Kingdom of Refuge (Gemstone Royals Book 1)

by Kelly A. Purcell

  She grabbed his arm and looked up into his eyes.

  "Then let us get to know each other," she smirked gesturing to the crowded dance floor.

  Deswald chuckled dryly, weighing his options. If he refused to dance, she might grow suspicious and that was the last thing he wanted. He reached down and touched his bare waist, he could not carry his trusty sword with him and instead had carried his new dagger now latched beneath his overcoat. He looked down at the plate in his hand and before he could answer, she boldly snatched it from him and placed on the table.

  “Now you have no excuse.”

  "Sure," he replied finally, extending his elbow.

  The girl giggled, "ohh such a gentleman."

  Deswald danced skilfully with his feather faced companion all the while plotting how he was to get away from her without raising any alarms.

  "Where are you from?" she asked as he twirled her.

  "From a city on the coast, I am a merchant," he replied, avoiding her beady eyes.

  “Really, you are way too handsome to be one of those slimy merchants,” she ran a hand along his stomach, “and missing a few extra pounds right about here,” she giggled.

  Deswald smiled tightly, “you are right. My father is the merchant, but…”

  “You thought you would take his place tonight and get a taste of one of the prince’s exclusive parties. So sweet," she crooned, drawing closer to him and running her arms across his shoulders.

  "Ohh and so strong too."

  Deswald stiffened, he had never been so close to a woman before. He reached up and drew her hands from his shoulders.

  "Thank you," he said “but I have not seen the prince.”

  She chuckled, "the prince always comes towards the end. He likes to make an entrance,” she pressed herself against him, causing Deswald to draw back.

  “Why so uptight?" she inquired, "here."

  She took his hand and pressed into the palm of his hand what looked like a jelly like candy. Deswald remembered Stiller's warning and forced a smile and he closed his hand over it.

  "Thank you, I really do need to relax," he said, pretending to toss the sweet into his mouth.

  The girl grinned, "anytime handsome."

  Deswald resumed dancing, the rhythmic drumming changed its pace, encouraging the patrons to dance in a freer fashion, Deswald was grateful for it. This way she would have no reason to sidle up to him as she was doing before. He twirled her outward while scanning the room for his best exit route.

  "So, tell me I hear the prince has had a guest, is that true?"

  The girl twirled back into his arms, her hips sashaying with unladylike allure. Deswald averted his eyes, their way of dancing here was so distracting, he thought.

  "Oh yes," she said breathlessly, "I hear she is a princess, people are saying they are to be wed."

  "Oh really?"

  "Aye," she replied, turning this way and that, "it is not a new thing for the prince to choose a wife during the annual feast. We are still waiting for him to get to the marrying part though. But now that he is to be crown king, I expect this mysterious princess might be the one."

  "Oh yes of course. I have been out of touch with things for quite a while. Whatever happened to the... last one?" he asked trying to appear casual.

  She gave him a hard shove, Deswald's eyes grew wide as he fell backwards into a sea of cushions.

  The girl giggled, "you did not see that coming did you handsome?"

  Deswald tried to smile, but it was clear to him that he was way out of his element now and it would not be long before his cover would be blown.

  CHAPTER 23

  The king stepped from the meeting hall, where he had once again met with with his grim-faced officials, who were now dispersing before him. He met his oldest child, Pearl in the hallway, her expression unreadable.

  "Are the girls ready?"

  "Yes father, the governor of the south arrived late this evening their troops have joined the general to be briefed. We have also received word from the king of Tyattar, they have returned to their kingdom safely and are ready to assist us in any way."

  "Very good. The council does not like the idea of marching on Dravia, but they are outraged as well at the audacity of the prince. His infiltration of our walls with his dark magic has caused quite a concern among us."

  “But father no one else knows of his provocation, and even if we told them who would believe. Marching on them could cause a political stir as we would be in violation of our treaty and open us up to Dravia retaliation, and whoever else takes offense to our actions.”

