Chapter 15: Queen of White Dunes



    We hurried over the dunes. The great brown stone ziggurat that was Jehanna Hall drew closer steadily, though seemingly infinitesimally. The soft sand squished under our feet and the horses' hooves. Seth and the other knights had dismounted as it was actually faster to go on foot over or around the great dunes. It was hot.

    "This isn't the hottest it gets sometimes," Ewan said cheerfully. "Sometimes it's even hotter. Good job we have lots of water." We did. Besides the water in Danny's cart, Cormag had generously taken several large waterskins onto Genarog, who carried them without trouble, the rider only warning that someone better take them off if fighting came about.

    We paused for only a moment to rest at one of the springs in the oasis surrounding the palace. I was slightly ahead of the other royals, wanting to get inside and find out the worst. Seth moved over to me, looking through the desert palms to the great double doors, and I glanced up at his handsome face.

    He returned my gaze, brown eyes meeting blue. "Please, do not overexert yourself, Princess. I cannot have you fainting away in the midst of battle." His hand brushed mine, as if by accident, but I caught a faint pulse of colour in his face and felt an answering rush in mine.

    I smiled. "I will not faint. And I will be careful."

    My thoughts turned to Lyon. He was such a gentle person... The most I could ever persuade him to do was to practice fencing with me, and I always won. He believed he was weak, pathetic, and unwanted, but I always assured him his compassion would, someday, save us all.

    Seth noticed my quiet, looking down at me in concern, and though he apparently had news, hesitated to speak.

    "My lady? Is there something wrong?"

    "It's nothing..."

    "I've had word." From where, I did not ask. I wasn't supposed to. "Jehanna Hall is crawling with enemy soldiers. Of the queen, there is no word."

    Innes heard us and stepped in. "And Crown Prince Lyon is commanding the troops? I've heard that the prince is a student of dark magic. Approaching him will not be easy. I've also heard that he dislikes violence. However, it could all have been a ruse."

    I paled. I knew Lyon better than that.

    "What is there to give us pause?" L'Arachel asked, watching my face anxiously. "Let us charge in and retake the palace by strength of arms!"

    Innes stated the obvious: "We must rescue the queen, regardless of the cost."

    I nodded. Lyon might not even be in there. "I agree. Let's go!"

    As we had all been refreshed, our army rushed through the outer gate into the castle. Inside, there was a small, sandy courtyard where we quickly marshelled our forces.

    "Seth and I will go that way," I said, pointing to a side door.

    "But..." protested several people: Seth, Innes, Tana, L'Arachel.

    "We'll be all right," I said, dragging Altha off to the door. I could hear Innes barking orders to the others already.

    I took a second for our eyes to adjust to the unblinding light of the indoors. An armour knight materialized, followed by five magic users. I ducked.

    "I wanted some time alone with you," I said, my rapier seeking a gap in the knight's armour. Seth didn't answer for a moment, and then we were both engulfed in a firestorm of magic.

    "Princess - I mean, Eirika," Seth answered after we both emerged, pretty much unscathed; he had broken his lance on two shamans and had his sword out; "do you think this appropriate? This is a battle."

    "No time is truly appropriate, I think, but this is better than much else. I have faith in our fighting skill, and it will be like old times - I mean, at the start of our journey." I blushed some more, as we wandered deeper into the heart of the palace, thinking of that moonlit ride to Frelia in his arms.

    "Although, Eirika, we will probably only be minutes away from the others. You know that."

    In a small square room, three more armour knights awaited us. Seth grabbed his spare lance. I leapt lightly aside of one questing spear and stabbed the knight. Altha's hooves and Seth's powerful thrust finished another. I wondered how much his wound was protesting. I decapitated the last knight.

    There was a closed door into another room. I laid my head on the door. I could hear two mercenary class soldiers and an axeman arguing.

    "There are three enemies in there," I told Seth softly, detailing their weapons to him. "Maybe we should wait for a moment and surprise them?"

    Seth smiled, dismounting from Altha. "I think that is acceptable." He took my waist in his strong hands and pulled me close for a kiss. Our armour clanked together as I wrapped my arms around him. How I loved this man...

    "How is your wound doing?" I asked when he released me.

    His eyebrow quirked in surprise. "It's fine. Why ask now?"

    I shrugged, smiling embarrassedly. "I remembered it, that is all."

    Seth smiled back so beautifully...

    I pulled away and went to the door.

    I flung it open and Seth charged in. His sword hit the axe fighter and a mercenary, and I took down the other mercenary.

    "Hey! Princess!" yelled young Ewan. "Watch out for these archers!" I heard a thunderbolt in the room next to me. A corridor stretched from our room to the foyer of the courtyard, and the others were crammed into it. Cormag's wyvern yowled, clearly ill at ease in the confined space. Innes leapt out of my sight through another door, his silver bow twanging.

