Nica's Legacy (Hearts of ICARUS Book 1)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “Is this a carriage?” she asked Bree.

  “Yes, it is,” Bree replied with a hesitant smile. “I know, it’s primitive, but welcome to Cidade.”

  “Thank you, and I think it’s fascinating,” Nica replied. “Do you mind if I take a closer look?”

  “No, not at all,” Bree replied, relaxing a little. Nica reached out and squeezed Bree gently on the arm, reassuring her that she had nothing to feel embarrassed about. Then she stepped closer to the carriage, rising up on her toes to look in the window. The interior was very simple; just two leather covered bench seats, one on each side, and curtains tied back at the windows. She moved on to the horses, where her real interest lay, nodding at the driver who held two bunches of leather reins in his hands.

  She examined the harnesses with a careful eye, tracing the leather straps and buckles from the complicated bridles to the traces and poles, quickly understanding the theory and execution of the set up though she’d never seen anything like it before in her life. Satisfied that she understood how it all worked, she moved on to the horses themselves. She studied their musculature, bone structure, stance, and gleaming coats, all the while speaking to them in a low, soft voice. Then she spent a moment with each one, praising them with whispered words and a few gentle strokes on their velvety noses, watching their ears and eyes carefully, gauging their temperaments and finding them remarkably intelligent and calm. After a few minutes she stepped back, impressed.

  “These are fantastic horses,” she said, looking up to find both Bree and Ian watching her with mild surprise which she barely noticed. When it came to subjects she truly liked, she tended to forget herself, and horses were definitely in that category. “They remind me very much of an ancient breed called Clydesdales, but on a smaller scale. The post horse has a bad shoe, though.”

  “A bad shoe?” Ian asked, frowning.

  “Yes,” Nica said, relieved that he appeared to be at least a little interested. “See how he keeps shifting his weight?” she asked, leading the way around to the animal in question. She confidently knelt down, running one hand down the horse’s leg, then lightly tapped the horse’s hoof. Ian’s eyes widened in surprise as the horse obediently lifted his hoof for inspection. He hesitated, then knelt down beside Nica, watching as she examined the hoof and shoe with sure hands, pointing out the problem area and explaining what would happen if it weren’t tended to immediately.

  Ian was stunned. It was important to him that his horses were well taken care of, but he didn’t do it himself, and he’d certainly never seen a woman do it. He watched Nica, admiring her as she gently placed the horse’s hoof back on the ground, then gave it an affectionate pat before standing up again.

  “Thank you, Miss Vinia, for pointing this problem out to me,” he said, walking her back to where Bree waited on the sidewalk. “I hope you ladies won’t mind the delay, but I need to have this animal taken care of immediately.”

  “I don’t mind at all, Mr. Fadden,” Nica said honestly. In truth, she would have refused to ride in a carriage pulled by a horse at risk of going lame anyway.

  “Me neither,” Bree agreed.

  Ian went to speak with his driver, who’d been watching them check the horse. He was extremely upset that he’d missed the loose shoe in his morning inspection, which eased some of Ian’s concern. Just because he didn’t get down on the ground to personally check his horse’s hooves didn’t mean he didn’t care about them. He did care, very much, which was why he paid people with training and experience to take care of such things. This particular team of horses were the stars of his stable, and he would have been furious if one had gone lame due to carelessness.

  The driver set off to summon a farrier, leaving a footman to watch over the carriage. Ian gave the footman strict instructions not to let the horses move so much as a single step, and then returned to the ladies.

  “You seem to know quite a bit about horses, Miss Vinia,” he said.

  “I grew up on a ranch, Mr. Fadden,” Nica said, her reticence returning now that she was finished with the horses.

  “A ranch?” Ian asked, unfamiliar with the term.

  “A place where cattle are raised,” Nica clarified. “The Jasani like to do some things the old fashioned way, like you Apedrans, so they use horses rather than machines to manage their herds.”

  “You grew up working with cows?” Ian asked with a grimace of distaste.

  Nica arched a brow at him. “I understand that you raise several crops on your country estate, Mr. Fadden. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, it is,” he said, annoyed that she hadn’t seen fit to answer his question.

  “Should I assume that you go out and plant the seeds, water the plants, and harvest them with your own two hands?” From the corner of her eye Nica saw Bree raise one hand to cover a smile, then caught Ian cast his sister a warning look before refocusing his attention on her.

  “You’re very impertinent, Miss Vinia.”

  “Perhaps,” Nica replied coolly. “But since it was your impertinence that started it, you can hardly cast stones at me.”

  Ian opened his mouth, then closed it with a snap. She was right. His question was undoubtedly impertinent. Rude, in fact. Particularly in light of the favor she’d just done him. But that didn’t stop his temper from rising. His eyes narrowed as he scrambled for something truly scathing to say to her, but his anger slipped when he suddenly noticed how pale and tired she looked.

