by M. D. Laird
“I am not used to having a woman around all the time—give me several years to adjust, and I might not be so eager.”
“Well, that would be a shame, Prince Thomas.” She grinned, pulling on her dress. “I rather enjoy you eager.” His eyes darkened as she sat beside him. “What did the queen do? I heard a loud bang and a lot of shouting.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s all I heard as well.”
“I am going to throttle, Thomas,” said Eve. “He knew what the king wanted, and he wouldn’t tell me.”
“So you didn’t know?” asked Tharazan. “You didn’t know you’re a great alchemist?”
“I knew a little, but not what it meant. Thomas came to my office to speak to me alone, I didn’t trust him and had him shackled before my guards left him. I removed the shackles from his wrists. He was shocked and told me I should tell no one. I was going to tell Calab, but he hasn’t been himself. Then Thomas said to me on his next visit that I had a high prince power and that people would come for me if they knew I had it—even my own people—so I didn’t tell anyone. I did not think it would matter as I didn’t think anyone else knew.”
“This puts us at risk, Your Majesty,” said Jacob. “Your power is legendary, and many will covet it.”
“Why? They can’t make me make the blades.”
“Politics is often a powerful motivator. They will try and force you into a position where you see no option. You’re immortal, they can take as long as they need to and they will come at you from all angles. They will try to manoeuvre you into a position where you will make the blades for your own armies and then it is a few political moves to secure them for themselves. They will appeal to the greed of your people.”
“And my people would sell our enemies the blades they would use to slit our throats as George Orwell said.”
“It is a common strategy.”
“It’s ridiculous. Why does anyone want the blades so badly?”
“It isn’t just about adamantine,” said Tharazan “You have the most powerful alchemical power ever known running through your veins. You have not even begun to understand what you’re capable of.”
“I don’t want this power,” she said, feeling frightened. “My magic was supposed to keep Arkazatinia safe not put us in more danger.”
“Relax, Your Majesty,” said Tharazan. “We’ll figure something out.”
Thomas and the princess arrived at the guild ahead of the queen. They left their vector in its usual spot and quickly entered the guild taking the clothing sack with them. Thomas asked Arakiel to bring them wine, and they ascended the stairs. Upon entering their bedroom, the princess removed her dress and pulled on her night dress. Thomas removed his shirt and his shoes, pulled out a copy of the Michælis and lay on the bed. Arakiel entered with the wine, and the princess poured them each a goblet before sitting beside him with her own book in hand. Then they could relax and appear as though they had not spent the evening engaged in stealth and espionage.
“What language is this written in?” the princess asked, peering at the Michælis.
“It is the language of Heaven.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? The writing is so…so beautiful. I can’t read a word of it, but it is… Well, it’s like art.”
“What did you expect from the language of Heaven?” he asked dryly.
“What is it written on? It doesn’t look like vellum.”
“It’s erethral, it’s a membrane—like our wings but thinner.”
“How old is it?”
“Old.”
“How is it so well preserved?”
“It’s of Heaven, so it is immortal.”
“Can you teach me to read this?”
“I can teach you some of it. There are parts of our decree that you cannot know, but you can read the parts relating to our role in Anaxagoras, though there are translations in the common tongue—the Arkazatines all seem to have them, and your father probably has several.”
“It is more the language than the content—I would love to paint it.”
“I wouldn’t,” he said sternly. “No one but the angels should write in the language of Heaven. I’m probably pushing my luck agreeing to teach you to read it.”
She nodded. “I didn’t think,” she said. “I expect they will arrive back anytime soon.”
“As soon as you hear them return you should pretend to read as the queen will storm in here.”
“Why would she storm in here?”
“I assume that the crash was her reaction to the king asking her to make adamantine weapons.”
“You didn’t tell her?”
“I was going to, but I was concerned for my decree.”
“Right.” She smiled, shaking her head. “We need a new plan to find the Crown. Any other ideas where they may be hidden?”
“What about in a bedroom of the guild?”
“No, I would have known if someone was being kept there.”
“There was no place out of bounds?”
“No. Just my father’s quarters and his office, but I would go in them anyway.”
“What about the staff?”
“The guild staff?” she asked. Thomas nodded. “He has attendants, kitchen staff, laundry staff, housekeepers and gardeners in addition to his guards. If it is any of them, I have never noticed anything different about them. They could be anywhere. Could you hire an alchemist to find them?”
“That’s too risky, they could inform the king.”
The princess’ eyes widened. “She might not—if she ever forgives you.”
He looked up. “The queen?”
“She’s an alchemist, right?”
“Yes,” he sighed, “but I doubt it will work as she doesn’t understand how to use her power.”
“There must be a book on alchemy. We have to help her learn.”
Thomas smiled as he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. The princess lay back and opened her book as the door to their room burst open.
“Your Majesty,” Thomas exclaimed. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Don’t give me that crap.” The queen snarled at him. “Princess Eleanor, please leave us.”
