Prisoners and Untrusted Allies
Clarissa had been a little surprised when Lightning had arrived, with a bound, blindfolded and gagged Death Knight. It was not the fact that the Abyssal had been restrained in such a manner, she had seen such things before, but the slightly panicked look to Lightning's actions.
It had been enough that she had not immediately started her teasing word play with the Lunar.
She had ordered something for them to drink, and in a room with large windows, with a fire burning in the hearth, she had listened to Lightning's story.
By the time Lightning had finished her tale Clarissa could see that Lightning had calmed some. Getting to her feet Clarissa walked over to the windows, looking out at the icy harbour of Windcreche. The house was up high, where the cold winds could get at it, but kept away the scents of the rendering plants. She looked over her shoulder. "What do you want to do now Daddy?"
Lightning looked as if she was about the protest the title, but instead she said, "I don't know."
Clarissa nodded, then looked back out the window, watching an ice boat that sailed across the frozen harbour below. "Shall we find another place to hold her?" She turned from the window and looked at the bound Courtesan.
Lightning shook her head. "I won't ask the Silver Pact to sacrifice any more people, or lose any more facilities. Not for this."
"Then what do you want to do Daddy?"
"Someone is hunting her. This time it was a single assassin, it could be an army next time. I don't think I have much time anymore. I'll need to talk to Heron and the others, see what they think. They deserve to know."
Clarissa walked over to the couch where Lightning had deposited Courtesan. "If you don't want to carry her all the way, I can arrange transport. Official is fastest at the moment, but we'd need to explain her. I suppose we could pass her off as a pleasure slave. You have her nearly trussed up like one Daddy."
"She bites," Lightning said.
"All the good ones do."
Courtesan sat on the cot in the small, windowless room. It had been some hours since Lightning and the woman who called Lightning 'Daddy' had spoken. Courtesan had been carried to the room, most of her bonds released, but for a manacle around her ankle that kept her on a length of chain.
She had been able to wash up, and change into a clean set of clothes, her funeral cloak worn over those. She lifted her leg, looked at the manacle. It was well made, though were her essence reserves not so depleted she might easily open it. Even with only her own skills she might remove it, with some time, but she did not think to try.
She was certain that Faded Maiden was following the Walker in Darkness' orders, and she did not know how many of his other Death Knights might be after her as well. At the moment, Lightning was her best hope. The Lunar wanted to keep her alive, thought Courtesan knew there were times that the woman did want to end her. However, so far, she had kept control or herself.
And Courtesan had done nothing to test that control.
She lay back on the cot, pulling her cape around herself, for the room was a little cool. She had returned to Creation, but the whispers were soft, nearly absent, in her mind. Had her true masters lost interest in her? Or was it that she was depleted of essence, somewhat cut off from her powers, that silenced them? She hoped it might be the former, for she did not relish the idea of the whispers returning to full force as soon as she was once more filled with the dark essence of the underworld.
She heard the locking bolt slide and then the door open, recognized Lightning from the uncomfortable connection they shared. She looked up from where she lay on the bed.
Lightning watched her, stared at her with a gaze that made Courtesan wish she was blindfolded.
"There are places, deep in the Wyld, where I could put you, places you would never leave, places where no one else would ever, could ever come. Do you believe me?"
Courtesan nodded. She had to swallow before she could say, "I believe you." She pulled her cape tighter around herself.
"That's good. I don't know what the voices in your head tell you, but remember what I said if you ever think of causing harm to those I consider friends."
"I won't, won't cause them any harm," she said quickly.
The Lunar crossed the small room in two long strides, stood standing over Courtesan. "If I even think that you will be a problem, you get tossed into some oubliette far out in the Wyld and I walk away." She leaned down and put a hand around Courtesan's throat. "We do have an understanding don't we?"
Courtesan's heart was beating hard in her ears, with the fear and the hard hand at her throat, and Lightning's eyes, with silvery light dancing in their depths.
"If you act accordingly I will do my best to find a way to deal with this problem that we both will find acceptable."
Courtesan nodded.
Lightning released her.
"I will continue to keep you bound when we travel."
Courtesan nodded. "I understand."
"How are you?" Lightning asked.
The question surprised Courtesan for its banality, for being so out of place.
"No injuries? Nothing you need?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"There is a graveyard in the city, in a few hours I will take you there, for a short time."
"Why?"
"You're useless without essence. I've guaranteed your safety. I might need you able to protect yourself."
The word useless were painful to hear. That Lightning might need her made her heart speed up again.
"You know that you will not easily flee me, even with essence?"
"I know."
Lightning said nothing else, left the room, locked the door.
Courtesan shifted on the cot, took a deep breath.
The Lunar terrified her.
Of course, she had to admit, most things ultimately terrified her.
