Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione

Front cover

Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione is the first book in The Knights of Arrethtrae series.

Description

A dangerous new order threatens the mission of the Knights of Arrethtrae. Only loyalty to the King can bring victory!

As the Knights of the Prince await His triumphant return, they are steadfast in their mission to take His story into the kingdom and recruit as many as are willing. But when a new and dangerous threat is revealed, their mission is jeopardized.

Sir Kendrick and his young charge, the impetuous Sir Duncan, are sent on a mission to discover the identity and origin of a secretive new order known as the Conquistero Knights. They travel to the city of Bel Lione where Lord Ra has been enticing young people in the kingdom to join his festivals, after which many choose not to return home. Their families keep quiet for fear of repercussion.

When Sir Duncan disappears while trying to discover the truth of Lord Ra’s castle, Sir Kendrick attempts to find and enlist the help of a mysterious warrior. Time is short for he must save Duncan and call upon the knights of Chessington to join in the battle against the evil Lord Ra.

Journey to Arrethtrae, where these knights of noble heart live and die in loyal service to the King and the Prince. These knights are mighty, for they serve a mighty King. They are…the Knights of Arrethtrae!

Chapters

• Prologue: Veil of the Mind
• Chapter 1: A Glint of the Dark
• Chapter 2: Attenbury
• Chapter 3: Cold Heart
• Chapter 4: A Clandestine Truth
• Chapter 5: A New Destiny
• Chapter 6: The Mystique of Bel Lione
• Chapter 7: A Country Manor
• Chapter 8: A Place of Despair
• Chapter 9: Or in Peril
• Chapter 10: The Peculiar Mr. Morley
• Chapter 11: Loyalty's Courage
• Chapter 12: A Life for a Life
• Chapter 13: Intrepid Endeavor
• Chapter 14: The Dungeons of Lord Ra
• Chapter 15: I Will Conquer
• Chapter 16: Call to Courage!
• Chapter 17: Into the Castle
• Chapter 18: The Battle of Bel Lione
• Chapter 19: Set the Captives Free
• Chapter 20: Parting Sorrows
• Epilogue: The Winds of Arrethtrae

Summary

Cedric of Chessington continues his chronicles of the Knights of the Prince by telling the tale of Sir Kendrick and Sir Duncan.

Kendrick and Duncan meet at a haven of the Knights of the Prince in Trinalda, and Kendrick is somewhat put off by Duncan's recklessness. However, he soon learns that Duncan has been selected by the Council of Knights in Chessington to be his companion. After spending a couple of weeks getting acquainted, the pair head to Chessington to receive an assignment from the council. Along the way, Duncan proposes taking part in an upcoming tournament in Attenbury, but Kendrick dismisses the idea as a distraction from their mission.

Upon arriving in Chessington and meeting with the council, Kendrick and Duncan learn of a threat that seems to be rising even as the Noble Knights are waning. A mysterious group known as the Vincero Knights, previously unknown, have apparently risen to serve the cause of Lucius. To Duncan's delight and Kendrick's chagrin, the council asks them to travel to Attenbury and take part in the tournament in the hopes that one of the other competitors will be identified as a Vincero Knight. Duncan is quite surprised when it turns out that Kendrick, after his opposition to the idea of the tournament, is revealed to have been selected for this mission based on his history as a tournament champion.

Once in Attenbury, Kendrick and Duncan quickly identify a likely suspect: the imposing and brutal Sir Casimir. Kendrick performs well in the tournament events but does so primarily to anger Casimir in the hopes that he will give away the intelligence that they're looking for. Ultimately, however, it is the brash Duncan who finds the evidence that they are looking for: a medallion of Casimir's similar to one found at the site of one of the Vincero Knights' crimes. Saved from discovery by a Silent Warrior, Duncan is told of a battle to take place at Bel Lione, a region of the kingdom that happens to match an area of Arrethtrae marked on a map on Casimir's medallion.

Reaching Bel Lione, Kendrick and Duncan learn that it is home to the castle of Lord Ra, a mysterious and powerful individual who holds weekly fetes and monthly festivals for the youth of the region. However, they soon learn of a sinister side to Ra's supposed generosity, as the youths who attend the events are often changed for the worse, and some have disappeared without a trace. Through the parent of one such lost youth, a man named Frayne, Kendrick and Duncan meet Elise, daughter of the widowed Lady Odette, and arrange to board at their manor of Lionsgate while they are staying in Bel Lione. Though the knights spend a month investigating Lord Ra, they are unable to make much headway, and prepare to leave for Chessington.

These plans are halted after Duncan, who has become close to Elise, enters Ra's castle on the night of the monthly festival in search of Elise's brother Ancel. He succeeds in finding the youth but is recognized by Sir Casimir who arrives shortly after the pair make a failed attempt to leave the festival. Duncan is then taken prisoner by Lord Ra, now revealed as a Shadow Warrior and led away to his dungeons for a slow, painful death. Kendrick, having learned of Duncan's efforts, arrives at the castle only to find it guarded by Shadow Warriors.

