The Sister-Queens of the North (the truest account!)

Once upon a time…

A lady of the night had sex with a dolphin…for a discount.

WAIT, that was another time. Let’s try again.

Once upon a time (the right one)…

There were two sisters, two beautiful princesses. They lived in the North, their palace an igloo of ice and diamonds. Carmellia was the oldest, the leader to her younger sister, Gabriella. Both couldn’t have been more opposite. Carmellia was soft, almost porcelain while Gabriella was more worldly. Some hint that she was born through witchcraft, after their mother, the Queen Danallia, was unable to bare more children, specifically a male heir. If the rumors are close to true (which, I certainly believed they were), the Queen Mother went to a witch whose name escapes me, truly (there were so many back then!), and had an assortment of enchantments sneezed upon her. Weeks later, the Queen was indeed pregnant. All rejoiced, assuming the unborn would in fact enter the world with a raging dick. Sorry. I’m drunk, kids. Moving on, when the Queen finally delivered the child, it was neither male nor blonde (like every royal descendant in the family had been). The thick black hair caused several faints in the room. Well, you have to understand that during this time, Northern royalty meant a specific hair color, which is comical to you certainly. The rumors began around this time that the Queen did utilize the dark powers of a witch to get pregnant. Townspeople began to curse the newborn, claiming the demise of the kingdom. Some oh, so dramatically, fled or even on a few occurrences, committed suicide. (Which is quite ridiculous, even to a man such as myself). Still, Queen Danallia paid no attention to the naysayers. She loved the little addition, and still did in fact, til the day she died. Which unfortunately came too soon. Their mother was found lifeless after a stroll in the snow fields. A Native’s arrow had pierced her back. She was alone as the life leaked from her eyes. Their father, oh how could’ve I forgotten to mention – well, he dead as hell, too. He had been for awhile, something tragic as well. We all know how dramatic the deaths of royalty can be.

The next in line for the throne was clearly Carmellia, the eldest by two years. She was a quiet Queen, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be malicious. With just a glance of her shiny blue eyes, your life could be finished. Mine almost was...on several occasions. She always wore black (some say, she was always in mourning for her mother’s death), with a hood that would hang from her head. Of course, she also wore a crown, made of ice crystals with various sapphires sprinkled throughout. It rested cock-eyed on her straight golden hair. I cannot forget to mention the blade she bore. I must tell you, for it was something incredible and altogether new for a Queen to have. It was a sword, a skinny sword, made of ice...unbreakable ice that could and would pierce the toughest skin. She kept it handy. Well, she had to. Several had tried to end her and her sister’s lives not long after the arrow attack on their mother.

Gabriella, well, she was very much an important figure in the palace. Mostly because they feared her, and that black hair! Still, she was well respected, and was a thing of beauty herself! Her skin wasn’t ice pale like the royals sported, it was instead darker, more sun-sexed. She, well, she loved the color red. (Which in my days meant something of a slut, but a slut she was not). A palace insider once spilled to me that her infatuation with the color was due to the longing for love.

Oh, she didn’t carry a weapon. At least not one in terms of swords and axes. Instead, her weapon was something otherworldly. Perhaps it was the enchantments which propelled her conception, but she was indeed gifted with powers. And I get goosebumps just now, thinking back on that night. The night when the ice palace in the North was devastated by a clash of the sisters. And life up in the North hasn’t been the same since.

I’m jumping ahead. Gabriella was the sneaky one, and on one freezing night, she slithered out of the palace. She traveled for days (which no doubt infuriated her protective sister) and didn’t stop riding Clint, her ice-steed, until she was away from the cold. Weather, well, it wasn’t like it is today. It didn’t change, usually, unless instructed to by the Great Wizards in the West. So, although the ice palace of the North was just that, ICE, a day and a half’s ride in any direction would provide a different climate. Anyways, the young princess (for yes, she technically was still a princess and not titled Queen like her sister) rode East until the snow and cracking ice morphed into a mound of green hilltops. The sun, she’d rarely seen, but it shined down warm welcoming on her. There was an ocean too! A mass of water not caged by the cold! She dismounted Clint (who was melting under the star’s heat!...for yes, he was literally designed from ice!). She ordered the horse to return just to the borderline where the cold remained, and she walked to the ocean. The sand was green! It could easily be fooled for grass, until stepping into it, and slowly sinking like sand does beneath one’s feet. She plumped to the sand and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth. Now the following is all hearsay, naturally, for no one but Clint accompanied the young royal on her getaways.

