The Power of The Ruby Ring

by Allison Brown

  The Power of The Ruby Ring

  by

  Allison Brown

  For Jeanette—the one who taught me who I am.

  Contents

  Contents

  The Legend …

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  About The Author

  The Legend …

  The Legend of the Ruby Ring has been told for generations, handed down from father to son until none now knows if it truly happened or if it is a myth.

  Long ago wickedness and evil held this land in its iron grasp. There was no king and no law. Chaos and terror ruled. Blood and horror filled the land.

  Then one day Goodness visited the land. She brought with her a gift—a magical ruby ring that would bless the land if they could learn to use it. The man who proved himself worthy to bear the ring would become the rightful king.

  Men flocked to the throne to take the ring, but none succeeded, for the very touch of the ring burned the unworthy beyond endurance.

  Then one crisp autumn night a stranger named Rulonn Marselon appeared. He had auburn hair and emerald eyes, and his entire countenance glimmered with a purity unknown in the land. He was led to the throne where he took the ring and placed it upon his noble finger. Having proved himself worthy, he took up the throne. He established laws and restored order to the kingdom, the Great Kingdom of Rulonn. He ruled in honesty and truth, and as he brought Goodness back into the land, he unlocked the power of the ruby ring. Strength, protection, and healing emanated from it, blessing the land and its inhabitants. The people lived in happiness and peace for hundreds of years under the Marselon’s rule and the protection of the ruby ring.

  But as with many good things, this idyllic time did not last. Like a thief in the night, an evil shadow entered the land, robbed its virtue, and turned the people back to their malevolent ways. The shadow grew, dragging more people into its depths, until wickedness enveloped the kingdom, and innocence and purity were trampled in the dust.

  The power of the ruby ring weakened, and the Marselon line faltered. War broke out and evil conquered. The Marselon line and the ruby ring vanished, led away by the Goodness that brought them to the land. The Great Kingdom fell into division and has never again seen true peace.

  But hope is not all lost, for one day Goodness will return, unite the kingdom, and rule the land with her emerald eyes and ruby ring.

  Chapter 1

  Papa!” Danni cried. She reached for him as he fell to his knees upon the steps of the Central Palace.

  A great breath spilled from his lips and his body pitched forward, then he collapsed on the gold-lined stairs.

  Papa.” She knelt beside him and her hood slipped down to her shoulders, no longer hiding her auburn locks.

  Weeks before, she had seen him falter, and knew his health was failing, but she had refused to admit it. Surely he would remain beside her forever, stalwart and strong as in her childhood. He must have known, too, for he had told her the time had come for them to leave the glorious valley their progenitors had been led to centuries ago when evil chased them from the throne.

  Their family line had lived in the valley, unknown to the divided kingdoms, with illness their only enemy. In the end it had been only her and her father.

  “You mustn’t remain here alone,” he had said. “It is time to join the kingdoms.” So, in his weakness, he had packed their meager belongings and taken her to the Central Palace in Callair to find King Johnathan, hoping to find him honorable as rumor described.

  “Papa. Are you all right?” Danni touched his cheek, afraid for the pallor of his skin that nearly matched his gray, thinning hair. He had to be all right. He had always helped her, loved her, and even pampered her. He had to be well, for there was no one else to care for her.

  His breath rattled in his compressed chest. With a great heave, Danni rolled him onto his back to relieve the pressure on his lungs.

  “My darling Dannilynn...” he panted. “I fear I must leave you…”

  “You mustn’t!” She took his hand and leaned into him, desperate to keep him near. She couldn’t live without him. Though nearly sixteen years old, she needed him. He was her strength and protection. She could not survive without him.

  He coughed. “It is time, Danni. You must show the people that we are not lost.”

  “Papa, I cannot. I am afraid. Do not leave me!”

  His eyes closed and took a long time opening again. He pulled his hand from her grasp, and with it removed a ring from his finger. It glittered blood red even in the half-light of a cloudy sky. “You must discover who you are my Dannilynn A’Donna Marselon.”

  He slipped the ring onto her finger.

  She stared at the ring. A single raindrop fell from the heavens and landed on her hand beside it. She shivered. The ring had been in her family line since long before her birth. It was legendary, magical, and proved their right to the throne. She did not want it or its responsibilities, but yearned to remain a coddled youth.

  His lips moved and she leaned closer to hear his final words.

  “You are stronger than you know.”

  His chest rose and fell one last time, then remained still. She held her breath and willed his chest to rise again, but it did not.

  “Papa! Papa!” She shook him. His green eyes glazed over and his body fell limp. She turned to call for help and beheld a crowd already gathered around them on the stairs. “Help! Please. My father!”

  No one moved to help her, even when soft rain descended from the leaden sky.

  “Please!” She searched the crowd, her vision closing in, and found all eyes riveted on the ruby ring gleaming on her finger.

