“Oh, I get it,” Dwale said. “So, we can use this key on any door anywhere, and it will open a gate back to here?”
“Yup,” Setsuna said, giving Privet a kiss on the cheek. “This way, no matter where you are, you can always come home to me.”
“Aww, that’s really sweet,” Dwale praised.
“Thank you.”
“Come home to you?” Privet asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, yes, of course. I’m going to live here too, naturally.”
“But I thought the house is in our names?”
“It is, but since I know the owners, I figured they’d let me rent out a room. I should warn you, I can be loud at night sometimes, but I’m willing to do the cooking and cleaning as part of my rent.”
Setsuna appeared behind him and playfully whispered into Privet’s ear. “Here’s a hint; the owners I know are you.”
“Yeah, we got that.”
Dwale’s eyes were as big as saucers. “A woman is going to cook and clean for us? I can’t believe it.”
“I’ve been cooking and cleaning for the last two days. What do you think this apron is for?”
“Well, yeah, but I figured that was a special occasion. But, you doing it permanently…is that really proper?”
“Dwale, we aren’t on Wysteria anymore, how many times do we have to remind you?”
“Well, yeah but…”
“But nothing,” she said, grabbing his shoulders and giving him a friendly shake. “You’re my landlords now.”
She spun around dramatically and fell back into Privet’s arms, placing the back of her hand against her temple. “Please, promise you’ll be gentle with me. It’s my first time being a tenant.”
Privet was about to protest, but then he remembered how tired she had been as if late. Knowing that she had been up all night fashioning this gift for him made him feel even more guilty than before.
“Setting that aside for the moment,” Privet said, setting Setsuna back on her feet, “we really need to check back in with Wysteria.”
Setsuna flicked her wrists, and a pair of tickets appeared. “Hey Dwale, I’ve got an idea. How would you like to go to the zoo today?”
This perked him right up. “The zoo?”
“Yup, the floating zoos of Doi Utheppa are one of the great wonders of the east. Have you ever seen them?”
Dwale shook his head. “I never have. Brother, can we go?”
Setsuna appeared behind Dwale and they both bounced up and down. “Yeah, can we go, sweetie?”
Privet exhaled in exasperation. “I really don’t like you using Dwale against me like that.”
“Oh, come on, like I haven’t been doing that the whole trip.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
“No, the problem is, you need to relax.”
“I can’t relax. Look, Setsuna, we’re in the middle of a war.”
“Their war. It doesn’t concern us.”
“I’m worried about our friends. If we don’t check in, they’ll worry about us too. They’re probably worried already.”
Privet removed the key from the keyhole, and the closet gate collapsed, returning the coat closet to its natural state.
“Now, I’m going to go down to the capital and send a signal through the light carrier,” he said, grabbing his jacket from within. “I’ll be back soon.”
He turned to leave, but she caught his hand, holding it tightly. He looked back, and she was looking up at him. All the flirty merriment was gone from her countenance.
“Don’t go,” she pleaded sincerely, squeezing his hand. “Please, don’t go.”
Privet breathed out in exasperation. In that moment, he would have given anything for the ability to vanish like she had.
“I’m…I’m sorry Setsuna. I have to call them.”
She squeezed his hand even tighter. All her armor fell away, all her bravado and teasing sloughed off of her, and she spoke quietly, her voice unsure, almost as if she were a different person. “They’ll give you another assignment, or order you to return. Please, just stay with me. It’s been fun… right?”
The way she was looking at him so expectantly nearly broke his heart.
“It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had,” he admitted.
“Then just stay with me,” she pleaded. Embarrassed at her own sincerity, she hid her face in her shoulder.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she whispered. “I forgot what it was like…to have a home.”
Privet felt like the biggest heel ever. The last thing he wanted to do was step all over her heart, and yet he felt like that was exactly what he was doing. But what else could he do? In his own heart, he cursed the gods for ever giving mortals something as painful as love.
Privet drew her in close. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes closed. She rose up on her tiptoes to meet him. Her lips puckered, expecting a kiss. Instead, he kissed her on the forehead.
“I’ll be back soon,” he restated as gently as he could.
Setsuna’s face pinched in disappointment, and her armor came back up. “See, that’s what I like about you, Tamarack. You play hardball with your women. You’re assertive, you take control. That’s why the Wysterians didn’t know what to do with you. You’re so masculine it throws them off their game.”
“I will defer to your expertise on what it means to be a man,” he said, putting his jacket on.
In the kitchen, smoke rose from burning tart in the oven, but she ignored it.
Setsuna placed her hands on her hips. “Now, the women of Senndai, we aren’t intimidated by real men. In fact, a challenge only gets us even more excited.”
“Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”
Privet walked towards the door, but Setsuna appeared in front of him, blocking it.
“What are you doing?”
She thrust her hip to the side. “Playing hardball.”
“Come on, Setsuna, don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”
Coquettishly, she reached up and removed the hairpin, letting her green hair fall down behind her in tresses. “You can’t go back.”
