Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Three — Just Remember: Everything is Illegal
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Three — Just Remember: Everything is Illegal Amaryllis stepped up before her sisters and raised an arm as if to silence them and everyone else. She looked around, taking in all the Sylph nobles and inquisitors and military people, then she turned towards me. “What did you do?” she asked.I took a moment to respond. “I didn’t do anything?” I hazarded.“That’s highly unlikely. When I left you, you were helping Awen clean out her dress because some jerk acted like a jerk. Now I find you here, surrounded by some of the most important sylph diplomats around, and some of them are bearing steel.”A glance over my shoulder showed that Bastion still had his sword by his side. “I really didn’t do anything?” I tried. “Um. I was talking about our trip over to Sylphfree later, and the Commodore and Miss Sunshrike and Miss Storm suggested that we take Bastion along with us.” I gestured to the sylph boy behind me.“So they want you to carry a spy over to Sylphfree in order to... what, make sure you’re not a spy yourself?” she asked.Evalyn bristled at that. “A Paladin is hardly something so crass as a spy,” she said.Amaryllis snorted. “If it quacks like a duck and flaps like a duck, then it’s probably a sylph spy in disguise,” she said. “But... it’s not an entirely terrible idea. Broccoli really doesn’t have anything to hide, least of all on the Beaver.”The sylphs really didn’t look fond of Amaryllis, but they were also giving me suspicious looks. “Um, ah,” I went on. “Everything was fine until Mister Bastion shook my hand. Then he accused me of being a criminal.”“Oh, for the love of the World,” Amaryllis said with a huge eye roll. “Of course he did.” She glared at Bastion and then Miss Storm. “You two are aware that sylph law doesn’t apply outside of sylph territories, right? I don’t know what ‘crime’ you think she committed, but I can assure you it’s likely something that anyone from a civilised country would overlook.”“Are you implying that Sylphfree isn’t civilised?” Evalyn asked.“That was the implication, yes,” Amaryllis said.Bastion shook his head. “We’re aware that our laws, blessed as they may be, do not apply elsewhere. Were she merely... paying a dragon’s tax for the right to fly, then while that would be unlawful over sylph skies, we’d overlook it. But the level of criminality she has, even after Inquisitor Storm has verified it... what have you done, Captain Bunch?”“Uh,” I said. I tried to think back to anything that I’d done that was criminal. “Well, I kidnapped Awen here. But that was for a good cause. And... Amaryllis, did we do anything else that was criminal?”Amaryllis sighed. “You fought those cervid mercenaries sneaking across the Deepmarsh border. I’m certain that violates some laws. You also participated in a non-sylph sanctioned tournament, which is also against their laws.”“But it was in Rosenbell?”“That doesn’t matter to them,” she said. “And you consorted with dragons.”The sylph all pulled away from me. “Please explain, Lady... Albatross,” Inquisitor Storm asked.“The town of Rosenbell was going to be attacked by a dragon. Broccoli here intimidated it. It didn’t attack the town,” Amaryllis said.The sylph were pretty expressive at times, they had a very strong confused face.“It’s okay? I helped try and reform Rhawrexdee a little. He’s much nicer now? Or, uh, at least less likely to try and eat people?”“Awa, you took out the, um, underworld in Port Royal,” Awen said.I shook my head. “That was a group effort.”“You’re not a sanctioned law enforcement officer,” Bastion said. “By what right did you take apart this underworld?”“Uh. They weren’t a sanctioned criminal organization?” I let out a big sigh. “Look, I’m sorry I did a bunch of things you guys think are crimes, but I promise I was only ever doing what I thought was right at the time.”Evalyn and Miss Storm looked at each other, but it was Lord Winterfall that spoke first. “I think,” he began. “That the rather obvious solution is very simple. Seeing as we have no rights here, we can hardly detain Captain Bunch. Nor would I approve of it if we could. If and when the good Captain comes to Slyphfree, we can keep an eye on her until she leaves, as we would do to any foreigner. And if the Captain wants to extend a helping hand and allow Paladin Bastion to use her services regardless, then he can at least verify that she does nothing suspicious between here and our fair lands.”Amaryllis looked to her sisters and received a shrug from Rosaline and a small nod from Clementine. “We’ll see,” she said. “Goodness knows now of all times we should be trying to reconcile our two nations.”