A Castle of Ashes (The Fifth Kingdom Book 2) (11 page)

“My dear ladies of the kingdom,” she addressed the women.  “We are celebrating a monumental occasion.  Our dear Princess and friend was lost in the sea and she returned to us as a Queen.  Now we pray that the kingdoms’ councils will come to their senses and name her throne legitimate!”  She raised a glass of wine in the air as the women followed.  The same cautious expressions that Lucinda had grown familiar with throughout the kingdoms, masked most of their faces as they raised their glasses.

They speak kindly to my face, but I do not have their trust.
Lucinda thought.

Gwendolyn sat her cup down not taking a sip.  “You are with child?” Lucinda asked.

Gwendolyn smiled widely and placed a hand to her stomach.  “Yes, after six years of suffering through being named the Barren Queen, the One God has opened my womb.”  Her expression dropped, looking at Lucinda. “I am sorry.  I suppose there are worst names to be called.”

Lucinda touched her hand.  “I am happy for you, Gwendolyn.  You will make a wonderful mother.”  She fought the bitter thoughts of her own mother out of her head.

“Pray that it is a boy?” Gwendolyn whispered.

Lucinda smiled and embraced her.  “We will pray that it is healthy. I am glad you found happiness with John.”

Gwendolyn pulled away from her and averted her eyes. “Yes.” She said slowly. “Lucinda, it means very much to me to have you extend your friendship. I have very little friends in this kingdom.”

“I don’t understand.  You were always the most loved maiden, and now you are Queen.”

“Yes, I am Queen.  Now I am surrounded by polite, practiced words, but the sincerity is questionable.” She lowered her voice.  “Of all these women around us, very few truly love me.  They whisper behind my back with their husbands.  They call me the Barren Queen, the Unfaithful Queen, Gwendolyn the Unworthy.”  She closed her eyes but she did not cry. “Even now I fear that announcing that I am with child will only heighten the rumors around me.  They think that Matthew and I—“

“I understand.” Lucinda said gently to her.  “I am familiar with the cruel words, and untrustworthy eyes of people.  Men judge by appearances and what they think they know, but the One God judges our hearts.  As long as your heart is true, you need not worry about the vicious rumors of men.”

The words only seemed to unsettle Gwendolyn.  She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly there was a commotion amongst the women.  “You are not wanted here!” An elderly woman approached the head table where Lucinda and Gwendolyn sat. “You are not wanted here!  You are an abomination!  You will bring nothing but destruction and darkness to the kingdoms!”  The woman waved a dagger in her hand. 

Guards started approaching the woman on Gwendolyn’s command.  “Leave here in peace woman, from order of
your Queen. 
I do not wish to have my guards drag you out.”

Lucinda noticed the woman’s eyes.  They were gray of age with flecks of green hidden within. “Stay back!” Lucinda shouted to the guards.

The woman raised her hands on either side of her and the guards dropped to the floor like dead men.  Before she could react, a painful cry left Lucinda’s mouth.  The woman raised the dagger in the air as Lucinda felt her body shrinking to the floor.  She felt the pain of a thousand little daggers piercing her body.

Screams bellowed the banquet hall. “You are a fool for coming back here.  You think you are strong enough to fight the Ancient Queen’s spirit! No!  You are just like her!  You will tear down many innocent along your path.”

“Stop it! Stop it!” Gwendolyn cried defenselessly.  Lucinda tried to suppress her cries in the banquet hall, praying no one else would enter.  She feared what this woman would do to them if they tried to stop her.  Little drops of blood started to leave Lucinda’s skin where the invisible daggers were pricking her. 

“I will end your life before I see you bring down any more sorcer—“

A scream left the woman’s mouth.  The dagger she was holding dropped to the floor.  The woman fell to her knees near where Lucinda was.  Lucinda looked up and saw Geenessa with a palm wide open standing over the old woman. 

