Chapter 7

         

“What do you mean, Mother? Do you really think it is Duff? Please do not tug so hard,” Savannah moaned.

“Oh I am sorry. My heart is racing, but I must slow down. Yes, I believe that is Duff. Duff seems to be watching over you two, on Father’s orders most likely. Think about it, Savannah. You said you trusted the bird the first time you met, and this morning it flew into the cottage just when the old wizard Baldric was going to discover you, the book and the orb. Remember what Hadwyn said, People have died for less. He would have hanged us all. And then that silliness with the sharp stone. The raven saved you from killing yourself. Yes, I am sure it is Duff. I just do not understand why John would keep me in the dark all these years.”

“Because he is afraid you would do something stupid like try to rescue him,” Nathaniel suggested.

Marie stopped. “Yes, that is probably it. Come, we must dig up the orb and rescue Father!”

They hurried into the woods. Marie’s mind was racing with plots and deception and thoughts of killing Prince Hadwyn.

“It is somewhere over there,” Savannah said.

“Somewhere over there! Oh Savannah, we will never find it before they return. There are too many trees,” Nathaniel cried.

“But I marked it. Just like Alexander marked it the first time. And it was an oak.”

That brightened their mood. They split up to cover more area. After ten minutes, Marie called out to her children. “I found it! I found Alexander’s mark.”

The children hurried over and Savannah fell to her knees to begin digging.

“Oh, I wish I had my stone. It is so good for digging.”

“Yes, but with six hands we will unearth it soon,” Marie replied, kneeling beside her daughter.

“Mother, what does that symbol mean?” Nathaniel asked.

“The marking?” she asked, pointing to the Ω scratched on the oak. “It is omega, the last letter in an ancient alphabet.”

“But why did Alexander use that mark?” Savannah asked.

“Because that is our family mark. We are the last.”

“The last what?” Savannah asked.

Marie knelt erect and brushed the sweat from her brow with a dirty hand. “I do not know. It is a secret passed down from King to first born son. Someday Nathaniel will know, and then we will all know because Nathaniel cannot keep a secret.”

“Can too!” Nathaniel protested but Savannah agreed with her mother.

“You are right. We will find out.”

“But I kept the secret of the orb,” he countered.

“But only because I knew it too,” Savannah said. “If I had not been there you would have ended up telling me anyway.”

Nathaniel thought about it. “True. Keep digging. And stop laughing!”

After a few minutes, Savannah stopped digging. “I really need my stone. It would be so much faster.”

“Yes, let us find it,” Marie conceded. “I need time to think this through.”

Savannah led them to the embankment where Duff attacked her. The three of them searched the tufts of tall grasses and forest undergrowth.

“Mother, why did that monk deliver that book? Was it a message from Father?” Nathaniel asked.

“I have wondered that myself, ever since it arrived, but I dare not let myself believe it.”

“But why did the monk only give it to you when he heard my name,” Savannah asked.

“I have thought about that too,” Marie replied as she looked over the edge of the embankment. “Father would not have known that I chose to use my middle name.”

“Why would you do that?” Savannah asked.

“What is your given name?” Nathaniel asked.

“To hide, Savannah. Hadwyn has spies everywhere. And he would know of Princess Natascha, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel thought about that. “And my name is unusual too. So what is my real name?”

Marie smiled. “Your real name is Nathaniel, Given of God, but we always used your middle name, David.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Oh. So that is why the monk was confused. Father told him to give it to a woman, Natascha, with a son David.”

“Then why did he give you the book when he heard my name?” Savannah asked.

“Because we named you before you were born; Christian, if you were a boy, and Savannah if you were a girl. Hadwyn would not know of you, but Father would have told the monk,” Marie explained.

          “Why Savannah?” Savannah asked.

          “A savannah is a dry, flat grassland, as different from our wet highlands as you are from an ordinary girl. You two are both unique, and deserve unique names. Now we must find your stone, dig up the orb and plot against Hadwyn.”

          “You do not call him Prince Hadwyn any more,” Nathaniel commented.

          “Hah! Here it is! And it is indeed a sharp edged stone,” Marie cried with delight. “Nathaniel, he does not deserve to share a title with Father, so he shall simply be Hadwyn. And soon he shall not even be that!”

          The children gasped as Marie drew the stone across her throat. She laughed a hearty laugh, proving that she only pretended to slit her throat.

          “Come! We must dig up the orb.”

          They raced back to the oak tree and the mound of freshly dug earth.

“Wait! You two must do it. I cannot risk having the scent of the orb on my hands.”

Marie returned the stone to Savannah.

          “But why Mother?” she asked.

          “Because Hadwyn believed me when I told him I knew nothing of the orb. Because Baldric found the scent of it in your bedroom. Because,” her voice trailed off.

A black bird startled them. It landed beside them.

“Duff?” Marie asked.

“Caw.”

“Keep digging! Duff, did Baldric send you ahead to scout for us?”

“Caw.”

“Is Hadwyn returning?”

