by B. A. Scott
Sure enough, Kaven spotted distant ships on the horizon.
“And there’re sea soldiers a’plenty beneath the waves,” Faelia added.
“But they’ll let us pass—this being a Borean ship?”
Faelia smiled. “First time on the seas?” she asked.
“Is it that obvious? I’d never met a Borean either—‘til you.”
“And what do you know of my people, may I ask?”
Kaven realized he didn’t know a single thing.
“Well, you’re rather blue,” he said, eliciting another laugh from the Borean.
“That’s very true,” Faelia said. “I noticed you and Kade didn’t pack much. It’s clear neither of you realize just how terribly cold it is in the Northlands. I’d bet a silver you’ll trade all that fancy armor for a warm coat soon enough.”
“Yeah about that—the Northlands,” Kaven said. “Are we gonna be talking with a King? Or Queen? Or Lord?”
“Oh heavens, you really are a raw cut of meat,” Faelia said amusingly. “Yes, you’ll be speaking with King Arcos, my father.”
“Your father?” Kaven exclaimed. “Are you a Princess, Faelia? But you’re—you’re an ambassador.”
“All the King’s children are his ambassadors. We travel the world in routes, gathering and carrying news before returning home.”
“That would explain you having to leave Benevar ahead of schedule. And Gabrel taking a message to your sister. How many of there are you? I mean, how many children does the King have?”
Faelia started to speak, then paused. “Have you taken notice of my crew?” she asked.
Kaven looked around at the other Boreans, all female, occupied by their duties. Some were on the ropes. Captain Cyver was at the wheel, wearing a unique mask, which Kaven gathered aided her sight. And the rest seemed quite preoccupied.
“Notice anything?”
“Just a distinct lack of masculinity,” said Kaven.
“I’d say you’re perceptive, but that would be fairly generous.”
“I thought you’d hand-picked them that way,” Kaven said.
“Well there’s some truth to that. But where I come from, women outnumber men thirty to one.”
“I think my younger brother would like those odds,” said Kaven.
“Men are breeders,” Faelia continued, “the King notwithstanding. I have many, many sisters. And a few brothers.”
“Does no one marry?” Kaven asked. “I mean, what if one of your men wants to, you know, settle down, have a wife?”
“Borean males are expected to proliferate the Borean population, Kaven. At least, those who aren’t born into roles as emissaries—like my brothers. But to answer your question, our culture is not without love. There have been many marriages. Though, when a male does proclaim himself for one woman only, it is viewed as selfish—that he does not wish the best for his people.”
“Yikes,” Kaven said.
“Yikes, what?” Kade spoke as she approached. Kaven was so preoccupied with the conversation that he’d yet to notice the ship slowing.
“Kaven’s getting an earful on Borean relations,” Faelia told her.
“Ahhh, yes,” Kade said.
“So, who will be the next King?” Kaven asked. “How does that work?”
“His eldest son takes the throne,” said Faelia. “If there is no son, then the King’s closest male relative does, and if there is no blood relation, he appoints a male to take the throne when he dies. It is all accounted for, don’t you worry.” Her attention turned to Kade. “I must say, I rather enjoyed that, up there with you,” she said.
“Yeah,” Kade agreed. “It was nice to use magic for something other than shielding myself from arrows, or frying Primen.”
“I told Kaven it was safe out here, but he insists on wearing armor. Speaking of, I notice the two of you wearing the same vambrace. Are they a pair?”
Kaven and Kade looked to their arms, where the Trox Vambraces remained.
“Yes,” said Kade. “They’re enchanted for—for heavy lifting.”
“I see,” Faelia said. “You two look like something of a matching set. How adorable.”
Kaven regarded his vambrace, then looked again to the skies.
“I know you think it’s safe out here,” he said, “but what if Fated Ones attacked us? Does the Agile have any defense against that?”
“This is not a war ship,” Faelia said, “but we have plenty of spears, shields and arrows. Look, I’ve never been attacked on water, if it eases your mind.”
