After several hours of rest, the Beast sits up and looks toward Aero’s direction. Aero’s eyes have adjusted to the dim cave, something is giving off a sort of false light. There is no light source, but his vision is as clear as if he was standing in a meadow around midday.
The hours of silence allowed Aero’s mind to roam through the events of the day, or yesterday. There was no way for him to be certain. His hours of contemplation brought him enough curiosity to ask the Beast a question.
“What is your name?” Aero asks.
“I had a name once, forgot it long ago. How about you call me Paul? I hear it’s not in use.” The Beast says coyly revealing a sliver of a sense of humor.
“It is a forbidden name.” Aero responds not understanding the joking nature of his statement.
“And this is a forbidden place, yet here you are… But if you aren’t comfortable with it, you can call me…” The Beast looks himself over as if he is searching for something. His pause gives Aero a moment to assess the Beast
Aero looks over the Beast with his well-adjusted eyes for the first time. He can see the deep red skin coloration, every detail of his muscle structure, how each muscle seems to be ready to burst from the stress of its tautness. Aero sees his pale-yellow eyes which are no longer glowing. At least from what he can tell. He looks over the Beasts’ facial features and finds he doesn’t look like a beast at all, he just looks like a crimson skinned muscular giant who just happens to be naked, needs to trim his fingernails and hasn’t had a shave in a very long time.
“Red..” Aero says “…because of your color… No, how about something with a little more personality? I would like to call you Crimson if you don’t mind.” Aero says meekly.
“Crimson… “the Beast thinks it over, and accepts it, not because he likes the name but rather, he wants to get back on track. “That’s a good name. Now that that’s out of the way I have so many questions but let’s start with your problem. I want to know all about Meego; Its history from my time until now, and why you are afraid to go there.” The newly christened Crimson states.
“Meego…” Aero hesitates as he removes his sword belt and royal cape.
“Meego was once a bountiful land. In your time, it was probably the richest region of the kingdom. The Inland Sea was full of all kinds of creatures that provided food for the entire region. The people of my mother’s home on the Breaker Islands were able to cross the Glass Sound to the mainland, pull their boats over the dunes and enter the sea to arrive in Meego in a couple days. But…” Aero pauses as Crimson adjusts himself to sit on a rock across the cave.
“Meego was a region heavily influenced by sorcery. After the purge at the end of the Great War, the entire region swiftly began to crumble. The Inland Sea began drying up and was emptied over the centuries. With it, the economy was gone. Food resources depleted. The Suns burns hot today over the empty sea for ten years at a time the entire region is in perpetual daylight. Scalding temperatures make crossing the seabed to Meego impossible, or so we believe. The sea has two seasons now, ten years of daylight followed by six months of darkness.”
“The entire sea is gone? It was three hundred miles wide and at least half of that long…”
“And about a mile deep at its deepest, but there is not a single drop of water left in it.”
“Damn!” Crimson exclaims.
“The pirates of the sea supposedly remained finding shelter in various deep cave systems in the depths where the sunlight can’t reach. But they were changed over time into a savage brood who makes traversing the sea a perilous journey when it’s possible. That’s a problem too. Meego still has massive amounts of wealth in coin and gold from its glory days but is poor in self-sustaining supplies and resources. So, for the dark times every ten years, Meego has seafarers, who are their most elite soldiers, make many trips to and fro shuttling in ten years’ worth of crown tax in coin and gold; returning with much needed food medicine and other supplies. The muster point is the old royal summer palace overlooking the south bank of the sea near the Cagle Crossroads.”
“But” Crimson says to cut Aero off “The Summer Palace was one of the wonders of the kingdom.”
“It’s nothing now from what I understand, only a couple walls of the palace remain and not for long. In my time as a squire, I travelled to many places across the kingdom, but I never ventured that far Northeast. My first trip would have been coming up very soon.”
