Queen Yavara Ch. 09

"War is the only option, Father." I whispered, "Yavara is already backing us into a corner diplomatically. Do you think she's going to stop? She's buying time because she's weak right now. She is weak, and we are powerful, and she knows that. Every second we wait, the scales of power tip in her favor. Do we keep waiting, Father?"

Father agonized over the dilemma. He cocked his head to one side and then the other, as if two halves of him were arguing in his mind. Were it any other elf, Father wouldn't hesitate to act swiftly and strongly. But this was his precious Yavara.

"Clartias," Mother said, "Yavara would never attack her own people. Do you honestly believe Leveria? Yavara is just doing everything she can to stay alive. We need to speak with her, Clartias. We need to give her a chance before we move forward."

Father brought his hand down on his knee and stood up. "Your mother is right, Leveria. We need to speak with Yavara before we act. I cannot -I will not- believe that Yavara means her people harm."

But we're not her people, Father, and deep down, you know that. I thought, Alkandi was cunning a thousand years ago, and it seems she hasn't lost her edge. She's already spun a rescue mission into an assassination attempt and gained sovereign recognition by the humans in doing so. She has an orc tribe leader at her side, and she will use him to unite the clans into an army. She's turned the very man who destroyed her, Zander Fredeon, into her protector. She will raise an army, and she will invade.

I didn't vocalize my thoughts, knowing that my father's decision was final. Had Mother not been there, I might have swayed him to my side, but she played off his love for Yavara. I knew that the moment Yavara spoke with Father, all hope of a preemptive strike would fail. She would prey on his love like a parasite, and he would delay, delay, delay, until it was too late. I could not let him speak with her, and I needed Mother gone so that my voice was the only one he heard. I looked at Trenaria Tiadoa, studying her delicate, beautiful face, now pallid with worry and pinched with contempt. But there was something else, something behind her sapphire eyes. A secret. There had to be a reason the Dark Queen reincarnated from her womb.

I left my parents and went directly to the temple. I had made Headmaster Glendian a confidante of mine, mostly through blackmail. He had a weakness for men, and I promised not to tell of his escapades if he divulged information with me, and me alone.

I knocked on his chamber doors. A young male elf answered the door, a pillow concealing his crotch.

"What can I do for you, Your Highness?" He asked, shifting uneasily.

"I'm here to see Glendian."

"Headmaster Glendian is not here, I'm only here to keep his quarters clean." He responded.

"She already knows, Brecktian. Let her in." Glendian's voice said from behind the door.

Brecktian clothed himself and left before I walked into Glendian's chambers. The old man was half naked on the bed, not bothering to make himself presentable in front of royalty. He was a spiteful bastard, and undoubtedly considered his disrespect to be a proud act of defiance. I didn't care.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"Your boys seem to get younger with each passing day, Glendian. Are you hoping to steal some of their youth as you age?" I sneered.

"I like to think I'm performing a service for them." He replied, "They're young and scared of who they are; they need an authority figure to tell them they're not sick."

"Ah, yes." I laughed, "You're doing the for purely selfless reasons. What a charitable man you are, Headmaster, to so freely deposit your seed."

"You will never understand the strife of being a gay man!" Glendian said firmly, "Knowing that you can never express yourself in public, knowing that any love you have will be looked on as disgusting and unnatural. I was that boy once. I wished I had someone like myself to tell me that I wasn't a freak; someone powerful to tell me that they were just like me, and that I could lead the life I wanted. You never knew this pain, Leveria, so don't for a moment mock it or question me."

I smiled back at the old man, empathizing with him completely. He would never know how much he and I had in common in this regard.

"So, I'll ask again, Leveria, why have you come?" He growled.

"It's about Yavara."

"Of course." Glendian sighed, "I will not send more mages to their deaths unless your father sanctions it first. You can tell the whole kingdom I like men."

"That's very noble of you, but I came here on another matter."

"And what would that be?"

"Yavara's revelation has stirred rumors of past high-elves that turned dark." I gave Glendian a meaningful look, "I'd like to know if there's credence to these rumors."

