Like Light and Dark (by Miriam & Erich) – 17

Miriam Laschenko

by Miriam Laschenko

Story
Gjöf

Like a huge, furious grizzly bear, the Master of Shields rose up from his seat and towered over Crystalline. “You have no idea!”, he grumbled and in a louder tone: “Dimir already explained that Primabella does not want to talk to anybody! Why should she choose to listen to you?? She is only interested in consolidating her power and expanding it as far as she can- this woman is out of her mind, you cannot reason with her! If we hesitate any longer, she will be at our gates sooner than you can imagine. We have to strike now, while we still have the upper hand and smash her forces before she becomes a threat to us…”

Crystalline took a deep breath again. Clenching her fists, she expressed her anger: “No! Listen, I respect your advice, dear Master of Shields and the answer is still no. I choose the path of diplomacy and peace! This is my order as your Queen! Now before I get mad and impatient, let us proceed with your department: what else do you have to report?”

The big, muscular Master of Shields clenched his teeth even harder, barely containing his fury. “Oh, come on! For Sungodess’ sake, act your age! We are wasting valuable time with this nonsense! You could simply accept the plain fact that you have not yet gathered the experiences you need to accurately assess the situation!”

Oh Goddess, Crystalline thought and stared at him incredulously. Has he really… just insulted and talked down to me? She could feel her eyes slowly filling with tears. Tears that she did not want to be seen by anyone. And definitely not by him. Had she not proven her authority?

“That’s enough!”, Dimir unexpectedly tried to de-escalate and take away some of the tension in the room. “The Queen has spoken and as her servants, we should honour her word! Now proceed with your report, Eccart!”

“Fools, all of you!”, Eccart mumbled, a little bit too audibly, and slammed his fist on the table. But he gave in and eventually sat down. “Okay, if I must… These days, all is relatively quiet at the South and West borders of our Queendom. Except for Primabella approaching us, of course”, he snorted. “But what worries me the most is that our cousins of the North, the snow elves, are getting ready to defend themselves against an incredibly huge army of human barbarians that has been assembling really fast. We don’t know what exactly expects them… or us. Our estimations exceed over 60.000 warriors on the barbarian end! But we are lacking exact numbers. All I know is that for the first time in over a thousand years, the snow elves of the North have requested military aid!! And if those primitive, cold-hearted, isolated Icelings seek out our help… that definitely says something and I do not like it one bit.”

“Oh, the snow elves of the north?”, Crystalline asked, lost in thought. Memories of her dream returned to her in an instant. Catrina… and Paita… and all the wonderful ancestors… they are from the snow elf tribe, too! They are our cousins… She could feel her heart swell with love and appreciation. Only then, it hit her. That had been a dream. The reality in front of her was something else entirely…

© Miriam Laschenko 2024-06-11

Genres
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Moods
Abenteuerlich, Herausfordernd, Dunkel, Emotional, Mysteriös
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