Chronicles of the Overworld Book 1 — Nihal of the Land of the Wind (8 page)

Nihal couldn’t take her eyes off the dragon. At long last she had one before her. She was in such a trance that she barely noticed Soana was speaking to her.

At last, when Sennar jabbed her with his elbow, she shifted her attention to the knight and was stricken.

Fen was a young man, though not a youth. Tall, imposing, with a beauty Nihal had thought existed only in statues. It was clear that his armor shielded a lean, athletic physique. Chestnut curls covered his head. His face was a perfect oval. His lips, full and well formed, curved upward in a bold smile. His eyes were a deep green, the color of the Forest in the spring, the green of all the emeralds in the Overworld.

Nihal thought he looked handsome, strong, and brave. She blushed as she mumbled a few incoherent words.

Fen smiled at the two teenagers. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Soana has told me a lot about you,” he said. “And I have to say, Sennar, I’ve never seen anyone pet Gaart as if he were a kitten!”

He turned back to Soana and tenderly touched her arm. “Has it been a difficult journey?”

“Not at all. We’ve been enjoying ourselves. It’s a lovely summer.”

“I don’t like you to go around on your own in times like this.”

“Nonsense,” she said, with a flourish of her hand. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“I’ll escort you to the royal palace, anyway.”

The knight said no more. Ignoring Soana’s amused protests, Fen took her in his arms and gallantly set her on Gaart.

“I’ve managed to find horses for you kids,” he said. “One of my squires is waiting for you at the border.”

Nihal found her tongue again all at once. “Can I ride the dragon, too?”

“I’m sorry, Nihal, but Gaart won’t take more than two riders.”

“He’s … he’s so beautiful,” Nihal chattered. Then she scolded herself for sounding like such an idiot.

Fen laughed heartily. “Did you hear that, Gaart? It’s your lucky day!” Then something at Nihal’s hip caught his attention. “How about that sword. Now that’s beautiful.”

“Sword?”

“This one.” He reached out his hand to touch the hilt of Nihal’s sword.

Nihal’s ears were aflame the second Fen’s hand brushed against her hip.

“Soana tells me you want to be a warrior. How are you at fencing?”

Nihal’s gaze was lost as she looked back at the knight. “Who, me?”

Sennar rolled his eyes and jabbed his friend a second time with his elbow.

“I’m not bad.”

“Excellent. When we get to the royal palace at Laodamea, we can go a few rounds. That way you can show me your stuff.” Fen mounted Gaart and wrapped his arms around Soana. The dragon took flight.

Nihal was breathless.

Sennar put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ve got to get the horses. Let’s go.”

“Okay,” she said absently.

Nihal could think of nothing but Fen as she and Sennar rode through the heart of the Land of Water. Even Gaart was overshadowed.

She wondered what on earth had gotten into her. After all, she’d seen more men than women in her life. And Fen was just a warrior, nothing else. And yet, if she thought about those eyes …

“He’s not your type,” Sennar said with a sly grin.

“What?”

“What, do you think I didn’t notice the way you were looking at Fen? I have to say, it was quite a bold glance,” he said slyly.

Nihal blushed. “What are you talking about? I was looking at the dragon!”

“Oh, come on. You can confess all to your friendly enemy.”

“I wasn’t looking at Fen,” Nihal repeated. “It’s just that he’s a Dragon Knight and I want to be a warrior. And his dragon is so beautiful. And his armor, and his weapons.”

“Look, it’s no surprise that you like him. He’s tall, muscular, strong. And he’s a knight, which is practically the same thing as a hero, right? You’re so touchy!”

Nihal didn’t dignify his comment with a response. She clutched the reins and tried to think of something else. But whenever she closed her eyes, she imagined Fen and her heart beat faster.

After a few minutes of silence, Nihal stopped sulking and asked Sennar, “You said your father was squire to a knight. What do you know about the Order?”

