Quest for the King (37 page)

Captain Integredad, a look of worry on his face, said, "A thousand
welcomes, your majesty! But your sudden appearance now causes us
to suppose some ill may have occasioned your leaving Bamah-"

"And you are correct, my good captain. I have come for your help.
I will ask the prophet to tell you all that has taken place." But the
queen was looking beyond them. "Who are those persons I see with
you?"

Ish and Mehta had remained shyly in the background with Gaal.

Captain Integredad said, "Your majesty, they are the parents of the
child, of the young king. Ish, the father, is carrying the child. The
mother's name is Mehta."

"The young king himself! So you found him! I might have known.
Her name is Mehta, you say?"

"Yes. Such is her name, your majesty."

The queen smiled warmly at Mehta. "Greetings, Mehta! Did you
know that the ancient book-the Archives-speaks of you, predicting
your arrival? But it does not tell us your name. It only says that you
were to bear the child. And you, sir," she added, looking at Ish, "must
have faced serious doubts about your wife. Yet Anthropos history has
many records of a pigeon that has repeatedly led the way for Gaal's
people."

The children looked at one another, nodding.

"It is not really a pigeon," the queen continued, "but a Sacred Spirit.
What you see in the child"-she paused, glancing at the child with
profound emotion visible on her face-"that very precious child, is
the result of a miracle that the same Sacred Spirit performed in Mehta's body, creating a child both of the Emperor's lineage and of the
royal lineage of Anthropos, the line descending from the original
Regenskinder."

A mantle of awe continued to settle about her as she gazed at Gaal.
As it deepened, her manner began moment by moment to change.
By turns her face expressed fear and amazed wonder. "Long have I
awaited this day," she murmured to herself.

Carefully she dismounted, walking past the horses to stand facing
the little king. Behind her Duke Dukraz and the prophet knelt. One
by one, by common consent, the rest of both parties followed their
example, so that the whole company dismounted and knelt. All conversation ceased. The queen was already kneeling before the child.
Ish lowered the little boy to the grass. He stared at the queen, at the
large crowd of worshipers, a puzzled look on his face.

"Emp'or here, Mummy? Emp'or here? They wors'ip again?"

"I think so, Gaal."

"He my daddy too."

"Yes, child."

He stared at the queen for a moment, then began to move toward
her. Mehta made a move as though to prevent him, then, hardly
knowing what to do, arrested the movement. Her hands flew toward her face, partly covering her mouth. "Oh, no-oh, dear! What now?"
she breathed softly.

Gaal stood in front of the queen, who stared back, still awestruck.
He said, "Emp'or my Abba!" then went right to her, reaching as far
as his little arms were capable round her waist as she knelt, and
leaning his head against her. The queen's face crumpled as she gathered him to her. It looked for a moment as though she would lose
control. But after a moment she won out over her feelings, except that
tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and the look on her face became
one of mingled joy and wonder. She remained like this for a minute
or so, then, rising to her feet, she took the child's hand and looked
directly at Mehta. "You are a remarkable woman. I am amazed at the
faith in the Emperor you had to be willing for this to happen. You
are an example to all women everywhere-not only of great faith, but
of supreme courage-the hardest courage of all, the courage to obey
when you knew the consequences."

Ish and Mehta had come to stand before the queen, and it was now
their turn to kneel-to their queen. The queen turned to look at Ish. "And you, sir, are almost as remarkable. Did you know what you were
doing?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was of a mind to hide her somewhere quiet. I care
for her. But a spirit of light came in a dream and told me what had
happened to her."

The queen shook her head pensively, her eyes alight with joy. "It
is amazing, is not it? The ancient book told me it would happen, and
a messenger from the Emperor told me it would be soon. It is a great
marvel."

Gaal repeated, "Emp'or my daddy! An' he"-pointing to Ish-"my
daddy too."

The queen smiled down at him and bit her lip, having another
momentary struggle with her feelings. She handed Gaal to his mother
and turned to the rest of the kneelers, saying, "I believe you can all
feel free to stand now. The little king is going to be the kind of
sovereign who appreciates bowed and willing hearts that are eager to obey him more than ceremony."

