Quest for the King (30 page)

Then there emerged from the woods the most beautiful girl they
had ever seen. She wore a simple gown of leaves, while her long black hair tumbled over her shoulders and almost to her feet. Her eyes were
violet and shone with kindness. And it was the kindness, rather than
the beauty of her perfect, oval features, that they all remembered.

She lifted her bare arms and sang with a clear and pure voice. One
by one they sat on the grass, as a strange weakness and trembling
overcame them and tears were reawakened in some of their eyes. To
each of them the song was different, but the end result of the music
was the same-they knew they were loved. And when the song died
into stillness, and the girl's arms fell to her side, the Prophet said,
"Look now upon the table. Know that the change in what you see is
not a change in the table, but a change in yourselves, and in your
ability to see what is truly present."

They looked again, and cries of wonder broke from them. (But to
tell what each cried would take a couple of pages, so what they said
must go unrecorded.)

The girl laughed. "Come and taste it, then! My grandfather will sit
at one end of the table and I at the other." (Lisa noticed that she left
out the part.)

"Yes, a hearty welcome to the Changer's table! Eat and be filled!
Eat and be renewed!" the old prophet cried.

It was a meal like no other they had ever experienced. The food
was more appetizing, the flavors were deeper and richer, so that a rare
sense of completion and contentment possessed them all. They asked
Shiyrah about her parents, and she said, "My parents and grandparents were put to death by the temple priests, and I escaped."

"That is terrible!" Lady Roelane said. "Why were they put to death?"

"Because they came of the stock of the Prophet of the Woods."

"The same fate met all my sons," the old prophet added. "But not
until they had married and produced sons themselves. And now my
sons and their wives have been taken too. And my grandchildren.
Only my great-great-granddaughter remains." There was no trace of
bitterness in his voice.

After a few moments, and in an awed voice, Gerachti said, "They
must fear you very greatly!"

"Better for them if they fear him whom I serve!" the seer replied.
"Our own lives are in no danger here. None who are not servants of
the Most High can penetrate to this place.

"But our stay here will be short-even my own, now. I know also
that I shall not remain alive until the young king returns from exile.
My own death is not far off, but knowing he has arrived I can die
content. This is why I have summoned you here, because of the part
you will play in his deliverance."

The sun was now a little past its zenith, and a drowsiness too great
to resist had fallen on all of them. "There is no need for you to hurry,"
Shiyrah said. "Lie on the grass and rest awhile. When you wake you
will be ready to travel."

Deep slumber cradled them all that warm afternoon and through
the evening and the night that followed. When they woke at dawn,
they were astonished and refreshed, and ready for the task ahead of
them.

Early morning sunlight woke Alleophaz. For several minutes he lay
in a pleasant half sleep, conscious only that he was wonderfully relaxed and wanting to go on luxuriating a few moments longer.
"Where am I?" he wondered dreamily. Slowly the events of the previous day reconstructed themselves.

"I lay down for a brief rest. Yet I must have slept for many hours,"
he mused. "Nor am I sorry. I wonder..."

He stretched lavishly and with a sense of total well-being. As he did
so he became conscious not only of the blanket in which he had been
wrapped, but of an unaccustomed roughness in the clothing he wore.
He stared uncertainly at the coarseness of a peasant shirt that covered
his body, but was startled into vivid awareness as he observed the
color of his hands and wrists-the pale flesh tones of a man of Anthropos. He pulled back the sleeves to reveal pale arms.

"Gerachti!" he called. Gerachti, who lay next to him, stirred slowly and sat up. When he saw Alleophaz his eyes widened.

"Your face!" Gerachti cried.

"And yours," Alleophaz murmured in bewilderment.

Both bore the light skins of Anthroponians, and both wore peasant
dress. For some minutes they stared at each other, then at their arms
and feet, with cries of astonishment and fear. "What can have happened?"

Alleophaz drew in a long breath. "This is clearly the work of the
prophet. He must have a serious purpose in mind. I cannot say I like
what has happened, but we must wait and ask the reason."

Slowly the rest of the company stirred into wakefulness around
them, many with cries of astonishment at their long sleep and at
changes in their dress. All were robed in peasant dress, and Belak also
carried the hue of an Anthroponian peasant.

"We've been asleep for ages! We'd better get moving!"

"Can you beat it! We've actually slept round the clock-I believe it's
the next morning!"

"Look how we are dressed!"

"Is this a joke?"

"Oh! What has happened? Look! Look where the horses were tethered! There are asses there now!" And it was so.

Silently the prophet appeared among them. "These are your disguises. They are not permanent-especially the skin color changes of
the Glasonites-but they are essential for the present. To travel to
Karsch in silk and satin on noble beasts would be to let the world
know what you were up to."

"I am proud of my skin color!" Gerachti cried hotly.

