Forest & Kingdom Balance (20 page)

Over the generations the Realm prospered and the
Harriers grew strong. In addition to the now fertile land, a path
across the mountains was found and a road built. The Realm became a
nexus for trade across the wasteland that cut travel time to a
fraction of what it had been. In addition, many veins of metal ore
were discovered and exploited. By the time of third Warrior Queen,
her Realm was the richest jewel on the continent and many wanted to
possess it. That is when Karenten’s true genius and foresight
became apparent.

The first one to try was the king of the land they
had been cast out from. He thought the Realm nothing more than
traders, miners, and farmers; ruled by women, no less. He knew of
their natural defensive position, but bragged that he hadn’t
decided whether he’d starve them out, or just go in and put them to
the sword. He said that he would decide when he arrived.

He brought a large conscript army and camped near
the fortified natural entrance to the Realm. He sent a king’s
messenger into the Realm with a choice for its leader, surrender or
die. The head, and only the head, of his messenger returned tied to
the saddle of his horse. Stuck on a dagger buried into the
messenger’s forehead was the Warrior Queen’s reply. “We have
decided not to accept your surrender, we would much prefer that you
die.”

As the king marched his men toward the mountain
entrance, the Realm’s Harriers attacked from three directions. They
came directly from the entrance, and from two hidden staging areas
to the sides. The Harriers were vastly outnumbered, their kill rate
however was a hundred to one at least and the battle was brief. The
most difficult aspect of the war was the clean up. All those dead
bodies by the front door were bad for business.

Over the centuries someone always forgot, or
ignored, the lessons of the past. Eventually a large swath of land
surrounding the entrance was so fertile from the discarded organic
matter, unfortunate conscripts that is, that one of the Warrior
Queens thought it was a waste of good fertilizer and had some
irrigation rerouted to keep the entrance park verdant most of the
year.

The healer had come and gone, and Kalibra stopped to
sample some of the dishes that Desiree had brought for them.
Desiree herself had stayed, presumably to see if the Warrior Queen
desired anything else, but she seemed just as enraptured by
Kalibra’s story as Atheria and Simon were.

“Atheria,” Kalibra turned to the young dancer, “you
told me this morning of the training and duties of a slave dancer,
while I wouldn’t call them pleasant, you may want to contrast them
to this next part of my story.”

The history and reputation of the Harriers
eventually allowed the Realm a certain amount of peace. Up until
thirty years ago they had never bowed a knee to anyone. They were
respectful to the Red Knight but never allied themselves to another
kingdom, nor sought to conquer any lands. The Red Knight left the
Realm in peace because it fulfilled a purpose and did so
efficiently. All that changed with Emperor Kale.

Kale was the Red Knight’s protégé. The Red Knight
fawned over his little egomaniac and gave him anything he wanted.
Kale styled himself Emperor and would not be satisfied until he
ruled everyone everywhere. He had conquered, or received allegiance
from most of the sovereignties on the continent. He then sent
demands to the Warrior Queen Alantra, the woman who would later
give birth to me, to pay tribute and acknowledge him as her
Emperor.

When she refused, he decided to take the Realm by
force. He arrived at the Realm with a force four times the size of
the Harriers, though he was smart enough not to bring conscripts.
These were the greatest warriors from a hundred different kingdoms
with the finest weaponry. Even so, assault after assault failed and
each time he was turned back by the Harriers. By the second month
of combat the Harriers had sustained heavy losses, but not as heavy
as Kale’s forces.

Alantra decided on an all out counter attack while
she still had the strength. She felt confident that they could wipe
out Kale’s remaining forces, and with any luck, rid the world of an
obnoxious, power hungry idiot.

The plan was both brilliant and flawless. Kale’s
forces were decimated, all that was left to do was finish off his
warriors and find him. She sent every Harrier and support defender
into the fray. That’s when she saw the dust cloud approach and knew
that the Realm would fall. Thousands of men on horseback crested
the horizon. It did not matter if they were trained or not, the
sheer numbers alone would be enough to wipe out her defenders, and
they would arrive long before she could get her people back inside
the gate.

