Chapter 9
Falk was not sure why but whenever he opened his eyes he expected to see the sunlight pouring in through the window, this expectation only lasted for a few moments until reality dawned in the dim orange glow of the fireplace. Sometimes he woke to utter darkness. This was becoming more frequently necessary because fuel, like food was becoming more and more scarce. The House of the Silver Queen was a large affair, it had two wells which still held fresh water, but what had been in the stores when time froze was what they had to live on. At first they'd tried sending people out beyond the barrier stones that protected the house but after the first few froze solid within a few feet, they stopped trying to leave their sanctuary, now instead they seemed to be slowly starving in it.
The store rooms below were cavernous but even so it seemed that there were dozens of people within the household and according to Rannulf it had been sixty-three days since the clocks of the outside world had ceased to tick. Falk spent much of his time with the old librarian. Falk learnt of the history of the nine realms and Rannulf was much pleased for Falk was a fast learner. Rannulf also taught Falk to play chess, they would spend many hours in the large library matching strategies against each other. Every now and then Falk would be questioned, sometimes by Taalg, sometimes by other men, strangers that did not introduce themselves, sober men, angry, on the edge of a defeat they could not fathom. They would question him on the 'wish', the exact words he'd spoken, his conversation with the Sordienoth, his time in the western wood and his travels there. Many of them would try and glean from him that of which he could not speak, the price the statue maker had demanded, but true to its course whenever Falk tried to speak of the fiery amulet that the Silver Queen wore, he was rendered speechless, his voice was strangled, his mind became fuzzy and incoherent.
Of the silver lady herself Falk saw little, whether by design or due to her being busy trying to find a way of undoing the magic of the Sordienoth Falk did not know. However, around two weeks after Falk had arrived at the Hall of the Silver Queen he was again summoned into her presence. She sat in a balcony garden the east side of the house. Falk sat opposite her on a white metal framed chair. They looked out in silence over the city until she was ready to speak. “Would this be a final fitting portrait for my fair city do you think?” she mused. Falk looked at the storm shrouded city filled with steady lamplights, the towers, the bridges, the squares and the parks. “It is not yet a tomb my lady, life may return” he said trying to comfort her as best he could. She laughed ruefully, “We are not a people prone to giving up on our hope so quickly young man from the north, but I do sense my grip is fading”. Falk did not know what to say.
“There are some truly great minds living within my walls Falk. And we have spent many days digging for the secret that eludes us, how has he done this?” she spoke out into the city, becoming almost unaware that Falk was present “Time manipulation, possible, some have done it before, but it is the scale that defies us, how is it that he has been able to exert influence over all time, yet he cannot break the barrier of the western wood, a power that is comparably less potent than the one it would take to halt time in this way.” Taalg stood silently nearby, Falk noted that he wore four swords at his waist, curved with a straight lengthened tip.
“I would like to offer you a choice Falk, you may have noticed that the stew of late is getting thinner, it will not be long until all I have left to feed the people of my household are good intentions.” She paused and sipped at the crystal goblet on the table. “We need you to leave Falk, we need you to go and to bring us back supplies. We believe that much as it happened with the lightning that once these things have crossed the threshold that they will move back into time.”
Falk mulled the idea over, the silver queen seemed reluctant to ask and he knew why, once beyond the confines of the household he would have no reason to return. But her reluctance was only there because she did not know Falk of Alesven as well as he knew himself.
“Of course my lady” he told her adding “And though some may council against it, I shall return to you swiftly and with a great bounty for all”. The silver queen smiled at him, though Falk heard the distinct snort of derision from Taalg. “Thank you dear boy, let us hope that trust is still a commodity of value in these dark days”.
Falk left armed with numerous sacks and instructions from both the chefs and the ordinary folk of the household. Many glanced nervously at him as he walked beneath the lintel of the household, he saw Taalg staring intently and sharpening one of his tasks with a whetstone. These people had taken him in and he would not let them down now. As far as Falk was concerned this was a friendless world outside the walls of the hall of the silver queen. For an hour he filled up his first sack, breads, meats, cakes, all manner of things went into the bag.
Falk laboured up the hill with it, he would deliver this first load to them so that they could begin preparing a feast then he would return to the city and continue to gather food. Falk walked across the barrier and the delight on the faces of the people was evident, many nodded and came to him clapping him on the the back. The Silver Queen herself strode to congratulate him.
“Well done Falk, you have a trust, proved to be of some worth after all.” Before Falk could reply Taalgs gruff voice came through the throng.
“Speak not too soon my lady, your trust may be worth something, but our 'sumptuous' feast is nought but dust”. With that Taalg emptied the food sack out onto the entryway of the house. Grey, decayed and rotten food spilled out onto the polished mosaic floor. “disease and pestilence are the menu this night” growled Taalg.
“But I don't understand” said Falk “This was all fresh and preserved when I filled the sacks”.
