The Poetry of
Terri Lyn Stanfield
Part V
"My name is Kalen. I am Champion to our queen,
Taryn."
"For some time now she has been plagued by nightmares,
brought on, we believe, by the High Priest of her
greatest enemy, King Wilfred."
"Why is he her enemy?" I interruptted
"She refused his offer of marriage, and in so doing made
an enemy for life."
"And the nightmares, has she been having them for the
last year?" I asked
"Yes, just about that." he said
"So have I, and they were getting progressively worse.
More terrifying."
"As were hers, and the last few mornings, she has woken
with injuries sustained in the dreams, and filled with
terror."
"She said she felt as if someone were trying to steal
her very soul."
"Yes, that's it exactly! I've felt the same. I would
fight sleep for as long as I could, dreading the
moment when it would come." I said
"As would she. She told me to be prepared for anything,
so I was. I would check on her several times each
night, and the last time I checked last night, I knew
it was not her in the bed. Oh, don't get me wrong....
um, forgive me, but what is your name?"
I blushed with embarrassment, "I'm so sorry, I didn't
even think to introduce myself. This has been such a
disturbing morning."
"No need to apologize, it is easy to see how waking up
as someone else would be a little unsettling, but, um,
you still haven't told me your name."
I blushed even deeper, "Tara," I mumbled
"Tara. So very close to the queen's name. I doubt,
somehow, that is a coincidence. As I was saying,
Tara, you look exactly like my queen, but I could tell
you were not her."
"Your queen?" I asked
"Well, yes, of course, she's my queen," he said, then it
dawned on him what I truly meant. "Oh! No, not in
that way. I am but her Champion and Protector, and
I've done a poor job of it, at that."
"You can hardly blame yourself for this," I said, "Where
exactly am I, though, because I'm sure not in Kansas
anymore."
"Kansas?"
"Um, nevermind, just a bad joke, but seriously, where am
I?"
"This is the Kingdom of Angelus."
"The Kingdom of Angels?! I'm in heaven?!"
"Heaven? Nooooooooo, the Kingdom of Angelus."
"Angelus. Oh, sorry, my mistake, um...but I've never
heard of it. What country is it in?"
"Country? We have no countries, only kingdoms, and
Angelus is the greatest of them all. How could you
not have heard of it?"
"Um, well, Kalen, I've got the feeling that your queen,
wherever she is, is having the same problem. I've
never believed in that hocus pocus, other dimension
stuff, but I may have to change that. Everything here
is the same, yet different from where I come from.
Where, exactly, are we, Kalen?"
"I've told you, the Kingdom of Angelus." he said
"Yes, yes, I've got that, but what planet are we on?"
He looked at me as if I'd lost my mind, and I wondered
myself
"Why....Earth, of course."
"I was afraid of that." I said dejectedly
Part IV
I was so surprised that I fell back a step
Right into somebody's arms
I turned to look at the person who held me
And lost my heart in the instant our eyes met
Before I could say a word, he spoke
"My Queen, I apologize for my lateness."
"But I had forgotten you intended to eat with the nobles
this morning."
While I was absorbing the shock of his words
He offered me his arm, which I took
And led me to the head of one of the less peopled tables
As we were seated, he discreetly motioned for me to
follow his lead
And so I did, throughout the delicious meal
And afterwards, as he led me from the room
To what appeared to be an office
A most extravagant one
Once I got over my initial awe, I turned to him
"All right...", I began
"You want an explanation...", he said
"Yes, I most certainly do!"
"And you shall have one, but let us sit and make
ourselves comfortable first." He said
Once we were seated, I looked expectantly to him
"Well, I will tell you what I know."
And so, he began his tale
All Rights Reserved
Terri Lyn Stanfield
All Rights Reserved
Poetry List
