Palace of the Twelve Pillars by Christina Weigand
Book One
As he bounded
off the dais, Waldrom screamed, “What’s going on here?
A wild rush of
wind ripped the tent flaps open, and a horse and rider burst through. Joachim
gaped at the body of the dead soldier. His heart raced and leapt to his throat. His
gaze traveled up the horse’s legs. A man’s black boots. A scream caught in his
throat, and tears filled his eyes. He stared into blue eyes.
The horse pawed
the ground and snorted. The rider dismounted and stood next to the dead
guard.
Wriggling free
of Waldrom, Lilia ran to the rider. She threw her arms around him. “Brandan,
you’re here. You’ve come to free us.”
The prince
pushed her aside. “Brother, I see you are trying to usurp me again.
It appears I got
here just in time.”
“No, you’re
wrong. I have no desire to take anything rightfully belonging to
you.” Joachim
stepped toward his brother and reached out a hand to him. “I want
to help you and
see what we can accomplish together.”
Swatting his
hand away, Brandan laughed. “Help me? You’re the one who
needs help.
Anything you have to offer is worthless to me. Now out of my way.
The king and I
have business.”
“No, listen to
me. You can’t do this.” Joachim spun him around.
He clouted
Joachim, knocking him down. “King Waldrom, we need to talk.
He’s deceiving
you.” He spat at Joachim then turned and bowed to Waldrom. “I’m
at your service,
My King.”
Regaining his
feet, Joachim pushed Brandan into the guard standing behind
him. The guard
wrapped his muscular arms around Brandan. “What should I do
with him, Sire?”
Brandan flipped
the soldier to the ground and put his black booted foot on the
man’s chest.
“The one you should be detaining is standing there, you fool.” He
pointed at
Joachim.
“What are you
doing?” Lilia grabbed Brandan by the arm. “Stop this, or
Waldrom will
imprison us all. Why are you jeopardizing our lives?”
He looked at his
mother. “Don’t worry, Mother. The only one in any danger
here is the
traitor you see standing before of you. First, he betrays me, next he kills
Father, and now
he would betray you and Waldrom. Guards, seize him!”
The king stepped
forward and raised his hands to stop the guards. “What do
you mean a
traitor, and how do you know this?”
“Because I know
my brother, and that’s the way he thinks. He’ll lie, cheat, and
kill to achieve
his own ends, and his goal is to have both countries under his to rule
at any cost.”
“Why should I
trust you over him?”
“Because I’m
just like you,” Brandan responded.
Walking around
the twins, Waldrom rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. “My boy,
you present an
interesting dilemma. How do I choose one over the other? How do I
know which one
to believe? Guards seize both of them.” Two guards stepped
forward, and
each grabbed a twin.
“You’re wrong.”
Joachim struggled to break free. “This is wrong. I’m not a
liar. I only
want what’s best, and that’s for us to be together.”
“You’re the one
who’s wrong.” Brandan pulled his arm free. “I’ve no use for
you.” He turned
to Waldrom. “Get him out of here, so we can finish.”
Joachim broke
loose, stepped across the gap and grasped his brother by the
tunic. Brandan
jerked around and punched him. He rubbed his jaw and shoved
Brandan, who
fell to the ground “What happened to you? You’re not the brother I
know.”
Standing up, the
black prince pulled his sword. “Nothing is wrong with me. I
just realized
who I am and who truly cares about me...and it’s not you.” He rested
the point of the
sword on the cut Waldrom had given Joachim. As Brandan pushed
the tip in the
scratch, he re-opened the partially scabbed wound. Joa laid his hand
on the side of
the sword and pushed it away. Guards grabbed Joachim’s arms.
“Enough! I can
see you two will not make this easy. I put before you a
challenge, which
will determine my choice. You will travel to the Cave of Njori
and extinguish
the flame of Asha. Melvane will accompany you and testify to its
completion.”
Brandan replaced
his sword and walked over to his horse. “I don’t see the need
for this. It’s
obvious I am the one, but I’ll go along if that is what you want.” He
remounted his
horse and reined it around to exit.
Still in the
grasp of the soldier, Joachim yelled, “No, Brandan, stop! You can’t
do this. We
can’t. It’s the light of Asha, never to be extinguished. If you do this,
you’ll destroy
all hope and any chance we have of defeating this evil.”
Brandan laughed
and kicked his horse. “All the more reason to get this done
quickly. Guards,
find a mount for my brother.”
“No, I won’t go.
I can’t do it.”
The king raised
his hand. “The choice is made. Guards, take Joachim to the
prison tent.
Brandan, we will deal with this inconsequential flame later. Right now,
we have more
important business to attend to.”
He signaled two
of the guards to remove Joachim and then, as if it were his
own idea, said,
“I knew all along he was a traitor. I was only crowning him to draw
out the true
Prince of Sidramah. Brandan, thank you for arriving so soon and
before these
Wisdoms regretted what they did here today.”
As the guards
dragged him from the tent, Joachim struggled and screamed,
“No, he’s lying!
Brandan, why are you doing this?” His cries echoed through the
camp as Waldrom
returned his attentions to those remaining in the tent.
* * * *
The burly guards
pushed Joachim into the prison tent. Most of the Cratonites
taken captive
during the preceding battle had already been put to death or enslaved.
One lone dark
figure sat in a corner. Joachim walked over to the opposite corner
and fell to the
ground. The tent smelled of unwashed bodies and excrement. The
ground was mushy
and muddy. Joachim felt it seep into his clothing. Two camp
dogs covered
with blood and dirt wrestled over what appeared to be a human leg
bone.
He retched, and
tears coursed down his cheeks. The prince buried his head in
his hands. “How
could Brandan do this to me? I only wanted to protect him from
Waldrom and the
evil, yet somehow it got to him anyway. And what have I done to
Father? I know I
wasn’t there to kill him, yet everyone believes I did. How can this
be happening?”
