"Let's stop here, Rina." Said Sander.
Rina lowered her sword. "Already?" she said.
"I want to show you something." Sander explained. "Follow me." Sander sheathed his sword and led Rina to the office compartment of the base. He entered a large room. "We would like to see Jerrold, please." Sander said to the lady at the desk.
"He is in his private office. Down this hall, second door to your left." The lady replied. Sander led Rina down the hall to a room with Jerrold's name carved on a copper nameplate. He knocked on the door.
"Come in." Called a voice from the inside.
Sander entered with Rina at his heels. The room was large and well furnished. A large oak desk stood at the center of the room. In front of the desk sat two chairs. Behind the desk were three filing cabinets and a large bookshelf. Jerrold was pouring over documents and diagrams lying on his desk. "Jerrold, hi." Sander greeted as Rina murmered her hello.
"Nice to see you, Sander." Said Jerrold, looking up from his desk.
"If you're not too busy, I would like Rina to see the crown weapons." Said Sander.
"Let's go now, then." Jerrold rose from his desk. He led the way out of the room and locked it behind him. Rina was led down the long winding hallway with dozens and dozens of closed doors. Finally, Jerrold entered a room almost at the end.
The room turned out to be a supply closest, mostly full of paper and pens. Jerrold lit the oil lamp sitting an iron shelf on the wall and closed the door behind them. He reached up and wiggled the iron shelf and immediately, a section of the back wall rumbled and shook. The wall disappeared and in its place was a narrow passageway. The party carefully stepped over the boxes on the ground and entered the corridor. As soon as everyone had entered, Jerrold wiggled a torch nailed to walls. The entrance of the passageway was again covered by the large piece of stone.
The group headed on the hallway. Jerrold, who was leading, lit all the torches on the wall as they passed. Finally, the hallway curved into a large room. The room was mostly filled with gold, silver and bronze coins, although some where valuable artifacts. "This treasury, way in which we were able to support this base. Most of it was donated, often by the remaining family of noble houses who rebelled against Nargul's rule and was executed accordingly. The survivors, frequently only women, were often frightened and wanted to just live normal lives away from the royal family. In this way, so many of the male heirs were killed and noble houses destroyed." Jerrold shook his head regretfully. "Some of the treasure, the most valuable artifacts, was stolen from the royal treasury." Jerrold gave Rina a sidelong glance. "The most valuable items are here, however." He continued.
Jerrold walked out of the room and faced the section of the wall of the hallway opposite from the room. Wordlessly, he jabbed his sword into the area where the passage curved into the treasury. The wall noiselessly opened to form another passage. This passage was short and opened into a dark, elongated chamber. When Jerrold, lit the torch, Rina was able to see an abundance of gold, silver, and precious gems. Each artifact laid on its own stand; a total of seven stands were queued in the chamber.
"Ahh. The crown jewels." Rina heard Jerrold say behind her. "Or at least what we've managed to scavenge." Jerrold led Rina to the first stand. A shattered crown lay before her. It was of thick gold, with insets of red, white, and brown stones. "The king's crown." Jerrold explained. "We couldn't save it, but we found most of the fragments. This is the kings's scepter, over here." Jerrold led Rina to the next stand. The septer, like the crown was broken. It's long slender handle was cracked and half of the hawk's head at the top was missing.
Jerrold proceeded to the next stands. "This is the queen's crown. As you see, there's not much of it left." On the stand, there were only three quarter sized pieces. On the next next to it, however, lay an almost perfectly preserved gold circlet. It was only four inches in diameter, and made of gold wire twisted into a circle with insets of rubies that looked like berries on a vine. The circlet only had one large crack. "This was yours, Rina." Jerrold continued. "The circlet you wore as a child." Rina stared at the circlet and then reached out to trace the air as if touching the crown. After a long moment, she moved on. The next stand was empty except for a velvet tray. "This one used to contain your medallion." Jerrold explained. Rina took out the medallion from where it hung around her neck underneath her shift. She traced its sun shape and the symbol at its center. She had notice that symbol engraved on all the other artifacts. "That's the symbol of the royal family." Jerrold explained. "The long shape represents a soaring hawk and the curved line above it stands for the rising sun. It's on everything, even this." Jerrold pointed to the next display, a tattered and stained blue baby blanket. Jerrold removed it from its stand and handed it to Rina. In one corner the symbol was embroidered. Below it, in gold, as ARI. "Your mother herself sewed that for you, as a labor of love." Jerrold said as Rina stroked the letters fondly. "The blanket has no worth in gold or silver, but I thought perhaps it might have emotional value. It's yours to keep." Jerrold let Rina stroke the blanket a little longer, then move to the last and largest stand. "This is the what Sander wanted to show you, the weapons. This one is your father's." Jerrold pointed to a jewel encrusted sheath and a sword beside it with a broken blade. "Your mother's." This one had no shealth, but the blade was still intact, with only scratches to show what it had been through.
