The Emery Chronicles: The White King's Woman (FIRST BOOK)

Chapter 5

Chapter Five- The White King

Gavin, King of Brigantia, the White Spring Realms of Emery, stopped moving suddenly. He had been riding his horse through the forests of Brigantia, chasing a doe through the twisty path between the many trees of the forest, when he had stopped his horse abruptly.

The horse, a white mare Gavin called Blake, neighed loudly and irritably when she was forced to stop so suddenly. Gavin stroked Blake's mane and cooed at her to calm her. As the mare quieted, the doe Gavin had been hunting pranced out of view, and Gavin lost his hunt. He had been so close, just about to stab his sword right into the deer's neck, when he had felt himself just stop. He couldn't explain it; it was a strange feeling that had occurred within him. It was almost as if he had run into an invisible wall in the middle of the forest, and he could go no further.

Gavin urged his horse forwards a bit. The mare walked forward slowly, and Gavin shook his head. No, there was no wall. But something had stopped him. He just couldn't think what.

As he tried to puzzle it out, he began to smell something in the air. The smell was coming from the east, from the villages of Brigantia, not the forest. It smelled like a fire, like something being burned, but at the same time, it didn't have the smokey, suffocating smell of fire. It was a sweet and sticky smoke that wafted towards him, like someone was burning honey instead of firewood. He found himself drawn towards it. He was about to set his mare to ride in that direction, when his hunting entourage came riding to him.

His entourage was made up of his guardsmen, and some of his lords and friends at his court, totaling to about fifty men. His advisor, Finnian, brought his horse closer to Gavin, riding up next to him while the others remained a few steps behind. Finnian was a thirty year old man, making him four years older than Gavin's twenty-six years. He was not married, and he fathered no children that he knew of, but he was loved by many women at court. He was loved for his handsomely tousled blonde hair and charming, winking hazel eyes and manly build. He was also loved for his bravery, gallantry, intelligence, wit, humor, and loyalty. Finnian was also loved like a brother to Gavin. When Gavin had taken the throne at the very young age of ten, Finnian had been there to support and guide him as his advisor, and the two had been through thick and thin together since then. They were the best of friends, and Gavin knew he could trust Finnian with anything.

"What happened, your grace? You didn't slay the doe?" Finnian asked, smiling and thumping Gavin's back in a brotherly manner. Other men, even Gavin's close friends, would shy away from touching the king like that, but Finnian and Gavin had always wrestled and tussled with each other, so none of the other men so much as blinked when Gavin grunted at the force of Finnian's hand. Gavin punched Finnian's arm and chuckled.

"No, Finn. I lost it in the woods."

"How? You were so close to it."

"I don't know exactly," Gavin replied, staring off towards the east again, where the smell was still lingering. "Finn, do you smell that? Kind of like a sweet, smokey smell?"

Finnian sniffed at the air like he would smell out game for a hunt. "Nothing. What're you talking about?"

"Never mind," Gavin looked off towards the east again and sighed. Then, he thought of something. "I want to visit my people in the villages tomorrow. Organize a Travel for me." A Travel was an auspicious event when a ruler of a kingdom would travel through the villages of his kingdom to meet and greet his people. He would dine with some villagers, pass out coins to the poor and pray with the priests in the village abbey. Gavin hadn't gone on a Travel in more than a year, and it was a good excuse to go into the villages and follow that smell. For some reason, he was aching to follow it and find it's source. He didn't think he could wait until tomorrow to go, but Travels took a few hours to plan and organize, and already the sun was going to set today.

"I'll start organizing it the minute we get back to the castle. But..." Finnian hesitated, then quickly finished his response. "It will have to wait until the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow you will be riding to Center Castle to meet with your cousins in a Summit."

Gavin cursed quietly at himself. He had completely forgotten. Every month, he would meet with his cousins, the other rulers of Emery, in a meeting they called the monthly Summit. At the Summit, they would discuss issues and events going on in their kingdoms. The Summits were held in a large tower that wasn't a castle at all but was called Center Castle because it was located at the border where all the kingdoms met, right in the center.

Gavin remembered a time when his cousins were like his siblings. They had loved each other so much, and had spent so much time together, it was almost as if they were all one-fourth beings, and together they made a whole person. But when their fathers had died in the Great War of the Brothers, they each had to take their separate thrones, and since then they all acted so strangely around each other. They were all so afraid that the Darkwhite Prophecy would come true, and the four of them would wage war against each other, and kill each other like their fathers had, starting the Great War of the Cousins. The Summits were always so awkward and cold, and Gavin never looked forward to them. But, they were a necessity to the kingdom.

"Fine. Set up the Travel for the next day, and set up the arrangements for me to get to the Summit tomorrow." Gavin resigned, frowning. He had thought he couldn't wait for the night to pass to go on Travel, but now he would have to wait a whole other day. For a reason he couldn't explain, Gavin was anxious to get to the villages. That smell was so intriguing, he just had to get to it. He just had to!

The smell followed the king as he led his hunting entourage back to his castle, and continued to haunt him throughout his dinner until he got into bed that night.

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