“No,” said the princess, appearing alarmed. “I will not leave you with my husband in our bedroom. He is barely clothed and—”
“Trust me, that is the last thing I have in mind.”
“Anything you need to say to me you can say in front of the princess,” said Thomas.
“You arrogant ass,” she snapped. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want to risk my decree.”
“You stupid fool! I wouldn’t have declared war on him, but it would have been nice to have gone prepared rather than have him spring that on me. Son Jacob and Lord Tharazan didn’t know anything about my magic—you made us look like idiots.”
“Please accept my apologies, Your Majesty,” he said.
“I have no idea what I am supposed to do now, my whole reason for coming to Axandria is based on a falsehood.”
“He is using us all,” said the princess. “He married me to Prince Thomas in the hope that I would provoke him into attacking me so he could evict the Sonneillon demons from the guild and access the adamantine. He used the prince to get to you, but that was an excuse—he needed an excuse to marry me to Prince Thomas. Once he had his hands on the adamantine here, he would only need your allegiance. He hoped that the prince would make some headway with that, but that will only be part of his plan. He would not be relying on the prince to secure your allegiance.”
“No, Princess,” said the queen. “Son Jacob believes that he will try to force me into a position where I see no alternative but to make adamantine weapons.”
“So we need to stop him,” said the princess.
“How?”
“We need to find the Crown, remove my father and put them on the throne. We will have the support of the rebels if
we can convince them to reinstate the Crown rather than the government they intend. We will hopefully have allies in you. We just need an alchemist to find the Crown.”
“Princess, there is no we,” said the queen. “We cannot involve ourselves in your revolution—that would be an act of war. I’m sorry, but we have to protect our own shores.”
The princess looked disappointed. “Could you at least help us find the Crown? We need an alchemist to find them.”
“I don’t know how to do that. It has been a long day, and I’m exhausted. I’m going to sleep. We will return to Arkazatinia in the morning.”
The queen left the room and entered the room next door followed by her guards. Jacob and Tharazan said nothing and retired to their rooms.
Eve entered the parlour the next morning for breakfast. She had slept well considering the events of the previous day. She figured she must have been mentally drained after receiving the letter from Calab and then learning of the king’s plans and the risks posed to Arkazatinia.
Eve was relieved to find the parlour was occupied only by Jacob and Tharazan. She entered and bid them a good morning before taking a seat and pouring some tea.
“Is the plan still for us to leave this morning, Your Majesty?” asked Jacob.
“I didn’t hear your opinions last night,” she replied. “Perhaps we should discuss it.”
“We can’t involve ourselves in the revolution,” said Jacob. “But we risk further trouble if we leave Axandria now. You should consider meeting with the king again and discussing the terms of your allegiance.”
“I am not getting involved in whatever scheme he has to acquire adamantine.”
“Of course not,” said Jacob, “but we still need his allegiance—now more than ever. Arkazatinia is the only country in Anaxagoras, besides two islands, that has a natural order, all other countries have either governments or a monarchy that has been established after the Crown has been overthrown. They are not ruled by those appointed in the traditional way, and many are motivated by greed and power—the king is right when he said they will turn to you. We need allies.”
“He wants me to marry his son and make weapons—I will do neither.”
“He wants you in his corner,” said Tharazan. “At the moment you have the advantage, but as the other powers start manoeuvring they will make things difficult for you—you should try to reach a compromise.”
Eve groaned. “I suppose I was too quick to storm out,” she said. “I wish Thomas had told me the king’s plans and I could have been better prepared.”
“You cannot rest the blame for you losing your temper on Prince Thomas, Your Majesty,” said Jacob. “You need to learn to keep your calm—regardless of what others say. Breaking the doors from their hinges and storming from his guild may give an intimidating impression but it is not the action of a thoughtful and responsible queen.”
Eve cringed. It wasn’t the first time she had received a telling off from Son Jacob—he had spoken to her sternly about letting her pride rule her actions during the battle against the Alchitch. She knew he was right. It did feel good to blow up the doors, but she should not have done it. She knew Thomas was keeping something from her, she should have been prepared to hear something unexpected. She could hear Calab in her head muttering Baltasar Gracián quotes, Keep cool in moments of extreme emotion. Any excess of strong emotion weakens reason. Ignoring her thoughts of Calab she sighed and said, “You’re right. Send word to the king that we will return in a few days to resume our negotiations.”
“Very good, Your Majesty,” said Jacob.
The journey to the island had passed more comfortably as Maol’s relationship improved with Rya and the guards. He continued to be chained at the fireside, though the guards had grown more relaxed in their duties and allowed him to use the bushes without the chains. Rya began to sit closer to him at the fire during supper, and they had spent some evenings playing chess whilst Zayn and Karim scammed the guards at cards. Zayn voiced that he was reconsidering his decision to go to the island and instead fancied a career conning wealthy nobles out of their marcs.
