A Sinless Betrayal by Cherie Benjamin (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

assembled groups that the king named raid parties to go into small villages around us and steal from them in retaliation. Slowly, our population grew from stealing small things like food and measly gems to please our king. Then came your kingdom. We'd not bothered them but they sought us out. And so it was the Battle of Red Dirt; they massacred us on our own soil, killed our king, took the riches we had, and stomped back out with a triumph to parade in their villages. For at least a century we were a weak people. No army, no navy, no home to call our own." Abigor stops to catch his breath. I exhale as I realize I'd been holding my breath the whole time. I want him to continue his story.

"Then came a new king. He was the Strong Wolf of the South, or so the people called him. He was said to have the strength of ten men and determination of a hungry animal. We built our empire back up while those foolish royals had their backs turned, unaware of what was happening around them until it was too late. We raided Bellechester and slew their king like they did ours, took all their jewels and brought it back to the south. We named our land Stauckana, and then took back what was ours from other kingdoms who took advantage of the Battle of Red Dirt to swoop in and weaken us further," Abigor explains.

I am silent. "I…I never knew that was the reason behind raiding. I had no idea-! That is why my people thought your people were savages because you defended yourselves and retaliated and kept your pride… Oh, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Abigor shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't want it to affect your views of me. You fell in love with me knowing that I am the 'king of the savages.' But every single one of the kingdoms has seemed to forget about our hardships for years upon years and their views of us have just taken over the truth. And you're probably wondering why I still order raids. I don't know. There hasn't been a big war in years until now. It was to maintain power over the other three kingdoms."

"If it's what you think is right, I shan't question you on it," I tell him, twisting my hands in the reins of my horse. He looks back at me with a blank expression on his face.

"I am my father's son. I am reckless, I am a fool, I am a beast. But one thing that I will never be is a tyrant. I will lead my people to victory. I will lead battles if necessary. And…if it's what you desire, I will minimize my raiding." Abigor whispers. "I'd do anything if it made you happy. I know how this war has taken a toll on you."

I know he's referring to the traumatizing experience with Cordell. But he's killed Cordell and my conflict is supposedly over, for now…or at least I think it is. "What do we do when we return home?" I ask him, digging my heels into Daybreak's soft underbelly to make her catch up with Abigor's horse.

I see his jaw tense up. "First, we'll walk into Castle Rock and rid our bodies of this cold. Then…I don't know what you're doing, but I'm jailing Ivona until my brother gets back to decide what to do with her."

Another gust of freezing cold wind blows in my face. I close my eyes as snowflakes catch on my eyelashes. Tiny sharp crystals sting my face and colour my cheeks a scarlet red. I wipe my face with the sleeve of my animal fur coat. "Will you kill her then?" I ask him.

He snorts humorlessly. "Yes. She will die. But how is what I need to talk to my brother about. I know that Iron Coyote will be hesitant with me killing his whore, but she's gone either way." He looks over at me with his brown eyes blackening. "Almost losing you was unacceptable."

Suddenly I feel nauseous at the thought of us being separated. I'm also sure that my child isn't helping my nausea with all of the activity he's doing inside of me. I can feel my baby's kicks constantly. "Oh," I say when the baby kicks me right on my bladder.

Abigor steers his horse right next to mine so that we're within arms reach of each other. He smoothes a hand on my belly right in time to feel the child kick. "He's already strong."

"Your child," I chuckle softly. "Of course he'd be strong."

I don't really know if my baby's a boy but Abigor's been calling the child by said gender ever since I found out that I was pregnant. He just seems to know, somewhere deep down in his gut, that this child's a boy. A prince.

"How far away are we now?" I ask him as another freezing cold gust of wind blows through the stick thin trees and nips at me again.

He looks around at our surroundings, searching for some sort of landmark. "About five miles," he whispers. "But there's a small village very nearby. We can rest there for a little while and receive food and drink from the villagers."

I nod my head. "Okay. Which way?" I ask.

He points off into the distance. "Just over that hill should be the town Thunder Bird," he replies. "Let's go."

Our horses break into a gallop, swerving through trees until we reach our destination. Abigor and I easily manoeuvre our mounts down the hill until we see the sets of little wooden houses and curls of smoke leading from a lone fire by a larger house. It's unusually desolate.

"Shin wada a nan?" he calls out loudly. His voice splits through the air and echoes in the emptiness of the forest. He dismounts his horse and walks around. He walks around through the snow and looks for any signs of life. "Kar a ji tsoro. Yana da na, sarki. Raye-Raye da wolves." (Is anyone there? Do not be afraid. It is I, the king. Dances With Wolves.)

