16 The air near the Ivory Gates was thick with the copper tang of blood and the stinging smoke of burning cedar. Omhri and Zeeb pressed themselves into the deep shadows of a stone alcove, watching as the Alamagu “Obsidian-Shields” moved through the camp like a scythe through wheat. The screams of the dying...
The Other Queen – 15
15 The atmosphere in the royal dressing chambers was a frantic blur of silk, perfume, and suffocating tradition. The maids, their hands trembling with a mix of fear for the city and the thrill of palace gossip, worked with a mechanical, desperate speed. Zihir stood in the centre of the room, her arms held...
The Other Queen – 14
14 The standoff at the Ivory Gates had reached a psychological breaking point. While King Kuar sought fire in the mountains of Alamagu, the man whois trying to steal his throne was facing a cold reality of his own. Beneath the shadow of the great walls, in a command tent smelling of wet earth...
The Other Queen – 13
13 TWENTY YEARS AGO. MANHUI. Twenty years ago, the capital of Manhui was not the city of cold administrative silence it would become, but a jewel of the Confederacy, glowing with the golden light of the Festival of the Six Crowns. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meats, expensive wine, and...
The Other Queen – 12
12 Fifty miles south of the White Pillars, the air was warmer, carrying the scent of salt and cedar. Inside a humble shepherd’s hut hidden in the dense thickets of the borderlands, King Kuar stood for the first time without leaning on his spear. His chest was heavily bandaged, and the scar across his...
The Other Queen – 11
11 The atmosphere in the Great Hall was stifling, thick with the scent of unwashed wool and the frantic scratching of quills. Lord Uvylis stood at the central dais; his voice cracked with age but amplified by the hollow acoustics of the chamber. “The King is lost to the southern mists! The prince lies...
The Other Queen – 10
10 The sun began to set, casting a long, bloody shadow from the Ivory Gates across the plain. The air was thick with the acrid stench of Getti-fire and the copper tang of fresh blood. The initial “Storm of Steel” had ended, not because the Abunkha had retreated, but because Bhusa’s engineers had finally...
The Other Queen – 9
9 The trap was wide open. All Oshin had to do was take the final step. The tension at the White Pillars has reached the snapping point. The “caravan” of silk-clad women and elderly guards enters the narrowest part of the pass, their colourful robes swirling in the mountain breeze. From his high vantage...
The Other Queen – 8
8 The air in the longhouse was thick with the scent of dried herbs and the bitter smoke of the hearth. For seven years, the “Hidden Settlement” had flourished in the damp shadows of the virgin forest, but its architect had withered. Nahui, once the soft prince of a gilded palace, was now a...
The Other Queen – 7
7 The silence was broken by the rhythmic, metallic trill of Getti trumpets. Through the shattered North Gate, the royal entourage of King Memeru appeared. At the head of the column rode Memeru, draped in robes of Getti purple and gold, sitting atop a massive black charger. But it was the man riding just...