Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) Page 3

  “This whole situation is more than disturbing!” Ambrose yelled once the council room doors were firmly shut. “Does anyone else find it unnerving that the Queen has been privately colluding with an enemy of our country? For several years now! If it was for the genuine welfare of Samaria, don’t you think she would’ve wanted us to know? And I don’t care what anyone says, Olger and his people are dangerous. Something foul is going on. I can smell it.” He crinkled up his nose as if he could smell the stench of deception.

  “You heard what she said,” Talan countered defensively. “The Queen felt she had no choice in the matter. She did what she had to for the sake of us all.” His response initiated snickers from both Ambrose and Arvil.

  “Your youth and inexperience speak for themselves,” Ambrose continued. “There are other options, other countries we could have reached out to that would have helped us during these trying times. But she overstepped the logical choice and went straight to Olger!”

  “Ambrose, don’t be so naive?” Brutus spoke up from behind Talan. “I can’t think of anyone that would be overly zealous about helping our Queen. She’s about as friendly as a cornered badger when it comes to accepting political alliances. I can’t even remember the last time a noble from any other country has even visited Samaria. She practically has to be dragged to the annual summit of the Sovereign Alliance.”

  Ambrose didn’t reply but continued to sop up the sweat beading his forehead. He knew that Brutus was right. “I’m just suggesting that we think for ourselves now,” Ambrose defended, “and not just follow Queen Evangeline’s poor directions like witless fools. Clearly she has fallen under the influence of Olger Guttensen, and it’s time to take things into our own hands. Before they get worse.”

  The advisors all became silent as they saw Vincent approaching. The folds of his long jacket arranged around his body made him look like a pious priest instead of a Samarian soldier. As the Queen’s personal Guard, he was the only one in which she fully disclosed anything. All of the advisors hence resented him and felt he couldn’t be trusted. Vincent and his family had been serving the Winnser house for generations, and his loyalty to Evangeline went extremely deep.

  “Ah, look who it is. The Queen’s lap dog come to do her bidding,” Brutus taunted the other man. Vincent stopped in front of the General and narrowed his eyes at him.

  “I suggest you put your tongue back in that loutish head of yours, General, if you want to be taken seriously.” The words were barely out of Vincent’s mouth before a tree trunk sized arm hammered against his chest, pinning him to the wall. Brutus’s rugged, unshaven face was inches from the other man’s.

  “Don’t you EVER insult me, weasel,” Brutus breathed into his face, pressing harder onto Vincent’s sternum. “I don’t trust you. Our country is on the brink of collapse, and our dear Queen has given a known tyrant rights to our lands. You don’t seem the least bit concerned. Where were you today, huh? How long have you known about this blasphemous agreement?” Vincent squirmed underneath Brutus’s minatory hold.

  “Remove your hand from me, or I shall have the Queen remove it for you. Permanently,” he threatened. Brutus studied Vincent’s robust face then growled and released him, leaving the man gasping for air. He looked over at the other advisors.

  “Gentlemen, I’m out of here,” Brutus said. “Let’s leave this rat to his scrounging.” They all glanced at Vincent with disdain before following the General of Arms away from the council room door.

  Vincent breathed in a sigh of relief as they departed. He was getting too old for this. Wincing as he stood up, the man rearranged his jacket to its correct position, patting the inner pocket to make sure the cylinder was still intact. Upon entering the council room, he found Evangeline seated on her throne, her elbow perched on the armrest and her forehead nestled in the palm of her hand. Her chocolate brown hair fell around her like a curtain. At the sound of the creaking door hinges, she looked up. Vincent gave her a low bow.

  “Good, you’re back,” she said. “Was the emissary where I said he would be?”

  “Aye, My Queen. He chose not to depart but rather to stay on the perimeter. He claimed you’d have reason to call upon him again.”

  Evangeline raised a single eyebrow at this. Without wasting any time, Vincent kneeled in front of the Queen and pulled the leather cylinder from his pocket and placed it carefully in her feminine hand.

