Read King Callie: Callie's Saga, Book One for Free Online

he’ll save you, very soon.”
    I can’t believe it , he thought. His heart thrummed with excitement. It’s Caliandra. King Caliandra . She will lead us out of the darkness.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Valric hated being lost. That was the worst part of it - knowing that he’d traveled almost a whole day’s ride, past the eastern borders of his kingdom, into the dangerous Erimeni freelands, and gotten horribly lost in the process. He clenched his horse’s reins even tighter in his fist, as he looked around in frustration. They’d ridden where Royth said they should have been - at the foot of the verdant Nemi’s Fist, on a well-trod path sprinkled with boulders, and wildflowers, and nothing. And as the day grew long, and they rode out of the hot sun and into the mountain’s cool shadow, they found yet more nothing. They rode around it for miles, and saw still more nothing. Does the flower even exist? Valric wondered. He wasn’t only frustrated and nervous from being lost; he’d thought that maybe, Caliandra was right, and worse still, that Royth had lied to him. Perhaps the Seer had given him false hope, and sent him out on some damn fool’s errand… all so he’d come back empty-handed, to a dead father.
    The Prince vented his frustrations by yelling at the guards. “Where is that Yom-damned flower?” Valric said aloud, baring his teeth. “Are you all blind? Why haven’t you seen it yet? We’ve been riding for an hour, now. How haven’t you seen anything?”
    Kells said nothing. Valric had glanced at him, from time to time; his gaze was locked on the foot of the mountain, and on the flowers; not on Valric, as it should’ve been. “You said it was Naeb’s Coil, didn’t you?” he finally asked, in a distant tone - as if his mind was on something else the whole time. It irked Valric completely; what Captain of the Guard, so wholly devoted to the safety of the Royal Family, could even think of anything else at such a time?
    “Of course I did,” Valric snapped. “What else would I have said? Are there so many damned plants that you can’t tell them apart?” Valric glared pure hate at Kells, and wished that he could have driven his dagger into the Captain’s useless heart. Seven men traveled with them, each more pointless than the last, and him - the worst of all. Valric turned in his saddle, to face the men behind him, and shouted at them. “Can none of you tell them apart? Am I traveling with a company of fools?” he said, the bitter, frustrated words spewing out of his mouth.
    “Children,” Kells said, as he spoke before - detached. Laughter bubbled out of Valric’s mouth, from deep in his belly; he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Did Kells truly say that?
    “So you agree with me, Captain?” he asked, his words cutting and his tone sharp. “You admit how useless you are, and that you’ve brought seven children to defend me?”
    “No,” Kells said, as he finally faced Valric with placid eyes. He nodded to a point in the distance, just at the edge of Valric’s vision; not at the base of the mountain, but in the field to the side of it. Swatches of brown hair, disappearing in the flowers and the tall grass, only to re-appear again. “Erimeni children, gathering flowers.” The words robbed Valric of his mocking tone. The children would know where to find it.
    “What kind of flowers?” the Prince asked, instantly curious. “You know them. What do they pick?” As he spoke, a new thought emerged, bound with frantic energy. “They might’ve picked it already,” Valric said, as his anger rose. “Those little shits…”
    “Your Highness,” Kells said, with careful calm, “Let me talk with them. Please, stay here. I know these people.”
    “No. You can’t trust them. They’ll lie, and hide it. Do you know how rare that plant is, Kells? It blooms once every ten years. If they’ve found it, there’s no talking with them. Not even in their mother tongue.” Valric’s hand went to the