Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (2 page)

“Get out,” said the queen in an icy voice.

The servant grabbed the food as fast as he could and
backed out of the room holding his mouth. The queen and the
Senashow, now with a sneer on his face, watched him go without a
word. Yes, he would definitely stop by the kitchens.

The Senashow looked at the queen and started to talk
as if nothing had happened. She appeared calm, and the look on her
face was now impassive.

“I am sure that you have noticed the new star in the
eastern sky.” The queen nodded indicating that she had.

“It is one of the signs of the rebel prophecy. It
says that when the hero approaches manhood and the time when he
will cleanse the land, a star will appear in the eastern sky. The
star will be brighter than all other stars, and will never dim or
change its position in the sky.”

At this point the queen interrupted. “We do not know
that this is the star that is spoken of; it may just be a star.”
There was an almost bored tone in her voice.

“Possible, my queen, but that does not change the
fact that the resistance could take it as a sign that the prophecy
is coming to pass. I agree with you that a star is just that, a
star, but these animals and twigs are superstitious creatures. They
will believe anything that might even look like a sign.” His voice
was patient. He knew that the queen had been getting scattered
reports for years of signs coming to pass, but nothing ever came of
it. But the Senashow knew that this time was different; never
before had a new and bright star been seen in the sky, let alone
one that fit a prophecy.

The queen took her time in replying. The Senashow
knew that she was contemplating what to do.

Finally, and with a careful voice, the queen
answered, “I do not think that the prophecy is coming to pass, as
there is no way for anyone to see accurately into the future. I
agree with you that the resistance will be moving now that the sky
has a new light in it. Send out men to look for one that fits the
prophecy’s description. Tell them that if they find one who does,
bring him here so I may examine him.”

At this point the Senashow stifled a small cough.
“Your Highness, if he is the chosen one and you bring him before
you, he could… could… oh forgive me for saying it, he could kill
you, my queen!” There was worry in his voice as he said this. The
possibilities rushed through his head. I
f the queen is killed
all these years of work will be lost.

The queen laughed. “My dear Senashow, it pleases me
that you worry about my well being, even if only for your own
safety. It also worries me that you would entertain this mindless
mysticism, as you like to call it.” Her voice was becoming cruel
and soft, and he listened with rapt attention. “If we capture a boy
that fits the description, the rebels will come to save him. In
their haste, they will be sloppy and will make mistakes of which we
will take advantage . They will be crushed and in little time we
will rid the land of this prophecy and the resistance.”

The queen continued with a smile crossing her face.
“When the boy is brought before me, I will sway his thinking and
convince him to join us! I do not believe that there is a chosen
one, but the people believe that there is, or can be lead to
believe as much. We can persuade the boy to believe in our way and
then we will have an icon of our own to hold aloft that will
silence all our adversaries, for if you remember, the prophecy does
not say whose side he will join. It just says that he will cleanse
the land. If the resistance is crushed, the land will be cleansed,
and we will be in power forever and finally have our revenge.”

He flinched inside as her voice took on an accusatory
tone. “Furthermore, I do not believe in prophecies as you well
know; there is no chosen boy, so it will be a human boy in front of
me. Do you think that a human could overpower me?” The statement
dared him to question her.

He resisted and said, “You are wise, oh great queen;
we will set a trap and either way, the fools will spring it. Their
own beliefs will bring them down.” There was true joy in the
Senashow’s voice now.

Malice flickered in her eyes. “And apparently your
beliefs too.”

He stammered, “My queen… I… I was merely saying . .
.”

“No matter. You were covering all of the
possibilities, no matter how unlikely, and I do not fault you for
this. Indeed, it is your greatest strength,” she said
conversationally.

Relief crept into him. “Thank you, my most kind
queen.”

“Now, we must develop a plan,” said the queen in a
brusque manner. “We need to make sure that we find someone who
matches the description exactly. If we are off in the slightest all
will be lost.”

Deep inside the Senashow’s mind a small voice said,
And if the prophecy is true we will still be safe.