    "Got that archer, Tana!" his baritone called back to us. "You can come forward now!" Then, he turned back to Joshua and continued to flip coins as they ran together. From what I saw, Innes was constantly losing, and from their behaviour, they were the exact same age. I smiled to myself. An unlikely friendship.

    All was confusion, not least of which was L'Arachel rounding a corner and running straight into Rennac. The most I heard of it was Rennac shouting petulantly: "NO! I said I don't want to!" But L'Arachel was already riding away, and he had no choice but to follow, grumbling under his breath.

    We fought to the throne room. Somehow, only Innes and I entered. The rest were elsewhere; Seth was arguing with Sir Garcia and Kyle on some military subject that seemed far too technical for me. Kyle was, at the same time, reprimanding Forde's habit of painting during a battle. I believed Rennac and Colm were ransacking, judging from Neimi's gentle protests...

    The only one in the throne room was a swordmaster. The two of us sprang aside. Innes notched an arrow, but his leap and subsequent ungraceful tumble to the floor made his aim off. The man advanced on the prince, his sword glowing with wind magic. A bloody scratch appeared on Innes's cheek, and I threw myself at the swordmaster, forcing his aim off as well. Somehow, I managed to get away from him without being hit by the Wind Sword. I was tiring quickly. Innes came up on one knee and fired.

    This arrow hit the swordmaster in the stomach. Somehow, he stayed upright, muttering to himself about - about Ismaire! Everything came to me in a rush. The poor man had betrayed his entire country because he loved his queen. While that made no sense logically, I could dimly feel what he must be thinking.

    Joshua, a swordmaster from Jehanna himself, dashed into the room. "Carlyle!" he cried with a voice of anguish. "Why did you betray us?"

    "Joshua... Why did you come back?" murmured the traitor.

    "You who taught me first how to hold a sword..." the red-haired man stuttered bleakly, and then rushed out of the room as fast as he had come in.

    Innes fired again and the swordmaster toppled to the ground. I gasped, but had no time to rationalize or mourn, or do any of those things that the Princess of Renais ought to do, because Innes, the Prince of Frelia -  really rather resplendant in sky blue silk, with gold edging the hems and his darker blue leather quiver straps, grey hair, his white pants and blue boots - seized my hands, his gleaming deepset grey eyes fixed on mine.

    "Eirika, I must tell you, I quite love you."

    I pulled away in confusion at this abrupt proposal. "Prince Innes! ... This is no time for jokes..."

    "This is not a joke. I'm quite serious, and just as surprised as you. Fighting at your side... I love you. I could not bear to see you in the arms of another."

    "I - I'm sorry, Innes... I - I love someone else-" I stopped, feeling dizzy. Innes, though, would not take no for an answer.

    "But you could love me," he persisted, trying to embrace me.

    "No! Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Innes-" and I dropped away into a dead faint.

    When I came to a couple of seconds later, L'Arachel was dripping water on my face. I sat up slowly. "Are you all right, Eirika?" she asked solicitously.

    "I'm fine..." I answered, my eyes wandering to Innes. He was acting like nothing had happened, but I could tell he was angry inside. I pitied him.

    "The queen was supposed to be here, but she isn't. And there's no sign of the Sacred Stone, either," he said gruffly.

    Young Ross came running as fast as his heavy new axe would let him. "Prince, Princesses! The queen has been found!" L'Arachel helped me up, and Innes gave me one last disappointed look before vanishing down the hallway after the boy. L'Arachel followed.

    I began to move after them, but a warp appeared and a robed youth with long hair materialized.

    "L-L-L-Lyon!" I stammered. He gave a sharp cry and turned to escape down the hallway in the other direction.

    "Wait!" I cried. "Lyon, don't run away! My brother and I, we've been so worried about you." I grasped his hands tightly. "Please, Lyon, tell me: your father is deranged, isn't he? That's why he ordered the invasion of Renais, isn't it?"

    "I'm sorry, Eirika..." he said in his soft voice. "I - I can't talk about that just yet..."

    "You have your reasons, don't you." He nodded his lavender head. "Well, I can't tell you how relieved I am about you," said I. "I was a little afraid you'd gone like your poor father... I'm glad you haven't changed."

    "Me too," said Lyon, smiling a little. "But - no, Eirika, you have changed. You're... even more beautiful than you were..."

    I blushed. "Lyon..."

    He recovered himself. "I'm sorry, Eirika," he said again. "Truly sorry about the invasion of Renais and the death of your good father... This war came about because I was too weak to stop it, but please, please remember... I'll always be your friend."

    "I know..." He dropped my hands and warped away hastily, just in time as L'Arachel came back to find what was taking me so long.

    "Come on, Eirika! It's not like you to be tardy!"

    "I'm coming!" I replied, hurrying after her.

