22.

Tuk walked with his father, Guge, toward the royal pavilion hours after the last of the partygoers had wandered off to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the phone call from Garin earlier and what ramifications it might have for his kingdom. But Garin had specifically asked Tuk to find out how to cross over to this land. And Tuk knew his only chance at getting that information was from his father.

"You're enjoying yourself, my son?"

Tuk smiled. "What's not to enjoy? For my entire life I've always wondered who I was and what I was supposed to do. I thought I'd found my life's work and then that vanished. I was despondent. Unsure of where I was supposed to go. And then this happened and everything seems so utterly perfect."

Guge smiled. "Your mother is beside herself with joy. She blamed herself for many years after your disappearance. She was inconsolable in some respects. Guilt is a terrible burden to handle, but especially so where it concerns a child."

"I would imagine," Tuk said. "But I don't hold either of you responsible. How could you have known that your kindness would be repaid with betrayal."

"That's the thing that one can almost never guard against," Guge said. "Betrayal."

"But surely you can look out for such things. If a person's actions are suspect, then you can remain on alert for their traitorous ways to emerge."

Guge nodded and then fell silent for a time. Finally, he looked at Tuk. "You wish to ask me a question."

"I do."

"Then why haven't you yet?"

Tuk smiled. "How is it that we came to be in this place? We examined the cave as much as we knew how. And yet, here we are."

Guge smiled. "You want to know how you crossed over."

"Yes."

"It's quite simple, actually. Would you like to see it?"

Tuk looked at him. "Right at this moment?"

"Certainly. Why not?"

Tuk shrugged. "I thought there might be something complicated about it, something that would require more preparation time."

"Not at all." Guge pointed toward the temple ahead of them that was connected to the royal quarters. Like the pavilion and court, it was constructed out of stone and seemed to be part of the mountain itself. Intricate carvings bordered every doorway and window.

Tuk was amazed at the workmans.h.i.+p. "How long has this been here?"

"Hundreds of years." Guge pointed inside a darkened corridor. "Come with me and you will learn the secrets of our kingdom."

Tuk fell into step behind his father. Guge traveled over the polished stone-floored corridors without a sound, seeming to almost levitate as he walked. Guge's cough had also ceased, which made Tuk feel better about his father's health. He'd secretly wondered if the coughing might be a sign that his father's life was nearing its end.

They walked past giant stone G.o.ds squatting in amazing detail with their hands knotted into intricate mudra for calling down favor from the universe. Spectacular colored wall reliefs showed ancient battles between the good and evil forces.

"I come here a lot to be alone with my thoughts," Guge said. "It is a place of contemplation for me as I imagine it will be for you also."

"I'd like that," Tuk said. "I have often thought my life could use a lot more meditation than action."

"Some people don't like to think," Guge said. "If they are not solely preoccupied with action, then they have time to realize the truly infantile aspects of their essence. A brain in constant need of action is no better than a fool's mind. Only the truly wise and intelligent may devote themselves to inaction from time to time without fear or prejudice."

Tuk saw that there were lit torches ahead, casting light into the darkened gloom of the temple. The flames danced and bit at the night air, throwing shadows across the walls and paintings with reckless abandon.

"How much farther is it?"

Guge shrugged. "Not very. Are you in a hurry, my son?"

"Not at all. I am tired, however. I fear that I might collapse from exhaustion soon from all the dancing earlier."

"Your people have missed you. And there was quite some concern as to who would a.s.sume the throne when your mother and I pa.s.s on. Some of our people suggested that it was time for a new ruler to a.s.sume command. But your mother insisted we wait a little longer before making a decision. She is very wise."

Tuk smiled. "Maybe she knew I was coming home."

"Perhaps she did."

Guge led them down yet another corridor and the air grew cooler. Tuk s.h.i.+vered slightly and Guge noticed. "Yes, this is much deeper into the mountain now. And you can feel the temperature s.h.i.+ft, can't you?"

"Yes, it's much cooler."

Guge nodded. "So, you see that we are part of the same mountain. But our position makes all the difference."

"How is that possible?"

"It just is."

Tuk frowned. "Forgive me father, but that's not much of an explanation."

Guge turned around and, for a moment, Tuk thought his father was angered. But the expression faded then and Guge merely smiled. "Do not allow yourself to get caught up in the need to have everything explained to you so completely. Doing so robs the world of its magic."

"I understand, Father. I merely thought that there would be an explanation that made more sense. You know, from a scientific perspective."

