Ok, to be honest, I have been seemingly lax in my writing. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. :) I've been writing, it's just been code. I have been subject to the PHP gods, and they haven't been willing to share me with others. Added to the Painting I'm doing on Babylon 5 Fleet Action and GROPOS miniatures for Agents of Gaming, I have barely enough time to sleep each night.
But fear not! I have not forgotten the story.. And after long silence...
PartVII
A part of Lance hand always wanted to be a Knight. Riding into battle atop a charging Warhorse, rescuing the innocent, and maybe even getting to ride off into the sunset with a warm hearted young man.
Well, two out of three isn't too bad... At least that's what they say.
While he hadn't been able to accomplish the third on his list, He was well known for charging into battle, and rescuing the innocent. In fact, he always known he would be doing that, even when he was just the peasant boy named Juhn..
His father had been a stable hand on the estate of Lord Norwin, and his mother a baker in the Lord's kitchen. Growing up, he had helped his father tend to the Lord's horses and spent his feeding, brushing the beasts, as well as seeing himself riding them. The horses, sensitive as all animals are, felt the love and devotion in the young boy's heart. They would respond to him as they would to no other, and even the most wild and violent stallion was calm and malleable in his presence. It was to both his father's and Lord Norwin's disappointment that he journeyed to Al-Cadiar to join the King's Army.
The Fortress of Al-Cadiar had been the home of the Royal training grounds for as long as any could remember, and the instructors there were some of the finest fighting men in the known world. They imparted on their students the basics of combat, discipline, and cooperation that make good soldiers. They also trained the Kings Knights to be one of the finest cavalry forces on any field of battle. There the young Juhn displayed his skill with horses to instructors, and was quickly chosen to become a royal messenger.
While not the path of glory he had expected, it did allow him to see his family often, and witness the wonders of the Kingdom. For almost a year, he rode for the King, taking messages to the distant corners of the Kingdom until, as the ancient treaties had decreed, the King prepared to send the formal Betrothal Documents to the Elvin King, binding his son to the Heir of the Elvin Throne.
The King's personal Herald was killed when his horse threw him, breaking his neck. Juhn's reputation as a swift, and reliable messenger got him the job of delivering the Betrothal Document to the Ambassador in the Elvin capital. He was then to explain to the Ambassador the nature of the Herald's fate, so that he could perform the formal presentation himself, and explain the break in tradition so as not to give offense.
Fate, as it is wont to do, decided to take a hand.
Juhn's steed, a reliable gray mare who had been his constant companion for his time as a messenger, died in the midst of the Elvin Forest, over a hundred miles from the nearest town. After mourning his friend, Juhn concluded that if he was to get to the closest town in order to get a horse he would have to leave the road and cut through the woods themselves.
Juhn knew little of the legends that existed about the forests, and nothing of the creatures there, so it was with total surprise that he found a pure white horse wandering among the thick trees. He had always known horses to be creatures of the open plains and hills, they were not comfortable in the close quarters of the forest as it left them little room to run or escape predators. This lead him to believe that the horse must be trained, and had most likely wandered off.
Figuring he could catch the horse, ride it to the Elvin Capital, and there to turn it over to the ambassador to find its owner, Juhn walked calmly toward the flawless creature speaking calmly to it.
"Hello there. Are you lost? How would you like me to take care of you for awhile?"
The horse responded with what could only be called a look of utter astonishment.
Oblivious to the horse's odd reaction, and pleased that it didn't bolt as he approached it, Juhn continued to talk to the horse as he walked forward, his hand extended and holding an apple he had with him. Soon, he was standing next to the horse, stroking its neck as the bemused animal munched on the apple he offered it.
After finishing its gift, the horse turned slightly, and fixed Juhn with a look of frank appraisal. The young man got the distinct impression that he was being judged, and wondered for a brief instant if he would be found worthy. Then with a snort, and a shake of its mane, the horse presented itself to the young man to allow him to ride.
