“Actually,” Sitnalta said. “He can, and he did.” She turned to Gerald. “What are you going to do with them?”
Gerald turned to her. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “That depends,” he said. “I know what must be done with Wilhelm. What happens to some of the others will change based on the answer to my next question.”
“What question?” Sitnalta asked.
“Who murdered Josiah, King Parven's Captain?” Gerald asked, turning to the men he had in captivity.
“That's what you care about?” Supmylo sneered. “He was a soldier. He was expendable.”
“He was a man,” Gerald shot back. “He was important. His death will have justice.”
“Sire?” Jess called from the back of the group of men. He stepped forward, hands bound. “I saw what happened.”
“Come forward,” Gerald called.
Jess carefully worked his way through the group, afraid to meet any of their eyes. “Sire, firstly, may I say that I, and a lot of the other men, did not want to be Wilhelm's men. There were those who tried to leave. They disappeared, as did members of their family. We were scared.” He turned to Sitnalta. “For all I did to you, I can never say how sorry I truly am.”
“I understand,” Sitnalta said. “You can begin to make it up to me by telling us what you saw.”
Jess nodded. “Okay.” He took a breath. “We were walking through the forest, Supmylo was leading the way. He said he would take us to where the Princess had hidden before. We were hiding among the trees when your captain began poking around. Wilhelm said he couldn't risk having him discover us until we were ready to attack.”
“We tried to sneak around him, keep hiding, but we could see that Wilhelm was annoyed by this. He wanted the situation 'taken care of' as quickly and as quietly as possible. No one stepped forward to do it. No one wanted to. So the King...I'm sorry. So Wilhelm did it himself.”
Navor stepped forward, eyes blazing. “You mean to tell me that no one wanted to kill Josiah, yet thought it honourable to open fire on a group of unsuspecting people who were sitting around a fire eating dinner?”
Jess held his head in shame. “I didn't mean to make excuses, or to absolve myself of any blame. I just thought that you should know what happened.”
“Thank you Jess,” Gerald said. He looked at the men in front of him. He could see it would take a while to weed out those who could once more serve under him, and who had to be imprisoned. He inwardly cringed at the hours of testimony that would ensue. He turned to Wilhelm. “Is what he said true?"
Wilhelm leered at him. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
“What made you this way?” Sitnalta asked. “Why are you so cruel?”
“Why should I be kind when the world has never been kind to me?” Wilhelm said. “I spent my life living in a hovel, being spat on and derided by all who deem themselves above me. The only thing that separates me from you is nothing but an accident of birth. I decided to reverse that. I took what was owed me.”
“You’re wrong,” Sitnalta said. “It's not just an accident of birth that separates you from me. It's the idea of compassion and respect. That's the true difference between us.”
Gerald watched their exchange and felt a surge of love and pride for the Princess. He had been worried about her throughout everything, but it seemed she had come through full of strength and spirit.
“You told me that you knew what had to be done to him,” Sitnalta said to Gerald. “What are you going to do?”
“What must be done,” Gerald said. “I'm going to put your father back in his cell, and I'm afraid that Wilhelm must be put to death.”
Sitnalta shivered. “Why must there be more death? Hasn't there been enough?”
“I'm inclined to agree,” Gerald said. “But he murdered Josiah. He stole our kingdom, and he was about to execute me and Aud, not to mention his plans for you. If I don't punish this to the full extent of the law, how can I properly reinforce my right to reign?”
“I don't like it,” Sitnalta said.
“It must be done,” Gerald replied. “I'm not changing my mind.”
Sitnalta turned and returned to the cave to check on Ipsinki. On her way, she saw Kralc reclining against a tree.
“Princess,” he said as she passed.
“Kralc,” Sitnalta responded. She paused, trying to decide what to say to the wizard. “I'm sorry you didn't get to destroy the coin. But I'm not sorry that I did what I did.” She winced at how ridiculous she sounded. “I'm sorry. That came out all wrong. What I really want to say is that I wanted to thank you for saving Ipsinki.”
“Of course,” Kralc said. “It was the right thing to do.” He sighed and regarded the Princess with a new appreciation. “You know that you could have just wished him healed.”
Sitnalta flushed bright red. “Yes, but with the way this coin was granting everyone’s wishes, in what state would he truly have been? I’m sorry.”
“I must apologize as well,” Kralc said. “You see, I felt that I was responsible for all of this. I made the coin. I felt it only right that I be the one to stop the chaos it had brought to the world.”
“I understand,” Sitnalta said.
“And there is one more thing I need to put right,” Kralc said. He stepped forward and ran his hand through her hair and over her face once more, looking wistfully at her for a long moment before vanishing.
Sitnalta pulled a lock of hair forward and smiled as she saw the familiar blue colour. “Thank you,” she whispered to the air, hoping the wizard could hear her.
Chapter Thirty
Monarchy Restored
Gerald and Aud were welcomed back as King and Queen with open arms. The kingdom rejoiced for days after their triumphant return. Parties went from the evenings to the early hours of the mornings. People danced in the streets. Wine flowed, and feasts were found in every home, every tavern.
As the celebrations died down, people began to talk about how the King was handling the grim task of restoring order to his guards. Frederic was reinstated, though Jess was summarily dismissed. It took some time, and many men were imprisoned or let go, and Gerald suffered many sleepless nights fearing he had gotten it wrong. Wilhelm was executed with very little announcement, as Gerald refused to make a spectacle out of any man's death.
The King felt he needed to do something to restore the good feelings that had pervaded the kingdom when he first was restored to power, and so Gerald announced a ball to reintroduce Sitnalta to the kingdom, hiring all the best chefs and bakers in the kingdom to feed all the guests he had invited.
The night of the ball, Sitnalta was in her room, trying to get ready. Aud was there, styling her hair into an intricate braided coronet on top of her head. Sitnalta had laced herself into a beautiful, yet simple green silk dress with gold braiding along the hem and the sleeves. She had pulled on a pair of light green lace gloves. The burn on her hand had healed, but had left a scar in the shape of Kralc's coin.
“Do I have to go?” Sitnalta asked.
“Of course you do,” Aud said with a warm smile. “You'll be fine. Besides, Navor will be there. As will his parents.”
“I know that,” she said. “It's just that you know I never liked these before everything happened.” She looked down at her gloved hands. “Now I feel even more self-conscious about it all.” She thought back to how Navor had winced at seeing her hand. She didn’t like the way he had looked at her.
Aud sighed and pulled the Princess close. “You look beautiful,” she assured her. “Besides, think of it as one of your stories. You are...”
“The mysterious Amazon Princess with scars from her battles against the powers of evil,” Sitnalta said. “I am tall and confident. I walk through the room as people whisper my heroic deeds.”
Aud smiled, thinking that, to her, the Princess's story wasn't that far from the truth.
Sitnalta pressed her lips toget
her, trying to steady her nerves. She turned to Aud and pulled her into a hug. “What would I ever do without you?” she asked. “I love you so.”
“And I you, my darling,” Aud said back. She pulled away and held out her hand. “Shall we?”
They entered the ballroom together, and Sitnalta couldn't help but smile. Once more, flowers cascaded out of vases in a riot of colours. Cakes and pastries were on display, and servants walked with trays of goblets filled with ciders and wines. People were happy and laughing as they spoke to one another. The room was filled with life, and Sitnalta decided that now was her time to join in once more.
Sitnalta wandered the crowd exchanging pleasantries and looking for a familiar face. She caught Frederic's eye from across the room, smiling and waving at him as he danced with his wife and small son. She let out an exclamation of joy as she saw a pair of familiar grey eyes peering at her above the rim of a silver goblet. She ran forward and pulled Ipsinki into her arms.
“Careful!” The duke exclaimed with a laugh.
Sitnalta pulled away and saw that he had dropped a cane. Her face flushed with embarrassment, she bent and retrieved it. “I am so sorry.”
“It's all right,” Ipsinki said. “I'm not quite myself yet. But I am almost there.”
“I was just so happy to see you!”
“I could tell.”
Sitnalta spun around as she heard the herald announce King Parven, Queen Kika, and their son Prince Navor.
“Go to him,” Ipsinki said, nudging her forward. “We'll be seeing plenty of each other. I promise.”
Sitnalta flashed him a wide grin and ran forward. Navor saw her approach and smiled back. He pulled away from his parents and pulled her close.
“I missed you,” he whispered to her.
“And I you,” she answered.
Soon after Wilhelm had been captured, Navor had returned home to check on his father. King Parven had healed nicely, and had been overjoyed by his son's news that Gerald's rule had been restored. Soon after, the King had been allowed to return to his duties, Josiah had been laid to rest. The entire kingdom had mourned, only finding solace in the fact that he had died a hero, and justice had been served to those responsible.
Navor smiled as he whirled the Princess around on the dance floor. His eyes sparkled as he noticed the glint of gold at her throat. He reached up and fingered the pendant. Kralc's coin hung on a narrow length of black silk cord. The stars still twinkling and glinting in the candlelight.
“So,” Navor said. “Have you tried making a wish?”
“Why should I?” Sitnalta asked. “I have everything I need right here in this room.”
Epilogue
Kralc wandered the confines of his tower alone. He had been invited to King Gerald's ball, but had declined the invitation. He had never been one for parties, and everyone knew that. He felt that the invitation was more of a slap in the face than something given out of sincere consideration. They all knew exactly how he felt about them. He walked over to one of the stones in the tower’s wall and pressed down on it. It swung towards him with a click. The wizard reached his hand inside and pulled out a gold locket. He held it tightly for a moment, warming the cool metal with his hand before going over to stand by the moonlight coming in through the window.
Kralc took a minute to run his fingers over the etched picture of seven arches that decorated the outer face of the locket. He didn't know why he tortured himself in this way. Most days, he believed that the past was better left in the past, where it could be ignored and forgotten. Yet, his time with the Princess and her ridiculous idea that everyone could, and should be saved had brought everything bubbling up to the surface once more.
The wizard pried the locket open and regarded the portrait that lay within. The young woman gazed up at him; her violet eyes had been painted so full of life and wonder. Her peacock blue hair fell past her shoulder in tumbling waves. Her small mouth was painted with the barest hint of a smile, but what was there promised that she had quite the story to tell.
“I'm sorry, my dear Learsi,” Kralc whispered to the girl in the picture. “I'm so sorry for everything I have done to you and yours. It seems my efforts continue to harm everybody. I promised you a kingdom once, and that brought you no shortage of misery. But at least all has been brought to right with your child. Although that was her doing. Not mine. It’s never mine.”
Kralc snapped that locket shut and placed it back in its proper place, closing the stone over it with an air of finality. He would stay in his tower now. He, like his past, was better left alone and untouched by all.
Thank you for purchasing this copy of “The Kingdom Thief,” Book Two in the Sitnalta series by Alisse Lee Goldenberg.
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Read More Books by Pandamoon Publishing!
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About the Author
Alisse Lee Goldenberg holds a bachelor of education and a fine arts degree; and she has studied fantasy and folklore since she was a child. Alisse lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband, Brian; their triplets, Joseph, Phillip, and Hailey: and their rambunctious goldendoodle, Sebastian. This is her second novel in the Sitnalta Series. The third volume of the Sitnalta Series is currently in work and is titled The City of Arches. She has also written several other novels in genres such as young adult, dystopian, and science fiction.
Please feel free to visit Alisse at www.alisseleegoldenberg.com to learn more or follow her on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/AliLGoldenberg
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