by M. D. Laird
But we’ll get our revenge,
So teachers beware!”
Will laughed. “You were so proud of that.”
“I was thirteen. I think it’s quite good.”
“It’s not bad,” he said. “It’s better than my attempts at Valentine's poetry anyway.”
“Don’t remind me.” Eve sniggered. “How you ever had a girlfriend with your awful ‘Roses are red’ atrocities is beyond me.”
“What was the one you wrote about me?”
“Which one?” she asked, then blushed. “I don’t mean which one because there were loads; I mean I don’t remember writing one.”
Will grinned. “It had swearing in it.”
Eve thought for a moment then smiled. “I can’t remember it all, but it went something like:
He is articulate and well-educated,
Yet common as muck and thick as—”
“That was it.” Will grinned. “I had forgotten what a dweeb you were.”
“Oi.” She laughed and threw a notepad at him which he ducked to avoid.
They returned to her quarters and sat beside each other on the sofa. They chatted about everything—like they had never been apart. They laughed as they used to do before Eve knew anything of Arkazatinia. Before knowing of its existence had placed a strain on their relationship. Before she had ever even heard of Asmodeus Prince Calab or whatever he was known by these days. It felt so good and so natural to speak to another human being and to have him talk to her as an equal rather than as a queen. Perhaps it was that or perhaps it was because she was lonely or perhaps it was the wine, but when Will kissed her, she kissed him back. She felt her heart thump in her chest as he hungrily found her mouth. She ran her fingers through his hair pulling him closer. He responded by pushing her back onto the sofa and lowering himself over her kissing her urgently, passionately and she returned his kiss eagerly. That night she felt the troubles of Arkazatinia melt away.
“Hey.” Will smiled at Eve the next morning and leant in to kiss her.
Her head thumped from the wine, and she could not decide if she was happy or regretful about the night she had spent with him. Calab still occupied her heart and her mind, but he had made his thoughts on a relationship with her perfectly clear—well, clear-ish anyway. She returned the kiss and was happy to find that, even without the wine, it felt natural and easy to be with Will.
She laid in his arms after they made love. Will had maintained his toned and muscular physique, and it felt good to cuddle up to him. He eyed his watch. “It’s seven-thirty,” he said, “I’m going to have to go soon, I have work.”
“How will you get to Manchester so quickly? Do you have a vector?”
“No, but I can call a hansom and then use the tunnels,” he said. “I’ve gotten used to finding my way around now, and the speakeasy software lets you find the entrances.”
“I should get one of those,” said Eve. “When I’ve visited home I’ve always used my guard’s. I should get my own.”
“They work better if they’re your own,” he said. “They tune themselves to your energy and the stuff they do now is pretty cool.” They lay for a few more moments and Eve, with her head rested on Will’s chest, started to dose as she listened to the rhythm of his heart. “I really should go. I can’t go to work in yesterday’s clothes.” He kissed her once more before rising. “I know it’s probably awkward,” he said as he pulled on his boots. “We haven’t seen each other in years and last night happened, but I would like to see you again. I’d like to get to know you again.”
Her heart melted when he smiled. It was the same smile that had always gotten him his way. The one that had earned him the last cookie, the last piece of cake, the last slice of pizza; the same smile that had persuaded her to complete his biology and English homework for him and the one that she still could not resist. “I’d love to.” She smiled back and embraced him once more.
“I’ve heard the queen is spending a lot of time with that guardian boy these days,” said Calab to Thalia as he sat across from her in her office some weeks later.
“What guardian boy?”
“The one whose father I took,” he replied. “Apparently they were reunited at the guardian meeting and have been practically inseparable ever since.”
“They were just friends, weren’t they? They weren’t romantically involved.”
“They are now.” He scowled.
Thalia raised one eyebrow as she studied him. “You don’t seem pleased. I thought it was your wish for her to meet someone and find happiness.”
“It is,” said Calab bitterly, “though I thought she might have waited more than five minutes.”
“Really, Calab!” Thalia exclaimed.
“They’re not a good match, it can’t last long. She is immortal, and he is not.”
“Calab, you sound quite spoilt,” said Thalia sternly. “You insisted that you wanted her to find love elsewhere.”
“We don’t know that she loves him. She could still love me.”
“Have you heard the things you are saying?” she snapped. “You don’t want her, and you have no intention of returning her affections, so why should you then be concerned with who she is involved with? You are entirely selfish and quite undignified.”
He snorted and sat silently. Thalia observed him sat with folded arms and brows furrowed and was reminded of a teenage boy. He was stubborn, moody and obnoxious. She quoted:
“True dignity abides with him alone,
Who, in the silent hour of inward thought,
Can still suspect, and still revere himself
In the lowliness of heart!”
Calab gave her the look of a petulant child. “Don’t you know any other poets?” he snapped. “Every time you quote poetry you quote Wordsworth.”
