Another Time Revisited

'The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished."

Followed by the hours, and then the days. Soon after, even the seasons became distorted, with snow falling mid-summer and fiery heat scorching the ground in winter. Night and day changed phases too, the sun began to rise in the west, near dusk and the moon shone at will, in the middle of the day. Language became unrecognizable and all communication faltered. Plagues, pests and vermin ravaged the land and food sources, until all the supplies nearly dwindled to nothing.

Chaos and mayhem became commonplace and common sense, well, it was non-existent.

Nothing was as it should be, and before long, the people grew uglier with each passing day, before long they began to rebel and riot against the king's guards. Within a week, they had completely ravaged the town, pillaging and luting the shops and mills until there was nothing left.

When it seemed that things could not get worse, the rumors started. The ones that tore at the very heart of the kingdom, spreading faster than any wildfire. It was said that the people were being led by a very powerful and wicked sorcerer whose intention was to over-throw and kill the king. It was to be an uprising, the likes of which had never been seen before. But the plan, to overtake the king, made them vulnerable to opposing threats and put the kingdom at risk of falling, forever.

So, the now scared and desperate king called for the palace wizard; he commanded him to look to the stars and read the messages displayed from the gods. Once he had this information, he could take the necessary steps to reverse whatever spell they now found themselves under, find and save the queen and in doing so, ultimately save them all. He made the wizard swear that locating the queen was top priority. He warned the wizard that failure to do so, would bring dire consequences. At all costs, he must be the one to recover the queen.

What he could not know was, that the wizard had already been compromised. Although he had sworn his allegiance to the king, he had secretly aligned himself to someone else, someone who intended to sit in full power, on the throne. Someone no-one would ever have expected.

The king provided the wizard full access to every known convenience. If he needed tools or horses, there was a guard to provide it. If he needed food and supplies, there was a maiden there to present it and if he needed an army, they were there at his beckon call, no questions asked. The wizard for a short period of time, was the most powerful person alive, and his secret alliance was sure to use this to their benefit. The king was completely blind to this scheme, and unbeknownst to him, he alone was funding his own upheaval.

So, at the king's command, the wizard looked to the stars. Calling on the kingdom's finest crusaders, he plotted a fantastic journey to the gods, where he promised, all the answers would be found. Thanks to the king's blind generosity, they had all they needed, and more to make this terrific journey. After days of preparation, the wizard and his small army left the city, seeking the answers for the king in the guise of saving his kingdom.

And that is exactly what they let the king believe.

As they traveled out of the sight of the king and his visionaries, the wizard cast a small spell on the crusaders, putting them into a deep sleep. While they slept, the wizard met up with his accomplice. Together, they spoke words of magic over the entire caravan, insuring their true alliance to the new ruler. When they awakened, they swore their lives to protect the familiar stranger and began to make plans to dethrone the king, destroy the sorcerer and bring true peace to the kingdom once again.