Lightning clenched her fists as she walked away from the cell where she had left Courtesan. The Death Knight tested her control, for she still wanted to kill it. It did not matter how much she knew that was the wrong choice, in her gut she knew that Courtesan should not be.
With some distance she was able to relax slightly, letting her fists open, watching the cuts in her palms close and heal.
She took a handkerchief from her jacket, wiped the blood away, and went to find Clarissa.
Clarissa was in her office, paperwork spread about her desk. She looked up when Lightning entered. "Have a nice talk with your pet Daddy."
"Not my pet."
"Not really your prisoner either."
"She understands the situation. Get us the fastest transport you can."
"I will do so. You might want to be careful about telling anyone your ultimate destination Daddy."
"Why?"
"It seems your friends are beginning to attract more attention. The Halsanti League is not sure about what to think about your shipyards."
Lightning thought about it for a moment. "Production has picked up."
"Very much so, and there are some first age ships coming together."
"All we need is our flying island," Lightning said, smiling.
"If you bring a flying island there, is it almost certain you'll end up at war with the Halsanti league. I do not think they would take it well."
"Is that a fact or just your opinion?"
Clarissa lifted her shoulders and made a dismissive gesture with her hand.
"What's the Silver Pact think?"
"In so much as I can speak for the Silver Pact, they are likely to take a 'wait and see' approach. For a while at least. If your experiment goes forward and maintains momentum, they will likely want to see you succeed."
"Business as usual."
"Of course Daddy."
Lightning took a seat across from Clarissa. "I need something drink."
Clarissa looked surprised for a moment, her eyebrows raising as her eyes widened. She opened a drawer of her desk, there was sound of her rummaging around, then she produced a bottle of dark liquid and a pair of tumblers.
Lightning took the bottle, pulled the cork out, then filled one of the tumblers near to the rim. "You?"
"Two fingers," she said, looking pointedly at the glass that Lightning had filled.
Lighting filled the second glass to a height of two fingers, then put the bottle aside and reached for her full glass. "I am having problems," she said, then drank half her glass contents.
Clarissa picked up her drink and sipped at it. "How so Daddy?"
"I want to hurt that woman. Not just kill her. Hurt her."
Clarissa put her glass down. "Do you think she wants to be hurt?"
"What?"
"Maybe you are just picking up on what she wants?"
Lightning shook her head, took a smaller drink from her glass. "No, she's not in it for pain. I'd say she is frightened of it." Lightning said nothing for a few seconds. "I'd say she's afraid of most things."
"Lunars and their mates have a strong bond," Clarissa said.
"She's not... Well, in a way, but not like she is."
"I think Daddy, since you can't love her in the way you might chose, you are doing what you can."
"Pardon?"
"And there is also the whole dominance thing of your animal side."
Lightning was about to protest, but she took a few minutes, slowing sipping at her drink until the glass was empty.
"You might be right," she said after a moment. "But I have no desire to make her the bottom to my top."
"I think you might not have a choice."
Lightning leaned back in the chair. "Luna curse it, you might be right." She closed her eyes.
"If it helps you resist your urge to kill her, and it keeps her submissive to you, is that really a bad thing?"
"I honestly don't know," Lightning said. "Did your real father ever have problems like this?"
"Oh Daddy, do you think previous Daddy would talk to me about his perverted sexual tastes?" Her tone was light, teasing.
Lightning laughed as she sat straight and opened her eyes. "True enough. How soon until we can leave?"
"Eight, maybe nine hours."
She got to her feet. "Then let's get to it. I've been going around in circles, refusing to make a decisions for too long. I'm going forward and I will survive the fallout, no matter what."
"As expected Daddy."
Kihoshi leaned forward, his mechanical arm on the work table. Ivory sat across from him, magnifying lens over her right eye, tools in her hands, working on the arm.
Hu sat near by, watching Kihoshi, as if to remind the Dragon Blood that he had taken his arm off before and that he might do it again.
"The barbarians like the weapons and armour you are sending them," Kihoshi said. "Better quality than they have ever had."
"That's good," Ivory said, doing something with a probe that caused the mechanical fingers to close into a fist. "Are you training them to use them well?"
"Of course I am."
"It's just that I don't think you are much of a commander, and I think Heron gave you the wrong busy work."
Kihoshi laughed. "You have quite the tongue on your young Peleps. You are going to rip your lovers' hearts to shreds when you get older."
Ivory paused in her work. Put the tools aside and touched her glass so the magnifying lenses whirred away from her eye. She looked at him. "And why couldn't I rip hearts to shreds now?"
"Oh, I am sure you could find those who would lust for you, but you'd find their hearts not worth shredding," he told her, smiling. "I've never cared too much for those whose preference ran to children."
Ivory wished she had not started the conversation, but for a moment she had hoped for something. A look, or something from the man that might suggest he found her desirable, or at least considered her worthy of even a momentary lustful thought.
Stupid of her.
