Athian slid his fox emblem onto a neck chain. “Thank you so much.”
Sorana held hers preciously.
Cespenar played with his a bit and then asked Athian, “Can you hold this for me?”
Crysalus handed an extra one to Visor. “I'm not supposed to talk to Rapture once she walks through that door. If you would give her this?”
Visor said, “Of course.”
Crysalus said, “There is one other thing. I want you to know that had Rapture decided differently, I would have gone with you in her place, if you would have me. I would never try to be her, but I would have been honored to travel with you as your healer.”
Visor said, “We would have been honored to have had you. And you never know what the future holds. Maybe you'll be back out some day. Though you are still young, and you can still have children.”
The door to Heidi’s Gate opened. Rapture walked out with Burke trailing. She had removed all of her traditional sirenic clothing. She was wearing the harmonic metal chain mail and leather pants under a traveling cloak. Crysalus and Rapture passed each other, locking gazes.
Crysalus entered Heidi’s Gate and the door closed.
Rapture mounted her horse. “Let's go.” She set her mount to trot and never looked back.
Chapter 29
Eternity
The Blade of Mercy entered Skarholt Forest from the east, mid-morning on the third day. It was a slow pace, finding level pathways for horses that weren’t used to forest travel. Sorana led, but it was unclear how she was determining direction. They came across an alfanar hermit. Sorana exchanged some words with him and adjusted their heading.
It was late afternoon when they located the Tower of Mercy, almost hidden from view within the clump of trees. It seemed further into the forest than last time. Sorana rode up to the stable doors. “Mother.” She dismounted, and the rest of the Blade followed suit.
A latch slid on the far side of the door.
The door swung open and Mercy stood awaiting the travelers. She wore a red rose in her hair, and a full length, white maxi dress. Mercy smiled smartly. “Welcome all. I've been waiting for you. Come in.”
Sorana said, “Hello, Mother.”
Mercy half-curtsied. “Min Velsignet.”
Visor moved aside to let others enter before him. “This is Rapture.”
Mercy curtsied. “Your Grace.”
Rapture bowed hesitantly. “Greetings, Mercy.”
“Is this your cat? He is so beautiful.” Mercy looked down at Rapture's abdomen and took a barely perceptible stutter-step backwards. She quickly recovered her demeanor. “Forgive me. I have never met a siren in person. I was struck by your beauty.”
Rapture stopped and cocked her jaw. “That’s an interesting perfume. What is it?”
Mercy said, “It is primarily distilled jasmine. There is a bit of lavender and an activating agent. I have extra, if you would like some.”
Rapture narrowed her eyes. “Jasmine. I see. No, thank you. I’m fine with my own scent.”
Visor said, “The snow leopard is Burke. He belongs to Rapture. And this is Athian, a friend of mine—and a moderately capable bard.”
Mercy curtsied. “Welcome Athian, bard.”
Visor said, “The little one in his backpack is Cespenar, a … pixie.”
Athian twisted his torso so that Cespenar was more visible to Mercy.
Mercy said, “Welcome all. The stable is to your left—the privy down to the right. May I take your mount, Your Grace?”
Rapture said, “Sure.”
Visor took his mount to the stable. Mystique was there. “She found her way home?”
Mercy said, “She is well-trained. If you would like to head upstairs, Sorana and I can take care of the horses. You have the Archon Suite, as before. It is prepped for two. I'm sorry to presume, but I have limited guest space. You’re welcome to stay in the stable loft if you would prefer. Cespenar might be more comfortable in the library.”
Visor said, “The room is fine. I had some urgent items to discuss, though. I was hoping you could take a look at Rapture. And there is a development in the war—they're after Xandria.” He leaned in to whisper. “And I have some questions about vampires.”
Mercy continued tending the horses. “I understand, Visor. However, I would begin with a bath and meal for the weary travelers, unless she in pain.”
Visor said, “Rapture? Oh, the limp. No, it's natural for her. It can wait. I agree. We will speak at dinner.”