Juhn leapt onto the back of the horse, which immediately took off. Juhn clung to his new steed with his knees, and leaned over the horse's neck as the animal tore full speed through the forest. He noticed that the horse seemed quite adept at avoiding the low hanging branches, and unexpected depressions in the ground. Together they flowed over the landscape, moving with blinding speed into the heart of the Elvin Kingdom.
And so it was, in a shockingly short amount of time, Juhn arrived at the gates of the Crystal City, at the center of the great Elvin Forest. Riding with his back straight, and his chin high, Juhn entered the gate without challenge. In fact, he began to notice that the Elves gave him and his white steed a rather wide berth, and eyed him anxiously as he passed.
Following the directions he had been given, Juhn made his way to the Embassy, and requested to see the Ambassador. Even here, the local Elves who helped tend the stables refused to go anywhere near his horse, and their apparent fear kept their human co-workers from doing any different. He quickly made his way into the Embassy, following the cute young page that came out to lead him to the Ambassador.
"Here we are." He calmly announced, "The Ambassador is waiting for you." He smiled slightly at Juhn, who returned the smile.
"Thank you very much."
"Will you be staying long?" the page asked in a casual manner.
"I have no pressing orders to return at the moment." Juhn replied in an equally casual manner.
"Well then, perhaps after you have delivered your message I can show you around the Crystal City. I have... a great deal I can show you."
Juhn grinned openly "I'd like that a lot"
The Page appeared ready to say more when a voice came through the door "Niko, let the young man come in and do his job, you can ask him out on a date later!"
Niko turned several shades of red, and swiftly opened the door.
Patting him gently on the back, Juhn entered the Ambassador's office.
Adorned in a style very familiar to him, the office showed itself to be owned by a man who loved his country, and it's people. Filled with gifts from grateful peasants, well-known artisans, and friendly nobles, the Ambassador's office showed him to be a man that treated others with respect and kindness.
"Hello Juhn." he said
Blinking in surprise, Juhn lost what he had been about to say. "Um.. Lord Norwin? I didn't know you were the Ambassador."
The nobleman smiled softly. "I have been here nearly two months. Your father is acting as my head stableman now, and you Mother runs my kitchens at my estate. Just thought you would like to know that they were doing well."
Juhn smiled gratefully. "Thank you Your Excellency. I haven't had time to stop by for some time now." He bowed in gratitude "However, it's important that I deliver this to you." He held out the official Betrothal document.
Lord Norwin frowned "Why do you have that? Where is the King's Herald?"
"Dead your Excellency. He was thrown by his horse, and I was ordered to deliver this to you, and inform you that you are to present this in the formal ceremony to the Elvin King." Juhn gently placed the important scroll in the hands of the Ambassador.
"Thank you Juhn, I'm glad you arrived sooner than I expected the Herald, it will give my several days to prepare."
"I live to serve Excellency." Juhn stopped "If I may ask. What day is it?"
"It is the 4 days until the Full of the Moons, when I must deliver this." He tapped the scroll.
Juhn gasped. "That's impossible!" He exclaimed.
"Excuse me?"
"Your Excellency, I seem to have crossed the Elvin Forest in a single day..."
The Ambassador blinked "Juhn, that's over 100 miles."
"Your Excellency, if I may interrupt?" Niko said from the door.
"What is it Niko?"
"The Captain of the Palace Guard is here Your Excellency. He demands to see you this instant."
"That's odd... Very well Niko, show him in." Lord Norwin turned to Juhn "Just sit over near the wall there Juhn, I'll get back to you in just a moment."
Juhn quietly took a place near the spot the Ambassador had gestured to, and waited.
Within a few seconds a tall Elf strode with ethereal grace into the room. Garbed in gleaming Elvin Steel plate, the Guard Captain practically glowed with power. His shoulders were squared, and his sweeping gaze took in the entire room at a glance. He noted Juhn's presence immediately, and dismissed him just as quickly.
"Your Excellency," He began. His musical voice almost made Juhn faint with pleasure. "I have receive word that a rider entered into your compound a short time ago, I'm here to find him."
