The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen

THE CATASTROPHE
OF THE EMERALD QUEEN

by L.R.
Manley

Copyright

Copyright ©
2012 by Lance Manley

The moral right of the author
has been asserted.

Quotations

“He who
fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a
monster.”

~Friedrich Nietzsche.

“In violence,
we forget who we are.”

~Mary McCarthy.

“To turn the other cheek once
is noble. Twice is an invitation to brutality”

~The Emerald Queen of
Alegria

 
Dedications

For
Sophie
Lancaster.

I hope she found her own
Alegria and that she reigns there still.

For
Robert
Maltby.

A man with dignity, courage,
and a strength of character that I have always admired and dream of
aspiring to. 

For
David
Rathband
.

No words can do justice to such
a noble and brave man.

Prologue

Tulips and roses mingled among the foxgloves that
blanketed the garden. Giant poincianas towered over it, branches
heaving with bright orange blossoms.
Birds chirped gently above, drawing a stark contrast to the
busy courtroom chatter coming from inside the castle. Sweet scents
wafted through and past the tall hedges, following the path of lush
grass to a set of stairs.  

The queen strode down the staircase from her
private balcony. Her bodyguard followed silently behind her. As
they reached the bottom of the steps, the queen paused by the
large, circular fountain.  

“Should we take these
rumours
of Anghofio
seriously?” 

Her guardian paused for a moment, then
answered. “My lady, I believe King James has long wanted your
throne. His actions lately in the border towns have merely
confirmed our suspicions.” 

The queen proceeded into the garden.
The lush grass dampened her bare
feet. She ran her hand absentmindedly along the hedge until they
reached the locked gate. Again, the queen turned to her towering
companion. 

“I wish emissaries to be sent to King James.
He knows better. Our power is greater than the other kingdoms put
together.”  

Her bodyguard nodded. "It shall be
done
.” 

A small bird flew from the bushes, its belly a bright
orange. The queen smiled and stretched out her arm. The bird
alighted upon the
jewelled
fabric of her sleeve. She gently
stroked its head with her fingers before it chirruped and flew
away.

“We should return to court, my friend,” the queen
said. “Your counsel is always welcome
.” 

“Yes, my lady,” the hulking figure said
solemnly.
He tilted in a
slight bow. 

She linked her arm through his and they began
to make their way back. 

Halfway down the path the queen froze. She
grabbed her stomach and cried out in pain. 

Her companion tugged on her arm.
“My Lady?”
 

“I, I...something’s…” she stammered. She fell,
her tiara slipping and tumbling to the floor.  

"GUARDS!" the bodyguard bellowed. To his
horror, the queen's body shimmered, fading to and from
invisibility.  

Two soldiers burst out of the queen’s chambers
and pelted down the garden towards them. 

“By the gods,” her guardian
gasped. 

The queen's eyes opened wide and
uncomprehending. She faded to nothingness and back. “Where am I?”
she whispered. “Who are you?” 

Heavy footsteps stomped behind them. The queen
reached out a hand to her companion. “Help me…” she implored, her
voice barely more than a whisper, then she faded away, her fallen
crown the only sign of her presence. 

The guards thundered to a halt. They stared,
bewildered, at where the queen had lain. 

After a moment’s pause, the bodyguard snapped, “Summon the
council.
The queen is
gone.”

Chapter 1

Hospitals are
so
boring.
Jared
thought. 

It didn’t matter that his parents raved about
his cousin Susan’s new baby; he just didn’t like the smell of
hospitals. All disinfectant and soap. 

Tomorrow Susan would go home with Peter
Tristan, her new son. Jared’s family seemed more excited about the
event than Susan herself. It wasn’t that Jared disliked Susan; far
from it, he thought she was lovely. The baby wasn’t cute yet, just
a helpless blue bundle with hands no bigger than a kitten’s paws
and Jared was frankly sick of hearing about the little
creature. 

He’d stood patiently for an hour at the foot
of the bed before he asked if he could go and get a can of pop from
the vending machine. Timing was of the essence and he’d learned a
long time ago that he had to be exceptionally crafty to get treats.
When Jared was born his parents had struggled to make ends meet for
a couple of years until his father got promoted.  

However, for reasons that Jared couldn’t understand,
his mother still liked to perpetuate the myth they were
“poor
.” Yeah, right. His
father was a bank manager and his mother now worked as a supervisor
in an accounts firm. The only time he’d tried to argue, his mother
had tutted and subjected him to a half hour lecture, with tears in
her eyes. She told Jared about how young and naïve he was and that
her and his father still "struggled" to make ends
meet. 

With this in mind, getting a can of cherry pop
was something he had to time very well. He’d waited until his
mother had asked for what seemed like the fifteenth time how Susan
was, and then quietly asked if he could get a can--with his own
pocket money of course.  

