“Then there is your answer. I will either have that law amended, or if that process takes too long, give her family name the aristocratic status you are so desirous of. Hear me well, gentlemen, there will be no heir to the throne if I do not marry, and I’m damned if I’ll marry someone I do not love.”
The elders exchanged glances, seeming to come to a silent agreement amongst them, knowing there was no way to dissuade the king from his chosen path. “Then Sire, we will draw up the documents amending the law forthwith. At the same time, we will prepare a proclamation announcing your forthcoming marriage.”
Parlan grinned at their retreating backs, as they filed from the room shaking their heads. He considered attending to the mound of paperwork on his desk, then thought better of it and went in search of his intended wife.
As the joyous news of the king’s impending marriage spread, congratulatory banners were decorated and hung in every village. Tables covered with elaborate sweet-smelling floral arrangements were erected along the banks of the moat in readiness for the Royal wedding. No-one seemed to care a jot that their queen was not of Royal Blood, they were simply delighted that following the sad and frightening times they had recently lived through, the king had found someone to love, and their land was promised a happy and prosperous future.
During the wedding preparations, the fifty men who had fought at Parlan’s side finally took their leave. They were each given a hero’s send-off, for without their help the future would be a bleaker darker place.
Katrina was having trouble coming to terms with being waited upon and having a maid of her own attending to her needs, instead of the other way round. She had requested that Bekka become her personal maid, and the girl had jumped at the chance of staying close to her. Katrina’s friends, trying hard to mask their jealousy, clamoured to know how she had won the king’s heart, and sought every last detail of his proposal. The only advice she could offer them was: “Be truthful about your own feelings, listen to your head but always, always follow your heart.” The seamstress had already started work on Katrina’s wedding gown. It was to be of the finest ivory silk, embroidered with lace and studded with tiny flowers that the smith was in the process of fashioning from the purest gold. When she tried it on, she was stunned at her reflection in the mirror. Bekka gasped in wonder and Nemeila had to confess to a small flicker of envy, as the radiant girl whirled and twirled to show the dress off. They would both, as maids of honour at the ceremony, dress in crushed velvet of rose yellow. The wedding was to take place at the Abbey, where Parlan had been crowned. He had sent word to his brother, in an attempt to repair the damage to their relationship, asking if he would stand at his side, but there had been no reply. As time was running out, he had no choice but to seek another best man, and thinking there was no-one he would rather have at his side on such a momentous day, went in search of Tyler. “I asked my brother to attend me during the service,” Parlan admitted, “but I expected no reply and that’s what I’ve had. I asked him out of duty, but I now ask you out of friendship and love. You are the one I want at my side, will you be there?” Tyler pretended to think it over, as if it were an unpleasant prospect, but could not sustain the charade. “I will be honoured, and not out of duty either, but also out of friendship and love. You have chosen well. It is a rare to find someone who loves you for yourself alone and is not dazzled by your Royal name. And by that ridiculous smirk you’ve had plastered across your face since the banquet, it is blatantly obvious how much you love her too.” “So what about you and Nemeila? I sense your feelings for her go deeper than friendship.” “She is a lovely girl,” agreed Tyler, “and I’m very fond of her. But she is very young and when this is over, she’s determined to return home to Ikasar. She is not ready to settle down and I don’t think I am either just yet. Besides, I don’t know if a poor farmer is good enough for her.”
Parlan rode a noble white stallion, caparisoned in red and gold, to the Abbey. But Tyler chose to ride his faithful Shire, Sox. The stable master himself had groomed him for hours, and his mane, tail and feathers gleamed in the sunlight. He looked every inch a member of the Royal Stables, and Tyler was proud to be carried by such a splendid animal. As is customary, the groom arrived at the abbey before Katrina’s coach set out, and he stood pale and trembling with wedding day nerves at the altar to await his bride. The route was thronged with people all jostling for a view of their future queen, yelling and shouting encouragement, many running alongside the coach trying to throw flowers into Katrina’s lap.
