Princess Gwendolyn and the Shadow Clan

By Michael Wolfe

Princess Gwendolyn and her sister, Princess Freida, are kidnapped during a visit to a village. With a narrow escape from their captors and with the assistance from a strange ally named Shadow, both young women are desperate to get home. Unfortunately, they find themselves trapped in unknown territory where rumors of civil uprising abound. Can Shadow be trusted? Can the princesses find their way home before misfortune befalls the royal family? Find out in this exciting tale of Princess Gwendolyn and the Shadow Clan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638746911

Book preview

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Princess Gwendolyn

and the

Shadow Clan

Michael Wolfe

ISBN 978-1-63874-690-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63874-691-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Michael Wolfe

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Michael Wolfe

It was a bright, sunny day at Castle Widestone where there lived a powerful royal family. Castle Widestone was a large gray castle sitting atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. It had a large courtyard for people to mingle, several towers, and large colorful windows of various shapes and images. King George Winchester was a muscular, bald tall man with a black mustache and beard, a blue eye on the right and the other covered in a black leather patch, and he wore various furs for clothing. He was generally a serious man, but he had one of the kindest hearts in the land. He often would try to teach his daughters survival and fighting skills. Queen Grace Winchester was up to her husband’s shoulders in height, had raven-black hair, deep-blue eyes, pale skin, and wore an elegant long white dress. Queen Grace was the embodiment of grace, wisdom, kindness, and patience. She did regularly lecture her daughters and tried to impart knowledge of kingdoms, ruling, and etiquette.

The queen was mother to two beautiful princesses: Princess Gwendolyn Winchester, the older by two years at nineteen years old, and her sister, Princess Freida Winchester. Both girls looked very similar to each other and had raven-black hair, deep-blue eyes, cream-colored skin, and currently donned in brown leather armor. Both girls, however, had very different personalities. Princess Gwendolyn was incredibly shy, timid, had a negative self-image, and was always worried about something. Princess Freida was bold, brash, felt etiquette was tedious and was always getting into trouble. Both sisters loved each other very much and were inseparable, often relying on one another for support or guidance.

The king was the ruler of the Kingdom of Bloomburg, a prosperous young island nation that was created by the unification of five major families. The Winchesters were the royal family and owned many of the mines and farms. They were a group of pale people, with blond, black, or brown hair, various-colored eyes, and favored cloth or leather clothes. The Mwangi Tribe was a group of warriors that excelled at combat and war tactics. They were a tribe of dark brown people, mostly had dark-colored brown eyes, decorated with paints, bone piercings, neck rings and often wore furs.

The artisans of the country were the Chen Clan, a large group of people from Chijakonam that specialized in crafting and blacksmithing. They were a group of people with black or brown hair, mostly had dark-colored brown monolid eyes, and various skin tones from marble white to deep brown. The fourth group was the Argawal Tribe. They were a group of tanned, dark-haired people, had dark-colored brown eyes who wore various silk robes and garments as well as various gold piercings. They were experts in trade, caravan supply lines, and economics. The fifth and final clan of the island nation was the Philip Clan. They specialized in sea travel and fishing. They, like the Winchester Clan, were pale, had blond, brown, or black hair, various-colored eyes, and often wore leather or cloth clothing.

Both Princess Gwendolyn and Princess Freida were currently sparring while being watched by their father and their trainer, Chief Mwangi. Chief Mwangi was a tall dark bald man with various bone piercings, brightly colored garments which loosely hung on him, and leather sandals. He was the best warrior of his tribe and not only led the training of his tribe but elected to train the princesses in order to protect them.

Princess Gwendolyn was currently using a short sword and shield, while Princess Freida favored the spear. They clashed, dodged, jabbed, and blocked again and again in a fluid, graceful movement.

King George called out, Nice form, girls. I think we found your favorite weapons to use. I must say, Chief Mwangi, you have certainly trained my daughters well.

Chief Mwangi nodded his head. Your Majesty, I train them as I would any one of my warriors, and they absorb the skill with incredible vigor and grace. I must say they are quickly becoming the most skilled fighters in the land with bow, sword and shield, and spear.

King George smiled. Well, I knew if anyone could train them to be the best, it was the leader of all the greatest warriors old friend. King George clapped Chief Mwangi on the shoulder like a friend.

Chief Mwangi pulled away and faced the king with a bow. You honor me, Your Majesty. I live to serve the king of Bloomburg. I’m afraid I must go now to return to my clan, he replied.

Chief Mwangi bowed again and turned to leave but looked back at the king with disgust, unnoticed by all. He, like all the other leaders, secretly loathed the king and wanted to rule the land for themselves. Both princesses stopped and waved goodbye to the chief and wished him a safe trip. The chief smiled and waved as he left. He may not have the throne himself, but his son would, no matter what.

Two people suddenly approach the king—a woman with tanned skin, with several piercings, black hair and eyes, and covered in several silk shawls and dresses. The other is a shorter man with monolid eyes, black hair tied in a long ponytail, and wearing a brown conical hat and green changshan.

The woman was Ambassador Argawal, and she spoke quickly, Your Majesty! My clan, the tradesmen, are in dire need of your assistance at the moment, sire—

The other new person was Ambassador Chen, and he quickly interrupted, Your Majesty! My clan, the craftsmen, are also in dire need of your help at this very moment.

Both ambassadors struggled to get close to the king in order to get his attention first. Princess Gwendolyn was immediately nervous and shy at the sight of even more important people. She was a very shy princess, and while she frequently tried to be braver, she often left boldness to her sister. However, she knew she had to improve, so she gathered up her courage to speak to the ambassadors.

Princess Gwendolyn called out, Ambassadors, you honor us with your presence!

Both princesses bowed, and the ambassadors bowed in return. King George knew these two ambassadors would pick at him until he dealt with whatever issues they demanded, so he resigned himself to his duties.

He turned to his daughters and said, Okay, girls, let’s call it a day. Take the day and enjoy yourselves while I sort this out.

Both girls hugged their father and quickly stowed their weapons but remained in their armor. Princess Gwendolyn was a little pleased with herself for being more open, but her heart still fluttered from that moment. Princess Gwendolyn noticed a small cut on the back of Princess Freida’s left forearm. She immediately panicked, Freida, you’re wounded!

Princess Freida looked at her arm and barely even shrugged. Oh, well, it’s nothing to worry about, she said simply.

Nonsense, come here. You could get an infection, Princess Gwendolyn replied, exasperated.

Princess Freida laughed. Okay, Mom, whatever you say.

Princess Gwendolyn rolled her eyes as she put her left hand over the wound, and a soft white glow briefly appeared after much concentration. Within seconds, she pulled the hand away, and the wound was healed. A few years ago, Princess Gwendolyn suddenly had this strange ability to heal small wounds with her hands. Even though she could rarely call upon the skill, it