After speaking with the mayor of Larksville, Tyrian was reassured that the fifteen militia units of the city would hold it while the Special Forces units came back with him to the castle. He and Cassie collected the other Stars from their waiting locations and returned via the mirror to their base. Ewan, tactful soul that he was, noticed rather pointedly that Kaiten and Kentei wanted to be alone. He intercepted Raven as she came to greet her parents and spirited her off to the pub to get a sundae from Persephone.
Tyrian and Cassie's need to be together was fairly obvious to one and all. Catherine stood with Marigold and they watched as their leaders headed for their tower. They weren't walking quickly, and it wasn't as if they deliberately ignored anyone else. But there was so much intimacy in the way their fingers brushed together that Catherine felt a little embarrassed to be watching them.
"There's an old story," Marigold murmured softly. "About how the swan became the symbol of peace."
Catherine looked at her curiously, her ears quirked. "What is it?"
"There was a black swan who lived among a flock of white swans," Marigold began. "He was a bit different, obviously, but he was accepted. One day, hunters came looking for feathers for sale in a town. The black swan rallied his family and spirited them away safely. In the process, he was wounded by a hunter. Before he could be killed, a female panther came out of the trees and went after the hunters for her next meal."
"And?"
"The hunters fled obviously. The panther, deprived of her meal, turned her attention on the swan, which was easy prey." She shook her head. "No one knows why she didn't kill him. Instead, she took care of him. She fished for the both of them, and let the swan ride on her back if his wing hurt too much for him to fly. Well, those hunters came back looking for the panther to get her claws. They found her hunting for food, and they threw a net over her. Before they could kill her, the swan came out of nowhere and protected her."
"And the sight of two natural enemies living together peacefully shook them up." Catherine was holding her breath. It seemed like a children's story, but she could believe it had happened.
"It was said that a few days later, there was a fight between two cities. Before the soldiers could come to blows, the swan and panther arrived. The swan knocked weapons out of hands and caused general mayhem before returning to the panther's side. And seeing them made people realize that peace could be found between such opposites." She smiled. "So the swan became the symbol of peace, and the panther became the symbol of hope."
"That's it!" Catherine waved her hands excitedly. "That's it! Marigold, that's it! Come with me!" She grabbed Marigold's wrist with her tail and dragged the narcissist behind her as she ran off to find where her art supplies had been stashed.
"You're getting me dirty, you lousy feline!" Marigold complained as she saw dirt splattering all over her clean clothes.
"Shut up and help me!" She snagged the sleeve of a bard going past. "Hey, are there any messengers around here?"
Myr blinked. "Yeah, the old guys." Curious, she followed along as Catherine dragged Marigold toward the small building that had been designated an art space. "Can I help with something?"
"Yeah!" Catherine briefly and concisely explained what was in her mind and knew she had gotten both of the other two females' assistance when they began grinning. "I'll get started on the flag! Marigold is great with a needle. You go send my message!"
"Okay!" Myr happily dashed off to find one of the three old gossips. She had been trying for months to come up with the symbol of the Liberation Army. Finally, they would have a proper flag for the cities to fly.
Come the dawn, Tyrian and Cassie were reluctantly watching their alone time disappear with the rising sun. They were sitting together in front of the fire with Cassie leaning against Tyrian and enjoying the feel of his arms around her. A thick blanket kept the wind from the open balcony doors from chilling them.
Tyrian combed his fingers through Cassie's hair and watched the strands glide over his fingers. When they had met, it had hung close around her face. It now fell to the tops of her shoulders. There wasn't a hint of curl in her hair, but that was to her advantage since it was so thick. "Are you going to cut it?" he asked as he rubbed his cheek against her hair.
"Not really," she said. "It seems to have stopped since I got my relic, so I figure I'll keep it." She smiled up at him. "Your hair is getting a little shaggy too."
He ran a hand through his hair. Unlike his need to shave, his regular hair had only slowed down a little in its ability to grow. Lane had told him it would taper off within another few months. Some people with Pure Relics just took longer for all growth processes to cease. Others like Cassie ceased right from the start. "Should I grow a ponytail?" he teased.
