Chapter 5: The Palace of the Sun.
Aloy could smell Meridian before she could see it. The cool and damp air of the Jewel faded and in its place, the smell of cook fires and human filth rose.
As the pair reached the initial Gate of Meridian, Aloy saw the small market settlement which had sprawled to catch travellers' attention as they entered and departed the City proper had grown. It had spread beyond the foot of the Gate and spread along the small canal which fed the nearby farms. It covered any space with tents and rude shelters made of Machine parts and wood. Communal fires burned, children ran amok and adults fished the nearby river and hawked Machine parts and other wares to anyone who would listen.
"What is this?" Aloy said, mostly to herself in surprise.
"Refugees." Erend said in a terse voice. "After Sunfall well… Fell. People didn't want to stick around to find out whether another tyrant would rise up to replace Bahavas or Eclipse. So, they came here instead. And they keep on coming."
"To live here? So close to the Jewel, but there's Stalkers and who knows whether the New-Breeds-"
"There's nowhere else for them to go. We don't know where to put them and more keep coming because everyone –"
"Comes to Meridian." Aloy finished with a frown.
"Yeah."
Aloy caught sight of a little girl wearing nothing but rags. She held a stick and drew in the mud. As the two picked their way along the rough path to the City, Aloy saw the girl was actually writing Glyphs. Her mother must have thought she was in the way because she caught the girls elbow and pulled her away from their path and scolded. A passing company of guards approached from the opposite way and before Aloy could read what she had written, the words were lost to their shoes.
"It's just like Shadowside." Aloy sighed.
Erend glanced to her, "We're doing everything we can. I've got extra guards posted on routes within and around the settlement. Food, water, medicine and clothes are delivered on the daily."
"What about building homes?" Aloy asked. She was already sweating even in the thin armour in the midday heat but she also remembered the bitter nights outside in the Mesa, and it was only spring.
"Where?" Erend asked, desperately. "I mean, Meridian's a big place, sure but there's not much space that isn't already used for something. If we built homes out here we'd have to expand the city walls before we do anything to make them remotely safe. I'm recruiting like mad but not everyone can or wants to be a guard or a soldier and the barracks are packed already." Erend said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
They reached the Gate and the guards posted on the wall hailed them.
"Captain's back! Look Sharp!"
Aloy lowered her head as Erend guided her by the elbow through the crowd stood at the gates. Everyone else was pushed or waved away by the guards and they squeezed through amongst the protests.
As soon as the Gate was closed, Erend and Aloy were mobbed by Guards, Soldiers and citizens alike. Even a few Priests. She was pushed back from people crying for Erend's attention with questions and updates.
Erend managed to catch her eye as she felt her arm slip from his grasp and he mouthed, "Go."
Aloy didn't need telling twice, she nodded to him and pushed through the crowd and slipped into the nearest quiet street. After a moment of getting her bearings, Aloy picked her way towards the Elevators. Aloy saw more refugees in doorways and corners, begging on the streets. Aloy couldn't look at any of them in the eye as she passed them. Eventually, she reached her destination, and thankfully she was alone for a moment.
A heavy weight sank in the pit of her stomach. All Aloy had wanted was to avenge Rost and the other innocents at The Proving by stopping the Eclipse. Before she had realised, she was embroiled in a plot to spirit away a puppet-King and his mother. The High Priest of Sunfall was dead and now refugees were coming to Meridian with nowhere to go but on the streets if their lucky or outside the walls if they weren't.
The Elevator came to an abrupt stop which shook Aloy from her thoughts. A guard posted at the top of the Elevator turned to her and asked,
"Hey are you the Hero of – "
Aloy didn't stay to hear the rest and she fled towards the Palace of the Sun. She cursed as she saw yet another line before yet another Gate and she looked around for options.
"Dervahl's route…" Aloy murmured as she scanned the cliff separating the Palace from the rest of Meridian. She knew the hole made in the building must have been repaired by now, the path should still be there. Aloy glanced over the Cliffside and saw the wooden pegs were still there, cut into the rock. Aloy shimmied down until her foot found a peg, she wasn't willing to chance dropping down as she was so high up that the ground below was obscured by mist.
She reached the scaffold beneath the bridge and climbed until she reached the aqueduct which fed out of the Palace and Aloy followed the route up. Soon, she found a path which lined the wall of the Palace and she found her footing between the large sandstone bricks and she climbed up and over a balcony.
