《The Dragon & The Demon》


 Chapter 11

    ¡°I can¡¯t deal with the nobility right now,¡± Orenda told the human woman who was making her bed in the guest room she had occupied the previous night, ¡°I know you¡¯re quite busy and I hate to bother you-¡±


    ¡°Do ya, your majesty?¡± the woman asked as if the idea shocked her.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I know you have a heavy schedule.  This place is huge. One of my best friends was a housemaid and I would be unable to speak with her for days at a time because of the significance of her workload.  I¡¯ve tried to delegate a good housekeeper; I go over the scheduling myself. That¡¯s why we had such a massive hiring intake. Many hands make light work, I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    ¡°Damn,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°When I was a child, at the workhouse,¡± Orenda said, ¡°we did our own cleaning.  There was a schedule to that effect and it rotated every week. We didn¡¯t have these fancy indoor water closets as you have here- one of the duties was moving the outhouse.  I prayed not to get that one. When I moved to the library they had a water pump indoors and I thought myself quite posh.¡±


    ¡°I believe it, your majesty,¡± the woman said.  ¡°We had them outhouses, back at the farm- I¡¯m from the farmland out in the Agricultural District.  Come summer a body couldn¡¯t draw breath.¡±


    Orenda laughed and agreed, ¡°Daring, it was always hot on the Fire Continent.  There was never a break from the smell. But I daresay it wasn¡¯t worse than the awful moat Xandra had when I first came here.  I can¡¯t believe these Urillians hadn¡¯t figured out a composting septic system. There exists a restaurant outside of the palace walls.  People ate next to that. Some fucking master race.¡±


    ¡°I heard about that from some of the other folk what work here, your majesty¡± the woman said as she finished the bed and stood, walked to the basin and began to wipe down the wooden fixture that housed it.


    ¡°My name is Orenda,¡± Orenda said, ¡°my friends call me ¡®Rendy¡¯.  Do you have a name?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Mary,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Oh, my dear friend is named Mary,¡± Orenda said, ¡°it seems to be a strong Urillian name.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know all about that,¡± Mary said, ¡°Mary Sue, the first human advisor to the crown.  Got named as successor. Might be the first human queen. What a world.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind,¡± Orenda asked, ¡°if we perhaps called this room ¡®good enough¡¯?  I can¡¯t be around those nobles for my luncheon. I simply can¡¯t. Could you run to the kitchen and ask that they send my food here?  Along with Klin- he¡¯s likely still soaking wet. I don¡¯t think he dried himself before he put his clothes on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m outside the door!¡± Klin called.  ¡°I¡­ forgot what you said so I just followed the light.  I was gonna follow you and pretend like I had remembered.¡±


    ¡°Thesis¡¯s glowing eyes,¡± Orenda mumbled.


    ¡°The queen¡¯s stayin here,¡± Mary said, ¡°it ain¡¯t fit for a queen.  I can go and put in your food order and come back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve slept on straw on a filthy warehouse floor, in the back of moving wagons in ridiculously cramped spaces, and out of doors on the hard ground under an open sky,¡± Orenda said, ¡°this is a luxurious fit for me.¡±


    ¡°A¡¯ight,¡± Mary shrugged, ¡°I reckon you know what¡¯cha like.¡±


    She opened the door and, true to his word, Klin was standing on the other side, in the position of a guard who had been stationed.


    ¡°So¡­  do I go somewhere or stay here or-¡±


    ¡°Just come inside,¡± Orenda said with great exasperation.


    Klin obeyed, stepped inside the room, closed the door behind him, and took up the same position on the wall next to it.


    ¡°You¡¯re so creepy,¡± Orenda said, ¡°you¡¯re always hovering and watching.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Klin said, ¡°I¡­  uh¡­ when you¡¯re in front¡¯a royalty you¡¯re supposed ta-¡±


    ¡°At ease, soldier,¡± Orenda huffed.  She was getting used to him; he was very much like a dog, as she understood them.  He needed to be given simple commands, which he would follow to the best of his ability.


    ¡°...thanks,¡± Klin said, then moved to sit in front of the vanity, glaring at himself in the mirror.  After a few seconds he pulled a brush from his bag, and to Orenda¡¯s great amusement, bent forward to throw his hair forward until his torso was nearly upside down.  He tugged the hair upward and wound it around itself, then tied it off with a simple green ribbon, producing a tight bun. Klin seemed very good at getting large things into small forms.


    ¡°My bangs are gettin long,¡± he said, brushing them to either side of his face.


    ¡°How interesting,¡± Orenda rolled her eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s a certain way guys are supposed to wear ¡®em,¡± Klin said, ¡°before, I mean.  There was.¡±


    ¡°I burn off my hair when it gets too long,¡± Orenda said, ¡°it gets in my way.  When I was a child we all had it cut once a month, so that it wouldn¡¯t get caught in the machinery.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Klin agreed, ¡°when I was a kid my stepmom used to cut mine, ya know, keep it outta my face an¡¯ shit, on accounta I worked outside an¡¯ it was a pain in the ass to take care of.  Everybody use to keep their hair short- that was a long time ago, back when there used to be migrant families like us, used to work the fields- that was before all the plantations, everybody just had like¡­  little sharecrop plots. It gets cold around here come winter and that place is pretty flat, even the sea freezes, ya know? So a lotta folks went into the capital and stayed, I dunno where, ¡®cause we couldn¡¯t afford that so we went back to daddy¡¯s place in the Sacred Woods.  That¡¯s where he¡¯s from. I mean¡­ that was a long time ago¡­ that place don¡¯t¡­ ain¡¯t there no more. On account¡¯a the¡­ you know, the earthquake. On account¡¯a I destroyed it.¡±


    ¡°...Ruvean led me outta there with my head in his shoulder¡­¡± Klin said to his reflection, ¡°wouldn¡¯t¡­  wouldn¡¯t let me look at it¡­ I don¡¯t think I woulda seen it noways¡­ I don¡¯t know how you got used to it so quick¡­  I¡­ I missed a good¡­ week. Maybe couple a¡¯ weeks.¡±


    ¡°Ruvean was always¡­  always real good to me, ya know?¡± Klin asked, ¡°She wouldn¡¯t¡­  wouldn¡¯t never hurt him¡­ she got¡­ I mean¡­ it was the stress¡­  it was¡­ I shouldn¡¯t¡¯a been¡­ I made it worse¡­ I¡­ she was right¡­  I did¡­ blow up like that¡­ I ain¡¯t good at¡­ talkin an¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Are you drunk again?¡± Orenda asked and Klin held up a hand and made a ¡®so so¡¯ motion.


    ¡°Did you get drunk in the time it took you to walk here from the bath?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°How- where did you even get- how?¡±


    Klin reached into the bag at his side, pulled out a bottle of whiskey, pulled the cork free, and took a long drink.


    ¡°My god!¡± Orenda exclaimed.


    ¡°Rendy!¡± Anilla knocked loudly on the door, ¡°Are you in there!  We brought you some food! I wanna talk to you! I have wonderful news!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I need it,¡± Orenda said as she opened the door.


    Anilla was not alone.  Sonny was standing beside her, balancing a serving tray and a small folding table on each arm, and Mary Sue stood to the side with her trusty clipboard holding a stack of paperwork.


    ¡°Come inside,¡± Orenda gestured.


    ¡°Hell yeah, my man Klin breakin out the lunchtime whiskey,¡± Sonny said as he shoved one of the trays into Orenda¡¯s hands, snapped the folding table open and set the other one on it, then unfolded the other, apparently expecting Orenda to set her tray on it, all quickly and expertly, then cleared the space between himself and Klin in a hop, ¡°hit ya¡¯ bro up.¡±


    Klin handed him the bottle and Sonny took a swig, laughed, and said, ¡°Damn, that¡¯s strong.  Are ya tryin to get me drunk?¡±


    ¡°Tryin to get me drunk,¡± Klin said.


    ¡°You do that a lot,¡± Sonny said, not as if he was passing judgement, but as if he was making an observation, ¡°for somebody what weighs ninety pounds soakin wet.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate it,¡± Orenda said as she lifted the covers from the trays revealing salads and sandwiches, ¡°but you didn¡¯t all need to join me.¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± Mary Sue said, glared at her brother and added, ¡°Sonny didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I go where I want!¡± Sonny shot back.


    ¡°I told you to stay in the dinin hall!¡± Mary Sue told him.


    ¡°An¡¯ I didn¡¯t,¡± Sonny said as if he felt this was obvious.


    ¡°You left them to deal with the nobility!¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°Bunni can handle them pretentious fucks on her own,¡± Sonny said, ¡°even if she didn¡¯t have Barbra Allen and Sarya.  They got that.¡±


    ¡°You have a job!¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°I sure as hell do,¡± Sonny took another swig of the whiskey, ¡°Them scouts didn¡¯t find a damn thing¡­  Little fuck¡¯s fell off the face of Xren¡­¡±


    ¡°What is your wonderful news, Anilla?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving!¡± Anilla announced.


    ¡°...excuse me?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving!¡± Anilla said again, ¡°Bella¡¯s gonna take me home!  I already scried her. Klin¡¯s gonna help me find my dragon!¡±


    ¡°I am?¡± Klin asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it was so close, this whole time!¡± Anilla gibbered excitedly, ¡°I¡¯ve been searching for so long, Rendy!  But it was so close all along; that¡¯s the way of the world sometimes, isn¡¯t it? That what you¡¯re looking for is right under your nose, but you can¡¯t find it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not,¡± Orenda started, realized she was wrong, and began again, ¡°well, I can¡¯t stop you.  But Klin¡¯s certainly not going anywhere.¡± Her eyes narrowed and she asked, ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Anilla said as if she thought Orenda was being silly, ¡°I keep it in my head so I always know where it is.  The secret is that you have to stay grounded, especially for us. Almost everyone in my tribe is a mage, and the air is all around us!  You have to learn to go with the flow; if you can¡¯t learn to enjoy the ride, you can cause problems.¡±


    ¡°Klin isn¡¯t going anywhere,¡± Orenda said as she served herself a large portion of the salad, mixed in the dressing and began to eat.


    ¡°But he¡¯s the one who can find my dragon!¡± Anilla said, ¡°he¡¯s seen it before.¡±


    ¡°Are ya sure?¡± Sonny asked, ¡°Look at him.¡±


    ¡°I dunno,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°Anilla¡¯s right about stuff most a¡¯ the time.  Besides, she¡¯s a Knight of Order; she fought alongside us when we took the castle.  She wants to go look for a dragon, she deserves to go.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t go, Ani, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Klin turned, clasped his hands between his knees and lowered his head, ¡°The Queen wants me here.  I can¡¯t just¡­ abandon¡­¡±


    ¡°No but, Rendy, you can go with us!¡± Anilla said.


    ¡°I obviously can¡¯t,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡¯ve a kingdom to run-¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s drivin you crazy,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°you¡¯re losin your mind.¡±


    ¡°I am not losing my mind!¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Rendy, listen,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°me and Ani been talkin this over for days.  I know this hurts to hear, but you¡¯re an elf. We need the press, the nobility, all them naysayers, to see humans runnin this place by ourselves.  We need it. It¡¯s the only way. If you go off an¡¯ leave me in charge, it¡¯ll do more for our image than anythin¡¯ else you could do. You done wrote all the laws, the policies-¡±


    ¡°We wrote those together,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°But they¡¯re done, they¡¯re wrote, is my point,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°we just gotta enforce ¡®em.  These nobles are goin home at the end ¡®a the week and everythin¡¯s gonna taper off real quiet like.  Rendy, look at me. I can do this.¡±


    ¡°There are assassins!¡± Orenda declared, ¡°You¡¯re mortal!  They¡¯ll come for you!¡±


    ¡°I wish a bitch would,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I¡¯m lookin for an ass to kick and Mary Sue won¡¯t let me burn down houses.¡±


    ¡°Klin can get scries from earth mages,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I¡¯ll make Sarya scry him all the time.  We¡¯ll keep you updated. But we need to do this, Rendy. This is important. You have to understand that if you¡¯re always here, always in charge it looks like¡­¡±


    ¡°Like you work for me?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Like you¡¯re¡­  still just slaves. Mary Sue, you¡­ you know I don¡¯t...¡±


    ¡°We know that, but the nobles don¡¯t know that,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°they twist everythin they see up to fit the screwed up image in their heads.  You have to let me do this, Rendy. You have to step down, just for a little bit. What? You think I can¡¯t? You think I¡¯ll run this place into the ground?¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯ll kill you,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I think that if I¡¯m not here, they¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    ¡°Stronger folks has tried,¡± Sonny said, ¡°bitch, did you forget that we fought our way into this castle?  You forget I found you surrounded by soldiers and saved your ass? You forget about that?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I know you¡¯re quite hearty, but you¡¯re out of hiding now and-¡±


    ¡°And sunlight is the best disinfectant,¡± Sonny said, ¡°Rendy, if I was scared a¡¯ this shit, I wouldn¡¯t a¡¯ left home, left the babies there.  I ain¡¯t scared a no scrawny little elf drunk on imaginary power. We are made of starstuff. We are shifters. But more than that, we¡¯re human.  And they ain¡¯t gonna take us out that easy. We lived through everythin¡¯ them knife-eared fucks threw at us- took the stones they threw at us and used ¡®em to build this castle.  Don¡¯t tell me when I need to be scared.¡±


    He took another swig of the whiskey, and Orenda thought it was loosening his tongue.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t afraid, you¡¯re a fool!¡± she stood, ¡°Like my father!  That¡¯s what got him killed!¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± Sonny said and looked away.  ¡°Yeah, I¡­ I get that Rendy but¡­ it¡¯s real, real hard to take that kind¡¯a advice from somebody who rode here on my back with no plan except to walk up to Xandra and tell her to get the fuck outta your chair.  You got a lot to say for somebody who don¡¯t pay nary bit of attention to fear.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­  I mean I¡­  get that it¡¯s¡­  I¡¯ll tell you later¡­¡± Klin mumbled.


    ¡°Cryptic,¡± Sonny said and handed him back the whiskey, though now it was half empty.  Klin drank it greedily.


    ¡°We need this to happen, Rendy,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I already drew up the press release.  You ain¡¯t gotta go to the Frozen North, but ya can¡¯t stay here.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean!?¡± Orenda shouted, ¡°You did not do that!  You didn¡¯t! You didn¡¯t tell all my citizens I was leaving!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I did,¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°She does shit like that,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I knew she was gonna do it.  I kinda felt like maybe just Klin and Anilla would go- on account¡¯a¡­ I really feel like y¡¯all need some time apart.¡±


    ¡°You went behind my back?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Made this decree on my behalf?  You can¡¯t kick me out of my own kingdom! I¡¯m queen!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a rabbit can look at a queen or somethin¡¯ like that,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I done did it.  It¡¯s done. What¡¯cha gonna do? Go all lava monster on my ass? I whooped you once, I¡¯ll do it again.  I don¡¯t take shit from my lil¡¯ siblings.¡±


    ¡°I outrank you!¡± Orenda declared.


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± Sonny laughed.


    ¡°You¡¯re goin crazy,¡± Mary Sue said with great sincerity, ¡°an¡¯...  part of it is rulin, but part of it? I know you, Rendy. I laid eyes on you, I knew you.  You¡¯re an adventurer at heart, like your mama was. Daddy talked about her all the time, an¡¯ you got that spirit in you.  You can¡¯t stay here forever. You gotta get out and explore. You had a bunch¡¯a safe choices; a bunch¡¯a ¡®stay here and live a life of routine¡¯ choices- you coulda been the noblewoman married to that Toli boy, you coulda been the scholar who studied ancient history, you coulda been the pirate who stayed on Big Gary¡¯s ship good out there, you coulda married that headmaster and been a schoolteacher- but ya¡¯ didn¡¯t.  You didn¡¯t do none a¡¯ that, on account¡¯a you never woulda been happy with none ¡®a that. Go out and conquer an uncharted continent; the one even the Emerald Knight couldn¡¯t conquer. Do it for us, but also, do it for you. It¡¯s what you want.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be nice¡­¡± Klin said, ¡°to get away from this place¡­¡±

 Chapter 1

    Orenda Nochdifache Firefist, newly crowned queen of the former Urillian empire, awoke because she was on fire. This involuntary arson was becoming much more frequent than she would have liked, though it wasn¡¯t the flames themselves that caused her this annoyance, it was what the flames would always portend. The soul of a god that rested where her heart had once been would call up the sacred armor of the Crimson Mage any time it felt she was in mortal danger.


    This was an annoyance in part because her dear friends the Brigaddons had not yet made for her bedclothes woven from their sterilite hair, which meant that the bedding was not immune to magical fire, and had therefore caught.


    Again.


    ¡°Klin, don¡¯t kill them!¡± She shouted as she rose from the flames, trying to will the armor to retract so the blaze would not spread. She did not say this because she saw Klin in the process of killing anyone, it was just that these assasination attempts had become so routine she knew the process by rote, and it was a constant vexation that the idiot could not remember that one simple command. They needed at least one of them alive or they would never find out where they were coming from or what their motivations were.


    ¡°Um,¡± Klin said as Orenda made an effort to wad all the flaming bedclothes up in the middle of the mattress, in a vain attempt to contain the fire. She had commissioned a bedframe of stone from the mason¡¯s guild, but the mattress had caught and there was nothing to be done.


    She growled in exasperation as she turned and took in the sight of Klin kneeling over a corpse that was still spraying blood from a wound in its neck all over her new bedroom, which she had recently had cleaned. She had removed all rugs, because the bloodstains were a great annoyance to the laundress, but even on the stone floors it would be a pain to clean. Klin was holding a dagger smeared with the same blood, staring up at her with guilt and confusion in his giant blue eyes.


    ¡°He ain¡¯t dead,¡± he said hastily, ¡°I don¡¯t reckon. It takes ¡®em a pretty good while to bleed out like that.¡±


    He hopped to his feet and wiped the dagger clean on the edge of his nightshirt, which had been as stained as the flooring, then held it towards her.


    ¡°Now I want you to look at this,¡± he said as if the dagger greatly annoyed him, and gestured with his free hand to an earth crystal inset into the hilt, ¡°Them fuckers is learning, I reckon. Comin¡¯ up in here with enchanted weaponry and shit, actin like they gonna carve outt¡¯cha heart. I know ya¡¯ sure as hell don¡¯t want my advice, but it wouldn¡¯t a good idea to tell folk how ya¡¯ killed Xandra. Ya¡¯ got yourself a big glowing target on ya¡¯ chest.¡±


    ¡°Klin, shut up,¡± Orenda demanded and watched the man she had mistaken for a corpse struggle. Klin had been right, he wasn¡¯t dead; he was clutching at his throat and making strange garbled gurgling sounds.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± he said, speaking much more quietly, as if he believed he had no right to speak at all, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I just ain¡¯t understandin¡¯ why it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s pert near ever¡¯ night with this shit. I thought you had them rabbit people walkin¡¯ around tryin¡¯ to prevent this. It¡­ it flat out ain¡¯t working.¡±


    ¡°I know it isn¡¯t working!¡± She snapped, ¡°I¡¯m looking at the same assassin you are!¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± Klin said as if he was in absolute agreement and his passivity annoyed Orenda.


    ¡°Stop stabbing them!¡± She demanded as Klin began to cough and made his way to the wall of the room to open more windows to let out the smoke rising from the burning bed.


    ¡°I swear to god, I¡¯m tryin,¡± Klin said and Orenda watched his shoulders shake and knew he was trying to hold back tears, but he would not be able to accomplish this feat, ¡°I¡¯m tryin, your majesty. It¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s kind¡¯a¡­ it¡¯s a¡­ big adjustment¡­¡±


    ¡°Heal him!¡± Orenda demanded, ¡°Do something!¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t real good at that,¡± Klin admitted as he turned and knelt by the man who was trying his hardest not to die, ¡°But I can try ¡®er.¡±


    ¡°Three centuries on the battlefield and you never learned basic healing spells?¡± Orenda asked with a combination of genuine curiosity at what had to be a profound feat of ignorance, and her rising annoyance.


    ¡°You sure could put that fire out,¡± Klin said as the stone in his chest began to glow when he placed his hands over the man¡¯s wound, ¡°For my part.¡±


    Orenda was about to tell him exactly what she thought of his suggestion when the entire castle began to shake.


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sakes,¡± Klin huffed as Orenda lost her footing and went tumbling to the ground. He moved his hands from the assassin to the stone floor, but Orenda did not need him to tell her what he was feeling; she felt it herself, likely much more strongly than he did.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Ten hearts burned brightly several stories below them. It was obvious to Orenda that a team of earth mages had made their way into the basement and were trying to knock the entire structure down from the foundations. If she could pull herself to her feet she would be able to make her way downstairs, but the entire building shook like a ship during a fitful storm, and she could not even crawl.


    She thought she heard Klin mutter the words, ¡°wine cellar¡±, but by the time the shaking had subsided, he was gone, and she was left alone with the man who had, during the commotion, officially become a corpse.


    ¡°Stay up!¡± she demanded of the room around her as she pushed herself into a sitting position.


    But she watched with interest as cracks appeared in the masonry, spreading rapidly through the walls. She turned her gaze to the ceiling and watched the unlit chandelier sway, bend, creek- and fall onto the flames that had almost gone out on the charred mattress.


    She cursed as the cracks widened-


    Then she felt them, below her, as the stonework weakened and she was afraid to shift her weight- though she knew she was just postponing the inevitable.


    She threw up both hands to cast a shield of flames as the room began to topple around her and did not even scream as the floor gave way and she went crashing through it.


    ¡°We pulled at least ten of ¡®em out,¡± Mary Sue Brigaddon explained as she stood with Orenda looking over the rubble that had once been a tall tower where Orenda slept. ¡°But nobody had told none a¡¯ the staff and it all happened so quick there wouldn¡¯t really no way to evacuate.¡±


    ¡°Were there any deaths?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°A¡¯ the staff?¡± Mary Sue asked, ¡°Yeah. Yeah we lost a couple folks. So far. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s gonna take a minute to clear all this out. There¡¯s gotta be folks with injuries still in there. There was servant¡¯s quarters down under ya, ya know. I ain¡¯t seen Anilla since-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m right here!¡± A tiny woman proclaimed, ¡°I¡¯m fine! And Sarya and Barbra Allen got out too! I think everyone is ok! But I wonder why the tower collapsed? I felt it before it happened and told everyone close to me. There were people in the basement trying to knock it down! Didn¡¯t they know that people were in there?¡±


    Orenda massaged her temples and tried to remind herself that Anilla¡¯s naivete was not an act. During their time together she had come to accept it as a sort of coping mechanism. Anilla had to believe the best possible version of any and all events, for her own sanity- as grating as that made her to be around.


    Several windows had been opened on the castle proper and dozens of heads poked out to stare at the destruction. Orenda glared at the visiting nobility, studying each and every one in turn. How many of them were unhappy with her? How many of them wanted her dead?


    ¡°Hey!¡± A woman shouted, and Orenda did not know which one she was, ¡°We¡¯re still meeting tomorrow? Or like¡­ is everybody alright?¡±


    ¡°Go back to bed!¡± Mary Sue shouted, ¡°Nothing to see here!¡±


    ¡°I dunno,¡± another noble argued, this one male, ¡°I¡¯d look at that. I mean¡­ look at that.¡±


    ¡°Thesis¡¯s glowing eyes,¡± Orenda said, turned, and marched toward the destruction.


