THE YARASTAR TRILOGY
BOOK TWO
The
Eld
Queen
JEANELLE FRONTIN
The Eld Queen
Copyright © 2019 by Jeanelle Frontin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, email Mark Made Group Ltd. based in Trinidad, W.I.
www.markmadegroup.com
Book Cover & Character Illustration by Israel Silva
Cover & Character Design © 2018 by Mark Made Group Ltd.
Author photograph by Damian Luk Pat
Publication Data
Frontin, Jeanelle.
The Eld Queen / Jeanelle Frontin.
ISBN pb: 978-976-96175-0-6
ISBN ebook: 978-976-96175-1-3
First Edition
DEDICATION
To Alyxander, my son:
You absolutely hated waiting to see what happens next, and I absolutely love you for it!
There was once a time when your most incessant question was, “Are we there yet?!” To see it morph into an even more unrelenting “Are you finished yet?!” became an indelible, defining moment for me as your mother.
I would write this entire series to satisfy your curiosity alone, as infinitely vast as it has shown itself to be, because you are the greatest part of my life’s story.
Thank you for continually inspiring me to give more, to be more.
~
Chapter One
“I…I don’t know how I feel…”
Eight days ago, Yara had returned to the Skotad territory from the tunnels deep within the mountain. She ventured into them as an unmarked girl with no knowledge of her origins, in search of answers. She brought back the entire ancient race of the Eld that had been cocooned for thousands of years, unbeknownst to the Tribes. She also returned with a responsibility greater than anything she could ever have imagined. Unfortunately, her search left her with even more unanswered questions than when she began it.
“You must feel something, Yara. You’re not only marked now, you’re marked by Sunstar as the Queen of the Eld…the sacred chosen leader of thousands and thousands of ancient, powerful beings...That somehow also makes you the Queen of our planet! Mira is also apparently awakening from whatever happened in the tunnels. Yet…you haven’t spoken to me, or anyone, about it. You’ve looked dazed for the past week, while all the Houses of the Eld frantically pull you here and there. But I need to know how you are feeling! Yara…I need to know you’re okay…”
Yara shifted uncomfortably. There was deep concern echoing strongly through Toler’s words. She knew this was a tremendous test of his patience, and had been somewhat surprised he had lasted this long without interrogating her. Sadly, his continued probing, though well-intentioned, only pressed her to retreat further. She longed to craft a meaningful response, but the sounds from his lips morphed into formless gibberish, joining every other word spoken to her in the past week.
Yara hadn’t been able to get her mind back to a functioning place. She couldn’t shake the turbulent, overwhelming waves that crashed into her every time she tried to make sense of it all. Toler didn’t understand what had happened to her in the tunnels. He couldn’t, because he didn’t know…
I died…
“My Queen.”
An elegant, blue-haired Eld girl knocked apologetically at the open door. She shyly entered the room when Yara signaled, bowing gracefully with her index fingers crossed at her forehead in respect. Sunstar’s marking was more than just a symbol for the Eld. It was their mode of life, their way of being. They used it in every salutation Yara had witnessed since the Eld had been freed from their submerged cocoons.
Yara shifted slightly as she bowed, dazed with mesmerism. Her eyes glinted when her handmaiden’s brilliant tufts of blue hair swept up as she rose. Even Toler seemed to take a quick breath. No one, especially not Yara, was used to seeing other blue-haired beings. Mibery could easily have been her little sister.
“Yes, Mibery?” Yara gently asked.
While the Skotads looked eerily similar to each other, as did the Photaks, the Eld were a diverse race. There were seven houses among them. Within each house, the Eld resembled each other only in the color of their hair and the glow of their markings. Everything else, from their glistening skin to their stunningly complex physical features, was distinct. Yara had been secretly delighted to find that her strange blue hair was a common feature in one of the Houses of the Eld.
“Your presence is requested by the House of Agarb. The first night is approaching, and the…new…inhabitants of Mira are clearly…unprepared. Our house therefore beckons you, my Queen.”
Mibery stuttered slightly, uncomfortable using what the Eld referred to as the “creatures’ tongue.” It was the only language Yara had ever spoken, along with the Skotads and the Photaks. It was still difficult for Yara to grasp that the Eld considered the Tribes to be simple bio-crafted creatures that the Eld had invented. The Eld had formed the creatures’ language, and perceived it as “artless linguistics” created solely for the Tribes’ basic communication. The Eld spoke in a far more intricate manner. Yara had no doubt that it was proving difficult for them to accept a Queen who did not yet speak Eldish—although, inexplicably, she could understand it.
“I will join you shortly, Mibery.”
Yara turned toward Toler with an apologetic shrug as her handmaiden left with another bow and sacred salute. The moment of blue-haired enchantment was gone from Yara’s temperament now, overwhelmed by yet another weighted Eld request. Yara’s iridescent eyes dulled once more.
Gathering his things, Toler made his way to the door so he could give her a moment to herself. She seemed to have so few of those between her sudden, intense obligations.
Gutted by the disappointment on his face, Yara began to apologize. Toler had asked her for this time to speak three days ago.
