Father Andrew showed the two boys into a monk’s apartments. He motioned for them to take a seat nearby so they could continue their discussion from dinner.

“So you are a Tempus?” Sebastien asked as soon as the door was shut.

“Perceptive. I am a Gate Guardian. When there is a tampering in the great halls I am alerted to it. This was not the gate you were suppose to cross into,” Father Andrew replied mildly.

“Which gate were we suppose to go through?” Antoine asked, becoming quickly confused.

“I’m not entirely sure. Somewhere farther in. Probably somewhere during a great battle. There aren’t many Tempus Guards left you know.”

“So…the Baron was trying to assassinate us,” Sebastien said solemnly.

“Seriously!? How can that be? I thought he and Dad were…”.

“On good terms?” Sebastien finished for him. “I know, he was tricked as we were. Although, since we are alive and have a chance to go back, we can help Father see the truth.”

“Then you will want to return in haste,” Father Andrew said raising his eyebrows at them.

“Yes, of course,” Sebastien replied without hesitation.

“Wait, wait,” Antoine cut in. “What about Brianna and Cecilia?”

“What of them?”

“After taking the Oath to the Rose Order, I can not ignore the fact that I have a debt to pay to a lady. I am obligated to return her favor.”

“Use the right head, Antoine!” Sebastien snapped at him. “Which is more important, your Code of Honor or the protection of our home, our country, our king? We have loyalties to our father, the king.”

Antoine narrowed his eyes at his brother, “What can the Baron do now anyway? If we are missing, Dad will know something is wrong and heighten defenses.”

“He still has Lucifer!” Sebastien argued back.

“Not quite,” Father Andrew interrupted with a smile.

“What to you mean?” Sebastien asked nervously.

“There are the beginnings of a Temporal Storm this evening. It originates from the same gate you two came from. Would the Baron come himself? Or would he send someone through? If I were in his shoes, I would send Lucifer. Thus pinning the blame on the Luminens and severing that alliance. This lowers the defenses of the army, making Pravignon vulnerable to attack. From whence the attack comes is still a mystery to me,” Father Andrew explained, rubbing an itch out of his eye.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Antoine shook his head in disbelief.

“Granted most of it is guessing. I’ve been away from Pravignon for about fifteen maybe twenty years. I left about the time you were born. I was one of the seven Tempus Guards selected. At the same time I was ordained a priest.

“But if that Prophecy is true, then there won’t be a need for Tempus Guards and I can finally retire,” Father Andrew smiled hopefully.

Sebastien flushed a bit. “I doubt my brother and I are the two knights”.

“The Baron doesn’t think so. If you may recall, the baron also had a brother.”

“That’s all well and good,” Antoine yawned. “But shouldn’t we figure out what we are going to do now?”

“Well said. I’ve been rambling,” Father Andrew chuckled. “I can not send you right away. It does take some time setting things up and since there is a storm tonight there will be interference for awhile. I can not start preparations until Monday. But then again, I have classes on Monday. Given my schedule and obligations, it may actually take a couple of weeks.”

“A couple of weeks!?” Sebastien jumped up in alarm. “Are you sure it will take that long?”

Father Andrew held up his palms and shook his head, “That is what I estimate.”

“Isn’t there something you could do? Some excuse you could make up to take time off to do this?”

“I have my obligations to my students, Sir Sebastien. And the school is my king. And you have already made me skip Vespers. Although this may seem like an emergency, Sir Sebastien, there is very little that you can accomplish even if I could send you right away.”

“Father…”

“Seb, he can’t. You’ll have to adapt. Father Andrew, what should we do in the meantime?” Antoine asked almost merrily.

“I will secure you some uniforms and casual clothes from our donation box and you can wander about freely. “Learn what you can from wherever you go”. That’s what an African chief told me once,” Father Andrew said as he left.

Sebastien sank onto the cot and buried his face in his hands. Antoine stopped gloating for a moment and set his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“We will go back home soon. There will be plenty of time to help Dad…”

“Antoine, I am worried that Father won’t be there when we get back,” Sebastien sighed in exasperation. “The Baron wants the throne and probably our mother. I don’t think it will take him very long to do it.”

Antoine shut his eyes, “I’m sorry. I should be the one more concerned with this. But even if Dad has been assassinated and our mother taken away, I am next in line. Unless I am dead, the Baron can not remain in power. And if everyone thinks we’re dead anyway and then we come back, there may not be much of a fight, know what I mean?”

“I just hope to God you’re right,” Sebastien sighed again. “I’m really tired now. I’m going to bed.”

“It’s so early!”

“I know. But it’s been a long day.”

