The Marus Manuscripts (14 page)

Within two hours, Kellen was once again a Marutian town. While many Palatians were wounded, killed, or had fled from the town, not a single member of Darien’s army was hurt.

In a banquet room at Kellen’s largest (and only) hotel, Darien raised a toast to the Unseen One and the victory He’d given them. The Palatian officers scowled, the mayor of Kellen grinned a chubby grin—and Anna smiled because the scene was exactly as she remembered it.

T
he stranger arrived at Kellen first thing the next morning. He came on horseback and wore a long cloak and a wrap that hid his face and protected it from the sun. Darien’s guards at the front gate let him through but used the phone in the guardhouse to alert Darien that the stranger was coming. Darien was having breakfast with some of his officers, along with Anna and Kyle, at the Kellen Hotel’s restaurant.

When told that the stranger had reached the front of the hotel, Darien threw his napkin onto his plate and got up. He walked from the restaurant, through the plush lobby, and out onto the front sidewalk just as the stranger dismounted. Kyle felt nothing in his stomach to alert him to any danger. Anna was silent.

“Darien!” the stranger said warmly and pulled the wrap from his face.

“George!” said Darien happily. The two men shook hands, embraced, then went back into the hotel. Darien offered the prince some breakfast.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time,” George said. He looked older than Kyle remembered. Could he have aged so much in just a few days?

Darien sipped some coffee. “Then tell me what you’re doing here,” he said.

“The king knows you’re here,” George answered. “He’s been tracking you ever since you left your parents. In fact, word is getting around the entire country about the battle with the Palatians.”

“How could they know so fast?” Darien asked, surprised.

“The way they know everything faster than we expect,” George replied. “My father and General Liddell contacted the newspapers.”

“To what purpose?”

“They reported that you came here to negotiate with the Palatians, but a loyal royal regiment attacked and drove the Palatians away. The
Sarum Herald
is saying that my father and General Liddell will come to secure the town and capture you for your treason.”

Darien couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He fumed, “How could they spread such lies and still call themselves honorable men?”

“They dispensed with calling themselves honorable men a long time ago. My father is truly insane. I see that now.” George hesitated, then added, “I’ve come to affirm my allegiance to you and your future kingship—and to warn you that you’ll be grossly outnumbered when my father’s troops arrive.”

“Does the king know you’re here?” Darien asked.

“No. He left Sarum without asking where I was or where I would be going. I’m not sure he trusts me anymore. He does things without consulting me.”

“Like attack Sister Leona and the women at the convent?”

George went pale. “That wasn’t my father’s doing,” he insisted. “He may be insane, but he’s no barbarian.”

Darien glanced over at Anna, who was nibbling on a crescent roll. “I know otherwise,” he said grimly. “The attack was his idea.”

George looked as though he might be sick—or argue—or both. But he didn’t.

“Stay with us, George,” Darien urged. “Don’t go back to him.”

“I . . . must,” George said, grieved. “While he lives he’s still my father and my king, and I have to support him.”

“In everything?”

George shook his head. “Not everything. But my remaining with him will be useful to you. I can send you information about his plans, to the best of my ability.”

Darien thought it over, then reluctantly agreed. “All right,” he said, “but please be careful, George. And know this: If and when I am king, you will rule with me. That I promise.”

“Ruin,” Anna suddenly said. She had a distant look on her face.

“What?” Darien asked.

“I see ruin. A terrible battle. The king and his family will not survive against you.”

“Against
me
? I will not fight the king—or his family.”

“I see many wounds and blood and . . .” Anna suddenly gasped. She dropped her roll without seeming to notice. In a different tone she said, “Darien, the people of Kellen will hand you over to the king.”

“Will they?”

The mayor, who sat eating at a nearby table, blustered, “Hand our champion over to the king? Never! What kind of thing is that to say?”

Anna said plainly, “The king will surround the city and demand that they deliver you. They will. You must leave Kellen now.”

“Thank you, Anna,” Darien said.

Anna’s eyes cleared, and she turned red to see everyone staring at her. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We’re leaving,” Darien announced and stood up.

Prince George left and, within an hour, Darien’s men were mobilized to leave Kellen. The mayor was insistent to the last minute that Darien could stay. Darien said he appreciated his offer but felt it would be better for all if they left.

As they rode out of town, Anna looked back at the mayor, who stood waving at the front gate like a bowling ball overdressed in a coat and vest, a gold watch chain linked from his vest button to a small pocket on the side. In her mind’s eye, Anna saw that the watch had belonged to someone close to the king. Just as the watch was in the mayor’s pocket, so was the mayor in the king’s pocket. He’d been reporting to the king’s spies everything that had happened.

That meant the king and his army were closer than any of them realized. Anna saw them on the horizon as clearly as if they’d really been there.

“We have to hurry up,” she told Darien.

Darien didn’t question or argue with her statement. He simply ordered everyone to pick up their pace.

