Chapter Nine
"Talf, we're leaving. I must learn what's happening in the east. I'm still missing important pieces to this puzzle."
"Doctor, if you go, who will lead us into battle?"
"You, Talf, and Logan, Cermine, Caster, Bethda, all of you. You are your peoples' leaders. We're symbols to draw you together. I'm not here to fight a war. You are."
"Doctor, you travel to the east to do battle. Where you lead, I shall follow. And I shall LEAD my people beneath your banner." The Doctor took his hand and clasped his shoulder, then turned and mounted Leoht. Three rode out the gate on horseback, but two followed shortly thereafter on derkine.
There were twelve of them and they caught them in a net. Trapping both riders and horses. Horses were hobbled and riders were tied. Securely.
"I feel like a card in a TAROT deck."
"I get the reference, Doctor, but, if I remember correctly, the hanged man's hands weren't tied behind his back." Hanging upside down wasn't so bad. What Lib hated was a bug that kept landing on her nose. She snapped at it and Peral grinned.
"There. Oops. Well, no one seems to have noticed." The Doctor had their attention. He'd just dropped a neatly tied rope on the ground. "Watch for them while I climb... "
Lib realized she was supposed to be watching the ground, not the Doctor, but it was a little hard. She'd never seen anyone flex their knees and grab a rope between their feet before. Well, not anyone hanging upside down by their ankles. She wondered if she could do it. She was thinking about trying when she felt herself being pulled up into the tree. The Doctor freed her and they pulled Peral up.
"Ahem." Lib almost lost her perch when she turned and saw Lathan sitting on a branch behind her. He grinned and pointed to Lorin, holding the horses and a pair of staffs, a few meters away on the ground. The Doctor smiled and dropped out of the tree. Peral, Lib and Lathan followed. The horses screamed and plunged into the camp and Lorin tossed Lathan his staff.
The argument didn't last long. It was too short to be called a battle. They left the eleven tied up. Wealdan had gotten a bit carried away. They knew Talf's patrols would find them. The burning aircraft would make a good beacon.
The journey became routine. Each day they rode from dawn til dark. Each night they made camp. Lathan and Lorin were good squires and good cooks. They made the journey more pleasant, often supplementing the grain and dried foods they carried with forest plants.
"I've remembered where I got the rings."
"Do tell. This should be an interesting story." Lib was in the mood for a good story. The nice thing about having the Doctor along on a long journey was he never ran out of stories.
Peral grinned. "I know how this one starts. Once upon a time there was this furry thing with a crown."
Lib felt Lathan's derkine nuzzling her foot and smiled. The only drawback about the Doctor telling a story was it tended to get very crowded in his vicinity.
"He was King of Ranilf and he was an Aerthwelan, and they are VERY furry. He was a good king and his son was quite small and his people wanted to keep him. The problem was the males in the royal family died young, few living through middle age. The rings were a gift from his people. The idea was to keep him strong, then he wouldn't die. The two who wore the emerald and sapphire were drawn from thousands of volunteers in a national lottery. They held their posts for a year."
The Doctor smiled. It had gotten very quiet on the trail. "The king became ill. He really shouldn't have been in any danger, but one night his heart stopped. He had the 'king's affliction'. The king lived, but the young female who wore the sapphire did not. The king was horrified. He wanted the rings put away forever, but the people just wouldn't let him do it. Another lottery was held and just as many volunteered as before. I believe I arrived the day before the lottery. I remember I was escorted a bit roughly. I told them I wouldn't hurt them, but I don't think they believed me. I just didn't have enough fur. Of course, as soon as I met the king, things changed. He really was a good king. He didn't think just a lack of fur was a reason to throw someone in a dungeon. I liked him. I had breakfast with him the next morning. He told me about the rings, the lottery, and the king's affliction. I solved the problem and when I visited about ten years later he gave me the rings."
"Not fair, Doctor! How did you solve the problem?" Lib knew if she wanted the rest of the story she'd have to ask for it.
"The king's breakfast was the equivalent of three eggs, a slice of ham, four pieces of bacon, toast with a slab of butter, and coffee with cream. The name for a heart attack in Ranilf is king's affliction. I put him on a low cholesterol diet."
