S2 Chapter 7 Caught in the Middle

Holy Wood, Ao'o, 2020 AC/DC, Day.

Her mother had been gone two months! Months and not a word! Last they heard of her she had ridden off to settle land disputes and a fire and had done so. But of course, the treaties lasted a short while. not on the fault of lords and ladies of the land but simply because the pagan tribes that had no kings or queens were always at war.

Dawn did not bother with them. But Richi was busy in the throne room at that moment, reading letters and corespondents form afar. Dawn picked her nails with a wooden pick and acted nonchalant. Rosie was in classes and Dawn had little else to do on this day, instead she was watching her Uncle. maybe he knew something of her mother, though she doubted it.

He also didn't seem aware of Dawn's discoveries. He didn't seem to know a damned thing about the Silver eyed man her mother was so infatuated with. Her dark blue eyes stared at her uncle as he sighed over this paper and that.  No doubt he was reading over the bills her mother accumulated. But still he didn't seem so bothered, just annoyed.

Just as she was judging him he spoke out loud.

"Again! Just as you mother settles one dispute there is a siege at Darkness Castle."

As she was the only one else present she knew he was trying to include her in subjects of the lands.

"That's a little farther north."

He looked up and from across the hall said, "You are not as interested in far lands as your mother."

"Why should I be? Allies yes, but there is nothing for me there."

He seemed to think about that statement. It rang a bell in him.

She toyed with him. "What's that look for?"

"She does love the Sabbath lands. . . ."

"Glad I'm not the only one who noticed," Dawn said, a grin teasing her voice but not her lips.

"But still, she knows the importance of taking care of ones allies. As the epicenter of the known world its nearly our duty. If and when you inherit the throne, you will be forced to care for countries beyond our boarders"

She scoffed. "We shall see."

"Speaking of which," he trailed off while reading a letter. His eyes skimmed over words but each syllable only seemed to make him more dismal. "This is not good. They are not prepared for such a siege." He put the letter down in his lap and looked at the floor in thought. "My diplomats are holed up in the Sabbath Lands."

"What are you going to do? Go yourself?" Dawn laughed, she saw a plan building. "We need you here, send someone else."

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick black hair. "At the moment there is no one else." His gaze wandered at dates on papers. "This was dated not long ago, this one reports that the siege is imminent," he held up another. "This one is an account from an outside source."

She sat up from her  slouch. "I can go."

"No no, I will. Its an isolated place and I know the young Prince, Ozzie. Better than you do so it will be easier for me to deal with this."

She shrugged at his truth. "If you insist."

He looked up at her. "I will leave you in charge of the estate managers until I return."

"You need not worry Uncle, I won't cause damage. I will not take with force what is mine by birth." She grinned wolfishly. "Not like I'm in any hurry to become Queen."

                                                                              *

As she watched Richi leave the castle for an extended trip to the Sabbath Lands. He had given a great sigh and then made the necessary arrangements to make her Queen Regent until his return and after a short time preparing he was gone. Dawn was beyond overjoyed with herself. She assured her uncle that she would refrain from making any major decrees or actions until he returned.

The first day she received nothing to do. She merely sat on the throne with glee and dwelled on thoughts of what she could do. She didn't have much time. She summoned two men to her side, great warriors and bards. Loyal as long as she had known them.

They stood before her on the second day of her Regency, they were in her chambers as she wished no one to know what she was doing.

"Sir Kyle, Sir Jables. You two have been called to help me."

"But of course," Kyle said. "In what way do you need our services?"

"I need you two to do a bit of dirty work for me."

Jables looked uncertain for a moment. "Ok are you sure? Because we aren't Dirty Deeds men you know." When he received a blank stare he went on. "You know, its cool! Forget I asked, whatever it is! You got it." he smiled.

She presented two large bags of coin on her table. "Thrice this much awaits you if you trap my uncle at Ozzie's castle. Set fire to the grounds, inflame the riots, I don't care just cause havoc and keep him there."

The looked at each other, then the gold, then they nodded.

And they both said! "OK."

She provided them with horse, food and funds and sent them away.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Four months after Star's disappearance. . . .


Dawn circled her coveted throne. What was hers by birthright as the only surviving child of the last Lizard King. When she came of age she began hearing whispers of her two elder sisters and how they vanished into the night before she was born. Around this time her father also disappeared and it wasn’t until after Dawn was born that the BOC kidnapped her and imprisoned her mother. 

Her eyes concentrated on the thing her father seemingly never wanted. Dawn however, wanted this, she wanted what her father left her, what her sisters gave her, what her mother had shed blood for. But due to some witch’s prophecy about a bastard king, Star refused Dawn rulership, believing that death would follow her crowning if she sat on an Earthen throne. Foolish loon.

“My Lady!” A messenger approached with a guard by his side. 

Dawn was alone in the throne room, after she had tricked Richi into leaving Holy Wood she happily took command. By order of succession, with the Warden of Holy Wood gone and the Queen gone, it fell on the Princess to assume leadership. With their prolonged departures backing her reasoning, she had begun preparations for her coronation as Queen.

“We have received word from the Sabbath Lands.” He held out a rolled piece of paper. It had a red seal with Richi’s stamp on it, unbroken. 

Dawn nodded in dismissal and while the messenger left the guard remained. He saluted her and relayed more.

“Dee Astoria of the BOC wishes to have an audience with you my lady.” He announced.

She thought it over and then nodded. “Send him in.”

He bowed his head and left the room. Dawn swept to the throne and took a seat, slow sitting down. She savored the feel of control. Dee was no doubt coming to speak to her about the nobles. He among the BOC mingled in the courts, Dawn considered him a spy and if he was she wanted to keep an eye on him. He was the only member of the BOC her mother trusted, which shocked Dawn considering their past. 

No doubt he came to tell her how unrest and uneasy floated through the courts of nobles. Dawn knew it, it had been a challenge these last few months, gaining their support. She had tried to attend more manager and nobility council meetings, and tried to appear interested. She tried to make it look like she had curbed her rambunctious behavior.

As she waited for Dee to enter she unraveled her uncle's message. It was spotted with blood, she doubted it was Richi’s. Most likely another messenger’s. 

“Dawn, the clan war has cut us off. Cannot get out, will seek shelter with the Prince of Darkeness Castle until the war subsides. Please send an extraction! -Richi.”

She grinned, she had no intention of sending help. It was no secret that those lands were sometimes blockaded for months during their clan wars. The longer he was kept away from Holy Wood, the longer she was able to gain control. She heard the approach of softly padded feet and looked up. Dee Astoria, tall and narrow faced, with his platinum hair tied back. There was something Dawn could never trust about him, something she saw that her mother did not. But she didn’t know what it was she saw exactly. 

“Hello Princess,” he bowed his head. “I heard Lord Richi has been away over a month now and came to see. How fares the throne in your uncle’s absence?”

Straight to the point, at least he knew that Dawn would waste no pleasantries with him. “It fares well. It is, after all, my inheritance.” She gave him a look of faux confusion.  "Everyone seems concerned about my business in his absence."

Dee eyed the rolled up parchment in her hand. She tightened her grip.

"Some of the nobles say it odd that you plan to crown yourself when neither are proven dead."

"Given the circumstances, I believe it a logical course of action. Did you come here to speak secession?" She kept it as civil as she could manage. 

He was taken slightly by surprise. “I came to extend my alliance as I did to your mother. I believe we may help each other.”


“Oh?”

“I come with information, whispers and statements committed by nobles. They are uneasy about your rumored
ascension.”

“Tis no rumor. They will grow to accept it.”

“I hope you are right. Many wish that Princess Rosie takes your mother’s place.”


Dawn smirked. “My daughter is next after me. She is much too kind for the heavy ideals of monarchy. She will come after me I can assure them of that.”


“They wish it now.”


