Knights of Emerald 02 : The Dragons of the Dark Emperor: The Dragons of the Dark Emperor
366
Knights of Emerald 02 : The Dragons of the Dark Emperor: The Dragons of the Dark Emperor
366eBook
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9782924442432 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | WELLAN INC |
| Publication date: | 10/06/2016 |
| Series: | The Knights of Emerald , #2 |
| Sold by: | De Marque |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 366 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Knights of Emerald - Book 2
The Dragons of the Dark Emperor
By Anne Robillard
Wellan Inc.
Copyright © 2015 Wellan Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-2-924442-43-2
CHAPTER 1
I Dub Thee Knight
After five hundred years of peace, the vast continent of Enkidiev once again appealed to Amecareth, the lord of the insect-men and he coveted it for himself. In an attempt to annex more and more territory, the Black Emperor first sent out small raiding parties all along the coast. During the seven years following the first attack on Zenor, enemy forces carried out more and more forays against humans. The Knights of Emerald succeeded in turning back all of the invasion attempts, but they could not understand why the insect-men kept on using the same tactics against them, since all of their garrisons were systematically eliminated every time they landed on the continent.
When they returned to the Castle of Emerald during a much-deserved lull in the fighting, the Knights spoke about it with Abnar, the Immortal who, in the guise of an apprentice-wizard, was in charge, along with the wizard of Emerald, of educating the future Squires. They came to the conclusion, after a minute examination of a great number of battles, that the enemy persisted in his attack plan hoping that, after all these years, the Knights would slip up and would let them through. "These creatures' brains are probably so different from those of humans that they just can't imagine any other way of conquering new territory," thought Wellan. While he continued to probe the coast using his magic senses, the mighty Knight decided to take advantage of several days let-up in order to bestow knighthood on the apprentices: Bridgess, Kerns, Wanda, Buchanan, Nogait, Wimme and Kevin.
After having served their masters faithfully over several years, the Squires could finally become Knights. A great banquet was organized in their honor in the palace hall. The newly-minted warriors would be treated to the best dishes the kingdom had to offer and taste the rich wines of the South. It was a joyful celebration and the young Squires sang, danced on the tables and retold the jokes they had heard during their many missions. They knew that this feast would be followed by many years of combat and sacrifice and they wanted to savor every second. However, in the midst of the laughter and song, Bridgess noticed that Wellan, her mentor, was not eating. He looked absently at his plate, lost in thought.
The great Knight was in love with a beautiful ghost – a lady who appeared to him mostly when the enemy was getting ready to attack the continent. Bridgess thought that a love like that was strange and must not be very satisfying since her former master was always overcome by sadness. So this evening she decided to cheer him up. She set down her wine glass, crossed the large, noisy hall and sat down beside him. Wellan raised his cold eyes and looked at Bridgess. He stared at her for a moment, then an admiring smile flitted across his lips. Just like him, she wore her blond hair a little below shoulder length and only tied it back when she was fighting. The young woman's dark blue eyes commanded respect and her chiseled features gave her a princely beauty. This was no longer the little girl that had been entrusted to the leader of the Knights several years ago, but rather a lovely young woman with muscles of steel and a sharp mind.
"It bothers me to see you so sad, master," she said.
"You can't call me that anymore, Knight Bridgess," Wellan reminded her, "especially since I'll have a new Squire in a couple of days. And so will you."
Bridgess slipped her fingers between Wellan's and squeezed them gently while sending him a wave of calm. This was a technique that the Knights often used with their Squires when they felt that they were worried or frightened, but Bridgess always used it every time that Wellan's heart was heavy.
"Call me Wellan and remember that we're now on an equal footing."
"Me, equal to the mighty leader of the Knights of Emerald?" said the young woman mockingly. "I very much doubt that."
Wellan looked at her quietly and she felt him close his heart once again. He was the most powerful of all the Knights, the greatest strategist on the continent and the most miserable of men. He kissed Bridgess on the forehead and left the hall as discretely as a ghost.
He made his way through the palace and went to the wing where the Knights were housed. It was deserted and silent. He entered the room where he had spent so little time over the last few years and took off his green breastplate studded with precious gems in the shape of a cross. His armor suddenly seemed heavier. He removed his tunic and pants and tumbled into bed. Depressed, he turned his head towards the window and looked out at the stars. Somewhere, up there, in the realm of the dead, the queen he adored had forgotten him.
Drifting along in an ocean of sadness, Wellan did not feel Bridgess coming towards him. She glided quietly into his room and slipped into his bed causing him to jump in surprise. Before he could even react, she stretched out on him. Her eyes were no longer the eyes of a child; rather they were the eyes of a woman who could see into the darkest reaches of a man's soul. Since she was wearing only her tunic, he felt the heat of her young body on his naked skin. Wellan had always behaved properly with her throughout all the years of apprenticeship and he had never encouraged her to do anything like this.
