Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy (62 page)

“
Yes, it is. I love it. Believe it or not, it
provides
the same amount of protection that a suit of armor does. You should feel
this material!”

Forgetting that she was formally addressing a queen, Sarah hurried over to Callé’s throne. More interested in the dress than the story Steve was relaying, the queen rubbed a piece of the
fabric
between two fingers.

“
It feels like silk. This has the strength of
armor
??”

Sarah laughed. “That’s exactly what I said after Kharus told me the same thing.”

“
Impressive. I am glad ye have returned
safely
, Sarah.”

A sudden disturbance attracted everyone’s attention. Several of the soldiers let out shouts of surprise. Darius had emerged, slowly limping towards his companions.

“
Darius! Are ye well?”

“
How the ruddy hell are ye, Darius?”

“
Ye have a gift from the dwarves,” Rhenyon stated, turning to go through the pile of belongings Sarah had teleported back. “Hold still for a moment.”

With Darius outfitted in his new armor, the injured soldier moved to stand next to his captain. “Why did they gift me with armor?” Darius asked miserably. “I lasted all of, what, ten minutes into the first battle? What kind of soldier is that, anyway?”

“
Join the club, mate,” Pheron whispered back. “We were sent away during the heat
of the battle.”

“
What? Who eradicated the guur then?”

“
Sir Steve, the captain, and Breslin. It was sir Steve who destroyed the female guur.”

While Pheron attempted to restore Darius’ self-esteem, the queen sat, mesmerized, while Sarah recounted some of their more harrowing exploits.

When their story had been told for what felt like the hundredth time, the king and queen both took their respective places on the thrones. Kri’Entu leaned forward, addressing Steve.

“
Ye may be interested in meeting the newest liaison to this castle.”

“
Umm, okay.”

“
May I present Pheris, newly-appointed
liaison
to the griffins.”

“
Pheris? The same Pheris who –”

“
The very same. A contingent of griffin
visited
the castle not long after yer skirmish to express their gratitude for yer gift of the elixir and the meal. We started a dialogue, and am now pleased to say a new human-griffin alliance has been forged. Ye have my thanks, and the thanks of the kingdom of Lentari.”

A familiar griffin appeared, quietly taking up residence close to the queen. Pheris bowed in Steve’s direction. Bemused, he returned the bow.

“
May we see the portal key, please.”

Always the smart-mouth, Steve blurted out his response before his mouth could censor itself.

“
Which one? The new one or the old?”

“
Sorry? Have ye more than one?”

Nodding, Steve pulled out the green portal key, presenting it to the king. Still standing beside the queen’s throne, Sarah retrieved the sparkling purple key and handed it to Ny’Callé.
Confused
, the queen met Sarah’s eyes.

“
Ye need two keys to activate the portal? I thought ye needed just the one.”

“
They do,” the king confirmed. “This,” he held up the key he was holding, “is the key that my father presented to the Scribes nigh thirty years ago. I do not recognize the purple key.”

“
That is the new one,” Steve explained. “It wasn’t until the purple one there was practically
finished
when Sarah somehow managed to teleport the gate key from our world to here.”

The king’s eyebrows shot up. He turned to Sarah. “Ye teleported that from yer world? How?”

Sarah shrugged, spreading her hands. “I wish I knew. I’ve tried countless other times to see about teleporting something else, but nothing has worked. I just don’t know what I did to do it the first time. It’s very frustrating.”

“
I will consult Shardwyn. The level of jhorun necessary to move an object between worlds, no matter how small it may be, is unheard of. There must be some type of explanation.”

“
Well, when you figure it out, please let me know, too.”

“
I will, Lady Sarah.”

Steve stepped forward and bowed to the king and queen. “Umm, I don’t know if this is a good time to ask this, but is your son packed and ready to go?”

“
Mikal is indeed ready to depart, and depart he will,” Kri’Entu said, “but that will be
tomorrow
. Tonight, we feast in yer honor.”

A small groan sounded from somewhere
behind
Steve while several soldiers snickered. Careful to hide his rolling eyes from those of royal persuasion, Rhenyon sighed.

The celebratory feast held in the Great Hall was no less spectacular than those held by the dwarves. Musicians lined the hall, encouraging passersby to dance a jig or two. Heavily laden tables of food were everywhere, tempting even those with full bellies to have another morsel or two more. Everywhere they walked people stopped what they were doing and bowed, murmuring their names as they passed.

Rhenyon surprised Sarah by asking her to consent to one last dance. Giving the grinning captain one of her famous million-dollar smiles, and a small curtsy, Sarah allowed herself to be led out into the throngs of people, all dancing a slow waltz.

Feeling a small tap on his shoulder, Steve turned, surprised to see the queen before him. She gave him a small curtsy as well, holding out her hand for him to escort her to the dance floor. Swallowing loudly, Steve bowed in return, and took the queen’s soft hand in his. Thanking his lucky stars that his wife had talked him into taking a ballroom dancing class several years ago, Steve
managed
a passable waltz, guiding the smiling
monarch
around the dance floor without once stepping on her feet. He even spun her through one turn, much to the queen’s delight, her eyes opening wide with amazement.

