Aton stood in the darkness, dumbfounded. Somebody had just carried off the king and queen of Grendhill, right out of their own bed! With Guard standing sentry, somebody had dared to attempt abducting a Farella with Aguneg’s Gift giving him an edge. How… Aton shook his head. Where had they gone? He had not heard very well their instruction to the Thallenrose, but he was sure their destination was no place he had ever heard of. It only worked for finite destinations though; one could not simply make one up.

A guard came running down the street from the same direction Aton had come, red-faced and breathless. “What happened, my prince? Are you well?”

“I am fine,” Aton replied. “They’ve gone, though.”

“Who’s gone?” the Guardsman asked.

“I don’t know. I never heard…and they have my parents,” Aton answered in disbelief. “Go get me Captain Bailen! I need to speak with him at once.”

“Yes, prince.”

“And Sageman Reedl!”

“Uh—yes, prince.” The guard turned to go and nearly ran into Reedl walking up behind him. “Oh—I’ll go ask for the Captain, then!”

Reedl stepped aside to let the man pass. “What is going on, Aton?” Reedl asked with a probing look in his eyes.

“My parents have been abducted! We have to go find them,” Aton said urgently.

“Yes, yes, as soon as you have a proper escort gathered,” Reedl said. “Did you hear where they went? Wait—first, tell me what is going on. We must understand the full situation.”

Aton did not like the sound in Reedl’s voice. It sounded like he wanted Aton to slow down, but Aton just wanted to rush off to stop the abductors. “Yes, uh, they wen to…” Aton was trying to piece together what he had barely heard whispered as the party departed. He spoke quickly, trying to get it all out. “Well, I don’t know what’s going on. I just woke up, and something was weird. I followed it and found myself near your house, so I decided to ask you. I’m sorry I left you standing there suddenly, but I had to come find out what it was, and—”

“Very well, but now tell me where they went.”

“Yes, they went…I could barely hear him, Reedl. And I think Aguneg’s Gift let me hear him at all. He was all the way across the Square, and he was whispering, and I don’t think anyone else—”

“Where, Aton? I need to know where.”

“Right, of course. It was…at least, I think…it was, umm, ‘Artcha?’”

Captain Bailen came running. “Prince Aton, what is going on? Why did you run off?”

“My parents are gone, Captain. Somebody climbed the palace walls, in and out like lightning.”

“What do you mean? How?” Bailen quizzed.

“I don’t know how,” Aton said, “but there were scuffs on the toeholds outside and below my parents’ balcony. I ran here and saw them vanish off-world.”

Bailen looked alert again. “Where did they go? We will get a contingent and go find them.”

Aton looked at Reedl. “Can you take us there?”

“’Artcha?’” Reedl repeated the word back to Aton. “I’ve never heard of it. I’m almost sure it doesn’t exist.”

“But we have to try, Sageman,” Bailen pressed.

“Oh, I will try it right now,” Reedl said as he strode from the edge of the Square towards the middle. “I will try it alone. If it works, I will return as soon as I arrive. Don’t hold your breath.”

Aton and Bailen watched as Reedl covered the distance, mounted the Thallenrose, and spoke, “Andi mito mito ‘Artcha’ niti nun pondere!” Reedl looked back at them from where he still stood, blinked, stepped down from the platform, and calmly walked back to the edge of the Square.

Aton sputtered. “But it has to work. You have to take us—”

“Aton, it is apparent that you did not hear them clearly,” Reedl interrupted. “There is nowhere to go that we know of. Come.” Reedl turned to Bailen. “Gather your top staff. I will have the King’s and Queen’s advisor council woken. We will discuss what must be done.”

Aton couldn’t believe Reedl’s calm next to the rage he felt inside. “But we must—”

“And we will, my young prince. I only need to wake one messenger and he will do the rest of the gathering. Then you and I will meet with your siblings while your parents’ advisors are being collected.”

Aton ran all the way back to the palace, and in through the gate. He heard commotion above him. He sprinted through the shadowy palace and up a flight of stairs. As he approached the level with the royal chambers, he met Captain Bailen running down towards him.

“Prince Aton!” Bailen shouted. “What a relief you are here!”

“What do you mean?” Aton asked. “Where would you expect me to be?”

“Uh—here, of course, but I was worried that after your parents—and you weren’t in bed, either.”

“What do you mean?” Aton felt his confusion turning to dread. “My p-parents?”

The Captain flushed, eyes wide and breathing intense. “They’re not here, my prince. No warning, they’re just gone.”

“Gone where?”

“Well, I wouldn’t be so worried if I knew where, would I?” Bailen answered, urgency removing tact from his tone. “Come see if you can figure it out.” He turned to lead the way back up the stairs. Aton followed behind him.

As they jogged through the halls, Bailen shouted orders to members of the Guard. Aton had left a quiet palace only a few minutes before, and now it seemed everybody in the palace was on the search for his parents.

They trotted to a halt as they reached his parents’ chambers. Bailen pointed at the door latch and hinges. “No forced entry. You know the doors are normally kept unlocked. Tonight was no different because as usual, we had our sentries.” He addressed the guards, one on each side of the double doorway. “Tell Prince Aton what you told me.”