Lord Norwin's eyes narrowed slightly. "Pardon me Captain, but it is not usually part of your duties to inquire about messengers. Why do you seek this rider?" The Elf's eyes wandered to gaze at Juhn for another moment at the word 'messenger'. "I received a report that this messenger entered the city riding an E'teriel."
Norwin gasped, and looked at Juhn in shock.
The Elf's gaze followed soon thereafter.
"What's an E'teriel?" Juhn asked, uncomfortable under the double gaze.
"Spirit Horses!" Norwin said "Don't you know anything about them?!"
"Obviously not." The Elf said wryly "Else I doubt he would be looking so astonished. Tell me boy, how did you come to ride one of the Divine Steeds?"
In halting sentences, Juhn relayed his experience since entering the Elvin Forest. The Elf nodded calmly as he listened.
"I never would have thought it possible." The Elf said quietly "The E'teriel are the Steeds of the Heavens. They serve our gods, and act as their eyes and ears on this world." He looked intently at Juhn "They judge the purity in the hearts of Mortals, and only abide the presence of those they find worthy. They are terrible foes in battle, and have been known to strike down even Ogres in their wrath. Few are so sure of themselves as to approach one, and fewer still survive the encounter."
Juhn sat aghast. "Are you saying it could have killed me?"
The Elf nodded "Indeed. The Divine Steeds do not tolerate evil, and few people have no malice in their hearts." The Elf bowed with profound respect. "Indeed, your arrival has been heralded by the High Priest A'na'Ton. The King himself sent me to seek the one that the great Priest has called 'Messenger of the Divine'. He would hear the message you bear with his own ears."
"He only came to inform me of the death of the Royal Herald, and to deliver the Betrothal document, so that I may present it." Lord Norwin said. "He is not prepared to face the Elvin King."
The Elf chuckled. "And do you not think that the death of the Herald, and the boy's horse were not matters of Fate? He was chosen by the Divine to present this to the King himself."
And so it was that the young messenger delivered one of the most important speeches of his generation. Coached by the Ambassador, and quickly fitted with more suitable garments, Juhn delivered his message to the Elvin King.
He had little time to spend with Niko as he was ordered back home to report. But what little time they had was spent sharing the wonders of the Elvin City, and becoming good friends, both wishing they had time to grow closer.
It took less than two days for Juhn to return. The Elvin King had gravely informed him that the E'teriel would be with him for the rest of his life, and would never leave him as long as he held no malice in his heart. It would fight to defend him, and would forever be his friend. It would also, he was informed, bear his soul to the Heavens when he died.
When word of what had happened reached the King, Juhn's life changed overnight. No longer was he a Royal Messenger, but was instead a member of the Palace Guard. His powerful Steed allowed him to patrol the Royal Forest with an easy that was denied all other cavalrymen, and helped him locate bandits and poachers, who hunted the animals for sport.
He would also, on occasion, ride with Prince Ethan as he rode through the forest, and immersed himself in Nature.
The Prince was a couple of years younger than Juhn, and his gentle nature touched Juhn deeply. Often on their ride, he would notice Moonstone, as he knew his horse's name to be, looking at Ethan with admiration. He knew now that the Horse was sentient, and could read the hearts of others. He tended to follow Moonstone's opinion on a given person.
For two years they rode together in the Forest, and though the Prince was kind, Juhn always kept himself apart from him, knowing it was not appropriate for a peasant to seek friendship with a noble, especially not a Royal. Until one day, on their ride, the Prince's Horse caught its leg in a fallen tree branch, and fell, throwing the Prince to the ground.
Panic filled Juhn as he leapt off Moonstone and rushed to the Prince whose head was bleeding. He examined the unconscious Prince, and determined he was ok, just shaken. The Prince's horse however, was dead.
Juhn briefly considered carrying Prince Ethan back to the Palace, when he heard a whinny from Moonstone. The E'teriel was stamping its hoof on the ground, and snorting in anger. Juhn rose and drew his sword just as two massive Ogres burst from the foliage.
