His memories of the former queen were just as vivid now as when he had been an eight-year-old boy, and he never forgot his visits to Uncle Alano and Aunt Elyse. She was always presenting him with small gifts and was never too busy to admire the latest addition to his butterfly collection. And although he had been too young back then to understand the nature of her kindness, she had left him with a lasting impression of what a good monarch should be—thoughtful, kind and respectful of everyone no matter their station in life. In hindsight, he concluded that the queen’s loving attention toward him had been based upon the selfless desire for her future son-in-law to be the recipient of a healthy diet of love and respect. Not that he did not receive it from his own parents, but Queen Elyse saw it as an extra measure to help mold her daughter’s future husband and thereby increase the chances of happiness in their marriage. It was just one more thing that had made Marisa’s mother not only a special queen, but an incredible woman as well.
He straightened up in the saddle, suddenly remembering where he was and what they were doing. One of the typical by-products of marching into battle was the overabundance of time it provided for a man to ponder every facet of his life.
As dawn broke over the horizon, the company reached the high stone wall surrounding the village of Andrésis and entered through the main gate. The shops were still closed at the early hour, but the few merchants already hustling about stopped to watch the impressive assortment of knights, men and horses parading through town on their way to Abbadon.
The black-bricked houses with their green-glazed roofs were always a welcoming and friendly sight, and as they passed the Blue Boar Inn, Darian smiled to himself as he remembered the last time he had been there with Marisa and Arrie.
She had been so disoriented by her trip through the vortex that she had run into the street and splashed her face with water from the trough, trying to convince herself that it was all a dream. He smiled, remembering how hard he had tried to conceal his amusement at her drowned-mouse appearance and confusion. Then later that night, he had sat quietly listening to Arrie and Marisa’s dinner conversation, fascinated by her endearing accent and fiery wit. It seemed so long ago now, and he could scarcely believe that it had been nearly three months since they had first met.
When the last man at the rear of the formation exited the village’s main street with its shops, stables and houses, the company entered the open, rolling countryside once again. They traveled a few more miles northeast of the village before Darian finally ordered the men to stop and rest for a while.
They set up temporary campsites with fire pits where they could prepare warm meals and fight off the unrelenting cold. The men settled in eagerly, cooking breakfast and warming themselves by the fire as they chatted, keeping the subject of battle a safe distance away. When a collective wave of exhaustion seemed to settle over the camp, nearly every single man laid down on his mat to sleep. Since most had been called into action on such short notice, they had not been given ample time to prepare both physically and mentally for the journey.
“Your Highness, how long do you wish to remain here?” Lord Ennio asked, interrupting Darian’s thoughts.
“Let us give the men ample time to rest.” He shook out his mat and laid it on the ground. “We shall move out again at ten o’clock. That gives us just a little over four hours.”
“Very good, Your Highness,” Lord Ennio answered, nodding before heading over to a nearby campfire.
Darian stretched out, his eyelids drooping from exhaustion. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he prayed for Marisa’s safety one more time.
Marisa and Adalina stopped in their tracks as the figure approached them. “Your Highnesses, hurry! Come with me!”
Marisa squinted in the darkness at the man’s silhouette but she couldn’t make out his face. “Who is that?” she whispered, exchanging puzzled glances with Adalina.
“It’s me! Celino! Hurry before someone spots you!”
“Celino?” she asked weakly. A wave of relief washed over her.
“Come quickly,” he whispered, motioning for them to follow.
They ducked off the nearly deserted main road into an alley behind a long row of houses. Marisa began to speak, but Celino quickly shushed her.
“Shhh, the stones here have ears. Let’s get you both to safety and then we’ll talk.”
Marisa and Adalina followed him down the narrow cobblestone alley where he stopped to help them climb over a six-foot wooden fence. Marisa immediately recognized Celino’s postage-stamp courtyard at the rear of his modest house.
He opened the back door and led them down the corridor, each of the rooms appearing just as messy and chaotic as she remembered.
They entered the cozy library where he tossed some books off a chair. “Make yourselves comfortable. You’ll be safe here.”
“Shouldn’t we find a place to hide?” Marisa asked.
He shook his head. “No need. When they finally do get around to searching the city, I’ve got the perfect place to hide.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” she said, removing the dagger that had been strapped to her thigh and gently placed it on the side table. “You’ve saved our lives. We could have been killed.”
He waved a hand to dismiss it. “A man does what he can.”
“Yes, thank you, Celino,” Adalina said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “We are very grateful!”
His face turned beet red. “Aw shucks, you two young women are worth saving any day.” He shooed her away. “I finally upped and fired my housekeeper, Stella, so I’ll make us some tea.” He hurried into the kitchen across the hallway and set a pot of water on the fire.
Waiting for it to boil, he returned to the library where Marisa surveyed the tall bookshelves crammed with what seemed to be thousands of books. “I like to read,” he said, grinning apologetically.
“I always love browsing your collection,” Adalina said, running a dainty finger across the leather spines. “Do you have a suggestion for me?”
