The Alchemist's Amnesia

Part twelve:

Back in Corona, things were not going well.

Najimi sat beneath a large oak tree, with her knees curled up under her chin. She was wearing her usual outfit: black lace up boots, a navy blue skirt, a long sleeved white blouse, and a black vest over top. Her medium length black hair was tied back in a half up, half down braided style, and it blew behind her in the autumn breeze. She looked like a storybook princess. She was descended from one in her homeland of Kumandra, actually. But she sure didn't feel like one.

While Najimi sat and pondered the state of affairs in the kingdom, the captain of the guard walked over, and sat down beside her. She didn't notice his presence until he said something. "Najimi, wasn't it?" He asked. She nodded glumly. Queen Arianna wasn't proving to be a much kinder ruler than her husband had been. She'd imposed strict new laws on the citizens, making everyone mine for a green rock that she could use in her potions. Apparently, she was trying to come up with a chemical that could erase everyone's memories, and was planning on perfecting it, then using it to take over the seven kingdoms. The only thing the good guys had on their side was that Arianna was nowhere near perfecting the formula.

"What do you want?" Najimi asked. "I just want to talk." The captain said. Najimi had to be careful what she said. She had killed the king, and Arianna wouldn't hesitate to tell the people of Corona if Najimi stepped out of line. At first, it had all seemed so easy. Najimi could get rid of the king that had caused her so much grief, and she could help Arianna, who was good and kind, take the throne. But things didn't work out that way in real life, apparently. Najimi wanted no part of this, but she was in too deep for anyone to ever forgive her for what she'd done. The only option left for her was to see this through to its bitter end.

"There are rumors in the kingdom." The captain said. Najimi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of rumors?" She asked. "You might be going on assignment soon." The captain said carefully. "Have you heard anything about that?" Najimi shook her head. She'd never been out of the capital before. It was doubtful the queen would want her to go and do anything for her. Najimi was a demi-human girl with the capability to burn people, and leave nothing left. Surely the queen had less dangerous people she could send.

"I haven't heard that." Najimi said. "Do you know why people think the queen wants me to go on an assignment?" She asked. The captain looked around, then nodded. "She can't perfect that potion of hers." The captain said. "So, people are saying she needs the alchemist."

A cold wave washed over Najimi. She understood all too well what that meant. "You mean she wants me to go find Varian?" She asked. Varian the alchemist had been missing for the past month, and it was the biggest mystery of Corona. According to what Varian's cell mate had said (before Najimi accidentally killed him, that was), a tall, redheaded woman had knocked out all the guards, then entered the prison. She'd incapacitated Andrew by stabbing him in the knee, an injury the Saporian leader did actually have in his medical records. And then she'd kidnapped Varian.

The theories were endless, of course. Some said she was an accomplice of the alchemist's. Others said Andrew had orchestrated the whole thing because he wanted the kid genius on his side. Still others said that the woman was someone Varian must have double crossed in the past, and she was out for revenge. There was no telling if the boy was even alive, as he hadn't been seen in close to five weeks now. There were wanted posters for him everywhere in the kingdom, and the story about the young alchemist who tried to kill the queen and princess, then went missing, had spread widely. If the queen wanted Najimi to find Varian, she'd be in for a very difficult task.

The captain of the guard nodded grimly. "Why me?" Najimi asked. The captain shrugged. "She trusts you." He said. "And you're the only one of her followers that can fly." That much was true. The captain of the guard was one of the few people that knew about Najimi's wings. He was a kind man, and she trusted him with a lot of the secrets of how her dragon half worked. "Why does she think we can still find Varian?"

There were other rumors out there of a more sinister kind. Xavier said that the blue streak in the boy's hair came from the moonstone of legend, making him the dark kingdom's counterpart to the sundrop Rapunzel, and making their conflict inevitable. Most people didn't believe that, but Najimi trusted in the legends. After all, dragons were legendary creatures to most.

Creatures from the dark kingdom were the fascination of the seven kingdoms, as the dark kingdom had been sealed off from the rest of the world for the last twenty five years. Often, anything from the dark kingdom, from cutlery to animals, could be sold off to some king, queen, or noble as a curiosity. Najimi couldn't think of any stories of a living person from the dark kingdom. If that's what Varian was, it could make him quite the 'collector's item.' Najimi shuddered at the thought.

Najimi was now faced with a very serious problem. If the rumors about Varian being from the dark kingdom had spread, then he was most likely a prisoner in someone else's court by now. Even if Najimi found the boy, returning him to Corona could prove to be a diplomatic nightmare.

"At this point, to be honest, I don't know." The captain of the guard said, snapping Najimi out of her train of thought. "He's been gone for over a month now, and I can only see three possibilities. He's either dead, in so much trouble that he wishes he was, or he's free and clear and out there plotting to destroy Corona. None of those options make your job easier." Najimi sighed. "What do you think of all of this?" She asked. "Of Queen Arianna being in charge, and the way she's ruling." The captain looked down. "It's not my place to say." He said tellingly. Najimi nodded. "I feel the exact same way."

They stayed like that, quiet, for a few minutes before Maisie approached. "The queen requests an audience." They said grimly. "And I think you know what it's about." Ah. So, the rumors were both true, and widely spread. Najimi said her goodbyes to the captain of the guard, and followed Maisie towards the castle. Queen Arianna was waiting in the throne room, clearly ready to talk.

"Najimi." She said. "I'm sure you're aware of why I called you here." Najimi nodded. "Rumor has it that you want me to look for the alchemist." Arianna smiled. "I knew there was a good reason I picked you to be my advisor." She said. "The rumors are definitely correct, my friend. My formula to erase everyone's memories isn't working. I'm going to need the alchemist to complete it."

Najimi nodded. "If what Xavjer said is true...if the boy is from the dark kingdom..." Arianna nodded. "Then he's probably in one of our fellow kingdoms." She said. "And it'll be up to you to find out which." Najimi tried to hide her look of unease. "And if he's dead?" Najimi asked. Arianna shrugged. "I don't think he is." She said. "That boy is too clever to get himself killed so easily. If there's been no sign of him in all this time, either he's hiding, or someone is hiding him. Do you understand?"

Najimi bowed slightly. "Yes." She said. "I will find Varian the alchemist, and return him to you, no matter how much time it takes." Arianna nodded. "Good." She said. "I have something for you to take with you." Najimi watched as the queen pulled out what appeared to be a set of bracelets. "When you manage to catch Varian, he's going to try to escape." Arianna said. "Which is where these come in. You wear the larger one, and he wears the smaller. If he gets far enough away from you, it'll deliver a painful shock." Arianna turned the bracelets over in her hand. "Before I took the throne, I'd been trying to invent something like this for dogs, so people wouldn't have to carry a leash. But I think they work much better for people, no?"

A shiver went down Najimi's spine. "Yes, your majesty." She said, her throat completely dry. She knew Arianna was an inventor, but she hadn't been aware that the queen invented things that helped kidnap people. Although, at this point, Najimi wasn't really sure why she was so surprised. Najimi took the bracelets, and tucked them into the fold of her skirt. "I'll take my leave now." Najimi said. "And I'll return with the alchemist." Arianna smiled. "See to it that you do."