His mother had paused, the smile fading slightly from
the pure joy of being with Susan and the baby. She'd tutted,
reminded him that he was supposed to be saving his money, and told
him to be quick.
Before he
made it out the door, she had turned back to Susan, her
conversation with Jared forgotten. 

Now he stood in front of the machine. He put in his
money and was
rewarded by the
reassuring clunk of the can dropping into the tray.
 

It was nice to be alone, even if just for a
short while. He couldn’t take too long or his mother would fret
about him, even though the hospital had security
guards. 

He opened the can and sucked the froth from
the rim, the bubbles tickling his upper lip. This hospital looked
more like a hotel, with wooden walls and dark brown tiles covering
the floor. There were some paintings on the wall too, most of
boring, predictable stuff like yachts and peasants ploughing
fields

 
A souvenir shop stood to the left of the
pictures.
A stupid
idea
,
Jared thought.
Hospitals were places you came to get better. Why would
anyone want to have a teddy bear or a pack of playing cards to
remind them of an illness?

 
A clock chimed; he’d been
gone for about five minutes. He could probably be gone about
fifteen before they’d notice, so he decided to walk back the long
way, past the children’s ward. Anything to forestall the boredom of
being back with his family. 

The kids’ ward was up one floor. Jared took
the staircase slowly. At the top of the stairs, he turned left and
walked along the corridor. Children’s pictures drawn by little
nursery-age kids hung on the Sister’s station. It was empty, and
further along he could see the white ward doors with round windows;
they reminded him of those on an old sea ship.  

The sound of the television came from the ward. Jared
turned left again, taking another gulp from his can and stifling
the burp that rose in his throat. A smaller corridor appeared with
rooms off to one side and posters and notices on the opposite wall.
One proclaimed that visitors should use the dispenser pumps to wash
their hands, alerting everyone to the perils of spreading germs
through contact. Another tattered sign read
“Watch Out, There’s A Thief About”
with a silhouette of a thief making
off with the “o” from the “about.” 

It never failed to amaze Jared just how boring life could
be.
The problem with what you
see every day is that you eventually stop seeing it,
Jared thought.

He passed a room marked “Sophie Roberts.”
Jared had heard her name before. Eleven-year-old Sophie had been on
the local news about four months ago after being in a car accident.
Physically she hadn’t been badly injured, but she’d fallen into a
coma. At the time, Jared had wondered where she was being looked
after. Now he knew.

He glanced in the square window as he passed
and something caught his eye. A strange multi-coloured light was
pulsating from the room. He paused, uncertain but reassuring
himself that nothing was amiss. He’d heard that sometimes they
played TVs or radios for people in comas hoping they’d hear them
and wake up.

The light was pulsing brightly into the
central corridor and casting patterns on the window glass. Jared
was about to turn around and walk away when he heard a strange
sound. Something like whispering was coming from the room. It
sounded like someone was having a conversation in there and it
certainly didn’t sound like a television. He was worried and a
little concerned now.

The pulsing light was still playing colours across the
window of the ante-room, purple gold and blue, then red and green.
All washing over the glass like when you mix petrol and water.
Jared hesitated and looked left and right. There was no-one about
and he was curious.

Moving nearer to the glass, his can almost
forgotten, he peered through and tried to see into the girl’s room.
The light was more subdued now, as if the source had been dimmed
but he could still hear the whispering. It sounded creepy, like the
wind in the trees mixed with the sound of a bully quietly
threatening you.

He still didn’t think it was anything to be
afraid of. After all, Jared thought, they were in a hospital and
the children’s ward at that so there must be grown ups about who
would be able to help and knew what was going on. If someone had
got into the room who shouldn’t be there, then Jared could see
them, alert the ward matron and then everyone would think he was a
hero. Jared always believed that people in control knew exactly
what they were doing.

He gently pushed open the door and peered
in, stepping quietly through. He expected only to take one look
inside and then beat a silent yet rapid retreat if he saw anything
suspicious.

Looking in, his breath caught in his throat
and he froze. 

The girl was lying in bed on the far side of
the room. Pipes in her arm and a tube going into her nose. The
sheets were pulled up to her chest and the gentle “beep, beep” of
her heart monitor kept a steady beat. She looked peaceful as if she
was just asleep with no signs of injury from the car accident that
had put her here. Either side her bed were two cabinets. One had
flowers and cards on it and the other was adorned with more cards
and a large but old looking brown teddy bear. The moonlight shone
through the window behind her and a small wall lamp in the corner
casting a reassuring glow across the room. The shutters were half
closed and the scene was more or less exactly the way Jared had
imagined it. 

Except for one thing… 

Hunched on a chair, next to Sophie’s bed was
the strangest man Jared had ever seen. He had on a scruffy, blue
blazer that was too big for him and the fabric looked worn, rips
showing in a couple of places near the collar. He was wearing dark
blue suit trousers, faded and old looking. He was completely bald
and his head was angular, almost coming to a point. He was sniffing
every few seconds as if he had a cold. As he leaned over Sophie he
whispered quietly but frantically.