novel : King Thomas

chapter three: King Thomas' Son

Chapter Three


Thomas' Son

   





Chapter Three


Thomas' Son


    The kingdom was excepting of Queen Anne stepping down and turning the kingdom over to (as he was secretly know) “Thomas the strange.” Thomas was always going over battle plans. He would not get caught off guard. Rumors of war was strong in the kingdom, but the king's force was strong and getting stronger.





“King, King,” Jade was running toward him. She was the princess's handmaid. She looked as if she had seen a Devil.


“The princess.. Her baby comes!”


King Thomas leaves the solders training to the captain. He climbs on his horse, and pulls Jade on with him. She told him the story of Princess and the problems that the birth was causing. She was bleeding and the baby did not want to come.





The mid wife gives the Queen the bundle. She had a look of horror as she passed him into his grandmother's waiting arms. Anne has an expression that no one had seen on her face ever.





“What's wrong? Is he alive?” The new mother was anxiety to know about her child.


“Yes, he is alive and seems to be very strong.” Anne speaks softly.


Arabella is handed her new born child. She begins to go into shock when she laid eyes on her child. The baby had white hair. The eyes were large and totally black. Pulling back the blanket, she sees three large webbed appendages where five fingers should be. It had skin that was thin and Grey. The feet was much like the fingers. They were four appendages where the toes should have been. Each one with a claw like nail. What is this that she gave birth to?  “It must be a demon.” Then she knows what she has to do.





Thomas enters the room. There Arabella was holding their own baby by his tiny feet. She was crying. The baby was screaming differently than any child that they had ever heard. The princess was placing a dagger to the infants heart.





         “My daughter, please give me the prince. Don't take his life.” Queen Anne was pleading.


         “No, he has been touch by the devil. He can only bring evil upon this land and on this family.” Yells Arebella.


         Thomas glares at his wife. She felt an unseen force pulling at her hand. Finger by finger was being pulled away from the daggar. It drops to the floor. With the sound of the blade hitting the floor, the princess let go of the infant's feet. She hoped that her child would hit the floor.


         Queen Anne catches the bundle before it fell to it's death. “I know this is hard, but he will live.”


         The physician gives Arebella a drink that puts her to sleep.           He was under the order of the Queen Anne and King Thomas to keep this secret. It would mean death if he uttered a word about young prince Yechiel.





         Jade would bring the infant to his mother so that she could nurse him. Arabella could not look at her son as he fed. She secretly thought how when given a chance she would end this evil life.


         Yechiel grew. It was not long until he no longer needed his mother for food. She had never made another attempt on his life.


         Jade and Queen became the only mothers that young Yechiel knew. They did not seem to see the strangeness of his appearance. With them, he did not have to  wear his cloak and hood. He could use his hands without gloves. He was just a child when they were together.


         He was told never to enter into Princess Arebella's chamber nor spend any time in her presences. He knew that she was his mother. He knew that she feared him enough to kill him, but he longed for her love.


         “Queen Mother,”Prince sits by Queen Anne's feet playing. “Why does the Princess want to kill me. Am I bad?”


         “Not at all my prince.” Anne raises the child into her lap. “She did not expect you to be so special. No other child is quite like you, and this puts fear in her heart. Maybe one day she will understand. Until then, we must keep our distance from the Princess.”


         “Do you love the Princess. Yes, I do. She is my daughter now. I wont allow her to hurt you, my son.” The queen signals for the Jade. “Now you must retire to bed. We have the rest of our lives to talk and play. Rest will mold you into a great prince.”


         “Jade, be sure that the guards are at their posts.”


         “Yes, mam,” Jade takes the young white haired, big-eyed prince to his room.


         “Jade, Why do I look so differently than other children? Why do I have to stay all covered?”


         “Well Child, God made each of us different. I am not the same as Queen or the Princess. I am not the same as my mother. We are each created for a purpose. Mine is to care for you, and your purpose is to be one of the best kings this land has ever had.” Jade says as she tucks Yechiel into bed. “Your father King Thomas is different. He has never spoken, and now he is the strongest king there is. You will take his place on the throne one day. Go to sleep and grow strong as you King Thomas.”