Rina gazed hungrily at the weapons, her only remaining reminders of the parents she had never known. After a moment, Sander, who had remained quiet, spoke up. "I think that's enough for one day. Rina, I'll see you out."
"No. No. No!" Prudence barked. "Light steps. And for heavens' sake, at least try to be graceful. You act as if you've been raised by ogres or worst." Rina resisted the attempt to roll her eyes as she danced with Prudence's pretty and much sweeter niece, Teresa who often helped Prudence at her lessons. Prudence hovered around her as she tried to waltz. "Step like you're walking on a cloud. A heavy step will cause you to fall though." Rina tried to lighten her steps, only to be reprimand. "Don't lean so much on you're partner, Ariana." Rina held Teresa at arms length. "Closer Arina, Closer. Or the prince will think you dislike him." Rina moved closer. "Smile, Arina. You must smile up at your partner through long lashes. How else can you charm him." Rina pasted a fake smile on her lips and purposely fluttered her eyelashes too much. She waited for Prudence's reprimand.
Half an hour later, Prudence called for a stop. Rina sighed in relief. A minute later, Prudence shoved three books in her hand. "Now you will learn to walk."
"Walk?"
"A balanced and poised walk. Now place the books on your head and walk across the room." Prudence commanded. Rina did was she was bid, but before she could take a step, the books slid from her head and tumbled to the floor. She replaced the books on her head and tried again, only to have the books drop once again. After her fourth try, Prudence hurried forward and settled the books firmly on her head. Slowly, Rina took a step, and then another. On the third step, the books fell to the floor.
Finally, when Prudence halted the lesson, Jerrold pulled Rina aside. "We've just received news about the attack last week. Everyone is meeting in the conference room. I thought you would like come too."
Rina nodded. Jerrold led her into the housing department and entered a large room adjourning. A colossal wood desk was placed in the center of the room with a dozen chairs surrounding it. A few men Rina had not met were already seated, talking amiably.
Jerrold cleared his throat. "Men. This is Rina. Rina, meet commander in chief Sarge, spymaster Yegar, and Fetir." Rina shook hands with them all. Sarge was a large, impressive-looking man. Yegar was taller, more slender, with shifty eyes that missed nothing. Fetir was built more like Sarge, tall and muscular.
Rina sat down across from the men with Jerrold beside her. Soon, more people arrived, including Lora, Sander, and Kadarth. Within a few minutes, all but a few seats were taken. The room began silent when the door opened once again, this time, to allow Keith entrance. He was followed by a weary Tristan and two other equally tired men. Tristan spotted Rina and flashed her the briefest hint of a smile.
Keith stood at the head of the table with the three men behind him. He cleared his throat, although all attention was already focused on him. "As you know, there was an attack on the nearby town of Honeywood. We now have the results of the investigation." Keith stepped down and beckoned to Tristan to step forward.
"We determined that the attack was caused by bandits. The bandits have moved on. However a wrinkle, unfortunately, has been added to the situation. We've uncovered a series of letters from the crown addressed to the bandits. The crown has been encouraging the bandits to attack small, secluded towns, especially in mountainous regions like this. The bandits have even been provided gold and weapons. I believe this is the first in a series of such raids." Tristan finished his report and sat down.
Immediately, the room buzzed with voices. Jerrold rose and called for order. When silence was established, a sour faced man spoke up. He questioned the validness of the letters. Keith defended Tristan and persuaded the man of his reliability. From there, the conversation shifted to possible ways the attack on Honeywood would affect the base, and then to predicting the future of the bandit raids.
At the end of the meeting, Rina's mind was buzzing with information. As she left the office, still trying to comprehend the information, Tristan caught up with her.
"Hey Rina. How have you been?" He said.
"Oh hi, Tristan. I'm fine. How are you?" Rina replied cheerfully.
"I've been great. I'm just about to go get some lunch. Care to join me?"
"Sure." Rina agreed.
"What have you been up to?" Rina asked when they were seated in the mess hall with loaded trays in front of them.
