The Legend of the Queen’s Blade
A long time ago in the proud kingdom of Caragas, the mighty and arrogant king Henry sat at the throne. He had a hundred servants at his command, bending to his every will, gold and jewels as far as the eye could see, and a land populated by peasants. At the king’s side sat his beautiful and very talented wife Callistrate. A woman so cunning, she could look a liar straight in the eye and break him within a matter of seconds with the intensity of the look that spawned guilt and regret to whom ever met its gaze. It was because of this quality that the royal pair was able to stay united during their many years of rule, because King Henry was not an easy man to live with. His highest goal in life was to gather as much power and wealth as possible and plant fear into the hearts of those who lived and worked in the kingdom.
The king’s eternal thirst for power worried queen Callistrate, and after twenty years upon the throne, one of her worst nightmares came true. It was at that time that King Henry, blinded by supremacy, had a sword made. This was no ordinary blade, no weapon that could be found in the hand of the common man. No, the king had his blacksmith forge the largest, most expensive, heavy and powerful sword that had even been seen. Its blade pure gold and polished diamonds, for a razor sharp edge. It was said that the King’s sword was so frightening, that he was able to scare off his enemies simply by holding it up in front of them.
The queen grew worried and watched in despair as her husband was slowly consumed by greed and thirst for power. Without telling the king, in the dusk she began to form a plan to crush his evil intent. A plan that lead to the forging of another sword. Like its brother, this blade was not for the faint of heart. But queen Callistrate was very thorough in making a sword that, by appearance, did no present a threat to her husband’s. Its power was not to be built into the form, but would instead lay hidden on the inside. Callistrate knew that the only thing that mattered in the eyes of her husband was the outside, and thus, she knew that he would never allow himself to be alarmed by a blade that did not appear as frightening.
The king’s sword was made by the blacksmith of the royal court and took three months to complete. Since the intention behind the queen’s sword was to be kept hidden, the clever woman chose to leave the safety of the palace, looking for the perfect blacksmith. Rumors in the village outside of the castle walls caught her attention and she understood that it was in the south that she should look. From there, stories of an amazing ninja master originated. A nowadays very old man who once upon a time had been known simply as The Wind, because he was an aerodynamic wisdom master. The journey to the southern parts of the kingdom meant meeting new people every day, whose stories spread even more words of the master, and the queen’s hunger for revenge against her husband grew. But when she reached the village of The Wind, her soul was still clean from dark hatred, and he swore to help her because her intentions were good. A fact that the masterful sword would soon come to change.
Because the aerodynamic blade was especially made for the queen, it would bend to her every wish. The Wind showed her how to use the blade against her husband’s monstrous sword, and trained her in the forgotten arts of fencing, something that the highest rank of ninjas had stopped practicing long ago, after a ten year long, gory battle. The Wind felt that the wise Callistrate could handle that much power because her heart was pure, but that error of judgment would cost him his life.
When the queen’s sword, which was named Aero, was finished and The Wind handed it over, everything changed in a heartbeat. In the same instant that the blade touched her hand, the desire took over and instead of paying the kind, old man for his services, she pierced his heart with her new sword, watching him fall dead to the ground. She returned to the castle with her new treasure in a firm grip and marched straight towards her husband to challenge him.
But the king feared not the small, simple sword that his wife was pointing at him. Instead he taunted her and laughed harshly. Did she, a woman without any combat training what so ever, really think that she could challenge him and be the one who survived? At once he pulled out his sword that was always resting safely in the scabbard of his belt, and pointed it at her throat.
”What, my dear wife, do you presume to do with that little knife?” the king scorned. “It is, at best, strong enough to cut through bread.”
”Your incapability to see the truth will be what sends you to the grave” the queen replied and struck her husband’s sword away with her own. “You have underestimated me for the last time.”
With a force that is said to have echoed across the entire kingdom, both monarchs raised their swords and thrusted forward in blind rage. The two blades, which at the surface gave promises of the most spectacular battle in time, could feel the hauteur of their masters and betrayed them. In the same instant that the king’s blade pierced the queen’s heart, hers did the same to him, and they both fell to the floor. Dead.
The two swords were considered enchanted by dark magic and there was a fear amongst the people, that they would spread mayhem and misfortune across the land if they were allowed to exist. But the blacksmith could not handle having to destroy the beautiful and mighty sword that he was appointed to forge. Neither did he want to ruin the queen’s beautiful blade, so he announced that both swords had been destroyed, while he actually kept them both for himself. The legend tells of him being too afraid to dare use or even look upon the two swords. Instead, he kept them well hidden and as the years passed, they were forgotten.
Kings came and went, the kingdom changed with time. The legend of the two swords died out until only whispers remained. Whispers that rested in the dark, hoping to never be discovered.
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