Authors: L. M. Roth
At last he
judged the time to be right. Marcus took one of the stones he held and took
careful aim. He did not wish to kill any of the guards, so he aimed for the
knee of the nearest one. When his stone met the guard’s knee with a whack!
Marcus quickly aimed at his partner. Both of the guards doubled over, their
exposed legs receiving the full impact of his flying missiles. He then took aim
at their elbows to prevent them from loosing any arrows upon him.
He remained in
that spot sending stone after stone raining on the hapless guards, aiming at
their knees and elbows. They cried out in pain, and called for the guards along
the rest of the wall to come to their aid. Marcus kept the stones flying until
all of the guards had assembled in that spot. He then released one after the
other in a rapid fire of missiles, hitting the knees and elbows of one guard
after another, inflicting great pain on all of them.
Once he had
wounded each one of them, he silently scrambled through the trees and headed
for the opposite wall, now left exposed and unguarded. He bent himself over and
ran for the spot where the thistle grew. Hastily he removed his scythe and cut
through the weeds. In minutes he had cleared a hole just large enough to
squeeze through. He glanced upward, but did not see any sign of the sentinels.
Indeed, he heard the cries of the wounded from the opposite wall where they
were all assembled, looking for signs of the invaders who had assaulted them.
Marcus made
haste to scramble through the hole, then pushed the thistle back through to
disguise his entry from immediate detection. He crept silently along the wall
away from the soldiers’ encampment until he was well out of range of the sight
of the sentinels, who were still distracted on the opposite wall. He moved with
the stealth of a cat away from the vicinity, not even glancing back to see if
he had been detected.
Only when he
was half a mile clear of the wall did he break into a run until he was well out
of the area of the sentries posted on duty.
Dominio be
praised, he exulted! He gave a silent thanks to His Heavenly Father who had
brought him safely through the midst of his enemies, and to his earthly father
who had taught him the tactics of warfare so patiently so long ago.
Tullia soon
realized why Lucerna was a land where few who entered it returned. For it was a
land where one could be entirely content with life. If one was happy where one
was, what need to ever leave it?
The secret,
she thought, was in the beauty of the land and the inhabitants. Lucerna was
quite simply the loveliest place she had ever seen, and it appeared that the
people were happy and pleased with life. All of its citizens seemed to be in
the best of health, and unusually beautiful. Tullia had never seen any place
where there was not a sick or crippled person begging in the city streets, nor
where everyone was pleasing in appearance. It was as though the word ‘ugly’ was
one that was forbidden to enter this land’s domain.
Lucius was
soon taken with the young ladies of the village, and had difficulty deciding
which he found the most pleasing in appearance. Tullia reminded him that they
came to search for Logos, and he had better keep his mind on the task at hand.
He merely smiled at her indulgently, with the air of one who must keep a child
appeased. She knew that he might do much harm among the maidens of Lucerna,
were he given a chance. He would not have any such opportunity, if she had her
say about it!
They set about
finding a residence where the ruling authority would dwell. For Tullia knew
that Decimus would not abase himself by keeping company with the ordinary
citizenry. Only the dwelling of the ruler of Lucerna would suit his pride.
They did not
detect any such abode. For all of the houses were attractive, and none were
more imposing than another. Such a factor made Tullia’s task more difficult;
how could she find Decimus if she could not depend on his usual habits?
She was at a
loss, and made discreet inquiries among the village people. Who led them, she
asked, and where did they dwell? She was not prepared for the answer they gave
her.
No one led
them, they answered, surprised at such a question. It was true that they were
under the dominion of the Valeriun Empire, but they merely sent a tribute to
the Emperor and paid the requisite taxes, and obeyed the laws. But within their
borders among their own people, no one led them, for each was free to do as
they wished.
Such a way of
life, they informed her, worked very well for them, and each of their people
found contentment and bliss. Indeed, their own name for Lucerna, Faranaza,
meant Land of Eternal Bliss. Where that name originated, they said in response
to her question, they could not say. It had always been called such, and would
be until the end of days.
Tullia puzzled
over this, but finding Decimus was her first priority. She asked the villagers
where a man of the name of Hadrianus lived. This question produced only blank
stares. She repeated her inquiry, thinking they had not understood.
She was met
with more blank stares. No one with the name Hadrianus had ever lived within
the borders of their land. Not now, not ever.
She did not
think she could bear one more disappointment. Where was Decimus? And where had
he taken Logos? She cried out her despair to the air around her, but only
silence greeted her cries.
Lucius could
not bear to think of his mother’s despair. He knew it was entirely his fault.
Had he not taken Logos from the safety of his father’s hiding place the Sword
would not have been stolen.
