Chapter 3
A note: I claim artistic liberty and full intentions for any discrepancies
between this fanfic and the actual middle ages (I.e. the world map). Also, I
know the Romans didn't speak Italian. Don't tell me. You're wasting your breath.
Tsukasa rode, his brown horse's hooves pounding as he took them farther and
farther away from the oasis. His mind ran even faster. Who was this girl from
the Empire? Why hadn't she tried to kill him, an 'inferior barbarian?' And what
was an Angel, anyway? If he ever met her again, he would have to ask.
Ginkan sat over a sake cup, staring at B.T., his eyes starting to drop out of
focus.
"Thank you for drinking with me. I believe I've had." He lowered the cup and let
out a strained sigh.
"... A bit too much."
B.T. shook her head, sitting at the other side of the low table in a relaxed
pose, unlike Ginkan's ceremonial kneeling position.
"It's nothing." She replied with a small smile. His sword lay on his bed nearby,
while B.T. held her staff upright, the levitating jewel never failing to attract
Ginkan's eye. She downed another shot of the fierce liquid. Ginkan was drinking
from his good bottle, she noted. He was either very happy or very worried. It
was hard for him to get the rice wine this far from his native land, a place he
remembered fondly, as far as she could tell from what he told her. The soldiers
and generals of the Empire were from all across the world, she herself was from
it's capitol, Rome, as was Subaru. Ginkan and Sora were both from an island off
of the cost of Rome, Japan, an archipelago of islands that were the closest
place the Empire held territory to the edge of the world. But of course, how
Sora had made it this far west was a mystery. Kurim had been born in another
great city to the south of Rome, Shanghai, capitol of the province of China, a
land renowned for it's warrior generals. Before it had come under rule of the
Empire, a great war had been fought there. Kurim's great great great great
grandfather had been the leader of one of the warring factions, the Nation of
Wei. They had unfortunately been crushed underfoot of the triumphant nation of
Wu. B.T. was currently reading a novel that told of the heroic deeds of that
time, a truly remarkable story. Ginkan lowered his head.
"As leader of the Crimson Knights, I was informed of this news."
B.T. nodded, but remained silent.
"Command has developed new weapons and trained new soldiers, powerful weapons of
science and technology. They are supposed to be capable of tremendous
destruction. A group of them are being sent here. I fear that the time of the
Crimson Knights' domination of the battlefield is beginning to end."
B.T. nodded. She lowered her head.
"I'm sorry, Ginkan. If things must change like that, the Empire has truly lost
all sense of tradition."
The alcohol must have given Ginkan, the staunch patriot, the strength to give
the next outburst. He pounded the table with his fist.
"The Empire never had any tradition! We've always been moving forward, making
ourselves better, stronger, and more powerful. That I understand. However,
neither the sword nor magic seems to hold importance anymore!"
B.T. gasped as she realized why he'd wanted to speak with her. Technology. The
antithesis of magic. If these new weapons were technological...
"The College of Mages will suffer because of these new weapons." He said,
pouring himself another cup of sake. B.T. nodded as she fully realized the
situation. Should new, technological weapons prove their worth, the College
would lose it's prominence, Mages would lose the sheer amount of power they held
on the battlefield. She shook her head.
"We're a dying breed, us chivalric warriors." Ginkan said with a sigh. B.T.
echoed it.
"Yeah. They don't make them like us anymore, do they?"
"Let's get drunk." Ginkan downed another shot.
"Good idea."
"Sir!" Mimiru threw back the hanging skin 'door' of Bear's office, hurried in,
and snapped to attention. Something urgent seemed to be on her mind.
"At ease. What now?" Bear asked, putting down the paperwork he had been
finishing.
"The enemy has begun clearing the barricade. They drove away our guards with
crossbows."
Bear nodded. The crossbow was a dangerous weapon of the Empire's. Although it
was a relatively simple improvement on the bow, command, as refined and
civilized as they were, had yet to implement it on a large scale for their
forces. The only crossbows he knew of on their side were shooting from behind
trees in the north. "Very well. Any guesses on how long it will be before they
can cross?"
"Two weeks, sir."
"How many of them are there?"
"Roughly two thousand."
Bear chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. That was bad. Two thousand with
crossbows put him in a bad position. He still couldn't afford a siege; Tsukasa's
reinforcements would never fit inside the fort.