“You dare threaten my Queen.” The governess’s words were deep with fury.  “Open your eyes!  Nycilla is dead. The Fifth Kingdom has returned under a new Queen. Queen Lucinda!   Our Queen and our Kingdom will not be taken down easily. We will defend her with our last breath.” 

“Be careful with your words. No one is safe! Especially, not our kind.”

“Enough of your babbling woman! You have made a poor choice and you will pay for it.”

“Wait!” Lucinda cried as she lay crumpled on the floor, aching. She studied the woman’s eyes.  They were focused on her.  They had a look of pain.  She was not controlled by a spirit.  She was acting on her own accord and she wanted Lucinda dead.  “You are a sorceress.  Why are you fighting against me?  Plead for mercy and perhaps we will spare your life.”

The woman gave Lucinda a dark look and spit to the ground. “Never. Sorceresses are suffering because of you!  I will not rest until your kingdom crumbles! What will it take to break you?” She gave a menacing smile.  “Perhaps I should have gone after your Prince? Then maybe you would have brought destruction upon yourself, just as the queen before?”

“Enough of her, my Queen. The time for mercy is over.” Lucinda watched as Geenessa closed her hand into a fist.  The old woman disappeared with one last sickening cry and a pile of ash was left in her place.

Geenessa desired to heal Lucinda’s wounds in the banquet hall, but Gwendolyn insisted for Lucinda to be moved to the castle infirmary.  It was for the best to be in a closed location.  She had hundreds of small punctures throughout her body and blood had stained her dress and skin.  She was an awful sight to behold.  She tried to walk on her own accord, but was losing consciousness. 

“We need to move quickly!” She heard Geenessa urge.  There was a fury of movement and noise around her.  Suddenly, she was lifted from the ground. 

“Stay awake.”  Matthew’s voice filled her ears.  She did not know when he got to her.  Her eyes were feeling heavy as he carried her to the infirmary and laid her on one of the beds.  She held his hand and met his worried eyes before she drifted to sleep.

When she woke he was still beside her, with his hand in hers.  Her blood stained his clothes and his skin.  His eyes widened upon seeing her wake.  He exhaled deeply before releasing her and burying his head in his hands.

“Her eyes.” She started. “I saw her eyes and I should have acted, but I hesitated.  My enemies will think that I am easy to take down, but I am not.  I won’t hesitate again.”  She was angry.  The woman killed those guards and could have hurt Gwendolyn and the other women if Geenessa had not come. 
Sorceresses are suffering because of you. 
She had said.  Lucinda did not know what she meant.  All she knew was that the woman wanted her dead and she dared to let her last words be a threat to Matthew’s life. 

“I know you are angry with me.” She said softly to him.  “You won’t allow yourself to admit it, but you are.  I shouldn't have left for seven years.  Now I will struggle to gain the trust of those I care for and of all the kingdoms.  I will struggle to gain your trust.  I will do everything I must to make things right.”  He did not look up at her but she knew he was listening.  He was breathing heavily as she noticed his shoulders rising and falling as if to stay calm.  “I am not disappearing again from the people I care for like Nycilla did.” She let out a sigh.  “That ring you gave me was a betrothal ring.  Thomas had given it to Nycilla. I saw it in a dream that they were supposed to wed.  She promised to return to him.  Yet, she did not return in time.  I don’t know what delayed her, but instead of a husband she received a head in a box.”

Matthew looked at her then with a grieved expression.  “And people wonder why her spirit is so angry.”

“I have let her story haunt my future for too long.  I am not Nycilla.  I am not the Green Eyed Witch.  I am not destined to her fate.  I will prove it to the kingdoms.  I am not going to hide any longer.  I have returned for good.  I will get full control of my powers and peace amongst the kingdoms. I will work for everything that she did not receive.”

“And you can have all of it Lucinda. It will take time.”

“There are some matters that I can settle now.  I can choose a husband to form an alliance and gain trust amongst the kingdoms.  I can name him as King and second in command.”  She closed her eyes and thought about her mother.  She was unsure when she spoke with John, but now she was certain of what she needed to do.  “But, I do not want to be like my mother and marry a man who I know will never truly have my heart.”