"Science cannot explain everything, my son. And science should not try to explain everything. For then it becomes a crutch and imagination departs the soul." Guge shook his head. "It would be truly tragic for the human race if that were to happen."

"All right."

They walked down a flight of stairs and then entered a long hallway leading toward another portal. A lone torch flickered on the wall ahead, but Tuk could not see beyond into the absolute darkness of the portal.

Guge stopped. "This is the way you came across."

"Through there?"

Guge nodded. "It leads to a path that will take you back to the arctic side of the mountain." He glanced at Tuk's clothes. "Perhaps now is not the time to try it out and see. You seem a bit underdressed."

Tuk smiled. "I'd just like to take a look."

Guge shook his head. "I don't recommend it, my son. There is little to see over there that you have not already seen. Why go through again? Are you merely attempting to satisfy your own curiosity?"

"I suppose I am."

Guge sighed. "I am old, my son. This is nothing of consequence. You should be content to know that it exists and that there is a way to get from our kingdom back to the real world. But I don't think you will be needing it. Unless you don't intend to stay?"

Tuk shook his head. "I'm not leaving."

Guge smiled. "Excellent. Then perhaps we can satisfy your curiosity another time? I am getting tired myself."

Tuk smiled. "Perhaps I could take one quick little peek across? That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"You won't stop badgering an old man unless he lets you go, will you?"

Tuk smiled. "Probably not."

Guge sighed again. "Very well. Go ahead. But I am not coming with you. That cold air makes my old bones hurt. And there's nothing there that I haven't seen before now. If you want to go, you go by yourself."

"Are you sure you won't come along?"

"Completely."

Tuk paused and looked down the hallway at the portal. The torch fire danced from the slight breeze that seemed to snake through the hallway. Tuk caught a touch of the chill across his neck and s.h.i.+vered involuntarily.

For a moment, he seriously considered going off to bed and doing this later. But then he shook his head and started forward toward the doorway.

He paused and looked back. "Can I bring the torch?"

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

"Not at all," Tuk said. "I'm afraid of what I can't see. I don't want to step over the edge of something that would send me hurtling toward my death."

"I don't believe you will."

"And yet...?"

Guge took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Oh, very well, take the torch along. But be ready for it to go out the moment you cross over. The winds are strong. And there may be a lot of snow."

"I'll be ready."

"And make sure you pay very close attention to where you are," Guge said. "If you don't, you will never find the way back to us and you will perish in the cold over there. Your mother would never let me hear the end of it."

Tuk paused and a slight frown crossed his face. That almost seemed an odd thing for his father to say. But Tuk shook his head and then grabbed the torch from the wall bracket.

He looked back toward his father. "All right. I'm going to go through the doorway now."

"Good luck."

"Thank you.

Tuk turned back to the blackened doorway and held the torch aloft. But for some strange reason, the torchlight could not penetrate the interior of the doorway.

Tuk held the torch up and ran it all along the perimeter of the door, but there was nothing that he could see inside.

"You will not be able to see until you actually cross the threshold," Guge said from behind him.

Tuk looked back. "Why is that?"

"It is that way simply because it is that way."

Tuk nodded. Another strange answer from his father. Very well, he thought. If there's only one way to do this, then he would simply do it. Perhaps then he would know what to tell Garin when he called again.

Guge's voice was behind him then. Very close. "I nearly forgot to ask you something."

Tuk turned around. "What is it?"

"You received a phone call earlier this evening. Didn't you?"

Tuk felt his face redden. "I did. I forgot that I had the telephone with me."

Guge pointed at the doorway. "You cannot go through with the telephone from this side."

"Why not?"

"As far as I understand it," Guge said. "The technology is too advanced to be transported back."

Tuk frowned. "But I came through with it from the other side and it seems to work just fine."

Guge shrugged. "I will hold on to the phone for you while you go through. That way, you can be sure it will work."

Tuk took the phone out and hefted it in his hand. "All right. I'll just take a quick peek and then come back."

Guge nodded. "Good. I hope you will satisfy your curiosity once and for all. Then we can move on to other things."

Tuk smiled. "We have a lot to talk about, I a.s.sume."

"A great deal indeed."

Tuk turned back to the doorway. "All right, I'm going through." He held the torch high above his head and then stepped closer to the doorway. He still felt Guge behind him, though, and turned back around. "Aren't you too close?"

Guge smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you are certain of this."

"I am, Father."

Tuk turned around. Before him, the gaping maw of the darkened doorway stood.

Tuk took a deep breath and then started to step through the doorway.