The Stone Of Anidem - Part 2 - Miscellaneous - http://maxpages.com/emilysrealm/The_Stone_Of_Anidem_Part

Continuing the story by Emily Blythe:

So, after a lot of hassles, we finally got into the castle. It certainly wasn’t like any castle I had ever imagined. The room we first came into seemed to be a sort of waiting room. It was very large, about the size of the entire downstairs of a regular house. Along all four walls large couches with green velvet cushions ran. In the center of the room was a very large wooden table with many thick books on it and around this were armchairs with slipcovers of red velvet. There were about thirty chairs in all. In four of these chairs people already sat. On the walls was wallpaper covered with big yellow sunflowers and on the wallpaper hung several portraits of stern looking men and women in very strange clothes. We stood for five minutes just looking at the room and it took me that long to figure out what was wrong with this room. There weren’t any doors. I didn’t even see a door that we could have come in from. Mendal and Lakem motioned us to sit down and wait for our turn to speak with the king and then exited through a door that seemed to just appear out of thin air.
We were kept waiting quite a long time so I had plenty of time to observe the other people in the room. In the chair closet to me sat a very old woman. She was white hair with a few streaks of brown in it and blue eyes that sparkled brightly. She was wearing a dress that you might see any old day in America except for one thing about it, its color. It was a nasty looking shade of very light green and it looked absolutely awful, but the woman didn’t seem to notice this. Her shoes were green too and the toes curled up like elves’ shoes.
This strange woman was having a conversation with another lady who sat just beside her. This woman had gray hair without streaks of any color and brown eyes. She wore glasses with round frames and very thick lenses that magnified her eyes. She was dressed in a an outfit identical to her companions except in that it was black, and it looked much much better then the other woman’s. They were talking fairly loudly, so I was able to overhear their conversation, which interested me very much.
“Did you hear Maude?” said the gray haired woman. “That they now want seventeen Semids for one unicorn horn? That’s Yellow Brick Road robbery I tell you!”
“You are so right Yelhsa,” said Maude. “These politicians have no right to raise prices like their doing. In my day the king made all of the decisions.”
“Yes, those were the good old days,” sighed Yelhsa dreamily. “But you know dear, that system just isn’t practical anymore. If the king made all the decisions now the kingdom would be in even more trouble then it is now, and that’s saying something.”
“That is so true!” said Maude empathetically. “King Nadroj has absolutely no clue how to run a kingdom. He makes the most stupid mistakes and his laws are positively ludicrous.”
“Did you hear about the new law he just passed?”
“No, what is it?” asked Maude eagerly.
“Well, it seems that the elves were angry about all of the kingdom people going into their lands and mining gold and silver and other metals. They came to the castle and told the king that if he didn’t order everyone out they would start a war. Now, everyone knows that elves aren’t fighter at all, they would loose the war in a day, so King Nadroj had no reason to do what he did. He actually ordered everyone out! And you know that the mining in the elven lands is our chief way of money making. The economy will fall like a stone after this. Can you believe he did that?!”
“NO!” said Marge. “He wouldn’t! He couldn’t!”
“He would and could and he did! Can you believe he did that? It’s the stupidest law he’s passed since he became king, and that’s saying something.”
“It sure is. That man is the most incompetent king I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a few.”
After this statement, both women picked up one of the books from the table and started to read. After about a minute of this I decided to switch my concentration to different people. My eyes landed on two young girls. They were both about sixteen or so. One of them had blond hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a short, red pleated skirt and a white tee-shirt that had ‘The Kingdom of Aeslehc’ written on it in red letters.
The other girl had black hair, green eyes, and was wearing a blue pleated skirt and the same tee-shirt as the other girl except that the writing was in blue. They were both wearing white socks and white shoes. They were in a very absorbing conversation about clothes King Nadroj’s new law on clothes that was just as interesting as the conversation that the old ladies had had.
“That new law is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard of in my life Siri!” ejaculated the black haired girl. “Imagine having to wear the same outfits every day.”
“Well it’s not really the exact same outfit every day Camri,” said Siri calmly. “You can wear different colored skirts and the color of the writing on the shirts is different too.”
“Just the same, the king had no right to pass a law saying what we’re allowed to wear! And the kingdom will be so boring looking after this. All the girls wearing one thing, the boys wearing another, all the women dressed alike, and all the men dressed alike. It’s an outrage I tell you! An outrage!”
“I don’t agree with it either Camri. I mean, dressing differently has never made any problems. I just don’t see the point of this law. I mean, why did the king pass it at all?”
“Because he’s nuts, that’s why!” Camri almost screamed. “He should never have been made king in the first place! I for one wouldn’t have cared if King Salazar had broken his word if it kept that idiot from getting the kinghood.”
“Oh, but Camri!” said Siri, sounding horrified. “A king can never break his word! He would never have been respected again!”
“I would still have respected him,” said Camri grumpily, but she refrained from speaking treason against the king and picked up one of the books on the table. Siri followed suit.
By this time I had a very strong impression that King Nadroj’s subjects didn’t like him at all. And I as beginning to see why. From what I had heard, he had only become king by a lucky chance and was now messing up the entire kingdom. I was also starting to doubt whether or not the king could get us home. I thought about telling Beth about this but decided not to because who knew? The king might have been able to help us.
After ten minutes of solid thinking I picked up one of the thicker books from the table and began to read-

