Mantle: The Return of the Sha (15 page)

They had been standing in silence for some time, when Bella said, “So tell me, Lizabet, how are you enjoying the castle? Have you found things to occupy your time?”

“I’ve enjoyed it very much, so far. I’ve been walking through the castle, exploring.”

“Exploring?” Bella said with an exaggerated look of awe. “Have you found anything interesting during your
exploring
?”

Lizabet wasn’t about to tell anyone about the door that apparently she alone could see. She was holding onto that for herself (and Pike), so she only answered vaguely, “Not really, but the castle is so much larger than I had expected by its appearance. There are halls that lead to rooms so large that I would not have imagined they would fit in such a place. It’s as if the entire castle has been charmed in such a way as to alter its appearance in size. I wonder if many people realize the deception.”

“I doubt that it is charmed. I haven’t seen anything unusual about the
size
of the place,” Bella said.

“No, I don’t expect that you would either,” Lizabet replied. “You have limited yourself to only a few areas of the castle. If you were to tour
many
parts of the castle in a single day, you would see that the size is much greater than it seems possible from the outside.”

Bella supposed this could be true. There were many things about Castle Bannister that were charmed, so why should this be any different?

“I suppose you might be right,” Bella said with a smile.

Just then, trumpets began to sound, cutting off any further discussion of the castle. They were now focused on the arrival of King Cergio.

****

First to come through the gate were six pair of guards. They were wearing uniforms of brown and orange, with helmets that looked as if they might be made of brass. The two guards in the front were each carrying the flag of Bore attached to long poles which rested on brass stirrups.

Bella and Lizabet had both been overcome with anticipation and excitement for the arrival of the Bore king. They hadn’t been sure what to expect, for they had never seen
anyone
from Bore.

The first guards wore helmets that covered their faces, but King Cergio’s helmet did not, and when he entered, they could see that he was not at all unusual.

It was Cergio’s horse, though, that caught their attention immediately. King Cergio’s horse was silver, but not like any silver horse they had ever seen, and Bella realized they had never actually seen a
silver
horse. They had seen white horses. This horse, beneath King Cergio, was silver. Lizabet thought that it looked like a living trinket, a broach maybe come to life.

In the courtyard, Zander stood while King Cergio dismounted and walked toward him, removing his helmet as he approached. He smiled at Zander, and when Zander returned a smiled back, Cergio’s grin widened. He had heard rumors of the king having been stripped of his smile by the Sovereign Trees, but now he saw that the issue had either been resolved, or the rumors had not been true to begin with. When he had heard the rumor, he had thought how fortunate the three kingdoms had been in sharing common expressions. How difficult he had thought it would be to communicate with someone while displaying an expression not compatible with their culture. He was relieved beyond measure to see the smile on Zander’s face.

Zander held out his hand and King Cergio took it in both of his. This was a gesture in the Bore kingdom that was used to convey the utmost respect that a sitting king could offer. It wasn’t a tradition shared in Forris or Tongar, but they all knew its meaning.

“Welcome to Obengaard, Majesty,” Zander said.

“Much thanks for your hospitality in these rough times, Majesty,” Cergio replied. “I appreciate that you have called this meeting, for we have much to discuss, aye, so we do.”

“Yes, we do indeed have much to talk over. I should also like to be first to inform you of a matter that strikes a more positive note. I will make apologies to King Ekkill when he arrives, but I fear a secret cannot be kept in Obengaard.”

“I believe any news you can bring that lands positive, is most welcome,” Cergio replied.

“Majesty, I am to be married in one week’s time, set by the moon. I would like to humbly invite you to bear witness to the nuptials.”

King Cergio’s face lit up as he said, “Zander, aye, of course! I should be honored to bear witness! My congratulations are in order, Majesty. I can hardly believe that, when last I visited, you were but a small boy, aye, so you were. I knew your father quite well, better than you would likely know, and he would be proud, so he would.”

Zander
had
been young when he last saw the king of Bore, perhaps five or six years in age, but he could remember that day clearly. King Cergio was a tall man and was nearly bursting at the seams with muscle, so when he had bent down to shake young Zander’s hand, it made for a strange site. He came so close to Zander that he could smell pulled meat on the king’s breath. It had been then that he had noticed King Cergio’s ears—or rather, the
lack
of them. In fact, he had then noticed that
none
of the Bores had fully formed ears. They had only small appendages of skin that smoothly encircled an earhole, and he noticed that some circles of skin were larger than that of other Bores. His father had later explained that in Bore, the ears of a man are a signature of strength and beauty.
That
, he had explained, was the purpose of the intentional balding of hair on the sides of a Bore’s head. They would not dare to cover the ears. The custom was foreign to Zander, but he would not be prejudiced to the traditions of others.

Now he saw that King Cergio hadn’t changed at all since their last meeting years earlier. He stood at a towering height and his long dark hair was held together in a tail by gold rings spaced one inch apart. The tail of hair hung at least two feet down the length of his cloak. Now, though, his hair at least had some hints of gray to mark his age. It was well known that the life spans of Bores could be considerably longer than that of Fories, but Cergio looked very young for his age, and Zander supposed that being king in times of peace might age a ruler very well.

Very well, indeed.

Cergio may age yet if we see war. Let’s wish him to stay young.

“Thank you for your kind words, Majesty. I can only hope to be as good a king as my father,” Zander replied.

“So please tell, who is the lucky lass that is to become queen?”

“Majesty, as much as I would like to present her to you now, I must decline until after King Ekkill’s arrival. I’m sure you are aware of the strong feelings held by the Tongars with respect to being left out from such matters.”

