Fourth Vector Ch. 16

"Would any of you like something to drink before we begin?" asked Evelyn as she looked around the room.

Jack shook his head. "I don't mean to be rude, but what I really want are some answers. Drinks can wait. Please tell us what's going on."

To his surprise, Vera chirped up next with an equally strong response. "I have to agree with Jack. Please start the story. Is he really my brother?"

Evelyn nodded. "That is he. He's your older brother, and both of your parents are the same. Your father was my son, John. He's been gone for almost twenty-two years now, and there's not an hour of the day that goes by that I don't think about him. Jack, you're like a vision of him at that age, and Vera, you look so much like your mother."

"What happened to him?" asked Jack.

"Killed," said Evelyn. "Alongside your mother, and my husband, Will, by agents of Marcus Rosdahl, the former Galician Regent."

"The Galician Regent? But why?" said Jack. "If I'm supposed to be the Galician King, why would the regent want to hunt down my family?"

Jack's words were honest and inquisitive, but they earned a round of gasps from both Vera and Abigail. Jack then realized it was the first time either of them had heard the news about his identity.

"What kind of game is this?" asked Vera angrily. "He's not the Galician King!"

Evelyn put her hands up to calm her. "We'll get to that, my dear. But he's correct. Jack is the heir to the Galician throne. His birth has been foretold by prophecy for nearly two thousand years now."

Vera's mouth hung open. "If he's the king, then that makes me . . . "

"Correct, you're a princess now," said Evelyn with a sweet smile. "But let me answer your brother's question." She then turned back to Jack. "The answer to your question reveals the true nature of power. That is, those that attain power never seek to give it up. Yes, the Galician regents were caretakers of the throne as long as the royal family was gone, however, they were just supposed to be caretakers. When the first regent took the throne, it was written that he was supposed to give up the regency in case the heir to the throne could be found, which of course, he willingly agreed to do. Over time, all hope has vanished of the Galicians finding their heir, so the regents got comfortable with their power. They didn't want it to go away and would do all they could to preserve it."

"Marcus Rosdahl was just such a regent. He had the full power of the country behind him, and when he learned that the heir's family still lived, he sought to extinguish the line. He did it out of foolishness, thinking that if he did, his family would be able to rule Galicia forever. That turned out somewhat ironically for him though, but he did hunt us for all the long years he spent on the throne."

"How did he find out about you?" asked Jack. "I'm assuming if you've been hiding for that long, you had to have had a good hiding place."

"Someone tipped him off," said Evelyn with a pained expression. "For nearly one hundred and fifty years, multiple generations lived on the same small, deserted Galician island, alone to ourselves. It was perfectly safe as long as we stayed on the island. However, we couldn't always stay there. There was no market or town there, so we had to cross to another nearby island for supplies. It was there that your grandfather let slip of who we were to someone he shouldn't. This man wanted a quick payday, and he tipped off soldiers of the regent. The guards showed up afterwards."

"What happened then?" asked Vera.

"That was a hard day," said Evelyn with a distant remorse. "We ran. We did the only thing we could do. Jack, you were still so little. Barely a month old. But the five of us traveled, and no matter where we went, Marcus' men weren't far behind. We knew that Jack was the one that the prophecy was about. It was no way to raise a child constantly on the run, so we had to make a painful decision. We sent him to a family on the other side of the world."

"Java," answered Jack.

"Correct, Jack. I myself took the journey across the ocean with your father and mother. We died our hair black during the journey, to prevent any rumors of foreigners from spreading around. Of course, there aren't very many blondes in that part of the world. We lived in the capitol of Belfort for nearly six months until we found someone who would take you, someone who would raise you like their own. Good people, your adoptive parents. They wanted so badly to have a child that they were willing to accept you as their own."

"If I'm to believe you, I need you to tell me their names," said Jack. "You have to understand what this means to me, if what you're saying is true. Give me a sign that you're telling the truth."

Evelyn looked at him and said his parents' real names like she just got done having a real conversation with them.

Jack's stomach churned. "That's correct," he whispered, remembering the last time he saw their faces. To find out they weren't really his parents was a crushing blow. Almost as bad as if everything that Evelyn was saying was actually true.