“Again, you tell me something I have a hard time believing. I have seen the glory of the Summer Palace, it was the most beautiful architecture in the land. It had over three hundred bedrooms for honored guest, an orchard spanning many acres making some of the sweetest wines. It had a seventy-five-slip harbor complete with barracks as it housed the royal funded sea guard to combat piracy on the waters. The palace had a massive stable and arena for the games. It had the best horse racing in the kingdom! The Queen’s quarters that housed her maidens was a palace unto itself with private quarters, courtyard and beach. The servants lived on grounds year around with their families, it had to be a full-time staff of over one hundred just to keep the grounds in order. But now you tell me that it is abandoned and in ruins???” Crimson asks as his voice rises.
Aero doesn’t know what to say, so he just sits quietly to give Crimson a moment to collect himself. All the while taking note that Crimson claims to not remember his name but remembers the Royal Summer Palace in great detail. Not that Aero trusted him in the least, but he decides to pay close attention to everything Crimson says going forward.
After a few moments Crimson begins to speak with a softer tone. “I can still kind of taste the saltwater mist as it cascades off the rocks it crashed into just below the palaces northern courtyard.” His eyes are closed as he longingly reflects on the tranquil scene in his mind.
“Why did you go to the Summer Palace?” Aero asks sheepishly.
“I… uh… I can’t… I don’t remember…” Crimson struggles out.
Aero wants to push the questioning but more than getting answers, he doesn’t want to anger the giant before him. So he lets it go while making yet another mental note about the curious figure before him.
Crimson stands and stretches giving Aero a view as he flexes his muscles. He is deliberately trying to intimidate Aero into keeping his next question to himself. It works in his mind and decides to move on.
“Tell me about why you don’t want to go to Meego.” Crimson demands as he paces before Aero.
“It all started a couple generations after Paul’s and William’s Civil War. Paul had disappeared with his wife and a small group of loyalists when they realized they were going to lose the war. Despite William’s best efforts, Paul was never found. However, when it was nearing William’s grandson’s time to begin his courtship to find the next queen… it was Meego’s turn in the unity rotation, so the entire crown journeyed to the Summer Palace to see the grandson off. The seas were down a couple hundred feet but still navigable. While on the sea, a pirate ship came upon his ship. A battle ensued and the grandson lost. His name was lost to history. When the royal ship arrived in Meego the prince that stepped off was the grandson of Paul, with the royal blade in hand.”
“So, Paul’s Grandson killed his cousin and took his place?”
“He did, but while he was in Meego, he angered the Governor who refused to give one of his daughters over to him, thus ending his coup before it could take hold. The Grandson, named Joseph tried to wield the Royal Blade against the Governor but the magic in the blade refused to work for him, so he grabbed one of the daughters and held her for ransom to get back home and she executed him with a hidden dagger to the neck… Meego has a monument erected on that very spot.”
Again no words as Crimson takes all of the information in.
Aero continues “So the blade has been in Meego ever since. The sign of Royal power stolen from us. Rumor has it that the blade is on display in the main hall as a trophy. Those conniving bastards could have returned the blade to the true king but refused. So of course, every generation or so a member of the Royal family journeys to Meego in hopes of recovering the sword. Meego knows this and they lure us to them in false hopes of reclaiming the symbol.”
“So don’t try to get the sword while you are there.” Crimson states with an obvious tone of amusement.
“I have orders to retrieve it from my father already.” Aero replies. “Don’t forget the magic that bound the royal rotation. It made a royal male fall in love with a female of the ruling family of each region for unity sake. That magic was stuck when William’s other Grandson, Stephen the eighth passed over Meego and married his childhood friend. Every time a royal puts his eyes on a daughter of Meego, he falls in love with her…Then she kills him… It has happened so many times without fail. So if I go, the love of my life will be my executioner.”
“That is something to run from. The magic intended to bring unity between the next King and Queen lures royal men in for execution. But why does the Crown allow it?”
“The seabed is the perfect blockade to fend off any attack when crossable, and Meego pays it’s taxes and then some. The gold that comes in every ten years boosts the entire Kingdom’s economy. It’s a boom for every region of the kingdom. Plus, they have the sword… Every King dreams of wielding it again.”
Thanks for sharing that with me, I must meditate on all of this for a while.”
“Hey Crimson, when do you eat?”
“I don’t”
“When can I eat?”
“Are you hungry now”
“No”
“Then don’t worry about it.”
Relics of the Old Age 