that if the princess could collect as little as a thousand men-at-arms and come
herself at their head, they would welcome her as their lawful sovereign and rise
Princess Daya and Naara
No one is happy forever; for every royal house that prospers, the gods have
decreed that one must sink into ignoble extinction. So it may be with the house
of Roub, for many years the ruling dynasty in the Girionese realm which is called
by its own people Oxyer.
Daya was born the only child of Rohlik, a weak and unwise king who had no
head for government. Since his ascension, he suffered his kingdom to be ruled
by the Lord of the Palace, his friend Lord Mashuga, who had come into the
monarch's good graces as his partner in debauchery when he was just a dis-
solute prince. The worst of unworthy favorites, Lord Mashuga managed the
affairs of the realm to promote his own wealth and power, so that he and his col-
laborating brother soon became the defacto masters of a mighty kingdom.
But every year the opposition to Mashuga's regime grew. Finally, betraying the
heart of a savage, Lord Mashuga had twenty suspect barons of Oxyer seized
and then struck off their heads. Further, by his wicked counsels, he success-
fully put the king and his daughter Daya at odds. The wicked counselor pre-
tended that the princess had conspired with the executed nobles and that the
best way to an end to her unwomanly ambitions was to marry her to a man of
strength and rectitude, one whom the king held absolute confidence.
"I trust only you," lamented the king, which was true, such a fool he was and had
ever been.
"I dare not marry royalty, Sire," said the Lord of the Place, putting into the king's
mind a thought which had not been there before. "Your enemies already say
that I have risen above my station and in secret plot to become your heir."
"That is why they are my enemies!" exclaimed the dull-pated monarch. Swiftly,
before he had even begun to consider the dangerous path he was treading, the
king was desperately urging Mashuga to take Daya as his wife and become his
heir.
Though briefly feigning reluctance, Mashuga agreed. In great happiness the
king informed his daughter of her pending engagement. But so appalled was
the princess at being made the tool that would make Mashuga's power
absolute, she fled Oxyer for Yannagyhara, the country of her late mother,
accompanied by a few faithful friends and servants.
The princess arrived first at the oasis city of Dahoon and was entertained by the
governor of the town and its high priest. Her spirits buoyed, she continued her
faithful journey to the royal city of Harhl, where her cousin, the lordly Horem,
most graciously received her. After listening to Daya's lamentations, he said,
"Fair cousin, be at ease, for I will soon provide a remedy for your many woes."
Horem then, taking his cousin by the hand, conducted her to a richly-furnished
apartment and gave orders that everything his kinswoman needed should be
provided by his own treasury. Very shortly after this, Horem assembled his
great lords and barons to consult what was best to be done on behalf of the
princess of Oxyer. Their advice was thus, that she must surely be aided, but in
secret so as not to provoke a war with Oxyer.
But Daya's flight had provoked worsened conditions at home, so much so that
many of Oxyer's nobles put aside their private quarrels and sent word to Harhl
1
in her cause.
But the spies of Lord Mashuga were many and this delicate negotiation soon
became well known to him. Such a rogue had not risen from the lowly status of
the youngest son of an impoverished and wine-besotted baron without cunning.
He contrived to set Horem against his cousin, just as he had set her against her
own father. By use of slander and paid provocateurs, Horem soon grew
incensed against Daya and commanded her to leave his kingdom at a day's
notice.
The unfortunate princess, perplexed at having been given no opportunity to
answer the calumnies against her, but well-aware that Mashuga's hand was
behind it, quitted Harhl accompanied by her little company and journeyed north
to Trading Post, on the very threshold of Minaria. As yet she did not know the
north and did not care to go there, but instead intended to purchase safe pas -
sage with a caravan to the bazaar at Road's End, which was the only safe
means by which a peaceful party could hope to cross the Barbarian Frontier.
Her intention was to seek the aid of King Siric of Moonrune, who was an hon-
est monarch by repute and one who had persistently sought her hand for his
son, Gormo the Short. This match had never appealed to Daya previously, but
now Gormo, short even for a Dwarf, seemed a far better prospect than perma-
nent exile or being wedded to the base intriguer Mashuga.
The wealth of mine-rich Moonrune dazzled the visitors from Oxyer and far
exceeded its reputation. Siric had already heard of the princess' woes and did
not stint upon her welcoming celebration. But even as she took heart from her
splendid reception, Daya could not know that Siric was beset by many doubts.
A marriage contract to an heiress of Oxyer who had clear title was one matter,
but an alliance with that same princess languishing in exile was quite another.
Her kingdom would have to be won by great expenditures of blood and treas -
ure, he knew. Worse, he was indolent and greedy, procrastinating and easy to
bribe. Taking rich tribute from Mashuga seemed far preferable to fighting a war
which required a barons' revolt inside Oxyer to succeed. And the Lord of the
Palace, he had learned, was executing Oxyeran nobles as if they belonged to a
felon class.
So Daya's petitions went unanswered day after day as Siric weighed his options
-- until word arrived at the court of Moonrune that the Kelgans were raiding the