"One more thing, sir."
"What?"
"Kurim is supposed to be with them."
"Kurim?! The Red Dragon of Shanghai?"
"Yes sir."
Kurim was a warrior for the history books. Mimiru could be the only match for
him in a duel that Bear commanded. It was said that he could not be touched by
any arrow, and no sword could pierce his hide. On the battlefield, it was said
that he moved like the Chinese Dragon, effortlessly intertwining himself and his
spear, seeming to fly on nothing at all. The Imperial soldiers called Mimiru the
Desert Wind. She seemed to run through her foes, some said that she was
everywhere at once. A soldier had seen his comrade slice right through her, only
to be killed seconds later when she mysteriously appeared behind him. Both the
sides' stories were greatly exaggerated, but Bear knew they were both incredibly
strong fighters. He could tell by Mimiru's expression, just the subtle things in
her face and tone of voice, that she wanted to take Kurim on as much as he
wanted her not to. If she was killed by Kurim, he would lose... He would lose a
major tactical asset. Yes, that was it.
"Send a messenger to the command in Nairobi and update them on the current
situation."
"But that wouldn't get through for another month!"
"This battle will cost us heavy casualties. We'll need more reinforcements, and
they won't want to give them. But if we're lucky, command may feel like
rewarding me for smashing an entire detachment."
"But, what if they..."
"Relax. I know the commander in Nairobi. He has confidence in me. I have
confidence in me. I have confidence in you as well. Inform Tsukasa, then gather
your unit commanders and brief them on the situation."
"Yes sir!"
At that moment, Tsukasa was at the oasis, waiting. He had already bathed. He had
found this place a few days after he'd arrived. He'd told no one else about it,
this secret place. He thought that Imperial girl would come back. He had been
waiting here most of the day. His duties at the camp could wait. Finally, he
heard footsteps in the tunnel.
"He... hello?" He heard.
"Down here!" He yelled. Her head slowly, cautiously came into view.
"Is there anyone else there?"
"No. Come on down. Let's talk."
"All right."
Subaru climbed down the slope on the edge of the cliff. He sat on a rock, his
staff held in one hand. She sat next to him, her wings twitching a little.
"Why did you come back?"
"I wanted to know more about you. Why did you wait here?"
"Because this is my secret place. A safe haven no one knows about."
She drew her knees up to her chest.
"Is that all."
"Well, I've never actually met a real Imperial before."
She nodded.
"Have you ever heard of foot ball?"
"Foot ball?"
"You know, it's a game. Where you can't touch the ball with your hands."
"Oh! I think I heard of it once."
"Oh."
"Do you like games?"
"Yes... I like to watch the gladiators, sometimes, when I'm home..."
"Rome?"
"Yes. Rome."
"I've wondered sometimes, what Rome must be like. Nothing but people, isn't it?"
"Something like that, yes."
"I don't know how they live, one on top of the other like that."
She giggled. He looked over at her.
"Say... What's an angel, anyway?"
They were like that for hours.
Sora's horse had refused to come any closer on the last hill, so Sora had tied
it and proceeded on foot. He stood and stared in horror at the scene ahead of
him. The barbarian guerrillas hadn't been defeated, they had been massacred. The
smell of sulfur wafted across the air. Fires burned here and there, and corpses
littered the earth where the imperials had left them to rot. Men had been ripped
in two by a mysterious force, and the ground was black and charred. He dropped
to his knees.
"What magic... How..."
His jaw worked up and down soundlessly. The devastation stretched as far as his
eyes could see, the entire town, even the natives that had harbored the
guerrillas had been slaughtered by this powerful magic.
"So. Now we can see the powers of technology."
Sora was very suddenly on his feet. He whirled around, blade drawn in an
instant, ready to slice through whoever had startled him. It met against steel,
drawn amazingly fast to counter his spring-loaded knives. Once his panic had
passed, the scene behind him snapped into focus. Balmung had raised his sword
halfway from it's sheath, the base of the blade stopping Sora's strike. Helba
stood a few paces behind him. Sora could never shake the feeling of her eyes on
him behind that visor she wore.
"Oh."
Sora took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"It's... you."
"Yes, it's me. Balmung, both of you, actually, put your weapons away."
Balmung slid his sword back into it's sheath silently, Sora pulled the tiny
lever that sheathed his knife while doing his best to stare at Helba with
indifference.
