The new ruler must determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He must inflict them once and for all.
-Niccolo Machiavelli
Once everyone was gone from the large room all the strength seemed to leave Alianna's legs. She slumped down onto the crystal chair, breathing heavenly, she tried to stop the trembling that had taken over her body. Slowly the purple haze dissipated. She placed her head in her hands and close her eyes. “What did I just do?” She said in just above a whisper. She heard someone climbing the steps. She looked up to see the man called Theric, the man she had kicked, limping up the steps toward her. She went rigid with fright, she knew she had hurt him pretty bad, what if he wanted to hurt her too. Instinctively her hand went to the knife in her pocket. She drew it out and pointed it at Theric. The man froze at the top of the Dias.
“Peace, Hyress, Peace. I live to serve you. You are the true Hyress, of that I have no doubt. I am Theric, Hyress, how may I serve you.” His tone was soothing, but he kept limping toward her. There was that sense in the air, the sense that, even though he was trying to sooth, he set the hair on her neck on end. She did not have time to complete a song and make the crystal strike the ground in front of him. He was getting closer, a thousand terrible images flew through her mind of what he might do. Something inside her urged her to sing one specific note, it was the last note in the song that made the crystal emit the beam. Not being able to think of anything else, she sang the note, held it, intensified it. The purple shard began to glow as it glowed as a light came from within the crystal chair. She could feel the vibrations within the chair, she had a feeling, and she didn’t know where it came from, that this chair could hold more song then her voice could produce. Within seconds the purple shell formed around her again. Theric stopped as he saw the aura form. Fear danced in his eyes as the energy that arced around the surface of the sphere began to leap into the crystal knife, purple light flaring from within its core. Alianna stood from the chair, all the fear and anger from the past few days flowed through her voice and then she pointed the knife at the floor in front of him. She cut off the note abruptly and a beam as big around as her arm shot out from the knife. It detonated on the ground between them and she watched as he flew off the Dias and crumpled to the floor.
Fear flooded Alianna as she looked at his his body. There was smoke rising off of his cloths. “Oh...Oh my gosh, I...I killed him.” Tears escaped her eyes. Her shoulders began to tremble, her face scrunched up as she began to shake her head back and forth. Then she heard it, a painful cry coming from the ground. She stared past the smoldering crater in the dais to Theric. He began to writhe in pain. She let out a sigh. “What do I do now?” She began rummaging through the library worth of books stored in her head, trying to figure out how to handle this situation.
She looked toward the ruined stairs as a charred hand reached up over the top, and then another. Theric pulled himself over. He crawled over to her and bowed before her.
Seeing him prostrating before her brought up two conflicting emotions in her. She felt a strange sense of elation, that warred with a sense that him bowing before her was wrong. But slowly the elation won over the feeling that this was wrong.
“Forr...forgive me Hyress. Please spare me, and I will be your faithful servant. Only the true Hyress can call forth the power of the Thron.” She looked as he gestured to the deep purple chair behind her. As she looked at the chair what he kept calling her started to register. It sounded like the word Heiress. Like she had just inherited a billion dollars.
She started to get the impression that power and confidence was what these people respected, so she began to pull together in her head the traits of the more stern and powerful queens and princesses from her books. “Very well Theric.” She kept her voice stern, drawing a lot of inspiration from her mother, but she was scared senseless on the inside. “You may serve me. I will need to learn about my subjects very quickly. What is this place called?”
“This is the land of Nod. We settled here a few generations ago, because the soil was good. After a century of wandering, we had become too large to follow the animals. One had come out of the west shortly after we settled and said he knew how to bring food from the ground. He taught us to farm and then moved on. We were ruled at that time by Maleric's father, Jukas. He sat on the Thron, but at that time we knew nothing of the crystals or the song.
It was then that this woman appeared here in the Catha-Darl with the girl who wore a tiara on her head with a crystal shard that looked like it came from the purple crystal of the Thron. She said that by right of the girls yellow hair which was the color of the great light in the sky, and blue eyes the color of the deep below, different then anyone else living and her ability to bring the Thron to life, that it had been ordained by the Eternal that this girl would rule over us. Jukas proceeded to laugh at her. He stood, drew his sword, and began to descend the steps, but the girl then opened her mouth and the song came. Her song activated the Thron and a beam of energy shot forth and Jukus erupted into flame. He died right on these very steps.”
