A Game Of Chance

chapter five

The steady thump of Niran's wings lulled me into a dreamlike state where I was oblivious to my surroundings. I could not tell if we had been travelling for minutes or hours, as blinded by grief as I was. Eventually however we reached the birthplace of the queen that was swarming with elves. Upon sight of Niran they cleared an area for us to land recognizing us from our previous visit. Still twenty feet in the air I hopped off Niran and situated myself where he gently lowered her into my waiting arms. When he was free of his burden he landed with a soft thud next to me. Confusion was all over the elves when they saw me bearing the queen's sword but confusion turned into grief when I pulled the cowl off the queen and they saw her in my arms. Once again I endured the agonizing sounds of grief as one by one they realized their queen had fallen to rise no more. Carrying her still I made my way to the mighty tree home she once occupied. All the elves cleared a path for me once they realized where I was going and bowed their head as I walked by. I summoned the elf that the queen left in charge and upon sight of the queen he sunk to his knees. After a stage of mourning he righted himself and walked over to me. "Miss what has happened? Actually never mind that now, we must get her to her resting place." I followed the elf lord and could hear the footsteps of thousands behind me. An hour's walk later we arrived in a beautiful clearing a league wide. In lines there were trees having been placed there intentionally. Every tree represented a queen that had fallen. Walking to the spot next to the previous queen I laid her gently upon the ground after removing her amulet, the symbol of queen ship worn in place of a crown. All the gathered elves joined hands and together began to chant words of power, forming a spell so full of grief it made all listening have tears in their eyes. When the spell ended there was now a tree just like the others in the place of the queen, except this one was an oak. Only one other oak existed in the clearing and that belonged to the queen who united all different races to create peace. Different trees have different levels of power. An oak was the highest honor Mother Nature could bestow upon a queen and only those deserving of the mightiest recognition were buried in such a fashion so it made history that dreadful day, as Queen Pulchra went down in the books as the second queen to receive such an honor. After all the songs of grief had died down I realized it was once again my turn to speak. Standing tall back to the tree I faced the crowd. "To all of you who have gathered you must believe me when I speak. The queen was struck down with the help of Fortis, the greatest threat the land has ever seen, and when the queen saw her death was inevitable she placed me as the rightful heir." Murmurs were heard through the crowd until one elf yelled out. "How do we know you are not lying? We have never had a queen that was not full elf." In answer to him I pulled the queen's sword from its sheath and raised it in the air. All voices fell silent. "She placed it upon me to strike down Fortis and with your help I intend to do so. As your new queen I shall lay the old one to rest." Turning around I placed the sword into the trunk of the tree and spoke my incantation which molded the sword into the tree. Once again facing the crowd I raised the amulet into the air before placing it above my head and eventually around my neck. As official queen I turned and knelt to the tree before standing and facing the thousands of elves that were kneeling. One figure however stood up. "You are not the rightful heir to the throne, I am. I am the queens most dedicated lord and it is to me she left her power in, I was who she trusted to lead in her stead." I faced this man who dared defy the queen's orders. "My lord I thought you to be smarter than that. However I shall appease you. What do you say to a trial in arms? If I win you shall swear fealty to me but if I lose I shall leave to never return to these lands as long as you are king." He bowed his head. "That would appease me greatly." Beckoning him forward I commanded a circle be cleared so our dual could commence. Drawing one of my swords I squared off against the man. "Sir I hope you mean no harm to the kingdom by this. I bested the queen in a dual I greatly wish that you do not think yourself her superior." He blanched when I spoke of my victory against the queen. "I will never mean harm to the kingdom for I would die before becoming a traitor." The talking finished for now we faced each other before lightly bowing and then raising our swords. I leaped at the man sending a high looping blow straight to his torso before he parried and the clang of metal on metal was heard. Whirling away I sent three quick jabs to his chest while he reflected all three. He whirled his blade and swung at me in a heavy two handed blow leaving his right side utterly exposed. Taking the moment I stepped inside his guard and placed my sword just below his chin. He froze and did not move. I held the position for all to see before stepping away and lowering my weapon. "I have bested you, now swear fealty in front of all these witnesses." After doing so he stood up and turned his back to me. To his retreating form I called a halt. "You will be stripped of all titles and lands living life as a common man until I see fit to claim otherwise. This is your punishment for dishonoring the queen and marring this day of mourning with unnecessary combat." At first he stopped walking but then he kept his head down and took off into the woods. Facing my people they all chanted. "All hail Queen Sicarius." Bowing my head at the crowd I once again knelt at the foot of the tree. Eventually I dismissed the elves and they all left leaving me to sit Indian style in the presence of the queen before her tree until nightfall where I concluded my mourning and took my rest, weary from the trying day.