The Forgotten King

“I send you to death, my love,” and he raised his sword to carry out his threat.

But he was stopped by a solemn voice from behind him, from the steps of the customs house. “Silence, there! By whose right do you lift your sword, vagabond? By king or by tyrant? If by the first, I command you to heave away and flee to your den. But if by the second, then I command you to turn your face to me, for I dislike to strike down a man from behind!”

De Casanova spun around, as did his still-mounted soldiers. There, standing between them and the customs house, were four shrouded figures, hidden behind their dark robes. The first was over six feet tall and of equal girth. The second was only average in height, but he held himself with the strength of a king. The third was slender and curved, beautiful even when disguised. The forth was short and somewhat stocky, but he held himself with a strange courage. As they looked on, the fourth figure threw off his hood and revealed his face to those before him. Vladimir jumped back. His horse reared from the terror of its rider. Even the stolid de Casanova stepped backward, raising his drawn sword involuntarily to a defensive position. The figure only laughed.

“I am loyal, without a doubt,” it said, “But you are dead!”

Chapter 52

Sometime before this, in the Atiltian forest, there was a flurry of activity at the rebel city. In the shaded meadow beneath the four Great Goliaths, a train of wagons and carts stood waiting to enter the tunnel that led to the city above. The grass there was but ankle-high and the sun only came down through a spotlight the rebels had made, a beam that illuminated the waiting area below. The citizens of Eden with ties to the rebellion feared for their lives and property after the attack on the Castle Plantagenet, and crowded to the city for protection. There they were welcomed, but as the only entrance to the city above was a narrow underground tunnel and a steep climb, it was many days before they could all enter. In the meantime, there was a small, nomadic settlement on the meadow below the canopy.

A wide, spiraling tunnel was delved within one of the massive trees, circling around the heartwood into which the rebels never cut. From the underground tunnel that led to the base of the tree-tunnel, those entering the rebel city traveled upward two hundred feet until they reached the entrance hall that led between the tunnel and the city proper. This hall also wrapped around the center of the tree, but was wider and level. Therefore, it was easily divided into sections, through which an entering person had to pass: in all, a circle with the center filled and the rest broken into three sections that were separated by uncarved walls. These divisions were partly commercial and partly governmental. The first quadrant of the hall was a passport area, with a strong guard to prevent the entrance of spies. The second quadrant was a bazaar, with a host of merchants on hand to buy the goods of those coming in with the view of taking them above to the main market and selling them. For those without a private rope route, it was difficult to have wares hauled to the upper sections of the city. The third and largest quadrant was the stables, in which the animals were kept, for they could not walk the Treeway safely.

The third quadrant opened to the city outside, to the Treeway that connected it all together. It was a road made of sturdy planks attached to the branches. At this point it wound around the outsides of the trees in the same manner as the tree-tunnel had wound around the inside. Along this road were doors, each leading into a room delved into the tree. After the initial tunnel, the city was not connected within the trees: only the Treeway brought the rooms and structures together.

The city was entirely self-sufficient. For food, the rebels grew mellis upon the upper branches of the trees. Mellis was a plant that was found only in the forests of Atilta, for it could not be supported by the devolved climates of the mainlands. It was sweet in taste, much like the sugar cane or beet, except its taste was clearer and stronger. On the trunks of the trees they grew pomum , a rich fruit not unlike a combination of an orange and a pear, except that it had no outer peel or covering. It was purely fruit. These two foods were their favorites and were used to some extent in most of their dishes, not unlike sugar and salt in Eden. Yet their primary food was frondis . This was grown on giant nets that were stretched between the trees in a sort of horizontal terrace. The frondis , a vine similar to lettuce, was farmed by the Frondits: a lofty group, for they walked along the wooden frames to cultivate the plants.

For water, the rebels made a reservoir of the canopy above, channeling the rainwater along it until it emptied into wooden tanks for daily use. It came down like a waterfall into the tanks, where certain plants were cultivated to purify it. The water thus collected was transported throughout the city via wooden pipes, flowing downward until it finally came out into a stream on the ground below. A series of aquatic plants were grown in the stream: whatever contaminants were left in the water were quickly removed as it flowed to the ocean.

Many of the rebels never walked upon the ground. Yet this did not mean they stayed in their city. Travel through the forest roads was unsafe – for those who were unarmed – and the majority of the rebels were peaceful folk, only involved in the war as those who could not escape it. They took sides, but were not partisans. To facilitate their travels, a roadway was built hundreds of feet above the ground, in the upper branches of the trees. Since the trees were so large in the forest, and since their canopies connected and formed a continuous framework of thick, sturdy branches over the entire forest, the rebels built the Treeway upon them. They secured boards to the branches, one after another, until a smooth roadway was formed.

The Treeway traveled in several directions from the rebel city, and continued in each until the forest emptied into the ocean. The first branch traveled to Eden, directly south of the tree city. The second traveled southwest, to the rebel harbor, and a second branch of the second road traveled from the harbor to the ancient ruins, slightly to the north of the latter. The third main roadway extended to the west coast, the independent kingdom of Lord Milada of Erlich. The height of the road rendered it invisible from below and a cloud of foliage surrounded it from all angles. Could it have been seen, however, it would have made little difference, for it could not be reached from the ground without someone above to lower a ladder.

Also at this time, far to the southwest of the rebel city, a party of about two dozen persons was traveling north, to the ancient ruins. The dawn was in its latter stages and the sun was fully above the horizon, though it could rarely be seen through the dense canopy that surrounded the Treeway. The leaves and branches surrounded them on every side, as if they traveled through a cave or a tunnel. Birds sat on either side of them as well, unconscious of their audience; and their songs were sweetly innocent.

“My strength diminishes as the sun’s grows stronger,” said Alfonzo, who led the party. His goatee was untrimmed, contrasting his otherwise prim appearance. Beside him walked Celestine.

“Yet who would fault you for it, Alfonzo?” she asked with a smile and a squeeze to his hand, which she held in her own.

“We are all worn with you,” added William. “This day has seen me twice through the forest, twice in heavy battle, and once in a duel to the death. Or rather, it would have been, had you not come to our rescue with the rebel fleet. But it would be better for you to forsake the art of war for that of love. Though they are both art, the reward of one is life and the other death.”

“Do not be fooled,” Alfonzo answered, “For though my love has long been sleeping it has not yet grown entirely cold. Perhaps it will wake soon.” He looked to Celestine for a moment, then continued. “But as a man of war, I must ask: why did Gylain retreat at our approach? We outnumbered him, but only by one, and he held The King’s Arm . Above all, why did he spare your life, William, when he grasped it in his hands?”

The Admiral slowly drew a breath and his eyes flared up for a moment, as if a spark was lit but then quickly subdued. “Absolute hatred is absolute patience,” he said, “And vengeance would rather be delayed, than carried out incompletely.”

The Griffith brothers walked alongside the Admiral, and Barnes asked, “Could it have been that Gylain was afraid for his own life? In a continued battle, he may have fallen.”

The Admiral laughed, but from hatred rather than humor. “Gylain has no fear. He has looked into the devil’s eyes and seen himself staring back. When he closes his eyes, the fires of Hades dance before him; and when he dreams, they scorch him to the soul. No, he was not afraid: only cautious.”

“How do you know Gylain so well, father?” Celestine asked.

“We were once as close as brothers.”

“Yet even brothers cannot read minds and interpret dreams.”

“I know what haunts Gylain,” the Admiral whispered faintly, like rustling leaves before the wind, “For it haunts me as well.”

They were silent for a time, until Alfonzo spoke. “The ruins are near. We can camp there safely, as I have