by Rosie Scott
The elevator operator finally tugged the lever back to a neutral position, and we came to a stop on the highest platform. I'd since lost count of the levels we'd passed. Just above us and hanging from the sturdy giant branch of a tree was a series of pulleys and drums that directed the ropes of the lift. Vipin and his men led the way off the platform and onto the highest walkway of the tree. If there were other paths as high up in other surrounding trees, it was hard to tell. The air itself seemed to be green by the amount of giant leaves that hung from outstretched branches, and the combination of sunlight and moisture trapped between layers of canopy kept the area full with a glistening mist. One simple glance to the higher canopies revealed the dense fog of the lowest clouds. Not since visiting Whispermere had I felt so above the world.
The path we traveled curled around to the easternmost side of the trunk where two doors sat side by side, carved with elaborate designs portraying plant and animal life and stained with watercolors. Vipin's men kept the doors open wide for us as we filed through. I noticed Azazel eyeing the artwork on the doors and nudged him in the side as we passed them.
“I will buy you watercolors while we're here,” I told him.
Azazel chuckled softly. “I'll buy them myself. Stop spending gold on me.”
“No,” I argued childishly, and heard him laugh again.
While the outside of each tree of Celendar reminded me of Tenesea, the interiors resembled the skyscrapers of Al Nazir. If it weren't for the fact that smoothly carved white wood surrounded us, we could have mistaken it for being a built structure. The trees were so gargantuan that hallways led to dozens of rooms all on the same floor, and I also saw signs for interior staircases.
“No wonder ya'll stay so fit and healthy,” Maggie commented, gesturing toward the sign as we passed it. “Though I'd rather take the lift back down when we leave here, if ya don't mind.”
Vipin smiled back at the engineer. “Stairs lead from the ground floor to the top floor, but I don't think any of us resort to only stairs. The elevators stop at every five or ten floors, depending on the lift. The stairs are mostly meant as travel between sets of floors. Don't fret, though. Our destination is just ahead.”
Our destination was a long room that curved along its exterior wall, mimicking the trunk of the tree. Windows in the bark allowed rays of sun to give the pearl-white walls a yellow-orange glow. Some of the windows cracked open at the top, and drops of dew floated through with a glimmering sheen. Three elongated tables sat in a half-circle formation that followed the natural curve of the room. Each table had at least forty chairs. I realized, then, that this was where the three royal families of Celendar would meet.
The room was quiet when we entered it, but it wasn't free of occupants. At the three tables in seemingly random places sat eleven royal Celds, their armor and bodies free of battle blemishes. Given what I had learned of the royal families, I figured the tables to belong to the Raingers, Elwoods, and Fawns from left to right.
“Kai Sera has agreed to negotiate with us,” Vipin announced. “The battle is over.”
“And what of the others?” asked a blonde-haired Celd from the Rainger table.
Vipin glanced back at me. “I'm assuming royalty was your main target.”
“Yes,” I agreed, before turning to Cyrus. “Were any royal members left alive on the ground level?”
“No,” Cyrus replied. “The only Celd of importance we left alive was a non-royal general.”
Vipin raised an eyebrow. “Who? And why?”
“Saffron Willis,” Cyrus answered, to which I found myself relieved. “One of my generals spared her. Saffron looked to avoid this fight with us. We respected that greatly.” Glancing at me, Cyrus explained, “Uriel has a soft heart, Kai.”
I smiled. “I know. I'm glad. I respect Saffron.”
Vipin overheard this and tilted his head. “The royals chose Saffron to deliver Celendar's ultimatum to you as a test of her loyalty, Kai. They considered her retreat in your first battle together weak. For the members of royalty still in this room, we felt differently. The others thought of Saffron's decision to retreat as a betrayal to Celendar. We felt it was a decision to save Celendar and give it a chance for revival.” After I nodded in understanding, Vipin continued, “Thank you for sparing her, friend. Saffron will receive the highest honors from me.”