"Yeah, I guess." She snapped the lenses back in place and returned to her work on the arm, asking more questions about the barbarians and their training to fill the silence. Finally she said, "I'm finished." She took the glass from her eye and snapped the access panels on the arm shut. "Give it a try."
He shifted away from the table, flexed his fingers, snapped his arm back and forth a few times, then, after a moment, caused a set of moonsilver talons to slide out from the fingers.
"Very nice." The talons snapped in and out several times. "Feels good. Smooth action. Will provide a nice surprise."
"Good," Ivory told him as she packed up her tools.
Kiyoshi smiled. "So, aren't you a little worried that with all these improvements you have made that I might be dangerous to you?"
Ivory looked at him. "That's okay. If you think of betraying Heron that arm will tear your throat out."
His expression went flat for a moment, then he laughed. "That's a good one little Peleps."
"I'm not joking," Ivory told him as she got to her feet. "Just one thought and," she mimed tearing her own throat.
Kiyoushi looked down at the artificial arm. "That's not funny."
Ivory smiled sweetly at him and then left the room, Hu following at her feet.
"That's not funny!" he called out after her.
"You could actually make that happen," Hu said to her.
"I know, but Heron would get mad at me if I did. And Kihoshi is too scared of Heron to try anything."
"Kihoshi-san," Darken Gray said as she came up from behind Ivory, surprising her. "Though Cathak Kihoshi-san would be more proper."
Ivory did not say anything to that, but she was not about to start being that respectful to Kihoshi. That was something that she and Darken Gray could disagree on, and as long as she did not tell Darken Gray that everything would be fine.
Her governess regarded Ivory for a few seconds as they walked, then said, "Captain Sparrow Hawk sent word, she should be back in a few hours."
"Sparrow is coming back?"
Darken Gray frowned.
"I mean Sparrow-san."
"Yes, she is. We will shift your lessons around so that you might speak to her when she returns. She will of course have questions for you."
"I just wanna, want to, go up and wait for her at the landin' pad."
Darken Gray looked down at her, her face a mask. "I suppose we will get nothing accomplished anyway. Very well, but dress warm, and behave."
"Yes, I will!" Ivory said as she ran off towards her room.
"And don't run," Darken Gray called after her.
Sparrow circled the Ice Tree several times before bringing the Razor into its landing berth. She was quite pleased with what she saw. A number of the airboats had been completed, including the first class airboats she had been worried about; and it looked as if some of the first age craft had been made whole.
The Razor slipped smoothly into the docking clamp, the landing gear locking in. Sparrow shut the ship down, ran her post flight operations. Through the Canopy she could see Tar and Ivory waiting, both of them obviously wanting to talk to her. Ivory was carrying a large satchel over her shoulder.
Finished with the post flight Sparrow exited ship, locking it up behind her.
Tar looked uncertain, she thought as she walked towards him. The kind of uncertainty a man in his middle years, who was a skilled ship wright and foreman, might feel standing next to a 9 year old girl who probably knew more about ship building than he.
She felt for him, and it was why she went straight to him, asking for a report.
As Tar gave her a run down on the operation of the yards, and the status of the ships, the uncertainty fell away from him. Ivory waited quietly, but with obvious impatience, fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot as Tar spoke.
Sparrow moved off the spar, into the Tree, Tar and Ivory following her. By the time Tar had finished his report, which included a lot of details about the workers (things that Ivory tended to overlook) they were in a small observation room.
She hung her sword by the door and shifted out of her fur lined, buff jacket. "Sounds like you have things under control here Tar," she told him, tossing the jacket across one the chairs, the weight of the garment almost tipping the chair over.
"Thank you ma'am," he said, dipping his head respectfully.
"I want to lay the keels for three more first air class airboats, and I want to make them gunships."
"Gunships ma'am?"
"We have enough feather steel to properly armour them, and I have some ideas about the guns we are going to put on them."
"Fighting ships, they'll use a lot of resources," he told her, his tone uncertain.
"I know. I have considered the costs."
He nodded. "Of course. I'll have the reports for you tomorrow, and the teams ready to start as soon as you give the say."
"Good."
He stood there for a moment, waiting to see if Sparrow had anything else to say. Whet he realized she was done with him he turned and left the room.
Sparrow dropped into a seat. "Can we get some tea, or coffee or something? Any mechanical servants you can call?" she asked Ivory.
"Sorry, no servitors. I can build some."
"Maybe later. So, give me your..."
"Pardon me," Darken Gray said from the door. She held a tea set in her hands.
"That's a surprise," Sparrow said. "Listening in?"
"Perish the thought Captain Sparrow," she said, walking into the room. "I just assumed you might want something after a long flight, and Ivory still has much to learn about being a proper host."
"Thank you."
She put the tea set on a table and began to pour. "I would ask that you finish up with Ivory within an hour if possible. She is already missing her dance class."
