The Summoning

The walk down the dimly lit corridor was fraught with silent tension. Torches flickered and cast wavering shadows upon the stone walls and floor. Cobwebs were tucked into dark corners, and spiders rested upon their silky abodes, waiting for unwitting flies to come. Leiyu wondered if he too was wandering into a trap.

Lord Oganesson was leading them. He turned around to make sure Prince Thallios and Leiyu were still there. Leiyu averted his eyes. When the king’s advisor turned back to the front, Leiyu glanced at the prince. It was difficult to tell how the prince was feeling since his face was as immobile as a statue.

The prince said he would put in a good word for me if the guards caught us outside the palace, but how are we going to deal with the king? he thought. Will he tell his father that leaving the palace was his idea and that he just dragged me along? Or will he betray me to save himself?

They approached the door at the end of the corridor. Lord Oganesson knocked three times.

“Your Majesty, I have brought His Highness the Crown Prince,” he said in Heliglossan. “And the Easterner.”

“You may enter,” the king’s muffled voice replied.

Lord Oganesson took out a key and unlocked the door. After Prince Thallios and Leiyu entered the chamber, Lord Oganesson shut the door and locked it.

The chamber was just as dim as the corridor, although the candles on the altar provided some visibility. King Xenon stood near the wall, his face a patchwork of faint illumination and somber shadow.

Prince Thallios and Lord Oganesson dropped to their knees before the king. Leiyu panicked and quickly followed suit, lowering his head as much as he could.

“You wish to speak with me, father?” Prince Thallios asked in Heliglossan. His voice was completely flat.

I can’t understand what he’s saying, but the prince is doing a good job of hiding any nervousness, Leiyu thought.

“Let us speak in a language we can all understand,” the king replied in Sargeshi.

Leiyu gulped.

The king continued. “My son, years ago, after your mother passed away, I told you to always remain in the palace, for your protection. The outside world was too dangerous.”

Prince Thallios inhaled slowly. Leiyu closed his eyes and tried to still his heart.

“But now comes a time where all that must change,” the king said. He took a deep breath. “Ishkhandar is on the verge of being invaded.”

Prince Thallios and Leiyu both looked up, startled.

“What do you mean, father?” the prince asked.

“The Southern Region’s armies have already captured the cities along our region’s southeastern border. If they ride northward, Ishkhandar is next.”

“W-why haven’t we heard anything of this until now?” the prince asked.

“Information from the outside is being tightly controlled in order not to induce panic,” the king said. “We are quietly preparing all our soldiers to be ready to defend the kingdom.”

“While the people of Ishkhandar carry on, completely oblivious?” the prince asked. He stood up. “Why are we even having the Summer Festival if there is an imminent invasion?”

The king sighed sadly. “To give the people one last moment of joy before everything falls apart.”

Prince Thallios gasped. Leiyu’s heart pounded. Lord Oganesson lowered his eyes and stared at the cold stone tiles.

“What are you saying?” the prince asked. “That Ishkhandar is doomed? Why don’t we evacuate everyone?”

“They will be safer within the city walls. Our soldiers will fight as bravely as they can to defend Ishkhandar. If we’re lucky, we can sustain ourselves for weeks, months, maybe even a year. If the people are outside, they will be vulnerable to the enemy and our armies will be spread too thin trying to protect them. There will also be complete chaos if we try to evacuate them now. We have thousands of people in the city. They may lose their lives sooner because they are all trying to step over each other to leave.”

“Then we’re all stuck here,” the prince said. “Waiting for our deaths?”

The king approached the prince. When they were standing next to each other, Leiyu could see how much taller the father was compared to the son.

“Not all of us,” King Xenon said. “My son, you must escape.”

Prince Thallios’ eyes widened. “But…what about you, father?”

“As the king, I cannot abandon my kingdom.”

“Then, I will stay as well!”

“No!” King Xenon shouted. Prince Thallios gasped and took a step back. Immediately regretting his outburst, the king softened his voice. “My son, if you stay, you will surely perish. If you escape now, you will still have a chance to live.”

Tears began to well up in Prince Thallios’ eyes. “Father…”

Leiyu, who was still kneeling, finally decided to speak up. “Your Majesty, forgive me for interrupting, I can assist in fighting off the invaders.”

King Xenon looked over at him. “What is your name?”

Leiyu lowered his head. “Your Majesty, this humble one is named Leiyu.”

The king walked towards him. “I’ve seen you practicing magic in the courtyard.” Leiyu looked up, surprised. “Nevertheless, you might not be able to fight off an entire army.” Pacing around the chamber, he continued, “You are originally from the Eastern Region?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Why is he asking me that? Leiyu wondered. Does he think I’m a Northerner? Why would that matter anyway?

“Just as the prophecy said,” the king murmured.

“Prophecy?” asked Prince Thallios.

King Xenon walked over to the mosaic of the late queen. Turning towards the prince, he said, “My son, many years ago, in your mother’s final weeks, I went to visit her in her chambers. I had arrived just when you were leaving. She said she encouraged you to go to your lessons so that you could return later to recite the poems you learned.”

Prince Thallios began to blink rapidly. “Yes, I vaguely remember this. I had brought her flowers that day.”

