The Queen of Tentacles (part 3)

 The trip from the surface to the palace didn't take long. The Cephalopodians were once masters of hydraulics, working with the sea instead of against it.

The Queen was waiting for me in the anteroom. I deftly dodged the guards, and rushed out of the lift. She enveloped me in a hug. Wow. That was weird, we always got along well, but this was the first time she'd ever been so demonstrative. I hoped she hadn't concocted any new and different ideas concerning her romance problems. I mean, sure, dragons are cute, but.

My concerns melted away when the sweet nothing that she whispered in my ear was, "Tis the season for treason. Help. Please."

"I'll do what I can." I whispered back, and she let me go.

This delightful exchange was interrupted by an urgent thought from Glob. I managed to maintain my composure.

"Glob. I thought you were hiding."

"I am. But this is important. The structure of that final message was peculiar. Something about it has been bothering me. Further analysis indicates that it was run through a translator before being sent. I have restored the message in the sender's language. The original message was in Ursic."

"Ursic?"

"Yes. And Silver. I have been monitoring all internal communications. Stay away from the guards. The Queen's personal retinue remains trustworthy, but the rest of the Royal Guard has been compromised. A coup is in progress."

Oh. Good.

Maintaining composure was becoming very difficult.

The Queen always had me read for her in her private suite, which was to the back of the palace, far from the transport. I didn't know if she had a private exit, which would be helpful if things got hot, and we needed to make a run for it. The Queen is very practical, but things had been peaceful on Ocea for a long time.

We made our way down the wide hallway, passing the grand ballroom and the magnificent banquet hall, where servants were bustling about placing decorations, and setting plates. Delicious aromas drifted out from the kitchens.

A chef poked his head out from behind the kitchen door, caught the Queen's eye, and winked.

She blushed slightly, and winked back. He grinned, and vanished into the kitchen.

The Queen beamed proudly.

"Tonight's banquet is going to be a very special one, dragon dear. The Duke is attending, and I shall surprise him by granting him an illustrious honor. He is to be appointed Royal Envoy to a  small ocean planet in the  Arcturus system. He shall be expected to abdicate immediately, and depart for  the Arcturus system at once."

Arcturus? Ocea is nowhere near Arcturus. A trip like that would take decades to make without the capability for rapid interstellar travel, and the Cephalopodians don't even have any spacecraft. Their remaining transport ship is so antique that it isn't able to fly at all. They use it as a ferry boat now, but that gig is almost over too. It's so decrepit that they can't even repair it anymore. So how was she planning on sending him to Arcturus, unless she was considering asking me to give him a ride. My ship can get there, but I'm not a taxi, and I don't give lifts to tentacular traitors. Or this might all be a ruse, and she had a cozy dungeon with an ocean view in mind. She wasn't heartless, but she didn't take any crap.

Actually, I could get him to a place like that on Ocea. I could just zoom over, and shove him out the airlock. That idea sounded pretty good.

I had never met the Duke, but if palace gossip was accurate, he was a villain indeed. He hadn't been at any of the banquets I'd previously attended, but he'd been the subject of some uncomplimentary conversations I had overheard.

Palace insiders didn't like him. They snickered about him behind his back, but they were clearly afraid of him, too.  The Queen didn't like him either, and was going to send him away. There are very few well kept secrets in a palace, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew where this coup was coming from. But what did the Ursa have to do with it? Their people were high level merchants. Of course there would be spies embedded among them, but they would be all about industrial espionage, not regime change.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I failed to listen to what the Queen was talking about, until we reached the entrance to her splendid apartments."So when the staff opens the doors, and we move into the observatory, dessert will be served. Tonight the meteor showers reach their peak. It's quite a show."

What? I didn't know about any observatory. I'd been here twice already, and this was the first I'd heard of it. I thought the palace was entirely submerged.

"That's fascinating!" I shrieked. "How will we be able to see them from beneath the sea?" Oof. Now it was obvious that I hadn't been paying attention.

