They set out the next day in a large group. The youngest children, Susan, Conor, and Eric stayed behind, and Helen and Jason also stayed home to watch the children. But everyone else from the royal family went out. Talon went too, although he walked near the back, and didn’t talk to anyone the whole time. King Carlyle obviously intended this to be as much a tour of the kingdom for Robert as it was a serious hunt for Midor. King Carlyle didn’t appear to seriously believe Midor could be anywhere in the Kingdom, but he showed Robert all of the important forest rivers, and hills, and small caves. Occasionally they asked some of the trees if they had heard anything about Midor. Many of the trees refused to answer. (King Carlyle said this was quite typical of trees.) But the ones that did answer said that they hadn’t seen Midor in the Kingdom for years.
Occasionally they passed some human houses in the forest. It was not terribly often. (The human houses were rather spread out). But it was often enough to indicate that there was indeed a population of humans who lived in this kingdom.
The houses were forest houses. They were much smaller than the castle (only one or two rooms) but they were usually made in the same style--wooden stone blocks that were covered with ivy, and often tree trunks would be integrated into the wall.
King Carlyle made a point of introducing Robert to all the people they met, and telling Robert all about the families that lived in the forest.
Meanwhile, Alicia was intent on talking to Henry as much as possible, and teaching Henry as much as she could about the forest. Grace and John noticed that Alicia’s father, Charles, was becoming slightly apprehensive at how friendly she was with Henry. But Henry himself seemed to be oblivious to Charles’ concern, and was engaged in talking to Alica, and smiling back at her smile.
The other girls, Amanda and Marcia, were looking enviously at how Alicia had managed to secure Henry’s attention. They would occasionally try to break in on their conversation. John, meanwhile, tried to strike up a conversation with Marcia. Marcia was polite enough, and answered all of his questions, but her eyes kept going back to look over at Henry anytime there was a break in the conversation. In the end, John just gave up and hung back to walk with his sister Grace.
“Don’t worry John,” Grace said. “Those spoiled princesses were never your type anyway.”
“Careful Grace. You’re a spoiled princess,” John replied. Grace hit him playfully on the head.
Meanwhile, King Carlyle was intent on explaining all of the forest to Robert. He pointed out where the important look outs were. There were certain trees along the main paths who served the Kingdom as lookouts. These trees were more reliable as sources of information than the other trees, because they had long ago pledged themselves to serve the kingdom in order to defeat the monsters. These trees were obliged to answer all of their questions. They went to all of the lookout trees, and asked for information about Midor. Most of the lookout trees said that they hadn’t seen Midor for years. Only one tree remembered having seen Midor in the past two years-- he had seen Midor coming through the forest, and had a brief conversation with him. But the tree could say no more than that.
And so, they headed back to the castle. Robert was disappointed that no more information about his father could be gathered, and it showed on his downcast face. King Carlyle, on the other hand, was very pleased with a pleasant afternoon hiking around the forest and showing off his kingdom. But he realized that Robert was disappointed, and so he had enough sense to not act too happy.
Robert’s mother Vivian held Robert’s hand and squeezed it sympathetically. “Don’t worry son,” she said. “Your father’s been through a lot of danger before. I’m sure he’ll come back to us someday.” But she did not look entirely convinced herself.
They all returned to the castle, and after bathing, another big meal was prepared for everyone in the banquet hall.
Alicia, Amanda, and Marcia all sat at the same table as Henry. Henry was now beginning to pay more attention to Amanda, which was infuriating Alicia.
John and Grace were sitting at a separate table, but Grace was watching closely what was happening with Henry. “Typical,” Grace remarked under her breath, just loud enough for John to hear.
Thomas sat down at Grace and John’s table, and tried to talk to Grace. Grace looked him up and down with a puzzling eye, trying to figure out what his intentions were. Thomas was obviously nervous, but in the end he said, “Come, Princess Grace. You are strangers here, and we so seldom get visitors from outside the forest. I only want to talk to you, and try to get to know you and your brother John a bit more.”
After this, Grace warmed up to him slightly, and she and John talked to Thomas about all the customs of the court of Mora.
Then John began questioning Thomas about the kingdom. “What do you do all day here?” he asked. “So far, we’ve only seen feasting, and talking to the trees. What are the duties of the royal family.”
“We all must train to fight with weapons,” said Thomas. “Even though there have been no monsters here for centuries, it is our family duty to be ready if ever they should re-appear. So we spend half of every day practicing our skills with the sword and shield and bow and arrow.”
“Henry will love it here,” said Grace.
“That sounds so tedious,” said John. “You waste half of every day doing that when there haven’t been any monsters since ancient times? Think of all the books you could read if your lives weren’t slaves to training.”
“Oh, but we study a lot too,” said Thomas. “We have to read all about the history of the forest, and the different creatures who live here.”
John’s eyes widened. “There are history books about the forest?”
