WriteFridays- Challenge 2- Voyage cubes

I know it is not Friday any more, but this is long and I finished it so late last night that I wanted to edit out all my German kinks and mistakes before I posted this. Sorry if you still find some!

This story is another contribution to the WriteFridays challenges by my author friend Rachel Brune, which you can see here:

Exercise 2: For this exercise, I used my Rory’s Story Cubes, which are a lot of fun. I recommend them if you are interested in trying this sort of exercise on a regular basis. The challenge: Choose one of the following images. Write a selection that uses as many of the images/concepts as possible.

Here's the picture of the cubes I chose (shamelessly stolen from Rachel's blog):

As always, comments and feedback is very much appreciated!

Defenders

The crown was too heavy for him. The king more slumped than sat on his throne, clearly marked by his ailing health. As soon as the accolades were done, the usher carefully took the crown from the king’s head and placed it at the side of the room.

Harald still kneeled in front of the man he had just sworn loyalty to and his heart broke for the man. It was clearly not just the older man’s poor health that took up the king’s energy; there was something else but Harald could not say what.

“I wish I could carry some of your burden. Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked in a careful voice. Instead of the usual pomp, he had just been accepted into the circle of men that were called the ‘Defenders of the Kingdom’ in a private, quiet ceremony. Of course he had heard that the king had not been doing well, but now he saw with his own eyes how bad things were. He knew now that his new task, to protect king and kingdom from harm, would be harder than he had imagined.

“No, son, there is nothing that can be done. Just perform your duties so that we can hold out until Sabina arrives.”

Sabina. The name sent a shiver through Harald and he was excited to hear that her arrival was expected. She was the most unusual woman he had ever met. She was beautiful and smart and strong, yet gentle. Not only did she not abide by the rules, she often behaved in the most curious ways.

Harald found her fascinating. She was a traveller and told marvelous stories about far away places and things he had never heard of. Sometimes, he wondered if she had actually seen these places or if she was just making things up for the amusement of her audience.

Sabina not only knew stories, she also was familiar with many very unusual tricks, remedies and tools that made life in the harsh landscape of the Nordic kingdom more tolerable. Her knowledge often opened doors for her, even though there were always rumors about her being a witch.

Harald knew that word had been sent out to ask for her return and her help with the king’s problems. The hope of the entire kingdom rested on her skills- if she could not help the king, they were doomed.

He could not wait to see her again. The last time she visited, she sat with him for hours and they talked about war and strategy and the art of negotiations. It was only after she had left that he realized what she had done. When she arrived, he had been ready to go to war, but she had taught him to solve conflict without weapons. Through her gentle interference, he became the first Viking to conduct trade with the Saxons instead of fighting them and raiding their settlements. Ultimately, this had let to his appointment as a Defender. He would be forever grateful to her- and in the hours they had spent together, he had taken a strong liking towards her. Back then, he had not realized what was happening, but now he saw things clearer. When she returned, he would woo her and ask her to spend her life with him.

When Harald walked into the great hall that evening, she was there. He stopped when he spotted her across the room and observed for a moment how effortlessly she dealt with the different people surrounding her. He was drawn to her open smile, the light, friendly tone of her voice when she greeted everyone like a close friend, her gratitude when somebody exchanged her coat for a jug of beer and a slice of bread and her admiring looks at the new babies or handiwork of the ladies.

Then she looked up and directly at him.

“Harald” she squealed and ran towards him. Before he knew what was happening, she was in his arms, hugging him tight. “I am so happy to see you. I heard the news, you are now a Defender of the Kingdom? You have no idea how important that is. It will enable us to save the king.” She babbled happily.

“Um, have you seen the king already?” Harald asked.

“I saw him briefly and I heard all about him just before you came in. I hope all the different wheels did not click into place too late. But I needed you to be a Defender before I could do anything” she replied in a hushed tone. Then she saw his confused stare. “I will explain, but not now, not here. Come, sit with me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the table she had been at and somebody put some food and a beer in front of him.

