The Awakening (40 page)

Alemar was shocked and saddened by her father’s words. She bowed her head solemnly and shook it from side to side. Giles laid his arm across her back to lend his support, and Clovis stepped forward protectively. She lifted her chin and smiled a dispirited smile at her two loyal friends.

“Whatever happens here, I will never forget you two,” she said so that only they could hear, and then she walked a few paces toward the King.

“You are mistaken, father,” she said sullenly. “It hurts me so to hear your words,” she replied, tears streaking her cheeks. “You have been sequestered for so long, I should not be surprised that you believe what you say. Could it be that you do not recognize he who stands beside me? Step forward, Iscaron, and meet your great, great, great, great grandson, Whitestar, King of Eleutheria, my father,” Alemar said, and she spread her hands out before her. “Who but he wore the silver diadem and the armor of Eleutheria with our crest emblazoned upon it?” she asked him, pointing to Iscaron’s chest.

Whitestar gasped and stepped back a pace. In his despair, he had not even looked upon the others standing with his daughter.

“Yes, it is true. The lost army of Iscaron, trapped beneath the frozen waters below the Pass of the Righteous, has been freed by the very demon who trapped it to begin with. The heat that is so destructive to our city has melted their prison walls and thus released them from their tiels of captivity. They have accompanied us here solely so that Iscaron and his tortured soldiers could glimpse their beloved city once more before they march to Sedahar to avenge themselves upon he who imprisoned them. Then their spirits will be released and they will be free for evermore,” Alemar explained.

The citizens of Eleutheria were now massed upon the battlements watching this incredible spectacle, craning their necks, hoisting their children upon their shoulders and listening as intently as they could to the dialogue on the plain before them.

“I have returned with hope, not despair! Join me, father! Help me to plant the seeds that will save us all,” Alemar implored him, and she reached her hand out to the King, with the pouch clasped in her fingers. “Trust me, father. Have I ever caused you reason to doubt me?” she asked.

Whitestar stood quite still for a while, contemplating Alemar’s words.

“You have been nothing but loyal and loving all these years. I have always trusted you in the past,” he admitted. “But what other conclusions could I draw? Soon after you left, the trouble began. The air grew hotter and hotter, and the snows began to melt. I could not help but believe that your interference was the cause of it all. After all, your brother kept telling me…”

The King stopped himself in mid-sentence and shook his head, as if coming to some kind of inner realization. He paused momentarily and looked back at the city, as if he was searching for something or someone.

“I wanted to believe in you, to think that you were doing the right thing, but Kalon.” Whitestar hesitated once again and cocked his head, deep in thought. “It was hard, Alemar, to deny the circumstances. Your brother led me to the trough of doubt, and I was thirsty for blame.”

He began to nod his head as if he had come to some conclusion before speaking again. Whitestar then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“I should not have suspected you, Alemar,” he finally said. “I was not thinking clearly. I have not been thinking clearly for quite some time,” he stated, as if he had just woken up from a long and deep sleep. “I have behaved like a foolish old man. How could I not have seen it? Can you ever forgive me, daughter?” he implored her.

Cautiously, he walked toward her, and she stepped forward boldly to meet him without even a moment’s hesitation. When they were close enough, he embraced her, and she hugged him back, overjoyed to be by his side once again. A great cheer arose from the crowds above and spread up and down the walls in increasing waves that echoed resoundingly throughout the city.

Alemar loosened the strings of the pouch that she had been clutching in her hand all of this time and handed it to her father. She knelt down upon the wet earth and dug a hole in the ground with her fingers. She motioned to Whitestar to place a seed in the depression. The King knelt beside his daughter, removed a silver seed from the bag and dropped it into the hole, and she covered it over with some loose soil. Together, they repeated this exercise until the pouch was empty. Then they stepped away from the area and stood facing Iscaron and the massed army of their ancestors with their backs to Eleutheria and its expectant inhabitants.

The sun was beating down unremittingly upon the city and all of its inhabitants, as well as upon the partially frozen landscape. The running water from the melting snows quickly rushed into the indentations where the seeds had been placed and wiped out all evidence of their work. As everyone looked on expectantly, a tiny tendril of green swiftly poked through the surface where the first seed had been sown.

