Isle of Wysteria: The Reluctant Queen

by Aaron Lee Yeager

  “Fund it with what?” Lord Acklew touted.

  Old Lord Dahool reached over and slapped Lord Acklew in the face, knocking the pipe out of his mouth. “Reach into your own pockets for once, you parasite.”

  “I expect to be reimbursed,” Lord Acklew complained, picking up his pipe off the royal carpeting.

  “And the disruption to the capital?” Lord Aghael advanced. “The curfew, the looting? How do we explain them? We can’t say they were part of some stage play.”

  “We claim there was an attempt on the Queen’s life,” Lord Uncan suggested. “The death of the former King and Queen is still fresh in everyone’s minds, so we can claim the two may be linked. Blame it on some fringe political group, have them all publicly executed to restore order, that sort of thing.”

  The long-nosed Lord Onovad, Minister of Housing, lifted his head, awestruck at the suggestion. “Who then?”

  Lord Dahool snorted. “Anyone have a special interest group they'd like wiped out?”

  “I wouldn’t mind the potters union taking a hit,” Lord Ilsacv suggested, pulling at his thick eyebrow. “They've been a thorn in my side for years.”

  “We could always blame the Tomani living in the capital; no one likes those filthy foreigners anyway,” Lord Hinsekis mentioned.

  “That’s right,” Lord Unchan said, a gleam in his eye. “It doesn’t even have to be a political group. Just pick an affluent family with a politically connected member and chalk it up to unchecked ambition.”

  “What has happened here?” Lord Onovad decried, standing up from his chair. “Look at what we are talking about! We are talking about murdering innocent people just to avoid public embarrassment for this...” he pointed at Erin. “...this...child. She’s not even from a noble family; she’s only here because The Eye of the Storm landed in her lap. Don’t you see? This is ludicrous!”

  Everyone looked at each other.

  “And we have our volunteer,” Lord Uncan mused to himself.

  Erin motioned and the guards to either side of her seized the Minister and pulled him away from the table. “What are you doing?” Lord Onovad protested. “Let me go! Release me!”

  The man was unceremoniously dragged, kicking and screaming from the hall while the others watched. When the doors closed again, Erin looked at them grimly. “Okay, you know what to do, make it happen.”

  With a bang, the doors broke off their hinges and slid into the hall, knocking over statues and forcing old Lord Erryk to scamper out of the way.

  A raven-haired young woman walked in, revealing a pile of unconscious guards in the corridor behind her.

  Two more guards drew their swords fearlessly and ran up to attack her. The first stabbed his blade at the woman’s head, but she caught the tip with her fingers, effortlessly wrenching the blade from his grip, then kicking his feet out from underneath him, slamming his head against the marble floor. The second guard slashed at her midsection, but she was too quick. She grabbed the blade with her bare hand. The metal grew red-hot in her grip, forcing the guard to release it. The man dropped to his knees, coddling the burnt flesh of his hand.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Erin snapped.

  “Surely you remember your adopted daughter,” Spirea chided, fingering the Eye of the Storm necklace that hung around her neck. “I’m going to have to get accustomed to having a mom barely older than I am.”

  “Oh, the foreigner,” Erin griped. “Look, I’m way too busy to deal with you right now, so if you could just...”

  “Just what?” Spirea interrupted, walking up to the table and tossing Lord Aghael out of his chair with one hand as if he weighed nothing more than a pillow. “As the heir to your throne I have a right to be here. What’s more, you need me.”

  “This is outrageous!” Lord Ilsacv groused.

  “We don’t need this foreigner,” Lord Ewjell inveighed.

  Spirea picked up a stack of papers and turned up her nose at them. “THIS is your plan of attack?”

  “We're going to finish what we started, The Navy will burn Wysteria’s forests to the ground,” Lord Apolinano defended.

  “You're an idiot; don’t speak to me again,” Spirea commanded, flicking her fingernail across his cheek, drawing blood. “You can burn the forests a hundred times, and it won’t accomplish anything, they will just grow it back.”

  “Once we take the capital...”

