The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (49 page)

Glendymere stood up to get a good view of the canyon so he could check Kevin’s work. The road was cleared and smoothed out. The boulders had been broken up into gravel and scattered along the road. There was no sign that a rockslide had ever blocked it.

“Now that’s the way to build a reputation, Kevin,”
Glendymere said.
“The gravel is a nice touch, good use of the boulders. Couldn’t have done it any better myself.”
Glendymere stretched out his foreleg and said,
“Come on then, Chris. Climb on up. Time to head for home.”

Chapter 39

Looking Ahead

They returned to Willow Canyon around lunchtime, so Kevin and Glendymere followed Chris as he headed inside for lunch. Chris stopped as soon as he stepped into Glendymere’s chamber, and a few seconds later, Kevin plowed into him. Glendymere peeked around the corner to get a look at what had startled the guys.

A magnificent bird at least three feet tall was perched on Glendymere’s water basin. His chest and topknot were the color of wheat, his beak and claws were blue-black, and his eyes sparkled like two huge rubies. When he fluttered his six-foot wings, there was an explosion of color. His feathers were a mixture of violet, crimson, and scarlet, all with flaming orange tips. His piercing shriek shattered the silence of the cavern.

“Good morning, Freddy. Do you have a message for me?”
Glendymere said, including Kevin and Chris in the conversation.

“Aye, that I do,”
the phoenix answered.
“But my message is for your ears only.”
The phoenix lowered his wings and glared at the two humans.

“Open you eyes Freddy and you’ll know who this is,”
Glendymere said as he nodded towards Kevin.

The phoenix turned his cold stare on Kevin for a few moments.
“Sure, and it’s his heir, isn’t it? But that changes nothing. My message is still for your ears only.”

“Very well,”
Glendymere nodded.

In a private telepathic conversation, Freddy said that Laryn thought Tyree would be a good tutor for Glendymere’s guests. She had already asked him if he would be willing to go to Nandelia for a couple of months as her emissary, and he had replied that he’d be honored.

Glendymere nodded and continued their private conversation.
“Please ask Laryn to let Tyree know that I’ll pick him up on the last Monday in October, and tell him to plan to remain here until the middle of January, maybe longer.”

 “Anything else?”

“No, I think that’s all. You don’t need to rush off though. Why don’t you stay awhile and get to know Myron and Chris?”

“No need. I know all I need to know. I scanned them both when they came in.”

“And?”

“Aye, they are both good men. I found no hint of evil lurking in their souls.”

“I thought so, but it’s always nice to be sure,”
Glendymere replied.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way,”
Freddy said, this time including Kevin and Chris in the conversation. Then with a bone-chilling screech, he circled the chamber and rose towards the opening in the ceiling. As the sunlight caught his wings, the colors shimmered and Freddy seemed to vanish.

“What happened? Did he turn invisible?” Chris asked.

“No, you just can’t see a phoenix in flight. They fade into the sky.”

“I wish Steve could have been here,” Kevin said.

“Why? Oh, I see. So that he could sketch Freddy. Steve will have plenty of chances once you get to Camden. Freddy’s roost is in the castle tower.”

“He lives at the castle?” Chris asked.

“Yes. He’s lived in Camden ever since he came to Terah over a thousand years ago, but he didn’t take up residence at the castle until Nolan became the Master Sorcerer. When Nolan died, Freddy stayed. It may just be that the tower suits him, I don’t know, but I hope he’ll stay at the castle while you’re there.”

“Any particular reason, other than sending messages?” Kevin asked.

“A phoenix has the ability to sense whether a soul is good or evil. A lot of people would love to have a phoenix in residence, but the phoenix chooses you, you can’t choose him. However, if Freddy should happen to leave, you can always reach me by sending a falcon to Blalick. The message will get here. It just won’t be as quick.”

“Speaking of messages, if that message was from Camden …” Kevin said a little warily. He didn’t want to pry into Glendymere’s business, but if Freddy’s message had come from Camden, it was probably as much his business as it was Glendymere’s.

