Antoinette, Aelic, and Nock sat at a long table in the Guard’s Keep. In front of each was a giant bowl filled with stew. The moment one bowl was empty, Elspeth swooped down and refilled it from a great kettle of stew. She was kept busy enough, for Aelic and Nock put away enough stew to feed an army. At first, Antoinette thought that one bowl would have fed her whole family for a week, but she surprised herself by finishing it.
“Are you sure you don’t want some more stew, dearie?” Elspeth asked.
“Maybe later, Elspeth. It is delicious,” Antoinette said, feeling a bit chilled.
“Perhaps I’ve added too much garlic,” Elspeth said.
Antoinette smiled at Elspeth. “The stew is perfect. I mean, look at Aelic.” Caught slurping from his spoon, Aelic looked up. He slowly put the spoon down and then took a cloth and wiped his mouth.
“See what I mean?” Antoinette laughed. “Aelic can’t get enough.”
“Be glad that Mallik is not here,” Nock chimed in, his intelligent eyes gleaming. “For we would not have enjoyed even a taste of Elspeth’s fine stew if my hammer-wielding friend was here!”
“That rascal,” Elspeth said playfully. “It would suit him to ignore the bowls altogether. Can you just see him sitting down with the whole kettle and a spoon?”
They all laughed at that. Elspeth beamed, obviously happy with the attention being paid to her cooking.
“What is going on here?” a voice bellowed from the doorway. “I tarry a few minutes and the stew is all gone?”
“I have put some to the side just for you, Sir Kaliam,” Elspeth said. “You just sit down, and I will bring it right to you.”
“Thank you, Elspeth,” Kaliam said.
Kaliam turned to Antoinette and congratulated her once more. “You have passed the three tests—just as King Eliam said you would.”
“King Eliam told you I’d pass the tests? He knew?”
“Of course he knew,” Kaliam replied, looking at Antoinette strangely. “That is why he called you for this mission. He knew you would be ready.”
“Then, what’s the use of testing me? Why’d you make me go through all those . . . those stupid trials?”
Aelic glanced sideways at Nock. The jovial mood vanished like a candle being snuffed. Kaliam gripped the table and leaned over to look Antoinette in the eye. His forearms tensed. “Do not call anything stupid that has been arranged by the King,” he said curtly. “And the tests were certainly not for our benefit. But sometimes a warrior must learn her own strengths—and weaknesses—before she can do any real good.”
Antoinette looked away, feeling guilty.
“It may be that the lessons you learned from those tests will come back to you in some difficult place. They might even save your life.”
Antoinette’s shoulders sagged, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sir Kaliam,” she whispered. “I was wrong to say that. I know King Eliam knows what he’s doing.”
Kaliam straightened and nodded. “Antoinette, you have faced many challenges since arriving in The Realm. I cannot imagine what it has been like for you to leave the comforts of your home to face peril in another realm. But go now, and rest. For tonight is a very important night for you. Sir Aelic, escort Antoinette back to her chamber. Then see to it that she arrives in the Great Hall in two hours, not more.”
“I am most happy to oblige, m’lord,” Aelic said.
Outside her quarters, Antoinette asked Aelic to wait a moment while she went inside. When she returned she handed him the photograph of Robby from the soccer web site. “Have you seen him?”
Aelic stared at the image. “It is like a looking glass on parchment,” he said, in awe of the photo. “And what unusual garments he wears. I have never seen a tunic that shade of green before. And his armor . . . it does not seem to protect much of his body.”
“Those are his shin pads.” Antoinette laughed. “And he’s wearing a soccer uniform, not a tunic.”
Aelic stared at her blankly.
“Soccer is a game we like to play in our world.”
“Oh,” Aelic replied.
“So have you ever seen a Glimpse that looks like him?”
“Alas, no, I am certain I have not,” Aelic said. “I have only resided here in Alleble for a short time, but he is not here. Nor is he in Acacia where my mother resides, or Mithegard where my father rules. Why do you ask? Is this Robby in some sort of trouble?”
“I don’t know. Robby is Aidan’s best friend back in our world,” said Antoinette, “and it’s just that Aidan keeps having these dreams.”
Aelic looked uncomfortable at the mention of Aidan’s dreams.
“In the dream, Robby’s Glimpse is a servant of Paragor, and he’s involved in some kind of evil mission. Aidan asked me to find him and get him to follow King Eliam.”
Aelic abruptly handed the photo back to Antoinette and stood up. “I am sorry, Antoinette, I have not seen him. I must go now, and you must rest.”
“You’ve had dreams too, haven’t you?” Antoinette asked.
“How . . . how did you know that?” Aelic asked.
“When I mentioned Aidan’s dreams, you tensed up,” she said. “And it made sense that if Aidan is having dreams, then you would too, right?”
“Yes, I have seen some haunting images,” Aelic replied slowly, as if the very mention of them was too dreadful to think about. “Lady Gwenne confided in me that she too experiences similar dreams . . . strange, sometimes horrible—not easy for the mind to let go. And that must mean you also experience them.”
“Yes,” Antoinette replied quietly. “But Kaliam told me not to talk about them. It seems to mean something to him, something serious.”
“I likewise have been so warned,” Aelic replied. “Let us not speak of this again until we have Kaliam’s counsel. Now, m’lady, do get some rest. I will bring your armor when I come for you later.”
Aelic started to leave, but Antoinette motioned for him to wait.
“Sir Aelic, do you think I have a chance of finding Robby’s Glimpse out of all the Glimpses in The Realm?”
“If that is what King Eliam called you here to do,” Aelic replied, “then I am certain you will find him. But if he indeed serves The Betrayer, it will be no easy task to change his heart.”