“Fine. I’m gonna go exploring then. I shall return later,” Antoine said rushing out the door.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” Sebastien shouted after him.

Father Andrew was right. It did look like rain. Antoine looked around with a fresh curiosity and sense of wonder. He had not had much of a chance to look around when he was trying to find shelter the first time. The grounds were well manicured and tended to as gardens grew and trees budded. A black iron fence enclosed the property which bothered Antoine slightly. The posts were studded with sharp spear-points and a gate shut out trespassers. The walls were built for the convent long ago to protect the cloister in the 1960’s.

Despite the history, Antoine saw a cage, a gilded cage and nothing more. Turning away from the gate he saw a small building with a sign that read, “SECURITY”. Across from there was another small building hidden in a nook of bushes. It had a large padlock on it, so Antoine could not find out what was inside. That drove him batty. Before it got the better of him, he moved on. He walked passed the three storie building which he now knew to be the Girl’s Dorms. He had followed a girl that had entered, who later he figured to be Cecilia.

Connected to that building was the common halls where the food was served. The building also housed a common room with games and a nurse’s office for minor illnesses and injuries. The other building connected to that was the boy’s dorms. It was identical to the girl’s dorms except, Antoine expected it was filled with young men.

Antoine continued to follow the path by the outdoor soccer fields where a couple of teams were practicing. He watched mildly feeling the urge to join but knew it was probably wiser to keep his distance. Across from there was the outdoor basketball courts where a group of students were playing two-on-two. Antoine found it much more interesting than soccer.

Continuing on his walk, he found group of small buildings and one large one. The smaller buildings were full of classrooms and offices. The doors were locked but he could see through the windows. The large building was the field house. It had a pool, a couple of gyms, weight rooms and an indoor running track. Antoine made note to ask several questions when he met with Brianna again.

He thought of Brianna for a moment. She was a very pleasant young woman and fairly attractive. She was about his height and a bit husky, but that was all right for a woman anyway. Brianna was well-endowed and that mattered. Her personality was very charming, warm and friendly. Perhaps he could convince her to change Sebastien’s mind about staying here awhile. It would be good for Sebastien to have a lady friend to soften him up a bit. The only problem would be how the Viper would react. Cecilia was territorial, based on her reaction to his intrusion of her living quarters.

Yet, it did not seem fair that his stoic, little brother should deserve a fine woman like Brianna. It was something to consider seriously.

The sun had set when he returned to the tiny monastery. Antoine found Sebastien fast asleep in the guest room. To be fair, Sebastien was still recovering from the bolt. Antoine settled down on to the other cot for the night. He would rise early the next day and seek out Brianna at breakfast.

Antoine’s plans did not come into fullness at all. Father Andrew insisted on breaking fast with them this morning. The energetic priest gave them a list of activities they might find interesting and classes they should take. Sebastien tried to hide his excitement about the classes. Antoine smirked knowing that although Sebastien did want to go home, the research here would be too much for him to resist.

“Can’t we join other students in their activities?” Antoine said with a large hazel-eyed stare.

“I…I suppose there is no harm. You just should not speak about your true origins. We would not want to involve more people than we need to. People are easily spooked, Cecilia’s reaction was probably the most mild of reactions.”

Antoine shuddered, “I understand. It’s just that I want to see a few places outside the school and it would be nice to have a guide.”

“Antoine this is not a field trip,” Sebastien groaned.

“Learn something wherever you go,” Antoine quipped.

Father Andrew smiled, “It is good to see you both so energetic. Keep your eyes open though. Lucifer could come at any time now. There is a storm coming.”

“Yes, which is why it would to our advantage to see as many places as we can so we know our terrain,” Antoine grinned.

Sebastien shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Can we see Brianna and Cecilia again?” Antoine asked quickly.

“I would give Cecilia a bit of time,” Father Andrew said flatly. “You two have given her quite a shock and it may take awhile for her to adjust. Brianna might be fine, but she’s nearly always with Cecilia.”

Antoine sighed impatiently.

Sebastien glared warningly.

“I am not getting involved with them,” Antoine insisted, reading his brother’s expression.

“Good. Thank you for your advice, Father Andrew. Now, you mentioned a library…,” Sebastien said eagerly.

What choice did he have? He had to keep an eye on Sebastien while he studied or Sebastien might forget to eat. Sebastien had made a bee-line to the history section of the library to see what he could learn. Antoine wandered around aimlessly.

To his delighted surprise, he saw something he liked. It was a story he did not expect to find on the shelves.

“Seb! Sebby, look at this,” Antoine whispered earnestly, shoving the book in front of Sebastien’s face.

