Queen Lilia’s Celebration Day
“She really has done well for herself hasn’t she?” asked Jo, who was walking and holding Alex’s arm in hers.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish in next to no time at all,” said Alex.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” asked Jo.
“No, but what are you going to do,” she replied. Jo took Alex down a huge corridor that was lined with ornately carved obsidian columns. There was a large number of people walking towards the huge square that was adjacent to the sea, so a cold sea breeze blew; however, the walls were high enough that the wind didn’t affect the party. Jo and Alex walked into a scene that completely betrayed its surroundings.
Everyone was having a good time, there were important people getting drunk with village elders, and dignitaries really losing their dignity. “Look over there, holding her sister back from that waiter, it’s Lady Josette and that person she’s holding back is Lady Annabella,” said Alex.
“Why is she holding back her sister?” asked Jo.
“Well, you see, Lady Annabella is a little bit odd, and have you ever played Chrysso?” asked Alex.
“Yes but I was never any good at it, I could never hold the cue properly,” she replied.
“If you sand down the balls, you get dust. Inhale that dust and you’re out of it,” explained Alex.
“Out of what, I don’t understand,” she replied.
“One day, we’ll do it, and you can find out for yourself,” said Alex.
“I’m not sure I want to,” said Jo.
“I didn’t either, but I have my sister to thank for that. One night she came in with a pack of dust that she had sanded down from one of my father’s sets. He went ballistic but we were in no state to care,” she explained.
“What does it do exactly?” she asked.
“You go on a wild, mystical journey, and it all happens while you’re sitting still. If you move around then Archie help you,” said Alex.
They moved around the party, and Alex was attacked, not literally of course by a woman in a shimmering yellow dress. “Ally, it’s so good to see you again,” she said. Alex panicked, as she still had no idea who she was talking to.
“Vicki, I see you’ve met my sister,” said Jo, who had been god knows where.
“She seems a bit different from the last time I saw her,” said Vicki, who eyed Alex suspiciously.
“Please don’t call me Ally,” said Alex.
“I’m mistaken, you are the same Alexandra,” she said.
“So how have you been, Vicki?” asked Jo.
“My Daddy said that we’re here for peaceable reasons, though he has always cared too much about gold,” she said.
”You own one of the largest private goldmines in the Luminosity Archipelago, why would your father want more gold?” asked Jo.
“No idea, but when you’re rich you want to get richer I suppose,” she replied.
“I never had that problem,” replied Jo.
“So what are you doing now? I heard that you were travelling with Sir Pageon, though I thought that that was impossible since he doesn’t normally travel with people,” she said.
“I was travelling with him, but I left him in Cesta when I joined Alex,” she said.
“Oh, so tell me, are those rumours about him true?” asked Vicki.
“What rumours?” asked Alex.
“Well apparently there was this time in Chene, when King Jassuer ruled there and…” she said, but was cut off by Jo.
“Oh yes I heard that, though I never noticed anything like that,” she replied.
“Oh, well that’s no fun,” said Vicki.
“What do you mean it’s no fun?” asked Alex.
“He’s interesting and it’s a refreshing change from all the boring socialites that I meet every day,” she replied.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but he’s just an ordinary boring explorer and adventurer,” said Jo.
They left Vicki, who went to attack some other unfortunate newcomer, and moved further around the party. “Is that Lady Blastone?!” asked Jo, shocked. There was a lady, who had black matted hair and dark tanned skin, who was getting very drunk with another person, whom the two didn’t recognise.
“I have no idea who that is but whoever it is, they’re getting very close to her,” said Jo.
“She’s the biggest producer of TNT in the land, so any budding mine baron will try to get a contract with her,” said Alex.
“Right, I’m going to look around. I don’t see anything suspicious yet, but you never know,” said Alex, who disappeared into the crowd. Jo was left on her own, and she decided to look around too, but when she was about to leave, there was a loud boom of trumpets.
“Queen Lilia the Young,” shouted a man, and on a stage outside the Obsidian Castle, Lilia appeared. At the back of the group was Jo, who stared in disbelief at the stage. Alex was next to the stage, since it was the fastest route to the castle. She walked up to a guard who was blocking the archway, and had to think of a way around.
“Look, there’s too many people queuing in the bathrooms, so is there any chance I could go in the castle?” she asked.
“Who’s asking?” he asked.
“Princess Alexandra Olandine” she replied.
“Of course you can miss, it’s the 23rd door on the left,” he said, and let Alex through.
Lilia stood on the stage, and the whole party fell silent. However, she was about 100 years old, and looked way younger than Arthur did, considering they were twins.
“Good evening, people of Discoucia, and thank you for attending my humble island party,” she said. They all stared at her, and applauded her. “You have come here for one thing: rejuvenation,” she said. This time there was a loud cheer from everyone. Jo was looking worried, as she was now beginning to see what Lilia was up to.
“You see, it really isn’t a fairytale, I myself have taken off 120 years from my age, and I feel amazing, and I offer this to you,” she said. There was a colossal cheer from all the guests, but Jo remained silent; she was hoping that Alex was having better luck.
