***
"Hungry, Silvanus?" Serenity raised her hand and fed the young unicorn some of the horse food she had brought with her. She almost thought to ration the food, but realized there was no need. She had brought more money than she'd need for ten lifetime searches, and could buy more food when she needed it.
Their search had gone well. They were most certainly on the track of the king now. On the way, they had asked a group of kind men herding sheep on a hill. The men replied that given the route the young queen was on, they would guess their king was headed for Thessaly for refuge from the evil Erebese queen. The kingdom was the farthest from Erebus and had always established peaceful relations with Elysian. They told her she would have to continue to the southeast, and cross a sea – they offered her money for the fare, but she thanked them and told them she had enough.
So Serenity had continued to the southeast, and came to rest in a field with tall grasses. The wide savannah, she had been told, covered much of the space between Elysian and Babylon, the next kindgom over. She had been warned by a young woman at a well to be careful in Babylon – the queen there was afraid of Beryl and therefore had little to do with Elysian or its king.
"I'm glad we paused to rest," she said. The four maidservants had provided her with portable bedding to sleep on, and the queen and her steed had made bed home under the stars last night. "I was so tired – I might have started to wander in the opposite direction! There doesn't seem to be many people along this way."
"You're right, my dear queen; along this way it's just you and I."
Serenity started and turned around. Riding towards her on a huge black stallion adorned with jewels and a saddle blanket as luxurious as Silvanus' was a handsome young woman. She stopped a few feet from Serenity, dismounting smartly. Although she was only a few inches taller than the Elysian queen, she had a more stately air about her – that of a queen distinguished in politics and military. Her hair was fiery in color, her eyes an intense hazel.
Serenity just knew that it was the queen of Erebus, Beryl, who faced her.
"Queen Serenity, monarch of Elysian." The queen smiled. "I always thought it was I who would hold that title first."
Serenity rose to her feet. "Are you Queen Beryl of Erebus?"
The other queen cackled. "So you've heard of me." Beryl cocked her head at the younger woman. "What is an innocent young woman like you doing wandering about in a place like this?"
"I'm seeking my husband," Serenity said courageously.
Beryl laughed raucously. "Seeking another one, I hope," she said scornfully. "After the burning wound and deadly infection you gave the one you had, I doubt he'll want anything to do with you now."
"You know where Endymion is?"
"Of course I know where he is." The queen smirked. "My palace is the first place he fled when he became ill."
"He's ill?"
"No wonder he fled you; you don't listen. Didn't I just tell you that burn you gave him became infected? He's very sick; delirious, almost. Came stumbling into my palace in the wee hours of the morning. So short was his notice I had to place him in my own bed until I could get a guest chamber ready for him."
Endymion spent the night in this gorgeous woman's bed, Serenity thought. She willed the tears away.
"But really," Beryl continued, staring Serenity up and down, "you are so plain and ill-favored a girl that you will never be able to get another lover, except by the most diligent and painful service. I will therefore show my good will to you by training you in such ways."
Beryl closed her eyes and raised her hands. Black power crackled between them, and in minutes, Serenity's unicorn and her provisions had disappeared. In their place lay a huge mountain of seeds.
"Silvanus!" Serenity cried, running to the place he'd been. "What did you do to him?"
"The unicorn hasn't been harmed, dear Serenity; after all, he is the king's horse. After divorce, the possessions of the husband no longer belong to the ex-wife."
"Divorce?"
"You really think Endymion would take you back after your betrayal?" Beryl guffawed. "Dear child, you really are delusional."
"What are all of thses seeds here for?" Serenity queried.
"Remember, I hold the key to Endymion," Beryl replied. "If you ever want to see him again to even try to persuade him to take you back, do my bidding. By nightfall these must all be sorted. See to it for your own sake."
With that, she and her own stallion vanished into thin air.
Serenity stared at the place Beryl had been, mouth open in wonderment. She stared up at the sky. The sun was high in the sky, directly over her head; it was close to noon. She had less than eight hours to sort the massive pile of seeds.
She stared at the pile of seeds besides her. Picking one out, she sighed miserably. She could barely see the seed in her hand. It was tiny! The seeds did not seem to have much difference between them – they were seeds to Terran vegetation.
With a sob, Serenity sat on the ground, wretched. She was lost in the middle of nowhere, with no food and water, and no way to get back home. More than that, she had an evil task given to her by a crazy sorceress-queen. It was of no use to start a task so manifestly impossible.
Serenity sat for quite a while, until she heard a lilting voice above her. "Miss? Is something the matter?"