Glendian stood up and walked over to a large bookshelf. He pulled out a dusty volume and opened it on the bed, the pages flipping autonomously. "This is the journal of Headmaster Drourian during the reign of King Vintian Ternias. It appears that a young woman began to gain features of a dark-elf and booked passage to Ardeni. Drourian writes that he believed it to be a disease, but then one of our men in Ardeni reported seeing a dark-elf with orange eyes running a brothel there. King Vintian Ternias disregarded the claim, and decided the woman was harmless as she was, and didn't press the issue further. Drourian concluded that the woman in question was either a dark-elf who slipped through the cracks, or a high-elf with an unfortunate pigment condition."

"Orange eyes. That sounds like Alkandi to me." I said.

"I would've said it was impossible just yesterday." Glendian shrugged, "Now, who knows?"

"What was the girl's name?" I asked.

"Rheyari, no last name is listed."

"Could we find her in the census?"

Glendian and I walked down the stairs from his chamber to the temple library. Glendian raised his hands above his head and said "Rheyari, census, years five-hundred to five-hundred-fifty." A book flew from across the room and landed on the table in front of us before opening itself, and turning to the page we needed.

"Here she is: Rheyari Cleatan." Glendian said.

"And her mother?" I asked.

"Etonia Cleatan." Glendian said as he scrolled through the text.

"Search for her."

Glendian called out the name, "Etonia Cleatan." A book flew across the room and landed on top of the census. It also opened to the page we needed.

"That's curious." Glendian mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

"This is the constable's report from five-seventy-one." Glendian said as he adjusted his spectacles, "It appears Etonia Cleatan was murdered by her husband. He claimed to have caught her sleeping with a faun. No other reference of Etonia nor Rheyari has been recorded, save for Etonia's census information."

"That is curious," I replied, puzzling over the information, "Glendian, can you find the names of the other elves who turned dark?"

"I've already looked." Glendian said wearily, "It was the first thing I did when I heard of Yavara's fate, hence why I had Drourian's journal at hand. One instance based on a rumor hardly makes a pattern."

I tapped my lips. "Missing persons. If there were other instances, the women would surely flee. Cross-reference missing girls -adolescent girls-, with..." I pondered the grains of the table, recalling how Yavara had reportedly disguised herself, "...human girls of a similar demographic exiting border customs."

"There are hundreds of border crossings between the Great Forest and the Highlands every day. What am I supposed to look for? Tan human girls between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, having crossed within a two-week period of a high-elf maiden's disappearance?" Glendian scoffed at me.

"Having crossed with the aid of Zander Fredeon." I said, letting my lip corner in a smile. Glendian's eyebrows rose. We searched the library for hours until we had five other names, all candidates who fit my criteria near perfectly. Unfortunately, learning that Zander had been a traitor for hundreds of years wasn't valuable information anymore, and that was really all that I'd revealed. Zander had escorted at least six dark-elves out of the Highlands, though I couldn't prove they were dark-elves, much less that they'd once been high-elves, and even lesser that they were Alkandi incarnations.

"Glendian, search for the names of all of their mothers." I ordered.

"It's well past midnight, and I'm fucking exhausted." Glendian groaned, "I don't know what you're trying to find, Leveria, but I can't help you unless you tell me."

"I don't need to explain myself, Glendian!" I snapped, "Just do as you're told!"

Glendian glared at me, but complied. Two hours later we had collected the names of all the mothers.

"Trikaraia Brondo." Glendian called out the name of one of the mothers. A book flew from across the room and opened its page to us.

"It appears Mrs. Brondo ran off with a band of goblins." Glendian said tiredly.

"Give me the next one." I replied as a theory formed in my head.

"Satara Dernsi." The book flew onto the table and opened to us, "Found alive and unharmed in a centaur camp. Died of natural causes in seven-fifty-nine."

"Give me the next one."

"Fistina Giteren, reported missing summer of eight-twenty-seven, returned from the Great Forest in the spring of eight-twenty-eight, died of childbirth winter of eight-twenty-nine."

"Give me the next one."

"Jalrara Bickterno, ran off to the Great Forest in nine-forty-five, found sixteen years later after a raid on the Dractali orc tribe. Appeared not to be a captive, wept over the corpse of her 'orc husband.'" Glendian's voice began to shake, "A mummified corpse was found lying on an altar within the encampment. It appeared to have been a high-blooded elf, though her hair was black, and in place of her eyes, were orange gems laden in the sockets. The body was burned, the orcs were slaughtered, and the mother was executed on the spot."

