Excalion

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow. It's been waaaaay too long since I came up with anything. After a long bout of Writer's Block and trying to adjust to the fact that I don't see my fiancée very often nowadays, I give you the next installment of Excalion. Remember that comments and/or constructive criticism is always appreciated, and enjoy!


Excalion
Chapter Two: No Silver Lining

=[ Part One ]=


“Galia, it’s your turn at the horses. Tell your brother to come in and get something to eat.”

“Yes, Papa.” The young woman hopped off the back of the slow-moving coach and jogged up to the horses.

“Jaden, Papa said for you to come in and have breakfast. It’s my turn at the horses.”

“Aww! Galia, Jaden was teaching me how to ride them!”

Galia looked past Jaden to the little boy at his side. “Kuron, Jaden has been at the horses all night! Come down from there and eat! Jaden should get some food and some rest.”

Jaden laughed. “I’ll just take a little nap, Kuron. When Father puts me back at the horses, I’ll let you ride with me again, okay?”

“But Jaden…”

Jaden raised a finger as Galia got up to the coachman’s seat and shuffled next to him. “You have to eat breakfast, Kuron. It’s the only way you’ll get bigger, faster and stronger, like me.”

The little boy’s eyes lit up as Jaden wrapped his arm around him and picked him up. “So I’ll be the next Invincible Swordsman when I’m as old as you are?”

Jaden turned his head to Galia and winked as she took the reins. “Of course, you little scamp. If you learn from me and from your grandfather, you’ll make the Barawani Traveling Fair better than even the Overon Traveling Fair…” His voice trailed off as he hopped off the coachman’s seat and made his way into the carriage.


* * * * *


Each ruling House of the six Greater Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Overon being the largest with two prominent bloodlines, has a group of general performers and entertainers, known as Traveling Fairs. These Traveling Fairs, each related by blood to their respective House, roam the land, gracing every kingdom or township, great and small, with their wares and their performances. Once every thirteen Dark Moons, the name given for the end of a month, each respective Traveling Fair would return to their home kingdom to show off their new acts, new talents, as well as possible new additions to their bloodlines. The Overon Kingdom, having two bloodlines, and thus two Traveling Fairs, had the largest festivals during the year-end holiday known as Cycle’s Rebirth.

The Barawani Kingdom, third largest in the land, had the most famous Traveling Fair, known for their flashy sword arts, their daring acrobatic performances as well as their flair for illusions and magic. Being the most prominent of all of the Traveling Fairs, many Kingdoms anticipated their arrival. The coming of the Barawani Traveling Fair to any kingdom was an event akin to a Cycle’s Rebirth. The three largest Traveling Fairs, belonging to the Overon, Omicronus, and Barawani families, were the only three known to be able to visit each and every township in all the populated regions, including the two most remote and least-known kingdoms known throughout the land: The Kingdom of Lightning Peaks, and the Forest Sanctum.


* * * * *


“Wynn!” Shanavale ran up to her best friend and lover, catching him in a fierce hug and nearly toppling him.

“Shanavale…” he said, his voice trailing off.

She held him at arms’ length and stared at him as Naomi caught up. “Wynn, what’s the matter?”

“We need to talk to your parents,” Kai said, his voice grave. “Are they in court right now?”

Shanavale nodded. “Yes, they are, Kai, but what is this…”

Kai started walking towards the castle proper. “Wynn and I will explain everything in front of your parents. Come on.”

Wynn nodded and caught up to Kai. Shanavale swallowed the lump in her throat, wondering what made Wynn look so pale and Kai so serious, despite his already gruff demeanor. She and Naomi looked at each other briefly before catching up with Wynn and Kai.


* * * * *


“My King Valos, I must request that you be a little more lenient on the taxes that you ask of my village this month.”

“Your Highness, the representative of Kelvanis village has always asked that you be lenient with their tax levies, and you have been more than willing to do so. If they are to continue to have lighter taxes then so must my village.”

Valos raised a hand. “Enough. Statesman of Ulanor, you have fared well despite the heavy rains this season, yes?”

The Ulanori statesman nodded slowly.

“And you are aware of the floods that have ravaged Kelvanis?”

“That is no excuse, Your Majesty! Kelvanis has been plagued by tragedy for almost six months! Floods, droughts, even uprisings between bickering families, and every time their request is granted!”

Valos looked directly at the Ulanori statesman. “Lord Brackon, if you wish to have the burden on the shoulders of your people lightened, perhaps your village should be attacked with floods, droughts and insurgence.”

Lord Brackon put a hand to his chest, slightly alarmed. “Your Majesty, that’s not what I mean…”

Valos raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? My daughter went to Kelvanis herself no more than a fortnight ago when the rainy season came upon us. She herself was caught in a flood. She saw the destruction that Alaia Herself brought down upon the village. Many people are already dead and many homes and businesses have been destroyed. My daughter and my wife have heard Lord Gelkan of Kelvanis himself pray in our shrine to the Goddesses that his people not have to leave the area. I have talked with him outside of court, and all he talks about is his worry for his people.”

He looked over to Lord Gelkan of Kelvanis. “Lord Kelvanis, I should mention that despite what has befallen your people, Lord Ulanor does raise a point. I have been lenient for quite a while.”

Valos' wife, the Queen Kirana Overon, placed a hand on her husband’s. As he turned to address her, she nodded, as if asking permission to speak.

“Go ahead, my Queen.”

