The Eld Queen (The YaraStar Trilogy Book 2)

by Jeanelle Frontin

  No matter what, he can’t be granted mercy. But before I issue his judgment, I need to ask him about the Keepers. I need to know what he knows.

  “Everyone!” Yara called out sternly. “Leave the room. Now.”

  The Photak Elders and nurses scurried out the door but Atlase and the Bravads stayed.

  Yara turned to them. “I meant all of you as well. I need a moment with this creature.”

  Atlase began to protest but Yara raised her hand. He immediately stopped, a bit taken aback by her abruptness.

  “I can handle this,” she said, trying to soften her approach.

  He gazed at her with confusion and care in his eyes. “All right…but we will be right outside.”

  Once Yara was alone with Malek, she looked at his broken body. She could feel the jarring chaos within her le-feer as she considered the choice she was making. She knew that Malek’s judgment could be no less than death, but she was uncertain about the rest of the Elders who played a part in her suffering. She wanted more than just knowing everything he knew before he died. She wanted him to admit to her face all the horrible things he had done.

  Malek had kept his eyes averted, but his hoarse whisper broke the silence. “Queen Yara, I understand that I must face death. I know it is your duty, and I have always fully respected a strong sense of duty. I am a traditional Photak, one who cares deeply for the protection of this Tribe, and for the will of Sunstar. You may not believe me, but there is nothing I did without the best of intentions although my beliefs turned out to be wrong. I surrender willingly to pay any price for my mistakes, but please know I am so sorry for all I did. Had I known who you were—”

  Yara gaped at Malek. “Your… mistakes?” She spat, immediately infuriated. Her le-feer crackled into the room and a small breeze brushed her face.

  Did he really just refer to murdering my parents and trying to murder me as merely “mistakes?”

  “I have offended you. I am sorry,” Malek responded, sounding peculiarly sincere. “I will abstain from speaking as I fear anything else I say may not be easily accepted.”

  Yara swallowed her anger in that instant, refocusing on her true purpose for speaking to him alone. “You implied that if you had known who I was, things would have been different. What would have happened if you had known?”

  Malek looked enormously guilty, tortured even beyond his physical pain. “Queen Yara, I have only ever desired to serve Sunstar to the very best of my ability. For me, and for generations before me, there was one ruler to whom we, the Photaks, were to remain loyal, the last Eld to have handed instructions down to us. That was your mother, Queen Maia.”

  Yara gasped. “What do you know of my mother? What kind of trickery is this?!”

  Malek glanced toward the door and gestured with his hand, indicating that she should lower her voice. Her le-feer pulsed in agreement.

  “I will tell you everything that I know, not in an attempt to gain mercy, or to be spared, or for any other consideration. I will tell you because it was always my divine duty. But I didn’t know…I didn’t know you were the one…” Malek’s voice broke and, to Yara’s horror, tears filled his eyes.

  “But promise me, Queen Yara,” he said when he found his voice again, “promise me that no matter what I tell you, that you will honor me with the death I so rightfully deserve.”

  Yara nodded, wide-eyed. “Death will be yours, Malek. I promise. Tell me everything.”

  Malek, taking a deep breath, began his tale. Within moments, Yara sat…and listened in shock.

  “Millennia ago, just before the attack of the Hack’amad on Mira, your mother ruled all Mira. Your mother was a fair, just, and compassionate Queen, and she developed a soft spot for us creatures, Photaks and Skotads alike. She believed that while our role was to guard the planet and operate the high-tech posts of the Eld, we should also have our own lives, that we should live as free people. She wanted to liberate all creatures from their curses of day and night. However, many Eld did not agree with her views. They felt that we should always remain in submission and that the best way to keep us under control was to ensure our curses were never removed.”

  Yara nodded unconsciously as he said this, knowing from Master Nox that it was true.

