The Royal Pursuit
Authors: Ruth Ann Nordin
Tags: #romance, #love, #earth, #fantasy, #contemporary, #queen, #greek mythology, #clean romance, #atlantis, #romantic fantasy
Enchanted Galaxy Series:
Book 3
The
Royal
Pursuit
Ruth Ann Nordin
The Royal Pursuit - Smashwords
Edition
Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at
Smashwords
Copyright © 2015 by Ruth Ann
Nordin
All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.
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Notes:
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permission.
Wedded Bliss Romances, LLC
http://www.ruthannnordin.com
To Paula Freda who has always been a tender and kind soul. May
God richly bless you.
Chapter
One
Location: Outside the Royal
Palace
Planet: Raz
Galaxy: Enchanted
Ann, the Queen of Raz, sat on a chair,
enjoying the warm sunny afternoon. It was another perfect day. It
seemed that every day on this planet was perfect. Even the rainy
days inspired her. She glanced at the beautiful flowers in the
gardens next to the lawn where she and her children were
playing.
“
Mommy, what is this?”
Katherine asked, breaking Ann out of her thoughts.
Ann turned her attention back to her
daughter, who was holding a fuzzy black caterpillar. She grimaced
at the bug. As pretty as Raz was, she still didn’t like the bugs.
She wasn’t much of an outdoors person, although she did enjoy
taking walks through the palace grounds. She knew her children
loved playing outside in their sandbox and swing set, so she took
them out whenever her busy schedule permitted.
“
That’s a caterpillar,” Ann
finally told her three-year-old daughter.
“
I like it. It’s soft.”
Katherine grinned as she petted it. “Can I keep it?”
“
I think it will be happier
if you let it stay out here with its friends.”
“
It has
friends?”
“
Sure. All creatures have
friends.”
Matthew, Ann’s fourteen-month-old son,
waddled up to Katherine to see what she was holding.
His steps were still uncertain, for he
was still learning to walk on his own, but he managed to get to his
destination without falling down. He reached out to touch the
caterpillar, but Katherine quickly pulled back her hands and
shrieked that it was hers.
“
Let him see it,
Katherine,” Ann said. She picked him up and put him on her lap.
“There. Now he won’t touch it.”
Katherine hesitated for a moment but
finally brought the caterpillar near him so he could see
it.
Ann still couldn’t believe how much
they resembled Hathor. They had his blond hair and light blue eyes.
They did have her curls. Her long brown hair was currently pulled
back in a ponytail. She usually wore her silk dresses, but today
she was relaxing in her cotton shorts and sleeveless t-shirt. It
wasn’t often she got a day off from her duties to sit around in her
Earth clothes, so she definitely enjoyed it whenever she got the
chance.
Matthew giggled as the caterpillar
crawled up Katherine’s arm.
“
Daddy!” Katherine cried.
She dropped the caterpillar and ran to Hathor, who had just walked
onto the lawn.
Ann screamed as the caterpillar fell
on her leg and shoved it away.
Matthew giggled again.
“
Don’t worry. Your secret
is safe with me,” Hathor said as he picked up Katherine. He walked
over to Ann and Matthew. “Nobody will know the same person who
killed Omin was defeated by a harmless caterpillar.”
She smiled at his humor. “Yeah well,
no one’s perfect.”
He bent over and kissed her. “How are
things going?”
“
Great. We’re just enjoying
the nice day.”
“
I can’t wait for next
month,” he said.
“
It’ll be five years since
we got married.” Where did the time go? It seemed like it was
yesterday when he brought her to Raz to become queen.
“
Five wonderful years,” he
said.
She agreed with him. It hadn’t always
been easy to adjust to her life on Raz or being married, but she
was glad that she was here and wouldn’t change it for
anything.
Matthew wiggled out of Ann’s arms and
ran to the sandbox where he picked up the ball sitting in it and
quietly studied it.
“
Can I pick some flowers?”
Katherine asked as Hathor put her down.
“
Alright but stay where I
can see you,” Ann replied.
She hurried for the garden next to
them.
