MJ Alishah

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Nights of the Crusades: The Enchanted Queen

by MJ Alishah

“You are starving. Could you not catch any rats since

I last saw you?” he said

My tormentor was the dungeon keeper; my only friend.

“My body simply reflects all else. A shriveled world, of

barren souls, left hungering only for that which breeds

misery.”

“Oh, you have entered a dark place. Surely there have

been those who have suffered worse than you.”

“Perhaps”, I said, “The Enchanted Queen has been

dealt worse. She dwells in darkness, enduring the pain of

her many subjects.”

My guard leaned forward, desperate for the tale ...

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 2

... Firuz’s eyes widened as he absorbed the chamber.

It was a vast theatre, hewn from a natural cavern. A cool

breeze flowed through the hall, from the great hole he

had tumbled through, linking the chamber to the outside

air.

A large dais stood in the centre of the arena. It was

surrounded by rings of stone-carved galleries.

Candelabras holding incense were placed at the end of the

rock pews, permeating the cavern with an intoxicating

aroma. Tattered banners, their faded symbols almost

illegible, hung from the walls.

Firuz looked through the darkness and studied the

dais. At its top was a sculpture of a woman perched on a

throne of rock. She looked like she was asleep.

He approached it, glad that his bare feet didn’t

create an echo. He could only make out the silhouette of

the woman, and he feared her. He had been warned of dark

gods and blasphemy since birth, and the woman that

clutched her throne with clawed hands would be well

acquainted with both.

As Firuz began to walk up the dais stairs he detected

a disgusting, organic smell, which the incense could not

smother. He also heard something. Like shallow breaths.

It came from the sculpture. He realised the woman was

alive. She seemed young and old at the same time, like a

stunted calf, kept in the dark and living only for

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 3

slaughter. Her flesh was pale, and her eyes were lined by

the exhaustion and sorrow of being tied to this place by

some unseen chain. Firuz noted that her throne had no

back to it. Her jewelry sparkled, reflecting the red

light of the braziers. The jewels had a motif of

hexagons, much like the architecture of the chamber and

the stonework of her throne. Firuz followed the metallic

links of her necklace to her bare shoulders. Pink scars

laced her skin. She looked cold; the corset cocooning her

thin body could not ward the chill of the mountain air. A

thick fabric lay under the corset. Firuz realised that it

was a hair-shirt. The stench found his nostrils again.

He noticed dark flecks against the rock her throne

sat upon; dried blood. A beetle crawled from beneath her

corset and across her neck.

The woman’s green eyes flickered open. The large,

pale orbs regarded Firuz without emotion for some time.

She leaned forward in her throne, "So, you have finally

come." Her voice was quite, but forced and harsh – like

she had been screaming.

Firuz opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn't sure

what he should say. In all the time he had spent in the

dark tunnels, he hadn't thought of how he should address

the sorceress when he finally found her.

She cut him off with a wave of her taloned hand, "ask

what you seek."

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 4

Firuz stammered, "last night, or many nights ago, I'm

not sure..."

The sorceress looked towards an arch lit with the

raging braziers. Firuz had not noticed this until now. It

must lead further into the caverns. She said, "speak

swiftly, we may not have much time."

Firuz began his story. It tumbled easily once he

began. He detailed all, from his actions at Antioch to

the strange encounter with the djinni.

She regarded him with her unreadable stare.

“The djinni was right to guide you to me. I was once

the queen of an ancient people. I still have power over

life and death.” Her skeletal hands grasped the folds of

her flowing skirt and began to reveal what lay below.

“However, as you can see, I cannot walk from my throne,

let alone work my power.”

Firuz covered his mouth to hide a silent gasp. The

queen’s bulging knees tapered into thin shins, which

seemed to meld into the rock of the pillar. She was cold

stone from her ankles to the rock floor.

“How did this happen?” whispered Firuz.

“You will need to know my story to free me. Only then

may you gain your desires.”

The queen looked to the archway again, and then began

her tale...
 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 5

... The ruined city you came to was once my glorious

domain. I had managed to keep it secure from the

predations of the world, through diplomacy and its

location, for many years. When my father ascended from

death and left no male heir, I became a queen to my

people. My ancestors were perfection; merciful yet

uncompromising, strong yet just, moderate yet staunch. We

joined all the religions of our people into one. And we

were worshipped. It took generations but we were

unflinching in our work.

When the kingdom’s rule fell to me, I saw that, for

our kingdom to pass through the ages, I would need a

child to carry on the teachings of my ancestors.

One day a stranger came to my city. He said he was

from the city of Ma’arra and his name was Phoahar. A mind

of genius dwelled within his skull, for he was well

schooled in the arts of alchemy. However, his craft began

to be questioned in Ma’arra. Others, less gifted than he,

produced the works he had spent lifetimes upon. The

imposters did away with the prayers and sacrifices that

were needed to maintain the balance of the unseen

universe.

Phoahar was disgusted by what he began to witness in

the city of his childhood. Blasphemers and heretics dwelt

among them. How could a people, raised under the wings of

divine truth, accept the slime that spewed from these

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 6

poets and philosophers? Some questions should never be

asked, for their answers should never be known. And so he

exiled himself.

He was pleased when he reached my peaceful city.

Phoahar found the utopia he searched for. I made him King

and I allowed him to rule under me. The palace courtyard

hosted his daily lectures where he explained how blessed

my people were to be ruled by such a just queen. All I

asked in return was their obedience and submission. We

continued like this for many good years. Yet I never had

a child.

