The Turquoise Queen

by Pedro Urvi

  Eicewald nodded. “That is so.”

  “What problem?” the King asked.

  “Allow me to show you something. I think it will clear up a number of doubts.” The Mage took something out of his satchel, wrapped in a white and silver scarf, and Lasgol realized what it was. Eicewald unwrapped it to reveal the Eternal Snowflake, which shone again in all its intensity. The brilliance reached everyone in the throne hall, so that they were forced to squint.

  “What’s that?” Thoran asked distrustfully. “Is it magic?”

  “It is, your Majesty. This is an object of Greater Power. The magic it possesses is very powerful, and that’s what we used to enhance the spell we cast against the Specter.”

  “Is it that object which is lowering the temperature in the hall?” Orten asked.

  “That’s right. It has that effect on the area around it.”

  “Go on,” the King said. “Explain, before we all freeze.”

  “To be able to destroy the creature we need another Object of Greater Power, but with a different type of magic. The magic of this object is of Water and Death. I thought that this combination would be lethal for the Specter, but I was wrong. It was able to resist it. What we need is Magic of Water and Life.”

  “Are you sure this time, or is this just a new guess? Think about your answer carefully, because I don’t tolerate people lying to me.” Thoran threatened Eicewald with his finger. “I might forgive your ineptitude, but I won’t forgive a direct lie.”

  “After casting the spell and seeing how the creature reacted, I have no doubt that with a Greater Object of Power, imbued with Magic of Water and Life, we’d be able to destroy it.”

  “Are you sure enough of that to stake your life on it?” Orten asked threateningly.

  “Yes, my lord,” the Mage assured him, and his tone was one of absolute certainty.

  Thoran glared at Eicewald with barely-contained rage. “It had better be true. It’s your life if you don’t succeed.”

  Eicewald wrapped the Eternal Snowflake and put it back in his satchel. At once the temperature in the hall began to rise.

  “The only handicap, your Majesty,” he went on calmly,” is finding an object like that for us to use.”

  “Tell me you know where to find it!” the King snapped.

  Eicewald nodded slowly. “I do, your Majesty. I saw it with my own eyes once.”

  “Well then, we’ll get hold of it,” Orten said.

  “I’m afraid it’s going to be an extremely complicated task,”

  “And why’s that?” the King demanded.

  “The object in question is called the Star of Sea and Life, and is in the possession of the Turquoise Queen.”

  Thoran frowned. “The Turquoise Queen? And who’s she? I’ve never heard anything about a Turquoise Queen.” He turned to his brother, who shook his head, equally puzzled.

  “That’s natural enough, your Majesty, since she’s very little known. In fact, there are only a few in all Tremia who know of her existence – hers, and that of her people.”

  Orten was staring distrustfully at the Mage. “Who are they? What kingdom is that?”

  “I don’t know about them either,” Sven said. “Nor have I heard them mentioned at court.”

  “The Rangers know nothing of her either, your Majesty,” Gatik said.

  “Uragh the Turquoise Queen, as she is known by her people,” the Mage explained, is the ruler of a very strange and little-known tribe which lives in the islands of the western seas.”

  Thoran shook his head, as did his brother. “I’ve never heard tell of her, nor of any islands.”

  “What are these islands called?”

  “The Lost Islands, your Majesty.”

  “The Lost Islands? Why are they called that? What realm do they belong to?”

  “No, your Majesty, they’re a free realm. They always have been. People call them the Lost Islands because very few know how to reach them. It’s a tropical paradise, lost in the midst of the ocean in the far west, between the kingdoms of Rogdon and the Nocean Empire.”

  Orten was scratching his chin. “Do they have a great army? Is it an advanced culture?”

  Eicewald shook his head. “Not in the least. It’s a small kingdom, no more than a rather backward tribal civilization in regard to knowledge, and social, or military progress.”

  “Well then, we’ll send the army, attack this kingdom and conquer it!” Orten shouted, obviously ready to do so himself.

  “That wouldn’t be advisable, my lord,” Eicewald cautioned him softly.

