The Queen

by Suzanna Lynn

  Baylin, who had been so quiet up until then, spouted, “And how is it more informative coming from her than you? Could you not have told her weeks ago about her ancestry?”

  “No,” Lyra said. “The magical line of the elves can only be shared from parent to child. My brother could tell her she was elf kind, but he could not discuss her magical abilities and heritage. That is the job of the parents.”

  “This is why the Pool of Souls is so important,” Faylen piped in. “Without our ancestors to lead us on the proper path, our race would have been lost centuries ago.”

  Lyra drew her attention back to Luana, her sparkling sapphire eyes glimmered in the light from the pool. “It is time you knew the truth, the whole truth.”

  Luana took in a deep breath and nodded, signaling she was ready.

  “I met your father one evening in Fagin Forest,” Lyra began. “He was a young blacksmith from Black Hallows. He had no parents or siblings to provide for, but he had hit hard times and was searching for game to help make it through the winter. He, like most people of Wintervale, believed the elves had all but left these lands. They believed those few left behind remained to scare people ignorant enough to enter the forest.

  “However, desperate hunger must have overwhelmed his sense, because I found him traipsing through the wood in the dark of night. He had about as much chance of taking down a stag as he did finding a needle in a cornfield. That is when I found him.

  “At first he seemed afraid, terrified actually. But I told him that I was not there to hurt him and he seemed to believe. I explained who I was, and what I was, and that I would help him if he promised to stay out of the forest. Together we brought down a doe.

  “However, the next night, he showed up in the forest again. This time, he was calling my name. I came to him and we spoke of things like the Kingdom, the gods and about the stars in the night’s sky.

  “Night after night he came, and we talked. I found we were growing very close, much closer than I had ever been with anyone. Even someone of my own race,” Lyra recalled.

  “What was his name?” Luana asked timidly.

  “Mercher,” Lyra said. The word seemed to carry such a weight when she said it.

  “So what happened?” Luana asked.

  “One night he didn’t come to see me. I was so worried something had happened to him. I defied my brother’s orders and left the forest in search of Mercher. I ran all over Black Hallows and finally found him in his blacksmith shop, working. I remember feeling so angry with him at the time. Feeling betrayed. But those feelings didn’t last long. Little did I know that he had been working on a ring. A ring made of the purest silver. A ring for me.”

  “He meant to marry you?” Luana asked, engrossed in the tale.

  “Yes. Yes, he did. And he asked me that very night,” Lyra replied, her eyes moist with unfallen tears. “Though I was certain that my people would never accept a common man as my suitor, I accepted him immediately. He took me, right there, in the hay, on the floor of the smith’s shop.”

  Luana blushed at hearing her mother talk about having sex with her father. “And that’s how I came to be?”

  “Yes,” Lyra said. “You are the product of two individuals loving each other against the odds.”

  “Against the odds?” Baylin asked. “What do you mean?”

  “For an elf to find a mate outside of our race… Well, it was unheard of,” Rydel explained. “The elders felt it was a disgrace to our kind.”

  “Such a disgrace, in fact, that they demanded I not only cease all contact with Mercher, but that I must also…” Lyra struggled with her words, sadness in her eyes. “They demanded that I sacrifice you to the gods once you were born.”

  “A sacrifice?” Luana whispered.

  “You must understand,” Faylen said. “To the elders, you were an abomination. Elves believe their bloodlines to be the purest of all lines. Your father’s blood would have muddied the waters, so to speak.”

  “Well, it’s pretty obvious that you didn’t hand her over to be sacrificed,” said Baylin, getting a few steps closer to Luana. “So, the question is, how did you die? How did Luana end up with Hal-john and Fersa?”

  “I’m afraid it’s a rather long story, Prince of Grasmere,” King Rydel replied.

  “The short version is, we had been on the run for many months,” Lyra said. “We fled to Ranhold and then I gave birth. We were happy. We were certain that the worst was behind us.”

  Lyra’s smile faded. “But the arm of the elves is infinite. Scouts were sent to every Kingdom in the realm to find us. I knew our only hope was to return home and plead with my brother to help the elders see reason. However, the evening we docked back in Rivermouth, we were intercepted before we made it halfway through the King’s Wood. Their instructions were to kill Mercher on sight and bring you back for me to sacrifice. We fought, of course, but we were completely outnumbered. Mercher fought with his last breath, even as his blood stained the ground crimson. He died protecting us. I managed to slip away, running as fast as I could through the King’s Wood, holding you in my arms. In the end, I wasn’t fast enough.” Lyra’s expression was full of memory and regret.

  “And you died?” Luana whimpered, tears running down her cheeks.

  “I found you in your mother’s arms,” said Rydel, walking up beside her and placing a hand on her back. “Even as she struggled for breath, her grip was impenetrable. I promised her I would watch over you, protect you. However, you had no place amongst the elves. They would have never accepted you. You would have been in constant danger.”

  “Your father had a distant cousin in Black Hallows. Her name was Fersa,” Faylen explained. “She was married only a year at the time. We took you to her and Hal-john in the middle of the night. We provided them with enough gold and supplies so they could relocate to Open Shaw, where no one knew them. It was an easy story to believe. A young couple with a newborn baby.”

