Read [Queen of Orcs 03] - Royal Destiny for Free Online Page B

ale. Sevren, having refused to touch plunder from the temple, was not a copper richer after the summer campaign. He thanked his friend, then raised his flagon. “To Dar, and what she wrought. To peaceful times.”
    Valamar touched his flagon to Sevren’s. “I’ll drink to your departed love, but peaceful times are lean times. No war means no plunder.”
    “Queen Girta has a treasury.”
    “Just a name for an empty chest. If there’s no campaign, we’ll be threadbare by summer’s end. Men are already leaving. How about you?”
    “I’ve na yet the price of a farm.”
    “Then why did you refuse your summer’s share?”
    “’Twas obtained by sacrilege. You can na buy land with cursed gold. The curse lingers in the purchase.”
    Valamar grinned. “Then you’re drinking cursed ale.”
    “Which I’ll piss away afore sunrise.”
    Valamar’s grin broadened. “That’s the first wise thing you’ve said all evening.”

 
    Seven

    Dar pushed through snow and brown weed stalks to reach Muth la’s Dome. It was not yet noon, but she wanted to ensure that Meera-yat could reach their meeting place easily. The small stone hemisphere stood in the center of an otherwise empty courtyard. No one had visited it recently, and the surrounding snow was deep and undisturbed. It formed a drift against the dome’s ancient wooden door, which Dar struggled to pull open. In her weakened state, the effort left her panting.
    The dome’s single, circular room was ten paces across and partly below ground level. Dar descended a short set of stairs to reach its stone floor. A small opening in the apex of the ceiling admitted some dim light and an occasional snowflake. Dar gazed about the place that had been the site of her great ordeal and great joy. The room looked undisturbed since her rebirth, although the hole in the floor’s center had been covered by a circular flagstone. Dar wondered if water still filled the hole. If it did, it was surely frozen. The floor about the flagstone bore a dusting of snow, and Dar’s breath condensed each time she exhaled.
    When Dar heard Meera-yat at the doorway, she rushed to help her down the stairs. “Greeting, Mother,” she shouted. “You chose cold place for us to talk. Will you be warm enough?”
    “My comfort is unimportant, Muth Mauk.”
    Dar led Meera-yat to where the floor was free of snow. Meera-yat sat down and Dar huddled next to her. “What has Zor-yat told you about being great mother?” asked Meera-yat.
    The dome’s curved walls enhanced Dar’s voice, so she didn’t have to shout her reply. “Only that I should pass on Fathma.”
    “Did she speak of what would happen afterward?”
    “Thwa, but Nir-yat did.”
    “Nir-yat has good chest. She’s well named,” said Meera-yat. “I assume you wish to keep your spirit.”
    “I’ve work that’s unfinished. I can’t die yet.”
    Meera-yat nodded. “Already, you think like queen. Muth la helped queen choose her successor wisely.”
    “I was only mother present. Queen had no other choice.”
    “Don’t you think that was Muth la’s doing?” asked Meera-yat.
    “Muthuri doesn’t.”
    “I won’t speak ill of your muthuri, but…humph! Well, I’ll tell you what you need to know. Great mother is muthuri to all urkzimmuthi. Remember this, and ruling comes naturally.”
    I’ve never had children , thought Dar. How can I act like a muthuri? She recalled how her human mother dutifully submitted to a man who crushed her spirit. That example provided no guidance. “Your advice sounds wise, but I’ve not lived among urkzimmuthi long,” replied Dar, “and I’ve spent more time with sons than mothers.”
    “Yet you must know Muth la rules world through mothers. Muthuris are like Muth la in their own hanmuthis. Be like them. Show love, require obedience, and…” Meera-yat smiled. “…expect problems. Children aren’t always tranquil, especially daughters. Some will be headstrong. You must be firm.”
    Dar imagined