Royal Heart

by Nuit du Loup

Author's note: Pronunciation of the name Kaede is as follows- Kie (like pie)·Day

":Oh! That's so good!"

Ilona Peranda sighed in visceral pleasure as the sweet, ice-cooled fruit juice slid over her tongue and down her throat, raising goose bumps along her strong, darkly tanned arms when she felt the cold in her belly for a brief, wonderful moment. And then it was gone. But Ilona smiled anyways. As brief as the respite from the summer heat was, it had been worth it, especially after the long hot morning she'd already had.

"I want that cup back!"

Pulling the indicated ceramic cup down from her lips, Ilona raised dark, arched eyebrows at the sour spoken old woman that was glaring at her from across the wooden counter of her little shop. Silia Gowen was her name and she ran the most successful eatery among the few that sat along the wharf of Caelus Island's protective cove. Workers unloading the fishing boats, like Ilona, had at least two desires when they hit their mid-day break, good food and good drink, and Silia had both. And she was money hungry enough to accept even Ilona's coin.

Ilona sighed dramatically and set the cup down calmly, and watched as the old woman snatched it away with an age gnarled hand. At sixteen years of age, she was already a social outcast among the small island's inhabitants. The people of Caelus were more than a bit behind the times in her opinion and extremely superstitious. And the circumstances involved in the death of both her parents when she was just a child would have been enough on its own, but in the last year strange markings had begun to appear on her body.

Most were hidden, unseen on her back and upper legs, but the ones on her arms and belly were hard to hide. And on her forehead were two lines, one coming from each side until they got to the middle. There they turned in opposite directions in partial circles as if they were encircling and surrounding something that wasn't there. No one had put those black lines on her skin, and everyone knew that, they just appeared at random. So people were convinced that she was under some sort of evil curse that might strike them down at any moment. Idiots the lot of them!

No one liked talking to her and most of the older generation, like Silia, tried to avoid her entirely and ignored her if she happened to walk by. It was also why she lived alone in the small hut she kept off away from the others, though the outside was now heavily defaced by local kids. Working at the fishing boat docks was the only job the villagers let her do to earn enough money so she could buy food to live on. And her currant state was the result.

She was a tall young woman compared to most on the small, middle-of-nowhere island she lived on. She wore cut-off men's trousers and a thin, red, short-sleeved shirt that sat tight, coated in sweat as it was, over the moderate curves of her breasts. The rest of her body was strong and nicely toned from the long, hard work she'd done for the last five years. Her skin was darkly tanned enough that most of her small scars from wooden slivers received from crates and cuts from fish knives didn't show and her coal-black hair, the same color as everyone else on the damn island, hung just barely below her shoulder, its ends were uneven from the rough hack-job she'd done when she cut it. Her hands were toughened from her work and a small scabbed line ran over the knuckles of her left. That had come from the last fight she'd gotten in.

Some of the younger men thought they could accost her and mess with her because of her dismal social status. She'd been threatened with nearly everything by now from beatings all the way to rape and murder. That was how much she was disliked. But she had grown tough on the inside too. And she had learned long ago how to fight and get away from trouble. And the large, heavy blade she carried at all times on her right hip helped to deter the morons who tried her anyways. Two of them had already learned the hard way.

She noticed Silia was scrubbing her used cup extra hard in her small washbasin.

"You know Silia, it's not going to come off that easily," Ilona said with a smile and a teasing tone. Her voice was smooth with a soft lilt to it. "Curses don't come of with soap."

And that was how she kept herself sane. Some folk she figured would have been embittered by the kind of life she was being forced to live, but she wasn't them. She fought back against her fate by joking with it and ignoring the excessively rude or obnoxious. The way Ilona figured things; there was no point in moping around and feeling self-depreciating. So she went out each day and tried just a little harder to improve her life on her own, superstitious island folk be damned.

And the final goal that she dreamed of each night was to leave this place and make her way somewhere else in the world. Not to escape, but to discard this place and find herself something different.

Shrugging off Silia's cantankerous glare with a chuckle, Ilona dismounted the wobbly, oft repaired stool that sat among its twelve other fellows along the knife scarred eatery counter and walked through the busy lunch crowd that filled the dinning room with a deafening cacophony. It was extra raucous today, enough that even the thumps of her sturdy boots on the floorboards where drowned out. That was because there was something important happening to their little flyspeck island today and they'd all been let off from work early. Dock workers being dock workers, they were using the extra time to get as drunk as possible. And Silia was raking it in today.

Instead of a door, the popular little eatery just had hanging strips of blue cloth across its threshold. When she stepped through it, she returned to the unfortunately bright afternoon sun and turned left. She walked down the gray, heavily weather worn planks of the elevated wharf, heading northward toward the ramp to the unpaved road into town. The long c-shaped wharf was unusually busy for this time of day, but it wasn't any of her business, so she just weaved through the throng and ignored any dark looks cast her way.

If she ignored the crowd, she realized it really wasn't that bad of a day out. A slow but steady breeze was coming in from the East, out from the ocean, and it felt cool against her weather beaten skin. It was still early in the summer, so the waters of the cove to her right were fairly calm. Not too bad a day to be out on the water.

