by Jacey Sturch
When the king of Riswen came to Aetheria and told her about King Reynaud of Asinia who was looking for a wife, Aetheria leapt at the opportunity to reclaim the luxury she had once known. She didn’t expect to truly fall in love with the king. Aetheria was happy with Reynaud while he was alive. But she never forgot what she saw in Riswen, and how her mother was treated after the loss of her father.
Aetheria wished she could be a kind and benevolent queen, that her subjects would care for her, and they could all live harmoniously. But she was sure her subjects were all plotting against her. And the latest news from Dawnfalls had, in her mind, proven her correct.
She had recently received word from one of her spies that two members of the resistance would be crossing the Haelind border and would likely stay the night in Dawnfalls. Then someone else in that very village confirmed that two strangers had come into the village late that night.
Aetheria was gripped with the almost ever-present fear when she was told the news. My people are plotting against me. This cannot stand. I cannot lose the throne, not when it is all I have left of Reynaud.
As always, the queen lashed out at the people in her blind panic. Such orders always left a bad taste in her mouth, but it needed to be done. She knew that women don’t get respect. At least, not the same respect a man would. She knew the only way she could hold onto her throne was to lead by fear. She wished there was another way, but she knew there wasn’t.
Her chamber door groaned as she pulled it open, wishing for nothing more than a peaceful night’s sleep. But she already knew, this night would be anything but peaceful. She readied for bed and lay on the silky sheets but the sheets felt more suffocating than comfortable on this night. The guilt over what she had done kept surfacing as Aetheria lay in bed, longing for sleep to claim her. She tossed and turned for several hours, tormented by her own mind.
Eventually, she did manage to fall to sleep. However, even then, she didn’t find any peace. While she slept, she continued to be tormented by visions of her greatest fears. She saw herself forcefully removed from the throne, from the only thing left of her beloved Reynaud. She saw her subjects imprisoning her and even executing her in more and more painful ways.
Aetheria woke up in a cold sweat, panicked by what she dreamed. She spent the rest of the night awake, guarding herself from her imagined persecutors. The shadows on the walls of her room seemed to reach out toward her, trying to harm her. Every stray sound from outside her door was someone coming to kill her.
She watched as the sun rose on a new day, having hardly slept once more. Her ladies in waiting came in cautiously, not knowing what the mood of the queen was that day. They helped her ready for the day in silence, trying not to set her off.
Unfortunately, the terrors of last night were still present in Aetheria’s mind. The queen noticed that one of the ladies in waiting kept glancing up at her. The lady in waiting was recently brought in from a back-water village in the latest acquisition. Curiosity was all that inspired her inspection of the queen.
When she pictured the queen, responsible for so many atrocities, this was not the woman she pictured. She had thought the queen would be imposing, and appear strong, that she might have a cruel air about her. But that wasn’t the case at all. The queen was an older woman, who looked like a stiff wind could knock her over. She had a constant look of fear in her eyes, like the look of a prey animal being hunted. The young girl couldn’t believe that this frail looking woman was capable of so many vile acts.
However, Aetheria didn’t see this as innocent curious looks. She saw these looks as threatening glares. She saw this young girl as an immediate threat. The panic from earlier surged forth once more. Aetheria leaped away from the girl and screamed. “Guards!” The guards come rushing in, having heard the screams.
“That girl! That one there! Arrest her and have her executed!” Aetheria screamed, certain that this girl meant to do her harm. The guards, numb to the ruthlessness of the queen, complied quickly, lest they end up on the chopping block that morning as well. They grabbed the girl the queen was pointing at. The girl begged and pleaded as she was dragged from the room, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Later that day, word spread through the castle of the young girl’s demise. The whole staff was whispering about how the girl hadn’t done anything, about how the queen had ordered her execution for no good reason. Soon the whole castle was talking about the girl, executed for simply looking at the queen.