"The observatory isn't underwater, dragon dear." replied the Queen, graciously ignoring my gaffe. It's the back half of the banquet hall. It's the only portion of the palace which is above the water line. A tempered glass dome, the final cooperative project between our glasswork artisans, and engineers. From the outside, it looks like the surrounding rock, but it is transparent from inside. We can see the sky in every direction. The meteor showers at this time of year are breathtaking. We are able to enjoy them for two weeks, if weather allows. "

Hmmm. Imagine that. Octopus people, who devised something ingenious, which mimics its surroundings.

This trip was turning out to be full of surprises, and I didn't need to be psychic to know that there would be more. I vaguely remembered seeing massive doors at the back of the banquet hall, but never gave them much thought. Now things were really getting strange, and I didn't have accurate intelligence. How many important details had I missed? I was beginning to feel like an idiot. I wondered what would come up in the cards.

We settled down in the Queen's comfortable sitting room. A plush divan, with thick, red velvet cushions faced a carved wooden table, inlaid with mother of pearl. Even though it was only afternoon, I'd had a day already. It was hard not to get so comfortable that I dozed off. Unprofessional. Rude. Appealing.

I was happy to see an attendant enter the room carrying a  tray laden with sweets, and most important of all, a large pot of tea. She looked nervous. She gave me a few sideways glances as she put the tray down on the table. She bowed deeply to the Queen, backed out of the room waggling her tentacles at me, and scuttled away. I didn't think she would be in on the coup, Glob had said the Queen's retinue was uncompromised. That included her personal servants. No. This poor creature was frightened. Of me . Again, I was perplexed. This attitude among them was relatively new. On my first visit, the Queen's people had been curious and well disposed towards me. They hadn't been as friendly on my second visit, but now they were distinctly furtive and distant.

The Queen seemed not to notice, but I needed to ask her about it. I took the deck she liked out of my backpack, began to shuffle the cards, and tried to make what would appear to be nonchalant conversation that wouldn't come off as an interrogation.

"With your permission, my Queen, I would like to offer a reading to your kind servant, to show my appreciation for your hospitality."

There. Not over done, germane to the reason for my visit, pleasant...

"Oh, dragon dear." replied the Queen, a sad look in her bulbous eyes. "I'm afraid not. You see, somehow, superstition has taken root among some of my people. They whisper about evil, and make gestures against sorcery when they see you. I didn't want to say anything about it, at risk of offending you. I have no idea where this comes from. Our religion has no prohibition against magickal arts. But lately a different devotional idea has sprung up, and it is much less cosmopolitan. Restrictive. Backwards. Our Clerics are trying to quash this foolishness, cutting it off at the source. But the source is elusive."

Hmmm. This would explain the odd looks and evasion. And I had noticed that it wasn't everyone who was behaving this way. But there were enough of them who did for me to be concerned. Ok, enough of this. I was beginning to become paranoid. More paranoid than I am already, but that's a story for another day. Time to get down to business.

I request that my clients sit next to me when I read for them so we can both see the spread from the same angle, and they are actively involved in the process. The Queen was sitting next to me on the divan, chattering happily about how glad she was that I had come to visit, how much she enjoys my company, and that she thinks the cards are beautiful. I'm glad that she likes me, and is comfortable enough around me to drop her Queenly persona for a while. It's a lot more fun than having a bunch of goonish guards trying to stare me down, and servants making countersigns against evil.   The Clerics might be having trouble discovering the source of the rapidly spreading zealotry, but I was pretty sure I knew where it originated. I couldn't say anything though. I needed proof. 

 I poured a cup of tea for the Queen, then poured one for myself. It was really great tea, and it revived me. The cups were large, too. I was beginning to relax, and this was fun! I shoved down my anxiety. Glob was fine, the ship was fine, the tea was good, the Queen was happy, and we were finally doing her reading. Ostensibly, the reason I was there! Not this coup stuff. How did we ever become enmeshed in a bizarre scenario like this? 

  I shouldn't even ask that question anymore, because I get the same answer. Somehow, wherever we go, we always do.