"Assignment." Tristan answered, buttering his roll. He took a bite, swallowed and then continued. "Mostly spying on the bandits." Tristan told her about his assignment and the men he worked with. Then, he asked about Rina's life at the base. She told him what had happened since he left, and explained about her lessons.
"Sounds like they're grooming you." He remarked at the end of her story. Rina nodded.
Suddenly, a voice was heard at the other end of the hall. "Tristan!"
Rina turned around to see Terrence at the doorway of the mess hall, mouth gaping. Terrence sprinted to Tristan and threw his arms across his neck. It seems like Terrence likes Tristan more than he admits, thought Rina. When the reunion was over, Rina said, "I'll leave you two to talk. I've got a lesson with Lora in five minutes and she'll skin me alive if I'm late." Tristan nodded and she left.
"Hello, Rina." Lora said when she arrive in her office. "Today we're going to take some time to study history before we start with animals." As Rina seated herself at her desk, Lora handed her two thick books. "Jerrold has asked me to teach you Keron history as well as our usual lessons. This one –" Lora tapped a textbook with a scenic picture and the words 'Keron History' in large block letter. "is the one all students learn, including in public schools. This one," Lora pointed to a slimmer book, "deals specifically with the overthrowing of the crown. It isn't taught in school, of course, but Jerrold wants you to know all about our cause." The thinner book featured a black cover with fog painted on it. In the middle of the page was a picture of a lone, broken crown. Above it, in large gold letters, were the words 'Dark Ages: The Silent War.' "We'll start with that one first." Said Lora.
Lora began to give a brief history of Keron as Rina flipped through her Dark Ages book. A painting caught her eye. The artist had drawn a dark scene. Many soldiers had surrounded a small village. Civilians stood in the picture with make-shift weapons. The soldiers in uniform stabbed all. The artist had made special note of the women and children fighting and slaughtered. Below the painting was a portrait of an old man, his face somehow familiar. Below the portrait was the name, Commander Joseph Lenkant. Above the picture of the scene was 'Tonkenyen Massacre.'
Lora noticed the painting Rina had been examining and shook her head sadly. "The Tonkenyen Massacre," she said. "One of the most tragic events of Keronian History."
"Tonkenyen Massacre?" Inquired Rina.
"It occurred about a year after your parents were killed. Nargul had ascended the throne, but the rebellion was still in full swing. Joseph Lenkant was commander of the army back then. He was extremely talented. There had been talk of a battle; it was rumored to the battle that ended all battles. Joseph believed the battle was to take place in a meadow. He left all the women and children, including his wife and children, in the town of Tonkenyen, about three miles away and mustered all of his remaining troops. They marched to the site of the battle, only to find a small portion of Nargul's army waiting. The troops stalled and the major army swept through Tonkenyen, killing all who opposed them and taking those still alive, including the wives and children of many of the rebelling nobles. By the time Joseph's troops fought their way back home, the town had been ransacked.
"The prisoners had been taken to another fortress, where they were subjected to cruel torture. Within days, Joseph attacked and won over the fortress, but it was too late. Half of the prisoners had been killed, the remainder, in a terrible state. Of those alive, a great number had been tortured into insanity. Joseph's wife was alive, but his two sons had been killed.
"Joseph blamed himself for the massacre. Soon after, he resigned and moved with his wife away. Nothing has been heard of him ever since."
"He just got up and left!" said Rina.
"He thought the rebellion was better without him. It's quite sad. He's one of the most talented commanders Keron has ever known." Lora and Rina thought in silence. After a moment, Lora continued the lesson. She taught about primitive men, but the mood always remained depressing.
Soon after, Rina left for her class with Prudence. "Hello, Lady Arina" Prudence greeted when she arrived. "How are you?"
"Hello, Lady Arina." Teresa echoed.
"Hello, Prudence. I'm fine." Rina replied, sweeping into a curtsy. Prudence insisted that Rina treat her lessons as if she was in a social outing, to practice her manors.
"I have a surprise for you. Your dresses have just come in." Prudence led Rina to a table where a black dress and three white petticoats were laid. Prudence beckoned to Teresa and together they helped Rina into the petticoats and the black dress. The black dress was beautiful. The top clung to her curves and flared at the hips to create a full skirt. Vertical lines on the dress trimmed her waist and white and silver embroidered vines wrapped themselves around her waist and hem.
Rina moved experimentally in the dress. It wasn't as heavy or as bulky as she had expected and she liked the design of the dress. She was pleased, until Prudence slipped a bulky sash around her waist. She settled the sash around her waist and step back. Immediately, Rina was surprised with the weight of the sash. She felt the fabric and found that it was filled with sand.
