The Path Of Peace (The Cremelino Prophecy Book 3) (18 page)

That got the doctor’s attention.
There hadn’t been many wizards with the power of the heart over time. They were
thought to be some of the most powerful but also more volatile and open to
sudden mood changes. “The general will not have such an easy time then.”

“No, he will not,” Christine
became more firm and serious. “That is why I need to escape.” She stood taller,
face flushed. Her golden hair flowed down her back over a light silk coat that
was more to hide the pregnancy than to provide warmth. She stood a good hand
taller than the woman.

“And you will help me,” Christine
continued. “I will leave either way, doctor. If you would see me safe, your
help would be better for me. If not, I will still try on my own. I must reach
my husband or reestablish the bond to my Cremelino.”

At mention of the mythical
animal, the wizard doctor took immediate interest. She had made a lifetime
pursuit in studying ancient creatures, particularly the Cremelinos. Having
never seen one herself, she was full of questions. The Gildanian wizard did not
know about communicating through the bond. They contemplated together why it
was weakened now for Christine. They could come up with no answer.

In the end, with the excited
expectation of maybe meeting a Cremelino horse, the wizard decided to help the
young queen find a way to escape. The wizard promised to discretely search out
those who were not sympathetic to the general and to find out the whereabouts
of Prince Mezar. Christine knew if they could find him, he would help.

Later that week on one of their
morning walks, the doctor confided in Christine that contact had been made with
someone who caught rumors the prince was back in Gildan. Contact would be made
if possible.

Christine’s hope lifted for the
first time. She tried to be strong on the outside for the doctor and others
around her, but inside she was only a moment away from weeping each time she
thought about her dear husband. He must be frantically searching for her and
out of his mind. She hoped that his grief was not distorting his powers. The
power of love and compassion were strongest in him, but feelings of anger and
frustration could bring havoc and even deadly results.

She missed Darius and found
herself reliving more and more their times together as younger teenagers. Times
were so simple then. She marveled how the daughter of a poor farmer had become
the queen of the Realm.

As much as she missed Darius, the
lost bond to her Cremelino was sometimes even more debilitating. For years, the
constant comforting presence had sat in the back of her mind, urging her on,
giving her strength, and bringing hope.

She sat on her bed, feeling sorry
for the missed bond, when the door to her room crashed open. It was General
Alrishitar.

The heir to the throne of Gildan
was livid. His face was red, and dark veins stood out on his light brown face.
His hair, although dark in his younger years, now held tips of gray. His hand
came up out of his dark black robes and pointed at Christine.

“You deceived me, girl!” he roared,
his voice filled with an expanse of power. The walls shook, and Christine
winced.

He took three large strides and
grabbed the queen off of the bed. With rough hands, he pulled her to her feet.
Christine felt tears sting her eyes. Her lips quivered with his rough handling.

The general grabbed her cloak and
ripped it from her body in one fluid motion. Christine stood still in her light
blue silk gown, her baby bump obvious.

“You are pregnant and hid this
news from me? You and that wretched doctor of yours.”

With the mention of the doctor,
Christine’s fear grew deeper, but her resolve slid into place. “Where is my
doctor?”

“She has been taken away. She is
a traitor to the crown, and her use to me is over.”

The doctor had been right. If the
general found out, she would be killed. The realization hit Christine, and she
fought hard to stay in control. “You are the traitor, General.”

The older but muscled man slapped
her hard across the face, sending her falling into the bed. “Your use is not so
great that I can’t accomplish my purposes without you. I am not a traitor. I am
a patriot acting on behalf of those that won’t. Our empire has been denied
their destiny for greatness for far too long. There are others who believe in
me and are guiding us toward becoming one land together.

Christine stood up again and
continued to glare at her captor, a far more dangerous man than she at first
realized. Her hand went instinctively to her face, rubbing what was sure to be
a swollen bruise.

“Tomorrow we ride to the border
and attack your precious land. My wizards will demolish anyone who interferes.
Within a month, your husband and his army will be backed into Anikari and will
be pleading for your life, and now the life of your baby, in trade for his
entire kingdom.”

“He won’t do it.”

The general laughed. “Oh, you
naïve girl. Kingdoms greater than yours have fallen for the sake of a woman. I
hear about the passion and love your King has for you. He will have no choice
but to follow his heart.”

Christine realized that the general
was correct. Darius would give up all he had for her. It was a sad but proud
feeling at the same time. Tears came to her eyes and fell unashamed down her
reddened face.

“You are now confined to this
room, day and night. There will be no visitors. Food will be brought to you
three times a day, and the chamber pot will be emptied once. Any disobedience
will bring swift action to you and your baby,” he roared.

