Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Prologue: A Prophecy Intercepted

"It has been observed that within our beloved Kingdom of Noelle, a problem has arisen concerning the homeless and orphaned multiplying in number... all who are presumed to be homeless and/or orphaned will be immediately taken into custody and sold as Slaves in the next scheduled Slave Auction."During the passed three hundred fifty years, since Gerardo of Liko was last heard of, the Kingdom of Noelle had thrived and gone through a number of extreme changes; some of which included art, food, morale, literature, currency (so that it was less confusing), and especially law. The country now had become very wealthy with markets in gold, silk, and cotton. The fashion was more colorful and the architecture was more shapely with geometric and floral designs. But after roughly three hundred years, an end was arising to

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter One: The Glory of Aimonbay Estate

"The Law maintains the sanction, endowed upon it by God, to classify all citizens as Persons or as Slaves, as well as the authority to define the words in question."The Southern sun shone its hot rays onto Rein Bow's eyes and rudely awakened her from a shallow sleep. Such a nuisance was why she generally preferred to sleep somewhere that enclosed her in sanctuary, but she didn't have the heart to leave the abandoned Princess Nadia alone in a world in which she had not been prepared to live. After the miracle worker of the Aquamarine Ocean had left the princess in the cave the night before, Rein had decided that she would personally escort Nadia to the palace in Helvetica where she was to live with King Darren and Queen Ariana for the rest of her life; a life which was expected to be more pleasant than the lif

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Two: A Plot Enacted and Threats Cast

"The Sovereign and his Parliament of the Kingdom of Noelle hereby hold that a 'Person' is defined as a citizen who possesses a free will and individual voice unobstructed by another absent of Royal Blood, Noble Classification, or Royally Appointed Authority... Therefore, a Person cannot be controlled or spoken for by another Person."Makiar opened one of the large iron doors to welcome home Sir Rallian, who trudged into his castle with a heavy sigh. Slowly the seventy-two-year-old count, who appeared to be in his late forties due to being of a slowly-aging race, removed his mustard yellow coat and handed it to his butler along with his ivory dress cane."How was your meeting with the queen, my Lord?" Makiar asked.

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Three: The Rose Tree

"A Slave must have written permission from its owner to obtain an apprenticeship or to participate in trade."About an hour after Nadia was first summoned, she reentered Count Rallian's study with fresh, pitch-black hair and curtsied in front of her master's desk where he sat inscribing yet another letter. After a moment of silence, Nadia spoke up."I've dyed my hair like you asked me to, Master."The count peered up from his scribbles. "Very good. Have a seat there."He gestured to the same chair Nadia had previously sat in and she did as she was told. Behind the count, she spotted Rein in the window again where the curtains were now open. Rein

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Four: The Future Looks Dim...

"The Sovereign and his Parliament of the Kingdom of Noelle hereby hold that 'Property' is an object or living thing that a Person purchases or trades for ownership of as per the Trade Laws of Noelle. Once a Noelle citizen has purchased or traded for the possession of Property, that citizen owns the object or living thing and may do with it as he or she wishes. Thus, that citizen dictates what the object or living thing does and speaks for it. Furthermore, a Slave is, by definition, Property."Rein sighed heavily, but slowly all the pieces came together to form a very important picture. At least now she was aware of who was on Nadia's side and who was not. However, revealing whatever plot Ariana and Rallian were concocting could be dangerous depending on who she revealed such information to.

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Five: And Thus Began a New War

"As stated in Article 1, Section 1 of the Law of Noelle, all Persons possess inherent, God-given rights further specified in Sections II-V. However, because a Slave is not a Person, a Slave does not bear the same God-given rights bestowed upon Persons."Three days later, on Sueño 14th, King Darren had nearly finished getting dressed in light blue and lavender when the courier delivered a message from whom Darren believed to be King Klaris. He dismissed his footman and read the script to himself. Rein had spent most of the past three weeks reading Polaris's journal at the palace while she waited for this response. Now that it had arrived at last, she watched impatiently as King Darren grew angrier and angrier the further he read through the letter. Why couldn't he read anything out loud?

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Six: Change Calls for Blood

"No citizen can bestow upon a Slave any rights specified in the Law of Noelle to be the rights of a Person, and no citizen shall attempt to do so."That same morning, Polaris and Drake were back out in the cemetery with Wendell observing the Rose Tree to see if anything new had transpired. Its twisted trunk leaned further away from the palace as if to aid its drooping pearl branches in their growing effort to touch the ground. Polaris expected that the black leaves would brush the dirt before the end of the next month."Nothing new has happened since we smelled the soap and farm animals, Your Honor," Wendell informed."Well, I suppose no news is good news," Drake said.

Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles   Chapter Seven: The Annual Slave Arena

"Slaves may not look into the eyes of Royalty or Nobility, however their eyes must be visible. If this law is at all violated, the Slave will undergo severe physical punishment and then it will either be executed or assigned in to the following Annual Slave Arena. The owner may or may not be informed and will not be reimbursed for the Slave's value."The next day, Nadia was thought to be well enough to return to work. She was silent throughout her chores and avoided eye-contact with most everyone. Almost half of the residents of Aimonbay Estate had been involved in the construction in some way at some point, so almost half of the residents of Aimonbay were upset with Nadia for her apparent wanton debauchery of two nights ago, and felt that her punishment hadn't been harsh enough to deliver justice. Her actions