But there were no boats out. Not today of all days. They were all moored to pylons out in the cove, leaving the wharf clear except for the single powered tug and a few small rowboats. Not a single sail could be seen out beyond either.

"There it is!"

Ilona turned at the outcry from a young man standing a score of feet away from her and tracked his upward gaze into the sky. And there was the reason for the entire hullabaloo today. A long and sleek shape of purest white was gliding down out of a lumpy bank of puffy cloud and right behind that one were two more. On the decorative curves of the stern on the first, and the largest by far, flew a large forest green banner with some sort of red sigil, the same banner that flew from the building at the center of their island.

Caelus was a small island with only a few thousand people living on it. Geographically, it was in a vague crescent shape with the cove making for the open part. The people living here were considered backwards and provincial by the entire rest of the world and only a few of the trade ships stopped by. The crews of those that did stop sneered at their houses made of local brick and their strange ways. Ilona agreed with them, but the people of Caelus had no plans or inclination to improve the place and modernize. But they had been forced in one small degree.

About two hundred years ago, the Great Numelian Empire had spread and conquered a vast portion of the known world. It had even sent fleets out here in the middle of the massive Pythos Ocean. The islanders at the time had offered no resistance to the invaders because they stood no chance of defeating them. Later, the Empire had divided into the six kingdoms, each sworn to the Overking. The conquered lands had been divvied up between the six. And Caelus had been turned over to the Kingdom of Nascio. But except for the Viceroy in the central manor, it mostly left them alone since they were poor and self-sufficient. The only things they traded out were harvested pearls, fine glassware and glass figurines.

Now that was changing. Ilona shielded her eyes from the sun and tried to get a better look. The banner streaming from the largest skyship was edged in gold and even she knew what that meant. That banner was flown for one person. King Darin Verros, their ruler and monarch, and Caelus was his final stop on an inspection tour of the far outlying territories of the old Empire. Ilona was sure the King's visit would mean things would be different, at least in the short term.

The three huge skyships turned side-on to them to adjust their descent into the cove and Ilona saw that the rumors of their beauty weren't just hyperbole. They had the curved and flowing look of living wood, because that was exactly what they were made up. Unlike all the other kingdoms, who produced bulky skyships of metal or planked wood, Nascio grew theirs. They took a great deal of time to make she had heard, but a single one of them could stand up to half a dozen of anyone else's. How they were made was a closely held secret. From where she stood, Ilona could see several gracefully curving flares of decorative wood, small areas of tasteful green leaves, and on the top and the bottom, were three wooden colored turrets.

Ilona stared hard at those. A ship with just one turret that fired magical energies like those did, could wipe this village from the island in a busy afternoon. And this ship had six total. The two smaller escorts each had four, two to a side. What was it like to captain a ship like one of those through the skies? Ilona would likely never know. Skyships were ridiculously expensive to build, man and operate. Not even merchants could afford to use them yet, though she heard that a few of the bigger ones were going in together to build a small merchant fleet of skyships.

"What are you doing standing around here?" said a derisive, and young, male voice from behind and to her left.

"Watching the skyships, obviously," Ilona responded without even looking at the speaker. Her tone was such to imply a severe lack in his intelligence and she smiled when she heard the young man grunt sourly. "I see you're still pretty slow there, Squealing Pete."

"Shut your filthy mouth Ilona!" Pete hollered. Ilona grinned because despite his anger, Pete was keeping his distance. He was one of the few that had learned the hard way not to mess with her. He was two years older than her and part of what was considered the elite on this dirt mound. "We don't need your kind around when the king gets here. They would probably kill us all if they knew we'd allowed a cursed witch like you into his presence."

Ilona rolled her eyes and sighed in resignation. She wondered why she was the only sane person left on the island. Everyone else was treating the coming king like he would actually mean something once he flew away again. Very likely he would forget this island even existed after a couple days. But there was little point in sticking around just to spite Pete. His noise would draw others into it soon and dealing with a crowd would be tiring. And besides, she was starting to get a bit of a headache.

"No need to wet your pants in fright, Pete," Ilona said with a laugh as she resumed walking down the wharf. "I'm leaving. I don't have much use for Kings anyways."

Pete grumbled something inaudible, but she ignored him. All she really cared about now was getting home and eating something.

She walked down the ramp onto the dusty soil of the road and walked past the first line of houses. They were mostly the homes of the dockworkers and fishermen and built in a jumble of streets. There was no such thing as planning when homes were built here, people just formed roads and alleys as they went. At least until you worked your way in toward the center of the island. Around the Viceroy's manor were the homes of the local well-to-do. They at least had nice straight roads and actual shops instead of the stalls that lined the streets near the wharf.

Ilona turned off the main road that led toward that center and into the coastal warren. She knew the streets well and navigated them with instinctual ease. She kept a hand near the familiar hilt of her knife as she went because there was no need to be foolish as she took the shortcut home.

No one accosted her today, so she made good time. After an hour's walk she had left the village and was out onto a rocky headland at the far western shore of tough grass and rock. This side of the island was elevated from the sea and steep-sided. The ground was also hard and rocky so that building here was difficult. That was why she had found a nice spot out this way for her hut. It meant she didn't have any neighbors. Her hut was at the top of the current rise, in a small grassy depression.

