Approaching the oldest tree in the forest, and the center for the Rings of Knowledge, Nod couldn't hold down the thrill of excitement. He loved this place more than he let on, and would spend time reading and researching the history of the woods, if of course he had the time for that. The whole flight here, he had kept silent, Thryn sitting behind him. Her arms weren't wrapped around his torso, and for that, he was kind of relieved. It wouldn't feel right, and he already felt like he betrayed M.K. when he held her hand on the walk in the dark.
During the journey, they had stopped to refill their canteens at a stream, and Nod had practically dunked his head into the water. He was so thirsty! This rosebud kept draining him of hydration, and it was like he could never have enough water. The other Leafmen didn't say anything, just handed him their canteens when he needed them. Which was every five minutes.
Ronin, leading the group, guided his hummingbird to a branch, the patrol following suit. The general hadn't said a word except to give an order, nor had he even looked at Nod. The teen preferred it this way though. He wasn't ready to talk yet.
Waiting for them at the doorway into the oak was the big guy himself, Nim Galuu, with a smile on his face. Nod always liked seeing the glowworm, his jolly personality affecting everybody around him, and you just couldn't stay mad in his presence.
"Ronin, I'm glad you got my message. Nod! So great to see you, it's been a while. How's M.K. doing?" the glowworm asked, giving him a sly wink at the mention of the Stomper.
Nod really wished he could control how much his face reddened. "Last I checked Nim she was fine."
Nim smiled, and then glanced down at his arm. "So this is the high maintenance plant I've been told about! From the looks of it, you've been taking care of it well. It looks as healthy as ever!"
The teen brought up the rose so the Keeper of the Scrolls could examine it closer. "This rose better be as important as everybody keeps saying it is," he muttered, sending a pointed glare to the silver-haired general beside him.
Ronin didn't rise to the bait but interjected, "Nim, the message you sent by fireflies means that you found something, correct?"
"Oh I found something alright, Ronin. You're gonna want to see this, and you to Nod."
"Does it have any answers of the rose's purpose?" Nod blurted out.
"You'll see, but I'm telling you, the plot thickens."
Nod really hated vague answers.
The glowworm led them into the tree and down a polished wood hallway. White moths fluttered up and down on velvet wings, carrying scrolls, pens, and other various objects. They were in the upper reaches of the oak, the part of the tree that acted as a home and work space for the moths, above the show room. When they reached the end, the hall opened into a vast chamber, the elevator in the center. More moths floated lazily around, many resting on the walls and ceiling, rustling wings and antennas together as they interacted. A thick green vine connected the elevator platform to a winch set in the center of the ceiling.
Seeing that the platform wasn't big enough for everybody to board, Ronin turned to a Leafman, "Bran, I'm leaving you in charge. Set up a perimeter and watch the outside, but don't make it obvious to the civilians that we're guarding the tree. I don't need a panic now."
"Yes sir!"
"Nim, Nod, and I shall go down to the Rings."
"What about Thryn?" Nod protested.
"She's staying up here," Ronin replied curtly.
The girl gave him a small smile and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine," she mouthed. Thryn didn't really expect to be kept in the loop, not after going AWOL with Nod and anyway, Nod would most likely fill her in on what they would find.
The boy turned away and stepped on the platform with Nim and Ronin, "Take us down Phil, all the way!" Nim Galuu shouted up to the ceiling. A moth shook himself awake and pushed on the winch handle, starting the elevator's slow descent down into the trunk of the ancient oak. Their heads passed below the top floor and they lowered down into a cafeteria for the moths. The next floor was a rec room with couches, chess, checkers, and a ping-pong table.
As they descended through other various levels, Nim began to explain how he stumbled on the information they needed. Nod was grateful for this. The Keeper of the Scrolls must have sensed the palpable tension between the man and the boy, and filled in for their awkward silence.
"So I was hunting through all the scrolls like you asked me Ronin. I had deduced that the topmost libraries wouldn't have want you needed, and that cut me some slack, but even with all my moths and I, it was a lot of paper to sort through. It's why it took five days to get back to you."
"Anyway, I was at the lowest floor- that's below the roots by the way- and man was I exhausted! My eyes had never felt so beaten up and I think I gained a few new wrinkles,'' he rubs his face for emphasis. "I was heartily sick of reading, and this is me we're talking about! I was just about to call it a day, when Phil- you met him up there- came to me with an interesting scroll on economic figures of the market way back, about two Queens ago. I mean I would've found it interesting if I wasn't so tired!"
Usually by now, Ronin would have interrupted Nim and tell him to get to the point and not prattle on, but the general seem to welcome the distraction just as much as Nod did.
