THE HAUNTED KINGDOM 3 by CHARLES E.J. MOULTON (best books to read now txt) 📖

24th 1425


Alexander lowered his hand with the document and took a long look at Theo, who stood with his left hand against his mouth, looking at the lower part of the wall in front of him with wide open eyes.
He was shaking his head and laughing to himself.
He then looked up and smiled, lowering his hand.
Alexander looked at Belinda and she was leaning against the fireplace behind her, lowered arms, looking up at the ceiling. She lowered her eyes, smiled and sighed. She nodded. It was such a familiar, happy nod. The nod of a young woman who had gone through hell and now was getting the reward.
Alexander shook his head and grinned.
“I would’ve never thought that it would’ve come so soon!”
“Nocturania’s defeat?”
”Did you believe in a capitulation?”
”After going through hell and winning, yes. The country has no grounds to stand on. Everything that they built their kingdom on is now gone, erased, eradicated. How could they go on?”
”But so soon?” Theo whispered.
Belinda spoke calmly. “Why not? When the Lord has seen your triumph he rewards you. When you take away the evil at the lowest level, the rest has to follow suit. A weed cannot grow where the roots no longer exist.”
Theo pointed at the seals.
”What are they? Why four?”
Belinda walked up to her father and put her left arm around his back and her head on his shoulder.
“The cross and the half moon represent the different faiths, I would gather, eastern and western. The flag means ‘defeat’. The drop, I gather, is a drop of blood and symbolizes my family ties with …” Alex paused and grinned to himself and thought for a moment “ … Adnicul. Amazing, I was related to him.”
“He was a changed man” Theo said. “He was not the man he used to be.”
“I will tell you sometime about how much he changed only during our mutual undertaking” Alex mused. “I have him to thank for my life.”
”He thanks you for his soul” Belinda said, softly, closing her eyes, still resting on his shoulder, now with her cheek on it.
He caressed her other cheek.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Sire?”
”Yes, Theo?”
”I am happy that we are here together, together in this new reality, past the visions, past hell. I was afraid a moment there back in …”
“I know, Theo, so were we all, but let the past lie were it lies. We are in present now. Ready to face this life.” He smiled. “I am happy to be here, too.”
“Do you want to see the eagle, your majesty?”
Alex nodded. “Yes, please. And I think we should notify the others.”
Theo nodded. “I will show you the eagle first.”
”All right.”
Belinda opened her eyes, took her father’s hand and walked with him and Theo down the hallway, down the stairs to the first landing and then to the left. They walked down the hallway and headed down the large staircase to the marble floor.
They saw that the door was open.
Out there, by the magnificent bird, sat the eagle, just as Theo had explained.
Around it, stood Steven, Morgana, Patrick and Rolf.
Belinda at once walked up to Steven and embraced him very tight.
“Good morning, my Sweet pea!”
She just moaned a muffled “Morning!” happily against his shirt.
“Amazing bird, isn’t it? It just sits there calmly.”
Alex handed Steven the note.
“Read this, this’ll make the bird even more extraordinary.”
”What is this?”
”Read it aloud to all of us, that saves time.” Alex held up his hand. “Rolf!”
”Yes?”
”How many are awake?”
”I don’t know, ten of us maybe.”
“Go and gather as many as you can and get them here to see the eagle whilst they hear this letter being read to them.”
”No problem.”
Rolf disappeared through the door and Steven read to himself, Morgana and Patrick read over his shoulder and as they did, the early autumn breeze tickled their hair and opened their eyes.
“I think we all have a right to hear this!”
Theo raised a finger and shook it. “It is our duty to hear it!”
Alex chuckled. “After what we have been through, absolutely.”
Belinda looked at the eagle with his magnificent white beak, it large hunting, gazing eyes and royal feathers, its long wings tucked in at the side, its claws, large and perilous but very safe and calm. A royal animal of the skies, the Prosperanian Eagle. Now, it only belonged to them, the Prosperanians. No attacker ever could come close to using it in vain.
“Some fresh fruit for you all!”
Some turned around and nodded and thank Geena as she was on her way back from the table, where she had put the bowl.
“Geena” Steven cried. “Stay here. You should hear me read this letter.”
”Oh?” She looked surprised. “Really? What ever for?”
Alex smiled and said: “You don’t want to miss this.”
She nodded to the king and that is when she saw the eagle.
She stopped in her tracks and walked as if in church down the steps, almost fell down the third step and stopped to see the eagle.
“What a magnificent creature.”
”How’d it land here?”
”It came this morning from Nocturania with that letter over there that Steven is reading.”
She looked at Steven.
Steven shook his head. “This is amazing news, Alex!”
”Do you believe it, Father?” Morgana said.
“I don’t see why not” Alexander answered. “It all makes perfect sense!”
“Weeds cannot grew without roots, you see” Patrick filled in.
