Kingdom's Dawn (5 page)

Peyton paused, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. For the first time in his life, Leinad saw his father as a fellow flawed human being instead of the infallible man that he had unfairly esteemed him to be. Leinad let his father recover himself in silence.

“Having received the gifts, we felt obligated to offer food and rest to Lord Sinjon and his servants, for evening was upon us,” Peyton continued. “The man was extremely polite and considerate, a gentleman in every way. He had dark hair and sharp features. His conversation was smooth and intriguing. Despite all this, I felt a slight foreboding about him. Before turning in for the night, I posted guards near the guest quarters as a precaution. What I did not know was that across the sea, a rebellion had taken place and Arrethtrae would quickly be swept up in the destructive storm of its vengeance.

“In the middle of the night, I was awakened by the sound of your mother pleading for help. I opened my eyes to a nightmare of horror. At the foot of my bed stood Lord Sinjon with a knife across your mother's throat. I leaped from my bed, but he pressed the knife tighter against her throat. ‘Don't be stupid!' he said. His voice and countenance were so loathsome that I could hardly believe it was the same man we had entertained a few hours earlier. I called for the guards, but Sinjon laughed a vile laugh. ‘We treated you as a guest, and you lied to us,' I said. He smiled condescendingly. ‘Yes,' he said, ‘it is what I do best. Out!' He motioned toward the door of our bedchamber. The fear in your mother's eyes matched the fear in my heart. I walked ahead of them to the door
and passed into the great hall. Many of my guards lay dead, and I heard the occasional clash of swords in the distance. Within the great hall stood twenty to thirty of the largest, fiercest looking warriors I have ever seen. Evidently the footman and driver were also two of his warriors, and they had quietly overtaken the gate guards to allow Sinjon's evil force entrance to the palace.

“A nightmarish tragedy was unfolding before my eyes as the reality of my foolish disobedience pierced my heart. My men were dead and my wife was held in the grip of a murderous liar. ‘Sinjon, though you kill us all, the King will return and retake this palace from you!' I said with as much force as I could muster. He glared at me. ‘I do not want this palace, fool,' he said with hatred and spite in his eyes. ‘I want the entire kingdom! I will soon be king of all of Arrethtrae!' He smiled in his arrogance as his warriors in the hall saluted him with their swords.

“We were forced into the main courtyard, where more death and destruction awaited. I knew that the chilled black night revealed only a small portion of the devastation Sinjon had wreaked on the palace. His warriors were massive and ruthless. There were hundreds of his men, and they had completely taken the palace. Once they had come inside the outer wall, my garrison didn't have a chance, and it was I who had let them enter. I wanted to return to the dust from which I came and erase my existence, but my heart kept beating.

“He turned us around to see the great palace. ‘Burn everything that will burn, and destroy everything else,' he ordered his men. Within a few moments, unquenchable
flames illuminated the night, revealing the totality of Sinjon's assault. ‘Kneel!' he said, and one of his men forced me to my knees before him. He threw your mother to the ground beside me. She was a strong woman, your mother, but I saw the reflection of the glowing flames in the tears on her cheeks as we witnessed the end of our paradise. I put my arm around her for what I believed to be our final embrace.

“Sinjon stood before us, reveling in his power over us—in the King's destroyed future for Arrethtrae. One of his warriors approached from the great hall. ‘My Lord, it is done!' he said. ‘Excellent!' Sinjon exclaimed. ‘Gather the men outside the gate, and wait for me while I deal with these two.' ‘Who are you?' I asked as his men retreated from their brutal handiwork toward the main gate. Sinjon looked down on us through narrowed eyes with his chin raised and a sword drawn. He paused. ‘I
was
the King's principal warrior, second only to the Prince. Now I
am
the King's principal enemy, second to no one! I am Lucius!' ”

“Lucius?” Leinad said.

“Yes, the Dark Knight!”

“He is real, then? Not just a mythical evil warrior?” Leinad asked.

“He is very real, unfortunately. And having witnessed the heinous actions he and his men were capable of, I knew that our death was imminent. ‘Please spare the life of my wife. There is no need for her death,' I pleaded with him. He slowly and silently walked behind us, and I covered your mother's back with my body, fully expecting his blade to slice through me at any moment. As he returned to the front, he placed the tip of his blade beneath my chin, forcing
me to look up at him as he spoke. ‘Your fate will be worse than a quick death, peasant. You must now face your pathetic King and explain how you destroyed His plan for the kingdom. I want the King to see how His miserable nobles completely failed Him. No, I will not be so merciful as to kill you now. You have done that to the kingdom and to your own future. That is satisfaction—true satisfaction for me.' ”

Peyton paused and stared at nothing.

“What happened next, Father?” Leinad prompted tenderly.