“The knight my father served rode an Azure Dragon. It’s a different species: smaller, kind of like a big snake. Fen belongs to the Order of the Dragon Knights of the Land of the Sun, an ancient order. Nowadays, their dragons are bred only in the Land of the Sun, but a long time ago it wasn’t like that. The dragons came from different lands, and the warriors weren’t subject to any monarch. They were bound only to their own dragons and to the Order, and they lived basically like mercenaries at the service of the highest bidder. During the Two Hundred Years War, almost every army counted a Dragon Knight in its ranks.”

Nihal listened attentively.

“When peace came, the Order practically broke up. Some of the knights stayed in the Land of the Sun and formed the Academy of the Dragon Knights, while others left the Overworld by crossing the Saar River or the Great Desert. Ever since the beginning of the war with the Tyrant, when all the free lands combined their armies into a single great army, the Dragon Knights have served primarily as generals and commanders. Now, they answer to the Council of Sorcerers. That’s all I know.” He paused a moment, then added, “Can I offer you a piece of advice? If I were you, I wouldn’t think too much about Fen.”

But Sennar might as well have saved his breath.

Once again, Nihal was lost in the memory of the Dragon Knight’s gaze.

Nihal’s amazement grew as they went. For many miles inside the Land of Water, there was no apparent change in the landscape. It was still primarily plains, perhaps a bit greener than those that surrounded Salazar, but still the same old flat, boundless sea of grass.

Then, out of nowhere, streams began to appear. It was as if they came up out of the earth like blood flowing slowly from a wound. At first, they were just trickles, an arm’s span wide, and not very deep, but soon they widened into much more ample waterways that flowed into proper rivers.

Water dominated the landscape. There were rivers everywhere: clear ponds, little streams that cut across the land like tears. Multicolored fish darted amongst the rushes that grew in the crystalline waterways and long weeds swayed gently in the currents. The color of the grass was blindingly intense. This was the kingdom of green and of water, a pure land bathed by a thousand rivers and adorned with scores of trees.

Nihal was goggle-eyed as she looked around. The vision that had come to her in the clearing came to mind. Maybe this was the land where the spirits of nature showed all their power, the place of endless forests.

“Close your mouth, Nihal,” Sennar teased, but he, too, was captivated by the splendor around them.

Slowly, the first villages began to appear on the pockets of dry land between the waterways. Frequently, groups of stilt houses extended all the way to the rivers. It seemed that people in that land had found a way to live in harmony with the lush nature that surrounded them.

Sennar and Nihal passed from one marvel to the next, but the best was yet to come. After half a morning’s brisk ride, the two travelers reached the most incredible building they’d ever seen.

A massive castle made of big square stones, it stood on the edge of an enormous waterfall. Water flowed over its many buttresses and then separated into a myriad of rivulets that plunged furiously into an abyss at least sixty cubits deep, where they ended in an extraordinarily blue lake. The main entrance stood in the central part of the waterfall. There, in front of the castle, Fen and Soana stood waiting for them.

A group of pages greeted the visitors, welcomed them and escorted them to their rooms, which were adjoining and overlooked the waterfall.

The view from the windows was spectacular. When she looked out, Nihal wasn’t able to tell whether she was seeing the water in the lake or some trick of the eye that made it seem the sky itself had descended to earth.

She stood there, entranced, until Soana knocked on her door. The moment had come to meet the rulers of the Land of Water.

Soana led Sennar and Nihal to the heart of the royal palace, a perfectly round room topped with a semispherical crystal roof through which the waterfall was visible.

It was like being in another world. Sennar and Nihal, their noses in the air, stared at the play of water as it remolded the outlines of everything on the other side of the roof; when Galla and Astrea made their entrance, it almost caught them off guard.

Nihal had never seen a water nymph. Astrea walked as if propelled by a light breeze and seemed hardly to touch the ground. Barefoot, she wore a delicate gown that enveloped her slender body. Her hair, which was transparent like pure water, disappeared at the end of its many whorls into the surrounding air. It was clear that she belonged to a different order of being than humans. The queen of the Land of Water was a direct emanation of nature.

Galla held Astrea’s hand. The king was a simple human being. Although there was something delicate about his features that made him seem very young, he looked just like any other ponderous land dweller standing there beside the nymph.

