When the forewarned hour came, the war-disposed vessel set sail for the city with all her alares aloft and all her guns manned. Long had hopes for peace departed, and yet, till the final moment, no few faces peered from the gun ports, and as I lifted my face towards the perilous places atop the mastheads, I saw the anxious erected form of the women on watch as they strained their vision in search for salvation from violence. ‘Twas true, we came in force so overwhelming there was little doubt as to our victory. But one wonders, in these occasions where a queer mood permeated the ship, if certain victory is always a sufficient driving force for war. And too ‘twas true we shared the captain’s pride for the craft on which we dwelled, but her wrath and hatred were not privileged us. Unlike her, the crew were mortals of flesh and blood. And for the likes of us, even azures, true death is but a stray cannon blast away, which Xenon could afford aplenty.
The Daybright entered firing range, but no cannons or ballistae of our enemy sang. Upon the rampart flew the flag of truce.
Our hidden prayers were answered. Almost visibly, a wind of relief passed over the vessel. The sails were set and the gunners sent to prepare for landing. We came now in peace.
This was where the Anemones disengaged, save for those on patrol duty. It was an anticlimactic end to this episode, but nonetheless a must-needed one. At the moment, the peace each of us had sought in our exceeding weariness had come at last.
Most were unwitting of the incident earlier in the captain’s quarter. Though ere long the news would spread, I had serious doubt the weary crew could pay much heed to other wonders and mysteries for now.
Imagine that, having lost friends and comrades and made voyages to the Under and back, and still yet have to make a bloody siege just to earn a berth. But now the tension had dispersed, once again they dared dream of a pleasant period at port, to come a long vacation while the ship underwent repair. So old and young alike were eager for a chance to ground their feet. The Underland could not quench their thirst for land, for it was dreadful for most and hostile to the sailor’s mind. But Xenon was a proper port. Not the grandest even in this side of the sky, but suffice even for a ship of the Daybright’s size, and thus good enough for most. And yet at the present, we were the only vessel in the shipyard besides the local lord’s men-of-war.
For my part, it would be my first time getting ashore after years of slaving. For the right to vacation and freedom is not reserved for a slave, much less an azure. In fact, I could not remember if in all my years an errant had ever taken me on land. What queer feeling, to ever mark a life so different from yours just beyond the gunwale, but could never come in contact with it. And so the lives of these folk who never come awake in the dead of the night for the watch, but ever confined to a city or village, was as distant as those from stories Thea oft told.
Much was done the first half day at port, cargoes came and went in an incessant stream through the side hatch and never quite ceased. Only in the next morning, part of the crew were allowed their first day off. Those women, over a hundred at a time, were to flood the city and sustain the commerce force of the city in this embargoed time, all bursting for a chance to spend their hard-earned wage, and to seek things the Daybright’s hold could not supply. Among them walked the three of us: Litzia, Thea, and I. For I thought a little outing would cheer the wyverness up a little. And in truth, chiefly, I was eager for my first time on land.
The first footing was memorable. Verily, my first step into the common way of life of most people who dwell in these skies. Ever an outlier, I now touched on a shared experience that is birthright to all but slaves and azures, walking among houses that rose from the earth, among strangers that outnumbered those I had known. Faces I could not recognize. For years, my only society had been the Daybright, and only a small part of which. I saw those people as my family, warped though it might be from a proper person’s perspective. Yet family nonetheless. And being an azure, none ever treats me aught more than a harmless animal, one on occasion strikes their fancy for a little attention, or to ignore as was common. Here in this city, however, I took on a new role, or rather my group did. The locals regarded us fearfully. As though we were barbaric invaders on the loose with arms and teeth for striking and biting.
Already, perhaps, news had spread that a man of theirs had been taken away, and that the entrance to the city had been coerced by threat of violence.
Amidst this mood, we first arrived at a jewelry shop. Litzia halted there.
“How about having your stones etched,” Thea suggested.
Litzia gave a vague shrug. It seemed to be on her mind already.
A fancy place, though not much compared to the places of dignity abroad the Daybright, it stood out from the rest of the district, one of Xenon’s more respectable ones. But even here, we are not welcome. Within the doorframe, some men whispered to each other as they peered out at us with wary eyes. And upon our first step in, a large and imposing man came out to bar the way.
“Please Missus, the changeling can’t enter,” said he.
“And why is it so?” Litzia, obviously, was already on edge, rang out her voice cold and sharp.
“It’s known, Miss, their kind is bad luck. If needs be, we shall arrange porters for your goods. All free of charge, of course. But please, I cannot admit the changeling.”
“This girl is not my servant,” she said flatly.
“Even so...”
At this slippy point where aggression may heighten beyond helping, I tugged at her arm. “It’s all right, I shall wait outside.”
“Do you fear this man? Think you I fear him?” The wyverness shrieked, almost to match her true form, so ready to pick a fight with anyone at all.
“Now, now, Litzia,” said Thea, “I have doubt you are the one she’s concerned about. If you made a row here and caught certain people’s attention, who do you think would get into more trouble?”
