Children of the Sun and Moon

CHILDREN OF THE SUN AND MOON

BY

P.D STEWART

a World Of Melarandra
novel

Book 1

Copyright © 2015 P. D. Stewart

Revised Edition

All rights reserved. No
part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations included in
critical articles and reviews. For information, please contact
author.

Smashwords
Edition
FIC00900 Fiction/Fantasy/General

All characters
appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

“In their sixteenth
year, the twins sun and moon

shall be separated by
betrayal but shall

be found in the light.
Only when the night

is restored will the
evil be destroyed.

United they will return
the night but it

must be done with the
power that is sun

and moon or chaos will
overpower all.”

As told by Kaleneve
Aldea, Head of the Magik Prophets, in the book Prophecies of
Magik's

Never give up
on your dream. It is never too late to try! Thank you to all who
helped me believe I could do this.

PROLOGUE

Olrond Traug is
a very even-tempered, composed man. It was this quality, in his
mind, which had allowed him to be promoted to the rank of general
two years earlier. He was a man to whom the moment you looked upon
you were very aware he was military. At six foot two, he was as
tall as most soldiers, but his build stunned many. Most wouldn’t
call him slender, but he wasn’t largely built like most of his men.
Should you think he was easy prey, one would just need to watch him
move. His muscles were honed so tightly you could see them moving
under his clothing. He was the youngest soldier to receive the rank
of General in the Order of Maget. In the time since, Olrond had
become the head of this order he had learned many hidden truths,
but nothing had prepared him for the news he had just received.

Queen Elizanne
was in labour, a fact that would be unimportant if it wasn’t for
one little detail in a prophecy. Her very pregnancy had been the
course of one rumour after another, one of which implied the queen
was carrying twins. Like all the other whispers he had heard, he
tried to block the rumour of the queen’s condition. Truth be told,
he couldn’t bring himself to believe the king and queen of the
Central Lands were going to be part of a prophecy, which, to the
Order, meant the end of the world. To make matters worse, he had
also been informed that Gillock, the king’s trusted adviser and
teacher, may possess magic. Too many negative things were happening
at once.

He had already
prepared to dispatch two Magima, testers for the Order of Maget, to
Castle Klayhern, but he was hoping it would be for nothing. He
didn’t know what he would do if it were true. What if Gillock, whom
the Magima had long thought to possess magic, really did? What if
the queen does indeed have the twins foretold in the prophecy?
Olrond knew he would have to act as he had in the past, send those
who possess magical abilities to the Tower to be dealt with. He
couldn’t help but wonder what it would do to the Central Lands if
their own king were keeping a wizard in his castle, or what it
would do to the king and queen if their children were to be
terminated. It was far too much to think about. King Jeremy was an
old friend and thinking this way bothered Olrond greatly. Unsure of
what the night was going to bring, Olrond thought it wise to go to
the castle and see how everything was going with the queen.

Jeremy paced
outside the birthing room, seeing the looks the servants gave him
as they passed. He knew what they were thinking. The queen had gone
into labour too soon, and there were usually only two reasons for
that. Either something was wrong, or she was carrying more than one
child. Moving over to the window, he glanced towards the garden,
and saw Brin, his oldest daughter, playing with one of the
servants. Having enough of the stares, he decided to go join her.
Someone would find him when he needed.

“Push,” shouted
Marina. “You need to push!”

Elizanne,
exhausted from the hours of labour, gasped, “I cannot push
anymore.”

The midwife
sighed, understanding the queen's issue.

“It’s almost
over, your majesty. You need to give one more push.”

Giving it all
the strength she had left, Elizanne pushed. “It’s a boy, my lady,”
exclaimed Marina.

Elizanne
allowed a smile. “His name will be Eric, after my father.”

Suddenly,
Elizanne’s face contorted and she screamed. “I still have to
push!”

Marina passed
the baby off to one of the other servants and ran back to Elizanne.
“Get me another towel and some more warm water. There’s another
one.”

Elizanne could
hear the fear in Marina’s voice, but she pushed with all her might.
“This one is a girl, my queen,” she stated, her voice low and
sombre.

Elizanne began
to cry. “Why did it have to be twins?”

Marina tried to
smile. “What will her name be, my lady?”

“Koral, after
Jeremy’s mother.”

Marina, not
wanting the others to be a part of what may come, began to clear
everyone out of the room. She walked over to try to calm Elizanne
down. The queen grabbed at her gown and whispered, “Get me
Gillock.” Marina just nodded at the queen and made her way to find
the advisor.

When Gillock
arrived, Elizanne had dozed off. Not wanting to wake her, he went
over to where the children lay sleeping. “I knew this would come to
pass. Now we just have to see if the world is ready for what is to
come.”

“They are the
children from the prophecy,” came Elizanne’s voice from behind
Gillock.

Gillock went
over, sat on the bed next to her, and held her hand. “Yes, my dear,
they most certainly are. However, does not fear, the Magima will
not find anything. They don't realize it will take a few years
before their magic begins to take form.”

Elizanne
smiled. “Jeremy will not be pleased with this news.”

“You are right,
I am not pleased at all,” said the king, coming into the room.
There was no doubt he was king. His every movement showed he was
royalty, his every order obeyed. Bordering just over six feet,
Jeremy was a tall man. He had a full head of black hair, which was
complimented by stunning green eyes, and should you find yourself
in their gaze when he was not happy, you were left feeling very
small.

Gillock stood
and faced him. “I told you she was going to have the twins. The
prophecy has been set into motion. Their training must begin
now.”