  “Since then, Faylen and I have watched over you from afar,” Rydel said. “You are our niece, the beloved daughter of our most cherished sister, and a Princess of the elven court.”

  “Princess?” Luana asked in awe. “I’m a Princess?”

  “Yes, though with your half blood you would never be given any station to rule,” Faylen said. “But it doesn’t make you any less a Princess. A Princess with powers!”

  “Powers? Yes, I believe you spoke to me about some of these,” Luana mused. “My ability to see things in the future, for one.”

  “Yes, my daughter,” Lyra said. She appeared weak. The strain of taking a solid form was beginning to weigh heavy on her. “My blood gives you strength and power few could ever dream of.”

  “How so?” Luana asked. “I’m only half elf.”

  “That is true, but you are a firstborn,” Faylen said.

  Luana furrowed her brow in confusion.

  “You see, Luana,” Rydel explained. “The gods have gifted the elves many unique gifts. One of which is that every firstborn is to be a male heir. It ensures the line will continue and the magic will stay strong.”

  “But then how…” Luana began to ask. “How am I… but I’m a woman.”

  “Exactly!” Faylen exclaimed. “You’re a firstborn daughter!”

  “It’s a rarity that only comes along once in a thousand years,” Rydel said. “At least, it was until you came along.”

  “Until I came along?” Luana asked. “What does that mean?”

  “He means that I was the firstborn daughter to occur in a thousand years,” Lyra said. “You are the eldest daughter of an eldest daughter. In all our history, no such occurrence has been documented.”

  “The gods have smiled on you, Luana,” Faylen said. “They have chosen to give you such an amazing gift! You have the potential to be more powerful than any of us.”

  “And it’s a power that many would kill for,” Rydel said. “That is why we have kept such a close watch on you all these years.”

  “Was tha
t before or after I was dragged off to be a bed wife?” Luana spat. “If I’m so important, where was your protection?” She looked at Baylin and felt guilty. Though she hated him in the beginning, she loved him now. And he was as much a victim of the ritual as she was. She shot him an apologetic look.

  “Prince Baylin is part of your path,” the Elf King said. “I have foreseen it. The two of you have the power to create a new rule of Wintervale. You can abolish the Bed Wife Law and unite the five Kingdoms of Keld, creating a unified front.”

  “And what of the elders?” Baylin asked. “They killed Lyra because of Luana being an abomination. What if they realize she survived? You said her power would be something many would kill for.”

  “After Lyra was killed, the elders saw the error in their ways,” Rydel said.

  “All but one,” Faylen murmured.

  “Yes, there was one who still insisted Lyra’s death was justified,” Rydel said. “So much so that she wanted her power absorbed instead of put to rest in the afterlife.”

  Luana shivered, though she was not cold. She imagined someone sucking the life out of her.

  “Do not worry,” Rydel said. “The elder was cast out of Wintervale and has not been seen since. Without the power of our people behind her, she can do you no harm.”

  Luana looked to her mother and saw how the once bright glow that had radiated out of her was dwindling. “Mother, what is wrong?”

  “We are only allowed a little time away from afterlife,” she whispered. “It would appear my time is up for now.”

  “No!” Luana cried. “There is still so much I need to know. So many things I want to ask you.”

  “Rydel, you must teach her,” Lyra said weakly. “Teach her how to control her magic. How to use it to protect herself, to protect her people.”

  Slowly, Lyra sank into the pool and was gone. Baylin and Rydel held tight to Luana as she cried out, reaching for her mother. All that remained was the glowing pool with its surface smooth as ice.

  Baylin pulled Luana into his arms. “It will be all right.”

  “Luana,” Rydel said. “Faylen and I will teach you to use your gifts. Lyra wanted you to be able to protect yourself and defeat your enemy. When Mirstone arrives, they will wish they had stayed in their castle.”

  Chapter Ten

  The previous night’s events took their toll on Baylin. He hardly slept after he watched King Rydel take Luana under his wing and start training her. He could hardly believe his eyes when he watched a tiny ball of light materialize in the palm of her hand.

  However, there was no time to think on those things. At present, he sat in the war room discussing the battle strategies Grasmere could put into play based on the new information of Kardell being involved in the invasion.

  “General Baltair, what do you have to report?” asked Baylin.

  “Last night we sent birds to both Ranhold and Strathen, calling for aid,” said the general. “We should know soon enough if they are with us.”

  “That’s not good enough,” boomed Baylin. “Send envoys at once! There is not a moment to waste. They are either with us or against us; they won’t get the chance to weigh their options.”

  “Quite right.” General Baltair stood and bowed. “Your Grace.” He then walked from the room to fulfill Baylin’s command.

  “What news have we of the troll hordes?” Baylin asked, pulling out a map. “After the battle in Mirstone, many were slaughtered. However, I fear we have missed something. A passage, a path of escape many of them may have taken.”

  “There have been very little sign of trolls in Grasmere, Your Grace,” said General Cormag. “A few random cases of small clusters, but nothing to cause concern. I’m certain your triumph at Mirstone caused their numbers to dwindle. They are no longer a real danger to us.”

