David Bishop and the Legend of the Orb by T.C. Crawford (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

behind the soldier’s left leg. He shoved the soldier over, causing him to fall backward into the air. In mid fall, Tyrius swiftly dropped his elbow square in the soldier’s face, crushing his nose and slamming him to the ground. He immediately followed with a staggering punch to the soldier’s forehead, knocking him unconscious.

Tyrius wasn’t in the mood for games. He had to find Erin, and nothing was going to stand in his way.

Chapter XXII

David awoke as the sun peered through the curtains at the window by his bed and slipped onto his eyes. He slowly stretched and let out an enormous yawn, happy to have had such a wonderful night of sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept so well.

Ever since Rex had defeated his uncle and won back his right to the throne he had been treated like royalty. His room was vast with the softest mattress and pillows he had ever slept on. It seemed like sleeping on fluffy clouds, he would just sink in wherever he lay. The thick velvety blankets were warm and soft and complimented the inviting colors of the room.

His room was equipped with a large cedar chest next to his bed to store his belongings and a dark cherry oak dresser filled with clean clothes to wear. The walls were painted a nice light crème color with a dark brown trim near the top and bottom to complement the polished wooden floors. He thought he could really get used to this.

The stewards brought him his breakfast in the morning and anything he could possibly imagine eating whenever he wished. Dinner had been served in the large formal dining room that was furnished with elegantly carved, yet still comfortable, chairs; all of which were evenly space around a large matching table. The table was topped with cast bronze candle sticks that sported lightly scented candles and was lined with fruit bowls intermittently spaced around the table.

It was refreshing being treated to such luxurious standards after having been out in the wilderness and fleeing for their lives for the past week. But as much as David enjoyed the new standards he was being treated to; he knew it was only temporary. They were only staying here as long as it took for Rex to convince the council members to agree to send the bulk of the army off to help return freedom back to the Northern Kingdom. They seemed to be a little more hardheaded than he remembered.

It had only been two days since his uncle’s defeat, but already Rex had made some important changes to help prepare for the coming conflict. He ordered that the soldiers begin more active training in order to prepare for the coming battle. He felt they were all too soft from going so long without any major conflicts. Most of the younger soldiers hadn’t even been in a real battle. This greatly concerned him.

His community was settled by battle-hardened soldiers who would strike fear in the hearts of any enemies they encountered. Those men were warriors. Some of the men who stood before him now weren’t ready for such a conflict…he was determined to change that.

He also decided to increase production from the local smithies and shops to prepare more gear for his army, providing extra weapons and armor to help with their campaign in taking back the heavily fortified city of Eldergate.

He named a new council head after having found his uncle’s most trusted advisor reluctant to accept the change of rule. He was also the one who benefitted the most from his uncle’s policies and had become quite wealthy from his relentless support of them, even when they didn’t benefit the majority of the people.

He filled the vacancy with a man named Taylor Cuthbert. He proved to be a trusted advisor and was also a childhood friend of his. He made sure that Taylor supported his desire to rid the growing evil from Eldergate before appointing him Council Head, knowing that his vote would hold more weight in the council than the others.

He needed a two thirds vote in favor of his campaign in order to get approval to send his army down the mountain and across the plains into the Northern Kingdom, but Taylor assured him that if he gave him a couple of days he would be able to get their approval. It had been two days and still the vote hadn’t been settled on the matter. He was growing impatient, and time was wearing thin.

When David had finished with his hot meal of poached eggs and crispy bacon, he decided to make his way down to see if Rex was up and moving. As he walked into the corridor that led from his room down to the hallway, he ran into Orin who was also coming out of his room just down the hall.

They walked together down the long, carpeted hallway and veered to their right once they reached the end. The walkway consisted of a rectangular series of halls that overlooked the main floor of the entrance hall with small jutting balconies sporadically placed throughout that provided an overlook to the space below. The hallways all led to the enormous stairway in the center of the chamber.

As they walked down the halls towards the main stairway they passed elaborately decorated corridors on their right that stretched far into the castle, housing untold numbers of guest rooms and private studies, most of which were empty this time of year. The other hall consisted of the castle staff’s living quarters and were occupied year-round.

Most of the walls, no matter where they looked, were decorated with colorful oil paintings and portraits and were lined with gold-plated sconces supporting large candles that were replaced every night to keep up the clean, well-groomed appearance of the castle.

At the end of each hallway a large window sent light stretching down each corridor – the surrounding mountains and rolling green hills