As she approached her home, the wind picked up a little more. It seemed to emphasize the lonely nature of her dwelling. It was sturdily built of wood, brick and stone, and it had withstood several of the powerful winter typhoons that ripped in out of the east, but it was undeniably ugly. She'd used a veritable mash of building materials and the outside of it was covered in various statements of defiance and derision from the local idiot boys. But the roof didn't leak, and it was hers.

She reached the top of the stony rise and smiled. She actually loved relaxing at home reading one of the many books her parents had left behind. She was one of the very few on the islands who even bothered to read books, let alone own them. She walked the worn path to her door. She stopped briefly to take down the three brass lanterns that were hanging on metal spikes driven into the wall and hooked their looped handles onto her left forearm. Then, after looking around carefully for any watchers, she pulled one of the spikes out from the wall, and then moved it down to stick it into another, carefully hidden hole. She heard a sharp click. She put the spike back were it had come from. Only then did she unlatch and open her door.

Had she not put the spike in that hole, the area around her front door would have been filled with flying dried spines from the deadly poisonous, purple-cap jellyfish. The springs for the trap had been hard to find, and it had cost her dearly when the right merchant from one of the more modern kingdoms had shown up. But it had more than repaid her. Eight times people had tried to break into her hut, and each time they ran away screaming in pain, their bodies swelling from the poison. One had almost died and even now was still sickly despite the intervention of the village healers. Now the kids just threw things at her hut from a distance. Once inside she reset the traps.

For a moment she stood in the pitch black of her hut. There was only a single tiny column of light shining down from her chimney hole and that only illuminated a tiny dot on her swept floor of hard packed dirt.

With the ease of long familiar practice, she set one of the lanterns on her small wooden table and slowly drew her finger up the front of the glass window. As she did so a soft blue glow brightened and filled her hut from it. It was a feylight and she was the only one in the entire village that used them. The villagers distrusted anything that hinted at magic, but Ilona didn't. It was useful and since she was already considered a witch, she didn't see a reason not to use them. And they were easy to make and cheep to buy. These three had been spares from a merchant ship. She had harvested the quartz inside herself from the plentiful deposits that could be found strewn among the coral in the cove and the reefs that bordered the west of the island. The crystals hung suspended between four small brass spikes with symbols carved on them. She had copied those meticulously so she could renew them whenever the brass suffered from oxidation.

The light was enough to fill every nook of her modest home now and she smiled. All it took was a few hours in the sun to charge them, and they then gave light for at least six hours. She picked the lantern back up and hung it from a wooden peg that hung over her small, but comfortable bed.

Moving across the hut now, she went to her carefully hidden secret. She opened a small door in the north wall which contained a very tiny chamber. Most folk would probably think it was a privy. It certainly was not. It was the reason she had picked this spot for her hut. It was an extremely old, but very serviceable well. In town, only the rich had their own wells. If someone found out she had one, even a forgotten one, she might find an angry mob tearing her home apart to lay claim to it. That was why she was always very careful and quiet about drawing water up from it with her buckets.

She did so now, filling two. She brought them to the kettle that sat on tripod mounted ring over her fire pit. It took only moments to grab a few pieces of wood and to get them burning nicely. Twenty minutes later she was sitting on her bed, enjoying the salted fish she had taken out from her tiny ground storage and roasted as well as the water she had boiled to ensure its cleanliness.

In one corner was a large, solid and weather-sealed chest. She unlocked it and drew out one of the books contained within. These were her treasures. This one had a red-stained cover and its title said it contained a collection of poetry from the far eastern Empire. She hadn't read this one yet, so she made herself comfortable on the bed and opened the volume. As she did she glanced up at the feylight. When it ran down it would be about dinner time. She felt like eating out today and made a mental note to do so when the light guttered out.

*******

Kaede cu'Verros, youngest princess of Nascio, stared out at the vista before her with an expression of the greatest boredom on her pretty, pale-skinned, triangular face. Her small pink lips were set in a tight line and her bright hazel eyes held anything but happiness. Her long, honey colored hair had been teased into graceful curls that rolled down her back and over her shoulder and it all matched perfectly with her carefully chosen blue dress and white over-vest that covered her growing twelve-year-old form.

She stood on one of the flat upper decks that were about as high as you could go on the skyship, as the massive thing settled down gracefully into the sapphire waters of the cove. Her elbows were resting on a railing of curving, living wood and her arms were propping up her head at the chin. In her view, the cove was the only thing of beauty she saw.

The smallish island had looked brown and grungy, with only a small amount of forest at one side from the air, and from here it looked even worse. The buildings closest to the curving wharf were all weather beaten and poorly maintained. The rest of the buildings looked uniformly tan and boring. Her father's standard flew from the largest building, but even it was tiny compared to many of the structures she was used to. Even the inside of this accursed ship was probably bigger.

She was heartily glad that after they were done with this dusty dirt pimple on the ocean, they would be going home. She had already wasted one and half years of her young life on this tiring series of visits to the multitude of world armpits. She was tired of smiling like some story princess to people who had never seen a noble before in their lives. Yes, very soon she would be able to get back to her life and her studies. But first she had to survive the island of Caelus.

