A smile finally came across the little man’s face again and Russell took Lizeria for a walk to leave the lovers alone. He hoped some time with his girl would brighten the Imp’s mood. They returned to find Shireez asleep. Dragon-Eyes sat by the fire, inspecting the map. Russell and Lizeria joined the Imp, who shared the map with them.
“We need to pick up our pace if we want to make it to the Black Stone on time,” Dragon-Eyes warned. “How does the mapmaker know when we obtained the map?” Russell had to know. “He or she doesn’t. Sometimes you just have to believe, Russell Seabrook. I have believed before, sure, and I always came up empty. Yet I know in my old bones the day will come when I can see that sparkly pearl. Fate may have intervened to put the map in our hands at the exact right time. Tuxgang asked for me before he even knew I was coming to the Main Island. We got the map only minutes before the attackers showed up,” Dragon-Eyes argued.
“We did. And it has already cost Tuxgang, his caregiver, Remfield and Dalta their lives. You don’t seem to be very concerned about them,” Russell countered. “I am very concerned and deeply saddened. The only way to avenge their deaths is to continue the quest. Do you think they would want us to give up? If I should happen to die, I would hope you press on in my honor. Many people are going to die on this journey, as I have warned you. It may even be you. Pearl hunters assume a risk most men try to avoid at any cost. Everyone knows the dangers involved. If we should go on to defend the earth from Damian Doome, they will not have died in vain,” the Imp promised.
LEIMUR
The Queen of Goldenfield prepared to leave for the hunt. She hopped up on her horse, Marius, as General Rigby pleaded with her. “Please, my Queen, don’t do this. Think this through. You refused my counsel once and experienced dire results. Don’t deafen your ears to my words again.”
Pippen Mallory reassured the General with a smile and spoke, “Not to worry, general, everything will be just fine.” Leimur looked down as she approached the General and said, “I cherish nothing more than your wise counsel, but this is family. I will always give my own family the benefit of the doubt.”
Her uncle Marcel got on his black courser with three of his loyal lords surrounding him. Seventeen guards on horseback also trotted around the outer bailey with fifteen hounds sniffing around. Leimur shouted to Marcel, “Uncle, why don’t you go ahead with your lords and the hounds. I will follow with your guard after I retrieve something I forgot from the palace.” Marcel Leluc seemed surprised and slowly said, “Alright, we will see you shortly.” He whispered something to a few of his guards before heeling the horse and speeding off toward the Royal Forest. The guards were employed by Pippen Mallory and her uncle. They had been working for the past five days to set up a perfect hunt. That seemed like too much planning for a simple hunt to Leimur. She preferred to hunt wild animals without the aid of hounds and guards to direct the game into range. Instead of going to the palace, Leimur talked to the members of the guard for several minutes after Lord Pippen and the General had left. She trotted off with the men and after a leisurely twenty-minute ride, she arrived in the Royal Forest. They found her uncle and his men already at the makeshift breakfast table.
Everyone stood up and bowed before sitting down with the Queen. Cheeses, sausages, peaches, oranges and fire-roasted wild boar graced the table. Leimur had a nice sampling of everything as the five hungry hunters attacked the food. Marcel laid out the plan and his guards left to trap some game.
“It brightens my heart to reunite the divided Leluc family,” Marcel said. Ha, you have a heart?
“Yes uncle, it seems you were a victim of happenstance. Guilt by association isn’t a crime in this kingdom,” Leimur stated. “The only chance for a successful Goldenfield is for the Lelucs to promote peace throughout the realm,” Lord Tanner Lodgkin said.
Leimur studied her uncle as the party got up from the table. Marcel was a short, plump man who thoroughly enjoyed the spoils of being a member of the royal family without bearing sacrifice. Marcel had dark skin, thick black hair and bushy eyebrows that connected above his nose. Leimur still couldn’t believe he used to have sex with her mother as her father sat in his solitary room.
“When was your last hunt, uncle?” Leimur asked. “It’s been quite a while. I’ve had too many matters going on to even give thought to a hunt. I take that it has been some time for you unless you hunted on the border. I remember your father took you on a few hunts. Most kings would never take a girl on a hunt,” Marcel answered. Most kings wouldn’t order the death of their daughter either.