The whispering in the castle did little to settle the queen’s mind. She confined herself to her room, too worried about the imagined threat from that morning to go about her day.
The rest of the week continued in a similar fashion. The castle continued to whisper about the poor girl’s death, while the queen grew more and more panicked. By the end of the week, the guards she had sent to Dawnfalls returned, bringing news of their success.
After hearing that the town had burned, the queen felt a little safer, knowing the town plotting against her was no more. She was sure this would discourage any ideas of revolt - at least for a little while.
Days passed in relative peace, and the castle soon grew quiet once more. No more whispers about the queen or the young lady in waiting were heard in the halls. Everyone in the castle foolishly hoped that would be the last time one of the staff would meet an untimely end at the hands of the queen’s guard. They hoped that this would be the last person to lose their life in service to the queen. But they knew that was a false hope. They all just hoped they wouldn’t be the next target of the queen’s wrath.
Aetheria, in comparison, was growing less calm by the day. The feeling of security that came from the destruction of her enemies in Dawnfalls was starting to fade, as it always did. As that feeling of security started to fade, the queen once more began to see enemies and assassins at every turn and in every shadow, constantly present around her.
It began to feel like an endless game of cat and mouse, that she would never be free of these shadows that haunted her. But Aetheria would not lose to these shadows. She would not lose to this futile rebellion. She would never give up her throne, the only thing left from her husband. She couldn’t lose, not after everything that she had done to hold onto her power. She would see all of Asinia burned to the ground before she lost the throne.
Chapter 9
Raina and I get up early the next morning and leave before dawn. We walk in complete silence, only stopping to eat at midday. The further south we get, the hotter it becomes.
Soon, the sun is mercilessly beating down on us. The forested soil of Asinia is slowly turning to sand. The familiar smell of pine forests that is so often present in Asinia is replaced with the dry smell of the desert air. By the end of the day, just as the sun begins to set, we arrive at the border of Maudan. This time, there are no guards at the border. The area is completely devoid of life.
We continue through the desert night, hoping to cover a lot of ground before the sun rises once again. We plan to travel across the desert for several days, stopping to rest when the sun is at its highest. On the fourth day, just before we are ready to stop to rest, we see it. A city with the walls painted such a vibrant hue, the city appears to be a jewel in the middle of the desert. This has to be the Maudan capital city of Dekhesir.
We continue through the hot desert and reach the city around nightfall. The city is lively even at this hour. The marketplace is thronged with people in jewel tone robes who still talk in the open-air market. There is music coming from some unseen corner of the market.
Merchants yell to passerby, trying to sell their wares to anybody who will listen. The scent of unknown spices and unfamiliar foods fill the air. Children run through the streets, playing and laughing, kicking up dust as they go. This city is so much livelier than anywhere in Asinia.
We ask some locals where to find the council and they point us in the direction of a large building, walled off from the rest of the city. We travel through the city streets, marvelin
g at the beauty of the city’s architecture. Buildings are made from bricks of such vibrant colors, it’s a wonder to behold. Each building is a different color, and yet still there is a sense of cohesion. We marvel at the city as we make our way to its center.
Arriving at the citadel in the heart of the city, we soon learn this is where the council lives and works. We approach the great gates of the citadel and are stopped by the guards. “Halt! What business do you have here?”
I step forward, and try to have a confident tone as I speak. “We come from Asinia and we are here to speak with the council.” The guards are noticeably startled by the name of Asinia, not having had visitors from Asinia in several years. They quickly open the gates and let us into the citadel, announcing our presence to the people in the courtyard below. As we enter, several people stare at us in confusion and interest.
Compared to the market at the entrance to the city, the inside of the citadel is much quieter. The people walking by are not talking, they are reading different scrolls in silence. The only sound is the nocturnal insect calls. Small plants spot the courtyard, and there is an elaborate fountain in the center of the walkways.
