Reluctant Prince. Dani-Lyn Alexander

Our enemies are strong. Their leader, Daygan, is an incredibly powerful sorcerer, but he’s filled with evil and consumed by hate. He found a way to collect humans and enslave them. He brought them to Cymmera to attack the city while the Cymmeran soldiers were occupied elsewhere.” Rage threatened to surface, but he inhaled deeply, fought it back.

      “The city of Cymmera is more like a very large village surrounded by a huge stone wall. The castle sits upon a hill in the center of the city. With the soldiers gone, mostly women and children remained within the confines of the wall. Some of the older boys, who were not yet warriors, lined the front wall of the city in a valiant effort, but everyone knew they would be no match for the onslaught. So Queen Dara left the safety of the castle.” A difficult enough memory without having to give voice to it. The helplessness the small child had suffered still plagued the man. He’d secreted himself in the highest window of the castle, witnessed his mother’s journey across the lush green field.

      “She walked across the field that surrounded the wall and met the army commander. She spoke to him for a few minutes as the invaders moved into position, surrounded her. She waited until she stood in the center of the enemy army.” He paused, forced back the scream begging for release. She’d stood with her chin held high. Her defiance and pride had mocked the invading mass.

      “Make a right here, and pull into that driveway.” Ryleigh gestured toward a small house.

      He pulled into the driveway, put the car into park, folded his hands on the steering wheel, and rested his chin on them.

      “She removed her crown.” He’d known then what she would do. Even then, he’d known. “Took two stones from it, replaced it atop her head, and lifted the stones high into the air. When she smashed them together over her head, they exploded. She felled an entire army that day, except for Daygan, and saved the city and its inhabitants. She sacrificed herself to save her kingdom.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

      Tears flowed unchecked down Ryleigh’s cheeks, but she stayed quiet and waited for him to compose himself and continue.

      “The entire kingdom died with her. The lush green grass of the fields turned brown and brittle, the trees and flowers wilted and died, a cover of haze fell over the land. Darkness and shadow overtook spaces that were once filled with sunlight and color.” The memory of what Cymmera had once been was more distant, elusive, more difficult to envision.

      “What happened to Daygan? Why didn’t he die with them?” She spoke quietly, affording him respect and reverence he didn’t deserve.

      “He’s a powerful sorcerer, and his prophet is always at his side. His seer must have known what she had planned. Maybe they’d staged the whole thing to eliminate the queen. Who knows? But an instant before the stones crashed together, they both vanished.” It still tortured him.

      If Queen Dara had realized the two of them would disappear, would she have stopped? Probably not. She had a kingdom to defend, children to protect. Taking Daygan with her would have been a bonus, but she still had to eliminate the immediate threat.

      Would he have the courage to sacrifice himself to save the people of Cymmera? He thought he would, or he would never have trained as a warrior, wouldn’t be next in line to inherit the throne. He shifted in his seat.

      “What happened after that?” Mia leaned forward between the seats.

      He had no doubt he would sacrifice his life to protect this child. “When King Maynard returned—”

      “Maynard? Are you a descendent of the king?” Ryleigh twisted her fingers together. Nerves? Or was she having a hard time believing him?

      “Yes.” How much to tell her? “A direct descendent of the King and Queen.” Not a lie. He held Ryleigh’s gaze.

      “What happened when he came back and found out what the queen had done?” Mia’s rapt interest saved him from answering the further questions he sensed Ryleigh had.

      “We sent—”

      Ryleigh sucked in a breath.

      Oops—”a rider to inform him.”

      Mia remained still, though, and Ryleigh didn’t call him on it, so he continued.

      “He was heartbroken…more than that.”

      His father had been inconsolable.

      Queen Dara had been the light to his dark, the kindness to his ferocity. Her sensitivity had balanced his strength and power. Without her, he became a dark, brooding figure who ruled with an iron fist and a heavy heart.

      “He sent out a team of assassins to kill Daygan, but the sorcerer eluded them every time. The inability to send an army to Argonas to punish Daygan ate at King Maynard, caused him to become even more bitter, more angry. But his hands were tied. No less than an army would make it past Daygan’s savages, yet he couldn’t send all of his warriors and leave Cymmera unprotected. His bitterness festered. Until one day…” He blew out a breath. Would they hate him? Hate his father, his king? Could they understand?

      Jackson took a moment, opened his senses, searched for any sign of danger. Nothing, but without his extra senses he couldn’t be sure. They seemed safe enough for now.

      Ah, well. “Cymmera’s seer, Elijah, approached King Maynard. He relayed a vision he’d seen in which humans fought alongside Cymmeran warriors. Not just any humans, specially trained men who were experts in the art of battle. The King wasted no time assembling a team of Death Dealers to retrieve the humans from the vision. And so it began. Each time Elijah had a vision of who was needed, the Death Dealer squad was sent to acquire them. Humans can’t be transferred to Cymmera alive, so the team was aptly named. Once the humans were reborn in Cymmera, they had no hope of returning to your realm. They were all given a choice.” Some choice. “They could survive eternity as slaves, or fight for Cymmera and receive all the glory due a warrior. The Cymmerans are good people.” He silently pleaded with Ryleigh to believe that. “All of the humans eventually joined us, even the ones who initially held out.”

      That was the worst of it, well almost anyway. “Come on, let’s get Mia inside, and I’ll tell you the rest.” He needed a break, if only for a few minutes, a little time to collect his thoughts, reign in his grief, prepare himself for her rejection.

      Neither of the girls argued. They probably needed time to digest it all as well.

      His protective instincts ratcheted up as they crossed the pitch black of the front lawn and climbed the stairs to the porch.