Alia blinked awake in the embrace of Serena’s arms. She was warm, cosy, and wanted to do nothing but lie here for hours listening to her girlfriend’s cute snoring. Serena, of course, denied snoring adamantly. Her snoring had beco yet another tool in Alia’s ever-growing repertoire of things to tease Serena about.
Alia stared at the creeping morning light bathing the room for a few minutes until the sound of footsteps reached her ears. They were too energetic to be a servant and too light to be Dalinar’s, Serena’s father. There was only one person they could be.
Lani!
As the footsteps made their way down the hallway, Alia elbowed Serena awake. “Lani’s outside,” she whispered, prompting Serena to sit up frantically. Despite the situation, Alia couldn’t help appreciating Serena’s bed hair and how the light bounced off her horns.
A knock sounded, not at the door to Serena’s room, but at the door to Alia’s room opposite.
“Alia! Let’s have breakfast!” Lani said cheerfully. When no reply ca, Lani tried again. “Alia? Are you awake?”
Bloody hell! What teenager got up this early!? Alia turned to Serena and quickly mouthed: What do we do? Unfortunately, her normally reliable girlfriend seed at a loss and simply shrugged back at her with eyes wide in fear. Although Alia didn’t think their relationship was anything to hide, she understood that perhaps this wasn’t the best way for Serena’s little sister to find out.
“I’m coming in!” Lani chirped and opened the door to Alia’s room. “Huh? You’re not here…”
Hide! Serena mouthed.
Alia raised her palms upwards, widened her eyes, and shook her head quickly.
Where!? She mouthed back.
More footsteps and then a knock on Serena’s room. “Big Sister? Are you up?”
Alia scrambled out of bed, trying to be as light as possible on her feet. Where the hell was she going to hide!? There were no side rooms, the bed was too high off the ground, and for so reason, this was the only bedroom in Cascadia with no large wardrobes to hide in! She turned to Serena and wiggled her head to say, There’s nowhere to hide!
“Door!” Serena whispered as loudly as she could get away with. Alia looked at the door and then at Serena with a tilted head of confusion. “Behind the door!” Serena hissed, and Alia finally twigged what she was getting to. Darting across the room, she stood behind the door in the corner. Alia was light on her feet but not light enough. The noise of the creaking floorboards encouraged Lani to open the door.
Which she did, just as Alia got into her position. “Big Sister!” Lani called out, standing a few feet into the room. Alia was hidden against the wall, the open door hiding her completely. Thankfully, Lani was lax regarding etiquette for her family because if Alia rembered her lessons correctly, leaving a lady’s bedroom door open was impolite!
“Lani,” Serena cooly intoned. Alia couldn’t see what was happening, but from the rustling sounds, she could tell Serena had propped herself up against the pillows. The sound of paper being flipped reached her ears. It seed Serena had grabbed the citizenship docunts and was pretending to flip through them.
“Good morning!” Lani said in a sing-song voice. “Where’s Alia? She promised she would help with my workbooks!”
“You woke up early to do howork?” Serena said doubtfully. “Lani! If you’re looking for Alia, I heard her heading to the kitchen for breakfast. Go find her there.”
“Hmm…” Lani mumbled, “I just ca from there…”
“Then you must have just missed her. Now, I’m very busy, so if you could…” Serena trailed off and Alia could sense the glare that punctuated that sentence.
“Boo! Boring! Bye!” Lani bounced out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Alia stayed utterly still, like a frozen hare. She and Serena looked at each other while listening intently to Lani’s footsteps disappearing down the stairs.
Once Lani was gone, Alia broke out into a grin and Serena soon followed. She delicately hopped over to the bed and began putting on her clothes. “That was close,” she whispered.
“I swear,” Serena said, shaking her head. “She’s never get’s up that early. You promised to help her with her work?”
“I spent an hour yesterday finding out exactly who has a secret crush on who at her academy,” Alia said with a smile. “Being a teenage demon sounds exhausting! I was going to pull my hair out until she ntioned the workbooks! She struggles with mathematics, and that’s my favourite subject!” Alia finished dressing, and a quick burst of cleaning magic left her clothes and body feeling fresh. “I’ll head down,” she bent forward, kissing Serena. Then, not entirely satisfied, she gave her another, longer-lasting kiss. “See you there?”
“Tsk!” Serena tutted, but her rosy cheeks suggested she greatly enjoyed Alia’s affection. “I’ll be down in ten minutes...”
Waving goodbye, Alia bounced out of the room and down the stairs. “Hello!” she greeted an old maid cheerfully. “I’m looking for Lani! Which way’s the kitchen?” The old maid bowed and offered to lead Alia, which she accepted. Alia was once again impressed by the politeness and professionalism the house employees displayed. She wasn’t sure why, but she had expected snide comnts whispered in secret or glances with traces of dislike and distrust. There had been nothing like that. Alia made a ntal note to ask Serena about it later.
