Nyla looked over at him, her disgusted frown aimed at the burnt animal he held out on a stick, "please do not eat that," she pleaded.
Ben shook his head, "what can I say, you had me at adventure. No matter which one of them it was I would go with you Des."
Nyla sighed, “You have not changed a bit since our Pledge days.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Ben asked with a lopsided smirk.
Deswald sniffed his dinner and scrunched up his nose before tossing it into the bushes beside him, "it was worth a try," he mumbled. He turned his attention to Ben now, who was focusing on his arrows again, leaned forward and started poking the dying fire with a charred stick.
"Her name is Ruby," he said, "she is the one with the unique fashion sense.”
Ben shrugged, “Oh head wrap girl. I do not know much about her, except that she is as stubborn as an old wild horse.”
Deswald shook his head, “She is the kind of person you either love or utterly dislike. Not the easiest of them to figure out, because she clothes herself in mystery and hides behind blatant rebellion. But… if you take the time to truly see her, as I have had no choice to do for the past six months, you would see that she is truly tender-hearted and kind. But she buries it all under the façade of materialism and is satisfied to be hated because for some reason she is afraid of being looked at too closely. I know that she is a worthy heir of Aldor and that if people truly got to see what I see, they would think so too. That is why we are here, we have to get her back."
Ben and Nyla stared at him, his tone belied his affectionate words, it was almost like he was giving directions to the market. Deswald was a difficult man to understand and that was probably why no one ever tried to.
"Okay then," Ben finally said, "well let us find this mysterious princess before all is lost,” he joked, earning him a cold glare from an annoyed Nyla.
"One question though, what’s with those fancy head ties of hers, is she bald or something?"
Nyla shook her head, "Maybe it is none of your business.”
"Quiet!" Deswald whispered harshly, the others froze, "did you hear that?"
He reached for his sword and Nyla followed his lead. Ben slipped on his bracer.
"I do not hear anything, but I suddenly feel very uneasy," he whispered, latching the straps of his quiver across his chest.
The low growling sound grew louder so that even Ben could not deny it any longer. Deswald started to rise to his feet slowly, his eyes darting about frantically, the gravelly growl was almost surrounding them. Nyla stood too, drawing one sword from her left hip and leaving the other sheathed on her right.
"This is so..." Deswald started, “Omph!”
They both jumped as a figure materialized from the tree trunk and launched its hammer like fist at Deswald's lower torso, sending him flying from where he was standing into the bushes nearby.
Nyla's eyes grew wide and she swung her sword behind her where a similar creature had appeared. If it's hot breath had not warned her of its presence, she too might have gone flying into the trees. The creature cried out in what she thought was pain, only to realize she had only made it angry, for her sword had done no damage to its rock like exterior. She dodged its slow-moving fist and fell onto her back. Their attackers resembled bears made of large brown stones, their beady soulless eyes making her uneasy.
"What in the name of El…" she started just as she heard an arrow whiz past her. Ben's shot got the creature right in it’s dark eyes and this time it's cry was one of pain.
Nyla withdrew her other sword, "I got it!" she cried.
"Good, 'cause I'm busy," Ben shouted back.
They were outmatched but his arrows were adequately keeping the two scary monsters at bay… for now. None of them had ever encountered creatures like these before, their training as pledges had not prepared them for this.
Deswald staggered to his feet, still dazed from his sudden flight. He shook the dizziness off and looked up to find his friends going head to head with the strangest creatures he had ever seen. It was quite a sight, it was almost as if the creatures were anticipating their every move, and even more they were vanishing and reappearing, he had never seen anything like it. They had let their guard down because they had not yet entered the dark forest, but surely these were the kind of creatures one might encounter there. He had heard stories from his parents, about creatures of darkness that made leaving Dravia difficult he had never heard stories of anyone encountering them when trying to go in. His eyes went to Nyla, by the way she was handling them she must not have had first-hand experience. Their horses were frantic, tugging at their ropes and neighing loudly. His eyes went to Ryder's saddle bag, then back to the pointless scramble.
He dashed forward, into the fray. Heading straight for his horse, "distract them!" he yelled.
Nyla continued swinging her swords with flair, evading their attackers in that dancelike fighting style she had perfected. Ben got onto the back of one them, only to fall to the ground when he stuck his arrow into its neck and it disappeared from beneath him.
“This is crazy!” he yelled, his dark hair having escaped it’s band was falling freely about his face, now wet from his panicked perspiration.
"Nyla get down!" Deswald shouted. Without a second to spare Nyla dropped and rolled, as a flash of light exploded over her head. She watched in amazement as the creature disintegrated before her, her eyes wide.
“It works! It works!” Ben started shouting hysterically, waving his hands in the air like a maniac.
"Behind you!" Nyla shouted, just as Deswald dropped to his knee, turned and released a burst of the flashing light again at the creature which had materialized behind him. The silence that followed was eerie, the three of them were breathless.
Ben dropped onto his posterior and shook his head, “please tell me they are dead."
