Jess shivered then, gazing at the world through haunted eyes.
And just like that, Twilight was upon her shoulder once more, purring gently, soothing her with an affectionate butt upon her visor raised cheek. "There, there, my queen. Your sister is safe, your family hale and hearty, Grimsly is dead, and the headmistress herself now knows that there is a fierce price to pay, should she dare to cross you. You have a good heart and a strong sense of justice. All will be well, my Jess. You will see."
Rulia's gaze was one of awe. “Never have I heard of any scholar with access to such lore. It is almost like you were there yourself, friend cat.” She managed a nervous chuckle. “I had always wondered why such a woman, with access to such power, had even allowed those nations to exist as anything but fiefdoms to her own great empire.”
Twilight gazed thoughtfully at the young woman. “Her counselors had advised against the horrendous administrative nightmare that would have resulted from directly absorbing every major city-state in such a short span of time. The payment of tribute assured a hefty profit and the ritual submission of all her inferiors, while allowing her to avoid the headaches of territorial politics, administration, and tax collection. It also granted those conquests the illusion of self-rule, so long as they always kneeled before their true queen. And payed on time, of course. In gold and fishies alike. Very important, that.”
"What kind of magical beast are you?" Rulia's gaze was equal parts wonder and fear as she locked gazes with Twilight's sapphire orbs. "To know such details, to have such knowledge. As if you were an elder spirit yourself."
Twilight flashed a cheshire grin. “You may call me Twilight. I am the familiar of my mistress and her most loyal servant, even more so than that silly Hound.”
Jess chuckled softly at that, gently scratching her cat upon the spots he most favored, expertly doing so even wearing her mithril mailed gauntlets, so utterly perfect was her control, so intimately they knew one another. "Somehow I don't think my shieldbrother would approve of being called a silly hound, my dear Twilight," Jess mused.
Her familiar shrugged, still grinning. “He doesn’t have to like it. The truth is the truth, and he too accepts his place upon the great wheel of life, however much he barks and growls in mock protest. He rebels in his own way, not even true to his form, but when the final clarion call to battle rings through the threads of destiny that shape this life, he too shall fight by your side, as always.”
Jess smiled. “Of course I know that. My shieldbrother shall always fight at my side when the darkness grows thick, and Shadow seeks to choke out the light of Dawn. And I too shall fight at his behest, when the Sacred Horn is blown by fiends foul and wicked, and love alone summons me forth, in its hour of direst need.” Jess blinked bemusedly, shaking her head to clear it of eerie cobwebs of half remembrance, chuckling to cover her sudden discomfort.
Rulia did not look reassured, her gaze one of equal parts fear and awe. “Old legends. My lover and her familiar, deep in the realm of the dead, speaking of ancient pacts, and eras long forgotten.” She forced a laugh then. “If I did not know better, my lover, the things I would wonder about you.”
Jess flashed a maverick grin. “You know us adventurers, always up to our necks in the thick of it. Old lore and eldritch power no doubt oozes off us like molasses. I wouldn’t be surprised if figments of ancient memory and dream also dribble free of us sometimes. Makes me want to take a bath, really.”
“Nonsense,” Twilight sniffed. “Would I be perched upon your shoulder if you were oozing eldritch power? As if you would ever be so wasteful.”
Jess chuckled softly. “You’ve been perched upon my shoulder, giving orders in the heat of battle, with both of us covered in blood and gore.”
“Yes, I know. I meant besides that."
Jess flicked her finger upon her helm, inducing a soft tonal ring. “Wait. I feel like we lost the thread of our original conversation here.”
Twilight gave an impatient flick of his tail. “We had deduced that your lover is in all likelihood an agent of Velheim. But since she has made no active move against us; indeed, seems to be smitten with you, we have elected to ignore that little facet of your relationship, so long as she refrains from doing anything more egregious than proselytizing you with Velheim’s take on the origins of our nations’ mutual conflict.”
“Ah yes, that’s right,” Jess nodded, even as Rulia self-consciously stepped back, raising her hands in mute supplication.