“Do you?” 


“Of course not, I wish whoever sits on the throne to be a capable leader and of the right blood.” He came closer and smiled respectfully. 


“Does he think we are friends?” She thought to herself. Out loud she said. “With my uncle gone the responsibility of Holy Wood falls upon me and I will take it up. Whether the nobles want me or not is of no consequence as I AM the king’s only living daughter.”

Something like a twitch in Dee’s eye made her narrow her own and raise an inquisitive eyebrow. But he concealed whatever he was thinking. 


“They are used to Star’s rule, they will be hard pressed to accept you. You are after all, an excellent and noted war strategist. But this is not the Underground nor a battlefield, you are the queen apparent. However, if there is a revolt you will not be what you were born to be.”

“Is that so?” She asked with an even tone. 

“Indeed it is. You must play a different face within the courts of these nobles. Many of them are immortal like your mother and yourself. They are used to her soft hand, threatened by the loyalty she evokes in the common people.”

“I have loyalty. I do not worry over the opinion of those who were not born from the last Lizard King of Holy Wood.”

“I knew you would say that.” He grinned as if he was friendly with her. “Many opt to free the Sabbath lands as it is now known that they have been cut off and your uncle seems to have become part of the clan battle.”

“It is unfortunate that he is stuck behind the blockade. But now is not the time to worry about lifting a blockade. It is my understanding that this happens often, that they are out of direct control of Holy Wood and they were my Mother’s allies. She was the one always riding to their defense. But I am not my mother, I will clean up whatever is left of the dispute but I decide to let them battle it amongst themselves. Their land wars do not concern me.” 

Dee, seeing that she was a harder challenge than he first thought decided he needed to regroup his thoughts and plans. He smiled and nodded. 

“Any news of your mother’s return? People do wonder.”

She felt that their conversation was nearing an end, thank the gods. “There is no news forthcoming. I sent my men, the Tenac, to go search for answers but they not yet returned. In such an instance I have decided to commence with my coronation and a wedding on the same day.”

“Oh? A wedding you say?” He seemed keenly interested.

She nodded. “The Wizard, Sir James, is to be made my husband and King.”

“The first wizard to become king of Holy Wood, my my what a shock.”


“It is no secret that we are lovers. If I can assume that you worry he will take power over me, I can assure you he will not. King in title only. It is MY throne and I will be the ruling Queen.” 


“I will convey your thoughts.” He said, he was about to say more but she interrupted.


“Be sure that you do and give them the honest telling of what I said here today.” Her test upon him to see just what he did with knowledge. “And ready the people for my coronation and wedding.”


“As you wish,” he said as he bowed. He turned and left with a parting smile that Dawn took to be sly and friendly. Falsely so.


As he left she called for a guard. When he appeared she stood and looked out of a window behind the throne. 


“If two men by the names Kyle and Jables should come to my gates alert me immediately.”


He nodded. “Yes my lady.”


“That is all,” she dismissed him. 


With him gone she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. She meandered to the records room. The day before this one she had sat in there surrounded by account Managers and dealers, hounding her about her mother’s strange spending habits. They were not drowning in debt but it made the managers go wild with confusion. She heard them prattle on about the mage called Geez, where she she had witnessed Star speak to the mystery man. Whoever the Silvered Eyed one was, Dawn had no clue. She had no idea why her mother would imprison him with war criminals and then release him. But it was important and there were other reasons Dawn had for implanting herself on the throne so forcefully. 


With no one in the room she struck a candle and let it burn before holding Richi’s message over it. It ignited in flame and she wished her uncle the best of luck. Her abandoning him was not because she harbored him ill will, they were alike in many ways. She wanted to be Queen and she would do it while he was away. So long as no one else read his message and need for an extraction from the Sabbath Lands, no one would go do it. Which means he would be detained there until the land dispute ended and by that time she hoped to be married and queen. 

“Mama?” She heard a voice from behind her int he hall. It was Rosie. 

 The child had come seeking the princess. Dawn smiled and turned to face her. 

Rosie could see that a piece of paper was burning but did not ask why. “May said Dee was here.”


“He was.” Dawn walked to them and took their hand, they walked through sandstone halls side by side.  As different as fall and spring. “He is gone from the castle, though not from the village. Don’t ever trust him Rosie, never trust a BOC member.”

“But nana does.”


“Your grandmother had a different past with them. But you and I are not nana.”

“Ok,” they said. “When are nana and Richi going to return.”


“I do not know my sweet.” It was the truth. “But we have reason to celebrate. I am going to be married to the Wizard and will be crowning myself queen.”


Rosie looked up in excitement. “You are?!”


“I am!”


“What about my father?”


Dawn’s thoughts halted. Apollonio was a prince from a far away land who was once fostered under Star while a plague ravaged his homelands. They married in a small ceremony that while it was no secret, it was unsanctioned by the Queen and she was not present. Thus she had no knowledge of it until Dawn showed signs of pregnancy. When Rosie was two years old, Dawn had another child by him but the Prince was summoned back to his homelands and they had not heard word from him or his father since then.


“We are no longer married sweet child. With no knowledge of his lands or well being, I had to move on. But I am getting married once more to a man I love deeply.”

Rosie nodded. The men in her family seemed to be cursed in some way. Her brother, her father, her grandpa, even Angus. The demon her nana had summoned. She walked alongside her mother as they went to prepare for the double ceremony. 

SEASON 2. Chapter 1, Five years gone. . . .

Castle Ao'o, sunset. . . .2026 AC/DC

Brian leaned across the drinking gals and men, and kissed Star's hand as she reached out to him. She meant to shove him for a jest he made, but he kissed her hand instead. In the past five years, the two had become good friends. The Geordimen leader became a member of Holy Wood Courts and was faring well among them, backed by the Royals in command. The Power Band, which he received as a reward for aiding them in the Battle, had toured-without the Queen- on and off for the last few years and had recently taken a pause. The Younge Boys and their two guards returned to the Great Southern Island, Star already missed her Angus.... Brian was about to return to his Hills, back to his people.

When He leaned away, Star's smile began to fade. While he was a good man, a good kisser, how he took control of the Power Band is what made her heart sink.....these five years passed were not enough to stem the ache in her heart. Dawn laughed particularly loudly at a joke someone made or from the weed, Star didn't know. She broke out of her revelry to remember her fallen lover.

It disturbed her. How it happened, too fast and without a parting word. As if the Gods mocked her, his body seemed to get up and run away. . . . she hadn't seen him, nor any word on his body, since that day.

The Battle of Fields.

No Spyder prisoners captured that day remained alive now, all put to the death under Dawn's insistence. When none were willing to share any information on their escaped comrades, the Princess deemed them useless and her mother let her do as she wished with them. Star had too much else on her mind. That, and if what Kilmister said was true....she didn't want to be near the Spyders any longer, especially in death.

With the sunrise tomorrow, both Star and Brian, leaders of separate kingdoms, would travel away to the northeast. . . . .

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ao'o, sunrise......

Richi was holding the reigns to Star's grey mare. She was saddled and yawning into her palm. He grinned and shook his head. As she had many times, she didn't give a detailed explanation as to why she felt the need to leave. To visit the Sabbath Lands, her mystic friend Geez lived there, his massive fields of Herb supplied the entire span of kingdoms.

Yet he suspected her visit was about more than her herbal supply. She had changed since the Battle of Fields, Richi noticed, but he said nothing as he saw her off into the day, off to travel to the Sabbath Lands without guards. Under cover of a dark cloak and no royal flags or colors. He couldn't stop her, she would go if she truly desired to. Meanwhile, he was to stay and rule in her stead, as always.

As she blew him a kiss and departed, Brian tipping his hat in respect to the Lord as he passed, Richi shook his head again and said his good bye.

