A Life Beyond by Mark Church (e book reader txt) 📖

poked his head out of the bedroom door to have a look he noticed the castle corridors were quiet and dark so he knew he would have to be quiet as he wandered off, just as he was about to go he felt a tug on his arm, Lillie had got dressed too,

'I'm coming with you Daniel, If we stick together we should be ok, can't let Dad or the King find us since we are supposed to be in the room until he comes for us',

'Ok but remember we are looking for Harvey ok?, and please just this once don't upset him again, I just want us all to get along now' said Daniel as he took a few steps out into the corridor, he touched his lantern which turned on and lit the way ahead for him,

'Daniel...where are you??' asked Lillie as she felt her way along the corridor slightly,

'I'm right here sis, can't you see me?' he replied as he turned to face his sister who was still feeling her way gently along the wall, he stopped and was waving right in her face,

'I'm right in front of you Lillie!!, hellooooo, what's happened to your eyes!!' laughed Daniel, just as he was about to push his sister he remembered that he was using his lantern which showed only his location to himself,

'Oh yeah...just remembered I’ve been using the lantern Lucas gave us, no wonder you can't see me, ha-ha' Daniel slapped his head gently as he felt silly about it,

'Well I still can't see..' replied Lillie as she reached out to her brother and grabbed his arm hard which caused him to yelp in pain,

'Be careful sis!!, you’re hurting my arm, let go'

'No way, that will teach you for messing with me' she laughed quietly to herself as she pushed him forwards along the corridor,

'Where's your lantern then? Asked Daniel as they walked along the corridor past a series of locked doors,

'Back in the room..I didn't have time to grab it seeing as you ran off!!'

Lillie replied as she was still holding onto Daniel's arm tightly.

As they approached another corridor which looked exactly like the last one Daniel heard a heated exchange taking place at the end of it, the children slowly crept along until they reached the last door, it was slightly open and Daniel peered in to be met with the sight of his father and Grandfather the King talking about them both,

'...you know the rules of the castle son..' said the King as looked straight at Casborn,

'Yes father...but I cannot let anything happen to them, I insist they be excused from schooling, we know nothing of them yet and what they possess, let me have time with them' Casborn replied, pleading with the King,

'I cannot allow them to stay here without the proper schooling, just in case they are what we hoped they would be, I will have Garin keep an eye on them for you as I need you by my side but you cannot interfere with their development' The King knew that they must do things right, the prophecy didn't allow for any interference,

'Yes sir. But…' said Casborn

'No buts son...and NO exceptions!!! It has been agreed now, they will start the schooling immediately and let's pray the prophecy was right, I have a feeling we will need them eventually' the King had made the decision and Casborn knew he had to stick to it,

'Ok, but if anything happens to either of them….' he said

'If they are who we hope they are then they will be as strong as their father, I guarantee it' smiled the King as he made his way over to the window unaware that they were being listened to from outside the door.

Daniel backed up slowly and turned towards Lillie,

'What's the matter Daniel? What was all that about?' asked Lillie

'Err, from what our father was saying it seems like we are being sent to whatever school it is they have here!!, I thought we'd got away from all that!! Moaned Daniel quietly as they crept along the corridor and out towards an open door that would lead them outside,

'Really??' beamed Lillie in the semi darkness 'I can't wait for that, I've missed school so much' Daniel huffed at the thought of having to sit in a classroom again and having to learn about things he had no interest in,

'Oh great more boring lessons!!, I'm sure Harvey will just love being the butt of the jokes again….HARVEY…' said Daniel rather loudly as he remembered they were looking for his friend '..We have to find Harvey!!'.

Daniel shot off out of the open door and into the courtyard which was bathed in the lowering light of the two suns which shimmered off the castle windows and reflected in the small fountain which streamed water from its top.

The children encountered one of the castle residents on their way towards the door and stopped in front of the woman,

'Excuse me..' asked Daniel 'but have you seen a boy about my height, a bit wider than me with light brownish hair wandering around here?', The woman looked at Daniel and Lillie with a puzzled look,

'Your Lord Casborns son aren't you??, The one we have heard so much about in the past...you're actually here'

'I'm Daniel and this is Lillie, my sister' smiled Daniel 'but we are looking for my friend who has gone missing and we need to find him before he has an accident or something',

'He is an accident' laughed Lillie as Daniel slapped his sister on the arm,

'Ahhhh yes the other boy from your world. Yes he's right over there' the woman pointed at Harvey who had managed to find his way in and was looking rather sheepish as he wandered over to his friend,

