Garinor waited for several minutes with his knee on the floor and his head bowed low. A door creaked open ahead of him, but he resisted the urge to lift his eyes while the king shuffled into the room and took his place on one of the red and purple velvet thrones.
“Arise,” said the king.
Garinor lifted his gaze, but he didn’t trust himself to stand yet. On the throne sat an imposing figure with dark, sharp eyes and a gold crown glittering with various gems. The robes that swept along and covered him were thick and looked as soft as a cloud but as sturdy as a mountain. Even sitting the man exuded strength and power.
“Your majesty,” was all Garinor could say.
“You are the boy from Paligar, whose arrival is overdue. Stand, so I may look upon you properly.”
He did so, trembling a little, and feeling amazed that the king knew who he was.
“Yes, yes,” the king muttered. “It is you after all.”
“Sire?”
“Perhaps you possess some of the knowledge I will now share. Nonetheless, I should have you listen to this tale as I tell it.” He interlaced his fingers and held them in his lap.
“Ages ago, there was a prophecy given to a Seer. It was a true prophecy, not the rambled conjuring of a charlatan. It was marked in the auspicious death of the Seer who had the vision and passed that knowledge on to a Witness. Visions given in that way cannot be thwarted.
“In that prophecy are three men whose lives are inexorably intertwined. One is an heir to the throne whose identity is kept secret. Another is a prince who would keep hidden the heir’s identity so his own rule would not be challenged. And there is a third whose task is to uncover the truth and to choose the ruler of the kingdom.
“My son the prince,” the king continued without pause, “has learned of this prophecy and has taken action against my will to force its outcome. You see, the heir would be about fourteen years old now.”
Garinor’s eyes widened suddenly, for he was fourteen.
“I, too, have sought the principals of the prophecy. It was not difficult to see that my son, the prince, was one of them. I kept hidden from him the records I had seen buried in the archives of this palace. But my son caught on to the secret meetings and found two years ago the place where the prophecy is written.”
The king stood up and started pacing about. “Since then, he turned his friends into mercenaries, and he built his own secret forces to seek out and find this heir. But I have information he does not and it has taken me time to whittle it down to something that could be of use.
“You see, the heir was taken from this castle by a servant loyal to the king of years past and he was placed into the care of a village south of here. Although the villagers knew the secret of the boy’s heritage, they worked to preserve his identity.”
The king stopped and stared at Garinor full in the face. “And so I sent for you.”
Garinor’s jaw dropped open but before he could speak the king continued.
“I have a duty to assign to you. For, the information I have gathered led not only to the heir but also to the scepter that will uncover the true king for all the land. Words alone cannot do that and there are no others who can attest to the heir’s lineage. But the scepter has with it a magic that will allow the heir to reclaim his rightful place.”
The hall echoed with those words for a moment. Garinor’s heart was pounding. “But, your majesty—”
“You wish to know why I would seek to oust my own son from taking my place?”
“Yes, sire.”
The king continued pacing. “In these past two years, I have seen my son’s wicked heart and I know I cannot leave this kingdom to him. Nor, however, could I arrange for his removal, for that would lower me to his tactics and then how could I judge him? No, this is the only way, for within the light of truth, even he would quail.”
With a dramatic sigh, the king stopped pacing again and his eyes stared into Garinor’s. “And now for the duty I ask of you. I have learned that the scepter is to the northeast in a cavern that lies at the base of the mountain. I would ask that you go there and claim the light of truth and return it here so all can be set right again.”
He hesitated a moment before continuing. “I will not send you alone. You will travel with guardsmen who will protect you in the event you are discovered by my son the prince. Go with all haste to find the scepter.” The king’s voice changed to a more fatherly tone. “I understand this is a great burden to bear. It would be perfectly understandable if you would pass this task to another day, to grow stronger first and to seek answers on your own.
“Sleep tonight and you will depart first thing in the morning, either onward to the scepter or to a quieter existence. The choice is yours.”