  She bore the ring. Her father was gone. She remained alone—the last in the Marselon line, fated to bear the knowledge of her family and the mythical ring.

  “Oh, Papa!” She fell forward onto his lifeless chest, buried her head in the folds of his tunic, and sobbed.

  ∞∞∞

  “Your Majesty!”

  Hurried footsteps echoed through the lounge where James sat with his father, the king, discussing the most recent attacks on villages in their kingdom.

  He blew a strand of chin-length brown hair away from his face and glanced toward the arched doorway. “What do you suppose—?” His question faded when a guard raced through the door.

  “Your Majesty!” The guard bowed to James’s father, his breath heavy and quick.

  “What has happened?” The king left his cushioned seat. His sturdy frame showed no sign of his advanced age.

  “A man has died on the palace steps.”

  James stood as well. He feared Lord Donavan, the ruler of Tonam—the other half of the divided kingdom—had struck again. An incident two months earlier came with vivid clarity to his mind. A man had staggered up their steps, his hand on his bloody side, with word that Lord Donavan�
��s men had attacked their village, burned their homes, and ravaged their women. Few had survived. The man had enough breath to tell the dreadful tale, then he had died on the steps.

  “Was he attacked?” The king’s silver beard quivered with each word spoken to the guard.“No. However…” The

  guard paused and glanced back and forth between James and his father. “He came to the palace with his daughter.”

  James stared at the guard and scratched his head, not sure what the dead man’s daughter had to do with anything. Surely she suffered at her father’s death, but such a small matter shouldn’t be brought to the king. The guards could deal with it. If the girl needed help, she could be given food and whatever else she needed then sent on her way. He sighed and rolled his eyes toward the vaulted ceiling.

  “She bears the ruby ring, my Lord.”

  James’s head snapped back to stare at the guard. “The legendary ruby ring?” he asked before his father could react.

  “The very same.”

  “It isn’t possible—”

  “It is, son.” The king placed his arm on James’s shoulder. His piercing blue eyes that nearly matched James’s, warned him to keep silent. “We must see for ourselves.”

  They followed the guard through the halls. The many tapestries along the way blurred together while James’s mind struggled to comprehend the possible reality of the ring. They exited the main palace doors into a light drizzle and he saw a crowd gathered on the stairs. The townsfolk’s brightly colored tunics and dresses, and the shiny suits of the guards blocked his view of the girl and her father.

  “Make way for the king!” the guard called.

  The crowd parted and James saw a man lying upon the steps. A girl three or four years James’s junior rested her auburn head on the man’s chest and sobbed. Auburn hair—unlike any he had seen before in their land, but exactly the color described in the legend. In shock, he shifted toward his father.

  They locked eyes, and the king nodded—a silent command for James to go to her.

  James approached, knelt, and placed his hand on the girl’s slender back. “My dear woman, may I help you?”

  She stiffened, then lifted her head and gazed at him with the most brilliant green eyes he had ever seen. His breath caught and he found himself lost in their beauty and depth. He never could have imagined eyes so vibrant.

  She sniffled and lowered her gaze, which caused a copper lock to fall onto her porcelain face. She brushed at it with a hand baring a magnificent ruby ring that sparkled in the misty rain.

  James’s mind spun faster than a chariot wheel. Ruby ring. Auburn hair. Emerald eyes. It couldn’t be. He had imagined the legend as myth—a story told to calm children at night—yet an unmistakable heir to the Marselon line and bearer of the fabled ring knelt before him and sobbed over her deceased father.

  “Hush.” He drew the girl into his embrace. She accepted his comfort and collapsed against him, her head buried in his chest.

  “My papa,” she cried. “He is gone! What will I do?”

  “Do not fret. I will care for you.”

  “I must find the king.” She lifted her head from his chest and stared up at him. Her mesmerizing eyes pleaded for his help and care.

  “Yes.” He brushed an auburn curl off her rosy cheek. “You have found him. He is my father. Come, and we will speak with him.”

  He helped her to her feet, his arm protectively around her, and moved toward the king who stared with his mouth slightly open. He must have been baffled, too. It seemed impossible that this woman, who barely reached the top of James’s shoulder, could have any connection to the ancient legend. She seemed so young and helpless. James shook his head. Either way, she needed to be cared for. He would see that maids tended to her and supplied her every need.

  The king joined them and they retreated into the palace. James’s mind drifted to the stories of the ring’s magic and he wondered if that could be true also.

  He tightened his grip on the girl as he realized he held in his arms perhaps the most powerful person alive, though he doubted she knew it. Then his blood seemed to freeze within his veins. Word of her presence would eventually reach Lord Donavan, who more than anything else coveted power and supremacy, and despised any person who held more than himself. When he found out, she would be in great danger.

  Chapter 2

  Two Years Later

  Princess Dannilynn.”

