Chapter Five: The Throne Room

 

Kyosti had no sleep that night. He had gotten home from guard duty after dark and then sat at his table, chin in his hand, nursing a drink while his mind whirred ever faster. It was a bleary-eyed but freshly-shaven archer who turned up at the palace gates as the sun rose above the line of the trees. The guards at the doors were expecting him, watching with curious eyes as he took the trail towards the queen’s courtroom.

Another guard met Kyosti on the way. “Sir, the queen has a few petitioners in the courtroom at this time,” the guard said, his voice lowered like they were in a house of mourning. “You will simply wait in the antechamber until you are called for.”

The antechamber was empty save for one man holding a tray of finger foods and delicacies. Kyosti slowed at that sight of him. The man was taller, darker, and younger than Kyosti. He was easily recognizable with his light-colored eyes and wide, constantly grinning mouth.

The younger man turned to look at Kyosti stepped reluctantly closer, almost blinding Kyosti with his bright orange, pink, and blue outfit. His eyes lit up. “A soldier!” he exclaimed.

“Mage Sahyb,” Kyosti responded, bowing, but the Wizard waved him up.

“None of that nonsense, soldier,” Sahyb insisted. “Here, have a pastry.”

Before he could refuse, Kyosti found himself with a buttery, fruit-filled pastry slathered in gold-colored icing in his hand. The icing was in the shape of a rose, which Kyosti thought looked cute, but it looked so sweet his stomach turned. “Are you here to see the queen?” he asked, taking a small nibble to be polite.

“Me? No!” Sahyb replied, picking up a biscuit and biting into it. “No, there’s a meeting in there with some of the other Wizards. They’ve been petitioning the queen for hours . . .”

Kyosti only just stopped himself from scowling. Rumors had been going around for months of how the House of Wizards worried the queen with their requests. No one knew what the Wizards wanted. Perhaps this was a time for more information.

“What are they petitioning for?” he ventured.

Sahyb shrugged, taking another bite. “I’m pretty new to the House of Wizards,” he pointed out. “They don’t really trust me with information yet. That’s the older Wizards in there talking with her.”

He looked sadly at the tray he held. “I invited a bunch of Wizards to my chambers for treats, but no one came. So, I decided to have something ready for when the higher-ups came out of their meetings.”

The guard chose that moment to return. “Romalidan--” he said, then stopped at the sight of Sahyb. “Oh, um, Mage Sahyb--”

Sahyb offered the tray. “Pastry?”

The guard bowed and shook his head, looking slightly queasy. “No, my lord, I thank you . . .”

He beckoned to Kyosti and led him to a door in the wall of the antechamber.

The sight of who was in the courtroom did nothing to ease his tension. A gathering of five people clustered towards the front of the room, around the raised dais the throne sat on. Kyosti did not know the names of everyone in the group, but he knew who they were by sight. All wore a kaleidoscopic array of bright colors, overlaid with pounds and pounds of golden jewelry. Many wore crowns on their heads.

Just as Sahyb had said, they were members of the House of Wizards. Kyosti’s lips pulled tight in a scowl. The House had been a thorn in the queen’s side for years now. He sidled closer, hoping to hear what they were saying.

“Be reasonable, Your Majesty,” a tall man with a sweeping beard said, his veined hands tucked into his sleeves. This was Galeon, the oldest and most influential member of the House. His voice was ever respectful--but the words he spoke rarely were.

Queen Galveston leaned forward in her throne. She wore a deep purple tunic and black trousers, also with gold jewelry and a crown, but the sword strapped to her hips and the way her thick, black hair was pulled back into a braid showed her military heritage. Behind her throne grew three rose vines, twisting up a trellis on the wall; a thorny symbol of the Chith Empire’s power. “You’ve heard my answer, Galeon,” she replied, her strong, firm voice echoing in the mostly-empty chamber. “I will not hear more of it.”

Kyosti almost found himself nodding along with her words, even though he had no idea what she meant. The mere sight of the queen up there on her throne was enough to make him stand up straighter.

“Perhaps we know more about the situation than you do, Your Majesty,” Galeon murmured, ducking his head in a show of subservience, but his pale eyes never left her face.

“Why?” Galveston responded roughly. “Has your daughter been scuttling around the castle lately, looking into places she shouldn’t have been?”

Another one of the Wizards flinched at this question. Galeon’s daughter, Minny, stood beside him, her graying hair falling over her nervous face. She had often been caught sneaking around looking into places she shouldn’t have.

Galeon placed a hand on Minny’s shoulder. She looked up into his face with her eyebrows drawn together in uncertainty. “My Minny is as loyal to her queen as all of us are.”

Kyosti tried, and failed, to stifle a snort. Galveston’s lips thinned, and her eyes shot up to meet his.