Soon, another and then another after that sprouted from the thawing ground and wriggled their way through the soft surface. With great speed, the sprouts grew into seedlings and the seedlings into saplings, feeding upon the moisture and warmth in the air and in the soil. The tendrils turned from pale green to a beautiful, silvery brown, as the shoots extended themselves upward and outwards. The roots spread out with lightning speed under the frozen ground, and from above the people could see them radiating from each seedling as they darted in all directions beneath the surface, lifting the ice in some places as they increased in length and breadth.

Beautiful silver leaves formed on the ends of each twig as it reached for the sky, and they opened wide to the heat in the air and sucked it in, absorbing it ravenously. The roots sought out the warmth below the surface and drew it out of the soil, converting it to energy and growing all the faster by virtue of it. They multiplied at a breathtaking pace and sent tremors of power reverberating through the ground all around the city. Before long, Eleutheria was ringed by a mighty wall of enormous trees, each with leaves as broad as saucers and trunks as wide as the Stones of Carlobad.

The moisture and the great heat that permeated the atmosphere was rapidly dissipating, and the temperature was dropping precipitously, concurrently with the rapid growth of the trees. They consumed the devastating humidity and blistering hotness as if they existed solely to provide them with sustenance, and they grew and grew with abandon.

A groaning sound could be heard everywhere as the soft slush and ice began to constrict and re-freeze. The pools of standing water swiftly turned solid once again, the majestic ice towers turned opaque from the cold, and the walls of Eleutheria were soon marked for all time with a new design. Formerly smooth, they were now streaked and variegated from the rivulets that had been so abruptly halted in mid-stream and now suddenly re-frozen as they dripped down the great walls.

Whitestar grasped his daughter’s hand and faced the people of the city. He had so much to say, but his words were drowned out by the earsplitting cheers raining down upon them from atop the walls. Instead, he hugged Alemar tightly to him and kissed her tenderly and lovingly upon both her cheeks.

With her eyes brimming with tears, she saw through the blur that Iscaron had already begun his long march south, separated now from her and from the city by the barrier of trees. Silently, one by one, his eternally loyal soldiers turned and followed him. The ancient King looked back upon his cherished city once more and at Alemar as well, and she saw that the anguish which had been part and parcel of his character since the moment she laid eyes upon his tortured face, was gone from him. His features were relaxed and smooth, despite their pallor and decay. Iscaron raised his hand in salute and bowed deeply to the Princess. Alemar placed her hand upon her heart and then extended it toward him in a gesture of genuine love. She saw a satisfied smile break across his somber and time ravaged face, just before he disappeared over the hill and into the distance.

With her father’s hand clasped tightly in her own, and with Giles and Clovis close behind, they walked toward the gates of the city. The odor from the trees was as sweet as perfume and the cold breeze welcomed them once more to their home. The air was crisp and fresh, and a light snow had already begun to fall.

“We must prepare the army,” Whitestar said as they walked. “Will you ride at its head and lead it to my brother’s in Seramour?” he asked Alemar. “It is time we offered our strength to our brethren in the south,” he said to her just before she was swarmed by the throngs of people lining the frozen streets of the city.

Kalon watched in humiliation from his window in the tower of the castle.

How shall I ever face my father again?
he thought.
I have disgraced my mother and I have abased myself before all the people of Eleutheria. I cannot remain here. There is no future for me among my own any longer
, he deliberated sadly to himself.

While his Sister basked in the glory of her courageous efforts, a heroine to all the citizens of the city and the pride of the King’s eye, Kalon slipped out of Eleutheria unnoticed, solitary and forgotten, with merely the belongings that he wore and a satchel of food that would last him for no more than two days at best. With no word of farewell, no note left behind, he headed for the shelter of the distant woods.

Everyone will be happier if they do not have to see me any longer. In fact, they probably will rejoice in my disappearance. Mine will be a name, cursed and despised
, Kalon thought abased, as the shimmering southern walls of the city receded in the distance.
Even my own mother will cringe at the thought of me. Alemar has finally gotten what she has always wanted! She will be father’s only child once again
, he said bitterly to himself.

