The Journey: The Ultimate Power Book 1

by Shadahyah Elizabeth

  One of the men had Lenilla by the arm, holding her against the wall. “This is none of your business, scram,” one of the men replied. He was a lot taller and buffer than James; still, James could tell that they would be easy to defeat in an upfront fight.

  “If this involves my fiancé, it concerns me,” James said boldly.

  The men smiled. “Last time I checked, the Lady Lenilla had no fiancé.

  “Oh! So you know who she is and you still dare to put your filthy hands on her?” James had asked. He refused to back down. His eyes were focused on the man holding Lenilla, as if he were a tiger stalking its prey. “Tell you what,” he continues, “let her go, and I’ll let you walk out of here.”

  The men laughed. “You let us walk out of here. You are a funny kid. How about this, you walk away and we forget the entire thing,” one of the men had said. He was just as cocky as the others and had a stupid grin on his face. He was also the one holding Lenilla.

  James smiled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, James kicked one of the guys and punched the other, while the guy holding Lenilla looked on in confusion. Both men fell to their knees with those blows, but quickly got back up and tried to attack. The one he had punched had somehow grabbed him while the other one approached him.

  “Big mistake kid,” the man had said.

  “Finish him so we can get out of here.” The guy holding Lenilla had ordered.

  “My pleasure.” The guy in front of James drew his fist back and swung, but James had already gotten free of his capture, causing the man to punch his friend and knocking him out.

  “Tony!” the man had yelled after his friend had fallen to the ground.

  “Sorry, was that punch meant for me?” James had asked with a smirk.

  “Why you,” the man who held him had said, while trying to punch James again; nevertheless, he was ready for him. The moment the man lunged for him, James moved then elbowed him in the back, causing the man to lean forward. Once he had brought him down to his level, James went on the attack punching and kicking him until he was on the ground, unable to move. The guy holding Lenilla pushed her to the side and started attacking James. Because James’ attention was on the man in front of him, he didn’t notice the man pick up a branch and hit him in his head with it, causing him to fall over in pain.

  “You’ve messed with the wrong people,” the man said, as he dropped the branch and began punching James. James was helpless to the assault. His face was bloody and bruised. The man then picked up James and drew his fist back and laughed. “You deserve this.” Right after he said that, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Lenilla had picked up the branch and hit him with it, knocking him out cold.

  “Can you walk?” she asked as she approached James.

  He shook his head in affirmation to her question.

  “Good, follow me,” she ordered, grabbing his hand and leading him through the marketplace until they reached a small castle just outside the market.

  “Why are we here?” he sounds confused. He knew that place all too well, on the day they had arrived in town, he and his brother had visited that place so James could meet with the King of that country about marrying his daughter.

  “We need to treat your wounds before they become infected,” she explained. “Greta,” Lenilla had called out to a chubby woman in a servant’s dress.

  The old lady approached the gate and shook her head when she saw Lenilla. “My lady, where have you been? The princess has been worried sick, not to mention your sisters,” she scolded.

  “I’ll explain later Greta, but right now, I need you to open the gate,” Lenilla said hurriedly.

  Greta sighed, then did as told. The moment she saw James, she froze. “Who is that?” she asked, looking worried.

  “Someone who needs our help. Please, don’t tell anyone,” Lenilla had begged.

  “Young lady, I have to report this, if not I will be scolded by his majesty,” Greta explained.

  “Half an hour. I will have him bandaged and out of the castle in half an hour. I promise,” Lenilla said, trying to negotiate. She was looking at her with puppy dog eyes which always seemed to work on the old woman.

  “Fine, half an hour but that’s it,” Greta said, giving in.

  “Thank you. I owe you one,” Lenilla said happily, kissing the old woman’s cheek and leading James into the castle.

  “You owe me several,” Greta called after her, shaking her head. Lenilla leads James towards a huge bedroom with a fireplace and comfortable couch in front of it.

  “Sit,” she had ordered and he obeyed. She sat next to him and touched his face. He blushed the moment her skin touched his. Her hands were so soft and her gray eyes focused solely on his face like it was something miraculous. “Does this hurt?” she asked as she pressed her hand on his face.

  “Ouch,” he had said in pain.

  “Sorry. I’ll go get some water to clean that, can you wait here until I get back?” she asked softly.

  “Sure,” he replied, trying not to stare at her. “My name is James by the way.”

  She smiled, “I know. I’ll be right back.” With that, she walked out the room and he shook his head, trying to figure out how he had ended up in that situation. A few minutes later, she walked back into the room, but there was nothing in her hand.

  “Lenilla, are you back?” she had asked.

  James looked at her, confused. Why was she calling herself? He had thought to himself.

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked, noticing James staring back at her.

  “You brought me here,” he said, confused as to how she could have forgotten that he was even there; especially since it had only been a few minutes since she had left.

  Lenilla shook her head and sighed. “This damn girl,” she said more to herself than him.

  He could tell she was annoyed but he didn’t know why. He had saved her life, and she had so gratefully done the same, even offering to help take care of his wounds; however, now it seemed as if she wanted to get rid of him.

