IV
The Southern Quarter of Fis
The royal capital was full of historical buildings, but nowhere more so than the southern quarter, which housed the colosseum, the old palace, and much, much more. Ornate, wrought-iron signs decorated the outside of many of the inns that lined both sides of the Mithry Canal, like fighters facing off over its clear waters. One such sign, which depicted a crow with its wings outstretched, stood over the Ashcrow Inn—the establishment where Olivia, Claudia, and Ashton had put up while in town. Ashton had suggested it based on its reputation for excellent bread, and Olivia, who loved bread, had agreed without a second thought.
It was the day after Olivia received Neinhardt’s orders to aid the Second Legion in battle. She, Ashton, and Claudia were eating breakfast in the main room on the ground floor of the inn. Most of the other staying guests were yet to rise—of the twenty or so seats at the round table, less than half were occupied.
Olivia was stuffing her face with freshly baked bread when a sturdily built woman with a tray in one hand came over. Her name was Anne, the landlady of the Ashcrow Inn.
“How’s the walnut bread, little Olivia?” she asked, briskly setting down a bowl of creamy stew packed with hearty chunks of meat and potato and carrot before each of them. Needless to say, as soon as the mouth-watering aroma wafted up to her, Olivia felt twice as hungry as before.
“Itho, tho good!” Olivia exclaimed through a mouthful of bread. “Cwuthy on th’owthide’n thoft’n fwuffy inthide! Thyoo thmellth good too!”
Claudia sighed deeply beside her. “Major, please finish your mouthful before you speak. Haven’t I told you this a thousand times before? Or is my advice not worthy of your attention?”
“Yeah,” Ashton chimed in, equally as exasperated as Claudia. “You’re not doing it on purpose, are you?” Olivia shook her head rapidly. Oh no, she thought, they’re both making that face again.
Anne let out a booming laugh. “Always so severe, eh, Claudia?” she said as she loaded their empty plates onto her tray. “No need for fancy manners with plain fare like this. Olivia, you just eat however you please.”
At this, Arkady the innkeeper poked his snub-nosed, sunken-eyed face out from the kitchen. “Well, I’m sorry it’s so plain,” he said, sounding thoroughly disgruntled. Anne snorted.
Claudia dabbed daintily at her mouth with her napkin as she sat up straight. “You are very kind to say so, ma’am, but it simply won’t do. If she is to be a noble, she must get a handle on basic table manners.” She looked sharply at Olivia, who shrank back like a turtle. Claudia really had been nagging her a lot lately.
Anne looked from one to the other with something like sympathy in her eyes.
“Being noble isn’t all fun and games, is it?” she said. “Ah, but it does make an old woman sad to think dear little Olivia’s leaving today!”
“It makes you sad?” Olivia inquired, intrigued.
“Well, of course, dearie! It’s not every day we get a guest with such an appreciation for our cooking,” Anne said with a querulous smile.
“Well, don’t worry, ma’am!” Olivia replied cheerfully. “I’ll be back just as soon as I’ve taken care of the imperials. I’ve still got things to do here in the capital.” After the last-minute decision that Olivia would go to the aid of the Second Legion, they had gone to Claryss to explain. It had been decided then that she would continue to research in their absence. Olivia wanted to get back to the library as soon as possible so she could continue to hunt for clues about Z, and that meant they had to beat these Helios Knights or whoever pronto.
“Is that right, dearie? In that case, we’ll have a proper feast ready for you when you get back.”
“Yeah!”
“If things get dicey, though, you skip on out of there though, you hear?” Anne advised her. “Noble or commoner, we all get but one life. We were all created equal on that count, nobles and commoners alike.”
An irritated voice came from the kitchen. “Hey! You done chewing the fat yet? The guests are coming down! Women,” he went on under his breath, “they’re always talking too much.”
A procession of bleary-eyed guests made their way down the stairs to the dining area. Almost immediately, the seats at the round table filled up.
“All right!” Anne shouted back, then to Olivia and others muttered, “What a tyrant, eh? Now, you three come back safe, you hear? And Ashton,”—Ashton looked up in confusion as she addressed him out of nowhere—“Don’t forget, at the end of the day, you’re still a man. You’re to keep little Olivia safe.”
“I, um, yes, ma’am.” He inclined his head stiffly while beside him Claudia smirked. Anne returned him a nod and a smile; then, squaring her shoulders, she marched back to the kitchen. Moments later, the husband and wife’s shouting voices echoed out to a harmony of shattering plates. As Ashton gazed over at the kitchen door in transfixed horror, Claudia took a map from her pocket, then cleared her throat once to restore order.
