Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3)

by Jason Paul Rice

  Leimur almost jumped out of her skin and asked incredulously, “Treason?”

  Captain Tetine stood silently by as Rigby said, “Yes, treason, which makes you a traitor.” He walked over to the table and picked up a letter. He held it in the air. “A concerned scribe alerted us to a disturbing letter in which you offer to give our kingdom to our sworn enemy, Ali-Tiste Wamhoff. You know; the kingdom I delivered to you on an ornate platter.”

  A dejected Leimur said, “What difference does any of it make now? We’ve been defeated and she and my brothers are probably dead.”

  Captain Tetine finally broke his silence, “Wrong again. You seem to have a penchant for being wrong. And the people who were advising you against all these actions, like the General and I, were correct, as we have been for decades. You didn’t want to listen to our advice and now your brothers and that Wamhoff bedswerver have been captured by Donegal. At least that is the story as it stands right now. We all have half a mind to think that Ali-Tiste delivered the future King of Goldenfield straight to the enemy.”

  Leimur immediately dismissed the thought and said, “She would never do that.”

  General Rigby spoke, “You talk so surely for someone who doesn’t actually know her at all. I don’t care how close you think you were with her, you weren’t. She had been alive for more than three decades and you knew her for a few weeks of fun in the Royal Palace. Put that into perspective along with the fact that you were willing to give her our realm. Every battle you could conceive in your head, we followed like blind sheep, diligently carrying out our duty to our Queen. And now you spit in all our faces as you disrespect our blood and service in favor of our enemy, and a woman at no last.”

  Leimur didn’t make eye contact with any of her captors and just kept looking around the pavilion with a defeated look on her face. She could hear the constant sounds of the rippling wind beating against the poorly constructed canvas wall.

  Captain Tetine cleared his throat and said, “You have been given opportunity after opportunity to heed our counsel and you’ve smugly shoved it aside. We were willing to accept failure at the cost of noble intentions, but treason is obviously inexcusable. One of the traits I truly admired about you was your vigilance in upholding our sacred laws. It pains me to have to exercise the same characteristic against you now. The wage of treason has always been death and nothing less; however, due to your previous record of duty to Goldenfield, your life has been spared.”

  She cut off the Captain and asked, “What about my brothers?”

  The General jumped in and told her, “If you would only allow him to finish. You will be taken prisoner until we get home, at which point you will be sent away. You will know your destination only when you arrive there. As for your brothers, they have no claim to the throne and likely share the same traitor blood with you. We are much more worried about the twelve hundred men that were taken prisoner following you into battle. Therefore, your brothers will rot in the dungeon until King Colbert realizes they are worthless and kills them. It’s probably better that they are in the dungeon. If they were in Goldenfield, they would be dead already to eliminate any claim for power.”

  Leimur didn’t say a word and stared at a piece of tightly stretched yellow linen. The heavy wind barely moved that wall of the tent.

  General Rigby continued, “And just so you know, we are all hoping with a passion that Ali-Tiste hangs for treason. Now we know why you two got on so well.”

  The Queen said rhetorically, “I suppose I don’t need to venture a guess at who is going to rule Goldenfield.”

  The General let a little smile sneak out as he responded, “No need for guesses. It shall be the same man who should have started ruling months ago, instead of you. The royal guard has spoken and they want me to end the age of ruling family dynasties. I have been chosen to restore our realm. I only propped you up to the top because I thought the people wouldn’t respect anyone without a true blood claim. King Colbert has shown that a family name can always be crushed if there is no true power behind the name. You had your chance time and again and have no one to blame other than yourself. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

  She still looked around the room as she spoke, “It certainly appears that your minds are made on this matter, but I could stand to point out a few thoughts. Will you enjoy that stocked treasury, filled with gold, courtesy of Huber Leluc?”

  The General nodded his head and replied, “We will. Same as you, when you emptied the rest of your parents’ reserve and every other ruler has done in the past. A person can have many great deeds canceled out by treason.”