Gently the prophet said, "And so you should be! Its origin is divine.
But just now it marks you too obviously as the king's enemy, and this
disguise will protect you. But let us return to the table. You must break
your long fast, and you must eat well."

The prophet was frowning as he said this. "Something evil is afoot
The rains should have come nearly two weeks ago. We depend on
them for next year's crops. Yet there is no sign of them. I suspect some major scheme from the Lords of Darkness is afoot, but the Emperor
has not revealed to me what it is."

"Yes, exactly!" Captain Integredad cried. "I said the same thing
myself only yesterday."

The prophet smiled at him. "And I believe you were right. But
now-breakfast!"

They turned to look at the table, and Kurt, always hungry, cried,
"Wow! Look at the table!" He turned to the prophet. "You have already served us breakfast! Let's go for it!"

There was a pause. Events were overtaking the party at a bewildering pace. They had only just become aware of their disguises and of
their very long sleep. Now they stared alternately at Kurt and at the
table. Kurt seated himself, then turned round and looked back at the
rest. "Come on! It's waiting for us! Why are you all staring like that?"

Lord Nasa hesitated. Then he said, "I do not see any food, Kurt."

It was Kurt's turn to look astonished. "But it's right in front of you!"
Then light seemed to dawn on him. "I think I understand. I guess it's
like the column of smoke. It's all here, but you can't see it yet. I can
even smell the oatmeal porridge!" He smiled. "It makes my tummy
rumble and my mouth water!"

All this time the prophet stood without a word, smiling.

"I can see something," Alleophaz murmured softly, "but it is not
solid-I can see through it."

Then the prophet said, "Your eyes need to be opened again by
knowing the unseen love of the Emperor for each of you. Then you
will see-and smell!"

His granddaughter stood beside him. Once again she raised her
arms, singing. Some of them still sat, tightly wrapped in their blankets.
Others stood. Once again the song affected them profoundly, touching and awakening deep longings they never knew they had. The
unseen love of the Emperor gripped and changed them. Their eyes
were opened to see those very real things that had been hidden from
them.

While they were all enjoying the breakfast, Mary said, "It reminds me of the movie Hook, when the Lost Boys were eating imaginary food
that became real."

"Yeah-an' they had a food fight!" Kurt added, his mouth full of
oatmeal.

"I hated that video," Wesley said, frowning.

Y•

"I dunno. Mebbe I was thinking of Dad. But I didn't even like the
part about the food."

"Oh? Why not? I thought it was fun!"

"It was a bit gross," Lisa said.

Kurt was thoughtful. "I think I know why," he said after a moment.

"I mean, I think I know why you may not have liked it."

"Well-can imagination make real food ex nihilo?"

"What's `ex nihilo'?" Lisa asked.

"Latin for `out of nothing,' " Mary answered before anyone else
had a chance to.

"That's my point," Kurt said. "Nobody can do that with their imagination or anything else. Even Shagah can't. The Emperor alone can
create things out of a vacuum. And no one has the right to try to play
Emperor."

No one noticed the bemused look on Mary's face. She had stopped
eating, excitement gripping her so that her eyes grew wide and staring. "That's real power," she breathed softly. "Man, have I ever been
wrong!" Several seconds elapsed before she began to eat again (and
that was very unusual for Mary). She remained occupied with her own
thoughts the rest of the time.

After breakfast, while they still sat round the table, the prophet told
them where his plans came from. "The changes in your dress and
skin tones and what plans I have to suggest all come from the Emperor-Where-Time-Is-No-More. Sometimes he refers to himself as
The Unchanged and Unchanging Changer. He spoke to me in visions
last night, assuring me that when you all woke, you would be dressed
as you now are. If you were to proceed as you were yesterday, you would have been observed and your movements reported-and immediate danger would have come to the young king."

Captain Integredad frowned. "But I doubt that anyone was following us on the road."

"No, but there is danger. The king's spies are in every village, and
they are paid well for any useful information. You will draw less
suspicion if you travel by day in two separate parties. It is better-and
this also comes from the Emperor-that you reach Karsch from different sides."

"I was taught to face danger head-on," Captain Integredad said.

"The time will come when you will have no other choice," the
prophet returned. "But a wise strategist chooses the field where he has
the greatest advantage. The Emperor has already chosen the site of
your biggest battle-and in the meantime you will avoid the enemy."

As he spoke, a solemn feeling crept over the little company. They
were involved in something larger than they had realized. Suddenly
it seemed to them that the fate of a universe was involved in what they
were doing.

Eventually Lord Nasa spoke. "So the Emperor himself is concerned
about the little king!"

"The Emperor is more concerned about him than anyone."

"How are we to be divided?" asked Captain Integredad. "Her majesty made me responsible for all the members of our party."