I opened the doors to the castle and walked out. I closed them with my telekinesis as I walked down the path towards the ocean. The tall grass and wheat on the hill waved in the wind. The ocean was a beautiful blue and green. It shimmered in the sun and invited me in for a cooling swim.
I saw a small indent in the grass further down the hill and figured Lukus was lying in the grass playing with mice or napping. I walked over towards the indentation, and saw a small child laying down and looking into the sky. “Lukus, it’s your father,” I said quietly.
“Daddy!” he shouted and jumped to his feet.
“Are you hungry son?” I asked him, waving the basket.
“I’m starving! Did you grab and cheese?” Lukus asked me curiously.
“Yes, I did,” I told him and smiled as a huge grin ran across his face.
I walked down to the beach and sat on the warm sand. Lukus ran down and sat down next to me. I opened the basket with my telekinesis and Lukus giggled. Grabbing two slices of bread, a slice of meat and three pieces of cheese, I put the meat on one slice of bread then put the cheese on top of the meat. I put the last piece of bread on and handed it to Lukus.
“But daddy, I don’t want any bread or meat, just cheese,” Lukus complained and started to tear apart the sandwich.
“Lukus, if you want to grow strong like me or my soldiers, you have to eat meat and bread too,” I teased him, and his eyes grew big.
“I won’t? Why not daddy?” he asked me seriously, now taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Well, the meat and bread give you energy and,” I started to say and saw his confused face, “they’re good for you.”
“What’s energy daddy?” Lukus asked me after swallowing a large bite of sandwich.
“It’s hard to explain. It gives you the power to move around a lot,” I said, unable to think of a better way to explain it.
“Oh,” he said, and then looked into the ocean.
“What is it son?” I asked him.
“Are there other places in the ocean with people on them?” he asked me, still looking into the ocean.
“Yes son, they’re called islands. Duval has four major islands. Daddy runs two of them,” I told him and he looked at me in awe.
“Can we go to one?” Lukus asked me, pulling on my sleeve.
“Maybe one day, but not now son,” I told him and he jumped to his feet.
“Why not now?” he whimpered.
“Daddy has some things happening that are very important,” I told him, then looked away from him. I couldn’t look at him knowing the fact that if this revolution is real and successful I may not be around much longer.
This revolution could be the death of me. Linet knew it too, that’s why she was so upset with me for trusting Klid. I don’t think Klid’s behind the revolution, but I’ll not rule him out as a possibility. I need to see if the Logars’ have any substantial troop movements. I need to assign Lukus a protector.
After eating my own sandwich, I took out two pieces of fruit and gave one to Lukus. He reluctantly ate it, then stood up and ran to the ocean. I stood up and wiped the sand off of me. I then walked over to the ocean with Lukus.
“Look daddy, fish!” Lukus exclaimed, pointing to the low parts of the water.
I stretched out my hand and willed the water to listen to my commands. It resisted at first but then gave in. A blob of water popped out of the ocean. Inside the ball of floating water were three tiny fish. Lukus giggled at my transformation. He always laughed when I manipulated the water.
“How do you do that, daddy?” Lukus asked me seriously.
“It’s called a transformation, son. Everyone gets them eventually,” I told him.
“When will I get them?” Lukus asked excitedly.
“Not for a while, my son,” I told him and ruffled his hair.
He pouted about how it wasn’t fair, then went back into the grass to relax. ‘My lord, we need you in the throne room. It’s urgent. Logars’ are attacking the castle!’ Pote’s voice rang in my head. I quickly grabbed the basket and started back up the hill.
“Where are you going, daddy?” Lukus asked me.
“Daddy needs to do something. I’ll be back down soon. No matter what happens you just stay here,” I told him and he sat back down in the grass. I knew this would be a safer place for my son than the castle.
Running up the hill and through the front gates, I dropped the basket in one of the great halls and started towards the throne room. I glanced through a window and saw an army at my doorstep. How did they get this far into my kingdom without me knowing?
I started up a flight of steps when I bumped into Pote. “What is it?” I asked him quickly.
“What should we do?” Pote asked me urgently.
“Organize a counter attack. Get Linet for me, I need to talk to her,” I ordered Pote, and his eyes flashed green which told me he sent Linet a telepathic message.
“I just did. There’s corruption inside the castle as well my lord,” he told me and I stopped and turned around.
“What do you mean?” I asked him. He opened his mouth to tell me when Klid and eight other soldiers ran up the stairs.
“We should get you to the throne room my lord. We need to hurry,” Klid said, and I turned around. There was a horrible crashing sound and the whole castle shook. I ran to a window to see what made the noise. Enemy soldiers with the transformation of earth were flinging boulders at the castle wall. I then ran to the throne room.
As we approached the large wooden doors to the throne room I heard Pote tell me something telepathically, ‘Klid Logar.’
Chapter Four