Glowing, she continued, "In earthly kingdoms, many people who
bow the knee have stiff necks and rebellious wills. This king is going
to be different. Sometimes we will find ourselves kneeling to him, and
will be able to do nothing to prevent it. But for the moment..."

One by one they rose, and a more relaxed atmosphere began to
prevail. Lisa said, "Have you noticed the feeling that's come over
everyone?"

"Feelings have their place," Wesley said. "D'you remember in Mirmah's kingdom as King Kardia was sailing beneath the ice? He described how Gaal came walking across the water. He said he felt awe
when he saw him, you remember-Gaal came on board the ship."

Kurt added, "I won't ever forget the feeling when I knew he had
forgiven me on our first trip. I'd messed up good that time."

Mary said, "Feelings-yeah! It's the amazing feeling that-that
everything's O.K-when that was the last thing you expected!"

The queen turned to Captain Integredad. "You had asked what
brought us here. As I said, it is for the prophet to explain."

The prophet smiled at them all and for a moment said nothing.
Again they were overwhelmed by the strange combination of fragility
and power that seemed to rest on him. Lisa whispered something to
Mary, pointing to Shiyrah, whom she had noticed on horseback next
to a young officer.

Then the prophet began to speak. "I learned from a vision in the
night that her majesty was in grave danger, and I knew her work in
Anthropos was not finished. The Emperor himself transported my
granddaughter and myself to the queen's bedroom in the palace. I
woke her, warning her that she must leave at once. There were plans
to execute her for treason at dawn the next day. There would be no
trial."

The queen spoke gravely. "Most of the soldiers in the army had
proved fickle-lured by promises of wealth and promotion made by
Shagah and the priests. I had thought that perhaps, after my triumph
in the duel with the villainous Sir Robert Ashleigh, things might have turned out differently." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "But
it was not to be. I realized also that my husband-that is, his actual
person-was dead. His body had been borrowed-taken over, but all
that once was King Tobah Khukah, all his inner being had been
destroyed from inside his body, which was now possessed by the
strange and powerful being you already know about.

"Whoever that being was and is, he had murdered my husband and
was merely making use of his bodily parts. The person who had held
my loyalty was no more. The Lord of Shadows-for I suspect it was
he-was energizing, animating his bodily parts, and it was he who had
ordered my execution, not the weak king who had been my husband."

She smiled, raising her eyebrows a little. "So, here I am! And with
the pick of the army! I may have few men, but they are the very best!"

The captain nodded. "Your majesty, I have been looking at them. You could not have had a better bunch even if you had picked them! But your majesty's wishes and plans-what are they?"

"Now that the child is in our care, my wishes are that together we
return to Bamah with the men who accompany me. We are going to
destroy the temple!"

"With only a couple of hundred men, your majesty? These men are
superb, but our enemy's army is measured in hundreds of thousands,"
Captain Integredad replied.

"Quite so. But surprise, as you well know, is everything in battle. It
will be on our side. We had already ordered the men you now see with
me to stand by for emergency movements."

The prophet explained, "If we can succeed in burning the temple,
it will be a serious, though temporary, setback to the power of the
temple priests and of spirits of the shadows. The burning of the
temple will cast both the spirits themselves and the main army into
confusion, for the temple is the center of power for both. They could,
and will, build another temple. But that would take them many years.
Both men and spirits know our task force is small. But very soon they
will be surprised at our daring!"

Lord Nasa was frowning. "How can our movements remain secret? The spirits can see our every move! Why, already we have been surprised-in the cave-by a number of soldiers in the charge of a
priest!"

"That is where the prophet has been so helpful," the queen interjected. "He tells me he cannot shield us from human beings. What
he can do and has now done is to shield us totally from the eyes of the
spirits of the shadows-and therefore also the priests-making us
utterly invisible to them, veiled by a cloak of secrecy. And this man,"
she turned to one of the horsemen, "bears a copy of the book of the
histories and prophecies of our nation. It has remarkable power."

