by Tim Paulson
There was Aaron's side of the bureau and his armoire as well, right next to hers. Now full of various Ganex items, including a rather large musket with a barrel like a horn, before it had only held Aaron's few uniforms. He'd never cared for dressing up, she thought, staring at where his things had been. She missed him so much.
“What are you staring at... Oh!” Piotr said. “Blunderbuss!” He rushed over and picked it up.
Giselle frowned. “I thought dierlijt didn't use guns. They stink don't they?”
Piotr nodded, handling the weapon. “True... Gun smells bad. But! Sometimes, you need big hole in something. This little friend. She help.”
“Do you know how to use it? I don't want you blowing your own head off.”
Piotr shrugged. “I've watched men use guns. How hard can it be?”
Giselle narrowed her eyes, hoping he was joking.
Harald sighed. “Your weapons are so pathetically primitive.”
“Yes... we ought to go. I thought there was something I wanted but I guess not. I just want to see Aaron again.”
Harald rolled his eyes. “Women.”
Giselle gave him a shake. “Shush,” she said as she quickly peeked out the door and back. Oddly, as she stood there holding Harald she was sure she'd seen someone familiar at the far end of the living quarters, a woman. She'd been heading into her mother's room. It was the silhouette, the shape of her that stuck so deeply in Giselle's mind.
“Did you see Ganex?” Piotr whispered.
Giselle shook her head. “No... I think I saw Mia.”
“Hold it right there!” a voice said from outside of the door, making Giselle jump.
A Ganex officer appeared from the side of the door, opposite the direction she's just looked. Giselle frowned. She'd forgotten to look in both directions. Damn!
The officer pointed a veil pistol at them as four other men flanked her to either side.
“Weaselman, put down the blunderbuss!”
“Just when I get a fun toy,” Piotr said, grumbling as he laid the weapon on the floor.
“I don't know who you think you are, but I'm sure you know you shouldn't be here. You're coming with us,” the officer said.
* * *
Thira crossed her arms, pacing back and forth in the room. “This is not true.”
“Madre de Dios! It is true! Every word! I tell you Buckley had some witch or warlock change every single one of the goliaths into... creatures... that's the only way I can wrap my mind around it all. It was madness.” Rosa said, gesticulating wildly as she marched around the room.
Thira pointed at her. “No! You are mad!”
“Don't you think I wish I was? I was the top strategist for one of the best known goliath mercenary companies on the continent. Now I'm... I'm.. just a drunk one-legged idiot who everyone mistakes for a whore!”
“That's only because you're pretty enough to be one,” Wilhelm said.
Rosa winked at him.
“And because she sleeps in a whorehouse!” Thira snapped.
“So... do you!” Rosa replied.
“She has a point there,” Wilhelm said, with a smile.
“What!? She does not! I work here!”
Wilhelm and Rosa both chuckled at the same moment.
Thira's eyes flared. “As a bouncer!”
Wilhelm held up his hands. “Let's get back to the topic at hand, shall we? Let's say Thira and I do believe you... so what?”
“So what?” Rosa said. “So now Faustland... no, I'm sorry the Purple Republic...” she shook her head, grimacing at the name. “Now it has a power like no other country on the entire continent. In addition to its regular army, which was formidable, if not overly impressive, it's added over two hundred additional units that may well have capabilities far beyond those of a typical goliath. They were marching north two weeks ago. I'm sure they've engaged the Ganex by now. The fools have no idea what they're in for,”
“Even if they're... monsters... or something, they're still just goliaths right?” Wilhelm asked, a hand rubbing the rough stubble along his chin. Wilhelm had stopped wearing a beard since his... since that night on the battlements. Thira wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
“I don't know for sure. I only saw so much before the platform Buckley had us on collapsed on me, crushing my leg. I was lucky the wood shifted enough for me to pull free and drag myself into a sewer outlet. From there I watched as the golden-eyed goliaths searched for survivors to smash. They didn't move like goliaths, they moved like men. I swear it on my grandmother's grave.”
“Isabella? Oh that's terrible. When did it happen?” Wilhelm asked.
“Just six months ago we were... Hey!” Rosa said. “Stop doing that! I'm not ready to accept you're an old man. It bends my mind.”
Wilhelm shrugged. “How do you think I feel? Six months ago I was aching every minute of my life if it hadn't been for my love of... her... I would have welcomed death long ago. Now I'm young, healthy, everything works.”
“I noticed,” Rosa replied.
“Exactly! But now I don't know what to do. I conquered a country once, wrested it from a hostile power. It was incredible, I felt like a god when I wasn't being out-shined by Marcus Halett of course, but that was fine, most of the time. I remember once-”
“You're rambling,” Rosa said.
“Oh... yes. Well, you know how it is. Everything becomes a story... but that's my point! My great days are behind me.”
“I disagree,” Thira said. “I see before me the same man who killed my husband all those years ago.”
“Wait. You did what?” Rosa asked, eyes wide.
Wilhelm held up a hand. “It's not important.”
“It is! You are that man again. You can live again! You don't have to become king of Faustland, but you do care about this land I know it. It's why we're still here even though we could have left months ago,” Thira said.
