The Secret Time Traveler

[Cheezey]

I really enjoyed this update and the conversation between Gobias and George. Can't wait for more!

[Magz from Oz]

Chapter 21 – Silence in the Library ¹

Apparently there was some drama landing in Moonlight Falls.  The plane hadn’t pulled up to the terminal but parked on the apron.  We weren’t told what the problem was but as Alice and I were the only ones getting off the flight, we had to use the rear steps to exit the plane and walk across to the terminal.  I could not see any ground crew or the usual bustle I’d come to expect from airports everywhere.

It was a good thing that we had only carry-on luggage.  We walked through a silent and empty airport terminal.  It was eerie and the hairs on my neck prickled.  We found no bank of taxies waiting outside.  Normally there would be half a dozen taxi drivers vying for the best passenger to make their journey out to the airport worthwhile or hoping for a big tip.  I pulled out my phone to call for the taxi service.  Then I noticed my phone screen had the message, “no service”.  I showed it to Alice who took out her phone but it too, had the same message.

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We started walking towards the township when we came upon some wild horses.  One of the horses was especially taken with Alice and they both began to follow us. 

“I’ve an idea,” said Alice who set about befriending them with pats and hugs.  The horses allowed us to ride them into town.  It had been a very long time since I’d ridden a horse but it all came back to me.  Alice seemed to have no problem with the riding skill.  I know for a fact that Charity had never been on a horse, ever.  She once told me that she believed that horses didn’t like being subjugated.  Her belief put me off riding for the whole time I’d lived in Moonlight Falls.

Alice and I rode along the deserted streets not seeing a living soul.  Nor were we passed by any cars driving the streets.  The horses were uneasy.  I thought my mount might dump me at any moment. 

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At the centre of town we dismounted.  Alice gave the horses an apple each and they immediately bolted away.  Jayne had given Alice some apples in case we needed an emergency food supply.  I was starving so I ate one leaving the last one for Alice.

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As I looked around the town that I knew so well, I couldn’t see a Sim in sight.  Not one.  There was no festival in the park yet there should have been.  It was still the middle of the winter and the winter festival should have been in full swing.  But nothing special was there and the park was devoid of Sims. 

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Across the road from the park was the Commonwealth Court complex which housed City Hall, the Moonlight Falls Police Department and the Military unit.  I was extremely reluctant to go inside there because of my recent experience with the Twinbrook Police Department.

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Beside the park were the Library of Lore and the Vault of Antiquity.  We walked through the front door of the library to find it was deserted.  It had been for some time.  Dust lay thick on the surfaces.  It felt vaguely sinister.  We walked through the now silent library and out the rear door.  As we walked towards the Vault of Antiquity, Alice’s gaze was drawn back to the moon dial.

“The moon cycle is wrong.”

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I turned around and looked at the moon dial.  It was wrong.  In Sunset Valley, Appaloosa Plains and Twinbrook, we were only a few days past the waning gibbous moon.  Yet the moon dial showed a waxing gibbous moon.  How odd. 

Then I remembered that the seasons had changed when I returned to Moonlight Falls after the time portal dumped me back in Sunset Valley.  I’d put that down to the variances time travel can create.  I’d simply thought that when I’d first arrived in Moonlight Falls, I must have landed not in real time but some months into the past.  Back then my perceptions of time frequently got distorted by the time travel, so I didn’t think too much about that.  Clearly something was very wrong.  I suggested that a quick look through the Vault of Antiquity may provide some answers.  Alice led the way inside.

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Again nobody was there.  Actually nothing was there.  It was totally empty except for cobwebs and dust.  The heavy ancient texts previously on display where a Sim could research articles about supernatural concepts were gone.  The walls previously displaying some amazing changeable artworks were bare.  Only lighter patches showed on the walls were artworks had been hung.  Our footsteps echoed jarringly around the empty dusty space.  Thick dust clung to the cobwebs making them dull not silvery.  The dust motes hung heavily in the air causing us to sneeze repeatedly.  The further in we walked, the dustier it was.  Also a putrid smell assaulted our nostrils.  Perhaps a small animal had accidently entered the Vault and died in there.  Without the need to say anything, both Alice and I hurried for the exit desperately in need of fresh air.

Leaving the silent library and dusty stinking vault behind us, we walked further along Wood Street towards where I first lived all those years ago.  I noticed that Alice shivered from time to time as we walked along the deserted street.  Sims were obviously still living in the town.  I saw the twitch of a curtain on the Swain house.  My old boss Chester Swain died not long after I’d joined the MFPD full time.  His daughter Bailey Swain had continued to live there but after she’d married Tristan Van Gould, I’d lost track.  Maybe they were living in the house.  As soon as I looked over at the house, the Sim moved away from the window.

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It had been twelve years since I’d left.  Apart from for my near neighbours on Wood Street, and perhaps Gator and Fawn Wolff at Pappy’s house, I don’t remember who lived where, so I couldn’t say with much accuracy which family occupied which house.

I noticed Alice shiver again.  “If you’re cold, let’s go over to Barney’s Salon and buy you a warm coat?”

“I’m not shivering from the cold.  Every now and again I get this creepy sensation crawling up my neck.  I think we’re being watched.”

I’m certain we are.  Also that feeling of an undefined menacing evil that followed me when I first returned twelve years ago was still here but had magnified.  Had it been growing unabated for the duration?

The other thing I noticed was that both the Swain house and Hopcraft’s house across the road had multiple Sunflowers.  Not the kind you need to photograph for the Plants and Flowers collection, but the Plants vs. Zombies^TM Sunflowers that produce sunlights which are very useful both as a fertiliser and weed control method for gardening with the SwiftGro Gardening Station.  Yet neither house had a SwiftGro Gardening Station that I could see.  It was very strange.

As we walked around the bend and closer to my old house, I felt a deep melancholy fall upon me.  My walk slowed and my heart felt very heavy with the losses that I’d endured.  We walked across the road to my old house and each step was like trying to walk through molasses.

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The house stood as it had been when I first arrived in Moonlight Falls thirty years ago.  The improvements I’d made had been dismantled.  The yard seemed bare.  The gardens had not been replanted.  I looked across at the Kalamia’s house.  Someone lived there now.  Again the yard was littered with the Sunflowers hiding their sunlights under the blanket of snow.  But it was not like the house had been when I’d come back twelve years ago, the changes that Leonidas Kalamia had made had been rebuilt.  The enlarged garage and the greenhouse were there, although the greenhouse looked bare.

As Alice and I crossed the road to the Kalamia house, I felt better, lighter, and happier.  Somehow simply walking into the Sunflower scattered yard seemed to help lift my mood.  I noticed a strange green glow emanating from the attic space.  I rang the doorbell but there was no answer.  If anybody was home, either they were ignoring us or unable to get to the door.

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Feeling sheepish about trespassing, I walked around the so-familiar house.  Unsure what to do, Alice walked quietly beside me.  The house was closed and quiet.  The greenhouse where I had harvested my first plants in Moonlight Falls stood empty. 

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As Alice and I were walking back along the side of the house towards the gate, I heard footsteps on the stairs inside.  We went to the front door again and rang the doorbell.  The Sim who answered the door blew me away.  It was Leonidas Kalamia and he didn’t look one day older, but then fairies age much more slowly than human Sims.  Leonidas’ eyes passed over me to Alice standing behind me.

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“Charity!” he exclaimed advancing towards us.  “No.” He halted mid stride, “You’re not Charity.”

“No Leonidas, this is Alice White,” I said. 

“Yes I can see she’s not Charity,” he said looking back to me.  “Who are you?”

“Don’t you remember me?” I asked trying not to be too hopeful.

His cold blue eyes looked keenly at me and then lightened when recognition dawned.  “Yes of course.  Hello Elias.  It’s good to see you again.”  He looked up and down the street with wary eyes.  “Come inside quickly.”  Alice looked at me strangely as Leonidas led the way into the little lounge room where I had so many happy moments with the Kalamia family that the mere sight of it again nearly overwhelmed me.

“Please sit down,” Leonidas said gesturing to the couch.  Alice and I sat down which gave me a moment to get a grip on myself.

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“How have you been, Leonidas?” I asked.  It must be lonely for him rattling around this big old house full of memories.  Last I heard he had been living in Lunar Lakes.

“I get by.  You?”

“Never better.”  Pleasantries aside, I got straight to the point.  “Leonidas, what is wrong with this town?  There’s no phone service, no taxies and nobody out on the street.  The Library of Lore hasn’t been used in years.  What happened?”

“We don’t really know.  The first things we noticed were the seasons getting shorter.  Then the moon cycle kept changing bizarrely.  And I mean bizarrely; we once had a whole month of full moons every night.  It drove the werewolves stir crazy and most of the townies lost their gardens to zombies.” 

“If that wasn’t awful enough, one day an odd smudge appeared on the floor of the Library of Lore.  Over time Sims using the Library began to disappear.  There was no tombstone or anything.  They simply disappeared.  Do you remember Sally Zeno?”

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I thought for a moment, the name was very familiar, “The newspaper girl?”

