Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Six — Dawn of a New Day
Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Six — Dawn of a New Day “Wake up!”I blinked as I sat up in a vaguely-familiar bed. “Huh?” I asked.Amaryllis was above me, talons on hips and frame bent so that her face was close to mine. “I said wake up, we need to start getting ready.”“Huh?” I glanced around. My inn room was still dark, the only light coming in from some lanterns in the main room. The world outside the window was that blue-black that the sky took on when the sun was considering coming up. “Wha’ time’s it?”“It’s time for you to get up and get ready,” Amaryllis said. “The summit is today.”“But it’s still dark out?” I asked. The confusion of sleep was wearing off, only to be replaced by other, new confusions.She sniffed. “Obviously. Come on, we don’t have all day!” With that she stomped out of the room. A moment later I heard her telling Awen to wake up from the next room over.Yawning so hard my jaw ached, I stretched my arms out over my head, then shifted so that I was sitting on the edge of my bed. I was very much not bright-eyed and bushy tailed. I was more... blurry-eyed, and my tail was sleep-squished.I stood up, ran my hand through my hair-which was getting pretty long, I’d need to see about cutting it-then I stumbled out of the room and into the main lounge area. The desks covered in Amaryllis’ papers had moved; so had all of the papers stacked on them.Amaryllis stepped out of Awen’s room looking like she was caught somewhere between smug and nervous. “Hey, Amaryllis,” I started. “When did you go to sleep?”“Sleep?” she asked.“Amaryllis, you did sleep, right?”She huffed at me. “As if I had time for something like that. Do you have any idea how much work there is left to do still?”“But you need sleep,” I said.“I can sleep once the summit is over. And it will be over soon,” she said. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”I glanced out of the nearest window. “Because it’s still nighttime?”“Hmm, yes, you might get your dress dirty. No, wait, you could just clean it off! That’s no excuse! Go get dressed Broccoli.” Amaryllis scurried off to her own room, the door clicking shut behind her.I turned to find Awen leaning against the doorframe of her own room. “She’s lost her mind,” Awen said.“Maybe the stress is getting to her,” I said. It wasn’t quite an agreement, but it wasn’t far from one. “I’ll ambush her with a hug once she’s out of her room.”“I think she needs more than a hug,” Awen said. “More like a vacation, and maybe a few days of sleep.” She yawned, and I suspected that she wanted that for herself too. “This is way too early to be awake.”“It’s fine,” I said. “I think you can go back to bed for a few minutes. Get a few more winks in before we really do need to get ready. I’ll talk to Amaryllis.”Awen hesitated. “I should probably be there too,” she finally said with a sigh. I could tell she’d really rather go back to bed too, but Awen was a good friend, and good friends could put sleep aside for each other sometimes.I knocked on Amaryllis’ door twice. “Amy?” I asked.“Are you dressed already?” Amaryllis asked. She opened the door, then stared at me and Awen. Both of us were in our usual sleeping clothes. “Did you forget where you put your outfits?” she asked.I shook my head, then stepped into the room. “No, we’re, uh, staging an intervention.”“Can you do that tomorrow?”“I don’t think so,” I said. I walked up to Amaryllis and caught her a hug, one that Awen joined in on a moment later. It didn’t last all that long, Amaryllis was too nervous to appreciate a good hug. “Are you okay?”“I'd be better if you were dressed and ready,” Amaryllis said with a huff.“I know. I promise I’ll get dressed right after this. But, uh, we’re a bit worried.”“Well, so am I,” Amaryllis said. “This is big. Really big, Broccoli.”“And it’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders,” I said. “But, uh, I think you’re taking on a bit too much of that weight all on your own.”She glowered. “Well, then take some of it for yourself. I wouldn’t be this stressed if you were up and ready already.”“Uh,” I said. “Amaryllis, it’s very, very early still. Like super-very early. Even if we were all dressed and ready to go, we wouldn’t have anywhere to go to, not for a few hours. I think that maybe you’re trying to overprepare.”Awen nodded. “My uncle used to tell me a lot of stories about his adventures. And sometimes he’d tell me stories of other adventurers and explorers. Some of them used to be super meticulous. They’d scout ahead a lot, bring lots of equipment, and tackle every challenge very carefully. Uncle said that they were some of the very best explorers out there. You remind me a bit of those.”“Thank you, I suppose,” Amaryllis said.“Uncle also said that they tend to get in over their heads as soon as things don’t go according to plan, and things never go according to plan. We both live with Broccoli, we both know that plans don’t work out the way they should.”“Uh,” I said.Amaryllis sighed. “Fine,” she said. “Maybe I’m slightly-very slightly-too nervous about today for my own good. You can give me another hug, if you want.”I laughed as I gave her another, even better, hug. Amaryllis saying that meant that she really wanted the hug, I figured. “So, can we go back to sleep now?”“Oh, it’s probably too late for that,” Awen said. “Besides, the sun is coming up.”I glanced out of the nearest window, and saw that Awen was right, the darkness outside was lightening up. Not quickly, but it was undeniably getting brighter. In a few more minutes I bet the world would be all blue, and then the sun would be properly on the horizon and everything would come awake.