<p>photocredit - Richard Stonier - "bittern in flight"<br><br><br>"The queen was young, her face pale her feature fine. Vlado had never been in her presence and her beauty struck into his heart.<br>She was clad in a sleeveless tunic of finest buckskin. Around her shoulders was a short buckskin cloak trimmed with fur. Her neck was adorned with beads of amber and jet alternated with mammoth ivory. Her slender arms bore the royal tattoos, and at h...