A stern looking man greets Raina and me just inside the citadel. “Good evening ladies. The council has already retired for the evening so you will have to wait until they re-assemble in the morning. Rest assured; you will be the first order of business tomorrow. For now, I will show you where you two will be staying. Please follow me.”
The man leads us through the winding, candle lit, corridors of the citadel, stopping in front of two doors. “These two rooms are yours. There is a bathing room across the hall that you may use as well. I will come collect you in the morning for your meeting with the council. Have a good night, ladies.” He leaves Raina and me standing in the darkened corridor. We bid each other goodnight and go into our rooms.
I walk into the room and sit on the bed. As I sit there, I contemplate what I will say tomorrow to convince the council to help our cause. I know that I will only have one chance and that I have to be convincing. I sit there until the moon is high in the sky. After going over what I am going to say to the council in my mind a multitude of times, I finally feel ready to speak and address our needs before the council.
I awake to the sunlight streaming in from the sunrise. I ready myself for meeting the council, hoping against hope that I will be able to convince them to give us the knowledge that we need. Soon I hear a knock at the door. Raina stands there with the stern man from the night before. “Are you ready to meet the council. mis?” Though I feel nervous, I nod and am led to the council’s meeting hall.
When we enter the hall, I am in awe. The hall is built from a pristine white stone and the ceiling is a dome with an intricate painting decorating the whole. The painting seems to depict the founding of the nation of Maudan. Several open-air windows in the hall let in rays of sunlight but the hall itself is mostly empty, except for a large, raised sitting area in the center of the space.
On the raised area, sit five people, all dressed in brilliantly colored robes. I realize as I stare at them that this must be the council, which is made up of three women and two men, all staring at us in thinly veiled astonishment. It has been several years since anyone here has heard from Asinians.
The man who brought us to the hall, approaches the council, and formally announces us. “Councilmen, these are the visitors from Asinia. They have requested an urgent audience with you this morning.” The woman sitting in the center seat nods at the gentleman. “Thank you. You may leave now.” He bows and leaves the hall, leaving us alone with the council.
The same woman now faces us. “I am Sayora, leader of this council. You have traveled a great distance to come before us. Why is it that you have come to us?” I take a steadying breath and begin to make our case. “We have come before you to ask for your assistance. As you well know, Queen Aetheria rules Asinia now. What you may not know is that she is ruling through violence and fear. No one can challenge her claim to the throne, as there is no other suitable royal to take the throne. But when I was born, the First Tree signaled that a new royal child had been born. We are now trying to end the Queen’s bloody reign and bring peace to Asinia.”
The council looks troubled and a man sitting on the far right of the council speaks up. “Why would you come to us? We have no formal fighting force, and we do not involve ourselves with the matters of other kingdoms. This is well known.” The other members of the council nod in agreement with his statement. Sayora quiets the council before speaking once more. “What Cyrus says is true. It is the position of this council to not interfere with the ruling of other kingdoms, but to instead focus on domestic issues. Knowing that, why would you still come so far?”
“We have not come to ask you to fight alongside us.” That gives the council members pause. Cyrus asks the question that seems to be on the whole council’s mind. “Then why did you come?” Raina steps forward at this point. “All we have come for is information. Our resistance group is sorely outnumbered and will not survive an all-out assault on the castle. Instead, we are going for a more subtle approach. All we need from you is information on a poison that would be able to end the queen’s reign quietly.”
The council looks even more troubled by that information. Sayora is the first to respond. “While we do have such information, we will not give it to you. We are a peaceful people. We cannot abide our knowledge being used to harm another. We will not have any part in the harming of another living thing. I am sorry you have traveled all this way for nothing. You may stay here as guests of the council while you prepare to return to Asinia. But we cannot help you any more than that. With that decided, the council will break for the morning meal.” The members of the council all stand from their seats and leave the meeting hall.
