The High King: A Tale of Alus

by Wigboldy, Donald

  "My queen?" his voice rasped in question.

  Alyanna seemed not to notice him as she glanced around at the well adorned walls of the vizier's entry room. The brilliant colors of landscapes, the bloody horrors of battle and the beauty of ancient ladies and lords poked their influence at any who saw them and cared the least for art or beauty. The queen's eyes wandered back to the girl who had opened the door for them and became curious. At what, the vizier could only guess.

  Finally, the queen spoke, "I have to speak with you about certain needs, Krulir." The noticeable dropping of his title was not lost on the vizier and he was forced to wonder at the woman's audacity once again.

  "Would they concern your wardrobe, my queen?" he asked with only the barest piece of sarcasm actually in his voice.

  Shaking her head, the woman responded answering only his words, "Not exactly, Krulir." Alyanna focused her dark purple eyes on the older man finally and stated, "I seem to have lost the use of my maids. I don't think that the ladies Belit, Ploreath or even Olna will be of use to me further. I will need to find proper women to act as my new maids. Perhaps we could use women of less noble status. The other three just couldn't take proper direction. A queen who isn't obeyed by her own servitors would appear unfit."

  Krulir couldn't believe her words. As she had hoped, the vizier looked at her with wary eyes. He feared the woman's sanity had finally broken before Merrick's abusive attentions. That the marriage had been loveless, or more to the truth, venomous, was no hidden fact. Even as Alyanna awed him with her beauty, the man was forced to worry what would happen when word of the woman's actions began to spread throughout the castle and surrounding lands.

  He confronted the woman gently trying not to unseat her mind further. "Are you asking me to gather a new set of maidens from the noblewomen as is the norm or would you rather that I find servant girls to help you, my queen? You do need someone to help you during your day, do you not?"

  Alyanna smiled gloriously at the vizier. "I think that I shall pick them out, Krulir. In fact, I think that I would like to take this young girl off your hands. What is her name?"

  The old vizier gritted his teeth wondering where this could possibly be going. The loss of his new girl did little to comfort him either, but he capitulated easily, "Serra, my queen."

  "Serra," she nodded. Alyanna turned to the girl, "How would you like to serve me, girl?"

  Serra looked nervously to the vizier. She feared him still. Both Krulir and Alyanna could see this. They could see that the girl wondered if such a change to serve with a mad woman could prove any less horrifying than service to the old man. Krulir nodded his reluctant permission to the girl. Serra answered tentatively with a curtsy and a bowed head, "That would be fine, if you wish it, my queen."

  "Good, then you will come with me shortly." The queen turned to Krulir and added, "I will not sit in on the day’s activities in the hall today, Krulir. You may act as judge over the people's problems as you often do for Merrick. I, meanwhile, must find suitable replacements for my maids." She started to turn for the door. Serra moved slowly into step behind her. Alyanna stopped and looked at the girl and shook her head. "Leave those clothes here, Serra. They belong to the vizier. With me, you will not need such a get up."

  Nervously, the girl slipped free of the skirt and blouse as ordered. She shook slightly before the stares of the guards. Serra was a shy girl despite the tutelage of Krulir and his women. Such nakedness did little to make her feel any safer in this nightmare of a castle that the girl had been drawn into so many years ago.

  "Good day, Krulir. It is time for me to walk the castle to look for my maids," Alyanna added with a sparkle of laughter.

  Preceded by Laith, the two women left Krulir to his thoughts. His thoughts were not joyous ones. The old man had seen too many things in his life and become too good a judge of people to not see the signs of trouble and this was beyond obvious. Krulir knew now that the queen was up to something. He didn't know what, but the vizier could see that this was part of some plan of the woman's. The man also knew that he would have to watch her closely for his king. It would be he who would have to contain any plots hatched by Alyanna.

  Krulir considered writing to Merrick of his wife's change, but decided to wait and see where the woman's plans were leading first. To tell him that she was plotting without proof, could just serve to annoy the easily antagonized High King.

