by B B Reed
With a gentlemanly bow of his head, Edward smiled, “That I can do, Miss Maris. You should have said sooner that you were the scholarly type. The kingdom could do with more bright minds. What do you hope to find on the campus?”
Hissing filled Halena’s ears as she reached into her bag, making her brow crease with discomfort. The leather emblem she tore from Simon’s robes was pulled out from her pack and she offered it to Edward, “A man was… killed. I need to let his colleagues know of his passing.”
Edward adjusted his spectacles on his nose and looked the emblem over, running his thumb over the detailed wings, “I see. Grim business, but someone must do it.” His face hardened, brow knitting together, and offered the patch back to Halena, “Where did you find it?”
“To the northeast, in Brighthall.” Halena nodded, slipping the patch away into her bag.
He ran his fingers over the dark scruff of his chin thoughtfully, “The Mistral Counts have heard of the strange events cropping up in that region. Just at the foot of the fells, yes? Curious that a scholar made a trip out that way.”
“Hopefully the strange activities decline.” Halena muttered and raised her eyes back to Edward, “I need to find out why a scholar went out so far from the college. The town itself holds nothing of import to him and he was reduced to nothing more than a hermit on the fringes of the community.”
“Your instincts are sharp, indeed.” He answered, but his gaze had drifted out the window, the lantern light dancing off his lenses.
Questions tugged at the fibers of thought in Halena’s mind, and before the silence could settle, she asked, “How are you so familiar with the capital, Ed? Do you live within the walls?”
He snapped from his thoughtful musing, glancing back to his companion. A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth, “Ah… That I do, and not entirely by choice. My work keeps me within the walls more than I like, but I try to travel out to the countryside when I can.”
Halena tipped her head, “What kind of work do you do? Your dress… I’ve only seen statesmen keep a wardrobe like that.”
Ed chuckled, pulling on his coat to straighten it over his chest, “Perhaps the best compliment I’ve received all week, thank you. My job would be much easier if my clothing did all the work for me. Alas, I work as a liaison of sorts for the Mistral Counts. The lords keep me on retainer when they visit Arras Ando for Ministry sessions. More paperwork than I prefer, making some days utterly dull, but the tales of travelers like yourself breathe some wonder into the world again.”
She let out a small laugh, making the invisible needles dance on the nape of her neck, “I suppose there is a sense of wonder to what I do, but most tend to be frightened by it.”
“It’s not every day that you come across someone with crimson markings upon their face. I’ve never seen anyone in Arram practice tattooing in that manner, save for the tales of the mountain people north of Mistral lands.” Ed shrugged at Halena, folding his hands back into his lap.
“Y-Yes, but it wasn’t a practice I learned from the mountains. I’ve never gone that far north, actually.” Halena stammered, curling her toes in her boots.
“Few do. If the climes weren’t harsh enough, the denizens aren’t very hospitable, if the stories from the border hold any merit. Truth be told, I’d pay a pretty penny to see if giants indeed walked the Jorundar mountain trails.” Ed sighed, resting his head back and removing his spectacles.
The pair remained quiet, the carriage bobbing along in the darkness. Edward closed his eyes after a few minutes, sensing his companion was reluctant to continue their conversation. Halena’s eyes rested on her lap, where she played with the hem of her dress as the nervous tension slowly lifted itself from her shoulders. Her eardrums beat with the taunting presence of the unseen traveler, making her close her eyes and focus on her breathing. Slowly through her nose she inhaled, and forcing a controlled breath out through her lips, over and over to push the taunting noise back to the recesses of her mind. Soon enough, both Halena and Edward fell into a shallow sleep, the rocking cabin preventing a restful slumber.
Through the night, the coach persisted on its trail across the rolling moorland. Life was at a standstill in the dim starlight, farm houses in the distance darkened. The glow of dawn’s break made Halena stir from her fitful rest, looking out the cabin window to watch the plots of farmland pass them by, farmers and their farmhands out in the fields tending to their work in the early morning hours. Images of their decayed shells flashed in her memory, making her close her eyes to force the intruding thoughts away.
