#thequeenofstone

“You realise what that would entail, of course?” her husband asked. “You would take the kingdom.”

You would be Queen.

Queen of Stone The Clock

To the north, Dunraig is trapped in an almost eternal winter, months of bitter snowfall, followed by just enough time to get a weak harvest. Just enough time for a few lucky ones to survive. But few of their country will live to see the next century. If starvation does not kill them then the cold will.It’s only a matter of time before the Emperor turns on them completely. Dunraig are losing allies by the hour, they have no food, no way to trade--the Emperor is isolating them, no doubt he intends to act soon.

To the south, to those countries who feign their loyalty to him, they get the joy of spring, of summer. They get rains when they need it, plentiful harvests--the seasons work in their favour. Perhaps a few do not feign their love for him. Before him those lands were mostly desert, it was the north that thrived.

Dunraig’s winter, at least, is a quick death for its people. They say you don’t know when the cold kills you, that you just fall asleep. Peaceful, almost.

We have no such mercy. 

We starve. We get the hope of a good season and then a month’s worth of rain overnight.

I think I would rather the snow. The ice, the darkness. Knowing that death was coming. That it was guaranteed.

The Emperor gives us hope, then reminds us of our place.

Reminds us that we rebelled.

That we betrayed him.