ISBN-13: 978-0-578-44153-5
The Unfading Lands Series
The Complete Set
Copyright © 2019 by Katharine E. Hamilton
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of Katharine E. Hamilton.
www.katharinehamilton.com
Cover Design by Kerry Prater.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Katharine E. Hamilton
PROLOGUE
The morning was dark. Dreary skies with thick, rolling clouds that seeped mist and fog over the early morning landscape. Gray. Everything was gray. And depressing. His gaze travelled over the surrounding scenery, a sharp eye of practiced and trained precision to detect the unfamiliar. Nothing was out of place, however. Except joy. Joy had steadily been sucked out of his father’s lands year after year. But despite their current lack of elation, the lands were still sleeping from a restful night.
The morning sun, shrouded by clouds, had yet to make its appearance. He knew the depressed state would lift as soon as the sun’s first rays filtered through the fog. Well, some of the depressed state. He sighed heavily as he turned to face the opposite direction. Nothing depressing about the land that faced him now. The Land of Unfading Beauty. That is what stood before him as he gazed through the glossy veil overhanging the boundary line from his realm and hers. The lush grass beckoning bare feet and long strolls, the dense forest with trees stretching to the highest heavens created a longing in his heart. Grass the color of emeralds, ponds so clear the sun sparkled upon them like glass. He watched as birds happily flew from one tree to another, deer lingered beneath the shade of a draping Willow. Perfection. He gently raised his hand and placed it closely to the fog that separated him from her and waited patiently as she did the same. He watched as the sunlight danced through the leaves, leaving a menagerie of reflections upon her silky blonde hair. If only he could touch her hand. If only he could cross the line without fear and reprimand. She smiled. Oh, how she had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He could get lost in her beauty. He wanted to get lost in her beauty. Her deep, sapphire eyes soulful and full of longing. Longing that matched his own.
“Edward”! He flinched at the young voice of his sister Elizabeth coming through the trees. He bowed to his lady on the other side as he began to turn and walk back towards his horse.
“Edward?” Elizabeth pulled the branches from her path and made her way towards the river’s edge, the boundary line within sights, she treaded carefully along the tree line. “Edward! There you are!” Breathless she stared at her brother with her hands on her narrow hips. “Father has been looking for you.” She cast him a pointed gaze of annoyance as she swatted away a fly.
“So he sent you?” Edward asked in disbelief and a small tilt to his lips.
A glower furrowed his younger sister’s brow and made him smile at her stubbornness and pride. “No. But I knew where you would be, and I did not think you would want Father discovering your current place of interest.”
“Indeed, sister. I thank you for intervening. I am leaving now and headed back to the castle. Did you come on foot or is your horse lurking about?”
“Of course my horse is out there. It is too far a walk on foot, Edward.” Elizabeth replied ruefully. She turned and began stalking back towards her horse.
Edward smiled at her retreating back and clicked the reins to his regal mare. Triton had been his trusted companion since his early teens. In fact, Edward could scarcely think of a memory that did not include his horse. He affectionately patted a roughened palm on Triton’s neck as he shuffled through the tree line. Elizabeth leapt into her saddle with an ease and skill that spoke of the riding lessons Edward had been giving her the last three years. He smiled at her accomplishment as she flicked her thick braid over her shoulder. “Race you back?” Elizabeth asked with a glint of mischief in her eyes. She quickly clicked her reins and Edward watched as her long, dark braid blew in the wind. He then kicked in his heels and set out after her.
Elizabeth leaned forward in her saddle as the wind whipped against her face and hair. She smelled the grass, the trees, the dirt, and of course, her horse, Lenora. She loved riding on the wind. Her gaze travelled over the vast landscape of the Northern Highlands, her father’s kingdom. The rolling hills of lush green grass, the flowing river that sparkled in the sunlight… yes, she loved the kingdom. She loved riding through the meadows, fearless and free. Her sister would be appalled at her behavior at the moment, but Edward always encouraged her. Speaking of her older brother, she watched as he flew by on his white horse with an arrogant salute in her direction, his dark hair, same as her own, teased by the wind. She squinted in fierce determination, hunkered down against the wind and slapped her reins even harder as she entered through the main entry gate of the castle’s exterior wall.
Edward tugged on his reins and halted his horse at the base of the looming castle steps, his attendant accepting the leather straps from his hand. Elizabeth trotted to a stop next to him with a scowl. “I almost had you.”
Laughing heartily, Edward waited for his sister to dismount before he retorted. At eighteen years of age, his youngest sister had blossomed into a beautiful and independent woman. She stood with grace and elegance, her dark hair long and soft. Her high cheekbones and sharp blue gaze melted many hearts in the kingdom, but Elizabeth never seemed to notice. In fact, her desire for a mate in life had yet to surface. He knew she craved adventure beyond the castle walls, but her position and responsibilities held her rooted and captive within their father’s realm.
He watched as she expertly dismounted and handed her reins to her attendant. “Thank you, Mary.” She walked over to him on the steps and draped her arm around his shoulders. “One day, Edward. One day I will beat you.”
