Tales of the Misplaced - Books 1-4

Chapter 6-2

“If my queen wishes to share it with you, that will be her decision.”

Grangor stepped to one of his party and they spoke in low tones.

“What of the Dark Blade?” the soldier asked, peering around.

“Are we to worry about tales for children of ghosts and monsters?” Grangor demanded.

The soldier looked embarrassed and gave Grangor some kind of a salute and went to organize the other Urgaban.

UrgabanWe hiked through the forest and back towards the village. Neelu was silent, except for calling out directions for the group to veer left or right. Grangor walked next to us, equally silent. Finally, I spoke to him.

“You don’t look like other gob—I mean, Urgaban I have seen. And you speak much better, too.”

Urgaban “Really?” he glanced at me. “I wouldn’t expect you would see any Urgaban in this area. Were you traveling far when you saw them?”

Urgaban I shook my head. “No, it was in these woods just the other day.”

“That’s odd,” he said. “We Urgaban have a very closed society and we do not typically travel outside of our territory. Do you know what this one was doing here?”

Urgaban “It was six of them. They…um…” I glanced at Neelu. She wasn’t looking at us, but I could tell she was listening. “They were hunting food.”

This seemed to surprise him even more. “Hunting?”

“Yes. But fortunately, I was saved.”

Grangor pulled up short, shock evident on his face.

“You say they were hunting you? You must be mistaken.”

“The mistake was on their part,” Neelu spoke.

He looked back and forth between us. The surprise on his face turned to anger.

“These are criminals! Outcasts! They are in violation of our law!”

“They came to our forest in violation of our law,” Neelu replied simply.

“I can send a unit to capture them,” Grangor told her. “They will be held accountable.”

“There is no need. Urgaban do not enter our forest with impunity. The price has been paid. We waste time.” She started walking again.

Urgaban “On behalf of our people,” he said to me as we went, “I apologize for your treatment by these criminals.”

“This was no isolated incident,” Neelu spat. “Your apology is like water spilled in the sand.”

We continued in silence for some time before Grangor spoke again. “I begin to understand your obvious enmity for my people.”

Neelu’s jaw clenched, but she made no reply.

We hiked for hours before Neelu called out for a halt in the early dusk.

“I will inform the queen of your arrival,” she told them. “You will wait here for instructions. Rest your mounts.”

Grangor nodded his acceptance and Neelu led me on to the village. Once we reached the edge of the trees, Neelu sounded a whistle. Within half a minute, there were three other sprites standing with us. They carried bows and had blades at their belts. They looked intently at Neelu.

“Urgaban,” she said. “A party of twenty-six. One, Grangor, claims they are a delegation to the queen. You,” she pointed to one, “assemble the Foresters and surround them, but stay hidden. You two,” she went on as the first sprite disappeared, “will act as runners for communication. You, go with the Foresters,” she pointed to another one. “You are with me,” she said to the third.

UrgabanI was surprised that they all followed her orders without question, but then I remembered that she was the daughter of the queen.

Neelu led us through the town and we took a left toward the cliff wall, which was about a hundred yards from the edge of the village. As we turned the corner, two huge doors became visible. They were open, and the way seemed to go straight into the mountain. The doors or gates—whatever they were called—were huge slabs of rock. It looked like they were very precisely balanced so they could be easily opened or closed. It also looked like there was a locking mechanism that would allow the people inside to seal them shut. The mountain itself just looked craggy, and there was no indication, from what I could see, that it was anything except a natural mountain.

There were a couple of sprites—I had to stop calling them that. There were a couple of Ulané Jhinura standing by the doors.

Ulané Jhinura “We need to speak to the queen immediately,” Neelu said.

One nodded and stuck her head inside. She brought some sort of flute or whistle to her lips, and I heard the rapid succession of several trilled notes.

