Restoration: The Twin Realms Series

By VJ Parker

Starting in the bowels of the palace, hunting through tomes and tomes of journals looking for a clue of the evil perpetrators, a betrothal was planned that afternoon and the time in the library is cut short after another special tome is located. The festivity include a challenge between Aaraniria and Tonayes soldiers in an arena made for these games, a ball game, men on horses bareback where strength and courage is tested.
They have a weeklong celebration in which time many hidden traps are found, the hard way, and Rowanlee also falls foul to one of the spells, taking time away from the palace, Rowanlee and Eagle come to understand who the perpetrators are and talk how to capture and contain men of magical power.
The Hystallys fall foul of a magical spell and call Rowanlee to rescue them before the land devourers his herd of ladies, all land bound due to being with child or due given birth. Saving the Hystallys they plead to be given the opportunity to have revenge on these people that place his family in danger, the Hystallys have gifts of their own that can help Rowanlee capture the evil perpetrators, Rowanlee accepts their offer and returns to the waterfall to recuperate, before returning to the palace.
She finds after some investigation that one of the pillars is split and leakage of power has been happening since they were built, the evil ones were tapping into this power and gaining extra power to cause the corruption. Rowanlee repairs the pillar and in doing so inadvertently becomes part of the pillars, she bonds to them and had power over them, they overload her with information that had happened over the many winters and she learns how to use the power and the arena.
Telling the king who is the perpetrators was one of the hardest tasks Eagle and Rowanlee have ever had to undergo, his cousin and cousins son were two in Tonaye. Rowanlee uses the staff as bait to bring the evil one to Tonaye, when the last one arrives back in Tonaye, she blocks the ability to use their gifts and with the assistance of the Hystallys push the two who are not yet at the palace to the palace.
Locking them in the warded room until the dark moon when Rowanlee will attempt to remove the evil taint from the evil ones, but as it has never been performed before, it is uncertain if the attempt will be successful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Apr 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483612553

VJ Parker

Born in England and raised in sunny Western Australia, Mrs Parker is still with the man she met 41 years ago, they have 3 wonderful children and 7 fantastic grandchildren. As a book keeper her day is working on numbers, and writing gives her the balance of words when she get home, it was her eldest son that encouraged me to return to writing, and she is grateful that her son pushed her to get her books published. Reading and writing have been a wonderful hobby and a safe haven from the harshness reality can offer.

Book preview

Restoration

Book Three

The Twin Realms Series

VJ PARKER

Copyright © 2013 by VJ Parker.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013905233

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4836-1254-6

Softcover 978-1-4836-1253-9

Ebook 978-1-4836-1255-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 04/03/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.Xlibris.com.au

502131

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

The Twin Realms Series

Rowanlee

Secondrey’s Tale

Restoration

DEDICATION

To my husband, Stephen

To my one heart, my soul mate, the only person I can say truly has had the patience to put up with all my wild mood swings, the one who dried my tears when a character fails to work out, when pages and pages are deleted and had to be started all over again.

My husband, Steve, who would be waiting for hours in silence for me to come out of the office and give him some company; my love, this page is for you.

I owe you, my love, so much that my simple thank you, said earnestly on this page, will never, ever, say or show enough.

Chapter 1

A young scribe stood precariously on the second to last rung, at the top of a rickety old ladder, leaning his legs and lower body against the journals he had already read, straining his eyes to read the dusty tome, one of many that filled the archive in front of him. He used only the warm yellow glow of a candle to illuminate the spines of the tomes as he reached each one for identification. On his right hand, he had a candle, burning low, whilst on his left hand, he had a moist rag. Slowly, he raised the candle above his head to light the spine of the next tome, which was just above his eye level. Leaning harder against the hoard of tomes at his waist, trying to gain extra balance on the creaking ladder, he nervously reached up with his left hand and gently rubbed the dust from the spine; then with boredom, which had become part of long hours he had already spent in the room, he began to read the inscription upon it. As he wiped the dust away to reveal the inscription, the lad’s body trembled with excitement for a brief moment. Then he slowly revealed the names on the spine, his exuberant shout making the dust around him burst into a cloudy glow of dusty greyish-yellow, illuminated by the candle’s light. He then raised his voice excitedly to the lads below.

