Page 29 of Emerald Queen
“Yes. Onika covered them in darkness and Rory disabled the attackers.”
“Disabled the attackers?” Emersyn was confused, “What do you mean?”
“They’re dead, Emersyn. Rory burned them all.”
“Jesus…” She stared at him in disbelief. “We need to figure this out. Now.”
Drake took her hand and walked her to the door, “Let’s go. We need to get everyone on the phone and discuss this situation.”
Emersyn took one last look at the Captain’s office, “Um… shouldn’t we clean his desk up?”
“I’ll have someone from the cleaning staff handle it. Come on, let’s go.”
Hand in hand they walked out of the office. Drake couldn’t stop glancing at Emersyn. He would move heaven and earth to ensure her safety – no matter what.
Chapter 16
The conference room was crowded. Constable Baxter sat at the head of the table, beside him sat Captain Hill and several of the guardsmen. They were seated around the massive oak square, waiting for their arrival.
Captain Hill shot a knowing grin towards Drake before turning toward the constable.
“Constable, we will have the other constables and commanders online momentarily. I think Emersyn should brief them on the letter before we get started.”
Emersyn nodded, “Well… to be honest it does not make sense.”
She began to recite the words from the letter.
“Six tangled kingdoms living in the dark. When the truth is revealed lives will be torn apart. A secret more shocking will soon come to light, and the balance of power will again be right. All the kingdom’s stones will crash and break, leaving the kingdom’s crowns as mine to take.”
Constable Baxter paled, “Commander, please tell me you have some idea what this is telling us.”
“No, sir. I wish I did – but it does not make sense to me or Emersyn.”
“Well obviously it’s a threat. We need to increase patrols around the kingdom and castle.”
“I agree.” Drake sat somberly, waiting for the other Constables and Commanders to join their video conference. He was beyond perplexed at the situation.
“Alright,” Baxter cut the silence, “Everyone is on. Thank you for joining us this evening.”
Emersyn glanced at the massive screen that had descended from the ceiling. It was positioned at the head of the table, so everyone seated around could see the individuals on screen. The Ruby Queen, her constable and commander were in the upper corner of the screen. Beside her was the Onyx Queen and her guard commanders. Emersyn scanned the screen, noting everyone was there – everyone but Dimitra. In her place were the Diamond kingdom Constable and Commander. A pain ricocheted through her chest, causing her to gasp.
“Are you ok?” Drake placed his hand on her thigh.
“Yes – the reality of Dimitra being gone caught me off guard. I’m fine. Shall we get started?”
For the next hour, the Kingdoms discussed how to handle the kidnapping of Dimitra, the Diamond Queen, and what to make of the letter Emersyn had received. The consensus was that the Diamond Guards, along with the Ruby Kingdom, Amethyst Kingdom, and Onyx Kingdom, would focus their energy on sorting out the Diamond Queens whereabouts.
That left The Sapphire Queen to help Emersyn. Together they would go through her parents things, trying to find anything that would help them unravel the riddle given to Emersyn.
Sarifena agreed to travel back to Emersyn’s kingdom, leaving her Constable in charge while she was gone. She would stay at the Emerald castle until they found something. Not only would she help Emersyn with the unraveling of the bizarre threat, she would help her with her magic. Emersyn was becoming more and more powerful and needed to learn how to expel her magic safely.
Emersyn dismissed everyone but Cassie, Alex and Drake. Pushing her chair back, she stood and paced the floor.
“Look. Can I trust the three of you? No matter what we learn – I need to know that you guys will stand by me. I fear that whatever this secret is, it is going to be devastating to the kingdom.”
Cassie rushed to her friend’s side, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Emersyn, I can’t believe you even have to ask. We are more than your workers… we’re your friends.”
“She’s right, Emersyn.” Alex stood behind Cassie, “I pledged my fidelity to you no matter what.” He snaked his arm around Cassie’s waist, “And besides, I am in love with your best friend. There is no way I’d do anything to jeopardize her heart.”
