The Trials of Boy Kings Read online

  “Because they are. It's always easy to do the wrong thing. It's easy to destroy things and give in to darkness, like Trunculin does. It's always harder to do what is right. But we will find Gordon and we will win the war against Trunculin's evil. Now, we have a task at hand.”

  “I'll have to accept that … for now. But, are you sure we can reach this place even with the airship?”

  “No. But I think fate owed us some good news, don't you? Somehow I feel we are supposed to find him.” Santovan's maps called for them to go deep into the snowy mountains. Eventually they arrived near the location on the maps.

  They could see the distant sun, but it didn't seem to make the weather any warmer. There was snow everywhere in the high mountains. It was bitterly cold and the standard uniforms and blankets stored on the airships only helped so much.

  Since they had long since passed a place where any other humans lived, it was easy to spot the small trail of smoke rising from the side of the mountain. They were not close enough to see a structure or a cave, but it was obvious that someone lived there. Mantuan understood why Santovan was so negative about the lawkeeper. It wasn't finding him, it was getting to him in the steep, high mountains. The climb looked impossible without an airship.

  Although Mantuan had been on many airships, it had been years. He was increasingly worried about how high they were in such cold weather. The rotators were already making stranger and stranger sounds as they climbed.

  When they were close to the smoke, Mantuan looked down to see exactly how tall the mountains were. Because of the weather, he could barely see the ground at all. He looked back to where the smoke was rising and he could see a small clearing of maybe one hundred feet, in and around where the cave had to be. There was no way to land the airship, so they would have to rope down to the clearing.

  “Do you think he'll be alone?” asked Lantovas.

  “I'm sure he's alone. I just don't know if he'll be happy to see strangers. He must have heard us coming. Our rotators are not a natural sound. And, since he hasn't come out to greet us, I'm guessing that he may not be overly friendly,” warned Mantuan. “We will have to be careful.”

  Aline, Lantovas, and Mantuan all carried as much protection from the cold as they could, and as many weapons as they dared.

  Mantuan said, “We will rope down at the end of the clearing, and walk up so that we don't seem threatening. I don't want him to think the three of us are his enemies.”

  They hovered over the spot and lowered the ropes, checking for any movement. There was none, only the wind and cold. From his new angle, Mantuan thought he could see the cave entrance.

  The three lowered themselves on the ropes, scanning constantly, making sure there were no arrows flying their way. Mantuan had instructed the pilot to stay as close to the mountain as they dared, and the ropes in place, so they could climb them quickly if they had to escape.

  When they were firmly on the ground, Mantuan looked at the steep mountain above them. There was only a thin layer of snow above their position. There was no chance of an avalanche, so he yelled as loudly as he could. “Hello!” the word echoed throughout the mountains many times until it faded away.

  No response.

  They walked slowly towards the mouth of the cave. Aline pointed out that the clearing had been recently cleared of snow. There were several trees growing out of the side of the mountain, branches hanging over the clearing as they walked forward. A few times, they had to duck underneath a branch laden with fresh snow. The fact that it was not snowing at the moment helped them see ahead, as the cold sun glowed weakly through the frosty haze.

  Every few feet, Mantuan yelled greetings again. Each time he got no response. They were about fifty feet from the entrance when they could see it was covered in what looked like animal skins. There were sharpened sticks coming out of the ground near the cave and all around the entrance. Apparently, the lawkeeper did not want visitors.

  They ducked under another tree branch, and even though they heard no sound, something fell onto Lantovas' back. At first it looked like a large chunk of snow had fallen on him, but as it moved they could tell it was a snowcat.

  “Ahhggg!” Lantovas tried to throw the large cat off as it clawed his back. The cat tried to sink its teeth into his neck, but Lantovas rolled on his back and on top of the snowcat. It didn't release its grip. He pulled his shortknife, but could not get at the attacking cat.

  Lantovas tried to crush the animal with his own weight, and Mantuan and Aline had their knives out. Aline tried to stab at it, but the cat and Lantovas were rolling around on the snow. She was afraid she would stab the guard.

  Someone came out of nowhere, dressed in white furs. The figure leaped to Lantovas, sliding a shortknife deep into the cat's neck, which immediately went limp. Lantovas slumped with a groan, red blood flowing over the white snow. The fur-covered figure said, “Get him inside. I need to attend to these wounds.”

  Mantuan took quick action, putting the man over his shoulder. Lantovas was in a great deal of pain as they stepped around the sharpened sticks and walked through the skins covering the opening.

  In the cave, the figure threw off the white furs. “Put him face down on the table.”

  Mantuan froze, his heart nearly stopped.

  “It can't be,” said Mantuan, getting to one knee. “My queen. I … I thought you were dead.”

  The woman ripped off Lantovas' coat and shirt to expose his wounds. She was already putting some sort of sticky cream on his cuts. “That's strange, Mantuan. I thought you died on an airship with my husband. Get off your knee, I'm not a queen anymore.”

  “Arrggh!” screamed Lantovas as she applied the cream.

  “Sorry, this is going to hurt. But without it, those scratches won't heal and they will become infected. Cats may lick themselves, but that doesn't make them clean,” said the queen, continuing to put the sticky gray paste on the man's wounds.

