Children of the Sun and Moon (21 page)

It had been a
day since the general arrived, with much accomplished in the first
meeting. The king and general were again friends, and although they
will never get back the friendship they had, Korben was glad that
Jeremy was finally able to reveal the secrets he had been carrying
around for so long. Korben moved his way through the castle, trying
to see if he could sense the magical presence again. The only time
he felt it was when he neared Payton. As before, it was gone,
leaving Korben with no idea what it was about.

“There has been
developments,” said Korben, once he caught up with Payton. “The
general and his men will be staying here for a time. We need to set
up the old soldier barracks to accommodate them.”

“I will go
immediately and get the maids cleaning, and the stable boy as
well,” stated Payton.

Korben patted
him on the back and off he went. Korben was glad he had his second
in command to trust. Still unsure of the magical presence he was
feeling, he decided to keep looking around. He could always go and
help later with the barracks.

Robyn had been
watching the soldiers closely since they arrived. Trying to find
out all the information he could in case his queen called on him
for an update. Most of the men had no idea what was going on, but
the two who kept to themselves were full of interesting
information. He was so entranced by the information he had
discovered he didn't hear Payton come up behind him.

“Doing
something productive I hope,” commented Payton.

Robyn slowly
turned, keeping his eyes down. “Yes, I was just finished cleaning
up this area.”

“Good. The
soldiers will be staying here for some time, so we need to clean
and set up the old barracks for them. I will be going and asking
the maids to clean the inside, but will need you to do the
stables.”

“Ya, I can set
up those stables easily,” Robyn remarked.

Payton nodded
his head. “Oh, and one more thing. Why have I not gotten a report
from you?”

Robyn lifted
his head and stared into the guard’s eyes. “My queen?”

“Yes, I am
here. What is going on?” Payton demanded.

“I’ve tried to
report, highness, but have had nothing but darkness greet me. I do
have news.”

“Then spit it
out. I can only hold on to this body for a short time.”

Robyn swallowed
hard. “Yes, majesty. Brin has gone and turned herself in to Lakin
personally. He has convinced her to join the Order.”

“How did you
come by this information?”

“There are two
soldiers, highness, and they discuss this fact in great detail.
They don’t appear too interested in matters of war. However, with
the king ordering the barracks cleaned, they may change that
opinion.”

Payton stared,
eyebrows crossed, towards the soldiers. “Keep an eye on those two.
They may prove useful to us.”

“Yes,
highness,” said Robyn bowing.

Suddenly
Payton’s expression changed and he looked about, confused. Robyn,
knowing his queen had left the body, responded immediately. “I'll
clean out the old barrack stables like you asked. Please tell the
king everything will be ready by night fall. I'll need you to ask
the maids to clean the barrack rooms though.”

Payton, not
wanting to show he had no idea what the stable boy was talking
about simply nodded and moved off towards the maids quarters.

Malena was
again pacing nervously. It was now obvious Lakin was moving forward
with their plans, without her. There were too many unknowns in this
situation. Slowly, she sat down on her throne. “Moray, report to
me,” she hollered into her mirror. It took a few moments, but her
call was answered.

“One moment, my
queen. I must go where I will not be noticed.”

Malena nodded,
and waited. It felt like an eternity before Moray finally
spoke.

“There have
been developments, majesty. It would appear the princess has
invoked the spirit of the earth and is currently a tree. The young
prince nearly incinerated the library, and is now unconscious.
Also, Gillock is here.”

Malena sat back
in her chair. “Gillock is there, but Elizanne is not? Very odd. I
thought for certain she would join with her children. No matter, it
is good news indeed to see the power growing in the children. How
long have they been in these states.”

“Two days, my
lady. From what I can tell, the princess possesses elven type
powers, and the prince is most definitely a war wizard. They were
supposed to be getting trained by the elf king when this happened.
I assume this is why Gillock showed himself.”

“Interesting.
Then Elizanne may be nearby.” A smile slowly crept onto her face.
“I want you to be as helpful as possible. After all, you are
currently an elf. Report to me again if your situation
changes.”