    In the castle chapel, Queen Ismaire was lying sprawled in a pool of her own blood, which was slightly darker than her crimson hair. Seth supported her head on his shoulder.

    "She will not last much longer," the Silver Knight was saying to Innes, apparently in response to a question.

    The queen's eyes flickered. "Jo- Joshua..." Natasha, who had just entered, flitted out again. "Joshua... Oh, where is that boy?"

    As if on cue, the Jehannian swordsman ran in, panting heavily, followed by the reappearence of Natasha. Joshua knelt by Ismaire, who continued talking obliviously. "Forgive me, Joshua... I tried to be queen so hard I left no time to be your mother... Forgive your foolish mother..."

    "No, Mother, forgive me!" cried the prince, taking her hands in his big, rough ones. "I wanted to be worthy... I wanted to see the world as a man, not a prince... If I had been here, perhaps..."

    "Oh, Joshua, it really is you... No, that is all past." The queen took a deep breath. "Th-the Sacred Stone... has been destroyed. The one... who tempted Carlyle is responsible. Also... under the altar, what I have guarded since your father died... They should now be yours. Joshua... my darling son..." Her eyes closed.

    Innes brought the items, the Sacred Twins of Jehanna, and held them out silently to the prince. The man was lost to all else; grief racked his body as he took his lovely mother from Seth and cradled her.

    Later, L'Arachel, Innes, Tana, Seth, and I met Joshua in the hall just outside of the throne room, buckling on Audhulma the Ice Blade. Excalibur the Wind Tome was tucked in his belt, waiting for someone suitable to give it to. The gambling prince was red-eyed.

    "I'm not going to give up," he said firmly. "So long ago... I wrote a farewell and left the palace, taking nothing with me. I wanted to learn about our people up close. I- Was I simply rebelling against my mother? Punishing her for doing her duty?" He nearly shouted in anguish. "Gods! What a child I was!"

    We were all silent. "I did learn about our people. I learnt their hearts, how they need to be governed... But I have lost much more - Mother..."

    Innes cleared his throat. "On behalf of my father, the King of Frelia, I travelled here bearing a message for the ruler of Jehanna. I give it to you," and he matched action to words, pulling the letter from his belt pouch. Joshua glanced at it, and then pocketed it.

    "I will continue as my mother did," he said. "I know what changes I need to make, what reforms to institute... I will be worthy, worthy of succeeding my mother's rule, and before that my father's..."

    A soldier came marching swiftly up to the King of Jehanna. "Sire! Sire! Fires have broken out all through the hall!"

    "What!?" exclaimed Joshua, a new trouble adding itself to the ones already thrust so suddenly upon his shoulders.

    "Someone soaked the wall hangings in oil and set fire to them! It's a deathtrap!"

    "We must get out!" cried Innes. Seth was murmuring the same thing to me as flames appeared in the corridor the soldier had hastened from. Smoke curled around us. I nodded and mounted behind L'Arachel, pushing Joshua at Seth, as propriety dictated.

    "Mother... no... I will return..." Joshua cried. Innes mounted Dancla behind Tana.

    We alerted the others in the army and we all fled with the best of speed out of the gate and into the oasis.

    "Is everyone safe?" I asked, sliding off of L'Arachel's horse. Franz approached Seth, and they both came towards me. Franz saluted me smartly.

    "It's hard to tell at first, Princess, but all of us got out safely and unburnt," he reported.

    "What a cowardly act, setting fire to the hall," L'Arachel sniffed.

    "That was a strange thing. Why would they force us into the desert?" asked Tana. Her brother stiffened.

    "Ready the troops," Innes commanded. "The enemy is coming. An ambush. That's the only thing that makes sense."

    "Yes, I've been notified that two of Grado's generals are heading this way," Seth said urgently.

    "What? Two generals? Bah..." Innes growled. "What could be happening in their capital? What about Ephraim?" I gave a silent prayer for my brother.

    "And we cannot dig in for a seige with the Hall burning," Seth muttered. "Princesses, you should leave now for safety."

    "What?" exclaimed L'Arachel and Tana. I did not ejaculate, but stared at him with equal surprise and, dare I say it, indignation.

    "Seth," I said, "there is no where for us to go, not to mention the fact that we none of us will leave our friends in danger..." I wondered what was going on in his mind as I told him that.

    The General of Renais pulled me aside slightly. "Princess Eirika, it's going to be very difficult for us to continue. One of Grado's generals alone is more than a match for us-"

    Enemy troops appeared over the dunes in two directions. One group, to the north, led from the back by a hero-class man. The other...

    To the southeast, a very familiar-coloured, lilac wyvern swooped on a village. I could not see his troops, but the sight told me all I needed to know. I had seen that wyvern so often in nightmares since we fled from Castle Renais... I grasped Seth's arm with a trembling hand. "It's him..."


Chapter 14: Hamill Canyon    Contents    Chapter 16: Scorched Sand