Forest & Kingdom Balance (36 page)

After the meeting, Dionara took Yamikura aside.
“How’s she really doing? It’s coming up on a year and she has never
let herself grieve. I don’t want to violate her trust, but I will
if I have to.”

“Your Majesty, Catherine is the strongest person I
have ever known. While she does miss the Caretaker, and
occasionally searches for him, she also takes joy in life and looks
to the future. Your decision to have your children raised to know
both Forest and Kingdom has given her great hope.”

“If as you suspect, your children will be born with
the gift, then she will be an important part of their lives from
birth. That alone will bring her a joy she has never experienced.
The Forest is hers now, as the Kingdom is yours. Her life is varied
and full, one aspect of that life will always be her love for the
Caretaker.”

“And you.”
Dionara added to
herself.

John joined the pair. “Yamikura, how goes Raphael’s
training?” Yamikura bowed his head to the Prince. “Hang on! Let’s
put a stop to this right now. My title is Sentinel Prince John. I
fought very hard to get that title changed, I’m a Sentinel first
which means no one bows to me.”

“I have known many princes, and I can state beyond
the shadow of a doubt, that you Sentinel Prince John have earned
more respect than all of them combined.” The two men clasped
forearms in a warrior’s greeting.

“To answer your question, Raphael is a year ahead of
where I was at his age. He’s also faster and smarter.” The trio
looked across the room at Raphael who was talking with Atheria and
Simon.

“He’s grown another foot since I’ve seen him last,
and that was this morning.” Dionara mused.

“When the time comes,” Yamikura noted, “He will be a
formidable force. He also has that indefinable trait that creates
great leaders. What of Simon and Atheria?”

“Simon’s a military man through and through.” John
considered his protégé. “In a few years I’ll relinquish command of
the Elites to him. Not only do his skills warrant it, but his
history also gives him an edge that the Kingdom’s recruits can’t
match. It’s one thing to tell a warrior about life and death
choices, it’s another to have lived through so many.”

“And Atheria?” Yamikura turned to Dionara.

“You mean my Councilor for Sea Coast Mindow Affairs?
You should have seen the looks on the councilors faces when I told
them. It had a value beyond wealth.” Dionara sighed. “She will be
very important as we move forward, though I think her true
happiness will always be in the Garden Tiers. She has an affinity
for the land. If she had been an original refugee, the Caretaker
would have chosen her for the Forest. Do you know what her first
reaction to the Caretaker was? It took him two days before he
stopped mentioning it to me.”

Yamikura felt a warmth rise deep within him as he
remembered. “Yes I was there when he thanked her. In my first
contact with him, the Caretaker was an eight-foot bear wreaking
havoc. For some reason ‘warm and cuddly’ wasn’t my first
impression.

“In honor of the Caretaker.” Yamikura addressed the
Sovereigns. “The sooner we start, then the sooner we can get
Atheria back to her gardens. With your permission Sentinel?” He
gestured toward Dionara and John stepped aside. Yamikura then gave
Dionara a full formal bow that an emperor could not find fault
with. “Your Majesty.”

“Oh!” Dionara shook her head. Then she and John
walked slowly to the door, their conversation trailing them.

“So that’s why you wanted your title changed. I
should have done that.” She said with surprise.

“I wish you could have my love, but it may not have
been allowed.” He took her arm.

“You would not believe what I’ve done in this castle
that wasn’t allowed!” She moved a bit closer to him as they walked.
“Let me demonstrate.”

John missed a step as he walked, “Dionara!”

Yamikura could hear her purr from halfway down the
hall.

Appendices

Tales & Facts

I

Evangeline

There was a time in the Kingdom when life was
simpler. A time when Diana and Stefan’s greatest worry seemed to be
how long to wait after the birth of their first child before they
could return to Spirit’s Vale.

