The Queen's Curse (29 page)

Artride
was startled all the same and Tirsa spoke for her, ‘Who are you and what do you want from us?’

He grinned viciously. ‘Hadn’t I made myself clear enough?’

Distressed she glanced at the queen and back at the monster.

‘What, that you want my body?’
Artride said with disgust.

He
raised an eyebrow and paced in front of them, never lowering his eyes.

‘As pleasant as it was, I
’d rather remain in my current shape, however …’

‘Then what is it?’ Tirsa said
, most irritated with this creature, no matter how frightening he appeared.

‘Do I have to spell it out to
you?’ and he glanced with lust in his eyes at the dark- haired woman.

Hotly Tirsa replied
, ‘You stay away from my queen, do you hear me?’

‘Or what?’ he retorted stolidly
.

‘I am Tirsa Lathabris,
commander of the seventh company and sworn bodyguard of queen Artride, Cumhachd of Ceartas. Lay one finger on her again and be sure you will regret the day you were born!’

‘Why, you almost impressed me with that! Weren’t it for the lack of weapons
... Now … I for one am fully equipped.’ And he demonstrated his long sharp nails. Are you sure you want to stand up against
me
?’

‘No doubt you have magic at your side as well, but I have something else
…’Tirsa said.

‘Which is?’ he grumbled curiously.

‘My faith.’

He laughed roughly. ‘Oh, I see, like that will make a difference against my strength
… well you can still make up your mind. You are better off the easy way. It is less … embarrassing.’

‘What is this all about, really?’ Artride asked sternly. ‘If I give myself to you, then what? We get to continue our way safely and see the sorceress at last?’

‘Sounds like a deal to me.’

‘You sick monster!’ Tirsa fired.

‘Thank you for the compliment! But it is of no concern to you. It seems like your queen does not resent the idea, does she?’

‘I want nothing to do with you! If you
do not want to show us the way to Sempervirens, leave us alone and let us resume our path.’

‘Such a shame. We could have so much fun, the
three
of us.’

‘Artride, don’t reason with him
,’ Tirsa said when she saw her losing her temper, and she whispered, ‘Don’t give him that pleasure. I will deal with him.’

‘I have no inten
tion of giving him any pleasure! Here is a person who must learn to control his lust!’ she barked at him.

He cocked his head and it appeared he listened
to her.

‘You cannot just take anything you want; especially not when it concerns living beings. I suppose you work for Sempervirens and you are lonely out here
, perhaps; but really this is no way to treat anyone, certainly not a lady. You must get a grip of yourself and … fight your own
demons
.’

Artride looked as if she just realized something. Well, it had sounded a bit awkward, since he had all the qualities of a demon himself.

‘Hmm, fight my own demons … that is certainly new to me. You don’t want to fight me, then?’

‘Why should I? It looks like you
, yourself have a major problem to solve,’ Artride stated.

Tirsa exchanged a dubious glance with her like she was saying
: what are you doing? But she gave her a reassuring look back. ‘Don’t worry, I have everything under control.’
Control.

She pondered about that. Artride had almost zero control as a
queen, but in her private life she seemed not so unfortunate; she had both men and women crawling at her feet, begging for her attention, a look, a kind word, a smile and at best her friendship and love. And she had the power to turn them down or embrace them. When she wanted a lover she never had to look far. A true friend could cause problems, for then she had to be honest, but physical needs and simple satisfaction, no. She could have that at any time, any place. That the Law Book had a problem with that part when it ever came to light, was certainly an obstacle, but not a closed door.
Control
. Perhaps her only control in life was to make up for the loss; to have her desires and wishes granted and never before this journey had she looked upon that with a serious critical eye, and with a conscience.

Facing the demon, Artride realized it for the first time
, truly. She was very much like him, perhaps she even created him unknowingly. Being in a magical land this was not unlikely. However, she had never treated anyone this unfair or demanded things they did not want themselves. Well, she didn’t have to, being desirable. And with those tools she had misused her position and what was worse, misused the people involved; even Tirsa.

She swallowed hard, trying to swallow away the nasty taste she had in her mouth.