In the end, Alantra and three of the greatest
Harriers to ever draw breath waited in the throne room ready to
send hundreds to their death before they fell. But that was not to
be, Kale wanted them alive. A feint of men rushed the throne room
to distract them while his bolo throwers aimed weighted bags at
their heads. They were knocked unconscious before the attackers
reached them.

Kale imprisoned Alantra and raped her daily until
she was pregnant. Once he was sure he had planted his child in her,
he chained her in a cell and waited until the baby was born, until
I was born.

He then went to the three imprisoned Harriers and
offered them a proposal. If they would raise and train me as a
Harrier he would release them. He reminded them that if I proved
worthy enough to ascend to Empress, I would also rule over the
Realm. They should also know that if he dies for any reason before
I was an adult, they and I would be put to death immediately. That
edict would be law throughout the land.

Every morning of my childhood began with a lecture
delivered by an emissary of my father. He would tell me who my
mother was, how she was defeated, and how I was conceived in great
detail. He then would remind me that her throat was cut at the
moment of my first breath. Each lecture ended with the words, “This
is the price of defeat.”

When I turned eighteen I was given command of my
father’s army and told to quell any dissent. I spent three years
crisscrossing the continent. My final assignment was to teach a
regional viceroy the meaning of respect. He had declared his
territory independent and demanded terms for continued service to
the Empire. By that time my reputation for thoroughness in my work
so preceded me, that when I arrived at the provincial capital the
viceroy’s own personal guard presented me with his head as a
welcoming gift.

I returned in triumph just before my twenty-first
birthday. My father told me that both he and the Red Knight were
pleased with my leadership, and that the Red Knight had invited us
to his fortress to celebrate my birthday and successful campaign.
My father asked that I go on ahead with my personal guard and that
he would follow in a few days. I arrived at the fortress to a wild
celebration in my honor.

Unfortunately, my father failed to mention that he
was preparing to openly challenge the Red Knight and that he knew
that the invitation was a trap. The morning after my celebration, I
was brought to the courtyard to watch every one of my personal
guards be put to death, after which I was thrown into a filthy,
dark, dank cell. I sat on the floor of that cell for the next four
years. The Red Knight interrogated me often at first, then less so
as the years progressed. He wanted information about my father that
I did not have. It still amazes me that my father openly fought the
Red Knight and achieved a stalemate for four years.

One day at the end of my fourth year, I was escorted
from my cell to a guest suite where servants and healers attended
to my every need. A month later, once I had regained my strength
and health, extravagant clothing was delivered to my suite with a
note attached that simply read, “Dinner?” The Red Knight wined and
dined me for several evenings. I played coy to his advances until
finally I allowed him to believe that his charm had won me over and
he took to me to his bed.

Everyone knows that he is the ‘immortal’ Red Knight,
but what does that really mean? I was sure that I would be able to
cut out his heart and throw it somewhere before he had a chance to
heal. All was set, I had seduced a servant boy so that he would
place a dagger where I could find it in the Red Knight’s bedroom.
The evening came and I swooned to his charms. In the midst of our
energetic frenzy I maneuvered to the perfect position. I straddled
him as I deftly retrieved the dagger and with a speed that few
could comprehend, I struck.

Before the dagger had even fully pierced his heart,
he disappeared in a bright crimson light as I dropped to the bed.
My ultimate pleasure and triumph lasted exactly one instant. He
reappeared next to me on the bed, turned and asked, “Feel better?”
He handed me the dagger I had dropped and wondered if I’d like to
continue. A few hours and flashes later, he told me what he wished
of me. He offered me the command of his armies to break the
stalemate and defeat my father. Success would win me the title of
Warrior Queen and whatever help I needed to retake the Realm.

