The Mysterious Soldier_Part I Page 12

  Soris stared at him. He nodded as a sign that he’d understood the situation. He sighed, then took a normal posture. Selunia shyly lifted her eyes to him. Soris wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. She remained puzzled. What was that? Does that mean he didn’t recognize me?

  The queen, noticing that the general seemed to know her, asked him hastily, “Who is she?”

  “She’s… She’s my daughter, my adopted daughter, Selunia...” he replied with a heavy heart. “I had hoped to tell you in better conditions. But because this has happened...”

  The queen knitted her brows. She was surprised by his answer, like everyone else. Adopted daughter? Since when does he have such a daughter? The crowd set on commenting.

  The king cleared his throat. “I see we have many things to discuss. We’ll take them one by one, at the right moment. Now we’ve got something else to do. General Waltario, from the way you’ve returned, I suppose the attackers got away.”

  The general lowered his eyes with regret. “I apologize, Your Majesty!” he said, making to kneel.

  The king lifted a hand as a sign for him to stop. Waltario returned to a normal posture. The king asked, “Is everything all right now?”

  “Yes. I’ve taken all the security measures. What’s left is to find out—”

  The king stopped him again by lifting a hand. “That’s enough. That’s everything I need to know now,” he said, then turning to the people, “Everybody, please pay attention to me! Everything is under control now. I ask you to get back to your places.”

  “How can we do that?” a palace clerk indignantly answered. “First, we need some explanations!”

  The king kept his composure. He answered, “You’ll receive all the explanations tomorrow, after we finish all investigations. For now, it’s getting late and tomorrow everything should go on normally. We need your cooperation to be able to make the necessary research. Please, go to your places. We shouldn’t let an incident ruin the internal order of our palace. I assure you that there won’t be any more problems this night.”

  Commenting among themselves, the castle people reluctantly left the main hall. The king sighed with an understanding attitude. He turned back to his family. “We, in exchange, will have to talk a little this night.”

  Everybody agreed with him, aside from Selunia who, a while ago, had plunged back into a state of inertia. The king saw how she was standing with eyes half-opened, dead white in the face. He told the general, “But first, you should send your daughter to the doctor. She has put in extraordinary efforts to save us today. We’ll meet after half an hour, inside the conference office.”

  Soris, the queen, and Waltario consented immediately. Selunia caught a speck of lucidity in the moment she heard the king referring to her. Instinctively, she bent her head slightly in agreement. The general took her arm, put it over his neck to support her, then led the way to the medical office.

  ***

  Note

  If you enjoy this series, you can get the whole second book here:

  https://books2read.com/aktwo

  or

  leave a review for book #1 and you can get the second book for free.

  Reviews are important so the author will reward every reader who leaves an honest review for the first book on any digital store. Check them all here: https://books2read.com/ak

  After writing the review, simply send an email to tinasilvens@gmail.com with a proof of your review (username and bookstore or a print screen).

  Thank you!

  Credits

  Second edition by:

  Scarlett R. Algee

  Cover design and illustrations by

  Axaviy Design

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you, dear friends!

  Jill Conroy

  Dave Barr from Duo48.com

  Your generosity and kindness to help me publish this e-book were priceless!

  Thank you, my dear sister Alexandra, for urging me to write my fantasy stories!

  Connect with the author

  Tina Silvens is an author dedicated to the fantasy genre. Although she has been writing since school days, her first book was published in 2017. “The Mysterious Soldier – Part I” is the first book in the Arid Kingdom series, a story she kept working on for more than 10 years before finally reaching out into the world of published books.

  The story of the Arid Kingdom revolves around the complicated and mysterious lives of the main characters: Selunia and Soris.

  Although Silvens has other fantasy books in store, waiting to be written and published, she will be focusing mainly on the “Arid Kingdom” series.

  You can get in touch with the author by subscribing here:

  fantasybooksland.com/the-arid-kingdom

  or find her on:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinasilvensauthor/

  Twitter: @AridKingdom

  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aridkingdom/

  Bookbub

  Goodreads