He turned back to the castle and walked up the steps, side glancing at the limo parked in the extended stables. Why she didn't drive the way with two guards made him frustrated, she claimed that the gas supply was short, and deemed the vehicle to be used for short distant travel. He went on, thinking about how best to placate his niece, Dawn. Every time Star left the castle, she left Richi in charge, never hr daughter. Besides the Wizard, it was the worst of their arguments. Due to a witch's tongue, Star refused to let her Princess rule as was her birthright.

The Queen believed in the tale, that only a bastard king may follow her. If a girl child sat after her, only death would she rule. He went inside and asked to see his niece, but was told she had just departed herself through the kitchens. She did this often, slipping away into the kingdom to avoid looking at the throne she so wanted. This left her own child Rosie, alone in her rooms as she was want to do. Dawn had an Underground society to run and act as judge and sheriff. Richi sighed at his dysfunctional family and made way to speak to the Managers, the collection of stewards and nobles who helped run Holy Wood.

They waited in the throne room to inform him on political matters their Queen sometimes overlooked; successions in families, population census, movements in other kingdoms and the BOC city state. Thus his day began as temporary overseer until his cousin's return. He had little time to worry about Dawn's feelings and where she went, he knew she needed no guard to save her.

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Sabbath Lands, the herb fields of Geez. Nightfall, a four days later...

The journey was not as long as she expected and the part between her and Brian came swiftly. She said her good bye, fared him well, and he left with gold and seeds to feed his people. She went on further to the east, to the land that lay before the Mountains of the Unknown, into which the Spyders had fled during their last war. Ever since which, the account of Highwaymen had reclined, it made her wonder. She crested a hill and was met with a slight overcast sky, the mist and clouds hovered in this valley often, casting it in a cool shadow.

In this part of the lands, was where her mage friend Geez dwelled, and she gazed upon his harvest of the summer. He had apprentices and workers helping him pull in the bundles of buds on their thick stems. He was instructing them when she rode up, and when she dismounted he turned and smiled in greeting.

“Ah your highness!” He said. “You made it safely I see!”

She embraced him, “Aye I did. Not a highwayman in sight this time. Though what IS in sight is your glorious harvest.”

They watched the workers mill about the fields. “Yes, soon to make way across the Kingdoms. Demand has increased, and this is a good crop. Here,” he stood next to a wagon being loaded and plucked a small, but heavily budded branch, of herb and nodded towards the holding barn where everything was to be stored for the trimming and distribution. “Come this way, we can smoke and talk of things.” The tone of his voice suddenly lowered.

Once in the barn he shut the door and ordered everyone to leave so they may converse in private. But one man in the loft, stacking stalks, did not move. Geez did not seem fazed.

They sat in two wooden chairs and he set the herb he brought with them under magnifying glass, lit by a fire. The heat concentrated on the plant and began to dry it quickly. While they waited he turned to Her and clasped his hands in his lap.

“Now that we have the place to ourselves, let us speak the truth of your visit. Why don't You join us up there?” He called to the man above.

Star heard the flick of a lighter and could smell burning cigarette. She watched the man descend and come to their gathering. It was Kilmister. His silver eyes bore into her behind the smoke of his cig and he nodded respectfully as he sat. Geez poked the drying herb and found it not dry enough.

“Queen, I believe you know this man. I believe you came here for him.”

She nodded. “I did. No offense to visiting you of course.”

“I understand,” the Mage said.

The two looked at each other, the two off-worlders.

“SO,” Star spoke first. “How goes progress? You said you wished me to come to the Sabbath lands.”

He nodded. “You shouldn't go back ya know.”

“But you build the Bridge in any case.”

“My freedom was for the bridge, I build it, and you decide who goes through. But it is unwise to go yaself.”

“Why?”

“You are a wanted thing.”

She pondered his words in silence.

Geez touched the herb again and found it to his liking. He began crumbling it between his fingers and onto a small piece of paper. He rolled it quickly and Kilmister handed him his ornate lighter.

“Be careful your highness,” the mage said suddenly. “When this man came to me for assistance I took him in and when he said you demanded the bridge be rebuilt, I was shocked. But it sounded like something you would want.”

“You've been helping him?” She asked.

“He could not do it without a bit of alchemy, and a touch of Sabbath magic.”

“True that bit.” Kilmister said, and drew on his cig. “It was destroyed with magic, and a bridge of this power IS magic. On both Mars And Earth, the shuttle technology, hundreds of years old, was lost. All scripture was burned by the leaders of the Divide. ” The Divide being the separation of Mars from Earth. “Not many other ways to get there and back besides that.”

“Then how did you get here?”

“The same reason you got me rebuild the bridge, those who sent me had one last shuttle, no one except me could bring it back to life. It was lost in my landing.”

Star was silent and then turned her look to Geez. “I trust you enough, with this do not betray me.”

“Fear not,” he assured her as he inhaled the burning herb. He gave her the joint. “I give you this in confidence.”

She took it and inhaled. “A pact of silence.”

Geez nodded.

“Is the Bridge near here?” She asked. “Stories always vary.”

“What do you think brought him this way?” The Mage asked with a hint of a laugh in his voice.

Suddenly her honey eyes darted to the Kilmister, staring at him intently. “Was it tempting for you? With the Spyder Army just miles from here, even running through here.”

He blew smoke between them. “No. If I was ever tempted to rejoin them, you would be dead.”

She silenced and her jaw clenched. She drew on the joint and let the smoke go. . . . .

-_-__-_-_-_-_-__

On the Road to the Sabbath Lands, earlier that same day. . . .

Dawn HAD gone to the Underground. She had stayed for a while, but her thoughts went to her mother. She had been very vague on her reason to visit the Sabbath Lands, usually she proclaimed dramatically why she was going somewhere, but when Brian said he was leaving back to the Geordiemen Hills, her mother promptly stood up and announced she would travel with him.

“The royal procession must prepare,” Richi began.

But Star interjected rudely. “No no, none of that now. Just myself, alone thank you.”

That made Richi suspect her, Dawn saw it. “No guard? No colors? No procession?”

“You act like I haven't before! Silly man,” she patronized him. “I'm just visiting Geez and I'll return within the week.”

Dawn shook her head at the memory. That made her leave her underground city, in the tunnels that used to be sewers, before she came and reformed them. Cleaned them, housed the homeless and street kids, and gave shelter to “gangs” of trouble makers. Built her own web of networks and spies.

 She left after just arriving, and silently traveled behind her mother and the Jasper.

What surprised the Princess most was that, while Star snuggled close to him at night by the fire, or kissed his cheek, or embraced him like a lover, they did not intertwine on the journey. This seemed odd behavior for her normally nymphomaniac mother. It made the princess realize that with this new behavior, her mother had not been arrested for fornicating with underage girls in the last five years. Odd.

She suspected it had to with Bon's death, that vile man. He tormented her mother even in death. Yes, she had replaced him in the Power Band with Brian, and part of her had hoped he would ease her pain. . .but apparently, he hadn't entirely. Still her mother functioned better than she did when the war broke out. Richi had to break her out of a drinking binge over the man's body. Pycho she was.

When they parted ways, Dawn had to watch from afar to not alert her mother of her following. She knew these lands even better than her. Trailing close until Star went into Sabbath Lands, and into the fields of Geez. There, Dawn could not follow so closely. Under cover of the night that fell, she quietly scaled a thick tree and hid in the boughs. She watched the barn into she had seen Star enter. The Princess would wait, though it would kill her to wait she would. The lanterns were lit outside the doors and the workers in the fields all dispersed.

It was some time before the Mother left, two men leaving with her. One Dawn recognized as Geez, the Mage who grew these crops. The other, she did not recognize. She was smart enough to know that whatever they had spoken of had to do with Him, or else He wouldn't have been there. Star would not let some stranger man into a private meeting with the Mage so easily. Yes, that was Dawn's target. She saw her mother saddle and then settled into her tree for the night.