  “Why not?” Orten demanded angrily. He was not accustomed to anybody opposing him and did not like this at all.

  “Because the Turquoise Queen is a powerful Sorceress: one of the most formidable in all Tremia, I’m afraid. Her magic of Water and Life is extremely powerful. It would not be advisable to antagonize her. She might be as difficult to kill as the Specter we’re trying to destroy, if not more so.”

  “If she’s such a powerful sorceress or wizard, how is it that we don’t know about her?” the King asked. “We know about the most powerful magi of the rival realms. We know about Haradin the Mage of the Four Elements of the Kingdom of Rogdon, Zecly the Sorcerer of Magic of Blood and Curses of the Nocean Empire, Zanker the Mage of Spiritual Magic of the city-state of Yatro on the far eastern coast of Tremia, and others. If she’s so powerful, why do we know nothing about this Sorceress?”

  “She’s not known because that’s what she wants, and she takes great care that nothing is known of her or her tribe. They live in peace within her realm, which is an archipelago of sixteen islands surrounded by a perpetual mist.”

  “Perpetual mist?” Sven repeated in some surprise.

  “That’s right. It surrounds the islands and is more than two leagues across. It hides the archipelago from greedy eyes. Even pirates don’t dare go into it. They say it’s cursed, and that ships which enter that mist vanish, never to be seen again.”

  “Bah! Nonsense!” Orten roared. “That’s just to scare off brainless idiots!”

  “That’s what’s said. Many ships have vanished in that mist.”

  Sven was looking curiously at the mage. “You believe that too? That it’s cursed?”

  Eicewald shrugged. “Cursed is one way of looking at it. What I think is that the mist isn’t natural. The Turquoise Queen creates it as a defense mechanism, a magical one, and hence I believe many ships go into the mist and their crews perish, unable to find their way out.”

  “If she’s capable of creating and keeping up a mist like that,” Gatik agreed, “then she must be a very powerful sorceress.”

  Thoran rose to his feet in great annoyance. “Whatever the case, we’re not in any condition to send an army anywhere after this fiasco in the north. Besides, I want what little manpower we have right here, defending the capital in case we’re attacked. Let’s not forget, we find ourselves in a very delicate situation. We could be attacked by the Peoples of the Frozen Continent, or by the Zangrians, who have their greedy eyes set on our lands. Remember: they were helping the Western League, and they’ll try to conquer us again. That foul Caron, the King of Zangria, wants the north and center of Tremia for himself. It’s always been his family’s dream, and he’s not going to stop trying. I’m absolutely sure of it.”

  “He’s had a couple of defeats in the Thousand Lakes, fighting against King Dasleo of Erenal,” Orten added, “so at the moment he’s in just as bad shape as we are ourselves.”

  “All in all, I’m not easy. I want all our forces here in the capital. We don’t want to embark on distant conquests, still less if we have to confront a powerful Sorceress and her wretched mist. We’ve got quite enough trouble with the Frozen Specter, which might decide to cross the mountains at any moment and make its way here. That’s what worries me now. We’ve got to stop it. We’ve got to destroy it.”

  “I understand that’s why we need the Star of Sea and Life,” said Sven.

  Eicewald no
dded.

  “Then if we don’t send the army,” Orten asked sulkily, his arms crossed, “how are we going to get hold of it?”

  “My Royal Mage knows a lot about this Queen,” Thoran said. His voice seemed to hiss. “I wonder how he happens to know so much, and whether he has some solution to our problem …”

  “I know the Queen because years ago, when I was younger, I accidentally ended up in her realm. The ship I was travelling in ran into a violent storm which drove us to the islands. We entered the perpetual mist and were lucky enough to run aground on the coast of one of the islands in her archipelago.”

  “And you lived to tell the tale?” Orten asked, sounding intrigued.

  “That’s right. The Queen let me live, and what’s more important, she let me leave.”

  Gatik was listening very attentively. “She doesn’t let people leave?” he asked.

  Eicewald shook his head. “That’s how she keeps her secret. Nobody who ends up in her realm ever comes back. Either they die, or else they join her tribe.”

