Chapter 17
“Castle and Book“
[Well, for everyone waiting with bated breath to see what happens next, I’m rather there myself. What happens next? Godric enters the castle; that’s pretty certain. But as I was thinking about it this morning, I heard what sounded like mice in the woodwork; turns out the sound was simply my stomach, or something lower track. I so missed taking part in the universal, debilitating illness, that I thought I would give it a try. The Covid pandemic did not pass me by, and I can testify that it is not pleasant, especially not when combined with another serious infection. What’s going on, I ask? That’s no way to treat an old man!
Anyway, so far it hasn’t killed me, unless this is me being dead, and death is having to tell the same story over and over. That would be Hell! Heaven would be a constantly new story where the redeemed sinner gets, as someone once said, “to praise God and enjoy him forever.” Someone else wrote that “joy was the serious business of Heaven.” The imp (of the perverse) is getting upset with all the talk about Heaven and threatens to undermine the fairytale if I don’t quit. His threat at the moment is that he will quit correcting my atrocious spelling. That would be serious since sometimes even the word I am trying to write or even think of is beyond his capacities. Ah! I hear the mice again and had better stop to investigate even though the autobiography was going so well. It seems that today’s modicum of energy is just about shot. In any case we still have Godric and his faithful bird, Philip, about to enter the mysterious castle of Ardor.]
Godric walked to the castle while Philip flew above him, a dark shape in a bright sunlit afternoon. When the Prince arrived at the castle entrance, he saw a sign above the wide wooden doors, hanging from chains attached to two sturdy iron hooks. The sign said, Castle Ardor. Godric tied his horse to a rail in front of the castle.
A small sign to the right of the doors said, “Say the door and enter!”
“What?” cried the Prince. “That sign makes no sense. If I say ‘the door’ the doors will swing open? Let’s see.” The Prince tried to push the door open though, of course, nothing happened. He couldn’t move them, even though he put his shoulder against the thick wood of the door. Philip looked up at him from the ground.
“Hey, Boss. Why don’t you do what the sign says? After all this seems to be an enchanted castle.”
“That’s silly!
“Maybe the owner has a sense of humor,” replied Philip. “Ardor, the door? Close anyway. At least give it a try since you can’t get in otherwise.”
“All right. I’ll give it a try! The door.” The doors didn’t budge and the distant sound of laughter echoed around them. “See nothing! It makes no sense! Someone is mocking us as well!”
“Okay Boss, but you didn’t do exactly what the sign says. After all, the sign says, ‘say the door and enter.’” The instant Philip spoke the words, the doors slowly swung open revealing a dimly lit hall-like corridor. The walls of the corridor were lined with hands holding burning candelabras, three candles to each. On each side of the corridor there were doors, all securely closed, each with a brass ring hanging from the side of the door that opened. At the top of each door was a sign, for the moment all the nearest ones were unreadable. Above the corridor and almost disappearing in the dim light ran a balcony. Standing on the balcony though invisible to those below was the Wizard King of the castle and land. He wore a grey beard and blue cape filled with familiar images of the universe, sun and moon and distant stars, as well as with esoteric images of swirling galaxies and cosmic dust. His name was Andor! He appeared to be laughing. Next to him stood his spirit servant, Aventó, dressed in form fitting tights and looking much like a tall, thin man.
“Events are unfolding well, my clever servant, though it took him longer to arrive here than I expected. A naiad can be quite distracting, and I didn’t see that coming.”
“Nor did I, sweet Master, though had she not helped he would have been even longer!”
“Yes, I suppose you are right, though I shall not give up my daughter without putting him further to the test. Have you made the rooms ready?”
“Indeed I have. Where shall I send him first, with his pet bird?” Aventó grinned, pleased with the reduction of another creature to a status below his own.
“Careful,” said the Wizard King, narrowing his gaze. “Don’t underestimate the power of a wise companion, regardless of his present form. As for the Prince, lead him first to the Library. All of the best adventures, after all, begin with a book!”
“Consider it done,” said the spirit, making himself invisible, and disappearing with a rustle of feathers down to the corridor, near to the Prince and Philip. Once there he began to whistle a catchy tune, the kind that gets into your head and stays there all day, if not all week.
“Listen,” said Godric to Philip. “Do you hear music of a rare kind? I think its coming from the first room on the right. Sounds like a flute. Can you read the sign above that door?” As he asked that, the strange word at the top of the door, Barrily, rearranged itself to spell Library.