"You mean these things are souvenirs of a DIET?!" Peral had stopped Wealdan.
The Doctor turned and said, "The kings of Ranilf have used it ever since. It was a very good diet."
Lib reined in Heort and got down. Peral climbed off Wealdan and the two of them walked to a grassy mound. The Doctor said, "Oh, no, not again."
Lathan and Lorin looked from their two knights, rolling on the ground laughing, to the Doctor, sitting astride his horse shaking his head. Lorin said, "I wonder if they do that in public?"
Lathan answered, "Probably, but that is why we follow them."
"That is true. They are most interesting." They started to laugh and the Doctor just shook his head, turned his horse, and started down the trail. It had been a GOOD diet. He looked down at the ruby on his hand and laughed.
"There are still two pieces that don't fit."
"You working on our puzzle again, Doctor?"
"YES! And I STILL can't understand the TIME difference! Peral, there HAS to be SOMETHING I'm overlooking."
"Doctor, these monster size animals are what I've never been able to figure out." Lib was sure there was some reason for them. "They seem like they would have taken a lot of work. They provide a pretty good haul for the scavengers, but mainly they're just a nuisance. People aren't even afraid of them any more."
"The time factor is involved there too. We'd only been here a few weeks when we fought the kerisp. It had to grow to that size somewhere."
"Those aircraft didn't just appear out of nowhere. And the really old stuff; your amulet, the coronets Lib and I have. All these legends."
"YES! And I've begun to wonder if I've missed something... "
"We might as well camp. They could be there awhile." Peral grinned at the look on Lathan and Lorin's faces. "Sometimes the Doctor stops to think. His horse just stops with him."
Lathan rode his derkine past the motionless forms of the Doctor and Leoht. He climbed off his derkine and began setting up camp. "Peral, there are those who study the legends. They are not far from this place. They might tell why the amulet glows on his breast."
"That's another question." Lib watched the slowly pulsing light of the amulet. "Why did it start beating with his hearts the first time he used it?"
"He is like a stone figure. Does he do this often?" It was something she had never seen him do in the winter spent in the castle, but she had always been a bit in awe of him and had not spent a great deal of time in his company.
"No, Lorin." Peral laughed. "He seems to do his thinking in one of two ways. Pacing or motionless. Either way, he usually comes up with something."
"AHA! That's IT!"
The Doctor swung down off Leoht and walked into the partially set up camp and began pacing. "I've gotten in the habit of thinking in the time period. Why beasts at those places? What were the scavengers actually after? Lathan, I want you to lead us to the place the myths are studied. I wish I had a good geological survey of this planet. What are we having for dinner?"
"Lathan found nebith root and I have gathered teth leaves. I also found atis nuts." Lorin knew he would like dinner. He always liked dinner, but she doubted he had ever had nebith root. Few had. It was rare. "We shall prepare you a feast kings cannot command."
&nb
sp; "Why not?"
"Nebith root is very rare, Doctor. Once it flourished, but now is nearly gone. Too many have taken the small with the large and the plant does not seed."
"Tuberous propagation. Has cultivation been attempted?"
"Yes, but it grows only where it wishes. It is a forest plant and now found only deep in the forest. We will feast tonight."
The Doctor sat down and watched her prepare the nebith. She was a bit nervous. She dropped an atis nut. His smile was gentle and warm, but she had always found his presence daunting. Cermine had teased that she feared him even when he slept. Lorin knew it was not fear that made her hands shake.
She pushed the atis nuts into the nebith, wrapped it in teth leaves and laid it amongst the stones of the fire. Soon, the fragrance of the teth leaves filled the air. The Doctor sniffed the air and his eyes sparkled. She smiled and some of her nervousness left her. Other times he might be a hero of ancient legend, but now he was just a hungry man smiling in anticipation of dinner.
"Well, that answers one question anyway." Lib turned to Peral and looked her question. "I always wondered if he knew what was going on around him when he stopped to think. Since we're headed for the place Lathan mentioned, the answer is obviously yes."
"I'm more interested in the "Aha. That's it." He usually tells us when he comes up with something. This time he didn't. Why?"