  Evangeline dumped out the contents of the canister revealing what looked like nothing more than a rolled up piece of parchment, but darker in color and completely opaque. The Queen opened it up and turned it over in her hands, scrutinizing the front and back and feeling over it with no success. She tipped the canister one more time and two rock-like objects rolled into her palm. These she also looked over before placing them in her brassiere.

  She rose from her seat and went over to the iron fire bowl standing at the bottom of the stairs. Evangeline grabbed the oilskin sitting next to it and doused the moderate flame with excess oil. She watched as the blaze leap out at her. When the fire was at a desirable peak, she took the parchment and held it close to the flame, examining the inverted images of words as they appeared upon the page. As she read, the words disappeared into a smear of heated ink as quickly as they appeared. They ran down the parchment and dripped like black tears into the fire. When she was done, she rolled up the blank parchment and placed it delicately back into the canister.

  Vincent shook his head, entirely intrigued by what the Queen was involved in but to wise to question her about it. Although the Queen’s advisors believed Evangeline was completely open with him about everything she did, it was still selective and on her own terms.

  “My Queen,” Vincent began. “There is something I wanted to suggest regarding the predicament with Olger Guttensen.” Evangeline returned to her seat and placed her hands in her lap.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Have you considered offering Zora as payment for your debt? It’s my understanding the Olger has no wife. Surely the idea that their child will have claim to the Samarian throne might interest him? Even though the Sovereign Alliance will never allow it to come to pass, he doesn’t know that. Olger has nothing to do with the Alliance. That way there will be no threat to our homeland, and the problem of your daughter will be taken care of.”

  “That won’t suffice,” the Queen said flatly. “The Noman rulers proclaim their power by conquest. If one ruler is considered to be doing a poor job, another may challenge him. If that man wins, he is accepted as their new ruler, give or take some conditions I’m sure. It has nothing to do with entitlement by birth so to speak. Zora’s ungrounded claim to the Samarian throne won’t sway him if he’s convinced he can take it by force instead. That act of violence would be much more respected by his people than ascending to the throne through marriage alone.”

  “All men desire power, My Queen,” Vincent remarked, “regardless of how they obtain it.” Evangeline smiled knowingly.

  “That they do, Major Lowe. But the plans I have for Zora are already decided. After thinking long and hard about it, I feel it is the best course of action to take. For one like her.” Vincent nodded, although unsure himself about her decision. He bit the inside of his hollow cheek.

  “My Queen,” he ventured cautiously, “while I know that you are a diligent and prudent Queen, Zora is your only child and your only heir. With no immediate marriage proposals of your own in the near future, I can’t help but question whether your plans for her are in the best interest of our country.” Evangeline’s cold blue eyes turned hard when Vincent said this.

  “I am following Samarian law as it pertains to succession, am I not, Major Lowe?” the Queen retorted curtly.

  “Perhaps if we knew who the girl’s father was?” Vincent suggested quickly. “Was he of another royal blood? Certainly the law can be rewritten to accommodate such a circumstance. Even if he wasn’t a noble, we can submit a request to the Sovereign Alliance. That way your lineage will be
secure…” Vincent’s voice trailed off when he saw that Evangeline was becoming enraged.

  “Stop pummeling me with asinine questions!” she erupted at him. “I was assaulted, Vincent! By a lowlife scoundrel! A nobody! Why are you bringing this up when you already know everything that happened!” She pounded her fist angrily on the throne’s armrests to emphasis her point.

  “Only a child conceived within the bond of marriage by two royal bloodlines can rule the Samarian throne. That is how the law was written, and that is how it will remain.” She leaned back in her throne and looked away from him to some unknown point of interest.

  “And Zora is far from that,” she added sadly. “No offspring from such a vile person should ever be allowed to rule Samaria. My parents would be ashamed.” Vincent could see the Queen was perturbed, so he continued on even more heedfully.