“Yes, that’s her.  She married Jake MacDuff soon after I returned from Lunar Lakes.  Peanut Bahl swears that he saw her disappear.  He said she was using the computer in the library very late one evening when the smudge moved and just swallowed her up without a sound.  So of course Sims stopped going to the Library,” Leonidas paused his explanation briefly to gather himself.

“Then Sims going into rabbit-hole venues began to disappear.  Fear spread through the town like wildfire.  Many Sims stopped going to work or shopping at the grocery store preferring to buy from the refrigerator even though it was a much higher price.  Then the food we could buy from our fridges began poisoning Sims making them very sick, so Zack Durwood set up the Al Fresco Street Market over on Merchant Way so we can buy fruit and vegetables without running the risk of having to go into a rabbit-hole.  All the food there is imported from other towns, so we know it’s safe to eat if we keep it in our inventory.  It’s more expensive, but it’s the only option we have.”

“How could Sims afford to buy food if they have no jobs?” I asked.

“Most Sims sold off their extraneous clutter first.  Then someone realised that my sunflowers generated sunlights every five hours that could sell for up to §100 each.  Initially Sims bought the sunflowers to sell the sunlights to get by.  But the sunflowers have an additional benefit.  They seem to lift the miasma that permeates the air here now.  We all carry sunlights with us now whenever we leave our yards.  Otherwise you can get overcome with melancholy.  Janet Pok has trained her dogs to look for Sims who may have collapsed in the street with melancholy.  Those rescue dogs have saved a lot of lives,” replied Leonidas shaking his head.  Perhaps that explained in part, my deep melancholy as Alice and I looked at my old house.

“I see that you rebuilt your greenhouse.  You can grow what you need, can’t you?”

“Not anymore,” he sighed.  “After that month of full moons and zombies, townies who still had gardens found them withering and the plants died despite watering and fertilising with the best fertilisers.  Sims planted seeds but they either never sprout or just won’t grow beyond a sprout.  Inside a greenhouse the plants will grow to maturity but then they die without producing anything.”

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“The Swiftgro Gardening Stations combined with the sunlights don’t help?”

“Nothing helps, not the Swiftgro Gardening Stations, not green thumbs, not fairies, not sunlights.  Nothing...”

“What about plants in the indoor planter bowls?”

Leonidas just shook his head.  “Not those either.  The only plants that live are the wild plants and they’re toxic to everything except the wild horses.”  Then he looked up at us and asked me what must have been uppermost in his mind.  “Why does Alice look like Charity?”

I wondered how I should answer that.  “We think that somebody has made clones of Charity.  There are two other clones that we know of so far; one in Appaloosa Plains and another in Twinbrook.”

“That’s ridiculous!  Why?” exclaimed Leonidas.

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“We don’t know why,” said Alice.  “But it gets worse.  All of us have been dumped in strange towns with no memory of who we are.  Some of the memory loss is obvious because we’re clones and simply have no memories of events before we were made, but we have a lot of skills and no memory of how we acquired those either.  We also have many traits and preferences in common although not all.  We would dearly love an explanation for why this is happening to us.”  I was surprised by Alice’s speech.  Alice was showing strength of character that had not been evident before.  Perhaps meeting Jayne had been a turning point for her.

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“Charity did have a lot of skills,” said Leonidas.  “She loved to learn new things all the time.  Just like Deborah had to have every new plant on the market, Charity had to learn every new skill that took her fancy.”

“But Charity couldn’t ride a horse?”

“Oh she certainly knew how to,” said Leonidas emphatically.  “She’d read the books and mastered the skill so she could befriend the wild horses and the unicorn.  That dratted unicorn loved Charity.  The besotted thing would turn up here regularly and wake the whole household until she went outside to pet it.”

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“That wasn’t the only issue.  All the wild horses in town would gather in our yard and eat Deb’s plants.  That’s why we built the green house in the first place.  But getting back on track, yes, Charity could ride but I don’t think she ever sat on a horse.  She thought it was unkind to the horses.”  Yes, she’d said something similar to me but clearly my assumption that she couldn’t ride had been incorrect.

“Could she sculpt and paint masterpieces?” I asked

“Yes of course.  She was painting masterpieces when she was still a little girl standing on a stool to reach the canvas...” Leonidas voice drifted off into his memories.

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“How did she learn sculpting?”

“My mother was a Sculptor.  Actually she considered herself a creative Artist.  She was into sculpting, painting, glassblowing, writing and even music.  That’s where Charity and Faith got their virtuoso traits from.  My mother had a sculpting station in her studio.  As a teenager, Charity loved to sculpt, especially the topiary sculptures.  I remember once she’d surrounded our house with sculptures of Felix the Giraffe.  Charity was crazy about giraffes back then.”

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“What about Alchemy?  Did Charity know enough to make a Clone Drone?”

“Yes, of course.  She mastered Alchemy while she was a teenager.  She learnt all the recipes and even made the 150 elixirs, all Vials of Bliss, which she threw at all her friends.  I’m not aware that she’d ever used it again after that...” his voice softened again, his thoughts obviously elsewhere.

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“What about other skills?” I asked.

“What?” he said pulling himself back from his reverie, “Oh yes, just about everything.  Charity would learn the skill, mostly from reading the books or listening to tabcasts on the Multitab 6000 or from using the Brain Enhancing Machine.  Sim Kosmo has a field of Trees of Prosperity.  My mother often took Charity there at night to see if a Fruit of Abundance was among them.  Once Charity had mastered any skill, she would do only the challenges she specifically wanted to do.”

“Did she master all the skills?”

“Of course not.  There were some skills she simply didn’t bother with.”

“Such as?”

“Well Skating for one.  It a useless skill for a fairy.  We simply can’t skate.”

“Any others?”

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“Scuba Diving and Science come to mind but there were others.  She didn’t want to learn any of the skills from the future.  She said that would spoil it for her.”

“Yet she had no handiness skill?” I asked concerned that what I was hearing contradicted what I thought I knew about Charity.

“Of course she did.  Charity was only one plumbing repair away from supermaxing the entire skill.”

“What!” I almost shouted the word.  That didn’t tally with her death by electrocution.  If Charity had already completed the challenge for repairing ten electrical objects and had made the ten unique upgrades, she could never have been electrocuted for failing to repair the dishwasher.  “Did Faith know that Charity had mastered the Handiness skill?”

“I have no idea.  Charity mastered Handiness while Faith was only a toddler.  Often as soon as Charity mastered a skill, she was done with it.  She’d move on to the next thing that captured her interest,” he replied absent-mindedly. 

“So the Coroner did get it wrong.  Charity could not possibly have died from electrocution if she was only one plumbing repair away from supermaxing the skill,” I queried wondering because if that was true my hypothesis had been completely and irretrievably trashed. 

Then he looked up alarmed.  “I can imagine what you’re thinking Elias.”  No he couldn’t.  I was too stunned to think coherently.  When my grey matter finally kicking into gear, all I could think about was all those years poor Faith had been blaming herself for failing to stop her sister’s alleged suicide. 

Leonidas continued before I could formulate words, “But you’re wrong, so wrong.  We did what we had to do.  We had no choice.  Don’t ask, I can’t tell you.  I’ve told you far too much already.  Please leave.  For your own sake, just go.  You can’t help us.”

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“Will you let me try?  I can’t help you if I don’t know what I’m dealing with.  I don’t know where to start.”  I don’t know why I was trying to help him.  I was aghast that my friend didn’t seem to consider the effect those events had had on his youngest daughter.

“You can’t help us,” he repeated.  “Do you think I haven’t tried everything?  Believe me there’s nothing you can do.  This is not a simple issue.  Telling you could just make things a whole lot worse.”

“I have contacts across the Simverse you may not be able to access.  Not just police officers but others.”  I thought about George Simley and his Circus contacts.  I resolved that I would tell George the truth about myself if it would help find Charity and get to the truth.

“No Elias, it’s too dangerous.  Just leave while you still can.  Anyway, you now have Alice to think about,” Leonidas said getting very distressed.

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“If you insist Leonidas, we will go.  But first, can you tell me how you knew by sight that Alice was not Charity?”

“A father knows his daughter,” he said looking me in the eye.  “Fathers know things about their daughters, Elias.  Lots of things.”  So he knew that I’d married Faith.  Did he know about my children, his grandchildren?  It stands to reason that if he knew I’d married Faith, that some of her children would be mine because that was the only reason she’d married me.  How was he going to approach this? 

He didn’t have to.  Our attention was drawn to a noise outside, Leonidas looked out the window.  Night had fallen.  “Go Elias, you must go immediately.  It is too dangerous here, especially for Alice.  I will drive you both back to the airport right now.”

“Why is it especially dangerous for Alice?”

“Because the blood of Solindae runs in her veins and these days the full moon can happen any time in Moonlight Falls, even tonight.”

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¹  Dr Who, Silence in the Library, (2008), Episode 8 Series 4 (Story # 195a)

[oshizu]

Another wonderful update--just as we seem to be on the verge of learning more, we are left with only more mysteries.

