Tamporlea (Tamporlea Trilogy, Book 1)

by Tiffany Lovering

  “It was a change of laws set only about six months ago. Tamporlea views Sunday as being a sacred time of rest from midnight to midnight. All of the other kingdoms were right in alignment with this until six months ago when Jarnay and Pyrencia that Sunday would be sacred from sunrise to sunset.”

  “What was their reasoning behind that?” Orion asked.

  “It’s very vague and it only says that the two kingdoms needed the extra time for completing their kingdom responsibilities.”

  “Thank you Stone,” Orion said. “Do you mind if we have that book so we can take a closer look?”

  “Here you go,” he said handing the book to Orion.

  When Stone left, I had to smile to myself. I felt a sense of pride knowing that I had at least a little intuition about what was going on.

  “Well, Queen Jasmine I don’t think I will doubt your theories again,” he said smiling at me.

  “How did you know?” Cali asked.

  “It was just a feeling,” I said.

  Orion starting flipping through the pages of the book that Stone handed over. “Orion?” Cali spoke quietly.

  “Yes Miss Calalilly?”

  “No offense, but there’s over a thousand pages in that book and I can have that book read and memorized in about three minutes. Would you like me to?”

  “Oh! Yes, of course,” he said laughing to himself. “How silly of me.”

  Having never seen Cali, or any Reader, do their work I was mesmerized as she flipped through each page. I don’t know how she did it, but in three minutes, she had finished and pushed the book aside.

  “Well, Stone is right. Page four three seven, paragraph four states that the seventh day of the week called Sunday is sacred to Tamporlea from midnight to eleven fifty nine and is sacred to both Pyrencia and Jarnay from sunrise to sunset. No formal business, war or any other matters shall be considered during those hours. This change is to account for the kingdom responsibilities of Pyrencia and Jarnay,” Cali concluded.

  “Why Jarnay?” Orion asked.

  “Two reasons,” I said. “First, for a law to be passed there has to be a majority between the three kingdoms. Pyrencia obviously somehow convinced Jarnay of this need and so there is two out of three kingdoms, enough for a law to be written. Second, Jarnay is going to join forces with Pyrencia.”

  “What?” Orion and Cali asked at the same time.

  “Jasmine, Jarnay is weak, I told you this. I know we didn’t go into a lot of detail on this, but there is no way that Jarnay would survive a war against us,” Cali said.

  “What do you say Orion?”

  “I know I said I wouldn’t doubt your theories but…”

  “So soon you turn on me?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Miss Calalilly is right in what she says.”

  “Care to make a bet?” I asked them both.

  “Jasmine, we are preparing for a war here!” Cali yelled.

  “Chicken?” I teased. “A quick wager isn’t going to hurt anything.”

  “Name your terms,” Orion said

  “If I’m right, Cali you must not doubt my theories so quickly again. And Orion, you must never address me by anything but Jasmine again.”

  “What?” he asked shocked.

  “That’s right, not ‘Your Highness,’ not ‘Queen Jasmine,’ just Jasmine.”

  “And what if we’re right?” Cali asked.

  “Name it.”

  “You have to wear a dress every day,” Orion answered immediately as he looked at my jeans.

  “And, you have to start a journal and write in it every single day,” Cali added.

  After we all shook hands we went back to business. Cali said that there wasn’t anything else of significance in the law book that Stone provided. We decided to discuss whether Pyrencia would attack at sunrise and sunset. I thought it was obvious.

  “Sunset, of course,” I said.

  “What makes you think so?” Orion asked cautiously before contradicting me.

  “They have an extra five or more hours of time to travel here. They’ll rest not too far from Tamporlea’s boundaries and then quickly attack right at sunset.”

  “That actually makes a lot of sense,” Cali said surprisingly.

  “Why the tone?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry, but that was too quick for you to answer so thoroughly. How do you come up with this stuff?”

  “I don’t know. I just look at all the facts and all the possibilities and come up with an answer. Most everyone does that, I can just do it faster.”

  “Have you always been like that?” Orion asked hopefully.

  “I know what you’re thinking and it’s not magic. I’ve always been able to do it, I’m not always right, but I’d say it’s a good nine out of ten that I am.”

  “As long as we’re on the subject, do you have any magic now that you’ve been crowned?” Orion asked nervously.

  “No. I wish I did. Something cool like invisibility or ability to fly.”

  Orion laughed and said, “That would be a first.”

  “Maybe you do have something, you just haven’t stumbled across it yet,” Cali said.

  “No, she would know pretty much the second the crown was on her head,” Orion said trying to cover his disappointment.

  “We’re getting off track again,” I pointed out.

  Once again the pager started vibrating against my waist where it was connected to my belt.

  “Should I go Your Highness?” Orion asked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said.

  I was tapping my foot impatiently waiting for the automated voice I knew would come.

  “King Zane of Jarnay has officially declared Jarnay’s alliance with Queen Aella and the kingdom of Pyrencia. Any battles fought by one will be fought by both. Although this is not a unification of kingdoms, it is a unification of all forces. This is declared on this day, Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 8:20pm.”

  “Oh my, you were right,” Cali said.

