The Once and Future Man - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The armies of the Sinton Valley spread up the coast and deep into the interior of the continent after the destruction of the seaside tower. Little fishing villages were swept away as they moved inland. Aldrich rode at the head of the column each time they moved into a new territory, enjoying his time with the rank-and-file soldiers.

Their supply of gunpowder was greatly diminished, though this was less of a problem than the other commanders thought it would be. Many of the strongholds they approached opened their gates at the first sight of Covington's shaved head and tattoos. Word had spread quickly of what had happened on the first leg of their conquest.

Several of the regular commanders had made noises about returning to the Valley and reporting their success to the twins. Aldrich himself had considered it, but he was having too much fun already. The louder malcontents had met with unfortunate accidents during the march, or simply passed away quietly in their tents at night. Aldrich was careful to promote adventurous young men to replace them. The last of the complainers had been hit in the head by a falling rock before he'd even been able to arrange a way to dispose of him. That night he overheard enough of the conversations of his new officers to know he'd made the right choices. No more negativity about their adventure would be heard going forward, he was sure.

Almost all of them came from the lower ranks of society, men who had joined the army because they had no other option, or they just enjoyed going out to rape and pillage the neighbors. The remaining officers were the younger, unproven, ones that had set out with the army originally, second and third sons of minor nobles who had joined up for the same reasons as their poorer colleagues.

In each new village and hamlet, they came to, Aldrich kept his eyes open for men he could use. No matter how small a place was, there were always a few men living on the wrong side of the law. Their ranks had swelled with mercenaries and brigands that would be loyal to him and no one else. Some for the money he offered, others were simply happy to follow a man that could bring down the strongest castles around any time he wanted to. More than one unfortunate villager had been forced to play catch with a grenade just to remind everyone who was in charge.

After a few months of campaigning, they were over a hundred miles inland, to the north of the mountains that walled in the Sinton Valley. He was told that it was well into winter now, but this far south Aldrich couldn't see any difference in the weather, other than the fact that it was no longer so oppressively hot. His army had taken up residence in a town wedged between a fast flowing river and a forest so thickly grown two men could barely fit through the trees side by side. Covington and his handpicked men rested in the local magistrate's home while the scouts spread out into the countryside gathering supplies.

The magistrate's daughter was dancing on a table in the dining hall, while the men sang songs leaving no doubts as to what would happen once she climbed down from her position. The girl's father, having objected to her treatment, was huddled in a corner, trying to stop the bleeding of the stump that used to be his tongue. The offending muscle had disappeared into the fireplace as soon as it was removed and no one else had said a word after.

Aldrich called for another mug of ale from his seat at the end of the table. One of the nameless servants rushed to refill his cup just as the last scrap of the dancing girl's dress fell away. A cheer erupted from the soldiers that echoed off the rafters of the high ceiling. Ale splashed onto the broad oak table from cups being slammed down in celebration. The girl, no one had bothered to ask her name and the father hadn't provided it while he could still speak, continued to dance amidst the ruckus, tears streaming down her face. Her small undergarments were trimmed with white rabbit fur, almost indistinguishable from the paleness of her skin. Despite her paler, she had a fit athletic build to her, Covington noticed. Slim and lean from growing up swimming in those rapids they call a river, he guessed.

Negotiations were intensifying up and down the table, plundered loot being offered up to determine who would be the first to take their reluctant entertainment up to one of the manor's bedrooms. Things were escalating to the point that Aldrich was going to start offering up the serving girls as a consolation, when the doors to the hall flew open and three men entered.

Rain had moved into the area while they were celebrating. All three men were soaked through to their skins. Every eye in the room turned in their direction. The magistrate's daughter took the opportunity to grab the remnants of her dress and scramble down off the table. She went to huddle in the corner with her father. Aldrich noticed but didn't say anything. He was surprised that she would take such a risk, to leave her place without his permission. There would be time to discipline her later, right now, the strangers required his full attention.