The Prince swallowed hard as he skulked away and the bile was bitter-tasting in his throat. Sticking close to the shadows, his steps barely left a mark in the soft ground, as it quickly re-froze around his horse’s hoof marks and immediately filled up with soft mounds of the new snow that was falling heavily all over the kingdom.

As quickly as my trail fades behind me, so will my existence be forgotten,
Kalon thought downcast, as he disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

Chapter Forty-four

“When all that they are is all they will be,

And the fires of change burn out on the sea,

When the winds of tomorrow blow back yesteryear,

And the past is the sum they have left to hold dear,

When they dare not move forward,

Yet they cannot go back,

When their sons and their daughters

Despise them their lack,

When betrayal seems better

Than staying the course,

When the most they can do

Is remember their loss,

When they find themselves trapped ‘tween

Their wants and their needs,

When the air that sustains them

Grows poisonous to breathe,

Beware. He comes hither…

He slips through their door,

A vision of beauty,

So arrant and sure,

A promise of salvation,

A seductive entreat,

A glimpse of tomorrow,

A victory so sweet,

He offers eternity,

He claims that he may,

Alas, all he gives them

Is darkness, not day.

And who will be left then

To show them the way?

Who in the tower

Will guide them this day ?”

Bethany closed the heavy cover and pushed the book aside. Rella had poured her some cider from a small vase and slid it toward the older Sister. She took a sip from the plain, pewter goblet in front of her and cleared her throat.

“Once again we are called upon, Sisters. This passage is quite clear about that much,” Bethany related.

“I cannot understand what compels some people to give in to his appeals,” Rella commented, shaking her head back and forth. “The Tomes speak of his falsity. Everyone has been warned. Nevertheless, he sends his servants into Talamar, and they flock to their sides,” she said, disgusted.

“They say that his charms are so seductive, many cannot resist him,” Violet replied, her eyes wide and innocent.

“Are they so enticed that they do not feel the wrongness of him?” Dahlia asked. “Weakness renders them susceptible,” the dark-haired woman practically spit out the words.

“It is not the Talamarans whom we need to discuss today. Their betrayal was no surprise to any of us,” Gretchen said. “Once again though, Parth has been mentioned and we cannot turn our backs upon the supplication. It could be disastrous for us all if we should,” she concluded.

“What say you of this, Tamara? Has Liam or Oleander given you any indication regarding what we are to do after you are gone?” Emmeline asked.

“No, Sister. I only know that I must leave here very soon. I endanger you all by remaining longer than absolutely necessary. And moreover, what we have held so dear and protected for so long has become a threat to us all. Of that, they were clear. I must depart as soon as I can,” Tamara responded.

“Could it be that one of us who will remain must confront the evil alone?” Rose asked of the group.

Lips pursed, “Perhaps. We do not know,” Gretchen replied, pensive and serious.

“Time will reveal the plan to us,” Bethany said. “It will do us no good to speculate on this matter. The Tomes never are specific. They only hint of things. They do not risk altering the weave by being pedantic and preachy. I have studied them long enough to know that what we learn from them is never specific. They are descriptive yet they never are particular, and usually the answers are before us already,” she concluded.

“If this answer is so obvious, it still eludes me nevertheless,” Violet admitted, looking down at the table.

“I did not mean to infer that the Tomes stated the obvious, Sister. The contrary is in fact the rule. What I really meant was that often we need only reexamine what we have looked at a thousand times already, and therein we discover the meaning that escaped us before. Things fall into place. I remember…”

“Oleander did say something that might be relevant here!” Tamara interrupted Bethany abruptly. “I had almost forgotten. How foolish of me,” she chided herself. “I had been thinking only of my own journey. I apologize, Sisters,” she said sincerely.

All the other women had turned their full attention on her and awaited her next words. A solemn hush settled upon the room.

“He said that we will be receiving many visitors here in the near future. He also said that perhaps some of them will help to define our new purpose. I can only imagine that one of them will be the one whom the Tomes refer to, if it is not one of us,” she concluded.

“Visitors, he said?” Dahlia asked suspiciously. “Did he also inform you how we will know whom to allow to enter the tower?”