Maol and Rya spent time talking about their lives. Rya was secretive about her past, though she asked many questions of Maol’s life. Maol answered every question she asked and told her things he was ashamed and embarrassed about. She was yet to respond with horror or disgust, which surprised Maol.
“I have never been a very nice person,” he said. “I have treated people, especially hominem and people under me, quite badly. Zayn and Karim are the only hominem I have ever gotten to know. I always thought we were better than them. I feel guilty for a lot of things I have done.” He eyed the scar across Rya’s nose.
She reached to place her hand on top of his but hesitated and instead returned it to her lap. “I have done many things I regret as well. I feel guilty for buying slaves, I feel guilty for the slaves I don’t buy and…well, I always think that when I accomplish my goal I can be better and improve things.”
“End slavery?”
“I’d like to.”
“Does that mean you will free me?”
“Even if I can’t end slavery altogether, I will free you when I achieve my goal.”
“What about your ten thousand marcs?”
“When I achieve my goal it won’t matter.”
“What is your aim?”
“I can’t tell you that yet.”
“When can you tell me?”
“When I am confident I can trust you.”
Maol shook the shackles on his wrists. “I assume that is a long way off.”
The next day the party were boarding Rya’s ship to her island. Maol was let out of the wagon without his chains for the journey, though the guards kept a close watch over him. He sought out Rya who was standing at the bow of the ship.
“I won’t see you much once we arrive on the island, will I?” he asked.
“I have a lot of work to do, but I try to visit often,” she replied.
Maol nodded. “What am I to do when we get there?”
“You’ll meet with the commander who will ask you a lot of questions about your skills, previous jobs and trades and then he will assign you work. There will be a chance for you to train as well, I encourage that, but I insist that everyone works and contributes to the island in some way.”
“How do I join your guard?”
“My guard?” she asked. “My guards have been with me for a long time, and I have never taken on new guards.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you can’t.”
“I have another plan for you.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t tell you yet.”
“How do you know I will want to do it if you don’t tell me?” Maol asked. Rya smiled weakly. Maol looked out onto the ocean and sighed. “You’ll sell me if I don’t?”
“I’m sorry, Maol,” she said sadly.
“Will there ever be a time when I am not threatened with being sold?”
Rya looked ashamed. “I hate to treat you this way, but you cost me a lot of money, and I have to consider the bigger picture.”
“What is the bigger picture? If I have to do it anyway then what is the harm in telling me?”
“Because if I involve you in my plan and I cannot trust you then you could jeopardise everything I have worked hard to achieve.”
“But if I have to follow your plan anyway or risk being sold then how much trust are you ever going to be able to put in me?”
“I’ve rushed into too many decisions where you are concerned already,” she said. “I will see how you get along on the island first.”
Maol sighed and leant on the side of the ship. “Do you have a timeframe for your plan?” he asked. “It can’t be very long as you’re using hominem and they don’t live that long.”
“In the next decade, I hope.”
Maol nodded. “When will I see you next?”
�
��A month or so perhaps. I visit as often as I can.”
“Are you married, Lord Rya?”
“No,” she said, puzzled.
“Courting anyone?”
“Maol... It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“Because I’m a slave?”
She frowned. “I own you, Maol. I have money invested in you, and I want you for a purpose. It’s hardly a good foundation for courtship.”
Maol grinned. “I’ve had courtships built on worse foundations.”
She laughed. “I’m sure.”
“What do you say then? Will you spend one evening with me before you leave on your travels?”
She smiled at him. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll dine together—just the two of us—on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You take a bath. You stink,” she grinned.
“Hey.” He smiled, bumping his shoulder into hers.
The ship arrived at the island the following day and docked in a small bay at the edge of a jetty. The ship’s crew began unloading cargo, and an island crew were preparing to load more—perhaps wares to be sold. Rya, her guards and the three slaves left the ship to meet the commander. The commander was a thorian male, and unlike Camp Lunar’s commander, he was wearing a dark green military uniform and had a sword sheathed at his hip. He carried a ledger under his left arm and saluted Lord Rya with his right arm.
“Good afternoon, my lord,” he said. “I see Messrs Zayn and Karim have returned. Nice to have you back, gentlemen. I hope you have returned with a new resolve to work hard and achieve something whilst you’re here.” The boys nodded unenthusiastically as they were still not sold on working hard. The commander turned to Maol. “You must be Master Maol. Pleased to meet you. I have heard much about you.” Maol nodded. The commander began to open the ledger. “I shall assign you lodgings. Boys, you can share number two-hundred and three and Maol, you can have number…sixty-three. Do I need to show you around or will her lordship have the honour?”
“Thank you, Commander Tamir. I shall show Maol the island. The twins are familiar and can make their way to their lodgings. When are they expected to meet with you to discuss their employment?”