Is that… pity I sense? You know they would have you burned at the stake if they knew how you saved them. Raising the dead for interrogation, boiling a man alive…
She frowned and sighed, the hissing words behind her ears. Her catseyes drew over to Ed. His cheek rested against his hand, still fast asleep.
He is no different, frail flesh. More authority, less reason to see you die… Especially if he found out how the scholar died, if he found out you murdered him…
Her jaw set, nostrils flaring, “You’re right…”
He twitched, tilting his head up with eyes still closed, “Hm?”
Ed inhaled a deep breath, coming back to life and arching his back. Through yawned words, he asked, “Did you say something?”
“No, you may have been dreaming.” Halena deflected, returning her eyes to the passing verdant fields.
Ed sat forward, rubbing the small of his back, “Perhaps dreaming for a plush bed to catch a wink on. Mm, how close are we?”
She shrugged, “I’m not sure, I just woke up. Are there a lot of farms near the city?”
“A handful of settlements, mostly belonging to House Astor.” Ed answered, leaning to the side to gaze out through his window. He glanced back to Halena, beckoning her to his side, “Here, look.”
She scooted down to look at the windows on Ed’s side of the coach, eyes growing wide. Like a mighty monolith, high walls stretched out in the distance, the stone bathed in morning sunlight. The vaulted tips of roofs behind the walls peeked just over the edge and tucked within the fortress was another set of walls terraced above the first. Jutting straight upwards from the middle, a great white citadel gleamed with the sun’s rays upon its sheer walls. Stretching out from the citadel’s base, a grand rampart cut through the terraces to the west, its high ivory buttresses also radiating.
Halena’s mouth fell agape and she quickly closed it, shooting Ed a glance.
An entertained smirk lingered on his lips, “Magnificent, is it not?”
“It... It’s immense.” She answered, still gawking at the high walls, “So, this is the queen’s dominion, an ivory city.”
Ed covered his mouth, stifling a yawn, “Ah… Tis a shame you’re only visiting Arras Ando. To fully explore what it offers would take you a whole moon and a healthy portion of your savings.”
Halena settled back into her seat, “You should know better than anyone, work is work. I can’t let this city keep me from my travels too long.”
The gentleman chortled, “Heheh, I won’t argue with that.”
He crossed one leg over the other and watched idly out the window as the coach drew closer to the towering stone walls. Their carriage’s rocking steadied as it hit stone-paved road that rolled up to a waystation. The coach slowed to a bumpy stop and the jingling sound of chainmail and heavy boots rattled past the window. Halena leaned closer, looking over to see a gate guard in a yellow tabard talking with the coachman. He flashed the guard a folded piece of paper and the guard nodded in approval. The coach pulled off towards a stable, parking the carriage.
The coachman banged on the carriage door once he dismounted from his seat, “Unless ya got more coin, be gone, the lot o’ ya! We’ve arrived!”
Halena slipped the strap of her traveling bag over her head and opened her side of the carriage to disembark, Edward following behind her. She couldn’t help to look up at the sheer faces of the high fortress walls, the in
timidating structure making her feel miniscule. Her eyes came back down, finding Edward in the middle of arching his back and stretching.
“By the Five, bless me with massage oils and gentle hands to apply them. My back is going to be complaining to me for the next three days over this.” He grumbled, rubbing away the pains.
“Finding the road to be unkind to you, Ed?” Halena said, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.
Edward shook his head, “Feeling as stiff as the nobles of the Ministry, if I do say so myself. At least I can stand to stretch my legs when I’m serving the lords and ladies. Come, let’s get you to the college. Business after all, yes?”
Halena nodded and trailed behind Edward as they entered through the gated tunnel, staying to the right side to avoid the wagons and horses coursing up and down the middle lanes. The ominous sensation of being watched made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end while they moved past the yellow-clad guards and their chain veils. The din of life erupted into a buzz once they stepped out of the tunnel, utterly hidden by the walls.