  “Bree,” he said without taking his eyes from Nica, “I’ll hire a cab to take you and Miss Vinia home, then I have some business to attend to. I’ll try to join you this evening for dinner, but if I’m not there, start without me.”

  “All right, Ian,” Bree said, relieved that she’d have some time alone with Nica. She watched Ian walk away to summon a cab for them, then turned to Nica, who was biting her lip so hard Bree was worried she’d break the skin. “What’s the matter, Nica?”

  “I don’t think your brother likes me, and I don’t want to be the cause of any trouble between you,” Nica replied. “Maybe I should stay in a hotel instead of your house.”

  “Please don’t,” Bree begged. “I’ve been looking forward to your visit forever and it won’t be the same if you’re in a hotel.”

  “You didn’t know I was coming until a few days ago,” Nica pointed out.

  “I’ve been inviting you here for years, Nica, and you know it,” Bree said. “If I’d known you were going to have the summer free I would have sent you an invitation a month ago. Besides, you look exhausted, and you’ll never get rested in a hotel. Please say you’ll stay at Fadden House. Please?”

  Nica looked into her friend’s eyes and couldn’t bring herself to refuse. “Of course I will. I’ve missed you, Bree.”

  “I’ve missed you, too,” Bree said. “So much.”

  ***

  Ian Fadden stepped away from the women and took a long, slow, deep breath as he tried to rein in his reaction to Miss Nica Vinia. From the moment he’d set eyes on her something inside of him had reacted in a way he’d never experienced before. It was like every nerve ending in his body froze in shock, then sizzled with instantaneous need. He’d been standing perfectly still and yet he felt off balance, as though he was in danger of falling. It had taken every ounce of self-control he possessed to hide his reaction, especially when they’d locked eyes with each other. Try as he might, he hadn’t been able to look away from those dark blue, fathomless orbs until Bree had spoken.

  Even now, with his back turned to her, he couldn’t banish the detailed mental image of her that had been permanently seared into his retinas. She was small, nearly a full head shorter than Bree, and delicate looking with her pale skin and large eyes. And yet, there was something in the way she moved that warned there was more to her than met the eye. He had a feeling that most people underestimated her, and he was willing to bet that she let them. He’d also noticed that she’d smiled at Bree only once, briefly, which seemed strange because her mouth l
ooked made for smiling. She appeared to be a bundle of contradictions, and he found himself struggling not to be captivated by her.

  Instead of replaying her voice in his mind, he forced himself to remember the way she was dressed. The worn, faded jeans, the wrinkled cotton top, the scuffed sneakers, the denim jacket with the frayed collar. She wore no jewelry aside from a cheap looking gold ring with a cloudy green stone and a pair of small golden hoops in her ears. She didn’t even have luggage. Just an old canvas bag that hung from her shoulder on a long strap.

  Nica Vinia was pretty, there was no denying that. Very pretty, in fact. But, he and Bree were the last of the Fadden line, and of the two of them, only he had the spark of power. That meant that he had responsibilities not only to their Fadden ancestors, but to the future of Apedra itself. A future that became more tenuous by the year.

  It was imperative that he wed a woman of Apedran blood whose spark matched his own, and have children with her. Children who could help save their world before it was too late. A poor girl from some backwater planet that he could never remember the name of was, quite simply, not an option for him.

  Ian raised one arm in the air to summon a cab, satisfied that he’d settled the matter of Bree’s guest in his mind. He barely even noticed when he lowered his hand to his chest and began rubbing the dull ache that had suddenly taken up residence in the region of his heart.

  ***

  A few minutes later both women were in the dark confines of a hired carriage which had a strange, musty odor that caused them to wrinkle their noses. Bree immediately opened the windows on both sides and they moved to sit closer to them. Nica was surprised by the number of people walking along the raised sidewalks that lined both sides of the stone cobbled road. There were a few people riding horses, and quite a few riding in a variety of horse drawn vehicles, but the majority walked. The strangest thing of all was that no one seemed to be in a hurry. A few pedestrians walked faster than those around them, and she’d seen one horse urged into a trot by its rider, but everyone else seemed perfectly happy to stroll along as though they hadn’t a care in the world.

  “From what I read on the liner, Cidade is the only big city in Galia, is that right?” she asked Bree.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Bree replied. “There are lots of small towns all over the continent, but none are remotely big enough to be called a city. Cidade has the skyport, the Med Center, and it’s the government seat.”

  “So anyone in Galia that wants to go off world, or who gets ill or injured, must come here, to Cidade?”

  “Yes, but it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Bree said. “Galia is a big country with lots of space, but few people. We have a much smaller population than Jasan.”

  “Yes, I read that, but Jasan is a world, whereas Galia is just one country. It makes sense that Jasan would have more people.”

  Bree blinked at Nica in surprise. “Galia is the only populated continent on Apedra, Nica. The population of Galia is the population of Apedra.”

  “Why isn’t the rest of Apedra populated?” Nica asked in surprise.