“I’d like to go over our schedule,” she announced. “First of all, we make for Fort Glacia, where the militia will be assembling. Once the force is mobilized, we head west to join the Second Legion.” She ran a finger along the map from Fort Glacia to the central front.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Ashton said, frowning. “It’ll be a decently sized force, but it’s still just a bunch of whatever soldiers they could scrape together. I honestly have to wonder if they’ll even take orders from us. Plus, the Helios Knights are extremely good at large-scale battles. As things stand, I don’t like our chances.”
Olivia agreed with Ashton. A disorganized mob wasn’t going to win a battle any time soon, no matter how many soldiers they rounded up.
“I think Ashton’s right,” she said, “but we still can’t afford the time it’ll take to get them working as an army. For all we know, the Second Legion is on the brink of collapse right this moment.”
“I don’t disagree, it’s just...” Ashton trailed off into frustrated grumbling, folding his arms. Apparently, he wasn’t convinced. Olivia thought she ought to say something commander-like.
“How about this then?” she said, raising a finger. “We say that if they try their best, they’ll get books, or sweets, or something like that. That’ll get everyone fired up, for sure.”
“This isn’t the time to joke around!” Ashton snapped back at once, thoroughly blindsiding Olivia, who’d not meant her suggestion as anything but serious. There wasn’t a human alive who wouldn’t be thrilled to receive books or sweets, she was sure of it.
“I’m not joking, Ashton. Listen,” she said patiently, “the fundamental difference between humans and beasts is that—”
“That’s it!” Ashton cut her off, a wicked smile spreading across his face. “Olivia, I’ve got an idea.” She knew just looking at his smile that it was definitely something nasty. Claudia eyed Ashton dubiously, so she must have sensed it too.
“I trust you’re not planning on using the major for something nefarious?” she said, a warning note in her voice.
“Nefarious? Don’t be silly,” Ashton replied. “I’d never do anything like that. I just had a thought...”
“What kind of thought?” Claudia said, leaning forward so that she was nose-to-nose with Ashton. He shoved his chair back to get away from her.
“Wh-Whoa! Bit close there!”
“Answer the question. Now.”
“Um, well. I just thought that maybe, once all the soldiers have gathered, Olivia could give them a little demonstration...” he said, then laughed nervously.
“A demonstration from the major, you say...” Claudia said, showing no sign of letting up on him. “What in particular did you have in mind?”
Determinedly avoiding her eyes, Ashton replied, “Oh, nothing too flashy...”
“In that case, hurry up and answer the question.”
“Just...just a few straw combat dummies, for Olivia to show off her sword work on,” he answered, glancing at Olivia as he spoke.
“You want her to do a swordplay demonstration?”
“Yes. I was thinking once they get a look at her, it’ll scare them into following our orders properly.”
“Huh...” Claudia mused. “In other words, you want to control them through fear, so they’ll follow you like slaves.”
“I mean, wouldn’t say ‘slaves,’ exactly...” Ashton said. “But in essence, yes.”
“Yes, I see, I see,” Claudia said, then laughed out loud. “That’s quite the idea!”
“R-Right? I—Ow, owowowow!” Ashton yelped. Claudia, a humorless smile plastered on her face, reached out and yanked hard on his ear. The yaksha returneth, Olivia thought to herself, covering her face with her hands.
“The nerve...” Claudia growled. “First that armor you got her, now this—just where do you get all these unwholesome ideas? Sometimes I think I should cut your head open and see what’s inside for myself!”
Terror gripped Olivia in a vice. Little wonder it did, as an image of Claudia appeared in her mind’s eye, knife in hand and grinning as she lopped off the top of Ashton’s skull.
“I’d really prefer you didn’t,” Ashton yelped, “and the thing with the armor was beyond my control!”
“Um, Claudia? If it’s just swinging my sword around a bit, I’d be—” Olivia began as tentatively as she possibly could, but Claudia immediately whipped around to glare at her. For some reason there were a few strands of hair caught in her mouth. This would definitely haunt her dreams tonight.
“—very not happy to do it! Not a chance, Ashton!”
“What? Olivia?!”
“I’m going on ahead! Bye!” Inhaling the last of her stew, Olivia dashed outside, doing her best to ignore Ashton’s imploring eyes. She knew she wasn’t out of the woods yet. But for now, she told herself, I’ve gotta make a strategic retreat.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login