People, buildings, noise, it all had increased to a soft roar she had never felt before. Bright, colorful banners stretched over the streets, handcrafted signs hung in front of warm shop windows, and even the cobbles below Halena’s feet were evenly laid. Her hands tightened around the strap of her bag as she slowed to a stop to take it all in. Rolling behind her ears, the sinister tenor of her shadow grew with the shock to her senses.
She was jerked from her dumbfounded trance, Ed grabbing and tugging on Halena’s wrist, “Don’t go stopping on me like that, it’s the fastest way to get lost in this city. Try to stay close?”
He looked over the rim of his glasses at Halena and received a shaky nod from the her. Ed turned on his heel, giving her arm a final tug before letting go. Adjusting the top of her hood, she rigidly pushed past people to keep up with him. A foul, acrid smell washed over her face, making her nose burn and eyes water. She looked up to find a column of smoke wafting up from the rooftops. Her ears rang louder with the mumbling of patrons at the shop fronts and the distant sounds of banging metal. It made her hunch her shoulders defensively as she fought through it. Halena kept her eye on Ed’s red coat and slipped past a trio of young women to catch up to him. The young man appeared to glide through the mass of bodies with ease, hardly hindered by the swirling confusion, smells, or noises. Ed kept to his self-imposed lane, keeping a berth away from the stalls and storefronts. He made a hard right around the corner, leading them out of the swell of people at the shopping center. His pace slowed down once freed of the madness.
She out a terse breath, looking up to Ed as she came to a stop, “Instead of dragging me through the city like a lost child, mind telling me where we are heading?”
Ed pushed his glasses up on his nose, “Sorry about that, but trying to give directions while in the throng of morning markets is nearly impossible. We have to make a little climb before we arrive at the Manin College. It’s on the upper terrace near the Spine.”
He points to the high wall across the curving avenue, stretching up over the pair like the outer walls.
Halena blinked, her eyes wandering up the sheer face before coming back to Ed, “…and the rest of the city?”
“Why, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Arras Ando is situated like an enormous circle, of course, with another circle inside of it. If you follow this inner road enough, you’ll eventually find which district you need to go to or end up where you started.” He gestured down the cobbled road that gently banked towards the right around the wall’s base.
“I’m pretty sure we didn’t start in the manicured gardens of the queen.” She sneered with irritation, still feeling the burn of smoke in her nose.
“Ha! No, we didn’t. I’m afraid the mills and furnaces of the southeast quarter have a bad habit of wafting smoke over the east gate. Just be thankful it’s not a particularly windy day.” Ed smirked, turning around to beckon for Halena as he began making his way across the cobblestone street, “Come, daylight burns!”
She trailed behind him, quietly fuming as they continued up the walk. Her irritated scorn slowly cooled off as her eyes wandered over the fine masonry and architecture of the arches stretching from one side of the street up to the barrier wall.
“How did they move and shape so much stone for this city? The buttresses alone are so delicately crafted.” Halena asked, trailing her eyes along the pale stone edifices.
“Very dedicated and skilled hands did centuries ago. I can hardly imagine the kind of maintenance that’s put into Arras Ando on a daily basis to keep it this pristine.” Ed answered, following Halena’s eyes up to the arches, “If the legends are true, it should stand as no surprise why this city is so meticulously preserved.”
Halena raised an eyebrow, “There’s a legend that goes with Arras Ando’s construction?”
Ed nodded, “Quite so, ‘tis a tale as old as the Holy See itself. Church scripture says the first king demanded Arras Ando to be built in honor of the five angels. A city suitable for the gods themselves to reside and walk its halls alongside their mortal flock.”
“A shame that they left it all behind.” Halena gave a skeptical snort.
“All the more reason for us to steward their city so that it is ready to receive them, should they grace us with their divine presence once more.” He said with a quaint chuckle.