“What is it?” Sebastien asked irritably.

“Seb, don’t you recognize it? It’s the Legend of King Arthur! They know about Arthur and his knights and the code of chivalry and all that. Isn’t’ that great?”

“Sure,” Sebastien replied with mild disinterest.

Antoine grimaced and walked off, trying to read the small print. It was difficult for his eyes to focus on them. Unexpectedly he bumped into another person.

“Pardon me, I…Brianna?”

“Antoine? What are you doing here?” she whispered back in surprise.

“Helping my brother, I guess. What are you looking for?”

“I’m doing a research project on knights for history class.”

Antoine held up the book and grinned mischievously. This was almost too perfect.

“Perhaps you can help my brother out too. He’s researching history too. I think he has taken every book off the shelf,” he smiled. “Actually, it would be a huge favor to me too. I really would like to look around the school some more and meet people, but Seb likes to be anti-social. I don’t think he’s ever even talked to a lady before you and Cecilia.”

Brianna giggled. Her giggle was so cute and those dimples on her cheeks! Antoine shrugged it off and pleaded with his expression.

“Maybe he can help me a bit on my project. You both are knights after all. Can I borrow your book?”

“Sure. Thanks so much, Brianna. You are my savior!” Antoine said eagerly handing the book to Brianna. “Say do you know anyone who can show me around outside the fence?”

“Cecilia and I are going out later today, you can come with us,” Brianna offered.

Antoine grimaced playfully, “You know what, I was hoping you knew someone else because Father Andy doesn’t want me bothering Cecilia today.”

“Why doesn’t he want you to bother Ceese?”

“He claims she’s been shocked a bit by us being here and all.”

“Oh…oh yeah. Maybe he’s right. How about tomorrow? Oh…but I really want you guys to see this movie with us.”

“Movie?”

“I’m sure Ceese won’t mind. I’ll ask her and see what she says, so I’ll tell you later.”

“When?”

“Um…I’ll ask her at lunch before we go. You can eat near us.”

“We have to eat at the monastery, but we can meet you here afterwards.”

“Great. Let’s do that. This’ll be so fun!”

“Yes, I look forward to it. Until then, enjoy my booky brother,” Antoine winked.

Brianna giggle again and shook her head.

Antoine slipped out of the library to let the seeds he planted blossom.

What a day it had been! Antoine could not take it all in. There was the car ride, the movie, and the mall. This was such an amazing, wonderful place. It had to be the Golden Age, no doubt about it. Even Sebastien had found himself having a good time. Cecilia had not said anything about being bothered by their presence, but she did not speak much during their day out. She seemed happy enough, but it was pretty obvious she did not want to spend much more time than she had to with them.

Antoine asked Brianna hundreds of questions, monopolizing most of her time. Sebastien mulled his own questions quietly to himself, not saying much of anything during the day either.

“Does he bother you that much?” Sebastien asked Cecilia in a low, quiet tone. It was not a question loaded with a threat, but obviously something he was considering seriously.

“Antoine? Well…I guess a little,” Cecilia was embarrassed at Sebastien’s straightforwardness. “He just too…spirited,” Cecilia struggled to find a polite adjective.

Sebastien smiled and raise an eyebrow. He chuckled softly and nodded.

“I understand. Antoine has much passion and often expresses it openly. If you prefer the quiet and time to think clearly, then he would be a nuisance.”

“It’s not a bad thing he is like that, you know,” Cecilia stammered a bit.

Sebastien shook his head and smiled reassuringly, “I feel the same, but I have to live with him.”

Cecilia ventured a short giggle, “It must be trying. I have siblings too.”

“Is that so! Do they go to school here too?”

“No, no. They go to a different private school. I’m the eldest and I was recommended here.”

“Eldest? How many?”

“A brother and two sisters,” Cecilia replied.

“And Brianna?”

“She’s got an older sister who dropped out of school and got married. Brianna got a scholarship here. We’ve known each other since fourth grade…that would be about…oh…almost ten years now.”

“Ten years!” Sebastien exclaimed quietly. “That explains your loyalty to her.”

Cecilia flushed at the compliment. Perhaps Sebastien was not so bad. He did not cause her much trouble and they had a lot in common. He wanted to leave and she wanted him to leave. They both were impatient with Antoine and loved to study. And he wasn’t bad looking either. His eyes were a pretty green and his hair…it was a bit long perhaps but he kept it in good order.

She blinked hard and forced herself to stop daydreaming.

“Sorry. I’m getting tired,” she apologized quickly.

“Then perhaps it is for the best that my brother and I go,” Sebastien announced.

“What already?” Antoine whined.