  Leimur pleaded, “It was hardly any reserve but that isn’t important now. My brothers aren’t accused of treason, I am. Save my brothers with a small portion of the vast sum left for your new kingdom and let them leave with me. A queen’s last request.”

  Captain Tetine said, “Their asking price is for the Prince of Donegal, a real, recognized prince. We aren’t giving up a Prince for two boys who have no value. Remember, you are the one who is killing your brothers. Your actions have caused these consequences. If we pay any ransom to get your brothers back it will only be to kill them and eliminate any attempt to reclaim the throne.”

  Leimur knew what she had to do.

  She sat up quickly with her eyes wide open and looked terrified. She pointed to the group of lined-up guards to the side with her left index finger. “What is he doing?” she asked, shaking in her chair.

  Everyone turned to look at the guards and she pulled out her war axe with her right hand. She sprang to her right and sliced a diagonal hole in the tightest wall. In the same motion, the Queen of Goldenfield dove headfirst through the seam and landed on the frozen tundra outside the tent. She hopped up and chopped through the thick rope tied to a metal spike. She ran around the tent and cut three more ropes and the entire structure collapsed before anyone could get out. The people on the inside wrestled with the linen as the stunned guards outside finally started to chase Leimur. The guards’ armor was much heavier than hers, so she ran fast up a slight hill. She looked off to the left and saw the scribe who had betrayed her. To the right was the prisoners’ pen, made of oak. Tied to a post next to the pen was a black destrier.

  She sprinted for the horse and saw the wooden lock on the door of the mobile prison. In a final act of rebellion, she swung down with her axe and shattered the wood and the prisoners started to rush out. She jumped up into the saddle that felt designed for a large man and grabbed the long reins. She took another swing of the axe right next to the horse’s face to cut the leather straps loose. A huge commotion started close behind her with guards screaming and yelling to get horses to capture the queen. She heeled the horse and took off north. She rode and rode until she felt safe. After galloping for at least twenty minutes, she turned around and the emptiness of the forest had never looked so sweet. The early dusk had helped to hide her in the drab and dark woods. She had little idea about where she was, but she found a stream for her horse to rest and drink. She got down and held the shortened reins as she tried to figure out exactly where to go. She hoped the civil unrest in Burkeville hadn’t been settled and she could hide out there to devise a plan. She heard a rustling of leaves behind her and jerked her head around. Nothing appeared.

  The dull forest, full of shades of brown highlighted by the pearly moon’s glow, was completely still. Leimur wasn’t worried about eating but knew she would have to feed the horse at some point. She checked the saddlebags, but they were all empty. She heard more rustling at the top of the hill but when she looked closely, there was nothing. Suddenly, a horse’s face broke over the horizon and Leimur panicked. She put her left foot in the stirrup and swung her right over the saddle and heeled the horse before even sitting down.

  She heard a familiar voice cry out, “My Queen, my Queen. I come in peace, my Queen.”

  She looked back to see Captain Salina slowly moving downhill on horseback. The Queen pulled back on the rei
ns for a moment and turned around.

  Could this be a trap? She wasn’t in the meeting. Was there a reason? Leimur waited as the Captain moved leisurely across the forest to meet her at the stream. The Queen kept expecting a heavy onslaught of cavalry to come thundering down the hill and looked back and forth as she listened to the Captain, “I couldn’t take part in it. My loyalty still lies with you.”

  The former queen was touched and responded, “Thank you. I believe you are the only one. Do you know where we are?”

  Her trusted knight answered, “I do, your highness. We have two choices. We can go northwest and try to escape back to Goldenfield where you can rally support to your cause. Another direction we can go is south to try to free your brothers from the dungeons of the King’s Castle. Either way we are two women versus two kingdoms that both want us dead. I believe we would be safest in Goldenfield.”

  Leimur Leluc looked at Captain Salina with a slight smile and said, “You’re absolutely right, heading to Goldenfield is our safest option. Which way is south?”

  JON

  Jon and Camelle paced back and forth in their bedroom as the argument continued.

  She said, “Maybe your father’s prophecy won’t come true. Maybe you will live to watch your father and all your sons die. How could you even live like that?”