The queen continued. “You will send out men to the
country that the boy is said to come from. They will search every
boy that is of the proper age and look for the mark on him. Then
they will bring him back to me.”

“And if he should resist, your highness?”

“Then they will kill him; he may only be of use if he
complies.”

“It will be done,” said the Senashow, bowing his
head.

They exchanged a few more words before the queen
dismissed him. As he was leaving the room, the queen addressed him
saying, “One more thing.”

He paused in the doorway and turned his head back to
the queen, who was still wearing a calm look on her face.

“Yes, my queen?”

“On your way out, send servants to come and clean
this rug.”

“It will be my pleasure,” he answered. Another slight
smile began to creep onto his face as he said, “And the dog that
caused the stain?”

The queen replied in a calm and emotionless voice,
“He fears that I will take retribution out on his brother, who
works in the stables, as I’m sure you are aware.”

“Yes,” replied the Senashow brightly.

“Make sure those fears come to pass.”

“Your will shall be done, your Highness,” he said as
he turned and closed the door behind him.

A New Dawn Rising

“
Love and empathy are a matter of
perspective and time. As time passes and perspectives change, we
grow together like the tree and the vine, our destinies and lives
intertwining in such a way that, if separated from each other, both
will certainly perish.”

-Tales of the Traveler

Legon was drowning in an icy abyss.

He tried to hurl himself upward and pain exploded in
his head. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting up in bed with
his head against the rafter of the slanted roof next to him.
Groggily, he rubbed his head and looked around his room. There was
an open window in the wall behind him with a hint of pre-dawn light
shining through, a blank wooden wall in front of him, and to his
left was a door that opened to the stairway that led down to the
rest of the house.

His view of the door was obscured by a girl with a
mischievous smile on her face. Her dark brown curly hair came down
past her shoulders, framing a soft face with bright blue eyes, long
dark eyelashes, a petite nose, and full red lips. She was wearing a
light brown dress with a white lace collar. Over the dress was her
signature pale blue apron. She wore no jewelry or makeup. She was
standing next to the bed holding an empty bucket in her hands, and
the smile on her face was now growing into a grin.

“Sasha! What did you do that for!” he barked.

“What?” asked Sasha, who was clearly trying not to
laugh. “You told me to wake you by whatever means necessary.” She
tried to look put out, as if he was the one who had just done
something wrong.

Rubbing his throbbing head again, he looked up into
the twinkling eyes that looked down on him. He growled, “And you
thought that a bucket of cold water was necessary?”

A mock look of deep contemplation came over Sasha’s
face. “You see, I couldn’t find a bucket of warm water and well … I
suppose I could have been a bit less… oh, what’s the word I’m
looking for… rude? But then I suppose I would not have been so apt
to rudeness if someone hadn’t put a beetle in my soup two nights
ago.”

Legon’s anger subsided a bit. He had put a beetle in
her soup two nights ago and she did owe him for it. He took a
moment to think about that night, reminiscing about bean soup
flying across the dining room and Sasha screaming…
Ah, it’s the
little things in life,
he thought. He’d worried about what she
would do for revenge ever since.

Now that he was drenched and boasted a spectacular
pain growing in his head, he didn’t have to worry anymore. He
should have known better, though, when she had invited him on a
breakfast picnic. Legon and Sasha would often go on picnics
together, and despite the fact that they liked to play jokes on one
another, they were closer than twins. Sasha had brought the idea up
to him last night, egging him on by questioning if he could get up
in time. A
nd like the idiot I am I gave her an
opportunity.

Sasha smiled, glanced over her handiwork, gave a
small giggle, and left the room with a slight skip in her step.
Legon took a moment to get out of bed, then went to the dresser in
the corner of the room and got out some dry clothes. He pulled on a
pair of grey woolen pants, an off-white button-up shirt, and a pair
of dingy socks. Lastly, he put on a pair of brown leather boots and
went into the hall connecting his room with the rest of the
house.