    ¡°-main goal,¡± Klin was saying as she approached, ¡°Is to figure out if anybody¡¯s still in there. We gotta get the injured out and treated. I¡¯ll scry the mage guild and get a healer up here-¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need mages,¡± a man who looked very similar to Mary Sue with his tall stature, big eyes, buck teeth, and shining silver hair and eyes said, ¡°Bunni¡¯s here ain¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t hurt anything,¡± Orenda said, ¡°to have all hands on deck.¡±


    ¡°Ya¡¯ alright, Rendy?¡± Sonny asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m immortal,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯m not a concern. Are you alright? Is everyone else alright?¡±


    ¡°I reckon I broke some bones when it fell,¡± Sonny said, ¡°But I got better. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m a shifter, Rendy, you know they can¡¯t take me out that easy.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Klin said as he lifted a stone and threw it behind him, as many other people in Urillian military uniforms were doing, ¡°Dig, rabbit.¡±


    Orenda stared at the destruction and the people working to sift through it looking for survivors. She hadn¡¯t called them to action- had they come of their own accord or was it something Klin had arranged? She didn¡¯t trust the Urillian military in the slightest; many of them had served under Xandra before Orenda had defeated her and taken the throne. And it was so strange to her that none of them recognized Klin.


    Not that he was particularly recognizable. He didn¡¯t look like a monster with the stolen soul of a god; he looked like a Urillian, like an earth elf, if one ignored his eyes, which it seemed everyone was willing to do. His apparent youth seemed to put people off more than his past; perhaps he was able to hide in plain sight so well precisely because he was so ordinary.


    ¡°Hey!¡± he screamed at one of the soldiers who had raised a mage staff that was beginning to glow, ¡°No! Don¡¯t be doin that! We need to move it slow like! If somebody¡¯s trapped under this and you move it all up at once it¡¯ll squish um! Only folks I see usin magic better be healers! I know, it¡¯s heavy as hell, but we move this shit one stone at a time. If you a mage, you be lookin for magic signatures. I see some of um down there myself. There¡¯s folks alive down there!¡±


    ¡°Our goal is to save the survivors!¡± Orenda shouted, ¡°We¡¯ll work through the night!¡±

 Chapter 2

    Orenda sipped the coffee in an attempt to prolong it as she marched toward the huge room she had included in her new plans for the castle after it had been destroyed the first time. Klin had said that she had no need for sleep now, not with the soul of a god burning brightly in the place her heart once was, but she did not believe him. She still grew weary, grew hungry, grew thirsty- felt all the things he had told her she would no longer feel.


    Mary Sue was somehow not as tired as she was; Orenda believed that she had inherited vices from her father that allowed her to gain energy from a white powder, but it was none of her business and so she said nothing to the human woman marching beside her. Two more Brigaddons, Mary Sue¡¯s siblings, Sonny and Bunni, had been left to continue the efforts with the collapsed tower, because Orenda needed Mary Sue with her to address the nobility. Mary Sue was, effectively, her second-in-command, the one who knew all the things one needed to know to productively run an empire, who had helped her write new laws and new codes for them. Klin followed behind and slightly to the left of them, officially in his capacity as a bodyguard, but more realistically because Orenda would never let him out of her sight if she could help it. He knew this and seemed more than willing to play by the rules, though she had not come close to trusting him.


    He was scratching at his arms so forcefully that had he not been wearing layers of clothing, he would have surely torn the skin and brought blood to the surface. Orenda had not noticed when he started doing this, but she hated it.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of ¡®em in there what keeps sending these assassins,¡± Mary Sue said as the trio stopped before a large wooden door, ¡°You know that, right?¡±


    ¡°Might be more than one,¡± Klin mumbled.


    ¡°This was far worse than any of the others,¡± Orenda said, ¡°This one¡­ brought down the house. The entire wing. People are dead. We have to do something. I have to do something.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just get through this,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°Don¡¯t let ¡®em see that they shook you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not shaken,¡± Orenda said, hoping the insult she felt carried in her voice, ¡°I¡¯m angry!¡±


    ¡°You know what it is?¡± Klin asked in his quiet, unassuming voice, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s the way it all went down. Xandra had this thing goin where everybody thought she was immortal; thought she couldn¡¯t be killed. So folks quit tryin. But you come in, outta that storm, and killed her deader¡¯n hell, and then you went out in front¡¯a everybody and was all like, ¡®I killed her deader¡¯n hell, come an¡¯ look at the corpse¡¯. An¡¯ when ya do somethin like that, it reminds everybody that anythin¡¯ what lives can be killed- they just gotta figure out how to do it. You don¡¯t want that thought in people¡¯s heads. What you oughta do- if you care what I think- is make it clear that you ain¡¯t out here to hurt nobody else. You gotta make ¡®em like ya.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t particularly care if the nobility likes me,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I can¡¯t imagine I ever will. The entire nobility will eventually be phased out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t cotton to that¡­¡± Klin murmured, ¡°That made ¡®em real mad¡­¡±


    ¡°Lots¡¯a stuff got ¡®em real mad,¡± Mary Sue said, though she did not seem to be saying it in agreement, ¡°We gonna have some growin pains. Let¡¯s just get through this.¡±


    Klin stepped forward and pulled the door open.


    ¡°Announcing,¡± a human servant on the other side of the door proclaimed, ¡°Her imperial majesty; Empress Orenda Nochdifache Firefist!¡±


    The large room was completely filled with benches, built in a gradual upward slope. These were sectioned in twane by a decorative green rope, dividing the upper portion, the nobility, from the lower portion, the guild system representing, in theory, the more common people. Orenda was not shocked to see how elven the people behind those benches were, was not surprised to see that their demographics had narrowed further to be primarily earth elves. She was the only fire elf in the room, and she walked with her head held high, a head above the earth elves, to take her seat in front of them, her seat behind the most impressive, largest desk, the seat at the head of the proceedings, the seat of a queen.


    An earth elven woman, the royal songwriter and scribe named Sarya had already been seated there, in front of a seemingly endless supply of ink and parchment, and her smile widened when she saw Orenda.


    After Orenda had taken her seat, Mary Sue stood to her right and Klin took his place to the left, still slightly behind them.


    Orenda had had to remind him to change clothes. Only an hour before the meeting he had still been digging through the rubble in his bloodstained nightshirt. Orenda constantly had to remind him to be mindful of his public appearance, but she was in constant amazement at how little the Urilians noticed, how little they paid attention to the world around them.


    She looked out over the sea of faces which were so similar it was off putting. Most of the nobility were related, she reminded herself- related to Xandra. They all shared the same hair texture and color, the same lean, angular face, and wore the same deep green color so that they could have been dolls made on an assembly line. The sheer sameness of them unnerved her.


    But Tolith had been related to Xandra, and he had eventually understood the world to be what it was. This is the world; there is no other.


    ¡°Welcome, distinguished guests,¡± Orenda said, ¡°from all corners of our fine kingdom, to the first meeting of parliament in this, year one of the Reign of Nochdifache Firefist. I understand that we all find ourselves in a time of great change. Such is life. We must adjust to this new world as it comes, and for my introduction, I would like to remind you that the future is happening around us- and if you are not part of that future, feel free to get out of the way. The door is open.¡±


    Klin fisted one hand over his heart and the other in the small of his back, closed his eyes, and resisted the urge to shake his head.


    ¡°My first order of duty is to name my successor,¡± Orenda continued, ¡°something that seems to be a rather pressing issue. I understand that there are some people who are¡­ rather unhappy with the new leadership. As I have no heirs, barring any that I may have in the future, my throne shall go to my dear friend and Knight of Order, Mary Sue Brigaddon in the event of my untimely death.¡±


    ¡°Howdy!¡± Mary Sue said, and Orenda noticed that many of the scribes behind many of the desks stopped their frantic scribbling to stare in incomprehension, as many of their employers had done.


    However, one man, sitting behind a desk with a plaque that proclaimed him to be the duke of the Agricultural District, took to his feet, clapped, and proclaimed, ¡°Hell yeah! Hometown pride!¡±


    ¡°Sit down, Lorry!¡± A woman next to him, apparently the duchess of the Seaweed District hissed.


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± the duke proclaimed.


    ¡°Write that down!¡± Mary Sue insisted to Sarya, who giggled in agreement.


    ¡°Lorsan, sit down!¡± Another man demanded, from across the room, who had a similar plate decreeing that he was the Duke of the Sage Lake district, ¡°If your daddy was still alive-¡±


    ¡°If my daddy¡¯d survived that attack Ida took him out myself,¡± Lorsan shouted, ¡°Y¡¯all just mad on accounta ya lost! The queen is dead! Long live the queen! ¡®Ey, your majesty can I do new business, too?¡±


    ¡°The crown recognizes the Duke of the Agricultural District,¡± Orenda proclaimed in what she felt was a rather queenly manner.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°I wanna name my successor, too!¡± the duke said, ¡°I also ain¡¯t got no youngun¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Not for lack a¡¯ tryin,¡± A woman from the guild section interrupted.


    ¡°Yeah, not for lack a¡¯ tryin,¡± the duke continued, ¡°But it don¡¯t look like it¡¯s in the cards no time soon. So I¡¯m namin¡¯ my scribe an¡¯ dear friend, James OfAgalon!¡±


    He reached behind him and offered a hand to a human man, who took it and stood, though his face was so stoic and expressed so little emotion Orenda felt an overwhelming urge to speak to him. There was something in his face that told her he had a story she needed to know.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± she said, ¡°Welcome, Mr. OfAgalon. Do you wish to keep that name? I¡¯m told many humans are changing them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± James said with as little emotion as he held on his face.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Objection!¡± the duke of the Sage Lake District shouted, ¡°Have we all lost our minds? You can¡¯t name successors that are gonna die before their progenerators. That ain¡¯t¡­ that don¡¯t make a lick ¡®a sense!¡±


    ¡°Objection to the objection!¡± Lorsan shouted back, ¡°You didn¡¯t do the readin and therefore nothin you say matters- on account¡¯a I damn well can under these new laws. And it ain¡¯t gonna matter much longer noways. Your Majesty- are we gonna discuss these whole big ass packets we all got? ¡®Cause I reckon more than half a parlament ain¡¯t read em!¡±


    ¡°I have a series of notes I would like to bring up,¡± the duke of the Sage Lake Province argued, ¡°Your Majesty, if we make the adjustments these documents call for, it will have dire consequences for the people of the Sage Lake Province. We¡¯ve taken a poll and my citizens are overwhelmingly opposed to the vast majority of these new laws. You can¡¯t uproot an entire legal system overnight-¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Is that the case? I can¡¯t imagine it is. I¡¯m an immortal ruler with the powers of a god. I rule by divine right. I was under the impression I could do whatever I like. Let me check. Mary Sue, darling- do I have the power to rewrite the code of law and expect that it will be followed by my citizens?¡±


    ¡°Even under the old laws of the Uril family you could do that,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I mean, folks could challenge it- Right by Combat, Divine Right, Birthright; all that, but you could absolutely do it.¡±


    ¡°Well, love,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡¯ve checked and it seems I can uproot the entire legal system and have it replaced, overnight. If you¡¯d like to challenge me, you are, of course, free to do so- I¡¯ll allow it under the old system you loved so much. If you wish to hurry to your grave, don¡¯t let me stop you- you will bleed when you die like your dear cousin Xandra.¡±


    Klin placed a hand on Orenda¡¯s shoulder, and for a moment she was confused when he did not immediately pull away in pain; she tended to run as hot as a cookstove when her emotions ran high. But almost as quickly as she had the thought, the confusion was resolved as she remembered the strange, floating voices of a certain pair of weapons.


    No harm may come to our vessels.


    He squeezed and she turned to look at him.


    ¡°Can¡­ can I have a drink?¡± he begged, ¡°I¡­ Your Majesty please they¡­ they hate us¡­¡±


    ¡°Yo, hey, can we start saying ¡®burn¡¯ when somebody just absolutely verbally destroys somebody like that?¡± Lorsan asked, ¡°Because of the fire queen? I¡¯m doing it. I¡¯m making it a thing that we do.¡±


    ¡°Lorsan, sit down!¡± The duke of the Sage Lake district commanded, ¡°I mean it! We got ourselves some real issues to talk about! Quit carrying on like-¡±


    ¡°Your parents was here, wouldn¡¯t they?¡± Lorsan said, ¡°That first night? The night the castle collapsed? That¡¯s the only reason you¡¯re here, ain¡¯t it? So technically, the Knights a¡¯ Order give you this job.¡±


    ¡°Sit down!¡± He shouted, ¡°Sit your ass down, Lorry, I swear to the good god Thesis above! You¡¯re pushin!¡±


    ¡°You talkin about ¡®I¡¯m gonna outlive my successor ¡®cause I choose a human¡¯- bitch, I might not make it outta this room! Look around! Everybody hates me! And some a y¡¯all get¡­ I was gonna say ¡®stabby¡¯ but ain¡¯t nobody in this room with the spine to come at me yourself! All y¡¯all a bunch a¡¯ spineless worms. Ain¡¯t none a y¡¯all gonna stab nobody.¡±


    ¡°I would like some order!¡± Orenda said, raising her voice, but not in a scream. She simply spoke loudly- had always spoken rather loudly after a childhood on an assembly line around large noisy machines- and it often sufficed to simply raise her voice without irritating her throat, ¡°I will not allow the room to be taken by madness and personal insults.¡±


    ¡°They brought up my dead daddy first!¡± Lorsan argued, ¡°What¡¯s good for the goose is good for the gander!¡±


    ¡°I would like to address any actual concerns,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Not on a personal scale because unlike Xandra I am not your relative, and I am certainly not your mother. I am not here to settle personal disputes-¡±


    ¡°Permission to speak your majesty?¡± A man rose from the back of the room and Orenda had to admit she was impressed by his girth. He was, perhaps, the only member of the earth elven nobility she had ever thought to look as well fed as she knew they all were. The plate in front of him proclaimed that he was the duke of the Northern Mountain Province- Orenda was positive she had heard the dangerous, rocky cliffside called colloquially: The Mountains of Death.


    ¡°The crown recognizes the duke of the Mountains of Death-¡± Orenda said, then her eyes widened and she corrected herself, ¡°I mean- I am so sorry- the Northern Mountains Province.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, Your Majesty, that is part of your job,¡± The duke of the Northern Mountains Province said as if he was explaining something to a child, ¡°to settle disputes among the nobility, just like we settle disputes among our citizens-¡±


    ¡°Yeah, both your citizens always seem real pissed off,¡± Lorsan giggled.


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± Orenda explained, ¡°I¡¯m sure that was in the paperwork we sent you. We¡¯re establishing a formal court system to be made up of judges. From a pool of learned citizens the people shall select a handful to act as judges who shall collect a salary for this service from the local government of the district.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, permission to speak,¡± the duchess of the Seaweed district asked, and the constant repetition grated on Orenda¡¯s nerves.


    ¡°I am declaring a new rule by¡­ royal decree,¡± Orenda announced, ¡°No one else ask for permission to speak in this meeting. I would rather have the caucoughany than have to hear that phrase again.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Your Majesty- on the subject of the new economic system-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a capital idea,¡± Orenda said, ¡°So we¡¯re calling it ¡®capitalism¡¯. Mary Sue came up with that one. It¡¯s going to completely replace feudalism. It¡¯s practically what we had in the Fire Continent anyway, except it shan¡¯t be allowed to run rampant here. When I was a child, I told myself, based on the advice of a very dear friend, that when I became queen, there would be no workhouses.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna destroy us,¡± the duchess said, turned to the human behind her and handed him a stack of papers, ¡°Take them to the Empress.¡± she turned her attention back to Orenda and continued, ¡°Your majesty, we done gone and lost our underlying workforce and ain¡¯t got no replacement. Abolition shoulda been a gradual process. We¡¯re hemorrhaging money; we can¡¯t afford to pay the crown the taxes that¡¯s been imposed upon us for every good and service. We simply can¡¯t. We ain¡¯t got it. You¡¯re trying to squeeze blood from a stone.¡±


    ¡°Getting blood from a stone is how I got this job,¡± Orenda mused as she took the folder with a, ¡°Thank you,¡± but as she read over it she began to see that the duchess may be telling the truth. Her poorly named district depended almost entirely on fishing to stay afloat with a small boost in income from tourism around the times of the various festivals- prior to the human emancipation, the vast majority of that work had been done using slave labor.


    ¡°I would like to hear more on this from the merchant¡¯s guild,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Mrs Agalon, have you seen these numbers?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty, of course,¡± a woman from the lower section said, ¡°And, I gotta admit that they don¡¯t look that good. Here, you wanna see ¡®em?¡± She picked up another cluster of documents and approached the desk to hand them to Orenda, who opened them and began to read.


    ¡°This is¡­ rather bleak,¡± Orenda said, ¡°But I do have a question about all this. What is the relevance? Are you asking me to put a price on life? Because I shan¡¯t. But what I shall do is put a price on labor- it was outlined in my report I sent to you all. The late Xaxac Brigaddon was helpful enough to do all the calculations before his untimely death. This should not be a problem- not to this scale. If you can¡¯t afford to pay your employees a living wage, you can¡¯t afford to be in business.¡±


    ¡°Yo, that motherfucker!¡± Lorsan pointed to the duke of the Sage Lake District, ¡°Is already tryin to skirt these laws. He¡¯s been payin his slaves- sorry, his ¡®employees¡¯, the wages outlined in them new laws but then chargin ¡®em ridiculous rents to live on his land, still in the slave quarters!¡±


    ¡°No I haven¡¯t!¡± The duke argued, ¡°That¡¯s a ridiculous accusation!¡±


    ¡°Bitch, I¡¯m fuckin the head of the merchant¡¯s guild! I know all your shady shit!¡± Lorsan declared.


    ¡°He is and he does,¡± Mrs Agalon agreed.


    Klin¡¯s hand tightened on Orenda¡¯s shoulder, and she was sure he could feel the heat radiating off of her, even if it didn¡¯t cause him pain.


    ¡°Honestly,¡± she snarled at him, ¡°Do you think I wouldn¡¯t rather be drunk myself?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ do¡­ they¡¯re gettin on my last nerve¡­¡± Klin whispered and added, though likely not to Orenda, but as if it was a soothing chant, ¡°Stay down, stay down, stay down¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡± Orenda snapped, ¡°We¡¯ll take a short recess for refreshments, and to allow me to look over these figures, then we¡¯ll reconvene!¡±

 Chapter 3

    Klin¡¯s hands shook so severely as he tried to pour wine from the bottle to a glass that Orenda snatched it from him and poured it herself.


    ¡°My fingers are flyin in there,¡± Sarya said, ¡°But I don¡¯t know if¡¯in I can get all that down.  I¡¯m right worried I¡¯m gonna miss somethin. They all scream and holler- you want all of it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the fastest scribe I have,¡± Orenda lamented to the kitchen and glanced out the window to look over the crew that was still diligently working to clear the rubble.  Several people had been pulled out of the sizable gap that had been created and Orenda watched a human woman with silver hair apparently arguing with an earth elf holding a staff.


    ¡°They ain¡¯t lyin,¡± Mary Sue mused, reading over the report the head of the merchant¡¯s guild had been kind enough to provide, ¡°but I¡¯ll tell ya- I seen this comin.  I told ya it was gonna be an adjustment.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t adjust to nothin,¡± Klin muttered to the glass he had emptied and held out his hand so Orenda gave him back the bottle.


    ¡°I wonder what happened to the mages,¡± Orenda asked, still watching the rubble, still watching the doctor, Bunni Brigaddon, and the healers working on the people who had been saved.


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re dead,¡± Klin said, ¡°Did I not tell ya¡¯ that?  I thought I told ya that. I¡­ I ain¡¯t smart. Ya gotta keep on me sometimes.¡±


    ¡°All of them are dead?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Klin, we need at least one of them to question.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it this time!¡± He begged, ¡°They done that to themselves!  They dropped the whole tower down on they heads! I thought them bunny people was supposed to keep that from happening!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we might need to recruit some more folks, Rendy,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°On account¡¯a- Sonny was doin rounds last night like he was supposed to, but we can¡¯t feel magic.  A mage coulda knowed they was in there way earlier than Sonny.¡±


    ¡°We have very few mages within our ranks,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡­  I¡¯m not sure we have enough mages to perform surveillance every moment of the day.  You know¡­ I didn¡¯t think it would be like this, truth be told. I didn¡¯t think it would be constant assasination attempts and valid economic concerns.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, all leadership is,¡± Klin said as he drained the bottle into the glass he had, once again, emptied, ¡°is constant bullshit.  It¡¯s just wakin up every day and gettin waylaid by bullshittery.¡±


    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Orenda said, ¡°such is life.  This is the world, there is no other. Let me see that report.¡±


    ¡°You know what we need?¡± Mary Sue asked with the tone of someone asking a question solely to provide an answer, ¡°We need us some kind¡¯a¡­  any kind of economic system built on labor, so like¡­ any kind¡¯a economic system, necessitates a lower working class to support it. I always thought the nobility was rich.  If they ain¡¯t, we¡¯re gonna have to get some money together to send out to poorer areas like Seaweed and the Mountains a¡¯ Death until they can figure out a way to stand on their own feet.  I didn¡¯t notice how much a¡¯ this money was just bouncin back and forth.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I also assumed the empire was significantly more wealthy than it truly is.  I didn¡¯t realize that most of our seafood was imported from the Water Continent, most of our industrial manufacturing was done in the Fire Continent¡­  Why don¡¯t we do anything here? Why is it so much cheaper to buy these things than to make them?¡±


    ¡°We could make it more expensive,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I mean¡­  has anybody ever tried to mine in the Mountains of Death? Any big ol¡¯ mountain chain like that oughta have minerals and ore and whatnot in it.  Why are we buyin that? I mean, we could set up some government funded mining operations, get some folks workin in that area, and they¡¯d have to spend the money they made there, right?¡±


    ¡°But none of the manufacturers will buy more expensive materials mined here,¡± Orenda said, ¡°The dwarves in my homeland really know what they¡¯re doing, we don¡¯t.  They don¡¯t have start-up costs to recoup; we will. We can¡¯t compete with them; they¡¯ve been doing this for centuries.¡±


    ¡°But you know Kroathy real good,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°Couldn¡¯t she send somebody over to show us what to do?  I mean, I can dig to hell and back, far as that goes-¡±


    ¡°What the hell happened outside?¡± A man darted into the kitchen, instantly recognizable as one of the Brigaddons with his silver hair and eyes.  ¡°Also, second question- well, not a question, more of a comment really- no, wait, I guess it is a question-¡±


    ¡°Did you run here from the house?¡± Mary Sue asked.