"You're right! I hadn't even realized it. Why am I suddenly nervous?"
"Because when he doesn't tell us what's going on, he's planning something he knows we won't like."
"He's going to do something dangerous again. I wonder what?"
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. I've come to ask a few questions about some legends that seem to be about me."
Lib caught the old man. He'd fainted. "Doctor, you're going to have to be more careful." She snickered. "Peral and I found out people just aren't prepared for living myths to walk up and be friendly."
The Doctor picked up the old man and carried him through the gate. "This is getting just a bit silly." He carried the old man to the well in the center of the courtyard and gently laid him on the flagstones.
Lib drew water from the well and turned to hand it to the Doctor. "Uh, Doctor, we have company. A lot of it."
The Doctor took the bucket from Lib, smiled at the fifty or so scholars in the courtyard and said, "I'll be with you as soon as I know this man will be all right."
Lib and Peral began to laugh, then Lathan and Lorin joined in. The Doctor looked around to see what was funny. Among the scholars, three more were lying on the ground. They'd fainted. The Doctor said, "Oh, no. Not AGAIN!" Lib sat on the ground, leaned against the well and laughed til the tears rolled.
Lib didn't know whether to call it a monastery or a college. It had a name, but the name meant: where legends are studied. They'd been given rooms. The Doctor had refused to let the old master of the place move out to give him his. Actually, he'd shouted his refusal. "I am NOT going to THROW an OLD man out of his HOME! Just because it's the BIGGEST ROOM!"
He'd been very quiet since. Having two old men faint dead-away every time he raised his voice bothered him. It was either that, or the fact it usually took the four of them about ten minutes to stop laughing.
"I am Jeran. I have been sent to help the Great One find what he seeks."
Lib smiled. At least this one didn't look like he'd faint if the Doctor spoke to him. "Hi, I'm Lib. I think the Doctor will be real happy to see you, but I wouldn't call him Great One if I were you."
"I'm Peral, these are Lorin and Lathan. Lib's right. He's the Doctor. In its own way, it's probably a more auspicious title than Great One."
"I shall try to remember." Lib liked the smiling man. He was middle-aged and gray-haired, but he had the sparkling eyes and suppressed eagerness of a boy of ten. Peral walked over and shook his hand. He had to teach him how to do it, but he'd had a lot of practice at that. Laethans would shake hands for the rest of time because Peral had taught them. "Ordinarily, I'd warn you to call him Doctor if you didn't want to be shouted at, but I think he's a bit afraid to raise his voice. He's a bit embarrassed at having men faint every time he does."
"It is very strange to study a legend your whole life and have it one day walk up and say hello. We thought we were prepared for your visit, but nothing can really prepare one for his first meeting with the Gr... Doctor."
"Wait a minute! You were expecting us?"
"Yes, Peral. Did you not know? It is the reason this place exists. To gather all the legends together so that the... Doctor can study them when he comes."
"Uh, I see. Just how long have you been gathering these legends?"
"I do not believe it has been more than a thousand years."
"Oh, brother!"
"Yes?"
"Sorry, it was an expression." Lib decided if they called themselves brothers, she'd call it a monastery. "It means... Oh, well, that's not important. I'll go find the Doctor for you."
"Hello."
"Hi, Doctor, I was just coming to find you."
"So I heard." He smiled at Jeran and extended his hand. Jeran gave it a firm shake. "Good, someone who doesn't fall down when I speak to him."
"I am usually too interested in what is happening to allow myself to 'fall down'. I might miss something, G... Doctor."
The Doctor was delighted. Jeran not only didn't faint, he had a sense of humor. "Now, what did you want to see me about?"
"I come to help you find what you seek. My thought was to begin in the library. It is where the most ancient of lore is kept. There you will find scrolls the brothers before us have preserved for your coming."
"That's EXACTLY what I want to see. Shall we go?"
Lib watched them walk out and grinned at Peral. "He looked a bit weak in the knees when the Doctor threw an arm across his shoulders, but I think he'll hold up."
Peral shook his head. "Wait'll he hears they've been waiting for him for a thousand years."
"You've WHAT?!"