All three of the new arrivals were well dressed in tooled leather travelling clothes. Mud from the road caked their boots and went halfway up their pants. Despite their rough, travelworn appearance, the trio had an air of determination and official self-importance. Once they had done their best to shake off the water and mud, they marched in lockstep up to the head of the table where Aldrich sat.

He sized up the men as they approached him. The two in back looked the same as many of the soldiers in his own ranks, a little over five and a half feet tall and solidly built. Both had shaggy brown hair and eyes, unkempt and spattered with mud from the road. Each man wore a well-used short sword at their waist. He thought they might be brothers; they were so similar. One was missing almost all the teeth on the left side of his face, which made it easier to tell them apart. The leader was decidedly better bred than his companions, approaching six feet tall, with feathered blonde hair and green eyes.

Looks like a tougher version of that bloke from Game of Thrones, the one that was shagging his sister. Aldrich thought.

"Lord Covington?" The handsome man asked when he reached the end of the table.

"Yes..." Aldrich replied cautiously.

The leader turned to the shorter man to his left, the one that still had all his teeth, who reached into the saddlebag slung over his shoulder. Several of Aldrich's men rose from their positions around the table and rested their hands on their weapons. This wasn't lost on the tall blonde man. Aldrich waved his men down but was quietly please that they had responded the way they did. The leader's companion hadn't noticed anything amiss and calmly pulled a letter from his bag and handed it to blondie.

He bowed low and presented the folded paper to Aldrich. "My lords Greddor and Nessor order you to return to Sinton Valley immediately."

Aldrich frowned and opened the letter. It was indeed an order to return to the castle. Nothing was mentioned about his march inland and all the territory he had brought under their control. Nothing was said about giving any of that territory back either. Reading between the lines, he was sure that the two giant idiots were envious that he had succeeded so quickly where they had failed for so many years. He'd learned quite a bit on their daily marches. The twin Lords tried every few years to expand their country beyond the mountains, and every few years they were pushed back to their home valley. Their simply weren't enough fighting age men in the area they controlled to overrun the larger settlements, and after each failed campaign they had to wait a few years for another group of boys to reach an age where they were useful on the battlefield. Neither brother was a great tactician or strategist, they just gathered the men and marched out to hit the neighbors as hard as they could until they gave up.

In a few months, he'd managed to almost double the size of their country. It would be harder to keep what they had taken, even with the threat of blowing up buildings, but that wasn't his concern. He'd listened to the more seasoned officers, the few that were left, and placed one of his own men in every town they took. There was now a man from Sinton Valley, and more importantly a man loyal to him, either directly in charge, or overseeing the few Lords they left alive all along their path back to the sea.

He tossed the letter on the table and examined the three messengers again. The two shorter men were nothing, hired muscle or extra pairs of hands for any menial job they were assigned. Their boss, however, was another story. He alone had noticed the danger they were facing just by being there, and had not been bothered by it. Aldrich also could not sense any outward hostility from the man, despite his assigned task. Hopefully that meant he wasn't entirely under the twins' thumb, he would need him to be forthcoming with information on the way back. If the Twins' jealousy was so great that they felt the need to get rid of him he wanted to know before he set foot in that castle again.

"It seems it's time to go home now gents." He called out to his men.

The was met with a predictable round of booing and mug smashing.

"I know, I know, the fun was just starting. But we at least have tonight. We'll get organized to march in the morning. In the meantime... Get on up there and finish your little show young lady." He looked at the corner where the girl and her father were huddling together. His glared impressed upon her how wrong her decision to leave without permission was.

She began crying again, but the look was enough to get her to drop the shreds of her dress and start moving towards the table. One of his lieutenants offered her a hand to help her up onto the broad surface and she recoiled in fear and disgust. The man sitting next to him hooted loudly at his rejection. As she was stepping up from the bench both men had the same idea, slapping her hard on the ass before her footing was solid. Her face hit the hard oak boards as she pitched forward onto the tabletop. There was no time to recover as the rest of the gathered soldiers began singing their lewd song again and shouting for her to dance. A bruise was already forming on her cheek as she straightened up and started moving again for their amusement.