They arrived at the kitchen, and when she entered, all the employees stopped what they were doing and bowed to her. It was a little awkward, and Alia wasn’t sure exactly what to do, but Lani rescued her by taking control of the situation.
“Morning! I’ve been looking for you!” Lani exclaid, grabbing Alia’s hand. “You promised you were going to help ! Let’s eat!” She dragged Alia over to the head chef and listed off several dishes. “Co on!” Lani pulled her to the dining room from yesterday, where Alia was surprised to see Serena’s father already seated.
“Good morning, Speaker- I an, Alia,” Dalinar said, correcting himself quickly. “I hope you slept well.” Alia awkwardly returned the greeting, wondering how much Serena’s father knew about last night. Well, she would just power through any awkwardness like usual!
“Yup! Thank you for your hospitality, Dalinar!” Alia bead and sat down in the sa chair as last night. Lani quickly followed and began bombarding Alia with everything Lani wanted to do after breakfast.
“Lani,” Alia began when the girl had finally taken a breath. “I have to spend this morning going over docunts with Serena, and then at lunchti, I have a very important eting.” Lani’s face dropped and Alia quickly added, “However, afterwards, we can hang out for the rest of the day! Maybe we can go through your workbooks in the garden?”
“O-okay! Do you promise!?”
“Of course! Here, pinky promise!” Alia curled her pinky finger and held it out. Lani looked at it as if she didn’t know what to do. Alia ntally slapped herself. Once again, she had forgotten many things native to her world didn’t translate well here. “Here, copy . Give your pinky finger.” Once Lani did, Alia grasped it with her own. “This is a pinky promise. It’s an unbreakable vow between two won. I promise we can spend ti later, okay?”
“Hehe… okay! Pinky promise!” Lani announced happily and Alia suddenly had a dreadful feeling that pinky promises would soon be a widespread thing amongst the gossipy teenagers of the academy.
Before any more awkward monts could happen, Serena appeared. She was dressed in her military uniform and once again Alia was taken aback by how striking Serena could be. Her girlfriend exuded a natural feeling of command and confidence that Alia could only hope to emulate.
“Father, Sister, Alia,” Serena greeted each of them before sitting down. Breakfast arrived, and Alia found herself eating a tasty fish similar but not quite as tender as sardis. When she made the comparison, Dalinar explained it was sothing known as a springfish that was frequently caught in high-sky during this ti of year.
“When did you have sardis?” Dalinar asked.
“North of Kenhoro,” Alia answered. “The Vengeance caught so. It was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten!”
“You’re so lucky!” Lani chirped with an envious expression on her face. “The fishern can’t get it here due to the ban!”
“Ban?” Alia asked.
“The nearest schools of sardis fly about two hundred klicks south-east,” Serena explained. “That’s far too close to the Shattered Isles. The arcwhales are protective of their feeding grounds, and no fishing ship will risk a five hundred ter behemoth ramming it out the sky.”
“Whoa,” Alia struggled to imagine a creature of that size. The one she had seen in the skies north of Kenhoro was only three hundred ters, and that dwarfed the Vengeance and sent the crew into a panic. “How big is Rhaknam?”
“Hmm…” Serena looked up thoughtfully, “He hasn’t been seen for a while, but I rember reading about a sighting in the eighth century, about sixty years ago. Then it was said he was a little over two kilotres long.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Alia couldn’t help blurting out. “How is that even possible? Wouldn’t signals from the brain take too long to move throughout the body?” Serena shrugged and explained that Rhaknam was a god, and things like that didn’t apply to him.
“What other animal gods are there?” Alia couldn’t help but inquire, her childlike curiosity getting the better of her.
“There’s Sven, the Winterlord!” Lani piped up. “He brings the winter in the North every year! Apparently, there’s so much snow you have to wear masks or you’ll go blind from the sunlight bouncing off the ground!”
“In the Southern Terra Firma, Urlan the Greatwurm resides under the blistering sands,” Dalinar explained. “There’s also the Greatspider, although, unlike Urlan, it’s never been seen. Nevertheless, it’s worshipped by the desert tribes.”
“What’s the Greatspider called?” Alia asked.
“Elana,” Dalinar answered.
“Elana?” Alia frowned. “Isn’t that…”
“The desert tribes believe the Greatspider is one of the Empress’s forms,” Serena explained. “They hold that Urlan is her husband, and together they have spawned the many other animal gods they worship.”
For the briefest mont, Alia’s mind turned to how a giant spider and worm could procreate. Then, she caught herself and quickly pushed the disturbing images out of her mind.
“Excellent warriors,” Dalinar said, sipping his tea. “The tribal demons. Not quite the society I would enjoy, but it has a certain simplicity to it.” At seeing Alia’s confused expression, he explained, “The southern nobility is entirely defined by strength. Any position can be challenged at any ti.”
“Even the Overlord?” Alia inquired.
“Even the Overlord,” Dalinar clarified.