“No, but I think we will know that, Sister,” Tamara replied, as if it was understood.

Dahlia’s face took on a sheepish expression, thinking that she should have realized that herself.

“You are so certain?” Emmeline asked.

“Yes, most definitely,” Tamara replied without hesitation. “I do not know why I am so sure, but I have no doubt that when the travelers arrive here, we will know which ones to trust,” she responded, feeling very confident about her opinion.

“You speak for us all, but you will be long gone when that occurs,” Jocasta reminded her. “We are the ones who must be sure of our ability to determine which strangers to admit into these premises.”

“When have we ever forbidden a wanderer from taking shelter here?” Rella asked the others.

“I cannot recall a time,” Dahlia declared.

“We have never turned a person in need away,” Emmeline confirmed. “Never.”

“And we will not do so now, when the countryside is racked with turmoil and the number of refugees grows steadily,” Gretchen concurred.

“Sisters. I have not suggested that we turn anyone away from the Tower. I merely said that we will recognize which ones to confide in and which ones we should merely offer sustenance and shelter to,” Tamara rejoined.

Emmeline stood up and leaned in to the table authoritatively. When she had garnered everyone’s attention, she spoke.

“Tamara has only just returned from a long and arduous journey. She has barely had a moment to remove her cloak and we assault her with questions. Let us convene this meeting later, after she has had a chance to refresh herself.”

“Forgive us, Tamara,” Gretchen said, embarrassed by the Sisters’ behavior, her own included. “Amidst all the changes, we forget ourselves,” she spoke for everyone.

“I take no offense, Sisters,” she said sincerely. “But, I would very much appreciate an opportunity to change my clothing and to eat something,” she continued, the thought of food sounding particularly good. “I always said that I think much better on a full stomach,” she smiled.

“Are we agreed then?” Gretchen asked the others, and everyone nodded forthwith. “Good. Let us reconvene in two hours. Is that sufficient, do you think, Sister,” she asked respectfully, turning to Tamara.

“I should think so,” the stout Sister responded gratefully.

“Very well, then,” Emmeline concluded. “Let us all spend the next two hours in contemplation. After all, we have much to consider, and the choices that will loom before us will require great care and attention. I should think that you will all relish the opportunity to ponder these issues.”

They all rose from the table and one by one made their way out of the chamber. Tamara and Emmeline were the last to depart, and they chose to walk together down the narrow hallway.

“May I speak with you privately, Sister?” Tamara asked, when the others were out of sight.

“Certainly, Sister,” Emmeline responded, though somewhat surprised by the request. “Follow me to my rooms,” she replied, and she led the way down the stairway. Turning backward, she asked concerned, “Is there something that you wish to tell me that the others should not hear?”

“No. I have nothing to say that I wish to conceal from anyone,” Tamara answered, uncomfortable with the secrets she needed to keep. “But, I would like to show you something that might upset the others,” she said.

“Am I of stronger stock, Sister, that what you have to reveal will not disturb me?” she asked, surprised.

“I believe you are, Emmeline. Besides, I need to disclose this to someone and you are the only one I feel comfortable confiding in just now,” she responded.

“If I can be of service to you Sister, then I am grateful,” Emmeline replied. “But I do not like the idea of keeping secrets from the others. We have never practiced the art of deception in the Tower before, and I do not wish to begin to do so now, when we are all already feeling the pressures of change so greatly. We must maintain our traditions in the wake of all else.”

“I agree wholeheartedly, Sister. And I would never ask you to keep what I am going to show you a secret. After I depart, you may tell whomever you please. By doing so now though, would draw attention to issues that are not relevant to the moment, and thereby might distract us from the more important event,” she said humbly.

They reached the wooden door to Emmeline’s room and the Sister pushed it open. No rooms in the Tower had locks, though they were heavy and insured one’s privacy thereby. The Sisters of Parth were never prone to prying into other people’s business anyway. Emmeline removed her cloak and placed it on the back of a chair by her desk. She walked toward the fireplace and was about to kindle the flame.

“May I?” Tamara asked the other woman, referring to the fire.

“Certainly, Sister, if you so wish,” Emmeline replied, a bit confused by the request. She stood aside and waited for Tamara to approach.

The heavy-set Sister raised her hands and closed her eyes. Emmeline watched in awe as fire burst from the dry kindling in the hearth and shortly roared into flame. A few of the logs that were piled up alongside the fireplace rose, one at a time, floated into the fire, and then settled upon the already burning wood. Tamara dropped her arms and opened her eyes once more. The sight of Emmeline’s intense stare was the first thing she saw.

“Yes, Emmeline, it was I who did that,” Tamara explained. “This is what I wanted to tell you, or should I say, show you?”

Emmeline stood perfectly still and did not speak a word. Although her expression barely changed, it was clear to Tamara that she was thoroughly shocked by what she just saw.

“On my way to visit Oleander and Liam, I was attacked in the woods by that horrid woman from Talamar, as I explained to the Sisters before. What I did not tell them was that just prior to being rescued by Premoran and Teetoo, I caused quite a ruckus all by myself,” she said, puffing out her broad chest.

“What exactly do you mean, Sister?” Emmeline said, composed and in control once again.

“I do not know exactly how I did it, or what prompted me to even try, but I had this strong feeling that the soil and the trees, all the organic and living things around me, were communicating with me somehow. I believe that the stress of the moment triggered it. I thought about concealing myself from the threat that had come upon me so swiftly, and I was able to raise a small maelstrom from the leaves and twigs beneath my feet. It concealed me momentarily, and I attempted to slip away during the distraction. Alas, I failed to elude those who attacked me, and I required the aide of the others in the end, but it was a revelation for me nonetheless. I had really never been exposed to such a situation before. We are so sheltered and safe here,” Tamara related.

“It is a revelation for me as well, Tamara. I had no idea that you had any magical abilities such as the one you describe to me now. Perhaps that is why you were selected for this mission,” Emmeline pondered.

“It seemed so natural Sister, that I hesitate to call it magic. My entire impression of the art has changed completely. And that is not the all of it. What I did not want to discuss before the entire group was what Oleander said to me in addition to what I already revealed to you,” she said.

“There is more? I am not surprised. I assumed that what you said was not the entire story, simply because you are known for your loquaciousness, Sister, and yet you told us of the events you so recently lived in fewer words than you normally used to describe your morning walks before,” Emmeline commented, smiling.

Tamara’s white skin blushed a deep crimson and she smiled back.

“I am not good at concealing things, Sister. I was afraid if I began to speak at all, then I could not stop myself”

“Why do you feel it necessary to keep this information from the rest of the Tower?” Emmeline asked.

“I was warned by Oleander to be discreet with this knowledge. He told me that the Tower is a magical place, and that those who reside within it have been absorbing the potency that infuses the very foundations of Parth. He also told me that it is not by chance that we are here; that the specific Sisters who reside here now, were meant to be part of the change.”

“I see,” Emmeline replied, trying to take all of this information in. “You mean the change in our purpose, after the map is gone?” she inquired.

“Yes, I believe that is partially what he meant. Oleander was not as specific as I would have hoped, but he did speak freely, it appeared,” she recounted. “What he was very clear about though, if I understood him correctly, is that my abilities are shared by all of the other Sisters. I am not the only one who is capable of magic,” she exclaimed.

“Is that possible,” Emmeline asked with her eyes now wide open. “Such a prospect is significant indeed. I cannot imagine where this will lead us. It is almost too difficult to comprehend,” she said, deep in thought. “But of the change, Sister? What change was he referring to, do you suspect?” she asked again.

“At times, he spoke in generalities. Therefor, I assume he meant all the changes that are occurring throughout the lands, with the passing of the trees and all. The entire world is in flux, and though the Tower had remained isolated from these events for the most part, they have finally reached our doors,” Tamara said. “What bothers me still is that I know he wanted to tell me more, but he could not for some reason. I questioned him about it, but he would not relent. I remember feeling very strongly that he was withholding things. I had this overwhelming feeling that he was saddened by something,” she remembered vividly. “Alas— What was I to do? I could not compel him to reveal things to me that he did not wish to.”