The Path Of Peace (The Cremelino Prophecy Book 3) (9 page)

“That is why we are here,
young wizard. We foresaw this need.”

“Why do I sense that you
always know more about things than you let on?”

The horse made a sound like a
snicker. “
Maybe we do, but most of the time we need you to make your own
decisions. Destiny and prophecy work better that way.”

Darius decided to send a message
along the Cremelinos line as well as send a rider, just to make sure there were
not any misunderstandings.

The King, his captain, and Jakob
spent the rest of the day preparing for the travels to the Twin Cities. It was
decided that Jakob would stay in the village with the Cremelinos and Darius and
Roland would travel north with the young boy thief and a few other hired guards
from the city. It would be a two-day ride there. Once they left the main road,
the path to the Twin Cities was steeper and more difficult. Jakob, the horses,
and two other newly hired guards would meet Darius and Roland in six days’ time
at another village just west of the western road to the Twin Cities. At that
point, they would still be a full day’s ride away from Sur.

The next morning, after making
sure that Aral Flint had his directions and orders clear to gather food and
bring it to the mountain towns, the group made final preparations to leave.

Wizard.
The Cremelino came
up to Darius one final time before they left.
I communicated your message
for Christine to Lightning. The answer back was strange. It seems that
Lightning has had a more difficult time communicating to the queen of late.
They were finally able to get the understanding of the message when they
touched, but it almost felt as if there was something blocking it.

Darius grew concerned for his
wife and thought about what he should do. “
It must be the distance, or maybe
the queen is just tired. She wasn’t feeling well when I left her. That is why I
also sent a messenger to Sur, to make sure that the message arrived.”

Darius relayed the concern to
Roland.

“It could also be that you are
all new at communicating this way,” Roland said pragmatically.

Darius agreed, and though he was
still worried and anxious to see Christine again, he decided he had to move
forward and be comforted with the thought he would see her soon enough, and
they would figure it out together.

* * *

Christine rode through the upper
section of Sur with guards on either side of her. The early morning autumn air
smelled crisp, the sun already warming the cold ground above freezing. Three
days ago she had received the message from Darius that he would be delayed. She
had informed the city mayor and sent missives to the Kingdom of Arc
dignitaries.

Not feeling well, she decided to
get out in the fresh air for an early morning ride on Lightning. She kept the
pace steady so as not to upset her stomach further. She and Lightning seemed
able to still communicate with each other when they physically touched, but as
she moved further away, it became more difficult. Lightning expressed her
concern, but Christine wrote it off as being part of whatever was making her
sick.

She loved this part of town. It
was close to the mountains, and most of the buildings were made from wood. The
pine had been smoothed and painted with a host of soft colors. Most of the
homes and businesses were three levels, a shop on the first level and living
quarters above. Yellows, greens, and blues in light shades made this section of
town more cheery. Christine watched as people came in and out of the
darker-colored doors.

Christine thought of Darius. Her
heart ached to see him again. The first few months of being King had been busy
for him. Their wedding was grand, although a little rushed. She smiled at the
memory of the grand ballroom decorated in silks and flowers. Dignitaries from
all over the Realm had attended. She loved Darius fiercely, but it was a little
difficult to get used to being the queen. Their private time together dwindled
as matters of state took precedence. This tour of the Realm allowed them more
time to be together. Just riding side by side together, Christine relished in
Darius’s strength of love for her. She knew that part of it was amplified by
his power, but she always basked in the feeling.

The buildings thinned around her,
and they passed through a narrow gate outside the city. Fields opened up in
front of her, and she picked up the pace, her sickness forgotten for a moment.
Christine breathed in, letting the cool air fill her lungs. She smiled at the
sight of the browning grasses scattered around the farms north of the city.
Brief tears came to her eyes as memories of the farmlands where she had grown
up flooded through her. Being in a city like Anikari, Belor, or Sur was always
astonishing to her since she had been raised in the farmlands. So many people
bustling around, so many sounds and smells confronting her senses. Tears slowly
slipped from her eyes.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?”
Tad, one of the guards, asked.

“Yes, I am fine. Just remembering
the farmlands around my home. I miss them sometimes. Have you ever ridden out
into the farms?” she asked.

Tad shook his head. Up until
Darius had become King, a huge rift sat between the city and the farmers,
unaffectionately called “outsiders” by those in the city. The term had
originally been given to some minor wizards who were exiled outside of the
city, but over time had been used to refer to anyone that lived in the lands
surrounding Anikari. The farmers were looked upon as little more than slaves
and definitely inferior to those in the city. Darius befriending Christine
years earlier and his announcement of intent to marry her had caused quite a
ruckus around the nobles. However, the new King’s compassion for all and his fairness
already had an impact on the relations of all people in the Realm.

“I guess you wouldn’t have
ventured outside the city much, given the circumstances,” Christine responded
to the guard’s nod. “I love the smell of the fields and trees.”

“Danger!”
The warning from
her Cremelino horse came in a sudden blast that almost threw Christine from the
horse.

Behind them rode a hasty and
quick-moving group of men, kicking up a spray of dirt on the small road. The
two guards with Christine turned their horses around and stood their ground in
front of their queen.

“They look to be from Arc,” Tad
said.

“Dressing in black is their
signature color. I wonder what the trouble is?” the other guard said.

Something felt wrong. Christine
looked around for help, but only her guards were visible between the
approaching men.

The strangers moved on their
horses with a steady yet fast rhythm and soon were within earshot of Christine
and her guards. Tad held up his hands to halt them. One of the men on horseback
drew a bow and shot an arrow into Tad’s chest. He died in an instant, falling
off the horse and onto the ground.

Christine screamed and turned
Lightning around, not seeing what would become of her other guard. One of the
men yelled at her to stop. What was happening?

She leaned lower on Lightning
and, with spurts of thought, sent the horse faster than it had ever gone
before. Trees blurred around her, their fall leaves forming a stream of color
as she picked up speed. A few arrows narrowly missed her at first. Now they came
less as she heard the pursuers fade back. No normal horse could keep up with
the speed of her Cremelino.

Where to?
Lightning asked.

“I don’t know this area. Just
keep riding until we outdistance them, then we can find a place to hide and
circle back into the city later.”
Christine looked around frantically for a
way out of the dangerous situation.

I will reach out to my
brothers and sisters. Darius needs to know what is happening.

Without any warning, three other
riders appeared in front of them, all dressed in black. She now saw the gold
insignia on their left breast. It was the sign of the Kingdom of Arc. She
yelled, and Lightning swerved around the men. With the abrupt movement,
Christine lost her balance and fell from the horse. Lightning turned, but not
before the three riders surrounded the queen. She noticed now that they wore a
thin black mesh material across their face so she could not see their features.
The lead marauder jumped from his horse.

Lightning once again tried to
reach Christine. She rammed herself into one of the other horses. A man lifted
a sword and swung it toward the Cremelino. Being faster was the only thing that
helped Lightning. The arc of the sword missed her back by inches.

“Run away!”
Christine
shouted. The link that was always there with her horse seemed to be fractured
again. It was so frustrating. She concentrated harder. Lightning was frantic to
reach her. With one last lunge, she jumped past the men and came up to
Christine, who was now on the ground guarded by one of the men in black.
Christine reached her hand and for a brief instant touched her Cremelino’s leg.
The connection was established again, bright and warm. The familiar feeling
flooded through her mind. “
Run for help. Tell the guards. Tell Darius it is
Arc. Tell him I love him. Go now!”

A guard swung his sword again at
Lightning, slicing a line down her left side. Pain erupted through the link as
the horse pulled away from Christine. With a speed unmatched, the Cremelino
jumped between two horses, catching another sword strike by her tail, then
faded into the distant fields.

The guard forced Christine to sit
up. Dizziness set in, and her stomach cramped. Crying out, she heaved and gave
up her breakfast onto the feet of her kidnapper.

The man grunted in disgust, and
brought a hand up to slap her, but one of the other man shouted a word to stop
the action. His hand froze in mid-air.

