Chapter 35: The Founding of the Alliance Part 10: The Calm Before Dinner
They regrouped in Fortune Square. "I trust you were able to get what we needed?" Aranella asked.
"We were bein' able te stock up on sixth censers, but were only bein' able te acquire some soreaway flakes," Batu explained.
"I see…" she replied. She raised a hand to her chin as she thought for a moment, allowing it fall away as she continued, "I suppose that's better than nothing, at least. And perhaps we'll be able to acquire some soreaway leaves elsewhere."
"What about you guys?" Roland asked.
"Higgledy pig, higgledy pig," the higgledies announced proudly as they jumped up and down on the spot.
He eyed them before saying, "I take it you were more successful?"
She smiled. "We were indeed; We now have some vegetables as well as some herbs and spices for seasoning."
"Great."
As the light was being lost from the sky, the staff that worked in the Grand High Roller's Hall were slowly returning in twos and threes. Tani cast a look of curiosity in their direction before turning back to the party to ask, "Do you think Pugnacious is back yet?"
Roland glanced after the workers himself before replying, "Maybe. We won't know until we go inside."
"Then we had best head in," said Aranella. They filed into the Grand High Roller's Hall behind a pair of dogfolk dressed in typical state employee attire. Ya Ya was waiting for them in the entrance hall where Ya Pi usually stood guard before the Grand High Roller.
She smiled as she bowed. "Welcome back, King Evan. I am happy to inform you that I have made all the necessary arrangements for tomorrow, so we will be able to leave bright and early in the morning as planned."
"That's excellent news, thank you, Lady Ya Ya," Evan replied.
"Indeed. I trust your visit to the library was most productive?"
"Oh it was," he replied, nodding enthusiastically. "Very much."
"You can say that again, mun," Lofty chimed in. "We learned a lot!"
"We did indeed," Aranella added.
"That's very good to hear," said Ya Ya. She gestured hopefully, "Perhaps you will share your findings with us over dinner?"
"We were planning to, yes," Evan replied.
"Excellent. Master Pugnacious will be joining us for dinner, which is being served at six thirty."
Roland glanced at the clock hanging on one of the walls. "That gives us over an hour and a half to kill."
"Yeah so what're we going to do in the mean time?" Tani asked.
"I could show you to your rooms if you would like," Ya Ya suggested. "As Master Pugnacious explained earlier, these have yet to be prepared for you, so you could take the opportunity to do that yourselves?"
They exchanged looks and nodded. "Yes please, Lady Ya Ya," Evan replied.
"Very good. Then please follow me." They followed her to the guest accommodation. As this was towards the back of the Grand High Roller's Hall, it was largely unscathed, although the roof had been removed for repairs and had been temporarily replaced by tarpaulin sheets. "Here we are," she said, gesturing to the row of doors on both sides of the corridor. "There are enough rooms to put up each of you individually, and the bathrooms are en suite." Tani, Evan and Lofty all ooh'd in unison. "I'll give you a moment to choose your rooms."
The party separated with childish delight to pick a door and poke their heads inside, something that Roland would've found amusing if the thought of he and Doloran being soulmates wasn't constantly whirling around inside the back of his mind, and the higgledies ran from room to room under their feet.
The rooms were lavishly decorated, with various sculptures, ornamental vases and hanging wall scrolls. There was a chest of drawers and a sliding wardrobe built into one wall of the room for storing clothes, and a desk and chair for writing or reading. The curtains pulled across the windows were red and made of silk. The room had a double bed, though one without any bedding or pillows, and the wall it had been placed against was, from floor to ceiling, a beautiful painting of flowers. This was without a doubt one of the most luxurious rooms Roland had ever laid eyes upon, even compared to back home. "Wow," he uttered, all of his troubles alleviated for that one moment.
"Higgle," Frumious echoed.
He looked down at the little higgledy. "Impressive, huh?"
"Higgle," he nodded. Then he looked up at Roland and said. "Higgle pig hig," gesturing back out of the room. Roland stared blankly at him in reply, so Frumious just waved and left to wander into one of the other rooms.
Then Tani was suddenly pushing past him to get a look for herself. "This one's amazing as well!" She declared. "Have you decided on this one, Roland?" She asked, gesturing into the room.