Still no answer. "It doesn't look like anyone's here," I whisper. I slide down from my horse and tie her reins to a small post to keep her from wandering off. I look up when I hear Abigor gasp quietly. He looks down at a small puddle of red that he's accidentally stepped into. Then he opens the door of the cabin, only to turn away from it a second later.

"Don't look," he warns me, but it's too late. My interest has peaked and I look anyways like the curious creature I am.

My eyes widen. I see a man and woman, skewered together with a sharp spear. I see the type of spearhead it is—Bellechester. But then I see a shiny teal cloth lying on the ground—Pateros. They must have done this together, as allies.

The smell of rotting flesh hits me as Abigor's closing the door. He looks deeply upset and saddened. "How did they get this close? My armies have been pushing north and dominating." His fingers tug at the roots of his hair. "Thunder Bird was once prosperous little trading post for travellers through the Forest of Thieves. Now look at it…burnt, people slaughtered."

I cover my mouth with my hands and lean against my horse. "You're trying your best," I whisper to him. "You can't be in 10,000 places at once. You've got the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Abigor's boots crunch in the snow as he inspects the other cabins for any signs of life. But no one is alive; they have all been slain in the attack. He sees a small child's cloth doll lying burnt on the ground. He rubs the stubble on his chin as he looks at it before bending to pick it up.

I study his face for his reaction but he's completely blank. He sighs, his shoulders slumping. He murmurs something that I can't hear before thrusting the doll away into the brush. He can't stand to look at it anymore.

"Oh Abigor," I murmur. "You can't blame—"

I'm cut off as I suddenly can hear twigs snapping behind me. I look around and see a huge white beast emerging from the forest with blood smeared all over the muzzle. My heart stops as Abigor sees the creature and whips out his sword, ready to slay it.

But as I see the beast look up into my eyes, something inside of my head clicks. Just before Abigor gets close enough with his sword, I scream out for him to stop. He halts his movements as the beast creeps forward on his front paws towards me. "Eliza, it will kill you if I don't do something!"

I ignore Abigor's pleas as I cock my head while looking at the white beast. "Because he's my wolf. It's Scar."

Once I say his name, his ears perk up and his tail begins to wag. But what completely blows my mind is how big he has gotten. I pet the young wolf's head as he comes submissively over to me, still wagging his tail. I suppose it's quite plausible for him to have grown this large in the time that I had been gone.

Abigor sheathes his sword and walks over to the wolf. "He's fully grown," he says. "I didn't recognize him."

"Well, it's a good thing that I did, then," I reply to him. "He's truly a magnificent beast. But he will never match you," I smile.

Abigor's lips quirk up into a half smile. He's still not thrilled about being a shapeshifter, but he's glad his questions have been answered. He mounts his steed again. "We must go now. I cannot be here anymore. This stench of death is disabling."

I climb onto my horse. Scar follows us, running alongside my horse's long strides in the snow. I can only wonder why his muzzle is bloody. He is just doing what he does best; protecting.

0o0o0o0o

When we finally return to Castle Rock, it is midday. The sun beats down on the white snow, reflecting it up into our eyes. Even though the sun shines, it is still mercilessly freezing cold. Abigor knows the secret entrance to the castle so he takes me that way, instead of entering through the front gates. He doesn't want the whole world to know that we have returned home. That would cause a ruckus in the villages, and that would draw the attention of Bellechester and Pateros.

We dock the horses in the stables before travelling on foot through the door that leads to the heart of the castle. The first thing that hits me once I am inside is the heat. It is so hot inside, compared to the cold I'd been surviving in for about a week. Scar runs alongside me until we get to the grand hall; there he turns and stalks down another hallway.

It's so quiet and empty except for servants and maids bustling around the castle, keeping the stone fortress warm and comfortable. It's almost too quiet. I know something's up, and apparently so does Abigor. Down the hallway, we can see a young maid scurry out of one of the rooms with dirty laundry in a basket. Abigor calls out for her to stop. The maid nearly has a heart attack when she turns round to see the King of Stauckana demanding her attention.

"Ni gida yanzu, yarinya. Gaya mani abin da ya faru a lokacin da ta iznin." Abigor spits out quickly in his mother tongue. (I am home now, girl. Tell me what has happened during my leave.)

The maid bows her head and curtseys weakly before standing up to face my husband. "Ban san za ka dawo don haka nan da nan. Na sarki, da dan uwa ya mayar da. Sai ya ce da ka aiko shi gida don duba a kan sansani, da kuma gudanar da abubuwa na xan wani lokaci. Ya ke an jeruwar bias mana a