This story is written for and inspired by "The Kings Birthday" from
@worldbuilder &
@alonicus and, the monthly contest for March; "Lock" from The Inkwell /
@theinkwell communities. Hopefully you like it. You can find the link for the prompts at the end of this post.
We could see the whiteness of the city in the distance. It was built on a hill by the sea, as if special marbles had been moved to make it a place for the sky gods to live. On top of it was a white palace with a giant balcony. As if pegasuses could land at any moment. White columns, colosseums, marketplaces. We had a gift to leave in this city, where even the walls were made of white marble…
As we got closer, the statues continued to increase on the main road. For the last few kilometers we had been seeing statues one by one, so elaborate that they looked like real people. But they all had one thing in common. They all seemed to be trying to run towards the city, to show that it was dangerous the woods around the city was. As if the city was the only safe place.
Some of them seemed to turn around and look at something dangerous coming from the forests. As all the guests knew, there was indeed a dangerous creature living in the forest. A basilisk. A creature that could turn you to stone with a look. So, it was not easy to tell which of the statues were really people, who had once failed to flee from this Basilisk. They looked like they were stuck. Locked in time. Locked in space. Unlucky people, locked in the same position.
I and my fellow Clerics, Priests and Paladins had been on the road for days. Fortunately, thanks to our God-blessed powers, we had managed to defeat the bandits who tried to cut us off, the creatures who wanted a taste of our flesh, and we will manage to deliver the queen's birthday present on time.
We approached and mingled with the crowds of the city. Because we were clergymen, they didn't ask many questions at the entrance. They only asked about the god we believed in and the temple we served. When we lowered our hoods, and they realized that our ears were long and that we were all elves, we didn't even have to answer that question. Because everyone in this land knew that all elves were children of Corellon.
We started walking the streets and looking for a place to put us up. One-storey houses without chimneys and painted white could be distinguished only by the color of their doors.
One house next to another did not have the same color door.
One had a blue door, the next one had a pink door, the house next to it had a sun-faded pistachio green door and the next one had a pale red door. We learned that it was because of smart women. Their sailor husbands, after coming home drunk from the sea, broke into other people's buildings. Mistakenly.
The women of this city painted the doors of their houses because of the shameful mistake of their drunken husbands. So, their husbands knew the color of the door of their own house so that they would not enter other people's houses and disturb them. A wise society. Then they continued this tradition.
As we walked in front of the houses, we could see the grass growing on the sides of the cobblestone street, and the vines with white flowers growing on the walls of some houses. This city was really beautiful. I thought it was almost like an elven city, but there was too much marble and stone. Unlike the naturally grown trees in elven cities.
Just then we came across a temple, a white building with a big garden and a symbol of the goddess of fertility behind it. We stepped into the temple garden and after a few seconds a woman called out to us;
"Hello, welcome. How can I help you?"
After 2 days of resting at the temple and helping the gardeners, it was time to deliver our gift. Today was the queen's birthday and we had to give her that important gift in the locked box. It was a beautiful summer evening and people were chattering and full of energy. The sun had not yet set. The sky was dancing its rounds in harmony.
Girls with baskets of fresh fragrant flowers and boys with baskets of fruit were making their way to the castle where the queen lived. There was a big celebration there. So we went there and no one stopped us because we were clergymen. They only warned us about our swords.
Then we came to this magnificent, godly terrace. There were huge balconies on the sides and from these balconies you could see the city below. We could even look out to sea and see other ships on the horizon. The pillars were cut in a round shape, blue cloth hung from some of the pillars and waved in the breeze, there were elegantly made statues between almost every pillar. But they all had the same look of fear and flight on their faces.
The throne where the Queen sat was not fully visible. A thin blue curtain covered the front of the throne, and the sides were covered with thick blue cloths. It seemed a bit strange. I also thought there were very few armored soldiers, and then I remembered that there were a lot of secret guards who were probably acting as civilians.
