Dazed, the Champions had little to say to one another during their wait.
Blue was seated alone in a corner, facing the wall. He seemed to be praying, and
not even Chieko had the inclination to disturb him. The GelbFaust sat between
Harata and Yukiiae, hugging her knees to her chest. Head down, she fought the
waves of remorse that threatened to overcome her will not to cry. Kat slept with
her head resting on Harata’s shoulder. Keisuke sat across the room between
Ayame and Mina. The usually talkative threesome sat solemn and hushed. It seemed
that with every passing moment, a weight suspended above them dropped
incrementally, slowly crushing the life and spirit out of the eight people
seated below.
“The Council will see you now,” Ari announced, and everyone rose to
follow him.
Anrakshi was one of the few countries of the Otherlands which was
completely autonomous. Throughout generations, its resourceful citizens and
powerful monarchy had managed to resist colonization by Diasminion. It did a
successful trade with the superpower, and with neighboring countries. The Hall
of Audience into which the Champions stepped attested to the strength and glory
of Anrakshi’s people. The room was enormous, and every detail- from the
delicate intricacy of the floral pattern inlaid in the floor to the soft,
colored light radiating from the dome above- spoke of the highest craftsmanship.
Rich fabrics decorated the walls, hand-punched gold lanterns dangled on chains
of silver and bronze. Surrounded by gleaming beauty, luxurious and cleanly, the
Champions were acutely aware of the stickiness of dried saltwater on their skin,
tangled hair and filthy clothes. Their feelings of shabbiness were heightened by
the sight of the woman enthroned on the dais at the far side of the room.
Queen Shaia was a young woman- barely thirty years of age- and beloved of
her people. Though she’d been forced to ascend the throne at the tender age of
twenty-five after the untimely (and rather mysterious) deaths of her parents,
she’d proven herself a capable yet compassionate leader. She was a regal young
woman, possessed of a serene beauty. Her dark eyes now shone warm upon the
ragged band assembled before her. Upon the rich darkness of her skin was painted
full court makeup. She was dressed regally in the traditional wraps of the
Anrakshi nobility, bright cloth shining with a multitude of metal beads. The
ornate crown of gold and gemstones shone in the muzzy light of the room, making
tiny bell-like noises as she turned her head to survey the Diasminians.
The Queen had long held a fascination with those strange and warlike
people across the sea, with their pale skin and oddly colored eyes. Shaia had
been to Diasminion on matters of diplomacy several times, and never failed to
return with ideas on how to modernize her own beloved nation. The Diasminian
people entranced her- How could such an advanced and intelligent race be
simultaneously so very cruel? Their culture, even with its barbaric
heartlessness, was an unending source of mystery for her. The dejected,
disheveled group that stood before her represented a cross-section of that
enigmatic culture, and Shaia wondered with anticipation what she might glean
from them before her judgment was passed.
“Would the man known as Harata please step forward?” the Queen’s
lilting accent gave her voice a musical quality.
Harata did as he was told, and felt compelled to kneel before the regal
woman on the dais.
“Rise,” she said. “My Council of Advisors, and I myself, have been
made familiar with your case by agents of the Port Authority. However, it would
please us greatly to hear the tale of your journey from your own lips, if you
would be so kind.”
For what felt like the millionth time, Harata recounted the story of
their mission. When he’d finished there was some murmuring from the men and
women assembled behind the Queen. She turned and addressed them in her native
language, leaving the Champions to wonder what was transpiring. After a few
moments of verbal exchange, the Queen turned back to face the Diasminians.
“The country of Anrakshi is in a unique, if confounding, position,”
Queen Shaia informed them. “You are, from a diplomatic point of view,
fugitives of your nation. You have not arrived here with the sanction of your
government, nor is it even legal for several of your party to have left the
borders of your country. However… there is also the case of the Legend of your
people. Are you truly the ‘Champions’ of lore? I do not know. Yet our Holy
Men warn us of the signs that loom- they tell us tragedy will come. They tell me
that perhaps your Decameron has seen the signs as well, for that Clan is Chosen
among your people. Perhaps your Holy Man has seen something… But can I trust
the words of fugitives? I am unsure.
“The Council has reached a decision.” Each of the Champions stared
straight ahead, breath held. “We will not, at this time, return your to
Diasminion. However, we have great misgivings about allowing you to proceed.
Therefore, you are to remain here. If, after the course of a few days, we have
decided that you are trustworthy and right-minded people, you shall be permitted
to continue your journey through Anrakshi. If not, you shall be handed over to
your country.”
Queen Shaia smiled serenely down at the stony-faced Diasminians.
“This decision may seem inconvenient to you in your urgency. However,
there are some reason why this is, in fact, quite fortunate. The first being
that you have arrived at quite a joyous time for the people of Anrakshi.
