by Jamie Davis
Mona’s brow wrinkled as she pondered the math problem. “It’s hard to say, weeks, maybe months. It could be as much as a year.” Judging from the look on her face, she didn’t like the answer.
“Mona, look at the floor. What do you see?”
“Nothing but dust, well except where we’ve been walking.”
“Exactly, nothing but years of dust blanketing everything. Cari came to Fantasma. We know that. It’s clear, though, she didn’t end up here.”
“Where’d she go, then? Tandon?”
Hal shook his head. “I dialed in the program updates towards the end of our time here to attune to the individual and send them to their last known location. But I made it so the old processor’s webcam didn’t have to work so hard. It just worked off facial recognition and body type and size. It clearly recognized us and sent the portal here to our rooms in the palace.”
“Where did it send Cari, if she didn’t come here, Hal? What did you do?”
“I set a random hospitality location as the destination for anyone the software didn’t have a prior location for. It was based on body type. The algorithm would have selected a random inn or hostel in the city and sent that person there.”
“You sent our sixteen-year-old daughter to some random tavern in a place like the Crystal City?”
Hal winced at her tone. “I didn’t send her, hon, she just sort of ended up there.”
Mona ignored his explanation.
“Is there any way to dial in where she landed?”
“We’ll just have to search the most likely locations. The software’s magical interface would have chosen from more popular locations rather than dive bars and underworld hangouts.”
Mona pressed the panel on the secret room closed. “I’ll come back and gather some things from there later, right now, we need to get some help and go find our daughter.”
“We should probably find out who the current Empress or Emperor is. I hope Kay is still alive, but there’s no guarantee she is. It could be one of her kids. Come on.”
Hal crossed to the double doors leading to the outer hallway and listened. Someone was humming to herself on the other side. He tried the door’s handle. It was locked.
A quick search didn’t turn up a key, at least, not on their side.
Hal reached into this pouch and dug for his lock picks. Mona rolled her eyes and pushed him aside.
Unclipping a small tube, the size of a miniature flashlight from her utility belt, she twisted the end several times, winding up the spring mechanism inside. Mona pulled off the cap to reveal a long spike with several small ridges at the end.
She inserted the spike into the keyhole and depressed the button on the end, releasing the mechanism to a whispered, whirring sound. A few seconds later the lock clicked open and Mona pulled open the door, returning the clockwork skeleton key to her belt.
Hal started through the door to see a maid bustling about on the other side. She stopped when he appeared in the doorway and stared at him wide-eyed. Her mouth moved, but no intelligible sound came out at first, just a sort of high pitched squeak approximating speech.
The maid’s eyes darted from Hal and Mona to the wall next to them and back again. She finally found the words to express what she saw.
“G-g-g-g-ghosts,” she managed to say before she screamed and ran away down the long hallway, abandoning her feather-duster and broom to clatter to the floor behind her.
Hal scratched his head as he watched her run away. Mona tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the wall next to the door. There was a painted portrait of him along with Mona holding a three-year-old Cari in her arms. Hal realized he and Mona looked almost exactly the same as they did in the painting. A brass plaque below the portrait read:
* * *
“The champion’s quarters. Dedicated to Prince Hal, Princess Mona, and Princess Cari, the lost champions of the Crystal Throne. In honor of Empress Kareena’s 75th Jubilee.”
* * *
“I think it’s been a substantial amount of time since we were last here, hon.”
“Ya think?”
* * *
———
* * *
The troop of six guards in green surcoats, embroidered with a coat of arms strange to Hal’s memory, surrounded him and Mona, escorting them down the hallway. Two walked in front and four walked behind. Each was armed with a sword but also carried a musket in their hands. Clearly, gunpowder had grown in use, at least by Imperial troops and guards.
They’d wound through the corridors of the palace while Hal tried to remember back to his many days staying here to get his bearings. If his sense of direction was correct, the guards took them towards the Empress’ private audience chamber.
He knew his assumption was correct when they arrived at a set of double doors adorned with the crest of Kareena’s house. Whoever these guards were representing, Kareena’s family still held the Empire. That was a relief given all the energy he’d expended deposing the usurper Kang to get her back on the throne.
Two guards stood on either side of the doors, armed with polished ceremonial pikes, looking functional enough despite their adornments. They each leaned their pikes across the door until the shafts of their long weapons crossed, barring entry.
“What is your purpose here with the Empress?” The guard on the left asked.
The sergeant of the guard troop escorting Hal and Mona stepped forward.
“The Empress has summoned the palace interlopers to her audience chamber so they might be examined by her personally. We have brought them from the holding cells below so she may do so.”
The lead door guard nodded. “You may pass.”
The two guards snapped their pikes back upright and rapped the steel-shod butts of their shafts on the marble floor twice. That must’ve been a signal to someone inside because the doors opened inward revealing the private audience chamber. The decor had changed since Hal had last been here, but it was the same room he remembered.