Let her mother travel ahead, possibly stay at the Mob Stone Castle where she fancied a young budding Prince of Darkness. No doubt she thought Dawn in the Underground. She would skirt her mother while she holed up in Mob Stone and ride for the Underground throne she made for herself. That Loon was up to something and Dawn would find out.

As if trying to marry off Rosie to that Devil Angus after the war, wasn't bad enough! To solidify the ties between Power Band and Silver Knights, she had said, the Nerve! The Sun Princess would not allow it and that is what made her return to the Underground in the first place.This had happened often. Star had attempted several times to arrange a marriage between Rosie and Angus, Dawn saw it now as a cover story, to distract her from the truth. But she knew now the truth.....She would have to find out who the Stranger Man really was what her Mother wanted with him. 

S1 Chapter 12, Dying to Meet you, Part II

The Highhills......earliest rays of dawn....

Dawn was riding to the Highhills, places of woods and misty rocky hills. that bordered the Dragoons and Sabbath lands. The people here were splintered in many different clans and factions, but the ones she sought were the GeordieMen. The cleverest of warriors who didn't take no for an answer, or anyone's bullshit for that matter. She had actually met a few Geordiemen years ago in a village market somewhere. Wanderers far from home.

But now so was she.

The army was behind her, the wrong army. It had been weeks of fighting, nearing a third month's worth, and Dawn's army had broken some line within the forests of Holy Wood and the Eastern freelands, many Spyders had fled or been killed. Dawn herself didn't take prisoners, not many anyhow. Star and Richi had staked their holdings on the boarder of Holy Wood and surrounding touching lands, and were succeeding in fending off the attackers, but they had recently closed in in the forests. They choked a pathway around the main force and somehow, of course somehow, Star managed to break off Spyder contact with the lands they had claimed. Forcing the largest fraction of their army up a narrow crag in the earth that went north by north east.

That is where she was now. In the heat of this chase, and the battle that started their running, she had taken off with nothing but her horse and she carried, trailing after the enemy. She couldn't turn back for risk of losing them in the rocky gorge, and so could not break pace and could not lose sight of them. In this place, one day lost was an army lost forever. She knew they were trying to get to the Hills, those misty hills where Clansmen lived. If the Spyders got there before she did, they would slaughter the natives and hide out for the winter fast approaching.

The hills were pitted with caves that went deep into the earth, and the winters grew harsh. If the enemy made it to the caves, Dawn and her army would be barred all winter, and the Spyders would be free to take every advantage and flee to the East before she could catch them. But she gained ground on the Spyders, though her horse was ragged and so was she, she went on, she had to find the GeordieMen, to tell them, to recruit them. For their lives and her peoples'.

She missed her child, who was all the way by the sea with her nursemaid. Dawn had been shaken by the death of her childhood nanny, Tilda. Her mother seemed indifferent, until her Bon was murdered. True while Dawn hated him, she didn't wish for either of them to go through such violence. While she prayed to pagan gods to protect her child, she also worried for her now war crazed mother. The loon was going mad, Richi said she was not sleeping well, and was mostly silent. This was a bad combination that hopefully changed if they won.

She shook her head to wake herself, tired from the journey and the exertion she had endured to get this far ahead. Behind her the Spyders were happily setting up camp for the evening. She glared at them, wishing that she had Rosie's potential power to harness and command the earth. Rosie would never use her powers for such violence, but Dawn would have gladly used them to stop this from ever having to happen. A big hole in the earth would have sufficed.

Her own powers over the sun were too vast and wild for her to control safely.

She was in the foothills when the lavender tint of pre-dawn crept into the sky above and around her. Below, the camps were surprisingly out of sight in the canyon below. This would only prove her point, or make her look insane. These clansmen were so secluded that she doubted their knowledge of the outside world was up to date. Would all of this even matter if the clan she found in these foothills wasn't even the Geordiemen? The Spyders would stay in that canyon for days, probably sending spies to scout these areas....she had that much time over them at least. Maybe.

If the Georidemen weren't in this area, if they exceeded her reach, she doubted she would win. She laughed in her throat as she could almost hear her mother's voice in her head, telling her to never doubt her own power. She was Lizard Blooded, she would win if she tried.

“Its when you stop trying that you really lose.” Dawn's voice echoed as she recited the words with a sarcastic tone, mimicking her mother's. “Loon. . . “

Her horse suddenly stopped, panting hard. Its breath rising and freezing int the chilly morning air. Dawn shivered. The winders of ice were upon them, snow would be falling within the month. By then the Spyders would be right at home with the bodies of the dead left to the storm.

There was noise on the crag above her. Her sword was drawn and pointed at the hills above her. In one fluid motioned honed to even faster speeds during this current war. But she saw no one near. She sheathed her sword, dismounted, and retrieved the blade quietly once again. She led the animal by the reigns carefully, and came around a mound of rock that blocked the paths above. When she saw a man some ways above, on a path she now saw open up before her, she stopped.

That face she knew only from paintings, from dreams, from looking in the mirror. In leather brown pants, a flowing white shirt, with soft brown hair in even softer curls, was her father, standing above her, looking down with an lazy, expectant look. He turned without a word, throwing a leather jacket over his shoulder and walked up the rocks and boulders, leaving her behind.

“Father! Father wait!” She shouted. She left her horse and began scrambling up the hillside path. The sky was beginning to grow a lighter shade of lavender by the time she straightened up and stopped in the middle of the a dirt switch back with a wide turn, as if for a small cart or wagon. She stopped and spun round on the spot. Her father was nowhere in sight.

But another man was. He was dressed in a green kilt and a moss black long sleeved tunic. He wore leather boots that rode up to his knees, fur lined the edges and insides. His eyes were dark, made darker by the large, grey wool shawl he had wrapped around his torso. His face was handsome, hinted with a tad touch of being plain. His curly hair was a light brown and the wild expanse was kept tightly under a dark grey cap.

She wasted only a moment's worth of inspecting him before she realized that other, similarly looking and clad men stood in places behind him on the hillside. She herself was void of any identifying marks or colors. Her armor was a dark, grey color that she had lost parts to some time ago. She now had her platemail tied to her horse behind her, and it looked like nothing extravagant. Her horse was tired, drooping, beginning to thin. Her self wrapped in a large black cloak, her long hair was meant to be kept in a netted cap but of course it broke free around her face and sprouted from her head like wild vines. Her cheeks reddened by the cold winds, her skin dusty from the road. She looked like a traveler, but her eyes bore into their in such a way that they conveyed power.

“I am Dawn of the Lizard Blood!” She used her more common titles. “Princess of Holy Wood, daughter of Queen Star Dust and the Last Lizard King.” Her father was more widely known as such. “I come seeking the leader of the GeordieMen. I have traveled far to see him.”

The one nearest her took a moment to listen and think. He nodded. “Well comma long then, you certainly found who you were lookin for. I'll take you to the Jasper.”

She hurried to catch up to him and the others dissipated into the rocks it seemed. She left her horse but it plodded forward on the path, instinctively following her. She was relieved that these were, apparently, the GeordieMen.

“Wait the who?” She stumbled but was quick to recover.

“The Jasper, the leader, chief!.”

“Oh,” she remembered it. “What is his name?”

“Ya came lookin for em but ya don't know his na'iem?”

“Well no,” she admitted. “We know little of you, if I hadn't crossed two of your people before in Holy Wood, I wouldn't have known to come here.”

He suddenly stopped and turned to face her. “Why do you come 'ere?”

She stopped gratefully. “Because a war is coming your way wild man. A new clan called the Spyders have started war and is below in That canyon.” She pointed, he looked.

“I see nothin.”

“They're hidden down inside.”

