The Dragon Chronicles: In Twisted Time

Chapter 13: The Queen's Tale

After several hours of walking, Sabina, Rairyu, Fritas and Archbishop Code reached the Foothills of Black Mountain. Manticore Keruru, with the help of Sabina's enchantments, transformed into harmless kitten, much to Fritas' delight.

"We could not bring Keruru in Cerberus Nest, he's too large and will alert the beast from hell," Sabina said, as the manticore shows an aura of an intelligent monster. Sabina's clever magic veiled the aura of the Manticore the moment it turned into kitten.

"Let's go. We need to enter the lair before sunset. The lair will not permit any adventurer to enter its premises in night," Archbishop Code said, leading the group. The moment they reached the entrance, the priest raised his wand, revealing and unsealing the archway.

"After you, miss," Code said to Sabina, gesturing her on the entrance. The moment they entered the nest, they knew something was wrong. The first area of the nest was completely deserted.

"The Minotaur guards should be here. It feels odd," said RaiRyu anxiously. They proceeded to the Den of Hobgoblin, but there's still no threat found. They deduced in walking in the core of the Lair, thinking that the lair will found the threat in its heart.

After minutes of tiresome walk, RaiRyu attempted to break the silence. "Archbishop, why do Saint Haven doesn't have a Queen?" he asked.

"Oh, our Kingdom has, in fact, Queens. But due to unfortunate reasons, those Queens were either unnamed or Banished. The sacred role of Queen of Saint Haven prohibits them to reveal their identity to commoners. Usually, they were called The Queen Consort of the King.

"Banished Queens are the ones who committed undesirable acts in their time, or because they;re ousted for some reason. Queen Lucifina, consort of Tyrant King Rodain, came from commoners' blood, which, at that time, was forbidden by the nobles. Queen Lantana, that terrible woman, spilled the secrets of Saint Haven and became evil companion of Professor K," Archbishop Code told them.

"And you know who the current Queen is?" asked Fritas.

"Well, yes, I know her, but I think this discussion should be wrapped up now," Archbishop Code replied, but he was extremely uncomfortable.

"Why? -"

"Because the Royal Court, as well as the Holy Order, Astral Coven under Kayleen's Order, and the Ruling Guild put up their best efforts to banish and put the Queen in exile," Sabina said, breaking her silence at last.

"W-hat? H-how d-did you know that?" Archbishop Code asked, terrified, but Sabina ignored him.

"The current Queen is in exile. She's both unnamed and banished. She's arranged to King Cassius III, the young King. She came from noble family, but the Queen, due to being a woman-of-action, doesn't want to be locked up to her room until Cassius' death.

"Naturally, the Queen did something to have her freedom. She pleaded to have her own throne in Great Hall, and amend the law so that all Queens should be named and have their records back in the history of Lagendia. But her plea squashed by Duke Stuart. The Duke believed that naming the Queens will give them power and authority, and giving them chance to influence the decision of the king if she'll have her own seat in throne room.

"Incensed and frustrated, the Queen sought another way to have a purpose other than being a locked Royalty. Being a Sorceress, she performed complex spells to create a portal inside the castle so that she could go wherever she want to go without being noticed by her royal guards. The portal goes to random places, making the Queen explore the whole Lagendia.

"One of the life changing moments of the Queen was that, during her excursion, she found out the Monolith, the heart of Goddess Altea. No human was supposed to found the location of the Monolith, but the Queen did, and with that, Altea spoke to her.