"Dresses are often much heavier then the one you are currently wearing." Prudence explained. "We use sand bags to mimic the weight. The one you are wearing weighs ten pounds. We'll gradually increase until it weights at least twenty five pounds.
Great, Rina thought to herself. Suddenly, Prudence piled something on her head. She nearly collapsed with the unexpected weight.
"It's a sandbag." Said Prudence. Jewelry worn on the head is often heavy so you need to learn to keep your head high."
Perfect. Just perfect. Rina sighed.
"That has got to be the worst lesson I've had with her." Rina remarked as she chatted with Teresa after her class with Prudence.
"Aww come on, Rina. It wasn't that bad." Teresa answered. She called Rina by her nickname when Prudence was not around.
"You weren't the one wearing about fifteen pounds of sandbags and forced of waltz with an invisible partner for half an hour while people around you stared at you as if you had grown another head.
Teresa giggled. "True." Just then, Phil walked up to them.
"Hello." He said.
"Hello." Chimed the girls. Teresa had been recently introduced to Phil and the rest of Rina's friends and they had become fast friends.
"How was the lesson?"
"Same as usual. I was just going to grab some dinner. Want to come?"
Phil shook his head. "I was going to go for a walk."
"Alright. Teresa?"
"I think I'll go with Phil." She answered. Phil and Teresa left talking, leaving a slightly disgruntled Rina.
Rina's lessons with Sander were much more enjoyable than Prudence's. Sander too made Rina wear a harness with weights, to prepare her for the burden of light armor. He was considerable surprised when she did not seem to be affected by the extra weight. Her movements were just as fluid and quick as when she did not wear the harness. It seems etiquette does have its uses after all, thought Rina, amused.
Her days followed a schedule. In the morning she had lessons with Sander. During the afternoon, Lora and Prudence taught her. In the evening, there were often meetings called to discuss the status of the rebellion. Rina attended every one, with Jerrold by her side to explain what had been reported. She found that there were not one, but four major bases located throughout the country. This one, dubbed Kenton, was the largest. It houses 600 soldiers and served as the headquarters. Gorham and Durth came next, each holding 300 men. Myron was located deep in isolated mountains, in the snowy valleys. It only housed 150 men, but forged most of the weapons used by the rebellion. Besides theses, there were many other bases, not as secluded and hidden. Few had soldiers; most only supplied the food needed to run the bases and was operated by civilians.
Jerrold was head of Kenton. The other men who commanded the other bases worked with him to make decisions, but it seemed he had the final verdict. He, along with a few other men, stayed constantly at the base. They could always be found in their office, buried under mountains of paperwork. Most of the other agents, Tristan and Keith included, were on assignments. Rina had not talked to Tristan since the day he came with news of the raid. He had been assigned to another base. It seemed that Jerrold wanted Tristan to handle himself without his father there to guide his every step.
Terrance became glummer with Tristan's absence. While he resented his father's trust in Tristan, he looked up to him. He had completed the five month course required to become a candidate for the new eggs. The hatchlings are placed under the care of the mother dragon and the base's doctors for the critical first 24 hours. Then, the candidates are allowed to interact with the baby dragons. Because animals seem to have a sixth sense, the babies choose the candidate that has made the greatest impression on them. The dragons remain under their mother's care for another six months, but they bond with the child they had chosen. Terrance had told Rina of the event, scheduled to occur soon. Civilians are allowed to watch, so he had invited Rina and her friends.
Several days later, Rina, Phil, Gena, and Teresa arrived at the auditorium. The auditorium was a large chamber with benches. An area at the front was cleared and roped off. A variety of oversized, infants' toys were scattered there. In the back of the auditorium, a huge area had been left vacant. Here sat a giant purple dragon and her slightly larger mate, a brown. The dragons surveyed the people with narrowed yellow eyes.
Rina settled down on one of the chairs near the front, with her friends seated next her. Within 15 minutes, the entire hall was filled with eager civilians. Even Jerrold slipped into the seat beside her. Soon, Kadarth led a group of thirty people between the ages of ten to teens, the oldest, eighteen. They lined up along the back of the stage. The candidates scanned the crowd and shifted from foot to foot nervously. Rina caught Terrence's eye and he nodded his acknowledgement.