The Valley of the Rocks was well named. It was mostly desert, with only spots of vegetation near what was left of a dying river. The rest of it was dirt and tumbleweeds. The rocks, which rose canyonlike on two sides, were a beautiful reddish pink—Kyle and Anna had no idea what they were called—and jutted up in formations that could easily be seen as faces or figurines. They surrounded Darien’s army on all sides.

“We’ll have to find good hiding places or we’ll be surrounded by more than just rocks,” Darien said. He gave instructions for the 100 of them to split up into four groups of 25 and then camp at strategic places around the valley.

“But if we split up,” Colonel Oliver observed, “the king will have a better chance of defeating us.”

“But if we stay together, he’ll have a better chance of finding us,” Darien countered. “It’s easier to hide small groups of 25 than a whole army of 100.”

“But General—”

Darien held up his hand. “I know it’s a gamble. And unless Anna has words of wisdom for us, I think it’s the best thing for us to do.”

Anna didn’t have any words of wisdom. She closed her eyes, but no dreams or visions came.

Darien and his group of 25, including Kyle and Anna, slowly wove their way through the rocks on the north side of the valley. It was a tortuous climb for both people and horses. They went up and up until they found a large cleft in one of the rocks that would shelter them all. It curved into a deep cave where they had plenty of room. It also afforded them a vantage point to the valley in all directions. Darien was troubled only by the existence of a ridge above them, one that might give the king’s army a chance to trap him. But he had to take a chance. His people were exhausted, and they were running out of places to hide.

While they set up camp, Kyle got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked around quickly to see what was causing it. The soldiers were busy arranging their provisions or unpacking their knapsacks. Darien sat quietly in the corner. He was either thinking or praying—or both. Still, the sick feeling grew worse.

Kyle walked over to Darien. “I’m sorry to bother you,” he started to say. But just then, a shot rang out. The entire squad drew their pistols and swords instantaneously. Darien leaped to his feet and went to the edge of the cave.

“Surrender now and we may be merciful!” someone shouted from afar, the voice bouncing and echoing around the rock walls. Darien recognized the voice. It was General Liddell.

“I’ll check their position,” a young soldier said. Before Darien could stop him, he had crept out of the cave and raced to a rock farther out in the open. He looked around, then signaled to Darien
that the king’s army was situated in four places on the long ridge above them. Darien cursed himself for not paying closer attention to his instincts. They were trapped.

“Yes, trapped!” General Liddell called out as if he knew what the signals meant. “We’ve been watching you for hours. Did you think we were so foolish as to not anticipate that you’d come to the Valley of the Rocks to hide? We’ve been hiding here since you defeated the Palatians at Kellen last night. The king is here. He wants desperately to see you.”

“It’s true, my son!” the king shouted. “Come! Embrace me!”

Darien’s face was expressionless. He said nothing.

General Liddell then said, “To demonstrate how effectively you are trapped . . .”

Another shot rang out, and the young scout suddenly clutched his chest and fell behind the rock he mistakenly thought was protecting him.

“No!” Darien cried out, and he would’ve run to the young man if he hadn’t been grabbed by some of his other soldiers.

“What are we going to do?” one of them asked.

“I’m going to surrender myself to them,” Darien replied quickly.

Another soldier immediately protested, “No! You can’t! They’ll kill you!”

“Better for me to take that chance than for everyone here to die in this trap.”

“Well?” General Liddell shouted.

Another soldier stepped forward. “Maybe Colonel Oliver and the others will see what’s happening and rescue us.”

“If
they
haven’t already been captured,” Darien reminded him. “Though, if George was right, we’re so outnumbered that they couldn’t do us much good anyway.”

“But you’re our future king!” the first soldier said. “If you die, the rest of us will die anyway for having joined you.”

“Better to die fighting!” a third soldier added.

“If I’m to be your future king, I’m in the hands of the Unseen One anyway,” Darien said. “He will do with me whatever He wills, whether I stay here or go.”

With the mention of the Unseen One, Darien looked over at Anna. She sat on a rock nearby and trembled. Her eyes filled with tears. The Unseen One hadn’t given her any sort of dream or vision about what they should do. She shook her head and slumped sadly.

The discussion continued for a few more minutes, the soldiers arguing that surely the Unseen One wouldn’t have brought them this far only to have Darien “throw his life away” now. Finally, Darien beckoned everyone to kneel. “A moment of silent prayer,” he said.

Five minutes later, he stood up. “I will go,” he said and pushed through his soldiers, ignoring their protests. He went to the mouth of the cave. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the open. Darien didn’t know what he expected. But he certainly didn’t expect
nothing
to happen. Scanning the ridges above, he was surprised to see that they were empty. He suspected that General Liddell’s soldiers were simply out of view.

“Hello?” he called out. He thought someone—General Liddell or the king himself—would appear. He got no response, not even sniper fire.

He ventured farther out, past the body of the dead scout. “All right, General, you win,” he shouted. “Tell the king I will surrender myself—provided you let my men go!”