The others immediately surrounded them again, all drawn to Sabina, and while Harald enjoyed sitting next to her, he could not get her words out of his mind. Why did she need him to be a Defender in order to come and heal the king? The training for his new role was mainly physical. He had gotten broader around the shoulders from wielding the sword, but he had not enjoyed any medical training. Sure, he now had widespread access around the kingdom and within the fortress, was supposed to settle instead of raid and wore the sign of the Defenders on his helmet, but none of that would cure a sick man, let alone solve the problems he felt looming in the shadows.

When the fires had burned down and the people in the great hall began to settle for the night, Sabina finally stood up and grabbed his hand. “Come with me” she requested silently.

Harald’s heart leapt when he followed her out of the fortress. Was now the moment he had been dreaming of? He had hoped to ask her to settle down with him, be his companion, but he had anticipated some courtship and resistance. Somehow, this felt too easy and that made him nervous.

He was full of anticipation while they made their way down towards the sea. They walked silently until they came to the entrance of a cave and Sabina ducked in. Inside, Harald saw a weird contraption, something he had never seen before. It was a cauldron, but not an ordinary one. He wanted to inspect it more closely, but she held him back and motioned for him to sit while she lit a small fire.

“I need to explain some things and I need you to listen and not interrupt” started Sabina once she sat down next to him.

“Sabina, I…” he began but she interrupted. “Not now, Harald. Please, just listen!” she begged.

Silently, he nodded.

Sabina took a deep breath and with a shudder in her voice began: “I know this will sound unbelievable to you, and I have never told this story to anyone, ever. In fact, I am not allowed to even tell you and I beg you to keep this a secret. But I don’t know what to do any more, nothing is working and I desperately need your help. “

She drew in a deep breath while Harald looked at her encouragingly.

“I am also a Defender. But I am different from you. I defend the fate of more than one king at the same time. I make sure that the stars align so that all of their fates can come true.”

Harald interrupted, anger and confusion evident in his voice: “You serve more than one king as a Defender and now you want my help because you don’t know what to do? Are you a spy?”

“No!” Sabina shook her head vehemently. When Harald caught her eye, he could see how nervous she was. He got up and paced back and forth in the small cave. “How can you serve more than one king and not spy on them? Do they know that you are the Defender of someone else beside them?”

Sabina sighed and stood up and stepped in his path to gain his attention again. “No” she said silently. “Please, hear me out. And please, you need to trust me!”

“How can I trust you after you told me this? As a Defender, I am eternally bound to this kingdom! I would give my life for these people, for my king! How can you promise this to more than one king at the same time? And why are you here, if you are a Defender? You should be doing your job!”

“I am here to do my job!” Sabina was getting worked up herself now. “Please, listen. We don’t have much time!”

“What, till you are caught as a spy and hung?” Harald bit angrily, disappointment clearly in his voice. He had really, really liked her. He could not believe he had wanted a future with her and now was hearing this. How could he have been so wrong about her? And why was she telling him all of this anyways?

“No, we don’t have much time to save your king! There is so much we need to do” Sabina replied forcefully.

“I know how sick he is, I saw that he has not much time. I will be doing whatever I can to make things easier for him. But you better go now.” Harald spit icily at the woman he had thought could be his companion for the rest of his life.

He turned towards the exit of the cave, but Sabina caught his arm in a surprisingly strong grip. Her other hand pulled at one of the brooches that held her tunic over her dress.

“No, you will stay and listen to all I have to say. You will not snap at me or question my morals until I am done. I am your superior in command and you will obey!”

With this, she shoved the brooch in his face. Harald did not want to look, but could not help to notice the symbol on the brooch. He immediately recognized the picture of the crab on it, the universal symbol of the Defenders. He was shocked when he recognized the intricate details of the crab’s shell. He had just received an engraving of a similar figure to his helmet last night. He was allowed to wear that helmet only as of today, when he became a Defender. The crab symboled the hard shell around the king that he was a part of now. His crab had no details yet, showing his inexperience and low rank. Hers was beautiful, detailed and with some blue color on it. He had seen crabs of high-ranking Defenders on helmets and other personal items, but never anything this detailed. He drew in a sharp breath and lowered his gaze to the floor.