Gabriella was there one day, not the first day, but a couple after the maiden voyage. In her peaceful solitude she suddenly had a wave of water bombard her. Soaked, she looked up only to find a hint of a ripple in the water. She stood, ready, and just as the creature peeked to the surface, she commanded her sorcery and the thing was gripped by unseen forces and lifted above the water. The creature, well, she had only heard whispers of their existence. For there, flapping about in the air, was a man, yet also a fish. A bare, glistening torso attached to a scaly, entrancing fish tail. Her hands commanding the seized inspection, she pulled the fish-man closer.

Only the Princess and this fish-man can explain what happened next. But, they fell in love. My personal hypothesis is that the attraction was founded because of their differences. Not amongst each other, but that feeling of being different than the others. For although, Gabriella was indeed human (and royalty, let’s not forget), she always felt out of place in the North. All I can confess is that she visited him many times, all secret. Sometimes, on her own desire, others after being called. Oh, yes, I can’t forget—the merman was named Kyok (similar to my name, yes, but my name is hardly relevant to this story, at least for now), and he gave the Princess a mystical shell from the sea. With it, they could whisper their love from their separate homes.

Queen Carmellia was no fool, and she was soon aware of the secret affair. Only, she was without the detail of him being born from the water. When the castle walls were whispering of a secret engagement between the Princess & a man of the sea, the Queen was enraged. Only the Queen, and the Queen had full approval of marriages in the North. Commonfolk and royalty alike, if the North you lived in, you had to have approval. The Sister-Queen felt betrayed, slighted by her younger blood, and felt like she had not truly been respected. She ordered spies to follow their interactions, and it wasn’t long before all the peace and comfort of the North was soon destroyed and divided.

Nearly a year of their love existed until that night. The night I admitted to shivering about earlier. Gabriella was in her chambers, preparing for an Eastern getaway when the soft call sounded from the shell. She chimed back, but there was nothing. Curious, she rushed the packing and exited the chamber. Now, the rest I can fully recount on, for I was present for the whole thing. Which, now, I’d think is the proper time for me to introduce myself. My name, well it still doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I was a member of the Royal North Court, and my eyes and ears vividly captured the event.

Princess Gabriella was seized just outside her chambers by two tall guards of Ice.

“Your Queen expects you,” the taller one announced with the chilly grip of her arm.

“Unhand me, I am of Royal Blood!” was all the distraught Princess could say while being dragged down the hallway. Of course, it wouldn’t take much of a finger motion to ignite a melting flame on the guards, but she couldn’t promote her abilities without facing likely exile.

When they dragged her into the throne room (which was quite beautiful and lavish – the whole thing looked of crystal), Queen Carmiella was seated strictly on her throne with her sword unsheathed.

Her vivid eyes demanded full attention as Gabriella was tossed before her.

“What is this all about, sister?” Gabriella panted.
“I am your Queen!” hissed Carmiella, who perked up from the chair. And with a menacing grin, she added, “And I think it’s time for you to be reminded of that…”

The sentence instructed several Ice Guards to enter the spacious chamber with a prisoner. Oh, the horror for the Princess, and myself as well (for it truly was sad to see Kyok in that state). Days from the water, he was nearly dead when they dragged him front and center. His fin was barely flapping, as Gabriella rushed to him. He didn’t speak, just smiled as she leaned down into him. Queen Carmiella stood and undid her black, flowing robe to reveal a blinding suite of ice armor. Ice hands pulled Gabriella away as two others held up the dying fish-man.

Queen Carmiella raised her sword and shouted a shout so loud that several guards cracked in pieces. “I AM QUEEN!” and with one swift stroke she sliced the fish-man’s pretty head clean off. Princess Gabriella shouted with tears already streaming. The fish body dropped to the floor, and almost instantly turned to ice.