The Hyress...er the imposert that you rightfully took your place from, has ruled us for twenty years since then.” His tone was penitent as he corrected himself, but there was something else there that she couldn't identify. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Theric, as if his secret would be plainly evident on him. “What aren't you telling me Theric?” He looked shocked but recovered quickly. “The girl. she could not call on the power of the Thron on her own. She never had the voice to sing the stones.
Her eyes narrowed at Theric as if she could see the lie on his face if she looked hard enough. “How then did she keep power, I thought you said she couldn't sing?” her eyes narrowed even more.
“I did not find this out till later. I had been in my library, in the lower level of this place, and as I was leaving I heard someone trying to sing in a small room that was down the hall from me. I peeked in and saw the Hyr…I mean the girl, she was singing but it was clear, even to these untrained ears, that she had no talent for it. Then I heard another voice singing and it was the woman’s voice not the girls, and so I knew that she was false. But I do not know where her voice was coming from or how she was able to control the Thron.”
“So why didn't you tell the rest of the people, that she was a fake? ”
He paused for a moment. A tingling sensation ran through Ali. It was the same one she got when she knew she was missing something, but couldn't figure it out.
“ I feared the voice, and the woman who I believe the voice belonged to. We trade with her, we trade our food for crystals and other Items that she seems to create. This suit for example.” He said as he rolled up his slave revealing a glimmering fabric that fit snugly against his skin. It reminded her of the body suit she had to wear for her one dance recital, she tried Ballet for 6 months because Ali loved it, but she didn’t last much longer then the first recital, it just wasn’t her. “It takes care of the body's more, how shall I say, private needs. It seemed to be made with pieces of the crystals woven into it, but you do not have to sing to activate it. We have not been able to understand how it works.”
Ali's mouth dropped a little as he described it, before she caught herself and shut it. “Are there any more of those?” Theric smiled just slightly, again Ali had that sinking feeling that she was missing something. Theric looked at the girl who had formerly been Hyress, but was now rocking back and forth on the floor below them.
“You may have hers Hyress, all that was hers is now in your hands. Go, claim what is yours by right.”
Ali's nerve began to falter. She stared at the girl who was her own age, yet had somehow reigned for twenty years, she looked so frightened. “I can't just start taking her clothes from her.”
Theric's smile widened, but Ali did not see because she was looking at the girl. Theric moved in toward her, until he was standing over her. He bent down, only then did Ali turn to him and pointed the knife shard at him. He raised his hands and backed away .
“You show weakness Hyress, compassion for the girl, betrays a weak heart. The others obeyed because they saw the display of your power, but you are not the only one in this world who can call on the power of the crystals. Maleric for example. These people respect only power and those who are willing to use it. You must not be soft in your dealings with these people, or else they will kill you, and the boy as well. You must not show her any quarter, Hyress. Make her the dog at your feet, show them that you are the true Hyress.”
“No Quarter?” Ali said timidly. She had heard that phrase enough times in her books to understand its meaning. She wanted to be as hard as Theric was demanding, but right now she didn't know where her backbone had gone. She knew now that its absence was showing , and that Theric had noticed it. She knew she could get it back if she tried, knew that she could probably make Theric very docile with another blast from the Thron, but something had worked its way into her mind as her surroundings began to register. There was food of every kind at the banquet she had walked in on. Hot, savory foods, and not just meat but bread and vegetables and fruit. And these people had looked, and smelled so clean, they must have sanitation of some kind. Running water, maybe even baths. And that suit, if it worked half as well as he was saying, it would be such a blessing to her.
“Yes, No quarter, or mercy. She would have killed you Hyress, she has killed before. She is not someone to be pitied, but broken.”
