Chapter Two
T.K. bent over the young a'ladon, placing a hand lightly on the other's furry shoulder. "Please... please get up," he implored, feeling very awkward about seeing the little creature there on his knees. The last time that he and Kari had come to that land, the a'ladon had done more than befriend them. They had deified them... worshipped them and exalted them as gods. The human boy was once again bowed by the weight of expectations that no mortal could ever fulfill.
But despite his plea, the young creature stayed silently on the ground at the bare feet of the couple. T.K. allowed himself a moment of resignation, then leaned close to Kari. "I'd hoped that Mylam would have put an end to this by now."
The girl frowned. "I guess not." Then she knelt in front of the a'ladon boy and took his paw in her hands, stroking it gently. If the small creatures lived in awe of T.K.'s supposed 'power', they universally adored Kari. "Please," she murmured. "If you won't get up, at least tell us your name."
The creature murmured something so quietly it was unintelligible.
"What?" the girl whispered.
Now the creature did look up, right into Kari's face. The girl was quickly caught up in the boy's blue eyes... eyes that were so like T.K.'s that seeing the specular resemblance in two distinct species was uncanny to her. Even the look of blatant adoration on the child's face was one that she had seen before (to a lesser extent) on the face of the blond-haired boy. "My... my..." he stuttered, then swallowed deeply. "My name is... T'Kai."
Kari glanced up at T.K. with a smile. Then she rose to her feet, gentling pulling the young creature with the soft auburn fur to stand alongside her. The teeth of the child were nervously chattering together as he bowed his head, steadfastly refusing to raise his eyes to look at them. "T'Kai? Why--?" T.K. paused, confused as a crease appeared on his brow. "Are you scared of us?"
"P... please, my great Lord," the child murmured to the ground. "F... f... forgive my taking of your name. It is meant as no disrespect."
T.K. smiled, then lifted the boy's chin so that the other would be forced to look at him. "T'Kai..." he said kindly and with a nod of his head. "Believe me when I say that nothing could honor me more. But I have to wonder why your parents chose such a name for you. Is it a common one among your people?"
The creature's lips continued to tremble as he shook his head and started to speak, hesitantly. "The name has been in my family for many generations now, and dates back hundreds of years to the second son of King T'Kay, Prince T'Kai. At least, that is what my mother had told me."
T.K.'s face was ashen as the blood drained out of it, and he looked at Kari. He swallowed, and had heard little after... Several hundred years. Before they'd returned home from their first adventure, Perrin had told them the name that she'd chosen for her first-born son. "King T'Kay. Son of... King... Mylam?"
The other nodded quickly, evidently missing the sound of emotional pain in the other's voice. "During the last dynasty of our kings. History tells that the King T'Kay had desperately wanted to meet the two of you, and that his mother, Queen Perrin, had said that you had vowed to return to us one day. His father Mylam had taught him to be always trustworthy and to ever honor his word, explaining that it was the best thing about you, Lord," he nodded to T.K. "So to honor you and to remind his decedents that you would one day return to us, he gave his son the name T'Kai. Not only does it keep your name in our hearts, but in the old language, it meant 'Little keeper of the promise'. "
Kari took T.K.'s hand in her own and squeezed tightly, and no words were necessary between the two so tangible was their pain. Their friends, with whom they had become so close, had been dead for hundreds of years. And without their ever having returned to fulfill their promise. But after a moment or so of silence, the three heard a cough behind them. "Oh, Davis!" Kari exclaimed, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes. In all honesty and in the emotion of the moment, she'd completely forgotten that he had been brought here as well.
"D... Davis?" shouted T'Kai in alarm, his sapphire-blue eyes widening in horror. Then the creature fumbled about for the whistle strapped around his neck, sounding a quick series of ear-splitting notes on it before whipping his small weapon out of its sheath and leaping between the pair and their friend.
T.K. and Kari looked at one another. "Uhm, T'Kai?" the human boy queried.
Davis staggered around stupidly for a second, sputtering to clear the sand out of his mouth and wiping a hand across his face. When he finally opened his eyes he found himself staring directly down at the sharp point of the a'ladon's bright blade. "What the hell--?" he began loudly, his words interrupted as he tripped backwards and fell onto his backside in the sand.
"Begone, devil," the child hissed through clenched teeth at Davis, raising the medallion about his neck with his free hand. "Get away with thee. I am a servant of My Lord Takeru. You have no power here."
"No, wait... T'Kai, please," said Kari gently, moving to stand between Davis and the little creature, who was clearly bent on skewering the brown-haired boy. "He's with us. He's our..." she glanced over at Davis, who gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. "Well, he's with us."