'There you are Harv!!!, where have you been?, I've been looking everywhere for you' said Daniel as he grabbed hold of his friend by the shoulders, Harvey had a confused look on his face as he looked at Daniel,

'I..err. Don’t really know Dan' said Harvey as he scratched his head, 'the last thing I remember was eating food, then the next thing I'm standing in the middle of the woods, I recognised the place as I think I'd been there before, I have a vision of a cage or something'

'What about the stuff after that?, you stormed off again after we were

eating and you were saying horrible things to us' Lillie reminded Harvey of what had gone on earlier, a puzzled look spreading across her face as she seemed to have a feeling something was not quite right, Harvey just shrugged his shoulders heavily,

'I dunno...maybe it's this place messing with me' he replied,

'Ok Harv...any way let's get inside before we get cau….' no sooner had he started than he looked up to be greeted by the sight of Lord Casborn and the King,

'There you are..' said Lord Casborn '..first of all I don't appreciate you leaving the safety of the room, and second of all until you are aware of just how important you are to this place I will have Garin keeping an eye on you all ok??',

'I guess that's ok' said Daniel 'oh but may I ask you something else?'

'Yes son, go ahead' smiled Lord Casborn

'Is it true that we have to go to classes here?, I overheard you speaking earlier' Daniel seemed a bit embarrassed at telling his family he had been snooping in on them,

'Daniel..'started the King 'yes it is true about what you heard, we were actually just coming to tell you, but you see we have to get you all into our system so that you hopefully will become a huge part of our future, and that does include a bit of history and studying, oh and maybe a few surprises thrown in'

'Oh that's just great!!' Harvey moaned as he threw his arms up in the air 'I only wanted to bunk off school for the afternoon and now this happens, thanks Dan...No really thanks, more chances for me to be picked on!!'.

The King stepped forward and leant in towards the children, a smile spreading across his face as he spoke gently to them,

'I understand that you may find this a little….daunting my children but I assure you that there is a necessity for you to go through the process we have in place as it allows us to make sure you are where you need to be',

'We all have to do it? Even though he is our father?' asked Daniel,

'Yes Daniel, no one gets any special treatment here, this is our way and the way it has always been' replied the King 'Now let's get you ready for your new day children, Garin...please can you take the children to get their schooling clothes from the store please?'

'Yes sir' said Garin as he turned towards the children and smiled,

'Oh and Garin...do watch them closely for me please' the King smirked slightly as he knew how inquisitive the children were,

'I will do my best sir. But this one seems to be a bit more slippery!!' he laughed and he put his arms around their shoulders and moved them towards the door to the castle.

As the children walked off through the door and out of sight Casborn turned to his father, etched across his face was a look of unease,

'Do you think they will be alright father?, I mean they have no idea what is going to happen from here on in'

'Let's see what happens my son' replied the King 'if everything happens as it should then we must not interfere, just one intervention might be hazardous for our future, we need to follow the prophecy'

'Let's hope you are right father...and what of Stephanie? Replied Casborn 'will we see her again?'

'I don't know my son, but what I do know is that one day, if and when the prophecy has come true then the children will have to make a choice..' the King said as he turned away from Casborn,

'What choice father?' asked Casborn as he caught up with the King and placed an arm on his shoulder,

'I don't have any more information than that son' he said 'It is written in text that ‘When all is silent and evil lay still, the one who won the battle must ascend the final hill. In front of them a choice is set, a change or stay the same, but ever more for eternity live out their rightful name’. These are the words we must listen to if we are to move forward'

'I guess you are right father, but please help them stay safe if possible' Casborn said as they both walked off towards the door where the children had gone. 'I look like an idiot!!' groaned Harvey as he stared at himself in the mirror, looking at his clothes he needed to wear for classes,

'You look fine Harvey' smiled Garin as he helped Daniel on with his outfit, Harvey's clothes looked strange to him as it looked like he was wearing a dress, he was flapping his arms around like a bird,

'Why do I have this huge hood too??' he asked as he pulled it up over his head and seemed to get lost in it,

'It's so your face can't be seen that well if you are out of the castle grounds, making it harder for anyone to notice who you are and how important you might be' replied Garin

'And if you fall flat on your face then no one will see how ugly you really are' sniggered Lillie as she spun round slowly whilst looking in the mirror, her robes fitted her perfectly which made her smile,

'Shut up Lillie' Harvey scowled back as he went to walk forwards but trod on his robe and fell flat on his face landing with a THUD which caused Lillie to burst out laughing and Daniel to snigger to himself quietly,

'Told you it was too big!!' he moaned as he sat there on the cold floor, arms crossed and looking