The King's Ancestors Read online

  --The Wisdom of Fathers

  The week went by quickly, and it was time for Raven, Rebekka, and little Edward to head south to the Prescott dukeship to collect the summer tribute. It would be good for Rebekka to see her parents and Edward his grandparents. Master Fields and Aunt Jessica would take care of the affairs at the castle while They were away. So the three of them started south on their horses, Raven in the lead with little Edward sitting in front of him and Rebekka beside on her horse.

  Raven always liked getting out into the open air of Glenfair. He loved the outdoors which brought back plenty of good memories, including the first picnic he ever had with his wife Rebekka. During that outing they had encountered a rogue Tor bull that had charged Raven. The thought made Raven smile, for in the following summer feast he had killed the rogue and its mounted head still hung in the castle.

  Tor were large creatures similar to an ox but with three sharp horns, a very stout one in the middle between the eyes. One wouldn’t want to be in the way of a charging Tor because it could gore you from three different angles, unlike an ox which could only hook you from the side. The odd beasts had a low intelligence, and that made them easy game for hunters. It was for this reason the kings of long ago had prohibited the hunting of them in order to prevent their extinction. Only on special occasions, like the king’s feasts, could these creatures be hunted for food. These thoughts made him unconsciously scan the horizon for herds of Tor grazing. After a short period he spotted a few in the distance, which also made him look forward to the summer feast where Tor were barbecued with different spices from each dukeship.

  Those thoughts began to make him hungry, even though he had breakfast not long before. They had brought a picnic lunch with them and planned to stop for lunch at the only large rock outcropping in the valley of Glenfair. It was just the right distance for a lunch stop, being about the middle between the Prescott dukeship and the king’s castle.

  The bedrock that sprang up from the valley floor was about a mile long and half a mile wide and was called Hades Teeth because of the steep, sharp, jagged points the rocks formed. At one small alcove in the middle of this rock formation was Boiling Spring, a hot water spring that contained air that bubbled up along with the water. It looked at first that the pool where the spring came up was too hot to bathe in, but only the air bubbles made it appear so.

  As lunch time approached, they could see Hades Teeth looming before them, and in a short time they were at Boiling Spring. They set their blanket on the ground, spread out their lunch and began to eat. When they had finished, little Edwards eyes were getting heavy so they laid him down on the blanket. When he was asleep they decided to soak in the hot spring. As they both relaxed in the soothing warm water, Raven began to think of what they really had in Glenfair.

  No other kingdom he knew of enabled a king to go about unescorted with his family to any place in the entire kingdom, or to soak in a hot springs undisturbed. There was something to be said of being king of a small kingdom. And since crime was not a real problem in Glenfair, a king could focus on serving his people and not on combating evil. Raven knew however, that the peace and prosperity he enjoyed could disappear very quickly. The terrible war with the Wickshields was a reminder of that truth.

  He looked over at his wife Rebekka, enjoying the soothing waters with her nose wrinkled up a little by the sulfurous odor and he almost laughed. He never realized the depth of love one could have for another until Rebekka came into his life. She was his councilor and helper, but most of all his wife and the mother of their son and the child she now carried. As he stared at her Raven was overwhelmed with the truth that he had what most people search a lifetime for.

  Treasure it, he said to himself, for no one knows what tomorrow holds.

  Rebekka opened her eyes and looked at Raven staring at her. He knew because of her sensitive mental powers she could not endure his stare long without noticing and look back at him. He knew she could read his thoughts plainly, but he also knew she refrained from doing that intentionally because of her strong moral convictions on the privacy of another’s thoughts. But Raven also knew that they were so well tuned to each other that even without Rebekka's mental powers, they would each know what the other was thinking most of the time anyway.

  Rebekka now spoke: “We have such a good life here in Glenfair, do we not? We should never take any wonderful moment for granted!”

  Raven smiled his special smile reserved only for her and replied. “We need to be heading south to the Prescotts so we do not arrive late.”

  She nodded, so they both got dressed and woke little Edward, packed up their things and once again headed south.

  Bandon Prescott was informed that the king and queen along with their son Edward were not far off from the castle.

  We are unprepared, Bandon thought. The tribute celebration is not for a couple of days. Surely the king would see they were ill prepared for him and think poorly of them.

  Bandon hastened to call his staff and issued orders to immediately make preparations to receive the king in a fashion suitable to his station, and then hurried to change into more formal attire. Bandon had just finished dressing when Raven and Rebekka rode into the courtyard.

  He rushed down to greet them and was puffing a little as he addressed King Raven. “Your majesty, we had not expected you so soon. We would have been better prepared to receive you had we known you were coming early.”

  Raven raised his hand to silence Bandon, smiled and then spoke, “My dear father in law, we have come here early in an unofficial capacity only to enjoy your company and for you to visit with us and your grandchild Edward. It seems of late that the only time we see each other is at official gatherings, planned or not, so we decided to come early and see you.”

  Raven saw the apprehension and doubt in Bandon’s eyes and thought, sometimes the office of a king carries over into too many parts of life.