  “Nice way of keeping her secret safe,” Thoran said. “Why did she let you go?”

  “Because of my magic. We shared that interest. I’m a scholar of magic, of its different types and powers. The Queen decided to allow me to go on with my studies outside her kingdom. She gave me a small boat and a special compass and let me go. As far as I know, I’m one of the few she’s allowed out of her realm.”

  The King arched one eyebrow. “If that’s the case, then you can go back and persuade her to lend us her ‘Object of Power’.”

  Eicewald looked dubious at this. “I could try … what I don’t know is whether I’ll be able to reach her, or equally whether I’d be able to persuade her. I doubt whether she’ll want to part with it, and as for our troubles, they’re sure not to interest her. To her the kingdoms of Tremia, their needs, their wars and their politics, are trivial. She considers us irrelevant.”

  “Not only will you try, but you’ll also succeed,” said Thoran, and there was no mistaking the threat in his voice. “You’ll bring me that Star and you’ll destroy the Specter that’s threatening my kingdom, otherwise you’ll lose your head. I’m not going to lose my kingdom because of your incompetence, Mage. The fact that this queen thinks us trivial or irrelevant is her mistake, because I assure you we’re nothing of the sort.”

  Orten was shaking his fist furiously. “I could gladly teach her just how irrelevant we Norghanians are,” he said.

  “You go to see her, and persuade her. I’ll give you gold and weapons you can use to negotiate for the object.”

  “Your Majesty’s wishes will be fulfilled,” Eicewald said resignedly. He bowed respectfully, although his voice sounded unsure, which was unusual in him.

  Thoran waved his hand at Orten, who had a malicious grin on his face. “I warn you, if you fail, I’ll leave it to my brother to deal with you, and you know how much he enjoys that kind of thing.”

  “Oh, I’d be delighted,” Orten said. “I can’t stand magi in general, and least of all one who fails.”

  “I’ll get hold of the object for his Majesty,” Eicewald said reluctantly.

  “Good. Orten will provide you with a ship, gold and weapons, and a regiment of his best men.”

  “Me?” Orten began, but Thoran raised one hand.

  “My coffers are empty, and yours aren’t yet. You’ll be the one who’ll pay for this mission.”

  “Of course. I’ll pay a visit to Count Volgren and one or two more of our loyal noblemen and collect what I need, by force if necessary.” Orten gave a somber chuckle. “For some reason unknown to me, they don’t like it when we take their gold and possessions to finance our campaigns – especially Count Volgren, so he’ll be the first one I visit.”

  “Gold and weapons are always a good medium of negotiation, your Majesty,” Eicewald commented. “On the other hand, taking soldiers in this case is not such a good idea. If the Turquoise Queen sees a ship loaded with soldiers, she won’t let us reach her coasts. She’ll send us to the bottom of the ocean. I’m absolutely sure of that.”

  “The ship, the gold and the weapons have to be protected,” Sven pointed out. “There are pirates in all the known seas. It would be insane to send them without any protection.”

  “I agree with Sven on this,” Orten said. “We must send soldiers.”

  Thoran was thoughtful. “Even I would feel nervous about a ship full of soldiers. It might not be the best option.”

  “But we need to protect the cargo,” Sven insisted.

  “And we will protect it,” Eicewald said.

  “Who?” Orten retorted. “You and your Magi? I don’t know whether–”

  Thoran interrupted him immediately. “No, your Magi will remain here to protect the capital.”

  Eicewald, who did not seem surprised by the comment, raised his hand. “I have a suggestion that might work.”

  “Go on, let’s hear it,” the King said.

  “A small group of men could go with me to protect the cargo, and not being soldiers, they wouldn’t arouse so much reluctance in the Queen.”

  “What group of men?”

  Eicewald looked aside at Gatik. “Rangers, my lord. They’d be perfect for this mission. They could protect me and the cargo, in case of problems they’ll know how to confront them better than soldiers would, and they wouldn’t attract as much attention or distrust, since they’re not soldiers.”

