The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (15 page)

“I wouldn’t mind a brandy. Do you have that here?” Steve asked quietly.

“No. I’m sorry. How about another mug of scog? Or maybe a glass of wine?” Kalen offered.

“I think I would like another mug of scog. Maybe it will help me sleep.”

“Anyone else? No? Well, Steve, I’ll bring your scog to your room in a minute. Good night.” Kalen escaped into the kitchen.

After Kalen left, no one could think of anything to say. They were all too bewildered. After a bit, Theresa said, “Maybe we’ll all wake up tomorrow and find that this has been a dream. I’m going to bed. Which room did he say was mine?”

“I’ll come with you. Your room is next to ours,” Joan said. Then she looked at Karl. “Are you ready to go get some sleep?”

Karl nodded. Then he looked at Steve and asked, “Do you think there’s any truth to what he’s saying?”

“I don’t know,” Steve replied. “But I do know that something’s strange here. Did you notice how small the cabin appeared from the outside? And how big this place is on the inside?”

“Yeah,” Darrell said as everyone else nodded. “That’s one of the things that scares me about all of this. I’m afraid he might be telling the truth. I might not have had much of a future at home, but what am I supposed to do here? I’m not a soldier, and I don’t know anything at all about being a bodyguard.”

“None of us do,” Chris said. “And I doubt if Kevin knows anything about being a sorcerer either. Let’s wait and see what Kalen has to say tomorrow.”

No one had started down the hall yet. It was almost as if they were afraid to. Finally Steve took the lead, and the others followed. When they reached their rooms, they stood with their hands on the doorknobs and looked at each other. This time Karl took the initiative and opened the door to his and Joan’s room. When nothing strange happened, the others opened theirs.

After the hall cleared, Kalen sighed. He shook his head and poured Steve’s scog. He could send them back to Earth if he wanted to. He could send them back to their own bedrooms if he chose, but he wouldn’t, not now. They knew too much about Terah, about Myron, and about Paul Stewart. His duty to Terah came first, above all else.

Maybe they should have found a way to interview the people who would have to help Myron, but even if they had been able to come up with a way, there wouldn’t have been enough time. So much was riding on this. He had to make them understand. He had to make them help.

Kalen felt like the weight of the world had descended on his shoulders.

Chapter 11

The Next Day

Steve was the first of Kalen’s guests to wake up the next morning. When he left his room, the smell of fresh coffee led him to the kitchen. He helped himself to a cup, took it to the living room, and drank it slowly as he walked around, gazing out of the windows.

Kalen entered the room from the hall and stood quietly, watching. When Steve turned around, Kalen motioned to two overstuffed chairs near the fireplace.

After they sat down, Steve sighed. “I’m having a hard time accepting all of this.”

“I’m not surprised,” Kalen said quietly. “But I assure you, it’s all true.”

“Could you tell me a bit more about Terah?”

Kalen nodded. “Let’s get another cup of coffee first.”

When they stood up, Steve glanced at his watch. “My watch seems to have stopped. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Kalen said as he walked over to the large desk. “I have new timepieces for all of you. According to Pallor, everyone in your area wears one, so I thought you might want one here.” He opened one of the drawers and rummaged around inside for a moment. “Yes, here they are. Which one would you like?”

Kalen showed Steve a collection of watches that looked like wind-up pocket watches, but each was on a wristband of brightly color cloth rather than a chain.

While Steve looked through the watches, Kalen explained, “For years, every time Pallor came back from Earth, his timepiece would stop working. He said it was because of the energy field. Then, about ten years ago, he found one that could survive the trip, so he brought over an extra one for me to keep here.”

“Don’t the people of Terah wear watches?” Steve asked as he picked one up and fastened the band around his arm.

Kalen grinned and said, “They didn’t used to, but it’s starting to catch on. I showed the one that Pallor brought over to a friend of mine and the next thing I knew, he’d taken it apart. He said that he liked the small timepiece and was going to make one for himself. He did, and it spread from there.” Kalen took the rest of the watches out and laid them on top of the desk. “Good thing, too. When I found out that we were going to have to bring Myron back earlier than we had planned, I contacted him and had him send me some. I didn’t much think Pallor would remember to bring any over.”

As Steve and Kalen walked into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, Joan and Karl walked in. While Kalen was pouring coffee for them, Chris walked in, followed closely by Darrell. Before Kalen could get them served, he heard Theresa and Kevin talking in the hall, on their way to the kitchen too, so Kalen told everyone to have a seat in the dining room and started fixing breakfast. 

After they had finished eating and joined him in the living room, Kalen explained about their watches and showed them the ones he had on his desk. After everyone had chosen a watch, he asked them to have a seat.

“Before the rest of you got up, Steve asked me to tell him a little more about Terah. I’m sure all of you have questions you’d like to ask, but before we get into those, let me give you a little background,” Kalen said. “Long ago, the two worlds were very similar. Both worlds had sorcerers, dragons, elves, dwarves, and so on. Almost all of your myths and legends about magical creatures or other races were based on actual events, just like the legends about Merlin.”

