Authors: A McKay
The queen turned her head and a tear ran down her cheek. “We did not all come back, the evil bitch killed my brother.” The crowd gasped and cheers erupted for the fallen soldier.
He heard through the crowd a female servant asked about the other woman, Phoenix still hurting from her lost, she kicked the woman so hard that she went flying backwards. The pure strength of Phoenix making him remember that she wasn’t a beast, but nor was she human.
The guards helped Slade to where they left their regular clothes, Zach following Slade with no one helping him. Slade was lead up into the tower, and they stopped by the door, Zach was right behind the group. “You can change, and we will help you back down, the wounds should heal faster with the bandages that are on you. The wizard created them especially for wounds like yours.” Slade limped through the doorway and Zach closed it behind them as Slade went to the chest that the clothes laid upon, they seemed to have been cleaned.
As they began putting our regular clothes on, the coat feeling better then the ancient clothes, the pain starting to fade as Slade’s body kicked in its own healing process with the magic bandages. “Zach you know what?”
“No,” he said straight back to him as he slid his boots on.
“I don’t think I want to take this one off.” Slade said sitting on the bench.
“Too bad, it’s our era’s clothes.”
“Yes, but aren’t you proud of our ancestors,”
“Yes, but I can do it in these clothes, come on don’t tell me you don’t feel more comfortable in our own clothes.” Slade then saw the same crest that was on the outfits appear on Zach’s coat and shirt.
“I guess you’re right,” Slade pointed to his shirt.
“Son of a bitch,” Zach yelled. Then he took a breath, “I guess it works.” Zach stood wiggling his feet a little in the boots. “You know what else?” he didn’t wait for Slade to answer. “Maybe I won’t be locked up for a week now. Let’s see since I’ve joined you, I’ve been shot, my body broken, captured numerous times, and who knows what else.”
“Yeah, don’t you love family?”
They looked at the sword that used to hang by his side on the other side, and he could see that he wanted it back; Zach turned to pick the holder for his sword up, “Maybe that wizard can put glamour on it from human eyes only.”
“Maybe,” Slade said back looking at his jacket surprised that Zach knew the magic world that he did.
Sirs the speech with begin soon.” The guard said through the door as they were sitting in the tower.
“We need our weapons.”
“Sirs the weapons can be claimed later.”
“Fine,” Slade walked towards the direction that one led him through. “So you guys are assigned to us, how long would this be for?”
“Sir, I am your personal guard for life.”
Zach looked up and he stopped instantly from that statement. “What?” Zach asked dryly.
“It is tradition that you the queen’s mate, gets two of the finest guards.”
“But you’re so small; the big boulder guy looks tougher than you.” The stone guard seemed to smile that stood in the corner.
“Size isn’t everything.” He said and continued.
“Wait I get no one,” Zach said trying to rub it in to Slade that he didn’t have to have a babysitter.
“No, your guard stays in the shadows, she is here.” Zach quickly looked around. Slade looked too, it seemed like a shadow moved, but he couldn’t tell for sure.
“Wait a minute her mate,” Zach finally catching on Slade being called the queen’s mate.
“I guess news travels fast.” Slade didn’t have to explain anything else as his eyes rolled to the shadows and that’s when he caught the other thing the guard said.
“She?” Zach continued to follow his eyes looking everywhere. Slade couldn’t tell if the guard was joking or not, but it was funny watching Zach look around. The guard stopped suddenly and threw a stone at Zach’s face, a black sword that matched the shadow stretched in front of Zach’s face, and red eyes seemed to appear from the walls. The stone crashed to the ground, Zach’s face went white, and his eyes widened. When Slade tried to see in the shadow, the eyes disappeared, and Zach now was knocking on the stonewalls trying to find her. “Umm,” this is freaky.
“Sir you look sickened, are your wounds infected?”
“Does she follow me everywhere, like say in warmth of a bed that might not belong to me?”
Slade just laughed, seeing his guard about to answer, “Let’s have him figure that out for himself shall we.”
“No we shall now.” Zach said but the guards ignored him and they continued to walk.
***
The queen sat in a seat the overlooked the kingdom from a balcony. The blue sky of the kingdom brought warmth the circled them in pleasant taste. The two nymphs sat to the right of Phoenix, Zach and Slade sat to the left of her.
He could sense that Phoenix was still suffering from the effects of what they shared when she healed him. Something happened during that process that made Slade feel more connecting to her than he ever felt with anybody. He felt like a bond was created between them. A bond that he also shared with Zach, the fire from her now circled in his veins.
She rose and approached the front of the balcony. “My honored citizens of the Sacred Island, we have returned with grave news. My brother Gargan was slain by the demon that portrayed that she was Gabrielle a girl stuck in the crossfire of this kingdom and the sanctums. We cannot blame each other for this lost. We will bring justice only to Gargan after the queen is destroyed. I will not sit here and take this news lightly.”
The queen paused as the crowd cheered the honor of Gargan. “Sir,” Slade’s personal guard whispered to him. His guard whispered in his ears, “Ships approach in wooden ships and oars. They will make it through the reef in hours of time.” Slade put his hand up knowing for sure who it was, his ex-employer begged for his death it seemed.
The queen eyed Slade’s concern look, but then looked to the crowd. “My people we have opened the portal. Soon our own will secure it and our trades can continue how they use to be. For you to trade though, you will need to see Rose Petal for a briefing of how to go through it and what you can bring. I do not want to contaminate the land with our own magic, as I don’t want theirs to come into ours.”
“King, King, King, King,” chants started to reign through the crowd. Phoenix’s face now grew red in color as she turned to Slade.
