Chapter 13 - Onward to the Castle

The boys sat in rapt silence as Romanix told his tale.  Andres typically couldn't listen to a story while sitting in one place.  Usually, he'd have to do somersaults or whittle on a piece of wood to occupy his body while his mind listened.  But he found that he could hardly move a muscle while Romanix spoke.  His mind was racing, trying to see how he and Cable fit into this remarkable tale of intrigue.  He thought that history is pretty exciting stuff when you are actually a part of it.

Romanix continued to pace around the room, his hands gesturing, as though he were reliving the event even as he told it.  "As I left the king's chambers, a horrible thought struck me.  When I'd been talking to the king, the ring was no longer on his hand.  For the first time since assuming the throne, he failed to wear the ring!  I wondered--had someone stolen it?  Had Slumbutter taken it, and then gone to summon this army of black knights?  For some reason, this thought never struck me until after I'd left.  It was just as well.  Time was of the essence, and there was no time for questions.  Little did I realize that it would take 10 years to answer this question!

"I ran to to castle ramparts and drew my horn.  Blowing it with all my strength, I summoned the White Knights to battle.  At the sound of three blasts from the horn, the White Knights quickly realized that danger was imminent.  They raced to put on their armor.  As was our custom, the knights had 20 minutes to prepare and then rally in the castle courtyard.

"But as I looked down from the castle ramparts, a strange sight greeted my eyes.  Below me, I saw Prince Dorian, fully dressed in his silver armor.  I saw him race toward Queen Krystara, who was standing in the courtyard with her two sons, Cornicus and four-month-old Abello.  Dorian swiftly grabbed the boys out of Krystara's arms and ran toward his horse.  As the queen wept aloud, Dorian--without even turning around--mounted his horse and galloped out of the castle.

"While I pondered this strange spectacle, I raced down the castle stairs to assume my place in the courtyard.  Within minutes, our army of White Knights was assembled.  My commands to them were succinct.  We were to take our positions around the castle and defend it--and the king--to the death.  I led one group outside the castle.  We'd built a berm around the entire fort, and my group would defend from that position in order to slow down the advance.  A second group of knights stayed inside the castle, assuming their positions at the castle's windows and atop the ramparts.

"As my group charged outside the castle, we ran into a hail of flaming arrows.  The black knights had stunned us with their swiftness!  They were less than a quarter of a mile from the castle!  My men took our positions and fired back.  We were all sharpshooters, fully confident in our ability to tackle any enemy.  But the numbers of the black knights were overwhelming.  Our army, perhaps 1500 men, was staring down an onslaught of about 10,000 black knights.  Yet not a man flinched.  We stood our ground and held back the assault.

"For nearly an hour, the brave White Knights kept our enemies at bay.  But then a trumpet sound was heard, and a tall black knight charged to the foreground.  I could tell from his height and from the unique design of his armor that it had to be Dor-ko.  The black knights seemed to be revived at his presence.  With a gruesome and terrifying yell, the black knights attacked with renewed strength.  The flaming arrows grew in intensity.  Their line drew relentlessly closer to ours.

"As I looked through the smoke and across the field, I saw the tall black knight facing me from perhaps only 30 yards away.  Seeing an opportunity, I quickly drew an arrow and prepared to let it fly.  But...alas, I was too late.  The tall black knight drew his arrow first, and it struck me in the shoulder before I could let my arrow fly.  I tumbled to the ground in great pain.  It felt like my arm must have nearly been ripped off by the blow.

"At that point, the black knights charged the castle. 

"I tried to get up, but I found that someone had jumped on top of me and was holding me down.  I expected that, at any moment, a sword would be thrust through me and my life would be ended.  But that didn't happen.  I simply was held to the ground.  I could feel the feet of thousands of black knights treading upon the ground and charging my king and my home.  And I was helpless to do anything about it.

"Finally, the great weight atop me departed.  I quickly jumped up and looked toward the castle.  The black knights had slain our first line of defense, and they were preparing to enter the castle itself.  Just a few yard from me stood the tall black knight.  He had been the one to jump on me and pin me to the ground!  As I drew my arrow, he turned to me and raised his helmet.

"To my utter amazement...it wasn't Dor-ko at all.  It was...it was...it was Prince Dorian.

"He didn't flinch when he saw me draw my arrow.  Rather, he simply pointed to something behind me.  I instinctively turned.  And sitting behind me, I saw the owl--the messenger that the king had shown me less than an hour before.

"Boys, this was when I faced the hardest decision of my life.  Would I run to the castle and fulfill my own command--to defend the king at the cost of my life?  Or would I obey the king and follow his messenger?  I alternated looks between Dorian and the owl.  Dorian pulled his mask back down and continued his charge into the castle.  Oh, how I wanted to send an arrow through the heart of that traitor!  But the king...oh, the king had made me promise to follow the messenger.  And so I was faced with whether to do what I thought was best or to do what the king had ordered.  Against my own will, I turned from the battle and fled, following the owl as I left the battlefield.