Mercy said, “Yes, when you are ready.”
Visor returned to Rapture and held out his arm for her. “With me, Your Grace? You're going to like this place.”
“M-hmm.” Rapture took his arm but did not look at him. “Did she smell good?”
“What?”
“Well, it looked like you got close enough, so I just assumed you were checking.”
“I was whispering something I didn't want Sorana to hear. And she's just a human anyway.”
“Ah, I see. But she is pretty, though. I mean, for a human.” Rapture pulled her hand from his arm and stroked the sides of her breasts. “And perky.”
Visor shrugged. “I guess.”
They reached the top of the stairs. Light reflected from some of the ceiling mirrors onto the garden's blooming flowers.
Rapture expelled a gasp. “Oh, it's beautiful.”
Visor walked Rapture to the bench. “It's a nice spot for reading.”
Athian caught up to them. “Wow! That is a nice garden!”
Cespenar flew past him and landed near a tulip.
Athian pointed at a flower. “Hey Pixie, I think this one needs to be pollinated.”
Rapture smelled and stroked the various flowers. She performed dance steps between them, stumbling in the uneven, loose dirt.
“There are certainly some beautiful flowers.” Visor looked upon Rapture.
Rapture knelt to study an arrangement of flowers with blue, five-petal blooms. “I like these.” She smelled the flowers and then stroked them gently.
“Take one if you wish. They are pratense geraniums.” Mercy entered the garden behind them. “The flowers here grow quickly. I often have to prune to prevent them from suffocating each other.” Mercy picked a geranium. She pushed Rapture's hair back on one side and slid the geranium over Rapture's ear. The bloom wasn't robust enough to hold Rapture's hair back, but it looked nice.
“The mirrors are arranged to catch the morning sun regardless of the time of year. Each ceiling mirror is at one end of a channel that leads to the outside. A system of mirrors in the channels brings light to the garden. The sun feeds the garden from early morning until mid-afternoon each sunny day. Any moisture is dried up, preventing infections and fungus.”
“Similarly, rain water is funneled to the garden from outside. I have worked the soil so that the water distributes itself to all of the plants. The soil is layered over sand, which sits upon a gravel bed, allowing water to drain so that the plants don't drown.
“Too many rainy days can cause disease or death. Too few can cause drought. The system is designed to rebalance what nature provides.”
Mercy stroked a dying pink rose. “Despite all efforts, the flowers die after a couple of seasons. Their biology tells them it is time to pass the world on to the next generation. The nut trees which surround this tower, however, will endure eternally. They are a clonal colony—sprouts of a shared root system. They are eternally young.”
Mercy stood. “But enough of my pastime. I'm sure you are all eager for a bath and meal.”
Chapter 30
Understanding
Visor showed Rapture to their room.
She stepped in and looked around. “Wow!”
Mercy had added a full-wall tapestry that depicted a large group of sirens traveling over land. There was also a chandelier positioned
in front of the window to refract sun light into rainbow colors around the room. The bed now had a maroon velvet canopy suspended from the posts.
Visor checked the wardrobe. It now included female clothing.
“Hey! Look at this!” Rapture was leaning in past the bed curtains.
Visor scooted beside her and leaned in. “What?”
Rapture lay on the bed, rolling onto her back. She grabbed his shirt to pull him down on her so that they were eye to eye. “This.”
Later, Visor held Rapture, listening to and feeling her breathe. What was the world that such an enthralling creature could come to exist? If nature were in balance, what wicked, unspeakable horrors must exist elsewhere?
“Don.”
“Yes.”
“Please don't take this the wrong way: Have you ever thought maybe we should stop with Sorana, at least for a while?”
“Yep.”
“It's just that Athian said something to me the other night. He doesn't trust her. He doesn't like what we do with her.”
Visor sighed. “He's not the only one. Finnur had a few things to say about it.”
“And that oboe bitch. Excuse the vardal.”
