The New Guard (Crossroads Book 1) (18 page)

Just
south of Council Rock lay the hamlet of Ven, the true seat of power in the
Seventh Kingdom. Here the people lived solitary lives, doing in public what
must be done and then retreating to their homes. In the least assuming house,
near the town’s storage silos, resided a small man of great girth. He was known
by the townspeople as the Bean Counter, as it was his job to monitor the intake
and outflow of the food silos. No one doubted his honesty, as nobody was left
wanting and the castle proper just over the hill never sent complaints about
the flow of food. However, people were not quite comfortable with him and were
often polite, yet guarded, in his presence.

The
townspeople didn’t know that he wasn’t a man or even a person. They didn’t know
that the Bean Counter was a demon commonly known as the Manipulator (or called
by his master, Falsifien). They didn’t even suspect that such a deception could
occur. Neither did they know that the Manipulator fed them more than grain; the
demon also served into their lives vices that kept them cloistered in their
homes. These vices, fueled by lesser and greater demons, kept the people quiet
and let the Manipulator do his true work of undermining the Seventh Kingdom.

Everywhere
else in the Seventh Kingdom, the abundance of food was lessening and the
coffers of the local lords were growing. The king’s spies reported that the
lords were selling crops without reporting income and hoarding excessive
quantities for themselves. Monies were entering the kingdom, but no taxes were
being paid. The king sent out collectors to call out the local lords, but the
landholders denied any wrongdoing. They provided faked ledgers, accused the
gaeders of failing to maintain crops, and accused the Void’s forces of
stripping fields. The cycle continued with Falsifien feeding Lord Avrant the
truth and then making sure the local lords could provide irrefutable evidence
to the counter.

Then the
Sword Bearer arrived. Instead of becoming undone, Falsifien welcomed the
challenge. The demon knew the Truth Wielder’s brood were to be the new rulers
of the Crossroads and whispered as much to the king. The other lords were not
given the truth; however, the story they were fed involved a threat to their
position within the governance of the kingdom and their properties. To them,
the Truth Blade represented an accounting of their actions that they could not
falsify. The local lords acted predictably. Local garrisons were armed, bulked
up with sell swords, and prepared for the eventualities of war. All, Falsifien
smirked, orchestrated from an unassuming little house in the town of Ven.

*

A week
passed. The remaining the council members had finally arrived. Council was now
in full swing, but the lengthy bickering and observance of tradition seemed to
multiply and the true purpose of the council was yet to be discussed. David,
being a working man and not a politician, tried to quietly endure until he felt
he was needed. When at first he started to bring his children to the meetings,
the council members were riled at the observers. However, the king defended
David’s children’s right to be present, to the surprise of both David and the
councilors.

Had David
known that King Avrant suspected the truth about the Koens’ destiny in the
Crossroad, he would not have brought his children into council at all.
Falsifien’s whispers of the new twelve and the opportunity for Avrant to rule
absolutely both haunted and sugared his dreams every night. He had begun to
correspond with sympathetic members of the family, though he had yet to hear
back from them. Until then, he would watch the Truth Blade and his brood,
gathering all the information he could. David’s insistence on having his oldest
children there provided the king with an opportunity to observe them directly,
instead of through General Kolk’s army spies.

However,
Avrant would not get to personally observe many members of the Koen family. Of
the five oldest children, only Deborah, Mel, and Nic regularly attended
council. Eve detested attending and only did so when her father insisted that
she try again. He shared with her his own dislike of politics and won her over
a few times. Silas only attended once, and then only until the afternoon
recess. He found all the members of council to be detestable and felt the king
came off as conniving. He refused to enter the tent again and when David
pushed, Silas told him flatly that he would never rule a kingdom in such a
manner and would study so he could find another way.

Therefore,
Deb, Mel, and Nic filled seats next to their father most of the time and
discussed with him their observations. Both Deborah and Mel watched the
proceedings in the context of the United States’ own political circus. After
meetings they would discuss with their father the similarities and differences.
Nic, on the other hand, was showing himself to be a keen tactician. After
attending council, he would point out to his father the growing alliances and
the deeply rooted hatreds. David had the aid of the Sword of Truth to help him
filter through the lies and half-truths that were flying around the council
tent. Nic, however, was able to pick up on many of these even without the
sword’s help.

*

The week
wore on. The children became immersed with study as Hogan found an aged dwarf
tutor, Zilda, who was willing to share her knowledge with the Koens. She was
told they were fairly new to the Crossroads, and thus she spent a great deal of
time teaching them geography, xenobiology, and (briefly) politics. Outside
this, she tested the oldest five in universal arithmetic, encouraged them to
learn to read Trade Speak (a muddled blend of the various languages from all
the different races), and when David insisted, gave them lessons on different
system of government. For everyone else, except Jeremiah, she brought in
specially made books to train the children’s minds to read both English and
Trade Speak, so she could further their knowledge of math and science.

Jeremiah
challenged Zilda daily. Within the week, he was easily deciphering the
English/Trade Speak books and was asking for books in the other languages. He
quickly absorbed the science and math Zilda taught to the younger children,
surprising the tutor, his father, his siblings, and even himself. He was
eventually given projects to do with the older Koens. He seemed to absorb
everything he touched. The only subject he didn’t seem to excel in was weapons
training.