Aldrich observed the newcomers as the girl moved faster and faster. Both of the brown-haired messengers had their eyes glued to the magistrate's daughter and were accepting their own mugs of ale. Blondie on the other hand was watching his own men and then Aldrich's before turning back to him.

No muppet here I see.

"Have a seat..." Aldrich realized he hadn't been given the man's name.

"Fenix, my lord." The man sat comfortably in the chair a servant brought over, but declined his own mug.

"Well, Fenix, be a good man and let me in on what's been happening away back in the Valley."

Their quiet conversation could not be heard over the loud cheering for the girl dancing in front of them.

*****

"The... quick... brown... fox... jumped... over... the... lazy... dog."

David walked into the kitchen for lunch to find Jaym and Emalyn already at the table. After their quiet dinner together, the boy had taken it upon himself to teach the new arrival how to read and write. When David asked him why, his valet told him he needed the practice and "it was a shame such a nice lady didn't know how to read."

He had to admit, it would be nice to have a conversation without an intermediary. And the look of concentration she got on her face as she read made her even more attractive in his opinion, even with the ink stains on her fingers and forehead.

It had been almost a month since they met Emalyn at the harbor. She spent the first few days inside Ilex House, recovering from a long, cramped sea voyage. With Jaym acting as interpreter, she asked the others questions about the city and Wellon in general. Everyone warmed up to her slowly. Not only was it their master's wish that she be accepted, the woman herself was so genuinely earnest and nice that they couldn't help liking her too. Emalyn left each morning after that to explore the city and ask around for work. By midday she would return for her lessons with Jaym. The spirited redhead put an upbeat face on things, but David could tell that her lack of progress was wearing on her.

While breakfast and lunch were served family style in the kitchen, dinner was always just the two of them in the dining room at Rosha's insistence. The housekeeper claimed that it was so he could practice proper manners, but David suspected she was doing her best to play matchmaker for him.

All of the servants had come around to accept the young woman into Ilex House, though Liri still kept her distance and would stare at her hair awkwardly when she thought no one was looking.

David picked at the meat and cheese laid out for lunch. "How did the morning go?"

Jaym was ready to translate, but Emalyn stopped him. She concentrated on her words before answering for herself, "Tried new part of town... inns... taverns, no luck."

She fluffed her hair and frowned angrily. Rosha had given her a list of places that she thought would be ok to work in, so far all of them had refused to hire her. "Most... say no. One woman... slam door in face. Want to throw bench... through window... too heavy."

Everyone chuckled at that, but David was glad she hadn't been able to lift the bench. He could only imagine the angry mob that would have followed her home after that, ranting about ginger demons running amok on their streets. Rosha rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry dear, I thought at least one of them would have the stones to give you a chance." She said.

The younger woman turned in her seat and smiled up at the former innkeeper. "Is ok, will try down at... harbor. After lessons."

Just then Boland came in through the back hall, forehead shiny with sweat despite the chilly air. "The horses are ready to go master David."

He and Corval exchanged a resigned look and got up from the table, they were expected at a meeting in the palace that afternoon. David wished Emalyn luck with her reading lesson and job hunt. Her smile of thanks made him forget that he was supposed to be leaving. Corval pushed him towards the back door and they were soon on their way. The cold early winter air encouraged them to race through the streets as fast as they could. David was still no match for Corval in the saddle, but he wasn't at risk of falling off every few feet either.

Their pace slowed as they approached the palace grounds. Even a former guard lieutenant and an advisor to the Queen couldn't charge around without reason. It also wouldn't help his standing as an alien genius to be seen doubled over sucking wind when he arrived.

