Chapter 11

Tamillia tells the truth about herself, and her connection to the buried treasure worth millions

Morning came fast; I jumped to the sound of the birds chirping outside. Reno was already up and doing stretches. The pain in my side threw me back down to the bed and I cried in agony. I fought the pain and walked to the opposite end of the bed where Reno was. “Any idea where the last map might be?” I asked. She shook her head, and then opened her mouth to speak.

“Why not ask the court to help?” I chocked at the thought, it was a terrible idea in my eyes. Instead I took her suggestion to heart and walked out of the room. “Where are we going?” she asked hit curious eyes.

“To call a meeting with Ari, although I’ll probably just walk right in” I smiled at my own words. Reno ended up reflecting my reaction and I wobbled down the hallway until I reached the courts. I opened the doors and ended up interrupting an already arranged meeting they were having.

“What is it, Aris” the old man referred to me by my real name, which set me back  a little and I ended up forgetting my I was there. “Well?”

“I want a conference?” I replied, a little unsure myself. Ari smiled and invited me to join them.

“Continue” Ari said, and the old man did as told.

“Therefore I believe that we should drop all charges against the thief” his words gave me an uneasy feeling, but the pain in my chest and body let me put it aside. They continued to speak, I paid no mind as I was too busy trying to sit in one place without fidgety and moving about. I grew sharper pains the more I moved trying to get comfortable and even injured myself more.

“Are you alright?” Zane asked, after noticing my movement. They all turned to look at me which wasn’t all too bad because I had managed to sit still. I nodded my head and they went back to their discussion.

“So what is it that you needed?” Ari turned to me, her hand to her chin and smiling.

“We need only one more map” I began, as I continued to move in my chair. My clothes were rubbing against the bruises and cuts which made me uncomfortable. “So I would like to ask for help, since I can’t really get around myself” at that moment I began to realize how pitiful I actually was in my current state. I was so inefficient I needed Ari’s help. Everyone nodded and Ari gave the order to look for a map. In fact, with all of them working I hardly had to move at all. Instead I sat and rested, letting Tamillia use her magic so I could recover faster.

“Zane hasn’t told?” I asked curiously. She shook her head and I lay back down.

“The castles lively today” she said, sounding irritated.

“Ya, I asked Ari for help” she lend against her chair to look me in the eyes.

“That’s great”

“What’s wrong with you?” she blinked and sat back.

“When I first came to this world I couldn’t really remember my past. I finally remembered something about Alys” she paused “and Karil and Arnold” she took a deep breath. I sat back up, the pain was completely gone and I began to stretch myself out.

“So they are from the same world as you?” she nodded her head.

“Actually, Alys is my cousin. I remember how I got here too. Arnold is my father, Karil is here father, and our fathers were brothers. They first came to this world years ago to mine out riches and bring it back to our world. Karil found a mine along with Arnold, my father, and wanted to keep it for this country. My father did not like that so Karil hid it, leaving Alys the key to finding it” she paused and looked up at me.

“So that’s means that they have powers just like you?” I stopped and walked back to her, sitting down next to her.

“They do, and I think I know where the mine is” I held out my hand to her and smiled. She returned the gesture and stood up next to me.

“We are looking for the last map now, what’s in the treasury?” she looked up at me and put her figure to her lips.

“Karil told me” she whispered “Gold, worth 12 kingdoms” this sounded familiar, the king in Bonto was told the same thing by Alys. However, what were the chances that that was actually true. “Besides, Arnold is a hero here right?” I nodded. “That’s because he got rid of Karil after he buried the mine” we ended up being interrupted by Zane. He smiled at Tamillia, she did not smile back.

“We found a door, but it’s locked, you need to open it” I felt a sudden burst of happiness from his words. They were actually requesting help from a pitiful thief like me. I followed him down the halls, Tamillia followed closely behind. When we finally reached our destination, there was a dark hallway behind the book case in Ari’s room.

I walked to the opening and examined the lock on the door, no longer did I have me tools. I sighed to myself and took a step back. This lock was complicated, not something I could use just sticks with. “I’d like to open it” I began. Quickly I was interrupted by a member of the courts.

“But you can’t, can you?” they said, I laughed at this comment and put it aside.

“I don’t have my tools, the lock is too elaborate to open with what I have” Ari smiled at me and my father gave me my tools.

“We took them from you a while ago” they laughed, thinking they were clever. I ignored them, obviously, and began to put my talents to good use. I put one pick into the top part of the lock and the other into the bottom. I turned the metal just a little to the left, lifted the bottom one and move the top one further in. They moved smoothly, I pulled the bottom one back and turned it to the right. It made a click sound and another one before the first half of the lock was free. I pushed the picks in further until I made it to the back of the lock and repeated. Soon the whole lock was unlocked and I pushed it opened. This took a few hours to complete.

The court congratulated me in a very awkward way; I smiled at them and led the way through. It was dark; a table was in the middle. Along the top, the final map. I put my tools down next to it and observed. It was unfamiliar; Tamillia looked over it and gasped. We began to look further around, Reno as well, had a hand in finding something.

Zane found a shelf full of diamonds, this room was completely untouched. Perhaps because it was the queen’s room; I shifted around the room trying to find something, anything that would leave me a clue.

“The map is this right?” the old man asked, I nodded my head. Something didn’t its right with me. I looked back at the map; I flipped it over to look at the back. A large X was in the left corner at the bottom. Putting it down, I found myself walking over to the back left side of the room.

“Find something?” Zane asked. I pushed a book case out of the way, which made a lot of noise. The wood did not match the color with the rest, I stomped on it and it broke open.

“X marks the spot” I said cleverly. I pulled out a box, inside was a key. It was the very same key that my mother had wrapped around her neck all those years ago; I starred at it for a while until my father also noticed it.

“This is hers” he whispered and tried to take it from me. I pulled it back and placed it carefully into my boot.

“It is, I’ve been looking for it” I continued to stare at the wall and sighed. Now I had my mother’s treasure, the very treasure that led me to this journey.

“You’re not gonna run out on us are you?” my father let out a nervous laugh. I returned the laugh and stood up.

“I’ve made it too far to turn around now” he put his hand on my shoulder and sighed to himself. Everyone found their way out; I picked up the map and followed the others outside. We sealed it back up, Tamillia tapped my shoulder and we walked off.

“I know what it is a map of” she said.

“Your world right?” she shook her head.

“Its here, right below the volcano when I first arrived” she paused. Pirate territory. “That’s also where I heard Karil say the mine was, here” she handed me a note. “I found it when we were looking around earlier, solve this mystery for us Aris” I nodded my head and she left me. I walked back to my room where I met back up with Reno and we read the note.

Alys,

The mine is located within the volcano, home of the pirates. Seeing as you made it to the last map I can see you are interested in my treasure. Good luck with the rest. I await your arrival.

      Arnold

I relooked at the name, Arnold? Reno hung over my shoulder and looked just as confused as I.

“Why does it say Arnold and not Karil?” I shrugged and reread the short letter over and over. It made less sense the further I went. I sighed and lay down, thinking it over.

“I’m not sure, but were going to the volcano tomorrow”

“But the pirates” she pled.

“I know, but we’ll be with the queen’s court” she smiled at me. I looked up at the ceiling and smiled with a huge grin. This entire thing would be put to a close tomorrow, and I would be as rich as 12 kingdoms.