Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles (19 page)

The Queen hesitated. “I suppose this is my fault for encouraging my house-husband to speak his mind.”

The other women chuckled knowingly.

“Like I told you, my Queen, you have to keep them under your thumb. They’re happier that way anyway.”

“Please, your majesty, at least try,” Albashire requested. “Daians wouldn’t give up so easily.”

Queen Athel raised an eyebrow, indicating that she didn’t approve of having her fandom used against her. Slowly she took a breath. “You may try, Alder. When nothing happens then we can return to court.”

Alder bowed thankfully. Slowly he approached the spot on the wall, the baby in his arms. As he drew near, the amber began glowing brighter and brighter. As he stood before it, the whole room began to resonate and buzz with energy.

The women looked on in astonishment as the featureless wall reshaped itself into an archway. It was different that Milia’s, more angular, with different scriptures etched into its surface.

“Impossible,” Teak whispered.

Even the Queen was unable to hide her astonishment.

Albashire was elated. “Ha! I knew it!”

“What…what is this?” Captain Tallia asked, shielding her eyes.

Alder reached up and traced his fingers over the etched symbols. “I’m not sure. These scriptures…I’ve never seen them before. They are passages from books I’ve never heard of.”

“No one has.”

“This is devilry,” Teak whispered. “Somehow these men have defiled this place, erected this abomination alongside Milia’s doorway. It must be destroyed.”

Captain Tallia drew her sword. “I agree.”

As Archivist Teak stepped forward, her staff raised to strike, the archway rippled with energy and she was thrown back, knocking over three of the royal guards.

“Guess women can’t enter this one,” Albashire noted.

Teak bunched her fists as she was helped up. “No, that cannot be! There is no place restricted to the daughters of the forest!”

The Queen tried as best she could to collect her thoughts. “I’m…not sure what to make of this. I did not expect him to actually find something. I was just humoring Alder to be polite.” She looked up. “But, one thing I do know. There is no magic in the world so potent that it could modify the royal tree without her consent. Not even another god could do it without killing her in the process.”

“Then why is it here?”

Queen Athel’s eyes trembled. “There is only one possibility I can think of. It has always been here.”

She looked over the glowing scriptures. “How could I have not known about this…?”

“Your mother never told you anything?” Albashire asked. “No royal secrets, hidden from everyone but the Queen herself?”

Athel gave him a scolding look before catching herself. “That may be how it works on your island, but not here.”

For several moments, they all stood and stared, unsure of what to do, or what to make of it.

“So, what is inside?” Albashire wondered, breaking the silence.

Alder turned to his wife. “My Queen, allow me to take Ash inside and see.”

A moment of concern passed through her eyes.

“It is all right, you said yourself, this is a sanctuary. Nothing can hurt us here.”

“No, we must leave,” Teak cautioned, backing away. “Let us allow this door to close and never speak of it again. We will forbid the child from ever returning.”

Queen Athel hesitated as she looked at her husband. “Can we really know it will be safe?”

Alder thought on it. “No, we cannot. But I believe behind that door are the answers to everything I have been seeking. Please, I beg of you, allow me to pass.”

The earnestness in his eyes took Athel back a bit. It was rare for him to ask anything of her, especially so earnestly. Every motherly instinct she possessed wanted to say no, but there was something in his eyes that she could not deny.

Queen Athel reached out and touched her baby’s perfect little head. “You keep him safe, okay?”

Alder bowed formally. “I swear it will be done, by the Matriarch of my house.”

Athel tried to hold back her fears. “You’d better. That is my mother you are talking about.”

Alder smiled and stepped forward. The royal guards formed up around the Queen. It seemed strange for them to be protecting her in such a holy place, but after what they had just seen, they couldn’t be confident of anything anymore.

Alder and Ash stepped up to the archway. Its surface rippled like a pond. Closing his eyes, Alder stepped through, passing through the amber stone as if it were nothing more than a thin layer of liquid. It pooled around him, clinging tightly to every surface, betraying any attempt by the others to peek within. Then he and the baby were gone, the wall thickening behind them.

“Are you all right?” Athel called out, unable to hold her tongue.