A veil of confusion dropped over the a'ladon's face. "But I thought... you... you called him 'Davis'?"
Davis moved to stand beside Kari, draping an arm over the girl's bare shoulders. Kari shrugged off the arm and affixed the boy with a dangerous glare. Davis gave a smirk, then turned to face T'Kai. "That's because it's my name, you little rodent."
T'Kai looked up questioningly at T.K., who was still standing by his side. The blond boy nodded gently, and reluctantly the young a'ladon eased his weapon back in its sheath. "T'Kai, what's wrong?"
The young creature motioned the boy down, and when T.K. bent over the other whispered quietly to him, the whiskers on his nose tickling the young human's ear. After a moment, T.K. stood up and looked at him. "Oh! I see. Well... I guess that would make sense."
"What?" Davis demanded, evidently upset.
T.K. looked at Davis, then back down to T'Kai. "You actually have a word for that?" he murmured.
The creature looked nervously at Kari, then back to the blond boy. "It's not considered polite to use it... uhm, around... well, girls," he whispered.
"I can imagine," T.K. whispered back.
"What is wrong with my name?" Davis shouted, advancing on the pair.
T.K. never got the chance to answer, for at that moment a large band of a'ladon, each armed to the teeth, came rushing out of the woods. Several of them stopped and aimed their wicked-looking spears in the direction of the humans as another, who was evidently in charge, stepped forward and looked at T'Kai. "I heard your call," he said, his voice gruff. Slowly he glanced over the humans, his brown eyes suspicious. "Who are these?"
T'Kai hurried to the larger creature's side, then stood on his tip-toes and whispered quietly to him. The other blinked in surprise as he peered closely at T.K., while his troop continued to look as though they would impale the humans at a word from anyone. The leader's brow furrowed, and he motioned over one of the others and engaged in a hurried discussion with him. This newcomer also looked at T.K. and whispered a response, though his deep voice carried his words over to the humans. "Can't be," he said, his accented voice thick with skepticism. "He's not big enough."
Once again the leader looked at T'Kai, who gave an insistent, nodding smile. The older creature frowned, and walked over to T.K.'s side. Though he was an exceptionally large member of their race, the a'ladon came barely up to the human's chin. "You claim to be the Lord Takeru?" he asked gruffly.
T.K. sighed. "No... I'm not 'Lord' anything. My name is T.K."
The other's furry snout gave a twitch, and he pulled a sword from the sheath at his side and reversed his grip on it, thrusting the hilt at the boy. "And this?" he demanded.
T.K. glanced at the golden, spherical gem that served as the pommel to the weapon and smiled. Inscribed on its surface was a finely detailed representation of the Crest of Hope. He nodded once, reaching beneath his shirt to retrieve the original crest and holding it forward for the other to inspect. The a'ladon took one look at the holy relic, then fell on his face before the boy as T'Kai had done originally. "My god," he whispered into the sand at T.K.'s feet, "forgive me. Forgive me for doubting you."
Kari looked up, startled, as the rest of the contingent of the a'ladon dropped their spears and staves with a clattering noise and fell to the ground much as the first. "Our Lord! Lord Takeru! Holy Takeru!" the creatures sang, their voices heavy with emotion.
T.K. looked helplessly at Kari, who shook her head in return. Davis, too, looked quite upset at the throng of creatures calling out the name of his rival, though for quite different reasons.
*****
Several hours later, however, the brown-haired boy's demeanor had improved exponentially as the three were conducted (paraded might have been a better term) through the town and taken to a large and most luxurious estate directly in the center of the village.
"This is great!" whispered Davis to Kari as they followed their armed escort into the building. "We're gods here!"
"Don't you dare try to take advantage of this, Davis," T.K. snapped angrily at him, knowing the other well enough to conclude that he almost certainly would.
The brown-haired boy smirked. "You have got to be kidding, T.J. People love me, but I've never been a god before. Something like this gives us all sorts of opportunities!"
Several pairs of dark eyes watched from a secluded area as a troop of the Laenites, the True Believers, formed an honor guard and led the newcomers up to an elaborately decorated door within the manor. There was a brief argument with the sentry posted outside the door before the blond-haired child and his mate were ushered inside with great ceremony. The dark-haired newcomer looked as though he would follow his friends through the door, but was stopped by both the sentry and Devan, the senior Laenite. Devan was quite firm now and called one of his subordinates over and assigned him to the third human, motioning the pair in the opposite direction.
Three a'ladon stood up and stepped away from the door through which they had been watching the proceedings. The eldest of the three looked at the others. "Do you believe them?"