Feeling another small tap on his shoulder, Steve turned again, discovering himself face-to-face with the king.

“
May I cut in?” Kri’Entu politely inquired.

“
By all means, your majesty.”

Finally able to breathe again, Steve ran a shaking hand through his hair. Where was his wife? A quick scan of the dance floor provided the answer: dancing with the young prince. Mikal, it would seem, had been well trained in the finer art of dancing, leading a laughing Sarah through several styles of dance, even spinning her much more elegantly than he had ever been able to.

“
Show off,” Steve muttered, chuckling.

****

The following morning found everyone
assembled
in a smaller chamber off the Great Hall. Looking around the richly decorated room, Steve realized he hadn’t ever been in this part of the castle before. Tapestries lined the walls, and numerous tables were scattered about. Maybe this was a conference room of some sort? Steve shrugged inwardly. Giving his immediate
surrounding
a quick, cursory glance, he was
startled
to discover that the room didn’t contain a portal or at least something he could recognize as one.

Walking over to the far wall, Kri’Entu gave several tugs to the huge floor-length twenty foot tapestry that was hanging unobtrusively from several pegs. Dislodged from its holders, the tapestry plopped to the ground, revealing a ten foot tall door frame, complete with ancient runes carved onto every square inch. This time, the carved relief depicted castle R’Tal, in its entirety. There, smack in the middle of the closed drawbridge was a hole. A keyhole.

The king turned to the Nohrin. “Sir Steve, if ye please.”

Figuring this would be a great time to test their new portal key, Steve stepped forward and inserted Maelnar’s latest creation, automatically twisting it clockwise. Returning to his wife’s side, together they watched as the newly
activated
portal rapidly came to life. Grinning like a couple of enthusiastic school kids, Steve and
Sarah
each held their breath as the familiar chiming was heard. The surface of the wall fuzzed out, replaced by a very welcoming scene: a comfortable sitting area, with a window overlooking an immense Victorian garden.

“
Okay, kiddo,” Steve said, grinning down at an amazed Mikal, “ready to check out another world?”

Nodding his head in wonder, Mikal looked back at his parents. The king was smiling, nodding his head in encouragement while the queen was doing a remarkable job of not bursting into tears.

Taking Mikal’s hand in her left, while simultaneously taking her husband’s in her right, Sarah led them into the portal, leaving the Kingdom of Lentari behind.

“
Are we back? Is this really home?” Sarah ran to the window to look outside. Sure enough, she could see the beginnings of the Victorian garden on the southern side of their newly inherited mansion. There, parked out front, was their Hyundai Santa Fe. Turning, she saw the young prince waving enthusiastically at his parents, still visible in the open portal. The Kri’yans, however, were snapping out last minute instructions to their son.

“
Ye are to be on yer best behavior at all times, young man. Do ye understand?”

Mikal sighed. “Yes, father.”

“
Do as ye are told. I do not want to hear of any disobedience, is that understood?”

Another sigh. “Yes, father.”

The king’s tired eyes swiveled to Steve’s. “Keep him safe.”

“
Count on it, your majesty.”

With that, the portal faded back into the carved likeness of Lentari. The sudden quietness of the house spooked Sarah. Nervously, she looked around.

“
This feels so weird! After all we’ve been through, I can’t believe we made it back. I mean, we must have been gone at least two or three weeks, right?”

Steve was nodding. “I’m figuring at least a month.” He absent-mindedly patted his pockets. “Without a watch, I really have no idea how long we were gone. I usually just check my cell for the date and time, and I don’t have my cell anymore. We need to find a phone. We have some serious damage control to do, m’dear.”

“
Could your cell be in the pack?”

He thought a moment. No, he was pretty sure his cell was still a resident of that shabby cottage where they were temporarily held prisoner.

“
No, it’s gone. Gonna have to get a new one. What about yours?”

“
It’s not in my purse, or else I would have seen it. Wait! We had it charging in the car just before we got here, remember?” Sarah took Mikal’s hand as she moved to follow her husband down the two flights of stairs. Blinking profusely, they emerged into the bright sunshine. Without stopping to admire the scenery, Steve went straight to their SUV, checking the interior. With a shout of triumph, he emerged with her cell. However, as was the case with most car cell phone chargers, when the car’s engine was turned off, the ability to charge the phone was turned off, too. The cell phone was dead.

“
Not a problem. We can charge it for a bit.” Certain he wouldn’t be able to find his keys, Steve climbed behind the wheel and reached beneath the seat to retrieve the spare. The Hyundai purred to life as soon as he twisted the key. Plugging the phone back into the charger cable, he was rewarded with a soft, musical chime as the cell recognized a valid power source. Mikal was staring open-mouthed at Steve. He climbed out.