He blinked. "Uh… I guess?"
"They're all different, but equally amazing. But if you like this one, then you should take it!"
He managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure they are. But," he shook his head, "I'm not really fussed. A room's a room after all."
"Do you want me to pick one for you?"
"Sure."
She assumed a thoughtful gesture and examined the room from floor to ceiling, as if it was the first time she was laying eyes on it. "This one looks nice." she declared, her expression a humorous grin. "I think you should take it."
He chuckled. "All right, I will. Thanks, Tani."
She beamed. "You're welcome." And then bounded out the door to claim her own.
"If everyone has chosen their rooms," said Ya Ya, after they had all decided. "I will show you where the pillows, bedding, blankets and toiletries are." She gestured for them to follow her. "This way." She led them out of the guest wing and detoured into another. "This is where the senior staff are housed, including myself. Should you have need of me during the night for any reason, you will find me here," she said, gesturing to indicate which door was hers, before continuing, leading them into the servant's wing and to the room where they stored their clean bed clothes. "And here we are. You may choose anything from this section here," she said, gesturing to the section where the sheets and duvets for the double sized beds were kept.
"Gosh, look at all these colours," Evan uttered.
"There be a colour'ere fer each o'us," Batu agreed.
"Yes," Ya Ya replied with a smile. "And the duvets and pillow cases have different designs on them too."
"How extravagant," Aranella commented.
She chuckled. "Yes, I thought the same thing when I first arrived here. But Master Pugnacious simply wishes to fill his life – as well as the lives of his staff – with all manner of colours, patterns and decorations."
"I don't see the harm in that," said Lofty.
"Higgle," the higgledies agreed.
"Well what're we waiting for?" Tani asked. "Let's choose our bedding. I'll go first!" She immediately went to the pile and picked out a mint green sheet and an emerald green duvet with flowers stitched onto the cover in yellow thread, and matching pillow cases. "What're they made out of?" She asked. "They're unbelievably soft."
"Silk," Ya Ya," replied. "Master Pugnacious has insisted on only the finest material for guests and staff alike."
"He's beginning to put King Leonhard to shame," Aranella remarked.
Ya Ya chuckled. "Well, King Leonhard did not have the same upbringing as Master Pugnacious did, and that is likely why Master Pugnacious is more inclined to be so generous; He is well acquainted with the trappings of poverty after all."
"Yes…" She nodded slowly. "I suppose he is."
"What about a nice red for us, Evan?" Lofty asked.
"Oh, um… I was thinking of blue myself," Evan replied.
"You could always have both," Tani suggested. "Red and blue would go well together I think."
"She's right, mun!" Lofty agreed. "Why not have both?"
"Higgledy pig," the higgledies thirded.
"All right," Evan replied. He picked out a dark blue sheet and matching pillow cases, with a crescent moon stitched on in silver thread, and a red duvet with a sun stitched on in gold.
"There's lovely!" Lofty praised.
"Isn't it? We didn't have anything like this at home. Or um…" He'd suddenly realised what he'd said. "I mean… At Ding Dong Dell…" He swallowed and guiltily hung his head, his ears drooping.
The group exchanged looks at that. "Evan," said Aranella as she gently laid a hand on the top of his head, between his ears. "It's all right to still find yourself regarding Ding Dong Dell as home," she assured him. "You just need to give yourself some time, that's all. You'll come to think of Evermore as home soon enough."
Evan looked up. "Really?"
"Aye," Batu agreed with a nod. "It weren't bein' so long ago that we were callin' Cloudcoil Canyon an' the Base our'ome. An' ye can be sure that there be many o'us still catchin' ourselves thinkin' it still is. But we be lovin' our new'ome o'Evermore just the same, an there'll come a time when it's Evermore that we'll be thinkin' of first."
Evan smiled. "Thank you for saying that, Batu."
Batu smiled back. "Yer welcome, Yer Majesty." He chose next, picking out an orange sheet and a rustic red duvet and pillow case with a repeating pattern. He moved away to allow Aranella to make her choice; A white sheet, a deep purple duvet with a repeating pattern, and a light purple pillow case, with another.