‘I guess that you and I are not that dissimilar,’ Artride started and the demon folded his arms in front of his chest, listening to what she had to say, remaining calm and certain of himself.

‘You want me, but you forget to think about the consequences of your acts. I have done that and worse; ignoring the pain and trouble you cause the other. But you can’t just do what you do because of who you are. Being a
queen does not make me holy and being who you are does not mean you can’t be turned down. You are strong, powerful obviously and no match for me. But try to begin to understand what it will be like for me if you treat me like dirt, because of your own simple needs.’

The demon narrowed his eyes somewhat. ‘Do you think I was made this way to be kind and thoughtful? I mean, look at me
…’ he said acidly.

‘Why not alter your direction; turn your strength into something positive? I can assure you, you will feel better yourself as well. Doing good always does.’ She bit her lip against the hurt she felt inside of her, like she was talking to herself.
What good have I ever done for others?

He grumbled. ‘Aah, for the likes of you perhaps, but
… you are just trying to get inside my head. Lady, I was born to be like this. This … is my fate.’

‘Do not talk to me about fate!’ Artride remarked hotly and Tirsa warned her again with her eyes, worried that the demon would attack like he said he would. He was just giving them time.

‘You say we’re all victims to the whims of fate, but I say we can change and shape our own fate if we are strong and determined enough. You just have to see it! A vast road lies before us, I agree, but we personally have to decide for ourselves which fork we take. We do not have to stick to that one straight road. We do have a free will. Who told you to be like this anyway? Tell me, have you ever hurt a being before?’ Artride asked him with a sudden light in her eyes. Tirsa listened with curiosity.

‘A being?’

‘Yes, any living creature?’

‘Like a salamander for my supper?’

‘Yes, for your supper. How did that make you feel, to kill?’

‘I feel nothing. It’s over with a simple trample under my foot.’ And he gave power to this by heavily dropping his foot so that the cave tunnel shuddered and small rocks fell.

‘I see, perhaps because it is too small for you to see into its tiny wonderful eyes. Have you ever caused harm to something bigger?’ Artride said.

He looked scornful as if she had hit a sensitive nerve.

‘I have no lust in talking about this.’ And he stood tall.

‘No, because it is inconvenient.’

‘Irrelevant.’ He corrected her roughly.

‘Inconvenient, because when you do harm you don’t want to feel. If you
did, you would have no supper, right?’

‘Right. I need to kill to survive.’ He agreed plainly.

‘Are you a carnivore?’

‘A
… what?’

‘Let me see your teeth.’

Tirsa stared in shock at her, what was she doing?

He grinned and she could see he had pretty much the same teeth as hers, apart from the somewhat longer corner teeth.

‘Hmm, you do not
have
to eat meat to survive, I see.’ Artride happily continued, ‘Now, tell me; do you absolutely
need
… to ravage me in order to
survive
?’

The weight of her words was almost sensible in the cave chamber. Even Tirsa could feel its impact.

The monster’s eyes grew big and bulgy, and as if he was in pain he raised his hands to his head and started screaming loudly. As if fighting
his
own demons, he struggled and moved about, kicking with both feet and hands, roaring: ‘Survive!’

Artride stepped back and came to stand next to her
bodyguard.

In the end he laid his hands upon his heart and with his long nails he started slashing and digging in
to his own chest, blood poured out richly. He was tearing apart his own chest. With terrible screams, he at last pulled out his own pulsing red heart and showed it to them. In awe and disgust they looked away. Blood started pouring out of his mouth and he never stopped laughing. The huge creature staggered, collapsing and falling forwards in front of their feet with an enormous thud.

And then silence.

The queen refused to look. Tirsa was wide-eyed, gasping for breath, trying to fathom what had just happened.

After
a small moment she turned to her, saying with a pale face, ‘I’d say, yes to answer your question; he did need to ravage you for his own survival.’ And she swallowed away the fear and tension she had felt, proud of Artride having defeated the beast by herself with no other weapon than her intelligence and power to reason.

The
queen stared numbly at her and then at the fallen demon.

‘What made him change his mind, or e
ven kill himself? My words?’ Artride said incredulously.