“I think they have learned of us.” Slade looked at her big eyes, confused for a moment. He was no King, did he know that have sex with the queen would demand this from?
“Go ahead King,” Zach snickered in smiling to himself.
“If I am King can I have him tortured?” Slade asked
“Aye,” Phoenix said licking her mouth as if she was hungry for thin humans.
“That’s not funny,” Zach quickly put in, “besides he is a new York strip to me that taste like a piece of bacon.” Slade stood and walked to take Phoenix’s place smiling on the hidden conversation they just had.
The crowd erupted in cheers; he noticed the stone guards were standing at the end cheering the most. He put his hands up and settled the crowd down, feeling more popular than a rock star. “People,” crap did he screw it up already, they weren’t all human. He looked back at the queen who had Rose Petal fanning her. Her body still being affected by the travel and heeling they did. “As you heard, we have made love and by the rules of this Kingdom, by spending the night together, we are now considered one.” He looked at the queen, the nymphs smiling as the queen covered her eyes.
“I am happy to call this place home,” Zach now stared at Slade in an intense stare. “My blood brother, and guardian, Sir Preston will be my right hand on all things in the matter of the Kingdom.” Zach stood to be seen by all. The crowd cheered again, and then commotion broke out through the gates. A group of ladies with better attire on then the first time came through.
“So you are the king now guardian,” the leader of the amazons said.
“Yes, what brings you here to interrupt the ceremony?” Slade didn’t know he had it in him to be a King but for now, he thought it looked alright. Phoenix started to stand, her body shaking, between anger, and the adrenaline that her body could produce no more.
“My apologies, my king,” the amazons went to a knee.
Zach elbowed him, “I guess I’ll stay for a bit.”
“Please they would chew you up and spit you out.” Slade whispered to Zach.
“Sounds like a romantic night to me.” They turned to the queen when they heard her collapse in the chair. Her eyes closed, as if she fainted. They both rushed to her aid and Slade checked her pulse. It was strong; she was just exhausted from all that happened.
“Take her to her chambers, cool her by any means necessary, she gave much to save me.” The nymphs waived for the maidens to help lift her and carried her away.
Slade returned to the balcony, everyone looking concerned except for the Amazons. Slade thought to himself, Amazons that used that energy in their training, the ones that might know how to help Phoenix.
“Amazon queen,” Slade said the crowd gasped at the word queen. She stood her eyes intense on Slade in calling her proper title. “Settle down, she is only the queen to her own, a name for a leader of her people. The title that you all will address her as from this day on, or they will have right to punish anyone for a different name.” Slade noticed Broen standing near the group, “Broen escort her to the queen’s chamber for she wants a word with her.”
“Aye my Lord,” Broen said having the amazons in front of him.
“I call for your help,” Broen, and the amazons stopped to listen on his words. “I have been told that the Sanctum has learned of a way to reach our land. Our land is in jeopardy, it needs protecting. I call upon any one that can fight to join in to help save the land.”
“Nay, the queen can protect us with the stone guards.” Somebody yelled from the crowed.
“Nay, the queen has been injured on the quest to open the portal and I will not have her harmed in this matter. I order at this time for the stone-guards and amazons to protect this castle and the queen until the threat is destroyed.”
“Zach, and myself will lead an attack on the coast where the boats shall land and fight to save to this land. I plead that you send out word to lend your hands and fight alongside us to save your land, your home.
I landed on this land and felt the peace and tranquility here. I will now do everything in my power to save this land. I will never give up on this land as I hope you will not.”
With that, he turned and headed inside the tower, walking with power. Zach followed not saying a word. He was met on the steps by Broen and the amazons.
“Sire you are injured, you should not battle.”
“I will be on the beach waiting for them, you are not ordered to stay here, you may join our fight.”
“I like this king,” the Amazon queen said to her group behind her.
“You,” he directed to the conversation to the queen of the Amazons. “Protect this castle, the queen with all your strength.” She was about to say something, Slade continued, “Protect her by keeping her in her chambers no matter what happens.
“We will, my king.” She said as they barged in the room, the nymphs yelling something only to be silenced as the entire group entered. “Sorry my ladies the king ordered us to protect her.”
“Zach, get our weapons, if the smith needs to make them I don’t care.” Slade stopped from walking away. “Order him and if he has friends to stand in front of the gate, I don’t anyone to leave or enter.”
“Slade you got a plan?” Zach asked
“Yeah, we don’t run, and charge at them with everything we got.”
“Sounds good enough to me,” he said before leaving the kingdom.
Slade entered the chamber that was over-crowded with females. He walked up to his queen and looked at her face. “Is she going to be okay?” He asked the queen of the Amazons answered back not one of the nymphs.
“She will be, we call it a warrior’s burn, and I gave her some creams that will sooth the body heat. She will be awake when you return.”
He stared down at her, smelling the medicine on her, he didn’t kiss her, but touched her shoulder. “I will return, and you will no longer have to fight to live in peace.”
Slade sat in the trees off the beach; waiting for the wooden ships, he saw approach. He was unable to see anyone else there to help him fight. Twigs broke behind him and he quickly looked to the noise.
“Zach, all we have are us it looks like.”
“Sounds like a fair fight to me then.”
“I guess my speech wasn’t strong enough to get supporters.” Slade looked at his should that was still healing the deep slice, a place that was previously bitten by Phoenix.
“Look,” he pointed to the row boats that now were lowered to the water. “Now that is a lot of guys,” hundreds of boats started to roar to the shore.
“Like you said, a fair fight for sure.”
As the boats drew near to the shore, they noticed that no one carried a gun but swords instead. The magnetic reef protected it from the magic that the guns were made from. Slade still held his breathe as they approached.