The Queen's Test

Queen Carmilla was not at dinner with her visiting dignitaries from surrounding countries. She was not at her mother’s bedside, even knowing the woman who raised her only had a few hours left in this world. There were other places she wanted to be, but the fear pulsing through her city drew her to where she was needed. Her heart sank as she saw the cause of that fear appear on the horizon. 

Her brother.

Kirous was banished eight years ago for what he did to her and several young women in Varasta. The dark magic he’d used on them had left scars that would never heal.

Now Kirous rode a thin, ghostly pale horse over the sand to Varasta's gates with an army at his back. 

“They are nearly ten thousand strong.” Her guard Aton struggled to keep his voice steady and spine straight. “And it looks like he has maybe one hundred Griffons.”

From their vantage point, she and her guards had a clear view of the creatures., They looked like lions, but with feathers instead of a mane and wings flared above their backs.

“It appears my brother made friends across the black sands.”

“We only have…”

“Four thousand men in riding distance of the city. I know.”

She heard the rattle of soldiers forming a line behind her, or maybe they’d just begun shaking in their armor as fear sunk into them like rays of the midday sun. They all looked to her, and she swallowed the fires of her own fear to stand just a little bit taller. This was her fight now. If she wanted their support, she could not give up before her battle even began.

“Maque!”

Kairos yelled at her in the foreign language of the Tarmek. She shivered again looking at the winged beasts with their waiting jaws full of teeth. He’d yelled only one word to her in a mockingly sweet tone. Sister.

“Aton, send messengers to the nearby cities to ready themselves for attack. Tell those who can to flee the city across the Jaro River. That will buy time. And Aton, do not tell my mother. If she can meet the Gods with a light heart, I want that to be my last gift to her.”

Tears pressed at her eyes, but with fists balling into her turquoise silk skirt she held back the emotions. Her people needed their Queen, and she would sacrifice all she had to save them from falling prey to the Tarmek.

“Maque! Do not make me wait.”

His tone left no room for questioning, and the impertinence of that made her want to defy him. She was Queen of Varasta. But that title had only been hers for two days now and she could not start her reign hiding like a petulant child. Aton followed her down from the wall, running to follow his orders. Other guards attempted to escort her out as the gates opened, but she willed stone and steel into her green eyes. Her mother's eyes. The soldiers recognized something royal and final in that gaze that secured their feet to the cobblestones while Carmilla walked across shifting sand to meet her brother.

The beast he rode looked skeletal. Far more intimidating were the Griffons who made rumbling noises that shook her bones as she approached.

“Would you hear my offer Maque?”

“Your new accent and language make it apparent that we are no longer of the same line. We are not family Kairos.”

“Ah, we have both changed Carmilla. You are now Queen, and I am now the Warlock of Tarmek. As such, it is my role to execute the deal made years ago. I’m here call upon the new Queen to prove herself.”

“Varasta has no deal with the Tarmek.”

“Oh but they do. You will see.”

Kirous raise his hand, and a blast of power ripped Carmilla from her body. Her flesh peeled away and her screams disappeared into a gust of wind. Something foreign and slimy coated her, encased her, then when she believed she would suffocate, melted away.

Carmilla looked down, and saw two small hands where the ones she was familiar with should be. She stood feeling light and limber, and far too short. Carmilla looked around her at a field full of grain, speckled with bursts of orange flowers reaching for the sun's attention. She gasped when she caught sight of what should have been her reflection in a stream flowing by her side. What she saw was a young girl, maybe eight years of age with the speckled face and wild brown hair of the young princess she used to be.

Before she could grasp where she was something changed about the orange flowers. They caught the sun's rays, glowing brighter and brighter. Finally they burst into flames that consumed the hay field. The food of Varasta was disappearing in dozens of fires that spread, connecting to one another in serpentine lines. She ran and followed the stream away from the fields. Smoke filled her lungs, ripping at her insides as she coughed and began stumbling. Carmilla fell to her knees in the dirt of the field. She lay low, hoping to avoid the rising smoke while knowing she was in danger of the flames.

A black foot, that did not look much like a foot, stomped into her view. The dirt did not seem to shift a grain as the clawed toes came within inches of her. When she looked up, a black, jackal-headed man with veins of yellow popping out of its face, arms, and legs looked down at her. She hurtled back to her feet trying to run away so quickly that she only fell onto her ass. The jackals mouth twisted in a smirk that was mocking, and familiar.

“Kairos?”