Thalia grinned and recited Blake:
“How sweet I roamed from field to field
And take all the summer’s pride,
Till I the Prince of love beheld
Who in the sunny beams did glide.”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous,” he grumbled though he inwardly smiled when he recalled discovering the queen shared his passion for Blake when she too had quoted him.
“Oh Calab,” Thalia teased. “We would not be having this conversation if you hadn’t denied you both of your feelings. You made the decision not to allow a relationship to develop and you must suffer the consequences.”
“And I shall,” he replied, “but as my friend you shall suffer a good deal of my complaining before I accept those consequences.”
Thalia gave him a tender smile. Despite his angry and childish outbursts, she was very fond of him. She no longer loved him as she had once. Love, when unreciprocated for a long time, fades, but the bond of their friendship had only strengthened. “And as your friend, I shall bear your suffering with no further complaint, but a great deal of this.” She pulled a bottle of red wine from a rack in the corner of her office.
“You are indeed a good friend.” Thalia opened the wine, poured two glasses and handed one to him. “Carpe vinum,” he toasted.
September 2013
It was around five months since Eve had spent days at the cabin with Calab and she had not seen or heard from him. His position as a prince of the first order was now filled by his successor Nakhiel who attended the quorum in his place. Eve had heard that Nakhiel, who had been Calab’s second in command, had been promoted on Calab’s recommendation and he was certainly proving he was up to the task. Calab had retained his position as Co-General of the Queen’s Guard alongside Jacob though the role required little input from him and she had had no occasion to see him.
Eve had heard from Thalia that Calab had been living in his new house for three months. She occasionally asked about him when she saw Thalia though she usually tried to bite her lip and not mention him. Eve had learned that anything said to Thalia would be repeated to Calab and she did not want hi
m to think that she was always asking about him. It worked both ways and Eve had learnt that Calab was aware of her involvement with Will.
Despite her vow that she would avoid speaking to Calab forever, she had made a plan to call on him to take him a housewarming gift. Now that she was involved with Will, Eve felt more confident about seeing Calab and convinced herself it would be easy as there would be no need for any awkwardness.
She had sent a note to announce her intention to visit and arrived by vector one evening an hour before supper.
“It's nice to see you.” Calab greeted her somewhat uncomfortably.
As he made no move to kiss her cheek, Eve kissed his instead and felt him stiffen at her touch. She checked her irritation and smiled brightly at him. “I’ve brought you a housewarming gift,” she said, handing him a present bag.
“Thank you,” he said, removing the gift from the bag. “What is it?”
“It’s a garden gnome.” She smirked. “It’s a Lycean thing, old people like them.”
“Thank you, I am both flattered and insulted,” he said with a slight grin. “Do they usually look so grumpy?” His eyes settled on the gnome’s furrowed brow and grimacing mouth.
“No,” said Eve, “they are usually jolly, but I thought this one was more…well…you.”
“Well, thank you. I shall find a place for him in the garden.” He returned the gnome to the gift bag and put it on the hallway table. He looked awkward again and said nothing. Eve felt the usual air of tension.
“Well,” she said, “I should go.” She smiled thinly at Calab and left through the still open door, which she assumed was a further sign that she was not welcome, and headed towards her vector. She was not surprised though she was a little disappointed, that he had not invited her in or that he had not called her back when she had left. She forced the feeling into the pit where she kept all of her Calab related feelings and ignored it.
A week passed and Eve continued to attend dutifully to her role as the Crown. An election was scheduled for the following week for the guardians to vote for their regional representatives and their head representatives who would have a seat in the quorum. An Impærielas official had already been selected. Despite his initial reservations about the changes, Ezra had warmed to the idea. He nominated himself and was voted into the position by a large majority.
He also seemed to be warming to the idea that mixing with others may not be as inappropriate as he had believed. He found himself getting along rather splendidly with his peers and even found himself invited to luncheon in Tethys with Queene Orrla who appeared to be quite taken with him. He was initially reluctant to attend; however, after some encouragement from Eve, Lord Ezra of Impærielas had a date and then a second and then a third. Eve was pleased and secretly hoped this was the start of a new trend for the Impærielas although she also felt guilty that she was making such drastic changes to their traditional ways.
She was planning to make another change, but was yet to venture her thoughts and did not expect them to be well received. Eve had become disgruntled with the Impærielas after arriving in Arkazatinia, more so after recent battles, as they had no defence of their own, and despite their reluctance to associate with anyone outside of their community, they still expected to be protected. Eve had planned for a while to ask volunteers to train to fight so they could defend themselves in the future and was keen to learn herself. She had been putting off speaking to the Impærielas as she had never been on great terms with them and there had never seemed to be a right time. After Lord Ezra’s appointment to the Crown Alliance, Eve felt more confident in approaching them.
