Authors: Phil Stern
Escape? Why, where would they go? The Kingdom was the only known place in the universe, bordered by the Outlands to the north and west, ocean to the east and south. “You mean, escape the castle? Brenlaw? I don’t understand.”
“We’d have to go farther than that.” Unbidden, three stones rose up from the forest floor, intricately juggling mid-air. “I’m not sure, really. But there must be something else. Some place where the King and his Demons can’t go. Where people like us can live in peace, without fear.”
They both quietly took in the enormity of the concept, soothed by the idea but uncertain of its execution.
“You’re good at that,” she finally said, nodding at the stones.
“I’ve had a lot of practice.” While the rocks continued twirling about, he gently took her hand in his own. They sat that way for several moments, the stones flickering about beside them.
“In this new place, would we be able to marry who we want?” she finally offered, uncomfortably looking away.
“I hope so.” Firmly hold her hand, Anson now let the rocks fall back to earth. “Lydia, the only reason I’m back here, in the capital, is to see you. When we first touched in the Throne Room...”
“I know,” she breathed. “I felt it too.”
“You won’t have to marry Tenen. That I can promise you.”
Here he was, a simple commoner boy, yet she believed Anson with all her heart. Instantly, Lydia felt her spirits lifting. “And my mother?”
“We’ll find her too.”
“How? I don’t even know where she is!”
“We both have talents, and each other.” Squeezing her hand, Anson leaned toward her. “We’ll find a way.”
Pressed close together, on the log in the lonely forest, Lydia felt herself sharing his sudden confidence. “But what of now? The King, and Tenen? What do I tell them? How do I act?”
“Pretend. Go back now, smile and wave. Play the perfect young princess, all set to marry her prince.”
Groaning, she asked a pair of mosquitos to leave them alone. Obligingly, the insects flew off. “But Anson. I don’t want you to think...”
“I know. But don’t worry about that,” he said. “I’m just not certain how we’ll communicate. Getting together like this too often would be very risky.”
“I may have a way.” Looking up, Lydia scanned the evening sky. Seconds later a pigeon came gliding down, landing lightly on her raised finger. “This is Percival.”
“He has a name?” Skeptically, Anson stroked the bird’s head.
“Well, he didn’t, but I just named him,” she explained. Looking into the pigeon’s quizzical gaze, Lydia soon smiled. “Good. Percival will be our messenger. Just look for him.”
“I will.” Anson laughed. “This is all kind of new to me. Other people’s powers, I mean.”
Lydia kissed Percival on the head, the bird flying off. “You’ll get used to it.” Raising an eyebrow, she punched him lightly on the knee. “Mister Lonesome.”
Hardly believing his own pluck, Anson then gently leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips. It lasted for several moments.
“Wow!” Finally drawing back, her pulse was racing. “I never imagined...why, I could feel all of you, as if our powers were merging!”
“I know.” Gently stroking her hair, he remained close. “I felt it too.”
Nearby, a wolf suddenly howled, followed by a low growl. They both sat up, Lydia looking off in the distance.
“A man is coming.” Concentrating, she received more information. “A man like us, the wolf says.”
Anson frowned. “You mean, someone with power?”
“Yes.” Standing, Lydia looked around, seeing only forest in every direction. “Where will we go?”
“Hmm.” Remaining seated, Anson seemed unconcerned. “I didn’t know animals could sense us that way.”
“Some of them can. But Anson...”
“Cats were always drawn to me,” he mused. “Are cats...”
“Yes, cats are particularly sensitive!” Firmly grabbing his hand, she hauled Anson to his feet. “Come on! We have to hurry.”
But Anson merely hugged her tightly, Lydia’s finery pressed up against his rough commoner garb. “Hold on, my Lady.”
“What? Why, Anson...” Utterly stunned, Lydia watched as the forest floor dropped away beneath them, the two effortlessly rising up through the trees. “We’re flying!”
“Not really,” he coolly replied. “We’d need wings for that. And feathers, I would imagine.”
They now carefully wound their way through the upper branches of the tallest trees, coming to hover over the woods. Now whisking horizontally just over the treetops, they headed deeper into the woodland.
“Your power.” Her face pressed into his own, she only had to whisper. “I can feel it all around us.”