  “They gave us a heads up,” I said astonished.

  “They have to tell us immediately when something like this happens,” Orion said.

  “They have to give the date, but they gave us a time that’s three hours away!” I pointed out.

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I think Queen Aella is in Jarnay right now. King Zane is feeling the pressure so he has joined forces with Pyrencia, but instead of joining forces immediately…I‘m willing to bet anything that the time he agreed to, 8:20pm, is because that is the time of the sunset on Sunday, July 31st. He’s warning us!”

  “Excuse me Jasmine, but I don’t think we’ll ever bet against you again,” Orion said.

  I laughed and said, “I’m happy about that, but that’s not really what I meant.”

  “Why would Jarnay join forces with them? We’ve done so much for King Zane” Cali asked.

  “Promises,” Orion said simply. “You know that they need as much help as they can get. If he thinks that Pyrencia has a chance of winning, they will side with them.”

  “Ok, but why would Queen Aella even bother bringing Jarnay into this? Seems like a waste of time going all the way to Jarnay just to pick up maybe another hundred people,” Cali said.

  “Two birds, one stone,” I said.

  “Huh?”

  “Well, if Queen Aella wants power and to take over the strongest of Gypsy kingdoms why not drag the weakest link along with them and throw them in the frontline? That way they don’t have to go into a second battle when Tamporlea crumbles. Two birds, one stone,” I explained.

  “You’re amazing,” Orion said. “Are you sure you’ve always been this insightful?”

  “Yes, it’s what made me want to study psychology. I’m pretty good at figuring people out.”

  “Well, you didn’t figure out the Lilliana situation,” Cali pointed out.

  “That wasn’t very nice,” Orion said to Cali.

  “She’s right though,” I defended. “I don’t kn
ow why, but if the circumstances are something I’ve been dwelling on, I can’t figure it out to save my life. It’s usually a quick thing where all the pieces fall together like that.”

  “Interesting,” Orion said thoughtfully.

  “So, how long are we going to sit here?” Cali asked as she stood up. “We need to tell the others.”

  “Hold it Calalilly,” I snapped.

  “What?”

  “Sit down. We have thirty minutes before dinner. What’s the point in calling a meeting now when we’ll just have to wrap it up and start all over again?”

  Cali sat down and sighed. “What now then?”

  “Right now? We play fetch with Casper,” I said as I grabbed the stick Casper had been gnawing on and threw it across the room.

  Chapter 17

  Betrayed

  Tonight’s dinner was very quick compared to every other night. I think everyone just wanted to get back to what they were doing and try to prepare for what was to come. I told the people of the kingdom nothing about what was pieced together in our meeting because I really wanted to speak with the Heads before the rest of the kingdom was informed.

  When we finally met back in the platinum room I waited for everyone to settle down before I began.

  “Alright everyone. We have new information. We will be attacked by both Pyrencia and Jarnay on Sunday, July 31st at 8:20pm.”

  “How could you possibly know such specific information in such little time?” Tyran asked doubtfully.

  Not at all to my surprise, everyone joined in on Tyran’s doubts and in no time at all, it was very loud and uncontrollable. Casper started barking over the noise, while I just sat back and watched. If they wanted to sit there wasting time by yelling at each other and at me instead of listening to what I had to say, I wasn’t going to stop them. Cali was staring at me waiting for me to do something to stop them while I just smiled at her.

  “SHUT UP!” Orion yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the whole room to go silent and Casper to crawl under my chair. “I want you all to listen to me right now. Jasmine is your Queen and she deserves some respect! Do you think she would give such specific details if she weren’t absolutely sure? She may be new at this, but she’s no idiot! I may not be the Head of this kingdom anymore, and I can’t banish you, and I may be a hundred and seventeen years old, but I can still drag any one of you outside and kick your ass! So sit down, shut up and listen to what Jasmine has to say!”

  Everyone, including me, was wide-eyed with shock at Orion’s display of anger. He wasn’t even this forceful when he was arguing with Queen Aella. It took me a few seconds to compose myself and I addressed the Heads again. “Thank you Orion. As Orion so beautifully pointed out, I deserve some respect. I will not yell over you to beg for your attention, the next time you all start jumping down each other’s throats, I’ll walk out of the meeting. Got it?” I finished as I looked into each and everyone’s eyes as they nodded in agreement.

  As I told them every detail of the information I had to give, they all stared at me in shock with each development revealed to them. Their mouths were all opened wide enough to catch flies by the end of my little speech. “So we know who’s coming, and we know when they’re coming and we know why they’re coming. What we don’t know is how they will attack or what to do in the meantime. That’s what we’re here for, I need to know where we‘re at and what is the best next step. Does anyone have anything for me?”

  “Yes Your Highness,” Tyran bravely spoke first. “I personally know that they are going to go for the tunnels first. It’s our only way out of Tamporlea and they’re going to do whatever it takes to trap us in here.”

  “Your Highness,” Storm spoke up. “I know that we have sped the growth on the crops and the Commoners are confident that they can have everything harvested by tomorrow afternoon.”

  “I know that the Runners have returned with the necessities you’ve asked for,” Simon said. “We are good for two months, maybe more.”