Evelyn reached out to pat his hand. "I'm sorry, dear. I know what this must do to you. Just know your real parents loved you so much that they went to the other side of the world just to keep you safe. Your grandfather loved you soundly. I love you, even now. It makes my heart smile to see the man that you've become. The last time I saw you, you were only a year old."

Evelyn's eyes became weepy again as she looked to fight the urge to hug her grandson.

Surprisingly, Vera was the next to speak up. "Where does that leave me? Did they give me up too?"

Evelyn nodded. "Unfortunately, we had to, Vera. When your parents and I got back to Galicia, we were back to being hunted again. It took us ages to catch up to my husband, but we eventually managed. Marcus Rosdahl never stopped hunting us but it did go in waves. After a few quiet years, we found out that your mother was pregnant with you. I remembered holding you the day you were born, and the way you looked up at me was just angelic."

"However, Marcus Rosdahl was always close behind. He got better with age, trying new tactics to catch us. Unfortunately, he finally got his break. There was a fire in the house we lived in at the time, set by his own men. I don't know how he found us—we were on some unnamed Galician island, but he did. I was the only one outside the house, and I saw the men running from the flames. Vera, you were the closest to the door, but the house burned too quickly, trapping your parents and my husband."

Evelyn's head hung low as she wept again. "After that day, it was just you and me."

Surprisingly, Vera leapt out of the couch and went to comfort the older woman, placing her arms around her back. Evelyn pushed her head against her chest, breaking down into more tears. For several minutes, the elderly woman got out the rest of her tears before she was able to talk again.

"After that, I knew I couldn't keep you on my own. I was already advanced in age, and they would never stop hunting me. So I did the only thing I could do. I gave you up to someone I knew in a nearby town. A trader and his family, who were kind and honest people. They were Galician as well, so I knew at least you'd know about who our people were."

"Their tactics never changed," said Vera, now sobbing as well. "My mother and sister died in a mysterious fire as well. Well, my adoptive mother and sister. Did they know who I was even then?"

Evelyn nodded. "It's very possible. You're lucky to still be alive then."

"I almost died again. When my father's ship got wrecked in that storm. I was the only survivor."

"So that family is all gone then?" asked Evelyn with a shocked expression.

Vera nodded.

"Good heavens," whispered the older woman. "It's a miracle that you're still here. I give thanks to the fates for sparing your life."

Jack cleared his throat. "So they gave up Vera and I? What happened next? Were you on your own for the next twenty years?"

Evelyn nodded. "Just about. For some reason, it seemed like they weren't hunting us anymore. I've never met Marcus Rosdahl, but the man seemed to give up interest in us. I lived on the same remote island for almost twenty years with no incident. I thought that he might just spare my life."

"Perhaps he realized the error of his ways?" said Kat, speaking up for the first time since the story began. "That he shouldn't have persecuted you in the first place?"

Evelyn shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I hope that's correct."

"You mentioned something about Marcus being ironic," interrupted Abigail. "What was ironic about him and his family?"

"He was so set on establishing his own family to rule by exterminating our own that he didn't realize what happened when he died nearly four years ago," said Evelyn. "He did everything to ensure his daughter would inherit the regency. Women weren't traditional rulers of Galicia so there was some considerable resistance to the idea from the nobility. He had to pay off a lot of nobles to get them to even consider it. She was hailed as the regent and ruled for four months before she was deposed by her own cousin, one by the name of Eric Rosdahl."

"The current regent," said Jack.

Evelyn nodded. "Exactly. So Marcus couldn't even protect his own family. Unfortunately, the hotheadedness of youth seemed to flare up again in the form of Eric. We started to be persecuted again."

"What happened next?" pressed Vera.

"This time, I was warned they were coming," said Evelyn, as she reached out to squeeze Kat's hand. Kat smiled down at her. "I received a blessing in the form of Kat."

"You did not think me a blessing at first," said Kat with a small laugh.

"True, but we turned that around, didn't we?"

Kat grinned.

