The Immortal Guardians: V

Chapter Fourteen

The next few days went by very fast and they were almost a blur. Professor Curt and Dr. Nan had me practicing with them away from the Ministry in some solitary fields they had found. Matthew was standing a few feet away from us. I was in my last practice session with the horns were blared. I turned to the front and booked it up the hill to see who was coming. There were a large amount of people making their way towards us.

"Stay here." Matthew ordered but I saw Ares overhead.

"Ares. It's them." I ran down the hill almost slipping downwards and falling on my face. I ran down to find Ezra and Thomas. Leading the horses was my great-grandfather behind him were Thomas and Ezra who were nearly unrecognizable. They both had some beards on their faces. They looked perfectly fine.

"You know when we said send help we meant more than one person." Ezra smiled down at me.

"You were asking for help. I thought you had been kidnapped." I protested as Ezra dismounted. I ran towards him hugging him tightly.

"The DragonLord is a big enough army by himself." Thomas jumped off his horse and I ran to him. I hugged him tightly. My hands ran over him making sure he hadn't been hurt either.

"We are fine, get your hands off of me. We've brought some Gaians with us." he turned to us and I raised my eyebrows impressed. "Most left to find Langston but we got some good recruits." He looked genuinely happy to have gotten some to follow them here.

Ares landed on my shoulder and he chirped in my ear. He was exhausted he had done a lot of healing the last few days. I patted him and held out my hand so he could attach himself to me. He deserved to rest.

"Let me introduce you to King Darrio Jah'ai. His other brothers left but he had a few of his people follow us." A man jumped from his horse and bowed to me. Two men flanked him as he approached me. He removed some of his head coverings and revealed black long hair and bright light brown eyes. There was a scar down his left eyebrow.

"Your Grace" I did my best curtsy, which made him laugh.

"That is a terrible curtsy. You haven't had much practice." He smiled widely at me and I blinked up at him. It was such a big joyful smile. "Your Lieutenants have told me you are recruiting to start a war against the Mage Andrea and the Wizard Langston."

"I am."

He surprised me by bowing.

"Count me in. It is time we stand up for ourselves. I have a few hundred people to take care of. Do I have your support?" he turned to his people. I turned to find Henri and the Minister.

"Yes please come in. We shouldn't linger too long out here." the Minister waved everybody else. There were too many people but the Minister didn't seem concerned. I stepped aside so everybody could go in.

"Thank you." I bowed my head to my great-grandfather. Henri was standing next to me, holding his breath. "Thank you for going to find them."

"Not at all."

I knew it probably was against the rules or whatever rules the Guardians had but I hugged him. He was much taller than I was so I could only wrap my arms around his waist. My great-grandfather froze momentarily but I felt a hand on my head.

"My last and greatest duty will be to protect you." I released him and he smiled at me. "Now that we are all here let's get started, Your Highness if you will join us." he told King Darrio, who nodded. He held out his arm to me. I took it and we walked behind the last group of people.

"You are much prettier than I imagined you to be." King Darrio told me, I turned to him with raised eyebrows. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

"Marriage age, I am twenty-two also of marriage age." King Darrio's joyful smile appeared again. My great-grandfather turned to us and looked over King Darrio like if sizing him up.

"She has other suitors, Darrio." Ezra told him. "You've got some competition but if you offer me a goat? We can negotiate."

Thomas covered his face in embarrassment. Everybody else turned to Ezra like if they couldn't believe he had just said that. I wanted to make Ezra stop talking.

"I don't have any goats but I own some of the biggest diamond mines. Is that sufficient?" King Daario didn't seem offended at all. In fact, he was trying hard to not laugh. Ezra always managed to become friends with anybody despite his big mouth.

"Oh yeah that's sufficient." Ezra put an arm around the King. "What do you say Iris? Free Diamonds." Ezra winked at him and I had to release King Darrio.

"Shut up." Thomas pulled Ezra off of him. "Excuse his big mouth."

"Not at all. That was funny. You've got a good sense of humor, Lieutenant. But I doubt the future Queen will be impressed by diamonds." He held out his arm, which I took without hesitating. He was a handsome man. Tall, dark and handsome. The Minister lent us his Counsel room so we could discuss details.

"One of the Guardians should escort Iris." My great-grandfather told us. I was seated at the center of the table with maps of the Goblins lands. The Goblin Minister and one of the Diplomats were present. My great grandfather had invited them in so they were aware of was going on. We couldn't reveal our full plans to them.

"I would like to offer myself. If the future Queen will allow it, I would like to escort her." King Darrio told us. "This event will be high-profile and the Guardians will be much needed elsewhere."

"True." Viktor nodded. "King Darrio will escort Iris and our host will present her." he told the Minister. " I will be standing with Matthew and Richard at the entrance of the Ministry with our Guard positioned around us." he pointed at each location.

"The Officers the Minister of Witches and Wizards have offered arrived and are at your disposal."

"Perfect we will have them inside. Ezra and Thomas and the King's own lieutenants will be flanking them. Abraxos, Franklin, the Mer-King and the Shaman will be with you Minister. Everybody keep your eyes open, the future Queen's life is at stake and it is our job to protect her. We need to get our throne back and it is a Casen's birthright."