The Queen (12 page)

Luana’s eyes filled with tears as she looked
up at Baylin. “Why do I feel as though I will never see you
again?”

“You’re just scared,” Baylin said, pulling
her into his arms. “It will be over before you know it and all will
be well again.”

Luana began to weep in his arms. He ran his
hand down the back of her silken hair. He kissed the top of her
head, taking in a deep breath.
She smells of lavender and fresh
air.
He wanted to memorize the scent so he would never forget
it.

Baylin pulled away, cupping Luana’s chin in
his hand. “I love you.”

Tears stained her cheeks as she fought the
onslaught of more. “And I, you.”

He leaned in, pressing his lips against
hers. Her petal-soft lips were sweet as honey and warm like the
summer sun. He parted his lips, slipping his tongue between them,
caressing her tongue with his own.

Baylin pulled her to him as the tip of his
tongue traced the inside of her lips.

When the couple finally parted, they gasped
for breath.

Salty tears stained Luana’s pale cheeks as
she stared up at him. “Come back to me.”

“Always, my love. Now go,” Baylin urged.
“Go.”

Baylin arrived at the war council room,
fully clothed in his battle armor. The black, boiled-leather jerkin
was hot and the fine silver chainmail was heavy, but he knew he
needed to be prepared to leave immediately.

The room was full of men—generals and
commanders. Many of whom had seen far too many winters to be of
much use on the battlefield. Their bulging eyes and sweaty brows
were merely a few of the signs of their growing fear.
They are
scared. As they should be. We are not prepared to go to war against
our own people.

Baylin went to the front of the room to
address the group. The clamor of their stressed conversations
quieted to a low roar as Baylin stood at the head of the table.

“Quiet!” Baylin boomed, slamming his fist on
the table. “Keep your wits about you!” The room fell silent. “I
understand your alarm. However, it is not as though we were
unprepared for this. We have been planning for this attack for
nearly two weeks.”
Has it really only been two weeks
? Time
was a blur as the Prince tried to remember.

“Your Grace,” Ferric said. “More scouts have
reported movement at Fagin Forest.”

Baylin’s heart raced. “They mean to hit us
on both fronts?”

“It’s unsure,” Ferric said, nodding his head
to a steward nearby. “I’ve had one of the scouts brought so he can
give a true account of what he saw.”

The steward escorted a man dressed in brown
riding clothes into the room. The man was smaller than your average
Keld soldier, as was the custom. Smaller men rode faster by
horseback, giving them the chance to cover long distances much
faster.

“Your Grace,” the rider said, bowing.

“What did you see?” Baylin asked, taking a
seat.

“Honestly, there wasn’t much too see,” the
rider explained. “Fagin Forest is rather dark during the noonday
sun, so during the night it’s practically impossible to see without
torchlight. It wasn’t so much what we saw, as what we heard.”

“Could you hear them coming through the
forest?” Baylin questioned. “Horses, perhaps?”

“No, not exactly,” the rider continued. “It
did have the sound of an army or large group coming through the
forest, but it was not like the usual sounds you hear when an army
is on the move.”

“Explain,” Baylin snapped. “And be quick
about it.”

“With an army, you can hear horses’ hooves,
the sound of metal from armor or weapons,” the rider explained,
sweat forming on his brow. “These sounds were like nothing we’d
heard before. It was like a low roar of thunder rolling through the
forest toward us. The very ground beneath our feet started to
tremble. Then the wind picked up, making the trees sway and bend.
We barely had time to mount our horses before they spooked. It was
as though a great darkness was coming straight through the
forest.”

Baylin cocked an eyebrow, looking at Ferric.
“What do you make of it?”

“After the incident at Black Hallows, do you
need to ask?” Ferric murmured.

The Prince sighed. “Thank you, sir, for your
devotion to the Kingdom and for warning us. See yourself fed and
rested. We may require your services again, and sooner than you
might think.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Thank you.” The scout gave
a bow and the steward escorted the rider out of the room.

Baylin unrolled a large map of Grasmere and
placed it on the table. “It is confirmed that Kardell has made port
in Rivermouth, correct?”

