Milada grew excited as he spoke of these things. It was not wholly from his self-love, nor from his love of Ivona. Rather, it was a mixture of the two, with the hope that their ends were the same. But this excitement was in his mind and not his body. He was wounded beyond the cure of medicine, and even as he finished speaking his face grew pale. He leaned his head back and fell into a deep sleep. Seeing this, the doctor and the others left the room to hold a counsel while some of the women of the castle entered to nurse their beloved nobleman.
They went to the second floor of the castle, and gathered in a circle on the far side of the room. At first there was silence as they watched the activity outside. The townsmen had risen up when the alarm was heard, and a heavy guard was put up all around the castle. None of the remaining guards were traitors, but even so, enough guards were stationed that if one had treason on his mind, he could not have acted upon it. The villagers loved Milada and hated his enemies; in this dwelt his strength – domestic security: also Gylain’s only weakness.
This makeshift counsel was made up of the Admiral, Barnes, the Innkeeper, Meredith, the Fardys, the doctor, and Osbert. The proceedings are as follows:
WILLIAM STUART : We are all men here, doctor, and accustomed to bad tidings. What is the state of Milada’s health? Do not be positive, for we must know the truth.
DOCTOR : He is still among the living – but for how long, I cannot say.
WILLIAM STUART : If he dies we lose more than a good friend.
DOCTOR : It is not I you must convince, but Milada’s body. He will probably live on weakly for many months, before finally succumbing in the end. It would take a miracle or a magical elixir to bring him healing, and I am afraid such things do not exist.
MEREDITH : Indeed, they do, and I will not have your extreme opinions flouted around in the matter as if they were fact.
DOCTOR : If they do exist, it takes more than my skill to call them forth.
MEREDITH : They are not of men, but of God. With faith, God works wonders. Could he not heal the centurion’s servant with merely his voice?
DOCTOR : Perhaps, if you believe that way. But faith without works is dead, as they say, and it hasn’t worked yet. We need a way that is more in the realm of mankind.
WILLIAM STUART : Yes, Meredith, we need to find actions for ourselves to take. What medicines are there that would help?
DOCTOR : His case is severe, for the wound is very deep. I know of nothing that will suffice.
MEREDITH : Ah, but I do. It is sure to heal forever, if it can be found.
WILLIAM STUART : And what is it? We have no time for riddles here, friend.
MEREDITH : Which is why I speak none – only of this: the Holy Graal.
DOCTOR : I have heard of such a relic: the cup that contains the blood of Christ.
WILLIAM STUART : We cannot waste time searching for what does not exist. If we were to look, where would it be? No, Meredith, unless something arises we cannot do this. Fate has helped us this far; we will have to let it work on Milada’s health as well.
OSBERT : I know I am a mere woodsman with little knowledge of the outside world, yet I may be able to help.
WILLIAM STUART : Do not be shy, Osbert. You may think us wiser, but we know nothing of this matter.
OSBERT : Very well. My only knowledge comes from something I have just read. To be honest, a scroll that I have only read within the hour.
WILLIAM STUART : How you find time for reading is beyond me, but go on.
OSBERT : I found it on the hooded horseman, the spy and messenger of Gylain. I read it as we galloped to the castle, as is my habit when traveling great distances. I will read it aloud now, and we will see what fate has planned for us:
Nicholas –
My spies tell me there is increased activity in the rebel camps of late. Their reports are unsettling to me, for I have for some time been anxious, as I have told you, of the return of the king’s son. Yet it is not him that I fear, but the deluge. I am only God’s messenger, perhaps, yet he uses messengers against his own messengers, even as I do. I will defeat him, if I can, and overthrow the divine dictator. The rebels fight foolishly, for earthly freedoms. I fight for only heavenly emancipation.
There is something that has been on my mind of late: the Holy Graal, the ancient goblet which holds the blood of Christ. I am the son of man, and he the son of God. If the father’s blood cannot be spilled, the son’s is just as good. Because of Atlantis and the Garden, I have turned my face to the books of the ancients. If our fate is to mirror theirs, I must look to them to see myself. At last I have discovered the location of the Holy Graal.
There is a forested mountain range in southeast France called Cervennes. Through the center of these mountains runs the Ardeche River, and to the north of this river is a deep forest, compared to the Atiltian in majesty. In these mountain forests there is an ancient temple that was carved from the mountain itself. From its deep base, it rises over the tops of the nearby mountains, and the Graal is kept in its upper tower. It cannot be reached but through the temple itself, and that through the forest. The Titans guard the temple – the same who overthrew Atlantis before it sunk.
I can send no one but you to retrieve it. Jonathan must remain with me, to defend the castle. You may take as many men as you wish. The dangers are great, perhaps, but I believe you to be even greater. I fear I will be too busy with the Queen of Saxony when you return from the Floatings to speak of this, so I write you this epistle. I send a copy with several messengers, that I can be sure you receive it, yet the hand is my own. Return to Eden before you depart.
Signed – Gylain, King of Atilta
WILLIAM STUART : Then there is hope of our success, for we know as much about it as our enemy. Yet Nicholas Montague will expand our troubles. On the other hand, we can spare more men, for we will not have to contend with him here.
MEREDITH : He is not the most to be feared, I think, but the Titans. But who among us can survive the dangers of the forest and the temple to even reach the Graal? This looks more grim than before.
BLOND FARDY : I think that I know who we must send.
BROWN FARDY : Then out with it. I am a very patient man, but it is too much to bear, to be told that you know, yet not what you know.
BLOND FARDY : Your patience is more than my own, for I cannot bear to be interrupted in the course of my speech, and then rebuked for stopping short.
WILLIAM STUART : We will send Willard, the king.
BLOND FARDY : As I was preparing to say.
WILLIAM STUART : Then we go, for there is much to do.
And so the counsel broke up, and they parted to go their own ways. The Admiral, Barnes, Osbert, Forsmil, and the Fardy brothers departed for Eden; the doctor, and the Innkeeper remained at Milada’s bedside; and Meredith went into the forest, to prepare the rebel fleet.
Chapter 33
It rained that evening and nothing could be seen through the veil of the forest. Had Gylain’s forces been able to pierce it, they would have seen the rebels hustling about, finishing preparations for their attack. The rebel city was built into and around the Great Goliaths. There were no entrances except a tunnel that ran underground into the southern tree. A wide roadway was built inside this tree, which wound its way to the top until it opened into a cavernous entry room – the front gate of the city. The room was circular – three hundred feet in circumference – with a pillar of the tree’s heartwood left standing in the center. A single, roughly hewn door opened to the outside, to a small platform.
It was no more than five feet wide, and the stairway of the city began from it: bordered on each side by several layers of ropes and secured below with stout Atiltian boards. As it rose, it came across other platforms, each with a simple door leading into the tree. There were thousands of these doors. What they opened to was as various as any city: some were small apartments, others giant warehouses; some were shops, some manufactures. The entire rebel population – those who actively opposed Gylain – dwelt within the trees, carrying on their trades as they had done before.