Spy

Roland felt very strange about being drawn into the bosom of Klain's enemy, like an incredibly successful but unintentional spy. Queen Titania brought him everywhere she went when he desired, denied him access to nothing, and never questioned his loyalty, even though he'd never pledged it. He slept in a tent set up next to hers, unguarded.

The temptation to escape was strong, but for one, he couldn't leave Gabe behind, two, he had no idea what part of the forest they were in or how to get back to Klain. He also wasn't sure he'd even make it outside of the camp. Even though he had no official guards, he was sure that wandering off alone into the woods would be suspicious enough to make them stop him, or at least come looking for him soon after he left.

He had done a little exploring and realized this was not simply a military encampment, but had women and children amongst the soldiers. They were all dressed simply in the sandy-colored clothes, but unlike the children he knew, there was relatively little laughter amongst them. He wondered that he should be given such freedom, but soon he figured it out.

The unwavering assumption by Titania was that Roland would be unfailingly loyal to his biological family. He thought back to her threat in the Darkness, "You will join us." She hadn't even threatened a consequence, so certain was she of this fact.

There was no alternative in her mind, and so she apparently did not allow for the possibility of reluctance or betrayal to enter the minds or conversation of anyone around her... except maybe Duncan. Roland's father either ignored him entirely or eyed him with indifference bordering on contempt whenever Titania pushed the issue. Aside from him, everyone treated him formally and with a measure of deference someone in the royal line would be entitled to.

Still, Roland wondered how far he could press his luck on this matter. He didn't overtly contradict her, and was hesitant to ask for things that would be considered suspicious.

Like Gabriel. He wanted desperately to free the boy, and all the other captives, but to ask that outright would all but declare his continued allegiance to Klain. He also didn't want to draw particular attention to the boy, lest he be drawn in as another pawn in whatever games Titania was playing. The best choice for now was to not bring him up at all, and let him be another anonymous child among the captives.

He decided a more subtle start, like asking more about the mechanics of the Darkness, the healing tea, and other magic Queen Titania possessed, might be in order.

After all, if he was the heir, he should learn all these things at some point. Right? Maybe it was still too obvious a ploy, but a lack of curiosity about it might be even worse, he reasoned.

On this morning, Roland and the queen were having breakfast together. She briefly lamented that Duncan would again not be joining them for the meal, which wasn't surprising, then chatted pleasantly about the weather and how it would change soon.

"Are you able to accurately predict the weather?" He asked by way of conversation. "I know of some who can be broadly accurate, but as to specifics they are often lacking." Titania seemed pleased by the question.

"I can be exceedingly accurate, of course, when I'm controlling it. It takes so much effort and material, however that it would hardly be worth it most days." She smiled like a doting grandmother talking about a hobby to a grandchild.

"You can control it?" Roland's eyebrows shot up. He didn't have to fake being impressed, and his sincerity made her laugh.

"My dear child, I can do many things." She patted his hand affectionately.

"What else can you do?" Roland pressed into the part of the curious grandchild. It felt natural and the information was fascinating even apart from any good it could do for Klain to know Queen Titania's capabilities.

"This and that. You've met the wolves, you poor thing, and been to the Darkness. What a terrible place it is." She shook her head.

"If it's terrible, why go there?" Roland knit his eyebrows together.

Titania sighed heavily and leaned back against a cushion as if suddenly exhausted. She held a teacup gently in one hand, and brushed an invisible wisp of hair aside with the other.

"It is a long story, one you should have been told many ages ago with all the other children of Rhone." Titania began, giving Roland a forlorn look as if grieving the years she'd missed with him.

"When time was younger, our people lived happily in a verdant land of lakes and mountains. All was plentiful, and there was no need among us. Magic was easy and common due to the lush and fertile soil growing many herbs of great quality. The Rhone were happy and peaceful.

"Then, a new people banded together and built a city on our sacred lands, challenging our place in the world. We fought them, and a great war took place. Rhone was betrayed by a mighty sorcerer who stripped the land of its powerful herbs and used them against us. Our people were decimated, and the survivors driven into the wilderness.

"We wandered for years, pushed further and further out by the evil Klain. On our fertile lands they multiplied like rats, consuming more and more and leaving us with less. Finally, we were left with nothing but desert before us.

"Undeterred, we ventured to make a life for ourselves. Our people stumbled upon a strange oasis in the desert and drank thirstily from its waters. Unfortunately, the oasis was owned by halflings, who cursed us. We were cast into The Darkness, blind and mute.

"Our people lived for many years in that place. Our people still bear the eyes that became ours in the darkness, a futile effort to pierce the veil. We learned to survive, for though there is not sunlight nor sound, there is food and water to be found there.

"Eventually, through blind luck and great trial, we located the herbal combination to escape that realm. We re-entered this world and returned to the oasis to enslave the descendants of those cruel halflings. They are ours to command, but they have lost the magic of their ancestors and cannot cure the curse."

Roland interrupted for the first time, "But you made it back! What is there left of the curse?" He had many questions, but this seemed the most pressing.

She smiled at him, "We are drawn back to the darkness. The longer we go without returning, the worse we suffer. It is like a creeping illness in the bones that slowly weakens and kills. Though we hate the Darkness, we are tied to it. We have subjugated it somewhat to our purposes, using it to hide or sometimes to travel, but ultimately it rules us. To break the bonds of the curse would be to free us forever from that ghastly place."

Roland did not interrupt, but gazed at her curiously. He'd never been to the Darkness until the Rhone captured him. Was that information he wanted her to have? It was difficult sometimes to parse out what he could easily reveal without danger, and what he should keep to himself.

As if reading his mind, she reached towards his charm. "This necklace gives you a measure of protection against the curse. It was carefully and painstakingly created for that purpose, and also manages to give an amount of healing power and protection from illness. Still, I think you must have been drawn to the Darkness, if only in your dreams."

Roland blinked, then nodded, remembering the feeling of deja vu he'd had in the Darkness. He also suspected that the fact that his mother was not of Rhone descent may have played a role. He wondered that Queen Titania had not brought up that fact. It seemed obvious to him that his very blue eyes did not match the blackness of every Rhone's gaze. She would have to address that discrepancy sooner or later.

He wondered whether to ask about his eyes now, wondering if delaying asking the question would show that he already had knowledge of why they likely were the way they were. The questions he didn't ask might tell Titania just as much as the ones he did. It was a risk

"How do we break the curse?" He asked instead. His use of 'we' brought a brilliant smile to the queen's face.

"Such a loyal grandson," She purred, "We are preparing to do that soon. Unfortunately, the cure is in the roots of our ancestry, the physical roots left behind in ancient times which were buried in rubble by those who would see us all dead. Klain stands atop the ruins of the ancient home, and we must eradicate that festering ulcer of a city from the face of the earth to find it."