  The call came from Danni’s head guard, positioned somewhere outside her cozy tent. She yawned and stretched, wishing for several more hours of sleep. “I am awake,” she called, but did not crawl out of her blankets.

  “Please, Your Highness, we must hurry. We have one more village to visit before we rendezvous with the men gathered in Anderon, and we are already late meeting them.”

  Danni sighed. “All right, Tyrone, I will rise.”

  One last village, then they would return to the Central Palace and to James. James. His very name set her heart to fluttering. She had not seen him in nine months. He had cared for her after her father died, and remained by her side as their friendship blossomed into a romance. Oh, how she missed him and yearned to feel his arms encircle her and his stubbled chin rub against her cheek. It had been much too long since they were together, but the separation was necessary.

  After her father’s death, word of her arrival at the Central Palace had spread throughout Callair and beyond, and Lord Donavan had learned about the ruby ring. In his anger and greed, he had threatened war on Callair if they did not relinquish her and her ring to him. Lord Johnathan had ignored the threat and instead protected her within his palace walls.

  “Princess, please. We must move out.” Tyrone’s voice grew louder.

  “Yes, of course. I am getting ready now.”

  Tyrone huffed, and Danni grinned. She had grown to care for all of her guards, but especially Tyrone. He was a few years younger than her father would have been, yet he was still as robust as he must have been in his youth. He and seven other men guarded her on her mission through the kingdom in an attempt to stop Lord Donavan’s malicious plans.

  Lord Donavan had not come to war against Callair as he had threatened. Instead, he had sent men throughout Callair to spread lies that would besmirch her name and tarnish the ring’s goodness. His falsehoods planted fear and doubt into the hearts of the Callairians, whom Lord Donavan, no doubt, hoped would turn against her and hand her over to him.

  To thwart this terrible plot, James and his father had sent Danni and her guards into the kingdom so the Callairians could see her goodness for themselves.

  “If they can see you and your ring,” James had told her, “surely they will fall in love with you as I have. They will see your goodness and know of your innocence.” So, with a loving embrace, a passionate kiss, and a very strict schedule, James had sent her off to the Northern Cities, far away from Tonam and Lord Donavan’s lies to recommit his kingdom’s loyalty to his cause.

  Danni’s thoughts remained on James as she crawled out of bed and donned her blue velvet dress with its flowing sleeves. She hooked the clasp on her belt and left a strand of delicate metalwork circles dangling down her skirt. Tyrone was correct. They must hurry.

  From the start, she had known they would not be able to keep pace with James’s schedule. When she stood before a crowd in the first village and flaunted her emerald eyes and ruby ring, she knew she seemed false to them. So she stayed. She joined the people, helped them, and truly strived to understand them. She did the same in the other towns and villages they visited. She had taken too long, and now they were late joining an assemblage gathered in Anderon led in part by Nathan Meadows, James’s closest friend. Together, they would march back to the Central Palace.

  They had already bypassed several cities on their list. She had not wished to miss another one, and so insisted they visit a village called Tier before joining Nathan in Anderon. They would arrive in Tier that day.

  Danni finished her morning prepara
tions, then exited her tent. Storm clouds blanketed the sky and the air felt crisper than the past few days. Tyrone frowned at her, but she knew he wasn’t really mad. She waved and flashed him a childish smile.

  “You did not believe I could manage to get myself ready, did you?” she teased.

  “I knew you would come eventually. We must make haste, especially with the storm clouds brewing to the south. Please eat while we take down your tent and prepare your carriage. Then we must go.”

  ∞∞∞

  Nathan ran his hand through his dark hair, causing a lock to fall into his eye. With a huff he blew it away and continued pacing beside the campfire while the men prepared for the night. It had been three days since the agreed time for his rendezvous with Princess Dannilynn and her guards. Though he prided himself on his punctuality, he realized that to some, three days wasn’t long—but it was more than enough time for trouble to befall her.

  The men in Anderon were anxious to continue on to the Central Palace, yet he could not abandon his duty. The horror in his past had taught him the consequence of shirking and he had vowed to never fail again. He had to find the princess and return her to James as he had been commanded.

  “Nate!” He was pulled from his thoughts when his good friend Will Longwood approached. Lean and lanky, Will always had a twinkle in his blue eyes and a grin on his face. “The captain wishes to speak with you. He did not appear pleased. Go share your feelings with the impatient man.”

  Nathan rolled his eyes. Will punched him on his broad shoulder, winced, and shook out his hand in mock pain.

  He and Will had been friends since their childhood. Together with James, and with Nathan’s cousin, Lane Peters, they had shared uncountable adventures growing up together in the palace. Nathan’s mother and Lane’s had worked in the kitchens together, and Will’s father had been a palace gardener. The boys were all nearly the same age, so the king had allowed them to be tutored alongside Prince James.