The Legend Of The Five Queens : Arabella's tale

Chapter 21

   "Ugh, this is so boring! How did my mother handle all of this paperwork daily?" Arabella pouts as she flips through the piles of papers on her mother's desk.
   "Well, a Queen must take care of her people. A lot of people believe that they have complaints and ideas about how the different laws they'd like to see implemented. It is up to you to decide what to approve and disapprove of. This is what you wanted," Severus laughs softly rubs her face in frustration.
"This will take me forever to go through! I do not have the time for this!" Arabella pushes the paperwork aside and slams her fists on the desk. She lets out a deep breath and slowly relaxes. She stands up from her chair and turns her attention to Severus.
   "Okay, besides handling politics, what else did my mother do as Queen?" Queen Arabella searches the desk for anything non-political. She opens the center drawer and pulls out a large map with drawings all over it with notes written on the side of the paper. It looks like her mom has been looking for something.
"This map has a trail that would take a ship through the Death Sea, why would my mother want to take such a direct route?" Arabella continues to examine the map.
"Your mother and father both believed that the only way to truly be in control of this Kingdom that they must possess special weapons to keep the look of being imposing. A few years ago your mother discovered a sword that could break through anything. That map you're looking at contains some of her notes about the whereabouts of the sword. Her research led her to believe that the sword is located on the Belavin island just past the Death Sea. It is rumored that the sword could be hidden in a cave within that island," Severus brings over a small stack of papers to Arabella's desk.
  "These are your mothers' notes documenting the people that she spoke to about the sword and all the information about its history that she discovered as well. Throughout her time looking for powerful objects she came across information claiming that a shield that can not be broken by anything exist. She never found anyone that previously owned the shield, unfortunately," She rubs his beard softly.
   Arabella begins to read through her mothers' notes. Her mother wrote that the sword is made of unknown origins. It was discovered by an ancient blacksmith in a broken castle. Some people believe that the sword was made by a magical elf but that information is nonsense. The sword was rumored to have belonged to an infamous thief named John Welch. This sword has moved through several countries in secret passing from hand to hand eventually ending up on Belavin island.
   "I will need a crew with a ship that can take me across the Death Sea," Her eyes dart to the docks closest to the Death Sea. Severus grabs a book off of a stack of other books in a corner.
   "Before you do anything outlandish-I suggest potentially reading your moms' diary. It may give you an incitement on how you handled being a Queen," He sets the diary on the desk. Arabella picks up the diary and flips through the pages. She never really got to see how incredible her mother's handwriting was. She made sure that her handwriting was the best it could be.
Her mother wrote about the stress of running a Kingdom as well as missing her husband. Each of the pages documents a day-by-day log of how she felt. Arabella flips to the last page that her mother wrote in the diary.
July 17, 1079, about midday. I have a confession that I must document. I know that my daughter Arabella has not to know what she plans to do with it but I fear is it not good. She is a good person but I know that there is an evil need within herself. That evil started when her father left the kingdom. I cannot imagine how hard it is for her to grow up without her father in her life. Severus has done the best he could over the years to be her father figure but unfortunately, I do not think that it is enough. I know Arabella has been looking for her father these past few days. She seems to forget that as Queen I have eyes everywhere. I am confident that she will find him eventually. I just hope that the wrong person does not find her while she is away from the kingdom. I am hoping that someday I will be able to teach her how to be a good Queen. She can do whatever she wants as long as she puts her mind to it. I just hope that she grows up to be the strong and fearless Queen that I know she can be.
I hope that someday my husband will return from his quest so all of us can be together again as a family. I do not think that will happen if this war does break out.
Arabella sits back in her chair with her mouth open in shock as she processes what she just read. The Queen feels shocked and confused. All this time her mother knew that she had acquired the fire stone? Was someone watching her from the distance and secretly reporting back to her then?
"I take it you did not expect to find out what you read?" Severus asks as he rests his hands on the desk. Arabella looks down at the pages of the diary with tears building up in his eyes.
   "I-I just can't believe that she knew I had the stone and that she just wanted the three of us to be a family," She softly sobs before rubbing her face to calm herself.