[Magpie2012]

My Whovian soul loved the reference :-) brilliant update! I'm befuddled and loving it lol

Sent from my BlackBerry 9720 using Tapatalk

[diamonddaisy]

I've been spending the last few days catching up on this - what an amazing, wild ride! There so many mysteries I can't wait to see solved. I've come to love the characters in this story (apart from Myles, he's just awful) and I can't wait for the next update. Great job!

(Also loving the Doctor Who references. There's just so much to love!)

[Magz from Oz]

Another wonderful update--just as we seem to be on the verge of learning more, we are left with only more mysteries.

My Whovian soul loved the reference :-) brilliant update! I'm befuddled and loving it lol

I've been spending the last few days catching up on this - what an amazing, wild ride! There so many mysteries I can't wait to see solved. I've come to love the characters in this story (apart from Myles, he's just awful) and I can't wait for the next update. Great job!

(Also loving the Doctor Who references. There's just so much to love!)

The next chapter will begin unraveling the mystery.  It should be up this week.  Thank you all so much for reading.

[Cheezey]

After reading the chapter title I was relieved to see that no one was unfortunate enough to wind up with two shadows.

This was a great update.  Something very creepy is going on in Moonlight Falls and I'm looking forward to finding out what.

[Magz from Oz]

Chapter 22 – Where to Begin

As soon as Leonidas opened the front door, he shut it again and dead-locked it.

“Forget going to the airport.  It’s too late.  We have to get Alice underground right now!”

“What are you suggesting?” Alice asked alarmed.

“Come with me,” Leonidas led the way to the ground floor bedroom.  Gone were the twin beds with their brightly covered quilts, the toy box and play things that I last saw when Faith left this house to move into the Modern Mansion.  The floor level had been changed and a small set of steps led down to a pleasant meditation area.  Leonidas pushed back a sculpture and a portion of the floor fell away to reveal a hidden staircase.  Leonidas led the way followed by Alice while I brought up the rear.

Under the foundations was a basement full of nectars.  The cavernous room intermittently lit by old fashioned flame torches.  I never knew Leonidas indulged.  He pulled down on one of the unlit torches and the staircase we had just descended disappeared.  Disconcerted Alice clutched my hand.  I remembered too late that she had previously displayed claustrophobic tendencies when we had been in Appaloosa Plains.  “I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere without you,” I said to reassure her.  She nodded her response, her eyes stretched wide with fright.

We walked among the rows and rows of nectar racks twisting and turning like a maze.  I realised that’s exactly what it was; a maze.  Our way was lit by the occasional wall torch which flickered with our movements.  I noticed that the place was scrupulously tidy.  No footprints in the dust were there to give away our passage through the maze.  Then the maze of nectar racks gave way a row of bookcases.  Stopping at one particular bookcase which looked exactly like all the others, Leonidas systematically pressed the spines on a series of books and the right half of the bookcase slid behind the left side revealing a small hidden doorway. 

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Once we all walked through the hidden door, the door swung shut.  Looking briefly back the doorway looked like a recessed panel with no obvious way to open it again.  Inside the poorly lit room was a pile of junk; the usual detritus of a lifetime with children whose interest in objects waxes and wanes.  Leonidas led us over to the far corner of the room.  Hidden behind a couple of video games was a spiral staircase leading down to yet another maze of bookcases!  Dotted among the bookcases were chairs and oddly enough a few jelly-bean bushes.  I’d observed that there had been some jelly-bean bushes in the nectar maze upstairs but now I was concerned.  One little mishap with those things could be deadly.  Maybe that was the point.  I shuddered inwardly at that thought.

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Again at a bookcase indistinguishable from the others, Leonidas pressed the book spines but this time the hidden door swung open to reveal a small reading room.  Well lit and comfortable.  A bibliophile’s dream actually.  At the back of the room was a door.  Leonidas led us through the door which opened into a small powder room which had a second door.  Through the second door was a spacious sumptuously furnished meditation room.  Alice was taken by the room.  I wonder if she was able to meditate.  If she didn’t, perhaps I could tutor her enough Martial Arts so she could in the future.

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Around the walls, not all of the torches were lit, giving the room a soft calm ambience.  Leonidas pulled one of the unlit torches and the wall on the other side from the chess set revealed another hidden doorway.  After we’d followed Leonidas through the doorway, he manually closed the door after us.  Once closed, it was not possible to distinguish the doorway from its solid wall counterparts.  I looked around an opulently furnished room with all the mod cons.  It looked like an upmarket hotel room, complete with a little kitchenette, dining nook and a small comfortable sitting room with a huge TV.  Dividing the sitting room from a bedroom was a huge wall fish tank where whimsical digital fish swam to and fro.  A door leading to a room in the corner of the suite was probably another bathroom.  No expense had been spared in furnishing the room.

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“We will be safe here.  When the full moon passes, then you have to leave Moonlight Falls and never come back.”

“What is the danger?  Who or what is Solindae?” I asked anxiously but I was secretly super impressed by the elaborateness of his fortress of solitude.  I hoped we’d never have to make a run for it because I could not reliably find my way out of either labyrinth we came through.

“I can’t tell you that.  When this is over, it is best to forget all about Moonlight Falls, our troubles and especially that you’d ever met the Kalamias,” declared Leonidas vehemently.

“Leonidas,” I said, “We accept your well-meant advice.  But if we don’t know what the danger is, we’ll probably blunder straight into it without knowing whether the path we choose would take us to safety or lead us into further danger.  Think this through logically, Leonidas.  Your reticence about what we should or shouldn’t know may be sending us to our death!”

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“I understand that there are risks.  But if you had simply stayed in Sunset Valley and lived your life normally, you would not be in the mess you now find yourself in.  I’m not responsible for that.  I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but I am willing to make that sacrifice to ensure the safety of those most at risk.”

“Alice is your flesh and blood.  Your close mindedness could see her killed!”

“Alice is not my daughter!”

“Yes she is.  Only your wife did not give birth to her.”  I lowered my voice and tried to make my tone as reasonable as I could under the circumstances.  “But Alice is indeed your flesh and blood, just as much as Charity and Faith are.  It is not her fault that she had no childhood or that she reached adulthood without ever knowing your love and protection!”  Leonidas and I glared at each other.

“Don’t talk about me as if I’m not in the room!  I am not a doll to be fought over.  I have feelings too.  I don’t need or want either of you protecting me.  I’ll just take my chances above ground like the rest of the Sims in the town!” Alice’s passionate speech left me astonished.  She turned on her heels and with her head held high walked back to the wall we’d come through.  But there was no obvious method of opening the hidden door. 

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She searched the wall for the switch but there was none.  She pushed against the door to no avail.  She leaned into it but it wouldn’t budge.  She turned her back against it and shoved but there was no movement on the door.

“No Alice!  Stop!  Don’t leave!  They will find you!”  Leonidas said anxiously.  “I’m sorry.  You’ve made your point.  This door is time locked anyway.  The earliest it will open is 6:00 AM tomorrow.”

“Then you have lots of time to tell us the truth,” said Alice all fire and temper gone.  As Leonidas paced about the room wrestling with his thoughts, I stared at Alice.  She was now leaning nonchalantly against the wall and winked at me.  I couldn’t believe how I had been misled about her.  She was every bit the subtle manipulator that Charity had been.  She had known exactly which buttons to push on Leonidas and was not afraid to use them.

As if his mind was made up, Leonidas went over to the small kitchenette and prepared dinner.  It was stu surprise which was no surprise given the state of affairs with food above ground.  Despite its simplicity, it was well made and tasted delicious.  I remembered many dinners with Leonidas and his family and they were noisy affairs.  Tonight’s dinner was silent.  Only the ticking of a clock somewhere passed the time.

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After dinner, Leonidas opened one of the bottles of nectar from a small rack in the dining alcove.  He took a tray of glasses over to the lounge area and gestured for us to take one too.  Alice declined.  I took one glass and waited patiently for him to begin his story.  Leonidas took a glass but looked at it before taking only a sip.

“It’s a very long story,” he said staring at his glass clearly debating what to say.

“Why don’t you start at the very beginning,” encouraged Alice, “I’m reliably informed that it’s a very good place to start.¹”

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“I guess that makes sense.  Elias knows some of the story but you probably know next to nothing.”  Leonidas took a long drink from his glass, emptying it.

“It all started a long, long time ago.  Kingdoms were much smaller then.  Until 927 AD the country we now call England held seven kingdoms.  Those Kings had to defend their kingdoms constantly from raiders of all sorts; from savages and pirates to raiding parties of Vikings.  But mostly, those seven Kings fought countless battles defending their kingdoms from each other.

Far away from England’s shores in a vast sea were two small island-kingdoms each ruled over by hereditary Kings.  The people of the larger island of Helidonn were human Sims.  They were brave warriors and hunters.  Their shrewd blacksmiths and craftsmen were skilled in making all sorts of weapons and gadgets.  But the Helidonn peasants often suffered from bouts of poor health and many children died in infancy.

The people of the closest but much smaller island of Ludaine were elf Sims.  Small in stature, pale haired, blue eyed, with creamy coloured skin, the elves were masters of the natural world.  Their druids and physicians could cure almost all ills.  Their farmers produced bountiful crops which filled their peoples’ bellies as much as the wise words of their scholars broadened their minds.