“A few, yes. Even when I went on hunts with my father, he only let me collect the stray arrows. He wouldn’t let me hold a weapon,” Leimur remembered. “Yes, I hate to have to tell you, but your father wanted you to be a male heir. He resented you for not being the boy he had his hopes staked upon, and failed pregnancies with your mother furthered his angst toward you. Your mother, on the other hand, resented you for not being the princess she had envisioned. Even with all that, did you really have to kill them?” I should have killed you right then and there with my mother and father. I would have been done with all this.
Leimur became angry and immediately answered, “Yes, I had to. I didn’t kill them for my own purpose. I saved our kingdom from doom while you slept with your sister by wedlock. My parents took an oath to defend Goldenfield’s laws and regulations and broke those principles on a daily basis. I had to save my family name before they destroyed it.” “What about exile?” Marcel wondered aloud. “I will always punish treason with death, even among my own family,” she said staring down at the smaller man.
“How did you obtain so much worldly knowledge in only twenty years?” Marcel smartly asked. “Don’t be a jester, uncle, or I will surely make you one,” she returned. “Oh now, where is the respect for your elderly uncle?” he smiled. The Queen didn’t return the pleasant look and stated firmly, “Respect died the day I found you in bed with my mother, committing adultery with your queen and brother’s wife. You forfeited all the respect I had given you my entire life.” Leimur heard rustling in the surrounding brush but couldn’t see if it was the guards or animals. She saw a patch of purple and red zinnias, some eaten by the deer. They reminded the Queen of her red-headed fox, waiting back at the palace.
“You speak so rough and tough. If the crown were on my head, as it should be by law, I’m not so certain you would be this cocky,” Marcel smiled again. Her uncle continued, “You may know war, but you forgot to learn deception in the Capitol. What if I said you could die just from me using this?” he picked up the bullhorn hanging from his neck.
“I would advise you from experience that it takes a mighty effort to bludgeon someone to death with that small a horn. You think I don’t know your plan? The man who thinks himself wiser than all others is oft the biggest fool. Let me teach you something, my elderly uncle. I know you would like to rule our realm by terror but you haven’t a full understanding of the matter. To rule through terror, the people must truly fear you. Fear comes from actions, not words or bull horns,” she snidely remarked.
“How is this for action, you little bitch?” asked Marcel as he blew into the bull horn. A bellow rang through the Royal Forest. The seventeen guards showed up quickly with longbows half drawn. Leimur looked at her uncle and his lord friends and they were all smiling. She didn’t blink. Every guard had his sights set on Leimur Leluc, reigning Queen of Goldenfield. Leimur didn’t move, she only looked confidently into the guards’ eyes.
“Loose, loose, you cretins,” screamed Marcel as he jumped around. All the guards released their tension and lowered their longbows. “What are you doing? Kill her, kill her,” Marcel frantically screamed.
“Here is action, uncle. Kill the lords,” Leimur commanded. Within a heartbeat, all three men fell with mortal arrow wounds. Primal yelping came from the three until death silenced the men and their scrabbling sounds in the fallen leaves. Marcel tried to run, but one of his former guards sliced through his c
alf flesh and bone, separating the lower half of his leg from his body. Her uncle fell, screaming in agonizing pain. “My Queen, would you like the honors?” asked the guard named Rogaro, extending his bloody sword.
“This stupid man isn’t worth my effort. You may kill him with steel,” Leimur stated. Three other guards pulled their swords and surrounded Marcel. He hopelessly tried to crawl away, wishing the Gods would miraculously save him. Four blades collided and clanked inside the chest of Marcel Leluc. His whore-like moaning ceased and the men removed their blood-ridden swords. The thin veneer of boiled leather didn’t stand a chance against the ice-hardened steel. The killers wiped their blades clean and put them back in their scabbards.
“Bring the bodies back and feed them to the tigers. Then meet me back at the palace to set a day to knight every man who honored his crown over bribery today.” Leimur took one last look at the mess that was her uncle Marcel. Death is part of life. Did he really think he could outsmart me? Being older means nothing if you drink and whore away while not learning. How do I explain this to Huber? He is surely going to hear about it.
