Chapter: 670 – Travel and Quickways

Tala rested on her throne, not because she was tired, but because it was a comfortable place to observe the landscape flashing by below her flying construct as they were carried toward Croi.

Rane and Lea were in their own chairs nearby, both reading books, actually. The similarity caused Tala to smile a contented smile, even if which books was quite the difference.

She liked her family, and she loved little things like that that reminded her of their close connection. The fact that Rane was reading on the formation of stone from softer substances through the aegis of time, and Lea was consuming a book on unit tactics in humanoid warfare didn’t ruin that feeling.

Even so, Tala was plagued by memories completely apart from those of her family, her perfect recall able to pick out similarities between this and her last trip from Platoiri to Croi, back when she’d been afraid for her very self, accompanied by him even as they moved ever farther from home and safety.

She felt no fear now, and even the memory of that time had lost most of its sharpness. That time, as awful as it had been, was the only reason any of this was possible.

She, an Archon, was welcomed into the arcane cities and able to bridge the gap between societies, her dual nature as Archon and Eskau giving her standing on both sides of the conflict like no one in their history had ever had. At least, no one to her knowledge.

Previously, all Eskau had been seen as the worst of the worst by the gated who knew of them. This was because they were those who enforced the social structure and authority required for the enslavement and exploitation of vestiges. Even now, Eskau Meallain was tolerated only because she was a prisoner in truth, her advice and training given out as penance. Tala, alone, was an Eskau that the gated could see without encountering the personification of a villain from their darkest nightmares.

On the other side, arcanes saw Archons as those who had ‘stolen’ potential from society. They were hoarding their gates—a limited resource—for personal use instead of helping their House or society as a whole. They were a strong man who refused to help clear a neighbor’s field of boulders despite the desperate need in the community for more land and food production. Worse even, because they made their gates more powerful—thus damaging reality further—and only for their own benefit. Madness. Selfish madness.

Tala didn’t agree, but she could understand the base thinking.

Regardless, once again, Tala was an exception. As an Eskau, she was using her power for her House. Protian weapons had vestiges in them, and that power simply went to empower the Eskau. What difference did it make to the average citizen if that soul was in the weapon or in the body of the Eskau? None. The answer was none.

So, Tala was looked at by both sides as something of a unique case and not even through argumentative tricks or cunning plans. She simply fit in each side’s understanding of the world as on their side, worthy of respect, and in a position to draw these incompatible cultures toward one another.

More than that, on the human—gated—side, she was Reforged, an advancement rarely reached, and on the arcane—gateless—side, she was on her way to hopefully be confirmed as Eskau of War, a title with power and authority not only in the House of Blood, but carrying weight of purpose, honor, and authority that would matter to any who learned of it.

She was shifting from a rope-bridge to one carved of stone and with deep, well-seated foundations.

She frowned. A bridge doesn’t draw together, though… This might not be the best metaphor?

-Well, no analogy is perfect. I think it’s as good as any.-

Fair enough. It certainly wasn’t worth taking time to hunt down one that might only be a little better.

The trip from Platoiri to Croi wasn’t a long one, all things considered, and it passed uneventfully, allowing the Sappherrous family to exit just on the outskirts, the flier being tucked away, back within its space in the sanctum at the same moment their feet came down on the springy turf.

Lea hopped from foot to foot, shaking out her limbs. “That’s too long to be sitting down.”

Rane huffed. “You could have been doing anything with your time, sweet. You chose to read, and it really wasn’t that long.”

“You were reading the whole time.” She responded accusingly.

“Of course, I did. It was wonderful, and do you hear me complaining about it?” He arched an eyebrow.

She grimaced and glanced down. “No…”

“No, exactly.” He nodded once. “Now, come on…” He looked around and frowned. “Wait, where is Terry?”

Terry chose that moment to flicker out of the sanctum, landing on Rane’s head with a triumphant squawk.

Tala chuckled. “He was waiting for one of you two to notice his absence.” She hesitated a moment before adding. “And I think he was waiting, just in case.”

Rane reached up to scritch the back of the avian’s head. “Where was he for the journey?”

Tala shrugged. “Apparently, Walden had use for him.”

Terry chirped an affirmative before reaching up with one taloned foot to pick at something in his beak.

Rane sighed, giving a rueful grin. “Well, I hope you had fun.” Then, Rane seemed to process what she’d said. “Wait… waiting ‘in case?’ In case of what?”

Terry narrowed his eyes, looking all around before letting out a low squawk.

Tala chuckled. “Exactly. Last time I came here, I had a welcoming party of arcanous creatures, even one of reality if my guess was right. He just wanted to make a dramatic entrance if that was the case again.”

He let out an indignant squawk.

“You would have been dashing doing so, very heroic.”

Terry shuffled slightly, seeming mollified, at least enough so that he flickered to Rane’s shoulder for the moment.

Their arrival had been noticed, and as they were expected, the welcome party was already filtering out of the edge of the city.

Given the nature of their visit, they weren’t going to be greeted outside the city by either Eskau or Pillars, as such could be seen as tacit support for Tala’s bid for the position, and that would be unseemly.

More to the point, it could be seen as attempting to curry favor in the event she succeeded in acquiring the title, but that concern overlapped with the first.

Regardless, they were greeted by three squads of House of Blood guards, and a senior adjunct, who all bowed appropriately to Rane and Lea before bowing a bit more deeply than required toward Tala.

When they all straightened, the adjunct addressed her directly. “Eskau Tala, welcome to Croi. We are uplifted by your Revered presence, and no matter what the ultimate decision is, we are grateful to have you among us once more.”

Tala vaguely remembered this cat-kin from her last visit to Croi years previously, but it had been just seeing him in the background rather than any direct interactions. Still, she bowed along with her family. “It is good to return. I have much that I wish to see, and I look forward to seeing a few… acquaintances.”

“Understood, Eskau. Do you wish to take the lead, or shall I guide our path?”

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Tala considered for a moment. She did remember the way, but she felt no need to be in charge or in the front. “I am content to follow your lead. May we take the quickways?”

“But of course, Eskau.”

Rane gave Tala a concerned glance. “If I remember what those are correctly, is that wise? Won’t our gates be a problem?”

“I don’t think so. The magics, when used over too long a distance and uncontained, can be damaging, but I suspect the quickways have something to them that I deeply want to investigate.”

He still looked uncertain, but he didn’t protest further.

As they approached the city as a group, Tala could feel the authority of the local City Lord underpinning everything in the area. It had a softness to it that was utterly unlike that within Platoiri. Instead of feeling weaker, however, Tala suspected that this City Lord’s authority was both flexible and strong to the point that it was utterly uncontestable by this point.

She felt almost instantly that, if she were to try to oppose or unseat even the smallest part of this power, she would be utterly unable to do so. She didn’t fear that this authority would grab hold of her of course, but it was something beyond her ability to directly affect in the least.

There is a depth of age to the authority as well, as if this same City Lord has been here for uncounted ages.

-That, or the authority was passed down directly?-

That could do it, yeah.