Ancient Kingdom Time Forgot

Chapter 6

“Be on your guard, my mother isn’t far,” Raiden informed his uncle and the raiding party behind him, they hastened through the hallway leading toward Bridgette’s room. As they approach Dr. Jasper is outside the door.

“Raiden,” Jasper spots him coming down the hall. “Bridgette, Miles, and Sean are missing. One of your guardsmen took us and told the others would come once the place was secure. Your guardsmen were infiltrated, I killed two men on the way back here. Raiden she’s not here, she’s not here.”

Raiden gathered his men together and ordered a search of the underground kingdom.

“Jasper, I need you with me and Agneta!” He put his hand on Jasper’s back. Heading through the halls Raiden tells Agneta he wants to go to his mother’s room, upon opening the door they hear grunting. He swings the double doors open and he sees Zornan, Yolandi, and three of her followers dressed as guardsmen. He steps forward but notices Bridgette tied up.

Yolandi holds up her hand and utters, “My Darling, I’ve kept a lot of things from you so I’ll tell you something now.” She paused as she turned her head, moving the platinum blonde hair out of her face, and staring at Bridgette. “I have known of another fae in this kingdom, half-fae I should say.” turning her head back toward her son.

Zornan quickly moves from the side of his Ice Queen and in front of Dr. MacCleary; with his back toward Raiden and the others, he turns his head towards them and slits the throat of Sean as the others scream. In a panic, anger, and disbelief they run into the room, but in a cloud of smoke and a flash of light Zornan and Yolandi are gone. In doubt, everyone stops for a moment until one of Yolandi’s servants starts running toward Raiden, with his sword lifted high. Raiden cuts him down in one fell swoop and in a rage cuts down the other two. Agneta rushes to Sean’s side as he lay on the cold icy floor, she holds up his head and unties the gag from his mouth.

“Thank you.” These are the last words he mutters before he succumbs to his wounds. Raiden’s heart still pounding with anger, and his face is splattered in blood he throws down his sword and hastens to Bridgette’s side. He quickly unties her as she bounds into his arms and cries.

“I don’t know what happened.” Bridgette cried out, pulling away from Raiden and looking at Sean surrounded by a pool of blood. She quickly turns her head away and buries it in his chest as she continues to cry.

“We know where they’re going.” Miles reacts as Dr. Hawthorne pulls down his gag away from his mouth. “She knows where your brother and sister are, she’s planning on getting them ready to attack the Kingdom.”

“Is this true?” Raiden stands as he lets go of his love watching her walk toward her uncle.

“It is. She was telling Zornan, and the others on the way here. I don’t know when but she said that she finally found them and one of them was going to take the throne.” Miles unties his feet as he stares at Raiden.

“We must bury Dr. MacCleary.” Bridgette slowly walks over to Raiden glancing at Agneta draping a white sheet over Sean as she sits by his side shedding a few tears.

“We don’t bury the dead, we wrap them and give them to the sea.” Agneta expresses as she wipes away the tears streaming down her cheeks and walks out the door.

“He shall have a good burial, my love. Fear not, I will find my mother.” Raiden holds Bridgette’s head up and softly kisses her lips. He takes her by the waist and helps her out of the room, as he nods at the guardsmen waiting by the door. As the night approaches the heir apparent Raiden orders, everyone, in the ice castle to dress in black for four days in mourning for the late Dr. Sean MacCleary. Unknown of their traditions they fall to the back and follow the cue, Dr. Hawthorne and Mrs. Watson watch every movement over the still unknown Arcticians or Acktorians as they like to be called. Two guardsmen carry Sean on a gurney wrapped in a shroud, his organs were taken out and replaced with rocks so that the body can sink. As they stand and watch Sean being placed into the water, a song slowly arises. “Humshi, tye ko humkai, su jai fuque re akur. Kai es na ti yin. Kai es na ti yin su jai fuque re akur.”

Holding onto Bridgette, he bends down and whispers the translation in her ear. “Bringer of life must also be the bringer of death, but we shall all meet again. Death is not the end, death is not the end. But we shall meet again.” She holds on to him tighter as he softly sings the melody into her ear. “I shall always take care of you, my love, I will always love you, you have my heart.”