She headed back to the Royal Palace and General Rigby greeted the Queen on the palace steps. “Where is he?” Leimur asked. The general pointed up, “On the roof.” The Queen and her general moved quickly up the spiral staircase and to the top of the palace. “Untie his hands,” she yelled, emerging on the roof. Her council and top military advisors were in attendance. Two guards untied the man’s hands as Leimur rapidly approached. He pleaded, “My Queen, it was all Marcel, I swear.”
Leimur threw a straight right fist and flattened Pippen Mallory. She connected to the bridge of his nose and a flood of red liquid spurted out. Leimur stood over him and said, “I’ll tell you too, the man who thinks himself to be wisest is oft the biggest fool. The people you had bribed to kill the general and me were directly sent by us. And you thought fancy, little Marcel would return with my head?” She shook her head in disgust at her once highly trusted, hand-picked advisor. “All this so you could add to your precious piles of gold. That’s what everything is about, right? The general and I played you like a trumpet, or bull horn shall we say.” Leimur looked over the crowd and spoke loudly, “This is what happens when…” she stopped on spotting a tiny member of the audience. Huber Leluc stood next to Captain Salina.
“What is my brother doing here? Someone take him out of here this instance,” she yelled. Everyone stood frozen in shock until Leimur started to walk over with a fierce look. Captain Salina grabbed the four-year-old’s hand and led him into the palace. She quickly turned her attention back to Lord Pippen. He had staggered back onto his feet. The Tiger Queen rushed him and seized his throat. She got both hands around his thick neck and squeezed. Pippen began flopping around and scraping his fingers at Leimur. He tried to gouge her eyes out, but she bit off a chunk of flesh from his palm with her sharpened teeth. Screams of pain from the bite were muffled by the choking. His head turned dark purple and the man’s eyes bulged, ready to pop out. He dropped to his knees, but Leimur maintained her hold. He shook violently, slapping his hands at Leimur’s grip before going completely still. The Queen released her hold and the traitor fell dead. She turned back to her advisors and spoke, “This is what happens to traitors. The wage of treason is death in this realm. Plot against me and I will kill you with my bare hands. I want my council to take the body over to the pits and feed him to my tigers. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that I am sleeping on the throne like my parents. Take a close, hard look at whether the risk was worth it for Lord Mallory, the late Lord Mallory, as it stands.”
Within two days, all of the implicated conspirators had been rounded up. Leimur filled the fighting pits with one thousand people to witness her tigers chase and kill the twenty-seven traitors. Leimur had starved the tigers for two days before the event. She wanted as many citizens as possible to see what happened to those who committed treasonous acts. She immediately sent out the town criers to spread the news to all the public. My mother, father and uncle. Is Huber plotting my murder, too?
Later that night, Leimur and Ali-Tiste cuddled in bed after a rousing love-making session. Leimur really liked the fugitive Wamhoff woman having become accustomed to her soft kisses and warm, hazel eyes. “I think you and the boys may like the camp setting of a battle area,” Leimur said. “Not one of our boys is even five yet. We cannot take them into battle. This palace is the safest place for them right now. I will stay and watch over all the boys. I will bring them to visit if I can,” Ali-Tiste promised.
“You’re going to turn your back on me already, I can see,” a salty Leimur remarked. “I’m not turning my back on you. You and the boys are the only things that bring me joy in this world. When I see you, the air of life rushes into me and lifts me up. Those purple eyes and deceivingly soft lips…” said Ali-Tiste as she planted a sweet kiss on her lover.
“It isn’t really that dangerous. We will keep you in the rear and if the battle ever gets bad you can retreat easily. Even Huber at only four needs to see a battle site. He is going to be king. He will command these men someday and loyalty can be ingrained early with gestures like these,” Leimur argued. “Four. Four years old. Stop and listen to yourself. Take away the responsibility of being a king and just let him be a boy until at least seven. He will have all the burdens of a kingdom soon enough. Don’t start now. Teach him, but don’t scare the boy, it’s unfair. You weren’t groomed to be Queen at the age of four and you have done quite fine,” Ali-Tiste said as she kissed her again while caressing Leimur’s cheek and chin.