    ¡°I wanted to show Rendy these new plans I got set up- I need a lotta copper wire.  Y¡¯all got like¡­ a lotta wire? Like a whole lot of it? Or can you order some from Bubby and Ali?  ¡®Cause I need to get me like¡­ a dinin¡¯ table spool size amount a¡¯ wire. Made outta copper. I need a shitton of it.¡±


    ¡°Xaxac darling,¡± Orenda said as she took in the red lines that spanned from the corners of his eyes to his silver irises, ¡°When is the last time you slept?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need sleep,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m runnin¡¯ on innovation!¡±


    ¡°And frost?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°And frost.  And caffeine!  No, but look at this,¡± he shoved Klin away from the table, reached into the bag on his hip and pulled out several folded up sheets of paper, which he began to spread out.  ¡°So this works; this straight up works; we done tried it and it works. What I¡¯m gonna do is get me a central hub on our property near my lab, right? But also another hub in every province.  Now we run the wire from hub to hub, probably underground- then from the hubs we run the wires out, like to houses and shit-¡±


    ¡°What does this do?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Right!¡± He said as if he had forgotten something important, ¡°You ever, when you was little, play that game with two cans and a string?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Orenda and Klin said in unison.


    ¡°Oh, right, nobody had a childhood but us- thank god for good parents,¡± Xacac Brigaddon the Second said, and seemed as if he meant to continue, but was cut off by his sister.


    ¡°God damn,¡± she said in annoyance, ¡°Junior, folks can hear you when you talk.  You ain¡¯t fit to be around nobody. Lock yourself up in that goddamn lab lose all common sense-¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he interrupted, ¡°but y¡¯all know canned food is a thing, right?  Like preserved food? Like they make cans outta tin an¡¯ put food in um? Look- you know how strings make sound?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Orenda said, but she was a bit impressed when Klin spoke in disagreement and seemed confused that he knew something she didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± he had said, and when Orenda continued to stare at him he amended, ¡°I play the fiddle- can I have another bottle a¡¯ wine?¡±


    ¡°You play the fiddle?¡± Sarya asked.


    ¡°I reckon,¡± Klin shrugged, ¡°I mean, not good.  I don¡¯t¡­ can¡¯t write songs or nothin like you do but I can play a little bit.¡±


    ¡°You wanna get together some time?¡± She asked, ¡°I reckon all of us oughta be tryin to spend more time with Rendy¡¯s man.¡±


    ¡°I¡­  uh¡­¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Focus, people!¡± Junior proclaimed, ¡°strings carry sound on accounta all sound is is vibration- but copper carries energy almost unchanged.  So if¡¯in I, we, insulate it real good I can get sound to carry even better than the talkbox, on accounta that peters out after a little bit if you ain¡¯t got a real good pickup-¡±


    ¡°Please slow down,¡± Orenda begged, ¡°What is a talkbox?¡±


    ¡°I gotta head back to the wagon,¡± Junior said, leaving everything laid out on the table, ¡°I gotta go put somethin on the roof and run some wire!  But think about it! I need you to sign that decree sayin I can dig up everybody¡¯s land and get me just an absolute shitton of wire! And that it was my idea!  Sign it!¡±


    He ran from the kitchen in the direction of the dining room, and Orenda stared down at the plans he had laid out on the table.  The schematic was labeled: Brigaddon Communications Systems: Quick as a Jackrabbit and showed a map of the entire continent.  He had explained it well enough, going by the map of where he intended to place these hubs, but she wasn¡¯t sure what it was all supposed to do.


    ¡°So about this econ report,¡± Mary Sue said just as the door opened and Anilla poked her head in.


    ¡°Rendy!¡± Anilla announced, ¡°We think we¡¯ve got everyone out!  But¡­ it¡¯s¡­ there¡¯s bad news! I hate to give bad news!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s thirteen people dead!¡± Anilla said, ¡°Ten of them weren¡¯t supposed to be here, but three of them were people who worked for you!¡±


    ¡°Three casualties in a botched assassination attempt,¡± Orenda said, more to herself, to help process what she had just heard, than to anyone else, ¡°We can¡¯t¡­  can¡¯t keep doing this.¡±


    ¡°Them nobles hate us,¡± Klin said.


    ¡°Shut up, Klin!¡± Orenda snapped, ¡°I know that!  I know they hate me!¡±


    ¡°Not you,¡± Klin said to his empty glass, ¡°not just you.  Us. They hate us. They liked Xandra. Xandra give em money and power and we took it away.  They thought they was safe¡­ folks¡­ get real mad when they realize the world wouldn¡¯t never a safe place¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Orenda demanded, and she did not know that flames were springing from the place her heart had once been, did not know that her eyes were red, ¡°I mean it!  Do not speak to me! Do not open your mouth!¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Klin set the glass on the table, fisted one hand in the small of his back and the other over the place his heart had once been, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.  I¡¯m sorry. God, I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    Orenda would not be given advice on how to deal with anything from a genocidal warmonger who wouldn¡¯t know real leadership skills if they bit him.  Orenda would not take any sort of advice from a monster. But she could not say as much, because she was the only person in the room who knew that she was looking at the Emerald Knight.


    ¡°You need ta calm your ass down before you set the whole damn place on fire!¡± Mary Sue commanded, ¡°Ya damn armor¡¯s sprung up!  Don¡¯t holler at him! He¡¯s right! If we don¡¯t do somethin, this is just gonna keep happenin. They do hate us. It ain¡¯t just you!  We was all there, we all fought. We don¡¯t know who¡¯s loyal and who ain¡¯t, and we need to find out! That shit¡¯s important!¡±


    Orenda took several deep, calming breaths.


    I have no need of this armor, she thought loudly in an attempt to communicate with the god in her chest, stay down.


    The fire burned out.


    ¡°We can¡¯t compromise with them,¡± Orenda said, ¡°We can¡¯t give an inch.¡±


    ¡°Meet me in the middle says the unjust man,¡± Klin sang, and Orenda noticed his words were slurring.


    ¡°You take a step forward and he takes a step back,¡± Sarya joined in.


    ¡°Meet me in the middle, says the unjust man.¡± They finished together.


    ¡°Well, we need some kind¡¯a plan,¡± Mary Sue said with great practicality.


    ¡°We simply hold the course,¡± Orenda said, ¡°The kingdom will adjust.  We¡¯re already moving gradually. Eventually the nobility will be nothing; they¡¯re going to be replaced with elected leadership positions.  Once they¡¯ve become adjusted to the judges we stop giving them appointment power for lower positions. We do it so gradually that when the time comes to replace them they won¡¯t know what hit them.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty,¡± Klin said in a voice barely above a whisper, ¡°We need¡­  not the nobility but¡­ the people. We need the people to like us. I don¡¯t know how to do that.  Ain¡¯t nobody ever liked me before.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s¡­  concentrate on one thing at a time,¡± Orenda demanded, ¡°Anilla, figure out who has been slain in this heinous act and contact their family.  Mary Sue, darling, if you would start writing out some notes for me to work into a speech that I can give to the press later-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d actually let Sarya do that,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°she¡¯s got a way with words that I ain¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Sarya, love, could you-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll write ya¡¯ a helluva speech,¡± Sarya said, ¡°But are we goin back to talk to them nobles or are we gonna cancel that?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Orenda felt her body shaking and felt the heat pooling in her chest and wondered why.  This had never happened before; she had never felt this overpowering, constant annoyance before, day in and day out, that built and built and built with no outlet.  Orenda had never been a princess, so she had never been prepared to be a queen. The stone in her chest ached with a pulsating energy that threatened to burst free, and she ran Klin¡¯s chant over and over in her head.


    Stay down


    Stay down


    Stay down.


    ¡°Rendy?¡± Mary Sue asked.


    ¡°I CAN¡¯T DEAL WITH ALL OF THIS!¡± Orenda shouted, turned, and marched to the cabinet, which she slammed opened.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna run down to the cellar, get some more wine,¡± Klin mumbled before rushing to do so.


    ¡°Rendy?¡± Anilla asked.


    ¡°Ani, darling,¡± Orenda said as she slammed things onto the counter: ginger, flour, sugar, ¡°go and do as you were bid.  Find out who has died and alert the family.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­  ok,¡± Anilla said, ¡°Are you sure?  You look stressed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure!¡± Orenda snapped and began to throw ingredients into a large bowl.


    ¡°What¡¯cha doin there, Rendy?¡± Mary Sue asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m making cookies,¡± Orenda explained, ¡°I rather like cookies and I don¡¯t need a fire.  I can heat the oven magically.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I still don¡¯t think we got time for that,¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°You mightn¡¯t have time for it,¡± Orenda laughed, ¡°I¡¯m immortal!  I¡¯ve all the time in the world!¡±


    ¡°A¡¯ight then,¡± Mary Sue looked at Sarya, who shrugged, ¡°Want me to tell them nobles not to come back?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s speak of something else.¡± Orenda said as she worked, ¡°Let¡¯s...  speak of printing presses and press releases. Is your father¡¯s book ready to go to print?¡±


    ¡°Sure is,¡± Mary Sue replied, ¡°I got it edited.  I love my daddy but he couldn¡¯t write to save his life.  Still, I reckon it¡¯ll be the first mass market print of anything wrote by a human in¡­  ever.¡±


    Orenda floured the counter and dumped the dough out onto it, thinking of a woman she had known in her childhood named Susan who had taught her to bake.  She enjoyed the tactile feeling of the dough bending to her will under the pin; it wasn¡¯t the perfect circle that Susan had made, but it was, as the saying went, good enough for government work.  She wasn¡¯t sure she had any cookie cutters, in fact, she hadn¡¯t spent much time in her own kitchen, so she dusted her hands and turned the tap to rinse away the flour had collected there, thinking how nice it was to have a tap rather than a pump.


    She was overly aware of the silence, but did not seem to register that it was her turn to speak.  She wasn¡¯t sure why the silence clung so thickly in the air as she hunted for a baking sheet and eventually found one.


    Were there really no cookie cutters in the kitchen?  In a castle? She was a queen, but she had no cookie cutters.  Had she married Toli, she was sure she would have cookie cutters in that tiny ship¡¯s galley.  She was sure she would know where everything was.


    The thought of the sea made her ill, and that made her realize that she may have already been ill.  She became aware of the terrible headache that lingered behind her eyes as she rubbed shortening over the pan to grease it and eventually gave up on finding any cookie cutters, took Klin¡¯s empty glass, turned it upside down, and cut the dough with the rim before peeling up the circles and placing them on the pan.


    ¡°Make due,¡± she said to herself, as she adjusted them pleasantly, ¡°Make due and find solutions.¡±


    She did not see the looks Mary Sue and Sarya exchanged as she shoved the pan into the oven; she had something to do now, so she placed her hand on the side of the large oven, too big for a single pan of cookies, and the medallion she wore around her neck, the rings she wore in her ears, and the stone that sat in the place her heart had once been began to glow as the room filled with the delicious scent of sugar and gingerbread.

 Chapter 4

    ¡°Where¡¯s Klin?¡± Orenda asked as she pulled the tray from the oven and began picking the piping hot cookies off onto a plate.  She had half of them moved before someone answered her.


    ¡°I reckon he never come up,¡± Mary Sue said cautiously, ¡°still down in the wine cellar if¡¯in I had to guess.¡±


    ¡°He is,¡± Sarya said, ¡°I can feel him.  Helluva mage you got there, Rendy.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t time for him to get this drunk!¡± Orenda proclaimed as she picked up the half full plate and stormed down the stairs herself without looking at them.


    She didn¡¯t need to look at them.  She knew what they were thinking. They were thinking that their queen had lost her mind- and it was very likely she had.  Madness ran in her family after all- her mother had been delusional, her father a raving fool, and her uncle wore his madness proudly.  He had earned it, and so had Orenda. She didn¡¯t need to be told that which she already knew.


    She did not know the layout of the underground portion of the castle.  It had been the only thing she had not helped to design; the only thing still standing after the earthquake that had toppled the original.  She realized as she walked through the cool, dank, air that she had, perhaps, never been down there.


    She was in a place reserved for food storage, but she knew the underground held many things- there was a wine cellar somewhere, and even beyond that a dungeon, a prison of sorts.  She hadn¡¯t used any of those things, hadn¡¯t planned to make use of any of those things.


    She opened a door in the back of the cellar and came out into a long hallway lit with those strange bulbs Junior had supplied them with.  She wasn¡¯t sure how they worked, but he had somehow harnessed lightning in a bottle, and now that her head was clearing a little, she thought that he had figured out a way to scry without magic, that perhaps that was what he was trying to tell them.  But she had no idea where she was going, so she gazed out into the strange, underground place, not with her physical eyes, but with the eyes of a mage, and she saw the swirling green light as bright as the sun; the dancing pattern of Klin¡¯s soul.


    She followed it until she heard the sobbing, then she paused to collect herself.


    He cried with such frequency, and every time she witnessed it it filled her with rage.


    But the rage would do her no good.  She couldn¡¯t kill him; she had tried.  The sword he had slammed back into the stone would not allow her, and no other sword could penetrate the armor.  She had to live with him, had to keep him under control, under constant surveillance. The Emerald Knight had conquered most of the world at one time, had destroyed entire civilizations.  He was as immortal as she was, had a very similar situation, and if he took a mind to revert to his old ways she was not sure she could do anything about it. They had been at a stalemate, and she had found no way to defeat him.


    She opened one of the many wooden doors and gazed upon rows and rows of shelves that reminded her very much of a library, except the light was too dim to read by, and they were filled with bottles of wine turned on their sides, rather than books.


    Klin was sitting on the floor several shelves in as if he thought he was hiding, as if he was under the impression his soul was not bright enough to light the room for any mage.  Orenda closed the door softly and followed the blinding sheen.


    When she finally saw him he was sitting with his knees pulled to his chest and his face buried in them, his small body heaving with the force of his sobs; another empty bottle had rolled away from him on the stone floor, as if turning to face him.


    ¡°Klin,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± he begged, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!  I¡¯m so sorry, your majesty!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Our land not steeped in darkness,


    Instead this blinding sheen


    The light that pierces heartless


    The knight in blazing green


    We¡¯ve angered our own savior


    The holy one we need...


    Please listen to our plight


    The people who sit helpless


    Below the Emerald Knight.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re drunk,¡± Orenda accused.


    ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± Klin sobbed, ¡°Can¡¯t nobody¡­  You ain¡¯t never¡­ You ever¡­ fuck somethin up so bad it can¡¯t be unfucked?  I¡­ she¡¯s¡­ Xandra was the only one who¡­¡± He threw both arms over his head and Orenda was amazed how small he could make himself.  She thought that curled up as he was he could have slid into the bottom shelf and disappeared.


    ¡°Klin,¡± she commanded, ¡°stop it.¡±


    ¡°You killed my wife!¡± he sobbed, ¡°She didn¡¯t kill yer daddy!  I did! Why¡­ why Xandra¡­ why not¡­ it¡¯s me! I¡¯m the one y¡¯all¡­  I¡¯m the one all y¡¯all¡­ I did it! I did everything! And I know¡­ I know everybody hates me but¡­  you¡¯re so little and¡­ I did¡­¡± His head snapped up and he stared into her soul with those huge blue eyes, ¡°I did everything.  I did. I told you not to touch it! I knew this, right here, all of it, I knew it would happen! I told¡­ I warned¡­ you can¡¯t¡­  everybody hates you! You think they hate ya¡¯ on account¡­ because a¡¯... fuckin taxes? ¡®Cause a¡¯ economic bullshit? You a blind-ass youngun!  You barely twenty! You don¡¯t know nothin about nothin!¡± He stood on shaky legs and proclaimed, ¡°They hate you cause you killed their parents! They think you killed their parents¡­  but you didn¡¯t. You didn¡¯t crush all them nobles to death. I did. Just tell um! Just tell um what I am! Let um hate me!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re drunk,¡± Orenda repeated.


    ¡°Kill me!¡± Klin demanded, reached into the shelf and produced another bottle of wine with so much force the entire shelf rattled and Orenda was afraid it would fall.  ¡°You killed Xandra! You killed Xandra you could kill me!¡±


    ¡°It has struck me as odd,¡± Orenda said, ¡°that you call Xandra ¡®Xandra¡¯.  I admit that I am not overly familiar with relationships, but I find that to be a rarity.  If a name can be shortened, it normally is when one is familiar, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Xandra¡¯s a¡­  was a princess¡­¡± Klin said as he pulled the cork free, ¡°I ain¡¯t¡­  wouldn¡¯t nothin¡­ stupid farm boy pesant.¡±


    Orenda felt a bit of amazement with the speed at which he emptied half the bottle; he didn¡¯t seem to breath.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem to be an inaccurate description,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m so goddamn stupid!¡± Klin proclaimed, ¡°If I could¡­  that woulda fixed it, I think, ever¡¯ bit of it. If I hadn¡¯t been¡­  if they¡¯d¡¯a just¡­ found somebody that wouldn¡¯t an idiot, ya know? Because the problem is that¡­  the problem with smart people is that they ain¡¯t right, they¡¯re just smart. But they can make you think they¡¯re right, on accounta they¡¯re smart.¡±  He said this as if it was some great wisdom he was imparting that had sat upon his soul for centuries, ¡°Like¡­ you ain¡¯t right on accounta you can¡­ articulate yer shitty points better.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    He took another long drink from the bottle and continued, ¡°I think it was her daddy I killed.  I¡¯m pretty sure.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be this drunk,¡± Orenda said sensibly, ¡°I can¡¯t have this, Klin.  I can¡¯t have this right now. There are delegates from all over the kingdom looking to me- to us.  I can¡¯t have this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t¡­  I can¡¯t keep it down like this,¡± he said as if it was an explanation, ¡°magic it¡­  it works on¡­ it¡¯s in the blood. I gotta¡­ alcohol goes in the blood. It don¡¯t¡­ the stone don¡¯t feel safe¡­  on accounta everybody hates me. So it wants to jump up, protect me. I can¡¯t keep it down. I gotta¡­ it¡¯s a secret to everybody.  You want it to be a secret.¡±


    He staggered on his feet, spun, and somehow found himself on the floor again.


    ¡°Sober up!¡± Orenda demanded.


    ¡°Part a¡¯ me thinks,¡± Klin said, ¡°That I oughta just¡­  run off, ya know? Go hide in the Sacred Woods or¡­ down in the bottom of the ocean.  For all time. Ain¡¯t nobody left to look for me. Ain¡¯t nobody left that cares about me.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be shocked by that,¡± Orenda said, ¡°after the life you¡¯ve led.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t shocked,¡± Klin said, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to say I was shocked.  Did I say that? I just meant that¡­ was somethin I could do.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you to stay there,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t trust me to do nothin if I was you,¡± Klin¡¯s voice broke in the middle of the sentence with another sob.


    ¡°If¡­  if she had ever¡­  had that youngun¡­¡± he lamented, ¡°that¡­  would¡­ would it be ok? Would it be alive?  Would it¡­ matter? I couldn¡¯t¡­ they didn¡¯t even look like me, there at the end.  I loved my daddy, when I was a youngun. He died¡­ I was ten¡­ in that fire. Bunch¡¯a folk died.  My stepmama too. She was like a mommy to me¡­ I wonder about how different it woulda been if they¡¯d¡¯a made it¡­¡±


    ¡°What fire?¡± Orenda asked.


    This was interesting to her; long ago she had learned in a history class that the night the Emerald Knight had emerged for the first time, it was in response to an attack on the royal family by fire mages.  Orenda had never believed the history books written by Urillians, but it now occurred to her that Klin had lived it.


    ¡°That night,¡± he said to the bottle, ¡°when I found that goddamn sword¡­  or¡­ when it found me¡­ the house was on fire- the whole field¡­ the whole world was on fire¡­  burning ring¡¯a fire¡­ smoke everywhere, I just¡­ I run; everybody run¡­ this voice in my head told me where to go an¡¯ I followed it and¡­  it was Xandra; I know that now. I think I killed her daddy. I think¡­ he looked like the face on the coins. Back when his face was on the coins.  You probably didn¡¯t never see them¡­ Xandra though he was¡­ he looked like he was gonna hurt her and I¡­ I panicked¡­ I was a little kid. If you can get yourself killed by a youngun that little you ¡®bought deserve to die.  What¡¯s them things called like you got? Them metal things make that loud noise you load up with metal and shoot?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pistol,¡± Orenda said, ¡°A type of gun.  There are other kinds, I know now, better at hunting and such.  The dwarves make them.¡±


    ¡°And that little rabbit feller,¡± Klin said, then took another drink, ¡°It¡¯s like¡­  me. That¡¯s what I am. I¡¯m a loaded gun. And from the second I was born I just been goin off.  Killed every single thing I love.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t have you this drunk,¡± Orenda said, ¡°stop drinking.  Stop it!¡±


    ¡°Startin with my mommy,¡± Klin said, ¡°The healers said it was carryin¡¯ a baby with a different element.  I guess Thesis had to choose between her and me and chose wrong. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t have kids. That¡¯s why Xandra had ta use the studs.  An¡¯ then I just kept goin. I don¡¯t even remember um all. What¡¯s your daddy¡¯s name? Garon? I told his ass to run. I didn¡¯t wanna¡­ I¡­ oh god...¡±


    He was so taken by sobs language seemed to have left him, so Orenda picked a cookie up off her plate and ate it slowly.  She didn¡¯t think it was quite as good as the cookies Susan made.


    ¡°His mommy wouldn¡¯t go back an¡­  I needed¡­ I had to get down to the Fire Spirit.  I had to bring that stone back for Xandra¡­ she was trying¡­  she thought she could save us an¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Orenda demanded and kicked the bottle he held so hard it went skittering from his grasp and rolled down the long halls of shelves, leaving a thick, sticky trail that she thought may bring ants upon them. ¡°I don¡¯t care, Klin!  I don¡¯t care about your regret! I don¡¯t care about any of it! I haven¡¯t time for this! It amazes me that you would think that I did, that I had the capacity!¡±


    Klin didn¡¯t respond, he was looking at his hand and mumbling, ¡°Stay down, stay down, stay down.¡±


    ¡°Klin!¡± she demanded.


    ¡°Just kill me,¡± he begged, ¡°just kill me.  Let me die. There¡¯s gotta be a way to get it out.  I got it out¡­ Maybe Morgan could get it out now¡­ now that I ain¡¯t got the sword no more¡­  god, that itches like a motherfucker, don¡¯t it? Does it itch you, not to have the staff on ya?  I don¡¯t know where stuff goes when we put it in here¡­¡± he motioned to the bag on his hip.


    ¡°Itch?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°No, of course not.  That¡¯s why you¡¯re itching? Because you miss the sword?¡±


    ¡°That sword is the only friend I got left, I reckon,¡± Klin said, ¡°closest thing¡­  but¡­ I¡­ it makes me feel¡­ I think it was¡­ tryin to manipulate me¡­ I ought not¡¯a listened to it long as I did¡­  I oughta done a lotta things different. I¡¯m glad I put it up. Ain¡¯t nobody else what can get it out.¡±


    ¡°Would you like a cookie?¡± Orenda asked and tossed one to him.


    It hit him in the face and bounced onto the floor where it split in two, but he picked it up and bit into one half without hesitation.  Orenda was not surprised.


