THE HAUNTED KINGDOM 3 by CHARLES E.J. MOULTON (ereader that reads to you .txt) 📕

it.”
“The sky is so beautiful from up here.”
”I love it here in the mornings. So happy I can experience it again.”
He embraced her with his left arm. “With you.”
There was a thought in Belinda’s head forming.
Alexander could hear it tingle and wait to pop out.
“Dad?”
”Yes.”
”Do you miss them?”
”Who?”
”The angels. I heard you talk to yourself and you sounded just like Michael.”
Alexander looked at Belinda and smiled, shaking his head. “You are a psychic.” He nodded. “Yes. I do miss them. I miss their advice. I miss their conversation. I miss their love. I miss the campfires. The way Raphael pokes around in the fire while he talks.” He made the gesture, imitating Raphael. “I miss that.” He sighed again.
Belinda took him in her arms and said: “You don’t need to miss them, because they are in you, you are in them now. You have completed tasks no one in life yet has completed. You are the only soul that has personally saved 36 souls, no --- 37 including yourself, from the jaws of hell and escaped and now is standing here as proof of it all. Proof that light is what counts.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Inspiration and light and love and emotion. Be proud of that, Dad. Be proud of yourself.”
Alexander smiled. “Daughter.”
”Yes?”
”Be proud of yourself, as well, yes? You have taken us all pretty far. Without you, there would have been no journey at all. You saved me.”
She nodded. “Then stay on these roads, don’t go back to that fear.”
“I wouldn’t know why. I am now in full control. Fear has left me. Her name was always Lucinda.”
Belinda shook her head. “Lucinda had nothing to do with it. You were always in control of that fear. But you let it conquer you, just like I did. Don’t let that happen again.”
Alex nodded.
“Promise?”
”I promise.”
With that, the two were interrupted by Theodore who came rushing in to the room without knocking.
They looked over their left shoulders toward the open door.
He was holding a beige parchment lowered in his right hand. He was panting.
“Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t knock. I can come back if you like.”
His lips was trembling. It looked as if he was laughing.
They both shook their heads. “No, no. What is the matter?”
Theodore laughed aloud this time, holding the document in the air.
“Very strange story this, Sire!”
Alexander took a step toward Theo.
“What is that in your hand?”
“I thought you would be here, it always used to be your morning ritual.” He handed the king this document. “Happy you are here. You need to … hear this.”
He walked up to Alex, hugged him, then stepped back.
Then he hugged Belinda.
“Just had to hug you both, sorry.”
Belinda caressed his cheek. “No need for apologies. There is no hierarchy among spirits.”
He nodded and smiled, happily. “Yes.” He sighed, calmly. “You are right. We are all first and foremost spirits now.”
They took a long look at each other.
Alex waited and waited and waited. It almost seemed as if the two had fell in love.
He cleared his throat.
“Oh.” Theo said, confused.
Alex softly indicated at the parchment paper.
“What is that, Theo my boy?”
He lifted the paper and laughed, not being able to believe it.
“This document was delivered just now, with yesterday’s date here on the top, by” Theo laughed to himself, embarrassed, “a bird.”
Alexander shook his head. “Delivered here by a … bird?”
Theo nodded.
“What kind of bird, Theo?”
”Magnificent thing, Sire. It is the most magnificent bird I have seen. An eagle.”
Belinda and Steven looked at each other, astounded.
“Sits there on the left lion on the pillar by the main gates.” Theo shrugged. “Just sits there and looks around, just looks at you with these big eyes, refuses to leave.”
He had a red box around his neck tied to it with a blue ribbon. In it was this.”
Theo handed him the paper.
Alexander looked at it.
Wonderful writing, it stuck out and seemed to glow in its own light and was not written with any normal pen. He did not know what kind of ink this was.
Alex could not say how long he held that document. He only knew that he could not place where he heard about this letter before. He remembered a campfire. He remembered … why was this familiar? It was the declaration of the defeat of the darkness.
It was an official document that told everyone who read it that
“Should I read it for you?”
Belinda put her head on his shoulder and said, softly:
“I can read myself.”
Alex looked at his daughter and she smiled, teasingly. “But still, I love hearing your voice. Read.”
Theo smiled as Alex lifted the paper and cleared his throat.
There was a feeling of mutual trust, way beyond anything he had experienced.
He knew that this letter was an official document and still nothing more than a personal letter from an angel, whether the sender was human or not. He knew that he had gone through hell to get here. He knew that he wanted to hug his daughter and tell her how much he loved her.
Before he did so, he read this parchment paper aloud to his two friends.

