Goldfinches wearing light bronze armor engraved with the
royal sigil swooped down toward the capital city in a chaotic fury. Hornblende
was under siege. The Old Queens, who had been out of power for almost a decade,
were back to reclaim their rightful throne with their enormous black and gold army. The crazed
warlord who called himself the Mud King occupied the Royal Capital, which was
built into a shallow black granite cave inside of a tall cliff. The Mud King had
fortified himself within the magnificent Gold Palace, the highest point in the
city. The highly trained birds and their skilled and battle-hardened riders
came down on the city with force. The riders wore their signature black and
gold capes, along with polished bronze armor, trimmed brightly with the colors
of their home cities. The Mud King’s poorly equipped, and half-starved army of criminals,
mercenaries, and outcasts didn’t stand a chance against the elite soldiers and
their deadly birds-of-war.
Kourey wondered what it was like to
fly on the back bird as he stared upward at the giant mosaic of the famous
aerial assault on Hornblende. The tall dome ceiling of the Royal Council
chamber located within the Gold Palace was covered in mosaics originally made from brightly colored gemstones
that came from every corner of the empire. The mosaics depicted the famous and glorious victories
from the War for Unification.
Most of the mosaics were fragmented and faded. Several had
large chunks of their gemstones taken out and replaced with duller, less
valuable stones. The Great Drought put an enormous strain on the economy over
the past four years, forcing the antministration to dip into their extraordinary
display of riches. Even parts of the Gold Palace, such as the once extraordinary
spiral towers, had been removed and melted down into coins.
Below the deteriorating
mosaics, within the now less-decorative Gold Palace, the last surviving member
of the Old Queens sat at the head of a long, intricately carved black granite table.
She was the largest ant in the empire, with an abdomen almost twice as long as
Kourey’s entire body. She was also the oldest ant in the empire, at the age of
seventy-seven. She was still relatively healthy, but much slower than she was
almost fifty years ago when she was crowned.
The Queen of Queens was accompanied by three of her five
Royal Councilants. To her left, sat Councilant Zidney of Muscovite. He wore a
humble old cloak, which matched his pale brown body. The cloak was tattered and
torn, and frankly unfit for a Royal Councilant. He insisted, however, that it
was lucky, and vowed to never get a new one until his old one deteriorated
completely. His cloak aggravated several royal ants, including Astor Gorzae of
Feldspar, the last surviving Royal Goldfinch Rider, or so most ants assumed.
Gorz never talked about his past. Astor Gorzae sat at the right hands of the
Queen of Queens. He was almost as old as her, at the age of seventy. His
antennae hung tiredly low. Small cracks and battle scars covered his face, arms,
and thorax. His once vibrant maroon color had faded into a pale pink from years
of warfare and stress.
Gorz took guardianship over Kourey at a young age after his
father disappeared, and enlisted him in the Royal Academy. Ironically, Kourey
grew up to become Gorz’s sworn bodyguard, even though Kourey was not
technically a soldier. He was a Royal bodyguard, even though he was not a
soldier, and he was also allowed into Councilant meetings, even though he was
not a Councilant, but Gorz insisted on allowing him inside. Many believed he
was grooming Kourey to become his successor. Kourey watched the old ant from
his post near the entrance of the Councilant chamber. Gorz seemed more and more
tired each day.
Hunched over next to Gorz was Councilant Strom of Galena. His
four black hands gripped a tall cup of nectarwine. He seemed particularly
bitter on this day, with his silver cloak wrapped tightly around his shoulders,
in an almost defensive demeanor. He had held a constant frown from the moment
he walked into the chamber. Kourey watched as Strom took a long gulp of his
nectarwine and made an effort to slam a silver vambrace on the table as he set
down the cup.
“We need to kill them, all of them,” said Strom, interrupting
Councilant Zideny, who was saying something about the city’s water supply.
Strom’s voice was deep and smoky. He always sounded displeased, even when he
was entertained.
“Why should we kill them
when all we need to do is get rid of one?”
asked Gorz, in a calm and patient manor. Strom and Gorz hardly ever agreed.
“They’re all
traitors, Gorz,” said Strom. “They’ve lost their devotion to their queen in
Halite, and therefore, their loyalty to her Elegance the Queen of Queens!”
“You’re wrong,” countered Gorz. “Their devotion was taken
from them, and replaced with lies.”
Strom stared at Astor Gorzae as he took another big sip of
nectarwine. “The Sodden Pontiff killed her. He killed the Queen of Halite, and
what did the Halitions do? Nothing. No, worse than nothing, they believed the
Pontiff’s lies and they began to follow his radical order.”
“We don’t know for certain that the Sodden Pontiff killed the
Queen of Halite,” said Gorz.
Strom gestured gently toward the Queen of Queens with two of
his black arms. “Then how come her elegance can’t make contact with her? Her
elegance the Queen of Queens is connected to the queens of Galena, Feldspar,
Muscovite, and even the religious radical queen on the island of Basalt! He
killed the Queen of Halite, Gorz, face it."
“We don’t know that for certain, Strom, and we surely don’t
want to make any reckless decisions before we know the whole truth,” said Gorz.