After a moment of thought, she said, "Maybe a small one. I think it would be very good on you." At the speculative look on his face, she sat up to turn around and face him. Her fingers trailed over his face to memorize the lines. "You never considered it before?"
"Actually, no." He smiled. "I'll give it a try. If it looks bad, I just need to get rid of it. It's not like I'd be stuck with it." He stretched largely and sighed. The sun was distinctly coming in the window. "Let's wash up and get dressed. By the time we're done, it'll be about right for heading to the meeting room. We can grab food along the way."
They had only just gotten dressed and pulled on their shoes when they heard the voice-box beginning to beep. Tyrian walked over and pressed the button. "We're on our way to the meeting room," he said.
"Detour," Matthias suggested. "Come down to the city center. We have something to show you."
Tyrian quirked a brow. "Alright." He looked at Cassie but she shook her head; she had no idea either.
Hands linked, they took the elevator down to the courtyard. To their surprise, it was pretty well vacant. It was as if everyone had gone to the city center as well. More intrigued than ever, Tyrian and Cassie made their way to the city center. It wasn't easy. They had to make their way through the crowd. Even with people trying to move out of the way, there wasn't much room to move to begin with.
It certainly seemed as if everyone in Aon Castle was present. Tyrian spotted all of his Stars as well as every civilian that could possibly fit. Soldiers sat on rooftops and packed the walls. He didn't worry that kids would be lost in the crowd; most rode on someone taller's shoulders. Laia had Raven perched on her shoulder, and Lupe sat on Ewan's; she waved when she saw Tyrian.
In the center of the crowd was an opening that Tyrian and Cassie finally reached. There they found Matthias with Myr, Catherine, and Marigold. Frances was also close at hand, and she and her fellow narcissist held onto the edges of some giant swatch of material in Tyrian's familiar black and green colors. He thought it might be a flag, but couldn't be sure. "What's the occasion?" he asked curiously.
"It would seem that Catherine had a moment of brilliant inspiration when she was speaking with Marigold," Matthias began. He lifted his voice so that everyone could hear him. "With Myr's help, she has created the symbol of the Liberation Army, and when she brought it to me, I knew she had finally realized what we'd all subconsciously known all along."
"Let's see it then," Tyrian said with a smile. "I trust you both."
Marigold and Frances opened up the flag with great flourish so that everyone could see it. Most realized instantly what they were looking at, but it took Tyrian and Cassie a few moments. When they did realize, they both felt greatly humbled.
The image in the center of the flag showed a black panther sitting with one paw in the air. Perched gracefully on the panther's paw was a black swan. It seemed almost impossible to tell who was supporting who. Though the panther held the swan in the air, the swan's body was arched protectively, his wings sheltering his love.
"Well." It was all Tyrian could say.
Catherine linked her hands together behind her back. The surprise in his eyes made her exasperated. Didn't he realize how they all saw him? "I have a friend named Jeo. He's a sculptor. Tod sent him a message for me last night. He lives in Pardue. I sent him my sketches so he can make a statue to go here too. Is . . . do you like it?"
"I love it," he said simply. "And I'm glad you were in charge, Catherine. Do you know how long it took me to name this place? Left to me, the war would be done and gone and Raven would have kids herself before I came up with a design!"
Laughter rippled through the crowd. Matthias smiled. "We have also sent the design to the other cities so that tailors can update the flags we already have flying. We lack our own tailor, so we must rely on others."
"Hopefully we find one soon," Persephone grumbled from where she stood in the crowd. She and Serentia shared mending and altering duties for the time being, and it was quite a lot on top of everything else they did.
The flag was absconded by some soldiers to be flown from the top of the castle itself, and the crowd began to disperse. Tyrian, Cassie, Matthias, Cherry, Ewan, and Kyle (the usual suspects, as Laia called them) made their way back into the castle and took the elevator up to the second floor.