"Anyway, Kat warned me they were hunting me again and generously made this house available for me a long distance away from Galicia. It was a hard trip for an old woman. Especially in consideration of the fact that we had to travel a long way around to avoid the Swabians. I shiver at the thought of what they would have done to us."

"Once we were safe on this island, we knew we had to find you, Jack," said Kat.

"And how did you do that? How did you even know I was coming?" he asked.

"At first we didn't. Jacob and I guessed at where you could be. We spent over two years searching this part of the world for any hint of your whereabouts. But then luckily for us, we received a break."

"What kind of break?"

Kat smiled. "We were warned. All prophecy comes from seers or prophets. A prophetess was the one to let us know you were on your way and that you would arrive in Lishkerra. She told us the exact date you would arrive," said Kat. "So we trekked our way to Lishkerra. It was hard enough to do it without being noticed by the Lishkerrans. As you've no doubt noticed, they are rather defensive of their island."

"I have," said Jack with a chuckle, remembering his time there.

"That's when we started to track you. We watched you in Sorella when you fought the battle in Heron's capitol city. When you started to move again, we followed your trail. It wasn't always easy, especially when you were at sea. However, we knew you were heading into the interior, so that's where we went. All the while, Jacob got weaker."

Evelyn reached out to pat Kat's back. "He passed, hasn't he?"

Kat nodded silently, before wiping her eyes of tears.

"He was a lovely man. And a true friend," said Evelyn. "He will be very missed."

"If you were tracking me all that time, Kat, were you even in danger when I found you?" Jack gave her an untrusting look. "Was that just some ploy to join my group?"

Kat shook her head fervidly. "Not at all, Jack! Jacob and I were used to working in unstable countries, but he was my protector when he was strong. He just got too weak in his advanced age. We couldn't travel by night like we used to because he couldn't handle it. I don't know how those thieves did it, but they surprised us. I thought I was a goner before you showed up. When I realized it was really you, I had to wonder if it was the fates that guided our paths together."

"And Vera's too?" he asked. "Was it the fates that guided her to me in Daimanos' palace?"

Kat nodded, even though she looked uncomfortable. "I really believe that, Jack."

"It just seems a little hard for me to believe this," he said. "All of it." He then turned to look at Evelyn. "Not that I doubt your story . . . or who you are, it's just a lot to take in right now."

Evelyn smiled warmly. "I understand completely. I still remember the day I found out that the heir of the Galician throne was my fiance. You can imagine my surprise at being told that story, much like your surprise right now."

Vera was the first to laugh. "It took you that long to find out?"

Evelyn nodded. "Oh, yes. Your grandfather was usually very cautious about who he told, as he should be. But I didn't find out until a week before we were married. I always thought he was rather strange, and of course once he explained it all to me, it made sense. But you have to understand what it means to be one of us. The world believes we're all dead. Many of them would rather us be dead instead of showing up alive." Evelyn then locked eyes with Jack. "Especially you, Jack."

"Why me?"

"Think about what you represent. A return to the old world. Of a strong Galician king who was overlord of all the western nations," said Evelyn. "How many people would do anything possible to prevent that happening? The Swabians? Of course. But how many Galicians? Eric Rosdahl would not allow that to happen, and he would fight you until his last breath."

"This guy sounds almost as bad as the Swabians themselves," said Jack. "How did he get to be regent?"

"It's not a warmhearted man that deposes his own cousin, much less puts a price on her head," said Evelyn. "Eric had a reputation for cruelty long before he became the regent. Unfortunately, it's only been exacerbated since he's been in power. I still have my own little network of spies in Galicia, and the word there is that he's even been allying with our traditional enemy to further empower himself."

"How can he even think to ally with such people like the Swabians?" asked Vera with a disgusted expression.

"The Swabians have access to almost unlimited gold," said Evelyn. "Gold will make many men do a lot of things they otherwise wouldn't. Eric is not strong enough to resist them. In fact, he eagerly works with them."

"At least we fixed that part about their access to gold," said Jack. "I've become the King of Andalucia and have shut down the gold exchange going back to Swabia."

Evelyn took a deep breath. "While there is much more about that statement that you'll have to tell me about soon, the Swabians don't need outside gold. The endless mines of Swabia produce more than they need."