Sebastien looked stern and was about to say something else.

“Fine, fine. We’ll go. Thanks again for everything Bree. We had a wonderful time. I hope we can do this again sometime.”

“That’d be great.”

“Finals week,” Cecilia replied sharply.

“Oh that’s next weekend isn’t it? I hate cram weekends,” Brianna winced.

“Seb and I will help you study if you like,” Antoine offered.

“That’d be nice,” Brianna smiled. “Although, I’m not sure how helpful that would be.”

“Will you be attending classes this week?” Cecilia interrupted.

“I suppose we will. We have nothing better to do while we wait for Father Andrew to complete…whatever it is he does to send us home,” Sebastien answered. “It’s been lovely, ladies. We bid you good day.”

Sebastien lead Antoine back towards the monastery before Antoine could stall them longer.

Sunday evening there was another power outage. The storm was heavy for several hours, so students gathered in the common room in the lower levels of the building.

“I hope a tornado blows through here.”

“Bet they’d find away to give us finals anyway.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t cancel classes even if it was the second coming of Christ.”

Students complained or tried to sleep but no comfort was found.

Brianna was content reading her book. She was going to be up for hours reading it anyway.

Cecilia could only twiddle her thumbs until things calmed down outside. She wondered for the first time if the two knights were up as well.

Sebastien paced in the small space while Antoine slumbered unaware of the violent storms outside. It made Sebastien nervous and the flashing light kept him up. There was no light to read by or much of anything to occupy his time. He could think. So think he did. He plotted out what he and Antoine could do during their stay. Two weeks was a long time to wait. The past four days seemed like forever. He hoped it was not too long. He also hoped his brother was right.

So far, Father Andrew had been correct in his predictions. This was the Temporal Storm they were waiting for, which meant that the assassin would be here. What if it was not Lucifer? Or perhaps a better question was what if it was Lucifer. The elf was legendary for his incredible power and ability.

Sebastien recalled Lucifer’s story only vaguely. The elf had married young, received top marks in his classes, pursued a political career and became an emergency leader upon the assassination of the Luciorian High Elf. That’s where things went terribly wrong. Something had happened in Lucifer’s personal life that affected every decision. The war went poorly and disgracefully. Lucifer had established torture camps for prisoners, ordered brutal tactics and supposedly assassinated the former king of Pravignon.

Mysteriously, Lucifer resigned from his post and disappeared for the rest of the war. When he turned up again, he was with the Baron Peregrine as a personal vassal. There were missing pieces to the story, but ever since then everyone knew that the Baron used Lucifer as a threat and a tool for his own rise in power.

The situation was dangerous any way you looked at it. Sebastien knew that he and Antoine could not stay in one spot for very long. Lucifer was a quick hunter. There was no telling when he would strike or who he would strike. Things would be quite ugly if students started dying and their deaths would be their fault.

Sebastien fingered a ring on his index finger. It was given to them upon their thirteenth birthday from Valon, the realm of Water Elves or Valians. Elf-stones were said to hold some of the elves’ mysterious powers. The green stone was only a pretty bauble, it had never given him much elven influence at all. Antoine was convinced that his elf-stone made him stronger. Antoine was so gullible sometimes. Perhaps believing he had powers made him try harder.

Lucifer had elf-stones too. Luminens used them as energy sources somehow. Sebastien’s ring could glow, but that was the extent of its powers. He was sure Lucifer could think of much more practical uses for it. Sebastien was not ashamed to admit it. He was terrified. An assassin…no…Lucifer himself was someone to be feared. Did Father Andrew know of this dangerous figure and his capabilities? He should be warned at once and the school too.

“An elf? Please tell me you’re joking,” Cecilia scoffed as Sebastien warned her with a straight face. “I have never seen an elf in my life. There are no elves here, except in movies. I thought we explained to you that those were elaborate costumes.”

“You mean there are no elves here? Or anywhere?” Antoine asked.

“No elves anywhere. Period. There are people who like to believe they are real, but they aren’t,” Cecilia reaffirmed.

“The more I stay here, the more I like it,” Antoine sighed. “Elves are really annoying…and freakish”.

“And possibly a problem. If one IS here and none actually exist here, there could be some over-reactions,” Sebastien frowned.

“Or we can call the government and have science perform freakish experiments,” Cecilia grinned.

“Can they really do that?” Antoine asked excitedly.

“I don’t know if they really will, but sure.”

“That is most excellent.”

“You shouldn’t be mean to elves,” Brianna said.

“This one wants to kill us. I say we have reason to be mean,” Antoine smirked.

“Enough chatter, class is going to start in a few minutes,” Cecilia announced.

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