"Dance class?" Sparrow asked, looking towards Ivory.
"I'm leanin' a martial art called Dreaming Pearl Courtesan," Ivory said. "Kind of like dancing."
"I would like to watch that."
"We can arrange that. It does Ivory good to have an audience," Darken Grey said as she put the tea cups in front of Ivory and Sparrow. "Now, please excuse me." She left without another word.
Sparrow lifted the cup and took a drink. It was hot, and bitter, with a floral hint that was pleasant. She smiled as she put the cup down. "I like your nanny."
"Governess," Ivory said sharply.
"Of course. Now what is your take on the situation?"
Ivory took a drink of her tea. "Tar has most of it. We are resource poor. No one really wants to sell to us, not that the materials we need are in abundance anyway." She reached for her satchel, opened it, and began to remove sheets of rolled paper. "I have some ideas."
"Let's hear them."
"We are going to need more feather steel to keep up production."
"If we can't buy it we need to salvage it or produce our own," Sparrow said. "Salvaging is too slow, and I don't have the resources to protect a mine. We could steal it I suppose, but that will not make us any friends."
"Agreed, so I looked at some old records. This place used't harvest a forest in the Wyld. The wood's lighter an' stronger than feather steel. Won't burn easy either."
"In the Wyld?"
"I know, we'll need to talk to Lightning, see what she can tell us about dealin' with the Fair Folk."
"So, what would the numbers be like?"
Ivory put several rolls of paper on the table, spread them out, used her tea cup and plate to hold them flat. "Three trips a year, two first class airships loaded up fully for each trip, would let us build at full capacity."
Sparrow looked at the pages Ivory had put in front of her. The girl's handwriting had improved quiet a bit she thought. "What's with all the machinery?"
"We'll need it to mill the wood. There's some in the lower levels, but it needs to be fixed up."
Sparrow looked over the requirements listed out next to the drawings. "Bit of work to do it, but worth it if we can get the wood."
"Yeah," Ivory agreed.
"Once Lightning gets back we will talk to her. What about the First Age ships?"
"Still lackin' parts and materials, but I got some of them working."
"The cargo ship I sent?"
Ivory nodded. "It's ready to go."
Sparrow smiled. "Heavy cargo lifting, that changes things."
Ivory lifted her shoulders. "A little bit." She removed several more rolls of paper from the satchel. "This is what I need to continue work on the first age ships."
Sparrow looked through lists, shuffling through them for a time before putting them aside. "I can't get you most of that."
Ivory nodded, apparently understanding, but disappointed.
"Given time..."
"Twenty or thirty years," Ivory said.
"About that." She looked at the disappointed Ivory, was a little angry that for some reason Ivory had expected her to have everything in her pocket. Then she felt a little guilty for that.
"I found your ship," she told Ivory, "your strike cruiser."
"Really?"
"Just where you said. It's in a valley, covered in ice."
"Covered in ice?"
Sparrow looked through the pages that Ivory had brought, flipped one over to the blank side. "Something to write with?"
Ivory reached into the satchel and brought out a writing kit.
Sparrow took it from her, opened it, and removed the brush and ink stone. In a short time she was drawing out the valley, her estimates of the dimensions, and then sketched in the cruiser's shape.
Ivory was leaning over the picture, watching as Sparrow worked. "How thick is the ice cover?"
"Twenty feet, maybe thirty."
Ivory leaned back. "That much ice, it could crush the hull, probably has."
"It was hard to say, but if the hull was crushed, it has still kept it shape."
Ivory brushed her thumb between her lips, gently bit on her thumbnail, eyes unfocused for a moment. "Maybe," she said, taking her thumb away from her lips, "it was meant to be covered in ice."
"For storage?"
Ivory nodded. "Maybe."
"We won't know until we salvage it. Can you get through the ice?"
"Demons, elementals, just need enough ta break through."
"It's close to the Wyld, on full moons it is probably in the Wyld. How long would it take?"
"To move the ice? Five, six days. Longer if the hull is damaged. If it's extant, at least a week to get it ready to fly. If it's damaged, maybe a month to fix it, if I have the materials. If we have to salvage it, two weeks to a month."
"I'll need a significant force to hold the area for a month."
"How long?" Ivory leaned forward.
"Six months to a year to put it together."
"A year?" Ivory nearly whined.
"It will take that much time to gather and train them. Lightning might be able to help with it."
"I guess," Ivory sighed. "I just want to see it."
"You and me both kid."
Ivory looked as if she might protest the use of 'kid', but instead she took several more rolls of paper from her satchel. "I looked into your floating island."
Now it was Sparrow's turn to lean forward. "What do you have?"
"In the First Age they built great, flying citadels, huge ones." She spread her arms out as if to give a sense of their vastness. "But we're a hundred years 'way from being able to start buildin' them, and another hundred years after that 'fore we finish one."
"I don't have the patience to wait two centuries."