"You're gonna have to tell her how you feel sooner or later." Corval said as their horses trotted along next to each other.

"I know." David answered. "But I'd rather she was set up with a job and her own place first. How's she supposed to give me an honest answer if she thinks her food and the roof over her head at night is dependent on what she says?"

Corval laughed off his concern. "You really think she'd have any problems telling you what she thinks? Either through Jaym or on her own, she'll get what she wants known."

David pulled his horse up to a stop, the soldier had a point. In the time she'd been with them, Emalyn had been nothing but honest and direct with everyone she met. Still, he felt how he felt, and there wasn't much he could do about it.

While he sat in the middle of the street thinking, Corval turned around to come back when he realized he was riding along by himself. He pulled up alongside David and got him moving again.

"Look boss, I get the problem, I just don't see that it's worth the risk you're taking. What happens when someone else makes the leap first? Or even worse, what if she can't find work? Sooner or later she'll have had enough of everyone's dirty looks at her hair and she'll hop on another ship to somewhere else."

These were both thoughts that David himself had at least three times a day. Hearing them out loud with no easy solution did nothing to help him however. They had reached the carriage tunnel at the palace and would soon be in meetings all afternoon that he would need to focus on.

"Aren't soldiers supposed to just kill who they're told and not think that far ahead? You were supposed to make my life easier, not give me more things to worry about." Corval already had made himself useful to him in a hundred different ways and they both knew it. Anything that went over his head in a meeting the lieutenant would explain to him before they even finished the ride home.

"Hey, I was no ordinary soldier. I was an officer at the palace. With all the affairs and double dealing going on with the aristocrats, even a blind man would notice something. And they don't stare at each other all moony-eyed like you do boss, haha."

A groom came up to take their reigns and both men climbed down to enter the palace. Corval continued to tease him as they made their way through the labyrinth of passages. While there weren't a ton of women in his past, he wasn't the inexperienced rube the more worldly soldier painted him as either. It wouldn't kill him to stop hanging off her every word though, on that Corval had a point.

Soon enough David was sitting at a long conference table with the other ministers again. Corval took his place against the wall behind him. There were plenty of chairs available, but the trained soldier preferred to stay up and as active as possible. Rael looked half asleep already, though no one had even spoke yet. Kera sat behind a mountain of paper, ready to take down every word that was said it seemed. The official scribe in the corner looked woefully unprepared in comparison. Queen Mialana sat at her place at the head of the table, chatting quietly with her uncle. The massive Lord General was placed at a corner so he wouldn't crowd anyone on either side. Caelly stood behind the Queen's right shoulder, her eyes narrowed slightly when David entered the room, though she didn't say anything.

They were in one of the large rooms next to the central courtyard on the second floor. Everything was brightly lit from the afternoon sunshine. It was a clear day for early winter, no snow had yet fallen in the city. Enormous framed portraits of former rulers looked down on them from the other walls, each one looking stern and interested, as if they still had a say in the running of the kingdom.

People were beginning to get restless and the conversations around the table were becoming louder when the door to the hallway slammed open and the High Priest came into the room. He was red-faced and breathing heavily, as if he had run all the way through the palace to get there. The big man dropped down heavily into the chair on David's left, that put him between David and the Queen on the end. He poured a glass of water from the pitcher in front of them and pushed it towards the holy man. Pold downed it in one gulp and held it out for a refill.

"Sorry to hold everyone up. Petitioners were a bit longwinded today." He said through deep breaths.

David laughed, "You should just have them write letters instead."

It wasn't the first time he had suggested it, though Pold always refused. He liked getting out and meeting people face to face. While worshipping the Mother wasn't overly complicated as far as religions went, people would still go to their priests to have questions answered and interpret the will of the Mother just as people in David's world would do the same with their priest or rabbi or whoever they had. Even in his position of High Priest, Pold wasn't exempt from this. A few times a week he would go to different temples in the city and the surrounding area to hear what people had to say. It was good exercise, he claimed, and an excellent way to gauge the mood of the common folk. Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, the thought of piles of letters in his office was daunting. The former boxer didn't care for reading.

