The Kingdom of Noitcif

Chapter Seventeen - Devastating News

  Bursting through the portal on the back of Verbum, Rosalind was overcome with awe. The past hour had wrung her out emotionally, but their escape, the experience of the rainbow portal, and now the magnificent beauty of Noitcif caused a loud "Ohhh!" to escape her lips and brought tears of joy to her eyes.

  It was with giggles of almost giddy laughter that she exclaimed, "Hey, Penny! I still haven't come to terms with you being a king - much less of this place! I can't believe my eyes!"

  "Can't believe it all, myself, actually," Espen replied truthfully, looking at the scenery before him as if he was also seeing it for the first time.

  Tarquin and Espen landed their steeds on the cobblestone near the stables, and Marius hurried out to hold the equines in place while everyone dismounted.

  "I will take over from here, Your Highness," the owner of the horse stables offered with a bow.

  "Thank you, but no, we'll do it." The young king nodded at Tarquin, who looked mildly surprised. "This is Rosalind, Marius. Maybe you could show her around the stables while we clean off Fabula and Verbum?"

  "Certainly, my lord." Marius bowed once again and escorted Rosalind to the far stable to begin her tour.

 Once she had walked out of earshot, Espen lowered his tone and voiced the thought that had been nagging at him since the battle with the brothers. "Why did Rosalind's clothes transform into an attire so much like ours?" he inquired as he and Tarquin led their steeds in the opposite direction.

  The messenger shrugged. "I too, am mystified, my king. Being a Ytilaerian – and especially an offspring of their leader - it should not be possible. But the fact that our garments changed in the Base World at all disturbs me... there must be something really wrong."

  After a moment of silence, Tarquin shifted his position and cleared his throat.

  "King Estevan?" he spoke up again, stopping in his tracks. Beside him, Verbum stopped as well.

  "Yes?"

  "I am truly sorry that I did not follow your instructions and hesitated in going to help Rosalind. We probably would have gotten there in time to prevent her brothers from beating her."

  "No need to say 'sorry', Tarquin. It just proves how loyal to Noitcif you are."

  That caused the messenger to look up at him with a smile.

  "How do you know Rosalind, King Estevan?"

  "She was in my class at school this year. Also, her family are our new neighbors," Espen explained as they secured their horses and began un-tacking and currying them. "It's such a coincidence that she and her family ended up right next to us. Two enemy kingdoms from other realms..."

  Tarquin looked up from brushing Verbum's mane. "I am of the opinion that not much coincidence entered into this situation," he posited.

  The young king's head swiveled to look at him. "Engres?"

  Tarquin gave a curt nod and went back to his grooming.

  "But how – if the tower wasn't on, and..."

  "Oh, he has a plethora of technological tricks up his sleeve, my king. Honestly, I think it is high time Lysander started filling you in on what we are up against!" Verbum stepped to the side as his owner's grooming became more agitated.

  "Yeah... I'll talk to him after the knight's meeting, which is right after lunch."

  Just as the two comrades were securing the stable doors of their well-manicured steeds, they heard the sound of boots clicking on cobblestone. Marius rushed up to them with Wesley at his heels, and Rosalind followed some distance behind.

  "My lord, Sir Wesley to see you," Marius announced, out of breath.

  Espen and Tarquin were both dumb-struck at the expression on Wesley's face as he blurted out his news.

  "My king!" he exclaimed, eyes wide with fear. "The guards at the tower! They followed your orders and moved to the island right beside it, but alas! When we went to check on them this afternoon they were all found dead! And the Vastuta Tower is at full power once again!"