People were leaving their gifts in front of this thin blue tulle curtain, bowing and saluting. From behind the curtain the queen must have been saying thank you, which could not be heard at this distance. After the gifts had been left, two soldiers in thick breastplates and carrying spears would come and take the gift and put it in the back corner with the other gifts. Some of the gifts must have interested the queen so much that they took them directly behind the curtain.
Then it was our turn.
"My dear Queen, we will now be presented with a gift from the Elven realms to be delivered to you by the Cleric Celebren and his group, the holy men of the Elves," a soldier announced us. My friends slowly put down the chest they were carrying together. The thick lock on it shook.
"What have you brought me as a gift?" the queen asked. Her voice sounded strong and threatening. She sounded like a ruler, but at the same time she spoke in a sly tone. I felt uneasy.
''We don't know what is inside the box, my queen. We have come a long way and the friends you see behind me are holy people like me. Warrior paladins and clerics. We swore an oath not to open the chest and we have kept our oath and brought it here.''
''Where is the key. It must be a great gift to be so important.'' The queen's voice was coming closer, and I could see her silhouette becoming clearer just behind the thin blue curtain. She seemed to be approaching and waiting excitedly. ''The elven king has sent me such an important gift. I command you. Open it!``
''Yes, my queen.'' I reached for the necklace around my neck and pulled out the key made of silver touched by starlight. Some of the people could not hide their surprise even at the sight of this key. The oranges of the sunset were now dancing harmoniously with the purples and blues, and this key was glowing. I slowly reached for the chest, which was facing towards me, towards my group. I inserted the key and unlocked it.
I was surprised to see what was inside.
My friends in my group must have been surprised too because I realized that they were all holding their breath. My heart started beating in my ears. I felt the voices of the people around me diminish, as if I could hear the sound of wine being poured into their glasses and the crunch of grapes crushing in their mouths.
"Cynthoreios thorn" I whispered. This was an incredibly poisonous and very rare magical flower. It could only mean one thing.
Our temple wanted the queen dead.
"Yes, cleric, turn the chest over" said the queen. I could almost feel her breath through the blue veil.
I looked around at the guards. There were only seven of us. Four of the guards were very close to me. Two of them had put the previous gift next to the other gifts in the corner and were walking this way. The six guards waiting on the sides of the pillars were closer to my friends. Gradually I began to notice who was walking among the civilians. This was a suicide mission. There was no way we were leaving here alive.
Father, grant me the speed of the wind and the agility of water.
I reached for my holy symbol and cast the spell "Sword of Starlight" with all my might towards the veil-like curtain I knew the queen was standing at the behind of. Within milliseconds, at the speed of light, a sword made of pure starlight appeared in my hand and pierced through the curtain.
It stabbed the queen behind the curtain.
I could feel the sword sticking out a few inches from the queen's back.
The guards all rushed at us and that's when I realized that there were archers on top of the walls and I had missed them. It must have been so that I still didn't feel the pain of the arrows in my back, but the order was as clear as fresh river water. The queen had to die.
I started to pull my sword up and to the side, which was stuck in the body of this woman whose face I had not even seen yet, upwards and towards me with all my strength. I felt her body tearing, she was going to die.
I wanted to take her to the front of the curtain and I succeeded.
All the people around us were amazed to see her.
She fell to the ground, slipping on this starlight sword. Her tail, long and thick like a snake, started at her waist. It continued behind the throne. In agony, the tail began to whip around. I couldn't see the end, and I didn't have time to see it.
After the queen's body had fallen to the ground, I also noticed her snake hair, writhing in agony. In pain. She turned her gaze towards me with her yellow eyes and her screams of pain. My time had come too. Even if this Medusa died, her head would still retain its power. I smiled so that at least I would not be a statue writhing in pain or posing frightened. With my sacred symbol in my hand, I felt the arrows stabbing into my back locked in place permanently.
My body locked.
My gaze locked.
My smile locked.
I was locked, in time.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it!
You can find the Inwell Community "Lock" Prompt Here; @theinkwell/march-2023-news-updates-and-monthly-contest-from-the-ink-well
Worldbuilding Community "The King's Birthday" Prompt Here; @alonicus/worldbuilding-weekend-prompt-9-the