“There’s barely anything to tell, my prince,” the female one answered. “We were here, posted two hours ago, still fresh enough—”

“Get to the point,” Bailen prodded.

“Yes, sir. Nothing was happening, then we heard a yelp and a crash. We rushed in and the King and Queen were both gone. We checked the room and the balcony, then raised the alarm. That’s all we have to tell, except what you can see inside. The bed—”

“Thank you,” Bailen said. He led Aton inside. “You can see from the state of the bedcovers that there was some, but little, struggle. It appears that your parents may have been seized forcefully and quickly, before they had any time wake up and react. There sits your father’s sword in its rack on the wall, same as every night while he sleeps. It’s never so far from him as it is right now.”

Aton looked around and took in the room. Nothing was out of place except the bedcovers, evidently thrown to the foot of the bed at the moment of seizure. As the guards had said they checked the balcony, Aton saw the glass-paned balcony doors open. He trotted to the balcony and looked out, then down at the palace wall with its pattern of blocks protruding minimally out of the wall face. It would be too far to jump down. It would be too high to get up. Sure, the blocks’ edges would be climbable, but nobody could climb it fast enough to avoid being caught in the act, right? Besides, this was within a compound wall around the palace with the same design as the palace itself. Anyone not using doors would have to make that climb over the outer wall, then up the wall of the palace itself.

But then Aton noticed scuff marks on the blocky protrusions below him. A tingle of fear struck him as the realization hit. “Block the Thallenrose and lock the city gates!” He shouted at the top of his lungs now. “Send the signal now!”

Aton ran, sprinting through the hallway and down to the ground level. Guards followed him as he ran. Others would be sending a visual signal right now, over Grendhill’s rooftops to Guard posts at the city’s gates and at the edge of Thallenrose Square. The gates would be closed and barred until another signal was given, and nobody would be allowed to approach the Thallenrose platform. Anybody arriving would be apprehended and held.

As Aton exited the palace compound, he heard shouts from the palace Guard tower. “The Square post is not confirming the order! The Thallenrose guard has not confirmed the lockdown!”

Aton ran as hard as he could. Unencumbered by armor as were the guards, and blessed by Aguneg’s Gift, he outstripped all the others and covered ground at record speed.

Aton reached the edge of the square and stopped, cautious.  He looked into the square and saw two people step onto the Thallenrose. He barely heard a whisper from the platform and they were gone.

Aton awoke with a start. Something was wrong. He sat upright and looked about at his surroundings.

I’m in my own bed, back home in Grendhill. Nothing wrong.

Aton had come home today—yesterday—whatever it was. He found himself awake in the middle of the night immediately following returning from Hevvlar.

I’m probably just too tired, Aton told himself. It had been an exceptionally long day, as he had left Hevvlar in the early evening and arrived in Grendhill at midmorning a moment later. He tried to lie back down and go back to sleep.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still wrong.

Aton got out of bed, starting to feel annoyed and unnerved at the odd sensation. He yanked on his boots and stormed out of his chamber. He started to run.

Aton ran through the palace and out into the city, making his way towards Reedl’s home. Sages were supposed to know things. The royal Sageman in particular was expected to know things. Aton would find Reedl and get some explanation from him. Perhaps the Sageman felt it, too. As Aton neared the Sageman’s home as well as Thallenrose Square, it felt as if he were going towards the source of the strangeness.

Aton pounded on Reedl’s door, impatient for the older man to wake up. After what felt like ages, the door finally cracked open.

“Well, hello Aton,” Reedl blinked sleep from his eyes. “An odd time of night to be knocking on one’s door, don’t you think? You need your sleep as well as I need mine. You especially, after yesterday’s jump from Hevvlar.”

Aton hesitated. No, hesitating was not productive. He had to go on, to find out something—anything. “Reedl, does anything seem weird tonight? Does anything feel…different?”

Reedl paused and blinked. “You’re just dealing with the excitement and disappointment of the Departure that does not involve you the same way as it did your siblings. You will be fine,” he said sleepily. “I’m sure I don’t…” He trailed off as he realized Aton wasn’t standing there because he felt anxious about his relationship with his siblings. “Yes…something is different tonight.  It’s not…”  Reedl looked at Aton in confusion.  “You’re a talented young man, Aton, but you are no Sageman.  What do you suppose is different, and how did you feel it first?”

“I don’t know,” Aton said, “I just woke up. Something is wrong somehow.”

Reedl interrupted him. “Come in. It doesn’t feel right out here, and I have no idea what it is. It may not be safe outside. Perhaps there’s a storm coming. I have no idea what this peculiar sensation is and—“

“From the East,” Aton replied simply.  “it’s coming from over there.” He pointed to his left. “I think it’s coming from the main square at the center of the city.

Reedl did a double-take. “You can tell where it is coming from? I—well, come in, won’t you!”

Aton shook his head urgently. “No, I have to go see what it is.” He ran off towards Thallenrose Square, Reedl shouting after him to come back.

Aton arrived in Thallenrose Square and saw nothing amiss. It was all calm and quiet. Shops were closed. Nobody was in sight. He started catching his breath, wondering what it was he thought he felt, what it was that woke him.

At that moment, a cry of alarm arose from the direction of the palace. Aton took off running again, this time back towards his point of origin.