Of Fury and Shadow

Chapter 3: A queen\'s memory

Three weeks. That is the amount of time it took for Selene"s life to become unrecognizable. After the queen"s trial things had moved quickly. Messages were sent to the king of Durin informing him of the change in the amazons leadership. His answer expressed his regret at the late queen"s passing and assured them that he was interested in meeting with the new queen to discuss the peace that he hoped they both wanted. Messages were passed back and forth until it was agreed that the amazons would bring a small group of representatives to the king"s castle where the peace talks would be held. A meeting was called with the leaders of the tribes to better assess the state of the sss nation as a whole. All the while her people watched her. She was never allowed to leave the camp alone even though she and the king had agreed to a cease fire. She wished for the life she used to have, second daughter to the queen whose only responsibility was to be a good solider. She had no idea how Sabeer handled this level of constant attention. She wished that she could at least ask her sister for her opinions or advice but that door had been closed to her when Sabeer moved out of their tent.

It didn"t surprise Selene that she left. She knew that her sister had to discover who she was if she wasn"t the queen and Selene had to discover how being queen would change her. She only wished that it was something they could do together. She would spend the few spare moments she had in her tent thinking of the times she had spent there with her mother and sister. Now she was there alone with the weight of a nation.

"Storms coming." Came Leala"s voice from somewhere inside the tent. Selene rolled her eyes, she should never assume she was alone. The first thing she had done for herself as queen was to appoint Leala as her body guard and her best friend took the job seriously.

"It was sunny outside a few minutes ago." She said as she rose to her feet and began to slowly turn listening for where the shadow warriors voice was coming from.

"I was referring to your face. You scrunch it up when you are thinking of unpleasant things, like your sister." The voice moved to the far corner of the tent near Sabeer"s abandoned cot.

"Is that why you are here watching me from the shadows? I remember asking you not to do that." She answered her friend before redirecting towards a large shadow beneath a table piled high with tributes given to her by amazons seeking her favor.

"And I told you that I will only follow orders that will not keep me from performing my duty." Came the disembodied voice. Selene slowly crouched low beside the table. She studied the shadow carefully before plunging her hand into it like water and pulling up Leala by the ear.

"Ouch! Let go, you promised you wouldn"t do that anymore." Said Leala pulling herself completely out of the shadows and rubbing her ear while Selene laughed.

"I"m sorry but what threats were you guarding me from under the table?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest. Leala stopped messaging her ear and straightened placing her hands on her hips.

"I"m glad you asked, I was trying to get a better look at all these tribute gifts. You never know what someone could hide in them, a hex or maybe even poison." Leala took on a mock serious tone as she began to rifle through the items. She picked up a dagger sheathed in finely made leather with an equally fine belt and pouch. "This is obviously hexed, I"ll have to take this to examine later." She said securing the leather belt on her hips.

"There"s also some very nice armor and spiced wine." Said Selene walking up to the table.

"No, you"re smaller than I am, the armor won"t fit but that spiced wine does look suspicious."

" I thought you would say that." She watched as Leala uncorked the wine skin and took a long pull from it.

"Oh, that is good. I would let you have some if it wasn"t so dangerous." Leala sat in a low chair by the fire and took another sip of wine. "You"ve gotten some nice things. Do you think the tribal leaders will bring you something as well?"

"Telmare says that they will but most likely they will wait to present me with anything until they have decided that I am "worthy". Whatever that means. I hate that I have to keep proving myself." said Selene, inspecting a fur cloak.

"Well whose fault is that?" began Leala, opening the new leather pouch. " You"ve never made any effort to prove yourself to them before. You were happy to let Sabeer walk around camp as if she were a gift from the goddess. It"s time you came out of her shadow and show them who you are. Did you know there was dried meat in this pouch?"

"Doubtless it"s poisoned as well."

"Almost certainly." Leala took a big bite of the meat strip in her hand and washed it down with more wine. Selene watched her friend as she leaned against the table.

"I don"t want being queen to change me and I don"t know how to be the queen without it changing me." Selene looked at the ground as she said this.

"I know, but that is exactly what you agreed to do by stepping into that circle and giving Sabeer the thrashing she deserved. You have a lot on your shoulders. Which is why I think you should put on that fancy new armor of yours and take a sip of this wine, which is not as poisoned as I thought." Selene took the offered wine with a smile.