"Me neither. So I looked at your idea of grabbing one from the Wyld. It can work."
Ivory spread the sheets out. "There are reports of flying islands like that, and sometimes, in the First Age, they lassoed a fewed and pulled them into Creation. Usually it was for resources, cause they were made up entirely of some material they wanted."
"Did they ever use them like we want to?"
Ivory shook her head. "Not that I could find out. The problem is once you get it into Creation it is going to stop floatin', sooner or later. But if you had a limited area chaos engine, you could keep the central part of the Island in the Wyld, so it would float."
"Chaos engine?"
"Kind of like a reality engine, but in reverse."
"You could build a chaos engine?"
"I don't see why not."
Sparrow decided to leave that statement alone. "So we find an island, set up a chaos engine, and pull it into Creation? What about motive force?"
"That's harder. Once it is in Creation if might have to go with the winds, mostly."
Sparrow looked over the plans Ivory had lain out. "You can work on that?"
Ivory nodded.
"Damn, we're getting busy here. I'm going to be asking Lightning to do a lot here. We need more lunars."
"I don't want 'em," Ivory said. "I mean, Lightning is alright... but, I don't want one bothering Heron."
Sparrow was surprised for a moment, thought about it, decided that she agreed with Ivory. She herself had no desire to share Heron with anyone else. Not about to say that to Ivory she said, "We'll see." Which was an adult to child cop out that Sparrow had hated when she had been Ivory's age but was glad of now.
"That's all I have for now," Ivory said as she began to gather up her notes.
"Good work, thank you Ivory."
Ivory nodded, smiled.
Dragon easily trotted up slope, hoofs thumping down on the frozen dirt. Nearby Dreaming Blue rode, not as well as he, but well enough. Behind them, drawn by a team of yeddim, was a large wagon, weighed down with various goods, including a fortune in jade and silver.
The Ice Tree had been built in a crater of some sort, natural or created Heron did not know, so anyone approaching from the ground had to contend with the slope first. It was steep enough to make the climb hard, and the six yeddim were straining as they neared the crater rim.
On the rim, waiting for them, were members of the barbarian tribe, mounted on tall reindeer.
"Will this be a problem?" Dreaming Blue asked, no alarm in her tone.
"No, Sparrow and Lightning won Lashang and his tribe over early on."
"Are they any good?"
"They are getting there, thanks in part to him."
Heron rose a hand, both pointing and greeting. Near the centre of the line of riders, a heavy cloak covering his armour, was Kihoshi. The Dragon Blood lifted his arm in answer, the late day sun reflecting off the metal.
Dreaming Blue frowned. "Isn't that one of the Terrestrials that was hunting you?"
"He was."
"And now he serves you."
"Yes."
"You are terrible."
"I try my best."
They continued up the rim, the yeddim breathing heavily, their breath great gusts of vapour.
"Welcome back," Kihoshi called out.
"Thank you," Heron said. "This is Dreaming Blue. Dreaming Blue, Cathak Kihoshi."
The fire aspect favoured Dreaming Blue with a smile as he looked her up and down. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Yes," Dreaming Blue said.
Heron looked at the barbarians around them. They met his gaze, but nodded respectfully. "Let's go," he said, directing Dragon over the rim.
Kihoshi fell in beside him as the barbarian reindeer riders split off, riding along the ridge. Behind him her head the yeddim grunt and blow as they pulled the wagon over the rim. Dreaming Blue's horse followed.
"How are things up there?" he asked, looking towards the Ice Tree.
"Things are good, as far as I can tell. Built a lot more ships than they thought they would. Captain Sparrow's been back for two days now. I hear she's got them laying keels for gunboats."
"Gunboats?" Dreaming Blue asked. "Whatever for?"
"Ask her," Kihoshi answered, and then to Heron, "Your little sister has things set up quite nicely."
Heron smiled. "Good to see she has been keeping busy. I feared what she might do if she became bored."
Kihoshi laughed and continued to tell him of the state of the Ice Tree and its inhabitants.
They rode along one of the few safe paths, avoiding ice pits and the broken rock that might shift and cause a mount to fall. The Ice Tree loomed higher above them, and the closer they rode the clearer the ships that docked upon the spars became.
There were more ships that he had expected; even with Kihoshi's earlier statement to that effect he was somewhat surprised, and said as much.
"Tell me about it. No one quiet believes it," Kihoshi said. "They are burning through resources faster than they can get replacements."
"I believe it," Dreaming Blue said, not sounding happy.
Heron looked back at her. He smiled. "And we are just starting."
"I am aware."
He continued smiling as he turned back to the path ahead.
The path became easier to follow, clearer, better maintained, as they closed on the Ice Tree's base. The lowest part of the main shaft of the tree was near featureless wall, only a single set of doors leading into it—most of the supplies and people were brought in by airship.
