Bedtime Story by Robert J. Wiersema Read Free Book Online Page B

mystery. It is the tradition of our order that adepts go out into the world, beyond the frames of any maps, to explore, to discover themselves and the worlds beyond. When they return—
if
they return—the knowledge they bring is added to the knowledge of the Brotherhood. Only then are they considered for advancement.” He puffed on his pipe. “When Gafilair returned, he brought with him not just knowledge, but the Sunstone itself. He never told anyone where it came from, and he spent years investigating the full extent of its powers.”
    “So what does it do?” Matthias asked, feeling a thrum of excitement.
    “It’s an object of almost unparalleled power. It lent that power to the army of the King. It shielded them from the perils of the battle. It might”—Loren paused—“it might even have the power of life everlasting.”
    “What?”
    Loren smiled. The air was fragrant with smoke from his pipe. “There are stories. It is said that during the battle of Corindor Field, Stephen took a Berok arrow to the breast, that he fell in the opening moments of the fighting.”
    Matthias straightened in his chair.
    “According to some who claimed to have seen it, the magus leapt from his horse and, without a moment’s hesitation, pressed the stone to Stephen’s heart. Moments later, Stephen took his mount and led the next charge himself. The stone had healed him, even from the point of death.”
    “But that’s—”
    “Impossible?” He puffed at his pipe. “Perhaps. But there are many who believe that story. The King is one of them. He needs the stone to protect the kingdom.”
    “To heal himself.”
    The magus’s lips curled around the stem of his pipe.
    “Why didn’t King Stephen keep the stone?”
    “Its powers made him cautious. So he ordered Gafilair to conceal the stone, to keep it safe in a place where even he would not be able to retrieve it.”
    “And only one person—”
    The magus nodded. “And that person is you.”
    “I can’t,” Matthias said, shaking his head. The words that he had been holding back since the morning came flooding out of him. “I don’t know how to fight, I barely know how to ride. I’ve never even seen a Berok. It can’t be me.”
    “As I said, the descriptions which Gafilair left are very detailed. I compared them against the records kept by the Brotherhood. A child of common birth, born under the sign of the Wolf with the evening star in its ascension …” He lifted his hands to show how effortless the whole process had been.
    “It’s you,” he said plainly. “I know you don’t believe it, but it’s true. I could show you the charts and calculations.”
    Matthias shook his head. “No,” he said, slumping back into the chair. There was no point in arguing, no matter how terrified the idea made him. “So what do I have to do?”
    The magus reached into his bag. “First this,” he said, laying a knife in a leather sheath on the table between them.
    Matthias stared at the knife, then up at the magus.
    “It’s yours,” the magus said. “Wear it in your boot. Keep it with you always.”
    Matthias thought of the captain, taking care to lock him in the room when he left. He was virtually a prisoner, and now the magus was offering him a weapon.
    “You will be well protected as we travel,” the magus said slowly. “But there are great dangers ahead, and you must be prepared to protect yourself, should it come to that.”
    He looked at the knife again.
    “Take it,” the magus said. “Keep it close. Keep it hidden. No one else needs know.”

    Dale and I met outside Ferris’s, waiting in the short line for a table.
    “You know,” he started, as we inched forward. “Neither of us has an actual schedule. Is there any reason you insist on having lunch at the same time as everybody else in the city?” We’d had the conversation before. At this point in our lives, we’ve had every conversation before.
    “Routine is important.”
    He nodded. “Right.