As they head back inside a young guardsman comes running toward Raiden he stops in front of him, and quickly bows, “Your Grace, there’s been a breach, we caught the intruder, he’s been taken to the cells.” As Raiden quickly makes his way to the cells where the prisoner is kept he kisses Bridgette and leaves her with her uncle to make their way back into the kingdom.

“Shuntha, did my ice queen mother forget you? I nearly forgot about you and your twin brother, Guntha. Did you know I cut off his head?” Raiden walked into the room and smeared down the image of his twin brother. He was not a cruel man but he knew how to twist his words so that he would be feared when needed.

“Triplet,” Shuntha responded as he walked out of the shadow and toward the cell bars. “No one remembers that there’s three of us, Guntha, Shuntha, and Runtha. Are you going to kill Shuntha like Guntha?” He questioned leaning his pale face on the bars. Raiden makes out a scar over his right eye, and his two front teeth were chipped.

“Tell me did you stay behind because she ordered you to, or because she forgot you?” Raiden stared at Shuntha for a bit too long studying his face, as he moved along the bars.

“I don’t know, have you seen my brother?” He slides down the bars and falls to the ground, Raiden notices that the guardsmen roughed him up. He tears off what remains of his shirt, and his back bleeds from the scratches.

“What do you know, Shuntha?” Raiden makes his way to the wooden bench across from the cell. He starts taking off his armor which is peculiar, to say the least, it resembles Roman armor with its silver breastplates and shin shields. A plump guard hands him a towel and a silver bowl full of water.

“I know that Queen Yolandi has found your brother, Theron. He was cast out by your grandmother, Tressa, to live with her brother, Quane, and the other outcasts.” Shuntha lays down on the cold floor to ease his painful back. His short white hair was in dreadlocks and his hands in brown leather gloves missing the fingertips. “When your little sister, Nylah, was born when you were two, your father believed the baby belonged to Zornan or one of us brothers. So, he convinced your grandparents to send her with your brother and uncle. So that means she will bring them here.” A sudden knock on the door startles the nodding-off guardsman in the corner.

“Your Highness, your uncle requests a word.” Comes from a guard hidden by the door.

“I’ll be back” Raiden stands and looks at Shuntha. “Rance, watch the prisoner” He pats the back of the guard and makes his way out the door.

“I hear you’re looking for me, Uncle,” Raiden exclaims as he walks up to Seti with a smile, you could almost make out his slight overbite.

“Yes, your Grace, did you find anything from Shuntha?” Seti opens the door to the majesty’s room. Which hadn’t been touched since Rodan’s death.

“My love, how are you liking your new rooms?” Raiden asked as he entered the much larger purple-colored room. His arms open wide as he makes his way to Bridgette sitting on a velvet stool at her vanity. She smiles at him as he reaches down to embrace her. “Well, Uncle, did you remember Shuntha was a triplet?” He pops a raspberry into his mouth and leans against the wall staring at Bridgette as she brushes her hair.

“Triplet?” Seti stops walking and stares in disbelief. “No, Guntha and Shuntha.”

“And Runtha” He pops another raspberry in his mouth and motions to Seti, he moves from the wall, grabs a handful of raspberries, kisses Bridgette on the cheek, and heads into the next room.

“Your father’s study?’’ Seti follows behind the heir apparent entering into the cobwebbed-filled room.

“I’m having it cleaned, I will try to be a good king. I will be better.” He makes his way to his father’s desk and sits down in the old chair. “Shuntha told me he doesn’t know about his brother’s whereabouts, but he knows where my mother is.” Raiden starts picking up books and dusting them off, popping the last few berries into his mouth. “My Great Uncle Quane is an outcast apparently, and my grandmother sent my brother and sister to live with him and the other outcasts. My mother figured out where they were sent and is going to get them, to bring them back here. So that one of them will take my throne.” He slams a book down on the desk and stands up, raising his voice a little. “I never even knew my grandmother had a brother, or I had siblings.” He walks back toward the bedroom as Bridgette greets him at the door. “My love.” He bows and kisses her hand as they walk out of the room hand and hand.