  The king nodded, as they made their way to the dining hall, “you have always been knowledgeable of political matters my child. We can only pray that Jasper comes through before we have to cause a stir.”

  The King's other two daughters were waiting for him in the dining area, sitting stiffly before their dinner with plates untouched.

  "My beautiful girls," he greeted jovially, as he seated himself at the head of the table. Pearl sat next to him facing her burly husband and lifted her eyes to Topaz sitting next to him. She could see the same apprehension reflected in her sister’s gold flecked pools. Reeve, Pearl's husband and co-ruler of the North Territory, wore his usual good-natured smile but it barely reached his soft brown eyes. The tension across the table was thick and tasteless.

  The King cleared his throat, "it always brings joy to my heart to see you all gathered together but today our hearts are heavy because one of us is not here. And all of you know it is because of her own choosing."

  Topaz lowered her gaze to look at her twiddling thumbs on her lap.

  "Regardless, Ruby is my daughter and I know that her actions stemmed from doubting that fact. So today I want to make something clear to each of you," his eyes went from Topaz to fidgeting Diamond.

  "Your mother and I loved each of you unconditionally and we made it our duty to grow you up knowing that you belong and teaching you to always look out for each other, regardless of your differences. Your mother is gone but her dreams and hopes for you all still lives on, with each one of us, and I will do all in my power to ensure that none of you are lost."

  His eyes went to Pearl now, "You all know Ruby’s circumstances, she was born of a different mother and father to the rest of you and we have all guarded that fact since we have known her. She belongs here with us, as part of this family but Ruby is on a journey, a journey of discovery, that I pray leads her to an acceptance of who she is. But this journey has somehow made a wrong turn into danger. Now, I am her father and it is my duty to ensure that she is safe. We set out to march against Dravia tomorrow, if your brother is successful there may be no battle and the prince of Dravia will have some time to live with the reality that my patience runs thin. I am personally going out to the border to overseer things there, now that Jasper is gone. In the meantime, the kingdom of Aldor is in your capable hands..."

  "Uh father," Topaz leaned forward, the king raised a brow at her interruption.

  "What is it Topaz?"

  She glanced up at Pearl who gave her an encouraging smile, "I would like to go with you."

  The king leaned back slightly, "Topaz," he started.

  "Please, I am excellent at my sparring, ask Jasper!" She pleaded.

  The King's surprise melted into an understanding smile, "my child you are too young to go to battle. And the battle field is no place for a young lady."

  "I know but... I have to do something," she looked about the table at the knowing gazes of her older sisters.

  "I could have stopped all of this. I saw what was going on with Ruby, I knew she was unhappy, but I did nothing. I was selfish then, but I want to do something now."

  "Topaz," Pearl started, "you know Ruby, nothing you could have done would have changed her mind."

  Her husband, Reeve, reached over and placed a large hand on the young girl's shoulder, like he was an extension of his wife. They looked like the most unlikely couple, he was big and tall with
a face as plain as the surface of a stone and she was a petite and rare beauty. Somehow, they had managed to look beyond the initial faults in their relationship and had become a model couple, a ruling team of the second strongest territory of all.

  Topaz bowed her head and her father smiled, "my brave girl," he crooned, "we will ride out together and you will stay at camp with Captain Mathis."

  She looked up excitedly, "really father?"

  The king nodded, pride shining in his eyes, "you will be the first to see your sister when she returns."

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Deswald continued to stare in disbelief at the emboldened woman who had audaciously climbed onto his lap, still chatting away as if it was the most common behaviour in the world.

  "Oh yes, his last betrothed. No one knows what happened to her, it is not our place you know what happens within the walls of the palace," she was saying.

  “Personally, I do not believe that the prince has any intention of sharing his power with anyone, and I doubt he is capable of love. Do you know what he does to anyone who crosses him? He takes away one of their senses. Do you know how many people in this kingdom are either blind, lame, dumb or deaf.”

