Sisera's Gift (Dragonblood Sagas Book 2)

by Robyn Wideman

  “A temping offer, Your Highness, alas I’m far too old to be traveling to distant lands. I’ll stay here, and do what I can to make sure the new king doesn’t undo all the good you’ve done over the years.”

  “Thank you, Craigg. You’re a blessing.”

  Amelia headed back to her chambers. She found General Hamza waiting in the antechamber.

  “You requested my presence, Queen Amelia?”

  “Yes, General Hamza. I’ll be brief, I only have a day to organize things. General, Isaac Byrne is going to be the next king of Prozia.”

  General Hamza frowned and shook his head. “But, my queen. You are our rightful ruler. No Byrne could rule half as well as you.”

  Queen Amelia raised her hand to stop General Hamza from protesting further. “The ancient laws must be followed. The nobles will not follow a female ruler. I’m afraid I have little choice in the matter. However, I do have choices about what I do next. As the wife of a fallen king I’m allowed certain luxuries. Included among those is the ability to name thirty men my personal knights. I’d like you to be the first of my knights, General Hamza.”

  General Hamza dropped to a knee. “It would be an honor, my queen. I’d rather be a knight for a worthy woman then a general for an unworthy king any day of the year.”

  “I appreciate that, General Hamza. How many men do you think you can find who’d feel the same way? Men that would be worthy of carrying the name of knight.”

  General Hamza frowned. I’m not sure I could find thirty such men. There are many who admire Isaac Byrne for his rescue of the castle and would want to serve under him. However, there are many who feel as I do. If you leave it to me, I’ll pick men for you.”

  “You have until the end of the funeral tomorrow. You will be knighted by our new king. After that, we’ll be leaving for Droll to join my daughter.”

  “Droll?” asked General Hamza. “Your daughter is not in Droll. Has no one informed you?”

  “What do you mean she’s not in Droll” Fear filled Amelia’s heart. Had something happened to Isabella?

  “She’s in Mara. Our scouts found her. King Robert was informed of this the day he was killed. His council was in charge of the search.”

  That bastard Robert had hidden that information from her. Queen Amelia swore at her deceased husband. Damn him to the lowest of the seven hells, she thought. “Do you know why she’s in Mara?” asked Queen Amelia.

  “Yes, my queen. Isabella is living at the Tower of Kings. She has bonded with a dragon. The Dragon’s Tail of Kosal now are her personal guards. Isabella has given them their old name of Daxrah.”

  Queen Amelia clutched her chest. Isabella had bonded with a dragon! It was a blessing and curse. Yet news of her living in the Tower of Kings and having the Daxrah to protect her was welcome news. Queen Amelia’s biggest fear about her daughter being Dragonblood wasn’t that she’d bond with a dragon, it was what would happen after she did. Dragonbloods were hunted by those who hate dragons. Isabella was now going to be the biggest enemy of those men who feared dragons. But the Tower of Kings and the Daxrah offered Isabella a level of protection that could not be found elsewhere. Queen Amelia started to mentally change her preparations. Once again the winds of fate had swept her up and changed her future. “I stand corrected. It seems we shall be going to The Tower of Kings.”

  …

  Isaac Byrne studied a copy of the proclamation Craigg John had sent to all the royal families in Prozia. It was a turn of events that he’d not expected. When his spies in Prozia informed him of his cousin’s death, Isaac sprang into action gathering all of his men and started marching on Prozia. Each village and town he visiting he gathered more men and make it clear he was going to save the castle from the backstabbing bastards from Kosal. He’d expected that his arrival and subsequent claim to the throne would propel him towards wearing the crown. Yet, the royal families that made up the council of Prozia continued to stick to their damned traditions. They insisted that a council meeting would happen after the funeral proceedings. At that point, he would have to submit his claim to the throne. Then a fortnight would be given for all other blood relatives of Robert Byrne to submit their own claim. His bold maneuver would go for naught if the council chose one of his other cousins for the throne. Of course there was an alternative. The proclamation also gave great detail to the rights of Queen Amelia on succession of the throne. Queen Amelia was the only one who could bypass the need for a council meeting by choosing a new member of Robert’s bloodlines.