“I hate to admit this, but you are right. I will keep Huber in the Capitol with you when I leave. I will insist on a visit, however. I better not hear rumors of you nestled up with some knight or young hand maiden,” Leimur joked. “I would never do that to my tigress,” said Ali-Tiste as she got on top of the Queen and kissed her seductively all over her body.
This was Leimur Leluc’s first relationship since her ill-fated wedding. Against her will, Leimur’s parents had set a marriage pact with House Lindley. They were the wealthiest family in Goldenfield and offered their son, Neely. The money hungry King Pascal eagerly accepted and ordered his daughter to mind her duty. The night of the wedding, Leimur pleaded with Neely to wait to have sex and he surprisingly agreed. He kept making her finish glasses of wine until the sixteen-year-old was thoroughly drunk. Leimur woke up the next day to find not only had Neely broken his promise, he hadn’t even waited for her to wake up. Leimur pushed herself away, grabbed a dagger from the table and made quick work of the rapist. Soon after, her parents sent her away to war and she never trusted a man in a sexual situation again. She had a few encounters with Tolaya over the years, but her handmaid just lay there with little response when she pleasured her. Leimur loved it when Ali-Tiste reacted wildly to her advances.
She also had a kindred love for the runaway princess whose father had tried to kill her too. They shared many similarities despite the tremendous size and strength difference. The Queen surrendered her trust to Ali-Tiste and her lover returned it daily. She even felt her spirits rising since she had met the Wamhoff woman. A softer side Leimur always possessed came to the surface under the influence of her new lover.
Ali-Tiste Wamhoff Burke had confided in the Queen about her physically abusive husband. The former duke had even abused their daughters. Ali-Tiste had told Leimur that she feared her other daughter, Telly, was dead. The Duchess had looked all over the castle for her before escaping to Goldenfield. They shared complicated pasts with their ex-husbands.
Leimur’s nightmares involving Neely had stopped since they started sharing a bed. She had always tried to mentally block the memory and Leimur never considered it her first kill. She saw the act as justice and didn’t like to mention the matter. At the time, Leimur hated her parents for sending her away but now realized it had molded her into the strong woman she had become. She always likened herself to steel for a sword. Before the weapon can kill on the battl
efield, the metal must meld in a fire for many hours to make it strong. Leimur felt like she had been through a personal fire and now was her time to reap the rewards. Everyone who tried to stand in her way had found out the hard way that Leimur Leluc stood for upholding the laws of Goldenfield over family allegiance. The realm had suffered through several dirty rulers until the purely honorable and justice-driven Queen Leimur took over.
The next day, Leimur woke up later than usual and felt ill. Her stomach cramped and she had cold sweats. The Queen broke her fast with Ali-Tiste and the boys before going to the council meeting. Everyone stood up and greeted Leimur upon entering.
She spoke to the group through a pounding headache, “Pippen Mallory has stepped down from his position, if you haven’t heard, and Lord Trion Pentuch will be replacing him. The Kingdom of Goldenfield has come into a great treasure recently, all thanks to our future king. To show that I am a Queen who shares spoils, I will be tripling everyone’s salaries.” Everyone’s eyebrows rose in delight and wide smiles followed as the members of the council happily looked around at each other. Leimur continued, “The take from the burial site is still ongoing and our treasury reserve is well stocked once again. We have paid off all our creditors, foreign and domestic. We are truly self-sufficient again. I’m glad I dropped the idea to put base metals into our gold rounds. It’s hard to believe that a four-year-old has solved our financial problems, but the future king is off to a great start.” The boy acts like a king already and I will prepare him to rule like a true Leluc.
The council humbly thanked the Queen for her generosity. Leimur had always shared with those who helped her. “If you cannot tell, I am bribing all of you because I will be leaving to send the rulers of Donegal back to the Androsi Isles. I will need the council to rule in my stead.”
Fractured Families (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 2) Page 32