Amaranth: A Maerith Kingdom Novel - Chapter 11

The sun was peaking through the tree tops of the forest. Amaranth stood out front of the Rissingshire Castle and watched the pixies as they flew around the grassland. There were colored sparkles as they flew back and forth. It put a smile on Amaranth’s face. Until her mind went wandering, What a mixed up life I have. I cannot believe that Qrizor was my father and Crumazz was my brother. No one told me. My mother should have been the one to tell me. Why did she hide it from me? Who is the Qbaris? I know my brother, but it sounds like he doesn’t know the family tree either. I know I need to get this out of my head, but how?

Odulore walked up to her and handed her a hot mug of coffee, “What’s on your mind?”

“Same ole, same ole that has been on my mind lately. I think I’ll go back to my room and read my mother’s journal. There has to be some answers in there. She addressed it to me. I hope she will tell me why she did what she did. Why did I not know about my brothers? Are there any others out there? Half-siblings? So, if you need me, I’ll be in my room,” she told him and walked away to her room.

A group of pixies flew up and surrounded him. Tamon said to him, “How is she doing? Can we help?”

“She’ll be ok. She just has a lot on her mind. I can’t say as though I blame her. She just found out that a large portion of her life is a lie.”

Tamon smiled and said, “We will send her positive energy.” They flew off into the grassland. Odulore stood and watched them fly away. He leaned back against the castle and slid down to sit on the ground.

Evatius trotted up to Odulore. He stopped in front of him. “I tell you there is going to be trouble.”

“What is?”

“This whole situation with Amaranth and Qbaris. Their parents were both very evil. How can we trust them?”

“Well, I guess we will just see about that. I trust her. I don’t know Qbaris to say not to trust him. What do you know about him?”

“I know that he doesn’t come in to the forest. I had never heard of him. How do we have someone at a castle in the kingdom, and we not know about him?”

Odulore shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. We have stayed away from that castle because Qrizor was there.”

Back in her room, Amaranth sat at her table. She had her mother’s journal in front of her. She thought to herself, Time to get reading and see if she has anything to tell me about my father and brothers. I need answers.

She opened the journal and turned to the last page she was at. She scanned the page to get past the death potion. She began reading again.

Did you use the potions on Crumazz? Is he now gone? That is a good thing. He was pure evil. Now the question is, did you go back to Odulore? Don’t be surprised if he does not believe you. By now his father has probably told him about your family tree. The question is, did he tell you? If he did, then I am sure that you are mad at me. I did not tell you who your father and siblings were. If not, then let me explain to who your father and siblings are.

Your father is Qrizor. Yes, this means that Crumazz was your brother. Also, there is another brother, Qbaris. Both of them were raised at Miserth Castle. Also, Qrizor has a habit of going off for long periods of time to other kingdoms. I would not be surprised if there are more half-siblings out there. I just do not know who they are.

I am sure that your next question is why were you not raised at Miserth? I did not want you raised with them. I had to give you to someone else to raise because Qrizor would not allow me to have you at the Crystal Crypt. I knew that Trodus and his wife, Tatiana, would take great care of, as if you were their own.

Qrizor let me out of the Crystal Crypt long enough to take you to Rissingshire Castle and drop you off. I left a note for them to keep my secret and take care of you.

Your last question for me would be, why did I have you kill Crumazz? The answer to that is that he was pure evil. I overheard his plans with Qrizor of taking over the kingdom. It was beyond evil. Then one day Crumazz came to the crypt and told me that his father was dead. He said that there was a fight that he had with a dragon and had lost. The way he laughed about it. I knew that it was his dragon and that he had set the whole thing up. It wouldn’t be just dark days with him but dark years.

I want you to know that all the evil that I did was because I had no choice. You have a choice of either good or evil. I hope that you chose to go back to Rissingshire Castle.

If you are in the Crystal Crypt and Crumazz is dead, you need to get out. This crypt will bring nothing but evil.

I was a good witch prior to being with Qrizor. He was the ultimate bad boy. I could not resist him. I got into his trance and that’s all I needed. He promised me the kingdom.