*

As
another week began, the children grew accustomed to their training drills and
their skills grew. The older children began to favor certain weapons, and the
Coterie brothers tailored their training to include more focus on those
armaments. The youngest Koens were still given the broadest training, in
deference to traditional Coterie practices and David’s insistence that they
know how to defend themselves, yet not necessarily become full-fledged
warriors. The Coterie excelled at training young children to become fighters.

In
addition to the Coterie brothers’ skills, many of the children threw themselves
into their physical exercises in order to take their mind off many things:
missing their mother; not fully understanding where they were; fighting back
fears; and seeing God in a new light. Thus the training was starting to pay
off. Reflexes were becoming faster. What was at first strenuous work was
becoming less tiring. Eyes were becoming keener, and the children were
instinctively becoming able to adapt to changes in the landscape when running
or dueling.

*

The days
were busy and helped keep the children’s and David’s minds distracted. However,
the nights were times of loneliness, fear, and longing. For David, he had a
valuable asset to lean upon in order to make life bearable. In his loneliness,
in his longing, in his moments of uncertainty, he could hold tight to the Sword
of Truth and hear the promises of God resounding in his ears. He felt the
warmth of the Lord’s love and knew he was walking down the right path. However,
he could not share the physical presence of the sword with his children, for it
was an angelic weapon not meant for the hands of earthly rulers until the end
of days. Thus David drew strength from the sword and then, like every other
father, went to his children to comfort them in their times of trouble.

David
strove to be with his children every night. He talked with them, held them, and
tried his best to just be their father. There was strength and hope in their
relationship, and each moment they shared gave them courage to go on. For some,
the wonder of the Beagle helped them; they found comfort in the angel’s presence
and words. Then there was Esther. Esther sang, and though she was only twelve
her voice was powerful.

Esther
had always
sang
. Rebekah had joked that Esther made
melodies instead of babbling as a baby and harmonized her first words. When
others sang with Esther, she could change her pitch and range in order to make
her voice flow around theirs. David called it dancing with words. More often
than not, Esther sang to and for herself. Now, however, the younger children
were asking Esther to sing to them at night. So she did. She sang lullabies,
songs from cartoons she saw, and the hymns she had memorized. Sometimes she
made up songs to tell stories she knew. Many times she ran out of words and
just hummed or made melodies. Above all that, though, she discovered that the
Beagle’s gift of tongues had changed her.

One night
when she was tired and Dinah and Mary were particularly upset about missing
their mother, Esther sang an emotion. She was thinking how their mother gave
them hugs when they returned from a day in the woods, and started humming. Then
words formed, but they were not words from any terrestrial language. They did
not speak of things like love and peace and comfort. They were love and peace
and comfort. The younger girls quieted, feeling the touch of their mother in
the moment of a hug, and drifted off to sleep with the smell of their mother’s
shampoo in their noses.

The
Beagle had come in during Esther’s singing. The angel saw the girl’s vacant
expression as she finished her song and saw her sag a little as her body began
to adjust to a loss of energy. The Beagle approached her and licked her hand.
Esther absentmindedly reached out and began to pet the Beagle. Softly, the
Beagle spoke.

“You sang
a song in the angel’s tongue. You shared a memory, a moment of your life.”

Esther
looked down at the angel, half in her lap. Her eyes slowly focused on the
Beagle.

“How. .
.” she began, but could not finish.

“The gift
of tongues in its simplest form allows people to communicate regardless of
different languages. There was once only one worldly language, but through a
series of events all the races defied the commands of God. On Earth it happened
in the place called Babel. God had commanded the people to ‘go forth.’ Instead,
they used their singular language to stay in one place, and attempted to build
the greatest kingdom ever imagined. When God confused their language, the
people finally obeyed God. If they hadn’t, sin would have taken hold faster,
and the forces of the Void would have claimed Earth in the infancy of the human
race.”

The
Beagle paused. Esther did not respond, so the angel continued. “In more complex
manifestations, the gift of tongues allows better communication with God by
giving humans access to the angelic praise language. Your gift of song has
blended with this gift of the Holy Spirit, and you now apparently have the
ability to share your pure emotions, thoughts, and memories with others.”

“I feel
really tired now.”

“You are
young and inexperienced. You have been given the gift, but you must learn how
to use it. As it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, pray for guidance and
understanding, and God will teach you how and when it is best to use your
power.”

“Can you
do this?”

“I am not
a messenger; I am a counselor. The ability is within me, yet I do not have
access to it, as my job does not call for me to need it.”

“Oh, I
was hoping you could help me.”

“It is
better for you to seek guidance from the Great Counselor. Pray to the Spirit of
God and you will be guided truly. I, however, can help you get to your own bed
so you can rest.”

The
Beagle moved, and Esther staggered along to her bed. Once there, the angel
tucked her in. When David returned late that night from a meeting, he found her
asleep and the Beagle waiting for him.

*

Nic was
alone and surrounded by darkness. It was cold and there was a persistent
dripping sound in the far distance. In his right hand he held a large, smooth
stone, and strapped to his left arm was a large shield with a pointed tip at
the bottom. He was alone, yet there was something else in the deep darkness.
There seemed to be no light around at all, though he found that if he
concentrated he could see through the murk.

Nic was
trying to collect his thoughts, to remember where he was and why. However, he
could not recall anything except that he had come down here after something.
Then the air stirred and a gush of wind blew at him from behind. All the hairs
on his body stood on end and his mind commanded him to turn, to fight. Nic
turned quickly and brought up his shield just in time to intercept the body of
a pale man-sized creature.