by Bryant Reil
There was another wait, and Kyla kept her hands on the table with her fingers clasped so she wouldn’t fidget. She stared straight ahead, trying to look as dignified as she could, and in all her focus jumped in her seat when a scaly figure entered the room.
“Kyla Nim?” The lizard woman’s voice was soft but raspy, which made her seem quite old, though she had no hair to turn gray and her reptilian skin showed no wrinkles.
Kyla stood, and beckoned for her companions to do so as well, for she felt this was the polite thing to do. “Yes. Are you the Minister?”
“No. My name’s Myam. I work for the Queen. Her Highness will be here shortly. She has decided to meet with you personally.”
“Oh! Well, that’s good. I guess. I originally asked to meet with her, but the troll lady said—"
“The Queen would not normally attend such a meeting, but this is a significant occasion. When she enters, you shall all rise.”
Myam took her own seat halfway down the table. As she did, a strange little creature ran through one of the walls. It looked sort of like a tiny hairy elephant. It ran and rubbed against Myam’s foot. She scratched its ears, and then shooed it away with a light swat on the bottom, and it ran out the way it came.
Kyla stared after it. “What was that?”
“Oh? That is Kavvi, one of my baku. A dream spirit.”
Kyla supposed the baku must have some interesting purpose, to be housed in the Royal Palace, but before she could ask about it there was the noise of a procession in the hallway. Myam stood, and beckoned them to do the same, which they did. A fairy with golden hair flew into the room and grew to match Myam’s height and descended onto the floor. Behind her followed several finely-dressed individuals of various sorts. Most were dismissed by the Queen, save three, who followed her through the door. Two were guards: an elf and a man with green skin that had ivy growing out of it and climbing up his body. Each wore blue capes and had swords sheathed at either side. The third was a rounded man with blue skin, with a mouth that seemed a bit too wide and eyes that were uncomfortably far apart. Kyla looked away so as not to stare, and then looked back, worried she had been too obvious.
The Queen sat, and Myam and the blue man bowed before taking their seats, so Kyla did the same. The guards remained standing at either side of the door. There was a long creak as Lug’s seat crumpled beneath him and he struck the floor with a resonant thud. As he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling, Kyla blushed and covered her gaping mouth.
The Queen was smirking. She half-stood and peered over the table “I apologize that we didn’t provide proper seating for one of your impressive mass.”
Lug sat up. “No worry. I forgive.”
“Indeed. I will fetch some stronger chairs for the two of you.” The Queen nodded to her guards, who bowed and left the room. They returned hefting cast-iron stools and assisted Lumpy and Lug into place.
Once everyone was seated, Kyla figured she should get started as Queen Titania likely had more important things to do than talk about trade. “Hi!” she blurted, though this drew a gasp from the blue man. Myam smirked, and the Queen laughed.
“Easy, Terra. It’s alright, Kyla. This is Minister Terra. He oversees trade between High Haven and the sovereign kingdoms.”
“Oh! Nice to meet you.” Kyla extended her arm, but it went unreceived.
“I hear you have come to re-open trade with the Digans,” he croaked. “I am told you are their Chief?”
“Apparently.”
“And these are the Digans here?”
“No! Not me. Him.” Lug pointed at Lumpy, who simply gave a friendly wave.
“Very well. And his name?”
“Lumpy,” Kyla said.
“Lhmkhr,” Lug corrected. “I am Lug. I translate.”
Queen Titania smiled. “I appreciate your service, Lug. Now, Kyla, how did this come about?”
“What? This meeting? I just asked the troll, uh, Madam Okk, to—"
“No. I mean, how did you become the Chief of the Digans?”
“Oh, I didn’t do it on purpose. One of them kidnapped Lug, and Heff and I – that’s Lug’s boss – we went looking for him and the old chief was causing trouble. Turns out the other Digans didn’t like him either, because he’s mean and never shares his clothes. Anyway, we got in a fight with him and I took him apart. Then they made me chief. I’m pretty busy, though, and I don’t like being underground, so I put Lumpy in charge.”
