“It has been years,” Anne said smiling brightly. “So good to see you again, Ella,” she said dropping the girl’s title in an effort to quickly establish that Anne was her superior here.
“Thank you,” Ella responded with a polite curtsy, but without any reference to rank or title. That was not intentional, but she did not really know how Anne was to be addressed. “The pleasure is ours of course.” Ella reached behind her and clasped her brother’s hand, pulling him forward to greet Morgan and Anne. Geoffrey bowed at the waist without a word. He was afraid to speak, afraid his voice would betray his fear and anger.
“I have invited them to attend court here and they have graciously accepted,” the Wizard said smiling at Anne.
Anne returned the smile. “And we are most happy to have them,” Anne said as she reached out and took Ella’s hand. “It will be lovely to have you here, Ella. I grow so tired of the men’s banter about war and all of the younger ladies seemed to have vanished from the court.” In a slight breach of etiquette she pulled Ella away from the Wizard. “Come, you must be exhausted from your journey,” she said as she took Ella’s arm and guided her up the steps. The Wizard smiled to himself. He and Morgan followed behind, shadowed closely by Geoffrey and the rest of the court.
***
Ella sat in an iron tub in the center of the room which Anne had personally selected for her. Ella had not known what to expect from Anne, but she had certainly been friendly to her so far. One of Ella’s servants unpacked the trunks brought with the Princess from Elwood while another bathed Ella’s soft skin with a sponge.
There was a light tapping at the door and it opened without anyone giving permission to enter. Anne appeared with a bright smile across her face, closing the door behind her before crossing the room to the tub. Ella shyly sank down lower into the water. “How are your accommodations?” Anne asked.
“Lovely, thank you,” Ella replied. Anne shooed the servant bathing Ella away to help the other unpack and knelt beside the Princess’ tub. She took the sponge and began washing Ella’s back. This made Ella quite uncomfortable and she thought, perhaps, that was Anne’s intention.
“I do hope that you and I can be friends,” Anne smiled warmly.
“We certainly shall,” Ella said managing a smile, but tensing as Anne gently rubbed the sponge across her back.
“Have you found a dress for supper this evening?” Anne asked.
“My servants are just finishing unpacking, and I have not yet had a chance.”
“Well we want you to look beautiful. You are beautiful, Ella.”
“Thank you.”
“We need to find you a husband now that Erec is an outlaw for defying His Majesty.” Ella said nothing. “Do you not agree?”
“You are correct, of course,” Ella managed meekly. She hoped Erec was alright. She had dreamed he would retake Avonvale and rescue her, but now that she was here and saw the formidable forces, she doubted that would be possible. She held back her tears, not wanting to expose her true emotions to Anne.
“I understand that you had planned on being Queen of Avonvale and to lose that can be disheartening.”
“As you say,” Ella replied. It was true she had planned to be queen, but it was more the loss of Erec that disheartened her. She had loved him for so long—as long as she could remember. She was not sure if he returned her love or if he worried about her the way she worried about him, but she did love him.
Anne suddenly stopped and looked Ella in the eye, Anne’s eyes wide and mouth curved into a surprised smile. “Maybe you do not have to lose the throne,” she said.
“I’m sorry?” Ella asked confused.
Anne leaned in close to Ella’s face. “My brother, the King, is unattached. Perhaps he will think you a good match.” Anne clapped her hands together and smiled giddily. “Yes, then we could be sisters.” Anne suddenly stood and walked over to the pile of gowns lying across the bed. “She is ready, dry her,” she commanded the servants firmly. They bowed and hurried to Ella with towels to cover the Princess as she stood from the bath.
Anne found a lovely turquoise gown with soft white lace and spun around, her eyes shining brightly. “This one,” she said excitedly, like a little girl playing dress-up. She held the dress for Ella to see. “Yes, you will look beautiful in this.”
