A Rule of Queens (Book #13 in the Sorcerer's Ring) by Morgan Rice Page B

another chieftain asked.
    As she reflected on their fall, Gwendolyn wondered
the same thing.
    “The Empire,” she said. “The same as you.”
    They all fell into a gloomy silence.
    “What if we were to join you?” Atme said,
breaking the silence. “What if we were to attack them with you?”
    Bokbu shook his heads.
    “The city of Volusia is well-fortified,
well-manned. And they outnumber us a thousand to one.”
    “Surely, there must be something that could
bring down the Empire?” Brandt asked.
    The elders looked at each other cautiously,
then after a long pause, Bokbu said:
    “The Giants, perhaps.”
    “The Giants?” Gwen asked, intrigued.
    Bokbu nodded.
    “There are rumors of their existence. In the
far reaches of the Empire.”
    Aberthol spoke up:
    “The Land of the Giants,” he said. “A land with
creatures so tall, their feet could crush a thousand men. The Land of the
Giants is a land of myth. A convenient myth. It was disproved in our fathers’
fathers’ time.”
    “Whether you are right or wrong, no one knows,”
Bokbu said. “But one thing we do know is that the Giants, at one time, existed.
And that they are fickle. You might as well try to tame a wild beast. They
might just as easily kill you as the Empire. They do not seek justice; they do
not seek to take sides. They only seek bloodshed. Even if they still existed,
even if you found them, you would more likely end up dead by visiting them than
by invading Volusia.”
    A long silence fell over them all as Gwen
studied the flames, pondering it all.
    “Is there no other place?” Gwendolyn asked, as
all eyes turned to her. “Once our people heal, is there no other place in the
Empire we can go where we can be safe? Where we can start again?”
    The elders exchanged a long look, and finally,
they nodded to each other.
    Bokbu raised his staff, reached out, and began
to draw in the dirt. Gwendolyn was surprised at how skilled he was, as she
watched an intricate map unfold before her, and all her people crowded around. She
watched as the contours of the Empire took shape, and was in awe at how vast
and complex it was.
    “Do you recognize it?” he asked her as he
finally finished.
    Gwendolyn examined it, all the different
regions and provinces, dozens and dozens of them. She looked at the odd shape
of the Empire lands, it center rectangular, and in each of its four corners, a long,
curved peninsula jutting out in opposite directions. They each looked like a
bull’s horn. The four horns of the Empire , her father used to say. Now
she understood.
    “I do,” she said. “I once spent an entire moon in
the house of the scholars, studying ancient maps of the Ring and of the Empire.
The four corners are the four horns for the four directions and those two
spikes are of the North and the South. In the center is the Great Waste.”
    Bokbu looked back at her, wide-eyed, impressed.
    “You are the only outsider who has ever known
this,” he said. “Your learning must be great indeed.”
    He paused.
    “Yes, the very shape of the Empire belies its
nature. Horns. Spikes. Waste. They are vast lands, with many regions in
between. Not to mention the islands, which I’ve not even drawn here. There is
much that is uncharted and unknown. Much is rumor. Some wishful thinking passed
down from those who were enslaved too long. We no longer know what’s true. Maps
are living things, and mapmakers lie as much as kings. All maps are politics.
And all maps are power.”
    There came a long silence, nothing save the
crackling of the fire, as Gwen pondered his words.
    “Before the time of Antochin,” Bokbu finally
continued, “before the time of my father’s and your father, there was a time when
the Ring and the Empire were one. Before the Great Divide. Before the Canyon. Your
men of armor, of steel, legend has it, split from each other. Half left for the
Ring and half stayed behind. If it is true, then somewhere, in the midst of these
Empire lands, the kingdom