BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan

by J. Eric Booker

  “When I was but a young child, both of my parents were murdered. I heard them die and barely did I escape with my life. Soon after, Humonus came along and taught me everything I know—he made me into the man that I am today!

  “I promise you that I will do my best to help godfather your child—that is, if you’ll allow me the honor…”

  “Baltor,” Chelsea said with a crackling voice. As her left hand gently caressed his cheek, she added, “Humonus respected and loved you so very much! He bragged about you so often to me—I know that you felt the same way about him. Yes, I will allow you to be the godfather of my child, and Brishava can be the godmother.”

  Fighting back his bloody tears once again, Baltor softly replied, “Thank you.”

  Not fighting her tears whatsoever, Chelsea wept, “No, thank you, Baltor!”

  “Will you come back with me to Pavelus?”

  Upon regaining a control of her emotions, nearly a minute later, Chelsea replied, “Yes. However, I must first let Queen Calitta know that I will be departing. Will you allow her to come with us to Pavelus as well, if she can?”

  After delivering a very warm smile, Baltor answered, “Of course, Ambassador Chelsea, Queen Calitta is most welcome to come along.”

  Chelsea rose to her feet, and asked, “Will you come with me? I’m pretty sure that she’d like to meet you, although she has no clue that you’re here.”

  “Sure.”

  With Chelsea in the lead, the two exited the bedroom, and began walking down the hallway.

  A few hallways down, they came across a guard who was standing against the wall—she asked that guard, “Will you please let Queen Calitta know that I need to speak with her as soon as possible? It’s very important!”

  The guard answered, “Yes, Ambassador Chelsea.”

  He escorted Chelsea and Baltor down several more hallways until they reached the entryway leading to Calitta’s bedroom. There stood eight more guards outside the double doors.

  The guard who had done the escorting, said, “Major Balski, Ambassador Chelsea said that she needs to see the Queen. Is she perchance still awake?”

  With a very suspicious look upon his face, Balski asked, “Who in the hell is that standing with the Ambassador, Corporal?”

  The corporal, feeling quite stupid for not having asked that question earlier, looked back at Chelsea and Baltor.

  Just before the guard could ask the question, however, Baltor answered in the language of Thorium, “I am Sultan Baltor Elysian of the Sharia Empire.”

  Though Chelsea fervently nodded her head in the affirmative, every last guard continued to look suspicious.

  A few seconds later, Balski was the first one to ask, “How did you get past all our security? And where is your escort? And why did you come unannounced? And how do we know you’re not imposters—the both of you?”

  Baltor answered with a nonchalant wave of his hand, “You must trust me. I bring great tidings! The dragon and the army of dark gnomes have all been destroyed. Our shared continent is now at peace.”

  Again, Chelsea fervently nodded her head in the affirmative.

  Now looking convinced, Balski pointed his index finger up into the air, and said, “Hold one minute, and I’ll see if she’s still awake.” He turned around and knocked on the door.

  A moment later, he heard the queen’s slightly muffled voice ask from inside, “Yes?”

  “Your majesty, Ambassador Chelsea and her Sultan of the Sharia Empire, who has just unexpectedly arrived, wish to speak with you. They’re right out here in the hallway with me…with us. Are you still sleeping?”

  “No, send them in immediately.”

  Balski said, “Yes, your Highness.” He opened the door, and allowed the two to enter.

  Baltor and Chelsea walked into the room. They saw Calitta sitting at the far end of the royal bedroom behind a desk—a book was lying open before her.

  Looking up from the book, Calitta said with a friendly smile, “Greetings to you both, and most especially to you, Sultan Baltor Elysian.”

  Bowing his head respectfully, Baltor replied, “Greetings Queen Calitta. Pleasure to meet you.”

  “Pleasure is just as much mine… So, what can I do for you?”

  Baltor answered, “I came to bring great tidings! The war against the gnome army and the dragon is over—we are victorious! The main reason I have come here is because I’d like to invite you to our victory celebration in Pavelus.”