"Why would I do all that?" She asked before raising the wine to her lips feeling it warm her insides.

"Well..." said Leala standing and stretching." First, the wine will help calm you. I"ve never liked it when you brood this much and second, the armor will help you feel more... queenly. At least I think it will. If anything it would make you look more like the queen when the other leaders get here."

"No armor, when the tribal leaders get here I want them to see me as I am."

"You could at least get the queen"s necklace back from your sister."

Selene groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"I"d forgotten about that."

"I could go and get it for you. I haven"t had the opportunity to let her know what I think of her and this would be the perfect pretext." Leala cracked her knuckles and jabbed at the air.

"No, I want to her to bring it back to me as my sister. If I send you or go myself... I think that would be the end of our relationship. She would think I was just trying to humiliate her further."

"It"s not like she doesn"t deserve it. I"ve lost track of all the times she has done the same to you. You always defended her but now you can"t let her get her own way anymore.

Selene closed her eyes. Leala didn"t understand the relationship between them. She had tried to explain their connection more than once. Sabeer was her twin. They had come into this world together and been together every day since. When they were children they would sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. She knew Sabeer"s moods without having to look at her. Things had changed when their mother died. It was as if someone had cut the link between them. For the first time in her life Selene felt alone.

"I can"t talk about this again. I have too many things to worry about right now, all of them more important than some necklace." Selene stood and straighten her leather britches and top. Leala made a face and held her hand up as if to say "fine". Selene nodded once.

"Well, I was only supposed to be in here for a moment. I"m sure the council and the tribal leaders are wondering where I am."

"Oh just tell them you had some poisoned wine." Leala said as she melted into the shadow at her feet and appeared again at the tents opening, holding it aside for Selene.

"Shall we?" Selene smiled and walked out of the tent with Leala close behind her. She felt a twinge of sadness knowing that Leala had never let go of an argument so easily in the past. This was just another sign of how much her life had changed.

***

Selene stood outside of the council tent for moment and took a deep breath. Leala laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Let"s get this over with." She said reaching her hand to the tent flap. Suddenly the tent was thrown open and Selene was face to face with Sabeer. Her twin stiffened in surprise and the two just stood watching each other. Selene was sure that all of the things she had been feeling would show on her face and Sabeer would see that and forgive her. Instead the silence between them began to feel like a living thing, growing and pushing them father apart. Sabeer screwed her face into a sneer, pushing past Leala. Selene turned to watch her leave and saw as Valeen, Sabeer"s current lover, approached her with a questioning look on her face. Sabeer simply held up her hand to kept the girl from speaking and rushed past her. The look of hurt that passed over Valeen"s face was familiar to her. She continued to watch Sabeer when she heard a cough. She turned and saw that Telmare was standing inches from her face. Selene took a step back, she had never liked having people so close to her and the Telmare was no exception.

"Hello Telmare." She greeted her dryly.

"Sabeer was trying to convince the council and the tribal leaders that making you queen was a mistake." Said the old woman in a flat tone.

"I can"t believe she would do that."

"She did do it. You allowed it to happen by arriving late. The leaders are not impressed with your decisions so far. They want to know why someone who so clearly opposes your reign is still alive. Somethings which I myself asking you for some time. I have yet to hear a satisfying answer."

"Enough! We"ve discussed this and I will not change my mind." Selene pushed past the old woman and into the tent full of the tribal leaders and elders that made up the council. All eyes were on her as she took her seat before them, Leala standing behind her. She was never one to argue and she has a feeling that this meeting would bring nothing but arguments. She nodded to each of the leaders in turn.

"I apologize for the delay. These past few weeks have been busy as you all know." Selene adopted the tone of voice and posture that the she come to think of as her queenly persona. She sat with her back straight and her head held high. Her words expressed apology but her tone said that she was the queen and she could have made them all wait longer if had chosen to do so.

"Of course, my queen. I understand that your transition has not been an easy one." Said the woman to Selene"s left. She smiled when she saw that it was her old tutor. The woman who had taught her to shoot a bow and arrow, Myra. It had been several years since they had last seen each other. Myra had been given her own tribe when she had saved Sabeer from an enemy arrow. Thing timing was convenient for all because Morel, Myra’s son, was coming of age and although men were allowed to visit and stay for time. No man was allowed to live in the Queen’s tribe.

