TWO HEADS TWO SPIKES (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga) (26 page)

“King Ali-Stanley Wamhoff,” he stated bluntly to the small woman.

“And why would I want to have that happen?” she replied with sudden nervousness.

“Because you will still be Queen of Donegal. We will send Ali-Ster away before he can marry and you will remain Queen. Ali-Ster has a much better prospect of longevity to keep you living in this castle and not back on that goat farm in Burkeville. I simply ask that you allow me a place on the council to rebuild this mess your husband has created,” said Ali-Samuel with another ugly smile.

“They will demand that Ali-Ster marry and put a baby inside his wife before he leaves,” the Queen snapped back.

“’They’, that you refer to, will be you and I. I have already talked to Ali-Ster about Falconer and Foreign Chancellor. And with the Queen on our side, no one will be able to stop us, my Queen.” He didn’t take his eyes from Emilia’s during the entire statement.

“I don’t want Ali-Ster to lose his father,” a concerned Queen stated.

“Lose his father? He has had a father for eighteen years. I never had a father. Besides, the King is no father if you ask Ali-Ster. I have never known my father and it has made me a better man for it. But all ill will has been forgotten. I understand my father had to leave and if it wasn’t for Queen Tomeo, my head would have been smashed on the castle steps. I lived a life as the little bastard of the castle even though my blood was pure. I was cursed with the last name Wamhoff until I left for the Pearl Islands at fifteen. Well, now is the time for just due,” he said.

Ali-Samuel got up, walked over to the Queen and massaged her shoulders. He whispered “We are now involved with very motivated people and I want you to know that you are safe with me.”

The Queen felt wonderful, although frozen in her seat. Ali-Samuel ran his fingers under her hair and the Queen arched her back with pleasure. He reached around and rubbed her breasts, softly pinching her nipples between his rugged fingers. Queen Emilia threw her neck back and turned her face up. Ali-Samuel kissed her gently from above.

“I will be going to Burkeville to take care of some business for our King, but when I return we will put the plan into action,” he whispered in her ear.

“That sounds great,” smiled the Queen as Ali-Samuel rubbed her shoulders again.

Then he grabbed her hand and led her toward the bed. When they were almost there, he grabbed her and kissed her strongly. Queen Emilia was now soaked in excitement as Ali-Samuel stooped down and pulled her entire dress over her head. He tore her shift away and placed his palm on her vagina.

“Aren’t you afraid of doing this in the king’s castle?” the Queen whispered as she breathed heavily.

“Nothing scares me, my Queen,” Ali-Samuel said cockily.

That thrilled the Queen even more as she grabbed for his pants. For a small man, the Queen noticed he packed a lot of excitement. Sir Ali-Samuel Wamhoff threw the tiny Queen onto the bed and started to undress.

The Queen awoke feeling satisfied and a little sore. She got out of bed naked and saw that Ali-Samuel was long gone. He had brought a breath of fresh air straight from the Gods to revive a lonely Queen’s stale life. The Queen of Donegal felt something she had not experienced in a long time, feelings for a man. She had fun with Anderley, but he was more of a convenience and too timid in bed. The Queen loved how Ali-Samuel tossed her around and took control, like a real man. The Queen thought men were too pensive at times, checking their foot in the water instead of diving straight in. She still smiled as she thought about what she would do the rest of the day. Right now, the only things that kept crawling back into her head were the lingering thoughts and smells of the man and his plan. This was exactly what the Queen sought to spice up her boring life.

Brehan Castaway paddled the canoe slowly down the Royal River. He kept on the Greenville side to protect Camelle and Riceros. They still weren’t sure where the assassin had broken through so they wore hoods pulled down over their faces. Brehan had his hanging from the top of his head as he guided them to Middlefont.

It had only been a few days but Riceros Colbert already missed Jasper and Count Sproul. He was used to being away from Ruxin but he spent nearly every day with the Count and dog. He felt nervous as they embarked on a voyage that was to take him much farther away from Mattingly than he had ever been before.

Riceros had been acting the exact opposite of Camelle. He had showed barely any emotion since he’d heard the tragic news. For some reason, he couldn’t believe that his father and sister were dead. The canoe floated along with a bare minimum of essentials but Brehan had a satchel filled with gold that would hopefully get them to where they were going.

