Post by Solana on Jul 5, 2014 22:40:32 GMT -5
Chapter Nine- City ON the Sea
Me, I'm dishonest! And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest, honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid.
Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Far offshore on a relatively calm area of the Tethys Sea was a small fishing boat with a single raised sail. The crew consisted of a brother and sister, who were closely watching the fishing rods set up while the boy skillfully mended nets and the girl double-checked their map impatiently.
"We're never going to catch anything, Del!" the girl complained.
Her brother smiled indulgently as he rethreaded his needle. "Patience, Clymene," he reminded her. "The fish have their own schedule, which does not always correlate to ours." He bent his head back over his work, the needle flashing like the belly of a salmon in the sun.
Clymene rolled her eyes and rested her head on the rail to watch for whales. At least the weather was fine for sailing. The sky was as brilliant and smooth as a freshly-cut blue topaz and a faint breeze stirred tiny ripples in the briny sea. No doubt the Lady Trista was watching the winds, even if 'Lady' Solana had abandoned their world so long ago.
Suddenly, Clymene sat up in surprise. Far off in the distance, but steadily coming closer was a pod of....orcas? She squinted to see better. Those black and white markings were unmistakable, and did some of them have something on their backs? "Del!"
The young man looked up and followed his sister's pointing finger in shock. A fairly good-sized pod of about twenty or so whales was swimming straight for their boat, as if it was their destination. One female, identified by her curved dorsal fin, swam in the lead and was making clicking noises at the two humans as if expecting them to understand her.
"Sorry, girl, I can't speak orca," Del admitted.
The whale blew air out harshly, almost a disgusted snort at the ineptness of these finless humans, and swam out of the way of two others carrying something. They were voicing what sounded like anxious sounds.
Del came to the side of the boat and stared down at the two orcas in disbelief. Their 'cargo' was people! He'd heard of other dolphin rescues, but orcas...?
The female whale blew out a puff of air again, this time managing to sound impatient. Del reached down over the side of the boat to lift the man dressed in a long white robe from a large male's back and pulled him on board, while Clymene knelt nearby to check his pulse and breathing. Del then reached for the woman with silver-streaked blue-purple hair from a smaller female's back and lifted her into the boat as well.
"We'll take good care of them. Thank you," Del said to the first female whale with a little bow, still mystified by the pod's behavior. She raised her tail to him in a manner that reminded him of a salute before swimming off with the rest of her pod.
"Talking to whales now, brother?" Clymene asked mischievously. Del ignored her and checked the woman's vital signs. She seemed to be all right, but the pair was very pale and making no move to wake up. Who on Merna were they? What interest would a pod of orcas have in these two?
A conversation came back to mind from long ago, hearing his father speaking to some of the other officials in their home. Bachlan had asked them to report when one of their absent Guardians were in their lands. The Water Guardian was easy to spot, with her silver-streaked blue-purple hair and kamas on hand.
Del glanced at the woman again, now seeing the curved silver blades of the weapons at her waist. This would be Solana, then, and this other must be Lord Joshua. Why they were together and how they had ended up in the middle of the ocean near a pod of friendly orcas was anyone's guess, but he knew that his parents would need to be informed of this immediately. "Clymene, we have to get back to Ridley now. These aren't just any guests, these are Guardians," Del remarked. He started adjusting the position of the sail on their boat to head for home.
Clymene obediently got to work packing up the empty fishing rods, but stared over her shoulder at their 'cargo' in disbelief. These two were Guardians? And this strange-looking woman was the one Bachlan had been searching for all this time? What on Merna had she done, and why had she left them so long ago? "We don't have any fish, Del."
"This is a lot bigger of a catch than a few fish, sister," Del replied grimly.
The fishing boat smoothly cut its way through the waves towards a beautiful city situated on an island. At first its golden roofs reflecting the sun and delicate architecture and encircling city wall drew all eyes, until one noticed that the island itself seemed to be riding the waves of the Tethys like a massive ship.
Known as the 'Jewel of Monsee', Ridley was one of the most stunningly beautiful cities in Merna, and home to artisans of everything from the martial arts to calligraphy to painting to the latest technological advances that Merna could boast. Like the rest of the Monsee Empire, its people loved the beauty of their world more than anything, and brought it into their interwoven love of tradition and modern conveniences. The city had been built on an island with a heart of magically-enhanced pumice that kept it afloat. It was also equipped with a solar- and tide-powered motor system that allowed it to migrate to various ports or richer waters as needed. Although some fishing was possible, their mainstay was the transportation of goods and news from the continent of the empire to its various colonies and other nations of Merna. The life and livelihood of all its people depended on the moods of the sea.
Del and Clymene expertly made their way to their family port, which was far more sophisticated than a simple wooden dock. A giant section of the city wall slowly lowered itself down to the water like a drawbridge, then dipped underwater a few fathoms. This left behind a small channel of seawater going into the city. Del carefully poled their boat into this channel, which boasted a large holding tank at the end. Once the boat was secure, the holding tank raised up another level to keep the boat safe against the tides and waves of the Tethys. The section of the city wall came up again, fitting seamlessly against its neighbors and providing a solid defense against any predators.
Relatives and dock workers alike stood on the platforms built against the holding tank to help unload the expected catch of fish. They were all shocked at the 'cargo' that the siblings had picked up. "What kinda bait were you using today, young lord and lady?" one of the workers joked, nudging Del with her elbow. He just shrugged, still not sure of what to make of it.
Another sailor jostled Clymene a little to get a better look at the pair, clucking his tongue in disapproval. "Good work bringing in survivors. But in the future, let off a flare to summon our soldiers in case they're not friendly. Playing on the young's naivety is one way of breaching our impenetrable walls," he lectured sternly.
"Yes, sir, Captain Tightpants," Clymene muttered under her breath.
It wasn't long before a loud clash of cymbals used by the imperial criers was heard, followed by a declaration. As one, the citizens quickly moved off to the sides to clear space between the siblings and those approaching. "Make way! Make way for the honored Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla, rulers of the fief of Ridley!" voices cried out.
All of the citizens around Del and Clymene bowed deeply to a richly dressed couple that approached the boat. The woman was half a step behind the man, keeping a wary eye on the crowd around them. Even Del and Clymene bowed their heads in respect, though not as deeply as the others. "Father. Mother."
Kuro nodded in approval at their use of formality in public. "Son, Daughter. It seems that your trip was not entirely successful today?"
"We didn't get fish, but take a look at them!" Clymene replied, shooing away the people surrounding their boat to allow her parents to see their guests. Kuro's eyes widened, while Atolla quickly raised a silk fan to cover her choked gasp.
"It cannot be...but certainly Lord Bachlan's description matches this one. Lord Joshua's presence, however, complicates things," Atolla commented.
"Indeed..." Kuro agreed slowly, his mind working like clockwork. Such a boon could mean many things, both for his family and for his empire. He could not be too hasty at this point. "Ridley honors guests that were rescued from the waters. Until they regain consciousness and are able to tell their story, they are under our family's protection. We do not know if Solana is ready to reswear her allegiance to the Lord of Memory, and must treat her cordially until then. If she is with the Lord of Light, it could be so."
"Are you sure about that, my lord? Maybe we should just draw up our anchor and head for the Crystal Citadel right-" one of the sailors began, as more murmurs arose.
Kuro turned to face him, the expression in his eyes suddenly containing an icy fury. "We stand for the imperial rulers, who stand for our Guardian of Memory, who is the voice of Merna. Do you believe your wisdom transcends that?" His calm tone was even more frightening than a loud one.
The sailor involuntarily stepped back a pace or two, but his comrades allowed no gap that he could pass through to hide. "N-n-no, of course not, m-m-milord. I just thought-"
"You did not think. Perhaps you might welcome a chance to re-evaluate where your place truly is, sailor," Atolla suggested with deadly coolness. The sailor swallowed hard as Atolla tapped her cheek with her fan in thought. "Yes, I think a night of meditation in the Golden Room will do you good." The sailor sighed in relief, grateful that the lady hadn't suggested tossing him overboard or anything of that sort. Loyalty was one of the most highly-prized virtues in Monsee, and traitors were often executed.
While a pair of guards separated from the crowd to escort the sailor to his night of repentence, the lord and lady turned back to their 'guests'. "Give them any medical treatment that is necessary, and fulfill any desire they might have. We will hear from the Lord Joshua first, to decide what must be done," Kuro ordered.
Atolla turned to her daughter, her cool gaze softening as she lovingly cupped Clymene's cheek in her hand. "You will look after Solana in the women's chambers, my dear?" Clymene nodded enthusiastically. "Very good. Guards, if you please, bring our guests to our own home."
The guards went to fetch two teak sedan chairs that were elegantly carved with sea serpents and piled with embroidered cushions. Solana and Joshua were carefully placed in them for the trek back to the lord and lady's mansion, and four bearers each picked up one for the trek to Ridley's crowned home.
As Del escorted his sister behind his parents on the way back home, he couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling. The sailor's comment, though certainly not tactful, was representative of what many of their people felt.
First off, Solana had broken a sacred trust in rebelling against Lord Bachlan. Added to that was also convincing Aryn to join her in that treachery. Secondly, life in Ridley had been much more difficult the past forty years, as they had had to stay ahead of winter storms and hurricanes in addition to the dangers of pirates and fires. His great uncles and aunts complained of the rougher water in their fishing, but Del had done his homework on catches for the past century and noted that they were actually greater in the past few decades. Why was that?
"What's on your mind, big brother?" Clymene asked quietly, looking up at him with concerned eyes.
"I'm just a little worried. Perhaps for nothing," Del replied softly, stealing a glance at his parents' backs. They gave no indication of having heard their children.
"You're the heir. No doubt Dad will want you at his side when they talk," the girl pointed out.
"As if it ever does much good," Del muttered miserably. His sister patted his shoulder in sympathy, and the siblings kept the rest of their thoughts to themselves for the remainder of the walk.
Solana opened her eyes slowly, gazing at her surroundings first in confusion, then in awe. She was alone in an exquisitely decorated bedroom, yet she could feel the gentle rocking of the sea far below. Her head felt as if it were filled with mist, and she was more thirsty than she could ever remember feeling in her life. Instead of the teal tunica she had arrived at the Citadel in, she was wearing a soft white nightgown and her feet were bare. What on Merna...?