“Yes, we are both perfectly fine,” Alder’s voice came back muffled.

“What do you see?”

“We are in a vaulted chamber, vine and leaf patterns carved into the walls. It is impeccably clean. I cannot find dust or dirt on any surface.”

The Queen closed her eyes. “We do not need to know about the cleanliness of the chamber. Is there anything in there with you?”

“Yes, there is an altar of polished crystal, and a vessel of clear water.”

Captain Tallia leaned in to Archivist Teak. “Like Milia’s mirror,” she whispered.

“Be silent! We must not speak of the inner sanctum before the foreigner.”

The women glanced back at him menacingly.

“I tell you what,” Albashire said as he backed off. “I’ll go stand way over there so I don’t overhear anything that will land me in a dungeon.”

“That is probably wise,” Queen Forsythia counseled.

Once he was out of earshot, the women whispered to one another.

“Could it be an Oath Altar to Milia?” The Queen wondered.

“It couldn’t be. The scriptures specifically state there can be but one altar where a woman’s heart can be tested,” Teak stated.

“Well, if it’s not an altar to Milia, then what is it?”

“Alder, what shape is it?” Queen Forsythia called out through the wall.

“Squared, with a curled fern head decoration at each cardinal point,” Alder called back. The filigree work is flawless. There are no tool marks, even up close. Every surface in here is warm to the touch.”

“You really shouldn’t be touching anything in there.”

“Sorry.”

“That sounds exactly like Milia’s mirror,” Captain Tallia whispered. “Could it have been moved to this new room somehow?”

“If it has we must retrieve it,” Teak asserted. “It is one of our most holy oracles.”

Archivist Teak stepped forward, but was again forcefully thrown back into the guards. Her feet shot up awkwardly into the air as she rolled onto her plump back.

Captain Tallia chuckled. “I could watch her do that all day.”

“Don’t just stand there, help me!” Teak barked, stretching out her arm. Captain Tallia reluctantly grabbed her with her remaining hand and helped the aging woman to her feet.

Albashire covered his mouth to hide a chortle.

From inside, the sound of a baby crying could be heard.

“Oh no,” Alder said, his voice muffled.

The Queen’s eyes went wide. “What? What is it? Is the baby all right?”

“Not exactly.”

The Queen moved to rush towards the sealed archway, but her guards held her back. “Do not frighten a mother. What is wrong with my baby?”

“He needs a change.”

Athel froze. “What?”

“His diaper is soiled.”

Athel exhaled sharply.

“So change him,” Captain Tallia snapped.

“I would, naturally. But, um…”

They all looked down at Alder’s satchel lying at their feet.

“You left the diaper bag behind?”

“I cannot tell you how embarrassed I am.”

The Queen regained her composure. “Very well, Alder, you may come out now.”

There was a dull thud from within.

The Queen waited impatiently. “I said you may exit.”

Another thud.

“It appears that the door will not open.”

“What?”

“I appear to be trapped.”

The Queen’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. Behind her mask, she imagined all of the ways she would yell at him once they were alone.

“This is just like the trial of the mirror,” Captain Tallia whispered. “The room will not release him until the ceremony is completed.”

“But we don’t know what the ceremony is. How could he complete it?”

“Perhaps it is the same as the mirror trial. We could tell him how to complete it.”

“Are you crazy? We cannot divulge the details to a man, doing so would break our oaths,” Teak insisted.

The Archivist marched up to Milia’s door and turned around, outstretching her hands. “I will not allow you to remove the remove the oracles from the inner sanctum.”

“How can he complete the ceremony without the oracles?”

Before she could answer, Archivist Teak was thrown forward away from Milia’s sanctum, crashing to the floor.

“What…what was that?” she asked in panic, sliding loose strands of hair away from her face.

The women were dumbfounded.

Captain Tallia stepped forward and outstretched her remaining hand, but she too was shoved away by Milia’s rippling archway.

“How is this possible? A daughter of the forest is barred from Milia’s Heart?”

“These men,” Teak snarled as she stood up. “These men must have corrupted the royal tree somehow.”