"Yes." Selene wanted nothing more than to confided everything to Myra but was aware that all the other women in the room were staring at her, some with disapproval on their faces.

"I know that some of you are surprised to see that Sabeer is still alive. Let me make it clear to you all now that I do know our customs and that I understand the difficulties that may arise from keeping her alive. I will also remind you that she is my sister, my twin, a bond that none of you will ever understand." She said leveling her gaze on those present. "I have already made my decision regarding Sabeer and I do not plan to change my mind. Now I believe that we all have much more important things to address. Such as the meeting we have planned with the king of Durin." When she finished speaking she glanced at those in front of her and saw that a few of them had nodded accepting her choice. She was quickly learning that if she presented herself as unmovable then they would not challenge her

"Yes, the meeting with the king has been arranged. All that is left is to choose those who will be going to the palace with us. The King has agreed to allow 12 of our number into his kingdom and has offered us rooms for the duration." Came Telmare"s crackling voice from Selene"s right.

"Good, I would like to take six from our own tribe and one representative from each of the outer tribes. The representatives should have knowledge of their tribal numbers and needs. Choose them well. I cannot negotiate your needs if I don"t know what they are." The amazons all nodded in agreement. Selene noticed more than one of them glancing at Telmare expectantly.

"Is there something else?" She asked turning to Telmare. The old woman"s mouth had gone ridged, her wrinkled face taking on a reluctant look.

"Yes, my queen, there is something that you are not aware of. Something that only the queen and the elders are told." Selene felt the hairs on her neck begin to stand. She had never seen Telmare so hesitant to speak. Concern filled her as she waited for her to continue. What could she have to say that would make her this way? The old woman reached into her pocket and palmed an object. Selene watched as gnarled hand hovered over the table for moment and released the item. The tent was quiet as everyone in it waited for Selene to react.

"The queen"s necklace." She said barely managing to keep the surprise from her voice.

"Yes, Sabeer was wearing it when she arrived and Ohma relieved her of it before she left." Said Telmare in what Selene heard a as reproachful tone. She was judging her for not retrieving the necklace herself. They all were. Anger flared inside her. Who were they to judge he actions or decisions? They did not know the burden that was placed on her when her mother had made her the heir. Now the hope of Sabeer coming to her senses and returning the necklace of her own free will was dashed. The breach between them stretched by miles. Selene reached out her hand and took the necklace by the chain. She held it up watching the ruby catch the light.

"I hadn"t considered this trinket important enough to waste my time on. I am already the queen, whether or not I wear this necklace does not change that. We are not like the women of Durin who wear such things to make themselves more pleasing to their men or to show their status. We measure or worth in strength not in jewels." Normally these kinds of declarations were met with cheers but an uncomfortable silence filled the room. A few of the elders even looked embarrassed for her.

"You do make a valid point my queen. However, this necklace is more than just a trinket. It is our history." Selene looked at the necklace again. She couldn"t remember her mother ever saying anything about its significance other than being given to every queen since Illah. Telmare took the necklace, cradling the ruby in her palm and continued.

"Queen Illah was a very powerful sss. She had been blessed with each of the gifts; warrior, seer, shadow. Something that has not been seen since her time. She was able to use her gifts to write our history within this gem, so that we would not forget why we fight. Now it is equally important that you know of our origins if you are to understand the true importance of this peace. Your hand please." Telmare held out her hand with the ruby resting on her palm. Selene could feel the eyes of those in the room on her as slowly she placed her right hand over top of Telmare"s. Telmare smile approvingly and reach out her other hand placing the palm on Selene"s forehead.

"It is time for you to see." Came the seers raspy voice as the room around Selene slowly turned black and then disappeared.

***

Images, flashes of a life, colors, and smells. All these things flooded into Selene"s head with the force of a rushing river. She felt lost and disconnected as the all the information struggled to organize itself. She felt as if she had begun to spin faster and faster falling into someone else"s life. Suddenly, it all stopped and she heard a voice speak from the darkness that surrounded her.

Long ago our people lived in peace and seclusion on an island far away. We believed in kindness, love for all life, but most of all we were trusting. Our happiness was complete so we had no desire to explore the world around us.