Christine, not having much
history in languages, did recognize that word, and it was not from the Kingdom
of Arc. It was from Gildan. She tried to reach out to find Lightning’s bond
once again to warn her it was the Gildanians disguised as Arcs, but the link
was gone. Why would the Gildanians kidnap her?

The link that had been in the
back of her mind since Darius had given her the Cremelino was gone. It was
silent. Her constant companion was gone; her mind was empty of Lightning’s
thoughts. Christine had been frustrated, angry, and even afraid before in her
life, but never had she felt terror and dread like this. A part of her was missing.

Another bout of nausea brought
her back down to the ground. She heaved, but nothing came out. Dizziness
overwhelmed her. Blackness crept in from the corner of her vision.

“Oh, Darius. Help me,” she cried
out, and then the darkness took her, and she fell in a slump on the ground.

TIME FOR SPEED

M
ezar Alrishitar hated feeling this way.
Despite his royalty and power, he found himself hiding in a second rate inn in
Salish, a small merchant town. Being at the southern door to the Realm and to
the Kingdom of Arc, the mid-size town was a rough city consisting of merchants,
guards, and those looking to find a deal. Fights often erupted in the poorer
quarters, in which Mezar now found himself living. He took a deep breath to
steady his nerves again.

It had been over a week since
leaving Gildan. He knew his father was still looking for him. Unlike his normal
fashion, Mezar let his hair hang down to blend in with the locals. With his
change of clothes, he looked more like a hired guard. He stayed at the inn,
feigning a few days of vacation after guarding a merchant train around the
Realm. The innkeeper didn’t care for his story as long as he paid his bill.

Lowell had arrived the day
before. He’d received the message in Gildan as Mezar had planned but could not
get away unnoticed until the immediate urgency of the search had died down.

He used Lowell as his eyes and
ears to catch any talk in Salish regarding the renegade prince of Gildan.
Nothing was heard. Through his cousin, he began gathering in a few other
trusted friends and acquaintances. These men now settled into the private
dining room they had hired for the evening. The innkeeper thought them a group
of old guard friends living things up for the evening. A few serving girls
brought some steaming bread and broiled meat into the warm room. Mezar had to
be careful he didn’t flash around too much money or people would get
suspicious.

“It is true, Mezar,” Gregor, a
wizard friend of the prince, started, “that your grandfather seems to be
getting more sick. Healers and wizards attend him, but they are only those
chosen by the general himself.”

“Why is he doing this?” Mezar’s
frustration rose. His father had ambitions to rule, and he and the Emperor did
not agree on many things, but Mezar would have never guessed he would go to
this extent to become Emperor. The current Emperor was very old and did not
have many years as it was.

“I also saw something, my
Prince,” Allon, a guard on the palace grounds and one who knew Lowell more than
Mezar, said. “I was returning from, uh . . .” He stumbled a bit and blushed. “A
meeting with a friend.” Smiles grew around the room. Allon was known for the
multiple ladies he juggled so well.

“And as I was saying,” he began
again. “I was returning to my room in the castle a few days ago when I heard
the sound of horses and men in the stables. I thought it strange at that time
of night, so I went to investigate. A group of men stood close together. Your
father stood in the midst of them. He carried a large bag, and he pulled out
black cloaks and clothes to give to each man. He told them to keep them hidden
until they were ready.”

Allon took a drink. “After the
general left, the men climbed on their horses and went out the back gates. As
they left, I overheard one man remark that he learned from someone else that
the new King of the Realm was a wizard and how were they supposed to take the
queen with him around. There was an answer, but I couldn’t understand it.”

At this, Mezar stood. “And when
was this?”

“Almost a week ago.”

“That means they are probably
already in the Realm, probably too far ahead to catch up to.”

“We can’t just ride into the
Realm. They are looking for you, Mezar,” Lowell added.

“You are right. We are going to
all join a merchant train as hired guards.”

Of the five men around the table,
some looked excited, and some looked surprised.

“A hired guard?” one of the men
of noble birth asked.

“Think of it as going undercover,
William. Just like when we used to sneak around the castle at night when we
were little boys. Now we will be sneaking around another kingdom, trying to
protect its queen.”

