2009-09-18: First Contact
Queen Zhah took the scroll her royal guard was presenting her. Their eyes met for a brief second as she silently thanked him with a slight nod. The guard lowered his eyes respectfully and with a slow bow of the head, as he quietly exited the room.
The Queen ran her fingers over the seal that bound the exquisite parchment the message was written on. She had seen such a seal before in the archives… a seal not of this world. The room was filled with tension as her Council stood staring at her intently, no doubt as curious as she was about the content of the missive. But were they as concerned?
She broke the seal and began to read. When she finished, she exhaled loudly and realized she had been holding her breath. She hoped it didn’t reveal the extent of the relief she was feeling. She lifted her eyes from the parchment and offered a restrained smile to Surnem, her Minister of Magic.
“Her name is Dawn.” she said calmly, then looked around the room at Hon-Aur, her Minister of Commerce and Uskadesh, her Minister of War, observing their reaction.
“Dawn?” repeated Surnem, with curiosity. “Yes. She’s the leader of our… visitors. Their Queen.” replied Queen Zhah. “She sends her respects and requests the pleasure of meeting with the leader of the magnificent world her people recently discovered.”
“She wants to come here?” inquired Hon-Aur. “No. This is an invitation to come visit her palace in the lands beyond the Abyss.” said Queen Zhah. Uskadesh stretched his wings nervously and said much louder than he had intended “This could be a trap!” He winced and lowered his eyes in shame at the scolding look the Queen gave him. He thought to himself “Control, you fool... Control!”
Surnem suppressed the disdainful smile that threatened to blossom on her lips as she shifted her gaze from the chastised Minister of War to her regal Queen. “This could be good for us, my Queen. Since the Elves and the Humans have entered our realm, our battle against the void creatures has been far more successful. The number of new refugees has diminished by almost half!” Hon-Aur walked over to Surnem and stood by her side in sign of support as he declared “Commerce has also exploded everywhere in Ter Mur. Even the Holy City has reported a huge increase in sales and trades. The people are regaining a sense of hope!”
Hope… Queen Zhah wouldn’t let Hon-Aur see how his innocent comment stung her. That the mere appearance of these strangers and rumors of a foreign Queen would give her people more hope than she has despite all her sacrifices and all her struggle to protect them…
She walked off to one of the terraces of her palace and her Council followed her quietly. Down below, Humans, Elves and Gargoyles were noisily going about their business. It had been a long time since there had been such joyous activity in the City. “Passion and Diligence, Zhah… for the people” she thought to herself. She resolutely turned to Uskadesh and in a tone that suffered no arguments she said “Prepare my royal escort. We leave in the morning. Surnem, round up your Mystics and find a way to rebuild the gate.” She turned her back to them again to face the city. Dismissed, they left without another word.
“Hope…” she whispered.
Japanese version
ザー女王（Queen Zhah）はロイヤルガードが持ってきた巻物を手に取った。女王はほんのわずかガードと目を合わせ、かすかに頷き静かに感謝の意を表す。すると、ガードは目を伏せ、丁寧にそしてゆっくりとお辞儀をし、静かに部屋を出た。
女王はメッセージの書かれた美しい羊皮紙を留めている封印に指を走らせる。彼女はこのような封印を、かつて書庫で見たことがある……この世界のものではなかった。評議会の者たちは親書の中身に興味を示しながら、女王の挙動に注目している。だが、誰が心配していただろうか？
女王は封をはずし、親書の中身を読み始める。そして、読み終わると同時に音を立てて息を吐いた。呼吸するのも忘れていたのだった。女王はこの溜息から自身の安堵を周りに知られないよう祈った。羊皮紙から目を上げると、抑制された微笑をもって、魔法大臣サーネム（Surnem, Minister of Magic）に話しかける。
「彼女の名はドーン（Dawn）と言う」女王は穏やかに言った。そして部屋を見回し、商務大臣ホンナー（Hon-Aur, Minister of Commerce）と、軍部大臣ウスカデシュ（Uskadesh, Minister of War）の反応を見る。
「ドーン？」サーネムは物珍しそうに繰り返す。「そうです。彼女は我々の……客人のリーダー。女王なのです」ザー女王は答える。「彼女は敬意を表し、我々の世界のリーダーと親睦を深めるための会談をしたいと言っている」
「彼女はここに来たいと？」ホンナーが尋ねる。「いいえ。これはアビス（Abyss）を越えた先にある彼女の城への招待状」ザー女王は言う。ウスカデシュは神経質そうに翼を伸ばし、彼の人生の中で最も大きい声で言った。「これは罠である！」だが、彼は女王のしかりつけるような眼差しに身を凍らせ、目を伏せる。彼は心の中で呟いた「抑えろ、馬鹿が、己を御するのだ！」
サーネムは危うくこぼれそうになる軽蔑の笑みをなんとか抑え、罰せられた軍部大臣から彼女の主、女王へと目を向けた。「良いことですわ、わが女王。 エルフと人間は我らがレルムにと立ち入り、今や虚無（Void）の怪物どもとの戦いに勝利する可能性も高まっています。難民の数は半減していますもの！」ホンナーがサーネムに歩み寄り、彼女への賛意を示す。「経済もテルマー全土で活発化しています。このホーリーシティですら交易と売上の増加が報告されているのです。民は再び希望を持ち始めております」
希望……女王ザーは、ホンナーの純粋な言い分に水を差すつもりはなかった。訪問者とその女王の知らせは、彼女の民に希望を与えているのだ。彼女が全てを捧げ、あらゆる手段で護ろうとしている彼女の民に……。
女王ザーは宮殿のテラスに足を向けた。評議会の面々は静かに彼女の後ろについてくる。テラスの下、人間、エルフとガーゴイルが声も高々と取引に精を出している。シティに久しく見られなかった麗しき活気。彼女は言う。「護衛を用意せい。朝には立つ。サーネム、神秘の術もて門を開く手を調べよ」彼女は再び振り向くと、足元に広がるシティを見回した。解散だ、評議会は声も無く離れていった。
「希望……か」彼女は一人呟く。
