The Treasure Part Five

Hello, everyone! Ready for more of The Treasure? I hope so, because I’m posting more right now! Need a refresher? Here’s Part Four. And now, on with the tale!

Part Five

The trial went badly just as Melody had expected. She was sentenced to death that very afternoon. Melody had four hours to contemplate her doom.

            Around the end of the noon hour, a guard showed up at her cell-a guard other than the one who was supposed to be guarding her. Melody thought it looked more like he was sleeping, but she didn’t complain. “I am to take the girl Melody away.” said the new guard. His voice sounded odd for a Wraith or an execution guard, Melody thought. It sounded too kind.

            “By whose orders?” grunted the cell guard, sleepily.

            “By my Lord’s orders!” the new guard impatiently shouted.

            “Very well, very well.” grumbled the cell guard, unlocking the cell door. “Take ‘er away.”

            The new guard led Melody away and out of the dungeons. Finally, he stopped in a copse of large pine trees. “Are you alright?” he asked, quite gently. Melody nodded. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.” he said, taking off his helmet. “I didn’t mean to scare you too much, but I suspected that a little fear on your part would be unavoidable.” By now, his helmet was all the way off, and Melody gasped. She recognized the tall, brown haired, grey eyed young man.

            “You’re one of Luke’s friends!” she exclaimed in surprise. “I’ve seen you two together!”

            “Aye.” he replied. “Luke and I are in charge of getting the Treasure out to the people at this castle, but the Great King feels that someone else needs to take over. To be exact, He says that someone’s onto us. We’re to head to his land with everyone we got the Treasure to.”

            Just then, Luke drove up in a wagon filled with hay. “There you are!” he said. “I was wondering if you’d make it out. Good to see you, Melody. I see you’ve met Benjamin.”

            “Yes, I have.” she replied. “How are we getting out?”

            “Benjamin and I will ride on the front seat of this wagon.” answered Luke.

            “You’ll be hiding in the hay.” added Benjamin.

            “I wish you didn’t have to, but this was all we could think of to get you out of here without being seen. “

            “I don’t mind.” Melody assured them. Then, she inquired “Where are we going?”

            Luke and Benjamin grinned. “We’re going to the Kingdom of Light!” said Luke.

            Melody’s mouth dropped open. “Really and truly?” she gasped in wonder.

            Luke and Benjamin nodded. “Well, we’d better get going.” Benjamin reminded them. “We need to be far away before they realize we’re gone. Hop in, Melody.”

            And so, Melody journeyed with her new friends to the Kingdom of Light, her real home.

Well? What did you think of the tale? I’d love to know! Please comment and tell me!

-Sarah

Hello, everyone! I’m back, with more of The Treasure! Need a refresher before we begin? Here’s Part Three, the last part posted. And now, on with the tale!

Part Four

That night, Melody was awakened by cries of “Open up! Open up in the name of the lord of the land!” Melody quickly got up, stuffed her bag containing The Treasure and her mirror under her loose nightdress, and opened her door. When she did, her heart skipped a beat. Standing before her door were two Wraiths!

            “What is it, sirs?” asked Melody, frightened. “Do you need something?”

            “You’ve been accused of following the Enemy King.” said one. “You’re to come with us.”

            Before Melody knew it, she found herself in the dungeons-not the lowest level, but low enough.  She, unable to control herself, began to cry. Finally, her tears dried up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Melody heard a voice. “You are alone!” it hisssed, menacingly. “You are alone and will die! No one cares about you! Where is your king now?” The voice trailed off into a cackling laugh. Melody knew that it was The Voice, the lord of the land.

            “No! No! No!” she cried, but to no avail. The cackling laugh continued. Fear and doubt pounded at her heart. What will happen to me? Where is the Great King anyway? Is He even real? She looked up and around, searching for and answer. Her eyes focused on the moon, for she was in a cell high enough to have a window. She felt strangely comforted by the moon . . . and by its light. Then, seemingly out of the light, there came another voice, soft and kind, like the voice of a loving father speaking gently to his child. “Do not fear,” the voice said, “for never will I leave you, and never will I forsake you. You are my child, and I love you. Call on me, and I will answer. Believe in me, for I love you more than the stars in the sky, and I will never let you go, my precious daughter.” The Voice’s cackling laugh had by now ceased, and all that was left was the second voice. Somehow, Melody knew that it was the voice of the Great King.

            “I believe you!” she whispered. “I do believe.”

What will happen to Melody? Will she get out alive? There’s only one way to find out: check back soon for more! In the meantime, please comment! I’d love to hear what you think!

-Sarah

The Treasure Part Three

Hello, everyone! I’m back with more of The Treasure! Ready to read? I hope so! If not, here’s Part Two for a refresher. And now, one with the tale!

Part Three

Melody spent much of the next morning hoping that Luke would find her as she did her work. When he finally did, Melody asked him if he’d meet her at the beech grove. Luke agreed, and they met that afternoon.

            “Well?” Luke asked, as soon as Melody appeared.

            “I read the book you gave me. I could see why you called it a treasure. But, is it true?” she replied.

            “Oh Melody, it’s truer than the castle and the lord of the land!” Luke exclaimed.

            “Will you tell me more?” Melody requested, hopefully.

            “Of course!” Luke continued, passionately. “Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you all I can before the next bell. Now, what do you want to know?”

            By that evening, Melody knew enough about the Great King, the Prince of Peace, and the Kingdom of Light to know that she wanted to believe. But, she couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea, not enough to really, truly believe. Melody fell asleep wondering if this was too good to me true. Her sleep that night was as fitful as the night before had been restful.