A very pregnant Diana had decided to visit her
parents in the Forest. While she did visit them, her primary reason
for the trip was a bit more personal. She wanted to use her gift to
evaluate the staff before they were assigned to her child’s care.
She remembered her own childhood and how close she was to her
parents and the Caretaker. The idea of her child’s primary care
delegated to a governess and attendants unsettled her.

Relaxed and at home in the bedroom she grew up in,
she sent her presence back to the castle. Before long she had
decided that several of the possible attendants and all of the
recommended governesses were unacceptable. She then set out to
search her kingdom for just the right woman, and wasn’t surprised
at how few thought of themselves as governesses. Hers wasn’t that
kind of a kingdom. She thought midwives might be a good place to
look.

However, after three days she hadn’t found a single
suitable candidate. On the third day she looked in on a farmer’s
wife who was about to give birth. She gave the midwife a quick
scan.
“A good woman but too limited.”
She
decided, and kept in touch lightly to see how the birth went while
she considered alternative searches. When the midwife’s apprentice
entered the room, Diana scanned her and sensed an open, creative,
confident young woman. Her name was Evangeline.

Against all her training and the Caretaker’s
admonishments, she entered fully into Evangeline’s mind. Her guilt
rose a bit, then she thought,
“There’s
considerate, and then there’s the well being of my child.”
She knew it was a rationalization, but then again, that’s what
rationalizations are for. What she found amazed her. Even without
the threat of war and the Red Knight, life had not been kind to
Evangeline. She had faced adversity and held to her hopes and
ideals. Her flame had grown substantially brighter because if
it.

Diana arrived back at the castle with a broad smile
and gave Stefan a big kiss. She had the perspective child care
attendants summoned to assemble in the main room. She reassigned
several possible attendants to other posts with the hope that they
might be as pleased with the move as she was, although she had no
way to tell.
“What a handicap,”
she
thought, and not for the first time.
“How am I
expected to function when I can’t even hear people’s thoughts. It’s
like trying to weave with a blindfold on!”
The remaining
staff was assigned their positions.

Once the attendants left, Diana asked the captain of
the Royal Guard to come in. She handed him an envelope and asked
that he deliver it to Evangeline. As was her habit, she thanked the
captain for his service. This time however, she was so excited that
she gave in to her mischievous side and kissed him on the cheek.
The grizzled old soldier mumbled something, bowed and left to
deliver her note. Her smile widened as she noticed that it did take
him a moment or two to find the door.

With the birth of Dionara, Evangeline took to her
new position like a duck to water. Both Diana and Dionara took to
her just as easily. The young governess thought nothing of it when
Stefan and Diana set aside time alone to be with their daughter.
These private times were family only, which left her with a little
time to herself. If she happened to see an unfamiliar couple enter
the castle discretely, or note any bright flashes of green light
from the royal suite, it wasn’t something she would recall for
long.

Evangeline loved Dionara to a depth she had never
experienced before. The Princess’ energy and precocious nature were
a great deal to keep up with, but the light, joy and happiness she
brought to Evangeline’s life gave her more than enough stamina to
keep up. As the years progressed, her life with Dionara became as
natural as breathing.

As Dionara grew into her teens, Evangeline’s
responsibilities entailed much less than they used to. She
considered becoming a midwife apprentice again. Perhaps even follow
that vocation once Dionara had come of age. Although, with the way
that Diana had been reminiscing about Dionara as an infant,
Evangeline doubted that she would get the chance. She suspected
Diana wanted a little brother or sister for Dionara to take care
of, and thought it was long overdue.

The royal family was out enjoying one of their day
trips so Evangeline was more than happy to use the time to
straighten up her apartment. She just happened to be looking out
the window at just the right moment to see the councilor wing
exploded with activity. Men running and shouting orders, a
councilor actually leapt up on to a wagon and sped out the gate.
What was even stranger, the captain of the guard and all his
lieutenants flew after him like the councilor had stolen Diana’s
jewels.

Evangeline started to get worried, then consoled
herself, if anything had happened to Dionara she would have been
the first they called. She returned to her chores as she tried to
have faith in her logic. A moment later there was a frantic knock
at her door.

