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. 

S2 Chapter 6 Not to touch the Earth

Mars, Year 134 of the Order of Barons.

 Day, ruins of the Martian side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Star stepped out of the ruins and into the land of red sand. The building was a stone temple, red sandstone and half crumbled. She stooped down to one knee when she left the place and scooped up sand in her fingers, letting it fall. This was the land of her dreams, the land she had seen in a vision. She was home. Once again she was in the desert, as she had entered earth. She went forward, towards the sight of a shimmering silver city on the red horizon.

She began running and a memory came to her, one of her on Earth as the man she was to marry led her through the desert. His dark brown hair brushed his shoulders, his blue eyes were deep and full of mystery. He spoke to her the day after he found her, a simple message.

“Nothing left to do but run, run run.” He had said. “Lets run.”

They ran.

“Lets run.”

She ran, tripping once in the sands as she fled for the apparent city. Her heart beat frantically as she scrambled to see what she could see on the horizon. Burn burn, her heart and lungs burned.

“Move, move move,” his voice droned on in her ears. “Run run run!”

“I will get you, soon.” She whispered in between breaths.

She found her footing and ran but it didn't last long, the air seemed heavier here. Never one for long distance running in any way but this place felt stagnant, the air heavy upon her. But when she steadied her heart she felt normal once more and she was able to move on. She bent a knee in mid stride to scoop up handfuls of red sand, only to let it fall through her fingers. She wriggle each finger to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Her eyes widened and unbeknownst to her they were turning more red than honey as they were on earth.

Up onto the hill, she pushed herself to keep moving, she could not stop, not with his voice telling her to move Move MOVE! Up on the hill she would see, as she had once before onto Holy Wood for the first time, only this time she was conscious of what she was doing. Come with a mission, a purpose, reason. Her never ending purpose to find reason, her life's mission. A stale breeze blew her long wild hair around her face but it did not stop, nor did the incline of the hill, nor the sand beneath her boots. She stumbled, her lungs burned, but she grabbed sand in her fist and jumped back to her feet.

“SooooOOOoooooon!” Her husband's voice shouted as she crested the hill.

She fell to her knees as his voice faded from her ears and beheld a city of silver in a red waste. Within the city were trees and crops and greenery and color and flags with the Spyder emblem on them. They waved large and high above the city of silver spires. Silver and red in the orange sunlight. The sun, Star looked to it and shielded her eyes and felt her cotton mouth. The sun was the only familiar thing and even that was tainted a new color.

She looked back to the valley and began her decent. Going down was easier but each foot step she seemed to sink deeper into the sand. Gravity was altered here, but only slightly. She hadn't thought what the air condition might be, she assumed it was like earth. It was, only there came a new scent to the terrain, an exotic spice she had never smelled before. A new planet and a new scent.

Right before entering the city limits she stopped and had to look back. Zardos, the personification of her mind, had materialized and followed Star across the sands, but now she stayed back. Something about the Silver City made her wary and she turned back to hide in the dunes. Star shook her head, glad to be rid of her.

She approached the city and with her spirited stride she was coming to the outskirts quickly. She didn't comprehend time and she doubted it mattered if she did. The day seemed longer, it Was longer. The sun had hardly moved in the sky when she reached the city but she still felt like hours had passed. She came upon a trough void of animals and drove her head into what looked like water.

It was chilly in the desert but dry, very dry and she was desperate for a drink. She dashed her royal status, it mattered for nothing here and drank. She brought her head up and breathed deep to fill her lungs as quickly as possible. In a scramble to her feet she moved on into the city, her hood pulled up as she saw other people in the nearing distance. Others wore hoods to hide from the harsh orange glare of the Martian sun.

The buildings were a glossy smooth sandstone, silver spires topped the castle towers in the distance. No wonder from a distance they had appeared silver, she thought. But that was not all, the trees and shrubs that burst out of the large dirt filled troughs and pots astounded her. They were like the floral of earth yet, evolved to be different.

Birds sang new songs in the trees that grew here, trees that resembled those on earth. She marveled at the small flitting creatures in the canopy above them. Slowly she began to mingle into the crowd, seemingly unnoticed. She turned her attention to the people and found most hurried along without looking at her, they had different colors of hair, ranging from a bright red to silver to black. Some appeared dyed, she couldn't tell. No one with gold hair, she did well to hide it she thought.

She let them push her any way, happy to roam through them without anyone recognizing her. Without a care she walked streets she never thought were real and she still thought this place a dream, she couldn't stop smiling. Not that she tried. A dog's bark, song birds singing. The hustle and bustle of city life as she came upon a traders market.

When she found the bazaar she fiddled with a ring on her hand. A simple gold ring of no significance. Surely it was trade-able here, it had to be. All she wanted was something to carry water in, that was the most important thing. She chose a stall that had such a thing and when she presented the ring he took it without blinking an eye.

“Anything you want my lady!” He even spoke her language.

“Of course, they were descendants of earth.” she thought. “That!” She pointed to what looked like a waterskin. “And some spare coin? For the same value.”

He seemed to understand and gave her a handful of coins. When she held them up she saw a face on each side, two stern looking men. She nodded in thanks and melted back into the crowds. As she walked along she was increasingly worried about the absence of children. This seemed unnatural to her, just as the Kilmister said. She nearly wished he had returned with her.

She saw a small crowd around an old man. A story teller, he must be. She halted with the others and a few threw coins at him. She heard the story as it was paid for and he croaked out his tale.

“You wander about and what do you not see? Children?”

Someone must have said something, else he had read her mind. She stared at him silently.

“We have lived for a long time and why? Magic. Cursed Magic. Aye, I remember when children were born and lived and ran through the streets. I remember their laughter, but no longer.” He sighed. “All because of war of the bloods. Old vs the new. Spyders had killed all but two of the ancient Starriders by the time the Barons stormed the Capitol. The King, he had tried to awaken the last Rider, a woman, but he failed before he could. When the Barons cornered him, he shot her into Space, into oblivion. To a place where Riders hadn't wanted to go.” He shook his head. “His war was long since lost before he could awaken her, so he sent her away. Her freedom cost us our children, our morality, and our time.”

“Will she ever return?” A woman asked.

“Good riddance. . .” A man whispered.

I hope she does, the bounty will increase and we will see children once more.” A taller man, a worker, with red hair said.

She remained still and stared down. "Was this me?" She wondered.

“What if she did have young?”

“All the more reason to turn her over to the Barons.”

“I've heard rumors that she has. That two were brought to Mars and kept in the Silver Spires.” A starry eyed younger man said, he bore dyed silver hair.

“Perhaps, but that is mere rumor and legend.” The old man said.

Her heart skipped a beat. “Her daughters here on Mars?”

“How would that even be possible?”

“We do not know...but if the Star King could send her away, the Barons could bring others back.”

“Star King. . .” she repeated to herself.

Not wanting to attract attention and stay in one place for too long, she wandered away and into the streets for some time more. For seven long days she lived this way, harking back to her time as a fugitive. It came back to her with ease, she could sleep propped against the wall as easily as she could in her bed on Earth. She used what meager money she made from the sale of her ring to buy food, until that money ran out. Another ring got her more coins.

