The queen's hallway

Thanks for reading! This blog shouldn't be taken too seriously. I don't always put a lot of thought into the entries; they are merely a way for me to: (a) test out a few jokes and make fun of the genre; (b) work on dialogue and scene; (c) develop the world of Korin, where my  fantasy stories take place and (d) appear busy while I eat lunch, so I can avoid human interaction. Feel free to let me leave a comment or critique. I always like to know what works and what doesn't. 

It felt good to get out of the maze of doorways. The hallway, dim and narrow as is was, still felt like the edge of a sun-lit prairie. It was quiet, the only sound being the slight sizzle of flames from the large candles spaced evenly in depressions along the wall. We were at one end, and the hallway stretched so far to my right that I could not see its other end. 

"Are we still even in the castle?" I wondered aloud. The trip through the maze of doors had taken us in so many different directions--at least, I thought it did--and taken so long that I would not have been surprised to look out a window and find myself in the mountains outside Dervish on a midwinter's night. 

Shonfiddylchamevven chuckled as he placed his weighty key ring on his belt ad massaged his sore wrist. "Of course. This is the queen's private entrance. You cannot be too careful."

It was no wonder, then, why the queen was late to many appointments. "I guess not." 

Seymuhr stretched behind me. Broo Fang Tane was barely visible in the gloom. We started off. 

"How was it that you came to be in the queen's employ, Shon?" I asked.

He gave me an impatient, tight-lipped smile. "Shonfiddylchamevven, please. I am proud of my heritage, which includes my name. I would not think to ask you to shorten yours."

"Oh, you can call me Mira," I answered, quickly and hopefully. "I always thought Esmiralda a bit of a mouthful. And too pretentious, by half. It makes me sound like a princess."

"Or a witch," Seymuhr added. 

"I wouldn't think of it. There is a certain power in a name, as my father always told me. They should be embraced. Certainly, you should not allow others to reduce that power."

"Yours is a pow....er...ful...na....me, indeed, good Shon...fid...dyl...ch...am................even," Tane eventually got out. 

"Indeed," I agreed as soon as he was done. "What were we talking about again? Oh. The queen. Yes, how did you come to be employed by the queen?"

"It's a tale as long and as proud as my name," he said. He sucked in his ample belly--or tried to--and puffed out his chest--or tried to. "I came here with my brother."

I waited, but no other words were forthcoming. After a few minutes, he said: "Oh, that was it. I came here with my brother."

"That's not a long tale," Seymuhr pointed out. "Or a proud one."

Shonfiddylchamevven looked offended. "What do you mean? I'm very proud of my brother."

"I have no doubt," I said, to avoid what I suspected would be an escalating argument. "He was a good man. Perhaps I should have asked how he came to be employed by the queen. I am not certain that he ever directly told me."

"Just one of those things," he waved it off. "Some people make candles, some people fish, others earn their coin by grooming house pets. Merrick simply founded the Ministry of Human Preservation to save Korin. Or at least, mankind's role in it." 

"I see."

"I don't," Seymuhr  said. "Is there much profit in it?"

"Perhaps Queen Phedora will have additional insight for you," he said as we, at last, stopped outside an ornate door. "She's inside."