"Then why were they so interested in Andalucia?"

"It's about power, Jack. The Swabians are always about power. The deeper they become involved in the society of the host country, the more they can act like a parasite to it. They suck it dry of their sovereignty. The Swabians have no need for more gold. Only power."

Jack mulled that idea over for a few moments without responding. It made sense to him. Even in Sorella, the Swabians were trying to weaken them by the war and by stealing their gold so they could once more conquer the island. Was it so far-fetched that they could be doing the same thing to eventually take over Andalucia?"

"We live in very troubled times," said Evelyn as she closed her eyes. "The Swabians are on the march in multiple directions. Galicia is weak and her traditional allies are either anemic or disarmed. The Swabian Emperor would love nothing more than to conquer all the countries of the Vector to have the people as his slaves. Galician power has historically kept this in check. What will the peoples of the world do when the very Galician Regent seeks to help them? They won't stand a chance."

"That's why you're here, Jack," she continued, patting his hand once more. "These troubled times were foreseen two thousand years ago. That's why they gave us you as our protection. That's why they preserved our line, through the blood that runs through your veins. Look inside yourself, Jack. You are the king."

As Jack sat there absorbing her words, parts of his life flashed through his mind. He remembered his parents and growing up in their household. He remembered teaching his younger sister Jocelyn how to swim. In that moment, he realized how she wasn't even really his sister anymore.

No, my sister is sitting beside me, he thought while turning to look at Vera. Vera looked back at him as her hand crept into his.

In an odd way, that felt familiar to him too. He'd always known there was something different about Vera. Even from when they rescued her from Daimanos' harem, she always had that soothing presence to her. That feeling of belonging that he felt comforting. Was that his mind piecing together the link between them on a subconscious level?

And what was he to do about being this Galician king? He already had one kingship that he didn't know what to do about but now there were two? For so long in his life, he'd distrusted prophecy and the belief that one's actions were predetermined. He was his own man, capable of making his own choices in the world. If he accepted this, it would mean he'd have to accept that his life was no longer his own. That it belonged to all those Galicians longing to have their king back. To all those free people in the Vector that wanted to stay that way, free of the Swabian menace.

Lastly, what would that mean for this current role in Java? He considered himself a loyal Javan citizen to his very core. Sure, there were some things about Java that he didn't like, but he accepted Java despite its flaws. Java was his home. The place that nurtured him and just about everyone that he knew. Would accepting Galicia mean turning his back on Java?

When he looked up again, Evelyn was watching him. She wasn't the only one. All the other women were looking at him profoundly, awaiting his next move. Jack realized his brow was sweaty, and reached up to wipe away the slick sweat.

"I'm sure you have so many questions, Jack," said Evelyn quietly. "We're all here to answer them. This won't be easy for you, we know that. If you need to talk about it, then let's do so. If you need time just to process it, we can give you space as well."

"It's just too . . . weird," he said finally. "It's not that I doubt you, Evelyn. It's just what this means for my life. Your story was believable, and I don't think you were lying, but it's just going to be so hard for me to accept this. I don't know what to do." He placed his hands against his chin and leaned forward. It was honesty that he gave her, even if he was beingtoo honest. But they had to understand what they were asking of him.

Surprisingly enough, Kat leaned forward toward Evelyn. "The sword?" she asked simply, without any further explanation.

Evelyn nodded. "In the back room closet, under the middle floor tile."

Kat pushed up from her seat and left the room while Evelyn leaned forward. "I understand this burden that's been placed on you, Jack. Perhaps it will be better to have some proof? Definitive proof?"

Jack nodded eagerly. "That would really help me understand this right now."

She reached out to pat his hand. "Then that's what we'll give you, dear. While Kat attends to that, I'll show you some proof that I have. I hope you don't mind but all this old woman has left is her pictures."

Evelyn reached for the table that was beside her chair, pulling out an old box from underneath. It sat upon a pile of old books, and it was small enough in size that Jack could only wonder how many pictures were inside. As Evelyn removed the lid and began to rifle through the small stack, she let out an excitable chuckle when she found what she was looking for.