Disclaimer: the world belongs to Mediaworld, this story belongs to me.
Tiara's Choice 2
Transference
Tiara remembered when the first earthquake had been. She had left the palace for a day spent among the people, as the queen did every now and then. These outings were more like vacations than work, and Tiara welcomed them. This time she had chosen to visit one of the fields where plants grew in a foot of water. The queen and a few of her friends joined the ordinary people in picking the long leaves and beating them so the green came away, leaving white fibers that could be woven into anything from shoes to furniture and would harden in that shape when they dried. Tiara hadn't realized the wizard-knight Galiel had come along until she saw him bent over the rows of plants, looking entirely different without his usual white jacket. Galiel's hair hung in his face even more straggly than usual. As always he looked a little thin, like he worked so hard he forgot to eat, often. That might even be the truth; after giving him the crystal to experiment with she'd hardly seen her friend in the flesh, only ecstatic little notes about cell regeneration and other things she understood only vaguely.
Tiara waded through the field, the water silky on her bare legs. "Galiel. I have seen little of you lately."
A smile lit his odd violet eyes. "Your cavedweller housemistress ordered me out so I wouldn't turn into a glow worm buried in my cave all day. But it's going to be great, my queen, I have to thank you again for letting me use the crystal. The vaccine I spoke to you about--"
The ground rocked, up and down as if this valley rode on the ocean. People shrieked. Galiel grabbed Tiara to keep them both standing.
"But... this continent is stable!" Tiara gasped. The scientists had explained it; the other two continents were subject to earthquakes but this one was not. Until now. "I must return to the palace. The cavedwellers may have had rockfalls." Shaking off her friend's hand, Tiara ran for her carriage.
That night Tiara sat in her window, high up in a tower of the palace. Soft notes of worry rang into her mind from the sea. The sacred whale was frightened. Not of the earthquake as a natural disaster, but something else, some old memory Mandrool kept hidden from Tiara.
"Please tell me... I'm the queen, I need to know all that I can."
The echoes that returned to her were vague images and ideas. Men. Whales dying. A man with white hair and grasping hands. Destruction. Life-ending. Red shadows across the sky.
Something that had almost happened on Earth. Tiara had read about it, how earthly greed and Lapis technology had almost destroyed both planets, but Neri had been able to save them. No... people from both worlds had risked their lives, been ready to suffer pain and maybe give up their lives to save the oceans.
That was what happened when greed came in people. Someone suffered.
"But... there's no one like that here, and no synchronium. The crystals are all safe." Tiara didn't understand.
Mandrool blew a mourning sigh over her. The sacred whale wasn't sure, of anything, either.
The next day Galiel appeared at breakfast. After eating, he managed to catch Tiara alone. ":A moment, my queen?"
"Of course. What news?" Tiara asked.
"Come and see... no, come this afternoon and see. You'll be surprised."
A member of Oceanna's council came to ask about the new building zones, and Galiel slipped away, nodding pleasantly to all he passed.
Just like when they had met for the second time...
"Queen Tiara, this boy wishes to enter your service."
Tiara looked down from her throne. He was familiar, the lean features and heavy black hair.... "I remember you. From that day..."
"The day Neri and her foreseer friend were here. So does everybody."
"I am sorry."
"That's why I'd like to work for you, my queen. The palace wizards and doctors are less available to be stared at and whispered about."
Pity moved Tiara to nod. "You may stay. I never heard your name..?"
"Galiel. A Lapis word."
"I am Tiara. You may use it, since we will be working together."
"Certainly." But he almost never called her anything other than 'my queen'
"My queen, take a look." A glass cube was presented, with round jewels embedded in it.
Tiara was perplexed. "What is this?"
Galiel laughed. "This is the world. The honey-amber is our sun, the others are the five planets."
Now that she knew, it was easy to see. "This blue pearl is Oceanna and the white one is Shasta right?" Tiara touched the glass beside the two outermost planets. Blue for their world; white for its icy sister that rose in the morning and evening sky.
"The next one I give you will have planets that move." Galiel told her.
He had changed (hadn't he?) after the serpent bite, turning away from his other work to concentrate on all forms of healing. He had found cures for some of Oceanna's worst diseases. The people called him a genius and thanked him and feared him. Galiel didn't seem to care, just went on with his work with a polite nod and that mocking smile that just dared anyone to look sideways at him.
And what in the world did he have for her today?
After lunch Tiara made her way down to the wizard's labs on the bottom floor of the palace. Galiel was waiting, leaning over a blue lighted tank. His face, lit from below, looked very pale and shadows cut hard across his cheeks.
Tiara paused in the doorway. She hadn't been down here for a long time, or else the room had been changed. It was dark except for the lights over some tanks, and the light of the crystal enthroned in a silver stand in the center of the room. Glass and silver instruments threw the light sideways. Tiara pulled on a white coat from a hook near the door, and bundled her hair under a scarf. "What did you want to show me?"
"Come and see."
She went over and looked into the tank. Little wormy bugs floated in the water. Day-fly larvae, they hatched before dawn, were worms in the morning, and changed into flying pests at noon to lay their eggs in the evening. A very ordinary creature. Except it was late afternoon, and these hadn't changed yet. "Galiel? You stopped them from growing older in normal time? How?"
"The crystal. This cable brings energy from the crystal to mix with the chemicals in their tank. They'll stay like that as long as the power lasts, the crystal could keep a day-fly or a person young for thousands of years. Or forever."