    ¡°That¡¯s a solstice cookie,¡± Klin said, ¡°It¡¯s spring.¡±


    ¡°I can make cookies whenever I like,¡± Orenda said, and was going to say that this was because she was queen, but Klin mistook the pause in conversation for her having finished her thought and spoke.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± he agreed, ¡°you¡¯re grown.¡±


    ¡°I am, at that,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be the one what has to kill ever one of them nobles,¡± Klin said, ¡°I can do it quick, get it out the way.  Maybe ya¡¯ oughta do it all at once, that ¡®elected representative¡¯ thing ya wanna phase into. We ain¡¯t never gonna find out where these assassins are comin from- but eventually they gonna get too scared to take the job.  Right now folks are fightin for a cause, but I reckon if ya just give it enough time, they¡¯ll forget what the cause is. Course, I thought that before, too, an¡¯ here ya are.¡±


    He swallowed and said, ¡°Them¡¯s real good.  I don¡¯t¡­ I usually have a real hard time eatin, when I¡¯m drunk bitch cryin¡­  ginger¡¯s good fer your stomach. I mean, I reckon. I¡­ I like plants¡­ they got roots and you can take care of um and they just gotta stay there.  You can pretend they love ya back.¡±


    ¡°Can you even stand?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°It wears off pretty quick,¡± Klin said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be the first person to try to kill Xandra,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t the first one to try,¡± Klin said, ¡°I thought you knew that?  You told me you knew Garon tried. You¡¯re just the first one to get past me.  Most folks¡­ most folks don¡¯t get past me. It just don¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I am not ¡®most folks¡¯,¡± Orenda said, ¡°but then again¡­  I certainly am. The only difference is that I knew where the fire stone was and knew how to find it, had the sterilite to get past the magical wards, and knew pirates to teach me how to get past physical wards like locks¡­  I supposed I simply got lucky.¡±


    ¡°You make your own luck,¡± Klin said, ¡°If it wouldn¡¯t for bad luck I¡¯d have no luck at all¡­¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t luck, Klin,¡± Orenda said, ¡°this is the result of your actions.¡±


    ¡°I just wish I could tell folks,¡± Klin said, ¡°I want¡­  I want um to be able to hate me like they ought to. I want um to¡­  I wanna be punished. I wanna¡­ it¡¯s so¡­ it¡¯s so¡­ I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s¡­  amazing what you can tell yourself. It¡¯s amazing how¡­ ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have to do this if she¡¯d just lead me to the stone¡¯ or ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have to do this if they wouldn¡¯t tryin to kill my wife¡¯, you know?  You think shit like that¡­ you think a lotta shit like, ¡®This is the last time I¡¯m gonna have to do this. I just gotta get past this one and I won¡¯t never have to do this again,¡¯. But then you do have to do it again.  And you get to the point where it¡¯s about like¡­ slaughterin a hog. I know folk wanna think that they¡¯re special, but they ain¡¯t- it¡¯s just like¡­ an animal. They look like animals too, on the inside. I mean, that¡¯s why what you¡¯re sayin about the humans makes sense- I never thought it didn¡¯t, I just never thought too hard on it- but¡­  elves; all the elves I killed, like your daddy, like your papaw, like all the others¡­ they¡¯re just animals. It¡¯s just like guttin a deer. It ain¡¯t¡­ special. And that worries me, ya know? That really worries me. I feel like it oughta be special.¡±


    ¡°When I was a child,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I frightened myself, because I found myself thinking things similar to that.  I thought¡­ I remember distinctly that I once had a thought that all the other children looked like dolls. And at that instant I stopped myself, and I said to myself, ¡®No, Rendy.  Rendy, you know that isn¡¯t right.¡¯ I shan¡¯t allow myself to think things like that. You can silence thoughts, you know.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Klin said, ¡°I tried that.¡±


    ¡°That is likely because you drink to excess,¡± Orenda said because she found it to be undoubtedly true, ¡°were you able, you would be drinking every second you were awake, and I haven¡¯t time for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d drink when I was asleep too, if I could,¡± Klin said, ¡°I have real bad dreams.  That goddamn sword won¡¯t stay outta my head!¡±


    ¡°That strikes me as odd,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard a word from the staff since we put it in your bag.  Klin, I mean it, get up. I have to talk to those nobles and meet with the press about the attack on the tower.¡±


    ¡°We need real mages,¡± Klin said, ¡°I sure wish all my friends wouldn¡¯t dead¡­  poor ol¡¯ Ruvean¡­ at least it was quick¡­ poor Wyn¡­ whole face just¡­ melted...¡±

 Chapter 5

    ¡°I trust you all enjoyed our brief recess?¡± Orenda asked as she took her seat, once again, before the assembled members of parliament.  ¡°I would like to address the valid economic concerns I see the new legal system has inadvertently created. I will admit that I was not under the impression that so many members of the nobility were in such dire economic straits.  This information seems rather strange to me. I will admit that I don¡¯t understand it in the slightest. Under the new tax code that we¡¯ve implemented the conditions should be favorable to everyone; this is mindless math. I shan¡¯t be accepting payments in pigs or fish.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty,¡± the duchess of Seaweed District explained, ¡°districts who find their assets more... difficult to liquidate... are gonna have ourselves a real hard time under this system.¡±


    ¡°It seems to me that you were having quite a difficult time under the old system,¡± Orenda said, ¡°these numbers aren¡¯t exactly new for you.  And I will say that when I entered this great nation, I came in through the port at Seaweed, and I found it to be in great disrepair. Public services in your district are severely lacking.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from Seaweed,¡± Sarya said, ¡°we had ourselves a famine when I was a youngun.  Lost a lotta folk¡­ lost myself two perfectly good parents¡­ they¡­ they cut what we had to favor me...¡±


    ¡°How does a fishing district have a famine?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°They say that when the queen is angry,¡± Sarya said, ¡°the fish don¡¯t bite.¡±


    ¡°Then that should no longer be an issue that would require address,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°With all due respect,¡± the duchess said, ¡°the port has been fished dry, and even if it hadn¡¯t, ain¡¯t a soul buyin.  It¡¯s cheaper to get the stuff from the Water Continent.¡±


    ¡°Do people want that?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it need to be preserved?  Do people prefer salted fish to fresh?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I got somethin to say to her,¡± the duke of the Agricultural District said, ¡°Y¡¯all still out here runnin rodeos.  I ain¡¯t seen no plans to cancel ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t got no plans to cancel ¡®em, Lorry,¡± the duchess seemed exhausted, ¡°I need the money; we need the tourism.¡±


    ¡°Y¡¯all still got races?¡± Lorsan asked, ¡°Cage fightin¡¯?  How y¡¯all runnin them if you¡¯re gonna be out here runnin around talkin about you can¡¯t afford to pay humans to fish, can¡¯t afford to pay ¡®em to run the hotels and bathhouses and whatnot?  What¡¯s the plan there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the duchess admitted, ¡°Ask the merchant¡¯s, the fishers, the hospitality guilds.¡±


    ¡°We done give you our projections,¡± the head of the merchant¡¯s guild said, ¡°We¡¯re havin a real hard time, but I reckon we¡¯ll get by.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s accurately representing her constituents!¡± The duke of the Sage Lake district declared, ¡°Ain¡¯t no way they¡¯re sayin what she¡¯s sayin!  The merchants are the hardest hit!¡±


    ¡°Nah, darlin, we got ourselves a hell¡¯uva boost,¡± she said, ¡°we got ourselves a real generous donation from a new home goods merchant lookin to set up a brand.  She¡¯s writin herself a cookbook, writin another¡¯n on sewin, that new school¡¯s openin up in the Agricultural District, and that same member¡¯s lookin to get into the textile art game, sellin, and I reckon she¡¯s done went and joined the artisan¡¯s guild too.  She wants us to use the money to fund other human start-ups and god willin and the creek don¡¯t rise that¡¯s exactly what I plan on doin.¡±


    ¡°A donation from who?¡± The duke snarled, ¡°I didn¡¯t see no-¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do the readin!¡± Lorsan shrieked, ¡°All y¡¯all out¡¯chere actin like ya can¡¯t read!¡±


    ¡°Move!¡± Came a voice at the door, and the human guard was momentarily startled before his face beamed with pride.


    ¡°Announcing the honorable Xaxac Brigaddon the Second!¡± he decreed as Junior came huffing in with a piece of machinery the size of his torso.  Had it not been for his shifter strength it would have likely been quite difficult for him to carry. A strange murmur came from the members of parliament, some in amazement and some in disdain.


    Junior gently set the machine down on the desk in front of Orenda, then leaned it forward dangerously to tug the long tail that protruded from it, apparently in an attempt to get it to lay exactly how he wanted it.  The tail had trailed behind him and continued out to the hallway, making it impossible for the guard to close the door.


    ¡°All y¡¯all watch this!¡± he said, ¡°First, I caught lightnin¡¯ in a bottle, an¡¯ now I¡¯ve caught sound out the air.¡±


    He leaned over the contraption and fiddled with the various knobs and dials, then took hold of a piece of metal and moved it upright.


    ¡°Who the hell is that?¡± The duke of the Mountains of Death asked as if he had not heard the guard¡¯s proclamation.


    ¡°A¡¯ight so what I want¡¯cha to keep in mind,¡± Junior told Orenda, ¡°Is that this is barely gonna work, on account¡¯a I only got the one tower back at the house, but I put that antenna up on the tallest tower I could find on your roof, so we¡¯re just gonna try ¡®er out and see what the hell happens.  You remember how I told ya that sound was just a vibration? A¡¯ight, well the whole universe is made outta energy, and vibrations make waves, like throwin¡¯ a stone into a pond. You can convert sound energy into electric energy and send that out and it oughta pick it up at the tower back at the house- oh, also I need to build an absolute fuckton a towers, not just for this but I do also wanna make a big ball of lightnin and just keep knockin it around the- ok so there¡¯s a bunch a¡¯ energy in the air, like in the firmament, and that¡¯s where the lightnin comes from, and if I put some energy into it I can get more outta it and just knock it from tower to tower until it¡¯s a big ass ball and we can drain outta that- but that ain¡¯t neither here nor there- but I do wanna do that eventually, but also, I got another idea for wires, like I was tellin ya about- this is the wireless version but the wired one ya couldn¡¯t evesdrop on- but this¡¯in ya can put on like¡­  boats and shit- but either way, y¡¯all watch this!¡±


    ¡°Junior, please,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I am begging you to get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Now what we gonna do,¡± he explained as the machine hissed to life with a sound Orenda, and many others, found disagreeable, ¡°Is radiate them signals outwards; it radiates so it¡¯s a radio, ya¡¯ get what I¡¯m sayin?  It¡¯s gonna radiate them electromagnetic waves outward and the tower at the house is gonna pick ¡®em up.¡±


    ¡°Electromagnetic?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Radiation?  Junior, I¡¯m sure this all quite impressive, but I¡¯m in the middle of an important meeting and I do wish I had a way to contact you.  I¡¯d love it if you could keep a mage on staff so that I could scry you. I would absolutely love to look at this, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s simply quite bad timing, and had you let me know beforehand that you were coming it would have been much more convenient.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re listening to Rabbit Radio!¡± A tangy female voice rang through the room, ¡°Communication quick as a jackrabbit!  This is Solomaur Brigaddon, live from the Burrow!¡±


    ¡°Solo, this is Junior, you hear me?¡± Junior spoke into the contraption he held, which was connected to the large machine by yet another wire.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t loud and clear,¡± Solomaur answered, ¡°But I hear you.  You sound tired as hell.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t tired.  Why¡¯s everybody keep sayin that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a scry without magic!¡± A woman who¡¯s plaque proclaimed her to be the leader of the artisan¡¯s guild observed.  ¡°That¡¯s going out to Brigaddon Burrow? That¡¯s a two day ride!¡±


    ¡°A¡¯ight everybody,¡± Junior climbed onto the desk, ¡°Who wants to let me build a big ass tower on your land and maaaaaaybe dig it up to lay wire?  Who¡¯s tired of havin to go out and find somebody what went to some fancy mage school to deliver a message? If ya can¡¯t do that you gotta sit down an¡¯ write a letter, then wait on it to get delivered.  If I start construction on ever¡¯ bit a this simultaneously, I can have a communications network spannin the whole continent within the next three years, year and a half if we hustle. Them nobles lookin at me like they hate me- ain¡¯t nothin an elf with a copper hates more than a human with a silver- but get in on the ground floor, on accounta this is gonna be big.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°He had ¡®em an¡¯ he lost ¡®em,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°Sure wish he¡¯d¡¯a got daddy¡¯s charisma.¡±


    ¡°This is very impressive,¡± Orenda whispered to her in an attempt not to be overheard by Junior lest it hurt his feelings, ¡°but we¡¯ve not worked anything out with the nobility.  We¡¯ve accomplished nothing.¡±


    ¡°How far apart do them towers have to be?¡± the duke of the Agricultural District asked.


    ¡°Right now I need um up in pretty much ever¡¯ district,¡± Junior explained, ¡°It¡¯ll work at your house from the one I got at the Burrow.  You¡¯re¡­ the only one I don¡¯t need nothin from. They only got so big of a range, so if we want the whole system to work we need all the towers so we can bounce ¡®em off each other.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea how that works, but I love it!¡± the duke of the Agricultural District proclaimed. ¡°I want a radio!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a stupider, more expensive form of scrying,¡± the duke of the Sage Lake district argued.


    ¡°Maybe, ifin ya¡¯ can scry,¡± Junior admitted, ¡°but you ain¡¯t my target audience.  I¡¯m gonna sell the hell outta these fuckers. In the next ten years, they¡¯s gonna be a radio in ever house in Uril.  And then? Then we start radiatin¡¯ the shit out of um. We pick a frequency and just start castin out on that broad range- broadcastin- and anybody with a radio in they house can tune into that frequency and hear it¡¯.  We tell everybody to gather round the radio at a certain time on that certain frequency, and we get musicians like this little lady,¡± he pointed at Sarya and asked, ¡°You wanna sell more sheet music? You get that fiddle and you play it into this microphone and once folks hear it see how many wanna buy it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, all of those things will pick up all signals?¡± An earth elven man, apparently the head of the Free Press and Printer¡¯s guild asked, ¡°We could scry the whole kingdom at once?  We could ¡®broadcast¡¯ the news?¡±


    ¡°You can broadcast whatever the hell ya¡¯ want, I don¡¯t give a shit as long as the money spends,¡± Junior told him, ¡°but it ain¡¯t gonna travel real far if I can¡¯t get these towers up.  You can buy yourself a gen-uine Brigaddon brand radio (patent pending) and say whatever the hell ya want, to whoever the hell ya want.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about all that,¡± Orenda said, ¡°if anyone can listen in it seems to be the sort of thing that may need to be regulated.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, regulate the hell out of it, I don¡¯t give a shit,¡± Junior shrugged, ¡°Might have a real hard time though; it ain¡¯t really meant to be regulated.  You can tune into different frequencies- that¡¯s how quick the energy vibrates- so I don¡¯t know what¡¯d stop ¡®em from just switchin the channel and movin to a different tower.¡±


    ¡°People could spread misinformation,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t stifle innovation, Rendy,¡± Junior said, ¡°These fuckers are hard to make, but I figured it out.  If I can figure it out, somebody else could. Which, by the way¡­ shit what¡¯d I do with my packet? I had a packet with schematics- I need ya to sign- had some trouble at the office in town-¡±


    ¡°Your dumb ass left it on the table in the kitchen,¡± Mary Sue pulled it from her bag and threw it at him, but he managed to catch it in the air.


    ¡°Right, I want in on this new patent system under them new laws.  This here is an absolute fuckton of my inventions, and some stuff I¡¯m collaboratin with some folk in Kaiwai and-¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, this is insane!¡± The Duke of the Northern Mountains District interjected, ¡°You can¡¯t possibly trust that contraption!  Look at it! He says it runs on lightning and invisible¡­ radiation? Sound waves? This here¡¯s a dangerous, unregistered, misunderstood form of magic.  We¡¯re looking at a monkey with a wand- he don¡¯t know how to use it; that right there is gonna explode like that tower outside!¡±


    ¡°It may be a bad time to talk of towers,¡± Orenda whispered, but then what he has said truly sank into her brain.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry- did you say, ¡®monkey with a wand¡¯?¡±


    ¡°This motherfucker wanna see somebody go ape?¡± Junior snarled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t attack him!¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°It¡¯s what he wants.  It¡¯ll prove him right!¡±


    ¡°He can be right, I don¡¯t give a shit,¡± Junior said, ¡°Hey, you wanna know a secret, ya knife-eared fuck?  I am an animal- an¡¯ so are you. You think you¡¯re special, but if¡¯in I cut you open I ain¡¯t gonna find no magic star stuff.  I¡¯m gonna find blood an¡¯ flesh an¡¯ organs. Wanna try ¡®er out?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t goad him!¡± Mary Sue grabbed her brother by the back of his shirt and pulled him from the desk, causing him to shriek and nearly fall on top of Orenda, but he clung to the surface so that he did at least remain upright and on his feet, though he found himself on the floor beside the desk.  He seemed afraid that the motion would hurt his machine and cradled it lovingly in his arms.


    ¡°What the hell happened outside?¡± Junior asked, ¡°What¡¯s all the rubble?  Did a human do that?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Orenda said, ¡°A contingent of mages was apparently unhappy with the architecture.  I am curious to know whether or not anyone knows anything about that. Actually, love,¡± she turned her attention to the human guard by the door, ¡°Could you go and summon someone to find Sonny or Bunni Brigaddon?  Don¡¯t pull Bunni from her work- if they can¡¯t find them please find me Ms. Barbra Allen. Someone who can tell me what we¡¯ve learned from the attack.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± the guard said, placed one hand in the small of his back and the other over his heart, bowed, and walked into the hall to ring for a servant.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°I have more new business,¡± the duke of the Agricultural District said, holding up another folder, ¡°can I just¡­  I¡¯m pretty high up, can I just throw this? I¡¯m just gonna throw this.¡± He wrapped the protective ribbon around the folder and tossed it in an attempt to have it soar past the lower rung of parliament, and he did succeed, but it landed on the floor a few feet in front of Orenda¡¯s desk.


    Klin went to retrieve it with a sigh, and Orenda noticed that he no longer staggered when he walked; she thought this was a rather short amount of time to have sobered up.


    ¡°Just about ever one of y¡¯all owes me money,¡± Lorsan declared, ¡°My merchants are sick a¡¯ exportin on credit.  We¡¯re here to collect. Y¡¯all might not be representin your constituents, but I am. I need enforcement from the crown because they all about to pay what they owe.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Orenda opened the folder Klin handed her and read over the data contained within, shipments of food and textile goods had outstanding debt in almost every district.  Lorsan was right, and under the new system he was well within his rights to demand payment so that he could distribute it to the individual claimants. But right now? When he knew the other districts had no money with which to pay them?


    ¡°Damn,¡± Junior said, ¡°They broke as shit.  How do ya let yourself get in that kinda situation?  My parents ran a plantation under the table and we never went that broke.¡±


    Mary Sue put a hand on his shoulder and agreed, ¡°Yeah they¡­  I bet they¡¯re pretty desperate for money. I wonder¡­ how many of them nobles got land?  Wonder how many¡¯d be willin to sell it? Wonder how much blood we could squeeze from a stone?¡±


    ¡°You need land to build these towers,¡± Orenda said quietly, ¡°Duke Agalon is putting pressure on them.  I think he¡¯s trying to help you.¡±


    ¡°Under our new system,¡± Orenda said to the parliament, ¡°The Duke of the Agricultural District has filed a formal grievance.  The crown has reviewed his claim, as well as information provided from the merchant¡¯s guild on the behest of individual claimants.  It appears that under the old feudal system wherein this debt was incurred, the goods were distributed to various landowners who would distribute them as they saw fit- this means that many of you are claimants both in a leadership sense- and in a very real sense as individual debtors under his suite.  The crown rules that these debts do not need to be paid today, but shall provide a rather generous grace period of ninety days. If these debts have not been paid in full by the time allotted, the crown shall seize such property as can be said to have fair market value equal to any remaining debt left outstanding, which shall be determined by public auction, to get the good Duke the monies he is very clearly owed.¡±


    ¡°I wanted it today, but I¡¯ll take it,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°but I¡¯ll tell all y¡¯all this- we ain¡¯t sellin a damn thing to nobody what owes us a copper.  We ain¡¯t givin on credit no more. Y¡¯all said it ya¡¯selves, I ain¡¯t my daddy. Bought the only good thing that dead fuck ever did for me was arrange a marriage with a smart woman.  Y¡¯all wanna know how to run a district- blood ain¡¯t supposed ta be blue. It¡¯s supposed to be red. Y¡¯all so goddamn inbred ya can barely stand up. Get some new blood. Family tree¡¯s supposed to fork.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± The duke of the Sage Lake District shouted, ¡°That¡¯s it!  This boy¡¯s done lost his goddamn mind!¡±


    ¡°You challengin me, Erl?¡± Lorsan stood and leaned over his desk, ¡°Because I am absolutely here for it!  You went to that fancy academy in Satra- I went to military school! I will whoop your ass up one side a¡¯ this trainin ground and down the other!  Put in a formal challenge! I will fuckin end you!¡±


    ¡°You a healer!¡± the duke of the Sage Lake District countered, ¡°You ain¡¯t gonna do shit!¡±


    ¡°Make it formal then,¡± Lorsan shouted, ¡°Or sit your ass down.  Some of us was on the right side a¡¯ history and ain¡¯t gotta hide behind assassins knockin towers down and shit!¡±


    ¡°Lorasn, sit down!¡± The duchess of Seaweed demanded.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t talkin to you,¡± Lorsan told her, ¡°you in particular skirtin a thin line, Esta.  They¡¯s a tell all book ¡®bought to come out and folks gonna learn some shit about you. So you keep ya¡¯ damn mouth shut.  You spent half my childhood runnin ya¡¯ mouth about my mommy. You needed a slap in mouth for half a century!¡±


    ¡°Lorry?¡± the head of the merchant¡¯s guild looked up, and Orenda felt the atmosphere in the room change.  It had always been heated, but this shift was palatable, noticeable. This wasn¡¯t political or economic, this wasn¡¯t surface level; this was a deep, personal wound.


    ¡°Sit.  Down. Erl.¡± Lorsan leaned over the desk to glare at the duke of the Sage Lake district, and his eyes narrowed as the stones in his ears began to glow.


    The duke of the Sage Lake District sat down.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I fuckin thought.¡±


    ¡°Announcing Ms Anilla, advisor to our great empress,¡± The human guard, true to his word, announced, ¡°And the esteemed Sonny Brigaddon, Captain of the Royal Guards!¡±

 Chapter 6

    ¡°Hell of a night,¡± Sonny said as he entered the room looking as exhausted as he apparently felt, though his drooping eyes widened when he saw the radio on the desk and his big brother standing behind it, ¡°Oh, did you get that registered or whatever?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m workin on it,¡± Junior said, and it seemed to be a sore subject.  Orenda felt it was something she would need to ask him about later.


