She must have seen something in my eyes, which were drizzling amber sparks, because she got that look of amazement on her face. And in an instant Countess Celeste of the Techno Knight Order, Blade of Temperance of Wexbury, daughter of Prime Techromancer Donovan, Lady of the Court, and Templar of Sparo, had vanished and in her stead stood the shy and vulnerable Celeste Trapper.
Her cheeks reddened as I went about removing her armor and clothing below it. Leaving her bare to the world. I whispered, “You're so beautiful,” as I went about helping her slip on the dark green and browns leathers of Gypsy armor instead. When her dark hunting cloak was put over her shoulders and her blade fastened at her hip, she had again transformed from a Knight of the Altii to a dangerous looking Gypsy warrior princess, my Sora Celeste.
Her confidence returned as I gave her an appreciative nod. And then it was my turn to stand there as my love stripped me of all that marked me as a knight, a warrior of the Altii, and then remade me into the image of my other heritage. I was no longer a Techno-Knight. Instead, I too was a Femeie de Sabie of the People.
There may or may not have been some trails of hot kisses down my equally heated flesh before she redressed me, and I may or may not have been panting heavily by the time I was in my Gypsy persona. But that is a story for another time.
I took a centering breath to try to ignore the need she had awakened in me and put my mind back on task.
Since we hoped to contact that long-lost band of the Mountain Gypsies on this mission, we had all agreed that it would be better if we led the group in our capacity as Soras of the Lupei. I only wish that Rain could have come with us, as she was the Great Mother. But the Gypsies would not allow her to take such a risk. So we went in her stead.
Celeste looked me over and checked my gear. I knew she was really checking that I had all my weapons secured. She hated it when I was out of the more protective knight's armor and in the less restrictive Gypsy leathers. But she had to know that almost every one of the touched of the people had layered so much protective magic and luck charms upon our gear that it glowed in misty white even to those who didn't have a magic spark. We were safer in these leathers than in full plate armor.
I noted again, how the hunting cloaks we wore, hid the bright magic behind them, and I wondered absently just what kind of charm had been put upon them to mask so much power. The cloak even managed to hide my own constant ghosting on the parts of me it covered, unless I moved too swiftly. I could feel the hundreds of spells and charms the cloaks themselves were imbued with, hidden behind that muting shroud.
She nodded once at me, and I returned it, and we exited our home together and marched past the guards, who didn't stand at attention as we passed them. I smiled. They were learning slowly. At first, they were as confused as we ourselves were about our status as Templars when we were also Knights of Wexbury and Gypsy Soras.
Princess Everly had sorted it all out with a simple statement. “Just look at how they are dressed to determine in which capacity they are in at any given time.”
So the Templar Guards only answered to us when we wore our Templar Crest, or if they could see even a portion of the Templar daggers on our legs.
I waved at them from my hip self consciously as we passed. The men's stoic looks broke into barely contained smiles. One was from York, but I was trying to place the Gold and Silver colors on the other man.
I swear that Celeste lived inside my own thoughts at times as she whispered to me, “New World Keep.” Ahh, that's right. I nodded my thanks. I should have known that.
We stepped up to the airships, which had huge crowds of knights and commoners gathered around them, to watch our departure. We looked over to the poor Outrider, who was getting virtually no attention. The poor girl was positively dwarfed by the other vessels.
Standing tall in front of her, was Sir Bexington, in full armor with his dress cape rippling in the light breeze. That it seemed his dirigible was being ignored didn't change the proud look on his face as he stood at rigid attention. I had to smile at the handkerchief with lilacs embroidered on it that he had tied to his arm. A gift and a promise from his darling wife, Brenda.
Beside him was the rest of our Greva.
Sylvia, looking dangerous in Gypsy leathers. I had never seen the healer in leathers before, and it looked good on the woman. We needed a healer for the mission, and she was the first to volunteer. I took great pride in that as I saw her as the sister I never had.
Then, of course, our Garda Personala, and Sylvia's brother, Alexandru of the Lupei. He was always out there lurking unseen with his bow, protecting us whether we wanted it or not. And I admit, he has saved me on more than one occasion with his uncanny aim.
The looks of the tall roguish man with his black flowing curls and three days growth of stubble had all the hearts of the women around him, and even some of the men, pounding. He had that smirking smile on his face that was so endearing when he saw us approaching. He inclined his head slightly to us.
And of course, there was Sarafine, one of the most deadly Femeie de Sabies of the Lupei. Her magic spark was just slightly stronger than Celeste's, who was considered to be on the weak end of the magic scale... but like my Lady, it wasn't her magic that made her so deadly.
I had to grin at the two individuals next to her as she kissed each one goodbye. First, she roughly pulled Sir Tennison down by the back of his neck to kiss him roughly and greedily, then she turned to the fair Karen Baker, who was quite the soft and gentle soul, and gave her a whispering kiss as if she might break if she applied too much pressure.
Then she shooed them away, the huge knight leading Karen past us on his arm. I've been trying to figure out their relationship. The Gypsy woman couldn't choose between her two lovers. So she didn't. And each of them seemed ok that she sometimes warmed her bed with the other. I think they were both just so in love with the charismatic Gypsy woman that they were willing to take her any way they could get her. And Tennison and Karen had become fast friends instead of jealous enemies.