Yet every night she dreamed of Earth, that blue dot in the rust colored Martian sky. Oh the very thought of earth made her feel strange inside, it was so far away. She hoped Richi was faring well, her poor cousin. Days lasted so long, nights were the same. She grew accustomed to the length of a day and understood what the Kilmister had told her before her leap into space.

She thought of nothing as a threat, did her best to avoid any Spyder clad guards. It wasn't hard, they were lazy and she had evaded such eyes before. It was strange seeing Spyders on Mars, cousins to the ones on Earth. As she did her wandering and spying, she noticed that there were many posters put on on walls and under tunnels, all with the Spyder emblem crossed out in bold black. Strange writing, the Martian language, was scribbled on the edges of such posters. She could sense the discord without knowing what was happening.

She stared and reached out to touched the writing. Something happened here, something akin to a revolution. Unlike her retaliation to the BOC's war, this one had been raging for a long time. The poster she stared at was browning and  the edges were crisp and flaking. Other posters lay over the older one, but the discontent was still the same. The Barons were bad, she didn't need to be told.

One day her walk-about took her to a square were men and women were preaching about tyranny. Star stood close and listened as they preached about the Barons and their false promises. How at least their immortal kings and queens from the Stars had been fair and just, how their only true crime had been withholding the secret of everlasting life. The Barons, they cursed the world, reformed their religions and culture. Took away children and the ability to age a full life. Froze them in time as a form of revenge against Her. Controlled what history people knew, but many still remembered the true history of Mars and the Barons would not control what they said.

Star nodded in approval of their defiance. It reminded her of her war against the BOC. The BOC who was similar to the control of the Spyders, but surely the two cultures would clash harder than Earth and Mars alone. Suddenly there was shouting from down the street. Many people immediately began fleeing as Spyder guards came into the square. She watched as they went after the main instigators who stood tall and accepted their punishments. The Queen was horrified to watch on as they were beaten, men and women, by the Guards and their clubs.

Others were arrested and she watched from her corner of the square. Suddenly she met eyes with a guard not far away from her. He saw her face, her gold hair. But it was not just the hair that drew his eye, he saw the sword at her side. She was a threat and a suspicious character. When he pointed and shouted at her, she swirled into the fleeing crowd and fled.

“YOU WENCH! HALT!” He shouted behind her.

She did not! She would not as she pushed forward through the people. With her cloak billowing behind her, she dashed under the tunnels she had come to learn and through the alleys she had slept in.

But the guard was right behind her. Over her! On the bridge! She was up against a dead end that she hadn't seen coming! She turned to face the guard and his partner and drew their sword!

“Weapons are banned in civilian hands! You're under arrest! Now lower your hood!”

“Fuck you!” She shouted and spit at them and drew her sword. No one took the Star Queen without a fight!

Just as they were about to move in on her, an overhanging net filled with crates was cut from its high point. They landed with a crash on top the two men, Star dove for the bridge they stood on as they careened to the ground and were buried under smashed wood. She watched in surprise and then dashed out from her hiding place and ran up the side stairs to be where they had been. She looked down at them and then up. There was a masked man above, looking down at her.

He waved to her and pointed to the set of stairs that went up the side of the building her bridge connected to. The stairs went to the roof. She wasted no time and followed her rescuer. When she met him face to face she stopped for a moment and saw him clad in a simple off white shirt and with dark trousers tucked in knee high boots, his head wrapped in a reddish brown cloth like a mask against the sun and winds.

Her hood had come off and exposed her golden hair, he noticed and straightened up. She put it back on and he motioned for her to come closer. He swung a leg over the building and stepped onto the roof of the next one. She followed closely.

“Thank you!” She shouted when she got next to him.

“You can thank me when we're safe,” he said in return.

She followed him across the roof tops as the day waned overhead. With the other two guards disabled, Star and the mystery man didn't meet any trouble on their way out of the city. There was no wall surrounding the outer limits and they slipped away into the crops fields on the western side. From there they effortlessly made way into the desert sands. Her friend did not stop the entire time.

When he finally did they were far away, on a lone and dusty trail she was sure hadn't been used in years. She stopped out of pure exhaustion and drank heavily from her waterskin. She handed it to the other man but he had his own and followed suit.

“Again, thank you,” she said.

“I could not let you fall into their hands.” He said and removed the cloth wrapped around his head.

When he exposed his deep red hair and two tone eyes she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. As if she had seen him before but could not remember from where. He was older than her, even in their immortal ways. But instead of trying to remember him, she simply smiled and stuck out her hand. He took it in return.

“I am Star.” She said.

“I know who you are,” he smiled. "I have waited a long time for your return."

Her smile faded.

“I know you come from earth and I am here to keep you out of the wrong hands.”

“How?” She asked.

He grinned and put his mask back on. “Follow me and we may speak in private.”

As he turned and went off into the sands she had no choice but to follow him. Zardos did, she had returned in this moment and Star watched the creature trail after the man who knew her. . . .

S2 Chapter 5 The Sabbatical

Wildlands, 2026 AC/DC, twilight. 

She hid in the glens and woods not far from the Rainbow bridge location. The morning after her nightly drug trip, she had ridden back to Geez's manor and sent the men back to Ao'o with a message that she would be taking a sabbatical in the Sabbath lands for an undetermined amount of time. She would be taking up residence with Geez and she would return quickly, Richi was in charge until then. They left and she made way back to the stream and woods where she had stayed over night.

It still baffled her as to what her dream of her three deepest lovers meant. Zardos had said, one to never fail, one to give her power, and one to make her desperate. She hated the were-creature's riddles. After ten days of isolation she had made herself a small stream side hut on her own. A trait she learned while in the throes of hiding and battle in the year 1979. She came out of her hut and saw a thin trail of smoke on the fading horizon. The sun had already dipped below it and the blue sky was tainted pinks and golds. The smoke was a pillar of grey and she knew it was her signal to come back.

That and Zardos was staring at it. She had been serious of late, ever since Star took shelter in the glen her mental counterpart waited with her. Not speaking other than what she said that night of the mushroom trip. Now she stared with yearning at the pillar of smoke, it made Star's heart jump in her chest.

Had the time come?

She rode hard on her stallion right up to the porch of the seemingly decrepit tavern. A fire pit was smoking in the barren courtyard. She dismounted, undid her horses saddle and bridle, set them aside and only then did she enter the place. She did not expect to. . .well she didn't know what to expect. Would she be leaving this planet tonight? Going where only heroes dared. Her eyes glittered hopefully as she entered.

There was Kilmister, hanging in a seat swing tinkering with some final lever.

“Bout time you got 'ere.” He said.

“Is it. . .is it done?” She asked hopefully.

He sighed. “You really want to go?”

“Yes! I. . .I do.”

He stared at her a moment, at the desperation in her eyes. She knew she was not of earth, he all but confirmed it. He had never wanted her to return but when she asked he could not deny her.

“I was sent here to capture you and send you back. You return to Mars of your own free will Queen.”

He pulled down on the lever and the room lit in a bright greenish blue hue. She had to cover her eyes for a moment and when she could see again the rainbow light was trailing out of the massive roofless domain. The light died down but she could still see a quaking in the air and sky above them, it was something colorless yet you could see. Ripples of distortion in the stars, it was something she had never seen. When it turned on there was a loud, low toned, ring that evened as the bridge materialized.