    ¡°Go to bed,¡± Sonny said, ¡°You look awful.¡±


    ¡°Bitch, you go to bed,¡± Junior shot back, ¡°can¡¯t look no worse than you.¡±


    ¡°You both look like shit,¡± Mary Sue said, effectively settling the matter, then shrugged and added, ¡°As much as a Brigaddon can.¡±


    ¡°Lorry, you in here?¡± Sonny asked, ¡°I didn¡¯t know where the hell you went.  Bunni was lookin for you outside.¡±


    ¡°I had to come to this stupid thing,¡± the duke of the Agricultural District replied, ¡°and I had to go put new clothes on and shit- you seen how nasty I was.  Believe me, if I didn¡¯t have to be here I¡¯d¡¯a stayed out there to help.¡±


    ¡°Duke Agalon was helping you?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Sonny said, ¡°He¡¯s a healer.  He ain¡¯t a doctor but-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a medic!¡± the duke said, ¡°We don¡¯t exactly heal people, we kinda make em more comfortable while they die.  But there was a doctor out there and I can listen to orders and brew up some potions if¡¯in I need to. Oh, reminds me, Erl, I¡¯m bought outta fairy dust.  I¡¯ma need some more, but, you know, I pay you for the shit I buy.¡±


    ¡°The price might go up,¡± the duke of the Sage Lake district said.


    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°on account¡¯a I can set up some traps in the woods out back¡¯a my land and catch me some fairies but y¡¯all can¡¯t grow shit on that cursed land.  If I took a mind to raise prices, y¡¯all¡¯d have to starve. Maybe ya¡¯ can eat potion components.¡±


    ¡°Rendy,¡± Sonny reached into a bag at his side and pulled out yet another folder, and her eyebrows knitted in the middle of her forehead as she set the one she was holding with the rest of the growing pile of paperwork on her desk.  The stack was growing nearly as tall as the radio and her head was beginning to ache.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, nonetheless, because her workload was no fault of Sonny¡¯s.  ¡°Can you just¡­ summarize it for me? What did you find out?¡±


    ¡°Thirteen casualties altogether,¡± Sonny said, ¡°but ten of um, I think, was¡­  on purpose. We pulled out ten bodies didn¡¯t nobody recognize, and I know we done away with the whole¡­  look we can¡¯t stand here and pretend it¡¯s exactly common to pull out somebody wearin the uniform of a house servant and see pointy ears.  But that¡¯s what we done. I don¡¯t know why they didn¡¯t do military disguises¡­ pure unbridled stupidity? Like if I wanted to sneak into a big ass place like this, I¡¯d pretend to be a houseslave- sorry; force ¡®a habit- house servant- but I wanted to sneak in, I dunno, your man there, I¡¯d put him in a military uniform.  So¡­ maybe they wanted us to know who they was, or maybe they was just stupid. Either way I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s who caused the quake.  What¡¯s weird to me¡­ is that it took ten of ¡®em to take down one tower? Klin, didn¡¯t you topple a whole castle by your damn self?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡±  Klin said, but to his great relief, Sonny kept talking.


    ¡°An if daddy¡¯s to be believed, Tolimaur more or less took down that whole arena at satra by himself- but he had Ronnie¡¯s gunpowder, all he had to do was cause the friction to set it off.  We didn¡¯t find nothin like that. I thought it mighta went into the wine cellar, on accounta some of that shit is flammable as hell- y¡¯all got pure corn whiskey down there- but it didn¡¯t. Best I can figure they either wouldn¡¯t tryin to take down the whole castle- it was a targeted attack on you- which is stupid cause you¡¯re an immortal lava monster and whatnot- or we just had us some dumb as hell assasins.¡±


    ¡°I will tell ya now, though,¡± he continued, leaning on the desk and addressing Orenda directly, ¡°that I¡¯m leanin toward the former- an¡¯ I¡¯ll tell ya why.  It¡¯s my guess that whoever hired ¡®em was inside the castle at the time, an¡¯ ain¡¯t nobody out here tryin to bring down the house on they boss¡¯s head. Also¡­  I found evidence that they had cast an earth shield- I don¡¯t rightly know why it didn¡¯t hold. I don¡¯t know nothin about magic. So¡­ maybe they wanted to die, maybe not.  Why throw up a shield to protect yourself and then take it down?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps they thought the danger had passed,¡± Orenda suggested, ¡°shields are fairly difficult to control- you have to understand, Sonny, that magic flows so fiercely it can be quite difficult to control- that¡¯s the¡­ the difficulty.  It can get out of hand so easily.¡±


    Orenda felt that she was repeating herself, her headache was getting worse, and she wanted more cookies.  She didn¡¯t understand why she was feeling so angry and nervous all the time, but her hands were beginning to shake and it rattled the papers she held.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah, maybe,¡± Sonny shrugged, ¡°your guess is as good as mine.¡±


    ¡°I sent out scribes like you told me, Rendy!¡± Anilla announced, ¡°to all the families like you asked, and also for everybody who was hurt.¡±


    ¡°Did you say ¡®scribes¡¯ or ¡®scries¡¯?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Scribes!¡± Anilla said, ¡°Um¡­  what are they called? Those young people who take letters and give them to people.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you scry them?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°That would have been so much faster!¡±


    ¡°Nobody around here uses air magic,¡± Anilla said, ¡°are you ok, Rendy?  You look stressed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Orenda lied, then asked Sonny, ¡°has everyone been extracted?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we got the whole thing cleared out,¡± Sonny said, ¡°but there¡¯s been some structural damage to the foundation so the rebuild¡¯s gonna be a pain in the ass- Junior?  Bubby? You alright- nope, down he goes.¡±


    Junior Brigaddon had swayed on his feet and eventually fell forward where he slammed into the desk.


    ¡°I¡¯m awake!¡± He proclaimed, ¡°I¡¯m awake!¡±


    ¡°Can we please have a room arranged for him?¡± Orenda asked the guard by the door.


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± the guard bowed with his hand fisted over his heart and the other folded in the small of his back, then turned and walked into the hall to ring for a servant.


    Orenda massaged her temples in an attempt to get the headache to subside.


    ¡°Do you have any idea who sent them?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Dead folks ain¡¯t known to tell no tales,¡± Sonny said, ¡°they was all dressed in uniforms like the houseslaves- servants, goddamn it, I don¡¯t know why I keep doin that- that looked¡­  pretty authentic. I got some a¡¯ them little teenagers that pass for a military around here lookin around for clues, but,¡± he paused, swayed a little himself, and supported himself heavily on the desk, ¡°actually wouldn¡¯t hurt my feelins none if Klin come down to help us with that.  He¡¯s the only one what lived here before- I don¡¯t know how much time a concubine got to spend downstairs like that- I don¡¯t know if y¡¯all was locked up like pleasure slaves or not.¡±


    Klin blinked too many times to be simply moistening his eyes in Orenda¡¯s direction, as if Sonny¡¯s request confused him.


    ¡°I¡­  uh¡­ I went down there¡­  sometimes¡­¡± he said, ¡°I can help ya look around.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve both been up all night,¡± Orenda said with imposed practicality, ¡°And all day.  It¡¯s nearly noon. A meal and a nap would do you both some good. You can¡¯t be expected to find anything in the state you¡¯re in now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d settle for a cup a¡¯ coffee,¡± Sonny said.


    Orenda sat at the head of the large table and smiled at the feast laid out before her.  This, if nothing else, was exactly like the dreams she had had as a child, when she had pretended to be a princess.  Orenda had grown up in a workhouse where meals were rationed and timed, and had decided that, if she had the means, she would never go hungry again.  The rations in the servant¡¯s dining hall, as well as in the military academy, a school attached to and connected with the castle itself housing children Orenda thought were shockingly young, had improved as well.


    The majority of the food served was on a strict form of vegetarianism, out of respect for the Brigaddons, something that Orenda had decided to make known with place cards before each dish.  She enjoyed problems like those- simple, easily solved, practical problems.


    Klin, for whatever reason, had to be constantly reminded to sit at the table like a civilized person, because his preferred method of attending to any mealtime was to hover behind and slightly to the left of her like some sort of specter making a poor attempt at haunting.


    As if a ghost were passing


    Every inch in green.


    Sarya had disappeared and Orenda had no idea where she went, but she wondered if Anilla had gone with her, because she was also not in attendance at the formal luncheon.  Orenda wished she could join them- she found that she tired of formal luncheons fairly easily. She had never done particularly well in her etiquette classes, partially because she considered her partner an idiot, and partially because she just did not care enough about the lessons to commit them to memory.  She had spoken the truth when she had said that she didn¡¯t care what the nobility thought of her, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to spend so much time with people who¡¯s approval or disapproval could mean nothing to her. Every interaction felt somehow both shallow and hollow; they all sat on top of her skin and could not permeate her brain.  She could not bring herself to pay particular attention.


    Mary Sue and Sonny sat to her right, talking to each other about the tower collapse, the radio, the land they were planning to buy, the book their father had written that they were planning to publish, but even they seemed strange and far away- as if there was a wall between them; a little fuzzy and difficult to hear.


    She felt someone squeezing her hand and turned to see that it was Klin.


    She saw his lips move and heard his voice a moment later; the effect was off putting.


    ¡°All rulin¡¯ is,¡± The Emerald Knight¡¯s floating voice informed her, ¡°is gettin¡¯ constantly waylaid by jackassery.  It¡¯s part¡¯a what drove her crazy.¡±


    He had already released her hand and was taking a long drink of his wine by the time he had finished this sentence, then sat at the table tearing his dinner roll into smaller and smaller chunks until they had gone from bite-sized to infantesimal.  He didn¡¯t seem to eat anything.

 Chapter 7

    ¡°Mary Sue,¡± Orenda said as she left the dining hall with her entourage, ¡°I fear that I have accomplished nothing of note today.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t get nothin done around here,¡± Mary Sue agreed, ¡°plus we all been up all night.  I had half a mind in there to just transform and start rippin intestines out- but I meant what I said- we can¡¯t be actin like that.  They want us to prove we ain¡¯t civilized.¡±


    ¡°I fear I¡¯m becoming hysterical,¡± Orenda said, ¡°it¡¯s only been a few months and¡­  it¡¯s so much, all the time. I never intended to become a queen, you know. I thought I would knock Xandra off of her throne and then¡­  then I don¡¯t suppose I had a plan. I don¡¯t suppose I thought it through. I had always wanted¡­ I¡¯m not sure. Perhaps a small cottage; somewhere where I could bake and paint.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, life is what it is,¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°I¡¯m serious,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I think I¡¯m falling ill.  I need to lie down.¡±


    ¡°You are shakin pretty bad,¡± Sonny said, ¡°you ain¡¯t used to it, all this life or death shit.  I mean¡­ I guess you are- you was a Knight of Order, but we seen this kinda shit every day. Them folks I pulled outta that tower ain¡¯t my first corpse.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my first corpse either, Sonny, you know that,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me.¡±


    ¡°I just mean¡­  it wouldn¡¯t your decision,¡± Sonny said.


    ¡°I have made decisions that resulted in corpses!¡± Orenda argued, ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°I do know what I¡¯m talkin about,¡± Sonny argued, ¡°I just ain¡¯t explainin¡¯ it real good.  I¡¯m tired.¡±


    You¡¯re not right just because you can articulate your shitty points better.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sonny,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡­  perhaps it is just that I¡¯m overtired.  I told you I wanted to lie down. I think I may¡­  I would like to go to one of the guest rooms and lie down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, listen,¡± Sonny said and the group stopped walking because he had stopped and if they continued they would leave him, ¡°I can give that press conference to the free press guild or whoever.  It ain¡¯t a big deal. Honestly¡­ Rendy, you need to let us do more- us humans. I- I swear, hand on a holy text, I¡¯m not bein a dick- but you¡¯re still an elf. If we ain¡¯t more visible in positions of power then¡­  what¡¯s the point? It just looks like a change in our masters, not like freedom. Let us do more, handle more.¡±


    ¡°I¡­  didn¡¯t realize I was¡­  doing that,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°It does look better if we got more humans out there in front ¡®a crowds.  It¡¯s¡­ symbolic. Plus, you are wore slick out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been up all night, too,¡± Orenda argued.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna take me a nap too,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°hopefully the damn castle don¡¯t come down again.  After the press conference. Me and Sonny¡¯ll handle that. You get you some rest.¡±


    ¡°These assasination attempts have to taper off eventually, don¡¯t they?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°What do they want?¡±


    ¡°Power,¡± Klin said.


    Orenda expected him to continue, but he said nothing, so she rubbed at her temples again and reiterated, ¡°I¡¯m going to lie down.¡±


    ¡°Sweet dreams,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°don¡¯t worry, Rendy, we got this.¡±


    Klin had left while Orenda was changing into her night clothes, but it didn¡¯t trouble her; she knew where he was.  She could see his soul shining in the castle, and could have scried him with ease had she needed to- though she was certain she needed to stop doing that.  Every time she searched for him she was pulling from the wrong sort of magic, and part of her wondered if that was what was affecting her head. As a fire elf, it was dangerous to cast any kind of earth magic- and Klin exuded earth magic.


    But she also couldn¡¯t risk losing track of him.  The Emerald Knight was dangerous, and, she had learned, painfully stupid.  It was as likely that he would get drunk and let slip her closely guarded secret as it was that he would have a change of heart and go on a killing spree.  He was a constant, underlying threat that needed to be closely guarded, something to occupy her mind when it was already full to bursting.


    She noticed her friend Ali¡¯s soul reaching out for her, but as the castle had been set up for the new electric light, she had no flame to receive him, so she reached out her hand and conjured one from the either, wondering what fresh hell was upon her.  Ali was a king in his own right, another Knight of Order, who together with his lover Bubbider and his mother, Zena, had overthrown the Urillian colonizers and taken back the Fire Continent. Orenda hoped something hadn¡¯t happened, that he wasn¡¯t in need of some kind of military aid.


    She was comforted by the smile that split his face, which had appeared in the flame, as soon as he saw her.


    ¡°Rendy!¡± he announced, almost with more joy than a voice could contain, ¡°I have to show you something!  Look at this!¡±


    The scry pulled back, revealing more of the room he was in, the bedroom he shared with Bubbider.  A tiny human baby with thick dark hair like his mother¡¯s laid on a blanket surrounded by stuffed animals.


    ¡°He just did it today!¡± Ali said, ¡°Aban!  Aban! Look at papa! Come on, you can do it!  Show aunty Rendy how strong you are!¡±


    The baby stared at him as if it did not understand him, but then put his tiny arms under his body, and shoved himself up.


    ¡°He¡¯s doing pushups!¡± Ali declared, ¡°Have you ever heard of something like that?  Why is he doing that? He¡¯s barely three months old and he¡¯s working out! Isn¡¯t that amazing?¡±


    ¡°I imagine he would like to be strong,¡± Orenda suggested, ¡°he¡¯s a bit confined as he is, isn¡¯t he?  He can¡¯t exactly get off that blanket.¡±


    ¡°I think he will, soon,¡± Ali said, ¡°if he can do pushups, surely he can crawl soon.¡±


    ¡°Three months is too early for a young¡¯un to crawl,¡± Klin said as he walked into the room holding a bedroll, ¡°he¡¯s gotta build up his strength.  He¡¯s gonna start sleepin through the night though- won¡¯t cry so much on accounta he¡¯s startin to understand language, so he¡¯ll start doin that baby babble thing.  When they that little, they love music¡­¡± he seemed to come out of a sort of trance, to realize he had been speaking aloud and looked around for a moment as if gathering his courage, but he decided to continue, ¡°I uh¡­  I reckon they really like it if¡¯in ya sing to ¡®em¡­ might¡­ uh¡­ might be different for humans¡­ I¡¯m realizin¡­ I mighta just fed ya bullshit...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not projecting you,¡± Orenda told him, ¡°he can¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°Thank the lord,¡± Klin said as he knelt to fluff out his bedroll.


    ¡°Your child is adorable, Ali,¡± Orenda said, then in a softer voice she said, ¡°Aban!  Hello, Aban! It¡¯s Aunty Rendy! Are you growing stronger? Are you working out, as your father suggests?  You must keep an eye on him, you know. One day you¡¯ll have to care for him. Oh, you¡¯re so cute! Look at your huge, dark eyes!  Why are your eyes so big? Have you a lot to see, little boy? A whole new world to take in? Oh, Ali, how I wish he could play with the baby Brigaddons.  They aren¡¯t much older than him- of course, they¡¯re walking now. I¡¯ve always liked young children.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Ali had gone to sit next to his son on the blanket and pulled him into his lap, where he sat upright, leaning back on his father¡¯s chest.  He reached for Orenda¡¯s face in the flame his father held and Orenda found this concerning.


    ¡°Can he touch that?¡± she asked.


    ¡°He probably shouldn¡¯t,¡± Ali agreed, ¡°no, darling, that¡¯s hot.  Fire is hot. When you¡¯re older, we¡¯ll teach you all about magic, but right now you shouldn¡¯t touch flames.  He does seem to like it though- not just right now, but any time he¡¯s near a flame. I think he likes it more than an average child.  I think he has an affinity for fire magic.¡±


    ¡°Ali, it is important to me that you do not give that baby a fire crystal,¡± Orenda chastised.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t shock me in the slightest,¡± Ali said, ¡°because it¡¯s also important to Bubby.  If you want to see her angry, I suggest you try to give him a focus. She won¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°How is she?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re all doing well,¡± Ali said, ¡°We¡¯ve had to keep security tight around here, but we¡¯ve got the entire Allisanian army, as far as that goes.  How are you? You look awful.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Well, you do,¡± Ali said, ¡°you were always willing to tell me when I looked awful.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t anymore,¡± Orenda praised, ¡°I will admit that you scared me for a bit.  You were¡­ gaunt. You looked a bit like a ghoul.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve come to the profound realization that drugs are bad,¡± Ali said, with a far away gaze that Orenda did not like and did not want to push.  ¡°A lesson I hope to impart to my son, when he¡¯s old enough.¡±


    He ran a hand over the back of the baby''s neck and smiled.  This prompted a smile from Aban as well, who giggled loudly.


    ¡°Does that tickle?¡± Ali asked, and giggled at the cooing he received in response before turning his face back to the flame, ¡°Seriously, Rendy, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°There was an attack on my life last night,¡± Orenda admitted, ¡°again.  I don¡¯t think I need fear death any longer, but this¡­ constant¡­ it simply¡­  I believe it¡¯s wearing me down.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the bastards wear you down,¡± Ali said, ¡°would you like some backup?  I¡¯m sure that there are people within our ranks who would love to travel to Uril.  Actually¡­ where¡¯s Gareth? Shouldn¡¯t they be with you? I mean, I understand why Tolith left once he was¡­  replaced¡­ but Gareth left?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Gareth left me- does that shock you?¡± Orenda asked.  ¡°Really? As if this was the first time?¡±


    ¡°It does, a bit, yes.¡± Ali admitted, ¡°I didn¡¯t think he would.  I wonder if he¡­ knows what he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that old sea dog knows much of anything anymore,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I truly don¡¯t.  He¡¯s been hacked apart so much and so slowly that there isn¡¯t much of him left. He was never going to stay with me, Ali, I¡¯ve accepted that.  It isn¡¯t who he is. I haven¡¯t forgiven him, but I¡¯ve accepted him. I don¡¯t even know what he would do. He couldn¡¯t protect me. He would be a liability.¡±


    ¡°I just¡­  didn¡¯t think he would¡­  leave again¡­¡± Ali said slowly, as if he was aware he needed to change the subject but could not think of a graceful way to do so, but was hoping he would discover such a way by the end of his sentence.  But he did not, so they sat in awkward silence while Aban kept trying to reach for the flame in his father¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Life is what it is, Ali,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Gareth is who he is.  It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t, but I know what you mean,¡± Ali said, ¡°We¡¯re fine or we¡¯re dead, at the end of the day.¡±


    ¡°Your son is adorable,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Perhaps he¡¯ll stay adorable as he ages and grow into a fine looking young man.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t possibly hurt him anymore,¡± Ali said as if it was in agreement, ¡°to be good looking.  It isn¡¯t dangerous anymore.¡±


    He ran a hand over the back of his neck, and Orenda wondered how long it would be like this.  How long life would be horrible and awkward, how many conversations it would be possible to have without calling up memories that one could not possibly have intended to call up.  Surely it had to fade at some point, didn¡¯t it?


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have to get some rest,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡¯m falling over.¡±


    ¡°Sweet dreams, Rendy,¡± Ali smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve not slept in months.¡±


    He kissed his son on the head to accentuate his point.


    ¡°Say ¡®sweet dreams¡¯ to Aunty Rendy!¡± he prompted, but Aban elected instead to chew on his father¡¯s sleeve, though Rendy took his meaning.


    ¡°Goodbye, Aban!¡± Orenda waved at the flame, then extinguished it.


    ¡°Cute kid,¡± Klin said and Orenda crossed the room to see him sitting on his bedroll.  He had taken off his boots and the tunic he always wore, but which had gone out of fashion at least a century earlier, along with his bag, though he kept it close and reached into it to produce a comb.  He untied the ribbon that kept his long, blond hair corralled, and as it cascaded down his back Orenda became aware that she was beginning to be able to tell the Urillians apart with greater ease. Klin¡¯s hair had even less body than the already lifeless straw most of them had; it was as straight as a measuring stick.  She wondered if this was a trait he had inherited from his mother.


    ¡°He is rather cute,¡± she agreed, ¡°all babies are cute.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Klin agreed, running the comb through his hair.


    ¡°Do you ever wash your hair?¡± Orenda asked him.


    ¡°Weird¡­  weird thing to¡­  ask¡­ somebody¡­¡± Klin said, ¡°I just¡­  am greasy¡­ that¡¯s just how it is. Like I have a weird little nose and weird eyes.  I just look weird. I¡­ done made my peace with it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t look weird,¡± Orenda argued, ¡°you look like an earth elf.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± Klin shrugged, ¡°folks used to make fun of me for how I looked.  I know how I look. I get it. An¡¯ I¡¯m short.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re all short,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess from way up there we are,¡± Klin said, ¡°I do wash my hair though, like once a week.  I just ain¡¯t really had a lotta time to do that on accounta you holler at me an¡¯ I don¡¯t wanna¡­ take a lotta time or¡­  show up naked, ya¡¯ know? Seems like¡­ not a good¡­ not real¡­ professional. Maybe I oughta just pull it up an¡¯ put it under a hat.  Folks used ta¡¯ wear wigs, back in the day. Lice got real bad.¡±


    ¡°Klin,¡± Orenda asked, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°I reckon I¡¯m gonna take a nap,¡± Klin said, ¡°So I can get up when you do.  I ain¡¯t got much else to do. I hate sleepin but it sure as hell does pass the time, don¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I mean in the long run,¡± Orenda said, ¡°what¡¯s your plan?  Are you going to try to find a way to kill me? Take back the throne?  Avenge Xandra?¡±


    ¡°Xandra¡­¡± Klin said and his shoulders fell.  ¡°God I¡­ most folks, ya know, they find somebody and they know¡­  they know it ain¡¯t gonna last forever, ya know? They know that. They know that eventually one of um is gonna die.  But I¡­ I thought¡­ I really thought it¡­ it would be forever. I thought I found a way to¡­ make it forever¡­ I just¡­  I just wanted her to be safe. Happy.¡±


    He clawed at his arms and his back began to shake.