The two kingdoms had for centuries, fought battles against each other and against common enemies.  Each of the Kings had a dream which foretold of the fall of their kingdoms unless they joined together in a coalition to fight a common foe.  Both Kings, realising that they could never hold off their enemies indefinitely, formed an uneasy alliance.  The elven kingdom sent the Helidonn help from amongst their wisest druids, cleverest physicians and scholars and most talented bards.  In return the human kingdom sent the elves some of their strongest knights and skilled blacksmiths and craftsmen.

Under the alliance, both kingdoms prospered for hundreds of years.  Each newly crowned King held to their part of the bargain.  Each time a new king was crowned in either kingdom, they would re-seal their pact with a weeklong festival in each kingdom.  At one such festival held by the Ludaine to celebrate the coronation of King Alton, the newly crowned Helidonn King.  King Alton met the elven Princess Lindae who was only just old enough to attend her first ball.  They danced and talked throughout the days and evenings of the festival.  The couple were inevitably followed everywhere they went by the Lindae’s two handmaidens who acted as chaperones and two of King Alton’s personal guards. 

On the second to last evening of the festival, Lindae took King Alton to her favourite place in the kingdom, the headland.  The couple’s entourage discretely followed the couple but kept their distance to allow them some privacy.

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Dawn saw them still on the headland watching the water and talking.  Lindae’s handmaidens were fast asleep as were the King’s guards.  Relieved of the restraints their watchers’ presence imposed, King Alton confessed to Princess Lindae that he had fallen in love for her.  In return Princess Lindae confessed her love for him.  They sealed their love with a passionate kiss before their chaperones could rebuke them for such behaviour.  King Alton asked Lindae if she would marry him and live on Helidonn.  Lindae said yes.  The happy couple roused their entourage and walked hand in hand back to the palace.

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There King Alton asked the Ludaine King for the hand of Princess Lindae in marriage.  The old Ludaine King refused, then explained that Princess Lindae, his second youngest daughter had been promised in marriage to the Prince of the island of Córa, and he could not break that promise without risking war. 

It was a known practice among kingdoms in those days to cement treaties with marriages.  King Alton’s own mother had been a Córan princess and he reluctantly agreed that even he could not risk breaking his country’s treaty with the warlike Kingdom of Córa and brokenheartedly accepted the older King’s decision.”

“Please tell me this is a love story?” interrupted Alice.

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“My dear not all love stories have happy endings,” replied Leonidas kindly.

“In that case, please don’t just gloss over the love story.”

“I understand Alice,” Leonidas smiled indulgently.  “You’re not the first Hopeless Romantic I’ve told this story to.  Where were we?”

“The Ludaine King had to refuse King Alton’s marriage bid,” said Alice with a heartfelt sigh.

“Indeed.  Yes.  So Princess Lindae on hearing her father’s reply was horrified.  She loathed the vain and pompous Prince Æthoran of Córa.  Realising that she, like her two older sisters before her, had no choice in such crucial strategic matters, knew in her own heart that there was no possible way she could ever comply with her father’s plans.  She wrote a letter to tell her father that she would never marry the Córan prince.  If she couldn’t marry King Alton, she would marry no one.

Lindae then told her two handmaidens that she was going for a walk out to the headland as was her custom when she was troubled.  The handmaidens did not want to leave the festivities but their duty was to ensure that the princess never left the castle grounds unaccompanied.  Reluctantly, they followed Princess Lindae walking a few metres behind her instead of beside her.  At the headland, they stood well back from the edge as the relentless waves crashed against the rocks below sending sprays of water high up the cliff face.  Princess Lindae watched the waves and the spray as if in a trance.  She turned around briefly to look at castle as silent tears streamed down her face.  One of her handmaidens went to go to her but to their horror Princess Lindae suddenly stripped off her royal robes and dived into the treacherous waters at the headland.  Certain that their princess had jumped to her death, the terrified handmaidens didn’t know what to do.”

Alice clapped her hand over her mouth in dismay. 

Leonidas continued the story either unaware of his effect on his audience or totally disregarding it.  “On receiving his daughter’s letter, the Ludaine King was furious and summoned his Royal Advisor to find his daughter to explain herself.  The Royal Advisor scoured the castle but could not find the princess.  The castle servants searched the nearby grounds and found the two frightened handmaidens waiting with the princess’ robes on the headland.  The servants and guards then searched around the base of the cliff to no avail.  When advised of what happened, the Ludaine King was heartbroken.  King Alton was shattered.  The remainder of the coronation festivities were cancelled.

As it was considered neither proper nor regal for King Alton to openly mourn the loss of the girl he loved because she was betrothed to another, he returned to his own ship where he could mourn in private.”

“Oh dear.  I am so sorry,” exclaimed Alice aghast.

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“But wait, there’s more,” cautioned Leonidas.  “Unbeknownst to her father, Lindae knew the waters around Ludaine, their tides and their drifts.  She did indeed survive the dive from the headland and swam out to King Alton’s ship which lay at anchor in the next bay.  Silently climbing aboard, Lindae stowed away, but not before she performed a small act of sabotage.  When King Alton returned to his ship and prepared to set sail, his captain informed him that a rope on one of the main sails had frayed and needed to be replaced before the ship could sail.  The ship would not be ready to sail til the next morning’s tide.  Lindae stayed hidden listening to all that was happening.  King Alton drank heavily that night drowning his sorrows.

Sneaking into the King’s cabin after his servants had put him to bed, Lindae seduced the man she loved.  King Alton believed that his beloved had come to him in a dream.  When the eight bells tolled signalling the end the middle watch, Lindae slipped out of her lover’s cabin and over the side of ship.  She swam to a nearby rocky islet.

On the rocky islet lived a reclusive druidess, Lumava, who lived in an old but serviceable fisherman’s hut.  Lumava had once been the most powerful alchemist in the land until her potions failed to cure an ailing King, the grandfather to the current Ludaine King.  For her failure to heal the old monarch, Lumava was exiled to the rocky islet.  Lumava eked out a comfortable living growing her vegetables and herbs and continuing to make and sell the most powerful elixirs and potions to any who could afford to pay her price. 

Lindae begged Lumava to allow her to live with her.  Lumava was happy to provide the princess with a refuge.  Lumava felt no particular loyalty to the current King and disliked the way the princesses were being married off against their will for strategic gain.  For the next few months the two women lived happily together.  Lindae helped Lumava with her garden and kept the little hut as neat as she could.

Whenever customers rowed out to the islet to purchase their wares, Lindae hid in the hut.  Eventually Lindae had to confess to Lumava exactly what she had done the night she ran away because she could no longer hide the evidence of her night of love with King Alton.  Lindae gave birth to an elven daughter, whom she named Solindae.  But Solindae was not like the other pale haired and blue eyed elves.  Solindae had auburn hair and pale green eyes.

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Together the two women raised baby Solindae to be a happy healthy child.  As little Solindae grew out of babyhood, it became evident that she’d inherited an unusual ability for an elven child.  She was an elven witch.  There had never been a Ludaine elven child with magical ability before.  There were many mixed marriages among the Ludaine and Helidonn people, but the children born of such unions were either one or the other, never a hybrid of both.  It was unlikely that King Alton had been a secret wizard so it was a total mystery how little Solindae received her powers.  Until she reached her teenage years Solindae’s full ability would not be known, but even as a child, Solindae’s magical ability was very pronounced.  She practiced her magic turning vegetables into all sorts of objects, some of which were useful for Lumava’s elixirs.

When the old Ludaine King passed and her brother, Mennindae, was crowned King, Lindae scanned the horizon for the royal ship of King Alton.  As the coronation festival was getting under way, his ship sailed into the bay.  The old druidess had arranged for one of her customers to row across to bring back news of the festivities.  The obliging customer brought back the news that King Alton was accompanied by his Queen.  Lindae was heartbroken.  All during the seven day festival she couldn’t decide whether she should try to see King Alton again to tell him about Solindae.  On the seventh day, just when Lindae had reconciled herself to keeping her secret and never seeing him again, King Alton’s crew rowed the King out to the rocky islet. 

The druidess had never had such an important customer visit her islet.  King Alton sought the secret meeting to procure a procreation elixir for his marriage to Queen Altami had been childless.  His young nephew, Lynton, his sister’s only son, would inherit the throne should he die childless.  As King Alton and the druidess talked, Lindae sneaked a peak at her beloved and felt that was enough for her.  He was now married and that was the end of it, but her daughter had other ideas. 

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Solindae longed for the father she had never known and hid herself under the unused sail on her father’s boat.  She stayed hidden as the boat was rowed back to the royal ship but was discovered soon after the smaller boat was hauled aboard the royal ship.  The captain ordered that the red haired stowaway be taken to the ship’s brig.  A storm was brewing further along the coast and the captain was determined to put out to sea before it got worse.

Once at sea ahead of the gathering storm, the captain questioned the little stowaway.  The captain knew the Ludaine were always blond with creamy coloured skin.  Solindae’s skin colour and ears marked her as an elf but her auburn hair and pale green eyes was not typical of the Ludaine.  The captain was annoyed when the child demanded to see the King.  When told of this, the King was amused and wished to see the child.  The captain brought the child before the King, who immediately recognised a resemblance to the Ludaine royal family and asked for her name.  “I am Solindae, daughter of Princess Lindae of Ludaine.”

