towards him to emphasize my point, and he stumbled backwards a bit.
    
"Okay! Okay... I'll tell you, but I don't believe some farmer's grazing field is the best place to have such a conversation."
    
I suddenly became aware of my surroundings, and I realized that we were standing in a large open field with short grass that seemed to be bitten off at the ground and grown again slightly. Large beasts that resembled cattle were slowly walking towards us, obviously curious about what landed in their field.  "Okay... so we'll walk to the nearest town, but you are going to explain everything on the way there.  Everything."
    
"Okay."
    
I turned to Nox.  "Stay close, but don't let anyone see you.  It would be strange to see a common man walking with a griffon."
    
"You are traveling as a common man?"
   
I smiled. "I don't want to draw any attention."
    
"Of course.  That would be the smartest option."
    
"Listen, we are not in Galoddem.  It is still very dangerous here.  If something goes terribly awry and I am unable to get home, don't hesitate to leave without me."
    
"But your life is much more valuable than mine..."
    
"No. We are all of equal value.  It does not matter that I am a prince or that you are a servant.  Do not save me if it means sacrificing yourself."
   
The great creature seemed at loss for words, and a long moment passed before she said, "You are very different than other kings."
     
"I'm not a king, but how so?"
     
"You care about everyone, even those who are under you.  You are humble."
    
"I can't be the only one.  There are others whom I have met that are also kind and humble."
    
"Yes, but you are the most.  Take care of yourself, my king."
    
She then leaped into the wind and flew into the clouds.  I smiled at the compliment I had just received.