Wilhelm nodded. “You're right. I do care. I care about the fate of the dierlijt even though many hate me for it. I care about giving everyone who wants one, a chance to live a good life, a happy life, free of enslavement.”
“That right there will make you many enemies,” Rosa said. “Enslaving the minds and bodies of others is the goal of many in this new age. Some call it a time of enlightenment, I call it debauchery of the human soul. We are losing our way.”
Wilhelm shook his head. “What saddens me the most about that is that so many appear to prefer it that way. They choose to put their heads down and do what they're told. They are the perfect clay for the corrupt and power-hungry.”
“So?” Thira asked him.
“What?” he replied.
“What will you do to combat Buckley's vision of this country?” Thira asked.
“That... is what I've been thinking about all morning,” he said. “I saw no way forward... until now. Having heard Rosa's story... if it's true, that may give me a way.”
“The story is true. Every word of it,” Rosa said making the double Tian cross on her chest.
“It's one thing to take over a country and give it a new government. It's another to invade the whole world using witchery that every single Tian knows to be the work of evil. It is mentioned, what... a hundred times in the good book?”
“One hundred and twenty-seven in the current version endorsed by the Tian church. Seven hundred and fifty in the Marlinist version,” Rosa said.
“Exactly, the people know this is a problem. They would take issue if it's exposed.”
Thira nodded. “Good, so you have a plan.”
Wilhelm shook his head. “No... what I have now is idle speculation. What we need is proof, a grand revealing of this truth that none can refute and I don't know how that's possible.”
“There is another problem as well,” Rosa said. “The problem of Elias.”
Wilhelm raised an eyebrow. “In what way?”
Thira frowned. “I don't understand... Elias?”
“It's a story from the older tes
taments. Elias was a fisherman who once mistakenly dropped a dead fish into the village well.”
“Poisoning it,” Thira said.
“But only a little,” Rosa replied. “The problem was that the day after he made the mistake he pulled in a huge catch. Believing it to be caused by his error, he dropped another dead fish into the well. Even as the village sickened from the bad water, including Elias himself, still Elias threw in a fish each day, believing he was ensuring a good catch for himself. Only when the weather changed and the fish left, making Elias's nets empty, did he stop dropping in a fish.”
“But then it was too late,” Wilhelm said, finishing the story. “Everyone in the village died, including Elias's own children. But I fail to see how you connect this with Veil.”
“The story of Elias is about continuously doing something you know is wrong, because you're afraid you'll lose what you have,” Rosa said. “The people here must see Buckley fail. He must be soundly defeated, otherwise, they'll just keep ignoring him, even if they suspect the country to be going in a dangerous direction. As long as they have veil lamps, winter heat, and work to do, it's easy to turn a blind eye to their leaders.”
Wilhelm sighed. “That is a tall order. I cannot defeat the armies of my own country, not by myself... I can't even get to them. Last I heard they'd left weeks ago to head north. If they're as powerful as you say they probably already have the Ganex on the run.” He shook his head. “I wish I could see that. Even though I know this was all a ruse to remove Marcus and me so they could install their puppet republic, I still can't help but wish to see the Holy Ganex Empire fail.”
“If I remove this Buckley's head, he will have a difficult time invading the continent,” Thira said.
“I know you're strong and I'm sure quite skilled as well but Buckley has a golem protecting him, as well as that witch-man with the mask. They would kill you Thira and we'd be no closer to saving Faustland. No... I have a suggestion of my own but given what Wilhelm just said... you might not like it,” Rosa said.
Wilhelm stood up, folding his arms. “Out with it then. You're the strategist here. What's your idea?”
“We sail to Pyrolia and enlist my country in the fight, on the side of the Ganex.”
“I knew you were working for the Pyrolian government,” Wilhelm said, pointing, a wry smile on his lips.
“I am not! But I know my country would be against one single nation controlling the entire continent. The Veil Company, as the sole supplier of powder and goliath cores, has had incredible power and wealth for a very long time. All nations are beholden to them. It was only a matter of time before they used that in a bid for control.”
“The Holy Ganex Empire may be large but it's not the entire continent. You forget Fenasia, Calacia, Scarosia...” Wilhelm said.
“Bah, the Fenasian king is a fool who cares more about the number of women he can bed in a day than the affairs of his own subjects,” Rosa replied. “Calacia and Scarosia are the left and right hand of the papal authority in Ganum and as we've seen over fifty years the church has yet to lift a finger against the Veil Company, despite all the rumors. It's beyond vexing,” Rosa replied. “In the academy, my professors were divided on it. Some said that if Ganum has not acted, then God himself has spoken about the veracity of the rumors, while others were more skeptical, but all support the Pope, of course.”
Wilhelm nodded. “That is one of the reasons why I passed the writ of conciliation. The Tian church has so much power and land... and there were always rumors about an army. I thought if we gave the reformers a place to worship in peace that they might force the church to make some concessions. That was not the case.”
“And the reformers are nothing if not worse,” Thira said. “The Cavlinists focus all their ire on the dierlijt, and Marlinists on witches, while others swear off all veil inventions or medicine. I swear, every single day I hear of another confrontation. They are dangerous!”