Serenity looked up. Standing above her was a young woman who looked about her age. The girl had shoulder-length indigo hair and bright blue eyes, wide with youth and exuberance. She had on the dress of a simple country girl, a sack slung over her shoulder, and was standing next to a mule that she'd ostensibly been riding.
A strong aura emanated from this girl, and Serenity felt calmed by it, secure enough to reply to the girl.
"I've been asked to sort these seeds," Serenity said, pointing to the mountain, "but I've the world's most purple thumb. I don't know anything about seeds – I can barely see them, much less distinguish between them."
The young girl put her sack down on the ground and walked to the pile of seeds. It was taller than her. "Let me see," she said. "Perhaps I can see..."
She picked several seeds from the pile. "Millet...poppy...wheat...mustard...whoever asked you to complete this task picked several of the smallest seeds in the world." She chuckled. "But the job can be done."
"How?"
The girl smiled and shook her head. She sat on the ground, next to the queen.
"I'll tell you – but I don't think we've been properly introduced," she said, smiling. "My name is Ami. What's yours?"
"I'm Serenity."
"Serenity. It's nice to meet you, Serenity." Then she looked up. "Isn't Serenity the name of the queen of Elysian?"
"That's me."
Ami's eyes sparkled with amusement, but she said nothing about the queen's predicament. "I'm not from around here. My home country is far away from here – Thessaly."
"That's where I was headed!"
"Really?" Ami looked around Serenity, then back down to the dirt. "How were you going to get there, with no animals or food?"
"My provisions were stolen by...marauders."
"I'm so sorry." She turned back to the pile of seeds. "There are seven different varieties of seeds, I believe...so they'll have to be separated into seven different piles. Allow me to calculate the force needed..."
"Force of what?" Serenity asked.
"Water, of course." Ami knelt in front of Serenity, pointing to the hill of seeds again. "Water has the most amazing properties. It wears away; it builds up. It restores, and it destroys. Most important to us, it has forces that sort and strain through – water is the ultimate purifier, and it goes through every nook and cranny, gauging even the most subtle differences."
Serenity smiled, clapping her hands. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "But how can you get water to help me sort my seeds?"
Ami smiled, then clasped her hands together, taking on a prayerful stance. "God of wisdom and trickery, Mercury, lend me the power to help a companion," she whispered. "Bless my powers of water control. Mercury, oh god of travelers, protect a poor soul who was slighted in your art!"
Serenity's mouth dropped open. Ami's body had taken on a shimmery blue aura. She opened her eyes peacefully. "Mercury has given us his blessing," she said, smiling. "He's my patron god, since I travel around so much."
Ami raised her hands, and once again, she glowed with a bright blue aura. Suddenly, a tremendous stream of water gushed from behind her figure. It split around her, splashing in waves, and flowed towards the hill. But instead of overtaking the myriad seeds, the water wove through them, splitting into seven different rivers – and carrying the seeds of each type into the different piles. Little by little, the mountain of seeds was wearing away, breaking into smaller piles where all the seeds were the same.
"Oh, thank you!" Serenity threw her arms around Ami's neck, squeezing her tightly. "Thank you so much!"
Ami nodded and patted Serenity's hands. "Thank Mercury."
***
"So, how did you get so far away from your home? Thessaly is very far, from what I've heard."
Ami had sat by Serenity's side, deciding to stay with her until the rivers were finished with their task. Water, she explained, took much time to do its work. She shared a little of the food she had in the pocket of her dress with the hungry queen, who hadn't had a chance to eat much before Beryl had stolen her goods. In return, Serenity had told her the true story of how she got to be in the meadow.
At the queen's question, Ami lowered her eyes.
"It wasn't easy," she confessed. "My father is a powerful envoy of the gods – that's why Mercury aided us, I think. My father is Aeolus, the King of the Winds, and he's helped Mercury many times by protecting his travelers from the treacherous winds."
"Your father is the King of the Winds?"
"Mmm-hmm," Ami affirmed. "He decided to reside in Thessaly for a while, where he met my mother and had me. My mother died when I was young, so I was brought up with my father for quite some time. We lived near the sea. He showed me the ways of the waters." She turned her eyes away, a sad look crossing them. "I always wished for control them, but got my wish too late. So many people have died in the perilous seas..."
Serenity smiled comfortingly as she noticed the girl's distress. "Did someone very close to you...pass away...because of the waters?"
Ami took a deep breath, but didn't answer.
"Tell me," she said. "No doubt I can sympathize. My own husband was stolen away by a wicked queen, and he's severely ill because of me."
Ami breathed again, and looked up at the queen. "It's a long story," she warned.
Serenity pointed to the diligently working ants. "They're only about halfway finished. I doubt your story won't be done by nightfall."
Ami smiled sadly and nodded, and began to tell her tale.