Seal of the King (27 page)

They arrived at Miles
and Solidad’s, and Aurora knocked at the door. From inside they heard the noise of people bustling over to meet them. The door swung open, and there stood Miles and Solidad smiling broadly.

"Come in
, come in," she said cheerfully “Miles step back, let them inside.”

"So good to see you
both," Miles said as he retreated into the house.

David
and Aurora moved through the doorway as Solidad pushed the door shut behind them. “We were hoping you wouldn’t be detained, the boys told us all about what is going on, and we thought you might not have time for us.” Solidad said.

“
What are we fighting for if not to spend time with the people we love?”

“
Oh dear!” And she hugged Aurora. “Your parents would have been so proud of you. You have grown into such a magnificent woman.”

“
Thank you, Solidad.”

Miles
said, “Come in and sit down. It sounds like you’ve had a busy morning already.”

David
said, “Thank you Sir.”

Miles scoffed “Sir, oh please, no need to call me sir, just Miles.”

“If you insist.”

“Of course I insist. You are family now
, and an important man.”

David replied sincerely “I would be honored to consider myself family
, but I’m no more important than you and your family.”

“But the Lord has blessed you.”

“And He has blessed you too. You have a lovely wife and two fine sons. Who could ask for a better blessing than that?”

Solidad, blushing slightly, released Aurora from her
hug. She turned, and put her hand on David’s arm “come on dear. Let’s go into the kitchen. Aurora where ever did you find this young man?”

“
You might not believe me when I tell you.”

As they moved toward the kitchen
, they caught a glimpse of the boys. They had been listening by the door and were red in the face at the compliment.

The boys snapped to attention
, and William said, “Commander is there anything we can do for you?”

“
Yes, there is.”

Nathan asked “What is it sir?”

“You can call me David.”

They deflated a little
and said, “Oh sure, ok.”

“
First, I’m a guest in your home, and secondly, I’m not actually a commander. I’m just a soldier like the two of you.”

The boys stood a little taller
and smiled, pleased to be labeled as equals.

Miles
said, “all right come on now everyone. Solidad has prepared a terrific meal for us. The smells have been driving me mad all morning.”

Aurora
said, “I can’t wait.” They had little to eat yesterday, and she was famished. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Solidad answered “No thank you dear. You two sit down. We want to hear all about what has been going on
, and more importantly how you two met.” Then she began putting their meal on the table.

Aurora
asked, “Do you remember when I was a girl, I often talked about a boy who no one else could see?”

William
said, “How could we forget, you used to go on about how the two of you would have adventures. Remember Nathan?”

Nathan answered
, “Yeah, she used to tell us that he was going to come and set us straight if we didn’t stop bothering her.”

William
said, “That’s right, and you would say that he was big and tall, and handsome.” The boys were gleefully teasing her, and Aurora was turning scarlet with embarrassment.

Nathan positively giddy now added
, “and you told us you were going to marry him one day, and he was going to take you away from here.” At that they froze in mid laugh.

Aurora looked at them with an air of having just been proved right
, and said, “This is him.”

Solidad
said, “That’s incredible. Is it really him? I remember you speaking about him too dear. In fact, your mother and I used to think it was so sweet that you had come up this boy of your dreams.”

David, in an effort to come to her rescue from all the embarrassment,
said, “I have seen her my whole life too, mostly just flashes of her. I never dreamed it would be possible that we would meet, and in my whole life I never met a woman as enthralling who could drive her from my thoughts.”

It didn’t work
, now she was even more embarrassed.

Aurora
said, “Ok, so on with the story” anything to change the subject. She wasn’t used to all this fuss. “After you helped me escape all those years ago, I traveled south. I found a group of people working to defeat the northern armies and joined them. I began going on special missions taking out supply lines, and other disruptive activities. Several weeks ago I was given a special mission to retrieve a scroll from a monastery in the mountains about a prophecy that was supposed to help us change the tide of the war. On our way back, we ran into trouble, and I was separated from my team. We had encountered some of the Dark One’s special guards.” Solidad let out a gasp, and the boys and Miles were rapt with attention. “They were tracking me, and a group of soldiers had me on the run. I was cornered, and had to make a break for it through an open area. I was in real trouble when out of nowhere David showed up, and got me out of the way of one of their flaming catapult armaments. When he grabbed me something happened and we ended up in his world. It is somehow separated from ours, and we passed through a divide between them.”

Miles
said, “Aurora we’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Aurora
said, “neither had we, but there were servants there who knew about me, and what was going on, and they were aware of the prophecy too. They told us that we were the ones named in the prophecy. Also, David was able to use a Seal to commune with the Lord, and after that we have been traveling back to fulfill the prophecy. The Lord has come to us twice to give us instructions, and he told us to come here and help the people of Roktah. When we are finished here, we head to Tartaros.”

The silence in the room was like a thick fog. Miles, Solidad
, and the boys sat frozen as if the world had stopped turning.

Suddenly William blurted out “but you can’t go there, that’s where they say the Dark One is
, and no one who’s ever gone there has been seen again.”

Aurora
said, “That’s why we have to go there to face him. David and I have a special bond, forged since the day we were born, and that is our only hope. It’s our destiny to stand and face him.”

