Sauragia: Journey to the Red Mountain

Chapter 15

There was so much work to be done, and Astron could not think of a more pleasant day on which to do it. It was sunny, mild, and slightly breezy. There were only the faintest wisps of clouds way up in the sky as he stood on the Palace lawn overseeing the set-up for the next day’s festival. It was traditional to mark the first day of spring with a picnic on the lawn, and certain preparations had to be made ahead of time. The trees and hedges had to be trimmed and the blankets laid out on the tables to ensure they were big enough. Their bright patterns of red, blue, and yellow stood in stark contrast to the deepening green of the grass.

Astron sighed with contentment as he watched this work being done, and imagined vividly the countless variety of dishes that would adorn those blankets tomorrow, many of which were being created even as he stood there. He then took a deep breath of morning air and let it out slowly. The air was so clean and fresh today, he might just go for a walk in the surrounding woods a bit later, followed by a swim in the old watering hole. Spending time in the Elderwood Forest had been a favourite activity of his since first coming to Saurahall. Something about being surrounded by trees and good fertile soil just made him feel whole like nothing else could. It was not that he hated living in a town—he could think of no better place to call home than Saurahall. But he was a country dinosaur at heart, and so his love of the earth had remained.

Amid this pleasant daydreaming, he felt the presence of Bard standing beside him.

“Hello there, Bard,” he said cheerily. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, not really,” answered Bard, though he looked a tad worried. “It’s just my dirk. The silver one.”

Astron nodded. “I remember.”

“Well, it seems to have gone missing, sheath and all. Can’t imagine where I’d have put it. You haven’t seen it, have you?”

“‘Fraid not. Need help looking for it?”

“No, don’t bother.” Bard shook his head for emphasis. “Prob’ly just left it somewhere an’ forgot. I’m sure it’ll turn up. You’ll let me know if you see it?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks, mate,” said Bard, and he limped off. Astron puzzled over the missing dirk for a moment. It wasn’t like Bard to misplace things. He didn’t have that many possessions in the first place, and it was clear that that dirk had special meaning to him. It wasn’t like everyone knew about it either, so it couldn’t be stolen. Or could it?

He instantly made up his mind to help Bard search for it as soon as he had taken his walk. The preparations were going quite smoothly, so he wasn’t really needed here. He then realized his young ones would probably like to go out on this lovely day as well. He would just go and ask them, wherever they were. He knew from experience that they could be hard to find, even though they were usually all together. Fortunately he encountered Rob on the way in.

“Morning, Rob,” he addressed his old friend. “How’s the training going?”

“Oh, splendid, old chap!” replied Rob excitedly. “There’s not a thing these youngsters can’t master with a little guidance. They’ll be more than ready for tomorrow.”

“That’s great! Say, have you seen the young uns?”

“Matter of fact I have. Violet’s with Martha, and the others just nipped out to play in the garden a little while ago. In quite a hurry they were too. Must be the weather.”

Astron nodded. “For sure. I was just about to take a stroll in the Elderwood and see if they’d care to come along.”

“Brilliant idea, old lad! I think I’ll join you as soon as I find my dagger. It seems to have gone missing.”

“That’s odd. Bard’s dirk has disappeared too.”

“Hmm. Well, that is a poser, isn’t it? Anyway, I reckon they’ll turn up. Think the princess will want to come along on this little jaunt?”

“Alyssa? She’s too busy making sure everything’s perfect for tomorrow. You know how she is.”

“Quite right.”

Arnor, Frederik, and Rose stood together in the yard beside the garden. They had indeed felt compelled to go outside this fine day, though it was not just the good weather that brought them out. For the two brothers had hatched a devious plan to attain real weapons for their games, and it had succeeded admirably. Thus, Arnor now stood with Bard’s silver dirk in his right claw and Frederik held one of Rob’s daggers in his left. Rose did not have a weapon, as she was trying to act more ladylike, but she had just as much fun as the boys, egging them on at every turn.

They knew better than to swing the sharp blades at each other, of course, but chopped at the grass or high hedges instead. They did their best to avoid all of the adults running around, and were fairly successful considering how busy everyone was. At first it was loads of fun messing about with real blades like grown-ups. But as is so often the case with young children and new toys, they soon got bored and wondered what they should do next. It did not take Arnor long to come up with an idea.

“I say, why don’t we go on up to the walltop!” he suggested. “That’d be fun.”

“Brilliant idea, Arnor!” agreed Rose.

“What?” spoke Frederik. “But mum and dad say we’re not supposed to play on the walls. We could get in trouble.”

“We’re not supposed to play with real weapons either,” said Arnor, waving the dirk around.

“Well, I don’t know…” Frederik still hesitated. “We can control the weapons. Up there, something might happen.”

“Aww, don’t be such a scared hatchling,” said Rose. “It’ll be fun.”

