Island Map of Atlantis

City Map of Atlantis

The Book's Cover

A Queen's Burden

A Prequel

A cold chill spilled into her bedroom from the open balcony and gripped her bare skin with an ill intent. Tired and worn thin from a queen’s daily regiment, Ariana rose from her bed to close the drapes and end the intrusion. Her warm silk dress slipped down her leg to cover the brisk wind against it. Her black hair covered her bare shoulders. The taste of raspberry vinette still lingered in her mouth.

When she reached the thin curtains, for reasons she couldn’t explain, she embraced the icy night air and crossed the threshold out into the open. Before her, the city of Atlantis sprawled out before her. Two ring-shaped islands sat in almost darkness except for the radiant light brushing against building walls from flickering torches dancing in the easterly wind. A crescent moon illuminated the black mountain out in the north. A eerie quiet settled upon the city, as though an entire population was quietly holding its collective breath in anticipation of a doom to come.

Ariana laid her fingers along the stone ledge, which was all that prevented her from walking out into the four story drop down into the courtyard below. Two guards stood beside the flood of light pouring out from inside the palace onto the stone walkway.

“Your highness?” A voice called to her.

Startled by the sudden voice in the absolute silence, Ariana covered her chest and faced her room once again where her maid searched for her.

“Out here, Lena,” Ariana replied.

Lena parted the dancing curtains and exposed her face in the darkness. The weak moonlight couldn’t illuminate Lena’s face with the brighter torch lights behind her in the room, though it did highlight the creases on the edge of her servant’s face.

“My queen, it is cold out here. You should come into your bed where it’s warmer.”

Ariana glanced back out into the black void beyond the city where little light sparkled against the water. A few pin points of yellow fire helped locate two vessels out in the ocean.

“I needed some fresh air. It felt so cramped in there.”

Lena went back into the room only to return a few moments later with a woven blanket of black and gold threading. The breeze pushed Ariana’s hair from her shoulders, and Lena covered them. Ariana kept her gaze away from Lena’s faded eyes. For reasons Ariana couldn’t articulate at that moment, she couldn’t bare to look at them.

“Come back in, your grace,” Lena said. “If it’s fresh air you want, I can pull back the curtains and let your room breathe a little.”

Ariana held the blanket in place over her shoulders. The dark ocean held her attention.

“No, there’s no need for that,” Ariana replied.

“Did you have a drink tonight?” Lena asked like a disapproving mother.

A glistening cup rested upon spilt juice on the floor beside the foot of the bed. An empty bottle sat beside it. The question didn’t need an answer and Ariana huffed a sigh with her patience at an end.

“You’ve done enough for me tonight,” the queen said cordially. “I don’t require anything more. You may be relieved.”

Lena studied Ariana. Ariana shifted her body away from her servant to obstruct her view. Lena had hesitated longer than a good servant should. The old woman’s wrinkled brow tightened.

“That is all,” Ariana commanded.

“Yes, your grace,” Lena replied with a bow.

Lena paused just before returning to the room.

“Your highness?” Lena asked.

Ariana kept her back to the woman.

“Yes?” Ariana said feeling a colder chill against her cheek.

“It’s a beautiful city, don’t you agree?” Lena said plainly.

A quiet wind rushed off the ocean into the winding alleys in the city below. The corner’s of Ariana’s lips fell. Her eyes felt heavy and strained from staring at it so long.

“It can be at times,” Ariana said while turning her attention to the darkness beyond the city.

“You can make it better,” Lena’s voice faltered toward the end of her statement.

“Goodnight, Lena,” she replied.

“Goodnight, my queen.”

Lena’s sandals brushed against the marble floor all the way to the concealed door on the far side of the room. Once the latch clicked upon the closure of the door, Ariana was sure to confirm her exit.

The queen moved to the corner of her balcony and, with one hand on the wall for support, lifted herself up to the capstone on top of the perimeter railing. Her bare toes felt chilled against the freezing stone. Up on top, without anything in her way, she felt more free than she had remembered being in the past year, back before Atilius took his life with a quick jump himself. She imagined him on the ledge and wondered what his last thoughts might be. Were they of her? Or was it more abstract? Did his thoughts fall on the cold air pushing against his face just before it all ended? Her body shivered at the thought. She had never considered his final moments before. Those thoughts were too horrid for her imagine.

To remember his touch, his love, how she felt in his arms and how he used to make her laugh, brought about a knot in her stomach. He loved her despite her ugly stubbornness.

Her fingers graced the soft silk covering her torso. Those old days felt like an eternity ago, adrift at sea with no hope of returning. The prospect of living a day less bright than the ones before blow out the flame of hope in her heart. The two guards stood like statues below. She wouldn’t wish to harm them. She would need to shuffle out away from the support from the wall to avoid them despite her fate being tied to theirs. The king made that clear to her. But if she were not around to see their fate, she wouldn’t be forced to witness the harm that came to the city.

Ariana loved them all. She loved her city. But she couldn’t justify this life anymore.

She brushed a tear away and stared out into her home for what she thought might be the last time. With her breath held tight in her chest and her eyes pinched closed, she waited. The moment came and passed. She still stood upon the balcony railing, too stubborn to make the leap.

Ariana stepped back onto the balcony of the ledge. She couldn't bring herself to extinguish her flame just yet. This wasn’t a life that would make Poseidon proud. For a long while, the queen paced back and forth along the extended balcony. Of all things she considered, the only hardened decision was never waking up in her bed again. With that decision in place, she realized she needed to wake up somewhere else, perhaps as someone else entirely.

Far beyond the chimney-like mountain was a small village Atilius used to talk about. One that he spoke fondly about when describing his childhood. It’s inhabitants lived or died on their daily harvest in the ocean. They had as much money as a wild boar. And still, they were as happy and content as the richest man in the city. It would be the last place anyone would expect to find the queen.

Ariana removed her sparkling orichalcum necklaces and bracelets and shoved them deep into an old grimy bag. She then slipped into the servants passageway and followed the wooden stairs down into the belly of the damp darkness below the the palace. She found the laundry room in the same place it had been for twenty years and traded her silk dress for servant rags. The rough fabric irritated her skin, but she brushed it aside and focused on her escape. She kept her nightdress and jewelry as means to trade for food and barter for passage off the island.

Years ago, Atilius and Manager used to navigate these unfinished corridors to help sneak the Princess Ariana out of the palace at night. As she rushed through the poorly lit corridors, she hoped those memories from better days wouldn’t fail her as she sensed her way through the dank passages. Much to her relief, she found the engine room after a few minutes of navigation. The massive orichalcum engines pumped awesome amounts of liquid magma above ground in glowing fountains. Ariana was thankful for those older days; they gave her a renewed hope for better ones.

Up on top of an old wooden ladder, she pushed open a metal vent and came up to the surface on the edge of the inner island. From there, the queen, dressed as an impoverished peasant, ran out into darkness where the palace’s light couldn’t touch her.