A month without any comforts of any kind had taken a toll on her. She had never thought much about the amenities that her everyday life back on Earth had provided her. Just something as commonplace as a bathroom, had become something she longed for. She felt herself give into the urge to have those things again. She also felt a new urge take hold. She had power now, now she was the Queen of the table. These people would do whatever she said. There would be no one to bully her ever again. She wouldn't be tortured anymore. She wouldn't cry herself to sleep every night. Finally she would have peace. She couldn't fight it any more, even though the cost was high.
She rose from the Thron, and held her crystal in her hand. She began to sing as she descended the steps. By the time she reached the bottom the crystal shown with a brilliant white light, and the purple shard in the crown glowed faintly which in turn created the purple sphere, crackling with energy around Alianna.
The girl looked up at her as she approached and Ali could see the stark terror in her eyes. This froze her in mid step. “I...I can't do it, she's terrified.” Then she heard Theric's words. “She would have killed you.” Ali looked closely at the girl. Raven dark hair running silkily down her back. Stunning by all standards. The harder she stared at the girl the clearer she saw, like those pictures, where if you stare at them long enough you can see a shape, the girl began to fade away, to be replaced by an image of Keri Bellows. Keri, who had devised a scheme that could only have been meant to destroy her. Keri had obviously wanted her dead. In that moment at the cafeteria, she had hated Keri, and that hate had never really gone away. She let that hate come back now, pretended that this was Keri kneeling there in front of her.
“Get up” she said, her voice turned to cold steel reinforced by the hate coursing through her.
The girl cringed further into herself, and began whimpering again.
“Get Up!” She said loudly. She then sang the single note that she had before and a blazing beam of energy shot from the Thron and hit the crystal in her hand. The beam then shot upward between her and the girl so she could feel the heat of it and a section of the roof incinerated and the day's light shone down on her. She showed nothing outwardly, but inside she was awestruck for the beam coming from the Thron and destroying the ceiling is what she had imagined happening, but she had not expected it to actually take place.
All color drained from the girl's face. Sweat began to drench her brow. Slowly the girl got to her feet and stood there shaking.
“Take me to the rooms that you used to occupy. There you will remove your clothes and put on something befitting a servant. You will serve me now, and I will expect nothing less than your best efforts every day, because your best effort will be the only thing that keeps you alive.” She felt a chill run through her. “wha..what am I saying.” Again she almost faltered in her resolve, but then images of living the rest of her days in the wild warred with living them out in the luxury of this place, and again she gave into the easy route, and the evil queen’s from her stories were more than willing to step in and give her all the venom that she needed.
“Yes...yess...Hy...Hyress. It will...will be as you say.” stammered the girl.
“What are you called?”
The girl looked at her in confusion, her mouth almost forming an H but then it stopped as realization of the change of her status fully fell on her. “They..They call me Nisa, Hyress.”
“Very well, Nisa, I wish to see my rooms.” Alianna said in a cold, commanding voice.
The girl turned and started for the main door. Alianna began to follow her, but then stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Come Theric, You can advise me from the hallway, while we change. Leave a guard here in the hall. Instruct him to tell the people to wait for me in the hall until I return.” She saw the man bow deeply to her and then he began to descend the steps.
He went toward the front of the hall and left through one of the doors on the far wall. Alianna stopped the girl before she left the hall and looked to where Theric had left. She felt a pang of fear. “Could he be betraying me?”
A few minutes later she saw him enter with one of the guards she had seen at the front of the building before she came in. He spoke to him briefly. The man nodded and then marched to stand at the base of the steps that led up to the Thron. Theric then began to move toward her. She nodded to him, and then turned and pushed the girl forward into the hall.
She felt a chill run up and down her spine, each time she poked the girl with the point of the shard to prod her on. A sickening feeling tried to work its way up from her stomach, but she forced it down. “I...this isn't right...I can't keep this up.” Just before she gave into her desire to run away, the girl turned to peek at her, and there was Keri's face again. The girl jerked her head forward again when she saw the anger flash across Ali's eyes. Anger flared through her. She sang a few notes and the tip of the crystal began to glow. She could feel the heat coming for it, and obviously so could the girl for her shoulders hunched forward away from the heat, and her pace began to quicken.
