The Sapphire Pendant

Chapter 12

Joshua

I felt myself float limply not bothering to fight with the current.  Half my face was in the water.  I spied land through my waterlogged eyes.  I tried to breath in some air but ice cold water shot up my nose and through my mouth.  I coughed sputtering spewing water out of my throat.  I used the last bit of energy I had to swim back to shore.

I coughed, a jet of water shot from my mouth.  I sputtered as I pushed myself up. I walked two steps until my knees collapsed from under me.  I fell to the ground, promptly fainting.

                I awoke on a strange bed.

                “Where am I?” I mumbled my head still feeling waterlogged.

                “Hush, boy,” a gruff voice said putting their hands on my forehead.

                “Where am I?” I asked again louder.

                “In the Kingdom of Cordoan,” the man said.  I vibration from his fingers emitted to my forehead.

                “I’ve never been to Cordoan Kingdom before,” I said looking at the man.  He was old man with deep set wrinkles.  I couldn’t see his eyes the light didn’t reach that high up.

                “How did I get here?” I asked.  I tried to get off of a plush velvet chair like the one Addy had in her library.  I remembered Addy and getting up needing to go to Krush.

                “I was going fishing,” he said stirring something in a large copper pot, “I saw your body, I picked you up to nurse you back to health.”

                “Thank you,” I said in surprise, “I’m Josh.”

                “I know,” the man said looking up from his pot, he was short for an old man, “I know everything.”

                I smelt something vile coming from the pot, “What are you doing?”

                “You ask too many questions,” he told me.  He ignored me putting something blue and sparkling in the pot.  He blew a swirling smoke into the pot.  Suddenly, the aroma of the pot smelled good, almost appetizing.

                The man said, “My name is Tedd.”  He held out a steaming cup.  I looked into it.  The liquid was golden.  My hand shook as I looked up at him.  The liquid sloshed on the side creating waves in the middle.

                “Drink, it will make you feel better,” the man said.  I looked at him with doubt.  He nodded, making gestures for me to drink.

                I honestly didn’t have any strength to fight back so I drank.  The liquid burned my throat.  My eyelids fluttered as I felt my strength come back to me.

                “Thank you,” I grunted falling back down on the chair.

                “My job is to serve royalty,” Tedd told me, I could tell even in this dim lighting that the small man was lying.

                “Really?” I asked.

                “I know everything,” he told me, “even about Princess Adeline.”

                “I need to help her,” I said getting up.  The mention of Addy made me snap back to my senses.   I needed to find her and save her from where ever she was.