Nim Galuu continued regardless, "So I got irritated with him and put him on elevator duty, told him we were looking for mention of a king and a rose, not economic figures! He flew up grumbling to himself, but he didn't put the scroll back in its place before he left. Being me, I didn't want things out-of-order, but he and I were the only ones down there so I couldn't ask anyone else to find its place. I moped around a little, trying to find its spot.
"There's these rows of shelves, right, and I was pulling out scrolls, looking at them, putting them back, when I came across this one that wouldn't budge. I pulled and pulled but it wouldn't move, so I thought it was stuck to the back. I yanked up and-get this- it was a lever! I've been in charge of this establishment for decades and I didn't know a thing about this, and neither did my mentor, I'm sure, or else he would have told me. At least I think he would've, he did keep a lot of secrets."
"So then this section of the shelves opened up like a door, and there were these dusty old steps leading down. I got a candle and went in Thankfully it didn't go that far down. There was this small room at the bottom and- oh here we are!"
Nod didn't realize the elevator had stopped, and they stepped off the platform. The room was huge and circular like all the other levels but the walls were stone, not wood. The stone kept all the ground water from ruining the scrolls. Shelves lined the walls with neatly organized scrolls in their slots, and a huge round table occupied the center, chairs pushed in underneath. The level was obviously well-kept, but the air was different. This story had a mood of loneliness, whereas the upper floors had noise, commotion, and energy running through them.
The Keeper of the Scrolls scooted to the back wall and briefly searched the shelves, before he found the scroll he was looking for. He clutched the roll of parchment and yanked it up. A clicking of rusted, hidden gears sounded through the walls as the shelf slowly swung open with an ominous creak. Just like Nim said, stairs descended into darkness, coated with a thick layer of dust and only disturbed recently by the glowworm himself.
Nim had placed a candle on the first step, and he picked it up now to guide their way. A tingle went up Nod's arm, and he realized it was the rose shivering. With anticipation or fear, he couldn't tell. He followed after Nim, Ronin taking the rear, the general's hand resting casually of the hilt of his sword. They were only a few steps down, but Nod was already feeling claustrophobic. He absolutely hated the underground, for to him, it was a terrifying thought to not have easy access to the sky and sun. Some of his worst nightmares when he was little had been him getting trapped in a cave or buried alive. He fought his rising panic, because he didn't want to have a breakdown in front of Ronin.
Nod counted the steps until they reached the bottom, and Nim was right, they weren't that far down. Feeling a bit calmer, the teenager took a good look at the room they now found themselves in.
The room smelled of ancient mildew and the air was musty. It was a small space, a table standing on rotting legs in the middle. Stacks of wooden tablets covered the surface, as did chisels, little hammers, and small pen knives. The table was sagging in the middle with the weight it held, and Nod wondered why it hadn't collapsed centuries ago. That's how old the room looked, older than the great oak above them.
The chamber's light came from several candles in brass holders, presumably lit by Nim. The stone floor was cold and the walls were decorated with mosaics, their grandeur and color completely faded away. Lining the wall were smooth slabs of wood, though now they were rotten to the point where most had crumbled into piles of damp wood chips. A tin can of charcoal pencils and pens had fallen off the table and scattered across the floor, as if the last person in the room was in a rage.
"What is this place?" Ronin asked, his whisper almost inaudible, like he didn't want his loud booming voice to break the fragile air.
"It's got to be important if it has been hidden away for so long," Nod mused, also keeping his voice soft.
"Come look at these tablets on the table," Nim said, barely suppressing his excitement. "They're stamped with the royal seal at the top but it's not the one we have today."
Nod squinted at the tablets, the candlelight only helping a little to chase away the darkness, "It's a rose instead of a pond lily."
"Correct, but it's still encircled by a vine like our Queen's," Nim pointed out. "I wonder why they changed it….?"
"Royal documents," Ronin spoke up. He brought a candle closer to one the wooden tablets. "This is one decreeing a new law for breeding birds, and this is a neutrality declaration….and looked who signed them."
They peered at the bottom of the tablets, where two signatures were carved: "By the royal decree of Queen Marise and King Jori."
Nod's head was reeling, "So there was once a King and Queen ruling together!"
"The rose is still a mystery though," Ronin pointed out. "It may have been a King's emblem, but what's its real importance? How is it supposed to save the forest?"
"This is only the cap of the mushroom," Nim muttered.
The rose uncoiled itself from Nod's arm, drawing the boy's attention. It pointed its bud to the back wall, stretching its stem out the farthest it could go. Nod nudged Ronin and gestured to the rose which was trying to tug Nod where it wanted to go. The teen walked towards the back wall and examined it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just a slate slab studded with tiny pebbles, like the rest of the chamber, but the rose continued to pull on his arm with renewed urgency.