‘It does seem that way
,’ Tirsa nodded eagerly. ‘Perhaps after your words he realized his fate in hurting others for Sempervirens to be so aimless; perhaps even the fact that he wasn’t free to decide made something inside of him snap.’

Artride whispered, ‘Or perhaps he understood the evil of his deeds
,’ and she sighed, saying after a moment’s thought, ‘I want to leave this place, come on.’ And she walked away.

Before following her, Tirsa noticed a glittering
from the corner of her eye. It was from the body of the demon. She took a better look and found the source; it came from the side of his neck, she bend down to get cautiously closer.

‘What’s taking you so long?’ She heard Artride
asking.

‘I thin
k I’ve found something.’ And Artride kneeled at the red body too; still radiating heat.

Tiirsa pulled at
a golden necklace they hadn’t noticed before, tugging hard at it. It broke and it revealed a sort of amulet; a yellow, faintly glowing stone in the shape of an arrow-point.

‘Be careful, Tirsa. Better to leave it alone.’

Suddenly when she held the amulet in her hand to observe it better, she felt it getting warmer until it became oppressively hot. So hot Tirsa had to drop it.

On the floor it started turning and the yellow light grew brighter.
Both stood up, alarmed and took a step back.

‘Now what?’ Tirsa said a little irritated, but curious at the same time.

Turning and rotating it finally held still, with the point in the direction they were heading.

Exchanging glance
s they thought the same; was this some sort of compass?

Reac
hing for the amulet, it slid forward, out of Artride’s reach. Surprised she tried once more, but it headed on.

‘Looks like it wants us to follow
,’ Tirsa indicated.

‘And that is what we will do, for we both know where to
,’ the other woman remarked determinedly.

CHAPTER
16

Look into the mirror of your soul; love and hate are one in all.

Sacrifice turns to revenge and believe me you’ll see the face who says

I love you … I’ll kill you … but I’ll love you forever.

Enigma

Damp narrow passages, cold wide spaces, brown stone and water dripping from the many huge stalactites; everything you would suspect from a cave such as this. However, something wasn’t right.

Magic illuminated from the cave walls; a faint glow on the rocks around them so that they could see each other dimly. And magic had been in the previous strange events, so it meant they were going in the right direction, but it felt precarious. The two women were still following the glowing yellow arrow-like amulet, which was rapidly sliding over the floor, deeper into the heart of the cave. Hours had pas
sed and they had seen tunnel after tunnel, all looking the same, and for all they knew they were going in circles. Exhaustion and thirst began to take over. And still the amber compass moved on.

‘Artride
… we have to … stop a … moment.’ Tirsa panted heavily, running behind the queen.

‘I’d like to
… but … we have to follow it!’

The
bodyguard passed her and quickly stepped on top of the compass with her bare foot. She felt the heat pulsating under her skin, but slowly it died out.

‘I hope we can get it going again
,’ Artride said, rather disappointed.

Tirsa aimed a surprised glance at her and said through gasps, ‘We have been following this thing for the past hours. I wonder if it’s really taking us to her.’

‘We agreed on following it.’

‘But not until we both drop dead. Let’s rest awhile before continuing.’

They both sat down. Artride sighed. ‘Very well. At least I do feel warmer from all this running.’

‘You definitely are in good shape
,’ she remarked kindly.

‘For a
queen; you were going to say?’

Tirsa smiled lightly. ‘No, I wasn’t going to say that.’

‘I try to stay in shape; as any person of my age should.’

“I can see that
,” Tirsa would have wanted to remark, glancing properly at the queen’s well toned arms and legs, and even her flat, firm stomach proved what she had said. This was no shabby, overweight young queen. She wasn’t as muscled and tight as the much endured soldier Tirsa was, but then again she already had guessed, even with her cloths still on, to be fit.

‘I
love running,’ Artride added. ‘My energy can flow freely that way.’ And she took a deep breath of the thin air. ‘A sense of freedom I guess, well … and it keeps me focused. I even know some self-defence and sword handling.’

‘You do?’

‘I begged my father to have me trained.’

‘I see. And what about your healing abilities? Where did you learn that?’

She looked away with an unadorned expression.

‘That’s another story.’ She paused.

