The cherry blossoms drifted from the sky, dancing in the wind like tiny sailboats before settling down on the lush, green grass. The suns rays were beginning to disappear behind the mountains, casting the sky into brilliant hues of orange and pink. The beauty was lost on Arias as she lowered her head, gently running a hand down her purple silk dress. “Oh, mother,” She whispered softly. “Tell me what to do.”
“The great Queen can guide you no longer, princess.”
She glanced up at the rasping voice, her face smooth and impassive as she surveyed her most loyal friend, Mesaqa. Age and sickness had transformed him almost beyond recognition. Gone were the strong hands and booming laugh that she remembered from her youth, replaced by a thin, sickly frame almost doubled over a walking stick and a rough, weak voice. His movements as he walked towards her were stiff and jilted and she turned her face, unable to look at him any longer for the overwhelmingly sadness she felt. He was not the only one suffering in the kingdom.
“I have never believed that, Mesaqa. She hears. She may lack her voice now, but I remember her spirit and that helps to guide.” She reached up, gently smoothing her blonde hair, braided and pinned up with a number of wild flowers. “Has the King sent word?”
“No, Arias. Nothing has been heard.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “But I'm afraid that is not why I approach. They have claimed the south wall.”
Her eyes flew back to meet him. “What?” She composed her face as best as she could, but the horror was visible in her eyes. “But the Captain was confident we could hold the Elerians back until the King-”
“They have unleashed a new weapon upon us, one we have never seen before. It's destruction was swift and unmeasurable. The wall was broken before we could mount an effective defense.”
“And why was I not informed sooner?” She stood up quickly, striding off towards the gate. “I want a full report now, including how far they've gotten and what we're planning to do to stop them!”
“Princess-”
She whirled around, glaring at Mesaqa as he slowly walked after her. “Now, Mesaqa! Until my father comes back I fully intend to make sure he still has a kingdom to come back to.”
The inner courtyards of the castle showed no signs of turmoil – soft music floated from the dining halls where many nobels would be gathered to eat and pray, although the later would most likely be very brief compared to the great feast she knew had been prepared. She herself did not approve of such practices and fully intended to have a great deal of change in that area when she took the throne as the only royal heir. But she could not allow herself to believe that day was soon and so, even in the absence of her father, she did little to stir the nobel's anger.
She moved past the courtyards, heading for the war room. She wished so hard now that as a younger girl she had ventured into the room while the great wise men of the army had been present, instead of playing with silly dolls and admiring useless dresses. But now many of them were dead and even more were gathered with her father, far away. Except for a few which had stayed to guard the city, she would have to figure all of this out on her own and the thought was daunting...
Stepping into the war room, she took her place at the head of the large table, nodding formally in reply to the bows of the men gathered there. Taking her seat, she surveyed the layouts before her. If the reports were correct, which she had no reason to doubt, their armies were driving back the Elerians. But they were unaware of that a number of the army had doubled back to the city and although she had sent riders, she did not believe that help would come in time. “How long before they break into the city?”
“Their machine takes a good deal of time to be moved. But once it arrives at the inner wall, we would have mere minutes.”
“How exactly does this new technology work?”
“It shoots a number of very large metal pikes. They ripped through the wall like paper and fixed into it, like some sort of barb. Then many elephants pulled large metal chains to pull the pikes back, taking the wall down with them.”
Arias looked down at the table again, fear growing inside her heart. She would fail her father. He fought, brave and determined, and if he survived he would return to discover she had allowed the city to be destroyed... No.
She stared down at the table in determination as she thought furiously. “So... without the elephants, the machine cannot be operated?”
“Yes. No amount of men could do such a thing. However, the elephants wear heavy armour which would not be pierced by arrows and an army stands between us and them.”
“But if they are stopped, surely our army stands a chance?”
“More then a chance, princess. We could evacuate our people to the castle, and provided the machine could not take down these walls as well, I believe our army would be successful at holding the ground until our armies return. But as I was explaining, I see very little chance of destroying the elephants-”
“Then perhaps there is another way,” Arias said slowly. “You said the walls were pulled down with the pikes? Towards there army?”
“Well, yes...”
“Then here is what we do...”
Sara read the last sentence, frowning slightly as she flipped through the rest of the book, finding nothing but empty pages. “Hey, Luke! Have you seen any books about the history of the Serioa people?”
“No, but the name is familiar. What have you found?” Luke pushed his glasses up his nose as he approached his young neice. She held up a leather bound book and he opened it up to the last page, smiling in fascination as he read it. “Amazing! To think it's just been sitting here, all these years!” He looked up at all the similar books lining the walls of the library. “It really is amazing that their in such good condition...” He mused.
“Uncle Luke, Serioa? You said it sounded familiar?” Sara said quickly, trying to direct his thoughts back to the book.
“Oh, yes. It's quite amazing, actually. Serioa, even though it was a small kingdom, was responsible for quite a few advancements in our society. It became quite prosperous, actually...”
“But it wasn't destroyed?”
“Hmm?” Luke glanced up from the pages. “Oh, right. No, I suppose not. I can't quite remember what happened, though... Strange that the book ends where it did. I wonder what happened to the rest?”
“It must be here, somewhere!” Sara said, her gaze sliding up the walls. “I'd like to know the end of it.”
“Oh, don't worry, child. The end is rarely interesting,” Luke said as he placed the book down and wandered over to a large box of scrolls. “It's the rest of the story that's the important part.”
