Read Online The Twelve Kingdoms: The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeffe Kennedy
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same for my heart.
By the time I awoke again, this time to midmorning overcast and drizzling rain, impossibly sore and feeling a hundred years old, Ursula had already left on her scouting mission, leading her special squad of soldiers—Ursula’s Hawks—to the meadow of acid-green grasses. Despite the previous day’s threat, she not only didn’t force me to go along; I was forbidden to leave the castle. Rumors of war whispered around every corner. For a while I lurked in my chambers. I ate what breakfast I could choke down and sent all my ladies away because they seemed unable to talk of anything else. But the constant clatter of soldiers drilling in the yard, sentries changing guard every hour . . . it wore on me.
Enthusiasm sang in the very air. Mohraya had been birthed out of the blood of the Great War. Uorsin was a warrior, first and foremost, and a general hard on the heels of that. Twenty-five years had passed since the final victory. The warriors of Ordnung thirsted for more.
It ran through their voices, the desire to fight, to triumph. My sentries in the antechamber told one another stories about their fathers and grandfathers. About this siege and how that city fell. They reminded me of women telling one another childbirth tales, each story more agonizing, painful, and horrifying than the last.
I itched to be outside. To ride Fiona beyond all the voices and the sideways glances. To be free again, if only for a while.
By late afternoon, Ursula had returned and the High King summoned us for formal court. Not a good sign.
I let Amelia dress me to her satisfaction. She always seemed to think our father would be happier with me if I looked prettier. More like, well, Amelia. Now I knew, however, that I looked like Salena—and like the monstrous people our mother came from.
We all convened, sitting in our array of thrones and looking out over the assembled nobles, representatives of the other eleven kingdoms arrayed in the front. None of the kings would have had time to travel to Ordnung. Of course, Uorsin alone represented Mohraya. The lovely room sang with tension, the boarded-over window where Glorianna’s rose had shattered like a blackened eye.
“People of the Twelve Kingdoms.” Uorsin intoned the words, at his kingly best. He wore his formal robes and the crown. Not at all a good sign. He rarely did, complaining to Ursula that it itched. It was an ugly thing, crafted of unpolished iron, with twelve points, one for each kingdom. “Many of you know that we face a trial greater than any since the Great War. To spare the gentle hearts among us, we have not spoken the name of our ancient enemy in all these years, but now we must. The Tala—demons, every one—have escaped into the Wild Lands.”
He let the aghast murmurs run through the crowd. They all acted shocked and surprised, as if every one of them hadn’t heard what happened the day before.
“We face a grave peril indeed. They seek to undermine our peaceful and united kingdom with their black magic and evil ways. Worse, they think to destroy us by taking our beloved Princess Andromeda and bending her to their devilish purposes. We shall not let them!”
He pounded his fist on the arm of his throne, and a weak cheer went up at the signal, gaining strength from there. Until then, they hadn’t been sure how to respond. It would have been comical—I almost expected someone to say Who? —except my head was pounding. Amelia took my hand. Hers was cold as ice.
“We have no recourse but to defend our precious homeland. They shall not have our princess. We will destroy them and send them running back to their stinking burrows like the animals they are.
“People of the Twelve Kingdoms, we are at war!”
They cheered in earnest at that, the soldiers and guards sending up a roar that reverberated against the walls, making my ears ring.
After that, the true nattering began, the various representatives arguing over whether they should provide
By the time I awoke again, this time to midmorning overcast and drizzling rain, impossibly sore and feeling a hundred years old, Ursula had already left on her scouting mission, leading her special squad of soldiers—Ursula’s Hawks—to the meadow of acid-green grasses. Despite the previous day’s threat, she not only didn’t force me to go along; I was forbidden to leave the castle. Rumors of war whispered around every corner. For a while I lurked in my chambers. I ate what breakfast I could choke down and sent all my ladies away because they seemed unable to talk of anything else. But the constant clatter of soldiers drilling in the yard, sentries changing guard every hour . . . it wore on me.
Enthusiasm sang in the very air. Mohraya had been birthed out of the blood of the Great War. Uorsin was a warrior, first and foremost, and a general hard on the heels of that. Twenty-five years had passed since the final victory. The warriors of Ordnung thirsted for more.
It ran through their voices, the desire to fight, to triumph. My sentries in the antechamber told one another stories about their fathers and grandfathers. About this siege and how that city fell. They reminded me of women telling one another childbirth tales, each story more agonizing, painful, and horrifying than the last.
I itched to be outside. To ride Fiona beyond all the voices and the sideways glances. To be free again, if only for a while.
By late afternoon, Ursula had returned and the High King summoned us for formal court. Not a good sign.
I let Amelia dress me to her satisfaction. She always seemed to think our father would be happier with me if I looked prettier. More like, well, Amelia. Now I knew, however, that I looked like Salena—and like the monstrous people our mother came from.
We all convened, sitting in our array of thrones and looking out over the assembled nobles, representatives of the other eleven kingdoms arrayed in the front. None of the kings would have had time to travel to Ordnung. Of course, Uorsin alone represented Mohraya. The lovely room sang with tension, the boarded-over window where Glorianna’s rose had shattered like a blackened eye.
“People of the Twelve Kingdoms.” Uorsin intoned the words, at his kingly best. He wore his formal robes and the crown. Not at all a good sign. He rarely did, complaining to Ursula that it itched. It was an ugly thing, crafted of unpolished iron, with twelve points, one for each kingdom. “Many of you know that we face a trial greater than any since the Great War. To spare the gentle hearts among us, we have not spoken the name of our ancient enemy in all these years, but now we must. The Tala—demons, every one—have escaped into the Wild Lands.”
He let the aghast murmurs run through the crowd. They all acted shocked and surprised, as if every one of them hadn’t heard what happened the day before.
“We face a grave peril indeed. They seek to undermine our peaceful and united kingdom with their black magic and evil ways. Worse, they think to destroy us by taking our beloved Princess Andromeda and bending her to their devilish purposes. We shall not let them!”
He pounded his fist on the arm of his throne, and a weak cheer went up at the signal, gaining strength from there. Until then, they hadn’t been sure how to respond. It would have been comical—I almost expected someone to say Who? —except my head was pounding. Amelia took my hand. Hers was cold as ice.
“We have no recourse but to defend our precious homeland. They shall not have our princess. We will destroy them and send them running back to their stinking burrows like the animals they are.
“People of the Twelve Kingdoms, we are at war!”
They cheered in earnest at that, the soldiers and guards sending up a roar that reverberated against the walls, making my ears ring.
After that, the true nattering began, the various representatives arguing over whether they should provide
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