Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

The Second Battle of Malah Carzim, as the battle at Malah Carzim became called, was the last battle in the mountains for many years.  With the death of Vespertine and Adam’s appointment, the Aranara were forged into a peaceful people.
 King Tell and Queen Josephina’s reign was long and prosperous.  Their lands spread far to the south and stretched all the way to the Eastern Sea.  It equaled the Old Sarconian Kingdom in both size and wealth.  After their deaths they were succeeded by their son, Timothy the Second, and his wife, Atlanta.
 Reginald’s body was given to his family and he was buried near his parents in the family plot.
 Duke Ichabod succumbed to minor insanity due to the blow he received while attacking Josephina.  Seeing that he was harmless, King Tell pardoned him.  Ichabod married the very beautiful and extremely gullible Duchess Renly.  They lived happily at her estate in the north until their deaths.
 Thomas Wilfred remained a trusted councilor of the King and Queen until his untimely  death fifteen years later.
 Jack Breaker and Kaia Watson were happily married and had two children, Jack and Brian.  They frequently vistited Adam and Alethea in the south.
 Melissa Breaker and Joshuel Carzim both had a passion for history.  Together they started the School of Lore.  They had six children: Crystal, Jonathan, Alena, Alexis, Lucas and Kyle.  They lived to see their great grandchildren.  The scar on Melissa’s palm from Vespertine’s dagger remained with her for the rest of her life.
 Alethea and Adam ruled the Aranara under King Tell until their deaths.  They saw to it that justice was ensued, and the land knew prosperity for the first time in many years.  They had a daughter, Sabrina.
 Jake and Misty succeeded in reconciling the superstitious Brenians with the Sarconians.  They moved up into the foothills of the Sarco Mountains and built a cabin near the main road that led to Sarconia City.   They raised eight children, Chase, Adam, Melody, Tell, Marian, Teresa, Walker and Conrad.
 Gilthoniel Dragontongue stunned her entire family by marrying a young man named Elwin.  They had a son, Brac.  The family traveled far to the north and disappeared from known records.
 Malfic Vespertine’s body was burned and his ashes scattered to the wind. 

THE END

Thus ends my tale.  So remember, when attacking fortresses, watch out for vicious ten-year-olds, put on a hat and button up your coat when it's snowing outside, and whatever you do, don't eat with your mouth full.

As I said, this is The End.  Now what?  Shall I post another one of my madcap tales, or would you rather hear about the boring and unusual life of an over-imaginative authoress/student pianist/JV volleyball setter?

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

The time grew near for all to part and go their various ways.  Adam was officially given lordship of the Aranara’s old territory and left soon after with Alethea.  Others returned to their homes until only Jack, Melissa, Jake, Kaia,  Misty and Jonathan and Joshuel, the Carzim brothers, remained.
 Tell knighted the four young men.   Josephina looked at Jack.
 “You have done the kingdom great service,” she said.  Her voice was rich and queenly.  “What is it that you want?  You need but to name the thing.”
 “There is but one thing that I want, Your Highness,” said Jack, “and the final decision is her’s and her brother’s.”  Jack looked at Kaia, who was standing with the queen’s ladies, and she flushed.
 Tell and Josephina laughed.  “There are few prizes greater,” said Tell, smiling.  He turned to Kaia.  “Is it what you want?” he asked her.
 “Yes,” she replied, if my brother will allow it.”
 “I’m not stopping you,” said Jake.                                                                                                                   Melissa requested only permission to ride where she wished and marry whom she pleased.  This was granted her.  Jonathan remained in Stragillia as part of the king and queen’s guard.
 Jack, Melissa, Jake, Kaia, Misty and Joshuel started back a few days later.  That night around the campfire Joshuel said, “Jonathan and I were bacheloring in the same cabin.  It’s going to be kind of lonely there without him.  Melissa, I was wondering if you would keep me company.”
 “I’ll drop in whenever I get the chance,” Melissa said, then laughed at the dejected look on Joshuel’s face.  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
 Joshuel’s eyes lit up and he grinned widely.  “I think I’m the happiest man in the world.”
 “I don’t know about that,” said Jack.  “My wife-to-be is pretty too.”
 “Well I think that mine is prettier,” Joshuel retorted.
 “Humph,” said Jack.  “I’m not going to waste time arguing you, seeing as I’m right, even if the controversy concerns my sister.”
 “They say love’s blind anyway,” said Joshuel.  “How are we to know?  Hey Jake!  Which girl’s prettier?  Kaia or Melissa?”
 Jake looked between the two girls.  “I can’t tell,” he said, deciding to keep his opinion that Misty was the prettiest to himself and stay neutral.
 “You’ve been taking lessons from Alethea,” accused Jack.
 “A few,” said Jake.  “I’m hoping to setting things down between the mountain people and the Brenians.”
 “I hope you succeed,” said Misty.  “There has been dissension for far too long.”

 When they got back to the mountains, Jake and Misty stayed up there long enough to see Joshuel and Melissa get married, and soon after that came Jack and Kaia’s wedding.  After these events were over, Jake and Misty went down to Brenia to speak with the town council.
 To Misty’s surprise, Jake detoured into a clearing near the city.  “Do you recognize this clearing, Misty?” he asked.
 “Yes!  This is where you took me during the Aranara raid.  We started for the mountains from here.”
 “You kissed me here too.” Jake said.
 Misty flushed slightly.  “Yes.”
 “I was wondering.  Would you kiss me again, on our wedding day?”
 “I would.  And I might kiss you the day after our wedding too.”
 Jake and Misty rode into the town.  Next to the city hall, under one of the windows in the council chamber, was a lilac bush.  Jake thought he saw a boy hiding in its leafy depths.  He looked at the boy, who saw him and cringed.  Jake smiled reassuringly.  “I won’t give you away,” he mouthed to the boy as a furious girl stalked past into the marketplace. 

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Random fact:  I can blow-dry my hair, check my email, and keep half an eye on a football game on TV at the same time.  But...that doesn't pertain to Chapter Twenty-six...does it...  

During the weeks that followed, Tell and Josephina held court in the main hall of Malah Carzim.  They sent the remainders of Reginald’s army back to the plains.  The newly conquered Aranara were great problem.  They were now leaderless, and their chieftains would probably fight amongst each other for the leadership until another like Vespertine arose.  This leader would most likely cause the same problems all over again.
 Tell decided to hold the problematic chieftains in custody until they could be tried in Stragillia.  Then Tell called Adam.
 “Your people, the Aranara, are, as of late, leaderless,” he said.  “I do not want them to go back to their old ways.  They should be a working part of the kingdom, no less important than any other region.  I want you to lead them.”
 “Me?” gasped Adam.
 “Yes.  You are honest and fair, but strong.  It can also be seen that you care for you people.  Such things will be important.”
 Adam knelt at Tell’s feet and gave him his sword.  “You have my loyalty.”
 Tell drew the sword and touched Adam’s shoulders with the flat of the sword and sheathed it.
 “Rise and take you sword,” he said.
 Tell, Josephina, and Adam worked together to organize the Aranaran government.  They traveled south together with the remainder of the Aranaran army.  It took time to affirm Adam’s position, and, after his position was affirmed, he was almost constantly listening to the complaints of the people.  A few weeks later Tell and Josephina returned to Sarconia City.
  Vespertine and his predecessors had spent most of their time amassing wealth and building an army, and justice had been ignored.  There were very few laws, and those the existed were rather vague.  Adam discarded these entirely and adopted the laws of Strianel.  He knew it would take him weeks, perhaps months, to straighten the new judicial system out.  Alethea was sent from Sarconia City to assist Adam.
 When Tell and Josephina returned to Sarconia City, they gave thought to the governing of the mountains.  It was eventually decided that the council would remain the main power in the mountains, although now under the king and queen.  The Dragontongues consented to submit to the authority of the council.
 These weeks were somewhat idyllic for those recovering from their wounds.  Jake found himself being looked after chiefly by Misty.  Kaia was keeping her eye on Jack, although he recovered quickly.  Melissa and Joshuel were often seen together in the halls of the palace at Sarconia City with Thomas Wilfred, discussing the history of the moutains.
 That fall, Tell and Josephina began making preparations to return to Stragillia.  Adam, who had left the southern territory in good hands, came north with Alethea and was later seen in close conference with her father.  Adam and Alethea were married a few weeks later.
 The return to Stragillia was the largest riding out from the mountains since the reign of King Timothy the First.  Adam, Alethea, the Sarconian council, Jack, Melissa, Jake, Kaia, and many others were part of the group.  The people who lived near the road often stopped their work to stare at the large company.
 They were predominately clothed in blues and greens and mounted on unicorns.  Josephina was dressed in a long, wide sleeved, light blue dress and was cloaked in light green.  A delicate sliver circlet studded with diamonds rested in her dark hair.  Tell was wearing a dark blue tunic, and was cloaked in purple.  The golden circlet on his head was studded with sapphires. 
 Wild rumors ran before them, saying that all the heros of legend had risen from the dead and were riding down the highway with Tell and Josephina.   This aroused great curiosity in the villages along the way.  The rumor was believable, considering the size and appearance of the company.
 Reginald, during his brief time on the throne, had been an oppressive king.  When Tell and Josephina came to the capital city, Stragillia, they were greeted with open arms.  News of their coming had proceeded them, and the city streets had been cleaned and strewn with sweet smelling herbs and flowers.  The joyous residents threw out so many petals when the new King and Queen passed by that it appeared to be snowing in multicolors.
 A week later, Tell and Josephina were officially crowned King and Queen of Strianel.  The night of the coronation, fireworks were set off across the country, and there were bonfires in every village.  The girls of Stragillia could be seen late into the night, dancing and singing in the streets, their white dresses swirling around them.
 Tell and Josephina now held court in the Great Hall of Evenvinder, the palace at Stragillia.  The officers of Reginald’s army were, for the most part, innocent of any treachery.  The king would usually demote them a rank and set them free.  It took much longer to deal with the treacherous officers and lords.  Some were banished, others deprived of lands and titles and a very few were executed.

TruthSeeker has a new post up, and it's not about teleporting socks this time.  Go and see it!