Lumpy, aware he was being talked about, murmured something to Lug, who rumbled back in his stony language. It sounded like a hushed rockslide. Kyla waited for him to finish. When he was done, Lumpy gave a friendly wave.
The Queen glanced at Myam as she leaned forward in her seat. “Interesting. And your purpose in coming to the Palace? I am told that you are interested in opening trade. I must say it would be nice to have some aurichalcum. Very beautiful metal. Have you ever seen aurichalcum, Kyla?”
The blood drained from Kyla’s face into her feet. “Um…yes, I have.”
“I hear you were looking for some a while ago. Word came to me that you had a plan to stop Erebus. That you were seeking aurichalcum for this purpose. How did that work out?”
Kyla looked around the room. She knew her face was broadcasting her feelings. She couldn’t suppress her anxiety, but neither was she sure she should tell the truth. Not here in front of Myam and Minister Terra, anyway. What would happen if they knew she’d been working for the goddess of night?
She wanted to talk, and tell Queen Titania everything, but fear bested her. She would tell some of the truth, but not all. “Nobody took me seriously,” she muttered. “Professor Ciana said to let the army handle Erebus, and Director Anh-Bul said my idea was stupid.”
Queen Titania pursed her lips as she stared. Lug began shifting on his stool. He, too, knew about Kyla’s mission to stop Erebus, though Kyla hadn’t filled him in on the details of her success. Yet he said nothing about it.
Kyla could feel the Queen’s eyes boring into her soul. Could she read minds? Likely not. It was a rare gift. Kyla felt the urge to blurt out that she had been manipulated by Sophrosyne, who was really Nyx, and maybe the Queen could protect her, but perhaps only throw her in prison. Or execute her.
Kyla chose to sit quietly for now.
The Queen leaned back and drummed her fingers on the table. “What would the Digans want in exchange for their aurichalcum?”
“What?” Kyla felt the blood flow back into her face as she realized the conversation had flowed back onto a more comfortable topic. “Oh. Well, they like clothing. Cloth. Things that are soft. Pillows, maybe.” She turned to Lug, who translated to Lumpy, who gave a low rumble in reply.
“Yes. He want soft. Pillows best.”
“But he has to share it with everyone!” Kyla insisted. “Don’t hog it all like the old chief.”
Lug relayed the message. “He say of course.”
Queen Titania stood, and so did Myam and the blue man, so Kyla stood as well, and signalled for Lumpy and Lug to do the same. One of the guards opened the door and the Queen adjusted her sleeves as she spoke. “Terra, prepare a meeting for our guests to work out the details of the agreement in the morning. In the meantime, you three will stay at the palace as my guests. Myam, see to it that rooms are prepared.”
Kyla gasped. “Oh! I couldn’t! I mean, my friends are expecting me. They’ll worry if I don’t come back.”
“I’ll send a message to Elial. Don’t you worry. Tonight, you are an honored guest of the Queen.”
Kyla forced a grin. “Oh, that will be wonderful.” It would be exciting, except for the passing glare from the Queen that told her she was going to be watched most carefully.
Chapter Eighteen
The Walls Have Ears
Kyla held her shoulders back and chin up to look regal as Queen Titania escorted her to her room. Finely-dressed officials came to the Queen, and bowed, and asked for her attention, but were waved away or referred to speak to s
ome Minister or another. Kyla smiled and bowed and curtsied as she was introduced as an Honored Guest of the Royal Palace. Yet behind her smiles and polite introductions Kyla knew she was no guest, but a prisoner. It was a relief, in a way, to know that the horrible truth welling inside her would be dragged out by the Queen’s expert means. Despite the consequences, Kyla felt some relief that the burden of her secret employment with Nyx was nearly over.
The wing in which Kyla was to sleep was high up the central tower, a few floors below the Royal Chambers. As they ascended the stairs Kyla saw two gnomes. One was old, and hobbled past with a finely worked cane decked in swirls of gold. The other was a younger woman with ruddy skin carrying a bag of tools on one shoulder and several lengths of brass tubing over the other. The older one bowed as the Queen walked by, though his eyes shifted aside.
