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Interview with Prince Tal, Heir to the Empire of Meredith

from The Open Portal by Michael Scott Clifton

Good evening, Tal. Thank you for agreeing to an interview.

 

Tal: My pleasure.

 

So, let’s get right down to it. What does the Veil represent to you?

 

Tal (snarling): The cursed barrier has bled the people of the Empire for over a thousand years. It is the embodiment of evil. Whole families have been uprooted, captured, murdered, or worse, carried off through the Veil to become Marlinda’s melded creatures.

 

Would you describe to our readers what you mean by “melded creatures”?

 

Tal: Men, women, and children who, through Marlinda’s dark arts, have been melded with animals. Part human, part beast, the transformation turns them into abominations, vicious creatures slavishly loyal to her bidding.

 

I see. Have you had any encounters with such creatures?

 

Tal: Yes. The Dark Queen often sends them through the Veil after those still mourning their loss. Entire families have been captured in such fashion. Killing these creatures on sight is the only way to deal with them. I consider it a mercy both to the doomed person Marlinda melded into a beast, as well as to their loved ones.

 

So, is it just these…melded creatures which prey on your people?

 

Tal: No! Hordes regularly cross the enchanted boundary to pillage and reave.

 

What is a horde?

 

Tal: A fast-moving group of raiders made up of men on horseback accompanied by boarog. Usually they number around three hundred. They strike with lightning speed, and steal food, weapons, supplies…anything of value. However, their main intent is to capture men, women, and children who become fodder for Marlinda’s twisted permutations.

 

Interesting. Can you describe a boarog?

 

Tal: A boarog is the most successful of the Dark Queen’s experimentations in melding man and beast. A blend of man and boar, they are brutal creatures, totally fearless in battle.

 

Why doesn’t the Empire just send an army to stop Marlinda and end the raids?

 

Tal: Because we can’t pierce the Veil! Since its creation, my ancestors, every King and Queen of Meredith, has tried to find a way through the cursed barrier. Every attempt has ended in failure. Only Marlinda and her minions have the ability to pass freely through the enchanted boundary.

 

Is the Veil a wall? What does it look like?

 

Tal (snorts): There’s nothing to see. It is completely clear. A slight shimmer is the only evidence it even exists. Insects, animals, wind and weather pass unhindered. Only individuals with souls find the way barred, an impenetrable wall.

 

Okay, lets move on to another topic. It has been suggested the reason for your posting in the least populated and distant province in the Empire is because of (ahem) your impulsiveness and—

 

Tal: —I protect the innocent from the Dark Queen’s murderous scum! I can’t do that sipping ale in a tavern. Attacking and killing her vermin is the only way to prevent more raids.

 

Yet your mother, Queen Celestria, and your First Advisor, Bozar, seem to think you take too many chances. Isn’t that the real reason for your banishment?

 

Tal: Bah! The chances I take save lives. My Warrior’s Traces are already filled with lodestone beads for every one of Marlinda’s raiders or creatures I have killed. I plan on completely filling them before I see my twenty-first summer.

 

But isn’t that how your father, Mathias, was killed? Charging recklessly into battle?

 

Tal (shouting): You sound like Bozar! My father was killed trying to protect our citizens. He refused to stand idle while our people were captured and herded like cattle across the Veil.

 

Wow. I see I’ve touched a nerve. Changing the subject again, how about your love life? Do you have a girlfriend?

 

Tal (blushing): Er, no.

 

No one? I’m sure a Prince would be quite a catch.

 

Tal: I-I’m quite busy. I haven’t really thought about it.

 

If you did think about it, what would you look for in someone you could love?

 

Tal (thoughtful): I suppose someone whose desires parallel mine. A stunningly beautiful woman whose inner splendor far surpasses her appearance. (Laughing) Might as well wish for a fourth moon to circle Meredith. Such a person, I’m sure, doesn’t exist.

You never know, Prince Tal. Thank you for the interview, and I wish you the best of luck in finding a way through the Veil and the woman of your dreams.