Isle of Wysteria: The Reluctant Queen (53 page)

“Don’t touch it!” Solanum yelled. “If we leave it there, it will be good luck.”

Captain Tallia distastefully walked around the pile of hair and held out a crumpled piece of parchment.

“What is this?” Solanum asked, snatching it up.

“This are the terms of surrender the Federal Navy gave to your...” Captain Tallia looked back at the cow. “...ambassador.”

Solanum jerked her head to one side, as if a loud noise had startled her. Turning her attention back, she scanned the document. At the bottom of the parchment there was an ink smear in the shape of a cow hoof. “What is this?”

“This is where your ambassador signed it. You have one week to add your counter-signature.”

Solanum stepped backwards as if something had hit her in the chest. She tore up the parchment and pointed a broken fingernail at the cow sternly. “How dare you surrender! You are a coward! Do you hear me? A coward!”

The cow only chewed its cud slowly.

Solanum’s face changed from enraged to amused. “Cow-ard,” she laughed. “Cow...ard!” She fell backwards into the pile of her shorn hair, laughing maniacally as she rolled around. “So, they actually rolled ink on the bottom of her hoof and had her step on the treaty?”

Captain Tallia could contain herself no longer. “my Lady, in one week the Navy attacks, shouldn’t we prepare?”

Solanum stopped rolling and looked around fearfully, as if something were circling over her. She stood up and brought her hands up to her face and smelled them. “Smell my hands,” she bade, her eyes delighted.

“What?”

“They should smell like soap, but they don’t,” she cackled uncontrollably. The trees shuddered at her laugh.

“I have a surprise for you,” Athel announced as she disappeared into the kitchen. Alder looked decidedly nervous as he sat down.

Athel returned, not as her usual bounding self, but composed, poised, and balanced. Her movements were elegant and flawlessly ladylike as she set down a tray and gracefully and poured him a cup of tea. The tableware was rough, but the presentation was flawless, and wouldn’t have been out of place at any of the finest restaurants. Everyone present watched in amazement. They had forgotten how dignified Athel could be when she wanted to.

“Mallai'i hou sei'i pai mah,” Alder thanked her formally and brought the cup to his lips. When he set it back down, he could barely contain his enthusiasm.

“It’s wonderful, my Lady,” he said sincerely.

“I knew you'd like it,” Athel enthused, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down, effectively dispelling her cultured façade.

“I do,” he praised, taking another sip and smacking his lips thoughtfully. “A hint of ginger, some orange zest, and...a few other things I cannot identify. Where did you get the recipe?”

“No recipe, I invented it myself,” Athel beamed.

“Did you really?”

“Hey, you aren’t the only one around here who can improvise, you know.” Athel’s lips were smiling, but her eyes were somber. She could feel the minutes ticking away, as if an enormous clock hung over her, following her wherever she went. It wouldn’t be long now...

“I just...wanted to do something nice for you...while I still have the chance,” she said softly, barely a whisper.

“Well, I am acutely impressed. But where did you get the tea leaves? We've been out of tea for weeks,” Alder brought up the cup for another sip.

“Oh, I just used some of Deutzia’s leaves.”

Alder gagged, spilling tea all over himself. “my Lady, using Nallorn leaves for a tea is...is...well, sacrilege.”

“Why? I asked her first; she said it was okay,” Athel defended.

“But, Deutzia is your twin, so it’s kind of like you are eating a piece of your sister,” Dr. Griffin observed as he ate his porridge.

A large thump caught everyone’s attention. In the corner of the room, Margaret had dropped her notebook, and pointed at them, her body trembling with energy. “I knew it!” she shouted. “I knew it, you Wysterians are cannibals, after all!”

“No, we're not!” Athel protested.

Margaret scooped up her notebook and began scribbling.

“Stop writing!” Athel hollered as she worked toward her. Margaret squeaked and ran away, writing as she went.

