The Queen Talks Shop

The Queen, during a lull in the conversation, said, "While it would be good to learn more about the plant life of each others lands, I would like to talk about a more urgent subject, the wedding that we hope and believe will take place soon."

Checkers replied, "Has Lord Fred actually proposed a marriage yet?"

The Queen replied, "I know that Astra is going to get Lord Fred propose when they are alone on the hunting trip, after the custom of his land, so that he will not be uneasy. As the Allarian ambassador said, 'In his country, a man pursues a woman until she catches him.' And she has asked that we keep this a private matter, and use our discretion."

The Prince Consort added, "And naturally, we will pretend that this is not the worst-kept secret in the Ryngeard, so that she will not be uneasy".

"Pardon me, your Grace, but in this great moment, why are your concerned with me?"

The Queen replied, "Because you had said that you would be leaving with the onset of spring. That would be very soon. I would ask that you stay until the wedding is over, which most likely would be some time this summer. Some of my reasons are not emotional."

"Your Majesty, I ... I, uh, Yes, if you wish it I shall certainly stay. What would be these reasons for me to attend? I would only want to help the Princess and Lord Fred get their new life off to a good start."

"As I told you over dinner, this wedding is going to be more than the social event of the year in Themyscira, although it certainly will be that. All the nobility of note in the Ryngaerd, and some important men from the Havnheim, north of the mountains, will also attend. There is likely to be a whirlwind of diplomacy and intrigue. Historically, the Matriarchy of Aqualaria has only had a general need to know what was going on with two or three great powers in the Havnheim, and we have not even been aware that there might be civilisation beyond the seas. Now that the dragon is gone, travel and trade will resume between the Ryngaerd and the Havnheim, and the pass will be open. And that fact that you are here, and have come from such a great distance, not only intrigues me. It concerns me somewhat. Perhaps you can set my mind at ease."

Checkers replied, "Your Majesty, We Gliders are very far away from your land indeed. You have more to fear from the sharks in the sea walking out of the ocean to attack you than you would from us."

The Queen smiled, and replied, "You do not bother me. However, you have seen the lands between this Dolomite League, as you call it, and here. Are there other dragons out there? What sort of tribes, or nations exist on your continent? Who that we do not see might cause problems for us in the future?"

Checkers replied, "I think I understand. You want to know more about the Morninglands, then, and how I came to be here."

The Queen said, "That is great deal of it. I have started reading your account of your journey here. The Burcastrians, the first humans that you met, seemed to be extremely patriarchal and rough."

Checkers replied, "Yes, but I could not have gotten as far as I did if they were all monsters. But the League and the Burcastrians have fought over the Pelican and White River Valleys as long as anyone can remember."

"But have you had any recent wars with them?"

"Not in the memory of living Glider, no. What happens is that someone wanders into the valleys, and gets into a fight with the other side. Usually either the Gliders or the Burcasterians run away from each other, depending on who has the advantage of numbers or terrain. But if you are looking for threats - the pirates of the Morninglands would be a good place to start. They infest the rich west coast of the continent, as well as the South Sea, from what I have been told. The Blacksanders and Archangelians have the best ships, and have great weapons the can hurl solid balls and shot at great distances, but in my experience they are peaceful if you are not a pirate."

"Could their ships reach our land?"

Checkers replied, "It would be difficult, but they could. However, they are looking for metal and spices. The route to the South Sea is much closer. They simply are not interested in braving the western seas to come here. So I do not think that you will see Archangelian ships landing on your shores any time soon."

"How about magic? And fantastic creatures?"

"There is a lot of magic on the coast and among the pirates, but a lot of the mystery and awe has been drained out of it. It is just a fact of life. However, there are accounts of a few powerful wizards who have an unusual type of magic. It would be similar to the power that Minestus had, from what I heard. I would not think that they would be interested in the Eveninglands. We call your lands the Eveninglands because that is where the sun sets, by the way."

"At what point did you enter the Eveninglands as you call it?"

"I left the Blacksander frigate Orator when she moored on an island. I was a sort of mascot, and apparently they thought that I brought good luck. I waited until the Hespaniard whaling ship Golden Marlin came into port, and managed to smuggle myself aboard in one of the lifeboats. I managed not to be detected, and after it docked at the Port of Corona, I then stowed away on the Peppermint Express bound to a port further west called Petrona. From there, I flew by night until I found the Shreken Mountains, and journeyed by day over the mountains until I came to the lair of Minestus."

The Queen said, "Which side of the mountains did you travel on? The Havnheim or Ryngaerd?"

Checkers replied, "Your Majesty, I stayed in the range, and did not go into the foothills."

The Queen said, "Is there a trail?"

Checkers said, "I just flew. It is not too bad if you fly - in most places the winds are good, and there are some rising gusts that allowed me to coast. There were a couple of places that are too windy and I had to go on foot, but that part of the journey was not bad either. I did not meet with any people until I came to the cave."

Prince Grigor said, "How did you eat, and protect yourself from the rains and snows?"

Checkers explained that the Shreken had enough small game, nuts and berries. She needed more food than usual because she was flying, but food was never a problem. And if she could not find a cave or shelter, she could usually find a strand of trees in a meadow that would offer enough material to stay dry, if not free of bugs.

The Queen then said, "You may want to write a little about that. It might seem uninteresting to you, but I would like to know more about how you did it. So is the Shreken like your mountains back at home?"

"Not really. The mountains of the Shreken are sharper, and the rock is different. It is a lot blacker. Our mountains are more rounded, and stone is pink or red."

"So would your people be able to live in these mountains?"

"I had not thought about it much, Your Majesty, but now that you mention it, there are places in the Shreken that could support a large Glider market town and some nearby villages."

The Queen did not pursue this line of the conversation further. She was satisfied that Checkers had not found a gap in the watch of the Aqualarian legions, but instead had slipped past the Hespaniards. The Queen was also toying with the idea of filling the gap between the Ryngaerd and Havnheim with Aqualarian subjects, or allies, to guard against a return of the dragons. She made note that the Gliders were very well adapted to living in the mountains, and could probably support themselves. Nothing might come of the notion, but she kept in the back of her mind. Just as the great distance between Aqualaria and the League probably prevented much in the way of the Gliders being much use in future alliances. The Queen was determined that there would be an expedition to the east, though, although Aqualaria was not historically a great maritime power.

Then the Queen said, "Checkers, as I said, there will be a lot of diplomacy and intrigue associated with the wedding. I was wondering if you could observe the representatives of the various nations, and write an account of it, privately, for our eyes only?"

Checkers said, "Your majesty, I certainly shall do so. I assume that I can share the general knowledge of what I find out about these strange nations with my own people?"

"Of course. I would ask to review what you write, so you can be informed of what might be confidential. You will attract some attention, naturally. People may talk more freely around you."

The sun was now low on the horizon, and the Queen, Prince Consort, and Checkers headed back indoors, and got ready to sleep.

1. The next day, the hunting party came back.
2. The next day, Checkers met with the archivist.

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