Bartholomew Nelson and the World of Zathya: The Prince and the Heir

Bart awoke to a bright light and a huge room. At first he didn’t quite remember what had happened the night before, but he knew something wasn’t right. That’s when it hit him. Charlotte had been taken. The sadness of losing his best friend hit him like a pound of bricks. Not once had it even crossed his mind that she would be a casualty in this, but he knew that they wouldn’t keep her alive for long. They would probably torture her for answers and then kill her when they were done. After all, it was always Bart who they were after. Charlotte was expendable. To make things worse, they hadn’t been on the best of terms. They had never fought as much as they did while in the woods. Bart had never before felt so distanced from his best friend. Why did he let them argue? Why did he let it go on for so long?

“So stupid,” he said to himself. He didn’t even know if he would get the chance to apologize but he couldn’t think like that. If anything, he had to save her so he could set the record straight. Bart sat up and immediately felt pain in his left cheek. He thought back to what happened and then remembered that Jonah had punched him in the face.

“I owe you one,” he said to himself as he looked around the room. The room was enormous. There were golden curtains hanging by the window and the blankets he was under were also golden. There were wooden cabinets and dressers and a couple mirrors. He got from under the covers and headed over to the window. He looked out and saw a huge courtyard far down, revealing that Bart was high in the castle. There was a giant fountain in the middle with white pearly marble surrounding it. The walls of the castle were made of pearly white bricks. A lot of people down there were walking around and then he realized it was daytime. How long had he been out? As he continued to look around outside he saw just how massive the kingdom really was. There were slightly shorter towers in the distance and the castle itself looked liked it was the size of about one hundred mansions. “This is crazy,” he said. He decided he could marvel over the glorious castle later and he rushed to the door but when he stepped out into the hall Jonah was waiting for him.

“I see you’re finally awake,” he said with a smile. “Good because Demetrius wants to talk to you.” Before Bart could say anything, Jonah started walking away. He hurried and followed and decided to pay Jonah back later. The inside of the castle was just as huge as the outside looked. There were tons of different hallways that they passed on their way to Demetrius. There were also tons of pictures on the walls. Either many people worked here or many people lived here because Bart was sure he walked past at least two hundred people just on the floor they were on now. Everyone was rushing around doing different things. One woman had papers floating behind her as she walked and wrote things down. Another woman was in her room with different outfits floating around her clearly unable to decide what to wear. Some guy was running as fast as he could trying to get his shoe on.

“What’s going on?” Bart asked, trying not to laugh at the guy as he tripped and face planted inches away from the steps. “Why does everyone seem so busy?”

“It’s always busy here,” Jonah said. “The woman with the papers is a teacher at the school and the guy tripping over himself is, too.” Bart looked back as they passed the woman with the papers. She was a teacher? At what school? Bart never even thought about the possibility of there being a school in Zathya. Why do they even need one?

“What do they teach?” he asked. “Like, history and math and things?” Jonah laughed.

“Well yes and wielding, of course,” he said. Bart felt like an idiot. Duh, he said in his head. They finally made it to a huge staircase and started to go down. Bart lost count of how many steps he went down before they turned and headed towards these huge golden doors. On their way, something caught Bart off guard. On the wall to his left was a stream of water flowing out of it. There was no pipe and the water poured out in a straight line towards the ground. If that wasn’t crazy enough, the water vanished before it hit the ground. Bart tried to touch it just to see if he could.

“Stop,” yelled Jonah. Bart snatched his hand away, startled. “Whatever touches that water ends up wherever it goes,” he said while taking a coin out of his pocket. He tossed the coin at the water and instantly it vanished.

“What the-” Bart started to say.