The Queen’s hazel eyes widened in understanding. “No, it is because you are not his wife.”

Archivist Teak furrowed her brow. “What?”

“Alder, did you not say that anciently the position of Ruler of the Forest was held by a wife and husband together?”

“That is my theory, yes.”

Captain Tallia stepped before Athel. “My Queen, just three minutes ago you said you were only humoring him.”

“It has been a very persuasive three minutes.”

Archivist Teak rose to her feet, spittle dripping down her chin. “Blasphemy!” she screamed. “He has corrupted you as well.”

“Now see here,” the guards said, readying their weapons. “You will not speak to your Queen in such tones.”

The Queen motioned for them to stand down and calmly turned to her accuser.

“Archivist Teak, do you really consider me so feebleminded and weak-willed that I could be dominated by a man?”

Teak’s eyes flickered. “Ah…”

“Do you really consider our Goddess so feckless that a few mortal men could alter her inner sanctum?”

Teak lowered her hand. She shifted her weight abashedly. “Um…no, I…”

Carefully she lowered her head. “My apologies, my Queen.”

Gently, the Queen placed a hand on her shoulder. “I share your trepidation, Rosetta, but your wild accusations are not helping this situation. Is the forest known for being rash?”

Recognizing the scriptural passage she was quoting, the Archivist raised her face and completed the stanza. “No, you are right. The forest is cautious, paced, measured, meaningful.”

“Well said. Before we can decide what to do, we must first understand what it is we are dealing with.”

Queen Athel took her staff and spun it once around in her grip. “I am going inside,” she declared.

Her guards protested, but did not intervene as their Queen scooped up the bag and stepped forward, passing unbarred through the thin membrane of amber and into Milia’s inner sanctum.

Once inside, she found things very different from the last time she had been in here. The normally featureless north wall was covered with scriptures in the old tongue. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn’t make most of it out. In her doubts, she placed yet another block on the pile of reasons why she was not worthy to wear the crown. Spirea’s words still bit deeply into her.

Am I really nothing more than a spoiled child pretending to be Queen?

In her heart, she feared that it was true.

She closed her eyes and let her fears drain out of her as best she could. She could not share her doubts with the link. They needed her confidence if the forest was to survive this war. But, what was the forest? She realized that she wasn’t as sure as she had been before. This was all so new, it shook her roots, made her second-guess everything she thought she knew about Wysteria.

Then she noticed a circular cavity in the center of the wall, barely bigger than her fist. She stooped down to investigate, and found a face staring back at her.

“Ahhhhh!” Athel shrieked, falling back onto her rump.

“Are you all right, Athi?” Alder asked her.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

“My apologies.”

“Are you all right, my Queen?” came the muffled voice of Captain Tallia from outside.

“Yes, I am fine,” she answered, a little embarrassed.

Athel picked herself back up and adjusted her circlet. “What are you doing in here?” she asked through the hole.

“I have not left the chamber.”

Athel scratched her elegantly pointed ear. “So, the two chambers are now connected.”

“Were they not before?”

“No, there has always been only one way in or out.”

“I see.”

Athel noticed that Alder was not wearing his shirt. Through the hole she could make out the deep scars on his back and shoulders.

“Where is your shirt?”

Alder held up Ash, who was cooing happily as he sucked in his thumb, wearing Alder’s shirt as a makeshift diaper. “I improvised.”

Athel wanted to smile, but first had to look around to make sure no eyes were upon her, then finally allowed it to come across her face.

“Thank you for taking such good care of our son,” she said sincerely.

Alder smiled warmly. “Of course, Athi.”

Without thinking, they both naturally reached through the cavity and held hands. As soon as their skin touched, the walls began glowing, and the entire tree seemed to vibrate and shudder.

The far wall of amber thinned and vanished, so much light spilling in that it washed everything else out. Athel covered her eyes, but even through her fingers and eyelids, the light seemed to overpower her.

Alder never let go of her hand.

When her eyes finally adjusted, she was astonished at what she saw. A room of pure pearl and silver, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. Streams of clear water cascaded along every surface, pooling into a shallow pond that comprised the majority of the floor. The air felt incredible, energized, like life itself.