On Lord Tharazan’s advice, Eve had discussed her plans at length with the hominem patriarchs who, not having the increased physical strength and the complacency that comes with the immortality of the other Arkazatines, had become more adept in combat. The hominem had agreed that they would lend some men and weapons to assist the training as soon as Eve was ready. Nervously, she decided to approach the subject with Ezra first and invited him to her office.
“You summoned me, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, Lord Ezra. Please take a seat.” She informed him of the plan to ask for volunteers within their community to train in close combat and weaponry, and to her surprise, he was on board.
“I have actually thought for many a year, especially after we were so defenceless against the Imperator, that we should have our own army, but it has never been my place to say so. I imagine that there are others who will share my views.”
It was decided that Ezra would take charge of informing the community and recruiting volunteers. The response overwhelmed Eve. Most of the younger men and a considerable number of older men as well as many young and older women volunteered. There was a consensus that they should have been taught to defend themselves a long time ago. Eve was pleased, but also saddened. What sort of leadership had they been subject to where it was no one’s place to voice an opinion?
October 2013
Because so many of the Impærielas had volunteered, they had been split into several still rather large groups. Eve had joined the group with Ezra, and after donning a pair of plain pants, a t-shirt and boots, she was ready for the first session. The first session and the first month’s sessions were brutal. They did not even begin to start to learn any combat and spent most of the time improving fitness. This meant many a gruelling hour of press-ups, pull-ups and running—so much running, often with heavy loads. The Impærielas, who were used to manual labour, fared better than Eve who, having attended the gym now and again in Lycea, had done no exercise since arriving in Arkazatinia and was very unfit. Still, she had improved dramatically by the end of the first month, and although she could not claim to have enjoyed any of the training, she was enjoying her new found fitness.
The fitness sessions did not let up even when the combat training began. They started with hand-to-hand combat and learned defensive and offensive techniques and this, for the most part, consisted of sparring with a partner. Eve was yet to win, and most of the time she ended up on her ass and sporting a new bruise.
“I ache in places I didn’t know I had,” she grumbled to Will as she eased herself onto the sofa beside him.
Will laughed. “I must say I’m impressed. I have never known you to like exercise before.”
“Who told you I like it? It’s torture, I dread every session.”
“Aw,” he teased. “It can’t be that bad.”
“No, not really,” she said. “I am getting better. It’s just that everyone else is picking it up faster than me.”
“They are thorian so they are stronger than you, and they have been around a lot longer and are used to physical work. Maybe this is one situation where not spending time reading is an advantage.”
“You’re right,” she sighed. “Though I think I would much rather be reading about training than actually doing it myself.”
“You’re doing great,” he said, “and you’re doing a great job as the Crown too. I have heard nothing but good things about you and the guardians are happy to finally have a seat.”
She smiled, it all felt worth it when she heard comments like that. “Zuri and Thierry are certainly holding their own in the quorum.” Zuri Azikiwe and Thierry Moreau were the two newly elected guardian representatives and had arrived in the quorum with the intention of taking no prisoners. They had little to say on matters of Arkazatinia but in matters of Lycea they were very vocal and ensured that all the leads knew, for the first time in history, the opinions of the guardians.
In addition to the guardians and Lord Ezra, civilian representatives from each of the orders in Eurasia, Laurasia (with the exception of the Elion who had declined) and Laurentia had also joined the quorum. The leads were generally positive about the move although they grumbled a little as issues were raised more often that cost them more money.
Each order tended to take care of most of their own community issues, financially at l
east, to the standards set by the Crown surrounding education, welfare and healthcare. Some matters extended outside of just the order’s community and required the support of other orders. A major issue that had arisen had been one of sanitation. Sewers and treatment plants were commonplace in cities but were rare in small towns and villages and the introduction of them throughout Arkazatinia was becoming costly. The worst affected areas had been in Laurentia—home to vast deserts and forests—and they now benefited from running water and a vastly improved sanitation system. The work continued slowly throughout Arkazatinia to help spread the cost.
The wealth of the Arkazatines varied considerably. The Procnatus had the most wealth due to their science and technology expertise though much of it was invested in Lycea and they were followed by the demon guilds. The angel guilds and the Calahad were moderately wealthy and the fae, hominem and Impærielas had the least wealth. Eve’s suggestion that the richer orders paid a greater contribution had not been well received and was the cause of debate amongst all the rulers. Some felt it was unfair that they should pay more because they had more and the least wealthy orders felt it was unfair that they should pay the same when they had less. In the interest of their new democratic approach, Eve put the matter to a vote and was not surprised when the leads opted to do what they had always done.
Only the sons and the Exalon voted with her. Orrla went along with the popular opinion as, enjoying her new level of acceptance amongst the alliance, she did not wish to upset her new peers, and Tharazan, feeling neither method would make a great deal of difference to the Calahad’s wealth, also toed the popular line. Eve had believed the hominem stood to gain from her suggestion, but the Tamien and Marya patriarchs were convinced by Thalia and the princes’ arguments that paying a percentage of the funds required would cost them more than their donations and they voted against her.