My heart beat hard in my chest, swelling with glee as a smile spread across my face.

"Leveria," Glendian whispered, his voice shaking, "Your mother..."

"I know." I said, my grin near to aching.

"King Tiadoa must never hear of this! I will not be responsible for the queen's execution!"

"I am your queen now, Glendian," I smiled as I stood over him, "Trenaria Tiadoa is a whore who slept with enemies of the state to beget a demon. You will bring this information to him first thing tomorrow morning. You will give him all the evidence we have collected, and you will be rewarded handsomely for your service to the king."

"I will not! You can tell the entire kingdom of my homosexuality; I will not have the queen's death on my hands!"

"Oh, Glendian!" I laughed as I pet his bald head, "You're not going to be outed as a faggot; you're going to be outed as a traitor. If you do not do as I ask, exactly as I ask it, I will give Father this information. I will tell him you tried to hide it from him. I will tell him you purposefully sabotaged the rescue mission so that Yavara could discredit him. I will tell him you conspired with the queen and Yavara to dethrone him, and he'll believe me. Once I present him with this shred of truth, all the lies I tell after will be validated in his eyes. Queen Trenaria Tiadoa might be put to the noose, but you, old man, you'll die slow. And I'll make sure that all those poor boys you've been fucking will die as your accomplices." I was almost kissing him, I was so close, "I'll make you watch as they are unmanned, dismembered, disemboweled and skinned alive. I will make sure they know who is to blame for their fates. The last thing you will ever see before your eyes are carved out, will be their faces, removed of skin, removed of hope, only hatred and horror staring back at you. I wonder then, if they'll thank you for your... service."

I could see the fear writhing behind Glendian's eyes. He knew I wasn't one to bluff. He bowed his head. He obeyed. I caressed his cheek and brought his tearful eyes to mine.

"Here's what I want you to do..."

The next day I sat down with Mother and Father in the communications room. I was giddy with excitement, and had to consciously calm myself to keep from drawing suspicion. Father and Mother had been talking with King Dreus through the enchanted mirror when I walked in.

"...why can't we speak with Yavara now?" Father asked.

"She's on a diplomatic mission." King Dreus responded.

"Oh?" I asked, "And who is she meeting with?"

King Dreus just laughed.

"You can't blame a girl for trying." I smiled back.

"And Head-ranger Adarian," Mother cut in, "he will be released?"

"I will give you Adarian as a sign of goodwill, Queen Tiadoa, but the others will hang; the people demand it."

"Thank you, King Dreus." I said, "Have him travel to us by portal. We need him now."

A knock thundered on the door, drawing the swift attention of everyone in the room. My heart leapt in my chest. This was it.

"My King," Glendian shouted from behind the door, "I have an important matter I must discuss with you immediately!"

"I am sorry, King Dreus, we will continue this conversation later." Father said as he pressed his hand to the mirror, causing King Dreus' visage to disappear. Father opened the door and let in Headmaster Glendian and five members of the king's guard, all armored to the hilt.

"Headmaster Glendian, what is the meaning of this?" Father demanded, "Why are the king's guard with you in full-plate?"

"It's for your own protection Your Highness, I have come across information that is of vital importance. Queen Tiadoa, please step three paces back from the king, and place your arms behind your back." Glendian commanded. The kings guard approached Mother, whose face was a masterpiece of confusion. Father regained his faculties before she did, and stepped before the advancing guards.

"Stand down!" Father roared at the king's guard before turning back to Glendian, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"My king," Glendian said as boldly as he could, "I have come across information that leads me to believe Queen Trenaria Tiadoa has conspired against the crown."

"Liar!" I cried, trying to sound as outraged as possible.

"You must be mistaken, Headmaster Glendian." Mother said shakenly, "I have always been a loyal wife and queen. Show us your evidence, and I will surely be able to refute it, and lay this issue to rest." I could see the pain behind Glendian's eyes, that horrible, pitiable look of someone who is watching the damned. To his credit, he did not reveal any of it elsewhere on his face.

