by R Cavanaugh
She began to fight with every move she knew and every ounce of skill she had, and it seemed to be working. They moved away from the other two and were now in the center of the room.
He hit her hard, but she continued to fight and got his arm with her sword.
“I don’t care how powerful they come,” Rose said as their swords clashed and her body twisted and turned. “They, like all their predecessors that felt that they owned it all, they—will—fall!”
She said these last three words with blows from her sword that were powerful and that shook even his strong arms.
Then, with a tremendous effort, she knocked his sword from his hands, kicking him to the ground.
“Nope,” she hissed and kicked his sword out of his reach. She then used her foot to hold his hand down and pointed her sword at his chest. The tip of it rested on top of his heart. If he has one, she thought.
“Now,” she breathed, her chest heaving, oblivious to all but him, “leave my kingdom, and don’t come back.”
Her eyes were filled with electricity, and it was as if the ocean in them was connected to a live wire. Then, when she was sure her point had been made, she moved away from him, removing her foot from his hand.
She was just turning to the door when she heard someone shout.
“Noooo!”
She whirled around and had just enough time to see Igneous raise his sword to her just as another went straight through his heart.
Chapter 36
Life and Death
Heartington Castle
Igneous still stood before Rose, his arm raised, but shock intermixed with anger was upon his face. Whoever was behind him gave a great pull followed by a grunt, and the king fell to the floor. Once Rose’s overall shock subsided, she stopped looking at the king’s dead form and looked at the person who had killed him.
“James!”
Rose ran into his arms and kissed him repeatedly. He placed an arm around her and was still holding the sword in his hand.
“You complete ass, James Tungston!” she said, pulling away from him and pushing him away for a moment. “What took you so long!”
“Well, how do you like that?” He grinned, looking at Valor and then continuing, “See, this is what I get; I just complete the ultimate sacrifice, and I get that.”
“Take what you can get,” Valor said, snorting, “Where’s Nightsky?”
“Um,” Rose said, looking around, “she’s over there with Nightmare and Vengeance; looks as though they are coming this way.”
James, Rose, and Valor all waited for the other three to join them.
“What’s wrong?” Rose said, noting the less-than-pleased look on Vengeance’s face. Rose couldn’t help but feel somewhat satisfied by her disgust.
“Jonathan and Constance bolted after they saw you topple Igneous,” Nightmare said as he limped forward.
“Cowards,” Nightsky snorted, shaking her mane and shuffling her wings.
“Yes, it is rather depressing,” Vengeance groaned and examined a wound on her leg.
“Well,” Rose said, placing one hand on her hip, “we will just have to deal with them when they decide to make problems with us.”
“We’ll see,” Vengeance whispered and looked at Nightmare in a mysterious way.
“You are so cute, Rose,” James laughed.
“Really?” Rose said, giving him a shy look and slapping him in the arm.
“Ouch!” he said, grinning and continuing to laugh.
“Come, Rose,” Nightsky said and knelt down so Rose could get on. “We need to show the world that the war is over and a new regime has begun.”
“Can James ride with me?”
“Yes.”
Carefully, Rose and James sat on Nightsky’s back, and with a flash of brilliant light, Rose and he were clad in her family’s armor. The room began to change. Banners fluttered as if a wind had caught them. Their reds were replaced with every variation of green. The ceiling turned from a painted black dome to an all-glass one to show a sky filled with a new dawn. The pillars were covered with vines that were flowering as she sat there.
“Ready?” Nightsky asked as she stood up, swishing her tail.
“Ready,” they replied.
Rose felt a jolt just above her navel as Nightsky took off. She flew down the hallway and into the entrance hall. As she flew, the changes that took place in the throne room followed them, and life began to spring back into the castle.
The pillars turned into while marble, and the banisters were a rich and polished rosewood. Windows were thrown open. Pots and vases, filled with every kind of rose imaginable and of every color, filled every room.