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

The sun was rising slowly outside, bathing the mountains with gold.  A cry of dismay came from the attacking army.   Sweeping over the western edge of the valley came a large Corvanie army. 
 Tell swiftly rallied the defenders.  They mounted and rode from the gates of the fortress, trapping Vespertine and Reginald’s armies between the Sarconian’s, their allies, and the Corvanie.  The fighting became thick and hot. 
 Jack had ridden unharmed through the melee.  Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone flying through the air towards him.  It was Vespertine.  Vespertine knocked Jack from his saddle onto the trampled battleground.  Jack flung his attacker off him and sprang to his feet.  Vespertine came toward him, snarling with rage.  Jack’s sword point came up and his knees flexed.
 The rest of the battle became blur for Jack.  He saw only the next swing of his attacker’s sword, thought only of the next parry or lunge he needed to make.  Both he and Vespertine were skilled swordsmen, and it was a dual that surpassed all others in living memory.  Then Jack saw an opening.  He went for it and knocked Vespertine’s sword from his hand.  The tip of Jack’s sword now rested on Vespertine’s collarbone.
 The two looked around.  The plainsmen and the Aranara were no match for the skilled Sarconian and Corvanie armies.  They fell back, step by step.  Melissa ran up and saw that Vespertine had been taken prisoner.
 Vespertine looked at the twins with hatred.  “Curse you!  Curse you both!”  He pulled a dagger from his belt and plunged it into himself.  Melissa went over to him, checked his pulse, and saw that he was still barely alive.  Vespertine’s eyes opened, and he caught Melissa’s wrist in a death grip.  “I almost had you,” he whispered.  “I almost had you.  You were mine!”  With a final effort, he brought the tip of his dagger down on Melissa’s palm and cut the symbol of his house onto it.  “You will wear the scar forever.  You are mine.”  His head fell back limply.
 Melissa rose and went to Jack’s side and they looked around.  Tell was battling Reginald, and as they watched, the latter fell dead with an Aranara arrow in his throat.  The battle didn’t last much longer.  The Aranara and what was left of Reginald’s army, seeing their leaders dead, fled in terror or surrendered.  Tell raced back inside to find Josephina.  She was standing against the wall, surrounded protectively by several children armed with knives, short swords and long-handled frying pans.  They parted to let Tell though.
 “Reginald?” Josephina asked.
 “Dead,” Tell replied.  “Killed by an Aranara arrow.  Ichabod?”
 Josephina nodded to where Ichabod lay unconscious on the floor.   “Right there.”
 Tell smiled at Josephina. “I love you,” he said and kissed her.
 The kids watched them.  “Yuck,” said one.

The search for missing persons began as soon as the fighting stopped.   The women and girls were kept busy helping the wounded.
 “Have you seen Jake?” Kaia asked Jack as she bandaged a cut on his arm.
 “No,” Jack replied.  Kaia’s face paled.  “I’ll go and find him,” Jack told her, standing up.
 “But you’re still bleeding,” Kaia sputtered.
 “I’ve had worse,” Jack replied, heading out the door. 
 Kaia sighed and stared around the large room.  Melissa was bandaging Joshuel, who was protesting that he was fine, even though his sleeve and pant leg were soaked with blood and he could hardly stand.   Finally Melissa finished and walked over to Kaia.
 “That boy,” she said. “Why can’t he admit that he is not fine?  He always says ‘I’ve had worse’ and tries to run off.”
 “Like your brother,” said Kaia.
 “What did Jack do this time?”
 “He went looking for Jake.”
 “The brainless...why can’t he ever sit quietly and let someone patch him up?!”
 Just then Jack came in.  Melissa started to scold him but he cut her off. “You can chew me out later, Lissa,” he said. “Right now we need to do something.”
 “What?” asked both girl in unison.
 “Jake is out there on the wall, four or five dead Aranara piled on top of him, nearly dead himself.”
 “What!!?”  The cry came from Kaia and Melissa’s left.  Misty came up. “What did you say about Jake!?”
 “He’s nearly dead.”
 “Where?!”
 “On the wall,” Melissa answered.  Misty ran for the door, Melissa on her heels.  Jack started to run after them, but Kaia grabbed his arm.
 “You are not going anywhere.” she said firmly.
 “I’m fine.” Jack said.  Then he passed out.  Kaia sighed.  Jack had slept little in the last couple of days, and had been wounded in his battle with Vespertine. She hauled him to a mat on the floor.

 Misty and Melissa picked their way carefully around the bodies that lay on the wall.  Misty cried out as soon as she saw Jake.  Melissa helped her drag the dead Aranara off him.
 “He’s alive,” Melissa said, “But he’s lost a lot of blood.”
 “There’s another storm coming up,” said Misty.  Dark clouds were piling on the western horizon.  They used a couple of cloaks to pad a full length shield they found nearby and lifted Jake onto the makeshift stretcher.  Two Corvanie soldiers helped them carry Jake inside.
 Night fell.  Thunder shook the ground and rain came down in torrents.  The search for the dead and wounded continued through the darkness and the storm.   The casualties on both sides had been high.
 The Aranara and plains soldiers were placed in a separate area, and their medics were allowed to tend to the wounded.  The Sarconian soldiers and theirs allies were in an upstairs area that had been turned into an im-prompt-two hospital. 
 Melissa caught a glimpse of Adam.   He was going from person to person, showing no favoritism to either side.  He came over and looked at Jake while Melissa went to care for her brother.
 “He’s not too well,” Adam told Misty.  “I was with him for a time on the wall, fighting.  He’s one to ride the river with.”  Adam carefully cleaned and bandaged Jack’s wounds.  “That’s all I can do,” he said quietly.  “Now we just hope that none of these wounds were poisoned.”

EDIT:  My alter-identity, TruthSeeker, needs help solving a puzzling (if not silly) mystery conserning a teleporting sock.  Go to her blog for more info.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

The opposing armies advanced swiftly.    In their midst was a large battering ram.  The Sarconian archers waited until area between the arms of the crescent was filled, then let loose with a deadly volley of arrows.  The attackers were thrown back out of the crescent in confusion, but rallied when out of bowshot.  They advanced again, this time holding their shields above their heads.  Scaling ladders were soon raised, but the defenders quickly shoved them down.
 “Their battering ram is getting close,” Joshuel said to Melissa, “They are sticking together.”
 “Not for long,” Melissa said.  She ignited the tip of an arrow and shot it into the midst of the rammers.  They scattered, fearing the fire.  The Sarconian archers swiftly took advantage of the exposure and shot down several of their attackers before they could reform.
 High on the walls more defenders began using catapults to sling large boulders onto the attacking army.  Trapped by the curving walls, many of the attackers could not scatter to the sides and were crushed.  More poured in to replace them.   The archers continued to reek havoc with flaming arrows.  Boiling vats of oil were dumped down on the attackers that were near the wall.  When flaming arrows hit the oil that had been dumped on the ground, the area caught fire.  The attackers, finally dismayed by the fire and the rocks, dropped their battering ram and fled back to their camp.   A detachment was sent from the fortress to get the battering ram.  It was quickly dragged inside.  One more attack was attempted, but it was swiftly repelled.
 “Well,” said Jake, who had been on the wall with Jack, “They don’t have a battering ram anymore.  I wonder what they’ll try next.”
 “I believe they are going to build siege towers,” said Jack.
 
 His suspicions were soon confirmed.  Reginald and Vespertine did not attack, but instead devoted their time to building siege towers.   Tell secretly sent Alethea to Corvan with a small guard to request military assistance.   He sent a raiding party to the enemy camp to destroy the siege towers.   The raiding party was unable to entirely destroy the towers, but they were seriously damaged.

 Two weeks later the enemy prepared to attack.  The siege towers moved slowly towards the walls, surrounded by a seeming endless black mass of men.
 “There’s more than eighteen thousand out there,” Melissa told Joshuel.  “Many more.  My guess is more like twenty-five thousand, perhaps more.”
 Arrows began raining down from the walls.  The attackers fell in waves.  Still the towers moved forward.  Now the archers had to take aim on the powerful horses that pulled the towers.  When the horses fell, men pushed the towers forward.  One of them hit the wall with a loud thump.  Men poured off of it. 
 The defenders began to fall back from the wall.  Jack, seeing this, rallied them.  With a yell they charged, scattering their enemies before them and driving them off that portion of the wall.  They continued to hold them off through the day and into the night, hoping that their alliance with the Corvanie would hold and assistance would come.
 Around dusk,  Jack found himself fighting alongside Adam and Jack.   They formed into a triangular attack position and came to the rescue of a group that had been surrounded by enemy soldiers.  Adam, although a medic, was also a brilliant swordsman.  Though already armed, he had grabbed a second sword off a fallen soldier, and was spinning both blades through the melee in stunning silver arcs.
 Melissa joined them, sword in one hand, dagger in the other.  Her braid hung loosely down her back, and she flipped it about with incredible precision, knocking weapons from her opponent’s hands.  Arrow, the panther, was at her side, teeth and talons bloody, lips pulled back in a challenging snarl.
 Jonathan and Joshuel, the Carzim brothers, were causing problems for one of the siege towers.  With a few skillful moves, Jonathan had jammed the ramp, temporarily trapping the Aranara on the tower.  Then the brothers doused the structure with pitch and oil, and a flaming arrow soon had it burning steadily.   The huge tower was a pillar of fire, burning hot and forcing everyone to move back from it.  Then, with a loud crash, the tower collapsed, raining embers down on the struggling mass.  The ground, splattered with flammable material, caught fire, sending the attacking forces reeling back in terrified confusion.
 The fires burned steadily all night, preventing attack and allowing the Sarconians to manage some rest.  The rising sun revealed that during the night the fires had burned out, and Reginald and Malfic’s united forces stormed the fortress once again.
 A pouring rain set in at mid-morning, drenching the trampled earth below the walls and turning it into oozing mud.  Slender streamlets of water ran along the top of the wall and poured out drainage holes, sending a cascade of water over anyone who happened to be below.  Arrow was the unfortunate victim of one of the sudden waterfalls and promptly took out his rage on two unlucky Aranara who were viciously attacking Melissa.  The battle raged all through the day. 
 
 The moon rose, casting a eerie light on the raging battle.  War cries mixed with death screams in an unintelligible clamor.  Inside the fortress Josephina waited nervously.  Tell had joined the battle that morning.  Suddenly the door flew open.  She looked up.
 It was Ichabod.  His clothing was torn and bloodstained.
 “Well,” he said. “It comes down to this.  Your precious husband will not live much longer.  It will be just you and I then.”  He drew his sword.  “Will you come quietly, or not?”
 “You’ll never have me, Icky,” Josephina said, grasping her sword hilt and drawing the blade from its sheath.
 He lunged at her.  She parried the blow.  Back and forth they fought, swords ringing as steel clashed against steel.  Then Ichabod’s wrist seemed to flick ever so slightly, and Josephina’s sword landed in his grasp.  She stepped backwards away from him.  He walked toward her and she continued to back away.  Josephina’s back hit something hard.  The wall.  He had backed her up against it.  Ichabod took two swift steps toward her and grabbed her upper arm.  She kicked him in the shin as hard as she could.  He laughed, pinned her against the wall, and kissed her.  Josephina spat in his face and began to twist in his grasp.  Never in her life had she felt so angry.  A voice came from behind Ichabod.
 “Let her go.”
 Ichabod turned around.  A young girl of about ten stood there, her hands on her hips.  “Let her go,” the girl said again.
 “And if I don’t?” asked Ichabod tauntingly.
 “Bad things will happen, trust me.”
 Ichabod roared with laughter, then turned back to Josephina.
 “Now!!” the girl yelled.
 Several kids rushed out from the shadows, yelling.   Before Ichabod quite knew what was happening they were all over him.  He was jerked ruthlessly away from Josephina and dragged to the floor.  He felt a sickening blow on his head and everything went black.
 