Kihoshi slid down from his mount, taking its reins, and approached the doors. He placed his hand on a black plate beside the one of the door.s A moment later the doors parted and opened, warm, scented air rolling out, carrying the smell of animals with it.
Heron rode Dragon through the doors, into a stable level. The interior was brightly lit, almost like real sunlight, and the animals looked happy enough. Stable hands were busy, keeping the area clean and the animals cared for.
He rode to a large stall, slid from Dragon's back and then led him in. While stablehands helped Dreaming Blue and Kihoshi with their mounts, and led the yeddim and wagon in, Heron took care of Dragon himself. After he had stripped the saddle and bridle from the horse he took a comb to him. Once finished he poured a generous portion of oats into the feeding trough and made sure the water was fresh.
By that time more stablehands were unloading the wagon, the yeddim having been led to a coral. Dreaming Blue had taken a place by the wagon, watching the workers.
"It's not like they are going to steal it," Heron said as he walked to her.
"I helped earn some of that jade. I will see it properly delivered."
"How much jade?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Quite a bit," Heron said.
The supplies were piled neatly, sorted by contents. When they got to the large wooden cases in the bottom Heron told the workers to carry them right to the cargo lift. None of the cases were very large, a few feel long on each side, not very deep, but they were heavy with precious metals.
After several minutes of hard work the boxes were all in the lift, weighing it down.
"Let's go," Heron said.
The lift took them, the jade and silver up the middle levels of the Ice Tree. The doors opened on a large room, Sparrow standing in front of the doors, several armed guards with her.
"Welcome back," she said to Heron, smiling brightly. "Funds?" She raised her hands, indicating the boxes.
"As promised," he told her with an answering smile almost as bright. Seeing her brought a certain sense of contentment, the feeling of meeting a friend not seen for a long time.
"Get these into the main vault," she told the guards.
The guards quickly went to the task.
Heron moved out of their way.
"Isn't she the Sidereal that was with us at Thorns?"
"Yes, she is here to protect Ivory."
"Ivory?"
Heron nodded.
Sparrow laughed.
"Yes, very amusing," Dreaming Blue said, her tone cold.
Sparrow only shrugged her shoulders and asked, "What is the financial situation like?"
"Those boxes just represent about a tenth of what I managed to put together. The rest is held in finical institutions for you to draw on. It should cover the operating expense for about five years."
"You're joking?"
"Not one bit."
"That is one less worry then, which is handy because we do not have a shortage of worries. So really, what's the Sidereal doing here?"
"Dreaming Blue, and she says she has been assigned to protect Ivory and to keep us out of trouble, an advisor of sorts."
Sparrow looked over at her. "And why would he believe you?"
"He does not, as it happens. But Darken Gray will speak to it. You will believe her?"
"I will admit she is doing her best to take care of the girl."
"Where is Ivory right now? I thought she would be here."
"In her fencing lesson I believe. Her nurse has probably ensured she has not learned about your return."
"Governess," Heron said with a smile.
"Oh yes, well, an honest mistake."
The guards were still moving the crates into the vault. "Carry on commander," Sparrow told one of them, and then, "Let's go to my office. We can talk there is some comfort. Kihoshi, supervise the transfer."
"Understood," Kihoshi said.
"Let's go." Sparrow led the way, taking them to an office a few levels above the vaults.
"Why the gunboats?" Heron asked once they had taken seats.
"We've done some amazing things here," Sparrow told him. "People are noticing. Some are getting scared and some are covetous. Both good reasons to have some extra offensive ability."
"Just human?"
"As far as I know. What have you found out?"
Heron relayed the story of the events at Jallian and the Yozi.
"Strange," Sparrow said.
"Yes," he answered with a laugh.
"I probably would have thought to bring the ship back here. Ivory and Lightning as well."
"In other circumstances I might have as well," Heron said.
"And what do you think Sidereal?" Sparrow asked Dreaming Blue.
"I think you have more enemies than friends."
"What, do you think that is not obvious?"
"I might be an advisor, but I am not here to spoon feed you the information you want."
"Dreaming Blue is actually here to spy on us," Heron said.
"Really?" Sparrow turned her gaze on Dreaming Blue.
"Are you acting to betray Creation?" the Sidereal asked.
Sparrow nodded. "I am sure that if I am you will be certain to inform me after the fact. Heron, did you bring her here for us to get rid of?"
"Not at this time. I trust she will he honest about our activities."
"We do indeed have more enemies than friends." Sparrow was staring at Dreaming Blue, as if she was trying to see right through her.
Heron shifted about in his chair to get her attention. "As long as Dreaming Blue focuses on looking out for Ivory she'll be busy enough."
Sparrow looked at him for several seconds. "I understand."
Heron supposed she did, but he would talk to her in private later. "We have things we will need to talk about, plans to make."
"Once Lightning gets back," Sparrow told him.