  He nodded. Yes, the vizier would wait and see as he always did. A smile tugged at the sides of his mouth. It had been a long time since anyone had sought to disturb the flow of the castle. New energy flowed into him as he considered the freshness of a challenge, even if Krulir believed her to be the smallest of all possible opposition.

  Krulir went to the desk and pulled forth a piece of paper to scribble some notes. The queen sought to toy with him, he chuckled. The man would squash her mercilessly.

  Alyanna ordered Laith to lead their small band back to her quarters. `To refresh herself' had been her reason. It was more than that. When they reached her door, the guard checked the interior for possible hazards. The woman was a queen, after all, even if she was a token one. Her death could be a blow for any side wishing to use her.

  When it was declared clear, the two women were left to themselves. Alyanna sank onto the bed and began to shake violently. Tears sprang forth to stream from her eyes and down her cheeks. Serra stood mystified by the woman's actions. The girl felt ready to do the very same, but she could not allow herself before the queen.

  Alyanna noticed the girl again after several moments and motioned her forward. The younger girl feared that the queen may have nearly as disgusting ideas about her as had the vizier, but the queen merely patted the bed beside her absently. When the girl sat, Alyanna suddenly stood up shaking herself violently and using both arms to cover her breasts. The woman strode to her closet and pulled out a satiny robe and threw it to the shocked maiden. Grabbing a thicker, cotton shift and pulling it onto her still shaking frame, the queen let out quiet cries of frustration.

  Serra sat still, holding the satiny robe in her nerveless hands. The girl was quite sure that the queen had indeed gone insane. She watched as Alyanna finally managed to pull herself together. With a deep sigh, the woman turned with a saddened expression to look at the girl.

  Shaking her head unhappily, Alyanna gestured to the robe saying, "Go ahead, Serra, put it on. I have to admit to you something that you may not tell anyone else. Will you keep my secret?"

  Serra nodded her head in answer, while pulling the soft covering around her. She shivered with the feel of it, nearly purring in contentment. The feel of it nearly made her forget her frightening situation. Like most young people, she was able to dismiss bad things quickly from her mind. Serra noticed the queen smiling gently at her and, despite the gentle eyes and smile, the girl shivered and worried again.

  The queen moved quietly towards the window. The sun lit the beautiful woman with its radiance though it seemed to come from the woman herself. Her arms were still clutched around her shoulders and Serra could see that the woman still shivered though the room was just barely cool now.

  "I'm a fraud, Serra."

  Simple words, but they confused the girl as to their meaning. The queen had to look to the confusion in those eyes to see that she should go on. "You see, this whole act with the vizier is really just a ploy. I don't like parading myself through the castle naked anymore than you do, I would guess. You may be a slave, but I think that you still have a sense of self respect that says it isn't right or proper as my maids said."

  Serra simply sat watching and listening. She wondered how much the queen planned to tell her and then she wondered why such an important woman would confide in a mere slave girl.

  Alyanna seemed to gather at least part of the girl's thoughts as she continued, "You are still certain that you won't tell anyone else what I say to you now?" At the girl's nod, she asked, "You know that Merrick and I have no love for each other, don't you? Yes
, it's true. I know that there are rumors of both love and hate, and trust me when I tell you that I do hate the so-called High King, Serra."

  The girl drew in a breath of surprise at the candid words. Without intention, she asked, "Why do you tell me these things, my lady?" Realizing her boldness, Serra clapped her hands over her mouth.

  Alyanna laughed a truly wonderful laugh. Serra couldn't help smiling as well. After a moment her face sobered slightly and she answered, "Let me ask you something, Serra? Why do you think that I would tell you this?"

  Unsure that she wanted to answer, the girl did none-the-less, "Because there is no one else?"

  "Exactly, Serra, and that is why I drove away my maidens earlier. I don't trust them and there is good enough reason for me not to trust anyone in this castle, but in you I see a kindred spirit not yet broken by this place. You have no love for the vizier, I'd hazard. Am I right?"