“But you were mean a minute ago,” I said.“Don’t be an idiot,” she said. “I wasn’t being mean, I was mocking their inadequacies as a nation.”“Amaryllis!” I said.“Are you well acquainted with miss Albatross?” Evalyn asked.“Of course, she’s one of my best friends,” I said.“I see... then perhaps you should rejoin your friends? We can continue our chat some other day, when tensions aren’t running so high. And you should be enjoying the ball, this kind of thing is perfect for a young thing like you.”I smiled at her. It was a tiny bit of a sad smile. The tension and the whole thing with the crimes was a bit of a downer. “Okay,” I said. I stepped up to the little sylph lady and swept her up in a tight hug. The other sylph all went wide-eyed at that. “I’ll talk to you again!” I said before moving over to Awen and sliding an arm up around hers.Amaryllis nodded to the sylph as she spun around and led the charge back towards the stairs leading down.Rosaline slowed down so that she was on Awen’s other side. “You know, I’m going to get jealous if you spend the evening hanging off another girl’s arm,” she said to Awen.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.“Ah, awa?”“It’s okay,” I said. “Awen has two arms.”“Oh, how daring!” Rosaline said before she grabbed onto Awen’s other side and pressed up against her.I giggled at Awen’s steaming face. It was nice to be with friends who could help me release some tension. Still, I had some questions.“Amaryllis? What was all that back there?”She huffed. “That was the sylph being themselves. Their nation is very law-minded. They have rules for everything, and the idea that someone can be free from that kind of thing just rubs them wrong.”“They seemed nice,” I said.“Oh, sure, they’re civilised when they want to be. They have some of the best medical facilities on Dirt and I hear that their cities are impeccably clean and orderly. But they’re super uptight about everything and have problems when it comes to anything that isn’t traditional.”“Hmm.” I scratched at my cheeks as I thought. “What about the focus on dragons?”She barked a laugh. “They hate dragons. Most other races have some issues with them, of course, but dragons are the apex predator and we all understand that. The sylph though? They can’t wrap their minds around it.”“It’s worse than that,” Clementine said. Her first words in a while. “The sylph have control over some of the largest gold deposits on Dirt. It’s one of the sources of their immense wealth. Dragons, as you likely well know, are rather fond of gold and wealth.”“Oh no,” I said.“Indeed. They’ve been invaded... four times? Five since they started mining the gold they have. Some of those were smaller, juvenile dragons that they were able to kill or scare off, but they’ve had elder dragons show up in the past too. It’s why they have such a strong military presence, that and the golden peak.”“What’s that?” I asked.She looked at me for a moment before nodding. “I forget that you’re not from around these parts. The Golden Peak is a mountain. It’s part of the Harpy Mountain chain. The topmost part of the mountain has, as you can guess from the name, a lot of gold. The harpy claimed it first, but the sylph stole the land.”“They did?” I asked.“We, of course, reclaimed it later, only to be pushed back again,” Clementine said. “Then a dragon settled on the mountain for a few decades before a joint harpy-sylph force killed it. A year later the war was restarted.”“Um, who has the mountain now?” I asked.“No one. The base of the mountain has forts belonging to both nations. Sometimes a scout will mysteriously disappear from one side or another, or something will get sabotaged in a fort, but it’s been pretty quiet for the last twenty or so years.”I frowned. “Wait, when did this war start?”“Over the Golden Peak? Some three hundred years ago? Two? It’s not quite one war. For the most part, it’s been a series of skirmishes between the sylph and harpy, with a new incident every generation.”“That’s awful,” I said.“What’s awful,” Amaryllis said. “Is arriving at our table late and making a scene.” She flapped an arm across the second balcony and towards an empty table way off in the corner.I looked around, noting for the first time the number of people around. While there had been a few harpies around before, mostly in little pockets and groups, now the entire floor was full of people, all in pretty dresses. Most of them were obviously making their way to some tables, and quite a few were sitting already.