They decided
to stay in Lucerna for a couple of days to give the horses and Cyriacus a
chance to rest. They found a small inn that suited their needs and, to Tullia’s
own surprise, she was soon ensconced in a bed where she sank at once into a
deep sleep. She was, Lucius felt, utterly exhausted with travel and anxiety.
The rest would be good for her, and he would not mind exploring the small
village and seeing the sights it had to offer.
He roamed the
streets of the village aimlessly, pausing only to admire some comely maiden who
met his wandering eye. He had never seen so many lovely young ladies in one
place before, not even in Lycenium which all of the aristocratic young ladies
of the Empire visited for a season of polishing before their debut into society.
He would regret the day when it was time to depart for territory that was all
too familiar!
One in
particular continued to catch his eye, the one who peddled at the fruit stall. She
was small and petite, with skin as smooth as a babe’s, and a high-pitched voice
as light as a girl who had not yet left childhood. Her general appearance was
like that of a doll; her tiny frame and petite features combined to make her
look not quite real somehow, as though she were made of stuff rarer than flesh
and blood.
Her name was
Roshana, and she took the stall in turns with her father Zorash. Her mother had
died many years ago, and she was all that her father had in the world. Lucius was
careful to patronize the stall when he knew she would be stationed at it.
This morning
he sauntered over to her casually, noting how her dark eyes brightened at the
sight of him. She dropped her gaze and smiled demurely without catching his
eye. Her modesty was producing in Lucius an emotion he had never felt before.
He felt an
overwhelming desire to protect her, something he had never felt for any of the
maidens in Valerium or Lycenium. There the young girls were polished to
perfection and at ease in any society, having been well-taught by their mothers
the art of capturing a man’s heart. But this young girl seemed defenseless and
her demure manner invoked a tender response in Lucius.
He attempted
to still the sudden rapid beating of his heart; it would not do for her to see
the effect she had on him. After all, nothing could come of his attraction to
her as he would not be remaining in Lucerna. After he felt himself able to
control his breathing he smiled at her and stated he wished to buy her wares.
“What is the
fruit today, Roshana?” He asked, noting that she blushed under his gaze.
She reached
for a pink fruit with a satiny smooth exterior the size of a date and handed it
to him. He inspected it cautiously, and sniffed at it. The smell was pleasing,
sweet and pungent at the same time.
“What is it?”
he asked, not certain if he wanted to try it. “It looks very strange to me, and
I do not know whether I wish to taste it.”
She giggled
and glanced up at him briefly; only to giggle even harder at his discomfiture.
“It is called
faran
,
the fruit of bliss. One bite of it and all of your troubles melt like the dew
in the morning sun. It is from this fruit that our land takes its name. For
those who eat of it wish nothing more than to stay in our land forever, eating
of its bliss.”
Lucius raised
a skeptical eyebrow, but decided to humor her and purchase it for his mother.
For if anyone stood in need of having their troubles melt away, it was
certainly Tullia Maximus.
Tullia looked
at the fruit her son brought to her. It was certainly pleasing to the eye.
Pink, the epitome of delicacy, and the scent so rich yet sweet.
She inwardly
scoffed at her son’s account of the almost magical qualities of the fruit.
Surely no food had such power. Knowing her son, he only wished to placate the
pretty vendor who had sold it to him. She knew also that he was aware of her
frustration and despair at being led on yet another fruitless chase to find the
Sword.
Knowing that
he wished in some way to make amends, however, she decided to humor him and try
the fruit. After all, what harm could one bite of a piece of fruit do?
One bite made
Tullia forget all of her troubles, as a curious ecstasy came over her. Never,
she thought, in her entire life had she felt the sense of bliss that filled
her. She would not have been surprised to find herself floating, so light did
she feel!
She found the
sensation so pleasing that she offered a bite to Lucius as well. When she saw
the look of euphoria that illuminated his face, she knew that he also felt that
odd sense of rapture. They finished that first fruit together, and from that
day on they visited the fruit stall and purchased another one daily.
It was not
long before they noticed other effects produced by the fruit. Tullia saw that
the skin of her hands was noticeably smoother; for some time her hands had
taken on a slightly rougher appearance that she knew came with the passing of
the years. It was a sad fact of life that lines and wrinkles marred her fine
skin and detracted from her beauty.
Within three
days of first eating the
faran
the backs of her hands suddenly took on
the texture of velvet, and faint lines around her wrists simply disappeared.
She examined her face in her looking glass and the fine lines around her eyes
had decreased in depth, some of them had vanished completely. The discovery
brought a simultaneous sense of joy and alarm: why should a fruit have this
effect on one?