To his right was a railing and open space that looked
down on the lower floor. To his left were closed doors that lead to
different rooms in the house. The first he passed was Sasha’s and
then his parents. The hallway was lit by the light coming from the
kitchen below. He came to the staircase and made his way down the
creaky wooden stairs into the kitchen. As he went down the stairs
he smelled food cooking. He picked up his pace at once. Getting up
would normally be a lengthy project this early in the morning, but
one benefit of Sasha’s little prank was that he felt like he had
already been awake for a few hours.

He walked into the large open room that was their
kitchen, dining, and family room. A heavy wood table stood in the
center of the room and in the corner opposite the front door was a
counter and cast iron stove at which Sasha was standing. To the
left of the stove and counter was the back door and next to it on
the wall was a small mirror with a copper frame. Legon stepped up
to the mirror to make sure that he didn’t look too beastly. Staring
back at him was a teenage boy with short brown hair, dark green
eyes, and a firm jaw line. His skin was unusually smooth. He
inspected his face with a look of disappointment, hoping to find
the small pricks of a beard. I
’m like a girl! I couldn’t grow a
proper beard if my whole family’s life depended on it!

Sasha noticed him inspecting his face and chimed in,
“I like it that way, Legon. Your face reminds me of a little
baby.”

He could see her smirking in the mirror. “You’re on a
roll this morning aren’t you?”

She shrugged and went on packing for the picnic.
Legon went to a cabinet under the staircase and got some blankets
and two long buckskin tubes containing their hunting bows, along
with some arrows. Sasha was no hunter, but she was a fine shot and
they enjoyed practicing archery, shooting into the hillsides of the
mountains.

She wrapped four pocket pies that she had made into a
red and white checked cloth, put the cloth into a wicker basket
lined with a wool towel blanket, and wrapped the towel around the
cloth. She then procured a dark green bottle of cedar from a
cabinet that was built into the lower part of the counter and
turned to Legon.

Legon looked down at the package wrapped tight in the
towel. “Why did you wrap them in the towel and the cloth?”

“It’s chilly this morning. I don’t want the pies to
be cold by the time we get up to the top of the hill,” she replied
conversationally.

“Oh, good thinking Sash. Let me grab your cloak and
we can be off.”

Legon went to the wall next to the front door where
four black traveling cloaks rested on hooks. He put on his own,
then walked up to Sasha and wrapped hers around her. Prepared for
their outing, they stepped out of the back door of the house and
began to walk to the woods. The back of their house faced directly
into the woods at the edge of town. As they walked out they could
see to their right the fenced-in paddock and an assortment of
sheep, pigs, cattle, and the family’s horses. Other than the
horses, the animals were mostly livestock that townsfolk had
brought to be slaughtered in the family butcher shop. In the corner
of the paddock was the shed where Legon and his father slaughtered
and cleaned the animals. In most butcher shops the shed would be
attached to the main building, but Legon’s mother had complained
about the smell. One of the benefits of building a separate shed
was that they were able to turn the old space where they used to
slaughter the animals into a smoker and a large ice box. This gave
them the ability to cure meat for people and keep their stock of
meat fresh for longer periods of time.

The morning air was crisp and sweet—perfect for a
hike. They were able to walk straight into the woods, since the
town of Salmont had no town wall. Instead, the city was surrounded
by a beautiful view of the woods and mountains.

They walked together into the woods and soon they
were completely surrounded by trees as they ascended a steep hill
with tree roots jutting up here and there. The pines were small on
this hill, but still far above their heads. Sticky sap ran from
some of them, giving the forest a pungent smell that they could
taste on their tongues. This hike would be difficult for most
people in the predawn darkness, but Legon and Sasha had spent their
whole lives playing in these woods, so the faint moonlight was more
than enough for them to walk in. After about a half hour they
reached the top of a hill that overlooked the valley where they
lived. The sun was just beginning to make itself known to the world
as they rolled out a grey blanket on the soft turf and sat down.
They took off their cloaks and put them across their laps, and
Legon took a blue blanket and placed it around their shoulders. He
uncorked the bottle of cedar as Sasha began unwrapping the pocket
pies.