Authors: T. Southwell
Shamsara stroked the silken fur of the sand cat's cheek, and her brilliant eyes sought the Queen's.
He followed her gaze. "She loves you very much."
"I know."
"She will kill anyone who tries to harm you."
"What do you mean, I must die? What will that achieve?"
Shamsara sighed, stroking the cat. "If you wish to end the war, your task will not be an easy one. If you do as I say, this will come to pass. But the decision must be yours alone, for yours will be the greatest sacrifice."
"Tell me what I must do."
Chiana waited outside the massive double doors of the Queen's inner chambers for what seemed like an age. Her fingers pleated the material of her new robe, the same dove grey as she had always worn, but now trimmed and belted with gold in accordance with her newly elevated status. Her father, a merchant, had sacrificed much to pay for the many years of study needed to gain the knowledge required to become an advisor to the Queen. The Elder Queen had never noticed her, and her youth had always relegated her to the lesser ranks, for chief advisors were generally elderly. Her meteoric rise to her new post had astonished her, achieved as it had been with such ease, and so unexpectedly. She was well aware that it could just as easily be lost, however, should she displease the Queen.
The doors opened, jerking Chiana from her thoughts, and Shamsara emerged, followed by the Queen. The old man, whose lifetime had spanned many generations, strode briskly forth, the wolf trotting at his heels. Shista brought up the rear, looking unusually alert. Minna stopped before her chief advisor, her face pale but composed.
"Take Shamsara to his rooms and see that he has every comfort, then return to me here."
Chiana bowed to the Idol of the Beasts and led him down a short corridor, opening the doors to a suite of rooms whose walls were hung with tapestries. Rugs woven from the wool of rare antelope covered the floors. Jade and crystal ornaments graced carved stonewood tables, and huge windows gave a panoramic view of the park-like gardens that surrounded the palace. Fresh air scented by puffwood and smoke tree blossoms blew in, and the distant sounds of the city rode upon it.
"If you require anything, ring the bell, Your Grace," she murmured.
Shamsara nodded, strolling towards the windows. Chiana closed the doors and hastened back to the Queen's apartments. The patter of her slippers seemed loud in the corridors’ pillared vastness, adding to the already overwhelming sense of inadequacy that had plagued her since gaining her new position. Minna-Satu sat upon a pile of cushions, gazing ahead with wide eyes, and Shista sat beside her. Chiana prostrated herself, and received the signal to rise.
"Chiana, go at once to the captain of my guard and bid him come to me."
Chiana retreated, frightened by the Queen's distracted air and Shista's obvious agitation. She hurried to the officers' quarters, where she found the captain at his desk, filling in reports. He looked up at her entry, a man of foxes whose shy familiar was rarely seen. Cropped red hair crowned a narrow, clever, sharp-featured face common to his kind, and his quick green eyes missed nothing in their vigilance. The broad stripe of peacock blue that ran down his chest on the right side from shoulder to waist relieved the dark green of his figure-hugging, gold-trimmed uniform, and denoted his rank.
At the Queen's summons, he followed Chiana back through the corridors, his light footsteps ringing on the marble floors. She showed him into the Queen's presence, and would have retreated, but Minna raised a hand.
"Stay, Chiana, this is for you to hear also."
Chiana returned to stand beside the captain, casting a worried glance at Shista, who paced the room by the windows, her pads silent on the rugs.
"Captain," the Queen said, "I have a strange and fearsome task for your men. You will select the best from amongst them, the strongest, bravest and cleverest. You will send them to King Shandor's camp, where they must slay him and bring me his son, unharmed."
Captain Redgard gaped, the shock of this unexpected and momentous announcement momentarily making him break his rigid military stance, then he collected himself and resumed his formal pose. "My Queen. Such a thing... is impossible. If it was not, we would have won the war by such means long ago. The King is guarded night and day by the most seasoned warriors and their familiars, giant cats like your own..."
Minna-Satu raised a slender hand. "Nevertheless, it must be done, and I have charged you with the task. Bring me the Prince, but first make him the King."