There's that.  I had to do two posts today, so go read the one below this one.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Part one of three.

It was dark and the thunder rumbled.  Rain was pouring down.  Few people saw the cloaked rider that galloped into town.  The rider dismounted in front of the palace at Sarconia City, tossed the reins of it's unicorn to a nearby groom, and entered.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

The next day the Council met.  Gary Tecal, the senior member of the Council, was there with two of his great grandchildren, Brien and Kena.   They accompanied him everywhere.  Kena was now sitting on a hassock at Gary’s feet, and Brien was standing beside him.   Old Jonathan Carzim was there and many others.  They were in a circle, in the midst of which was a mosaic map of the mountains and the plains.  One of the members escorted Josephina to a seat in the circle.  Gary Tecal, obviously the oldest one there, was to her right.  Tell came in a few minutes later and was seated at her left.
 When everyone was there the meeting was called to order.
 “I received a message from Melissa Breaker, one of the scouts, a few nights ago,” said Gary.  “What she said was most interesting.  She says that the princess Josephina has no right to the throne.”
 “Treason?!” gasped the council.
 Gary held up his hand. “She went on to say that according to the Archives and the Lists of Kings, the throne and kingdom rightfully belong to Lieutenant Tell ConRay, Princess Josephina’s fiancé, who is here with us.  Kena, will you read the end of the Lists of Kings?”
 Kena opened a large, thick book and turned to the back of it.  “ ‘On this day, May, 14 of the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Zephyr, Derek ConRay, Heir to the Throne, married Alena of the North.’ ” she read. “ The Lists go on to tell of how Derek switched places with his friend Nicanor ConVal.  According to the record Derek died in battle ten years later.  His wife had a son eight months after his death.   She named him Tell.  Alena married a Lord Alan McGlather, but Tell kept his blood father’s name and became a lieutenant in the royal cavalry.”
 The council turned to look at Tell.  He was sitting there, looking shocked and anything but kingly.  Josephina sank back into her chair. “Thank heaven,” she said. “I don’t have to rule the country after all.”   She turned to Tell.  “Apparently you weren’t at all forward when you asked for my hand in marriage, Milord.”
 “Well,” said old Jonathan, “It appears that we have three major things to attend to.  The royal wedding, the royal coronation, and the defense of the country.”
 “We should position scouts at the passes to watch for any approach,” said one of the Council.
He turned to Tell.
 Tell, unused to having people ask for his opinion, paused and looked confused for a moment.  Josephina took his hand.  “That is a good idea,” said Tell finally,  “but...by the time the scouts could inform us of an approach, we wouldn’t have enough time to really prepare for an assault.  We should not only have scouts at the passes, but spies on the plains as well.”
 “That is good council,” said Gary. “Whom shall we send to the plains, and to where on the plains shall we send them?”
 “If my handmaidens are willing, I shall send them as spies to wherever the king thinks best,” said Josephina.
 “One should be sent to Stragillia...”said Tell.
 “That would best be Susan.  She is in my uncle’s favor.” Josephina told him.
 “May I suggest we send one to the north kingdom and one to the south?” asked Jonathan.
 “That would work well,” said Tell.
 “I’m not sure we can do anything beyond that and the mustering of the army,” said Gary.
 Jonathan turned to Tell and Josephina. “Do I guess correctly that you two want to get on with your wedding as soon as possible?”
 “You read our minds, Jonathan,” said Tell.
 “Well then, it appears that the next plans to be made must deal with the wedding and coronation of this royal couple.”
 “A wedding?!” cried Kena, forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to speak in the council unless spoken to.   “I love weddings.  The brides are always so pretty, and the royal princess here won’t be any exception.”
 “We can all concur on that Kena,  I’m sure,” said Jonathan.

 Tell and Josephina’s wedding was, as Kena had predicted, absolutely beautiful.  The Sarconian ladies, skilled with the needle, had made Josephina a wedding dress of white silk with flowering vines embroidered on it in silver thread.
 Josephina’s handmaidens had be sent to the plains, and were temporarily being replaced by   Misty Johnson and Kaia Watson.  Misty was able to give Josephina a simple but exquisite hairstyle that complimented her apparel.  Tell went all eyes when he saw Josephina, and it was obvious to those attending that he was having difficulty keeping his mind on the ceremony.  He made it through the ‘I dos’ though, and nearly floated out of the hall.  There was much feasting and dancing afterwards.

 The coronation of the new King and Queen took a little longer.   It had far more ceremony than the wedding.
 Tell and Josephina walked down a long carpeted hall.  Josephina’s long wide-sleeved dress shimmered purple in the candlelight, and the gems that Misty had scattered through her hair crowned her with stars.   Tell was dressed in a dark blue tunic of velvet.
 Finally they reached the dias at the end of the hall.  Josephina stood on the top step of the dias.  Tell knelt.  Gary Tecal placed a silver crown inlaid with many gems on his head and stepped aside, bowing.  Tell rose.
 “Long live the King!” cried Gary, and the cry was echoed through the hall.  The cheering was deafening.  Tell lifted a hand for silence after a moment.  The crowd quieted.  Josephina stepped onto the dias and knelt at Tell’s feet.  He placed an intricately wrought crown on her head and gently raised her to her feet.  “Your Queen!” he cried.  The yells raised the roof.

 Things went fairly well for the young King and Queen.  They met frequently with the Council, laying plans for their defense.  Gilthoniel Dragontongue came from the north to assure them of her people’s allegiance.  Scouts were constantly coming in with reports.  One day Susan came riding in full speed.
 “Your Highness’s!” she gasped. “Reginald has received news of your coronation.  He is furious.  He has formed an alliance with the Aranara, and is going to march on us.”
 “How many men?” asked Tell.
 “Ten thousand is what he’s rallied so far.  But I ‘m not sure how many the Aranara can raise.”
 “Ten thousand’s a lot,” said Tell.  “Jonathan, How many can we raise?”
 “Not a force equal to theirs in size,” said old Jonathan. “But I think we can equal them in skill.  We also have almost invincible fortresses.  We are as well equipped as they are.”
 “Double the guard on the passes,” said Tell.  “Keep a good eye on the Aranara.”

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

When Josephina awoke the sky was golden with dawn.  She could see one of the boys silhouetted against the growing light.   He was looking towards the east, a bow leaning against his shoulder.  Josephina rose, wrapped her cloak around her, and went to stand at his side.
 “Beautiful morning,” he said to her as she came up.
 “Indeed, Jack,” she said to him. “Have you been up all night?”
 “No.  Jonathan and I go in two hour rounds.”
 The two of them watched the sun rise.  Tell and Jonathan joined them.
 “You’re an early riser, Milady,” said Jonathan.
 She smiled.  “Do I guess correctly that the earlier we start the better?”
 “Yes.”
 “By the way, where are you taking me?”
 “Sarconia City.”  
 “Isn’t that just a legendary place?”
 “No.  But because most people wouldn’t think to look there, you will be safe from your uncle’s clutches for a time.”
 Josephina’s three handmaidens began to stir.  Claudia was the last to rise.
 “Oh,” she moaned.  “I’m stiff and sore all over.  Are you alright, Milady?  Didn’t get any sleep I suppose.”
 “On the contrary,” said Josephina.  “I haven’t had such a good night’s sleep in a long time.”
 Claudia groaned and muttered something under her breath.  Jonathan smiled and laughed softly.  Liberty came over to him.
 “How do you stoke up a fire?” she said.  “It’s gone down to embers, and I have no idea what to do.”
 Jonathan took her over to the fire, and under his instruction she quickly got it going.  Josephina watched them out of the corner of her eye as she folded her blanket.  Jonathan and Jack were soft-spoken and gentle, and conducted themselves better around ladies than many courtiers.  These were further mysteries for her inquiring mind to explore.
 After breakfast Josephina went over to Stardust.  “Good morning, girl,” she said, rubbing the unicorn’s neck.  Stardust nickered softly and nosed her shoulder.  Josephina slipped the hackamore on.  Jonathan quickly saddled Stardust and four other unicorns.  Jack, Jonathan and Tell took care of their own tack.
 They rode all day, except for a brief stop at noon.  The speed and endurance of the unicorns continued to astonish Tell and Josephina.    Claudia complained constantly.  She worried that the wind would ruin Josephina’s complexion.  She complained that she was sore.  She said that the ground was hard and she couldn’t sleep properly.  She was confident that one, or all, of the unicorns would go wild and kill them all.   Finally Josephina lost patience.  She dropped back to ride next to her complaining governess.
 “Claudia,” she said sternly, “shut up, stop complaining, and just work with it.”
 Claudia’s mouth dropped open. “Well, I never,” she said, but was silent for the rest of the day.
 A few days later the mountains loomed in the distance.  Snow still partially covered their tops.  Carefully dodging the settlements in the foothills, they came to a old trail.  Jack turned on to it and the others followed him.  They rode for some time, always going upwards.  They came to a plain and rode to the edge of it.
 The city gleamed with the golden tint of the setting sun.  Josephina gasped with wonder. 
 “How could something like this be forgotten?” she asked.
 They rode down the trail that led into the valley.  The Council was waiting for them at one of the main buildings.
 “Welcome, Your Highness,” said one of them. “We are honored by your presence.”
 “Thank you, Sir,” Josephina replied.
 “You must be tired after your long journey.  We have prepared rooms for you and your companions.  Will you go to them?”
 “Yes.” Josephina turned to Jack and Jonathan. “Thank you for rescuing me and guiding me across the country.”
 The boys bowed. “Not a problem, Milady.”  They remounted, cast their hoods over their faces, and rode into the deepening night.  Josephina watched them until they were absorbed into the darkness, then took Tell’s hand and went into the building.
 The halls were wide, and the high ceiling was held up by many white pillars.  There were many pictures carved in bold relief on the walls with amazing detail.  When Josephina asked their guide, who had introduced herself as Alethea Breaker, what the carvings were, she answered:
 “These buildings were here when our ancestors moved to this valley.  These pictures were of various people and events of some ancient kingdom.  There is one of their kings, I think.” she pointed to one of the carvings.  It was of a man on a rearing horse.  The man held a sword in one hand, and with the other he was lifting a banner into the air.   His cloak flew out behind him.  Josephina smiled. 
 Alethea continued.  “My cousin, Melissa, might be able to tell you far more about the lore behind these pictures.  However, she is away scouting.”
 They came to a large circular room with many doors leading from it.  There were many statues of marble standing next to the walls.  The oldest one was to the left of the door through which they had entered, and the youngest one to the right.  It was this one on the right that caught Josephina’s eye.  It was of a young woman.  She gazed off into the distance, loose hair whipping about her.  Her right hand was on her hip, and her left on a sword-hilt.  She was strikingly beautiful.
 Alethea came to Josephina’s side. “I'm not sure who she was.  An heroine of olden times, I guess."  Josephina fell into bed that night exhausted.   The Council was meeting the next day, and she knew she had to attend.  She hoped to get some sleep before the dawn.
 

