As the shuttle began its descent in the early morning, Dunban caught sight of the High Entia stronghold, and felt a wave of shock roll over him. Alcamoth was not the city Dunban remembered. As they zoomed towards it, he could feel the air turn cold and the sunshine disappear. It wasn't just the cloud-filled sky that made the metropolis feel dark; there was an unescapable sadness floating in the atmosphere, coiling around the city and suffocating it. It appeared as though the sun was banished, and a malaise had settled in comfortably. It was a stark contrast to the sunny, shining city he recollected. What had happened? Or perhaps the right question was, what hadn't?
Melia, who had expertly flown the shuttle from Colony 9 to Alcamoth, had landed them in what Dunban concluded was an isolated shuttle bay in the city. As he, Melia, and her two bodyguards descended the exit ramp, a single High Entia woman was there to greet them, notebook in hand and poised at the ready.
"Empress, welcome back. I trust your trip went well?" The young Entia woman asked as she knelt in a curtsy. Dunban caught the slightest bit of surprise at his presence in her eyes before she cast them downwards; her curly brown hair covered the expression of her honey-colored face well.
"Yes. Quite well." Melia nodded and gestured to Dunban. "Serenity, this is Dunban. He is going to be staying a while and helping with our restoration efforts. Please ready a room for him in the villa." Dunban met Serenity's eyes and she dropped her gaze to the her notepad, blushing. "Dunban. Serenity is my assistant. She helps me stay on schedule among many other things." Melia explained and then asked, "Where is the cabinet?"
"Waiting for you in the Audience Chamber."
"We shall head there directly. Would please have tea and coffee sent? We started our journey very early this morning."
"Of course, your grace." Serenity curtsied again and hurried away.
"Shall we?" Melia turned her eyes to Dunban. He nodded but remained silent, continuing to observe the scene as they strode towards the back of the Great Hall. In the light of the party the evening before, he hadn't noticed many changes in the Empress' appearance. Perhaps he was blinded by the joyous atmosphere of the occasion. Now, he could see she was thinner, paler, and small lines of weariness had sprouted at the corners of her eyes. If he remembered accurately, Melia had always been a reserved presence in their journeys. Now, she felt miles away; nothing could shake that austere exterior she now wore, the same that he had witnessed at the party.
The thoughts clustered in his mind, pushing away anything else he had been thinking. But upon their arrival in the Audience Chamber, they quickly dispersed as quickly as they had come. He recognized the room as the same when he had first met Emperor Soren, Melia's father. The room didn't have the same sheen or elegance. Now, the walls were grey; the carpets removed to reveal the cold granite floor. In the center of the room was a simple oval table. "Good morning, everyone." Melia said formally as she walked to the table took a seat at the head. She gestured for Dunban to sit in the empty chair at the opposite end of the conference table, giving him a complete view of everyone in attendance. There were four other High Entia seated at the table. They were all half Homs half Entia.
"Everyone. Please meet Dunban, the Homs hero of the Battle at Sword Valley. He's just finished with the rebuilding of Colonies 6 & 9, and has offered up his experience and knowledge to us. I expect you all to give him a warm welcome and help him in whatever he requires to help us move forward as a people." All eyes turned to him.
"It's a pleasure to be here. I look forward to getting to know each of you and helping in any way I might be able to do so." Dunban gave a small bow and sat.
Serenity entered the room, wheeling in a cart with coffee and tea. As Serenity carefully placed the tea cups in front of each member, Melia directed her attention at the Cabinet members. "Let's begin. As you deliver your report, please introduce yourself. Camar, let's start with you."
Camar stood, a skeptical expression on his face. "I am Camar Alderean. Responsible for agricultural restoration. Last week, the hydroponic systems were suffering from some problems. I've sorted those out now. We've also started harvesting on the farms on the upper plain. The irrigation measures I have put in place will need to be repaired though. The short fix we had implemented for the spring and summer is falling apart. But it doesn't matter now that we have crop yields. I'm confident that I will be able to solve this problem by next week. I've also been setting up the work with our doctors to categorize any missing medicinal plants within our databases that may have been erased."
Irrigation problems? He'd dealt with those before; he'd volunteer that information towards the end of the meeting.
Melia nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "That's wonderful progress, Camar. Please come up with at least two to three possible solutions for the irrigation system. I also want to take a tour of the farms when possible. Please make note of that Serenity." The young woman set down the teapot and pulled her notebook out to make the note before she forgot. Melia nodded to the female sitting next to Camar.