“Child you are mistaken for the Princess Lindae has been dead these past ten years.” 

“No my Lord, my mother has lived these many years in exile with the druidess, Lumava.”

Thinking that he was humouring a dull witted child, King Alton asked.  “Is that so?  Then who is your father, Solindae, daughter of Princess Lindae?”

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“You are my Lord.  My mother came to you on the night she escaped from the palace.  You may have thought it to be a dream but it was real.  I am the fruit of your night together.”

The King was no longer amused.  He summoned the ship’s doctor, a Ludaine physician who was familiar with both royal houses, to examine the child searching for evidence of her claims.  The doctor examined the child as instructed.  The doctor told the King that the child had a birthmark on her right buttock, in the same place as did King Alton and the King’s father and grandfather before him.  “Solindae is a royal name, your Highness.  No Ludaine could name their child thus without severe penalty.  It’s difficult to say as her hair is not the white blonde of our people, but in all probability, your Highness, the child may be telling the truth for she has the bearing and look of both royal houses.”

The King ordered the captain to turn the ship around and return to the rocky islet in the bay of Ludaine.  The captain cautioned the king against such a endeavour because they would sail into the teeth of the storm.  King Alton listened to his captain and vowed to return to Ludaine as soon as possible.  Thus the royal ship sailed homeward to Helidonn with Princess Solindae happily on board.

King Alton’s Queen, Altami, took an instant liking to the child and did not want Solindae to return to Ludaine.  Once safely home; King Alton dispatched his most diplomatic advisor aboard his ship to tell Lindae and the druidess that Solindae desired to live with him and to ask their permission.  The advisor also had secret instructions to ask Princess Lindae and the druidess if they might be willing to come to Helidonn to live.  The ship returned to Helidonn with neither elf. 

Princess Lindae on realising where her daughter may have disappeared to, had hired a boat and sailed after the Helidonn royal ship in search of her daughter but instead sailed into the growing storm.  Neither the boat nor Princess Lindae had been seen since.  Lumava who was very old, had died of grief on hearing the news.”

“Oh no!” sobbed Alice.

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“Not all love stories have happy endings,” cautioned Leonidas.

“So what happened to Solindae?” I asked intrigued.  I’d never heard any of this story before and I had no idea how it tied into the current situation.

Leonidas picked up another glass of the nectar that he’d poured and drank a few sips before he continued, “King Alton and Queen Altami resolved not to tell Solindae about her mother’s death but simply told her that she had received her mother’s permission to live with her father.  Solindae settled down to life in the Helidonn castle relatively easily.  She was the adored daughter of the King.  Queen Altami tutored her in royal etiquette and procedures.  Spending part of each day with Solindae was a joy to Queen Altami.  They read books of poetry or embroidered pretty doilies as royal ladies were expected to do.  Solindae quickly became bored of these tasks and made friends among the guards and domestic staff.

One thing Solindae learned very quickly was never to mention that she had magical powers.  The people of Helidonn feared witches above all else.  As a royal princess, Solindae had little or no privacy so practising magic even in secret was not an option.  Solindae revelled in her father’s attention and accompanied the King and Queen on royal visits to other territories.  Her father taught her to hunt deer and rabbits.  Solindae loved the forests; which were a revelation to her having spent her whole life on a small rocky windswept islet.  She taught her father the best ways to catch the best fish.

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Thus they lived in happiness until the death of Queen Altami.  Despite the potions purchased from Lumava the druidess, Queen Altami had been unable to bear a child.  Solindae was proclaimed heir apparent to her father the King despite being born out of wedlock.

To placate his advisors and emissaries, it was deemed diplomatic that as soon as his nephew, Lynton, came of age that the two children should marry, solidifying the family’s grip on the monarchy.  Like her mother, Solindae would have liked to choose he own husband.  But in this matter she realised that she could not choose.  She could not rule Helidonn without the supporters of her young cousin making life extremely difficult.  To her father’s proclamation and engineered betrothal, Solindae grudgingly agreed that it was best for the kingdom. 

Solindae liked her cousin, Lynton, but he was a serious scholarly child.  She much preferred the company of the soldiers of the royal guard, who taught her to use weapons.  As a teenager, Solindae hunted with the hunters, fished with the fishermen and trained just as hard with weapons as any of her guards.  Solindae especially enjoyed watching the blacksmiths ply their trade.  One of the blacksmiths was especially fond of her and together they designed the most amazing sword for Solindae.  She couldn’t wait to show it off at the next tournament.

Her young cousin, Lynton had no interest in such pursuits; he was an intellectual and preferred the administrative roles.  Lynton studied the country’s laws, watched with a keen interest which edicts were passed or failed, analysed treaties with the royal advisor and listened attentively when his uncle the King held court hearing petitions from the people.

As Lynton’s coming of age drew closer, the people of Helidonn prepared for a magnificent wedding.  Solindae, now a beautiful young woman, accepted that her cousin would make an exceptional King.  Lynton was full of ideas for modernising the country including updating farming methods, compulsory schooling for all children and banning the use of the stocks as a cruel and inhumane punishment. 

As they both aged, Solindae and Lynton could see the value the other would bring to their joint rule.  They grew to like and respect each other a lot and both felt that with time, their marriage would not be a loveless arrangement.

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With her wedding day less than a month away, Solindae asked her father why her mother had not replied to her invitation to attend the wedding.  King Alton broke the news that her mother had perished in a storm at sea some years ago.  Solindae was understandably distraught and dashed headlong for her secret place in the forest.  There she calmed down and asked herself why had she never felt that her mother had died.  In the calm of that forest glade Solindae listened to her heart.  She felt intuitively that her mother still lived.  Going to the docks, Solindae asked the ships’ captains to keep a lookout for any news of an elf living alone on any island between Helidonn and Ludaine.

The captain’s listened to the princess and said they would keep a sharp lookout.  But as the captains preferred to keep to the known shipping lanes where they knew the underwater hazards and currents, few believed they would find a castaway especially after all those years.  As each ship that returned reported no sign of life among the scattered tiny islets along the trade routes, Solindae became dejected.

Till one day, an unexpected storm at sea blew one of the trade ships far off its course.  The ship was badly damaged in the sudden storm.  Needing urgent repairs, the ship’s captain steered his listing ship towards a small uncharted islet which contained some tall trees.  As the ship’s carpenter and some crew walked about the islet looking for a suitable tree to provide the lumber for the repairs, they came upon a rudimentary cabin nestled amongst a rocky outcrop.  Although nobody was there, the signs of recent habitation were readily apparent. 

Finding nothing they could use in the cabin, they continued their search for a suitable tree.  As they felled the tree, an arrow pierced the trunk half an inch from the carpenter’s hands.

“Move one inch more and the next arrow will go through your heart,” called a gravelly voice from a thicket near the tree.

“Begging your pardon sir,” replied the frightened carpenter not sure to whom or to where he should address his words.  “Our ship is damaged, we need to make repairs.  We need only this one tree.  I swear, we meant no harm.  We did not know we were trespassing.”

“Since the tree has already been felled, you may as well take it.  But be warned, take nothing else,” replied the gravelly voice.

“Yes sir,” replied the carpenter respectfully.

The carpenter reported his encounter with the captain who desired to know the identity of the islet’s inhabitants and whether further trade was possible.

With one of his crew, the captain approached the little cabin among the rocks.  He called out, “I am Captain Silas from the ship Herallion.  I wish to offer you compensation for the tree we felled.”  There was no reply from within the cabin.  When it became apparent that the islet’s occupant or occupants were not going to answer, Captain Silas wrote a note and left a parcel of goods which he hoped would be considered suitable compensation for the tree.

The ship repaired, Captain Silas carefully charted the waters as he sailed along the coast back to Helidonn.  There he told the princess of the strange encounter.  The princess asked if the carpenter had kept the arrow and if she could see it.  The captain proudly gave it to her as a present.  Princess Solindae showed the arrow to her guard who confirmed that it was very like the arrows that the Ludaine fashioned.”

Alice began to get excited again and leaned in to hear every word.

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“Solindae believed that she had found her mother.  Solindae reported the facts to her father who was not convinced but indulged his daughter and approved the trip she proposed.  King Alton and Princess Solindae boarded the royal ship and guided by the new map, carefully sailed along the coast to the islet Captain Silas found.  The royal ship’s captain was wary as the reefs in the area were treacherous and could hole a ship’s hull with ease.

After two days of sailing, they found the islet.  Following the hand drawn map the carpenter made of the islet, Solindae accompanied by her father and an assortment of guards and crew to the small cabin nestled amongst the rocks.  The cabin again was empty and Solindae called to her mother in the Elven language.

A lone figure appeared above them high on the rocks.  Dressed in rags, the figure gave every appearance of being an old man with a long white beard.  Then a breeze caught the long white hair and revealed a very different and immediately recognisable figure.

