Marten was eyeing the
royal sword case with the keen interest of one who was experienced at death by
blade. He needed an especially sharp
sword just now, but one with a certain class. He was, after all, about to rid
himself of one more of the Rainbow dynasty that had kept the cities of Haile
and Eliah thriving. Lady Claudia and her new friend, the one he'd gotten from
the Other World to be his puppet ruler, had been the only one to actually find
out that he was quietly taking over the city, but even they weren't sure how.
Needless to say, he simply wasn't about to let that happen.
He'd collected each one of their coveted
jewels and medallions upon their death as well, leaving only Lady Claudia's
sapphire stone and Lady Susan's amytheyst to make the set complete. He'd
already gotten King Andrew's amythest set into the gold medalion and placed it
on the other human he'd found in the Other World. That one move, along with
placing the girl he'd found in charge of Eliah had helped him infinitely. The
boy in Haile had been easy to train and had believed everything he'd been told
about honor and duty. He'd probably even let himself be killed as "an
honor and duty".
Of course, Marten still had no idea what the crystals would do together, he just knew they did somehow and that his last two victims would have more to tell him before they died than the others did about how those crystals worked together.
He withdrew a double-edged
sword that had been King Johnathan's ornamental weapon. It was still, as of
yet, a virgin to the piercing of living flesh and proably the only non-magical
item the king had owned. Such irony, he thought, that I should be using it now
on the king's beloved sister!
He made for the
dungeon, a smile on his face. Only Lady Susan left to go and then the power of
those 12 crystals would be his or his name wasn't Marten Trammell Thomas...
Alan and his band of
raiders quickly, but quietly made their way to and inside the castle just
before nightfall. Naomi's magic got them past any guards and finally into the
winding stairwell that led to the dungeon.
"Okay, now here's
the deal," said Alan, as they stood outside the secret wall. "You've
got say these words to get past this wall, but Daina says it takes magic or no
magic or something. I've already tried, so I don't think it was no
magic..."
"Gimme the words,
Alan," said Naomi, staring at the wall.
"Okay,
it's...open sesame."
Prince Alan and Naomi
looked at each other, then back at him. "You're kidding," they said
simultaneously.
"Actually, I'm
serious." he sighed. "Daina couldn't remember it 'cause..."
"Spare me this
detail," Naomi grinned wryly, "I'll torture her superior brain
capacity with it later." She blinked at the wall, then directed the prince
to step back. "You know how magic is around you," she said. He nodded
and moved up a few steps. Naomi turned back to the wall, then threw up her
hands and said, "Open sesame, I guess."
The entire wall slid
sideways into a tight, almost invisible recess without a sound.
"Cool!" said Naomi, stepping lightly past it. She continued down the
stairs while the Prince ventured forth after her. "Hey, Daina, it's us!
We're baaa-aaaack!" she shouted.
Just as she began to
descend, the wall began to close, unbeknownst to her, but very beknownst to
Alan.
"Naomi!" he
yelled. "Get back up here now!" She and the Prince turned and ran for
the wall. The Prince was right by it and made it just in time, just as the edge
of it sank impercetibly back into place. Naomi, unfortunately, was left on the
other side. Alan phased through the wall after her. "Are you okay?"
he asked.
"Yeah, find, I'm
just...the wall closed," she said. "How do we get it back open?"
"You just said
it!" Alan exclaimed. "You don't remember?" She gave him a blank
look and he sighed. "Open sesame."
"Open
sesame?" Unlike before, nothing happened.
"Did you forget
she can't use magic in here, dimwit?" he heard Daina's voice retort.
"The wall, you idiot, closes off that magic use, remember?"
"Don't worry
about it," he said. "I brought help. Lemme get Jerry in here."
"You found
him?" Daina's voice sounded much more enthused now.
"Yeah, he's on
the other side. We'll get you out in just a minute, just wait." He kissed
Naomi on the forehead quickly and said, "I'll be back, baby."
"I'll be
here," she shrugged. "In fact, I'll go down and get Daina." She
ran back down the steps and he phased back through the wall.
Whenhe reached the
other side, he realized that his timing might just have been a bit off. There
was Prince Alan, alright, standing in front of...