“ 'Ow many?”

“Five thousand? Eight thousand? Does it matter? How many of You are there?”

“Ah, enough to take em.” He moved on.

“I hope so.”

“Naaaah,” he drawled.

“You don't believe me?”

“Hardly even know who you are.”

“And I don't even know who I'm asking for help here, so we're just going to have to get over that shit and trust each other. Got it?!”

He shook his head and laughed. “I like yeh! You're alright as far as princesses go and all.”

She gave him a “hmpf”, an act committed in doubt that he had even met Real princesses who could trace their blood back thousands of years.

When they reached what was the encampment it was half in the caves of the hills and half out in the open. Dawn cringed at the exposed targets, there was no fighting here yet, but these people would be in harm's way when it did come. She was taken through the camp, people watching and whispering in her wake. She was from the Southern Kingdom called Holy Wood, they all knew her Lady Mother. The man who led her took her into the caves and led her through more throngs of people.

Dawn counted that they could match and maybe hold the Spyder army with the men she saw present, but numbers is all these men had to their advantage. She had her doubts about them being able to hold their own on the battle field with such skill and defense powers. There were warrior men and women here, but the Princess didn't see them as being able to take on a trained and well provisioned army.

They passed a fire ring with an old white haired woman sitting near it, her back to a tent post. As Dawn passed she reached out and grabbed her arm. The Princess tugged out of reflex but the woman held firm.

“I see a son rising. The Queen of darkness shall have one, but the Queen of light will have two. One born of memories past, one born of a hopeful new future. Born of dark and light, this second son shall take what was due to the first for the first shall have no inheritance.

Dawn glared at her. “You ramble woman. Of Whom do you speak?”

“The Queen of Mars.

“There is no such person.”

“There will be....”

She was silent for only a moment, recalling that her mother's prophecy predicted none of her mother's daughters shall rule on Earth.

“This second son will give rise to a new era. An era long desired. Balance, once corrupted, will return. When no sons were born to rule, now let them come forth to take their places as rightful Kings of the thrones they are due.”

“Eh , don't mind 'er, crazy that one.” Her guide warned her.

They went on and were quickly led into thew largest tent. Inside was a man dressed as the others. But he was far shorter. He stood his full height but Dawn's reach was nearing six feet tall, he had to be just over five feet. By the way the ornate wooden chair sat in one corner, nearest the fire pits, she guessed this was His tent and he was their Jasper.

“Look, I don't know how to approach you as the leader, the Jasper, if that is who you are,” she was harshly direct. “But I need to speak to the Jasper here, its life or death for you and your people.”

“And who ar' you?” He asked, a smirk tainted his mouth.

“I am Princess Dawn Abithia Morrison, daughter of the Star Queen and Lizard King. I come your way because a war ravages the lands beyond your hills, and those who which to enslave you and use your caves for themselves are not far away.”

“She was sayi' 'ow there is an army in the Canyon, the one below us. Says we can't see em but they hide within.”

The Jasper looked from his man to the Princess. “How do we know you're tellin the truth woman?”

“Why would I lie about this? If you don't believe me, then fine. Go ahead and I'll leave you all here and you'll be slaughtered in your sleep. Our kingdoms are not familiar with each other, true. You have no reason to trust anything I say.”

“And If I act crazy like and do?” The Jasper asked.

“Then I will prepare your men for battle, and it doesn't even have to be a battle. Its a defense. They have you out weaponed, my mother's army comes from the south-”

“How do we know that's not a trick?” Someone asked.

Their leader raised a hand to silence whoever it was. “Silence ye!”

“ My mother's army comes to crush those who would destroy you!” She shouted. “I came to help you, despite our lack of knowledge of each other. If these Syders get passed you, they will hide in the hills you call home and desecrate them. If I am wrong, there will be no defense, no fighting. If I am not. . . .”

The Jasper stared at her, looked to the fire and then nodded. “I've 'erad of ye. All of ye. Yer whole family. If you tellin' the truth, and we win this defense of yers, I want to see yer castle.”

She grinned, “You'd be the first.” She held out her hand. “Dawn of Holy Wood.”

He held his and drew a black stone blade, its glossy surface cut across his palm with ease and he didn't flinch. “Brian of the Geordiemen Hills.” He slid his blade across her flesh and they grasped hands.

Their bloody palms connected and she smiled.

"Show meh to the canyon now Princess," Brian said. "I wish teh see what yer ravin' about."

"Come with me and I'll show you more than the army, I'll show you how to win," she replied with a smile. 

   >>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<

Star and Richi rode up behind their army, through the ruins of the Spyder camp. Any Spyder soldier was killed, any officer taken prisoner for questioning. As she and Dawn had discussed, she would not receive  word if all went well with her daughter's mission, she would have to carry out her attack on the Spyders no matter Dawn's outcome. But when Star came, the hills the Spyders would travel through lit with fire. Balls of fire were launched from hastily constructed trebuchets. They had successfully held the Spyders at bay, all too easily it appeared, giving the Queen enough time to bring her army in and over run the enemy.

The defeated Spyders ran to the hills to the east, to the high, rocky mountains already piled with snow and covered in stormy clouds. They would face a death by frost that way. Star did not pursue them, the mountains were the biggest in the lands, bigger than the Dragoons. They ran thousands of miles in either direction and no one had crossed them for thousands of years. No one ever came back if they lived.

Suddenly a large group of the so called Geordiemen came forward. The group split and Star and Richi paused. The men made a path from the Lady and her Companion to Dawn and her companion. A gruff looking man far shorter than she. Star was instantly intrigued. She dismounted and couldn't reach Dawn fast enough o embrace her.

“Oh my child, I am so relieved.”

“Oh Mother, you shouldn't have been so worried.”

“How could I not be?! You ran off to find a group of clansmen we know nothing about. And managed to get them to fight with us I see.”

Dawn stood proudly to her mother's side. “Mother, I present theJasper of the clan himself, Brian.”

The man tipped his hat. “My day Queen.”

Star smiled without understanding, “Um, greetings Jasper Brian.”

He reached out a hand tied in a blood stained cloth and took her gauntless hand and pressed his lips to the top of her hand. She was sure she felt the tip of his tongue lash out to perversely touch her sweat covered skin. She saw him lick his bottom lick ever so subtlety. Her heart ached for another man but she accepted his greeting.

“My day is their way of addressing royalty Mother.”

“I see,” her smile deepened in understanding. “You made quick work of this, for that I am grateful to you Brian.”

“And I to yer kin Star One,” he replied. “I hope that jour'ney to yer castle will not be too long. I've never been to another kingdom's castle befor'.”

Star had to take in his words. “Ah yes, the journey to Ao'o, should not take long at all. I will be most pleased and honored to have you as a guest.”

“Ah good. Since I'll be taking place as Lord Brian I'd like to see this place. Now excuse meh, I ned to make arrangements.”

Her dutiful cousin leaped into action.“I shall go with you, we must speak of our kingdoms and come to understanding each other. I am Lord Richi of Blackmour, advisory to the Queen and Lord of the Courts.”

When they were gone, Star spun to around to face Dawn. “He's coming with us?” She asked with a stony voice.

Dawn smiled,” Of course Mother, as a reward for helping us. I wasn't going to give him nothing.”

“We did not discuss this.”

“You're not angry I'm bringing our ally to the courts are you?”

“No. . .Of course not.”

“Oh and I also gave him the Power Band as well, which is what will make him status of Lord in the court.”

At this Star bristled. “You WHAT!?”

“It came up in conversation,” Dawn went to a nearby wagon filled with medic women and water barrels. She thankfully received a deep bowl of water to rise her face in. “After procuring his alliance, he wanted to know if this entitled him to a wife, to which he was two. I said it may. He then asked how to become a lord of the courts, to become more involved in the Kingdoms. I said that Lords were either of noble birth such as he, or leaders of Greater bands of musical men.”