Tirsa waited for her to tell it, but nothing came. ‘Well?’

She looked a little embarrassed. ‘Well, I am gifted with healing hands, born with it so to speak. I never had any lessons. I taught myself to master it.’

‘Pretty amazing.’

Tirsa had heard about other people with the gift of healing; her own mother was a little gifted, but not as g
ifted as Artride, and she had been taught by someone in her younger years, unlike the queen.

After some rest they decided to get going again. She removed her foot from the amulet lying motionless on the floor.

‘It is rather odd, would you not say?’ the queen considered, glancing around at the walls and the ceiling, which hadn’t changed much over the past hours, sliding a hand through her hair. Her braid had come loose again and it gave her a wild image, plus the fact that she was bare to the waist; only covered with her damp clothes still wrapped around her waist, hanging down to her bare legs. She still had the grace and dignity fit for a queen.

‘I mean
… here we are in a cave. It is beautiful of course and special in its own way. However, not so dissimilar to any other cave I have visited back home. If you are the most powerful person on Talamh, let’s say Sempervirens is, then why choose a damp, cold, gloomy cave of all places to live?’

‘It’s remote, quiet; there are no people here to bother you. I’d say the perfect place to practice magic and hide yourself away, pretty well protected, better than most castles
,’ Tirsa solemnly remarked. ‘It’s a maze in here!’

‘Hmm, true, but as a human being would you last long in here? Why not make it a little more comfortable?’
Artride retorted.

‘Let’s not compare ourselves with that sorceress
, please. Who knows what goes on in her head?’

‘That is exactly what we must do, Tirs. To understand her, and perhaps to get near her, we must place ourselves inside her head. Just as she is doing to us
… Why did she come here in the first place, and why this cave of all caves and stay as long as she has? And …’ Artride added with sparkling eyes, ‘why if you are able to do magic, why not cast an illusion on this cave and make it look different, prettier, warmer and so on? She is human after all.’

‘What is to say, she hasn’t? I mean perhaps we’re not there yet.’

The moment Tirsa said that, they heard a loud thunderbolt or the crashing of a giant wave, they weren’t sure. As a result they dived for shelter and when they opened their eyes, a light so pure and white, like that inside of the magical cloud, poured into their very beings.

Everything was white
, where before everything was gloomy. The stalactites had disappeared and instead, long white curtains hung from the high ceiling. White silk-like curtains with golden threads, waved gently on a gentle surreal wind; the source of which was unknown, since there had been no wind before. Even the walls felt smooth and soft where before they had been rough and cold. The temperature had risen too, just like Artride had suggested.

‘A palace!
’ Tirsa concluded with wide eyes and mouth. ‘Concealed as a cave.’

It appeared they were indeed standing in a huge palace hall, magnificent and luscious and very white
, which gave it a virgin appearance, but yet mysterious and ancient.

Tirsa stared at her companion for a while, before daring to ask, ‘Did you make this happen?’

‘Did I ... what? I know you thought of me as divine, but you must be joking. I have a feeling I know who did this; she must have been listening again … I have no other explanation for it.’ Even their voices sounded smaller as happens in bigger places, unlike before. It was as if they were in a totally different location.

They started walking a
round and forgot all about their guiding compass.

The source for the white light was undetectable; it simply glowed all around them. The air had altered as well; it was fresher and even better scented, a faint rose scent hung all around.

‘Well, my compliments,’ Artride said, as she nodded, much in approval of the improvement.

The hall was huge and they felt very small.

Looking at the ceiling, Tirsa noticed for the first time a large object. It was flat, oval and shining, and hanging on two thin silky threads. It was slowly lowering down towards them, soundlessly.

Very gently and smooth
ly the object came closer, as it was coming down from the white ceiling. It was about twice as tall as they were, and as wide as both of them.

They soon recognized what it was
: a mirror.

But not an ordinary mirror; it was large and oval with very clean glass
and a splendid golden frame, decorated with fine symbols; so tiny it was almost impossible for human eyes to make out. They only detected circles, tangled into each other; endless circles.

With pounding hearts and anxious eyes they waited, for they knew something was bound to happen and all they could do was wait and watch.