"Trammell?"
the Prince was saying.
"It's you!"
Alan snapped at the newcomer. "You locked Daina and me and that lady in
the dungeon and you tried to hurt my woman! I'll kill you this time!" He
lunged for the man again, but this time went straight through him. He lay on
the steps behind Trammell in surprise. "Wha...?"
"I've learned
your secret, loathsome spirit. I can phase with you and keep you phased as
well. Now that I have your attention..." He snapped his fingers and a
stiff wind picked up, lifting Alan off the stairs and into the air. He whirled
about with the wind for a moment until Trammell held up a black stone in a
diamond shape that hung about his neck. The wind directed itself and Alan
toward the jewel, pulling him screaming down into it. "Don't listen to
anything he says, Jerry!" Alan yelled as he disappeared. "He's really
Marten from..." Alan's last words were lost, as were all traces of him and
the wind that pulled him away.
"My God," the Prince whispered.
"Where is he?"
"In this crystal,
m'lord," said Trammell. "You're safe now."
"But I wasn't in
any danger!" the Prince protested.
"Oh, but you were,
m'lord. The girl tried to hurt you back in the forest..."
"That was you she
ws trying to hit?"
"Of course, I was
protecting you. And her ghost of a friend, well...he can rest easy in my spirit
crystal. Many other evil spirits are inside this beauty," he said, holding
up the crystal again. The prince backed up warily and Trammell peered at him.
"Surely you're not afraid of this, sir?"
"No," said the prince, drawing his
sword, "it's you I'm worried about. Alan and Naomi have already told me
about you. They couldn't have known I already knew you as Trammell, yet they
both recognize you from here." He advanced slowly as he continued.
"You're been kidnapping these monarchs all along and doing it so that the
cities would fight each other. How you got me to be your flunkie, I'll never
know, but I'm ready to set that straight right now."
For a moment, Trammell
looked as though he might protest, but then his face grew hard. "Don't
test me, boy. I've taught you all the sword skill you know; surely you don't think
you can beat me?"
Prince Alan shifted
his weigh uncomfortably. "Well, I can try!" he returned.
"And surely you
don't expect to fight an unarmed old man?" Trammell continued. The prince
sighed. Treacherous the man may be, but he did deserve, at least, the
opportunity to defend himself.
"Draw your sword,
sir," he said, holding his aside. "I can wait to skin your lying
hide."
"You're nothing
but a pretender to the throne, anyway!" Trammell hissed, backing up.
"Lady Susan'll never let you come back without believing you did malicious
harm to me. You're through here, boy. You'll be a fugitive the rest of your
life." He drew his sword and added, "Which shouldn't last long."
A resounding bonk
echoed from behind Trammell as his head lurched forward. Suddenly, his eyes
crossed and he fell face first to the steps. The prince was stunned until her
saw that behind him stood Lady Susan holding a large piece of wood.
"Well, at least I
don't have to blame you for malicious harm to my beloved advisor. I got the pleasure
of doing all that myself," Lady Susan shrugged.
The prince laughed and
grabbed her up in a huge hug. "Thank God you're here. There are people
trapped in there and I can't get to...oh, wait, the words!" He reached
down and yanked the black crystal from around Trammell neck, then handed it to
Lady Susan. "Hold this," he said, then turned back to the wall.
"Open sesame!"
Nothing happened.
"Uh, was that
supposed to...?" began the Lady.
"Yeah, it was supposed to..." the Prince replied
uncertainly. He put his hand on the wall and it immediately slid back.
"Oh, that's right! Magic doesn't work around me! It did take no magic to
make this thing open!"
"Huh?"
"Never mind,
we've got to get downstairs and help those prisoners!" He grabbed Lady
Susan's hand and rushed down the steps to the cell Naomi stood in front of. She
was laughing outside the door and talking to whomever was inside.
"Yeah, I could
get you outta there, but you look so funny in captivity," she was saying.
A few angry incoherent screeches came from behind the door and she added,
"Oh, talk mean to me and I may really not let you out! In fact, I'm not
even sure I remember how to pick a lock anymore. Oh, I can feel the memory
fading..."
