The Kingdom We Rule, page 1
The Kingdom We Rule
The Kingdom We Rule
Halle Clark
IngramSpark
Copyright © 2023 by Halle Clark Nelson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Printing, 2023
This book is dedicated to my mother, the only person in the world I trust with my first draft.
Thank you for everything.
Map of the Continent
Contents
PART ONE
1 The Changing Times
2 The End of the World
3 The Rest of The Continent
4 The Survivors
5 The Aftershocks
6 The Transition of Queen Anora
7 The Family of Queen Priscella
8 The Next Step Forward
PART TWO
9 The Trouble with Coups
10 The Endless Days
11 The “Birthday”
12 The Confrontation
13 The Fallout
14 The Recovery
15 The Divorce of Dolma
16 The Changing Succession
17 The Key to Marriage
PART THREE
18 The Homecoming
19 The Candidates' Conference
20 The Source of Fear
21 The Crown Conundrum
22 The Continent’s Meeting
23 The Trials of a Ruler
24 The Tournament of Connections
25 The Queen’s Choice
PART ONE
1
The Changing Times
The passage of time is a strange thing. There have been hours of my life that felt like they could go on for years. There were years of my life that seemed to pass in only a matter of hours. Those who have mastered the spirituality of time could perhaps give you an explanation of this phenomenon, but I had not spent any part of my life mastering this spirituality. And, my knowledge of the inner workings of each spirituality, except perhaps the spirituality of life, was only at its most basic level.
So, I did what many do, chalked this phenomenon up to the mysteries of the universe and moved forward with my more pressing issues. Changing Dolma’s outdated, corrupt, and unbeneficial laws was the task that got most of my time and focus. With Thomas by my side, and my party finally settling in, two-and-a-half years passed by in a flash. Gods above, even my first pregnancy seemed like a mere blip in the timeline of my life. During this period, we made all the most necessary changes to provide housing, clean water, and an abundant and sustainable agricultural system to benefit our people. We also granted greater protections and care for the workers of Dolma. It was not perfect, but it was at least a start. It was a baseline for the future.
I also grew in my relationship with Thomas. We did not have any grand romance, nor did we fall in love. No, ours was not a romantic relationship in any sense of the word, but we managed to build a stable partnership. The arguments and insults that had been thrown around before our marriage all but disappeared. We still passionately debated policies and the order in which we believed work needed to be done, but we were a team. We both knew that no matter what we decided, we would be on the same side. In this manner we grew closer, and became friends and partners, ready to work together to help Dolma grow.
It was only after I had given birth to Marcus Alexander Karl Carleon, first Prince of the Crown Prince of Dolma, did time seem to slow down. As such, when Anora wrote to me, declaring her wish that I become the Crown Princess of Agremerre until my goddaughter, Princess Genevieve, came of age, I was ready for something different in my life. I was ready to focus on things beyond Dolma, and I was ready to start raising my child. There was, however, just one small problem with this: nobody else was ready for me to do so.
“What utter nonsense is this?!” Harry roared, as I explained my plan to go to Agremerre for a year to receive their Crown Princess training. “You're the Crown Princess of Dolma! You can't just leave!”, the older man continued, his brown eyes sweeping over me like I had just gone mad. Although, knowing Harry, he likely truly believed I had gone mad. In fact, I was fairly certain that the King of Dolma had decided I was absolutely insane nearly two years ago when I led a campaign that “forced” the courtiers to actually start doing work around the country. Admittedly, only about 42% of the courtiers had accepted this campaign over the past two years, but it was at least better than the 0% that had worked prior to my arrival in Dolma.
“Ava, dear,” Priscella cut in, looking at me nervously, her long neck and thin face reminding me briefly of a startled herring. “You just had a baby,” she continued as if this changed anything about my plans.
“I had a baby two months ago. I have physically recovered - well, mostly,” I said after catching Thomas’s pointed gaze. “Nevertheless, I am well enough to travel and begin my training as Agremerre’s Crown Princess. Plus, I am sure Genevieve and Marcus will become fine playmates during the year I spend there.”
“You’re taking the baby?!” Priscella screeched.
“Well, yes, he is my son,” I said, calmly. While I was more used to life in Dolma than I had been when I had first arrived, there was still an underlying confusion when someone was so shocked by something I had considered natural.
“But, he is the first Prince of Dolma! Second in line for the throne,” Priscella impressed upon me. “He can’t just leave!”
“Does this mean I am coming too?” Asked Thomas eagerly, butting into the conversation before I could respond to Priscella.
“Well of course you are welcome to join me,” I said with a slight frown, “but I had thought you’d want to stay here and continue your work as Crown Prince.”
