I know the beginning is rather clichéd, as well as some of the names (I'm planning on changing those), but I'd like all of your thoughts on it! Thanks for reading!
Icefire - part one
Queen Saron, ruler of the land Fiamal, watched impassively as her troops sent their enemies retreating. The hot afternoon sun felt good; it gave her power. She ignored the approaching general as he hesitantly came forward, wondering what sort of mood his queen was in.
“Your Highness,” he said. An imperceptible twitch of her finger was all the acknowledgement he received. He continued on. “We have successfully made them retreat.”
A small snort emanated from the queen. “I can see that,” she said in a condescending tone.
“Of course,” the general said, inclining his head deferentially. “Would you like us to call the troops back or—”
“I will tell you what to do, General,” the queen said in a deceptively quiet voice. “And I say follow them. Do not leave any of them alive.”
The general bowed and hurried away, leaving the queen standing alone on the cliffside overlooking the battlefield. A slow smile crept over her face, her bright red lips parting in a malevolent grin as she rested her eyes upon the distant range of mountains that separated Fiamal from Tjaele, the frozen iceland that her enemy inhabited.
Navé.
~~~~~
Queen Navé, ruler of Tjaele, paced up and down in her throne room as she waited for her reconnaissance master to come. The tall, pale man came hurriedly and yet regally up to her.
“Yes, Your Highness,” he said, making his obeisance. The queen impatiently urged him to straighten.
“Vergal, I want you to retrieve the Gem from Sothil,” she said without preamble.
“So I am correct in deducing that the ambassadors failed in their mission to bargain for the Gem?” Vergal said, eyeing her shrewdly.
“Yes,” Navé replied briskly. “She would have none of it, and even made a pretence that it does not exist. Of course, my ambassadors are not the best at discerning the veracity of a person’s statements. That is why I am sending you. I want you to get that Gem, even though it is without the queen’s approval.”
Vergal blanched, if that was at all possible, and stammered, “B-but your Highness, the Queen Jade—”
“I don’t care what Queen Jade will do,” Navé said sternly. “You will obtain it by any means necessary.”
“You mean,” Vergal muttered, with what was almost a gulp, “I must steal the Gem from Sothil?”
“If it comes to that, yes.”
Vergal shook his head. “She will suspect, and I doubt she will even let me enter her gates,” he said ruefully. “I have done work with her before, and even if I were to go unannounced, I am sure to stick out due to my skin’s hue, and she would instantly recognize me from any descriptions.”
Navé looked at her extremely pale spy and reluctantly agreed that he had a point. “Do we not have another spy who is not so…white?” she asked. “And who has preferably never set foot in Sothil, so as not to raise as much suspicion.”
Vergal hesitated. “There is one,” he started. “He was born in the southern part of Tjaele, closer to Fiamal. His skin is of a slightly darker hue than ours. He would not stand out in the Sothilian crowds as much.”
“Then send him,” the queen said.
“Your Highness, there is one small problem.”
“And that is?”
“He is but a lad of sixteen.”
