Regius

by Nastasia Peters

  I realized that we were lucky to have gotten Dell as our 'revealer of the truth' and guide. I was pretty sure the dude knew every single corner you could find in this dusty place, and when it came to giving us details, he didn't beat around the bush or try and cushion the blow. He gave us straight harsh and no-nonsense facts.

  To make sure we didn't stand out of the crowd with Dell being Ranger, myself looking like and Altor and Brass looking as Civilian as one could get, Dell had, in a very pirate-y fashion, snatched some scarves from random fabric stands we'd walked past. Once the pirate boy was done with his handy work, Brass' brown curls were stuffed away beneath scarves wrapped around his head, the ends dropping down along the sides of his neck and twisting around his throat to loosely shadow Brass' face and make his coloring less noticeable. Some more fabric was haphazardly thrown across his shoulders and tied around his waist and hips. Dell seemed to be having fun as he was helping us blend in a little better. He'd not stopped there, thieving a water bottle out of a wicker basket a passing by Pallium had been carrying, splashing some onto Brass' neat jeans and then grabbing a handful of sand to throw on there. The result was dirty pants which had Brass wrinkle his nose and Dell grin in triumph at what he called 'perfection'.

  Going less heavy on the face concealing in my case, what with Rangers being Altors at the base and my looking like one, Dell had tied a simple thin cord around my head, colorful feathers falling down from it along the right side of my face with beads painted a matte gold twined into them. A brown transparent veil covered my nose and mouth, the end of it flowing all the way down to my chest, which was covered with a large dark red poncho made of cotton. He'd added some finishing touches by wrapping leather around my wrists, tying them up with more feathered cords and doing the same thing around my ankles and lower legs, all the while stuffing my jeans into them. Which of course, he'd dirtied up with sand.

  By the time he was done with us, he had me and Brass stop, pointing at a shopping window in which we could catch our reflection. Standing side by side, the three of us stared at how our physical traits were no longer standing out, making us look like a regular bunch of Rangers walking around Cobalt.

  * * * *

  "I like that." Dell murmured. "It's risky, but so was the newspaper and anything else we came up with." Raising an eyebrow at Brass, Dell added, "You do realize that you are offering yourself up to the Altors, right? We have no idea which District they'll bring you to and since you're our decoy, you'll have to stay in their custody for as long as it takes Delph and me to plant and spread the rumor amongst the Civilians."

  Brass nodded. I couldn't help but feel nervous for my friend; he was Civilian as much as I was. He wanted to be involved in the mission, but it had been my idea. It felt wrong to have Brass be the one to have to deal with the Altor's wrath. Technically, I'd been the one to find out about the truth, but Brass was taking the blame for it.

  "I'm not a moron; I know that I'll have soldiers on my back in no time. But here's how I see it. We want the Civilians to know about the truth, but what we want more than that is to let the Altors know that we know." Brass reminded. "While I keep those soldiers busy and have them believe I'm the only one who's figured it all out, you will have time to inform the rest of the clueless population. Just don't get caught or else my sacrifice will have been useless."

  "It may be a while before enough Civilians start to doubt." I edged, worrying for my friend.

  "I can do this, Delph." Brass assured. "Just stay out of sight and below the Altor radar. Plant the rumor, let it grow and the damage will be made all on its own."

  "Dell." Turning my gaze to the pirate, I saw him scratching his head. "I don't believe I'm the only Civilian who knows. I need you to help me find others." If one person started whispering about the war still going on, they'd write me off as crazy. But if there was more, things may work out. The Altors had the power to stop one Civilian, possibly a group. But if a mass of Civilians started to revolt, I'd like to see them try.

  "Juglan." Dell said. "If there's one person who would know where to find Civilians who know, it'd be him. Or any other Ranger captain, but since I'm part of Juglan's crew, he might not make you pay for the info." Giving Dell a nod, I winced and looked at Brass again.

  "Delph, don't do that. The Altors are the good guys, remember? All they're gonna do is point a stern finger at me and go 'don't say that kind of stuff'. Worse they can do is lock me up." Chuckling now, he squeezed my shoulder in reassurance.

  "You and me, my friend." I murmured. "We know the truth and if we gotta split up to be able to tell the others, so be it. But once the job is done-"

  Brass rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we return to one another, etc. Don't go all mushy on me." He ruffled my hair before moving through the mass of people that made their way through the main street. My eyes were taken from his figure as Dell grabbed my wrist, tugging me along with him so we could move away. Thankfully, the pirate made sure we could still see him as he probably knew I wanted to.

  "You're sure Juglan will hold the answer?" I asked Dell, eyes fixed onto Brass as I saw him stop walking, beginning to unwrap the scarves from around his face, revealing his physical traits to Cobalt City once more.

  "Target acquired, he may not even need to say anything. Four Altors stopped walking when Brass took off the scarves." Dell muttered, pulling us behind a stand, the owner of it looking down at us weirdly as we crouched beside him. "And yes, Juglan has tidbits of info on pretty much every subject concerning Zinc and its war."