The smell of incense and fragrant candles rose and Aloy realised she was near the balcony where Avad's ceremonial throne was. Before she could explore more, voices rose within the chamber which caught her attention.
"-Erend should be returning soon to report on how Petra's cannons fare against these new Machines." It was Avad.
"No reports were made of casualties at Daytower from the attack."
"Good. I can only hope he brings good news."
Aloy caught sight of Avad lower his headdress onto the wide seat beside him. She crept up behind a column and remained in the shadows. It seemed the longer she listened, the harder it was to announce herself.
"The midday sun may burn but it often illuminates much." Marad nodded at Avad, "Onto more pressing matters. Nobles are awaiting an audience – "
"If it's about those poor people on the streets and outside the walls again, tell them I am aware of their concerns. More guards are posted and –"
"I will convey this to them." Marad strode to the chamber door and passed a note to a messenger outside.
The candles flickered near Aloy and a whisper of a breeze swept the ends of her hair before the cool kiss of a blade touched her throat. Aloy grabbed their wrist and pushed the knife away and back-kicked the assailant in the knee. Aloy span around to push the knife towards her attacker and stopped when she recognised them.
"By the Sun. Stop!" Avad's voice rang behind Aloy as she caught her breath.
"Been a while, Aloy." Vanasha said as she cocked an eyebrow at her.
Aloy released her wrist and the knife disappeared within the woman's robes within seconds.
"Ever heard of saying hello?!" Aloy said with a scowl, "Ever tried greeting someone with a wave and not with a blade?"
"Ever heard of using a door and not a window?" Vanasha smirked as she passed Aloy to enter the chamber proper. "If you insist on coming in like a criminal, I'll greet you like one."
"Point taken." Aloy sighed as she followed the woman. "But there was a bit of a wait at the door and I needed to speak to you, Avad." She said as she met the King's eye.
He looked much the same as before, the same ceremonial robes, kohl around his eyes and his chin tilted slightly towards his chest.
Aloy spared a glance at the large oval table the King was seated before, she couldn't help but be curious, "What's this?"
"Our way of trying to untangle the many problems the city faces." Avad gestured at the map before him. "Sections are shaded depending on whether areas are residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural –"
"And these?" Aloy asked as she pointed at red stones which lay on top of the map in seemingly random places throughout the City.
"These represent ten refugees according to the most recent census and roughly where they are."
"Why can't they live here?" Aloy blurted at the King, if she had been able to look at Marad also, she would have been surer the flicker on his face was a smile. "Ten families could live in this room alone!" She gestured around herself at the impressive chamber with intricately carved sandstone walls and the polished marble floors.
"I can't." Avad shook his head, "If I did, the Nobles would be slighted –"
"And there's the matter of security. As much as your idea has merit. We do not yet know if the Shadow Carja has truly stopped being a threat."
Aloy looked at Vanasha who flanked Avad's other side, the woman didn't meet her eye. All humour had left her face.
"Well, have the Nobles live in the Palace and let the refuges live in the empty homes." Aloy floundered as she noticed a similar look crossed all three faces before her. Aloy wondered if it was another one of those unspoken societal rules the Carja seemed to enjoy to complicate matters with.
Avad broke the silence, "The City is already a tinderbox in want of a flame. If I were to force my people from their homes in order to house newcomers to the City. It would only make matters worse before they got any better. Change can't –"
"Don't tell me change can't come with a single sunrise. It won't if you believe it can't, Avad." Aloy felt the anger rising in her chest. Why was it so complicated? Aloy turned to Vanasha, "What does Nasadi think should be done? I understand she was a prisoner but they were people she cared about. You told me yourself that she fed the people from Shadowside off her own table when she could."
There was another uncomfortable pause.
"Have you even asked?" Aloy asked.
"My Stepmother has been though too much. Years of living in fear for her life and for Itamen's safety I can't ask more of her –"
"Have you asked?" Aloy repeated again, "Because when I saw her at Sunfall, it didn't look to me like she was asked many things there either. I understand that you are the King and it's your decision but she knows these people more than you or me or anyone else barring you, Vanasha. I think she's earned the right to decide for herself what she wants to do, don't you?"
Aloy paused and swallowed. She had forgotten that she was speaking to the King. A man who had earned her respect and she was taking him to task in the same way she would with a merchant who tried to short-change her. Aloy was angry, there were so many things she couldn't understand about Meridian but she mostly saw that things could be so much better. It was frustrating.
