Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene LVII
Queen Tunida stood silently as the ground murmured beneath her feet. The city of Woodville gently rumbling as the tremor passed; the calm ocean roar in the distance familiar once again in the quiet aftermath. It was the second tremor in as many days, and fortunately, like earlier ones, only nerves were frayed. The queen's normal stoicism having a touch of sullenness, her eyelids and eyelashes drooping ever-so-slightly, like heavy boughs. Her flowing red dress; a dampen to its lustre. Worried by the groaning earth, a few serving maids came rushing out to attend her, but she ushered them away, preferring the ocean drone. Meanwhile, a mere mile away, her husband, the King of Tunid was busying himself to leave, overseeing his small ship. A pilgrimage was in the reckoning, and though uneasy storm clouds hung over his kingdom greater things were at play. All necessary preparations had been made, yet still, the ship that lulled on the earth-churned sea before him looked inadequate. So sma...