“That’s exactly what I said” Belinda nodded.
The eagle seemed unbothered by all of this attention. It sat there on the column surrounded by three or four people and it seemed completely unproblematic that there were people around. It looked around and met none of their eyes, looked around as if it sat on the plains somewhere in the wild, waiting for some sign to fly off and hunt.
Rolf came out a few minutes later with many people, dressed in morning robes, togas, uniforms, normal day clothes or the like. Some were drinking hot morning herbal drinks in cups, some apple juice in lead glasses, some were drinking mead, some were eating a cake or a roll. One or too tired belches came rolling out and Alex even heard a fart. There was the happy, excited new-life-attitude to this crowd. Everyone had unexpectedly been saved from hell and there was a whisper and a giggle and a happy-go-lucky dancing feeling to this whole group.
Walter, the old smoothie, had gathered a very luscious blonde from the group of senatorials and was cuddling her as he entered the porch. Maria and Martin were fully dressed and were only drinking juice, although their eyes were small. Richard came and gave his Morgana a kiss. Bernardus Paul was holding a conversation with Erica and Lance. Fabian was chattering with Alfred and showing him a wooden toy horse. Patricia had joined Ruby and Eleonora in a threesome of giggly girl talk.
Sieglinde and Zedrick had obviously joined forces in walking down here, they were both in bed clothing. King Mormidar of Hispania was helping Queen Henrietta of Margetania out and she smiled happily, as old ladies do, when younger men help them walk. King Iwar was holding a small tete-a-tete with Mustafus and both were in bathrobes.
Bantrard followed everyone, silently plucking his lute.
The eagle remained calm, unimpressed by all this noise.
“How on earth did you gather so many people this morning?”
Rolf shrugged as the noise died down.
Most people had already seen the eagle and were now gathering around to see the magnificent animal, asking themselves what this was, why it was here.
“As you might’ve gathered, I called you all here because of an extraordinary event that occurred this morning. My messenger Theo came running up to my study this morning and told me that an eagle, this eagle, had come as a messenger with the document that Steven is holding.” Alexander pointed at the eagle and Steven held up the letter. There were ooh’s and aah’s everywhere. “We have all gone through hell to be where we are today. We have been rewarded today by something so extraordinary it defies all explanation. But it is, apparently the truth. I know this man’s handwriting and it is authentic. Therefore, Steven, I bid you begin reading this letter.”
As the group heard the young Prince-General read the letter, Belinda and Alexander could witness how all of the jaws dropped one by one. Some laughed, some applauded, some fell to their knees and cried, some just stood there, watched the eagle and smiled.
There was a long pause when this groups gathered amongst themselves.
Alex spoke to them and said he intended to make this public and contact Mr. Murani himself to see what actually was true and how it could be arranged to help or possibly make the Old Nocturania into a part of the Greater Prosperania.
It would all take time, but this was the beginning of a greater nation, a safer nation, an empire of peace. The giddy group applauded and were sent laughing and cheering back to their breakfast.
Steven, Belinda, Sieglinde and Alex, they stood by the eagle for about a half hour gazing at the animal after that, speaking of the bright future.
The only one left alone was the king himself in the end.
As he heard his family walk up the stairs and headed up himself, it struck him.
He had been told about this. He turned around, that old familiar recognizing thought coming back, like a happy jester, giggling as he ate his supper and making a witty joke. Like a familiar friend after a long absence, it all came back to him and he had to smile. He looked at the eagle and smiled.
Back with Adnicul by the campfire, he had said it, had he not?
“The fact is that when the dark empire falls, you will know by a raven or a dove or an eagle that it has fallen and it will be surprising, I guarantee it.”
He shook his head, chuckled to himself.
“You told me back then, didn’t you?”
The eagle seemed to nod at him from the back.
Alexander walked down the steps and looked at the animal.
“If you could only talk. If you could only know what I am thinking.”
There was a slight response of a sort when the eagle looked straight into his eyes and seemed to penetrate his vision, his spirit. He saw everything in the eagle’s eyes. The innkeeper, the hermit, the angels, the younger versions of himself, the forest people, Carla, Fabian, Old Father, even Adnicul, yes, even Oleana was inside those eyes. Even Beata and even the angel on the rock with the green stone was in the light of those eyes.
For a long time that eagle and Alexander was the only thing happening in the universe
No other living being could enter that universe at all.
The eyes were huge and they looked straight into his.
The eagle opened his mouth and spoke.
“Alex!”
“Excuse me?”
He stepped back. Had he been mistaken? Had the eagle said something? Called him Alex?
Alexander felt the gravel under his sandals, the crunching of stone under his feet.
It seemed very loud.
He looked at the eagle and realized he was alone.
The wonderful thing was that he was not afraid at all.
Alexander looked into the main entrance hall, not a soul there.
He looked