Free The Inner Kingdom: Quest One (Dragon Quest Book 1) by S.R. Gibbs Page A

back. “Where do we come from?”
    This question caused Mina to smile as she stopped pacing the length of the bed, to stand in front of us.
    “Currently, you are in the Inner Kingdom. It is a realm created as a safe haven for individuals who no longer wants to be under the leadership of their own Kingdom. There are four original kingdoms; Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond.” The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.
    I wondered who was wanting to talk to us this late at night. I didn’t have a watch, but I knew it had to be well past ten o’clock. 
    A little hopeful that Nolin had changed his mind about sending us back home, I watched Mina open the door to four women standing in the hall carrying platters full of food, teapots, plates, and glasses
    “What is this all for?” Mina stared at the food, removing all doubt in my mind that she was responsible for them being here.
    “Captain Leo asked us to prepare some of the food from the celebration for the dragon warriors, since they were unable to eat earlier,” a young woman a little older than me, with long brown hair and freckles answered.
    “I would have the food tested to make sure he didn’t poison it,” Angie muttered glaring at the platters of food suspiciously.
    The ladies gasped loudly. “No ma’am, the captain is a good man and wouldn’t harm a fly, let alone harm the dragon warriors,” the girl adamantly protested, as well as the other young ladies with her.
    “Captain Leo is very popular with the females here; he has a knack for always appearing out of nowhere when one is in need” Mina explained as she let the now blushing ladies into the room.
    “Where are they going to put all that food?” Clutching her stomach, Ashley tried to hide the fact that she was hungry.
    Smiling that smile, I have learned to mean she knew something we didn’t; Mina went to the empty big corner beside the bed and pressed her hand against a tiny drawing of a tree, I never realized was engraved on the wall.
    While removing her hand, I noticed that the drawing was no longer on the wall. As she walked back toward us, I was a little disappointed, since I have been surprised over and over with the architecture and with the mirror trick from earlier. I guess I was expecting a little bit more than a disappearing act.
    Before any of us could voice what we were thinking, the ground where she was just standing, begin to twirl and stretch upward until the silver floor began to mold itself into the shape of a large circular table, complete with four chairs. 
    “That was amazing. Do you have special abilities, too?” Stepping up to the table, I rubbed the cool silver surface.
    Looking shocked, “Good heavens, no. Your rooms are equipped with all the amenities that you may need. I will show you how everything works later,” Mina stated already sitting at the table with a tea cup in her hand. “But first, let’s enjoy this feast.”
    “Has anyone on this planet ever heard of the saying, 'never put off till tomorrow what you can do today’?” Angie asked, not budging from where she was sitting.
    “No, I have never heard that before,” Mina replied as she picked her tea up to drink, only to put it back down. “We do believe there is a right time for everything, and now is the time to feast."
    “Wait a minute; you were in the middle of telling us about where we come from,” Angie reminded everyone, snapping our attention away from the food.
    “Hypothetically speaking, correct?” Mina countered sarcastically.
    “Of course.”
    Mina sat down her cup of tea and motioned for us to take a seat at the empty chairs surrounding the table.
    “I think we'd rather stay right here and listen to what you have to say, without the distraction of the food,” I explained.
    “If you insist. After observing the powers that each of you have begun to manifest, we know that you, Angie, are a member of the Ruby Kingdom. Ashley, you belong to the Sapphire