Of all of the precious stones and gems in our fair Kingdom of Aeslehc the Stone of Anidem is the greatest. This stone has the extraordinary power to make anyone, even the most dull witted, a great leader. It was made by the greatest wizard that ever lived in the Kingdom of Aeslehc, Calomen Fitergold. Before he died, he told his brother about the Stone, but he didn’t have time to reveal its whereabouts.
The stone is said to be blood red in color and about two inches in diameter. It has a very small gold crown in the center of it, which makes it easy to recognize. To use it, it is said that you have to rub it five times. At this point, a genie will come out of it with the gold crown, enlarged to fit a king’s head. The genie will ask you a riddle, and if you answer it right will place the crown on your head. As long as you have the crown, you will be a brilliant ruler for the rest of your life.
Some people dismiss this wonderful stone as a myth made up by fairies with particularly over-active imaginations, and with some reason. The stone has only been seen once in the kingdom’s entire history. It is said that the Princess Cire, daughter of the honorable King Salazar, and her personal maid saw the stone while fleeing from Princess Cire’s upcoming marriage with King Nadroj. They ran into the Deadly Forest, of the idea that no one would follow them in there. Cire never came back out, but her maid did. She said the Princess and she had seen the stone inside a glass case deep in the heart of the forest. It was guarded by two dragons who took Cire away to who knows where when she couldn’t answer their riddle, which you had to answer correctly to get to the stone. The maid had hidden in the bushes, too frightened to play the game, and when Cire was taken away, she ran back to the castle as fast as she could and told her story.
Many dismissed this story, but many also believe that the Stone of Anidem exists, and will help any who are clever enough to get it. Many people also say that some of the great kings of the past were possessors of the stone. Kings like, Sameron, Caderan, and the Great and Honorable King Leonard Himself. There are also many people who say the King Nadroj could certainly use a run in with this extraordinary stone.
I laughed at this last part. Even the authors of books didn’t hide their dislike of King Nadroj. I was amazed that the King didn’t take this as treason and punish the people who spoke against him. But then I thought better of that idea, it would be almost impossible for him to do because he would have to imprison almost the whole kingdom.
At this point, Mendal and Lakem came back in and over to where Beth and I sat.
“Follow us,” said Mendal. “We’re going to take you to see the king now.”
Beth and I both got up and followed the two boys out of the room, through a door that appeared right before our eyes. We walked through more narrow corridors then I could count and we made so many turns I lost my sense of direction all together. After about ten minutes of this we came to a large stone door, about eight feet tall and ten feet long. Mendal knocked on the door and a high, squeaky voice said, “Password?” “Aeslehc,” said Mendal promptly.

