The Prophecy - Softcover

Robson, Lane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1491737522 ISBN 13: 9781491737521

Verlag: iUniverse, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

Asgard is a subterranean kingdom populated by the descendants of Viking colonists whose vessels are blown off course and who are eventually stranded in the Canadian arctic. The subterranean kingdom also includes various aboriginal peoples from North America (Anasazi, Haida, Siksika, Inuit), Central America (Maya), and South America (Inca), and intelligent bears. There is an ancient prophecy that on the millennium anniversary of the arrival of the original Vikings, a blonde surface woman of Icelandic heritage will wed the current prince and usher in an age of untold prosperity. The blonde woman was foretold to appear at a hot spring (one of the natural entrances to the subterranean world) during a full moon when the lights were dancing in the northern sky. Princess Malicious, daughter of the King, covets the throne of Asgard. Her treacherous plans threaten the peace and survival of the kingdom. Viking, Mayan, Inca, Haida, Anasazi, Siksika, and other aboriginal myths and history are woven into the story. Descriptions of the cavern world (stalactites, stalagmites, crystals) are realistic. Seeing is an important theme-seeing in dreams, seeing in wakeful visions, vision quests, drug-induced visions. Faith and conservation are other important themes

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lane Robson started medical school at 19 and practiced medicine for over half a century. He established the first kidney disease and dialysis program for children in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta. Lane's academic career encompassed research, teaching, and administration. He published over 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He achieved full professorship status at several universities, including Brown. His original research contributed to a better understanding of the clinical problems he managed. He was department head in several institutions. For the last twenty years, Lane has focused on helping children with bedwetting. He still works a few days a week. Over his career, Lane volunteered and served in various political and charitable organizations. Lane is well-travelled and enjoys hiking and gardening. He has two children and four grandchildren.

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The Prophecy

By Lane Robson

iUniverse

Copyright © 2014 Lane Robson
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-3752-1

CHAPTER 1

Midnight Alchemy

Why me? Jens thought. I'm just the boot boy, and any one of the kitchen staff could have been sneaking a midnight snack, or it could have been one of the royal guards for that matter—they're always in the kitchen. Why couldn't it have been one of them? They're brave and would have told. I didn't mean to spy on the princess. Why did she have to come down while I was there?

Fresh berries were a seasonal treat, and the crates unpacked earlier in the day had offered a temptation Jens couldn't resist. He had waited several hours, until everyone in the castle was asleep, before he dared to sneak down to the kitchen. Barefoot, the boy had navigated the dark hallways and circular steps without making a sound.

The head cook personally checked all the fruit and vegetables and culled the choicest produce for the royal family. There was always a lot left over, and Jens was pleased to find the berries already separated and in bowls on the preparation table. There were several large soapstone bowls filled with berries that had not been chosen for the royal family. What was left was appreciably less than what had been delivered, and Jens was sure that the kitchen staff and senior royal attendants had already eaten their fill. As such, he started to feel less guilty about sampling "his" share. Now that the tasty berries were within reach, his pangs of guilt disappeared in favor of pangs of desire and hunger.

I'm just as important as any of the kitchen maids. Why shouldn't I enjoy a few berries that no one will miss? he rationalized as he scooped a handful into his mouth.

The berries were wonderful, but later, Jens would wish he had never eaten a single berry and feel sure that none would ever taste the same again.

When Jens first heard the footsteps, he presumed one of the maids was sneaking down for the same purpose, and he might not have hidden but for the realization that the person coming down the stairs was wearing shoes with metal toes, an affectation peculiar to the princess, and the soft but unmistakable clicks confirmed her identity as surely as if a royal herald had announced her name.

The pantry served as a convenient hiding place, but even with the door closed, Jens could still see most of the kitchen through the cracks. Of course he looked, but afterward, he would wish the door had been solid.

The princess was carrying a sack, which she placed on the table. There was something wriggling inside, and Jens wondered what creature was trapped and for what purpose.