Tomorrow we shall be celebrating the Star Festival. You shall be guests at the
banquet held here in the palace. I assure you, the festivities rival even that
of Diasminion’s greatest Houses.
“The second reason I am sure is of far more pressing importance to you.
Our Coast Guard did manage to locate your companions. I am told that they will
survive, but will need to be kept under strict observation for at least a few
days. If it is your wish, we shall allow your Holy Man to pray over their souls,
as I’m sure is your custom. Please be assured that they are being well cared
for.
“I have arranged for you to remain as guests here at the palace. At
this time you shall be escorted to you rooms, provided you have nothing more to
say.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” was Harata’s only reply.
The Champions were escorted, not ungraciously, from the Hall of Audience.
Takaeyama awoke to a feeling of heaviness in his chest. As consciousness
gained ground, pain rode on its heels. He was acutely aware of the lungs he’d
ignored for so long. His swollen throat ached. His first thoughts were of a
longing to return to sleep, sweet delivery from the demon pain that tortured
him. Discomfort would grant him no such release. He would not sink back to any
land of dreams.
Around him were strange soft noises, muted dawn light. A needle ache
revealed a tube running into his arm. The air had a smell of sterility and
suffering.
Where in the name of the gods am I? Takaeyama wondered. Not
dead.
Unless this was the feeling of rebirth.
No, he realized, recalled what memories arose. He was still the same
fate-slighted creature, still aware, still eaten away by time and circumstance.
He searched in vain for some reason to be relieved. Nothing came to mind.
He turned his attention elsewhere, lest fury and pain leave him raving.
He realized that he was not alone in that unfamiliar room. Across from where he
lay, someone slept, or at least appeared to be sleeping. Under the window,
through which the newly minted light of the Prime Sun streamed, a chair was
occupied by a familiar form. Blue looked very much like his waking self, serene
and empty.
Have you been here all night?
Do you actually care?
Despair swallowed Takaeyama’s heart. He thought he might scream, but
was distracted by a faint clicking sound. A moment later, dazed relief pulsed
through him, lulling him back to sleep.
Queen Shaia quickly learned through her spies in the palace that the
Diasminians she hosted were mysterious people indeed. They did not behave at all
in the fashion she’d been expecting. Directly after their hearing, the
Champions were taken to a lavish suite of rooms with separate sleeping areas for
the men and women divided by a lounge. Many of the Queen’s Advisors were
scandalized by the idea of housing the two sexes together, strictly against the
morality of Anrakshi. The Queen, however, had an intense interest in how the
Diasminians interacted with one another. She was well aware that separating them
would not give her nearly as clear a picture. She excused her moral faux pas
with the defense that the people of Diasminion did not hold to the same high
moral standards as those of Anrakshi. Perhaps enforcing their own moral codes
upon their “guests” would make the more barbaric people uncomfortable.
Though many of the Advisors remained uneasy with the arrangement, Shaia was,
after all, the Queen. Her word was final.
The servants of the Queen saw to it that the Diasminians wanted for
nothing. They were provided with clean clothes of bright, luxurious silks in the
traditional style of Anrakshi- comfortable, flowing wraps for the women, tunics
and voluminous pants for the men. After they cleaned the salt and grime from
their overtaxed bodies, the Champions were served a lunch of light and somewhat
spicy delicacies. Queen Shaia had asked her most trusted handmaiden, a bright
and quick-witted young woman named Lalia, to serve the Champions and report back
in detail as to their behavior.
What the Queen learned was not what she’d expected.
“My Lady,” reported Lalia, “it’s almost as though they’ve
forgotten themselves. There don’t appear to be any of the boundaries that you
told me to be aware of. The Dauern girl sits beside the GelbFaust. The Angemal
takes no orders from the Empirian… The men and women comfort one another. They
try to ease each other’s minds with smiles and compassion. Their behavior is
quite unlike what we’ve seen in our sojourns abroad.”
After they’d eaten, two men arrived to escort Blue to visit Takaeyama
and Kazuki.
“I want to go,” pleaded Chieko. “I- I… just want to. Will you ask
them if I can go, too?” She addressed her words to Harata, who looked back at
her with a gentleness in his eyes that told her he understood.
“Chi,” he said softly. “I know how you feel… but I’m pretty
sure we’re going to have to go along with what they tell us. Maybe they’ll
say it’s okay for you to go later. We don’t have a lot of choice right
now.”
“I- I know that, but…” She felt herself starting to cry and called
up all the defiance she had within. Angrily, she wiped her eyes with the back of
her hand and clenched her jaw. Crying won’t help. You messed up. You sank
your dad’s yacht. You were careless and let your friends get hurt. You
promised Kieran you’d look out for Takaeyama and you failed. Don’t mess up
and get us all deported. Deal with the consequences of what you did. “Okay,
Harata. I understand.”
