Armendora - Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The Truth about Ned

 

 

 

“GLORIA!!!” cried Alyssa.

“Alyssa, calm down!” said Ned.

“How am I supposed to calm down when my guardian was kidnapped by my own stepfather?” exclaimed Alyssa.

“Just calm down, dear,” said Lancelot. “We will save her. We still have time. But, we need to prepare Ned first. Otherwise, you will definitely lose.”

“Your grandfather’s right,” said Ned as he hugged Alyssa, calming her down. “It will all be okay. Trust me.”

“Right now, I don’t know whether I can trust anybody,” said Alyssa.

“Do you mean that you don’t trust me?” asked Ned.

“No, not that,” said Alyssa.  “I do trust you. It’s just that I can’t be sure if everything will be alright. My life has been unfortunate since my mother married that wretched Helmcit.”

“Well, then put your trust on me for just a few more days,” said Ned. “We need everything we can to fight him back.”

“Ned’s right, Alyssa,” said Lancelot. “We need to go to the Sacred Cave. The sooner we get there, the better.”

 

As they made their way to the Sacred Cave, Alyssa couldn’t help herself by thinking about Gloria. To her, even Ned’s comforting hands couldn’t calm her down. She felt like she had lost someone very important in her life. When she looked at Ned, she thought to herself I must protect him, too.

It took them half a day to get to the Sacred Cave. According to Lancelot, the Sacred Cave is where all the magic of Armendora began. According to legend, the Sacred Cave was the first Castle of Armendora. After that, the city grew and the cave was left alone, with a guardian to protect it from any harm. The Cave itself has its own power to actually tell whether someone was worthy enough to actually learn magic.

The Cave was extremely huge, which explained the legend why this place was used to be the Castle. Once they entered inside, the Cave suddenly glow bright with golden light. On the wall, letters appeared and spelled the words WELCOME BACK, PRINCE ALTHER, AND WELCOME KING LANCELOT AND PRINCESS ALYSSA in bright blue and green colour. There were old books on shelves and properly stacked on the floor with some other tools Ned could not recognize.

“Who’s Prince Alther?” asked Ned. “My name’s Ned, not Prince Alther.”

“Well,” began Lancelot. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Alyssa here just wanted to stop me from telling you the truth.”

“The truth?” asked Ned. “About what?”

“About who you really are,” answered Alyssa. “You see, according to legend, my father had a sister, Sarah. She was married to one of the citizens of Armendora. My grandfather here doesn’t approve of the marriage because royal blood must marry with another royal blood. So, he told her to live here and be the guardian of the Cave.”

“They had a son together,” continued Lancelot. “As far as I’m concerned, they left Armendora when Alyssa’s father died. Sarah couldn’t take it, and so she left Armendora through one of the gates at the Old Castle.”

“And you’re saying that they went to Haybury and actually lived there ever since?” asked Ned. “No wonder they were not surprised when I said to them I’m in Armendora right now.”

“You told them you’re coming here?” asked Lancelot.

“No,” said Ned.  “Gloria let me use her Hacker to call my parents.”

“Well, that’s not a good thing to do,” said Lancelot.

“Why not?” asked Alyssa. “His parents have the right to know where he is.”

“I’m talking about how dangerous the Hacker is,” said Lancelot. He sat on a chair and continued. “A Hacker can be easily hacked. Somebody might have been listening to Ned’s conversation with his parents.”

“And you’re talking about my stepfather?” asked Alyssa.

“Who else?” said Lancelot. “Maybe that’s why he kidnapped Gloria, for protecting the lost Prince.”

“Are you saying that Gloria was captured because of me?” asked Ned.

“Kind of, dear one, kind of,” said Lancelot.

“Oh, now I’m feeling guilty,” said Ned, sitting on a chair. “Thank you very much for telling me this.”

“Ned, it’s not your fault,” said Alyssa, sitting next to him. “We didn’t even know if that’s the truth.”

“Well, it is true,” said Ned. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“What I mean is that we don’t know if you really are the lost Prince,” said Alyssa. “Besides, I think Gloria was kidnapped for protecting me. The note clearly addressed to me.”

“How are we going to know the truth?” asked Ned. “I’m really confused here.”

“What we need,” said Lancelot, “is either confession from your parents or something that clearly shows that you are the Prince.”

“How are we supposed to let his parents confess, grandpa?” asked Alyssa. “Besides, there’s no way that we can contact them from here. Not without a Hacker. Even that can be hacked, remember?”

“Um, Alyssa,” said Lancelot. “There is a Hacker here. It’s right over there by the bookshelves.”

And sure enough, the Hacker was there.

“Is it safe?” asked Ned.

“Only one way to find out,” said Lancelot. He walked over to the Hacker, examining it to make sure it’s not hacked.

“It’s safe,” said Lancelot. “No sign of interference.”

 

“Ned, are you okay?” asked Connie, Ned’s mother.

“I’m fine, Mom,” answered Ned. “Mom, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, honey,” replied Connie. “What is it?”

“Are we really from Armendora?” asked Ned.

There was a long pause. Then, Ned’s father, Alex answered his question.

“Yes,” he said. “We are from Armendora. But it’s a long story. You can ask someone by the name Lancelot. He knows everything, and I mean everything.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, he is telling me about our family,” said Ned. “That’s why I’m asking you, is it real?”

“Yes, honey,” replied Connie. “It is real.”

“And your name is not Connie, its Sarah,” said Ned.

“Yes, honey,” said Sarah. “And yours is—“

“Alther,” said Ned.

 

Knowing the truth really hurts, especially not from his parents who only confess after Ned ask them really made Ned hurt. Seeing himself as an outsider at first, then suddenly became Prince of Armendora is something that Ned couldn’t bear.

“Are you alright, Ned?” asked Alyssa.

“Not really,” said Ned. “My parents just said I’m Armendorian, what would that make you feel?”

“Proud,” said Alyssa.

“We are proud of you, Ned,” said Lancelot. “You volunteered yourself to help Alyssa regain control on Armendora even though you didn’t know that you are Armendorian.”

“Really?” asked Ned. “You don’t find it weird?”

“Not weird,” Alyssa. “Shocking is the best word here.”

“Well,” said Lancelot, “we better start training you up for the war ahead.”