A whole world came into focus. People wondering about an island paradise. Children ran past where Selene stood but they could not see her. The voice continued.

If we had ventured off of our island perhaps we would have learned that the world was full of people who were not like us. Who valued other things, such as power and fortune.

One day, a boat arrived carrying a strange people, men who we welcomed with open arms. It was immediately obvious that these men were different from our own. The men of our tribe were open and nurturing. Often they would be the ones to care for the children, while the women of our tribe tended to the important day to day chores. Our women were stronger, taller and all were born with magic. These new men were hard and mysterious. Some among them even had magic of their own.

Selene watched as men disembarked from their ship. Groups of them coming to the island on small row boats while the ship sat anchored, bobbing slightly with the waves. Their armor and manner of dress was old but very clearly from Durin.

We did not speak their language but we welcomed them just the same. Our tribe had never seen anyone like them. Everyone was eager to be hospitable and please our guests. The following night we held a feast in their honor. Our most skilled mages performed their best tricks. Women grew entire trees from seeds in their bare hands, some performed the dance of shadows, and I, the leader of my tribe and most powerful of us all, showed the captain of their ship his future. I should have known what would happen next but the images in his mind meant nothing to a trusting fool. That night, they struck. They drugged the wine they had brought from their ship as a gift. It weakened us considerably, making our minds to foggy to piece together simple thoughts. They killed most of the men and they tied up the women. We were carried onto their vessel and stowed down in the deep. I do not recall how long we were there. The mages came down regularly to administer more of the drug they had given us on the island. When we were finally on land again we were placed in cages and taken to what I would eventually learn was a slave market. There we were sold.

The women were chained together in groups of 5 or less. They sat in their cages huddled together and took in their surroundings as best as they could, their eyes glassy and unfocused. Selene watch in horror and disgust as two men reached into one cage and dragged out a tall beautiful woman with long white hair and dark olive skin, Illah, the first sss queen. Selene was unsure how she knew this. But she had never more sure of anything in her life. She watched as the slave traders forced Illah to her feet and she swayed drunkenly as they pulled her onto the stage by her bound wrists. Selene had never seen an sss so helpless before.

I was sold, like the rest of my people. I was naive enough to think that the kind man who had taken me away from the slave market was some kind of savior. I had no concept of money or slavery and therefore no way of understanding in my drugged haze that I had been bought not rescued. I awoke several days later, washed, and warm. I was in a large bed in a beautiful room full of things I had never seen before. For the first time, I was feeling true curiosity about this new world and all it wonders. The man I assumed had saved me arrived and he treated me kindly. He taught me his language and the ways of his people. Eventually, we fell in love. One day he explained to me that he was the leader of his people, their king. I had always known that he held a high position by the way others had treated him so this was no surprise to me. What did come as a surprise was when he asked me to marry him and become his queen, which I gladly accepted. He gave me many gifts, gowns, jewels and a necklace of silver and ruby that was my favorite.

Guests arrived from far and wide to come and celebrate our marriage. It was while we were greeting our guests that I saw the first of my people. I hadn"t seen any of them for nearly two years. For the first time in my life I knew what rage felt like as I saw that not all of them had been as lucky as I. The girl I saw was thin and ragged, with a thick chain around her neck that connected to other chains encircling her wrists and ankles. She was sweating as she struggled to lift wooden crates out of her master’s carriage. I reached out to help her but my lover and soon to be husband stopped me with a touch of his hand and shake of his head. Again, I did not understand, I was tired of not understanding. In the following days, I wandered the castle in secret using the magic of shadows to move unseen. I located more of my people, spoke with them if I could, and learned of their situations. The chains they wore were designed by mages to mute their powers to keep them for being used against their masters. I heard stories of women who had fought against their captors and died for their troubles. My rage grew more and more with every injustice endured. I decided that I would put a stop to this. If I married the king his people would be mine and mine would be his, he would have to help us. When I reached the door to his royal chambers, I heard voices. I used the shadows to hide myself in his rooms while I listened to him speaking to a group of men, the captain who captured me and my people among them. They spoke of the demand for more slaves like the women from the island they had found. Our magic was useful to them, if the slave proved cooperative. We were beautiful and strong. Our ability to grow crops rapidly with our magic would prove beneficial to their people. I heard reason after reason, as these men tried to convince the king to send ships back to my home and steal the women that remained. My heart broke as I heard him agree. That was when the dam that I had built up inside myself to contain my anger broke.