King Cergio began to laugh. It was a deep and heavy laugh. “Aye, you are quite right about that, so you are! We’d be set to never hear the end of it, both of us.”

They seemed to have forgotten that they stood surrounded by Fories who would be coming out to also greet the king of Tongar, and should not talk of Ekkill in such a way. They were reminded, though, when Cergio’s deep voice had rumbled throughout the courtyard.

“Yes, well,” Zander began, “my butlers will show your men to their quarters to become situated. In the meantime, may I offer a long overdue gift on behalf of the people of Forris?”

Zander turned and motioned for his squire to pull the white cloth from the cart. When he did, it revealed a large stack of gold cubes, each being a perfect cube of approximately four inches. Bella, still watching from the balcony, estimated the height and width of the stack to be about the same as that of Zander’s height.

King Cergio’s eyes lit up at the sight of it. The Kingdom of Bore, having no gold-producing mines of its own, coveted gold above all other material things.

“Thank you, Majesty, you are far too generous,” King Cergio said. “I also come bearing gifts, although I cannot present them personally in this courtyard. On behalf of the people of Bore, I have brought you five thousand Bore Horses of Noble breed. They are being tended just over the far hill.”

Five thousand! I believe he feels war to be inevitable,
Zander thought.

“I believe
you
are the one who is too generous. I thank you on behalf of all Fories,” Zander said, nodding his head forward. “Perhaps we can ride out to see them—once you are settled.”

Zander hoped that Cergio would share his same thoughts and agree to the ride. He wanted to meet with him privately before King Ekkill arrived. The Tongar king, who was
very
old (no one knew just how old), had a reputation for being stubborn at times, and Zander would seek to build rapport between himself and King Cergio first, if he could.

“Aye,” Cergio said, thinking the same, “I do believe that a ride to see the horses will be in order.”

“Then it is settled. I will have my squire make the arrangements. In the meantime, I leave you in the care of my very trusted Mr. Arthur Steed. Please let him know if there is anything at all that you should require. I look forward to our outing.”

“As do I, Majesty.”

****

When Lizabet and Bella had been told that their brother Jonattan was soon to arrive, they were bursting with excitement. Although Jonattan had missed the arrival of King Cergio, he would be at Obengaard for the arrival of King Ekkill of Tongar, and Lizabet knew that he would be anxious to see the mysterious king’s arrival. Of all the kings of Mantle (with the exception of the Skite king), the king of Tongar was the subject of much gossip. There were both stories of heroism and stories of horror, depending on the occasion. And although they were staunch allies of Forris, they also unwittingly acted as regular players in the nightmares of children. Lizabet thought all of it to be quite comical, though. She had never been frightened by the
unknowing
when it came to the Tongar. She imagined that they only carried a poor reputation because so few in Forris had ever seen them. After all, the Tongar lived much longer than Fories—more so even than the Bore. So although King Ekkill had visited Forris in the past, it had been many, many years. Zander himself had never met King Ekkill, and his father, King Alexo, had only met with him once during the early years of his reign. Lizabet thought that Jonattan would be pleased to be in attendance no matter his thoughts on the mysterious people from the north.

Now with the day of Jonattan’s arrival upon them, Bella and Lizabet walked quickly through the long corridors of Bannister Castle to greet him at the main entry. Lizabet had found her stride turning into a run, until Bella pulled her shoulder to steady her pace. After all, it was poor manners to run through the halls of the castle.

When they arrived at the grand foyer, the inner butlers were just opening the doors. Jonattan came walking through, clearly not expecting to see Bella and Lizabet waiting just inside. His face lit up and he rushed to them with his arms open for their embrace. Bella was the first to reach him and although he was only slightly taller than her, she stood on her toes when they hugged.

“You made it!” Bella exclaimed, not taking her arms from around him.

“Yes, I’ve made it.”

“I’m so happy that you’ve arrived; there is so much to show you.”

“And I look forward to seeing all of it,” Jonattan said as he ended their embrace and turned to look at Lizabet.

“Jonattan, I’m so happy to see you!” Lizabet said as she ran to him. He picked her up and spun her around. When he stopped, she kissed him on the cheek and he set her down, leaning in to whisper, “I’ve brought you a surprise.”

“A surprise? Well, what is it?” Lizabet asked.

“Turn around,” Jonattan said.

When Lizabet turned back toward the doors, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Peeking from around the door was Dorian. Seeing that she had spotted him, he walked out and stood firm in front of the massive double doors which stood open behind him, creating a silhouette of his features.

Now running toward him, she could clearly see his smile of satisfaction that the surprise had worked. His black hair was shining in the sunlight, and two thick strands curled down in front of his green eyes like fishing hooks.

She stopped just one yard in front of him. “I do believe you will require a grooming, Dorian Bellows,” she said, bursting into laughter.

“Well, I’ve been quite busy helping your brother with your things,” Dorian replied.

“How did you manage to come to Obengaard so soon?” Lizabet asked once she caught her composure.

“It was King Zander’s doing, actually. He sent a message to my father, offering him a position at Bannister Castle, and asking that we attend the wedding.”

“Really? That is wonderful!” Lizabet said with excitement. “But what of your farm?”

“My uncle is tending the farm,” Dorian replied. “It looks as though you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future.”

“I can’t tell you how happy that makes me,” Lizabet said as she stepped forward to embrace him.

“I came here once before, did I tell you?” Dorian asked. “I was very small, and I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember the Lopers. I don’t think that I would ever have forgotten
them
—no matter my age.”