"My Lady?"

Kaede dropped her arm and turned slightly at the familiar voice. "Yes, Nana?" she said to the graying old woman who had been her nurse since had been an infant. Now she was in charge of keeping Kaede out of trouble while they were on this little trip. She was more a mother to Kaede than her blood mother who was at home helping her eldest brother as he ran the kingdom in father's absence.

"Your father is asking that you go to him, my Lady," Nana Otteman said with a small smile. She knew how much her charge hated this journey. "We will be docking soon and he would like you to disembark with him."

"So it is time to impress the yokels," Kaede said under her breath. Louder she said, "Coming."

She and the Chief Maid both crossed the deck to the hatch into the ship. Having lived on the warship for over a year, Kaede was unfortunately familiar with its pleasingly organic, wooden corridors. So it didn't take them long to work their way down to mid-deck. There they found the large, port-side bay crowded with her father's advisors, scribes and soldiers. Navy men in their green trousers and black shirts were everywhere too, but this was their ship, so this was where they were supposed to be.

Over near the tightly closed hatch to the outside, where a recently repainted gangplank waited, was her father, Davin Verros, King of Nascio. He was a tall man with broad shoulders. He was just past his middle years and only a few white hairs were visible in his hair or his carefully trimmed, boxed beard. His eyes were the same color as hers and they gleamed with intelligence. Today he wore crisply creased black pants, a gold studded belt, polished black boots, and a red coat that was open from neck to middle, exposing the clean white shirt beneath. Around his head at temple height, was a thin golden cord, the presence crown.

Her father hated that crown. The oils on human skin accelerated its natural corrosion and it had to be polished constantly. She knew his personal steward carried a cloth on his person for just that purpose, just in case. Kaede liked the fussy old man, but she agreed with her father about the crown. Luckily as the youngest of the royal offspring, she didn't have to worry about symbols of office.

The steward stood there now, off to one side as father spoke to a small gathering of Navy and Guard officers. Father was arranging the usual escort detail most likely. Not that there was probably much to fear in a place like this. The only weapons to hand would be knives and fishing implements. A single squad of the guards would turn any attack into chum. She'd heard that it had happened once, when she hadn't been around.

Father's eyes, always alert, flicked over her, then returned and settled. He raised a quieting hand to those to which he had been speaking. "Keade, good, it is nearly time. Stick around until we are settled."

Not trusting in her ability to hide her annoyance with the coming task, she simply nodded her acceptance and walked over by the bulkhead to stand near enough to be at hand, but not close enough to crowd him until he was ready to disembark to the island. Closing her eyes to calm herself, she could already hear the shouts coming from the crowd at the docks.

This little tour had partially been intended to remind all these far flung little places that they were part of the larger Empire. So far they had been successful in that task, but she still didn't like all the ridiculous clamoring over them. And no doubt every young, single man and some of the married would yet again try and gain her attention, thinking that they might marry into royalty somehow despite her young age, the scum.

A hollow thud reverberated through the bowels of the ship and Kaede felt a small jolt through her feet. Then the soft hum of the ship's propulsive and other systems died to complete silence. Next there came a soft groan as the wooden ship settled its full weight into the water near the wharf like a great beast that was resting itself. The echoes of shouted orders drifted down to them, so they all knew that the arm thick hawsers that were anchored to the sturdiest parts of the ship were being tied off to hold them in place. The routine was irritatingly familiar.

"All secure!" called a voice from outside and above.

"All secure!" at each duty station Navy men called out that everything was as it should be. When that quieted down, she heard the soft thuds of men going about new tasks. A few minutes later, the hatch Kaede had entered through was filled by a large, heavily weathered man in a forest green greatcoat along with the normal Navel uniform. On each side of his collar were three golden leaves in a spear-tip shape.

"Your Majesty," Admiral Yusef Bylon rumbled. It was a sound the seemed to reverberate from his chest as he walked to his king. "The ship is now secure to the wharf. You can descend at any time. Both escorts are orbiting above and keeping to the Dragon Line."

"Excellent, good work as always Admiral," Father responded cheerfully. He and Bylon had been close friends in their youth and everyone was used to their familiarity. Father now switched his attention to her, and Kaede was moving even as he spoke. "Kaede, time to move out."

Navy men cranked the huge wheel that sealed the outer hatch closed and there was a brief sound of metal scrapping on metal. Then, with a dull Ka-thunk, the slides were free and two men pushed the hatch open. Warm sunlight streamed in and muffled the harsher light coming from the ship's internal, magical feylights. Ten more men, five to a side, hefted the gangway and hauled it over to the door. They set it down onto a pair of rollers set in the sides of the doorway and rolled it out. When it was a bit more than halfway out, its weight over-balanced it and it tipped. It slid a little faster and a male voice shouted "It's down!" from outside. There was a bit more fussing, and then the Navy men cleared the hatch.

Father gave a small nod to the waiting soldiers in their dirt brown trousers, green coats and highly polished sabers held in their best dress scabbards. Some, those that could afford it, had metallic inlay on their scabbards and it gleamed in the sunlight. Ten of the men, including one who carried the standard of the Kingdom, walked to the doorway, formed into two lines with practiced precision and at the cry of their sergeant, marched down the gangway.

