Quest for the King (8 page)

"Won't they be suspicious?"

"Yes. At first, certainly."

"But they'll hire us?" Wesley's voice had its usual worried note

"They will hire you."

"How can we be sure it's them?"

"They will be the first persons you see after your arrival."

"Where will we be?"

"You will meet them beside a road in the southern forest of Playsion. The road leads from the port city of Risgah in Playsion to Bamah, which is, as you know, the ancient capital of Anthropos. You will
be two or three days' journey from the frontier of Anthropos."

"Bariah?" Kurt wondered. "Did they rebuild it?" But before he
could ask his question Lisa spoke.

"About the young king. Where will we find him, and what are we
to do?"

"You will know all that when the time comes for you to know it.
Trust me. I will have my eye on you every moment. Your story begins
as you meet the three men."

There was no sound, no sense of rushing through space, nothing
to tell them that they were being catapulted into another world. All
they were aware of as the mist lifted was a forest of spruce and pine, with a few huge and ancient oak trees. They stood at the side of a
dusty, rutted road running through the forest, but at first they saw little
of it, for they were looking mainly at Gaal. Curiously, they were wearing the clothing of people associated with the royal court. Lisa wore
a long white dress. There were expensive silk shirts on the boys, and
silk hose. From the boys' shoulders satin cloaks hung, while Lisa's was
pulled around her shoulders.

"Remember, I shall be with you all the way," Gaal said, bidding
them farewell.

"Don't go! Please don't go!" Kurt cried. But even as his voice rang
out, Gaal was no longer with them. He had disappeared, and they
were alone. For a moment they were too shocked to speak. Wesley was
the first to stir as he moved to the bank at the roadside and sat down.
Slowly his brother and sister joined him.

Wesley was talking softly, as though going over a lesson. "Three
men on horseback, three more saddled horses and-"

"And two pack mules," Lisa finished.

"Oh, why did he have to go?" Kurt kicked a stone. "I had more I
wanted to talk about."

"Why the pack mules?" Wesley frowned.

"Supplies of some sort, I suppose. But why on earth three saddled
horses without riders?"

"Spares, perhaps?"

"Doesn't make sense-unless, of course, they're intended for us.
But they wouldn't know there were three of us." Wesley frowned.

Kurt continued to kick at stones. "We hardly spent two minutes with
him-an' now he's gone."

"He said he'd be with us all the way," Lisa murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes, but what did he mean about Bamah? It's been destroyed. How
can we take anyone there?"

"Maybe it has been rebuilt," offered Wesley.

"Or maybe we've arrived in a time before it was destroyed," Lisa
suggested.

Kurt glanced at the roadway where Gaal had stood and sighed. His voice was unsteady. "Oh, that's not what I'm concerned about. I just
didn't realize until we saw him how much I've missed him. If only Dad
understood. Ever since we talked about Gaal he's seemed more distant
than ever-cold."

The others said nothing. Soon the sound of horses reached their
ears, and, as Gaal had predicted, three horsemen came into view
round a bend in the road, followed by three saddled horses and two
pack mules. Silently they watched the party approach.

The men were dark-skinned, richly dressed, and obviously wealthy.
The first two bore themselves with dignity. The third horseman was
overweight, and even before the party reached them they could see
a worried, uncertain expression on his face. As they drew level with
the three children, the men reined their horses and halted.

The man in the lead addressed himself to Wesley. "Is this, young
sir, the road that leads to Bamah in Anthropos?"

His face was lean, his nose long and beaked, while thick black
eyebrows almost met over dark and burning eyes. As the man stared
fiercely at him, Wesley was reminded of a particular schoolteacher he
greatly feared.

Kurt spoke before Wesley had time to say anything. "Yes, your
lordship, it is!"

Surprised, the man glanced at him, but turned again to Wesley.
"And what might the three of you be doing, walking alone along a
road through wild country?" Wesley felt he was being accused of
something.

Again, before he could say a word, Kurt answered. "That, sir, we are
forbidden to tell. We are in the service of a-a Great King!"

There was a startled pause. Wesley was angry. "I wish he wouldn't
do that," he thought. But what he said, he said in a calm voice. "He
means no disrespect, my lord." He added cautiously, "But the fact is
that we are sworn to secrecy "

"To secrecy, indeed! Among yourselves, I suppose. What would
there be to be secret about?"

Wesley drew in his breath sharply. He thought, "What do we say? Now the fat's really in the fire. We were supposed to get ourselves
hired by these people."

He glanced at the second man and saw that he was smiling. Their
eyes crossed, and the second horseman shook his head in obvious
amusement. His face was identical in shape to the first man's, yet in
some mysterious fashion it conveyed an impression of merriment and
warmth. "It's his eyes," Wesley thought to himself. "They're so alive
and friendly."

It was true. The man's eyes danced, and his white teeth lit up his
dark brown face. "Mebbe there's hope after all," Wesley thought,
hoping that no one could hear the beating of his heart

Without taking his eyes from Wesley, the second man spoke. "Have
done, Gerachti!" he cried. "I like them. Especially the young boy. I
have a good mind to ask them to ride with us."

"Not by my counsel!" Gerachti turned round fiercely. "My lord, we
know nothing about them! Who can say what they are doing here, or
what their business is? Secrecy indeed!" He spat on the ground.

The third horseman, whose round face bore a perpetually anxious
look, said, "Gerachti, please! Alleophaz is our leader. We swore to
abide by his decisions." His voice was high pitched, contrasting
strangely with the deep voices of the first two speakers.