Jeran steadied himself. Peral had warned him, but the reality, of having a being you'd near worshipped most of your life shout at you, was a bit daunting. "We've been preparing for your arrival. We knew it would be soon. The legends told us what to watch for. Most of us have not known to be happy or sad."
"I don't think I understand that last statement."
"It is simple, Doctor. It is a great wonder to be here at your coming, but it will be very sad to leave this place. For many of us, it has been our home for the greatest part of our lives."
"Why will you leave?"
"This place will no longer have a reason for being. It is only here to hold the legends for your coming." Jeran smiled. The Doctor was staring at him with his mouth open. It was nice to know this great hero of myth was not beyond being speechless with surprise. "Perhaps, you now understand why so many brothers 'fall at your feet'. We have prepared for your arrival more than nine centuries."
That evening at dinner, the Doctor tried to put them at ease. He decided the magic trick had been a mistake, when two of the brothers fell to their knees talking about miracles. He had to do something. A little awe was flattering, but worship was definitely going a bit too far.
"I'm afraid one of them will have a HEART ATTACK if I walk up behind him and SURPRISE him! This is worse than being in the PROPHECY! At least THOSE were true primitives! THESE are some of the most EDUCATED people on the PLANET! "
"Calm down, Doctor." Lib knew it was the wrong thing to say the minute she said it.
"Calm down! CALM DOWN! I've been CHASING about on a HORSE for the better part of three YEARS! Dressed for a COSTUME party! With people FAINTING if I look at them wrong and I'm no closer to an ANSWER THAN WHEN I STARTED!"
"Whoa, Doctor. Take it easy on my ears. Did you know the amulet gets brighter when you get excited?" Peral grinned. The Doctor had stopped pacing and was looking at the amulet.
r /> "Hmm. I wonder... "
"I wonder where he's going?"
"I don't know, Lib, but at least he's not shouting. Let's get some sleep before he starts again."
He was very careful with it. He didn't know why he hadn't done it before. He smiled as he realized he'd been caught up in his own legend. It just hadn't occurred to him to take the amulet apart to see what made it tick. There, he'd found a point of...
"Peral! The Doctor!"
"I can feel it! Come on, Lib, we've got to find him before the ruby takes too much out of us. Lorin, Lathan, help look!"
They found him on the library floor with the amulet in his hand. Open. Peral snapped it shut, laid it on his chest and sighed. The ruby had stopped drawing on them. "I don't know what to do. If we stay here, he'll take one look at us and know the rings work. If we leave him, he'll just open it again."
"Lib," Lathan spoke very quietly. "I will help you to your room and return to him. But you will explain to me these 'rings' and what has happened to you."
Lorin nodded and said, "I will also be given explanation. A squire should know if the knight's life depends on another. So that back may be guarded too."
They received their explanations as they helped Lib and Peral back to their rooms. Lathan felt wonder at the love they had for the Doctor. They put their lives in his hands and did not wish him to know, for fear he would not use them if needed. He smiled as he realized he would do the same for Lib. He settled himself by the Doctor's side and waited.
"What happened?"
"I know only the amulet was open and you were fallen."
"I must have shorted something."
"I do not know if something became short, but the amulet was dark until laid upon your breast. I ask that you do not seek to open it again. I had much difficulty persuading the others to their rest. I gave my bond to awaken them if you did not rise in moments." He smiled. "I have made a promise I have not kept. It is my first." "How long have I been here?"
"The sun will soon rise."
The Doctor sat up and put the amulet around his neck. "I'll just have to be more careful with it."
"Doctor, the amulet beats with your life. When it becomes dark, you weaken and fall senseless. You cannot learn from it if you are senseless. There is, then, no reason to seek to open it. I ask you again not to do so. You hold the fate of this world and the lives of Peral and Lib within you. To touch that which lies within the amulet endangers you and, from that, all of us. It is a mystery which must be solved another way."
"Lathan, for an innkeeper's son, you have a good grasp of logical argument."
"It was necessary. No other would convince you." He smiled and said, "I spent much of the time this night building the words that would cause you to listen and truly hear."
"I listened. Now I have another question that needs an answer. What happens if someone takes it off me?"