Soon the girl was opening a double door and stepped into a lavish room. It was oval in shape. There was a massive four – post bed, a large armwa. There was an artistic changing screen in the corner. There was a small writing desk and two large chairs facing the fireplace. The bed drew her toward it like metal to a magnet, but she resisted it with every ounce of strength he had left. She knew now that she had shown some chinks in her armor to Theric. She had to be strong, at least until he left.
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“Are these rooms to your liking Hyress?” crooned Theric from behind her.
She did not respond immediately. She looked around a few more times before turning her head toward him, but not enough for him to see her face. “They will do, for now. Stand in the hallway Theric, speak only when spoken too, and if I catch your eye peering through the door Theric, It will belong to me.” She had read that in a book about a female Pirate captain. The chill that had been clinging to her spine deepened. “Ali this isn't you!” cried a voice from deep inside her mind. “I have no other choice, she yelled back. “If I don't I'll die, and who knows what would happen to Jaius.”
“At least you'd still be you.” Then the voice went silent. That one phrase nearly punched through her resolve, but something strong and deep had shorne up this charade, survival. This was the only way she saw that would keep her and Jaius alive. Whoever it was that came out the other end of this, well, at least she'd be living.
“As..as you command Hyress.” Ali's eyebrow arched upward at the tone in Theric's voice. “Was that fear?”
Hearing that fear in his voice built up her confidence. She turned to the girl, she knew Theric was still listening. She knew she had to drive open that tear in his armor that he had just shown. “The suit that you wear close to your skin. I will not defile myself by wearing that one, bring me one that has not been worn. Then remove yours and get rid of it. You will have no further use for it now, anyone who displeases me will lose the right to wear one.” She made sure that last part was loud enough for Theric to hear. The girl went pale. She rolled up the fabric on her arm and caressed the glittering material, a lone tear running down her cheek as she did so. Then she looked up at Alianna and again the girls eyes nearly nuked the house of cards that was her resolve in keeping up this facade. But she held it together. Ali made a jerking motion with her hand. The girls shoulders slumped and she began to remove the cloak around her neck. After girl had changed and she had told Ali how the suit functioned. Ali looked toward the hall. “Theric!”
“Ye..yes. Hyres. Came his reply from the door.
“I wish to bathe. Have a tub of hot water brought here quickly, and tell the kitchen to have more ready as I need. And food Theric, food and something to drink. Make sure I am pleased with what you bring me Theric.”
“Ye..Yes. Hyres.”
“One more thing Theric. I came in here with a pack on my back. Please bring it here to me without delay.”
“It is my Pleasure to serve you My Hyress.”
She heard him walking down the hallway. Turning to the girl she motioned to the door. “Close the door. Then sit with your back against it and do not move. Once Theric returns you will make it known from the door. You will not move until I tell you to. If you move, I will know, and you will be so very sorry.” The girl slowly nodded her head and then went and closed the door, and then slid down the wood doors with her back to it. Ali then went and laid down on the bed. The soft down of the mattress and pillows was more comfortable than anything she had known in weeks. Soon she was dreaming. She was in the hallway in her home in Black Canyon. She was standing in front of the door to her room. There was the sound of intense crying coming from the other side, which was reaching the volume of a wail. “Why!!!! No!!!!! Ali, NO, don’t go down this road!” Ali tried to open the door, but it was locked. No matter how hard she tried, the door wouldn't budge. She began to pound on the door but it was harder than iron. “Open up!” She yelled. “No, she’ll get me if I do.” Came the younger version of her voice from behind the door.
She sat up with a start. The girl was shouting “Hyress, Theric has returned!”
Ali lifted her head and looked toward the door. Theric stood there with a cart that had covered plates and a pitcher of a dark purple liquid. Behind him were four of the same guards she had seen earlier. Between them they carried a large copper tub. She could see the steam rising from it.
She jumped off of the bed and almost skipped over to them, but at the last moment she refrained, remembering that it was only the image that she put forth that was keeping her alive. She walked as regally and stately as she could manage. She stopped about ten feet from them. She looked at the girl, who had not moved from her spot against the door, from the welt on her forehead, it seems that she did not even move when they tried to come in. A small pang hit Ali's heart, it did not recede, but she paid it no heed either.