  “My Queen, the only reason I would bring up such a subject is because the Sovereign Alliance will most likely question any decision you make in denying Zora’s right as your heir. You know their decision can override that of a single monarch if it is better for the Realm as a whole.”

  “I have never been worried about their so called authority,” Evangeline responded angrily. “I do with my Queendom as I see fit. I don’t need a group of meddlesome, ignorant leaders interfering with how I rule Samaria. If it had been left up to them, right now my despicable uncle would be ruling in my stead!”

  The young Queen paused for a moment, and she looked as though the weight of the world were suddenly pressing upon her shoulders. She brushed her thick hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ears, thinking long and hard before she spoke.

  “Vincent, let’s just forget this conversation shall we? If you were any other person, I’d have thrown you into prison for speaking to me in such a manner. There are events set in motion that cannot be undone, and your cooperation is vital to their success.” Vincent had his head bowed down like a scolded child.

  “Forgive me, My Queen,” he muttered.

  “Forgiven,” she replied with a dip of her chin. “Now, I need you to do two things for me. First, fetch Master Leatherby. Have him meet me in my personal chambers tonight after supper. Then, return to the perimeter and let the emissary know I’ll meet with him tomorrow morning. He will know where. Make sure you are discreet about it. Go now, please.” Vincent bowed once more to his Queen as he stood up and departed, grateful to be out of her enraged and erratic presence.

  ***

  That evening, Talan Leatherby sat on a small, plush bench outside the Queen’s chambers, waiting patiently for her to invite him inside. He drummed his fingers nervously on his knee. Having never heard of one being summoned to the Queen’s personal chambers before, Talan was apprehensive about what to expect. He racked his brain but couldn’t think of any viable reason why Evangeline would want to see him on such short notice. Hopefully she didn’t call him here to give a presentation about his plans for mining through the ice-covered rock to the north, because he honestly hadn’t had a chance to formulate one yet. The last thing Talan Leatherby wanted to do was further anger the Queen.

  Evangeline’s personal Guard, Vincent, stood statue-like next to him, glancing over periodically with a smirk as if Talan’s anxiety was amusing to him. Just as Talan mustered up the courage to say something to him about it, the Queen’s chamber doors swung open, and she peered out.

  “Talan, you’ve arrived. Please come in. Let us not waste time.”

  He stood up and adjusted his overcoat before following Evangeline into her room. The chamber was quite expansive and simply decorated. On the far end hung a large embroidered tapestry with the Samarian crest. On the other wall, a portrait of the late King Edgar and Queen Cecelia loomed over the chamber as they watched protectively over their daughter. Underneath the portrait, a beautifully designed sword, with Samarian runes engraved on the grip and blade, was proudly on display. The chamber’s balcony doors were propped open, letting in the fresh mountain air that ruffled the curtains surrounding them.

  The Queen was dressed casually in dark leggings, a large linen shirt, and slippers. Her thick brown hair was pulled away from her face in a simple braid that accentuated her small chin and high cheekbones. With all regalia that normally surrounded her removed, Talan was able to see how strikingly beautiful the Queen actually was.

  “Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to a wingback chair sitting in front of the fire. “Would you like some tea?” Talan nodded as he slowly lowered himself into the chair.

  “Yes, thank you,” he said, keenly watching the Queen while she poured his drink from a teakettle hanging above the hearth. She seemed even-tempered at the moment, almost polite, which was unlike the viper tongued Queen who’d been bellowing at him earlier. It made Talan’s skin crawl.

  She wants something from me, Talan thought to himself. Evangeline’s cool voice was quick to confirm his suspicions.

  “I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I brought you here so informally,” the Queen began as she prepared his tea. “It’s nothing unscrupulous, I assure you. But I do have a particular request that I’d like to keep just between the two of us.”

