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The Dereskian Queen	By : LadyMoria Category: +G through L > He-Man Views: 2856 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own He-man, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter three

The next years were some of the most bliss-filled and carefree of Caerlin’s entire life. They were years filled with discoveries, about herself, her family, and her people.

She learned, first of all, that she was the eldest of the twin princesses of the Dereskïgiä, her people. As such, she was the next in line for the monarchy. This news came as a godsend to Moria, her sister. Moria had never desired the seat of power, and now that Caerlin had returned, was overjoyed that she would not have to be a ruler after all.

In Moria, Caerlin discovered everything she had ever desired. Her sister was calm, respectful, philosophical, thoughtful, and knowledgeable about affairs. Her sister became her tutor in affairs of the Dereskïgiä, and it became Caerlin’s goal to strive to make her sister smile at her progress. Moria told her of the mythology of the people, of how Eläni, the light of the red moon, had split her light in two to create the blue and white moons, and how she used that light to create life upon the planet. She learned how the first people on the planet spent their days sleeping, and their nights working, and the constant exposure to the light of the white moon had permanently dyed their skin and hair pale white. She learned how these same people looked always at the three moons, and how the eyes of those who looked upon the blue moon became baby blue, how the eyes of those who looked at the red moon became dull red. Those with amethyst eyes were the most blessed, she learned, for they looked upon all three moons at once, and were the true children of Eläni.

Moria instructed her sister in everything from courtly manners to hand-to-hand combat. In the latter, it was discovered that Caerlin was a very quick learner, and it was not long at all before she was able to best her sister in nearly all matter of weaponry. From then on, Caerlin took lessons directly from her sister’s tutor, the foremost expert on Dereskian weaponry. It took somewhat longer to best this woman than it had her sister, but, through extreme planning and carefully executed maneuvers, in combination with spur-of-the-moment techniques, she was finally able to best her ter ier in swordplay. After that momentous occasion, it did not take Caerlin very long before she altered her techniques in all manner of weaponry, from staffs to bows and arrows, to fencing sabers, to knife-throwing, and so on.

After learning of her progress in weaponry, her father, the king himself, challenged his daughter to a dë-nêocáörë, a formal duel between family members, not meant to be life threatening, but merely an exercise in weapon mastery.

She accepted her father’s challenge, and when the event rolled around, she bested him after parrying his attacks and watching his technique for several hours. Her father was delighted with her progress.

After learning about every type of weapon available in her nation, and besting every one of the weapons masters in the country, Caerlin began looking for something else to occupy her physically. She continued to use all of her weapons weekly, so as to keep up her skills.

After expressing interest in wanting to try something else, her sister suggested Caerlin try the learning of Majicks. Majick, though forbidden in most other nations, was a widely accepted practice among the Dereskïgiä. Because all in the nation, from the monarchy to the peasantry, were content with themselves and their lot in life, there was no need to try to harm one another. The very idea was absurd to this utopian society

Majick, as well as any other type of skill, including weaponry, was used only as protective device, or for betterment of the people.

Caerlin contacted the chief expert of Majicks, a woman by the name of Celeno the Enchantress, who at first rejected the princess as a student. Celano thought that, as Caerlin was a princess, she would be inclined to study ballroom dancing more closely than anything that might possibly get her clothing dirty.

Nevertheless, Caerlin pushed for at least an audience with the Enchantress, and after much negotiation, Celeno agreed to at least hear her out.

Caerlin arrived at the older woman’s home, dressed in comfortable, practical breeches she used for her weapons training, and a tunic that was faded to a dull blue, well-worn and well-loved.

When answering the door, Celeno herself was taken aback. This woman in front of her looked nothing like she had presumed a princess to look, all lace and silk.

Caerlin’s hip-length hair was pulled back into a loose braid, which ended at her lower back. She wore no jewelry save a small pendant around her neck. She looked, in every respect, the common apprentice.

Celeno smiled to herself and decided she would teach the young woman, even before Caerlin could utter a word.

She learned from Celeno the origin of Majicks, and how their use protected the Dereskïgiä and their history. She learned of all types of plant life, and how they could be employed to fight off disease, and in some cases, certain death.

She learned of the uses of energy fields, and how to manipulate energy to form a blast that could knock an opponent clean off his feet, or punch a hole the size of a large desk into a wall made of solid steel.

It took nearly fifty years before Celeno could teach her student no more. Caerlin had matured nicely in such time. Somewhere in this time, Caerlin’s aging process had slowed as was customary among Dereskians; aging only about a year for every thirty years she lived.

After she had learned all she could, she wished Celeno a good, healthy life, and returned to the palace. It made Caerlin somewhat saddened to think that all of her lessons were over, for she had grown to quite enjoy the company of Celeno.

She returned to the palace, and attended a seemingly endless series of fancy balls and state dinners, accompanied by her mother, her father, and her sister. Her sister! How she had missed the soothing presence of Moria more than anyone in her time with Celeno.

In time, she began to value her sister’s opinion in all things, trusting in Moria’s cool demeanor to determine the correct choice. She began to spend more and more time with her sister, and her sister with her. They were rarely ever apart from one another. It became an ongoing joke in the palace that if one were to find one princess, the other would not be far away.

