Authors: Ariel Paiement
He nodded, bowing. “It will be as you say, my Queen.”
He turned and left the room.
When he was gone, I sighed. Stripping off my stained nightdress, I walked into the bathroom. I palmed the Thermo orb on the bathtub, whispering a few words in the Ancient tongue to tell it what to do before turning on the water. As soon as the water had filled the tub, I slid into it. The blood on my lower legs billowed away into the water.
Finally, everything I had been holding inside flooded out in a wave of fury. My throat constricted. I couldn’t see anything as my eyes filled with tears. My shoulders shook with the force of my sobs, and my chest constricted until I could hardly breathe. I gasped for breath, hiccupping a few times. The tears continued flooding down my cheeks in a waterfall of cascading saltwater.
I had much to do. I wouldn’t rest until I saw justice served out on those who had killed my father, and sent my mother into a coma. They would die for what they’d done.
I went to my room after I finished taking Dairdra to her rooms. It was early morning by now.
I had a while before Captain Choric would need me for anything, so I decided to take a walk. Walking down the stairs, I went through the colonnaded halls that led to the grand entrance of the palace.
The guards let me go after checking to be sure where I was going. I had no idea, so I told them I would stay in the palace grounds. I walked slowly onward through the snow, heading for a place in the woods that I often came to. It helped me to relax and think.
When I reached it, someone was waiting for me.
“We need to talk,” a voice declared.
I didn’t recognize the voice.
I gazed around, keeping my face neutral. Thoughts ran frantically through my head, but the foremost was the worry that the owner of the voice might be the assassin the guards were searching for. Finally, I spotted the woman standing on the branch of one of the trees.
I waited for her to jump down before saying anything. When she was standing before me, I asked, “Who are you?”
My eyes lowered to the snow as I did so. My fingers were numb with cold, but my palms were slick with freezing sweat despite my chill. The wind pierced my clothing, and I shifted nervously in the snow.
The woman gave me a sharp glance. She put two fingers under my chin and forced me to look at her.
My eyes blazed with fury, and I shoved her hand away.
She didn’t seem angry. She simply replied, “Next time, mage boy, look at me when you speak to me.” Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion, and her eyes had an icy glint to them.
How did she know I was a mage? True, I knew many people around the palace, and they in turn knew a lot of others. Perhaps one of my friends or one of my teachers had been bragging about me and this young woman had heard.
“How do you know I’m a mage, and what do you want?” I demanded.
“Let’s say I have my ways.” She demurred.
“Well, I want to know what your ways are, and I want to know what you want.” I gave her a thin, unfriendly smile.
She returned it with a sweet, innocent grin. “I’m not going to tell you how I know who you are, Crypt Valdresson. All you need to know is that my master has your sister.”
I started, surprised and worried by the news. “Liar. She’s safely tucked away with her sponsor in the Cyrillian court.”
“For now, yes. But you see, my dear boy, my master is the highest authority in Cyril. He can do whatever he wants to your precious Vanessa, and no one will stop him.”
I inhaled sharply, fear clenching in my chest, “The king?”
She laughed. “Yes, mage boy. Apparently, you’re as smart as they say.”
Anger ate at my insides. How dare she do this to me? She came tromping into my private sanctuary of peace, announced that King Vill of Cyril had my sister under his control, and then left me to stew over it, helpless to change it.
“Don’t you dare hurt her!”
The young woman grinned maliciously. “I wouldn’t imagine doing any such thing to a child. No, it’ll be you who will hurt her if anyone does.”
“I’d never hurt my sister! You and King Vill of Cyril are the ones who’d hurt innocent people to get your way.” I defended myself, face going pale, fists clenched.
She laughed again. “Listen to you, witch boy. So naïve. No, if you cooperate with us, your beloved sister won’t be hurt. She’ll be left with the elderly woman who’s sponsoring her education in magic, and nothing bad will happen.” She gave me a sly smile. “But, should you mess up, there are a dozen ways to arrange her death or a terrible accident to make sure she’ll never be sane again if she survives. We wouldn’t want that, would we now?” She purred.
I glared at her, “You’re monsters; you know that?”