“One day indeed, little sister. Until then, perhaps we should make less of an entrance next time. I feel the heated and disappointed gaze from our sister penetrating my very core.”
Elizabeth giggled as she glanced up and noticed her older sister, Alayna, standing within the doorway, her arms folded in frustration and her usually stunning beauty marred by a deep scowl.
“I see you two have been out frolicking this morning.” Her pursed lips and hard gaze caused Elizabeth to twitch in nervousness. She noticed Edward only stood straighter and firmer. She tried to mimic his resolute confidence, but Alayna’s gaze pierced through her false bravado and melted it quickly.
“Elizabeth was just fetching me for Father, sister. She knew I was in a place of deep reflection and did not want the servants to interrupt me. I thank her for her generosity.” Edward lightly hugged Elizabeth, his blue eyes twinkling at their little secret.
Shrugging, Alayna waved them inside. “Well, I suppose her reckless ride can be forgiven this once, then. But hurry, Father needs to speak with us all at once.”
∞
Elizabeth lifted her leather riding skirts as she hurried up the stone steps after her sister’s brisk retreating back to their father’s chambers. Noting the concern in Alayna’s face, she wondered what could possibly have her sister so vexed. Knocking swiftly on the heavy door to their father’s chamber, his trusted servant Tomas answered the door t
o the three siblings. Bowing his overly lanky frame, Tomas ushered them inside the crowded room.
Elizabeth noted the surrounding men, captains in her father’s army, standing behind his table as he signed a document in front of him. A sea of emerald green uniforms, the color of the Royal Guard, standing resolute behind their king. The intensity in the room left a weight upon her chest. The parchment her father penned contained regal handwriting in a language Elizabeth had never witnessed before; she leaned in closely as to grasp a name of its sender, but her father quickly folded the paper and poured a dollop of wax and with a wave of finality, pressed his signet ring into the red, molten liquid until his seal had been stamped. He then handed the letter to Tomas, who delicately placed it in the hands of one of the royal messengers, who bowed and made haste of his exit.
“Please, sit.” Their father waved his hand at the three hand-carved, heavily set chairs in front of him, his sharp blue gaze traveling from one child to the next. “Leave us.” He ordered politely to the surrounding officers and servants. He waited until the sliding of the door bolt told him they were alone. Elizabeth noticed the slight deflation of his shoulders when the room was emptied. The signs of her father’s failing health hidden beneath the tough facade he wore as a mask. She could see the small effects of the illness. The lines of his face deepening, the pallor of his skin he attempted to hide beneath his thick, gray beard. She always thought her father a handsome man, an honorable king. Joyful, strong, and loyal. But the weakening of his health and his kingdom had begun to show signs of strain, not only on his face, but in his temperament as well.
He then smiled and relaxed in his chair as his gaze travelled over Elizabeth and her current attire. “I see you have gone for a ride this morning, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth grinned and nodded. “Yes. I found the morning too beautiful to be locked inside.”
He chuckled when he caught Alayna’s disapproving gaze. “I see. And did you take your attendant?”
Elizabeth’s smile slowly faded as she shook her head. “No sir.”
“I see. Have I not told you to keep your attendant close when outside the castle walls?”
“Yes sir.” A sense of dread filled the pit of her stomach. She recognized that shift in his tone.
“And yet, you continue to ignore my request. You are hereby restricted to the grounds for one week. No riding except within the royal carrier.”
Elizabeth gasped. “But Father!”
He held up his hand. “No buts, Lizzy. You must learn that your safety is of utmost importance.” Ending the line of debate with Elizabeth, his steel gaze then transferred to Edward. “And you, son. What sort of example are you setting for your sister when you do the same? I need you here, Edward. As the future leader of this kingdom and the realm, I need you here learning and participating in the ruling of your kingdom.”
Edward sighed as if bored with the topic of conversation, his lean shoulders relaxed within the chair, though he openly accepted the lethal barbs of disapproval from his father. “Father, I do not wish to be king. You know this.”
Elizabeth watched as her father’s face turned from cream to crimson as his anger consumed him. “You do not have a choice my son! You are the crowned prince of the Highlands and the Realm. You will be king once I am gone, and you will respect the position!”
Edward stood abruptly, his chair slightly tilting from his quick departure. “I do not wish it, Father. I know who I am. And if you knew me well at all you would see I am not fit to be king in the first place. I am not like you, nor do I wish to be.”
“Absurd!” Her father slammed his fist against the worn table causing Elizabeth and Alayna to jolt in their seats. He then shook his head in disappointment. “Do not think I do not know your whereabouts my son. You are flirting with a dangerous consequence.”
“Perhaps so, Father, but that is my decision to make.”
“It is a decision of death!” Her father warned, a subtle sadness in his tone. His eyes followed his handsome son as Edward paced in front of his desk. Edward, the prince. His only son. The unruly mass of black hair that framed a lean and chiseled face of creamy skin and piercing blue eyes that resembled his mother’s, the late Queen Rebecca. King Granton shook his head of the sentimental thoughts of his late wife and focused his attention, and frustration, back on his son.
