Chapter 12 - Some Interludes

Ilora looked at the clod of dirt and it changed to sandstone, then to granite. The sparse grass around it became fuller and greener, the grainy soil beneath her feet became a wild game trail. Low bushes gave way to ferns. Deadfalls, twisted by wind and weather, became a verdant forest of pines and dogwoods. The bright yellow sky went dusty brown then to light cool blue.

She walked intently, focusing on the changes and will them to occur, but also allowing herself to sift through the questions plaguing her mind and heart.

In the few months she had known Callo Merlose, she had found a kindred spirit, although the two of them were quite different. And although Callo was younger than Ilora, she possessed an insight beyond her years. Ilora tended to face her problems head on while Callo approached hers in a more casual, circuitous manner. Ilora tended to discourage men's outright flirtation with the point of her dagger while Callo accepted the attention but simply made her lack of interest plain with a look. Both of them would fight to win and neither one would kill indiscriminately, and both would stand by their friends no matter what.

That Callo had disappeared without a word and that blood had been spilled meant that Iloradanon would know what had happened to her friend. Heaven help the poor souls who would try to bar her path.

Ilora continued her Weaving, and ability she had possessed since her first blood. She had learned from Dave months ago how the Verdite Inn was a crossroads among different worlds, which only confirmed what Ilora already knew. Her ability to change field to forest and mountain to desert was what he called World Walking.

But while others talked of using magic to create doorways, transfer and 'nexus' points, Ilora never used magic to accomplish her weaves. She would focus on traveling, then she would just 'will' a change and it would happen. She never told anyone of the difference but instead listened and learned from the men who would talk about it and anything in their lives to a woman who showed them the slightest interest, let alone one that bought the drinks.

She now had intent and a place to go, and she wasted neither effort nor time in reaching her goal. She retained every description of Lea Monde that Callo had ever shared with her fixed firmly in her mind and was willing the landscape to change bit by bit, each change drawing her closer to the city. So intent was her focus that the slow and gradual changes she was accustomed to were passing by like water in a rushing stream.

It only took her about three hours from when she left the Verdite Inn to arrive at the shores of an ocean. Next to her were the remains of a destroyed stone bridge that had once arched over the intervening distance between this shore and the island city of Lea Monde, city of magic.

She recalled Callo's description of the destruction of Lea Monde. There had been fire and smoke, buildings collapsing, stone and metal work melting and strange bright lights brightening and fading. She had left while the city still burned. The city before her, though, was still standing. It's tall towers and buildings looking solid and showing little sign of age. Green plants and trees were in full bloom. No signs of fire nor destruction anywhere, no soot nor fallen stones.

She had expected nothing else. She started looking about for the structure that hid the entrance she would need and found it rather quickly. When she came upon it, she did not pause nor hesitate. Down the stairs she went into gathering darkness. She called upon light to illuminate the passage as she continued deeper and deeper into the earth. Eventually it opened into a chamber with one exit directly across the room from her entrance.

She stopped to examine the stonework, it's sturdiness and construction. She would be passing under water and did not want to accidentally hit the wrong spot and drown. The air was cool and surprisingly lacked the expected mustiness and moisture she was sure would be present. This deep into the earth and under the waters of the ocean, one would expect to be knee deep in slimy waters. Here, it was dry and even a bit dusty. She walked into the far archway and proceeded towards the city. In less than an hour Ilora walked out of the passage and into the cold rooms of a wine cellar. The passageway had remained cool and dry which had made movement easy.

But within seconds of crossing into the wine cellar, Ilora suddenly felt light-headed and almost swooned. She grabbed the door frame to steady herself and fought back the dizziness and upwelling nausea choking her throat. She gathered her thoughts and willed the dizziness away. There was a flicker as the room seemed to spin around her and then all the dizziness disappeared. She found herself panting with exertion, a weakness and all-body ache suddenly present in every muscle of her body.