  Isaac considered his meeting with Queen Amelia the previous day. He’d been rude and arrogant, but he suspected Queen Amelia was used to such behavior from royal men. He’d need to be more diplomatic in their next encounter. Her rule was coming to a quick end, but she still had the power to screw him over if she wanted. He’d have to plan carefully now. The game of politics was almost as cutthroat as battle. Isaac wouldn’t let the crown slip out of his fingers now that it was so close. Isaac called one of his men. “Go find Francis Herrera. Bring him to me.”

  Francis Herrera was one of the late king’s many advisors. Francis was also one of Isaac’s spies within the castle of Prozia. It was Isaac who convinced Robert to take Francis with him when he gained the crown. Through Francis, Isaac had sown the seeds of discord and distrust between Robert and his wife.

  Francis walked into Isaac’s room, “Why are you sending men to find me, Isaac? Our connection is supposed to be secret.”

  Isaac brushed aside Francis’s concern with a wave of his hand. “My cousin is dead, there is no need for secrecy any more. Besides, I’m simply making an inquiry of one of my cousin’s trusted advisors.”

  Francis tugged on the collar of his shirt, his nerves were not calmed by Isaac’s flippant dismissal of his concerns. “Until you are proclaimed king, there is much to be concerned about.”

  “Yes, I suppose that is true,” conceded Isaac. “On that topic. Tell me about Queen Amelia.”

  “What would you like to know?” asked Francis.

  “What motivates the woman? I need leverage if I’m to get her to support my claim to the throne.”

  “She’s a very guarded woman. She is very careful with her words. I know she spoke to Robert often in private, trying to persuade him to not increase the taxes. She insisted that excessive spending by Robert would create a rift between those within the castle proper and those in the far reaches of the kingdom. She championed the rights of the common man. She often told Robert, far more kingdoms are lost to uprising than to war with a neighboring kingdom.”

  Isaac pondered Francis’s words. It was obvious that Queen Amelia was a wise woman in her own right, and if left to her own devices would’ve ruled Prozia well. Thankfully, they lived in a kingdom which preferred to stick to traditions over acknowledging that a woman could rule a kingdom sans husband. Those traditions, along with the timely death of Robert, were giving Isaac his opening to the throne, but he’d need to appeal to Queen Amelia. Convince her that he’d not be the fool Robert had been. Perhaps asking her recommendation for advisors to the throne. Men she knew would want to continue her works. But he needed more. “Above being a good queen, what does she value?”

  “Her daughter. Outside of wanting to be a fair and good ruler, all she truly cares about is her daughter.”

  Isaac smiled, perhaps his men’s failed attempt to kidnap the princess would not go for naught. Young Isabella was in the south, surely the queen would want to join her at the earliest possible time. Suddenly the full intent of the proclamation hit Isaac. Queen Amelia had put it on paper for him, a road map to the throne. Agree to receiving her full rights as widow to a king and he’d get his crown. The gold and the loss of warriors would be a short term setback, but gaining the throne now before one of his older cousins could try and weasel their way into becoming king. “Francis, there are still a couple hours before the funeral procession begins. Would you go find Queen Amelia? Tell her I profusely apologize for interrupting her mourning, but
would like to request an audience with her before the funeral begins. And, Francis, make sure she understands this is a request and not a demand. I need to gain the queen’s favor.”

  “Understood,” said Francis. “I shall find her right away.

  37

  KAI WOKE IN A COLD SWEAT. It had been two days since Jaime told him about the true reason Rosalie had given herself to Prince Ramsey. Both nights Kai had nightmares about the event. He kept envisioning Prince Ramsey naked, thrusting into Rosalie. In his nightmares, Prince Ramsey turned to Kai and smiled before laughing. “You could have prevented this, Kai. Didn’t you notice how sad Rosalie was before? But don’t worry, I’m going to make her happy now,” said Prince Ramsey during the nightmare. Kai would try to yell at the prince to stop, but each time he’d just wake up. When he fell into another restless sleep, the nightmares returned.