  “It doesn’t matter if you remove the Queen. It doesn’t matter how many troops you land, you'll never be able to occupy an island covered with hostile trees and people who can regrow them with a wave of their hand.”

  “My Queen, why should we listen to this woman?” Lord Hinsekis inquired.

  Spirea smiled wickedly and looked at Erin with her black eyes. “Because I’m the one who can show you how to beat the Wysterians permanently.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “My pile,” Athel sang to herself as she took out a pair of Navy trousers out of the washbin and placed it on the table.

  “Alder’s pile,” she sung as she took out a Navy shirt and placed it at the far end of the table.

  When it was raining or humid, Alder used this spare bunk room as a clothes drying room. Somehow, he had cleverly positioned the ship’s portholes in such a way that a steady breeze constantly flowed through the room to dry the clothes.

  “My pile.”

  After bonking heads with him few times, Athel had begun the habit of separating the loads into piles before they hung them up.

  “Alder’s pile.”

  Athel paused when she came across a pair of Ryin’s underwear. Shockingly white now considering how they began.

  Wrinkling her nose, Athel drew her saber and snagged the undergarments by the smallest possible corner and flicked them to the far end of the table.

  “Definitely Alder’s pile.”

  After separating a couple more items, Athel came across one of Privet’s shirts. Even without leaning in she could clearly pick up a faint touch of his cologne. It lingered even after being laundered repeatedly. The scent was warm, mysterious, endlessly appealing. It reminded her of their sparring matches back on Wysteria.

  Athel sighed, taking in the scent. It felt like a lifetime ago.

  I wonder if he knew that he was the only person that I ever let into my room?

  She recalled being deeply focused as she held her blade, watching his taught muscular arms for the first sign of a lunge, watching his firm, toned legs for the first indication of an advance.

  The way the sunlight glistened off of his chest...

  Slowly Athel looked at her pile, then Alder’s pile, then back at the shirt.

  “Definitely my pile.”

  Alder walked in, carrying a basket of folded clothes and some fresh clothespins.

  “Hey Aldi,” she greeted, giving him a peck on the cheek and grabbing some clothespins.

  Alder watched her curiously as she straightened out Privet’s shirt and hung it on the line, her face so close she was almost nuzzling it. “This is highly inappropriate,” Alder pointed out.

  “I wasn’t smelling it,” Athel defended, whipping around.

  “Pardon?”

  “Nothing, what were you saying?”

  “I was saying that while I appreciate the help, and I certainly enjoy spending so much extra time with you, it simply is not proper for a lady to do man’s work like this.”

  “I know, that’s what makes it so fun,” she gushed as she grabbed a pair of pants. “Can you just imagine what my mother would say if she found out?”

  Alder gathered up the clothes from his pile and began to hang them up. “May I ask you something?”

  “You can if you call me Athi.”

  “My Lady, why did you choose to do these menial chores with me?”

  Athel stopped for a moment and looked at him seriously.

  “Because of what you said before. I realized that I couldn’t change any of it. I can’t give you magic, or make you live longer, or any
of that. The only thing that I can control is the way I treat you.”

  Alder considered her words for a moment, then nodded appreciatively. He didn’t show it much, but she could tell that he was deeply moved. “In that case, may I say that you are doing much better.”

  “Thank you,” she gushed, hanging up another shirt.

  “But you have to line up the seams when you hang up trousers.”

  “Oh, right,” she said, straightening the pants.

  The door opened and Ryin poked his head in. When he saw Athel, his expression changed to one of shock.

  “Oh no, Athel is doing chores again! Quick, get the doctor!”

  “Calm down, Colenat, I’m not under a spell this time,” Athel declared.

  Ryin straightened himself. “Oh, in that case I have a complaint. My shirts keep getting over starched. Try to be more careful about that next time.”

  “Yes, of course,” Alder accepted with a bow.

  “Don’t bow to him, he’s an academy flunkie,” Athel bid. “Just what do you want, anyway?”

  “I thought you'd like to know that we haven’t had any sign of Navy interceptors since we picked up Pops and your preggo tree. Looks like we outran ‘em all.”

