Vankara (Book 1) (10 page)

I sat on the edge
of the Queen’s bed for a while thinking through what I knew I had to do that
day.  The most troublesome item on my list of duties was entertaining
Aleksander Chromis.  Gabriel said Aleksander was expected to arrive in Iron City sometime around noon since Dena’s birthday celebration wasn’t until that
evening.  Gabriel wasn’t sure how long Aleksander would be staying which was
just another item to add to my list of concerns.

Of all the duties
of the Queen, dealing with the King of Chromis was the most worrisome.  From
what little I knew about the history of the Chromis Empire, the country had
once been governed by a free parliamentary system much like the one in Vankara. 
About one hundred years ago, greedy politicians and bad policies stirred up so
much discontent among the people the Chromis family was able to stage a
successful coup.

Since then, the
nation had lived under the rule of the Chromis family.  Its government was a
farce because everyone knew whatever the king of Chromis decided was law. 
Their society had turned from democratic to socialist in less than a
generation.  No one owned private property in Chromis because everything
belonged to the greater good of the empire.  At least that’s what the
propaganda tried to brainwash its citizens into believing.

I felt the airship
slow down and come to a stop.  There was a soft knock on the door.

“Sarah,” it was
Gabriel, “we’re here.”

I took a deep
breath in a futile attempt to calm my nerves.  How was I going to convince
people I was Queen Emma?  The fact I looked exactly like her would help a great
deal but there was so much more to a person than just their outer appearance. 
Every individual possesses a unique set of characteristics which most people
don’t even recognize until a contrast is presented.  Just because I physically
looked identical to the Queen didn’t mean I could conjure up the subtle nuances
which made her who she was.

I walked to the
door and opened it, stepping out of the safe confines of the Queen’s bedroom
with as much confidence as I could muster.

When I looked out
the windows of the ship, I could see we were now perched on a landing pad at
the top of one of the four glass towers of the palace.  It was a flat iron
platform about ten feet long with an ornate three foot safety railing running
along the edges.  Standing on the platform awaiting our arrival was the woman I
presumed to be the nanny Gabriel told me about, Emily Andrews.

Emily was young
and plain looking with red-orange hair pulled back in a neat bun at the nape of
her neck.  She wore a plain cotton maroon dress with ruffle edged white apron on
top and held Princess Dena in her arms. 

Dena looked just
as innocent and full of life as she did in Queen Emma’s memory during my
transformation.  Her angelic face shone with excitement and her head full of blonde
ringlets danced in the wind.  She watched the airship expectantly, waiting for
her mother to appear.

I felt a pang of
sadness for the little princess.  Dena would never be able to truly know her
mother.  She was far too young to have developed any lasting memories of her. 
It was then I first felt a need to become the mother she deserved even though I
was still plagued by doubts I would be able to teach her how to be a great
leader of people.  It was a lesson I still had to learn for myself.

They must have
seen me through the windows of the compartment because Emily pointed a finger
straight at me and said something to Dena.  Dena waved and I saw her mouth move
forming the word, “Mummy.”

Standing beside
Emily and Dena was a dark skinned gentleman of average height and weight
wearing tan trousers and vest with a black tailcoat and white cravat tied in a
bow around his neck.  His rough textured hair was styled in a short crop mostly
hidden by the black top hat he wore.  He looked to be in his late fifties with
a face which bore the lines of a man who worried about things far too much.  He
nervously tapped a small black leather notebook against his leg waiting for the
Queen’s arrival.

“Who is that man?”
I asked Gabriel.

“That’s Thomas
Gaines, your personal secretary.  He takes care of scheduling your meetings and
keeping you informed about the goings on of the members of parliament.  He’s a
good man, just a bit uptight most of the time.”

“We better go,”
Fallon said, not looking at me, just staring out at the people waiting for us
to disembark.  “I’m sure Emma wouldn’t wait so long to see Dena again,” his
eyes cut towards me quickly before looking back out the window.  “She would
probably already be off this ship holding her daughter by now.”

The captain’s
rebuke wasn’t lost on me.  His inconsiderate words made me feel like I was
already failing in my mission.