  “The Enchanters have secured a good rotation and I will personally be on duty the night of the attack,” Kelly announced.

  “The Readers have searched and searched. I have brought you the only new information we have gained,” Stone said.

  “Okay, well if that’s everything, let’s think of what we can do next,” I suggested.

  After two hours of going back and forth with ideas, even more precautions were set for the day of the attack. Boundaries around the palace were going to be tightened further once the crops were harvested, nightly dinners were to be cancelled and most importantly, on the day of the attack, everyone who was not directly involved with the battle was to stay in their homes no matter what. The Heads were all to address their tiers in the morning and let them know when the battle was going to start.

  At this point, there was nothing else for us to do but wait for the battle to begin. The next two days went with Orion, Cali and I in the platinum room just talking about how unbelievable it was that there have never been any clear strategies in case of war. “It’s like a team of football players going out to the field without a single play formulated in their head,” I said to them.

  Sunday morning, I addressed the entire kingdom from the top of the incline. “So, today is the day everyone. I want to say that you’ve all done an excellent job preparing for this. Now I know it’s going to be hard hearing the battle going on just outside our palace, but it is imperative that you all stay inside. If somehow they manage to make their way inside the palace, I want you all to still remain where you are inside your homes. You have one hour before the enchantments are set and you must all be inside. We will let you know if there is any change in our plans. Thank you everyone.”

  Orion, Tyran, Cali, Casper and I went to my chambers as it was the safest place in all of Tamporlea.

  “What do we do now?” Orion asked.

  “Wait,” I said simply. “Nothing else to do.”

  “You know I’m going to have to leave you right?” Tyran asked.

  “No,” I said with a frantic edge to my voice.

  “Yes, I’m a Guard, I’m the Head Guard. I should really be out there now.”

  “Jasmine, he’s right,” Orion said.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry Tyran, I didn’t mean to leave you out in the open like that,” I said as I was thinking of a way for him to be able to stay here with me.

  “Jasmine,” Tyran said as he looked into my eyes. “This is what I am here for. This is my duty, not only to you as the Queen but to the entire kingdom of Tamporlea. I know you’re thinking of a way for me to be able to stay, but don’t.”

  “Stay as long as you possibly can. Please!” I begged with tears in my eyes.

  “I will, we have hours.”

  We all sat there in my living room with the door secure, watching the clock as it got closer and closer to 8:20pm. There was less spoken in these hours than I would have thought to be humanly possible. Casper would whine and lay his head on my lap feeling the tension in the air. At seven o’clock, Tyran stood up.

  “No,” I begged.

  “Come here,” he said as he held his arms out to me. “I have to go Jazzy. Listen, I’ll be back as soon as I can. But just in case I want to make sure you know how much I love you.”

  “I know, Tyran,” I said.

  He lifted my chin with his strong but gentle hand and looked into my eyes. “Forever.”

  “And ever,” I agreed before he pressed his lips on mine and we kissed me through the tears that began to fall. When he finally pulled away, he quickly turned around and walked out the door to help in the battle for Tamporlea.

  When I faced Orion and Cali their expression from what they just saw was impossible not to laugh at. “What?” I asked innocently as I sat with them again.

  “Why didn’t I see that one coming?” Orion asked.

  “Because he’s a stubborn, know-it-all, jerk most of the time,” I said honestly.

  “Jasmine,�
� Cali said. “I thought…”

  “Listen, nothing has happened since before I was crowned. But he’s going out there to fight and he might not come back. You better damn well bet that I am going to allow one last indiscretion before he leaves me. I know we can’t be together but that does not negate the fact that we love each other,” I proclaimed without an ounce of regret.

  With those words, the discussion ended and we all took to staring at the clock in silence again.

  8:18, you could hear a pin drop anywhere within the palace.

  8:19, more of the same.

  8:20, Casper began to growl, but I still heard nothing.

  8:21, the walls began to shake and the battle began. The three of us stood by the door listening to whatever we could hear. There was rumbling and a loud squeal I couldn’t identify and low hum that no one could pinpoint. All of us had a look of terror on our face. We had no choice but to believe in all of the preparations we had made.

  8:27, footsteps running up the incline as Enchanter Kelly announced herself so we didn’t panic. “We’ve been betrayed! The tunnels are collapsing and they are quickly making their way in. Someone has told them everything!” More footsteps running down the incline as she left us and I could not believe that this was the best form of communication we had during this time.

  As the noises got louder and more urgent, Cali began to shake. There were loud yells from what sounded like hundreds of men piling through the tunnels or the door or Tamporlea. I heard them trying to get into each door with every ounce of strength they had. I begged to our creator that the Enchanters and all of our Guards were holding strong.

  8:36, the bang on our door came so hard, it threw the three of us to the ground. The yells they made had no rhyme or reason. Casper barked frantically as the men continued to try to get through the door. Orion said that nothing could get through it, but that didn’t mean I wanted to put it through the test.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are,” Aella’s voice echoed through the palace, taunting everyone within. “We just need the Queen, give us her and you can all live.”

  Then, I smelled the smoke and Orion yelled, “Tyran!!!”