*
Mihai was not prepared for the reception Gabrielle gave her. When she started in about showing more respect for her close associates, Gabrielle’s face reddened in anger. The admiral put her hand up to silence Mihai, turned, and sweeping her other hand across hidden tumblers, bolted the door.
Turning back to Mihai, Gabrielle, while attempting to control her hidden rage, addressed her king. “Our swords have been lifted in many a same battle. We have shared a common fate on more than one occasion. We are sisters of the blood. Have I not shared the wine from the tucklebow-berry with you? And have I not comforted you when no man was by your side? All these things I have done for you…not you for me.”
Gabrielle’s voice seethed, “Listen to me, woman of the mist, I am not some little dog begging for a scrap from your table! Cherubs were my mentors, my lovers, my servants. The seas are my slaves, for I alone have walked free in the depths of the Darkening Pits. Worlds you have not seen are where my feet have trod.”
Mihai refused to be intimidated. “There is but one king in this kingdom! By your own actions you acknowledged my position! I am only acting within the rights given me!”
“You’d have no rights at all if it weren’t for me!” Gabrielle snarled. “No man stands an island. The greatest warrior is only as good as those who support him. Your kingship is not absolute! It is bound by unbendable laws and supported by the will of the people. Step out of line and, poof! It will vanish.”
Mihai was aghast. Gabrielle gave her no time to reply. “You do not know who I am, little child of the dust. I am not like you nor am I of your kind. The grass did not yet grow on the hilltops when I was woven in my mother’s belly. My food was not of this world, but from the table of the gods I drank my fill. There is no lord over me but one, and he is yet a child. You I follow out of respect for our mother - out of her love for you and my love for her.”
Shaken but not humbled, Mihai searched for words to make retort. Gabrielle clutched hold of her arms and began to chant in speech both strange and terrifying. Suddenly, Gabrielle turned into a dark, ominous shape and grew before Mihai’s eyes. The screeching of a banshee storm arose, pummeling her ears, while boiling-hot and freezing-cold winds tore at her flesh. An explosion of violent lights of fiery reds and chilling greens shot into her eyes, stinging and blinding her. Then visions of terrible, unspeakable things erupted in her brain.
Out of this tempest of terror, a guttural voice boomed in her ears. “I come from a world beyond yours, from a time when there was no knowledge of good or evil! Do you think your brother invented his wicked torments given to you? No! For they are also a part of me! Do not toy with my daughter, for she is beyond you. Should you rouse my wrath, your bad dreams will not end quickly.”
With a rush, the vision passed. Mihai was ghostly pale and trembling from head to toe. She stared at Gabrielle, terror in her eyes. When her voice returned, Mihai begged in a choking whisper, “Let me go… please…”
Gabrielle released Mihai. Not saying a word, she unlocked the door and opened it. Mihai fled from the room.
As Gabrielle slowly closed the door, she sighed in sadness and exhaustion. There was no other woman she loved more, and her heart burned from distress at the agony she put her through. What could she have done differently? There was nothing. The Children’s Empire was held together by the most delicate of threads…love. Mihai had been made king to prove to Asotos that, not by great strength, power, or wisdom would the battle against him be won, for these qualities Mihai did not have in abundance.
The one quality the woman possessed beyond measure was love - a love that had even amazed Lowenah. If Gabrielle had succeeded in jarring Mihai back to her senses, if she had been able to sweep away the seeds of pride and self-glory, then there was a chance the Empire might come off victorious. Whatever the outcome, Gabrielle had done her best, even appealing to her father for help. The rest was up to Mihai.
The distraught and exhausted Gabrielle stumbled to her stateroom. As she neared her bed, the woman fell to her knees, crying out in agony. A mind-numbing, nauseous migraine swirled in her head. Retching, Gabrielle crashed to the floor and passed out.