“We don’t know where it goes,” Jonah said. Then he ushered Bart along. After a few more steps they walked through the giant golden doors. The room was the biggest he had seen yet. There were tons of white pillars that reached up to the ceiling. The floor was white marble, and there was a long golden carpet that stretched all the way from the steps to the pillars. Everything looked so clean. Bart felt terrible for whomever had to clean this place. If that was ever his chore, he would rather be tortured through some form of wielding. When they went up the small steps Bart realized that they were in the throne room. Ahead of him was a throne sitting a little more elevated than the smaller chairs next to the throne, two on each side. Sitting on the throne was a woman. She looked as though she had been through millions of battles. As Bart got closer he saw her eyes were worn down. She wasn’t too old, which confused Bart. She had brown hair which barely covered a scar under her left eye and cheek. She wore red pants with a purple tank top and a golden necklace. She didn’t wear the crown that sat up on a pedestal behind the throne encased in glass. Sitting in the chair to her immediate right was a man Bart recognized from the picture at the house that was blown to bits. His eyes were just as full of wisdom as that picture made them seem. His hair was still black with shades of grey here and there. His goatee was trimmed. He was smiling as Bart approached. The other chairs were empty.

“Finally you are awake,” Demetrius said as he stood to greet Bart. It was a weird feeling to finally meet Demetrius in the flesh. He had only seen one picture and he had heard his name numerous times, but up until this moment it all felt like this man was a myth. Some legendary figure that was all-powerful. Yet standing there now was Demetrius, his long silver robe reaching down to the ground. For some reason, standing in the presence of the Queen, he felt the need to bow. And so he did.

“My friend,” she said softly stepping down from the steps to stand on equal ground with Bart. “You need not bow to me. You are the rightful heir to our throne. Think of me as your place holder.” She gave him a large smile, which he knew was genuine from the feeling it gave him.

“You must have had a long journey,” Demetrius said. “I would love to hear all about it.” In spite of their genuine kindness, Bart wanted to skip the rest of the pleasantries. These two were acting as if everything was okay when in fact, it was quite the opposite. Charlotte was missing and Bart was sure she would be dead if they didn’t do something quickly, yet Demetrius wanted to hear stories of Bart’s travels.

“Forgive me, sir, but aren’t there more important things we need to worry about?” Bart asked trying to be as polite as possible. Demetrius continued to smile as he walked up and placed his hand on Bart’s shoulder.

“Of course there are,” he said to Bart’s surprise. “I guess we can talk about your journey at a later date.” He turned and faced the queen who nodded in agreement. “As I was telling Queen Thrack, we must be cautious of our next move,” Demetrius continued. “I expect Tyreekin to be expecting us.” Bart was a little confused. He had no idea who this Tyreekin was, but waiting around was not what he was expecting them to do.

“Wait a second, you want to wait? Wait for what?” Bart’s voice was starting to rise a little when he spoke but at this point he didn’t care.

“Charging in to save Charlotte is exactly what the Prince wants,” Queen Thrack said. “It would be best to think of a strategy that will be safest for all parties involved.

“Waiting around and planning will get Charlotte killed,” Bart screamed. “We should go take the fight to them! Why wait for her to be dead?” Demetrius looked at the queen who returned his glance.

“Bartholomew, Tyreekin wants to get his hands on you, and we do not yet know why,” Demetrius said calmly. “If you go into his arms without a plan, you will be giving him exactly what he wants.”

“Who is this Tyreekin?” Bart asked angrily.

“He is a very dangerous man that many people fear. It would not be wise to underestimate him.”

“It seems like you fear him too,” Bart said, clearly not thinking before he spoke. However, his comments didn’t faze Demetrius, even though his smile faded. He didn’t seem angry in the least bit. “Waiting around will get Charlotte killed, and I can’t let that happen,” Bart said, unwilling to apologize. Just then, one of the side doors to the giant room opened, and in walked Victoria and the man he recognized as Jester, her twin brother. Bart felt so relieved at the sight of her. Maybe she would side with him.

“Bartholomew, think this through,” continued the queen. “If you play into his hands there is no telling what will happen. We need to think of a plan.” Bart looked at the queen irritably, but he could see in her eyes that she only wanted to help.

