The Queen, part two
Maya confronts the Shadow
The Great Fire continues with The Queen, part two. Maya confronts the Shadow from Lirahndür and we meet Einar, the reluctant chosen one.
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The Queen
Part Two
All of this came back to me as I stood by the door. I could feel something watching me and I hesitated to turn around. They say they can disappear entirely, or rather, they shift the space around them to make it seem like they're invisible. You'll hear a noise and then turn to see what made it and while you find nothing there, your eyes will refuse to focus on a particular point as if it sees the demon standing in front of you in the void.
It’s there but your mind will ignore it. It always will ignore the thing it cannot defeat.
I tried to replace my fear with the rage that had consumed me moments earlier so that I could turn around. I managed to face the room but when I saw nothing I became paralysed by it. I knew I wasn’t alone, which meant that it was somewhere in the room.
The room was silent except for my ragged breath as my eyes tried to see. There was no one, but I knew that wasn’t true, it was all a game for it I’m sure.
It would have been watching me from the moment I climbed back up from the tunnels. I knew this but I couldn’t confront it and I didn’t want to.
In an attempt to re-gain control, I tried to slow my breathing. I counted through the stars and named them just as my father had told me. I managed to calm down until I felt its breath as it whispered in my ear:
“Something wrong?”
I lurched backwards, banging into those old doors and before it appeared before me I screwed my eyes shut, desperate not to see, which made it laugh and the sound seemed to echo through the room and into the farthest corner of my mind.
I don’t know how I managed the strength but when the laughter died away I opened my eyes and spied it hiding behind my throne. It smiled when I saw it and I realised it looked more like us than I had imagined.
Its frame was much like my own, and it had skin like ours although it was cracked and peeling like paper. Only its eyes were different: they were gaping holes of black but I had seen eyes like that before.
It must have sensed that seeing it in the flesh made me less afraid because before I could step forward it was directly before me.
My scream was sucked from the air so that I breathed silence. I fell back onto the door at the shock of it being suddenly before me. It grabbed my arm with a hand that was both hot and wet.
"You came back." It said "He said you'd come back."
I didn’t dare pull away in case it grabbed me tighter. Its smile stretched wider causing its skin to crack as a second hand reached towards my head and crown. My chest went tight and I couldn’t breathe; it was so cold even though my wrist was burning with heat.
Its voice was now light and calming but beneath it was a low groan of the words:
“Shall I take you to see the King?” It pulled the crown off my head and left it to hang in the air between us, suspended by magic.
“No.”
“Why?” I didn’t have a response but its' words were drenched in magic and it dragged one out of me.
“He’s no longer King. I renounce him.”
“But, who are you?” I thought I was going to pass out as it sucked the life from me to melt my crown down to the single ruby that was set in the centre. “I’ll make you a deal, you never set foot in this castle, never speak to the King again, and I’ll let you live.”
“I don’t respond to threats.”
“Not a threat, the truth. The choice is yours: leave and live, or stay and die.” The molten gold of my crown hung in the air and moved around like water as it played with it, passing it back and forth between us. Each movement of the gold took more energy from me and made me weaker. Still the words pulled my thoughts from me.
“I’m going to stop him.”
“You can’t. We know his fate now, we know his truth. And you’re not it.”
“No.” I said, and I don’t know where it came from or whether it was sheer stupidity that drove me to do it, but before it could say anything else I pushed the molten gold onto its eyes. The gold burned my hand and I smelled my own flesh but it screamed louder than I did as it clutched at its eyes before vanishing from my sight.
I could no longer see it but I could hear its scream as it stumbled away. I picked the ruby up from the ground with my unscathed hand and it quickly cooled at my touch.
It struggled to contain its magic against the pain and began to flicker in and out of sight and the room began to warm.
My hand still throbbed with heat but I didn’t feel the pain, I was too consumed with watching the thing that screamed on the ground as it grab at its eyes and began to squirm.
My fear had gone because I saw that it wasn’t a shadow. It was made of flesh and bone like mine.
It was different to me, and had powers beyond mine, but it felt pain and it could die.
I put my boot on its eyes and added pressure to its burning flesh and then I began asking questions. Like who had closed the door and where I could find the man she called King.
So you tortured it.
No, I didn’t.
You said that you caused it pain to get answers; that’s torture.
You’re not listening to me, Einar. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to, I said I didn’t. I wasn’t given the chance.
Why?
Because of Orel. I am only telling you the truth of what happened, Einar, and if this is making you uncomfortable then I apologise but the truth isn’t always –
I never asked to hear any of this. I only ever asked why you were following me.
And I’m trying to tell you why.
It’s a very long reason.
It’s an important one. I can give you a summary but then you’d only ask me more questions.
I 'm getting a bit sick of this and I don’t have time to listen to all of this and I can’t keep coming back. So I’ll take the short version, thanks.
Fine. I was following you because you’re the one who is destined to kill the King.
This was the silence I was hoping to avoid.
What do you mean I’m the one?
If any of this made sense to you right now I’d be very impressed. But this is what I was talking about. In order to explain how it’s you, I need to explain how it all came to be.
You can’t expect me to kill someone.
Yes I can.
I won’t do it.
Yes, you will. Einar, this isn’t a choice and believe me if there were any other option I would be taking it. But Favian sealed his fate when he forced Orel to reveal it and she said that he would die because of you.
How do you know it’s me? It could be anyone with yellow hair and blue eyes!
Think about it Einar, how many people do you know who look like you here in Teron?
I bet there’s heaps of people.
There are two.
Well, then what about the second?
She disappeared. I don’t know where she went but she’s no longer in Teron, which leaves you. And also explains why I was following you. Favian must die, Einar. And you will be the one to do it.
What if I refuse?
We don’t have time for that. The curse is lifting and people are beginning to remember, who knows how long it will be before Favian will be free of it entirely. We have to act quickly while we have a head start.
I don’t think I can.
I do not care if you don’t want to or if you don’t think you can and I most certainly do not have time for cowardice. So grow up and listen carefully. You will do it because it is your fate to do so and if you don’t believe me, you will do it because I order you to and that is final.
Favian may call himself a King and people may see him as such but no matter what anyone says, I am the Queen of Teron and I will save my Kingdom. Understood?
Yes.
Good. Now, you need to know about Orel. To start with she is one of the last living diviners in all the world of Eremos. So if you want to blame anyone for this, blame her.
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