Two years later Kale’s last stronghold fell to me. I
had him chained in his own dungeon while my Harrier tutors took
turns raping him for a week. Unfortunately I couldn’t take the time
to join them, there was still a great deal to do. Although from the
detailed reports I read, I must admit that they did get quite
creative. At the end of the week I set out for the Red Knight’s
fortress with my father’s head in a finely crafted and jeweled
display box.

Kalibra stood and stretched. “Of course before I had
a chance to recapture the Realm, he suggested that I accompany him
on a little errand to this back of nowhere.”

She turned to Atheria and Simon. “For the next few
days Atheria you are excused from our workout. You will join us
here and work on strength and reflex exercises. I know that you’re
too old to start any meaningful warrior training, but it still
feels like a waste of raw talent.” Kalibra reflected for a moment
and added, “Although as a slave your most likely future will be to
continue to entertain your masters, and you do take dance to the
level of high art. On second thought, practice what you wish. I’ll
leave it up to you.”

Kalibra turned to Simon and smiled. “You man child
have managed for two weeks to avoid anything but a few light
bruises. Tomorrow you will have my full attention. What a lucky
boy!” Kalibra’s laughter sent a cold shutter though his entire
body.

V

“Yes, Dionara has recovered much
faster than I had anticipated,”
the Caretaker’s relief was
evident,
“I truly believe that you and Edward
were the source of her strength and healing.”
His love and
gratitude filled Danielle’s mind.
“Her
preliminary training is complete, now the real work begins. I will
encourage her to seek you out when she needs support. I’m afraid
that she may need you at any time, day or night.”

“We’ll be here. She knows that we
are here for her always.”
The Caretaker could feel a
tremendous strength well up from deep within Danielle.
“Of course,”
he thought to himself,
“the same well from which Diana and Dionara were
drawn.”

“I’ll drop in on you again
soon.”
With that the Caretaker’s mind withdrew from
Danielle.

The Caretaker walked out of the chalet to a
beautiful morning in Spirit’s Vale. The valley balanced on the cusp
of seasons, spring’s newness was waning while the lush profusion of
summer waxed.
“Where is she this time?”
He’s had to scan the entire valley several times in the last few
weeks to find her. How or why she ended up sitting in a tree on the
other side of the lake that day will continue to be a mystery.

“Froggy, are you scanning for me again?” Dionara
came up behind him and hugged him with all her strength. “You were
busy when I came in so I straightened up my parent’s bedroom.”

“Your bedroom, you mean.” Froggy twisted at the
waist a bit to see if there were any broken ribs.

“In my mind it’s the other way.” She came around and
flashed him one of her brilliant smiles as she made a dash for the
lake, her clothes discarded in various directions as she ran.

“Does that woman ever keep her
clothes on?”
Froggy smiled in resignation of the inevitable.
He walked to the edge of the lake to watch her swim.

When it became apparent that she would rather spend
most of the day in the water, Froggy touched her mind.
“My Lady, when all this is over and done we will spend the
time it takes to teach you how to take another form. Then you can
become a fish and spend as many days in the lake as you would like.
For today however, my Lady’s presence is requested on
shore.”

Dionara’s non-verbal response to his request had
lost some of its impact recently, due to over use.

Once Dionara had found all her clothes, though she
needed to travel most of the way back to the chalet to do so, she
and Froggy sat beside the lake in meditation to center themselves
for the day’s lessons.

“My lady, did you know that you and your mother are
the only beings I have met that I cannot judge the capabilities of.
I see your flame as I have seen others, but theirs have a finite
quality, they will reach their limit and will be unable to go
farther. Yours is more of a wellspring, every time I believe that
I’ve plumbed its depth, I find new levels.” Froggy’s soft voice
held a comfort for Dionara.

“You and I will soon face the Red Knight and as far
as I can tell, he has the same capabilities as I do. Luckily for
your kingdom, as well as the rest of humanity, he has not
discovered most of them. While he has handicapped himself with a
limited self-image, all that will change when we confront him. He
is brilliant and once he sees what is possible, he will search
himself and use what he finds.