Solana gasped as she remembered the events in the Citadel and sat straight up, then clutched her head against the resulting head rush. Bachlan! He had stolen their power, Oriana had saved them, something had interfered, and now... where was she? Where were her friends?
Her Seal of Water and Aura of the Asterite seemed all right, though she wasn't sure how much magic she was capable of using at the moment. She needed information.
A young girl of about ten years with brown curls arranged in a messy knot and dressed in a red silk frock peeked in the room, then came in with a tray of food in her hands. "Oh, you're finally awake! My name is Clymene. Big brother and I brought you here in our boat."
"Thank you so much. Where are we?" Solana asked, sliding her legs out from under the covers and resting her feet on the floor.
"You're in the women's chambers in my house, on the island of Ridley. My parents are Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla," Clymene answered, setting the tray down on a small endtable next to the bed.
Ridley... Solana's fingers clenched the blanket. A city that treasured loyalty and duty, was one of Bachlan's strongest allies, and a place that had been at the full mercy of her element since she had been gone. She would have to be careful. "Was there anyone else with me? A woman with red and black hair, maybe?"
Clymene shook her head and poured tea from a beautifully decorated teapot into a tiny porcelain cup. "Sorry, but the only one with you was Lord Joshua. Aryn wasn't there."
Solana stiffened and muttered an Atlantean curse. Naturally, Bachlan had enlisted the various towns to notify him if they were spotted anywhere, and sent descriptions.
Still, she needed to know what had happened in this world while she and Aryn had been journeying, and it might be safer to ask questions of this girl than any leaders just yet. Besides, she had noticed something odd in Clymene's answer. "Why do you give a title to Joshua, but not Aryn?" she asked, gratefully accepting the small cup.
Clymene looked at her in amazement as she poured a cup for herself. "You don't know? You and Aryn are thought of as traitors here and in the whole rest of the empire."
"And yet you and your brother rescued us, for which we owe you our lives," Solana pointed out.
Clymene shrugged, blowing the steam off of her cup before taking a sip. "Big brother says that we've actually been getting more fish since you've been gone. He's like a fish himself, so he may be right."
"And what do you think?" The words tumbled out of Solana's mouth before she could stop them.
"I think there's something more important than just us, and the empire. And I don't think that that something else would like us hating people because one person says to," Clymene answered frankly. Finishing her tea, she stood up and pointed to the plate of food. "You eat that. Your clothes will be dry by dinnertime, when we all eat together. You can use anything from the closet until then."
"Wait, where's Joshua? I must speak with him-" Solana began, rising out of the bed.
"He's with Father and my big brother in the Rose Hall. But, you'd better stay here in the women's chambers until then. People might not be nice to you until Lord Bachlan says we can," Clymene replied, with an apologetic smile that belied the frankness of her words. "I'll bring you to supper after my lessons." With a swift bow, she left the small room.
Solana sat down again on the bed, stunned. 'Thought of as traitors by the whole empire'... By Merna, how many other countries felt this way? Aryn would be tarred by the same brush, and who knew where she had ended up? And with whom?
Her belly gave an angry growl, and she reached for the plate of noodles and vegetables that Clymene had left for her and dug in hungrily. Aryn could take care of herself, especially if she still had her weaponry and an intact Celestial gift. Plus, she could have ended up with resourceful Eziban, gentle Raoul, or possibly the oil-to-her-fire Trista. The last was daunting, but luckily it was only a one-in-three shot.
Finished with her meal and nearly all of the tea, Solana went to the closet that Clymene had pointed out. Upon inspection she felt her jaw drop at all the rainbow-hued silks and satins that dripped with embroidery and inlaid gems. No wonder Bachlan had preferred Monsee fashions to any others. She finally selected a relatively simple green gown that draped like her Atlantean gowns, then found a matching green silk scarf and used it to cover her hair. Her short leather boots were also gone, probably also still soaked from their dip in the Tethys, so she borrowed a pair of neat white slippers and went to take a look around.
Clymene wasn't kidding when she had mentioned a set of chambers for women alone. Rooms upon rooms were filled with only women busily weaving, doing needlework, painting, washing clothes, and even doing some cooking. Many of them immediately stopped their tasks upon seeing Solana and came to ask if she was lost or required anything, while others looked up and smiled pleasantly at the visitor. The smell of sweet incense hung in the air in a fragrant cloud, accompanied by the splash of fountains and distant chirping of silvery-voiced birds. It was a place of beauty and warmth, but Solana remembered Clymene's frank warning and decided that it would be better to make herself scarce until the community meal.
Finally, Solana stumbled into a large reading room, or small library, depending on how you looked at it. It was a lovely chamber, hung with ornate examples of Monsee's finest calligraphy and rich paintings and packed with plenty of shelves of beautiful scrolls and books. No one was in here at the moment. It seemed an ideal place to spend her afternoon, not to mention discreetly learn a thing or two about what had been going on in Merna in her absence.
Selecting a well-worn tome of philosophy, Solana chose a comfortable chair that was out of view of the door and cracked it open to read. Experience had taught her that philosophy books that were obviously popular were an excellent suggestion of what views were widely held by a given people at a certain time without having to ask too many direct questions.
The stricter views seemed to be the ones most thumbed through, Solana noted quickly. The great sages of Monsee's past belonging to that camp would be a lot more likely to see her journey as an abandonment, rather than an honest attempt to learn how to do her job better. Solana flipped ahead a few chapters, seeing that again the more traditional lines of thought were carefully underlined with written commentary in the side, while the more radical ones were unmarked. And then she found something very odd.
Head Ambassador Luzio was born in... The rest of it was heavily blacked out, including the small portrait at the beginning. She frowned, disapproving of destroying any useful information in a book, then suddenly realized why this passage had been eliminated.
Luzio had been a very famous, but very controversial head ambassador about nineteen millennia ago in the Monsee Empire. The one time she had met him, he seemed to be a very warm and caring person, highly concerned for those living in his home's poorer and farther provinces and colonies. His ideas about giving the common folk more autonomy and decreasing their reliance on the heart of the empire had contrasted greatly with those of the emperor and empress at the time. Something had happened to him, though she couldn't quite remember what.
If those thoughts even now were considered to be so dangerous that they were deleted, it suggested that her job was going to be even harder than she had thought...
As Clymene had stated, Joshua had joined Del and Kuro in the Rose Hall for refreshment. The room was filled with potted plants and paintings of the flowers. Joshua, too, was in borrowed finery, although his consisted of a snowy white robe embroidered with various wildlife in gold thread. An enchanting woman swathed in fine silks, introduced as Lady Atolla, had poured their tea and now sat playing a small harp in the corner. Joshua, noting the occasional glances she sent their way when she thought he wasn't looking, was certain she was there for more than her musical abilities.
"Lord Joshua, you have not been formerly introduced to my son Del. It was he and his sister Clymene that brought you and the traitor in," Kuro began, gesturing to his son with fatherly pride.
Joshua bowed his head to Del in acknowledgment. "We owe you a great debt of thanks," he said solemnly. Del merely bowed back, seemingly shy, and Joshua turned back to Kuro. "'The traitor', I believe you stated?"
"Of course, of course, desertion and that pathetic attempt to undermine Lord Bachlan's authority just a few years ago. I'd imagine the silly woman went into hysterics after that unfortunate accident, but it's no excuse to shirk one's true duty," Kuro explained in disgust, then passed Joshua a plate of flaky pastries decorated with spun sugar roses in a delicate pink.
Joshua accepted one graciously and bit off the end, tasting rosewater mixed with the cherry filling. "It is true what they say- Monsee cooks are the finest artisans at their craft," he said politely, passing the plate on to Del.
Kuro and Del seemed to relax a bit at the compliment, but Atolla did not. She cleared her throat, and Kuro gave a start and continued, "Of course, knowing that you are Bachlan's right hand, we are somewhat curious as to what her intentions are now."
"Gratitude aside, it would be wise for you to leave Guardian matters to Guardians," Joshua replied mildly, eyes seemingly on his dessert. Was it his imagination, or had Atolla's playing gotten more forceful, as if she were dislodging the notes from the strings like darts?
"I'm afraid that's out of the question," Kuro retorted, then slid a piece of paper over to Joshua for him to read. Joshua pulled it closer, seeing Solana's and Aryn's pictures on it, as well as a slanderous description of their 'desertion', and raised his eyebrows. By Merna, no wonder the letters he had gotten from some of their world's countries dealing with fire and water disasters had been so scathing, if this was what they had to go on!
"Ridley owes its allegiance both to the mother empire and to Bachlan. It was he who made sure that we have been provided for all of this time. The Water Guardian's disloyalty is of the very worst sort, both to Bachlan and our people," Kuro explained.
"Indeed, but perhaps I may be able to talk some sense into her. I, who know both her and my lord's minds," Joshua suggested, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
Kuro shook his head. "She will be allowed to speak for herself at the dinner tonight. If she agrees to return to her post, then we will bring you to the Crystal Citadel and allow Bachlan to deal with her as he sees fit."
Joshua didn't bother to inquire after the fate that awaited a refusal- he already knew. Not liking the way this conversation was going, he kept his voice light and tried one more time. "If I were a suspicious man, I might make so bold as to declare that you do not believe me capable of carrying out the wishes of my lord."
Kuro gave a chuckle that meant no good as he refilled Joshua's teacup. "And if I were less confident in Bachlan, I would wonder why his second-in-command would seem to be a bit less steadfast in his loyalty than he should be."
Joshua thanked him and raised his cup in a toast, his expression mild. "Then let us be grateful that we are not such foolish men."
Kuro and Del raised and clinked their cups together with Joshua's, then all three downed their tea in a pledge. While the tea was delicious, Joshua couldn't help but sense a bitter aftertaste in the back of his throat.
"Del, my boy, would you be so good as to show Lord Joshua the updates we have made since his last visit until supper?" Kuro suggested casually.
"I would be honored," Del agreed wholeheartedly.
"Thank you for your most kind hospitality, all of you," Joshua added with a bow to Ridley's lord and lady as he followed Del out of the room. Kuro seemed a bit reassured by his words, but something like suspicion still lurked in Atolla's eyes.