Something about the way she said it made Privet pause. “What do you mean we can’t go back?”
Noticing the gathering smoke, she vanished, reappearing back in the kitchen. “I mean, you both have to stay here with me.”
Privet looked at the unblocked door, then back to her. “Is that a threat?”
Setsuna pulled the ruined tart out of the over and tossed it into the trash. “Nope. Here, you will be free, happy, and well cared for. I would hardly call that a threat.”
Privet strode across the living room after her. “Implying that would not be the case if we left?”
Setsuna pulled out the tray and dumped some ice onto the salamander to cool it off. The animal hissed in protest. “You catch on quick, don’t you?”
“Is something wrong, brother?” Dwale asked, growing concerned.
“Did you really purchase Dwale from Madam Freesia?” Privet pressed.
Setsuna took off her apron and tossed it aside. “Well, I suppose that depends.”
“Depends? On what?”
“Well, I left a big old pile of gemstones on her table.”
“But did she agree to it? Did you sign a bill of sale? Did you even meet with her?”
“Who cares? She got value for the exchange,” Setsuna teased, resting her elbows on the counter. “What matters is that he is here now with us, right?”
Privet and Dwale looked at each other in horror.
“You mean…I was stolen?” Dwale asked, growing pale.
“No, you weren’t stolen,” she insisted. “I left money for you. You were…purchased aggressively.”
Dwale stepped back, nearly stumbling over an end t
able. “I…I knew it. I knew this didn’t feel right. My matron had her property stolen, and I was complicit in it.”
“You can’t be complicit in your own theft,” she argued.
“It’s wrong!” Dwale screamed, surprisingly loud for him. “I’m an accessory to thievery. I have dishonored myself and my house.”
Dwale looked around, his eyes panicked. “I have to go back.”
This startled Privet. “Now, wait, Dwale, let’s think about this. If you go back, they’ll give you right back to Madam Freesia.”
“But that’s where I belong!”
“Oh, don’t be absurd,” Setsuna argued, hopping up on the counter and crossing her legs, revealing the fishnet stockings she was wearing beneath her housedress. “You’re free now.”
“No, I’m not. In Milia’s eyes I still belong to her. I can only be freed with my matron’s consent.”
Dwale wrapped his arms around himself, looking like he might throw up. “I thought you were an angel, but you aren’t. You’re a trickster. A thief who tricked me into giving up my honor.”
It surprised her how deeply his words affected her. “How can you be so dense? What is honor compared to freedom?”
“Honor is everything!” Dwale cried. “It was all I had…and you took it away from me. I have to get it back.”
Dwale ran to the closet and grabbed his coat. “Come on, brother. Let’s go home.”
“Wait.”
Dwale and Setsuna froze and looked at Privet, standing there resolutely, a grim determination on his face.
“If we go back, you’ll be put back into slavery,” Privet said softly. “I…I can’t allow that.”
Dwale couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “But you’re my brother.”
“It’s because I’m your brother that I say this. Seeing you suffer so much day to day was more than I could bear. I do not think I could bear it again.”
“You would side with her, brother? A minute ago, all you wanted was to return.”
“That is before I knew you had been stolen. We need some time to think about this and make our plan.”
“There is nothing to discuss, brother. Returning to my matron is the right thing to do.”
“And see you starved and abused?!”
Dwale looked up at him firmly. “I may have suffered, but at least I felt clean inside. I would rather have that then sit in this house wracked with guilt for the rest of my life.”
“You Wysterians are crazy.” Setsuna complained. “How can you possibly feel guilty over a woman that treated you like she did?”
“You mean like you’re treating us right now?” Privet asked.
“Oh, please. I gave you eyes, a house, citizenship. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?”
“Yes. Think about it. The choice is obvious. A life of slavery, or a life with a beautiful young wife who adores you. Frankly, I’m surprised we’re even still talking about this. Now, let’s go to the zoo. I’ll buy you some ice cream to smooth things over.”
“You think it’s so simple, don’t you Setsuna?” Privet growled. “Just pull someone’s strings and watch them dance like a puppet.”
“It is that simple. People have needs. They need food, they need shelter; they need love. I’m offering all of those things to you in spades. You’d have to be thick in the head to even consider going back.”
“It is Milia’s will,” Dwale insisted.
“By the sacred bogs, who cares about Milia’s will?”
Dwale stood up straight and resolute. “I do.”
Dwale made for the door, but Privet stepped in his way, barring him access. “Please, Dwale, let’s just take a while to think on this.”
Dwale looked up at his brother, sincerely hurt. “You would keep me here against my will?”
Privet looked like his heart might break. “If only to keep you safe.”
Setsuna clapped her hands and appeared above the fireplace, balancing on one toe. “Well, see, that’s settled nicely then. Now, I’ll grab my things and we can head out. I hear they have a hairy tuskar.”
The way they ignored her so completely quieted even her down. The Tamarack boys stared each other down, neither giving an inch.