There was some laughter around the table at the High Priest's tardiness, David even noticed Kera Sedden's mouth twitch in what might have been a smile. The mood in the room turned serious as the Queen cleared her throat and pointed down the long table to the first person to present their report for the end of the year. As far as David could tell there was nothing like Christmas here, or New Year's Day. Everyone measured time with the changing of the seasons. With the harvest over it was time to take stock of things before the heavy snows settled in for the winter.

A thin older man David didn't really know stood up and began reading from his notes. One by one, different advisors and functionaries of Wellon's government gave their reports to the Queen and answered any questions she had. David tried his best to listen attentively, but he found the lengthening shadows out in the courtyard more interesting. Rael was absentmindedly shredding a piece of paper in front of him and would roll his eyes at David whenever he looked his way. Even the scratching of Kera's pen became slower as time went on.

Servants came and went with trays of food. Others lit candles as the last light coming in through the windows faded. The only person in the room who's interest never flagged was Mialana's. She sat at the head of the table like a statue, giving every speaker her full attention. Caelly remained by her side, occasionally taking down a note or two of her own for things the Queen had asked direct questions about. Mialana would have pointed follow up questions for every underling after they were done speaking. Sometimes a point of clarification was needed, other times David suspected she just wanted to make sure a person knew what they were talking about. When she thought no one was looking, Caelly would push food towards the Queen, reminding her to eat. As far as David could tell, she'd taken a few grapes and a small bite of cheese but that was it, she was too focused on the business at hand.

He was fighting the urge to drop his head onto Pold's huge shoulder and go to sleep when the Mialana finally stood up and thanked everyone for their service and information. Most of the bureaucrats rose as one and gathered their papers to leave. He noticed that Pold hadn't moved, Kera and Rael hadn't gotten up either. David decided to wait with the others.

If I'm not welcome, they'll just kick me out.

The last of the ministers departed and it was just the eight of them in the room, counting Caelly and Corval. The Lord General left his place at the corner and sat on David's other side now that there was room. Caelly gathered a full plate of food and dropped it in front of the Queen.

"Everyone else is gone now, you don't have to be polite your Majesty. Eat." She said kindly, but leaving no room for argument.

Mialana narrowed her eyes at her, while the corners of her mouth twitched in a grin, but she obediently picked up the food.

"Now that the mundane wheat and barley reports are over, what's the mood amongst the common people your Holiness?" Rael asked.

"Oh, blow it out your ass Lokke. 'Your Holiness', you must be kidding me. How much coin did you make on my fights over the years?" Pold replied through his laughter.

Rael shrugged, "I've lost count."

"He's still right, you should blow it out your ass. Higher grain yields mean fewer hungry mouths this winter. Trained craftsmen going out to the provinces means people having access to better things and living better lives. Take your job seriously Rael." Kera chided him as she reviewed her pile of notes.

"My job is people and coin, not sacks of grain. A lot of new things are being introduced and that tends to make those people nervous. Just this morning I met with some artificers that were working on a machine from one of David's books. A horse drawn contraption used to harvest the grain you're so worried about. One machine doing in a day what would take hundreds of people with scythes. Production will be up, but a lot of people will need something to do with their free time. If our good priest here has some insight into the mood of the people before this happens it would be helpful to know." Rael raised an eyebrow at the older woman, challenging her to find fault with his reasoning.

Instead, Kera scribbled an amendment to her notes quickly. "It would have been nice if you had said something during your briefing."

The handsome man laughed. "They haven't even gotten it to work yet. And this harvest is over for the most part. They'll have it figured out by next fall I have no doubt. By then we'll know what to do with all of the extra hands."