  She shook her head, “when his brother was here he would save so many of us from his tyranny and cruelty. But now that he’s gone…”

  She sighed and turned her attention to Deswald’s pale face, “Oh what am I rambling on about. I am sure matters of the kingdom are the last thing on your mind right now. I will tell you what, for fifty silver pieces, I will make it worth your night.”

  Deswald's eyes went round with panic, as she trailed her hand along his chest to the area where his dagger was hidden. "Wait!" he shouted, lifting her easily off him.

  "I am sorry," he said, "but I cannot."

  She looked at him quizzically, "excuse me?"

  "Look, my heart, it is spoken for," he said, "I thought I could come here and..." he paused, almost as if overwhelmed with emotion.

  Really, he had run out of something sensible to say, he was more out of his element than he had ever imagined. The girl's eyes narrowed, and she sat up, "you are not one of us, are you? You are one of them?"

  "One of them?"

  She shook her head, then leaned in conspiratorially, "I have heard talk of it, that the kingdom of Aldor seeks to bring prince Haddin to his knees. There have been many people like you coming into our cities, spies sent by the king to scout out the land."

  "Look I assure you madam that..."

  "Madam? Now you cannot deny it, no one calls me madam," she leaned toward him and whispered, "the woman you ask after, she is why you are here?"

  Deswald felt his heart drumming in his ear, his cover was blown by this shameless woman. He did not move a muscle but continued to stare at her, praying desperately in his mind.

  She nodded, "I can help you," she said.

  His eyes widened, "you what?"

  She drew closer to him and trailed a finger down the side of his face, "see those soldiers over there, they have been watching you all night," she whispered.

  "It is hard to miss one of you in a place like this. The prince most likely already knows you are here, he knows many things."

  "Why will you help me?"

  "Because I want you to help me. Help me escape this place and I will see to it that you get your princess, the one that holds your heart."

  Deswald hesitated, but from the corner of his eyes he could see two figures subtly moving towards them.

  “Why?” he asked quickly.

  “I am a palace wench, there is not much more I can be in this place. But I want more. Now will you help me?”

  "Yes, I will help you," Deswald replied quickly, it was clear to him now that the men approaching had their eyes on him, just as she had said. The woman clearly had a few screws loose, even more reason for him to take her offer.

  She smiled, "come with me."

  She pulled him to his feet and led him into the thick crowd and through the side door, no one seemed to notice them as they passed. Deswald followed his feathered escort to a heavy wooden door and she turned back to him and whispered, "this leads to the dungeon."

  Deswald nodded, and stepped forward to push open the heavy door, his new-found partner dashed back to unhook a lantern that was lighting up the hallway and joined him with a curt nod.

  "You do not have to come in," he said.

  She shrugged, "I have been held here before, it is hard to navigate. With my help you would find her much faster."

  Deswald nodded, he still did not trust her. He reached down and withdrew his dagger.

  “Why were you held here?” He asked as he stepped down behind her into the dark tunnel.

  “I tried to run away once. The king gave me to the cruel Prince Haddin for his birthday celebrations and I could not stomach the thought of it. So, I tried to escape.”

  “And they caught you.”

  “The prince did. It was the day I realized that nothing gets past him very easily and I would forever be trapped here.”

  She lifted her hand towards him, opening her palms to show that one of her fingers was half its length. Deswald’s eyes widened at the realization of what had been done to her, but she only shrugged.

  “It could have been worse.”

  "What do you call yourself?"

  "Evra Arnell," she replied.

  Deswald froze, "Arnell?"

  "Yes Arnell," she said, "and I know what you are wondering. But no, I am not an Arnell of the royal court, I do what I do because I need to."

  "Really, I heard your family had some kind of large estate and great weight with the monarchy."

  She snorted, "Pillar families they call them. Sure, my family might be, my uncle was the duke of Ravenesh," she replied, stopping to consider the two pathways before them.

  "Until he betrayed the king, destroyed a year’s work of weapons, forcing the king to put off an important attack and then he ran away to Aldor with his wife to seek refuge."

  "Your uncle?"