“Leave the food Theric, and hope that I am pleased with it. Then leave us and stand in the hall and wait for my command.” Theric paled, and did not move for a long moment. He looked like someone who was beginning to fear he had lost something. Slowly, then with increasing speed he began to move. He bowed and then walked backward out of the door. She watched him till he was gone. Then she looked at the guards. “Leave the tub there.” She pointed to a spot about five feet from where they stood. “Then place yourselves outside the door. Come in only if I call. And if Theric tries to leave, or to enter without my permission you are to take him and bind him in chains.” The one man in the front bowed. “It shall be as you wish my Hyress.” He rose and turned on his heel, and began to usher the other men out. “Guard!” He stopped, turned again and bowed. “What is your name?” “Ye'tul, my Hyress. Ye'tul se Turik.” Something stood out from this man as he spoke and moved. His answers were quick and affirming, not slow and forced like Theric’s. She didn't know why, but she felt deep down that he would give his life for her. She knew she shouldn't trust him without any more knowledge of him, but she needed to trust someone. She couldn't protect herself while she slept. So, she took a chance. “Well, Ye'tul se Turik, from today on you, and your four men will be my personal guard. You will go where I go and see that none bring any harm to me. If you serve me well, you will be rewarded. If you fail me, well you won't like what happens then.” Ye'tul bowed again to her. “It will be my greatest honor to serve Hyress.” His men, who had stopped by the door, also turned and bowed. “To the honor, Hyress.” Ye'tul then placed his hand over his heart. “My life, and my death are yours.” The other men followed suit. “To the Death, Hyress.” Ali nodded, and then waved her hand at them. They all bowed once more and then shut the door.
An hour later she was clean, fed, and the girl was tying the sash of an amazing dress around her waist. Waves of purple velour covered her, with amethyst like crystals sewn into the hem. glittering in the sunlight. She looked down at them and wondered. “Would they glow as well?” She began to hum softly, with just enough volume for the girl to stop what she was doing. Ali could feel the girl's hands shaking. She didn't stop though, and as she continued to hum, the amethysts began to exude a purple aura. She used her imagination to imagine the aura moving behind her and extending backward forming a train for the dress.
This time as she imagined it and it began to happen, she caught on to what must have been causing this control over the crystal's powers. As she imagined the train forming the tone in her voice changed ever so slightly. She knew she never would have heard it if not for her super ears, but there was definitely a shift, an ever complex harmonic pattern that seemed to change with her thoughts. The purple glow moved behind her and coalesced into the shape of a glowing purple train. She stopped and slowly the train faded.
Alianna started to shake. At first she thought something was wrong but then she realized it was the girl shaking so violently that it was passing to her. Ali turned sharply and found the girl standing there holding the tied ends of the sash. Her eyes were shut and she was trembling like crazy. “Look at me...” The girl didn't respond. “Look at me!” The girls eyes shot open and Ali could see deep inside them, she saw years of fear and pain trapped in there, something resonated between them, a common wound that Ali hadn't been expecting. The door inside Ali's head opened just a crack. The girl, Niss, seemed to stare through her into that doorway, into the single blue eye that was peeking out from behind it. Ali's eyes turned to storm clouds. The girl had found a chink in her armor, she'd pierced her shield. Ali's hand drew back and she slapped the girl with enough force to drive her to the ground. Ali bent down slowly and lifted the girl's face to hers. There was blood trickling off of the girl's lip and tears of pain were forming in her eyes.
“This will be the last time that you look me in the eyes like that again. If you ever do it again, I will pluck out yours and set them in a box next to my bed. Do you understand?” The girl's eyes squinted shut, and she lowered her head. “Yes, Hyress.” She whispered. Ali let go of the girl's chin and stood up. She heard the sound of a door slamming shut inside her head. It echoed through an emptiness that had not been there before. She hardened herself against the waves of indignation that were coming from it. She began to walk toward the door. She picked up the crystal dagger from that table where her clothes were waiting to be cleaned and her pack rested. “Come” She said over her shoulder. She then stood at the door. She reached down and grabbed the Tiara the girl had been wearing and wrapped it in a purple velvet cloth. She turned and handed it to her. “Have this ready to hand to me when I reach for it, do not let me wait for it either.” The girl bowed and nodded. Aliana then turned, smoothed out her dress and looked up at the door.