Raina and I stand in the hall for a few more moments before we are guided out of the hall. We return to my room, feeling discouraged. “What do we do now, Raina? They made it very clear that they will not help us.” Raina looks deep in thought for a moment. “This is what we will do. We will stay here for a few days and try to convince the council again to help us. If that doesn’t work, we will try to find the information on our own. For now, let’s go to their library and see what information we can find.” We have someone lead us to the library and begin searching the shelves.
After several minutes of looking through the shelves, we find several volumes that talk of different plants that may prove useful. We settle in at a table and pour over the books, hoping to find even the tiniest clue to what we need. But after hours of reading, we are still empty handed.
This continues for the next two days, with still no new information on any poisons. All of the books we have gathered speak about medicinal plants, but not any poisons. We begin to lose hope, until the fourth day.
While in the library, we are approached by a member of the council, who had not spoken at the meeting. “Greetings. My name is Kiyana. You will not find the answers you seek in any of these tomes. That knowledge is kept under strict guard and is only accessible to the council. I wish I could help you, but the council has made its decision.”
I put down the book I am reading, hoping to convince this young woman to aid us. “Then please help us. You are a member of the council yourself. Surely you can get us the books with the information we need.” Kiyana looks at us with a sad look. “Unfortunately, I cannot. The key to that archive is kept by Sayora and she will not open it for me. But I think I can help you another way.” Both Raina and I look at Kiyana, intrigued. “If you were to go before the council again, and make a logical argument, you may be able to convince enough people on the council to give you the information you need. Prove to them that the good that your actions will bring will outweigh the bad.” Raina gives Kiyana a skeptical look. “Will that really work? They seemed determinedly against the idea before.” Kiyana turns and begins walking away. “It will work. Their objections were to the morality of your plan. If you sh
ow them that your plan would have some good effects, then they may agree to help. I have to go. Good luck.” Kiyana leaves us in the library, and we immediately start planning what we will say when we meet the council again.
As night falls, we feel sufficiently prepared to meet with the council in the morning. We request the meeting as we leave the library and are told that we will meet with them first thing in the morning, as ours is a matter of some urgency.
The next morning, we enter the council hall once again. Sayora greets us, asking, “What is it that you called us here for this morning? I’m sorry, but we still will not help you.” I step before the council, for one last chance at convincing them. “All I ask is you hear us out. I know you do not want to be a part of any harm to another living being, but by not helping us, that is exactly what you are doing.”
That confuses the members of the council into silence. Kiyana smiles from her seat, gesturing for me to continue. “You see, by not helping us, you help Aetheria retain control of the kingdom. You would be condemning all of Asinia to her violent rule, allowing for the injury and even death of countless Asinians.” The council mutters for a bit before Kiyana interrupts. “I agree with our guests. While it seems distasteful to us to help them, if we do not help, a great many more lives will be lost at the hands of Queen Aetheria.”
After several more minutes of tense discussion, Sayora calls them to quiet. “Kiyana is right. It is the decision of this council to supply Leora and Raina with the information that they require. If you two would please follow me to the archive.” Sayora rises from her seat, and leads us down a corridor to a large, ornate door. She pulls out a small, golden key and opens the door. Inside are several books on pedestals, forming a ring around the room.
Sayora retrieves a particular book and returns to our side. She opens the book to a page showing a small unassuming plant. “This is the Hyxyl. It grows in a small cave off the coast of Asinia, in the Aral ocean. I believe Ebonhelm is the closest village.” The plant in the drawing is small, with four leaves on the stem. The flower at the top of the stem is made up of small white petals, with red lines along the plant’s veins. “That’s a poison? It just looks like a normal flower.” Sayora copies the information from the page in the book as she explains. “It may look like a normal flower, but it is deadly. If it is eaten, the person that ingested it would fall asleep and not wake up again. If you were to brew tea with that plant, it would work perfectly for your plan. It may not be the deadliest poison, but it’s unassuming appearance will help you get it into the castle.” She gave me the copy of the information, before bringing us out of the archive.