"Aloy, take a seat." The King gestured to the cushioned sofa before him and Aloy perched in the middle.
"Vanasha," Avad turned to the Spy, "Can you please notify my Stepmother that I would like to speak to her this evening in regards to this matter? Can you tell her I would like her thoughts?"
Vanasha bowed to the King and departed, she winked at Aloy as she passed.
A pause.
"I could have used your insights six months ago." Avad said as he fiddled with his discarded headdress beside him. He asked in a low voice, "Where have you been?"
Colour rose to Aloy's cheeks, "I didn't know I had to notify you or anyone – "
Avad rose a hand, "You misunderstand me. I mean – I meant that because of you, I've learned that the closer you are to the sun, the more blinded you can become in its light." He cleared his throat, "As an outsider you offer a perspective, one that I value and trust."
"I didn't mean to snap." Aloy apologised, "Erend told me you were sending them aid, I know you're trying to help these people however you can, I just… I didn't think you or anyone would want me to stick around. Not after everything I brought to your door."
Avad exchanged a look with his Spymaster, it was a look of disbelief which Aloy couldn't understand.
"After you saved Meridian?" Avad asked.
"I-" Aloy stammered as she fiddled with a strap on her leather gauntlet.
"You met Erend?" Avad asked, "Is he on his way back to Meridian?"
Aloy thumbed the door behind her, "He's on his way. We met in Free Heap. He," Aloy remembered the crowd that had surged around him, "He'll catch up."
"Aloy." Marad said quietly, "If you were in the position Avad is in. What would you do first?"
Aloy glanced at the Spymaster and then at the map before her. "I would target the weakness. Or exploit it to my advantage."
Marad smiled, encouragingly, "Spoken like a true Huntress, explain."
The chamber doors opened behind Aloy but she didn't turn to look to see who entered. She assumed it was Vanasha returning.
"The Carja are many things but it's their vanity which is their weakness. You use titles, rules and even make the soldiers wear feathers like painted birds. I'd use that against them. Tell the people that only the most charitable people can request something of the King, a boon. Set the tone with a symbolic gesture of your own. Shame them or delude them that this is something everyone who can do something to help should help. Get them to compete and vie for your favour."
Aloy licked her lips, she was on a roll now and she couldn't stop.
"Then, I would target the people from Sunfall's weakness. Their dependency on Meridian's aid. I'd give them a means to support themselves. Erend told me he's been recruiting who he can into the Army but not everyone wants to be a Soldier. They had trades before I mean, I've never met another tribe who can build or manufacture things like the Carja can. Wasn't that one of the ways the Oseram began to be accepted by the Carja, by proving themselves that they had earned their place in Meridian?" Aloy shrugged as she recalled the little girl who was writing in the mud, "And I'd give the children a safe place to learn and grow up."
A slow clap echoed in the chamber room from behind and Aloy spun around in her seat to catch the sight of Talanah stood beside Erend at the entrance.
"Straight for the jugular, I like it." The Sun Hawk praised. "I wouldn't expect anything less of my Thrush."
Erend moved around the cushioned seat Aloy sat on and landed heavily beside her, "I can see you've been busy since you ditched me at the Gate." He grabbed a cup and a flagon of water from the table and poured himself and Aloy a drink.
"I didn't ditch you, you gave me the nod to leave." Aloy sniggered as she took the proffered cup and she felt Talanah sit beside herself on the other side.
The Sun Hawke picked up the last remaining cup and wiggled it under Erend's nose, "He's just happy you're bossing someone around other than him." The woman smirked as he also filled her cup under Aloy's nose.
The King looked like he didn't quite know what to make of the group or conversation he suddenly found himself in.
"Sire, if I may." The Sun Hawke said after she drew from her cup, "Sign me up for this 'symbolic gesture.'" Talanah set her cup down with a clunk. "I have a home and a large estate up in the Royal Mazelands I don't want or will ever use again. I haven't set foot in either since my family were sent to the Sun Ring." She sighed, "Sell them to help these people or use them to home them, I don't care just do whatever's best. I've been told the land is good to farm with so maybe there's some farmers who could tend it. I live in the Hunter's Lodge whenever I'm not out of the city."
"Ersa's home." Erend started with a hoarse voice, "She doesn't need it and I don't want it. No offence, sir, but she always said it was a ridiculously big place just for her. She always bunked with the guys in the barracks. Reminded her more of home, being with the Vanguard.
