A Determined Plan {Work in Progress}

One last deft flick of the pencil and Elexra was done, a perfect scale map of Contex lay spread out on the table before her. Sighing she put her head in her hand and gazed at the meaningless greens and browns that coloured the page. Since she was young she’d seen this map countless times, the wide open plains of the north and the pointed, mountainous hook of the south. “Excellent work my Queen!” Harmas exclaimed from a seat to her left.1

“Thank you,” Elexra responded graciously, though inside she was feeling despondent. She had been reading about the lands that surrounded Contex for years but her study had only ever allowed her to study her kingdom, the barbarians of the unexplored lands were unsuitable subject matter for a queen. Carefully she began to gather the parchment she had been working on, rolling it up into a cylinder before tying it with a piece of thread. Looking toward Harmas she asked “may I be excused? Visen should be waiting for me.”2

“Of course my Queen,” Harmas responded accepting the parchment that Elexra had offered. “Shall we meet again tomorrow?”3

“Perhaps,” Elexra mocked. Both she and Harmas knew that, barring illness there was no way she could back out from her lessons unless she was prepared to face the wrath of Morkarleth. Taking one last look back at the aging Harmas she slipped out the door and began the short walk back to her room. Two days had passed since her corination and deferral of the throne and little had changed in Contex. The decorations had been taken down and the loyal people of the kingdom had gone back to their usual preoccupations.4