Joshua's eyes and ears missed nothing and his brain was turning itself out to figure out the next few moves in his game as he listened closely to Del. The boy had no stomach for intrigue compared to his parents, that was certain. That could work to his advantage, if played very carefully.
A few private words with Solana would have made all the difference, but it now appeared that he was going to have to plan on his own. Luckily, he knew the Monsee mind quite well indeed...
Clymene led Solana to the head table at the community supper, and seated her between herself and Del. Joshua was a few spots down, talking animatedly with a couple that the young girl whispered to be her parents, Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla. The lord and lady of Ridley were dressed in fine silks that even Bachlan would admire, and Atolla gleamed with pearls and jeweled hairpins. To honor them, Joshua had even supplied a few of his light-globes to rest in crystal bowls for extra illumination, and had been happy to explain their mechanisms to an appreciative audience.
Solana had still not managed to exchange a single word with Joshua since the Crystal Citadel, and that bothered her a little. Still, Joshua had been a staunch supporter of Bachlan from the beginning, and even he had switched to her side upon learning the truth of what Bachlan really was. As a server set Clymene's plate of food down gently and Solana's with a bit of a slam, Solana reminded herself that Bachlan had been busy blackening her name and Aryn's while they were gone.
"Yum, Dad's having them serve the spring rose tea tonight! It's the best!" Clymene said happily. She accepted a pitcher from another server to fill her goblet and Solana's, emptied hers in a few swallows, then filled it again. The server clucked her disapproval and moved on to Del as Solana chuckled.
"Don't mind my sister. She thinks that she doesn't have to be proper because she won't become the next lady of Ridley," Del remarked with amusement.
Clymene stuck her tongue out at her beloved big brother. "I might have to if you keep ditching your lessons to take out the boats," she replied slyly. Del snuck a panicked look at his parents, who had luckily missed Clymene's taunt.
"Are you a fellow hydromaniac, then?" Solana asked eagerly, digging into her food with relish. The tea was just as good as Clymene had claimed, if a bit sweet, but it offset the delicious pork and rice dish perfectly. Another server came by with a giant bowl of savory vegetable soup swimming with bits of sausage and soft noodles. After trying that as well, Solana decided to ask Aryn to make more Monsee style food in the future.
"Yes, I enjoy going out to fish and watch the animals and dwell with my thoughts," Del admitted. A smile lit in his eyes at having found a kindred spirit in the love of the sea. "I find something very peaceful about the eternity of the waves. Tell me, you know them so well, are all waters like that?"
"Oh, here we go," Clymene muttered in mock irritation. Del ignored her, intent on the answer to his question.
"No, I think each sea has its own personality as we do. For instance, in the world of Lunar..." Solana began, telling them legends of the city of Meria and the traveling island of Ien with its magic school. She then told them the story 'The Children of Song', describing the blue dragon's search for a home. There was a keen inquisitive light in Del's eyes as he leaned closer to listen, and even Clymene was paying more attention than she'd admit.
After a number of stories and dessert, Kuro tapped his glass to get the attention of everyone in the room and rose. The cityfolk quieted down immediately, noticing that their leader's face was now bleak. "Friends, we have here a dire situation. Bachlan has ordered the death of the Guardian of Water, but we will show our mercy. If you will swear your loyalty to him, we shall bring you to the Crystal Citadel to resolve matters," he stated.
Solana took a deep breath to steady her nerves, not noticing the sudden anxious glance that Joshua turned towards her. This was her only chance to convince them of the truth. "I will never swear my loyalty to him. Bachlan has turned into Merna's mortal enemy!" she declared.
Joshua appeared to stifle something like a groan as gasps and protests rang throughout the massive hall. "What are you babbling about?" Atolla demanded, rising to stand beside her husband. The angry pinch of her lips and flushed cheeks made her look a lot like a displeased Bachlan.
Solana wasn't perturbed as she too got to her feet. She had faced far worse in her travels than a city of folk that had been blinded by her former master's lies, and was happy for the chance to set them straight. "He's not the man you think he is. He has a terrible plan for Merna and has even sto-"
"That is enough of your lies, traitor," Joshua interrupted, his voice as cool as glacier water.
"What?!" Solana cried out in shock, turning to her fellow Guardian with an astonished look in her silver eyes. "Joshua, you know wha-"
"Bachlan was right that you have become delusional away from his guidance," Joshua cut in smoothly, his voice sounding as patronizing as a parent listening to a toddler's fantasies. His features were frozen into an amused sneer. "Listen to her," he said to the crowd, spreading his arms wide. "Bachlan has worked tirelessly for millennia to save all of our lives. Why would he suddenly change that now?"
The crowd at the table began muttering to themselves in agreement. Solana stared at Joshua in utter disbelief, wondering what he was thinking. His cold eyes didn't give her any reassurance, and her heart suddenly sank. It seemed that his change of heart in the Citadel had all been for show.
And she, like an idiot, had completely fallen for it.
"Well, it seems that you refuse to return to your post," Kuro said slowly, his voice shaking with fury. "Lord Joshua, you have served under Bachlan for millennia and know his mind better than anyone. What would you suggest we do?"
Joshua's eyes met Solana's in a gaze she couldn't quite read. "Execute the traitor!" he ordered.
"No, I won't allow it!" Solana shot back, reaching for her Aura just as a wave of dizziness swamped her. She tried again, but this time the feeling overpowered her, and she collapsed on the table right between the giant crocks of soup. Bright lights seemed to explode in her vision, and her body felt curiously heavy and slow-moving while her head felt like it was filled with helium. She couldn't concentrate to feel her power at all, and her Seal hadn't kicked in to stop whatever was going on. "What...why didn't...." she murmured.
Del and Clymene looked shocked. "You didn't!" Del yelped.
"It would have been easy enough to use a normal narcotic, but a healer like you probably would have been able to catch it. So we have an alternative," Atolla explained, pointing to the pitcher of tea and Solana's plate. "There's an herb in our spring rose tea that, when mixed with another herb occasionally used in noodle dishes, makes a powerful and natural narcotic. Only your food received the second herb. Should you have agreed to return to Bachlan's service, you would have been given an antidote in a toast and been none the wiser."
Sweat was pouring down Solana's face, and she felt like she was spinning into a dark tunnel. Any sense of coordination was completely gone, and her vision was starting to fade away. "And...now...?" she managed to croak.
Atolla's voice held no mercy. "As it is, you'll die like any other traitor to Monsee."
In a supreme effort, Solana summoned all of her strength to raise her bleary silver eyes to meet Joshua's sapphire ones in a soundless plea.
He stared back at her, as stonefaced as the day that Bachlan had ordered Trista and him to destroy her years ago. Those cold blue eyes meeting her own were the last things she saw before being overcome by darkness.
Kuro pulled a knife from his belt and went towards the unconscious Water Guardian. "I'll take care of this here and now!" he declared. His children gasped and recoiled.
A steel grip clamped around his wrist. "I think not. You intend to slash her throat while she is unconscious?" Joshua asked in disgust. Kuro glared at him as Joshua continued, "Surely a traitor on this level merits a lesson with a bit more impact?"
Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd, as well as alternative ways to deal with her. Joshua flinched and shot down some of the more.... messy ones, although he had to give them credit for creativity and a complete disregard for physics or proper biology.
"Perhaps you have an idea, Lord Joshua?" Atolla asked a little sarcastically, closing her fan with a disgusted snap. The crowd had been getting impatient with all of Joshua's rejections of their suggestions.
"Indeed I do. It is all of the people that she has harmed through her cowardice, so I believe that Bachlan would allow them some assistance in causing her demise," Joshua replied. He stood on tiptoe and whispered in Kuro's ear.
His eyes lit up. "Oho, that should do very well! Tomorrow we gather in the Great Square, at sunrise! It has been a while since we've put it to its ancient use!"
The people cheered and dispersed, talking excitedly amongst themselves about making sure to get to bed early and wondering how Bachlan would repay them for taking care of this little problem. Kuro clapped Joshua on the shoulder with a fatherly approval. "What a mind! Truly, you are Bachlan's very voice and a most fitting right-hand man!"
Joshua smiled politely, hiding his thoughts. "I assure you, sir, a leader such as yourself would be even more so."
Kuro beamed with pride. "You are too kind. Would you care to assist me in the preparations?"
"Certainly, to be assured that it will be carried out properly," Joshua replied, getting up to accompany Kuro outside. Suddenly, he stopped as he remembered something and turned to the crowd. "Do not harm her in the meantime. After all, we cannot allow the people to miss even one moment of the suffering she will undergo on their behalf."
"You're right. You heard the man! No one lay a finger on her until sunrise tomorrow!" Kuro ordered. The others grumblingly agreed.
Del got to his feet to follow them, his face the color of old cheese. He raised his hands entreatingly. "Father, please... this isn't our place, let's allow Bachlan to handle it..."
Kuro turned around to face his son, and his fury softened. "I am sorry, my boy. Traitors break apart everything our glorious home stands for, and cannot be tolerated."
"But, death?" Del continued.
"You will have to learn for when your turn arrives. If you cannot, your place will go to your sister," Atolla replied coldly.
"Your father and mother speak wisdom. When you are as old as they, you will have seen for yourself the chaos and problems that arrive when showing traitors any mercy," Joshua replied, hating himself.
Del fell helplessly silent and let them be. Joshua glanced at Solana once more before leaving her to the townspeople's mercy as he followed Ridley's leaders to prepare the Great Square for the next day.
Solana came to slowly, feeling her wrists and ankles tightly bound by ropes. Her head was too fuzzy to reach the Aura of the Asterite or Water Seal, so it seemed the ropes had some powerful magical properties to them. Fairly strong winds were blasting her, suggesting that she was somewhere very high. She managed to open her eyes...and gasped in horror.
The ropes securing her limbs were tied to chains that extended to enormous cranks located in the four corners of the Great Square. A few grim-faced people stood waiting at each crank, assumedly to start winding them when commanded. A shiver colder than a glacier rippled through her body as she realized that this was the way they planned to execute her. Being drawn and quartered was reputed to be a very slow and very painful death.
