Briar Rose' Treasure Trove
Milena's heart was still racing from that instant on the bridge, the taste of fireworks still playing on her tongue. Time had stood still for those few perfect moments, and she had felt the world slip away around them. If it hadn't been for the impending doom that Albion was facing, she would have been happy to have spent the rest of her life stood there with her captain.
Her captain.
Yes, she could say that now and not think twice about it. He really was hers, and she was his, heart and soul.
"What are you thinking about, love?"
Smiling, she looked at him in the eyes, those wonderful sky-blue eyes, "You. What else?"
Ben grinned at her, putting the book he'd been looking at down on the desk, "Oh?" One of his eyebrows rose.
She blushed, "Not in that sort of way!"
He gave her an incredulous look before returning to his book, "Whatever you say, Princess."
Huffing, she resumed flicking through her own tome, trying to concentrate on looking for this lost relic, but she found herself stealing glances of the man opposite her. Why did he have to be so distracting?
It was just at that moment that Samuel came running in, holding a particularly dilapidated tome of his own.
"I think I've found it," he said, putting it carefully on the table so that they could both see.
It was a double page spread of the most illegible handwriting Milena had ever seen, to the left of which was an intricately detailed sketch of what looked like a woman in mourning. There were also a few sheets of paper that had been slipped into the pages, the words written on these far more readable than the book's.
"I found these in the page, and it looks like your handwriting, so I assumed-"
"I remember writing those!" he exclaimed, "It took me a week to decipher those scribbles, so I had to write it down so I didn't forget it all."
The librarian nodded and started to read off of the pieces of paper, "'The statue of the Mourning Lady is said to be the resting place of the treasure supply that was accumulated over the years by none other than Briar Rose, the renowned Hero that helped the legendary Hero of Oakvale to defeat Jack of Blades, the bane of Albion.
"'Though the precise location of this statue is unknown, it is said that it can be found within the confines of the Hall of the Dead, a dungeon that is said to be found in Bloodstone, though it's entrance has been long forgotten.'" Samuel frowned, "You've said something about Bloodstone being in the mountainous regions south of Silverpines."
"I've heard of Bloodstone," Milena said, moving in closer, "My mother told me stories about it. She said that it was where she met Reaver for the first time, and that it wasn't exactly where you'd want to go. I think My brother said that it was abandoned a few years after he was coroneted."
"It'll all be ruins now then," Ben commented, "Does it say anything else?"
'Sammy' skimmed a finger over the words, "Well, it does say something about not being able to entre it unless you're a Hero, though I don't understand what that means exactly."
"Must mean the Guild Seal or something," she said, picking up the quill from the jar of ink and pulling out a piece of fairly clean paper that was already half covered in her delicate hand-writing, "Could you do me a favour Samuel, and make sure this gets to Walter?"
The old man nodded, "Of course, your majesty."
Signing off the letter, she blew on it to make to ink dry and folded it into an envelope which she sealed with candle wax, not really bothered about the type of wax she was using, and made a 'W.B.' in it with the quill. It had been something she'd been doing with Walter for many years now, ever since she could read. She would always send him 'secret' letters with his initials in the wax.
Handing the letter to the scholar, she smiled and turned back to Ben, "Come on then. We've got a hoard to find!"
Ben had never travelled by 'seal' before. It was an unusual sensation, like a jump that was suddenly halted, or having your foot fall through a step you thought was there but wasn't. One minute, he was stood in the library, holding on to Milena's hand, and the next he's in a room he'd never seen before with Jasper, the Queen's ever loyal servant giving him a curious look.
"I see that you have found our rogue captain," the butler said, one of his eyebrows rising, "Would you be intending to take him back to the castle?"
"No, Jasper," the woman replied, pulling the captain towards the table in the centre of the room which looked almost identical to the one in her war room, "We'll be heading to Driftwood. They do have functioning boats now, don't they?"
"I believe so, madam, though might I enquire as to why you would wish to know?"
Milena grinned, Avo how he loved it when she did that, "I'm sure Walter will be able to tell you in a few days."
"A few days?" Jasper frowned as she began to reach for one of the models on the map, "What do you mean a few days?"
He never got his answer, because, just as they had arrived at that mysterious place, they left, 'jumping' to what appeared to be a beach looking out to a small hamlet in the middle of a lake. With all the lights, he had to admit that it looked very peaceful.
The Hero Queen moved in front of him, a question playing in her eyes, "Do you know how to sail?"
Okay… he hadn't been expecting that, "Um, yeah."
She smiled, "Good."
It was only when she started walking away that he noticed that he was no longer holding her hand, his fingers feeling too numb to feel anything. Silently, he prayed it wasn't permanent, and started to follow her.
Following the trail of lanterns that were hung on rope between one side of the bridges to the next, Milena led Ben towards the largest of the islands, returning greetings to those she they passed, on which was a dock.
The 'boats' as Jasper had called them were more like merchant ships. In fact, Ben wouldn't have been surprised if that had been exactly what they were; almost flat cargo ships with crates piled in corners that were being carried on and off in an almost continuous stream, even at this time of night.
He'd fallen behind a little as he had been making his observations, so Milena was already in the middle of her conversation with the man who must have been the captain of the vessel.
"- don't care if it's been abandoned for a century," the seaman exclaimed, "I'm not going anywhere near that place!"
Milena's demeanour, which had been relaxed and calm, was becoming the threatening more threatening and impatient, "You can't tell me that you're scared! What do you think will happen? That you'll get attacked by ghosts?"
"Aye!" he replied, surprising the monarch, "The notorious Captain Dread's been haunting those waters for the past two centuries, and me and my men won't be joining those unfortunate enough to get pulled into his crew."