Alex walked through the corridors of the empty castle. All the guards had presumably gone to keep an eye on the party, and she looked around for any evidence of Lilia’s finalised plan. “Where are you?” she said to herself, checking every room. The Obsidian Castle was huge, and was made primarily of an outer wall of obsidian and cobblestone, and there was a dizzying array of rooms that Alex was determined to search. There was a lower corridor that extended like a cross, and Alex had succeeded in searching the lower level of the entrance hall; however, there were three levels above this one, and numerous towers too. She came to the cross of corridors, and didn’t know which way to go.
“Um, which way do I go, Archie?” he shouted. Nothing happened. “Come on, you can’t be mad at me forever,” she shouted. A servant came out of one of the rooms, and handed Alex a piece of paper that had scorch marks.
“This is for you I believe,” he said, and retreated back into a room.
’Try Me’, it said. “Now you’re just acting childish,” shouted Alex.
She wandered along the corridor in a straight line and headed for the stairs. At the end of corridor was a magnificent staircase. Alex ran up the stairs and found that she was on the floor where all the bedrooms were. Looking out of the windows, she saw the dark night, and the sea lapping against the harbour walls. Everything in the castle was purple: the curtains, the carpets, the chairs and tables. “I remember that she liked purple, but this is a bit excessive,” said Alex, who came to a large ornate door. She opened it, and inside was a large room, and it was only lit by moonlight streaming in from a large window that looked out over the sea. There was a large bed in the centre of the right hand side wall, and on the left hand wall was a mass of papers, though Alex couldn’t see what they said. She grabbed a lamp from the bed by the table, and lit it with a match from her pocket. Alex looked at the wall, and sa
w something slightly disturbing.
The wall was covered in pieces of paper, and all of them had the subject of Sir Arthur Pageon. They were reports of where he had been seen, and they all seemed to be in order, starting from Evermore, and then to Karga, and then to Proceur. The light followed the paper, and proceeded back to Evermore, where she saw that the name ‘Archie’ was circled many times in red. There was a line that led to another piece of paper that had all the information on Archie that it had. “’Very dangerous, must be avoided at all costs’.” read Alex in disbelief. “Number of Discoucians killed as a result of personal actions: 1,785,250,” said Alex. “I don’t believe it, it can’t be true” she said to herself. Alex then read the words ‘Eliminate Josephine Olandine, war is inevitable’,”
Jo herself was standing behind the crowd, still listening to Lilia’s speech. She watched Alex walk off, and continued to watch Lilia win the crowd over. “All I ask is that you give something to me, not gold or jewels, just an agreement,” she said. The crowd stopped cheering, and there were murmurs of disagreement. All of the people in attendance had one thing in common, they were all rich, some more wealthy than others, but the mention of something that they couldn’t buy with money made them think a bit more.
“On the stage is a piece of paper, and on it are my terms, all you have to do is sign it and you shall be young again,” she said, then disappeared leaving the chaos that then ensued.
There was a mad dash for the stage, but the guards formed everyone into a line, and they all signed it. Jo looked for Alex, but couldn’t see her. After thinking about her father, Jo saw that this was a chance for him to have a cure, so against her better judgement she joined the queue.
Alex looked out of a window and saw Jo about to sign the contract, and ran downstairs. She ran past a room, stopped and stared inside. There was Lilia, the younger Lilia, that is. “Umm, excuse me” said Alex.
“Are you here to take me home?” she asked.
“You are home aren’t you?” asked Alex.
“No you stupid person, I wouldn’t live on this Island if you paid me,” she replied angrily.
“Then who are you exactly?” asked Alex.
“Who do I look like?!” she asked, losing her patience.
“Your first pet, what was its name?” asked Alex.
“Don’t ask me such stupid questions, I don’t have time for this!” she snapped.
“What are you doing that’s so important?” asked Alex.
“I’m waiting,” she replied.
“For what?” asked Alex.
“Jessica the goldfish, Princess Alexandra” said a voice from behind her.
Two princesses imprisoned in a dungeon, I wonder where that idea came from…
Alex turned around, and the real Lilia was standing behind her. She was wearing a purple dress with silver lace pretty much everywhere, purple and dark red hair and dark blue eyes. She looked at Alex for a second, as if she recognised her. “So, you were trying to find the bathroom, but you instead found me,” she said.
“Umm, yes, I did get rather lost,” said Alex, amazed that Lilia didn’t recognise her.
“Well, let me escort you to the main courtyard Your Highness,” she said.
“Please, lead on,” said Alex.
Lilia took Alex along the corridor and led her to a large window that looked out onto the courtyard. Alex saw Jo being taken into the Obsidian Castle. “What are you doing?” asked Alex.
“I need her, and you I’m afraid, so if you could come peacefully it would be very much appreciated,” she said.
“There really is no way out of this is there?” asked Alex.
“No, you’re pretty much doomed in every respect. Now I have to ask how you have the amazing ability to be in two places at once?” she asked.
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Alex.