Kuro and Atolla stood near the grand staircase leading to the lower levels of the city, the other residents gathered around them. Joshua was flanking them, his face expressionless. "Solana, Guardian of Water, you are charged with abandonment of our world and plotting rebellion against the Guardian of Memory Bachlan. For many generations, our forefathers could always sail in safety, but since you ran away from your duties, many lives have been lost to storms and hurricanes. Your penalty is execution. We will return her body to the sea to be satisfied!" Kuro yelled, waving one arm. The townsfolk cheered as the people standing near the cranks began to turn them, to wind the enormous chains that would pull the ropes tied to her limbs.
Solana struggled valiantly against her bonds, but they were knotted tightly and being pulled tighter every minute. Each pull or twist she made seemed to make the knots dig into her skin a bit more. She tried to breathe slowly, to think clearly of anything that would allow her to escape. The rope's magical effects were making that task a lot harder in addition to cutting her off from the magical power left her. Still, she refused to give up now!
Solana tried gathering all of her strength, then giving one strong pull against the ropes at her wrists. It failed. She tried again, failed, tried once more, failed, one more time as every second more of the chains connected to her limbs were being wound tighter and tighter...
Out of the corner of her eye, Solana noticed a blur of white coming through the crowd. Joshua was coming to get a front row seat. Solana gritted her teeth in anger at herself and him and used that rage to lash against her bonds, promising herself that she couldn't die this day.
How had she been so stupid to have not seen this coming, to forget that many Mernans were angry at her and Aryn for leaving and would be as unwilling to listen to her as Bachlan had? Why had she believed Joshua in the Citadel so readily? He had seemed sincere, but... had Bachlan arranged that as a trap?
The ropes were pulled straight and beginning to strain her wrists and ankles as her body was lifted off the stones. Solana began to panic and strained harder, biting back a moan of pain as one shoulder began to pull and feel like it was being slowly wrenched out of its socket. The ever-tightening ropes began to dig into her skin, leaving burns along with the intense pain.
No matter how impossible things seemed, Solana had always kept fighting and clinging to hope. Hope had kept her going for decades on a journey to find answers for her world, find answers for her friends over the years, and find answers for herself. Closing her eyes, four words repeated themselves in her head like a mantra.
I cannot give up, I cannot give up, I cannot give up, I cannot-
SMASH!!!! Snikt, snikt, snikt, snikt.
Solana's eyes opened as the awful pressure in her joints vanished and she hit the ground hard. Her rescuer had her own kamas in hand and had used them to slice the ropes binding her wrists, and was now kneeling at her feet to cut the ropes off her ankles. Her savior...in bright white robes...
"JOSHUA??!" Solana gasped, feeling a curious mix of murderous fury and unbridled relief. "What are you doing?! I thought-"
"Exactly what I wanted the people to think," Joshua interrupted as he kept hacking at the ropes. "I am sorry for the deception and your pain, Solana, but there was no other way. If I had protested or attempted to explain, I would have been imprisoned or even executed myself, with no chance to save you."
"So, you're on our side?" Solana asked in wonder.
"Yes. We will speak more later," Joshua answered, finishing his task and handing Solana her blades and gear back. He slung a bulging travel pack, likely courtesy of their hosts, over his shoulder. "You will need these. Destroying one of my light crystals has given us a good head start, but we are not safe yet."
With the ropes gone, Solana's head immediately cleared, and she could feel the connection to her still-weakened power. Still, it was better than nothing. Glancing over at the ones who had been ready to kill her, she saw that Kuro and the others were cursing and rubbing their eyes. "Do you have a part B?"
Joshua nodded, then gave a start as an arrow zinged past them. Half-blinded or not, there were archers among the crowd who didn't plan to let them escape so easily. "Follow me!" Joshua ordered, and broke into a run up the nearest flight of steps as two more arrows hit the ground only yards away.
Solana gazed at him oddly, but followed. "We are presently at the top of the Grand Hall. They will expect us to descend to make for the docks, which is why they were blocking it. Instead, we will ascend the stairs and climb down their emergency escape route, borrow a boat, and make our escape then. There is a place with a ladder very near here, as I learned on the tour yesterday," he explained, breathing hard.
"That's an excellent plan, but it's not as diplomatic as I would expect from you," Solana said approvingly.
Joshua shrugged as they made it into an intersection, hesitated, then took the right-hand hallway. "Diplomacy requires being alive. Besides, I have become quite proficient at apology letters serving under Bachlan all of this time."
Angry shouts from the citizens were barely audible, but it sounded like they were beginning a pursuit. The Guardians ran down a street filled with fine houses, then up another public staircase to a level filled with mansions. Joshua then turned them to the left, glancing at the top level of the city above them to make sure they were going in the right direction.
Solana thought it was very eerie how silent it was up here compared to the angry yells from the square below. No one was outside talking or gardening, and no children were out here playing. Everyone had been gathered to watch her die a painful and dramatic death for what they thought was her betrayal of their world.
It made her feel sick to her stomach.
Solana tried to shake it off as they kept running down a tree-lined lane, knowing that escape was the important thing now. Joshua was counting houses until he turned into an open garden gate outside of a blue house. Down a stone-lined path they went, dodging bird baths until they came towards the back. Joshua leaped onto a stone bench, then sprang onto a metal trellis entwined with vines. "Come on, it is a shortcut to the next level up!" he ordered, pulling himself up.
Solana would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire, and obeyed. Her strained wrists protested the climb, but she tried to ignore it. Near the top, her right hand suddenly spasmed and lost its grip, but Joshua grabbed her wrist and helped pull her up the rest of the way. "Thanks," Solana said sincerely.
"We are not out of danger yet," he replied dryly.
After making it up and over a short stone wall in the yard above the trellis, Joshua glanced around to get his bearings and nodded. They were in a small yard of a servant's home across the street from Kuro and Atolla's mansion.
A fire arrow suddenly whizzed by them. "There they are!" an outraged voice yelled to more archers further down the lane. Apparently, there were shortcuts the locals knew about, too.
Solana called up some ice shields to block the next volley, while Joshua took out two more light crystals. "Close your eyes," he instructed, and Solana obeyed. Joshua tossed each crystal in the air and gave it a whack with his mace to make them explode in midair. More brilliant light escaped, and they cursed Joshua vehemently.
"How many of those do you have?" Solana asked in awe.
"Only a few more. Let us proceed," Joshua answered. The two Guardians picked up their speed and ran around the mansion towards the very back. Shadows from fruit trees dappled them, and Solana caught a stronger whiff of the sea than she had yet sensed. Joshua pointed to a wooden building as their final destination, and they stopped to breathe hard for a few seconds.
They were in a lovely gazebo-like structure with benches and potted plants. A large railing protected onlookers from a direct plummet to the sea. Solana peeked over the railing, shocked to see the Tethys hundreds of feet directly below them. A small dock with a boat tied to it was near the surface of the water far below.
But that was it. Solana couldn't figure out what Joshua had in mind, since the steel wall was glass-smooth and moist with sea air and splashes. "How do we get to it?" she asked.
"Why, we merely climb down the-" Joshua stopped as he looked over the edge. Then he did something that was completely out of character for him.
He let out an oath that would have singed the ears of the bawdiest sailors.
"The ladders are controlled by mechanisms, aren't they? Like the docks that become part of the wall? For protection?" Solana asked sadly. She now noticed cracks in what had seemed like a perfectly smooth wall, and an unusual hinge not far below them. The ladder was probably tucked under a steel panel that rotated to expose it when needed.
Joshua nodded, his ears and cheeks crimson with fury. "Someone else has probably attempted a ruse like this in the past," he muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. He kept his eyes on the sea below them and added, "This would have been a lot easier if you had merely pretended to agree with them."
"And when we arrived at the Citadel and they learned the truth?" Solana retorted. Joshua didn't even bother answering.
Solana cocked her head suddenly, sensing something... no, several somethings, through the Asterite Aura. She hadn't heard those sweet calls in some time, but she was still certain!
Taking one more glance over the wall at the sea so far beneath them, she did come mental calculations and nodded in decision. It was risky, but it was their best shot to get out of this mess. "I have a plan, Joshua. But we'll need to make a jump for it."
"Are you out of your mind?! We would be killed by a fall at this height!" Joshua shouted. He glanced at her, then added, "It is certain I would be, at any rate. We cannot risk it."
"....did you hear something...?" Voices. There was no time for backtracking. Whatever they would do, they'd have to do from this spot. Joshua realized it too, and turned pale.
Solana dug in her pack and tossed Joshua a strangely-carved pendant, then climbed onto the railing. "Put that on- you'll need it. Joshua, I swear that I can keep us safe. The only question is, do you trust me?" she asked seriously, activating her Seal of Water.
Joshua glanced at the pendant a second before slipping it over his head without argument. He then joined her at the railing, meeting her silver eyes squarely with his own serious blue ones as shouts in the background grew louder and louder. "I trust you, Solana."
"There they are!" Kuro yelled, from the path leading to the gazebo. He started running towards them, an angry and bloodthirsty mob at his back. Their sharp blades glittered crimson in the fire of the dawn, and their cries for their blood echoed mercilessly. Blasts of fire and lightning magic exploded around them as a promise of what would follow.
The time for thinking was over. "JUMP!!!" Solana ordered, taking his hand and leaping. Joshua let out a yell as they plummeted towards the churning waves, and a soft blue glow suddenly surrounded them both seconds before they hit the water.
Kuro and the others gasped in astonishment, coming to peek over the railing. White foam marked where the Guardians had fallen, but other than that there was no sign of them.
"They must have fallen to their deaths."
"That was stupid."
"We must inform Bachlan of this immediately."
"Wait," Kuro interrupted, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This girl has given Bachlan the slip before. It might be wise to wait a bit, and see what happens." The villagers nodded and waited impatiently.
One minute passed, and there was nothing more to be seen.
Two minutes.
Three minutes, and the foam was dying off.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
"Are you sure about this, Kuro? Even if that water witch had something up her sleeve, they had to have been killed by the fall or drowned by now." Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd.
Kuro scowled, hating it when a criminal escaped justice. Even if that escape was into the afterlife. "We will inform Bachlan. Bring Ridley about to the west two leagues to the shipping district. One of theirs can deliver our message." The others grumbled and agreed, and slowly filed out one by one.
Del had followed and remained there, wondering. He didn't think it was right to kill off one of their own Guardians, but he would never have been able to convince this mob otherwise. What could he have said...?
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a very, very faint blue glow under the water that was moving to the east. Del smiled to himself and went to follow the others, letting them think what they would.
