A Court of Queens

Winter Wonderland

The sound of bells ringing woke Jazlyn, the embers in the fireplace glowed but Jazlyn still shivered under her sheets. She wrapped the blanket around herself like a cloak and then tossed a few more pieces of wood on the fire. Enough light leaked out from behind the curtains to suggest it might be morning, possibly afternoon, Jazlyn opened the curtains. The sky was a bright overcast, and a strange rain fell slowly from the sky covering the courtyard in a shiny white blanket.

-

Two hours earlier.

The sun had yet to rise, the dock worker approached the harbor holding a lantern in one hand and warming the other against a mug of hot tea. Just as he arrived the previous shiphand sorted through his key chain trying to find the one that locked the door. He approached with his lantern and greeted him,

"Morning." the dockworker yawned.

"Morning, I guess I'll just leave it open for you." The shiphand pocketed his keys. "It's been pretty slow, good luck staying awake." he chuckled.

"Another day, another dollar," he grumbled walking past him into the building. The dockworker set the lantern down and placed both hands on the steaming mug.

The sun rose but the sunlight hardly cut through the thick dark clouds. Outside the lodge, harsh wind roared whipping flurries of snow in a vortex. The dock worker looked outside the window, the entire harbor was frozen solid, frost climbed up the pilings, and the ships on the dock were stuck in place. The dockworker sipped his tea, grateful not to be out in the cold.

A dense fog obscured the harbor. In the distance, a shadowy figure crept closer. The dockworker was baffled, there was no way a boat this small could pierce ice so thick. His eyes must be deceiving him, or perhaps the cold had gotten to him and he drifted off into a dream. The dark figure came into view. It was a man wearing a collection of animal pelts and holding an ax. He had long dirty hair and a thick unkempt beard. A band of men materialized behind him from the fog. The man ran across the ice and the stampede followed.

"Oh merdi." The dockworker muttered to himself. He grabbed his lantern, rushed out of the lodge, and sprinted towards the town. "RAIDERS! TURN BACK! RAIDERS!" he warned the fisherman carrying supplies to the harbor.

Alarm bells rang loudly throughout the town, alerting the cavalry. The raiders scattered across the city; pillaging homes, looting stores, and setting fire to the buildings once they were effectively useless. Men too slow to evade them were treated with an ax to the spine, and the women were tormented before meeting a similar fate.

Squads of knights on horseback trotted throughout the city to combat these attackers. The knights used lances to impale them, picking the raiders off one by one as they attempted to retreat back to the sea.

A particularly unlucky raider found himself surrounded by the knights, he tightly gripped his iron ax. The knights brandished their steel swords and swung all at once, the Gaellic steel split the raider's helmet, cut his skin deeply, and knocked him unconscious. The knights hog-tied the raider to their horses and dragged his limp body to the capital.

The raider slowly opened his eyes and felt the blood-drenched cloth tied around his face, pressing against his tongue. He tried pulling down the gag but his hands were bound behind his back. He attempted to stand but his legs were bound to the chair. He rocked side to side in the chair, and let out a muffled frustrated curse.

"I think he's awake." A voice said behind the wooden door, the knight entered the room. He wore attire appropriate for his rank; a bright pink officer's uniform with rose gold buttons on the lapel and cuffs of the jacket, with white trousers and black boots. He pulled the muzzle off the raider's face.

"ᚠᚢᚲᚴ ᚤᛟᚢ!" The raider yelled

"Bondia! Beaut d' dorme." The guard chuckled. "Qe idoma parle. Geallic? Do you speak any Anglick? Spricsh d' Batavic? هذا غير محتمل ولكن هل تتحدث العربية، ربما الأطلسية?"

"ᚹᚺᛖᚾ ᛗᚤ ᚠᚱᛁᛖᚾᛞᛋ ᚷᛖᛏ ᚺᛖᚱᛖ ᚹᛖ ᚨᚱᛖ ᚷᛟᛁᚾᚷ ᛏᛟ ᛋᚴᛁᚾ ᚤᛟᚢ ᚨᛚᛁᚡᛖ" The raiders sang with a vicious smile.

"So no, I guess?" The guard left the room and shut the door.

"So what's going on? Can he be reasoned with?" Bella asked the guard.

"I'm not sure. I can't understand a word he's saying. If he understands Anglick, Batavick, Geallic, Atlantic... he's not attempting to speak it." he sighed.

Bella sighed and pondered for a moment, she thought about her conversation with Jazlyn and recalled her enchanted necklace. "I have an idea," she said finally. "Fetch me the Queen of Agrabah, she might be able to help us."

-

Once Jazlyn understood what was being asked of her she was apprehensive about even touching the door handle, let alone stepping into the room.

Bella put her hand on Jazlyn's shoulder. "Don't be scared girl, we'll have a guard enter with you. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Okay." Jazlyn nodded her head. She entered the room with the guard. He pulled the muzzle off the raider's face.

"Hello? Can you umm-" Jazlyn stammered. The raider glared at her with a blank expression. Jazlyn rubbed her necklace waiting for the language translation to activate."Maybe I need him to say something before I can understand it." she said.

"Oh, that's easy." The guard pulled a knife from his sheathe and held it to the raider's groin.

"ᚺᛖᚤ ᚺᛖᚤ ᚲᚺᛁᛚᛚ! ᚲᚺᛁᛚᛚ!" The raider screeched.

"Did you get any of that?" The guard asked.

"I mean, I get what he means but I don't understand what he's saying! Okay stop," Jazlyn ordered pulling at the guard's arm. The guard stepped back.

Jazlyn summoned the djinn. "Why isn't the necklace working?" she asked the djinn.

Because Vanni didn't wish for that language.

"Can you add it?" she asked.

"ᚹᚺᛟ ᛞᛁᛋ ᚲᚱᚨᛉᚤ ᛒᛁᛏᚲᚺ ᛏᚨᛚᚴᛁᚾᚷ ᛏᛟ?" the raider slurred.

You can wish for it. The djinn offered.

Jazlyn sighed and huffed."My name is Jazlyn." She said pointing at herself. "Jazlyn. Jazlyn," she repeated. "What's your name?" She asked pointing at the guard.

"Marko."

"Point at yourself and say Marko," she said.

The guard sighed, then pointed at himself reciting his name.

"What's your name?" Jazlyn asked pointing at the raider.

The raider cleared his throat and spat on the ground near their feet.

"Well okay then," she said. Jazlyn left the room and the guard stuffed the bloody rag back into the raider's mouth.

"This thing doesn't work with his language, and I don't think he would bargain with us if he could anyway," Jazlyn reported to Bella.

"No matter, we need him to be desperate anyway. Thank you for trying. So I guess we'll need to wait for the harbor to thaw before we can sail you home." Bella said.

"Sail? Is it safe to sail with the raiders in the seas" Jazlyn asked.

Bella shrugged."They're always a threat but they've taken their loot so they should leave us alone for the time being."