The Labyrinth Queen

The Queen

The Queen’s Advisor

The messenger’s lifeless body lay discarded on the floor as the Queen rampaged around the room upending tables, throwing chairs, shattering glass, and destroying everything in sight. Her trusted advisor stayed near the door just watching and waiting for the tantrum to pass and the Queen to calm. Being close to the Queen was never very safe for anyone, he thought as he looked sadly at the body on the floor. The Queen had disemboweled him upon hearing that her most trusted guard had not only failed but also became a trader.  

            As the Queen stormed around the room demolishing everything in her useless tirade, she kept saying random phrases out loud and mumbling to herself between screams of rage. Eventually, when her energy was spent, she stood with her palms face down on the only table left standing, she looked down at her hands for a long moment just breathing. Then she looked up and ordered, “I want her head at my feet by the end of the third day!”

            “And what of Jason? Your majesty?” I asked.

            “Bring him to me wrapped in silver chains laced with wolfsbane. I will make an example out of him. No one will dare to defy me again!” She demanded.

            “Yes, your majesty, I will see to it right away,” I replied with a bow just before rushing from the room.

            As the doors closed behind me, I grabbed the nearest messenger to send for the captain of the guard. I would send a full squadron after Jason and Leilani. There could be no failure this time, or it could be my head at the Queen’s feet. As the messenger ran off, I rushed to my office to start an order for a contract on the fugitives’ lives. There could be no escape for these two. The thought had crossed my mind yet again that the oracle may not be on our side as the Queen believes. She seems to only give information that is not helpful to us and any tidbits she lets slip seem to be confusing and shrouded in double meanings. I wrote a note to check into the matter further and settle down to start writing out the warrants and making the wanted posters that will be hung throughout the Labyrinth.

The Queen

            As the doors closed behind my most trusted advisor, I begin pacing the room once again. My rage has cooled but now I need to plan. If I fail to capture and kill the girl, it will cost my life. I need more information. “Guards!” I yell, “Bring me my oracle!”

            I go back to pacing as the maids come in and begin to clean up the room. As I turn around again, I bump into one of them. “Out of my way fool!” I shout as I strike her knocking her to the ground. She knows better than to cry or she will suffer the consequences.  I move around her and move towards the doors when the guard returns with the oracle.

            “Where have you been?” I demand, “Don’t you know I needed you?”

            The oracle bows and apologizes before asking “How can I help you, your majesty?”

            I huff irritably, “How can you help me? How can you help me? How do you think you can help me? If I want a maid to clean up a mess I call a maid, if I want food I call the chef, when I want ahead, I call my general, and when I need to know the future who do you think I would call?”

            “An oracle, your majesty?” she answers timidly.

            “Yes, oracle, I would call you. So, you know what I need, but if you must hear my request I must know the future, will I win this battle, or will the girl? Has she found the key? How will I get the key from her? Why would my wolf betray me? I need the answers to the questions that only you can give me.”

            The oracle stiffens as the messenger is removed from the room as if she could see it. The fear is plain on her face for the answers she has may end her life. The future she sees is cloudy with many options and nothing is a clear path. She begins slowly with the questions she can answer. “For love, a mate will betray his master, the key will soon be found. A girl and her protector will allude the hordes, but fear not, my queen for there is hope in one lone warrior.” She said in a misty voice. “That is all.” She said a bit clearer.

            “Gah! Why is it always riddles with you?” I say with an exasperated sigh.

The Oracle

            After the Queen was done interrogating me, I fled from the room. I gave her the information she asked for but if she ever found out that I omitted information or purposefully made the information difficult to follow, she would have my head. Oracles see visions, sometimes the visions are of the future, sometimes it’s the past, they usually are given in riddles and difficult to understand until after it happens. Unfortunately, many people do not truly understand the nature of the visions and try to find a meaning that fits their purposes. The queen is one of those and she often calls an oracle for a prophecy and translation.

            Oracles are supposed to be neutral, not working for either the light or the dark, but now and then one of us will see something that will sway us one way or the other. Three years ago, I bumped into a young warrior. He was one of the elite guards and just about to be given the mission to follow a girl. As I bumped into him, I had a vision of destruction so thorough that, no one would win. Both sides would be decimated. Then just as the vision ended there was a sliver of hope. Hope for the future, hope that our world would one day rejoin that of the outside world and be at peace. I knew what had to be done, I told him the one thing that would neither be suspected as treason nor seem important. I told him that when he finds his mate, he must protect her at any cost. From that moment I have been working to see that vision more clearly.

            Today, I had another vision that would cause the queen to send her most deadly squad after the guard and his mate, ordering their deaths. I could not allow them to die, we need them. So, as I ran from the room, I formulated a plan. I had a messenger friend who would be able to get a message to the guard to warn him, but it had to be simple enough for him to understand but contain very little information in case it’s intercepted. I settled on “Trust no one! -O” I could only hope he understands. One day I hope to meet the chosen one because I may be able to help her with her quest if only, I could touch her.

            Upon entering the Pools of Foresight, I notice a reflection for a split second. I shake it off, there is no one here. I scribble the paper and slip it into the servant’s hand with a quickly whispered “Alex” in her ear before I walk off. Alex is the name of my trusted messenger, but no one pays attention to either the servants' names or the messengers, so I could be saying hello rather than directing. I can only hope this message will reach him in time. I turn to the pools and peer into the water. Watching for any sign of movement as I settle down to meditate. In the corner of the pool, I see a figure leave the room in the opposite direction.