Brehan and Riceros were going to take Camelle to Waters Edge to receive protection from her family. Riceros didn’t know where they were going after that and he wasn’t sure that even Brehan knew. Riceros only knew that they had to leave the only place he had ever called home. His father and sister might be dead and no one had heard from Krys or Ryno. Soon his mother would be gone and Sir Brehan would be the only familiar face he might see for a long time.

Camelle was still an emotional mess most of the time, red eyed and wan faced. She seemed to have aged years over the past few weeks. Riceros tried his best to lift her spirits but his efforts didn’t yield positive results. She had just had her entire family snatched from her bosom and her mother’s will was broken. He hoped that her birth family would be able to help her. She would be safe there from the King’s reach, whose deplorable actions seemed to have no bounds.

Brehan pushed the canoe ashore. Everyone jumped off and walked inland, a few feet off the beaten trail. Riceros noticed that Brehan finally snapped out of his recent funk. The knight understood that he needed to be strong for the woman and young boy.

The sun sank slowly over the horizon as Brehan pointed out the inn where they were going to spend the night. They would have camped out, but the Duchess was too pregnant for that. The trio walked through the door to see a decent-sized crowd of mostly men interspersed with just a few women.

Eight rectangular wooden tables were scattered around the dreary room. It smelled of old beer, wine and vomit that made Riceros retch. They sat at an empty table in the center of the room. Most of the rough-looking patrons appeared drunk. They slurred words and pointed fingers in each other’s faces as they rambled incoherently. Although Riceros was only eleven, he knew that the women were working here. He had heard his brothers talking about what the women who wear yellow hoods at the inns do. Riceros heard two men talking at a table of eight.

“He’s but a fifteen-year-old boy, he can’t hold off no king?” one man said.

“This King is weak right now. Mattingly is strong. Even without Duke Colbert, I will piss on our King,” he said as he spat on the floor.

“Well it will be my neck that gets slit if this kid don’t handle it. I don’t wish to gamble my life on the side of a child,” the first man said.

“I plan to bring back the black heart of the King. And I’ll show it to you and your pretty little neck. HAHAHAHA,” the second man retorted.

The entire table erupted in laughter save the embarrassed man.

The innkeeper arrived at their table. She was short, looked to be about fifty, and had three warts on her nose. Brehan ordered three bowls of the daily stew with bread and they watched the lady stumble away to get their meals.

“At least it sounds like most people still feel confident in the cause,” Brehan stated as he pulled his hood down a bit lower.

“Ruxin…Ruxin will do just fine. I know he will,” Camelle managed to get out before she sobbed again.

Riceros and Brehan tried to soothe her by patting her on the back.

Brehan said, “Everything will be just fine in the end, you will see. We will be gone for a little while and then return to get you and go back home. And it will be good for the little man to get away from home for a bit.” Brehan forced a smile for the benefit of the family.

The innkeeper showed up with three bowls of rabbit stew and dropped three spoons on the table. Riceros didn’t enjoy the taste but he ate it nonetheless. His mother barely touched her bowl although she did stop crying.

Suddenly, the rowdy man from the neighboring table stood up and raised his mug. Then he started singing.

“Blood and sweat, we shed for the bull,” as he sang this line, everyone at the inn joined in.

“His cause is our cause too,

Through the dark nights,

And the cold days,

We march on our enemies,

We lay our lives down,

If we are asked to,

For our families,

And we never,

Will ever surrender,

Then we hail a victory,

We return to our homelands,

Where we sit down,

And have a round,

And hug our family,

For the Colberts, and their houses,

We uphold honor and dignity,

For the Gods’ sakes men,

Throw down your rakes men,

And take up arms men,

Will-power and unity.”

The men crashed their mugs together and drank as proud citizens of Mattingly. Through all the pain a smile finally sprang to Camelle’s lips. This spurred return grins from Riceros and Brehan as they ate the stew.