"What... how can something do this?"
"We don't know, but we're doing our best to find out."
"I can't begin to... I just..."
"You've never seen this kind of destruction. It's understandable. The disregard
for human life is unforgivable, even for the power-mad."
"Caesar..."
"Placing blame is useless. Now, how about you help us?" Sora could still
remember the last time he'd decided to throw in with Helba and Balmung. He'd
wound up dodging fireballs thrown by a very angry wizard who had found himself
shy a mystic crystal. Even when Helba had paid him in gold and pointed him west,
he still hadn't thought it was worth it. He still didn't think it had been worth
it.
He shook his head.
"No. No, no, no..."
"Come now, Sora. You want to know about this as much as we do.
"No way am I working with you again."
"Don't worry. No fireballs this time."
Sora was quiet. Helba shook her head and reached into the folds of her robe. She
tossed Sora a brown leather pouch. Sora distinctly recognized the jingle and
weight of gold coins.
"I'm in."
"I thought you might say that. Here. Take these."
She strode towards him, her robes rippling around her as she handed him a small
orb and an amulet.
"That orb magically records and plays back events from the point of view of the
user. To activate it, hold it to your eye. Do the same to play back anything you
may have found. Only you can record with it, and for all others it will let them
see through your eyes. Good?" Sora took the orb.
"And the amulet?"
"An amulet of summoning. When opened, it will call me to you. Open it when you
find something. Come now, time to go."
"Right..."
He walked with them back to where his horse was tied. As he followed, all he
could do was reflect on... whatever it was. What could this be? Magic, issued to
soldiers on a large scale? That was the only explanation Sora could think of.
But how was the Empire doing this? Mage's staffs were useless except as a fancy
club to anyone without magical aptitude, the floating orb signaling the inherent
power of the user. Should someone who was not magically trained hold it, the orb
would simply fall to the ground. Even if the Empire had managed to circumvent
this, they were notoriously hard to manufacture. Issuing them on this scale was
logistically insane.
"I will see you soon."
Helba said, more of an order than a goodbye.
Sora nodded, and rode away.
"Sir!"
Kurim sat cross legged in his tent, one of his unit commanders barged in and
saluted.
"At ease."
Kurim set down his pen, where he had been drawing in plans for the assault on
the Barbarians.
"Have you seen Lady Subaru lately?"
"No sir. A report from command. Due to the cunning of the enemy general as
described by Lady Subaru, they are sending us an additional four units and
experimental weapons. Kurim narrowed his eyes.
"Experimental weapons?"
"The accompanying general will brief us more fully. They are to arrive within a
week."
"And the pass?"
"Will be cleared in six days."
"Good. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
Kurim went back to his work, now factoring in an additional four hundred men to
his plans.
He was there again. Subaru ran down the same slope, and Tsukasa ran towards her.
They stopped short of each other, awkwardly.
"It's good to see you again." She said.
Tsukasa nodded.
"You too."
"Anything new?"
"No, not really."
They sat beneath one of the trees. Subaru leaned against Tsukasa, and felt him
stiffen.
"What's wrong?"
"N... nothing..."
"Tsukasa, this is nice."
"Subaru..."
She rested her head on his shoulder. They said nothing for a moment. Subaru
tipped her face up to look at him, and he lowered his to look at her. Their
heads moved closer together, and their lips touched, gently, then pulled back by
millimeters.
"Tsukasa..."
"Subaru, I... I love you."
Subaru pressed her lips harder against his, this boy who was still so
mysterious, so different from Kurim, her servant, her knight, this boy felt no
obligation to her, no responsibility, yet he loved her just the same! Their
tongues danced, and his hands ran up and down her back for a moment, before
crossing across her shoulders and pulling her close. She laid back on the grass
and Tsukasa laid with her, locked in a passionate embrace of lips. They let each
other go for a moment, and Subaru laid her head on Tsukasa' shoulder.
"My only love sprung from my only hate."
Tsukasa was quiet for a moment, before he said,
"That's beautiful."
"William Shakespeare, he was a writer from one of the Imperial islands. It's
called England."
"I've been there. My people hated the English even before we wound up on
opposite sides of the war."
She squeezed him tighter.
"Let's not talk about that."
He nodded.
"Yeah..."
They were like that for hours.