  I heard every word Dell said, but never did I look at him as I watched Brass closely. He seemed to be taking his time, and although Dell's Altor vision had allowed us to know soldiers had noticed him, I could tell Brass realized it too as a small smirk played on his lips, his eyes jumping from one soldier to the other as they slowly made their way towards him.

  "What do you think he's gonna say?" Dell whispered by my ear.

  Batting the pirate's face out of my neck as it tickled, I grinned. "One word."

  "Wanna bet on that?"

  I saw Brass clear his throat, preparing his vocal chords for what he was about to say.

  "Kay. If I'm right, you give me that gun of yours."

  "Denied. But I'll get you an exact replica. If I win," he paused. "You promise me that we'll remain friends after this ordeal is over."

  "You don't need a bet to assure the outcome of that."

  "ALTORS!"

  Brass couldn't have said more even if he'd wanted too. The Altors had already restrained him and were escorting him to wherever they'd detain him.

  Message to reader

  I swear the cliff-hangers were purely coincidental as I wrote this story in one go without intention of cutting it into three parts. Although I can’t say I’m unhappy with them as an author, I would definitely groan had I been the reader.

  Nas.

  Zincuniverse.com

  ZincChronicles/Facebook

  Author Biography

  Written by the editor

  This author bio will be written by Amber, because I totally don’t trust Nas to tell you all the juicy details.

  We’ve known each other for a few years and in that time, I’ve seen her go from writing short stories, to whole books. All the while going to school to earn a degree, working a horrible apprenticeship for a restaurant, and doing fabulous illustrations.

  She was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and French mother. Her family moved to France when she was fourteen years old, and has been living there ever since. She has two younger brothers who often harass her while she is drawing, and whom she harasses back in various ways.

  Her father is an illustrator and her mother is a photographer who first introduced her to the art of Vector when she was fourteen. And since then she has been working with that and Digital Painting. Recently, her drawings have been published in an Adobe MasterClass art book.

  Behind every drawing or illustration is a story and after experimenting with short
stories, it seemed like a logical step to move into the world of Zinc. It took some time, and a lot of planning, but she finally completed her book. Then, while editing and revising with her ‘poor harassed editor’, two chapters to the end, she scrapped the entire last half of the book and rewrote it.

  That’s why there is now a trilogy. Currently Nas works for a graphic media website and does freelance work. She resides in the region of Brittany, France.

  Chapter one of Seers

  Datura Lovelace

  Datura remembered returning to the Coliseum after having been to the Valley of Death for the first time. While Ilex had assured his trigger, Caltha had been the one to get him back up on his feet after the many hits his body had taken. He'd been stuck in bed for a while after. The Altor he'd come to love as an elder brother had told him everything he'd needed to hear concerning the war, the Regius, Altors, Palliums, but most importantly that his best friend, Calycanthus, was safe and sound.

  One striking thing about their conversations popped into the Keeper's head at this moment. Caltha had asked him if the Valley of Death was lonely, if Datura felt alone when he was there doing what was expected of him. There certainly was a type of solitude offered in the realm, as the ghosts weren't actually alive, after all. Since the souls roaming through the Valley weren't what you'd call kind either, their greed besting them, whatever presence they offered wasn't always one Datura could trust. A darkness traveled through the realm, it always kept the Keeper alert, feeling as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff and could be pushed off at any given moment were he to lose focus for one split second. He knew the ghosts would take advantage of his current lack of stability and while before he would have avoided the Valley at all costs, right now he knew that if he wanted to obtain the answer to his question, the Valley was the only option he had to get him to his destination.

  Although time didn't work the same here as it did on the outside of the Valley, Datura knew what felt like a month was only about a day’s worth of walking outside of the realm. He'd never understood why it was that time never seemed stable in this place. Sometimes it went faster than outside, while at others it slowed down. All he could do was guess as there weren't many written facts concerning the Keepers of the Dead and it's Valley. He assumed the clock was linked to the ghosts, them being able to control it to show him what they wished for him to see. Far from the powerful Seer visions, the pasts of souls he did see, had informed him of numerous things concerning the war. He'd seen the battles of those he’d had to guide to peace.

  Now though, he ignored the ghosts calling, forbidding them to distract him from his course. Ruby eyes fixed forward, he walked on Zinc Sea, the realm allowing things that wouldn't be possible outside of this place. While he didn't need to eat or sleep, he knew that once he'd get out of the Valley, he'd have lived to be a month older in the amount of about a day.

  The water wrinkled away around his feet, soft bells filling the air around him, resonating through the emptiness the Valley offered him. The ghosts were leaving him somewhat alone for now, only appearing from time to time to see if he would stop and sing for them, their grimaces clear on their smoky figures as he refused.