  “We would be naïve to think them not a threat anymore,” Ferric said. “They are not intelligent creatures, but they are skilled at hiding. The mountain ranges and forests have given them plenty of chance to evade us over the years.”

  “Ferric is right,” said another general. “The battle at Mirstone showed us just how thick their numbers had become. Was it not just a few months before their invasion when we thought their numbers were so limited?”

  “With war upon us, we cannot afford the men to scout out the troll hordes,” said General Cormag. “There is no proof of the trolls being a threat. What few survived are busy licking their wounds and scrounging around in rock and dirt for food. Our forces must concentrate on Mirstone and Kardell.”

  “Perhaps,” Baylin said. “However, if Mirstone attacks from the west and Kardell from the south, we would be ripe for the picking should the trolls decide to hit us from the mountains of the north and forests of the east. We would be surrounded.

  “What options do we have, Your Grace?” asked General Cormag.

  “Our duty is to the people. We must make sure they are safe so we can concentrate our efforts on keeping any threats that present themselves back,” Baylin said.

  “What are your thoughts?” whispered Ferric, looking at the map in front of the Prince.

  “The safest place for the people of Grasmere is inside the castle,” Baylin said.

  “Inside the castle?” called out several of the other generals.

  “Yes,” Baylin barked. “These people rely on us to protect them. They serve the Kingdom knowing their King will keep them safe. How can we sit here in the castle out of harm’s way while this threat is so close?”

  “But, Your Grace,” said General Cormag, “certainly you can see that all the people of the Kingdom will not fit comfortably in the castle.”

  “No, you are right, I imagine none of us will be comfortable,” Baylin sighed.

  The general smiled to himself and sat back in his chair, basking in his small victory.

  “However, I’m less worried about their comfort than I am about their lives,” Baylin said. “We will make immediate preparations to have everyone in the Kingdom moved to the tunnels within the mountain.”

  The room erupted with mumbles and whispers.

  “Enough!” boomed Baylin, slamming his fist down on the large oak table. “I have given you my decision and it will be done!” He looked at his friend Ferric for reassurance.

  “Your Grace,” Ferric stood. “It would honor me if you would allow me to immediately start the preparations.”

  “Yes, very good,” Baylin said, his heart swelling with thanks and pride. “Please take as many of the housemaids and stewards as you need to get things moving.”

  Ferric bowed and hurried from the room with several stewards in tow.

  “Your Grace,” said General Cormag. “I certainly mean no disrespect. I have served under your father a large portion of my life. I would hope I could be some help to you in your reign. However, I’m afraid there is something we must address with this course of action.”

  “What, Cormag?” Baylin snarled, infuriated that the old man continued to question his judgement.

  “The harvest,” the general said. “If all the villagers are residing in the castle, who will tend to the harvest? Without it, we will all starve before winter begins. We will already have to ration without our usual shipments of fruits and nuts from Mirstone and Kardell.”

  “And if Ranhold or Strathen side with Mirstone, we will be in even more trouble,” voiced another general.

  The harvest. Baylin grimaced, staring at a map of the Kingdom. I didn’t think of that. Grasmere was the northernmost Kingdom in Wintervale and had extremely harsh winters. They relied, not only on their own harvest, but the supplies they received from the other four Kingdoms in the realm.

  “We will have to push the harvest up,” Baylin said. “We will bring in all the villagers who are unessential to the harvest. The elderly. Mothers with young children. Everyone else will help in the fields.”

  For the first time that evening the room grew quiet. Baylin contemplated the upcoming celebration his mother was preparing
for Luana and the baby. He knew all within the Kingdom were looking forward to it. We must cancel the celebration. That food is far too precious now.

  Baylin turned to a steward who was standing by the door, awaiting orders. “Young man, go to see Queen Valasca at once. Tell her I have commanded the celebration of the heir to be canceled. Tell her all the food and provisions that will not spoil are to be stored. Perishables are to go to feed the families who will be coming into the castle shortly.”

  “Your Grace.” The boy bowed and left the room.

  The Prince turned back to the room, the men awaiting his command. “In addition to the villagers, all working within the castle will also be put to work in the fields. If they’re not busy defending the Kingdom, they will be working the harvest.”

  “Your Grace!” cried General Cormag. “You can’t possibly mean to have the stewards, handmaids and kitchen staff leave their duties and work the fields.”

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” said Baylin. “The fate of the entire Kingdom now relies on those willing to fight to live.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After Baylin canceled the celebration, Luana was given the task of helping Queen Valasca make arrangements to move the villagers into the castle. She was certain it was Baylin’s way of having someone near Luana at all times in case she happened to be in danger. She didn’t mind it. She enjoyed spending time with the Queen.

  Luana carried the baby while she walked through the Great Hall with Baylin’s mother. The baby’s nurse was close behind, waiting in case she was needed.

  Though the servants tried to remain distracted by their tasks, many could not avert their eyes as Luana glided through the room. Some looked disapproving, others seemed merely curious.

  “With the celebration canceled, how will we announce the baby’s name?” Luana asked as they walked the Hall. “Baylin insisted I not whisper a word before the celebration.”