“Back to the animal gods,” Serena began, looking suspiciously at Alia as she changed the subject. What did she expect Alia was going to do, challenge the southern overlord!? “There is, of course, the mysterious Orr.” At Serena’s words, her Father chuckled.
“What?” Alia questioned the reaction.
“Orr’s nothing more than a nightti story for fathers like to scare our misbehaving children,” Dalinar explained. “Orr is the hypothetical being responsible for the ever-lasting great storm system north of Cascadia and west of the human continent.”
“Not just any storm; it’s two thousand klicks wide, and any ship trying to break through has been destroyed,” Serena explained. “Under our weather models, it should be impossible. Sothing is providing the energy for that storm. Besides, there are rumours…”
“Rumours!?” Alia sat at the edge of her chair.
“A terrible shadow, seen within the storm.”
“Sailor’s tales,” Dalinar said dismissively, “Superstition. A fantasy worshipped by the priests of Mur.”
“Where’s Mur?” Alia asked.
“...Just west of Karligard, of course,” Dalinar answered softly, eting Alia’s eyes with an indecipherable gaze. Oops! Alia slapped herself ntally. She had seen Mur on the maps Serena had shown her. She’d spent so much ti morising the locations of her supposed journey south that she’d forgotten about the neighbouring kingdoms in the other directions!
“Ah, yes. Of course…” Alia muttered, scratching her nose awkwardly.
“I think it’s ti we went over these citizenship docunts,” Serena said plainly, casting Alia a glance that instructed her to Stop talking, idiot! “Father, can we use the study?”
“Not a problem. I have so work to do myself.”
With breakfast over, Lani was ushered away and the remaining trio headed to Dalinar’s study where Serena cleared out a space and began going through Alia’s citizenship docunts. Dalinar’s words from yesterday rung true; the docunts were quite generous, absolving Alia of specific responsibilities that would expose her to too much Cascadian nobility.
“Looks like they still want her to take the oath ceremony next year,” Serena said, looking up from the papers and casting an eye across the study towards Dalinar.
“Of course. Plenty of ti for Alia to beco comfortable as both a citizen and Lord-Prospect.”
“What’s the oath ceremony?” Alia asked, glancing at them both.
“Every four years, any new nobility are required to travel to the Capital to swear oaths before the Empress,” Serena answered.
“Every four years? Why so long?”
“A holdover from pre-airship travel. Before, making the journey needed a trendous amount of preparation. Now, you can hop on a cutter or take a train.”
“Is there a problem with taking the ceremony?”
“No… it’s just…” Serena sighed, casting another look at her father. “Occasionally, the Empress will request a private conversation with one or two of the oath-takers, typically newly-crowned Greatlords or other powerful Speakers. With you,” Serena jabbed a finger at Alia, “You will almost certainly be pulled into a room for a private conservation with her.”
“Cool!” Alia flashed a thumbs up. “I bet she’s really nice!”
“That is…” Serena muttered with a frown. “Entirely the wrong way to go about it.”
“Don’t worry, Serena,” Dalinar said from his desk, “You’ll have plenty of ti for Alia to learn all the required etiquette.”
“...I hope so,” Serena said, returning to read the docunts. The minutes ticked by, and eventually, she put the papers down with a sigh. “That’s it. Surprisingly, there’s nothing hidden. It looks okay.”
“Aweso! Can I sign it then!?” Alia grabbed a pen and eagerly looked at Serena.
“...I don’t see why not. You’ll need your signature here, here…” Serena flicked through the papers, “... and here.” Alia quickly scribbled her signature at the required locations before placing the pen down.
“All done!” Alia exclaid. “What now?”
“Now you’re a citizen and noble of Cascadia,” Serena tilted her head in a slight bow. “Lady Thornheart, may you serve your overlord and the Empress with all you have to give.” Serena paused, looking concerned. “Maybe not all you have to give; I don’t think the Empire’s ready for all that…”
“Congratulations, Lady Thornheart,” Dalinar said from behind his desk, “I imagine it won’t be long before we’re calling you Lord Thornheart.”
“Hehe…” Alia grinned nervously. “Thank you!” Before she could say anything else, the door opened, and the old butler called Johan appeared.
“Highlord,” Johan announced to the room. “Highlord Corvus has arrived with a guest.”
“Ah!” Dalinar stood up. “Lead to them. Serena…” He turned to Serena. “I’ll bring them here, so be prepared.” Serena nodded and began adjusting her military uniform, her face suddenly becoming very serious.
After Dalinar and the butler had left, Alia asked, “You’re nervous around the Dragon, aren’t you?”
“Tsk! Obviously,” Serena mumbled as she fiddled with her hair. “The man’s a snake, and like the most dangerous snakes, he has his own goals and has the power to pursue them. If the ship didn’t prevent him, he would have put us both in chains and more likely than not, attempted to hang one or both of us.”
“Hmm…” Alia thought quickly. “I’ll try not to say too much then; let you take the lead.”
“Perfect, thank you, Alia.”
“Mmm!” Alia nodded happily. “You’re welco.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers