Prologue The Captain of the guard, Corin, strode quickly across the marble floor, his armor chinked with each step he took and echoed throughout the room. His face that always seemed to be set in a determined look was now lined deeper in concentration. His steel gray eyes glared straight ahead as he drew closer and closer to the end of the room. There, stood a throne set in gold and precious jewels, and sitting upon that throne was the most dangerous and powerful man in the country, King Kadesh. Approaching the throne Captain Corin dropped down to one knee and bowed his head. Though older than the King, the royal made certain to crush any thoughts of superiority the Captain might have against him, by wearing lavish clothing, jewels, but most of all he always had a nonchalant expression on his face, no matter who it was that walked into his throne room, how rich they were or the title they bore, he treated them all the same. He treated them as slaves. King Kadesh waited until the Captain thought he could no longer keep his patience before finally speaking. “What do you want?” He asked, his tone almost sounding bored. Captain Corin gritted his teeth, “My Lord, the rumors were true. Pirates from the East are approaching our docks.” The King interrupted him by sighing impatiently, “I know all this already, Captain. I also know that they plan on kidnapping my daughter for ransom. What I don’t know is what your plan is to stop them.” The Captain’s face flushed with anger, “My men and I will station ourselves inside the Princess’ chambers and wait for the pirates.” “And you will fight to the death is that it?” Kind Kadesh asked. The Captain nodded his head. The King stood up from his throne. “Tell me, do you think many of your men will die?” The Captain was taken aback by this question. It was unusual for the King to be concerned about the loss of other lives. “Yes many will die, but I assure you, my Lord, that my men are prepared to die for the safety of the princess.” “I know that!” The King yelled, sounding offended. “Every soldier signs their lives over to me when they join the army, but it costs money to replace dead soldiers. Money that I do not want to pay.” Corin dropped his head down, no longer able to hide his anger. Each and every man he was in charge of were important to him, and to hear the King speak of their value in only money was unbearable. “What then, do you want me to do, my Lord?” When the King didn’t answer, Captain Corin raised his head to look at him and was shocked to see that the King had a puzzled expression on his face. At that moment there was a loud crash, as if someone had dropped glass dishes on the floor. Both the King and the Captain turned in the direction of the sound. Standing in a pile of broken glass, was a servant girl, she was desperately scooping up the broken pieces as if perhaps she could hide the mess now, but the look of terror in the girl’s eyes caused the Captain’s heart to stop. Already two guards were making their way towards the girl to take her away and no doubt punish her. The Captain looked away, but the King once again surprised him. “Hold!” He ordered. The guards instantly stopped advancing towards the girl. The King stepped down from his throne and walked over to stand in front of the girl. The Captain watched the King’s eyes study over the child, slowly a gleam of inspiration filled those cold eyes. “Captain,” The King began, never taking his eyes off the girl. “Does this girl look to be around the same age as my daughter?” The Captain felt his throat tighten, for he was no fool, he knew what his answer could mean for this innocent child. “I’ll take that as a yes.” The King said, grinning wickedly. “Perhaps the pirates will think the same thing.” ********************************************************************* In the dead of night, shadows crept along the castle wall, slithering up the wall silently and up towards the window of th