Me, I'm dishonest! And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest, honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid.
Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Far offshore on a relatively calm area of the Tethys Sea was a small fishing boat with a single raised sail. The crew consisted of a brother and sister, who were closely watching the fishing rods set up while the boy skillfully mended nets and the girl double-checked their map impatiently.
"We're never going to catch anything, Del!" the girl complained.
Her brother smiled indulgently as he rethreaded his needle. "Patience, Clymene," he reminded her. "The fish have their own schedule, which does not always correlate to ours." He bent his head back over his work, the needle flashing like the belly of a salmon in the sun.
Clymene rolled her eyes and rested her head on the rail to watch for whales. At least the weather was fine for sailing. The sky was as brilliant and smooth as a freshly-cut blue topaz and a faint breeze stirred tiny ripples in the briny sea. No doubt the Lady Trista was watching the winds, even if 'Lady' Solana had abandoned their world so long ago.
Suddenly, Clymene sat up in surprise. Far off in the distance, but steadily coming closer was a pod of....orcas? She squinted to see better. Those black and white markings were unmistakable, and did some of them have something on their backs? "Del!"
The young man looked up and followed his sister's pointing finger in shock. A fairly good-sized pod of about twenty or so whales was swimming straight for their boat, as if it was their destination. One female, identified by her curved dorsal fin, swam in the lead and was making clicking noises at the two humans as if expecting them to understand her.
"Sorry, girl, I can't speak orca," Del admitted.
The whale blew air out harshly, almost a disgusted snort at the ineptness of these finless humans, and swam out of the way of two others carrying something. They were voicing what sounded like anxious sounds.
Del came to the side of the boat and stared down at the two orcas in disbelief. Their 'cargo' was people! He'd heard of other dolphin rescues, but orcas...?
The female whale blew out a puff of air again, this time managing to sound impatient. Del reached down over the side of the boat to lift the man dressed in a long white robe from a large male's back and pulled him on board, while Clymene knelt nearby to check his pulse and breathing. Del then reached for the woman with silver-streaked blue-purple hair from a smaller female's back and lifted her into the boat as well.
"We'll take good care of them. Thank you," Del said to the first female whale with a little bow, still mystified by the pod's behavior. She raised her tail to him in a manner that reminded him of a salute before swimming off with the rest of her pod.
"Talking to whales now, brother?" Clymene asked mischievously. Del ignored her and checked the woman's vital signs. She seemed to be all right, but the pair was very pale and making no move to wake up. Who on Merna were they? What interest would a pod of orcas have in these two?
A conversation came back to mind from long ago, hearing his father speaking to some of the other officials in their home. Bachlan had asked them to report when one of their absent Guardians were in their lands. The Water Guardian was easy to spot, with her silver-streaked blue-purple hair and kamas on hand.
Del glanced at the woman again, now seeing the curved silver blades of the weapons at her waist. This would be Solana, then, and this other must be Lord Joshua. Why they were together and how they had ended up in the middle of the ocean near a pod of friendly orcas was anyone's guess, but he knew that his parents would need to be informed of this immediately. "Clymene, we have to get back to Ridley now. These aren't just any guests, these are Guardians," Del remarked. He started adjusting the position of the sail on their boat to head for home.
Clymene obediently got to work packing up the empty fishing rods, but stared over her shoulder at their 'cargo' in disbelief. These two were Guardians? And this strange-looking woman was the one Bachlan had been searching for all this time? What on Merna had she done, and why had she left them so long ago? "We don't have any fish, Del."
"This is a lot bigger of a catch than a few fish, sister," Del replied grimly.
The fishing boat smoothly cut its way through the waves towards a beautiful city situated on an island. At first its golden roofs reflecting the sun and delicate architecture and encircling city wall drew all eyes, until one noticed that the island itself seemed to be riding the waves of the Tethys like a massive ship.
Known as the 'Jewel of Monsee', Ridley was one of the most stunningly beautiful cities in Merna, and home to artisans of everything from the martial arts to calligraphy to painting to the latest technological advances that Merna could boast. Like the rest of the Monsee Empire, its people loved the beauty of their world more than anything, and brought it into their interwoven love of tradition and modern conveniences. The city had been built on an island with a heart of magically-enhanced pumice that kept it afloat. It was also equipped with a solar- and tide-powered motor system that allowed it to migrate to various ports or richer waters as needed. Although some fishing was possible, their mainstay was the transportation of goods and news from the continent of the empire to its various colonies and other nations of Merna. The life and livelihood of all its people depended on the moods of the sea.
Del and Clymene expertly made their way to their family port, which was far more sophisticated than a simple wooden dock. A giant section of the city wall slowly lowered itself down to the water like a drawbridge, then dipped underwater a few fathoms. This left behind a small channel of seawater going into the city. Del carefully poled their boat into this channel, which boasted a large holding tank at the end. Once the boat was secure, the holding tank raised up another level to keep the boat safe against the tides and waves of the Tethys. The section of the city wall came up again, fitting seamlessly against its neighbors and providing a solid defense against any predators.
Relatives and dock workers alike stood on the platforms built against the holding tank to help unload the expected catch of fish. They were all shocked at the 'cargo' that the siblings had picked up. "What kinda bait were you using today, young lord and lady?" one of the workers joked, nudging Del with her elbow. He just shrugged, still not sure of what to make of it.
Another sailor jostled Clymene a little to get a better look at the pair, clucking his tongue in disapproval. "Good work bringing in survivors. But in the future, let off a flare to summon our soldiers in case they're not friendly. Playing on the young's naivety is one way of breaching our impenetrable walls," he lectured sternly.
"Yes, sir, Captain Tightpants," Clymene muttered under her breath.
It wasn't long before a loud clash of cymbals used by the imperial criers was heard, followed by a declaration. As one, the citizens quickly moved off to the sides to clear space between the siblings and those approaching. "Make way! Make way for the honored Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla, rulers of the fief of Ridley!" voices cried out.
All of the citizens around Del and Clymene bowed deeply to a richly dressed couple that approached the boat. The woman was half a step behind the man, keeping a wary eye on the crowd around them. Even Del and Clymene bowed their heads in respect, though not as deeply as the others. "Father. Mother."
Kuro nodded in approval at their use of formality in public. "Son, Daughter. It seems that your trip was not entirely successful today?"
"We didn't get fish, but take a look at them!" Clymene replied, shooing away the people surrounding their boat to allow her parents to see their guests. Kuro's eyes widened, while Atolla quickly raised a silk fan to cover her choked gasp.
"It cannot be...but certainly Lord Bachlan's description matches this one. Lord Joshua's presence, however, complicates things," Atolla commented.
"Indeed..." Kuro agreed slowly, his mind working like clockwork. Such a boon could mean many things, both for his family and for his empire. He could not be too hasty at this point. "Ridley honors guests that were rescued from the waters. Until they regain consciousness and are able to tell their story, they are under our family's protection. We do not know if Solana is ready to reswear her allegiance to the Lord of Memory, and must treat her cordially until then. If she is with the Lord of Light, it could be so."
"Are you sure about that, my lord? Maybe we should just draw up our anchor and head for the Crystal Citadel right-" one of the sailors began, as more murmurs arose.
Kuro turned to face him, the expression in his eyes suddenly containing an icy fury. "We stand for the imperial rulers, who stand for our Guardian of Memory, who is the voice of Merna. Do you believe your wisdom transcends that?" His calm tone was even more frightening than a loud one.
The sailor involuntarily stepped back a pace or two, but his comrades allowed no gap that he could pass through to hide. "N-n-no, of course not, m-m-milord. I just thought-"
"You did not think. Perhaps you might welcome a chance to re-evaluate where your place truly is, sailor," Atolla suggested with deadly coolness. The sailor swallowed hard as Atolla tapped her cheek with her fan in thought. "Yes, I think a night of meditation in the Golden Room will do you good." The sailor sighed in relief, grateful that the lady hadn't suggested tossing him overboard or anything of that sort. Loyalty was one of the most highly-prized virtues in Monsee, and traitors were often executed.
While a pair of guards separated from the crowd to escort the sailor to his night of repentence, the lord and lady turned back to their 'guests'. "Give them any medical treatment that is necessary, and fulfill any desire they might have. We will hear from the Lord Joshua first, to decide what must be done," Kuro ordered.
Atolla turned to her daughter, her cool gaze softening as she lovingly cupped Clymene's cheek in her hand. "You will look after Solana in the women's chambers, my dear?" Clymene nodded enthusiastically. "Very good. Guards, if you please, bring our guests to our own home."
The guards went to fetch two teak sedan chairs that were elegantly carved with sea serpents and piled with embroidered cushions. Solana and Joshua were carefully placed in them for the trek back to the lord and lady's mansion, and four bearers each picked up one for the trek to Ridley's crowned home.
As Del escorted his sister behind his parents on the way back home, he couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling. The sailor's comment, though certainly not tactful, was representative of what many of their people felt.
First off, Solana had broken a sacred trust in rebelling against Lord Bachlan. Added to that was also convincing Aryn to join her in that treachery. Secondly, life in Ridley had been much more difficult the past forty years, as they had had to stay ahead of winter storms and hurricanes in addition to the dangers of pirates and fires. His great uncles and aunts complained of the rougher water in their fishing, but Del had done his homework on catches for the past century and noted that they were actually greater in the past few decades. Why was that?
"What's on your mind, big brother?" Clymene asked quietly, looking up at him with concerned eyes.
"I'm just a little worried. Perhaps for nothing," Del replied softly, stealing a glance at his parents' backs. They gave no indication of having heard their children.
"You're the heir. No doubt Dad will want you at his side when they talk," the girl pointed out.
"As if it ever does much good," Del muttered miserably. His sister patted his shoulder in sympathy, and the siblings kept the rest of their thoughts to themselves for the remainder of the walk.
Solana opened her eyes slowly, gazing at her surroundings first in confusion, then in awe. She was alone in an exquisitely decorated bedroom, yet she could feel the gentle rocking of the sea far below. Her head felt as if it were filled with mist, and she was more thirsty than she could ever remember feeling in her life. Instead of the teal tunica she had arrived at the Citadel in, she was wearing a soft white nightgown and her feet were bare. What on Merna...?
