Forest & Kingdom Balance (32 page)

The Caretaker addressed the Knight. “Red Knight, may
I present Lord Aranido, her Majesty’s representative. He has full
authority to treat for the Kingdom.” He turned to Tre. “Lord
Aranido, may I present the Red Knight.” The two principals nodded
and all four sat. The Knight stared straight ahead without
expression the instant that he was seated. Tre leaned back and the
Caretaker relaxed in a meditative position.

When it was evident that no one was speaking,
Deminar stood up. “What is this, some kind of deception?”

Kalibra came to the table with her sword drawn, John
immediate responded. The Caretaker held up his hands to both.
“Please return to your posts. The negotiations are under way. The
Red Knight is in communication with the Sovereign of the Mindow
Kingdom through me. As I told the Red Knight, while you do have
safe conduct, my protection of the Mindow is still in effect. I
never said the negotiation would be face to face, so please
withdraw.”

Kalibra looked at the Knight, and then waved a hand
in front of his face. Deminar banged the table, “This is
outrageous! I de” Deminar stopped the moment Kalibra’s sword
touched his neck.

“Shut up and sit down, or didn’t the Red Knight
explain your position in this company clearly. I will make any
decision that needs to be made.” Deminar sat slowly, her blade
still at his neck.

John knew this was the critical moment. If Kalibra
chose to fight, then he would engage her and move her as quickly
away from the pavilion as he could. Nothing must be allowed to
break the connection. If the Caretaker or the Knight were struck,
the possibility of a solution would be lost. They might loose Tre
if he doesn’t duck fast enough, but he knows his duty and won’t
move until she commits. If she chooses combat, then the Elites
would be put to the test. It all hinged on her.

Kalibra stood. ‘Well, you can’t hurt him, and he did
say he was willing to talk to them.” She put away her sword, as did
John.

The Caretaker nodded, “I thank you Queen Kalibra,
unfortunately I’m afraid that they will be awhile, can we provide
you a chair?”

“I’ll be back shortly. If you kill him before I get
back,” She motioned to Deminar, “I’ll use his chair.”

Kalibra left to join the Crimson Guard. The
Caretaker resumed his meditative state, and Deminar stared at Lord
Aranido. Tre gave him an aristocratic sneer. “You look familiar.”
Deminar said. Tre turned away. He and John thought the possibility
of Deminar being at the table was slight, and if he was, they
judged the risk of Deminar recognizing him as even less. They knew
that the councilor did not equate the lower classes with actual
people.

“You! You’re the guardsman!” Deminar raged and
started to rise, John drew his sword half from the scabbard and
Deminar sat back down. “A spy in my own house! Because of you I was
judged incompetent. Then you stole that slave, an insult that made
me look like a fool! I ordered you to put it to death.” Deminar
glared at Tre.

“After all my years of service, I ignore one little
order and you get angry.” Tre shrugged. “You know, there is just no
pleasing some people.”

“Tre.” John said.

“Yes John?” Tre replied.

“Don’t tease the High Councilor.”

“Yes John.” Tre bowed his head to his friend and
captain with respect.
“I knew I should have
brought dice.”
He thought and leaned back for a long
wait.

VI

The Red Knight sat and all the people vanished.
“What!” He rose and left the pavilion, sword in hand.

“Hello.” A woman’s voice came from behind him. He
spun and raised his sword. “We won’t need that.” She waved her hand
and the sword disappeared, then walked over and took his arm. “I’m
Princess Dionara, the people in the mountains are my subjects,
thank you for agreeing to speak with me.”

The Red Knight looked at the young woman. “I’m still
seated at the table.” He concluded.

“Yes, you are still seated at the table. I know you
have many questions, I’ll do my best to answer them for you.”

“You’ve answered one question already, Joshua said
that it was a woman’s voice that spoke to him. I knew at the way
station that this mystery had at least one level yet to uncover.”
He studied her. “Is the immortal responsible for this?” He motioned
to the surroundings.