A note: I claim artistic liberty and full intentions for any discrepancies
between this fanfic and the actual middle ages (I.e. the world map). Also, I
know the Romans didn't speak Italian. Don't tell me. You're wasting your breath.
Tsukasa rode, his brown horse's hooves pounding as he took them farther and
farther away from the oasis. His mind ran even faster. Who was this girl from
the Empire? Why hadn't she tried to kill him, an 'inferior barbarian?' And what
was an Angel, anyway? If he ever met her again, he would have to ask.
Ginkan sat over a sake cup, staring at B.T., his eyes starting to drop out of
focus.
"Thank you for drinking with me. I believe I've had." He lowered the cup and let
out a strained sigh.
"... A bit too much."
B.T. shook her head, sitting at the other side of the low table in a relaxed
pose, unlike Ginkan's ceremonial kneeling position.
"It's nothing." She replied with a small smile. His sword lay on his bed nearby,
while B.T. held her staff upright, the levitating jewel never failing to attract
Ginkan's eye. She downed another shot of the fierce liquid. Ginkan was drinking
from his good bottle, she noted. He was either very happy or very worried. It
was hard for him to get the rice wine this far from his native land, a place he
remembered fondly, as far as she could tell from what he told her. The soldiers
and generals of the Empire were from all across the world, she herself was from
it's capitol, Rome, as was Subaru. Ginkan and Sora were both from an island off
of the cost of Rome, Japan, an archipelago of islands that were the closest
place the Empire held territory to the edge of the world. But of course, how
Sora had made it this far west was a mystery. Kurim had been born in another
great city to the south of Rome, Shanghai, capitol of the province of China, a
land renowned for it's warrior generals. Before it had come under rule of the
Empire, a great war had been fought there. Kurim's great great great great
grandfather had been the leader of one of the warring factions, the Nation of
Wei. They had unfortunately been crushed underfoot of the triumphant nation of
Wu. B.T. was currently reading a novel that told of the heroic deeds of that
time, a truly remarkable story. Ginkan lowered his head.
"As leader of the Crimson Knights, I was informed of this news."
B.T. nodded, but remained silent.
"Command has developed new weapons and trained new soldiers, powerful weapons of
science and technology. They are supposed to be capable of tremendous
destruction. A group of them are being sent here. I fear that the time of the
Crimson Knights' domination of the battlefield is beginning to end."
B.T. nodded. She lowered her head.
"I'm sorry, Ginkan. If things must change like that, the Empire has truly lost
all sense of tradition."
The alcohol must have given Ginkan, the staunch patriot, the strength to give
the next outburst. He pounded the table with his fist.
"The Empire never had any tradition! We've always been moving forward, making
ourselves better, stronger, and more powerful. That I understand. However,
neither the sword nor magic seems to hold importance anymore!"
B.T. gasped as she realized why he'd wanted to speak with her. Technology. The
antithesis of magic. If these new weapons were technological...
"The College of Mages will suffer because of these new weapons." He said,
pouring himself another cup of sake. B.T. nodded as she fully realized the
situation. Should new, technological weapons prove their worth, the College
would lose it's prominence, Mages would lose the sheer amount of power they held
on the battlefield. She shook her head.
"We're a dying breed, us chivalric warriors." Ginkan said with a sigh. B.T.
echoed it.
"Yeah. They don't make them like us anymore, do they?"
"Let's get drunk." Ginkan downed another shot.
"Good idea."
"Sir!" Mimiru threw back the hanging skin 'door' of Bear's office, hurried in,
and snapped to attention. Something urgent seemed to be on her mind.
"At ease. What now?" Bear asked, putting down the paperwork he had been
finishing.
"The enemy has begun clearing the barricade. They drove away our guards with
crossbows."
Bear nodded. The crossbow was a dangerous weapon of the Empire's. Although it
was a relatively simple improvement on the bow, command, as refined and
civilized as they were, had yet to implement it on a large scale for their
forces. The only crossbows he knew of on their side were shooting from behind
trees in the north. "Very well. Any guesses on how long it will be before they
can cross?"
"Two weeks, sir."
"How many of them are there?"
"Roughly two thousand."
Bear chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. That was bad. Two thousand with
crossbows put him in a bad position. He still couldn't afford a siege; Tsukasa's
reinforcements would never fit inside the fort.