Vipin turned toward the center table ahead and made a motion for us to sit. “You are welcome at my family's table. Many of its spots are now free.”
The Seran Renegades and our allies all sat on one side of the table facing Vipin and his entourage. After the regent requested for one of his men to serve wine, I commented, “You don't seem bothered by the fact that most of your family died today.”
“Family by blood,” Vipin replied smoothly, before swiping both of his arms out to the sides, motioning toward the other Celds in the room with us. “Not family by heart or mind. I mourn little now for Sedge and Thorn and Violetta and Lily and the others. I mourn them little because I have already mourned over their stupidity and then for their deaths which I knew would come.
“Much of the world has made its stand against you, Kai, and you have defeated everyone you have picked a fight with. Yet, throughout all the rumors that have reached us about you, the one that remains consistent beside your immense magical power is your loyalty and compassion to those who side with you. You and I have our similarities. You have no loyalty to family if the only connection is blood; you build loyalty to those who swear service to you for the sake of common goals. You are the most terrifying prospective enemy on Arrayis, Kai, but you have proven to be a loyal and powerful ally to those who are smart enough to side with you. If Celendar stands against you it will fall, and it will take its people down with it. With you, Celendar will persist and grow. The moment we received news that you were offering us independence, I saw no other choice but to comply. The others who didn't agree and stood against you are dead, which only proves the point I tried to make to them time and time again over the past few moons. Chairel has claimed you are Celendar's greatest enemy for your necromancy, but it wasn't you who ruled over us for six hundred years, demanding our people and resources to support your every whim.”
Vipin took a break from speaking to eye a selection of wine held out to him on a tray. “Aquaberry, please,” he requested, and the waitperson poured a light blue wine into a glass before him. The regent's face brightened a bit as they brought the tray around the table to us. “These wines are unique to Celendar, for our fruits cannot be found anywhere else. Take your pick of flavors. Drink as much as you'd like.”
Mirrikh and Calder picked their wines at the end of the table, and I noticed Mirrikh swirling the liquid around his glass and eyeing it suspiciously.
“Is everything all right?” Vipin questioned.
“I need to check these for poison, but I don't have my satchel,” Mirrikh replied, his words jumpy with nervous energy.
Vipin appeared surprised. “I wouldn't poison those I look to reason with. Besides, Kai is a mage of the six elements. I'd assume she would know how to protect against such a ruse.”
“I do,” I agreed.
Vipin hesitated. “Celendar has been secretive with our magical knowledge. I could teach you a spell to detect poison that we have kept from Chairel's repertoire, but given there is no poison here, there is no way to prove to you that it works.”
“What school of magic?” I questioned.
“Alteration,” Vipin replied.
“Teach me,” I requested. “There is poison here. I will ensure it works.”
Vipin frowned. “Sik le toxin. But I promise you, we wouldn't bring you here just to poison you.”
“Sik le toxin.” I lifted up a hand toward Mirrikh. Much like the alteration spell to seek life, bright energy appeared above my palm, alerting me to poison. Instead of red energy, it was deep green. Above my hand, the green fog took on the vague shape of Mirrikh in the form of his veins and arteries, where para
lyzing poison pumped through his blood.
Vipin eyed the green energy and said, “I don't understand. The wine is pure.”
“It's not the wine,” I replied. “Mirrikh has poisoned blood. The spell detected it.” Swiping my palm by the trays of bottles of wine, I added, “The wine is pure. You have nothing to worry about, Mirrikh.”
Mirrikh sniffled and glanced up at Vipin. “I apologize for being rude. Poison is kind of my job.”
Vipin's eyes were wide as he replied, “I suppose it would be, considering.”
They brought the wine over to me next, glass bottles revealing an array of colorful alcohols. I caught Vipin's gaze and requested, “Recommend me something sweet.”