  With a thoughtful look on her face, Calitta said, “I was wondering why my lands were attacked only once by the dark gnomes…congratulations!”

  With a bow, Baltor simply replied, “Thank you.”

  Chelsea added, “Your Highness, I should let you know that my husband Humonus died while valiantly fighting against the dragon. Sultan Baltor Elysian informed me that we are also to have a memorial service for my husband tomorrow morning before sunrise. Would you like to attend?”

  Looking real sad herself, Calitta answered, “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss! Humonus was a good and honorable man who literally saved my life many years ago. Of course I will attend, but how in the hell are we going to get to Pavelus by tomorrow morning?”

  Baltor’s mind had been thinking about her second statement, and so he didn’t answer her question. Instead, he snapped his fingers just before said, “That’s right! Humonus once told me long, long ago when I was but a child on how he saved the life of a princess…but I did not realize that the princess was you until just now, Queen Calitta!”

  “Many years ago when I was a young girl—he did,” Calitta replied. “Nevertheless, I’ll never forget him! Of course, I will come to the funeral and the victory ceremony, but you never did answer my question how we’re going to get to Pavelus by morning.”

  “Well, Queen Calitta, as a result of my slaying the dragon, I have acquired magical powers. It will only take us a few minutes to get back to Pavelus through a magical portal I will create.”

  With a whole lot of shock, Calitta asked, “Really? No way!”

  “Yes way,” Baltor answered with a nod. “I promise you on my word of honor all I have told you is nothing but the truth.”

  “Well then,” Calitta said, “I’ll have to have my servants prepare my luggage, and also my armed escort. Will that be okay that I bring them along?”

  Baltor answered, “You can bring as many people as you wish, Queen Calitta.”

  “Say two hours?”

  “Two hours it is then. Meet us in your throne room, and from there, we’ll depart?”

  “Sound perfect,” Calitta said.

  “Very well.”

  Baltor and Chelsea headed back to her room. There she began to pack all her belongings.

  Two hours later, a dozen-armed escort, six personal servants, and the queen were ready in the throne room—Baltor and Chelsea joined them there at that time.

  There, Baltor visualized his bedroom in his mind’s eye, and traced the runes he saw into the air. Instantly a portal opened up, causing just about everyone to become slightly alarmed.

  With Chelsea in the lead, the group suspiciously walked through the portal entering his bedroom back in Pavelus. Once Baltor had stepped through, the portal shut.

  Without delay, he called aloud, “Guards, enter.”

  The guards opened up the bedroom doors, and their mouths dropped open in shock to see the large group of people standing around.

  The guard-in-charge asked, “What’s going on, my Sultan?”

  Baltor answered, “Long story that I don’t feel like getting into right now, soldier. For now, I want you to have our servants prepare the royal guest bedroom for Queen Calitta of the Kingdom of Thorium, as well another adjacent bedroom for her servants. Understood?”

  The guard snapped, “Yes, my Sultan!” He then hastily retrieved the servants, who then began to prep the guest bedrooms.

  Meanwhile, Baltor turned to face Calitta and asked, “Are you hungry, Queen Calitta? If you are, we can a
rrange for a late night snack.”

  Calitta thought about his question for a couple seconds before replying, “No thank you, Sultan Baltor. Would it be possible for us to get a tour of your city tomorrow morning?”

  “Absolutely,” Baltor answered with a wink of his left eye. “Most likely it will be my wife, Brishava, who will give you the tour, as I sleep during the day. Speaking of my wife, I’d really like you to meet her.”

  “Yes,” Calitta said with a pleased smile upon her face, “I’ve heard so much about both her and you from Ambassador Chelsea.”

  “Well, let’s go see if we can find her.”

  Calitta said, “Splendid.”

  “Your guards won’t be needed within the palace. I can assure you that you’ll be quite safe here. Would you like me to have a room arranged for them?” Baltor asked.

  “Sure.”

  Baltor walked over to the door of his bedroom, and opened it.

  One of the guards on the other side of the door asked, “Yes, my Sultan?”

  Baltor said, “I want you to locate the servants and have them prepare another room for Queen Calitta’s guards. But before you go, do you know where the Sultaness is?”