“I don't know what awaits you on the other side. Whatever portal you come of is the one you will return by, never forget!”

She nodded and checked for her dagger, her short sword, her money would be no good so she dumped it to the floor. She tightened her cloak and stared at the doorway at the base of the bridge. The portal could only move one person at a time.

“I will keep the bridge open as long as I can but if anyone besides you comes out I will close it for twenty four hours Mars time!”

She didn't know what that meant but she knew she would find out.

“There will be no help, you are on your own.” He nodded. “God save you Queen of the Stars.”

His words made her stomach twist and while she wanted to not go, the bridge was built. She had to go. She had to know, to see what lay on Mars, why and who called to her from those sands. To see where she had come from. They had spoken little of her darkest questions. . . .where Did she come from? Why did she fall to earth? Who was the man of her dream? Who was Zardos? Where did she spend the first years of her life? Why hadn't she killed the Kilmister?

She would know these things if she stepped forward, all questions would be answered.

As she walked forward and put her hand into the rainbow light of the capsule she felt like her body become air and she looked up at to the sky once again. She stepped in and closed her eyes and felt herself leave the ground. She opened her eyes and watched stars and rainbows and sky floating passed her and it gave her the most peculiar sensation of having come this way before. She floated through galaxies and space, she was light and she was a star and she smiled. The red orb of destination loomed closer and she let herself be taken to it, she looked behind her and saw the blue orb of Earth fall away.

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

Almost two months later. . . . . . .

Ao'o. Day. Throne room.

Richi had sent all the managers away after spending hours telling them what to do in Star's stead. She had been gone without a word to say other wise for over a month now. Out in the Sabbath lands for a spell she had said. . .yet no other word had come and it made Richi irritated. He didn't know why he put up with her, stood in for her, ruled for her. He had his share of woman and some he had loved, he didn't have to put up with this. But serving the Queen as closely as he did left little time for personal affairs. That and he must find a woman immortal like himself who would tolerate him spending long amounts of intimate time with his Queen cousin the ruling power of Holy Wood.

Sigh, being the power behind the crown was a lonesome, enjoyable, time consuming, constant duty. Yet what he could only think about was Star. She was prone to bouts of isolation yes but to go this long, over a solid month, with no word was unlike her. Something was not quite right and he knew it. Not even Geez had sent word. If this went on much longer he would have to either send someone to locate her and see what was wrong or he would have to go himself. . .and he rather not do that.

As he sat on the throne in place of Star he pondered Dawn's desire for the crown. She sat in it with her mother gone and when Richi was not attending to business in it. But he had to watch his neice like figure, ever ambitious she had created her own kingdom but he knew she would surely take over a second kingdom with ease. The woman was more than capable of ruling by herself over vast amounts of land. She sometimes took it upon herself to sit in at council meetings. But it was a rare occurrence and mostly consisted of Richi calming fears and answering questions and giving commands.

Dawn was there now, entering the room as the managers left. She was dressed for travel but it appeared light. She waltzed in, her chainmaille skirt clinking against her scabbard, she faced her uncle figure and bowed her head in respect.

“No news of my mother?”

“Not yet.”

“Could she be dead?”

“As much as we can only speculate I doubt it.” They shared thoughts.

“Pity.”

“You wanted to do it yourself?”

“HA! I couldn't kill her, no matter how furious she makes me.” She gave him a curious look in her blue eyes.

A look he didn't entirely trust.

“I am going riding for a few days.” She said. “Rosie is to remain here, I have arranged May with what she would need. Like dear Mother, I do not know when I shall return.”

Richi was pleased but didn't let it show. “To which direction do you go?”

“Westward, along the seaside. I will not take long and I hope you have news of mother when I return.”

“Gods speed Princess.” He said to her in parting.

She left her uncle to guard what she coveted. It was in safe hands. To the seaside she rode, making head way to the north. A few day's ride would bring her within sight of the infamous Chatue D'if, the island prison. Where her mother was once held captive for months when she was an infant. Three lonesome days along the mist she rode, in silence and without guards. She was a skilled, trained warrior, she needed no guards.

Once on the shore opposite of the Chatue, she found a lagoon under a massive sea cave. In it was a lone boat, the only way to and from the island. Though, rather morbidly, visitors where few and prisoners many. The guards standing over D'if were made of clay and wore armor, they neither ate nor drank, nor slept. They needed nothing. Once a month, her mother sent enough supplies to the island to feed the 66 inmates. As Dawn got into the boat and pushed off from shore she held fast to the oars and thought about what she would find.

Upon chance one day while attending a Mangers meeting, she had come across a list of inmates with the list of inventory to Chatue D'if, a prisoner of war criminals her mother funded and supplied. Those who were found guilty of crimes yet did not find death. In the personnel descriptions Dawn found a line that said an inmate had silver eyes, who was locked away with no particular crime to his “Prisoner 54” status.

This she recalled as she came closer to D'if. This seemed odd, the man himself had been put in prison for no particular crime besides 'War Criminal, Guilty'. Dawn knew her mother and knew that Star was the type of person to hide someone if she wanted them kept alive without question. The D'if is one place the BOC did not venture, once a place they ran themselves. It was the best place to hide a human being, but why?

Others may not question what the man had done to be locked away in D'if but Dawn did. Star was meticulous when dealing with imprisonment and only those who participated in the BOC war were kept in D'if. Every other inmate had a length account of his or her crimes, except the silver eyed man, nameless 54. That struck the princess as worth seeing what the man looked like and if he could attest to his crimes.

She entered the prison through the single landing dock and tied the boat to the rocks. She climbed the spiral stair case chiseled into the rock and came out into the sun. She went into the prison and into the rocky maze of cages. These were more immortals, doomed to decades of never ending starvation for their crimes. Star would end them eventually but she made them examples to the BOC. It said 'fear the wrath of the Star Queen. Cross her and suffer an endless death.'

Dawn made way past the guards, they recognized faces that the Queen deemed was appropriate to walk these halls without her. She went to the one and put her hands through his helmet, her palms to his temples. This connection allowed her inside his memories. For over six years not a single human had come or gone from D'if, but the ones who had come made her shocked. It was Tilda, alive and dressed in war woman garb, sword by her side. She accompanied her Mother! They had come this way and through the hive like collection of golem minds she saw which way the two had gone.

She left the golem and went to the cell her mother had visited. When Dawn got there the cell was empty, void of any human habitation. She turned to glare at a few scattered prisoners in the same block, they stared back with wide eyes. Their tongues had been removed as part of their torture, sixty six people and not a single word spoken in forty seven years. Their eyes however told her what they remembered, the queen had left with the prisoner.

It wasn't difficult for her to understand what had happened. Star had found use in the Silver eyed inmate, the reason she kept him locked up perhaps. She took the man away, the only person who knew was dead. She had no doubt that this was the same man she visited in the Sabbath lands under cover. Whoever this man Really was, Star wanted it kept a secret and Dawn was going to find out why. What was her mother hiding so fiercely?

Dawn left the cell after inspecting it and finding only a cigarette butt. To the nearest Golem she went and looked into his mind to that day her mother came. Star stood outside the cell for some time, talking low to him. Suddenly she opened the cage and yelled at the man. Eventually, He came out and when Dawn saw him she knew it was the man in the Sabbath Lands. The man her mother had released was the same man she met with in secret.

