Emilia Brightblaze

Did she really think I couldn’t feel her? I knew she was there, the faint taste of stardust on my tongue, the warm shivers her energy sent down my spine were more than enough to realise Cassandra was close by, even though I couldn’t see her. Not that it mattered. She had to hear this anyways and I didn’t mind one bit that I wouldn’t have to face her while I rushed through my explanation. Not after everything she had done to protect me from Asra. I just couldn’t understand why Serena didn’t know. Or she might simply have been a better actress than I had given her credit for.

“Neither have I,” my sister replied, “but if you make enemies out of them we won’t have to worry about Amon. Corpses don’t have much to fear and I don’t think even your angel could keep us safe if we were to truly anger the Burning Court. I nearly made that mistake when we ran… why risk it again?”

“Because the future doesn’t wait for us to find our courage,” I whispered. More loudly I added: “because they command the strongest army on this continent? Because they could actually withstand the power of an empire, at least for a little while?” Serena rolled her eyes.

“Do you honestly believe that they would listen to you, to us, of all people? In the Monarch’s eyes you’re already dead. You died, years ago, in the flames I protected you from. For him to listen you’d need something to offer, for a… what do you even have in mind? Marriage? Becoming one of his concubines? Even if you did, even if you could, he’d never allow you to decide what he does with his troops. No, they simply want to rectify a slight. You’ll burn unless you have something to offer, but…” I smiled sadly, my gaze wandering to where I knew Cassandra was listening.

“You’re right, there’s nothing you or I could entice him with. But we’re not alone, are we? We haven’t been for quite a while.” The air became distorted, as if a veil was being pulled away, and a second later the tall kitsune shimmered into existence, her arms crossed over her chest, her expression stern, her tails a silvery, rigid curtain behind her. A singular spark was smouldering in the depths of her slanted eyes, ready to blaze to light or fade away at any moment.

“You haven’t,” she said neutrally, her cool, silky voice charging the air between us, “but you’d be wise to ask before you assumed. Tell me, what is this about?” Instead of answering I reached into my dark blue robe and produced a thick parchment, sealed with molten gold. I meant to hand it over, but after a single step I hesitated. The coarse skin seemed to become heavier in my hand, the warm sun suddenly turned cold, the distant shouts of celebration mute, and I had to swallow the rising bile in my throat. I knew enough about Cassandra’s stubbornness to realise that this was my last chance to simply ignore the entire matter. Serena had been right, at least in that regard. Once I handed the message over we’d either die before the year had run its course or we’d succeed.

A crooked smile formed on the angel’s perfect face as she studied my posture: “et tu, Brutus,” she mumbled. “And here I was, thinking you trusted me a little by now.”

“Trust isn’t the problem,” I replied haltingly, “fear is. The dragons of our youth don’t diminish over time, even if they were just barking dogs.” Her smile turned gentle as she said:

“Emilia, you should know that I’m neither scared of dragons nor of dogs. Remember the last time? You were scared out of your wits but it did work out, in the end.”

“Not for Asra,” I added with a smirk.

“No, not for him. But you’re not planning to reintroduce the slave trade and take a couple of pretty boys home as your toys, are you?”

“Maybe not boys,” I replied wistfully but immediately turned serious when I saw her expression darken. I glanced at my sister helplessly but she only shook her head. She wouldn’t become involved. “Sorry. I’m nervous, I didn’t think.” Steeling my nerves I reached out. “Here. Read it. It should make everything clear.” A crease formed between her brows as she opened the envelope and studied the golden, ornate runes on white leather.

“I can’t. It’d take me hours to figure out the language.” Mere hours? “What does it say?”

Sighing I took back the parchment and after a moment’s hesitation began to explain: “it’s an invitation. My sister and I have been granted the privilege to return to Gryffinhorst and formally petition the Burning Court for a pardon. If granted we’ll be welcomed back into the fold… with my title as a Lady of the Immortal Sun intact, even though I’m still alive. If not… well, you know our obsession with fire, don’t you?” Her frown became more pronounced but her question I didn’t see coming:

“Now? You just received that letter now? How? There’s only one… I haven’t seen a single ship so it must have been magic, but Greta didn’t say a thing…” the last part she had added absentmindedly, as if talking to herself.

