This was also a new experience for Ian. He could not remember his family or where he came from, so he had never really known what it was like to have a brother or sister let alone a hall of family portraits that seemed to stretch on forever. They soon stopped at a large beautifully carved wooden door. The king opened it with surprising ease, and after being invited in, Ian found himself in an expansive room, a courtyard in and of itself. The gentle, blue moonlight shined in from an open ceiling, and Ian noticed he was under a stoney eve that lined the edge of the room. As they walked in, Ian could see the moonlight shined the brightest in the middle of the room, and as they drew nearer to the center he realized there was a pool of the clearest water he had ever seen there in the center. As he looked around he could see the light reflecting on the walls around him. He also noticed something on the other side of the room; it was the throne. And he could hear a noise almost like notes being played from a flute or an ocarina, but the notes didn�t follow a rhythm. They just seemed to fluctuate or even stop at times at a completely random pace. It seemed to be coming from the general direction of the throne, but then it was answered from different places around the room, as well. Ian watched as the king listened intently to the sounds, which seemed to grow in frequency. There was an odd sort of fearful beauty carried in the sounds; they seemed to ster every emotion in Ian�s being. Where was it coming from? The sounds began to fade a little but never really went away, and the king guided Ian to the pool and instructed him to look into it.
�What do you see?� asked the king.
It was the most beautiful pool Ian had ever seen, but other than water, all Ian could see was his reflection. He didn�t enjoy seeing it either; to Ian it seemed to corrupt the crystal clear waters of the pool. To him the plain face of a commoner was not worthy to gaze into the eyes of a king. He turned away from the pool for moment.
�Is there something wrong?� asked the king.
�It�s just...,� started Ian, �I still don�t understand...�
�What don�t you understand?� replied the king.
Ian answered, �I�m a slave, a commoner, and yet I have beheld royalty, and stranger still I have been asked to become it. I�ve only known you for a day, and you�ve asked me to be a part of your family, a prince no less. And...�
�Yes?� asked the king with a knowing look.
�How is it that even though I�ve only known you for a day, you seem to know everything about me?�
Ian could not explain it. It wasn�t in anything the king said, but it was a very strong impression that Ian felt every time the king looked at him. At first Ian had felt shame for what he was, but then he found acceptance in the king�s gaze.
The king put his finger in the water, and it stirred as if answering the call of its master. Then he put his hand on Ian�s shoulder and with a smile he said, �Look again.�
Ian bent to look into the pool once more, and to his utter amazement he saw the entire realm stretch before him almost as if he were standing in the sky above but able to see every part and every event as if he were a part of it. He saw the high hills and mountains, rising higher than the clouds, populated by creatures frightening and majestic in the moonlight on the mountains above the clouds, the kind Ian thought only existed in fables and legends. But he found himself aware of even the smallest of creatures and the lowest of valleys, as well. There were the wolves that prowled through the night into the forests that dotted the valleys and the birds that slept above them in the trees.
He saw a small village. A large side of meat was being roasted above a great fire in the village square, apparently game recently killed by a hunting party. There was a table laden with dishes of food of all sorts, and in the middle of the table was a great, multi-tiered cake. Around the table people laughed and danced into the night as some played the harps, others played pipes, and more still were playing the drums.