“Looks like people are looking forward to the speeches. I hope they’re fun.”All three Albatross sisters groaned.“No, no they won’t be,” Amaryllis said. “When we were trekking in the woods and prairies alone, with nothing for company but ourselves and a constant fear of being devoured, and when the only thing we had to look forward to was sleeping on the cold hard ground, I just had to tell myself that at least I wasn’t listening to a speech put on by some old bird.”“Amy,” Clementine hissed before looking around to see if anyone heard. “You might be right, but it’s not the kind of thing you just say.”I giggled at their antics until we got to the table at the far corner. It had little plaques before each seat with our names written in fancy calligraphy. Rosaline moved two of them so that she was sitting next to Awen, which prompted Amaryllis to shift two more so that I was between her and Clementine.Once they’d finished bickering over where who sat down, we plopped ourselves in our new places. “So, did you discover any sort of conspiracy?” I asked.Clementine’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “We did. The Owl clan is trying to pull in a much bigger contract than expected. It would mean that the military would buy all of their tug ships and supply craft from them instead of us.”“That’s not good,” I said.“It wouldn’t be that bad,” Rosaline said as she leaned forward, and a bit over Awen, to talk. “We can barely meet demand as it is. Getting them to make a few ships would alleviate some of the stress on the yards. The problem is that they’re refusing to switch over to our engines, which means that every new ship they make will be an outdated mess.”“More repair time, and costs, more downtime, higher fuel costs. And less reliability. That would all fall on the Owl’s back, but they’re being clever,” Clementine said.“How so?”“As it stands, we’re probably going to win the bid to maintain all military ships for the foreseeable future. If the Owl push out an entire fleet that will need constant repair and retrofitting, at our expense... it’ll bog everything down. Our berths will be filled with their junkheap ships and we’ll be the ones holding the eggshells.”“Ah,” I said. Further questions were put off as a big harpy man standing atop a floating platform cleared his throat into a microphone, and the band playing down below slowed to a stop.It was time for the boring speeches.
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Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four — It's a Good Day to Dine
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four — It's a Good Day to Dine The boring speech was boring.I had heard some boring speeches before, of course. My dad was big on talk shows, and complaining about politics, which meant that he liked listening to politicians say stuff so that he could later complain about it.I had never been to one of those speeches live though. Two minutes into the important harpy on the floating stage telling us all about the many, many people that needed thanking for the event and my eyes were going blurry. When five minutes passed and he was still droning on about vague stuff like the generosity of such and such an organization or group, I felt my head getting heavy.Rosaline had the right idea when she scooted her chair close to Awen’s and leaned her head onto Awen’s shoulder for a quick nap.I wanted to do the same, but Awen looked about ready to collapse under Rosaline’s weight alone, and Amaryllis gave me a warning look when I stared at her shoulder.I ended up settling for laying my head down next to my empty plate and allowed my ears to bend forwards and over my eyes. If they couldn't see those, they couldn’t tell if I was sleeping!I woke up with a start sometime later and wiped the drool from the corner of my lips. “I’done?” I asked.“It is,” Amaryllis confirmed. “The food’s coming. Do you want to Clean it for us?”I blinked the grogginess away then looked around to see a small army of maids and serving men moving about with plates hovering by their shoulders. “Food!” I gave a small chher.“Indeed,” Amaryllis said. “Do rein in your enthusiasm. I don’t think anyone wants to see what you call dancing while you’re bloated from overeating.”“Right,” I said. “What was that about Cleaning?”“I want you to use your Cleaning magic on our meals,” Amaryllis said.I blinked at her. “I do plan on eating it, you know.”