Ella could not help but smile. Anne was so excited and the excitement was infectious. Ella had to admit, things were not as bad in Avonvale as she had feared they would be. The servants finished drying Ella and then dressed her while Anne stood watching. The gown looked quite elegant on Ella. It revealed her shoulders, neck, and bosom which was already developing nicely. It was far nicer than the black mourning dress she had arrived in as she was still mourning the passing of her father. When the servants had finished readying Ella, Anne reached over, hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “You look ravishing, darling,” she said.
Ella smiled. “Thank you.”
***
Ella held Anne’s arm as Anne led her through the castle to the dining hall. As they strolled, Anne passed a beautiful, dark haired lady in a royal blue dress, her raven hair falling past her bare shoulders in waves, covering the skin revealed by the low-cut back of her dress. The lady wore a golden tiara upon her head. She curtsied like the others when Anne and Ella passed, but she did not avert her eyes, instead meeting Anne’s eyes and smiling at her. It was a knowing smile and for some reason it frightened Anne.
Ella must have noticed the woman, too. “Who was that?” she whispered to Anne.
“I do not know,” Anne admitted. “I’ve never seen her before.” Anne had mostly forgotten the woman by the time she reached the dining hall. She and Ella found Geoffrey waiting for them outside. He was almost trembling with anxiety about being there alone. Ella pulled away from Anne and rushed to her brother, wrapping her arms around him.
“It is alright,” she whispered in his ear. She heard him sniffle and knew he was trying hard not to cry.
“I did not know how to find you or what to do,” he said. “I just sat in my room until someone told me to come to supper.”
“Next time send your man to find me if you need me,” Ella said. “And do not be afraid to issue commands to the castle servants. You are still a prince and we are among the highest ranking courtiers in the castle.” She felt him nod. “Now stand straight and tall,” she said and he obeyed. “No tears. Be strong. You can cry when you are safely back in your room.” Geoffrey nodded again. Ella smiled at him and then kissed him upon the cheek.
Anne quickly moved in between the two. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to escort me to supper tonight?” she asked Geoffrey. He looked at Ella who was nodding.
“It would be a pleasure, My Lady,” Geoffrey said with a bow. As he straightened, Anne noticed he was blushing. She slipped her arm into his and pressed against him gently.
“Everything is going to be alright,” Anne whispered in his ear. “No one is going to hurt you here.” Geoffrey smiled at her and his panic began to ease.
Soon Morgan appeared and Anne glimpsed the Wizard sauntering down the hall toward them and wanted to hurry inside before he reached them.
“Morgan, why don’t you escort Princess Ella to supper tonight.”
“Of course,” Morgan said and then turned to Ella offering his arm. “That is, if she would do me the honor?”
Ella smiled and curtsied to the King. “It would be a great pleasure, Your Majesty,” she replied as she took his arm.
Morgan led her into the dining hall, followed by Anne and Geoffrey. Everyone in the hall stood when Morgan entered. He led Ella around the table at the head of the dining hall, allowing space for the Wizard. They remained standing, awaiting the Wizard’s entrance, but did not have to wait long.
“His Imperial Majesty, Tamesis, Emperor of the Middle Realm,” Ella heard announced.
The entire hall bowed as the Wizard entered the room, but everyone was shocked to see a raven haired lady on his arm, Anne a
mong them. It was the beautiful woman Anne had seen in the hallway. As the Wizard joined them behind the table he made introductions.
“King Morgan, may I present Queen Ariana of Talisaria.” Ariana curtsied as Morgan bowed. Anne was shocked and stared dumbfounded at Ariana. “Ariana, may I present the King’s sister, Lady Anne.” Anne realized that the Wizard had said nothing of their engagement.
“It is a pleasure,” Ariana said. Anne nodded, but did not speak. She could not find any words. They were seated and Anne found herself beside Ariana. It was an uncomfortable meal for Anne, but Ariana seemed delighted to be there, commenting on the elegance of Avonvale as compared to her home in Talisaria.
“And how long can we expect the pleasure of your company?” Anne asked politely.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Ariana smiled. “The city is so refined as compared to our humble stead in Talisaria, that I would certainly hate to leave too quickly. I suppose I will stay as long as I am welcome,” she said with a laugh.
“And you are certainly most welcome to stay as long as you desire,” the Wizard assured her.