         William is now the king's ad visor, and in charge of teaching  the young Prince the art of war. Everyday Yechiel proved himself. He was learning as fast as Thomas had.  He could ride faster than the solders. He could shoot arrows straighter than William himself. William was so impressed with the child that he made the child his own sized armor. No one could see how different he was. Yechiel looked as if her were a small copy of his father the King. His shield carried the crest of Salaamanata.


  The prince was the crown jewel of the land. No one knew how he looked. They just admired the little warrior. Every one honored Yechiel except his own mother. Arebella could never except the boy. To her he was a curse on the land. She found nothing he did inspiring. Nothing could make her proud of the “Devil Child” she gave birth to.


         Princess spent time watching her son in the courtyard with the Queen, and wished that he had never been born. His deformed smile glowing toward the queen. She hated him.


         One day Anne felt really bad. She had to stop and hold on to her bed as she tried to start her day. Her face was red, she could not breath. She did not know what to do. The pain in her chest and arms were overwhelming. She fell to the floor.


         Jade made her usual trip to the queen's chamber to help her dress and serve the food. She doesn't notice Anne. Jade goes about opening the curtains.


         “My Queen, I pray you slept well. The prince is already waiting for you on the balcony.” Jade looked toward the bed to finish her statement when she saw Anne laying on the floor wrapped in the bedding that she had pulled over her during her fall.


         Jade runs to her friends side. “Queen, Anne!” She pats the queen's cheeks. “Help! Help!”


         The guard runs in. “Go get the physician. Go get Thomas.” Jade pulls Anne's head into her lap.


         “Dear God, This woman has ruled your people wisely. She has been fair in all that she has done. Please find favor in your heart to keep her with us. Please don't take my friend and the guiding light of Salaamanata.” She rocks Anne as she once did as a child. Yelling,”Hurry, Help the Queen! Help the Queen!”


         The royal physician runs to the queen's side. The guards pry Jade from holding her. The doctor went to checking if she was breathing. He looks at the guard, and he shakes his head.


         “No!Noooo!” Jade breaks from the guard. She falls to the ground where her friend lay cold.


         The guard lifts the queen and places her lifeless body on her bed. She was pale. Her lips were blue. And her eyes were wide open staring into the distance. Jade reaches over to close her eyes.


         Thomas came running into the chamber. He runs past the prince. “Father, what is wrong?” He ran following his father into the queen's room.


         Thomas' expression did not change. He did not have worry in his eyes. He sat on the bed beside that only  woman that could be called his mother. He took her hand in one hand and placed the other on her chest.


         The prince watched. “Is she all right? Father, is she all right.?”


         The King got up and walked to his son. He picked him up and carried him out of the room.


         Jade screams,”She is moving. The Queen is breathing.”


         “What happened?” the queen asked.


         “Your heart had stopped. Thomas saved you.” Jade explains.


         “Sleep now My Queen,” The physician requests. “You have come back from the dead, and you need your rest to recover.”


         Queen Anne motions for the prince to come to her side. Seeing his weeping eyes. She has Jade to lift him to sit beside her. “My son, don't worry. I wont leave you.” She kisses him, and he snuggles beside her and falls a sleep.


         The queen spent the day in the bed. She did not feel ill, but she felt so sleepy. Jade came in an guided the waking prince to his breakfast. There he waited.


         "My Prince, why are you not eating?"


         " I await for my queen to join me." Said the child.


         "She may sleep today," Jade was about to say


         "Good morning," Queen Anne interrupted.


         The prince ran and hugged the queen. He was so happy to see that there was not any effects of the walk with death that she had the day before.


         "Good morning, My Queen," Says Jay as she brings her breakfast to the table.


         Meanwhile, Princess Arebella heard of the queen's condition. She calls for her maids that she had brought with her from Leynitice kingdom upon her marriage to the King.


         "My Princess," greeted the maid.


         " I need you to take this letter to my father. I want him to send me the items on the list, and a certain noble man from the court." Tells Arebella.


         "Yes, your highness," She leaves the chamber and takes two guards and goes on her trip to King Sed. The trip was not eventful as far as trouble, and it did not take but three days.