  “Back then, Photaks and Skotads were great allies. The Skotads were very much loved by the Agarbs and the Photaks by the Spreukens, but Queen Maia loved us all. However, Queen Maia had enemies, those who did not believe she should sit upon the throne. They would do anything to destroy her queendom. One day, shortly after the death of your father, she called a secret meeting of the Elders of both Photaks and Skotads. She had three requests, or what she called covenants. She told them that a great evil was coming, the Hack’amads, but that, she needed them all to not sound the alarm when they were spotted. The Elders were confused by her request. Many questioned why she would desire such a horrific thing. The Hack’amads were enemies of the Eld since long before the Photaks and Skotads were even created, and she knew their wrath would be tremendous. She said she couldn’t explain why, but that it was crucial for them to be able to attack, and that she had a plan. This was her first request.”

  Covering her mouth in dismay, Yara shook her head at the appalling orders her mother had given. She didn’t want to believe it was true, but her le-feer was pulsing so calmly that she also couldn’t believe it was a lie.

  “That’s when she told the Elders about you,” Malek said softly. “Her unborn child, the heir to the throne of Mira, the greatest secret she needed to protect. While the first request, that they allow the attack, was already difficult to agree with, the second and third were… inexplicable. The second was that they assist in extracting you from her womb and cocooning you. And the third…that they forget about the existence of the Eld… that outside of the Elders and Chiefs, they must never teach their children, or their children’s children, about her people. She said if they did this, one day they would all be free. It is known to be a defining day in creature history.

  “The Skotads, being loyal to the Eld, felt unable to keep the third covenant and refused to adhere. Our Elders argued with them over it, saying their loyalty needed to be with Queen Maia. They said they could not turn their backs on the knowledge of their creators. The Photaks and Skotads then made a pact, really an ultimatum, that if the Skotads were to teach their generations about the Eld, then the Photaks would never interact with them again. The Photaks couldn’t risk the Skotad children teaching our children. The curse of the day and night made that separation not only possible, but easy. It wasn’t long before our ancient Elders decided to craft the story of the Skotads as enemies of the Photaks to protect the third covenant.”

  “But…what of the second covenant?” Yara whispered, mind reeling. “What happened to me?”

  Malek looked down, guilt clouding his eyes once again. He sighed. “From all the Elders on that great day, Queen Maia chose two who had long been in love but had been unable to share their love, a Photak male, and a Skotad female. They reminded her of her own love story, she having loved a mate from a different House. She felt that their love was pure and strong, and she chose them to be your Keepers. She found two other couples with the same strong love and assigned them to the second covenant. She removed their curses, and granted them a life hidden away at a location no one knows. They were the first generation of Keepers and I suspect there have been many birthed from their lines since then. It was with them that your cocoon was left after the extraction, and they alone held the instructions as to when you should be birthed. All the Elders were told was that because the Photaks agreed to keep all three covenants, you would be brought to us when you were “born” from the cocoon. We were given one small scroll to give you when you came of age, but it has remained unopened after all of this time. I don’t know what is within it, but I know it is from your mother.”

  Malek shuffled underneath himself, pulling out a small, sealed bottle made of red glass. Within it was a tightly rolled scroll
. He handed it to Yara, closing her fingers over it.

  “Queen Yara, while I know now that you were cocooned for thousands of years as a baby, after so many years had passed, it was easy to believe all of this to be only a fable. When you appeared in the Greens, the Elders and I searched the ancient texts for an explanation. There was one writing, a prophecy of your return, tied with that bottle. However, we thought you would have been marked as an Eld. You were an unmarked baby. I didn’t think it was possible…”

  Malek’s voice broke into sobs. “This is all my fault…” He said, writhing in abysmal pain. “All of it, everything! I convinced the other Elders that you couldn’t be the royal Eld child…it was me! And I will gladly suffer this death for my sins. But please know that, had I not thought you to be a Skotad weapon, I would have taken care of you myself…”

  Yara stared at shock at Malek, overwhelmed by Mira’s history… and her mother’s. She tuned in as acutely as she could to her le-feer, finding it completely resonant with Malek’s tale.

