Surprises

Chapter Two of "Out of the Mountain" Lukaas and his brothers leave the capitol and head off to the border to meet the Wendelen envoy

Lukaas straightened his jacket, examining himself in the mirror before setting out to his parents’ chambers. He had been asked for along with his brothers Baylen and Henrik, and with Henrik’ wife, Espen. Of course he had better things to do but with his parents being the rulers of Asirven, he could hardly refuse.

Lukaas smoothed back his long black hair once and wondered again how different he appeared from his family; Osiris, Malen and Henrik with their blonde hair and Bay with his almost chocolaty locks. At least they were all tall, the men of the family towering over six feet tall. Bay had some catching up to do but he was only fourteen, compared to Luke’s nineteen and Henrik’s twenty-two.

Luke arrived at the entrance to his parents’ chambers and was let in by the guards that not only patrolled the palace, but were assigned to rooms. As he walked in, Luke’s deep green eyes surveyed the area, not missing a thing as he peered around the sitting room that was decorated in the royal family’s colors of gold, white and red, and found his mother and father sitting together on the pale gold Victorian era couch, deep in conversation. They both stopped speaking and looked abruptly up at him as soon as he entered the room. Luke noted the tense atmosphere and the almost guilty looking smiles on his parent’s faces. He attempted a smile but just ended up looking nervous as his mother tried to sound much calmer than she looked.

“Lukaas, so glad to see you,” she said as she got up to embrace him.

Luke nodded apprehensively as he returned the favor, “and you, Mother, Father.”

He was saved from any further conversation by the entrance of Henrik, Espen and Baylen, who in turn also gave greeting to the king and queen. Osiris nodded to them in permission to sit down, Espen and Henrik directly in front of them on the sofa, Bay and Luke in the armchairs on either side.

“As you know, Asirven has been at war with Wendela since before even Henrik was born,” Osiris began, looking at all of them before moving on again. “You also know, that there have been many attempts at peace, all unsuccessful. You don’t know that King Lawdell and I have recently been in correspondence to find another way for peace, and we have both agreed there is only one way for this to occur, a marriage between families.” At this Osiris looked at Luke pointedly, trying to spare himself from speaking the words, his gaze riddled with pity.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’ Luke thought in confusion, looking around at the others and seeing similar expressions before he realized what his father was implicating. Luke looked at his father with panic and horror, trying at first to intercede on his own behalf but was interrupted by his father.

“The princess Sigrid will arrive in two days’ time. The wedding one week after her arrival.” Osiris paused, allowing an expression of sorrow to cross his face for a moment before replacing it with his usual look of impassivity “I’m sorry my son, if peace could be found any other way, I would take it.”

Luke stared at him, “its fine, Father,” he said, voice cracking slightly, “nothing else can be done, may I please take leave?” He had to get out before he let anything show.

“Of course,” his father said, an aggrieved expression covering his face as Luke stood up to leave. Unseen, his mother reached out to him but Osiris stopped her. Henrik, Espen and Bay shared concerned looks as they watched Luke walk out stiffly, the door shutting loudly behind him.

Once in the hallway Luke allowed his shoulders to slump, but straightened again when he noticed the guards giving him pitying looks, he would have none of that. Luke straightened himself and started off to the expansive library held in the palace. It was his favorite room (other than his own of course) and after a five minute journey through the massive halls of his home, he was inside. Luke inhaled the musty scent of books hundreds of years old, calming once again as he set off the least traversed section of the library- of course that was assuming many people came to the library in the first place, which, they didn’t- the magic section. He grabbed a book entitled “The Historie of the Spoken Spell and it’s Practical Uses” and sat down on the ground, half paying attention to his book and half thinking about his situation.

            Memories of the tales of the Wendelans and their king that their nanny used to tell flooded into his brain. Nanna told stories of how they were said to sharpen their teeth and eat children, but Luke had always dismissed that as nothing more than an old wives’ tale created long ago as a way to make children stay in bed and not wander off. Luke frowned, now hoping that his suspicions were true. The Wendells (a nickname coined ages past) were also said to have skin bluer than the ice that they made their homes in, and that none of them had hair (this was of course proved untrue several years ago when several enemy soldiers were captured and brought to the capitol, Luke had seen them from a distance and they all had pale skin and long black hair). The most frightening- and interesting thing, if Luke was being honest- about them were the accounts of the dark magic that they possessed.

            Luke’s mind wandered into thoughts of what Sigrid was like. Was she anything like what the legends described? Lukaas hoped she wasn’t anything like the ladies of the court in Asirven, he couldn’t stand them. Curious, Luke got up and trod over to the modern history section and started reading titles. There was an inordinate amount of information upon Ruanheim, Asirven’s northern neighbor, but rather a dearth of material on Wendela. Frustrated, Luke started on the last shelf and gave a small yelp of joy when he found a small bound booklet upon they country. Almost skipping, Luke found his way back to his spot in the far back corner, complete with a small sitting area and his own desk.

            Sitting down on the couch, Luke opened the book, eagerly reading the information; anything recording events that occurred after the war began was certainly rare. The book was vague about everything but it at least had the names of the royal family inside.

            ’Eight children are rather excessive Lawdell,’ he hummed to himself before choking on his words when reading he adopted his niece and nephews, respect growing for said king. By the end of the hour he had figured out that Wendela had only one princess, the adopted niece, who in fact was only one year younger than him, and that all of her older brothers were heavily involved in politics. She had two younger brothers, ‘maybe she’ll get along with Bay then…’ but his thoughts were interrupted by his brothers traipsing in.