Traditionally the bride keeps the groom waiting at the altar, but Katrina was too much in love to play games, and as she walked down the aisle on Brand’s arm, she looked born to the role of queen, as Parlan’s mother had been. During the service the love that both Parlan and Katrina felt for each other radiated throughout the abbey, the atmosphere was filled with happiness. The congregation sighed as one, when finally the king and his queen kissed in public for the first time.
A week of singing, dancing and feasting passed until the celebrations were finally over, and with sadness in her heart, Nemeila told Tyler that she wished to return to her home in Ikasar. Having said her goodbyes to the king and queen and to little Bekka, of whom she had grown very fond, she collected her jewel chest and taking a last look round her quarters, she and Amber headed to the stables to meet Tyler. She had decided to ride double with Tyler on Sox, although Parlan had offered her a fine palfrey of her own. There was no urgency to reach the coast this time and now, for one last time, she wanted the comfort of his strong arms around her.
Throughout their slow relaxing journey, they had often heard the howl of a wolf piercing the darkness, and she knew that Amber yearned to join his own kind. That night, as they slept beneath the protective canopy of an old oak tree, Nemeila felt Amber stir and opened her eyes to find more than a dozen wolves encircling them. Tyler stealthily reached for his sword, but Nemeila hushed him and stayed his hand.
“They have come for him,” she nodded towards her beloved wolf, “not for us. They were together when I fell from the cliff. I think the time has come for us to part.”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she crouched beside Amber, who had taken up a proud stance that commanded respect from the rest of the pack, who were keeping their distance. “I am going to miss you,” she wept, burying her nose in his shoulder. “Go with my love and gratitude, for without you I doubt I would have survived. If I ever return perhaps we will meet again.” Amber placed a shaggy paw on her knee, surreptitiously sniffed back a tear of his own, and wiped his rough tongue once along her face, before trotting away to join the other wolves. As they frisked out of sight amongst the trees, Amber turned once and smiled a salute of friendship and loyalty. No, he would never forget this remarkable young human. For Nemeila, the wolf had become part of her life; she would miss him bounding along at her side, eating her out of house and home, and wondered just how she would get along without him. Dawn was not far away and it was now too late to try to go back to sleep. With a sigh filled with happy memories, regret for friends left behind and hope for all their futures, Nemeila allowed Tyler to hoist her up onto Sox’s broad and comforting back, and they continued their journey towards the distant coast.
Words & Names
Hesione Pronounced: Hes – eyeon – ee
Nemeila Pronounce: Nem – Eye – La
Eona Pronounced: Eee – Oh – Na
Baryllion Pronounced: Baril – ion
Qaa’antar Pronounced: Kar – antar
Grimoire Pronounced: Grim – warrh
Kallopia The country Ilanthia’s ship crash-landed upon
Parlan The elder Prince – now king
Kaleb The younger Prince
Kiral The creature who directed Parlan and Tyler to Nemi’s home
Amber The wolf that finds and befriends Nemeila
Goldie The eagle who also befriends Nemeila
Ikasar The country where Nemi was sent as a baby by her birth mother
> Ilanthia Nemeila’s birth mother
Timius Nemeila’s blood father
Bekka The young girl rescued by Tyler and Nemeila – now nanny to Hesione
Katrina The maid who marries the future king – Parlan
Eona The reptilian girl who befriends Ilanthia after the prison ship crashed
Gleda Tyler’s mother
Elkin Tyler’s father
Ceranius The sea creature who helps Ilanthia
Jakob Nemeila’s adoptive father
Taliena Nemeila’s adoptive mother:
Pronounced: Tal-eena
Tobyn Master Sorcerer
Aurek Aka, Tobyn the Master Magician from
Ilanthia’s prison ship
Carla Girl in Nemi’s village – who knows her secret
The Wolf and the Sorceress Page 31