‘Here it is!’ he yelled, as he hastily tucked the dirty rag into his belt and struggled valiantly to jiggle the large, heavy journal from its gloomy bed of dust. Then, somehow, with a superhuman effort, whilst he juggled the candle precariously in one hand, he managed to get the tome moving; then he carefully dragged the tome across the top of his head for safety and leverage. He then tried to balance it on his head in an effort to keep it safely balanced whilst he descended the ladder.

He was about to proceed haphazardly down the ladder, but at the last possible moment, as he moved slightly away from his resting place, against the wall of tomes, away from his secure footing on the ladder, the last of his adrenaline, gained from finding the tome, gave away, and he was in need to find that extra for strength and courage; he felt the dread of the possibility of losing both—the tome (he had just found) and his balance. Because of his attempt to descend the ladder, and the tome being too heavy to manage on his head, he panicked and dropped the candle—his only source of light that high up the ladder. In desperation, he threw his hips against the wall of tomes he’d just moved away from, and by sheer luck and desperation, he used both his hands to hold the enormous tome before it toppled to the ground below. He took two enormous deep breaths; every hair on his body was standing on end. He felt cold, yet, at the same time, as if immersed in hot water, the fear trembled through his body as he lowered the tome carefully from his head. Using the wall of tomes to support the heavy tome, he managed to lower it sufficiently to clutch it securely to his chest.

Using his hip and the elbow on his right arm, in an attempt to help balance himself on the ladder, and somehow holding the journal, which is too heavy. It threatens at every rung to jump from his arms, he started to descend erratically down the ladder. One step at a time, slowly he managed the slow descent; this was accomplished by lowering the tome down between the ladder and his body to keep a precarious control on the tomes’ descent to rest on the next rung. Whilst using the rung to help support the journal, he stepped down to the next step. He counted each rung as he repeated the process in near darkness. The candle’s luminescence failed to reach above the fifth rung—the reason being: they were lined along the floor for guidance in walking around the huge room, not for lighting the way as one climbed up and down a ladder.

‘Hamanty!’ he shouted as he almost dropped the tome again. As he reached the last few rungs of the ladder, he was relieved. He blew out a long breath at the sight of the ground so close as his voice echoed through the huge room. It has been eight long moons searching this large room. With the celebrations about to start, they were hoping that they would get a long-awaited rest. The Prince and Princess were merciless in their hunt for the right tomes; the couple, with the help of Secondrey, had barely left the library since they started the search in earnest.

‘Hamanty!’ he bellowed more urgently as he stepped off the last rung, excited of his find and desperate for some help to carry it up the steps to the library. He was exhausted from the exertion of the ladder’s descent; he almost succumbed to sit on the floor to rest and not move to the stair that led to where the trio were, who were reading and cataloguing the pile of other tomes that were already retrieved by the lads, and they were nearly ready to end the search for the afternoon.

‘Come here quick! Help me carry this heavy tome… Ugh… here, this end, together now… Hey, everyone, I have found it,’ shouted the excited voice from the darkness. Hopefully, this is the last dusty volume that would need to be hauled up from deep within the historical libraries. Each time they had thought it was the last, Rowanlee or Eagle would send them down again.

‘The tome of the families from King Bellistars to King Helleries,’ another excited call echoed from the stairwell in anticipation, shouting up the confirmation to those above.

The lower level of the palace was a place very few people ventured. Once a tome was sent down for archiving, no one was eager to go down again to retrieve it; they had scribes that kept the records and scribes that would deny any knowledge of what was actually down in the bowels of the palace.

Despite the fact that the room that housed the tomes was dark, cold, and very, very dusty, it was amazing that the parchment was not damaged. Though the room was cold, it was dry and was, in fact, a very good room for keeping such memorabilia. No animals visited this room. If possible, even people would not visit this room, and it smelt of the musky scent of old parchment and of candle wax and of smoke from the many candles that were burning to light the room. Two stories high and 50 yards wide and 100 yards long, it was under the north wing of the palace. Entry could be made from any of the four doors: one led to the master bedroom of the north wing, where the King and Queen were housed; one from the gardens near the arena, which was hidden behind the overgrown vines; another door from the winery, and why to the winery was unknown, and it had been thought that the room may have been for another purpose, but that knowledge had been lost aeons ago; and the last door was from the private library in the main palace. It was from the last door that the young scribes ventured down to the cold depths.