Kalen’s guests looked at each other, but no one spoke. Kalen could still see doubt in their eyes, but nowhere near the level of disbelief that he had seen the day before. “Well, science and magic don’t get along too well, and eventually the humans on Earth started leaning towards science and away from magic, and the more they learned about science, the more they hated magic, mainly because science couldn’t explain it. Before long, anything even remotely connected with magic was hunted down and destroyed, so most of the magical creatures left Earth and came to Terah. From what Pallor has told me, most humans on Earth now believe that there’s no such thing as magic, and on the rare occasion when they are confronted with evidence of it, they label it evil. But magic does exist and just like anything else, it’s good when it’s used for good and evil when it’s used for evil.”

Kalen paused for a moment, and then continued. “Of course, magical creatures and sorcerers weren’t the only ones who had to leave Earth. Dwarves, elves, goblins, giants, and so on had to leave too, but not because they were magical. They had to leave because they were hated, hunted down, and killed just for being different. Humans aren’t exactly known for being tolerant of others on either world, but at least on Terah, they aren’t quite so open about it.”

“Okay, for the sake of argument, say all of this is true,” Chris said. “Why are we here?”

“I explained that last night. We needed someone to help Myron, and Pallor chose you.”

“Help him how?” Chris asked.

“Myron has the power to become a great sorcerer, but he will need a lot of specialized tutoring. Badec has arranged for him to study with Glendymere, the most powerful sorcerer on Terah. He lives in a mountainous region southwest of here. We hope that the rest of you will escort Myron to Glendymere, and then help him get to Camden in time to take his seat on the council.”

Chris and Darrell looked at each other. Darrell mouthed “bodyguard” and Chris nodded.

“Okay,” Steve said slowly, “but I don’t see how I fit into any of this.”

“Pallor was responsible for assembling a team that would give Myron the best possible chance to succeed. I’m not sure exactly how any of you fit in, but I am sure that each of you is essential to the team.” Then Kalen frowned and looked directly at Steve. “I have to admit, you were a bit of a surprise to me. I expected all of the companions to be about Myron’s age. What did you do on Earth?”

“I taught history and political science.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re here,” Kalen said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I think Pallor chose you to be an advisor after Myron’s seated on the council.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” Chris said, determined to pin Kalen down. “But what about the rest of us? You just mentioned that you want us to escort Kevin to some sorcerer named Glendymere, and yesterday you said that there are going to be people out there who want to kill him. Are you expecting us to be bodyguards?”

“We’re hoping that you’ll be able to protect Myron until he’s able to protect himself, but that’s not …”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Darrell interrupted. “I know absolutely nothing about being a bodyguard!”

“Me either,” Karl agreed, “and neither does Joan.”

Theresa had been sitting off to the side during all of this, listening. When she realized that the others were waiting for her to say something, she quickly shook her head and said, “Don’t look at me! I don’t even know how to protect myself!”

Kalen cleared his throat and tried again. “We want you to accompany him, to be his companions, and to do whatever you can to help him. Protecting him is only one small part of it. We hope it won’t come to that, but we wouldn’t let you leave here without giving you some weapons and teaching you how to use them.”

Steve looked around at the others for a minute, and then said, “Kalen, we need to talk about all of this, privately. Could you just tell us exactly what our options are?”

Kalen took a deep breath and exhaled it in a long-suffering sigh. “First of all, you can go back to Earth, but only if you’re ready to die. Secondly, you have the right to refuse to help, but, in that case, we won’t help you either. You might last a little while if you pull together, but I guarantee you that you would not survive the magic war that will break out if Myron does not take his place on the council. Your third option would be to do your best to help Myron make it to Camden in time. If you succeed, all we can do is offer you our thanks,” Kalen paused, and then added as an afterthought, “Although I’m sure you’d be welcomed by the people of Camden after Myron assumes his chair.”

“Thank you,” Steve said as he put his arm around Kalen’s shoulders and walked him towards the kitchen. “Now, if you would just leave us alone for a few minutes and let us talk about all of this, we’ll let you know when we have more questions or when we’ve made a decision.”

As Steve turned to go back to the living room, he pulled the kitchen door shut.

After Kalen got over his shock at being so coolly shut out, he smiled. At least they were making the decision as a group.

“Well, I guess that’s it. What do you want to do?” Steve asked when he got back to the living room.

“I’m not at all sure that I’m willing to risk my life for these people, and it does sound dangerous. Who would we be fighting anyway? Other people? Sorcerers? Or something else? He mentioned dragons at one point,” Darrell said. Then after a moment, he added, “But, on the other hand, I’m not so sure that I’m willing to try to make it here without a little help from the natives. From the looks of things, I’d be at a loss as to where to begin.” Then he shook his head. “I’m still having a lot of trouble believing this.”