“Yes, Rivermouth has been taken.” The sound
of King Ashmur’s voice caught everyone’s attention. The room
erupted with the sound of shifting chairs and the movement of armor
as the men stood and bowed.

Baylin turned to find his father standing in
the doorway. “Your Grace!” Baylin bowed.

“My son.” The King walked across the room to
Baylin, embracing him. “It would appear your uncle has made good on
his word.”

Baylin pointed to spots on the map. “Kardell
attacks us by Rivermouth while another attack comes from the
forest.”

“The forest?” the King questions.

“There is a darkness,” Ferric interrupts. “A
sorceress appears to be in league with the troll hordes.”

The King’s eyes widen in disbelief. “This
cannot be.”

“We’re not really sure what this presence
is,” Baylin sighed. “We only know it is definitely dark and it
appears to have something to do with the trolls.” The Prince went
on to explain the situation that took place in Black Hallows.

“What of the girl?” General Cormag
questioned. “They say she has powers too. That she fought the
sorceress.”

“Girl? What girl?” the King asked, turning
his gaze on Baylin. “They don’t mean… your bed wife?”

Baylin swallowed hard. “Yes, Luana was
there. We had gone to get her family during the evacuation
and—”

“It doesn’t matter,” King Ashmur murmured.
“We have more pressing matters to discuss than this nonsense. We’ll
talk on it once the threat has passed.”

Baylin knew it was a warning. His father was
furious but kept a face of calm control. The thought made him feel
like a child.

“What is this about the girl having power?”
Ashmur questioned.

Baylin knew it would come out eventually. It
was best he told everyone the truth. “Luana. She’s part… She’s a
descendent of King Rydel.”

The Prince expected a sudden intake of
breath, a sign of surprise or shock. However, the room was silent.
The men sat with their mouths agape. He turned to his father. The
King’s face was wrinkled in confusion, attempting to
comprehend.

“How…” King Ashmur murmured.

Baylin quickly explained what he knew of
Luana’s parentage and how King Rydel was still alive and
thriving.

“You’re telling me that King Rydel is still
alive after all this time?” General Cormag asked. “How can that
be?”

“I don’t know, but he is,” Baylin said. “The
point is, I believe we have an ally in this fight. We must call for
aid from the elves.”

“The elves!” King Ashmur boomed. “Where were
the elves during the Battle of Embers? Where have the elves been
these past five hundred years?”

“They did what they felt was right at the
time,” Baylin defended. “King Rydel has admitted their inaction was
a mistake. He is trying to rectify that by training Luana. He is
teaching her the way of her true people. Had it not been for the
elves, we wouldn’t have made it through Fagin Forest alive.”

“We do not need these… these elves, to
defend our land,” the King argued. “We will defend the castle. As
long as our people are inside, they will be safe.”

“Apologies, Your Grace,” Ferric said with a
bow of the head. “But the people will not last the winter within
the castle. There is simply not enough food stores to feed them
all.”

“Cadman knew to hit us before the harvest,”
Baylin said. “He has knowledge of the Kingdom and how you think,
Father. He knows the castle’s weaknesses, its secrets.”

A steward ran into the room carrying a
rolled parchment. “Your Grace! At least thirty carracks have made
port in Rivermouth.”

The young man handed the rolled parchment to
the King as the room erupted in a rumble of whispers.

“Thirty?” Baylin murmured. “Thirty galleons,
six decks each… probably four hundred men per vessel. Twelve
thousand men at least. Not to mention all the supplies they are
able to carry. Mirstone and Kardell could wait years and not run
out of supplies.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” said General
Cormag. “This could be a distraction. Carracks are fast and agile
and do not require a large crew. Perhaps they mean to use it to
keep us hidden in the castle. We should defend our Kingdom, attack
when they don’t expect it.”

“If those thirty galleons are equipped with
soldiers, weapons and supplies,” Ferric growled, “Grasmere will
fall if we engage.”

“Is slowly starving or being brutally
slaughtered the lesser of two evils?” spat an old general who had
remained silent up until that point. Everyone stopped arguing and
fell quiet. “You all seem to see no other options.”