“Of course. You wouldn’t want me to withdraw it, would you?” Playfully, he allowed them both to drop an inch. Lydia gasped, her arms firmly wrapping around his neck and down onto Anson’s back. “That wouldn’t do, would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” she whispered, staring in wonder at the nearly settled sun on the horizon, its final rays bathing the trees in a wondrous light. “By the King, Anson, this is incredible!”
“Yes, it is.”
“And you get to do this all the time?”
“I only started very recently. And I have to be very careful,” Anson laughed. “It’s a little bit of a give away, don’t you think? If anyone should happen to see?”
“Just a little bit,” she agreed, the soft wind pulling Lydia’s dark hair from her face. “But if I had your ability...I mean, there’s nothing I couldn’t do!”
“All in time, Lydia.” They made a sharp left turn, by now having zoomed into the forest a quarter-mile. “I’m heading for the other side of the festival grounds. I’ll put you down by the wood line, and you can just wander back, as if nothing had happened.”
But something had happened, Lydia knew, something that would change her life forever. “That sounds good, Anson.”
Smiling, he hugged her closer, strong arm around her thin waist.
In a rush, it was all over. Carefully landing in a small clearing, he kissed her once more, his power briefly enveloping both of them.
“Have courage,” he whispered, already rising again into the air. “I’ll be back for you soon.” And with that, he was gone.
Later on, Lydia realized she didn’t even remember stumbling from the forest and walking quickly back to the festival tent, arriving from the opposite direction from which she’d left. It was the sight of Tenen, anxiously scanning the crowd, that brought the young princess fully back to reality.
“Where were you?” Tenen growled, roughly taking her hand.
“Nowhere,” she primly replied, pulling away and daintily leading him to the head table.
“The King was worried you’d run off!” he snarled, uncomfortably taking his place next to her. “He was about to send the Royal Guard after you!”
“Like he did my mother!” she hissed back, all while maintaining a happy smile for the crowd. “Well, our good King will have to send the Guard for me on our wedding day, my dear Prince Tenen! For I have no plans on joining you on any alter, lest I be in chains!”
“We’ll see about that,” Tenen mumbled, angrily snapping out his napkin, the silverware contained within tumbling down to his plate with an ugly clank.
Somehow she maintained a relatively pleasant air throughout dinner, even managing to smile and wave when the King announced her betrothal to Tenen. Actually, it was all rather silly, this celebration of a union that would never take place.
For Lydia knew she would never see her wedding day in Brenlaw, no matter what pressure was brought to bear. Anson would find a way for them both to escape.
How, she wasn’t yet sure. But escape they would.
***
A full hour after the dinner began, Perno finally wandered back to the festival tent. Though personally witnessing Lydia enter the forest bordering the fields, she’d then seemingly disappeared.
With difficulty he’d initially traced Lydia’s unusually subtle emanations through the trees, her power signature finally fading away entirely. Traditional tracking methods led him only to a log beneath a large tree, where the trail went cold. Presumably the princess had rested on the log, but where she’d gone from there was a mystery.
All the more so now, seeing Lydia back at the royal table, sitting a mere two seats from the monarch himself.
How had this teenage girl eluded the powerful and skilled Network chief, circling back here to leave him foolishly tramping about in the underbrush? Much more experienced telepaths, with talents better suited for evasion, had been unable to shake him in similar circumstances.
Which raised an interesting question. Like her mother, could Lydia possess some powerful ability of which they were yet unaware? That would put matters in a whole new perspective.
Grimly, Perno determined to get to the bottom of the matter. His own life, and the very future of the Kingdom itself, might well depend on it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
W
ITH HER MOTHER’S DISAPPEARANCE, Lydia no longer qualified to remain in their large royal apartment by herself. Thus, two days after the engagement was officially announced, she and her three cats moved into smaller quarters, with Belle as her new apartment-mate. This was to be home for the next fourteen months, until her eighteenth birthday and supposed wedding day.
“Do you know what I heard?” Belle asked one night about a week later, sitting in their shared living room. “About the princes, I mean?”
By “princes,” Belle was referring to Tenen and three close buddies who did nothing but carouse and drink at all hours of the day and night.
Lydia sighed. “What now?”