Christine’s hand went to her
stomach. Her baby! She must stay safe for the baby. She would obey the general
and hope for a miracle.

General Alrishitar ran his hand
around the inside of her doorframe, and blue light spread across it. “No one
without my permission will enter or leave this room”. With that, he walked out
and closed the door.

Falling back to the bed, the
young farmer-girl-turned-queen sobbed until her throat was raw and sleep
overtook her.

TO THE BORDER

M
ezar rode Star, his new Cremelino, in
furious strides, racing ahead of Leandra and his other companions to get to
Gildan first. Amazed at the bond, he reveled in the peace, power, and direction
it brought him. And the speed! They took three days in what would normally be a
week-long journey.

Slipping through the Gildanian
border just west of Denir, he noticed the march of thousands of troops on the
Gildan side heading for the Realm. His father was planning on invading. Mezar
had very little time to stop it all.

Riding through Gildan was slower.
Not wanting to call any more attention to himself, he laid a brown blanket over
the horse to hide his blinding white color. Taking up at an inn on the
outskirts of the capital city, he now sat with Star in the stable.

Without warning, Star went up on
his hind legs and made a screeching sound. Mezar stood up from a bucket he had
been sitting on and tried to soothe the Cremelino.

“Star, what is wrong?”
Mezar
felt the horse’s horror through the bond.

Lightning just felt the
horrible pain through her bond.

“From Christine?”

Yes. She could hardly bear it,
even at this distance—abrupt and intense physical pain, followed by
overwhelming distraught.

“Does she know from where it
came?”
Mezar asked.

It’s close to us here. She
transferred the feelings to me as soon as she felt them, and now I can sense
Christine close by.

Mezar didn’t know they were able
to do that, but he was anxious about the possibility of finding Christine.
Mezar’s men and Leandra were still a few days behind, and Darius would be
farther behind than that. With forces building up on the border, he must act
fast to stop his father.

The prince of Gildan struggled
with thoughts about the general. He had always been a tough man to please, a
man used to giving orders rather than following others. Until recent days, he
never showed any signs whatsoever of deceit to the empire. Once Mezar’s
grandfather passed away, his father was already chosen to rule. Why wouldn’t he
just wait? Something didn’t make sense.

Hoping he wouldn’t have to
directly confront his father, Mezar mounted Star, and they headed out into the
city. It was nearing dusk, and although people were still about, the crowds
were, for the most part, heading to their warm homes. With the last rays of sun
disappearing, Mezar was struck once again by the beauty of his city, especially
the multi-colored domes reflecting off of the setting sun. Looking up on a
nearby hill, he caught a glimpse of a large building, an estate of a formidable
Gildanian noble.

Over there.
The thought
came charging from Star, who seemed to know where Mezar was looking.
She is
there!

* * *

Richard sat in council with the
other members. His mind was wandering during the ongoing boring rhetoric from
some of the younger councilors. A rear door to the room opened, breaking the
silence, and one of the aides approached the senior councilor. He leaned down
to whisper in Richard’s ear.

“Sir, a rider from Sur has just
stumbled in. News from the King.”

Richard’s boredom vanished. He
jumped up, dismissed himself, and left the room. “Have him meet me in my
study.”

The young rider’s hair was
disheveled, mud splattered his clothes, and his face was gaunt and tired. The
councilor told him to sit and handed him a drink. Parched, the man drank in
eager gulps before saying anything.

Finally, the young man related to
Richard the news from Sur, the battle with Arc, the Preacher in Mar, and the
abduction of the queen.

Richard sat back in exhaustion.
Worried for weeks with no news from his son’s party since the queen had ridden
back through Anikari on their way to Sur, he was relieved to at least know
something. He was also distraught about news from Mar and the sudden appearance
of the Preacher there.

“General Cray asked to send two
battalions of men toward the border with Gildan immediately,” the messenger
continued. “As soon as the snow melts, the King, the general, and the rest of
their men are heading south to Denir – to the border with Gildan. The King
means to find his wife.”

Richard knew what Christine meant
to his son. Though he didn’t understand the attraction at first. His son and
him had not seen eye to eye on many things, but he had learned to accept and
respect the young queen, and he had pledged his support and loyalty to his son.
He admitted that she held up quite well, she was good for his son, and he had
actually begun to grow fond of her. The Realm should be a safer place so that
they didn’t have to worry about their queen being abducted. The failure was on
all of them. The task to find her again would be everyone’s top priority.