"I threw my armor off as I ran.  Boys, to be honest, I secretly wished that some black knight would find me and run me through with his spear.  I hated the thought of being a coward and running from the battle.  I would rather die than be judged a coward!  But just as the men had to obey my orders, so did I have to obey the king's orders.  And I ran to the mountains.

"Well boys, the owl led me to a tall cliff near one of the mountain passes.  At that point, to my distress, he disappeared.  I didn't know what to do.  However, I did know that I was completely exhausted.  In order to steady myself, I reached up to grab a branch that was protruding out of the face of the cliff.  And, to my great surprise, two rocks moved and an opening emerged.  The branch was some kind of secret lever that triggered an opening to a cave.

"With nothing better to do, I entered the cave.  And guess who I met inside?  It was Brandonio.  After the king's coronation many years before, he come out to this spot to build a cave dwelling for himself.  When he saw me, he quickly took me in and cared for my wounded shoulder.  He gave me food and drink and put me to rest.

"And I've not been outside since.  The king told me to follow his messenger, and this is where he has led me.  I won't move again until he leads me out.  That, boys, is the end of my story."

Romanix shook his head as he sat down, apparently exhausted by recounting his drama.

Cable was the first to break the silence.  "You know, this kind of makes sense, now that I think of what Kylus had told us.  He said that he saw Dorian come out of the king's chambers during the battle.  He also said that Dorian tried to shoot him, just as he'd tried to shoot you!"

Then Andres jumped in.  "Yeah, and when Kylus went into the king's chambers, he found a headless body with the king's clothes on.  So it sure looks like Dorian became a black knight, charged the castle, and killed his own father."

And then Devlin spoke up.  "Hey Andres, didn't you say that you saw the owl, leading you to the branch that opened up the cave?"

When Romanix heard mention of the owl, he rose to his feet.  "You've seen the owl?" he asked.  Andres shook his head up and down as hard as he could.  Romanix then began to pace again.  Andres figured he'd have to be pretty good at pacing, since he hadn't been outside for 10 years.  As he paced, Romanix thought out loud.  "Boys, this is strange.  After ten years of silence, the owl has emerged again.  He is directing your steps, and--more than likely--he was directing Ronaldus' steps as well.  So it was likely the owl that directed Ronaldus to send you on this mission.  And yet, I can't understand what it means!  Your mission couldn't possibly be to turn the ring over to Dorian, could it?"

Cable then interrupted Romanix.  "Ronaldus didn't say anything about turning the ring over to Dorian.  He just said to find Dorian and to guard the ring.  Isn't that what he said, Andres?"  Andres nodded.

"Well boys," Romanix said, "there remains but one thing for you to do.  You must go to the castle.  That is the last place that I saw Dorian.  If the owl led you to me, then I must lead you to your next destination.  And I see no other way--to the castle you must go!"

Andres was deeply troubled by this.  "But Romanix, how is that going to work?  We'll just march in there, and he'll take the ring and throw us in prison and the kingdom will belong to Slumbutter or whoever else wants to put the ring on his finger!  We're doomed!"

"No, my son," answered Romanix gently.  "Those who are guided by the High King's messenger are never doomed.  It is true, I have no idea how this journey will end.  But that's not our job, is it?  We are simply to obey and follow our calling.  You've been called to a great mission, boys.  You will either see it to its end, or you will die in the attempt.  In either case, you're serving the High King, and there is no greater joy in all this world than to do that!"

Andres couldn't really see how their could be joy in "dying in the attempt".  But it was too late to go back now.  "Let's go, guys," he said.  Cable and Devlin began to put on their sandals.  The boys donned their satchels.

Once again, Romanix interrupted.  "No, Andres--Devlin cannot accompany you.  The mission to find Dorian and protect the ring was given to you, not to Devlin.  He must have another mission.  He will stay here.  You and Cable must follow me."

Andres and Cable reluctantly shook hands with Devlin.  They hated to leave their new-found friend.  But Romanix was not terribly sentimental, so he didn't permit too much time for good-byes.  Instead, he grabbed a torch and led the boys to the back of the cave and down another set of stairs chiseled into the rock.  At the base of the stairs was a small opening.  Romanix and the two boys crawled through it, and soon they were outside.  Once again, it was a clear, moonlit night.  They stood by a gently-flowing river.  Romanix guided them over to a canoe hidden in the brush.

"Ah, this is the first fresh air I've breathed for 10 years!  I hope I shall soon have occasion to do it again," said Romanix.  Then, changing his tone, he continued.  "Boys, this is Brandonio's canoe.  You must take it and follow the river.  It will take you to within a stone's throw of the castle.  What awaits you there?  I do not know.  But you must continue your mission.  I hope to see you soon." 

Romanix shook the boys hands, staring each of them in the eyes as he did so.  With no further words, he crawled back into the cave.  The boys looked at each other without speaking, hopped into the canoes, and continued their quest downstream.