  A few seconds later, another girl walked in carrying a bucket of water, a rag, and bandages.

  “Sorry, it took so long, I had to sneak past my sister.” She said, with a smile.

  James said nothing, instead, he just continued to look back and forward between Lenilla and the woman standing next to her. His eyes were confused, as he tried to figure out why there were two of them, and which was the real one.

  “What?” She looked to her left and saw her sister staring back at her with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. “Hi, Layla. What brings you here?”

  “Why is the prince of Aden in your room?” she asked bluntly.

  “He got hurt saving me from some thugs, so I’m helping him,” she replied innocently. She then walked towards James and sat down next to him, he still looked confused. “James, this is my big sister, Layla was just leaving,” Lenilla said, as she carefully placed the rag in the warm cold and placed it on his face.

  “Ouch. That’s freezing,” he had said.

  “Sorry.”

  “Again Lenilla, why do you insist on leaving the palace without a guard?” Layla asked scolding.

  “I like walking around by myself, it’s freeing,” Lenilla replied innocently.

  “Yeah, well, it’s dangerous and if Prince James hadn’t been there, who know what would have happened.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Lenilla said.

  “Yeah, well, you better hope. Amira mustn’t hear about this or uncle,” Layla warned.

  “You’re not going to tell, are you?”

  “No, but I should warn you that the crown prince is here right now with Amira,” Layla warned.

  “What? My brother’s here?” James asked panicked. “He can’t see me like this. He’ll kill someone.”

  “Calm down, you can hide in here until he’s gone,” Lenilla offered. Right as she said that, the door opened. This time, it was a third wom
an who looked like Lenilla with the crown prince and Amira.

  “There you are…” Amira paused then looked from Lenilla to James.

  Furious, Ramos walked over to his brother and grabbed his face. “Who did this?” He asked angrily, that someone would dare lay a finger on his little brother.

  “It was my fault, Sire. I was on my way back to the castle when some men attacked me, prince James saved me from them.

  Ramos looked at her. “What happen to the men?”

  “I took care of them, with a little help from Lenilla,” James explained, “Now she’s helping clean my face.”

  “Lenilla, how many times must I tell you never to leave the castle alone,” Amira scolded.

  “Sorry Amira, it will never happen again,” Lenilla said softly.

  “Yes it will, because you never listen,” Amira said, shaking her head.

  “Princess if I may, since this one has a habit of leaving the premises on her own, would it be too much for me to ask if my brother could accompany her, make sure she’s safe,” Ramos asked.

  Lenilla and James looked at each other, then back to Ramos and Amira, who was actually thinking about it.

  “What do you guys think?” Amira asked the third Lenilla look alike with blue eyes.

  “I don’t know, if he got this beaten up, I doubt he can protect her,” she said.

  “I promise you, my brother is very capable of handling himself. If anything, he was probably caught off guard,” Ramos assured them.

  “If you insist your majesty,” the lady said.

  “I think it’s fine. She likes exploring and he is new. This way she can show him around and he can protect her, if need be,” Layla said.

  Lenilla and James smiled inwardly.

  “Lenilla?” They all looked at her.

  Lenilla rolled her eyes, pretending that she wasn’t okay with the idea. “What’s left to say, you have already made my decision for me.”

  “Then it’s settled. Come along, Amira. James, once she’s done, return to the inn,” Ramos ordered.

  “Yes brother,” James said, through a sharp breath. With that, everyone but Lenilla and James left.

  “Sorry you had to become my babysitter,” she said as she wrapped his hand.

  He shook his head. “It’s fine, I always wanted to babysit a beautiful woman.”

  Lenilla laughed, excited that he felt the same way that she had. “I’m sorry about your face.”

  “It’s fine, by the way, how many more of you are there?” he asked, seeming confused.

  She laughed. “There are only three. I’m the youngest. The one that came in last was my sister Lela; she’s the oldest,” she informed him.

  “That’s good to know. How can I tell you three apart?” he asked, looking serious. He had no interest in getting them confused again.

  “Our eyes. As you can see, mine are gray as you can tell; Lela’s are blue and Layla’s are purple. Plus, our personalities are completely different, but you’ll find that out the longer you’re here. Which is how long by the way?” she asked as she cleaned his wound.

  He smiled. “Not sure, that depends on my brother. Why are you trying to get rid of me already?” he asked flirtatiously.

  She shook her head and smiled, “Wouldn’t think of it.” They laughed and she finished. “Done.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t come along,” Lenilla said sincerely.

  “Anytime.” They looked at each other and for a moment, neither could speak—only stare wantonly into each other’s eyes. “I should go,” he said, breaking the silence.

  “Right, you should go.” Before she knew it, his lips locked into hers, and their arms were around each other. It was her first real kiss, and the first of many to come with him, and after that day, the two began seeing each other on a regular basis. In the beginning, no one was suspicious because of the arrangement that had made the first night; however, after a while, everyone knew, only pretending not to. James and Lenilla had thought that their romance could lead to something more, but life had planned other things.

