Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan (56 page)

After the group nodded, Baltor looked
forward, before briskly making his way up to the throne room.

As before, at the throne room’s entryway,
there were the two guards with spears. Baltor definitely expected
these guards to cross their spears before him, forbidding him
entry; that is, until the king, queen, or prince had granted
permission.

Even more surprise came to Baltor when those
two guards didn’t cross their spears this time, thus allowing him
to enter the throne room, which he did.

As his feet walked toward the three thrones,
his eyes saw that the king, queen and prince all bore excited
smiles upon their faces!

Once he had neared, Baltor bowed in the same
way he had done just before he left the last time.

When he looked back up, a few moments later,
he saw that the prince was now standing up, and had begun to use
the sign language; he drew the symbol of the tower into the
air.

Baltor next cocked his head from side to
side, which indicated the affirmative. He then pointed his own
index finger into the air, pointed at his own mouth, pointed at
Prince Cheo’s mouth, and then said in Pavelian, “How are you doing,
Prince Cheo?”

Right away, the prince looked very confused,
looked to his parents, and then said something in less than five
seconds.

Baltor’s mind heard Prince Cheo’s words
interpret into, “I believe he wants me to speak to him. As we’ve
clearly proven, however, there is no way for him to speak our
language or for us to learn his, other than names, drawings, and a
very crude form of sign language—of course!”

The king asked something in his native
tongue, which Baltor’s mind interpreted a bit faster, “Why don’t
you try saying something to him?”

As Baltor stood back onto his feet, Prince
Cheo asked in his own language, “So…you found the tower?”

Baltor threw a smile, and replied slowly in
their tongue, “Yes…I…did.”

Everyone in the room threw gasps of shock at
the same time!

Once silence filled the room, a few moments
later, Baltor added,

“Your highnesses, the language barriers that
we once had no longer apply. From now on, we can communicate by
speech.”

More gasps of shock coursed throughout the
room!

With a stammer, Prince Cheo was finally able
to ask, “How—how did you master our language while you were away,
and with no one to teach you?”

Baltor evenly answered, “To answer your
question requires understanding a bit of my history, which I will
now commence to explain. I am from a city called Pavelus, which
city consists of a population of around one hundred and twenty
thousand—a massive and powerful city that is far, far, far away
from here.”

Before Baltor had a chance to continue with
his briefing, he became interrupted as every last one of the
villagers excitedly yelped out the word “coo” or the word
“caw!”

His mind instantly interpreted that “this
custom” was similar to his own of saying “ooh” or “aah” whenever
being utterly amazed.

Continuing his briefing only five seconds
after he had stopped, he said, “Now the reason I have traveled such
a great distance is because of my mission to locate the tower that
I had found drawn upon an ancient map and retrieve a magical item
that is a rod. Though I no longer have this rod in my possession,
it magically taught me how to overcome any language barriers, as
you guys have just learned.”

Again came the “coo” or the “caw,” this time
with a mega amount of excitement and happiness, which Baltor’s mind
easily interpreted as cheering!

“Unfortunately,” he added, “before I had left
the jungles, I also contracted a mysterious illness which prevents
me from bearing the sun’s rays at all, which makes me nocturnal.
Also, I have my own very special diet that if I don’t live by
religiously, I will die within days.”

This time, the cooing or the cawing from the
villagers either sounded sympathetic, sad, shocked, and/or
horror-stricken—Baltor’s mind didn’t have to interpret a thing.

The king replied with a thoughtful look, “I
am sorry to hear about your illness, but is it wrong of me to
rejoice in the fact that we can now fully communicate?”

“No, your majesty, the king—it is not wrong
of you at all to rejoice. As for my illness, I deal with it as best
I can.”

The prince said excitedly, “Welcome back to
Chao-chu-sha-maen, my brother! So tell me, and please do not take
offense, but is there a particular reason that you have traveled
all the way back here so soon, Prince Baltor?”