“Yes, of course, please apologize my disobedience” he mumbled.

“Let’s sit” Sabina commanded. Once they were seated near the fire, she began again. “This will be very hard to understand but you have to let me get everything out! You have to refrain from judging me before you heard everything.  And you have to keep this a secret! Please Harald, can you do this?” Sabina looked intently at him, the friendly woman he liked so much was back, replacing the strong commander she had given him a glimpse of just moments ago. He could tell that she was still surprisingly nervous. He could not understand why, she was usually so strong and collected. Plus, she far outranked him. After his outburst, he should be nervous.

“Yes. Sabina.” He said, looking her square in the eyes.

“I am a Defender of multiple kings because they live far apart, not just in location, but also in time. I can defend them and still be the traveller you got to know me as because I am a Defender of History. Harald, I travel not only from one kingdom to the next, I can travel through time.”

She took in a deep breath and waited for his reaction. Harald only looked at her, full of amazement, but remained silent. After a moment, Sabina continued: “I hardly ever come to the same place or even the same time twice. But something is very wrong in your time and in this kingdom. I need your king to survive and create an heir. His line will convert to Christian faith. This will allow them to make peace with their neighbors and bring prosperous times to the Nordic lands. But if your king does not produce an heir, the land will fall into a dark period of enduring battles and the race of the Norse will eventually be eradicated by the Germans and Saxons.”

Harald drew in a sharp breath and asked, shocked: “You can save the king, right?” Sabina replied carefully: “I am hopeful, but I need your help. I am not allowed to reveal my identity and telling you all of this puts us both in great danger, but it is the only thing I can see working.  There is some power here that tries very hard to ruin your king. You don’t know this, but this is the third time I am in his time and in this location. The first time was when the king was just a boy. He snuck on his uncle’s ship when it was about to leave for a raid. I got to him at the last moment and managed to get him off the ship, unnoticed by the crew. You probably know that the ship never returned. It sank just some ways down the coast only hours after it had left the port here.”

“I have heard those tales. Some Danes ambushed them, right?” Harald asked with a frown.

“That’s how the story goes here, but there were no Danes. These were Norse in disguise and they thought the future king on that ship. I found out about this much later, though. Even I thought of this as an accident at the time, merely more than mischief by a boy coming to age. I thought I had successfully protected him when I left him here. But that was not the case and I had to come back when he was an adult and king, as you know. I consider myself lucky to have met you then. It takes a special kind of man to work with a Defender of History, even if I was not allowed to reveal myself. I taught you the art of negotiation to avoid that looming war that would have resulted from the raid you had planned back then. I thought I had been smart and stayed revealed enough to not attract the attention of that dark power. But it is obvious that I failed.”

At those words, Harald could see shame flicker in her eyes for a second before she lowered her eyes towards the fire. Tentatively, he reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “What kind of dark power is this? And why would it want to create this kind of chaos?”

“I don’t know” Sabina replied. “It is very powerful and very, very clever. We Defenders of History deal with a range of different creatures that all want to crate chaos in the future of the leaders we protect. Some of these creatures simply enjoy dark emotions and thus want to see as much war  and fear as possible. Some are defected Defenders. They often serve dark lords who would never be able to gain power if it was not for chaos in the lives of those with legitimate power: the good, fair leaders that work for and with those that follow them lovingly. It is easy even for you to tell a legitimate leader from one who earned the title through dark powers. They usually use fear, corruption and nepotism to guarantee their positions, not love and respect.

But this here is different. I have never seen a power like this. It is clever, though. It tried first to create an accident when your king was still a boy. This could have been easily missed by the Defenders- accidents happen. Then the power tried to attack through a single, significant event, a war that resulted out of seemingly normal behavior. It is simple and very quick to create by a dark power. And while it is easy to spot for us, it is very difficult to stop without revealing our identities. I was so lucky to have found you back then!”