“Oh, all right,” Frederik finally gave in. “But how do we get up there without being seen?”

“That’s easy,” said Arnor. “The gardeners always leave a ladder or two lying about. We’ll just haul one into place and climb it. Now let’s go!”

Skirting the edge of the garden, they did find an old scaling ladder used for quick access to the walls when there were no stairs nearby. It was heavier than they had thought, but together the three of them managed to heft it into place and climb it one by one. They felt so daring and bold ascending those rungs that they had no fear of getting in trouble then. For in their imaginations they were brave explorers climbing an unknown mountain in some faraway land, their blades at the ready for any danger that might come their way. Even Frederik got into the spirit of things, and soon they were all at the top.

The section of wall they chose was one they knew to be patrolled less frequently, so their chances of being caught were small. If anyone did come their way, they figured they would just glide down the ladder really quickly like they’d seen their father and Rob do a couple of times. In the meantime, they pretended to be great defenders of Saurahall, warding off invading Saltrak like their dad in the days before they were born.

They were having such delight in their world of imagination when Frederik leaned over the rampart and spotted a pile of straw and weeds below. It was what the gardeners called a compost pile, in which dead plants and other things were allowed to decompose for use in enriching the soil. They did not really get it, no matter how much Alyssa tried to explain it to them, but they had found it very soft and fun for jumping in when they were smaller.

Frederik pointed to the pile now and said, “Hey, Arnor! I bet you couldn’t jump on that pile from here.”

“I bet I could,” retorted Arnor.

“Then why don’t you?”

“Well, because it’s silly,” replied the younger brother. “How would I get back up here?”

“Climb, of course! Now go on.”

“No, Freddie!” Rose objected for the first time. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Yes,” said Arnor. “What if I miss?”

“You couldn’t,” assured Frederik. “It’s impossible to miss.”

“Why don’t you go, then?”

“Because I asked you first. So go on, Arnor. Who’s the scared hatchling now?”

Arnor scowled at his brother. “I am not scared!”

“Prove it!”

“All right I will!” said Arnor as he stepped up onto the battlement.

“No Arnor, don’t!” Rose again objected.

But Arnor was not listening. His heart was beating too loudly for him to hear much of anything. For in truth, he really was scared. He knew what he was doing was a bad idea, but he could never admit it to his brother of all dinos! He looked down at the compost pile—very far down—and up at the sky. Closing his eyes, he braced himself to jump.

“I’m not scared. I’m not scared!” he said quietly to convince himself. He bent his legs in preparation to jump. He was ready. He could do this if anyone could!

Suddenly he felt himself grabbed by a pair of strong foreclaws and hauled sharply off the battlement.

“Hold up there, laddie buck!” came the commanding voice of Rob as the captain placed him safely back on the walltop, snatching the dirk away from him in the process. “Just what were you thinking there, hmm?”

“I…I…” But before the terrified youngster could answer, his father appeared in a terrible rage like they had never seen before.

“Arnor! What in the Creator’s name are you, or any of you”—he swept his gaze over Frederik and Rose—”doing up here? As if stealing deadly weapons isn’t bad enough, you decide to mess about on the walls too.”

Arnor opened his mouth to answer that they had only borrowed the weapons, but Astron continued.

“Do you realize just how high these battlements are? What gave you the idiotic notion to jump off of here?”

“I wasn’t going to jump!” replied Arnor hastily.

“Oh, really?” spoke Astron in complete disbelief. “Is that what I was supposed to tell your mother if you broke your neck?”

“It…It was Freddie’s fault! I…”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Astron exploded. “I don’t care in the least whose fault it is! You all know better.” He sighed and tried to speak more calmly then. “Being royalty is no excuse for breaking the rules. On the contrary, we must lead by example, and you three showed a pretty poor example today. Go to your room now, and don’t you dare leave until your mother or I summon you.”

“But father, we’ll miss the night festival,” objected Frederik weakly.

“Go!” ordered Astron, his temper flaring again. “And take the stairs this time.”

With their heads bowed, the royal offspring stalked off in mournful procession without a word more. Rob merely stood by quietly and watched. He hated to see the young ones so badly scolded by their father, but he found Astron’s points quite valid. Astron examined the dagger he had taken from Frederik and passed it back to Rob with a deep sigh.

“Here,” he said. “You’ll have to clean it a bit. Looks like they were trimming the grass with it.”

“No problem, Astron,” said Rob, sheathing it. “Nothing a little cloth and rubbing can’t fix. What now, sir?”

“Take Bard’s dirk back to him and explain where it was. Then make sure the youngsters have gone to their room.”

“Righto, old boy.” He stopped after a few paces and asked Astron, “Still going for that walk?”

“I think I’ve lost interest in the idea, actually.”

And when he thought about it, Rob had too.