Sitting in the library to hear the excited call were Eagle, Secondrey, Rowanlee, the head scribe, and a couple of guards for good measure. All seated around a large wooden table covered in tomes of the past, they had been reading from the various tomes already surfaced from the bowels of the palace for many moons now, trying to find the names of each member in the family line, when the call came from the ornate large wooden double doors echoing the voice that bellowed from below.

‘Your Highnesses, the tome you seek has been found. Let us hope this is the last one that we need for some time,’ called the bored scribe. Each time they thought they had found the last tome needed, Eagle had sent them down for another. Each tome gave more clues, and a list of the family members’ names was growing. The old scribe was about seventy winters old. He was a small man, about five foot six, with short grey hair that was thin on the top, washed-out grey eyes that darted about, never missing a trick, and thin bony fingers in a hand that was more a claw from holding the quill all his life. His voice was soft but held firm with authority, which only a scribe could display. His wealth of knowledge was bottomless, and their time would have been longer if not for this man’s remembrance of hidden clues and notations on the side of each parchment written long ago in a lingo only the scribes, other than Rowanlee and her special gifts, could decipher.

On hearing the scribe’s voice, all three raised their heads from the tomes they were reading and gave the scribe a polite smile at his tedium.

‘They have been a long time down in the archives this time. It is a wonder the lads are able to find them with the mountains of identical-looking volumes looming out at them at every turn,’ said Rowanlee softly, pondering the sight and sound of the elder scribe; she glanced with a thoughtful eye at the stairwell, where the young lads would appear from at any moment. Time for a break and maybe a change of venue for a little while, she believed, before voicing her conclusion.

‘‘Tis time for a break,’ she called out at any who were paying attention to her voice. Turning to the door to where the guards were stationed, she continued to send out her commands. ‘Call the maid. She may attend us. We require refreshments before we dig any further into these dusty tomes,’ requested Rowanlee with a flourish of her hand over the table of books that stacked ten high, to signify the level of dust on the tomes that lay on the table were her only concern. She turned and commenced walking towards the doorway that led down to the dark and cold rooms.

‘Where are you going, my sweet?’ called Eagle as he lifted his head in time to see Rowanlee reach the doorway that led down to archives. Eagle had a questioning look on his face at the sudden change in Rowanlee’s move.

‘Nowhere at the moment,’ she replied over her shoulder to Eagle, sending him a wicked smile. This made the elder scribe to cough into his hand. The palace still found the open display of affection that these two continually revealed when together. The scribe was hard to come to terms with it as it was not what a member of the society expects to see in a royal family. The royals were meant to maintain the utmost sense of decorum. Since coming back from the other realm, they had changed. The King and Queen had changed. The veil of complexity that hid the family from view has been removed. Many who worked within the walls of the palace may at any time see the royal acting. Well… it’s normal.

‘Lads,’ called Rowanlee, ‘blow out the candles and come up here with the tomes you have found. We are about to have a break and some refreshments. You are all invited to sit with us and fill your bellies.’ Rowanlee bid down to the young lads. As part of their apprenticeship with the royal house, they were trained in reading and writing and all that it entails with the head scribe and swordsmanship and soldiering and all that entails with Eagle or Oak and their twenty personal guards. One moon, these young lads could be used in a number of ways depending on the skills they excel in.

‘Wahoo!’ the other young scribes responded. You could hear them bouncing up the empty stairwell, as all the scribes chorused their appreciation; then they slowed to follow the two who carried the heavy works up the last of the steps.

The eager young apprentices came through the double doorway, each holding an end to the very large and heavy volume, their eyes keen and excited, not at all bored like their teacher. Each tome has been fervently gathered and placed on the table. Each apprentice scribe understood the painstaking effort the historians have put into filling the pages with the history before binding the volume. Each page was full of the flowing lines that made words not all could yet read. Runes of many shapes and colours often depicted a notable change in the vibrant history of Tonaye and the former rulers.

Eagle moved some already digested tomes to one side of the table, making room for the new addition. He flicked through the first few pages before Rowanlee covered his eyes with her hands, gently guiding him away from the table.

‘Now, now, my heart, we must eat and drink and rest our eyes or you will complain again of the headache that have been plaguing you and of an aching body, from crouching over the table, looking far too long at the illegible writing of some old scribe, whom did not think anyone in the future would wish to read his handiwork.’

Looking up at the young apprentices, she continued, ‘May this be a lesson learnt, young men. You never know who will want to read your works, so make sure it is readable. Some of these etchings on these pages are supposed to represent our history, and yet we can hardly discern some of the writing.’ She laughed at the serious faces looking at her and down to the pages she is pointing to and then back up to her again.