"Glendian," Father growled, "this action is treason! I will throw you from the tower for this!"

"You may, my king," Glendian said solemnly, "but hear me out before you do."

"I will not indulge your conspiracy theories!"

"Hear him out." Mother said, regaining her composure, "My loyalty will only be proven stronger by these falsehoods."

"Mother don't..." I said pleadingly. I knew she would take my protest as a challenge to her credibility.

"Clartias," Mother said confidently, "Headmaster Glendian has always been a faithful servant of the crown. He is surely mistaken, and should not be punished for doing what he thinks is right. Allow him to speak, and we will cast aside this momentary fault of judgement."

"Proceed, Glendian." Father hissed through gritted teeth.

"My king," Glendian said as he laid out the books, "These texts are from the temple library. They are each adorned with a seal that prevents their alteration; these texts are true to the letter. Once news of Yavara's transformation reached my ear, I went directly to the library to investigate the cause of it. Look here, there have been six documented transformations of high-elf to dark-elf, evidenced by cross-referencing census information with immigration documents. The known traitor, Zander Fredeon, appears six times, each time with a woman between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, each of tan complexion and black hair. These border crossings..." Glendian gestured to the constable's texts, "...correlate directly with missing persons reports of elven girls in the exact same demographic."

"You are saying that Zander Fredeon has been a traitor for some time." Father said, barely containing his rage.

"For at least five-hundred years, perhaps longer." Glendian nodded.

"And these girls he took across the border; you believe they were like Yavara?"

"They were most likely incarnations of Alkandi, yes." Glendian showed Father the report of the mummified girl, "What became of the others, I do not know."

"Get to the fucking point, Glendian." Father growled.

"I was curious as to why these transformations occurred," Glendian explained. He cleared his throat nervously. "I hypothesized that it might have something to do with the pregnancy of the host mother."

Father and I both looked over at Mother, who's face remained stoic.

"And what does this have to do with me, Headmaster?" Mother asked, walking right into my trap.

"These constable reports are also of missing women; not of the girls themselves, but of their mothers." Glendian said as he ruffled through his annotated pages, "I cross-referenced the names of each mother from the census with the constable reports. Every single mother on this list -every single one-, was either caught fornicating with beasts, or implied to have been. That's six mothers of Alkandi, all of whom laid with monsters, none of whom were raped."

I savored the moment, the perfect stillness where the words hung like noose ropes in the air. I felt Mother shaking beside me, and I looked up at her. Oh, the guilt. It was written across her fear-stricken face like a tapestry. Mother was a good, honest woman, and it was going to cost her everything.

"That's not all, my king." Glendian continued, now telling the lie that would seal Mother's fate, "The reason I concluded that the pregnancy of these elves was the cause of the reincarnation, was because nineteen years ago, Queen Tiadoa came to my office and requested these very texts."

"He's lying!" Mother cried. Father ignored her, and beckoned Glendian to continue.

"I assumed she was looking through the census books for ancestral information." Glendian lied, "It was only last night, when I was pouring over these books, that I realized I had read them before. Nineteen years ago, Queen Tiadoa learned that the womb of an Alkandi mother must be prepared with the seed of a beast. Nine months after that, Princess Yavara was born."

Mother was speechless. Her body shook with fear, her hands trembling so frantically against the chair she was leaning on that it rattled against the ground. Father gazed at her, tears welling in his eyes.

"Trenaria, is this true?" He whispered it. Mother didn't answer. She opened her mouth to speak, but it did not yield words. Father grasped mother's face between his hands, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Trenaria, you need to answer me." Father said, such kindness in his eyes, but I saw the mask for it was.

"I..." Mother stuttered, "I... when I was... nineteen years ago, I found a wounded incubus on the side of the road. He was in his natural form. He was dying, and I pitied him. I brought him back to health, and he disappeared into the forest. That night, he came back. He said he wanted to thank me. He turned to a form I couldn't deny... it was a moment of weakness, Clartias, you must believe me! I never acted against you!"

Mother sobbed into her husband's chest. Father held her there, his hands rubbing against her back comfortingly. For a moment, I feared that my father would forgive her, that he could see the truth in her story and the lies in Glendian's. But then he grabbed a fistful of Mother's hair and forced her neck to snap back violently.