“My Jess, I promise you, I am no agent seeking to cause any harm to Erovering. My word upon it.”
Jess gave her beau a sympathetic smile. “It's okay, Rulia. I know your heart is in the right place. You’re worried about your people. Who wouldn’t be? And honestly, a lot of what you say makes sense. It at least gives one pause to think and wonder if there is a bit more to the picture than our Council of Lords wishes to trouble their dutiful little pawns with.” Jess shrugged. “As long as you have relegated yourself to doing no more than encouraging people to think, to not march blindly into a war that could very well all be due to the machinations of a corrupt few, who I am to gainsay you that? People should be allowed to see all sides of an issue and judge for themselves, whatever those pulling our nation’s strings might like to think.”
Rulia, however, was shaking her head emphatically, her eyes scrunched with frustration. “No, Jess. You don’t understand! I wasn't sent here to insight trouble at all!”
Jess gave a sorrowful shake of her head. "Oh, Rulia. Please. Be honest with me, okay? The more we spoke, the more passionate you felt about the matter, the more you've let little things slip, like referring to this country as ‘your country' or our king as ‘your king'. You've really got to practice more at this instigator stuff. You've got to pretend at least to be impartial but wanting to share an interesting point of view you heard, which is where you pitch your propaganda, but subtly, while at the same time saying you think it's pure hogwash, that a loyal servant of the Crown should never believe these things that only seem true on the surface, and thus your very words invite them to analyze it critically, so that the truths resonate even deeper within them, even as you seem naively faithful to the Crown yourself!"
Twilight favored Jess with a bemused look. “Yes, I know you are on good terms, but should we be giving her tips? You would think her spymaster would at least be semi-competent in the first place, putting her in such a precarious position, and so untrained.”
Jess shrugged. “She’s my friend, and my battlesister in what’s to come. I don’t mind helping her out. Besides, a lot of what she says makes sense and I, for one, don’t need to be haunted by the faces of all the people I’ll be forced to kill if Erovering formally declares war with Velheim, and I’m drafted into the conflict. Particularly now, when it seems that the entire kingdom was tricked into war by a clever gambit quite possibly instigated by old King Joshua himself!”
Twilight twitched his tail. "Somehow I don't think anyone will be able to force you into such a position, should you decide to take a formal stand on the matter. Of course, at that point, we must get your family into hiding, so that they can't be used against us with what's to come."
Jess grinned evilly. “You're probably right, Twilight. Just imagine all the heads I’ll have to stuff through shattered walls to make my point then!”
Rulia couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “Oh gods, Jess, you are something else!” She gave Jess a strained smile. “Jess. Please believe me. I am neither a spy seeking to gather information to use against you, nor an instigator seeking to cause trouble.” She took a deep breath, girding herself. “You are right about one thing. I am from Velheim. But that’s not because I wanted to stir up trouble here. You see, the truth of the matter is, I sort of fled.”
Jess blinked, unable to deny the candor of her lover's words, Rulia deliberately catching her gaze, forcing her to see the truth of the love she felt for Jess, resonating deep within her soul. Jess sensed no deliberate deception, an
d not a trace of malice. Only the fear of her lover thinking less of her.
Jess blinked back sudden tears, overcome with tender affection for this beautiful angel revealing her heart to Jess like the most precious of blossoms, the last of Rulia's words only then catching up to her. "You sort of fled?"
Rulia nodded solemnly. "Politics are precarious where I am from. threats were made against me, and my parents couldn't afford to move against the players we think are behind it, not at that moment anyhow." She sighed deeply. "So I had to leave, and quickly. So here I am, an insignificant borderland noble whose family still has sufficient coin to cover my tuition here. And that's also true, by the way. My family really does have legal claim to a small parcel of land just beside the border. Why, we even pay Crown taxes on it, regular as clockwork."