“Not me, Crypt, darling. My master, yes, but not me.”
“Yet you would threaten to hurt my sister to force me to do as you will, and you follow the man who does such horrid things,” I said. “I’m not stupid. You obviously have the skills to do anything you want to her if I don’t obey your king. And you would. I hate you for being willing to harm children.” I immediately wished I hadn’t said it.
I didn’t even have time to respond defensively. Her hand shot out, and struck me before I knew what was going on.
Then I was on the ground, stunned, and she was kneeling on top of my chest.
The snow beneath me was cold against my back. A piece of ice bit into my shoulder, and I could hardly draw in a breath due to her weight on my chest.
Her silvery blond hair whipped in the wind, and a cold smile adorned her face. She stroked the side of my face with a cold, bare hand.
I flinched.
She laughed. “I’m not going to kill you yet, witch boy. Next time, don’t equate me with what happened to your sister. That was my king’s decision. I do not harm children.” Her voice was firm and cold. “But you aren’t a child anymore, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll end up with a knife in your back. Keep in mind; I’m not the only person who might kill you.”
My stomach knotted with dread. Her hand withdrew, and she stood up, removing her weight from my chest.
I gasped for breath, relieved that she was off my chest. I had made a mistake in saying what I had, and she’d certainly made sure I knew and wouldn’t forget soon.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered sullenly.
“You aren’t. Just like every other teenage boy, you don’t think you’re to blame. It’s not your fault; it’s mine or someone else’s. But it’s never yours,” she purred, her voice sarcastic and biting.
I winced under the blow. It was a low blow, but it was somewhat true.
“That’s the problem with your kind, mage boy. They’re all so arrogant. And,” she fixed me with a cold, predatory stare. “I hate arrogant, snobbish mages. In fact, I hate all mages, so you’d better watch your back. Upset my king, and I’ll gladly kill you.”
I suppressed the urge to be snappish. I knew my sarcasm would probably earn me another slap like the last one, and I didn’t want to risk it. The place she’d slapped me before still stung.
She must have sensed I was holding back because she laughed shortly. “Smart boy, aren’t you? You’re right, though. Saying anything smart
will
earn you another slap, and I will slap a lot harder this time.” She warned.
I nodded, and turned around to go. “I heard what you had to say. I'm leaving now.” That at least, I believed, should be a safe, respectful enough statement. The last thing I wanted was to earn another slap like the last one.
She moved so quickly I hardly had time to respond. I had taken only a few steps when she was behind me. She grabbed my arm, intending to spin me back around.
I surprised her by trying to counter her by pulling away. I thought I was so smart, until she let go of me. I lost my balance in the struggle, and I went down into the snow again.
This time, I fell into it face first. I was grateful that the snow was fluffy and soft, but it still knocked the wind out of me. Her foot came down on my back as I tried to flip over and rise.
I stopped resisting then, because the more I resisted, the more pressure she applied, and it hurt.
“You really have to stop doing this to me.” I grumbled.
I lifted my head up slightly more, trying to get more air.
“Make me.” She laughed.
I sighed irritably. She knew I was a mage, so why did she insist on antagonizing me? I wondered briefly if she wanted me to blow her to pieces, and I began to form the words to a wind spell I knew.
As soon as I started speaking, she slammed my head down into the snow, filling my mouth with snow. I bit my lip when she slammed my head down and blood flowed into my mouth, hot and metallic, and then dripped down into the white, fluffy snow beneath me.
It hadn’t occurred to me that she might do this. I had forgotten that as soon as I started saying something, she’d just slam my face into the snow, effectively cutting off my words.
“Uh-uh, mage boy. Not happening.”
I tried to mumble around the mouth of snow to ask what she wanted in return for my sister.
“I’m not done with you yet, boy. Something of mine got lost in the castle. It’s very valuable, and unless something’s happened, no one can see it but you and me. Get it and bring it here in two weeks or your sister will suffer.” She whispered ominously in my ear.
I couldn’t respond because my mouth was still filled with snow, and my face was in the snow too. I had closed my eyes to concentrate and that was the only reason they were not full of snow right then. I was starting to feel claustrophobic, and panic rose within me. I shoved it down.