Aloy just realised that Marad had been writing for some time, he passed a page of parchment to the King who scanned it. After a moment, Avad nodded.
"See it done." Avad commanded and the Spymaster bowed before he departed the chamber.
Erend abruptly nudged Aloy in the ribs and waggled his eyebrows as he glanced at the King and then again at her.
Talanah caught the sight of them and smiled, "Share with the class."
"Oh, I wanted to –" Aloy blinked, how had she managed to get so distracted from the reason she was here? "I wanted to ask if I could climb the spire.
The Sun Hawke had evidently taken the wrong moment to drink and coughed hoarsely into her hand, Erend reached behind Aloy to slap Talanah on the back, knocking them both forward.
"I need to install a device on the top which would help me connect with a friendly thinking machine called CYAN. It-she believes that she can scan the land between here and The Cut. Maybe even beyond. So we can investigate these New Breed machines, find out how they're being made and how to stop it. I just wanted to ask for your permission before I do."
Avad looked at Aloy as if she has sprouted another head.
"The Spire is actually a relic from the metal world. They built it to speak to the machines which destroyed the world and to deactivate them. Machines like Deathbringers, Metal Devils and Corruptors are from that time. They were what destroyed the old world of the past and what the Eclipse had hoped to use to do it again. The Spire stopped them before, maybe it can again."
"The Spire is Meridian's most holy sight." Avad said in an even tone.
"It might be a way to stop the Derangement of the Machines."
"And this… Thinking Machine believes it can do this?"
Aloy shook her head, "Not for sure but she wants to try. I want her to try. I need to install this," Aloy produced the cylindrical metal key from her pouch, "at the top. Then I can connect with her using my Focus from where she is in the Cut. I should be able to access the information CYAN finds using it also."
Avad sank into the sofa, he lost his perfect posture as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly.
"I would need time to consider this. How to present this to my people. I can already imagine some of their concerns about tampering with The Spire especially since the attack from the Eclipse six months ago."
Aloy sank her chin down to her chest, this was the biggest risk to her plan. Aloy felt she needed to ask the King for his blessing before she tried but she had wrangled over whether asking for permission or forgiveness were the simpler paths.
"But I will see to it that you can accomplish this task." The King said finally, "If this is the one thing you have asked for after everything you have done and continue to do for my people. Then who am I to refuse you?"
Aloy lifted her chin and looked at Avad, moved. She honestly may never get past the guilt she felt being a part in the destruction caused by the Eclipse. Both to the Carja and to the Nora.
"A pretty shitty King." Talanah said suddenly, "What?" Talanah asked at Erend's shocked expression, "You were thinking it too. Anyway, I wanted to speak to you too though your plan, Aloy has blown me out of the water but it does involve you, to a degree."
"Me?" Avad asked.
Talanah dropped a scroll beside the map of the city, "My report. I took down that Mark but it wasn't a normal hunt."
The King sighed, "Why does this not surprise me?"
"It was another one of those New Breed Machines. Thinking we might need to just call them Machines from now on considering how often they're popping now."
"And?" Avad's asked as he examined the scroll's contents. "What happened?"
"Machines, sand, blood and bandits. Bandits making the world a more dangerous place by killing Machines for their most valuable parts and dumping the rest for the Glinthawks and Scrappers to find. They're endangering settlements out there!" The Sunk Hawk exclaimed, "I've decided, I will change the Hunter's Lodge. It's been a Gentlemen's club for decades. You know it and I've changed that by opening it to other tribes and not just to men but… They're still focussed on Marks and not about why we hunt them, to protect people and settlements. They sit and wait until someone pays them to solve a problem and we're supposed to be elite warriors!"
Talanah frowned, "I haven't yet figured out what that will mean but I know I want it to change."
"You mention here meeting a man who fought for my Father?" Avad asked as he waved the report in his hand.
"Yeah, it's complicated. Amadis was marked a traitor when he tried to stop what was happening in the Red Raids. He didn't know what he was a part of. He said he wanted to go back to the battlefield where he lost his friend. Make his peace with what had happened. Amadis said he will write me in two months' time to let me know how it's going."
"Where was he going back to?" Erend asked.
"The Forbidden West."
Aloy studied the map before her of the city and the surrounding areas like the Jewel and all the way towards Sunfall as they spoke.
"Does he want to die?" Erend exclaimed, "It's crazy out there!"