“I just—I’ve learned to never assume I’m not in some form of danger. And Fated are bloody hard to kill. They attacked us at Trendell, and many men died. They attacked us in Palthea, and we barely escaped. They can fly about your sails and wait until we’re out of arrows, then be done with us. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? I mean, not just for us—for everyone trying to take down the bastards. Only the Aeroli can fight them hand-to-hand.”
“This is hardly a new revelation,” said Faelia.
“Well, it’s new for me,” Kaven said.
“We can’t fight them in the air, Kaven,” said Kade.
Kaven knew she was right. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the gulls flying alongside the Agile. It looked as if they were frozen in flight, just beyond the railing. In that moment, an idea came to him.
“There has to be a way,” he said.
“Kaven, we’ve had this conversation before,” said Kade.
“No, I’m serious,” Kaven said. “There’s got to be a way with hover charms or something.”
“Many have tried,” Kade assured him. “Placing hover charms on their clothing, boots or belts. Mostly to comical effect. But in the end, only a very small number have managed a state of levity with Wave or Gale. It takes a massive force of wind, but if a wielder is strong enough, they can summon a continuous blast that carries them through the air. There’s a similar trick with Wave, but the force is usually too great to sustain. And the wielder gets drenched. After centuries of experimentation, even the wisest of wielders have accepted the fact that flight is a thing reserved for the Aeroli alone.”
“Well, I’m not saying I want to fly, exactly,” Kaven said. “But I have an idea. Hang on. Don’t move.” He raced below deck, leaving Kade and Faelia looking, at first, perplexed, then utterly amused. Kaven returned with a loaf of bread, and several scraps of wood.
“Now that’s part your ration, ambassador, whatever you plan to do with it,” Faelia told him. “And those are for repairs!”
Kaven laid the scraps on the deck, tore off a piece of bread, and filled himself with magic. He held it shoulder-high, and placed a fixed hover charm upon it, just as Kade had taught him.
It was both successful and surprising, as the pinch of bread remained rooted in the air, yet because the ship was moving, the Agile’s deck moved swiftly beneath it.
“Wait, what?” Kaven said, chasing the morsel as the ship passed it by.
He and the others raced to the back of the boat, straining their eyes to see the tiniest bit of bread hovering some fifteen feet above the sea, in the precise spot the charm had been placed on it, ever shrinking in the distance. It did not take long for the gulls to descend upon it, and tear it apart.
“It appears you’ve given the birds their lunch,” said Faelia. “How kind.”
When the gulls were finished, they returned to the ship, eagerly awaiting further feeding.
“Okay, that was—Kade, how can I hover something, so that it can’t be moved, but it stays with the ship? Like the gulls beside the railing, see?” He drew their attention to the birds. “Look, gracefully unmoving, but keeping perfect pace.”
“That’s a simple matter of keeping it rooted to what lies beneath it. It’s called a reactionary hover charm, and it was to be your second lesson on the matter.”
Kaven’s eyes begged for the knowledge, and without a need for convincing, Kade gladly complied.
“Faelia
, you should take note of this as well,” she told the Borean, then taught them how to perform the charm with a few new pinches of bread. As adeptly as he’d learned previously, the magical insight came to Kaven with ease.
“Well look at that,” Kaven said, observing the piece of bread hovering before him, motionless, despite the ship’s movement.
“He’s quick, isn’t he?” Faelia said to Kade, who nodded with a proud smile.
“With a reactionary hover charm,” Kade said, “it will remain in place, but react to contact, both physical and magical.” With two fingers, she gently pressed the bread sideways a few inches. Then, using an impellment spell, she moved it downward. “See how it responds? Still firmly planted, based on its surroundings, but reactive.”
Kaven’s excitement overwhelmed him. But a flutter of wings disrupted his elation as gulls swarmed around he and the others, devouring a second meal.
“Blast it!” yelled Faelia. “No more bread!”
With a proper amount of shooing, the birds finally retreated. But Kaven hardly considered them, for he was already focused on his next task. He went to his scrap pile, and grabbed a plank of wood as long as his leg.