“It’s okay. I know…Duty calls.”
“Toler…”
“No, Yara, I really do understand. I am not trying to make this any harder for you, but I am your friend and I worry…”
Toler sighed and looked away, anguished by his need to know what had happened, and to know she was okay. But his greater desire to not add more pressure to her eclipsed that need.
Walking over to him, Yara gently placed her hand on his sturdy, broad shoulder. She took a quick breath as he turned to face her. His soft, blue eyes gleamed through the silvery-white strands of his Skotad hair.
“Thank you, Toler, for caring about my well-being. I have not yet processed all that has happened, so I do not know how I feel about all of this, but I can tell you the one thing I do surely feel: gratitude, for you and all of the Skotads. You and your father, Chief Totek, have taken in thousands of my…my people. You have shared everything you know about what took place in the four thousand years they were cocooned in the dark, underground waters. You have also shared your spaces, your food, your compassion…and we will honor you for this. Thank you, truly…”
Toler rested his hand upon hers and for a brief moment it felt like it was only the two of them, back in the Greens where they first met. Yara breathed in slowly. If there was ever a scent that smelt of strength, bravery and beguiling masculinity, it was Toler’s. It filled the room with a comforting familiarity that took her away to a safe space deep within her.
She smiled with unspoken reminiscence as she pulled her hand away and walked toward the door. She paused there and looked back at him.
“And yes: I
am okay, Toler.”
He smiled faintly, nodding solemnly at her declaration. They both knew that it was a lie.
***
With Mibery slightly ahead of her, Yara walked down the time-worn tunnels toward the passageway to the provisional Agarb encampment. A Sapstream flowed gaily next to her, babbling with pleasure for the increased company in the normally-abandoned Skotad tunnels.
When the Eld had returned with Yara, there was no room for them in the colonized areas of the Skotad mountains. Old tunnels that had been blocked off for lack of purpose were reopened. The Skotads worked tirelessly to prepare the musty, carved-out dwellings within them, also giving of their clothing, food, and supplies to ensure the comfort of the Eld. Above all else, they exquisitely furnished the new tunnel dwelling of the sacred Queen of the Eld.
It still wasn’t real to Yara. Not just yet. As she walked along, stepping in time with the swaying of Mibery’s hips, Yara’s eyes fell upon the markings along her handmaiden’s strong arms. Like hers, and those of all members of the House of Agarb, they were the blue glowing marks of Sunstar – two mirrored, exponential curves, with their lines crossing like an arced X. Agarb was the House most connected to the spirit of their god. From their house, the Eld Queen always birthed, or so it had been for thousands of years before the Eld were cocooned. What made Yara’s markings distinct were the added glowing lines that surrounded them… six lines spiraled around the main one. Every Eld Queen, or King, had this distinction: an additional line for every other House of the Eld.
The blue-haired Agarbs, Yara’s House, were considered the most powerful due to the presence of the Queen in their House. The wise, strategic leaders came from the House of Spreuken, and they were purple-haired with purple luminescent markings that were similar to circular spirals. The Bravads were the warriors, the army of the Eld, and their red hair and shield markings burned with the fire of their quest to protect and defend. The orange Naighful were known to be the entertainers, the singers, and the mischief-makers, all in good fun and laughter. The yellow House of Ladden were the builders, the green Murkels were the providers of food and supplies, and the white Pultins were the light-wielders. The Pultins had created the marking of Pekone’s line to ensure that the Photaks could assist the Eld in weaponing Sunstar’s light.
Pekone…
At the thought of the Photak warriors’ head instructor, Yara’s mind plunged back into her life that had ended mere weeks ago, as a misfit among the Photak Tribe. Deep sadness overwhelmed her as flashes of her adopted Tribe mother and father trickled through the unstable walls she was barely keeping up around her heartstar. The Photak Elder Malek killed Yara’s Tribe parents because they had accepted her differences. She had always known she would never truly belong, but had she suspected the price her Tribe parents would pay, she would have left as soon as she could.
The Photaks and Skotads had always been at war, perhaps since ever their creation. Yara’s ability to withstand Sunstar’s rays as a baby distinguished her from the Skotads, as they would be tortured and killed in such light. But that wasn’t enough to earn the Photaks’ trust. Suspicions of her origins being connected to the Skotads increased when Yara’s strange abilities began to reveal themselves sixteen years after she had been found as an unmarked baby. Her ability to see in darkness like a Skotad, and her spinning fighting style, were too much for the guarded Tribe to handle. Yara had to run away to the Greens to protect those she loved.
The Photak Chief was called to judgment for his decision to allow the baby Yara into the Tribe. Chief Lamad would be made to pay the ultimate price unless his son, Kristos, chose to save his father by capturing the love of Kristos’ life, Yara. Kristos chose to betray Yara to save his father. He found her deep in the Greens, injected her with the Sleeper, and handed her over to the Photaks. Yara’s father had already been killed by the time Yara was captured. Elder Malek stabbed her mother in her heartstar shortly after, in front of Yara.