Halena looked up, spying the smirk pulling at the corner of Ed’s mouth. The pair came to a wide, decorated stone stairway, the middle landing decorated with a statue. She gazed up at the cross-shaped stonework, examining its intricate details. A star topped the crucifix, a pronged spearhead across the left arm, a stone-carved lyre stretched its strings over the right arm, a lion head framed in the middle, and the long base of the sculpture emblazoned with a pair of hands folded overtop one another. A pair of wings fanned upwards behind the sculpture, forming a sturdy base.
Hissing whispers wafted up in between Halena’s ears, unknown words with hate-filled syllables echoing from her shadow.
“Surely, you’ve seen a cross like this before while in the countryside.”
“Not in such intense detail, I’m afraid.” She replied, tilting her head as she took in the sight.
Edward stroked his chin, “You are familiar with the Five, yes? I’m quite partial to the wise teachings of Eistibus and his maps of the stars.”
“Only their idols hanging everywhere in Arram, but they’re not my gods.” Halena shrugged, turning away to continue with Edward up the last flight of stairs. The hissing faded away as soon as she removed herself from the sculpture’s presence.
Ed’s lips pressed together into a thin line, nodding, “Don’t say that too loudly while behind these walls. I’d hate for the heralds to have another victim in their custody.”
V
Noble Inquiry
Atop the landing of stairs, the suffocating and looming presence of the city had lifted significantly. Halena turned to look through the iron rods of fencing containing them in the upper terrace, seeing the numerous vaults and peaks of rooftops of the city’s quartered districts spanning towards the outer wall.
“You weren’t so eager to sight-see before. I thought you were in a hurry?” Edward asked, inclining his head and giving Halena a skeptical look over the rim of his glasses.
Halena wheeled around, realizing what she had been doing and caught up to Edward, “Forgive me. There’s just so much to take in.”
Edward clicked his tongue, shaking his head at her, “You’re an enigma, Miss Maris.”
He nodded down the streets, beckoning her to follow as he resumed their path. The avenue was decorated with planters, green bushes, and some waning fall flowers adding color to the elaborate stonework. While a large shadow was cast by the looming citadel, the buildings were not crammed together in the packed maze that made the lower quarters. Halena noticed more signs with special symbols and quality craftsmanship from the shops they passed. Edward’s
path led them north to a set of white steps that gently inclined to a green courtyard. A large, gnarled tree centered the stretch of grass, framed on either side by buildings with high gabled roofs. Crowning the grassy knoll, the high, pointed towers of the mall’s largest structure loomed over the gnarled tree.
Halena gawked as Edward took the left sidewalk, skirting the middle of the green stretch of grass. The gentleman looked over his shoulder, “You’ll catch a moth if your mouth keeps hanging open like that.”
Her jaw closed at his comment, swallowing the lump in her throat, “No sooner than you eating the cobblestones if you keep fretting over me like this.”
“Oh, but I never get such a chance to watch someone be so captivated by the city. The Manin College draws attention from across the Holy See if not for its beautiful campus, then for its prestige. The academy is very selective of the scholars it takes in, and even more selective in whom it shares its secrets with.”
Halena’s attention snapped back to Edward, eyes drifting away to follow the gnarled tree, “Surely, they’ll listen after I tell them about the dead scholar.”
“…and promptly show you the door after you finish the story. If you want them to receive you well, you’ll follow my lead, Miss Maris.” Edward answered, the playful tone to his voice gone.
She blinked, unnerved by Ed’s change in demeanor as they neared the campus’ main building. She lowered her voice, “How? What are you going to—“
Ignoring the woman’s hushed protest, Edward opened the heavy door to the large building, keeping his eyes forward. Halena quieted with frustration and stepped in line into the echoing vaulted halls of the building. He approached a desk in the main lobby, his shoes clicking on the polished stone floor and spoke with one of the two women tending to a ledger open on their desks.
“Pardon me. My lord, Calyrien Moreaux, wishes to check out a handful of the library’s volumes on botany and Mistral flora. We are here to fulfill his order.” Edward said, pulling a folded slip of paper from inside his coat and flashing it to the receptionist.