Steven rolled over with a groan. ‘Is it dawn already?’ His legs were sore from yesterday’s climb and his back ached from sleeping on rock. Although riding all day was steady exercise, he had not enjoyed a good cardiovascular workout in weeks. He promised himself as soon as he found some decent shoes, he would run halfway across Rona and back. Stretching, he sat up and squinted through the morning sunlight at Garec. ‘Are we in a hurry?’
Yawning, Garec twisted awkwardly several times to loosen his back muscles. ‘It appears we are,’ he said and then to Gilmour, ‘I assume you received instructions last night.’
The old man was hurriedly packing his bedroll. ‘No, but I did speak with Lessek and I do now have some notion of how we will defeat Nerak.’ He reached into his pack and withdrew the last of their bread, fruit and cheese. Pulling a short dagger from his belt, he cut several pieces for himself before passing the remainder to the younger men.
‘Here, let’s eat quickly so we can get down as-’ He stopped suddenly. ‘Did he speak with either of you?’
Steven and Garec exchanged a worried glance before answering in unison, ‘No.’
‘Rutting dogs.’ Gilmour kicked an imagined pebble towards the precipitous southern cliffs. ‘I was certain he would have some insight for both of you.’ Shaking his head, he added, ‘I don’t understand it.’
Steven began rolling his blankets. ‘I’m sorry, Gilmour. I slept soundly all night.’
‘As did I,’ Garec said. ‘I tried to stay awake. Perhaps if we had been awake, he would have spoken with us as well.’ He pulled on one boot, then remembered their conversation of the previous day and motioned for Steven to trade footwear with him.
‘I did have some strange dreams, though,’ he added.
Gilmour grabbed his wrist, interrupting Garec’s clumsy attempts to lace Steven’s Timberlands. ‘Tell me. Every detail.’
‘I dreamed as well,’ Steven chimed in.
‘You too, then.’ Gilmour stopped rushing and sat down beside them. ‘Tell me everything you remember. Take your time.’
The old man had Steven and Garec relay their dreams to him, over and over again, asking probing questions about people or places his companions had seen. He was trying to get a comprehensive picture of exactly what they had experienced in their sleep.
Garec’s dream did appear to be a message from Lessek, although aspects left the trio confused and guessing. Images of the land dying, of ghosts haunting Rona’s forbidden forest and of the Estrad River running dry were disheartening, but neither Gilmour nor Garec had any idea what they really represented. Garec’s vision of Riverend Palace in flames was real; Gilmour speculated that the bowman’s vision of two people coupling during the blaze was Lessek’s confirmation that a final effort had been made to continue the royal bloodline.
‘What do you mean?’ Steven asked. It was nearly midday and he was not convinced they could learn anything more from the evening’s alleged message dreams.
‘Prince Danmark was struck blind, deaf and insane by the same force that killed his father.’
‘Nerak,’ Steven confirmed.
‘Nerak. Correct. The young prince was not killed right away,’ Gilmour said. ‘He lived another full Twinmoon, not dying until the night of the fire that destroyed Riverend Palace.’
Garec put the pieces together. ‘Someone could have been impregnated by Danmark during that Twinmoon.’ His voice rose slightly as he pieced together his dream. ‘So that bloodline may still be intact today. Prince Danmark could have a living heir somewhere in Rona.’
‘That’s right. And that heir is – or I should say, would be – the rightful king or queen of Eldarn.’
Steven interrupted, ‘How can that be? I thought Brynne said the nations of Eldarn were all ruled by cousins, descendants of some long-dead King Reginald or something.’
‘Remond,’ Gilmour corrected. ‘True, but legend has it that Prince Draven of Malakasia was not the father of his only son, Marek.’
Steven thought about this for a moment, then understood. ‘So, the wife, Princess-’
‘Mernam,’ Garec chimed in.
‘Princess Mernam had an affair, managed to get herself pregnant, spent a long weekend in the sack with Prince Draven to make it all look legitimate and gave birth to a bastard-’
‘Prince Marek,’ Gilmour accented the interruption by slapping his hand against the stone landing. ‘He was the first Malakasian to claim the Eldarni throne and his family has been in power ever since.’
‘But controlled by Nerak,’ Steven said and Gilmour nodded in affirmation. Steven was suddenly interested in the twists and turns of Eldarn history. ‘What about the other families? Were there no surviving heirs?’
‘None who produced any additional children,’ Garec said, then speculated, ‘I’d guess Nerak killed off everyone young enough to carry on King Remond’s bloodline, then laid claim to Prince Marek the bastard, who was still capable of having children.’
‘I wonder why he would care,’ Steven mused aloud.
‘What do you mean?’ Garec asked.
‘If he was being controlled by an evil force from outside the observable universe, why would he care that Remond’s line die off? What threat could they possibly be?’
Garec guessed again, ‘Perhaps he needed some semblance of order here in Eldarn while he studied the spell table and learned the magic necessary to free his master from the Fold.’
‘Maybe,’ Steven agreed, ‘or maybe Remond’s family holds some secret that would interfere with his plan to tap the power of the spell table.’
Running a hand through his whiskers, Gilmour said, ‘This is all very interesting, but we can’t interrupt our journey to begin looking for some mythical Ronan heir. That might take another hundred Twinmoons. Our current goals are more important, at least for now.’ He stood and stretched, then, with an audible sigh, added, ‘I’m afraid Lessek can be very confusing. Now, Steven, back to your bank.’
‘All right, all right,’ Steven answered, ‘but I need a break first. I’m beginning to get a headache.’ He rose and began walking about the plateau, hoping to clear his mind. It was obvious Lessek had spoken to Garec, but Steven did not believe his own dream had any cryptic messages. It was just another day at the bank as he, Howard and Myrna enjoyed each other’s company and tackled a maths problem together. He hadn’t been to Meyers Antiques yet, so he knew nothing of William Higgins’s deposit-box key. It was just a dream, just a run-of-the-mill night-time recollection of one day at work. He certainly hoped so, because if Lessek had overlooked him last night, that might mean he and Mark would be able to find the far portal, return home to Colorado and be finished with Eldarn for ever.
Leaving this mountain without a supernaturally imposed to-do list had become an important short-term goal for Steven and he didn’t wish to dwell on the scene long enough for Gilmour to start inferring something outlandish from what was just a simple dream.
With Mark on his mind, Steven wandered across to the edge of the landing and lay down on his stomach, looking towards their base camp. Nothing moved. No one was there. Second-guessing himself, he found the river and followed it to the grove of trees where he had fallen asleep two nights earlier. They were gone.
Anxiety welled up in him and his hands started shaking. Leaping to his feet, he sprinted across to where Gilmour and Garec remained deep in conversation.
‘Something’s wrong,’ Steven shouted, ‘they’re gone from camp!’ He quickly hefted his pack. ‘Everyone, even the horses, they’ve all disappeared.’
Versen snapped a branch in two across his knee and tossed both bits onto the burgeoning pile of firewood. Brynne tended the horses, brushing their coats and leading them to the river for water. Fearing another Seron attack, Sallax told her to leave them saddled in case they were forced to leave in a hurry. Sallax himself had gone to scout a trail through the narrow canyon adjacent to Seer’s Peak.