The younger woman stood, brushing her red hair out of her blue eyes. "I am Shalen and I'm responsible for infrastructure restoration. We met when you and the Empress visited the Syrath Lighthouse." He nodded and she continued. "As you have been aware, the communications systems between the lighthouse and Alcamoth were all but destroyed when the Telethia invaded. My team and I finally repaired the systems; now we are able to use the lighthouse as a lookout point once more. My main task now is to get the main defense system for the city up and running, since most of those towers were also destroyed. It will be a high level system I put in place until we can rebuild the towers and make the system more robust. But we will have basic defense mechanisms should any forces try to attack our city. I also need to work on the interface programming between the houses and the power and aqueduct systems to make them automatic versus manual. But this is a secondary task."
"Well done, Shalen. Honestly, I'm less worried about outside forces attacking us right now, but it will help the people rest easily if they feel they will be alerted to any possible attacks." Melia conceded.
"If your Majesty would like, I could work on an...internal security system instead?" Shalen asked. Dunban sensed the hesitation in her voice.
There was a beat of uncomfortable silence. He couldn't tell why, but when Melia answered, her voice was devoid of all emotion. "No. That will be something to implement in the future. For now, focus on the defense system and housing situations." She took a sip of tea and her eyes flicked to the male sitting across from Shalen.
A dark-skinned high Entia man stood. "I am Kiefer. Also responsible for infrastructure restoration. Plumbing is having issues in Quarters 50 - 70. Electricity is having problems in Quarters 30-45. The ether furnaces on the west side of the city are continuing to malfunction. My team is spread thin, so we'll have to take these one at a time. The towers that Shalen mentioned are also on the list. Busy week ahead." His taciturn response matched his body language: arms crossed over his broad chest. But when Serenity poured a cup of coffee for him, he couldn't resist taking the cup in hand and drinking.
"Do you have any updates on the timing of these, Kiefer?" Melia asked.
"The plumbing issues are first priority. Probably a day or two depending on the problem. The electricity may just be a rewiring problem, so half a day. The either furnaces are a larger problem."
"Keep me updated." Kiefer nodded and took a seat.
The last woman seated next to Kiefer stood. Dunban recognized her, but couldn't quite place her name. "I am Miriall. I am responsible for people and culture. This week i'm hosting a retreat for the children at the orphanage; we'll be going to Frontier Village for a few days. Chief Dunga is welcoming us with open arms and has all sorts of activities planned for the children." Dunban wondered how many children had been orphaned by the Telethia transformations and destruction. Miriall continued, "And thank you for the introduction your grace; the Heropon Riki will also be doing a storytelling session."
Melia raised an eyebrow. "I will make sure to check with Riki that the stories are G-rated. Despite having many children, Riki tends to get carried away with the details." Melia and Dunban's eyes met and they shared a knowing smile.
Miriall nodded in agreement. "Thank you, your highness. I need to also prep for my team while I am away. They will be doing some new exercises with our Entia therapy groups as well."
Entia therapy groups? What were those?
Now that everyone had given their reports, all eyes turned to Melia. She sat at the head of the table, taking notes. "Thank you for those reports. They were very informative. This week I will be evaluating new architectural plans for housing, as well as forming formal trade agreements with the Nopon and the Machina. Dunban also gave me an idea. In three days time, we will host a town hall for the people. I will prepare for that, but please be ready to answer any questions that may come up. We haven't yet had an opportunity for an open forum, and this I believe could be an essential part of the restoration process."
"If I may," Dunban interjected. "I had some thoughts about the irrigation issues Camar mentioned. We experienced similar problems in Colony 6."
"Dunban, please accompany Camar to the farms today."
"Milady, I would prefer to evaluate the options myself. Give me a few days and then I will take Dunban to the farms. After all, our technology is far superior to that of the Homs." Camar said, a touch of arrogance in his voice.
Melia looked at him, silent. After a moment, she said icily, "For all the technology the High Entia have, we are struggling to maintain our existence. We are in no position to not accept help from those willing to offer it. And those Homs that you seem to think so little of; are you and I not part Homs? Are you implying I am not fit to rule?" Camar did not respond. "Take Dunban to the farms today." Dunban watched as Camar's face shifted between anger and embarrassment. This one would be hard to work with.
She rose from her seat and sipped her tea. "That will be all for today. If you have further need of me, please find Serenity." Then she turned on her heel and left the chamber, followed by Serenity.
