The Last Queen of Lemuria (11 page)

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"O she was a beauty, but he loved the sea more than she..." sang the man, drawing on the paper with what looked like a compass.

His short, blond hair was tousled. Judging by his white shirt with a patch of mycenae, he had also been in the forest. He was built like a Greek god. “I wonder who he is?” thought Nastia, when she was finally noticed.

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"Your Majesty!” the man pronounced, jumped up, and began to bow.

Nastia nodded, not knowing what to say.

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"Are you alone, your majesty?"

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"Yes," muttered Nastia before being cut off by the man's embrace.

The Queen almost toppled over in surprise. Nastia smelled the slight hint of bergamot. She tried to tear herself away. But he hugged her stronger.

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"Yuma, my love, how I have missed you!"

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"Aleur?" guessed Nastia, and, somehow freeing herself, looked into his blue eyes.

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“Your Aleur has gone mad missing you, Yuma!"

So this is who Aleur was. Her fiancée. Her beloved. Her future husband.  Interesting! And terribly stupid.

- "What happened, Yuma? You're as cold as ice! Are you healthy?"

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"I'm healthy, Aleur," pouted Nastia. He shyly lowered his eyes. His face was shining with tenderness and admiration. He truly did love her.  "I'm just a bit tired. Doro and I walked around the forest all day.

Aleur pressed his lips to her palm.  Nastia jumped on the inside. He tenderly brushed her cheek. He leaned his lips in towards her face. His eyes were right up close, his every breath scorched her skin. She didn't know what to do.  She just stood and waited for what would happen next. He touched his lip to hers. And suddenly... Nastia shook, just as if she had touched a live wire! A hot lightning struck her chest. Her legs instantly became cotton and buckled. Nastia gasped and swayed. Aleur caught his beloved and kissed her once again. Her head thundered and spun. Colored spots drifted before her eyes, some kind of faces, sounds, smells... her body was filled with the delightful feeling of uniting with something close, and dear, something you can't live with out.

"What's that?” came a voice in her head.  "What's that with me?" Nastia opened her eyes.

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"Aleur! Aleur, let me go! Are you listening to me?"   whispered the Queen.  "Let me go, people are waiting for me. I need to go."

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"Will we see each other tonight, Yuma?"

Giving an ambiguous nod, Nastia left the room, barely moving her legs.

The Queen asked Tina to set a table in her bedchamber. Doro united with his sister, and they had dinner together. Despite Nastia's concerns related to the food, the royal dinner was not bad at all and very diverse. Nastia's favorite drink was the juice from an unknown berry, the mileoki.. She had drunk perhaps half a jug by the time Doro stopped her.

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"Be careful with the mileoki, sis!" - he smiled.

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"What is it exactly?"

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"It will put you to sleep if you drink too much."

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"Well, I guess I'm in for a good night of sleep tonight," chuckled Nastia.

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"How was the date withe Aleur?"

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"Date?"

Doro said that Yuma and Aleur meet in the royal garden every evening. That they masquerade as servants and hide themselves. All the same, there wasn't one person in the city who didn't know about these meetings. Nastia remembered the conversation that she overheard this morning. Yes, it seemed almost everyone with a pulse knew about the affair between the Queen and the engineer, then told a friend.

- "Doro," asked Nastia, her heart palpitating, "what do we do there, in the garden?"

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“Well … you kiss…," Doro blurted out in shame.

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"You were watching!" reproached Nastia, and her heart began to beat all the faster.

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"By accident!"

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"Do we only kiss?" - she asked again.

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"Well, you also… hug," said Doro, looking away.

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"And... that's it?"

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"Well, what else is there?"

Nastia sighed in relief.

“I should go to that date," confirmed Nastia, following Doro to the garden.  "He's waiting."

Every part of her was irresistibly drawn to the garden, but Nastia would rather have cut off her own tongue than admit itW. When they had gotten to the small gate, Doro stopped:

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"I hope you remember him!"

Nastia descended down the stairs into the dark alley.

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"Yuma!" - came a whispering voice.

Nastia's heart sank down. "What's this supposed to be!" - she fumed. I've known this Aleur for no more than a few hours.  "She's gone completely mad..." came a voice in her head, saying the same words she'd overheard this morning from her window..

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"Yuma, my love!" - his strong arms dropped around her shoulders. She turned around and immediately was drowned in beautiful blue eyes, full of tenderness.

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"Aleur!

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"My beloved, my wonderful, my Queen!"

And not waiting for an answer, he began to cover her face with kisses.

Nastia once again experienced the same feeling she'd had in Aleur's room. It was as if she was trying to remember something- blurry pictures were popping into her head and disappearing just as quickly. She couldn't figure out what kind of pictures they were, but at the same time, she felt clearly that this man, holding her in his arms, was a near and dear being.

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"Yuma! You're seem far from this place! You are pale.

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Do you remember when we met?

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Yuma, are you alright?"

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"I guess."

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"Come on, Yuma!  We've known each other since early childhood."

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"Sorry, I'm not feeling like myself today."