“It would seem that the effects of time, even that which had passed come into play when crossing the barrier” said Rannulf sadly.
“I can try again, maybe there is something else I can bring.” Falk turned to leave the residence but Taalg stood in the doorway, he gave a shake of his head and the silver queen spoke.
“We took a grave risk allowing you out of the confines of the hall Falk, grave in its danger to you and us, while you are here we may yet unlock the secret to this peril, with you gone, by your will or another's, our doom is certain, everybody, return to your rooms” and with that she turned and walked away and Falk was imprisoned again.
Falk retired to his room, the former residence of the unknown DG. But he did not sleep despite his weariness, he lay looking up at the pale blue ceiling and he went over his limited options. Despite their power and wisdom it was becoming increasingly obvious to Falk that the power of the statue maker or the Sordienoth as they called him was beyond them. It was he who brought about their calamity and it was he possessed the means to reverse it. However, even if Falk were to escape the statue maker would not heed him for a second, indeed even with it Falk was uncertain that any influence could be brought to bear. The Sordienoth was evidently an evil of enormous power, the demands of a sheep-herder would make little headway, unless Falk had something to bargain with. But he knew certainly that even if he could override whatever sorcery prevented him from talking of the fire amulet with the queen, she would not give it up to go into the hands of a sworn enemy.
In the main the people of this house had been friendly to Falk and he desired to do well by them, however these last few days there'd been a thought loitering inside of Falks head. That though was of a woman on whose face there rested a single tear, she sat many leagues north in a room lit by a single candle and though she knew it not, she'd lost her husband on this overrunning day. Falk weighed up all of his options and finally decided on a path.
Taalg stood guard at the entryway to the queens garden. “What is it worm?”.
“Why does your anger endure Taalg, what wrong have I done you?”. Taalgs eyes bulged with anger. “what wrong? Had you but an ounce of strength in you then you would have taken your wish to the grave the moment you left the western wood, you
are a weak coward of a boy and you have doomed us all”. Falk backed away in fear but the voice of the silver queen came through.
“Had it not been Falk then another would stand in his place Taalg, you know the enemy, Falk is as much a victim of this as we are”.
Falk walked out to stand on the balcony next to her. She did not look at him but instead gazed out into the silent storm as she had done for many nights now. “If you don't mind me asking your majesty, there is one thing that I am uncertain of yet, why is it that they call you queen, are you Eldellins wife”. She smiled then, a genuine but tired smile.
“It is a long story Falk, and I fear that in the telling of it we may starve to nothing before it is fully told, if the world ever starts to turn then I will tell you the tale of the Silver Queen.”
“I am sorry” said Falk simply. She looked at him sympathetically.
“For what?” she asked.
“For this” said Falk. He lunged forward and tackled the silver skinned woman carrying them both over the balcony, down onto the grass below. The last thing that Falk heard was a roar of anger from Taalg which faded quickly. They rolled and rolled in an embrace until coming to a rough finish at a low stone wall at the bottom of the hill. Falk climbed to this feet and look down at her, as he thought it would be the Silver Queen lay frozen, she was beyond the protection of her house and now she endured the endless moment just like all the other mortals currently out there, holding their breath and waiting for the next grain of sand to fall.
It saddened Falk to betray her like this, but in his mind he was resolute for he did what he did for the greater good, had he not broken free then he would have been consigned to starve along with the inhabitants of the silver house, that is if Taalg did not gore him first. This way, with the fire amulet in his possession they at least stood a chance of victory, if Falk could take the jewel and hide it just beyond the range of the western wood then he would re-enter that place, he would attempt to bargain with the devil, for there were no other options available.
Falk reached down to take the amulet from her, though it felt like he was defiling the holy. Falk steeled himself with the thought that this was the only way he might release his mother from her timeless slumber. Falk was in for a shock however, as he hand reached down to clasp the amulet of fire, which he could clearly see around her neck it touched nothing but the silver queens collar bone. Falk took his hand away and looked again to make sure he wasn't sporting some madness, there it was plain to see wrapped around her neck, the boy reached down again but the same thing happened, he could see his fingers pass straight through the amulet.
“You did not think that I would be so foolish as to leave it unprotected did you child” the silver queens voice echoed inside Falks mind, though he saw her body lay there and her lips and mouth did not move. “Your eyes have not left sight of the amulet since the day you arrived. And now you have doomed us all, our trust is worthless and the sorrow of the end of the house of the silver queen will be but an echo of the sorrow of the silent world”.
Her words were like poison in Falks mind and he staggered under the weight of them, of them and the stupidity of his plan. Falk reached down once more to pluck the necklace from her neck but again his fingers passed through nothing. Her laughter echoed in his mind then, growing fainter and fainter until it was no more and Falk of Alesven ran screaming in anguish into the silent city of Everfar far away from the house of the silver queen.