by M. D. Laird
“You’re strong, and you’re good with a sword. I need men like you.”
“You’re just like Rya.” He snarled. “You just have a use for me and to damnation with what I want.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, startled. “I didn’t mean… I—”
He sighed. “No. I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I know you’re trying to help. I appreciate it, but I need to make my own way.”
She nodded. “Of course,” she said. “What will you do?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just want to do something different. I want to be a different person—a better person. I need to do something where I can learn to curb my aggression instead of things that hone it.” He kicked a rock in front of him. “I don’t know what, though. I’m not educated enough for book work and whatever manual work I think of an alchemist can do in a fraction of the time.”
“Alchemy is not used for all manual jobs, though,” said Eleanor. “The equivalent exchange required to do everything with alchemy makes it demanding…and expensive. Most jobs, in Axandria at least, are done by hand. Only metal and stonework is routinely done with alchemy. Farming and carpentry are all done by hand. Well, with the aid of horses, those plough contraptions and tools, but you know what I mean.”
“Carpentry,” he mused, recalling his two weeks spent building the cabin on Rya’s island. He could do that.
I could build my own house.
“There are some carpenters amongst the rebels,” she said. “Perhaps I can speak to them and ask them to take you on as an apprentice.”
“You’re not going to let me leave this conversation until you’ve fixed my future, are you?”
She smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m doing it again.”
He gave a slight smile. “I would be grateful if you would,” he said. “Thank you… Could you ask if I can bring along two friends? They are two young hominem boys I was enslaved with; I want to keep them out of trouble.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you,” he said, blushing slightly. “I’m glad you survived. I was saddened by your death. I think you’ll make a wonderful queen.”
She smiled, hooked her arm through his, and they walked back to the guild.
The meeting went as well as Eleanor expected. The thorian lords were furious that life as they knew it was about to change. No more would the citizens of Axandria suffer in poverty whilst they wallowed in their riches. She was introducing a new tax system and wanted education and healthcare for everyone.
An interim council was set up, which comprised of those she had invited to the meeting, though she planned to formalise the structure of her council at a later date. The interim council discussed urgent matters such as the food supply, which was suffering now her father’s men were no longer working the land and had significantly damaged the reserves. Eleanor tasked the thorian lords with ensuring the lands were worked and salvaging as much food as possible from the lands they controlled. She advised them that they would lose their lordships if they could not regain control over the farmlands and increase the supply.
Eleanor knew the lords were behind everything, and probably even had supplies hidden if the letter Mr Hallward found in her father’s office was anything to go by. She wanted to stamp out the trouble by targeting the lords directly. The shortage was eased a little with the promise of aid from Arkazatinia. Eleanor thought she had noticed a grim expression on the faces of some lords at the mention of aid—she imagined they had realised that their profits would not be as high as they’d hoped. She couldn’t accuse them directly, but she could make sure that it was in their bests interests to get supplies running again—especially if they wanted to maintain their titles.
Eleanor formalised a few laws pertaining to slavery, forced marriages and domestic abuse. She advised that she would write a formal edict, but, as of that moment, it was illegal to assault anyone, including a member of one’s household, in any manner.
Amarya’s men had spoken to the slaves and Amarya had a list of the men and women who wished to remain in Axandria. The list also contained the skills of the slaves…well, free men and women; they had an impressive repertoire—she had trained them well. Amarya had spoken to the Amaryan Brotherhood and had obtained a list of soldiers who wished to ally themselves with the Axandrian Crown. Many of the brotherhood were Vernasian and wanted to return home, but there were a good number of Vernasians who wanted to remain. Amarya handed over formal control of her armies to the Crown, though Eleanor made her the general and offered her a seat on the council.
Eleanor wanted to keep Amarya close. She needed her alliance. It was far too dangerous not to ally with her.
Following the meeting, Eleanor wanted to speak with the adamantist, not just for the sake of the alliance—for the sake of Maol too.
“Lord Amarya, I wondered if I might speak to you about a personal matter,” she asked, inviting the thorian to return to her seat.
Amarya nodded. “I’m not actually a lord,” she said. “My name is actually Rya. I thought I would command more respect if people thought I was nobility.”
“Ah,” said Eleanor. “Well, you are welcome to the title if you wish to have it formalised.”
Rya shrugged. “I assume you want to speak about the baby.”
Eleanor nodded. “Maol feels terrible for what he did, and he desperately wants to be a father to your child.”
“I can’t, Your Majesty,” she said. “I…I mean, what if he lost his temper with the child? I’d never forgive myself.”
“He knows he has a problem with his temper and he wants to change. I offered him a position in my guard, and he has refused. He wants a carpentry apprenticeship instead as it will help him learn to manage his aggression.”
