Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series (10 page)

Sitting in a comfortable leather chair, Flare looked through a book on geography. The book was fascinating since the book discussed kingdoms that hadn't existed in over a thousand years; some of the kingdoms had disappeared as long ago as two thousand years. So absorbed was he in the book, that he was startled when a shadow fell on him. He whipped his head around and was surprised to see a young lady watching him. She was a cute young woman; Flare guessed she was in her late teens. She had straight long brown hair that hung almost to her belt. She was slim with a narrow face, although her nose was slightly too big for her face. She was average looking, but he thought that quite a few young men would show interest in her. She wore a brown dress that marked her as a servant rather than a noble; her dress was gathered in the middle with a thin belt.

The young woman curtsied when she caught Flare's attention, then she giggled at the look of surprise on his face. She cut the giggle off, and quickly dropped her eyes to the floor. He stood up out of the chair, closing the book as he did so. “Hello, may I help you?” Flare asked.

The young woman bowed a deep formal bow, “My lord, I apologize; I did not mean to startle you.” Her face flushed a light red under Flare's scrutiny, and she kept her eyes on the floor.

“It's okay,” Flare said. Then on impulse, he reached out and lifted her head so that she made eye contact with him. “I'm Prince Flaranthlas, but please call me Flare.”

The young woman's mouth fell open in amazement, she recovered quickly though. “My lord, it's not allowed for me to address you in such a fashion,” she argued.

He smiled, he knew it was improper for a servant to address a prince by his first name, but he did not feel like standing on formality. “Well, when it's just you and me, then you call me Flare. Okay?”

“Yes, my lo..., I mean, yes Flare.” The woman stammered.

“Good. But what is your name?” Flare asked

The young girl's face lit up in a huge smile. “My name is Julia. I work in the library keeping things straight and organized.” She shuffled her feet as if embarrassed, “I have noticed you in the library a lot recently.”

Flare sighed, “I have been forced to attend a lot of parties lately, and the library is turning into my sanctuary. It is one of the few places I can find peace and quiet.” With his words, his thoughts turned back into his situation. A feeling of melancholy descended on him. Oh, it would be great to be back out under the stars, even for just a couple of nights. Prowling goblins seemed safer than dealing with the nobility in Telur.

“Forced to attend a lot of parties?” Julia said in a questioning tone. Clearly she didn't think that attending parties was a rough life. “I would love to attend some of those parties. It would be wonderful to meet all the lords and ladies.”

Flare watched her for several moments. Did I ever think like that? He wondered. “It's not as much fun as you would think,” he said.

“Humph,” was Julia's only reply, clearly she did not agree with his assessment. “There aren't too many nobles that come to the library. In fact Prince Danal is the only noble that I see here regularly.”

That wasn't surprising; Danal looked like he spent a lot of time with his nose in a book. He could do with some time out under the sun.

An idea suddenly occurred to him, “Julia, have you ever heard of a Prince Zalustus? I have looked through some of the historical books that I have found, but I have not found any reference to any royalty with the name Zalustus.”

“Zalustus? No, I'm sorry but I haven't heard that name before.” Julia said with a negative shake of her head. “Do you know what country he's from, or what time period he lived in?”

“Well. You see I met a man named Prince Zalustus, and I thought maybe I could find a link to his country if I could find an ancestor with the same name.”

“It's a good idea, but you could spend years going through the books here in the library and you still wouldn't have gone through all the books.” Her words darkened Flare's already somber mood.

“Thanks anyway,” Flare said, returning to his chair.

“You're welcome. I look forward to seeing you again,” Julia said. Then while blushing she quickly added, “I mean when you come back to the library.” She curtsied and quickly went back toward the front of the library.

Flare watched her walk away. Her blushing at the end of the conversation implied that maybe she would be open to more than just talking the next time they met. He chased the thoughts away, the girl was too young. He quickly turned his thoughts to Hannah and the time they had been spending together.

He was still lost in his thoughts, when a shadow fell on him again. Looking up, he expected to see Julia again, but this time it was Danal, king Darion's third son and Flare's half brother. Danal smiled; apparently the surprise was evident on Flare's face.

“Hello Flare. I see you found my hideaway.” Danal said. He was wearing a white shirt and tan pants that clearly excluded him from having visited the king today. The young prince's clothes were not formal enough. As he spoke, he had one hand resting on his hip and he shifted from foot to foot, clearly not feeling comfortable talking to Flare. He did not fit the image of a prince of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world.

Flare smiled, hoping it would put his brother at ease. “Hello Danal. It's a pleasure to see you again. In fact, Julia just mentioned you to me not more than a couple of minutes ago.” As Flare spoke, he closed his book and stood up. Pointing to the other chair, he asked, “Please, won't you sit down?”

Danal nodded his head and still moving somewhat stiffly, walked over and sat down in the other chair. A moment of silence hung in the air like a rain cloud. Finally Flare spoke up, “I hope you know that you don't have to resent me or be uncomfortable around me. I have no desire to be king and it certainly was not my idea for the king to adopt me.” Flare leaned a little closer to Danal, “In fact, being a prince of Telur has complicated my life quite a bit.” He said with a pained smile on his face.

Danal smiled in return. “I know what you mean. It's like everybody expects you to be a great warrior or statesman. You're not allowed to just be a normal person.” He said somewhat wistfully.

Leaning back in his chair, Flare crossed his left leg. “Is that why you come here to escape the pressure of the court?”

Danal looked toward the front of the library and bit his lower lip at the same time. “I come here because I enjoy reading these books.” He looked back at Flare and for one of the few times made eye contact, “I do enjoy the silence and peace here, but that is not why I'm here. I love all the knowledge that is contained within these books. I love reading about all the amazing things done in past days.”