Kyosti swallowed, his knees growing weak. Quickly, he bowed low.

“We will finish this discussion at another time, Galeon,” Galveston decided, her eyes still on Kyosti. “Please, leave us.”

The five Wizards turned slowly to eye Kyosti, who lifted his chin. He would not bow to them. Galeon’s eyes narrowed. “Your Majesty, is this the one who--”

“Leave us,” Galveston commanded sharply. Galeon bowed again.

“As you wish. Just remember this matter must be decided shortly.”

Perhaps it was just Kyosti’s imagination, but the room felt warmer without the Wizards in it. He hoped they would treat Sahyb and his pastries better than he himself had.

He stepped forward smartly, bowed, then stood to attention.

“Be comfortable, soldier,” Galveston said, and Kyosti relaxed his sharp military pose. He kept his eyes carefully on her shoes.

“You called for me, Your Majesty?”

“General Raleigh informed me that you were one of her best archers. How many hours a day do you train, Romalidan?”

He felt a shiver of pride that she had taken the trouble to know his name. “Four hours, Your Majesty.”

“Patrol and other duties in the afternoon?”

“And the evening, Majesty.”

“How long have you been training?”

“I joined Telyek’s military academy at thirteen.”

Galveston nodded slowly. Surely she had already known all of this. “And your family?”

Kyosti hesitated, his eyes flicking up for a second in surprise. “Uh, alive?”

She considered him for a moment. He could imagine what she was seeing: dark hair, dark eyes, russet skin. Pointy nose. Short, but wide. Strong. Stocky. Eternally calloused fingers from handling a bow.

“You’re from the south,” Galveston said slowly.

It wasn’t a question, but he responded anyway. “The Icefields, Your Majesty.”

“So you’re used to the south. The cold?”

“Born and bred on the ice.” Where was this conversation going? Surely she wouldn’t send him south . . . He wondered if he would dare to refuse if she did.

In his peripheral vision, Kyosti saw Galveston nod slowly. “I have . . . an unusual mission for you, soldier,” the queen went on.

“Your wish is my command, Majesty.” Kyosti had to force the words out. Dread crawled up his spine.

“You must be wondering why I’ve had you removed from the legion. This was not a decision I made lightly, Romalidan. I’d imagine the word hasn’t reached the legion yet, but our House of Wizards has suddenly found itself short a member.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes . . . Our Seer passed in the night. Unexpected. He wasn’t even ill. Now, I am in need of a replacement.”

Kyosti waited for her to go on, forcing himself to hold still. What could she possibly be thinking? He didn’t have any magical powers, and he knew no one who would ever accept the position of Wizard.

“Your mission is to travel to the Seer’s Camp and deliver a letter for me. I need  another Seer.”

Now Kyosti really did look into her eyes. She was watching him carefully.

Go to the Seers?? The Seers?? He realized she was the high and mighty queen and all, but did she know nothing about her southern subjects? Surely she understood why sending him to the Seers was a bad idea. His eyes slid to the rose vines behind her. They were beautiful, in full bloom even in autumn, but now he could only remember how the empire had taken over his people without a care just as those vines took over the wall. And its queen didn’t take a moment to consider the Seers would never welcome someone like him into their camp.

“Your---Your Majesty, with all due respect, I am a soldier. An archer. Your kingdom had messengers, diplomats---people trained in this sort of thing. Why me?”

Galveston steepled her fingers together. They were shaking ever so slightly. “I wonder you even have to ask, Romalidan,” she replied after a slight pause. “You of all people know how dangerous the south is, and especially for us northerners with the winter coming on. Who else could I send, if not you? Besides, I’ve spoken with General Raleigh, and you have come highly recommended.”

Kyosti stared at her. “I…”

She cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes.

He laced his fingers together tightly behind his back and squeezed until they popped and hurt. “Your command is my very wish, Your Majesty. When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow morning, in the hour before dawn, a guard will fetch you from your house,” Galveston answered. “More instructions await you then. This journey will take upwards of two months, there and back. I’ll provide you with a letter to requisition any supplies you need. And it has been years since our last contact with the Seer’s Camp . . . I don’t know what it will take to convince them to give us another Seer.”

Kyosti frowned, belatedly switching his eyes back to her boots. With him as her messenger, she would be lucky if they even let him into the camp.

“You’ll be traveling alone,” Galveston continued. “The Seer being dead isn’t a secret, but I prefer not to advertise about your mission to fetch another one.”

“Do the Wizards know?” Kyosti asked before he had thought. Of course the Wizards knew. They were privy to all information regarding their sacred House.

“The Wizards wanted to send an escort with you,” Galveston said, her lips curling. “But I am still queen, so you are going alone.”

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Photo by William Krause on Unsplash