  “That is not surprising, given the strong slipstream Margaret created for us,” Alder told him.

  “Ooh, that means I can give everyone their surprise!” Athel said gleefully as she skipped out of the room.

  Alder and Ryin looked at each other worriedly. “Surprise?”

  A few minutes later, Athel ran up on deck, past where Margaret lay on her podium, immobile from exhaustion.

  “Good work Gerstun,” Athel praised as she passed by her. Margaret gave off only the weakest of acknowledgments.

  Athel found Mina and Captain Evere standing before Deutzia, her branches sagging all over the deck. Dr. Griffin was there too, his nose bandaged up. On one of Deutzia’s lower branches an oversized blossom was growing, and inside it a large piece of fruit.

  “So, the baby is growing in there?” Captain Evere asked distastefully.

  “Sure is,” Athel shared, placing her hand on the rind.

  “And you're sure it’s a girl?” Dr. Griffin asked, his voice muffled by his bandages.

  “Oh yes, only women are born through the trees. If it were a boy he would be carried in my body, not Deutzia’s.

  “Fascinating.”

  Athel placed her cheek against the surface of the rind. “If you listen real close, you can hear the heartbeat. You guys wanna?”

  “Oh, no thank you,” Mina said as she turned away, her expression saddening.

  Athel looked back and forth at the two of them. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, lass,” Captain Evere said. “She’s just sad because...”

  “...Allister and I can’t have children,” Mina admitted sorrowfully. “Apparently, Mesdan and Tomani blood aren’t compatible.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Athel apologized, placing her hands over her heart. “And here I am throwing it in your face all the time...”

  “No, it’s all right,” Mina assured, waving her hand. “It’s not your fault; it’s not anyone’s fault.”

  Mina breathed in deeply, as if trying to cleanse herself. “The problem is mine, I need to learn how to be happy for you without spilling my own feelings and stuff all over the place.”

  Athel took Mina’s hand compassionately.

  She is so strong.

  “Well, you just go right ahead and spill,” Athel encouraged. “You just spill and spill until you’re satisfied and then we'll just have Pops clean it up for us.”

  Mina laughed in spite of herself, wiping away a tear. Athel laughed as well.

  Captain Evere hugged his wife warmly from behind, and kissed her on the back of the head. For a few quiet moments he just held her. Then, something occurred to him and his head came up. “Has anyone seen Tim?”

  Hanner stomped up with Ryin at his side. “What’s this I hear about a surprise?”

  “Oh, yes, come with me everyone,” Athel said happily. “You're going to love this.”

  Alder walked up and placed his hand on Deutzia’s trunk. “My Lady, could we not first set a heading for Wysteria? Deutzia needs to be planted soon.”

  “And she will be,” Athel reassured. “There’s just a few more things we need to do first.”

  “She’s getting weaker,” Alder insisted.

  “Oh, you're just a man, how could you know that?” Athel said, forcing herself to laugh. “Deutzia will be fine for a while yet, right Deuts?”

  “I hate you! You did this to me!” Deutzia groaned between burps.

  “What did she say?” Captain Evere asked, unable to understand her sparkles and shimmers.

  “She...said she loves spending time on this ship, and cares deeply for each and every one of you.”

  “No I didn’t!” Deutzia yelled. “You're a liar! Hand me apiece of paper I'll write it out for them, and the first line is: She’s a big fat fatty liar!”

  Everyone watched as Deutzia thrashed around angrily.

  “She seems kind of irritated,” Mina observed.

  “Oh, no, she’s just having trouble controlling her emotions. You know how pregnant trees are.”

  “Yeah, but...”

  “Come, follow me, the best kind of prize is a surprise,” Athel urged, pulling Captain Evere by the sleeve.

  Athel ignored Alder’s reproachful gaze and led everyone belowdeck to an unused bunk room next to the supply closets.

  “Tah dah!” Athel said, throwing the door open. The room was filled to waist level with all manner of shining gemstones of every color.

  It took everyone’s breath away.

  “I'll take my portion in the green ones,” Pops mentioned as he passed by, mopping.