“Exa! Inda!” Kyla shouted and waved. “Imagine running into you!”
Inda waved back and smiled, though he hobbled past the Queen with eyes to the side, and Exa followed with her head down.
“You two know each other?” the Queen asked.
“They helped me with an…uh…project.”
“A small bauble,” Exa interjected with too much vigor. “A project we did as a favor to a mutual friend.”
“Mutual friend?” Kyla didn’t remember this part. “Which friend?” Then she bit her lower lip. Were they lying to help cover the true purpose of her visit: that they had made the ball of aurichalcum in which Erebus was now trapped?
“Oh, what’s-her-name.” Inda scratched his head. “I don’t know her well. Tall woman, with black hair and a black dress. You know, that one.”
Kyla heart skipped a beat. He clearly meant Sophrosyne, but also clearly didn’t want that fact known. Kyla fessing up now would incriminate him as well. She believed she could trust him. He had, after all, helped her capture Erebus.
She nodded. “Oh, right. I have a tough time with her name as well.”
Queen Titania’s lower lip was curled out in a way that spelled doubt to Kyla. “And what are you doing in the guest quarters?” the Queen asked.
“Oh…installing some piping. Heard Kyla would be staying, and we thought we’d touch up the room.”
“A little outside the realm of a goldsmith, no?”
“Oh, well, I haven’t been given much work lately, so just thought it’d be a good way to keep busy. Besides, Exa did most of the work.”
Kyla stared at the Queen, perhaps too intently, as the Queen stared at Inda, whose face and hands were sweating. It wasn’t until one of the pipes slid from Exa’s arms and bounced down the stairs in a harmonious clatter that the old gnome managed to break away. The Queen’s eyes followed as he hobbled down to collect it. Exa followed with an expression of apologetic relief.
“Come on,” the Queen finally ordered, and grabbed Kyla gently by the shoulder. She guided her up the stairs and down a long corridor. There were few people upstairs, besides a few servants who bowed deeply as the Queen passed.
The corridors were white with gold trim, and narrow pedestals topped with blue flowers were spread at intervals along the walls. The ceiling loomed far above, and the halls were lit with orbs set so high she wondered how anyone would be able to tap them on and off.
The Queen stopped. Kyla’s jaw dropped as her eyes traced their way up the towering door. It opened by itself as she approached. Inside was the most spectacular room Kyla had seen, with a finely carved bed with a thick mattress and a sheer awning stretched over the tall bedposts. Matching dressers, end tables, a wardrobe, and a vanity of polished ash spotted the walls. Everything was trimmed in gold, and the walls painted with a swirling floral pattern. The ceiling, perhaps twenty feet above the floor, peaked in the center.
Kyla’s hands flew up to her cheeks. “My clothes! I didn’t bring my things. I didn’t expect to stay.” She looked out the door into the hall. “Where are Lug and Lumpy?” In the excitement Kyla hadn’t noticed they had been separated.
Queen Titania smiled. “They have been taken to rooms more suited to their robust nature. Creatures of stone don’t appreciate the same comforts as beings of flesh.”
“They do, though,” Kyla corrected. “Digans are crazy for soft things.”
“I shall have some brought to them, then. I shall also arrange a meeting between them and Trade Minister Terra.”
“And me, of course! I’m the Chief.”
“You put Lumpy in charge. He and Lug will handle the negotiation. Don’t worry – you’ll be able to read the agreement and sign off on it. I will need to ratify it was well.” Titania’s smile grew even broader. “We’ll go over it together. For now, get some rest.” Titania walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. It was full of clothing. “You have been fully stocked. Pick something out for tomorrow. You have a private bath through that door.”
Queen Titania pointed to a wall, and though there was no door visible, there was a handle. Kyla walked over to it and turned it and pushed. There was indeed another room, filled with bronze basins and ivory handles, and towels hanging from fixtures on the walls.
“I’d like to talk to Lug and Lumpy before bed, if I may.”