Chris sighed. “It sounds like a rather risky proposition at best and it really gets me that they didn’t even bother to ask if we were willing to do this before they brought us over. The least they could have done was ask.”

“I don’t know how they think I can help,” Theresa said, “but at least while I’m here, I don’t have to get married, so, I guess I’m in, for whatever good it will do.”

“Personally, I don’t really want to go back to Omaha,” Joan said slowly.

“From everything he’s said, I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Karl answered as he put his arm around his wife. “You know, I’d love to go back to farming. Maybe if we help Kevin get to his throne, or whatever the Master Sorcerer sits on, we’ll be able to find a bit of land and start over. What do you think, Joan?”

“Sounds good to me,” she answered with a nod.

“Well, Kevin? You haven’t said a word all morning. What’s your reaction to this whole thing?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know why they think I’m a sorcerer, or could ever become one, but even if I could, why would I want to? I don’t believe half of what he’s said, but if even a small portion of it’s true … Assassins? Duels to the death? Magic wars? Why would any of us want to be in the middle of all of that? Look, let’s just leave, go somewhere, anywhere, as long as it’s a long way from here.”

“Where would we go?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know where at the moment, but I don’t think this place is some strange ‘other world’. I think Kalen’s just trying to scare us to get us to do what he wants, and I have no idea what that really is.”

“I’m not sure we should be too quick to discount what he’s told us,” Steve said slowly. “Remember what this house looked like from the outside, and what it looks like now. There’s definitely something strange going on here.”

“Okay,” Karl said. “Say this is another world. Other than the fact that magic is fairly common here, what do we really know about it? He hasn’t given us much practical information. Maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Or maybe it’s worse,” Darrell added quietly.

“Which is a very good reason to hang around here for a while and see what we can find out,” Chris said.

“Let’s take a vote,” Steve said. “All in favor of going along with Kalen, at least for a while, raise your hand.”

At first, no one moved, and then hands starting going up slowly and hesitantly until the only one whose hand was not raised was Kevin. Steve looked at Kevin and raised his eyebrows.

Kevin shook his head. “No way.”

“Okay, how can we help him if he doesn’t agree to go?” Joan asked.

“Good question.” Steve looked at Kevin and asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. There’s no way I’m going along with any of this.”

Steve nodded and said, “Then I guess that’s that.”

Then he walked over to the kitchen door, opened it, and looked for Kalen. He wasn’t in the kitchen, but the back door was open, so Steve stepped outside. What he saw made his legs go weak. Standing in the backyard was a snow white pegasus. And standing beside him was a very tall, very thin man with long pointed ears talking to Kalen.

When Kalen saw Steve, he motioned him over. “Steve, this is Duane. He’s a warrior elf. I asked him to help you train in hand-to-hand combat and with the weapons that we have here on Terah.” Then he turned to Duane and said, “You need to meet the rest of our guests. Why don’t you join us in the house? Xantha, there are some oats in the barn if you’d like a snack.”

“Hope you have some of the nutty oats this time, Kalen. Last time they were all plain.”
Xantha began walking towards the barn. “
I’ll be around if you need me.”

“I could have sworn I just heard him answer you, but in my head,” Steve said without taking his eyes off of Xantha. “Is that telepathy? Are all animals capable of telepathic communication here?”

 “No, only the magical ones. Pegassi, unicorns, and dragons mainly. But they are really picky about who they talk to,” Duane answered. “I’m surprised that Xantha allowed you to hear him. He must like you.”

When Duane spoke, Steve really looked at him for the first time. Other than his diamond-shaped eyes that glowed like tiny red coals and his pointed ears, he looked human. He was dressed in leggings, boots, a tunic, and a cloak. A sword hung from his belt and he had a long bow in his hand. All in all, he looked like a very handsome Robin Hood.

Kalen led Steve and Duane back to the living room. After he introduced Duane, he said, “Well, then, did you reach a decision?”

“Yes and no,” Steve answered with a slight frown.

“What do you mean, yes and no?” Kalen asked.

“We took a vote about going along with your plans,” Chris said. “Only one person voted no.”

“Who has chosen not to? And may I ask why? Perhaps there is some way that we can convince you to change your mind,” Kalen said in a placating tone.

“The one lone hold out is rather critical from what you’ve told us,” Darrell picked up the lead. “It’s Kevin.”

Kalen sat down. “Whaaaaaat? Myron? Don’t you understand what’s at stake here?!”

“I know what you’ve told me is at stake here. I also know that what you have planned for all of us sounds dangerous to say the very least. And from what you’ve said, even if I make it to my father’s house, it won’t end there. I’ll be in danger for the rest of my life, and eventually, they’ll get me. So why should I go along with any of this? Why not just go hide somewhere, not tell anyone who I am, and live a nice quiet life?”