"Pardon me for intruding," Dreaming Blue said archly, "but I would like to talk to Ivory."
"I'll handle the introductions," Heron said as he got to his feet. "We can talk later."
"I look forward to it," Sparrow said.
She sounded sincere, and Heron found that he was pleased about that.
Ivory was not pleased that no one has let her know that Heron was back. She was even less pleased by the presence of Dreaming Blue.
"I am not letting you have the watch," Ivory said angrily, her short daiklaive lifted.
Hu stood nearby, a quiet and obvious threat.
"Jupiter give me patience," Dreaming Blue said.
Heron was laughing, softly, but obviously so, and that made Ivory angry in a way she could not quite sort out at that moment.
"Ivory," Darken Gray said, "put your sword down."
"But..."
"You are being impolite."
Ivory frowned, but lowered her blade. "She's an enemy," Ivory said.
"I fought with you against the Mask," Dreaming Blue said in way of counter.
It was, Ivory had to admit, a valid point.
"She is here to watch over you. She is your bodyguard," Darken Gray told her.
"What?" Ivory turned to look at her.
"Say, 'Pardon me', and Aisha Hikari Ex has done you the great honour of arranging a Sidereal bodyguard."
"You knew about this?" It was, Ivory thought, something of a betrayal. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why should I have told you?"
Ivory's first thought was to scream something rude at Darken Grey that would explain exactly why she should have been told, but she checked that desire, with difficulty, knowing it would make her look childish in front of Heron.
"I would have liked to know." Her words were a little sharp, each a little too stressed to sound natural, but at least she was not shouting.
"I will remember that," Darken Gray said. "I look forward to working with you Dreaming Blue."
Ivory gave up and turned to Heron. "I am glad you're back," she said, smiling. "I got things to show you."
"I look forward to seeing them. You tiger gun was quite useful."
"I knew'd it be," she said happily.
"Our Sidereal friend was rather disturbed by it."
"Good," Ivory said.
"Ivory," Darken Gray said, tone warning.
"I am thinking of making a bigger one for one of Sparrow's gunships, Going to call it the gardra gun."
"Sound terrifying." His tone was light.
She nodded.
"You'll excuse us Heron-sama," Darken Gray said, "I must speak to Ivory. Perhaps you can continue your conversation later?"
Ivory turned to stare at Darken Gray, eyes narrowed in what she thought was a clear sign of anger.
Darken Gray did not seem to to notice.
"Of course," Heron said.
"You don't haf to to leave," Ivory said, shifting her attention to Heron.
"We can talk later." He gently ruffled her hair, then left.
"I wanted to talk to Heron." She turned on Darken Gray.
Darken Gray looked down at her, frowning.
Ivory looked up at her, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Perhaps you can have your little power struggle later," Dreaming Blue said. "At the moment we have some things to discuss."
"What?" Ivory asked.
"Ivory, you are being boring," Darken Gray said.
That hurt, Ivory thought. "Perhaps you would care to tell me how you came to be my body guard," she said to Dreaming Blue, frostily polite.
"Of course."
"Let us go someplace where we can sit in comfort." Darken Gray led the way from the room, Dreaming Blue following.
Ivory looked over at Hu, then went after the two women.
Darken Gray took them to a small, warm room. As the sidereal took a seat in one of the room's over stuffed chairs, the god set about making a pot of tea, doing so in a supernaturally short time. Ivory chose one of the less stuffed chairs, not wanting to sink into it, and waited.
Soon the three of them sat, with cups of tea, facing each other. Ivory took a drink of her's, tasting more milk than tea.
"Why you?" Ivory asked.
"Chejop Kejak wants me to uncover your crimes against Creation."
"What crimes?"
"Any will do."
Ivory leaned forward in her chair, doubting she looked as intimidating as she hoped. "Have you told Heron?"
"Yes I have."
Ivory did not like that. "We've done nothin' wrong!"
"That is mostly true. And as long as you remain innocent of such crimes, you have nothing to worry about."
"I am glad to hear that. My lady Aisha Hikari Ex would be somewhat disappointed to learn otherwise." Darken Gray let that sink in as she took a drink of her tea.
"So I have been tasked to keep you well. I am also here for the orrery."
"You can't have it!"
"Ivory," Darken Gray said sharply.
Ivory turned her attention to Darken Gray. "This is between two Exalts." She kept her tone level that time.
Darken Gray did not immediately answer, but after a moment said, "Very well."
"It's mine."
Dreaming Blue shook her head. "What about we come to an agreement?"
"What kind?" Ivory was suspicious.
"I will teach your as much as I can about the orrery, and during those lessons I have access to it."
"Is this gonna be learnin' 'strology?" Ivory asked.
"Astrology," Darken Gray corrected.
"There will be aspects of that, yes," Dreaming Blue said only a beat behind the governess. "However it will be nothing like astrology that have might have studied until now."
