Cup of Healing

Arianelle, Nolen and Lee meet with The Fisher King

22.

Cup of Healing

 

They easily found the throne room of Braen, and his pages held open the double doors so the three of them could enter.

The room was spacious and airy and on the dais along the other wall was a single throne upon which sat a tall, bearded man dressed in dark wizard’s robes.    He wore a simple silver crown and beckoned them to come forward.

“Come in, come in please, my friends, you are all welcome here.   Pages, bring three chairs for my guests!”    Immediately two of the pages attending their master rushed from the room and returned quickly with three comfortable chairs.  

“Sit, my friends, and we will discuss your success.”

Nolen, Lee and Arianelle each took a seat and the wizard leaned forward on his throne, smiling. “Now, as you by now have no doubt deduced, I am Braen, whom you probably know of as the legendary Fisher King.    I know of the curses placed upon the thrones of your three kingdoms and why you have come here.”

“How do you know all of this?”   Arianelle asked.

The old wizard grinned, his blue eyes sparkling with good humor. “I have been a wizard, sustained supernaturally for many centuries, Princess Arianelle, and I pride myself in my knowledge of what goes on in the world amongst the kingdoms.”

"There was never really an uprising of your people, was there?"   She asked, and Braen smiled.

"No, certainly not -- that was just your first test.   Calvin is my oldest and most faithful servant.   It was he who went with me to meet Lord Yesh and he too shares my mission."

“So have we met the requirements to borrow the chalice of healing to heal our rulers and restore our lands?”   Nolen asked King Braen hopefully.

“Oh, indeed, you have.   In fact, it amazes me how quickly you figured out the secret of gaining an audience with me.    Many have strived to battle my knight.”

“They died in battle against him?”   Arianelle wondered.

“No, Princess Arianelle; I have killed none who have sought me, but those who fail to understand the secret and come here in arrogance or aggressiveness are sent back to their homes empty-handed.    That happens most of the time, and the few that do figure out the secret are bound by me to never share it, not even with their lieges.    It is a requirement I must ask of all three of you.”

 

They all readily agreed to his request and Braen smiled, pleased with their consent. “Very good, it will hold the power of a geis upon the three of you.   If you break your vow, the curse upon your families and your kingdoms will be restored at once.”

King Braen stood up and clapped his hands together one time, calling to his pages as he did. “Bring forth the Chalice of Healing for those who have proven their worthiness.”

Arianelle and her companions stood as a page reverently carried a golden chalice into the throne room upon a white pillow.   The cup shimmered and sparkled, radiating magic that all of them could sense.

“You will be entrusted with this holy cup, but beware of any thoughts of keeping it or misuse of it, for it shall surely bring worse curses upon you and your kingdoms.     Pour red wine into the cup and offer it to the kings and queens afflicted, but only to them.    Once they have partaken of the cup, give it to one of your fellows and they will be transported to the next kingdom for the same healing.   When the last of the kings and their queens have been healed, the cup will vanish and you shall never see it, nor this holy place again.”

King Braen held up his hands, “All that you experienced coming here was an illusion, dear children, except for my servant Calvin.   They were mere tests to determine your worthiness.    Only this castle is real.     You have learned a valuable lesson of the mercy of Yesh, may it guide your lives and bless your families and your kingdoms.     Go now in the name of Yesh the Merciful.”

A golden light seemed to fill the room as King Braen took the chalice from the pillow and placed it into Prince Lee’s hands.    The light filled the room until they could see nothing but its’ lovely golden hue, and hear the call of kingfishers.     Then the scene faded from view and they were gone.

 

***

 

There was the cry of alarm in a tongue Arianelle knew to be Hutcaiah as they materialized into the royal chambers of the Hutcaiah emperor.

For a few moments there was pandemonium, shouting and the running of feet, but Prince Lee shouted over them all to not be afraid.

The royal wizards did not believe it was really him and began chanting spells, while others yelled for the guards.

Prince Lee did not waste a moment but rushed to the bedside of his parents, scattering the slaves from attending their master and mistress.   Lifting his father’s head, he tilted the cup to him - then realized that he had no wine in it.

“Wine!   Red wine!   Quickly!”  He called, nervously watching the spellcasters.    Arianelle and Nolen looked around wildly, and both spotted a young slave holding a glass bottle across the room, frozen in fear at what was happening.

“Nolen!”   Arianelle yelled, and he understood her, running toward the terrified girl.     But the wizards were nearly finished chanting their spells and were already beginning to make hand gestures to cast something at Prince Lee.    She knew she had to stop them, but there was nothing at hand to throw at them.

Nothing except some of the many large pillows on the emperor’s bed.     So she scooped up a handful and flung them as a bundle at the two wizards.    

It caught them by surprise, breaking the chant of one of them and cancelling out his spell.    The other wizard, however, dodged the throw and kept his finger pointed at Lee.    A moment later there was a flash of blue and Prince Lee was briefly engulfed in a field of cobalt.     When the field disappeared, he had the form of a stone statue, still holding the chalice (which had not been affected by the spell).    

Hutcaiah guards were now bursting into the room, led by hysterical servants who pointed at them.      Nolen had reached the girl by then and as she cowered in fear, he snatched what he hoped to be a bottle of red wine from her.   But the guards were quickly advancing upon him and he knew he’d never reach the emperor’s bedside in time.