Queen Titania shook her head. “I’m afraid they’re in another tower, and I’d prefer you don’t go wandering the palace. Stick to this level. Everything you need can be found here. If you need anything, ask one of the servants. There is a bell on the night-stand if you wish to call them. I will have supper sent to you shortly, and breakfast will arrive at sun-up. I shall send for you after you have bathed and dressed.”
Kyla was annoyed, but what could she do? She was the Queen’s prisoner. And though she didn’t know what this might mean, at least she was safe from Sophrosyne, and it was a far sight better than her imprisonment with Mokosh.
Kyla decided a bath was in order. Many of the installations reminded her of the human bathroom in Whitehall, with tubes that spouted water. Yet rather than knobs and handles that the humans used, plaques listed commands that could be given to elemental servants behind the walls.
“Fill the tub with warm water,” she said.
“Yes, Mistress.” A feminine voice echoed through the pipes and water gushed into the bronze basin. It seemed an awful job, Kyla thought, to sit unseen and await occasional orders, so Kyla thought to engage in some conversation to alleviate the servant’s certain boredom. As the rushing water made hearing difficult, she waited until it stopped before she spoke.
“So, what’s your name?” Kyla asked into the pipe as she disrobed.
There was no reply, so Kyla asked again. “You. Water-pourer. Do you have a name?”
There was a pause. “Yes, Mistress. I am Ismenis.”
“Call me Kyla. Where are you?”
Another pause. “In the fountain behind the washrooms, Mistress. It is not conventional for the royal guests to speak with me.”
“Oh. Don’t you get bored?”
“Not at all, Mistress. It is my honor to perform my royal duty.”
Kyla doubted that. “Not Mistress. Just Kyla. Do you just wait for people to tell you to pour water?”
“I am paid well, and my lodging is provided. The hours are reasonable. We work in shifts, of six hours each day. I enjoy my free time here.”
“Oh. Are you a naiad?”
“Yes, Mistress. I mean, Mistress Kyla.”
“We have a few naiads at Equinox. That’s where I go to school. One of them washes the buildings for a living. It looks like hard work, but she’s always doing something. I don’t think I could bear waiting for orders all day.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Well, that’s what really counts. Do many of the other guests speak with you?”
“You are the first. I am instructed not to engage in conversation with the guests.”
“Oh. Well, you don’t mind talking to me, do you? The Queen separated me from my friends and won’t let me leave this floor. What’s up here, anyway?”
“Bedrooms, a common room, and
kitchen.”
“Oh! There are other bedrooms? Who else is staying here?”
“You are the only one, Mistress Kyla, else I wouldn’t risk speaking to you, as they would all hear me as well. This floor is being refinished, and your room was completed just before your arrival.”
“Oh! That’s why Inda and Exa were up here.”
Kyla paused and waited, expecting the naiad to ask her something, but after a momentary silence she decided this conversation was only working in one direction. “Do you have a family?”
“No. Naiads, as other nymphs, do not have parents, and I have not taken a mate.”
Kyla bit her cheek. She had learned from Eunoe that families were a sensitive point with nymphs. They could have children, if they mated, but most did not. Many, such as the dryads, lived solitary lives.
“Do you have many friends in the castle?”
“A few. I spend much of my spare time with the other naiads.”
“You should come to my room when I’m finished bathing. We could talk in person.”
“I’m afraid that wouldn’t be permitted, Mistress Kyla. I am breaking the rules by speaking with you. I fear I would lose my job if I consorted with a guest.”
“It wouldn’t be consorting. Just talking. I don’t have much else to do. I’m not allowed to leave this floor.”
There was a pause. “You are a prisoner?”
Kyla clicked her tongue. “Guess so. For now. Queen Titania’s been pretty nice, but I think she’s spying on me.”
“Oh, Mistress Kyla, then I mustn’t speak to you at all. Please accept my apology and speak to me no more.”
“It’s no problem. I don’t think she’ll mind. I’ll ask her, if you like.”
There was no reply.
“Ismenis? Are you still there?”