Rain in the Meadow

Chapter Twenty-Six: King Cedar

Chapter Twenty-Six: King Cedar

Sydney and Meadow followed me all the way to the kings’ chambers. Meadow was begging me not to go, but how could he possibly keep me from going to see my own father? It wasn’t an especially long walk, but I still moved rather quickly, not paying any attention to the beautiful paths made of stones and lined with flowers. Even the steps up to the palace were made of stone and on either side of the path there were large trees that naturally hung over the path. Only now that the trees were slumped over toward each other, one could hardly see the path. I took the steps two at a time, not pausing to dwell on the splendor of the palace. The palace was beautiful, built entirely of polished marble and stone. There was white and purple wisteria—that was always in full bloom, of course—that grew up the sides, and beautiful gardens on either side of the large building. It was certainly a sight to behold, but I had no time to behold it.

I walked in the front doors, and stopped in the grand hall. There was a streak of jade that ran the length of the hall, all the way to the platform where the thrones were situated. Occupying one of my thrones sat my father. He was a broadly-built sort of man, with arms and shoulders to rival any human that wasn’t of bodybuilder proportions. He was tall, at least 7 feet, and he looked nothing like me. Where my hair was blacker than black and wavy, his was straight and blonde. Where my eyes were dark blue, his were a tawny golden yellow. Mom used to call him her sparrow for those eyes.

“My daughter.” My father didn’t rise, and he certainly didn’t seem happy to see me. Looking at him, though, I decided he looked significantly older than he had when I last saw him, which was a feat considering our people didn’t age very fast.

“Father. I’ve heard some troubling news.”

“So have I. I’ve heard that you lost our amulet.”

“I didn’t lose it, it was stolen from me.”

He stood from his throne, suddenly standing in front of me. “We don’t have time to argue about how it disappeared, Rayne. Either way, it was your responsibility to take care of it and you didn’t. Either way, our people are dying because you lost it.”

I swallowed, feeling the weight of his blame, crushing me like a rock. “So what do we do?”

He sighed, suddenly looking very weary. “I’ve been trying to figure that out. Our numbers are dropping fast, what with the number of deaths and ascensions.” He didn’t continue until our gazes clashed. “We have a war on our hands, Rayne. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s a war we have any hope of winning.”

“A war with whom?” It was Meadow who asked the question I was thinking.

My father barely spared him a glance. “Demons. Lavender tells me that there is more going on here that we don’t understand, though. The trees whisper things that we don’t yet understand. This war is going to be about a lot more than keeping our race around. I think it’s about the whole world.” I gasped, but he wasn’t done. “There’s another thing, too. The trees speak of a new creature, and we’re not sure if this is a threat or not.”

“A new creature?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “All we know is that whatever it is, it’s a creature of its own, and it’s been around for awhile. It’s the most powerful thing on earth, excluding Mother Nature herself. But we think it was…born of Mother Nature.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well we got the Amulet of Forests from Mother Nature, and now she has given us this….thing.”

Meadow, Sydney and I stood there in shock, but our moment didn’t last long because we all turned when the doors to the palace opened and someone walked in.

The figure was bathed in shadows, but definitely appeared to be human, not elf. “I think you mean ‘she.’” The figure said.

Meadow gasped, but it was only seconds before Sydney and I knew what he was gasping about. The figure stepped forward to reveal that it was none other than Meadow’s girlfriend, Emery.