“In this world, I am called The Warlock. Only the Tarmek people enter this part of the vision world. Only the bravest deserve to walk in this place.”

“Take me home Kairos!” She wished for her commanding voice back, instead of this high-pitched child’s wail.

“If you want to save your people, you will prove yourself here. Fail, and my Griffons will eat well tonight.”

Kairos disappeared in a whirl of grainy mist. The heat of the flames and smoke must have been blocked from her through their conversation. Now it returned to fill her body with each breath. Her mind threatened to snap, thoughts fleeting and moving fast. Through the smoke she saw water, and honed her focus. The stream. She ran to the stream, choking and losing oxygen with each step. As soon as it was close enough, she dove in. The water was as deep as she was tall and the current was swift.

Tiny waves splashed her face, cleared the smoke and ash, and swept her away from the burning fields. She’d escaped the fire, but had not been able to save the grain. She would find another way to feed her people. She was already thinking up the plans, before remembering she was in the vision created by Kairos. Her bobbing body hit a rock. Then another. Then a log knocked the wind out of her and a weird sensation went through her body and she rolled into the stream's shallows. As she stood, reaching her normal height once more. Looking down at the thin, mirror-clear water at her feet she looked her true age of twenty-five.

“The Lady Carmilla has arrived!”

In a splash of the water, her clothes shifted from royal turquoise to a dusty gold with floral lacing. A veil fell over her face and head. She looked for the hareld who dared call her “Lady” instead of “Queen”. Carmilla turned to face the ceremonial altar in the high temple of Varasta. Her brother stood at there next to a priest and the binding ribbons of a marriage ceremony.

“Come sister. Now we will not only maintain the royal bloodline of Varasta, will create a child with the magic of the Tarmek. I will no longer be a bastard. The Tarmek people will have a hold on this land forever.”

“No!” Carmilla backed up toward where the stream had been, but only hit a wall. Walls were all around them, trapping her with her brother. Kairos had a feral look in his eye as he stalked to her.

“To the altar sister.”

“I will not marry you. You will not have my people.”

“You can’t rule alone. You are not like our mother. You are not so strong. Without me and the child we’ll have together you're nothing. With me as king magic will protect Varasta.”

“But you won’t. You have never cared about the people who lived here. The farmers, merchants, craftsmen, even nobility will suffer under your mind games!”

“You have not yet seen my games.” He was so close she could smell carrion on his breath, as if he were an unearthly predator. He reached out a hand with clawed fingers and ripped away the veil, then smiled and got closer to her.

“No. You will never have me or this land Kairos. Not even in a dream.”

She allowed the otherworldly presence Kairos had standing before her to sink in. Reminded herself this was not real. He reached out and grabbed the back of her neck, holding her painfully. It felt real. His hand ripping her hair and pulling her head back hurt as if it were. But if he could hurt her in a dream, she could hurt him.

Carmilla reached for the pin that held the ceremonial bow in place on the back of every traditional Varasta wedding dress. Just as Kairos went to kiss her, or bite her, she pulled the pin free and twisted painfully to swing her small weapon. The pin sunk completely into her brother's neck.

He backed away, gasping and gurgling trying to find the end of the pin shoved into him. Carmilla’s gold dress had a spray of blood that looked like tiny rubies scattered over her bodice.

“You're not the only one who can cause pain Kairos. Your test proves nothing.”

“I would not say that Queen Carmilla.” She whipped around and found an open expanse of darkness where the wall behind her had been. Warlock now stood there straight and arrogant, licking its chops and grinning. Carmilla looked back to where the dream Kairos had been and found nothing.

“It hurts me sister, that your greatest fear for the present is marrying me. I can assure you, members outside of our family would show even less kindness to a woman attempting to rule on her own.”

“Mother ruled for twenty glorious years. It can be done."

“When you fail, well, maybe we will revisit this fear again and see if you can overcome it in the physical world. This time without killing your new husband. I think you would find the Tarmek are strong allies.”

“If I must finish this test, let me finish it Kairos.”

“I would not be so eager if I were you Carmilla.”

The ground beneath her shifted to sand, and sucked her down. The grains ran over her skin, roughly tearing at her, grinding her down, leading her to feel weaker and more frail. She tried to scream but the sand filled her lungs. After a moment that felt like an age, she fell onto a stone floor in the palace of Varasta.

A voice carried through the room, echoing in its cold anger.

“Commander Garr you have failed Varasta. Your insolence insults our closest allies. Do you have any words before I claim the penalty that is due?”

