Kingdom's Edge (3 page)

“What do you think of Leinad?” I asked William as we neared the small cottage.

“I don't think I can answer that, Cedric. Calling him crazy doesn't fit, and yet his delusions of past adventures are absurd.”

“I know what you mean,” I said.

We knocked on Leinad's door. “Sir Leinad, may we enter?” I asked through the closed door.

There was no answer. I called to him again. Silence. I opened the door, hoping to find him asleep but dreading worse. He was not asleep nor was he anywhere in the home.

“Let's check down by the stream,” I said with some urgency. “Maybe he fell while getting water.”

Leinad was nowhere to be found. At the stream's edge, an ominous thought invaded my mind. I grabbed William's arm.

“The sword!”
we said in unison and ran back to Leinad's home. We burst through the door and looked for the chest. It was in the corner and still closed, but I saw finger marks in the dust on its lid. I knelt down before the chest, hesitant, hoping not to find what I knew I would. The hinges creaked as I lifted the lid and gazed inside.

The cloth was open, and the sword was gone!

My heart sank, and William placed his hand on my shoulder. “I'm sorry, Cedric,” he said. “There is a chance he is still alive.”

I fought back tears and tried to convince myself that William was right. After all, there was no sign of a struggle, no body, and no blood.

“Maybe the sword was stolen while he was away,” I said. “He could have gone into the city for provisions.
Although he is old, he is quite determined. Let's get to the city square and start looking there.”

We entered the city, and I was anxious and disturbed. The mystery of Leinad's disappearance weighed heavily on my mind as we arrived at our destination. A large oak tree identified the center of the square. The people were already gathering to see the Noble Knights in action. Before long, thousands of people had assembled. The Noble Knights comprised one hundred of the strongest, bravest men in the kingdom. I had to admit that they looked to be an awesome force to reckon with. Their armor glistened and the horses stamped their pride at belonging to such a gallant force. The swords were a sight to behold. Each of these knights carried a sword that was the envy of all men. Their swords were the mark of their knighthood, a testament to their skill as swordsmen.

William and I searched the crowd and nearby shops in search of Leinad, but he was nowhere to be found. My hope faded, but I was determined to search the entire city if necessary.

The training of the Noble Knights began and I watched, but my mind found no rest from the mystery of Leinad's disappearance.

Each knight fought another to determine who was the better swordsman. Minutes into each duel, the better swordsman was obvious. The defeated knight would kneel in submission before his victor. Fifty were eliminated in the first round—then twenty-five. Swords screamed through the air and clashed with great force until one knight remained.

The Noble Knight Kifus always won. He was truly the best in the entire kingdom, and he proved it time after time. The people cheered as the Noble Knights encircled Kifus and knelt in honor.

“Thief!” yelled a man behind me, near a line of shops that bordered the square.

I turned and saw an enraged shop owner gripping the arm of a girl.

“Thief—she's stealing my bread!” he yelled again.

He grabbed her basket and opened it for all to see. A single loaf of bread was inside. She was guilty, and a hundred witnesses knew it.

The disturbance brought the attention of Kifus and the Noble Knights. They were clearly upset with the interruption of their ritual, but the shop owner dragged the girl into the opening. She tried to cover her face and resist, but it was pointless.

I had seen her on the streets before. She was a little younger than I, and she was pretty. Her auburn hair was mildly curly and hung below her shoulders. Though the faint, torn remnants of a dress revealed her extreme poverty, it was clear that she tried to keep herself as respectable looking as possible.

“Please … no!” She pleaded with the man as her slender form twisted in an attempt to escape the humiliation.

How could she have lowered herself to stealing, even in her poverty?
I wondered.

Kifus and the other Noble Knights moved toward the man and his captive.

“What is going on here?” Kifus asked with authority.

Kifus and the Noble Knights were the executors of the law. They judged and sentenced all serious disputes and crimes.

“I caught this thief stealing bread from my shop! Here is the proof,” he said as he held forth her basket.