Tyrian had no idea how Evelyn and Terrence had done it—he swore he had seen them in the crowd—but there were pastries, coffee, and other breakfast items waiting on a cart in the meeting room. They were still piping hot. Tyrian got a cup of coffee and decided to call it another quirk of his Stars' varied and sundried abilities.
They had only just seated themselves when Raven showed up with Divan. Though he was not a Star himself, Tyrian felt a strong kinship to the older man. Divan reminded him a great deal of Donald; he was not surprised that they had been such good friends. "Good morning," he said.
"Good morning." Divan put Raven down on the chair beside Tyrian and then took a seat as well. "I feel honored that I am being included here."
"You hold a skill on par with the Lower Generals," Matthias reminded him. "In fact, you are a Lower General, though it is for Foresalia. Your skill is very welcome, as is your knowledge of the Special Forces. That is something that not even our generals can provide to us. It was Lord Tyrian's request to have you here, and I concur wholeheartedly."
Divan smiled wryly at Tyrian. "Never meet Rihou. You'd take over the world."
The statement just made Tyrian more determined to meet the other boy, but he kept that to himself. "So noted," he said dryly. He saw Raven eyeing his coffee and offered her the mug. Caffeine didn't affect Faeries, thankfully. The last thing he needed was his daughter buzzed on an energy rush. "Pardue," he said. "We're past the games stage. I want to do there what we did at Larksville."
"Drop in unannounced in the middle of enemy units?" Ewan grumbled.
"Alright, I'd like to do most of what we did at Larksville," Tyrian conceded. "To be more specific, I want to talk to the lieutenant in charge of the units. He has the same orders that Divan did, and we know already that they refused to retaliate against the city for ceasing to pay taxes."
"How do we get there without transporting units?" Kyle asked. "Has anyone been to the city recently?"
"I know Olan's been there," Matthias supplied. "He ran reconnaissance for me not very long ago. Miranda could use him to take you to the city. Relatively speaking, of course."
Tyrian nodded. "Then we'll be on our way now." He took a deep breath. "I can't shake the feeling that there's something bad looming. The people in Trinan are in danger, of that I can be sure." He shook his head. "There's also that business of the checkpoints forming distinct paths right across the city."
"To the best of Kell and Grace's investigating," Cherry offered, "we know for a fact that it is a defensive mechanism. But even the people who live in the checkpoints aren't sure just what it is, what it does, or how it is triggered."
"It might be like the defenses on the checkpoints themselves," Cassie suggested. "Triggered only by hostile forces invading. We might even want to test it. Miranda could take Yhalenia out that that way and see how close they get before something happens. Yhalenia can shield both herself and Miranda from being seen, and if something happens, Miranda can bring them both back."
"Agreed." Matthias looked at Cherry. "Go talk to Yhalenia. As soon as Miranda has transported Lord Tyrian, she can take herself and Yhalenia near to Trinan. And they are to be very careful."
Cherry hurried out, and Tyrian got to his feet. "In addition to Olan, I'll take Kyle, Kris, and Yumi." Cassie went without saying, and he had stopped mentioning her. "Yumi deserves a chance to come along."
They had all noticed that the younger Stars were feeling the strain of not being able to help their Kaiten as much as they wanted. It surprised no one that Tyrian had picked up on it as well and was doing whatever he could to show them they were all just as important.
Kyle and Cassie followed Tyrian out of the meeting room, and none were surprised that the other three had already gathered near Miranda. They always knew when Tyrian needed them. The bond only got stronger as time passed.
Yumi was almost bouncing on her toes in excitement. When she saw Tyrian, she threw her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad I get to go along!" She beamed up at him and her hat fell over her eyes.
He put her hat back into place and then lightly tweaked her nose. "Since we're not going to have any field combat, you can help me get things done." He looked at Miranda. "Focus on Olan to send us to Pardue, please."
"Okay!" Miranda studied Olan and swung her wand into the air. "Here we go!"
The magic kicked in and sent everyone winging across the land. The good news was that they didn't land in the middle of the Special Forces. The bad news was that they landed in the river right next to the city.