  Frustrated, Kai got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. He wasn’t going to sleep anyways, might as well grab a snack and find something productive to do. As he left his room, Kai bumped into Raven. “Sorry, I should look where I’m going,” apologized Kai.

  Raven gave him a querying look, “You look like day old donkey dung. What’s keeping you awake?”

  Kai paused, should he tell Raven the truth? What would the beautiful warrior say? His mind said don’t tell her, keep it to yourself, but Kai heard his own voice betraying him. “When Jaime and I climbed the mountain, we had a conversation. He told me what really happened when I was banished from Kosal. Ever since, I’ve been having nightmares about it.”

  Raven frowned, “Well, if you can’t sleep, perhaps talking about it will help. Let’s go to my room’s balcony. The moons are clear tonight.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.” Kai was already confused and conflicted about Rosalie, how could he spend time with Raven?

  “Relax, Kai. I’m a good listener, and whatever happened is obviously tearing you up inside. Talking about it can help.”

  Kai found himself following Raven into her room. It was much like his own, sparsely decorated and utilitarian like one might expect to find from a warrior. Unlike Kai’s room, Raven had a small balcony that looked out over the courtyard and the outer wall. Despite the late hour, the sky was fairly light. Only on a couple days a month did the two moons share the same sky, but when they did, the night sky was always brighter, almost as bright as the early dawn light when the sun was starting to send a glow onto the land.

  “If I recall correctly, you were banished from Kosal for beating on Prince Ramsey after you found him dipping his royal wick into your betrothed.,” said Raven bluntly. “What did Jaime tell you to give you nightmares? What could be worse than what you already knew?”

  “I never knew why Rosalie had allowed herself to have been seduced so easily after she proclaimed to love me. I never even cared to find out. I was so angry and hurt by the betrayal that I just tried to shut her out of my mind. It’s been years, and not once did I think of what would cause her to do such a thing. Now I find out she was coerced. Her father was in trouble with the king, facing execution, and Prince Ramsey used that as leverage to get what he wanted. He promised her that if she did what he wanted, her father would live.”

  “What a pig,” said Raven in disgust and anger. Her nostrils flared and her eyes flashed dangerously. “I hope I meet the prince one day. I will cut his balls off, so he no longer has an excuse to destroy people’s lives for his own sexual satisfaction.”

  Kai took a step back. Raven seemed ready to hit something. “It gets worse. Afterwards, the prince didn’t follow through on his promise. Rosalie lost her father and her fiancé was banished. She lost two people she loved because I walked into the tent at the wrong time.”

  “You cannot keep punishing yourself for what happened. The prince put her in an impossible situation, and you responded as any man would when you walked into your tent. It’s regrettable that you were such a dumb ass and didn’t think before acting, but what’s done is done. All you can do now is move forward.”

  “I have to see Rosalie; I have to apologize.”

  “Of course you do, you dumb bastard. She deserves that at the very least. You should go to her right now and talk to her. You owe her the opportunity to explain herself. Perhaps there is no way you can forgive her, but you need to know her side of what happened. You owe it to her and to yourself. Otherwise, the nightmares will haunt you the rest of your life. Do you really want to have to hide in a bottle forever?”

  “You may be right, but what if she hates me for giving up on her. What if she can’t forgive me?”

  “She may never forgive you, or she may not think there is anything to forgive. Until you speak to her, you will never know. So go to her, make your amends and find out. If nothing else, you forgive yourself and move forward. Or gods willing, you reclaim the love you lost.”

  “I don’t know … I fear it’s too late.” Kai wanted to have hope, he wanted to believe Raven, but so much pain, so much time had passed. Could he really go to her and set things right?

  “You’ll never know until you find out. Look, Kai, I like you, you’re an attractive man with a good heart, and I’ve given thought to inviting you to my bed, but it is obvious to me that you need to resolve your past before you can move forward. Do yourself a favor, face your demons instead of hiding from them. You spent years drowning your sorrows and all it did was make things worse. It’s time to stop avoiding this situation. Go to her, tell her what a fool you’ve been and let fate take care of itself.”

