1.2
“Terramere has never sought to rule more than its own domain; the only planet that can make such a claim. Then again, it is the only truly self-sustaining planet.” – ‘A Guide to the Green Planet’ (ANTHIS)
The Kingswood (Terramere)
Tym waited nervously atop a thick, low-lying branch just outside the hidden room beneath the roots of a thousand-year-old tree.
But it wasn’t just any room beneath any tree. It was the Elders’ chamber beneath the Kingstree of the Red River camp; the river named for the reddish tint it carried during the flooding seasons – the camp the home to his family.
Running a hand through his long and flowing brown hair, Tym grinned as he saw the same nervous look on his brother sitting next to him. Apparently, everyone was nervous on the eve of their first hunt.
“Stop doing that,” Gael said quietly.
The youth wore his chestnut brown hair tied tightly behind his neck. A deerskin cloak hung from his shoulders, matching a pair of same-skinned pants. His brown eyes darted from Tym’s to the door of the Elders’ chamber and back again.
“Doing what?” Tym tried to laugh but it didn’t work. His shaky grip tightened on the small bow his father had pressed into his hands a short time before.
“You’re shaking the branch,” Gael hissed. “Sit still for once. Be respectful.”
Tym craned his neck so that he could see the opening beneath the Kingstree. It was nearing their appointed hour, but the Elders were nowhere to be seen. He had even checked the river on the way to have a word with Art, but the older man had abandoned his fishing spot early. That was definitely out of the ordinary.
“I can’t,” Tym responded. Somehow his nervousness had turned to excitement. “Something is happening.”
“They’re testing us,” Gale explained. “Think of what Padraig taught us about hunting – about patience. He said it was the most important thing there is.”
“I don’t think so,” Tym shrugged. “Besides Marcos said the most important thing would be to survive our journey–”
“By being patient, you fool.”
Tym sighed and loosened the grip on his bow. A part of him thought Gael might be right, that this was all a test. A small part.
Besides Art missing, he had seen other signs of things out of the ordinary. Rani and Blossom had returned earlier than usual from gathering. Slade had returned from his hunt empty handed. He would have sworn he could just make out the cat green eyes of Arlo in the brush on the other side of the Kingstree.
“That doesn’t mean we have to be quiet,” he finally managed, breaking the silence that had overtaken the camp. The birds and the river seemed to withhold their usual background noise. Even the wind could hardly spare a whisper.
It was Gael’s turn to laugh. “Ok. Have you told her then?”
“Who?”
A smug smile pasted itself on Gael’s face. It meant only one thing.
“Oh, you mean Faye?” Tym blushed as he saw Gael’s exaggerated nodding. Hurriedly, he tried to calm his face, but it was to no avail. “Have I told her what?”
“How you’re going to bring back a whole pack of dead wolves just for her.”
Tym couldn’t help but smile every time he thought of Faye. “I was going to tell her before we left. And it won’t be the whole pack … just the leader. The one with the red-eyes.”
Gale rolled his mockingly. “What about your plans to marry her?”
Tym fought off the returning red in the face by punching Gael in his bony arm. “You’re just jealous, my friend. I won’t have to travel anywhere to find the woman for me – she’s right here in the Red River.”
Gael smiled and shook his head jokingly. “Finding the right woman is half the fun of being named a man. Exploring the Kingswood is the other.”
After a boy’s first hunt, he was named a man in the eyes of the many tribes of the Kingswood. As a man, he was expected to travel the vast expanse of forest for a few years having as many adventures as possible before he eventually settled down with a woman. It was the way things had worked for as long as anyone could remember.
That’s why Gael was upset with him. Breaking tradition was simply not done.
Silence took the boys again as they turned their eyes back to the Kingstree. The ancient tree rose higher than any other surrounding it. Its lowest branches began where most trees ended, and its leaves were thrice the size of any other. Each of its roots that resided above-ground was thicker than a man’s chest. It was the most beautiful thing Tym had ever seen – besides Faye of course – and he never grew tired of looking at it.
Tym placed his free hand on Gael’s shoulder as his eye caught movement. Without a word, the two youths leaped from their perch and bounced towards the entrance of the Elders’ chamber.
Art emerged first, his gray beard trailing down his chest like a great storm cloud. His sun darkened bald head gleamed in the afternoon light as he saw the boys and smiled.
Next, Flora emerged delicately holding the hem of her old green dress. The dress was one of the family’s most cherished possessions, having been acquired from a farmer-trader at the edge of the Kingswood a century ago. The Elder adjusted the flower petals in her long white hair as she stopped next to Art and studied the two of them.