“How did the Power Band come into this I wonder?”

“He heard tale of a mighty band form the Far Far south, and wanted to know if there were many bands like that in Holy Wood” she took a long drink. “I said that band was now without a frontman, to which he said his own band had just bisdanned. I said Perfect!” She splashed her face. “He said he become more than our temporary allies, he would bend his knee to you if it meant he was placed with the Power Band, thus making him a Lord of our court.”

“Dawn how could you!? I can't just give up Bon's place to a stranger,” she eyed him walking with Richi. “A handsome stranger, but strange all the same! How can you demand this of me?!”

“Because without him you would have lost this battle. Had he not heeded my warnings when I must have sounded insane, all this would not have come to be.” She grabbed a towel from the medical supplies and went to a tent that was being constructed for the commanding officers, which included her. Star followed to bag.

Before she could, Dawn was right behind her. “He is dead mother. I am sorry it happened but he is gone and you must accept it. Brian will ease the pain felt by the people who loved Bon. Somebody has to be this way and I will take the burden. Now do not deny our newest ally the rewards he was promised. It'll make you look bad.”

Star turned and left the tent as her daughter began dismantling her chainmaille and armor plates. Though it pained her to give up the Power Band to this, Brian, she would have to. He was the reason they had fortified the small hill paths that would have be free for trespassers otherwise.

The show of fire as they lit the hills a'flame. The balls of red that rained down on the Spyder camp in the night, without warning. Fire is what greeted the queen when she arrived, fire and chaos. She nearly had to wait for the flames to go down before she could go through the camp. It wasn't as spectacularly drenched in blood as she had hoped, but those fleeing would never last. With a bittersweet victory she walked through the devastated Spyder camp, the words of the Kilmister echoing through her head.

“We come from the same place.”

The Spyders seemed to know and hold onto a part of the Martian culture they hailed from. She was envious. They knew more of their home than she did. If what the Kilmister said, if what her dreams really meant were true, then she was no earthling and these enemies she destroyed were her people.

Still, she wanted to return to Ao'o now. With her daughter, her cousin and reunite with her granddchild. She wanted a bath, a bowl of dates to eat, wine to drink, and a joint on her lips.  Her blood craze has vanished when the Spyders broke and ran. She was feeling the tired ache of war in her body.

She wanted to go home. . . .

S1 Chapter 10, Chateau D'if

HolyWood,day.

“Mother.”

“I'm thinking.”

“Well stop thinking and do it. Not only will you end a feud, but you'll make me happy.”

“I know, I know.”

“Then why wait?”

“Its complicated.”

“HOW!?”

“You will gain such extraordinary power you might actually be a threat your mother.”

“Oh shut up! I will not take away the throne from you, you have to give it to me.”

“There have been several kings who killed their father for the throne you know. Don't you read the history books I gave you?”

“It's elementary Mother. Besides, we are not men, we are the first ruling immortal queens give me a break.”

“I know dear, I know we would never kill each other over the throne. . .But I know you want it-”

“And I know you have your reasons, we've established that. Why do we keep going over it?”

“It keeps coming up!”

“Then simplify the issue and allow the BOC and Holy Wood Courts to recognize my engagement. I'll leave it alone then.”

“I haven't officially engaged you two yet.”

“Oh get over it. Arranged marriages are no longer in effect, you did that.”

“Not arranged but marriage to a magic man takes processing time.”

“Processing time?! What is this?! A Fucking mail order husband?!”

“Hmmm, I'm beginning to not foresee a wedding. . . .”

“YOU CRAZY BAT!”

The door slammed open and Dawn ran out in a huff.

She had begun arrangements concerning her and the Wizard's wedding. . . .only to be alerted that no legal wedding would be conducted without the Queen's consent and that of the BOC since her fiance was a magic man. A clause created by her mother after the Rebellion, stating that if a mortal becomes engaged to magic being, a wedding had to be approved by -not only one or both parents- bu the ruling Power of the Throne and a majority vote in the BOC. Since Magic Beings were, in the past, notorious for kidnapping and forcing mortals to wed them for sacrificial and other dark purposes, Star took it upon herself to ensure the safety of the non magic beings in her kingdom. Many other kingdoms had followed this example, and it while it otherwise was a protective, useful, clause for mortals, Dawn was unique and it only infuriated her.

She had gone to demand her mother allow the marriage, since she fit all but one of the criteria to do so. Star, ever fickle for her own reasons, had denied it. She sighed as Dawn left, to go where, she didn't know. Probably with her underground gangs and social rebels circles. Dawn and Star had used these people for favors in some instances and in return, turning thieves into spies. For their “favors” she granted them limited protection in the case any were caught in the act of a crime outside of her “mission”. Most of the time, the incident was easily solved by the thief -if caught- working off the amount they stole, it usually worked to keep them out of prison.

Dawn, in place of being Queen, became a “clan leader” of sorts. These social rebels, while they benefited off of Star's economy, saw Dawn as their judge and leader. A princess, but one who ran with them. Star was amazed that Mother ended up in more legal trouble than daughter with that said.

Queen went out onto the balcony and looked down to the courtyard below. There was Rosie along with her nursemaids Tilda and May, playing with some golems that Star had created for her earlier that morning. They fell into magical slumber when the girl didn't play them, springing to life when she did. There were also some of the other palace children with her, she had befriended so few people. They played now, with the golems and each other, the queen smiled and decided to go be among them. Be away from sexcapades and rulers for a little while.

Rosie was happy, ever since returning from the Castle by the Sea, she had been a happier child. She was excited to see her grandmother join them, and saw something strange in her nana's eyes. Why did it look like she was sad even when she smiled? She didn't voice this concern, it most likely didn't matter and she was too happy in that moment to want to ruin it.

Star saw the details of her grandchild's skin. Felt the patches of roughness here and there. The curse was as evident as always, but slowed. There was movement behind her and she turned to watch the guards enter to announce a visitor.

“His divine interpreter of the BOC organization, Dee Astoria, arrives to see Queen Star Moorison and Princess in waiting Rosie Moorison.”

“Odd,” Star wondered. While Dee had blessed Rosie at birth, even he had had little to do with her since then. He had not approved of the way Star sought help from the Wizard to save the girl over the scientific means of the BOC, but that was years ago.

Dee entered, his long pale gold hair tied into a braid that trailed down his back., a smile on his face. Tilda, Star's house keeper, ex servant to Pirate Queen Anne, and unofficial protector of Rosie, stared at him. May moved closer to Tilda and they remained quiet. Dee came forward, bowing his head at Star, and nodding towards Tilda and May, he was all customs and kindness. Tilda though, watched him with her dark eyes.

He came to Star and took her hand, kissing it. She did the same is greeting. “My Queen, how are you and the family this day?”

“Dawn has left on an errand to the Wizard land, I fare well. Of course, Rosie is in good health as always.” She reached out to take Rosie under her arm and hold her close, the girl obeyed.

“Oh excellent! I heard of the ordeal with the Kingdom by the Sea,” he looked at Rosie then. “How was your stay with the Old King my dear?”

Star waved off the guards and everyone relaxed. The other children, having watched the BOC priest in all his mysterious glory, shied from him. They were of the palace, their parents loyal to the Queen, unfamiliar with the BOC city immortals. The other women in attendance ushered them away from the royal and priestly group. Rosie watched them go before turning back to Dee.

“It was fine. The old King is very nice.” She said shyly. 

The man's lips curled up in a smile. Star saw a flash enter and leave his eyes in the same moment. Was that disappointment as he looked at her?

“He is a kind man. You two saved your mother as well. Very impressive child. I came all the way from the BOC City to see you today did you know that?”

“No,” she whispered.

Star laughed. “That pact was carried out two months ago.”

