One Crown & Two Thrones : The Dragons Egg ( Book Two)

Prologue

                                                                                      Prologue

                                                                                             ~

Maethilda let her fine fingers whisper against the golden telescope, perched upon a large golden tripod. Its long length was tilted so that the head of the instrument faced upwards into the night sky, now deeply embedded within a galaxy of bright stars. The astronomy tower, a large round building that lay a few miles north of the city, Summe, was a place in which Maethilda had always sought refuge, and never more so than this night. Many people from far and wide, astronomers in particular travelled to the island of Summe just to lay their eyes on the ancient tower, the only astronomy tower to have a beautiful glass ceiling, allowing the astronomer the freedom to fix their gaze to the heavens whenever they wished.

Beautiful instruments filled the inside of the tower and glimmered gently against the reflection of the great moon which now hung high in the night sky, only half full as the sun months drew to a close, heralding the cooler months of Aya, Culna, Culba and Na; the months of the full moon. Even at the young age of twenty five moons, Maethilda never grew tiresome of nature and her radiant beauty, even as the world grew dark and perilous, it brought to her some inner comfort and soothed her worries as a gentle balm soothes a cut to the skin. Within the compounds of the ancient towers, she felt safe, allowing her wearisome mind and body to relax momentarily and to draw strength from the silence and isolation. Letting her gaze fall from the glass ceiling of the astronomy tower, Maethilda's eyes fell to a great book which lay closed upon a wooden pulpit within in the centre of the tower upon a small stone platform. Dropping her fingers from the telescope, she walked gracefully towards the platform, stopping to lift her light skirts before ascending the steps to stand before the large, golden book, decorated with fine paintings and silver runes around the edge. The ancient book of days as it was known to those of Summe had rested upon the pulpit for over a century, locked by an ancient and strange magic that not even those who were highly gifted with magic could summon. Maethilda had been drawn to the ancient book since her first encounter with the astronomy tower at the young age of eight moons when her guardian, Anvin the great high priest of Summe and Meer had brought her to the ancient round tower and began her education on astronomy and philosophy. Still all these years later, she wondered at what lay within the thick texts, wondering further how the information contained within would alter the future of her world.

With a furrowed brow and deep sigh she lifted her fingers away from the book and turned, descending down the ancient steps and walking forth to the great golden mirror of Nor that hung regally upon the eastern stone wall. She stopped before the mirror and lifted her eyes, finding her reflection before her. She was tall for a woman, standing at six feet, two inches. Her body was lean and muscular, a symptom of her constant training as a picket soldier- a small and elite army of female warriors, trained from a young age to protect the women and children of Summe and on rare occasions, to fight alongside the regular male soldiers when needed. Maethilda looked at her body, hidden beneath a pale silver gown which had been bestowed upon her by Evalean, her best friend and fellow picket. Rarely did Maethilda dress so regally but for the festive occasions which befell the citizens of Summe throughout the year. Maethilda felt no comfort within the confines of Evalean's dress and yearned for her daily attire of leather pants, boots, a chainmail shirt and a leather belt made to sheath her great sword 'Fire', given to her on her moonday seven moons previous. With a slight smile upon her pale thin lips she raised her large, sea green eyes to her reflected face and watched the smile fade away. Her long lashes fluttered against the limited light of the beacons and her pale skin shimmered lightly as she traced her fine features with her index finger. She had never known her parents and knew not if she reflected them in likeness of body, mind and soul. Anvin rarely spoke of her mother, the last Queen of Taer, who was brutally murdered a few weeks after Maethilda's birth and never spoke of her father, not knowing who he was. She was the only child and bastard heir of the great and fiery Queen Cathlen. It had been Anvin who had saved Maethilda from the clutches of her mother's treacherous enemies, bringing her to the safe haven of Summe and placing her into the care of his young wife Gida and raising her alongside their two small children, Aabe and Adadine. Upon her tenth moonday, Anvin had for the first time in her life, explained to Maethilda who she was and what had happened to her mother. In turn a great and agonising pain had taken her when Anvin gave light to the truth of her parents, for she had grown up calling her guardians father and mother. Strange that within a few minutes was stripped of her Sumerian identity and given that of heir to a great kingdom now in decay. The pain that had struck Maethilda had rendered her ill for months and as she lay unmoving within what she once believed to be her family home, she cried for the lie that had purged her of her past.