‘Would you like us to try and make sense of them, Princess?’ asked the oldest of the group, eager to please.

‘That is very kind of you, but not necessary. We can manage to make out enough to get us by.’ She waved her hand in the air in dismissal to his suggestion, his smile never leaving his face at her dismissal.

‘Come, young ones, join us at the other table and eat with us,’ said Eagle from the table the young maid had just filled, overflowing with assorted food and drink.

Eagerly, the boys seat themselves down around the table, never before having been invited to join with the royal couple for a meal. Over the past eight moons, the royal couple had eaten whilst reading, hardly lifting their heads to acknowledge company. The lads jumped at the chance to accompany them. The lads’ table manners were impeccable. They had much to prove. Having a goal in mind, they wished they be included in the unveiling of the investigations, and having stated so, Eagle had said they needed to prove they were trustworthy before he would reveal all to them. They were so very young that it was hard for them to really understand all that was transpiring, and they had been inventing all sorts of ideas to show they were worthy.

‘My lord Highness, have you figured which of the families we are investigating?’ queried the old scribe as he reached over the table for some wine.

Eagle swallowed a mouthful before answering, gulping down a sip of wine to clear his mouth of food. ‘Yes, we are following the family line of Nautasicii from the time he left his village to join the royal call to the present moon. We wish to find any person who may have a link to his lineage.’

‘But he was one of the Ellementaleese, wasn’t he?’ asked Hamanty between mouthfuls.

‘Yes,’ Eagle said in return, leaving it. Without a doubt, no more was going to be said in front of these young boys.

‘But, M’lord, will you not tell us more? We may be able to help in the investigation,’ pushed Hamanty.

‘NO,’ replied Eagle, trying to keep his voice calm. He did not take to being questioned by his subordinates, and yet he felt they deserved more than he was willing to divulge. It was a hard tug between his duty and being the man that he is.

Rowanlee watched the interplay and smiled to herself. Eagle was good with the young ones, even when he was having his patience tested to its limits. She marvelled at his ability to control his voice and manner, so as not to cause fear with the young lads, yet he, at the same time, gave them the impression he would brook no arguments or probing from them. It was obvious to her that all his training as a leader of the soldiers often comes into play in civilian life too. The boys loved having the opportunity to work with Eagle and were always eager to intervene or assist in any way. Nothing was too demeaning or belittling. If they were serving their prince and being in the private library, side by side, then it was an honour they will have for the rest of their lives to regale over and over to others.

The friendly banter had left the subject of conversation turn from the tomes to a party that the Queen had organised. It was the betrothal between Prince Harendar, the younger of the two eldest princes from Aaraniria, and Melanlayie, the Queen’s own brother’s eldest daughter. It was almost love at first sight. Over the last three full moons, the gateway between the twin realms had been opened to bring the two palace inhabitants visiting. Both Kings have wandered the halls of the two palaces and had many discussions about the future. This marriage would unite the families and take the burden off Rowanlee to produce a daughter.

Trying to stay with the spirit of the festivities, the couple have tried everything they could possibly do to be part of the activity and have been roping in others. The young boys were to be attending the party that evening; they were to be in the great hall, assisting Eagle. Little did they know that Eagle had made a big push to get their participation on a grand scale, because he wanted the boys to feel special when he invited the lads to join the royal couple, and they, of course, beamed with enthusiasm at being invited into the palace for a meal and dancing. The boys were to be seated on the high table and to act as personal guards to Zacharlee. Though too young to understand, it was good practice for the scribes to start learning other royal duties that involve more than the word smithing.

‘Hamanty, have you been to the laundry and seen the mistress there for your attire? Have you been fitted for tonight?’ chortled one of the boys.

‘Yep. Have you been for yours?’ he replied with giggles.

‘Yes, sir, we are going to be the best-looking men in the palace tonight… Oh, I beg your pardon, Your Highness. No offence, but you are, er, taken?’ sputtered young Greevers.

The laughter bounced around the table as the red-faced boy pulled at his collar in embarrassment. Eagle slapped him companionably on the back, and the boy beamed a smile that almost made Rowanlee cry with pride.

‘My heart, do you have a place for these boys tonight?’ queried Rowanlee, pretending she knew nothing of the plans.

