The Emperor of the Moon and Stars Read online

  The Emperor of the Moon and Stars

  The Chronicles of Gil-Lael, Volume 3

  N. R. Williams

  Published by N. R. Williams, 2022.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  THE EMPEROR OF THE MOON AND STARS

  First edition. April 1, 2022.

  Copyright © 2022 N. R. Williams.

  ISBN: 979-8201501976

  Written by N. R. Williams.

  Also by N. R. Williams

  The Chronicles of Gil-Lael

  The Treasures of Carmelidrium

  The Rise of Lord Sinon, Book 2 in the Chronicles of Gil-Lael

  The Emperor of the Moon and Stars

  The Beginning of a Legend

  Watch for more at N. R. Williams’s site.

  I dedicate this book to my family and critique partners without whom I’d be less of an author. And, to my readers. May you be inspired to make your dreams a reality. All my love and appreciation.

  The Emperor of the Moon and Stars

  Book 3 in The Chronicles of Gil-Lael

  By N. R. Williams

  The Emperor of the Moon and Stars

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles or reviews.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2021 N. R. Williams

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication:

  I dedicate this book to my family and critique partners without whom I’d be less of an author. And, to my readers. May you be inspired to make your dreams a reality. All my love and appreciation.

  Author’s Note:

  In my research, I learned that Gypsies originated in Pakistan and were a migrating peoples ending up in Egypt for a time. When they traveled to Europe, the people there labeled them Gypsy as an insult, combining Pakistan and Egypt in the name. They refer to themselves as Ramoni, and view the term Gypsy as big an insult as the ‘N’ word is for our black friends. In this book, the Ramoni people are healers and greatly appreciated.

  The Asian peoples are a combination of Japanese and Chinese traditions. They carry scimitars instead of swords, because those are cool swords.

  My concept is that people from our world traveled to this world through a portal during medieval times. You can read about it in, The Beginning of a Legend, A Chronicles of Gil-Lael Novella.

  Table of Contents

  Arrival Chapter 1

  Tour Chapter 2

  Coronation Chapter 3

  Decoration Committee Chapter 4

  Trap Chapter 5

  Romani Chapter 6

  Fire Chapter 7

  Hidden Treasure Chapter 8

  Duplicity Chapter 9

  Taxes Chapter 10

  Changes Chapter 11

  Birthday Chapter 12

  Geisha House Chapter 13

  Cave Chapter 14

  Guilt Chapter 15

  Friend-Brother Chapter 16

  Rumblings of War Chapter 17

  Missing Chapter 18

  Found Chapter 19

  War is Imminent Chapter 20

  Assignment Chapter 21

  Troubles, Details and Plans Chapter 22

  Price Chapter 23

  Possibilities Chapter 24

  Unknown Forts Chapter 25

  Divorce Chapter 26

  Fear Chapter 27

  Announcement Chapter 28

  The Cao Zhen Chapter 30

  Traveling Chapter 31

  Strategy Chapter 32

  Kidnap Chapter 33

  Romani Justice Chapter 34

  Dragon Chapter 35

  Emperor of the Moon and Stars Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Maps

  Arrival

  Chapter 1

  Wind rippled the square sails as the vessel sliced through the ocean, blowing Jonathon's brown hair into his face and tickling his ears. He brushed it away. Sunlight reflected off the water and sails, causing a dance of shadows along the wooden bow. He squinted at the distant land on the horizon, breathing deep. The smell was of sky and water, and the taste was all salt.

  Dolphins played a game of leap and chase, cutting through the water just ahead of the ship titled, Her Royal Majestés Ship, Queen Michelle. No one who gazed at Jonathan would know by his clothes that he was of royal blood. He wore brown trousers and a white cotton shirt. His boots were hidden beneath his pants, and he hadn’t attached his gold-hilted sword.

  Before him was the blue outline of land rising and falling along with the ship. Shea-Talon. He was to be its king.

  A hand settled on Jonathan’s shoulder. “We will soon make landfall,” Healden said.

  Jonathan turned his eyes from the horizon to his father. “Oui.” His father’s thinning white hair caught the breeze and wrinkles pressed into his flesh around his eyes and mouth.

  Healden smiled at him, and Jonathan knew he meant to be encouraging.

  “It will be difficult in the beginning, but you will soon come to love the people and the land.” Healden tapped his shoulder and removed his hand.

  Jonathan turned his eyes back to the horizon and didn’t say anything. There would be nothing easy about this transition. He didn’t even have a wife to see him through as his twin brother Eamon did.

  Hours later, the H. R. M. S. Queen Michelle arrived at the Capital City, Aya. Water lapped at the sides of the ship, making her rock. Having been at sea for the better part of three months, Jonathan barely felt the movement. The heavy salt air was moist on his skin.