"Clear!"

"Kaede," father said softly. Kaede raised her left arm up at the prompting and he took her small hand into his much larger one. He escorted her to the hatch and the excited crying of the crowd increased with the sight of them. They slowly descended the gangway into the protective semi-circle of guards at its base. Waiting for them there was an extremely aged man with long white hair. He was dressed in a rich blue coat and white pants. At his hip rode a serviceable short-sword in a red scabbard.

The man knelt as they approached, pulled out his sword and presented it hilt-first toward her father, the King.

"I am Viceroy Emelio," the old man said in the tones of utter respect. "You grace us with your arrival here today."

Father made a show of inspecting the offered sword, which Keade was certain had laid somewhere gathering dust until their arrival. Then he handed the sword to the Captain of the Guard, who had followed them down, and that man carefully slid it back into the Viceroy's scabbard. "Your welcome is much appreciated, as is that from the people of Caelus here today." His eyes swept over the gathered crowd, taking them in. "I am your King, Davin Verros, and this is my youngest daughter, Kaede cu'Verros."

A murmur ran through the assembled islanders and Kaede wanted to sigh. She could already see several men pointing her out to their young sons. Fools. They would be just as disappointed as the women who would soon be doing everything but stripping down and throwing themselves at father. There was always some of that sort no matter where you went, opportunistic leeches that they were.

She did however, remember to do her job. She scanned the crowed and saw those who were actually important. Standing in small clumps, back and away from the crowd, where the men and women that dressed better and held themselves apart. They would be what passed for the successful and the rich around here. One man even had the look of a merchant to him. She filed away their faces for later, because they were the ones her father would end up talking to before they left.

"Your majesty," the Viceroy rose, but remained bowed. "My household has prepared a dinner in honor of your arrival. Please let us wash away the weariness of your travels."

"Sound like an excellent idea, Viceroy," father said, now in a warmer and less formal tone. "Raise your head and lead on. It would be rude to leave your wife and house waiting."

"Then, please, allow me to escort you," the Viceroy lifted his head, smiled and turned. Using that as a signal, the Guards formed up around them.

"Make way!" the lead Guardsman called out, carrying the standard in one hand. He stepped forward confidently and Kaede was unsurprised when the crowed broke up before him. And with that they were moving.

Kaede just hoped the island's fare was good.

******

Ilona was in an excellent mood. So good in fact that she had decided to take the long way back home to enjoy the deepening twilight. The sky above her was awash in the cool evening colors that lingered a little after the sun had already gone below the horizon. A few of the brighter stars were already coming out and low to the east, the moon was only a gleaming silver sliver.

She was in a good mood because her belly was full of the best meal she'd eaten in months. For once no one had said anything when she walked into the small diner near the middle of town. They had all been too excited about the King and his pretty daughter to pay any attention to the long familiar 'witch' when she walked in and ordered some of the grilled tuna and seasoned greens. For once they had forgotten all about how strange things happened around her. She had sat in the back corner, not wanting to tempt fate, and ate a dinner in peace. And it had been kind of funny when the over-excited waitress did finally realize who she was, but it had been too late, by then Ilona was finished and ready to pay.

Now she walked down the wide, hard-packed central street and looked around in curiosity. Not even the headache she'd had all night was dampening her spirits and she marveled at the expense people were going to tonight. Pitch torches had been lit in brackets all along the street, all they way down to the wharf. Most folk around here usually left things dark after sundown. If they needed light, they carried a candle lantern.

She walked further down the street at an easy, unhurried pace and began to frown. She raised a hand to her forehead and rubbed. "Was her headache getting worse?" she thought to herself. She hoped not. With every step toward the town center the dull throbbing seemed to grow. She started to actually worry when she suddenly started feeling very hot.

"No," she said in denial. She couldn't have a fever. That would be the worst. Not only would no one help take care of her, she couldn't afford to miss out on a day of work. And most of all, she didn't want her pleasant evening ruined!

*******

Ilona wasn't the only one looking at the night sky. Davin Verros was sitting in a wondrously comfortable chair on a balcony of the Viceroy's manor. The building stuck out sorely from it surroundings since it was the only structure on the island built of stone and one of the very few with more than one floor. But Davin liked this balcony. It was thrust out over the main road and he could see almost the entire small island except for what little was hidden by the rest of the building.

It really was a backwards and out of the way place. The people had been excited to see him, but he knew they felt no loyalty to him personally. They might listen to the Viceroy because he was familiar to them, but not him. For a moment he thought of simply granting these people official self governance, but he knew that was unthinkable. As much as it grated him, the Overking would be royally pissed off at him for "damaging' his great empire and he had no desire to spark a war for such a silly reason. It didn't help that the current Overking was such a petty man. This whole 'Tour of the Kings' he had demanded was only the beginning of his foolishness. He just hoped whatever followed wouldn't be too stupid.

He raised his glass; a well made local product, to his lips and sipped. Potent and smoky liquor washed down his throat with a pleasant burn. The whiskey he was drinking, from the Viceroy's stores, was one of the products of his own Kingdom and he had missed its flavor. It had been a surprise to find a bottle here. The aging Viceroy had very good taste in post-dinner beverage.

