Foreboding

Who retrieved this letter?" The king said motioning to the threatening note that had been delivered via arrow though Balor's cap. "Is there any way a townsman saw this message?"

I had not thought of that. If a soldier retrieved the message, at least the message would not send another wave of fear through the general public.

"The merchant whose door frame the arrow struck helped retrieve the message. There is a chance the public knows, but the gentleman was asked to keep our findings secret. We will see if he can be trusted." Gunnar responded.

"Very well," King Caderyn thought aloud. "Does anyone have any ideas on what these things mean?"

Lord Bleddyn cleared his throat. His face contorted uncomfortably. "I feel I can be of service, my king." His speech stopped, uncertain of where to begin.

"You have the floor, Lord Bleddyn." King Caderyn motioned for the Swordsman to continue.

The twins' father straightened in his chair. "Among the powers of the Norads is the ability to transport themselves in the manner that has been described. My knowledge on the subject is limited, but from what I understand, there is little chance that the archer is still in the city." Lord Bleddyn rubbed his temples. This did not seem to be a topic he enjoyed.

"Why is that?" My father queried, pushing Lord Bleddyn to continue.

"My understanding is that to use that kind of magic, the user must be very familiar with the place they want to reappear. I'm not positive about the reasons behind it, but my conjecture is that they would not want to land somewhere that they could harm themselves. Like appearing on the edge of a cliff or run themselves through with a blade."

"Thank you, Lord Bleddyn," The king contributed and turned to continue the meeting.

"My King, I have more to share." Lord Bleddyn reached for the scroll of parchment. "This language proves that the attack came from the North. The norads occupy the mountains there. This language resonates in the highest echelons of their nobility. The lettering is from spells of the darkest magic and was transformed into a language for the elite and most powerful."

Lord Garrison cut in with a quizzical look on his face. "My friend, how do you know all of this? You knew the Autarch by name and this magic by description. Is there a reference the rest of us may study?"

Lord Bleddyn sighed and looked remosefully at his brother-in-arms. "No. Sadly my source for this knowledge is no longer with us. What I must say should not leave this room" A breath steadied him. "When I met my late wife, Amaryllis, she had just escaped torture at the hands of the Norads and was barely alive. She lived among them for years before she could manage to get to freedom."

My eyes swept the room. Stunned faces surrounded me. Captain Marcus's jaw hung slack. My uncle looked pained. Most of these men knew each other for years. How had none of them ever asked about Bleddyn's wife?

So Lord Bleddyn did not just learn about these people through his travels as a merchant. He knew from first hand account stories. I wish his wife had written books of her experiences. I caught myself. In my thirst for knowledge I had momentarily forgotten my humanity. I do not blame the woman for not reliving her torture through the written word. How horribly painful would that be?

Cali's mom was tortured by this enemy. With that thought my blood started to boil. I was upset about the attack earlier, but this new information renewed the fire in my belly. The Norads must be stopped! How could they live with such malice and disrespect toward other living things?

"Do the twins know this about their mother?" The question I thought I was asking myself internally somehow came out of my mouth. The room looked at me. The king seemed displeased at my outburst, but other looks seemed to feed on my curiosity. They wanted to know as well.

"No, Jack. That is Sir Jacobson." My name would forever confuse those who were close to me. "The twins know little of their mother. She died when they were so young. I did not want to give them yet another reason to not fit in with other children and a prisoner mother from a far off land might give anyone pause."

That moment felt weird to me. Why should I know more about Cali's mother than she does? It did not seem fair to her. Maybe someday she would get to know the truth.

"Since none of you ever got to meet her, you might not know that Amaryllis was one of the most intelligent people I've ever known. My clever wife did learn the language that is penned on this parchment. Although I was a poor student of hers in regards to it, I think I might be able to decipher it." Bleddyn swallowed hard. I was not sure if he was choking back memories or tears, but clearly the man was affected.

"Thank you for sharing, Lord Bleddyn. I'm sure your wife was a jewel among women. How lucky we are that she graced your life to give us hope in these uncertain times." Maybe my love for words came from my father. His comforting speech was almost poetic.

The scroll was passed into the hands of Lord Bleddyn. His face curled into an expression of concentration. "I know this character as the number 1 and this one is the number 8." Unconsciously he chewed on his lower lip as a means to try and remember. "Months? No this means years. Years in the past tense. And maybe early morning?"

My uncle was the first to put it together. "The eighteenth year had been marked, a new dawning of the same…"

Caderyn's eyes grew wide. The two captains looked confused. The swordsmen looked somber. It always lightens the mood to hear a foreboding prophecy twice within a week.