September 24th 1425

By way of messenger to H.M. King Alexander Ruler of Prosperania

The legend tells us that our countries have fought each other for centuries.
Since John ripped the initial Prosperanian Militia Treaty in two on the 17th of March 1106,
the battle in our area has raged on.
Greater Nocturania was born on July 2nd 1108, defeated on May 6th 1168 to form Prosperania’s smaller western neighbour, Nocturania.
Since then these two neighbours have battled endlessly.
THIS BATTLE IS NOW OVER.
WE FORFEIT.
OUR LEADER IS DEAD.

Officially, by the signed party, this much can be stated:
Every possible heir to the throne from the supreme Reign of the Johnathans has died by the former ruler’s own hand.
Therefore, no other heir is left at all here who can be legally assigned to rule the country.

Since 1108, John and his ancestors have ruled this land. But due to the work of Adnicul Nocturne, who now in this document verifiably is stated to be deceased, they too are all dead by his own hand, an act that took place chiefly in the 1390’s and early 1400’s, whence his takeover to the throne took place, alongside his aide-de-champ Lucinda Winsletenna.

This morning, shortly before sunrise on the 24th of September 1425, I, the signed party, acting as only surviving member of the militia ministry, found Adnicul Nocturne’s body unclad without eye patch by his fireplace. His hair was tied in a ponytail in the back as it once had been when he first came to the country in 1390 and his hands were folded on his stomach
There was a white sheet covering his body.
A small note was attached to the white sheet.
The note read: “Alexander, thank you for saving my soul, Love, the original angel”

On the other side of the room lay a dead raven.
The raven’s beak was open and it had a green stone in its beak.
When properly examined the green stone seemed to be of no value, so it was thrown in an underground lake in a nearby cave, where I myself witnessed it cracking open and falling into many pieces. The raven itself was interesting specimen and it is not clear if it has anything to do with the death of His Majesty King Adnicul.
All that can be said is that it was a raven and that it had a burn mark on it beak, the letter L.

Due to these circumstances, Adnicul’s staff and I have had a crisis meeting,
around the recent break of day.
We have inner troubles, poverty, a problem with rape attacks mostly by the Fraytollah pirates.
There is food shortage. There are gypsy attacks and there is draught.

We were once a part of your nation, prior to the 1108 takeover.
Due to our lack of sufficient aid and kingship, we ask thee humbly to consider the prospect of taking us under our protection or helping us form a new nation, maybe under new name, new leadership. This is a plea from someone who wishes to reshape the country.

You might ask us why we seek your help so suddenly after attacking your countryside.
The answer is that King Adnicul was the only one left hold the country together.
His initiative to terrorize your country was the only reason to do so.
He had the entire militia against him and this was the only official secret left here.
The pirates and crooks from the Fraytollah Harbour were used in the wars, but had never made it that far without Adnicul’s help. The official militia was always close to rebellion and it was often said that if Adnicul was dead, there would be no victory for Nocturania, for good or ill.
Within an hour of Adnicul’s death, this letter was sent by air by the fastest bird we have.
We expect it to reach your palace in approximately four hours.

It is sent to you by an eagle, the symbol of the philosophers among evangelists. The Nocturanian Eagle, to be precise. A bird we share with your country in our symbol, I believe as the fastest flyer among beasts. It is unorthodox, but highly dependable, to use it for this purpose.
And so, by air, this message reaches you.
We hope you take it seriously.

There is one last thing, though.
By Adnicul’s dead corpse was his long lost family tree.
This might be surprising to you to hear and might influence you to discard this document as false, but I assure you that these facts are true.
His family origin had always been a mystery, but now it is revealed due to a family tree we did not know existed and whose origin we are unable to trace.
As we said, no one knows who put him there in this position by the fire or how he died, only that he was found dead before dawn today and this by a sheer coincidence.

Adnicul’s father, this much was known, was a gypsy, a traveller robber and pirate.
He came from a long line of pirates who all travelled the plains of Africa stealing from the rich with the Gfuhre Raiders. A long line of fathers and sons and occasionally daughters were responsible for horrid crimes against the rich ever since the 7th century.
Adnicul’s family tree can be traced back to Zeltar Winsletenna, John’s bastard son who escaped Clurafar on May 6th 1168 and joined the raiders.

The circle is now completed.

So, you see, Adnicul was in many ways your own brother.
Nocturania was born in a family feud on July 2nd 1108 and died on September 24th 1425.
This is the official document verifying this fact.

We eagerly await your reply.

I am willing to come to Clurafar to discuss the official details and eventually conjure up a plan how
to ‘clean up’ areas such as the Fraytollah Harbour.

Signed,

Zelat G. Murani

Zelat G. Murani
Former Nocturanian Minister of the Militia
Grand Hall
Rigor Mortis
Nocturania
September