by V. M. Sang
Another wave of aerials flew over while the defenders tried to set light to the catapults.
More died.
Then, all of a sudden a dark cloud appeared on the horizon. It got bigger as it approached. Soon it resolved itself into dozens of flying creatures. As soon as they were close enough, they began to attack the flying aerials.
There were pegasi, who landed in the town and cantered up and down the streets fighting the invading aerials with hoof and teeth. There were wyverns and griffins who attacked the flying aerials. There were winged snakes like the one Pettic had killed and they went into the camp of the aerials along with phoenixes and cocatrices.
The defenders looked on with amazement as the creatures decimated their enemy.
The commander in chief must have managed to send a message to Faoor because in the middle of this slaughter the city arrived overhead and the surviving aerials ran to the ropes where the people in the city pulled them up.
As soon as the last of the aerials had gone, the creatures flew away, but one was arriving. She flew in and landed in the town square as she had before.
She settled down on her haunches and called for Pettic.
He came hurrying from the walls and bowed to her. 'Thank you for the help of your creatures,' he said.
'I hope you will be able to negotiate now that they have left. My creatures have also taken care of the other towns. All the aerials have now gone. It is up to you now to make peace.' She stood up. 'I hope you will be able to free these folk from their slavery.'
With that she spread her wings. Pettic and Natas, having experienced the back draught previously, braced themselves as she leaped into the air and was gone.
Natas and Pettic looked at each other.
'We need to get a message up to the cities,' said Natas.
'Yes. I'm not sure how we do that though.'
They did not need to worry over that, though. The next day a red aerial came to the gates.
'I am here with a message from Queen Kelle. She wishes your leaders to come up to Faoor tomorrow one hour after dawn. Her Majesty wishes to speak with you. The leaders of all the towns are being invited to the cities.'
Then the aerial turned and left.
'Well now, what do you make of that?' said Natas.
'Could be a trap,' replied Pettic. 'I suggest we're very careful, but we must go.'
'And I need to find that gem and get out of here,' he added to himself.
Chapter 17
'Eloraine, you ought to come to this meeting,' her mother said the next morning. 'It'll be valuable experience for you. Negotiating is always tricky.'
'Do you really intend to negotiate, Mother?'
'Of course, dear. That groundling, what's his name, Naras, Natas? Anyway, he had a good point. Without the groundlings, we aerials are dead. We have to negotiate.'
Eloraine sighed. 'All right, I'll be there.'
The throne room had a large table in the middle. The slaves brought it here for the negotiations. Around it sat Queen Kelle, Princess Eloraine, Tromb, the aerials' first minister, Pettic, Natas and Harip from Brewerstown.
Queen Kelle began the proceedings.
'Now, we're here to try to come to some agreement,' she said. 'We need each other, it seems and fighting is not going to get us anywhere.'
'The groundlings could get on quite well without you lot,' thought Pettic, but he said nothing. He was concentrating on a slight warmth in his left earring indicating that the gem he was looking for might be close by.
The negotiations began. Queen Kelle spoke.
'First, what are your grievances?
'Where to start, Your Majesty,' Natas began. 'First, there is the treatment of us. Although we're not slaves in name, in practice that's exactly what we are.'
'What nonsense,' snapped the Queen. 'You're free to go where you will on the ground and you govern yourselves.'
'But we're not free to choose our own trades. Our children are taken from us as soon as they reach twelve years old and are put into whatever trade you decide is best for them.'
'You groundlings aren't capable of deciding what's best for you. You need guidance.'
Pettic's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists beneath the table.
'With all due respect Your Majesty,' he said, through gritted teeth, 'the groundlings are intelligent beings. They are not something less than you.'
'The way of Aeris is that we aerials are the rulers and you groundlings are the ruled. We know better than you what is best for you.'
Pettic was unable to keep his anger in check any longer and he banged his fist on the table.
'You are not so different from the groundlings. I know that sometimes aerials give birth to a child without a membrane. Doesn't that suggest you are the same?'
'Those children are defective. We send them down to the ground where they'll be happier.'
'You send them down to die,' said Harip. 'A few we find, but too often we find small skeletons. It's inhumane.'
'You don't seem to have aerial children though,' Eloraine said. 'Doesn't that imply we aren't the same. If we were, you would have aerial children in the same way we have groundling children.'
'Oh, but we do,' said Harip through gritted teeth.
'How is that? You don't send any up to the cities.'
'When a baby is born with a membrane, we surgically remove it, Your Highness.'
The Queen's eyes flashed. 'You do what?' she exclaimed. 'You deny your children the right to live a comfortable life in the cities and instead condemn them to a life of hard work and drudgery?'
'There's nothing wrong with hard work. It's better than idleness,' retorted Natas. 'And what would happen if we did send them to the cities? Would their futures still be decided? Don't you have strict hierarchies here? If someone is born a red, then there are many things not permitted to them. They are the lowest of your classes. Can a black who is a brilliant soldier ever become a commander? Can a bronze who might be a clever politician or diplomat ever become an ambassador? No. They're fixed in their places just as we are.'
