There was a frantic buzz on the other end as the king dictated to his scribes. Then a voice came from the orb.
"Rettan, try to open the doors."
"Yes, sir." Rettan gulped, touching the doors and quickly snatching his hand away as though the stone might burn him. He pulled at one of the steel handles. For a second it seemed as though nothing had happened, and then, though the doors stayed shut, the bright gold runes faded, being replaced with a few lines of writing.
"Sir, I tried to open the door. The runes faded away and more writing came."
"What did it say?"
"It said: You do not have the bones, nor a willing human. Do not try to breach the doors again on peril of your life."
A thoughtful sigh came from the king's end. Then he spoke.
"Try again to open the doors."
Rettan couldn't believe it.
"Are you joking, sire?"
"No, I'm not. Try again."
"Sire, are you trying to get me killed? You heard what the doors said!"
"Don't worry, nothing will happen. I've seen this before, nothing will happen if you try again. It's just trying to tell if you're brave or not." the king lied.
"Are you really sure?" Rettan asked doubtfully.
"Yes, I'm sure. Try again."
Reaching out with a quivering hand, Rettan tentively jerked on the doors. Once again the writing faded and new words appeared.
"It says the same thing again, except now it also says that if I try again I'll be killed."
"Interesting." came the king's voice. Then a buzz as he said something to someone at his end. Finally he spoke again. "Try again, I think that you'll get in this time."
Rettan thought about it. After all, nothing had happened last time, and if he got in then maybe the king would reward him for it. Still, he didn't think it was a good idea.
"Have you tried again?"
"No sir, I'm just going to."
Rettan took a deep breath, and pulled the handle.
16-Sep-2006 23:56:33