“How was I to know that?” Wilhelm asked. “They expressed nothing but a desire to worship freely in their own way. How was I to know what they would become?”
“The bloody Yugenot revolts in Fenasia might have given you a clue,” Rosa said. “Not that I fully believe your assertion that you're the Faustland king. I just mention for the sake of argument.”
Wilhelm pursed his lips.
Thira narrowed her eyes. “So to be clear, your plan is to travel to Pyrolia, by ship, while the Faustland navy has blockaded the empire? This is foolish. You tell me not to get killed hunting Buckley, but I would rather die with a knife at his throat, than drown in the sea.”
“It's true... The republic will be checking all ships passing through. We would require a ship uninterested in asking questions, with an exceptional captain,” Rosa replied.
Wilhelm perked up, smiling. “Thira... has he left yet?”
Thira's eyes widened. “No! Not him.”
“What? Who?” Rosa asked.
“You were there, Thira. He was described as an excellent captain by a man whose testimony I trust. Robert McCarron I believe his name is,” Wilhelm said.
“I don't know the name,” Rosa said.
“Nor should you if you're not some kind of rapscallion,” Wilhelm added with a smile. “ He's a smuggler, perhaps a pirate as well. I believe he has the skills we require for your plan.”
“That is good. There is still the matter of the evidence,” Rosa said. “If we don't have something to scare the Pyrolian Queen, they will not consider the republic a threat.”
“On that... I may be able to help,” Thira said.
Chapter 8
In New Calinova I made my fortune. Not from vast stores of gold hidden in jungles or mountains, but from selling supplies to the fools who couldn't help but venture out, never to return.
-Simo Marquet, Chairman of the Rosa Blanca Shipping Company, Ralencia, 1619
In the dark of an alley not far from the cell that had held her, Celia lay propped up against the side of a building, still out of breath after her smelly ordeal. She felt the winter cold biting at her skin but could do nothing for the time being but rest. Over her stood the ranker boy, shivering from the icy winds that whipped through the alley. Vex, in the form of a goliath shaped doll, stood on his shoulder.
“Can you walk?” Vex asked.
“You came for me,” Celia panted. “Whatever you wish.” She tried to get up, but couldn't. She'd spent the last of her strength trying to defend herself. “Just... give me a moment.”
The doll's head moved up and down, inspecting her body. “You're malnourished.”
The boy nodded his head. “The clen gave her little to eat, less even than me. They were starving her out, hoping she would leave. I've seen it before. Few last as long as she did.”
Vex paused. “We must get her food.”
Celia looked up at him, inside a tiny doll but still in control, a commanding presence of power and intellect. She thought the warmth inside her heart alone might sustain her. Still, the doll was wrong for him. It was too small.
“You... You need a new body,” Celia said.
Vex nodded. “That's on my list, rest assured,” he looked to the ranker boy. “Kev, can you carry her?”
He nodded. “Yes. I may be small for my kind but we are strong.”
“Yes I remember,” Vex said absently. “The question is: where to go?”
Celia couldn't help but think of the baroness. Vex had been connected to her, forced to obey. Was that still the case?
“Still... under control of baroness?” she asked.
“Be silent, rest yourself,” Vex replied. “And to answer your question. No. Christine gave me orders, I complied with them. Now it is done. If I see her again she can still order me, as long as I am bound that will be true, but for now, I'm relatively free. Oddly, I haven't even the urge to return to the city... I'd assume that means it was erased.”
Celia nodded.
“Good. I was ordered to protect it. Now that it's gone that o
rder is irrelevant. Though it's unfortunate that the acolytes have been lost.”
Celia shook her head. She had to tell him.
“Oh? You know what's become of them?”
“They're here,” she replied. “In the city.”
Vex nodded. “Now that... is useful information. You and I, my dear, will be an excellent team.”
Tears welled up again, she fought them back.
Vex was waving his arms, weaving a spell. Though she could not see the lines or symbols, Celia recognized the act.
“Ah! There is one, and active as well. He's north of here,” Vex said.
“Where exactly?” Kev asked.
“Hmmm, the map shows it's near two large buildings, one has thick walls.”
“That might be the palace,” Kev replied. “If whatever you're looking for is in there, it'll be impossible. It's hard enough just to get to that part of the city... you know, looking like I do.”
“Oh don't worry about that my boy,” Vex said, patting Kev's neck. “I have a bit of magic we can use to move unnoticed. I just... will need you to guide us if there are... crowds.”
“Why?” Kev asked.
“It's not important why... I just don't like them. It's getting later in the day. If there are too many people about, I'll need you to take over. Is that acceptable?”
So Vex wasn't immune to fear after all. Celia found it odd, but in her experience, odd was just fine. It was the normal ones you had to watch out for.
“Yes, I can get us there, if I know where to go.”
Vex nodded. “The acolyte is not in the building with the thick walls. He's in a smaller building in a street nearby. From the layout, it appears to be a shop.”
“How can you know all that? What are you looking at?” Kev asked.
“You will learn in time, if you stay with me,” Vex replied. “Now, I'll show you how we're going to get up there. Celia, hold still.”