A Quest of Heroes (13 page)

Gwen passed another guard, went down another hall, then finally stopped before the door to her mother’s dressing room. She was about to open it, but then she stopped. Behind the open door, she heard muted voices, their pitch rising, and sensed something wrong. It was her mother, arguing. She listened closely, and heard her father’s voice. They were fighting. But why?

Gwen knew she should not be listening—but she could not help herself. She reached out and gently pushed open the heavy oak door, grabbing it by its iron knocker. She opened it just a crack and listened.

“He won’t stay in my house,” her mother snapped, on edge.

“You rush to judgment, when you don’t even know the entire story.”

“I know the story,” she snapped back. “Enough of it.”

Gwen heard venom in her mother’s voice, and was taken aback. She rarely heard her parents fight—just a few times in her life—and she had never heard her mother so worked up. She could not understand why.

“He will stay in the barracks, with the other boys. I do not want him under my roof. Do you understand?” she pressed.

“It is a big castle,” her father spat back. “His presence will not be noticed by you.”

“I don’t care if it is noticed or not. I don’t want him here. He’s your problem. It was you who chose to bring him in.”

“You are not so innocent either,” her father retorted.

She heard footsteps, watched her father strut across the room and out the door on the other side, slamming it behind him so hard that the room shook. Her mother stood there, alone in the center of the room, and began to cry.

Gwen stood there and felt terrible. She didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, she thought it best to slip away, but on the other, she couldn’t stand the sight of her mother crying, couldn’t stand to leave her there like that. She also, for the life of her, could not understand what they were arguing about. She assumed they were arguing about Thor. But why? Why would her mother even care? Dozens of people lived under their roof.

Gwen couldn’t bring herself to just walk away, not with her mother in that state. She had to comfort her. She reached up and gently pushed the door open.

It creaked, and her mother wheeled, caught off guard. She scowled back.

“Do you not knock?” she snapped. Gwen could see how upset she was, and felt terrible.

“What’s wrong mother?” Gwen asked, walking towards her gently. “I don’t mean to pry, but I heard you arguing with father.”

“You are right: you shouldn’t pry,” her mother retorted.

Gwen was surprised: her mother was often a handful, but was rarely like this. The force of her anger made Gwen stop in her tracks, a few feet away, unsure.

“Is it about the new boy? Thor?” she asked.

Her mother turned and looked away, wiping a tear.

“I don’t understand,” Gwen pressed. “Why would you care where he stayed?”

“My matters are of no concern to you,” she said coldly, clearly wanting to end the matter. “What do you want? Why have you come here?”

Gwen was nervous now. She wanted her mother to tell her everything about Thor, but she couldn’t have picked a worse moment. She cleared her throat, hesitant.

“I…actually wanted to ask you about him. What do you know of him?”

Her mother turned and narrowed her eyes at her, suspicious.

“Why?” she asked, with deadly seriousness. Gwen could feel her summing her up, looking right through her, and seeing with her uncanny perception that Gwen liked him. She tried to hide her feelings, but knew it was no use.

“I’m just curious,” she said, unconvincingly.

Suddenly, the queen took three steps towards her, grabbed her arms roughly, and stared into her face.

“Listen to me,” she hissed. “I’m only going to say this once. Stay away from that boy. Do you hear me? I don’t want you anywhere near him, under any circumstance.”

Gwen was horrified.

“But why? He’s a hero.”

“He is not one of us,” her mother answered. “Despite what your father might think. I want you to keep away from him. Do you hear me? Vow to me. Vow to me right now.”

“I will not vow,” Gwen said, yanking her arm away from her mother’s too strong grip.

“He is a commoner, and you are Princess,” her mother yelled. “You are a
Princess
. Do you understand? If I hear of you going anywhere near him, I will have him exiled from here. Do you understand?”

Gwen hardly knew how to respond. She had never seen her mother like this.

“Do not tell me what to do, mother,” she said, finally.

Gwen did her best to put on a brave voice, but deep inside she was trembling. She had come here wanting to know everything; now, she felt terrified. She did not understand what was happening.

