Epilogue: A Very Important Deal
The next day, The Wild Hogerness, the Sarheenmarian Crown Prince's personal frigate, was being escorted by two smaller corvettes from the Sarheenmarian navy as they finally headed home with the prince's quest successfully completed. All were under full sail as the galley slaves rested, awaiting but dreading their next turn at the oars.
The princess, now a married woman who had also successfully pulled off her ruse with little joy or enjoyment but with forced enthusiasm, was sitting on the forecastle deck with her two maids, watching the waves and the little fish that jumped from the water from time to time as if they were flying. Two guards served as her escort to keep the sailors from becoming too familiar with their possible future queen.
A shadow crossed the princess' view. She looked up to see a most handsome man with steely blue eyes standing by the rail near her, observing much like she herself was. When he turned, she saw that he had a cut stitched closed that was just starting to heal on his cheek.
"Princess, I am quite sorry to disturb you," said the man in perfect Lankmarese but with a strange accent when he caught her gaze. He bowed graciously, catching her hand and giving it a polite buss as he rose.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," she said.
"Princess!" called Prince Rodrack with a worried look as he came up the inclined ladder to the forecastle. He positioned himself next to the princess, facing the man, and then said, "My wife, I would like to introduce you to...?"
"Vondar of Choloquio," said the man with another sweeping bow. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance, my princess."
"It is delightful to meet you, too, Vondar," replied the princess. "I'm sorry but I don't recognize the name of your city. Where is it located?"
"It is a country of the far east, my lady, a land of beauty and enchantment. And no offense taken. Few in the western world have heard of my land; far fewer still have visited."
"It does sound lovely. What do you do, Vondar of Choloquio?" she asked, sounding out the country's name carefully.
"I am a businessman, Princess, involved in very strategic and targeted acquisitions and disposals."
"Ah! That sounds mysterious!" laughed Altennia. "My father, though now Overlord of Lankhmar, was first and foremost a business person. Perhaps on a future visit to my former home you will have the opportunity to discuss such deals with him. What brought you such a great distance to our shores? A business arrangement of great complication that could only be solved by having you present?"
The Crown Prince turned to his young wife and said, "That was my doing. I hired, ah, Vondar, to assist me in, ah, completing a very important deal while in Lankhmar."
The princess tilted her head slightly with an inquisitive look, "Was your deal...successful?"
Rodrack patted his lady's hand. "It did not go as planned but it was ultimately successful enough that Vondar earned his fee and is now being speeded toward home by my ship. But enough of this talk of business! Vondar, you must excuse us so I may speak to my wife."
"Safe journey, Vondar of Choloquio. Until we meet again."
"And to you, Princess Altennia," replied the man. Nodding again to Rodrack, he tipped his hat and added, "Most pleasant to do business with you, Crown Prince Rodrack."
As Vondar went back down to the main deck, Altennia watched as he approached the rail and looked out across the water at one of the escorting corvettes. Strangely, he seemed to give a little salute to several men on the nearest ship looking across at him. They returned the salute which Altennia thought was most unusual.
While she watched, Rodrack was speaking to the guards. When he finished, both turned to block the ship's ladder, effectively cutting off visitors to the forecastle. Altennia noticed that both guards appeared to be watching Vondar somewhat nervously as he walked toward the rear of the ship.
"Ah, my wife, we will be to your new home, my homeland, in a few days," proclaimed Rodrack. "There will be a large banquet in your honor soon after our arrival."
"That will be lovely, my husband, I'm sure."
"Quite so! There, you will be installed in your position as my chief wife and head of my harem."
Altennia's face fell as he said this, but turned to horror as he continued, "I will, of course, need to dismiss my former chief wife. She has displeased me for quite some time and I wish to handle it myself. Otherwise, the duty would fall to you, as the new holder of the office. Ah, now please excuse me, I must speak with my captain."
Altennia was speechless and on the verge of tears as her new husband and psychological torturer turned away and went down the ladder. The guards closed up again to reblock the stair following his passing.
Altennia pushed by them, and down the ladder herself, fleeing to her cabin under the forecastle where she flung herself on her bed crying. Her maids came in to comfort her, but Lady Sherena shooed them away.
"Princess Altennia, I know this is a rough trip, dear, and your life will be new to you. Many things and many customs will be very different, but you must keep yourself happy and entertained no matter what, for your own sake as well as that of your new husband." Seeing no change in the princess' demeanor, she added, "Perhaps now would be a good time to unwrap some of your wedding gifts from the commoners. Maid, go! Bring some of the unopened gifts from the people for the princess. One never knows what laughs one might get by seeing what those people think is appropriate for royalty." Sherena laughed at the thought as the assigned maid ran to the hold.
Sometime later and with several already opened gifts of at least somewhat reasonable appropriateness surrounding the listless princess, she saw a nicely wrapped box hidden from view behind some of the others.
Before she could say anything, Sherena saw that same gift. Excitedly, she picked it up and then searched in vain for the name of the giver. Shaking her head, she held it out to the princess and said, "This one looks like it may have been mixed it with the others by mistake, though I'm quite surprised that the person or family who gave it didn't do a better job of securing their name to it to receive the proper credit. Perhaps this will be a nice gift compared to some of this other trash. Should I have those dumped over the side of the ship?"
"No, Sherena," replied the princess sadly. "The people who gave those gifts did so willingly and from their hearts; they are very important to them. We will honor their generous gifts and send our thanks when we reach our new home."
Sherena seemed taken aback at the thought, but nodded in acquiescence.
Untying the pretty white ribbon that bound it, Altennia removed the beautiful blue cloth from around the gift, pushing it to the side to see a small wooden box. Again, there was no name to be seen, so she carefully removed the lid. Her hand quivered and her heart suddenly raced as she saw an old, distressed-leather sheath inside it. She shook her head furiously as another tear slipped down her cheek.
Pressing the sides to open it, her beautiful but broken silvered hand glass slid out into her hand, its back to her view.
Her tears flowed as she grasped the formerly beautiful object to her breast, as she was cruelly reminded that she had lost not only her happiness but the Mouser and her beautiful hand glass, too.
She considered running to the deck and flinging it and perhaps even herself into the sea since she could not remove Mouser from her memory or her upcoming responsibilities from her tortured consciousness.
She hesitated a moment as these troubled thoughts tangled in her mind, reminding her of the thrashing smoke in that small apartment just a few nights before. As she did, a sense of determination slowly overcame her. Mouser and she had overcome that, she knew, and now she would have to overcome this trial alone.
Flipping the hand glass over to look at the tragically broken mirror, Altennia was shocked to see instead that the broken glass had, somehow, been repaired as good as new! Still, something was different.
She did it again, and then several more times to be sure, but every time was exactly the same, inspiring just a tiny touch of hope in her heart.
Each time when she first glanced at the silvered glass, for just a fraction of a moment, she could see Mouser's face smiling back at her rather than her own.
The End
Author's Note: I hope you've enjoyed this story and ask that you please leave at least a brief note to let me know your thoughts about it. If you'd like to see the series continue, please let me know that, too. Thank you!
Altennia's initial depression over fruitlessly searching for a purpose, her wide mood swings, and her suicidal thought near the end may be indicative of something similar to what is now know as bipolar disorder. As presented, it may be somewhat over the top, so then again, it may just be the pressures of responsibility, the learned and now ingrained impatience of being a princess, and the realization of a horrible situation in an apparently loveless marriage.
Finally, it was noted at the beginning that this story was inspired by a challenge prompt, but that prompt wasn't revealed then to avoid a major spoiler. The prompt was "a broken object."