Aela (6 page)

Ardu shook his head, ‘Who knows what riches he had been offered and by whom. He also tried to take Aela as well, but that failed.'

‘It doesn't mean that he won't be back to try to snatch her a second time. We must guard her well,' exclaimed Eena, shaking her head in disbelief.

‘The best thing to do is to take a number of our fittest warriors to follow their tracks into the forest, to try to find out where they have taken Rom.'

‘I want to go with you, Ardu and your men to help rescue him,' pleaded Aela.

Eena intervened, ‘No, that is not possible, I do not want to lose you as well. Guards, escort her to my chambers, where she will be safe for the time being.'

Two guards stepped forward, taking up their positions on either side of Aela, saluted Eena, then led Aela away.

‘I don't see why I can't go with Ardu. It is not fair to also imprison me as well,' complained Aela as she was escorted away by the guards.

‘You must act with speed Ardu. We have to get Rom back at once or our plans are ruined,' urged Eena.

Ardu nodded his head in agreement. ‘I will be away, in the blink of an eye of an eagle.'

Ardu disappeared rapidly into the gloom of a side tunnel. His brisk footsteps echoing in the confined space. Eena let out a deep sigh, life generally never seemed to turn out as expected, no matter how things were carefully planned. She slowly walked to the back of the cavern and disappeared behind a tall rock into a secret passage. Suddenly Eena emerged into her chamber where Aela had been taken by the guards.

Aela was sitting on a couch impatiently picking the material of her long skirt with her fingers. She rose as Eena suddenly appeared in front of her. ‘Let me go, Eena, I am no use to you and Ardu,' urged Aela.

‘You my dear, are very necessary to our plans, so stop asking me the impossible. I want you to meditate, then I shall take you into a trance to find out what has happened to Rom, where he has been taken to and if possible, who is behind this plot,' commanded Eena. ‘Now sit down and we shall start the meditation.'

Aela was asked by Eena to commence breathing slowly, to relax her arms, legs and then her body allowing her mind to become empty of thoughts about every day life, to lift her spiritual self to a higher level towards the white light. Aela began to feel she was flying like an eagle over the forest trees, she was free and weightless as she soared in the sky.

Then images came to her of men pushing their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest. One of the men she recognised was Rom, being pulled along by one of the other men. Then she spied Croan at the front of the group, urging the men to walk faster. The next image was a circle of large standing stones of monolithic size with a wooden barricaded wall completely surrounding the structures. There were a crowd of people assembled in the middle of the stone circle. Her eagle eye spied a tall figure wearing a mask, her thoughts were this must be Juno.

‘What do you see Aela and what is the message?' Eena whispered into Aela's ear.

‘Croan is taking Rom to the Temple of the Sun to see Juno,' she replied in a soft whisper.

‘Why, why?' Eena burst out, eager to know Juno's plans.

‘Rom is special, special,' chanted Aela in a low voice.

‘Special, what does that mean Aela?'

‘I do not know. The picture is fading, it has gone,' replied Aela.

Eena was mystified and confused but realised Aela was not able to stay in a trance state any longer, so she gently brought Aela down to the present. Slowly Aela opened her eyes, she was no longer flying like an eagle and soaring across a forest.

‘Juno wants Rom and Croan is taking him to meet him in the Temple of the Sun. We must save him Eena. I am worried that Juno will harm Rom, he could kill him.'

Eena replied, ‘Just as well Ardu is already on the way, but we must warn him of Juno's plan to take Rom prisoner to the Temple of the Sun. I will send a messenger with the news, where Rom is being taken to and who is involved in the plot. Ardu and his men can sneak up to the Temple to rescue Rom and perhaps find out other information. I must go now Aela, to organise everything.'

Aela was left alone with her thoughts that somehow she must escape but she realised that she had to plan her moves very carefully.

In the meantime Brude was pacing up and down outside the Temple thinking to himself why did he have to wait for the approval of the council before he took action. It would be so much better for everyone to obey his orders instantly and without asking any questions. Somehow he was going to achieve absolute power over everyone in the community and if any person didn't agree with him they would be killed or banished from their clan. He smiled at the thought of all persons bowing to him like a god.