Litzia gave the maid a disagreeable glance, and sighed. “You know what, I will stay to oversee their work. You and her can go on ahead.”
“Does it take time? I can wait outside.” I offered.
“Nay, go. I want to be alone for a bit.”
That seemed in truth her wish. And in the end, I had not the heart to trouble her further. And so having entrusted her with my sapphire with a resigning sigh, Thea and I wandered about.
“You could have stayed with her,” I said.
“Do you think I fancy some jewels?”
“Litzia’s troubled, Thea. It hardly feels right to leave her alone. And you could be cruel sometimes.”
My remark did not please her.
“I admit, I could stand to like that girl a bit more, I don’t, though I pity her. Not as much as you do of course. You’re too much of a bleeding heart, that we both know. Still, I may try to be kinder.”
So we walked the streets of Xenon, while Litzia browsed and oversaw the cutting and engraving of the stones. Some coins lay in my pocket, though of little use I yet anticipated for them. Many who had frequented grander places, richer cities might have not thought much of Xenon, but for me, my gaze and curiosity were never at rest. Yonder and about, any and every single thing was a novelty. No two buildings of the same designs entered my sight, but varied they were by little signs of aging or little pots of flower on the terrace, small draperies over windows, horns of landed beasts that hung pokingly all about like barren ship ribs. Gay fabrics hung wherever a place under the sun is afforded, drying ere they go to the market. Vehicles, moved not by wind or sails but by beastly strength and worn wheels, bearing sweet bundles of harvest. And here, women sang not the sailor’s crass songs as they heave lanyards, but cheerful ones as strong arms beat on cloths, spraying dust.
We chanced to pass by one lively place, and seeing no threat in standing some way off from the window, decided to take a peek within. Thereabout inside sat lively women by bundles of wool. Each held a spindle in their hands, spinning yarns as they chatted. And this was the real kind, shorn directly from healthy, earthly sheep, not idle tales. But upon longer inspection, they appeared not much different from the sailors on an idle day in the open sky, with spindles instead of oakum rolls. Such gossip they spun sustained their talkative souls, of the ups and downs in lives, of a neighbor’s lost goat, of some quarrels within the family, or lovers in the making in the town, of a recent wedding. The Gods bless their souls, for in my humble opinion, the collectiveness of those women passes sounder judgments than the Scale Yonder.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
But one thing sure was missing, though by no means its absence was obvious if not sought for. That is, war had yet to sneak into the idle world of these housewives. Heedless still they were in the danger of bloodshed, or the presence of a strong army in their shipyard.
“But such is the life of the farmer,” said Thea. “Taking every day as it comes. If their lord or some bloody threats were to decide to bear down on them, whatever else could they do? There is no availing but to live.”
“So the turn of clouds,” she went on as we passed under the clear blue sky aloft busy streets, “the shift of winds, all things that could suspect a storm, all strange smells that could make sick the cows, are grander threats than what is far away. Not everyone lives life like the Anemones, Star, or even like us slaving up in the sky. Life could be quite simple in some places.”
“Do you know?” I didn’t question her, of course, I trusted her words more than anyone else’s. “Didn’t you say you come from a noble family?”
“Not all nobles mingle within their society only. And I lived the better part of my life as a slave, so is it really a wonder?” Suddenly, she pointed ahead. “Look! Let’s go there!”
The cobbled road down which she led came to an arching passage over a canal. And a canal indeed it was, that side by side three canoes could float.
“It runs through the city?” I asked.
“Most cities need a water source somehow, and drainages, for the most part. See, here at the middle point of the bridge, you could see all the way to the watergates.”
The canal ran a straight line from east to west. But though being the main one, it was not the only, many smaller passages branched out and penetrated deep into the many districts of the city, out of sight. The water, contrary to my expectation, was dirty, though clearer still than those in the Underland.
“Well, this is no natural stream, but the water you see has passed through many parts of the city before turning to the main pass, feeding into it dirty waste and foul liquids,” Thea explained, “many big cities function this way.”
“How do people live like so?” Upon the Astraea, wastes never stayed around for long, and sailors, being clean creatures at heart, are made to sweep the deck and each’s living quarter every day.
“How do they not?” with a strange cheery tone, she said, “Is filthiness not the surest sign of life, of people? It is disgusting, yes. But it is a sign nonetheless of civilization, however disagreeable they are, and how much better it would be with less of them around. The lands are vast, Star, but they choose to gather in one place, because better opportunities could be found together, and because it is the obvious choice for a secure lifestyle. Sometimes things get out of hand, and you have the great cities, where only the nobles and wealthy merchants could dwell comfortably. But what of it, the world is big enough for all of us. And nature is bountiful. Still there were little villages to house kinder souls.”
“It would be dreadful indeed, if one day all the wild places were swallowed by cities so great they span many leagues, and all places upon the floating lands became like this one. But I don’t dislike the people.”
“Oh shut up,” Thea cried, “You have not one romantic bone in your soul. Look, I got you here to see the canoes, there they row!”
“Oh right.” Indeed she was. Canoes floated the length of the channels, carrying passengers or bundles of goods. “But what of it?”