“Is this true?” Kifus asked the young woman.

“Yes, my lord. But I only—”

“Maggie! Maggie!” A panicked woman burst through the crowd and ran to the girl. “Please, sir,” the woman exclaimed. “Maggie is my oldest daughter, and she stole the bread only to feed her younger brothers and sisters. Please let her go, Lord Kifus!”

“The law is very clear,” Kifus said. “Anyone caught stealing will lose their right hand! There are no exceptions … not even for your daughter.”

“I have no way of providing for the children,” the mother said, tears streaming down her face. “I have already lost one child to poor health and sickness. Maggie is a good girl. I will serve to repay this man. Please show mercy!”

Kifus looked at the woman and her daughter and then at the crowd.

“The law must be fulfilled. It is our Code that must be followed,” he declared. “Stretch forth her arm on this tree stump!”

One knight peeled the girl from her mother's arms and brought her to the stump. Another knight restrained the mother as she clutched her bosom in anguish.

“No!” she screamed.

The knight held the girl while another wrapped a leather strap around her wrist and stretched her arm across the stump.

The crowd held its breath as the inescapable arm of the law readied to strike. Kifus drew back his sword and then started its powerful arc across the blue sky toward the delicate hand stretched out on the stump. Her fate seemed to be trapped in the steel jaws of the law.

A man to my right threw back a ragged cloak and I heard the
shing
of his sword as it left its scabbard. His motion was quick and smooth. The man drew forth a sword that had no equal, not even among the Noble Knights. Its beauty was unmatched and yet familiar. It gleamed so brightly in the sun that it was hard to look upon. Kifus's sword of judgment screamed through air and collided with this stranger's immovable sword of mercy—just above the maiden's wrist. The crowd exhaled in a unified gasp of astonishment.

Who dared to rescue this poor girl from the judgment of the Noble Knights? Who was this man who was either courageous or a fool? The moment seemed frozen in time. The stranger's magnificent sword, powered by mighty arms, held its position under the full strength of Kifus's cut.

The young lass opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to see the valiant face of her deliverer. Her countenance revealed shock, then gratitude, and finally fear, for the reprieve from judgment could only be temporary, and this brave soul would surely pay with his life.

“What is that fool doing?” William whispered in my ear.

No one had ever challenged the authority of any Noble Knight, let alone Kifus.

With his sword still in its protective position above the girl's wrist, the stranger slowly turned his head and locked
eyes with Kifus. The rage in Kifus's eyes was evident to all.

“William,” I whispered, “doesn't that peasant look familiar?”

“Yes, yes … It's the stranger we met on the street a few days ago! Why is he doing this?”

“I don't know, but look at that sword. It must be Leinad's!”

“Are you sure?”

I focused on the sword and tried to remember. It had been a long time since I'd laid eyes on Leinad's sword. If this man was a thief, he was a strange one. He was risking his life to save the life of a girl … and doing it with a stolen sword. I couldn't make sense of it.

“I can't be certain, but I think so,” I whispered back. “In either case, I hope he's ready to die. It'll take more than a fancy sword to survive the wrath and skill of Kifus.”

Kifus pulled back his sword and glared at the stranger, apparently stunned by the rebellious act of this peasant.

Kifus growled at the stranger, “That was a very stupid move, peasant! I don't know from whose castle you stole that sword, but I aim to run you through and return it to its rightful place among nobility. Prepare to die!”

The peasant raised his sword and took a swordsman's stance that caused even Kifus to hesitate. This man was no peasant. He emanated power!

Kifus charged. The stranger moved to the side with blinding speed, and his sword flashed like lightning to meet Kifus's charge. The impact nearly put Kifus on his face. He regained his balance and approached more cautiously now, and then he attacked again. The stranger met
every blow and thrust with the perfection of a true master. He teased the Noble Knight Kifus as he maneuvered him at will.

We watched in amazement as the flashing swords clashed time after time.