“No. Not until
we are sure they are the twins told of in the prophecy,” replied
Jeremy.

Gillock’s
expression suddenly changed. “General Traug is here to see you
both. He has some Magima with him. They will be taking me along
with the children for testing.”

When the
general entered the room, he knew they had been discussing the
chance that these children were the ones from the prophecy. “King
Jeremy, Queen Elizanne. I assume you know why I’m here with the
Magima. The children need to be tested.”

Jeremy nodded.
“We understand, general. You may take them whenever the midwife
says it is okay.”

“Thank you,
your highness. We will take our leave.”

All three
watched as General Traug and his two Magima left the room. Jeremy
turned to Gillock, “They will not find anything will they?”

“No. The
children will not show any signs for at least two years and I will
be getting tested as well so we will not have anything to worry
about.” Turning back to Elizanne he said, “Nothing will happen to
your children.” Smiling, he walked out, leaving the two alone.

Jeremy looked
at Elizanne and could see the fear in her eyes. “Maybe they are not
the ones. Brin has shown no signs of possessing magic.”

Elizanne
nodded, but she knew the prophecy had been set in motion. She also
knew if the children failed the Magima’s tests, she would never see
them again. Now all the king and queen could do was wait. “This
must have been how my parents felt,” muttered Elizanne to
herself.

Traug was
feeling just as uneasy about the entire situation. Pacing and
staring at the door, he kept thinking about the chaos, which would
ensue, should the children fail. While he was in mid thought, the
door opened. Slowly, the general turned to face it.

“They passed
the test,” stated Gillock, holding the children. “As have I.”

Traug let out a
sigh of relief. “That’s good news indeed, Gillock. I'm sorry for
the inconvenience. You may take the children back to their
parents.”

“Thank you, and
it was no inconvenience. This must be done to ensure our way of
life.”

“Thank you for
understanding my position,” replied General Traug.

Gillock nodded
and left to bring the king and queen their children.

Jeremy was in
the same state as General Traug. When he saw Gillock come through
the door with the children, he collapsed into a chair. “They
passed!” he exclaimed.

Gillock just
smiled and placed the children in their sleeping baskets. “I told
you there was nothing to worry about, my king. Now, their training
must begin.”

“No,” yelled
Jeremy coming to his feet. “We do not know for sure they are the
children from the prophecy. If they are to be trained, it will be
in sword fighting and other tactics. They will not learn
magic.”

Gillock let out
an exasperated sigh. “They are the children. You’re in denial if
you believe otherwise. If they don’t receive the proper magical
training, they may fail.”

Jeremy paced
back and forth. “I am sorry Gillock, we must uphold the law. They
will not be trained in magic.”

Gillock knew by
the tone of Jeremy’s voice the matter was finished. “Very well, but
know this, you may have doomed us all.” Giving Elizanne a kiss on
the cheek, he turned and left the room.

Jeremy went
over to Elizanne. Stroking her red hair, he stared into her deep
blue eyes. “It is for the best. We do not even know if they are the
ones.”

Elizanne just
smiled. “Yes, we will just have to wait and see,” she whispered and
fell back asleep, happy her children were all right.

There was much
excitement around the castle. Twins had been born to the king and
queen, and with the announcement they had passed the tests, a great
holiday was declared. Today, being the Festival of the Moon was
normally reason enough to celebrate, but with the declaration of a
royal holiday, it became an even grander event. Many people were
running about making all sorts of preparations. With all the
bustling, about no one noticed a boy slip away from the castle and
disappear into the village.

Payton didn’t
know why he was heading into the seedy part of town, he just felt
overly compelled to go. He also appeared to know exactly where it
was he was going. As Payton neared his destination, his pace
slowed. He stopped at the entrance to the alley, but didn’t see
whom he was supposed to meet. So strong was his need to be here, he
just stood there and waited.

“You are late,”
said a voice from the shadows. Payton turned to face the voice and
saw what appeared to be a man in a long cloak, hood drawn.

“I'm sorry. The
castle is full of people. It was hard to leave unseen.”

The figure
stepped closer. “And the news?”

Payton gulped.
He just stared at the figure, trying to see a face, but all that
greeted him was unbelievable darkness. “Twins were born to the king
and queen,” he stammered.

The cloaked
figure did not make a move. “And were they taken care of?”

Payton again
gulped. “No. There is said to be a wizard guarding the
children.”

This news
caused the figure to shift uneasily. “Gillock,” it hissed and then
disappeared.

Payton shook
his head and looked around. He had no idea why he was in this area
of town or how he even got here. Looking about, he decided it was a
good idea for him to go back to the castle. They probably needed
him to help with the Festival preparations.

A few alleys
away, the figure reappeared and drew what appeared to be a mirror
out of its cloak. “My queen,” it spoke to the mirror.

The image which
appeared in the mirror, was that of a strikingly beautiful woman
with jet black hair and unusually deep blue eyes. “Yes, Moray, what
news?” she asked.

“Elizanne has
had twins. They were not disposed of. Gillock is with them.”

Queen Malena
smiled. “It is not a problem, my loyal servant. This will work in
our favour, that I am sure. Now, return to the castle. We have much
to plan.”

Moray nodded
and in a wisp of wind, disappeared.

Lakin let his
scrying pool cloud over. Things were finally starting. For many
years, he had been preparing in the Tower, waiting for this day.
Now all he had to do was wait sixteen more. Smiling to himself, he
set about writing the daily lists for his Magima.