Lessons - Part 03

The Show Must Go On

“This way, please.” Estah’s chief guard, whose name, Sheila had learned, was Sir Aref, escorted them back to Hank’s room.

The others had wanted to see Hank before they left for their quest, so Sir Aref to lead them all through the corridors and halls. This time, Sheila took in the sights around her.

The walls were of grey stone, as were the floors, though they were carpeted with long rugs of bright colours. Large, framed paintings of various people hung on the walls. Estah’s family, Sheila supposed. The men all looked incredibly regal and self-important, dressed in their furs and ruffles and little hats with feathers in them. The women pictured wore elegant gowns and even though they were just paintings, Sheila could almost feel them looking down their noses at anyone who passed.

“Your prince sure likes his stuffed animals,” said Bobby as he stopped to look at a fox head, which had been mounted on the wall. They had seen several things like this as they made their way through the halls. Deer heads, fox heads – it was quite gruesome. Upon seeing the stuffed animals, Uni walked more nervously, as though afraid that one false move would earn her a place on the wall.

“His Highness likes to indulge in a little hunting from time to time,” replied Sir Aref.

“His Highness,” Eric sneered the title, his voice laced with disapproval, “seems to like wounding things. Or people.”

“Eric!” Diana chided, giving him a sharp dig in the ribs with her elbow. He scowled at her, but silenced.

They soon reached the room where the Ranger was resting. Upon entering, Sheila felt an amazing relief wash over her as she was greeted by the sight of Hank looking not only awake, but quite alert. The healer woman was still there, folding Hank’s uniform into a neat pile and placing it on a trunk underneath one of the windows.

“Hank!”

It wasn't Sheila who gasped the delighted greeting, but Bobby. The boy rushed over to the bed, skidding to a stop.

“Hey Bobby,” Hank smiled. “Hi guys. How’s it going?”

His voice was still very thin and he looked as fragile as a six-week-old kitten, but he was alive. Talking, breathing, alive. Sheila had to restrain herself from throwing her arms around him in relief.

“The prince has agreed to help us,” said Diana. “Except there’s a bit of a catch.”

“Nothing new there,” replied Hank, shifting a little to get comfortable. Sheila caught him wincing at the movement and she frowned a little.

“He’ll only give us the amulet if we find some dumb stone thing for him,” explained Eric. “We need to go to some misty valley place or something and look for it there. Once we get it, the prince will trade.”

“Well, then, if that’s what the prince said I guess you’ll have to do it,” said Hank. He was frowning himself now.

“Without you?” asked Bobby. “Do we have to?”

“I’m afraid so. I wish I could come but Tala said I need rest,” said Hank. He glanced over at the healer who was seated on the other side of the room, respectfully observing the Young Ones.

“It’s true,” the healer spoke up. “Your friend’s injury was not as grave as it first appeared, but he will still hurt for some time. I have sewn the wound and given him a herbal remedy to ease the pain, but it will take a lot of rest before he is well enough to leave this room.”

“But he’ll be all right?” Sheila asked, still needing to hear it.

“Sir Afer got the young Ranger to me in time. It was very fortunate; the arrow was not too deeply embedded in the flesh and did not pierce any vital organs,” said Tala.

“So what’ll we do? Search for the stone like the prince wants?” Diana asked Hank.

“I don’t see why not. We would have done the same if I hadn’t been hurt, I might be stuck here but that’s not reason enough for all of us to give up,” said Hank. He yawned a little, looking tired. “Besides, if it’s out there, you’ll find it.”

Hank’s faith in them was firm.

“Yeah, we will,” agreed Diana with a smile, a newfound determination rising within her. If Hank could have faith even after being wounded and made bedridden, they couldn’t let him down. They would show him that his faith was well placed. They’d do it. This time they’d get home.

“Diana, Eric, Bobby and Presto are going to go find the Valley of the Mist, which is where the stone supposedly is. I’m staying here, to help Prince Estah look for the amulet,” explained Sheila. And because I won’t leave you, ever, she thought, though she kept that unsaid.