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

“Confound this blasted moat,” muttered Jonathan.  He and Jack had been sent from the mountains five days ago on a mission to rescue the princess.  They had traveled quickly across the country and were now across the moat from Josephina’s tower.
 “I got an idea that might work,” said Jack.  Quickly he explained his plan to Jonathan.  Jonathan pulled out an arrow with a grappling hook on a rope at the end of it.  He shot it almost straight up.  It landed inside the balcony and hooked firmly on the stone railing.  He swung across the moat on it.  Jack tossed him one end of a rope with a tent peg attached to it.  Both boys made their ends secure.  Jack threw a couple more coils of rope to Jonathan.  He attached them to two rings in the castle wall, then threw the rest of the rope back to Jack, who tied his ends to the unicorn’s saddle horns.
 Jack murmured something to the unicorns, who swiftly braced the high ropes.  He walked quickly across.  Jonathan grasped the rope leading to the balcony and began to climb it.  Jack followed him.  They swung smoothly over the railing of the balcony and peered in the doors.
 A young woman was sitting on a low couch with her back to the doors.  Judging from her garb compared to that of the two other girls in the room, the girl on the couch was the princess.  Jonathan grasped the doorknob and entered the room silently, as was his way.  Jack followed him.  None of the girls looked up.  Jonathan and Jack exchanged glances, then slammed the door behind them.  All three girls leapt to their feet and turned towards the boys.
 The girl on the couch was definitely the princess, for while the other girls could do nothing but stare and wring their hands in distress, the first girl quickly regained control of her senses.
 “Princess Josephina Victoria I presume?” said Jack.
 “Yes,” the princess replied.  Both boys bowed with grace that shocked Josephina.  They had seemed to her to be country vagabonds, but obviously that assumption had been incorrect.
 “Stay calm, Your Highness,” said Jack, “ and tell your ladies not to worry.  We are merely abducting all of you.”
 One of the girls gasped and sank into her chair, trembling.  Josephina remained unmoved.  “What will that do for you, except get the royal cavalry on your heels?” she asked.  “Do you intend to hold me and my ladies for ransom?”
 Jonathan laughed. “Ransom?!  Ha.  No.   I can tell you this, Your Highness.  Our mounts can run the best bread horse to death.  We do not fear the royal cavalry.”
 “Just cooperate,” said Jack.  “We do not intend to harm you or any of your ladies.  Our plans are to remove Lieutenant ConRay from the dungeon and take you both to a place where you will be safe from your uncle and the duke’s scheming.”
 Josephina bowed her head for a moment, then looked up. “I’ll get ready.”
 “Are there any outside entrances to the dungeon?” Jonathan asked.
 “Yes.” Josephina pulled out a map of the castle. “Here.”
 Jack and Jonathan were gone as quickly and silently as they had come.  They slid around the corner of the castle and came to a old, forgotten door.  With some difficulty they got it open and entered the dungeon.
 There were barred cells everywhere, and many of them appeared to have been eaten through with some acid.  Rusty chains and cobwebs hung from the ceiling.  The two boys rounded a corner to see a large spider battering at a locked door.  Sensing them, it swung around, letting out a dreadful hiss.  Neither of the boys were inexperienced with spiders, and this one was quickly dispatched.  Jack threw his shoulder against the already weakened door, stepped in, and helped Tell up from the floor after picking the locks on the chains that held Tell against the floor.
 “Come on.  We’re getting you out of here.”
 They escorted Tell across the rope bridge.  Jack tossed him the reins of one of the unicorns.  Tell swung up with the ease of an accomplished horseman.  Jonathan and Jack went back across the bridge.  Jack climbed the rope while Jonathan stayed at the bottom.   Soon Jack was tossing down some saddle-bags.  Tell had dismounted and caught the saddle-bags as Jonathan tossed them across the moat.
 Back up in the tower Jack had tossed down the last saddle bag. 
 “Your Highness?” he said holding out his hand. “Jonathan will catch you at the bottom.”
 Josephina took Jack’s hand and he helped her over the edge.   She slid down, feeling Jonathan catch her sooner than she expected.  Josephina’s three handmaidens were rather nervous, but Deliverance suddenly overcame her fear and followed the princess.  Liberty and Susan, the other two handmaidens, soon went over the edge.  Claudia, the princess’s governess, could not gather up the courage to go over and swooned.  Jack sighed in exasperation, picked her up and slid down the rope.
 Jonathan went across the rope bridge he and Jack had built, and as before, Josephina was the first to follow him.  She and Tell embraced, then kissed each other.  Jonathan turned away, making a disgusted face at Jack.  Jack nodded agreeably.  Jonathan turned back to Josephina and handed the reins of a unicorn to her.
 “Her name is Stardust,” he said.
 “She is beautiful!” Josephina gasped.  She swung up smoothly.
 Josephina’s three handmaidens followed.  Jonathan mounted them on Windracer, Lightfoot and Traveler.  Claudia, whom Jack had revived, did not want to go across the bridge, but she had to in the end.  Jonathan helped her onto Jewel, the gentlest unicorn in the group.  Claudia was afraid to get astride a creature with a horn on its forehead, but after many reassurances finally climbed on.
 “I’d rather not be getting astride anything,” she said. “Astride say I.  It’s really not ladylike.”
 “We are going to be doing some fast riding,” Jack told her. “Your balance will be better riding astride.  It is much more un-ladylike to bite the dust.”
 “ ‘Bite the dust’?” she asked nervously.
 “Un-unicorn yourself.  Crash.  Lose you balance.  Fall off.”
 “Oh.”

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Chapter 21.

Josephina paced the floor of the tower.  It wasn’t exactly a dreadful place.  She was locked in the upper two stories of the tower.   The top story was now her bedchamber, and in the one below it she had a sitting room of sorts.  This room had a balcony, but it would be deadly to jump from it, for it overlooked the moat, where dreadful kinds of water creatures dwelt.
 There were books up here, lots of them, though they dealt with the beginnings of the kingdom, a time where legend and fact were hard to separate.  Her uncle, Reginald, considered these books dull and uninformative, and had ordered them to be removed from the castle library and placed in the tower.  Josephina now had unlimited access to them, and spent most of her time reading.  Many of the books were about what lay on the western end of the kingdom, and spoke of a time when the mountain people often came to the plains.  Josephina read these stories with delight, and often wondered if they were true.
 Josephina would have been perfectly happy in her tower but for three things.  She was stuck  with her governess, a woman who concentrated entirely on reality, and strongly protested Josephina’s reading of ‘legends’.  Josephina’s governess was also very exact on etiquette, and Josephina and her three handmaidens had to endure three hours of etiquette instruction a day.
 She could not leave the tower.  Josephina found herself longing for the days when she could ride her horse when and where she wished.
 She and Tell were apart.  No one had ever survived the dungeons for long because of the giant spiders that lived there.  Every day she expected to hear news of his death.  That ate at her constantly.
 How long? She wondered, as she looked up at the stars one night.  Hope of rescue is vain.  How long must I endure this?  Little did she know that even as she watched the stars, seeing hope slip away from her, the mountain people were planning her escape.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

A few days later Joshuel dropped in on Jack and Melissa.  Melissa was mending a blanket.
 “You know how we got news that King Nicanor was sick?” Joshuel said.
 “Uh uh,” Melissa replied absently, her concentration on the blanket.
 “Well, things have changed down there.  The king died a few weeks ago.”
 “So Princess Josephina Victoria is on the throne now?” asked Jack.
 “She should be.  But she isn’t.”
 Melissa dropped her needle and looked up. “What!?”
 “Her uncle, Prince Reginald, was arranging a marriage for her, but the princess refused to marry Duke Ichabod, and is now engaged to a Lieutenant ConRay.  Reginald was, is, furious, and has usurped the throne, put the lieutenant in the dungeon and the queen in a tower.”
 Melissa leaned forwards.  “This Lieutenant ConRay, what is his first name?”
 “His first name is Tell.” Joshuel replied.
 Melissa smiled in satisfaction.  “So the rumors are true,” she murmured to herself.  “There was an heir.  This could be our salvation.”
 “What are you talking about?” asked Joshuel.
 “Reginald should not be on the throne, but neither should Princess Josephina.” said Melissa.
 “What!?” cried Jack and Joshuel in unison.
 “ConVal,” said Melissa. “Princess Josephina Victoria ConVal, right?”
 “Right.  What does this have to do with anything?”
 “Check the Archives and the Lists of Kings.  Nicanor ConVal was a lord, not a king.  He wasn’t even distantly related to the royal linage.”
 “Then how...” asked Jack. 
 Melissa smiled and held up her hand to silence her brother. “Nicanor ConVal grew up alongside Derek ConRay, heir to the throne.  They were the best of friends, and looked almost exactly alike.  Only those who knew them well could tell them apart.   Well, the boys grew up.  Derek married Fair Alena of the North, and Nicanor married Stella of the South.  For some reason, I don’t know exactly why, the boys traded places.  Many say that there was a plot to poison the heir to the throne, and Nicanor took Derek’s place so that if a poisoning was attempted, the prince would still live.
 “Nicanor and Stella had two children, Seth and Josephina.  Seth was killed in a war.
 “Derek and Alena never claimed the places of king and queen.  Derek was killed in the same battle as Seth.  He died not knowing that he had a son.  Alena named the boy Tell.  A couple of years later Alena remarried.  Alan McGlather was her second husband’s name.  Tell however, kept his father’s name.  I suppose you know the rest.”  
 “So Tell, who is now engaged to Josephina, is actually supposed to be king?”
 “Yes.  Which is why I think something should be done quickly.  You know the stories about that dungeon as well as I do.  If we don’t rescue Tell soon, one of those dungeon spiders is going to have him for lunch.”
 Joshuel rose from his chair.  “I’ll tell what you just told me to the Council.  They’ll figure something out.”

I've also been tagged by Curufinwe

1. Designer food name: (take the first four letters of your favorite food, add the last two letters of you favorite colour, and add the name of your favorite drink.  If it is two words, use the last one.)

chocenlimeade.  (that sounds kind of like 'chocolate limeade'.  YUM!!)

2. Custom sport name: (take the first two letters of your favorite sport, add the first three letters of the day you play it most, and add the last two letters of the colour of the most used object in that sport.)

vothute.  (sounds kind of like 'four-thirty'.)