I saw the captain standing there with a cat like grin spread across his face. I became one with my fury, I flew from the shadows and stole the blade hanging at his side.

Selene watched open mouthed as the Illah flew like a whirled in and out of the shadows. She could see that she was untrained with the sword but her magic and strength made up for her lack of skill. Selene doubted that she would be able to hold her own with someone as gifted as Illah was.

It happened quickly, the blade combined with my strength and ability to dance through the shadows turned me into a force. Before I knew it all of them lay dead at my feet. Covered in their blood, I stood before the man who claimed to love me. He said nothing because he knew why I had done it. We stood there looking at each other for a moment. Blood dripping from the tip of my sword. I could not bring myself to kill him because I loved him. So instead I left, taking with me all of the slaves in the castle. Most of them were not even my own people but they had the same look of despair in their eyes. That was enough for me to see them as mine. We fled into the woods where I nursed them all back to health. We destroyed the chains subduing my peoples magic and I taught them to use their power as I had the night I freed them. Some of the other slaves had experience with swords having been forced to be practice dummies. We trained and grew in strength, constantly moving our camp so that we would not be discovered. I led raiding parties into the nearest towns and villages stealing supplies and freeing slaves for our cause. Soon we were a tribe with soldiers who attacked the slave markets and freed those who were stolen from their homes as we were. The King sent his soldiers and we killed them. My people had become hard. Durin had taught us all to be wary and I had taught us to be strong. I refused to take a husband or a mate. Never forgetting how falling in love with a man from Durin had nearly cost the freedom of so many. The women from my homeland followed my example and soon the Durin soldiers began to call us "amazons". Our numbers were fewer but our magic more than made up for that and we were on equal footing. The fighting continued and eventually slaver ships stopped coming. The King had banned slavery. I was not foolish enough to believe he had done this for me, He did it for himself and his people. Each slave ship was full of more soldiers for our cause. I knew that no matter what happened we had to keep fighting. To avenge those we lost, to right the wrongs done to us. I fought until I could no longer carry my sword. I chose the strongest woman of my tribe to replace me as the leader, queen of the amazons. With the last of my magic and my dying breath I engrave our history into this jewel, the color of blood. To remind every queen that comes after why we fight.

***

The world faded away once again and when Selene opened her eyes she was back in the council tent, her head spinning. She felt chilled and saw beads of sweat covering her body. She sat silently as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen. Telmare turned her palm over and closed Selene"s fingers over the ruby that rested there. She couldn"t bring herself to look at it. Before, the necklace had reminded her of her mother, now it only reminded her of a centuries old betrayal.

"Do you understand what you have seen?" Asked Ohma, the general of the sss army.

"Yes, I believe I do.” Never before had she heard the story of her people with more detail. All she had known of their history was that Durin had tried to enslave them and because they were strong they fought back. She took a deep breath as she tried to organize this new information. She felt Illah’s anger still lurking in the back of her mind. Along with a feeling of sadness and heartbreak. She pushed these feelings away as best she could.

“What I don"t understand is how it is relevant to what we are trying to achieve now."

"You saw how powerful Illah was? That she and the others could use all of the gifts?" Selene nodded still dizzy. Telmare handed her a cup with a foul-smelling tea in it and urged her to drink.

"We believe," began Telmare " that all of the amazons who originated from the island possessed powers like Illah. Once they began to breed with the freed male slaves the blood line became diluted as well as the magic. This resulted in what we have now, amazons with the ability only to use one gift. Strength, Sight, or shadow." Selene nodded as she gulped down the hot tea. It scorched her throat and down to her stomach but her mind felt restored and slowly Illah’s presence began to fade.

"Our magic was our advantage in the early years. I remember my mother was worried that the tribes were reporting an increase in casualties."

"Yes, our superior magical abilities compensated for our lack of numbers. However, our magic is growing weaker. If this war continues, we will eventually lose." Telmare finished leveling Selene with a serious stare.

"We are negotiating for peace because we have to." Said Selene. She was awed at all this information. It was almost too much. She wondered briefly how Sabeer would have taken it if she were in her place.