She quickly left the island, the Sabbath Lands were next on her list. But now that she understood her mother's method-hide these things in plain sight- she knew that she had to look into the same records she had found the inmate in. If Star was trying to make it look like he was still in prison it meant she had him doing something somewhere else. The Sabbath Lands, the very place she had last been seen and known to be.

                                                  )))))))))))))))))))))))((((((((((((((((((((((((

It was three more days before Dawn returned to Ao'o. There was no new information regarding her mother. She calmly re-entered the castle, surely Richi didn't even know what Star had been doing. She doubted he did or else her mother would have taken Him with her to D'if for the Silver Eyed Man. Dawn had declared War on her mother now, war of secrets and lies. She had to play cool though, to reveal her mission would bring Richi into the fold and Dawn didn't need his ways clogging up her investigation.

Star was up to something big and to the record rooms she went. Being the princess of the crown she had all access to these rooms and so she entered alone in the night. She could waste no time. She went straight to the Sabbath land records and shut the door. Records of shipments sent to or received form the far north east marshes were written down for generations. Dawn did not need to read back far, whatever her mother was doing had only started about six years before. Knowing, somewhat, of what she looked for she noticed that every now and then an odd crate was counted for.

Thrown in with an outgoing shipment of crates bound for the north east were tools. Tools? Listed as destined for the blacksmiths of Geez Manor. The princess's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Another crate full of cigarettes. . . . .was it coincidence that Inmate 54 smoked cigarettes? Again, destined for Geez Manor. Who needed an entire crate of cigarettes? Another few weeks later, again, tools and metal sheets and other things forged by royal blacksmiths. Why did she send things that others could provide? Perhaps it was the act of providing for someone, providing things more easily made in Holy Wood.

How did anyone over look this? Much less Richi!? Yet, Dawn knew that as far apart as the shipments were during times of trade it was easier to hide. Again, her mother's attention to detail is what covered her tracks. Metal and tools to blacksmiths, sheets of metal that could be disguised as traded for rich crops of cannabis. After all, there were richer ore mines found south than north. Since Geez practiced science and alchemy, many would not doubt that Star was simply being a good hostess type and providing for her allies. Dawn, however, knew better.

Her mother had imprisoned the Man for some reason, released him for That same reason and hid him at Geez Manor. All the while, public records showed he was still locked up in D'if. Hmmm. What was her mother doing? She righted the room, put away all records and went to her chambers.

She could not go to the Sabbath lands for answers, she would find no help. Geez would not tell her, not when her mother so plainly tried to hide this and he was obviously helping her. No, Star was north working on whatever secret project she had going with the Silver eyed Man. Dawn wouldn't go riding off after her, news would surely make it to Richi in this case.

Well that and another clan dispute, different clans than the one set the fires that took her mother out that way. Always in dispute those cavemen were, Dawn didn't feel like walking into another battle riddled land. However, in Star's absence, Dawn began to form her own plan, a plan to take her turn at ruling. With Star gone and thoroughly distracted in the North she could possibly ease Richi off the throne and herself onto it. If anything THAT would bring her mother home.

S2 Chapter 4 Welcome to the Rainbow

Ao'o, 2026 AC/DC, day. . . . . . .

 Another bright and sunny day. Warm weather, a slight breeze. Star was on her terrace watering her herbal garden. The buds were thick and dark green, smelling heavy with earth. They were sticky to the touch, large in her fingers, nearly ready to be picked and left to dry. She went to the small gardening table next to her plants and picked up an already dried bud from a small gold tray and proceeded to roll a joint. She picked up a match, struck it and lit the joint.

She inhaled deeply and felt the smoke fill her lungs in the morning rays. For weeks there had been nothing but peace in the castle. Dawn had recovered and spent her time with her child. Star had been left in isolation these past few days, of her own choice mostly. She wanted a little peace and quiet, especially after finding her spy dead. Two days and a night after sending him his body was found with ears, eyes and tongue ripped out.

It had unnerved the Queen, as well as those closest to her. Speaking of which, Richi was out doing his job, ruling the estate managers and kingdom correspondents. He liked that part of their duality most, while she was the face of the throne, he knew everything that ran it.

She had much to think of, to be thankful for, to wonder about. Richi was her ever faithful companion and she cared for him deeply. Sometimes she wished wished she could marry him, but to do so would remove her from power. She clenched her fist and it felt so empty.

“Your highness!” A guard had run in. “Look to the north!”

She did and it was then that she noticed the pillar of smoke. That was the direction of the Sabbath Lands. She sighed, they were in a state of civil war right now. While she had established peace among her own lands, the hill clans and tribes of the north east were often at war with one another. Nothing but land disputes between people who were one step below the Geordieman tribes and one step above being completely pagan. All of them out of reach of her political power, but not that of her friend.

As the guard rambled on about how no news was yet forthcoming she decided to entertain herself and ride out to assist, she had an investment in the Sabbath Lands after all. She nearly Had to guarantee the safety of the land. Most people knew she had close bonds to the Mage Geez, who grew the plants she tended to now. His herbal supply spread far and wide, the medicine to cure any aliment. As his friend she took it upon herself to personally ride out and lend help.

She walked past her guard and to the stables. Before Anyone could object she was riding hard for the Sabbath lands with a small militia in tow. Richi, watching her leave yet again with a scowl on his perfect face, could at least be happy about that last bit. As he turned inside from the front steps of the castle he was met with a barrage of unanswered questions by the Managers. When would she be back? She must see to this, she must see to that. Richi sometimes wondered who the true ruler was, himself or his cousin.

Star rode hard, and what was normal a comfortable five day journey she did in two. Along the way she found taverns with ready horses for her to ride and once off a tired steed she simply hoped on another. This way she rode longer and farther and within two and a half days, arrived. The fire had not been quenched yet, as was normal for this type of land. In this outer most lands of the Sabbath kingdom, they were plains and hills that rolled far in all directions. Usually these plains were used to grow crops of all kinds, their more active villages and kingdoms lay to farther north to the marshes.

Sometimes, these fires were allowed to burn to days at a time to help clear dead brush for a new harvest. No doubt the fire had been struck by man, but was a thing of help in the midst of chaos. When she came up to the fire she saw tribesmen battling it out in a small scrimmage, Geez's people however were more concerned with the inferno. She held her men back from the battle, instead opting to help douse the flames of the fire line near Geez's property. She hadn't been this way since she last spoke to him and she found him easily as he helped to lead the fight against the flames.

She over watched from a hill that over looked the massive valley, there was no use getting involved with nothing to do. She likened being useless in such a situation as being a beheaded chicken. There was no need for her to get involved as her men did it instead. They had even asked her to stay back, they being more useful in this matter than she was. Geez rode up to her side to watch as she did. He had a smudge of soot across one cheek but seemed fine otherwise.

“Nasty fire!” She shouted, gazing upon his frizzy curly hair or the mustache that perfect rested on his face.

He nodded. “Nothing I feel threatened by. Better than ye olde dragon fire any day. Thank you for coming all the same!”

She smiled. “Of course my friend!”