“I thought at first it said ‘Barely’ but now it’s readable: it’s Library.”
“Good catch, Boss,” said Philip, looking up at the Prince. Had he been able to roll his eyes, he certainly would have. Instead, he used one of his long sharp claws to scratch his beak. “Are you going to try the door. Things can hardly go wrong in a library, unless monsters in books escaped and caused havoc in this world.”
“Yes, we’re going in, and let’s hope all the monsters stay in the books,” he said, thinking especially of the hungry River Troll and the Demon. “I don’t suppose there’s any danger there.” With that said he followed the music into the library.
The library consisted of three large rooms, all of them accessed from the front vestibule, one to the right, one to the left, one in the center. The music now seemed to be coming from the central room; Godric allowed the music to lead him into the room where he saw vast walls with shelves filled with numerous books. In the center of the room was a polished wooden lectern with a large book, bound in red leather and opened to be read, with a fine silver chain running down the center, holding the book to the open pages, as well as to the lectern.
The Prince looked around, awed by the magnitude of the collection. He looked at the shelf just inside the room. The first book he came to was entitled, Slaying Dragons for Fun and Profit. The next was, The Monster Within and How to Slay It. The Prince shuddered slightly and turned to the lectern and the book there. He walked to it while Philip flew up to the top of the stand and looked down at the text. The letters were again jumbled. However, when the Prince looked down, he found readable print.
“What kind of book is it, Boss?”
“It’s a book of magic, a Grimoire; it tells you how to cast spells, cast protective spells, spells to summon demons. Etc. The owner of the castle must be a very powerful Wizard to have such a book and to leave it open in full view where anyone could read it.”
“But the letters were jumbled until you looked at it. It looks as though it was meant for you. You had best be careful.”
“You’re right. But let’s see what it says, first.” The book had three columns on each of the two opened pages. The Prince ran his finger down the page. “Ah,” he said. “Here’s a spell for wealth untold! That could be dangerous. Something can’t come from nothing. What would wealth untold cost in the long run? There are no real shortcuts to wealth.”
Farther down the page he found a spell for invincibility in arms. “That would be handy, Philip. A protection spell, invincibility! We’re always finding creatures that want to hurt us.” He remembered the image of the awful war-torn world he had wandered into earlier in the quest and the woman he had helped there.
“You would do better with an invisibility spell. Then you wouldn’t have to fight anything!”
“Right you are, little guy,” he chuckled. I guess I will indeed skip that one.” As he looked at each spell, the words for casting it became visible where before they had been gibberish. When he moved on he found a spell that almost stopped his heart. “Okay, Philip. Here’s an interesting spell for winning your true love’s heart. Let’s see what it says. If your true love you would win/bind her heart with this sharp pin: love of mine these words I say/ will bind your heart to me this day!”
The Prince looked up from the book for the music that lured him into the room had suddenly stopped. He looked down at the page again. “A spell book is a tempting thing. Magic is an attempt to shortcut reality, Philip. No matter how much your heart’s desire was in her, who would want a woman who wasn’t free to choose or reject. I think we should leave this room.”
“Good idea, Boss! That reminds me of Tessa anyway.“
“Who is Tessa?” asked the Prince.
“Was,” said Philip. “She was my true love, I thought I was hers, but one day she just flew off and never came back. She left a great emptiness in my heart. You sure you don’t want to copy that spell? Love is risky, you know. In any case I now have a true mate; her name is Sophia. Love however is still risky.”
“I know,” said the Prince. And I’ll risk it! Let’s go!”
Godric turned and walked out the library door. Philip flew after him. The candles on the corridor next to that door had gone out.
Meanwhile the Wizard King’s spirit helper, Aventó, flew up to the balcony and made himself visible.
“That went well,” said the Wizard. “There’s hope for our young Prince after all is said and done.”
“What next, Master? The Grave Yard? The Monster Maze? The Plague Town?”
“No. Calm yourself, my trusty spirit. You need to lead the Prince to the Hall of Mirrors. We shall see there how much he’s learned and how wise he truly is.”
“Coming up, Master. On the double. Faster than a hummingbird’s hustle.” And with that the spirit resumed his invisibility and left the balcony for the corridor floor and the Prince.