Solana gasped as she remembered the events in the Citadel and sat straight up, then clutched her head against the resulting head rush. Bachlan! He had stolen their power, Oriana had saved them, something had interfered, and now... where was she? Where were her friends?
Her Seal of Water and Aura of the Asterite seemed all right, though she wasn't sure how much magic she was capable of using at the moment. She needed information.
A young girl of about ten years with brown curls arranged in a messy knot and dressed in a red silk frock peeked in the room, then came in with a tray of food in her hands. "Oh, you're finally awake! My name is Clymene. Big brother and I brought you here in our boat."
"Thank you so much. Where are we?" Solana asked, sliding her legs out from under the covers and resting her feet on the floor.
"You're in the women's chambers in my house, on the island of Ridley. My parents are Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla," Clymene answered, setting the tray down on a small endtable next to the bed.
Ridley... Solana's fingers clenched the blanket. A city that treasured loyalty and duty, was one of Bachlan's strongest allies, and a place that had been at the full mercy of her element since she had been gone. She would have to be careful. "Was there anyone else with me? A woman with red and black hair, maybe?"
Clymene shook her head and poured tea from a beautifully decorated teapot into a tiny porcelain cup. "Sorry, but the only one with you was Lord Joshua. Aryn wasn't there."
Solana stiffened and muttered an Atlantean curse. Naturally, Bachlan had enlisted the various towns to notify him if they were spotted anywhere, and sent descriptions.
Still, she needed to know what had happened in this world while she and Aryn had been journeying, and it might be safer to ask questions of this girl than any leaders just yet. Besides, she had noticed something odd in Clymene's answer. "Why do you give a title to Joshua, but not Aryn?" she asked, gratefully accepting the small cup.
Clymene looked at her in amazement as she poured a cup for herself. "You don't know? You and Aryn are thought of as traitors here and in the whole rest of the empire."
"And yet you and your brother rescued us, for which we owe you our lives," Solana pointed out.
Clymene shrugged, blowing the steam off of her cup before taking a sip. "Big brother says that we've actually been getting more fish since you've been gone. He's like a fish himself, so he may be right."
"And what do you think?" The words tumbled out of Solana's mouth before she could stop them.
"I think there's something more important than just us, and the empire. And I don't think that that something else would like us hating people because one person says to," Clymene answered frankly. Finishing her tea, she stood up and pointed to the plate of food. "You eat that. Your clothes will be dry by dinnertime, when we all eat together. You can use anything from the closet until then."
"Wait, where's Joshua? I must speak with him-" Solana began, rising out of the bed.
"He's with Father and my big brother in the Rose Hall. But, you'd better stay here in the women's chambers until then. People might not be nice to you until Lord Bachlan says we can," Clymene replied, with an apologetic smile that belied the frankness of her words. "I'll bring you to supper after my lessons." With a swift bow, she left the small room.
Solana sat down again on the bed, stunned. 'Thought of as traitors by the whole empire'... By Merna, how many other countries felt this way? Aryn would be tarred by the same brush, and who knew where she had ended up? And with whom?
Her belly gave an angry growl, and she reached for the plate of noodles and vegetables that Clymene had left for her and dug in hungrily. Aryn could take care of herself, especially if she still had her weaponry and an intact Celestial gift. Plus, she could have ended up with resourceful Eziban, gentle Raoul, or possibly the oil-to-her-fire Trista. The last was daunting, but luckily it was only a one-in-three shot.
Finished with her meal and nearly all of the tea, Solana went to the closet that Clymene had pointed out. Upon inspection she felt her jaw drop at all the rainbow-hued silks and satins that dripped with embroidery and inlaid gems. No wonder Bachlan had preferred Monsee fashions to any others. She finally selected a relatively simple green gown that draped like her Atlantean gowns, then found a matching green silk scarf and used it to cover her hair. Her short leather boots were also gone, probably also still soaked from their dip in the Tethys, so she borrowed a pair of neat white slippers and went to take a look around.
Clymene wasn't kidding when she had mentioned a set of chambers for women alone. Rooms upon rooms were filled with only women busily weaving, doing needlework, painting, washing clothes, and even doing some cooking. Many of them immediately stopped their tasks upon seeing Solana and came to ask if she was lost or required anything, while others looked up and smiled pleasantly at the visitor. The smell of sweet incense hung in the air in a fragrant cloud, accompanied by the splash of fountains and distant chirping of silvery-voiced birds. It was a place of beauty and warmth, but Solana remembered Clymene's frank warning and decided that it would be better to make herself scarce until the community meal.
Finally, Solana stumbled into a large reading room, or small library, depending on how you looked at it. It was a lovely chamber, hung with ornate examples of Monsee's finest calligraphy and rich paintings and packed with plenty of shelves of beautiful scrolls and books. No one was in here at the moment. It seemed an ideal place to spend her afternoon, not to mention discreetly learn a thing or two about what had been going on in Merna in her absence.
Selecting a well-worn tome of philosophy, Solana chose a comfortable chair that was out of view of the door and cracked it open to read. Experience had taught her that philosophy books that were obviously popular were an excellent suggestion of what views were widely held by a given people at a certain time without having to ask too many direct questions.
The stricter views seemed to be the ones most thumbed through, Solana noted quickly. The great sages of Monsee's past belonging to that camp would be a lot more likely to see her journey as an abandonment, rather than an honest attempt to learn how to do her job better. Solana flipped ahead a few chapters, seeing that again the more traditional lines of thought were carefully underlined with written commentary in the side, while the more radical ones were unmarked. And then she found something very odd.
Head Ambassador Luzio was born in... The rest of it was heavily blacked out, including the small portrait at the beginning. She frowned, disapproving of destroying any useful information in a book, then suddenly realized why this passage had been eliminated.
Luzio had been a very famous, but very controversial head ambassador about nineteen millennia ago in the Monsee Empire. The one time she had met him, he seemed to be a very warm and caring person, highly concerned for those living in his home's poorer and farther provinces and colonies. His ideas about giving the common folk more autonomy and decreasing their reliance on the heart of the empire had contrasted greatly with those of the emperor and empress at the time. Something had happened to him, though she couldn't quite remember what.
If those thoughts even now were considered to be so dangerous that they were deleted, it suggested that her job was going to be even harder than she had thought...
As Clymene had stated, Joshua had joined Del and Kuro in the Rose Hall for refreshment. The room was filled with potted plants and paintings of the flowers. Joshua, too, was in borrowed finery, although his consisted of a snowy white robe embroidered with various wildlife in gold thread. An enchanting woman swathed in fine silks, introduced as Lady Atolla, had poured their tea and now sat playing a small harp in the corner. Joshua, noting the occasional glances she sent their way when she thought he wasn't looking, was certain she was there for more than her musical abilities.
"Lord Joshua, you have not been formerly introduced to my son Del. It was he and his sister Clymene that brought you and the traitor in," Kuro began, gesturing to his son with fatherly pride.
Joshua bowed his head to Del in acknowledgment. "We owe you a great debt of thanks," he said solemnly. Del merely bowed back, seemingly shy, and Joshua turned back to Kuro. "'The traitor', I believe you stated?"
"Of course, of course, desertion and that pathetic attempt to undermine Lord Bachlan's authority just a few years ago. I'd imagine the silly woman went into hysterics after that unfortunate accident, but it's no excuse to shirk one's true duty," Kuro explained in disgust, then passed Joshua a plate of flaky pastries decorated with spun sugar roses in a delicate pink.
Joshua accepted one graciously and bit off the end, tasting rosewater mixed with the cherry filling. "It is true what they say- Monsee cooks are the finest artisans at their craft," he said politely, passing the plate on to Del.
Kuro and Del seemed to relax a bit at the compliment, but Atolla did not. She cleared her throat, and Kuro gave a start and continued, "Of course, knowing that you are Bachlan's right hand, we are somewhat curious as to what her intentions are now."
"Gratitude aside, it would be wise for you to leave Guardian matters to Guardians," Joshua replied mildly, eyes seemingly on his dessert. Was it his imagination, or had Atolla's playing gotten more forceful, as if she were dislodging the notes from the strings like darts?
"I'm afraid that's out of the question," Kuro retorted, then slid a piece of paper over to Joshua for him to read. Joshua pulled it closer, seeing Solana's and Aryn's pictures on it, as well as a slanderous description of their 'desertion', and raised his eyebrows. By Merna, no wonder the letters he had gotten from some of their world's countries dealing with fire and water disasters had been so scathing, if this was what they had to go on!
"Ridley owes its allegiance both to the mother empire and to Bachlan. It was he who made sure that we have been provided for all of this time. The Water Guardian's disloyalty is of the very worst sort, both to Bachlan and our people," Kuro explained.
"Indeed, but perhaps I may be able to talk some sense into her. I, who know both her and my lord's minds," Joshua suggested, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
Kuro shook his head. "She will be allowed to speak for herself at the dinner tonight. If she agrees to return to her post, then we will bring you to the Crystal Citadel and allow Bachlan to deal with her as he sees fit."
Joshua didn't bother to inquire after the fate that awaited a refusal- he already knew. Not liking the way this conversation was going, he kept his voice light and tried one more time. "If I were a suspicious man, I might make so bold as to declare that you do not believe me capable of carrying out the wishes of my lord."
Kuro gave a chuckle that meant no good as he refilled Joshua's teacup. "And if I were less confident in Bachlan, I would wonder why his second-in-command would seem to be a bit less steadfast in his loyalty than he should be."
Joshua thanked him and raised his cup in a toast, his expression mild. "Then let us be grateful that we are not such foolish men."
Kuro and Del raised and clinked their cups together with Joshua's, then all three downed their tea in a pledge. While the tea was delicious, Joshua couldn't help but sense a bitter aftertaste in the back of his throat.
"Del, my boy, would you be so good as to show Lord Joshua the updates we have made since his last visit until supper?" Kuro suggested casually.
"I would be honored," Del agreed wholeheartedly.
"Thank you for your most kind hospitality, all of you," Joshua added with a bow to Ridley's lord and lady as he followed Del out of the room. Kuro seemed a bit reassured by his words, but something like suspicion still lurked in Atolla's eyes.
Joshua's eyes and ears missed nothing and his brain was turning itself out to figure out the next few moves in his game as he listened closely to Del. The boy had no stomach for intrigue compared to his parents, that was certain. That could work to his advantage, if played very carefully.