Another snorted. "Certainly not. Takeru and Hikari, indeed. Such creatures do not exist."
The third looked carefully at his co-conspirator. "Strange to hear one of the priesthood say that," he murmured.
"Bah! If the people want to believe in such things, and if they lend us authority then we can tolerate the myth. But the idea that they are real? Flesh and blood as you and I are instead of some ridiculously exaggerated parables? Preposterous."
"They looked real enough to me," the first whispered. "But why would they be here? Now?"
All three looked nervously at one another, each thinking the same thing but none wishing to bring it up. The creatures, be they gods or not, were said to have a very intimate connection with the ancient line of kings. and that included the boy that the three were sending to his doom the following day.
The leader looked at his fellows. "I told you both, this was a mistake."
"Aieron, it has to be done. The boy is getting far too dangerous to have around anymore. Can you imagine what kind of mischief he'll cause if something isn't done about him? The next time he works the magic of the Holy Symphony, perhaps it will be you that he catches in its snare. Generations of elders before you have slaved continuously to make people forget about the monarchy and their gifts. We cannot, must not, allow the one remaining branch of that damned family tree to destroy what we have worked so hard for."
Aieron stopped. "But must it be done with such an elaborate scheme? I'd really prefer something more direct and with less chance involved. Why not instead poison him or drown him... or something like that? Why go take the chance of sending him to the north when we aren't even sure that those religious whores on Cypress will accept him?"
The high priest, Karel, frowned. "I can't condone murdering him here. The True Believers would be sent to investigate, and they have ways of making witnesses talk. We have to send someone to the north, and I've arraigned for the other villages to send their worst possible candidates. He will be chosen and, like the others, will never return here. Simple."
"But what about the gods?" the first insisted.
Jeron, the third member of the group smiled. "Why, they'll go with him, of course. By their own insistence and the words of our priest," here he gave a mocking bow to Karel, "they are mortal. So that accursed creature who rules the north will undoubtedly be able to deal with them as well."
*****
"Now this is not exactly what I had in mind," complained T.K. as he slipped on the gold-laced shirt that the a'ladon tailors had created for him. It was really quite comfortable, outside of being two sizes too large, but as he looked in the mirror that hung in the luxurious room that he and Kari had been placed in he discovered that it made him look almost... well, regal. Not the image that he wanted to present to these creatures to convince them that he was not a god.
"Maybe you'd like to dive to the bottom of the lake to get your own sweater back," Kari suggested, running a soft brush through her wet hair. The two had just returned from the separate communal baths in a different part of the building when they had found the clothes waiting for them.(The baths themselves had been an adventure of sorts, at least for the boy. T.K.'d had quite a time explaining to several young a'ladon servant girls that he was quite capable of bathing himself.) Now Kari was dressed in a new outfit as well, though hers was a dark, foresty green instead of T.K.'s gold.
"Funny," muttered the boy, as he pulled on the soft, leathery shoes that had been left for him as well. These at least fit him correctly. "The last thing I want to do is encourage them."
Kari finished with her hair. "Did you find out anything about Davis?" she asked.
T.K. finally found something to smile about. "Yeah, he was down at the baths too. He seems okay, outside of a guard's passing remark that he couldn't be allowed to 'soil the sanctity of the god's quarters' with his presence." Or the fact that none of the females seemed anxious to assist the other boy with his bath, but T.K. thought it better not to mention that part of it.
Kari chuckled. What she wouldn't have given to have her camera with her at that moment to have caught the incensed expression on Davis' face. After all, if there was any ego that needed a little deflating, it was his.
"What about this party they're having tonight?" T.K. asked Kari. "Is it like the one when we were here last time? The... uhm... the C'erre?"
The girl shook her head. That had been initially what she had thought, too. "It's something for T'Kai, but I don't think it's anything like the last one. They're sending him away tomorrow for something that's supposed to be kind of dangerous, from what I understand."
T.K.'s blue eyes flitted over to Kari's, wondering if she also felt the sudden, keen sense of loyalty to the descendant of their friend Mylam that he did. "Dangerous...? Kari, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Kari slipped behind the boy, grinning mischievously as she stood wrapped her arms affectionately around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Could be," she murmured into his ear.
T.K.'s cheeks quickly turned beet-red. "I... I meant about T'Kai," he stammered.
Kari gave a quiet chuckle. "Of course you did," she said, toying with the golden strands of hair around his ear. "But it's just occurred to me that we're all alone in this very, very private place, and I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for taking my detention for me yet."
The boy hadn't honestly been prepared for this. "Uh--"
Kari gave him a gentle shove, and he sat down heavily on the large bed in the room. His blue eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his head as she straddled his lap when the two were suddenly interrupted by a quiet knock at the door. "Oh, shoot," Kari murmured in frustration.
