Savage Games of Lord Zarak (16 page)

Sarah reached out and squeezed his hand. “You be careful, too, Josh.”

The king stepped around Roland and opened the secret door. It slid back silently, revealing a lighted room. Josh was ready to follow Roland and Lady Lara through the doorway when the king spoke in a loud voice.

“Zarak! So you've taken over the king's quarters, have you?”

Lord Zarak leaped to his feet. His eyes flew wide with shock, and he cried out for his guards as he drew his sword.

The king drew his own sword, and the two began to duel as the Sleepers and then Goodman's men poured into the large chamber.

“The guards are coming!” Lara cried.

And then, within the confines of the king's quarters, a bitter fight took place. King Falmor was an older man than Lord Zarak and recently wounded. Still, he seemed to gain strength as he fought. While the others dealt with the guards, the king backed Zarak against the wall and tore the sword from his hand with one mighty stroke.

He put his sword point right under Zarak's heart, and for a moment Josh thought he would kill him. He held his breath, but then the king lowered his blade.

“You are an evil man, Zarak, but I will not kill you. There's been enough killing already. You are my prisoner.”

 

Lord Zarak's few guards had been totally unprepared. The Sleepers and Goodman and his men in green swarmed through the castle, taking it by storm. Less than an hour later Josh was standing in the castle's large banquet hall, where the king had gathered his followers.

Falmor looked about at them all, his eyes warm. “You have all served your king well, and you will find me to be grateful.” His eyes went to Lara then, and he smiled. “My first act will be to open the dungeons and free every prisoner!”

A cheer went up from Goodman. A cheer went up from his men. Josh saw Lady Lara take Roland's hand.

The king too saw this. He walked over to them, and for a moment he frowned. But then he said, “I see that I am to have a son at last after all these years?”

“I would serve Your Majesty always, but I must tell you that I love your daughter.”

“And I love him, Father.”

“We shall have time to get to know each other, Sir Roland.”

“I am no ‘sir,' Your Majesty,” Roland said quickly.

“You are now. My daughter could not marry a commoner, so I dub you Sir Roland.”

Another cheer went up, and the Sleepers did a dance about the floor. Josh found himself holding Sarah's hand, and they whirled in a wild circle. Dave, not to be outdone, grabbed Abbey's hand and they too spun around.

When the merriment had ceased, the king said, “We will deal with Zarak, but he will not receive from my hand all of what he deserves.”

“I think Goél would approve of that, sire,” Josh said. “There's hope even for a man like Lord Zarak.” The king looked at Josh and then at the other Sleepers. “Will you all stay on as our guests?” “As long as possible,” Josh said. “We always are at the will of Goél.”

“Very good. Then we will have a feast, and we will proclaim liberty to the captives.” His voice rose as he said, “And now the people of my kingdom will know a ruler who has generosity.” He put his arm around his daughter and drew her close. “And the Lady Lara will show goodness and love to all of her people.”

“Well,” Josh said to Sarah, “it looks like the storybooks were right. They're going to live happily ever after.”

 

 

T
he kingdom of Falmor knew peace and joy that had been only a memory to some of the older men and women. The king moved among his people, smiling and greeting them, and daily he listened to their needs as they came before him. Always at his right hand was his daughter, the Lady Lara. And always close beside her was Sir Roland Winters, who would be the prince and the future king.

The Sleepers enjoyed themselves tremendously as the days passed. They hunted. They fished. They rode with the hounds. None enjoyed all this more than Reb Jackson. He proved himself to be the best horseman in the land. When he braided a rope and performed before the court—bringing down a wild bull by throwing a loop around its front legs—the entire kingdom idolized Sir Reb.

 

“Have you noticed that little redheaded lady who watches you so closely?” Roland asked Reb one day.

“Oh, I don't pay any attention to things like that,” Reb muttered.

“Her father is a powerful lord. If you wanted to, I think you could marry her and become a very important man in the kingdom of Falmor.”

“I'm a very important man already,” Reb said. “I'm one of the Seven Sleepers.”

Roland grinned. “I didn't think you'd be interested. How long will you all be staying, do you think?”

“Don't know. And I suppose you're not going back with us.”

“Uh . . . no,” Roland said absently.

Later that day he was walking along the parapet of the castle with Lady Lara. They stopped and looked out over the green fields, which were beautiful indeed. In the distance smoke was rising from farm house chimneys, and white clouds drifted lazily overhead. “You know,” he said, “I must go back and make things right with my parents.”

“I knew you would say that someday.” The princess hesitated, biting her lower lip. “I will miss you.”

“I would ask you to accompany me, but it wouldn't be proper for a princess to travel alone with a man for such a long way.”

Lady Lara lifted her eyebrows. “And can you think of no way to make it proper?”

For a moment Roland was surprised. He laughed. “I can think of one way. If we were married, then traveling together would be perfectly proper.”

Lara waited, then said impatiently, “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Well, are you not going to propose?”

“I
am
going to propose. I want to marry you. I'll be the best husband to you I can be—if you'll have me.”

 

Far down the castle parapet, Josh and Sarah stood watching Roland and the princess. “We really shouldn't be snooping like this!” he protested.

“Don't be silly!” Sarah said dreamily. “If they don't want to be seen, they should have hidden themselves.” Josh shrugged. “Well, they evidently don't care who sees them. I guess that settles that.” “It's just like a fairy tale, isn't it, Josh?”

“I don't know. I haven't lived many of those.”

“Then your education's been neglected.”

They watched until Lady Lara and Roland walked on, and then Josh said, “Well, Sarah, we're about to the end of another adventure.”

“There's another one coming, though. Goél always sees to that. He keeps life interesting.”

 

It was later in the afternoon when Goél suddenly appeared to the Seven Sleepers and told them, “The eagles await, my young friends.”

The Sleepers, as always, were happy to see him. They said, “We'll have to say our good-byes to the king and the court.”

“Any farewells must be brief. There's an emergency. You must come quickly.”

“Well, I like that!” Jake muttered as they set off to find their friends. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Probably have to go kill a few dragons, Reb.”

Josh and Sarah said quick good-byes to the princess and to Roland, who grinned and said, “You'll come back someday, won't you?”

“We would be happy to. But you never know when you follow Goél,” Josh said. “We let him give the directions. Good-bye, Lady Lara. Good-bye, Roland.”

Goél led the Seven Sleepers to where Kybus and the great birds were waiting. “Go quickly now, and I will meet you and give you more instructions.”

Josh went over to where Sarah was about to mount her eagle. “Let me help you,” he said. He put his hand down as he had seen squires do. But when she put her foot in it, he heaved so strongly that she flew over the eagle and landed on her back with a grunt.

“Sarah, I didn't mean to do that!” He rushed around
to help her up and began to dust her off. He was sure she would be angry.

But instead she laughed. “That's all right, Josh. I'm not hurt. Let's try it again—but a little more gently this time.”

He put both hands down and carefully lifted her into the saddle. Then he took her hand and kissed it. “There,” he said. “Is that romantic enough?”

Sarah blushed. “It'll do for starters,” she said.

And soon the air was filled with the sound of beating wings as the eagles rose toward the sky, carrying the Seven Sleepers into their next adventure.

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