A few private words with Solana would have made all the difference, but it now appeared that he was going to have to plan on his own. Luckily, he knew the Monsee mind quite well indeed...
Clymene led Solana to the head table at the community supper, and seated her between herself and Del. Joshua was a few spots down, talking animatedly with a couple that the young girl whispered to be her parents, Lord Kuro and Lady Atolla. The lord and lady of Ridley were dressed in fine silks that even Bachlan would admire, and Atolla gleamed with pearls and jeweled hairpins. To honor them, Joshua had even supplied a few of his light-globes to rest in crystal bowls for extra illumination, and had been happy to explain their mechanisms to an appreciative audience.
Solana had still not managed to exchange a single word with Joshua since the Crystal Citadel, and that bothered her a little. Still, Joshua had been a staunch supporter of Bachlan from the beginning, and even he had switched to her side upon learning the truth of what Bachlan really was. As a server set Clymene's plate of food down gently and Solana's with a bit of a slam, Solana reminded herself that Bachlan had been busy blackening her name and Aryn's while they were gone.
"Yum, Dad's having them serve the spring rose tea tonight! It's the best!" Clymene said happily. She accepted a pitcher from another server to fill her goblet and Solana's, emptied hers in a few swallows, then filled it again. The server clucked her disapproval and moved on to Del as Solana chuckled.
"Don't mind my sister. She thinks that she doesn't have to be proper because she won't become the next lady of Ridley," Del remarked with amusement.
Clymene stuck her tongue out at her beloved big brother. "I might have to if you keep ditching your lessons to take out the boats," she replied slyly. Del snuck a panicked look at his parents, who had luckily missed Clymene's taunt.
"Are you a fellow hydromaniac, then?" Solana asked eagerly, digging into her food with relish. The tea was just as good as Clymene had claimed, if a bit sweet, but it offset the delicious pork and rice dish perfectly. Another server came by with a giant bowl of savory vegetable soup swimming with bits of sausage and soft noodles. After trying that as well, Solana decided to ask Aryn to make more Monsee style food in the future.
"Yes, I enjoy going out to fish and watch the animals and dwell with my thoughts," Del admitted. A smile lit in his eyes at having found a kindred spirit in the love of the sea. "I find something very peaceful about the eternity of the waves. Tell me, you know them so well, are all waters like that?"
"Oh, here we go," Clymene muttered in mock irritation. Del ignored her, intent on the answer to his question.
"No, I think each sea has its own personality as we do. For instance, in the world of Lunar..." Solana began, telling them legends of the city of Meria and the traveling island of Ien with its magic school. She then told them the story 'The Children of Song', describing the blue dragon's search for a home. There was a keen inquisitive light in Del's eyes as he leaned closer to listen, and even Clymene was paying more attention than she'd admit.
After a number of stories and dessert, Kuro tapped his glass to get the attention of everyone in the room and rose. The cityfolk quieted down immediately, noticing that their leader's face was now bleak. "Friends, we have here a dire situation. Bachlan has ordered the death of the Guardian of Water, but we will show our mercy. If you will swear your loyalty to him, we shall bring you to the Crystal Citadel to resolve matters," he stated.
Solana took a deep breath to steady her nerves, not noticing the sudden anxious glance that Joshua turned towards her. This was her only chance to convince them of the truth. "I will never swear my loyalty to him. Bachlan has turned into Merna's mortal enemy!" she declared.
Joshua appeared to stifle something like a groan as gasps and protests rang throughout the massive hall. "What are you babbling about?" Atolla demanded, rising to stand beside her husband. The angry pinch of her lips and flushed cheeks made her look a lot like a displeased Bachlan.
Solana wasn't perturbed as she too got to her feet. She had faced far worse in her travels than a city of folk that had been blinded by her former master's lies, and was happy for the chance to set them straight. "He's not the man you think he is. He has a terrible plan for Merna and has even sto-"
"That is enough of your lies, traitor," Joshua interrupted, his voice as cool as glacier water.
"What?!" Solana cried out in shock, turning to her fellow Guardian with an astonished look in her silver eyes. "Joshua, you know wha-"
"Bachlan was right that you have become delusional away from his guidance," Joshua cut in smoothly, his voice sounding as patronizing as a parent listening to a toddler's fantasies. His features were frozen into an amused sneer. "Listen to her," he said to the crowd, spreading his arms wide. "Bachlan has worked tirelessly for millennia to save all of our lives. Why would he suddenly change that now?"
The crowd at the table began muttering to themselves in agreement. Solana stared at Joshua in utter disbelief, wondering what he was thinking. His cold eyes didn't give her any reassurance, and her heart suddenly sank. It seemed that his change of heart in the Citadel had all been for show.
And she, like an idiot, had completely fallen for it.
"Well, it seems that you refuse to return to your post," Kuro said slowly, his voice shaking with fury. "Lord Joshua, you have served under Bachlan for millennia and know his mind better than anyone. What would you suggest we do?"
Joshua's eyes met Solana's in a gaze she couldn't quite read. "Execute the traitor!" he ordered.
"No, I won't allow it!" Solana shot back, reaching for her Aura just as a wave of dizziness swamped her. She tried again, but this time the feeling overpowered her, and she collapsed on the table right between the giant crocks of soup. Bright lights seemed to explode in her vision, and her body felt curiously heavy and slow-moving while her head felt like it was filled with helium. She couldn't concentrate to feel her power at all, and her Seal hadn't kicked in to stop whatever was going on. "What...why didn't...." she murmured.
Del and Clymene looked shocked. "You didn't!" Del yelped.
"It would have been easy enough to use a normal narcotic, but a healer like you probably would have been able to catch it. So we have an alternative," Atolla explained, pointing to the pitcher of tea and Solana's plate. "There's an herb in our spring rose tea that, when mixed with another herb occasionally used in noodle dishes, makes a powerful and natural narcotic. Only your food received the second herb. Should you have agreed to return to Bachlan's service, you would have been given an antidote in a toast and been none the wiser."
Sweat was pouring down Solana's face, and she felt like she was spinning into a dark tunnel. Any sense of coordination was completely gone, and her vision was starting to fade away. "And...now...?" she managed to croak.
Atolla's voice held no mercy. "As it is, you'll die like any other traitor to Monsee."
In a supreme effort, Solana summoned all of her strength to raise her bleary silver eyes to meet Joshua's sapphire ones in a soundless plea.
He stared back at her, as stonefaced as the day that Bachlan had ordered Trista and him to destroy her years ago. Those cold blue eyes meeting her own were the last things she saw before being overcome by darkness.
Kuro pulled a knife from his belt and went towards the unconscious Water Guardian. "I'll take care of this here and now!" he declared. His children gasped and recoiled.
A steel grip clamped around his wrist. "I think not. You intend to slash her throat while she is unconscious?" Joshua asked in disgust. Kuro glared at him as Joshua continued, "Surely a traitor on this level merits a lesson with a bit more impact?"
Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd, as well as alternative ways to deal with her. Joshua flinched and shot down some of the more.... messy ones, although he had to give them credit for creativity and a complete disregard for physics or proper biology.
"Perhaps you have an idea, Lord Joshua?" Atolla asked a little sarcastically, closing her fan with a disgusted snap. The crowd had been getting impatient with all of Joshua's rejections of their suggestions.
"Indeed I do. It is all of the people that she has harmed through her cowardice, so I believe that Bachlan would allow them some assistance in causing her demise," Joshua replied. He stood on tiptoe and whispered in Kuro's ear.
His eyes lit up. "Oho, that should do very well! Tomorrow we gather in the Great Square, at sunrise! It has been a while since we've put it to its ancient use!"
The people cheered and dispersed, talking excitedly amongst themselves about making sure to get to bed early and wondering how Bachlan would repay them for taking care of this little problem. Kuro clapped Joshua on the shoulder with a fatherly approval. "What a mind! Truly, you are Bachlan's very voice and a most fitting right-hand man!"
Joshua smiled politely, hiding his thoughts. "I assure you, sir, a leader such as yourself would be even more so."
Kuro beamed with pride. "You are too kind. Would you care to assist me in the preparations?"
"Certainly, to be assured that it will be carried out properly," Joshua replied, getting up to accompany Kuro outside. Suddenly, he stopped as he remembered something and turned to the crowd. "Do not harm her in the meantime. After all, we cannot allow the people to miss even one moment of the suffering she will undergo on their behalf."
"You're right. You heard the man! No one lay a finger on her until sunrise tomorrow!" Kuro ordered. The others grumblingly agreed.
Del got to his feet to follow them, his face the color of old cheese. He raised his hands entreatingly. "Father, please... this isn't our place, let's allow Bachlan to handle it..."
Kuro turned around to face his son, and his fury softened. "I am sorry, my boy. Traitors break apart everything our glorious home stands for, and cannot be tolerated."
"But, death?" Del continued.
"You will have to learn for when your turn arrives. If you cannot, your place will go to your sister," Atolla replied coldly.
"Your father and mother speak wisdom. When you are as old as they, you will have seen for yourself the chaos and problems that arrive when showing traitors any mercy," Joshua replied, hating himself.
Del fell helplessly silent and let them be. Joshua glanced at Solana once more before leaving her to the townspeople's mercy as he followed Ridley's leaders to prepare the Great Square for the next day.
Solana came to slowly, feeling her wrists and ankles tightly bound by ropes. Her head was too fuzzy to reach the Aura of the Asterite or Water Seal, so it seemed the ropes had some powerful magical properties to them. Fairly strong winds were blasting her, suggesting that she was somewhere very high. She managed to open her eyes...and gasped in horror.
The ropes securing her limbs were tied to chains that extended to enormous cranks located in the four corners of the Great Square. A few grim-faced people stood waiting at each crank, assumedly to start winding them when commanded. A shiver colder than a glacier rippled through her body as she realized that this was the way they planned to execute her. Being drawn and quartered was reputed to be a very slow and very painful death.
Kuro and Atolla stood near the grand staircase leading to the lower levels of the city, the other residents gathered around them. Joshua was flanking them, his face expressionless. "Solana, Guardian of Water, you are charged with abandonment of our world and plotting rebellion against the Guardian of Memory Bachlan. For many generations, our forefathers could always sail in safety, but since you ran away from your duties, many lives have been lost to storms and hurricanes. Your penalty is execution. We will return her body to the sea to be satisfied!" Kuro yelled, waving one arm. The townsfolk cheered as the people standing near the cranks began to turn them, to wind the enormous chains that would pull the ropes tied to her limbs.