         She bows. "King Zed, I bring you word of your daughter." She reaches the letter with the royal seal to the King's guard.


         King opens the letter.


         "My father, My King,  I have be cursed to have given birth to a monster, a devil. Since his birth my land has been cursed. Just a few days ago Queen Anne walked with the dead. Thomas is the only help that she had to come back. I believe that if I don't kill this child that our land will be given to another."


King reads on."I would like you to send our physician Richard to my side. I want him to bring me anything that will quietly send my curse to his grave. I would that you don't judge me, and take your daughter at her word that both both kingdoms are doomed as long as the prince lives. I await your answer. By the power of Princess Arebella."


         "Maid, you are welcome to spend the night here as I consider how to answer my daughter." He motions for the guard to lead her safely to her chambers for the night.


         The next morning King Zed sends the maid a letter and gifts to take to Arebella. He sent grain, jewels, and fine robes. Then the maid and the guards make their way back to the castle.


         "Have you seen my father." The princess asks.


         The maid reaches the princess a letter with her father's seal on it.


         "My daughter, I know you have a loving heart. I do not judge you, but is this what you truly want to do. I am sending Richard in three days. He is to be your personal physician. If the Thomas asks, you want to be blessed with the physician that brought you into this world. I believe that you may want to take some more time to consider if you want to kill the young Prince. This may mean loosing your very life. King Thomas will not allow the murderer of his son to live. With all the King's love."


         Princess saw the gifts of her father, and knew that he had sent them to show his dedication to her. She goes to see her husband King Thomas.


         "My Husband, my King," Arebella is lead to see Thomas. "I am ill as of late, and I have sent for the physician of my birth." Arebella knows to be careful what she has in her mind. She has learned how Thomas communicates, and he would be able to read what she was thinking.


         Thomas leaves the throne and touches his wife's face. As always she leans into his touch. She feels his words loud and clear in her thoughts."My wife, I know that times have been hard since our son was born, and if this physician will help, he is welcome to my Kingdom and my castle." He walks back to the throne, and has the maids to walk with her. He want to make sure that she was cared for during what he thought was her illness.


         When Queen Anne saw that the Princess had sent for her own physician, she began to worry. She had Jade to spy on the Princess.


         One morning the princess sends for Richard. She lays out a plan to rid the kingdom of the cursed child. "I need the poison. I will send it by my maid to slep into the soup when she serves to him. I don't want him to feel pain. He is my son, but he is the spot of evil on my land."


         Richard gives her a little container. "This is tasteless, and it will not cause pain. However, My Princess, the child can not be saved once he has taken it. He will pass in less than an hour."


         "That is what I had asked for." The princes gives him a document of safety from her actions. "I will do this tonight."


         Arebellas sends for her maid. She tells her to put the powder into the child's soup. " It will help him to grow strong."


         Jade hears the conversation, and he follows the maid. When the maid put the poison in the soup, Jade changed his soup with the soup that would be served to his mother.





Arebella decides to eat with Queen Anne, King Thomas, and their son. When the food is brought, she watched them eat as she picked at her food. Then came the soup. Prince ate it as if he was eating sugar. She sipped her soup sparingly. Her heart hurt that she had to kill her own son, but it was too late to stop now.


The princess began to sweat. He hands began to shake. She really must be getting nervous.


“Princess are you all right?” asked the queen.


“I am feeling a little ill.” she said. “may I be excused? I need some air?”


“Do you need someone to go with you?”


“No my son, I just need to go to chambers.” She told her son. “Good night everyone.” She curbside.


Jade began to follow the princess. She watched he stumble in the hall. Then she fell in the stairs. The princes sees Jade and reaches out to her. “My Princess, I know that you planned to kill your son. This is not going to harm him.”


“Jade, what have you done? You have doomed us with evil.” Princess said as her last words. She reaches for Jade and passes the spirit from her.


“Good night my sweet.” Jade says, and reaches out and closes the princess' eyes. She turns around and walks back to the royal family. She whispers the news in King Thomas' ear. He got up from the seat and ran toward his wife's chamber. When he reached the stairs, he found Arebella laying motionless on the steps. She looked blue. He lips were parted as if she had been talking to someone.