“Ye'tul, I am ready.” The door opened and Ye'tul bowed and gestured with his arm. Theric leaned against the far wall. When he saw her he bowed. “Have the people found Malric and the boy?” Theric remained bowed. “They were unable to catch him before he made it to his valley, Hyress.” “And why didn't they peruse him into a valley?” “It is heavily defended Hyress. Maleric has a wall that hedges in his compound and is defended by his clan. The people have returned and await you in the main hall.”
“Very well Theric. Go ahead and announce us to us. I'm going to show them something they haven’t seen before.”
Theric bowed his head lower, then stood and walked off down the hall. Alianna walked out into the hall and Ye'tul and his man flanked her. She started forward and they matched her pace. A cold serenity had settle over her mind. The fact that just hours before she was huddled in the woods, dirty, hungry and getting tired, now she was a Princes on the way to her Thron. She stopped and the men stopped with her. “Thron, Throne, Heiress, Hyress how is it they are so similar in both sound meaning?” She stood there pondering this line of thought for a few minutes. She slowly became aware that no one else had said anything. She glanced around serendipitously, Ye'tul and his men stood at attention, not flinching a muscle. She didn't look behind her, but could feel the waves of fear induced rigidity coming from the girl behind her. “Not so sure that I can pull this off.” She felt her confidence wane. “I need to buy a few minutes to pull it back together.” “Ye'tul.”
“Yes, Hyress.” Said the tall man as he turned on his heel and bowed to her. The thrill of someone doing that toward her had not lost its wonder. “Are there any musicians here?” He did not answer right away, and she saw a bead of sweat run down his cheek. “I...I don't know this word Hyress.”
She had to think for a moment as to how to actually describe what a musician is. “Musicians. They produce the song by plucking strings, or hitting on drums.”
More sweat appeared on his face. “I am sorry Hyress, these are things that I have no knowledge of. I have failed you.” She sighed. “No, it is alright. I do want you to assemble all those who craft things and have them meet with me afterward. I will show you what and instrument is.” He bowed again to her. “The Hyress is most merciful. It will be as you say.”
“I guess I'm going Acapella.”
Before she knew it she was at the door leading into the main hall. Her stomach turned, but she bit the inside of her lip and focused on the pain, and not the hundred staring eyes on the other side of the door. Ye'Tul stood with his hand on the pull ring that would open the door. She closed her eyes, gripped the crystal shard in her hand and then opened them. She nodded to Ye'Tul. The man gave a curt nod of his head and pulled open the door. A myriad of heads turned toward her at the noise from the door. As all those eyes bore into her she froze. She knew that they were seeing right through her charade. That all thirteen of Ali's years had really not prepared her to be a heartless queen. Just when she was about to turn and run, she saw a shaft of light pooling on the floor. And the verses from the song finally filled into the proper place in her head. “Most beautiful place....Reborn and blown off roof” She smiled slightly as her eye caught the gaping hole in the ceiling.
With that smile, all her fear washed away. She was a Princess, and there stood her throne, she was a wunderkind, she was a Queen of Paltophern. She started forward and began to sing.
Most beautiful place
Reborn and blown off roof
My view, about face, whether great will be done
I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
I am a wunderkind ohwowoh
I am a groundbreaker naive enough to believe this
I am a princess on the way to my throne.
She imagined the amethysts on the dress igniting and could see by the gasps from the crowd that a purple train was now flowing behind her, and the dress itself caught fire as each individual crystal shone like a small flame she also added a high collar that curved around the back of her head. She was a girl on fire just like Katniss Everdeen. As a finishing touch Alianna reached behind her and felt the velvet cloth placed into her hand. She unwrapped the tiara and placed it on her head.