  “Why do animals keep attacking me?” moaned Lantovas.

  “You must taste good,” offered Aline. Lantovas tried to laugh, but apparently that made it hurt more.

  “I like her,” the queen said, working quickly with her healing paste. “As much as I want to know why you're alive, Mantuan, I'd rather know why you're here. You have an airship – are you Trunculin's friend again?” She turned her head to glare at him.

  “I was never Trunculin's friend. We stole the airship from Brenddel,” said Mantuan.

  She returned her attention to Lantovas. “Good. I hope you killed that monster.”

  “I started to, but he ran to get more men.”

  “Too bad. But I'm sure there will be another chance. Monsters always come back. Come here and help me, girl.”

  “Aline,” she said, coming to help.

  “Okay Aline, we need to turn him over. The cat scratched above his chest, too. It's going to hurt him as we turn him over. Mantuan, I need your help too.”

  Lantovas said, “I am right here, you know.” they turned him and Lantovas yelled as he was placed gently on his back. She put more healing paste on his wounds and healing cloth over that. The woman gave him something, and Lantovas was soon sleeping off the pain.

  The queen made some tea. She gave a second pot to Aline to have brought up to the airship. “My cave is too small for more people, but there's no reason for them to freeze to death up there,” she said. She sent her with a torch. “The cats hate fire and bright light. You should be safe out there for now.”

  Aline left the cave. The woman said, “What does the girl know? Can we speak openly?”

  “Yes.” said Mantuan.

  The queen slapped Mantuan hard across the face.

  “Why did you let him die? You were supposed to protect him!”

  “I deserve that. And more. Many times I wished I had died that day, instead of Daymer. I should have died for failing my king, your husband. I am sorry.”

  The queen came to him and hugged him this time. He hugged her back.

&
nbsp; “I'm sorry Mantuan. I've just been trying to forget how it all went wrong. And now here you are, back from the dead. What happened that day? I only know the story from one point of view.”

  “I still don't know exactly what lies Trunculin put in Brenddel's head. But I assume he told him that you and the king were responsible for the slavery at the gas fields. I was looking over the railing at something. To this day, I can't remember what. And when I turned around, Brenddel had stabbed the king and pushed him over. I was on the other side of the deck. I ran, but the king had already fallen. We battled, but whatever Trunculin had told Brenddel fueled him with rage and strength. I have never seen him fight so hard, and he was nearly as good as me without the rage.”

  “He was your adopted son, of course he was strong,” said the queen.

  “Yes, well, that was a long time ago. I know my love for him was why I let my guard down. I went over the edge and fell through a canopy of trees. As fate would have it, there were people living in the trees. A whole little village.”

  “That's amazing. I know you believed in gods once. Did that strengthen your faith?”

  “A little, yes.” replied Mantuan.

  Aline slowly come back in, “Is it alright? I could go back to the ship if you like…”

  The queen responded, “No, no. Come have some tea and tell me how you know this big, one eyed warrior.”

  Aline smiled. “Manny? Oh, he's not that tough. You should see him play with a litter of puppies.”

  “That was one time. And you know not to call me that.”

  The queen said, “Sounds like you've known each other for a long time, Manny.”

  “Manny is the father I never knew. When he literally fell into my life, I was just a little girl. My mother wasn't there. I think we adopted each other. My village is a band of people looking for a better place, far up in the trees.”

  “How do you live in the trees, exactly?” asked the queen.

  “Same way you live far up in a mountain, I guess. But, with better weather.”

  “I definitely like her,” said the queen.

  “We have the forest nearly all to ourselves. Over the years there were rumors spread that the forest is haunted. Mantuan has helped keep that legend alive with some secrets we found there. Every time someone is running from something and finds our forest, they enter and never leave. That's how we grow our village.”

  Mantuan agreed. “We have a very good security system. That forest is haunted, by us. Plenty of fresh water and game. We grow and hunt all our own food. We call it the fortress. And you, my queen? Why hide up here?”

  “I'm not hiding. This is my home now. You answer my questions first. If you didn't know I was alive, why are you here?” asked the queen.

  “We were looking for the lawkeeper. I had no idea it would be you.”

  “What do you know of the lawkeeper?” asked the queen.

  “We heard for years, in many kingdoms, that there was someone going through old records and documents. Scouring our world for something. I tracked you for years, but I was always just behind you,” said Mantuan.

  “That was you? By the gods, I thought it was Trunculin or his agents,” said the queen. “I have learned how to hide myself very well after the world thought I was dead.”

  “There are a lot of people coming back from the dead lately.” added Aline.

  Mantuan said, “I found out that what this lawkeeper was looking for was original laws. Laws having to do with the kingdom of the thirteen, and outsider accounts of our kingdom in the early days, but especially anything written about the first thirteen.”

  The queen nodded. “And do you know why I was looking and collecting?”

  “I think you realized that Trunculin has been destroying our kingdom's first laws quietly. I think you found proof.”

  “I did. Follow me.”

  She led them to another room in the naturally formed cave. The queen pulled back a curtain to reveal an alcove in the wall. There was a table with stacks of books, papers, and scrolls. Many of them looked very old.