“We have a whole library full of them. Well, it’s not all books actually. Some of the older ones are scrolls. But rows and rows of books and scrolls about the history of this place.’
“Will you show me?” asked John.
“Yes, tomorrow if you like. I will take you to our library.”
“How many people live in this castle?” asked Grace. “I mean, besides your grandparents and your whole royal family.”
“There must be about a hundred at least,” said Thomas. “There are the servants, the cooks, the castle guards, and our teachers.”
“And where do all these people come from?” asked John.
“They are all forest people,” said Thomas. “There are many people around the castle who live in cabins or other shelters in the forest. Some of them want to work in the castle, and we do our best to find jobs for everyone who desires work.”
“But how do you pay them?” asked Grace. “Is there an economy in the forest?”
“The forest people live simply,” said Thomas. “It’s much different than your life in the cities, I am sure. But they do have to live. Food, clothes, weapons, shelter, all of these things are necessary. And there’s also trade between the various kingdoms. The Kingdom of the elves is many days’ journey from here, and yet it is not so far that it cannot be reached, and traders regularly go there for their goods. Gold and silver are regularly traded among the forest people, as they are everywhere else, but they also barter for supplies. And a small tithe of all the goods that come through here is collected by this castle, and used to pay our expenses.”
“Ah, the taxes,” said John. “Even in the forest there are taxes.”
“The forest people are happy to pay,” answered Thomas. “This castle, and this royal family, protects them and their families.”
“From monsters no one has ever seen,” said Grace. Her voice had a sardonic edge.
Thomas reddened slightly. “We stand guard always in case of monsters, yes. But not only for the monsters. We are also protectors from trolls, goblins, dragons, and anything else that would attack our kingdom.”
“Aren’t trolls, goblins and dragons monsters?” asked John.
“A dragon isn’t a monster,” said Thomas. “A dragon is a dragon. They are a thing of beauty. A goblin isn’t really a monster. They are troublesome, yes, but I wouldn’t call them a monster. And as for trolls, they’re much too ordinary to be considered a monster. A monster is something terrible and frightening.”
“So how often do you have to deal with dragons,” asked John.
“About once a year, usually. They come through the forest sometimes on their travels. Some of them try to attack the castle. Most of them can be negotiated with, though. Grandfather’s very good at negotiating with dragons. He’s had years of practice now.”
“Have you ever had to fight a dragon,” asked Grace.
“Not since I was born. But long ago, my grandfather and my dad had to fight one. They’ll tell you the story, if you ask them.”
John was about to say something, but Grace cut into the conversation abruptly. “What does Talon do?” Grace asked.
“What do you mean?” asked Thomas.
“Well, who is he? He’s not a member of the royal family, but he’s always with you.”
“He’s the castle sorcerer,” said Thomas. “There’s always been a sorcerer at this castle, ever since it was built. The castle sorcerer isn’t from the same family as the royal family. They come from the sorcerer’s guild. But they are just as important as the royal family, so he is treated like he’s royalty as well. This isn’t a normal castle. It needs a lot of magic to keep everything just right.”
“Does he ever smile?” asked Grace. “It looks like he’s scowling whenever I see him.”
“He does smile sometimes,” said Thomas. “But he doesn’t like these big gatherings. He can be a bit grumpy, but he’s all right once you get to know him.”
Grace considered this. “What do you think of him, John?” she asked.
“I’ve just met him,” John said.
“Yes, yes, we’ve both just met him. But you can have impressions about people after you first meet them.”
“Oh, I don’t know, you’re right he doesn’t seem friendly. But there are lots of people who don’t seem friendly. Our uncles never seemed especially friendly, but they always looked after us.”
“There’s something I don’t like about him,” said Grace.
“Careful Grace,” said John. “Don’t make any enemies yet. We’ve only just got here, and it feels nice to stay in a castle instead of having to sleep on the forest floor again.”
“I believe Robert said there was an army chasing you,” said Thomas. “Do you think they’ll have made it this far into the forest?”
“Well, they would have had to make it past the Elf Kingdom and the fairy lands,” said Grace. “And they wouldn’t have had Robert with them to negotiate passage.”
“They could have gone around,” said John.
“Possibly,” said Grace. Although neither Grace nor John knew how big the Elf Kingdom or Fairy lands were, or how easy it was to get around. These were all questions that Robert would have to answer.
“If the army did come here,” said John, “Would you help us?”
“We would never betray a friend,” said Thomas. “We would fight with you.”
“And how big is your army?” asked Grace.
Thomas blinked, confused. “There is no army,” he said. “We, the royal family, are the sworn protectors of this forest from all of her enemies.”
Grace and John looked at each other. “You could defeat a whole army with just your family?”
“I don’t know,” said Thomas. “There’s never been a human army that’s made it this far into the woods before. But this castle is very hard to take. We’ve got a lot of defenses. If the army ever does come, you’ll see.”
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