Dee returned her smile to its full brilliance. “I had some legal errands to attend to. I have been waiting to clear them to have an entire day free to visit. I brought you something,” he said as he pulled out a small golden cage with a tiny gold lever on one side. Inside the cage was a vividly rainbow colored, gemstone bird inside. He wound the lever and the bird sang a wonderful melody.

It made the girl smile and she took it from his outstretched, upturned palm. She turned the lever and the bird sang another tune. She looked into his eyes then in unspoken questioning.

“It plays five different songs which starts over whenever you turn the lever. Go now go show your friends,” he encouraged her.

She nodded and went to join them, Tilda took her under wing and watched Dee from afar. She whispered to May and the other woman nodded. They did not approve.

“That is very beautiful Dee,” Star said.

“Found in in the merchant bazaar at the BOC.”

“You still host that?”

“Every month your highness.”

She smiled. “Very kind of you to do so.”

“We support the people this way. It is the least we can do for them,” he explained. He saw the way the other two women looked at him. “That taller one,with the brown hair, she was present at Rosie's birth as well. I remember.”

“The midwife, my housekeeper, and keeper of estates when myself and Richi are absent.” She heard the most subtle of changes in his voice. Further disapproval?

“She is bold in the way she looks at you and Rosie.”

“Is that so? I hadn't noticed. She was once under the command of Queen Anne, might explain it.

“A Pirate woman? Is she safe to keep around?”

Star laughed loudly. “Oh Tilda is quiet harmless to me and my blood and anyone I smile at.” She smiled at Dee. “She is one to distrust those she doesn't know. Only natural when she is the protector of my grandchild. Unofficially of course but she is.”

“Must be why she is giving me the coldest of stares.” He mocked a chilled spine and shivered in his robes.

“A hard woman, but one I trust with Rosie and the Palace. May there is her friend and Rosie's motherly attendant.”

“Where is Dawn I wonder?”

“My daughter is away. Where she goes is of no concern of anyone. She did her duty to the throne and had a child, and was engaged to be married once.” Star sat on a stone bench. Dee stood and picked a blossoming pink flower bud off a tree, handing it to her. She took it. “She had fulfilled the demands of the BOC in concerns of procreating and continuing the royal line.”

“Has she?”

“You question me?”

“We both know Rosie is no future ruler. She is too fragile, even you know this. Do you want to be the one to force her to marry or force her to make life and death choices?”

Star never wanted those responsibilities on Rosie. “But as the child of the heir apparent, she becomes the true heir to the throne.” She hadn't told Dee of the Witch prophecy, the BOC would scoff at it. “As for forcing her to marry, you'd have to go through Dawn. And after that, Rosie is already a royal woman, the law that a royal woman is not required to marry remained unchanged.”

“I would never force you to marry, being mother of the royal children, and you declared your marriage to the king valid since his body was never found.”

“Alive until proven dead,” she said, a grin playing on her lips. She sighed then, “Dawn is engaged to the Dark Lord.”

“The Wizard in the Black Castle?” He sounded surprised.

“Is there any other?”

He chuckled. “None.”

“As the law states, I am two parts of the law to allow the marriage. I find her sound of mind and free from a spell. It would be up to the BOC after that. Though I doubt she will wait for that, a pagan wedding is something she would do.”

“There is nothing preventing her from marrying in the pagan fashion of not consulting the BOC for legal approval. If she is sound of mind as you say, she may very well do so under our noses. However, she would be considered unmarried in our legal courts, both yours and mine.”

“Since arranged marriage is obsolete, what would it matter to her? Why does she fight me on this?”

“Why do you fight her?”

Star was stunned by this. “Me? I'm her mother and Queen. I don't have to have a reason for denying her.”

Dee laughed. “DO you now? Being queen comes after being mother, you proved that in the Rebellion.”

She took a moment of silence and then said, “If she marries the Wizard who knows what kind of power she will gain.”

“Is this fear of another rebellion I hear?”

“No fear,” she shot him a wicked glance. “I am not comfortable with the shifting of power and I do not fear she will fight me for the Throne. I fought to get her and throne back, she would not do that to me.” Star did not voice it, but both she and Dee knew that if Dawn attempted to overthrow her mother, she would present a weakness in the balance of power that those of the BOC would see and exploit until death. “She will wait for approval, to avoid conflict.”

“Yet you create this conflict by denying her what she wants. Will you ever grant the wedding?”

“Of course! If she would stop wrecking havoc on me. . . .”

“Like mother like daughter.”

Star saw a young child go to Tilda, and pass her a piece of paper. Tilda opened it, read it, and looked at the Queen, her eyes relayed all that needed to be said. It was a letter from the man who had left her. With little more to be said she excused herself from Dee's side, trusting him enough to leave him in the care of others in attendance. She did not fear leaving him with Rosie, she had little doubt he would ever harm her in any way.

She and the woman passed ways and the note found itself into the hands of Star. She glanced at Tilda and one look say one thousand words. The ex-pirate woman did not trust Dee in the least. Tilda had no been present at Dawn's birth, but when she into the Queen's service, she became attached to them all. Dawn and Tilda had an unspoken past, she had a love for Rosie and a loyalty for Star. The woman herself had no other family besides the Pirate Queen. She went back tot he courtyard to watch the children play and saw May stationed between Dee and the little ones.

She saw a shadow cross the lawn, one might mistake for a bird. Tilda shifted her gaze up and saw a dark figure barely visible on the roof. She smiled and knew that it was the Princess, no doubt she had seen Dee enter and was not as trusting of those in the BOC as her mother was. Star was so smug and confident in the way she had punished the Priests, killing those who exiled her, cursing the rest with immortality. Dawn knew the stories as she grew up about her birth and the Rebellion, all told from Tilda. The woman told the Princess all about the betrayal, exile, imprisonment and take over of the BOC, and it never sat well with Dawn.

The figure dissipated and Tilda refocused on the scene before her. She met eyes with the BOC priest across the courtyard, the one she remembered from Rosie's blessing ceremony. While he seemed polite and loyal, in a way, to the Queen, the pirate woman knew better. She had seen the same look in his eyes that day Rosie was blessed. She had been the one to hold the baby as the Priest said the usual chant and asked all gods listening to grant her happiness and health. She knew that the man had lied for instead of health, the child had been cursed. The moment Rosie was cursed, was when Tilda knew something was not right with Dee. . . .

                                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Star went to a balcony and looked at the terraces above and around her. She closed the glass doors and turned to read the note in a corner covered in ivy vines. She opened the parchment, stained with splotches of sea water, written in His writing. It was simple, short, and all she needed to know.

“Starry Eyes,
By now I am traveling to the Great Southern Island to meet with our friend. There I will prepare the Power Band. I will always love you my Soul Stripper. Your Dirty Deeds Man.”

She smiled and went back inside. She went to an burning incense on a nearby marble table, and let the small ember tip of the stick catch the note on fire. It quickly burst into flame and she dropped it as it burned to drifting ash. She sank into a chair, thinking hard about all that she learned that afternoon. Her conversation with Dee made her remember that the BOC was rising back into unrest.

All the accusations of underage sexual encounters all meant something, they were all perpetrated when conducted in secrecy. They were all set up for a reason. It made her suspicious, all this talk of marriage coming from the BOC, and reminded her what she was being to fear. . . .The past she did not remember. True what Dee said was a strong legal holding she thought, being the Mother of the heirs apparent she was indeed strong enough to remain as queen, her daughter and granddaughter had no fear of forced marriage, being born royal. Since the King's body was never found, she pronounced he was not to be declared dead unless a body was found, cementing her on the throne.