Reminded of the man, he glanced at the other side of the balcony where Emelio sat in a similar chair to his own, only he had his feet up on a little wooden support. Emelio really was a very old man to still hold this office. He wondered if he should find a replacement and let him retire. He made a mental note to arrange for that upon his return home.

"How did you come to own a bottle of Tolman Whiskey?" he asked aloud. "Almost every batch is sold before they even tap the casks."

Emelio smiled pleasantly. "Ah, your Majesty, I'm third cousin to Lilia Tolman. She is always kind enough to reserve a crate for me."

Davin nodded in understanding. That was a very nice relation to have. None of his were this useful. Maybe he should convince one of his own children or nephews to start a winery or something. It would be an investment for his dotage, but unlikely to succeed. Kaede he knew would make sure he still paid for every bottle. She was quite unhappy with him for raking her along on this foolishness.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a hint of movement on the street below. He turned out of general curiosity to watch a night shrouded figure walking through the dim light of the torches. He really should order those put out soon, they were sure to start a fire somewhere. A closer torch illuminated the figure and she was surprised to see a young woman.

He noticed now that her stride was awkward and uneven as if she wasn't sure where the ground was. She had one hand held to her forehead and was pressing there hard.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"What?" the Viceroy turned his head to look down as well. "Hmmm, oh! That would be the young Ilona. The locals don't like her much. They call her all sorts of things, like 'witch' just because odd thing happen around her. I've never understood the superstition. She has always seemed like a nice, hardworking young woman to me. Looks a bit out of sorts tonight."

Witch? Davin watched the girl for a moment longer as his mind tried to retrieve something that fatigue was making difficult to find. Then the girl, Ilona, walked into the light of the nearest torch and recognition flooded through him in a rush. Curling up the girl's forearm were black lines like tongues of flame. Behind that initial feeling of seeing something terrible before him came something like controlled panic.

He thrust himself up and out of the chair so fast that it tottered on its legs. His steward stepped out of the room to which the balcony connected and he thrust the glass at him. "Call the Guard!" he ordered to either of the men. "Get them to that girl at once!"

Suiting his own words, he strode quickly from the room on the heels of surprised shouts. He found the stairs and pounded down them as fast as he could. In the decorative foyer two of the soldiers flanked the main door. One had a pretty serving girl on his arm while the other watched on sullenly.

"You two!" he snapped out. Both men startled in surprise, but seeing his face they both moved towards attention. The one with the girl politely moved her aside. "Follow me!"

Not bothering to ask what was going on; the two men obeyed at once and followed him out into the street. Orange torchlight from the house lit the street. Not as well as modern magic powered lights would have, but they would have to do for now. Twenty paces down the street the girl was still walking, but much slower now.

"You, girl!" he called out. He scrambled for the name. "Ilona!"

The girl paused, said something that sounded like a curse under her breath, and slowly turned around. She looked at him in an uncomprehending manner and Davin ground to a halt. Her eyes were glowing a brighter blue than any feylamp and what looked like blue flames of the same color were lifting up out of them. Her face was a mask of pain. "Who—?" she spoke the single word and then dropped to her knees, both hands flying to her face.

He was too late; much too late. She was already flaring up. "What was a real mage doing in place like this and now of all times?" his mind demanded. He heard the scrape of the soldiers' boots on the dirt and turned to see them gaping at the girl. Well, they had reason he supposed.

"Get down!" he grabbed at the coats of both men and hauled them down to the ground with him. Then, laying there they watched coils of magical power coalescing and boiling around the girl's kneeling form. He could hear her moaning in pain and wished he could help her. But she was reacting to someone nearby and he had no idea who that might be. More light began to rise and flow toward the girl like a luminous fog.

Then suddenly a torrent of that foggy magic rushed into the girl.

Wa-Wumph!

The terrible concussion blasted away from the young woman and it ripped open the nearby wooden walled buildings around her. It tore over Davin and his soldiers and threatened to send them flying. The ground kicked like mule and he heard glass shattering from all around. Shouts began to rise up in the night. Pain throbbed from his abused ribs.

Ilona still knelt there, except now she was in a rounded depression in the earth and staring upwards, unseeing. Power continued to flow into her. Around her body was what looked like a living blowtorch of blue magical flame that shot straight up into the night like an insane beacon. Powerful, tearing wind was buffeting away from her. The dust being kicked up nearly blinded him.

"Signal!" he shouted and jostled the soldier on his right with an arm. The soldier nodded his understanding and rolled over onto his back. He raised his right arm against the wind and the sleeve of his coat slid down to show the copper device clamped there and the red Stone set in it.

"Ki-haa!" the soldier shouted, from his hand, and the Stone specifically, shot a fizzing green bolt. It rose up into the night and popped loudly and bright with a multitude of sparkles.

For a long couple of moments there was only the growing fury coming from the girl and the breathing of the soldiers lying on the ground next to him. He heard more soldiers shouting from the door to the manor, but he was still safe and in sight so they weren't as foolish as to step out and be swept away by the magic.

Then they came.