Think! You know spells that you can form with pictures in your head.
I told myself mentally. Finally, one came to me. I formed it in my head.
A flame flickered into life on the snow directly behind the young woman. When enough snow had melted, I formed it into a small maelstrom of water and frozen snow, with chunks of ice frozen out of the melted snow whirling about inside.
I thrust it with my mind at the woman’s back. It hit with fury. She was blown off my back, and I stayed down until I had shoved it far away from me. She was trapped within the maelstrom, and while she tried to escape the storm, I ran.
I was too panic stricken to do anything else, and I was worried that if I killed her, she’d be missed and King Vill of Cyril would kill my sister. I was positive that killing this woman wouldn’t have solved anything. After all, she was just the emissary.
It wasn’t until I got back to the palace and calmed down that I realized I had just met the woman who had murdered King Rillannon of Argent. And she was far more frightening in person than she was as a lurking shadow without a face.
The knowledge sent chills down my spine. Doing what she asked would mean betraying my Queen’s trust. Dairdra and I were close friends, and doing something like this stabbed me to the quick. But my sister’s life was on the line. Could I justify betraying her to her death just so that I could keep faith with my best friend? I didn’t know.
I loved Dairdra, but did my love for my sister rival that love? My sister was the only family left to me, and I doubted I could betray her.
In that moment, I made my decision. I would betray Dairdra’s trust so long as I could be sure that neither she nor my sister would be harmed. Briefly, I wondered if I should tell Dairdra that my sister’s life was on the line, but I decided not to.
She had enough to worry about. The last thing she needed to have on her plate was another person’s life.
My sister was my problem. I would do whatever it took; I wouldn’t rest until she was safe. Her protection was the only thing that mattered.
My eyes were glued to the wooden coffin that my father’s body lay in as they lowered it down into the ground. Unable to look away, I stared, tears filling my eyes. This truly was the end. I almost couldn’t believe that this was happening. My father had been alive two days ago, and now he was a corpse in the ground.
The first shovel full of dirt hit the wooden coffin with an ominous thud as the sun shone down on the frozen ground surrounding us. We’d thawed the place where he was to be buried using magic. I finally looked away, tracking the movements of a bird wheeling in the sky in an attempt to keep back the tears.
It failed, but at least I’d tried.
My father was gone. Gone. It didn’t seem real or possible, but as more dirt hit the coffin and the men finished burying the coffin, I turned my back on the scene, accepting it in my heart. It was the end of my father’s time, and the end of my world as I knew it. Nothing was going to change that.
***
I stooped down to gaze at the sluggish trickle of water flowing in the brook within the palace greenhouse. Crypt stood beside me, and the guards stood a little ways off. My father’s funeral had been a week ago, and tomorrow was my coronation. They’d moved things along quickly, unable to leave Argent without a ruler for long in lieu of the recent events.
“Crypt?” I whispered.
“What?”
“Why is all this happening?”
“I don’t know, Dairdra. Bad things just happen. All of life… It’s like that stream you see there, flowing endlessly, slowing and quickening, but not according to our whims. Sometimes it’s good; other times the flow is fast and dangerous. But we can’t escape it.”
I nodded. “I guess so. I could still escape this, though. I’m old enough that, by law, Argent must accept my rule if I am crowned, but I’m also young enough that should I tell the Council I can’t rule well enough, they would appoint a regent. ”
Crypt smiled, shaking his head, “No, you can’t.”
I glanced up in surprise, “Why not?”
He crouched beside me, looking me in the eyes. “Dairdra, one of the things I love best about you is that you never quit. When things get hard, you refuse to give up. You just shove on. If anything, you get more stubborn. I can tell you’ve decided to fight this battle, even if you don’t know that you have yet. Once you do that, you never go back. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never backed out of a fight once you’ve committed to it.”
I nodded. He was right. I had decided that this was my fight, on some level at least. I could still back out, but I wouldn’t. I had already made it my fight, and there was no going back, even if the option did still exist.