  “I know I gave away our payment chest, but I did promise to pay you all back with interest. Well, here you go.”

  “That’s amazing lass.” Captain Evere praised. “How'd ya’ pull it off?”

  “Believe it or not, I had Bunni do most of it while the gold was being loaded onto the pirate ships. She’s a lot stronger than she used to be, but it still probably took her like a hundred trips.”

  One of the piles of gems stirred and Bunni Bubbles poked her head out. “I’m the prettiest princess in the world!” she yelled, her expression one of complete bliss. “No one has more sparklies than meeeeeee!”

  Athel clapped her hands and began handing out sacks. “Okay, so I figure there’s enough for each of you to have at least one sack-full. You can buy a medium-sized island with that much. I was thinking that it might be fun if we make it a game. You know, like ring a bell and everyone can fill up their sacks all at once like they do in those lottery things they had back on Thesda. You remember how the coupons would fly around in the air in that little chamber and each person had to grab as many as they could?”

  “No!” Bunni squealed, pulling some of the gemstones closer to herself. “These are mine, you can’t have them!”

  Athel held out a sack to Captain Evere. “Here, take your payment, you've served me well.”

  “Um, last time I checked, I was the captain of this ship, lass. She doesn’t sail anywhere without my say-so.”

  Athel pursed her lips, unable to understand his reaction. She placed a sack in Mina’s hand. “But, you've earned this; you've followed me and my crazy plans around the world and back. It’s yours.”

  “Sweetie, we didn’t follow you because we thought you would pay us.”

  Getting a little desperate, Athel pressed a sack into Privet’s hands. “I just want to make sure all of you are taken care of.”

  “Thanks, Athel,” Privet said, taking the sack. “But I didn’t come back for the money.”

  Privet’s sincerity startled Athel. She could feel her heart beating fast as she looked at him.

  “Well, I think you guys are crazy,” Ryin said, snatching a sack for himself. “Someone offers you a fortune and
you hesitate? You should be ashamed of yourselves. I’m going to fill my sack up, and I’m going to hide it somewhere safe. And when all this is over, it’s gonna’ be nothing but rum and salty wenches for me.”

  “No, these are my sparklies, get away from them!” Bunni squealed, swiping at Ryin’s hand like a cat.

  “Alder, will you control your doll,” Ryin complained as he scooped handfuls of the gemstones into his sack.

  “Sorry about that,” Alder said, snatching up Bunni Bubbles.

  “What are you doing? Put me down! Those aren’t his, they are mine! I’m the pretty princess. He didn’t carry them all in here, I did! Why does he get them?”

  Alder tapped something on Bunni’s back and her voice became softer and softer until they could not hear her at all, despite the fact that she was still kicking and moving her mouth as much as before.

  “Volume control upgrade,” Alder explained.

  “Ooh, nice one,” Privet praised.

  Ryin and Hanner and Dr. Griffin leapt into the piles of gemstones, gleefully filling their bags. Ryin threw some up in the air, but instantly regretted it as they snowed down on him, clunking him solidly in the head.

  Mina placed a hand on Athel’s shoulder. “Sweetie, it’s not that we don’t appreciate this. We do, we really do. But, you're trying to do this all on your own, and you don’t have to. We're your friends, let us help you.”

  Athel put her arms down and grabbed her elbow. “Don’t make fun of me, but I've never really had friends before. Just instructors and classmates.”

  “Oh, we're gonna make fun of you,” Ryin commented as he rubbed his head. “That’s what friends do.”

  “I guess I just felt like if I didn’t pay you that you wouldn’t help, but that is unfair to you, I realize that now.”

  “I'll say, lass,” Captain Evere admonished, crossing his arms. “If we only cared about money, we would have turned you in a long time ago. Do you have any idea what your bounty was at one point?”

  “Not as much as this,” Dr. Griffin said, holding up his bulging sack.

  Athel wrestled with herself for a few moments, then reached out and put her hands on Captain Evere and Mina’s shoulders. “Okay, I hope you guys understand that this isn’t easy for me, but I am choosing to trust you from now on.”