That left Roland last, and he decided on an ice blue sheet and an ocean blue duvet and pillow case with water lilies stitched on in pink, yellow and green thread. After they'd collected their pillows and blankets and some toiletries from the next storage room, Ya Ya lead them back to their rooms so they could prepare their beds for the coming night.
"What're we going to do once we're done?" Tani asked.
Batu glanced at Roland before suggesting, "Perhaps we could be takin' the time te unwind afore dinner? We were learnin' a lot today. I can't be sayin' I wouldn't appreciate a moment te process it all."
Roland silently thanked him but Evan and Tani both aww'd in protest as Lofty objected, placing his hands on his hips in dissatisfaction. "Oh come on, mun. You mean we have to sit in a room all by ourselves until it's time to eat?"
"I could always take you on a tour of the Grand High Roller's Hall, if you would like," Ya Ya suggested and gestured.
"Oh can we, can we?" Evan asked, fists raised in excitement.
"Sign me up, mun," Lofty added.
"Higgle pig!" The higgledies added, not wanting to be left out.
"You guys go on ahead," said Roland. "I'm going to sit this one out."
"Aye," Batu agreed. "I will as well."
"Are you sure about that, Roland, Batu?" Evan asked, looking from one to the other.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Roland replied.
"And I as well," Batu agreed.
"You go have fun."
"What about you, Aranella?" Tani asked.
"I think a tour of the Grand High Roller's Hall sounds like a marvellous idea," she replied.
"Very well," said Ya Ya. "Then I will wait here until you have finished, and will send someone to collect you, Mr Roland, Mr Batu when it's time for dinner."
"Sounds good," Roland replied.
As the others disappeared into their rooms to begin making their beds, Batu turned to him. "Roland, if ye'ave need o'me fer anything, or find yerself in need o'some company, I'll be in'ere."
He smiled. "Thanks."
Batu nodded and disappeared into his room, while Roland sighed before doing the same.
He tuned out his own thoughts as he made his bed, taking refuge in the simplicity of the task. When he was done, he sank onto the bed and placed his head in his hands. If one soulmate were to die in one world, so too would the other, had been a constant companion since leaving the the possibility that Doloran was lying kept him from breaking down in tears, or vomiting up his empty stomach.
He was almost tempted to try calling for Doloran so they could resume their conversation. But depending on how that went, it could mean having to face dinner while trying to process the outcome of that conversation at the same time. And Roland didn't think he'd be able to hold it together long enough to do that. He would just have to get through dinner, and then he would finally get his answers. This was of course assuming that Doloran was watching and listening, but of course he must be, as the last time he had appeared to him was after Roland had returned to Evermore and had retired for the night – the one period of time when he would be alone and would not be disturbed, so he had no reason to doubt that he would be again.
Still, this left him with some time to kill before dinner arrived, but had nothing else to do or occupy his mind with now that his bed was made. He paced the room, chewing the thumb of one hand while his other was crossed over his chest. He couldn't stop his thoughts from turning to the possible conundrum of him and Doloran being soulmates and what that meant, but as they did he realised that he needed to reflect on the issue before confronting Doloran. What was he going to do if they were? He shook his head so as to derail that train of thought before it left the station; That would depend on the answer to if they were being yes, so he couldn't properly think about it until he had that answer. And for he all he knew right now, Doloran had just been trying to mess with them, as the others had suggested.
But it brought up another issue. Assuming the answer was yes for the moment then, did the Conductor know? He didn't need to wonder why the Conductor hadn't told him if he did, but if he had concealed this information from him, that didn't bode well for the Conductor's already dubious trustability; If he was lying about one thing, even if it was through an omission, then he could very well be lying about other things as well. Such as his world being destroyed. Such as him returning home when all was said and done. Was he even the one who had saved him from the explosion that day or had he simply taken the credit?
He supposed he should reason that there was a possibility the Conductor honestly hadn't known, but Roland just didn't think that was likely. After all, of all the people who died that day when the missile detonated, the Conductor chose to rescue him. Why him? At the time he had thought the answer to that question was his experience. Who better to help Evan build a new kingdom and become its king, than someone who had experience with running a country? But now it seemed that there was another answer to that question. Who better to stop Doloran than his own soulmate?