She gazed at him with admiration and gratitude for a moment before she continued:

“This third attempt now, the attack on the king’s well being, is a slow process and most of the time we Defenders discover it at a stage when it is too late. So often, the evil has spread too far through the body and can’t be removed any more. It takes dedication from a power to administer such an attack since it is a long-term commitment.”

Harald looked at her in horror: “When did you find out about this? And why did you not come sooner?” Sabina sighed. “I found out a few months ago. I know your king has sent out word throughout the Norse countries to look for me and to send me to him. I heard that but I had used up all my trips here. We defenders can only go to the same place and time twice of our own free will. The only way I could return was if a fellow Defender called me. I had hoped you would and you did not disappoint. Your absolute loyalty and your offer to help despite sensing the evil near the king was the call I needed.”

Sabina smiled at him and her expressive eyes mesmerized him. He would offer his help and empathy to the king every day if that’s what would keep her close to him. “That can’t have been it! I am sure other Defenders are just as loyal and someone else must have offered their help. Why could you not come sooner, then?”

Sabina shook her head. “You would be surprised by how rare true loyalty is, especially in the face of the evil slowly spreading through the king. It is even rarer that people act and offer help when they only sense that something is wrong. Most act when something happened, when it is too late. I hoped and prayed that someone here would surprise me but nobody did. You were my last resort.”

Harald smiled proudly and asked: “So, what can we do, now that you are here, to save the king?”

“Can you see the machine over there? It is a special cauldron I brought from the future. I need you to brew a special potion in it and give it to the king daily.”

“If you teach me how to brew the potion, that will be no problem! But why do you need help and why did you have to reveal yourself if you can just give him a potion?”

“Because the potion is just a distraction for the king and for the dark power. The king trusts me and if I tell him to take it, he will. But the potion alone won’t be able to heal him, it will only make him stronger for a small while. The king will gain some hope and start ruling the kingdom again. He will finally start fighting the evil within him.

But that alone would not be enough. The dark power will see right through it and notice that the potion alone will only prolong the process slightly. I hope that instead of getting angry, it will just believe that I misdiagnosed the king and get a false sense of triumph. I hope to instill a false sense of security in the dark power. In the meantime, I will have to get the real cure.”

Harald was stunned and Sabina could almost see the wheels turning in his head while he tried to make sense of everything he had just heard. He nodded, then shook his head and opened his mouth several times as if to speak, but closed it again.

Eventually, he asked: “How will you be able to come back? How do I know when to call you?”

Sabina turned around and pressed a small looking glass in his hand. “Look through this” she instructed. Harald did as he was told and with wonder saw a series of pictures fly by, ranging from a healthy king to a Queen with child, but mostly of Sabina, gazing at him lovingly or running towards him in the middle of a group of what he knew to be their children. He lowered the glass and asked: “What is this?”

“It’s a wishing glass. You can see your deepest desires in it. I know it is very confusing at the moment, but look at it repeatedly and try to control the images. The more you practice, the easier it will be. You need to learn how to master this, because you need to see me in there, in my current location, not in the future you hope to have. If you can do that, you will be able to see when I am ready to return. Your loyalty and another offer to help will call me back again.”

Harald looked at the small object in his hand and then at Sabina. “What if it does not work? What will happen to us? What will happen to you?”

“Let’s not even think about that, at least not now.” Sabina said with a shudder. Slowly, she stood up. The first rays of sun could be seen outside the cave. Sabina turned to Harald and looked him straight in the eyes. “Do you think you can handle all of this and not talk about it with anybody?”

For a moment, he just looked at her and took in the determination in her eyes. Seeing her gave him confidence. “Yes, I can handle this!”

Sabina looked at him just a moment longer, then turned around and stepped out of the cave. “Let’s get going then, we don’t have much time. Now that I revealed all of this to you, we only have until the sunset of the seventh day. Before then, we have to use your knowledge of my identity for the creation of some extraordinary good. Otherwise, we will both disappear into oblivion.”