“Aria, catch!”   He yelled and without warning tossed the corked bottle across the room to her.   Though surprised, she caught the glass bottle.    The wizards were already preparing to cast another spell, so she knew she had no time to think things through.   She flung herself onto the bed, running across it and pulling the chalice out of the stony hands of Prince Lee.     The wine bottle's cork popped free after a bit of struggle and as she heard Nolen attempting to engage the Hutcaiah guards alone to give her enough time, she poured the wine into the holy cup, filling it to nearly to the top.

As soon as the alcohol touched the chalice, a white light filled the room and the sound of kingfisher birds came from all around.

The wizards and guards were taken aback by this, so Arianelle used their pause to hold the chalice up to the lips of the Hutcaiah emperor.   He was semi-conscious and looked at her with dreamy eyes, not really seeing her in his weakened condition.   

“Open your lips, Your Majesty.” She spoke the words in broken Hutcaiah, but to her relief, he complied and she poured the wine into his mouth, telling him to drink it.

The light in the room flashed to a brilliance that blinded everyone.   The wizards and guards cried out, expecting an arcane assassination of their lord.     But then the room returned to normal and as everyone blinked away the after-image, Emperor Hiote-Chi-Anak was sitting up in bed, looking perplexed, but certainly in good health.   

Realizing somehow that they were his benefactors, he called to his guards to disengage from Nolen.

Turning to Arianelle, he asked her, “What has happened?”

Finding herself smiling at the man, she pointed to the emperor’s son, “Your Majesty, if you will have your wizards change your son back to flesh, he will gladly tell you, but first we must offer this chalice to your queen, in order to heal her and break the curse on your land.”

The Hutcaiah emperor nodded, and Arianelle gently lifted the unconscious Hutcaiah queen’s head, handing the chalice to Nolen who had rushed over to join her.

“I’ll open her mouth, you pour; just be careful not to choke her.”  

Her cousin nodded, and as the confused Hutcaiah emperor looked on, they administered a dose of the wine to his queen.

Again a white light flashed but they never saw the queen’s reaction, for as soon as they could see again, Nolen and Arianelle found themselves in her parent’s bedchambers in Tarmard.

 

There were cries of alarm, but this time they were recognized.   

“The Cup of Healing!”  Lady Mathlyn exclaimed, seeing what Nolen and her great granddaughter had in their possession, “You did it!”

“How are they?”   Arianelle asked as they rushed to the bed.

“Growing weaker, I’m afraid,”    Mathlyn told them, “What can I do to help you?”

“Just pray that it works like it did in Lu-Wadj,”   Nolen replied as he handed the cup to Arianelle so he could lift Aedric’s head.   The cup was still over half full of the Hutcaiah wine.

The king seemed vaguely aware of them and slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m going to give you some wine that will heal you, daddy,”  Arianelle said softly into her father’s ear, then slowly tilted the chalice up.    Again white light filled the room, but Arianelle and Nolen were prepared for it this time and tightly closed their eyes.    When they opened them, they saw King Aedric smiling at them.   

“Hello, sweetheart,”   He said to his only child, and then turning to Nolen, “Nolen, I am so sorry to hear about your parents… it was a senseless tragedy.”

Nolen nodded. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“We’ve got to give mom a dose, but after that happens, we may disappear, as we’ve still got grandpa and grandma to heal.”

“I understand,”   Aedric said, moving out of the way so they could more easily reach Snoe.

Working as a team, Aedric gently lifted the unconscious body of the Sylvan queen and let Arianelle carefully pry her mouth open.

“Mama, I’m going to give you a drink, okay?”   She whispered into her mother’s ear a moment before pouring a bit more of the wine into her mouth.    Snoe swallowed, but began coughing as a bit of the wine went down wrong.   Still the light flashed, but again they were teleported out before they could see if the dose worked.

 

Now they were in the royal bedroom in Westmark and their appearance caused Princess Aidan and Amala (both who were keeping watch at their parents’ bedside) to cry out in alarm.

“It’s just us,”  Arianelle told them, “We’ve got the chalice.”

She handed the cup - which still had some wine left in it- to Nolen.    Eleazar looked at them weakly and smiled slightly, but was unable to say anything.   

“Grandpa, I’m going to help you sit up a bit and Nolen is going to give you a drink of wine that will heal you.”

He seemed to nod slightly and so they proceeded as they had before.    Once again there was a flash of light and Eleazar was healed.   He didn’t say anything, but moved aside so they could give the last of the wine to Aurei.    The queen was sleeping, but Arianelle slowly lifted her and opened her lips.   Thankfully, she didn’t resist and Nolen gently poured the rest of the wine in the chalice into the drow queen’s mouth.     Again there was a flash of light and when they opened their eyes, they saw the beautiful red glowing eyes of their grandmother looking at them.

“You did it!”   She exclaimed, reaching out and pulling her two grandchildren close in a hug.

Neither of them said anything but hugged their beloved grandma back, relishing the relief that the danger had passed.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...returned quickly with thee comfortable chairs." I believe you wanted "three," here.
"...were taken back by this..." I think, perhaps, you meant "aback."