A hand shyly reached out to clasp Jess's own. "And yes, Jess. While I was here, an old family friend did want me to make myself useful, chasing down strange rumors that he thought would help protect our clan, somehow, from the storm we all know is coming. So, just to keep myself busy as much as anything else, I did so." She braved a smile. "The leads I dug up in the library are interesting ones indeed, and if there is any truth to them, it is only in living lands of moonlit dream that I will be able to find what I seek, in any case. In truth? I was terrified even to enter the deadlands, and I think it all a bit of a fool's errand. But if there is even the slightest chance of finding a mystic key that can protect my family from the chaos to come, how can I not be open to the possibility that the world is stranger and more wondrous than I had once thought? So that my family, at least, won't be butchered to the last woman and child when Erovering eventually washes over us in a storm of blood and bitter tears."
Pleading eyes gazed into Jess's own. "I hope I can count on you, shieldsister, to stand by my side, in our adventure to come. I know our first priority is finding out what happened to those girls. We are their only hope. But should strange tales of a rainbow key be whispered while we are there? I hope you will embrace the story just a little bit longer, to see me safely through."
Jess couldn't help herself, she clasped Rulia close and tight, locking surprised lips with her own. Startlement melted into relieved adoration, their kiss running hot and deep.
Twilight sighed. “Really, Jess. If you keep that up so close to the edge of dream, you will both slip right back into the waking world, and we'll never find those girls, or this missing key.”
Rulia chuckled throatily. “Thank you, my lover. Should we actually prove successful, my clan, at least, will be spared the horrors of war to come, and the fact that you care enough about me to put my family's safety above absolute conquest? I am more grateful than words can say.”
Jess felt her cheeks flush, staring fixedly down at her feet. "Saving your clan by uncovering a mystic key that might provide a path to succor isn't betraying my nation, Rulia. It is just keeping one family full of innocents safe from the horrors that we can only hope will never come. If I can do nothing else to absolve my soul of the stains I fear it shall soon be drowning in, I can at least do that."
Rulia smiled, taking a few moments to adjust her shield straps, gathering her thoughts. "I am truly grateful, Jess. You are a balm to my heart, and to my soul." She gazed at Jess thoughtfully. "To tell you the truth, when I first arrived, my only thought was to keep my head down, maintain a low profile, and just survive. But when I kept overhearing the same lies and propaganda fed over and over again to these girls, and they so willingly taking it without batting an eye, it just ate at me. I felt horrible having to constantly hear it and tilt my head like all the other girls, as if I was just another sheep being led off a cliff of deception, because I dare not stick out."
Jess looked thoughtful. “As if I was just another sheep being led off a cliff of deception. I like it!”
Twilight nodded approvingly. “It does have a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?”
Jess nodded in agreement. “I wonder if I can somehow add ‘pulling the wool over my eyes’ to it.”
“Best not get carried away and strain the metaphor,” her familiar cautioned, Jess nodding agreeably.
Rulia shook her head, lips curving into the sweetest of smiles, Jess thought. “You truly are a unique girl, Jess. That’s something I really admire about you. So real, so vital, so free of deception and all the petty games of intrigue that seep through this place like a poison rotting all from within.”
Jess grinned. “Hear that, Twilight? I’m unique. Unique and vital.”
“You certainly are,” her familiar agreed. “Now with your vitality and Rulia's good intentions established, I believe we have other things to claim our attention.”
Jess nodded. “You’re right, Twilight. Come, Rulia, let us embrace what could be a grand adventure! Traveling to realms of mystery and wonder, lost fragments of halcyon days, echoes of ancient empires at the height of their glory.”
Her familiar leaped gracefully off her shoulder, loping to the silvery glowing door before them. “Either that, or find ourselves within dark grottoes filled with the screams of lost souls trapped in abyssal nightmare, the winds of the Void roaring overhead, vile demonspawn and assorted lords of corruption waiting to greet us.”
Jess grinned fiercely. “Either way, adventure awaits!”
Rulia shivered. "Your definition of adventure differs a tad bit from mine, I'm afraid."