Gone were the terrible decorations depicting torture and pain; life replaced them. Paintings that once depicted the horrible king now depicted the planet’s heritage, Rose’s family crest, and paintings of her ancestors.
Nightsky flew out into the courtyard, and Rose watched as the last of the fighting stopped and as most of the soldiers began to surrender or pledge allegiance to the new order. They all watched in awe as the new ruler of Aquamarine flew overhead. Sun now filled the land, coming up from the east and warming the tired souls below. The brilliant rays were sending any remaining creatures of darkness into the Mountains of Treachery and beyond.
“This is so amazing!” James whispered into her ear as they continued to fly over the city and over its gates. They watched as the tired fields of brown turned greener than Rose could have imagined.
“Turning about,” Nightsky warned, and she turned to go back over the city walls. She was now flying toward the castle, which was now flying flags with the Heartington crest in colors of blue, purple, and green.
She flew over the castle and circled around a terrible-looking garden before slowly descending into it. The terrible garden they lay in looked as though death himself might have been planted there.
“Eh,” James said, making a disgusted face as he looked around and then reached up to lower Rose to the ground.
But the minute her foot touched the ground, the derelict earth beneath their feet began to shake. There was a deep rumble, and it seemed to be coming from beneath them.
“What’s happening!” Rose cried over the noise.
“The world is righting itself!” Nightsky cried out to them.
Rose turned and suddenly saw a rock that looked strangely similar. It looked just as the one she had seen in the room belowground. The one in the room of roses.
“Over here!” she called and pulled James with her as the ground smelled of fresh earth and parts began to turn green.
“Why here!?” he asked over the rumble.
“Because,” she said even more loudly, “this is the only piece of ground that isn’t moving; look.”
He and Nightsky looked down, and they all watched as every rose bush she had seen bloom below began rising from the earth. They were as bubbles that came to the surface of a boiling lake, as though the earth itself was the water.
“Amazing,” Rose whispered in awe.
Then, as suddenly as the earth had begun to move, it once more returned to its solid state. And as the sun came over the ridge, it was like they were sitting in a bejeweled crown. The area simply sparkled in the prism of gems.
“Rose!” James exclaimed in excitement as he walked hurriedly over to the first bush he saw, “Rose! These are the bushes from the story!”
“Yah,” Rose said, joining him by the bush that was blooming roses of pure diamond. “I guess I was wrong about you.”
“Say what!” he said, looking at her in a hurt way.
“You can’t tell a good story to save your life,” she said, smiling.
“Oh that’s it,” he smiled, grabbing her waist and kissing her.
“Now, what were you saying?” he asked as they stopped for a mom
ent.
“I think I meant you were off to a good start.” She smiled. She then wrapped her arms around his neck while craning her own to kiss him again.
“Your Highness.”
It was Don and Aphra, and they were running toward them.
“Don! Aphra!” Rose cried and ran to hug them both. She even hugged Courage and Siren. “I’m so glad to see you are both all right.”
“Well,” Aphra said, a wry smile on her face, “so are we, and since Dad’s gone, we wanted to ask you two for your blessing.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Rose cried out in joy, hugging them both again. “Of course you have it.”
“Good for you, brother.” James said, grinning, “Now you can stop eyeing my girl.”
“Rose.”
It was Nightsky, and she was looking in the direction of the door leading back into the castle, where there were men now standing.
“Yes?” Rose called in their direction.
“Your Highness,” one said, bowing and coming before her, “they need you in the throne room.”
“OK,” she said breathlessly.
As she walked back behind the man, she was completely amazed by the castle’s transformation. It was so much brighter, and it smelled of roses and fresh air.
Once in the throne room, a sad sight filled her eyes. Many people now lay in peaceful positions, and animals were positioned in much the same way. In the center was Topaz, with Thomas gracefully lying beside her. It was hard to see those she had known killed in a battle so brutally.
“Oh, James,” Rose said, tears filling her eyes.