Sighing, I stood, turning to leave. Crypt also stood, following me to the greenhouse door. I picked my cloak up. Gazing at the steamy environment of the greenhouse, I wished I could stay forever. But I couldn’t.
I turned away from the slow, babbling brook and the tropical beauty of the indoor garden.
We walked out into the cold, and I immediately wished I had not decided to come to the greenhouse. I should have stayed in the palace where it was warm. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with this frigid winter chill.
Captain Choric came running to my side. His face was red and chapped from the cold. He was out of breath.
He panted, trying to catch his breath, and then said, “My Queen! Terrible news from the front. General Orin sent me to tell you that all of Argent’s main defense outposts have been attacked.”
I wondered how I could have thought things couldn’t get worse. A great weight slammed down onto my chest. I barely managed to get the words out. “Who was it?”
“Cyril, my Queen!”
I frowned. “But, we were at peace with them. Why would they attack? Have we given any provocation for their attack?”
“None at all, my lady! So far as we can tell, there is no reason for this attack,” Captain Choric answered.
His eyes were somber, and there seemed to be more lines etched into his face than usual. His shoulders sagged.
“Captain Choric, tell General Orin to come see me immediately. He’ll know it is urgent if I am sending you and not a lower ranking official.”
Captain Choric saluted, and then ran off the way he came.
“We need to get to the palace right away. Crypt, transport me there with your Bulabrev Orb.”
“I don’t own one, my lady.”
I glanced at him in surprise. Bulabrev Orbs were used by most mages to transport without using up too much of their energy. They channeled the energy expended so that it went further. It avoided tiring the user as much as a spell for transportation would. “I thought all the mages were given them.”
“We are required to earn them, and I have not earned mine yet,” Crypt answered, gazing deferentially at the ground.
“Well, we’ll have to get you one, earned or not. I’m making you Court Mage,” I answered.
“Me? Court Mage?”
“Yes. I said that, did I not?” I crossed my arms with a huff.
He nodded submissively, diffusing my irritation.
“Can you get me back to the palace without one?”
“I can, but it will take me longer.”
“A few minutes are better than the half an hour it would take to get back from here on the snow filled roads.” I shrugged, thinking nothing of it.
Turning to the guards, I said, “Bring my carriage back to the palace.”
They saluted sharply.
Turning back to Crypt, I said, “Begin now.”
He gave me a slight nod of acknowledgement, closing his eyes in concentration.
He began murmuring something in the Ancient tongue. I had no idea what he was saying, but it didn’t matter.
I felt a strange, buzzing sensation. Looking down at my lower body, I saw that I was buzzing and rippling. Crypt was too.
Then I was gone.
I floated in an abyss of blackness.
I was so cold. Was I frozen?
What had Crypt done?
This was one of the most frightening experiences I’d ever had.
I?
Who was I?
I couldn’t even find myself. How could I if I didn’t know who I was?
Then there was a warm buzzing, and I was in the palace. I sighed in relief. I hadn’t died.
Turning to Crypt, I said, “Remind me never to allow you to do that again.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, before responding with a respectful, “Yes, Highness.”
For the first time, I noticed my surroundings. I stood in the vaulted council chamber. The winter light filtered wanly through the vibrant window mosaics. The high-backed chair for Argent’s monarch was empty, but the rest of the council members were sitting. They sat forward on their velvety blue chairs, staring at me, astonished.
I smiled sweetly.
I hadn’t thought to tell Crypt where to put me. Why did he put me here?
Then it occurred to me that he had realized I would need to be where all the council members would be. They did all their work here in this chamber, so here was the best place to take me.
Clearing my throat, I walked over to the high-backed chair at the head of the table. I settled regally onto its plush, royal blue velvet cushions, my arms drifting into the gilded armrests.
“I am sorry to intrude like this, ladies and gentlemen. However, an urgent matter has come to my attention.”
They gaped at me.
Head Councilor West recovered first.
“My Queen.” She stood, giving me a deep bow.
I waved my hand for her to stand up.
“Now is not the time to be concerning ourselves with formalities, Councilor West. War has begun.”
The Council gasped. Then a stifling quiet blanketed the chamber.
I broke it with a slight cough.