After losing his horse Thunder in an altercation with the warriors, Kendrick is saved by the arrival of Bronwyn, another Silent Warrior in service to the King. Bronwyn shares his history with Ra, formerly Ramsey, and expresses the belief that Duncan is most likely dead. When Kendrick refuses to accept this, Bronwyn advises him to go to Morley the cooper. Kendrick fails to get any help from him until a second visit, taking place after Ancel returns home with word of Duncan's capture.

On Morley's advice, and with a new horse in Pilgrim, mount of Lady Odette's late husband, Kendrick travels to the Northern Mountains. There, his search leads to a clash with Landor, a man who proves to be a former Vincero Knight who has fled Ra's service. After Kendrick speaks of his own tragic history-including a lost wife and son-and of finding healing and purpose through the Prince, Landor informs him of a secret passage leading into the dungeons of Ra's castle. To reach it, however, he will have to get past Ra's Blood Wolves, savage predators that guard the approaches to the castle.

Parting from Landor, Kendrick returns to Lionsgate briefly before attempting to reach the passage. He succeeds in killing one Blood Wolf only to be attacked by a second and is unexpectedly saved by Landor. The pair make their way into the dungeons and find Duncan, alive but badly injured, and bring him out. The trio return to Lionsgate, where Duncan is attended to by their hosts and Landor explains Lord Ra's schemes and how he obtains both prisoners for his twisted amusement and recruits for the Vincero Knights. Unable to face such a force unaided, Kendrick and Landor travel to Chessington in order to gain help from the other Knights of the Prince.

In short order, an army of five hundred knights is recruited and assembled near Bel Lione, prepared to attack Ra's castle. In order to make sure they can actually get inside the castle, Ancel volunteers to start a fire in the grounds. Landor and Duncan volunteer to lead a small group into the castle to secure the gatehouse and ensure that the castle gates are not closed against the knights. Kendrick, taking a moment for reflection and prayer in the forest, meets Bronwyn and receives the promise that Silent Warriors will aid in the assault.

Duncan and Landor's party make their way into the castle and succeed in getting close to the gatehouse, with Ancel setting the fire as planned. Unfortunately, Landor is recognized by Casimir, and Duncan and fellow Knights of the Prince Gregory and Kinley find themselves outmatched by the Shadow Warrior guards within. The Shadow Warriors lower a portcullis and begin raising the castle drawbridge, and only Kendrick and a handful of other knights manage to cross it only to find themselves trapped. Fortunately, Bronwyn and two other Silent Warriors, having followed Duncan's party through the secret entrance, help to secure the gatehouse.

Battle erupts within the castle, with Knights of the Prince battling Ra's Arrethtraen guards and a force of Silent Warriors charging in to combat the Shadow Warriors under Ra's command. Kendrick fights and slays Casimir, while Bronwyn's duel with Ra is interrupted when the Shadow Warrior Lord sees Landor and attacks him. Landor is mortally wounded in the struggle, and Kendrick faces Ra and is able to kill the Shadow Warrior and end the battle. Landor, who has been increasingly moved by Kendrick's faith in the Prince, then makes a shocking confession: he is responsible for the deaths of Kendrick's wife and son.

Though he struggles briefly with his old desire for vengeance, Kendrick is able to offer forgiveness to Landor, who dies peacefully in Kendrick's arms. Brownyn and the Silent Warriors depart with the captured Shadow Warriors, and Kendrick then confronts the Arrethtraens who previously served Lord Ra. Learning that they are ignorant of the depths of Ra's depravity, he tells them of Ra's prisoners in the dungeons below and appeals to them to offer help to them. Kendrick then makes his way into the dungeons and begins the mass release with Teara, a young woman whom he encountered during the rescue of Duncan.

Alerted by the noises of battle, the citizens of Bel Lione flock to the castle and learn the truth as well, with much joy and sorrow resulting as some loved ones are reunited and others are found to have perished. Kendrick, at Duncan's urging, takes advantage of the opportunity to proclaim the Prince. A haven of the Knights of the Prince is subsequently established in Bel Lione, and Kendrick and Duncan help to do so before being called away on their next mission. Bidding farewell to Elise and Teara but promising that they will meet again, the two set off to continue the work of the Prince.

Appearances

Characters

• The King (mentioned)
• The Prince (mentioned)
• Abbra
• Ancel
• Augustus
• Brack
• Bronwyn
• Casimir
• Cedric
• Channing
• Duncan
• Elise
• Frayne
• Gorrock
• Gregory
• Guish
• Hamlin
• Jonathan
• Kendrick
• Kinley
• Landor
• Lucius
• Marian
• Morley
• Odette
• Ra
• Teara
• Vincent
• William
• Winston

Groups

• Knights of the Prince
  • Council of Knights
• Noble Knights
• Shadow Warriors
• Silent Warriors
• Vincero Knights

Animals

• Pilgrim
• Thunder

Creatures

• Blood wolves

Locations

• Arrethtrae
  • Attenbury
  • Bel Leone
    • Castle of Bel Leone
    • Lionsgate
  • Bremsfeld
  • Chessington
  • Keighwick
  • Mount Quarnell
  • Northern Mountains
  • Venari
    • Trinalda