“She downplayed her illness in front of you so that you would not be worried,” the king said somberly. “But when I spoke to her, she let me know how dire things had become. And then she told me of her visions.”

“What visions?” Prince Thallios asked. “She never spoke of them to me.”

“She did not want to frighten you. You were still a child, no more than ten years old.”

“What did she tell you?”

The king sighed. “Her mind was plagued with horrific scenes. Our cities falling one by one. Enemy soldiers at our gates. Our people screaming and running, but unable to get away. This palace engulfed in flames. It frightened me to hear her say these things. I told her they were mere nightmares. She shook her head and said no, they were real, and they would come to pass. She spoke of her own death, and said that it would come within a fortnight. Our great empire would decay and become a shell of its former self. I would eventually perish. And then she spoke of you.”

“What did she say about me?” Prince Thallios asked.

The king hesitated before continuing. “She said that you would be hunted down.”

Prince Thallios gasped.

“But there was also a glimmer of hope. In her visions, she saw a stranger from the Eastern Region, and said that this person would be the one to save you.”

Now it was Leiyu’s turn to gasp. He stared at King Xenon and Prince Thallios.

“I asked her who this Eastern stranger was, and she said she did not know. After that, she was too tired to continue speaking. I stayed with her while she rested, and prayed to the Goddess of Fire to grant her reprieve from these horrific images plaguing her mind. Although she had been ill for many years, I still held on to the belief that someday she would get better, and that we could all be happy again. But her first vision came true soon after. Within two weeks, she was on her deathbed.”

Prince Thallios’ face twisted with raw emotion. Tears filled his eyes. “Father, why did you not tell me this before?”

King Xenon looked at his son sadly. “I did not want you to grow up in despair.”

Prince Thallios’ tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks. All the memories of the day his mother passed away came flooding back, and now there were these new revelations. He trembled and buried his face in his hands.

Leiyu’s head was spinning. Cold tingles ran down his spine as he struggled to take in all of this information. Am I the Eastern stranger in the late queen’s visions? Was this why I’ve always had that dream with the red cord leading me westward? Was this why I always wanted to leave home and see the world? Because I was supposed to end up here and save the prince? None of my decisions were truly my own? I was just being pulled by fate?

Leiyu’s thoughts were interrupted by a series of frantic knocks on the door. There was panicked shouting in Heliglossan coming from the outside. The king replied cautiously. The voice on the other side of the door said more things that Leiyu could not understand.

King Xenon’s face turned pale. Prince Thallios uncovered his face and looked distressed. Lord Oganesson stood up.

“What’s going on?” Leiyu asked.

“Our guards just told us there was a sneak attack,” Lord Oganesson explained. “The enemies will soon be at the city gates.” He shook his head and sighed. “This was far sooner than we had anticipated.”

King Xenon turned to his son. “There is no time left! You must escape now!”

Prince Thallios’ heart began to pound and fresh tears filled his eyes.

The king turned toward Leiyu. “You must swear to protect my son at all costs! Guard him with your life!”

Leiyu bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Turning back to Prince Thallios, the king said, “My son, this is where we must part.”

“No!” the prince pleaded, voice trembling and tears streaming. “Please, isn’t there something I could do?”

King Xenon paused. “There is...this may be tempting fate but…have you heard of the Sword of Ages?”

“Yes…from the legends…”

“It is real.”

Prince Thallios stared at him in disbelief.

“It is in the mountains to the northeast, ” said King Xenon. “Our kingdom may fall now, but you can come back with the Sword of Ages to avenge us!”

Prince Thallios was speechless. Avenge? That meant his father did not expect to survive this siege. “Father…"

“Do you still have your dagger?”

“Yes.” The prince pulled his cape aside and revealed the dagger dangling from his belt. “I always wear it.”

“That should be good enough for now. In the back of the stables, there is an entrance to an escape tunnel that will lead you to a secret exit far outside the city walls. Go with your friend and seek out the Sword of Ages.”

Prince Thallios looked at him tearfully. King Xenon looked back at him solemnly and took a step forward. He reached his arms out and embraced his son.

The king switched back to his native Heliglossan. “My son, I am so sorry about how things have turned out.” His brown eyes glistened. “As your father, I have failed you in so many ways. I wasn’t there to guide you after your mother passed away because I was too caught up in my own grief. I had so many years to reach out to you, but I never did, because the longer time passed, the harder it was. My only wish now is for you to survive. Please, you must go…before it is too late…”

“Father…” Prince Thallios trembled as tears flowed freely down his face.

The king looked up and switched back to Sargeshi. “Leiyu, please take my son and leave quickly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Leiyu. He stood up and turned to the prince. “Your Highness, shall we go?”

Prince Thallios began to follow Leiyu to the door but then turned around.

“Lord Oganesson, are you also coming with us?” the prince asked.

Lord Oganesson glanced at King Xenon, as if seeking his approval.

“You should go,” the king said to his advisor. “Save yourself as well.”

Lord Oganesson walked over to the king. “I will stay by His Majesty’s side as his loyal advisor,” he declared. The king’s eyes widened.

Prince Thallios wiped the tears from his face. “Then…thank you for everything that you taught me…”

Lord Oganesson smiled as he held back the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. “You’re welcome, Your Highness. Please, go now so that you may live.”

Leiyu and Prince Thallios walked out the door.