It was tricky and if there was a possibility of there being something they could use against her that she didn't know of, she wanted to know about it. The dreams, the nightmares that haunted her of red sands and a mirage at her finger tips. Rosie and Dawn would never be required to wed since they were born royal, and while she was from a noble family, she was not born to the Blackmoores and it had never bothered her until now. She laughed, it was the first time she had worried about her lapse in memory since her arrival in the Blackmoore family in 1959. There was one person she knew could tell her what she wanted to know. . . . .

                                  **************************************

The ocean....night....

She was sailing to the prison with one guard, Tilda. They were both under disguise in black robes. The island prison loomed before them, one she had once been locked up in and escaped, that she had revisited to free those who would fight for her. Ever since her second escape she had no desire to return ever again.

She sighed as they drew closer to the island. When they landed, the golems she had instilled as guards did not question her or stop her in any way. She created them, they showed her to the prisoner she wished to see and with no one from the BOC in attendance. Tilda stood behind next to an armored golem, giving the Queen enough space to have a private conversation with the man who sat in his cell. She tossed a cigarette pack at him, it landed by him and he opened it, pulled a cig out and put in on his lips. He lit it, drew a long inhale, and let it out.

“I remember the day I caught you. During the last leg of my campaign there was an ambush. Right before I was to over take the BOC city. We were surprised yes but the attack seemed to just die the moment I brought you to your knees. Why did I always think it was a set up for both parties?”

“Maybe it was.”

“Whatever the reason, I didn't kill you.”

“No you did not.”

“Why should I not?”

“You came here to ask me what you want to know. You could not kill me because you would lose the only connection to your past.”

She sat on her heels. “You know me, better than I know myself. Why? Who are you? Why do I have the same dreams about red sands? Where do you come from?”

“Where do We come from you mean.”

She sneered at him and grabbed the bars. “We are not from the same home.”

“We have more in common than you want to believe. You deny it because it would undermine everything you know, everything you love. It would end your rule as Queen of Holy Wood.”

A bright flash crossed behind her eyes. “Tell me.”

“What do you want to know Queen?”

“Who am I?”

“That is the wrong question, you know who you are.”

“The Red Sands....The image of the man-”

“What man?” This made him lean forward. “Who do you see?”

She closed her eyes and recalled the dream with perfect clarity. “He is tall, thin. His eyes, one is dark, one is light.....he ..he has red hair, as red as the sands I run across.....I fall into the sand and there is no more.”

When she opened her eyes he was there, his cigarette smoking between them, nearly touching her nose through the bars as he leaned in close. She saw his silvery eyes, they were unearthly. She had never seen such eyes in any human ever before. She was not sure if he had had any water of immortality, yet he still lived, as if frozen in time. He stared at her closely, never breaking eye contact, trying to tell her something.

“I don't need to tell ya anything. You already know.”

“It cannot be true,” she whispered and shook her head. “No one has come or gone from Mars since decades before I was born.”

“Where were you born?” He asked.

She opened her mouth but no answer came out. There was no answer. No one knew.

“Its impossible,” she whispered. “We, you, me, we are not Martians.”

“You seem to know all the answers to your questions. You don't need me.”

She growled in frustration and glared at him. “Why do you not tell me the truth?”

“I have no reason to lie or tell the truth. I'm still stuck 'ere.”

She got up and snapped her fingers, a Golem came forward and held out a large black metal key. Without much ceremony or hesitation she unlocked the cage door and swung it open. Tilda hung back, putting a hand on her sword hilt.

Star faced off with the Kilmister. “Is this reason enough to tell me what I demand to know?”

“I already did.”

“IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!”

He didn't move from his reclined position on the ground.

“Call me a liar, you knew,” he said.

“If its true, then I will grant you freedom with a single condition.”

“Oh?”

“Rebuild the rainbow bridge. It was destroyed hundreds of years ago to end the connection between Mars and Earth.”

“I know.” He blew out smoke and still didn't move from his spot.

“Well then what the hell are you waiting for? GET OUT!”

“Only if you admit it.”

“What?”

“Admit what you suspect.”

“I heard Mars has red sands but I. . . .I've never seen them.”

“Haven't you?”

“No! Never....”

She went into the cell this time, storming up to him and getting on her knees. She grabbed his leather bomber jacket and shook him. He let her.

“Do what I ask and you will be free.”

“If you deny you are from Mars there is no point in building that bridge. What business of it is yours to see Mars when you belong here?”

She closed her eyes for a long moment and kept them closed. “Because ever since the first dream I knew it was a place I've been. You know the penalty for Martians on Earth, I could never utter the truth to anyone, not even myself. But the dreams always made me doubt where I came from because it wasn't just the images that seemed so familiar or strange, it was the sensations that came with it, as if the dream is a memory. . . .”

“What do you remember?”

With her eyes still closed she remembered. “Nothing. Just black until I woke up in fire on Earth. In the desert.” She opened her eyes. “Is he who I think he is?” She asked in a desperate whisper.

“If you don't come from Mars he is not. He is nothing but your imagination.”

“No. . .no he can't be. When I see him my heart beats as if I've been waiting to see him again for a very long time.”

“I wonder why.”

“Why do you do this? Play these mind games with me?”

“The knowledge would destroy you from the inside out. You know where we come from, now you want to go back and I am the only one who can take you there.”

“Why did you leave to come here?”

He leaned in close and took the cig between his fingers. “I was sent to kill you.”

She was stunned into silence.

“You see things only people like us see.” He looked beside himself and saw his mirror image with yellow eyes and fangs, a soundless vision who smiled at him. Kilmister looked back at the queen. “Because you know.”

Many thoughts raced through her head in those moments. Yes, every since the first dream she knew it was of Mars, and she knew it had to do with the past she could not remember. She had wondered if the dreams were memories, glimpses of the past of where she had been, where she came from. But, if she ever voiced such thoughts the BOC would condemn her for being a Martian and would have sentenced her to either a life time of imprisonment, or even death. The people too would explode in chaos. Confusion, wonder, had melted into denial and doubt and fear.

But she could no longer ignore these dreams, she could no longer leave it to doubt and wonder. She could not allow anyone to find out anything about her she did not know herself. There were no Lizard Kings to protect her, if the BOC was again gaining unrest, and if they found out her past before she did, they would launch another war and she feared her allies would betray her for the sake of her Martian blood. Years ago, Mars and earth fell apart from their alliance and an Earth King banned all Martian contact and travel. In his ban, many Martians were left on Earth, and threatened to be executed if anyone from Mars came back for them. But they escaped custody, these groups of people were warriors and came to call themselves Spyders.

“Are we . . . .Spyders?” She asked him.

“No. But we come from the same place.”

“Kilmister,” she said after a moment of prolonged silence. “My enemies are becoming restless once more. I came here because something told me you were the answer, and if you didn't kill me as you were sent to then I believe I can trust you. If this IS true, I need you to send me back.”

“It will take time.”

“HA! I have nothing but time.”

Tilda, watched them and heard it all. There had always been something unearthly about the Queen. On the boat ride back to the main shore, now with three people in a boat rather than two, the women were furiously thinking. One buzzed with thoughts the implications of what they and learned would bring if the wrong ears heard. The other brewed in silence, if what all he said was true then the only way to save herself and her family was to get to Mars and understand what happened. It was obvious that while Kilmister knew, he didn't say in order to protect them both.

“Why do you not tell her everything?” Tilda asked him. Out on the sea there were no spies, only the three of them.

Star looked back.

“Because the BOC is everywhere,” he said. “And it is too much to tell.”

Somehow he knew the BOC better than she did, which explained why he was at the ambush. She trusted Tilda, but if anyone anywhere knew and that information reached the BOC before she could sort it out first, the result would be disastrous. The only way to preserve her future, was to shed light on her past. To learn what she wanted and uphold her family, she had to journey to a place the BOC could not touch. To learn who she was, to protect her family, to protect herself, the kingdom, the time had come to find the land of the red sand.