Into the day the fire was fought, Star shed sweat even from a distance. Yet as the Mage had said there was no real danger, the fire was catching mostly brush and his men had quickly dug a trench that separated the barns from the flames with the others fought their battles on the other side of it. Well into the night they battled and the next day it was put to rest like the land dispute that caused it. Geez and Star had called a meeting between warring leaders and an arrangement of their own device was made.

“At least for now the dispute is settled,” Geez said when they turned away from the meeting in a glen.

She nodded. “Is there nothing to be done to bring them into the fold of modern civilization?”

“They refuse. They see us as the pagans.”

She laughed. He led her into the woods, away from the prying eye. She followed without hesitation. Into the sunset they rode and into the night, to the more rocky areas of the east. By the time the moon came to rest just above the horizon they stopped before a large rocky pass. The sides of the pass rose up into the sky on either side of them. Geez led the way without a word and she followed in complete trust.

“If only Richi knew I was alone Again. He would be furious.”

“Forgive me for asking, but why not marry him? He controls your affairs when you leave. He cares for your well being. He worries and is angered by you being alone. Sounds to me like you two are already married.”

“We can never marry. I was not born royal, I am the mother of royals and if I married another man besides a prince or king, I will lose my crown.”

“Ah I see. With your husband vanished your motherhood is all.”

“I claim Jim is still alive,” she whispered. He could see her eyes flash in the moonlight as she looked upwards. “His body was never found. No one can prove, besides his absence, that he ever died. To remarry would effectively dethrone me.”

“And your cousin?”

“Richi is my family and closest friend, he started the rebellion against the BOC to free me, he understands me. He knows me very well, better than anyone.” She recalled a moonlight tryst they shared long ago. . . .when she was just a young one.

“You seem very guarded over bloodlines your highness. I notice such things. You refuse to remarry to remain the queen to a king long since gone.”

“The line of rulers is an event that I have to guard the integrity of. The BOC must never gain power like they did before, never again. Should they stand next to the throne all freedom is lost. They nearly had it too, until I became Queen.” She was silent for a heart beat as flashes of memory swept behind her eyes. “The wrong or right ruler will decide the fate of thousands, upon thousands of people. The BOC must never gain the crown.”

“One day we might see the destruction of them entirely.”

“I can only hope. As much as I wish to, the people still rely on them. To destroy something as ancient as the BOC could be devastating so I cursed us both with immortality. If they must thrive so would I. Until then, I leave it to the citizens to decide when they want to abolish it. I hope some day they find a reason.”

“Or you find a replacement solution. And Richi you trust to be your stand in?”

She nodded. “He I trust to never fall victim to any priest.” She shook her head, at both her antics of ruling and his of taking up her slack. “He is my cousin and closest friend. I love him dearly.” After a beat of silence she spoke again, trying to move on from subjects she tried to avoid like love and marriage and men. “What is it you brought me this way to see Geez? What lays in the darkness here?”

“Something you have been seeking.”

She felt her heart leap into her throat and she fell silent as they approached a large building in the middle of a rocky gorge. It stood alone and only one horse wandered the sparsely grassed over area. They dismounted, wen to the porch and Geez opened the door. Inside was a wonderful world of candle and lamp lights and tools and gears. Large things covered with dirty white linen sheets, crates opened and some closed.

“What is this place?” She asked, though in her heart she knew.

“This is where the last stand was made.” A voice rang out from high above.

A large sheet was dropped and a massive structure that Star could only call a canon was revealed. She looked up and saw a man above tinkering with something here, tightening something there. It was the Kilmister by the scent of his cigarette. Most of these crates were things she had paid for. She knew where she was.

“Welcome to the Rainbow.” Geez said next to her, admiring the work done to it. “The last stand of Spyders from Mars against the People of Earth. It was here that the Earth King trapped a horde of Spyders and forced them to watch as he destroyed their only way home after defeating them in battle. He took them prisoner for decades before they were mysteriously released and scattered to the winds of the lands.”

“Mysteriously?” She asked skeptically.

“So they say,” Kilmister said from above. He put down his tools and stepped onto a platform that he started lowering with a turn lever. When he was on the ground he approached Star, wiping his hands free of grease. “They begged 'im to let 'em and their children return to Mars. Begged the king but he refused 'em.”

“I was not there, I cannot speak for that King.” She sniffed and said haughtily.

“Of course you weren't. You were still asleep on Mars.”

“Asleep?” Her eyebrows creased together as she tried to understand. “How so? As in unborn?”

Geez went off to inspect the Rainbow Bridge, a device that had been destroyed for centuries.

Kilmister paused and sighed, trying to think of how to explain it. “On Mars there has had three races of people. The Humans who lived there and the race of aliens they rescued from a dying planet. These other-worlders were called Starriders, they were an ancient race who mastered immortality without the aid of water. Once rescued and take to Human colonies on Mars, the younger generations fell in league with the humans and interbred against the wishes of the elders. Their offspring eventually became its own race, Spyders.”

Star had never known this. No one on earth except the man telling her knew. Mars history had long since been lost to earthlings.

“Where does that leave you and me?” She asked, watching every move he made as he took out a lighter to light the joint she had on her lips.

“My great great.....great....grandmother was a true hybrid, what came after her are Spyders. Her father was a 'Rider, one of the younger nobles who chose mortality." He took a puff on his cig. "When Mars broke out in civil war, he married a Spyder woman for peace. But unless you was one of the immortal StarRiders, hybrid blood faded into Spyder blood. These elder Riders were neither born nor ever dead.”

Even Geez had to eavesdrop. Star eyed Kilmister nervously as he went about, tugging cables and tightening bolts. She inhaled, held her breath, then exhaled.

“You are something that was supposed to be laid to rest forever and never awaken.” He stepped back and looked at his handy work. “Do you like children?”

“Of course I do, I have children.”

“On Mars, when I left, the rulers cursed the planet to remain still in time until you returned. As far as I know, not a single babe 'as been born on Mars since.”

She had no idea it was even possible. “When do I to return to the red planet?”

“Nearly ready here. I'll call you to my side when its ready.”

“That's it?” She asked. “That's all you wanted to tell me? That's all you have to say to me here and now?”

“Yep, that's it.”

“You can't just stop in the middle of a story and not reveal the whole truth!”

“I can and I did. Now go home Star Queen.” He had hardly so much as looked at her and knew it infuriated her. His ultimate goal was to drive her away from this thing she made him do.

Geez watched silently as Star fumed with frustration, he too was wary of what she wanted to do. She had to have faith in Kilmister, yet she was opening a dangerous door. Before leaving she stopped at the doorway and turned back.

“How do I know you aren't just lying to me? How do I know you won't lead an invasion once the bridge is opened?”

“If that was my plan, I wouldn't be asking ya for help.”

She clenched her teeth together, nodded and then tuned in a huff. Geez followed her.

"Star!" He came up beside her she mounted her horse.

She stared down at him with a placid face.

"Are you sure you want to do it? Leave this world?"

"I must. . . ."

"But why? You have been Queen for decades. What can help you on Mars? What if you ARE earthling?"

"There are questions left unanswered, time lost and forgotten. Demons that haunt me. Mars calls to me and I must go. " She saw Zardos lurking on the porch, unseen by anyone but Star. "Not long before I was adopted, stars fell from the sky and I woke up in a pit of fire. I am what fell that night. Why?" She looked up and then turned her horse and rode off into the night.