I asked the Queen to hold the cards, think about her question, put her energy into them, and when she felt ready, to give them back. She did. I shuffled three more times, then asked her to cut the deck into three piles, and choose the pile which "spoke" to her. Of course cards can't talk. But there's a feeling someone gets, concerning which pile of cards will hold the message the universe wants them to hear. The Queen chose the pile in the middle. This is actually the most common pile clients pick, by far. Whether it's because of some psychological impulse, or they really are feeling the energy of that particular pile, it doesn't matter. The message is correct. I'm always amazed by this.

I gathered the cards back into one deck with the Queen's choice on top, and laid out a spread. For the reveal, I don't turn them over one by one, although some readers do. I turn them all over at once, and look at the entire spread. This gives me a clearer picture of the story they're telling. It works for me. I laid out a spread of seven cards. A vertical centre card, which is card one, with card two crossing it horizontally, as well as card three beneath. Card four was to the immediate left, card five above the central three, card six to the immediate right, and card seven, one position further to the right, next to card six. I flipped them all over, and the reading began.

Card one- The subject. The Queen of Pentacles. Or Tentacles, in this case.

Card two-crossing card one at the bottom, An important influence - The Devil. Traditionally representing addiction to something, whether it be gold, lust, power, or just someone having a selfish attitude to the point where nobody else exisits, or if they do, it's to serve them. It's a warning. To check your own behaviour to make sure you aren't in trouble before it's too late, to free yourself if you've ignored suggestion #1, and have already gotten in too deep, or that there's some evil stuff going on in your immediate environment, so beware.

Card three- (crossed at the top by card two) At the bottom of it all. The King of Swords, Reversed.(Rx) A reversal is a card which comes out of the deck upside down, for those who might not know much about reading the tarot. This time, I saw the King reversed as representing someone who pretty much lives in their own head. Someone intelligent but misguided. Can also indicate insanity, or one who is enamoured of bad ideas which lead to rash acts. In some cases, it might represent a scheming scoundrel in a position of power.

Reversals have a different meaning than an upright card does. Related, same energy, but it will be expressed in the opposite way, or the energy of the card is blocked. There is also the concept of "ill aspected" cards, which can either be reversals, or uprights which are in conjunction to some of the less cheerful cards in the deck. And here's some important information for you. There are no "bad" cards. They just portray life conditions, and reflect those conditions, like a mirror, to the questioner in any given spread. Is every life condition going to be wonderful? No.

Back to the reading. Card four, That which is behind- The Seven of Swords. Traditionally, deceit, treachery, or theft. Also, in some cases, not an evildoer, but someone working alone to pull off something that they don't want anyone to know about. It doesn't mean that something is something bad. Just something discrete. And depending on the situation, it can mean all of these things.

Card five, On the mind- the Two of Cups. A meeting of the minds. Shared emotion, and the potential for developing genuine unity. True love?  Romance on her mind? Who are we talking about here!

Card six was The Lovers. The opposite of the Devil card. Traditionally indicating choice, love (obviously) or choosing love instead of hate, choosing what's good for you instead of choosing what isn't, but also, not getting bogged down in false piety.

Card seven was the Six of Swords. Swords being the suit of the mind, this card can represent relief from a situation which causes mental anguish, moving away from danger, and usually not alone. Your friends have got you. Just keep going.

I decided to pull one more card for clarification, placing it to the right of card seven.

The Nine of Cups. The epitome of happiness and emotional fulfilment. Cups full of love. The good stuff. All of it.

Wow. Guess what didn't come up this time? Things had changed alright. But I got a bad feeling seeing that Devil crossing the Queen and the King of Swords reversed, with the Seven of Swords lining up to get a stab in. I looked to me one or more of those swords was headed right for the Queen's back, and I didn't like it.

The card that really gave me hope was the Six of Swords. In the deck I was using, three figures are in a boat, at night, on a dark sea, sailing away from something. Seeing the Lovers card was interesting. Traditionally the Lovers card is the sacred reflection of the Devil card, which is considered to be the profane reflection of The Lovers. That guy can also be about choice, but it can mean choosing lust, greed and cruelty, or being enslaved to addictions, whatever one might be adicted to. If someone is addicted to their more base instincts, there you go. The Nine of Cups indicated to me that this story would have a happy ending, if all went well. However, there is many a slip between the Nine of Cups, and the lip, and staring right out at me from the Queen's reading, was the coup.