3. Wack name: (take any two consecutive letters of your last name, add your middle initial, and add the last two letters of your street name.

yeaer.  (is that what you call someone who goes 'yea'?)

4. Tagger: (take the first two letters of each person's name that you are going to tag and then add them all together and then list idividually who you are going to tag.

bopadi.  (that actually sounds good.)

I'm tagging BookFreak, PadmeAmidala and dixiebeauty

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

When Jack and Melissa got back home their friends and relatives asked them not to go off on any adventures for a while. Jack and Melissa were happy to agree to not go gallivanting off.  Jack still walked with a limp, and Melissa could still feel pain if she moved quickly and suddenly.   
 Two weeks later, when Jack and Melissa were in town, cries of alarm began to come from the outskirts.  One of the Aranara was riding into the valley.  To Jack and Melissa he looked vaguely familiar, though they could not place him.  Ten scouts rode out and surrounded him.     To everyone’s surprise, the raider promptly surrendered, handing his weapons to the nearest scout and riding into town with the wary escort.  As they came closer Melissa recognized the raider.
 “Adam!” she cried in wonder.
 “Mornin’ Miss Lissa,” he said, touching the brim of his hat.
 “You know him?” said Jonathan Carzim, nearly falling off his unicorn.
 “Both of us do,” said Jack.  “He’s harmless enough.”
 “The world gets stranger and stranger,” muttered Jonathan.
 “Come on,” Melissa said to Adam, pulling him over to a seat on the porch of a nearby store.  “There’s a lot you need to tell us about, especially how you got away.”
 “Well, after I charged the raiders they captured me.   They had me patch up all those that had been hurt.  Then they threw me in the cellar.  I sort of lost track of time.  One night there was a scraping noise at one of the high windows, but I paid it no mind and went back to sleep.  Then someone shook me.
 “ ‘Let’s go,’  said the person.  ‘We haven’t much time before the moon rises.’  The person led me over to an open window and  slithered out like it was the easiest thing to do.  I didn’t find it so simple, but I got out anyway.  She, it turned out to be a woman, beckoned for me to follow her.   I found it hard because she went so softly.  She took me to her cabin.”
 “Where was the cabin?” Jack interrupted.
 “Oh... south of here.  A few miles east of the cave where Melissa was captured.”
 “Deborah,” Melissa said.
 Jonathan smiled.  “ Always at the bottom of things, that Deborah.” he turned to Adam.  “ Well, if Miss Deborah trusted you, there’s nothing more I can say against you being here.” He passed Adam’s weapons back to him.
 “Anyway,” said Adam, “ I stayed there for a couple of days, and then came here.”
 “Why don’t you come over to our place,” Melissa said to Adam.  “Gets kind of boring being stuck there with this old side-winder.” she looked affectionately at Jack, who pretended to be deeply hurt, then grinned at her.

I have been at camp, and I got back the 21st.  Sorry I didn't post sooner.  For my camp account go to my other blog.  By the way, that 'At her feet he sank he fell' verse a couple of posts down?  That's from Judges chapter five, 'The Song of Deborah.'  Check it out.  It's pretty interesting.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Ok, I was tagged by ReadsAlot92.

Once in a land of magic there dwelt an old sorcerer who desired a dragon to keep him company. But dragons were expensive in those days so the old sorcerer (by the name of Wynn) decided to go on a quest to capture a dragon and bring it to his home in the mountains.

He packed his belongings and a case of Pepsi and set off, humming the hit song 'I Was Made To Loaf'. He hadn't gone far, when he came to a deep, deep, trench, streching as far as he could see to the left and right.

So Wynn opened his limited edition copy of “Simple Spells for the Stupefied Sorcerer” to page 142 and read the directions that were written there. He heeded them and after gulping down three cans of Pepsi (sugar was the one thing that calmed his nerves), belching twice and chanting a few magic words Wynn felt himself flying over the trench, well, half way over. After he fell he sat there for a minute, dazed and trying to figure out how he was going to get out. Wynn stood up and decided he should walk around the trench to look for a way out, so he began to walk and hum "Meant To Eat". So on he walked till he felt something tug at his pant leg and looking down he saw a huge dwarf. He was so surprised he screamed.   The dwarf, apparently startled by hearing Wynn scream, looked very shocked, then horrifed as he gazed behind Wynn and slowly crumpled to the ground in a dead faint.

Wynn whirled around and saw, to his amazement, an large green dragon who looked very, very, bored.

 I tag BookFreak, Striker, Dragontongue, onedaymore, elvishjedipirate, Dreamcloud and youngwhisper.

Rules: Every time you are tagged you must type the story on your post and add 2 lines and tag 7 others. If you choose to end a story it must be more then 20 lines and you must start another one with 2 lines and tag 7 people. Story must not exceed 50 lines. Post rules on blog and/or comment of those you tag.

Now, for Chapter Eighteen

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

I'm going to attempt to get the whole chapter into one post.

When Jack awoke there was no one in the cave.  Looking around he saw signs of a fight.  When he looked up he could see the retreating Aranara raiding party.  Dawn nickered to him and he rubbed the big unicorn’s nose.  For him to charge the party now would be fatal.  He would have to rescue Melissa the way she had rescued him.  Stealth.  Still, as he watched them go he was filled with the desire to just sit down and have a good cry.  He’d flopped down on a rock and was about to start crying when Deborah Wilman came up to him.  He gulped his tears back.
 “Let it out, Jack,”  she said gently. “Better to cry now when you got a good reason to.  If you bottle it up it’ll come out later and you’ll be crying over something stupid.”
 Jack allowed himself a few choking sobs, and then he could hold back his tears no longer.  What will they do to her?  He wondered.  After a few minutes of crying he looked up a Deborah. “Sorry,” he said.
 “Your brain’s probably clearer for it.”
 “I’m going after her.”
 “I suspected you would.  That’s why I brought this.”  Deborah handed Jack a small pack.
 “Thanks, Deb.”
 “You’d better get going.”   
 Jack swung on Dawn and trotted off.  He was close behind the raiders, so catching up would be fairly easy. 

Back in Sarconia City Alethea waited nervously for news.  A week had passed and she had none.   Quickly she rallied a rescue team: Jake and Kaia Watson, and two other scouts, Joshuel and Jonathan Carzim.  They rode south, hoping to find some sign of Melissa or her brother. 
 At the cave they found several dead Aranara.  Some were strewn on the slope, shot through with arrows, others lay on the cave floor. 
 “They [Jack and Melissa] came in here,” said Jonathan, dismounting. “Jack hid in this crevice.  From the look of his tracks he was wounded.  A unicorn, Dawn I suppose, was over here.  Melissa went back to the front of the cave.   She held them off for some time.” Jonathan paused, examining the tracks.  “I think...yes.  She slipped on a rock, fell, and did not get up.  Here is where they gathered around her.  They carried her away.”
 “And Jack?” the others asked.
 “He came out of hiding.  He was met by another.   The other left.  Jack mounted Dawn and  went south.  Josh, do you recognize this print?  It’s not Aranara, it’s too large for Melissa, and too small for Jack.”
 Joshuel knelt by the track beside his brother. “It’s a scout.  The person stepped lightly, more lightly than the Aranara.  I think it’s Miss Deborah.  She lives near here, so it would make sense that she would come to this place.”
 The party swiftly remounted and rode south on their friend’s trail.

Melissa was awakened by a kick in the leg.
 “Get up, girl,” a raider snarled. “We’re all tired of your ‘accidents’, so you’re riding with Adam.”  He untied her hands, jerked her to her feet, and tied her hands in front of her again.  Adam led his horse over to her, helped her into the saddle, and climbed up behind her.
 Melissa rested her hands easily on the saddle horn as the group trotted along.  She had ridden bareback many times, so not having use of the stirrups did not bother her.  Suddenly the group’s leader  held up his hand for a halt.  
 “We will head for the west base,” he said.
 “Not for headquarters, Sir?” the raiders asked.
 “When her brother comes along he will be quite baffled.  A chance to strike.  Adam!  Give the minx to me.   You will stay here, hidden.  If you fail to bring that Jack in, I will send someone else to capture him, and when he is brought in, you will share his fate.”   This was no idle threat, for if Jack was captured by the Aranara, his fate would be gory and painful. 
 Adam’s hand tightened on Melissa’s arm.  “Sir,” he said, apparently struggling to keep his voice level, “I’m a medic.  Why don’t you let another, more experienced raider stay here and capture the boy?  You would have more of a chance of getting him alive.”
 “Don’t argue with me!” the captain yelled. “I don’t care if you have to kill him to capture him!  YOU WILL STAY HERE!!!”  Adam bowed his head, defeated.  The horses, spooked by the shouting, shifted their feet and tossed their heads about.  A few of the younger ones reared.   The leader ignored the chaos and smiled at Melissa.  “Know this, young lady.  When your brother comes he will be captured.  And Vespertine will see that he  dies, though not as swiftly and painfully as your parents.”  In this, the Aranara captain had stabbed a dagger of words into Melissa’s heart.  Four years before Melissa’s parents had been killed in a rockslide, later thought to have been caused be the Aranara.  Their deaths still laid heavily on Melissa’s heart.  She looked into the captain’s eyes for a moment, then dropped her head.
 “Say no more,” she whispered.
 The raider chuckled, then rode closer. “You remember those last moments, don’t you.” A tear fell from Melissa’s eyes onto her hand.  The captain rode closer.  “The crashing boulders, the billowing dust, your mother’s screams...”
 “Stop it!!!” Melissa’s voice seemed ripped from a broken heart.  She looked up into the Aranara captain’s eyes, and he saw that she was crying, but then her chin lifted.  “Do you want to know what my father’s last word were, dastard?” she said.  “You have jogged my memory.”
 “What were your father’s last words, love?”
 “ ‘ Daughter,’ he said to me,  ‘things are not always as they seem.  Often hope will come from where you least expect it.  The blood of Melissa Mistwalker flows strongly in your veins.  You will always find courage.  Hope will ever shine before you.  You will always stay strong, and your enemies words will be turned against them.’  He spoke the truth.  My father is not dead, and my mother never perished.  They live on in my heart, strengthening me in my darkest moment.  Your words have turned against you.  The memories you have jogged have brightened my soul.”  A fire lit in her eyes.
 The raiders stared at her.  Only a moment before she had been sobbing, almost broken, and here she was, sitting straight as a poker, fire burning in her eyes. 
 “The blood and spirit of Melissa Mistwalker is indeed in you,” said the Aranara captain. “But not for long.  There is not one captive whom Vespertine has not broken.”
 “Let him try!” cried Melissa. “Only in death will I kneel at his feet!”
 The captain said no more.   He pulled Melissa into the saddle in front of him.   Adam concealed his horse in the brush then came over to the captain.
 “I will bring the boy to you sir,” he said.  “Forgive me for shirking my duty.”  The captain nodded stiffly.  Adam squeezed Melissa’s knee and looked at her reassuringly before dropping silently into the brush.  The group made a right angle turn and rode on in subdued silence. 
 Melissa wanted to shout for joy.  She knew Adam would not kill or capture Jack.  It was more likely that he would help him.  She kept her face straight, but grinned mentally and began amusing herself by imagining the look on the captain’s face when Jack came to get her.  It was hard not to laugh.

