Queen

VIII.

Yaghan was a sparely populated land, so we camped that night. A field of traders and travelers surrounded us. It was easy to tell my people from the foreigners. The foreigners panicked when we set up camp.

I'm still not sure we've convinced them that they didn't have to find somewhere else to camp, but Hain's still trying. Kitten probably wasn't helping, even though he was already chained to a stake in the ground.

The tent around me was the same one I took to wars, only there were more pillows and blankets than I brought in war time. More space for that stuff without weapons and armor, and Arne was with me.

Cook dished out our dinner. "Some noble lady came by," she said, scooping stew into bowls, "Tried pulling her rank until she saw your crest Mistress. Then she just went back to her tent."

"What crest did she bear?" I asked. I wasn't told of any royalty coming to visit, though she could simply be passing through.

"Some kind of bird in front of a sun," Cook said, giving me a bowl of her stew, "I don't recognize it. She wore the crest on the hem of her dress too."

"It doesn't sound familiar." I searched my memory for that crest. Birds and suns were commonplace in crests, but I couldn't remember one that had both.

"A bird in front of a sun?" Arne asked. Cook nodded and pushed a bowl into his hand. Arne ignored the stew. "Was the bird red and the sun with diamond shaped rays?"

"Yes," Cook said with a nod, "How did you know that?"

"I saw it before," Arne said, "Before, before I went blind. It's not a family crest, it's a city banner. My Abba took me there a few, a few times when I was growing up. It's a rich merchant city, one of the largest centers of the slave trade."

Cook snorted. She shared my hatred of slavery, had taught me my hatred of slavery. I also didn't like the idea of being so close to a woman from a slave trade center merchant city. But it was one night and I didn't have to interact with her. Though if she brought slaves, I would would remind her myself that slavery was banned in my lands.

"What kingdom is that city in?" I asked.

"A neighbor of Deo Ganghage," Arne said, "I believe it's called Paese Mistress."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Paese, a country of average size, average resources, average trading goods, and an average king with an above average greed which will destroy his kingdom. An average land over all.

I shoveled a spoonful of stew into my mouth. Cook set a wedge of goat cheese on the small table before Arne. "Found wild mint nearby," she reported, hefting up the stew pot, "We'll be drink mint tea once the leaves dry a bit."

"Eat your stew and there's goat cheese for you Baby," I told Arne. Arne felt around the sides of his bowl for the spoon.

"Stew!" Cook yelled as she walked out the tent flaps.

Arne and I ate in silence for a few minutes. Moments like these were lovely. But a guard soon poked his head through the tent flaps. "Mistress," he said. I swallowed my last bite of stew. "A woman from one of the other groups wishes to speak to you."

I set my bowl down, proud to see Arne still sipping at the broth left in his. "Who is she?" I asked the guard, "And what does she want?"

The guard drew his head out, I assumed to speak to the woman, but the tent flaps were pushed aside and a woman, I assumed the one who wanted to speak to me, stepped in uninvited. Who does that? "Queen Mathilda," this stranger cheered as if we were old friends. My fingers brushed against Meurtriere's hilt.

This woman was no different than any other person around the Deo Ganghage area. Tanned skin, dark eyes, dark hair. Like any rich woman, she wore silk and jewels, but no gold. Only silver. Blue powder decorated her eyelids. But it was the pattern across the bottom of her dress that told me the most about her. Red birds flew before suns with diamond shaped rays.