    ¡°I was¡­  I was supposed to protect her.  That was my one job. I was supposed to save the princess, protect the princess- that¡¯s all I was ever¡­  all I had to¡­ I got that sword and it was¡­ I was¡­ I had to save the princess because I got the sword¡­ I was just¡­  the guy that had the sword and¡­ I mean¡­ I was the thing that held it. And before that, that uh¡­ position, I reckon¡­  was filled by¡­ a rock. And the sword- Emerald- The Sacred Sword- he said¡­ he said I was special an¡¯... he said¡­ I was¡­  he said he loved me¡­ he said he was gonna give me everythin, and I reckon he did, but I¡­ I just threw him away an¡­ I couldn¡¯t save Xandra¡­  so now¡­ now I ain¡¯t the guy who has the sword¡­ I ain¡¯t the guy who has to save the princess¡­ so¡­¡±


    ¡°I need to lie down,¡± Orenda said, ¡°stay here.  Don¡¯t go wandering off while I¡¯m asleep.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±


    As Orenda closed her eyes, she heard the soft gentle crests of his voice, singing as if he was having difficulty catching his breath.


    ¡°After the ball is over,


    After the break of morn,


    After the dancers'' leaving


    After the stars are gone;


    Many a heart is aching


    If you could read them all


    Many the hopes have vanished


    After the ball.¡±

 Chapter 8

    Orenda awoke to the sound of a scuffle and for a moment she was afraid she had fallen victim to another assasination attempt.


    But she wasn¡¯t on fire.


    She was annoyed to see the light of day breaking through her window; she hadn¡¯t meant to fall asleep at midday and have an unbroken slumber until the next morning- what sort of message would that send to the nobility?  That she was lazy? That she was incapable?


    What had awakened her?


    The sound was coming from outdoors.


    She stood and walked quickly to the window; the room she had found herself in the day before was on the ground floor of the castle and the single window looked out over the military school, the campus of which was located behind the castle proper, but still within the confines of its protective wall.  These grounds held many buildings: a dining hall, barracks for the students, an archery range, equestrian tracks- but Orenda¡¯s eye was drawn to a large, fenced fieldfenced in field, because a small crowd had formed around it.  She saw a tiny, thin figure emerge above them, as if it had been thrown into the air, and recognized it instantly.


    ¡°Klin!¡± she cursed, turned, and wondered how quickly she could get herself presentable to appear before a crowd.


    Orenda shoved her way into the crowd as the soldiers who had seen her ran behind her, trying to get in front of her, trying to clear a path for her- but she was a head taller than them, taller than most of the crowd, and they were unnecessary.  Even if the gathered assembly of nobles, students, servants, and real military personnel hadn¡¯t noticed her and moved out of her way, she could have pushed her way through with sheer girth.


    Sonny threw a punch at Klin, moving as quickly as a jackrabbit, but somehow, Klin was faster.  He managed to sidestep and avoid the blow, grab Sonny¡¯s wrist, and, because he was so much smaller, bring up both legs as if he was repelling up a mountain, and somehow wound up in less time than it takes to tell it, standing on Sonny¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Gyaddamn it,¡± Sonny cursed, ¡°Like a gadfly!¡±


    Klin laughed, braced one foot on Sonny¡¯s head, and leaped backwards, twisting in the air to land on his feet.


    ¡°Bitch, did you do a backflip?¡± Sonny asked as he turned.


    Klin giggled again, glanced behind him, jumped, tucked his body into the ball Orenda had, the previous day, remarked on the smallness of, and flipped himself backwards again before landing on his feet.


    ¡°I can do that too!¡± Sonny said, though apparently he could not, because unlike Klin he used his hands to push off the ground.


    Klin used the time to take off at a sprint and close the distance between them.  As Sonny landed, Klin was there to grab him by the shoulders and tug him forward, but it didn¡¯t throw him off balance as much as Klin seemed to think it would.  Instead of falling face first into him, Sonny only bent enough to be level with Klin, then reached under him, grabbed him by the shoulder and the thigh, and lifted him over his head.


    ¡°Oh un-uh,¡± Klin snarled, ¡°you best not- do not throw me!  You put me down or I swear to god-¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey Rendy,¡± Sonny said, apparently noticing her standing by the fence, ¡°Catch!¡±


    He threw Klin at her so hard Orenda was sure he was going to collide with her, their armors would spring up to protect them, and all her secrets would come crumbling down.


    ¡°Sonny, no!¡± she shouted, but the deed was done.


    But the impact never came.


    Instead, Klin hit the fence in front of her, feet first, oriented himself in less time than it took for Orenda to even register that he had moved, then pushed himself off forward like a cat pouncing on a mouse.


    He hit Sonny square in the chest, wrapped both his arms and legs around him, and the force of the impact knocked him onto his back, where he went sliding across the grass.


    ¡°You can¡¯t keep this little fuck down!¡± Sonny laughed as they began to roll back and forth, and Orenda did not know enough about grappling or combat holds to even know what they were attempting.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± She commanded, ¡°What is it that you¡¯re even trying to do!?¡±


    She grabbed the uppermost rung of the wooden fence and carefully climbed over it, mindful of her expensive dress and boots.


    ¡°Both of you!  Stop it! Are you out here¡­  what are you doing? Are you playing?  Like children? Are you laughing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Klin said; he had somehow wound up on the bottom with both arms wrapped around Sonny¡¯s neck, his head under him pressed into the grass, and his legs wrapped around his torso.  He let go all at once, kicked Sonny off of him, stood, tried his best to dust himself off, and turned to her, still wearing his wide smile.


    It looked strange on him.


    She had never seen it before.


    He had been having fun- real, genuine fun.  Was this kind of violence the only thing he understood?


    But then he looked around and seemed to see the crowd, as if he had not noticed it before, had not registered it before that very moment, and the fear that lived in his eyes returned all at once.  He took a step back as panic covered his face and his already light flesh turned a ghostly white, devoid of blood. He fisted one hand over his heart and the other in the small of his back, bowed, and began to whisper.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, ¡°God, I¡¯m sorry.  I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°I got grass in my mouth,¡± Sonny said, made a humming sound, and added, ¡°It ain¡¯t half bad.  Them sheep might be onto somethin.¡±


    ¡°Sonny, what the hell are you doing?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Sparrin,¡± Sonny laughed as he hopped onto his feet, ¡°I asked Klin if¡¯in he¡¯d help me work out.  Daddy always said it was a lot harder to get back in shape than it was to never get outta shape.¡±


    ¡°Why now?  Why Klin?¡± Orenda demanded.


    ¡°That little consort killed the Emerald Knight I wanna see it,¡± Sonny said, walked up to Klin and slapped him on the shoulder, ¡°You a little bitty but you¡¯re tough as nails and strong as an ox.  You remind me a¡¯ my daddy. People underestimate folk in your line a¡¯ work. I don¡¯t know why. The skills transfer.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Klin looked away and lowered his head so that his bangs fell over his eyes.


    ¡°So,¡± Sonny slapped Klin on the shoulder one last time, then walked towards Orenda, ¡°what¡¯s for breakfast?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    She shrugged him off and stormed past him to take Klin by the wrist.


    ¡°Come on,¡± she demanded, ¡°We have to get you cleaned up.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Klin said.


    ¡°Oh, come on, Rendy,¡± Sonny said as he followed them to the gate, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t gonna hurt him.  He¡¯s a fighter, deep down. We can bring that outta him. I know he snapped before, and believe me I can tell when somebody¡¯s been through some shit, but you can¡¯t keep protectin him every second of every day.  You gotta let him work through that and come out the other side. That¡¯s what daddy did an¡¯ he was better off for it. You ain¡¯t always gonna be there.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I am.  I shall always be there. He shall never be alone again.¡±


    ¡°Super¡­  super healthy¡­¡± Sonny said, ¡°Hey!  Don¡¯t walk away from me!¡±


    Orenda had picked up her pace, dragging Klin behind her though he seemed to have no trouble keeping up, and Sonny jogged after her as she entered the castle through the back servant¡¯s entrance, receiving the Urillian salute from the guard there with a nod.


    He grabbed Orenda by her free arm and she tried to jerk away, but he was stronger, so she was forced to stop and look at him.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Klin, buddy, go wash off and get all dolled up,¡± Sonny said, but Klin stared at Orenda, as if waiting for permission.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Sonny said, ¡°Me and the queen need to talk.¡±


    Orenda studied the sincerity in Sonny¡¯s silver eyes and eventually released Klin.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, ¡°go take a proper bath.¡±


    ¡°Wash your fuckin hair!¡± Sonny teased, but instantly regretted it as Klin physically pulled his bangs over his eyes and lowered his head.  ¡°Oh, goddamn, I didn¡¯t mean-¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Klin agreed quietly, ¡°Yeah I¡­  I will.¡±


    Sonny watched him walking so softly down the hall his boots didn¡¯t even make a sound on the stone floor before he turned back to Orenda.


    ¡°So you just done went and lost your whole damn mind, then?¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid, Rendy, everybody knows what this is.¡± Sonny said, ¡°That poor little orphan, abandoned by everybody to basically be a pleasure slave- ain¡¯t got no parents, ain¡¯t got nobody to look after him, snapped and killed somebody even if it was a monster- only able to do it on account¡¯a they underestimated him ¡®cause he was little - you really think we¡¯re all so stupid we can¡¯t see it?  You think it don¡¯t remind us of somebody?¡±


    ¡°I have neither the time or inclination to put up with cryptic bullshit, Sonny; it¡¯s six o¡¯clock in the morning,¡± Orenda jerked her arm away and turned from him to walk in the direction of the dining hall.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Sonny called, ¡°Quit it!  Quit walkin away from me! We need to talk!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t talk and walk at the same time?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°What is the world coming to?¡±


    ¡°We need to talk, in private, about your boyfriend,¡± Sonny clarified and grabbed her again, ¡°Quit it.  Your eyes are red. You¡¯re tryin to heat up. You know that don¡¯t do shit to me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Sonny said, ¡°You trust him, I trust him.  But there was a bunch of them pretty little blond boys in that harem and he was the one what snapped.  I get it. He¡¯s the saddest one. He¡¯s like a puppy, like the runt of a litter. But¡­ he¡¯s a person, Rendy.  He¡¯s grown. You can¡¯t stay right on top of him like that. I know you think you¡¯re helpin, but you ain¡¯t. An¡¯ you¡­  ain¡¯t gotta do that. You ain¡¯t gotta¡­ make somebody dependent on you. You want a youngun adopt a youngun but you¡­ you ain¡¯t gotta.  Look at me. You¡¯re our sister. We ain¡¯t Big Gary. We ain¡¯t gonna leave. An if we do leave, I swear on everythin I hold dear- you can trust us to come back.  It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s different now. I promise. It¡¯s ok now.¡±


    You can trust us to come back.


    You can trust us.


    But she couldn¡¯t, not really, not now.  Perhaps, if she had started with the truth it could be trusted, but not now, not months later, not months after such a deep lie.  Too much time had passed. She couldn¡¯t possibly tell them that they had been sleeping under the same roof as the Emerald Knight; that the warmonger responsible for genocides was being kept under their noses.


    She couldn¡¯t tell them that she could not kill the Emerald Knight.


    The best thing, for everyone, was for them to think the monster was dead.  It needed to fade away, become a legend, become a boogieman that could no longer hurt anyone, that lived only in fairy tales.


    The Brigaddons could not see his shimmering soul, and so far he had been able to keep it dulled, keep it more or less hidden.  It was nearly impossible to see the dancing patterns of the Emerald¡¯s Knight¡¯s soul on the battlefield- it glowed like a star, too bright to look upon.


    No one could know.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­  a lot,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I get that.  It¡¯s a lot. But you gotta get your shit together.  You¡¯re goin crazy out¡¯chere.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps I am,¡± Orenda agreed, ¡°madness runs in my family, Sonny, you know that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about all that,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d call Big Gary crazy.  He¡¯s just seen some shit. That¡¯s how folks what¡¯s seen some shit act. Believe me, I seen some shit.  Thanks for uh¡­ the job, by the way. I got them scouts out all over the country tryin to find Lappy, tryin to find Sharon.  But¡­ look, don¡¯t tell Mary Sue or¡­ anybody, ok?¡±


    ¡°Tell them what?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s dead,¡± Sonny said, ¡°Sharon¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°Did you find a body?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Nah, I just¡­  I can feel it.¡± Sonny said, ¡°Ya know, Rendy she¡­  she didn¡¯t have to¡­ treat me as good as she did, you know?  She didn¡¯t have to be my mommy. She chose to do that. I was already¡­  lord knows, four or five, time I met her. She didn¡¯t have to do that. She went outta her way an¡¯ I know Lappy¡­  he¡¯s done to her what he done to daddy. That boy ain¡¯t right- we all knew. We all knew he wouldn¡¯t right. But when it¡¯s your little brother you¡­  you try an tell yourself it ain¡¯t¡­ it ain¡¯t like that. Because it can¡¯t be like that to your little brother, you know? I mean, he ran his mouth a lot, got in a lotta fights, but we all run our mouths, all fight.  I had to drag Junior kickin and screamin to bed like a toddler. But Lappy he¡­ he actually did it. He wouldn¡¯t full ¡®a shit. I mean¡­ I thought¡­ I wanna say we all thought¡­ he was just full¡¯a shit, you know? Like ever¡¯ teenager in the world screams, ¡®I hate you!  I¡¯ma kill you!¡± at their parents. But he¡¯s done went and did it.¡±


    ¡°The scouts haven¡¯t found anything?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust ¡®em,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I don¡¯t trust any a¡¯ these military fucks.  We don¡¯t know where their allegiance lies. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know about all that.  I wish we had enough Knights left to just fill up the ranks. But¡­ none of ¡®em seemed loyal to Xandra.  Most of ¡®em was kids. An¡¯ now that the ranks are open to humans we got ourselves a big influx over at the military academy¡­  I trust the humans more; is that-¡±


    ¡°So do I,¡± Orenda agreed, ¡°I know that there are good earth elves but it¡¯s difficult to¡­  it isn¡¯t even their fault, I think. Toli¡­ as soon as he learned to see the world for how it really was, he changed.  But he was complicit. He never had a reason to question his reality. They¡¯re presented with falsehoods and they have no reason to disbelieve them.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re gettin reasons,¡± Sonny said, ¡°Times they are a changin¡¯.  You oughta seen me at that press conference yesterday. Some of them folks sure did not care for me.  You been readin the papers? They been¡­ they can¡¯t draw real good.¡±


    ¡°I saw that,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen the caricatures.  You¡¯re not a mindless ape.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t reckon no apes are mindless,¡± Sonny said, ¡°this is what they don¡¯t get- it ain¡¯t that we ain¡¯t animals.  We are. But so are they. They¡¯re so steeped in their stupid religion because they wanna be special. ¡®Oh we got long ears,¡¯ yeah bitch, so do rabbits, you ain¡¯t special.  ¡®Oh, we live for centuries,¡¯ yeah, darlin so does a turtle or a dragon. It ain¡¯t that I wanna be pulled up to their level and put up on some fake ass pedestal and get drunk on imaginary power it¡¯s that I want ¡®em to act like they got some sense.  Look around and see the world for what it is. How do you let yourself get in that kind¡¯a shape?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Orenda said, ¡°it never happened to me.  I don¡¯t understand it either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good though,¡± Sonny said, ¡°we just¡­  gotta keep on keepin on. They gotta learn eventually.  Or they¡¯ll die out. That¡¯s how nature works, ya¡¯ know. Only the critters that can keep up with change survive.  The rest get left in the dust. Us humans? We can adapt to damn near anything. You¡¯d be amazed what ya can get used to.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it will all pass,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I would love for it to¡­  calm a little.¡±


    ¡°We just gotta get past the adjustment,¡± Sonny said, ¡°I think it might be harder here.  ¡®Cause we¡¯re in the thick of it, ya know. This is where she lived. This is where she ruled from.  Even though we knocked it all down and started over¡­ I feel like maybe the land remembers stuff. Like our land remembered how to grow sterilite.¡±


    He reached into his bag, pulled out a round fruit the size of apple that shimmered silver like his eyes and hair and bit into it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a geologist in any real sense,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that.¡±


    ¡°Rendy,¡± Mary Sue said as she came walking down the hall, ¡°I been lookin for you.¡±

 Chapter 9

    ¡°I¡¯ve been out of doors breaking up a play fight,¡± Orenda explained, ¡°Sonny here was picking on someone half his size.¡±


    ¡°A¡¯ight, well,¡± Mary Sue said as she pulled a clipboard from the bag at her side, ¡°the Duke of the Agricultural District wants a private meetin¡¯ with you, then the head a¡¯ the merchant¡¯s guild, then the mason guild is here to go over the plans for the new tower- which we need, at some point before that to figure out if¡¯in we want a new tower, I¡¯d rather go down than up, myself - we got a scout troope back from the Sage Lake district ready to report in, we gotta go over them economic reports and try an get somethin¡¯ figured out before parliament picks back up- the shipbuilder¡¯s guild, which I guess is a thing that exists- thought it¡¯d be part of the carpenders but whatever- is here talkin about they runnin¡¯ outta money rebuildin the navy we blew up-¡±


    ¡°Honestly?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Well that should be that, then.  I¡¯m not giving them anything else. We¡¯ve no need of a navy; we¡¯re in a time of peace.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that,¡± Mary Sure said, ¡°we got a message from the former colony on the water continent talkin about they¡¯re sendin¡¯ a delegate to talk to you on accounta they want some money?  For some reason? I don¡¯t know why the hell they think we owe them money but they sure as hell don¡¯t care to ask nobody for nothin.¡±


    ¡°When will they be here?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Probably sometime next week,¡± Mary Sue said.  ¡°And Anilla actually scheduled herself a block a¡¯ time.  She wants to talk to you about somethin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Mary Sue, I want you to know something,¡± Orenda said, ¡°if I did not have you, I think I would have burned this entire continent to the ground by now.¡±


    ¡°Lorry¡¯s gonna meet with you over breakfast,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°you need to eat you a bite.  Wouldn¡¯t hurt my feelin¡¯s nary bit to get a bite myself. I need a cup of coffee.¡±


    ¡°As do I,¡± Orenda agreed.


    ¡°Announcing the great Duke of the Agricultural District, his grace Lorsan Agalon,¡± the human guard in the dining hall proclaimed, and Orenda thought the announcements grated on her nerves.


    ¡°It is early as balls!¡± Lorsan declared as he took the empty seat with his nameplate on it, ¡°Oh, sweet, flapjacks.  I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d be feedin¡¯ me.¡±


    ¡°I have to eat and I have very limited time,¡± Orenda explained.


    ¡°Yeah you don¡¯t look like you been missin no meals,¡± Lorsan said with too much approval.  It put Orenda off.


    ¡°Are balls known to occur at early hours?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°I thought it was an evening affair.¡±


    ¡°He meant like a nutsack,¡± Mary Sue explained and Sonny snickered.


    ¡°That raises further questions!¡± Orenda said, ¡°That makes no sense.  That¡¯s a¡­ those exist at all times of the day, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Sonny said, ¡°It¡¯s a bitch.  They get tangled up in these weird tights the military wears.  We gotta redesign this shit, Rendy. Like a good¡­ I dunno, thirty percent of my time is like¡­  trying to discreetly readjust my balls.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t possibly be true,¡± Orenda argued.


    ¡°They¡¯re squished,¡± Sonny said, ¡°they ain¡¯t supposed to be squished.  They¡¯re supposed to dangle like a¡­ like a weak point¡­ like you ain¡¯t even gotta aim my legs just guide ya in for the bullseye.¡±


    ¡°There is somethin¡¯ like¡­  legitimately, actually wrong with you,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°quit talkin about your nutsack at the royal breakfast.¡±


    ¡°I can talk about my nutsack wherever I want,¡± Sonny argued, ¡°the noble over there started it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a turn of phrase,¡± Mary Sue argued, ¡°You¡¯re talking about your nutsack, specifically.¡±


    ¡°I am formally banning the word ¡®nutsack¡¯ from further discussion!¡± Orenda said, ¡°The¡­  at least call it something else. You¡¯ve ruined the word for me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late, I forgot food was a thing I had to put into my body,¡± Junior said, then screamed because he had forgotten the man at the door would shout his name and title.


    ¡°Announcing the esteemed Xaxac Brigaddon the Second-¡± he began, but Junior cut him off.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t announcin shit!¡± he said, ¡°Some of us got heightened shifter hearin- Thesis¡¯s Glowin Eyes six thirty in the morning out here screamin at motherfuckers, goddamn.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were coming,¡± Orenda said, turned, and yelled, ¡°Excuse me?  Can we get another plate, please?¡±


    ¡°Xandra always rang a bell,¡± the human waiter huffed as he turned into the kitchen, apparently under the impression Orenda could not hear him, ¡°damn rabbit¡¯s right, six thirty in the morning and we¡¯re screaming at motherfuckers, towers collapsin and shit...¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Orenda called.


    ¡°You run a real tight ship, Your Majesty,¡± Lorsan complimented.


    ¡°We¡¯re in a bit of an adjustment period,¡± Orenda admitted.


    ¡°Yeah, I had a little bit of an adjustment too, when my daddy died and left me all that mess to clean up,¡± Lorsan said as he poured his syrup, ¡°hell of a mess, too.  He¡¯s the one what let people go into debt, I just never could collect on account¡¯a there never was no law lettin me do a damn thing about it. You really saved my bacon.  Whole time I was growin up, I thought, ¡®We¡¯re the breadbasket. We oughta have Xandra by the shorthairs. Why ain¡¯t we more respected?¡¯ But now? Now we¡¯re the most respected district in the nation- home of the Brigaddon family.  Y¡¯all really turnin this around for me, for everybody.¡±


    ¡°We ain¡¯t that respected,¡± Sonny huffed, ¡°you see the way they draw us in the papers?¡±


    ¡°Papers got pointy ears,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°don¡¯t mean nothin.  We get more humans in the Free Press that¡¯ll change right quick.  I mean, you ain¡¯t a monolith, but they¡¯s a reason they went with a monkey over a rabbit.  That¡¯s some good ol¡¯ fashioned family bigotry. The kind I used to throw at my daddy when I was a stupid kid.  Did I ever tell y¡¯all I used to be an even bigger dumbass? Can you imagine that? I reckon I mellowed out. Now I¡¯m cruisin on a smug sense of satisfaction on account¡¯a exactly what I said was gonna happen happened.  Love the new flag by the way. Rabbit¡¯s a hell of a lot cuter than a rose. I never did like roses. The smell fucks me up.¡±


    ¡°Are you allergic to them?¡± Orenda asked, tiring of the sound of his voice.  He seemed the sort of person who would ramble endlessly if no one interrupted him.


    ¡°Nah they just¡­  I don¡¯t know¡­ they remind me a¡¯ somethin¡­¡± Lorsan said, ¡°My daddy loved that smell, rosewater.¡±


    ¡°My daddy did too,¡± Mary Sue said, and the two of them stared at each other, sharing a look with deep meaning, meaning Orenda did not understand.


    ¡°Mr Agalon,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I noticed on the late Xaxac¡¯s poster, the one inviting people to witness his fourth consecutive victory as a world champion cage fighter, his name was listed as Xaxac OfAgalon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that Lord Agalon was my daddy,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°I reckon that book Mary Sue¡¯s been talkin about is gonna have a lot to say about that.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here, Lorsan?¡± Orenda asked.