“It was carried by one of Aurus’ eagles,” I explained. “They’re deadly fast and only serve the ruler of the Burning Court, the one who sits on the Gryffinthrone.”

“So the message is genuine and has been sent today, most likely… and why ever would you be tempted to take that nonsense at face value?” She didn’t sound unsure, she was convinced it was a trap. Taken aback I stammered:

“How…”

“Today,” she explained, her wings materialising while she began strutting back and forth, entirely oblivious to our panicking guards, who had just now realised that we weren’t alone anymore, “it arrived today. Discussions in court, proper etiquette… it has taken them a while to make a decision. They’ve decided to act two or three days ago. How, why? Do the people of your home island know what has happened here? If so… how’s that even possible? If not… why do they reach out now, of all times? Have they always known where you were? Unlikely or they’d have brought you back in chains long ago…” Serena had been listening with rapt attention and interrupted anxiously:

“What are you getting at?”

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“What’s the easiest explanation? They’re fed information. By whom? It could be your god, the Immortal Sun, but that’s unlikely. I felt him and he felt me when he manifested his wrath in Alassara’s home. Trust me, no deity will ever willingly admit that it has been sent packing, with its tail between its legs, and he wouldn’t be eager to relive the experience. So who?”

“Do you mean to say…” Cassandra stopped dead in her tracks and closed her eyes, her ears and tails quivering.

“I don’t know, but it’s entirely possible. Amon could have been influencing your court for months or years. I’m decently sure he doesn’t use dreams, your deity would have been able to prevent or at least feel it, but we don’t even know how long he’s been present on our continent. He might have puppets all around the world. It doesn’t cost him much when he’s simply pulling a few strings to… I don’t know… distract us? Divide us? Make our lives miserable? He’s pretty good at that.”

“But,” Serena stammered: “the magic of our priests… the protection around…”

“Human error,” the kitsune sighed, “the best plans usually collapse around a bored idiot or a traitor who doesn’t fulfil his duty. Same holds true for defences…” She raised her head and opened her eyes again to stare at the deep blue sky. “Or I’m just paranoid… in which case you’d still better come up with a feasible explanation as to why a nation, that wanted to burn you at the stake, suddenly sends an invitation, that, judging from your wording, is a pretty damn rare exception.”

“What if they have their own people here,” I interjected.

“Spies? In Free Land? Why? And why haven’t they either contacted you sooner or simply abducted you whenever they felt like it?”

“Prudence,” Serena tried to explain. “We didn’t commit as big of an affront that they’d go to any real length to find us and when we were gaining influence they might have decided to wait for an opportune time to contact us. A time like today.” Cassandra didn’t turn around but I could practically hear her think.

“No,” she finally said. “That would mean that they’d expect to have some kind of influence or debt they can wield over your heads to make you comply with whatever they want. They’d expect you to have some form of either lingering loyalty or even obedience left within you… or fear. Nobody is that oblivious, not after everything that has transpired. But either way, why? What’s there to gain? Even if you followed the invitation, what would happen? Imprison and use the two of you as leverage to make your men act in whatever fashion? That’d be one hell of a lot of trouble to gain shaky control over a measly 300.”

“Would you leave us to rot in a tower, waiting for the hangman,” I asked quietly.

“Of course not, but nobody can actually know… oh.” She resumed her rounds, mumbling under her breath. “Misguidance and illusions… delay my arrival? What for? Unless…” she spun around, her wings singeing the air, and focused on us: “do you know if there are any connections between your own home, Aurus, and the Emerald Island?”

“Of course,” Serena immediately answered. “Aurus has the largest population and the largest fleet on our continent, as far as I know. The trade agreements alone are nearly as old as the Cataclysm. Elves don’t breed with other peoples so there aren’t any joined families but the political ties are very much here. Why, I think there’s even a permanent emissary of ours stationed with them.”