“Sounds like a plan,” Hank approved, though there was just a hint of envy in his voice. Envy and desire. A desire to go with them, to lead, like he was supposed to do. Sheila could see he already hated being forced to do nothing but stay in bed. It had to be hard on him. Hank was a doer. He liked action. The process of recovery wasn’t going to be fun for him.

“Guess we’ll go and tell Prince Estah then,” said Diana. Although they had already agreed to go on without Hank, they felt a lot better knowing they had the Ranger's blessing.

“It’s getting kind of late,” said Eric, glancing out of the window. “Maybe we can talk our trigger happy prince into letting us crash here for the night before moving on. After what he did, he owes us anyway.”

“Think we can get some dinner too?” asked Bobby hopefully.

“Worth a try,” shrugged Eric. “Come on, Half-Pint.”

As Eric and Bobby left the room, Eric cast a concerned look back at Hank. Then they disappeared around the corner and into the hall.

“Guess I should follow them. Prince Estah told me not to take too long up here,” Sheila said. “Will you be okay?”

“I think so. I’m pretty tired; I’ll just grab some sleep. Tala says I’ll need a lot of it,” said Hank.

“I’ll come back later, when the others have gone,” Sheila promised. But Hank had already shut his eyes. Sheila pulled the bed cover over him a little, then followed Diana out.
Prince Estah drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, keeping his eye on the door. They had been gone quite some time. Where were those children? He’d told them to be quick.

Finally, they appeared before him.

“Hank says we can go,” Eric announced. “But it's late now. It’s been a long day and we’d like to wait until dawn before we leave.”

Estah didn’t like the idea. The longer it took them to leave, the longer it would take for them to bring him back the stone he so desperately wanted.

“I was hoping you would begin without delay,” Estah sulked, his face a picture of disappointment.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t used our friend for target practice—” began Eric.

“It was an accident!” protested Estah, cutting off the Cavalier’s words.

“You could have killed him!” Eric argued. “And you’re damn lucky you didn’t.”

“Is that some kind of a threat?” Estah went from annoyed to indignant. He stood up, rising from his throne to glare down at the band of travellers.

“Whoa!” Diana placed herself between the Cavalier and the prince. “Eric, cool it. Being angry won’t solve anything. Your Highness, we’ll get your stone. But we had a nasty scare today and I think we’d search a lot better if we were well rested. That’s all we’re saying. And we mean you no harm. Do we? Eric?”

Diana shot a questioning look at Eric, who scowled at her but quickly backed down. He reluctantly shook his head at Diana’s question.

Estah sighed. “Very well. But just for one night. The moment the sun comes up I want you on your way. I’ll have Sir Aref show you were you will sleep and you will remain there. I don’t want a group of strangers wandering unsupervised around my castle.”

“Not exactly Mr. Hospitality, is he?” Eric mumbled as Sir Aref led them away once again.

“Wait a moment! You in the cloak,” Estah addressed Sheila. She turned.

“My name is Sheila,” she supplied.

“I’d like you to join me for dinner tonight, as my guest,” said Estah.

“Just me? But my friends—”

“Oh, very well, them too.” Estah had hoped to dine with the pretty girl alone, but she didn’t seem too fond of the idea. No matter. When her friends were gone the next morning, he would have her undivided attention. Save for that accursed boy lying upstairs. Unfortunately she seemed quite fond him – if her reactions to his wounding were any indication. Estah wondered if the two were courting or even married. However, there was no ring on her finger, or anything to suggest her feelings for the boy were more than one-sided, unrequited lust.

“Gee, thanks,” Eric said, though Estah didn’t catch the sarcastic tone.

There was some time until dinner, so the Young Ones were shown to their sleeping quarters. Estah yawned. That arrogant boy with the shield was right about one thing – it had been a long day.
That evening, the Young Ones dinned with Estah in one of the prince’s private dinning rooms. Because Estah had wanted it that way, there were no members of his royal court present, just the children and His Highness. While the food had been wonderful, the atmosphere and conversation had been horribly forced and stilted and bedtime couldn’t have come fast enough.

Diana thought over the day's events in her mind as she lay beneath the covers, dressed in some bedclothes she had found after rummaging around in the room's closet. It was a frilly negligee; something that was a little too feminine and revealing for her tastes, but it would do for one night. She usually slept in her uniform, but decided to take advantage of the night gown while in the castle.

