Ballad of the Red Queen, Verse One

"Ballad of the Red Queen"

Through sorrows vast, and hardships,
Unbowed, the red queen came.
Drove out the lingering darkness
With thunder and with flame.

She found the griffon beaten,
Enslaved, chained to the floor.
The red queen broke its shackles,
Commanded it to soar.

[A certain Khinasi bard penned this song, its oddly melancholy melody belying its triumphant lyrics, and has been playing it here and there in her travels around Anuire. Other bards, only those skilled enough to play and sing its technically demanding notes, have picked it up and perform it to great applause.

Cuinn HATES it.] 
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Cuinn stood in the doorway, already cloaked and garbed for a journey. "Listen, Cathal. I spoke to your Northern witch friend before she left. She clarified something-- when she spoke of my bloodline when we met, she meant the one I was born with. I... I need to find my mother, or at least try. Hell, maybe she's long dead. But I need to know. 
"And truly, it's something more than that. If I'm ever to accept both parts of who I am-- the Fulcairn part, and the part that came before, I have to at least try and find out what became of her. So I'm not asking you-- I'm telling you. I'm going to Islien, I won't be gone long. But I need you and Mara and Aerona to be in charge of things until I return."

"I understand," Cathal replied evenly. "I had my chance to seek my answers, how can I begrudge you yours? I will be here when you return."

She paused, taken aback. "I... I was expecting a row, given what you said after the coronation."

"It's not that I didn't want to say the same, before, but... I will be here, but your people cannot wait long."

"Maybe I'm a fool to do this. Maybe these are not answers I even will want. Tell me, are you content with the answers you found? Even the grim ones? The truth of the Fulcarni-- does your heart rest easier, or uneasier, for having unearthed it?"

"It troubles me. What I felt, what we felt when I slew that disguised scion... it felt... good. Very good. But we need to rise above that temptation, just as we need to make sure our power is used to improve lives, not take them."

Cuinn frowned. "Aye. That's not what I'm asking, though. I'm asking... are some truths best left as secrets, buried in the dust of history?"
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Cuinn, driven by a desire to lay her past to rest, and haunted by Njorna's words, decides to seek out her mother, a camp follower from Islien she has not seen in almost twenty years after running away. Instead of riding directly to Islien, she decides to ask Leandra if her underworld connections can turn up any word of the somewhat disreputable mercenary company her mother once followed, the Sons of Iron Mountain.

She meets Leandra, again happy to see her old friend. She first asks her advice on navigating the intricacies of the power dynamics of the guilds, both overt and clandestine, in Stormpoint, wanting to use them to her advantage as newly-crowned Duchess. Leandra advises prudence and patience, and suggests she first speak to the guilder of the Taeghan Outfitters, Destrien Daene. Cuinn then asks her to try and locate someone for her: the captain of the Sons of Iron Mountain, Jaero Blackbones. It seems a long shot, but Leandra promises she'll contact her when she has news.

While she waits, Cuinn disguises herself and heads to the mercenaries' guild in Stormpoint, hoping to find some mention of the Sons of Iron Mountain in the registry rolls. To her surprise, the clerk does indeed locate something. Evidently, the Sons of Iron Mountain were disbanded shortly after the War of Succession, thirteen or so years prior. Jaero Blackbones does not appear to be listed as its captain, but Cuinn procures an incomplete list of the names of its members. Emboldened at having found some record of them, despite all odds, she leaves and waits for word from Leandra.

Leandra does not let her down; she has managed to locate an ex-member of the Sons of Iron Mountain, a man named Morak. No longer a mercenary, he is currently a pimp operating in Lowpoint, and one reputed to be cruel to those in his employ. Leandra leads Cuinn to him; Morak is as vile and greasy a man as she expected. Cuinn asks him if he knows the whereabouts of a camp follower named Sally. He laughs and asks if she owes her money; Cuinn replies that she does indeed. Morak says that Sally has moved up in the world and has her own girls and boys working for her now. He demands money for more information; Cuinn contemplates intimidating him, but decides she cannot afford a row and risk exposing her own identity. She grudgingly pays him, and he shocks Cuinn by telling her that Sally and her staff serviced the very same Taeghan army that liberated Stormpoint. Cuinn barely manages to keep her composure, having learned that not only is her mother alive, but they had in fact ridden in the very same army to the siege of Stormpoint. Morak states that Sally left after the battle and the only person who might know her whereabouts would be a former employee of hers, known as Bloody Mary due to the viciousness of her clientele, currently working at the Stormpoint docks. But then, Cuinn's less-than-perfect disguise job wears thin, and he recognizes her, yelling "ARE... ARE YOU THE DUCHESS? THE DUCHESS OF TAEGHAS?" Cuinn swiftly stabs him, nonplussed at ridding Stormpoint of scum of his ilk, and Leandra drags his body into an alleyway. They decide to meet by the docks and continue the search.

Cuinn apologizes to Leandra for the trouble, and takes a risk-- knowing what it may entail, she confides in her that the camp follower she seeks is her mother. Leandra, after all, already knows that Cuinn was low-born and came by her current station less than honestly; Cuinn decides to trust her, stalwart ally that she has been all these years. She tells her the truth of her background-- that she is but a camp-follower's bastard runaway whelp, and that she needs to know the truth of what became of her mother. Leandra counsels her that whatever her origins were, she is now the Duchess and moves in circles with kings and lords, that trafficking in unsavoury matters is best left to commoners like herself. Nonetheless, Leandra seems touched by the disclosure and the trust, and their friendship seems strengthened.

As they look for "Bloody Mary", Leandra chides Cuinn for her impossible quest to save every urchin and dockside whore in Stormpoint; Cuinn replies that she has to try, and that her desire to do so is the thing that makes her more qualified to rule Taeghas than any other noble. They find "Bloody Mary" at one of the finer inns on the docks, the Fattest Whale. The innkeeper, a fatherly figure, is upset and demands they never call her that again. Mary, it seems, is no longer a prostitute, and is a serving-maid at the Fattest Whale. Cuinn takes the wary and frightened girl aside and asks her Sally's whereabouts. Mary says that Sally hated Stormpoint, and Sally and her flock have likely returned to Islien, where they usually stay between military campaigns, loosely based out of an inn called the Gilded Calf. Seeing that she is safe and well-treated, Cuinn gives her a handful of silver and wishes her well. As Cuinn leaves, Mary asks her what she could possibly want from Sally, as she is a bad woman, and no good will come of finding her. Cuinn replies that she isn't entirely certain what she wants from her, and she departs.