Lora walked in from the opposite side of the stage which Kadarth had come. Behind her paraded a long string of eight dragons, stumbling clumsily one behind the other. They were about a meter high, and about 2 meters long, including the thin, whip-like tail which accounted for about half of their length. Spikes that raced down their backs were just beginning to harden and a pebbly pattern was forming on their hide, a sign of scales. With their wings plastered uselessly against their backs, they resembled miniature dinosaurs. There were a multitude of colors, ranging from yellow, green, and purple, to, as the crowd gasped a rare black. This one carried itself in a confident way. It was less ungainly than its siblings and slightly larger.
The dragons were slowly led past the line of people, giving the dragons enough time to sniff the candidates as they past. Finally, a timer is set and Kadarth gave the candidates the signal to begin to mingle with the baby dragons. With thirty applicants and only eight dragons, even the yellow dragon, the obvious runt of the litter and the most undesirable, had two kids around it, stroking its head and murmuring to it. Every once in a while, Lora or Kadarth would stir up the crowds, making sure every dragon had spent time with every candidate. However, predictably, there was always a large crowd, almost all the boys, around the black dragon. He basked in their attention, but showed no preference. Terrence had only been near the covenant dragon once. He seemed to be having trouble with a bully. Every time he came near the dragon, the bully would discreetly push him away. Terrance did not seem to defend himself and accepted the hint. The bully himself spent most of that hour beside the dragon, stroking it. He only left to visit the other dragons when Kadarth intervened. Only then was Terrence about to see the black dragon.
When the hour was up, the kids lined up in a row. The dragons clustered in a group around Lora, butting and whining to each other was if conferring. When all was silent save the humming of the baby dragons, Lora released a random dragon. This one, an average green, stumbled up to the line. It craned its neck to peer at each child before cantering to a young boy. The boy was delighted with the dragon's choice and stroked its head fervently. He and his dragon left the line, not, however, before casting a last longing look at the black one, who returned his gaze with an indifferent stare. When the excitement over the green dragon was over, a purple baby left its littermates. This one did not stop to survey the choices; she headed straight towards a fifteen year old girl. The girl looked as if she would cry and swung her arms around the dragon's neck. When they were led aside, another dragon was released. This one, the yellow runt, hesitantly headed for the people, tripping over its feet every so often. He meekly stared at the faces of the candidates and stepped timidly towards the bully Rina had noticed earlier. The bully, however, glared at the dragon with a look that caused the nervous baby to back off and trip over its feet. Before it could fall on its back and injure its spine, a tall gawky boy dashed forward and grabbed the dragon. He placed it on its feet and stroked the dragon, which was quivering from its ordeal. The dragon buried its head in the boy's embrace. After a few minutes, it became obvious that the dragon did not intend to leave the boy's grip and the boy was declared the dragon's choice.
Slowly, one by one, the other dragons chose their trainers. Terrance was not chosen, and, with each passing dragon, he looked more and more depressed. By the time most of the dragons were gone, Terrance had taken to staring at his shoes, as if he noticed nothing else. Finally, the black dragon stepped out to make its choice. It was the last, most eagerly awaited dragon. All the remaining candidates watched it with rapt attention as it inspected the children, save Terrence, who did not seem to be aware of tension in the air and continued to stare at the floor. The dragon wandered to one end of the line and walked down the row, peering at each face with scrutiny. At the end of the row, he turned and walked back. After his third search, he returned to the center of the room. He stared at candidates and then headed towards the middle of the group. The bully noticed the dragon coming near him and smiled in triumph but when he opened his arms to welcome him, the black dragon sharply veered to the right and nudged a boy standing beside the bully. Terrence looked up, petrified to find the dragon playfully butting him. After the shock passed over him, his face lit up and he responded to dragon's urges to play. The bully beside him looked murderous. He glared at the pair and stomped away, leaving the stage.
Meanwhile, the audience had gotten to their feet and was making their way to the stage to congratulate those chosen and comfort those who were not. Rina found herself along with Jerrold and her friends among those clustered around Terrence and the black dragon. After much of the crowd had left, Rina noticed only Gena remained beside her. Scanning the crowd, she noticed that Phil and Teresa were missing. Although slightly annoyed at their disappearance, she forced herself to concentrate on Terrence, who looked happier than she had ever seen him. Later, she told herself, there would be time to question Phil.
Hehehe. I've introduced a final conflict. I realized I should have introduced it a while back to make it more realistic, but I didn't think of it then so just bear with me. The story is coming to an end. Only a few more chapters to go. Yay!
Please, please, please review. I feel like no one's reading it . . . sniffs.