"I've come to offer you a deal, Wellan of Emerald," she murmured in his ear. "Both of us feel the need to snuggle into the warm and tender arms of a companion, without really wanting to share his or her life. Why not relieve the tension in our bodies like this from time to time?"
"You've had too much to drink," replied Wellan who, above all, was unwilling to take advantage of the situation.
"On the contrary, Sir Knight. My mind is perfectly clear and my offer makes sense."
Bridgess's lips brushed tenderly those of the Knight. Yielding to his overwhelming need for tenderness for a moment, Wellan let himself be kissed. Then he got a grip on himself. He took the young woman's wrists and gently pushed her away.
"I know that you want it," she whimpered.
"It would be dishonest for me to take advantage of the situation, Bridgess."
"What situation?" she retorted. "I love you!"
"You're drunk."
He made her sit down in front of him and stroked her lovely face smiling sadly.
"In other circumstances, perhaps, but not this evening," he said sternly.
He was the handsomest of all his companions and, even if he would not admit to the feelings he had for her, Bridgess would never stop loving him. She lowered her head and left the room without a backward glance.
In spite of the late hour, the palace was still teeming with life and the wizard Elund's young students could not sleep. The children had not been allowed to participate in the festivities, but they heard the laughter and the singing of the new Knights and they thought about the day when it would be their turn to be dubbed Knights. The eldest of them would soon become Squires and they all dreamed of serving Wellan.
Kira was one of the candidates. While she was younger than her fellow classmates, her mastery of magic went way beyond theirs and she already knew the Code of Chivalry by heart. The only thing left was to learn how to ride a horse and wield a sword. Then she could finally avenge her parents who had died at the hands of the enemy. Everybody thought that Kira was the daughter of the Queen Fan of Shola and the wizard King Shill. Even though there had been Elves and Fairies among her ancestors, nothing could explain the little girl's mauve skin and her four clawed fingers. Only Wellan, Elund and Abnar knew the truth about her, but they had decided to wait until she was older before revealing her real identity to her. Because, in reality, Kira was the daughter of the Black Emperor.
In spite of the fact that she looked different, Kira had made friends among the young students in Emerald. Secretly, she was in love with Hawke, the apprentice wizard. He was a young Elf with lively green eyes and he too had pointed ears. All the same, she reserved a part of her heart for the handsome Wellan of Emerald. Kira did not see the leader of the Knights very often since he was often on a mission outside the kingdom and because the Knights had few contacts with the students. But she exulted in all of the great deeds that were told about him and she imagined herself at his side during fantastic battles.
Even though she was the ward of the King of Emerald and slept in the palace instead of in the tower with the other students, Kira did not benefit from any special treatment. She took the same courses and lessons as her companions. She figured that Master Abnar liked her a lot, but she never tried to use this for her own gain. In fact it was precisely because she felt like all of the other students that the mauve girl came into the courtyard to see the Squires assigned to their Knights. There were now fourteen Knights and Kira could probably serve Chloe, Wanda, or Bridgess, even if, in her heart, she wanted Wellan to be her guide.
Standing in a row in front of the children, their hands on their hips, the precious gems on their breastplates sparkling in the sun, the Knights waited for Elund's proclamation. The wizard began by assigning apprentices to the new knights: Milos to Kevin, Brennan to Wimme, Corbin to Nogait, Derek to Buchanan, Kagan to Wanda, Spencer to Kerns, Swan to Bridgess. Kira's first hopes were dashed.
Kira felt an inexplicable warmth growing in her, wrapping her in tenderness and trying to protect her from bitter disappointment. Elund went on and gave Colville to Dempsey, Murray to Falcon, Morgan to Jasson, Curtis to Bergeau, Hettrick to Santo, Cameron to Wellan and Ariane to Chloe.
Kira felt her legs buckle under her. None of the other children mastered magic like she did. Why had she not been chosen? She looked down at her hands. Probably the Knights would have been ashamed to be seen with an apprentice that looked more like a little bat than a human. While the new Squires got ready to leave with their masters for the traditional introduction of the new apprentices to the people, Kira slipped silently away, went into the palace and ran up the stairs to the very top floor. She squeezed out through a window, hid herself away on the roof, under an overhanging stone and cried her eyes out.