The Queen picked up the Nine of Cups, a dreamy expression on her face. The card showed a happy fellow, with nine barrels behind him, nine cups full of something sparkly, and nine delicious looking cakes.

"Oh look!" She exclaimed. "A baker! Or a Chef, or something." Again, she blushed.

I remembered the chef popping out of the kitchen to wink at her as we passed by. Things were becoming clearer now, but I had questions of my own.

"Your Majesty, this Duke..." I began, but she cut me off. Her happy expression faded.

"That Duke," she growled, "Is a reprehensible social climber, with grand ideas far beyond his station. He forgets himself.  But soon enough, everyone will forget him. I loathe him. He's tried to ingratiate himself with me for months, dropping hints about how happy a couple we would be, how beautiful I am, how I must consider him to be my suitor.  Nonsense!  He's vile. Yes, he's of the royal line, he's my cousin, the foul degenerate.  But his  decayed branch will be branching off in the Arcturus system, not  on Ocea." She was scowling now, and I could feel the angry energy rolling off her in waves. The Queen was a romantic, but the Duke wouldn't be feeling the love. And what was up with the guards?

"Your majesty," I continued. "The guards seem to be a bit overzealous today. Please forgive me for speaking out, but I wanted to discuss this with you in private. Have I commited a faux pas? Please tell me, and I will correct my behaviour."

" Silver. Dragon dear. According to my intelligence sources, the Royal Guard is now operating under orders from the Duke. He thinks I know nothing of this, but he is wrong, and  he is leading innocent people down  the path of doom. Any guard, or citizen, for that matter, who swears fealty to him, will be joining him on the  Arcturus mission. He has tried to encourage me to terminate my friendship with you. He has suggested that our reading sessions should cease. As I said, he forgets himself. "

Did she plan on imprisoning them all? I had to know.

"Your Majesty. I'm intrigued. How will they be getting there?"

The big question. But she had just admitted that I was a friend, and this was a good time to be a friend. Maybe.

"I have been in contact with some excellent merchants, who rent out large transport vessels which can carry goods and persons between star systems. Their representative should have been here by now, we were supposed to negotiate the terms this morning. She is late."

Merchants. Ursa. Rented cargo ships. Soon to be exiled traitors. The dots were beginning to connect, but there were galaxy sized gaps. The picture was incomplete. An Ursa, sending a message, asking about... Glob?

No, no, something was wrong here. I sent out a thought, with a question I could have kicked myself for not asking before.

"Glob, what do your people know about the Ursa?"

"They are a bipedal species, who resemble, and are distantly related to, the animals known on Earth as bears, but are much smaller. The colour of their fur ranges from gold to dark red. They are highly intelligent, prosperous, and honest. The Ursan Merchant Guild has been expanding their reach further out from their world. Their latest venture is the conversion of cargo transports into colony ships, to enable migration of more primitive beings between star systems, for a reasonable price."

"Have they ever worked with the Otherhood?"

"Yes."

Bingo. It dawned on me that there was no sinister interest in Glob at all. The Ursa knew of the Jellians. So what was that message about? A pilot would never mention Jellians in a communique unless... Oh dear. That message was intended for the Queen, and no one else. The pilot trusted her. It was a distress call.

"Glob, when you intercepted that transmission, would the intended recipient have received it too"

"No Silver. But it would be in the data logs of the Ursan ship it originated from. It could be reconstructed. "

"Thanks, Glob. Things might still be ok, but stay out of sight."

"I am. The guards are communicating more frequently now. Events are speeding up. Their Liege will be here soon. When I know anything new, you will too. "

 A dismal fog on a cold mountain. Emaciated beasts lugging a chopped up spaceship, and an intact transmitter module. Active meteor showers, a missing representative of the Ursa, and a Cephalopodian dandy directing a salvage operation. I was confident that if I took the last of my hoarded gold and placed a bet on the identity of that dandy, I'd be able to hoard it in a warehouse instead of my wallet.

Ratfeathers.