    The waiter reappeared with a new plate stacked high with flapjacks for Junior and set it before him with a glass of juice and a coffee cup, in case he would want to make use of the coffee set out on the table, and served it silently and swiftly from the left.


    ¡°Thanks, buddy,¡± Junior said.


    ¡°On account¡¯a I got myself a little problem what was brought to my attention a few days ago and I reckon I don¡¯t know how to solve it.  I love these new laws but what happened to Little Xac is just gonna keep happenin if¡¯in we don¡¯t do somethin.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°What happened to Junior?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I need you to sign them patents,¡± Junior said, staring down at his plate, ¡°I just¡­  I need you to sign them patents.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what happened?¡± Mary Sue asked, ¡°Why are you like that?¡±


    ¡°I went down to Basilglen to file ¡®em at the office,¡± Junior explained, ¡°my local office, like y¡¯all wrote.  And the bitch wouldn¡¯t do it. That¡¯s why I was so fightin mad yesterday. I kinda¡­ really tore my ass down there.  I made a scene.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they scried me,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°on account¡¯a it was one a¡¯ my citizens, but technically Basilglen¡¯s on the line between me and Esta- she used to be mayor down there before her parents died when ya¡¯ dropped a house on ¡®em.  So now she thinks she gets final say. Plus¡­ technically they got a point.¡±


    ¡°She said that the law said ¡®any Urillian citizen¡¯ could make use of the public goods like the courthouse and patent system and all that¡­¡± Junior said; he had set down his fork and was staring at his plate, ¡°she said she didn¡¯t think I was a Urillian citizen¡­  she wanted me to prove it. I ain¡¯t got no way to prove it. I don¡¯t¡­ know how to¡­ I was born right here, in the Agricultural District- I was one a¡­ there oughta be papers on me, somewhere. I was born on a little farm, belonged to a vet named Neldor Miaballer¡­  but I guess he¡­ died or somethin and the land was reclaimed but didn¡¯t nobody ever do nothin with it? I went in there and that farmhouse was fallin apart. I couldn¡¯t find no documents. I think he would¡¯a had ¡®em, on me¡­ He¡­ he thought I was real important, you know?  He¡­ he wanted to know¡­ he thought he was like¡­ a scientist¡­ he wanted to know¡­¡± his eyes had faded a little as he spoke, but he seemed to snap out of it and asked, ¡°Hey Rendy, you got some kinda rule against offerin your big brother a drink? You put out drinks for guests?¡±


    ¡°I think the rule had something to do with it being so early in the morning,¡± Orenda said, but turned and asked, ¡°Could we have a bottle of wine, please?¡±


    The waiter bowed with one hand fisted over his heart and the other in the small of his back and disappeared into the kitchen, but he returned with much greater speed than he normally did.  Orenda worried that he was becoming invested in the conversation. She was never very comfortable with servants.


    ¡°That mark on your neck oughta be all the proof they need,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°that¡¯s bullshit and they know it.¡±


    ¡°Neldor wanted to know how far he could push the shifter healing,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°He¡­  owned both of us. But he apprenticed me out to a breeding center. He wanted more shifters.  He was a bit obsessed with shifters, I think, after reading daddy¡¯s book. Daddy never liked him.¡±


    ¡°He apprenticed you out to a breeding center?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°I thought when Xaxac found you you were only five or six?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was,¡± Mary Sue said.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Orenda said as the waiter served silently from the left, filling everyone¡¯s wine glasses.


    ¡°After I heard about that I sent me out a messenger,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°Tryin to gather some data.  It¡¯s only been a couple days but she scried back with what¡¯s she got and ever bit of it¡¯s pissin me off.  Just, for another example, there was a woman wanted to enroll in one of them new literacy programs the printer¡¯s guild¡¯s got goin- they wouldn¡¯t take her without proof, so she went to her old master tryin to get it- she still works for him, still lives on his land, and he walked into the house, come back with a book of what I gotta guess is birth records, struck a matchstick and lit ¡®em on fire right in front of her.  All these places gonna keep askin for proof of citizenship they know ain¡¯t nobody got. And anybody drunk on imaginary power is gonna cling to it. This is gonna be a problem.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t do that,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°there¡¯s already a law on the books against destroyin public records.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d probably say his personal property records was personal,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°you can¡¯t talk to these people.  Y¡¯all think this is all some kinda misunderstanding? It ain¡¯t. I lived with these folks. They¡¯re fuckin evil.  You gotta understand that. It ain¡¯t ignorance, it¡¯s evil.¡±


    They were evil, Rendy.  I got that evil inside me.  I can feel it sometimes, when I put on that uniform.  I can feel it inside me trying to come out. I start talking like that- the way we learned in etiquette class- I can feel it inside me.  Tolith had once told Orenda, it seemed a lifetime ago now.  She hadn¡¯t understood what he had meant.


    ¡°He can say what he likes,¡± Orenda said, ¡°but he¡¯s simply mistaken.  He can¡¯t own a person¡¯s history. That¡¯s a matter of public record. Sonny, darling, do me a favor.  This gentleman enjoys burning things? Lorsan, I¡¯ll need a name from you. I¡¯m going to end this, directly.  Sonny, have a contingent of royal guards enter this gentleman¡¯s house and collect any records he hasn¡¯t already destroyed.  Then, by royal decree, I would like that place burned to the ground.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Sonny said.


    ¡°That won¡¯t do anything¡­¡± Junior said to his flapjacks, ¡°That¡¯ll just piss ¡®em off.  We can¡¯t just burn down everything we don¡¯t like.¡±


    ¡°I absolutely can,¡± Orenda said, ¡°that¡¯s my whole thing.  Have you met me?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­  I don¡¯t reckon there¡¯s no, ¡®burn it to the ground¡¯ law on the books,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°ain¡¯t we tryin to watch our public image?  Rendy, what is it with you and just settin shit on fire? When we was tryin to find a way to get in the Capital that night we killed the queen your plan was to set the whole damn city outside the gates on fire.¡±


    ¡°Had Toli not appeared, I still say that would have worked,¡± Orenda said, ¡°it isn¡¯t an ideal solution, but it certainly would have caused a distraction.¡±


    ¡°You are goddamn terrifying,¡± Lorsan said, and he seemed to mean it.  His eyes were huge and the green vibrated in a sea of white, ¡°I am¡­ uh¡­  terrified.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you look it,¡± Sonny said with a sharp edge to his voice, implying something Orenda did not understand.


    Mary Sue had been scribbling furiously on her clipboard, but now she spoke in a hurried voice, as if she needed to get her entire idea out before it fled.


    ¡°Ok so here¡¯s what we¡¯re gonna do,¡± she said, ¡°fuck birth records.  Them get fucked up and destroyed all the time, even if it ain¡¯t outta meanness.  What we¡¯re gonna do is start a whole new system. We¡¯ll number it, and we¡¯ll work them numbers into the tax code we set up- that¡¯ll keep us from gettin confused with names anyhow- we was already worried about that.  Everybody¡¯s gotta go down to their local office, no questions asked, and put themselves on the record. Everybody who lives in Uril is a Urillian citizen. They¡¯ll fill out the paperwork- which I¡¯ll draft out tonight, and get a¡­  I dunno, we¡¯ll call it a citizenship ID or somethin. They¡¯ll print ¡®em out there at the city halls, the closest city halls, and that¡¯ll be that. Then we¡¯ll get copies of all¡¯a that and keep ¡®em here in a secure record room.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a hell of a lotta paperwork,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°who¡¯s gonna pay for all that?  You think the printin¡¯ presses is out here givin services away? Cause they ain¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay for it,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°this kinda thing is what them taxes is for.  We ain¡¯t trying to get rich, ain¡¯t hoardin wealth.


    ¡°That¡¯s a brilliant solution, Mary Sue,¡± Orenda praised.


    ¡°Yeah, an¡¯ we can collect census information that way,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°this¡¯ll all work out.¡±


    ¡°Damn,¡± Lorry said, ¡°I¡¯d put in a million requests when Xandra was on the throne and never heard a damn thing back.  This shit moved. Like this got done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re the only member of the nobility to directly ask for something,¡± Orenda admitted, ¡°you never get anything if you don¡¯t ask.¡±


    ¡°Everybody else is scared to death ¡®a you,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°I mean, I am too, but¡­  I appreciate having somebody finally trying to do something in this hellhole. When I was growin up, I hated my podunk, country-ass district.  But I realized¡­ it ain¡¯t gotta be a hellhole. We¡¯re right next to the capital. We can make somethin of ourselves. And the folks sittin at this table are leadin the charge.  Little Xac, come on, buddy. I know you¡¯re shook up, but it is gonna kill Esta dead when we¡¯re the academic capital of Uril. That school and research center you got set up is gonna completely change the world.  They¡¯re tryin to hold you back on accounta they¡¯re scared a¡¯ you. Well goddamn right, they should be scared a¡¯ you. I want a radiation thing.¡±


    ¡°A radio?¡± Junior asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I want a radio.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­  that was just a prototype,¡± Junior said, ¡°but you¡­ you got the electric pretty quick so your house is already wired up for it¡­¡±


    ¡°I want the first one off the line,¡± Lorsan said.


    ¡°Lorry,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I¡¯m¡­  I read everything in my daddy¡¯s book.¡±


    ¡°I woulda been a Knight of Order if he¡¯d¡¯a let me in,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°but I get it.  I hope he knows I understood. I hope¡­ I hope he knew that. He was scared to tell me anything; scared Xandra¡¯d see inside my head.  Your daddy saved me¡­ I knew it wouldn¡¯t no bandits what killed him. I didn¡¯t believe he was dead.¡±


    He refilled his coffee, added cream, and stirred for far longer than it would have taken to distribute it before he spoke again.


    ¡°You know, Your Majesty, I seen you, that night,¡± he said, ¡°hidin over there behind the shrubs.  I seen a powerful magic, the kind I hadn¡¯t seen in a long time, and I thought, ¡®I wonder what the hell Xac is doin¡¯.  Wonder if that¡¯s that big guy he run off with.¡¯ It¡¯d been so long since I¡¯d seen it I couldn¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Big guy?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I begged him to let me give him his papers,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°I begged him, that night I saw him.  That big guy with him- Ronnie? I think-¡±


    ¡°You knew my father?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Maybe?¡± Lorsan said, ¡°That makes as much sense as anything else, don¡¯t it?  I didn¡¯t know it was your daddy, but maybe. Big feller, dark skin, bright gold eyes, got that red hair, little bit more red than yours, looked more like the kind¡¯a hair Captain Nochdiface¡¯s got.  ¡®Bought the same size, too, but I don¡¯t wanna say that on account¡¯a it makes me look racist. I don¡¯t think all y¡¯all look the same I just ain¡¯t seen that many of ya.¡±


    ¡°What do you remember about him?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°That he didn¡¯t kill me,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°he actually kept that woman from killin me, on account¡¯a Xac didn¡¯t want ¡®em to.  Xac saved me¡­ a lot.¡±


    ¡°You saved him, too,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°he woulda starved if not for you.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t my fault the dumbass was gonna sit there and die,¡± Lorsan said with real anger in his voice before he caught himself, ¡°Sorry, goddamn, sorry.  But that did piss me off. I kept tryin¡¯ to tell him and he just was hell bent on dumbassery.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Junior laughed, ¡°that¡¯s daddy.¡±


    ¡°Your name is Lorsan?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°My friends call me Lorry,¡± the duke of the Agricultural district said, ¡°Rendy.¡±

 Chapter 10

    Orenda spent so much time in these various meetings that she did not realize she had left the Emerald Knight out of her sight for over half a day until hunger began to gnaw at her and she asked, in front of the mason¡¯s guild, whom they had more or less dismissed for lack of planning, what time it was.


    ¡°Damn near noon,¡± Mary Sue had replied, ¡°I¡¯m gettin¡¯ right hungry. You wanna pick this back up after lunch?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Klin?¡± Orenda asked, trying her best to keep the panic out of her voice, but she knew her eyes had shot open wide as she scanned the area in an attempt to pick up the blinding light of his soul. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Mary Sue shrugged, ¡°I ain¡¯t seen him today.¡±


    ¡°I have to find him,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I have to¡­ to check up on him. He has bouts of melancholy and¡­ I worry.¡±


    That was a perfectly reasonable thing for a person to do, given the cover story. That made perfect sense. That didn¡¯t sound like a lie at all.


    ¡°A¡¯ight,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I¡¯ma be in the dinin hall. You gonna find him and come getcha a bite to eat?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡­ that sounds lovely,¡± Orenda said absentmindedly as she made her way out of the throne room, which she had felt was much too big for the private meetings she often had there- it was big enough to hold a ball in- moving toward the back.


    Where did he go?


    She moved frantically down the servant¡¯s hall, leading herself deeper and deeper into the castle before she finally saw it, glowing faintly, far away, or perhaps hidden behind something- water? Was he still in the bath? Had he been in the bath for half a day?


    As she followed his glowing soul she eventually wound around to the large private bathing pool that had been built at Orenda¡¯s request. She needed it, she had insisted, to prove a point. It was easily as large as the one she nearly drowned in as a child, so long ago, the one that had weighed down the magic that flowed through her and over her, that had made her so ill she had lost all sense of direction- but it had not killed her then. And it could not hurt her now.


    Queen Orenda Nochdifache-Firefist, Orenda the Reign Ender, The Crimson Mage, was not afraid of water.


    She was a pirate.


    She had sailed the seas.


    And she was not afraid of water.


    She collected it in her home.


    She threw open the wide doors and marched into the room; the various curtains that could be drawn were fluttering, and she noticed that all the large windows were open, but all the curtains that could be drawn around the various sections of the bath were closed. The stone floor was surprisingly dry; it did not seem anyone had gone into or out of the bath recently.


    ¡°Klin?¡± she called.


    There was no response, but she saw his soul, burning brightly behind the series of curtains; he was apparently on the opposite side, the deepest part of the pool which could, if one had the inclination, be dove into without risk of injury.


    ¡°Klin!¡± She tried again, finding it odd that he wasn¡¯t answering her. He was many things, had a great many evils, but he always came when called, like a trained dog.


    The curtains moved in the breeze, but Klin¡¯s soul stayed in the same spot.


    Orenda felt goosebumps moving up and down her legs; there was no reason he should not come when called.


    She picked up the pace and the sounds of the outside world fell away; she realized that there was no sound of motion in the water, only the gentle rustling of the curtains across its surface, but no water hitting the stone wall as if a person were moving, as if a person were breathing. The sound of her boots against the stone floor was somehow unbearably loud, and she found herself wondering if she had still had a heart, would she have been able to hear it in her ears?


    She threw open the curtains that would have covered him, but he was not there.


    She looked down, and saw that the green light emanated from his motionless form- lying under the water. His large, blue eyes were open, staring at the ceiling as if they could still see, but he was lying at least twelve feet under the still water, with his arms outstretched, and Orenda¡¯s mind formed an instant, comforting thought.


    He¡¯s finally done it.


    ¡°Klin!¡± she shouted.


    Those large blue eyes twitched.


    Then moved to look at her.


    It was so unsettling and startled her so that her body made an involuntary step back, and it threw off her balance so that she teetered on her feet-If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Throw the book, she thought, I can¡¯t get the book wet.


    I am not going to die today.


    She did not realize she had shouted until she saw Klin dart up, moving through the water like he had been born and bred for it, and in an instant he was beside her, pulling himself onto the stone floor and coughing; more water poured from him with the strength of these spasms than Orenda thought would fit into his small body.


    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s¡­¡± he asked between his fits in tight, raspy breaths, ¡°att-tack-ing¡­¡±


    ¡°Where have you been?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Are¡­ you¡­ safe?¡± Klin asked, bracing himself on his forearms, and Orenda thought of how much the position looked like a bow.


    ¡°Are you dying?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Nah¡­ I just gotta¡­¡± Klin was overtaken by a particularly hard spasm, then sucked in a deep breath of air, ¡°just gotta get the water outta my lungs. I do that ever time.¡±


    He finally turned to look up at her and asked, ¡°Ya¡¯ alright? Why¡¯d ya scream?¡±


    ¡°Because I had lost sight of the Emerald Knight for hours upon hours and the prospect filled me with rage!¡± Orenda said, then remembered the open windows, drew back and gazed out each and every one of them.


    She did not like the prospect of servants.


    ¡°Oh¡­ yeah, I¡­ I get that¡­¡± Klin said, still on his hands and knees over the puddle he had coughed up. Whatever had come over him to propel him through the water so quickly had apparently faded, and Orenda thought she could see his brain working like the gears in one of Junior¡¯s clockwork inventions.


    His entire body turned a shade of red, like earth elves and other light skinned creatures do when they get a sunburn, and he turned and dove back into the water; this time he didn¡¯t seem to be trying to dive down, he was swimming away from her, behind the many curtains that criss-crossed the pools.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± Orenda snarled.


    ¡°Is¡­ is that a real question or¡­¡± Klin asked; apparently he had stopped in the middle of the pool.


    ¡°Yes! What the hell are you doing? I haven¡¯t time for this! I have things to do!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tryin to get behind somethin!¡± Klin said quickly and with much more force than Orenda was accustomed to hearing from him, ¡°I¡¯m naked!¡±


    The glow of his soul flared up with some sort of intense emotion, and the situation, combined with his accent, which made the word sound much more like ¡®nekked¡¯ was so ridiculous that, despite her best efforts, Orenda could not stifle a laugh.


    ¡°It ain¡¯t funny!¡± Klin protested.


    ¡°It certainly isn¡¯t,¡± Orenda agreed, ¡°what were you doing?¡±


    ¡°I dunno,¡± Klin said, ¡°thinkin¡¯, I guess. I lost track a¡¯ time or¡­ somethin. I been here. I swear I been here. I didn¡¯t do nothin.¡±


    ¡°I mean,¡± Orenda explained, ¡°what were you doing at the bottom of the pool?¡±


    ¡°I dunno,¡± Klin repeated, ¡°thinkin¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Underwater?¡±


    ¡°I do a lotta my thinkin¡¯ underwater,¡± Klin said, ¡°ain¡¯t nobody else goes under there, most a¡¯ the time. I don¡¯t reckon they can breath. A lotta folks drown, they try an do that.¡±


    His glowing soul moved as if he was swimming to the other side of the pool.


    ¡°That¡¯s an accurate appraisal,¡± Orenda said, ¡°when I find myself underwater I evaporate it away.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t ya swim?¡± Klin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never cared much for sports,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Klin asked, ¡°I love ta¡¯ swim. My¡­ my teacher¡­ when I was a youngun in the Military Academy¡­ said I swum like a fish.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s lovely,¡± Orenda said meaning the opposite, ¡°did you at least take a bath?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Klin said quietly and she heard the clinking of a belt of some sort sliding into place, ¡°I¡­ I washed my hair real good, too¡­ I even put the conditioner in it an¡¯ everythin¡­ maybe that¡¯ll put some moisture back in it so it don¡¯t feel like it¡¯s gotta make so much oil. I used ta¡­ try and do the tea thing? The astringent tea thing? S¡¯Sposed to keep it from gettin¡¯ so greasy but it¡­ it wouldn¡¯t never gonna be, ya know, pretty. Not like a noble¡­ it is what it is¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never cared much for beauty,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t got to,¡± Klin mumbled, ¡°you ain¡¯t¡­ didn¡¯t watch a parade a¡¯... perfect¡­ gorgeous¡­¡±


    Orenda walked slowly around the pool, running her hand across the curtains as he spoke, thinking that it was, perhaps, the most she had ever heard him speak sober.


    ¡°Little nobles with their titles¡­ an¡¯ their money¡­ an¡¯ their fancy learnin¡­ an their eyes the right color¡­ an¡¯ their¡­ grown ass lookin¡­ hair with body what don¡¯t just¡­ look like a¡­¡±


    Orenda turned the corner and saw Klin standing in his ridiculous old clothes that many of the nobility still wore, his long tunic belted at the waist with his ancient, magical bag, trying to clasp his left glove with his right hand, his non-dominant hand, she noticed, like Gareth. Except he still had both.


    ¡°Fucking bog monster!¡± Klin shouted; there were tears in his eyes and his hands were shaking too fiercely for him to be able to tie his glove, ¡°While you sit there thinkin¡¯, ¡®Ain¡¯t y¡¯all kin? Why you doin this? Ain¡¯t y¡¯all cousins?¡¯ But still they¡­ they¡¯re real nobles¡­ they belong in a castle¡­ they ain¡¯t pretendin¡­ they know¡­ they know they belong there an¡¯ you don¡¯t¡­ they know what¡¯cha are¡­ just another rock to hold a sword¡­ just the thing to hold the sword¡­ comin in here with all their fancy presents¡­ you wanna win the princess? The secret is rocks.¡± He laughed with no mirth, and the tears leaking down his face annoyed Orenda, as did his long, wet hair that was leaking down his back and soaking the tunic, and likely the shirt he wore under it.


    ¡°Give me that!¡± she demanded and grabbed his hand to lace up the glove, ¡°I haven¡¯t time for this nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Klin said, standing there with his hand out like a child who had been caught at something he knew he deserved scolding for. ¡°Sorry¡­ I just¡­ I can¡¯t get that sword outta my head¡­ it¡¯s¡­ crowded in here¡­¡±


    ¡°Comb your hair and meet me in the dining hall,¡± Orenda told him, ¡°I need to know where you are, Klin. I can¡¯t have you running amok.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t either,¡± Klin admitted, flexing the fingers of his hand, touching each of them to the thumb once she returned it to him, ¡°at least I ain¡¯t got much ¡®a my mind left to lose. Goddamn¡­ I¡¯m so old¡­ I¡¯m too old for this shit¡­ too old to be actin like this¡­ I¡¯m sorry, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°You apologise so frequently as to render it meaningless,¡± Orenda said. ¡°Get presentable and come to the dining hall.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Klin placed one hand over his heart and the other in the small of his back and bowed to her.


    Orenda turned to make her way out of the room and did not see him scratching frantically at the leather covering the palm of his left hand.

 Chapter 12

    ¡°I¡¯ll never forgive her for this,¡± Orenda fumed as she followed Klin through the underbelly of a castle, ¡°I¡¯ve half a mind to slay her myself.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Klin asked as he reached up and turned one of the stones, so like all the others, to the side and listened for the click before he shoved against the wall and watched a portion of it give way.


    ¡°How dare she?¡± Orenda asked.  ¡°The audacity!¡±


    The room they walked into was filled with all manner of oddities; strange, ancient books, a plethora of clothing in different styles, but the same shockingly small size, weapons and shields from nearly every corner of the planet.


    Klin made a humming sound, but Orenda could not tell if it was in agreement or if he was only politely informing her that he had heard her.  He walked to a chest, knelt, and tried to open it, found it would not budge, then reached into the bag at his side and produced a set of keys.


    ¡°Can you hear me!?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Your silence grates on my nerves!¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Klin said as he unlocked the chest and pulled it open, then reached inside and began taking things out; small metal contraptions, a long tarp, something that seemed to be made of fur, stuffing them all into the bag on his hip.


    ¡°She can¡¯t kick me out of my own kingdom,¡± Orenda yelled.


