Dream Kingdom Chapter 4

Chapter Four
Two Gifts


Thankfully breaking the silence, Lord Ambries enters the room as all the servants in the room bow to his entrance. Nodding in response, Lord Ambries makes his way to the Queen's side.
"May I have a moment with you Queen Reina?" asks Lord Ambries.
"As you can see we are celebrating my son's birthday," replies the Queen motioning with her hand the gift that Akin received. Looking at it, Lord Ambries gives a confused gaze to the Queen before returning to Akin.
"It's your birthday my boy?" says the Lord to the Prince with another smirk on his face.
"Yeah it is Ambries," returns Akin in response to the Lord's remark, "so show some respect."
"I already have to show some because you are my nephew and my Prince, why should I show more just because it's the day you started to grow up to be such a brat."
"Ambries," says Queen Reina with a defying tone towards the Lord of Reality's comments and sarcasm.
"With all due respects my Queen," replies Lord Ambries snapping his fingers a blue light erupts in front of Akin as a box drops in the boy's hands.
"What is it?" asks Akin examining the wooden box.
"Well open it and find out." Following Ambries's words, Akin opens the book and finds leather book with the words "Journal" written on the cover.
"A book Ambries? Why are a Lord of Reality's gifts so boring?"
"Just open the book Akin…" Looking at the Lord with a suspicious look, the boy opens the book as the pages shoot out an array of color and pictures. They are scenes of many battles and words of incantations surrounds Akin, all readable and in vivid colors. Upon closing the book, all the pictures disappear and Akin looks to Ambries with a smile.
"This is so cool," says Akin, "where'd you get it?"
"Oh I just picked it out from my collection," replies Lord Ambries, "make sure to read it, it has information that can be very useful. Happy birthday my Prince Akin…
"Now my Queen I do need to speak with you…"
"As you wish," replies the Queen of which then looks to the servants, "please prepare my son for his combat training." Bowing in respects, the servants await for Akin as he gets up from the table. The raven swoops out of the cage and onto the shoulder of Akin as he and the servants leave the room.
Princess Eleanor gets up as well and leaves the room to do her own activity leaving the rest of servants to clean up the dishes. The Queen herself too leaves the table and walks into a nearby doorway as she's followed by Lord Ambries. The two enter a sitting room as Queen Reina strolls to the window looking down at her son practicing in the yard.
"Giving it to him a little bit early aren't we," says Lord Ambries breaking the utter silence.
"You know very well Ambries," replies the Queen, "that children his age experience their magic right about this time…him wearing the amulet will let him control it."
"As well as control other's…" Lord Ambries's remark receives a glance from the Queen as if she knew what the Lord of Reality meant.
"What is your excuse for seeing me Ambries?"
"Oh you're not getting out this that easily, you know full well who that belongs to."
"My husband, your brother, yes of course Ambries I know who it belonged to. But he is the heir to Dreamland and I am lucky enough to have Eleanor not to have her father's power and only my own."
"Then why give it to him so early?"
"I already told yo—"
"He hasn't even passed his own Magic training, how do you expect him to learn the other powers of Drearmar?"
"With you Lord Ambries…"
"Me?"
"If I had any other instructor travel to Center Court and train Akin it wouldn't be as effective as it would be if you were training him."
"So are you asking for my help or are you ordering for it?"
"Neither, for as long as you reside in Drearmar and not in the World of Reality, you will listen to me…understand."
"Of course my Queen, now back to my excuse for seeing you..." Lord Ambries opens his clock as he reaches inside with his hand. He then pulls out a small device of which he pushes a button on it. A hologram beams out of the machine as a man is seen typing on the computer.
The man looks up when he feels someone's behind him. He nearly jumps out of his lab coat before he composes himself and calmly looks into the portal that shows Lord Ambries and the Queen of Dreamland.
"Greetings Doctor Dammar," says the Queen to little man, "how are the people of Shadow Town?"
"My Queen," says the Doctor bowing in respects to his Queen, "all is well behind the Shadow Walls, we are prospering quiet well."
"That is good to hear."
"Doctor, have you finished your complete analysis of the specimen?" asks Lord Ambries.
"Oh yes, my Queen Lord Ambries has discovered something quite interesting on his yearly trip to Isolated Island," replies Doctor Dammar leaving the sight of the portal to fetch something.
"Isolated Island," says the Queen looking up at Ambries with a glare, "do you not trust my husband's curse?"
"Of course I do," responds Ambries, "my brother's the strongest magician than all of us."
"And yet after thirteen years, you still check on all the Nightmare locations."
"As a precaution…"
"Hear it is my Queen." Pushing back into view of the Lord and Queen, Doctor Dammar shoves in a mechanical tube where a creature trashes inside.
"This cannot be," says Queen Reina, "is that an Impmare?"
"Yes my Queen," replies Doctor Dammar, "Lord Ambries found it in one of the clusters of Nightmare Statues on the island."
"Are you sure Doctor?"
"Well, some of its DNA is missing my lady."
"What kind of missing DNA?"
"Well for starters, my tests have found that the missing parts of the molecular structure have rendered this Nightmare from feeding off people of their fears as well as using their abilities and further more…teleporting themselves anywhere…"
"What are you saying Doctor," asks Ambries appearing as if this piece of information is even new to him.
"I'm saying my Lord and my Queen, that this Nightmare is nothing more than a fighting machine. For the time I've had him here in my lab, he has only wanted to attack anything. The only thing we can connect it to an actual Nightmare is that it's animalistic in nature."
"What I want to know is how it got here," orders the Queen with a very concerned expression on her face, "and if there's anyone here in Drearmar that is able to control this…Nightmare…"
"Well judging from the creature's missing make-up…it could've come from anywhere as the border probably didn't read it as a Nightmare…"
"This is very troubling my Queen," interrupts Lord Ambries as he looks at the Queen staring off into space absorbing the given information.
"Thank you Doctor," says Queen Reina, breaking herself from her trance. The doctor bows as his image disappears with Lord Ambries turning off the machine. The Queen walks back to the window as she looks down to see Akin practicing his swordsmanship with the Knights of the court.
Clapping her hands, two servants appear at the sitting room's doorway instantly. "Summon the Captains of the Court Guard."
They bow in response as they leave the two in the room. Ambries walks to the Queen's side as he too looks down at Akin's training. "So what do you plan on doing?"
"I will focus on this problem Ambries," replies Queen Reina, "I want you to concentrate on Akin's training. Do as you wish to make sure he'll be ready for the throne."
"No rush though right? He does have five years left."
"I want him ready by his sixteenth birthday."
"Are you sure? With this new dilemma I could put off his training and assist in this issue…"
"No Ambries, the curse my husband used was paid with his life and this crisis is our part of family's problem…focus on Akin." There is silence between them as Ambries finally breaks it with his next comment.
"I'll need a boat."