  Jon exhaled audibly before he said, “Do you really think I am alive right now? I have a shattered heart and while some of it is coming back together, I’ll never be the same unless our entire family returns. We will get Ruxin back soon enough and Krys will come right behind him.”

  Camelle wouldn’t accept his promise and berated her husband. “Krys should already be here and Ruxin should have never been in harm’s way. I knew everything was too good to be true when we were basically given this castle. Why wouldn’t someone defend their own castle, I asked myself.”

  Jon didn’t waste his breath trying to explain to her that he had ordered Ruxin to stay behind the protectionary wall several times. He knew she wouldn’t believe him. His daughter still blamed him too, and he realized being king didn’t carry the glamor of all the old stories. He had anticipated some rainy days but a constant hailstorm since the coronation was getting tiresome.

  Jon tried to quell his wife’s fears. “We were separated once and we came back together, remember?”

  Camelle stared at him with fire in her eyes and replied, “Ah, I do remember. I remember lying in our bed in Riverfront and you said, ‘I will never let our family be torn apart again’ and here we are, again.” She screamed, “Here we are again.”

  The noise startled the baby and he started crying on the bed. The King walked over and picked up his son. He cupped his hand around the back of the baby’s head and pulled him close to his chest. Jon felt a smile coming on until Camelle pointed to a window and interrupted her husband.

  She said sarcastically, “Are you sure you don’t want to throw him out that window? Just get it over with now before we become attached to the boy.”

  Jon’s anger didn’t have time to develop as a heavy rap shook the door. Jon handed the baby to Camelle, checked for his sword and walked over to the source of the loud thuds.

  “Who goes there?” Jon asked without opening the looking slot.

  “Lord Bryan Caughleigh, your highness. There are pressing matters that require your attention. The council has requested your presence before you go back out to battle. They are in the meeting chamber, your highness.”

  Jon yelled, “Be right there.”

  He put the mid-morning argument on hold and followed the guards to his meeting room. The entire council sat around the circular oak table. They stood and bowed to the King as Jon walked in.

  A serious tenor made Jon nervous as his Falconer led by reporting, “My King, Queen Leimur has been overthrown.”

  Jon was somewhat stunned. “Really, that didn’t take very long. Perhaps I picked the wrong time to be a monarch? This isn’t good at all. Now the two Princes of Goldenfield have no value. That was going to be the trade to get my son back. Well, that isn’t going to happen now. Even twelve hundred prisoners won’t equal a Prince. What…what happened?”

  Kelvyn Harros said, “Lost the support of her army. General Laslo Rigby will now serve as king. The new regime has already stated that the crown will not be passed down a family line, yet rest upon the head of the strongest person in the realm. So yes, it would appear that they have no need to get the Princes back unless to kill them.”

  Jon shook his head. “My son is as good as dead. We need to get in contact with this new King and see what it will take to get Ruxin and Torvald back.”

  Lord Hydell opined, “I’m rather certain we have other resources of interest and great value to them. We will be able to strike a deal to facilitate the return of Ruxin.”

  The Falconer told everyone, “Apparently, when they informed the former Queen of Goldenfield that she had been relieved, she crafted a daring escape and her whereabouts are currently unknown. Best thing she could do is run back to Goldenfield. She’d be quite stupid to stay in Donegal with no support.”

  Jon said, “I don’t care about her and neither should you. She’s as much a threat to us now as Tersen Wamhoff is. They have my sons. That should be our only focus. We will find the former queen at some point, I can assure you that.”

  Lord Enric said, “I want to let you know that we have sent King Rigby letters to gauge his interest in coin or weapons. We felt appealing to a former general with a few new weapons was a wise move. Word should arrive back in a few days. A few other matters have come to light, your highness. High Lord Ichibod Ellsworth has been killed.”

  Jon asked, “How did that happen?”

  Count Silzeus responded as he twisted his long mustache. “Word came in that he went for a midnight ride in his sleeping attire and returned without his head. I thought this may discourage his family and urge them to turn around and go back to Lightview but they still camp right outside our new wall. They have elephants stomping around and everything.”