Geez had become friends with Kilmister. Not even he knew much more than Star did, hearing of her earliest memory was a surprise. Her heart pounded as furiously as she forced her horse to ride. Always! Always such a lack of information! Damn be the men who crossed the Queen of Stars! She screamed and thundered hard away from the gorge of the Rainbow Bridge. What she wanted was in her grasp but would she grab it when it came? She didn't even know. That is what angered her most.

She stopped suddenly in the path after an hour's ride. She could not return to Ao'o, not when the bridge was nearly done.

“I cannot return.” She dismounted, talking to herself. “The bridge is almost done, no I cannot go home just yet.” She stopped and looked behind her, the gorge was a distant smudge on the horizon.

Her horse was breathing hard so she let go of the reigns and let him wander to the small stream in hearing distance. She followed her beast through the glen and through the short trees under the moon. The smoke in the distance from the fire of the Sabbath marshes was diminishing every moment. The creature found water and by the brook were berry bushes and small mushrooms. Star was hungry and far from the nearest village, far from civilization.

She sat down with her back to a tree, sighing into the night about her life. The mushrooms were pale in the moonlight and it didn't even cross her mind whether or not the things she found in the night were safely edible, but she ate them anyway. Mushrooms, berries, handfuls of water. She didn't even have a canteen with her.

Into the night the moon rose higher and not long after eating, Star felt a pulse in her eyes. She took off her coat, then her boots. When she sat back again the moon was a larger, flatter disc in the sky. It suddenly began reaching for her and her jaw dropped as the moon looked like it was melting in reverse, towards her, dripping its craters across the black grass. Its light was flat, she was frozen and it crept upon her like a man in heat.

She couldn't even scream as it opened into an endless white hole and she felt herself being sucked in. She grabbed for the grass between her fingers, trying to hold back and succeeded in managing to crawl forward on her belly. Away from the hungry moon.

She got to her feet and was running! Running from the moon as it clawed it way after her! She couldn't scream, there was no sound. She tripped and landed hard on her front! When she turned she wasn't even in the glen anymore. She was on the ridge around Blackmoore hills.....where she and Richi had consummated their lingering stares brimming with teenage lust.

…..when she first came to stay with the Blackmoores of Holy Wood, they put her at age fifteen, she was a strong and capable nineteen now. Out of the three Blackmoore brothers, the first had many sons. The second had one son and the third had a daughter, Star. She had no real future of duty, unless she married into royalty she would remain a noble lady forever. She had no woes then. . . . . .

Star was watching everything as if it were a dream. She watched herself in that time on this day. For some reason she had fallen into the memory of her and Richi's night together.

Still learning the ways of the people, she was educated enough to her age level and knew the Book of Law like no one else better. She attended a girls academy, and her parents took it upon themselves to make sure she knew how to run a household and run servants. She had been gifted a life of nobility, but she was to take the role like she was born to it.

The King was young, and would soon seek a wife in the years to come. They were holding out for her to wed into the throne. She was an adamant virgin. But she herself was also curious. Having been shied away from men, she wondered about them. She read many things in the libraries and sexual conduct was some of them.

Richi was a handsome lad just three years older than her. Her cousin, her father's brother's only son. He was a quiet young man, unwed at age twenty two. Typical Blackmoore look with long black hair, dark eyes, and a solemn gaze. He was always with his guitar, he was a quick hand and deviant ladies man. He was sitting on the porch one summer's day, when the procession came up the drive. Horses, pack mules and travel vehicles were coming. His mother and father had beat them to it; the family summer retreat. 

 It was a humid summer when they arrive, her hair was arranged simply, a thick braid to the side, a pin with the family crest insignia on it in the twists. The crest was an ornate B on a deep purple background.

She was riding on a grey and white speckled stallion, prancing up the drive like she half owned the place. She wore black boots up to her knees, black riding pants and an off white shirt that she seemed to have just buttoned on the verge of indecent. She seemed to have changed since she was first presented to the public. She had been a tad more conservative then, a tad more modest.

She wore her customary riding glasses, round and yellow to adjust to the long sun exposure. On her head was a now worn black leather hat. Her hat had dark purple plumage sprouting from on side. She was pure Blackmoore there. Richi knew she would be his then.

He himself was dressed in his usual all black. An airy tunic of black woven silk, white stars along the buttons. His pants were likewise, long and as is customary for the Blackmoore family, were a thin black velvet. His shoes were canvas sewn, traditional black. He was a black blood, through and through and wore it with pride.

Star watched as they conversed, shared a stolen kiss in the stables and how She had stalked him with her eyes the entire visit. She wanted him to want her, back then, there had been no other men in her life.

It was sunset when Richi was back on his porch, strumming. The three brothers were here, and their wives and children. The Blackmoores were all there and their elder cousins held the center of attention. Star and Ritchie were the odd ones out, his father was second in line of succession, Star's was third. They didn't have the most responsibility and were fine with that.

Star walked out of the house is a traditional Blackmoore women's garb for this type of setting and event, a dress of black lace. An off shoulder neckline in lace, long-sleeved in lace, a slim silk gown underneath contoured to her every curve to just below her thighs. She looked elegant, and when she passed, he saw that the back was cut out in a diamond shape. Her creamy skin beckoned him. Her hair was half pinned up with silver and amethyst tipped pins.

She was leading him, he was willing. She took him tot he tree nestled atop a hill. It looked over valleys and the servants always placed thick rugs under it for the family members and off duty servants to sit and lounge. Of course, to those more perverse it was a place for the curious.

When he found her she was standing next to the tree, staring off into the silver valley below. She had removed the silk under dress and was only in ruffled black lace. He went up behind her and began to undo the clasp to the heavy choker her parents put on her. It was symbolic, she caged by them. He took off the heavy silver collar, in the shape of a constellation, amethysts to match her hair pins. He let it drop to the ground. He took the hair pins out, and put them in his pocket. He reached around her to grab her shoulders and hold her against him. The feel of her bare this close to him.

He turned her round and kissed her. It was deep and possessive. He tilted her head back and trailed kisses down her temple, her jaw line, her neck. A breeze blew through and it made her skin prick, her nipple hardened against the bare chest peeking out of his tunic.

While they kissed she took the tunic away from him. He eased her back to sit on the rug with him, he laid her back and hovered in close to her, smothering her with his kiss, his hand playing with her rosebud nipples. Her dress hiked up on her legs, she rubbed her smooth thighs against him, it made his spine shiver. She was aching for him, and nervous at the thought of an intrusion.

Star watched herself make love to the man she was told was her cousin.

His hips pressed against her womanhood and she felt him then, a hard member straining against his thin velvet trousers. All that separated them was lace and velvet. He undid his trousers and worked them off with ease. He had her sit in his lap, facing him at first. His hands were everywhere, her neckline was low and his hands grabbed her breasts, squeezing, holding. His mouth went to her hard peaks and he sucked.

Suddenly it ended and there was her husband, laughing, walking through her vision. Alive. He came up to her in the glen and she realized she was back in the real world, tripping on mushrooms. He held his hand for her and pulled her up, she glanced down and found her shirt was missing by her own hand. He took her by the hand and led her back to the river, as he had long ago. . . .

