Artemuse sailed across the palace courtyard and dropped neatly through an open window into the throne room. She landed on a torch bracket high in the ceiling and looked down, expecting to see guards or courtiers fawning over the Monarch. Instead, she saw only the Queen, no longer sitting in the smaller throne as she had been on Artemuse’s earlier visit. She now sat in the Monarch’s throne, her chin cupped in her hand.
Artemuse sailed down to the floor and allowed her feathers to shed, revealing the skin beneath. She wrapped her cloak around herself and approached the Queen, already bent low in anticipation of the curtsey she would be expected to perform.
“Stand up, Artemuse. You bow to no one.”
The Queen did not even look at her, and Artemuse realised she was not staring into space after all – she was gazing into a crystal bowl of water in her lap.
“Where is everyone, your Majesty?”
“The Vaal’kyr took my husband. I sent the guards to call the army to action. The courtiers…well they were just getting on my nerves. They’re so inane.”
A heavy weight thumped into Artemuse’s stomach – the Vaal’kyr had taken the Monarch? They must have considered him to be payment for the assistance they would lend. Artemuse didn’t know what they would do with him, and based on the legends, she didn’t want to know.
“I am sorry to hear about the Monarch.”
“I’m not. That fool would have buried his head in the sand of the Plains if he thought he could get away with it. No, I knew that what you had seen was true – I have seen it in the waters. They asked me for him, and I let them take him – they did so on the understanding I would become Monarch. At least now we might see some action.” The Queen looked up and smiled.
“I fetched the Guardian below the city. He has woken the Sleeping Army.”
“No, you woke the Sleeping Army. Eddister just took you to them. You really must learn to take the credit, Artemuse.”
Artemuse blushed.
“Now you’re here though, we must head out to the Plains together. Between the Vaal’kyr, the Statue Army and the city militia, we should be able to repel Lord Draumir with ease, but I don’t doubt that they could use our help.”
The Queen snapped her fingers, and a side door opened. A single guard, a boy of no more than fourteen, poked his head into the room.
“Send word to the stables, I need Prado. And have Mirage saddled for Artemuse.”
The guard nodded, and left, closing the door behind him. Artemuse bit her lip – Mirage was the famous black stallion ridden only by the Monarch. She wasn’t an expert horsewoman by any means, finding the animals to be capricious and unpredictable, and she was sure Mirage would be more difficult than most. Still, she’d come to the Queen for help, and the Queen needed her down on the Plains. She’d have to put her own feelings aside for now.
“Ben’s a good boy. The horses will be ready by the time we get to the stables. Are you alright, Arti?”
“I do have one question, your Majesty.”
“Call me Phenia.”
“Alright. I do have one question, Phenia. Why would Lord Draumir risk attacking Rhodenius? Surely he’s heard of the Vaal’kyr?”
“Of course he has, although I doubt tales of the Statue Army ever reached his lands. Don’t forget, those who encountered them didn’t lived to speak of it. You have to remember that many now consider the old legends to be nothing more than tall tales, or ancient boasting. Draumir probably assumes the Vaal’kyr are nothing more than a fairy tale to scare people into behaving themselves.”
The Queen set aside her crystal bowl, careful not to spill the water, and stood. Artemuse had forgotten how tall the water mage was, and fought the urge to curtsey – the Queen would tell her off again.
“Come along, Artemuse. I am sure Eddister will be keen to see you again.”
The Queen gave a lopsided smile, and swept off along the length of the Throne Room, her silver robes rippling like water behind her. Artemuse trotted to catch up, and they left the Throne Room together.
Continues next week with Riding Ever Onwards!
Ah the Queen seems to know what she’s doing and together she and Artie they will make a formidable pair!
The Queen at least understands what’s going on!
really looking forward to seeing how you handle the epic battle itself
So am I….
Ah, decisive action from the Queen. A close bond seems to exist between Artemuse and the Queen too, they’ll probably need it in the near future.
The Queen recognises a fellow magical person, I think.
Well, that wraps up the Monarch. A scene of the blustering terror as the Vaal’kyr carried him off would have been fun. 🙂 With these two women on the job, Lord Draumir is in for the surprise of his life… perhaps the last one…
Oh you’ll meet the Vaal’kyr, don’t worry!
It’s not too often in a fairy tale or a fantasy story that the king gets kidnapped/deposed and his magic-wielding queen takes over. I like it.
I also get the feeling something is going to make the battle with Draumir more difficult than either the Queen or Artemuse expect.
So the queen made a deal to be the Monarch? She is a ruthless woman. I am looking forward to seeing what she does next.