The young woman’s voice sounded familiar, but, not. Carmilla stood and knew instantly that she was older than before, much older. She looked to the woman who was speaking. A new Queen sat on her throne, a headdress of gold string laden with gems stretched over her forehead and around her black, slicked hair. Her black dress flowed to the floor and crept forward like an eerie shadow toward the soldier kneeling before her. He spoke to the Queen of Varasta. Carmilla’s daughter.

“I will not give my men to the Tarmek. Not anymore. They use them for sport Queen Chiona. They take the men you give and feed them to the Griffons!”

“They assist in the Griffon’s training." The sickening way Chiona’s lips pulled into a smile twisted something in Carmilla’s stomach. She knew. Her daughter was knowingly sending her people to the Tarmek to die! How had this come to pass? She moved forward, but something stopped her. A barrier of air.

“You will not interfere in this.” Warlock appeared beside her, seeming to be as invisible to the people around the throne as she was. ‘“You will watch, and decide.”

Before Carmilla could protest Chiona stood from her throne. A sword appeared in the Queen’s hand and she walked to the kneeling soldier with her lips twisting in that grin that was too much like Kairos's.

“As punishment for denying the Queen’s request to maintain the alliance,” Chiona said, “your life is forfeit to the sands of Varasta.”

The Queen, her daughter, plunged the sword through the soldier's heart in a quick and all too easy motion. Carmilla turned and was violently sick as the scent of blood quickly filled the air. Chiona seemed unphased, and that clawed at Carmilla’s insides even more than the slumping body.

“How.” Carmilla finally managed, wiping bile from her lip. “How did this happen. I did not marry you. Will not marry you! How did my daughter become like you!”

Warlock chuckled, an impossibly dark sound from the lips of a jackal. “You act as if I'm the only darkness in the world. You are just as capable of dark decisions as I am. So is your daughter. It doesn’t matter who sires your children Carmilla, they will grow to see the world as I do. They are born to royalty. They'll desire power, control, alliances, and wealth. If you have children this is who they will become. The jackal's head grinned at her.

“What do you want from me.”

“Choose Carmilla. Choose now to end your line, and it will be so. Choose now to cut your branch off our family tree and end this. Spare your people the pain your children will cause.”

Carmilla straightened her aged spine and looked at her daughter who was once again sitting on the throne of Varasta. Draped in darkness and watching a pool of blood coat the halls floor she possessed the look of a demon. Where had Carmilla gone wrong?

“No.” She said quietly.

“It is easy Carmilla. You make the vow now, in this world, to never have children and it will be so. Stop this before it begins.”

“No. This world is about fear. You said I have to prove my worth. Well I will face this, not run from it.”

“You doom your people maque!”

“I will not allow the fear you put in me to stop my reign and my life. Mother raised me to value honor, duty, and family even if you failed her in each regard. You may not have followed her teaching and you may not have allowed her goodness to seep into your soul, but I did. My future children deserve a chance to help Varasta. I will guide them as I must, and I will pray that it is enough. I will not end my family before it begins out of fear.”

“Foolish woman.”

“And a woman brave enough to face all that is to come, brother.”

The throne room melted away, and in a way Carmilla did too. She felt the age peel off of her like a snake's skin, leaving her fresh and new. The colors of the world around her shifted and blended. Then she was once more standing outside of Varasta’s gates facing Kairos on his pale horse. His brows were drawn and his face dark.

There was silence for a very long moment. Carmilla saw every face in the Tarmek army staring with anticipation at Kairos, fingers flexing on weapon and leashes to the Griffons. Kairos groaned as he turned the pale horse to face his army.

“Varasta is still ruled by a true Queen, filled with bravery and strength even when facing the vision world. Tarmek has no place in Varasta. Yet.”

He did not look back at Carmilla as he kicked the pale horse into a gallop away from the city gates. Griffons tore the metal leashes from their trainer's hands and leaped into the air, following Kairos away from her home and toward the black sands. The soldiers were slow to follow, but follow they did.

Queen Carmilla stood for a long moment alone, staring at the empty sands outside her city's walls before Aton came running to her side. He lightly touched her arm, and suddenly a rush of sound she didn’t know she’d been ignoring reached Carmilla’s ear. Her people lined up in and around Varasta cheering her name. Relief washed through her city, and she turned to see tears in Aton’s eyes.

“Would the Queen like to walk among her people today?”

“Yes,” she replied, tears coming to her own as well. “I would.”