"Forever?"
Tiara's Choice 2
Transference
Tiara remembered when the first earthquake had been. She had left the palace for a day spent among the people, as the queen did every now and then. These outings were more like vacations than work, and Tiara welcomed them. This time she had chosen to visit one of the fields where plants grew in a foot of water. The queen and a few of her friends joined the ordinary people in picking the long leaves and beating them so the green came away, leaving white fibers that could be woven into anything from shoes to furniture and would harden in that shape when they dried. Tiara hadn't realized the wizard-knight Galiel had come along until she saw him bent over the rows of plants, looking entirely different without his usual white jacket. Galiel's hair hung in his face even more straggly than usual. As always he looked a little thin, like he worked so hard he forgot to eat, often. That might even be the truth; after giving him the crystal to experiment with she'd hardly seen her friend in the flesh, only ecstatic little notes about cell regeneration and other things she understood only vaguely.
Tiara waded through the field, the water silky on her bare legs. "Galiel. I have seen little of you lately."
A smile lit his odd violet eyes. "Your cavedweller housemistress ordered me out so I wouldn't turn into a glow worm buried in my cave all day. But it's going to be great, my queen, I have to thank you again for letting me use the crystal. The vaccine I spoke to you about--"
The ground rocked, up and down as if this valley rode on the ocean. People shrieked. Galiel grabbed Tiara to keep them both standing.
"But... this continent is stable!" Tiara gasped. The scientists had explained it; the other two continents were subject to earthquakes but this one was not. Until now. "I must return to the palace. The cavedwellers may have had rockfalls." Shaking off her friend's hand, Tiara ran for her carriage.
That night Tiara sat in her window, high up in a tower of the palace. Soft notes of worry rang into her mind from the sea. The sacred whale was frightened. Not of the earthquake as a natural disaster, but something else, some old memory Mandrool kept hidden from Tiara.
"Please tell me... I'm the queen, I need to know all that I can."
The echoes that returned to her were vague images and ideas. Men. Whales dying. A man with white hair and grasping hands. Destruction. Life-ending. Red shadows across the sky.
Something that had almost happened on Earth. Tiara had read about it, how earthly greed and Lapis technology had almost destroyed both planets, but Neri had been able to save them. No... people from both worlds had risked their lives, been ready to suffer pain and maybe give up their lives to save the oceans.
That was what happened when greed came in people. Someone suffered.
"But... there's no one like that here, and no synchronium. The crystals are all safe." Tiara didn't understand.
Mandrool blew a mourning sigh over her. The sacred whale wasn't sure, of anything, either.
The next day Galiel appeared at breakfast. After eating, he managed to catch Tiara alone. ":A moment, my queen?"
"Of course. What news?" Tiara asked.
"Come and see... no, come this afternoon and see. You'll be surprised."
A member of Oceanna's council came to ask about the new building zones, and Galiel slipped away, nodding pleasantly to all he passed.
Just like when they had met for the second time...
"Queen Tiara, this boy wishes to enter your service."
Tiara looked down from her throne. He was familiar, the lean features and heavy black hair.... "I remember you. From that day..."
"The day Neri and her foreseer friend were here. So does everybody."
"I am sorry."
"That's why I'd like to work for you, my queen. The palace wizards and doctors are less available to be stared at and whispered about."
Pity moved Tiara to nod. "You may stay. I never heard your name..?"
"Galiel. A Lapis word."
"I am Tiara. You may use it, since we will be working together."
"Certainly." But he almost never called her anything other than 'my queen'
"My queen, take a look." A glass cube was presented, with round jewels embedded in it.
Tiara was perplexed. "What is this?"
Galiel laughed. "This is the world. The honey-amber is our sun, the others are the five planets."
Now that she knew, it was easy to see. "This blue pearl is Oceanna and the white one is Shasta right?" Tiara touched the glass beside the two outermost planets. Blue for their world; white for its icy sister that rose in the morning and evening sky.
"The next one I give you will have planets that move." Galiel told her.
He had changed (hadn't he?) after the serpent bite, turning away from his other work to concentrate on all forms of healing. He had found cures for some of Oceanna's worst diseases. The people called him a genius and thanked him and feared him. Galiel didn't seem to care, just went on with his work with a polite nod and that mocking smile that just dared anyone to look sideways at him.
And what in the world did he have for her today?
After lunch Tiara made her way down to the wizard's labs on the bottom floor of the palace. Galiel was waiting, leaning over a blue lighted tank. His face, lit from below, looked very pale and shadows cut hard across his cheeks.
Tiara paused in the doorway. She hadn't been down here for a long time, or else the room had been changed. It was dark except for the lights over some tanks, and the light of the crystal enthroned in a silver stand in the center of the room. Glass and silver instruments threw the light sideways. Tiara pulled on a white coat from a hook near the door, and bundled her hair under a scarf. "What did you want to show me?"
"Come and see."
She went over and looked into the tank. Little wormy bugs floated in the water. Day-fly larvae, they hatched before dawn, were worms in the morning, and changed into flying pests at noon to lay their eggs in the evening. A very ordinary creature. Except it was late afternoon, and these hadn't changed yet. "Galiel? You stopped them from growing older in normal time? How?"
"The crystal. This cable brings energy from the crystal to mix with the chemicals in their tank. They'll stay like that as long as the power lasts, the crystal could keep a day-fly or a person young for thousands of years. Or forever."
"Forever?"