"Well?" Ronin inquired from behind him.
"There's something about this wall….the rose is going nuts." Gingerly, Nod laid a hand on the wall and waited, the rock cool beneath his palm. The rose's leaves brushed up against the stone, make it shudder like an animal. The rock under Nod's hand gave way on rusted hinges, protesting an ear-splitting creak. A door that wasn't there had just appeared! Behind the door was a small cache.
Resting inside were two tablets and an old, beaten up journal. Unlike everything else in the room, the items were void of dust, and the wooden tablets were fresh and solid, like they were just cut yesterday.
"The safe protected the tablets from the elements," Nim observed. "Otherwise they wouldn't look so good."
Nod reached in and picked up the journal. It was protected by a leather cover that looked like it had seen better days. Even with the safe, the paper had yellowed with age and the young Leafman was afraid that it would disintegrate in his hands. The whole thing was closed tightly with a leather strip binding.
He opened it to the first entry. The date written in the top left corner in pencil said: 3rd of the Thunder Moon, 1770.
My first day as the Royal Tablet Master, and I'm already piled high with work. I just got time to write a short entry into my journal before turning in for the night. It's cold, quiet, and lonely but for now, that's the way I like it. Anywhere is better than home with my parents.
I've got about twenty-five documents to whittle, stamp, and sort tomorrow so I need to sleep. Here's to hoping that my career is a success!
Nod flipped a few pages ahead and read the next entry, dated two weeks afterwards: The kingdom is at peace, the forest flourishes, and Queen Marise is expecting the new baby any day now. Princess Ana and her infuriating friends keep sneaking into the library and making a mess among the tablets, after I've sorted them for hours! The new baby will hopefully be more considerate of my work, but I fear his older sister will lead him on strange adventures full of mischief. The little royal often preaches about her future adventures that she will embark on. Poor girl has yet to learn of the responsibility that had been born upon her: Queen of the Forest! A literate figure of Mother Nature! Looking at her now, I can't imagine such a head-strong girl becoming ruler, but she has yet to mature into the leader she must become. All in all, the land is enjoying its peace and tranquility.
"It doesn't talk about a Boggan raid. Not even a skirmish," Nod muttered to Ronin, whom he knew was reading over his shoulder. "I thought the war between growth and rot has always been waging since the beginning of time."
"It could be that it is, but the author has decided not to describe it."
Nod continued to flip through the pages, looking for any words like "Boggan" or "attack" but there was no mention of it. Boggans never left the forest in peace for that long!
Nim cleared his throat, gaining their attention. He held the two wood tablets from the hidden cache, "Listen to this," he said and read aloud: "By Royal decree of her majesty, Queen Marise, the fugitive King Jori, is charged with high treason and murder, and is hereby stripped of his divine rank as King of the Forest. Her majesty Queen Marise, with this document, authorizes the search and seizure of Jori. Any have the right to arrest him, and he's wanted dead or alive, preferably alive. Any found aiding this criminal will be charged with obstruction of justice, aiding a renegade, and treason. Signed by her Royal Majesty, Queen Marise of the Jinn."
The silence that followed the end of the declaration gave away the tension everybody was feeling, "Whoa..." Nod breathed. "That's harsh."
"Could a Queen even do that? Strip a King of his status?" Ronin wondered, his expression betraying his apprehension.
"Whether she could or couldn't, Queen Marise did it," Nim replied. His old eyes scanned the second tablet in his hands.
"The charges...treason? Murder?" Nod exclaimed. "Who did he murder?"
"It doesn't say, but listen to this," the glowworm spoke: "Under the authorizing signature of her Royal Majesty, Queen Marise, this tablet enacts the new law on inheritance. No longer will the Royal crown be passed to the ruler's children, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, in-laws, or any other relation by blood or marriage. The ruling Queen will lead her people for a term of one hundred years, and when that term is concluded, she'll select a pod from the Royal pond. On the day the summer solstice and the full moon simultaneously occur, the ruling Queen will deliver her powers into the pod, and it'll be the pod's responsibility to choose the new Queen. Once this is done, the predecessor may choose to stay as head adviser of her successor or retire into nobility. Men are forbidden to be chosen as Kings or Princes."
The silence that preceded was even longer than the first. All of their heads reeled with this new information. The tablets and journal informed then that there once was a King, ruling with the Queen. They explained the origins of the traditional pod-selection and Queen-choosing. But they didn't show anything about the rose, its origins, its purpose, its powers, and its importance. They hadn't gotten any closer to finding answers, just gaining more questions!