Neelu hadn’t slowed and she led us straight through the doors. We seemed to be in a wide tunnel with rough walls. The floor was smooth, so I didn’t have to worry about tripping. I also noticed that the walls and ceiling were lined with holes. At first, I thought they might be natural, but the spacing was too regular and there were far too many of them. I guessed they were part of some defensive plan.

After about a quarter mile, the walls fell away and we were in a large cavern, the ceiling far above us. I could see stairs and walkways carved into the rock of the walls, and what looked like doors and windows to rooms.

Neelu pressed forward, and we came to a broad stone bridge that passed over a wide crevasse that spanned the width of the cavern. We continued over the bridge and entered another tunnel with a high ceiling. This one wasn’t as long as the first before we came to another set of double doors. These weren’t quite as big as the pair on the outer entrance, but they were elaborately decorated.

The next room appeared to be a throne room. I’d never seen a throne room in person before, but it was big and cavernous, with a big, fancy chair at the other end that seemed to be a throne. The walls were all adorned with brightly colored tapestries. Several people—well, I’m not sure if that’s the right term for several Ulané Jhinura—but there were several of them just arriving at the throne, evidently from a door at the back of the room, which was on a raised section of the floor.

Ulané JhinuraNeelu continued without slowing. As we neared, one of them spoke.

“Neelu’u, it is good to see you. What is happening?” The speaker was female and there was a silver circlet on her head.

Veeluthun’u arrived and joined the group.

“Mother.” Neelu came to a stop. “We have Urgaban at our door. They claim to be a delegation.”

Urgaban“A delegation for what purpose?”

“He would not say. He said it was business for the queen.”

“And when you told him you were my daughter? Still, he wouldn’t say?”

Neelu was silent at this and the queen raised an eyebrow.

“I thought it would be better if he didn’t know who I was,” Neelu finally told her.

“Very well,” the queen said. “I suppose we should find out what these Urgaban want.”

Urgaban“We cannot trust them,” Neelu told her.

“Perhaps not, but we can listen with some measure of courtesy and civility. Though I would prefer they are not here overlong. Have them sent here at once.”

Neelu turned and gave a nod to the Ulané Jhinura who had accompanied us. She nodded in return, and went immediately back the way we came.

Ulané Jhinura“While we wait,” the queen continued, “you can introduce me to your companion. I assume this is who you brought to Felora’s shop this afternoon?” She glanced at Veeluthun’u, who nodded.

“Mother,” Neelu said formally, “I would like to introduce you to Mirabella Cervantes Ramirez. Recently arrived from Earth. Mira, I present Her Majesty, Astrina Ulané Poloso, Queen of the Su Lariano and of the Ulané Jhinura.”

Ulané JhinuraI didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if I should bow or curtsy, but I didn’t really know how to do either one properly. I ended up doing some kind of a bob that was in between.

“Um…pleased to meet you,” I said. “Your Majesty,” I quickly added with another bob.

The queen looked questioningly at Neelu. She had lavender eyes, like Neelu’s.

“An enchantment,” Neelu told her. “The pendant.”

The queen’s eyes went to the opal that hung from my neck.

“That is a story I should like to hear later. What can you tell me of these Urgaban?” she asked Neelu.

Urgaban“They appear different from what we have seen before,” Neelu told her. “It has been only days since the last incursion. That is how I met Mira; they were after her. When we told this one of it—Grangor, who leads them—he claimed those Urgaban were outcasts and criminals.”

Urgaban“And your impression?”

Neelu shrugged. “They are Urgaban. That says enough.”

UrgabanThe queen nodded, then she turned to me. “I will have quarters prepared for you. You can wait and rest there while we meet with these Urgaban.”

Urgaban“Mother,” Neelu spoke up. “Perhaps she should stay.”

The queen looked at her, surprised.

“The enchantment on her pendant is a very powerful diplomacy spell,” Neelu explained. “Perhaps if she stayed, it would be difficult for this Urgaban to deceive us. That is—” she turned to me “—if Mira would consent to be present on our behalf.”

Urgaban