“She had little choice, Lucinda.  What good is it to harbor bitterness toward someone who cannot make amends? No matter the circumstance, your mother was meant to marry your father and bring you into this world.  To restore your king—“

“Listen to me.” She breathed deeply and reached out to grasp one of his bloodstained hands. He stared down at her in confusion.  “I know that a life with me will be one of trials, but if you can accept that I don’t want us to separate again.” 

He tightened his grip of her hand and his voice was unsteady as he spoke. “What are you saying to me?”

“I have returned to you.  I have returned
for
you.  Marry me, Matthew. I desire to be your wife.”

Epilogue

“Do you love her, Matthew?”  John asked his brother.

“Love will come.  Is that not what Father always said?”

John sighed in frustration. He did not refuse Lucinda when she asked for Matthew as her husband that day at his father’s tomb.
What is it you seek,
He had asked her. 

Your blessing.
She responded. 
Your blessing to ask Matthew to be my husband. I know I have caused your kingdom much grief, and it is your right to refuse me, but your brother is the only man I wish to wed. Grant me this.  Allow me to be a part of your family. 
He admired her boldness, and in truth he cared for her as a sister already.  A part of him always wanted her as Matthew’s wife.  Yet, as the days went on he feared their reasons for wanting to wed.

“I told you I would accept whoever you chose for me, John.”  Matthew sighed.  “She says this marriage will be a benefit for her to gain trust amongst the kingdoms.  She thinks she is clever, but I know she hopes that her followers will feel less inclined to murder me in my sleep with their Queen by my side.”

John tried to move the thought out of his head.  “And what is
your
motivation?” He asked sternly.  He had posed the same question to Lucinda only days before.
Why do you wish to marry my brother? Do you love him?

Her tanned face had turned crimson at the bluntness of his inquiry.
I suppose I am not familiar enough with the sentiment to know for sure, your Majesty.  My affection continues to deepen for him. More so than any other man. This much I can say.

He crossed his arms around him and gave his brother a threatening look. 
Perhaps they are meant to be together as neither of them seem capable of giving a straight answer,
John thought. 

“You were right.  I will never be able to leave her in the past.”  Matthew covered his face with his hands for a moment. “The sight of her covered in her blood is seared in my mind. I should have given them more men. I should have been there—“

“And done what? Our entire guard would not have been able to stop that woman. Six of your best men lay dead with a wave of her hand.”  The senselessness of the deaths infuriated John.  The woman was a sorceress of his own kingdom, yet if the accounts were accurate she did not hesitate to kill her King’s knights and threaten her prince. 
Why was she so desperate to kill Lucinda? How many more were like her?
He wondered. 

“I will always want to protect her even when it seems impossible.” His brother continued.  “Everything changed that summer when we met.  We were brought together by forces outside of this world and we may continue to battle them the rest of our lives.  But we are meant to do that together. I know that now.” He shook his head.  “And perhaps amidst all the shadows and ashes we will find love for each other.”

His words were what John had feared. Did they truly wish to wed, or did a part of them feel that they had to?  As if they were destined to be together?
But to what end?
John worried.

The announcement of Matthew and Lucinda’s betrothal was met with a mix of joy and opposition from John’s kingdom.  Many loved the Princess.  They supported her claim to legitimize her kingdom and thought that her powers could bring good.  Yet, more feared her.  They pleaded with John to stop the marriage.

“How can you lead our sweet Prince to slaughter, like the prince of old?”  They would ask him.  The ancient prince died by his own father’s command, John would remind them.  Matthew was not Thomas and Lucinda was not Nycilla, John would remind himself constantly. 