‘They are our son’s personal guards tonight. Where he goes, they go, however.’ A collective gasp escaped from the lad’s lips. He turned to look at the lads. ‘When the boy goes to bed, they can find a pretty young lass to dance with,’ he said with a smile.

‘Yes, sir! Yes, sir! We will be honoured to dance with whomever you say, even that turned-up nosed Rancheal,’ said Greevers triumphantly, as if he had just made the hardest of the sacrifices.

A chuckle was heard across the table as the old scribe’s body bounced up and down with merriment. ‘OH, to be young again. You lads have it easy these moons. As a boy, we were never given such privileges, and women were almost non-existent until at least—oh, I don’t know, sixteen winters at least.’ Chuckles came from the scribe having a laugh at the younger one’s expense.

‘Come, come, now, Hedendry. I remember Father saying you were one of the most active man in the whole palace. And I do not believe he meant just from being a scribe,’ laughed Eagle.

Hedendry coughed into his hand in an attempt to hide his laughter and failed miserably to look shocked, ‘Who, me? Are… you… sure it was… m-m-me?’ He laughed so hard it was almost impossible for the scribe to talk.

Eagle nodded his head whilst leaning forward for some more meat pies, the food he seemed to gravitate towards, any pie for that matter. Having procured four of them on to his trencher, he leaned back to watch the interplay between the young lads and the old scribe as he described one of his better events in his youth, when his body did as he told it to do and when the ladies enjoyed his company.

When the stories started to get too familiar, Eagle interrupted the scribe by giving a small.

‘Cough, cough.’

This provoked a laugh from all at the table. The scribe turned bright red; looking around the table, he belatedly remembered the age of the group he was regaling his tale to and quickly changed the direction it was taking, as it was too soon to give the young lads the courting lessons, especially from this old scribe. If stories about the scribe were even a little bit truthful, the young lads needed a better example to follow.

‘Secondrey!’ mumbled the old scribe.

‘Hummm.’

‘Tell us of your exploits as a lad, son. I bet they are different to our more modern times.’

‘Well, there are some changes—that’s for sure, Hedendry! And what is this, son. Ha har har ha, that’s a good one,’ laughed Secondrey.

‘Secondrey! Mixed company,’ interrupted Eagle.

‘We will have to leave my exploits with the fairer persuasion for another eve. We cannot express our, er, um, moments of glory in front of our lovely princess, now can we?’

‘Ah, aghast, what was I thinking? My humble apologies, my fair lady. We, or should I say I, do not often have mixed company and have temporarily forgotten my manners.’ The old scribe bowed deep and began retreating to the back of the library to hide his moment of shame.

‘Please! Do not despair on my account. I may be young and of the favoured gender, but I am not so inclined to be hurt by some small amount of harmless banter. Please return to us and continue. I have other duties calling.’ Turning to Eagle, she continued, ‘The Queen requires a few hours of my time before the party, to conclude a few finer points of the evening. Please forgive my hasty departure. It has only just occurred to me in the lateness of the hour.’ With that said, Rowanlee leaned over and gave Eagle a quick kiss on the cheek and elegantly walked out the door.

Eagle quickly stood to follow her out the door.

‘My sweet, are you all right?’ he asked softly, concerned all may not be what as it seemed.

‘Of course. Why should I not be? It is true I gave my promise to the Queen, and look at how late hour is. Time has escaped us once again. We must leave the library for now and return after the party. Will you return to the library only briefly to sort the last of the books out and meet me in our chambers?’

Eagle bowed to his wife, taking her hand and gently kissing the knuckles with his lips before turning back to the door. The hour is late than expected, and time does disappear when one gets engrossed in the library.

‘Eagle!’ she called, breaking his reverie.

He turned his head to look into her eyes. ‘Send the boys to get ready, please. We really have little time to get prepared. We still need to open the gateway and bring the King and his sons to the party, and who knows who else he decides to include.’

He nodded his head in understanding and disappeared back into the library; he needed to push the boys out the door and have them prepare for the festivities.

Rowanlee gathered her skirt into her hands and lifted them high enough off the ground to give her legs room to move quickly across the floor. Her shoes made tapping sounds as she headed urgently to the great hall, hoping she does not yet again gain the Queen’s wrath for being so late.