"I do not think so," Deswald replied, "I think this just slows them down. The light must disrupt their chemistry somehow,” he gestured to his father’s weapon.
"Okay, I care little about their chemistry, but your little toy has surely earned my respect," Ben said breathlessly.
Deswald shook his head, "thank you, I think," he shoved the object into his satchel and slung it over his shoulder.
Nyla was shaking her head, as she picked up her sword from the dirt.
“I do not think any of this has anything to do with Chemistry Des. It is magic. I have heard of these things. They call them Feelers, no one admits it, but I believe they are under the control of the prince."
"Whatever it is, we have to get out of here," Deswald said.
"You do not have to tell me twice," Ben said as he dashed about collecting his arrows.
As he dashed towards his horse, Nyla looked over at Deswald, “should we tell him that the dark forest is even worse than this?”
Deswald shook his head, “It will just take the fun out of the adventure.”
Nyla laughed.
✽ ✽ ✽
After standing outside the door composing himself, the king finally entered the throne room. Upon his entrance the council members, members of court and other concerned citizens all stood up and waited until he took his seat on his throne. Once he was seated everyone stood quietly waiting for him to speak. An awkward silence dragged on as he pulled on his beard. Despite the tension in the room, no one dared to prompt him. He made a conscious effort not to look in the direction of his council members. They had already been clear about what they thought of Ruby’s actions, but they had all came to conclusion that they had to try to get the princess to come home again, because there may be greater repercussions for the kingdom should the Dravian Prince get a hold of her.
The king sighed, leaning back against his throne, he finally spoke.
“I know that many of you have your thoughts on yesterday’s events and you will have your time to share them. But first I would like to say that as king I know I have a responsibility to my subjects and I have worke
d hard to be a just and honourable servant of El in that area. But I also have another responsibility that I take very seriously and that is as a father. I know that there are great repercussions to my daughter’s actions as the council and I have explored in detail, and yes the truth remains that her actions are her own. But as a father I refuse to not try to reach her, regardless of how far she has gone. For those of you who do not know, my daughter, princess Ruby of Stone has run away.”
A murmur rose up among the people who were crammed into the throne room and the king exchanged glances with the high priest and his son who were standing toward the back. Their grim expressions relaying their concerns clearly. The king lifted his hand and the murmuring died down, he then continued.
“As of now I am uncertain as to where my daughter has headed. I have my suspicions, but I dare not reveal this right now until it is confirmed. As king, my greatest responsibility is to ensure that the darkness that contaminates Saharia stays outside of these walls. As a people we have a responsibility to show forth the righteousness of El to the rest of the lands. To be a beacon of light in this dark work. As father my greatest effort has been put into keeping that corruption from the hearts and minds of my children. But more and more I am seeing the darkness pressing in, slipping through the cracks of our defences and corrupting our people. But most of all I am wary of the darkness that has never left the hearts of us.”
He sat up and looked intently at the captivated crowd, “This has sadly reminded me that the darkness will always keep trying to find a way in and sometimes it comes in the way you least expect it and feeds on your mistakes. I will do all in my power to have my daughter home again, but it is her will whether that happens. Until then we will do well to examine our hearts and our loyalty to Aldor and to El, least we too are led astray by dangerous desires. You may speak.”
The murmuring started again, until a greying man stepped forward, “I have a question your majesty.”
“Speak.”
“You mentioned darkness seeping into Aldor in various forms my king. But I would like to draw your attention to the old ways. Could it be that this has something to do with the refugees we are letting into Aldor?”
The king’s expression was unreadable as he took in the man’s attire and demeanor, he had purifier written all over him.
“No, I do not,” the king finally replied, “the probation period allows us sufficient time for assessment for fit and most of the people who come to Aldor for refuge have already denounced their gods and ways. If I may be so bold, they have shown greater dedication to El’s ways than I have seen in some of our natives.”
“So, you are saying that they have nothing to do with those secret taverns that are popping up around Aldor? Aldorians know nothing of these things, we were fine until you brought in these outsiders to live and work among us.”
“We welcome all, because El welcomes all,” the king countered, he was slowly becoming agitated.
“So says a prophet we have not seen for years, a prophet I might add who fled the presence of your own father. Yes, I have been around long enough to know that his kingdom is falling apart under your watch.”
His words stirred up an uproar among the crowd and the king held his gaze amidst it. He knew what he was doing, and the king was not going to have any more of it. He reached for his sceptre and slammed it against the floor, the loud sound echoed throughout the room and instantly there was silence.
“You speak boldly to your king old man,” he said, “and you speak ill of the prophet of El about a matter that you clearly do not know much about. Aldor has changed it is true, but for the better, now more than ever we are doing El’s work. More than ever we are showcasing his compassion and love. Saharia already knows of his power as demonstrated through our ancestors in times past, now he wants Saharia to know of his love and mercy. If you look around this room you will see that there are no outsiders, regardless of our differences, we are all Aldorians.”
