Without Words, Without Sight

27: An Introduction to History

Under the benevolent gaze ofthe evening sun, on the narrow stone perch of the old window by the desk, a group of sparrows let their feathers taste a last warm whiff. Circling their cradle towers in every corner of the palace, the crows cooed as if mourning the dying day. The golden sun now shrouded everything in her most beautiful colours, inviting some musings – a poem, even. But alas, this was not the time for repose as it would usually have been. No. This whole situation was anything but ordinary.

As if it had not been difficult enough to keep his king's muteness a secret, the same king had now chosen a blind bride. To add to this, a commoner who had never heard of the art of government. A beauty rarely seen, of course, and apparently not the dimwitted kind, either. And yet, she was not even familiar with all of the fundamentals of this nation's history!

The vassal turned around again, still not sure where to begin, and let the rustle of his shoes drown out the sound of a restrained sigh.

Iris had watched the vassal in silence for a while. She felt a little uncomfortable knowing that he had been made forgo his hours of leisure to teach her on short notice, just a day after the wedding ceremony, but she was also very aware of the fact that her standing now required her to subdue any impulse to displays of empathy. Luckily, Daray had stayed behind in Nyx' study and proved a ready helper in distracting her a little. He had sat on her shoulder and let himself be stroked for quite sometime. Iris was still immersed in searching his plume for signs of damage from Rowan's recent attack on the poor bird's nerves, when the vassal finally addressed her.

"My Queen", he began, "the history of our country is long and offers a vast spectrum of problems to discuss. However, I do not consider it expedient to throw it all unto you at once, especially considering the hour. I would therefore like to begin with the fundamentals, although you may already be familiar with most of the stories. Is this in your best interest, my Queen?"

"Of course", Iris said and looked at the slender figure glowing in deep purple. She was sitting on a large chair by Nyx' empty desk, while the vassal remained on his feet. He cleared his throat and began to speak in a rather ceremonial manner.

"The Kingdom of Beithalgairhas existed for over 3000 years now. Its origins and history before its official foundation are hardly known to us, as records from these ancient times – if there have ever been any – are now lost to us. What has been preserved, however, is the knowledge we can derive from tradition – folk tales – legends, if you so will – that the common people of this and other nations have handed down from generation to generation."

Iris nodded. She had heard someof them from Larentia.

"The legends tell us that before the nation united under one king, the people consisted of several tribes and clans rather loosely bound by commerce and marriages. But by fate's decree, many able warriors soon emerged from these bonds, and the scattered tribes joined hands to build a fortified city where they could combine their talents as archers,blacksmiths, weapon masters, peasants, healers or soothsayers. It is further said that one of the seers of this town foretold that the strongest among the warriors, a master of the blade, would slay a mighty dragon the people had dreaded for over a century, and his vision proved true. From this day forth, this people would be known everywhere as the "dragon hunters" and as such they proved their worth: They honed their skills at combat and chase, and set out to kill dragons near and far upon any people's request. The rewards soon amounted to unspeakable riches. However, lindworms are meant to live for centuries, and may only raise two or three of their kind before their death. Thus, their numbers were soon reduced beyond recovery, and the dragons began to vanish from this world. In its death throes, the last of their kind, in excruciating pain and inconsolable grief, cursed our people to share their fate: Henceforth born under the stars of the beast gods, we would fill their vacant place in the natural order as beings of superior strength, but be equally shunned and feared by the rest of the world. And as such, with bodies that resemble both the humans with their intelligence and beasts with their might, we could not be allowed to roam and inhabit the earth as we pleased. Thus the curse of the dragons also took from us the fertility we had thus far enjoyed, and newborns became a rare sight within the walls of the city. To this day, whenever a healthy child is born, we consider it the greatest blessing."