Kyle was the first to surface, and when he didn't immediately see Yumi, he dove back under to find her. He caught her under the arms and propelled her to the surface quickly. Her belt with its tools added more weight than she could overcome by swimming. "You okay?" he asked her.
She held onto his shoulders and sighed. "Yes, thank you."
The others surfaced as well and they made their way to the shore. As they were climbing out, Tyrian realized a hand was being offered to assist. He looked up quickly to discover several soldiers from the Special Forces standing nearby. The lieutenant in charge was the one offering her help. "Thank you." He took her hand and let her pull him up out of the water. He then turned and helped Cassie and Kris.
"You certainly have a way of making an entrance," a soldier said dryly.
"We've done worse," Kyle sighed.
Tyrian studied the lieutenant before saying, "I'm beyond the point where I want to play games. A monster sits in Trinan, bloated by the promise of power. If she isn't stopped, then there will be nothing left. Rebellion? We're beyond that. Either you stand and fight for the people, or you fight for Blaine."
"We fight for the people," the lieutenant answered calmly as she removed the emblem from her jacket. "But we fight for you as well, Lord Tyrian. General Southerwind's last orders to us were clear. You may count on our strength joining yours. We will help you save our country."
His breath unraveled softly. So far. He had come so far. Every city in the Empire save the capitol was now under his protection. He held command over more than a hundred and twenty units. There were barely twenty total left at Trinan. For all intents and purposes, he commanded what had once been the entirety of the Imperial Army, and then some.
Kyle lightly rested a hand on his shoulder and looked at the lieutenant. "Rally your troops and have them switch to Tyrian's colors. Send a signal flare to Aon Castle and a unit will come to meet you. They will bring a flag to fly over Pardue."
"Done." The lieutenant saluted and then walked away with her soldiers.
"Thanks," Tyrian said softly.
"That's what friends are for." Kyle took a deep breath. "And I need to thank you, Tyrian. Seeing this happen . . . seeing what Ophelia wanted to happen actually start to occur . . . it makes her death easier to bear."
"I'm glad." Tyrian covered his hand for a moment and smiled. "Well, let's go into the city. By the time we've made the rounds, we should be dry again."
"Speak for yourself," Kris groused as she continued trying to wring out her robes. "You're not wearing ten layers of cloth!"
"You could be wearing ten layers of metal, you know," Olan reminded her.
She snorted. "I wouldn't have surfaced without help. At least cloth makes me buoyant. Most of the time, anyway. Remind me to tell you about when Klint and I went spelunking the hard way."
Lucky for all of them, the sun was high enough and hot enough that they had mostly dried by the time they entered the city. Kris and Cassie, wearing the most layers, were still slightly soggy but took it with good nature.
A palpable air of cheer lingered everywhere inside the city. Despite a different layout, Pardue looked quite similar to Larksville in many ways. The soldiers and the city militia were moving quickly, and the flags were being changed out. People were beginning to gather supplies and prepare for the final battle looming in the distance. No matter how you looked at it, Trinan would be devastated. Pardue citizens had every intention of giving the escapees and survivors every aid they could.
The party hadn't gotten very far into the city before they were assailed by a sudden cloud of strong cologne. "Euuw." Kris wrinkled her nose. "Who bathed in the perfume bottle again?"
A horse suddenly skidded to a stop beside them, and Tyrian sensed as much as heard the groans from those with him. He just smiled. "Greetings," he said.
The dandy perched on the back of the horse wore almost as many laces and ruffles as Frances did, had hair curlier than Laia's after the infamous Mechanoportal incident, and exuded a strong aura of self-importance. He peered down at Tyrian and nodded decisively. "You must be Lord Tyrian! I hear my cousin is at your palace." At the lifted brow, he sighed dramatically. "Frances Kween. I am Francis Garmint. And if you have the Kween branch, you simply must have the Garmint branch! We're so much more cultured than they are, you know. Of course you know!"
With all the frankness of childhood, Yumi said, "You smell like the bottom of a cologne bottle. Is your nose broken?"
