Hello! Here it is chapter 8. Let me know what you think of it. And for those of you, that were wondering if I had a web site. No, but I am working on it. I'll let you know, when it's finished. Feel free to email with your comments, good or bad, at: royalant@pacbell.net or mharris3@earthlink.net! All the usual disclaimers apply. Happy reading! Lady M. Harris.

 

MOONLIGHT MIDNIGHT GLORY

 

 

Chapter 8

 

The Past...

 



'Who hurt you, Darien....Who hurt you, Darien...?'



 

'You can't make me come with you. I don't give a damn, if you are my real father. I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you!' A fourteen year old Darien spat out as he stood defiantly before the King and his large party of guards. His regal father, a younger version of King Damian, sat upon his steed, furious. Behind him, on another mount, his new wife, Queen Augusta. There was a slight frown marring her brow as she gazed down her husband's out of wedlock child....

 

 

'Little-Water-Weaver, what do you think you're doing with my weapons?' An almost twelve year old Darien asked the petite, dark haired, blue-eyed girl with large curls before him. Exasperated, yet amused with his little half sister's tactics. He waited patiently for her answer.

'Umghh! Umghh!' The little toddler of nineteen months voiced as she raised her chubby hand forward, as if indicating that she was giving him his weapons. Instead of just being caught playing with them....

 

 

'I'm resigning my position, sire.' The balding tutor said. He was the fifth tutor to resign in a year.

'What?' King Damian shouted angrily, as he got up from his position behind his desk. 'Explain yourself, sir!' He demanded. What has that insolent whelp done this time, Damian thought, frustrated.

'Your majesty, he has no need of my services! I have never seen intelligence as his! What he lacks is manners!' The tutor replied. Never mind, that he had seen the young boy boredly play with his pencil. The pencil would dance around in the classroom, delighting his pupil with its clever attics. Scaring the wits out of his tutor. Not to mention the incredible intelligence, that answered each problem with accuracy and sometimes before he had had a chance to finish either voicing or writing the problem on the chalkboard.

'I know he lacks manners! What is this, about his intelligence?' King Damian demanded.

'These books,' The tutor lifted up in his hands, various books of many subjects. 'mean nothing to him. I tested him in all the subjects and he knew all the answers. How is that possible with a boy who has never studied anything in his life until this year?' The tutor finished, amazed....

 

 

'Where's papa, Mama? How come Chi-Chi has a real papa and I don't, Mama?' A small, six year old Darien asked the lovely, dark-haired woman who was busy weaving in their small hut.

'Don't you love Swift-Wind?' His mother asked, smiling as she reached over to kiss his brow, a dark lock of jet, black hair fell over his brow. She sighed as she saw the tiny frown marring his young face.

'Yeah.' He said as his interest was caught again by the way she weaved so swiftly. His mama was the fastest weaver in the entire tribe. Her tribal name was "Dream-Weaver". The namesake pertaining to the fact of her amazing accuracy in foretelling events that would happen in the future, from the dreams she had. Her real name was Lily.

'Chi-Chi says you can't become a true warrior, unless you are of the people? Is that so?' His voice cracked. He wanted to become the mightiest warrior their tribe had ever seen. It didn't seem fair that you had to be born into the people. Swift-Wind loved him. Grandmama, Sun-in-the-Sky loved him, too. He felt as if he had been born into the people. It was all he knew and loved.

Lily clucked her tongue, 'Chi-Chi's telling you a story!' Then she chuckled. 'If your heart desires to become a warrior,' she pointed to his chest, making him giggle. 'Then all that matters is what you feel. The All-Knowing-One knows what is in the heart of those who follow him. Now, do you understand?' Darien smiled sweetly and nodded his head. The question he had asked earlier, forgotten....

 

 

'Damian, they say your son has earned his warrior name and that vagabond, Malachite has joined him!' Queen Augusta huffed, upset.

Her husband continued to ignore her, his gaze rapidly reading the papers before him. Angry, she tried to goad him, instead. 'For a young man of eighteen with an exulted position and prestige, he needs to be conducting himself properly! Not running around the country wild like those savages, he calls family. Damian, are you listening to me?' She demanded. She knew how much Damian had loved Lily and how strong his love was for his son. It urked her as no other, that she could not produce a child in their marriage. At least, she would have had a chance to compete against a ghost....

 

 

'She died still loving you! It was your name she called for, not Swift-Wind's! I hate you!' A strapping, sixteen year old Darien shouted to his father as they stood in the tutoring chambers, almost nose to nose. He watched as his father blanched at the mention of Lily's last words. He wanted to punch his father's face. The violence in him was making him tremble with the effort not to act. It should have been Swift-Wind's name his mother called. Not this excuse of a father. Swift-Wind had loved his mother, even after the fact that Lily had still loved Damian. Swift-Wind had also taken in Darien, as if he had been his real son and had loved him as his own.

'That will be eoungh from you, young man!' King Damian yelled back as he smacked Darien hard across the face. 'I loved her, too! How was I to know that she was pregnant with you, when she ran away?'

'Liar! You never even bothered to look for us!' Darien glared, furious as he wiped the blood from his nose.

'I did look for her! She was already married to that tribal man by the time I found her! I had no idea who you were, until her will was read!' King Damian replied, his shoulders sagging, He already admitted to defeat, where his son was concerned. How could he convince his stubborn son of his love for Lily and for him, when all his efforts were met with a wall of ice.

'I don't believe you and I never will.'

'Don't believe me then, but you are my only heir to this kingdom and you will take your studies seriously and you will conduct yourself as a prince does! Someday you will be king to this planet and you must know how to rule it!' King Damian empathized....