ANUNDR: THE EXODUS (17 page)

‘This is the place.’ said Anistral, stopping in front of the door.

‘Finally.’ Natalia said under her breath. They had been walking through hallways with Anistral stopping to stare at every corridor they passed. It had generated more than one curious glance in their direction. She had finally cut across a hallway into an obscure corridor where the library was.

Anistral said as she put her hand on the door knob, ‘I must warn you, the librarian is a bit…odd but he’s a sweet man.’

‘Odd how?’

‘You’ll understand.’ She opened the door. The first thing that greeted their eyes was a man’s broad behind as he bent to examine something on the table. He seemed excited as his buttocks swayed with his tunic from side to side.

‘Ekrid.’ Anistral said. He turned his head. He had a palm-sized crystal in his hand that tripled his eye as he held it closer to his face. Natalia gasped and stepped back. He smiled at Anistral and straightened himself though that didn’t make much difference in height.

‘Lady Anistral, it’s been so long.’ he said, rushing to hold her hand. ‘I thought I would never see you again.’ He stared up at her with starry eyes though he barely reached her waist.

She laughed and said, ‘Natalia, this is my good friend Ekrid, the Keeper of Knowledge of the library.’

‘Poo! Great indeed. Nobody ever values written knowledge anymore. That’s why there’s so much madness about. People running everywhere like headless chickens, while my babies are wilting away because no one touches them.’ he said, gesturing to the shelves.

‘Ekrid--’

‘Natalia, you say.’ he said, raising his crystal to look at her. ‘Interesting name--
Haw
!’ His eyes widened in horror. ‘You’re not supposed to be here. You’re the princess--’

Anistral covered his mouth. ‘We need your help.’

He nodded his head. ‘Come inside.’ he said when Anistral released him.

Natalia closed the door behind her and removed her hood. ‘How did you know?’

‘Your name, your youth, your bearings and the fact that you hid under your cloak to cover those up, it wasn’t hard. But you’re putting us in grave danger. If they catch you--’

‘Promise me you won’t say a word.’ said Anistral.

‘For you, anything.’ He turned to Natalia, ‘What made you risk your life to come here?’

‘For this.’ she said, giving him the parchment. She took a deep breath; the musty smell of the scrolls was overwhelming. Ekrid placed the crystal over the parchment to examine it.

‘Ah!’ he said. ‘This is a piece of the original parchment. How did you come about this?

‘It was given to me by a friend. An original parchment of what?’

‘Of a prophecy and not just any, the lost prophecy of the king of Vernon during the Golden Days.’

‘The Golden Days?’

‘The period during and after Galian’s reign.’ said Anistral.

‘Who was this king of Vernon?’

‘They called him a prophet of doom.’ said Ekrid. ‘He was unpopular because of this. He saw war in a time of peace.’

‘I’m sure they saw him as a mad man.’ Natalia said.

‘They did, until his prophecies started coming true.’

‘Which means this piece of parchment is of great importance.’

‘You don’t understand. His works are said to be the most sought after since his death.’ He lowered his voice to a whisper, ‘It’s said he ripped his original parchments in pieces and scattered them because they held knowledge he didn’t want the wrong people to know. I know of many that haven’t been found--including this one,’ he said, lifting the parchment, ‘until now.’

‘But that’s only a piece.’ said Natalia. ‘I don’t have the rest.’

‘But I do.’ he said, his eyes lighting up as he waddled to a shelf and climbed a ladder to its highest layer.

‘You have the rest?’ Natalia said, still in shock. She looked at Anistral but the latter only smiled.

‘Yes.’ Ekrid said as he scoured through the shelf, careful not to drop anything on the floor. ‘I haven’t been sure what to do with it for a long time--Aha! I’ve found it.’ He lifted it up in triumph. He descended the stairs with a broad smirk on his face and dropped it on the table. Natalia and Anistral moved closer.

‘It’s blank!’ Natalia said.