“And Jon.”
“Which Jon is that?”
“Jon Richter, the base commander of Krafer-West. Long hair, military type—kind of like Blaydon but not such an asshole all the time.”
“I see. Did you forget something?”
“Oh, excuse the Vardal. I think she’s just hard for people to get. But then again, maybe we're not seeing something. Maybe we’re too close.”
“Yeah, it feels that way sometimes.”
“You’re right. We should stop with her, at least while we're here. She'll be on that drug therapy. And I have a strange feeling that Mercy is always watching.”
“Oh, you're thinking about her?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Visor bathed first and went down to the library so that Rapture wouldn't feel rushed.
Cespenar was sitting in the sill of a stained glass window.
Visor picked up Mercy's tome Vampire Fields and started reading.
Athian soon joined them.
Visor said, “The current vampire queen lives in Eurydice. Their population is integrated with the vardal, similar to how the sirens are integrated with humans, except that vampires are more evenly distributed among vardal cities. Eurydice is the vampiric capital, and about half the population is vardal.”
Athian asked, “Belle Font is the vardal capital?”
“Yeah, and it’s mostly vardal. I think there are more vardal in total population.” Visor read some more. “Vampiric electrical auras are similar to the vardal, except that they are tuned to biological processes. Vampires cannot weld metal as a vardal can, but can stop or restart a person’s heart. They can’t be healed by sirens.”
Mercy arrived in a coral color dress with ivory trim. She offered Visor a mug.
He looked up at Mercy and accepted the drink. “Thanks.” He tried it. “This is very smooth.”
Mercy said, “I'm pleased that you like it. Anything for you, Athian?”
Athian said, “The same, please.”
Visor studied her dress. “That's an impressive design. It looks good on you.”
Mercy said, “Thank you. I designed it for my particular qualities. With brown eyes and hair, my skin’s tone is the most important color to compliment. Being relatively pale, the coral and ivory are most pleasing to human senses.” Mercy twisted at her waist and held her arms out to show off the dress. “The girls are ready. Let’s convene at the dinner table”.
***************
Sorana walked down the stairs first. She wore a form-fitting silk and lace tunic. The sleeves were a lime-green silk, long and flared at the ends. Her tights were a lemon yellow. She was notably serene.
Athian said, “Wow, Mercy. Did you make that?”
Mercy said, “I did. It is a traditional vardal. It is a dated style, but still considered formal dress. As symphonic metal becomes more common, fine metallic armor is replacing formal civilian clothing in civilian occasions.”
Rapture walked down the stairs. She wore an earthy-tan base dress that supported and showed off her bosom. Rusty orange trim highlighted the cuffs and skirt. She wore a brass belt.
Visor met Rapture and helped her negotiate the stairs.
Athian said, “Very nice work, Mercy.”
Mercy said, “I only wish I had a blond. I've been working on a violet piece that would go so well with that.”
Cespenar hopped back to his chair and pointed at Athian. “Hey, there's one! I think he likes pink!”
Athian rolled his eyes. “I don’t cross-dress, you ignorant bug.”
Mercy and Sorana brought food out to the table. Mercy said, “Because Sorana's skin is a golden tone of gray, lemon green and yellow are the best compliments. Her hair is dark brown, so it matches anything. I had to sprinkle some amber into the white lace to match her eyes.”
Visor asked, “Rapture's complimentary color is tan?”
Mercy said, “Because she has all of the primary colors between red hair and green eyes, and extra skin color with her subdued freckles, her best complimentary colors are earth tones.”
Athian asked, “Are you saying that the primary colors are green and red?”
Cespenar said, “Red, yellow and blue.”
Visor said, “Those are reference colors that you can make all other colors from. Green is the mix of blue and yellow. The light brown of her freckles has all three—mostly red with some green, and a little blue.”
Athian drank his white wine. “That's what I usually hear. But sometimes people argue about that. Some of my painter friends say that some paint colors can't be duplicated by starting with the primary three.”