Rya rested her chin on her hands. “My father wasn’t always like that,” she said. “There was a time when he would have made a just and worthy ruler. I think the alchemy I used to hide his Crown corrupted his nature. It masked him from everyone including himself. Outwardly he was affable enough, but when we were alone I would hear the things he would say, and they would make my skin crawl. I know I’m a little cold. It was cruel of me to suggest selling Maol and the other slaves, but my father did not want to free any of the slaves at all. He had started to believe that hominem should be subordinate to thorian—that it was a natural order.
“He would have made a terrible ruler, but he was still my father, and I still loved him. I will never forgive Maol for taking him from me.”
“I understand,” said Eleanor. “My father took the man I loved from me—he murdered him in front of me. I was angry. I wanted revenge, but, when it came to it, I had to let my personal feelings go and do the right thing. I think if I had have gone ahead with my original plans for vengeance, then I would not be the queen. I would not be alive. Axandria wouldn’t have brought me back.”
“You think I should put my personal feelings for Maol aside so that my baby does not miss out on its father?”
“He loves the child. He wants to be a father. My father was a terrible person. He was a terrible king and a terrible father, but there was a time when I would have given anything to receive the love my siblings did. To them, he was a great father. Even the vilest people can be good sometimes. Maol is nowhere near as terrible a person as my father. I think he will do his best to be a good parent and he really wants to be a better person because of the child.”
“I don’t know, Your Majesty,” Rya sighed. “It just sounds like too much of a risk. A child’s life is in danger if this experiment goes wrong. It is my fault. I knew what he was capable of and I allowed things to blossom between us anyway. I don’t think Maol is truly evil, but I’m not confident enough in him to let him take the child.”
“Could I adopt the child? I would care for it, and he could have contact.”
Rya sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. I will need to think it through.”
Eleanor spotted Jack sitting on the steps of
the Guild of Rexalis as she left her discussion with Rya to board the vector. She smiled towards Thomas who glared impatiently at having to wait even longer for her.
“Did you know, Elea,” Jack asked as he stood to greet her. “Did you plan all this?”
“How could I, Jack? How could I have known?”
Jack shrugged. “I just feel like we’ve all been played.”
“We have, I think, but by something greater than ourselves.”
“You can’t do a worse job than your father, I suppose.”
“I certainly hope not.”
He gave her a tight smile. “I appreciate you including us. Perhaps we can still keep the rebels’ values alive. We can work together and make a better Axandria.”
She nodded. “I hope so. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I’m sorry about what I said about James. It wasn’t your fault he was killed. He knew what he risked by seeing you and he did it anyway. He loved you. He would be proud of you.”
Eleanor smiled. “Thank you, Jack.”
They parted and Eleanor boarded the vector.
“Is he sucking up to you now you’re the queen,” Thomas asked, sneering. “He’s never had a kind word for you before.”
Eleanor grinned. “Just one more stop and we can go home.”
Thomas groaned before entering the destination for the Rexalis prison into the vector’s control panel.
The former king rose from his bunk as Eleanor approached the bars of his cell.
“Father,” she nodded towards him.
“Eleanor,” he replied plainly, his tone devoid of emotion. “You said you would ask the Crown to spare me and now you’re the Crown I am locked in here and waiting to stand trial. Am I to be executed, Eleanor?”
“That’s for the people to decide,” she said, casting her gaze to the floor. “Father, I want to ask you why? Why did you treat me that way? Why did you want to hurt me?”
“I was angry with you for the farm boy, Eleanor, but it was never personal. I did what I needed to do to for the security of this country. I saw an opportunity for the adamantine and I took it.” He paused and sighed, taking a seat upon a stool at a small table. “You will come to realise now you are queen that you cannot afford to let your feelings for someone get in the way of what is best for Axandria.
“Security is important. It’s only a matter of time before weaponry advances to new heights—look at what contraptions the Procnatus have introduced to Lycea, how long before they bring it to Anaxagoras? We don’t have the means to create such things. I just wanted to give us an advantage. The adamantine, our alchemists, the loyalty of the Arkazatine queen would have given us an edge.”
Eleanor frowned, confused. “You wanted to defend yourself against the Procnatus? They are not warmongers.”
“They are worse than that, Eleanor. They will sell their inventions for a profit and they do not care who to. Look for an advantage, Daughter.”
She nodded slowly considering his words. Had Thomas not warned of such a thing? “I have an alliance with Queen Genevieve but we will not make adamantine weapons.”
“It’s a start.”
“Did you know that it was Samuel and not Amarya who was the Crown?”
“Of course. I took her prisoner when I captured her father so I could control him.” He chuckled softly. “It didn’t go quite as smoothly as it had done with the previous Crowns. Amarya was smart and very powerful. She was the brains behind their schemes; perhaps that’s why Axandria intervened. That magic is bad; it taints those it touches.” Her father lowered his eyes. “They will find me guilty and I will be executed, Eleanor, I don’t doubt that. Before that happens, I want you to promise me something.”
“What’s that?”
“Promise me you will bury me with your mother and take care of your siblings. They have never lived in the real world and they will find themselves with a lot of enemies now.”
“They have fled. I don’t know where they are.”