Eagerly, the blonde princess sat forward. “I heard they invited ten commoner girls out to some house in town! They had musicians and jesters, all of whom were sworn to strict silence! They ate and drank all weekend!” Primly, Belle now looked away. “Among other activities, I hear.”
“That’s nice,” Lydia absently replied, continuing to work on her latest sketch.
“Lydia!” Clearly annoyed, Belle slapped her armrest. “Did you not attend what I just said? Your betrothed is...is...well, he’s cavorting all around the Kingdom without you!”
“Uh huh.”
“Are you not concerned?”
“Belle.” Firmly putting down the sketching pencil, Lydia turned to face her friend. “The good Prince Tenen can cavort, as you say, with whomever he likes. I don’t care in the slightest.”
“Oh.” Eyeing her friend carefully, Belle smirked. “I guess that means the two of you, um, are not...”
“No!” Nearly shuddering at the thought, Lydia turned back to her drawing. “No, dear, we are not.”
“Hmmm.” Belle thought a moment. “Are you going to have him over to dinner? After all, he is to be your husband.”
“Nope.” Lydia slowly shook her head. “No dinner.”
“You know,” Belle carefully began. “If you think it inappropriate to dine with him alone, we could have a double date. Why, Prince Warten asked me the other day...”
“Belle!” Groaning, Lydia turned back around once more. “Enough! I don’t want any dates, or double dates, or anything else. All right?”
“But Lydia, you are engaged.” Genuinely puzzled, Belle raised an eyebrow. “How long can you just ignore Tenen completely?”
It wasn’t an entirely unreasonable question. She’d have to give it some thought. “You’re right, Belle. I just need time to let it all sink in, that’s all.”
“That’s all right. I get it.” Smiling, Belle nodded at a chess board on the side table. “Up for a game?”
“No, I want to take a walk.” Standing, Lydia strode toward the door. “Get some air.”
“Checking up on the boys, maybe?”
“Goodbye, Belle!” Lydia cheerily called over her shoulder. “I’ll be back later.”
“Have a nice walk,” Belle giggled.
Strolling down to the courtyard, Lydia looked up at the bright stars, both moons high in the sky. If she wished, the party house that Tenen and the boys had set up was a mere fifteen minute walk into town. Maybe she should check it out, if for no other reason than to irritate Tenen.
But her thoughts were actually much more distant, far to the north of the capital city. She wondered what Anson’s home village of Hylen was like at this hour, and whether she would ever see it for herself.
Off to one side of the courtyard were the royal stables, with a single guard by the front door. Crossing over, she bid him good evening.
“My Lady.” Touching his cap, the man nodded. “What brings you out this fine evening?”
“Oh, nothing much. I just thought I might say hi to the Stallions.”
“By all means, my Lady.” Of course, everyone knew of her special affinity for the animal kingdom. “I’m sure they’d enjoy your company. Especially Xander.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“He just wandered back here this evening,” the man explained. “Don’t know where he went. That horse has always been a wild one. Thought he was gone for good this time.”
“Really?” Carefully suppressing a surge of excitement, she thought of her mother riding off on a Stallion the week before. “Well, I’ll have to see him then!”
Closing the stable door behind her, Lydia quickly found Xander munching happily on some fresh oats. Stroking his pretty flank, the great horse told her all about her mother’s flight, clearly picturing her safe house far into the countryside. As luck would have it, Aprina’s cabin was in a village not far from Hylen.
Giving the equine a huge hug, the brunette princess quickly said hello to the other horses, then went back up to her apartment. Chatting some more with Belle late into the night, she then went quietly to bed.
Getting up early the next morning, she wrote out a short note. Calling Percival the pigeon to her window, the paper scrap was soon wrapped tightly around his tiny leg, winging its way off to Anson.
***
Later on that afternoon, working out in the fields, Anson stopped for a cold drink of water. It was growing late in the season, and with all the time wasted in Brenlaw and the Outlands, the crops needed immediate harvesting. Already it had been a dry season, the corn and wheat sometimes brittle to the touch.
It was brutal work, with the late summer sun mercilessly beating down on the arid land. Yet Anson had turned to it with a gusto surprising all their neighbors, the more so since their own menfolk had come back to Hylen generally scarred and worn down by the Karden campaign. Within a short while most of their family farm had been cleared, the crops neatly placed for consumption and sale.