"I'm willing to bet you'll have a working harvester before then." Pold declared. "I've sat in on a few meetings at the artificer's guild. They couldn't be more excited to dive into the more advanced books now that some of them can read and explain things to everyone else. They'd have more, but things still need fixing. They can't all bugger off to that warehouse and bury their heads in ink and scribbling."

David rolled his eyes at that. The warehouse school had been his idea. Mialana's idea of a giant Hogwarts style castle in the forest to teach everyone in sounded nice, but he wasn't willing to wait twenty years while it was being built. A few trips out to the cave with the carriage brought a copy of every book he'd been sent to this planet with back to the city. The printers were hard at work duplicating all of them and filling up yet another empty warehouse. The money in the cave was his, though he had offered any and all of it to the Queen, and it was safe enough where it was. Even he had a hard time finding the cave and the door to get in sometimes, he doubted any casual thieves would even notice it.

The High Priest poured himself a glass of wine and settled more comfortably into his chair. "As to the mood of the people, I'd say it's pretty good actually. They're hopeful at any rate. As you said Kera, fewer empty bellies this winter. Not even many complaints about all the new arrivals, now that they've gotten used to the idea of people wanting to move to Wellon. They're happy the city is filling up again, inn and tavern keepers especially. Only negative thing I've heard is that there's some redheaded woman that washed up a few weeks ago..."

A loud squeak of surprise escaped Caelly's mouth, and everyone turned to stare at her. The pale blonde blushed in embarrassment.

After a moment's hesitation Pold continued "... uh, no one has anything specific to complain about, just the fact that she's here."

"Do you have any idea what she is doing here?" The Queen asked.

"Looking for work mostly. Usually down by the harbor. Asked every fisher and lobsterman in the city if they need another set of hands it seems."

"And she's been turned down by all of them." David said, more angrily than he'd intended.

Pold jumped a little in his seat. Since the meeting had officially started David hadn't said a word. The priest had almost forgotten he was there. He turned to look at the younger man. "That's right, she has been turned away every time."

Before David could say anything, Caelly practically shouted, "Of course they rejected her! Who in their right mind would even speak to someone cursed by the Father? I hope for the city's sake you told them to shun her. Or, better yet, to cast her back into the sea where she came from."

David was shocked. He knew Caelly disliked him personally for taking the Queen's attention away from her, she'd made that abundantly clear every time he came to the palace. Despite that he was surprised that she would be so cruel to someone she'd never met. Caelly was polite and kind to everyone that wasn't him, and she absolutely doted on the Queen. Looking around the table, he could see that the others were caught off guard by her outburst as well, except for the Queen and her uncle. Mialana didn't look surprised, just saddened and disappointed. The Lord General merely rolled his eyes in disgust.

"I did no such thing." Pold said indignantly. "I told them to let me know if anyone had any honest work for her. Plenty of others have headed down to the docks straight off the boat that brought them here and they all find a job to get started. For almost all of them, the only mother they know of is the one that made them. They grew up across an ocean and they've got their own way of seeing the world. Trust me, I received plenty of odd looks when I would refuse to fight on nights with a full red moon while I was traveling on the continent. But it's just hair, raspberries and strawberries are red too and that doesn't stop us from liking them."

Mialana groaned inwardly, she knew Caelly avoided both of them at all costs and this argument would do nothing to calm her. She also considered anyone who didn't believe in the Mother to be an ignorant savage, barely a step up from a 'cursed' redhead themselves.

True to form, the slim woman didn't back down. "Just hair? Just hair? In the north no one would even think of keeping a cursed child. They're left out so the Father can see that his influence is not wanted and take them back."

Pold's slow burning temper was starting to ignite. "And every time I pass through there, I remind everyone that that is absolute nonsense. All they're doing is keeping the wolves well fed. The Mother frown's more on someone leaving an innocent child out in the cold to die than on a few strands of hair."