Ivory thought about it for a moment. "Deal," she said, holding out her hand towards Dreaming Blue.
The Sidereal looked at Ivory for a moment, then reached out and took Ivory's hand.
"Let's start," Ivory said.
"You do have an etiquette class, one which you are much in need of," Darken Gray told her.
Ivory shifted her attention to Darken Gray. "But Darken Gray, it would be impolite to not let our guest examine the orrery."
"Not bad," Darken Gray admitted.
"Interesting change of attitude," Dreaming Blue remarked.
"I will allow the change in your schedule for today, as we have a guest."
Ivory did not trust Dreaming Blue, it would be stupid to do so. Heron had brought her in however, so she could not be immediately dangerous.
Ivory produced the orrery. She placed it on the table in front of Dreaming Blue.
The Sidereal looked at it for several seconds, the same look in her eyes as when Ivory had first let her use it. She picked it up, opened the case, and as it had last time, it expanded out and out and out until stars filled the space above the orrery case.
Ivory leaned forward, watching, for she had not been able to replicate what Dreaming Blue did. There was, she thought, essence involved, Sidereal essence.
"Everything spins about, a state of flux," Dreaming Blue remarked. "Everyone is planning something."
"What does it mean?"
"The obvious," Dreaming Blue said. "The Calendar of Setesh is in flux, so much uncertainty at the moment. The Green Sun and the constellations of brass ride along on the outskirts of Creation. And in the Wyld the Raksha follow their insane dictates."
"Isn't that how it usually is?" Ivory asked.
Dreaming Blue nodded. "All except for the Underworld, but with all the changes one would expect chaos there." She ran her fingers along the casing and the constellations jumped and refocused. "And here are the forces in play around you."
Ivory looked up at the image, gently biting her lower lip for a moment. "That's the Green Sun, isn't it?"
"It is. We already knew there were elements from Malfeas interested in you, but it is eclipsed by the True Sun."
"So we're winning," Ivory said.
"You are certainly dominant in this conflict for the moment." Dreaming Blue paused, looking up at the the star scape "The Corpse and the Crow are in the house of the Moon," she said thoughtfully, "the Lovers are shadowed by the Spear, and Calendar of Setesh drifts close."
"What does it mean?"
"It could mean anything, but the Moon is usually not so close to the Underworld."
Ivory thought of many things it could suggest, but knew that simply guessing was not going to get her the information.
"Tell me more please," she said, looking up at the orrery. "Explain it all."
"It would take decades to explain it all," Dreaming Blue told her, "but we can start with what we are seeing now."
"Do you really trust her?" Sparrow asked when Heron returned. "I mean, even if just trust she won't kill us in our sleep?"
"We have attracted attention," Heron said as he took a seat. "That is both good and bad. It limits what direct actions Dreaming Blue's superior can take against us. She won't kill us in our sleep."
"That's something," she said doubtfully.
"I would think so. That is the danger within, what about the danger from the outside?"
"No one is quite willing to go against us, but we are certainly on their maps. It would not take too much effort to get some nations launching probing attacks to see what we will do. I have the resources to slap down such an attack if it comes."
"Give me some time and I can work on some diplomatic solutions. It should not be too hard to create a ring around us, quiet allies who will keep the others away, or at least give us warning."
"It would make our position more secure." Sparrow leaned back in her chair. "We are reaching the point where we either have to spend resources to dig in here or we cut loose and find a place more remote and easier to defend."
"We would be giving up a lot if we left here."
"Physical resources, easily replaced."
Heron was not so certain of that, but did not question Sparrow's assertion. "So, what are the plans, barring defending ourselves or retreating?"
"I need to set up a better supply chain, Ivory has given me some options. And there are some salvage projects I want to look into."
"What are the supply chain issues?"
"A lack of one. Most of the materials we need are already in high demand."
"That is something of a challenge. If anyone does have a surplus they are willing to trade with I can do something."
Sparrow smiled. "You could gamble for it."
"I would be surprised if anyone that controlled such a surplus would put it up as stakes."
"You could convince them to," Sparrow said, leaning forward slightly.
"That is something I would rather not do."
Sparrow looked a little surprised and shifted back. "Why?"
Heron was at a loss for a moment for the right words. He finally said, "I only gamble with people who have made the choice to do so. Otherwise it is just stealing."
"It seems a lot like stealing as it is. Do you ever lose?"
Heron laughed for a moment. "Sometimes, it is never a certain thing."
"Given that we will not be stealing, that leaves pursuing other options to get our building supplies. I'll have to speak with Lightning when she gets back."
"When do you expect her to return?"
"I'm not really certain, if she follows her usual pattern, perhaps in the next week or two."
"I will wait until she is is back before I make any plans."
"So you will stay?" Sparrow shifted forward again, there was something in her tone that Heron thought was eager.
He nodded.
"It will be good to have you back."