south of his kingdom. The standing army of the Dwarves was augmented by a
thousand mercenary archers, especially useful when dealing with horse-war-
riors, and so the host of Moonrune met the invaders head-on, on the slope of
Mount Quentovic. By a confusing interplay of bad leadership and bad intelli-
gence, his army was caught at a disadvantage and routed with great slaughter.
While Siric's misfortune had nothing to do with Daya, his resultant gloom rein-
forced his disinclination against reckless adventures. Moreover, his battered
army would barely be able to protect his own territory for at least a year. So the
king at last decided to give the princess a letter stating his conviction that she
was indeed the legitimate sovereign of Oxyer and then showered upon her
many going away gifts -- all of which was a hedge in the event that her unlikely
cause might one day actually prevail in Oxyer. This cowardly bit of statecraft
performed, the king bade Daya on her way.
Twice now the justice of her cause had been thwarted by the real politick of
Girion's rulers. Warned that Mashuga's agents were waiting just over the bor-
der to seize her, the princess used a back trail to return as swiftly as possible to
Road's End. At this semi-permanent bazaar, the princess' party secured pas -
sage with traders bound for the Pass Formidable, the northern gateway into the
land of Anuwin, the last kingdom in the known world ruled by the once-mighty
Lloroi race. Though it appeared to be a risky throw of the bones to put herself
into the power of a people so strange and aloof as the Lloroi, Daya felt her
options narrowing swiftly. The more kings which rejected her, the less other
kings would be inclined to offer their support.
Daya's visit to Anuwin is far too intricate a tale to relate in full, but in the capital
of Ir-Areth the Oxyer princess became a pawn in an obscure policy wrangle
occurring between the two dominant factions of the court. Nonetheless, while
high statesmen intrigued, Daya made fast friends among the young nobility,
who, as youths so often are, tended to be curious about outsiders. This was
especially true of Anuwinese youth, for theirs was an insular country isolated
from foreign ways -- ways which their leaders largely rejected.
 It was one of these gallants who taught the royal lady how to ride the pega-
sus, the famed flying horse of Anuwin, the knowledge of whose breeding had
remained a closely-guarded secret since ancient days when the pegasus had
been the choice mount of the Lloroi emperors. The Lloroi of Anuwin, in fact,
maintained an elite troop of pegasus-riders which gave the small, thinly-popu-
lated kingdom a needed advantage in its occasional foreign wars. The favorite
battle tactic of the Pegasus Troop was to shower the enemy below with arrows
while their well-trained steeds maintained a looping glide pattern. As every
attack upon an enemy on the ground is a flank attack, the troop usually proved
more effective than its modest numbers implied.
The war-pegasus is a large, proud beast and hard to manage, of course, but
Daya was instructed in the riding of a small, sweet-tempered mare named
Naara. With little to do in this strange country, Daya took time to learn much of
the lore of the pegasus. The flying creature was much like the horses she was
aware of, but more intelligent. It was said that the pegasus had a talent for find-
ing water and such springs as were discovered by the pegasii have usually
been called "horse springs" by the Anuwinese.
If reconciled to its rider, the pegasus was not hard to direct -- and that made it
a more satisfactory steed than was the hippogriff, which the Lloroi still knew how
to breed but disdained as an inferior creature.
If a pegasus is injured, Daya learned, its masters treasure it too much to slay
outright like an ordinary horse. Instead they will first attempt the use of elabo-
rate constraints and harnesses to prevent the rambunctious beasts from hurting
themselves in the process of healing, which is accelerated by use of magic and
rare herbs. But even the healthiest pegasus becomes all but earthbound for up
to three months each year in the course of its seasonal molt. Though the beasts
rarely lose their power of flight totally, carrying the burden of a rider is usually
beyond their powers until their plumage is renewed.
Otherwise the pegasus is handled much like a thoroughbred horse and seems
to enjoy being groomed and stroked by its master. It eats what a horse eats,
but its appetite is fantastic -- as it must be to maintain the vitality that flight
requires. This quality leads to those vulgar jokes about being lucklessly found
under a flying pegasus. Some say that pegasus, hippogriffs, and other flying
creatures must be at least half magical since naturalists find their ability to fly
inconceivable otherwise. And so it may be; only the Lloroi breeders know for
certain. Certainly some element of magic must be present in the flyers, since
their lives are phenomenally long -- three to four times that of ordinary horses.
While Daya passed her long days in pleasurable sporting, the sad news came
that King Rohlik had suddenly died back in Oxyer and that Mashuga, having
prepared his way by purging the aristocracy, had set aside Daya's royal rights
and also those of her cousins, in order to place a three-year-old first cousin
once-removed upon the throne. Mashuga dared not mount the throne himself
without first taking Daya for bride, but by his stop-gap measure he had assured
that he and his evil brother would rule unchallenged for a long while yet.
Even so, Mashuga dreamed of having his name emblazoned eternally as a
monarch in his own right, and so still plotted to get Daya back into his hands.
His agents in Anuwin found favor with one faction of the intrigue-rife land and
together they plotted the princess' abduction.
