Noria

Noor was exhausted from all of the fighting. Tensions between the different factions in Jusa had been rising for years, and were seemingly coming to a boiling point. From the reports that reached the parliamentary council, the situation in some cities had devolved into sectarian violence. All this while, she had put her best efforts into uniting the people under her banner, for the good of all. Some days she felt as though that cause was lost, and she should simply step back and allow the increasingly divided parliament to tear her nation, and the national legacy, down around her. Why not? After all, even the last of the Ancients had vanished decades ago, and with them the legacy of her foremothers was become smoke in a gale.

The queen sat on her hidden balcony, able only to see the red sky above, and the cold grey stone of her palace all around. She remembered as a child, how the monolithic stone figures would speak candidly with her mother out on this very balcony, back when she had been queen. The ancients had then slowly gone. One sunrise came, no longer revealing the Elder Ancient meditating peacefully in his place within the Titan Courtyard. Over the years, the other Ancients slowly vanished, with no indication as to their reason. The final Ancient spent four lonely years perched atop the royal tower, until he too vanished without a trace. Noor had been only twelve years old when the final Ancient left. Now she ruled without the supernatural guidance of the Ancients, without even the wisdom of her mother to help guide the way. Noor couldn’t help the feeling that she was letting everything fall apart, and letting her mother down. She couldn’t even keep the peace amongst her peaceful people.

“Ma’am?” A concerned voice from inside broke Noor from her dark reverie.

“On the balcony, my dear,” She replied. The deep sadness that had rested on her brow gave way to a sad but sincere smile as a petite Varnissi woman stepped out onto the balcony, her coarse dark mane blowing softly in the breeze. “Elisi, you know it’s always a pleasure,” The queen said softly as she stepped forward and pulled the newcomer into a soft embrace.

“My queen,” Elisi responded, burying herself in the embrace of the queen. The two stood in the twilight, sharing in the comfort of contact, for a long moment. When Noor finally broke the embrace, her shoulders had softened, as if a weight had fallen away.

“How was home, my dear?” Noor asked, gesturing that they should step back inside the chambers. “I trust your family is well?”

“It was good to see my tribe, my queen, but home was a frightening place.” The words were soft, but carried an uncomfortable sting. Elisi let the silence settle as she prepared the queen’s bath, drawing hot water from a tap into a warm stone tub carved into the stone floor of the chambers.

“Frightening?” Noor finally asked, her tone conveying that she suspected she knew the answer, but hoped she was wrong. She unbuttoned her robe and stepped out of her soft slippers. Elisi was the only one that the queen had ever allowed to see her in these quiet moments, and the only soul that had ever seen the bared soul of her queen.

“Yes ma’am, it’s not good there. My Basa begged me not to go out into the streets.” The queen sat next to Elisi on the edge of the tub, the steaming water rising over her sore feet. Elisi sat cross legged next to the queen as the bath filled. “I’m sorry my queen,” She said softly, over the sound of pouring water. “I wish I could have brought better news.”

“No. Thank you for telling me, Elisi,” Nolia said, sadness deep in every pitch of her voice. “I know I can trust every word you say, and if it is this way, it must be addressed.” She paused for a long moment. “How bad has it become in Tanif?” Elisi did not speak, but only shook her head, her mane bouncing back and forth. She thought of what she had seen in her city, what was happening to her people everywhere she had gone.

“My brother Anilto. . .” She choked on the name. “They beat him.”

“Oh, my dear,” The queen said softly, placing her arms around Elisi’s softly shaking shoulders. She wiped a hot tear from the nose of her closest friend. “Is he. . . alive?”

“I went to see him,” Elisi said. “He was alive, but he was not himself.” Once again, she choked on hot tears. Nolia silently redoubled her embrace. “He used to be so eloquent, but when I went to see him he could barely speak like a child.” She sobbed quietly into the arms of the queen.

“Sorry, my queen,” Elisi sniffed as she pulled out of the embrace to turn off the flow of water. “I did not mean to burden you. Your bath is ready.”

“My dear, it is my place as your friend, and as your queen, to bear these burdens with you. Do not apologize for it.” Noor slipped down into the warm water, sinking up to her chin. A deep sigh escaped her as the warmth soaked into the tense muscles that carried the weight of the world. She breathed deeply and silently, as the soft sound of water lapping against the sides of the tub lulled her into a sort of trance, and all of the horrific sadness melted into the static.

“Darling, they found the one that. . .” The queen paused as she tried to avoid using the word that the spies had used, “did that. . . To your brother.” He voice trailed off as the recipient of the news allowed her gaze to fall to the stony courtyard path. She cleared her throat. It had been more than a month since the quiet conversation about Anilto, Elisi’s brother, and the royal court had moved to the summer palace for the season.

“My queen,” Elisi stuttered and fell silent, seemingly unable to process the information. “Is he. . .” “Alive?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, in Tanif.”

“Are they? “Searching for him now.”

“Good. . .” Elisi said softly as the pair fell silent, Noor having predicted and answered all of the questions needed by her beloved subject and friend. Elisi stood, superhumanly composed, in the courtyard where this information had been revealed, under the now questioning and pity filled gaze of the queen’s trailing retinue. Her dark skin belied no blush.

