The Fantasy Trip inspired Fiction, The Tower

[Terquem]

Chapter 2 part 6

They slept. It was a peaceful sleep, a dreamless sleep of tired folk feeling secure within the walls of the tower.

Alan stayed awake for hours and then, when he thought Fairlyn had rested well, he woke the elf gently. They talked briefly about the quiet, and the need to keep the fire going, and then Alan lay down near Lisa, but not too close, and fell asleep.

When Alan’s breathing became steady and deep, Fairlyn woke Tewelden.

Fairlyn whispered into the gymnaga’s ear, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I am,” Tewelden answered.

“You trust them, and you think this is the right place to hide the book?”

“I think we can trust the sorceress,” Tewelden said. “I’ve heard she has taken vows of protection. I understand her people expect her to be their champion.”

“Then why don’t we just tell them?”

“I would, but it isn’t because I don’t trust her, or the man, or the folk from the village. The fewer people who know, the better it will be. In time I know my mother will sort out the mysteries. We have copied the parts that we think are most important to the Gates and how they came to be. The prophecy isn’t the problem. What the Beauvingians are looking for probably doesn’t exist, but if they are willing to kill to find it, this book must not be found.”

Tewelden kissed Fairlyn, and then she went to the stairs. She lowered her upper body until it was nearly parallel to the floor as she approached the stairs, moving on her hips and her hands and with a practiced motion ascended the stairs quickly and quietly. She reached the second floor and then found the next flight of stairs going up again to the top floor of the tower.

On the top floor there were two closed doors. Without hesitating she went to the door on her right, as her mother had told her, and after speaking a simple spell the latch of the door clicked. Unlocked now she raised up on to her one knee, the joint of her lower body were her reduced lower legs came together in a single hard bony structure and opened the door.

The small room was a library. There were only three shelves, but the selves were crowded with books, hundreds of books of various sizes filled the shelves and were also stacked on the floors around the bookshelves. Across the room, under a small window was a simple bed and next to that a chair. She went straight away to the shelf in the middle and looked for the best place to conceal the small book she had tucked into her belt.

"Why are you here?” The Tower asked.

Tewelden was startled and dropped the small book.

“Can the others hear you?” The gymnaga princess asked as she recovered the book.

“No,” the Tower said. “I can make my voice heard in any part of the tower or all of it. I can be quiet when I want to be. I do not want to alarm the others, but I am curious as to what you are doing in here.”

“Can you keep a secret?” She asked.

“It is one of my favorite things to do,” the Tower said. “I have kept many secrets for many long years. If you mean no harm to me, or to the sorceress, I can keep your secret.”

“I am hiding a book here in this library. It is the book of the poet Halaga Mo’Tergrunn. It must be kept from discovery until my mother has learned what it is the Beauvingians are looking for.”

“I will tell no one,” the tower said.

“Thank you,” she said. “Why are you willing to help me?”

“A long time ago a man lived in this tower and he had a companion who was a gymnaga woman, much like you I imagine. She was kind, caring, passionate, and joyful. She planted flowers in boxes hung below my windows. She sang and played the mandolin. I miss her.”

“I think that was my grandmother,” Tewelden said. “I must get back to the first floor. When I can return I would like to hear more about her and this man she lived with. My family tells a story that he was a terrible man and that he kept my grandmother against her will.”

“She was a prisoner to his temperament, and to his love, that was true. She could have left him at any time, and often wanted to, but he was a proud man, and a weak man. He used her love for him against her. He never used me to keep her here, but she could not leave.”

“Thank you,” she said and then slipped out through the door casting a spell once more to lock the door again.

She made her way back to the first floor. Fairlyn embraced her, and then the gymnaga princess went back to the place where she had been sleeping and tried to close her eyes and relax.

She fell asleep to the sounds of the wind and the rain and the crackle of the fire.