Jack stared at the trail, baffled.  The raiders were not heading for their headquarters, but for the supply base Jack had scouted out.  Why?  Jack wondered.  Why did they choose to go there?  A rustle of movement caught his attention.  Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the ground, pinning him.  Jack looked up at his attacker.
 It was a fairly young raider, but looking into his eyes Jack noticed they did not hold the usual hatred common to Aranara.  The raider almost looked puzzled. 
 “Well,” said Jack, “what are you waiting for?”  The raider did not move.
 Finally he spoke.  “You are trying to rescue your sister?”
 “Yes,” Jack replied.  This encounter was getting strange.  Most Aranara would have slit his throat by now.
 “No different than I would do for my kin,” said the raider.  “I have orders to take you prisoner, or if you resist, to kill you.”
 “You’re sure taking your time carrying your orders out.”
 “I’m not going to carry them out.  I was never really planning to.”  The raider got off Jack and helped him up.
 “Why?  Most of your people wouldn’t do this.”
 “Once, you spared my life.  Now I do the same for you.  I cannot kill someone who is not trying to kill me, and I know what would happen to you if I took you in as a prisoner.  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I took someone to such a fate.
  “I never really liked my life as a raider.  My mother was from the plains, and often told me of them.  I told myself that someday I would leave the mountains, and now my chance has come.”
 “Are you the fellow that I knocked out last year?” Jack asked.  The year before he had gotten in a fight with this raider and had accidently  given him a knockout blow over the head.
 “I am.  Why didn’t you kill me when I was down?”
 “I can kill someone in a fair fight, but stabbing an unconscious person is something I can’t do.”
 The raider paused, looking at him.  Then he spoke. “I will help you get your sister back.  She is a brave girl.  She should not die or have her spirit broken.  I also know the base like the back of my hand.”
 “I thank you for your assistance.”
 The two rode on together.
 “What is your name?” Jack asked.
 “My name is Adam.  And you are Jack.”
 “I am.  What has Melissa said?”
 “Many things.  She gave the captain many insults, and right before I took leave of the group, she spake the boldest words I have heard from a lady.”
 Jack smiled. “Sounds like her.”  He paused, thinking.  “To prevent problems getting into the base, we should make it appear that I am your prisoner.  We won’t be challenged that way.”
 Adam nodded.  Jack unbuckled his sword and handed it to Adam, who strapped it onto his saddle.  Adam looped Dawn’s reigns over his saddle horn.  Jack crossed his wrists, laid them against his saddle horn, and Adam wrapped a rope around them.  They appeared to be securely tied, but a few tests proved that Jack could free himself quickly and easily.
 Jack ran his fingers through his hair, making much of it stick out the wrong way.  “How about a quick wrestling match?” he asked Adam.  “It doesn’t look like I was really captured.”
 Adam grinned and dismounted.   The boys playfully tussled about in the dirt for a while.   “Okay,” Jack said after they were covered in dust, “ I think that we’re messy enough now.”
 They got back on their mounts, ‘tied’ Jack’s hands, and rode to the base

 The guards at the gate howled with delight when they saw Adam come in with Jack.  Adam rode further into the base, went to a deserted area of it, and transferred Jack’s sword from his saddle to Jack’s.  He loosed Dawn’s lead rope so that the unicorn could pull free when the time came. 
 They galloped toward a side entrance on the main building and burst through the door.  One of the startled guards flung a spear at Jack, but Jack pulled his hands free and grabbed the spear, although not before it wounded him.  Flipping it around, he knocked a guard off his feet, then threw the spear at a squad that was rushing down the hall.  He pulled his sword from his sheath and rushed on.
 A raider landed on the saddle behind Adam, but the horse reared and Adam threw the man off.  Dawn thrust his horn into a swordsman while Jack sliced off the end of a spear that had been aimed at his mount.  Jack wheeled Dawn and rushed toward the door that led to the base commander’s office, Adam close behind.

Melissa stared defiantly across the room at the base commander.
 “Melissa Breaker,” he said, “the famous scout.  Your brother won’t be coming to rescue you.  Someone was left back there to dispose of him.”
 “So I noticed.”
 “Guess again, old chap!  I’m not dead, and if I am, this is my ghost!  Alive or dead I will rescue my sister, and there is nothing anyone can do about it!  Ha, ha!”  It was Jack who had spoken.  He galloped into the room, leaned down off Dawn, and lifted Melissa up on the unicorn.  He wheeled his mount and raced out of the room.
 The commander stared in stupefied surprise for a moment, and then he saw Adam.
 “After them!” he roared.
 The base sprung into action.  A row of soldiers blocked of the gate.  Jack and Adam urged their mounts into a gallop and slammed into the line at full speed.  It broke and the men scattered aimlessly.

 Jack and Melissa topped the hill and turned to see the raiders bursting out of the base in hot pursuit.  Adam drew his sword.
 “Go,” Adam said.  “Go. Go now!”  He turned and charged the pursuers.

Can the sentence below be found in the Bible?  If so, where?  Don't look it up!  Just tell me!

"I will wait until you return."

I recived some really good answers.  None of them were correct though.

"I will wait until you return."  is found in Judges 6:18, NIV.

Do you want another strange Bible verse or do you know of one?  If so tell me.

I'll just give you another strange verse anyway.  Know where this is found?

At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay.  At her feet he sank, he fell; were he sank, there he fell - dead.

I was tagged, but I won't try to do it is this post.  I've started another blog, TruthSeeker.  It's there so that I don't have to inturrupt storytelling with other stuff.  I may transfer the tag over there.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

      Melissa helped Jack to his feet.  He limped along next to her and needed assistance mounting Dawn.  Melissa had never seen her brother in such a weakened condition.  The wound on his leg looked awful and was most likely infected.  Getting him to the nearest scout station quickly was essential.
      The next morning Melissa saw the Aranara approaching and headed for a high place on the border she knew of.  She climbed the hill and entered the cave at the top.  The cavern was as she remembered it.  A pool of water surrounded by soft ferns and moss.  She helped an exhausted Jack into a hiding place, hid Dawn, and took up a position at the mouth of the cave.The Aranara came quickly on.  Melissa had an arrow on the string in an instant, and as the raiders came up the hill she shot as fast as she could into their ranks.  The Aranara kept coming.  Melissa held them off for what seemed like hours, using her speed and grace to counter their attack.  But she could not fight forever, and as she tired her foot slipped against a rock.  Suddenly she felt a sickening blow on her head, and everything went black.
 
      The Aranara came quickly on.  Melissa had an arrow on the string in an instant, and as the raiders came up the hill she shot as fast as she could into their ranks.  The Aranara kept coming.  Melissa held them off for what seemed like hours, using her speed and grace to counter their attack.  But she could not fight forever, and as she tired her foot slipped against a rock.  Suddenly she felt a sickening blow on her head, and everything went black.
      “What do we do with her, boss?” the raider who had hit Melissa over the head asked. “Slit her throat?” he pulled out a dagger and tested it on his thumb.  Another raider grabbed Melissa’s hair and pulled her head back, exposing her throat.  The other raiders grinned and chuckled in delight.  One of their archenemies was going to die.
      “No,” their leader answered, “Tie her up and toss her over a horse.”
      “The boy?  He must be around here somewhere.”
      “We’ll just take her and go.  That fool of a boy will come after her, no doubt.  Then we’ll have both of them.”
       A raider picked up Melissa’s motionless body and looked her over. “Purty thing, ain’t she.”
       “Who gets her?” queried another.  His eyes were greedy.
       “Aw, Scar,” said another raider, “what need do you have fer her?  You’ve got what, five girls already?”
       Their leader grinned, showing several gaps where teeth should have been. “Malfic gets her.  If he can break her spirit.”
 
       Melissa slowly awoke.  Someone was holding her in front of them on a saddle.  Of course.  she thought,  I was knocked out, and now Jack’s taking me back home. 
      “It’s okay, Jack.” she muttered.  “I’m all right now.”
      A humorless laugh startled her fully awake.  There was a raiding party riding all around her. 
      “You may be alright now,” the raider who was carrying her said, “but you won’t be alright after Malfic gets you, unless you cooperate with him.”
      Melissa stiffened.  “Dream on, hairball,” she muttered through clenched teeth.  The raider’s mouth was in perfect alinement with the back of her head.  For several minutes she turned over the thought of slinging her head back and knocking out a few teeth.   As much fun as it would be, this wasn’t the time for doing that, she realized.  Even if the raider dropped her someone else was likely to pick her up.
      That evening the Aranara stopped for a short time.  Their leader, a giant of a man with a wort on his nose, set her firmly down on a shelf of rock.  The rest of the party gathered around them in a semi-circle.
      “Now, my dear,” said Wort-nose, “ all my boys know our rules, but since you have just recently graced us with your presence, I’ll have to tell them to you.”  Melissa made a mental note to listen carefully to these rules, so she could disobey them at the first possible opportunity.
      “They’re simple, love,  so you shouldn’t have difficulty remembering.
      “Firstly, I am the leader.  No back talk, spiting in my face or slapping it, and no kicking me.
      “Secondly, I want no screaming from you.
      “And thirdly, no wacking on my men.”
     “What happens if I don’t obey the rules?” Melissa asked sweetly.
     “Nothing.   For now.   But when we get back to headquarters I will give Malfic a report of your conduct.  Then he can deal with you as he likes.”
      “Well,” said Melissa.  “I can see that the Aranara aren’t as senseless as I thought.  I see now that you at least have some sort of a code of conduct.”
     The raiders drew back.  This wasn’t normal sauce.  Melissa had just insulted them, and there was no doubt that she would pay no attention to the rules.  They had expected her to be cautious and submissive in attempts to spare herself pain.  This was not the case.   A strange, wild light flashed in Melissa’s eyes.   Wort-nose’s eyes narrowed.
     “Didn’t your parents teach you manners and respect?”
     “They did.   But I fail to see why you need any of my respect, bloodthirsty villain that you are.”
      Wort-nose’s eyes darkened with rage.  He stepped forwards and gave Melissa a heavy, back- handed slap.  Then he grasped her chin in his hand.  “You hold your tongue,” he said.  Melissa laughed.
      As the days went by Melissa made as much of a nuisance of herself as she could.   She ‘accidentally’ smacked a few raiders in the nose or mouth with her head.  She also succeeded in tripping a few of them.  Bruises, black eyes, bloody noses, and missing teeth kept the medic busy.
      One night Wort-nose lost his temper.   That night when they stopped he tied Melissa to a tree, as usual.  In his furry however, he made the cords so tight that they began to cut into her wrists.   She displayed no pain, though it hurt her dreadfully.  They wanted her to cry out and beg them for mercy, and she wasn’t going to humor them.  She faked going to sleep, but as the night wore on, it took all her concentration to keep from screaming in pain.  The guard came over to her.
     “It hurts, don’t it.” he said.
      Melissa looked up at him, her face expressionless.  She recognized him as Adam, the company’s medic.    
     “Don’t act like that, lass,” he said gently as she looked away from him. “I know it hurts you, I know you’re too spunky to admit it, and I’m not going to taunt you over it.”
      She looked up again, biting her lip.  He moved around behind her, reached out and grasped her wrist.  She let out a gasp of pain.  Adam quickly cut the cord. 
      “Stay there,” he ordered.   He swiftly cleaned the cut.
      Melissa watched him, puzzled.  “Why are you doing this?”
      “I don’t want to be a raider, never did.  They would have killed me had I not been so good with healing.  These people are good at killing, but when one of their number is wounded they have no idea what to do.”
      “So they spared you because you could patch them up?”
      “Yes.   I’d try and escape with you now, but being out at night here alone is too dangerous.  Jack rabbit spiders would be happy to eat us for a midnight snack, and there are night snakes too; big things that could swallow you in two bites, not to mention the werewolves.”
       Melissa sighed and leaned against the tree.  Adam watched her.  He could see that though she’d kept up a strong front, inside she was weak and beginning to break.  She would hold on for a long time though, and death would come before she yielded.  
      He tied her back to the tree, gently but firmly.  Melissa, exhausted, had already gone to sleep.

