The Destiny of Amalah (29 page)

‘As I was telling Rakan, it is my pleasure my son. Promise me that you will take care of each other and promise me that you will make the greatest effort to remain safe,’ he said rather emotionally.

‘We promise,’ the two boys replied vehemently.

They all spent their remaining time around the horses and after a while they untied them and led them to the stables. The friends were happy and proud that they were on their way and now that they had horses, they truly could see the nations.

The next two weeks went by so quickly for the friends; by day they would collect the remaining supplies that they had ordered, including the saddles and by night, they would spend quality time with their families. The friends each spent a night with the others parents having a farewell dinner and when they dined at the palace, it was only Amara who was present and the evening was a relaxed one, the atmosphere was warm and pleasant and each of them were happily enjoying the company of the others.

The friends and Amara had brought each other gifts and exchanged them after dinner and then they all gave a small speech. Rakan was the last to speak and before he began he stood up.

‘Friends, I am a very happy young man, happy to have been blessed with a great family and great friends. I am truly looking forward to our journeys together and Amara, although duty has kept you away from us, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this; you have always remained close to us in our hearts and thoughts and even though events have meant that you have spent less time with us, you have never been considered as less of a friend among us. We also look forward to our journey and we wish that you could come with us, so let me finish by saying that you are as much a part of us as we are of you. So, I say, to friendship: may it continue to be as joyous and loving and fulfilling as it has always been.’

Amara looked at Rakan with a warm smile and her eyes began to fill with water as his words touched her.

‘Thank you,’ she mouthed quietly and he nodded his head in understanding and acknowledgement.

‘To friendship,’ they all said, after Rakan and the others raised their glasses as they said their toast.

When the dinner was over, the five young men left the palace and went home to their families and Amara and Ellora remained together. They made their way to the balcony room in the palace and opened the full-length doors. A table and two chairs had been left on the balcony for them and they sat down and relaxed and began to talk.

‘I will miss you, you know. I know I hardly spend anytime with you lately but I want you to know that I love you and I always will and furthermore – I will miss you terribly when you go,’ Amara said gently and searchingly.

‘Oh Amara,’ Ellora said standing up and going over to her sister to hug her. ‘I know you love me, I never doubted that or thought otherwise and I want you to know that I also love you too, very dearly. I know you take your duties seriously and I know that you made promises to our father which I am proud to see that you are keeping and when I go away I shall miss you too.’

‘I envy you sometimes and in some ways, especially in the way that you managed to stay close to the boys, but I also worry. I’m worried and I hope that I am doing the right thing by letting you go.’

‘But Amara, you went before me,’ Ellora said puzzled.

‘Yes, I did, but that was completely different. I had carriage and company and the guard and places to go and people to see. I was safe and secure – you on the other hand – are in a completely different situation. You are all so young; you will have no other company but yourselves: no guards, no healers, and no adults. Furthermore you have to survive yourselves, trek through mountains and forests, endure extreme weather and find your food and water along the way.’

‘I know,’ Ellora said softly; ‘but we can do all of that: our father, Garrick and Häkan taught us well. We can all ride, hunt, track and we can all live off the land very well. Kalon and I have been able to do so since we were eight years old and the others since they were ten. I know it will get rough sometimes and life will seem hard but we can do this – the six of us together – can do this.’

‘Do you know how hard it will get?’ Amara asked seriously.

‘Probably not but I know what we are all capable of and I know that between us – we can survive anywhere. As for you and envying my friendship, you
are
close to them, you may not spend as much time with them but they are still your good friends and you can speak with them anytime: you know this. Whenever you are around us there are no awkward silences or any other indications that you have been away from them, you grew up with them. It is I who should envy you,’ Ellora said and Amara gave her a puzzled look. ‘Not only do you have friendships with Rakan and Kalon and the others but I see that you have a close friendship with Michael and Garrick and the others.’

‘I am glad to have them in my life,’ Amara agreed. ‘But still Ellora, I do worry.’

‘Do not, I can live off the land as well as the others and besides I have become quite the archer so I will never go hungry, nor will the others.’ Amara laughed slightly at the thought of the five boys relying on Ellora for food. ‘We will look after each other, we always have and we always will and besides you know how protective Rakan is of me.’

‘Yes I do, still I wonder why.’

‘I am like a sister to him and a friend and he is like a brother to me, but sometimes I think it is more than that, it is as though we are connected somehow on a spiritual level or our souls have known each other before, it is difficult to explain.’

‘A crush?’ Amara asked curiously.’

‘No, it is beyond that, it is not a physical feeling in that sense, not like our mother and father, I just feel that perhaps he is some kind of kindred spirit and that somehow our lives and paths will always be linked and he feels it to.’

‘I think I see,’ Amara began. ‘Even when you were only five you and Rakan had already become close. You would talk and make jokes that only the two of you would get and he never treated you like a baby or teased you like the others did sometimes.’

‘How very true, now you know that he always looked out for me, and he always will, so do not worry about me dear sister. We will send riders as often as we can to tell you of how we are faring, but do not worry if you do not hear from us for a while we will probably be up in the mountains or deep in the forests.’

Amara nodded her head and looked at her sister: ‘I am surely right to let you go but I will still worry about you.’

‘And I about you,’ Ellora said taking hold of her sister’s hand.

The two women talked for a while longer and at one point in time Michael joined them and they talked until the early hours of the morning before retiring.

