“How the Kingdom has ged. Right now it’s only what you’d call, a ‘city’. ” The Lady in White turhe holographic ceiling of the garden into a dome, showing live footage of different ers iy: “And the curse did not stop. It did not dwindle, but remained, seeping deeper into the very being of this city. ”

  “Now. As for the reason you’re here. ” The Lady in White let out a long exhale: “You came here with questions. And you came here with the o gain knowledge and experien how to deal with the disturbances you’ve seen. I’ll grant you eae question. For anything else, I don’t see any talent in you that could justify my going through the depths of my past and memories. ”

  “Oh - okay?” Gloria coughed, then took a look at Marcus.

  “Think about it.” The Lady in White turned around and started cheg on the flowers.

  “She’s the Burnt Queen.” Marcus whispered to Gloria.

  “What?” Gloria did not prehend what Marcus was trying to say.

  Marcus had to take a few deep breaths to sooth his rag heartbeat and calm himself down. This clusion was not something he pulled out of thin air. It was much more than an educated guess. When he was young, especially before the i with the cruise ship, he was an avid reader of almost everythiing to the legendary tale of The One-armed Knight and the Burnt Queen. And after seeing his mother’s spirit in one of his visions, he brushed up on a lot of the books and dots he read, as well as the notes he wrote as a kid. Everything he saw here, and everything the Lady in White told him only poio this singur clusion.

  Legend said, after returning from the campaign aure through the desert to get anoihe Burnt Queen started ruling with the only remaining knight in her escort team, who lost an arm during the fight against Shyurak, as her husband and King sort. They did not rule for long, only around ten years. After the Queen’s birthday, she shed her official robe, id down her scepter at the altar, aired with the Knight. There was not much record ohey retired to, or how their journey ended. It's all ected here.

  “She’s the Burnt Queen. She’s the Queen from the story -The One-armed Knight and the Burnt Queen.” Marcus whispered again.

  Gloria paused for a short moment, before her eyes opened wide and astonishment was written all over her face. “How is - how is this possible? How - ”

  “I don’t know. But I guess we will see more and a lot weirder.” Marcus shook his head, then took a deep breath: “I - I’ll see if we get more questions. I have something that - that might help.”

  “What?”

  “I have something she might want. It’s - I don’t know how I could use it anyway. And since she’s the Burnt Queen and she’s been fighting the ‘curse’ for all this time, I figured she could use it - ”

  “Okay. Okay, go ahead please, I have too many questions. I don’t know if I choose just one.” Gloria took another deep breath and Marcus with an appreciative look on her face: “Thank you.”

  Marcus walked up to the Lady in White from behind, right hand in his inner jacket pocket.

  “My - my dy?” Marcus tried his best to e up with a humble and genuinely inquiring tone: “I have something with me. Something I was gifted from a wonderful being by ce. And I was w if you would be so kind as to give us some more questions, if I offer this - this artifact to you as a token of our appreciation?”

  “You speak of that artifact you carry that helped you stand against my pull earlier, the ohat helped you and your friend stay vigint in the hall.” The Lady in White turned around and looked into his eyes.

  Her irises were like they were made of blue sapphire with meticulous patterns. Marcus pulled back after just one look at her eyes. Then, he pulled out the piece of fabri that White Wug’s robe and ha to the Lady in White with both hands.

  “What is this?” The Lady in White asked, her toill the same but mixed with a touch of intrigue and surprise.

  “It’s - a piece from a Wug’s Robe. A White Wug.” Marodded.

  “Did you take it from a Wug?” The Lady in White asked, frowning.

  “Well yes but - ” Marcus was about to aowledge when he saw the dy’s eyes narrowed: “- NOT FORCEFULLY! Not forcefully! I helped him deal with a tricky situation and then he gave me this as a token of thank you, I guess. He also showed me something - I am not sure how to describe it.”

  “Tell me about it.” The Lady in White sighed and sat down on one of the ptforms with flowers. “Leave nothing out.”