Was it not
contrary to all the laws of nature? Another thought sprang into her mind: was
the
faran
the key to the health and beauty of Lucerna’s inhabitants? Did
the fruit heal sickness and restore youth?
Tullia felt
she must discover the secret of the
faran
. With this end in mind she
decided to have a chat with Roshana herself. She did not care to speak to her
father Zorash, for he was the merchant who had treated her so rudely on her
first day in Lucerna.
Tullia walked
with her usual grace and dignity to Roshana’s stall, and gave the young girl a
warm smile. It was returned with a duck of her head, followed by a shy glance
from her dark eyes.
The girl was
so quiet by nature that it might prove difficult to garner much information
from her, Tullia thought. Still, it was worth a try.
“Good day,
Roshana,” she said. “I enjoyed the
faran
so much that I wish to purchase
more of it.”
Roshana
inclined her head in a slight nod and passed six pieces of the
faran
to
Tullia at her request. Tullia did not wait until she left the stall, but bit
into a piece of the fruit at once.
“Mmm,” she
sighed blissfully. “What a delicious taste this fruit has! So sweet, yet
pungent, almost tart. I have never tasted anything quite like it.”
She chewed a
piece slowly and swallowed it reluctantly, as though savoring every bite. Then
she turned to Roshana.
“Tell me,” she
asked, lowering her voice almost confidentially, “where does this fruit come
from? All of your other wares are familiar to me, but I have never seen
faran
anywhere, and I consider myself very well-traveled. Is it unique to Lucerna?”
Her eyes
widened with an innocent air as she queried the young girl. She noticed that
Roshana looked about her almost apprehensively before answering her questions.
“Yes,” she all
but whispered her response. “It is the native fruit of Faranaza, as we call our
land. And I have heard it said that it grows nowhere else in the world.”
She smiled
with an understandable pride as she uttered these last words. Her dark eyes
shone with an inner light, and Tullia was struck at how attractive the girl
was. Indeed, how attractive all of the natives of this land were.
“And does everyone
in your land eat this fruit?” she asked as casually as she could. “Do the
children eat it as well as the older people? Or is it left up to each person
whether they care to eat it?”
Roshana
giggled, and drew closer to Tullia. As she did so, Tullia felt that she was
about to hear something unusual that she would never forget.
“We must all
eat it,” Roshana whispered into Tullia’s ear. “For it is said that our years
will be lengthened and our hearts made glad by the
faran
. It is said
that it heals the sick, cheers the sorrowful, and delays old age. Suffering is
forbidden in our land, and so all must avoid it, and therefore eat the
faran
.”
She nodded at
Tullia almost in glee. Tullia smiled back at her and was about to thank her for
her time; but Roshana was not yet finished.
“But,” the
young girl continued with a sudden change in her voice and manner.
Her eyes
narrowed and bored into Tullia’s with a sudden intensity that made Tullia
shiver. The innocent young girl unaccountably took on a sinister air, and
Tullia felt as if she had walked into a frozen snow bank on a winter night…
“It is said
that there is a price to pay for the health and joy that comes from eating the
faran
.
What that price is I do not know; yet I have heard it all of my life. One does
not reap the benefit without paying for it.”
Tullia merely
stared at her, still amazed at the transformation that had come over her
doll-like countenance. She decided to keep her uneasiness to herself.
“Really?” she
asked. “I wonder what that might be?”
“I do not
know,” Roshana repeated.
Then she
giggled again, expunging the sinister look from her face and restoring its
angelic innocence.
“But there is
a price. Make no mistake about it.”
Lucius also
enjoyed the
faran
, and visited the stall regularly over the next few
days. For they had extended their stay, why he did not know. Tullia had planned
to stay only two days to rest before continuing their journey.
And then she
realized she did not know where they were going, or why. She looked at her son
with blank and puzzled eyes.
“Mother,” he
queried. “How long shall we stay in Lucerna? You said two days only, yet five
have passed already. Is it not time we went on our way?”
Tullia gazed
at him, with a question of her own in her eyes. Her forehead wrinkled in a frown,
the only line in her suddenly youthful looking face. Lucius was startled to see
that she looked at least ten years younger than she had a week ago.
“Are we
leaving Lucerna?” she asked him, her frown growing deeper. “Why should we leave
here? I think it is a delightful land; I see nothing wrong with it.”
Lucius looked
at her in puzzlement. He knew there was something he should remember, but could
not recall what it was.
“You are
right, Mother,” he answered. “I think it is a perfectly wonderful place, and we
should remain here.”
Tullia smiled
back at him with a curiously vague expression on her face. What was it that
eluded her memory? She seemed to have come to Lucerna with some purpose in
mind, but now she could not for the life of her remember what it was.