History Of Tortall
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters in this story. All the "new" characters are all mine. I made them up and any history I attach to them is mine, too. The history I attach to any character that is not mine is not mentioned in any Tamora Pierce books so I took the liberty of simply filling in the blanks. It's my interpretation of what happened, so if you don't like that, then you are perfectly free to make up your own history. I also took the liberty of putting in "long lost" relatives. I'm not going to say who they are because that would just ruin the whole story. I'm leaving that up to you. If you figure out who's who, email me and I'll tell you if you are right. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter.
Note: Sorry about the long delay in writing a new chapter. I had a bit of writer's block as well as a ton of school work that had to be done first. I did promise more, so here it is. Only positive constructive criticisms, please (if at all). As they say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all." On the other hand, if you like my story, please feel free to review as much as you want with your praises. Before I ramble on, here's the story that I promised. And yes, more is to come.
448 H.E. The First Morning
He walked along the corridor in search of a room. He had been sent to that room in search of something. He did not know what that something was, only that it would be easily recognized. He found the room and opened the door. It was unlocked, just like he was told it would be. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a small stand covered in glass. No doubt it had a protection spell on it because he was told a counterspell. Inside that glass case and on the stand was a book. The book was bound shut by leather strips that had been wrapped around it and then shrunk. A metal band had pinioned the book to the stand and was clasped in place by two locks, one on either end. A chain was wound lengthwise around both book and stand to be welded into place, never meant to be removed.
He recognized the object instantly. It was the Forbidden Book. It was a thing out of legends. The counterspell was spoken and the glass shattered into millions of tiny fragments. The welded chain split and slid to the floor. The locks on the metal band exploded and the band itself rusted. The rust particles floated to the floor. The leather strips binding the book expanded so they were no longer shrunk tight against the book and slipped open. Now the book lay defenseless on the stand. He snatched it up and the instant he touched it, he blacked out.
It was 40 H.E. Duncan was concerned. No matter what he did, for the last forty years he had been plagued by a dream nearly every night. It never changed. He worked magic on himself, he had others work magic on him. He even had people pray for him and he promised the gods many things. He was always true to his word, but this dream continued to torment him. So, he questioned everyone and asked for their opinions. At last he found an answer. A young boy by the name of Erik Draper came up with a solution. He suggested Duncan write about what was troubling him and in so doing, rid himself of the horrible dream.
Duncan took this boy's advice. He wrote down everything. The beginning of it all: everything from day one. He started from his childhood. He mentioned everything he learned, everything he saw, everything he heard up until that point. Then, he wrote about that fateful day: the horrendous moment when all was changed, the reason for it, and how it was carried out. He even wrote those forbidden phrases that no one dared to speak that were the cause of the change. He wrote about how everything after that moment had transpired. Then, he closed the book. A thousand pages was this tome. So fearful of the consequences of what would happen should someone find it, he carried it to a secure location: the deepest, darkest, most dingy place he could think of. He secured this manuscript very well. He wrapped it in wet leather that would shrink tight when dry. He trapped it beneath a metal band and secured both ends with locks. He wound a chain twenty times around the stand and book and just to be sure it was stuck in place, he joined the two ends of the chain. He covered the stand in glass spelled against breakage. When he had finished, he spoke the most powerful spell he could think of to prevent this danger from ever being revealed. Now, only he knew how to open it if he ever wanted to.
He turned from the stand and left the room: a small storage closet way down in the sub-levels of his castle. He never noticed the tiny body that slipped away in the other direction. That night, as he slept, a different dream came to him. This one was pleasant and reassuring. The next night it was the same. He had been cured of the infernal dream. To celebrate, he held a grand party where there were games and singing and lots of food and drink, just like there was that night when it all began…
He woke with a start. How long had he been out cold? The candle on the table by the door was still burning so it couldn't have been too long; the stub was low when he first arrived in the room. He gathered up the book, picked up the candle and left the room. His master would be pleased. According to Lord Aaron, this book was extremely important. He knocked on the door to Lord Aaron's study and entered after a shout to come in.
"Well, have you got it?" demanded Lord Aaron of his most trusted servant.
"Y-yes, sire," he stammered. From birth he had been in the care of Lord Aaron. Because of Aaron's lack of time or interest in the boy, he had received no name. He was always referred to as, "you there", "you", "he", or even "that boy." He had no friends, so no one ever bothered to give him a name of any sort.