Two more nights followed and then it was only two more days before the six friends would venture off on a trip of a lifetime and on this evening, it was the final farewell dinner. Amara and Ellora held a dinner at the palace, and Garrick, Michael, Häkan, Raynor and Thaddeus were present; as were the five boys and their parents.

They dined in the Great Hall on a rectangular banqueting table that seated all twenty guests. They all enjoyed fine food, fine wine, great company and jovial conversation. When they had eaten, all of the parents made speeches about their children and their friends and then Amara made a speech on behalf of Ellora.

The evening was going splendidly well and it truly was a family affair, for many of the parents at the table had known each other since they were children and they had watched each others children as well as their own come into the world and grow up. When the speeches were over, Garrick and Häkan stood up and the table fell silent as the two men addressed them and Garrick started first.

‘Friends, tonight we all gather here to say farewell to our children who are about to embark on a journey of a lifetime. Together they will venture out and explore the nine nations. I commend them all for their bravery and for undertaking such a venture,’ Garrick began. ‘But having known them all of their lives and having seen them prepare for this trip over the last few weeks, I have witnessed their maturity, diligence, commitment and organisation; and I have to say; I am extremely proud of all of them and the way they have behaved. I know in life there can be perils but I trust in all six of them that they will not bring them about unnecessarily.

As a parent, I understand the anxiety that you all must feel about letting them go on such a venture, but I know that the time has come where we can trust our children completely and let them find their own way in this world.

As a parent I would also like to say that I am extremely grateful to the gods for giving me two wonderful children and I know that all of you were also given wonderful children – children, who exercise maturity, are well mannered, honest, capable and decent through and through. Rakan, Kalon, Ellora, Kenaz, Waldon and Rufus,’ Garrick continued; ‘we wish you a good journey and as your parents and guardians; we wish to give you something,’ Garrick said, looking at each and every one of them individually.

Häkan then picked up where Garrick left off and he addressed everyone at the table:

‘We know that wonderful times lay ahead for you but we also know that because you have chosen this journey in this way, hard times may lay ahead for you,’ Garrick continued.

‘So we thought of something that was practical, beautiful and representative of yourselves,’ Häkan said proudly.

Häkan turned to the two guardsmen who were at the door and nodded to them and they walked over to the table and stood between Amara and Garrick. They were each carrying three long velvet covered boxes and the six friends looked at the two guardsmen and wondered what was inside the boxes that they held.

‘Crafted by the finest craftsmen in all of Amalah and all of the nations, each of you will have your own sword and dagger.’

Häkan signalled to the guards and they each removed the lid from the top box to reveal two beautifully crafted swords and daggers. The first sword and dagger had red rubies gilded into the gold handles and the stainless steel blades had been folded over a thousand times and shaped and sharpened to perfection, as was the sword and dagger in the right but instead of rubies encrusted into them there were blue lapus-lazuli stones.

‘They’re beautiful,’ Ellora exclaimed.

‘Perfect craftsmanship,’ Rakan said appreciatively, as he eyed them from his seat.

‘The stones represent your birth stones,’ Garrick said. ‘We consulted with the healers and the sorcerers, and the guard helped to find the stones of your birth. These presents are from the Empress, your parents, Michael, Thaddeus, Häkan, Raynor and I.’

Ellora your sword and dagger possess rubies and Kalon yours the lapus-lazuli,’ Garrick said, beckoning them to come and collect their presents.’

The two of them stood up and walked towards Garrick and Häkan hurriedly. They both stood in front of the guard and looked at the sword and dagger inside and then touched them gently, admiring the craftsmanship. They took the boxes possessing their swords and daggers and then turned and thanked every one. The two of them returned to their seats and when they had placed their boxes down Garrick spoke again.

‘Diamond is for Rakan and Sardonyx is for Waldon.’

Once again he beckoned for the two young men to come and collect their new gift and when they had it in their possession, Garrick waited until they were seated before revealing the final two swords.

‘Sapphire is for Kenaz and Emerald is for Rufus.’

The two of them stood up to collect their gifts, and they too, also thanked their parents and everyone else in the room before they returned to their seats. The rest of the evening saw endless conversation which was light hearted and humorous and as the night wore on, the six could not help admiring their newly crafted swords and daggers and admiring the stones that had been placed in the handles.

There were three stones placed vertically in the centre and one at each side of the middle stone forming the shape of a cross. They felt blessed and excited and eager to undertake their adventures that night and they became even more excited as time went on.

The two days seemed so near and yet so far away from them, but they waited patiently and spent the remaining days with their families. The six friends were surprised when all of their parents had decided to let them go on their travels, but they were happy that they had. Some of the parents and Amara had their reservations and some had none at all, but all of them agreed that spending a year exploring the nations would be good for them in so many ways and no parent wanted to be the one to scupper the plans of the other five.

Amara was slightly envious of her sister but she was also happy for her. She was happy that she would get to know the nations and the people and gain knowledge that simply could not be acquired from the books in the palace library, and although Ellora was going off to see the world, Amara knew she had her own world right there in Amalah. One that she was happily carving out for herself.

On the eve of their departure the six friends spent their last night at home with their families, they each went through the things that they had packed and made any last minute adjustments that they needed to. They had tried to pack lightly starting with the essentials and anything else that they thought they would need for the journey, and then, if it would fit – the luxuries. Even though they had packed lightly there was still a substantial amount of baggage that they were going to have to take. They had decided on what they all needed together and then packed separately and they had also decided that if there was anything else that they needed they would gather and use it along the way.