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The figure approached them cautiously picking its way down the cliff face path to the beach.  Standing before them was none other than Princess Lindae.  Mother and daughter hugged each other for a very long time.  Although it had been twenty years since he had last seen her, King Alton knew that his heart would never be his own again.”

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“Oh that’s so sweet.  And you said it didn’t have a happy ending!” interrupted Alice.  “Then what happened?”

“I’m tired.  How about we leave the rest for another time?” sighed Leonidas.

“You still haven’t explained how this story, pleasant though it is, is relevant to our circumstances,” I said to Leonidas.

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“Tomorrow we can talk more.  Alice can take the bed while you and I can sleep on the couches.  Goodnight Elias.”  With that Leonidas fell asleep.  No doubt the nectar helped him fall asleep so easily. 

Alice and I had no choice.  Whispering a soft goodnight to each other, we did as instructed.  Although the couch was very comfortable I didn’t think that I would sleep but I did, quite soundly actually, until the sound of someone or something banging on the inner door echoed through the room.

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¹  Hammerstein, Oscar II & Rodgers, R., (1959), Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music.

[oshizu]

What an amazing chapter.
I'm as eager as Alice must be to hear how the tale of Princess Lindae and King Alton unfolds.

[Cheezey]

What a cool subplot you wove in with this chapter! I want to know what happens next!   

[diamonddaisy]

It was a bit of a treat to learn the story of Alton and Lindae, it was a very interesting read. Like Gobias/Elias, I want to know how it all ties together! Also, whoever could be making that banging sound?

[Magz from Oz]

Chapter 23 – The Story Unfolds

By the time the banging had ceased I was fully awake.  Moments later, a phone rang somewhere in the apartment.  It had a soft burr ring tone not the loud jangling type.  If I hadn’t already been awake I probably wouldn’t have heard it.  I looked across at Leonidas but he slumbered on.  I looked around the apartment and saw an old fashioned wall phone on the bathroom wall.  I figured I may as well answer it.

“Hello” I said quietly not wanting to wake Alice.  I wondered if I should introduce myself but since nobody else knew who I was, that seemed redundant.

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“Grandfather?”  The voice at the other end seemed unnaturally high pitched as if on the verge of panic.

“Keith?”

“No.  Julian.  You don’t sound like my grandfather.  Who is this?”

“Gobias Koffi,” I answered.

“Really?!”

“Yes really.  Leonidas is asleep.  If this is urgent I can try to wake him but he seems out for the count.”

“Let me in!” he said, panic winning out over curiosity in his voice, “Unless you’d prefer to be picking up bits of me from all over the mazes, let me in now!”

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“I can’t.  Leonidas said the door was time locked and can’t be opened before 6:00 AM.” 

Julian uttered a word I won’t repeat.  Given that Julian has the proper trait, the use of such uncivil language clearly indicated an extremely high level of stress.  “My sunlights will run out long before then!”

“How much time do you have?”

“Not nearly long enough!”

“Julian, I’m trying to help you, please be specific,” I said trying not to gnash my teeth in frustration.

“Four hours tops.”

“Then stop panicking.  Meditate to get your meditative focus so you can zeneport in.”  Julian hung up on me without another word.  Had he lost his proper trait?  A simple thank you would have been nice.  Anyway I thought the sunlights were only used to lift the depressive miasma that permeates the town here.  But from Julian’s tone and his level of panic, it sounded like they were being used to save him from the something a whole lot worse.

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Since I was awake, I checked on Alice but she was sleeping.  I had never really watched her sleep before.  I could tell by her eye movements that she was dreaming.  Her freckles across her cheeks looked especially cute.  One day, when this is all over, I hope we get the opportunity to figure out our feelings for each other. 

My watch showed the time was only half past midnight.  I knew that Julian had enough Martial Arts skill to meditate because I’d tutored him when he was a teenager.  Julian needed about three and a half hours meditation to Zeneport or about one and half hours if he had completed the 150 hours meditation challenge and could achieve tranquil transference. 

Since I didn’t know exactly how long he’d be, I decided to use the shower.  I’d been wearing the same clothes since yesterday morning.  I disliked feeling so grungy.  It was hard to believe that less than fourteen hours earlier I had been looking forward to talking with Dudley Dougherty in Twinbrook to discover how we could work together to sort out this mystery.  Since then I’d been questioned by my friend, interviewed by a masterspy, liberated from police custody and wound up in grave danger in Moonlight Falls with an old friend who was definitely not nearly as friendly or compassionate as he used to be.

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As I showered, I wondered about some things.  Leonidas had said that if I’d stayed put in Sunset Valley that I wouldn’t be in this fix.  I’d never told Leonidas that I had lived in Sunset Valley.  He knew me only as Elias Stavros who had never been a resident of Sunset Valley.  So Leonidas must know that I’m not really Elias Stavros at all.  He called me Elias last evening, but I’m sure he must know that I am actually Gobias.

My shower had refreshed me but the only clean outfit I found in my backpack was my track suit.  When... make that if, we get out of here, another trip to the salon is going to be needed.  I no longer felt dog tired despite having had less than two hours sleep.  I had a minimum of an hour before Julian could arrive so I looked around the apartment.  Given that this basement complex was a mass of mazes and hidden doors, I wondered if there were more that I couldn’t see.  I looked around but nowhere was wide enough for another hidden door, except perhaps in the bathroom. 

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I inspected the bare wall there and sure enough, a hidden door soon became apparent.  It wasn’t easy to open and with effort, I opened the door to reveal a workshop of sorts.  I debated with myself whether I should be snooping around like this, but since Leonidas hadn’t told us specifically not to look around, why not.  Besides everybody knows ex-police officers are dreadful snoops.  I walked into the workshop.

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On my left were a number of treasure chests, an Aleister's Alchemy Station for mixing elixirs, a couple of Alchemy Cabinets and Bug Lover’s Display Cases for storing elixirs and ingredients, a gem cutting machine and a Lord Vladimir's Magic Cauldron.  Further to my right was a Catalyst Chemistry Lab Station and a Scraptronic™ Workbench almost overflowing with scrap metal.  I didn’t know that Leonidas invented.  Along the far wall was a L'amour des Fruits Nectar Maker and near that a Board Breaker.  In short there was everything in that workshop that a skilled Sim would need to create elixirs, potions, and nectars.

Out of curiosity I opened the red Chinese treasure chest.  It contained hundreds of Wolfsbane flowers.  Literally hundreds of them.  I knew the various uses for Wolfsbane flowers in elixirs.  I’d used them myself to make both types of Invigorating Elixirs.  And of course I’d used one to make the Potent Cure Elixir I’d made to transform Gator Wolff all those years ago. 

But I knew it had other uses; such as for the Procreation Elixir, or Lean and Mean or Large and in Charge elixirs, or even the Bottled Curse of the Lycan which turned a Sim into a werewolf.  But why would Leonidas need hundreds of the Wolfsbane Flowers. 

The other treasure chests were painted with patterns.  The one with the fish pattern contained, not surprisingly, fish – presumably for elixirs but also for food.  The other with the mushroom pattern contained not just mushrooms, but food.  Not much, probably just a couple of each item.  If Leonidas had learned the science skill and bought a ZRX-9000 Science Research Station, he could easily analyse and clone the food so he would never run out.  Perhaps that’s something I could do for him, while we were here.

I looked again at the elixirs Leonidas had in his cabinet.  He had some of his best sellers on display.  Inside the cupboard were dozens more elixirs and potions, most of them Potent Skill Booster elixirs.  Was anyone still buying elixirs these days?  Given no one kept their job, perhaps there wasn’t a real need for skills anymore, which may explain the surplus of elixirs.  But why make so many if no one was buying them.

I thought I should look around the bare walls of the workshop.  I was sure Leonidas would have more hidden doors in here when I heard footsteps enter the workshop. 

“What’s in here?” asked Alice her voice barely louder a whisper.

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Alice walked into the workshop wearing her nightshirt.  I struggled not to look at her gorgeous long legs but I’m fighting a losing battle.  Alice would look gorgeous even wearing my tracksuit.  “It’s just a workshop,” I say trying to keep my voice normal.  “Couldn’t you sleep?”

“I had an awful nightmare.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yuck no!”

“Sometimes talking things through lets you put them in perspective.”

“Okay.  Actually it might help to tell someone.  I have this nightmare often.  Perhaps if I can make sense of it, maybe it will stop.”

“Tell me what you can remember of the dream.”

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“I’m in some underground dungeon.  I think it’s a kind of jail cell but it’s nicely furnished.  An older woman is in the cell next to me.  She’s talking to me all the time.  Teaching me, I think.  Then this man comes along and freezes her into a solid block of ice.”

“Any witch or wizard can freeze a Sim with an Icy Blast,” I said.

“Oh, yes, of course.  Anyway, when she begins to thaw out, it is excruciatingly painful for her.  When she thaws out, she begins talking again.  I ask her not to because I know that man will come back and hurt her, but she says it’s important.  Each time he comes back, I’m so terrified for her.  Sometimes he freezes her and sometimes he doesn’t.  He just glares at her.  She glares right back.  She is so brave.  I try to glare too but I’m so scared I just smile and hope he doesn’t hurt me.  I’m ashamed to be so cowardly.”