The second horseman said, "Thank you, friend Belak! But all I can
do is invite them. Who knows how they will respond?" He addressed
himself to the children, glancing in turn at all three. "Young lady,
young sirs, would you care to ride with us? You are heading in the
same direction. As you see, we have horses to spare. Three men we
hired to look after the animals have left us, fearing the dangers of our
journey. The horses are saddled and equipped, since our helpers
deserted us but an hour ago, and our own knowledge of horsemanship is defective. What say you?"

Lisa had been worried about her silk shoes, realizing they were hardly suitable for the terrain. "We shall be grateful, your lordship," she said
quickly. "Your offer is unusual, and we must not say why we are here
or what we are about. But if your lordship is willing to trust us-"

"My lord, that is exactly my point!" Gerachti interrupted. "The children have honest faces, though they might be skilled in deception.
But why are they alone? By their clothing, by their bearing, by-by
everything about them-we see they are not peasants. Who knows
what trouble will fall on our heads if they should be found in our
company?"

Alleophaz addressed the children again. "Gerachti thinks you have
run away from your parents-or perhaps from your guardians. He is
afraid we might be accused of luring you away, of stealing you for
ransom perhaps. Are you in fact escaping from parents or guardians?"

The three children responded at once-all in the same way. "No,
my lord." "Certainly not!" "Nol"

"Then where are your parents or guardians?" Gerachti cried impatiently.

Wesley thought of Hong Kong and of trying to explain. He smiled
to himself at the thought and said, "Our parents, not our guardians.
And they are a long, long way from here-in fact, it would be impossible to explain where they are."

"But someone must be responsible to care for you." Gerachti's fierce
eyes glared first at Wesley, then at Kurt. He avoided looking at Lisa
altogether, and this annoyed her.

"The person who looks after us is here with us. He's here right now.
I know you can't see him-and that is just as well. But he's here. And
nothing will happen to us that he doesn't want to happen." Lisa was
not trying to be impudent, but the thought of Gaal's presence filled
her mind.

"Drat her!" Wesley thought. "Why must those kids keep putting his
back up?"

Nobody spoke for several seconds. Then Gerachti said, "You are
the smoothest and most accomplished liars I have ever met Either
that, or you are mad. And I do not believe you are mad."

"Enough, Gerachti!" Lord Alleophaz said sharply, his eyes flashing.
He quickly dismounted, offering his arm to Lisa. "Let me assist you
to mount side-saddle." Then to the boys, "If you two will be good enough to mount and follow me, we will lead, and my good friends
Gerachti and Belak will bring up the rear, keeping an eye on the pack
animals."

Gerachti said nothing, but his face twisted with anger. As he and
Belak made their way past the children they heard the squeaky, ineffective voice of Belak. "Believe me, I know how you feel. But you
must show him more respect. It makes me very nervous when
you-" They could not hear the rest, for they were busy with the
saddles, adjusting their stirrups, mounting and settling themselves into
their saddles. Soon they were on their way.

Wesley was relieved, and his heart exulted. So far so good! He
would have to talk to the other two, but there would be time later for
that. It was done in only two or three minutes, in spite of the tactlessness of Kurt and Lisa. Now they were on their way to Bamah-but to
do what? To rescue a king? Would he be in Bamah, or someplace else?
How would they know where? How would they rescue him once they
did know? Would their search begin in Bamah?

They rode two by two, first Alleophaz and Wesley, then Kurt and
Lisa, followed by the two pack animals and Gerachti and Belak.

The road slowly descended ahead of them. On their right the forest
sloped downward, but it rose on their left up a steep incline. There
was little or no undergrowth, and the ground was covered with a thick
carpet of moss.

Wesley's thoughts were interrupted as Alleophaz began to speak to
him. "You do well to take us on trust. But I'm sure you would like to
know who we are and why we are here."

"My lord, your face makes it easy for us to trust you-"

"You mean Gerachti's does not?"

"Well-I didn't mean that exactly, but-"

"I am teasing you. However, I feel I must give an account of our
presence and our mission. We are philosophers."

Wesley had only the vaguest notion what philosophers did, but he
said nothing.

"We search for truth. I, Lord Alleophaz of Enophen in the land of Glason, am the leader of a small group of disciples who search for
truth-truth about the world, about the universe and about mankind-where we come from and what our destiny is. I am descended
from kings, and among our family possessions there is a stone that
has existed, or so they say, from before the time when the worlds were
created. It is called the Stone of Truth, and legend has it that it will
one day reveal to us the key to truth and the key to life."

"What does it look like? I mean, what does the stone look like?"

"It is smooth, gray in color, and weighs several pounds. It is plain,
and does not look like any animal or bird or created thing. No hidden
lights shine from it. In short, there really is nothing remarkable about
it. Yet I have spent many hours staring at it, touching it, wondering
about it. Often I concluded the legend must be false, but again and
again I would go back to it and stare again, not knowing what drew
me.

"About two years ago I did this when I was very tired, weary of the
endless arguments of my disciples. We sought vainly for a truth that
was unshakable, unanswerable. We sought the basis of all truth. Late
in the night I sat and stared at the stone, and cried out to the gods,
saying,'If gods there be-come to my aid and give me understanding!
Lighten my darkness, I pray!' But there was no answer."

Wesley looked at the lean face, and saw that the man's eyes were
focused in the distance and that his face was filled with emotion. After
a moment Alleophaz continued.

"I began to get drowsy-indeed, my head began to nod, for it was
after midnight. Suddenly, overwhelmed by a weariness I could not
control, I fell forward, my arms sliding down either side of the stone.
I remember hearing the sound of my forehead striking the rock, and
even of saying in astonishment to myself, 'Why-that was my head!'
Instantly I was snatched from the room into some place of beauty of
a kind I had never even before imagined.