The Four Swords

Chapter 7: Foresight

Those already seated at the table all rose in unison, blocking my view of the delegation but giving me an excellent view of Alina's expression when she discovered her tutor. Her flawless smile faltered for only a moment. I could see Cali grab her hand under the table, before they both hid the action in their voluminous skirts.

"Welcome honored guests, please take a seat at our table." Luckily, King Caderyn was back to the tone he used with his kingdom. I guess countrymen and delegations alike get the formal voice.

"Thank you for your hospitality, King Caderyn, on this festive occasion. Happy Birthday, young princess." The man with the longest robe was the speaker. His tangerine garb had the slightest train when he entered the room.

His accent matched that of Alina's professor perfectly. I never knew gnomes had accents.

He was a plump individual whose bald head only accentuated how small in stature he was. He must be of great importance to be the one to speak for the gnomes.

He took his seat first before his delegation and the Ensisites followed suit. I am not sure if his using the word 'young' was meant to be a slight or just commentary. The gnomes did tend to live about 3 of our human lifetimes, so I am sure that 18 years did seem quite childish to them.

With everyone seated I could see the professor's face again. He was trying very hard not to look at Alina. He looked uncomfortable, staring at anything that couldn't look back at him. He had the same expression my younger brother gets when he gets caught doing something he shouldn't. Did the king know he hired a gnome to teach Alina?

"King Berilo, the honor is ours and my daughter thanks you for the well wishes." The King threw in the title for all of us who had not met nor seen this man in our studies.

King Berilo had taken over the gnomish throne within the last two years after his older brother fell to an illness. Although I could recite recent history, my books failed to supply a picture. It was nice to put a face with a name.

"Does your Princess not speak for herself?" King Berilo looked between the two girls seated at the table. I could tell he was trying to weed out which one was the princess. If the gnomes meant us harm, would they not have done it through Alina's tutor? How could they have gotten so close to our crown princess without us all knowing about it?

"Thank you for your gracious and heartfelt greeting, Your Majesty." Alina cut in before her father could respond for her. I could feel a sense of uneasiness in the room, but could not for the life of me figure out why.

"Oh, so she is the one?" King Berilo looked toward Alina's professor, who was in fact turning a fleshy tone of chartreuse. Alina's professor nodded.

Berilo continued on, "King Caderyn, as you know you have been housing Duke Hugo under your roof as a professor for Princess Alina since the gnomes first saw a vision of her in peril. Well this morning, Duke Hugo had a vision during Princess Alina's studies that was worrisome to him. We as a council of gnomes would like to try and see this future ourselves." King Berilo nodded as he finished his statement.

What were we supposed to do about this? I would like to see the vision too, but how could we? Why did the gnomes travel this far?

"Please allow His Grace to explain the vision that he saw. If that is alright with you, King Berilo." King Caderyn probed suspiciously. Should we leave the safety of our kingdom in the hands of gnomes?

Duke Hugo cleared his throat and opened his mouth, before his monarch cut him off. Seemed Alina and her professor did not care for their monarch's to speak for them "I do not believe it wise to make interruptions of visions before we all see."

"How are we to help you achieve that goal?" King Caderyn seemed lost as well, but did so without wrinkling his brow. I straightened up and mimicked Cali's pleasant but blank expression. Surely at some point this had to make sense.

Duke Hugo finally got a word in "Princess Alina, could you please recite the poem from the Battle of the Forging of the Four Swords?" The gnomes, unceremoniously began holding hands up in the air with their forearms together from wrist to elbow. After linking arms the entire delegation closed their eyes.

Alina looked toward her father. He nodded his approval. Alina nodded in return and cleared her throat.

"The eighteenth year had been marked, a new dawning of the same." Alina gasped. The gnomes bent their arms to face the center of the table, and all turned a deeper shade leaning toward green.

What looked like a cloud appeared above the table. In the cloud I could see Alina in her current ball gown on the terrace watching fireworks. The image was clear and pure. I could almost feel the breeze. The tendrils of her hair lightly fluttered. She was radiant.

Alina was frazzled but continued shakily "Betrayal and doubt then sparked, Her country no longer tame." The cloud switched an image of a thin woman dressed in green armor with long black hair. She spoke to a gnome whose color was unmistakably green and whose eyes seemed to be in a fixed place. This image was a little more hazy. Like a morning dew rose from the bottom of the cloud.

This transitioned into an image with the most fog in the cloud. The same woman as before was standing over a man. At first I was not sure what I saw. Horrified, my jaw dropped open. My expressionless facade was long abandoned as I looked upon a fallen King Caderyn on marble resembling the castle halls.