Cespenar said, “That's because they are human.” Cespenar laid his hand across his chest. “I can make any color. Try me.”
Mercy said, “That's a bit different. The mixing rule is a law of physics and must hold true, but assumes perfectly equal color saturation. This means the blue is pure, intense blue, without any thinner or other colors. The two colors would have to be made of the same material and perfectly mixed. That works with light but not always with materials that reflect the light, such as paint.” Mercy pointed at the stained glass. “There are red and blue panels in the stained glass. If we shined light at an angle so that the colors overlapped, we would see a violet. But if we mixed the red and blue dyes that were used to stain the glass and shined light through the resulting glass, we might see a different violet. And if we started with a different batch of red a blue dies, the chance of matching is miniscule.”
Athian swallowed some chicken. “I was just curious—what causes a person's eyes to change color? Like if there is a fire nearby.”
Mercy said, “A person's normal eye color is determined by a dye produced by our bodies. If an outside light source other than pure white reflects into someone's eyes, it can change her color according to mixing rules.”
“Why wouldn't everyone’s eyes change?”
“Different people have different color saturation in their eyes. Those with a full saturation, and a dark color, would be less affected.”
“Okay, how would a person’s eyes change to red when there is no fire around?”
“There is a certain amount of color reflected from the blood vessels behind one’s eyes. If unfiltered, white light of sufficient intensity were shone into one’s eyes, or if his natural dye were subdued for some biological reason, the color of his eyes could be altered to match the color of the red blood vessels. Additionally, there are creatures that are genetically suited to reflect or mimic the colors of the surrounding environment. This is often a defensive camouflage mechanism, and could cause eyes to change color. The pixie does this, and also purveys environment-altering coloration.??
?
Athian said, “So what would cause the blood vessel to become—”
“OOOOOhhh ... wooooo”. Cespenar landed on Athian's head. He was making his eyes flash various colors. He pointed at himself. “Pixie coloration.”
Mercy said, “Yes, like that. And you might want to slow down on the mead. It will be there tomorrow.” She turned to Athian. “If you are interested, the tome Light-bending explains this further. It includes diagrams that might be easier to understand.”
Chapter 31
Liberation
Don said, “We have some urgency to find the Catalyst. The vardal-Jortal-buway alliance is targeting Xandria. The Krafer garrisons won’t slow them down much. There were some troop commitments from Raykez, but not nearly enough to defend against Khatagin or Nazaire.”
Don and Mercy went on to discuss some tactics at length. She knew everything about everything, and liked to make a point of it. She would not just shut up. And he egged her on.
Athian was across the table from Rapture. She targeted a yawn at him. She cupped her hands while doing so, hiding her yawn from Mercy and Don.
Athian responded with an eye roll. When Don mentioned bullying Finnur away from Sorana, Athian flexed his muscle at Rapture. She giggled. Rapture and Athian exchanged some more gestures until something Mercy said caught her attention.
Don said, “My what?”
“Your flare.” Mercy eyed his waist.
Don patted himself down and withdrew a snake figurine. “What—this? I didn’t know it did anything. I picked it up at Wescott’s chamber. How did you even know I had it?”
Athian gave Rapture an exaggerated look of shock and wiggled his fingers as if he were casting spooky magic. He smirked and took another drink.
Mercy said, “You can cause the snake figurine to spontaneously ignite. You should know this intuitively.”
Don shrugged. “Well, I can't get it to do anything.”
“I don’t understand why not.” Mercy stood and walked past Rapture to Don, leaving a trail of jasmine scent.
Rapture felt tension building up in her jaw.
Athian raised an eyebrow, giving Mercy an exaggerated look of suspicion.
Mercy stood behind Don. She brushed his hair away from his neck and massaged his shoulders.
It became difficult to breath. Rapture tried to concentrate on Athian, but she ended up straining to watch the witch and Don out of the corner of her eyes.