Kingdom of Refuge

Prologue

The woods were silent, eerily silent, the young prince's warrior instinct, fueled by his anger towards his father, had him on high alert. He glanced over his shoulder at the small company of men who had joined him, strategically taking cover behind him, waiting for his command. From where he crouched, he could not see one sign of them, but he knew their eyes were trained on him, on his raised fist, signalling for them to wait, even as his trained eyes perused the entrance to the small village to whom his father, the king of Aldor, had sworn protection.

The Nerubian people had captured his heart from the first time he had visited, and it had nothing to do with their extravagant gifts that royals from all over Saharia coveted. The eerie silence emanating from the usually lively village stirred a feeling of dread within him; something was not right. It was just like the dream that woke him up two days ago, that had occupied his mind even as they made the day long journey here. He opened the palm of his hand and slowly waved it forward, telling his men to proceed forward cautiously. The intel they had received had placed Dravian soldiers at the border, with plans to infiltrate the Nerubians. It would not have been the first time they tried but it would be the first time since his father let them, probably as another favour to his sister. He hated to think about what that would mean for his kingdom and theirs if that turned out to be true. Or what that would mean for his relationship with his father, because he would never forgive him if anything happened to the gentle souls who resided here.

He stepped forward cautiously, and as he neared the clearing drew his sword. He could hear metal scrapping scabbards behind him in response, even as sweat dripped from his brows. He frowned, the Neru woods was usually a cool place, as the village was situated right next to the flowing Neru river, hidden away behind the lush rainforest. Something was indeed wrong. As he stepped into the clearing, the stench of their cruelty assaulted his nostrils before the evidence of it filled his vision. They were too late. The smell of death filled the air around them and despite having seen much death in his time as commander of his father's army, he felt his stomach dip in dismay. These people did not deserve this, they were a peaceful and hardworking tribe, never succumbing to violence. It was why his forefathers had given them protection, because El knew that the riches of the river would draw the greed of men to the vulnerable people and that the rainforest could only protect them for so long. He could feel the presence of the small company of men behind him, even as his second in command came up beside him.

"Their cruelty has gone too far," he said with disgust, as they both looked upon the carnage left behind by the invaders.

The smell of burnt flesh surrounded them, even as a fire died down in the midst of the village, huts lay in charred heaps, even as the serene river continued to flow undisturbed.

"Do you think it was Dravians?"

The young prince shook his head, "who else would do something so cruel. They had their eyes on this tribe a long time now. It was only a matter of time before they found them. I should have listened to my gut and left a company of men here with them."

"You could not have known."

But he could have, he knew the nature of his sister, her decline into darkness had been quick and the eyes of the prophets were not blind to the danger she posed to Aldor, but of course their father protected her. It was another of his father's best kept secrets, he knew this was her doing.

"Your majesty."

He turned in the direction of one of his men, "what is it?" The soldier pointed across the river and the young prince followed his direction with furrowed brows, until his eyes rested upon a lion. Lions were not out of place in the Neru territory for the people were known for their kindness to all kinds of animals. Regardless, the prince was weary of its presence; he was not lion-taming Nerubian. The Lion stood proudly on the bank across the river and it was looking intently at him, just like in his dream.

"Dartlon, come with me. The rest of you stay here, look for any survivors, I refuse to believe the Dravians would wipe out an entire people for the sake of greed."

He stepped forward and hastily removed his chain mail, Dartlon followed suit. Then with his sheathed sword lifted above his head with one hand, he swam across the freezing river, this too surprised him, and he gasped as the icy daggers shot through his lower body. The last time he had been here the chief's daughter had given him and his men a tour of the village and that included a refreshing dip in their serene river. It had been cool and refreshing then, nothing like the icy terror into which he had now immersed himself. He heard Dartlon's sudden intake of air behind him as he pushed ahead. Once he was across and had lifted himself onto the bank, the lion took a step back, he moved cautiously, holding fast to his sword. But the thick maned lion gave no indication that it meant them harm, instead it turned and walked away.

"Come on!" he said, about to launch out after it.

His second in command, restrained him, "with all due respect sire, I do not think that is a good idea."

"Trust me Dartlon," he said, yanking his arm from him, "stay if you wish. But I will not lose that Lion."

He dashed forward, hoping the swift movement of his limbs would soon return a semblance of warmth to his body. He finally caught up with the creature, again it was waiting for him, looking at him intently with those golden eyes. It stood at the mouth of a cave, then it stepped aside and dipped its head. The invitation could not get any clearer than that. The prince took a deep breath and crouching low, entered the opening of the cave.

"Oh El be with me," he muttered, this was where his dream had ended.

When he entered the cave however, it all made sense. Laying in a woven basket with a lioness lying next to it, was a baby, carefully wrapped in a patterned quilt. The lioness stared at him, then got up slowly and walked around the cave. Bravely, he took another step forward and stooped down over the basket. The baby cooed and lifted big light brown eyes to him as she smiled, her curly red hair was pulled up into a string above her head and as she fussed, her blanket fell away, revealing a gold string around her neck. He reached forward and lifted it out and as his gaze fell on the object attached to it, he knew what he had to do and as if she agreed, she wrapped her tiny hand around his finger and cooed.

"You are a very precious little one, are you not? El himself sent savage lions to watch over you."

He lifted her out of the basket and held her close enough for her to tug at his braided beard, but not too close to his wet clothing. An overwhelming need to protect her fell upon him as he held the child in his strong arms.

"Already you have the makings of a princess," he said with a tender smile. All was not lost after all.