Five feet away from him, a column of glowing white rings appeared with more circles, sigils and inscriptions inside them. There were six altogether. Then a massive form dropped out of the night and the rings squeezed together like a spring as they absorbed the energy of the falling Marine Trooper. The massively armored man in question dismissed his spell and dug his boots solidly into the dirt road. His long ki-gun was strapped to his back. He bent against the wind with his visor down.

More of the armored figures, all with full face plates, landed all around them and Ilona. Once all twenty were on the ground or on the roofs above, they moved to bring their weapons to bear on the perceived threat.

"Shield her!" Davin shouted in command. The heavy trooper nearest to him nodded and raised a hand, palm out to the others. A glowing white sigil appeared for a moment, and then they all moved toward Ilona. Each massive figure reached out with both arms and he saw glowing bands containing more sigils wrap around each wrist. Then they all gave a collective grunt of effort and trust outwards. Suddenly the wind died as a solid column of white, almost icy looking light encased Ilona. Half the troopers dropped their arms to their sides but the rest kept their attention on the magical barrier.

Inside the barrier, it was filled with magical fire, flowing up to the sky with untamed power. He could see Ilona's clothing burning slowly away. First to char away were patterns of lines on her arms, thighs, belly and back. On her brow he could see two blazing lines that were almost blinding to look at. In the curving cusp of their inner ends, he saw a small, round stone rising out of bone and flesh.

Davin picked himself up from the ground as people began pouring out from houses and other nearby buildings.

"What is going on?" Emelio asked, walking out from his damaged manor.

"She is a Mage," Davin said gruffly. It had been a long time since had last done anything so rough. "She is one of the true ones. Did no one here notice the signs at all? She should have been sent for training years ago."

"There is no one on this island that works with magic," Emelio said quickly. "So no. Ilona was the only person that ever purchased magical devices from merchants. The islanders have kept her as a barely tolerable outcast since she was eleven, when her family's home exploded into flames and killed her parents. That was also when the first of those lines appeared. That is why they called her the Witch."

Davin grunted sourly. "Well, it's too late now. She grew unstable and is now reacting wildly to someone on the island."

"To someone my Lord?" the Viceroy asked in confusion.

"Yes, the true Mages must bond to a compatible individual in order to use their full powers. Most don't even wake to their abilities except in spurts, like Ilona has been until they are bonded. The bond is permanent and lasts for either of their lives. Don't you remember your histories Emelio?"

"You're talking about like in the old days? When there were no formal nations, but city-states governed by individual kings and queens with their mage-lords?"

"Yes, Ilona is the same as those mage-lords. True Mages are rare now days, but I have a few of them in service. Modern spellcasters and enchanters are only pale imitations to what she is. Any fool can manipulate magic, but only the true Mages wield it on their own and make it theirs." he shook his head in consternation. Now was not the time for history lectures. He needed to find the person Ilona was reacting to and bring them here.

"Viceroy," he said quickly. "Would anyone know if Ilona has been acting strangely around anyone lately or near specific locations?"

"I don't think she has," Emelio answered with a shrug. "If she had it would have been gossip for days. People tend to notice the strange around here, especially with her."

"If it isn't anyone here..." he thought aloud. His brain raced and the answer came quickly. "It had to have been someone aboard the ship. And she reacted when she walked by the manor."

He looked around and spotted the Guard Captain standing near the door to the manor, talking to the Captain of the heavy Marine troopers. "Guard Captain Rainault!" the soldier turned with the other officer and they both saluted. "I need you to round up every single person in this building from the ship and get them outside."

If the Captain was bothered by the strange order, he gave no sign. "Aye, sir, it will be done." He pointed at two nearby soldier and snapped his fingers, then gestured at the door. "You heard the King! Get to moving!"

It took some doing apparently. Some of his less physically vigorous hangers-on and advisors scoffed at the request, but he had them rousted. Soldiers, maids, stewards, all the staff from the ship emptied into the street. Davin paid close attention to Ilona as each exited and were chivied to walk past the contained girl. His tired eyes ached and he almost missed it when it happened, Ilona twitched.

He quickly looked up and around and saw that his daughter Kaede had just exited the manor. She was dressed in an evening gown and from her expression, she had been preparing for bed when all this commotion happened. Behind her walked her First Maid. Could it be?

"Kaede!" his daughter saw him, and then glanced past toward the shielded Ilona. Kaede's eyes opened wider in surprise and then she walked toward them.

"What is happening," the twelve-year-old princess asked. "Why did you order everyone outside?"

"Just come here!" he said, not in the mood for haughtiness. When his confused daughter came close enough he stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Kaede gave him an odd look. "Just walk toward the shield a little," he said calmly.

Kaede shrugged and walked forward, unconcerned, toward the shield. Then they both stopped and several people gasped. When Kaede reached arm's length from the barrier, Ilona's unseeing gaze shifted quickly from the sky to lock right onto Kaede's face. Her flowing power flared higher and he saw several cracks appearing in the barrier. The troopers saw it too and four ran up and lent their strength to it. That answered his question.

"Kaede, I need to you to go and calm down that girl," he said very carefully.

"Is that safe?" Kaede asked, raising a pretty brow.

"For you yes, but only you," he answered.