Finally, the mess of gray hair that was Leo made its way out from under the tree. He wore gray skinned pants much in the style of the other men in the village. However, where the animal fur ended and his true hair began was nearly impossible to differentiate. His face was square and weathered, and a trio of half-healed scars ran across his right cheek.
Leo took another step forward, and then turned his blue eyes back to the chamber. “Come on now,” the Elder said calmly, “they won’t bite.”
Tym turned and noticed the entire family had suddenly joined them. So something is truly happening, he thought with satisfaction. Out of the corner of his eye, he even saw the muscular form of Arlo stepping out of the underbrush.
The entire gathering gasped as a beautiful woman appeared at the entrance of the Kingstree. She was tall and wore a perfectly fitting dress the color of the sky. Her blonde hair hung loose around her oval face and gave way to her sharp blue eyes. In one hand, she balanced a thick walking staff that, even in those hands, looked dangerous.
“So that is a true dress.” Tym heard Blossom whisper from just behind him.
Of all the things to wonder at … the dress! he thought, withholding his laughter.
Blossom’s discipline would postpone any man’s first hunt. Even worse, she might take him away from the beautiful stranger. As far as Tym remembered, there had never been a visitor to the Red River tribe from outside the Kingswood.
“I am Robyn, an Agent of the Alliance” the woman said politely. “I bring news for the tribes of the Kingswood from the Colony.”
Everyone looked at the woman with even more interest – if that was possible. To those of the Kingswood, the Colony was only a story. Perhaps more of a legend. It was the most oddly shaped star in the sky every night, a gift from the Starmother to let her children know that she was always watching.
“The Colony?” Autumn asked with the wonder of the whole family, stepping closer to the woman. “Do you carry a message from our mother?”
The woman called Robyn only smiled. “The Starmother resides deeper in space than even the Colony. Somewhere in the infinite worlds beyond her own red eyes in the sky.” Her words brought an excited rush through the gathering.
“Hear her words, children,” Flora said sternly. Her voice was weak, but it instantly silenced the gathering. She had mothered a few in the crowd and had served as one to even more. To Tym and Gael, she was a grandmother. And a stern one at that.
Robyn managed a weary smile and began to speak again. She held the entire family on edge. “You are one of the last tribes I am tasked with telling this news. You’re lucky the Red River camp lies so deep within the Kingswood. Otherwise, you would be at quite the disadvantage.”
Tym noticed Autumn open her mouth to ask another question only for Flora’s sharp eyes to quickly shut it. After that no one else dared speak.
“Since the time before the Great Victory, the ruler of Terramere has been chosen not by bloodline, but by merit,” Robyn continued. “The very woods within which you stand are not arbitrarily named – they hold the very ground for which any may prove their worth. As is the custom of the Alliance, word must be spread to all citizens of Terramere when a white stag has been spotted.”
Even Flora’s stern look could not stop the rush of whispered words among the Red River tribe. Tym noticed that Gael was grinning from ear to ear.
The white stag was a legend that every tribe within the Kingswood knew by heart. The lesson of it was simple– kill the mythic creature and become king of the entire planet. Then, rule until the next beast appeared and was felled. By then, any man would surely have had enough of being king.
Tym turned at a heavy hand on his shoulder to see Marcos towering above him. The hunter’s round face was still painted with mud from the riverbanks. A pair of rabbits were tied together by their small feet at his side. He flashed a knowing smile from under his brown eyes and turned his attention back to the strange, beautiful woman who appeared to be waiting for absolute silence.
Finally, she continued. “It has been thirty seven years since the last white stag was felled by the farmer-king Orlo Brenson, and it is only fair to warn you that his finest men have set out for the Deepwood to claim the prize for their king.” Robyn’s blue eyes narrowed as she gazed over the gathering. “They will not hesitate to kill anyone in their way.
“It has been over four hundred years since Barkous of the Willow tribe claimed the white stag and ruled this planet. He was the last king who hailed from the tribes of the Kingswood. The last King of the Wood.”
The gathering smiled at the mention of Barkous; every tribe within the great forest knew the name. He was as much of a legend as any white stag.
“The Colony wishes fortune and good hunting to the Red River tribe,” Robyn said in conclusion. Turning to the three Elders, she allowed Art to lead her back into the camber beneath the Kingstree.
Within moments, the gathering had split apart into smaller groups to discuss the woman’s words, leaving Tym and Gael standing before the remaining two Elders. Even Marcos had disappeared as soon as he noticed Leo and Flora approaching the boys. Tym guessed he would already be planning a strategy with Arlo.
“Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you, my children,” Flora smiled. Her mouth was missing a few teeth, but her smile was always that of a loving mother nonetheless. “Your first hunt will still occur as planned.”