He and Mona followed the two lead guards of their troop forward and approached a small dais upon which sat an ornately carved wooden throne covered with gold leaf. Upon the throne sat an old woman.
It was difficult to gauge her age, but her frailty was evident in the way she let the throne’s back and arms support her as she sat awaiting their arrival. She wore a silver tiara rather than a more formal crown, though he supposed it might be an accommodation to keep the weight of a full gold crown from her head.
As Hal and Mona were brought forward, the Empress leaned forward peering at the two newcomers to her audience chamber. Despite her advanced age, there was something familiar about her, especially when he looked her in the eye.
It dawned on him who she must be as he got closer and the guards escorting them stopped and snapped to attention.
“Kay?”
“Hello, Hal. You’re looking surprisingly spry considering it’s been more than eighty years since you left Fantasma. Welcome back to the Crystal Palace. You’re late, you know.”
“Late?” Mona asked. “What do you mean late?”
“I summoned you both almost a year ago. I’d given up hope you’d come, but then I heard the report of two interlopers in archaic dress appearing out of nowhere, right outside your old chambers. A spark of hope returned. Now here you are.”
Hal’s mind spun with questions but something she said triggered one to rise to the top.
“You summoned us? A year ago?”
“I suppose it’s been more like ten months or so. It’s hard to keep track of time any more. I’m a little older than I was when you last saw me.”
The Empress chuckled a little, the small laugh turning into a wracking cough that took a moment to end. She didn’t sound good at all. When she took the white linen kerchief from her mouth, Hal noticed flecks of bright red blood spotted the bleached cloth.
Her coughing fit under control, the Empress continued.
“When you didn’t answer the summons,
I presumed the magic had run out of the old talisman Tildi gave me when you left. Yet, here you are. Better late than never, I suppose.”
“Kay,” Mona said. “We didn’t come in response to your summons. It makes sense, though, now that you mention it, and sort of explains why we’re here now. We didn’t get your summons, but I think someone did. Cari is here.”
“I don’t think so. No one has spotted a child wandering the halls in the last eight months. I would have heard.”
“We don’t think she came here,” Hal said. “Mona thinks it’s more likely she was transported to an inn or house out in the surrounding city.”
“And she’s not a child,” Mona added. “At least, not a little one.”
“Wait,” the Empress asked. “How old would she be. You two don’t appear to have aged at all since you left. I assumed she was still young.”
“Fourteen years have passed back home since we left,” Mona replied. “Cari is sixteen now. She’s a remarkable young woman, but I fear she is unprepared for what she’d find here. If it’s been ten months, almost anything could have happened to her. Please, Kay, you have to help us find her.”
The Empress Kareena leaned back to rest against the rear of the throne. A smile crossed her face as she did.
“This explains much of what I’ve heard coming from the west and it pleases me greatly. Yes, indeed, it pleases me very much.”
“What does, Kay?” Hal asked. “Will you help us find Cari in the city or not? You were always very fond of her.”
“I still am, more than you know. Now that I know it is her the reports speak of.”
“What reports?” Mona asked. “You know where she is?”
“I know where she was at least. The last report I received was vague as to the mysterious woman’s whereabouts.”
“I’m sorry, but you’re not making any sense, Kay,” Hal said.
“I’m certain your daughter is here. A certain, mysterious young woman has been upsetting certain plans of my enemies, starting about eight months ago. I should have put the two things together, but my mind isn’t what it used to be.”
“If you know where she is, tell us, and we’ll go and get her,” Mona said.
“Much has happened since you and Hal left here, Mona. My reign has been a peaceful one for the most part. That all changed five years ago, just after the seventy-fifth-anniversary jubilee of my taking the throne. My family began to suffer a series of unfortunate accidents. At the same time, invaders to the east and south brought war once again to the Empire. By the time I realized my family was being systematically killed off and my control over the Empire weakened, it was too late. I thought all was lost and I called for help from the only one I knew I could trust.”
Empress Kareena stopped and met Hal’s eyes.
“You called me for help,” Hal said. His heart ached at the sorrow in his old friend’s eyes. “And I didn’t come.”
“But you’re wrong, Hal. Someone did come after all. Cari is here and, what is more, she is single-handedly responsible for saving the life of the last surviving heir to the Crystal Throne, my grandson, Timron.”
Hal listened as Kay related what little she knew from dispatches she received from the current Duke of Tandon about the mysterious heroine who saved both the Duke and the Prince from an assassin.
Kay pieced together other parts of the story from other rumors and reports. Cari had shown up in the capital, rescued the prince in the nick of time, spirited the hunted prince out of the capital, and taken him to Tandon for safe keeping. It was there she thwarted the assassination attempt on him.
“Tandon,” Mona said. “We have to get to Tandon, Hal. Now. Open a portal with your magic and take us there.”
“By your leave, Kay. We must find our daughter. Once we have her again, I’ll see what I can do to help keep your grandson safe. Cari must be found first.”