The conspirators first persuaded the king to close the gates of Ir-Areth to Daya.
Her Lloroi friends understood the implications and grew alarmed for her. Just
before the abductors were prepared to strike, Daya's Anuwinese friends led her
by night to the high-stables of the pegasii and there saddled Naara for her to
ride. They sent with her as much treasure in jewels as she possessed, adding
to it rich gifts of their own.
"Where should I go?" the princess asked in dismay, now forced to flee without
even her followers and servants.
"Far from here," said her friends. The Anuwinese youths, in fact, could have
said little more, having been taught to disdain study of the outside world as
being unworthy of the Lloroi nobility.
So, alone, Daya had no choice but to flee the towers of Ir-Areth on the back of
the pegasus Naara, skirting the cold mountain heights of Anuwin though her
2
hands and legs became so stiffened and numb that she barely could direct the
flight of her noble mount.
By pluck and the will of the gods, Daya found her way back to Road's End,
where her pegasus attracted wide-spread attention. The merchant leaders of
the bazaar offered a great price for Naara, but Daya was disinclined to part with
her, aware of the great advantage that a flying mount lent to a fugitive.
But her future as a princess looked bleak. She feared to venture into the wild
savannahs to seek the alliance of the Kelgans, and likewise doubted that the
faraway Samese would offer her worthwhile aid. In fact, under their laws her
betrothed -- Mashuga -- would have every right to lay claim to her and drag her
back to Oxyer. To plea her cause in the dreaded Witchlands seemed even more
absurd. While it is true that Girion held other choices, the merchants of Road's
End told her of a northern kingdom reputedly more powerful than even
Yannagyhara. They were speaking of Shucassam in Minaria.
Miraculously avoiding waylaying and robbery each time she and Naara were
forced to set down on the Barbarian Frontier, Daya was one day alarmed to
encounter other riders upon their flying mounts following her. The princess
feared that they might be her enemies from Ir-Areth come to apprehend her and
tried to flee, but her tired pegasus was rapidly overtaken by these fresh flyers.
Only then did Daya take note that the strangers were not Lloroi riders, but
human knights born through the clouds on the backs of beasts she had seen
only in pictures, part horse, part eagle -- hippogriffs.
From her time spent with the caravaneers, Daya had learned a little of the lin-
gua franca of the South Plains and in this tongue she made parley with the sur-
prised knights. They who had never seen a pegasus, lest of all one ridden by
a beautiful woman, readily offered the princess their hospitality. As Daya could
not flee and was wearied of solitary travel, she warily agreed and was conduct-
ed to the temple town of Hyyx, home of the noble Order of the Hippogriff.
Ebersolt, the then-current marshal, received the Princess Daya with the exem-
plary courtesy for which his ancient order is famous. The exile, for her part, was
content to remain at Hyyx for some while, learning enough of the Minarian diplo-
matic language to communicate with the northern monarchs whom she soon
hoped to petition.
The knights were sympathetic to her tale of woe and offered her an interpreter
and bodyguard while she was in Minaria. The knight who accepted the office
was a man of valor named Irog Winspear. Before long, hippogriff and pegasus
soaring side-by-side, the first capital that Daya and her champion made call
upon was Adeese, where the problem-beset Zanwee held court.
As everywhere, Daya charmed all whom she encountered and attracted new
adherents. But Zanwee had not held his throne for more than twenty years by
succumbing to charm. His hospitality notwithstanding, Oxyer seemed far away
to him. In plain fact, for all his kingdom's riches, he hardly felt capable of rout-
ing Rombune from Jipols, much less consider a war of succession in distant
Girion. Only the sea promised an efficient mode of travel, but Shucassam's fleet
was not large and it had been savaged in the last war with Rombune. Without
proof of strong Oxyeran support for Daya, Zanwee dared not commit his people
to an adventure which promised so few tangible returns. But he did present to
Daya a younger son as a candidate for her hand, hopeful that Daya would win
her throne someday without appreciable help from Shucassam.
Daya, who, since the death of her father, had considered herself the rightful
sovereign of a great realm, did not welcome the transparent dynastic aspirations
of Shucassam accompanied by no promise of armed strength and said so. The
disappointed Zanwee reduced the level of his hospitality and Daya realized that
no help would be coming from Zanwee until the situation, either in Shucassam
or Oxyer, changed markedly.
Daya, still accompanied by Winspear, journeyed on, but found the reception
much the same wherever she went, be it in the courts of Pon, Rombune, Mivior,
Hothior, or Muetar. Her novelty value soon wore off during each visit and the
many rejections she had sustained even brought her claim to royalty into doubt.
Some courtly opponents even accused her of not really seeking her kingdom,
but merely wishing to subsist on the exchequer of strangers, by way of luxuri-
ous apartments and free meals.
As her best hopes soured, Daya nonetheless continued to attract friends and
admirers, some of whom traveled with her for a time. A few supporters enjoyed
great fame in their own right: Juluute Wolfheart, blunt and virile, the Black
Knight, wise and courtly, Eloia, beautiful and woods-wise, and Schardenzar,
knowledgeable and awe-inspiring, but none of these individuals had the means
to prevail against a foreign kingdom.

