Guardian of the Gauntlet, Book II

By Lenita Sheridan

After Camari receives a note attached to a bird from the Gnomes of Nurrocon, she realizes she must enlist Isryk's aid. They are about to voyage across the sea to help the gnomes retrieve crystals from the Magnite Sea which is guarded by a monster named the Great Vanthor. What follows is a quest full of pitfalls and perils. How they achieve this quest with the aid of the gauntlet is what this book is all about.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781631924927

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http://www.LenitaSheridan.com

I. THE MESSAGE

Four years had passed since Camari had seen Isryk. During the winter, a blizzard settled upon the land. It was snowing as far south as Bredin.

Prince Isryk stood in his room on the second floor of Bredin Castle looking through the glass of a long narrow window into a whirl of falling snowflakes. He wondered if it was snowing more heavily in Harroway and thought of Camari. He hadn’t seen her in the past four years and had only memories of her. Isryk considered the gauntlet and remembered his awe at the ability Camari had to make just about anything appear or disappear with it. The meditative look on her face and the way she held the glove, lifting it as a falconer would to a falcon, was forever an image in his mind.

The prince had missed the princess for several weeks after leaving Harroway and hoped that she would send for him soon. When weeks passed and he still hadn’t heard from her, not even a message, he resigned himself to loneliness, for other than Tanira, who really hadn’t much upstairs. Hamil was away much of the time, and besides that, what Isryk really wanted was some intelligent female companionship. He indulged himself much of the time with memories of Camari.

The prince still dreamed once in awhile that a message would come from Camari saying that she needed him. He imagined one of King Shandar’s men would be announced and would come in carrying a scroll. Your highness, the messenger would say, An urgent communication comes from her highness, the Princess Camari of Harroway. He would open the scroll and read its contents. It would impart some knowledge of a difficult adventure at which only he, Isryk, could assist. There would also be some indication of how much she missed him and was eager to see him again. Then of course he would order his men to saddle a horse; he would mount it and set off at a gallop for Harroway. These dreams became fewer and fewer as time went by. Isryk resolved that if such an event did occur, he would be very cautious, not ecstatic about it, and when he did see Camari he would not act the besotted fool. He would make it clear that he was only there because she needed him, not because he needed her.

Isryk watched as the snow began to pile up on the castle grounds, sticking even to the walkways. The moat had long since frozen and now the ice was covered with snow. There was only a small indentation encircling the castle.

Camari was also watching the snow out the window. It showered down past her window in a white waterfall, a curtain through which she had to peer to see out. The panes of the window were latticed with lead and framed with wood. They opened down the middle like shutters. Camari pushed the window open and stuck out first a hand and then her head; she quickly pulled back in after getting a taste of the wetness and cool air, but left the window ajar. A kipsee, which was a trained messenger bird, landed on the windowsill; a small scroll of paper was encased in a band around one of its legs. The bird was brown and yellow speckled and was about the size of Camari’s fist. Carefully, Camari steadied the bird, lifted out the paper from the band, unrolled it, and read. To Her Royal Highness, the Princess Camari: We have heard about the great good you have done for your realm with the gauntlet and wondered if you could help ours, she read. A great treasure has been stolen from us. It must be recovered. As it is we have no power to light and heat our caverns and thus have not been able to do any mining. Please help us. And it was signed: The Gnomes of Nurrocon.

The princess stared at the note, marauded by myriad thoughts. She had a decision to make, which was one of them. The others consisted of memories. After the gauntlet had been bestowed upon Camari, Isryk had returned to Bredin while she remained at Castle Harroway. She found plenty of use for the gauntlet right at home. For one thing, she had increased the harvest. The short growing season, in a land that was winter nine months of the year, could not be lengthened, nor did she desire to do so. Camari had grown up with the snow and loved it, and so did many other inhabitants of Harroway. Sledding and sleigh riding, and ice fishing were activities enjoyed by many citizens of Harroway, especially now that the kingdom had increased its wealth. There were special winter festivals with torch-lit parades and ice sculpture contests. Even little things would be missed such as the sound of crunching feet in the snow and the brightness of the reflection of light off the snow, making Harroway a pure world of dazzling whiteness. Then there were the things that the snow kept away, such as the nasty biting bugs that emerged in the summer. No, she had decided to keep the long winter, so instead she increased the output of the crops. She tripled yield for the summer from what it had been before. Now Harroway was no longer a poor kingdom. This high yield meant that the princesses were better clothed and the peasants better fed and housed. By trading some of their surplus with Bredin, the kingdom could now put glass in the windows of its castle. Bredin was well known for its fine glassmakers. Her sister Mila had been able to have an elaborate wedding. Camari looked at the note again and thought: Maybe it would be good to get away for awhile. Camari was crushed when she returned to find her sister engaged to Denir. She thought she had gotten over Denir, but seeing them married had brought tears to her eyes. She was glad it was acceptable to cry at