  “No my Sultan, I do not know where she is at the moment, but I can find out after I have informed the servants of your first command,” the guard answered.

  “Don’t worry about it—just ensure that the room is prepared for the queen’s guards,” Baltor said. Turning to look back at Calitta, he asked, “Queen Calitta, would you like a tour of the palace right now?”

  Calitta answered, “Sure!”

  With a hand gesture toward the doors, Baltor said with a smile, “Let’s go.”

  Along with Chelsea, Baltor gave Calitta a sightseeing tour of the palace—over the next hour, he showed the queen the throne room, the dining hall, the courtyard, and finally, the lush and beautiful gardens outside. Of course, Calitta enjoyed every second of it.

  It was while they were traversing the gardens that Brishava first received the report that Baltor, Chelsea, and Calitta were currently strolling through the gardens looking for her.

  Immediately after ordering another servant to set up a late night snack, she headed out to the gardens, saw the group walking the opposite direction, and hurriedly began to approach.

  As she neared them, Brishava called out, “Hey Baltor and Chelsea—this must be Queen Calitta—hi guys!”

  The group turned around to look over at Brishava.

  Chelsea was the first to greet with a bow, “Greetings, my Sultaness.”

  Chelsea and Brishava gave each other a light hug.

  Once they had released from the hug, Baltor then said with a smile, “Hey.”

  He then introduced the other two women to each other, “Queen Calitta, this is my wife, Sultaness Brishava.”

  With a bow of her head, Calitta said excitedly, “Greetings, Sultaness Brishava. It is a pleasure to meet you, especially after all the wonderful things I heard about you from Ambassador Chelsea! She’s become like the sister I never had.”

  Just as excitedly, Brishava replied, “And it is a wonderful pleasure to meet you, Queen Calitta! The ambassador is like my sister also. So, do you like the palace?”

  Calitta replied, “It is simply breathtaking.”

  Brishava said, “Thank you! Are you guys hungry? I’ve already arranged a late night snack.”

  “After all this walking,” Calitta sighed, “I am actually a bit hungry now.”

  Brishava said, “Great—follow me!”

  She then led the way back to the royal dining hall, where plates, silverware, goblets, and trays of food had already been set up and neatly arranged—recently the room had been remodeled and perfected by Jamar!

  Inside this square-shaped room, whose length and width both bore one hundred feet with a forty-foot high ceiling, the floors, walls, and ceiling had been entirely constructed of “grade A” mahogany. Covering three-quarters of the floor was a beautiful white rug, which had embroidered into it golden-colored flowers; covering about a third of these walls and ceiling were abstractly-sized-and-shaped, yet very strategically placed, mirrors.

  Located in the very center of this room was a thirty-foot round table, which had a tablecloth on it that perfectly matched the carpet; on the far side of this room near the lit-up fireplace, there were four large plushy couches, whose material perfectly matched the tablecloth.

  Over the course of the next half an hour, they shared a very pleasant snack, as well an even more pleasant conversation.

  Though there were many topics of discussion, one of the most important came from Brishava as she relayed the information that Humonus’s funeral would be performed precisely an hour before sunrise the following morning, and that Baltor would personally deliver the eulogy. She also mentioned that the whole of the city would be in attendance.

  Following conversation, they escorted Calitta to her room. Chelsea headed to her room, and Brishava and Baltor finally went to theirs.

  Other than Baltor, everyone else fell fast asleep. He spent most of the night preparing the eulogy he would deliver.

  CHAPTER XX

  An hour before sunrise, and with the whole of the city in attendance—royalty, nobles, troops, and citizens—Humonus was given his “funeral rites” outside the city walls, which rites began with a twenty-one sword salute.

  By the hardcore-vocalized commands of Stormea, seven soldiers simultaneously drew his or her sword from his or her sheath three times, which caused a “loud ringing noise” to occur each and every time!