“So, you really mean to keep me here?” Dwale asked firmly.
“Yes,” Privet answered.
In response, Dwale indignantly took off his jacket and dropped it on the floor. “You know, my whole life I have been a slave, brother, but only now do I truly feel like one.”
* * *
The top of the royal tree of Wysteria had been regrown into a circular structure like two stacked plates. As the delegates looked on, the last adjustments were made to the ring of light-carriers, pointing out in all directions, each one linked to a sibling device on an adjacent Alliance island.
“We’re ready, your highness,” Nikki announced proudly.
Queen Forsythia rested her hands atop her staff. “Awaken the system.”
Rachael signaled to the room, and the devices whirred to life. Beams of light reached out in all directions, like the hub of a great wheel, pulses surging along their length in patterns of color and shade. It was the most lovely thing Nikki could ever recall seeing, like a harp made of light, played by the heavens themselves.
The delegates waited intently. A few moments later, pulses returned from beyond the horizon, and the machines began clicking away, writing out the return messages.
“The system is alive,” Nikki announced proudly. “From this room, we are now in communication with every island in the Alliance.”
The delegates erupted in cheers. The insect-like Regent Kowless picked up Precept Nolocauss of Timmeron and gave him a big bear hug, staining the poor man’s robes and beard with an oily slick. King Issha of Tirrak hissed with joy and slapped President Kaln of Sutor, knocking the flower out of his lapel.
Queen Forsythia only bowed her head and said a quick prayer of thanks. “All Alliance communications shall now be handled by this facility. Inform all our allies to permanently destroy their crystal arrays immediately. Have them thrown into the sea.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
The navy officers manning the carriers encoded the messages and they struck out across the sky. It seemed to everyone that this was more than just a way to correspond. It was like a beacon of hope stretching through the firmament. A lighthouse for all the world to see. A symbol that the old grudges had finally been set aside once and for all, ushering in a new era of cooperation and sharing. That night, it felt like a seed of peace had been planted in everyone’s heart. Not just a temporary ceasefire against a common enemy, but a lasting sustainable union. One that would bring harmony to all corners of Aetria.
Rachael looked over a message and turned around, concern on her face. “Your Highness, you need to see this.”
“What is it?”
“Our first message from Hauntailia…” she stammered, losing the heart to continue.
“Yes?”
Her face became pale. “The city of Ericsdale has fallen into the sea.”
The cheers died down, and the laughter stopped. The only sounds were the clicking of the machines.
Proconsul Neriise stepped past his attendants, nearly stepping on his own long mustache. “Are you sure? Please tell me you jest.”
Rachael’s eyes became wet as she shook her head. “They say it happened two days ago. No one saw it coming.”
A dark pallor fell over the room.
The Queen closed her eyes. “How many people lived in that city?”
A tear fell down Rachael’s cheek. “Forty-two thousand. Everyone was in the streets for the harvest festival. They died screaming to Demeres to save them…but she didn’t.”
“No,” Nerisse faltered. “My family lives there. My kin. How could the Goddess
allow this to happen?”
Captain Sykes turned around from his machine, horror on his face. “Message from Almany. The entire southern peninsula has been flooded with seawater. Rineberg and Estria are now underwater.”
Kaiser Duncan stepped forward, his prosthetic arm whirring angrily. “How is this possible?”
Another officer turned around. “Tirrak reports having to evacuate the lowlands of Kaussss. The seas have poured over the Sssempr hills and into the valley.”
King Issha’s scales glowed with rage. “What is happening? It should have taken years for the erosion to progress that far.”
Queen Forsythia looked over the messages carefully. “Allow me a moment to verify something.”
She held her staff tightly and bonded with the royal tree. Her mind extended out through each branch, into each leaf. Her soul traveled down the enormous trunk, fanning out into the roots. Deeper and deeper her mind moved, fanning out through the roots that ran through the very foundations of the island itself. There, at the very tips of the deepest rootlets, she met the edges of the seafloor, where land met sea.
The Queen opened her hazel eyes. “The curse on the seas has accelerated. Our projections are now irrelevant.”
Duke Relivan tore off his large feathered hat and threw it to the ground as he read a message. “My beloved Saint Seychell, it says here the grey cliffs fell into the sea two weeks ago. “How could I have not known about this?”
Seer Alifan of Ronesia placed his hands over his feline eyes, as if trying to block out the horror of it all. “How could we have not seen this coming? How could Cert not have warned us?”
Nikki took a deep breath and let her training take over. There would be a time to grieve, but now was not that time. “The Stonemasters have probably been filtering our crystal array messages for months.”
Queen Forsythia deftly looked over the reports flowing in. “So, this is what they didn’t want us to know.”
Kahn Alakaneezer roared, kicking over a table, scattering its contents everywhere. Adjutants and dignitaries scattered to avoid being hit. “They think they can keep up blind to this? That we would not notice whole chunks of our lands vanishing beneath the seas?”
Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles Page 36