  “You’re saying…that my mother allowed Mira to be attacked…allowed the Photaks to be blamed and perceived as the betrayers of the Eld…ordered all creatures to forget about the Eld…refused to even birth me and instead gave me away…and she purposely caged the Eld for four thousand years?!” Yara said with fury filling her voice.

  “Wait…” Malek said. “It wasn’t like—”

  “None of this was your fault, Malek!” Yara continued, enraged. “And there is no way I can have you killed for this. You were following thousands of years of orders! In fact, you are probably the most loyal creature to the Eld. This…this…is ALL my mother’s fault!”

  “No, Queen Yara!” Malek desperately cried. “You promised my death, and you cannot withhold that from me! Your mother represents all that is good about the Eld. She would have had her reasons, and they would have been aligned with the will of Sunstar!”

  “No,” Yara responded bitterly. “She committed treason. My mother mercilessly kept the Eld imprisoned and allowed Mira to be attacked! I should not even sit upon the throne after her actions. I should not be the Eld Queen! I am sorry, Malek, but I cannot grant you this. I will not be the unjust, evil Queen that my mother clearly was!”

  “No,” Malek whispered, broken by Yara’s words. “I have only made things worse. I deserve to die…”

  “Not on my watch. This is my decision.” Yara turned to open the door for Atlase and the others so she could announce her stance.

  As she did, Malek seized a knife from one of the implement trays and plunged it into his heartstar.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Noooooooo!” Yara cried out, rushing to Malek’s side and grabbing the knife from his hands. She pulled it out of him just as Atlase and the Bravads burst through the door.

  “My Queen! Are you all right?!” Atlase shouted, then fell silent when he saw the bloody knife in her hand.

  Yara was bent over Malek as he gasped for air while blood flowed from his chest and onto the swaddling. He never took his eyes off of her, nor she from him, and as he uttered his final words Yara felt tears come to her eyes.

  “Justice…is served…”

  His last breath left his body as blood dripped to the floor and formed a bright stream that moved toward the Saptree marking of Sunstar’s symbol.

  Everyone was silent as Yara turned to face them. Their eyes were locked on to her hand. Looking down, she realized she was still holding the bloody knife tightly in her grasp. She gasped and dropped it, and it hit the floor with a deafening clank.

  The Bravads suddenly knelt in an overly exaggerated salute, and even Atlase bowed his head.

  “Justice has indeed been served. You are our most formidable ruler, my Queen,” he said solemnly.

  It was only in that moment that Yara realized they believed that she had killed Malek herself. She shook, but the words to deny it didn’t come.

  How am I supposed to explain what happened here? How am I supposed to tell them what my mother did?

  She stared back at them, realizing that she needed to get away from everyone. There was no way she would be able to contain this within herself for very long, but there was only one person in whom she felt she could confide.

  She needed to see Grandam.

  “Let us return to the Skotad territory, now,” she ordered as calmly as she could.

  ***

  “I’ve been expecting you!” Grandam said as Yara burst into her room. “What took you so long to come see me?”

  Yara wrinkled her nose quizzically at the old Skotad. There was no way she could know anything. “We arranged to meet?”

  “No, no. But a certain young Toler has been here to see me…”

  Yara stared blankly for a second before she realized what Grandam meant. The last time she had seen Toler was when he found out that she had invaded the depths of his feelings through the one-sided temple bond. He was broken when he found out, and Atlase had only made it worse.

  “I am guessing you’re here to figure out how terrible things actually are, and how to fix them?” Grandam asked with a slightly evil chuckle.

  “Uh, no, actually…” Yara said sadly. “Although I do need to fix that... But I am here about something completely different, something much worse.”

  “Oh?” Grandam replied, eyebrows furrowed. “What could possibly be worse than that?”