  Raven’s words finally hit home. She was right, all he’d done for years was attempt to avoid pain, and all it had done was cause more. He needed to face his demons one way or another before he could move forward. “You’re right, Raven. I do need to face my mistakes. I shall leave in the morning.”

  “I will inform Lady Isabella. Will you take any of the men with you? Traveling in Kosal will be dangerous.”

  “No. It’s better if I go alone. All of the Daxrah are known men in Kosal, except me. I’ve been gone for years; few would remember me.”

  Raven stepped closer to Kai, she put hand on his arm and leaned in, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. “Good luck with your journey, Kai.”

  38

  THE FLAME FLICKERED AND DISAPPEARED, then it flared up again. Isabella could now make her magic flame dance with subtle movements of her hand. Every day she spent hours by herself in the training cave concentrating on controlling the flames. She could make the flame follow her hand, spin and drop like a yo-yo, and bounce over her palm.

  Now it was time for the real test. Isabella stared at the magic bullseye Oshri had drawn on the wall of the rock room. She pulled her hand back, opened her palm to ignite the flame and then flicked her arm like she was throwing a rock. The small ball of fire flew across the room and smashed into the wall. Isabella jumped and cheered, “Yes!” The ball of fire hadn’t been anywhere near the target, but she’d managed to throw a fireball across the room. How hard could it be to hit the target now that she knew how to throw a fireball?

  Fireball followed fireball. They danced and sizzled as they smashed into the stone wall. One after another they hit the wall, striking an alarmingly large pattern of random size. Isabella had mastered the ability to throw a fireball, but accuracy wasn’t coming quick. In fact, it seemed the more she practiced, the worse she got. Finally, Isabella decided she’d had enough practice for one day. The magic training was exhausting and her arm was getting swore.

  Isabella felt a rumble in her belly, it was time to eat. She headed down to the kitchen where she found Raven and Jaime. They were having a bite while going over the afternoon’s training plan.

  “Shouldn’t Kai be organizing that?” asked Isabella.

  Jaime looked at Raven.

  “I meant to tell you this morning, but an urgent personal matter has called Kai away,” explained Raven.

  Isabella found a chunk of bread to eat. She took a big bite, “What do you mean?” she aske
d with her mouth stuffed full of bread. In front of the regular Daxrah and any guests, Isabella was much more refined and pretended to be a lady, but with only Raven and Jaime in the kitchen she had her guard down and could relax.

  “It’s my fault,” said Jaime. “I told Kai what really happened when he was banished from Kosal. Now he’s gone to Kosal to make amends for something that happened years ago.”

  “He was right to go,” argued Raven. “He spent years trying to ignore his pain, drinking it away every night. If he’d bothered to find out the truth from the start, he’d have saved himself a lot of suffering.”

  “Yes, but he can’t change the past. What good does it do to risk his life now?”

  “He won’t heal until he does this,” insisted Raven.

  Isabella watched the two argue over the virtue of Kai leaving for whatever journey he was on. Suddenly Isabella was irritated. Why were they talking in circles like she was just a child? “Excuse me, you two. But I do not appreciate the way you two are talking in circles to avoid telling me what actually happened. It’s insulting my intelligence!”

  “I’m sorry, Lady Isabella. It is a delicate subject. When Kai found Rosalie with Prince Ramsey, he thought she’d betrayed him. What he didn’t know was that the prince had manipulated Rosalie and used the threat of her father’s death to gain her compliance. Kai now feels terrible for not finding out earlier why it had happened. He also feels guilty. Rosalie tried to explain and stop him from hitting Prince Ramsey, but in his rage, he continued attacking the prince.”

  Isabella felt sorry for poor Kai. He’d lost everything important to him for years, and now to find out that it wasn’t the straight forward betrayal he’d thought it to be would have been even harder. Isabella could hardly blame Kai for wanting to go and see her. Isabella hoped Kai made it there safely. No one had to tell her the danger Kai was now in, riding into Kosal. “I hope he finds her. It’s so sad what Prince Ramsey did to them.”