“Then I will come!” Thomas beamed at me. “I can take care of the tiny one while you work!” Thomas had taken to fatherhood unexpectedly well, after he got over his initial fears of “screwing the kid up.” He had diligently begun learning from the nurses and nannies employed by the palace, and even started a lengthy correspondence with my own parents on what skills he’d need to learn. And, I must admit, his patience for crying babies was far superior to my own. Mother had assured me that my feelings were perfectly normal, and promised me that I could still be a good mother even if I was annoyed by the amount of poop and tears my child produced.
With this in mind, I smiled at Thomas and accepted his offer to join me. “Well of course he is coming!” Harry shouted, “He’s now Agremerre’s Crown Prince, and -”
“That’s not the way succession works in Agremerre,” I quickly interrupted. “In Agremerre, you can not gain a title through marriage. So, while I may be Agremerre’s current Crown Princess, that title does not pass on to Thomas. He technically has no standing within Agremerre’s hierarchy.”
“Well that’s just ridiculous,” Harry argued.
“Perhaps to you,” I said simply.
“Hold on!” Priscella exclaimed, “If Thomas is not required, then you can’t both go. Who will do the duties of the Crown Prince?”
I felt the need to remind her that, prior to my arrival in Dolma, the Crown Prince didn’t actually have any duties, but before I could speak up, Thomas jumped in once more. “Ollie will do them,” he responded confidently.
“I’ll what?” Ollifelle stuttered from her spot across the room. The quiet, but insightful girl looked completely panicked about being forced into the conversation at all.
“Ollie is a Princess of Dolma,” Thomas continued, unfazed. “And, she has been learning from Avalynn and Lady Lucy for two years now. She can easily do the work.”
“Your sister is to be married!” Harry exclaimed.
“But it’s not like you’ve found her a suitable Prince to marry her off to yet,” Thomas argued.
“There are discussions in the works!” Harry blustered.
“Surely those could be put off a year,” I pointed out, leaving out the “or more” I desperately wished to add. Seventeen still felt far too young to get married. “Of course, this all depends on whether or not Ollie agrees to the job,” I said, turning to the girl. “I think you would do excellently, should you desire the position, plus you will have Lady Lucy, Lord Xander, and Sir Abel to help guide you. And, I am sure Chanti would help you, too.” I said, as Ollifelle blushed. Ollifelle and Chanti, Solista’s younger sister and one of the two girls I had brought to Dolma’s Royal Palace three years ago, had developed a friendship over the past two years that had, in my opinion, greatly benefited the two girls, even if Priscella found the whole thing “unseemly”.
“I - I would like to help,” Ollifelle said, a determined flash rushing through her brown eyes, looking eerily like the gleam I’d seen in her father’s eyes when he felt particularly powerful. Oddly, I found the look far more reassuring in her eyes than I had ever felt with his.
“Well then that’s settled then!” I declared.
“No it absolutely is not!” Harry raged. Except it was, and two weeks later, I set out with my son and my husband into the sweltering early summer heat to be educated as the Crown Princess of Agremerre.
“Avalynn!” came Anora’s excited cry three days later when she met us at the Agremerrian border. “I am so glad that you’re here!” she continued, boisterously. She reminded me a lot of Father, with her overwhelming presence and excitement. It was a rather comforting sensation. Thomas, however, looked as though he might disagree with me. While I was now
“I am very happy to be here, Queen Anora,” I said, earnestly.
“No, no, child, you are the Crown Princess. Well, at least for the next 19 years or so. You are family, and we can address each other as such!” Anora pushed, beaming at me. Three years had changed very little in the Queen’s appearance. She still had smooth brown skin, with only the occasional visible scar from her military and combat training. There were a few wrinkles around her deep brown eyes that were new. “Indicative of a life of smiling,” Mama had said about her own wrinkles several years ago. Anora’s dark hair showed the most obvious signs of change, with a few graceful strands of silver sparkling against her normal brown tones. Still, she looked healthy and happy and the ease at which we settled into her life and home was exhilarating.
We spent the rest of the day making camp with the Agremerrians, as Anora introduced us to the knights and aides who followed her as she moved around the kingdom to where she thought the need would be greatest. I brought with me all my knights who were originally from Agremerre, and who were now happily bonding and reconnecting with their old friends. And, in Challa’s case, family, as his older sister was a knight of Agremerre. It was a day filled with laughter and ease as we discussed the plan for the next year and at the end of the night, Thomas and I were led to a tent that brought back fond memories of my childhood traveling all around Nevremerre.
“They are so nice. Even to me,” Thomas pondered as we prepared to retire for the evening. Marcus was asleep in his arms, swaying peacefully as Thomas paced around the tent.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they be?” I whispered softly, moving to join them and stilling Thomas’s trek around the space.