Flare nodded his head, “I enjoy reading about the kingdoms and cities that once existed and are now gone. It's amazing how quickly things change.” He agreed. As he spoke, it occurred to him that his view of history was colored by his education from the elves. As an afterthought, he added, “Well, it's quick in the eyes of the elves. I'm sure that it seems very different to humans.”

Danal looked at Flare for several moments as if studying him for some deeper meaning to his words. “A lot of things seem different to humans. I'm sure that most elves dislike humans as much as most humans dislike elves.”

That was a strange statement. It was true that there was a lot of dislike on both sides but what made the prince bring that up? “There are a lot of negative emotions on both sides, but I think those are holdovers from the distant past. I think a lot of humans judge all elves by the actions of King Osturlius, but most people do not remember that King Osturlius did a lot of good as a member of the Dragon Order. If not for Osturlius, then evil would have overwhelmed the world in the demon-lord wars.”

“I agree, but like you said, all that people remember are the bad things. They remember the death and destruction the demon-lord wars caused, but not that evil was stopped by the Dragon Order members.”

This conversation was bringing to the surface a lot of feelings that Flare had managed to ignore. It was like Danal was saying that humans didn't like him because of one of his forebears. “So people don't like King Osturlius, but that doesn't explain why people have a hatred of all elves. I mean Duke Angaria treats me like I am Osturlius reborn.” He said shaking his head. “I personally helped to save the
kingdom
of
Telur
, but he continues to treat me like the enemy.”

A look of surprise briefly came over the face of Danal, it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. “It's an interesting choice of words you just used.” He said.

“What do you mean 'an interesting choice of words'?” Flare asked, confused.

“You said that the Angaria treats you like Osturlius reborn. You may be closer to the mark than you know.” Flare was still in the dark as to what Danal was talking about, but Danal quickly went on. “Flare, have you ever heard of the Kelcer prophecy?” Flare shook his head, and Danal continued, “Kelcer was a captain in the King's guard. The King's guard was the elite forces of Telur around the same time that the guardians were being setup; they were under the direct command of the king. The king's guard was completely wiped out, except for the Captain, Kelcer. He was found wandering, having gone completely insane. He was brought back to Telur and imprisoned in the tower in the courtyard. He was locked up in the top of the tower for one year. On the one year anniversary of his imprisonment, he threw himself from the top of the tower to his death on the stones below. When his room was searched, they found cryptic writings that described the next member of the Dragon Order.”

“But there have not been any new members of the Dragon Order; the order is no longer in existence.” Flare interjected.

Danal smiled a grim smile, “That's right. The Kelcer prophecy is a prophecy about the person who will restore the Dragon Order.”

Flare put his head back and laughed a good deep belly laugh. When he stopped laughing, he lowered his head and looked back at Danal. The smile fell from his face at the grim look on the boy's face. “Danal, Are you... I mean, you are kidding right?”

Danal shook his head, “No. I'm not. The Kelcer prophecy is widely believed by many to be true. In fact the church takes it very seriously.”

Flare was shocked by what he was implying. “Danal, are you saying that people dislike me because they think I am the one who will restore the Dragon Order?”

“Flare, if they thought you were the one who was going to restore the Dragon Order, then they would have already taken care of you.” Danal's words sent a chill down his back. “There are some striking similarities between the prophecy and you, and I believe the church is watching you closely.” Danal stood up, “I'm going to let you get back to your reading. You might want to watch yourself.” He said, walking away.

Flare sat quietly with the panic rising within him. If the church already thought he might be the one prophesied about, what would they do if they found out he was practicing magic? If the church was already watching him, that dramatically increased the chances of him getting caught practicing either magic or sorcery. "I wonder what Dagan knows about this?"

Flare hurried through the castle towards Dagan's quarters. The panic was gone, but there was still a sense of urgency. He moved though the hallways not even noticing who he passed. He had traveled this way so many times, that he could do it without even thinking about it.

He reached Dagan's door without incident, and paused at the door to listen for voices. Not hearing any noises, Flare knocked on the door. A voice grumbled something inside the room and Flare could hear footsteps coming toward the door.

The door yanked open and Dagan head popped out into the hallway. “Oh it's you. I didn't think we were meeting today, but come on it.” Flare followed the old man into the room and closed the door behind them. Dagan walked over and sat down in his normal chair. The room felt awful warm, and he noticed a fire burning in the fireplace. Even though it was fall the weather was still warm outside, but then again the sorcerer was getting old.

Dagan sat waiting patiently for Flare to take a seat. As Flare moved toward the other chair, he said, “Dagan, have you ever heard of the Kelcer prophecy?”

Dagan blinked in surprise and did not answer right away, “What ever made you ask about that?”

“I saw Danal in the library and he mentioned the prophecy. He also said that I appear to have fulfilled several of the statements of the prophecy. He also said the church takes the prophecy very seriously and that they are probably watching me.” Flare said, sitting down across from the old man.

Dagan sat quietly for several moments studying Flare. “Why does the Kelcer prophecy bother you? Are you planning on being the next member of the Dragon Order?”

Flare sat back in the chair shaking his head. “No, but if the church is watching me then they have a better chance of catching me practicing magic. If they catch me, then they will execute me and that's what makes me uncomfortable.”

“Well I can understand that.” Dagan said, scratching his cheek. “However, I don't think you have anything to worry about. The church will certainly be watching you, but they won't be watching you any more than what they have been, and they haven't caught you yet.”

Flare knew the words were supposed to comfort him, but somehow he was still nervous. “So what do you know about this prophecy? I have never heard about it before.”