“They’ll be alright, Chi. The Queen even said so.”
Harata hugged her, but Chieko wouldn’t let herself be comforted. She
was too furious with her own failings.
The brightly lit hall bustled with Anrakshi nobility. Harata, lost among
a class of people he felt he’d never learn to understand, stood at the bottom
of a wide flight of stairs. This enormous ballroom was crafted with the same
lavish attention to detail as the Hall of Audience, resplendent with fine
marbles, precious metals and expensive draperies. The Clanless wondered if
he’d somehow manage to make it through the evening’s program or whether he
was destined to either combust or implode from the multitude of worries he
faced. He was overwhelmingly impatient for the night to be over… and it had
only just begun.
Harata sighed with relief at the sight of Kat descending the stairs. The
Queen had spared no expense in outfitting her Diasminian guests for the party.
The result of Kat’s afternoon of preparation was breathtaking. The Empirian,
who’d lived most of her life dressed in couture, wore her gown with ease. The
pale pink fabric flowed around her enchantingly as she navigated the steps, each
motion a study of perfection. Harata felt that he was seeing Kat as she was
meant to be seen for the first time. For a moment he forgot the pressing worries
he had regarding their incarceration in this paradise, of loss of supplies, of
suffering Champions, of imminent global destruction. Momentarily lost, he was no
more than a man bewitched by the sight of a beautiful woman.
Chieko, wearing a sunshine yellow gown, followed behind Kat. She wore a
look plastered on her face that she’d used countless times. Like the Empirian,
Chi also had plenty of experience with the gaudy way in which the rich amused
themselves. Though none of the assembled party-goers would ever know it to look
at her beaming countenance, the GelbFaust bore many regrets with her. She wished
that Kazuki could be there to amuse her with his antics and looks of
bewilderment. She longed for Kieran to be able to see her polished and pretty.
Most of all, she wanted to forget her worries for a little while that she might
enjoy the festivities ahead.
There was a traditional performance of the “Stories of the Stars”- a
collection of tragic and comic tales of the lives of the gods. Only Blue was
able to follow the plots, as the entire thing was naturally performed in the
language of Anrakshi. He found himself enthralled by the Otherlanders’
interpretation of the gods and their lives. Lost in his interest, he leaned
forward, watching keenly as the scenes unfolded. Yukiiae, who sat beside him,
eyed him with a sense of relief. The Night’s Herald had returned to them late
that morning, paler even than he’d been of late. Though his demeanor remained
unchanged, Yukiiae sensed that there was something amiss, some inexplicable
difference. She feared he was falling ill again, and was glad to see him so
intrigued with the play as he’d shown little interest in much recently.
Perhaps Blue, like the others, was simply feeling the effects of their weeks of
travel… he was human, after all. Still, Yukiiae resolved to keep an eye on
him.
Dinner was served in a vast banquet hall. At the whim of the Queen, the
Champions were scattered among the other guests rather than seated together.
Ayame took this news with dismay. The banquet itself was the one event of the
night that the Dauern dreaded most. As she feared, she was seated at a table set
with all manner of utensils she had no idea how to use, a multitude of glasses
and delicate dishes that both mystified and frightened her. As the meal dragged
on, she watched the other guests with eagle eyes, carefully imitating their
motions. She found herself easing slowly into the only role she’d ever had
that might help her through her ordeal- the coy enchantress, whose every motion
must be fluid, every word amusing. Unbeknownst to Ayame, the Anrakshi
dignitaries were quite taken with her. They found her incredibly beautiful in
the most exotic way, with her shining violet tresses and fine black dress. That
she was ill at ease was in no way apparent, leading on of the ladies to comment
later that “even members of the most savage of their Clans can conduct
themselves in high society.”
After the meal, which lasted for hours, there was a fantastic display of
fireworks on the palace grounds. Even Chieko felt her spirits rise watching the
spectacle above. On the land below the multicolored sparks a parade of
traditional dancers wove, wearing outlandish costumes. At the close of the show,
the party began in earnest as the guests returned indoors to drink and dance the
remainder of the night away.
Kat charmed the Anrakshi royalty, including the Queen herself. It seemed
that everyone wanted to speak to her, and she was surrounded by a crowd for the
whole of the party. Harata was inundated with questions and speculations as to
his origins. Mina, who detested social events, managed to locate some Anrakshi
scientists. Before long, the group of them was sequestered in a lounge
somewhere, deep in discussion. Keisuke was given a wide berth at first. Most
Anrakshi saw the Angemal as the vehicle behind Diasminion’s bloody
colonization in the Otherlands, and had no love for them. However, as the
evening progressed, some of the bolder young ladies engaged him in conversation.