  He longed sometimes to shed that image and just be Raven, the son in law, but he knew that was impossible with Bandon. He respected the office of king to much to ignore it.

  So Raven said again, “We are here as family and hugged Bandon which took some of the stiff formality out of him.”

  A woman came rushing out to them and scooped a squealing Edward up into her arms twirling him around and getting fits of laughter from him. She set little Edward down and turned and smiled at Raven and Rebekka. Raven noticed that there was flour on the front of her apron and saw the disapproving look Bandon was giving her.

  She waved that off and said, “I did not have time to change and besides, nothing is going to keep me from having fun with my grandchild.” She then came over and hugged Rebekka and Raven.

  Rebekka’s mother, Lilly, was a woman who was full of life, practical and down to earth. He knew where Rebekka got many of her qualities from, and Raven always felt relaxed around her. He felt she always saw her son in law as the man he was, not the office he wore.

  He saw now that her focus was on Rebekka’s tummy as she exclaimed joyfully, “My how time goes by, you will have that child before you know it. Please, come into the hall and relax with some refreshment.”

  With that she eyed Edward and took off after him as he squealed with delight running into the castle.

  Raven and Rebekka both laughed at that and headed off after them with Bandon following, shaking his head in disapproval.

  Inside Raven shook hands with Gregory, Rebekka’s younger brother who was by now filling out into manhood.

  By the time supper came everyone was more relaxed. Even Bandon seemed to be enjoying himself and his grandson Edward. It was a splendid feast, as could be expected when Lilly Prescott oversaw the details, for she was a fine cook. After the meal was finished and the table cleared, Raven stretched and walked about the dining hall. Rebekka was talking to her brother Gregory and Bandon was playing with Edward, when Lilly came up to Raven and spoke to him with a smile on her face.

&nbs
p; “There was a time I wondered if you picked my daughter to be your queen because of her abilities, but now I know that you picked her because of the love you have for her. I can see it in the way you look at her. You chose her to be your wife not the Queen of this kingdom. I have never seen her more happy or radiant, and for that I want to thank you.”

  Raven knew now why Rebekka possessed such insight and straightforwardness, he could see it in her mother.

  He simply said, “Sometimes I am not worthy of the blessings of joy that have come to me.”

  Lilly’s face tightened and she spoke candidly. “You have had your share of heart ache already, more than most in a lifetime, do not begrudge yourself the blessings God hands to those who rightfully deserve them.” Then she hugged Raven and headed back to the kitchen.

  Raven watched her go and realized what a wonderful family Rebekka had, and he was glad to be part of it. Raven and Rebekka retired early because of the long trip, and little Edward went with his uncle Gregory to sleep in his room with him. They laid down tired but pleasantly content and both fell fast asleep.

  It was a beautiful day for another picnic, as they spread their blanket on the grass by a quiet pool of water. Rebekka and Edward sitting on the blanket made a picturesque scene in this beautiful land. Raven went over to the pool to get a drink and splash water on his face when he heard the cries and screams of his family. He whirled around quickly and saw a twainlar serpent coming toward them, he never imagined they could get so big, for this one was huge. He ran toward them as fast as he could drawing the ancient family sword as he went but he saw that he was not going to reach them in time. Just before he reached them the huge serpent opened the mouths on both of its heads and closed down on Rebekka and Edward. Raven screamed in anger as he swung his families sword into the serpent but it bounced off and had no effect.

  He felt a slap to the side of his face and he woke up with Rebekka shaking him and saying; “Raven, wake up. It is a dream, wake up!”

  Raven now realize he was dreaming and sat up in bed with a shaken, white faced Rebekka beside him.

  “I had a terrible nightmare,” Raven began to say.

  But Rebekka stopped him and said, “Don’t remind me, I know what it was, I saw it!”

  Raven was stunned, “You had the same dream too he asked?”

  “No,” she said, “you woke me up moaning and I could tell you were having a bad dream so I looked into your mind to see what was bothering you just in time to see the serpent try and swallow Edward and I, it was horrible. I had to wake you so I slapped your face and shook you.”

  Raven was feeling his face and now knew what it was that had brought him back from the dream. “It was too real, I have never had a dream like this except for the one of the Library of wisdom where Andronicus lives.”

  Rebekka frowned, “I do not think he would send a dream like that, not when he can just speak to me now in my mind if he wanted us. No this dream was something else.”

  Raven knew that to be true, for Andronicus was their friend and would not send something of such ill will.

  “Maybe it was just a bad dream and that was all there was to it,” Raven tried to convince himself.

  Rebekka only nodded, doubting Raven’s concession that it was only a bad dream.

  “I know I will not be able to go back to sleep soon after seeing that scene,” she said.

  “Nor I,” Raven added. “What shall we do to calm ourselves down?”

  Rebekka’s eyes lit up and she turned quickly to Raven and said. “I know what we can do, it will be fun. Remember long ago you asked me if I thought there were any secret passages in my own castle? I did some checking but found nothing, only some good possibilities. I had always hoped when we visited we could check those out, with your special abilities you would find anything if it was there. It is up in the northeast section of the castle, away from the sleeping quarters so no one will be disturbed if we go poking around.”