  Again the girl hesitated, but answered truthfully, "I do not necessarily hate him, my queen, but I do not like him much either."

  The woman nodded, "But you could never have told anyone that before and more likely saying as much would only cause you pain. Well, Serra, I want you to know that I won't cause you any pain, if I can spare you. I need help. Help that I can trust. Can I trust you, Serra?"

  The girl nodded. She couldn't believe that the queen was asking so much of her, a simple servant.

  "Even if it means walking the castle naked or even into the city that way?"

  Eyes wide, Serra still nodded, "If that is what you wish, my queen, who am I to dispute you?"

  "No, no!" Alyanna retorted frustrated. "Don't do this because I am queen, Serra! I need a friend more than I need a servant. Can you be my friend, someone who will help me and support me, because I would hazard a guess that this will not be easy?"

  Serra sat a moment. "What are you planning to do, my queen?"

  "Just call me, Alyanna, when we are alone, Serra." The woman looked up to the ceiling a moment considering, "I haven't devised much of a plan actually. I plan to try and cause some trouble for my, oh so dear husband," she finished with great sarcasm. "I haven't figured out just how and I have to be careful not to push him or Krulir too far. My mother and brother could still suffer greatly if I do. But if things go well, maybe one day I'll be able to do more to help them.

  "First things first," she added holding herself by the shoulders once again, "we need to find a few more girls that we can trust." Looking at Serra with dismay, she asked, "Are you ready to go back out there?"

  The girl understood the queen's meaning and stood up leaving the robe on the bed behind her. "It's for a good cause, my queen. Perhaps you will remember me when you have freed yourself and your kingdom?"

  Alyanna slipped the shift off of her shoulders and smiled, "Of course, Serra, we will be like sisters you and I." Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Alyanna paused thinking, "Maybe we can take a moment more to clean ourselves up." The beautiful queen looked at the girl standing bare in the middle of the room and motioned her forward. Sitting the girl down, she asked, "Have you ever worn makeup, Serra?"

  Chapter 28- Messages

  Gerid had been forced to retrace his path slightly due to his bargain with Admiral Koort and the need for solidifying his crew. With the addition of the three Klosten ships, his crewmen needed to be shifted between other vessels. He made sure to leave half of the ships nearly full, while adding enough men to the malas to make nearly a full crew as well. Some of the one hundred and fifty Klosten sailors had been drafted into service to help somewhat. It wasn't something that he could do a great deal with for fear of mutiny. Spreading the klostens throughout the entire fleet limited that as well, but still the commander didn't want to push his luck too far.

  As they had sailed back in escort to the tseulty port of Daria, Gerid couldn't shake his worries about Admiral Koort either. The man was ambitious. He had to be to become an admiral. With that knowledge, Gerid feared that the man would still try to take the captured Klosten ships, especially the malas.

  The commander hoped his fears were unjustified as they neared Daria, one Tseult’s northern ports. If the admiral did have treachery in mind, it would occur at the city. They entered without any trouble though and the men at the docks who checked them in had given them an easy time of it. They had even said that the admiral had ordered leniency to be given to his fleet for harbor taxes.

  Even so, discretion led Gerid to only allow shore leaves in limited numbers when his men had asked. He usually allowed nearly full dismissals except for a crew of guards for each ship. Even though Tseult was technically an ally of Rhearden and Daria was one of their cities, the commander felt that he needed to be wary.

  A rather large city, Daria was a home to thousands including shipwrights and a great many boat builders. Maybe half the size of the capitol city, Camerton in Rhearden, the Tseulty city was a maze of brown wood buildings with several nearest the water being huge enclosed shipyards. Being a north facing port, it was wise to protect both the skeletons of the ships and the workers building them since the North Sea was often a source for large this far north and west. The Talmoth Sea to the west of Malaiy helped fuel the storms by funneling warmer water from the southwest side of the continent adding to the frequency of storms from the west.

