Kalie Rana

“My lady, I’m not quite sure I understand the point of all of this?” As usual, Maria took the opportunity to question me and my motives while she helped me get out of the ridiculous dress she had forced me into not more than a few hours before.

“You can think of this as a test.”

“A test of whom? Mr. Annipinna or…?”

“Of Lux yes, I value a man who knows better than to lie. But more so of the White Raven. If the man is as bad as the propaganda says, then I’ll be able to see it with my own eyes.”

“Hoping for the best are we? If—Leona forbid—you are chosen by the White Raven, then it may not be so bad if—”

“You will not finish that thought. Not even as a joke.”

“It may not be such a joke my lady. However, things may be easier than they seem, despite our sequester in these apartments, I don’t think I’ve once heard word of the other maids serving the White Raven.”

“What does that mean?”

“One of two things; either the White Raven is a man who makes very little in the way of waves, or he’s not here.”

“Well, lets hope that it’s both.”

If he’s quiet, then maybe an outgoing and brash “princess” like me would be enough to have him send me packing. And if he’s not here, then even better.

***

Outside of the White Rock Palace, the sun beat harshly on the smooth cobblestones of the courtyard. Seven of us were heading into the city proper. The three of us ladies, Maria, Cynthia Jesop’s lady-in-waiting Leanne, and two of her armored guards. At my request, the guards trailed at least a few steps behind us, giving at least the vaugest illusion that we were nothing special.

“Your guard didn’t want to join you?” I asked Festril as I noticed a man dressed similarly to her, watching us from the shade of the guard house.

“Hakku is a good man, but he does stand out a little bit.” She was right of course, amongst the mainlanders, both her and I were obvious enough on account of our skin tone. Hakku on the other hand had to deal with not only the same issue as us, but the added problem of being at least half a foot taller and wider than the larger of Cynthia’s guards. The man was a mountain to say the least.

“I see what you mean.”

“Not to mention, he is not very familiar with Holarian. In the old days, when our people still traveled the sands, his people would raid from the northern edge of the Ardu desert, and thus are more familiar with Loenenian.” The word was one that was unfamiliar to my ears and sounded almost alien in her mouth.

“Loenenian? I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of that language?” In fact, I had only heard the word “Holarian” referring to the language only a handful of times.

“Loenenian is the main language spoken to the north of the Great Ardu Desert. The people there have been less welcoming of my people than the Holarians, so I would imagine that word of that place would have a hard time reaching your ears so far away.”

“Not welcoming? Why?”

And I thought that the Empire’s anti-majin ways were singular and particularly bad. Obviously, humans of all worlds can always surprise on that front.

“In a way, I understand it,” she said, turning her downcast eyes toward me, “before the unification of the desert, the northern peoples—Hakku’s people—were far from peaceful. Like a sandstorm, they’d often arrive with little warning, and even less care for those they rolled over. Today, the people of Loenia are scared of the desert.”

“But that was a long time ago, they really should—”

“No! No need to worry Lady Rana, they are right to be scared. Hakku’s people are powerful and strong warriors, why else would I have brought him along with me during this trip!” Festril let out a raucous laugh, as if I had just stumbled into a particularly funny joke, that I didn’t quite understand.

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“If you two wouldn’t mind, I do have a question for you,” Cynthia said, stopping us mere feet beyond the guard house. “Are we truly going to be walking all the way into the city, or was that just a joke I wasn’t privy to?”

“If we take the carriage then we would be drawing undue attention to ourselves. I want to get a feeling for how the city actually works. And not just for those who stay in the palace.” Although she didn’t immediately put up an argument, I could tell Cynthia wass far from happy with me.

Of course, by the time that we had arrived in the nobles quarter proper, she had already begun to whine.

“Why in the world is it so warm here!”

“Do you want an answer, or would you rather just complain?” I asked, garnering a smirk from Festril and daggerlike glare from Cynthia.

“Do not take your direction from her. While you both may be new to Mainland culture, I am not. The attitude that you have quickly shown yourself to possess is not one that I would suggest you take before anyone else of the Ravencourt.”