Vipin smiled. “Ah, a connoisseur after my own heart. Aquaberry, Kai. Its flavor is as sweet and delightful as its color.” After the turquoise wine was in a glass before me, they offered wine to Cerin next. When Vipin heard my lover's rejection of alcohol, he said, “No worries. Some Celds abstain from spirits entirely. We have options for you.”
Nyx and Calder were both on their third glasses of wine by the time they served everyone else. The air of honesty and hospitality in the room pleasantly surprised me. Out of all of my predictions for the possibilities of negotiations here, I hadn't expected this.
“Let's be very clear and honest with each other,” Vipin started, after taking another sip of his wine. “Celendar wants independence. I believe you once promised Saffron to release Chairel's hold of us on the day you become its queen.”
“My specific words to her stated I offer Celendar independence when I kill the last regent of Chairel,” I replied. “But given you are a regent of Chairel, I have to amend that statement. You can trust me to offer Celendar independence as long as you do not contest my rule.”
“Contesting your rule would be ignorant of me,” Vipin said. “I have no desire to lead Chairel, and even if I did, I would be pitting the armies of Celendar against the massive armies of you and your allies. You have seen my people fight. We are experts in battle, but our biology will forever curse us. Each time Celendar enters a fight, our people die in droves. I look to avoid such a thing. I did not fight you today.” Vipin hesitated. “If you don't believe I am truthful with you, I invite one of your Alderi friends to use illusion magic on me.”
I was quiet a moment. “I appreciate your offer, but I believe you. You are as open-minded a Celd as any I've ever seen.”
Vipin nodded. “I have to be. I am five hundred and eighty-two years old, Kai. When I was born, Celendar was a country, and the gods were more myth than reality. Throughout my life, I've seen many wars. I saw the rise and fall of Stellan the Tortured and Drefan the Misguided. I was here on the day Celendar became part of Chairel; I felt the resulting depression of my people. Figures of history rise and fall. I believe I'm wise enough to know one who will last when I see her.” He hesitated, his eyes looking over me while portraying a mixture of admiration and hope. “Nahara has grown tremendously in power in just over a decade's time due to their alliance with you. You offered them a partnership. You didn't take their land. I feel this is what you are offering to us. If you bring us independence, what would you ask in return?”
“Before I answer that, let me ask you this. You mentioned my alliance with Nahara. Do you seek an alliance with me?”
Vipin hesitated. “As much as I would like such a thing, it's unrealistic for the time being. Personally, I don't find death magic to be as much of a scourge as many of my people, but opinions mean less than actions. If I form an alliance with a necromancer, I risk being dethroned or sparking a civil war. Perhaps many generations from now when this war is but a memory we can decide how to proceed. For now, an alliance between us and Chairel with you as its queen will be more trouble to me than it's worth.”
“I understand completely,” I agreed.
“Tell me, then,” Vipin encouraged. “What do you ask from us?”
“Long-term, I plan on sending a messenger to you once my takeover of Chairel is complete,” I began. “I will inform you of your new independence and request trade agreements with you. I offered Saffron knowledge of my spell repertoire, including spells I have created over the years. Given Celendar's initial refusal to negotiate, I no longer offer this now. Upon Chairel's takeover, I can send mages with this knowledge to you as teachers.”
Vipin nodded. “What of the spells we already know from Chairel? Will you require licenses?”
“No. I will release Chairel's strict magical laws as queen. I look to spread magical education itself so that mages can learn magic and be smart in wielding it, but I want all the restrictions on its use gone. Celendar's laws are free to stay as they are or change to your will, but you will no longer owe any explanations to Chairel.” I watched as two Celds at the Fawn table murmured to each other about my words before I went on, “The battle here today has weakened my army and cost me allies. To come to an agreement for your independence, I will require many things of you.”
Vipin appeared apprehensive, but he said nothing.
