Defending the Castle

By James Richard

The Kingdom of Zando and its magnificent Castle on the Hill has always been a source of envy for the kingdoms nearby in this ancient time of magic. Queen Adriana and Duke Arden defended Zando from the evil King Bullato (Read their story in Defending Zando, Book One of the Castle on the Hill Series) and for several years have lived a joyful and fulfilling life. Prosperity and happiness grow each day in the kingdom. The jealousy of the would-be ruler of the nearby kingdom of Dessatto eventually leads to trouble for Zando and its people. The beautiful land of Zando is invaded by the army of the evil Vultro who desires to take over and dwell in its magnificent castle. Book Two of the Castle on the Hill Series, Defending the Castle tells the story of Prince Alland and Princess Delice and their romantic, epic adventures. New creatures, evil sorcerers and magic all endanger the people of the Land of Zando. Now the new generation of royals, Prince Alland and Princess Delice must try to save the kingdom and defend the Castle on the Hill.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Richard
• Release date: Jan 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310352287

James Richard

Retired university professor enjoying a second "career" writing books, creating music and video. Love living here in the desert of Utah, St George. Year-round golf and the clean, clear and dry air of the desert. Hope you will check out my blog and some of my music. Go to Bandcamp, i.e. jimbomedia.bandcamp.com and give a listen. Look for more books in my new series, Castle on the Hill.

Book preview

As the sun slipped over the hill in the east Gattor begin to stir in his bed of straw. A ray of light seemed to almost bore into his forehead as he struggled to rise and face another day of hard work on his small farm. Gattor’s farm was located far to the west of the Castle on the Hill at the edge of the Land of Zando. At the low fence at the edge of his farm he was near to the border of the neighboring Kingdom of Dessatto. On this day he had planned to check his fence at the edge of his land. So, after a meager breakfast, he gathered up his tools and began the short hike to the far western edge of his farm. From the end of his farm he could see for a long distance out over the bordering Land of Dessatto, a kingdom located, for the most part, in the wide desert just beyond the border of the Land of Zando.

Gattor soon reached the western border of his farm and walked along his low fence looking for any breaks that might allow his small herd of cattle to escape, perhaps into the desert and across the border into Dessatto. As he walked slowly along the fence he had his back to the sun as it rose in the blue sky of the warm summer morning. As he looked to the west beyond the fence he suddenly spied a strange object lying in the soft sand of the desert, just beyond what he thought was the border of the Land of Dessatto. He could not believe what his eyes were telling him was lying in the sand. It was a large creature of some kind. Gattor thought to himself, Why doesn’t this creature move? Is it dead or what? Should he take a closer look? To do so involved crossing the border of the Land of Dessatto. He hesitated but finally the curiosity was too strong and he slowly moved toward the strange creature. As he neared the hulk lying in the sand, he nervously looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing no one he dared to slowly walk towards the unknown creature for a closer look. He was astounded to realize that this creature of more than two horses in length and perhaps taller than a standing horse was some sort of giant lizard! Gattor was frightened by the sight of this awful creature and could barely believe he had really seen such a sight. As he turned to hurry away he noticed a detail he had failed to see at first. There was a leather halter attached to the head of the awful beast as if someone had been leading the giant lizard or perhaps riding it. This detail so unnerved Gattor that he picked up his tools and began to run away, back to the safety of his hut.

That night, Gattor pondered what to do about his sighting of the giant lizard and the evidence of some involvement of man in controlling this awful thing. Should I try to tell someone about this strange happening or should I mind my own business? he thought. He decided the best thing to do was to go out there again, even though it frightened him, and be sure of what he saw before telling someone else, someone who might think he was making up such a wild tale.

So, Gattor rose early the next morning from a fitful sleep and walked quickly to the edge of his farm where he had first seen the awful creature. He strained to look toward the Land of Dessatto where he thought he had seen the giant lizard the day before. He could see nothing! Feeling completely confused, he slowly walked closer to the place where the lizard lay before, but he still could see nothing. Finally as he was nearly on top of the site, he could see the tracks of many horses and a deep rut in the sand where it appeared someone had dragged the heavy lizard away to the west, into the Land of Dessatto. Gattor shivered as he had the feeling he was not supposed to see what he had seen yesterday. Right then and there he vowed to keep quiet about what he had seen and to go about his business as if the encounter had never happened. Gattor was too close to the border of Dessatto and too afraid of what he had heard was happening there these days to want to risk any reprisal that might come from disclosing what might be a secret. What are they doing in Dessatto? he wondered. This creature is part of some scheme being hatched in Dessatto, he reasoned and the thought frightened him to his very core.

* * *

Chapter Two - The Castle on the Hill

More than twenty-five years have passed since Queen Adriana and Duke Arden defended the Land of Zando from the evil plans of King Bullato of Grottlyn, the kingdom to the east, to take over Zando after arranging the assassination of King Allandro. King Allandro had been the King of Zando for more than thirty years.

During these last more than twenty years, the Land of Zando had continued to prosper and its people were encouraged to enjoy the many freedoms they had under the rule of the Queen and her Duke. The prosperity and happiness of the Kingdom of Zando was clearly coveted by the neighboring kingdoms. Recently, changes in the ruler of the Kingdom of Dessatto had worried the Queen and Duke Arden. Their concern had prompted them to send some spies to Dessatto to try to keep up with any potential plots that might be brewing in the desert kingdom to the west. Reports from the spies indicated that it was rumored that the new, illegitimate ruler of the Kingdom of Dessatto, Duke Vultro, may want to try some way to invade the Kingdom of Zando and to attempt to take over its lands and subjugate its people. Some of the reports also told of the rumor that some sort of strange creatures were secretly being created by Duke Vultro’s sorcerer, Daken, to aid Vultro’s army. The Queen and the Duke did not want rumors to influence their rule or to cause any panic by their subjects so they took a wait and see approach to any reaction to these rumors until some proof might be forthcoming.

Not only had the people of Zando prospered and happiness had abounded, but also these had been happy, wonderful years for Queen Adriana and Duke Arden. Their love had stood the test of time and blossomed beyond even their most fervent hopes and dreams. A son, Prince Alland was born some eighteen months after their marriage, an event that was welcomed by the magical ringing of the tower bells of the Castle on the Hill. Prince Alland, named after his grandfather, King Allandro, has grown to manhood in the last year of so and had his twenty-second birthday some six months ago. The Prince had followed his mother’s footsteps with serious preparation for the day when he would need to take over the throne of the Kingdom of Zando. He had not only prepared himself as a fierce warrior, but also had in a similar fashion to that of his mother studied the ways of ruling a kingdom, its commerce and relations with other kingdoms. While a serious student, Prince Alland was also a fun-loving young man with dreams of beautiful young ladies spinning in his head at times. He could not help thinking of a particular young woman he met some six months before. He kept these thoughts to himself and even his perceptive mother, the Queen, did not know of his interest in this particular young lady. The Queen was in no great hurry to encourage the Prince to marry and did not press him for his thoughts in that regard. In her mind the Queen thought, There will be much time for the Prince to decide on the women he loves and I will not push him too hard to hurry.

So, the Prince seemed content, for the time being at least, to enjoy the friendship of several