She turned her back on her devastated sister, who was weeping at the ice who used to be Kyok. Queen Carmiella returned to her throne, sword still in hand, and quickly nodded her head. Suddenly, a group of Ice Guards approached the once-fish-man and began to stomp the ice into tiny pieces. Princess Gabriella screamed (and I can still hear those cries to this day!) and buckled facedown on the cool floor.

“Take her away,” the Queen said without looking.

Just as the guards approached the Princess, there was a sudden scream! The walls began to shudder, and if you know me, you know I was terrified! I’m not much a man for intensity. Princess Gabriella snapped her face up, right at her sister and shoved a ball of black gaseous matter right at her.

No one, even the great Queen, had expected this sudden magic! And as the ball charged for Queen Carmeilla, people of the court began to scream. The rumors were true! Princess Gabriella was in fact a sorceress! The great ball of blackness slammed right into the core of the Queen, and she collapsed onto the floor, right beside the tiny chunks of Kyok. The Ice Guards rushed to the newly discovered witch, but she encompassed their structures with fire. And soon, most of the walls and pieces throughout the throne room were being licked by starving flames. Amidst the chaos, for you know I was in the corner screaming for my life, Princess Gabriella walked to her former love and retrieved his broken shell (which he had wore as a necklace). She didn’t rush away, every moment was slow, blurred. She slowly walked with the shell in hand, and disappeared without challenge down the hallway.

Queen Carmiella slowly raised her head, the golden strands tossed about looked uncharacteristically savaged. Quick pants overtook her as she struggled to stand. And as she watched the flames eat her palace, she suddenly dropped her sword, and extended her bony arms. FEATHERS! Black, ruffled feathers sprouted down the back of her forearms! She screamed for help, as slowly the Crow wings grew larger and larger. Her beautiful face was suddenly morphed, too! A shiny bird’s beak pointed from her face! Oh, my! It was horrifying! And with one expanding of the over-powering dark wings, the Queen screeched with her new bird voice! With eyes enlarged to an abnormal state, she charged after Princess Gabriella! Meanwhile, the flames soon began to die. For although some melting had occurred, it was only a special kind of a flame that could truly destroy the ice of the North Palace. And that flame, well, it’s thought to be extinct.

I took off, mostly afraid of the giant crow, but also because I felt something tell me to. Either way, I fled down a side passage, which was too dark to decipher anything. There, down the same ice hall, I saw the fleeting Princess. I followed her (after of course, ensuring that the Queen was not around), down and out the passage that led to her room. “Your Highness!” I hissed! She was startled and raised her hands ready to curse me with some spell. But she knew me, and although I was a member of the North Royal Court, I wasn’t really-really court-material. See, I was nothing more than the Jester. And with one look of an eye (usually the larger one, the right one), I could command laughter even if I wasn’t funny. I was no threat to the Princess, and she was well aware of that.

She fiddled through her belongings, half-listening to my plan for an escape. Once her bag was stuffed, she stopped before me.

“Go to the South, the Bottom of the South until you reach the great kingdom of Tetop. I have friends there!” I quickly whispered, while looking around for the pursuing Bird Queen.

Princess Gabriella’s eyes were still glossy, and she silently gripped me close for a farewell hug. The sudden sound of a SCREECH sliced us apart, and with a thanking stare, Princess Gabriella disappeared down her side passage, and took off on Clint, who always knew where to be when he was needed.

Queen Carmiella burst through the door, just seconds late. There she found me, trembling.

“Where is she!?” the Queen shouted while approaching. I simply bowed with my head down. If ever a time I was welcoming death, it was then. I remained silent as she demanded once again. “MY sister!?”

I suddenly stood, and with my tiny dagger (I had it stowed away!), I swiped at the massive bird. Of course, I missed for I’ve never been much of a fighter, and she struck me with one feathery stroke. I flew into the wall, and I watched with blurry eyes as the Queen trashed the room and took off. Why I was left to live still surprises me to this day. Perhaps she was too focused on attacking her sibling. After she disappeared down the hall, I stood up and rushed away. For now, with my betrayal obvious, I would surely end up like Kyok. I had to flee myself, and my initial plan was to meet the Princess. I had traveled the way before and so knew all the shortcuts. It wouldn’t be too difficult to catch up. So, with a quick bag pack, I too vanished into the chilly darkness.