In spite of being nine years old, she was not very tall and she could not manage to put on weight even though she ate like an ogre. So what if her pupils were vertical and made her eyes look like a cat's, her mind and her heart were all human. According to the rules of the Order, the Knights could not take on another group of Squires for seven more years and then she would be too old to be a candidate. Why had Elund and Abnar not warned her that she would be rejected? Didn't they realize that they would humiliate her in front of the whole castle? All the students her age were apprentices. How could she even think of being in the same classes as the novices who had barely begun to learn magic? Her dreams went up in smoke. She would never be a Knight; she could never revenge her parents' death.
After the Knights had left with their new apprentices, Abnar was the first to notice that the little mauve girl was gone. He used his magic senses to spot her on one of the rooftops and he felt her sadness. Making sure that no one was watching him, he dematerialized and reappeared a few feet away from Kira.
"What's wrong little princess?" he asked innocently.
Kira hid her tear-stained face in her arms that were clasped around her legs, unable to stop sobbing. Making his way carefully across the tiles, Abnar came closer and sat down beside her.
"Please, calm down."
"Leave me alone, Master Abnar," she cried. "I want to be by myself."
"I'll leave when you tell me what's making you cry like this."
"You already know."
He could not explain to her that she had to stay in the Castle of Emerald where the magic of the Immortals protected her. She believed that her father was Shill the wizard, who had been exiled to Shola along with his grandfather Draka, the King who had started wars. Her birth had always been kept hidden from her. In reality, Kira was born to Queen Fan of Shola after she had been raped by the Black Emperor, the commander-in-chief of the armies of insect-men who kept on trying to get her back. But neither Abnar nor the Knights of Emerald would let them get their hands on her. Because without the little mauve-skinned girl the prophecy would never be fulfilled: A Knight will be born and he will bear in himself the light that will destroy Amecareth forever, but only with the help of the princess who has no kingdom.
However, at nine years old, Kira certainly would never handle the shock of such a terrible truth. So Abnar let her grow up as normally as possible with the other children in the castle, even if her fate was bound to be very different.
"There are other ways of fighting the emperor," he added.
"Why did you let me go through the same training as my friends?" sobbed Kira. "Have you got any idea how humiliated I was today, Master Abnar? I'll never be able to face them."
"I'm sure that they'll understand that your path is different than theirs."
"All they'll understand is that a mauve-skinned monster is not worthy of becoming a Knight!"
She got up and walked over the metallic tiles away from the Immortal. She stopped in front of the wall of the closest tower and climbed up it using her claws. "She's too heartbroken for me to convince her of anything today," Abnar thought. So he waited until she had taken refuge on the sill of a high window and then he vanished.
Looking down from her perch, Kira could see the Knights and their apprentices proudly riding through the countryside. Did they have any idea how sad she was? She looked farther away towards the south-east, towards Zenor, where most of the battles against the invader and his terrible dragons had taken place. She dreamed of holding the most powerful sword ever forged in her hands and of chopping off the head of her parents' murderers.
She stayed there, huddled up, all evening long while the sun grew darker and only went back into the palace when she started feeling the chill of night seep through the cloth of her tunic. The noise of the festivities had finally died down in the castle, but the servants were still going back and forth in the torchlit hallways. By hiding behind the statues, the enormous vases full of flowers and the tapestries, Kira got to her room without anyone seeing her. She was ashamed of the way she looked and could not have handled even the least innocent comment from the king's entourage.
In her room, there were candles burning around her bed and the covers were turned down inviting her to go to sleep. She walked slowly into the room wondering why the king kept her under his protection like this when the Knights did not even want her. She stopped beside her bed and found a scroll of mauve paper lying on her pillow. She hesitated for a while and then opened it. There were only a few words, but they warmed her heart immediately. I love you. Armene. Kira held the short message to her chest. The faithful servant who had always taken care of her and who had succeeded, with a sort of tender determination, in taking the place of her mother, still loved her.
The little girl ran to the great wooden door and opened it a crack. Nobody. She flew to the servant's room and rushed in without knocking, not wanting to draw the attention of the maids in the hall. Sitting on her bed, Armene was combing out her long hair. She stopped short when she made out the girl's damp violet eyes that shone in the shadows.
"Thank the gods, you're safe and sound!" she cried out in relief.
"Mene," coughed Kira.
She ran and threw herself into her arms as she always did when she was sad. The servant held her tight, smelling her soft violet hair and her sweet-scented skin.
"I was so afraid you would do something silly."
"I wasn't the silly one. It was Elund," said Kira in tears, hiding her face in Armene's neck. "I never want to see him again. I want him to disappear forever."
"You're only saying that because you're angry. But, underneath it all, I know that you're really bighearted."
"Not anymore. It's all gone. Elund and the others have killed all my dreams, Mene. All of my dreams."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Knights of Emerald - Book 2 by Anne Robillard. Copyright © 2015 Wellan Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Wellan Inc..
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