“Thank you Lady Jesop, I will keep that in mind.”

“You’d do well to.” Confident that she put the backwater princess in her place, Cynthia strode off in front of us, giving me an opportunity to share another knowing glace with Festril.

As I had noticed from the carriage ride in, the city of Cartigia, was a far cry from a town like Scuttleview, or even the castle town that surrounded Cynthia’s own home at the Jesop Dukedom. The noble’s quarter with its walled estates, and perfectly hewn white and beige rock were fairly foregin to both my modern understanding of design, as well as my experiences as Kalie. A far cry from the mostly “medieval” construction of Cerith and less so Scuttleview, Cartigia was something else. To dumb it down, the peeks over and around the walls of the estates that I managed told me that the architecture here was something more like the smashing of multiple cultures together. Flat topped and wide, columns but also accents that I couldn’t quite place. It was here, for one of the first times since waking up on Cerith and seeing the Leviathan that I felt truly out of place.

Despite Lux’s claims that land within the walls of the city were hard won, the streets here told a different story. In a way, the straight streets, and well divided carriage corridor gave me the impression that whoever designed this street was peeking into the future. Seeing the possibility of motorized vehicles, or at the very least—and more likely—a drastic uptick in traffic. The same wide streets gave way to slightly narrower, but significantly more busy streets as we left the noble’s quarter.

Outside of the wall that separated the nobles from the rabble, not much had changed. Other than the most important fact, the amount of people. The streets were packed with all sorts of beast and carriages and carts pulled by horses, large animals that looked more like shaggy yaks, and to my biggest surprise, lizards three times the size of alligators. All of which were being pulled between the throngs of crowds.

“This place is amazing! Is it anything like how you remember Maria?” As I called back to Maria who had taken to walking a few feet behind me, in step with Cynthia’s lady-in-waiting Leanne, Cynthia herself glared at me, but held her tongue.

“Nothing like it, my Lady. I don’t recognize any of it, all of this looks new to me!” As we descended into the crowds, it got more and more difficult for me to hear her.

“The Ravencourt has been busy, I see.”

“Indeed they have! In just a few short years, the White Raven—Leona bless him—has seen to it that the entirety of Cartigia and all of it’s people, be brought up to the level of splendor that the Ravencourt itself exudes.”

“I’m sure your future husband-to-be will be grateful that you’ve learned to say all of that and not even stutter once,” Festril said, flashing a smile. Although she looked annoyed as she usually did, I pressed forward, trying to get between the two women once again. Further into the commoner’s quarter, the sound of instruments and singing drifted through the air.

Majin?

My first thought was obviously shared by Festril who looked equally excited as I was upon hearing the songs.

“How about we head that way? I think that I can see some stalls, maybe there’s something interesting for sale,” I offered.

“A wonderful idea! An opportunity to get a little more understanding of Holarian culture. The fabrics and baubles at the palace have gotten a little stale already,” Festril said, pressing forward through the crowd.

“I doubt it.” Like an afterthought, Cynthia threw up her faint derision. Though, curiously, she still followed close beside us, as we descended deeper into the crowd. As we got closer, our excitement was obviously misplaced as we approached. Rather than the hoped for songs of creation, it was obviously mundane music instead. A bit disheartened, Festril, Cynthia, and I all went our separate ways. Even Maria, who had found a friend in Leanne, seemed to be transfixed by the musicians as well. Leaving her to the entertainment, I strode off toward the market a little way down the street. After finally finding a suitable stall to loiter nearby, I pretended to look through the jewelry presented there. The stones were beautiful, but mere pebbles in the simple settings they managed.

Just before I could ask the man about pricing, and more importantly, his impression of the city, somebody tapped on my shoulder. For a moment, I was excited. The hand, firm and confident on my shoulder immediately sent my thoughts directly to him; Lux. But turning around, I was surprised for a completely different reason.

“Kalie,” Valier’s voice was low, and conspiratorial, enough to send a shiver up my spine.