In a moment the moon was back in the sky and was reflecting off the rippling water. She had loved him yes, but he was gone often and she was left to the mercy of the BOC those many times until he never came back. She began to untie her trousers as the moonlight in the water reflected off her face. She stepped out of and away from the rest of her clothing, now naked in the moonlight. She went forward and the water was cold as it touched her bare toes, it gratefully accommodated her body with each step she went into the river.

The water wrapped around her like a silky, barely there blanket and she spread her arms as she swam into it. The sound of the brook filled her ears and when she looked back to find Jim, he was gone. . . . But there was someone else there and she abruptly stood up in the water. Her nipples hardened and the water desperately rolled off of her skin like clothing falling to the ground.

He was there, in his worn jeans and without shoes or shirt. Three men had visited her in her nightly drugged escapade, three men who all had had an impact on her life. Three who have liberated her, sheltered her, fought for her, loved her. All three were men she had returned the feelings for. But the one who stood there now was the one she wanted most. Yet, in the blink of an eye he vanished with a smile.

Leaning on a tree was her tormented reflection. It was Zardos. Star stared at her with unseeing eyes and tiled her head. She had no idea why the men who had been showed her were chosen, or what they meant. 

“What does it mean?” She called to Zardos, her mental projection. “Why do you all appear to me? Torment me?” She shivered in a small breeze that slithered across her nude body. 

Zardos watched like a wolf on its prey. Watching each ripple in the water. "One to never fail you. One to give you power. One to make you desperate."

 She listened to the twisted being and as her head filled with colors and thoughts of many shades and reasons she sank back into the water for her night time swim. Three men, past present and dead....or was it future? Richi was her most trusted ally, Jim her only husband, Bon her only love. But there was one more man, one more man who waited on the red speck in the sky she looked up to. The one who invaded her dreams, who she didn't know.

“Where men once ruled and ruined before you, may men rule a better world after you.” She told the sky, repeating what a witch haunted her by. “No daughters shall rule what is rightfully theirs, lest blood be their domain. Where once sons were absent, let them come forth to right the imbalance of their fathers, to continue the legacy of their mothers. Red sands for she, and green for he. . . . .Only then may you rest.”

The next thing she knew the day had come and the night seemed to end all too quickly. She sat up and gasped to find herself nude, covered in leaves and branches. She shook her head, collected her clothing and sat by the brook. Her fingers stretched across the ground where she pressed her hand into the earth, he had been standing there, he had been there. Tears choked her but she refused to cry.

A Queen never cried.

S2 Chapter 3 Dawn in the Underground. . . .part 2

Underground, nightfall.

Vince was the eldest of the Motley gang, born in scandal. Now he helped run the Underground. A girl's favorite about the tunnels.

Mik and Tom were the true warriors of the group, having come from nomadic families who specialized in warring and fighting as an art. The youngest member was Nik, younger brother to Mik. They hid out in the corner of the tunnels, around a particularly active hub of people, where red lights and bath houses were one in the same.

There was a knock and when it was opened the boys were met with their friend Joan and two other females in tow. Vince was at the door and he immediately took an interest in the blonde woman of high status. However Joan made it clear they had a mission in mind. Once inside she took them into confidence.

“Ok guys I need help. Dawn's missing and that Man has her. I need to find them.” She started, they would know who she meant.

“You mean that Spyder guy she's been hanging with?” Tom asked.

Nik took notice of the youngest of the group. A few years younger than he was maybe. The Princess Heir Apparent. Though while to his eyes she appeared younger than himself, she had been born more than twenty years ago. Longer than he had been.

Star bristled. “WHO!?”

Joan recoiled but held her ground and faced the Queen. “ She accepted a Spyder to stay here over a week ago and insisted no one tell you. They've disappeared ”

“That's what happened to her?” Her hands balled into fists, she stood nose to nose with the shorter woman.

The guys were waiting for a fight.

“Yes. These guys know this place, they can find her. Rosie can stay here with Nik.”

Star stared down at her. “Then lets go. I tire of waiting.”

Without any more formality, the guys agreed to Joan's idea. Nik and Rosie would stay in the hide out. If there was one gang who knew almost everything about the tunnels, it was the Motley boys. Vince took to the streets and asked the right questions. If anyone had seen Dawn, where did she go, tell Vince or risk your physical health. Star's heart was torn between Dawn and Rosie, she had no reason to trust this Joan woman, no reason to trust anyone. . .other than the fact that they were Dawn's people. She had trusted this woman, as far as Star could tell.

Star looked at Joan as they followed Vince through the tunnels. She remembered the Jetts family, so long ago. Their house crumpled around 1990 AC/DC, into ruin of every kind. What a fall it had been. It tickled the queen to see the last living member now helping rule the Underground. A different nobility.

It reminded her of the reason there was an Underground at all, she refused Dawn that which was rightfully hers. But as always she had her reasons.

Joan seemed to feel her thoughts. “You're staring at me your highness.”

“It is hard not to, considering how I knew your family.”

“My grandfather's family you mean.”

“You say that as if they are not your own.”

“They ceased to be when they sold me.”

“Fair enough. . .” Star whispered. She saw the woman's mouth twitch at the corner. “You wish to say something yourself.”

“Not for me but for Dawn.”

“She is your friend.”

She nodded. “And your daughter, heir to the throne.”

“Aye.”

Joan stopped and turned to Star, staring into her eyes with a fierce glare.

“I am a blunt woman your highness and will not spare you. Give her what she was born to have. You married into the family, she was born into it. It is hers by right. Holy Wood has had Queens before.”

“Of course it has. The Throne does not discriminate against the heir apparent.”

“As the last living heir to the last born king of Holy Wood, Dawn should have it.”

“New blood does not always mean a new rule. Though Queens would often have more peaceful rules than Kings.”

“Except yours.”

“Yes,” she turned to stare directly at Joan. While she could appreciate the honesty, she detested the insolence. “Blood was freedom's stain, one I would gladly spill again. As you pointed out I married into the family, my power was less than a Queen born into it. Yet it was I who reduced the BOC's power ten fold when they crossed me.” She turned her nose up at the younger female. “You should be grateful, without me you would not be immortal and probably still a slave.”

That shut up the smaller woman.

After a moment of silence Star spoke again. “Do not ever question me. I've torn down castles to save my daughter, I would do it again. What I do is all for her and the continuation of our bloodline.”

Vince grinned at their wispy fighting. It wasn't long before someone nodded towards a small food front. An informant. They entered the shop and a man came out to weasel his way into their party.

“And what will it be today? Heart of cow? Fried mice? A woman on the side?”

Vince shoved him aside. “How about the back stairs.”

“No wait! You can't!” The man protested.

Tommy shoved him again. A bowl of rice sat on the counter between them. He stuck his fingers in it, hungry, and scooped rice into his mouth. It was drenched in salt and half cooked. He spit it out and then followed his comrades down the back stairs. Vince led the way, behind him was Joan, Star, then Mik and Tommy. They descended deeper below the tunnels, to the sex chambers where whores and their lovers hid.

Star began to grow sweaty in her thick black clothing, envying the Motley boys in their thin, tight leather pants and near non existent shirts. She shook her head and they came to the bottom of the narrow stairway. They came out into a hot, steam filled room deep under ground. There were sounds of moaning sex workers drifting through the air. Perfect it may seem above, not all was as homey as it appeared. It did not surprise Star, these were where criminals hid. There was suddenly a ruckus and the few people who were lounging in the room they entered suddenly left. Four men stood in front of a door across the way. A large door.

