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Mina

A Photographic Novella

in Twenty Episodes

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Text and Makeup by Jennifer Broome

Photography by Allie Mullin

©2012. All Rights Reserved

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The Derkling Queen

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The figure upon the throne rose sinuously and appeared to glide down the stairs. ‚Our, our, our,‛ she—for it was a she—purred. ‚Whatever do we have here?‛ She paused and cocked her head. ‚We do believe thee hast managed to escape our guards. We shall have to speak to them.‛ Her wings twitched in anticipatory pleasure. While the figure was speaking, Hatter stepped in front of Mina and Tatter, as if to protect them. Hatter considered a moment. ‚You must be Nerezza, Queen of the Derklings.‛ The wings twitched again. ‚Thou knowest us, but thou art not of us. Wherefore came thee, and why dost thou not kneel before us?‛

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Hatter paused, then doffed her hat. ‚We are diplomats from the Realm, and mean no disrespect, which kneeling is to us. We bear you no ill will, even though your guards imprisoned us and would have left us to our deaths.‛ Mina started at this blatant lie—she certainly bore ill will towards the Derklings—but did not speak. Something was hanging in the balance, and Mina was afraid it was her life. Nerezza seemed to accept Hatter’s explanation, for she folded her wings and chirruped in the language of the Derklings. Servants appeared from shadowed recesses and began to lay down rugs in lieu of chairs. The Queen spread her hands and nodded for her guests to sit.

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Hatter nodded, and shifted her bulk to the floor. Mina and Tatter followed, at which point the Derkling Queen lowered herself gracefully to sit across from the three. ‚We did not know thee hadst been imprisoned by our guards. Indeed, we did not know thou hadst come to us. Others do not often seek us in our home, much less those from the Realm. Had we known thou came from the Realm, we would not have imprisoned thee.‛ ‚With all respect tendered, Your Majesty, you knew we were here and you knew we are from the Realm, else why did you greet us in our own language?‛ If the Queen was embarrassed at being caught in so obvious a lie, she did not show it. Instead, she

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bared her teeth at Hatter in a gesture that wasn’t quite menace, but hinted strongly that diplomatic status meant little in Mt. Fuscus. Hatter didn’t react. She continued speaking in the strange, archaic cadence that the Derkling Queen seemed to prefer. ‚We brought neither sabers, nor helms, nor armament of any kind. Had we been given the opportunity, we would have declared our diplomatic status.‛

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‚If thou art diplomats, as thou sayest, why did thou not present thyselves as such, instead of relying on a ruse to gain entrance to my domain? Yes, we saw thee stage thy argument, we did, and we wanted to know why. Surely thou must know that Mt. Fuscus has never entered into relations with the Realm of any kind but war. No, envoys thou could not be. So we had thee watched as thou destroyed our perfectly good dungeon. We were curious. Frankly, we thought thou wouldst die trying to find an escape from our mountain. Let us put aside pretense and deception, and deal only in what is true. Tell us why thou comest to our domain.‛ Hatter, seeing there was nothing for it, looked the Queen in her eye and said softly, ‚We are here for the Alchemist.‛

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The Derkling Queen tossed back her head and produced an unearthly laugh. ‚And by what consul did thee come to seek her here? She is a myth, a legend, a figment of smoke upon the sky. The Alchemist exists not, and certainly not in our realm.‛

Hatter didn’t pause; she was on surer ground now. ‚Your Majesty, as you yourself have said, let us put aside pretense and deception. We

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know the Alchemist is here, for we have The Cartographer’s word.‛ As Hatter spoke, the pearl-map rolled from behind the tapestry towards the seated conclave. Mina scooped it from the carpet and placed it in her pocket. ‚We are therefore presented with a conundrum,‛ Hatter continued. ‚For if the map is correct, the Alchemist is here. And if she is here with your knowledge and permission, you have shown your stated desire for truth, and by extension yourself, to be wicked and false. If, however, you speak in good faith, then you are ignorant of what—and who—constitutes your realm.‛ Mina clapped her hands over her ears as Nerezza spat an unholy scream in their general direction. It was so high-pitched that two

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Derkling guards spontaneously combusted, leaving behind only wisps of foul smoke. The other Derklings lashed together in a group, cowering under the Queen’s wrath. Tatter had seen enough. It was obvious to her that the negotiations had been stalled. She leapt up, parasol at the ready. ‚What in the seven ‘ells do yer fink yer doin’? Alls we want is a nice civil-like conversation, and now yer so het up yer blowin’ up yer own subjects! Do you do that to ‘em every time yer get hacked off about somefink? It’s a wonder yer got any of ‘em left.‛

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The Queen rose as well, vocal cords at the ready. She meant to destroy these interlopers, no matter how many of her Derklings had to be sacrificed. It was at this point that Mina had an idea. ‚Say it!‛ she begged. ‚Say the thing—the code! It helped us before!‛ Hatter just looked at her. Mina was more frustrated and felt more helpless than she had even been. She clambered onto Hatter’s back and screamed into the room, ‚Knee hill nest oot wid knee roar!‛ Both Tatter and the Derkling Queen turned to gape at Mina but didn’t relax their battle stances. Hatter, on the other hand, figured out

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what Mina was attempting. She boomed across the cavern, ‚Nihil est ut videtur!‛ There was a grinding, pulsating movement as the stone floor vanished beneath their feet.

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*What is the power behind this Latin phrase? *Can the Derkling Queen kill the trio with her voice? *Can the trio escape Mt. Fuscus? Visit http://literaturecouture.com/mina tomorrow at 10 a.m. EST to find out!