After Effects

Amala deals with stress following her ordeal.

10.

After Effects

 

They rode into Southgate an hour later and she spent the rest of the night and all the next day answering questions and speaking to royal officials.  

 

Duke Michael Fross, lord of Southgate, interviewed her for several hours about her account of what had happened, and she told him everything - except for the truth about Prince Edwarren.   On this, she stuck to her story; terrified they would not believe her and then ask one of the clerics to cast a truth detection spell upon her.  

 

But thankfully it didn’t come to that and Duke Fross seemed more concerned about locating Baron Bristane and determining if the Orc ambush was an isolated group of Orcs or part of a larger uprising of the mountain tribes.

 

Amala just wanted to go home, to put everything behind her.   But that wasn’t possible, for she had been the last one to see the crown prince alive - or so they thought.   They searched for his body intensely that next day, not knowing that it lay burnt beyond recognition at the bottom of a pile of dead Orcs.  

 

Amala felt like she was drowning in a nightmare.   She had to maintain the lie, but the guilt and terror it caused her was wearing her out.   It was the evening of the day following the ambush that word reached Southgate that King Haroldris had died.   Amala cried for hours, almost hysterically, and no-one could calm her down or learn what caused such a strong reaction.  

 

The girl barely heard the messenger from Duke Fross informing her that Queen Eioldth was sending the airship ‘Autumn Maid’ to take her (as well as Duke Fross and his family) back to King’s Reach in time for the royal funeral and for a meeting with the Queen to discuss the death of her son.  

 

Then an hour later, she only dimly heard Jevon come to her quarters and tell her that the Queen had requested that he and the other two coachmen return the coach back to Westmark.   So they would be leaving tomorrow morning without her.   She had just nodded to the news, hugging her friend and saying nothing as she fought another round of tears.

 

Amala sat all night crying, alone in her quarters, unable to sleep, too upset to eat, constantly pacing around the room, wringing her hands, which trembled terribly.   In the middle of the sleepless night, she had remembered her swords and took them out to clean them of the accumulation of Orc blood.  

 

She didn’t get very far before the sight of the hint of black sticky blood on her swords brought extremely vivid memories of the battles.  

Feeling suddenly horribly sick at the thought of the Orc blood, she found her stomach heaving.   She’d never killed anyone before her encounter with the Orcs.   Yet it had all came so easily, so ruthlessly and automatically to her.   

 

She hadn’t thought about what she was doing when she’d been in the fight, but now it horrified her how efficiently she had fought.   Just like the horror stories her father had told her about the Drow of the Underdark.

 

Amala just sat on the floor of the ducal guest quarters and rocked back and forth, hugging herself to try to stop trembling, longing to be back home again.   Tomorrow - or the next, if the Airship arrived late in the day-  she’d be whisked off on a whirlwind, magic flight that would be followed by a heart-wrenchingly sad state funeral.  

 

Then she would have a question and answer session with the poor Queen about how her son died, and she would have to lie to her and make him into a hero in order to spare her heart more misery.  But she’d have to live with the truth, keeping it hidden, forever.  

On top of all of this, there was the knowledge that there would be a vacancy now that would not be filled with any of King Haroldris’ descendants.   There would be a terrible power struggle, perhaps even war over who gets the crown.   What would become of the kingdom, or her parent’s duchy?   It was as if her whole world was falling apart all at once.   She sat on the floor, her red eyes hollow and scared, all through the night, lost in worry and fear.

 

***

 

The next day was no better; she went around like a zombie all day, alone, waiting for the airship from King’s Reach.  She spent her time washing her clothing and cleaning her chainmail shirt; feeling as if there could possibly be more of the Orc blood hidden somewhere -and everywhere- and desperate to have it gone.

 

The day became evening and she grew almost insane with nervousness.   She began pacing outside the ducal castle, staring up into the twilight for the tardy airship.   Evening became night and it still didn’t come.  

Summer storm clouds moved in from the mountains, threatening rain, and she still walked back and forth, staring up into the heavens waiting for the Autumn Maid, while the ducal guards watched her and wondered about her sanity.

 

It was late night when the ship arrived, the noise of a rushing wind giving warning of its approach minutes before it arrived.   She hurried to the docking platform, eager to get the remainder of her nightmare over, only to be informed that the crew would not lift off until morning as they had flown all afternoon in a terrible thunderstorm and were exhausted and hungry.  

 

Back to her quarters she went, but to her amazement, she fell asleep in the soft chair in the room, awaking to a loud clap of thunder in early morning.

 

Amala again hurried to the docked airship and was relieved to find the Duke and his family boarding the craft to attend the funeral.

“We’ll try our best,” the captain had told them, “but the weather has been very bad, so we’ll probably be somewhat late to the funeral.”

They lifted off soon afterwards, and Amala learned it would be -hopefully- about mid afternoon, though the funeral was scheduled to begin an hour after noon.  The trip, which would take about four days by coach, took only six hours by the fast, magically powered Autumn Maid.  

 

But it was six hours of stress for the Drow girl and she stood staring out of the bridge as the scenery rushed by, feeling seasick though they were actually flying through the air, wondering what she was going to say to Queen Eioldth. 

 

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"...the airship ‘Autumn maid’ to take her (as well as Duke Floss..." "maid" needs to be capitalized, and I believe there was an autocorrect issue with the Duke's name. ?