I saw Gabriel’s
eyes narrow on Fallon.  “Everyone knows the Queen has been ill.  They won’t
consider it odd if she’s a bit slower than usual.”

Gabriel came to me
holding out his arm for me to take.  “Shall we go meet the others?”

My heart was
hammering so hard inside my chest I felt sure my two companions could hear the
audible manifestation of my fear.  I inhaled deeply and held it for a few
seconds before releasing it, hoping it would calm my nerves.  I kept reminding
myself I couldn’t let the three standing on the platform suspect something was
wrong with me.  Fainting was not an option even though I felt on the verge of
falling into that black abyss.

I fell in step
with Gabriel’s slow, measured pace.  I knew he was giving me the gift of time
to get my emotions under control.  When we passed by Fallon, I noticed him
watching me carefully, as if he were expectantly waiting for me to make a
mistake.  I quickly looked away from him, not finding any comfort in his
negative appraisal of my charade.

When we made our
way out of the airship, Inara was patiently waiting for us at the foot of the
steps on the platform.  She fell into step behind me and beside Fallon as
Gabriel escorted me to meet Princess Dena.

“Your majesty,”
Emily curtsied to me slightly still holding Dena on her hip.  When she stood back
up, I noticed her curious pale green eyes studying my face carefully.  “You
look
so
much better, your majesty,” she said in amazement.  “I presume
the healer you went to see was able to cure your scarlet fever?”

“Yes, I’m feeling
much better,” I answered. 

I looked at Dena
and couldn’t help the genuine smile of pleasure my lips formed.   Ever since
sharing the Queen’s memory of her daughter’s laughing face, I had felt a
certain instinctual connection to the princess.

Emily took a step
closer to me, ready to hand Dena over to my care, but the little girl clung
desperately to her nanny turning her face away from me, burying it against the
side of Emily’s neck.

“No, Mummy!” The
little girl screamed hysterically.  “No!”

Shocked by her
rejection, I was at a complete loss as to what I should do next.  Perhaps, in
some inexplicable way, Dena sensed I wasn’t her real mother.  Children can be
sensitive to strangers. 

“Dena,” Inara
admonished gently, taking a step towards the princess, “that’s no way to greet
your mother.”

Emily looked at me
apologetically and seemed at a loss, uncertain if she should try to force Dena
into my arms.

“No, it’s all
right,” I tried to reassure both women.  “It’s been a while since she saw me
last.  There’s no reason we should push her before she’s ready.”

“I’m so sorry,
your majesty,” Emily said, gently rubbing Dena on the back to reassure the
little girl everything was all right.  “I’m not sure what’s gotten into her. 
She was so excited when I told her you would be returning home today.”

“No apology is
necessary,” I told her with a small shake of my head.  “There’s no reason to
rush things.”  I briefly glanced in Gabriel’s direction.  He seemed satisfied
with my handling of the incident and as mystified as I was by Dena’s reaction to
me.

I quickly switched
my attention to my personal secretary, hoping it would divert everyone else’s
attention away from Dena.

“Thomas,” my
personal secretary looked startled for a moment but recovered swiftly, “it’s
nice to see you again.  Have I missed much while I was away?”

“A few things,
your majesty,” Thomas said bowing to me at the waist.  “The most important of
which concerns Aleksander Chromis.”

“What about him?”
I asked, uneasy my personal secretary had put the king of Chromis at the top of
his list of important issues.

“He probably wants
to tell you I arrived a day earlier than planned.”

The unexpected
sound of the deep masculine voice immediately made me search for its owner. 

Aleksander Chromis
strolled out the glass paneled doors of the castle onto the landing towards
us.  He was tall, at least a ten inches taller than me and broad of shoulder. 
His blonde hair was parted on the left side and hung like a silk frame against
his lean, angular face.  His eyes were the same sky blue of Dena’s and his
facial expression was a lot kinder than I had expected.  He walked with the
fluid grace of a king and someone who was used to being obeyed without
question.  He was dressed casually with his white shirt open at the collar,
black trousers tucked neatly into a pair of knee high riding boots and long
black trench coat flaring out behind him as he walked against the wind, adding
to the dramatic effect of his unannounced entrance.