Without hesitation, he performed a reactionary hover charm on it, setting it knee-high from the deck. Upon completion, he put a foot on top of it, and pressed it down slowly with his weight. He lifted it and performed the same action over and over, then stood atop it as a world of potential swirled in his mind.
“Fantastic,” he said.
Kade watched as he beamed. Like a child reaching the top of a small hill for the first time, thinking himself King of discoveries. She knew the feat of flight would be impossible to achieve, but Kaven’s spirit swelled, and it made her smile.
Kaven reached toward the plank with one hand, and levitated it upward, beneath his feet. It rose as he commanded, carrying him with it.
“Well done, ambassador,” Faelia said. “You’re standing on a board.”
“A floating board, thank you,” Kaven responded, catching his balance. “But I don’t want to have to levitate it the whole time I’m on it. It takes all of my concentration.” He eased the plank down to the deck and stepped off. “I want to ride it, and have it go where my mind tells it to. That’s how we take away the Fated’s advantage. Fighting them in the skies. I want it to be like a fixed hover charm, so when I stand on it, it doesn’t move. But I want it to be reactionary as well, so that it keeps with the boat, and doesn’t stay rooted in one place forever like the first piece of bread did.”
“It seems like you want to see both sides of the same coin at once,” said Faelia.
“That’s not the tricky part,” Kaven told her. “After all that, I want to control it.”
Chapter 20: Marinar
The voyage to Marinar proved swift indeed—both to Ayden’s relief and dread. After naught but a brief time to prepare for her encounter, the island of Marinar grew ever larger on the horizon. As Ayden’s ship approached, the Queen watched as Marinean vessels made way for her own.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “They’re letting us through?”
“We’ve raised colors with the royal seal,” said her Captain. “If anything, we might have sparked their curiosity.”
“I expected more defenses,” Ayden said, confused.
“Heh,” the Captain laughed. “What you don’t see, your Majesty, are the hundreds of sea soldiers beneath our hull, keeping pace. The pockets of underwater explosives meant to blast apart any intruder. The submerged wall encircling the island and all the other magical contraptions they keep below. Marinar’s many defenses, you see, hide beneath the waves.”
“Wonderful,” Ayden said, suddenly fearful of the surrounding seas. “I thought it seemed too easy.”
“That’s just what they want you to think,” said the Captain. “But beyond protecting what lies above—and below—it’s also a testament to their affinity for the sea. They prize its beauty. They wouldn’t tarnish its face with some gaudy watchtower or catapult. If you ask me, it’s actually one of the few things you can respect them for.”
They sailed in restless trepidation. Even when the Marineans allowed them to dock, Ayden felt like it was all some sort of trick.
A middle-aged Marinean woman arrived at the dock, surrounded by armed escorts. “Has someone from the House of Mercer come to our shores?” she asked. “Or have you employed deception for safe passage?”
Ayden stepped forward.
“I am Ayden Mercer,” she said. “Queen Ayden Mercer.”
“Why have you come to Marinar, Queen Ayden Mercer?” asked the woman.
“To speak with your Sage and your King,” said Ayden.
“Ahem,” the Captain nudged her. “That is their Sage. Maryn. Maryn Gybe.”
“Apologies,” Ayden stated quickly. “We’ve never met.”
The Marinean Sage lifted her nose at Ayden. “And what should we talk about?” she asked.
“The matter of Lord Daro.”
“Ah yes, Lord Daro,” Maryn spoke amusingly. “A trouble of your lands, not ours.”
“Unequivocally so,” Ayden said, despite her disagreement. “Nevertheless, would you provide me counsel, at least, on the issue?”
“You seek our counsel?” Maryn asked. “Are your own advisers so incompetent? Of course they are. I thought allowing your admittance would prove amusing, in some form or fashion, but I imagine I’ve underestimated just how amusing you’ll be. Come, little one. Let us talk.”
Ayden bowed in respect, then looked to her handmaiden and the soldiers on board. They accompanied her to the dock.