Snarling with bestial hunger, the creatures made straight for Juhn, who stood protectively over his Prince. They completely ignored Moonstone. The E'teriel did not give them time to regret their choice.
Moving with the shocking speed of its kind it attacked with unbridled savagery. Tearing at the nearest Ogre with its teeth, and smashing its hardened hooves into the beast's skull. The power and surprise of the attack drove the Ogre to the ground, where the E'teriel repeatedly smashed into the Ogre until the only movements it made were a few feeble twitches.
The second Ogre, seeing the threat that Moonstone presented, turned and attacked. The battle was short and brutal. Focused on its victim, Moonstone didn't react quickly enough to avoid the Ogre's first swing, which took the E'teriel square in the head.
The Ogre soon discovered that its meal was not quite as defenseless as it had thought. Moving according to his training, Juhn flanked the Ogre and attacked it in the side.
Caught between too opponents, the Ogre backed up and began flailing with the heavy club it carried. One of its frantic swings caught Moonstone; still shaken from the first hit, square in the side. The E'teriel collapsed with a sharp cry, accompanied by the sound of shattered ribs.
Crying out in horror, concerned only for his friend, and the Prince, Juhn attacked the Ogre with the cold precision his instructors had drilled into him from day one. He weaved around the Ogre's wild attacks, slashing at hit's arms and legs, weakening the monster until it finally stumbled with a moan. Juhn calmly ran his sword through the Ogre's eye, killing it instantly.
Slowly, he wiped the blade clean on the grass, and sheathed his sword. He turned then, with tears in his eyes to look at Moonstone. The E'teriel lay on the ground, its breaths labored, and filled with a liquid sound.
He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Prince Ethan was conscious, and moving toward Moonstone.
"Please, Let me try to help." The Prince looked at Juhn, his eyes begging Juhn to let him help.
Juhn nodded.
He watched, in amazement, as the Prince worked his magic on the horse. For over an hour, he tried desperately to save Moonstone, but in the end, the Divine Steed perished, and its body faded as they looked on.
Prince Ethan clung to Juhn and wept, all the while begging his forgiveness.
Juhn knew deep down that nothing the Prince could have done would have helped. E'teriel were almost totally immune to magic, and only the most powerful could touch them with spells.
Putting his own pain and grief aside, he gently held the Prince, telling him it was not his fault, letting him know the truth.
He knew in that instant, as he held the gentle Prince in his arms, that Ethan was the ONE, and that he would love him for the rest of his life. It had built slowly over the last two years, and Juhn had always denied it to himself, but it was there. Now that he held him, and knew that the Prince wept for him and for his pain, Juhn knew he was lost. With one hand he reached down, and brought Ethan's chin up and looked deep in his tear-stained eyes.
"Oh my Prince..." he said quietly "Do not weep for Moonstone. He died to protect you as well as me because he loved you..." And then, in almost a whisper, he concluded, "As I do."
And with that honest statement, the peasant kissed the Prince gently on the lips.
Prince Ethan's response was, as fate would have it, to pass out. The drain of loosing the patient he expended so much energy to heal, combined with head injury had Ethan reeling. The kiss from Juhn had set him over the edge into unconsciousness.
The journey back to the palace was one of the worst times in his life. Bereft of his greatest friend, certain that he would be punished for his presumption in kissing the Prince, and heartbroken with the belief that the shock of his unwanted affection had cause the Prince to faint, Juhn felt that his life was probably ruined.
Even so, he took the Prince to the Palace, where he turned him over to the physicians, and gave his report to Guard Captain Nyles, leaving nothing out. He was told to report to his Barracks for rest, and that he would be summoned later.
It was two days before he was summoned. And not by Nyles, but by the King himself!
It was here that he heard exactly what he expected.
"Juhn, I have heard what has happened. Ethan told me everything, and it creates a problem. Members of the Royal Guard are not permitted to become romantically attached to their charges; it ruins their ability to perform their duty. And so, I must now dismiss you from service in the Guard." He looked closely at Juhn. "Do you have anything to say?"