Kaede gave him a skeptical look. She was extremely intelligent and she knew magic was often dangerous. And Ilona was shielded which meant she was probably dangerous. After they shared gazes for a long moment she decided to trust him. "Okay, I'll try I guess, but how?"

"Can you let her inside without letting down the barrier?" Davin asked the nearest trooper.

"Aye, we can indeed," said the accented voice of the man inside the padded metal armor and helm. He looked to Kaede. "Just push hard on the area in front of me and you'll slide inside."

Kaede gave him one last look to truly convey her annoyance with what was going on, and then walked to the indicated side of the barrier. She reached out a nervous hand to the surface and then, firming her resolve, pushed. Kaede sank into the barrier and it snapped closed behind her. But no one noticed that. Because Ilona, now nude with proud breasts standing firm on her tanned chest and a wisp of silky black hair between her legs, stood in a mechanical fashion and turned to face Kaede.

"Uhm, hey," Kaede said in greeting, voice quavering with concern. "Hey!"

Ilona reached put with a long arm and cupped Kaede's face and since she had nowhere to go now, Kaede was forced to let her. The ground beneath the island began to tremor slightly.

"Shit, she's moving the damn Dragon Line nexus!" one of the troopers shouted. "We aren't going to be able to contain that kind of power!"

That was an understatement, Davin knew. But Ilona moved forward even more and embraced Kaede's smaller form. Kaede stiffened visibly but didn't resist. She just stared questioningly.

"Okay, ah, whoever you are, please calm down," Kaede said in a small voice. "You don't have to hug me. Well, I suppose you can if you need to. Wait! What are you—ooomph!"

Kaede cut off and everyone assembled stared. Ilona had tilted Kaede's small face upward and then kissed her hard. Kaede's eyes were open wide in shock. And then the barrier shattered. Powered roared like the scream of one the long-dead great wyrms. Foggy magic given temporary form raged in all directions only to somehow flow finally toward the two girls. Ilona pulled her lips away slightly and Davin's jaw dropped. A blazing shaft of blinding blue-purple light connected their mouths and it twitched like a bolt of lightning with loud sizzles and pops.

Both Kaede and Ilona trembled in place but they did not fall. The ground at their feet was being further scoured away and a pit was forming. An errant bolt of pure magical power boomed away into a nearby building and it collapsed into a dust billowing heap.

And then everything, every shred of visible magical fog and power raced into the girls in one massive wave. Identical glowing lines showed on Ilona's smooth skin and through Kaede's clothing. A deafening boom and a great shaft of pure white light ripped up into the sky and once it was gone everything went eerily quiet.

No more light or glowing fog moved and the earth was still. There weren't even any birds or insects calling. And no one seemed to want to break that silence, as if doing so would start everything back up again. The dark night closed back in and at the center of his attention were the girls; one nude and tall, the other small and very young. Then both girls took a simultaneous breath and collapsed to the ground.

"Kaede!" Davin rushed forward, his Guards at his sides. He knelt at his daughter's side and was relieved when he realized she was simply sleeping. Smiling proudly, he ran one hand affectionately through her honey colored hair and then lifted her up in his arms. As he stood he noticed that the First Maid had covered Ilona with her white shawl and was taking a cloak from one of the soldiers who had been on patrol duty and used it to further protect the young woman.

"That was some kind of show, my Lord," the trooper Captain raised the visor on his helmet to show a rough-skinned older man. "Never met a single soul what could move the Dragon Lines."

"Indeed," Davon said softly.

"What should we do with her?" asked the visibly shaken Guard Captain.

"Burn the bloody witch!"

Davin turned at the shout to see that the villagers looked terrified. The lead man that had shouted had skin that was bloodless and white in fear. They really were superstitious of magic here.

"No," he said, loudly and sternly. He saw anger ripple through the crowd. "But I will be taking her with me. She will not bother you again." The villagers seemed to think it over.

"Aye!" cried the pale, angry man. "She'd probably curse us all anyways." With that he spat on the ground and walked away. The rest muttered and began to disperse as well. They wanted no part in it anymore.

"Ilona," the softly spoken name slipped from Kaede's lips and he frowned. What to do. He looked to the First Maid. "Take the girl inside the manor. Find her a bed and place her in it. Be very gentle about it."

Nana Otteman gave him a look that said plainly, "of course I'll be gentle, I'm not an idiot!" Then she chivied one of the younger maids to help her.

"Uhm, we have extra beds that can be assembled, but there aren't any more available rooms," Emelio said tiredly.

"Put her in with Kaede then," Davin answered immediately. Nana and her conscripted maid followed him back inside the manor. Several servants went running ahead of them up the stairs. By the time they got to Kaede's assigned guest room, six men were sliding slatted parts together into a small bed. Two more squeezed in with a musty smelling mattress. As he was lying Kaede down onto her bed, they had finished assembling the bed. Two of the maids came in with a set of blankets. They all carefully got Ilona into the hastily put together cot and wrapped her in the blankets. Ignoring all the light and sounds, the young woman simply curled up a little, facing toward Kaede.

Shaking his head in disbelief at what this last little visit had turned into, he shooed everyone from the room but Nana and shut the door behind him. He felt monstrously fatigued. But he was the king and there was damage control to be done.

He would sleep later.