I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
I am a wunderkind oh-wowoh
I am the Joan of Arc and smart enough to believe this
I am a princess on the way to my throne
As she passed under the new skylight she imagined a beam shooting out from the Thron and encasing her in that purple sphere like it had before. And just as she saw it in her head, so it ishappened. A beam shot from the Thron, touched the Tiara and the sphere engulfed her. People were dropping down to their knees as she passed them. This brought up a strange feeling of elation mixed with revulsion, but as she got closer to the Thron the revolution began to fade into the background. She ascended the steps and turned and sat on the Thron.
Destined to reign, destined to roam
Destined to reign, destined to roam
She hung onto the last note as she saw that the girl was standing at the bottom of the stairs to the dias. She looked at Ye'tul till she caught his eye, and then motioned with her head to the girl and then the floor in-front of her. Ye'tul understood immediately and placed his hand on the girls shoulder and pushed her forward up the stairs and then sat her donw next to the Thron. Alianna then let the note fade, but yet it seemed to linger in the now quiet room. All the people were on the floor bowing before her, and Ye'tul's men were just reaching the top of the Dias and moved to stand behind her. Theric's head , was just rising above the rim of the dias, when he saw her he paused and bowed his head slightly. She stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what he was waiting for. Then something connected in her head. “I've quelled him. Right now I could have him exiled and he knows it. Probably better to have him here where I can watch him.” She placed her finger on her lips, and after a minute more she slowly nodded her head to indicate the spot next to her. As she had assumed, Theric must have been looking out of the corner of his eye, for relief flooded his face and he bowed his head and slunk the rest of the way up the steps and moved to stand next to her. Once he had settled himself, she turned back to the crowd
“Maleric has taken something from us that is very dear to us, we shall not endure this slight. We will meet with the greatest of your warriors in a few minutes. This we wish to make clear. We are the true Hyress, let there be no doubt in your mind. We will lead you and protect you, but only if you are loyal and obedient. We will tolerate no distention. Is that clear?”
The room exploded with shouts of affirmation. She stood up and looked around the room, praying her gaze was as stern as she saw it being in her mind. “Now, return to your homes that is, for all of you except those who have training in fighting, and crafting wood and metal.” She watched as many looked at each other in confusion. She began tapping her foot impatiently. One of the young girls was looking right at her and Ali saw her eyes bulge out of her head. She quickly began to tug at her mother's dress. When her mother looked down, her daughter began whispering to her and pointing at Alianna. Her mother looked toward the Thron and went pale as she saw Ali's foot tapping. She curtsied deeply and then grabbed her husband's arm and the other children and hurried for the door. As others saw her leaving, the tapping of Ali's foot seemed to filter through the din of confused talking that had begun to fill the room. Faces went pale and everyone began to bow and curtsies and head toward the door. They were so flustered that ten of them skidded to a halt, seven men and three women, and then turned to face her with their heads bowed. Fifteen men and ten teenage boys had stayed at their seats.
“Now, Ye'Tul take these twenty five men and turn them into the greatest warriors in the land. They will be the Knights of the White Rose, and you will be their Captain. Do you have horses here Ye'Tul?” Again that struggle tore across his face as he tried to give her the answer to something he did not know. “They are large, four legged, animals whose shoulders would come up to your head. They have long faces and manes of hair going down the back of their necks and long tails.”
He thought for a few moments trying to visualize the creature that she described. Then his eyes lit up. “Yes my Hyress I believe I know these creatures that you speak of. They are horuses, and they roam the plains. What would we do with them?”
Ali shook her head and sighed. “You ride them Ye'Tul. Do not worry, I will show you.” She thought back to the summers that her and Ali had went to the horse riding camp. “Capturing them will be the first mission of the Knights of the White Rose.” Said Ye'Tul as he clasped his right arm to his chest. “You will be a force strong enough to breach Maleric's walls, YeTul. With my power and the Thron, you will not fail.” “It will be as you say Hyress.”
She nodded and then looked at the men and women standing at the end of the hall. “Attend me, I am going to describe to you how to make wood and metal sing.” Their eyes went wide, but the people were soon moving hurriedly toward the Thron.