  “Let’s go,” Raven said as they dressed, both glad of the adventure that would take their mind off of the terrible dream. They quietly worked their way with a lantern to the northeast section of the castle. Raven tried to mentally picture which way they were turning and how far they were going in relationship to the rest of the castle. They went down a long hallway with rooms to either side and the hallway ended with a wall.

  “Here,” Rebekka said, “is where I believe there is something.”

  Raven tried to picture in is mind the relationship of the end wall of this hallway and the rest of the castle. It was difficult but then he said, “This hallway does not go all the way to the end of the castle’s north wall does it?”

  Rebekka smiled, “That is what I think too, I have stepped it off several times and each time I come up short to the far end of the castle.”

  Raven reached up and took a shield down from the wall, and moved an ornately carved table with a beautiful vase sitting on it. Once they were out of the way he began to look at the wall. “There is no subtle lines in this wall,” he told Rebekka, “we could be wrong.”

  Raven closed his eyes and with his hands felt over the wall and noted two small raised places the size of a marble. When he opened his eyes he could see them now clearly where before he could not.

  “What have you found,” Rebekka wanted to know.

  “Here and here,” Raven pointed out the small raised places opposite each other on the wall. Once Raven pointed them out, Rebekka saw them too. Raven reached up and depressed the small raised stones and waited. Nothing happened, which was perplexing to Raven.

  Rebekka looked at Raven and said; “Maybe the door is stuck from not being used in many ages, if ever.”

  Raven pondered this for a moment then shook his head. “There is something missing we have not done. The ancients built things too well for it to become stuck with the passing of time, but anything is possible.”

  Raven looked around for some time, but seeing nothing else that could be done, he looked at the floor in front of the wall. He could see nothing there as well that was out of place or could be used as a latch. When he was almost at a loss he turned to the walls directly to each side of the end of the hallway. Feeling those he found a similar raised stone and said to himself; this was hidden almost too well for even me to find. As he depressed the small stone the wall at the end of the hallway began to swing inward.

  Raven could see the excitement in Rebekka, she was so exuberant as she said; “Our castle has secrets too!”

  Since she was holding the lamp, she bounded into the passage before Raven could stop her and heard her saying as he followed. “The passage heads west and seems to turn after awhile and go south.”

  Then Raven heard the mechanical sound of a crossbow being released, like the one he had found in his own castle created by the ancients, followed by Rebekka’s scream. It only took him a couple of bounds to get to her but what he saw made him turn pale. A crossbow bolt had pinned Rebekka to the wall and blood was staining the garment on her side.

  Rebekka was frozen with fear of what had happened and only said; “The baby, am I going to lose the baby?”

  Raven on closer examination relaxed a little and reassured his wife, seeing the arrow was located to the edge of her side. Raven tried to pull the bolt from the wall but it was stuck fast in the stone so he drew his knife and cut Rebekka’s garments away from the arrow.

  And then relief showed on his face as he said; “It only nicked your side, you are not cut badly at all.”

  With that, Rebekka fell into Raven’s arms and began to cry. He held her and soothed her shaken emotions till they had both regained their composure, then said; “It is good that you were almost running down this passage. If you were walking slow, I would be mourning your death, the arrow shot a little behind you.”

  “This does not make sense, Raven, the ancients have never done anything to harm us, and this castle was my ancestor’s. Why would there be a trap such as this?�
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  “I do not know,” replied Raven. “Something is wrong here, we should go back and leave this place.”

  Rebekka was twisting and turning this way and that trying to get a good look at the wound in her side, but being about half way through her pregnancy her stomach made it a little difficult. “How bad is the cut,” she asked Raven.

  Raven looked again and told her it had almost stopped bleeding.

  “We should go on,” Rebekka said matter of factly.

  “What!” Raven exclaimed. “I do not think it a good idea to do so, it is too dangerous.”

  He looked at Rebekka and then moaned. She had that look in her eye that told him she was determined to press on. Sometimes a stubborn determination was not good for one’s health.

  He started to say something but Rebekka spoke first, “I recall hearing a story of two young men who in the face of danger said: We live for adventure.”

  “All right,” Raven said, “we will go on, only you stay well behind me, understand?”

  Rebekka nodded as Raven knelt and searched for the mechanism that had triggered the crossbow arrow. Raven found it then, a metal wire thinner than Rebekka’s hair, now broken by her foot. The crossbow was hidden back in the wall but Raven could not find a way to extract it. “This is a devious trap, almost impossible to detect. If there are more like it we will be in great danger.”

  Then he looked at Rebekka and said; “Contact Andronicus and ask him about this.”

  Rebekka nodded, she should have thought of that sooner. She closed her eyes and was silent for a long time. She finally opened them and then spoke.

  “Andronicus knows nothing of any secret passages in the other castles. To his knowledge, only the king’s castle had them and all of the dukes in the beginning knew of those. He also was appalled that there was any form of trap here and kept asking me if I was sure it was set by the ancients. I assured him because of the materials used, it could have been no other than one of the first ones. He mentioned that he should be the one to explore this passage, but I assured him you would be careful.”