Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Seven - Hugs and Wishes

The Summit was an important event. It couldn’t just take place in any old building.

“Whoa,” I said as I leaned out of the carriage’s window. I had to shake my head because one of my ears stayed stuck inside. “That’s so pretty!”

The building was just past the purple district, near the northernmost end of Goldenalden and pressed right up against the rising side of the mountain. It stuck out of the mountainside, the very back of the edifice merging into the sheer wall of stone.

It was like a cathedral, cavernous, with a peaked roof and a facade covered in careful stonework and colourful windows that were warped and shaped to produce great images. I didn’t know that the sylph used stained glass, at least, I hadn’t noticed any anywhere else.

Two narrow towers stood out at the front, each on a corner and rising to be half again the height of the palace itself.

“I think that’s the old palace,” Amaryllis said. She didn’t sound entirely sure about that though.

“It’s very nice,” Awen agreed.

Our carriage moved off the main road and onto a rounded pathway made of inlaid bricks that circled around the front of the summit building. The wheels clacked and clattered over the cobbles, announcing our approach. We weren’t the only ones there, of course. A few other carriages were waiting by the front, and we had to settle in behind them to wait.

I was about to stick my head back into the carriage when I saw a familiar face step out of her own. “Caprica!” I shouted.

The princess turned our way, noticed me dangling out of the side of our carriage, then placed a gloved hand over her mouth to hide a smile. She gestured to her guards, then walked over. “Hello Broccoli,” she said.

“Hey! How are you doing?”

“I’m very well, thank you. Are you going to come out or will you wait until you’re at the front of the line?”

I glanced ahead. Whoever was in the next carriage was taking their sweet time. “I guess we can get out here just fine,” I said.

Amaryllis sighed. “I didn’t expect decorum to last, but I didn’t expect it to fall apart so soon,” she said. “Come on, let’s all get out here. Might as well roll with it and make a scene.”

Laughing, I shoved myself back into the carriage, then opened the door properly. I landed next to it, then reached up to help Amaryllis and Awen down. They had big skirts, which made using the tiny steps on the side of the carriage a bit tricky.

“You all look very fine this morning,” Caprica said.

“Thank you!” I said. “I have fancy pants. I like your dress, by the way.”

Caprica had changed from her usual military-ish uniform into a deep red dress with a bit of black lacework along the hems. It was a very tight dress, with big pads at the shoulders and a bow on her lower back that made it look like her wings were longer. I gasped as I realized that her skirts were actually two loose pant legs.

“Why thank you,” Caprica said. “I don’t prefer this kind of dress, but it is the sort of occasion where it’s appropriate. Father’s here, and while he doesn’t care what we wear in our day-to-day, he might whine if I showed up to this kind of thing in pants.”

“The king is here?” Amaryllis asked.

“The king is whiney?” Awen asked right after.

“Yes, to both,” Caprica said with a poorly stifled laugh. “Come on, maybe I can have you meet him before all the speeches start and your image of him is ruined. He’s a good public speaker but his talks get a little long-winded.”

“If everyone here is quite done speaking ill of the king,” Amaryllis said, “we should head in.”

“Certainly,” Caprica said. “Have you seen the old palace before?”

“No,” I said as I bounced up next to her. “It’s really nice though, and it looks different from all the other buildings I’ve seen here.”

Caprica nodded along. “It predates a lot of the city. Once, when Goldenalden was but a tiny town, the entirety of the city was partially underground, and the old palace served as something of an entrance to that. Once things expanded the style of construction changed significantly. The old palace was almost entirely built by a legendary stone mage who sculpted it out of the mountain.”

“Whoa,” I said.

“The art isn’t lost, but it’s not as common as it once was. Sylph talents tend to lie in areas other than earth and stone,” Caprica said.

We chatted about nothing while heading up to the front of the old palace. There were more paladins here than I’d ever seen before. One on either side of the entranceway, and a third just inside, all stoic and motionless, as if they were deadly statues.

I noticed that the others entering--mostly sylph, but there were some grenoil there too, and a small group of cervid were standing just past the entrance--were pausing before an armoured figure who would touch them on their shoulders or forearms before they could move on. It was only when I was a bit closer that I noticed that the figure doing the checks was familiar.

“Is that Bastion?” I asked. His armour was a little bit fancier, and a lot shinier than when I’d last seen him.

“Bastion?” Caprica asked. “Oh.”

It didn’t take long for the line ahead of us to thin enough that we were next. “Forgive me for the intrusion, but because of the heightened security of this event, I will have to touch you lightly,” Bastion said. Then his eyes scanned over our group and the seriousness in them faded a little.

“Hey!” I said.

“Hello Broccoli,” he said. “Amaryllis, Awen.” He nodded to both, then bowed at the hip. “Princess Caprica.”

“So, you need to touch us?” I asked. “Do hugs count?”

He chuckled. “That wouldn’t exactly fit the protocol, but then when did you ever care for that?”

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“That’s true,” I said before I stepped up and pulled Bastion into a big, tight-tight hug. I had to squeeze extra hard so that he’d feel it through all that armour.