“Oh my gods!” The queen hissed in frustration, as she pulled Elisi into an embrace.”Can I take you somewhere so that you can be alone with this news? We can talk about it later. I shouldn’t have brought this to you here, not like this.”

“My Queen, you needn’t set your schedule to my terms. Please, Ma’am!” Elisi struggled against Noor as the queen, who had transformed from monarch to friend, was ushering her hurriedly in a loving embrace into the shade of the wine cellar, where the air was coolest this time of year. The queen’s guard posted up at the entrance to the cellar, the only way in or out of the cellar.

The air was cool inside the cellar. In the mountains it remained cool year round, but here in the foothills, as the mountains cooled and the cold fell through the foothills, incredible pockets of cold could form, which could freeze a small pond or ice over a creek to form a temporary bridge, called a fairy bridge. Legends had a lot to say about fairy bridges, but we’re not really talking about legends right now. Here in Queen Noor’s Summer Palace, nestled in the green foothills of the summer lands, the winecellars could form natural ice boxes. Noor tossed a big fur garment over Elisi’s summer garments, suddenly shielding her against the sharp cold of the cellar, and then disappeared for a moment down a back staircase, returning with a hidden bundle.

“I’m sorry Ma’am,” Elisi tried to start as Noor began unwrapping the bundle, but was cut off by Noor sticking a formerly hidden spoon full of ice cream into her mouth, mid-word.

“Don’t you apologize to me, darling!” Noor admonished with feigned harshness. “I Should not have announced that news to you so thoughtlessly and publicly. I feel as though I thought of everything but you in my efforts to please you so.” The queen hung her head in private shame at her failing. “It is I that should apologize to you.” “No Ma’am!” Elisi admonished, fighting down the lump of ice cream and pressing forward into Noor’s fallen gaze. “I am a servant, and you are The Queen! It is not expected that you cater to me in any way, My Queen.” The servant stopped to wipe a tear from her own eye. “Don’t be too hard on yourself!”

“Thank you,” Noor murmured as she lifted her own gaze and grabbed the spoon from Elisi. “I care about you as a friend, Elisi!” She said sternly as she took another bite of ice cream, pausing to sigh in pleasure at the cold creamy snack. “You’re my only one, and I hate it when I fail you.” Noor’s face dropped again as she sucked on the spoon.

“My Queen, you have not failed me. You have outdone the gods in kindness, as always.” Elisi blustered as she sat down on a bench next to an untapped cask of brandy. These casks were stored here for the temperature, and shipped down to the coasts for the winter feasts.

“Well then, now that I’ve gotten you out of the public eye and into the privacy of my wine cellar, do you want to talk about what. . .” She paused, again unsure of the right words to use.

“Who you found?” Elisi said flatly.

“Yes, who we found.”

“What was his name?” Elisi asked, her voice starting to show strain, as she fought her body as it tried to tell her to go into the fetal position and moan in sadness and anger. She felt that feeling, just like any creature who has seen those it loved irreparably broken have felt it, and she fought it.

“Jat Biqqur.”

“Jat Biqqur?!” Elisi said with scorn and disbelief. “Biqqur?!” “You know this man?” Noor asked in between shared spoonfuls of ice cream.

“Know this man?” Elisi scoffed. “Biqqur was my father’s worst mistake. Biqqur was a boy that my father took in and cared for for a time, before he had children of his own, but father could never turn Biqqur away, no matter how many times he came begging to the family for help. I never would have thought that Biqqur would betray my father like this though!”

“Well Jat Biqqur is the name of the ass that did this to your brother,” The queen paused, suddenly feeling like she needed to say more than that. “He confessed to everything.” She withdrew a letter with a broken seal from her inner garments and handed it over to Elisi. Her hands shuddered to betray the feelings she was fighting to hide as she gingerly flipped up the lip of the envelope and removed the small folded letter within.

It was a small sheet of paper, almost translucent, and folded three times, almost as to intentionally hide it within the large envelope. The note was handwritten; In the top left, written in the same scrawling and drippy cursive as the rest of the note, was a date: Heilun 13th 1785. Yesterday, to Elisi as she read the note, which read,

“My Queen,

We have found the one you asked about. Local criminal turned rebel by these idealogues. You know the deal. Regardless, his name is Jat Biqqur. A little digging tells me that he has known the family for a long time, which could be important, but a little digging also tells me that you might already know that, so I’ll just give you tomorrow’s anchor code: Burning Vine.

As always,

-Vigil”

Elisi frowned as she re-read the paper exactly three times before folding it gently up, depositing it into the envelope, and handing it back to the queen. Noor looked at the envelope in her hand for a moment as she swallowed another tiny bite of ice cream, then back up at Elisi.

“Why don’t you hold onto that, if it makes you feel better,” Noor offered, holding the envelope up for her friend to take back. Elisi laughed musically, a sound that shakes away the sadness for but a moment.

“I couldn’t do that ma’am!” Elisi exclaimed, realizing that a tear had escaped down her nose, and catching it with a swift sleeve. “The archivers would be very cross if I lost anything.”