"I know!" Lisa cried. "An awesome light comes out of it-at least
it did out of the real one-and WOW! Does it ever affect the other
side!"

At this point the queen turned to look directly at Captain Integredad. She withdrew her sword from its scabbard. "Now, Captain. I have
only one or two junior officers with me. They need the command of
someone of experience. You are one of the reasons I have crossed
the woods and the moors. Kneel before me, Integredad!"

The captain knelt with bowed head, and the queen placed the
sword on his shoulders. "I hereby appoint you head of the task force.
Rise, Colonel Sir Verdadera Integredad!"

The former captain rose. For a moment he looked stunhed, his face
flushed and his mouth slightly open. Her majesty had vaulted him
past his majority to a senior rank. Then, recollecting himself, he
bowed. "Your majesty does me great honor. I will do all I can to live
up to it as I serve you."

Throughout this time the men and officers had been dismounting
and sitting on the dry and wiry grass. But at this they struggled to their
feet and gave loud cheers, for the former captain was very popular.
The sun still shone fully and a soft breeze blew over them all. No sign
of expected rain clouds could be seen.

The queen smiled and looked up to catch the eyes of the Friesens
and Mary. "I came for the child and for Sir Verdadera Integredad, but
equally importantly I came for you. No one in Anthropos has infor mation about the secret tunnel leading from the temple to the river
bank. I have reason to hope that one or all of you may be able to
help."

The prophet said, "At least, the old stories tell us that there is such
a tunnel. But I know neither its location nor how it may be entered. All my inquiries to the Emperor have been unavailing. He tells me
nothing about it. But someone here must know."

"I do!" Lisa cried. "I left the temple by that route. The pigeon
showed me a rose on a huge pillar in the temple, and a door in it
opened when you pressed it. You went down ever so many steps-real
deep down, and there was a tunnel-"

"Did the tunnel emerge by the river?"

"Yes. I had to command the rock to open in the name of Gaal. It
just swung open when I did. It was real wide-wide enough to let six
men on horseback pass at the same time."

"And you could find it again from the river bank?"

A sudden doubt occurred to Lisa. Could she find it again? "I-well,
I hope so. There was this magical dead tree. At least I understood it
was magical. But-" Lisa looked unhappy as another doubt occurred
to her. "I think the pillar-I mean the pillar inside the temple-was
made of stone, not wood. And I gather that the present temple is made
of wood."

The prophet smiled. "Aha! The stone pillar is the same, though. It
was built soon after time began, when there was yet no temple-none
knows how or when-and it now supports the whole building. The
rest of the structure is wooden. But you say that the tree was a magical
tree. That would indicate that the powers of darkness know about the
tunnel."

"Yes. There were branches of the tunnel that were evil."

"Hm! Magical trees come and go. I have reason to know that spirits
of darkness do not have access to the tunnel now. That could mean
your tree may have been withdrawn. When present, it is a mark for
the shadow spirits. They know they cannot open the door, but they
can have access to it in other ways."

Lisa was filled with sudden doubt. Were they depending on her for
the queen's plan? What if she were not able to find the place on the
river bank! "I-I hope I'll be able to find it. Gosh-I didn't realize
the whole expedition might depend on me. I sure hope the tree will
be there this time."

Colonel Integredad was issuing orders to the young officers and
soldiers. Soon these had descended into the valley to secure the
horses that the enemy soldiers had brought (eventually they were able
to seat everyone on horseback) and to drive the mules some distance
across the moor. The valley below and the moor above became a
scene of activity. Both boys joined in the fun of what was happening,
making themselves useful.

While the preparations for the return journey continued, Shiyrah
came to greet Lisa and Mary. "You can have little idea of the relief
it is to see you safe," she said, embracing them both.

"Oh-there were one or two tense moments, but it hasn't been that
bad!" Lisa protested.

"You little know!" Shiyrah returned. "We were concerned about you
every moment. But-all thanks to the Emperor!-you are still safe."