Kyle and Olan choked and turned in different directions. Francis' face turned several shades of red before settling on an embarrassed pink. "I'll forgive your lack of taste because of your age," he decided graciously. "Only a mature woman of refined taste would ever appreciate my fine scent and masculine air."
Yumi looked at him for long moments and then looked at Tyrian. "If that's a refined gentleman, can I marry a Northman?"
Francis sputtered, then said, "Y-you would prefer a Northman to likes of me?!"
"They don't smell like perfume stores," she countered reasonably.
Knowing full well that Francis stood no chance against the pragmatic scientist, Tyrian took pity on him. "Francis, your aid is very welcome. I would be glad to have you on my side. You may wait for us to finish our rounds and go back with us, or you can go back with the soldiers."
"Soldiers?! Ugh. I'll wait here." As they walked away, he muttered, "How can she prefer a Northman to me? I'm cultured! I'm fashionable. I'm on a horse, damn it!"
"Don't worry," Kris told Yumi solemnly. "It's not your age. I wasn't that impressed either."
"Tell me there won't be any more narcissists in the Stars," Olan pleaded with Tyrian. "I know they have as much value as the rest of us, but they can be a bit trying, Lord Tyrian. The girls were enough without adding him to the mix. No offense to Catherine and Grim, but the catfights are pretty terrible."
Tyrian found himself laughing. "I can't promise anything, Olan. Everyone has a purpose. If we hadn't found Marigold and Frances, we'd have no flag to fly. We might not even have a symbol yet. They gave the inspiration to Catherine."
"Yes, but still." The archer sighed. "If I shoot that puffed up pink marshmallow in the ass, you can't blame me."
"So noted," his leader said dryly. He tugged Yumi's hat down slightly over her eyes. "I think Yumi has fine taste, personally."
She grinned up at him impishly. "Think Rourke has a little brother?"
"In fact, he has several." Tyrian smiled as he saw the looks on Kris and Kyle's faces. "But you're scaring your surrogate big siblings with these plans for being an adult. Enjoy being a kid, Yumi. It doesn't last long enough." Cassie slipped her hand into his without a word, and he laced their fingers together, his other hand resting companionably on Yumi's shoulder.
A young man suddenly popped out of a building. "Lord Tyrian!" Bits of dust and stone clung to his dark skin and dirty apron. In one hand was a chisel and in the other was a hammer. "I'm Jeo!" he said excitedly. "Cat's friend! I'm almost done with your statue! Come in and see it!"
"Ooh! Let me see!" Yumi darted into the building quickly.
The others followed, and Jeo turned on more lights than just his working ones. The statue sat in the middle of the main room, and it was being carved from black marble that held blue and green veins. The base was all that was left to be completed; the panther and the swan rose from the marble gracefully, so realistic that it was as if they were live animals posing for the artist.
The marble was still rough on the surface and in need of polishing, but Jeo's skill couldn't be missed. "It's amazing," Tyrian murmured. It was also very big, he realized. It stood a foot higher than he did. It would look amazing in the middle of the courtyard. "Transporting this will take some doing," he admitted. "It must weigh a ton."
Yumi held out her hands to Jeo. "Paper, please!" He handed her a notepad and a pencil, and she promptly began writing down what looked like complicated mathematical equations. "Height? Weight?" she asked Jeo. He supplied them and she wrinkled her nose as she studied her numbers. "I can get it there," she said decisively.
"Dare we ask how?" Kyle asked dryly.
"It won't blow up," she noted reasonably, "so you don't have anything to worry about, y'know. It'll get there just fine! I'm going to hijack the Mechanoportal through my Mechanobot. A bit of remote finagling and it'll be perfect."
Jeo grinned at Tyrian. "I have no idea what she's talking about, but she sounds like she knows what she's doing."
"She does," Tyrian assured him. He held out his relic hand with a smile. "I can't wait to see what else you create, Jeo. Are statues your specialty?"
"Nah, I do all kinds of carving." He took Tyrian's hand and smiled as the star appeared on his shoulder. "I do everything from tiny stuff to big stuff." His eyes flicked to Cassie, to her hands, and then back to Tyrian. "I'm versatile."