Okay, how about a bit of Trivia?  Just answer off the top of your head.

Can the sentence below be found in the Bible?  If so, where?  Don't look it up!  Just tell me!

"I will wait until you return."

I'll have the answer in my next post.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Sorry I'm haven't posted my story for a while.  I'd post the whole chapter if I could, but it's really long.

     Melissa was soon back at the sight of the kidnaping.  She picked up the Aranara’s trail quickly.  She hoped that she could catch up with the kidnappers before they reached the Aranara stronghold.  The country was rocky and treacherous.  Boulders lay everywhere like silent sentinels, and the wind moaned and shrieked about the cliffs.  At night the moonlight cast it’s eerie glow over the land, and Melissa almost expected to see ghosts darting about.
     Melissa was an expert tracker, but the trail was often hard to follow.  In many places the Aranara were leaping from rock to rock, making their trail hard to see.  Melissa had to look for where a stone’s weight had shifted when someone landed, slight scuff marks, and other signs that wouldn’t necessarily have been made by a raider.  A jumping Jackrabbit spider could have shifted the  rock just as easily as the raiders could.
     It was here that Jack began to help her.  A footprint outlined in the mud between two rocks.  A shard of cloth caught on a rock or bush.  Jack was as skilled at leaving a trail as he was at hiding one.  Melissa was glad of that.  She could move far more swiftly because of it.
      A few days later she caught up with the raiders.  She slid, mist-like about the camp, waiting for the Aranara to go to sleep.  Finally all of them had dozed off, except for the guard.  Melissa drew her knife and threw a small stick into the brush opposite her.  The guard spun towards the sound.  Melissa slipped up behind him, clapped a hand over his mouth, and swiftly brought him down.  After knocking him out she melted back into the forest and began to signal Jack.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Jack shifted his back against the tree.  It was difficult, mainly because he was tied.  He closed his eyes.  As he ran through the passed incidents in his mind he wondered how long it would be before Melissa got to him.
    The Aranara had thrown something to distract him and Melissa, then silently grabbed him from behind.  He’d been knocked out and carried for a time, then walked with his captors.  Although he’d trained himself to travel over rough terrain for several days in a row, the march was already beginning to sap his strength.
     He’d attempted to escape, but that attempt had failed and he had been wounded.  Jack attributed his current exhaustion to that wound in his leg.  Traveling had been very difficult for him.
     Whenever he could he’d left sign for Melissa, signs she could read at a dead run.  He hoped that this would speed his rescue.  Then he heard it.  A bird call.  He tried to answer, but his throat was too dry.  The call was repeated again, and then a hand grasped his arm.  Bracing himself against the ground, Jack pushed himself against the tree, loosening his arms.  He heard the sound of a knife slicing through rope, and then he was free.

The next post will be very soon.

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Okay, first things first.  I was tagged by Striker.

Seven things I love doing

Blogging, reading, writing, making cookies, playing the piano, singing when no one is listening to me, and hanging out with my cousins.

Six things I don't like doing

Dishes, vacuming, singing when someone besides my voice teacher is listening, piano recitals, sidewalk sweeping, and getting off the computer when I want to be typing.

Five of my favorite books

LotR, Bible, Eragon, Narnia, and good thick books with entrancing plots.

Four things that scare me

Spiders, snakes, bugs in general, and canned spinich.

Three actors/actresses

I don't know.  So long as they play the part well I'm good with them.

Two movies I like

Narnia and Luther.  (and LotR and PotC and Eragon [seperate from the book] and Star Wars....)

One thing that is special to you

ONLY ONE?!  ummmm......BookFreak.  Definately BookFreak.  Good heavens, what would I do without that wonderful cousin of mine?

Eight people I'm tagging

PadmeAmidala, elvishjedipirate, Rose....I'm out of ideas.

Okay, now for Chapter Fifteen.  (This is becoming a long post and I haven't even said anything about Chicken Pox yet....)

        Back in the mountains there was growing tension.  The Aranara were growing more and more bold in their exploits in the northern mountains, and seemed to be setting up some sort of supply base right on the border.
       “I should probably investigate that supply base thing,”  Melissa said.
       “I’ll come with you,” said Jack.   “At the speed that you shoot,  you would probably bring down half of your attackers before they got to you, but if it came to hand-to-hand combat, you would fight very bravely and die rather soon.   One to twenty or thirty isn’t good odds.  If the two of us go together it will be safer.” 
       “Two to twenty or thirty?”
       “You’d only have to handle about fifteen.”
       “Okay.”
      To detail Jack and Melissa’s scouting expedition would take hours of writing.  They dodged and tangled with Aranara scouting parties and  outran a fearsome, unidentified creature that looked like a giant cross between a crab and a spider.  When they were about a day’s ride from the Aranara supply base they had an encounter that nearly saw the end of Melissa’s life. 
         Melissa had heard something in the forest and had gone to investigate, when Jack heard her scream.  Melissa was not the screaming sort, so Jack knew that something was very amiss.  He found Melissa a short ways from camp, wrestling with a panther.  She had her dagger out and was stabbing the creature, but was no match for it’s brute strength.   Jack quickly straddled the struggling pair and killed the panther.
        Jack carried Melissa back to camp.  He was considering what to do with her when Deborah Wilmen, an old scout who lived near the border,  stepped from the trees.  She came and knelt beside Melissa. 
        “Calm down, lad,”  she said to Jack.  “She’s a tough lass.  She’s scratched up a bit, but it won’t kill her.”
        Jack touched Melissa’s hand and she moaned.  The girl appeared to be half conscious, her face contoured with pain.  Deborah and Jack took Melissa to Deborah’s cabin.  The woman expertly treated Melissa’s wounds and pronounced that she would be better in a few days.
       “What happened, Miss Deborah?”  Jack asked.  “I’ve never seen a panther that was in good condition attack someone like that.”
       “This is why,” answered Deborah as she drew a panther cub from under her cloak. “Melissa unknowingly got between the mother and her baby.  What the panther did was a natural reaction.”  She put the cub down next to Melissa.  It snuggled up next to her, a blissful expression on it’s face.  Deborah smiled. “It’s eyes aren’t open yet.  It will act basically like a giant cat if raised with humans.”
        Jack grinned. “From the looks of things it’s already accepted Melissa as it’s mother.”
        Jack left early the next morning for the supply base.  It took him a couple days to fully observe the actions around it, but by the time he left he knew almost everything about how it was run.  When he returned to Deborah’s cabin he found Melissa greatly recovered.  The panther cub’s eyes were open and it followed Melissa everywhere, bounding over everything and on top of everyone.
        “Come here, Arrow,” Melissa said, picking the panther up. “You ready to go, Jack?”
        “Yes, Melissa.  Are you doing okay?”
        “Couldn’t be much better!”
       Jack and Melissa walked easily along the trail.  They were practically on the home stretch of what could have been a life-threatening mission.  In fact it had been a life-threatening mission, but they had come out alive.  For that, they were thankful.  When they’d started out they had been carrying on a conversation, but now they were silent.  Suddenly Melissa heard a twig snap to her left.
       “Jack?”  she said softly.  There was no reply.  Melissa looked desperately around her.  She could see the trees towering above her, the cold gray rocks at her feet, and the distant blue mountains.         “Jack!!!” she screamed at the sky.  There was no answer,  only the sound of the wind.
       Melissa looked about, searching for some sign of her brother.  Tears pooled in her eyes, then began to run down her cheeks in hot streams.  Vespertine had kidnaped Jack.  She knew it.  Right from under her nose and she was a scout for heaven’s sake.  The forest, usually friendly, seemed to close in around her.  Every sound chilled her to the bone.  Melissa threw herself on Storm and galloped towards the city.
       Back at her cabin she packed supplies.  She would not leave her brother to die.  She turned Storm loose in the corral.  There was only one mount she wanted for this exploit.  There was not one horse or unicorn that had ever outrun Dawn.  She flung a saddle across his broad back.  She was throwing the saddlebags on when Alethea r0de into the yard.
       “What’s going on, Lissa?” she asked.  Melissa outlined the situation.  “Melissa!” Alethea gasped.     “You’d better rally a rescue party.”
       “There isn’t time,” Melissa replied.
       “You can’t go down south by yourself!”
      “I can’t fight off the Aranara army, but I can sneak past them.  I must go alone.  One person can move more quietly than two.”
       “Lissa...”
      “If you haven’t gotten word from me within a week, come down with a rescue party.  There's a panther cub in the cabin.  Take it to Kaia for safekeeping.”
      “Alright.”  Alethea knew Melissa well enough to know that it was useless to argue.

        Ha, ha!  Now to say something about Chicken Pox.  Try not to catch it if you haven't already, and use the pharse 'a pox on you' only as the deepest insult.  Yes, I have chicken pox and I'm stuck in the house until the seventeenth.  It gets boring after a while......So, to jazz things up, I talked Mom into cutting my hair.  It was three to four inches below my shoulder, now it is at my shoulder.  I look different, but I like it.  Hmmmm....what else?  Ah yes, Happy Mother's Day to all you long-suffering homeschool moms who put up with us kids and our off the wall style of getting educated.

I stayed up almost all night.  I couldn't sleep for my coughing, so I watched Luther.  That is a really good, historicaly accurate about Martin Luther and the start of the Reformation in Germany.  Joseph Fiennes plays Martin Luther in it.  