"My Queen..." The captain struggled with his words, his expression despairing. "I fear ... this shall fail. Almost at every opportunity, our armies have striven to reach the King and slay him, for to do so would demoralise his troops and give us victory until the next King took power. We have never succeeded."
"Then this time you will." Minna's tone brooked no argument, and the captain's shoulders sagged. Still, his courage was admirable, for he rallied again, to Chiana's surprise.
"My Queen, you send good men to their deaths."
"Good men die almost every day, Captain. How many do we lose in a battle?"
He shrugged. "In a good one, perhaps a few score, but on a really bad day, over a thousand have been lost. In the Rout of Ashtolon, we lost five thousand and seven hundred."
"So, I ask you to send only a few, a score, or half a score, enough to do the deed, not defeat Shandor's army. Perhaps several score shall perish before they succeed, but when they do succeed, the end of the war will be nigh, and that will save a good many more lives."
The captain bowed before voicing his doubts, diminishing the boldness of his words. "After the first attempt, the King will know our plan and be alerted. It will be suicide."
Chiana thought that the Queen was remarkably patient with Redgard. People never argued with her, and if they tried, not for long. The captain, she was convinced, had just set a record for the longest such argument ever attempted.
Minna smiled. "Then let them be volunteers, Captain. Tell them that they will earn great honour, the highest awards, and my favour. The men who achieve this will become nobles of my court and own vast estates. Their riches shall exceed all others. But send no fools who long only for glory. These men must be qualified for the task."
The captain sighed, shaking his head. "Of course. It shall be as you order, My Queen. Many will come forward without any promise of reward, merely for the honour of serving you."
"Send them here to me before they leave, I would wish them luck."
Redgard bowed. "As you command, Majesty."
Chiana gazed after him as he left the room, impressed by his courage and honourable demeanour. She swung back to face the Queen as the doors closed behind him.
Minna eyed her. "Have we any other business, you and I?"
Chiana hesitated. "I must report, I have ordered Mendal and Symion to go in search of consorts, My Queen."
"No. I shall receive no consorts now."
"But -"
Minna made an impatient gesture. "I have made the decision. Much of my future rests upon the success of the men who go to King Shandor's camp. If I require consorts, I shall inform you. Anything else?"
Chiana bowed. "Nothing of import, Majesty."
"Just palace politics, I suppose?"
"Yes."
Minna sighed. "So, are all my advisors ranked against me in this?"
"No, indeed. Many side with you, but they grow fearful for their lives. Karshon of the bears was slain last night, and an attempt was made upon the life of Dermon of the wolves."
"Who replaces Karshon?"
"Emial."
The Queen rose and wandered over to the windows to stare out across the grounds. "How did Karshon die?"
"Snakebite."
Minna swung around. "Mendal!"
"No, My Queen. He was not to blame, for the bite was inflicted by a brown rock adder, and Mendal's familiar is a tree adder, as you know. The guilty party, I believe, is Asmol, a junior advisor whose familiar is a brown rock adder. The killing was sloppy, ill planned."
"And ill advised." Minna frowned. "Does he think that I allow my advisors to be slain without reprisal? What of the attempt on Dermon?"
"An assassin, so we know not who hired him. Dermon was lucky that he had four wolves with him at the time, and escaped with only a few wounds."
"The assassin escaped?"
"Yes, My Queen."
Minna turned back to the window. "The assassin will try again. Failure is not acceptable to them. If the killing has been paid for, he will not stop until one of them is dead. Send Dermon to the armies. Tell him to find consorts for me, but let him take his time. Send Asmol to the armies as well, but let him be stripped of his post and made a common soldier. If he wishes the war to continue, then let him fight in it. That will be his punishment."
Chiana smiled at the Queen's cleverness. "That is a fitting punishment, My Queen."
"Yes. Tell the others that any who are found guilty of plotting to murder my loyal advisors shall suffer an identical fate. From now on, all those who wish that the war continue will fight in it themselves." The Queen faced Chiana again. "For too long, the high-born have profited from this constant slaughter and grown fat off the death of so many innocents. If they love this war so much, they should enjoy the privilege of partaking in it."
"Your mother, praise her name, always let her advisors fight their battles amongst themselves," Chiana pointed out.