"Who is it?" T.K. croaked, springing to his feet and catching the girl so that she wouldn't fall to the floor.
"It's Devon, holinesses," replied the senior Laenite from outside. "The time for T'Kai's celebration is at hand. Will you consent to join us?"
"Uhm, yes! Yes, of course," T.K. called to the creature, still dodging the rather inviting look that Kari was directing at him. He knew that if he looked at her long enough, he'd meet the creatures with a flushed face and a stammering voice. For some reason the girl just adored doing that to him.
"Oh well," the girl pouted, just loud enough for the boy to hear. "I guess there's always later... "
*****
Some hours later, though, T.K. leaned close to Kari. "Some party," he whispered, his voice thick with irony.
The girl nodded. The last time they had come the a'ladon had pulled them into a wild, impromptu festival with loud, celebratory music, dancing and delightful food. The C'erre, or 'joyous welcoming'. This time the 'party' was more like a funeral for the young boy. "I don't understand this," Kari returned. "They're acting like he's already dead." Even the appearance of the 'gods' was only enough to cause a momentary stir in the somber mood of the room. Davis' appearance, however, had caused a much greater amount of discord. At the very mention of his name, mothers pulled children quickly away and wives embraced husbands. One particularly excitable young female had fainted dead away.
After a time, T.K. noticed that T'Kai had disappeared from the gathering. After making certain that Kari would stay with Davis to keep him out of trouble, the blond-haired boy went off in search of the young creature. He found him a short time later, concealed in a corner well away from the celebration. The young a'ladon's head was bowed over a large book of some sort, and he was concentrating on what appeared to be a piece of coal in his hand.
"T'Kai?"
The red-haired creature looked up, startled at having his concentration broken. "Lord Takeru!" he exclaimed, fumbling to put the book away. The boy's hands were covered in coal dust, and then T.K. knew what he had been doing. He sat down beside the creature. "What were you drawing?"
T'Kai looked away nervously, then took the sketchbook and placed it into the human's hands. "I'm... I'm afraid they're not very good."
T.K. took the book and flipped through the pages, his jaw dropping open. The pictures inside were of unbelievable, exquisite detail, and included drawings of both Kari and himself. But not of the two of them as they appeared in the typical artwork of the a'ladon, which usually depicted him as some terribly large and imposing deity and Kari as a flawless goddess, the queen of light. No, the pictures that the young creature had drawn were of he and Kari as they were this morning, or even now. As he came to one drawing, a portrait of himself, he realized that he could have almost have been looking into a mirror.
Then, as the human looked further, he came to different pictures... pictures drawn of a young a'ladon girl. T.K. wasn't exactly certain how he could discern that it was a female of the creatures outside of attributing his knowledge to the boy's incredible skill. "T'Kai," the human exhaled in awe. "These are wonderful!" He turned the book to the young boy, indicating one of the pictures of the young girl. "She's lovely. Who is she?"
"I... I'm not really sure, lord," T'Kai replied shyly. "But I've seen her, here," he pointed to his forehead. "Just as I have seen you and My Lady Hikari."
Something that Mylam had once told T.K. echoed in the boy's thoughts. Something that the boy king had said of his mother...
... Now he remembered. Mylam had called it the gift of Sight. As the seventh child of a seventh child, his mother had been born with the talent of scrying and had passed it down to her son and his descendants. Evidently T'Kai had inherited a greater measure of it than most.
T.K. handed the book back to the creature, who took it with trembling hands and placed it away, a sad look in his eyes. T.K. noticed both the hands and the eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
A single tear fell from the a'ladon's eye. "I'm... I'm frightened, lord," the boy confessed. "I must go on the journey that the priests are sending me, but I know that... or rather... I have seen that it will mean my death to do so."
T.K. was stunned. That, of course, would be the meaning for the somber feeling at the party. While his conversations with the True Believer that had escorted him to the baths had given him an inkling that T'Kai's journey would be dangerous, he'd honestly had no idea that...
And then something became quite clear to the human boy, something that had been flitting around in his brain since they had met the creature on the shores of the lake. "T'Kai?" he whispered quietly, drawing closer to his namesake. "I understand. Believe me, I know what it's like to be sent to do something that you feel too young to do. Thankfully, I had help when it was my turn, and I'd like to be your help now that it's yours. Would you mind if I came with you?"
The other's lips moved as though he would respond, but no sound came from them. T.K. smiled at the silent affirmation, nodding as he placed an encouraging arm about the child's furry shoulders...