“Isn’t that the name of this kingdom?” I asked Mendal as we walked into the room.
“Yes.”
“That’s a real hard password to guess,” I muttered under my breath.
Mendal gave me a piercing look but didn’t say anything. We walked to the very end of the huge room and there was King Nadroj, sitting atop a throne that was twenty feet tall. The king was very young, I’d say no more then twenty or so. He had hair darker then the sky at midnight, piercing green eyes, and a friendly smile on his face. He was dressed all in green, from the tips of his curled up elfin shoes, to the top of his western cowboy hat. He looked quite strange, to tell the truth.
“Welcome my friends!” he said jovially. “Welcome to my glorious kingdom!”
“Um, thank you, er, Your Highness,” Beth and I both said nervously.
“I trust you are enjoying yourselves?”
“Very much,” I lied quickly.
“Yes, very,” Beth corroborated.
“Wonderful ,wonderful! And where, pray tell, are you lovely young ladies from?”
“Um, Ohio, Your Highness,” I said, deciding the truth was my best bet.
The king started to laugh. “Everyone knows Ohio, and America for that matter, is just a myth! You must be jesters!” he said while grinning. “Wonderful, amazing, spectacular! I love jokers! How about another joke, eh?”
“Um, okay. Beth, why don’t you tell His Highness a joke?”
“Why don’t you? You’re ever so much funnier then I am.”
“Oh, don’t flatter me. You know you’re so much funnier then me.”
“Oh, but-“
The king interrupted us first. “Please get on with it ladies,” the king told us.
“Okay,” I said nervously. “Um, why did it take ten Boy Scouts to get the old lady across the road?” I paused at this place, waiting for him to answer, but as he didn’t I went on. “Because she didn’t want to go,” I finished quickly.
Beth, Mendal, and Lakem all laughed, but the King didn’t. From the expression on his face I got the unpleasant feeling that he was angry at me, and my feeling was right, he was furious.
“YOU CALL YOURSELVES JESTERS?!” he yelled at Beth and me. “YOU COULDN’T MAKE A PROFESSOR LAUGH!” At this Beth, Mendal, Lakem and I all stared at each other in confusion. Why would he say I couldn’t make a professor laugh? But I didn’t have much time to ponder on this because the King went on after a short pause. “YOU HAVE DECEIVED THE GREAT KING OF AESLEHC!” he yelled. “YOU WILL GO TO THE DUNGEONS! YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!”
“Begging your pardon Your Majesty,” said Mendal when Nadroj had finished. “They never really said that they were jesters.”
This didn’t help any though, it just seemed to make the King madder. “TRAITOR!” he yelled. “YOU WILL GO TO THE DUNGEONS AS WELL! LAKEM, TAKE THESE THREE PRISONERS TO THE DUNGEONS! UNLESS YOU WOULD LIKE TO TURN AGAINST ME TOO?!”
Nadroj waited for a second for Lakem to object to taking us away, but Lakem had too much sense to do that. He muttered a few words under his breath and the three of us found ourselves handcuffed together. He was about to open the large doors and lead us out when the King spoke again-
“What are you doing Lakem?” he asked.
“Why, I’m taking these three to the dungeons,” he answered, surprised.
“To the dungeons! Now why would you be doing that? Mendal is one of my best guards,” (Mendal looked at him in surprise.) “And the two young ladies are my guests. Get those handcuffs off them!”
Lakem muttered a few more words and the handcuffs had disappeared from our wrists. King Nadroj nodded approving for a moment and then he spoke again-
“Don’t just stand there ladies!” he said heartily. “Come closer so we can talk better.”
Both Beth and I went cautiously up to Nadroj’s throne. I was getting more nervous by the moment. It was quite obvious to me at this point that all of the King’s subjects were absolutely right about him. He definetly had a few screws loose.
“Now,” said Nadroj. “Please tell me what business you are here on.”
“Please Your Majesty,” said Beth in a voice you could barely hear, “We need your help to get back to our home.”
“You wish to leave so soon?” the King asked. His good temper seemed to be leaving him so I spoke quickly.
“Oh no, Your Majesty!” I said quickly. “We don’t wish to leave but we have to. You see, our parents told us we had to be home, er, in time for, um, dinner.”
Beth stared at me for a few seconds and then said, “Yes! Dinner!”
“OH!” said the King. “Well that’s quite different. I wouldn’t want to make you two lovely ladies late for dinner, no, of course I wouldn’t! I’ll just tell the stable men to get you some horses and a carriage and a coachman and you’ll be home before you know it!”
“Oh, but Your Majesty,” said Beth. “I don’t think we can get home in a carriage.”
“I’d like to know why not!”
“Well, you see Your Majesty,” I started quickly, “We’re pretty sure we come from another world. It’s called Earth.”
The King started to laugh at this. He laughed so hard he almost chocked and it was a while before he could speak. “Earth!” he exclaimed. “The world from the myths?! The one where the plants and animals don’t talk and the trees are all cut down?! The world where you live on a round planet and people can walk upside down on the ground?!”
“Well Your Highness,” I said slowly. “It’s true that the plants and animals don’t talk and that we cut down the trees but you can’t walk upside down.”
“If it’s round, of course you can,” the King answered.
“Yeah, you’re right Your Highness,” said Beth quickly. She gave me a look that said, “Don’t push it.” I decided she was right and I’d better keep my mouth shut about not being able to walk upside down. Instead, I tried a different topic.
“So Your Highness,” I said. “Can you help us get back to Earth?”
“Don’t me silly,” the King answered. “Everyone knows that Earth is a myth. It doesn’t exist!”
“Oh! But Earth does exist Your Highness!” said Beth.
“DO YOU DARE TO CONTRADICT ME?!” Nadroj roared.
“No Your Highness,” said Beth quickly. “You’re right, Earth doesn’t really exist.”
“What are you talking about woman?” Nadroj asked. “Of course Earth exists.
“But-but-but,” Beth stuttered.
“So you can help us get home?” I asked the King eagerly.
“Help you home where?”
“To Earth!” Beth almost yelled.
“Earth doesn’t exist!” said Nadroj.
At this point both Beth and I were about to loose our tempers. I guess Lakem realized this because he thanked the King for giving us his time and then he and Mendal steered us toward the door. While we were leaving I couldn’t resist taking one more shot.
“Your Majesty,” I said quickly. “Where did you get your cowboy hat?”
“In America,” said Nadroj absently. (He was reading a book now.)
Both Beth and I were about to say something to this but the two boys steered us out the big doors before we could. They steered us down the twisting and turning halls until we got back to the waiting room. The four people who had been in there before were still there but there was another there now too.
He was a tall man, around twenty five or so. His hair was blond and was bleached by the sun. He skin was dark brown from being in the sun and he had the look of the adventurer about him. He was looking around himself with his blue eyes in distaste.
Mendal and Lakem steered Beth and I over to two chairs and we sat down reluctantly. I wanted to go back to the throne room and tell him exactly what I thought about his precious kingdom and himself and from the look on Beth’s face, so did she. But the two boys left us in the chairs and hurried off through a suddenly appearing door and left us in the waiting room with five strange people.

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