  “Because Galia is the only land mass large enough to support more than a handful of people. We’re an agricultural world, so what land we have is needed to raise crops for export, which is why we have just one city. Apedra is 97% ocean, Nica. I thought you knew that.”

  “No,” Nica said. “I just thought that the data library on the passenger liner was incomplete or faulty when I could only find information on Galia.”

  “No, that’s all there is,” Bree said. “There are lots of little islands, but nothing that would support human life. And no, we don’t harvest our oceans because there isn’t a single sea creature on Apedra that isn’t deadly poisonous to humans.”

  “I understand now why it was so difficult for you at school,” she said. “Especially your first year. In fact, I’m amazed how quickly you settled in now that I see what you’re used to.”

  “It was hardest at the beginning of each new semester after being home for a while,” Bree admitted.

  “Yes, I know,” Nica said, nodding. “It was difficult for me to get used to the crowds and noise when I went to school, too, and Jasan is nowhere near as tech free as Apedra. Seeing all this, I don’t understand how you ever got used to school at all.”

  “I wouldn’t have if not for you, Nica,” Bree said softly.

  “Me?” Nica asked in surprise.

  “You’ve been kind to me since the first day we met,” Bree said. “Genuinely kind. I’ve never had a friend like you, Nica. Not even here, on Apedra.”

  “Why not?” Nica asked. “I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t like you.”

  “Sometimes people have preconceived notions about other people,” Bree replied, turning her face toward the window again. “And sometimes they want to be close to you for reasons other than friendship.”

  “I can certainly understand that,” Nica said with a grimace, then decided a change of subject was needed. “I told Honey I’d try to keep in touch while I’m here, and I gave her your comm code to send messages to. Are there any of those Tech Centers I read about near where you live?”

  “Sure,” Bree replied. “Several. The closest to Fadden House is only about two blocks away.”

  “Do I need to make a reservation to use one?”

  “Only if you want a ground car,” Bree said. “Otherwise, you just go on in and use whatever you need whenever you need it. They have a full library, vid terminals, a hard line comm center, pretty much whatever you need. If you register your name and our address, and how long you expect to stay, they’ll send someone to the house to let you know if you get any messages. You have to go there to retrieve them, of course.”

  “That’s better than nothing,” Nica said. “Why are ground cars the exception?”

  “Because they’re in fairly high demand since it’s the fastest way to travel on Galia, and not very many people can afford to own one. There’s even a law that every town, no matter how small, has to keep at least one available at all times in case of emergencies.”

  “Wait,” Nica said, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen a single ground car since I got here. I thought they were forbidden. Like vid terminals and voxes.”

  “Oh no, not at all,” Bree replied. “We don’t shun technology, Nica. There’s something in our atmosphere that interferes with all electromagnetic transmissions, radar, electronics, anything and everything like that. Voxes don’t work, and neither do vid terminals, or any type of computer or electronic device unless they’re shielded. The med-center is completely shielded and isolated from the atmosphere, with its own oxygen generators and carbon dioxide scrubbers, just like the Tech Centers. On top of that, our communication devices, we call them comms, have to be hardwired to each other with shielded cables. Some people have a shielded comm in their home with a hard wire connected to the closest Tech Center, but most just go to the Tech Center. We have one in Fadden House, and another in the country, at Fadden Fields, but we have to share the lines with everyone else, so messages aren’t private.”

  “What about the ground cars?” Nica asked. “Why aren’t there any in Cidade?”

  “That’s mostly economics,” Bree replied. “Like I said, we’re strictly an agricultural planet. We don’t manufacture anything, so just about everything we use has to be imported, which is expensive. On top of that, the electronics on every ground car have to be retro fitted with hardened shielding to withstand whatever it is in our atmosphere that fries them, which adds substantially to their cost. Few people can afford to own one, which leaves the majority of Cidade’s population dependent on horses. Not only do ground cars scare the heck out of the horses, the streets aren’t designed for them, and it would cost a fortune to rebuild every street in the city for the handful of people who own ground cars. So, no ground cars are allowed in Cidade. Outside the city limits is another story.”

  “I don’t imagine they’re any easier to afford for people who don’t live
in the city,” Nica said.

  “No, they’re not,” Bree agreed. “But, the city purchased a fleet of buses about a decade ago. They run on set routes that cover all of Galia, and since they can carry so many passengers at one time, it’s an inexpensive method of travel. For people who prefer to travel more privately and can afford it, there are a number of companies who rent out ground cars. With drivers, of course. Only people who own their own ground cars bother to learn how to operate them.”

  “What about air transports?”

  “We don’t have them,” Bree said. “They require too much space and too much fuel, which has to be imported. Try building a refinery when you have to shield every computer, every control panel, and every electrical line. They’re simply not cost effective for the number of people who’d use them. Galia has a long term contract with a company that brings in a fleet of cargo transports during harvest season, but that’s it.”