Kifus must have thought he perceived an opening and lunged to finish the stranger, but the stranger parried and executed a bind on Kifus's sword with unmatched speed and power.

The fight was over. Kifus stood empty-handed, his sword beneath the foot of the stranger.

The crowd, along with the other knights, stood silent. I suspected that everyone had the same question on their minds as I had on mine:
Who was this man?

The stranger had disgraced the entire force of the Noble Knights in front of all the people by defeating their best swordsman. I was still confused, but I knew that a man possessing such incredible skill and courage could hardly be a thief.

In a move of cowardice, two knights behind the stranger drew their swords.

“Behind you!” I shouted, but my warning was unnecessary. The stranger had already moved to meet their attack. No one standing in the square that afternoon would have believed that a single man could possess such craft as this swordsman were they not there to see it with their own eyes. Within minutes, one knight was without his sword, and the other was prone on the ground before the stranger, the tip of the magnificent sword at his throat.

“Release the girl,” the stranger said.

The prone knight looked at Kifus and pleaded with his eyes.

Kifus nodded at the two knights who were restraining the young woman, and they released her. She was too stunned to move. I went to her and helped her gain her feet. She wiped away tears of deliverance as I guided her to her mother, who was still held in the grip of a Noble Knight. He finally released her, and Maggie collapsed into her mother's arms.

Kifus spoke. “You are not what you appear to be, sir. Tell us who you are and where you come from.”

The stranger relaxed his sword. “I am the Son of the King of this kingdom, and I come from His palace in distant lands across the sea.”

A low rumble flowed through the crowd. William came and stood by me.

“Could this be true, William?” I said. “Do you think He really is the King's Son?”

“I don't know,” William said. “I want to believe it. Like I told you, there is definitely something about that man!”

“If You are the King's Son, give us a sign,” Kifus called out. “Show us Your royal ring and robe. Where are Your servants, Your coaches, and the treasures worthy of a prince?”

“I can give no sign, save My skill as a swordsman and My duty to My Father,” the stranger said.

“Nobility is more than wielding a sword, stranger. It is in the blood. This we know by the Code our King gave us,” Kifus said. “We live by the Code!”

“You speak of the Code, yet you do not live by the Code
nor teach the people so that they may live by the Code. You dishonor the King by your actions. The Code of the King is not born in your blood but grown in your hearts. You feed the people morsels of food and keep them in subjection to your whims for the sake of power and control. That is not nobility—it is treachery!”

Never before had anyone dared speak such truth out loud. All that He said made perfect sense. The people were clearly moved as He spoke, and the Noble Knights appeared to grow more furious with every word.

“While you serve yourselves, the Dark Knight prepares this very day for battle against our kingdom,” the stranger continued. He turned toward the crowd. “People of Arrethtrae, My Father has not forgotten you. I come to raise up an army of truth, justice, and honor. An army willing to fight and die for the good of the kingdom. An army willing to serve the people. An army that must someday fight the Dark Knight and his Shadow Warriors. I come in the name of the King! I come to serve Him and you. Follow Me and learn the true ways of the Code.”

“You are a traitor to the King!” Kifus shouted. “I will not allow You to destroy His kingdom or His Code!”

The King's Son turned toward Kifus. He raised His magnificent sword at him and the Noble Knights. “
You
have defiled the Code and are not worthy to be called the King's Noble Knights. Be sure of this, I will accomplish My Father's will!”

His voice was overpowering. Kifus seemed to shrink from the rebuke.

The King's Son spoke to the people. “I have chosen men
among you worthy to serve the King. I do not offer a life of ease and comfort, but of sweat and blood. It will not be easy, but it will be noble!”

He moved toward the crowd and closer to us. Soon He was standing before William and me. I looked once more into those penetrating eyes. Was this really happening, or was I in some strange dream? Could this really be the King's Son? I knew in my heart that what He said was true; I saw it in His eyes. This was a man who would not lie. My gaze left His eyes and came to rest on the magnificent sword. It fit His hand as though it were part of Him. He followed my eyes.