Then I woke and realized that I was back in Stlespa. As I looked up, I saw Elijah. My heart sank and I would have cried if I wasn’t in present company.
“What, may I ask, are you staring at?” I asked him sternly.
“A Stlespan who needs to learn how to hold her tongue.” He replied, with a light in his eyes.
“I want to see the village.”
“Are you sure? You might find it a little depressing. We did things a little different then we did at your home.” He said with the same light.
“Show me what you have done this time.” I said without emotion.
As he took me out side, I saw that we were on the hill next to where the village used to be. The village was still in tacked, but the inhabitants were beheaded and their heads were put on spears that encircled the village and created a kind of wall.
“I never realized that you and your men had the guts to look your enemies in the eyes as you killed them.” I said, calmly.
“What makes you say we looked them in the eyes?” He asked astonished.
“Because of the way the wounds are on their necks. They are clean which means that you did it from the front, if you had done it from behind, the cuts would have been slanted and rough.”
“How do you know this?”
“I have been trained in the deadly arts and I know everything that there is about warfare. I have done enough studying, in fact, to know that you now fear me and my abilities. You have feared me ever since you found we were back in time. When you accused me of being the one that did it. I can see it in your eyes, you really need to work on hiding your emotions a little better…it may give me the key to your undoing.” I said turning to look at his eyes.
“You are mistaken, I fear nothing and no one.” He said with anger behind his eyes.
“ But you admit to not being able to hide your feelings? This is interesting. The more I figure you out, the more…” I broke off before he could hear what I was going to say.
“The more what?” He asked.
“Never mind. Take me back to my tent, I don’t wish to look at your face any longer.”
He growled in his throat, which made me chuckle.
“What you laughing at?” Elijah asked.
“Oh, do forgive me, but your wanting to be fierce is funny. I hope you forgive me.” I said mockingly.
He took me by the hair and pulled me to the ground. He put his knee to my throat to cut of my air supply. However, I had noticed what he was going to do in time for me to take a deep breathe and pretend suffocation. After he had thought I was unconscious, he picked me up and carried me to my tent.
“”what happened to her?” A farmer asked.
“The sight was to much for her.” Elijah said with a laugh.
That was my queue, I took the opportunity and punched him. An honest and perfectly aimed punch to the arch of his nose, right between the eyes but still getting his nose. That spot will cause two black eyes or at least a bloody nose that one won’t soon forget.
He dropped me and I was able to get up. I took his sword while he was on the ground cradling his precious nose. Luckily my leg had healed enough for me to run, so I did. I ran for the village hoping to find a place to hide.
Once I got there, I made my way to the other side, careful to cover my tracks. I could hear the farmers follow me into the village, then stop.
“This place is haunted, you can hear the whispers of the dead making claims to our lives.” One man said.
“You’ve always been jumpy, there is nothing out there.”
“So, the men a scared of ghosts. I could use this to my advantage.” I said to myself.
One man came around the corner of the house I was behind. He had his back to me moving his head from side to side like a lost child looking for their mother. I came up behind him and quickly and quietly broke his neck. I went back behind the house and waited for the next one. I kept to the shadows picking off one man at a time.
“Look here! Jonathan is dead. There are no cuts, marks or battle wounds. It’s as if his spirit was taken with out him knowing.” An old man about sixty said, looking at my first victim.
“I told you this place was haunted. Besides, with the amount of time that we have been looking for that renegade woman, she could be to the next village by now. Our presence has been noted and we have been seen. We must leave.”
“No, we will not leave. We have a duty to our wives and our families. We said we would end our enslavement and that is what we are going to do.” The old man said.
“Is there a problem?” Elijah asked, coming up from behind.
“No sir. Look at this, there are no marks.”
Elijah looked at the body.
“She’s better then I expected,” he said under his breath, “She is still here. And she is close, Find her!”
No one moved. They just stood there, looking from left to right then to Elijah.
“I see that you are scared. Let me tell you something about this woman. She is of the House of Strapling. She will come back with the claim to the Farninian throne. While there, she will keep us slaves forever. She will produce an heir that thinks the same way she does and our way of life will be gone. We will be given no weapons to fight with and we will have to pledge ourselves to her. Do you want to be a slave forever?”
“So that is what you think that they did.” I said, still in the shadows.
“Get her!” Elijah yelled.
No one moved. They looked at me with new eyes. The next thing that I knew was that they were on one knee, bowing before me.
“No, get up. I am of the House of Strapling, but I am not you Queen,” they got up slowly, not looking me in the eyes, “Well, Elijah it appears that you have lost. Go back to where you came from and don’t come back.”
“You do not rule here. Only the Royal Family can tell me to leave and only after they have agreed to free us.”
“Let me tell you something, Elijah. You destroyed the Capital city, where do you honestly think the Royal Family is? You burnt them to the ground and they didn’t agree to let you go free then. They didn’t even know why you were there. You have made yourselves slaves. You did what your military told you and you followed, that is what made you slaves.”
“The Royal Family may be dead, but who are you to tell me what to do?” He asked, thinking that he had stumped me.
“I am next in line.” I said quietly.
“I was adopted by the Royal Family of Stlespa after my parents had died. You might say that I know rule both countries as one.” I said.
“No…no!” Elijah yelled.
The men bowed again. I looked at them with respect and told them all to rise.
“I do not want to be your Queen nor anybody else’s. Do not bow before me while not ten minutes ago you wanted to kill me in cold blood. I am no different then you. Go home. Live your lives free and not under military control.” I said.
“My Lady, we will not leave without a Queen. You are the only one who seems qualified for that position. Come to Farnin and be our Queen. You can bring the peace that we have all secretly wanted for twenty-six years. You belong in Farnin, not Stlespa.” The old man begged.
“No, old man. I was born and raised in Stlespa. I grew up in the palace here and learned the art of war here. I belong here if no where else. Besides, old man, you wouldn’t want a woman running your country, let alone a woman that is younger than you.”
“You do not know what I want. I want to be able to live free without having to worry about my children and grandchildren being killed while at my home. My grandchildren are Stlespan, and I fear for them every time they come to see me.” He hissed.
I paused, thinking about what was best. I turned my face toward the sky and closed my eyes. I listened to the true me. I listened to the woman side and the militarily sides of me. They told me to listen to the old man, he knows what I should do.
Before I could answer, Elijah stepped up, “I seems that you don’t have a Queen, so who will you turn to? Me? I won’t listen unless you all fall upon your knees and beg my forgiveness.” He said facing the people.
“And what is it they are asking forgiveness for? You controlled them, made them your beasts of burden. They have suffered more hardships then I have being in the army,” I asked Elijah, “I think that we both know that you will never forgive them, after I turned my back you would have killed or mortally wounded these people. Haven’t they suffered enough? You have polluted their minds and their young will remember you as the one that ruled over them as if you had the right. They will continue to hate you forever. It is you that should be begging their forgiveness.”
“I have decided…”