  She handed him a teacup and saucer, then turned around and went over to the writing desk to retrieve a leather cylindrical container. She opened it up and poured the contents into her hand, cupping them protectively as she brought them over to Talan.

  “Do you know what these are?” she asked, holding the objects up to the burning fire so he could see them more clearly. The yellow flame danced wildly on their smooth surface, and prisms of light radiated across the room painting rainbows on the stone walls and ceiling. The object was such a rich blue color that it put all other colors in the Queen’s chamber to shame. It sparkled like the clearest of diamonds.

  “Aye, my Queen,” Talan replied, recognizing the object immediately. “It’s azurite crystal. They are quite common in the copper mines, and we come across them fairly frequently.”

  “Hmmm,” Evangeline mused as she rolled the crystals around in her palm, causing the prisms of light to swirl around the room. “Here is the thing, Master Leatherby. I have someone who is extremely interested in buying these crystals from us, in large quantities, for a large sum. Apparently, he has been searching for an earthly wonder such as these for some time now, and the Anion Mountains are the only place it can be found.” Talan looked confused.

  “I don’t know why anyone would pay for such a thing, My Queen. It’s quite useless really, except for making paint and things from the pigment. I’ll admit they are magnificent to look at, but there are thousands of other crystals just like them in the mines. If it’s copper this buyer seeks, he’s better off going to Rienne. Their copper production is much more established than ours…”

  “Master Leatherby!” Queen Evangeline cut him off and gave him a level setting stare. “For what reason our buyer wants this crystal I do not know, nor do I care. Do you follow me?”

  Evangeline was standing in front of Talan now, giving him a once over with her gleaming blue eyes. Gently, she reached down and grabbed his calloused miner’s hands that had dirt underneath the fingernails. She dropped the crystals into his palm and securely closed his fingers around them as if they were the most treasured items in the world. She turned away from him and walked over to the open balcony doors. The valley was covered in night, but here and there were spots of light glimmering faintly from Alumhy, the Samarian capitol.

  “I just want to do what’s right for Samaria, Talan. If this buyer is willing to pay a substantial amount for these crystals, then maybe I can figure out a way to pay off my debt to Olger Guttensen without compromising our land. Hopefully, the Overlord will be satisfied with such an option.” The Queen leaned against the balcony doors and heaved a heavy sigh. “Then there will be no worries of Olger harming Samaria, for I know that is what you all fear.”

  Talan got up from his chair and went to stand next to the Queen. Together they surveyed the outline of th
e mountains against the clear night sky. The Argent River that flowed from the eastern range down the length of the Realm looked silver in the moonlight. He rolled the azurite crystal around in the palm of his hand while he thought, feeling the jagged texture against his skin. Finally, he spoke.

  “My Queen, I will do as you ask without question. You know I always will. However, I do not suggest completely stopping the mining efforts of precious gemstones, minerals, and gold in order to focus only on the azurite. Most people are scared of change. Samarians would rather chip away at unfruitful mountain rock then be instructed to mine such a useless crystal. It doesn’t make sense to them, and the spirits of the miners have been disheartened enough with the heavy decrease in production. I can’t tell you how many of my men have just packed up and left Samaria all together, going as far as Wayanee just to secure a future for themselves and their families. But those who are loyal stay because they have faith that our mines are still healthy.”

  Evangeline studied Talan for a moment as he finished talking. Young Master Leatherby had wisdom beyond his years, and Evangeline was quick to notice.

  “You’re right,” she answered. “This new arrangement is only a temporary fix. Eventually we will have to face the challenges of the dying mountains, so it’s imperative we move forward and continue normal excavation as planned. I just need you to formulate a new strategy and gather a new team for mining the azurite. Once that’s complete, I’ll review it before you start to ensure there are no holdups.” She turned towards him, still leaning against the wall, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her braid hung haphazardly across her shoulders and was coming undone by the wind.

  “How goes your experimentation with the fire powder? Any new developments?” Talan couldn’t repress his smile when she mentioned this.