  He could see Cobalt City. The ghosts were showing him what the place had looked like back when the Regius had first entered Zinc. Back then, aside from the Palliums, all people had been Civilians. A secret Datura was in on and knew better than to repeat. Only a small group of Civilians had been bestowed with the strength the blood that is blue offered, using it to show the others the path to destruction. From there on forward, everything was just history.

  Being privileged to all this knowledge had taught Datura to only speak when someone asked the right question. Because when they did, he could know for certain that they truly wished for the answer. Of course, the others weren't aware that the ghosts showed him history, confirming facts lost through tales and rumors.

  His thoughts were cut short as his red eyes landed on his destination. He entered the ruined building that would become the Rangers tavern later on in the future, or more accurately, his present. Allowing the Valley to slowly fade away from around him, he saw the ghosts replaced with living people. They barely took notice of him even though the Keeper appeared out of thin air. He assumed many of them were drunk, or just couldn't be surprised by anything when it came to Zinc. Either way, Datura didn't care about them, it was the one man that did notice him he was focused on.

  The music playing in the tavern was rough and anything but soothing. The person that sang was clearly aware he had vocal chords and didn't mind using them to the limit. It was a throaty voice, his words sounding sensual to Datura's ears even though he didn't articulate all that well. The heavy guitar accompanying him trembled its way through the Keeper's body, and although he wouldn't listen to this type of music often, he could see what the people in the tavern liked in it.

  He knew his presence here was wrong, and that the person he was currently moving towards would cause the Altors to call the Keeper a traitor. Yet, he couldn't help but feel some sort of amusement wash over him as the dark music spoke, the man he sought raised an eyebrow at him curiously when he noticed. As he came to stand beside the Regius, a few heads turned. Not surprising, really. It was clear Datura was Altor and not Ranger. Why would an Altor approach a Regius tracker?

  "Rhamnus." Datura greeted, lifting his palms up in the air to show he wasn't here to pick a fight. Pursing his lips, the tracker turned his body towards the Keeper while remaining seated on the barstool. Blue eyes overwhelmed with curiosity trailed over Datura's body, and the tracker then smirked carefully.

  "You're a hard one to kill, aren't you?" Never did the Keeper think he'd have an actual conversation with this man. "Clearly you aren't here to have me try again, so perhaps I can offer you a drink while you explain what it is you want from me." Apparently now was the time they would talk instead of fight.

  Not even taking a moment to think things over, Datura sat himself down and nodded at the tracker. "Whatever you're having."

  Rhamnus raised an eyebrow. "You sure? I drink my whisky dry."

  "Just because we fight the good fight, doesn't mean we can't handle our liquor." Grinning at Datura's words, the tracker motioned for the bartender to tend to the Keeper.

  "What do you want?" Thankfully, the tracker clearly had no intention of dancing around the subject.

  "Calycanthus. The Altors claim he died on Regius territory." Datura clipped out.

  "And you don't believe them?" It was offered as a question, but the Keeper knew there was more to be added. "Smart." Feeling his body tense at that statement, Datura noticeably inhaled, leading the tracker to chuckle softly. "So you yourself questioned the boy being alive or dead? Interesting."

  "He did not come into the Valley." Datura murmured. "While that gave me strong suspect to believe him to be alive, it doesn't take away the fact that he could have passed on peacefully."

  "Why did you seek me out, Datura?"

  "You're the best tracker in Zinc." It was the truth, not even the Altors could deny that fact. It was a sure thing that Rhamnus had located Acacia and given the info to the ghost assassin.

  "You know I'll ask something of you in return."

  Datura gritted his teeth, nodding, "Yes. What's your price?"

  Rhamnus eyed the Keeper carefully, most likely trying to gauge his reactions to each and every little thing. "You. You're the price. I will find Calycanthus if you allow me to escort you to Xania." Datura opened his mouth to say something, but Rhamnus shook his head. "Willingly. You'll join the Regius, willingly. No fighting, Keeper." Rhamnus allowed Datura to see some anger build in his tone of voice. "I don't have time for it. If you want me to find Kalmia's offspring you better listen and agree to what I want in return." Then the tenseness in the tracker dissipated. Leaning back in his stool, Rhamnus threw back his drink, giving Datura a relatively simple shrug. "I do have other people to track, you know."

  He couldn't help the curiosi
ty, "Who?"

  "Join the Regius, and maybe Xania will tell you."

  "You swear you'll find Calycanthus?" Datura demanded. "You'll bring him back to me?"

  Rhamnus smirked. "Regius honor."

  Datura rolled his eyes. "So it may as well be a lie." Sighing, the Keeper looked around the tavern, the people in it no longer interested in what was taking place between himself and the tracker. The fragility he'd felt when hearing Pieris say that Cali had perished, washed over him again as he felt Rhamnus' stare on his face, the tracker's offer resonating repeatedly through his head. Licking his lips, he ignored the Altor within himself and whispered, "I've got nothing left to lose."