"No your Majesty" he said. "I understand, and obey."
The King nodded, and then gestured to a man standing nearby.
The man walked up to Juhn and looked down on him. He was a tall man in a burnished set of plate-mail, with a snowy-white cloak. His Broadsword's hilt was covered in Runes, and his voice rang with Authority as he spoke.
"Collect your things boy, I expect you out of the barracks in one hour, no more."
Juhn looked up, and saw Lord Dera'Lione, Lord Commander of the Kings Paladins.
Juhn drew himself up sharply and looked straight into the Commander's eye. "As you say my Lord." He said with quiet dignity, and then departed.
In fewer than thirty minutes, Juhn made his way into the Courtyard. There he saw nearly a hundred men in burnished plate, and white cloaks.
The Paladins sat upon their warhorses and watched him calmly. Among them stood a massive, pure white stallion.
Head held high, the Stallion strode straight toward Juhn, its eyes full of ancient wisdom.
An E'teriel. The Herd Stallion.
He knew then, that it had come for him. He had been chosen by the mightiest of all E'teriel. Starstrider had come to be with him.
"Appropriate mount, don't you think?" Lord Dera'Lione said conversationally.
"Appropriate for what my Lord?" Juhn asked, still dumbfounded by Starstrider.
"For a Paladin boy!" Lord Dera'Lione roared, "Why else do you think we are here?" He laughed.
Juhn gasped.
"You don't honestly think Paladin's concern themselves over dismissed Guards do you?" He Chuckled again "Think lad! You saved the Prince. He couldn't allow you to stay in the Guard considering your feelings, but he wasn't going to bloody well punish you for doing so well, and sacrificing so much." He peered at Juhn "why do you think it took him TWO DAYS to summon you? He wanted to find a solution. And then, THAT came." He pointed at the E'teriel. "That couldn't have been a more obvious Herd Stallion if it wore a sign!"
Starstrider glanced at the Lord Commander, snorted, and then pointedly ignored him.
Dera'Lione chuckled "It was obvious then. You were meant to be one of us. A Paladin. Welcome brother. The King has granted you the estate of Morione. You're nobility now." He winked at Juhn. "You need a more suitable name though, and it is a tradition that a Paladin be given a new name." He paused. "Lance... yes, that seems right somehow. Sir Lance of Morione. A good name."
Juhn, now Lance, weaved on his feet, overwhelmed by all of it. When he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned.
And found Prince Ethan looking at him with a warm smile. "Come Lance, let me show you to your new room."
The Prince led the new Paladin through the mass of his grinning brethren, and the Lord Commander gave him a broad wink as he left.
Lance's new quarters were pleasant, and were located near the top floor of the Palace. Prince Ethan closed the door behind them as they entered.
"Your Highness.." Lance began
Ethan cut him off with a finger placed over his lips.
"None of that now." He said. "I am not permitted love a member of the Royal Guard, or a commoner, and I certainly can't love a man who always calls me 'Your Highness'." He smiled again. "My Father has corrected those first two to reward you. As long as you can keep that third problem at bay, I can reward you in my own way."
The Prince leaned forward and kissed Lance, letting his lips linger a moment before he stopped.
"I have loved you for a while now. And when I sat there crying, in pain because I could not save the one who meant so much to you, you comforted me. Even though your loss was great, you thought of another first. And then you kissed me." He ran his hand down the side of Lance's face, and cupped his cheek. "And I knew at that moment, I had to be with you. Always." A tear shown on the Prince's cheek, catching the light of the setting sun that streamed through Lance's Window. "I don't know if you feel the same about me, and I would never presume... But I can hope."
Lance reached up, and wiped the tear from Ethan's cheek. "I love you my Prince, and I pledge the rest of my life to making you too happy to cry ever again."
This kiss lasted much longer.
That was a bit long, but I had a lot to tell. I want everyone to see these people as I do, and get to know why they are the way they are.
Let me know what you think
Corey Perez Blade_singer@go.com