  Many Shea-Talonian ships were docked at the wharf. Their front was squared off rather than coming to a point as the Gil-Laelian vessels did. The Shea-Talonian ships held three tall masts and their sails were rectangular. They reminded Jonathan of humpback whales coming to the surface with their tails raised.

  Land. He turned his eyes toward the dock and adjusted the sleeve of his navy-blue jacket with gold trim. Warehouses made of wood lined the dock. They rested on tall pillars with ladders that lifted to the door several feet above the ground. Their roofs were either tile or sod and had the distinct Asian curve at all four corners that he had seen in his mother’s world. He imagined that on a normal day, many carts and wagons would line the dirt road along the wharf, and workers would load or unload goods. But today wasn’t a typical day. Today their new king had arrived.

  About a thousand Gil-Laelian soldiers lined the dock before the buildings facing them. Some were on horseback. There were also three carriages, two open and one covered. A man and woman stepped out of the covered carriage. Jonathan watched as the man gave the woman his arm, and they stepped onto the boarding platform. The man had gray hair that curled around his ears and over his forehead. He wore a red jacket that came to his waist and black pants that did little to hide his bulging belly. The woman’s hair was gray as well and swept up into a French bun. She wore pink and had matching ribbons in her hair. This seemed odd to Jonathan for a woman of her age.

  They stepped off the plank onto the bridge and approached Jonathan’s parents, High King Healden and Queen Michelle. Jonathan moved to their side as the man and woman bowed and curtsied.

  “Majesté, what an honor. I am Governor Odo Marlon, and this is my wife, Faye.”

  “A pleasure, Marlon. May I introduce Queen Michelle and our son, Prince Jonathan.” Healden set his arm around Michelle’s waist. She was richly attired in shades of lavender silk. Healden wore his navy-blue jacket like Jonathan’s.

  A large wave struck the ship causing it to rise and fall suddenly. Faye Marlon promptly fell in a pile of skirts and uttered, “oh.”

  “Are you alright, my love?” Marlon bent and gave her his hand.

  Faye stood. “I beg pardon, Majestés.”

  “I am glad you aren’t injured,” Healden said.

  “Majesté, the people of Shea-Talon have worked hard on a greeting. May I suggest that we head out?” Marlon said.

  “Of course, Marlon.” Healden gave Jonathan a slight nod, and they followed the governor off the ship.

  Each door of the two open carriages was embellished in gold with the symbol of ‘The House of Calimar,’ three falcons above a tree and stars above that. Jonathan, having a love for horses, was immediately drawn to the Romani Vanner mares. They were tall, white splashed with brown, and had long, flowing manes and tails and featherings of hair on their fetlocks.

  He inspected the four hitched to his own carriage, running his hand along a firmly muscled shoulder. “Beautiful,” he whispered to the mare.

  A lieutenant in Gil-Lael’s army stepped forward and bowed to Healden, Michelle. and then again to Jonathan. “I am Lieutenant Saville; my men will escort you through the
city. There is a grand platform in the center where you might wish to address the Shea-Talonian people.”

  “Very good,” Healden said.

  Jonathan stepped up into his open-air carriage and selected the seat facing the driver. No one sat facing him. The lush interior featured navy-blue velvet cushions and a Telaneasse carpet across the floor in bold colors depicting a tree and three falcons in flight. He faced the front and took in the Shea-Talonian driver. His straight black hair was pulled back into a long braid. He wore a gold silk jacket with brown pants and a brown triangular hat with gold roping.

  The carriage turned along the wharf and headed east. His parents rode in the first carriage, which followed the Gil-Laelian soldiers. The pungent smell of fish was soon replaced by strong incense coming from lanterns that hung from the sides of the building. At the end of several blocks, they came to the main section of the city. The soldiers fanned out to either side and stood before a crowd of people that lined the road. They turned north onto the street made of paving stones. As they traveled, the soldiers marched alongside the carriages while the cavalry rode before and at their rear.

  The people of Shea-Talon were dressed in their traditional kimono-style clothing. The men all wore brown with a long coat. The women had on a colorful variety of dresses featuring flowers, butterflies, or birds.

  The Shea-Talonians were utterly silent. They each had a long narrow flag in various shades that they waved. Then, as one, they all bowed at the waist, throwing their flags down onto the street, as the carriages passed.

  Since the age of nine, Jonathan had been tutored in the customs and language of Shea-Talon. At twenty, he’d studied in the southern country of Telaneasse. The two countries were vastly different. The people of Telaneasse followed the teachings of more than thirty gods. To them, obedience was everything. Those of Shea-Talon valued honor above all. Not just honoring their leaders or family but keeping a set of values that prohibited individual interpretation. The problem with that was that the laws and customs of Gil-Lael didn’t always match with the older customs in Shea-Talon. He had a challenge set before him.