“Bart, the queen is right,” Victoria added. “It’s the reason I stopped you last night. Had I let you go, the situation would be reversed. I am sure that whatever his rationale was for the prince to have taken Charlotte, he won’t hurt her.” Bart was blindsided by Victoria’s response. He had expected her to be on his side, but she instead agreed with everyone else. He felt tremendously out numbered.

“He won’t hurt her because she’s the bait kid,” said Jester. Bart had never really spoken to Jester before, but in this moment he hated him. He hated all of them for what they were saying, but what made it worse is that it all made sense. Bart knew deep down that everything they were saying was right. He was just having trouble accepting it.

“I’d rather be the captive,” he said softly with his head down. “And Charlotte would be safe here.” No one spoke for several seconds. Bart felt so helpless and lost. He had thought for sure they would conjure up some kind of rescue mission, but instead they were sitting here trying to devise a plan.

“Can I speak to Bartholomew alone,” asked Demetrius. Everyone said yes without hesitation and began to leave. Victoria patted Bart on the back, which comforted Bart a little but not enough. The queen stopped in front of Bart and took his hands in hers.

“It is such a pleasure to finally meet you,” she said softly. “I hope that when this is over we can get to know each other much better and under much better circumstances.”

“So do I, your majesty,” Bart said half-heartedly.

“Please, call me Natalie,” she said with a smile then she walked out with the rest of them. Bart watched as the group left him alone with Demetrius. Even though Demetrius had a calming face and eyes that made you feel as if everything was going to be okay, being in his presence was somewhat intimidating. He had this feeling that he gave off that let you know, even if he looked like a nice calm quiet person, he can unleash a storm that would destroy you. Bart decided he didn’t want to see that storm.

“Do you mind if I change into something more comfortable?” Demetrius asked. Before Bart responded, it happened. His robe vanished being replaced by tan linen pants and a long sleeve white shirt. Bart was amazed at how quickly that happened not to mention he didn’t see Demetrius move. “I’m sure you have many questions, Bartholomew,” he said softly. Bart wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but the only question Bart could think of was when they were going to rescue Charlotte. “Walk with me a moment.” Bart followed Demetrius out of the giant Golden doors that he came in and back to the steps. Bart thought it would be a long walk again but they only went down a few flights before being on the ground floor. The walking gave Bart time to calm down a little bit and he realized he did have more questions. Before the whole Charlotte situation went down, he had wanted to ask more about Zathya.

“I do actually have some questions,” Bart said finally as they made their way through some back hallways.

“Of course you do,” Demetrius said with a smile. “Ask away.”

“Well for starters,” Bart started. “Who is this Prince that is after me?” Demetrius didn’t stop smiling once he heard the question. Bart was unsure how he could remain so happy and calm through all of this.

“Well, the man we were discussing inside, Tyreekin, he is the one that many call the Chaos Prince. However he is no true Prince which is why I refer to him as Tyreekin.” Bart hadn’t realized that the two were one in the same, which cleared some things up for him.

“So why are people afraid of him? And why is he after me?” Bart and Demetrius made their way through a back door, which led into the courtyard that Bart had seen earlier from his room. It was much larger when he was actually standing in it and the fountain was magnificent. The water was clear and the sun hit off it in a way that made it sparkle. Demetrius sat at a bench near the fountain and Bart followed suit.

“Tyreekin is a very dangerous and unstable man. His ideals on life in our world are very evil. If he had it his way, he would enslave every man, woman, and child that wasn’t of royal blood.” Bart didn’t like the sound of that. He knew slavery was never a good thing no matter what the reasoning was behind it. As Bart listened he noticed that some of the water was floating around them and changing shapes. “As for why he is after you, we still haven’t figured it out yet,” Demetrius said completely ignoring the water. Bart was wondering if Demetrius was doing this with the water or if the water was somehow enchanted. “It’s me,” Demetrius whispered. “I like to keep practicing as much as I can.” Bart was so amazed by the water that he hadn’t realized his mind was being read. “Anyway, yes there is no clue telling us why Tyreekin is after you.” That wasn’t to comforting for Bart. There was a deranged mad man who believed in slavery out to capture Bart for an unknown reason. It didn’t really make Bart feel too safe to know that nobody knew why.

