An Unwanted Decision

Lord Garth stood at the door to Adara’s cell. He hesitated, and then unlocked it and stepped in. Adara stood, gazing out the window. She turned to face him. He stood smirking.

“What do you want?” asked Adara.

“Princess, I have a decision for you to make,” said Lord Garth.

“A decision?” asked Adara, puzzled.

“Yes. I hold your father and brother prisoner, you know.”

Adara’s lips tightened.

“The first choice is this: I want your kingdom. I want it, your wealth, and your rank.”

“Well, you shall not have it!” declared Adara.

“Ah, but the choice that you will decline if you choose that is this: your father and brother,” Lord Garth said quietly.

The color fled from Adara’s face. “My father and brother?” she repeated, incredulously.

“Do you want them?” asked Lord Garth, “Because if you do, the kingdom is mine. If you want the kingdom, I will kill your brother and father.”

Adara stood staring at him, then she cried, “You expect me to decide this? What makes you think that I want to decide this?”

“It does not matter. You have until tomorrow morning to decide,” said Lord Garth.

“Tomorrow morning!” cried Adara, “It is already afternoon! I have been here for days!”

“Yes. Decide,” said Lord Garth. He reached into his pocket. “Here is a note from your father. Don’t worry, I did not change it. I expect you to be sensible.”

Lord Garth tossed Adara a slip of paper. Then he left, shutting and locking the door behind him. Adara watched him leave, then she looked at the paper he had given her. She opened it. It said, in her father’s firm handwriting: “Choose the kingdom, choose the kingdom, choose the kingdom. – your loving father.”

She stared at it. Choose the kingdom! He was asking her to give him and her brother up! Adara’s mind whirled. What was she to do? Should she give Lord Garth the kingdom and condemn her people to tyranny, or should she give him her brother and father? How was she to decide?

Throughout the fading afternoon and into the advancing dusk of evening, Adara had been pacing the confines of her prison. All it took was four short quick steps to traverse the space from the motheaten cot to the grey cold stone wall. At least one could break that routine by the six steps it took to walk from the bolted door to the barred window. While the steps were not wearisome, the fragile mind was being worn down step by step by step. Even twilights last hopes were dimmed as night fell all around save for the miniscule light of the candle.

The voice abruptly awakened Adara from her thoughts, startling her and breaking the routine her four by six steps. She had not heard the echoing steps in the passage, the rattling of keys, nor the shooting back of the bolt that had preceded all past conversation, save her own. There! Again, the voice whispered as if it were the wind coming through the cracks. Spinning around her position facing the door, Adara confronted the only hope she had on any given day since having been kidnapped…the window.

Dusk’s last lights allowed Adara to only dimly see the shape of a hooded face, which when she looked closer, was masked. Faintly the voice whispered again. With only the light of the candle, Adara hesitantly stepped towards the window. The knowledge that she was many feet in the air was only somewhat comforting. She paused and then advanced again, with a small measure of confidence, due to the bars of the window. Then in a voice that trembled she asked, “Who goes there, and what right do you have of startling a helpless maid?”

The words resonated about loudly in her cell, but the sound was reassuring to Adara. With caution thrown to the wind, Adara took quickly the last step to the window and stared back with all the courage she could muster at her indistinct invader. “Who are you and how did you get to be at my window?”

Silence. And then, the soft whisper was heard with the reply, “Never mind who I am or how I got here, my lady.”

Taken aback, Adara stumbled, and caught herself on the sill of the window. She thought she recognized the hooded voice but what had astonished her was the recognition of her high estate.

The shadowy figure adjusted its position and spoke ever so softly, “I am Ryder. I have been sent by friends with a message and a gift for you. Please keep the candle back from the window as I must not be seen.”

A rough, and well worn, leather purse was quickly thrust through the window along with a very small folded piece of parchment.

“What are these?” Adara asked curiously.

“Open the leather bag and pour its contents into your hand. But do not drop any,” instructed Ryder

She did so and drew in a sharp breath, for in her palm lay ten gems.

“What are these?” she cried.

“They are the Gems of Tragedy and Decision,” Ryder replied, “There are but nine Tragedies in life for you. All but one shall happen before you are twenty.”

“Twenty! That is three years from now!” exclaimed Adara.

“Yes. Some have happened already. You alone know what they are. Can you name them?”

“Aye. The first is that I was ever born.”

Ryder met her gaze, and then dropped one Gem back into the bag. “One,” he said softly.

“That Lord Garth was ever born,” Adara said.

“Two,” And Ryder dropped another in.

“That I am a princess.”

“Three,” Another dropped in.

“That I was chosen to make this decision.”

“Four,” Yet another Gem dropped in.

“That my lover is a coward,” Adara said sadly.

Ryder’s hand dropped another in the bag.

“Five.”

“I cannot think of any more.” Said Adara.

“There is but one I can think of, Princess. It is this, that you are so young, so innocent and so beautiful, yet your life presently is such as it is.”

“Six,” this time Adara said the word as the Gem dropped in the leather bag.

“There are but three Tragedies left. Two shall take place within the next three years. The other shall not happen for a long time, I hope.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Adara.

“It, Princess, is your death,” answered Ryder, soberly.

Adara drew in her breath sharply. Then she said, “You named three Gems, what is the fourth?”

“That, Princess, is the Gem of Decision. It is larger than the others, just as this Gem is more important. It stands for the greatest decision you will ever make. Do you know what this decision is?” Ryder spoke quietly, but firmly.

“The one that I face right now?” asked Adara, softly.

Ryder nodded. “I cannot tell you much, but I must warn you. If you choose to give Lord Garth the kingdom, he will tax your people beyond their strength. But if you choose to give him you father and brother, you will have to live with the knowledge that you killed them.

“Remember this though, your father and brother are only two people, willing to give themselves for their country. On the other side of the scale, there is ten thousands of people, who you will destroy if Lord Garth gains control of them. One other thing. I cannot tell you which is which, but one choice destroys a good man who looks bad. The other will rid the world of a bad man who looks good.”

Adara listened in silence. Then she said, slowly, “I understand that Lord Garth is the bad man who looks good, but who is the good man who looks bad?”

“I cannot tell you.” answered Ryder, “But I warn you, if you allow Lord Garth to gain control of this kingdom, the entire world will be chaos. He will be able to control your entire army. But on the other side of the balance is the fact that he will be able to blame you for killing your brother and father. He will kill all but you, so you have no one to back up your story. You will be shunned, no one will believe your story, it is too farfetched. I also know, that if Lord Garth gets the kingdom, he has agreements with King Leon.”

“King Leon!” exclaimed Adara, “He is my father’s greatest enemy!”

“Hush. Yes, he is. Let me sum it up for you, Princess. Lord Garth will destroy all if he gets the kingdom. If he gets your father and brother, he will blame all on you, and there will be little chance of revenge. Princess, choose wisely!” Ryder said firmly, “Now, examine these Gems in the light.”

Adara brought them over to the light. They sparkled brightly.

“Ryder, “ she spoke softly, “Who is the good man?”

Hearing no answer, she turned. Ryder was gone!

End of Chapter Nine

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