The Outer Lord

Chapter 8 - That Which is Broken

Something... someone approached. Who? It didn't matter, of course, not when she was busy tending to the egg and her Sweetings. If they behaved, they could stay. Perhaps they wanted her books. They could have them. Not her Sweetings' favourites, but the other books in her immense collection. She wasn't much for reading these days, not when she was so terribly busy nurturing the egg. That was all she needed, really. Even if her books were gone, the roof and walls blown away, if the egg was with her and remained safe, she could make new Sweetings if anything regrettable happened. As long as she had the egg. As long as she had the egg...

Ah, what was that? The someone had disturbed her Sweetings. She looked up only slightly from the egg in her grasp. Her Sweetings were scared, backing away from the man coming her way. One of them clambered over her sisters and knocked over a few stacks of books in her retreat. Queen Rennala stared at the man, her dark blue eyes locked on and boring into him. Her grip on the egg tightened, pulling it closer to her chest as she kept watching.

It had been... oh, she didn't know how long. When had someone sought her counsel last? Visitors were so infrequent these days. Still, it didn't matter. What mattered was that someone had come, but she wasn't particularly happy about that. This man was a stranger to the academy, and she knew every student by name. Or she thought she did. Was he a hopeful? Perhaps he had come to enrol. She could certainly see the man's potential as she could feel the currents of magic shifting and wrapping around him. If he wanted to learn at her academy, then she wanted to nurture that natural talent. Nurture it... like the amber egg. The egg... a Sweeting, maybe? Yes, that must have been it! A new Sweeting!

The man stopped a short distance away. Oh, the poor dear looked so tired, so worn down. The lines of his face were deep, his lips were a thin line, his brow an eternal frown, and his eyes... his eyes... so filled with anger, though not at her, it seemed. What was he angry at? The wrinkles at the edges of his eyes softened as they became fixed on her.

''Mother?'' a voice she didn't quite recognise said, ''thy guests hath arrived.'' Was that little Ranni? It couldn't have been. She hadn't seen her little girl in so long, and she didn't remember why or when she'd left. There was a blur at the edge of her vision. That seemed to be the source of the voice, but she couldn't see who or what it was. Still, the voice sounded like little Ranni, so she would trust it. What compelled her to trust it was unknown to her, but it felt like the right thing to do.

''This man is a friend, mother. He would like to ask for thy ear,'' the thing that was like Ranni said.

''I see...'' Rennala paused, her eyes locked onto Ranni, yet not quite seeing her, ''I will always listen to a Sweeting,'' she turned her gaze to Talos, ''tell me thy worries, dear.''

Talos was uncertain. What was this? He understood that Rennala wasn't exactly... whole. Her mind was still shattered, having retreated into a state of arrest. Could she really not see what he was? Was everyone a so-called 'Sweeting' to her? Perhaps that was the case.

''Greetings,'' Talos bowed, and Lanya mimicked the gesture beside him. To his surprise, the queen laughed.

''Thou needst not bow to me, dear. Please, tell me what troubles thee,'' Rennala said softly. Talos bit the inside of his cheek, puzzled by this. She wasn't seeing him. He didn't know what she saw, but it wasn't someone with important matters to discuss.

''Mother,'' Ranni interjected, ''Talos is an important man. He comes to thee for matters of great import.''

''Ah, I see,'' Rennala muttered, ''thou art an emissary, then?''

''In a matter of speaking, your grace,'' Talos said. He was struggling to think of a strategy to tackle this issue. He knew he needed to tread carefully, but he'd never dealt with someone like this. Being direct would be the quickest way of throwing this opportunity away. He'd need to convince her to hand over the Great Rune peacefully, but how?