“If you are all done gawking?” I raised my chin. “We should get down to business.”
Head Councilor West nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“Now, it has come to my attention that all of our major defense outposts have been attacked and besieged by Cyril. There has been no provocation on our part. We have no choice but to retaliate, but we must decide how to do so. ”
Head Councilor West waited politely for me to finish, and then stood, signaling that she wished to speak.
“Yes, Councilor West?”
With my go-ahead, she proceeded with her comment. “Should we not attempt negotiations with Cyril to be sure of their intent in attacking us?”
I nodded politely to her, “It is a good idea, Councilor West. We shall consider it.”
The door opened. I looked across the room abruptly. Silence fell across the room as the pageboy announced General Orin.
“General Orin.” I nodded to him from my perch on the throne.
“My Queen.” He bowed to me, the bow deep and reverential.
“Will you please brief us on events at the front?”
He nodded, planting his feet in a firm stance. He clasped his hands behind his back.
“Queen Dairdra. Ladies and gentlemen of the Council.” He gave us a brief nod before continuing. “Yesterday, all of our major defense outposts were attacked. There was no provocation on our part for Cyril to mount such an attack. I had one of the field mages send me here as soon as possible to inform you.”
I nodded to him. “Thank you.” I motioned to an unoccupied seat where guests usually sat. “Please, be seated. I would welcome your opinion in this matter.”
He gave me a grim smile. As he took a seat, he answered quietly, “I will give what assistance I can, my Queen.”
“Am I right to assume, General Orin, that you did not contact our ambassador in Cyril?”
The General gave a perfunctory nod, “That is correct, My Lady. I felt it was best to get the news of the attacks to you as soon as possible so that you could decide what to do.”
I nodded. “That is fine, General, but now we need to contact Ambassador Firth to find out what is going on.”
Crypt stepped forward quietly.
I turned my gaze to him, “Crypt, please establish a link with Ambassador Firth.”
He bowed deeply, and then straightened. He muttered a few words under his breath, and the link was established.
Ambassador Firth’s sallow face hung in the air before us.
“My Lady?” He asked.
“Ambassador Firth. I am sure you are aware of the attacks on Argent’s defense outposts.”
He looked around furtively. The room he stood in was empty.
What is he worried about? We’re supposed to be at peace with Cyril. Unless this attack was planned out by the royalty of Cyril, he should have no real worries. Something is wrong.
Ambassador Firth looked back at me, his voice lowering as he said, “Yes, My Lady. I am aware of the attacks.”
“And? The meaning of them?”
“They were intentional. There was no mistake in the attack. One of the powerful men behind the throne, if not the King himself, means to….”
A door slammed open and two black robed men entered.
Ambassador Firth whirled around.
He put up his hands, trying to ward off the two men.
“Please, gentlemen, what is the meaning of this?” His face paled, and his hands shook as he held them towards the two men in black.
One of the men smiled.
The occupants of the Council chamber watched the event unfold in horror. The visual link showed us everything.
The stockier of the two black-robed men pulled out a sword.
Ambassador Firth tried to run around them, but the man ran him through without a hesitation.
They stood there watching as he died. They didn’t know about the link yet, apparently.
But that was soon ended. With his last breath, Ambassador Firth choked out just a few words before the men cut him off.
“…They’re coming… Wants you, my Lady…”
A boot crashed into his head and all was still. Crypt terminated the link.
My heart thudded in my chest. My palms were suddenly slick with sweat.
Who wants me? What do they want from me?
Is someone trying to take not just my kingdom, but my life too?
Is the whole entire point of this attack to kill me? Or is that just a necessary piece to taking Argent?
Something worse occurred to me then.
Cyril… They must have been the ones who tried to kill my mother and did kill my father!
I struggled to control the quiver in my voice. I kept my voice soft to avoid any extra difficulties.
Everyone in the room had seen a terrible thing here, and if I tried to behave as if it didn’t matter, it would make me seem cold and callous. I did not want my Councilors and General to believe I didn’t care about the people serving me. It wasn’t who I was, and it never would be.
“I think, Councilor West, that we can agree that war is our only choice here.”