John made the announcement of the betrothal to the kings, uncertain on how they would react.  Until the Kings came to a decision about Lucinda’s castle as the fifth kingdom of the Green Sea, he feared that this union would be viewed as the West Kingdom siding with an illegitimate kingdom. In truth, he hoped that his willingness to allow his brother as a match for Lucinda, and his good standing with the kings would influence their decision. King Adelphi and King Joseph seemed pleased by the marriage announcement. King Hamlyn was more wary of the arrangement.  Yet, he agreed that he could not have imagined a more suitable match for his daughter.

As Lucinda worked to legitimize her kingdom, entertaining several visits from the kings, Matthew remained in the West.  In consequence, they spent much of their betrothal period apart.

“If you plan to name him King, would it not be better for him to spend time with your people?” John had asked her.

“There is nothing he can do or say that will gain their trust.” She said darkly. “When he is my husband, I will command their respect for their King. Until then, he is only a foreigner to them. I am uncertain what they may do to stop the marriage.” John held the same uncertainty with his own people.  So much to Matthew’s dismay, John and Lucinda decided to keep him heavily guarded by his own men as well as trusted sorceresses from Lucinda’s kingdom.

“It is an embarrassment to my position to have me watched liked this!  You have made me small in the eyes of my men.”

“Your men do not think less of you.  They desire their Commander to see his wedding day. We all desire to keep you safe.”

“It would be kinder to lock me in a cell.”

“Careful. We have considered it.” Lucinda had added with a sympathetic smile.  “You would make a handsome prisoner.” Matthew had narrowed his eyes at both of them before conceding to the protection.  He looked warily at Lucinda. 

“And what of you? How will I know that you are safe?”  Matthew swiftly dipped his head away from her in a poor attempt to mask his emotion.

John fought the nagging fears that continued to plague him.  Would this always be a question between them?  Constantly worrying about their safety?  What kind of life was he sending his brother to?  Would his father have made the same choice?

“I promise I will be safe.” Lucinda said firmly, cutting into John’s thoughts. She lifted Matthew’s chin toward her so he would meet her gaze. “
Nothing
will keep me from returning to you.” 

After several months of debate and visits to her kingdom, the kings had come to the decision to legitimize Lucinda as Queen and her kingdom as the Fifth Kingdom of the Green Sea. The kings thought Matthew’s marriage to Lucinda would be an act of good faith after deciding to accept her kingdom.  So, John planned his brother’s wedding shortly after the decision was announced. 

A little over a year after Lucinda’s return, John stood as witness in the newly legitimized Fifth Kingdom as his brother’s wedding took place.  Just a few months after his 24
th
birthday, Matthew stood in the front of the throne room waiting for his bride. John tried to read the expression on Matthew’s face.  He prayed that it was only anxiousness and not fear of the future ahead that clouded his brother’s features.
 

Lucinda entered with her arm linked with her father’s.  She wore a dress of white lace covering every inch of her, from her neck to her toes and her fingertips.  A long maiden’s veil covered her face as she approached her future husband. Matthew lifted her veil and Lucinda looked at him with tearful eyes.  In one moment of tenderness, John watched as his brother wiped the tears from his bride’s face. 

He thought of his own wedding.  Gwendolyn did not cry, but John knew he was not the one she desired to lift the veil from her face.  The first year proved to be hard. She acted as the devoted wife, showering him with kisses and smiles, but he knew she wept when she thought no one could hear her.  Yet, her maids and guards reported to his father, and his father would talk to him. 
Love will come, John.  Act in love toward her and love will come.
He had grown to care for her quickly, but for years he was uncertain it was love. 

Not until shortly after his father passed did he know for sure.  He couldn’t mourn properly at his father’s burial.  He was to be king and his people’s eyes were on him.  He needed to be strong for them. A few days after his coronation, he found himself alone at night, sitting on his father’s throne.  He felt like an imposter, unworthy to take his father’s place.  Gwendolyn came to him unannounced.  She knelt by his feet and grabbed his hands. 
You have been strong for your people, now I will be strong for you.  Mourn for your father, John. 
She said to him.  He knelt beside her and she held him as he wept bitterly.  At the end of it, she looked at him with stern, blue eyes.
Now lead your people, my King. 
She continued to be a calming presence to him in the stresses of his reign.  He hoped after so many years, she meant the words when she told him she loved him.