“Wonderful,” Anne exclaimed attempting with all of her might to sound sincere. “Then we shall have you with us forever.” She and Ariana giggled like the closest of girlfriends, but Anne was already scheming of ways to get rid of her.
***
The Wizard opened the door to his chambers and stepped inside. He closed the door and then turned and smiled. Ariana knelt atop his bed apparently wearing nothing, but covering herself with his blanket. “What is this?” the Wizard asked.
“I was lonely,” Ariana said with a seductive pout. She then dropped the blanket revealing her beautiful, naked body. “I thought you might be lonely, too.” The Wizard was suddenly relieved he had not summoned Anne to him. Not yet anyway.
“What are you after?” the Wizard asked suspiciously as he walked to his bed.
She smiled at him, a sinister smile. “You are the Dark One,” she said. “The chosen of our great Lord Shebath. I belong to him. My body belongs to him. Thus, I belong to you,” she replied.
“You’re a succubath, like my mother,” he said. It was not a question. Lilit had explained to him the role of the succubath. During the dark times, when shedom roamed the realm, Shebath worshipers gave their daughters to the shedom in ritual offerings. The shedom would impregnate the girls and the resulting offspring came to be known as dark spawn. Sometimes the dark spawn were beautiful women who would be used to seduce kings in an attempt to inject shedom blood into the royal lines. These dark spawn were hunted down and many killed. A few remained, however, hiding in the shadows and perpetuating the shedom line. Over the centuries they began to crawl out of the shadows and once again began to implement their plan to infiltrate the royal houses. Succubath were once again employed to seduce kings, princes, lords, and even ladies, to take control over the kingdoms of man.
“Yes, my father and mother are both Shebath worshipers and I was sent to seduce the King of Talisaria, to have a dark child with him, but the old bastard cannot do the deed. So, I turned my attention to his son, Tythan, and seduced him several times, but no child yet.”
The Wizard began to laugh. He was amazed at how many Shebath worshipers there were and how they had infiltrated the highest ranks of the eight kingdoms. He smiled at her, but then his smile faded as he licked his lips in anticipation. “You belong to me,” he sneered.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Good.” It was as it should be.
***
Anne sat at her vanity with Ella standing behind her brushing out her long, reddish-gold hair. Anne was angry that the Wizard had escorted Ariana to supper. Was he considering replacing Anne with this northern queen?
“Can you believe the nerve of her?” she asked no one and Ella thought it best not to answer. “She’s after my crown!”
“Your crown?” Ella asked involuntarily, the words simply leaping from her lips.
“She wants to be empress,” Anne said. “She wants to marry Tamesis and take the crown he has promised to me.”
“She is already married to King Baltus,” Ella said attempting to placate Anne. “She is simply here on her husband’s behalf.”
Anne caught Ella’s eyes in the mirror. “Oh, my dear Ella,” she said, “you are so sweet and young and naive. Baltus is old and dying, she must have repeated that a hundred times at supper, driving her point home that she will be available again soon.” Anne then screamed a curse raising her hands high into the air. The outburst startled Ella and she leapt back allowing Anne’s hair to drop.
Anne turned to see Ella standing wide-eyed and frightened, her arms straight at her sides. She calmed herself and smiled, then held out her hand for the young princess. “Come,” she said softly. “It is alright.” Ella took her hand timidly and Anne pulled her back then spun so that Ella could continue brushing her hair. “It is so nice to have a proper lady to serve me,” Anne said. “You will be my lady-in-waiting when I am crowned empress, won’t you?” Anne asked.
Ella swallowed but managed to force a smile. “Of course,” she replied as she began to brush Anne’s hair again. She had never considered that she might be a lady-in-waiting. She was a princess, after all, betrothed to a crown prince. But there were worse fates, such as becoming dinner for drakmere.