‘Glad to see you are already here to receive the leaders of the clans,' Uthor suddenly appeared in front of Brude.

‘Start the drums,' yelled Brude.

There was an immediate response from within the Temple. A rhythmic sound of drums was heard with the beat becoming louder and louder inside the Temple.

One could hear sounds of voices were heard at the bottom of the hill, then the scraping movement of footsteps. Soon, it was perceived that a group of people was slowly making their way up the main sacred road to the entrance of the Temple. Brude had already gone inside to receive his subjects, as befitting his role as High Priest. One by one the leaders entered the portal of the Temple, saluted Brude, then quietly sat cross-legged in a circle, each making sure they were placed correctly, according to their rank. With a swift gesture of his hand, the beat of the drums ceased. There was a heavy silence, as each face was lit up by the flames of the torches that were arranged around the inner circular walls of the Temple. Brude deliberately stood still in order to maximise the full effect he was making on all those who were present.

‘I have asked you all to assemble at my command, as there is a need to decide a plan to get the two runaways Rom and Aela back immediately,' raged Brude.

Marvo, one of the clan leaders stood up looking straight towards Brude. He was short of stature, stout, a fussy man with a waspish tongue, a gossip who had an eye for minute detail.

‘Why do we have to get Rom and Aela back? They obviously had decided to leave our community of their own free will. Perhaps you have a personal reason for wanting the two back, especially Aela,' sniggered Marvo.

There was a general murmuring amongst the other assembled clan leaders. Needless to say Brude was furious at this underhand slur on his reputation. ‘How dare you question my orders Marvo! You are here to obey me!' raged Brude. Both men stood glaring at each other across the floor.

The atmosphere had become tenser by the moment. Uthor intervened smoothly saying, ‘Marvo, you know that Brude has his reasons to have both of them back. Rom was one of our best warriors and Aela has the gift of the visionary sight. They are an asset to our community. We need them here and the sooner the better.'

Everyone looked towards Brude for confirmation of what Uthor had stated. Brude nodded his head, as he was too choked with rage to speak at this moment. Marvo sensed the mood change amongst the clan leaders, who were now agreeing with Uthor, and he did an about face, ‘I was only joking Brude. We should send out a small group of our best warriors to track down the runaways.'

The rest of the assembled members murmured their agreement to the plan. ‘Well, that's settled,' Uthor said. He turned to Brude. ‘Which warriors do you want to join the rescue party, Brude?'

Brude mentioned the names out loud, ‘These men are to be led by you Uthor and they are to leave with you at sunrise. Do not return until your mission is complete.' Then turning to Marvo with a broad smile on his face, Brude stated in silky tones, ‘You are to go with them to make sure my orders are carried out properly.'

Marvo began to protest, but he was cut short by Brude, ‘You must do as I order you and do not fail me,' whispered Brude into Marvo's ear.

Marvo knew when he was trapped, so he graciously bowed before Brude, ‘Your wishes are mine to obey.'

‘You can all leave now,' stated Uthor.

There was a general shuffling of feet and a soft murmuring of voices as the group filed out of the Temple. Marvo was one of the first to leave, and muttered to himself, ‘I do not want to go. I am too old and I do not want to die.'

Brude and Uthor were left together inside the temple, ‘That Marvo is so full of his own importance and he knows too much about people. He has a nasty tongue and is a gossip. He is someone I have to watch carefully.' muttered Brude.

‘I wouldn't place too much credence on his cleverness. He is a great opportunist, trying to twist situations to his own advantage. He thinks he is smart, but Marvo is really stupid,' replied Uthor.

‘I hope you are correct, but I am going to watch him closely,' growled Brude. ‘Now, go prepare your men. Do not fail me Uthor in this task.'

With a bow to Brude, Uthor turned on his heels and disappeared into the night. Brude continued to pace up and down talking to himself, deep in his own thoughts.

In the meantime Croan, Rom and the two guards were rapidly reaching their destination to be at the Temple of the Sun. They all climbed up a short rise, and saw situated beneath them the mighty Temple, an imposing circular construction of tall standing stones completely surrounded by a massive wooden wall, with numerous people walking in and out of the main gate of the fortified complex.