Caelly's face was red with anger. She'd never believed that a man like Pold Colner deserved to be the highest authority of the Mother's will. If there were justice in the world, he'd spend the rest of his life holding up the corner of a bar in a disreputable tavern somewhere. As far as she was concerned Pold couldn't interpret the will of the Mother any better than he could talk to dolphins. Caelly was about to tell him all of this and more but before she could continue the argument, the Queen stepped in.

"This is neither the time, nor the place for this discussion. I have already decreed that anyone leaving a child in this manner is to be brought before their local magistrate immediately. That applies to the outer provinces just as it does here in the city."

The fight looked like it would continue, but an angry look from the Queen finally silenced Caelly. The tension in the room slowly eased as everyone sat back in their chairs. David let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

No one spoke, afraid to start things up again. Eventually, Rael couldn't take it anymore. "If no one will give this woman a job, then she'll just move on to somewhere else. Problem solved."

"I don't know, she seems pretty determined to make a go of it here." David replied.

Everyone turned to look at him. He could hear Corval groan loudly behind him.

"How do you know that?" Pold asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, David could see Corval shaking his head frantically, begging him not to answer the question. After Caelly's outburst it would have been the smart thing to do, but he couldn't. All that month he had watched Emalyn try her best to make a life here, like he had. She came back every night no further along than she'd been the day before, and still she was nothing but kind to everyone around her. Now he had to listen to All these people make her out to be some kind of monster for no good reason, it was too much for him.

"I know that because she told me so herself. She's been staying with me as Ilex House as a guest since she arrived here." He said proudly.

Jaws dropped around the room. He had the satisfaction of watching Caelly's eyes get bigger than the moons in outrage.

No better time to twist the knife a little, you pain in my ass.

"Her name is Emalyn, and I've never seen her be anything but nice to anyone, despite how she's been treated here. She grew up as a fisherman's daughter. If no one here will give her a job, then I'll just buy her a boat and she can catch fish for the street kids that are going to school now."

This wasn't strictly true. Emalyn certainly had a temper when the frustration of job hunting or learning to read became too much for her. He'd also already brought up the idea of buying her a ship of her own and she had turned him down, saying he'd been too generous to her already. He saw no reason to point this out to everyone, however.

Caelly was practically vibrating with the need to shout at him, but the Queen's order kept her in place. Mialana could see that her control was rapidly slipping away and rose from her seat.

"Thank you everyone, I believe that will be all for today." She said quickly.

General Greeg was on his feet before she had finished, and the rest followed suit. Everyone faced the Queen and bowed low before heading to the door. As they all left the room, Rael and Kera gave David odd looks, but Greeg seemed unaffected by the revelation of who was living at his house. Pold smiled at him and shook hands like he always did, inviting him to come by his office for a drink before heading home. David accepted, he thought both he and Corval could use one, and followed the priest out the door.

*****

Once everyone had left, Mialana went to the door and locked it. She rested her forehead against the cool surface of the wood and took a deep breath. Since their argument after the duel, things had slowly gone back to normal between her and Caelly. Having Corval as a liaison kept David away from the Palace as much as possible, and she was careful not to mention him around her lover. Today's meeting was always going to be difficult, but she had no way of knowing about the woman at Ilex House. It was a miracle she'd managed to keep Caelly more or less quiet after that revelation. The young woman took one more slow calming breath, then turned to face her closest friend.

"All right my love, let it out."

The angry blonde exploded out of her chair and started yelling immediately.

"I told you to kill him! I told you!! Now he's housing another of the Father's creatures. Before you know it, we'll be overrun. The Mother will abandon us if we don't get rid of them both. End that evil 'school' of his and burn every cursed book that came with him."

Mialana dropped into an empty chair, rubbing her face with her hands. She was exhausted from having this same argument over and over again. She knew that Caelly's view of most things was limited, that she made snap judgements of things and stuck with them no matter what new information came to light. Her adherence to the primitive version of Wellon's religion that she was raised in could be seen as rigid at best. Sometimes, Mialana thought overzealous was too soft a word for her lover's fanaticism. For all that she had tried, Caelly was not willing to change for her to become more open. There was just no way to get Caelly to see reason when it came to matters she considered religious, especially David.

