Benedict feared that the people would lose their faith in him as fast as they had been prepared to have any in him at all. He had ordered night guards to patrol and curfews to be put in place but still, these assassins roamed freely, invisible to the soldiers. Their training far exceeded anything that the army had been given. Benedict had ordered Tordor to find someone to train an elite group within the army to fight, and move under cover of darkness as the assassins did.Hester continued with her visits and charitable work. In many ways it was as if nothing had changed. She had not seen Dargo since the night that Benedict had overthrown the kingdom. She wondered if he had been caught and imprisoned or even put to death. It was always a possibility. Nevertheless, she still looked for Dargo wherever she went when she left the palace, hoping
Hester cleaned her face quickly before stepping outside into the bright sunshine. She hoped the guards noticed nothing amiss. Then she climbed onto the horse cart and told the driver to go to the next orphanage.The rest of the day passed too slowly for Hester. Her mind was on Dargo. She missed him and seeing him again had reminded her of just how much she missed him. She repeatedly felt for the parchment he had inserted in her dress sleeve. She longed for a private moment to be able to read it.The children at the orphanages she visited had to bring her back to the present many times during the day as her thoughts wandered.When she finally returned to the palace that evening she was exhausted. She had spent the rest of the day trying to spot the guards Dargo had told her about. She could not tell them apart though. They were clearly well trained and discreet. They obviously blended in with the people.Hester’s thoughts detoured to Dargo as well. He was clearly a man who was connected
Benedict was silent as he digested all that Hester had told him. “What would you have me do?”“Let me go your Majesty. My daughter has ignored your terms. She has not come back until now and nor will she. Holding me captive serves no purpose anymore.”Benedict stood and approached Hester until he stood beside her chair. Hester cringed inwardly not knowing what to expect. Benedict stood over her and she leaned back in her chair to look up at him. His clear blue eyes betrayed nothing but, in his face, there was something she could not quite describe. He remained calm and betrayed nothing to her but when he spoke Hester realized there was more to his actions than he had ever dared tell her.“I apologize for keeping you here. I will think on what you have said. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps my reasons have not been honorable after all and I have been selfish.”She opened her mouth and then closed it as what Benedict said struck home. She looked up into his eyes searching anew for somethi
Muhay was silent as he stared into her eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her again. A soft, lingering kiss. Alexa did not react at all initially but then despite herself her tongue crept forward seeking his. Their tongues met and their kiss deepened as their breathing increased and hearts beat faster. Alexa felt a wave of emotion crashing through her and then Muhay’s mouth was gone. “Is that what you want?” he whispered.Before Alexa could answer he stood quickly and held out a hand to her to help her up as if they had not been locked in a passionate kiss moments before. They gathered their klakoes and climbed the dune. The aroma of desert rabbit and gluksa reached them and they ran down the dark side of the dune to where Peter sat waiting with their meal. They ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.Throughout the meal Alexa stole glances at Muhay but he remained focused on other things and made conversation as if nothing had happened between them before dinner.Peter and
Hegre cried when Arinia told him their father was most likely dead. He was quiet for a few days but then picked himself up and continued. After that he asked about their father less and less frequently until Arinia could almost believe that he had put the thought of their father being dead behind him.He seemed to immerse himself in the farm spending time in the fields and with Bollo. He fed the horses, brushed them, learned to ride and milked the cows. He proved very adept at farm life. But Arinia did not realize it was Hegre’s way to deal with the loss of his father.Sometime after Arinia bought the farm, they were awakened one night by the sound of the horses whinnying and neighing in the barn. Arinia and Hegre met Bollo downstairs with a lantern.“Something is not right Lady Arinia,” Bollo whispered. He held a sword in his hand. “I must go and see.”“Wait here Bollo. Stay inside. We are ill equipped to deal with robbers.”“We cannot merely wait for robbers to steal all we have Lady
“I did a geological study and found Alymcyte in the rock.” Semore paused as he absorbed the surprised glances that passed around the table. “I thought it was just small quantities but there are actually caves midway up Mt. Almall where I found big veins of Alymcyte running through the mountain. There is more than you could ever imagine could be found in one place.” To emphasize his point, he extracted a rock twice as large as his fist from his robe pocket and placed it on the table. Semore’s audience gasped in disbelief. The rock was enormous by standards of the availability of Alymcyte. “How much is in Mt Almall?” asked Raeme. “It is hard to say,” replied Semore. “But I know there is one cave where the floor, walls and roof are all Alymcyte.” Silence fell upon the group. That amount of Alymcyte in one location was unheard of. The implications of its value were astonishing. “We shall never have to charge taxes on the kingdom’s people again,” Benedict whispered as he stared at the
Benedict was silent a moment and then he sighed. “This city makes me sad. The people make me sad. Disappointed. I would think they would be grateful for the changes which are being made but the more I hear change is wanted, the more I see a city of people content to sit around and complain about their fortunes or lack thereof while they blame everyone else.” “Yes they do, your Majesty. It is a cancer.” “Are you unhappy with my decision lady?” Hester coughed briefly, smiling as she did so. “Your decision was not mine to make. Why should I have an opinion?” “We know about Gelyn’s involvement with Atomas lady. ‘Tis no secret.” “That’s right. It is no secret. But it was not her fault that Atomas all but kept me as a buffer between the people of the kingdom and himself. He strayed long before Gelyn. To her credit, she was able to make an honest man out of him. His philandering became exclusively reserved for her after he met her. I no longer had to be embarrassed by a string of girls,
The night passed too slowly despite Hester trying to make it go as fast as possible by drinking too much and socializing with everyone she knew. Finally Breeger interjected in one of Hester’s conversations with an old friend. He asked for them to excuse Hester and linked his arm through hers. He led her away into the garden which his guards had ensured was private. It was better than his office.The night air was cool and Hester welcomed the cool evening breeze on her skin. It had a sobering effect on her. They walked a bit in silence before Breeger stopped and seated himself on a bench in the garden and indicated that Hester should be seated.She sat next to Breeger reluctantly.“You look tense lady.”“Not at all Breeger. I am enjoying myself. Meeting old friends. But your suggestion that we have a talk has made me curious.”“I see,” Breeger replied. “I am glad you are enjoying yourself. It must remi