Free BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan by J. Eric Booker Page A

porcelain plates, crystal
goblets and silverware.
    After confirming that there was no one else
in the room, Chelsea turned to her husband before asking, “Where
are Baltor and Brish—I mean the Sultan and Sultaness?”
    With a slightly concerned look on his face,
Humonus shrugged his shoulders before replying, “Not sure where
they are right now, but I’m relatively sure they should be here
soon. Want to take a seat on the couch, my love?”
    Before she could answer his question and then
ask what he meant by “relatively,” two guards concurrently opened
their doors. Walking hand in hand were Brishava and Baltor—Humonus
unconsciously sucked in and released a deep sigh of relief upon
seeing that his Sultan looked “alive and undamaged.”
    Once the guards had closed the doors, the
group of four approached each other, exchanging friendly greetings
and warm-yet-quick embraces.
    Everyone then took their non-assigned seats
around the round table, whereupon the servants came in bringing
steaming trays of five-star foods.
    After the delicious seven-course dinner and
dessert had been concluded, nearly an hour later, they began to
converse until the wee hours of the morning.
    The very first topic came from Humonus, as he
relayed many of the important specifics about the training grounds
that he had personally designed from scratch and made into
blueprints the night before. Once he had double-checked everything
this morning, he gave them to his generals with the orders to have
every carpenter and soldier to assist with building, so that
training could begin the following night at ten.
    Following Humonus’s report, Brishava began
talking about her hectic day, and then followed Chelsea.
    Shortly before midnight, everyone looked at
Baltor, and it was only then that he decided to relay his “today’s
adventure”—of course, his wife grew upset to hear that her husband
had gone alone, but that emotion changed to happiness upon hearing
the results!
    At two in the morning, she became the first
to retire to bed, as she had to wake up at seven and had a
tediously busy schedule all day long—Chelsea stayed up until
three.
    As for Baltor and Humonus, they discussed
further details regarding the Shadow Forces until minutes before
sunrise … and by the time the sun rose above the eastern horizon at
five, Baltor was sound asleep in his bed with his wife.
    At seven in the morning, Brishava awoke,
bathed, and allowed her handmaidens to dress and groom her. Upon
their completion, an hour later, she made her way back to the royal
dining hall, where sat Chelsea and Humonus in one of the couches.
This time she saw that they were dressed in casual attire; he in
his battle dress uniform.
    Because Humonus had an important meeting with
his officers at nine in the morning, he left right after breakfast,
after of course giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek and
bowing before his Sultaness. Chelsea, only minutes later, retired
back to bed, as she was still exhausted.
    As for Brishava, she made her way directly
for the throne room. After comfortably sitting on her throne, her
first command was to summon Jamar, the coordinator.
    Perhaps five minutes later, he arrived—today
he wore sheik robes comprising of vertical stripes of gray, white,
black and gold.
    After he had grandiosely bowed low, Brishava
greeted with a smile, “You may rise—good morning to you,
Jamar.”
    With a confident and charming smile upon his
face, Jamar rose from his bow and greeted, “Good morning to you, my
Sultaness. By chance, were you happy with your coronation and
public welcoming ceremony?”
    “Everything was absolutely perfect, and yes I
am extremely happy, which is why I’m once again calling for your
services, Jamar,” Brishava replied in delighted tones.
    “That is most excellent news to hear, your
Majesty,” Jamar said, only a second before he delivered yet another
grandiose bow.
    After rising, he asked, “How may I be of
service to you today, my