            Luke looked up in irritation. “Yes, what is it?”

            “We’ve come to take you hunting!” Henrik said walking up to Luke, a massive grin on his face, Bay trailing after him, a smile on his face too but looking more sheepish.

            “Why would I want to do that?” Luke said, trying to keep his grin at bay as he looked up at his brothers.

            “Luke, I’m hurt!” said Henrik, pretending to look wounded, hands over his heart.

             Luke gave a genuine laugh at this, “Well we can’t have that can we?” he said with a chuckle, winking at Bay who grinned wider. “When do we leave on this venture, dear brother?”

            “Immediately, younger sibling! Gather your hunting gear; we will leave in the quarter hour!” Said Henrik, with an elaborate gesture of hands before striding out of the room, Luke laughed again, Henrik always responded to him in that nature, knowing that Luke could never keep up the cold façade when he did that.

            Luke smiled fondly at Bay, “are you coming too?”

            Bay grinned widely “yes, I am actually. Mother was wondering if I could use some of your old hunting gear; I’ve grown out of mine already,” he said, puffing out his chest with pride. 

            Luke smiled, their mother hadn’t let Bay go hunting with them until recently, wishing to keep him at home, and only let him go under condition that he was with Henrik or him at all times. Bay hated it of course, both his older brothers had been allowed to go hunting on their own when they were thirteen and he was still stuck with them at fourteen, but he still heeded his mother’s wishes.

            “Come on then,” he said, swinging his arm over his little brother’s shoulders, Bay was always a behind in growing and had only just gotten a growth spurt, but was still almost a foot shorter than him.

Bay grinned up at him and asked “Luke, what do you think she’s like?”

Luke blinked in surprise, “I-I’m not sure.”

“I think she’ll be nice- do you remember the Wendells we captured a few years ago?” He paused waiting for Luke to respond, “well they kept speaking about some princess Sigrid and something about healing, I think she’s a healer, and any princess who chooses to spend her time to heal others can’t be that bad. I think she’ll be a good person.”

He stared at Bay unblinking for a few seconds, “I suppose you’re righ-wait, you speak Wendellan?”

Bay nodded, “I’m fluent in it now, I wish I knew more then, then I could understand better,” he said with a frown.

“Always surprising us,” Luke said with a smile, shaking his head softly. “Do you know any other languages?”

“Hmm, well I’m fairly fluent in Asirven,” he said grinning up at his brother, who laughed, “I can speak Ruanheimr fairly well and read and write Holtorn, but speaking that is really hard. I can read and write ruins as well as the old language.

“Impressive,” said Luke, as they reached his chambers again. Luke rummaged around in his closet for a few minutes before coming out with something he thought would fit Baylen, “sorry its not blue, but as you know, my colors are different than yours.” It was rather ironic really, each boy had his own preferred colors, Henrick with red and gold (which was truly fortunate because as future king he would be stuck with those colors the rest of his life), Lukaas with deep green and silver, and Bay with sky blue and bronze.

Bay laughed, “that’s fine, this is just for a few days anyways, see you in a few minutes I have to finish packing- oh, and pack something nice, we’re meeting the princess at the border,” he practically ran out the door after saying this, getting away before Luke could say anything.

Luke gaped at the door as it swung closed, and cursed before beginning to pack his things, being sure to pack several pairs of his nicest riding cloths. It would take one day to ride to the border, and one day to return. Luke changed and grabbed his pack angrily, almost forgetting his throwing daggers before he left the room, tromping down to the front hall where his brothers and several high ranking members of the guard awaited, Luke glowered at them as he approached, Henrik’s normally jovial smile waning.

“I am sorry Luke, we did not wish to deceive you, but we must meet them at the border to ensure Sigrid’s protection.” Henrik said guiltily, looking at his younger brother, who rolled his eyes in response, though his glare became less withering as they marched out into the courtyard, toward the stables.

Luke approached his horse, as the stable boys led him out, “hey, boy, how’s it going Eskil?”

“Talking to your horse now are you?” Henrik asked and Luke rolled his eyes again, and although Henrik was behind him he responded “one day your eyes will roll right out of your head, brother.”

Luke responded with a snort and climbed on Eskil, securing his pack to the saddle, he was about retort when his mother gave a slight cough walking up to their small party.

“Now, do you all understand the rules?” She asked, giving pointed looks to all of them. The ‘rules’ were guidelines she had given to all of them before their first outings, more common sense than rules, and they all had to keep themselves from laughing as they nodded their assent to her. “Good, go ahead, and good luck.” She said with a wink at them.

“We will be home before you know it mother!” Said Henrik as he turned his mustang around and started off. As Luke passed her he grasped her hand in reassurance before following his two brothers out of the gates, the score of guards and military men in their wake.

Luke started straight ahead while they passed through the city, the people stared and gaped at them, the children pointing, it all made him very uncomfortable. Henrik in front of him laughed and waved, making the people more at ease, Baylen to acted amiable, drawing his horse up next to Luke’s as he whispered, “smile Luke, or you’ll frighten them off.” So he tried, although he suspected his smile was more of a grimace, and was relieved once they were outside in the country. It was peaceful here, little noise and a slight breeze, making the wheat fields ripple. The forest was still invisible to the eye, they were surrounded by miles upon miles of farmland, and Luke was content for it to stay that way.

~

It was several hours before they reached the forest, and it would take several more until they reached the border where they would meet the Wendelen envoy. There was a nervous air to the group, all glancing up at the mountains every few minutes. Luke glanced up at the mountains before entering the wood, a sense of foreboding permeating the air.