Russell had been at the school for about a fortnight. The Imp Wizard and Gamelda took turns teaching him a wide variety of new and interesting things. They were showing him how to channel his inner spirit and energy to connect to external spirit guides. Gamelda even taught him how to look into her “ball” as she called it. It was actually a crystal skull that Gamelda claimed to be thousands of years old and filled with great energy and spirits. She could see images in the eyes and had tried to teach Russell to do the same. He felt the power of the skull but hadn’t been able to see anything yet.

The two teachers had told him that there are benevolent souls who float down from the heavens to help fight the forces of evil. The angels from above provided help to righteous men and women through mysterious powers, but only if they fully believed in them. Dragon-Eyes had said that different spirits provided various powers if you channeled them properly. Russell had been studying the angels and spirits every day since arriving at the school.

He rubbed his short spiky hair as he waited for the Imp Wizard to come downstairs. Russell sat at a table in the workroom, far away from the hissing snakes. They were ornery, but for some reason they never crossed an invisible line in the corner of the workshop. Hisalia walked in with a cloth bag full of something that moved. She walked over to the corner and flung the little animals inside the bag toward the snakes. Mice and rats met an immediate death, although a few got away and rushed out the open door. Hisalia was the snake-master and they obeyed her like they were her children. It was uncanny. She took good care of them and fed the serpents well, but Russell thought they would yearn for the outdoors again and make a break for it. Everyone thought they were all female serpents, but the rattlesnake had three babies last week. They looked like a cross between the rattler and cobra, quite fearsome looking little snakes.

He had worked every job in the workshop, except for venom-milker, since arriving. He also cleaned and gathered fire wood every morning. Russell really enjoyed his time with Gamelda. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and she made him feel good about himself. When she stroked his face or rubbed Russell’s stubble, it gave him feelings he had never experienced before.

As if on cue, Gamelda and Dragon-Eyes strolled into the room. The Imp wore a black cloak with a hood. Gamelda had a long, white dress on that made her dark skin look even more gorgeous to Russell. Her scent instantly found Russell’s nose and excitement arose within him.

“Hello Gamelda,” said a voice from behind Russell.

He turned to see who it was but the person passed him quickly and hugged Gamelda. Russell saw a thin post of a man standing in front of Gamelda. She stroked his face, just like she stroked Russell’s. Anger bit him like a rabid dog and his chest began to tighten.

Who is this skinny little fool
?

“Alright now, we have to go, Russell. Say fare thee well,” the wizard told Russell.

Russell walked over to the woman he had grown to experience strong feelings for.

“I will return in a bit, Gamelda,” he said with a nod of the head.

“Russell, this is my friend Wallyson,” Gamelda said.

“Russell, it is my pleasure,” Wallyson stated with an extended hand.

“Likewise,” Russell returned as he looked over the smaller man.

He wanted to carry the man over to the corner and throw him to the snakes. Instead, he just turned to leave.

“Have fun, my sweet boy,” Gamelda said in a seductive voice.

Russell stopped for a moment and then stumbled toward the wizard.

She called me boy. She just called me boy
.

They exited the Imp’s main domicile and set out into the dark and stormy evening.

“Don’t be jealous,” the wizard stated.

“What? I am not jealous,” Russell tried to lie.

“I am not a young fool. I am well versed in the signs of jealousy. Keep in mind that Gamelda is a free spirit, a free woman. She belongs to no man. You know, the King once had these feelings of jealousy and cursed the very Gods that he now praises. You see, there was a day when the King feared he would never sit on the throne of Donegal. His brother...”

“He had a brother?” Russell interrupted.

“Indeed, a twin brother much more fit to be king. He was the fiercest warrior in the Livingstone war and brought back the spoils for his King father. King Ali-Dus declared Ali-Steven to be the heir to the throne as long as he married Parys Etburn. But Ali-Steven refused because of allegiance to his childhood sweetheart. After that Ali-Steven was chased from Donegal, not to be seen since. They slit the throat of his wife to be and captured his son before Ali-Steven could rescue them. Just as they were to smash the baby’s head on the castle steps, the Queen ordered them to stop. She wouldn’t let them slaughter an innocent child and Ali-Samuel Wamhoff was allowed to grow up in the castle. Ali-Stanley agreed to marry Parys Etburn and received our kingdom by default.”