PLEASE READ THE PRE CHAPTER NOTES!!!

  ***

  Men walked about the Loudas camp doing tasks assigned to them. Those who had nothing else to do played games or lay resting in their tents, while others crawled under carts in search of a place to sleep. The sounds or hammers rang out, striking metal. The blacksmiths in the camp were repairing armor or weapons. Apprentices or other soldiers operated grinding stones, sending sparks flying as they sharpened the edges of weapons. Farriers were rubbing horses down with hay or feeding them grain. Squads of men walked out to the front of their formations towards guard posts, relieving those on duty. It was from one of these outposts a horn blew twice, the alert signal for an approaching rider.

  Lord Mutan rode his horse as fast as the steed would carry him. He only paused at the checkpoint to declare himself before taking off again while being escorted by six guards. Mutan rode for the King’s tent with the news he gained from Sukkan’s war camp. Danyais’ tent was comprised of multiple tents attached together. One portion of the attached tents held his sleeping quarters. Another tent for his servants and guards, and the last, the largest portion of the tent, formed a mini hall used for gatherings and dining. The Crystal Dragon clutching a rose was embroidered throughout the tent flaps, and banners marked Danyais’ location prominently.

  “My King! My King!” Mutan shouted excitedly. The King was still in his tent, and the guardsmen posted would not move till their King said it was okay.

  “Let him enter!” Danyais told the guards. Mutan passed through the tent flaps. Clyden was already there with some of the war council. The other members would undoubtedly arrive soon, since news of Mutan’s return would be spreading.

  “My King,” Mutan said, kneeling before Danyais. “I have met with Queen Shevannis, and she wishes to speak to you and Magus Clyden. Queen Shevannis will meet with you today if you send me back with a favorable reply,” Mutan said, standing back up. The hum of the nobles in the tents was excited and cautious.

  ***

  Danyais watched as a woman dressed in silver steel armor rode a black horse at the front of a column of one hundred men. Shevannis held a shield designed like the carapace of a scorpion. Lord Mutan rode at Shevannis’ side. Behind the pair were two flag bearers. One bearer held the black and white flag for their parley, while the other man held the Jade Scorpion flag of Sukkan. Danyais studied the soldiers riding with Shevannis, his eyes settling on a particular rider that was out of place, sticking out among the other armor-clad warriors. A little girl? From this distance, he couldn’t make out much about her other than the clothes she wore were blue. He sadly thought of his children back in Dragon Crest and wondered if he even would make it home alive to them. Danyais buried the distracting thoughts in his mind as the Sukkan procession halted about a hundred meters away.

  The queen turned her horse around, saying something to her men, handing her shield to another guard. The little girl moved her horse from the formation, but a guard near her grabbed the horse by the bit and would not let go.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Queen Shevannis guided her horse toward King Danyais, proceeding only with Lord Mutan following at her side. It surprised Danyais and Clyden, a monarch parleying with their enemy without an escort. The Queen and Mutan arrived in front of King Danyais.

  “King Danyais and Magus Clyden. I have the honor of presenting to you her Royal Majesty, Queen Shevannis Hoshi Sukkan,” Lord Mutan said as loud as possible while remaining formal. Nobles sitting atop horses, about thirty meters behind Danyais, dismounted from their horses and placed helmets under one arm. They bowed in respect to the monarch of Sukkan. “Queen Shevannis, I present to you the King of Loudas, the Dragon of the Rose, King Danyais Hathat Loudas.” Both monarchs bowed, each wondering what their counterpart was thinking about the other.

  “I am pleased to meet you, Queen Shevannis,” Danyais said to her.

  “I too as well, King Danyais,” Shevannis replied in kind.

  “King Danyais, if it would please you. Her Majesty rode over to meet you of her own accord, bringing no guard for an escort. I am a poor substitute, but I would like to return as a hostage to her Sukkan guard if only to ease their concerns,” Lord Mutan said loudly so the nobles could hear as well.

  “He is a poor substitute for a man also, so his wife tells me,” Lord Cenarus joked loudly, and the nobles laughed.

  “It is only because she is mad that I am always with yours, Lord Cenarus,” Mutan fired back, and the laughter grew in merriment.

  “Trade you!” Cenarus retorted, and even the monarchs and Clyden joined in the laughter. “Well, my Lords, shall we add to his pathetic worth and join him?” Ten Lords of Loudas dropped shields and weapons to the ground, riding forward. Lord Cenarus clapped Mutan on the back when he got close enough. “Shall we go, my pathetic friend? You were joking about the trade, right? I would not wish my…” Cenarus voice faded as they rode towards the Sukkan army.

  “Your men are in high spirits,” Shevannis said to Danyais as they all watched the ten nobles ride to the Sukkan Queen’s guard, surrendering themselves.

  “Believe it or not, those two used to be hostile towards each other,” Clyden told Shevannis.

  “Hostile, you say. I would not believe after witnessing their exchange just now,” Shevannis said.

  “War often has unintended consequences,” Danyais said.

  “Yes, unimaginable if you do not experience them for yourself,” Shevannis said, just a hint of sadness in her voice.

  “Queen Shevannis, can I offer you some refreshment,” Danyais said, gesturing over to a white tent pavilion erected for this meeting. The wind moved the fabric, rippling it to look like waves on a lake.

  “King Danyais, if it pleases you, can we drop honorifics? You can just call me Shevannis,” Shevannis said.

  “It pleases me. Call me Danyais then,” Danyais added.

  “Can drop the Magus for me too,” Clyden said.

  “Ah, Clyden, I have heard so much about you. The battle Magus that makes fires fall from the sky and turns the rocks into warriors,” Shevannis said, studying him with her eyes.

  Clyden found it odd that Shevannis thought he could turn rock into warriors, but magic was an unknown force in this era. When Clyden and his friends awoke after three hundred years of slumber in the Fade Realm, they hid from the world. Except for him, Clyden ventured out in it and dabbled in the politics of the time while looking for a way to bring his friend Varoosh back. That journey eventually cost the lives of his beloved friends and companions he knew. The guilt still crippled him sometimes at night when he thought about the events in Lizbeth’s library and then destroyed him in his nightmares when he slept.

  Picking up on what the Queen said, King Danyais answered back for Clyden, “Yes! Even now, after seeing all the destruction Clyden can cause, I still fear for my life sometimes, even though he is my friend.”

  Clyden glanced at Danyais with a raised eyebrow. What game are you playing at, Danyais?

  “I will pass on your offer for refreshments for the time being. I would like to see the cliff face for now,” Shevannis said.

  “The cliff face?” King Danyais asked, perplexed at the odd request.

  “Yes, the cliff Clyden turned to seven thousand horses and warriors,” Shevannis explained further.