“He is the canvas, I am the artist.” She waved her
hand and the clearing was replaced by Angel Falls on the day of her
family’s picnic. “Your agents’ fate is a question that has troubled
you for quite a while. As you suspected, they were killed by the
Caretaker.” They walked as people moved by them. “This is a memory
of the day they died, my memory. Those are my parents,” she pointed
out the royal couple, “King Stefan and Queen Diana.”

“And these are your agents.” Dionara froze the scene
and walked the Knight to the brush behind the royals. The two
agents were crouched, ready to strike. “They had done exactly as
you instructed, they approached their task with maximum stealth.
The Caretaker had seen them earlier in the day and thought they
were local farmers.” They walked back to the glade and the scene
changed. The landscape stayed but the people were replaced by the
agents’ carnage.

She led him to the young girl standing in terror as
the agent approached. “That’s me.” She said and stepped him back a
few paces. “This is where your agents die.” The Knight watched as a
falcon cut down one agent, transformed into the Caretaker, and
knocked out the second agent. The Caretaker returned to the little
girl and scene changed. They were back at the pavilion.

The Red Knight smiled. “So, you want revenge for
your parents’ death.”

“No, silly!” She punched him lightly on the arm.
“You didn’t send your agents to kill my parents, you just wanted to
get those lazy, superstitious, coastal people moving. You didn’t
even know my parents existed. All you wanted was a map. Your
agents’ decision to kill my parents had more to do with the world
we live in than the orders they were given. Here, let me show
you.”

The clearing was transformed into the First Tier
garden at the coastal palace. “Isn’t this beautiful!” The sky was a
deep rich blue with billowed clouds of all shapes, the walkway and
retaining wall shone in brilliant white stone, while all around
them thousands of flowers in a myriad shades of red bloomed.
Dionara breathed deeply, “What a magnificent fragrance, don’t you
think?”

The Knight just looked at her. “Yes, I’ve seen
this.” He said in an impatient tone.

“You don’t get invited to many gatherings, do you?
With that attitude I can see why.” She rolled her eyes and walked
him among the flowers. “You’ve seen it yes, but do you know why
it’s here? These gardens were built to honor Paladin, the first
person in history to successfully navigate the sea. He believed
that the human experience was one of exploration and growth. These
seven levels represent the steps of human development. They are the
path to a greater life.

She faced him. “The reason your agents killed my
parents was because that is the only way of life they knew.
Humanity is stuck. We stagnate at the lowest levels. Theses tiers
can show us who we are now, and also let us glimpse the potential
we’re capable of.

She resumed their walk through the garden. “This
level is the lowest, red represents our instinctive needs for self,
our hunger, thirst, and all our basest needs; me, I want, give me,
I take.”

She waved and the scene changed around them. “Second
Tier, orange, lust! You like lust. I like lust. Everyone likes
lust.” She flashed him a big smile and raised her eyebrows. “But
what is lust? It’s a shared desire. Still instinctive, still
primal, but it connects two people. The first small step we take to
look outside ourself.”

“Third Tier, community.” Suddenly they were
surrounded by sea of yellow flowers. “Yes, we still have base
needs. Yes, we’ve shared lust. Then we desire community. The
company of others, shared sacrifice, shared labors, and shared
celebration. We find that we are stronger together than apart as
people combine their effort for mutual benefit, but the base
motivation is still self. We give to the community for the return
it provides us.”

“Fourth Tier, love.” She looked at him. “This one’s
going to be difficult for you, so stick with me.” Vibrant greens
from the deepest velvets to the most delicate pastels spread out
before them. “What is love? Love is an awakening, a discovery. We
break the chains of selfish isolation and look outward.”

“Love is when our most profound joy comes from
someone else’s happiness. It is the step where we go from adding
our efforts to others just to achieve more than we could on our
own, to understanding that we receive far more by simply giving
rather than taking.” She looked at him and sighed. “All right, I
didn’t have much hope for you on this tier anyway.” She waved her
hand.

“Fifth Tier, communication.” A wonderful light sky
blue filled their vision. “Once we feel the freedom of giving, we
want to do more. We want to speak, teach, and do everything that we
can to share our ideas and knowledge. As the individual grows, so
does the world. The more we share, the more there is to share.

