The Four Swords

Chapter 117: Dream

I fell asleep the instant I hit the pillow. Not even Benate's boisterous snoring stirred me. Sadly, during the night I had a vivid dream that left me less than rested.

Instead of taking my group of teens to the border to meet with the gnomes, I took a glowing orb with two bright white cores swirling inside it. The gnomes closed their eyes and held their hands like they did when presenting their prophecy. Instead of seeing the prophecy again, my orb floated above them.

As the orb floated one of the cores started to turn gray. The other core seemed not to change, but next to its gray counterpart, it seemed green.

I took the orb with me back to the capital and took care of it like a pet. The next morning the orb split into two. The gray orb was tricky and mischievous, breaking things and slowly turning darker and darker. The white orb slowly turned into a deep green orb as its counterpart turned almost black.

I reached my wits end and finally yelled at the naughty dark orb. As I did so, the last scene of the gnomes' most recent prophecy popped into my mind. Hands grappled on the ledge of a cliff. The scream erupted. The dark orb disappeared and the green orb burst from its shape. The deep green faded into a bright white. This flash of light blinded me for a moment before I sat up in bed.

That was terribly confusing. I theorized to myself as to what it could all mean. In the dream, I skipped going to see my mother. I remember thinking that I wanted to get back to the capital as the orb turned gray. Maybe these were connected.

Our mother did encourage me to tell Benate to write more. The orbs could represent my brother and myself with one trying to pacify maternal overreach and the other trying to be free from it through mischief. My brother did tend toward forgetting to write to our overly affectionate mother. Could that mean that our mother was the one screaming in the prophecy? Surely not.

Somehow that didn't seem right, but it was the best I could theorize. The subconscious was something dizzyingly hard to unravel. That dream might mean nothing. Whatever made me dream such a dream, sure made me wake up hungry. The sun was far from rising, but that did not stop me from making myself at home in Benate's kitchen.

I tried to put my strange dream behind me as I scrambled eggs and cooked some bacon. Although my brother no longer lived in the country, his kitchen was well stocked with the luxuries we grew up with.

The smell of food must've awoken Benate, because he soon joined me in the small kitchen. Over breakfast I reminded Benate to write to our mother.

"Did she tell you to remind me?" Benate laughed at my request while good naturedly rolling his eyes.

"You know she did," I smiled.

"I swear I spend a quarter of the waking hours of my free time writing and standing in line to post letters. You would think a letter every week or so would be enough. Half the time I have nothing to tell her!" Benate shook his head.

"I would say a visit might quiet her requests for a bit, but you may get trapped out there. If you do, at least you won't have to settle for my cooking," I joked, holding up a piece of nearly burnt bacon.

"Our mother can cook, that's for sure. But I think I'll take my chances with the post for now. Sorry you have to be her messenger." The sincerity in his voice warmed my heart. He was a good brother.

With my duty to my family complete, I moved on to the castle for duty to my country. The queen and council convened in the usual room. The room seemed smaller with the addition of Princess Alina, Cali, Carrion, and Sir John.

I thought I was on time, but I was either mistaken or everyone else was early because I entered the room last. Carrion caught my eye as he and Princess Alina were speaking near the door. Carrion had on a full dress coat that must have been a family heirloom. The long flowing coat of the garment went just past the knees to reveal pants underneath and was much too formal for everyday wear. Surely this was not what he was going to wear whenever he knew he would be invited to a council meeting.

"I think you misunderstand me," Princess Alina offered in response to something I did not catch. Carrion looked self assured.

"Your Highness, you have no need to worry. I will hold true to my promise. I just have not had a moment to speak to my father just yet," Carrion said quickly.

"But you see there is no need to speak to him," Alina tried to explain but was interupted.

"He's over there. I just missed him this morning. I'll go pull him aside right now!" Carrion turned on his heel before Alina had a chance to finish her thought.

"Everyone is here. Please take your seats! I would hate for Petitioner's court to be delayed if this meeting goes long," Queen Valerie took hold of the meeting before Alina or Carrion had a chance to talk to the people they were trying to reach.

I guess the Princess did not have a moment to talk to Carrion about his intentions. I would hate to be in either of their shoes right now.

"Lord Holden, please start us off with your report on what happened at the border," Queen Valerie commanded before I could put any more thought into the unfortunate impending proposal. I transitioned my thoughts to business but could not help but wonder if this drama was what made court so appealing to certain ladies of the upper classes.

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