The sun was high in the sky as Dunban and Camar flew a shuttle to the higher plains of the Eryth Sea. Dunban had never been to this part before. While he and the others had explored the Sea extensively, this place had been unreachable for them. The plains were far above sea level; the air here was crisp and breezy, but not cold. The sun filtered through the clouds, providing adequate sunshine to the fields. As the shuttle landed, Dunban could see the fields stretching a few acres. The wheat blew to the right in the wind. He could also see the green leaves of corn, tomatoes, and squash in the rows of the farmland.
As they descended the ramp and walked towards the fields, Dunban observed laborers manually harvesting the crops. "I would rather our robots do the picking, but Miriall seems to think that such routine work is good for our Entia brothers."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You do not know?" Dunban shook his head. Camar seemed to savor Dunban's ignorance and continued, "After the Fall, the Entia had been turned into Telethia reverted to their Entia forms. However, may of them have suffered psychologically due to the transformations, and anything they did while being Telethia."
Dunban was astonished. This was the first he was hearing of this. As he internalized this knowledge, Dunban began to connect the dots in his head. "So the Entia therapy groups Miriall mentioned. Those are for the survivors?"
"Yes. She is certain these therapy groups are the way to heal them," he sneered. Dunban was starting to dislike Camar more and more by the minute.
"You disagree?"
Camar snorted. "There are some problems that cannot be fixed. And some that cannot be fixed by a mere Homs."
Dunban knew Camar was just trying to provoke him, but it was starting to grate his nerves. Instead, Dunban said, "Let's see about those irrigation devices."
Camar shrugged and led him into the fields, but Dunban was still ruminating on what the half Entia had just shared. How many knew about the Entia outside of Alcamoth? None of the Homs, that was for sure. Perhaps the Noppon did, as they were an old race like the High Entia. As Dunban reflected on the meeting in the morning, it seemed that the logistically issues of the restoration were coming along fairly well. Melia prioritized the structural needs with a strong sense of command. But that was not the problem that Melia found herself face to face with. At least, Dunban hypothesized, the problem appeared to be much deeper and darker. And he didn't want to agree with Camar, but maybe he was out of his depth after all.
The sun had just set and night descended onto the city. Dunban found himself walking around in the Great Hall, unsure about where to go. Camar had rather unceremoniously dropped Dunban off at the Great Hall and disappeared, presumably to his own abode. It had been quite a day, and Dunban was interested in discussing his thoughts with Melia. Perhaps she was in the Royal Villa. He'd been there only a few times, as it was Melia's private quarters, but he remembered the way. As the man entered the teleporter, he found himself transported in a matter of minutes to the upper level above the city. And face to face with Serenity.
"Lord Dunban!" She stepped backwards, eyes wide. "I was just coming to look for you."
"Ah, Serenity. It's just Dunban. No 'lord'." That was the last thing he wanted: a title. It made him sound old.
"Well, sir, let me show you to your room." Serenity nodded and led the way. He sighed. It looked like she wasn't going to give up finding a way to use some sort of formal station when addressing him.
"By the way, do you know where the Empress is?" he asked.
"She is in a meeting."
"Do you think I could meet with her this evening?"
"Unfortunately that will not be possible. She has two more meetings before the late evening."
"I can wait until she is done." He offered.
Serenity bit her lip and scrunched up her forehead. With reluctance, she said, "Sir, let me clarify. The Empress always leaves with her guards at nine and comes back around midnight. She does not inform me of where she goes. Only her guards know. I'm just thankful that she doesn't go anywhere without them anymore since the assassination attempt."
That stopped Dunban in his tracks. "What did you just say?"
"You didn't know?"
"No."
"Oh dear. Oh my goodness. I thought she would've told you! Oh shoot, I probably shouldn't have told you. Please don't tell her I told you!" The girl was out of her mind with panic.
"Don't worry, Serenity." He said in a soothing voice. Her panic was not helping him concentrate and add this new information to the puzzle that was the restoration of Alcamoth.
Serenity heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lord Dunban. I very very much appreciate your discretion. And here is your room. The Empress' quarters are just down the hall to the right, though I doubt you will be able to procure an audience with her tonight. My recommendation is tomorrow morning. She usually rises at six in the morning."
"Thank you, Serenity. Have a good evening." With that dismissal, the High Entia girl walked down the hall and out of sight.
Now his mind was reeling. Someone wanted to kill Melia? It hadn't been the first time, certainly. But why now? Things just seemed to get more complex by the minute.