“It still doesn’t make any sense,” the angel admitted with a sigh and massaged her temples. “Why… unless they thought we’d already be gone when you received the message. But who could have told them…” her eyes suddenly ignited again and I felt a chill permeating the hot, humid air. “Do you still pray,” she asked deceptively calmly. I shook my head but Serena blushed and hesitated before she admitted:

“Every night. It calms me down. But I don’t address the Immortal Sun anymore.”

“Whom do you pray,” Cassandra began, “no matter, it’s none of my business,” she quickly added when she realised that my sister was turning redder with every passing moment. Was she actually praying to angels instead of gods? Wouldn’t they know? She didn’t force an answer out of Serena but said: “tell me, vengeance and retribution, are they important to your people, more importantly, your faith?”

“I… yes,” Serena immediately replied, grateful for the change of topic. “Loyalty, consequences, sacrifice, punishment… the whole plethora is more or less an integral part of our culture.”

“Perfect, just perfect,” the kitsune groaned. “Which means your so called god can’t be moping, he’s trying to get back at…” she paused again, looking worried for the first time.

“You,” I completed her sentence.

“If only… your priest summoned him… on your sister’s orders. Hierarchy and loyalty. Their actions are yours and his defeat your fault, just as much as mine. No, for once I don’t think this is about me or what we’ve done. Which means you’re definitely not going to go.”

“But,” I began, “don’t we need…”

“I don’t care,” she erupted. “Do you still feel connected to Aurus?”

“Of course not,” Serena answered for the both of us. “Emilia was too young to even remember and I wouldn’t mind if they were devoured by the flames they worship so much.”

“It’s settled, then. You’re not going and, as far as I’m concerned, you’re not ever going to. Is the eagle still around?” I nodded.

“He’s waiting for a reply to carry back home.”

“That’s not going to happen. These birds…. They’re important, maybe even blessed, aren’t they?”

“Yes, very much so. At the very least they are the monarch’s pets.”

“Perfect,” the angel purred while a nasty grin spread across her pristine face and her gaze travelled over the roofs towards the faint outline of our mansion.

“What’s going through your mind,” I asked, torn between relief and anxiety. I had dreaded returning to Aurus but Cassandra’s demeanour didn’t bode well for the future either.

“Whether it’ll be tastier roasted or cooked,” she explained while I felt my mouth drop to the floor, my incredulous expression mirrored in my sister’s blank stare. “I still have to gather provisions and an overgrown chicken will do nicely.”

“You’re kidding, right,” Serena stammered. “No… of course you aren’t. Isn’t there a saying about never eating the messenger,” she added exasperatedly. Suddenly the angel burst into laughter and wrapped her arms around our shoulders, the smell of stardust enveloping me like a light blanket. I tried to resist, to make her face us again, the desecration of a national symbol wasn’t something to be taken lightly in my humble opinion, but I could just as well have tried to stop the moon from rising. Falling into step with her I gathered my breath but before I could open my mouth Cassandra already explained through persisting fits of mirth:

“I know I can be a bit erratic but did you really believe I’d go through all that trouble simply to prove a point?”

“Yes,” we replied immediately and synchronously.

“Fair enough. Maybe I would. Not this time, though. Anyways, if I roasted the cock, who’d carry my message?”

“Your message,” Serena asked.

“Of course. I’m sure you have a few choice words for the gentlemen who forced you into exile as well, but this as good a chance as any to remind your god whom he’s toying with and to ensure that there won’t be any further surprises down the line.”

“And how can you possible make sure of that,” Serena asked sceptically.

“Simple. I’ll invite them. Most officially. Just need an official seal and someone who can actually stick to the necessary etiquette. I could do it myself but anyone who’s seen my handwriting knows I’m not a noble. Not a proper one, at least.”

“So… where are we going,” I mumbled confusedly.

“To meet my family. Both of my brothers and my mom. Who’d have guessed that I’d one day be grateful for their pompous upbringing. Trust me, if we can get them to play along they’ll have an emissary or maybe even someone with real power here within the month. Afterwards… well, that’s mostly up to you but I’ll back you up, whatever you decide to do.”