“What would you have us do, my old friend?”
King Ashmur asked the man.

General Derwen had been a grown Keld soldier
before the King had even been born. However, he and the King grew
close when Ashmur took up the throne at a young age. The two had
long been friends, just as Ferric and Baylin. The general had a
mind for strategy, even in his old age.

“I would do as the young Prince said,”
Derwen instructed. “We ask this elf, this King Rydel, if he is
truly regretful of his past mistakes. We ask him and his people to
take up arms with us.”

The room became deafening with the sounds of
shouts, grumbles and countless arguments amongst the men.

“We can’t trust the elves!”

“We must attack.”

“Wait them out!”

King Ashmur sat in a chair, shaking his head
at the ruckus. Baylin pulled the map closer, studying it.
Kardell is known for their ships. Their galleons are fast and
agile; they would be able to make berth anywhere the water touched
the shore
. He studied the map closer, checking for any
weaknesses that he may have missed.

“Quiet!” Baylin shouted, banging his fist on
the table. “Listen, thirty ships is formidable but certainly not a
true show of the power Kardell has. They are an island race; they
know how to defend and attack by water. They know putting all their
ships at Rivermouth would not only show exactly what they have
planned, it would put them too far from the castle and it would
eliminate any element of surprise.”

“So what are you suggesting?” King Ashmur
asked, standing and walking to inspect the map.

“Many years ago, when I was young, I used to
play with Lu… a friend in Open Shaw,” Baylin explained, pointing to
the forest that runs behind the fields of the village. “As the land
rises, most of the area behind the wood is rough cliffs. However,
farther south, the forest opens up against a shore.”

“How do we not know about this?” asked
General Derwen.

“The maps don’t show of any such shore,”
argued General Cormag.

“The only way to the shore is either by boat
or through the forest,” Baylin explained. “However, if galleons
were to drop men at that eastern shore, they could use the forest
as cover and be on the castle before we would have time to
counter.”

“And if we were to attack at Rivermouth, it
would allow them to come up behind us,” Ferric said, pointing to an
area on the map. “We would be surrounded.”

Baylin pointed to places on the map.
“Kardell and Mirstone attack by ship at Rivermouth and through the
forest of Open Shaw. The trolls and this sorceress attack from
Fagin Forest.”

“You seem to imply that this sorceress and
her trolls are somehow in league with Mirstone,” accused General
Cormag.

“Whether or not the attacks are related,”
Baylin said, “it would be foolish to rule out any threat.”

“You say the elves have been settled in
Fagin Forest for all these years,” King Ashmur murmured. “Is it not
wise to also consider them a threat? This sorceress also resides in
the forest, it would seem.”

“That is nonsense.” Baylin’s words caught in
his throat.
I never thought of King Rydel as a threat, but
wouldn’t a show of kindness be the best disguise? But to go to so
much trouble to assist us when we fled Mirstone, and the way King
Rydel has helped Luana to protect herself. He couldn’t possibly be…
Could he? The elves possess magic like the sorceress. What if she
is, in fact, one of them? Why else would they allow her in their
forest?

“I don’t feel like we should put our faith
in these
elves
,” General Cormag spat. “We can only trust our
own men.”

“I suppose that settles it,” said King
Ashmur.

“What is that, Your Grace?” asked General
Derwen.

Baylin’s father gave a deep sigh, placing a
hand on his son’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son, but we must trust in
our own men to protect the Kingdom.”

Luana held the baby as they waited in the
dimly lit chamber with two guards, Queen Valasca, Meg and two other
maids. She was told guards were gathering up her parents and sister
and would be escorting them to join her shortly.

The secure chamber was housed deep within
the mountain, and it had been a true labyrinth to get to it. It was
created to make it hard for the royal family to be located, should
the castle be overrun. However, she feared Lord Cadman would know
how to locate them.

Luana was certain she would never find her
way out without help. They had taken hidden passages and gone into
rooms that housed small doors behind tapestries. The room was very
cool and lacked a hearth because of its depth within the mountain.
However, she had been assured the room stayed a constant
temperature, so it would not get any colder, even in the
winter.