"Do you want us
to find the keys?" the prince asked. Naomi shook her head, then grabbed
the lock, gave it a few shakes, twists and turns, then let it fall to the
ground.
"If you
wanna," Naomi shrugged smugly. "I was just teasin'
Unfortunately, Prince
Alan did not...
Okay, I was probably slightly pissed when the door opened. I probably should've expected Naomi to do something childish, but I wasn't in the mood. Lady Claudia had begun to look kind of sickly, more than she had in the beginning, and I was trying to keep the woman alive. I was also way tired of playing prisoner, so by the time Naomi took me through her little spiel and opened the door, I was ready to play "clock the obnoxious sprite in the eye".
As it was, I was playing "clock the heroic fairy/best friend in the eye". Jerry's head spun to the side and and snapped back to look at me for a moment in complete shock. I stared at back, jaw open, then said,
"Ooops."
He replied by crossing his eyes and spinning to the floor like a wilted flower.
"Oh, Jerry!" I gasped, jumping to his side.
"See, this is why you need to get a better sense of humor," Naomi said, shaking her head. "You are way too tense."
"Shut up, Naomi!" I snapped, then looked across Jerry's prone body at the woman across from me (the one I was really just noticing for the first time). "Hi, and you are...?"
"What did you hit him for???" she demanded, lifting his head up a little. "He was trying to help you!"
"I was trying to hit her!" I said, pointing to Naomi. "I would never hit Jerry!"
"Who?"
"Jerry! That's his name," I said.
"She thinks he's Prince Alan of Eliah," Naomi said.
"Jerry, a prince? You're kidding!"
"You, the queen? You're kidding!" Naomi mocked, reminding me that I'd very recently been in the same boat.
"He kept saying he couldn't remember what had happened to him before the castle," said the woman. "I was sure he had that Other World disease!"
"Hey, you never answered my question," I said. "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm..." she began, but Lady Claudia's soft voice came from behind me:
"Susan."
"CLAUDIA!!!" the Lady Susan shrieked ecstatically. She jumped up over Jerry and myself to hold her the feeble Lady Claudia, nearly carrying her back to the hay she'd been sitting on. I remembered now that when I'd first written my story, Lady Susan had been my real life best friend Sarah. Even though I hadn't seen or heard from Sarah in ages, nothing had changed in the perfect friendship of Lady Claudia and Lady Susan.
"Let's wake Jerry up and leave those two alone," I said to Naomi.
"What's the point? He's not gonna know you; he still thinks he's Prince Alan. Speaking of which, where is Alan?" she asked, looking around suddenly.
"I don't know. Jerry?" I shook him gently. His eyes fluttered slightly and he convulsed twice. "Jerry!" He snapped awake and grabbed my arms. "Oww, man!" I winced.
"Daina!" he exclaimed, then put a hand to his eye. "Oww!"
"You know me, then?" I asked.
"Of course I know you, you hit me...I think. I had the weirdest dream..."
"Jerry?" said Naomi. "You're back; good. where's Alan?"
He gave Naomi a sideways look, then looked back up at me. "Okay, admittedly, there are weirder things, but..."
"Jerry, where is he?" she demanded.
"I don't know, Naomi, I'm not sure of anything right now!" Jerry retorted.
"How could you not be sure?" she yelled. "You were right there with him a minute ago..."
"Naomi, Jerry just got over a pretty heavy case of amnesia," I said. "He's been somebody else for nearly a week, so he barely remembers us. Now back off or I'll back you off!"
Naomi gave me a horrible glare, then jumped up and flew (literally) back up the hallway. "Let's just let her go and get you standing," I said.
"No problem with that plan," said Jerry, putting and arm around me to stand shakily. "Hey, did you really hit me that hard?"
"Let's talk about that when I'm sure you won't hit me back," I suggested, helping him to lean against the wall. "Lady Susan, is everything okay in there?"
"I'm not sure," came the reply. "Claudia doesn't look too well." I heard sounds of protest, then Lady Susan add, "No, you are not fine, just let me take a look!"
"And well she shouldn't," came a painfully familiar voice from within the room.