Watching themselves, for they had to. The mirror had come down right in front of them and it was big enough for the two of them. Standing closely together it of course reflected their image. At first they saw themselves as one would expect, and they both seized the opportunity to rearrange their hair somewhat, and checked themselves for cuts and bruises.

‘Thank
heavens it’s us we are seeing and not some monster!’ Artride said nervously, glancing at Tirsa’s reflection. ‘Even if we do look like one, right now!’

The blond
e woman could not help but smile, consciously concealing her breasts by crossing her arms.

‘
I wonder what the purpose of this might be.’ And Tirsa glanced at the thin threads holding the weight of the what must be heavy mirror.

‘
Maybe it’s some sort of passage,’ she added and gently touched the beautiful mirror, but it was as solid as any normal mirror.

After several
minutes their reflection had not altered as they were expecting. But something else was to be spotted in the mirror, and both women saw it.

Be
hind Artride’s left shoulder an image appeared out of thin air; it was the vague reflection of her father as she had known him. Standing next to him … her mother; whom she only recognized from a painting.

Tirsa at the same time saw behind her own right shoulder
, her dear Mabel, and beside her, her own father. Behind him stood an old man who she did not recognize. Behind their relatives other people were to be seen; people they did not know, but they all smiled at them in a most friendly manner.

Artride stood motionless
, staring at all those people in the mirror, and in spite of feeling fear she felt somehow glad.

‘Do you see what I see?’ The
queen asked Tirsa gingerly. Crossing glances it was obvious she did. ‘Why are we seeing our loved ones?’ The queen shook her head, staring at her mother. The reflections didn’t open their mouths, but just smiled and looked at them full of love.

After a short moment Artride dared to ask who that lady behind Tirsa’s right shoulder was; the one the soldier had been staring at with remorse and sadness in her eyes. It was like being on the other side all over again. To be reminded
only confused her. But then again this was the doing of the sorceress and she would not be shaken again that easily.

She bit her lip at first, wrapping her arms around herself tighter for comfort, before answering, looking Mabel straight in the eyes, ‘That’s Mabel, my dearest friend and lover.’

Tirsa was aware that she was finally, ready to talk about her and let her go.

Artride’s mouth fell open
and all she could think of was,
A woman? I knew it! She is not the type to be with a man. She is like me!
And she too stared at Mabel, who nodded politely at the Queen. Artride almost blushed.

‘She is
… very pretty.’

‘She was
,’ Tirsa corrected her with a smile and a tear in the corner of her eye.

‘And so young
…’ Artride concluded.

‘Too young to die
,’ was all Tirsa said, sighing.

‘I am sorry, Tirsa.’ And Artride
remembered Barkor’s words all too well; that the commander had been devastated after the death of her lover. Barkor had not known it was a woman either, or perhaps had not wanted to mention it; afraid of the consequence for her.

‘Don’t be. You could not prevent her from dying, not even I could
,’ Tirsa bitterly replied.

‘Oh, but I am most sorry, not only for your loss, Tirsa. But also for your pain and grie
f, and for the madness we have put you through. In a way I am responsible for our ruling. Nobody was meant to die young!’

Tirsa dropped her hea
d at Artride’s words, her thoughts miles away.

‘I have never been in a war, but I
, like my father–’ and Artride stared at his reflection, ‘have signed papers to order violence to prevent Ceartas from being captured. The Royal army, which of course includes your company will see to this well … any threat we could not communicate with any longer. Any county or country undermining Ceartas’ authority. Now thinking back perhaps I should have let Ceartas be captured; just to see what would happen with the book and its curse. Perhaps to find out we need not even worry about the taking of the castle and the land, apart from major casualties and deaths, possibly my own. The curse might punish the invaders with death just as it does with us?’ And she sighed.

‘But I never dared to risk that for it is not mentioned in the
book. It is after all a Law Book and meant only for Ceartasians. You, as a knight, had to serve your country, had to battle while I was safe in my tower. You must have seen horrible things; I cannot even begin to imagine.’

It was silent for a moment and all
they could hear was the sound of their own breathing.

‘Many people die every day in battle,’ Tirsa replied
, calmly staring at the queen’s reflection.