“I’ll explain everything to you soon, now if would please follow me and try not to run. As you are quite aware you are on an island and there’s nowhere to go,” explained Lilia.
“I could always swim” replied Alex, and she allowed herself to be taken to the southernmost part of the castle, and there was a large trapdoor in the middle of the floor.
Jo was also there, and she saw Alex and couldn’t stop talking. “I signed the contract, she’s going to invade and there’s nothing we can do about it!” said Jo, who was close to tears.
“Calm down sis, it could be worse,” said Alex.
“How could it possibly be worse than this?” asked Jo, angrily.
“It could be raining, that makes everything worse. I mean you get your hair wet and along with everything else and it just makes you feel awful,” she replied.
“Oh for crying out loud,” sighed one of the guards.
“I’m sorry, am I ruining the atmosphere?” asked Alex sarcastically.
“No Your Majesty” he said quickly.
“Yeah that’s what I thought, now if you mind not holding my arm so tightly I’d feel better. It’s not as if I’m going to run off and I’m sure you could tackle a fragile thing like me” said Alex.
“Umm, I’m not supposed to” he replied.
“Then don’t, whatever your name is; don’t you wear name badges?” she asked.
“Daniel,” he said, but further conversation was suspended when Lilia had begun to suspect something was wrong.
Jo for some reason felt weirdly better, and Lilia eyed Alex suspiciously. “That’s a very strange sense of humour you have, Princess, the last time we met you didn’t have much of a sense of humour at all,” said Lilia.
“I just developed it under the circumstances I suppose, now can we get on with this please,” replied Alex.
“Very well, proceed down to the Dank Cellar,” said Lilia.
The two were taken down a set of stairs that spun around a circular hole that led down deep beneath the castle. Then they reached a corridor that led off for about 30ft, but then it reached a dead end. There were five cell doors between the bottom of the stairs and the end of the corridor. Lilia took the two of them to a cell and they were chained by their wrist to manacles on the wall.
Lilia sat on a stool that was placed in front of the two chained up prisoners, and for a second she just sat, saying nothing. “So anyway, Jo, how do you feel about the service here? I wouldn’t give it a good review, not by any standards,” said Alex, who completely ignored Lilia.
“Personally I thought that before you pay the bill it’s all perfect service, but afterwards they can’t get rid of you fast enough,” replied Jo.
“Excuse me,” said Lilia, who couldn’t believe that her two prisoners were taking such a lax attitude to being chained to a wall.
“Yeah that’s true, just make sure that they didn’t overcharge you, I’ve heard that they stick all sorts of stuff on the final bill. Out of city tax if you don’t live in the city, unmade beds even though the maids are supposed to take care of that,” asked Alex.
“Excuse me!” said Lilia, getting angrier.
“Does that really happen? Most of our bills are taken care of by the servants so I suppose we don’t notice. Though I heard that Lady Stephania wanted an artwork from the room she was staying in and they gave her a copy for the price of the original, stuff like that makes you not trust hotels,” said Jo.
“Are you two quite finished?” she asked.
“Not yet Leels please don’t interrupt. Yes, your servants could be telling them to purposely overcharge and then take a cut of the money; if any of mine did that then I’d tell them to get me in on it since it’s never actually my money,” said Alex.
“Right that’s it, there’s only one person that ever called me Leels and that’s my brother,” said Lilia.
“I give up with this, personally I was anxious and paranoid that you would figure out that it was me and not Princess Alexandra, but it seems that years on this depressing rock have made you slow,” said Arthur.
“Arthur?” said Lilia.
“That
’s my name,” he said.
“It’s really you?” she asked.
“You were expecting someone else?” he asked.
“What are you wearing, you look beautiful,” she said in disbelief.
“Did you have to use that particular adjective?” asked Arthur, slumping down in his manacles.
“Well I haven’t seen you in so long, I didn’t rehearse this, you know,” she said.
“I think that you might have because I certainly did, and I imagined myself in exactly the same circumstances and the same manacles surprisingly,” he said.
“Your hair, is it a wig?” she asked.
“It was,” he replied.
“May I?” she asked.
“I can’t refuse,” he replied. Lilia walked up to Arthur and ran her fingers through his hair, while the guards and Jo watched uncomfortably.
“So you’re here to stop me from taking over the kingdom; well, you see, that’s going to be a little difficult right now,” she said.
“I’m manacled to a wall, so what gave you that idea,” he replied sarcastically.
“And I see you have a friend, Princess Josephine,” she said.
“It’s lovely to meet you Lilia, Artie’s told me all about you,” she said.
“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine and I hope it was a pleasant description,” replied Lilia. “If I may speak for him, he didn’t have a bad word to say about you, though you’re showing a different side of yourself by chaining us to the wall,” said Jo.
“I have a question Lilia, just one,” said Arthur.
“If it’s about my battle plans, then I won’t be telling you them,” said Lilia.
“No actually, I know you’re too clever for that so it’s something else entirely,” he said.
“In that case, ask away,” she said.
“Those pieces of paper on the wall upstairs, you circled the name ‘Archie’, why?” he asked.
Discoucia Page 17