She walked to a crate to sit and rest a moment, only to hear a click behind her, the sound of a door shutting. She turned and saw the door to the underwater passage fade away and become nothing more than a wood-paneled wall with no seam to indicate there was a door behind it.

She knew she should probably be frightened, but she had come her on purpose and her goal was somewhere nearby, ahead of her and not behind. It was to this Wine Cellar that Lord Darkman had teleported with Callo. Her task was to track them down and save her friend. If Lord Darkman couldn't answer her questions to her satisfaction, or had harmed Callo, he would answer for his foolishness.

And if he had killed Callo, or made her a creature of darkness, those very moments with Ilora would be his last.

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The king once again rode through the lands of Verdite. The messages telling of the fall of Melanat to dark forces was disturbing, the presence of an growing number of undead on the shores of Verdite a danger that could not be left alone. But the influx of people fleeing for their lives demanded an instant response. The safety of the people must be insured, and all these factors warranted a force of knights at the least.

But the presence among the undead of sorcerers, undead themselves, who were killing the soldiers the king had sent to clear out this incursion into an small army of undead soldiers required magic intervention. This is what made King Lyle's mind up to lead the forces. His powers had not waned in the few years he had been king. If anything, they had continued to grow. He was the best defense and the best weapon to use against such a force.

Of course, his counselors protested and Lyn was practically frantic, but he felt the change in the land and knew this force of evil must be stopped. As King of Verdite, he could feel the pulse and life of the land within himself. He knew that he needed to be where this evil is in order to better direct their destruction and the restoration of Verdite.

Lyns fears were for her friends on Melanat, those among the few remaining elves that had returned there, and for the incursion against the peasants who could not beat back these creatures but instead often fell before them, only to rise later to strengthen the forces of evil. Lyn had become bitter at him when he announced his intent to lead the force, and although he knew that she understood why he had to go, she was not ready to accept it yet. Last night there had been harsh words between them, then tears and pleas. But his duty lay before him, and he tried to offer what comfort and encouragement he could. There was no consoling her.

She was not in bed when he arose before dawn. She was nowhere to be seen when he had gone out to his gathered knights and footmen to leave. He was just mounting his white stallion when a flurry of activity surrounded the knights. Women bearing floral and scented wreaths of flowers and greenery were saying farewell to them. It was a parting gift of honor and a promise to await their return.

And then Lyn was at his knee, radiant in her best gown, hair styled and dotted with flowers, her favorite ruby necklace lay upon her skin between her breasts. She was flushed and glowing, smiling her love and encouragement to him as she placed her wreath around his neck, a brilliant red rose just below his chin, it's fragrance was strong and heady. Her words managed to reach him as she placed it around his neck. "Be strong and well my husband, my heart and the love of my life. Return to me soon, and I will hold hearth and home warm until your return."

She then stood back, walked regally up the steps, then turned and faced the gathered people. Her presence seemed to cause a silence to fall upon the crowd, and she drew herself up to her full height and spoke.

"Farewell husband and King. Farewell brave knights and loyal armsmen. Be true and strong and turn this tide of evil away from the fair land of Verdite. We shall pray for you and hold Verdite Castle strong and safe, and our hearts and homefires warm until your return. Hail husband. Hail King Lyle Austin Forester, Savior of Verdite."

Hails and cheers erupted. King Lyle used every ounce of will he could must to stay seated in his saddle. He wanted to leap from his horse and run to Lyn, to smother her in a hug and many long kisses, but it was not the place for a King to do so in public.

He could only smile, nod once, his emotions clamoring at his throat for release, and start riding towards the gate. His knights began to follow in a 2-man column, to be followed by the footmen, pikemen and archers. But just before he rode under the new portcullis at the gate, he stopped. The column, barely started, ground to a halt.

The knights and army muttered about the kings delay, and the cheering of the crowd began to subside as they began to realize something was amiss. Suddenly, the king turned his horse around and shouted "Make a path!".