“Don’t you dare put that down in your stupid book!” Athel threatened as she chased Margaret out of the room.

“Land-ho!” Captain Evere called out, waving his hat around. Ryin sounded the bell and everyone came up on deck.

The Kingdom of Sutor was built inside a large crater, formed from some dormant volcano exploding in the ancient past. The edges of the crater rose up high out of the seas and featured many private airship docks for foreigners, while the kingdom itself was built in the center of the crater.

As Margaret guided them down to a landing pad, Ryin picked up a rope ladder, revealing one of the tiny model golems, which shrieked and scampered off, looking for a new place to hide.

“Ugh, I found another one,” Ryin called out as he unrolled the ladder. “Things are like roaches.”

“This is the last stop before Wysteria,” Privet announced, “so everyone make sure to use the bathroom before we leave.”

Setsuna appeared atop a crate in front of Privet, jumping up and down. “But daddy,” she complained in a little kid’s voice, “I don’t wanna use the potties here. They're so small and cold.”

“Stop doing that little girl thing,” Privet complained, jumping down to the platform and securing the dock line to the loop. “It’s uber creepy when you do that. You're like, twenty-seven.”

Setsuna appeared atop a water barrel. She leaned back luxiouriously, as if she were reclining on a soft bed. “Aw, you loved it when I did it last night. Don’t pretend that you didn’t.”

Privet’s mouth dropped open.

“Wait, what happened last night?” Athel piped up as she climbed down to the landing pad.

Setsuna giggled and rolled over, as if wrapping herself in a blanket. “Oh, you should have been there, the earth moved.”

Athel crossed her arms and glared at Privet. “Did it, now?”

Privet put up his hands. “Hey, she appeared in my quarters in the middle of the night like a bloody assassin, nearly scared me to death trying to put her stupid ring on my finger.”

Athel raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t kick her out?”

Privet threw up his hands. “You can’t kick her out! Nobody can. Watch.”

Privet grabbed Setsuna by the collar and pulled backwards. She was yanked with a yelp as he rolled on his back and kicked with his legs, using his momentum to launch her over the side of the landing platform and plummeting down towards the sea, thousands of feet below. Her screams grew farther and farther away as she fell.

Privet stood up and dusted himself off, only to have Setsuna reappear right next to him, straightening her hair.

“You see?” Privet asserted.

“Ooh, I like my men forceful like that,” Setsuna purred, slinking up alongside him.

Alder furrowed his brow in confusion. “Why would you prefer that? He just threw you off a cliff without the slightest hesitation.”

“But he did it with love,” Setsuna affirmed.

Privet pointed a finger at Athel. “Nothing happened between me and her, you've gotta believe me,” he said.

Athel looked him over coldly. “I believe you.”

“You shouldn’t...wait, you do?”

“Yes, if something had happened she would have bragged about it first thing.”

“Maybe I’m just a lady and I never kiss and tell,” Setsuna winked playfully.

“Ship is secure, Captain,” Ryin reported as he climbed down.

Hanner jumped down, cracking the rock as he landed. Cupping his massive hands over his mouth, he shouted back up to Odger, who looked utterly befuddled as he held Strenner.

“Now, remember to feed him as much black root as you can force down him, and after his nap see if you can get him to finish off his cigar from earlier.”

Odger looked at the baby, then looked down at Hanner. “Who are you?”

“Forgive me for saying so, but I question the safety of leaving your baby with Odger,” Alder warned.

Strenner burped a little blast of flame, catching Odger’s scarf on fire. Odger didn’t seem to notice as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

Hanner put his hands on his hips. “Ah, don’t worry, Strenner is a good kid, he won’t hurt Odger too bad while we’re gone.” Hanner wiped a manly tear from his cheek and walked past Alder. “They grow up so fast.”

Alder put his hand out to stop him. “Wait, that isn’t what I meant.”

“So, what kind of magic do they do around here?” Privet asked as they walked across the landing pad, checking his sight-lines and surveying the crowds for potential threats.