  Following, two trumpeters began blowing a sad ballad, while four other soldiers crisply took the flag of the Sharia Empire off the coffin and neatly folded it up. Once it was folded up into a small triangle, one of those soldiers immediately marched over—with flag in hand—to his Sultan’s position and handed it over.

  As soon as Baltor held the flag in both of his hands, he did an about face, marched over to Chelsea, went to the position of attention, handed her the flag, and snapped his sharpest salute, all the while Humonus’s coffin was ever-so-slowly lowered into the ground.

  After the trumpeters had completed and silence reigned in the area, nearly a minute later, Baltor finally released his salute, did another about face to face the crowds and the coffin, which was now completely in the hole.

  He declared loudly to all, “I am not a man of many words, so I shall make my eulogy of Ruling-General Humonus brief. I have known this great and noble man since I was a young boy of twelve. Not only did he teach me all the martial arts I know, and not only did he teach me how to be the man I am today, yet, most especially, he taught me how to be a great leader and a caring friend! For the rest of my life, I shall miss him greatly until I join him in death…that is all I have to say.”

  With a single tear that flowed unabashedly out her right eye and down her cheek, Brishava—who was standing right next to her husband—added right away with both pride and love, “Ruling-General Humonus is a man who will be never forgotten for his valiant sacrifice to the Sharia Empire, as well the world! No doubt that he is one of the greatest warriors ever.”

  After taking a deep breath through her nose, she added, “It took great courage to single handedly battle it out against a dragon the size of a mountain and almost winning, per the reports and firsthand accounts I’ve heard, and know to be true with my heart, mind, and soul!

  “And one more thing I need to say about Humonus: all that knew this man…loved him. Therefore, we shall build a statue to commemorate in the very center of the city, so that he will be remembered for all time to come.”

  Almost right away two trumpeters began to blow out another short and sad ballad. Chelsea continued to sob quietly, while tightly clutching the flag in between her arms and chest.

  For support, Calitta and Cheo sat on a chair on each side of her, and Yaush and Jimnee stood right behind. All had their hands gently resting on her shoulders or hands, comforting the new widow.

 
The trumpeters finished blowing their tune about thirty seconds later. Baltor next called out, “Attention!”

  The troops instantaneously snapped to the position of attention. Out of respect, most of the nobles and citizens did as well, although many were clumsy and/or slow in assuming this position. Of course, Chelsea and her closest companions remained where they were and did not move.

  Thirty-or-so seconds later, Baltor next called out, “Present arms!”

  Those soldiers who possessed a weapon drew it out of his or her sheath and beat it against the chest plate of his or her armor—those soldiers not possessing a weapon snapped his or her sharpest salute. Again, the nobles and citizens did their best to imitate the salutes.

  A minute later, Baltor called out, “Forces, Nobles, and Citizens of the Sharia Empire—dismissed.”

  Most of the troops, nobles, and citizens began to slowly-but-surely disperse back into the city. Baltor and Brishava, on the other hand, joined up with Chelsea, Calitta, Cheo, Yaush, and Jimnee.

  The group of seven shared a tight hug that lasted for many-a-minutes—spent in complete silence.

  Once that hug had been released, they just as silently entered their royal carriages, which chauffeurs snapped the reins of their horses, so they could trot their way back to the palace. One battalion of guards led and another followed.

  Once inside the palace itself, nearly twenty minutes later, Baltor quickly bid his farewells to everyone, and headed off to bed … sunrise was only minutes away.

  Once night had arrived, and Baltor woken up and bathed, assistants dressed and prepared he and Brishava for “the victory celebration,” once again in separate rooms.

  Tonight, he was dressed in a pair of silky white pants, a violet colored tunic bearing the golden emblem of the Sharia Empire sewn into the front, and of course, his Sultan’s crown—in his unspoken opinion, he looked “sharp as a blade!”

  It was only when he was having his white leathery boots slid on his feet that he observed—through the mirror—the doors open, and in walked Cheo.

  Baltor instantly noticed that his kingly friend’s attire was a black and red tunic, red cotton pants, black boots, and a golden crown imbedded with tiny jewels of all colors—the king looked “royally stylish” in Baltor’s opinion!