“Of course I do.” Celino’s eyes twinkled as he grabbed his reading glasses from the table and slipped them on. He walked over to the ladder and climbed up it halfway, leaning out to pull a blue book off the shelf. “Little Women. It’s perfect for you, my dear.” He climbed back down and handed it to Adalina, smiling at her.
Marisa stared at them. “Hello? We’re being hunted by a homicidal maniac and you’re giving her book suggestions?”
He shook his head. “Oh, yes, sorry. I get easily sidetracked.”
“Sorry,” Adalina whispered.
“How did you know we were in trouble?”
He removed his glasses, folding them neatly. “Well, I dreamt that I was standing in the middle of the road and there were hundreds of horses galloping past me. All of a sudden I woke up, but the sound of horses’ hooves kept getting louder.
“As you can see,” he said, pointing to the window, “my house overlooks the main road that leads up to the citadel. When I looked outside, I saw the army of warriors and weapons advancing toward the castle. You don’t exactly have to be a rocket scientist—what I am, technically speaking—to guess what a group that size entering the city this time of the morning could mean. Hang on just a minute.”
He jumped up and ran to the kitchen to check on the water. When he saw that it wasn’t boiling yet, he returned and continued.
“I waited until all the warriors had passed by before I snuck outside and hurried up to the gate. When I spotted the dead sentries at the entrance, I knew it wasn’t good. Then I saw the two of you running into the tunnel. That was a dangerous thing you did, but very bold. I like women with moxie,” he said, grinning.
“Celino, later that night after the party, Savino’s men led a surprise attack on Castle Beauriél,” Marisa explained. “They killed most of the guards and kidnapped Mark, my uncle and Eman. I was the only one who managed to get away.”
“Do you know where they’ve taken them?” he asked.
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“We first thought that they were being taken to Abbadon. Darian left yesterday with the Crimson Knights and a thousand men to go bring them back, but we just saw Mark, my uncle and Eman being offloaded here, at the citadel.”
“So who’s defending the castle?”
“That’s just it—no one. Savino’s warriors slaughtered most of the guards at the citadel, but Darian’s mother, Aunt Cinzia, Arrie and some of the others are still inside.”
“Well, that wasn’t very smart of him now, was it?”
“Smart of who?”
“Your beloved.”
She shrugged. “Darian has been known to act rashly sometimes. He doesn’t always think things through.”
“Let’s have a cup of tea first,” Celino said. “That always helps me to think better when I want to sort things out.”
As he returned to the kitchen to prepare the tea, Marisa noticed a glint of worry in Adalina’s eyes. She wondered how much she had ever been out in the real world.
“Your Highnesses! Come quickly!”
They hurried into the front room where Celino was hiding behind the drapes and peering into the street.
“Look outside, but mind you—stay out of sight!”
Peeking through the gap in the drape, Marisa spotted the royal carriage as it rolled up the hill toward them. When she saw Savino’s stony expression staring through the window as he passed the house, she gasped and dropped out of sight. She peeked out a few seconds later, watching the carriage disappear under the rampart tunnel. “Savino’s here?”
“I told you he was probably in the area,” Adalina said, her voice fraught with worry. “Whatever shall we do?”
“With the Crocine guard force wiped out and Prince Darian gone to Abbadon with the rest, we’re gonna have to find help somewhere else,” Celino said.
“But who?” Marisa asked. “All the Crimson Knights have gone with Darian.”
“Why don’t we go find him?” Adalina suggested. “We could try to catch up with him and let him know what has happened.”
“No,” Celino said. “It’s a trap.”
CHAPTER 19
AMBROGIA
“A trap?” Marisa echoed. “What do you mean?”
“Classic military strategy,” he answered. “Savino is using Mark and the others to lure Darian to Abbadon, but it’s all just a diversion. While your beloved and the bulk of the Crimson Knights are on their way to attack a deserted castle, Savino moves in and conquers an empty castle.”
“But he knows Darian will turn right around and come back. What’s the point?”
“Savino must be planning something else.”
“Like what?”
Celino’s face was somber as he tried to think of a reason. Finally he looked at her and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“So what’s our next move?” Marisa asked. “Should we try to go find Darian like Adalina suggested?”
“No, too risky. If my hunch is correct and Savino plans to crown himself king, then neither of you is safe here in the city. We’ve got to get you both out.”
“But I can’t leave now,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s holding my family hostage up there. I can’t just sneak off and let someone else clean up this mess. Now let’s put our heads together and come up with a plan.”
“With all due respect, Your Highness, you need to look at this in a practical sense. While I admire your dedication to your family, the three of us against hundreds of Savino’s warriors is suicide. If you were to march into that castle right now, you’d be captured and killed faster than you can say abracadabra.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “I could prance on in there wearing nothing but my underwear and no one would even notice.” She smiled mischievously. “Well, maybe a few people would notice.”
“What are you talking about?” Adalina asked.