Elizabeth sat knowing her father, King Granton, spoke of Edward’s interest in the Unfading Lands. Alayna seemed confused by the current turn in the conversation, but Elizabeth knew her father had found out her brother’s secret. She was not sure how, but he did. And poor Edward— his heart torn between love for the woman on the other side and his duties here in the Realm. She knew his heart was here with his family and kingdom, but she also knew of his desire to confront Lancer, the leader of the Unfading Lands about a truce. Not that it would help. Everyone knew that if you crossed the boundary line between the Highlands and the Land of Unfading Beauty, you could never return. Many had tried crossing out of pure curiosity, but then found themselves forever displaced in the strange land.
“It is a land of selfishness and vanity!” Her father raised his voice again, and she jumped in her seat as she attempted to stay focused on the conversation.
“How do you know, Father? Have you ever crossed the boundary? No. You have not!” Edward exclaimed.
“Neither have you! You believe yourself to be in love with a young woman over there, but it is not true, Edward. The woman is a ploy. Lancer wants you to cross the boundary. Do you not see? He is tempting you to cross. He knows you are the next ruler of the Realm and therefore wants to weaken our kingdom by enticing you to cross. Do not give him the victory, or our lands will suffer the consequences.”
“I do not wish to cross, Father. I wish to retrieve her and bring her here. Because you are right, I do love her. Cecilia is the one my heart belongs, and I wish her to be free from Lancer’s power.”
“Cecilia?!” King Granton boomed, “How do you know her name? No sound carries through the boundary.”
“No sound, yes. But animals do. We converse through letters.” Edward explained.
King Granton’s face darkened to a deeper shade of red— almost purple, Elizabeth thought. “You are treading in dangerous waters, Edward. I forbid you to see the girl again. There will be consequences for both of you if anything were to happen. Your future has been decided upon. You will marry Princess Melody of the Western Kingdom and together you will rule the Realm.”
“I will not give up, Father. I do not wish to marry the princess. I will bring Cecilia out of the Unfading Lands.”
“You are a fool! No one is able to leave the Unfading Lands once they have crossed. That is their punishment! They choose to cross in order to remain young and beautiful and that is where they stay. Even if you succeeded, how do we know she will not die here? How old is she? How long has she been in the Lands? Would her age catch up to her even if she did cross? These are questions that must remain unanswered, Edward.” King Granton looked to his two daughters with concern. “Dare I even ask if you two have a desire towards the Unfading Lands?”
Alayna firmly shook her head. Elizabeth tilted her head as she pondered the question. Did she want to cross the boundary? Was she curious? Noting the concern in her father’s gaze, she finally shook her head. She really did not have a desire to cross the boundary. The underlying fear of never seeing her family or friends again being the main reason. She was a curious woman, but her curiosity had its limits.
“Good. You two may be excused. I will discuss my matters with each of you later. Your brother and I have more to discuss.”
Elizabeth and Alayna stood and bowed to their father. Elizabeth lightly squeezed her brother’s shoulder before exiting, hoping to encourage.
As she stepped through the doorway, her sister, Alayna, exhaled loudly, releasing the tension from the room from her lungs. “Can you believe Edward? Loving a woman across the boundary? Have you ever heard of such nonsense?”
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p; “I think Edward has the right to love whomever he wishes.” Elizabeth’s simple reply caused Alayna to abruptly turn with wide brown eyes.
“You cannot be serious, Lizzy. Do you know how dangerous the people are over there?”
“Do you?” Elizabeth countered. No one knew how dangerous the people were, because no one had willingly crossed and come back successfully. So how could anyone know?
Alayna shook her blonde curls. “I’m surprised at you, Elizabeth. I know you and Edward are close, but to have him even thinking about the boundary— how can you remain so calm?”
“Alayna, Edward said he did not wish to cross. He wanted her to cross. They are trying to figure out a way she can. I think it is quite romantic really.”
Alayna rolled her steady brown eyes. “Romantic? You? We are royals, we do not get the luxury of being romantic. Our fates and marriages are decided for us.”
“But is that really fair? Have you not ever liked someone, Alayna? Or loved someone? Do you not wish to marry whom you please?” Elizabeth pleaded as if an ally was her only desire. “I know I wish to marry the man I want, otherwise I wish to not marry at all.”
“Even if it means bringing peace to the kingdom?” Alayna watched as Elizabeth nodded.
“I think the people of our kingdom would want us to be happy.”
Alayna laughed in disbelief. “You have much to learn, sister. Much to learn. Word has it that Father is already looking for a mate for you from the West.”
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and watched as her sister slowly turned with an amused smile on her face. “But I am only eighteen.” Elizabeth defended. “You are older than I am. Should you not marry first?”
“Elizabeth we are both well past the marrying age. Besides, Father is looking for me to marry a man from the Eastern Kingdom. We must keep our allies in good relations, and marriages will be the seal of allegiance for all parties involved.”
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