“Yes, yes. I nearly forgot. The message was from Badec’s sister, Laryn. She and I both think Tyree would be a good choice as a government tutor for all of you. She’s already asked him if he would be willing to travel to Nandelia for a few months on her behalf. He’s agreed to come, but he has no idea where or why.”

“Who’s Tyree?” Chris asked. “How do you know him?”

Glendymere explained that he had first met Tyree years ago, back when Badec’s father, Nolan, had been the Master Sorcerer. Tyree’s father had been the Governor of Camden during the last twenty-five years of Nolan’s tenure, and Tyree had been his father’s assistant for the last eight of those years. He had an excellent understanding of how the government worked, and was completely loyal to the House of Nordin.
“I asked Freddy to tell Laryn to let Tyree know that I’ll pick him up on the last Monday in October.”

“Does Tyree know you?” Kevin asked.

“Yes, but he’s never flown with me before. Maybe I should ask Blalick to make some kind of safety harness so that Tyree will feel more secure and comfortable. Think I’ll do that now, before I forget. I also need to ask him to prepare a room for Tyree,”
Glendymere said.

“I don’t think there’s another room near us. At least, I haven’t come across one,” Chris said.

“No there isn’t, but he won’t be staying with you. Blalick has a couple of spare rooms in his house for visiting dignitaries. Tyree will be fine up there.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner that evening, Chris told the others about Freddy and Tyree. “Glendymere’s expecting Tyree to stay with Blalick, but if he’s going to talk to all of us about life on Terah, it’ll have to be in the evenings, so that means we only have two weeks to come up with our cover story for the trip to Camden.”

“What do you mean?” Theresa asked.

“Well, we don’t know this guy, and Glendymere hasn’t seen him in thirty years. Laryn knows him, but he’s not part of Badec’s government, so she probably hasn’t spent a lot of time around him lately either. Just how far are we willing to trust him?” Chris asked.

Darrell nodded. “I don’t think we should discuss any of our plans while he’s in the area.”

“You and Chris are being paranoid again,” Kevin told Darrell, with a chuckle.

“Maybe so,” Chris answered, “but I’m of the opinion that a little paranoia once in a while might be the secret to a long life in this world.”

Joan laughed and said, “He may be right, Kevin. After all, this guy is going to realize that you’re Myron, and your plans would probably bring a pretty penny.”

“Okay, okay, I agree. I just said it’s paranoid.” Kevin grinned and held his hands up, palms out, as if to fend off an attack.

“So, does anyone have any ideas about our cover story?” Karl asked.

When no one answered, Theresa said, “If any of you are interested, I have a lotion that should help your hair grow a little faster and thicker. I sent a message to Evelyne right after you first mentioned growing beards to see if she knew of anything that might help, and she sent me a recipe that her mother had used for her father. I’ve made up a little of it. Does anyone want to volunteer to try it?”

“I will,” Kevin said. “And then, if it does anything weird, like turn my hair green or make it all fall out, I’ll use that as my disguise.” He grinned at Theresa. “I’ll try it for a couple of weeks and see if there are any bad side-effects. Then, if it works, you can make up some for all of us.”

Theresa nodded. “I’ll bring it to your room tonight. You need to apply it morning and night, especially at first.”

“Ashni and I have altered some of the old tunics she had in her attic and we’ve made some new ones. They’re larger and heavier than our old ones,” Joan said.

“How many new tunics are we going to be taking with us?” Chris asked.

“Right now we have enough for each of us to have three,” Joan answered.

Darrell frowned and asked, “Will we have enough room to take our old ones, too?”

“We should,” Karl answered.

“I’m also planning for each of us to have two sweaters,” Joan said. “I’ve got enough yarn to start making them and I’m thinking about crocheting them with a double strand of yarn to make them bulkier and warmer. Ashni also suggested that we might want to try on some of the cloaks that Sari and Macin have outgrown. They’re already made, lined, and are waterproof. Plus, they’ve been worn, so they won’t look new. I’m going to bring them down this week so we can all go through them. Then I’ll know if I need to make any more.” 

The others nodded.

“Next, why are we traveling?” Steve asked. “There has to be a compelling reason for us to cross the Great Plains during the dead of winter. No one would do that just for fun.”