“I think it’s more likely that the Sodden Pontiff removed her antennae, and is
now holding her hostage.”
“And do you think that’s any better?” replied Strom. “Either
way, the Sodden Pontiff removed the Queen of Halite from her rightful position
of power in the White City, and the citizens of Halite did nothing. Nothing,
Gorz. And for that, they need to be punished. All of them.”
“And what do you suggest we do, execute the entire city?” asked
Gorz.
“That would be a start,” said Strom.
Zidney leaned forward and took a deep, irritated breath. “As
I was saying, about our water supply-“
“My city of Galena can provide all of Hornblende’s water,”
interrupted Strom.
“For now,” said Zidney, dismissively. “But if the Feldspar River
continues to get lower and more polluted, we will have to rely completely on
the coastal cities of Halite and Basalt to bring us filtered seawater. How do
you expect the rest of the coastals to cooperate if we punish their largest and wealthiest city?”
“Zidney’s right, Strom,” said Gorz. “Until we can find the
reason for the sudden influx of pollution in the river, we cannot afford to
lose the coastals’ supply of filtered water.”
“I have my best officer leading an expedition north as we
speak," said Zidney. "I have complete confidence that Captain Fyodir will find the source of
the pollution, but until then, we can’t risk cutting ties with Halite and
Basalt."
“It is indeed true that we will need the costals’ water
supply to survive,” said the Queen of Queens. Instantly, everyone’s attention
went directly to her. She had a meek appearance, even with her large size. Her age showed with small cracks all around
her body, and her pure brown color had faded around her face and abdomen, much
like Gorz’s color had. She was frail, and couldn’t move well anymore, but her
voice could still effortlessly take command of a room. The Queen of Queens
continued, “But there is something else from the coastals that we need more
immediately than their water. We need their army.”
“How come, your Elegance?” asked Gorz. “The one who calls
himself the New Mud King hasn’t made any notable movements in years.”
The Queen of Queens leaned back paused for a moment, almost
hesitant. “Zidney, I think it’s time you tell the rest of the council what you
told me yesterday,” said the Queen of Queens.
Strom and Gorz gave their attention to Zidney. His usually
perky antennae lowered, in a serious fashion. “After I sent Captain Fyodir
north of the fork to find the source of the pollution, I sent several smaller
expeditions east, following the Mud River toward the Mangrove Swamp. Most never came back. The half dozen
ants that did come back shared some alarming news. The floating Mud City in the
swamp has grown rapidly, almost tenfold. And in the large open harbor, where there
were usually white sails of neutral trade ships, there are now hundreds of warships
with the brown and green sails of the Mud King’s army.”
“We don’t know how the Mud City grew so rapidly, but we can
safely assume where he’s going to take those warships, and we need to prepare
for the worst,” said the Queen of Queens. Though her voice was commanding, she
usually spoke with a gentle tone. Kourey had never heard the Queen of Queens
speak so sternly before.
“So, we need to build the army back up if we’re going to
stand a chance against the inevitable attack,” said Zidney. “The goldfinches
are long gone. They were too expensive to maintain. The rest of the royal army
has mostly dissipated, as the funding for it was allocated during the Great
Drought and the subsequent economic downturn. There is one city, however, which
still maintains its army. A city that has twice the population and wealth as
all the inland river cities combined.”
“But Halite’s army of traitors is under the command of the
Sodden Pontiff, who will never hand over his soldiers to Hornblende,” said
Strom doubtfully. “If anything, the Sodden Pontiff will join the Mud King, if
he hasn’t already.”
“Which is why the Sodden Pontiff must be killed,” said the
Queen of Queens. “I am just as upset with Halite’s actions as you are, Strom,
but right now we need their army, and their wealth.”
“So then how do we kill him? He’s holed up in his White City,
surrounded by devoted followers,” said Strom.
“We draw him out,” said the Queen of Queens. “We stage a
negotiation that he cannot refuse, promising him complete sovereignty. This negotiation will take place at the
halfway point between Hornblende and Halite.”
At that, Gorz’s sagging antennae perked up as high as they
could go. “Your Elegance, you mean to lure the Sodden Pontiff and his army to-“
“Your home of Feldspar,” said the Queen of Queens, completing
Gorz’s thought. “The negotiations will be on our turf, in the City on the Bridge. That’s when we assassinate the Sodden Pontiff, preferably by poison
with a delayed reaction. He’ll die in the company of his closest followers,
causing suspicion and distrust.”
“What do you mean we
assassinate the Sodden Pontiff?” asked Strom. “You would have the Royal
Councilants personally poison their threat?”
“No,” she said. “But it must be someone close to us. It can’t
be an assassin because an unfamiliar face during negotiations will arouse
suspicion. It must be someone on the inside, who is often seen with us. It must
be someone very close to us, someone who would never draw the attention of the
Sodden Pontiff.”
It was then when the Queen of Queens, and the three Royal
Councilants turned their attention to Kourey. Kourey stared as the four most
powerful ants in the Empire looked onto him with their full attention. Kourey
gripped his spear, which he almost forgot he had. He gazed at the Queen of
Queens, and then the three Councilants. He held his gaze on Gorz, and Gorz gave
him a nod. Kourey knew he had to do his duty to the Empire.