Baltor’s mind seriously didn’t acknowledge
the added title, as his mouth explained, “Yes, there is—I have
several friends of mine waiting outside. We are on the run from
others who wish to take away our happiness, and our lives. For a
time, we will need a place to stay, perhaps for quite awhile.”

After a sigh, Baltor hesitantly suggested in
the form of a question, “I was hoping that maybe we could stay
here, if your highnesses would be so gracious?”

The queen answered, “Prince Baltor, you and
your friends are most welcome here. Since your departure, we all
have missed you very greatly!”

Baltor smiled. Suddenly, the added title
registered in his brain, and then he asked with doubt to his voice,
“My Queen, did I hear you just call me a prince, or am I simply
misinterpreting what you’re saying?”

Instead of her or anyone else answering, the
king looked over to a servant and informed, “Allow his friends, and
ours, to enter.”

The servant bowed, just before running out of
the throne room, up to the window, and cawing twice to the guards
downstairs to allow Baltor’s friends to enter.

The prince walked in front of Baltor, touched
his own face just below the eye, and then put that pinky upon
Baltor’s forehead. He asked, “You know that you are also royalty
here, right?”

Baltor looked confused at that, as he asked,
“What do you mean?”

“We have been soul brothers since the day you
left, which officially makes you a prince by our customs,” Prince
Cheo informed.

“I did not know that,” Baltor said. A smile
crossed his lips as he added, “My brother.”

The two princes gave each other a brotherly
hug, just as the rest of the group slowly entered the throne room,
looking about in wonder and amazement.

“Tell your friends to approach,” the king
said.

Baltor looked back, and called out in
Pavelian, “Guys. The royalty of this land wish to meet you.”

They approached closer. Once they had neared
the area, they all bowed almost in unison.

“Tell them,” the queen said, “that they are
most welcome to stay within our lands for as long as they wish.”
Baltor interpreted.

The group verbally expressed their sincerest
gratitude, to which Baltor translated.

A moment later, the king, queen, and prince
all began cocking their heads from side to side.

Baltor informed, “By the way, guys, when they
do that head gesture, it means yes. When they roll their heads
around in a circle, that means no. Okay?”

“Okay.” the group stated.

As Baltor’s eyes scanned Brishava for a
moment, a proud smile crossed his face. A few moments later, he
said in the villagers’ language, “There is one more part of my
history that I need to inform you all.”

“What is that?” Cheo asked with
curiosity.

“I have since become married, and this.”
Baltor said. He gestured his right hand toward Brishava, and
introduced, “This…is my beloved wife, Brishava!”

Even though Brishava couldn’t even begin to
understand what her husband had just said in under a second, she
assumed that he was introducing her, and so she curtsied toward the
thrones.

Cheo looked very surprised to hear this
information, yet he said a few moments later, “Tell
Princess
Brishava, as she is your wife, that it is an honor to meet
her!”

Baltor interpreted.

He then fully explained to the group that he
had been designated a prince in this land, and that Brishava was
now a princess here, as well!

For a moment, Brishava’s face betrayed
bewilderment and awe at this additional entitlement, but then she
smiled, nodded, and then curtsied before the thrones.

Out of respect, Humonus and Chelsea both
bowed before Prince Baltor and the princess of two countries,
Brishava.

Baltor responded, “My friends, that’s not
necessary.”

Humonus then replied, “Oh, but it is
necessary, your highness!”

The king declared emphatically, “Tomorrow
night, there shall be both a coronation, and then a celebration for
the return of Prince Baltor and his bride, Princess Brishava!”

Many cheers rang out in the room, but
Baltor’s friends looked around in confusion.

Once the din had quieted a minute later, he
translated what the king had just said—in turn, Humonus and Chelsea
began to cheer, and then the villagers joined in yet again. Baltor
and Brishava both remained humble. That night they all partied
quite hearty!

The following morning, while Baltor still
slept in his special clothes within a hut designated for him and
Brishava, the villagers began packing a tar-like substance into the
sides of the hut, which would make the room sunlight impenetrable
during the day.