After a couple of minutes of silence, Karl said, “Why don’t I go get our maps? If we spread them out on the table and look at where we’re going, maybe an idea will hit one of us.”

Theresa stood up when Karl did, stretched and said, “If I’m going to do any serious thinking tonight, I need a cup of coffee. Anyone else want one?”

The others nodded, so Theresa and Joan went to the kitchen to fix the coffee and find some snacks to go with it. By the time Karl returned with the maps, Theresa had the coffee on the stove, Joan had a platter of cookies and seven mugs ready, and everyone else was seated around the dining room table.

Karl spread their maps out over the table. “We’re somewhere near here,” he said, pointing to a spot a little west of Abernon.  Then he pointed to the town that Kalen had marked in eastern Tennessee. “And Milhaven’s right here.”

Darrell focused on the section of the map that covered Abernon and the surrounding area. “I’ve got a question. When we leave here, where are we going? We really shouldn’t go through Sheridan or Abernon again.”

 “Maybe we could head north, by-pass Abernon, and get back on the road that follows the river,” Karl said. “I bet we could follow the river all the way to the Mississippi.”

“Here it is.” Joan put her finger on the road and traced it. “It runs beside the river all the way. How are we going to cross the Mississippi?”

“I’m sure they have ferries somewhere along there,” Karl said. “I’ll ask Blalick and see if he knows where.”

“I’ve got another question,” Darrell said. “Where are we going to be coming from? I mean, people are going to ask us where we’re from and where we’re headed now that we aren’t traveling as minstrels.”

“How about this? We had farms out here,” Steve said, pointing to a spot about three hundred miles north of Abernon. “There aren’t many roads or towns in this area, so we could say we had farms about a hundred miles south of Trendon.”

“And we were our own little community,” Karl agreed. “Joan and I would be a married couple. How do we explain the rest of you?”

“I can say that my wife died a couple of years ago, so I’m covered, but in that case, I’d have to have my own wagon and it would have to be loaded with household-type stuff,” Steve said.

“Blalick and I have already discussed altering the minstrels’ wagon. You could use that one. We’re planning to build another wagon, too, so that one could be for Joan and me. Then, of course, Theresa would have hers,” Karl said.

“But why are we traveling in the dead of winter?” Joan asked.

“And how are we going to explain the rest of us?” Chris added.

The coffee had perked, so Theresa stepped into the kitchen to get the coffee while Joan brought out the cookies and mugs. When they got back to the dining room, Theresa started pouring coffee in the mugs and handing them out.

Steve took a sip of his and said, “Let’s try this. Karl and Joan had a farm that was next to mine. In late November, a bad storm was brewing and two soldiers knocked on your door and asked if they could stay the night. You agreed, and during the evening, the soldiers explained that they were sick of the cold and ice, had resigned their commissions, and were heading to southeast Camden, to a more agreeable climate. They figured they could hire out easily enough once they got there. You listened, and the more the soldiers talked about Camden, the more tempting it sounded. So, all of you struck a deal. The soldiers would provide protection on the journey in exchange for meals along the way.” Steve looked around at the others. “When the storm cleared, Karl came over to my place and asked me if I wanted to join them and move to Camden, so I packed up my belongings, and we all left within the week.”

“Let me guess, Darrell and Chris are the soldiers, right?” Kevin asked. “You know, that’s not bad.”

“And all of you were camped on the side of the road one evening when my assistant,” Theresa said, nodding at Kevin as she set a cup of coffee in front of him, “and I pulled up and asked if we could join you for the night. Then, since we were all headed in the same general direction, we decided to travel together.”

“Where are we all going?” Darrell asked.

“Well, Kevin and I would probably be headed for Timera Valley, the home of the Sisterhood. Here it is, not too far from Milhaven,” Theresa said, pointing to a spot on the map. “And if I were really going there, I would probably go to Milhaven and then follow that road right there. It seems to lead through the mountains and up towards Timera Valley.”

“Where are the rest of us headed?” Joan asked.

“We could be planning to take this road,” Karl said, pointing to a road that wound through the mountains and then on to the coast. “See that town? Dayton? That looks like a good spot. Plenty of open country around, not too many towns. Looks like good farming country to me.”