"Marten!" I gasped. I leapt for the door, just as it swung shut with a boom. "Let me in!" I yelled. "Jerry, help me get in here!"
Jerry looked at me in surprise, but knew that whatever it was had to be urgent. He summoned all his strength and rushed the door, knocking it open. We both ran in and found Marten standing before Lady Susan, who sat next to Lady Claudia. He was holding a sword to Naomi's throat and she was looking furiously at the wall.
"Stand back," said Marten calmly, not even turning to look. Jerry and I froze, not wanting Naomi to be hurt (at least not by anyone else). After a tense moment, he threw Naomi back toward us, then shoved Lady Susan out of the way, grabbed Lady Claudia by the arm and yanked her toward him. We all moved to stop him, but now things were the same as before. None of us could possibly reach him without magic, but in here, that was impossible. He knew this, too, which was why he'd brought the sword.
"Hey, I think I know that guy!" said Jerry to me.
"You better," I said. "He's the reason you and I are here. Isn't that right, Marten Trammell Thomas?" I said the last part loud enough for him to hear me.
"How do you know my name?" he demanded, turning himself and Lady Claudia to face me.
"I know a lot about you," I said, wanting him to think me more important than killing anyone right now.
He looked me over for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. "Maybe, but you're not who I want now. Nice try, though." He turned to Lady Susan again and said, "Well, it seems as though I can kill both you and Claudia now," he said, with a smile. "How convenient."
"Hey, you sonavu...!" Naomi began, getting her stance back. Marten turned away from the Lady Susan ever so slightly and while I reacted to Naomi, Jerry saw his chance.
"Susan!" Jerry yelled, drawing the princely sword he still carried and tossing it to her. She jumped up and caught it, just as I yanked Naomi back. By the time Marten could react, Susan held the sword ready for battle.
"Now," said Lady Susan, "let me show you some of my sword technique."
"I wouldn't advise it," said Marten. "Not while I still have this woman in my grasp."
Lady Susan looked uncertainly at him, then at Claudia. "Do it," Lady Claudia said. "Please."
"If I miss..." Lady Susan whispered.
Marten looked at her uncomfortably and shifted Lady Claudia to be more of a shield.
At that moment, the second miracle happened.
Lady Claudia let out a gasp, nearly a scream of pain and fell forward in his grasp. Marten tried to hold her up, but she'd gone completely limp. He let her go, then jumped back up to hold his sword ready.
Jerry, Naomi and I were sure he'd done something to her and moved to grab him. Lady Susan apparently felt the same way, because she looked briefly at her friend, then screamed a bloodcurdling scream and swung at him. He had but one parrying move before she sunk the sword deep into his chest. He gasped, dropped his sword and fell dead to the floor without so much as even a convulsion.
Lady Susan pulled her sword, her face tight, then threw it from her. It clattered noisily in the corner of the cell as she dropped to Lady Claudia's side and turned her over. We (Jerry, Naomi and I) sidestepped the body of Marten T. Thomas and knelt by Lady Susan as she inspected her friend in growing surprise.
"There's not a mark on her," Lady Susan gasped. "She's not dead."
"I just pretended," came the thin reply.
We all breathed a sigh of relief, except Lady Susan, who just smiled wanly. "You pretended," she repeated, then a shadow of sadness fell across her face. "But not for long."
"No, not for long," whispered the Lady Claudia with a smile. "But at least I didn't die by his hand."
"No, you didn't, girl," said Susan, her eyes welling up. For a moment, they were shed of their adult wisdom and manner.
"'Bye, Sue." said Claudia.
"'Bye, Claude," Susan said. They clasped hands tightly, then Claudia hands relaxed.
No
one could speak for a long moment. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes,
just as Jerry put a hand on Lady Susan's shoulder. The other hand he reached
out toward me and I took it, grasping it gratefully. Childhood memories of a
story that had begun my life as a writer and a friend had just been taken from
me and that simple hand grasp was working wonders for the immediate pain.
There was one thing did I know, as I looked at the stony face of the woman next to me.
Awful as it might've sounded, I was really glad to not be Lady Susan just then...