  On the day that Amira and Lenilla were set to enter Ramos’ castle, it was announced that James would be marrying the Duchess of Jordan per his father’s dying request and the relationship the two families had. Devastated, James had planned to run away with Lenilla, but she had talked him out of it by reminding him of his duty towards his family and kingdom, and though she loved him, she could never stop him from fulfilling his dreams. Through the years, they had remained close friends; however, those feelings were still there and seeing her again only made it that much stronger.

  James knew what his brother had planned by asking her if she remembered him, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep the secret if his brother were to actually use her in the way he thought he would.

  “So, you do remember him, don’t you?” Ramos said, snapping them both out of their daze.

  “How did you find him?” she asked, frozen and overcome with several emotions, ranging from happiness to fear of James’ life.

  “He was in this small village right outside the kingdom,” Hugo replied boastfully.

  “Alone?” she stuttered.

  “Yes, but it’s only a matter of time before we find out what happened to the girls,” Hugo assured her.

  “Oh,” Lenilla said, oddly calm. “That’s assuring, especially since I’m sure it was Caleb’s idea and you did it soon enough.”

  Caleb smiled. She’s proud of me. And she knows I did it. “Thank you, my lady. You are too kind.”

  “Where are the girls James?” Ramos asked, shockingly calm.

  “I don’t know, like I’ve said, my head has been in a bag all this time, for all I know, they could be on the other side of the world,” James said sharply.

  Hugo punched him while Lenilla and Caleb turned their heads, neither able to watch the abuse taken by James through the hands of Hugo, the man they both equally hated.

  “Enough,” Ramos yelled. “Tell me where they are.”

  James laughed an evil laugh as blood spurted from his mouth. “You can beat me until your hands bleed. I will never tell you anything. You might as well kill me.”

  Caleb almost lost it. He didn't want his father to die, he just wanted everything to go back to the way they were. His face was still stone cold but inside, he was hurting. This can’t be happening. Come on dad, just tell us so you don’t have to die.

  “Really James, is this the type of lifestyle you're trying to teach your son. Just tell me where they are and your life will be spared,” Ramos replied. Although James knew he did not mean it. The love Ramos felt for his brother was still strong, but the moment James disobeyed him and took the girls, he knew his brother would kill him one day.

  “I will never tell you where they are,” James replied.

  “I have a better idea,” Ramos said forceful. He stood up grabbed Lenilla put his sword to her throat.

  Everyone stood up, including Hugo who was just as shocked as everyone that he would use Lenilla as he was.

  “Father,” Joshua and Annabel screamed, horrified and afraid for Lenilla’s life.

  “Uncle stop,” Caleb said, worried about the woman who had raised him and he had looked up to as a second mother.

  “Your highness please,” Hugo begged frightful that Ramos might actually kill the woman he loved.

  “Let her go, this has nothing to do with her,” James’ screamed, but he knew it was a lie. His brother knew his weakness and since Caleb was so precious to Ramos, he would never lay a hand on him; so he decided to grab someone that was equally important to James that would not hurt himself: Lenilla.

  “Let her go,” Amira ordered. Her eyes were cold. In that moment, her hatred for her husband only grew. How dare he touch her friend just to control his brother. That was not part of the deal when she agreed to marry him.

  “Not until he answers my questio
ns. If he answers them, I will let her go. If not, she dies,” Ramos said coldly. All of the children looked towards James. His eyes had turned from coolness to being frightful as Ramos dangled Lenilla in front of him like a hostage.

  “If you kill her, this means war Ramos, do you really want that?” Amira asked spitefully. Everyone looked at her confused.

  “Your brother would dare go to war with me over her?” he asked unconvinced.

  “You know how my family feels about her Ramos, that’s why he didn’t want her here, now you dare lay hands on the youngest of his children.

  That’s right. James thought to himself. The king of Terrah regards her as his daughter, Ramos wouldn’t dare harm her. Would he.

  “Fine,” he released Lenilla and Amira hugged her. “Take him to the torture chamber, we will get our answer from him one way or another.”

  Everyone watched as two guards dragged James out of the room. His eyes were glued to Lenilla’s who was staring back at him apologetically.

  “Why did you do that Amira? I could have gotten everything that I needed, but you…”

  Amira slapped him and he stopped talking. Everyone else looked on, shocked that she had actually done it. “Try that again, and I will kill you,” she said spitefully. “Come along Annabel, Lenilla,” she ordered.

  The king and the men watched stunned as they left the room. “I say that went well,” Ramos said, holding his face and completely confused.

  “Um dad,” Joshua said, confused.

  “It’s fine. You two boys leave; I need to speak to Hugo alone.”

  “Yes, sir.” Caleb and Joshua bowed then walked out the room perplexed.

  Once the boys had left, Ramos turned towards Hugo and punched him in the gut, causing Hugo to bend over in pain. Ramos then placed his hand on Hugo’s back and bended down towards him. “If you ever put your hands on my brother in the presence of his family again, I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?” Ramos asked. He knew how much Hugo hated James, he had known for years; nevertheless, because of his potential, he kept Hugo close to him, never regretting it—until now.