  "Aye, my father hated him for what he did, even more when the king took out his anger on my family. We bore the punishment for my uncle our estate suffered, my father inherited the estate but by then things were already spiralling out of control, he did not have the knowledge to keep Ravenesh running like my uncle did and that is why I am where I am now. The Arnell’s are a disgraced family in Dravia, many travelled to other provinces, but I stayed. I understand why my uncle did it though, I only entertain rich men for money, I do not have to like them. My uncle had to rub shoulders with them and laugh at their jokes while witnessing the injustices of this kingdom, he did not have it in him. After what my uncle did I could not stomach being a part of it too, I have been trying to get out ever since. But a girl’s gotta survive right."

  Deswald followed her down the tunnel, it was alight with dimming lanterns and the dank smell swirled around them like an invisible fog. He wiggled his nose to stop a pending sneeze.

  "Why could you not leave before you came here?" he persisted. It wasn't every day that he got to connect with long lost family.

  She chuckled, "me? You really are not from here. It is not as easy as you think. The guards might let you pass but only because they know that if the wild dogs do not get you, the Feelers will and if you manage to escape that, you are bound to succumb to madness. My uncle was lucky, it is doubly hard for people as valuable as he was to escape..." she stopped abruptly.

  "Did you hear that?"

  Deswald perked up, he was so absorbed in the story being told by a woman that was most likely his cousin, he had forgotten where he was for a moment.

  "Someone is knocking something," he said.

  "This way," Evra whispered, dashing forward.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The prince turned toward his chamber window, looking out at the boisterous crowd making their way to the city square, he was clad in his finest robe but wore a grim expression, forming thin lines around his mouth. The door swung ope
n and in walked the three creatures he detested, they rolled in their ball and stood reverently in the midst of his bed chamber.

  When he had ascended to master of the dark arts, through not so simple means, these creatures came with the deal. Though their insight proved valuable to keeping his position of power, they were hardly pleasant to look upon.

  "Is it true?" he inquired, his icy eyes piercing.

  "Ah yes, your high one," said Onin, the eldest of the bony eye-sores.

  "King Kalgary is making preparations for an attack, a small band has been sent ahead, no doubt it is to ensure the safe retrieval of the princess."

  The prince ground his teeth, "they intend to make their move soon, just as you said they would."

  The ways of Dravia and Aldor have always been conflictive, but his father was a soft man, weak willed and closed minded. Upholding worship to the gods but afraid of wielding the power of the source of them all, unlike the many kings before him. His father’s unwillingness to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors had left Dravia open to the influence of Kalgary’s God, weakening their authority with the other kingdoms. He had always known his older brother would inherit the throne and he had prepared for that, knowing that the throne truly belonged to him. His brother was too much like his father to embrace dark magic, so Haddin knew it was up to him to elevate this kingdom above Aldor. Soon Dravia would be the greatest, most feared kingdom in all the land, and no one was going to stop that from happening. Especially that so called princess. And once that happened, it would not be long before the prophecy of Maldeev’s reign would be fulfilled through him. Then he would know power greater than ever his dear mother ever imagined.

  He lifted cold eyes to his servants, "send me the general, we need to ready our men and the princess as well. Tell Serin to bring her to my day chamber, I dare not have her leave my side."

  "Yes, your high one," they replied as they bowed out of his presence.

  The prince turned back to the window overlooking the city, the city his forefathers had taken from a forgotten spec on the map to a kingdom worth noticing. Kalgary would stop at nothing until his daughter was returned to him and that would be his downfall. Not only would his actions violate his own treaty and turn the other kings against him, but he would still be without his precious Ruby when it was all over. But the prince knew that it was foolish to believe that he could turn Kalgary’s daughter against him with simple means. He pulled the thread around his neck and withdrew the tiny vial he always carried with him, a potent cocktail that awakened all the suspicions, doubts and fears that a man held in his heart. It had worked excellently with Serin he could only imagine what dark imaginings laid in the heart of the young princess, waiting to be awakened.