Okay, I think I've rambled randomly on random, rambling subjects for long enough.

                                                                   Salutations!

                                                                              AuthorElf
 

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Chapter Fourteen of Story

Josephina cried herself to sleep that night. The pressure of her father’s death, her uncle’s threats, and the realization that she now had a kingdom (or queen-dom) to run, was almost too much. She would not marry Ichabod, but she was fearful of what her uncle would do to her if she did not.                         

 Thomas Wilfred delivered Tell’s message to the Queen that morning. As she read it her eyes lit up and shone like two stars.

"Oh, Thomas,"she gasped, clasping her hands together, "It’s what we’ve been waiting for! I won’t have to marry Icky after all!"

"Be careful with your reply," Thomas warned her. "It may be intercepted."

"Right. Deliverance." The handmaiden stepped forward. "Writing materials."

The letter was worded thus:

Josephina Victoria, Queen of Strianel and Lady of Stragillia, to Tell ConRay, Lieutenant  in the First Cavalry, Greetings.

I received your letter this morning and wish for you to know that I accept your proposition. I feel that it will bring great good to the kingdom. Meet me in the gardens tonight to further discuss the situation.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                      The Queen

Needless to say, Tell was overjoyed when he received Josephina’s letter. Their meeting in the gardens that night was the first of many. Reginald, however, was not happy to hear that Josephina had refused Duke Ichabod and accepted Tell.

"You’ll pay for this," he hissed, "both of you."

"You’re marrying a lieutenant!?" Claudia was astounded. Her charge, a Queen for heaven’s sake, marrying a lieutenant? Tell’s father was a lord, but a lesser one. Josephina’s decision was astounding.

"My dear governess," the queen said sweetly, "would you have wanted me to marry Ichabod?

"That jerk? Never!"

"I had to be betrothed within the week. Tell was my best opportunity. He is a man of excellent character. Never mind his lower status."

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Ha, ha!  I enjoyed writing this sooooo much!!!  Please comment.

Josephina sighed as she sank down at the table next to her tutor. 
 “The duke is getting more and more forward,” she said to Thomas.
 “I fear he does not give your highness the proper respect.  He does not treat you as a princess.”
 “He has been ordering (or trying to order) me around lately.”
 “You would not submit to authority?”
 “The duke has no authority over me.  He will not until we are married, and marrying him is the last thing I will do. 
 “He is very rich and handsome.”
 “I would sooner marry my horse groom!  In fact, if worse comes to worse, I might.  My horse groom is more of a gentleman that the duke.”
 “You are rather rash.”
  Josephina grabbed her history book. “Where were we in our studies?”
 “Change the subject, eh?” said Thomas.  “ I think we were studying the reign of Timothy the First, and his wife Victoria.”
 “So we were.  Very interesting, what put them on the throne.”
 “Who put them on the throne?” Thomas prompted.
 “The mountain people helped them.  Thomas, what happened to the mountain people? After this story they vanish, and no one hears from them again.”
 “There are several theories, Milady.  Some say they died out by natural causes.  Some say they were killed by their mortal enemy, the Aranara.  Some say they left the mountains, intermarried with the plains people, and their race has died out.  But still others say that they are in the mountains still, not revealing themselves until the time they are needed.  In fact, one of our diplomats said that he met a mountain girl in Corvan.”
 “A mountain girl in Corvan?” Josephina asked.  “Why was she there?”
 “Diplomatic mission, according to Lord William.  Her name was Alethea Breaker.”
 “Breaker...I wonder if she is a descendant of Jack Breaker of the Golden Hills, the mountain leader so long ago.”
 “Perhaps so.”
 “JOSEPHINA VICTORIA MARIA ELIZABETH!”  The princess and her tutor sat up in their chairs and stared out the door.  “Do I understand correctly that you still refuse to marry Duke Ichabod?!”  Prince Reginald came into the room, his face flaming red.
 “That is correct, Uncle.”
 “WHY!?”
 “I do not like him.”
 “Whether you like him or not does not matter!  He is rich and powerful!  You will MARRY HIM!!” 
Josephina rose gracefully from her chair. “I will not marry him.  Ever.  I do not marry for money or power.  When I marry, it will be for love.”
 Reginald strode across the room and grasped her chin in his hand. “You listen to me young lady.  If you are not betrothed within the week, I will have you tied up and thrown at the Duke’s feet.”
 Josephina’s face flushed red.  “You wouldn’t DARE!”
 “I would.”
 “Scoundrel!”
 Reginald grabbed her arm.  There faces were inches apart. “Don’t you dare speak to me like that.”
 Suddenly Reginald felt a sword at his throat.  “Unhand her, my lord.”  Reginald loosened his grasp and turned to see who had spoken.   It was Tell ConRay, a lieutenant in the cavalry.
 “Is this how you always address your superiors, lieutenant?
Tell didn't  lower his sword.  “Forgive me, my lord.  I thought you were going to harm her royal highness’s dignity and honor.  But then, perhaps, I was not mistaken about your intentions.  Anyone who treats a lady in such a manner as you were deserves to get a sword at their throat.  Be assured, my lord, if you were to carryout any of your threats against her royal highness, I would defend her with my life.  On your knees, dog, and apologize to the Queen.”
 “Queen?” whispered Josephina.  She grabbed a chair for support.
 “Queen?!” gasped Reginald.
 “Your highness,” said Thomas as he dropped to one knee and kissed her hand.
 “My father, the King?” Josephina whispered
 “His highness has passed away,”  Tell said quietly.
 “No,” Josephina dropped in to a chair and hid her face in her hands.  “No, no, no.” Her handmaidens rushed to her side, preparing for a faint.
 “Your highness,” said Reginald, “forgive me for my suggestion of tying you up.  I spoke rashly, and in haste.  But your highness must understand that this heightens your need for a husband.”
 Josephina lifted her face from her hands. “Ichabod?”
 “Yes.  Ichabod.”
 “Never.”
 Reginald took a step forwards, but was stopped by Tell’s sword across his chest.  “Now is not the time for the Queen to think of marriage, my lord.  She has just heard painful news.”
 “Of course.  Your highness.”  Reginald bowed and left the room.
 “How did he pass, lieutenant?” the Queen murmured.
 “Quietly, your highness.  He was sleeping.  That is why you were not called to his side.”
 “I fear that my uncle’s apology was not sincere.  He will carry out his threats if I am not betrothed within the week.”
 If I had the nerve, thought Tell,  I would ask her to marry me.  But who ever heard of a lieutenant marrying a Queen?  I will ask Lord Thomas later.  Like Ichabod, Tell had been instantly taken by the Queen’s beauty.  He had been able to speak to her at the ball that winter, and found that she was witty, opinionated, and eloquent.  His conversations with her had been brief, but his observation had been extensive.  The more he saw of her character, the more he liked her.  He hated the very thought of her marrying Duke Ichabod.  The Duke would no doubt try to break her spirit, and the measures he might go to...it was unthinkable.
 Josephina took a deep breath. “Gentlemen, please excuse me.” she swept out of the room.
 Tell smiled.  The opportunity had come sooner than he had expected.  “My lord,” he said to Thomas, “I do not know if this is the proper time to ask you this question...”
 “Ask away,” Thomas replied.
 “Truth be told, my lord, I have been taken with her highness for some time.”
 “There are few who haven’t been taken with her, in some way or another.”
 “I want to marry her.”
 “Why didn’t you ask her when she was here?”
 “I did not feel it was the proper time to ask her such a question.”
 “So it wasn’t.  She would not be as opposed as you think she might.  She said earlier that she would marry her horse groom to escape Ichabod.”
 “You will ask her for me then?”
 “I can deliver a message.  If we can keep her away from Ichabod, we will.”

Once again I leave you in helpless suspense.  If you were ever in suspense.  Enter a villin,  the evil suitor, and the love affair! Bwhahahahaha.  Pardon me. 

Guess what movie is coming out on DVD Tuesday? Eragon!   Ha ha ha ha!  I am soooo excited! *insane laughter and giggling that identifies me when I am overly and joyusly excited.*

Translated From Sarconian Annals - Draft Volume I

Finally!  We get to the fun part.  Hope you enjoy.

To understand the events to come, reader, we must leave my narrative and go down to the plains.  The following is what I was told by the princess, (who is now Queen), and others.

 Miss Claudia VenTal, governess of her royal highness, Princess Josephina Victoria Maria Elizabeth ConVal, (to give her full title) was very annoyed.  The princess’s suitor, Duke Ichabod, was coming to visit, and she [the princess] had refused to cancel her fencing lesson with Roger, her head guard.  “Milady,”  Claudia said,  “the duke is here to see you.”
 Josephina turned.  “Send him in.”
 “Milady!  But you are not dressed for receiving visitors!”
 “Send him in, Claudia.”  Josephina’s voice was gentle, but firm.
 The duke strode in, hand on his sword hilt.  He took one look at the princess and stopped short.  She was not at this moment the angel that he had seen at the Winter Ball a few months before.  Her blue dress was cut off slightly below the knee, just hiding the tops of her high leather boots.  Her hair was pulled back in a knot at the nape of her neck, and a few sweat-soaked strands hung about her face.  Her cheeks were flushed from activity, and there was a sword in her hand.
 “Jo-,” a stern look from the princess cut short the duke’s familiar greeting.  The duke cleared his throat.  “Your Highness, you must stop this unladylike activity immediately.”
 “What activity to you refer to, my lord?” 
 “This...fencing.”  He said ‘fencing’ with great disgust.
 “Fencing is a fine art, my lord duke, and a respectable skill.” Josephina sheathed her sword.
“I do not see learning it as a particularly unladylike activity.  Fencing is not unladylike.  Killing, however, is.”
 “You must stop the activity.”
 “By whose authority do you command me to stop?”
 “My own.”
 Josephina smiled. “You act as if we were married too soon, my lord.  You must remember, I am not your wife.  I am not even your betrothed.  Therefore you do not have the authority to tell me to stop my fencing studies.”
 “Who does?”
 “My father, his councilor and my tutor, Thomas Wilfred, and my uncle, Reginald.  They control my studies, not you.   I must not fail to mention, my lord, that none of them are opposed to my study of fencing.  Especially with the spiders breaking out of the dungeon lately.  Would you want me to be some giant spider’s diner?”
The duke bowed. “I forgot the aspect of self-defense fencing provides against those vile creatures.  If the activity has to do with your highness’s safety from wild beasts, by all means, continue.  I would not for all the world put your highness in danger.”
 “I appreciate your concern, my lord.  Please, excuse me.  I have a history lesson in under half an hour.”

This is the first part of Chapter Thirteen.  Part B will be coming sometime this week or next week, depending on when I get to post next.  This chapter and those following it are too long to put in a single post without making it extremely long.