"Good to know," Tyrian murmured. "I might have a commission for you. And you'll let me pay you," he scolded. He turned to Olan and Kris. "Can you stay to help Yumi and Jeo? He'll no doubt have other things to bring with him as well."
"Can do!" Olan said with a salute.
Yumi was already issuing orders, and Tyrian, Cassie, and Kyle took their leave. Their next stop was to talk to the mayor, and since he currently worked out of the inn, they found themselves going to the fourth floor where he tried to keep out of the way of the travelers and tourists.
That the inn was four stories in height seemed impressive enough. It was the tallest building in the entire city, and the view from the top floor was spectacular. As they walked down the hall, Kyle studied the sparkling windows and said, "One wonders how they keep them clean."
A figure suddenly popped up on the other side of a window. He opened the bottom and leaned on the edge. "That'd be my job." When all three jumped in surprise, he winced. "Sorry about that. Aw, no worries," he added as they stared at him in shock, "My name is Amos. I'm a Flier! I'm not levitating." He grinned. "So, Lord Tyrian, you got windows you need cleaned?"
Tyrian walked closer to actually see the other male. He was indeed a Flier since there were large and elegant avian wings affixed to his back. His face seemed to be shaped more like a Human, but his bare feet were the familiar talon shape of his bloodline. He also didn't have hair; soft feathers covered his head and went around his neck like a collar. "You don't run the risk of being chased by Grimalkin, right?"
"Are we talking about the lovely Catherine?" Amos sighed gustily. "If only she would. Nah, Grimal don't chase Fliers. We've had some interesting histories together, but we're pretty peaceful to each other. The only cross-species feud I even know about is the Air Dragons and the plains Grimal of the Grasslands. Got me as to why, but they don't like each other at all."
"In that case, I have plenty of high windows for you to take care of," Tyrian assured him. "The top levels of the castle were getting a bit grungy from the outside since no one could figure out how to get there safely."
"Wings." Amos nodded sagely. "The only way to fly." He saluted with the scrub brush he carried. "I'll see you there, Lord Tyrian!" With a flutter of his wings, he flew off.
"He nearly gave me heart failure," Kyle complained. "There are no ledges around this place, so I couldn't figure out how he'd gotten there."
"Fliers are notorious for playing pranks like that on Humans," Cassie said ruefully. "I'm sure he'll catch many others unaware at Aon Castle too." She suddenly laughed. "Maybe we should warn Ewan."
Kyle grinned wickedly. "Now why would we do that, Cassie? It would serve him right!"
Tyrian just shook his head. After a meeting with the mayor—who was very happy to lend whatever help he could—Tyrian led the way back out of the inn. It was getting later in the day and he wanted to get back to the base to find out if they had learned anything about the barrier on Trinan and how it was triggered.
He started to turn back toward the road leading to the entrance where Francis was no doubt waiting with Jeo and the others, but his attention got caught by the sight of an armory shop. Something tugged at him insistently and he recognized the feeling immediately. He went over to the shop and stepped into the open doorway.
The woman inside the shop had been working over a forge, but when she sensed Tyrian's presence, she lowered her mallet and lifted her visor. She studied Tyrian for several moments and then smiled. "I'm Oruqui." The name belied her Elfish blood as strongly as her pointed ears and delicately coiled pink hair did. "I'll pack up my things."
To Cassie and Kyle's mutual fascination, it was that simple. Oruqui stuck the piece of plate she had been working on into a bucket of water and began to pack up tools. Tyrian stepped back onto the street and said, "I think that's everyone here." He saw the looks on their faces and smiled. "You're not used to it yet?"
"It's fascination more than surprise," Kyle decided. "I think of the hoops you've jumped through for some of us, then how easy it is for others. Mouse told me that there was a balance in all of life, but I don't think it sank in until now. Ah, well." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "Let's head back before Olan snipes Francis with an arrow. That'd be bad form, right?"
"Afraid so," Tyrian said dryly. "Keep that up and you'll turn into Ewan."
"Bite your tongue."
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
Chapter 41->
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