A New Golden Son

Chapter 4

Albert had built a small fire while Cadmus was retrieving the final object. The last two pieces to his mysterious companion's puzzle were only a mile apart. Halfway in between them Cadmus had given Albert some short orders about building a camp and had then disappeared at a run to beat the waning light. So it was that when he reappeared, it was out of the darkness, and into the small ring of luminescence that Albert had produced from the short supply of fuel.

There was some light from above, but unlike the moon he had grown up under, the one Albert and Cadmus saw in the sky belonged to a different planet. Both the planet and the moon were visible, and bright. But neither reflected light like Earth's satellite. Instead, the planet and its orb were like a greater and lesser flashlight creating a dull glow in a giant cavern. They were bright enough to obscure other stars in sky, but not bright enough to fill the land with quicksilver. The fire, therefore, was the only real refuge from the night sounds and terrors. So Albert sat as close to it as he dared. Cadmus sat further back, smoking.

"That will kill you, you know," Albert joked.

"I was dead. It didn't take."

Not wanting to enter into another one of their hiccup-like conversations, Albert thought hard about what to say next. He knew that questioning had so far proved fruitless. And so he decided that he was best off talking about himself. This was of course, just as dangerous a mode of conversation as incessant questioning, but Albert was still of the age and experience that held that most change was good change, and so he went for it.

"Cadmus?"

"Hm?"

"Would it be ok if I told you how I came to be here – and about why I want to get away?"

Albert waited for a response, but didn't get one right away. Then Cadmus grunted, but not perceptibly. If it had been a little louder the boy would have been more confident. As it was, the noise only assured him that Cadmus might not mind listening. Not wanting to be accused of not listening himself, Albert felt he must go on the assumption that what he thought he had heard was indeed what he had heard. Which is to say, he felt the grunt had been favorable.

Just as he decided this in his mind and was opening his mouth to begin, Cadmus barked, "well?"

Albert responded confidently with, "right," and launched in.

Albert explained about his life at home. He talked about his parents, who he missed, his life as a boy in the mountains, and the fateful climbing of the tree. He told about his first encounter with the fairies, tried to make sense of those actions but gave up. He told a little about the strange old woman with the scroll, but the words ran out. The story stopped. The boy was not quite sure where to go next. So he went back. Cadmus rolled his eyes, but this was for his own benefit as it had now gotten quite dark and the two travelers sat with the fire in between them.

"Alright. So you have to understand that it wasn't like the fairies knew I was just some stupid kid and so they turned me into a jester because that was a fitting job for me. I mean, they were really mean about it. It didn't have anything, as far as I could ever tell, to do with who I was before I showed up here. They were just really mad about me interrupting the feast. Really mad. They used magic to make me into a living marionette. I couldn't move or talk but had to dance and move in ways that I don't naturally move...Which, now that I say it out loud, also doesn't sound so bad. But it was. Trust me. Being controlled by someone else is no small thing. You don't ever want it to happen to you."

"Albert," Cadmus had leaned forward and shown real interest for the first time since they'd sat there. "Do you suppose I want to be in the body I'm in?"