  The King considered the idea.

  “My Rangers can take charge of the mission without any problem,” Gatik assured him.

  “No, not yours,” the King interrupted him again. “I want you and your Royal Rangers with me here.”

  Gatik was quick to fall into line. “Oh, of course, your Majesty.”

  “Nevertheless, it seems a good idea to me,” Thoran said to Eicewald. “A group of Rangers could protect the ship, safeguard your life and not arouse suspicions. Yes, I like the plan.”

  “If your Majesty will allow me, I’ll take personal charge of choosing the team who’ll come with me.”

  “Fine. But choose well, Mage. You know what’s at stake …”

  “Of course, your Majesty.”

  “If you need anything, I’m at your disposal,” Gatik said to Eicewald, and the Mage gave a small bow of gratitude.

  “And if even so, the mission fails?” Sven asked suddenly.

  “In that case,” said the mage, “I fear the Specter and the hosts of the Frozen Continent could descend on the capital.”

  “Of course, they’ll come, now they know we can’t defeat them!” Orten protested.

  “I’d have no doubt about it myself,” Thoran reasoned. “I’d attack and conquer this kingdom with an advantage like that.”

  “Then it’s just a matter of time,” said Sven.

  “So it is,” Thoran agreed. “I don’t think they’ll wait for long before they cross the Eternal Mountains and attack us.”

  “Then we need to get ready to stop it any way we can, and quickly,” Orten said.

  “Get together what you need, and leave without delay,” the King told Eicewald.

  “So, it shall be done, your Majesty. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a great deal to prepare.” The Mage bowed to the King and the nobles and began to withdraw.

  “Go, and don’t fail me,” was the King’s parting message.

  Eicewald came to Lasgol’s side. “You’re coming with me,” he whispered in his ear.

  Lasgol’s blood froze in his veins.

  Chapter 18

  On board the ship, Lasgol stared out at the wide harbor of the coastal city of Oslenbag, in the northwest of the kingdom. He had still not gotten over the shock of learning that he was to form part of Eicewald’s expedition. It was five days since the Mage had told him, in the throne hall: days frantic with preparations for the journey, during which he had barely had time to think of all its implications.

  A group of harbor workers were loading boxes of supplies as well as barrel
s of drinking water, which were essential for long sea journeys. He had to admit that the vessel was solidly-built. Eicewald had asked for a large merchant ship in excellent condition. The King’s brother had advised him to take one of the warships, or even one of the assault ships, which were the kind generally used by the army and which were properly equipped for this type of mission. The Mage had declined the offer courteously but firmly. He did not want to take anything resembling a warship, preferring a merchant ship, which would not appear threatening when it was spotted. Orten had assured him that this was a bad idea and would attract pirates, whereas a warship would scare them away, guaranteeing them a safe passage. Eicewald had insisted. If they went anywhere near the Turquoise Queen’s islands on a warship, not only would they not be made welcome, but she would sink them with her magic. In the end Orten had given up and granted the Mage what he had asked.

  “Pretty, isn’t she?” came Eicewald’s voice.

  Lasgol, who was leaning on the gunwale, turned to greet the Mage. “Yes, sir. A big solid ship.” He had already noticed the width and length of the single-sailed vessel.

  “They’re almost done loading the supplies,” the mage added.

  “Will they load the cargo afterwards?”

  Eicewald nodded. “First the supplies, since without them we can’t make the trip, and then the precious cargo.” He nodded toward the end of the dock. A regiment was escorting a caravan of carts, which was moving in their direction.

  “Oh, they’re here already.”

  “That’s right. As you can see, they’re quite striking …”

  The soldiers wore armor of silver scales, with winged helmets of the same color and red-and-white breastplates and cloaks. They were armed with spears and round wooden shields reinforced with metal, light but sturdy.

  “In fact, ‘discreet’ is exactly what they aren’t …”

  “That’s why I didn’t want them to come with us on an unusual journey like this.”

  “Sir …” Lasgol began.

  “Yes, Lasgol? What’s on your mind?”

  “I was wondering … why out of all …”