"One more thing, sir."
"What?"
"Kurim is supposed to be with them."
"Kurim?! The Red Dragon of Shanghai?"
"Yes sir."
Kurim was a warrior for the history books. Mimiru could be the only match for
him in a duel that Bear commanded. It was said that he could not be touched by
any arrow, and no sword could pierce his hide. On the battlefield, it was said
that he moved like the Chinese Dragon, effortlessly intertwining himself and his
spear, seeming to fly on nothing at all. The Imperial soldiers called Mimiru the
Desert Wind. She seemed to run through her foes, some said that she was
everywhere at once. A soldier had seen his comrade slice right through her, only
to be killed seconds later when she mysteriously appeared behind him. Both the
sides' stories were greatly exaggerated, but Bear knew they were both incredibly
strong fighters. He could tell by Mimiru's expression, just the subtle things in
her face and tone of voice, that she wanted to take Kurim on as much as he
wanted her not to. If she was killed by Kurim, he would lose... He would lose a
major tactical asset. Yes, that was it.
"Send a messenger to the command in Nairobi and update them on the current
situation."
"But that wouldn't get through for another month!"
"This battle will cost us heavy casualties. We'll need more reinforcements, and
they won't want to give them. But if we're lucky, command may feel like
rewarding me for smashing an entire detachment."
"But, what if they..."
"Relax. I know the commander in Nairobi. He has confidence in me. I have
confidence in me. I have confidence in you as well. Inform Tsukasa, then gather
your unit commanders and brief them on the situation."
"Yes sir!"
At that moment, Tsukasa was at the oasis, waiting. He had already bathed. He had
found this place a few days after he'd arrived. He'd told no one else about it,
this secret place. He thought that Imperial girl would come back. He had been
waiting here most of the day. His duties at the camp could wait. Finally, he
heard footsteps in the tunnel.
"He... hello?" He heard.
"Down here!" He yelled. Her head slowly, cautiously came into view.
"Is there anyone else there?"
"No. Come on down. Let's talk."
"All right."
Subaru climbed down the slope on the edge of the cliff. He sat on a rock, his
staff held in one hand. She sat next to him, her wings twitching a little.
"Why did you come back?"
"I wanted to know more about you. Why did you wait here?"
"Because this is my secret place. A safe haven no one knows about."
She drew her knees up to her chest.
"Is that all."
"Well, I've never actually met a real Imperial before."
She nodded.
"Have you ever heard of foot ball?"
"Foot ball?"
"You know, it's a game. Where you can't touch the ball with your hands."
"Oh! I think I heard of it once."
"Oh."
"Do you like games?"
"Yes... I like to watch the gladiators, sometimes, when I'm home..."
"Rome?"
"Yes. Rome."
"I've wondered sometimes, what Rome must be like. Nothing but people, isn't it?"
"Something like that, yes."
"I don't know how they live, one on top of the other like that."
She giggled. He looked over at her.
"Say... What's an angel, anyway?"
They were like that for hours.
Sora's horse had refused to come any closer on the last hill, so Sora had tied
it and proceeded on foot. He stood and stared in horror at the scene ahead of
him. The barbarian guerrillas hadn't been defeated, they had been massacred. The
smell of sulfur wafted across the air. Fires burned here and there, and corpses
littered the earth where the imperials had left them to rot. Men had been ripped
in two by a mysterious force, and the ground was black and charred. He dropped
to his knees.
"What magic... How..."
His jaw worked up and down soundlessly. The devastation stretched as far as his
eyes could see, the entire town, even the natives that had harbored the
guerrillas had been slaughtered by this powerful magic.
"So. Now we can see the powers of technology."
Sora was very suddenly on his feet. He whirled around, blade drawn in an
instant, ready to slice through whoever had startled him. It met against steel,
drawn amazingly fast to counter his spring-loaded knives. Once his panic had
passed, the scene behind him snapped into focus. Balmung had raised his sword
halfway from it's sheath, the base of the blade stopping Sora's strike. Helba
stood a few paces behind him. Sora could never shake the feeling of her eyes on
him behind that visor she wore.
"Oh."
Sora took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"It's... you."
"Yes, it's me. Balmung, both of you, actually, put your weapons away."
Balmung slid his sword back into it's sheath silently, Sora pulled the tiny
lever that sheathed his knife while doing his best to stare at Helba with
indifference.