“This,” Athel said, plucking a tile off the ground and handing it to him. It looked like glass, but it had no weight, and kind of hummed and vibrated where his fingers touched it. Along the edge, it glowed a faint yellow, like sunlight.

“What is this?” Privet asked, handing it back.

“Manoi,” Alder recited, reading from a tourist pamphlet. “In the local tongue, it means ‘hard-light.’“

“It’s a material made from pure magical energy,” Athel mentioned as she replaced the tile.

“Stronger than iron, but never rusts,” Alder read.

“I bet you could make some wicked armor outta stuff like that,” Hanner groused as they walked through the tunnel of rock.

“Sure you can,” Captain Evere explained. “So long as you don’t mind people seeing you naked underneath.”

“That could be fun,” Setsuna teased, grabbing Privet by the arm.

“Does she have to paw at him all the time?” Athel grumbled to herself.

“You wouldn’t have to be naked,” Mina speculated. “You could have like a uniform underneath or something.”

They reached the other end of the tunnel, which dropped off into a sheer cliff. No stairs or bridges extended from there, just a two-thousand foot plummet to the base of the crater, and an unusual carved symbol in the floor.

“Um, so what do we do now?” Privet asked, peeking over the edge.

A Sutorian businessman walked past them, looking very dapper in his finely tailored suit and heavily oiled hair. Sutorians were one of the smaller races, normally standing about three and a half feet fully grown. Hanner and Ryin looked at each other in amusement, but Mina silenced them with a glance before they could say anything that would get them in trouble with the locals.

The businessman stepped on the symbol and a platform of solid light appeared beneath him and carried him forward through the air.

“I’d say that answers that,” Athel chuckled as she grabbed Privet and pulled him over to the symbol. A platform appeared beneath the two of them and they floated out into the crater valley.

“Hey, I wanted to ride with him,” Setsuna whined, stomping her foot.

“Sorry, only enough room for two,” Athel taunted back towards her.

Setsuna stuck out her green-painted lip and pouted.

Dr. Griffin walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. “You can ride with me,” he offered, licking his wrinkled lips.

Suddenly, Dr. Griffin fell as if there was no floor beneath him. Instinctively, he reached out and managed to lay hold of the ground around him, but by then he was armpit deep in the gate Setsuna had conjured beneath him. He grunted and struggled, his aged arms without the strength to pull himself back up. Out beyond the edge of the cliff, the other end of the gate hung in the air, with Dr. Griffin’s lower body dangling out.

The rest of the Dreadnaught crew shrugged and stepped on the symbol one at a time, riding floating platforms of light out into the crater.

“Um, a little help here, I’m slipping,” Dr. Griffin called, as they floated farther and farther away.

Athel clung tighter than necessary to Privet as they glided through the air. Her chest felt tight. They had less than a day now before reaching Wysteria. She felt choked, like a dog that has run to the end of his leash and snapped his own head back. Without thinking about it, she wrapped a hand around Privet’s muscular waist.

To her surprise he didn’t resist. Instead, he placed a warm hand around her shoulder, and his reassurance helped her calm her heart. After being married to short little Alder for so long, it was odd to be embraced by a man taller than she was. Her heart was full of so many conflicting emotions she felt it would burst. She feared the future, as one fears an upcoming test they haven’t prepared for, but she also felt excited. Her blossoming relationship with Privet was something she had wanted for years, and now it was really happening. It made her feel all girly and silly inside.

What she felt for Privet was different than what she felt for Alder. Alder was her rock, her emotional anchor. She trusted him as she did no one else. He knew every corner of her heart, and cherished who she really was without condition. He had so much inner strength, and she had come to rely on him completely. Just being around him made her a better person. She had grown thanks to him, and she could scarcely imagine a single day without him by her side. Her feelings for him were tender and sacred, something she wanted to wrap her arms around and hold close forever, a secret to swallow and keep safe from the eyes of the world.