We slid in beside Bex to wait for George to give the departure order. Sara pulled me into a quick sideways hug as she winked at Celeste.
We stood at attention as Celeste spoke out the side of her mouth to our friend, “Give it up already Sara, we're not joining your harem.”
The Gypsy woman chuckled as she stared straight ahead, “Ooo a harem. I like that.”
Alexandru spoke out the side of his mouth as well, “Ah, a splendid idea.”
Mother Luna, there were two of them. They were incorrigible! I shook my head at the smug Gypsies.
Then I had to stop a surprised outburst when Sylvia mumbled, “You'd have to get them out of Ranelle's first.”
What? Was that... were we...
She eased my panic, letting me know she teased when she whispered, “You're too easy Laney.”
I sighed. “The list. All of you.”
Nobody seemed intimidated by that, so I just smiled as my nerves built, like the sloshing waves on the Great Sea in Solomon as a storm approached. It was a familiar feeling that I got every time we were about to embark upon an important mission. But this time, it was tempered by something nebulous I couldn't quite put a finger on until I realize that this time I didn't feel as if I were the wrong person for the job, just a pretender in knight's armor. I had finally accepted who and what I was back in Highland, at the Royal Masquerade, and I felt... worthy now.
And before we could banter anymore, the Prince stepped up on a box, with Everly on his left, Ranelle on his right. It was time.
My mind was racing, and I didn't hear much of George's speech. I was already going through all the possible scenarios we might run into when and if we even found the Westlands. I had done this many times over the past year, but now it seemed more... real, now that we were about to take to the air.
I knew that we, or at least I would have to face those metal monstrosities from my vision, with all the death around them, unless someone changed their deci
sions between now and then.
Mother Udele had taught me a long time ago how the decisions we make, no matter how small, can have a huge effect in the future. Just like how tossing a tiny pebble into a still pond will create ripples in ever-growing rings to the shore.
Or how kicking a stone off of a road can make the difference between a rider with lifesaving medicines getting to their destination and his horse splitting a hoof on that stone. A seemingly meaningless action that can change the lives of so many.
This knowledge that my sight only sees the most likely future is how Celeste and Sara are able to best me in combat training by being aware of their most likely attacks and changing their choice at the last moment. In that case, it didn't matter if I could see three seconds into the future or three days. And I am actually happy that they can do that to keep me on my toes. Otherwise, I would rely on my sight too much and would be caught off guard too easily if an opponent figured it out.
So I just needed to figure out if it will be our choices or the choices of the attackers in the Westlands that need to change to prevent the slaughter of so many of the Cristea band.
Everyone started cheering and clapping, and I snapped out of my thoughts.
Syl was chuckling and telling Celeste, “It seems our Laney was lost in her head again.”
Celeste and Bex replied in unison as we looked around at the crowd. “Just a little.”
I grumped at the familiar tease, “I'm not that small.”
Men and women in dress armor and capes started filing onto the other vessels as the Prince, Duke, and Ranelle moved over to us. Mother beat them to us and gave each person in our group a hug and kiss. She whispered in my ear, “Be strong, and never show weakness baby girl.”
I nodded animatedly to her, holding back fresh tears.
We all turned when Duchess Lucia, on the Duke's arm said as they joined us, “Nice dress Margret, get it from the brothel in the Trough?”
Mother beamed a wide happy smile at the woman who had had a one-sided feud with mother for years until I pulled them both aside and told them to stop being so foolhardy and make up. The Duke chose Lucia after mother turned him down, but that didn't mean Lucia was second choice. It just means she was a different choice and it was plain to all how deeply in love Fredrick was with Lucia.
Mom said, “Lucy, dear, the madame got it from your closet for me.”
They chuckled at each other as they kissed cheeks. I was so happy they had started rekindling their friendship and wondered if they had been a couple of hellions like Misty and Ingr when they were young. I could actually picture mother being that full of mischief, a fact that would have shocked me just a few short years ago.
George grasped each of our arms. “Fair-weather and godspeed people.”
As the leaders of the mission by default, being as how this was a Gypsy led mission and we were part of Ranelle's own, Celeste and I replied in unison without thinking, “Open roads.” Mother Luna, I was starting to sound like one of those battle-weary knights with their own language and understanding.
Nobody would wish us luck for the mission, as that would jinx us... if you were superstitious that is. That was just silly, and I'm not in the least. I looked around to knock on some wood at the thought. Fine, maybe I am a bit.
Rain looked at us all, her back ramrod straight, pride radiating off of her. Gone was the aloof facade she tried to project all the time to give people what they expected, a haphazard Gypsy with more guile than sense. There before us was only Great Mother Ranelle, Queen of the Mountain Gypsies and the most powerful magic user in all of Sparo. We all stood straighter at the intensity in her look, all of that pride was for us, and we would not let her down.
She didn't say a word, she didn't need to, and I inclined my head ever so slightly to her, she reciprocated then just spun on her heel and strode away. Were her eyes watering? The crowd seemed to part before her and filled back in like she were an unmoving rock in the middle of a mighty river and the current split to flow around it.