Turning to one of the guards Croan ordered, ‘Go down to the main gate, tell one of the sentries that I have got Rom for Juno. Go quickly now.'

The guard ran down the hill determined to carry out Croan's orders as speedily as he could.

‘Well, my task is almost complete. You, Rom will soon be in the hands of Juno.' Croan then started to laugh loudly. ‘We must be quick as Juno does not like to be kept waiting.' Croan gave Rom a sharp push in his back as if to emphasise the point and the trio began walking down the slope towards the main gates.

The word soon got around and people started scrambling towards the inner courtyard of the Temple as they were curious to see the prisoner. Juno was waiting to receive Rom and Croan. He was very impatient to come face to face with this famous warrior from the Temple of the Moon.

‘Hail mighty Juno,' shouted Croan, making sure he bowed very deeply. ‘I bring Rom to you as promised.'

‘Good,' replied Juno, ‘But where is the other prisoner, Croan? I commanded you to capture Aela as well,' continued Juno testily.

Croan realised that he was in a delicate situation. ‘I couldn't get close enough to her. Aela is surrounded by too many guards, but I brought Rom for you.'

Croan knelt before Juno. Then to emphasise his point Croan got up and dragged Rom forwards, ‘Kneel before the mighty Juno.' Croan pushed Rom to the ground.

Juno was distracted for a moment. He looked straight at Rom. ‘So we at last come face to face. How is my rival Brude? I do hope he is sprightly and fit!'

Juno let out a hearty snort.

‘He was looking well last time I saw him' replied Rom evenly. ‘Enough of these pleasantries. What I want to know is what are Brude's plans? Is he going to attack us soon?'

Juno glared straight at Rom. ‘I do not know,' quickly replied Rom.

At that answer Juno completely lost his patience, He strode up to Rom placing his face close to Rom's. ‘Don't mess with me. You have attended some of the clan meetings, my spies have told me so. I know Brude does not like you and would like to be rid of you. Tell me the truth,' shouted Juno.

Rom could see that Juno was mad with anger and if he was not careful Juno could kill him instantly, but what to say?

‘Brude thinks of attacking you, but I do not know when and how he is going to do it,' Rom replied hastily.

There was an ominous silence for a few seconds. ‘You are lying, guards take him away. Prepare for a contest. You will fight our best warrior Arnor today or tell me the truth. That is your choice Rom. Out of my sight,' spluttered Juno in disgust.

Rom was marched away by the guards, his hands untied and then he was thrust into a prison cell. Rom realised that he was in a difficult position once again and he knew he would have to fight Arnor whether he liked it or not. He started pacing up and down his prison cell trying to think of some plan of escape. He heard a voice calling his name, ‘Rom, Rom where are you?'

He looked around the prison walls but no one was there. Rom wondered if he was going mad. ‘Who are you and where are you hiding?' whispered Rom.

‘It is I, Aela, I am sending my voice to you on the wind,' the voice wailed. ‘Speak to me through your head and I will hear you,' added Aela.

Rom sat down, on the ground and placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. A stirring sensation occurred within his body and pictures flickered through his head. He saw Aela sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes closed.

‘You must escape Rom and come to me,' demanded Aela.

‘But how Aela?' replied Rom. Then the picture started to fade and the connection was broken.

Rom opened his eyes and he was once more staring at a blank wall. Had he dreamt what had happened or did he really hear Aela's voice and have seen her face in his head? This was perhaps what happened when the priests shouted prophetic words when they were in a trance. Unlike others in his clan, he had not taken much notice of these happenings. He had always felt distant and different to other people, right from when he was a little boy. If only he had paid more attention to these matters and stopped filling his head with dreams of becoming a famous warrior. If should he had listened more to spiritual knowledge as well! He heard footsteps outside the prison door. There was a quick raising of a heavy wooden latch, and the door swung open, revealing Croan and a couple of guards.

‘Take him to the weapons hut so he is prepared for the contest,' ordered Croan.