"Very good, boy." Lord Aaron was visiting in Corus and had been most graciously received by King Jonathan and his queen, Thayet. He had come on business of the most official matter, but what it was, he would not say, not even to Their Majesties. He had secrets, many of them worth keeping until the last possible moment. He wasn't about to spill his heart just for the whim of an arrogant king like Jonathan or even his seductress of a wife, Thayet. Aaron snatched the book from the boy's hand and waved at him to go away.
He bowed and left the room, silently closing the door behind him. Aaron, after noting the boy had left, opened the book and began to read. "Interesting," he murmured to himself. "Very interesting indeed."
bbbbb
King Jonathan sat bolt upright in his bed. He was sweating bullets. Something was not right. He had a splitting headache that kept on throbbing even though whatever it was had clearly been over not less than one minute ago. He looked out the window. Dawn was just piercing the sky, but with dawn came something else.
There was a shout from the hallway: something about, "Get up your majesty!" A roar filled the ground below his window. "We're under attack!" shouted another from somewhere outside. Jonathan jumped out of bed, pulled on some breeches, and grabbed his sword. He was just leaving the room when Thayet woke up.
"What's going on?" she asked as she, too, got dressed. She grabbed her bow and followed Jonathan into the hallway, down the stairs, and into the early morning air.
"I don't know," replied her husband as he led the way. Rubbing his aching head, he looked around as he came outside.
"Sire, there's something coming. No one knows what," said a guard who had come to join the king.
"Thank you. Tell your men not to attack until we are attacked ourselves," replied Jon, looking into the distance at what was to come.
"Yes, sir!" the guard cried as he ran to give the order.
Jonathan was handed a spyglass, which he put to his eye. He could see animals, no, not animals. That wasn't correct. Some were animals, but some were part human. Some, which looked like miniature, flying people, had taken to the trees in the distance to allow room for the others to come.
Numair Salmalín ran to join his king. "Jon," he said, panting. "I don't know where they came from! They- they just showed up out of thin air! Literally!"
"Slow down, Numair," said Jon. "What came from thin air?"
A soldier handed Numair a water bottle, which he immediately opened and took a long swig. "Those things! Can't you see them?" cried Numair.
"Yes, I see them, but what are they?" said a flustered Jon.
"They're things out of legends, Jon! No one's ever seen them until now. They were all locked away four hundred and forty-eight years ago in the Divine Realms! No one ever believed they truly existed!"
"Are you telling me these- these things aren't supposed to exist? That they came from no where?"
"Yes! But- but not all of them are hostile. They're probably all confused about this, too. They probably don't know where they came from, either!" cried Numair, glad that Jon finally understood. He turned to leave to do that day's work: consulting with Sir Myles of Olau and Baron George of Pirate's Swoop.
"How do we know which are friendly or not?" asked a wary Jon to himself. He put the spyglass to his eye again and looked. It seemed the- things- had slowed down their advance. Some were settling down while others began to fly or move in the opposite direction. Jon ordered his men to stand down and go back to bed. The day would begin when he felt better. His headache was beginning to subside, but now a new one was taking its place. How would he find out about these creatures if no one knew about them? The only person who seemed to be aware of what they were was Numair, but he was assigned to spy-work and wouldn't have time to do research for him, even though he was the king.
bbbbb
Tristan Staghorn, of Dunlath Valley raised his glass. (a/n: is this the right guy? Does Belden (is this the right name?) have anything to do with the whole Immortal thing?) "To success," he said and took a long sip.
"To success," chorused his friends and co-workers. Yolane held up the mirror that showed the happenings in Corus. She laughed and spoke a word. The image changed to show Lord Aaron.
"Good morning," he said, smiling evilly. "I trust my information proved useful?" He stood there, combing his black-brown wavy hair as he waited for an answer.
"Very useful indeed, Aaron," said his friend, Tristan. "How are you this fine morning?" Tristan raised his glass to Aaron and sipped again.
Aaron walked away from the mirror to pick up a leather thong for his hair. While he was away, Tristan and his guests could see his tall, slender body and long legs. Aaron picked up the thong and came back to the mirror he was using. "Well, I was sleeping well until Jonathan's guards woke up. Other than that little incident, it was all just fine," he said, chuckling. "I'll see you later today." With that, he spoke a word and his image disappeared from Yolane's mirror and she from his.