“It will be
done, my queen.”

Within moments
of the mirror going dark, it again turned into a swirling mist of
someone calling. Malena could tell it was coming from Lakin’s room,
but the face that greeted her was not Lakin.

“Vernia, this
is a surprise. What can I do for you?”

“We have a
problem,” stated Vernia.

Malena smiled.
“What kind of problem could you and I share?”

“It looks as if
our services are no longer needed.”

Malena had no
idea what she was on about. “Please, go on.”

Vernia, glad to
have her attention, sat back in her chair. “Lakin has taken in a
new enchanter. He has taken it upon himself to personally train
her, and has brought her to his bed. She is more powerful than you
are and that makes her more appealing than I. So you see we have a
problem.”

Malena was
quite disturbed by this revelation, but hid it. “Why would this
little tramp be a problem? I am sure you just think she is more
powerful than I am.”

“He immediately
took her down below to train. With all the training she has been
given she is now more powerful than Queen Elizanne. If he continues
this intense training she will be as powerful as he within four
months.”

Malena could no
longer hide her anger. “What a fool! And who is this young magic
user?” she asked, but already knew the answer.

“It is Princess
Brin. I have been ordered to send a letter to the king informing
him that his daughter is now part of the Order.”

Malena laughed,
but it was not that of humour. Her voice had an insane pitch to it.
“Oh, this is perfect. He is going to use Brin to become king. I
cannot believe I did not see this coming.”

Vernia was
confused. It was obvious that Malena was upset by the news, but it
also appeared as if the news had embarrassed her. “What should we
do? We cannot allow him to succeed, especially since it was us who
brought him this far.”

Malena shot out
of her seat. “There is only one thing we can do, my dear. The twins
will succeed, that we know, but if Lakin has become so enthralled
with his new playmate, he may not realize how quickly it is coming.
We must keep him down below for as long as possible. We must also
help the twins along. They cannot afford any more delays. The
sooner they succeed the sooner I will be free and then we will be
able to deal with Lakin’s treachery.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It had been
three days since it happened and Nak had not left Eric’s bedside. A
sight which amused and bewildered Gillock. He himself had been
moving between the twins, trying to figure out what to do. Every
spell and enchantment he tried failed. It was as if something was
blocking all attempts to reach them. Gillock again glanced over to
Nak. The concerned look on the goblin’s face was sincere, and it
saddened the wizard to see it.

“Do not fear,
Nak. He will return to us.”

Nak looked at
Gillock. “Youses nots knowz thats,” he said softly.

Gillock smiled.
“With you watching over him, I'm sure of it.” Gillock stood and was
about to leave Eric’s side and check up on Koral, when Eric
suddenly sat up.

At the same
moment, Koral began to glow again and fell to the ground, as
herself. Darly ran to get Gillock and came upon him running to see
the princess.

“Has she
returned as well?” asked the wizard.

“Yes, only
just,” answered Darly.

“You must bring
Koral to her room immediately.”

Darly nodded
and ran back to tell Glavlin what to do.

The entire
dwarf town was in a tizzy. Koral and Eric were again themselves,
but at the same time different. Eric had been the first one able to
speak, but he could not remember anything.

“I remember
reading the book, and finding it fascinating. Other than that, my
next memory is waking up here.”

Gillock just
nodded. “I will let you get caught up with your goblin friends.”
Then turning to Nak he added. “Don't stay too long, he will need to
eat and rest.”

Nak said he
would, and then Gillock moved off to Koral’s room.

When he walked
in, he was glad to see she was alert and eating. He moved into the
room and took a seat beside Glavlin.

“How are you
feeling?” he asked.

“Just hungry
right now,” she answered between mouthfuls of food.

When she had
finished, she reached out for Gillock’s hand. “I am glad you are
here. I saw so much and do not understand what happened. Maybe you
can help me figure it all out.”