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.“When does the summit start?” I asked.“Technically at noon,” Amaryllis said. “There’s the opening statements, then a luncheon before the main event begins. So we need to be there at least an hour before noon.”“That’s plenty of time to get dressed. What else do you need to prepare?”Amaryllis gestured vaguely in the direction of the living room. “I should practice my speech some more. Also, getting a refresher on all the things I need to know wouldn’t hurt.”“Fine then,” I said. “Awen and I will get dressed, then we’ll go have breakfast together, then we’ll head over to the summit and you can practice your speech on the way over.”Amaryllis nodded. “Fine, fine.” She took a deep breath and let it all out at once. I made sure to give her a last squeeze to help get the last of the stress out, like toothpaste at the end of a tube. I would make tea in a moment. Something to calm her down and keep her awake.I let go, then rushed back to my room. We didn’t bring a lot of luggage with us from the Beaver Cleaver but I did have a few things. I really had to get around to buying more outfits, as it was I had exactly two things I could wear, my armour and the one nice outfit I’d gotten for that ball in Fort Sylphrot. A girl ought to have more than two things she could wear.Cleaning magic was making it too easy not to bother having any changes of clothes.My dress was less a dress and more of a suit, with flowy pants and a nice blouse and a well-tailored jacket. It made me look very adult and serious. It even had a hole over the bum for my tail!A knock at my door had me bouncing over to open it. Awen was standing there, with a platter in one hand. “I’ve got some makeup stuff,” she said. “Did you want me to help you with yours?”“Uh, sure,” I said.I didn’t have anything like that. Then again, adventuring didn’t usually require much by way of makeup, and besides I was never great at using that kind of thing. At most I liked using lip balms because the flavoured ones were tasty and they were nice in the cold.I sat down in front of a little vanity in the corner of the room, and Awen went to work attacking my face with powders and creams. She didn’t say anything, so I figured she knew what she was doing. The end result, some ten minutes later, was quite nice. “It looks like I’m blushing a little,” I said, peering into the mirror.Awen nodded. “Putting makeup on you is just so easy. You have the Adorable skill, right?”“N-yes?”She shook her head. “And you don’t even want it. You know, you’re very silly, Broc.”I pouted. No. I pouted prettily.Awen rolled her eyes, then gestured out into the living room. “Amaryllis is probably ready by now, I still need to get into my own dress. Want to go distract her while I get ready?”“Sure,” I said. It was better than talking about Adorable. I really had to get my hands on one of those chivalry skills so that I could transform it into something more useful.I helped Amaryllis-who had changed into her own ball gown, which was quite pretty-pack up her notes in a satchel. Then I spent a couple of minutes convincing her that we didn’t need to bring every history book and all of the notes she made, especially since they’d fill up three or four luggage bags and be hard to carry with us.“I’m ready,” Awen said as she stepped out of her room. She’d done something with her hair, sticking it up in a ring of braids around the crown of her head.“Oh, you both look very pretty,” I said.“Awa, don’t say that,” Awen said. “Do we know how we’re getting to the summit?”“Of course we do,” Amaryllis said. “I had the innkeep reserve a carriage for us. We’re not going to walk across the city dressed like this.”“It wouldn’t be too bad, I don’t think,” I said. “I could keep things clean.”“Sure, but think of the message it sends. Besides, I’m stressed about this enough, I don’t need to be stressed and exhausted at the same time.”I gave her another hug, because hugs were free to give, and then grabbed her by the talon. “Breakfast first.”“I’m not hungry,” Amaryllis said.“Then it’ll be a light breakfast for you. But you don’t want to be hungry on stage, and you don’t want your tummy rumbling during the summit. Oh, and you’ll want to use the bathroom before you start your speech.”“I can take care of myself, Broccoli,” Amaryllis said.“Sure,” I replied.Awen and I still dragged her over to the inn’s dining room where we got a quick breakfast. Mostly it was fluffy pancakes and a bunch of fresh fruit with some sugary sauces to dip them in. Light but sweet stuff.Once everything was eaten up (we made sure Amaryllis had a few bites) and I sprinkled some Cleaning magic around to keep hands and talons clean, we headed all the way downstairs where a member of the inn’s staff had us wait for the carriage to be prepared.Amaryllis paced back and forth, of course. Eventually she started to mutter her way through her speech, with Awen and I listening and telling her that she’d do just fine.Soon enough we were led up onto a neat carriage behind a pair of big horses, and we were off to the summit.Everything was going to be just fine. At least, that’s what I kept telling my nervous bird friend.
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Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Seven — Hugs and Wishes
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?”The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.“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.
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