Yara squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push out of her mind the memories of her Tribe parents’ deaths and Kristos’ betrayal. Kristos had been the first love of her life, and, if she were being really honest, her only love. His betrayal ruined her. She had found herself unable to open her heartstar to anyone ever since. While she could sense hints of Toler’s affection toward her, and knew him to be beyond deserving, her heartstar was frozen in pain. And now more than ever, with many Eld feeling that she may be unfit to serve as their Queen, despite her sacred royal marking, she could not afford to intertwine her heartstar with…
A creature…
As Mibery turned the corner to the passageway that led to the Agarbs, Yara shuddered at the thought of how the Eld viewed the Skotads and the Photaks. Despite her hate for what had happened, she found it difficult to view even the Photaks as insignificant creatures. They were the Tribe she had yearned to belong to for most of her life. Perhaps against her better judgment, she felt concerned for their well-being. She had heard rumors that the Houses now had irrefutable proof of the Photaks’ old negligence in their duties, when they were the watchers for Mira’s enemies four thousand years ago. Any inclination to prepare the Photaks for the first night was likely extinguished in the hearts of the Eld.
There was no way that the Photaks were ready for the first night in four thousand years. They could barely see in darkness, a state they called the Blurry, and the only the Tribe’s warriors and food gatherers were remotely experienced in this form of sight. Yara was especially worried for her little friend Mila, a brave Photak girl who had helped her escape. Mila wouldn’t know what was happening, but she would likely suspect Yara had something to do with it.
Initially, the heads of the House of Agarb had urged Yara to return to the Photak village to prepare them for what was to come. The news of Photak negligence, sadly worsened by the Elds’ discovery of how the Photak had treated their Eld Queen all her life, had stopped that decision in its tracks. The situation became an intensely worrying when the story emerged of Yara’s capture and near-death escape.
There was no rage greater or more dangerous than that of an Eld in defense of their kind. This rage was strengthened by indignation that such a threat had been posed by the bio-crafted creatures. The Eld demanded judgment, and desired Yara to give a detailed account of the time she had spent on Mira.
She had been numbing herself against this moment above all other demands. The prospect of fully reliving in front of strangers the past sixteen years of her life shook her in ways she could not describe. She knew too much now. She had seen so much of the reality of life on Mira that every Photak action seemed darker and more corrupt. The details would only serve to solidify the Elds’ contempt.
In her mind, the only pure Photaks had been her parents, Mila, and perhaps the Chief. She refused to categorize Kristos because, as much as she wanted to hate him, she still cared for his well-being. Yet she couldn’t rid herself of the concern she felt for the Photak Tribe. It may have been misplaced loyalty, but they were her first people. Despite their fear of her as a baby, they had allowed her to stay for many years and to train alongside them to become a Photak warrior.
“My Queen…”
Yara’s handmaiden interrupted her overflowing thoughts. They had arrived.
Mibery pushed open the door to the Agarbs’ meeting place. Dignified, blue-haired Eld all stood and bowed in the same manner in which Mibery had. It was surreal to see them grow silent and lower themselves beneath the level of her heartstar, as though she were deserving of such high respect. Yara shifted uncomfortably and signaled for them to be at ease, then took her place at the end of a majestic, oval, wooden table engraved with Sunstar’s symbol.
Utterance in Eldish filled the room. It was a prayer to Sunstar for guidance in the discussions to come.
Yara instinctively knew what it meant:
“Sunstar, we greet you and we move in oneness in your presence, in your power, in your will, and in your freedom. May our Eld Queen live well by living led.
”
Yara had understood Eldish ever since Guidestar began talking to her in her dreams back in her Photak life. She could never figure out why she knew the language back then, and it remained one of the unanswered questions that plagued her.
There were even more perturbing questions. Though Yara had found her people, she still did not know where she herself had come from after four thousand years. It was confirmed that the last Eld Queen was her mother, but the average lifespan of an Eld was five hundred years. Her mother would have died long before Yara was found as a baby, and her father had passed away before the Eld had been cocooned. There was also no record of her mother’s pregnancy, although Yara’s marking showed that she was her daughter with perfect accuracy. No one seemed to know or be willing to share their thoughts about where she had come from and how.
Yara’s mother had been responsible for cocooning the Eld, protecting them from the blast that damaged Mira’s core, the destruction that had stopped the planet from turning. She was the only one powerful enough to withstand such a blast, given her sacred marking, but she was also responsible for reawakening the Eld when the danger had passed. Clearly, this had never happened and, for all intents and purposes, Yara’s mother had vanished without a trace.
There seemed to be an underlying bitter energy among the Eld about this. Although they had been in complete hibernation for that long period, the sleeping Eld retained some sense of the passing of time. They had moaned in torture, reaching out to each other in tiny telepathic bursts, fathers to mothers, mothers to children, to ensure everyone was still okay before sinking back into a deep state of stasis.
The other Houses seemed far more traumatized by this, and were coldly respectful to Yara seemingly as a result of her mother’s actions. The Agarbs, however, were different. They seemed to trust the ultimate will of Sunstar, even if it was yet to be revealed.
The Eld Queen (The YaraStar Trilogy Book 2) Page 1
