All legends have a grain of truth.
Many, including myself, believe this. When I first came across the first of these stories, I believed them to be just stories for entertainment purposes. But as I continued my research I came across them in different cultures and geographical location. Each given a different spin depending on the culture at the time.
It was then that I started to think that maybe there was something more to these stories than previously thought. Perhaps there was some truth to what was being told. I began to dig deeper, until I was sure that these stories found in many parts of the globe were of a different world that lives in conjunction with ours.
Others have said that these are just stories of a fairy realm. But I believe that the fairy part was introduced at a later stage whereas before the stories were about another land in a different plane of existence.
Many of my detractors will have you believe these to be a contemporary hoax since references to modern day have been found by some. I say they are just mistranslating these in hopes of discrediting me.
I propose here to present this world as I have been able to piece together and offer insight into my thinking.
For simplicity, during this discourse, I will refer to these sets of tales as the "Queen’s Champion" tales, as the main character in them is usually referred to by that tittle....
Excerpt from the forward of the book, "Queen’s Champion: An exploration of a world." by Professeur Patrick Malone.
Linda woke up with the sun streaming through the castle windows directly into her eyes.
"Curtains." she thought, "Gotta remember to ask about putting up some curtains in here."
She sat up and the bed linen fell away from her. A cold wind blew across her and she shivered.
"Windows." she thought, "I must remember to teach these people about windows. It’s bad enough there is no heating except for the fireplaces but you’d at least try to keep out the cold and not just have huge open holes in your home."
She looked over at the queen who was still asleep. Linda reflected on the fact that she could sleep anywhere at anytime. It was a good thing that Linda was the queen’s personal bodyguard because a whole army could come into this room and she still wouldn’t wake up.
The Queen’s Champion!
As the name implies she is just that. The champion who fights in the name of the Queen. If her honour is challenged or any disputes arise with the people the champion is there to defend her, with force if need be. She is also given the task of bodyguard to the queen.
The Champion is given the position through a quest that is undertaken by the candidate to find the Champion’s Armour (in many cases being guarded by a dragon or other such creature) and upon completing the task is given the armour and position as reward.
The armour is described as being made of gold, but this is probably the writer trying to glamorise the story, as gold is the softest metal and would make ineffective armour.
"Queen’s Champion" pp 20.
Linda broke through the ice that had formed overnight on the water in the washing bowl and splashed herself. She shivered as the water hit her face. One thing she missed about her world was the hot running water, like they had at the shelters. She could have a hot bath here, but she had to wait for the water to be boiled and that was time consuming, so she rarely had one.
"It’s been almost a year now since I arrived." she told herself.
She had not been very surprised back then, when she had been approached by a stranger on the street where she lived with the other street kids. She figured he wanted a quickie and she needed the money, so was ready for the question. She was quite surprised when he had said that he had been searching for her and that she had a destiny, blah ,blah, blah. She figured he was a nut case who had lost touch with reality, and almost told him to take off, but she did need the money and he was not very big and she figured as long as they stayed near the others she could call out for help.
She had followed him into the alley while the others waited at the entrance, when the next thing she knew she was here in this world and on her way to becoming the Queen’s Champion. She still had trouble believing it, but here she was in a castle splashing cold water on her face and putting on armour made of gold, with magic used to make it strong, despite what it was made of.
She had to admit it was better than living on the street.
As she buckled up the last bit of her armour, there was a knock on the big wooden doors. The Queen mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘five more minutes’, and pulled the covers over her head. Linda just shook her head and went to answer the knock.
She opened the door and was confronted by a woman who was about the same age as herself but whose hair, which fell in two very long braids on either side of her head, had completely turned a silvery shade of gray.
This world is unique in that the magic users in it, unlike in other tales where the magic user looks just like everyone else, have an outward marking that distinguish them as magic users.
This marking is in the form of a discolouration of the hair of the magician or sorcerer. The hair is described as being silver or gray, and the amount of discolouration in the hair marks the strength of the magician.
They fall into three distinct categories:
1. Quarter Mages. Whose hair has only the bottom quarter of the folicles coloured gray.
2. Half Mages: as the name implies, the bottom half of the hair folicles are coloured gray.
3. Full Mages: All the hair is gray with no appearance of the original hair colour showing. These type of mages are rare and the most powerful, and so are the most feared, of all the mages.
It is interesting to note that in one of the tales I came across, there was a listing of the rules of magic, which included a note that mages cannot use their magic on blood relatives. There is simply no effect on them. The reason this restriction is in place is speculated to be that those unaffected by the magic can stop the magician from abusing the power.
"Queen’s Champion" PP 34-35
"Hello Mikako."
"Good morning Champion." replied the mage. "I trust you slept well?"
"Yes, thank you. And what brings you here at this time of morning?
"Her highness had asked that I see her this morning to brief her on the ambassador from my homeland, who will be coming to take an audience with her. He is due to arrive in a few days and the only time I seem to be able to have with the queen is now, as she has a full itinerary today."
Mikako looked over Linda’s shoulder into the room.
"I gather from the lump on the bed that her highness has not arisen just yet?"
"This lump can have you put in the dungeon if it wants to." came a muffled voice from under the blankets.
"Of course you can my queen." replied Mikako as she stepped into the room and the doors closed by themselves behind her. That part always creeped Linda out, which was probably why Mikako did it at every opportunity.
Ever since she had come to the castle, just after Linda had arrived, saying that a reader in her lands had told her her destiny was intertwined with that of the queen and her champion, Linda suspected that there was a mischevious spirit lurking under her friend’s calm and exotic exterior.
"But, be that as it may." continued Mikako, "You do need to be briefed as to how to act in front of the ambassador, and this is the only time we can do it."
She strolled over to the window and stared out as the queen answered her.
"O fie. Why did I have to be born first? This life is not as glamorous as the bards would have you believe." she still did not move out from under the bed clothes.
"Perhaps not." replied Mikako in a distracted voice.
Linda looked at her and saw that her usually blue eyes where now all white, meaning she was farseeing, and her tone suggested she had seen something worth her attention.
"Then perhaps my queen will alight from her bed for different reasons?’
The queen poked her head out from under the covers with a puzzled expression.
"What reason?" she asked.
"It seems the dark knight is paying us a visit."