“While that’s not exactly Stockholm syndrome, but it is sensible not to antagonise a captor who could hurt you.  What does he say to her?”

“Nothing!  Not a word!  He never talks to me either.  He rarely even looks at me and when he does, he looks at me like I’m worse than something he accidently trod in on the sidewalk.”

“Disconcerting I know, but it was just a nightmare.”

“Do you really think so?”

I hope so.  “Can you describe her?”

“She is a human adult Sim, slim and quite attractive, maybe in her forties or early fifties, blonde hair about my length, emerald green eyes.  She’s wearing some sort of raggedy outfit.  She is kind and so fearless.”

“What does she sound like?”

“I don’t remember that part.”

“Can you describe him?”

“No.  Not really.  He’s always standing in the shadows and he wears a hooded cloak.”

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“Does he have fairy wings?”

“No.”

“Do his eyes glow like a vampire?”

“No.”

He could be anybody, but I’m sure Alice may have just given us a few clues.  Being kept in a dungeon-like prison would certainly explain Alice’s claustrophobia.  Also the older woman teaching her probably explains Alice’s various skills.  But I don’t tell Alice this.  Not til I know more.  I don’t want to plant ideas in her head which will confuse her.  “Next time you have the dream try to remember more about your situation, place, time, external noises, or anything else.  Will you tell me when you have that nightmare again?”

“Sure.  Why?”

“It may help you cope better with it if you can put it in a context.  But put that aside for now,” I say reassuringly.  “Think of something nice.” 

“That was a lovely story your friend told us about King Alton and Princess Lindae.  By the way, why does he call you Elias?”

“Because when he knew me, I went by that name?”

“Do you have many names?”

“I have used different names on occasions, so in a way, yes.”

“Why?”

“That’s a really long story.”

“I’d like to hear it sometime,” Alice said.

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“Me too,” said Julian walking in on us.

“Hello Julian.  I see you made it and you’re still all in one piece too.”

“Hello Gobias,” he said looking somewhat contrite.  “Thanks for saving my bacon.  When I found the door wouldn’t open, I guess I panicked.”

“What was after you?”

“That’s a story for another time too.  So Gobias, you seem to be looking young and spritely for a guy who had one foot in the grave last time I saw you; Young Again potion or a Fountain of Youth elixir?”

“Fountain of Youth,” I replied.

“It seems to have done you a world of good.  Who’s your friend?”

“Julian, this is Alice White.  Alice, this is Leonidas’ grandson, Julian Kalamia.”

“It’s my pleasure to meet you, Miss White,” said Julian politely.

“Please call me Alice.”

“Well Alice, why do you look like my aunt Charity?”

“I’m her clone.”

“So how did you figure that one out?”

“We’ve found other clones.  All of us have no memories.  Do you know why we’ve been cloned?” asked Alice.

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“No but I’ve found a couple of clones myself?”

“Where?” she asked.

“One in Hidden Springs and another in Starlight Shores.”

“There’s another two to add to your list,” I said.  “One in Appaloosa Plains and the other in Twinbrook.”

“All of you highly skilled, all of you excellent cooks knowing all the recipes and working in the culinary career path?” asked Julian.

“I don’t have a career yet but maybe I should try and see how that works out,” suggested Alice.

“Don’t try it in Moonlight Falls.  Sims disappear in rabbit-holes here,” Julian cautioned.

“So Leonidas has been telling us.  What do you make of that?” I asked.

“To misquote Shakespeare, something is definitely rotten in the town of Moonlight Falls,” replied Julian unhelpfully.  That was clearly the understatement of the century.  “Did I hear you say that grandfather has been telling you the story of the Ludaine?  Alice must have sweet talked him into that because I doubt he would volunteer to tell that story to a stranger.  How did you do that?”

“Alice convinced him it would be better if we understood the danger we’re in and how best we could protect ourselves,” I said.

“Do you know the story Julian?  Can you tell us the rest of it?  I’m dying to hear more.” said Alice.

“Let’s hope those words are not prophetic.  It’s a very long story.  How far did grandfather get up to?”

“To the part where King Alton and Princess Solindae found Princess Lindae on the uncharted isle.” replied Alice.

“Well let’s get comfortable first.  As I said, it’s a really long story.”  With that Julian walked over to the wall beside the Nectar Maker and inspected it to open yet another hidden door. 

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Through the doorway was another comfortable reading room with more of those identical bookcases.  I wondered which if any were secret doors.  In addition to the library was a fully stocked bar.  Leonidas did not skimp on creature comforts.  Alice and I sat on the sofa while Julian made a batch of sorrow annihilators.  Taking a sip from the drink he took the sofa opposite us.  Alice and I declined a drink and looked at Julian expectantly.

“A word of caution first,” said Julian.  “I haven’t actually told this story before so I don’t have all the flowery speech patterns that grandfather uses.  Okay?”

“That’s all right.  Alice got her fill of the love story part from Leonidas,” I said.

“Good.  So picking up from when they found Princess Lindae on the uncharted islet.  Solindae called out to her mother in the Ludaine language and Lindae appeared on the headland above the beach.  Lindae then climbed down to the beach and immediately hugged her daughter.

King Alton was euphoric at seeing Lindae alive after believing her dead all those years.  He was unsure how Lindae felt about him but he didn’t have to wonder for long.  After she let go of her daughter, Lindae flung herself into his arms, before she remembered that he was a married man and backed away apologising.

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Alton explained that he was a widower and told her that from the day they met, she had been the sole owner of his heart and nothing had changed in all that time.  By grandfather’s account, Lindae and Alton had a fairly passionate reunion which must have been awkward for their grown up daughter.”

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I smiled.  Julian sounded like every child of parents who still managed to have an active love life, despite their kids’ disapproval.  I noticed that Julian mostly dispensed with using the character’s royal titles.  Beside me Alice sighed with pleasure.  Julian was obviously using enough flowery words to appeal to her Hopeless Romantic trait.

Julian sipped more of his drink and then continued, “The planned festivities for Solindae and Lynton’s wedding would be used for the wedding of King Alton to Princess Lindae instead.  Even without knowing the true history of the royal couple, the people of Helidonn were delighted.  Very few people actually knew the truth of Solindae’s birth and it was largely assumed that Solindae was the adopted daughter of Queen Altami and King Alton.  The people of Helidonn were very happy that their King had found a new bride and one who was still young enough to produce a male heir.

King Mennindae of the Ludaine was overjoyed that his sister was not dead and he wholeheartedly approved of the marriage.  Lindae’s mother, the Dowager Queen was ecstatic to learn her daughter was actually alive.  Neither Mennindae nor the Dowager Queen had been told the truth surrounding the birth of Solindae either.  With her red hair and green eyes, no one in the Ludaine royal family even guessed the truth since the Ludaine weren’t the only elven kingdom in the region.

Only Prince Æthoran of Córa, was angry about the proposed marriage.  He was the guy that Lindae’s father had arranged for her to marry.  By this time the prince was now the king of Córa.  King Æthoran had married a princess from another kingdom.  But when informed that Lindae was still alive, Æthoran felt he had been cheated out of his rightful wife and swore to wage war against the kingdoms of Helidonn and Ludaine if the wedding went ahead.  Æthoran was also the most powerful wizard among the Córan people and according to his boasts, he was also the most powerful wizard in the entire region.  It was said that his wrath was feared the length and breadth of the known world.

In addition to being king and a powerful wizard, Æthoran was a prize jerk.  He was also related to half the royalty in the region through the custom of royal intermarriages to avert wars and strengthen alliances.  However, Æthoran systematically cheated or bullied each of the kingdoms he dealt with including those of his kin.  The stupid thing was that the other kingdoms let him get away with it.  Some of them out of fear but most because Æthoran had the largest army in the region and supposedly he had control over Córa’s very powerful High Wizards.

Æthoran was also a second-cousin of Alton’s through his mother, Queen Ædyth’s side.  The truth was that Alton was ashamed to claim kinship with Æthoran and so were most of the other kings.  Many times Æthoran had cheated on trade agreements as the ships’ captains consistently reported the trade goods purchased from Córa were not of the quality or quantities specified in the manifests.  Alton had not thought the problem severe enough to create an international incident over.  Alton felt that Æthoran’s cheating was just another one of his bullying techniques and if everyone ignored it, then it wouldn’t escalate into something worse.”

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Julian took another sip of his drink.  “My guess is that Æthoran knew just where to draw the line with his cheating and bullying.  Besides, the craftsmen of Helidonn found a way to repurpose the defective Córan goods to their own advantage.  Also any royal advisor worth their salary had already taken into account the expectation that Æthoran would cheat in the original trade agreements anyway. 

Even though Alton was wary of the strength of the Córan army, he felt that against the combined strength of his own allies, Æthoran would not follow through on his threats to wage war.  In the matter of his proposed marriage to Lindae, Alton would not be bullied and the wedding went ahead despite the risk of war.