“Caw.”

“Does Father want the orb?”

“Caw.”

“I found it!”

“No, I found it.”

“It does not matter! Oh, it looks heavy. Tell me, is it?”

“Yes,” Nathaniel said.

“Savannah, let me unwrap a bandage from your leg.” Marie quickly untied the cloth. Her minor cuts had dried. “Now put the orb inside and tie the corners.”

“Why Mother?” Savannah asked as she created a little carrying pouch.

“Because I need to see whether Duff can carry it. Hold it high in your open palms.”

Savannah raised it high. Duff took to the sky and made a great swooping circle. Upon his return, he hovered above Savannah’s hands, caught the cloth in his beak, flapped valiantly, but could not lift the orb. Duff took to the sky again, circled the three to gain air speed, returned to hover over Savannah and tried to grasp the cloth, but Duff has crow’s feet, not eagle talons, and anyway the orb was too heavy.

“Lower your arms,” Marie told Savannah and then sighed. “Because, my loves,” she said, explaining why she would not touch the orb, “you two must deliver the orb to Father. You two are guilty of finding the orb. I must distract Hadwyn to buy you time. I must convince him that I am innocent. Baldric must not smell the orb on me. I must convince Hadwyn to hold me captive, like Father, so that you will return the orb in exchange for my freedom. But you must not! We shall all die should Hadwyn have the orb. Our only hope is with Father.”

Her children nodded their heads slowly. Marie stroked their cheeks and dried their tears.

“And Father,” she said, turning to Duff, “he is in danger now. Hadwyn only kept him alive with the hope that he would divulge the orb’s hiding place. Now he has no use for Father. Duff, you must get word to Father that we are coming for him and that he must convince Hadwyn he has more secrets. Yes, Father is our only hope. He must stay alive for us.”

“Caw.”

“And Duff, you must guide the children north to Castle Kesselring, but first you must convince Baldric that you spotted them running south.”

“Caw.”

“But be very careful. Baldric will become suspicious of you, as was I. Once his trust is lost, you will be at risk. Do not get close enough for him to cast a spell upon you. And Duff … should we fail, you must save yourself. You must return to Caledonia and tell King Derek of the events. He will know what to do.”

“Mother, we should go,” Nathaniel said. “Hadwyn will return shortly.”

“Yes, you are right, my son, but first I must give you something. Leave the orb here. We must hurry to the cottage.”

They flew to the cottage, but not as fast as Duff. Duff was anxious to see the home he was forbidden to visit.

The children stood and gazed at their home while Marie rummaged behind her thin cot in the main room. The rustic, patchwork walls and thatched roof would soon seem palatial to the children.

“Here it is!”

“Wow.”

“It is beautiful. Is that for me?” Nathaniel asked, knowing the answer.

“Yes. I had been saving it for Hadwyn but you may have more need of it.” Marie raised the jewel-encrusted dagger, lovingly admired it one last time and then handed it hilt-first to Nathaniel.

“It looks royal,” he said.

“It is. It is Father’s, handed down for generations. He gave it to me on the night he left. It is a trophy brought back from the Crusades.”

“The Crusades?” Savannah asked.

“An old and pointless war, as are all wars.”

“Anyone who sees this will know I am royal,” Nathaniel said, beaming.

“Yes. Do not draw it unless you plan to use it,” Marie instructed, “or you will be discovered. Now children, we must say our good-byes until we meet again at the castle. And when you retrieve the orb, head south at first so that Baldric believes Duff, then cover the orb in mud to hide the scent. And then head north my loves,” she said, unable to stop the flow of tears.

The three hugged, and sobbed, until Marie gently pushed them away.

“Mother,” Savannah asked, “I need to know my middle name.”

Her mother smiled. “It is Marie, just like mine, just like Mirabel, just like all the women in our family.”

“Mirabel is your sister!” Nathaniel cried. “I thought your sister was Bounty-Claire?”

“They are one in the same. But that is another story. Now fly, my children. But not you Duff!”

She watched their small forms grow ever smaller as they disappeared into the woods to retrieve the orb. What she asked of them was too much.

Please watch over them Alexander.

“Duff, I have to clear my mind to think. Baldric and Hadwyn will wonder why you led them to the first burial spot. Savannah said that Baldric smelt the orb in the children’s room. That means they had it for a time. So what chain of events would he believe? Let me think. Yes, the children did find it, all on their own, and hid it in their room. But then they grew scared and you saw them re-bury it where Alexander and Father first buried it. But today, … today, unbeknownst to you, the children were busy re-burying it and came up with that story about Savannah being hurt. Yes, that will be the story. You will know nothing about what the children did today. You believed it was where you led them. I will try to convince Hadwyn and Baldric that what the children did this morning was unusual. Baldric must discover where Savannah buried the orb.”

Marie drew a deep breath to slow her beating heart.

“Good-bye Duff. Watch over them well. Now you must fly, and return from the south with your news of the children’s escape. And I? I must sit down and cry.”