  The silence of the people was eerie. The only noise was the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves or an occasional dog barking. Jonathan had been taught to wave to the people, but no one was looking at him. He turned his eyes this way and that. All along the drive was a sea of bent heads and black hair. The buildings behind the crowd were several stories high, with Asian-style dragons on the flags that billowed out when the breeze hit them. Trees and shrubbery decorated the corners of each building. More lanterns filled with incense hung above the doorways to each structure. The scent made Jonathan’s nose itch.

  Before they reached the center where he would give a speech, a whistling noise sliced through the calm, delivering an arrow like a flash of lightning. It thudded hard into the door of Jonathan’s carriage. More pounded into his seat cushion. One of the horses was hit in the shoulder. Its screams announced the sudden chaos. Some of the soldiers ran into the crowd while others ran toward Jonathan’s carriage. The people shrieked. The horses reared and then thundered into a frantic gallop heading toward a group of children. His coachman stood up from the seat and battled the panicked animals. Several soldiers waved the horses away from the people. Jonathan was thrown back against his seat just as another arrow swished past, cutting through his upper right arm.

  They rounded a corner. The carriage leaned on two wheels. His parents were traveling at speeds his own carriage couldn’t achieve with the injured horse. Jonathan glanced back. Soldiers ran after his carriage. Many of the Shea-Talonian people were falling over each other, and some had been trampled by the Gil-Laelian cavalry. Another sharp turn caused Jonathan to slam into one of the arrows in the seat cushion. It broke off, and slivers found a home in his thigh.

  “Damn!” He yanked the wooden piece out and pressed his hand against the wound to slow the bleeding.

  They approached a single building on the corner. Jonathan looked up in time to see a shower of arrows rain down upon them. His driver must have seen it too. He swerved to the left. An arrow hit the coachman in the chest, then another. Several bounced off the paving stones making a pinging noise. None landed in Jonathan’s compartment. The attackers meant to capture him. But why then did so many arrows land in his section at first?

  The wounded coachman sat, then fell into the deep foot compartment of his box. He still managed to hold the reins with shaking hands. Jonathan jumped on the rear seat facing him and vaulted over the side, landing in the box. He grabbed the reins just as the Gil-Laelian cavalry reached them. Some of the soldiers turned aside toward the building while others surrounded his coach to protect him.

  He glanced at the coachman, who lay unconscious and bleeding. The city disappeared with the next turn that brought them into a field. The road wound in gentle curves that felt like the sea churning from the swift speed he maintained. Flowering orchards filled the air with sweet scents.

  Once out of the city, Jonathan took a deep breath and slowed the carriage. Every nerve in his body had tensed, and his heart ached with anxiety. He took a shattered breath and sat on the driver’s seat.

  He passed a fenced residence and could see the sweeping roofline of the home. A tiled roof with the same Asian arch. So reminiscent of the style he’d seen when his family visited his mother’s homeworld and took a trip to Japan and China.

  An orchard of cherry trees blossomed beyond the wooden fence and hid the remainder of the house. He turned his gaze away from the trees and looked straight on. Before him loomed a great bluff. As he approached it, the road forked. Jonathan glanced to the side and saw the road twist between forest trees and disappear. Looking back, he saw his parent’s carriage heading straight toward the mountain. Jonathan wasn’t far behind. The horsemen passed beneath an elaborate arch with a massive Asian dragon leaning over the top. The mountain road turned east sharply and climbed a short distance before turning and climbing the opposite direction. Granite rocks and a thick grove of evergreen trees lined the drive. On the second turn, a brick structure was built into the side of the rock face. It had three tall towers, one on each end and one in the center. A second building that held animals was close by. Several hundred soldiers saluted him.

  He pulled the carriage to a stop and beckoned them to assist. They removed the coachman to be given medical care and he had one of the young men join him to take over driving the horses. They resumed.

  Jonathan remained in the driver’s box. “What is your name?”

  “I am Périer, Highness.”

  Three more turns brought them closer to the top with yet another structure the same as the last.

  When they reached the plateau, another Asian dragon leaned over a second arch. They passed through. Jonathan took in a vast flat plain with several buildings, trees, and bushes. Little else registered, though. His leg and arm throbbed, and his head felt as if it would explode from tension. He’d planned on delivering a speech with a promise to improve the lives of his people. Instead, he had been given a bitter dose of the reality of governing a people that viewed him as a usurper.

  Tour

  Chapter 2

  A few hours later, Jonathan watched as his father marched back-and-forth before Governor Marlon’s desk and then came to a stop before it.

  “Why did you not think to put us in covered carriages?”

  Marlon blustered, “Sire‒.”

  “My wife was wounded, and my son was nearly killed.” Healden came to a halt and stepped so close to Marlon that the man leaned back on his desk.

  “The last up-rising was nearly four years ago, Sire, I didn’t think‒.”

  “No. You didn’t think. That is clear.” Healden resumed his march.

  Jonathan leaned against the wall and folded his arms. He was too angry to speak. His arm and leg had been bandaged, but he refused the medicine, needing a clear head.