William smiled. “Ah. Now you’re
talking some fun. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

Mezar sent Lowell and Allon out
to get them hired on a wagon train leaving in the morning. Darius was touring
the Realm and expected to come to Gildan in a few weeks, but Mezar didn’t know
where he or his wife were at the moment. The merchant wagons would be slower
but would keep the Gildanian men hidden. He needed to find Christine and Darius
and warn them, if it wasn’t already too late.

Once again, he would be traveling
the Realm in disguise. That had been the plan the previous year, for his
division of men to form a diversion so that Mezar could sneak around the Realm
for a while and return information back to his father and grandfather. His
plans were thwarted when Darius had captured him in Denir. For the following
months, he saw the Realm in a very different light. He had made friends and had
even sworn to support Darius for the rest of his life.

Thoughts of Leandra came unbidden
to his mind as he thought about the Realm. She had been caught up in Sean San
Ghant’s kidnapping of Darius, but she and Mezar had found a friendship along
the way. He fingered a ring on his right hand that glowed with a soft power.
Linking to it was a similar stone on a necklace he had given Leandra before he
left the Realm earlier in the summer. His features softened thinking of her. He
would like to visit her again while he was in their neighboring kingdom.

First things first, however. Duty
always seemed to call. The balance of power between the Realm and the Empire of
Gildan hung on a fragile thread at the moment. Mezar had to find Darius without
any more delays.

* * *

Darius sat at a small banquet
table in the easternmost twin city. The Twin Cities were more like large
villages bordering the edge of civilization up against the Mountains of Gold.
The two appointed mayors insisted on honoring the King. Local mine leaders and
other high-ranking townspeople attended the event. Roland, embarrassed at the
attention, sat next to Darius as an honored guest also. They had taken a tour
of the mines and visited people in both cities over the last two days. Tomorrow
they would depart back down the mountain to meet up with Jakob and continue on
to Sur.

The cool air pressed down the
mountain slopes, but the room sat filled to capacity with people and food, all
vying for the King’s attention. Darius was tired of sitting and took a sip of
wine to settle himself down. A walk in the night air would have done him good,
but he realized he should never be alone in this faraway city that hadn’t had a
King visit them for a long time. A few tall dark-skinned men with long braided
hair stood mingling in the crowd.

Darius leaned over to one of his
hosts. “Who are they?”

One of the mayors smiled. “Bet
you don’t see them in the capital, do you?” He laughed, and food ran down into
his beard. “Those are men from down south—further than Gildan and the southern
kingdoms. They say their people live in the mountain divide there – the small
kingdom of Mahli.”

Darius opened his eyes wide and
sat up to inspect the men once again. “I had no idea people lived there.” The
young King didn’t hide his ignorance.

“Not a lot of people from what
they say,” the mayor continued, “but enough. They are a superstitious lot,
talking about the power of dragons and waiting for their prophesied leader to
return.”

“Their leader?”

“It is taught in legend that a
mighty Dragon King will one day arise, bring their people back into
civilization and glory, and unite all of the southern Kingdoms. In the
meantime, they send out scouts into each kingdom to look for signs of his
coming. They are a very strong people and offered to help us move our mine
machinery around. They don’t seem to mind the darkness in the mines either.
They are a happy lot, work well, and treat us politely. We pay them well for
what they do, and in the end they tend to stay mostly to themselves.”

“Strange. I will have to ask more
about them when I am in Gildan,” Darius said, realizing he wasn’t going to get
any more answers about them tonight. “All I know from history books is the last
dragon was seen over 150 years ago.”

The evening continued until
everyone had eaten their fill. Darius stood up to speak. He recognized the
parents of the young boy they had brought back with them, standing in the back.
He had met them the day before. The boy’s father would not be able to work the
mines much longer. The mines, the King found out, were hard work on people, the
pay and treatment of them not very compassionate. He could change that. He felt
their difficulties in his heart, and an idea suddenly came to him.

“I am honored to be here,” Darius
began, projecting his voice with his power so all could hear. Others stood
outside the room, curious as to what a King would say. “Your cities have been
hospitable and welcoming.”