He buried himself in the library. Jeran soon called two others to help him. He could not find scrolls fast enough. Soon, he called three more, then five. The Doctor still waited impatiently while they cleared the shelves. He read the scrolls faster than eleven could carry them to him.
"Good. Now, bring me writing materials."
"I will find quill, ink and blotter for you. There is paper here."
"Never mind the quill and ink. Just hand me the paper. Now where did I put that pen?"
Jeran laid a stack of carefully made sheets before the Doctor. They too had been awaiting him. He helped carry his fallen brother from the library. The Doctor had not seen him fall. Jeran smiled. He'd felt a bit weak himself when the Doctor reached in the air, pulled a metal rod into existence, and began to write with it. Perhaps the legends were inadequate to prepare one for the reality of the Doctor.
"We call them, "Now where did he get that froms". He just does it every so often. It can come in handy if you've got greasy fingers and need a napkin."
"Lib's teasing you, Jeran." Peral grinned and added, "It's part of who he is. Your legends don't even begin to encompass the reality. He's a hero and friend to more people than you could imagine. And he has more enemies than you could count. He's as old as your order and he hasn't been born yet."
"Peral, you're not helping. Jeran, he's a Time Lord. We think of him as family, but he's not. He's from a time far in the future, we think. He doesn't see himself as a wise and powerful being, just as the Doctor. Most of the time that's how we think of him. But the power is there and so is the wisdom." Lib tried to think of some way to explain. She was just making things worse.
Jeran suddenly laughed. "I see. He's a god, but just an ordinary god. Nothing very special, except to most life in existence. And I should treat this ordinary god in an ordinary way."
Peral grinned. "That's how we do it."
Lib felt something needed to be added. "He's not a god, Jeran. He's as mortal as you or I, we think. We spend a great deal of our time with him keeping him alive. It's not easy. He'd trade his life for one innocent. And he wouldn't stop to think about it."
"If he is a man, more, but still the same as other men, then he is a man I shall count as worth the knowing."
Lib smiled. "That's the way of it, Jeran. One of the ones worth knowing."
"Uh oh, he's shouting for us. We'd better get to the library."
"Yes, Peral, I've noticed the more his voice rises, the more my brothers fall."
They found the Doctor sitting in the library floor; scrolls, most of them open, in piles around him. Lib giggled. The reading glasses perched on the end of his nose looked a bit incongruous with the hero's garb.
"I've found a reference point. The legend started here. I've found... Now where did I put it?" Lib giggled a little harder, as he crawled around the floor burrowing into stacks of scrolls. "Ah, here it is. The original must have deteriorated. This states it's a true copy, but I have my doubts. I've a feeling the scholars liked to add a bit of color. Here's the part. And a place shall be made, that when he comes, he shall find the legend in time of need. The legend will be told, that he will hear it and be led. He will know it to be his own as his own hand. One thousand years agone. That he will know the time of the enemy and prepare with the Turime. The portents shall be made known as by him. The parts will be done and he shall be as one with his knowledge."
"I don't get it, Doctor. It sounds like it's telling you it's here, because you're here, because it's here."
"You're right, Peral. I wish I could see the original. I've got a feeling I'd recognize the handwriting."
"What?! You mean you've figured out who wrote the legend?"
"Yes. That's why I'm sure the brothers have changed it when they copied it. I'm not very formal when I leave notes for myself."
He started pulling scrolls out of one pile and tossing them onto another. "I need to try something. Jeran, call in two or three others. Preferably, someone that won't faint. Lib, I want you to get Lorin and Lathan. Now where's the one about the amulet?" He burrowed into another pile of scrolls.
Peral watched him digging through one after another. He was still on hands and knees, crawling around, when Jeran returned with four people. Since one fainted at the sight of a be-spectacled legend crawling on the floor, Jeran had the three he needed. Peral helped carry the unconscious man into the hall and prop him against a wall. They hurried back in. Lib arrived with Lathan and Lorin closed the door.
