Chapter Two – The City of Galadria
This time, the chime that they materialised upon was in the centre of a long crypt, under a small Aurorian church. The surrounding gloominess held within it large engraved caskets that lay all around them and entombed the preserved bodies of great Aurorian knights from throughout the ages. Ferocious wooden torches blazed loudly away—held tightly in their rusted iron holders that attached them solidly to their thick stonewalls—and threw what little light that they could into the immense space before them.
“We are below the Church of Galadria … Come,” Jax said quietly as he led the way between the many stone caskets to a small wooden door that he creaked slowly open. Now before them, rose a dingy little staircase that carried them up to slithers of light that fought ferociously for territory against the encroaching darkness around them. Pushing open another small door, they emerged from behind a white wooden alter, as brilliant sunlight poured effortlessly in through the many crystal windows of the church around them. Row upon row of light brown benches flanked a long, narrow corridor and led to a huge, oak door - that, in turn, led out into the day. Another small door quickly opened—off to the side of them—and in rushed an old man, dressed entirely in black from neck to toe. He watched the floor as he walked and played frantically with his collar. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked up;
“Oh, welcome I ...” He stopped abruptly as his gaze fell upon William and all colour flushed entirely from his cheeks, “the son of Thyagreen!” He whispered in astoundment, “how, much do you know my boy?”
William looked to Jax in confusion, “Not much … I suppose,” He replied, frowning slightly.
“My name is Father Millett—a priest of the Aurorian faith. This is my church ... Come, both of you.” He led William—followed surely by Jax—into the small room that he had just emerged from and stopped before an exquisitely carved wooden cabinet. He unlocked its mighty door with a dull clunk before it creaked slowly open and revealed a large, leather-bound book—draped elegantly with a veil of red velvet—that sat all alone upon a shelf within. Quickly, he pulled off the veil and gestured for William to step ever closer, as frantically he flung the mighty book wide open and flipped quickly through its many pages of tiny text.
“Ah-Ha! Here we are!” He muttered with a sense of accomplishment, as he smoothed the delicate pages flat, “This—my boy—is the very word of Aurora herself,” He announced proudly, “as you can see ...” He smiled, turning the ancient page, “you are a big part of it!”
To his astoundment, William saw himself in black-and-white print, right before his eyes and for a long while he felt dazed and completely overcome.
“Allow me to explain,” The Father smiled gently, “Within your veins flows the blood of a Thyagreetion, but also that of a Loucartion! That, my boy, makes you very special—Very special indeed!”
“A Thya ... what?” William slowly replied—still dazed by his own image on the page.
“A Thyagreetion,” The Father chuckled, “Someone from Thyagreen—from your own reality,” He explained, “and of course, your father is Loucartion!”
“My father?” William blurted, as he quickly crossed the tiny little room in a panic and sat heavily on to a small wooden bench that awaited him. Jax followed instantly and after scrambling quickly up, sat quietly beside him.
After a while, the priest approached the silent pair, “I’m sure that this is an awful lot for you to take in right now,” He quietly began, “I shall leave you with your thoughts,” He announced before leaving the room.
“My father, was … from here?” William asked, trying aimlessly to make sense of it all.
“I can take you to him if you wish. I’ll be outside when you are ready, Prince.” With that, he jumped down from the bench and headed for the open doorway.
William held his head heavily in his soft little hands and remained sat quietly for a long while in thought. Eventually, he came slowly out of the room; “Why do you keep calling me ‘Prince’?” He asked quietly.
“Quite simply,” His little friend smiled, “because you are the Prince of Glitherhiem. Come,” He gestured warmly as he headed for the great oak door before them. William stood in awe—seemingly unable to move—and as he watched Jax walk slowly away, the space between them rapidly grew beyond all reason as an overpowering sensation washed quickly over him. A deep and dark voice manifested itself as the brilliant white walls turned dull and brittle and crumbled away to flames; “I know why you have come, Aurorian!” It scraped tenuously throughout the air, “you will be unsuccessful!”
“Who's there?” William shouted in alarm as he spun frantically around to see that the walls—and the space around him—had already returned to normal.
“There’s nobody here, Prince!” Jax exclaimed, “We are alone! I assure you!”
William turned slowly around to the relative safety of his little friend’s face, with a look of sheer horror that Jax had seen all too many times before, “That voice!” He whispered, still feeling quite unsettled, “and the walls! The walls!”
Jax’s expression turned quickly from a deep concern to something that was far more sinister; “Leptar cannot harm you here,” He reassured quietly, “Our towns are heavily fortified.”
“Then what happened to Merico?” William blurted, still in some distress.
For a moment, Jax fell silent, “We have learned from costly mistakes,” He said quietly, “This town has four hundred men in garrison at all times!”
This just made William feel even more unsettled, “And you think that I …!” William exclaimed before he was quickly cut off.
“Do not worry so much!” Came a soft loving voice from behind them, “You are not now, nor shall you ever be, alone, little Prince.”
William turned quickly to gaze upon the radiant young beauty before him. All at once he forgot his unpleasantness, as if a great and horrible weight had been suddenly lifted from him without him ever realising it.
“I didn’t expect the Firefly to be back so soon!” Jax joyfully exclaimed.
“It isn’t, my friend,” She laughed gently, “Arcadian brought me.” Her long dark hair glistened and flowed to the small of her back, whilst deep dark eyes concentrated entirely upon William. From one side of her thick leather belt hung a long thin sword, whilst a green handled dagger hung quietly from the other.
“As you can see,” Jax announced—smirking at William, “The Prince … is here.”
The mysterious girl stared into William’s eyes for quite a while; “Hello brother,” She eventually whispered, as if caught in a trance.