Brishava couldn’t take the smell of the
substance, so she exited the hut and passed out in Humonus and
Chelsea’s hut.

Only moments after sunset the following
evening, after Baltor had removed his hat, he saw an old woman who
had already entered the hut.

With the torch this villager held in her left
hand, she was just about to light a torch posted about four feet
away from the front door.

After she had lit the torch, Baltor sat up in
bed. He then said in the villagers’ language, “Good evening.”

The villager bowed and replied, “Good evening
to you, Prince Baltor. My name is Pa-cheu. Just so you know, it has
been assigned to me to light the torch in your hut just after
sunset every night by King-Cha-Abduja-Chem-Masgaran-Chai. This way
you will know that the sun has indeed set.”

“Oh,” he replied with a smile. “Well, thank
you, Pa-cheu.”

“It is my pleasure to serve you, my prince,”
she said with a toothless smile, bowed, and exited the hut.

That night, Baltor and Brishava were tribally
crowned a prince and princess of the Chao-chu-sha-maen village.

Following the coronations, the partying
commenced that lasted the entire night!

The next evening, unusually shaped clouds
filled the skies. Just as the sun was about to set, the skies were
infuriated with nearly a half dozen colors—Baltor was still
sleeping of course.

Suddenly, the villagers began to get very
excited as they dropped to the ground on their backs, extended
their arms and hands into the air, and appeared to be clutching for
the very skies.

Meanwhile, Brishava was eating dinner with
Humonus and Chelsea outside, and the group of friends stared
confusedly at the spastic villagers.

Even more confusing to the three was the
moment the colors in the dusky sky had started to fade, the
villagers got back to their feet, and acted as if nothing at all
had happened.

A few minutes later, as soon as Baltor had
arrived at their hut, he saw Brishava, Humonus, and Chelsea still
sitting at a table and chatting quietly amongst one another.

Once Baltor had drawn near, Humonus was the
first to look up and greet, “Good evening, Your Highness!”

A moment later, the group similarly greeted
Baltor.

He responded with a smile, “Good evening to
you all, my friends, but please, just call me Baltor.”

Humonus asked, “Say Baltor, can you tell me
why the villagers get so worked up whenever the sun is about to set
and the skies are infuriated with colors?”

Baltor laughed as he replied, “I’ve seen them
do this before, during my last visit here. However, to be honest
with you, I have no idea what it means. Let’s go ask Prince Cheo,
okay?”

“Good idea.”

Once they had found Cheo, who was currently
sitting in the throne room, Baltor asked him, “We’ve got a
question. What’s with the ritual that you guys do at every colorful
sunset?”

“Oh that?” Cheo asked. “This is our way of
communicating with our God who shines his beautiful lights upon us!
Did you not know that Chao-chu-sha-maen means ‘the nation of
heavenly lights’?”

“No, I didn’t—thanks.” Baltor next translated
this information to the group.

Because Brishava, Humonus, and Chelsea could
not learn even the basics of the verbal language, other than
shortened versions of peoples’ names, Baltor began to teach them
the sign language that he and Cheo had already begun to expand,
along with the rest of the tribe.

For the next couple of months, as the group
stayed in the village, there were no incidents to report regarding
the cannibals’ village, which was only twenty-eight miles to the
south.

That was—except for the weekly trips that
Baltor would make in order to quench the beast. He soon gained a
new and powerful psychic ability to read minds, amongst his other
ones—all but one of his powers lasted three days before they faded
away, which power he classified: “interpreting unknown
languages.”

Two months and five nights after their
arrival, however, the cannibal tribe launched a surprise attack,
perhaps in retaliation to the mysterious attacks launched upon
their own members!

Unfortunately, fifteen villagers had been
killed before they were able to drive back the bloodthirsty
cannibals, with Baltor and Humonus’s help!

Fortune only smiled on the villagers that it
had been a night attack and not a day, or Baltor would not have
been able to help, and they might have all lost the battle and
their lives.