He stopped in his pacing to frown at one corner of the room in even deeper thought. Except what the Conductor had asked him to dowas to help Evan; Take a recently orphaned child, recently chased out of his home under his wing, and guide and protect him as he worked to establish a new home for himself and his friends. That wasn't a bad thing, right? And what would the Conductor even get out of that?
He ran both hands through his hair and then resumed his pacing as he tried to think things through in a different way. If it turned out that Doloran was lying, or was at least mistaken about them being soulmates then… what did that change? Nothing right? He had stolen Pugnacious' kingsbond without a care for the consequences and had then callously abandoned Goldpaw to their fate by leaving them to fend off their Kingmaker's rampage by themselves. Even if his reasons for acquiring the kingsbonds turned out to be well-intentioned, or well meant, those actions were not, nor could he see anyway to spin them into something that was.
The Conductor on the other hand had – if he was to be believed – rescued him from oblivion by plucking him from his world at the moment of his death, and had then tasked him with healing both his world and Evan's by helping Evan build his kingdom of Evermore. Of course Doloran lying didn't automatically entail the Conductor was telling the truth, but of the two of them in this case, Doloran was clearly the bad guy.
So if Doloran was telling the truth, what did that change? He had still stolen Pugnacious' kingsbond without a care for the consequences as well as callously abandoned Goldpaw to their fate by leaving them to fend off their Kingmaker's rampage by themselves, with the possibility that he was planning to do the same to the other nations as well.
Meanwhile this threw into doubt the veracity of everything the Conductor had said and claimed. For all Roland knew, the Conductor had taken advantage of the benevolent actions of someone else and was using him for his own ends, whatever those ends were.
Of course, Doloran telling the truth didn't automatically entail that the Conductor was lying, or at least not about everything; Aranella had said that he played the role of the trickster in his stories, but she'd also said that he was well-intentioned, or at least had not deceived anyone with ill-intent, and trickster characters weren't necessarily bad. So it was entirely possible that he was utilising deception but for seemingly altruistic intentions. Which meant that Doloran was still the bad guy in this case, while the Conductor was at the very least morally ambiguous.
He stopped pacing to take a deep breath. So much of this was wrapped up in hypotheticals and possibilities. So he asked himself, what did he know? He folded his arms and shut his eyes, blocking out all visual distractions as he turned over the events in his head, starting with the explosion that had kicked off his adventure in the first place.
As he recalled the instant when the missile vanished into the skyline, Lofty's words echoed, unbidden. "Remember now, everyone. Sight, smell, sound and taste."
Sight: A brilliant flash that burned his eyes. Smell: An acrid scent on the wind. Sound: A loud roar that hurt his ears. Taste: The taste of ash on his tongue. And touch: The feeling of his stomach lodging itself in his throat as he was hurled through the air, the feeling of the seatbelt digging into his chest and waist with such force that he feared it was going to cut him in half, as the world spun around him, and then pain, a world of pain.
If there was one thing that he was sure about, it was this moment. This had happened. A missile had been launched on the city and had detonated, and he had been caught in the explosion. Only the intervention of someone or something if not the Conductor, had saved him that day, and in doing so had brought him to Evan's world.
Maybe he had been mistaken regarding the level of devastation, maybe what the Conductor had shown him had been a lie. At the very least, he and all the people living in the city and the immediate surroundings had been wiped away that day, which would also have included Will. If for no-one else, he'd play the Conductor's game for him.
Thinking of Will again made his heart ache and he clutched his chest, gathering a fistful of the fabric of his greatcoat in his hand as he swallowed down another wave of nausea. God he missed him so much, and more than anything he hoped that at the end of the road he would see him again. A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. He went to it but did not open it. "Yeah?"
"Pardon me sir, but it is nearly time for dinner," the attendant on the other side of the door replied. "I have been sent to collect you."
"Give me a minute, I'll be right out," he said. He ducked into the bathroom and used the washcloth to rinse his face with cold water before scrutinising his reflection in the mirror.
He was fortunate that his thoughts were not evident in his appearance, or he would look very harrowed indeed. So he judged himself to be presentable for dinner and left the room.
"All right, I'm ready."
Batu and the attendant were waiting for him. "Excellent," said the attendant. "If you would both please follow me."