She turned in the bed, trying to get comfortable. She was so used to sleeping outdoors that it felt odd to be on a soft mattress. Diana thought of her bedroom at home, missing it terribly all of a sudden. She missed her own bed, her stereo system and collection of tapes . . . even the desk she used for her homework. She tried picturing her room, and was alarmed when she realised she could no longer remember where everything was – what the exact layout was. Had they been here so long?

She wondered about the stone and about that Valley of the Mists place that Estah had told them about. Did they really have a chance? Estah said the stone was ‘legendary’. What if it didn’t even exist and their journey to the valley would be all for nothing? They needed to get that amulet and get home – now, more than ever. The near miss with Hank had made her feel more determined than she’d ever been to get out of this world. He’d nearly died. It was only by luck that the arrow hadn’t killed him. Who knew how long it would be before something like that happened again to one of them? Maybe they wouldn’t be fortunate enough to survive it the next time.

Also, even if they found the stone, could they really trust Estah to keep his word? There was something about the prince that Diana didn’t like. Not just his arrogance but something else, that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. And it wasn’t just the way Estah had kept glancing at Sheila throughout dinner and giving her all of his attention while practically ignoring the rest of them, although that had made Diana uneasy too.

She sighed. She couldn’t worry about things now. Hank was going to be all right – that was the main thing. And at first light she and Presto and Eric and Bobby were going to set off to find that stone. If the stone existed, they’d find it. She just hoped Prince Estah was more honest than she was giving him credit for.
“You sure you’re not coming with us, Sis?” Bobby asked a final time as the Young Ones gathered at the castle gates, preparing to begin their quest.

“Someone should stay with Hank,” Sheila insisted. “Besides, I told Prince Estah I’d help look for the amulet.”

“Think we’ll find the stone, Diana?” Presto asked.

“We can only try,” Diana replied, giving Presto a smile.

Diana found that, since Hank had gotten injured, she’d unconsciously stepped into the leadership role. She hadn’t meant to, it had just happened, and now the others were looking to her. When Hank had been gone before, after being taken by the Darkling, Eric had stepped in, but this time he hadn’t seemed to volunteer. Diana wondered that, for all of the jealously Eric had displayed over Hank being the leader instead of him, that perhaps Eric’s stint in the role had offered him a wake up call. When Hank had come back that time, Eric had seemed more than happy to give him back the reigns of control. If he wasn’t arguing about her taking charge this time, maybe he’d decided leadership wasn’t something he was as cut out for as he’d originally thought.

“I know that the valley is eastwards from here,” said Estah, who had come to see them off. “Travel that way and you should find the Sea of Sadness. Across from the sea, is a very small island. The Valley of the Mist is in the jungle of that island, and somewhere within the valley is a tomb as ancient as the Realm itself. The stone is said to be inside that tomb. Be prepared for booby traps once you get there.”

“Oh swell.” Eric rolled his eyes. “Not that booby traps are anything new to us, but how are we going to get across an ocean? We don’t have a boat.”

“It is not a large sea. It is more of a channel – just a few miles in length. As for the issue of how to cross it – you will have to solve that yourselves. Very few people have ever crossed the Sea of Sadness,” Estah said. “Now go. The journey should take you a few days each way.”

“Be careful, guys,” said Sheila.

“Don’t worry, Sis. We’ll do it,” Bobby tried to assure her.

Childhood innocence allowed the Barbarian room for confidence. However, with all their failures and the amount of time they had spent in the Realm it was a wonder that Bobby had any innocence left. But Diana was glad that he did. Bobby’s energy and confidence was sometimes quite a good motivational tool to try and get the job done.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Diana promised. “Tell Hank not to worry.”

She knew Hank would worry, however – no matter what he was told. He would feel guilty about not being with them, and he would worry until they were all back in one piece. Diana knew it was because he felt responsible for them – because he valued them and cared about them. Now finding herself in Hank’s shoes, the Acrobat vowed again that she wouldn’t fail. She’d get the stone and get them back to their world, for all their sakes.