The senior councilor stood. “You
get some rest, soldier. The ride you made may well save our kingdom. I will
find the battalion leaders myself.” He hoped his son wouldn’t let his anger get
in the way of things. The power he held, still new to all of them, had a way of
getting him in trouble.

On the way to the battalion
leaders, he stopped back in the council room and shared the news with the rest
of the men and women.
Jarad San Newlyn, the religious
councilor, offered to pray for the King and their queen. Richard, although not
overly religious, consented for the time to be taken to do so before they
dismissed. He knew that Darius would think it was important. And maybe it was.
The additional peace and clarity he felt after the prayer did much to bolster
his spirits.

* * *

Darius rode beside General Cray
and High Wizard Sallir. Troops from Sur, Anikari, and a small presence of Arc
soldiers rode behind. Danijela had stayed in sur in preparation to returning
back to be with her father in Arc. The prior day, Darius’s group met up with
the two battalions that his father had sent south to Denir as he had
instructed. Given the size of the troops and the wagons to support them, they
were still days away from reaching the border of Gildan.

Darius itched to ride forward on
his own. Thunder could make the journey in much less time, but this once, he
held to the advice of others. He was the King of the Realm, and duty held him
to stay with his troops in this situation. He did bristle with impatience as he
slowed down for their sakes. All he could think of was getting to Christine.

The communication from Mezar
informing him of the whereabouts of his wife had been both a blessing and a
curse to his impatience. Lightning, who traveled with Darius, communicated to
him, the same as to Mezar and Star, the intense feelings she felt from
Christine for a brief moment earlier. He wanted to barrel ahead, crushing
everyone between him and Gildan to reach her, but he also knew that he trusted
Mezar. The prince would do as well as Darius could in getting her out safely,
even more so, being from Gildan and being able to blend in. Darius as King
entering into Gildan unannounced could provoke war.

“My Lord” Roland came up beside
his master. “Riders coming up the road toward us.”         

Darius watched Roland’s pointing
fingers and called a halt to the troops. He’d sent riders up ahead to ascertain
the situation on the border.

Three riders skidded to a stop in
front of him. All three were handed a waterskin to drink their fill before
talking.

“Sire,” one of the men began,
“there are signs of large battalions of troops gathering a short distance south
of the border. The governor of Denir has begun gathering in the farmers and
others who live outside of the city.”

Denir, being on the border with a
foreign kingdom, always maintained a high amount of food stores and extra livestock
inside the city for such possibilities as this. It was a double-walled city,
with killing fields between the two walls, fifty feet of empty space in which
archers from the walls could kill anyone in between. A siege on Denir would be
a long one.

One of the other men took over
speaking. “However, my Lord, even though we did not see it with our own eyes,
it is rumored there are wizards with them.”

Darius frowned at that. Wizards
might negate much of the strength of the walls. “Of course, we also have wizards
with us,” he said to firm up the men’s hopes, though inside he wondered how
much two of them could do against those fully trained in Gildan. The High
Wizard was a formidable foe for sure, but Darius was still learning the
possibilities of his powers. Being a wizard of the heart, he was not as
equipped for battle as other types of wizards, but he was sure that if need be,
he could provide some solid resistance to the Gildanian army.

After a short rest, he motioned
for the army to begin marching again. Darius was deep in thought as he rode.
They would need to reach Denir before the Gildanian army attacked. They must
contain the foreign army on their side of the border.

The King thought back to his
first assignment as commander of the King’s Elite Army. It, too, had been in
Denir. They had marched from their training grounds in the Superstition
Mountains. Through a lucky plan and opponents that were overly confident with
themselves, Darius had been able to capture a group of Gildanians with their
commander, Mezar. At the time, he hadn’t been aware that Mezar was second in
line to the throne of the Empire of Gildan. Of course, he also hadn’t known he
was in line to be King of the Realm either.

He discussed the situation of the
upcoming battle with Cray and Olan. Was there something they could do besides
an outright battle? The Realm had already lost many fine soldiers fighting the
army from Arc up in the pass. An open battle with Gildan would put many more
lives at risk and would put a strain on the relationship between Mezar and
himself. He knew that Mezar had a duty to his empire and to help the Emperor
reestablish peace there, but it would be difficult with Mezar’s father, the
general, building up an army to invade the Realm.

The High Wizard, being a wizard
of the mind and having had more history of studying wars and battles, told
Darius he would think on it. After that, they rode in silence with only the
sounds of the horses’ hooves, soldiers’ feet sloshing in mud, and the supply
wagons’ wheels creaking along the long road.

Darius’s thoughts of course went
to his wife.