“Sixth Tier, inner sight.” The richness of indigos
and dark intense blues engulfed them. “When we look at others, do
we see ourself? Who am I, why am I here? Once we discover all the
wonders outside ourself, we ask, ‘Is that all there is?’ The answer
is no. Our greatest discoveries occur when we understand ourselves.
To do that we must look inward.” Together they left the gardens of
inner sight and ascended the last flight of steps. Paladin’s
magnificent palace rose before them in all its splendor and
brilliance.

“That is the palace of understanding, the final
level. Creativity, innovation, discovery, it’s all in there. All
you have to do is walk the gardens.”

The Red Knight patted her hand. “Thank you Dionara,
your tour has been wonderful. I’ve learned a great deal. Please
have your people come to the coast. Some will be integrated into
the Mindow slave population; most will be transported for labor
north, south, or back over the sea. I’m afraid that if you don’t,
every Mindow on the coast will be killed, and there will be no
mercy when I return for your subjects. Please tell the Caretaker
that you agree so he can be on his way.”

The Red Knight closed his eyes, then opened them to
find Lord Aranido seated across from him. He turned to the
Caretaker. “What is her decision?” He asked.

“Sorry, you’re here for the duration.” The voice
that came from the Caretaker was Dionara’s.

He found himself with Dionara’s arm once more in
his, just the two of them alone in the clearing. “That was kind of
a dirty trick, but fun!” She smiled. “Okay sour face, lighten up,
you’ll like the next part.”

VII

“Feel better?” Dionara asked. They stood on the deck
of his flagship as the assault on Kingsport raged before them.
“See, battle!” She walked over to the memory Knight and looked at
him. “You remember this. You had all the forces of north and south,
together with your grand fleet and they still batted you away like
flies. What did it take, three all out assaults on the harbor to
get a foothold?”

“The outcome was never in doubt.” The Knight walked
around the deck as he examined his memory.

“Of course it wasn’t, that’s not the point.” She
pulled him over. “Listen to yourself.”

“Incredible.”
The Knight
could hear his own thoughts as he watched the battle.
“Brilliant! Who are these people?”

Dionara looked out at the harbor. “Those people are
the ones you decided to punish because they wouldn’t conquer their
neighbors. The people who valued peace and used their lives to
learn, and learn they did. They walked the garden. Did you ever
take the time to examine the art and architecture of the Mindow? If
you had, you would have seen innovation, craftsmanship, and an
atheistic unknown on your continent. They were great artists of
life and one of the things they studied was defense. If you had met
them with anything other than overwhelming force, they would have
kicked your butt.”

“Your point is conceded and irrelevant.” He said
absently, then brushed a little dirt from his memory self’s jacket
and examined his own face.

“What about their flame?” Dionara leaned on the rail
and faced him. “You love a good flame, like Kalibra’s. You are
drawn to her because her flame is so powerful. What do you see in
the Mindow?”

“A person’s flame is an individual trait. The group
from which the person derives is of no importance. Kalibra is
simply a unique individual that I find useful.” The Knight
smiled.

“Yes, well, there is one aspect of Kalibra’s
‘usefulness’ we will not be visiting today.” Dionara held up a
hand. “Most people consider me rather a free spirit in that area,
but her, oh my!” She walked around, took his arm and moved close.
“About your ‘individual trait’ comment.”

The scene shifted to the battle of the Garden Tiers,
the final battle for the Mindow. Every foot the invaders advanced
was paid for with blood. The beautiful gardens were trampled and
the pristine white stone drenched in blood. A massive number of the
Knight’s forces filled the complete circle. Their advance stymied
by the people of Kingsport, any Mindow that could stand had picked
up a fallen blade and joined in the defense. She walked him to his
memory self, “You seem to have forgotten this.”

They listened to his thoughts.
“Who are these people, don’t they know when they’re beaten?
Their warriors are dead, yet the gardeners and servants battle
on.”
The memory Knight glanced to his right and saw two of
his men cut down.
“That’s a cook! I can’t tell
the flame of a warrior from that of a chambermaid!”