Talanah rolled her eyes, "He's been there before."
"Where is that? Up here?" Aloy asked as she pointed to the desert beyond The Daunt, on the outskirts of Rustwash near Sunfall." The map there only had vague hints at open desert and canyons and no settlements highlighted.
"Yeah, it's a place where you go to never come back or lose your marbles when you do." Erend waved his arms, dismissively.
"I went there." Aloy murmured as she pointed at a space where there was nothing but desert for miles around, "I've still got all of my marbles, I think?" Aloy smirked at Erend's shocked reaction.
"Anyway, I think we've taken up enough of King Avad's time. We better go before he or Erend have a meltdown." Talanah said as she stood.
Aloy followed suit and nudged Erend to follow suit.
"Sure, sure. I mean, here sir," Erend proffered his own scroll, "Petra's report. Cannons should be coming to Meridian any day now. They work great but she wants to make them work better against these new Machines."
Avad accepted the scroll, "I heard there was an attack on Daytower."
"Yup, foiled by this one and yours truly. No one seriously hurt just –"
"Let's go!" Aloy ushered Erend towards the door. She did not want to admit to the King that she was the only one injured in that attack.
Later, Talanah led them over to her apartment over the Hunter's Lodge to catch up. It was a mostly sized loft she had appropriated from the previous Sun Hawke's untimely demise. Talanah had ordered them food to be brought up from the bar. Before long, a young member had nervously served up a modest spread of bread, cheeses, fruit and cured meats. They sat at a table on Talanah's balcony which overlooked the city.
Aloy hungrily tucked in, she gestured at Erend, "No cutlery, you'll have to make do with your hands again." She sniggered as he threw a grape at her.
"So tell me again why you need to climb the Spire?" The Sun Hawk asked as she picked at some bread.
Aloy and Erend exchanged a look.
"It depends, on whether you plan on shouting through the city that we've gone mad." Erend shrugged.
Why did her mouth feel suddenly dry? Aloy pondered as she sipped at her water to play for time.
"And why would I do that?" Talanah asked as she glanced at the two sat before her. "I'm a big girl, and it takes a lot to surprise me."
Aloy sighed as she reached into her pouch to procure another Focus and she slid it towards Talanah.
"It would be better just to show you."
"By the fucking sun?!" Talanah gasped as Aloy and Erend shushed her. "And you, how are you not going crazy, Erend? I mean, that's what the Oseram are always going on about this 'Machine that built the world.' And it's actually all real?"
Aloy wanted to sink into the ground, she let Erend reply.
"Well – it is." Erend shrugged as he turned to Aloy, "Aloy says it's all true and that's good enough for me." The Captain crossed his arms.
"It's not like I don't believe it – or you but –" Talanah stammered, "Just give a girl a second to breathe here."
"What we need to figure out right now is how to get Aloy up to the Spire to install this key up top."
"I don't think I can climb that high." Aloy said quietly as she stared into the middle distance and found herself staring off at the Spire. "Or get down easily if I do."
"Yeah, I mean that's the highest thing around, taller than any structure I've ever seen." Erend sighed.
"No idea is stupid, let's try and figure out a plan." Aloy suggested as she glanced at Erend, "No idea is stupid."
"Okay. How about… A catapult."
Aloy looked at him darkly, "And how would I-"
Whatever she was planning to say was cut off by Talanah's laughter, "Okay, that was a stupid one. My turn."
Aloy sighed in relief, it seems like the Sun Hawk had recovered from her initial shock.
"What about using your spear to override a Tallneck, I've seen you do that once with other Machines?" Talanah suggested.
Aloy shook her head, "I don't think even they are tall enough, I thought about using a Glinthawk but again, I might have to jump if it won't perch and it could just fly off without me."
Talanah clicked her fingers, "What about a pulley system? You know, how we used to do it before the newer elevators were built to replace them?"
Erend nodded slowly, "That could work."
"How long would that take?" Aloy asked as cogs were turning in her head, it was a good idea.
"Depends on how many builders and volunteers we get. With the right people it could take a few days to up to a few weeks. No one's ever tried to do this before so I can't be sure. But if we make it out of wood and not metal it would be much quicker and cheaper to do."
"I could get the Vanguard involved, they helped a lot with the reconstruction after the Liberation and from the Eclipse, the Carja soldiers too."
"Okay, it looks like we have a plan. Sort of. We just need to let the King know once he's spoken to his advisors about it."