"We have been over this a hundred times. I am not going to kill him or anyone else just because you want me to. David is not evil, and neither is his guest. You have never left Wellon, but I have and so has everyone on my private council. There are whole villages of people with red hair in the world. They are perfectly happy and not the least bit cursed. If you sail across the eastern sea, there are people with skin darker than a moonless night. Does that mean that they are evil too? No! They are just people, the same as anyone else." She had little hope that this would sink in, as it hadn't any other time she'd tried. The Queen was exhausted trying to reach a middle ground with Caelly. She was especially tired or having to walk on eggshells around her when it came to her newest council member.

As she always did, Caelly waved her justifications aside. "Yes, I know, you've seen the world and I'm just a bumpkin from a little mountain village. Thank you so much for reminding me. One person with red hair in the world or a thousand doesn't make any difference. I know the signs of the Father's presence, even if no one else does. I've tried over and over to make you see and you refuse."

Mialana slammed her small fists down on the table. "There is nothing to see damn it! It is just a silly superstition."

"A silly superstition? The north has always followed the old ways. When the plagues came to the city, no one back home suffered, because we gave the Mother no reason to punish us!"

"You think your village was spared because you throw rocks at people with red hair? No one became sick because everyone that was sick died before they could get there." The Queen had grilled David for a whole afternoon about disease. As her reading improved, she swallowed every book she could get on the subject. Already, she was working with the artificers to get them to improve sanitation in the city. She had seen enough sickness and death in her life already.

Caelly paced the room faster and faster, her face flushed with anger. At last, she stopped and faced the only friend she had in the world. "I'll ask you one last time, if you won't kill the demons among us, then send them away. Purify Thaladon and the whole of Wellon as the Mother demands."

"No, my love." Mialana answered quietly. "I will do anything for you. But I will not attack innocent people just because you are irrationally afraid of them."

What little color there was in Caelly's face drained away. Her eyes were cold and empty as they looked at Mialana, not a trace of their usual passion and warmth could be seen. She stopped pacing, standing tall and still by the door.

"Then I have no other choice. I'll have my things packed and be gone before morning."

"What?" Mialana couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her love had always been impulsive and temperamental, their arguments were legendary amongst the palace servants. But no matter how bitterly they had fought in the past, she had never threatened to leave before.

"You cannot leave, where would you go?" Mialana asked, tears already forming.

"The north still knows to shun the Father, I'll go there." Not an ounce of emotion crept into Caelly's voice.

The Queen was openly weeping now. This abrupt callousness was too much for her. It would have been better if Caelly had screamed and cursed instead. As Queen, she could order her to stay. Or order the guards to stop her from leaving, but what then? She would be stuck with a resentful prisoner instead of a friend, as she'd once had. She knew Caelly better than anyone. If kept against her will, her hate and anger would grow until she did something reckless and dangerous. Despite knowing all this, she couldn't let her go in her mind. They had been together so long, she couldn't possibly just leave her, could she?

"Please. Please, just stay with me Caelly. Come to the school and see it with your own eyes. There is nothing to be afraid of. Learn to read yourself it you like. We could do so much together, for the whole kingdom. I don't know what I would do without you."

The blonde unlocked the door and opened it. For a moment she paused, giving Mialana hope that she might turn around. They might be able to save something of their relationship if she did. It would be difficult, but there were plenty of ways to keep David away from the Palace and still achieve her goals. She could learn not to mention him around Caelly...

Caelly didn't even turn to look at her as she stepped into the hallway.

"The Father's poison has sunk too deep here already. I will do great things for the kingdom, but it won't be here. And it won't be with you." She declared over her shoulder.

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving the Queen alone with her tears.