They each approached, mirrored by the three Motley Boys and Joan.

“Go,” Joan said without looking at Star, she pulled a dagger out of her belt and tossed it to the Queen. “She will be beyond that door. Use the shadow, get into that room.”

Star did as instructed and as the four vs four battle commenced. The Boys and Joan were expert warriors, they survived by fighting, it was almost all they knew. She wanted to see the outcome, but she had to keep creeping. With the men fighting she made it to the doors and opened them as little as she could.

There was Dawn in a chair, being strapped down by a handsome man. Star disliked him immediately. He had a small bottle in his hand. Dawn herself seemed to be intoxicated. She was giggling and caught in the throws of a high, her mother knew.

He walked around her saying things. Star gently pushed the door and slipped inside, she held the dagger at a ready angle. The shadows worked to her advanatage and she crept into the room. There was no one else except her daughter and the Spy.

“We have worked hard to return here, years spent recoving.” He whispered. “Hard to get a spy into your midst. I am but the first wave, soon we will return to the rest of them. With you by my side, we will return to the Mountains of the East and there we will march on your own city.”

Dawn laughed and didn't seem to hear him.

He grinned. “My informant put you under my spell long before I came to your sights. I was simply waiting for you. In my stone palace, we will join together in matrimony, body and blood. You will bear my sons and maybe become more useful to me.”

He grabbed her chin and licked her cheek.

Star watched and in the dark her eyes glowed a bright, honey gold. She stepped out of the shadows and came up behind the Spyder.

“You will become the Spyder's revenge.”

“I think not.”

There was a cool voice behind him as a cold blade came over his neck.

“You've told me much and I fear letting you do more to my child. I must thank you for telling me so much will so little, yet now you must die.”

Before he could stutter excuses, she cut his throat. He crumpled to her feet and she watched him bleed out. It had been anticlimactic for her, she had wanted to take him back, interrogate him, abuse him, torture him. But she would not chance Dawn's life in his hands and when she had Him in Her hands, she knew that a fight might let him escape. Escape was not an option, so she allowed him to speak as much as he would say, exposing his plan and the somewhat location of his people.

She doubted he would have said much anyway, they never did. Besides she would make a message of him, instead of mercy only death came for those who tried what he had. Torture was too merciful, choking on his own blood was befitting. Yet as she stared at the man with dark dark eyes, she felt that she had murdered one more person who had seen the world she hailed from. . . truly. It felt strange, but in her mind she had no choice.

She had been betrayed by her “people” in the past, these Spyders were no different. She went to Dawn but the woman was unconscious. Star cut her bonds, moved the traitor's body, and waited for Joan to win her battles. As the victors rushed in, Vince, Mik, Tom and Joan, Star hovered next to her child. Tom came in and picked her up, Mik and Joan scouted the room to secure their location. Vince came to Star, she stared at him with a smudge of blood along her cheek.

She looked at him, he looked at her. She grabbed his barely-there shirt and yanked him in close for a hot sweaty kiss. He happily obliged her. She pulled away and grimaced, he tasted like whiskey, but she got over it and kissed him again.

                                                      *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Dawn awoke in her rooms. The only one there was Joan. She was smiling with her arms crossed, a glorious dark silver cape draped across her shoulders. She grinned and leaned forward.

“Good morning. How you feel?”

“Like fucking shite.” The princess said. She blinked in her harshly half dark, half light room. “Why are we in Ao'o?”

“Because a witch cursed you at the behest of a Spyder.”

“Lyr. . . .”

“Yes.”

“Well if we're here and he isn't, I take it he's dead.” Her friend nodded. Dawn studied Joan. “My mother gave you something didn't she?”

She laughed. “Well, after you went missing, I found your mother and took her to the Underground. Rosie followed so we-”

“She what?!”

“She kind of came with us. But it was ok, she stayed with the Motley boys, with Nik.”

“Please tell me my mother didn't engage Rosie to any of them!”

Joan couldn't help but belt out laughter. “I swear she did not! Rosie was just fine with Nik. Your mother was the one who saved you actually. She cut Lyr's throat as he stood over you. We collected Rosie afterwards and brought you here.”

“Sounds like her. So what's with your finery?”

“That's my second favorite part, your mother knighted me and all the Boys.”

“Knighted the Motley Boys??”

“I actually enjoy being a knight of Ao'o.”

Dawn rolled her eyes at her mother's antics. “So do you want to live here then?”

“No!” She spat out. “My home is with the Underground, our world we created. Besides, being a knight of Ao'o means being a knight of yours.”

The Princess was pleased and nodded in response. “Thank you Joan. I have no words enough to say what I want to say.”

“Thank you is just fine.”

They smiled at each other and small talked their way through the day. Rosie was asleep in her chambers, perfectly unharmed. Star too had gone into her chambers to sleep after knighting the Undergroundlings. She emerged from her room at dusk and wandered the outside waist high maze in the gardens. She and Richi spoke of what had transpired in the night.

They were speaking of Rosie.

“I had to leave her with that ruffian boy, Nik. She said he was kind enough, didn't try much on her. But he stunk and was was unsightly and was all too happy to return home.” She laughed softly. She then coughed once, she could still taste Vince's breath on her lips.

“I'm still upset you did nothing to alert me,” Richi grumbled as they turned a corner.

Star grinned. “If I had you would have fought me about it and there was no time.”

“Very well,” he said, relenting to her antics. “I can see no arguing will make you say sorry.”

They had been walking for a short amount of time but the maze was not that hard. They turned a corner again, approaching the center of it. “No, I'm afraid not dearest cousin. It had to be done in secrecy. Tere is a more pressing matter than my safety.”

He rolled his eyes. “And what could be more pressing than that I wonder?”

“The fact that the Spyder's returned and nearly took my daughter out from her own Underground. That cannot happen.”

“You said they are holed up to the east?”

“Eastern Mountains, the one said. They must have found a network of caves, its the only known shelter out that way.”

“It's the only know thing at all that way. After that, its just empty land and nothingness.”

“There might be more. No one has successfully trekked across the mountains in this era of recorded history. Whatever lay beyond them before the era of Darkness was lost to the darkness itself.” She wandered along silently and reached out to hold her cousin's hand. He wasn't an overly emotional man but he did allow her to lace her fingers through his. It brought them both comfort.

“We might be able to send men out to travel those hills if we wanted to search for the renegades.” He suggested. “We're still waiting for the return of our last spy.”

He hadn't been paying attention to what lay in front of them, but she had. She stopped and he halted to look at her, he had been observing the constellations as they walked and chatted. She stopped in her tracks as they came around a corner, her voice stalled and died. It took Richi a moment to follow her gaze and when he did he went into full alert, his hand left hers. There in the center of the maze was a dead man, a spy. Richi immediately called for guards and as they came rushed he walked about the courtyard in defense. Star went to him and crouched beside the dead one.

His ears, tongue and eyes were scattered around his head. He hadn't been killed here, there was not enough blood. He had been dumped here. It was one of her's she knew. There was no other reason such a message would be on her grounds, flies already buzzed around his damaged head. She knew the message, follow, spy and die.