         The prince ran into the site of his mother. He stopped in his tracks. Queen ran after the boy. When she saw her daughter-in-law in such a manner, she called for the guard to take the child to his room. She then ran to Arebella's side. She could see that the princess could not return from the dead. She placed her hand on Thomas' arm.


         "My son, there is nothing that you can do for her now. She has already left this world." She knelt by her son's side. She looks up at William and continues to talk to King Thomas,"She doesn't have to be afraid any more. Nor does she have to feel guilty fo her son."


         William walks the queen back to the chamber of the Prince leaving the King to be with his wife before the physician takes to prepare her for burial. "My wife," Thomas tries to reach her mind, but it had already left her body. "My Wife, Arebella. I loved you though you wanted to harm our son. I needed you here with me. Now I am without a princess. I will always tell of your kind heart, beauty, and how you stood by my side." He kissed his wife, and picks her up. He carries her the rest of the way to her chambers. He layed her on the bed. There her was when they came to ready her for the world beyond.


         The word was sent to King Zed and Queen SanTrina. The King knew that the princess had a plan to kill the child, and he knew that this was the reason for her untimely death. He sent for his carriage and his guards, and they made the trip to say good bye to their daughter. SanTrina could not be comfronted when she saw Arrie laying on the bed with such beautiful linen and flowers around her. Jade came to greet the parents, but they would not have anything to do with her.


         "My baby, my princess Arrie, Why have you gone? Why have you left your kingdom without their princess?" He mother cries. King Zed pulls his wife toward the door. He looks at King Thomas, " You will pay for my only daughter's death. I trusted you to care for her as you wife. Our kingdoms are no longer alies."King Sed looked back toward where Arebella lay. He knew what had happened. That she somehow got the posion that she had planned for the child.


         "Who is this child?" He asks.


         Jade tells him that it was the prince. Zed drew his sword. "He is the reason my Arrie's death. He is the curse of the land, curse of the devil."


         William draws his sword, and his men stood behind him. "This is a peaceful kingdom. We know that you as well as we have suffered a great loss. Do you really think that she would want war between her father and her husband, and the two kingdoms be covered with blood?"


         King Zed puts his weapon away. " This is not the end. This is the beginning. What was taken from me will also be taken from you. I want to take her back to her land for burial."


         King Thomas nobs for the maids to ready the princes for the ride back to her kingdom. He watched the royal parade carry his only love to her grave. This was the first time anyone had seen Thomas shed a tear. This time he lost a love for the first time.


         "Where is the princess?" Prince Yecchiel asks Jade.


         Jade was not sure of how to explain how his mother had tried to kill him. Then how Jade herself switched the soup so that Arebella would die. Her son could still live. "She was taken to her kingdom where she grew up. Her parents wanted to have her there."


         "Why did she die?"


         "Prince I think that she traded her life for some one that she loved." Jade answered.


         "She never loved me." The young prince said. "She said that I am of evil land."


         "Princes, was sick after you were born. She could not get to know you. If she did, she would not allow any harm come to you." Jade pulls the child close to hold him.


         Jade could not open her heart to tell him that she had saved his life while killing his mother.


         How could she keep this hidden enough that Thomas would not be able to recover it from her mind. Jade could not think that she had killed anyone. She kissed the child good night. Then retired into her room.


         Jade loved the princess, but she would not allow the prince to be killed. Jade sat down and wrote a letter to Queen Anne. Then she climbed to the top tower in the castle. She could see the whole kingdom from up here. The stars were bright and beautiful. She remembered how Arrebella and Thomas would walk the streets at night looking up at the stars. Jade then leans over the edge, and she lets go.


         The next morning Queen Anne was surprised to see that her food was served by someone other than her friend Jade. The queen get up and walks down the hall to the prince's room. There he was sleeping. Jade had always had him ready and dressed for meals on time. Where was she. Then the queen sees a note on the door to her chamber. She takes it down to read.