I told you earlier that Qrizor would help you rule the kingdom. That was to get you to go against Crumazz. I also did not tell you about Qbaris because if you knew that you may have someone on your side with Qrizor, you may not go against Crumazz.

I knew that you would weigh having only 1 wizard backing you versus the whole rest of the kingdom backing you. I hope that you made the decision that I thought you would.

If you did not kill Crumazz, you now know that there is no escape. He will hold you hostage. However, being that you are siblings he may eventually kill you because his anger will not be able to be curtailed. When he eventually takes a wife, you will also be expendable, and he will kill you if you hadn’t already done it.

Amaranth sat there at the table and looked up from the journal. Both the cats came in and jumped up in front of her. She petted them both. Narella looked up at her, “Is everything ok?”

She shook her head and tears ran down her cheeks while she stroked the backs of both cats. Nothing was spoken by her.

Zyrsit flew in and sat between the cats. He tilted his head back and forth as he looked at her. Glurx walked in, “It’s almost time for breakfast. Are you coming? I made your favorite breakfast.”

“Thanks Glurx, I will be there shortly,” she answered him as she wiped away her tears.

Glurx left and went to the dining hall. Amaranth sat for a few more moments. Zyrsit said, “Let’s go! I’m hungry.” The felines both nodded, and they jumped down from the table. She got up from her table and followed them to the dining hall.

On the way Odulore came up beside her, “Did the journal tell you anything more?”

“She confirmed my family tree. Plus, she supposedly does not know if Qrizor had any more children. I’m not sure if I believe her or not. I mean, I didn’t know about Crumazz and Qbaris. What else are they hiding? Oh yeah, she also claims that she was a good witch and it’s all Qrizor’s fault that she turned evil,” Amaranth told him and let out a big sigh. They walked in silence to the dining hall and sat down in their usual spots.

Zizor and the goblins came out with the trays of breakfast. “I hope you like your breakfast. I made your favorites: deep-fried French toast with pineapple and lots of powdered sugar., bacon done to the crispiness you like and a bowl of fruit. I also made your special morning beverage of orange-pineapple and green tea,” he said to Amaranth with his hands on her shoulders.

Amaranth placed her hand on his and said, “Thank you. I appreciate it. They are my favorites.” She then went on to eat her breakfast.

Odulore looked up at her and asked, “Are you going to want to compare journals?”

“So far, there is nothing to compare. She basically fessed up to everything that your father told you in his. Give me some more time to read further and see if there is anything in there. I am sure that at some point I am going to have to verify what she says it true,” she answered him.

Dax, the Great Dane walked into the dining hall and up to Odulore. He looked at him and said, “Qbaris has sent me here. He wants to know your plan for the Maerith Kingdom. Does it include Miserth Castle and if so, what are your plans?”

“Well, first of all, we are having breakfast. Secondly, why doesn’t he come here and ask for himself?” Odulore answered him.

“I will let him know,” Dax replied and left.

Odulore shook his head and said, “If he wants to know our plans, he should come ask and not send his dog.”

“You could have been a bit nicer though. It’s not the dog’s fault,” Amaranth told him.

Zizor and the goblins came back out from the kitchen and cleaned up the trays while everyone else left the dining hall.

Amaranth returned to her to read more of her mother’s journal. She turned the page and this is what was written.

Now what? You have a book of potions. These are all the potions that you will ever need and some that you will never use.

Know that I will forever be known as the evil witch. You get to choose which you will be.

Her mother’s signature was at the bottom of the letter.

She looked up and shook her head. Odulore walked in and asked, “What are you shaking your head about?”

“Basically, she didn’t tell me anything except what I already told you and that the book is full of all the potions I could ever need. I was really hoping that there was more she could tell me. It’s a huge disappointment,” she explained.

“We have your book of potions and my book of spells. I am sure that we will be able to keep things under control in the Maerith Kingdom together.”

In flew the owls and dragons flew in while the felines pranced in. They gathered around them and listened intently.

“What are you suggesting?” She asked him.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Although, it looks like we have quite the audience.”

She smiled and looked directly into his eyes, “You have something in mind and are not sharing?”

“Of course, but you will find out later. Trust me, you’ll like it.” He stood there smiling at her. The animals all exited the room.