Solana struggled valiantly against her bonds, but they were knotted tightly and being pulled tighter every minute. Each pull or twist she made seemed to make the knots dig into her skin a bit more. She tried to breathe slowly, to think clearly of anything that would allow her to escape. The rope's magical effects were making that task a lot harder in addition to cutting her off from the magical power left her. Still, she refused to give up now!
Solana tried gathering all of her strength, then giving one strong pull against the ropes at her wrists. It failed. She tried again, failed, tried once more, failed, one more time as every second more of the chains connected to her limbs were being wound tighter and tighter...
Out of the corner of her eye, Solana noticed a blur of white coming through the crowd. Joshua was coming to get a front row seat. Solana gritted her teeth in anger at herself and him and used that rage to lash against her bonds, promising herself that she couldn't die this day.
How had she been so stupid to have not seen this coming, to forget that many Mernans were angry at her and Aryn for leaving and would be as unwilling to listen to her as Bachlan had? Why had she believed Joshua in the Citadel so readily? He had seemed sincere, but... had Bachlan arranged that as a trap?
The ropes were pulled straight and beginning to strain her wrists and ankles as her body was lifted off the stones. Solana began to panic and strained harder, biting back a moan of pain as one shoulder began to pull and feel like it was being slowly wrenched out of its socket. The ever-tightening ropes began to dig into her skin, leaving burns along with the intense pain.
No matter how impossible things seemed, Solana had always kept fighting and clinging to hope. Hope had kept her going for decades on a journey to find answers for her world, find answers for her friends over the years, and find answers for herself. Closing her eyes, four words repeated themselves in her head like a mantra.
I cannot give up, I cannot give up, I cannot give up, I cannot-
SMASH!!!! Snikt, snikt, snikt, snikt.
Solana's eyes opened as the awful pressure in her joints vanished and she hit the ground hard. Her rescuer had her own kamas in hand and had used them to slice the ropes binding her wrists, and was now kneeling at her feet to cut the ropes off her ankles. Her savior...in bright white robes...
"JOSHUA??!" Solana gasped, feeling a curious mix of murderous fury and unbridled relief. "What are you doing?! I thought-"
"Exactly what I wanted the people to think," Joshua interrupted as he kept hacking at the ropes. "I am sorry for the deception and your pain, Solana, but there was no other way. If I had protested or attempted to explain, I would have been imprisoned or even executed myself, with no chance to save you."
"So, you're on our side?" Solana asked in wonder.
"Yes. We will speak more later," Joshua answered, finishing his task and handing Solana her blades and gear back. He slung a bulging travel pack, likely courtesy of their hosts, over his shoulder. "You will need these. Destroying one of my light crystals has given us a good head start, but we are not safe yet."
With the ropes gone, Solana's head immediately cleared, and she could feel the connection to her still-weakened power. Still, it was better than nothing. Glancing over at the ones who had been ready to kill her, she saw that Kuro and the others were cursing and rubbing their eyes. "Do you have a part B?"
Joshua nodded, then gave a start as an arrow zinged past them. Half-blinded or not, there were archers among the crowd who didn't plan to let them escape so easily. "Follow me!" Joshua ordered, and broke into a run up the nearest flight of steps as two more arrows hit the ground only yards away.
Solana gazed at him oddly, but followed. "We are presently at the top of the Grand Hall. They will expect us to descend to make for the docks, which is why they were blocking it. Instead, we will ascend the stairs and climb down their emergency escape route, borrow a boat, and make our escape then. There is a place with a ladder very near here, as I learned on the tour yesterday," he explained, breathing hard.
"That's an excellent plan, but it's not as diplomatic as I would expect from you," Solana said approvingly.
Joshua shrugged as they made it into an intersection, hesitated, then took the right-hand hallway. "Diplomacy requires being alive. Besides, I have become quite proficient at apology letters serving under Bachlan all of this time."
Angry shouts from the citizens were barely audible, but it sounded like they were beginning a pursuit. The Guardians ran down a street filled with fine houses, then up another public staircase to a level filled with mansions. Joshua then turned them to the left, glancing at the top level of the city above them to make sure they were going in the right direction.
Solana thought it was very eerie how silent it was up here compared to the angry yells from the square below. No one was outside talking or gardening, and no children were out here playing. Everyone had been gathered to watch her die a painful and dramatic death for what they thought was her betrayal of their world.
It made her feel sick to her stomach.
Solana tried to shake it off as they kept running down a tree-lined lane, knowing that escape was the important thing now. Joshua was counting houses until he turned into an open garden gate outside of a blue house. Down a stone-lined path they went, dodging bird baths until they came towards the back. Joshua leaped onto a stone bench, then sprang onto a metal trellis entwined with vines. "Come on, it is a shortcut to the next level up!" he ordered, pulling himself up.
Solana would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire, and obeyed. Her strained wrists protested the climb, but she tried to ignore it. Near the top, her right hand suddenly spasmed and lost its grip, but Joshua grabbed her wrist and helped pull her up the rest of the way. "Thanks," Solana said sincerely.
"We are not out of danger yet," he replied dryly.
After making it up and over a short stone wall in the yard above the trellis, Joshua glanced around to get his bearings and nodded. They were in a small yard of a servant's home across the street from Kuro and Atolla's mansion.
A fire arrow suddenly whizzed by them. "There they are!" an outraged voice yelled to more archers further down the lane. Apparently, there were shortcuts the locals knew about, too.
Solana called up some ice shields to block the next volley, while Joshua took out two more light crystals. "Close your eyes," he instructed, and Solana obeyed. Joshua tossed each crystal in the air and gave it a whack with his mace to make them explode in midair. More brilliant light escaped, and they cursed Joshua vehemently.
"How many of those do you have?" Solana asked in awe.
"Only a few more. Let us proceed," Joshua answered. The two Guardians picked up their speed and ran around the mansion towards the very back. Shadows from fruit trees dappled them, and Solana caught a stronger whiff of the sea than she had yet sensed. Joshua pointed to a wooden building as their final destination, and they stopped to breathe hard for a few seconds.
They were in a lovely gazebo-like structure with benches and potted plants. A large railing protected onlookers from a direct plummet to the sea. Solana peeked over the railing, shocked to see the Tethys hundreds of feet directly below them. A small dock with a boat tied to it was near the surface of the water far below.
But that was it. Solana couldn't figure out what Joshua had in mind, since the steel wall was glass-smooth and moist with sea air and splashes. "How do we get to it?" she asked.
"Why, we merely climb down the-" Joshua stopped as he looked over the edge. Then he did something that was completely out of character for him.
He let out an oath that would have singed the ears of the bawdiest sailors.
"The ladders are controlled by mechanisms, aren't they? Like the docks that become part of the wall? For protection?" Solana asked sadly. She now noticed cracks in what had seemed like a perfectly smooth wall, and an unusual hinge not far below them. The ladder was probably tucked under a steel panel that rotated to expose it when needed.
Joshua nodded, his ears and cheeks crimson with fury. "Someone else has probably attempted a ruse like this in the past," he muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. He kept his eyes on the sea below them and added, "This would have been a lot easier if you had merely pretended to agree with them."
"And when we arrived at the Citadel and they learned the truth?" Solana retorted. Joshua didn't even bother answering.
Solana cocked her head suddenly, sensing something... no, several somethings, through the Asterite Aura. She hadn't heard those sweet calls in some time, but she was still certain!
Taking one more glance over the wall at the sea so far beneath them, she did come mental calculations and nodded in decision. It was risky, but it was their best shot to get out of this mess. "I have a plan, Joshua. But we'll need to make a jump for it."
"Are you out of your mind?! We would be killed by a fall at this height!" Joshua shouted. He glanced at her, then added, "It is certain I would be, at any rate. We cannot risk it."
"....did you hear something...?" Voices. There was no time for backtracking. Whatever they would do, they'd have to do from this spot. Joshua realized it too, and turned pale.
Solana dug in her pack and tossed Joshua a strangely-carved pendant, then climbed onto the railing. "Put that on- you'll need it. Joshua, I swear that I can keep us safe. The only question is, do you trust me?" she asked seriously, activating her Seal of Water.
Joshua glanced at the pendant a second before slipping it over his head without argument. He then joined her at the railing, meeting her silver eyes squarely with his own serious blue ones as shouts in the background grew louder and louder. "I trust you, Solana."
"There they are!" Kuro yelled, from the path leading to the gazebo. He started running towards them, an angry and bloodthirsty mob at his back. Their sharp blades glittered crimson in the fire of the dawn, and their cries for their blood echoed mercilessly. Blasts of fire and lightning magic exploded around them as a promise of what would follow.
The time for thinking was over. "JUMP!!!" Solana ordered, taking his hand and leaping. Joshua let out a yell as they plummeted towards the churning waves, and a soft blue glow suddenly surrounded them both seconds before they hit the water.
Kuro and the others gasped in astonishment, coming to peek over the railing. White foam marked where the Guardians had fallen, but other than that there was no sign of them.
"They must have fallen to their deaths."
"That was stupid."
"We must inform Bachlan of this immediately."
"Wait," Kuro interrupted, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This girl has given Bachlan the slip before. It might be wise to wait a bit, and see what happens." The villagers nodded and waited impatiently.
One minute passed, and there was nothing more to be seen.
Two minutes.
Three minutes, and the foam was dying off.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
"Are you sure about this, Kuro? Even if that water witch had something up her sleeve, they had to have been killed by the fall or drowned by now." Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd.
Kuro scowled, hating it when a criminal escaped justice. Even if that escape was into the afterlife. "We will inform Bachlan. Bring Ridley about to the west two leagues to the shipping district. One of theirs can deliver our message." The others grumbled and agreed, and slowly filed out one by one.
Del had followed and remained there, wondering. He didn't think it was right to kill off one of their own Guardians, but he would never have been able to convince this mob otherwise. What could he have said...?
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a very, very faint blue glow under the water that was moving to the east. Del smiled to himself and went to follow the others, letting them think what they would.