Lorkana by Emily Zimmerman. (free e books to read TXT) 📕

true to these words until you join us in the spirit world?”
“I do!”
My father and mother smiled and they both bowed their heads to me “than, in the name of our ancestors, you are Queen Johanna Julian Marianna.”
My mother lifted the crown and gently set it on my head. She smiled and kissed my cheek, and everyone broke out into cheers. I turned around and watched as everyone bowed down to one knee; even Valor had trained his pup to put his head down.
Logan stood first. We both started walking toward each other and met halfway. Without hesitation he pulled me into him and kissed me. We didn’t even notice the cheers that erupted from every side, it was just us. I wrapped my arm around his neck, putting my other hand on his cheek. He pulled away and grinned at me. “You said I could kiss you all I wanted after the ceremony.” He whispered in my ear.
I laughed and pushed his shoulder. We walked by everyone and they bowed their heads saying “your majesty” or “my queen” in greeting.

Just as we entered the main village, we were attacked. Humans, a large number of them, ambushed us. I was pulled away from Logan by arms.
“Logan!” I screamed.
He fighting through a group of humans who were trying to attack him “Johanna!” he yelled.
Before I knew what was happening, I heard a furious bark and then something snapped. The man that was dragging me away suddenly cried out and dropped me. Aileen had her teeth bared and she looked furious.
Logan grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. We started running for the castle, and we were almost there, when everything went black.
Chapter Eleven:

I awoke slowly, squinting against a bright light. When my eyes finally opened and adjusted, I realized I was sleeping in the corner of a room. I lifted my head and looked around, the room was empty, but a tray sat at the door.
I lifted to my feet and stayed against the wall as I heard footsteps approaching. I registered that the bright light was the sun coming from a barred window in front of me.
Two men appeared at my cell door. The door swung open and the man wearing royal clothing stepped in with the other, more humble man.
The man in the royal clothing was tall, with an air of Authority to him; he had sandy blonde hair that was cut short and bright blue eyes. His eyes widened when he saw me, pressed against the wall.
He turned to the man beside him, “you didn’t tell me she was a woman!” he hissed to the man.
“We did not think it important” the other man shrugged.
The man sighed and turned back to me, assessing me with assuring eyes “do not worry, we will not hurt you. The king and queen demand your presence. My name is Prince William Delenaba. What might I ask is your name?” he asked me.
I backed away from him as he moved closer, going to the other side of the room “my name is Johanna. You need not know more” I pushed my hair away from my face, realizing that my clip was gone. That was my mothers’!
That’s when I looked down and realized that my dress was dirty and ruined. Poor dress.
“Please. The king and queen demand to meet you” the Prince said.
I studied him for a second, and then nodded curtly. I walked toward the door, the two men close on my heels. There were a series of prison cells. I searched for my people, they seemed to have gotten away.
“Johanna” a familiar voice came from the cell to my right.
I gasped, forgetting about the two men and walked quickly over to the door. I gripped the bars and looked in at Logan. He strode over to me and gripped my face through the bars with both his hands “my love. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t protect you” he whispered.
“Don’t worry about that now. They won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it.” I stroked his cheek softly.
“Johanna. We must go.” The prince insisted.
Logan sighed and pulled me as close as he could; kissing me briefly through the bars “I love you. I’ll get us out of here, don’t worry” he reached down and entwined his hand with me “we’ll get through this together.”
“Always. I love you too.” I whispered back.
The prince grasped my arm and gently pulled me away, Logan smiled slightly at me “be strong, my love” was the last thing I heard before he was out of sight.
I stared at the ground, feeling a single tear slide down my cheek. “This man, Logan, was the only one we were able to capture. He wouldn’t leave you” the other man murmured.
I didn’t answer; I just played with one of the strands of beads on my dress. Most of the beads were still intact. I just hoped my clip was okay.
“Was I wearing a clip when I came here?” I asked the other man.
The man nodded once and reached into his pocket. He retrieved the clip and handed it to me. I sighed in relief and held it close to my chest.
“I take it the clip means a lot to you” the Prince murmured.
“This clip means more to me than you know” I whispered.
The Prince didn’t answer. I remembered my mothers’ crown as well, but remembered before I blacked out that in all the commotion, it fell.
We were on a winding staircase; one man was in front of me, and one behind. The staircase opened up into the servants residences. They were walking in a line towards a man, whom was untying their bound hands and pointing them to where their jobs would be.
They all glanced at me with inquisitive looks as I passed. I thought it so cruel to tie these people up at night only to make sure they didn’t escape. How would they read? How would they write to their families? It all seemed so cruel.
I used the clip to pull my hair back, and the Prince watched my every movement with a strange look. I knew that look. That was the look Logan used to use on me, I still have not figured out what that look held. Interest? Fascination? I did not know, but it felt very uncomfortable under this mans’ stare.
The strands of hair that got in my face before were now pulled back, and I didn’t have to tuck them behind my ear anymore.
We walked in silence up the next flight of stairs, and that opened up to a grand foyer with vaulted ceilings and large granite pillars. Two pillars stood beside a grand door, one on each side. The door held beautiful carvings; it had been stained dark brown, with a hint of red.
As we approached the door, I noticed two guards leaned against the pillars; both had spears in one hand.
“The king and queen have demanded her presence. Let us through” Prince William told the guards, who immediately complied and opened the door.
The room on the other side was absolutely gorgeous, but I missed the sanctuary of forests around me. This was obviously the throne room, white stone pillars lined up, and behind them were more guards, standing ready to protect their king and queen.
We walked into the room and Prince William stopped me just twenty feet away from the thrones.
On the grand white thrones sat Queen Yuma, and King Labara. They both looked down their noses at me.
“Father, Mother. This is Johanna. She leads the clan of beasts” Prince William bowed his head to them and strode over to his throne, sitting gracefully beside them.
The man whom gave me the clip leaned down on one knee. But I did no such thing. I balled my hands into fists and stood tall “you do not bow, young one, why is that?” Queen Yuma asked me.
“Because I do not bow to those who do not deserve to rule” I spat.
“You think you deserve to rule?” King Labara asked, ignoring the insult.
“One might say that. Yes” I shrugged.
The king and queen laughed, and the man beside me stiffened. “You are no more fit to rule than you are fit to fight. It takes strength, you have to be able to use a sword, you have to be able to make cold decisions to save your kingdom. The people of my kingdom do not love me, they fear me! Your people do not fear you, do they?” the king spat.
I slowly shook my head, smiling up at the king “no. They do not fear me. They respect me. Tell me, if you were attacked by an army, larger than yours, and you needed your people, do you think they would fight for you? Do you think that they would care?” I asked him.
The kings’ jaw set and he stared down at me with hard eyes “they would do it out of fear. And no man can defeat my army” he waved his hand in dismissal.
“Ah. But I disagree. They wouldn’t fear you any longer. They would know that without their help, you would be dead. Would they fight for you out of respect? No. They would not” I shrugged once again.
The king was getting angry, which was my goal. He stared at me with fiery eyes and slammed his hand down on the arm rest of his throne “my army cannot be defeated!” he yelled.
I held my hands up innocently “whatever you say. I’m just stating that my people would fight for me. Your people would just watch you die…your majesty” I mocked.
The king growled and jumped from his seat, he strode over and pulled his sword. I stood my ground as he strode toward me, sword drawn, ready to kill. At the last second, just as he raised his hand, I grabbed him by the wrist and used my strength to squeeze it until he dropped the sword; I caught the sword by the handle and twisted him around, sword at his neck.
“You shouldn’t let your guard down. My king” I said mockingly in his ear. I met eyes with the Prince as he stood, he didn’t make a move to stop me, which was shocking.
I felt a sharp pain in my head and blacked out.

I awoke to the sound of arguing, and the pain of my arms. My arms hung above me, over my head, my wrists were bound and bruised, and I felt weak. My breathing got shallower, and my tried to remember what happened. I couldn’t bring the memory to my mind. It was muddy, hard to remember, but I did remember I was being held prisoner by King Labara, and Queen Yuma.
I recognized the King’s voice, and Prince William, they were arguing heatedly outside the cell I was being held in.
I