At that, the crowd erupted in cheers, causing the old man to shrink back, openly glaring at the king. As the crowd continued to cheer he stepped back, slinking towards the door.
After the old man’s attempt to cause dissension no one else spoke up. The king dismissed the assembly and when he was once more alone he felt the weight of his daughter’s absence once more.
“Oh El, watch over my girl.”
"Of course he is," came a familiar voice from the corner of the room.
"Drafer," the king said, "it has been a long time."
The grey bearded knight walked into the light and looked upon the king with a solemn expression on his wrinkled face.
"Do you think that is going to be a problem?" the king asked, nodding toward the closed door of the throne room.
Drafer knew he was referring to the old purist who had tried to hijack his meeting.
Drafer shrugged, "there always will be people like that as long as we live among people who are different to us. What I know for sure is that we have bigger problems to deal with."
"I know, Ruby leaving is a great security risk for the kingdom."
"We know you are not troubled about the kingdom's security more than you are about your daughter's wellbeing. No need to put up the great king mask. It is I. I served your father and watched you grow into the leader that you are today. I attended your coronation ceremony and stood watch at the door of your father's chamber during his final days. I have seen those children grow up and grew to care for them as my own. I understand the loss you feel. You do not need to hide it from me."
The king nodded, "I do miss her and I do fear for her. But the people are already starting to question my decisions. I know that something is stirring among them, I can feel it."
"Of course. That old purist just gave it away. They are trying to turn people against you, but I am not sure that they will succeed. The people are loyal to you. You have shown yourself to be a strong leader and family man. Refugees make up a large part of our kingdom, they are grateful to you. Use that."
The king nodded, "thank you. But I know you did not come all the way here to give me encouragement."
"But you know I would do it if I felt it necessary."
Kalgary nodded, "yes Drafer. Now what is it on your mind."
"The Outlands."
The king perked up, the furrows between his brows deepening, "what about it?"
"Have you ever considered the possibility of an Alliance between them and Dravia?"
"No, Dravians go against everything we stand for and they have hated us for centuries. But... they will never take the chance of joining forces with Outlanders. We know nothing of them, other than they are primitive, cruel and many have lost their lives just by being close to their territory. No kingdom will do anything with those people."
Drafer nodded, "maybe not then. But what about this Haddin. His mother was the most ruthless sorcerer of them all. What if he thinks he can somehow make allies out of them against us. We both know that it is our presence in Saharia that keeps them to their boundaries."
The king sighed deeply, "Haddin may have a few screws loose but... I cannot believe he would do something so foolish."
"Okay. But in the event that he does, we need to have a plan."
"To fight them? I hope it never comes to that."
"If it does fighting will not be an option. Without El's intervention we will never win. You will need an escape plan your majesty. But of course, this is all just speculation. You know how I like to obsess over the most unlikely security threats."
"Your obsessions have saved us from many problems Drafer. Your insight is always welcome in my court."
"Good. I will give you one more. That boy you sent after your daughter. He is like a son to me and I know for sure that he is the best of them. He will bring your daughter back even if it costs him his life."
The king nodded, "thank you. I pray that they all return to us and that no lives are lost."
"Me too my king. Me too."
&
nbsp; CHAPTER 12
Ruby opened her eyes, her hand instantly feeling for her head scarf. She had a headache that drilled through her temples and a stiffness in her back, as if she had been in an uncomfortable position for too long. She pushed herself up from the soft pillow and held her head, pausing for the wave of nausea to pass.
"Here, this should help."
Serin was hovering over her, holding out a goblet of water, she reached for it and drank thirstily.
"Where are we?" she asked, when she finally came up for air.
"We are in the city of Dravia," he replied with a stiff smile.
She regarded him with wide eyes, "we were captured, are we in trouble?"
"Probably just a precaution," he said, "look at this room," he gestured to their surroundings.
“This hardly seems like a place for people who are in trouble.”
They were in an ornately decorated bed chamber, not very different from her own.
Ruby frowned, "This confuses me," she said.
Serin nodded, "that I understand. But for our safety let us refrain from telling them exactly who you are and the nature of our relationship. Okay?"
Ruby nodded, “sounds wise.”
Just then, the doors swung open and an elaborately dressed young man stood in the doorway. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. With icy blue eyes lined with dark pencil and skin like the sun had never kissed it, his shiny golden tresses falling over his shoulders in perfect layers, even when he leaned his head to the side at them quizzically. It was an inauthentic handsomeness that made her uneasy. The paleness of his skin surprised her, as did the rich gold of his hair. A large number of Dravians tended to be light skinned with fair or dark hair, but this man was so pale, his skin was almost translucent. She had never seen anything like it, even with all the Dravian refugees living in Aldor. He stepped into the room, his gold trimmed velvet cloak trailing behind him. He walked right by a dumbfounded Serin and extended his hand to Ruby.
"Princess," he said, his voice was like honey, smooth and hypnotizing.
Kingdom of Refuge (Gemstone Royals Book 1) Page 10