“My Lords, I propose this: Lord Brackon of Ulanor, you will have a slight leniency on this month’s tribute, but some of your more higher-earning families and businesses will be moved to Kelvanis as soon as rebuilding begins. Lord Gelkan, you will receive the exact same leniency as Lord Ulanor, which will not be much compared to previous months, but you will have some fresh legs with which to help fill your coffers and rebuild your village.” She looked at the two opposing lords then to her husband. “My King, would that be a suitable compromise to this predicament?”

Valos thought for a moment before nodding. “A very sound solution to the problem.” He looked at Gelkan and Brackon. “Would this work out for you?”

Brackon pressed his lips into a thin line as he glanced sidelong at Lord Gelkan. “Well…”

“For my people, I will gladly accept this if Lord Brackon will, and I will assure my King and Queen, as well as my fellow Lord Brackon, that no good deed will go unnoticed.” The older man bowed deeply as he pressed a hand to his chest.

Brackon sighed. “If Lord Gelkan will accept these terms, I will also.”

Valos nodded once, closing his eyes as he did so. “Good.” He scanned his audience. “If there is any other…”

The large throne room doors immediately opened and slammed shut. Everyone in the throne room looked to see Kaijin Haruka, Heir to the Forest Sanctum, standing tall and looking directly at the King and Queen, Wynn, Naomi and Shanavale flanking him.

“Your Majesty…”

“Kai…”

Valos remained calm as he addressed his daughter’s companion. “Heir Haruka, what is the meaning of this interruption?”

Kai bowed at the hip briefly. “My Lord King Valos, there is a matter of dire importance that must come to your attention immediately.”

Valos offered his arm. “Can you not see that I am in court?”

“I understand, Your Highness, however…”

Wynncrest Scarner moved from behind Kai to stand beside him. “The Kingdom and your family are in grave danger, and there is not much time.”

An astonished silence hovered over the members of the Royal Court, followed immediately by whispers and concerned murmuring.

The King of Overon closed his eyes for a brief moment before nodding. “I will ask you to leave this court, Heir Haruka, Master Scarner…”

“But, Your Majesty…”

Valos raised an open palm. “…In order for me to adjourn it. I will send a messenger to call for you. We will discuss everything here.”


* * * * *


The gentle sound of leaves rustling with the coming of a breeze caused an elderly man to open his eyes and cease his meditation.

“Apprentice Kish’Ron, summon my daughter here immediately. The time has come when we have need of her passion and her brother’s strength.”

One of the teenaged boys circled around the elder stood and bowed, his hands in his sleeves. “Is it truly time, Master Akanaku?”

The elderly man closed his eyes as he nodded once slowly. “Indeed, Kish’Ron. What will happen now will surely disturb the waters of peace, as well as the waters of time and space.” He raised a single hand. “Go, my son. Fetch my daughter. The time of my death is at hand.”


* * * * *


“My Lady Rishal, I beg your pardon, but I was asked to summon you.”

A young woman, older than Kish’Ron by several years, turned from her window to address the young man in tan robes. “Who has asked you to summon me?”

“Your father has asked that you come to him immediately. It is of dire importance.”

“My brother has not yet returned from the Overon Kingdom. He never addresses either of us alone.”

The young man fell to one knee before the woman with feline features. “Forgive me, Lady Rishal, but he has asked for you and you alone. What his intentions are, you know I am not to speak of them outside of the Temple.”

Rishal nodded. She felt a weight drop in the pit of her stomach. Father never calls on me without calling Kai, she thought. This is bad. “All right. Lead on.”


* * * * *


“Not a moment too soon, Rishal.”

“Forgive me, Father, but you never ask for me without Kai being present, and he has not yet returned from Overon.”

Akanaku turned to look at his daughter, who was genuflecting before him with her head bowed low. A weathered smile creased his face. “My daughter, I am honored by your show of respect, but it is no longer needed from you.”

Rishal stood, utterly perplexed. “Father, your apprentice told me that your intentions could not be spoken of outside the temple. What is wrong? Why have you addressed me alone?”

Akanaku opened his hand towards her. The very stones surged underneath her and formed into a pedestal on which she now sat.

“Rishal, my daughter, you are to be the next Mistress of the Forest Sanctum.”

All twelve apprentices and Rishal gasped in disbelief. “Father? Are you…?”

Akanaku shook his head with a chuckle. “No, my mind is quite clear, probably clearer than it has been in decades.” He turned away. “The reason why I have summoned you here and why I said what I just did is obvious: my death looms ever closer.”

“How do you know this, Father?”

“The Overon Traveling Fair has just left our land half a fortnight ago, am I correct?”

Rishal nodded.

“Then why have two men from the Traveling Fair been walking among the shadows completely undetected?”

Rishal’s face went pale. “What…?”

Akanaku smiled, exhaustion evident on his face. “These men from the Traveling Fair are assassins. They have been sent to kill me.”

Rishal stood from her seat. “We must stop them…!”

Her father raised an open palm. “Do so and more of our people will die.”

“But Father, you just said…”

“…That it’s my time,” he said. “The Goddess Alaia beckons me to Her side. No one can escape Her call.”

“Father…”

Akanaku turned around and strode over to her, taking a roll of parchment from the hidden pocket in his sleeve and handing it to her. “These are times of great importance. You and Brother Kish’Ron are to leave with all due haste for Overon and deliver this message to Kai. Once you leave, the time of peace will be shattered, and only your brother and his comrades will be able to rebuild it.”


=[ End of Part One ]=

A/N: I believe I'm on a roll when it comes to getting down to work (Finally! You can't understand how much I missed writing!). Oh, and hisbabybird, thank you very much for your words of support and inspiration. I wish I had more reviews like that for this story. But that's enough out of me. I hope to see you soon!