“Yes, of
course,” said Gillock. “You should start by telling me what you
remember.”

“Well, it was
odd. I felt the need to find a book, and then before I knew it, I
was in Glavlin’s room, taking his elven book.” She stopped
suddenly, and a look of regret crossed her face.

“It is all
right,” said Glavlin softly. “It was not you, it was the book.”

“Please
continue Koral,” bade Gillock.

“Well, I kept
seeing the same spell over and over, so I decided to recite it. I
am not sure what happened next, but I guess I blacked out. A while
later, I came out of it and started to see visions.”

“Were you aware
of anyone nearby?” asked Glavlin.

“Yes, I knew
you were sitting near me, and that Gillock would sometimes be
nearby, and sometimes not. It was odd. A sort of detached feeling,
but I was aware of you the entire time.”

“What were your
visions?” asked Gillock, trying to get her back on track.

“Well, they
were odd. There were two of them, repeating. They were of two
women, both giving birth to twins. One was human and the other
elven.”

Both Glavlin
and Gillock gasped, and both hoped when she continued that their
assumptions would be wrong.

“What is it?”
asked the princess.

“Nothing,
please continue,” said Gillock quickly.

“The first
vision is of an elf woman in labour. She is in a lot of pain, and
when the first child comes out, some men take it away. Again, she
is screaming in pain, and the second child is born, this one taken
away by someone. It was odd, but I felt as if it was the baby’s
father.”

Gillock turned
to Glavlin but said nothing. “Please continue,” said Glavlin.

“Then things
move about and it goes to the other woman giving birth. Her labour
is much easier, and everyone is happy until they find out it is
twins. A man leaves the room, very upset. Then something odd
happens.” She stopped and looked right at Gillock. “It switches to
another time and I swear I saw you, Gillock, dragging the woman who
had just given birth, away. She is screaming for her babies, but
you just ignore her.” Again, she paused, tears swelling in her
eyes. “What does all this mean?”

Gillock, after
a few moments, responded. “The first vision was Glavlin’s birth.
The second was your mother’s.” He looked at the princess, and could
tell she was shocked by the news. “Yes, princess. Your mother was a
twin as well. In fact, it was thought that she and her brother may
be the twins in the prophecy. Of course, I knew it was not true.
Your uncle did not possess any magic.”

“So why have I
never heard about an uncle?”

“He died young,
and your mother doesn’t like to talk about him.”

Koral was going
to ask about his part in her mother’s birth but decided against it.
It was apparent that he didn’t like talking about such things
either. Not wanting to press the matter, she turned to look at
Glavlin. “I am so sorry, highness.”

Glavlin smiled
weakly. “It is not your fault, and I am sorry you had to relive
that awful moment over many times.”

“Someday soon I
will want to hear your story, elf king,” she stated.

“Someday, I
will tell it to you,” he answered.

A knock at the
door brought the two back to reality. “Enter,” shouted Gillock.

“Beggin’ yer
pardin’,” said Grund moving into the room, “but it be seemin’ the
prince be rememberin’ somethin’.”

“I will go and
see what this is all about,” said Gillock. “You two need to talk I
think.”

Gillock did not
turn to see their expressions; instead, he just walked out and
headed back to Eric’s room.

“Now, what is
this all about?” he said, moving into the room.

“I remember
something, Gillock. It is not much, but it is something.”

“Well then spit
it out, boy”

“I remember
seeing dragons and wizards fighting. Two in particular. Both appear
to be very powerful and quite intent on killing the other. It is
odd, but I feel like I know who they are.”

“And that's
all?” questioned Gillock.

“Yes, maybe I
will remember more later, but that is all for right now.”

“I'm going to
go back to my room,” said Gillock after a moment of silence. “If
anyone needs me I will be in there for the remainder of the day.”
Then he swiftly moved out of the room and headed for his own.

“Gillock,
wait,” came Grund’s voice. “I be needin’ to speak to ye.”

Gillock slowed
to allow the dwarf to catch up. “What is it?”