"Now, if no one else feels giddy," He peered over his glasses and gave them a rather disgusted look. "I'd like to try a little experiment." He took the amulet from around his neck. "Lib, I want you to take this and walk out in the hall. Keep walking until it goes dark or you reach the fountain in the courtyard. Lib, if it goes dark, get it back quickly."
Lib watched the amulet in her hand beat with his hearts all the way to the fountain and back. The amulet was warm in her hands. Like a living thing not a piece of metal. She felt
, almost, a sense of loss when she handed it back. "Peral, your turn." Peral made it to the fountain and back.
Lathan didn't want to take it. "Lathan, if it darkens, you won't be far from me." His hand was shaking as he took the amulet. He walked slowly to the fountain. His heart pounding. He ran back.
The Doctor smiled at his sigh of relief when he handed the amulet back. "Lorin." She took the amulet from his hand. He stared at her in surprise and she blushed. Luckily none of the others saw either her blush or the amulet flare when she touched it. She carried it to the fountain and back. He smiled at her gently when she handed it back to him.
It was Jeran's turn. He got as far as the courtyard. The amulet darkened and he ran for the Doctor. Lathan grabbed the amulet from his hand and placed it on the Doctor's chest. Lib and Peral arranged themselves to look as if they'd chosen to be on the floor with him. He opened his eyes and sat up. "How far did you get?"
"To the courtyard, Doctor. It became very cold when it darkened." The Doctor nodded and said, "It would. I'm sorry. Your name is?"
"Coram, Lord."
The Doctor grimaced. "Coram, in the place I come from, everyone is a lord. So I quit using the title. I'm the Doctor. Now, you know what to do."
Coram didn't make three steps out of the library before he rushed back in. This time the Doctor was longer in awakening. "That answers that question." He looked from Peral to Lib and said, "Now, I have another. When did you reactivate the rings and why?"
"NO! I WILL NOT!"
"YES! YOU HAVE TO!"
Lib felt like she was walking into the lion's den when she stepped between them. "This is ridiculous. You two are just shouting no and yes and not getting anywhere. Doctor, you're determined not to use the rings and we're determined you will. You're the only one that can actually make the decision. Only you can shut them off. But, please, Doctor, hear me out. You've learned the amulet's keyed to you or, better stated, you're keyed to it. The minute it gets into the hands of someone who doesn't, literally, put your life above their own, you start to die. The only thing that slows the process is being able to use us. You'd have died last night if we hadn't felt the ruby drawing on us. You don't want to use us. You don't even want to NEED us. You want to be needed, but you hate reciprocity. Well, we love you and we need to be needed too, but you have to decide. Will you let us be there for you?"
The Doctor was a bit taken aback by her argument. He was too honest not to admit she'd struck very near the mark. "Doctor, Lib's right, but she left one thing out." Peral still didn't believe he'd been shouting at the Doctor. He never shouted at anyone. "You accepted our oaths. Are you going to stop us from doing what we think is necessary to fulfill them?"
"I don't like it. It puts you in even more danger than before. I'll leave them functioning, but, if anything happens to me, one of you four must take the amulet. If it falls into the wrong hands, we'll all die."
"Doctor, perhaps you should try the amulet with the horses."
"Lathan! Yes! I hadn't thought of that. We'll test it as soon as we leave in the morning."
Peral shook his head. He'd just been getting used to a bed again. "Where are we headed?"
"East. I have all the pieces now, but I won't be able to put them in place until I get to the table."
"Doctor, I don't think we're going to like the way the table's been set."
"Neither do I, Peral. Neither do I." He smiled at them and said, "Shall we see about rearranging the silver?"
Before the Doctor left, he gave the scholars a new task. He told them to gather all the knowledge of the world and teach it to any who wished to learn. He emphasized women were to be included. All, who wished to do so, should take knowledge out into the world and teach others. New knowledge was especially valuable and should never be censored, but it should be carefully applied.
They tried the amulet on the horses. All could carry it. They traveled east, stopping at inns along the way. The journey was almost pleasant for twelve days.
"Doctor, I smell something burning."
"I can smell it too, Lib. It smells familiar."
"Turn back! RUN! RUN!" Lathan desperately tried to warn them. He got his derkine turned and nearly escaped before the smoke overcame him and his mount.