  No storms of nature or man came for Gerid’s fleet and thankfully, after three days the fleet was ready to leave. Nothing unfortunate happened during that time other than a pair of sailors who had become drunk enough to start a brawl and get thrown into jail for an evening. As the fleet prepared to cast off and resume the journey, Gerid spied Admiral Koort with a squad of soldiers accompanying him approaching his dock. He groaned fearing that the man had simply waited until the last moment to try something.

  Watching the admiral walk up the boarding plank swiftly while leaving his guards on the dock, Gerid prepared for the worst while hoping that he would be wrong. The commander moved to greet the man upon the deck. Hand outstretched, the admiral pulled the giant close for a friendly hug. "I'm glad that I caught you before you cast off, commander!" the elder sailor stated cheerfully and his actions seemed genuine. "I wanted to make sure to give you something before you left."

  Raising an eyebrow curiously, he asked, "You needed to give me something, admiral?"

  The man nodded and produced a tube for holding documents sealed with wax. "This is a letter to my king telling of how you helped my northern fleet. There is also a personal note for him about my current status and future plans to fight the klostens. If you would be so kind as to deliver these for me on your trip to the capitol, we can consider all matters settled between us."

  Gerid kept waiting for the catch, but that was all the admiral would say as he waited for an answer. Having no reason to believe otherwise, Gerid nodded agreement. "Is that all?" he questioned the man.

  "No," Koort shrugged, "should there be more? If not, then I think that it is time to wish you good fortune on the rest of your voyage."

  Gerid nodded again, "I thank you and good voyage to you as well, sir."

  The admiral smiled kindly and started to turn away, "I'll have to take you up on that blessing after I have repaired my fleet. A fleet that I have you to thank for since you were right."

  "Right?"

  Turning back to face Gerid momentarily, he nodded answering; "I admit that I was hard headed when we first met aboard my flagship after the battle. I hope that I have made the right actions to apologize to you, commander. We are allies against a common foe you and I. I shouldn't have tried to take more ships than those we had earned and, truthfully, you earned them all. You were right that day when you said that we owed you our lives. I value my life and those of my crew enough to know that you treated us fairly. In your place, I don't think that I or another leader would have even bothered to help us at all." He grinned mischievously, "I would have waited until one side or the other had won and simply used my fresh ships to take them all."

  Gerid smiled easily. He
believed the man's words. His reply was only half joking as he said, "I had half given that a thought, admiral, so perhaps you are giving me too much credit."

  "No, son, you served your lord admirably. I believe, as I think that you do as well, that your king and mine will view these actions as only helping us to strengthen our alliance. I only wish that you were on our side as one of my captains. Your strength and leadership would be useful in our navy, I'd guarantee it."

  "Thank you again, admiral, such praise is gratifying. I'm glad that you think this way."

  Admiral Koort shook his hand again and nodded, "I shall take my leave of you now, commander that you may leave before the tides or the weather changes. Again, I wish you good voyage."

  Gerid nodded and watched as the man left his deck. He ordered the men to cast off the lines holding them fast almost as soon as the admiral’s feet touched the dock. Most of his fleet had already released their lines and awaited the Vengeance in the harbor, though the ships had taken their time in moving away as they monitored the admiral's visit to Gerid's flagship. With the casting off and the Vengeance quickly under way, the others soon picked up their pace and added more sail.

  Soon, the fleet had all left the shelter of Daria’s harbor and was once again under way. The western seas beckoned and Gerid and his men were quick to follow the waves towards the peninsula nation of Malaiy. He would pay a visit to the nation's capitol, Yala, before turning south towards Tristan, Tseult’s capitol city. It had been an added errand to his mission to act as a dignitary to that kingdom long enough to pay King Colona's respects. Gerid knew it to be only a minor inconvenience. The visit would last, at the longest, about a day and a half. Then they would have to brave the strong currents and even stronger winds of the Talmoth Sea. He had never traveled this far west before and this would be his first trip into the sea flanking Taltan's western coast. Rumors of its unpredictability didn't make him comfortable with that fact, but the need was there.