To be continued (Tales of the Kingdom)

*** As they got closer to the Golden Kingdom, they began to see the outline of the large castle from a distance. This kingdom had the strongest physical presence of all the Middle Northern Kingdoms. The massive palace stood tall above the surrounding dwellings and far above the trees. The castle had lights surrounding it, neatly placed and evenly spaced above each split-level roof and all along the edges of the rooftop. The lights dimly peeked through the storm that was all around them. They had been riding for the past hour in heavy snowfall, both the girl and the stranger were glad to be nearing their destination. As it was starting to snow harder, they finally approached the gates of the Golden Kingdom. It was dark because of the storm, but it was also quickly approaching nightfall. They rode swiftly through the open gates all the way to a large set of stairs that spanned the width of the entire front entrance of the castle. ***

Relieved to be out of the wind and snow, they began to dismount their horses; when suddenly, two of the castle guards barged out of the kingdom. Startled, both the girl and the stranger froze in place.

"What business do you have here?" The first and more frightening guard asked roughly.

He looked from the girl to the stranger and back to the girl.

"I have a message for the lord of your kingdom." The girl said.

At that moment both guards drew their swords.

"You!!" the first guard yelled, pointing his sword at the stranger. "Off your horse!"

The stranger immediately complied, looking confused. He turned to look at the girl who looked scared, confused, and irritated all at once.

The second guard looked at the girl, "Continue miss," he said in a gentler tone.

"I must see the lord," the girl stated.

At that moment the first guard shoved the stranger through the palace doors.

Sitting on her horse still, in the cold, alone with the second guard watching her, she suddenly wished she had not come to the Golden Kingdom.

"Miss," the second guard said, "I fear the lord of our kingdom is missing." The girl looked closely at him. That is impossible she thought, three kingdoms all missing their lord. "It is true miss; we have not seen or heard a word from him in months."

Now inside the Golden Kingdom, the girl stood in the grand entrance near the fireplace. She noticed when she walked in that all the beautiful jewelry that was on display the last time she was here was nowhere to be seen. Oh my, three missing lords and no jewels! Something was definitely wrong.

She was left alone in the entrance hall while the guards took the stranger somewhere to question him. They did not let her go with them. She wandered around the beautiful Golden Kingdom, making note of the chandeliers, so beautifully crafted. Her favorite chandelier adorned the main hallway and glistened against the walls. She walked over to the glass doors that led to the pure white chapel, where she had once dined. It was all sad and dark now, this kingdom was almost as lonely as her own. She noticed lights coming from a long hallway to the right. That's right! The next hallway led to the rooms where festivals were held. She had forgotten about that. The hallway itself looked as if the gold shined along the roof and reflected in the walls. Standing in the center of the hall she herself glowed brightly.

All of a sudden, she felt a presence in the hall with her. She had not heard footsteps, but the presence was unmistakable.

"Can I offer you some tea?" said the familiar voice behind her.

The girl had been riding in the snowstorm all day. She was hungry and thirsty and fairly tired.

"Yes, please," she answered before she turned around.

As she slowly turned to face the voice, the instant recognition filled the air. She took a deep breath.

"It's you." said the voice vexingly.

Luckily, she still had her silk mantilla covering the lower portion of her face. She couldn't begin to fake a smile.

"I'll have someone bring you sustenance." the voice said and immediately walked away.

She knew coming back here would prove to be challenging. She didn't want to stay here long, but she would have to stay at least the night. It was far too cold to continue traveling. What had happened to the stranger? Why did the guards take him down to the dungeon? She would need to come up with a new plan for her journey. The questions were quickly starting to escalate and there were fewer answers to be found.

The girl sat by the fireplace holding her hot tea in her hands. The yellow ceramic teacup was familiar. It had been part of the set that was the King's favorite to use for festivals and celebrations in the land. When he lived here at The Golden Kingdom, there were many festivals in all of the land. Grand celebrations of all kinds. The King loved to celebrate birthdays and weddings and new births in the kingdom. They even had special celebrations in honor of the deceased that had passed on. He especially enjoyed celebrating and creating new holidays in the land. That was one of her favorite memories of The Golden Kingdom. Many travelers flocked from everywhere to see the beautiful Golden Kingdom and to see the King and bring gifts for the royal family. Many people brought jewels and treasures from far away lands. Some of which, she remembered were now gone. Missing from the huge jewelry case at the entrance to the palace.

She didn't want to speculate, but she was privy to some information that others in the land were not. She was very good at keeping secrets, but she was beginning to realize that carrying around secrets that were not hers to keep was becoming a burden. Especially now. She was far from home, in the dead of winter, riding through the lands with a stranger (albeit a very handsome stranger), and now that he was being detained; she was not sure if he was trustworthy after all. She sipped some more of the wild sweet orange tea. She was starting to get very sleepy. She put down her teacup and reached for a pastry. Everything was starting to get fuzzy, and she was having trouble making out the room. Someone was walking up to her. She blinked her eyes. The person walking up to her was definitely scowling, she thought anyways... it was difficult to focus…then everything faded from view, she sunk down onto the enormous couch and fell into a deep sleep.

T o be continued...