The Warrior Prince

Where is Valora? Chapter 11

Etana screamed as several more lashings were delivered across her bare back. "Where is Valora?!" Drem screamed at the brown haired woman.

"I don't..." she screamed as the whip struck her mid-sentence.

"You don't know?!" He demanded. He grabbed the woman as he used his sword to cut the ropes that had held her arms spread wide. Grabbing her by her hair he forced her out of the room and down the hall.

Etana cried out as her hair was pulled as she tripped here and there but he never faltered. Never slowed down. A guard opened the dungeon door and the King continued down a set of stairs. Reaching a closed cell door another guard opened and he dragged the girl inside a cell full of other women.

Drem pointed at Valeria. "Explain that!" He yelled gesturing to Lothar's bride and forcing the beaten woman to look at her. "Why do I see my enemy in that girl?! Where is Valora?!" Angry he threw the woman down on the ground and looked at Valeria.

Valeria looked at the two completely confused. "Who was your father?!" He demanded with angry eyes.

"Lord Michael Mayswerd," Valeria replied calmly. She watched as the angry king turned and abruptly left the cell; the cell door slamming shut behind him.

"Etana!" Runia said quickly going to the woman's side. "Why did..."

"He wants to find..." Denasha started to explain.

"Valora," Etana finished. Her brown eyes went to the woman in white. "Where is she?"

"Who?" The blonde woman asked. When the woman's eyes stayed fixated on her she said, "I don't know a Valora. My mother's name was Lora. Not that it matters she and my father are dead."

"What?" Etana said. "How?" she asked more than a little surprised.

"A boating accident. They were killed along with both of my sisters," Valeria informed them. Becoming frustrated she asked "Who is Valora? Why does he care so much about finding her?"

"You're her daughter," Etana said.

"No I'm not I..."

"Valora left with a man that was not a warrior," Etana informed the blonde woman. "Our queen did not approve and forbid Valora from being with the foreign man. She left with him during the night."

"That doesn't mean she's my mother!" Valeria replied. "My mother was a noble woman not a warrior. She...you have me confused with someone else." Valeria turned away and walked to the far part of the cell away from everyone.

"She can't be Valora's daughter look at her!"

"She wasn't raised like her Denasha. That doesn't mean she isn't her," Runia told the woman with several braids in her red hair. "She looks just like Valora. The girl knows nothing of her mother's family or past."

"Valeria may not be a warrior but she knows how to use a sword quite well," Sage said looking at Etana. She watched as the brown haired girl looked back at Valeria as Runia did her best to tend to the beaten woman's open wounds.

"There's no way to know for certain," Kiona said.

"There is if we can escape and get her to Talivar," Etana said with conviction. The beaten woman had begun to lose all hope of ever escaping or dying in battle; fearing she would die pitifully in the dungeon of an enemy. The sight of the blue eyed woman before her renewed her hope.

Valora should have become her queen not her sister Sarita. Sarita lacked battle strategy and the ability to determine a proper course of action. Following Sarita's orders hand landed both her and Runia into Drem's hands. There had been two others but they did not know what had become of them. Etana could only hope they had escaped or been killed during an attempt. That was at least an honorable way to die.

"It won't matter if she's Valora's daughter or not if we can't escape," Kiona told the other women.

"If she is we can finally be free of Sarita," Runia said as she too began to have hope.

**

Drem paced back and forth in his throne room. Valeria infuriated him. The woman did not act like a warrior but he could no longer dismiss the resemblance. There had to be a way to know if the young woman was Valora's daughter but did not know how. He paced back and forth a few more times and suddenly stopped as his eyes fell on a sword at a guard's side. Anyone with warrior blood could hold a sword. Even a young boy that knew nothing of fencing could hold a sword.

A smile crossed his face as a thought came to him. "Have Valeria, Sage, Etana, Kiona, Runia, Denasha, Pilar and Riel taken into the arena," The Shadow King ordered. Instantly a few soldiers let the room.

"The arena sire?" Bastler asked.

"Do you not see the resemblance between the girl Valeria and Valora?" Drem asked.

"I do."

"She doesn't appear to be a warrior but that doesn't mean she doesn't have the blood of one," Drem announced. "It's time to test Lothar's little bride." Bastler nodded in agreement and the two headed for the arena he often watched his enemies die in.

Drem knew the girl might not actually be a warrior. There was a possibility that he would have to end the battle in the arena before she was killed. The resemblance however was too close to simply shrug off. If he didn't at least test the girl's natural instincts and abilities he'd always wonder. If she did in fact prove to only have a similar look than he would still be able to use the girl against Lothar. Sage he would use against King Caden and gain both riches and minerals he wanted in exchange for his daughter. Then again he might just keep her around to watch in battle. The king enjoyed watching his prisoners battle and found they could be a useful training tool for his newer soldiers. He could decide later about Sage. For now his attention was on Valeria and what she might prove to be.