‘Yes, but you can’t deny they are the same material and they fit.’ Ekrid said, placing Natalia’s parchment at the top of the blank parchment. They completed each other but the longer paper was void of any written work.

‘But we cannot read a blank parchment, Ekrid.’ said Anistral, just before blue light shone out from the partition and joined the parchments together making them one. They all gaped as words appeared on the blank space, letter by letter, like it was just being written.

‘Incredible.’ Ekrid said.

‘What magic is this?’ asked Natalia, when the writing stopped.

‘Gudliefyer.’ Anistral said, smiling in awe. ‘It was blank so no one could read it except the one with the first parchment. Ekrid, how did you come about this?’

‘It found me nineteen years ago when I went to the Black Gates Inn. I sat alone drinking my ale and a traveler joined me. He struck up a conversation about history and asked me questions. After I had answered all, he asked me if I could keep something safe for him, that a young lady of royal blood would come in nineteen years to claim it. He gave me a bag of gold and promised I would get more if I kept it safe. I didn’t think much of it then, though I suspected its importance to him that he was willing to pay good gold for it.’

Natalia’s heart quickened. ‘Who was he?’

‘He didn’t say his name, even when I asked. But I saw the markings on his hand when he moved the gold.’

‘The Kiridian?’ Anistral asked.

‘Yes.’ he whispered.

Natalia glanced at them. ‘Who is he?’

Anistral’s eyes didn’t leave Ekrid’s as she said, ‘Legends speak of the seven sons of Machish. The Kiridian is the first and the strongest.’

‘And the prodigal son.’ said Ekrid.

‘The lost son of Machish?’ Natalia said, ‘In Helmford, he’s called
The Kian
. I’ve read about him but little is said except that he will live in mourning until he does his father’s wish. Why would he want to help me?’

‘That’s something I cannot answer.’ said Ekrid.

Natalia sighed. ‘So what does it say?’

‘My lady, I’m yet to meet anyone who could read Gudlief better than I, but I only know a few words--’

Anistral snatched the parchment before he could stop her. She scanned through it and read it out,

‘The Sowing

Fear not, thou seed of light

Seed of the Gudlief star, bright

Is the end of the road which you follow

Though cloaked in darkness and heavy in sorrow.

In the day of Ikan, shall thou the seed rise

Royal blood pure, heir of Anundr lies

Awaiting the dawn of truth,

In truth shall thou destroy the killer of the innocent.

Thy blood, the heritage of all

The life of the star, the hope of all

Parts of one tree, untouched by shame

United by one blood, one and the same.’

Anistral stopped reading and said, ‘That’s all that was written.’

‘I can’t believe you can read Gudlief. Where did you learn?’ Ekrid asked with awe in his eyes.

‘It was so long ago, I doubt it’s relevant--Natalia, what troubles you?’

Natalia had been pacing back and forth, her eyes on the ground but her mind racing.
The Ikan. The killer of the innocent. Heir of Anundr. How were they all linked? And what did they have to do with her? Behozi must have known but he had told her nothing.
She folded her hands and looked up at the cobweb-covered ceiling. A large fly was struggling to break free from the threads that imprisoned it. She felt a kindred spirit. She ran a hand through her hair and groaned.

‘Natalia.’

She turned to Anistral and said, ‘Questions plague my mind.’

‘Then ask. Let me help you.’

‘What is an Ikan?’

‘An Ikan is a bird, a special messenger of Galian. Legends say the god wanted to create birds that would answer only to his call and couldn’t be tamed by men. He used lightning and a special white tree and they produced three seeds. Those seeds could only grow and turn into birds only if a man sacrifices his life by taking the seed into his body.’

‘The Thunderbird--of course!’ Natalia said.

‘You sound like you’ve seen it before.’ said Ekrid. ‘That’s doubtful. The bird hasn’t been seen in over a century.’

‘I saw it in Helmford.’ she said, her mind straying to the day of Behozi’s death. She now understood why Behozi was so sure he couldn’t be saved.

‘What about the killer of the innocent?’ she asked. ‘It must represent something--or someone.’

Anistral pursed her lips and said, ‘I cannot say.’

‘Maybe I can check my scrolls.’ Ekrid said.

‘Thank you, Ekrid--and why do they keep mentioning the heir of Anundr?’

Anistral stretched the parchment to her. ‘Because that’s who you are. Can you not see that this parchment came to you for a reason? And so did that star on your neck or do you think it’s just a gift?’

‘Stop lying to me.’ Natalia said, snatching the parchment from her.

‘These are not lies.’

‘Do you know what you saying?’ said Natalia, approaching her. ‘That my mother betrayed the man I have called
father
, the king of Helmford. That he and I have been made to believe a lie--or is the Anundr my mother?’

‘No,’ Ekrid said, ‘I’ve heard the Anundr is male but he hasn’t been seen in over thirty years.’

‘Oh, be quiet, Ekrid, and don’t interfere.’ Anistral said as she watched Natalia’s eyes redden.

‘Then, explain how it’s possible for me to be the daughter of Anundr. I am the princess of Helmford.’

‘No, you’re not.’

‘Ekrid!’ said Anistral.

‘But it’s true. The one with the star is the child of the Anundr.’ Ekrid added, ‘The scrolls say so and they don’t lie.’

‘Natalia--’ Anistral reached out to touch her but she moved back. She felt emotions surging within her that she couldn’t control.
How could strangers try to supplant her life and shake the foundation of what she anchored on--what she wore as a pride over her?
It tore at her heart to doubt, to be confused of something she had been so certain of. At that moment, Anistral looked like an enemy, a thief trying to steal what was most precious to her and give her something strange in return.

Natalia raised her hand to stop them from moving closer. She opened her mouth to speak but her voice sounded foreign and gruff. ‘Please excuse me. I need to be alone.’ She headed for the door.

Anistral reached for her hand. ‘Natalia.’  But Natalia pulled her arm away just in time, saying, ‘Please.’

She rushed out of the library, slamming the door behind her, and rested her back on it. She closed her eyes. She wanted to shut everything out. Her heart thumped, her insides turned, and her hands shook.
Was it possible? Was she really the daughter of the Anundr? Was she a bastard?
She covered her mouth to muffle the whimper rising from her throat. She opened her eyes and blinked, trying to kick back the tears. The thought of crying took her mind back to her training days with Alcon. How he would laugh at her if he even saw a glimmer of a tear on her face. It made her feel weak.
She couldn’t surrender to it--not now.

Natalia felt the talisman burning.
Something was wrong
. The talisman was telling her to leave. She pulled her hood over her head and looked both ways. There were a few passersby the way she and Anistral had come. She made to go in that direction.
No, the other way
, the voice said. She sighed, and turned, walking the opposite direction which looked deserted with no one on its adjoining corridor. She heard footsteps behind her.

‘We shall have no more delays.’ came a voice that caused her heart to skip.

‘Yes, my lord.’

She heard the library door open. She turned around and caught Gisilfried and a familiar looking man at the door. The man turned to look at her but she turned away and kept walking. Gisilfried confirmed the name in her mind.

‘Viden, what is it now? Come in.’

‘Forgive me but I’ll wait here.’

Natalia needed to get away as fast as possible. She hurried down a flight of steps and turned a corner, bumping into someone.

‘Forgive my--’

The hand was in motion before she could react. She felt the slap like a blinding light on her face. Shock, pain, anger rushed through her body. She blinked to clarify her vision and she saw two people standing in front of her. Her assailant was a red-haired young maiden in a rich cream robe. She was two inches shorter and petite--too small in Natalia’s mind to deliver such a slap--and she looked slender, almost breakable. As Natalia stared down at her with her hand on her cheek, she knew she would gladly do the breaking.