"What... how can something do this?"
"We don't know, but we're doing our best to find out."
"I can't begin to... I just..."
"You've never seen this kind of destruction. It's understandable. The disregard
for human life is unforgivable, even for the power-mad."
"Caesar..."
"Placing blame is useless. Now, how about you help us?" Sora could still
remember the last time he'd decided to throw in with Helba and Balmung. He'd
wound up dodging fireballs thrown by a very angry wizard who had found himself
shy a mystic crystal. Even when Helba had paid him in gold and pointed him west,
he still hadn't thought it was worth it. He still didn't think it had been worth
it.
He shook his head.
"No. No, no, no..."
"Come now, Sora. You want to know about this as much as we do.
"No way am I working with you again."
"Don't worry. No fireballs this time."
Sora was quiet. Helba shook her head and reached into the folds of her robe. She
tossed Sora a brown leather pouch. Sora distinctly recognized the jingle and
weight of gold coins.
"I'm in."
"I thought you might say that. Here. Take these."
She strode towards him, her robes rippling around her as she handed him a small
orb and an amulet.
"That orb magically records and plays back events from the point of view of the
user. To activate it, hold it to your eye. Do the same to play back anything you
may have found. Only you can record with it, and for all others it will let them
see through your eyes. Good?" Sora took the orb.
"And the amulet?"
"An amulet of summoning. When opened, it will call me to you. Open it when you
find something. Come now, time to go."
"Right..."
He walked with them back to where his horse was tied. As he followed, all he
could do was reflect on... whatever it was. What could this be? Magic, issued to
soldiers on a large scale? That was the only explanation Sora could think of.
But how was the Empire doing this? Mage's staffs were useless except as a fancy
club to anyone without magical aptitude, the floating orb signaling the inherent
power of the user. Should someone who was not magically trained hold it, the orb
would simply fall to the ground. Even if the Empire had managed to circumvent
this, they were notoriously hard to manufacture. Issuing them on this scale was
logistically insane.
"I will see you soon."
Helba said, more of an order than a goodbye.
Sora nodded, and rode away.
"Sir!"
Kurim sat cross legged in his tent, one of his unit commanders barged in and
saluted.
"At ease."
Kurim set down his pen, where he had been drawing in plans for the assault on
the Barbarians.
"Have you seen Lady Subaru lately?"
"No sir. A report from command. Due to the cunning of the enemy general as
described by Lady Subaru, they are sending us an additional four units and
experimental weapons. Kurim narrowed his eyes.
"Experimental weapons?"
"The accompanying general will brief us more fully. They are to arrive within a
week."
"And the pass?"
"Will be cleared in six days."
"Good. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
Kurim went back to his work, now factoring in an additional four hundred men to
his plans.
He was there again. Subaru ran down the same slope, and Tsukasa ran towards her.
They stopped short of each other, awkwardly.
"It's good to see you again." She said.
Tsukasa nodded.
"You too."
"Anything new?"
"No, not really."
They sat beneath one of the trees. Subaru leaned against Tsukasa, and felt him
stiffen.
"What's wrong?"
"N... nothing..."
"Tsukasa, this is nice."
"Subaru..."
She rested her head on his shoulder. They said nothing for a moment. Subaru
tipped her face up to look at him, and he lowered his to look at her. Their
heads moved closer together, and their lips touched, gently, then pulled back by
millimeters.
"Tsukasa..."
"Subaru, I... I love you."
Subaru pressed her lips harder against his, this boy who was still so
mysterious, so different from Kurim, her servant, her knight, this boy felt no
obligation to her, no responsibility, yet he loved her just the same! Their
tongues danced, and his hands ran up and down her back for a moment, before
crossing across her shoulders and pulling her close. She laid back on the grass
and Tsukasa laid with her, locked in a passionate embrace of lips. They let each
other go for a moment, and Subaru laid her head on Tsukasa' shoulder.
"My only love sprung from my only hate."
Tsukasa was quiet for a moment, before he said,
"That's beautiful."
"William Shakespeare, he was a writer from one of the Imperial islands. It's
called England."
"I've been there. My people hated the English even before we wound up on
opposite sides of the war."
She squeezed him tighter.
"Let's not talk about that."
He nodded.
"Yeah..."
They were like that for hours.