   "I will tell you this much, your mother had plenty of secrets that she did not write down. I am the only person that she trusted her deepest and darkest secret. Your mother was always worried about you. She noticed that you were becoming more reckless the older you got which is why I was assigned to be your bodyguard. Of course, there is only so much that I can do," Severus sits down in front of the desk and places his arms at the desk.
   "How do you feel about this now that you have read a portion of what was on your mother's mind?" Severus looks her in the eyes with a face that of seriousness. Arabella takes a moment to allow the pain of her mother's death to rises up from within her. She had her mother killed just because she wanted to become Queen without needing to be married. It is truly a horrific crime that has yet to hit her.
"I-I just...I should not have had her killed. I... I do not know what I was thinking," she covers her face as she breaks down into tears in front of Severus. Arabella's heart breaks into pieces faster than she can control it.
"Arabella with all due respect you have not been the same since you acquired that stone. You do not seem to be able to think straight. I have noticed that your emotions tend to change drastically without reason. I believe that stone is somehow influencing your actions and causing you to act without reason. I think you should remove the stone and focus on continuing your mother's work," Severus manages to keep his voice calm. Arabella wipes her tears slowly calms herself down.
   "No Severus, I continue my quest to find these powerful objects. I still want to take over the entire world and now that I am Queen that will be easier. I need to end this war before it begins,
   "Arabella, you have to let the other Kings figure-"
   "The other Kings are doing nothing to figure anything out! Those men are too worried about possibly ruining their reputation that they will not agree to work together. Those men are all arrogant fools. None of them are capable of keeping the peace," Arabella slams her fists on the table keeping her fists balled up. Severus keeps himself calm as Arabella rages.
"Arabella, you do not know what you are getting into. Before you try to take over the world you need to learn what is going on between the kingdoms. A lot is going on that only the Kings know about. As Queen you now have access to that kind of information," Severus leans back in his chair and places his hands on his lap.
Arabella realizes that Severus is right for she does not know what is truly going on. She cannot attempt to get the other Kings to listen to her if she has such a lack of knowledge. It is time for the Queen to exercise her new political power.
"Alright then Severus, I need all the information that is available on the situation. I want to make sure I have the facts before I make any further actions," Arabella gathers together her moms' notes into a pile.
   "Yes, my Queen," Severus bows his head and walks towards the door. Arabella goes back to reading through her mothers' notes.
"My Queen, please be careful when diving into the politics. Things can get pretty ugly the deeper you look," Severus says as he grabs the doorknob.
"There is no need for me to be too cautious when I have you to help me when I need it, "Arabella keeps her eyes on her mothers notes.
   Severus nods and slowly leaves the room closing the door behind him. Arabella spends the next few hours reading through all of her mothers' notes. The sword that could break anything and the unbreakable shield grabbed Arabella's attention. With those two items combined Arabella would have the best offense and defense. No one would be able to oppose her at all with those weapons. Her mothers' notes also point to the possibility of other powerful stones. The Queen decides that she will those stones only if they come across her path.
Hours pass as Arabella shuffles through her mothers' books learning all of her mother's secrets. Arabella finds herself unimpressed by how much her mother had learned about ancient artifacts.
   Queen Arabella pulls out her mother's map that leads to the sword that can cut through everything. She finds a sailers port that sits about one hundred-forty seven miles away from the Death Sea. If she goes undercover she may be able to hire a crew that will safely transport her across the Death Sea. Finding a crew of people who are brave enough to cross the Death Sea may cost a lot of money. It is going to be a long trip.
Arabella folds up the map and puts it in a bag that contains several small pouches full of gold coins. She gathers up small bags of special crackers and small treats for herself. There is no need for her to bring any real food since she can buy some before her voyage.
The Queen leaves her mother's office and walks to her bedroom. There, she ditches her royal dress and changes into a more casual outfit. She wears a thin cotton shirt with a light leather coat that is accompanied by her leggings with a skirt that hangs down to her knees.
With her new out on and her bag ready, Arabella leaves her room and walks through the castle halls looking for Severus. The Knights give her a confused look as they pass by her. Her mother would never wear such clothing within the castle grounds.