  With tears bursting from her eyes, Yara told Grandam everything, about her two very distinct, warring powers, her pushing away of Sunstar, her freeing of Mila and Toler and her desire to free Grandam and Chief Lamad, her connection to Atlase, her trip to the castle and all that Malek had told her when she went to see him.

  Grandam listened patiently, initially pottering around while nodding, but as the story went on to Malek, she stopped everything she was doing and listened.

  “And I think it’s true, Grandam,” Yara eventually said. “I don’t know how I know it, but I think every word of it is true. Then…he killed himself, because I wouldn’t kill him. And they all believe I did it.”

  Grandam peered at her and then sighed. She paced for a little while, lost in thought, then turned to Yara. “Yes…I think it is true. I think what he said may explain a lot of missing pieces within my own line. The Great Grandam who lived in the time of your mother had very detailed scrolls that went missing after the attack on the planet, along with your mother. Her daughter, the next Grandam, was only a child at the time. As she grew older, she asked many questions about the lost scrolls. Her mother told her stories of what had been written in them, she wrote down what she heard, and it was those scrolls that passed down my line. But the daughter had also written that some of the recollections did not make sense. She had assumed it was the Great Grandam’s old age. I suspect that Great Grandam used the opportunity to rewrite history, as it was only in those newer scrolls that unrest between the Photaks and Skotads was first recounted, and also the reasons why.”

  “They rewrote history itself,” Yara whispered.

  “It appears they did. But the real question is…why?” Grandam responded, walking over to the area that held hundreds of neatly-packed scrolls.

  Fumbling in her pocket, Yara pulled out the bottle that Malek had given her. “He said this is from my mother,” she whispered.

  Grandam swung around, mouth open, and held her head as she saw it. “And you haven’t opened it?! You have written words by Queen Maia herself! The most incredible Eld Queen to have ever lived, no dishonor to you, of course—”

  “Except, she was not!” Yara spat. “She was unjust, evil and committed acts of treason against the Eld. Did you not hear what Malek said?”

  “Malek said she was evil?!” Grandam growled.

  “No…he actually had the same senseless glow in his eyes that you did when you spoke of her. How could you know all of this and still think this highly of her?!”

  “Yara, your mother lived in complete alignment to Sunstar’s will! It was the one thing above all else that
mattered to her. It was her code, her life’s philosophy. I may not have seen her scrolls, but I have seen accounts of some who lived in her time, journals that the Great Grandam kept. It was said that even her mating to Jaren was so greatly aligned that her le-feer shone brighter than the morning light when she announced it—”

  “Grandam, she purposely allowed Mira to be attacked, and imprisoned the Eld for four thousand years! She wiped out half the planet! How can you speak of her in such ways, knowing all that she did?”

  “Because I have faith that she made those choices for a divine reason. I have faith that she lived every moment in the will of Sunstar. Don’t you feel it? In your le-feer? Don’t you know that for yourself, even if you never knew her?”

  Yara looked away, knowing her le-feer did affirm that, but suddenly feeling like she could not trust it. “There can be no reasonable explanation for this and no possible way that her choices were the will of Sunstar,” she eventually responded, eyes fixed upon the glowing of her le-feer. “And…if it was the will of Sunstar, then perhaps Sunstar is a force for evil.”

  “YARA!” Grandam shouted, aghast and enraged.

  “No! I don’t want to hear it. You are completely blind to what Maia was, just as you were to the true history of this planet!” Yara exclaimed. “All I know now is what this means: if the Eld knew what my mother had done, they would have insisted that she be stripped of her of her royalty, even her own House, and that means I would have never been Queen. And perhaps I don’t deserve to be. Maybe the royal line does belong to the Spreukens, if these are the actions of Agarbs.”

  Grandam, for the first time since Yara had known her, fell completely silent. Yara felt a tinge of sadness and shame, but she resisted it.

  Instead, she walked over to the table in front of where Grandam stood frozen, and rested the bottle on top of it. “I suspect this means more to you than it ever will to me. You can have it,” Yara said as she turned and left.

  ***