“Oh right,” Noor sighed. “I forget that, now that I’m queen, everything I read, write, or say has to be written down by somebody at all times. Isn’t it funny how I could forget a thing like that?” She shook her head and took another tiny bite.

“Very strange, My Queen.”

“Anyways. . .” Noor paused, trying to lead into the conversation. The reason they had come down here in the first place. Noor was more than willing to put aside all else to help Elisi through a rough day, but she was a busy woman, leading a failing country and all of that. She needed to be aware of time’s passing.

“Yes, My Queen. What will be done?” The handmaiden asked, now curled up with a spoon of creaminess all her own.

“I have the men out, searching for Biqqur. I’m certain we will have him in our hands by nightfall.”

“What then?”

“What do you want then?” The queen held her breath. Noor was prepared for whatever Elisi might say, but she had high regard for her dear friend here, and what she said held the power to sully that.

“I want to know why,” Elisi said softly. “I just want to know why.”

“Well We’ll find out soon. Wait here, I’ll go get us something to help us pass the time a little faster.” Noor glided away up the stairs to the outside, where a hushed conversation with Dyess, her personal guard, took place. Noor held up a finger, as if to say ‘be patient and hush darling’ as she floated back past and down the back stairway again. When she emerged, she was carrying a pair of short stemmed goblets and a silver tray, which she set on the bench in between the two of them. There were three small crystal decanters on the tray, each one filled to about half with a differently colored brownish liquid, “Drink up.” Noor said cheerfully as she poured some brandy into both of their glasses.

“What is this?” Elisi asked, swishing her glass around uncertainty as she watched the liquid fall off of the sheer walls of the glass in a way that always means whatever liquid that is is sure to burn on the way down.

“It’s three different types of brandy, aged in the different types of local oak casks. If you want to know more, I could have Dyess fetch the cellar master for us. I’m sure he could give a much more thorough oration on the topic.” A glint formed in her eye as she suggested the idea. Noor knew that she wasn’t the best at reading people, but she knew that sometimes a little levity was just the right thing to ease a troublesome tension.

“Oh no, please!” Elisi begged in mock panic.

“I could though, if you want?” Noor jibed, smiling in full now that she knew her attempt at levity had been accepted.

“No thank you, My Queen.”

“No lectures on acidity tonight?” “No thank you, My Queen.” Elisi chuckled again, which broke her composure enough that the dam broke, and she let out a sputtering half sob.

“You clearly need this, drink up.” Noor motioned for Elisi to drink, and Elisi, as loyal as she ever was, drank.

Elisi woke up to the creak of a door. Her groggy mind tried to overcome itself to orient her. Wherever she was was warm and soft, and dark. There was no light at all, and that was luxury at it’s finest. The sound of Noor’s voice broke the spell of sleep that still held some sway over Elisi.

“Good morning, Dearest.” She gently struck a match and lit a candle, illuminating the darkened guest chamber. Even the cellar had a few, since festivities could get so. . . Jorian, at times. “I hope you slept well. I only stayed until you had fallen asleep. I figured I could let you sleep until we heard something.”

“So you’ve heard something?” “No, but you had slept for sixteen hours, and I was starting to worry about you.” Noor Smiled.

“Really?” “I promise.” “My Queen! I’m so sorry. You’ve gone without me all this time?” Elisi was horrified. Her only job in life was to care for The Queen. She had somehow been tricked into sleeping away a whole day.

“Don’t think about it, Elisi. I haven’t had the chance to sit still whatsoever since I left you, let alone be pampered.” Noor helped position a tray of food carefully atop the bedspread, so that Elisi could eat as they talked.

“What is it?” Elisi asked with wide eyes, as she began to butter a piece of bread.

“Nothing you need to worry about right now, but it sure is exciting. Whenever you’re ready to see it, come meet me in my study. I’ll be there all evening.” She leaned down and gave Elisi a lingering kiss on the forehead. “Remember what we talked about?” Noor teased as she left the room. Elisi thought for a moment as she nibbled on the toast. She couldn’t actually recall much from before falling asleep. The brandy had been strong, and she didn’t have experience with strong spirits.

“I suppose I’ll find out,” She muttered through the breadcrumbs.

After breakfast, Elisi snuck away to her own chambers, where she cleaned herself up from the long nights’ rest. After washing up and changing into fresh clothing, she threw a striking blue scarf over her hair, adding a splash of color to the black and silver of her royal servant’s dress.

A short walk through the idyllic summer palace courtyards brought Elisi from the servants’ quarters into the main palace, known as the Granite House. The old summer home had been stewarded by the royal family for so many generations that the history of the old house had been nearly forgotten, but it had been a place of war before the peace. Now the once imposing walls were crawling with flowering ivy, the once well worn parade grounds had become a paradise of twisting gardens and courtyards. The inside of the Granite House formed an imposing sort of silence, when all was still. The dark granite walls reached up to vaulted ceilings, where no windows were to be found. It was dark and cool in the halls, with a slight breeze, bringing with it fresh and cool air.