         Immediately she began to cry. "My Queen, My friend, My sister, I know that you loved me, and I would die for you, Thomas, of the prince. And I did. Arebella was a obsessed  woman. She had sent for the physician to plot the death of her own son. I switched the soups, and the Princess got her own poison. I wish that I had a way to mend things, but I had to save the child. You, William, and Thomas we as if your were my children, and I protect my land and my family. Always allow my prince to know that I love him.


My sister I love you.


Jade."


         The letter was taken to the king, and he sent for  Arebella's physician. The physician could not be found. When he had heard of the princess' death, he ran because he knew that his life would be in danger.


         Thomas was an angry king, and so was King Sed. When the physician ran, the only place that he knew to run was to the kingdom of King Sed. There his story was much different than what had actually happened. When King Thomas soilders meet King Sed they were killed on spot and sent to the walls of Salaamanata. There would be justice for his daughter at all costs.


         Up on finding the his men killed and thrown by the walls like animal corpses, William became filled with vengences. He went into approach the King. There he saw him holding crying Queen Anne.


         "My Lord, you have heard the news already?"


         Queen Anne looks up. "Yes, I have lost my daughter and my friend that became my mother. William I am sorry."


         "My Queen?" William questions. Surely she speaks of the princess still.


         "Jade, she could not handle loosing the princess and she left the living." The queen continues, "She exchanged the soup with poison meant for the Prince with the princess. She saved the child's while loosing both the princess and herself. Her kind heart could not handle such a burden as to have killed someone."


         William stands in shock. He could not tell the story about his men with the queen in the room greiving for her friend.


         "My lord, I need you to walk with me around the wall to the city soon." William said in a dry voice. "We could not find the physician. He is protected by his people."


         King motions for the hand maids to lead the queen away to her chambers to rest. Her years were upon her, and he wanted her to have time to grieve without any futher stresses.


         The King gets up and goes to the wall followed by his guard. When Thomas saw the slaughter, he spoke into the mind of William. "Sir, I need to know if my men are ready for battle. I will not allow such an attack on my kingdom by my own family. Ready three hundred men, and see to it that my steed is prepared to ride in war."


         "My King, what shall I do with the young prince? He will want to avenge his mother's death and Jade's."


         "He may ride in the fight. He is as skilled as any other. I will not tell tell the queen just yet." King Thomas waves William to go get prepared. He turns to inter the castle. He gives each servent written orders how he wanted the queen cared for, and what to say if she looks for the prince.


         The queen sits in her window. She could almost feel Jade there holding her head against Jade's heart. She always held the queen as a child. She would rock her, and know just the right words to make everything all right. Who would she have now? Who would help her be the strong queen that she needs to be?


         The court yard was strangely empty without anyone strolling in it. No King Thomas, No Prince, No soilders, and no Jade. This was the hardest time to look out of the window, but she had to. She needed to feel the feelings. For the first time, the queen felt sage to allow the tears to flow. She called for Yecheil, but the servants informed her that he had joined his father and Sir William on a scouting trip. He had done this many times, and this was believable for the queen.


         The King and his men approach  the walls of Leynitice. The guards were tight, and unwilling to allow them to cross. Then by the orders of Sed only the King and William were allow conformance with the King.


         Upon entering the throne room, every bow was drawn. If the king gave the order their lives would be over.


         "Thomas, out of respect of our long relationships, I allow your address." King Sed spoke frank and angry.


         King Thomas allows Sir William to speak for them. "Why did my men come back thrown at my wall as if they were slop for the animals?"          


         "They came into my courts demanding that I give them our physician. They claimed that he had killed the Princess. I would not allow such an action. When they tried to press it, I had them killed."


         " They were sent by King Thomas orders. The Princess was not of good mind. The physician was. He made the decision to give the boy the poison. He was the reason for the princess' death. "


         "I will not give you the physician until you give me Prince Yecheil. He is the curse that my Arrie tried to clean both kingdoms of."


         "We will not give you the royal child. He is guilty only of being born differently. He will not be given to be harmed because of a mad woman's supersitions."


         King Sed motions to the his royal guard. "Show them out." He continues, " Next we meet there will be blood between us. This is war."


         King Thomas returns to his kingdom to plan the battles to come.