Well, it looked like it was time for an experienced sailor to step in!
"How close are you willing to go?" Ben asked, stepping in before the Queen could make her situation worse.
The sea captain turned to him, squinting his eyes at the newcomer and looking him up and down, assessing him, as all good captains did, "And who might you be?"
"Captain Benjamin Finn of the Imperial army, sir," he said, extending his hand, "Though I spent a few months on board the um… The Crusader, as a hand. Went to all sorts of places."
Avo, please tell me this man doesn't know what kind of ship that was!
The skipper perked up a bit and took the offered hand, "Ah! You were a sailor! Why don't you tell the young miss here about Dread then? You look like you'd know a thing or two about it."
Ben had to hide his sigh of relief as he looked at Milena briefly, as though considering it, but then turned back to the sailor, "I've been to Bloodstone before. Back when I first joined the crew. Captain Dread's been gone since before Queen Sparrow's reign."
The man's eyes widened, "But that's… How is that possible?"
"Brought to an end by the Hero Queen herself," he explained, grinning, "Does that mean you'd be able to drop us off?"
He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, which wasn't all that surprising considering his belief had just been over turned, but then gave a small nod, "Well, some of my crew seem to hold the same belief as you, so I suppose I could drop you off on the Eastern shore before making my trip to Aurora. It might be a little out of the way, but my goods can keep."
Milena smiled, "Thank you, captain. You won't regret this."
"Aye. I hope not."
There was something about the sea that always mad Milena think of her brother. It reminded her of the last journey he'd ever made by ship, and how the waters had brought him back a changed man. She could remember the times when she blamed it for the cruelty he inflicted on others, and for making him the way he was. She had hated it once, but now she knew the reason behind Logan's actions, she was glad it had separated them from the darkness.
Standing at the prow of the ship, she watched as the sun danced on the waves.
Ben had volunteered to help as soon as they had left the dock, and was probably somewhere below deck, talking with the men, but she didn't mind. She needed this time to think properly, which she was incapable of doing whenever she was around him.
When thy had first set out, this idea had seemed like the most logical thing to do, but now, Milena had finally thought over everything.
The book they had received their information from was old. Very old. For all that they knew, Briar Rose's treasure trove could have been emptied years ago. And even if it hadn't, how could they say they would even be able to find this 'Hall of the Dead' anyway?
Perhaps her mother had been there… Maybe she should have asked Jasper.
Sighing, she pulled herself off of the railing and made her way below, so as not to cause much confusion when she suddenly disappeared.
Soon enough, Milena found a nice secluded spot behind some crates, and used the seal to get to the sanctuary.
"Oh, hello!" Jasper greeted her cheerfully, as always, as Tyson made his way into his basket, "What would you be needing today?"
"Information. Have you heard of the 'Hall of the Dead'?"
The butler frowned. "Um, I can't say that I… Oh yes! Your mother told me of it once. Said she found the 'Wreckager' down there, one of her swords, sometime before she was crowned. I think it's on display in the castle somewhere…"
"Yes, but where is it?" she asked impatiently, "I need to get there."
Jasper cocked an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting, "I believe your mother said that she found the entrance just off the coast of Bloodstone, but it was submerged in the sea near to the eastern cliffs."
She should have thought as much.
"Thank you Jasper, and I'm sorry I snapped."
He smiled at her, "That's quite alright. Being both the Queen and an adventurer can be quite stressful I'm told."
Nodding, she returned to the ship, Tyson growling in annoyance for being parted from his soft bed, and went to find Ben.
The ex-sailor was stood on the deck when Bloodstone first came into view. It was just as big as he remembered it, though there was a considerable lack of ships in the dock. He was about to look for Milena when she suddenly rose from the hull, her long hair getting caught in the cool breeze.
When she smiled at him, it felt as though he would melt.
How could a man like him ever deserve a woman like her?
Walking over to her, he pointed out the abandoned port, "The captain said he'll drop us off just there," he said, pointing towards a sandy beach to the left of the town, "He's just getting a row-boat ready now."
Milena nodded, "That's good. I've been told that our destination is closer to those cliffs than the town."
Chuckling at her choice of words, he picked up his riffle that was leaning against the mast and strapped it to his back before heaving a bag over his shoulder. When the Queen gave her a curious look, he simply said, "Provisions."
A shout from some of the members of the crew told him that their ride was ready, and, lacing his fingers into hers, Ben led the way over to the side of the ship and into the smaller vessel.
The journey to the shore was made in almost complete silence, the two men, Fred and Thomas, who were fairly decent men, talked quietly amongst themselves, but their presence made it impossible for Milena or himself to make any plans. It was only after they had left, after convincing them that they would be able to make it home on their own, that they could speak freely.
"How do you know where it is?" he asked almost as soon as the row-boat was out of hearing distance.
"Jasper told me," she explained as she continued up the shoreline, "It turns out my mother's been in the 'Hall of the Dead' before, before she became the Queen."
Ben felt his eyes grow wide, "Really?"
You had to admit, her mother must have been some woman in her day…
All of a sudden, Milena stopped and looked out towards the sea, "There's a problem though. The entrance is somewhere out there, underwater."
"Oh."
They stood there for a few moments, wondering where the entrance might be, when suddenly Ben felt the urge to yawn.
It was a big one. A real jaw opener.
When was the last time he'd slept?
"I think we should probably get some rest before we look, don't you?" Milena asked.
Ben nodded, "You have no idea how good that sounds."
AN - Yay! Treasure hunt!
Sorry if the whole 'seal travel' sounds bad, but I won't be using it that much, so just bare with me on those parts.
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and...
Until next time!