They unanimously reported that he was, in fact, quite charming. Before long, the
Commander was lost in a throng of giggling young women. Blue and Yukiiae were on
the outskirts of the crowd, talking quietly with Anrakshi’s Holy Men. The
topics of conversation ranged from the difference in religious practices among
the nations to the recent signs of disturbance in the natural world. Chieko
danced with anyone who asked her.
The evening air was warm and refreshing after the stuffiness within the
palace. Harata stepped into the garden, sighing heavily. He’d finally managed
to excuse himself, but knew that he wouldn’t be able to remain outside for
long. How much longer could this go on? He threw himself heavily on a marble
bench and gazed up at the stars they celebrated. Stupid gods, he thought
bitterly. Nothing you do makes any sense. He felt a heavy exhaustion
creeping around the edges of his consciousness.
“Harata?”
Ayame had entered the garden unnoticed by the Clanless and was
approaching with soft steps. She wore a tired smile.
“You couldn’t take it any more either, huh?” she asked as she sat
down beside him.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” he admitted.
“I really wish I could just go up to bed. We’ve got so much to worry
about and so much to do… This seems a little silly.”
“Yeah, it does…” Surprised that the Dauern had come out into the
garden alone, Harata asked, “Where’s Keisuke?”
“He’s amusing himself with all the wealthy young women. He dances
quite well, you know.”
“It doesn’t… well, bother you?” Harata looked skeptically at
Ayame, who laughed.
“Why should it? It’s not like we’re in love or anything.”
“Then… why are you…”
“Just because,” she answered lightly.
“Just because? Aya… don’t you think that’s kind of… kind of wrong?”
“No. What’s it to you anyway?”
“I’m worried about you is all. Keisuke… doesn’t seem like the
nicest guy. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“How could I get hurt? I’m not naďve enough to think that he’s
going to whisk me away and save me from all the things I face when this is over.
He’ll never love me. I don’t care.”
“So you two are just using each other?”
“Essentially.” She said the word without bitterness, a simple
statement of fact.
“Oh, Aya… that’s- it’s awful. You can’t-“
“I can do whatever I want.” Anger was creeping into her voice. “And
it doesn’t concern you. It’s none of your business anyway. You don’t hear
me complaining to you about your silly infatuation with Kat, who’ll
probably drop you like a bad habit as soon as we get back to Diasminion do you?
What makes you think you have any right to tell me what to do?” She stood up
furiously.
“I do have a right to tell you what I think,” Harata answered
defiantly.
“Oh really? Are you going to pull rank on me now? You’re the
all-powerful Clanless One and I’m just a puerile little Dauern who can’t
take care of herself? That it? You like being the leader so much you’ll even
make it personal?”
“No.”
“Sure. Why, then?”
“Because you’re my sister, Aya. That’s why.”
She took a step back, staring.
“You’re kidding, right? Very funny.”
“I’m not kidding. I’m not Clanless. It’s nothing but a
big, stupid mistake. You’re my sister. You were two years old when I got
shipped off to the Otherlands. The only reason why I’m this so-called Clanless
is because the Hall of Records burned down and nobody counted me in the census
afterward. It’s all a lie.” Harata spoke rapidly, through a haze of
resentment.
“This is… Oh, hell, how am I supposed to believe something like that?
There’s no way.”
“When you were really small,” Harata was speaking so softly it was
almost a whisper, “the plantation owner’s dog bit you. You have a scar
here,” he pointed to her left thigh. “You’ve been scared of dogs ever
since, but never knew why or where the scar came from.”
“Mom told me.” Ayame’s voice cracked. After a moment, she said,
“Shit, you’re serious.”
Harata looked up at Ayame with remorse.
“I’m so sorry about what happened to you. It’s not fair- I got to
run away while you got left behind to live a life like that. Not a day has gone
by since I found you in Mianuus that I haven’t wished I could’ve been there
with you, or that you could’ve escaped instead. I never want you to live like
that again. I’ll do anything I can to keep you safe. I promise.” Overcome by
the weight of all his worries and guilt, Harata felt tears well in his eyes.
He and Ayame stared at each other in silence for what felt like an
eternity.
“But…” Ayame said finally. “What does this mean? Are we
not really the Champions? Is it really a mistake? Shit, Harata, we kidnapped
Chieko and Kat. Blue and Mina nearly died fighting the HeadHunters. Kazu and
Taka just got drowned. I’m gonna get Taken as soon as I set foot back
on Diasminion. For what? A lie?”
“I don’t know what it means, Aya. I’m just doing what I was told to
do and hoping it’s the right thing.”
“When you showed up it ruined all our lives. You might not think too
highly of mine, but I was doing all right. At least then I had a future. Now all
I’ve got waiting for me is death.” She walked away stonily. “I won’t
tell any of the others… if only because I think you should have to do
it.”
