Whispers of a Legend, Part One-Shadows of the Past (12 page)

I stared strangely at him. I nodded only. I
had heard the words and trusted him. “I did, but in all, Cono, I
know all I have been trained to do. Your words…Johannes says that
I’m too naïve. I will not be used. I know what my purpose is and
will complete it…”

“With me.”

“With you?”

“Kela, can you not understand? From the
beginning it was you and I. Within you now, even though your words
say different, you do not fear me,” his hand caressed my face. “No,
you don’t fear me. You feel the pull, the call within us. Us. Kela,
we are bonded and have always.”

“Bonded? With you? You want to be bonded
with a girl? I know of no other who would want such except my
brother. Johannes thought perchance I was to battle alone…,” My
voice waded for he shook his head.

He reached down and took my hand in his. He
brought it to his lips and kissed it. “You have a power within you
that few have seen. With following you within the tunnel that
night, the blast when we retrieved you, and if the legends hold to
be true, it will be needed. Do you doubt me?”

“I know of no other bonds that find one in
another’s arms.”

“In that I’ll admit. It may play that I
should keep my hands off of you, but in that also Kela I feel drawn
to you as I have never been drawn before. Tell me you don’t feel it
also.”

“How am I to compare?”

“Then I take it as a yes. I don’t want you
comparing. Not Johannes?”

The question took me by surprise. “He is my
friend only.”

“Good. I want your eyes only on me,” he
laughed. “This is good, but beware, Kela. I have not the best of
tempers and my patience is none existent at times. I put nothing in
front of my mission. Nothing.”

“Neither do I.”

His hand found my face again. “In this I know
we are to fight together, be together, Kela. I don’t know why King
Edulf has hidden you for these years. I don’t know why, but I do
know that we are going to the Payelaga Desert. I want you there
with me.”

“How? Openly flaunting…”

"I have thought of it. Johannes is going
with Falco. He can help. I will take you there as my page. No one
will question me. You will be beside me without question and we
will see where all leads. Are you ready to meet your destiny,
Kela?”

“Yes,” I said.

My life changed from that moment. No longer
was I alone in the world. Cono’s words touched me for within me the
truth was made known. In all I know that I hold not much knowledge
of the world outside my existence, but Cono lived within me. I told
him not my revelation. For although I trusted his word, I betrayed
not my heart.

Twiten cautioned me when Cono made his
intentions known to Twiten that I was to be by his side. Twiten
wasn’t certain of the connection of which I had no doubt.

“He lacks not in confidence. He has never,
but Kela you have to be aware that many will try to influence
you.”

Twiten walked with me no more than a week
after, a week that had been filled every day, every waking moment
with Cono. There had been no more kisses or promises made in the
dead of night, but I read in his eyes as he did mine.

“Is he not the greatest Sordarin warrior?” I
asked and knew well the answer. “Would it not be logical that I
would bond with one such as he? Who else? My brother has bonded
with Johannes. Surely, you have to believe I’m to bond.”

“I do not believe that any can dive or soar
as Cono. No, in all I will concede his prowess in battle. He is
an outstanding fighter, but he has offended
seasoned warriors with his confidence. I am certain he could defeat
almost anyone in single combat.”

“I see not the problem. How long do you plan
to hold me back? You hesitated not with Johannes. Am I not
stronger?”

“We can not make a mistake here Kela. It
could prove fatal.”

I laughed. “Are you scared, Twiten? Where is
your faith? You have taught me for well over four years. Faith in
the Great One. Cono feels the pull as do I.”

“Perchance, pardon my frankness, but the
pull you feel has nothing to do with being Euchoun,” he said
soundly…bluntly.

My eyes flamed as did my face. “Explain
yourself quickly, Twiten, because I will not be insulted in this
manner. I have sacrificed, denied my birthright to become what I
was born to do. Do not question me?”

His eyes met mine without anger. “It is not
you, Kela, I question. True, there is not another warrior with the
skills he possesses. And yes, you have trained but in that training
you have been sheltered from the world. Cono is an ambitious man,
my dear. I hold only to your interest.

“Even with your brother, King Edulf has had
to tread softly. After your father died, the old traditionalist
seemed content with the way all had emerged when King Edulf married
again. The prior queen hadn’t been accepted readily. Many felt that
Queen Althea hadn’t been the proper wife for King Edulf. With
Prince Archibaldus becoming the Heir Apparent the tribes accepted
without question his lineage to rule.

“But with the rules of lineage, Prince Falco
holds the direct line. Make no doubt, Kela, that your brother has
had his own difficulties to face, but over time he has emerged from
the shadow of your grandfather. In all it takes time to learn to
rule. One may know how to fight, but not how to rule. How to train
a unit of men for battle, but not how to bend a man to his will.
The King feels his course is set to become a great leader.

“But within the court one has to have their
eyes on all. Acknowledge the deeds of the brave, but in a blink of
an eye the brave can turn to an arrogance of believing they too
have been chosen. It would be a clash pitting you against your own
when we have a greater evil to defeat.”

I stared at him confused. “What are you
telling me, Twiten? That Cono is a traitor?”

“No, I’m saying there are those that hold to
their own ambitions and it might be said that of Cono. It has been
long prophesized at his birth that he was born to be a great ruler
one day. His grandmother believes it is Scarladin.”

Shaking my head severely, I said gravely, “I
have held my faith to you, Twiten, but in this you are sadly
mistaken. There is no other as loyal to Scarladin than Cono. How
dare you question him! Do you not believe I know my brother? I may
not have seen him for over four years, but if there was an issue,
Falco would detect such.”

“Black magic could shield Falco from his
gift.”

“You are wrong, Twiten. Cono saved
Grandfather. Falco says he has shown his bravery time and time
again. How dare you!” My unquestioned faith in Cono exploded at
Twiten.

“I want only to caution you. You are right.
Cono has never exhibited any signs of deceit. In all… the
prophesized could have only foretold his bonding with you,” Twiten
said. His hand pulled at his long gray beard as he did when he
pondered a situation.

“Cono said he felt from the first the power,
the bond.”

Twiten tilted his head to me and nodded.
“Perhaps…perhaps. I will think upon it.”

Within the next week preparation were made. I
was to go with Cono to the battle front. Twiten acknowledged we
were bonded. I had never felt so alive.

Chapter Nine

The
Payelaga
Desert

I smiled broadly dressed in my garb. A loose
button down brown shirt covered my chest which had been bound
tightly to give the appearance of male, uncomfortable, but a
necessity. My arms remained free. The leggings fitted so that the
shirt covered down to my knees. The sandals tied up my leg. A large
floppy hat sat on my head covering my braided hair which had been
twisted into a bun.

Falco wasn’t happy with my hair. “If this is
to work, she needs to cut it. One burst of wind and all will be for
naught!”

“I have faith it will stay in place,” Cono
countered, quite forcibly I thought. “She is to be my page. I will
tend to her needs and will worry about her appearance. The braids
under the hat should be sufficient. If discovered she is female, it
will be my reputation that will be tainted, Prince.”

My eyes caught Cono. I had never had someone
defend my needs before. I would have cut my hair for this journey,
but to my shame, the loss of my long hair would have been a great
sacrifice. I dreamed not of much, but in my return to my family I
saw myself dressed in the fashion of the ladies in the Pool in all
their finery with my hair pulled back in the most fashionable
manner. Not in the manner of a page!

Johannes said that most pages wore their
hair cut like a bowl had been placed on their head and cut around.
But I would not have to make the sacrifice. Not yet. Cono winked at
me. I blushed for he had that affected on me.

Johannes watched and, I believed, found the
whole of the situation amusing. Twiten found nothing amusing
constantly reminding of my mission of which I could never forget,
but I was to leave the Forest! Leave the Forest! In all I realized
that most would not found excitement in being deployed to a desert,
but in this I found freedom.

Gunilda left on the morrow. I hugged her
tightly. I wished I could have found some solace in the fact that
she was beyond my own excitement. She, too, had been a prisoner
within the realms of the Forest. Although she had no knowledge of
my adventured planned, I would have thought she would have been
concerned about leaving me behind. There was nothing. I refused to
contemplate her reaction. I was to go to battle!

It was a mild, cloudless afternoon, perfect
weather the day I arrived at the encampment. Northwestward, domes
lay visible along the horizon of mounds of rock formations.
Straight ahead, lines of tents mellowed the landscape edging the
desert sands along with scores of Sordarin warriors littering my
view, on the ground and above. Under my feet lay grass, brown and
brittle. But I was too preoccupied to notice the scenery.

I reflected upon on my view. In truth much
of the allure of my venture had left me. First of all, my journey
to the encampment had not only been frustrating, it had been
indubitably disagreeable.

I saw not Cono during this time. I reasoned
it was with reason to play this charade. Cono had made a stance for
me. Determined not to disappoint him, I endured the journey in
silence. Twiten allowed me only to transport into Yucca. From there
I was directed in with the other pages.

I found quickly I had not the freedom I had
around the Forest. Confined with giant stonewalls, a swirl of
activity surrounded me. Countless warriors interacted within the
frame. Wagons rode in and out all the day filled with supplies.
Walking toward the dusty center, a large burly man drilled out
orders for me even before I was introduced by Falco’s underfoot in
which Falco had ordered. I stood confused and not understanding
most going on around me.

I thanked the Great One that a young page,
Siegfried, took pity upon me. Kushner, the head of us, thought me
to be slow and seemed irritated that I would join the ranks at this
late date. Siegfried told me only to follow him in which I did. The
night was long. I slept not much. The room cramped, but each of us
had our own pallets. The noise bothered me. I had been used to the
sounds of the Forest. I had little privacy allot to me, but upon
the good side no one much noticed pages, insignificant as we were.
I held only to the thought that on the morrow I would be back with
Cono.

For the first time, I doubted our plan.
Harder still was the silence imposed upon me! Before I left the
Forest for some reason, all consented upon the fact that I should
appear mute! And above all keep my head down and never, Cono
reminded me, never look anyone in the eyes.

“One look into those eyes and all would know
they belonged not to a boy,” Cono cautioned in a sober tone. In
that I took to heart.

After the initial shock of all around me, I
reminded myself only that I followed my destiny. My reasoning
taught me that all a test around me. I watched the sun rise and
heard the horn sound. All rose without a word in the hall where the
cots aligned. We were summoned to ride within the holdgate. I was
on my way to Cono. I was on my way in battle.

Enduring the long flight to the best of my
ability, I leaned against the side walls of the holdgate. My
stomach unsettled with the swaying of the large cart. A sudden
resentment encompassed me to the unfairness of the male species to
be able to fly in the wind. Unlike me who had to be transported
within a transport cart filled with supplies of food, animals, and
weapons.

The stench overwhelmed me the closer we came
to our destination. I felt I couldn’t breathe with the sweltering
heat. My arms chafed with rubbing against the bounding of my chest.
The whole of the holdgate smelled of the foulest odors for the trip
was long. Never had I been more thankful than when I could feel the
fleogans ease their pace and felt their descent downward.

With all that is
good
! The holdgate’s door opened finally.
I felt a burst of fresh air, hot though it might have been, rush
in. Mingling with the other pages, I crept out the door when the
supplies had begun unloading. My intent focused only on finding
Cono. So enthralled with my new surroundings I didn’t noticed
everyone else had left. I turned abruptly hearing Kushner’s voice
bellowed out for me.

“Where is that boy?”

“I’ll take charge of my page.”

A voice walked soundly up behind me. Never
before I had felt relief with such a beautiful voice.

For a moment, I forgot all and met his eyes.
His eyebrows rose in a reprimanding manner. I bowed immediately
like a page should show respect. I could have cried. I ruined all
before my training began. Thankful now to lower my head so none saw
the brimming tears. I followed silently behind Cono.