In the library, she was lost in the volumes of history, where time, for a moment, seemed to stand still. As a new lead opened up, they now had a string of names to find, and located if a death had occurred. They hoped to reduce them down to only a few. As not all deaths were recorded in these tomes, it may be some time, yet a number of more tomes to be dragged up from the palace’s belly before they would be content with the names of those they seek. So far, she had gleaned a possibility of three. Deep down, she had an inkling that there may be at least one more.

Chapter 2

Rowanlee pondered over an idea for a few moments, holding momentarily motionless; then, as an afterthought, she shrugged her shoulders, having made an unseen decision of what was an amazing sight before her. Looking about, she located the Queen and headed over to where the Queen was, who was seemingly expressing some last-minute instructions to a young maid, gesturing madly with her hands. The maid curtsied and turned away in haste to do the Queen’s bidding.

‘Well, Rowanlee, what do you think?’ queried the Queen as she gestured by waving her hand about her and pointing to items in the room. A proud beaming smile plastered her face; there was an air of expectancy about her.

‘You have outdone yourself again, Mother,’ she replied with a rush of contentment and awe of the work that this woman could create out of nothing.

The great hall, where the betrothal promises were to be made and later the festivities to be celebrated, was festooned with nautical theme. Pretend ships with billowy blue sails surrounded the long tables, giving the impression that the tables were in the body of ships. Nets were hung on the walls whilst fish and crabs and starfish and other water inhabitants hung off the long chains that were suspended from the high ceiling. Huge clamshell designs were the jugs filled with wines and ales. Sea chests were the seating at the main table. It was almost too full of decorations. The poor musicians were made to sit in a lifeboat setting, hardly enough room to move when playing their instruments; they would not like being in such a confined space after a few hours of playing. It was hard to believe that this was for a betrothal, not some fancy dress ball. The Queen seemed to have gone crazy with sudden rush of ideas, changing the main table again. The sound of tables being dragged across the floor screeched loudly. Nearby, another change was ordered by the Queen.

‘Ha! It is not finished yet. By the time you return with the King of Aaraniria and his boys, this room will be filled with guests dressed in nautical attire, ready for the festivities to begin.’ She turned to give a nearby maid some further instructions on how to hang a particularly awkward decoration.

Turing back to Rowanlee, she continued as if she had not spoken to the maid. ‘Should you not have left by now to open the gateway for the other guests? We cannot start without the future groom.’ The Queen chortled with her eyes glistening with affection. Her comments were like a lovesick lass of her youth, for, the meaning behind the coming event, her niece would be marrying a prince, something none would have contemplated before the two princes visited almost six full moons ago.

Rowanlee kissed the Queen on the cheek and spun on her heel as quickly as she could and headed back out of the door she had recently entered in a hasty retreat. Rowanlee was startled by the solid mass of chest and arms, as she almost lost her footing. It was the quick movement of those strong arms that stopped her from landing on her backside.

‘Oomph!’ she cried, startled. ‘Ow! That hurt!’ moaned Rowanlee as she rubbed her head where it collided with Eagle’s strong arm. He had tried to put his arms out to stop her from colliding with him, only to cause more harm than good. A wry smirk covered his lips, his eyes filled with a mixture of concern and laughter.

‘Sorry, my sweet, you came out of the door so fast and not really looking where you were going. You left me no option but to do anything other than react to your advance the best way I could that would cause least amount of pain for either of us,’ he said softly. ‘What is the rush?’

‘Your mother!’ she responded exasperatedly, as if that was enough to explain.

He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Say further,’ he responded.

‘She has just ordered me out of the hall. She is making ready and demands we make haste and go open the gateway to let in our, er, dignitaries. Now that I have your attention, are you ready to help with the gateway?’ she queried, her head cocked to one side in thought.

‘Of course,’ he replied, and with a sweep of his hand, he glided her away from the door and led her gently out of the palace and into the gardens, where they planned to open the gateway. The gardens were clipped and clean with a manicured perfection, all in readiness for the gala event. No task was too small. The lines of pretty flowers along the pavement, trees full of green leaves and budding flowers. Spring was now in full appreciation of the warming longer hours.

They had visited Aaraniria a few times. Since the two princes had visited and invited them to the palace, a close bond had developed. More than once, the King had mentioned about the marriages between the families, and it seemed that Queen’s brother’s eldest daughter was not the only one who was going to be wed. Also the elder of the two princes had his eye on one of the other princesses, and it may be another announcement in the pending now that the two realms had patched up the differences caused by the evil perpetrator. Previously, the King of Aaraniria had displayed his annoyance at the misdeed that was beyond his control, but now, he was most anxious to have the twin realms united, and he was more than eager to apprehend the villain that may have caused the rift to begin with, and the two Kings were actively seeking to locate the fiend.