            The next few weeks continued in much the same way. Every few days, Melody and Luke would meet and talk. Every time, Melody learned more about the Great King, but she still could not quite believe.

            After three weeks, however, things took a turn for the worse. Melody and Luke met that day, and Melody asked “Am I pretty? I’ve tried asking other people, but they’re too busy to care. I know the Treasure says I’m beautiful, but I’d like to know how I really look.”

            Luke smiled. “I thought you might be asking that sometime.” He handed her a small package.

            “Is this. .  . for me?” asked Melody.

            “It is.” replied Luke.

            “From my true Father?” asked Melody. “Or from you?”

            Luke just smiled and said “Guess.”

            Melody looked at him quizzically, then opened the package. Inside was a small mirror. It wasn’t very fancy, as hand mirrors go, but it was fancy to Melody. She picked it up. Engraved across the top was “Daughter of the Great King.” As she looked in the mirror, she gasped. She had never seen herself before. What she saw was ash-blond hair framing a roundish face. Within the face were two blue-green eyes. “Is that. . . me?” she asked. Luke nodded. “Well,” said Melody, a bit nervously, “Whether this is from my true Father or from you, I should like to say thank you.” Luke just smiled.

What will happen to Melody next? Will she ever be able to believe? Check back soon to find out! In the meantime, please comment! I’d love to hear what you think!

-Sarah

The Treasure Part Two

Hello, everyone! I’m back, with more of The Treasure! Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s part one. And now, on with the tale!

Part Two

That evening, as Melody hurried through the castle halls to her tiny room, she came upon Luke. Much to her surprise, he stopped her and pressed a small burlap sack into her tiny hand.

            “There’s a Treasure inside.” he whispered. “It’s from your true Father, and it will guide you to your real home.”

            “My true Father?” Melody looked quizzically at Luke. “My real home? What do you mean?”

            “You’ll see.” He replied, smiling. Then, with eyes shining, he bowed and hurried away.

            When Melody reached her room, she opened the sack and reached inside with a trembling hand. She pulled out an old book, bound in brown leather. “A book?” she said to herself. “How’s a book a treasure?” She stared at the book a few minutes longer, then told herself “Well, I might as well read it.” And with that, she opened the ancient tome and began to read.

            As Melody read on and on into the night, she realized why Luke had called this book a treasure. The tale within was better than any Melody had heard or read. It seemed real, oh so real! She learned of the Great King, the King who was father to everyone. She read how he had worked in the lives of the people who had gone before. She learned who The Voice was-a servant of the Enemy, The Dark Lord who had tried to take the Great King’s throne. But best of all, she learned how the Great King sent his son, the Prince of Peace, to die for all people, to save them and to make a way to the true home of all who believed in him-The Kingdom of Light. When she finally reached the end of the book, it was midnight, and she was very tired. But, despite this, she knew that she wanted to know more, though she also knew that she would have to wait until morning to learn more. Before she fell asleep, she tucked The Treasure under her pillow. She slept better that night than she had in all her thirteen years.

What will happen next? There’s only one way to find out: keep checking back for more! What did you think of it? Please comment and let me know!

-Sarah

The Treasure Part One

Hello, everyone! I’m back, with more of my tales! This one is called The Treasure. It was the first of my Tales of the Great King stories. I hope you like it!

Part One

Melody rushed through the dark castle halls, desperate to get back to the outside world. She, unlike many of the other castle servants, was not afraid of what lay outside, she was only afraid of what lay inside the castle. Rather who lived inside the castle. That was The Voice. Harsh and cruel, it belonged to the lord of the land. She feared it, and hated it. She never said this out loud. She did her best not to let it be known that she hated The Voice. To do so would mean trial before the Wraith Court, a court made up of The Voice’s greatest servants. For a servant like her, appearing before that court would likely mean a quick death, or worse, torture in the deepest, darkest dungeons, from which none except The Voice’s most trusted servants returned alive. The Voice, that was Melody’s name for him. To her, he was little more than a voice and a dark presence hovering above her, waiting to pounce. She had never seen him. The only ones who had were the Wraiths, a group of his closest, most trusted, and cruelest servants and knights. Melody shivered at the thought of them. They were almost as evil as The Voice, and she was so afraid of them!

            Melody spotted the door to the outside world. Gathering her cloak around her, she rushed outside and to a grove of beech trees. This was her favorite place in the world. Here, she could sit and daydream about a better life, a life where she had not been pressed into service when she was seven, a life where she knew who and where her father was, a life where she, her father, and her mother lived together far away from The Voice. She could think there too. There, in her special grove, Melody could think of her life without getting sad or angry. Today, she thought about how much she hated being afraid, and how everyone was afraid of The Voice. She remembered how when the housekeeper was mad at her, she’d say “Work harder, you lazy dog, or I’ll tell the lord of the land about you!” The fear of The Voice was always creating more work for her and the other servants. Except for Luke, she corrected herself. Luke, the newest servant, didn’t seem to be afraid of anything. She giggled to herself. Luke was also incredibly handsome! With longish golden-brown hair and blue-gray eyes, not to mention a fairly athletic build, Luke looked like a prince, or that’s what Melody thought, anyway. He was kind too, Melody thought, fondly. She had seen him help others at the risk of getting punished himself. Suddenly, a bell clanged at the castle, breaking Melody out of her thoughts. She rushed back to the castle, knowing that if she didn’t get back to work quickly, well, she could just say goodbye to her supper.

Well? What did you think? Please comment and tell me! I’d love to know!

-Sarah