  “I wanted some privacy, but it appeared my cave is also a perfect place to protect documents from crumbling into dust. You don't know how long I spent in dusty old rooms. In Thure alone, I must have gone down a mile or more - five thousand feet under the ground. There is a vast kingdom under Thure, full of papers and other things. I was even able to get into Extatumm without the council or their agents knowing. I looked through many of the old documents from Dard, the ones they didn't destroy.”

  “I had no idea it would be this much,” said Mantuan.

  “What you also don't know is why I started looking,” said the queen, pulling out a small drawer. “I found this in a lower level, in a secret hiding place in the palace. Do you remember when the king and I got married and that I helped restored the palace? Well, I found this myself, hidden in a wall. It is an original law book.” The queen handed the book to Mantuan and said, “Very carefully, look at the first page.”

  Mantuan opened the book carefully and read the inside cover. “Borenn. This belonged to our first king?”

  “Yes. You have no idea what's in this original material I found. It proves Trunculin has changed the law completely. Our kingdom is nearly upside down from what it should be.”

  Mantuan smiled. “This is exactly what I'm looking for, to expose Trunculin for what he is.”

  The queen took the book from Mantuan's hands and put it back in the drawer. “It makes no difference. You asked me why I hide up here. It's not just to preserve the documents. It doesn't matter if you passed these documents out on the streets of the kingdom to every person. No one would know what it truly meant, because Trunculin has succeeded in changing history. No one can comprehend how his lies have taken root in the people. What can be done now? Trunculin has already won.”

  “My queen, this man has taken everything from you. Your husband, your kingdom, and soiled your reputation by smearing the evil of slavery on your good name. Of course you feel that way,” said Mantuan.

  Aline added, “We can't let Trunculin win. He must be brought down in the full light of day, his evil exposed to everyone. Who better to do it than you?”

  The queen responded. “Who would believe a slaver queen? That is what he convinced them of, didn't he? Before I saw it with my own eyes, I would not have believed what was in these documents. But simply showing old documents will prove nothing.”

  Aline said, “We have a small army of people helping us gather other proof. But we also have Gordon. When we restore him as king, it will be a powerful symbol…”

  “What do you mean Gordon?”

  “Loren has raised him to be a fine young man, my queen. With the documents and Gordon, we will defeat Trunculin,” said Mantuan.

  Queen Ellice froze. “Are you telling me that my brother and my son are still alive?”

  Chapter 4: Gordon's First Ride

  Gordon's sight was just returning. Through a gray haze of dim lights and colors, he tried to focus. Darkly colored, blurry figures were moving around far off in the distance. He blinked furiously to clear his vision and tried to remember what happened. Those girls in white. The powder must have been something to make me sleep.

  He was laying on a rope bed with a small blanket over his legs. His eyes had finally started to clear enough to see he was tied to the bed. But where am I? From the scenery going by, he realized that he must be in the air. But if he was on an airship, was he going back to Trunculin?

  His heart sank as he realized that must be the truth. Only his kingdom had airships, and Trunculin must have had agents in Artoth to capture him. He wondered if he was the only prisoner onboard. I finally get to ride on an airship, and it's taking me to my death.

  He looked at his hands, which were bound with metal shackles. He moved his hands and found that they weren't very tight. He stretched his neck and looked all around. He could only see two men talking near the front of the ship.

  He wiggled his wris
ts and found that he could take the shackles off easily. He supposed they were not meant for a thirteen year old, or they might have thought he would be asleep longer. From the front of the deck he heard, “Go check on him. See if he's awake.”

  Gordon froze. He didn't know if he would have time to get his hands back through the shackles, so he put his hands in the same position and put the small blanket back over his hands. He kept his eyelids open just a tiny bit as the man stood over him. Gordon tried to control his breathing as though he was still asleep. The man stood there a moment and walked off. “He's still out,” the man said to the other.

  “Good. I don't want to deal with some brat who thinks he's a king,” and both men laughed. Gordon untied himself from the rope bed and got up slowly and carefully, grateful that his legs had not been tied. He checked his belt and found he still had his weapons. Both longknife and short were there. I'm being guarded by careless men, he thought.

  He knew that any airship would have more than two men in their crew. As he cautiously looked around, something was wrong. This looked like no airship he had ever seen. Naturally, airships were highly guarded secrets. They didn't let just anyone get close to them. But Gordon has seen them flying many times around his kingdom, studying every detail when he could. Even from on deck, where he had never been before, he could tell that something was not quite right.

  First, he noticed that it was too small, painted strangely, not anything like his kingdom's colors. And everywhere he looked there was random items: bags of sweet salt, grain, and large rolls of clothing. It looked like the hold of a watership that did trading. Traders often had small crews. Maybe this ship had only a few men onboard after all.

  There were also no lanterns. There were a few arrow guns with large arrows, but no other weapons like the fire weapons; the kind by which Gordon had almost been killed once. He glanced at the men up front, who were still looking forward. Gordon was near the back of the ship. He knew he couldn't take two grown men on his own. He could only think of one thing he could do, but he would have to time it very carefully.