“We weren’t very kind to you,” Thomas said, as I stared lovingly at the face of my little boy. Marcus was the spitting image of his father, asleep like this. His white blonde hair was finally starting to fill out and move away from his head. Asleep, you couldn’t see his only physical nod towards his mother, a mix of green in his blue eyes that matched the emerald color that ran through my own.
“That was Dolma,” I finally said, remembering the conversation Thomas had started. “This is Agremerre; things are different here,” I replied simply.
“I think I can understand now why Dolma was such a difficult place for you,” Thomas said, finally looking back at me.
I smiled at him, holding his ice blue gaze with my own. “No you don’t. Not yet anyways. You’ve only been here a day and I promise there will be more to come that will surprise you. You will understand more why I am the way I am.”
Thomas laughed softly, his voice carrying around the tent like chimes rustling in the breeze. “I suspect I will be trying to discover what makes you who you are for the rest of our lives, Avalynn. And, I do suspect I will rather enjoy doing it. Come, we will need our rest for tomorrow,” Thomas said, without giving me a chance to respond. He shifted Marcus to one arm so he could reach a hand out to me, and pull me gently towards the mats and sheets that made up our campsite bed.
Letting him pull me down on the soft pillow, I turned to face Thomas once more, watching him lay Marcus gently between us. “Dolma is still hard for me,” I informed him quietly.
“I know,” Thomas sighed, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead, “but we’ll make it easier, with time.”
“Yes. Yes we will,” I agreed as I drifted off to sleep.
Agremerre was a breath of fresh air compared to my life in Dolma. Traveling around the country as I had in my own childhood, Genevieve followed us along, diligently trying to replicate her mother’s actions, while Marcus continued to grow, even laughing for the first time when one of the camp’s dogs licked the back of his hand. Thomas was settling in well, even if his face seemed to have permanently settled into a look of confused determination. Even his homesickness seemed to be shorter than mine had been. Something he had politely credited to the presence of me and the baby, although I privately suspected that he found it a little easier to leave his parents than I had leaving mine.
My work with Queen Anora was going well, my family was happy, Oberon, Challa, and Hugo were thrilled to have some time back home, and in just two weeks we would go to the Nevremerre and Agremerre border to celebrate the Unajo festival, and to see my family again. All was well. I was exuberant, and everything felt right with the world. One would be forgiven for thinking that, with the way my life had played out up until this point, I would be used to the unexpected happening. Sadly, that never did become the case.
2
The End of the World
We were working on building houses in a coastal town only a day away from Pantheo, Agremerre’s capital. The town, Nagoya, was beautiful - colorful houses lined the cobblestone streets, and the ocean’s glimmer could be seen from every part of the sloped town. The ocean itself was a sparkling teal color that glittered like it was full of gems as it reflected the sun. It was easy to see why the ocean’s distinct color was the inspiration for Agremerre’s blue and green flag. Genevieve and Marcus were at a child care center, and Challa and Leonard were playing catch with a hammer, laughing boisterously behind Oberon, Thomas, Anora and me, as we discussed the merits and problems with a new building style. After Maychula suffered from a massive Earth tremor a few weeks before Marcus had been born, Anora had declared that Agremerre required a different style of housing that would be able to survive any Earth tremors that came to her country.
It was not, of course, realistic or feasible for every house in Agremerre to be knocked down and rebuilt, so Anora just settled for building community centers in each town where people could go in case of an Earth tremor. The buildings had been designed by looking at which buildings had survived the Earth tremor and the three lesser tremors that had hit Maychula. The poor people of Maychula could not get a break it seemed and the King, King Azerel, had sent letters to every country on the continent asking for aid. Something Harry insisted reeked of desperation and weakness, but I found to be a smart plea for the sake of his people.
Needless to say, Thomas and I were very interested in these community centers and had already decided to incorporate them in Dolma as well. We had spent countless hours debating what other uses they should have in the community, much to the initial chagrin of Marcus, who woke up crying more than one night at the sound of our heated debates. I now rather thought that we had mastered the talent of the whispered argument. And, it was an oddly satisfying feeling when we finished our debate without the baby waking up, no matter who was the victor of our particular discussion. Thomas seemed to agree with me on this, as we both could be found smiling triumphantly at the end of each disagreement where Marcus never woke up. It was much more enjoyable to fight when everyone was happy, no matter what the conclusion.
So, we were happily discussing building design when the world ended. Or, at least that’s what it seemed like at the time. For how else could you explain a bright sunny day being taken over by clouds darker than night and haloed in an orange light in a matter of mere minutes? I consider myself to be a reasonable person, but when the clouds took over the sky and the cheers and laughter that once echoed behind me fell to a roaring silence, I truly, honestly, and completely believed the world was about to end, and we were all about to die.