The years of bliss continued, and the three-hundredth birthday of the princesses came and went. It seemed almost as if the happiness Caerlin felt could never feasibly end. The Dereskïgiä were content as ever, no one was starving, no one was in pain or hurting. If there was ever the slightest problem, the good king and queen were able to solve it. Occasionally, the princesses sat in upon the discussions, and were able to add their opinions to solve the problem quickly.

Caerlin and Moria became well known throughout the nation for their fairness in decision making together: Caerlin for her ability to quickly and efficiently find the heart of the problem and justly find an answer, and Moria for her ability to listen to both sides equally, and smooth the little details over so that all parties were pleased with the solution.

Then, one night while all were sleeping, tragedy befell the Dereskïgiä. The Eternian raiders had become angry again, growing jealous of the blissful contentment of the Dereskïgiä. They crept up like the worms there ere in the night, setting fire to great buildings of the city. Fortunately, marble does not burn well, so this effort of the raiders did not accomplish much. The raiders crept up to the palace, slaying the guards stationed around the doors quickly. They entered the palace and slinked to the upper levels in little time. They entered the throne room and kept on behind it, going into the royal chambers. They entered the chambers of Moria, and found them to be curiously empty. They continued on to the rooms of Caerlin, but found they could not enter, for she had recently set up a barrier using the Majicks she had learned.

They did not bother trying to break it, and instead went to the rooms of the king and queen. These they found wide open, for Monicaldeno and Alessena did not believe in leaving their doors locked to the people who might need them. The raiders entered and found the royal monarchs sleeping peacefully in their bed.

They accomplished their task, and retreated from the palace to the city, where they found the city militia waiting for them. The raiders put up a fight, but in the end the Dereskïgiä were triumphant. The raiders fell to their swords.

Caerlin emerged from her chambers after being awoken by the sounds of fighting. Moria was not far behind her in running to their parents’ rooms. The king and queen had been stabbed as they slept, not even able to struggle.

Moria and her sister ran to the still-warm bodies of their beloved parents and cradled them in their arms, willing them to awaken again. The younger of the two sisters burst into tears, burying her face in the queen’s hair. Caerlin was strangely silent, attempting to use her Majick to bring her parents back from the dead. It was too late, she realized with horror. There was nothing she could do.

She did not allow tears to fall from her eyes but could feel them building. Caerlin touched her sister on the shoulder, and, in the wordless language that the twins used to communicate, she made her sister aware that there was nothing they could do here, but there was still work to be done.

Her sister rose slowly, and dried her eyes. They descended the palace steps, and found the captain of the militia there, standing over the bodies of the four slain men and women.

“Are these the ones who killed our queen and king?” Caerlin asked in an eerily emotionless tone.

“Yes, my lady,” the captain answered, head bowed and trying to contain his own tears.

Caerlin looked at the crumpled forms on the ground. “Did you find anything which we may use to identify who sent them?”

The captain looked at her, confused. “They are Eternian, my lady.”

Caerlin looked at him squarely in his eyes. “I am aware of that, captain. Their clothing makes that fact obvious. However, I asked you if we know who in Eternia sent them? Did you find any sort of identifiable mark on their clothing?” she asked in a tone that managed to be both annoyed and patient.

The captain shook his head. “There was nothing on their clothing, lady. However we did find this.” He held out a white object to her, and she took it from him.

Caerlin examined the object in her hands, and then showed it to her sister. It was a feather, white, with an aqua and gold tip upon it.

Moria looked at it, and then looked at her sister. “You are more familiar with Eternian ways than I am, sister. Do you know what this means?”

Caerlin looked eastward, to where she knew the castle pictured on the feather lay. “Yes, sister, I know whose feather this is,” she replied with a faraway quality in her voice.

Moria placed her hand upon her sister’s shoulder. Caerlin turned to look into the crisp, blue eyes she loved so much. Her sister caressed her face gently with the same hand.

“Who killed our parents, Caerlin?” she asked softly.

The elder of the two sisters dropped her eyes and gazed eastward again. Then she met her sister’s eyes again. “The same one who took me from you over three centuries ago.”

Both sisters turned and stared eastward as one, standing side by side like a pair of twin Athenas, preparing for battle.

“My so-called ‘Mother,’” Caerlin spat with nearly tangible, acidic hatred. “And Zoar, her little brat.”

Moria looked over at her sister, and saw a red film of what she could only term Bloodwrath rise into her sister’s eyes. Caerlin looked over at her sister, and a twisted sort of smile came upon her lips.

“You know, sister, I told the little one that she would never be rid me, and that I would be a scourge upon the planet for her people.”

Moria’s eyes became tinted with a little fear, not of her sister, for she knew that Caerlin would never harm her, but for her sister.

Caerlin’s smile became a twisted grin, and she laughed coldly. “I think it’s time I show the girl that I plan to make good upon that promise.”

As she spoke these words, the last discernable light faded as moons clouded over, and darkness fell upon the world as her words echoed in the ears of the militia.

************

Far in the distance, beyond the great mountains, a girl who appeared fifteen sat up from her nightmare. The cold, icy laughter still echoed in her ears, and she heard the same seven words that had haunted her dreams for many consecutive nights now.

The girl looked out her window and saw darkness fall upon the world as the moons disappeared.

Frightened, she saw the same cold, amethyst eyes in her mind as they were in her dream, and heard the icy laughter again.

“Caerlin,” Zoar whispered into the growing darkness, and a chill crept up her spine. There would be no more sleep for her this night.
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The Dereskian Queen