The two peoples had always lived side by side in the Land of Water. For a long time, they had put up with each other while trying to limit their interaction as much as possible. The humans lived in graceful villages built in clearings or on pilings, while the nymphs kept to themselves in the woods.

The marriage of Galla and Astrea, however, was the first mixed marriage in the land. It ushered in a new era.

Galla was part of the royal family. Even though they lived in the same territory, the two peoples did not have common institutions. The Land of Water was governed by the humans, who sat on the King’s Council. The nymphs had a queen of their own whom the humans barely acknowledged, at least until the young Galla had had the bad taste to fall in love with Astrea.

The union met with hostility on both sides. Galla’s parents complained that they had never seen a man marry one of those diabolical creatures. What was more, Astrea was neither a queen nor a princess. She was a common plebian who spent her time romping half naked in the woods.

The nymphs, for their part, forbade Astrea any further contact with the man. He was a human—that is, an uncouth being, incapable of living in harmony with the primeval spirits.

But Galla and Astrea would not give up. They continued to see each other despite the interdictions and never stopped dreaming of a life together as they broke every one of the unwritten laws on unions between nymphs and humans.

From the day they were married, many things changed.

The king and queen decreed that traditional divisions must disappear; the two races were to cooperate. To that end, they arranged for villages to be built in which humans and nymphs would live side by side. The experiment was successful. Initially, the two groups looked upon each other with suspicion, but life in common gradually led to acceptance.

Astrea addressed Soana. “My lady sorceress, it pleases me greatly that you have returned to visit us after such a long absence. My people and the Council need your wisdom. There are terrible rumors going around, and my heart tells me that the Tyrant’s power is constantly growing.”

At those words, her consort squeezed her hand and looked at her tenderly.

“I thank you, Queen,” replied Soana, “but as you well know, my contribution to the decisions of the Council holds little weight. This is why I have brought before you Sennar, my most promising student. I’ve had the opportunity to discover and help him refine his prodigious talent, and I am certain that he will be a great help to our world under tyrannous oppression.”

Galla looked with liking at Soana. “I believe you are right, Soana. It may be that this young man is the element the Council has long been awaiting, ever since Reis stepped down: a strong guide who can show us the way to freedom.”

The young sorcerer cleared his throat. “All I hope, for now, is to be able to make my contribution to the struggle of the free lands against the Tyrant. I don’t know what plans destiny reserves for me, but I am flattered by the faith all of you place in me.”

As Sennar spoke, however, Astrea’s full attention was on Nihal. She stared with such intensity that Nihal began to feel uncomfortable.

“But this girl in your retinue, Soana …” The queen spoke no further, as Soana begged her with a glance to be silent.

Nihal was confused. She wondered what Astrea had been about to say and why she had studied her so intensely. She was tempted to ask Soana to explain, but the group had already broken up, and everyone was taking their places at the long table at the center of the hall.

Nihal followed the others, still preoccupied, until the sight of the lavish table swept away all of her musings. One free seat remained, and it was next to Fen.

Nihal felt her stomach flutter. Her heart began beating wildly, and for a moment she worried her fellow diners might notice. She feigned composure as she went to the table, but just as she moved back her chair, Fen gave her a luminous smile.

Darned ears
, Nihal thought, as she felt them turn bright red.
And darned knees. Why in the heck do you have to go all shaky like that?

Sennar, who was sitting directly opposite Nihal, winked at her in affectionate mocking.

Soana sat at Fen’s other side. For the entire duration of the lunch, she spoke with Galla and Astrea about the war and the Tyrant. Only rarely did she turn toward the knight, but he was very solicitous of her comfort, pouring her drinks, smiling at her, and brushing his hand against her knee beneath the tablecloth now and then.

Nihal tried to stay calm. She planted her eyes on her plate and set to eating in great haste. She didn’t taste a bite. She didn’t take part in the conversation. She was aware only of the presence of the knight at her side. It was like being next to a fire. And furthermore, she could smell him—no particular scent, just the smell of his skin. She sat there, head bowed, trembling inside.