An idea came to Nod. "Nim, what's the date on the first tablet?"
The Keeper glanced at the top right corner, "18th of the Moon before Yule, 1776."
Nod flipped through the journal, looking for the date. Luckily, the owner had written an entry that day and it went on for paragraphs.
"Winter has kicked in, and not even the furnaces can keep the cold out of the stronghold. This tree is usually so full of warmth and life but ever since the incident….the grief is so strong that I can't even write about it without having tears blur my vision. But now's not the time for crying; God knows I've done enough of that. It's well past midnight and I can't sleep. I've just finished carving the last copy of the Fugitive King Postings and should be exhausted, but something compels me to write this entry."
"Many people are outraged at the murders committed at King Jori's hands, but some won't accept it. There are followers of Jori that simply won't believe that their benevolent King did such atrocious crimes. Marise is having none of it, for she declared that anybody that defended the corrupt King were corrupted themselves. The Queen is so short-tempered at the moment; anything done could set her off. The rage I feel coming off her when she and I are in the same room makes me shudder. Queen Marise used to be such a passionate, gentle, and calm person but now….it breaks my heart to see her so angry. She lusts for blood.
"With the King on the run, the Imperial Guard are concerned for her safety. I had to sit through their meetings and record everything said. They're thinking of constructing a new army; a coalition of élite fighting men. It's too soon to say if they'll go through with it, but they're taking it into great consideration."
"Anyway, the nobility are kicking up a row at the Queen's decision to change the Royal seal. Every meeting they have ends in yelling and threats, and the Imperial Guard have to constantly come in to stop a fight from erupting and protect the Queen. She says that she can't stand to see the King's rose everyday in the throne room, but I can tell that it's more out of sorrow than hate. For her sake, I hope the nobility will get over it and allow the new seal to stay: the pond lily encircled with a vine."
"It's time to blow the candles, and I pray that the situation can only get better from here."
Ronin, who was once again reading over Nod's shoulder, growled in annoyance. "It's like the writer wants to keep this a mystery. There must be something in these tablets that can give us a direct answer!"
"What's the date on the second tablet?" Nod asked Nim.
"31st of the Moon before Yule, 1776."
Nod flipped to the page. It wasn't hard to find, for it was the last entry of the Tablet Master. The handwriting was messy like the writer was in a hurry to scrawl the event down.
"This is my last day as the Tablet Master. I turn in my resignation tomorrow and then I'm off. I don't know where I'll go, but all I know is that I can't stay here."
"I've finished up the last of the Inheritance Amendment. I'm locking up a copy of both tablets to save for the years to come. The hidden safe I installed should keep them from aging. I feel like I don't need to explain myself in my own log but ever since that dream, I have to write like I'm writing for future generations.
"The night after the Fugitive King Posting was finished and was hung around in the forest, I dreamed of the ex-King Jori. In the dream, it was dark and about to rain. He was wearing a dark cloak and hood, but somehow, I knew it was him. I watched him slink through the foliage, evading all the guards and hiding in the shadows. It was only then that I realized he was walking through the Royal garden, outside the Queen's tree. I got a terrible fright; was he there to assassinate his former lover and wife?"
"He stopped in the center of the garden, which was dominated by roses of all colors: red, white, pink, orange, black, and the occasional violet. Jori stood there, frozen in the center and staring at the tree, like he trying to see his Queen through a knot-hole."
"I heard him laugh softly without humor. 'Stripped of my Kingship, am I my dear? It was the King's solemn duty to protect his family, while the Queen protected her people and now you've shut me out and you will not listen. Very well then; I'll just have to return the favor.' Jori then knelt beside a rose, which greeted him like a faithful dog. He placed his hand on the bottom part and a seed phased into his hands. A small, oval-shaped brown rose seed."
"The ex-King put his forehead to the seed and began to mutter. I couldn't hear what he said but I could feel it; whatever he said was full of fury, hate, greed, and vengeance. It became so palpable in the air, I feared that it would become a living thing. Dark magic flowed from his forehead into the seed, turning it grey. Then something happened, something changed. The King started to cry and babble and this time I caught the words, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! It's my fault, all my fault, and I'll never forgive myself! But I promise that no mater how much you hate me, I solemnly swear to make things right, no matter how long it takes. I took an oath to forever protect you, and I will not break it. I love you, Marise.' With that, the seed glowed with warm golden light and I erupted from sleep, covered in sweat."
"To you, whoever reads this in the next year or one hundred years: make this right."
The Tablet Master
so you guys deserved this long chapter because it took so long for me to post it. please accept my sincerest apologies, and REVIEW!