“Remember this?” She lifted the glowing jewel from under her bodice, dangling it high for them to see. “This little stone helped me escape from Savino’s warriors at Castle Beauriél. It’s got some sort of divine power that acts like a cloaking device. I bet I could walk right into the castle, and nobody would even notice.”
“How does it work?”
“I’m not really sure, but Eman told me that night at the party that ‘Those with an impure heart shall be blinded by your presence.’ Three different warriors looked right at me last night, and none of them could see me.”
“But are you certain it will work with Savino?”
“Are you kidding? He’s got the most impure heart of anyone I know.”
“Wait a minute,” Celino said, snapping his fingers. “That’s right. At your party Eman mentioned something about the amulet being a shard of the Ambrogia stone. I’ve got a book about it here somewhere.” He climbed a stepladder to the highest shelf.
Tracing his finger across a series of ancient books on the history of Carnelia, his finger stopped on the one he was looking for. He pulled it out and blew off a layer of dust as he climbed down the ladder.
Opening the book on the table, he flipped impatiently to find the exact passage he was looking for. When he found it, he read it to them out loud:
The Ambrogia Stone was the most sacred gem in the temple through which Garon communicated to the priests in the early days of the city. The intense purple color of the stone signified its divine nature and was utilized by the priests to discern the will of Garon to his people. No other stone or gem like it has ever been found in Carnelia, further reinforcing the notion that its origins are divine in nature.
Although no firsthand drawings or depictions of the original stone are known to have survived, traditional belief holds that an ancient prophecy was engraved on the base stone:
‘When the temperate flower has split the indomitable rock with a single blow, the Defender will appear in the hearts of the true believers.’
According to legend, the ancient stone cracked and splintered when Garon unleashed his anger on the priests and the people of Ambrogia for their rebellion. The fate of the precious shards of the stone remains a mystery, although some have suggested that some of its pieces still remain in existence. They are believed to carry mystical, divine powers and remain highly sought after even to this day.
Celino removed his glasses. “Well, that would explain how you were able to get away without Savino’s men seeing you. In fact, a few geologist friends of mine would probably give their right arm to get their hands on just a tiny splinter of that stone.”
Marisa gazed down at her ring. “My uncle told me that the Ambrogia stone doesn’t even exist on Earth. This stone was just an average diamond when my dad first gave it to me. But now it’s purple-colored, and its light is pulsing faster than it was a few weeks ago.”
He crossed his arms, thinking. “You know, it is quite possible that the molecular structure of crystals, gems and other precious metals might shift if they were to pass from one dimension to another.”
“What do you mean?”
“Simply that metals and gems that appear one way here might appear differently in another dimension, namely Earth.”
Marisa laughed. “What are you saying? That lead from Earth transforms into gold in Carnelia?”
“Not necessarily…” he trailed off. “Anyway, it’s just a theory. But what an interesting concept.”
“Why?”
“Well, what if all the diamonds we’ve ever seen in the jewelry shop windows back home are not actually diamonds, but misplaced Ambrogia stones?”
“Then the Carnelian people would be clamoring in droves to get to Earth.”
He dismissed it with a wave. “Anyway, this would make for a nice rainy day discussion, but right now we need to focus on what we’re going do next.”
“Right,” she said. “We need to know what Savino is up to.”
“How do we do that?” Adalina asked.
“I can sneak back into the castle and see what I can learn,” Marisa said. “If this thing really w
orks, I should be able to get in and back out again undetected.”
“Well, I suppose it’s your call, Princess,” Celino answered. “But then Adalina stays with me.” He set the book down on the table, motioning to them. “Come with me. I want to show you two something.” He walked down to the kitchen and stopped in front of a small pantry. With great flourish, he shoved the curtains aside, motioning to the cupboard filled with bread and cheese.
“Ta—da!”
Marisa and Adalina stared at the food on the shelf, exchanging puzzled glances. “Uh, you have a neatly-stocked kitchen,” Marisa said dryly.
“To the person who doesn’t know better, yes!”
He lit a candle and felt for a small latch underneath the lowest plank and slid it aside. The wall of shelves opened inwards, revealing a hidden stairway. “Enter, ladies.”
The three of them descended the stairs into a cool, dark cellar. The large, vaulted chamber reminded Marisa of a bomb shelter, complete with a sitting area, three large beds and a sink with cupboards.
“This used to be an old wine cellar, but with the amount of wine I drink, I thought I’d make better use of this space,” he said, knocking a cobweb down with his hand. “Nobody knows about it, not even my ex-housekeeper. If anyone came to search the house, chances are they wouldn’t find it. The only way in or out is that door from the kitchen.”
“This is perfect!” Marisa exclaimed. “Adalina will be safe here until we can get her out.”
“That’s the whole idea.”
Her eyes traced the wall behind the sitting area. “What’s behind that door?”
Celino grinned at her. “That, my dears, is my secret laboratory.”
“Really?”
“Really. But I’ll have to show that to you another time. Right now we’ve got work to do.” He led them back up the stairs and shut the pantry door.
The Carnelian Tyranny: Savino’s Revenge Page 17