Dura Tree Tales The Quest

Chapter 5 - Alberich

Rupert went straight his bed and was asleep within seconds. It had been a long and eventful day for everyone. Alberich checked on all of the children, he tucked Molly and Udo in their blankets as they had shaken them off during their dreams. When he entered Thomas's room he had to step over several armies of play soldiers that were standing around his bed in circle like they were protecting him and his dreams. He looked down at Thomas laying on his belly, holding onto his wooden sword with one arm and the other hand was beside his head. His blondish red locks had fallen over his face hiding his gentle features. Alberich carefully removed the sword and hung it up on the top bed post. He then pulled the blanket up a little higher and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. Thomas moved slightly and Alberich stepped back not to wake him. Then he had one last look around his son's room and it looked even in the dim light like a military field and he knew now that Thomas would become a fine member of the guards. Next on his round was Leah's room. She was laying in her bed surrounded by a group of stuffed animals like water voles, dogs, foxes and even a robin, which had prided place beside her head. She was the great animal lover in the family. Alberich was very proud of his eldest daughter as she was also a good with the bees and could understand their buzzing messages better than anybody in the whole kingdom. She would make a great communicator guard when she grew up. He stroke her head and tucked the blanket around her a little tighter and left the room. The last room he entered was that of his eldest son Rupert. He sat down a chair beside his bed, smiled at him and his heart was filled with pride and love. Rupert had called him Dad again, like he used to do when he was a very small boy and before his brother Thomas had been able to speak. It had been an endearment to him to be called Dad. Shortly after Thomas was able to speak Rupert started to call him Father, like he wanted to distance himself from his father and brother in some way. Alberich tried to remember when it had been the first time. -

It had been the day when Alberich for the first time had reminded Rupert harshly that he was the eldest and that he shouldn't play silly games with his brother. Thomas had loved nothing much more to hide behind the chair and making gurgling sounds and Rupert had enjoyed teasing his brother with some gurgling answers in return whenever Thomas reappeared from behind the chair.

Alberich had pulled Rupert away from the game and scolded him for being so silly and that he should know better being the eldest. Rupert had been about three years old and Thomas about one year old and started to mimic the words of his brother most of the day. So gurgling back at him wouldn't help to develop Thomas ability to speak at all.

Rupert pursed his lower lip forward and answered with tears in his eyes: 'Yes Father.' And from that day forward he never had called him Dad until today.

Alberich thought how over the years he never had allowed Rupert to be a child or let him play games, like just running around the trees until he was dizzy from running in circles or climbing up the tree Dura to the big fork in middle of it from where he would have been able to see all of the meadow just for the fun of it. With Rupert it all had been learning and preparing for his future as heir of the Fairy Kingdom. He had him do guard duties at the age of seven and by the age of ten he was on regular patrol as foot soldier around the edge of the meadow.

He never had shown him his soft gentle site like he did with the other children. No wonder the boy did developed an anger against him. And when the time for his inauguration had come and his mother disappeared, Alberich brushed him aside, never asked him about his feelings or longing to help to find his mother. Also he had been a foot soldier Alberich never allowed him to join any for the searches. Rupert was by now a young boy of 13 years and on the brink of becoming a man soon. His father never included him into his own pain when it searches had become more fruitless and hopeless. No Alberich closed himself even more off from his family, especially his eldest.

Thinking about it now sitting here watching over Rupert's sleep it dawned on Alberich that a lot of things had gone wrong in the last few years. What had happened? He hadn't loved nothing more to share his thoughts and feeling with is beloved Maeve and end the day he would always make time to have some fun with the smaller children or telling them stories at bedtime about the olden times and his own childhood adventures.

Then one day around mid-winter his magic wand had disappeared and a fairy king without wand could not protect his folk from bad spells. So the down fall started!

Shortly after that, at the start of spring the bees swarmed out of the fairy Fort deep into the bog near the enchanted woods. Normally the bees shared their surplus honey with the fairy folk during the long winter month and swarming away meant that it was harder to keep everybody fed and supported from illness.

During the previous summer for some unknown reason Alberich hadn't conferred with the current bee queen and also forgot to instruct his nature guards to help the bees to find lots more flowers full of nectar they needed to fill the larder.

The following winter had been harsh and long. A lot of the fairies felt great hunger and some got very ill as they had no honey dew to drink. Neither did they have any protection against dark witchery. A great number of fairy children died that winter.

Maeve had tried to talk to him, but he had more and more pushed her and family away and gone into himself. The more Queen Maeve tried, harsher the King got.

Only Jacob, his personal servant since childhood could get through to Alberich from time to time. Alberich had lost his own parents at very young age and Jacob had been at his side ever since. But even Jacob couldn't help him with the need to find the elfin wand.

That could only be achieved by a quest into the enchanted woods, which had an old witch tree in the middle that would release the wand back to Alberich if he was able to convince the tree of all power to give it back to him. Alberich had dread this task for a long time now. So the fairies had now become to relay more on a landloper druid then their own King. This Druid was actually the one now who provided the spell at the wing giving ceremony or supposed to prevent bad happenings.

Today had changed all that. Alberich had lost his beloved wife, which filled his heart with great pain; but he also he had found the love of his son Rupert again.

And with him by his site, he no longer would be afraid to fulfil the quest get the elfin wand back for whole fairy folk kingdom.