“A queen-in-waiting,” Anne smiled. “My brother likes you, I can tell.” Ella brightened at this. Morgan was quite handsome, more rugged than Erec, but they actually favored each other a bit. “Perhaps this Ariana could be my other queen-in-waiting,” she spat. “But don’t worry, you will be my favorite. You may brush my hair, while she washes my feet.” The thought of Ariana made Anne’s expression turn to worry. “Unless I am washing her feet,” she gasped as the fear of losing the crown gripped her. “I must get rid of her, before Tamesis decides she is a better choice than I.”
Ella stared at her in the mirror and Anne noticed it. She was seeing Anne’s anger, it scared her and so she determined to stay on Anne’s good side, at least for the time being. She had seen the courtiers play the political game at her father’s castle and now she was going to have to play it in Avonvale for she knew this game might be life and death not only for her, but for Geoffrey as well.
“How could he choose anyone over you?” Ella asked as she stared at Anne’s reflection. “You are the most beautiful lady I have ever seen. He would be a fool to choose someone else—especially someone as old as this Ariana.”
Anne smiled and reached up, patting Ella’s hand. She had originally injected herself between the Wizard and Ella because she feared he had brought her to Avonvale to replace Anne, but now she had another woman to fear and her worries about Ella had faded away. She did genuinely like the girl and was quite serious when she asked if Ella would like to be her lady-in-waiting. Ella was very pretty and very smart, but she was young enough that Anne could mold her to become anything Anne wanted her to be. She would have to speak to her brother soon about a marriage. Then she would just need to eliminate this Ariana as a rival and all would be well.
Chapter 21
Duke Andrick sat in the back shadows of a dingy tavern near the outskirts of the city of Melveena, the capital of the Kingdom of Libetha. He sipped mash from a small brass cup and enjoyed the heat of the brown liquor as it flowed down his throat. Two men sat across the table from him—Lord Caepionis, King Warren’s closest adviser, and Oswin Astroff, an emissary from Beagonia.
It had always irritated Andrick that his buffoon of a brother, Warren, sat upon the throne simply because he was older. At forty, Andrick had no children and had never married. What was the point of heirs when they would simply be bowing and scraping before Warren’s bratty son, Amott?
Prince Amott was nineteen and the king’s eldest son. The King also had a young bastard of six that he and the Queen had graciously adopted and two daughters.
Within days, Amott would be traveling south to deliver the family’s Dracenstone to Dracengard. Lor
d Caepionis had advised the King against such a strategy. “We should ally with the Wizard,” Caepionis had counseled. “He has taken Beagonia to our east and the Stromland to our south. If I know King Baltus, he has already negotiated a secret alliance for Talisaria and, thus, our west will be friendly to the Wizard as well. That leaves Caerwynspire as the only friend on our borders should we defy the Wizard. Artur will use us as a buffer to protect his own kingdom. The battles will be fought here instead of Caerwynspire and even if we win our lands shall be destroyed.”
The King considered this advice, mulling it over for several days. He consulted his wife, son, and other lords. He did not consult Andrick. After a time, the King made up his mind to send Amott to Dracengard. “We must do all we can to defeat this madman who would be emperor,” the King had told Caepionis.
Caepionis had always been loyal to his King, but now he realized that perhaps what Andrick had been whispering into his ear all of these years might be true—the King was not a wise one.
Caepionis had sought out the emissary from Beagonia in an effort to make peace and determine a way to save Libetha from invasion. He and Oswin hatched a treacherous plot, but they needed one other person to effectuate it. Thus, they met Duke Andrick in a dark tavern, huddled in the shadows to explain their strategy.
The Duke continued to sip his mash, a little bit of the brown liquid dribbling down his stubbled chin before he wiped it away with the sleeve of his gray tunic. He watched the two men attentively as they laid out their plan.
“It is simple,” Caepionis explained. “Master Oswin has assured me that should you deliver the Dracenstone to the Wizard and swear fealty to him, the Wizard shall support you as king and our kingdom may escape the hell that beset the Stromland.”
“But how am I to get the stone?” Andrick asked before taking another sip of mash.
Caepionis looked at Oswin and then back to Andrick. “The King intends to send Amott south with the stone to Dracengard against my advice. If Amott were to die between now and then, someone else would need to take it. You could volunteer to take it yourself, Your Grace.”
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