Lady Merewen stood by Kaliam’s side on the wide balcony above Guard’s Keep. Her silver hair glistened in the moonlight, and her almond-shaped eyes shone with hope.
“Do not fear, m’lord. You chose rightly in this matter. The Blue Mountains must be defended, out of loyalty—and of need. And if our dragon force is quickly victorious . . . it will give Paragor something to think about.”
“If?” Kaliam replied thoughtfully. “That is what troubles me. Too often as of late I am left here to stare and wait while my friends venture forth to war.”
“There will be war enough for us all before too long,” she replied, staring at the shadows of dark mountains in the west.
“Nay, m’lady,” said Kaliam, and he turned to her. “It is not war that I desire. But . . . I am averse to ordering good knights into danger, while I remain safe within the walls of the city.”
Lady Merewen took Kaliam’s strong hands into hers. “There is not a single knight in all the armies assembled here who would question your mettle . . . or your courage.” Kaliam’s determined expression melted, for Lady Merewen had guessed his secret fear. “Do not forget who chose you for this position,” she continued, capturing Kaliam’s gaze in her own and refusing to let go. “You have been called to be Sentinel of Alleble, and King Eliam does not make mistakes.”
Kaliam was silent for many long moments. Indecision played upon his brow as he searched her eyes. But then a subtle smile appeared on his lips, and he seemed to have come to an unspoken conclusion. Lady Merewen looked at him questioningly.
“M’lady, you are most extraordinary,” he said at last. “But come, it is time now to meet the new Twelfth Knight.”
Robby found himself sitting on a chair in the dark. But it was not his room. He turned to his side and stared at a large window that was shuttered except for a crack. Through this narrow portal, Robby saw the twinkle of stars and beneath those, indistinct gray shadows.
He stood and slowly, as if afraid of what he might see, he threw wide the shutters. And then he laughed. Laughed out loud. The kind of joyous laughter he had not experienced in a long, long time. For beyond the shutters lay a wide, sleeping kingdom. Castle turrets, powerful stone walls, keeps and many small cottages lay quiet beneath the stars. But surging with unmatched grandeur, towering higher than many rooftops, plumed the great fountains of Alleble. And something inside of Robby formed the words in his mind, and he whispered, “I’ve come home.”
A sudden knock at a door behind Robby made him jump. “M’lord Robby?” a boisterous female voice called. “M’lord, are you there? Well, of course you must be there. Kaliam said you would be. I suppose the better question is, may I come in? Hullo, Robby?” She knocked again.
“Uh, yeah,” Robby called, turning around. “I guess.”
The door opened, spilling light into the chamber. And in walked a very round Glimpse woman carrying a rather large tray filled with many covered dishes. She set the tray down on a desk Robby had not seen at first and then went about the room lighting candles.
“There now, much better!” she said, her back still turned as she lit the last candle in the room. “There’s some light to eat by. I am Elspeth, and Kaliam sent me to see that you are fed. A growing boy needs his victuals.” She turned to look at Robby. “Oh!” she said. “Oh, not a boy at all. A young man.”
“That’s righ-ight,” Robby replied, feeling slightly embarrassed.
“A mite taller than most lads,” she said, looking him up and down. “And stronger . . . well, all the better. Come now, have a seat and eat your fill. I have prepared my special stew for you and some biscuits, if you have a taste for them. Sir Kaliam will be here shortly, but if you have questions while you wait, I will do my best to answer them!”
Robby sat down at the desk, and Elspeth removed the cover from a large steaming bowl of stewed vegetables and meat, swimming in gravy. The smell from the bowl awoke the hunger in Robby, and he hastily picked up a spoon and began to eat. There were chunks of potatoes, carrots, and some other vegetable Robby had never seen. It was triangular with one side covered with a thin purple skin. Whatever it was, it was good. But the meat was the best part. It didn’t taste like beef. It didn’t taste like chicken. It was extremely salty and had some savor that Robby didn’t recognize, perhaps from the gravy, but absolutely delicious.
“My mama makes some great beef stew,” he said between his last few mouthfuls. “Or at least she did when we lived in Florida, but I gotta tell you, I have never had anything that tastes this good!”
Elspeth beamed and patted Robby on the back. “What a kind lad you are to say such things. My stew is a favorite around here. The Knights of the Elder Guard like it, but no one more than Sir Aelic.”
“Who’s Aelic?” Robby asked, dabbing up the last of the gravy with a biscuit.
A cloud seemed to fall over Elspeth’s jovial face for a moment. “Why, Sir Aelic was as noble a young knight as anyone could know. Sir Aidan’s Glimpse twin, you know. He was sorely wounded in the Battle on the Forest Road in Yewland. But now he seems to have just vanished from The Realm.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Robby muttered.
“What is that you say, lad?”
“Well, back in my world,” Robby explained, “I was there when Aidan entered The Realm, and a Glimpse and his twin can’t be in the same world at the same time, right?”
“Yes,” Elspeth replied. “But how did you . . . oh, silly me. I suppose Sir Aidan must have told you that, you being friends and all.”
Robby felt a pang of guilt. It had not been Aidan who told him about the dynamics of leaving one world for another. Count Eogan, a servant of Alleble’s greatest enemy, had taught him that . . . and many other things besides. Robby wondered if they knew.
“Where is Aidan?” Robby asked. “Can I see him? He’ll be real glad to see me here, I think.”