Then, during a night of storms, Phoahar’s closest

servant, Migash, abandoned us.

I am not sure if this Migash was born with a greater

part of sin than most, or if it became attracted to him

as he grew older. The despicable tales of Ma’arra seemed

to heighten his curiosity, unlike the others, who saw it

for the lawless blasphemy that it was.

For weeks I could not sleep, worrying what effects

his betrayal would have on my people. I once awoke from a

forgotten nightmare, and found Phoahar missing from

beside me. I searched our palace until I arrived at a

window. By chance, I saw his shadow heading towards the

mountain beyond our city. I paused only to strap a blade

to my side and then followed after him.

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 7

His path took him deep into the mountain caves. After

some time, I began to overhear voices ahead. It was

Phoahar, and a woman.

Holding my rage at his infidelity, I listened. The

woman was asking him how much longer it would be until he

delivered the city to her. They could then be together as

lovers and rule without my influence. Anger pulsed in my

veins. I called on the djinn that had aided my ancestors

in battle – then leapt upon them.

I do not remember the fight. I recall my arms held

behind me by some unseen guard, as I stood over the

bodies of squirming men. I then saw whom Phoahar

conversed with. She was a great, hairless woman, and she

was screaming in agony. Her slaves tried to staunch the

gaping wound I had granted to her spine. Phoahar then

ushered her away in his melodramatic manner.

When he returned he brought a steaming pot and a pile

of ancient books. His guards carried an old, rock-hewn

throne and bound me to it. Phoahar then applied his

concoction to my feet, muttering arcane spells as he did

so. Gradually, my feet became one with the stone they

rested on. I sat there for many days in silence.

When Phoahar next appeared, it was at the head of a

procession, wielding a whip. The hairless woman followed,

mounted on a large palanquin, held up by her slaves.

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 8

The whipping was harsh. My back and clothes were in

tatters. The woman on the palanquin laughed throughout

the spectacle. I was left, covered in blood, until I

almost starved to death.

Know that since that time, Phoahar and his bloated

mistress have enslaved my people. I do not know how long

I have been trapped here, but at least one generation of

my subjects have reached adulthood in service to Phoahar.

I know now that Phoahar had been in league with this

woman for many years before he arrived at my city. They

had moved from Ma’arra to seek a land to rule. Phoahar’s

mistress is a great scholar of the crawling, biting

things that creep in the dark. They have great plans to

build a human culture based on those insect empires they

study.

And so, after trapping me, Phoahar led my people into

these caverns where they have remained ever since. His

queen has been unable to move since my blade bit into

her. Her only enjoyment in life is to witness the whip

placed upon me at the dawn of every day. It is during

this time that Phoahar gives orders to my people. He

knows that my subjects live only to serve me, and the

fear of their queen’s death keeps them bowed. They have

refused his orders only once. They demanded that I was

given some respite. I was lashed to the last sliver of my

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 9

life and half of them were slaughtered. They paid a dear

price for their disobedience to their new king. Now if

they do not fulfill their orders to his satisfaction they

are mutilated or executed.

Worse still, they have been segregated into their old

religions, and their skin has been dyed to reflect that.

My people are kept separate from each other, their

differences magnified, as Phoahar and the queen of these

infested caverns know how to instill discord among them.

She elevates some to roles of power in her personal

guard. It amazes me that those who take the positions are

swift to dominate their previous companions. It is all so

strange and horrible. I weep whenever one of my people

betrays me to become one of them...

... Her jaw tightened. “But it serves a purpose. It

reveals those who were weak from the beginning.”

The woman took her gaze away from Firuz and looked

into the distant dark. “She has devised a plan to

impregnate me, using a method from her studies of the

crawling creatures that plague these caves. Phoahar and

his queen plan for me to give birth, passing the blood of

my ancestors into a more malleable vessel for them. I

will die during the birth; the child will be ripped from

within me, because, as you see, as my legs are trapped

within the stone.”

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 10

She re-focused on Firuz, “So you will need to free me

from this prison and restore my people to me. In return I

will grant you your wish.”

Firuz lowered his eyes. He wasn’t sure who he spoke

to when he said, “Am I a puppet? The djinni has tricked

me. Am I to do one errand after another, to be led in

circles as my son’s soul drifts?” He locked his eyes on

hers. “Grant me my wish now, sorceress, or I will leave

you to whatever fate God has planned.”

Without a change of expression the woman husked, “As

I have said, I have no master. You have no power over me.

Even Phoahar knows that I only allow him to keep me so

that my subjects are not murdered. I called you to me so

that you can repent your evils through a holy action.

Then, when you are cleansed, you will find your family

again.” Some emotion, like anger, crept into her face.

“Listen. You must find Migash and return him to me. He

must have journeyed to be with the secretive scholars of

Ma’arra. My people hunger for his betrayal to be

punished. You will free me afterwards, so I can deliver

his judgment in front of my subjects. This is a prophecy,

Firuz. I have divined that when justice has been done, my

people will throw off their chains, and you will be

reunited with your loved ones. You are now part of its

fulfillment. Take no heed of those who urge you to stray

from your quest.”

 MJ Alishah / The Enchanted Queen / 11

The great sound of a gong reverberated through the

halls.

The sorceress turned her head to the arch, now

touched by the flames of approaching torches. “Hide now,

the day has broken.” ...

... I ended the tale. The guard looked at me,

realising wondering why I had stopped.

He said, “will you not go on?”

I replied, “I can’t.”

He left me in darkness. I was surprised, however,

when he returned. He passed two bowls of cold broth

through the bars. “Take these.”