“Do as you wish,” her mother said. “But his fate lies in your hands. Don’t forget it.”

With that, her mother turned, strutted from the room, and slammed it behind her, leaving Gwen all alone in the reverberating silence, her good mood shattered. She stood there and wondered. What could possibly elicit such a strong reaction from her mother and her father?

Who was this boy?

CHAPTER TEN

MacGil sat in the banquet hall, watching over his subjects, he at one end of the table and Cloud at the other, and hundreds of men from both clans between them. The wedding revelries had been going on for hours, and finally, the tension between the clans had settled down from the day’s jousting. As MacGil suspected, all the men needed was wine and meat—and women—to make them forget their differences. Now they all mingled at the same table, like brothers in arms. In fact, looking them over, MacGil could no longer even tell they were of two separate clans.

MacGil felt vindicated: his master plan was working after all. Already, the two clans seemed closer. He had managed to do what a long line of MacGil kings before him could not: to unify both sides of the ring, to make them, if not friends, then at least peaceful neighbors. He spotted his daughter, Luanda, arm in arm with her new husband, the McCloud prince, and she seemed content. His guilt lessened. He might have given her away—but he did, at least, give her a queenship.

MacGil thought back to all the planning that preceded this event, recalled the long days of arguing with his advisors. He had gone against the advice of all his counselors in arranging this union. He knew it was not an easy peace. He knew that, in time, the McLouds would settle in on their side of the Highlands, that this wedding would be long forgotten, and that one day they would stir with unrest. He was not naïve. But now, at least, there was a blood tie between the clans—and especially when a child was born, that could not be so easily ignored. If that child flourished, and one day even ruled, a child born of two sides of the Ring, then perhaps, one day, the entire ring could be united, the Highlands would no longer be a border of contention, and the land could prosper under one rule. That was his dream. Not for himself, but for his descendants. After all, the Ring had to stay strong, needed to stay unified in order to protect the Canyon, to fight off the hordes of the world beyond. As long as the two clans remained divided, they presented a weakened front to the rest of the world.

“A toast,” MacGil shouted, and stood.

The table grew quiet as hundreds of men stood, too, raising their casks.

“To the wedding of my eldest child! To the union of the MacGils and McClouds! To peace throughout the Ring!”

“HERE HERE!” came a chorus of shouts, and everyone drank and the room once again filled with the noise of laughter and feasting.

MacGil sat back and surveyed the room, looking for his other children. There, of course, was Godfrey, drinking with two fists, a girl on each shoulder, surrounded by his miscreant friends. This was probably the one royal event he had ever willingly attended. There was Gareth, sitting too closely to his lover, Firth, whispering in his ear; MacGil could see from his darting, restless eyes, that he was plotting something. The thought of it made his stomach turn, and he looked away. There, on the far side of the room, was his youngest son, Reece, feasting at the squires’ table, with the new boy, Thor. He already felt like a son, and he was pleased to see his youngest was fast friends with him.

He scanned the faces for his younger daughter, Gwendolyn, and finally found her, sitting off to the side, surrounded by her handmaids, giggling. He followed her gaze, and noticed she was watching Thor. He examined her for a long time, and realized she was smitten. He had not foreseen this, and he was not quite sure what to make of it. He sensed trouble there. Especially from his wife.

“All things are not what they seem,” came a voice.

MacGil turned to see Argon sitting by his side, watching the two clans dining together.

“What do you make of all this?” MacGil asked. “Will there be peace in the kingdoms?”

“Peace is never static,” Argon said. “It ebbs and flows, like the tides. What you see before you is the veneer of peace. You see one side of its face. You’re trying to force peace on an ancient rivalry. But there are hundreds of years of spilled blood. The souls cry out for vengeance. And that cannot be appeased with a single marriage.”

“What are you saying?” MacGil asked, taking another gulp of his wine, feeling nervous, as he often did around Argon.

Argon turned and stared at him with an intensity so strong, it struck panic into MacGil’s heart.

“There will be war. The McClouds will attack. Prepare yourself. All of the house guests you see before you will soon be doing their best to murder your family.”

