They Came By Sea

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 as told in DEFENDING ZANDO, Book One of the Castle on the Hill Series and for several years lived a joyful and fulfilling life. The jealousy of the would-be ruler of the nearby kingdom of Dessatto eventually leads to trouble for Zando and its people. DEFENDING THE CASTLE, Book Two of the Castle on the Hill Series tells the story of Prince Alland and Princess Delice and their romantic, epic adventures as vicious new creatures, evil sorcerers and magic all endangered the people of the Land of Zando. THEY CAME BY SEA (Book Three of the Castle on the Hill Series is the saga of Prince Elland and Princess Liceia and their romantic, epic adventures after capture by the seafaring warriors of ruthless King Ragar of the Ragons. Enslaved in King Ragar’s conquered castle the young royals meet the young Ragon royals and fall madly in love. Their impossible love is made ever more unlikely by the ensuing sea battle between their homeland kingdom and King Ragar’s armada. Thrown into this horrific battle they must somehow escape and return to their homeland. Reconciliation comes to the two warring kingdoms when the love of the young royals for each other brings peace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Richard
• Release date: Jan 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310621543

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

CASTLE ON THE HILL SERIES

BOOK THREE

THEY CAME BY SEA

JAMES RICHARD

Copyright 2014 James Richard

Published on Smashwords

Formatted by eBooksMade4You

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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CONTENTS

Chapter One- The Beach

Chapter Two- The Kingdom of Dessando

Chapter Three- The Attack on the City of Attaran

Chapter Four- The Warriors Return

Chapter Five- King Alland and Queen Delice React

Chapter Six- The Fate of the Young Royals

Chapter Seven- King Ragar’s Plan

Chapter Eight- Irron’ s Plans for Dessando

Chapter Nine- The Captives

Chapter Ten- New Plans for Captain Villon’s Ship

Chapter Eleven- King Ragar’s Court

Chapter Twelve- The Entertainment Event

Chapter Thirteen- The Kingdom of Dessando Plans for an Invasion

Chapter Fourteen- King Ragar Readies for War

Chapter Fifteen- The Young Royals Meet

Chapter Sixteen- The Ragons Sail Across the Sea

Chapter Seventeen- The Defense of Dessando

Chapter Eighteen- The Captives Plan

Chapter Nineteen- The Dessando Forces Attack

Chapter Twenty- Onboard King Ragar’s Ship

Chapter Twenty-one - The Aftermath

Chapter Twenty two- A Month After the Attack in the Narrows

Chapter Twenty three- A Way Forward

Chapter Twenty four- The State Visit Begins

Chapter Twenty five- An Unhappy Duke

Chapter Twenty six- The Nobles of Dessatto Meet

Chapter Twenty seven- On To the Castle on the Hill

Chapter Twenty eight- Wedding Bells

Postscript

Other Books by Author

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Chapter One- The Beach

Prince Elland and his twin sister, Princess Liceia romped on the beach with some of their young friends. It was a holiday from the rigors of their young lives as royals living with their parents, King Alland and Queen Delice, in castles and preparing for the day when they would reign over the Kingdom of Dessando. They had come to the beach along the Bay of Attar of the Sea of Attolo for a few days recreation with a small group of other young people, the sons and daughters of Nobles of the Kingdom of Dessando. The Prince looked out to sea as he took a few moments rest from the beach games. Something strange was happening! The outline of a large ship could be seen in the distance with its long prow and single tall mast. It was not unusual to see such ships not too far out from the beach of the Sea of Attolo, ships of commerce or perhaps warships from kingdoms across the sea. While the ship was not an unusual sight, it was the streaks of foamy water headed towards the beach that caught Prince Elland’s eyes. Many small objects were headed towards the very spot where he and his friends were on the beach. As these fast-moving objects came ever closer the Prince could see they were warriors riding some kind of large creature slashing through the water at an amazing pace. These strange invaders will be on us in a moment he realized, friend or foe? he wondered

Prince Elland shouted, Take cover, there are warriors coming towards us! By now others in the small group of young royals had seen the fierce-looking warriors and their mounts headed straight for them. No one in the small group of royals from the Kingdom of Dessando had weapons. This was supposed to be a relaxed, fun time, not a battle for survival from warriors attacking from the sea. There was not even time to run away and the small group of young royals were quickly surrounded and taken captive by many rough warriors.

Soon they were left on the beach with a small group of the warriors as guards and the larger contingent moved inland on some unknown mission. The Prince said, Perhaps they intend to pillage Attaran, a small city near the beach. Hoping that the guards could not speak the language of the Kingdom of Dessando, Prince Elland also warned the others not to divulge that they were members of the kingdom’s royal families. So, the young royals waited with fear as to their fate at the hands of the warriors who had suddenly come by sea to attack a city in the Kingdom of Dessando.

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Chapter Two- The Kingdom of Dessando

King Alland and Queen Delice had ruled the Kingdom of Dessando for more than twenty years following the defeat of evil Duke Vultro who had forcibly imprisoned Princess Delice in the High Tower of the Castle of the Plains in the Province of Dessatto and declared himself King. After an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Zando and his death after an attack by an Apeikon, one of the terrible creatures created by his sorcerer Daken, the two kingdoms were joined together as the Kingdom of Dessando. The rightful King and Queen of each former kingdom jointly ruled the new kingdom. King Alland and Queen Delice spent half of their time in the Castle on the Hill in the Province of Zando and the other half in the Castle of the Plains in the Province of Dessatto. Now it was late fall and the King and Queen had just come to the Castle of the Plains to spend the winter months. The Castle of the Plains was inland a short distance from the Bay of Attar. The Bay of Attar was a favorite place for ships from other lands to anchor while pursuing trade with those in