Solidad
said, “But surely there has to be another way. How can two people stand and face Him, and hope to survive? How can the two of you stop Him?”

David
said, “We can’t stop Him on our own. This is a matter of faith. We have to trust the Lord will deliver us.”

Miles
asked, “But how can you be sure? What if it is a trick to lure you to your deaths?”

“
It doesn’t matter, all along our journey we’ve met wonderful people, and families like yours suffering terribly. We can’t stand by while they suffer under the brutality and evil that plagues this land. If there is the slightest chance that we can put an end to it, even if it is a trick, then we have to try. As for me,” He turned to Aurora and said, “I have never been happier since we met. If it is our destiny to die, I have no regrets in this life.”

Aurora meeting his eyes
said, “Neither do I.”

Everyone sat in silence looking somber.

David said in a jovial tone “hey, we aren’t dead yet.”

Miles
said, “No, of course not, we just uh…“

David
said, “Now I have a very important question for all of you.” Everyone looked at him stoically “can you tell me how much of a trouble maker Aurora was growing up?”

Aurora hit him on the arm
and said, “I wasn’t a trouble maker.”

Solidad
said, “I wouldn’t exactly say that.” And they all chuckled.

William
said, “She probably didn’t tell you why we poured honey down her back did she?”

David said with a smile “now that sounds like a good story.”

They spent the next couple of hours sharing stories of the boys and Aurora’s antics growing up, and laughed until they all had tears in their eyes.

Around midafternoon David
said, “As much fun as this has been, I’m afraid we have to get going. We need to prepare for tonight, and don’t want to keep the others waiting. I can’t thank you enough for your splendid hospitality.”

They all stood
, Solidad came over and gave David, and Aurora each a hug saying “you two be careful, and promise you’ll come back to see us again.”

Miles
said, “Yes, be careful out there.”

David
said, “We’ll do our best to come and see you as soon as possible.” He couldn’t promise they would because he didn’t know what the outcome would be. “I want you to know that I’ll watch over your sons as if they were my own today.” Then turning to the boys he added “Why don’t you stay a minute and give your parents a proper goodbye, and we’ll meet you at the stables.”

Aurora
said, “Miles and Solidad, it’s been wonderful seeing you again. Thank you.”

Solidad
said, “And it’s been wonderful to see you too. We’ll keep you in our prayers.”

At that
, they headed to the door. David and Aurora could hear Miles and Solidad admonishing their sons to be careful and telling them how proud they were as they walked out of the house.

Arm in arm Aurora said to David “Thank you for what you did there today.”

David asked, “What did I do?”

Aurora answered “you took away their fears
, and reminded us all what we are fighting for. I don’t know how you do it, one minute I feel sad or frightened and the next at peace. You did the same thing for them too.”

David
said, “I didn’t plan to do anything, I just don’t dwell on what might be because whatever is coming will come, and how we face it will determine the outcome. I have hope, and I will not give up until my last breath. So between now and then, I’ll savor every moment we have together so that if any one of them is our last, I won’t have wasted it.”

“
You’re right. I don’t want to waste a minute we have together either. I just can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be, well, regular people without all this responsibility.”

David stopped
and turned to face her, and then he lifted his hand to the side of her face gently cradling it and said, “God willing someday we’ll get the chance to find out.” Then he gave her a tender kiss on the lips, lingering just long enough for the two of them to feel that tingle inside. Then he said, “Now let’s go finish this thing so we can be free of it.”

“
That sounds good to me.”

They arrived at the stables
, and Jotham, Eustus, and the other six men were there waiting.

Eustus
said, “We took the liberty of packing up your tent. Your other things are all in the carriage too. I believe we’re ready to go. Are the boys with you?”

Aurora
said, “They’re on their way.”

Just then a man arrived. “I’m Micah
, I had a vision that I should come with you. Will you have me join you?”

David stepped up to him
and looked into his eyes. He saw only the light and said, “Yes that makes us 13, a powerful number.” He put his hands on Micah, and gave him his blessing just as he had with the others. At that moment the boys arrived. Turning to them he added, “Good, we’re ready to go.”

Aurora
said, “If we leave now we should arrive just before dark.”

David turned to the group “Men, we’ll lead in the carriage. Before we get to the city, there is a ridge on the western side where you can wait for our signal. Once you hear it ride down to the garrison
, and release the prisoners. If we run into anyone on our way, Aurora and I are posing as emissaries from Southaven, and you will be our escorts. Do any of you have questions?”

No one said anything. “OK, let’s go.” David said
.

They all began mounting their horses
, and David, Aurora, and Eustus headed to the carriage. As they rode out of the village a number of people lined the streets waving their goodbyes, women, children, elders, and Miles and Solidad. They rode at a comfortable pace, David and Aurora driving the carriage, having insisted that Eustus sit inside until they reached the city. David wanted to be out front so he could spy any trouble first, and Aurora was not about to leave his side.

It took them a couple of hours to reach the outskirts of the city. They only stopped a
few times for water. David pulled the coach to a stop, and he and Aurora hopped down. The rest of the men pulled their horses up to meet them.