As the tears dried on his cheeks, Joachim fell asleep, and dark
dreams began to
plague him.
He stood in the
Cave of Kobata. A Nemean lion leapt on his back. He twirled
around, throwing
the lion off, and then reached for a knife hidden in his boot. He
went to slash
the lion, and it turned into Waldrom. He paused in confusion.
“Your father and
brother have deserted you.”
“No, Father
loves me. He would never leave me.”
“Don’t you see
he already has? He no longer searches for you, and Brandan
has betrayed you.
You have no other option than to kill them. Remove them from
your life before
they do so to you. You no longer need them.”
The king changed
into his father as Joachim finished the slashing motion
putting his
knife into the heart.
“Joa, why are
you doing this to me?” Theodric asked as he died.
The prince ran
across the cave to a tunnel leading farther into the mountain
and felt a
stabbing pain in his heart as he fell to the cold, hard floor. His father
was dead, and it
was his fault. He killed his father. The pain of abandonment and
desolation
overwhelmed him.
The prince
jerked awake. I killed him. He dropped his head into his hands. A
hand touched his
shoulder. He looked up and saw the dark figure who had been
sitting in the
corner.
“Listen, my boy.
You’ve done nothing wrong. You couldn’t have killed your
father. Pull
yourself together. You must find a way to escape and get back to him.
Your father
needs you now, more than he has ever needed anyone.”
“No. Don’t you
see I’ve killed him? I can never be forgiven for that. There is
no place left
for me to go.”
The man shook
Joachim. “You didn’t kill him. Sidramah is planting these
thoughts in your
head, so you’ll become discouraged and give up. You can’t let
him take your
heart and mind. You must fight him. Come, you are needed.”
Joachim pushed
the stranger away. “Who are you, and why do you care what
happens to me or
my father?”
“My name is
Salochin, but that is unimportant. Just know this, you must find
your way out of
here quickly.” Salochin turned and walked into the shadows and
disappeared.
The prince sat
for a moment, attempting to assimilate what he had seen. Who
was that man,
and why did he care? He didn’t have time to figure it out. Right
now, he needed
to find an escape. He stood and walked over to the spot where
Salochin
vanished. He ran his hand up and down the wall but didn’t find any tears
or weak spots.
How could the man have gotten out of the tent? Joachim walked
around the
inside perimeter of the tent, poking and prodding, trying to find a
weakness or an
opening, but he found none. Soon, he sat down in a discouraged
slump.
He wished
Brandan were here. His brother would be able to find a way out. Joa
recalled how as
children his brother always found a way to hide, to escape. But,
how did he do
it? The prince couldn’t remember the invisibility spell. He thanked
Asha King
Waldrom hadn’t felt the need to bind his powers. “What were the words
for that chant?”
It hadn’t been a chant but a way of thinking. He imagined a white
light
surrounding him. The light started to blur and take on the color and shapes of
his
surroundings. He faded into the light, became a part of it. When he had
completely
disappeared into the camouflage around him, he walked out of the tent
and through the
camp. Brandan’s spell appeared to be working for him. Joa could
see everything
and everyone in the camp, but no one seemed to be able to see him.
He kicked a cook
fire which set one of the dilapidated tents aflame and watched as
its inhabitants
ran to escape. When he reached the tethered horses, Joachim set
them loose and
smacked them, so they would wander off. The few guards on duty
were dozing, and
Joachim full of overconfidence with his success thus far, tried to
walk past them.
A scraggly
looking dog covered with sores and dirt lay in his path. Joachim
failed to see
the dog and stepped on it. The animal jumped up and yelped in pain,
waking up a
tall, skinny lookout. The guard’s eyes widened as he looked into
Joachim’s face
and sounded the alarm with loud shouts.
When the guard
yelled, Joachim froze. The little Mantion stepped over the dog
and pointed his
long spear at Joachim’s chest. A second guard stepped up behind
the prince and
put a spear point to his back. Joachim’s heart beat so fast it felt like
it would jump
out of his chest. They saw him. What had he done wrong? He
panicked.
“Frog!” he yelled. The two Mantions turned into frogs and leapt away.
Joachim took a
deep breath and bolted into the woods surrounding the camp.
The sun had gone
down, and clouds covered the quarter moon in the sky.
Shadows scared
Joachim as he ran through the forest. Soon he collapsed in an
exhausted heap.
This must have been how his brother felt after doing forbidden
magic. Even
though he had lectured Brandan about it numerous times, he never
realized how
much energy was wasted by actually using the magic. Now he had
used the black
magic. He had killed his father and abandoned his mother and
brother. He had
no place to go. No one would welcome him, except to punish him
for his crimes.
The stranger
from the tent materialized in the darkness. “Go to Crato’s battle
camp. You are
guilty of nothing except caring about your family.” He disappeared
as suddenly as
he had appeared.
Now he was
seeing phantoms. He must be more tired than he realized. He
shook his head.
Maybe he would find a place to rest for the night and then decide
Christina Weigand’s a writer, wife,
and mother of three grown children and a middle school daughter. She is also
Nana to three granddaughters. She lives with her husband and youngest daughter
in Pennsylvania, returning there after a short sabbatical in Washington.
Currently, she’s working on fantasy novels and inspirational writing. Through
her writing, she strives to share the Word of God and help people young and old
to realize the love and mercy He has for everyone.
When she’s not writing, she’s active in her local Church as
a lector, Bible Study, or with the church theater group, volunteering at her
daughter and granddaughter’s school in the library as well as helping the
children develop a love for reading and writing. Jesus fills her home with love
as she shares Him through her writing.
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