One by one Rose paid her respects to those who had fallen in order for her to succeed. Some she had known well but not by name, and some she had never met. She had left James standing with Don and Aphra, beside Topaz. They stayed there until those in charge of her grave came to retrieve her.
“Don,” Aphra whispered softly, “she would have wanted it to be this way. She couldn’t have lived without Evan.”
Don nodded and placed a hand on James’s shoulder. Rose learned later that day that no one had found a body that belonged to Evan Dugrin, and Vengeance had disappeared as well. Many believed that they may have run after Jonathan and Constance, but none knew for sure. Their animals, Nightmare and Allegiance, had disappeared, it seemed, along with them.
After all the individuals were buried, a monument was erected near the river, a little ways from the city walls. It was a depiction of the battle that took place and was built in remembrance of those who had given their lives on that day. Rose even planted two of the rose bushes at its base so that people would always remember.
Each of the deceased received a special marble headstone with a gem set in it. The gem served as a reminder that they had fought and died in the Battle of Emerald Thorns on Aquamarine.
Rose requested that the planet participate in a day of mourning after the last person was buried.
Constance and Jonathan were moving quickly toward a door in the basement of Stipes’ summer home.
“I sure hope you’re right, Constance, about them taking us back,” Jonathan breathed as he wrenched open a door that had been made out of Tungsten metal and revealed a completely alternate world. “Because if they don’t, Evan and Vengeance are going to get ahold of us, and trust me: you don’t want that.”
“Why should they?” Constance said, slyly leaping in before him, “Who’s going to provide an alternate story?”
“I’m just saying, Devlon and Donevon Magus don’t like to be lied to and know when the have been”
“Well they’ll have no way of proving it, and if I were you, I’d be more worried about your wife, Citrine.” Constance hissed, getting annoyed and moving forward.
“Why did you have to bring her up?” he moaned. And shaking his head, he snapped his fingers, and a fire started in the basement. Then he entered the other world, and taking what he thought would be a final look at Aquamarine, he closed the door, allowing the home to become a ruin of its own.
Chapter 37
The New Beginning
After the day of mourning, life on the planet began to resume, and Rose’s coronation was organized. It was done on a beautiful day, with the sun shining overhead. She decided that the best way to make peace in the kingdom was to invite everyone to the coronation. The end result was a full castle, courtyard, and city. Once crowned, she knighted the original group, or all that remained of it, that came to Earth to retrieve her.
Sometime after, Liam and Rachel got married and had Rose do the honors; they are now expecting a child and hope it to be a boy, as they already have a name: Danny Draughtningr.
Vengeance and Evan were never found, but Rose suspected that they hadn’t died but rather had disappeared. Perhaps there were other worlds they didn’t know about yet.
Aphra and Don got hitched not long after Liam and Rachel did, and they happily ran a farm and started to rebuild Tungsten Manor. They decided to leave Draughtningr Manor to Liam and Rachel. Liam told his sister that he would do his best to return the home to its former glory.
Poor Pricilla passed away of a stroke shortly after the coronation. Some say it was caused by heartbreak, having lost her son. Her Cocker Spaniel, Aurora, now lives with Marina and Comis, and they work in the castle as the keepers of the library for Rose.
Rose, once she was crowned, agreed to be James’s girlfriend once more, although she was sure that he had hoped she would want to marry him. She did love him, but there were things to do, and she didn’t have time to give marriage the proper consideration. Things were looking up for the people and creatures of Aquamarine. That is, for now.
Index
Characters in A Tiara of Emerald Thorns
Rose Heartington: Daughter of Nicholas V and Diane Heartington. Keeper of the Tiara of Emerald Thorns. She is the girlfriend of James Tungston. Unicorn’s name: Nightsky. She is a black-winged unicorn.
Tungston:
Neil Tungston: Father of James, Don, and Topaz Tungston. Son of Rita and Charlie Tungston. Husband of Silvia Tungston. Wife is deceased. A white dog named Regal.