Evangeline could only sit there and wait, the
minutes dragged on like years. She went over it and over it in her
mind, “The king and queen have been killed, Dionara has survived
but is in shock.” The councilor said. “She is being brought here as
quickly as possible, you’ve been requested to wait for her in her
bedroom.” Every time her thoughts drifted to Diana and Stefan the
pain of her grief threatened to leave her incapacitated, unable to
move, and each time she drew herself back. She needed to be here
and whole for Dionara.

“Where are they?”
It seemed
like several lifetimes she had sat there. She walked to the window
at dusk’s last light, and heard the sound she had both waited for
and dreaded, horseshoes on cobblestone, muted voices, and the creak
of wagon wheels.

Even though she could hear them coming down the
hall, she still felt a start when the door opened. A tall man she
had never seen before entered with Dionara wrapped in a blanket. He
laid her on the bed with such care that it nearly broke her heart.
Once Dionara was set in her bed, the man turned to Evangeline.

“Thank you for meeting us here, I know what a trial
the wait has been for you.” The stranger looked into her eyes and
she felt her strength and determination return. “She will not wake
until morning, Councilor Lordus will stay with her until you
return. Please join us in the Councilor Room.” She didn’t know why,
but she trusted him completely and followed.

The room was crowded with councilors, officers of
the Royal Guard, and chiefs of staff for every part of the royal
household. She and the stranger took seats in the back of the room.
The High Councilor stepped onto a chair and began to speak, “Every
man, woman, and child in this kingdom knows that the world beyond
our mountain retreat is a place of war and suffering. Our only
protection is secrecy. Today we have suffered a terrible wound, our
beloved King Stefan and Queen Diana are dead.” Most of the heads in
the room merely bowed, a few let out expressions of shock and
mourning. “Dionara was thankfully spared.” He added.

“The two agents from the coast,” he began once more,
“were themselves killed but not before they had murdered the guards
and attendants that were with the royal family.” He reached down to
the table to pick up something. “Here are the names of those who
died with our Sovereigns.” He handed one list to the Royal Guard
captain and the other to the Head of Household.

“While we are all here together there is something I
must ask of you. Dionara has suffered a great shock and will most
likely not remember the events of today. We must take advantage of
this and use it to help her heal. From this moment forward, it is
to be understood that Dionara did not leave the castle today. Her
parents were killed in a tragic accident while deep in the
mountains. Does everyone understand?” The High Councilor waited a
moment, and then repeated, “Does everyone understand? We will go
around the room, I want each of you to give me your oath.”

The High Councilor pointed to each in turn, and
every person swore his or her oath. As her turn approached,
Evangeline drew breath to swear. The stranger placed his hand on
hers and shook his head. The High Councilor did not call on
her.

“That is all for tonight, a councilor will meet with
each of the chiefs of staff individually before morning.” The High
Councilor stepped down as the Guard captain announced to his
officers that they would meet at four bells in the officer’s
wardroom. The High Councilor thanked everyone for their
patience.

The room cleared of everyone except the councilors
and the Guard captain; and not a single person who walked past
acknowledged her. Evangeline understood their grief, but if it
weren’t for the stranger’s hand on hers she would have felt
completely alone. “Don’t be too hard on them, they didn’t know you
were here.” The stranger answered a question she had not asked.

Once the Guard officers and chiefs of staff had
left, the High Councilor turned to the stranger. “Caretaker how is
Dionara?”

The stranger stood and started toward a seat at the
table, he turned and motioned Evangeline to join him. She sat next
to him as much for protection as anything else. She felt extremely
uncomfortable under their collective glare.

“Dionara is asleep for the moment,” the stranger
began, “But we have a long road ahead.” The stranger looked around
the table. “You all know Evangeline, please make her feel welcome.”
The words were polite, but his tone to the councilors was less so.
Most looked away, some made a few comments under their breath.