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I think I can guess what's wrong," smiled Aleur.

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"Yeah?"

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Did you drink too much mileoki juice at dinner, my Queen? That juice can do strange things to our consciousness."

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"You can say that again," admitted Nastia. - "There's definitely something wrong with my consciousness."

Chapter 13. Temptation

Guria extinguished the magic crystal. “So that's what her sister Yuma's been doing in the evenings! Running off to dates! The Princess snorted contemptuously. And that dumb bastard Grino still thinks she's his wife.. The bridegroom from hell! It's what he deserves!

Yuma's bridegroom, the Lemurian insisted upon love... Yala talks about it constantly as well. Maybe that's because it's true? Does there exist an unknowable love?  A feeling that conquers all, even the strongest sorcerer- is it real? Guria gave it some thought... If it's true... That means... That this great power is left to her sister!? It's always about that god-damned Yuma! She was already the older sister, having been born a year before Guria, then she was sent to Olmolungring, and now she'd surpassed her once again! She received a crown, she had the Chintamani, and now she had received Love?!” Guria was almost ready to weep from rage. And suddenly it hit her. The young sorceress approached the crystal once again.

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"Show me Aleur from Olmolungring," she ordered..

Aleur was nude, walking around a room, looking for something. Finally he found what he was looking for- a thick book, and lay down on his bed- having pushed the blue light a bit closer, he began to read.

Guria ran her hand over the stone, and the image became brighter.  He was handsome. All these Lemurians were nice to look at. Not the same as sorcerers. In Olmolungring, external beauty wasn't taken note of- it belonged to everything. Only on Groix was beauty worshiped, and considered the highest expression of a sorcerer's power. It was good that most sorcerers had never been to Lemuria. If they had, they would all burst with anger.

Guria frowned in thought, and extinguished the magic crystal .

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“I will have everything, Yuma! The Stone and the Power!  And your Aleur!” she whispered aloud, taking a book with gold binding from the table.

Aleur was hovering low, almost under the ground, avoiding the liana vines, and trying to stay away from the red and blue mycenae flowers. The mycenae is eaten by insects, and though it isn't dangerous for human consumption, no one wanted to touch its petals all the same. Its sticky, fragrant nectar stains the clothes and irritates the skin. Aleur steered his vimana to the edge of the forest. Lemurians were there, milling boards for construction. The sound of axes came from behind the trees. Aleur turned around when suddenly, his vimana grazed something below. A loud sound came. Aleur jumped to the ground, thinking he'd wounded an animal. The vimana fluttered down to the grass, having lost its rider.

There was a little girl lying under the mycenae leaves. Abnormally swarthy for a Lemurian, in bright clothes. Her eyes were closed, her hands were covered in blue nectar, and her red robe was ripped at the chest. Aleur thought with horror that he'd killed the girl.  He fell to his knees. He bowed to listen to her breathing, catching the sweet smell of roses in his nostrils. When he touched her, the stranger came to life. Aleur was stunned. The girl had black eyes, and her headscarf had fallen down to cover her dark hair. "Sorceress!" He stepped back abruptly. The girl moaned once more.  Aleur, feeling ashamed at his fear, picked her up in his arms and carried her to the sun.

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"Hey! Can you hear me?" he called, shaking her by the shoulder.

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"Yes," she whispered. "Forgive me, it seems I have crossed your path at a bad time."

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"Are you from Groix? What are you doing in our forest? It is forbidden by law.”

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“Yes, I know," sighed the tan beauty, raising herself off the grass and brushing off her dress.  "But I have fled Groix. My father beat me and kicked me out of the house.

She straightened her shoulders and looked determinedly at Aleur. The stranger was short in comparison with Lemurians, but she was no less beautiful than them. "Our people speak nonsense when they say that all sorcerers are ugly," thought Aleur.  He had grown used to the beauty of blondes, and thus became fixated upon her tanned skin, burning eyes, and dark curls.

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"You can go- I can take care of myself," said the girl, implying that if Aleur were to leave, she would die on the spot without a doubt.

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"You're quite pale," said Aleur, succumbing.

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"I'm very hungry, I haven't eaten for two days," admitted the stranger, "but don't let that worry you. I'm sure I'll find something..."

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"You're hungry? Come with me…" said Aleur, stopping when he realized that the wood-cutters wouldn't appreciate seeing a sorceress, and would hardly be willing to share a table with her.

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"Actually... I'll bring you something to eat. Wait for me here!" and he got on his vimana, directing his gaze at the small, blue triangle imprinted on its edge. Within a few seconds, the board began to shake and came back to the ground.

Guria looked mockingly at Aleur's back. It was turning out to be easier than she'd supposed. The sorceress took a small vial of potion from her pocket. Finally, the hour for Aleur to forget Yuma has come.

Aleur hurried. Passing Shonti La's instructions on to the wood-cutters, he grabbed some fruit and nuts and took off back into the air.

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"Where are you going Aleur? Aren't we taking boards to the seashore?"  shouted the wood-cutters' elder behind him.