Don Tungston: Oldest child of Neil and Silvia Tungston. Brother of younger siblings, Topaz and James Tungston. Black Hippogriff named Courage.
Topaz Tungston: Middle child of Neil and Silvia Tungston. Sister to older brother, Don Tungston and younger brother, James Tungston. Golden raven named Thomas.
James Tungston: Youngest child of Neil and Silvia Tungston. Younger brother to Don and Topaz Tungston. Boyfriend of Rose Heartington. The head of training for RTET and a skilled fighter. Black horse with emerald streaks named Valor.
Draughtningr:
Devin Draughtningr: Father of Liam and Aphra Draughtningr. Husband of Elizabeth Draughtningr. Second-in-command of RTET and has a white lizard named Orpheus. Wife is deceased.
Liam Draughtningr: Son of Devin and Elizabeth Draughtningr. Older brother of Aphra Draughtningr. Head of weapons division (RTET). Gray wolf named Enigma.
Aphra Draughtningr: Daughter of Devin and Elizabeth Draughtningr. Younger sister of Liam Draughtningr. Head of the Cryptic Conspirators (RTET): they are hidden in the king’s most important areas, gathering critical information for their cause. A sapphire fox named Siren.
Griffen:
Marina Griffen: Daughter of Pricilla and Brian Griffen. Older sister to Dathen Griffen. A maid for the Draughtningrs. A crimson Cocker Spaniel named Comis.
Pricilla Griffen: Wife of Brian Griffen. Mother of Marina and Dathen Griffen. A maid for the Draughtningrs. A black and gold Cocker Spaniel named Aurora. Husband deceased.
Dathen Griffen: Son of Pricilla and Brian Griffen. Younger brother of Marina Griffen. Male servant for the Draughtningrs. A silver Cocker Spaniel named Proditor.
Dugrin:
Evan Dugrin: Son of Derik and Yvette Dugrin, older bro
ther of Vengeance Dugrin. Head of all RTET sections, including the Cryptic Conspirators and the lower level of spies called Thorns. An all-black tiger by the name of Allegiance is his only true companion.
Vengeance Dugrin: Daughter of Derik and Yvette Dugrin, younger sister of Evan Dugrin. She is head of security for all members of RTET and is the head of Thorns, the lower-level spy operation. A gray and white hippogriff by the name of Nightmare is more loyal to her than she believes any man could be.
MacNeil:
Danny MacNeil: Son of Levi and Flora MacNeil, both deceased. Older brother of Rachel MacNeil. He is a member of Thorns and was working on becoming a Cryptic Conspirator. A red snake named Tormen was the animal that chose him.
Rachel MacNeil: Daughter of Levi and Flora MacNeil, both deceased. Younger sister of Danny MacNeil. A Cryptic Conspirator under the guise of a maid for the king. A white cat named Damien is the animal that chose her.
Villains:
Igneous Stipes: Father and mother unknown. Origins unknown. Sorcerer and current king/dictator of Aquamarine. Brother of Jonathan Stipes. Controller of the army, Annihilation, and murderer of Joseph Heartington and his son, Nicholas Heartington. Animal: gray-ash horse named Infestus.
Exotius Obscurum: Leader of the army of Annihilation and murderer of many. Origins are unknown. Human: maybe. Family: none. Animal: bloodred horse with a black tail and mane named Wildfire.
Jonathan Stipes: Parents unknown. Origins unknown. Brother of the king, Igneous Stipes. Animal: white leopard with red spots named Constance.
Impassive:
Jasmine Traymeda: Origins unknown. Family unknown. Age: Old. Animal: Calico in color, a white, gold, and black, cat named Indifferens.
Creatures
Puggles: animals with long, thin faces that have no mouth, only a small hole that sucks on any blood-bearing creature. No bigger than five centimeters and has a small, thin body that makes it slither like a snake. Can be spiked if it is angry or preparing to mate.