It was Shardenzar who urged the discouraged princess not to lose all hope, but
to instead seek out the Temple of Kings, the fane of the Gods of Destiny who
held sway over mankind's fate. Should the gods judge her to be a true
monarch, they might give her a weapon of mighty magic power. Minarians
respected magic, he knew; moreover, the princess' brave act of itself might pos -
sibly renew the confidence of Minaria's monarchs in one who surely deserved
their help.

So, with Winspear at her side, accompanied on land by the mighty Schardenzar,
the princess made for Castle Altarr, her first stop on her long journey to the dis-
tant mountains of the North. As she has not returned from her pilgrimage at the
time of this writing, the full story of this dauntless princess' strange odyssey
cannot yet be told.

Many a court poet has found himself fascinated with the exotic Daya, her
strange mount, and her difficult quest. Here is an idyll composed by a lyricist of
Pon after one of Daya's many disappointed departures:

Daya in the Sky with Naara

The dawn's amber glow tips the mountains with gold:

The meadows beneath gleam with dew-drops untold!
Now a sweet, trilling warble proclaims a new day,
While above in the clouds sleek Naara makes way!

Let the drudge in the town make pig sties his sport,
While sycophants beg for a smile in the court;
But a lady well-mounted soars high above,
Fleet on her steed and as swift as a dove.

All people are seekers in every degree;

The priest dreams of visions -- the shyster a fee,
The farmer craves bullocks -- the merchant a town,
But Daya and Naara are questing a crown!

Blind to earth's beauty she journeys alone,

Eyes shut to the present, she dreams of her throne.
Oh maid in the heavens, oh steed in the sky,
Who needs a rich fiefdom when one's blessèd to fly?

The river you're crossing now ripples with sheen;

I'd give a vast kingdom to see what you've seen.
Is beauty and freedom no fit kind of salve
To heal the cruel wound in the heart which you have?

Tho your kingdom is lost, maid, there's much that you've won,
Like the flight of the eagle well-warmed by the sun.
Reconsider the path you unveeringly take;
Shall it lead you to glory or only heartache?