Jess laughed at that. "Come, sister of my heart. Let us go forth and forge a tale worthy of the bards!" Jess gently touched the glowing hardwood door, stroking it but once, and with a dull clank the heavy steel bolts and metal knob locking it so securely to its frame abruptly fell to the stone tiled floor, the door eagerly opening to her unspoken plea.
Rulia whistled. “Neat trick.”
Jess grinned. “What can I say? I have a way with wood. It likes me.”
Her lover nodded slowly. “Amazing. For all that I read about your exploits, to actually see your talents firsthand? Amazing.”
“Careful,” Twilight cautioned, “if her head gets any bigger, she will no longer be able to fit her mithril helm.”
"Ha ha," Jess quipped. "Come, my companions, it is time to let the tale unfold!" Jess grabbed Rulia's hand and entered the chamber beyond.
35
“Jess! Do you see that?” a trembling Rulia asked as she gazed into the heart of the reading room.
"Yes," an awed Jess replied, "look at it!" And both girls fastened their eyes on the tome resting upon the stand they approached, opened to a point midway through the massive volume, the pages filled with silvery calligraphy that shimmered and sparkled, the entire chamber glowing with the reflected light.
Around the extensive borders of the elegant script were exquisitely crafted etchings of nymphs playing by a wondrously clear blue lake, hand feeding grapes to what appeared to be finely attired men of means, lying upon lush green grass, hands crossed behind their heads, savoring the indulgence of their perfectly shaped and utterly naked servants. Another etching depicted a massive palace made of finest marble, sparkling minarets all but touching the sky, atop a hill covered with vast rows of cherry trees in full bloom, an endless profusion of pink petals raining down upon pristine knights riding upon their great white chargers toward that majestic edifice, the wondrous countryside stretching as far as the eye could see.
Jess felt a bubbling sense of wonder, that so much could be seen and sensed with but a few sketchings, as incredibly detailed as they were. She immediately felt an intense hunger, a longing to be able to explore such beautiful lands, if she could but discover the path that would lead them there.
“Careful my mistress, it seeks to seduce,” Twilight cautioned.
Jess gave a solemn nod. "I sense its enticement, but somehow, I feel the truth of it as well. Do you not, my familiar? This pristine beauty we see is not merely a mirage. Somewhere, somehow, such lands do lie, ripe for discovery and exploration, if we can but find the path.” Jess gave a wry shake of her head. “For all that it seek
s to seduce us, it is with genuine charms that it does so.”
Twilight looked thoughtful. “In truth, my Jess, I don’t sense any such thing. I see what some might consider a beautiful picture, and I can sense its allure. But as to the nature of the realm that lies beyond, should we find the path, well, it is… alien to me. Outside the continuum of overlapping realities you and I are accustomed to. I have no sense of this place at all.”
Jess shrugged, determinedly putting aside her familiar's more uncomfortable musings, as she so often did. “Yes. It's like no place we’ve been to before. But I sense a wonder about it. A majesty. Do you not, my Twilight?”
“Jess! I see it! I see the path there, right in front of us! Look Jess, isn't it beautiful?” Rulia, grabbing her hand excitedly, pointed Jess’s finger in a direction that felt at odd angles to everything else. And with an abrupt squeeze of her throbbing eyes shut, Jess opened them once more to see that there did indeed seem to be a path. At first appearing little more than a trick of the light, Jess quickly made out the loamy forest trail before them, endless trees to either side rustling in a gentle breeze, golden shafts of sunlight spearing down from the rich leafy canopy high above. Pristine and perfect, as only virgin woodland could be. It was a vision wondrous in its beauty, resonating deep within her heart.
There were few things Jess loved more than to lose herself traveling deep within the most primeval of forests, sensing the majesty and primal nature of all its arboreal denizens, gently caressing her hands against ancient nodded trees, gently seeking and finding willing seeds and cuttings of various herbs and plants for her garden back home.
With a start Jess stepped back, blinking, realizing she had almost fallen into the picture, somehow. She saw that the wondrous glowing tome before them had flipped its pages without them even being aware of it.
Faerie's Champion Page 34