“Oh no,” Maryn said, smiling. “You’ve misunderstood, Queen Mercer. You will come alone.”
“Alone?” Ayden asked, for she thought such a demand was beyond improper.
“There is no need for your escorts,” Maryn told her.
Ayden wanted to protest, and the Marinean Sage saw it in her eyes.
“Of course there isn’t,” Ayden smiled in return. “Shall we?”
Maryn led the Queen from the dock. Surrounded by armed Marinean escorts, Ayden instantly recognized Maryn’s hypocrisy, but acted oblivious to the clear display of superiority.
They strode past a pristine beach, and ventured inland. All manner of tropical vegetation flanked the path, and numerous waterways ran beneath bridges. It seemed to Ayden that Marinar accommodated both traveling on foot, and by way of water.
“Maryn,” Ayden said, “forgive me, but where are you taking me? To the King’s palace?”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” said the Sage. “Besides, the Island Palace is a day’s journey from here, and I can stand walking just about as much as you can treading water, no doubt.”
“Ah,” Ayden said, realizing she still had no idea where they were going. “Does King Orbibaza reside nearby?”
“Your ignorance is not unexpected,” said Maryn. “But I find it inconveniently annoying. How have you come to be Queen, and not even know of our realm below?”
“Forgive me, Maryn,” Ayden said. “My father spoke very little of what few interactions he had with your kind. And I know I seem too inquisitive for my own good. I just can’t help but be fascinated by this place. It’s like no other part of Adoran I’ve ever seen. If I might know, what ‘realm below’ do you speak of?”
Maryn shook her head in bewilderment.
“My, they grow you dense, don’t they?” she said. “The sea is ever our realm of choice. Sure enough, we dominate this island—we’ve even stretched into the ocean with cities built atop the waves. But the expanse of our realm below the tides is more vast and magnificent than all your Human cities combined. Marinar is more than just the sand beneath your feet, little one. It’s an interconnected civilization of both land and sea. Of harmony, above and below, linked by portals and passageways. We are nature’s truest children, and this place—the Goddesses’ greatest triumph of creation.”
Good glory, Ayden thought. My father was right.<
br />
“This underwater achievement sounds like something of a paradise,” she said. “I could only hope to see it one day.”
“No Human has ever been granted such an honor,” said Maryn. “And no Human ever will.”
Ayden decided not to proceed with any further questioning. Nor did she need to, for their destination appeared ahead.
It was a giant wall of unmelting ice, surrounding an enormous orb of aqua-colored water—as tall as the castle in Caleton had been. Ayden marveled, and gathered it to be a perfect sphere.
Maryn led her into the impressive structure, down a corridor of ice, which ended in a small, frozen chamber. She motioned for Ayden to enter, and the Queen heartily complied.
The room bore no place for sitting, nor any windows, though light permeated its icy composition.
“You will wait here until the King finds time to meet,” said Maryn. Before Ayden could respond, ice filled the doorway, trapping her inside.
The Queen ran toward the newly-formed wall, and pressed her hands against it.
“Maryn?!” she called out, banging it with her fists. “What is this? Have you taken me prisoner? Maryn!”
No answer came, and Ayden knew none would come. She stepped backward, observing her frozen cell. The ceiling was low, and the temperature seemed to grow colder by the moment.
For the better part of an hour, Ayden paced across the marble floor of dark turquoise, and searched her confines for any crack or defect that might prove an opportunity for escape. She called out for Maryn, begging for release, then ultimately lost hope, and resolved herself to sit.
Ayden pressed her back against a frozen wall, and sank. She shook her head, laughed sardonically, and uttered, “No escort necessary.”
* * * * *
Fahren sat with his back against the pedestal that once held the Gauntlet of Wrath. The shielded subterranean chamber would be his prison ‘til death.
I’ve failed, he thought, wondering if all who opposed Lord Embros would be slaughtered.
Fahren stood, and faced the pedestal. He would have never been caught if he hadn’t been so foolish to think he could steal the Gauntlet. He closed his eyes and lowered his head in regret.