“So then how are we supposed to stop him?” Bart asked.

“Let’s walk again shall we?” Demetrius suggested as he stood up. They started walking again and ended up back inside the castle. “Now that we have you here, things are much safer and we can actually focus on training you. The main goal before was to get you here safely. Now that we have accomplished that, Tyreekin undoubtedly won’t stop until he has you. So your training is priority number one.” Bart liked the sound of that but also hated it. He would rather them save Charlotte first than worry about training him. If anything, they could train him and Charlotte so that this situation wouldn’t happen again. “Listen,” Demetrius said as he stopped at a small door. “We know you don’t want anything to happen to Charlotte. No one wants her to be hurt, but as much as I hate to say it you are much more important. If there was anything we could do this instant we would. Believe me when I say that we are trying our best to come up with a safe and secure plan to save your friend.” Bart didn’t want to believe him but he did. It was so hard to just sit back and do nothing when Charlotte needed Bart the most. If he became king, he knew that he would make it so everyone was of equal importance. “Now on a different subject, beyond these doors, your mother is resting.” Bart felt like he had been smacked across the face with a bat. He had completely forgotten about his mother in all the commotion about Charlotte. If he felt bad before, he felt worse now for wasting any time in coming to see how she was doing.

“Is she okay?” he questioned desperately.

“We believe we have gotten rid of the virus that Mafortian planted,” Demetrius responded. “Now all that is left to do is be patient and wait for her to wake up.”

“So when can I see her?” Bart said sounding hopeful.

“I’m afraid not yet,” said Demetrius. “She needs her rest and I need to check on her.” Bart’s spirits dropped again. He felt so helpless in all aspects of his life right now. He was being hunted by a ‘Chaos Prince’ who he didn’t have a chance of defeating, his mother was in a coma all because of him and he couldn’t even help her, and Charlotte was kidnapped right before his very eyes, and he did nothing to stop it. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more helpless and hopeless he became. “Thank you for walking with me,” Demetrius said, breaking Bart’s train of thought. “Dinner will be soon, so go see if Jonah can show you where to get some new clothes and a shower.” Without saying another word he opened the door and entered the room. The door was shut before Bart could even take a peak. Bart walked away a little angry, but mostly sad. He headed back into the courtyard where he ran into Jonah.

“That’s not a happy face,” Jonah said trying to cheer Bart up. It didn’t work. “Well, I know how you’re feeling, friend,” he continued. Bart was ready to explode. No one knew how he was feeling. Nobody here was best friends with Charlotte, and nobody understood what Bart was going through. To even say such a thing was infuriating. Nobody else seemed concerned with getting her back right about now, and if Bart could, he would go after her this instant. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” asked Jonah. Bart wasn’t too sure what he was talking about.

“Oh right, you’re supposed to take me to the showers and to help me find new clothes,” Bart said realizing Jonah was probably talking about what Demetrius wanted Jonah to do. But Jonah just smiled and let out a laugh that made Bart feel uncomfortable.

“No Bart,” he said still laughing. “What are we waiting for as in let’s go get your friend back.” Bart’s eyes widened at what he had just heard. Was Jonah out of his mind? Bart was sure of it.

“Wait what?” Bart asked completely puzzled.

“You heard me,” he said confidently. “Let’s save Charlotte. But we have to wait until nightfall. Going in broad daylight is suicide.” Bart was still completely baffled but he found himself liking the idea. It was in this moment he started to really see Jonah’s age showing. His seventeen-year-old sense of adventure was clearly still there. Maybe he was a rebel just like Bart. Whatever the reason, Bart didn’t care.

“I’m in,” Bart said with a smile.

“Good.”