The Queen stood up, her chair falling to the ground behind her.
'I can see that there is no common ground between us,' she said. 'When you are willing to discuss things properly instead of just hurling insults at our way of life, then we might be able to pursue these talks. Until then, they are ended.'
She stalked to the door leaving her chair on the ground. Pettic noticed his earring did not cool as she walked away. So the gem he was looking for was with Princess Eloraine.
The delegates from the groundlings stood and began to walk to the other door in the throne room. Then princess Eloraine rose, picked up the chair her mother had tipped over and called, 'Wait. I'm interested in what you were saying. Perhaps I can have some influence with my mother. Come back and talk.'
The three men turned slowly and walked back to the negotiation table. Once they were there, Eloraine spoke again.
'Sit down. Now, let's discuss our way of life first. You mentioned we live a life of comfort. Yes, we do, but it's also a life of boredom. Because of the strict hierarchy we can't do so many things. I would like to paint, but art is restricted to the blues. My brother loves hunting, but we're not allowed to hunt except on special occasions when we're hunting a fugitive.'
'We don't have a problem with boredom, Your Highness,' said Natas. 'but some of our young men and women are discontented because they're not allowed to do the job they would like to do. What you're doing is wrong, forcing people into jobs they don't like.'
The discussions went on for a long time and it was getting dusk when the three representatives returned to Smithtown. The Princess seemed to have been at least partially convinced by their arguments and she promised to speak to her mother about it.
The next morning, a red messenger arrived to tell Pettic, Natas and Harip to return to the city. This they did and were escorted to the throne room where the Queen, Eloraine and Tromb were already seated.
/> Queen Kelle began.
'Sit down, will you. My daughter has been speaking with me. It seems she thinks perhaps you were right and we should not be treating each other in the way we have. I don't agree, of course, but I have decided to continue negotiations.'
The day went a little better than the previous one. It seemed Eloraine had managed to persuade her mother that some compromises must be reached. She pointed out how reliant the cities were on the groundlings. If the groundlings continued with their embargo, then those in the cities would starve.
After a long day, they agreed in general terms that the aerials would stop sending babies down to die, but instead give them to a family. They also agreed to stop taking children from their families at twelve years old and putting them with strangers to learn a trade they may not wish to pursue. In return, the groundlings agreed to initially send the goods ordered up to the cities.
To more easily continue the following morning, the aerials reluctantly agreed the three groundlings could stay overnight in the cites.
That evening there was a knock at Pettic's door. He opened it to find Eloraine standing there. His earring began to heat.
'Your Highness,' he said, and bowed. 'Please come in.'
'You have very nice manners, Pettic,' said Eloraine.
'That's what comes from being brought up in a Royal Palace.'
'You were? Tell me about it.'
Pettic told her all about his upbringing in the palace on his home world. She was fascinated by how the royalty differed from the goldwings on Aeris. She asked about it.
'Well you see, Princess…'
'Oh, call me Eloraine. We don't need to be formal here.'
'All right. Eloraine, on my world I have often heard my king say that his job is to serve the people. He's not superior to them, but their servant. It's his job to try to improve their lives and not better his own. This seems to be the opposite of what you people think.'
Eloraine sat with her brows furrowed,
'It's certainly a different viewpoint,' she said. 'My mother wouldn't agree though. She only sees our position as one of privilege and power. She could never see we should, or even could, make the lives of others better. Perhaps if I talked to her and work on her, she just might be able to do something about the rigid structure of the aerials. Other than that, I have little hope.'
'Even that would be better than nothing,' said Pettic, hope growing in his breast that he could improve the lot of the groundlings, if not immediately, but when this princess came to the throne.
The pair talked well into the night. Just before she left in the small hours, Eloraine said, 'I would like you to stay here on Faoor when the others go back. I like talking to you.'
The next morning, the negotiations resumed, and eventually they signed a treaty. There was no help in it for the people of the cities and their rigid hierarchy, but the groundlings did earn some extra freedoms, not least that they would be treated as human beings. This was largely due to Eloraine's intervention. She had done more thinking when she left Pettic, and, thanks to their discussions she decided the groundlings were in fact human and not just very intelligent animals.
Pettic was pleased to be staying on Faoor, although he did go back with the others when they descended. He wanted to be there when they gave the news of their successes. Harip left for Brewerstown to tell his people what they had gained.
Birds flew from town to town with the news, and there was a full three days when no work was done at all to allow the people to celebrate.
Pettic and Cledo left to go up to Faoor after the three days. The people did not want him to leave, but he insisted. He needed to be on Faoor if he were to get the gem and return to his own world. He still had to find out which of Eloraine's jewellery contained the gem, decide how he was to get it and then leave.
Pettic settled into the rooms he had been allocated. He had little with him except the few clothes Natas's wife gave him. He washed himself in water in a basin on the washstand. It was not particularly hot, but Pettic did not mind. He settled down to read one of the books in the room when Eloraine knocked at the door.