  Jon replied, “I think I have a plan to make sure they never get past that wall. I suppose they are hanging onto Elisa Burke Wamhoff or whatever name she goes by now and her stretch of a claim. Ali-Varis is dead and King Ali-Stanley is well removed from the line. It seems like they are too stupid and stubborn to realize their best action is to leave. They aren’t going to make it past the double wall, and even if they get lucky somehow, we’ll have them trapped between both walls. They cannot win and hopefully they will come to that reality and just submit. I never fought alongside Ichibod, but I heard he was a good leader. Who will take charge now, Brehan?”

  Lord Rance Perry said, “It appears as though his son from the King’s Guard, Anderley, will lead their attack. Noted as a fine swordsman but he’s never led an army into battle during winter. Best of heavenly luck with that.”

  Errol Swansmore laughed as he talked and had to stop several times to collect himself. “I hope they don’t have silly thoughts of a siege, hah, that’s laughable just to say out loud. We’ve got a better chance of eating so much that our bellies blow out before we would ever starve. The weather will start to drop and after they haven’t felt their toes in a fortnight, every last one of them will go crawling back to that shitty piece of land that should be pushed out to sea.”

  Lord Enric Plast talked in a somber tone, “We also have word from up north, your majesty. The Wamhoffs have upped and left Elkridge. There were reports of a duel involving a barbarian from Histomanji and The Man with the Golden Sword that ended with the foreigner leaving in two pieces. The Wamhoffs accused the bastard of cheating and using magic or witchcraft but they ultimately packed up and left. Krys got on one of the boats. Our spy said he watched them sail away and disappear out to sea.”

  Jon immediately insinuated, “Who’s to say they won’t try to invade Fox Chapel?”

  Lord Errol answered, “They could try and I hope they would. They might even make it ashore but we would finally
stomp out the Wamhoff threat once and for all and bring Krys home. We’ve been told their fleet only totals twenty-four ships now. If they couldn’t come through an unoccupied Elkridge, they have no chance making it through Fox Chapel. It’s time all these upstarts come to understand they simply cannot win. Look at what happened with Goldenfield. Nobody is going to take this kingdom from you, my King.”

  The threats to upend the King were shrinking, but so were the hopes of seeing both of his sons alive again. He planned to avoid Camelle because he didn’t want to tell her about these proceedings. He needed to get back out east. He didn’t hesitate about a King’s responsibility to be present on the field of battle. That duty would always be upheld by Jon Colbert. He hated to leave on a bad note with his wife, but he was avoiding a gigantic fight that would only make him feel worse than he already did.

  He thought about his life one year ago. The entire family had seemed blissful as he envisioned a big supper with everyone. He remembered how he and Camelle had never really fought until they reached the Capitol and now that’s all they ever did.

  Maybe Camelle was right. Maybe I should have stayed in Mattingly and been content being a duke. Now, it’s one malady after another. I can’t think of one good thing except for Mariah’s wedding which was interrupted by a near defeat at the hands of the Warrior Queen. Now, all I do is fight with my wife until my baby starts to cry. I thought all the problems would melt away once that crown hit my head but they’ve only intensified.

  His mind drifted as the meeting carried on and he wondered about his sons again. He wanted to give in to Camelle’s demands and abandon the kingdom to get back his sons.

  A-MARIAH

  Mariah sat in the rectory and prayed for Torvald and her brothers. Her mother, Haley, Lucille and Deydranna sat on the bench with her. The stained glass windows appeared dull today as the pale sunrays barely poked through the thick clouds outside. Nothing looked as bright as it should anymore to Mariah. Again, she found herself arguing with the Gods as to why they would help her find a perfect mate and take him away so soon. Mariah knew that here had been reports that Torvald and Ruxin were alive as prisoners of Goldenfield but she wasn’t going to hold out hope for a safe return. In her mind, Jon had been making excuses about getting her brothers and husband home. Even the story concerning Krys’ return seemed to change on a daily basis. She tried to prepare herself emotionally for the harsh reality that she might never see her husband or brothers again.