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The actual exchange of vows was a quiet family affair but the party afterwards was enormous where many Helidonn and Ludaine allies pledged their loyalty to stand by them should Æthoran cause trouble.  Most of the other rulers had grown weary of Æthoran’s bullying and were hoping someone would finally make a stand.  The most powerful of Helidonn’s allies was King Wilthus of Sparnassus, who had the largest navy in the region.  Wilthus was the brother-in-law of the late Queen Altami, who was his wife’s sister.  Wilthus was also uncle to Æthoran from the marriage of his own sister, Silvanthus, to Æthoran’s late father.  When Wilthus declared that he would support his ex-brother-in-law against his own nephew should the need arise, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.  No one believed Æthoran would be foolish enough to start a war he couldn’t hope to win.

As was the custom, following their wedding Alton and Lindae went on their three month long wedding journey visiting the kingdoms of their allies as well as loyal fiefdoms and territories of Helidonn.  Lynton and Solindae jointly ruled Helidonn in their absence.  As expected with Lynton’s superb diplomacy and Solindae’s engaging manner, things ran very smoothly during their absence.  Having excellent royal advisors helped too, so there were no issues that Alton needed to attend to upon his return. 

The newlyweds returned from their trouble free wedding journey with the news that Lindae was pregnant.  The druid who lived on Helidonn foretold that Lindae would give birth to twin daughters.  The celebrations in Helidonn were especially grand.  The palace was crowded with well wishers and Lynton could find no peace.  Solindae took him to her favourite fishing beach for the solitude and to watch the stars rise over the horizon. 

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It was then that Lynton learned that Solindae had magical powers when she conjured an apple by accident.  Lynton simply said he was hungry but without conscious effort the apple just appeared in her hand.  Lynton was not unduly surprised.  Their grandmother, Queen Ædyth from Córa, had been a witch.  Lynton swore that he would keep Solindae’s secret just as he’d kept his grandmother’s.

Throughout the months leading up to their new wedding date, Solindae and Lynton spent every spare moment with each other.  Lynton patiently taught her the intricacies of royal administration even though it seemed that this skill might no longer be necessary.  Solindae taught Lynton the rudiments of hunting and trapping.  Lynton declared that he had no heart for killing animals and much preferred gardening to hunting.  As the palace had a large garden, Solindae taught Lynton all she had learned about gardening from her mother and the druidess, Lumava.

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After spending an afternoon in the garden with Solindae, Lynton told her that he had something important to say.  Lynton declared that despite the people’s expectations and as there would soon be new heirs to the throne, Solindae should only agree to marry him if she truly loved him.  He did not want her to marry him out of duty or obligation, because he loved her.  If she didn’t love him, Lynton would to cancel the wedding.  When Solindae told Lynton that she really did love him, they sealed their love with their first real kiss.

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Lynton asked for the royal engagement ring back.  He wanted to do things the proper way.  Lynton then formally proposed to Solindae as if they were two private citizens and not joint heirs to the throne.  He told her how much he admired and loved her and he hoped that she would make his life complete by becoming his bride.  Of course, Solindae said yes.”

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I heard Alice give a little sigh of happiness and realised that Julian had indeed slipped into the flowery phrases of his grandfather.  I still didn’t understand how the story related to our circumstances but I was enjoying the tale anyway.

Julian continued, “At their request, Solindae and Lynton exchanged rings in a private ceremony with just Alton and Lindae present as their witnesses. 

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After her own marriage, Lindae had arranged for an elven charm garden be built in the palace garden.  Elven charm gardens were built to ward off evil spirits but legend had it that, if a butterfly appeared in the garden for the newlyweds, it would mean a child would be born to them within the year.  As the couple stood before the charm garden, a green swallowtail butterfly flew out of a rose bush and landed on Solindae’s nose.

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The wedding celebrations were a huge affair and there were some very awkward moments when King Æthoran arrived accompanied by his two adult sons, leaving his six year old daughter and infant son at home.  Although invited, it was not expected that Æthoran or his sons would attend the celebrations as Æthoran’s wife had recently died.  It was considered highly improper for Æthoran to attend any party so soon following the death of his wife. 

But Æthoran had come with a purpose.  He pledged that he would forgive Alton for stealing his rightful bride if Alton would agree to the marriage of Æthoran’s infant son to the firstborn of the twin daughters Lindae was expecting.  Although such negotiations were entirely normal, everyone was astounded by the bluntness of the proposal. 

Alton thanked Æthoran for the honour that Æthoran must hold for Helidonn to propose such an arrangement, but declined the proposal.  Alton and Lindae had already decided that their daughters and any other children they may have would be allowed to marry for love.  Æthoran appeared to accept the refusal with good grace but Lynton feared that Æthoran’s calm acceptance was a ruse.  Lynton spoke to King Wilthus and Alton who agreed that in the coming weeks the Sparnassus navy would begin to patrol the waters near Helidonn as part of their training and joint war games.

After the party, Lynton and Solindae left for their wedding journey amid the well wishes of their family, the wedding guests and all the palace officials and staff.  For sentimentality, Solindae had chosen Captain Silas and the Herallion as their ship for their wedding journey.  They sailed first for the tiny isle that Captain Silas had first encountered the castaway Lindae.  After staying there for a week, they sailed from port to port enjoying seeing the sights and tasting the delicacies of each kingdom.  It was during their three month long wedding journey around the territories and allies of Helidonn that news reached them that a large Córan war party had sacked the kingdom of Ludaine and had been headed for Helidonn, before the navy of King Wilthus intervened and sunk the Córan fleet.

When King Alton and Queen Lindae arrived on Ludaine they found Lindae’s homeland completely destroyed.  The castle and villages lay in ruins, the farms and fields were burnt.  The bodies of the dead lay rotting where they had fallen among the smouldering ruins.  The fishing and trade fleets had been sunk and the docks burned to the waterline.  There were no survivors.  Not one man, woman, child or infant was left alive on the entire island.

Of a population of more than four thousand Ludaine elves, less than fifty remained.  Those survivors had been living elsewhere or were away at sea when the attack happened.  Of the royal household only Lindae and Solindae remained for Lindae learned that her three sisters had been visiting their mother on Ludaine where they were all killed.  The garrison of Helidonn soldiers as well as the Helidonn craftsmen who lived on Ludaine were also killed.

Devastated by the loss of her family and her people, Lindae returned to Helidonn while Alton attended a hastily convened war tribunal held to pass judgement on Æthoran and his two sons who were the army commanders responsible for the atrocities the Córan army had inflicted.  Each and every kingdom and territory represented voted unanimously to condemn the trio to death for their war crimes. 

Æthoran’s six year old daughter, Princess Æthanya, was installed on the throne as Queen of Córa with her grandmother, the dowager Queen Silvanthus, appointed as regent until Princess Æthanya came of age.  Until then Córa would become a vassal state of Helidonn and was ordered to make reparation to the remaining Ludaine elves and rebuild the island kingdom.

With their dying breaths, Æthoran and his two sons cursed Alton and his allies and implored the High Witches and Wizards of Córa to rise up against their new masters.  To their everlasting credit, all of Córa’s High Witches and Wizards, led by the Alpha Wizard, Atherton, were horrified and sickened by their king’s actions and left the kingdom to help make reparation to the surviving Ludaine.  Atherton explained to the tribunal that had they known of Æthoran’s war plans, they would have dethroned their king themselves.  In all fairness to them, the High Witches and Wizards were not involved in trade or war, their speciality was education and enlightenment.

Prince Lynton and Princess Solindae stayed on Ludaine to oversee the rebuilding.  A druidess who had returned to Ludaine recognised that Solindae possessed the blood of Solanna, the Sun Goddess of the Helidonn, the blood of Elunor, the Moon Goddess of the Ludaine and the blood of Æthelryth the Witch Queen of the Córan.  Solindae’s true parentage became known.  When Wilthus learned about Solindae’s heritage, he asked the tribunal to appoint her and Lynton as joint rulers of Ludaine.  At the official coronation, it was revealed that the newly crowned Queen Solindae was with child.

On Helidonn, Queen Lindae gave birth to elven twins, Princesses Allison and Helen.  Everyone said that the new princesses were the image of both their father and mother.  Both had elven ears and skin colour but pale green eyes and brown hair.  Neither twin had any magical powers.

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Months later on Ludaine the newly crowned King and Queen saw the birth of their own twins, Prince Fennindae and Princess Thalindae.  Everyone said they were the image of their father.  They were pink skinned with normal ears, pale green eyes and brown hair.  Neither twin had any magical powers.

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Julian took another drink and settled back in his seat.  Was the story finished?  I was no more the wiser than before I’d heard this entertaining but highly convoluted story.  “That’s a charming story Julian but it doesn’t answer any of my questions.  Why is Alice in danger?  Who wants to find her and why?” I asked puzzled. 

“She carries Solindae’s bloodline.  They want her for breeding stock,” answered Leonidas as he walked into the room.

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[diamonddaisy]

Well, I wasn't expecting that! Great update as usual

[Magpie2012]

O_O

Gobsmacked!

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

[Nevermore]

I started reading this story yesterday, and it is amazing! I love the house in the very first chapter. The wedding dresses at every single wedding are just beautiful. So is absolutely everything to do with the story Leonidas and Julian have been telling Alice and Gobias.

I'm totally hooked on this story. Looking forward to the next update.