This was the same Sharman who used the King as an experiment object to try and control him as best as he could. The King was strong enough and often fought against the compulsion, causing him to become ill as a side effect of his efforts to resist the spell. When Rowanlee opened the pillars of power and enacted the balance of power, she broke the spell on the King. That moon was a special one in Aaraniria. Not only the King was back, but also the realm was no longer in a blizzard. Also much of the land was restored back to its former glory. More celebrations were held around the realm, and the birth of the newest prince told another story of renewal. Later, once the celebrations calmed down, an investigation was held by the King to find the reason behind the land’s renewal and of the other unexplainable events. This particular investigation took just over a full winter and a half before they found Rowanlee as the only possible connection to the unexplainable joyous happening, much talk of the gifts and healing attributed to the lass, who had created a long tale in the making, and to find her was put to the princes. They followed the tales to Tonaye, where they, at long last, found the lady they were seeking.

Now, both realms were trying hard to find the evil perpetrators. Together, the twin realms were working side by side, both delving into their own archives and hunting down sages to hear any unusual story, no matter how insignificant, listening to any unexplained events that could lead to the hideout. The magical block to travel between realms using time and space was working, and soon they would have only Tonaye as a hunting ground, not yet though. A strong feeling in the back of Rowanlee’s mind said that not all are yet in one realm, but soon, she could feel the growing tension. ‘Soon,’ she said to herself, ‘soon.’

Eagle and Rowanlee stopped just past the arena, in a sheltered grassy area, now being the King’s preferred place, a popular spot for opening the gateway with plenty of room to allow many to enter at once. Rowanlee would open the gateway as she had a natural ability and needed to use the least amount of magic, and she, being the strongest in the gifts, can sustain the gateway’s link to the safest for the volume of people who now travelled between the two realms, and she would hold it open for however long it was necessary to bring the visitors across, though she was experimenting with Eagle to see if they could secure the gateway and be able to move away. Thus, so far, it seemed one must be nearby to access the magic at all times for the gateway to stay stable.

Eagle would go through to Aaraniria and anchor the other side, and they could bind a successful link together, having a bond of blood and love, so that others could enter the gateway with little fear, and their uniqueness helped to reduce the prolonged use of the elements of time and space. The portal could be kept open for quite some time once the special anchoring on both sides was completed. Even so, Rowanlee would not even attempt to venture away from the gateway, not because of the magic and the need to be close due to unsuccessful attempt to stable the gateway at a distance, but because of the inquisitive children who may decide to venture across. It could be embarrassing to hunt down a stray child in another city, and having to go hunting, the boys were the worst, as they had no fear and would gladly hide in the other realm, whilst they had some fun.

As Rowanlee began to create the gateway, a wall of purple mist developed in front of the couple, and when the mist became as thick as a fog, a tunnel of vapours started with a twirling of mist in a circular motion. Observers understood this as the indication that the gateway was not long from being created. Thus, a larger than normal gateway in a draft of air was created in silence. As the mist started to dissipate, the vision of the other palace came in to view, and just before the mist had completely vanished, Eagle, quick as a bolt of lightning, bounced through the gateway to do his part of anchoring the gateway between the realms. Meanwhile, Rowanlee heard his soft voice murmuring the chant to anchor the gateway. Eagle was now experienced, having helped with a number of gateways since the Prince’s first visit, and was confident in fulfilling his duty on the other side of the gateway.

It still caused Rowanlee to smile when Eagle performed small feats of magic. She remembered, not too long ago, the sight of her coming out of a pool of water dry had made Eagle nervous. Now he himself dried as he emerged from streams and ponds without any thought, when out and about bivouacking with his lady wife, during many trips out with the soldiers, a break from the palace duties, or on a reconnaissance trip looking at the little traps left about and gathering of information on any time or space element variances. Also when out on his royal duties, he often acted without thought on how others viewed his use of his gifts. He looked amused when one of his men picked up on the unexpected use of the gifts; he had been an excellent student, keen and quick to learn. Fortunately, there had not been a need to show him more than once, as his ability to remember was phenomenal.

Rowanlee watched through the gateway