The knights near the king tried to move their horses in time, but a few we forcibly pushed out of the way of the kings charger as he galloped back before the queen, still standing regally. But those closest could tell the queen was forcibly maintaining the mask she now wore.

The King stopped short of the steps, looked at the queen and holding her gaze, unsheathed the Excellector, holding it aloft and angled slightly towards the queen. Light blossomed along the blade and radiated outward in a revolving circle around the center of the blade, white light with a ruby colored center. The light steadied and held, and then the rose in the wreath around his neck began to emanate with a red light that expanded outward into a nimbus of white light.

All eyes were riveted on the king as he did this. But their looks were drawn to the queen as an even brighter halo of light surrounded her, never touching her, but expanding outward until it reached the edge of the kings own halo, and the two merged and became one. The two glows surrounded the two royals creating an eternity symbol. And then began another glow, this one from the ruby necklace around Queen Lyn's throat. It pulsed and steadied, holding everyone's attention.

No sound had issued for the several minutes the king had created this effect, and such was the silence that the King's words were easily heard, though gently spoken.

"As the Rose of Honor now lies against my breast, as the ruby heart of Excellector pulses with the light of Verdite, so do you, my queen, ever live within my heart. As my heart pulses with life and love for Verdite and it's people, so are you the love and life blood that pulses in my heart. Both the kingdom and my heart can rest easy knowing you stand, holding us both in peace and safety. All Hail Queen Lyn, My Beloved!"

There was a brief pause and then the crowd erupted, "HAIL QUEEN LYN! HAIL QUEEN LYN!" Knights unsheathed swords and saluted; axes, pikes, bows and swords of the army saluted and waved. Cheers roared through the courtyard and the walls of stone shuddered and reverberated under the onslaught of sound.

Lyn stood and gazed at the crowds, then slowly back to her husband. Her eyes sought his and found them gazing at her with a familiar look in them. He reserved that look for her alone, and only within their most intimate moments. It was the look that look that told Lyn that she was loved and the familiar words spoken when he gazed at her so echoed in her memory, 'Until eternity fails, I love you, wife'. She watched the light separate as he turned his mount around and pranced back to the gate, the light dimming around him but remaining behind around Lyn.

The knights fell back in behind him and the procession began out the gate and into Verdite. Most of the people turned to watch the procession leave and so most missed the queen walk back to the castle and enter the door, followed closely by Lady Gina and several handmaids.

Once inside, the queen walked quickly through the hall and to a table with a finely wrought ceramic vase holding fresh flowers in it. She grabbed it and hurled it to the floor, shattering it and splashing the floor and wall with water and flowers.

"How DARE he! That man can be so insufferable!. Has he no sense of decorum? And that childish light show! Did you see him Gina? How he embarrassed me, belittled me in front of the whole kingdom? How could he do that?"

Tears were streaming down Lyns cheeks and sobs began to wrack her small frame. Upon the breaking of the vase, Gina had shooed the handmaids away and aproached Lyn, coming to her to gather her into her arms as Lyns crying became so intense as to cause her to fall to the floor, taking Gina with her.

"Oh, Gina, what am I to do? I will miss him so much. I love him so much!"

Gina let Lyn cry a while longer before she answered.

"I think the people of Verdite now know that their queen is truly loved, treasured and trusted by their king. As he loves his kingdom, he goes to defend and secure it again. He leaves behind him his most valued treasure. The people know you and love you, now all the more that he has declared his love and trust in you. No king I have ever heard of has ever honored a queen more than King Lyle has honored Queen Lyn."

Lyn slowly pulled back a bit and looked at Gina.

"No king has ever loved his queen more than Lyle loves you. The people know it and love him. They will support you and defend you to the death for the love that he bears you and they bear him. He placed his heart in your hands and they saw it. The castle will remain secure because no one will let you come to harm. For his sake and the love they now share with the king for you."

Lyn began to sob some more, but softly and more gently than before.

"Oh, Gina, how I will miss him."

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