“I am sure I do not know,” Elspeth replied, dabbing the scratches on Robby’s face with a cool ointment. “If indeed he is back in The Realm, I am glad for it. For Sir Aidan is a valiant warrior. But he has not arrived in Alleble. Of that I am certain. Perhaps Sir Kaliam will know.”
“Perhaps Sir Kaliam will know what?” asked a tall Glimpse knight entering the room. He was followed by a beautiful Glimpse with long silver hair. Both of them wore armor and had swords at their sides.
Elspeth bowed. “M’lord, Sentinel!” she said. “And Lady Merewen too, though I suppose I ought not to be surprised.” Robby started to stand, but Kaliam motioned for him to stay seated.
“And just what do you mean by you ‘ought not to be surprised’?” Lady Merewen asked in mock anger.
“Oh, be kind to your servant,” Elspeth said, bowing again. “I meant no harm. Forgive the assumptions of an old busybody like me.”
Kaliam laughed and turned to Robby. “Welcome, Robby,” he said, gesturing grandly with the sweep of an arm. “Welcome to the city of Alleble and into the service of King Eliam the Everlasting.”
“The lad from Antoinette’s picture,” Lady Merewen thought aloud. “Perhaps Antoinette completed her task, after all.”
“Who is Antoinette?” Robby asked.
“I wonder Sir Aidan did not tell you,” Kaliam said. “Lady Antoinette is a friend of Aidan’s from the Mirror Realm—a place Aidan called Colorado.”
“Oh,” Robby replied. “Aidan moved there. Colorado is far from where I live.”
Kaliam nodded. “Lady Antoinette is a skilled swordmaiden. But alas, she has been captured by the enemy.”
“Is that my mission?” Robby asked. “Am I supposed to rescue her?”
“Nay, lad,” Kaliam replied sadly. “Though every hour that passes while Lady Antoinette is still in captivity scratches at my heart, we are in no position to invade Paragory.”
He put his hand on Lady Merewen’s arm. She smiled bravely, but she wondered privately if Antoinette would ever leave Paragory alive.
“Where is Sir Aidan now?” Elspeth asked. “Robby says that Sir Aidan has entered The Realm.”
“He has?” Kaliam replied with a sideways glance at Lady Merewen. “I find that news somewhat heartening, but Sir Aidan is not in Alleble. Perhaps it is just the difference in the reckoning of time between our worlds. I know that Aidan would not stray from the narrow path unless King Eliam led him to do so—not after what happened the first time he entered The Realm.” Kaliam laughed quietly to himself.
Robby looked from Kaliam to Lady Merewen and back. “Why am I here?” he asked.
“To train to be a knight, and if you pass your training, you will be the Twelfth Knight,” Kaliam said.
“Twelfth Knight?” Robby asked.
“Yes,” Kaliam explained. “Often on special missions, we send forth warriors in teams of twelve. The twelfth knight chosen has special honor. Aidan was a Twelfth Knight. So was Lady Antoinette.”
Eagerly, Robby asked, “What is my mission?”
“Impatient to strap on a sword and be off, are you?” Kaliam asked. “I am beginning to wonder if all the beings in the Mirror Realm lack patience. You will discover the nature of your mission tomorrow. But before that happens, you will have much to do . . . training not the least of which.”
“Shall I rouse the lad at sunup, then?” Elspeth asked.
Kaliam glanced at Lady Merewen, and the mischievous grin reappeared. “Nay, Lady Elspeth, not at dawn. Say rather, wake him at second bell.”
“What?” Robby objected. “I’m going to bed? I just got here.”
Kaliam patted Robby on the shoulder. “You have arrived in Alleble in the middle of the night. Rest now, as much as you can. For there is no promise of such comforts as sleep in the future.” Elspeth nodded, bowed, and left the chamber. Kaliam followed, but Lady Merewen lingered a moment.
“Should you meet Lady Antoinette one day,” Lady Merewen whispered to Robby as she stood under the arch by the chamber door, “you owe her a debt of gratitude.”
Robby was shocked. “I don’t understand,” he said. “I don’t even know Antoinette.”
“Ah, but Sir Aidan did,” Lady Merewen replied. “And Aidan asked Antoinette to seek your Glimpse twin, Kearn, in The Realm—it was in seeking him she was captured.”
“Kearn?” Robby replied absently.
Lady Merewen nodded. “Kearn was a powerful captain in Paragor’s service,” she said with a knowing smile.
Robby felt as if Lady Merewen could suddenly see right through him. “So . . . ,” he said, looking at his feet, “you know about me, then?”
“Yes, Robby, I know about you. Antoinette told me some, but Kaliam knew much more than she. But even if they had not told me, I still would have known that you once served the enemy.”
Robby blinked back tears.
“In spite of your size and apparent strength,” Lady Merewen explained, “there is a fragility about you. At moments you look ashamed, as if you really do not belong here in Alleble. Like you might suddenly be discovered for what you are and be dragged from this city and taken to a much darker place.” Tears streamed freely down Robby’s cheeks.
“Nay, Robby, I see all too clearly the shrouds that Paragor continues to cast over you in the hopes of reclaiming your allegiance. I see it, because I too wore such shrouds. But let your tears become tears of joy as mine did! I cast off the enemy’s feeble webs, and I am confident that here you will find such hope too!”
Robby swallowed and nodded, his square jaw still trembling.
“We shall talk again, you and I,” Lady Merewen said. “But for now, sleep. Sleep in such comfort and peace as you have never had before. For, Robby, you are home now.”