Art nodded in agreement. “There is plenty of game outside of the Deepwood. Please, do not be foolish and interfere with the hunt for the white stag. You could be killed.”
Tym nearly swallowed his tongue. “They wouldn’t kill us … would they?”
The older man put one hand on each of the boy’s shoulders and sighed. “Once farmers and those of the Wood were friends. Then, after a hundred years of skirmishes boundaries were drawn. Now, they chip away at the edge of the Kingswood to provide wood for their own houses and fields and the fighting has renewed.”
“Fighting?” Tym and Gael asked as one.
Flora shot a stern look at Art. “Do not worry. We are hundreds of miles away from the nearest farm. If you listen to us and avoid the Deepwood you will be fine. But just in case – if you see any man that you do not know, I want you boys to hide. Promise me.”
“We promise,” they said.
“Excellent,” Art grinned. “You two know the rules well enough. You may stay together, but each of you has to return with his own kill. If anything you bring back was found closer than two days from our camp we will know, and you will be put out of the camp. It is better that you do not come back at all then to return a cheat or empty-handed.”
The two boys nodded. They knew the rules as well as the back of their own hands. Every boy dreamed of the day he could undertake his first hunt, and no one dared to try and cheat the ritual. Besides, as far as Tym knew the number of successful hunts greatly outnumbered those that had failed.
“We are ready,” Tym said with as much strength as he could muster.
“Then be gone,” Flora answered sternly. “And good luck.”
The two had nearly made it to the edge of the camp before a young woman burst from the bushes and wrapped Tym in a neck-breaking embrace. He smiled as he momentarily lost himself in Faye’s sweet-smelling brown hair.
“My kill will be for you, Faye,” he said confidently. She blushed as she let go of him and pushed the thick hair away from her gray eyes. “Then, we can go adventuring together and settle anywhere we want.”
She laughed nervously and put her arm around Tym as they made their way towards the river. At the muddy banks, Gael bid Faye farewell and crossed the waist deep water carefully. Silently, Tym thanked him for the moment alone with Faye.
“I will miss you more than you know,” he said as they sat along the riverbank.
Unexpectedly, a sad look appeared on her face. “Blossom told me that the Elder’s would disapprove of our being together. That they would rather save me for a man from another tribe and force you to take a woman from one.”
Tym shook his head in disbelief. “What do you mean? Why would they say that?”
“I don’t know,” she managed as tears began to form at the edge of her eyes. “I don’t understand anything that has happened today.”
“I know it is not the way of the tribes, but it is not unheard of, Faye. I will never leave you – no matter what anyone says.”
“But what if it happens while you are away? There will be hunters passing through the Red River camp in search of the white stag, and Flora is more than just persuasive.”
Tym sighed. He hadn’t even considered that.
“Let us go away today,” she continued. “Let’s go somewhere where they will never find us. To the farmer’s lands. To the Colony. To anywhere.”
“But … I can’t,” Tym said slowly. “I have to prove myself a man or else be banished from every tribe in the Kingswood. And they will come looking for you. Women are very valuable to the Red River.”
“I don’t care,” she argued. Even distressed she was beautiful. “We can outrun them. We can … we can live on the edge of the wood and steal from the farmers. I’ll do anything to keep you. I don’t want anyone else … I want you … I…”
Tym wrapped his arms around her as she began to sob. Suddenly, he felt stronger. He realized he was hunting for more than his own glory. “Forget the wolf, I’ll kill a bear. Two bears! I will even kill the white stag if I have to. No one could say a word about two people from the same tribe being married if you’re my queen.”
Faye smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
Laughing, Tym swung them both to their feet. “I better get going,” he said. “There is no time to waste!” He kissed her on the lips and rushed across the river to where the other boy had been watching them.
As he was refastening his belt and quiver, Gael approached him with a sarcastic smirk. “Sunsets are not as red as your face, my brother.”
Tym sighed. “They don’t want to let us be together. They want to put her in the arms of some stranger. But I will change their minds.”
“It is very unusual for two from the same tribe…”
Tym pushed him aside jokingly. “By the Starmother herself, I swear we’ll be together. Whatever the cost – I will happily pay it. A thousand times over!”
They looked back across the crystal blue water where Faye was still watching.
“I will be back for you!” Tym shouted, waving farewell. The next time he saw her would be like the first all over again. Then, he turned from the Red River camp and looked confidently into Gael’s eyes. “Let’s go.”
Without another word, the two boys stalked off into the unknown depths of the Kingswood leaving the sound of the river, the Kingstree, and everything else they had ever known behind them.