She entered and sat in a chair opposite him. He was aware of the warmth in his ear. So she still wore the jewel. He looked at her and tried to remember which of her many pieces of jewellery she had been wearing each time he had seen her. The gem was obviously in a much loved piece of jewellery.
This would make it harder to get it from her, both from the practical point of view, and also from the ethical. He did not want to hurt her by stealing a piece of jewellery that she loved. He was torn. He needed that gem in order to save his land. Would she give it to him if he asked her?
Elorane began speaking.
'Pettic, I've done a lot of thinking. I've had three days while you were gone and have decided you're right. The groundlings are obviously the same as us. They sometimes have winged babies, we sometimes have babies with no wings. I don't know what would happen if an aerial and a groundling were to mate. That would be interesting, wouldn't it?'
'I hope you aren't thinking of forcing some to try it!'
'Of course not. Don't be silly. I've learned it isn't good to force people to do what they don't want to do. No, I've come here to tell you of a decision I've made.'
Pettic stroked Cledo's ears as he listened. The dog leaned against his master's chair enjoying the experience.
Eloraine continued.
'I will be Queen after my mother. There's no way that I can get her to change things any more drastically than she already has. She does nothing but complain about how she was backed into a corner.'
Pettic stopped stroking Cledo who looked at his master in disappointment, nudged his hand twice, to no avail, then lay down on his feet.
'When I become Queen, though, I'll make some big changes. Eventually I want everyone to be free to work and live as they please. I'll allow the aerials to move up the hierarchy, regardless of wing colour. I'll allow the groundlings to come and work and live in the cities if they wish, and I'll allow the aerials to live and work on the ground, at whatever they choose.'
Pettic smiled. He almost jumped up and embraced the princess, but he remembered just in time that princesses are not fond of being grabbed in big hugs by their subjects.
Eloraine was continuing.
'It may be, that living and working together, aerials and groundlings may fall in love with each other. At present, marriage is not allowed, but I will allow it. Groundlings and aerials will be free to marry if they so wish.'
Pettic was sitting with his mouth hanging open. Eloraine had come much further than he could have imagined. From being a typical aerial she was now a radical. How would her subjects take it when she came to the throne?
'Pettic…I…I…well, one thing I would like,' she paused. 'Will you stay here on Faoor? Will you be a friend to me and help me? It will be hard for me to convince others. And…Oh, this is difficult. I would like us to be the first aerial and groundling couple.'
Pettic could not move. This was the last thing he expected. Princess Eloraine was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but he kept on seeing the face of another princess. A princess he had grown up with since he was thirteen. A princess who he was helping to find her brother. A princess who was naturally kind and understanding and who did not need anyone to tell her what was right and wrong.
'I'm flattered, Eloraine,' said Pettic, 'but I can't stay here forever. I'm here for a purpose and when that purpose is done, I must leave. I need to save my prince or my country will suffer greatly.'
Eloraine stood up. She spread her arms showing the beautiful golden membrane.
'Do you not find me attractive then?' she said.
'Eloraine, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, or probably ever will. If I didn't have to go home to save my land, I'd stay here like a flash, but I have my duty.' And Lucenra, he thought. I didn't realise it before, but she's very important to me.
Eloraine sat down,
head bowed.
'I shouldn't have said anything.' She spoke softly. 'Of course you must do your duty.' She raised her head then and looked him in the eyes. 'You can come back and visit, though. You can come through the arch in the garden. Perhaps when you've saved your prince you can come back to me.'
Pettic made no reply. He could not give her false hope, but then again he could not bring himself to tell her that he would not be back.
Eloraine pulled herself together and said, 'I'll write a contract and sign it. I'll get groundling and aerial witnesses, and you, of course, to sign too. Then I can't get out of doing what I've told you I intend.
'Please don't tell my mother about what I'm planning to do when I become queen. She might just decide to disinherit me.'
Two weeks later, Pettic, Natas and another groundling Pettic did not know went into Eloraine's private offices. There were three aerials there as well. A redwing, a bronzewing and a silverwing. All were young.
Eloraine entered and the signing began. Each of them read the documents spread out on the table and signed them, then the princess added her name.
'That's done then,' she said. 'Now I'm going to put these documents into a box, sealed with my seal.' She did as she said. 'Now this box will go into my safe and no one else knows the combination. My mother will never know of my pledge to all the people.' She matched her actions to her words and closed the safe.
'Now you are all dismissed. Pettic, you stay, please.'
Pettic wondered what was coming now. When everyone had left, Eloraine removed a diamond pin from her dress.
'I want you to have this, Pettic, to remind you of me when you return home. I suppose you'll want to go as soon as you can. I think you probably need to search the other cities for this gem you need. Oh, and here is your sword that we took from you before we sent you down to the ground.'
With that, she fled the room.
Pettic was amazed. Not only because the princess had given him her precious pin, but that as soon as he received it, his earring became extremely hot. Here was the gem he was looking for. A beautiful diamond. Of course, its clarity would represent air, just as the emerald represented the green of the plants on Terra and the ruby, the fires of Ignis.