The townspeople smiled and
glanced around at each other.

“I know you have your struggles
here, especially after a dry spring and summer this year; food has been hard to
get. I have given a King’s charge to the villages along the main road to
provide you with food until you can grow your own again.”

The crowd cheered, and tears came
to the eyes of some of the women.

“There is a condition, however,
that no more stealing occurs. If you have a problem, you can send a message to
me or my councilors in Anikari.”

The people nodded.

Darius continued, “I have noticed
some sickness here since some of the men and women work too long in the mines
without proper pay.” He noticed some of the local merchants who ran the mines
paying close attention. “I know this is hard work and profits need to be made,
but I now make a decree.
No work in the mines will occur on the seventh day
of the week.
This will give time for the workers to rest and regain their
strength. There will also be proper clothing provided to them.”

“My Lord” a man shouted from the
back. “We do have to make a profit for the owners of the mines. These actions
will make things difficult.”

“Sir. Who do you think owns these
mines?” Darius asked.

“Well. Uh . . . I am not sure I
know,” the man stumbled. He was a manager in the mines, given a task to keep
the workers working, but he didn’t know who he worked for.

“The mines belong to me,” Darius
stated pointedly. He was now glad his father had made him go to some of the
trade meetings with him over the last few years. At the time, he hated his
father’s assumption that he would follow in his footsteps. Darius had not cared
for having the life of a noble. However, once he learned that fate made him the
next King he accepted the responsibility. His duty was heavy at times, but he
was determined to make a difference and change some things around the Realm.

“By belonging to me—I mean, the
King of the Realm is the owner of these mines. So, as owner of this mine and as
of this day, I declare ten percent of the value of what is mined will be
returned to your communities to upgrade your housing, get needed medical
attention, and purchase food and other materials when needed.”

The crowd responded with a
resounding cheer.

Roland leaned in close to Darius.
“Someone will find a way to take advantage of this situation.”

“I know. There will always be
someone to try and take advantage, but I need to help these people. They are my
people. They are desperate and poor. The ten percent coming back to them will
hopefully motivate them to work harder and smarter. Even with one day a week
off, I expect production to increase.”

Roland’s eyes widened. “But how
do you figure out these things so rapidly, Sire?”

Darius turned quiet for a moment
before he whispered back to Roland. “It’s the blessing of having the power,
Roland. As a wizard of the heart, the power rules my emotions and feelings.
When I care for my people, thoughts and feelings come quickly to my mind of
what I must do to help them. My power provides answers of what I should do.”

“That’s a lot of pressure, my
King.”

“Yes, it is.” Darius smiled.
“Yes, it is.” Being a new King was a lot of pressure. He never quite knew as he
jumped to conclusions and answers if they were the right thing to do or not. He
supposed he would make mistakes, but if the power would guide him most of the
time, he thought he would be fine.

A crowd of dignitaries gathered
around the King, thanking him for his attention to their small communities.
They bowed in renewed allegiance to him and to the might and glory of the
Realm. The festivities lasted well into the night.

In the cool mountain air early
the next morning, Darius and Roland, along with the other guards whom
accompanied them, prepared to return down to the main road. The two mayors
stood by to greet them as they left, once again signifying their appreciation.
Darius hoped he had done some good here. He was anxious to get back to
Christine, to bathe in her warm smile, and to hold her in his arms once again.
They had been separated far too long.

The beginning of the small road
had been well-maintained, and they made good time starting down the mountain. A
low cloud hung over the Mountains of Gold, signifying that winter would shortly
come to the mountains.

At a curve in the road, Darius
yelled in pain, grabbed his head, and slid sideways off his horse. Roland and
the other guards jumped off of theirs and ran over to their King.

“My Lord!” Roland shouted.

“Christine,” the King moaned.
“Lightning!”

“What is wrong, Sire?” Roland
looked terrified.

“Something is terribly wrong.”
Darius, still pale, sat back up. “I heard a faraway scream in my mind from
Lightning. It penetrated my mind so deep and hard I almost blacked out. It was
pure terror. Christine is in trouble!”