“Lucius and his warriors left the palace and disappeared into the night. And then we did a cowardly thing, Leinad. We were so ashamed and afraid that we fled into the hills and found a cave to hide ourselves in. The King was returning soon, and we could not bear to face Him.” Peyton covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes.

Leinad could feel the pain of his father. Part of him wished he had not heard this story, for he was not comfortable with his father being so vulnerable with him. But deep within him there was an intense desire to know it all. So he waited for his father to continue.

Peyton lowered his hands and covered his pursed lips. Though his eyes were red and his voice quavered, he resumed the story for his son.

“The King searched for us. I heard Him call, but we were afraid and ashamed. I had cost Him too much. I'd hoped He would think we were dead and forget about us, but somehow He knew we were alive, and so He searched. Finally I could stand it no longer, and I called to Him from our cave.
As He approached, He ordered His warriors to stay behind. We knelt with our faces to the ground. Facing the shame of our King was worse than facing the sword of Lucius. He dismounted from His steed and stood before us. The moment of silence that followed as I felt His gaze on my neck was unbearable. Softly He spoke, ‘Peyton … Dinan.' I could not restrain my tears of sorrow and repentance. ‘My King,' I said and slowly lifted my eyes to see the disappointment in His majestic face. ‘We … I have failed You. I have destroyed Your palace … Your future kingdom. Take my life, my Lord, for I am not worthy to live.' The quiet tears of your mother joined mine.

“ ‘Rise,' said the King. ‘The cost of your failure is great … but I forgive you. You must understand that I am a merciful king, but I am also a just king. Through your weakness, Lucius has destroyed the future of many people. You and Dinan must leave this region and establish a farm in the Plains of Kerr. My plans for Arrethtrae will follow a different course now. Raise your children to honor Me, and through them I will bring victory over Lucius and peace to the land of Arrethtrae.' ”

Peyton turned to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Leinad,” he said quietly, “that is how I have raised you … to honor the King. Where I have failed, you must not. Somehow the King will use you to help establish His kingdom here in Arrethtrae.”

“But Father, why doesn't the King bring His warriors to Arrethtrae, conquer Lucius, and establish His kingdom? I am just a boy … I could never hope to accomplish what you could not.”

“The King does not want devotion through force, Leinad. He wants a kingdom of people who love Him because they want to love Him, not because they are forced to. He loves the land, and He loves these people. He has chosen a different way … a more excellent way. This is why you are feeling less and less like a farmer every day. Stay strong—stay true—stay loyal!”

“I will, Father. I swear it,” Leinad said. “But what am I supposed to do?”

Leinad felt his father's eyes penetrate his soul.

“I wish I could answer that for you, son, but I truly don't know. That is a question for which you alone must discover the answer.”

Leinad's small world was now much bigger. In just a few moments, the solid ground of his life had shifted beneath him. His father … his farm … his life was not what it appeared to be. Was anything he believed in still anchored and unchanged? He asked himself and searched. He found one unmovable truth … the King was!

Leinad loved to hunt game. His accuracy with a bow and arrow was uncanny. Successful hunting required patience, something Leinad usually found difficult to practice. However, the quiet realm of the forest afforded Leinad an opportunity to think and reflect, which he found himself doing quite frequently lately.

Today Peyton had encouraged Leinad to hunt alone, saying he needed to accomplish some things around the farm. “Besides,” Peyton had said, “I think you could probably use some time to yourself.”

Leinad always hunted on foot in the forest. Horses were noisy, and he preferred to blend with his surroundings as much as possible. He was disappointed and somewhat surprised at the lack of game. It was already midmorning and he was still empty-handed. The overcast skies made the forest walls feel closer than usual, and Leinad felt an uneasiness that would not dissipate no matter how hard he tried. The
deeper he journeyed into the forest, the deeper his apprehension became.

What is wrong with me?
Leinad thought.
I feel like jumping out of my skin and for no reason
.

Leinad suddenly became aware of the silence of the forest. It was an abnormal silence. There were no birds singing, squirrels chirping, or even wind rustling the leaves of the trees. A deadly still engulfed him. Something was wrong! Though he had entered this forest a thousand times, it was a different forest today.

Leinad became as silent and as still as the forest. All of his senses were alert and craved a response, but there was none. His apprehension slowly transformed into the ugly beast of fear—small at first but growing. He could not deny that he now felt as though he was no longer the hunter, but the hunted. And the predator was unknown. He had seen this arena before, only this time
he
was the deer that felt danger in every fiber of his body. The only comfort Leinad could find was in the fact that he was no longer making noise, hoping that his presence would be lost in the silence of a forest that seemed much darker now than just moments ago. Unfortunately, he knew that even this small remaining comfort must end. Reason told him it was folly to wait for an unknown outcome he had no control over. He must gain control of his fear and either retreat or discover his predator before his predator discovered him.