“What of it? Pray, Star, does the idea of paddling along a beautiful canal with another person touch not your heart with romance?”
“I don’t see why not, though I wonder if it is beautiful or that I am fitting…”
But already she had pulled me along down the bridge, down the steps, and promptly purchased a ride around the city, with my money. Soon enough, we reached into the clearer channels and indeed without the smell so foul, some beauty really could be found on that ride.
Thea was visibly relishing the idea of realizing her idea of romance more than the ride itself, however. She leaned over the bow, and, securing her long hair with one hand to prevent them from touching the water, remarked on the purity of which.
Certainly, in this easy pace as we moved along the narrow passages, the ebbing and flowing of the water, a soothingness unmatched by flying could be found. And here we were, not for duties but idle pleasure, I needed only to sit back, taking in languid breezes upon my brow, while the city stretched ever on endlessly, the roofs ever-changing, the midday noises ever clamoring, yet all in my vision was the sky and the clouds. Gently our vessel rocked like a lulling cradle, relieving the mind and the bones from tension built up since the morning.
How strangely we sat too. After the initial wonder, Thea had set about to ease me into a position where I would rest on her lap while half-laying on the boat’s fore, legs folded just near the bow.
“How I wish we could be like this forever,” suddenly, but quietly Thea said, after some minutes losing our heart and mind to the flow of the channel.
“Why not,” said I, “let us return later, and we could bring Litzia along too.”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it? There is no space for another person on this boat.”
“You think so? I see plenty of space.”
“I did tell you my notion of a romantic ride was a ride of two.”
“There’s also the gondolier.”
She sighed. “Don’t you make fun of me, Star. That girl is nice, in a way, and all. But it is you I want to be with.”
“I get that.” I shrugged, catching the hand Thea had landed on my hair, and was to twist the end of which. “But I feel bad for her. It’s thanks to her that we could spend our time like this.”
“And certainly that was all from that noble heart of hers, hmm?”
“You’re being unfair, Thea.” I frowned.
“So what?”
“What do you mean, so what? It’s not right to hate on her only because she’s lonely and frustrated. And much wronged too.”
“So what? If it is not right, is what I mean,” suddenly her voice grew, “What is right, what is not, you are starting to talk so much like her, who is self-righteous about each and everything. Star, pray, what’s so bad about being unfair? What’s so wrong with being selfish and not opening my heart to any and everyone?” She leaned forward. Her head hovered over mine, her long locks streamed round my face, enveloping it, concealing the sky and all else, so that within my sight, only her fair features and familiar scent dominated. “Is that not how humans are?” the girl muttered. The light scent of citrus on her clothes suffused over all. The clock hand ceased at that moment, pausing for a snapshot that would stay secured in a corner of my memory for-ever.
My chest tightened.
“Th-Thea?”
“Fine.” She lifted her head, parting her hair with both hands outspread, releasing my face from her enchanting breaths, soft lips and pleasant scent, but not my thundering heart. “If that is what you want, then we may bring her along next time. If even that girl could do it then there’s no reason I can’t.”
“Uh, Thea, it certainly feels like you are being melodramatic today.”
“It’s the air, I think.”
“It’s clear enough.”
“Don’t you sass me.” So she pinched my nose, hard. So hard it could only be the expression of a violent temper itching to be unleashed from a conscious restraint.
Gradually my wild emotions subsided, yet ever I was aware of her soft lap and fair smile. This was not a strange thing, and she was no stranger. How many times have I been with her like so during our quiet night watches? Being so close as though us together was the most natural thing under this sky, our default state of being. But in this place that is far from home and far from the familiar deck, I was arrested in a queer mood, as though this person whose lap I was resting on was somehow was and at the same time was not entirely the Thea I knew. As always, I searched and failed to make sense of these new thoughts and feelings. The only thing I knew, and, somehow, it at least I knew was true, is that this pleasant morning would be remembered for a long, long time, and doubtless be called upon during sleepless nights and troubled times to soothe my heart.
And I knew too that I was glad.
Because there came to me a joy that painted so irresistibly a smile on my face: my own happy memory. This one, and perhaps many more to be had with my beloved friends, might eventually lessen the sting of a certain lost girl’s memories. That girl who perished upon the drifting airship was now at the onset and prospect of making her way out of this mind! Making space for my own memories to come – precious, treasured memories, that would pale even the warmest and most intimate ones of her past. Because she was gone and I was not. I was here, living, earning, though by meager and pitifully small steps at first, my own fragments of a proper life. The idea, the dream, of being someday a person like all humans with proper birth, seemed so much in reach then. Would this azure hair change its shade and hue by then? I wondered, and I had hope. Hope – what a wonderful thing it is.
As I closed my eyes and soaked my whole being not only with the steady beats of the oar, the gentle sun, and the lightest breezes, but also Thea’s soft breaths and warmth, I realized that for all the dreadful feelings inflicted by the curse of that prisoner, which had clouded heavily upon my mind, all it took were these simple little things to make me forget and be content with this world. And it is not unlike what Thea had told me of the Xenon farmer’s way of life. A simple day. A simple joy. A transient happiness.