“I know it’s useless to argue with the two of you. You have my leave. You may travel to Tandon. You should know; however, I’ve heard nothing of her in any of the reports for months. She seems to have disappeared according to my sources there.”
Hal shook his head. “If she was there, then that is where we’ll find her or at least a way to track her whereabouts. Either way, we are going there now. Everyone, please stand back.”
Hal spread his arms wide and turned to one side as the guards and attendants cleared an area before the throne for him. Concentrating, Hal reached out to draw in the air and spirit magic that made up his ability to create portals to other places in Fantasma and also between this world and home.
His brow furrowed as he strained to pull in the necessary energy. After about thirty seconds, he let out a surprised gasp.
“What is it, Hal?” Mona asked. “Just open a portal to Tandon. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to do it after all these years. We need to get to Cari.”
“What is wrong with the magic, here?” Hal looked over at Kay. “It’s different than it was the last time I was here. It’s weaker and corrupted somehow. I can’t pull in enough power at one time to open a portal.”
Empress Kareena nodded. “I thought this might happen, though I hoped the mighty archmage, Hal Dix, might not have been affected.”
“What are you talking about, Kay?”
“Magic has slowly become tainted and lost much of its power over the years since you left. All the archmages are dead. Only ordinary healing mages and temple priests can do magic of any consequence any more. Even the things they can do are limited compared to what they once were able to accomplish.”
“It’s the advent of technology like gunpowder, Hal,” Mona said. “Tildi, Theran, and I talked about it once long ago as I compared my crafting skill as an Artificer here in Fantasma to my engineering education back home. They feared mechanical and chemical tech would drive magic from the world in the same way it did in ours long ago.”
“If that’s the case,” Hal said, unhappy with Mona’s explanation. “We’ve got a long overland trek ahead of us to get to Tandon. There’s no time to waste.”
“This changes some things, Hal. If you can’t create a portal to Tandon with your magic, then you won’t be able to create one to go home either. I might have an answer to that problem, though, or at least the start of an answer. Before we left, I’d been working on an idea for a device that would allow me to teleport to-and-from Fantasma without needing your assistance. It looks like that might be our only hope of returning home. I was close enough to completing it that I think I can finish it on the road. I will need to get some things from my workshop.”
“You think you can craft something that complex?” Hal asked his wife.
She nodded. “I think that’s the solution if we don’t want to be stuck here, Hal. A mechanical-magic hybrid device would help bridge the gap between both worlds, or at least it should.”
“Good, I’ll leave that to you, then,” Hal replied. “I’ll focus on working out our travel plans to the west country. This world has got to be frightening to Cari, especially if she’s had to fight off assassins and the like. She’s going to want us to take her home as soon as we find her.”
“Agreed. She must want to go home more than anything in the world.”
Chapter 6
Cari laughed as the wind brought the Vengeance about and they caught the more favorable crosswind and matched with the currents in this part of the sea. The exhilaration filled her with a joy she wouldn’t trade for the world.
Fantasma offered her a never-ending buffet of adventurous selections for her choosing. At the same moment she tired of chasing raiders, the opportunity presented itself to stop the slave trade in this part of the world. Who passed up that kind of chance to make a difference?
Her boring parents, that’s who. Back home, she’d never be allowed to do something as reckless and spontaneous as taking on a band of slavers.
They were always after her to “follow through” and “finish what she started.” They didn’t understand what
a free spirit like herself needed to satisfy her desire for adventure.
A part of her wanted them to see what she’d accomplished since she’d been in Fantasma and what she planned to do next. She’d show them how she followed through and still lived an adventurous life.
“Land Ho!”
Cari glanced up at the lookout perched atop the mainmast high above. He pointed due south.
There was no sign of it on the horizon yet, but the southern continent would show itself soon as they sailed closer to their destination.
They’d headed south after Cari discovered an entry in the slaver captain’s logbook talking about the raider hostages. She dove back further in the logs until she found an entry with a folded note slipped in the book with it.
The letter had been from the Duke of Charon himself, telling the slaver captain to deliver a message from him to the captured raider families in a compound just west of the Sultanate city of Lyden. It hadn’t taken her long to find the compound on her charts.
The solution to the western Fantasma raider problem came to her as she looked at the charts.
Locating the families of the raider captains held prisoner here in the lands of the Sultanate would give her the leverage she needed. Once she freed these hostages, the raiders would have no need to prey on imperial merchant ships and coastal villages. Some semblance of peace might actually return to the Western Sea.
“Run up the Duke of Charon’s crest, Mr. Bowcott. Let’s show them we’re friends.”
“Them, ma’am?” Her first mate asked.
“The Sultanate ships guarding the approaches to the city ahead of us.”
He scanned the horizon, shading his eyes. “I don’t see anything.”
“Trust me, they’re there. Remember, the Empire is technically at war with the Sultanate, the Sultan, and his navy. Ready the ship for inspection and make sure all the officers are wearing the new uniforms we tailored for them after freeing the Duke’s slave ship.”