We all knew how much she wished to go, to aid the Cristea as much as to protect us all. It struck me just how alone she was in this world, not for the first time, and my heart ached for her. It amazed me just how much I loved the woman because of the kinship I felt with her. Being alone even in the largest of crowds, never quite belonging in any of the worlds we walked through.
It was only my family that grounded me and chased those feelings away, made me feel like I actually belonged. She was part of that family, and I hoped she realized that as well. I glanced up to see the concern that mirrored mine in the face of my wife as she watched Rain go. Others may believe that Celeste is a heartless killing machine, but they don't know just how much compassion she has within her which her close friends and family see burning in her eyes.
I inclined my head to the Duke and Duchess and then turned to our group as the far-off bells of Wexbury chimed the noon hour, the peals of the bells of Cedar Ridge rising to meet them. I asked, “Shall we?”
Bex was the first in motion, heading into the Outrider as the two Wexbury knights who would be riding with us, passed by and into the craft. We followed, and I hesitated on the little ramp as I noted the two other airship captains chuckling and pointing at the Outrider, smirks on their faces.
I shook my head. Why must men always be comparing the size of things? Sometimes I believe that they're all nothing more than overgrown boys.
As soon as we stepped inside, Bex was calling out orders, “Secure the doors! I'm retracting the anchors.”
Celeste and I glanced nervously at each other, and she called out as she secured the door. “Belay that. Give us a moment.” Then she and I went about scouring the cabin, pantry, and the cargo area.
I sighed in relief when we didn't find Misty stowed away again. We re-entered the cabin and Bex was giving us a crooked, amused smile. He knew what we had been looking for. Celeste winked and nodded to him. He slammed some levers back, pulled the safeties and slammed them back forward, then we could hear the metallic sound of the chains of the anchors being retracted.
He moved another lever, and we could hear the rushing of helium gas as he increased our buoyancy. I could tell the instant we left the ground. There was a slight forward motion before Bex compensated.
Then my excitement built as the slow whup whup whupping of the blades of the great propellers sped up until they were buzzing with a deep thrum like my heart. I dashed to the windows with the others as we started to climb vertically out of the Templar Courtyard, the other mammoth vehicles moving slowly and lumbering after us.
This was it, another adventure of a lifetime. I inhaled deeply as Celeste stepped behind me to hug me to her as we started the first leg of our journey.
Bex called out, “Next stop, the western outer marker.”
Chapter 5 – Weigh Station
I was silently smug during the short five-hour flight when we saw how long it took for the bigger vessels to catch up with us. Their top speed may eclipse the Outrider, but she was quicker and more nimble than they were. Bex even literally flew circles around them until they were up to speed.
I noted the sly smile on his face when he did so. Well good on him! I thought he had just been oblivious to the mocking from the Highland and Solomon captains, he always has his head in the clouds. But I can imagine they were eating crow just about then. Bigger does not always mean better.
Celeste stood behind me as we watched the lush green oceans of the grasslands shared by Wexbury and Perth Hollow pass by on our right, and the Fringe on our left. The area where the ever-growing Habitable Lands crept into the barren and rocky landscape left to us by that long ago cataclysm.
Every year, part of that desolate landscape is reclaimed by life, as Sparo grows around the fringe an average of a hundred yards a year, as grasses and plants push their way out as new soil is created by the erosion of the very environment out there, by wind and by rain.
It was such a... what was the word Emily ha
d taught me last month? That means opposing natures? A dihectome? No... a dichotomy. I smiled to myself. I loved knowledge and learning new things. Nobles grew up with the gift of being given a proper education, where us commoners were not offered the same. I think to some extent it was to keep us ignorant so that we did not question things, but mostly because we were viewed more as property than equals and they didn't see any need to educate us.
That is changing now, with Wexbury and Highland leading the charge, and it is spreading through the Lower Ten like wildfire as our new programs are picked up by all. I longed for the day that every citizen of Sparo, whether she be noble or commoner, or even Outsider, is educated. Knowledge should be a right, not a privilege. And just maybe, I will see that come to pass in my lifetime.
I looked between the two extremes passing by us on either side, the... dichotomy of the two existing together. Life on one side, death on the other. And it amazed, excited, and frightened me all at once. One day, life would reclaim the entire Earth.
I could see some of the endless seeming dust storms in the distance. I turned back and asked Bex where he stood at the big ship's wheel, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon, “How far can I see?”
He smiled and said, We're not at full cruising altitude for this portion of the journey, we are at about two thousand feet, so the horizon would be about...” I saw his eyes flicker as he did the math in his brilliant mind. “... Fifty-four miles or so.”
That just boggled my mind, everyone knew you could see two to three miles on the ground as you traveled, but up here it meant we could see all around us close to ninety miles. He added just to send me into a puddle of blubbering incomprehension, “Almost ninety miles at our top cruising altitude.”
That would be just a little less than a two hundred mile view from horizon to horizon. I whispered, “Mother Luna!” We'd be able to see half of all of Wexbury from that height! Would it, I wondered, be like looking down at a map of the realm upon a table?
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