MacGil gulped.

“Did I make the wrong decision to marry her off to them?”

Argon was silent for a while, until finally he said: “Not necessarily.”

Argon looked away, and MacGil could see that he was finished with the topic. He was disappointed, because there were a million questions he wanted answered: but he knew his sorcerer would not answer them until he was ready. So instead, he watched Argon’s eyes, and realized that they were watching his other daughter. Gwendolyn. He looked, too, and saw Gwendolyn watching Thor.

“Do you see them together?” MacGil asked, suddenly curious to know.

“Perhaps,” Argon answered. “There is still much yet to be decided.”

“You speak in riddles.”

Argon shrugged and looked away, and MacGil realized he wouldn’t get any more from him.

“You saw what happened on the field today?” MacGil prodded. “With the boy?”

“I saw it before it happened,” Argon replied.

“And what do you make of it? What are the source of the boy’s powers? Is he like you?”

Argon turned and stared into MacGil’s eyes, and the intensity of his stare almost made him look away.

“He is far more powerful than me.”

MacGil stared back, shocked. He had never heard Argon speak like this.

“More powerful? Than you? How is that possible? You are the king’s sorcerer—there is no one more powerful than you in all the land.”

Argon shrugged.

“Power does not only come in one form,” he said. “The boy has powers beyond what you can imagine. Powers beyond what he knows. He has no idea who he is. Or where he hails from.”

Argon turned and stared at MacGil.

“But you do,” he added.

MacGil stared back, wondering.

“Do I?” MacGil asked. “Tell me. I need to know.”

Argon shook his head.

“Search your feelings. They are true.”

“What will become of him?” MacGil asked.

“He will become a great leader. And a great warrior. He will rule kingdoms in his own right. Far greater kingdoms than you. And he will be a far greater king than you. It is his destiny.”

For a brief moment, MacGil burned with envy. He turned and examined the boy, laughing harmlessly with his son, at a table for squires, the commoner, the weak outsider, the youngest of the bunch. He didn’t imagine how it was possible. Looking at him now, he looked barely eligible to join the Legion. He wondered for a moment if Argon was wrong.

But he knew that Argon had never been wrong, and that he never made pronouncements without a reason.

“Why are you telling me this?” MacGil asked.

Argon turned and stared at him.

“Because it is your time to prepare. The boy needs to be trained. He needs to be given the best of everything. It is your responsibility.”

“Mine? And what of his father?”

“What of him?” Argon asked.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Thor peeled open his eyes, disoriented, wondering where he was. He lay on the floor, on a mound of straw, his face planted sideways, his arms dangling over his head. He lifted his face, wiping the drool off, and immediately felt a stab of pain in his head, behind his eyes. It was the worst headache of his life. He remembered the night before, the king’s feast, the drinking, his first taste of ale. The room was spinning. His throat was dry, and at that moment he vowed he would never drink again.

Thor looked around, trying to get his bearings in the cavernous barracks. Everywhere were bodies, lying on heaps of straw, the room filled with snoring; he turned the other way, and saw Reece, a few feet away, passed out, too. It was then he realized: he was in the barracks. The Legion’s barracks. All around him were boys about his age, and there looked to be about fifty of them.

Thor vaguely remembered Reece showing him the way, in the late hours of the morning, and his crashing on the mound of straw. Early morning light flooded in through the open windows, and Thor soon realized he was the only one yet awake. He looked down and saw he had slept in his clothes, and reached up and ran a hand through his greasy hair. He would give anything for a chance to bathe—although he had no idea where. And he would do anything for a pint of water. His stomach rumbled, and he wanted food, too.

It was all so new to him. He barely knew where he was, where life would take him next, what the routines were of the king’s Legion. He was happy. It had been a dazzling night, one of the finest of his life. He had found a close friend in Reece, and he had caught Gwendolyn looking at him once or twice. He had tried to speak with her, but each time he approached, his courage failed. He felt the pain of regret as he thought about it. There had been too many people around. If it was ever just the two of them, he would gain the courage. But would there be a next time?