He hoped love would come for his brother and Lucinda as well. He knew that they meant more to each other than either of them would admit. He watched as Matthew held Lucinda’s hand tightly as they turned to the priest. Words were spoken and on the priest’s instructions, Matthew removed the plain gold band he had given Lucinda for betrothal and replaced it with a new band, adorned with sapphires.  It was their mother’s.  The one ornament that was not passed on to the new Queen of the West, but set aside for his brother’s wife. The priest said the final words and Matthew and Lucinda were married, under the One God.

The Wedding Feast extended for three days as was traditional when a member of a royal family wed.  The guests from outside were small, only containing the families of the four kings.  All of the people of Lucinda’s kingdom attended, crowding the outside courtyard of the castle.  John had come alone.  Gwendolyn was recovering from the birth of their first child. He left Uncle Jonathan with her and his council, to watch over the kingdom while their King and Commander were gone.  She had borne him an heir and he allowed her to name him.
Nathaniel,
she had chosen for their firstborn. John thought it was a strong name for a future king.

He missed them now, on the final day of the feast as the kings and their families prepared to address the new couple. A feeling of sadness came over him as the wedding guests continued to raise their glasses to the Queen and King of the Fifth Kingdom. It was John’s only demand of Lucinda that Matthew would remain as Commander of the Western Guard after the marriage. Lucinda had obliged without argument.  John knew it was a selfish request that would force Matthew to be away from his new kingdom for periods at a time.  Yet, it was his birthright to be commander and John had no wish to name another.  He never thought Matthew would live away from the West Kingdom. It was traditional for a woman to join her husband’s household after all. Yet, John knew when he agreed on the marriage that there was nothing traditional about Matthew’s bride.

John focused his attention on King Joseph as he rose to speak. He stood with Queen Sarai and their daughter, Princess Prisma, to address the new couple. His sister, Princess Merline, sat near them as her brother started to speak. She looked quite the opposite of her brother in every way, with her green eyes and red hair. Rumors were the woman was a sorceress.   Her father, the former King of the North Kingdom, had her sent away when she was a young girl, but when her brother took the throne, he restored her to the kingdom.  King Joseph had made his sister a part of his council and John knew that she was influential in the North’s approval of Lucinda’s Kingdom.

King Joseph announced how his kingdom was so moved by Lucinda’s courage and how his daughter admired both Lucinda and Matthew.  He raised a glass to them and announced that the council of the North Kingdom has come to the decision to have every first born child considered as heir.  No longer would it be just first born sons.  Princess Prisma would take the throne after her father.  Surprised cheers flooded the courtyard.  Princess Prisma stood looking uncertainly toward Lucinda and Matthew.

King Adelphi, Queen Cameron and their children, Carrista, Jezreen and Andreas, stood to speak next.  John stared curiously at the daughters as they seemed to have a pained expression on their faces.  King Adelphi was an ostentatious speaker. His words dripped of high praise, but John always doubted his sincerity.  The man always seemed to look for his own gain in the joys of others. 

“Your Majesties, it is such an honor for my family and me to bear witness to this glorious event. 
Our Queen,
we hope that your reign will be prosperous. My fellow kings, let us learn from the mistakes of the Kings of Old who returned Queen Nycilla’s kindness with mistrust.”  The skies started to darken around them, and sounds of angry waves hitting the shore filled the courtyard.  Lucinda looked at her new husband with concerned eyes.  He whispered something in her ears to calm her, but an identical look of concern started to mask his face.  King Adelphi continued as if nothing was amidst.  “My fellow Kings, we have witnessed a change in times. The kingdoms of the Green Sea now host five kingdoms.  Queen Lucinda, you will have the utmost support and allegiance from the kings. Let our words be our end if they yield untrue—“