    ¡°I hate it here,¡± Klin said, ¡°I¡­  didn¡¯t never stay here that much, really.  I mean, even when I wouldn¡¯t off fightin I just kinda¡­  I dunno¡­ I went huntin a lot.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you did,¡± Klin said, ¡°I just thought you wanted like¡­  sound in the room¡­ It¡¯s like¡­ the thing about all that is¡­¡±


    He seemed to have finished with the chest and walked over to a rack of weapons, studying each in turn.


    ¡°If you really wanted to kill ¡®er, she¡¯d be dead,¡± Klin shrugged, ¡°if you really didn¡¯t wanna go, you wouldn¡¯t go.  It¡¯s a kind¡¯a¡­ almost incomprehensible power¡­ I probably ain¡¯t the one to try and bullshit this particular emotional breakdown on¡­  if you was as mad as you said you was ain¡¯t no way in hell you wouldn¡¯t be on fire. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s all I¡¯m sayin. I wouldn¡¯t¡­ bitch about my friends.  You ain¡¯t always gonna have ¡®em.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Klin,¡± Orenda snarled.


    ¡°Now usually, I would,¡± Klin said, ¡°but I swore an allegiance to the crown and you ain¡¯t prepared to go to the Frozen North.  Listen at me, Your Majesty. I¡¯ll support whatever you do, but make a decision because this ain¡¯t no light undertakin either way.  You think that snowstorm y¡¯all blew in was somethin? You don¡¯t know what cold is. We gonna get up there and you gotta send soldiers out into the freezin water to break up the ice just so you can get close.  Then you gotta scale a giant wall ¡®a ice. Once you finally get over that, you get up there an¡¯ you realize you¡¯re blind. It¡¯s white; every bit of it is white, the sun hits that snow and you can¡¯t see shit- it hurts to open your eyes- but ya think to yourself, ¡®that¡¯s fine, it¡¯ll be alright once the sun sets¡¯- but here¡¯s the fucked up part: the sun don¡¯t never set.  From the time I got up there in the spring to the time we left, the sun set once.  It¡¯s a good¡­ three months up there, three months back¡­ we woulda left¡­ right at the start a¡¯ fall.  I went two seasons never saw the stars come out. Not once. That whole place got a real¡­ eerie feelin about it.  Somethin ain¡¯t right up there.¡±


    He gazed at the pickaxe he was holding and shoved it, with some difficult maneuvering, into his bag.  ¡°I¡¯m damn near positive that¡¯s the place Magnus was cursed. That¡¯s where he lives. I think that¡¯s where the Crystal City is.¡±


    ¡°My friend Toli said something about that,¡± Orenda said, ¡°but I honestly don¡¯t remember what.  It was a long time ago. But if you plan to lead Anilla to the demon Magnus, this entire trip shall be a waste.  He¡¯s dead. I threw him into the Sacred Flame at the Sacred Mountain temple.¡±


    ¡°He don¡¯t stay dead,¡± Klin said as if it was self-explanatory and common, ¡°I done killed him a good¡­  three times. He¡¯s got nine lives like a cat or somethin. Deader¡¯n hell, too. I was lookin at a corpse.  I carved that demon up in hand-to-hand combat. He bleeds black, which¡­ takes some gettin¡¯ used to. But he ain¡¯t¡­  I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a bad guy¡­ I mean¡­ not compared to me. Which I guess,¡± he shrugged, ¡°ain¡¯t sayin much. When¡¯d you kill him?¡±


    ¡°When I retrieved the staff,¡± Orenda explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m just tryin to figure out if that was before or after the last time I talked to him,¡± Klin said, ¡°probably before.  That¡¯d explain his hair. I was wonderin why he cut his hair. I ain¡¯t never seen somebody come back from bein so dead. I mean, I cut out whole organs.  But, ya know¡­ demon. You better get you some winter clothes. I mean it; you don¡¯t know how cold it¡¯s gonna be.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lecture me,¡± Orenda told him.


    ¡°I get that you hate me,¡± Klin said, ¡°but I ain¡¯t fuckin with you.  I been up there and it killed people. I come back with¡­ almost nobody.  And the critters up there don¡¯t fuck around. The sasquatches there can pick ours up and throw em around; the dragons are big as houses; there¡¯s these elephants twice as tall as a man- like a grown man, not like me- covered in fur that stampede at the drop of a hat¡­  good eatin though¡­ and on the way up there there¡¯s critters in the water bigger¡¯n anything I ever seen in my life. That place is¡­ weird.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I¡¯m immortal,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your advice.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take it then,¡± Klin said, ¡°see where that gets ya.¡±


    He was trying his best to shove one of many metal shields into the bag, and it absolutely did not want to fit.  He had to take the bag off and hold it while he shoved with his feet.


    ¡°Will you be down here a while?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I gotta get all this packed,¡± Klin explained, ¡°Gimme all your stuff, too.  You ain¡¯t gonna be able to walk around up there with all the stuff you¡¯d have to carry.¡±


    ¡°Come and find me when you¡¯ve finished,¡± Orenda told him.


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Klin said as the shield finally slid inside the bag with a satisfying shiiiiiiiifth sound.


    ¡°Mary Sue!¡± Orenda demanded as she burst into the library, ¡°I¡¯m quite cross with you!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°You wanna see the plans I got for the new tower?  It¡¯s got these kinda spring things under ¡®em that shake durin an earthquake.  I found this book on the architecture of the water continent and they use ¡®em all the time.  One of their islands, well, a bunch ¡®a their islands, is on a fault line. We eventually need to put these under the whole castle.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have made this announcement behind my back,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°I probably ought not¡¯a,¡± Mary Sue agreed, ¡°but it¡¯s done.  I ain¡¯t gonna spend all day fightin about it, ¡®specially as giddy as you are.  You walkin on air. You ain¡¯t even asked why I¡¯m up here instead¡¯a in front of the nobles.  You already checked out, already decided to go.¡±


    ¡°Why are you up here?¡± Orenda asked.  ¡°Instead of meeting with parliament?¡±


    ¡°Half of ¡®em lost their absolute shit,¡± Mary Sue laughed, ¡°straight up, no beatin around the bush lost their damn minds.  Said they¡¯d be goddamned if they was gonna sit before a human, that feller said he was gonna throw a punch at Lorry finally did, and good god whole damn thing turned into a bar fight.  But, refusal to participate in the office you¡¯re assigned due to any of our new protective statuses is a crime, so Sonny went in there and broke ¡®em up and now half of ¡®em are down in the dungeon and it is beautiful.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°You¡¯ve imprisoned half of parliament?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t imprison nobody, Sonny did.  Drunk off his ass pullin them little fuckers apart, was like watchin when the kids fight,¡± Mary Sue laughed.


    ¡°Was he¡­  noticeably drunk?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Nah, he sobers up pretty quick. We all do.  We got hella metabolism, I think. Honey and Bunni¡¯s tryin to come up with a way to test metabolic rates- they run into that same problem, by the way, I got a letter from Honey about it.  Got rejected from peer review from the Academy of Sciences on account¡¯a they got their citizenship in question. An¡¯ I mean¡­ hell, daddy found the three ¡®a them on the water continent so¡­  lord knows. I¡¯ll get it all straightened out with the citizenship ID thing.¡±


    ¡°You¡­  you really do seem to be doing rather well without me,¡± Orenda said.


    ¡°Rendy, I helped daddy run the Knights of Order for years,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°I know more about leadin than you do.  Everything¡¯s gonna be fine. You can trust me. We¡¯ll all be right here and safe when you get back. And like I said, if somethin¡¯ comes up, we¡¯ll scry you.¡±


    ¡°Did Junior go home?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°Nah, he¡¯s took over one of the rooms on that other tower in the west, the one he put the antenna up on.  I told him where you was goin and he¡¯s up there talkin ¡®bout, ¡®Don¡¯t let her leave yet¡¯ and ¡®solar radiation filtration¡¯ this and ¡®electric heat¡¯ that.  And I said to him, ¡®Darlin, she¡¯s gotta wait on the ship to get here. She can¡¯t teleport.¡¯ Solo¡¯s runnin the lab back at the house and she¡¯s just about got as bad as he is.  He knows his ass can¡¯t stay here. We trying to open up a school. If I can put up with my siblin stupidity I can take anything these elves throw at me. He¡¯s just¡­ he¡¯s more aggravatin than the others¡­  we got that...¡± she paused, as if in thought and then shrugged, ¡°I dunno. I can¡¯t explain it. Twins are weird.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re both very intelligent,¡± Orenda observed, watching Mary Sue solving math equations in the margins of her drawing, ¡°but in very different ways.¡±


    ¡°Daddy always said our mama must¡¯a been smart,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°it¡¯s weird to think about.  How many other breeders coulda been geniuses but died in childbirth or just¡­ wore out? That line a¡¯ work kills your body early.  Bunni says it eats up the calcium; says you lose a tooth for every baby.¡±


    ¡°Pregnancy is an unknowable hellscape,¡± Orenda said, ¡°from what I¡¯ve heard.  I can¡¯t imagine.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll have no kids,¡± Mary Sue agreed, ¡°plus I¡¯ve raised half my siblin¡¯s and I think I¡¯m ¡®bout burnt out on it.  We get these little¡¯ins grown that¡¯s probably enough Brigaddons for a little bit. So, you gonna go?¡±


    ¡°I suppose I have no choice,¡± Orenda answered, much more crossly than she felt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pull that bullshit, Rendy,¡± Mary Sue said, ¡°make a decision and stick by it.  Life¡¯s easier that way. Besides, I think Ani¡¯s stealin your man whether you go or not.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she could,¡± Orenda said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her show any interest in men, honestly.¡±


    ¡°What?  I meant like¡­  stealin him as in takin him with her,¡± Mary Sue stopped writing to look up at her, ¡°Aaaaaaw.  That¡¯s cute as hell.¡±


    ¡°Stop it,¡± Orenda dismissed.


    ¡°You got a type and it ain¡¯t for me but I ain¡¯t ¡®bout to say nothin,¡± Mary Sue smiled as she went back to writing, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you see with them little bitty earth elves.  Try not to set this¡¯in on fire, though. Toli wouldn¡¯t shut the hell up about it. ¡®Wanna know how I got these scars?¡¯ No, motherfucker.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not seen the crew of the Burned Roc in months,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Not since they set sail.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be nice to see Gary and Belle again,¡± Mary Sue agreed, ¡°I mean, the little ones- well, both sets, I guess.  I just wonder how them younguns that hadn¡¯t never really stepped foot out the house is doin on the high seas. Wonder if it suits ¡®em as much as they thought it would.¡±

 Chapter 13

    The lightning in a bottle Junior had captured did not flicker as fire did, and gave off more light than the torches.  As Orenda made her way down the narrow staircase, she thought of how little the place looked like the dungeons she had always imagined when she read storybooks.  It wasn¡¯t dim, by any means, nor was it particularly damp. The first adjective that sprang to mind was, ¡°loud¡±.


    ¡°Ever bit your fault!¡± The duke of the Sage Lake District was screaming, presumably at the duke of the Agricultural District.


    ¡°You punched me in my face, Erl!¡± Lorsan laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t start nothin, won¡¯t be nothin!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t throw chairs!¡± Erl screamed as Orenda entered the room and saw a long, wide hallway, with a table in the center where Sonny sat, playing cards with a younger man in a Urillian military uniform.


    ¡°It was a bench!¡± Lorsan argued.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care who started it!¡± Orenda recognized the deep voice of the Duke of the Northern Mountains Province, ¡°Both you kids shut the hell up!¡±


    ¡°Come over here and say that to my face, papaw!¡± Lorsan demanded, ¡°Just ¡®cause you lived a long life don¡¯t mean it can¡¯t come to quick end.¡±


    ¡°What on Xren happened?¡± Orenda asked Sonny, who took a long drink from a flask he pulled from the bag on his hip.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know,¡± he said, ¡°somebody started runnin their mouth, somebody started throwin punches, somebody started throwin furniture, by the time I got ¡®em all outta there the top half a¡¯ the room was covered in these prickly plants¡­  I guess they all lost their damn minds.¡±


    ¡°I think I have a concussion!¡± Erl shouted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fall asleep,¡± Sonny advised.


    ¡°I expected significantly better behavior,¡± Orenda turned to face the side of the room the vast majority of the noise was coming from and saw that many of the small cells housed only one person.  Sonny had broken them up, likely to prevent further fighting, ¡°from people of your status! Haven¡¯t you been trained in etiquette? Don¡¯t you know how to present yourselves?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s right proper etiquette,¡± Erl said, ¡°to defend the honor of your mother.¡±


    ¡°Oh bull shit,¡± Lorsan attempted to stick his head through the bars that made up one wall of his cell, ¡°shit to the bull.  Y¡¯all wanna tear your ass over Mary Sue- that little girl¡¯s twice the leader any y¡¯all are!¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t a little girl,¡± Orenda said, ¡°she¡¯s an adult.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a turn ¡®a phrase,¡± Lorsan waved his hand to indicate he didn¡¯t think his words held meaning.


    ¡°It¡¯s factually incorrect,¡± Orenda said sternly, ¡°and I say again that I can¡¯t- that is, I won¡¯t - have you people acting like this.  I can¡¯t imagine you would think I would.¡±


    ¡°He thought you was gone, I reckon,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°He don¡¯t pay attention.¡±


    ¡°Why are there poisonous barbs growing from the ceiling of the parliamentary chamber?¡± Orenda asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do that,¡± Lorsan said.


    ¡°Well I sure didn¡¯t do it!¡± Erl snapped, ¡°If that¡¯s what you¡¯re implyin, Lorry!¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t sayin nothin,¡± Lorsan said, ¡°I¡¯m just sayin I didn¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a mage!¡± Erl accused.


    ¡°Oh, now I¡¯m a mage!¡± Lorsan shouted, ¡°I thought I was a medic who couldn¡¯t hurt nobody.¡±


    ¡°STOP IT!¡± Orenda shrieked, ¡°Stop!  Stop bickering like children! And tell me who was casting attack spells in a meeting of parliament the day after an attack on my life that left three of the servants dead!  I want answers!¡±


    ¡°The ventilation ain¡¯t good enough down here for that lava monster bullshit,¡± Sonny said as he threw a card on top of his partner¡¯s pile and slid the entire pile to his own side of the table, ¡°you gonna choke ever one of us and Erl¡¯s got a concussion.¡±


    ¡°My name,¡± The Duke of the Sage Lake Province said, ¡°Is His Grace, Duke Earlethan Uril of the Sage Lake District-¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Lorry,¡± Lorsan interrupted.


    ¡°I can put that on y¡¯all¡¯s gravestones if you want,¡± Sonny offered, ¡°Seriously Rendy, some of us like to breath.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t have this!¡± Orenda argued, but even she heard the change in her voice and felt the magic radiating off of her, even as she tried to pull it back, to take it down, ¡°I¡¯m getting ready to leave!  I can¡¯t have this! I have to fix it before I can depart! I can¡¯t have assassins and members of the nobility attacking at what should be a civil, diplomatic meeting! I. Can¡¯t. Have. This!¡±


    Lorsan¡¯s eyelids fluttered and he leaned heavily on the horizontal rung of the bars that ran across his cell.


    ¡°Anybody else¡­¡±  he asked weakly, ¡°God, it¡¯s like¡­  it¡¯s like it¡¯s¡­ all around¡­ pushing¡­  laying on top of¡­ gonna¡­ gonna lay down for a¡­¡±


    He was apparently not the only one.


    Orenda heard the sound of soft bodies hitting stone floors and remembered what she had learned about elemental magic.  Mages grew used to being conduits; they pulled magic from the world around them. The magic of Xren was strong, strong enough to feel even without a focus.  Being around one¡¯s element strengthened them, sometimes to the point that it became difficult to control, that it felt as if the magic flowing through the veins and the magic flowing through the world were too strong for the skin and the friction between them would shatter the mortal shell housing the soul of a mage.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    And sometimes?  Sometimes when a mage was buried in the element they could not cast, the element that weakened them- all that power lay far away behind a wall, a wall that weighed them down, a wall that their body rejected as wrong, as incompatible.  When Orenda had been a child she had once walked into a pool house in an attempt to hide from some guards while sneaking into a school- it was the first time she had experienced what the mages before her were undoubtedly experiencing now.


    Lorsan hit his knees, like many of the others and struggled to stay upright; one of his gloved hands closed around the bars and she wondered if Sonny had taken any focus he may have had on him.


    ¡°Oh god,¡± he mumbled, and she was sure she only heard him over the other moans because she was focused on him.


    But she did not hear the sounds of his retching over the others.  They all merged into a cacophony of sound, and Orenda watched his body spasm and contort as she thought of her own illness, when she had been upon the sea, when she had been running through the snow.


    Empress Orenda Nochdifache-Firefist, Orenda the Reign Ender, The Crimson Mage, was not afraid of water.


    ¡°Stop it!¡±  Sonny had grabbed her hard by both arms and was shaking her, staring into the burning inferno that hid her face, searching desperately for her eyes, ¡°Stop!  You¡¯re doin that! You¡¯re torturin ¡®em! They¡¯re already hurt! We don¡¯t need to do this! I got this! Stop it! Stop it or I¡¯m slappin the shit outta ya!¡±


    Orenda was confused for a moment; why wasn¡¯t he on fire?


    Because he was made of sterilite.  Because he was a Brigaddon, and they ate the secret supply of starfruit, and they were immune to magic.  Even the unlimited magic of a god.


    They subsisted on the fruit of the gods.


    ¡°Thesis above,¡± Klin said, apparently having appeared when she wasn¡¯t paying attention, ¡°that fire magic¡¯s strong as hell down here.  That ain¡¯t my business.¡± He had spread his left hand over the glow emanating from the place his heart had once been, turned, and ran back the way he had come muttering, ¡°stay down, stay down, stay down.¡±


    ¡°Take it off,¡± Orenda thought as loudly as she could, ¡°Take it off!  Take it off now!¡±


    The fire burned away, and Orenda blinked, then stared at the worry in Sonny¡¯s silver eyes.


    ¡°I¡­  I did¡­  I didn¡¯t mean¡­  to do that¡­¡± Orenda said.


    Sonny¡¯s eyes dipped down to the stone, the protrusion from her flesh, visible between her breasts in the fancy dress she wore.  It did not seem to be glowing.


    ¡°You need a vacation,¡± he said as he pulled her into a hug, ¡°I love you, Rendy, but you have got to get your shit together.¡±


    *        *        *


    ¡°What did you want?¡± Orenda asked the glowing soul deep within the wine cellar.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t drinkin,¡± Klin said, ¡°well¡­  I just lied to you an¡¯ I don¡¯t know why.  I am but that ain¡¯t why I come down here. I¡¯m packin.  I¡­ I told you I was gonna pack for you too an¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how many of them blood absorbin rags I oughta get on accounta I don¡¯t know nothin about that an I don¡¯t even know where to go to find out, but you can¡¯t really wash nothin up there; when you hang stuff up to dry it freezes.  Like¡­ a hundred? I can¡¯t even ballpark it? How many¡­ it¡¯ll take a good three months sailin up there, a good three months back, and lord knows how long we¡¯ll be gone. A thousand?¡±


    ¡°A thousand?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°Klin I¡­  I use perhaps seven to ten per cycle. Where did you come up with a thousand?¡±


    ¡°I told you I couldn¡¯t ballpark it,¡± Klin said as Orenda traced his soul through the racks and racks of bottles, and eventually came upon him.  He was taking bottles off the shelves and inserting them into his bag, the bag that seemed to have no limit to what it could contain.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re a man, but you¡¯re an adult,¡± Orenda chastised, ¡°have you never met a woman before?  Anyone who menstruates? How can one live for three centuries and be so ignorant?¡±


    ¡°I dunno, but I sure as hell figured it out,¡± Klin said, ¡°ignorance ain¡¯t as bliss as folks say it is.¡±


    He paused, staring at the bottle in his hand and asked, quietly, ¡°Ya alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Orenda answered, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡±


    ¡°On accounta it gets a hold on ya and¡­  god,¡± he shoved the bottle into his bag and selected another, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­  I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re so much better at it than me. When I was your age it¡¯d take me a good week to snap out of it sometimes.  Xandra never did even call up the armor after that first time till the night she died. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s just me, I guess. There¡¯s somethin wrong with me, specifically.  That¡¯s¡­ worth knowin¡­¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t what I thought it would be,¡± Orenda said, ¡°but it works very much like magic, doesn¡¯t it?  It isn¡¯t that you call it up, it¡¯s that you keep it down.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t good at magic,¡± Klin shrugged, ¡°that¡¯s for smart folks.  I mean, I can do it if¡¯in I have to but¡­ I ain¡¯t good at it.¡±


    ¡°...right,¡± Orenda said, ¡°Klin¡­  did you say your parents died in a fire?¡±


    ¡°...so¡­¡±  Klin said slowly, ¡°I know I ain¡¯t good at¡­  talking to folks and¡­ whatnot¡­ but all y¡¯all are¡­  I think¡­ I think that conversation has just¡­ changed¡­  since my day. I don¡¯t know that that¡¯s¡­ yeah. Yeah, they died in a fire.  Kinda. They died a¡¯ not bein able to breathe in a fire. Kinda like Xandra in¡­  I mean in as much as¡­ it wouldn¡¯t the fire what took ¡®em out, really, but they was a fire there and it sure as hell didn¡¯t help nothin.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember who set the fire?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°The night you escaped it?  The night your parents died?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Klin said, ¡°I reckon¡­  I mean¡­ not¡­ not that good, actually¡­  I was a little bitty¡­ I wouldn¡¯t but ten years old¡­¡±


    He stared at the shelf in front of him as if he was looking not at it, but beyond it.


    ¡°I¡­  the house was on fire so I just¡­  I just run¡­ the roof collapsed¡­ it was kinda shitty anyway, thatched, ya know¡­  but then I got outside and the wheat was on fire- this was before all these big plantations and stone walls and all that¡­  this was before that city on the outside a town with the hotels¡­ this was before¡­ all that¡­ it was just us and our shitty little houses and the crops¡­  and I remember thinkin we was gonna get in trouble on accounta you had to give so much, almost all¡¯a what you growed to the crown and we wouldn¡¯t gonna have nothin left on accounta the fire- and somebody shot an arrow, on fire, over my head- I was in the middle of a big crowd at that point, we was all runnin, toward the castle; the castle still had the walls up, and I kept thinkin I had to get behind them walls- and this voice in my head kept tellin me¡­  sorry, what¡¯d you ask?¡±


    ¡°If you remember the people who set the fire,¡± Orenda prodded.


    ¡°Big sons-a-bitches,¡± Klin said, ¡°keep in mind, though¡­  the world seems big when you¡¯re that little¡­ big sons-a-bitches on horses.  I kept lookin behind me but I had to keep movin forward. They had robes on¡­ everythin looked bright orange and had real deep shadows, on accounta that blaze, on accounta the whole world was on fire¡­  I didn¡¯t see no faces¡­ and it was over so quick¡­¡±


    ¡°Did you see any mage staves?¡± Orenda asked, ¡°See anyone cast?  Or just the flaming arrows?¡±


    ¡°I¡­  I can¡¯t remember, Your Majesty,¡± Klin admitted, pulled the cork from the bottle he was holding and added, ¡°I try real hard not to think about it,¡± before he threw back the bottle and began to drink in that unsettling way he had where he did not seem to breath.