“Victor will know. Ask him to help you.”
“Victor is to stand trial, so is Henry.”
“He will give you the information you need. Let me speak to him to pass on the order.”
“Fine. Is there anything else?”
An apology perhaps?
“That is all. Good luck, Eleanor. You will need it.”
Eleanor nodded and began to walk away. She turned before she reached the door and faced her father who had stood and approached the bars. “Have you ever loved me, Father?”
He dropped his eyes towards the floor. “I tried to, Eleanor, I tried. When you were a child… I—I loved your mother. I resented you for taking her from me.”
“How can you still blame me after all these years?” she asked, exasperated.
“I see what I lost every time I look at you.”
Eleanor raised her chin but her father’s eyes did not meet hers. “Goodbye, Father,” she said softly before walking slowly towards the door. He did not respond. He had nothing to say to her. He let her leave knowing he would never speak to her again.
“Genevieve,” said Calab, taking Eve into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”
Eve folded her arm around his neck and held him tightly, pressing her cheek against his chest. She had missed him as well. She had barely had any contact with him recently and had fretted for his safety during the Axandrian revolution. Now she fretted that, as the threats of war were over, things would be exactly as they were before. She hoped not. But if they were, she was glad that the country was once again at peace.
Many of the issues of Axandria seemed to have been resolved…for now. A brief vox call with the queen of Axandria told Eve that Arkazatinia would have a formal peace treaty with Axandria. Axandria had secured the alliance of Lord Amarya, and Eleanor had assured Eve they would ally with Arkazatinia against any who tried to threaten them.
Eleanor had terminated the deal for the adamantine with the Samael prince who had to take the adamantine back to his dungeon with the help of Lord Amarya. Well, they gave back what they could. Not all the metal was accounted for. The king could have had blades stashed anywhere and the search to find the metal was ongoing and tasked to the Samael demons.
Samael Prince Jael also found himself demoted to a third order demon. Though he apparently hadn’t breached the decree by giving out the adamantine, High Prince Samael could suddenly decide to make a few changes to his management structure if he felt like it. Eve hoped this would be enough to make the demons think twice before considering exploiting any loopholes where adamantine was concerned.
The quorum seemed to accept the resolutions, though Eve still got the impression that some of them would rather she would fade out just in case. Still, she felt she could relax a little and had managed to sleep better since attending the last quorum and learning that Calab was safe. Having her old friend Will back in her life had helped immensely. Jacob had been right. She really did need to talk.
“I have missed you too,” she said, holding Calab tightly. “It seems like years since I last saw you. So much has happened. How have you been?”
Calab let her go and took a seat in her fireside chairs and she handed him some wine. “I have been good,” he said. “I hate it, but when I have something else to focus on other than myself and my feelings, then I am better.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” she asked, though she did resent that she was not enough.
“I have thought a lot about us, Genevieve and I am no nearer arriving at a solution than I have ever been.”
Eve dropped her gaze away from him and towards the empty fire. “I think that is because you need to learn who you are. You need to learn who you are with your feelings as well as heal from the past.” She paused. “I hope you don’t mind, I spoke to Jacob, and he said that you had to learn to understand and manage your feelings in the same way a child does. He said that at first, you tried to emulate others—perhaps
characters from books—but now you have to learn for yourself.”
Calab nodded. “I think he is right.”
Eve stared at the fireplace.
I shouldn’t ask where this leaves us. I shouldn’t be thinking of myself.
“I am no nearer to a solution, but I know one thing for certain.”
“What is that?”
“That I am truly in love with you. Whatever I think of I cannot picture a future without you. If you will have me, Genevieve, I will scramble through my feelings with you at my side.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing? I’m sorry, Calab. I can’t cope with the constant rejection.”
“I meant with you truly at my side. Marry me and move into my house. If I am in a situation where I have no choice but to cope, then I can do it. I did with the Alchitch and with Axandria.”
“That isn’t dealing with things. That’s not helping you to heal.”
“But you said yourself that I don’t just need to heal, I need to mature. I need to grow up.”
“That wasn’t what I said.”
“It’s true, Genevieve,” he said, taking her hand. “I realised something in Axandria. I was noticing the relationship between Prince Thomas and Queen Eleanor and how simple things are between them, and I realised that even when I am overwhelmed by my emotions, I am not often thinking of my grief or my wife and children. My feelings just swamp me, and I cannot sort through them. I want to run away and hide rather than confront them and figure out what it is I am feeling and understand it.
“And when Princess Eleanor died like that… If that had been you… If I’d lost you… I couldn’t bear it, Genevieve. I don’t want to waste any more time. I want to be with you. I want to learn to live with you. Will you help me?”
He was a fierce demon and was thousands of years old, but he seemed so young and so vulnerable. She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Calab,” she said softly. “You know I will.”
He swallowed and wiped at the tears gathering in his eyes. “I thought I’d destroyed us,” he murmured. He bit his lip and added, “I have a confession.”