Inara and Fallon
flanked Gabriel and I presenting a united front to the Chromis King.

Aleksander didn’t
seem to care about the others on the platform.  His eyes never left mine as he
walked directly up to me.  Only then did he drop his gaze to take in my attire.

“I see you’ve
finally decided to come out of mourning for my brother,” he said in an intimate
tone with a faint smile playing across his lips.  His voice held the flat
accent of the people of Chromis.  Some vankaran’s considered it uncultured
since it didn’t hold the gentle nuances of our own national tongue.  “I’m glad
to see it,” he nodded approvingly.  “It’s about time you forgot about him.”

“I’ll always
remember him,” I corrected.  “I have Dena.”

Aleksander’s eyes
shifted to his niece still clinging to her nanny for a split second before
returning to me.

“What made you decide
to come early?” Fallon asked Aleksander, not trying to hide his suspicion of King’s
true intentions.

Aleksander took in
Fallon’s new uniform with a lopsided grin.  “So, she finally got you to accept
her offer of becoming Queen’s Marshall.”

Fallon shrugged
nonchalantly.  “I thought it was time to come back.  You didn’t answer my
question, Chromis.  What made you change your original plans?”

Aleksander smiled
at Fallon but there was no friendliness fueling the expression.  “I thought I
would take a look around the city.  I’ve never really seen it.  I wanted to
experience first hand what your people are like.”

“And what did you
discover?”  Fallon questioned, folding his arms over his chest in a defensive
stance.

“That your people
are similar to mine.  They just want an end to these plagues and go back to the
way things were before.  However,” Aleksander arched a thoughtful eyebrow, “I
uncovered something which surprised me.”

“And what was
that?” I asked, curious to know what an outsider might find worth noting about
the people of Vankara.

Aleksander’s eyes
met mine, his look turning serious.  “That some of your people don’t
particularly like the automatons.  It seems there is a bit of discontent
concerning the machines taking jobs away from the living.  I suppose you can’t
blame the rich for welcoming free labor into their homes and industries.  It
certainly makes for healthy profits margins not having to spend money on a
labor force which can work around the clock if need be.”

“The people of
this country don’t resent the machines as much as you make out,” Gabriel
defended.

Aleksander
shrugged his shoulders.  “Perhaps, I suppose you know your people better than I
having just spent a day in their midst.”  He looked back at me.  “But if I were
you, I would take a hard look at how things are being handled before real
problems surface.”

I knew for a fact
what Aleksander was saying was true.  Even my own father and mother had to flee
the city to find a way to make a living.  The automatons
were
free
labor.  There was no way for a regular human to compete with their ability to
work without needing to be paid, fed or housed.

I didn’t think it
prudent to say I agreed with Aleksander’s observations.  But I decided on a
compromise.

“Thank you for
your advice,” I told him.  “I will keep what you have said in mind.”

He seemed appeased
by my statement because his smile widened beatifically causing my pulse to
involuntarily race.  I could feel color creep into my cheeks and hated how I
was reacting to one of the people I had been charged to keep Vankara safe from.

Apparently
Aleksander Chromis wasn’t a man who missed much.  His smile widened even
further, pleased by my obvious reaction to him.

“Perhaps we should
all go inside,” Gabriel suggested.  I had the distinct feeling Gabriel’s real
intentions were to put as much distance between Aleksander and me as he could
without offending the Chromis King outright. 

The wind was
picking up and at the altitude we were at it had a distinct bite of winter to
it.

Gabriel held his
arm out to me once again to escort me inside the palace while everyone else
followed behind us.

The room attached
to the landing pad was made completely out of glass.  It was like stepping into
a bubble.  On the far side, there were two iron doors decorated with a large
gold embossed Vankaran seal directly in the middle of them.  Gabriel let go of
my arm and walked to the double doors to open them.  Behind the doors was a
small iron cage suspended in an iron shaft.