“I expect to rest and heal my armies in the outskirts of Celendar where we entered,” I began. “I also expect supplies to aid us and make up some of the things we've lost here. Lastly, I look to recruit in Celendar. I will not force you to gather so many able-bodied soldiers for me; I simply want to have open recruitment while we're here. Between the hundreds of thousands of Celds here and Queen Edrys's reinforcements, I hope to regain some of my casualties lost today. If any of them agree to join me, you will release them to me.”
Vipin considered all of this. “What supplies do you request?”
“Food. Healers and surgeons to support our own and get our armies on their feet faster. Blacksmithing supplies and work to mend our weapons and armor. Alchemy ingredients.”
Vipin was quiet for a moment. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“You had me scared for a moment, Kai,” he finally said, a half-smile brightening his face. “I thought you would request things of us that I could not grant.”
“So you agree to provide,” I surmised.
“I do.”
I paused for a moment. “There is one final request I have of you, but I would offer my own time and resources to help you see it through.”
Vipin appeared intrigued. “Go ahead.”
“You knew Silas Galan. How did you feel about him?”
Vipin sighed heavily and lifted his wine glass, swirling the turquoise liquid around as a distraction. “Silas was a tragic character I feel nothing but sympathy for. He loved Celendar with all his heart, but his connection with you made him its scapegoat. When I learned of his death in the Battle of the Southern Plains, it saddened me. Even though he had torn loyalties, Silas tried to do what he felt was right. That didn't matter to most. That he loved and aided a necromancer was his downfall.”
“Silas didn't die in the Battle of the Southern Plains; he was my prisoner,” I informed the regent. “He was my mediator today. It was his execution by Sedge's blade that triggered my attack.”
Vipin's face fell at the news. “Truly?”
“Silas made a request of me, Vipin. He wanted Celendar to compromise with me, but he wasn't certain it would. He begged me not to destroy this forest in the same vein of the attacks of Narangar and Glacia. When Sedge executed him, I wanted to. But I refrained to abide by his request.”
Vipin nodded softly. “I appreciate your restraint.”
“Silas died feeling like a traitor to Celendar,” I went on. “I want you to help me ensure his legacy is anything but. I want Silas remembered as a protector of this forest, not its traitor.” I motioned to Azazel. “I have an artist here who can memorialize him if you will spread his story. And if you agree to help me with this, I'd appreciate any suggestions.”
Vipin's eyes were sympathetic in my own. “Are you aware of our burial methods in Celendar, Kai?”
“No,” I replied. “I don't believe so.”
“We bury most of ou
r people beneath our trees. We are birthed by the forest, live by the forest, and become one with it when we succumb to the limitations of our physical bodies.” Vipin hesitated and looked off to the side. “We bury the most legendary Celds on the outskirts of our forest so that we may plant new seedlings above them. The trees belong to them and grow from their nutrients. We name the plants after these men and women. It is our way of ensuring that those Celds who dedicated their lives working in the forest or fighting for it can live on forever.” Vipin moved his gaze back to me. “This is the highest honor I can give a Celd in death. I will do this for Silas, and I will grow his tree on the westernmost side of the forest so it is closest to you if you'd ever like to visit. I can mark it with a memorial. If Silas has his own tree, his name will last through the generations.”
My eyes burned, but I didn't allow myself to cry. “That would mean the world to me. Thank you.”
“Do you...” Vipin seemed hesitant to ask, but he went on, “do you happen to know where his body is? We will prepare it for the ritual as soon as we have it.”
I swallowed back emotion. “It was on a covered bridge, but we went through the area and raised the dead. It is possible—”
“Kai.” Cerin's rough voice caused me to meet his gaze. “There's no need to worry. I only used necromancy on his body to separate it from the others. Silas did not see battle after death.”
Overwhelming relief flooded through me at the news, and I reached over to pull Cerin to my side. “Thank you.”
“A thoughtful necromancer,” Vipin mused, smiling as he watched us embrace. “The world would have us believe none exist. I am happy to see I was right about you and your companions, Kai. Our partnership is starting off on the right foot.”
Twelve