“Brother?” William exclaimed, raising his eyebrows quickly.
“I’m sorry,” She laughed, “I don’t mean to stare. My name is Hannah Reed,” She announced stepping even closer to him, “Princess of all of Glitherhiem and you, my Prince, are most indeed my brother. Welcome, William,” She smiled.
“I shall leave you to get acquainted,” Jax announced before he quickly vanished without even the smallest trace of him left behind.
William gawked at the empty space where Jax had once stood, sending Hannah into fits of giggles, “He is a Breed, of course!” She gently offered once she had stopped laughing, “they are able to teleport themselves over great distances … Tell me though,” she smirked, as her eyes narrowed in curiosity “Do you ride, William?”
“Ride?” William repeated completely confused, “Ride what?” He asked, frowning slightly.
“Ride horses—of course!” She laughed.
“No,” He answered quietly, still frowning and feeling quite uneasy as to why she had asked the question in the first place.
“Well then!” She smirked, “That is something that we must rectify!” With that, she quickly led the way to the great oak door and placed her hands firmly upon it, “Ready?” She asked in wait of her little brother. Slowly he followed and placed his own hands nervously beside hers. Together they pushed, as little by little,
the brilliant sunshine washed over them both like an invading army that was gaining ground, until the door was fully open and the market square—that bustled madly with heightened activity—sat boldly before them. Affectionately, it encircled the many people that hastily went about their daily lives, as goods of all kinds, were manically traded from stalls of all shapes and sizes. Excitedly, they stepped out of the church and into the heaving chaos. The smell of freshly baked bread floated effortlessly upon the air and the church door swung slowly closed behind them.
The two rejoined siblings stood side by side as William gazed happily around. Everybody stared and the entire place had fallen completely silent.
“They all know who you are,” Hannah whispered as she leant into him, “the palace is on the other side of the city; we can get there by carriage. This way,” She announced.
Once again, she led the way as William followed closely behind. It wasn’t long before they came to a side lane, full of queued carriages, each one headed by two white horses, as Hannah stepped up to the first and gestured for William to climb in.
“Good morning, Prince” Smiled the driver who was sat behind his horses with their reigns held loosely in his hands.
“Um … good morning,” William replied as he returned the smile and clambered aboard.
“To the palace please,” Hannah chirped, as she climbed in after him and closed the heavy door with a clunk.
The horses walked slowly on as their hooves struck the cobblestones beneath them and filled the sweet-smelling air with beautiful sound. Inside the carriage, soft red velvet washed over every available space and cushioned the four comfortable seats within. Hannah sat beside her brother—as he gazed excitedly out of the window.
“Father told me about you …” She began, “when I first came here,” She smiled gently.
“You came here too!” William blurted in surprise as he turned his attention to her.
“Of course I did!” She laughed, “We are both Thyagreetion, you and I.”
His little face lit up, “But how?” He asked in excitement.
“The same way that you did, I’d imagine,” She laughed at her brother’s response.
William laughed at the absurd situation that he now found himself in before gradually becoming much more serious, “I was seven when dad left,” He paused for a long while, “mum, never told me about you.”
“She probably didn’t even know,” Hannah whispered before falling silent and gazing off into nothing, “It's a lot to take in, isn’t it?” She uttered after a while, “I came here when I was not much older than you are now,” She began, trying ever so hard to explain, “although I believe, it was quite some time before you were even born … time here hasn’t touched me,” She looked at William with a hint of a tear welling in her eye, “nor, should I imagine, shall it touch you.”
William shimmied in his seat, until he was absolutely comfortable and gazed once more out of the window beside him. By now, they had passed through the market square and had picked up some considerable speed, passing row upon row of exquisite stone houses—each one decorated brightly with coloured wooden shutters and matching wooden doors. Soon the houses were falling away as they raced along a wide stony path that ran wildly though open grassland. They soon approached a colossal gatehouse that sat within the outer battlements of the Palace grounds and before long, the carriage came to a firm halt. Almost instantly, a soldier in full-dress uniform appeared in the window and after a quick glance inside, the mighty iron gate before them rose slowly into its housing. Once there was space enough, the carriage continued along its way. William watched intently as they passed the handful of armed soldiers that stood guard beside them and passed through the mighty archway of the gatehouse with its thick stonewalls.
The Palace grounds, within the outer battlements, were vast—a sea of cobblestones stretched out in all directions, whilst small stone buildings stood all about and soldiers marched around in formation. For a second time the carriage slowed and as they approached the much smaller gatehouse of the inner battlements, the little gate rose quietly into its own housing. Slowly, they continued through and raced away toward the palace itself. After a while, the carriage stopped for the third and last time and its door eventually opened. The driver stood, almost entirely in black from head to foot, with a red cravat and a black top hat.
“We’re ‘ere Miss,” He announced.
“Thank you driver,” Hannah chirped, as she climbed out and reached into her silken purse.
“Oh no!” The driver exclaimed, “It's a free ride to you,” He smiled as he climbed back up to his little seat. William clambered back out of the carriage—just as clumsily as he had clambered in—and stood with a smile on his face as he gazed around at the lush green grassland that lay surrounded by towering stonewalls in varying shades of grey. Quickly the carriage pulled off —headed back for its little place in the market square—and as it did so, it revealed the glorious palace that it had briefly hidden from William’s view. Its exceptional majesty stood elegantly before his gaze as it glistened in the intense sunlight. A staircase of pure white marble ran up to its monumental entrance, flanked by great white pillars that encased a spectacular blend of masonry and finery. Huge crystal windows ran madly around its monstrous face and several flags anointed it as they fluttered lightly in the cool breeze around them.