The Last Queen of Lemuria (7 page)

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"What next?" asked Andrei.

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"We begin the experiment," recommended Samir. His voice was twinged with insincerity.

Nastia was struck in the chest with the same bad feeling she had when they first met the Teacher. Something was not right. Samir tried not to look them in the eyes. It was obvious that he wasn't telling them something. She glanced at Margo. Margo raised her eyebrows inquisitively.

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"Would it be too much to ask, for you to tell us what that is?" asked Boris, clenching his iron fist, "What I brought, I'm not sure, my arms are strained."

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"I will tell you with pleasure. You have all brought things from Lemuria. You, for example have a carpenter's tool," explained Samir.

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"But, it's so big!"

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"The Lemurians were giants."

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"And what do I have?"  asked Andrei, "what is this?"

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"That is a means of transportation."

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"A boat or something?"

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"A vimana.  Nastia has a box for transporting live creatures, and Marina has part of a belt, used by pregnant women for decoration."

Marina gently patted the pearls.

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"Let's begin. Stand here, take the exhibits in your hands and look at me," said Samir, and drew a circle on the floor with charcoal.

Nastia's knees were trembling, a chill crept up her spine. She was mad at herself for her baseless fear.

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"It's not so easy to hold a box like this," smiled Nastia. This was the last thing she would say.

Samir, in a magician's gesture, took a glass flask from his sleeve and threw it on the floor. The flask broke, the liquid hissed, and the cave filled with a greenish fog. It began to smell of wormwood, they all began to have a bitter taste in their mouths. They had a buzzing in their heads, their tongues became heavy, their bodies became stone. Samir placed a golden circle with a stone on his head, and raised his right hand:

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"Circle of oblivion, close up!”

Nastia saw his face beginning to age before their eyes. She wanted to turn to Margo, but was unable.

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"Circle of oblivion, close up! Memory Ray, appear!" whispered Samir. A gray patch appeared in his black hair, his skin became wrinkly and the veins on his neck bulged.

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"Circle of oblivion, close up! Memory Ray, appear!" repeated Samir for a third time, almost soundlessly. A light lurched from the band on his head. The light divided into five rays. The rays raced towards the exhibits in the hands of the participants in the "experiment."

Nastia began to feel that the box in her hands was vibrating. Her fingers gave way, and opened. The silver clanged loudly to the floor. Just then it began breaking down, the dark blue ray, extending towards Nastia was extinguished. Samir the old man, covered in sweat and barely able to stand, stared into the box. The heavy exhibit took flight like a piece of paper. As soon as it had touched Nastia's hands, the ray of light returned..

Within a second, the girl lost consciousness.

Samir, barely alive, whispered:

"What have I done? The Memory Ray broke. She will remember..."

Nastia opened her eyes. Her head was ringing. Having sat up, she determined that she was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. She listened. There was not a sound, only a light breeze fluttering through the curtains on a high window. Opposite the bed, a portrait hung on the wall. A young, beautiful lady with quizzically raised eyebrows looked down from the wall. Nastia jumped up and looked around. There was no one there. There was a wide bed, laid out with the finest linens. The room was filled with the smell of lavender.  She passed her hand over the sheets. They seemed to be made of silk. And her clothes too. Wearing a stranger's shirt, in a stranger's bed. She began to think what may have happened while she was passed out, and her skin began to crawl. Someone had dressed her in these clothes and brought her here... She had become involved in a crime. Why did she agree to that experiment! “I should have followed my intuition!   Where are the others, where is Margo?”  Trying to be silent, she stole away to the exit. She pushed at the door. The heavy wooden slab, inlaid with silver stripes, didn't even budge.

It's locked. Where was she? Stone walls, vaulted ceiling. The floor is covered with a fancy carpet. Under the ceiling there were flat oil lamps. The sun was playing on the silk-covered walls. The furniture was ancient. There were silver figurines of people with bird heads on the shelves. There was a big mirror next to the bed. And a portrait. Nastia walked up to it again.

The girl was in a white dress that looked like a nightgown, and she grinned, sure of her own perfection. Even Margo would have died of envy! Nastia sighed. Yes, completely! I simply cannot believe such beauty exists. She turned to the mirror. The girl from the portrait stared back at her from the silver glass. Thinking the mirror was reflecting the wall, Nastia took a step closer. The blue-eyed stranger repeated her movements exactly. Nastia jumped in fright. So did the girl.  Nastia got very close. And still she didn't see herself. It was still the same beautiful lady. There was fear in her eyes.

"It can't be," said Nastia. She touched her face.  Her skin was velvet. A stranger's face! She touched her head. Instead of the normal red pony-tail, there were long silky strands! She looked at her hands. She had thin, sleek fingers!

A stranger's face! A stranger's body! The sensation was frightening to the point of passing out. Nastia blinked. She looked again at the mirror, more carefully this time. Her heart beat loudly in her head. "Calm down... It's just a dream." She was sleeping and what she saw was a dream. Yes, that would explain everything. Nastia took a small pearl pin from the dressing table. "That must mean I won't feel anything...”

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"Ow!" she cried, having pricked her hand. A droplet of blood appeared on her palm.

"So, this is reality?!"  Nastia pulled down her nightgown. She gasped in excitement.