After lighting candles in the wall fixtures and several on the table, the princess started a fire under a small black cauldron she had filled with water. The candlelight softened the princess's gaunt features and imparted a warm yellow tone to skin that normally looked pale and anemic.

She wore a long black tunic gathered at each shoulder with oval brooches, between which hung a string of carnelian beads that connected with a larger round brooch in the middle of her chest. The brooches were silver and had an intricate design of intertwined serpents with tiny rubies for eyes. Under the tunic she wore a gray silk chemise without sleeves that was buttoned at the top with a carnelian bead the size and shape of a small acorn. Her bare arms were thin and wiry and reached out to similarly shaped fingers capped with nails bitten to the quick. An amber clip secured thin, translucent, plaited hair that fell over her back and between her bony shoulder blades.

In this light she almost looks pretty, thought Jens, but then the princess's red eyes flashed in the firelight. A cold chill rippled down his spine, goose bumps erupted on the back of his neck, and Jens thought otherwise.

Once the water was boiling, the princess opened the sack and removed a toad the size of a kitten, which she dropped into the water before the poor creature could so much as croak a protest. The princess stoked the fire and again brought the cauldron to a boil and then went back to the table, where she rummaged in the sack and removed several items.

Jens watched while the princess placed the bloated body of a dried fish covered with tiny spines, the skull of a small animal, some brittle leaves, and the dried roots of several different plants in an alabaster mortar. She ground these items with a pestle and transferred the resultant dirty gray powder into a wooden bowl. The cauldron with the boiled toad simmered on the fire, and the princess skimmed a translucent oily scum from the surface with a wooden spoon and added the thick fluid to the powder in the bowl. As she mixed the contents, she chanted an incantation, most of which Jens could not hear. The only part that he thought he heard was "the living dead," and he heard this only because the princess repeated the phrase several times.

After the princess added the oily scum, the powder in the bowl turned from dirty gray to glistening white and crystallized into what looked like salt or sugar. Jens watched as the princess carefully transferred the white granules into a tiny vial, taking special care not to let even a grain come into contact with her skin.

The princess carefully cleaned the mortar and pestle and put the bowl, spoon, and sack into the fire. When the flames were high, she immolated the remains of the toad on the tiny funeral pyre. Once the toad had been consumed, the princess doused the fire with water from the cauldron. After a glance confirmed that all evidence of her nocturnal visit was gone, the princess placed the vial into an inside pocket of her cloak and left.

Jens did not come out of the pantry until the soft clicking had disappeared far up the stairwell. When he did emerge, the vapors from the toxic fire still lingered and made his eyes, nose, and throat burn. Poison, he realized, but for whom?

Jens considered whether he should inform the king, but like most of the castle staff, he was frightened of the red-eyed princess, and the fear hindered his otherwise good intentions. He spent an agonizing day trying to steel the courage necessary to do the right thing, but each time he started toward the royal chambers, he lost his nerve and returned to his cleaning duties.

Later that day, as he was cleaning boots in the stables, he learned that Queen Freyja had just collapsed and died, within seconds of eating some vegetables that she had salted. When Jens cried, everyone thought his grief was for the queen, but his tears flowed more for shame than for sadness.

CHAPTER 2

Hiking into a Prophecy

"Hardly anyone knows about this valley," Kate remarked as she hoisted herself up onto a shelf that looked north over a pristine spruce forest punctuated by alpine meadows. The last week of July found the area alive with Indian paintbrushes that waved in the warm southerly breeze that had followed them all morning.

"Apart from the native Indians who hunted this far north, few others have bothered with this rugged corner of the British Columbia wilderness," Kate said. "My great-grandfather might have been the first European to trek into this valley. He was a prospector at the turn of the nineteenth century. Since then, our family has returned many times. Now it's a tradition, a back-to-our-roots sort of adventure."

"Works for me," said Ian, "although being a week away by horse from the nearest highway, hundreds of miles from the nearest town, and out of cell phone range makes this more than your average adventure. When we left...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: iUniverse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1491737522
• ISBN 13: 9781491737521
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 486
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland