The King's Descendants

by Robin Simmons

  Adriell smiled at her friend, the closest person to her besides her own mother. She had been born in the future and for the first part of her life had known nothing else. Even with the reforms and freedom her mother helped bring to the empire she did not wish to return. Glenfair was everything her mother had said it was, and more. It certainly was not boring. Even their present assignment promised new excitement. To find a woman and her family for whom Edward had found an attraction was most intriguing.

  “I think I shall like her very much,” Adriell said good naturedly.

  “Why do you say that?” Pi asked.

  “If Edward finds her interesting and attractive, she must be worth getting to know.”

  Pi laughed at Adriell’s assessment, and concurred with her hypothesis. Since Rebekka’s death and that of King Raven, Pi was the closest thing Edward and Adriell had to a parent. In some ways she was over protective, loving Edward and Adriell very much. In fact as she thought on that fact she realized that, if it were not for Adriell’s mother she most likely would never have known what it was to love. First to love her owner, Ellise, when she realized that Pi had emotions and began to treat her as a real person, then Rebekka. But Adriell was different, she had been a nursemaid to her since birth. She believed she understood a little of the love a mother could have for a daughter.

  Adriell and Pi came to the only bridge that crossed the Halfstaff in Glenfair. As they rode across, excitement began to build in Adriell. She loved being out among the people of Glenfair. In the future where she had been born, people distrusted government, and were skeptical of any person in politics. Glenfair was different. There existed a bond between the king, the dukes, and its people. Perhaps it was the small size of the kingdom that made that possible, but Adriell quickly dismissed that notion. She knew in her heart that the dukes and the king really cared about the people of the kingdom. And that made all the difference to the people who were under their rule. As Adriell mused on those thoughts they reached the outskirts of the little village of Brittany. People at first just stared, then some began running and shouting as the realization of who it was that had come to their small village. Soon a small crowd had gathered in the streets to shout welcomes and greetings to Adriell and Pi.

  Jamath stepped out from the crowd to address Adriell and Pi.

  “What may our humble village do for those of our royal house?”

  Adriell smiled down at Jamath from her horse and said, “We wish to know where Telfra, Brianna, and Damara live. We have business to discuss with them from the king.”

  Jamath’s face fell as he heard the words of Adriell. Surely their rudeness to the king a short time back had brought disrepute to the whole village. Why had Brianna been so sharp with her tongue? And why had she so harshly demanded the king leave their home? Jamath hoped that the royal house would take into account that these women were foreigners and not natives of Glenfair and not blame them all.

  Adriell saw the fallen face of Jamath and asked, “Is there something wrong? Are they in good health?”

  “They are fine,” Jamath said warily. “Come, I will show you where they live.”

  Pi and Adriell followed Jamath down the street until they came to a small modest home. As they dismounted Jamath quickly took the reigns of the horses and said; “I will see to your animals, and please remember that the rest of Brittany is not as inhospitable as these foreigners.”

  Adriell watched Jamath go and decided she did not care much for the man. His weakness to over please was almost suffocating. She turned and knocked at the door and waited.

  Soon a young girl opened the door and asked; “May I help you?”

  Adriell noticed right away the accent the girl possessed. “Yes, we are here on the king’s business. May we come in?”

  The girl’s eyes widened and for the first time she noticed the crowd in the street watching them intently. “Yes, yes, please come in!”

  Adriell and Pi entered and heard a voice from another part of the house call:

  “Damara, who are you talking to?”

  “I am sorry,” Damara remarked. “I do not even know your names to make proper introductions.”

  “That is my oversight,” replied Adriell. “My name is Adriell, I am the king’s sister. And this is Pi, a close family friend who is like an aunt to us.”

  With this revelation Damara’s eyes widened once more and she hurried off to find her mother. Soon Telfra came into the room and bowed before Adriell.

  “Princess Adriell, what brings you to our humble home?”

  “Before I can address that subject, some one else needs to be present. Is your other daughter, Brianna here?” Before another word was spoken Damara rose and was quickly gone. A very short time later she returned with Brianna following behind her slowly with her gaze downward. She quietly seated herself but still did not look at Adriell or Pi. The short silence was awkward so Adriell began at once to reveal their purpose in coming.

  “The king has sent us to discuss...”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Damara interrupted.

  “You are here because Brianna threw the king out of our house, and want us to leave Glenfair!”

  Adriell started to answer when Brianna’s head snapped up with an angry look at Damara, and then she looked directly at Adriell.

  “I did not throw the king out of our house, I merely asked him to leave for deceiving us after we shared our table and our confidence with him. I may have been hasty in doing so, but that is no reason for him exiling us from Glenfair.”

  Adriell was taken back for a moment but then she began to laugh. Pi put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh as well. And even Telfra was trying hard to keep from smiling. Damara looked perplexed, but Brianna stared defiantly at Adriell, almost daring her to throw them out of Glenfair.

  Adriell stopped laughing and said, “This is all a misunderstanding. The king has sent us to apologize to you for his conduct and deception. He begs your forgiveness, and of a truth, he never intended to deceive you. He wishes to make amends by inviting you to be his special guests at the coming summer feast.”

  Brianna tried hard to keep her mouth from falling open to no avail. Where she came from, a king never admitted wrong doing, nor apologized for any conduct. To have a king apologize to her was unthinkable. The look on her face caused Adriell to laugh again bringing Brianna out of her contemplation.

  “You have not come to ask us to leave Glenfair?”

  “Of course not!” Adriell said smiling. “Come, I would talk with you alone. Let us go for a walk.”

  As Adriell started to rise, Brianna was overcome.

  “My Lady, Princess Adriell, I am the one who should ask for forgiveness. Surely I have offended the royal house.”

  Brianna said this so contritely on bended knee that she endeared herself to Adriell. She walked over to Brianna and took her by the hand saying, “Come, let us talk together.”

  When they opened the door to the street, the crowds were still there. When Brianna saw them she blushed under their stares. Adriell saw this and with her hand motioned for the people to leave. Quietly the street emptied and people disappeared, leaving the two to walk toward the west end of the village. They came to the spring and sat down still not saying anything.

  Finally Brianna spoke; “It was here that I met him. He was sitting over there under that tree so relaxed. I thought he was a stranger and offered him a drink of water. I had vowed when we came to this land as strangers and were made to feel at home to always show kindness to any other stranger I met. I did not know he was the king.”

  Adriell saw the embarrassment this caused Brianna, so she said, “Did you enjoy his company when you did not know he was the king?”

  Brianna blushed even more and said, “Yes, very much so.”

  “Then there is something about royalty that bothers you, is that not so?”

  This time Brianna did not hesitate, “We also are of roya
l blood of the Sabatols. Our cousin Razcon wants us dead because we pose a threat to his royal bloodline. You see, we are closer heirs to the throne than he. We escaped with our lives, but our father was not so lucky. Razcon killed him before he could escape. Our royal blood has been a curse, it has brought us nothing but heartache.”

  Now it was Adriell’s time for her mouth to hang open. When Brianna saw Adriell’s expression she laughed.

  “Is that what I looked like back home?” Adriell snapped her mouth shut and the two began laughing together.

  “I see the king did not reveal to you our true reason for being in Glenfair.”

  Adriell smiled, “Edward would not reveal what others have shared with him in confidence, unless the kingdom were in jeopardy.”

  “I have much to learn about Glenfair and its royalty,” Brianna stated.

  “That is why you must come to the summer feast as our guests. You will see for yourself how much the king loves this land and its subjects. And how its subjects love their king once they see his heart.”

  When they returned to Brianna’s home they noticed that Telfra and Damara were relaxed and enjoying the visit with Pi.

  Damara asked right away; “Can we go to the summer feast Brianna? Mother said it was up to you if we went. I have heard they are so much fun.”

  “Yes, we will accept the king’s invitation and go to the feast. Please convey to him how much we appreciate his invitation to join him as his guests.” Damara was jubilant at the news, and Telfra smiled warmly. At that moment there was a knock at the door and Damara opened it to reveal Jamath standing there peering in.

  “My Lady”, he said to Adriell, “Is there anything I can do for you while you are here in our village?”

  Adriell said quickly, “Yes, you may fetch our horses, we are ready to leave!” She said this curtly, and that sent Jamath off scurrying to get the horses. Thinking the whole time what mess had those three women gotten the village into this time.

  Telfra smiled at Adriell and said, “Jamath means well, but he is always looking into other people’s affairs.”

  When the horses were brought Adriell took the reigns from Jamath’s hands and bending close whispered to him.

  “These ladies are very special to the king. He had better not hear that they have been ill treated, do you understand?”

  Jamath turned a little pale, but nodded silently to Adriell as she swung up onto her horse. As he watched Adriell and Pi leave the village, Telfra smiled. She did not know what Adriell said to Jamath but the man had turned pale.

  Jamath turned to Telfra meekly, “Is there anything I can do for you or your daughters?”

  Telfra smiled, “I am sure we can find something to keep you out of trouble, Jamath.”

  The sun had set at the south west pass of the Prescott dukeship. The guard on watch sat back in the shadows, still, quiet. It was his job to watch the pass and alert the guards back at the gates if he should see anything. Although the kingdom of Glenfair had never had any trouble with the Sabatol kingdom to the south, he was acutely alert this particular night. If it had been months before he might have taken a nap on watch. But the captain of the guard had been very firm about putting everyone on alert after the king had come to the pass. He had seen the look of concern and panic upon the king’s face that day, and it had done more to convince him to do his duties than the sharp tongue of the captain. The place where he hid was a little niche only he knew. That is often why he dozed, because no one would see him if he did so. But now from his place of concealment he watched and listened. He stiffened as he heard something coming from the south. It was coming fast, as fast as a horse, but with very little sound. He almost called out an alarm but what ever it was breezed past him at an incredible rate and was up and over the gate before he could shout. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head to clear it . Nothing he knew could move that fast. Was it an animal, or a ghost? He knew against all human knowledge it could not be human. Now he wrestled with the dilemma of whether to tell the captain of what he had seen, or thought he saw. They may take him for someone dozing at his post and dreaming this all up. He had been guilty of that in the past, but not tonight.

  Morning dawned and the man decided he had better talk to the captain. All night he kept seeing the phantom scaling the gate and disappearing into the night. When he approached the guard keeping the gate he asked if they had seen anything unusual last night. None of them had. He was just about to change his mind about saying any thing when the captain of the guard approached him.

  “Fallon, report! Anything unusual on your watch last night?”

  Fallon hesitated, “Something strange did happen early this morning. Something came up the pass so quickly I barely saw it. It quietly went up and over the gate before I could call out an alarm. I hesitate to mention this sir, because you may think I jest. It had the form of a man, but no man could move that quickly or jump that high.”

  The captain looked at Fallon a moment and then called out; “Jamison, Jamison, get a courier up here right away! We must send a message to the king immediately!”

  Sucinord smiled to himself, that had been too easy getting back into Glenfair. No one had seen him quickly scale the gates and move off into the dark. He even waited a little while to see if an alarm would be sounded. When none came he was satisfied he had slipped through unseen. Now off to take care of some business for the king of the Sabatols. Even though the mission was a simple assassination, Sucinord felt alive with purpose. This was the first time he had a purpose besides the destruction of Glenfair. He had taken a course of action to destroy Glenfair without a real plan and had failed. Even though this assassination would be a simple thing, he would now approach it with caution and stealth. No use alerting the king of Glenfair that he was back in his kingdom.

  When it began to dawn and the sun was up, Sucinord saw some people in the distance heading north. He quickened his pace and in a short time overtook them. He did not speak for a while, until they grew accustomed to his presence.

  He then asked; “Where are you headed my friends?”

  A man looked at Sucinord and replied, “Why, to the summer feast. Today is the day of the great celebration.”

  “And where is this celebration taking place?” Sucinord asked.

  “At the king’s castle,” the man stated. And then added, “You are not from here are you?”

  Sucinord felt a small rise of panic. Should he kill them all now because they recognized he knew nothing of this feast. That is what he would have done a week before, but he had learned much since that time. He decided to wait and see what he could learn.

  “No, I am not from here. In fact I am looking for some friends of mine. Three women who have come to live here from the Sabatol kingdom. Their names are, Telfra, Damara, and Brianna. Do you happen to know where I can find them?”

  The man rubbed his chin and replied, “Those names do not sound familiar to me. But a lot of immigrants from the south seem to settle around the little village of Brittany. I knew a man once from there who was always complaining about the new people moving into his village. His name was Jamath I believe. Find him and maybe he can help you.”

  Sucinord received directions to the village of Brittany, thanked the man and headed in that direction. That exchange of information had been helpful. He did not think the man would think to betray him to the king. He seemed only to be a foreigner searching for some friends. Sucinord was learning that killing people would not always get him what he wanted. Besides, there would be great suffering for Glenfair after he accomplished his mission.

  Arriving at the village of Brittany, he noticed many people leaving as he was entering. He asked for the man Jamath and someone pointed him out. Sucinord approached him and asked, “Are you Jamath?

  “Yes, and why do you ask?” was his reply.

  “I am looking for some women and thought you might know them. Their names are Telfra, Damara, and Brianna.”

 
; Sucinord saw from the expression on the man’s face that he did recognize the names. “I see that you do know them,” Sucinord stated. “Where do they live?”

  “Come and I will show you,” Jamath retorted. “They seem to be very popular lately.”

  Sucinord followed Jamath to the home of Telfra and knocked. No one answered so Jamath opened the door and entered and Sucinord followed.

  “Seems they are gone for the moment,” Jamath shrugged. “I never expected them to go to the feast because they never went before. Oh well, maybe this year they decided to go.”

  “I will wait here for their return,” Sucinord stated.

  “I do not think you should,” Jamath stated. “In fact I think you should leave and come back some other time when they are home.”

  Sucinord started for the door, but only closed it quietly. He turned to face Jamath with an evil smile upon his face and pounced upon him before he could even cry out.

  The day of the summer feast arrived, and the rising sun revealed a nervous king pacing the floor of the great hall, waiting for the kitchen staff to prepare breakfast. Master Rollins entered and saw the king pacing and approached him.

  “Sire, you seem a bit nervous. Are you having second thoughts about the arms competition?”

  At that moment Adriell had entered the great hall and said with humor, “It is not the arms competition that has made Edward nervous. It is certain female guests he has invited personally to the feast.”

  Master Rollins’ eyebrows lifted as he fixed his eyes on Edward, then a big smile appeared coupled with a nod of approval.

  Edward turned red and stated, “Why is everyone so curious about any female I show interest in?”

  “Because, my brother, you have never shown interest in any woman before.” After Adriell said this Master Rollins chuckled.