King Arik’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that Wylan and Sheri were the Knights of Alcea being referred to. The only other Knight of Alcea in Sordoa was Prince Darok, and he was at the opposite end of the country. If it was two of them hurt, it had to be the human couple. The king frowned deeply, but he didn’t respond immediately. Obviously a healer needed to be sent, but that was something that Prince Oscar would normally handle. The prince knew the locations of all of the healers. He would know who was closest. After a healer was dispatched, the prince would notify the king so that they could discuss the problem with the king’s advisors. King Arik knew that there was more to the problem. The officer would not have come to the king otherwise. The king looked into the officer’s eyes questioningly.
“What is the rest of the message?”
“That was the entire message,” replied the officer hesitantly, “but I think the fairy is lying.”
“Lying?” echoed the king. “Why do you think that?”
“I heard her talking to another fairy,” frowned the officer. “She indicated that the two Knights of Alcea were really dead.”
King Arik gasped loudly, grabbing the queen’s attention. It was one thing for a Knight of Alcea to be wounded and need a healer. It was a more frequent occurrence than the king would have liked, but the Knights of Alcea tackled only the toughest tasks. Injuries were not uncommon. It was a far different story to hear talk about the death of one of the king’s chosen.
“What is it?” asked Queen Tanya as she arrived at the king’s side.
“Wylan and Sheri,” King Arik replied softly, supreme sadness evident in his voice.
The king and the officer stood facing one another, and neither of them spoke. Tanya knew what Arik had meant when he mentioned the names of the two Knights of Alcea. Only their deaths would strike him so hard. She eased in front of him and addressed the officer.
“Call the Council of Advisors together,” instructed the queen. “They are to assemble immediately. And inform Prince Midge to halt all outgoing fairies.”
“And detain the fairy from Sordoa,” added King Arik. “She has some explaining to do.”
The Red Sword officer saluted and retreated. The queen closed the door and stared at the king.
“What is wrong with the fairy from Sordoa?” she asked.
“The fairy reported that the Knights were wounded,” explained the king, “but she was overheard saying that they were really dead. I will not stand for the truth being withheld from me.”
The queen could see tears starting to well up in Arik’s eyes, and she knew that she had to keep his mind occupied with something other than the deaths of two Knights of Alcea.
“Let’s get dressed,” Queen Tanya said authoritatively. “As long as the Council is being assembled, this will be a good opportunity to discuss what has happened so far.”
The king nodded absently and began getting dressed. Neither of them spoke again until they entered the council chambers. Some of the advisors were already there, but not all of them. Some of them did not reside in the Royal Palace. Prince Oscar was one of the advisors already present, and he was orchestrating the morning meeting. Fairies buzzed nonstop to and from the prince, and servants brought in trays of hot tea and fresh bread. The king and queen grabbed cups of tea and chunks of bread and waited silently for the rest of the advisors to arrive. The king was anxious about the delay, but he wanted to avoid repeating anything, and he wanted everyone’s input. When General Gregor arrived, he called the meeting to order and demanded that the Sordoan fairy repeat the message. She delivered the exact message that Twerp had requested.
“Are Wylan and Sheri alive?” asked the king.
“I do not know,” frowned the fairy. “I have delivered the message that Twerp asked me to deliver.”
“Then why were you overheard saying that they were dead?” scowled the king.
Prince Midge was alarmed by the king’s words. The fairy people were sworn to the Bringer and it disturbed him greatly to think that one of his people might deceive the Bringer. He settled on the king’s shoulder and glared at the other fairy. The tiny woman bit her lip and trembled slightly.
“Twerp changed his message,” the fairy offered timidly. “I do not know why, but he said they were dead at first. I have not told anyone that they were dead. I only remarked to another fairy that Twerp changed his message. Someone must have overheard me say that.”
“Show us the images,” demanded Prince Midge.
The fairy instantly complied, showing the original message and the eventual one. King Arik was satisfied that the fairy was not deceiving him.
“Where were Wylan and Sheri supposed to be when they were struck down?” the queen asked the fairy. “Was it at the Doors?”
“No,” answered the fairy. “I am stationed at one of the Doors. Both of the Doors have already been removed. I think they were going to attack the mages, but I am not sure.”
“Did they know about the fear spell?” asked the queen.
The fairy frowned and looked confused. It was obvious that she did not know what the queen was asking. Prince Oscar quickly glanced at his notes until he found what he was looking for.
“Did Thrip arrive down there?” asked Prince Oscar.
“Yes,” the fairy nodded, grateful that she did not have to answer the queen’s question. “Thrip arrived a couple of hours before Twerp. He said that he was searching for Wylan but couldn’t find him. He asked me if I knew where they were, and I said that I did not, but I suggested that he look near the enemy camp.”
The King looked questioningly at his father.
“Thrip was carrying word of the fear spell to Wylan and Sheri,” explained Prince Oscar. “It looks like he arrived too late.”
King Arik bit his lip in concentration and began pacing the floor. Eventually, he turned to face his father.
“I do not want any more attacks on the black-cloaks,” declared King Arik. “Get that word out immediately. And get a healer to the unicorns in Sordoa. We will resume this meeting as soon as that is done.”
“The closest mage we have is Podil,” stated Prince Oscar. “She is a Sorelderal elf, and is highly skilled, but she is not close to Caldar. She is in Pontek at the other end of Sordoa. I have already sent a fairy to summon her to aid the unicorns. Prince Midge and I will immediately dispatch the other messages you requested. We will be right back. It won’t take but a minute.”
The two princes left the room, and General Gregor stepped over to the wall map of Alcea. He spoke to no one in particular, but all heard his voice.
“Sometimes we forget that the fairies cannot deliver messages instantaneously. While they fly faster than we can imagine, Alcea is a great nation, and it spans hundreds of leagues in each direction. For example, the time it takes a fairy to fly from Caldar to here and then send another fairy to Pontek, followed by a unicorn ride back to Caldar, will take almost an entire day. That is a long time for two unicorns to lie bleeding.”
“What is your point, General?” snapped the king. “Are you reminding me of how I am wasting the lives of Alceans?”
The general turned around to face the king. His face showed no sign of hurt from the king’s attack. He knew the strain that King Arik was under, and he knew how much the king blamed himself for each and every death.
“No, King Arik. The point is to remind everyone here of the vast distances involved in this war. You depend upon our advice, but I often think that such details escape our notice. We have grown so accustomed to people stepping into this room from the other side of the world, that we forget the limitations that we have to deal with within our own country.”
“I think I understand where you are coming from, General,” interjected the queen. “Perhaps we would be wise to station healing mages throughout the country to respond to problems like the one we face today. Are there other resources that we should consider doing the same?”