The mirror reflected a young, slender body, with satiny skin. Not a single flaw. "Perfection!" Nastia laughed, throwing her long auburn curls behind her.  She turned around. In her deep blue eyes, there burned a conviction in her own perfection.

She heard some voices. Startled, Nastia threw on a shirt and tiptoed to the window. It was about a yard above her head. Nastia eavesdropped. The voices came from below, clearly, her room was on the second floor.

Down below, two men were speaking in an abnormal, melodic language. To her own surprise, Nastia suddenly realized that she understood them, though it was the first time she had heard this language in her life.

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"Yuma will not be Queen for long," one of them pronounced.

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"Yes, if she doesn't reconsider with regards to the wedding," called out the other.

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"The servants gossip that they meet at night in the garden," continued the first voice, "they say she's completely lost her mind."

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"But it is her duty to marry the heir to the throne of Groix. It is an ancient tradition in Lemuria. Breaking a contract always ends badly!”

Are they talking about Lemuria? The very same Lemuria?!

Nastia tried to look out the window. She clung to the ledge on the wall and put her foot on a small, silk-upholstered stool. She gathered herself up and was almost to her goal, but her foot slipped off the smooth fabric and clambering for the curtains, the girl fell loudly onto the carpet.

There was a knock at the door.

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"Your majesty! What happened? Would you be so kind as to allow me to enter?" came an anxious female voice. The woman was speaking the same language as the men outside.

Nastia rushed around the room in a panic. There was nowhere to hide.

"Your Majesty?" Is this the Queen's bedchamber? They'll burst into the room soon and take her. She looked all around, truly awaiting the Queen's imminent arrival. But no one showed up.

The door opened easily. It was never locked! She just needed to pull! A young girl bashfully glanced into the room. She was wearing a cap held on by a strand of grass. Nastia was just as amazed at the beauty of this stranger as she had been a few minutes ago at her own. The girl bent in reverence.  Nastia was blinded by sunbeams. The bottom of the guest's dress was embroidered with round mirrors.

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"Your Majesty, please do not get angry with poor Tina! I heard a noise… And got scared.  Nothing happened, right?"

"Who is she speaking with?" Nastia looked back. There was no one else in the room. This girl takes her for the Queen...

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"I... fell from a stool- unexpectedly,” pronounced Nastia in the strange language, "excuse me. I just wanted to see.... I don't really know how I fell there. I don't really feel like myself today..."

Tina looked up in amazement.

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"They were saying that the Queen doesn't have much time left. Is this the Queens chambers?" continued Nastia, covered with red spots.

Tina became pale

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"Lord be with you, your Majesty! What are you saying?"

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"Excuse me," continued Nastia.  "I truly, have no idea how I got here..."

Tina looked at Nastia widening her beautiful, light-blue eyes even further.

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"Are you feeling well, your Majesty? You weren't hurt when you fell?"

Having understood that the servant would never believe the story about her changing bodies, Nastia gave up.

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"I was hurt. I hit my head. I can't remember anything. You must excuse me. Who are you?"

Tina stepped back in horror. And waving her arms, she shouted,

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"Aveduk! Aveduk!"

Nastia became pale. She stepped back, awaiting the arrival of the terrifying Aveduk. But no one came. Tina tore off her cap. Her golden hair fell over her shoulders. Ripping the grass braid from her cap, the servant grabbed for a candelabra. Sparks flew, a thick, blue-gray mist wafted. Brandishing the braid as a censer, she walked around the room three times. Afterwards, she said the word "aveduk," and walked around Nastia, fumigating her with the acrid smoke. Nastia fell silent, and stood as still as a column.

Afterwards, Tina extinguished the grass by a strange method- by thrusting it back into the fire. The smoke stopped as if by magic. Tina once again bowed respectfully.

The "Queen,” exhausted from the strain, sat down on the bed. Her eyes swam with circles.

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"You need to rest, your Majesty," stammered Tina, "allow me to exit."

Nastia nodded silently. The girl disappeared behind the door.

Thoughts raced in Nastia's head, from one to the next. “What was that? Probably a crazy lady… How did I end up here? Where are the others? The only thing I can say with certainty is that I have been taken for a queen. Who seems to be called Yuma.” 

Princess Guria sat opposite the mirror. A massive golden wand- the symbol of her royal power, was laying across her knees. Guria was lifting it, pointing it into the emptiness, and setting it back down, changing her facial expression and pose at the same time. She was staring endlessly at her own reflection, as if rehearsing for a role in a silent movie. Guria's appearance was a surprising mixture from her Lemurian mother, and her sorcerer father.  The fragile beauty of this flower competed in greatness with the strength of a panther.

Guria looked at the mirror for the 100th time. She threw the wand away. She smoothed back her black hair and yawned. "If only my father could discover theft this quickly..."

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"Guria!" came the voice of the King from behind the door. The princess jumped up and hid the wand under her clothes. Gorr flew into the room. He had a squat, swarthy, face, contorted by rage. He came right up to her and stared at his daughter from bottom to top.  Guria smelled the familiar aroma of ritual incense.

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"Where is my wand?!"

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"How should I know, daddy," shrugged Guria, sitting down. She knew that her massive height infuriated Gorr.