“It’s nice to see you again, Bastion,” Amaryllis said. “Did you get promoted? The armour’s new.”

Bastion patted my back while he answered. “It’s a more formal set, for events such as these. Not quite as practical, I’m afraid.”

“It looks nice,” Awen said. “How are you?”

“I’m quite well. It really is nice to see you three. And you of course, Princess Caprica.”

I ended my hug--there were people in line, and it wasn’t nice to keep them waiting, even if hugs are important--and stepped back from Bastion. I glanced over to the others, then blinked as I noticed Caprica.

She was standing stiff, face a strange shade of red. “H-hi,” she squeaked.

“Hello, your majesty. Please forgive my lack of professionalism. Though from what I’ve heard, you have spent some time with these three already.”

“Don’t bunch me in with Broccoli,” Amaryllis said.

“You don’t mind being bunched in with me?” Awen asked.

Amaryllis huffed. “You’re strange, but not nearly as bad as Broccoli.”

“T-that’s fine,” Caprica said. It sounded like she was trying not to choke.

I glanced back at Bastion, then back to Caprica. “Wow,” I muttered. “So, uh, maybe we should all head in? After Bastion hugs everyone, of course.”

Caprica’s face reddened even more, somehow.

“I think I’ll reserve my hugs for you, Broccoli,” Bastion said with a chuckle. He reached out a hand towards Amaryllis who touched it lightly before walking past. Awen did the same, then Caprica slipped by Bastion. He didn’t seem to care that she hadn’t paused to let him touch her. I guess that was normal for a royal.

“We’ll see you again, right?” I asked.

“I’ll be at the summit all day,” he said.

“Good! You promised me a ride with the air guard you know. I didn’t forget.”

He patted me on the shoulder, then nodded into the building. “I’ll make some time for you, no worries. The main hall’s accessible from the left. There’s a break room to the right if you need to freshen up.”

I laughed as I reached back and grabbed Caprica’s hand and led her into the old palace. The entrance hall was a bit cramped, with a corridor that led around what looked like a wide open room in the centre of the building. We moved to the side, next to one of the entrances that was quieter.

“Are you okay?” I asked Caprica as I let go of her.

She rubbed at her hand, took a deep breath, stuck her nose up as high as it would go, then said, “I’m perfectly fine, thank you.”

“Are you sure?” Amaryllis asked. “I was almost convinced that you were going to faint back there.”

“I would hardly faint,” Caprica said.

Awen took a small step closer to the princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” she said.

Caprica’s cheeks reddened again. “It’s not what you think.”

“So you don’t have a hopeless crush on Bastion?” I asked.

“It’s not hopeless!”

One of Amaryllis’ eyebrows rose up. “How old is Bastion?”

“There’s only two and a half years between us,” Caprica said. “There’s nothing inappropriate there.”

“Except that you’re a princess and he’s merely a paladin,” Amaryllis added.

Caprica crossed her arms. “Mother was a paladin before she married Father. There’s a clear and obvious precedent. B-besides, I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

I walked over to Caprica, then gave her a hug. It looked like she really needed it. “It’s okay. We’re your friends, so we were just a bit surprised and worried is all.”

Caprica was a bit of a stiff hugger. Actually, that did give her one thing in common with Bastion. “Thank you, Captain Bunch.”

“No no,” I said. “Don’t call me Captain Bunch, that’s just you trying to put some distance between us, but I’ve already decided that you’re my friend, and there’s no distance between us because we’re literally hugging right now.”

“...What?” Caprica said.

“Give up,” Awen said. “You’ve been chosen to be Broccoli’s friend. There’s no escaping it now.”

Amaryllis reached over and tugged the back of my collar so that I had to let go of Caprica. “Jokes aside, Caprica, I don’t think you need to worry about what we think. Nor are we likely to blackmail you or anything. If anything you should worry more about Broccoli’s fumbling matchmaking attempts.”

“Hey, my Matchmaking skill is only at Rank D. It could use more practice.”

Amaryllis clapped her wings. “Let’s focus a little, shall we? We didn’t come here to save Caprica’s doomed lovelife.”

“Doomed?”

“We’re here,” Amaryllis continued. “To attend the summit and convince the world not to go to war. I think that takes priority over Caprica doing whatever disgusting things you mammals do when you love each other.”

“You’re right,” I said.

“She is not!”

I nodded. “We need to put on our serious faces. Caprica, we’ll arrange a date between you and Bastion later. For now, it’s time to save the world.”

“Do you want to go over your speech one last time?” Awen asked.

“I wouldn’t mind that, but I think the pre-event is important too. It’s one of the only chances I’ll have to meet all the speakers. They might leave as soon as it's over, and this way I can make a better impression,” Amaryllis said.

“Cool! So, we stick together, find our targets, then ambush them with friendliness.”

“Yes, that, but more diplomatically. In fact, let me handle most of the talking. We’ll use you like a sort of social battering ram if they’re too obstinate,” Amaryllis said. “Oh, Caprica, did you want to help us too?”

Caprica’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Then she frowned and glared at us.

“Fine,” she finally settled on.

***