"My mother," Minna retorted, "was a snake."
Chiana prostrated herself and left, still smiling.
That night, Shamsara dined with Minna-Satu, and she experienced the unique pleasure of sharing her table with all of his companions. The wolf remained under the table, awaiting the meat that Shamsara passed him, and the hawk perched on the back of an empty chair. Two mice shared his plate of vegetables and sweetmeats, for the Idol of the Beasts ate no flesh. A ferret helped himself to meat on the table, and a small tortoise shared the salad bowl with a tiny leaf-eating monkey. Minna listened as the old man detailed the events that had brought each of his special companions to him, while Shista watched disdainfully from her cushions.
The next day, Captain Redgard brought before her five volunteers, all seasoned warriors, as she had ordered. Each had served at the front and distinguished himself, earning the right to become part of the palace guard. Their leader was a man of foxes, like the captain, who displayed the sly intelligence of his kind in his alert glances and quick movements. Two claimed kin with bulls, great, muscled men who towered over their companions. One was a man of the deer, and possessed his kindred's shy demeanour and swift gentle ways, while the last was of the ravens, with sharp black eyes and a vigilant nature. He had a familiar perched upon his shoulder, an airborne spy that would aid them greatly in their quest. Minna gave them her blessing and sent them on their way.
Even on horseback, the journey to the desert would take at least three tendays, and Minna settled down to the task of sorting out the wrangles amongst her advisors. Asmol was taken away in chains to serve his sentence at the front, and Dermon went with him, on the pretext of finding consorts for the Queen, an honourable task. After the example of Asmol, the intrigues became more subtle, and assassination attempts were disguised as accidents. Ishtan of the wolves was run down by a cart and severely injured, and the horses were later found to have been burnt. Dalreesh of the eagles discovered a scorpion in his bed, and a tenday later was found dead in a palace corridor with a knife in his back.
Shamsara returned to his mountain cave, and Minna missed his lively conversations and the tales of his long and fascinating life. For a tenday after his departure, the palace was quiet, then a gang of street thugs attacked Symion in the city and almost killed him, but a for Moret's timely rescue. One of the thugs, wounded by Moret's dogs, admitted the name of his employer under torture, and Yassin of the bats was sent to fight at the front. Minna employed seven new spies to find those disloyal to her, adding two more advisors to her army.
After two tendays of relative peace, a message arrived from the front, informing the Queen of the five soldiers’ failure. Minna dispatched another five men with a heavy heart, this time a wolf, a cat, a horse and two bears. A further four tendays elapsed, with only a botched assassination attempt on Mendal, which made the Queen laugh. The news that the second quintet had failed plunged her into a deep depression that not even her best jesters could alleviate, and she despatched a third group of six. The inclusion in this group of a man of snakes gave her fresh hope, but four tendays later the news was bad once more. Four more volunteered, a deadly quartet of snake, scorpion, dog and shark, the first three with familiars.
Three tendays after they left, when Minna was growing impatient for news of them, Chiana gave her some other, startling news during their daily discussion of events.
"My Queen, a man arrived at the palace yesterday, requesting an audience."
"Indeed? What sort of man? One of My Lords?"
"No." Chiana looked a little puzzled. "He would tell me nothing of himself, saying that he would speak only to you. He seemed proud, and would not bend his knee to me, your chief advisor."
Minna smiled at Chiana's indignant air. "How very uncivil of him. But do not let your little ego bloat too much, or I shall have to deflate it somewhat."
"He would not even give his name," Chiana hurried on, "and he was strange looking."
"How so?"
She shrugged, pondering the question with a slight frown. "I could not describe it, just strange."
"Well, did he have a big nose, or one eye? What?"
"No, nothing like that, in fact, I thought him handsome, but ... he was not ordinary."
The Queen cocked her head. "Then he must be extraordinary. My curiosity is aroused. Show me this stranger."
"But, My Queen, is it safe? He seemed... dangerous, I thought."
Minna-Satu glanced at Shista, stretched out asleep in a patch of sunlight. "Have him searched and stripped to the waist; bring me any weapons you find."