Hathor sat beside Ann and held her
hand. “They sure are cute at this age. Next year, I will start
teaching Katherine about Raz.”
“
Will you have time to
teach her when you’re studying other life forms on neighboring
planets?” Ann asked.
Currently, it was part of his job to
brief her on any alien creatures who had any interaction with Raz
since there was a lot she still had to learn, especially
considering the fact that she was born and raised on
Earth.
“
Athen will take over that
aspect of my job when I begin my role as teacher. Usually, the job
would go to my brother, but since I don’t have siblings, it goes to
Athen because he’s my cousin.”
Athen was two years older than Hathor
and the son of Hathor’s uncle. Athen’s current role in the palace
was to supervise the servants and keep the palace in proper
order.
“
I think you do an
excellent job as the king,” she said as she squeezed his
hand.
His eyes lit up at her compliment. “I
wish I could say I’m only out here to spend time with you and the
kids, but I came out here because the Augurs have requested to
speak with you.”
“
The Augurs?” In her five
years as queen, she hadn’t heard of them.
“
I’m not fully aware of who
they are. They are from planet Aug in the Mythical Galaxy. They are
known best for their trustworthiness because they cannot lie. They
are deeply loyal to their allies.”
So far she liked the way they sounded,
but noting the hesitation in his voice, she urged him to
continue.
“
They insist on having
things done their way,” he said. “They refuse to compromise with
anyone.”
She blinked, not expecting a species
to be so rigid. “What do they want with us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. They
didn’t say. They just insisted on coming here in three days to
discuss a possible alliance.”
“
That doesn’t make sense.
Did Raz ever have anything to do with them in the past?”
“
No. I’m just as confused
by this as you are. Out of nowhere, they decide they want to be our
allies. There is no reason to suspect their motives are negative
because they wouldn’t express their desire to be our friends unless
they meant it.”
“
Because they never
lie.”
“
Right.”
She sighed. “Did they say anything
else?”
“
No.”
“
Apparently, they can be
vague, too.”
“
What do you want to
do?”
“
Do you have any idea why
they are suddenly interested in Raz?”
“
No. I’m sorry, but I can’t
be of much help. You’re going to have to do what you think is best
for Raz.” He leaned over and kissed her. “You will make the right
choice.”
She appreciated his confidence in her,
but sometimes, like now, she doubted her own abilities. She didn’t
understand why a species that had never had any involvement with
Raz in the past would suddenly be interested in meeting
her.
She briefly noted that Matthew hopped
out of the sandbox and walked over to the garden where Katherine
was happily picking some daisies.
“
What is on my schedule
three days from now?” she asked, turning her attention back to
Hathor.
“
Nothing but the usual
combat lesson, which can easily be rescheduled to accommodate the
Augurs’ arrival.”
She took a deep breath. She wasn’t too
thrilled with the Augurs insisting on meeting her three days from
now without even asking her if it would be convenient, but Hathor
had warned her they were unyielding. If they were known to be
trustworthy, then they couldn’t be that bad. Besides, if after
meeting them, she decided that it wasn’t in Raz’s best interest to
be allies with them, she would say no.
“
Alright. I’ll meet them in
three days,” she finally agreed.
“
Great. I’ll let them know.
They wanted an answer as soon as possible so they could make the
necessary arrangements for space travel,” he said.
“
Will you be back here when
you’re done giving them the message?”
“
As long as you don’t have
anything else for me to do, I will.”
“
I like spending time with
you. You know, time that isn’t related to ruling this
planet.”
“
I’ll be back
then.”
She watched him go back inside the
palace. Even after all these years, she still liked to look at him.
He was very attractive. Matthew’s crying interrupted her thoughts.
She shook her head when she saw that Katherine had pushed him
because he had been trying to take one of her flowers. She stood up
and walked over to them.
“
There are enough flowers
here for both of you,” she said. “Matthew, pick your own flowers,
okay?” She helped him stand up and picked a flower for him. She
handed it to him. “Remember, do not eat it. It is not
food.”