“Obviously,” she said. “Don’t clean the plates, Clean the food. Clear it of any poisons.”“Uh,” I said. “You think the food will be poisoned?”“Of course not,” Amaryllis said. “I don’t think it, I suspect it.”“That’s the same thing,” I pointed out.She huffed a ‘that’s semantics’ huff at me. “Most nobles used to have testers and servants who could detect poisons, or indeed clean it away with them,” she said. “But that became a sign that a harpy didn’t trust the clan they were visiting.”“So... you don’t trust the people here?”“Not as far as I could throw them,” Amaryllis said.“I’m sure you could throw them fairly far. You’re pretty strong.”She huffed again.The food arrives at our table. A big savoury looking leg of... some animal. Lamb, maybe? With a whole heap of vegetables around it drizzled in a brownish sauce that was still steaming hot. Then they set down more plates before each of us, small salads and little plates of cut vegetables with various sauces.It looked like a proper feast, though I did notice some strange things. No bird meat, which... that was fair. Also, no cheeses or milk products. Then again, they lived in the mountains and cows took space. There was also a bottle of wine that Clementine poured into everyone’s cups, but I chose not to touch that. I was still too young for drinking.Clementine looked my way, and even Rosaline, who was awake though she elected to stay cuddled up to Awen, was staring.“Right!” I said.I spread my hands as a wizard would (I imagine) and cast a wave of nearly invisible Cleaning magic over everything.Other than wiping a bit of sauce off the sides of some plates, it didn’t seem to do much.“Well then, dig in, I suppose,” Clementine said.She didn’t have to tell me twice!I sampled a bit of everything, even taking a nibble from the meat to see if it tasted good despite my bun-ness, and while it was alright, I didn’t want to risk a tummy ache later, so I set it aside for a moment while I chowed down on everything else.“The dancing will be starting soon,” Rosaline said. “You can tell because of the band.”I perked an ear up to listen, twisting it this way and that to best catch the fleeting notes of a violin. “It’s just the one player?” I asked.She nodded. “That’s right. That means that after this song they’ll be starting the pre-opening waltz. It’s a sort of... practice piece? Just to make sure all the members of the orchestra are ready. Some people who finish early will dance a bit to that, but the real opening comes right after.”I nodded along. “And after the dancing, what happens? Do we duel that Francisco guy?”Amaryllis nodded. “There’s usually a lot of onlookers for the first dance. Then the ball splits and people go around talking to whomever they want, participate in a few friendly duels, or dance until their legs give out.”“The party ends when half the guests are gone or too drunk to continue,” Clementine said.“That doesn’t sound all that nice a way to end a ball,” I said.“It’s tradition!” Rosaline cheered before chomping into a hefty chunk of meat.We were barely finished with our first plates when a second round came, this time with a lot more bread and pastries and different tiny portions of fish. I cleaned them all again and started on the fish. It tasted way better than any fish I’d had back home. The spicy sauces left my lips just a bit tingly and the savoury ones made the fish melt in my mouth.The breads were very plain, not sweet like the bread I was used to, but that made it great for soaking off the leftovers on our plates.I was almost full to bursting by the time the dessert came around.It was only with great reluctance that I didn’t finish the slice of cake before me.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.“I’m stuffed,” I declared.“Idiot,” was Amaryllis’ immediate reprisal. She didn’t look much better though. She was one colour change away from looking like a stuffed turkey.We sat in contented, food-coma induced silence for a few minutes while the music below shifted and the entire orchestra joined in on a slow ballad-like song. It was the orchestral equivalent of elevator music, with no inspiring high notes and few melodramatic lows.Rosaline was the first to really move. “We should burn off some of this food,” she said. “Do you feel like dancing, Awen?”“Um. I wouldn’t mind that,” Awen said as she stood up herself. She finished off the last of her goblet of wine and set it back down before smiling shyly at Rosaline. “Ready when you are.”“We should go too,” I told Amaryllis. “I suppose you’ll want to dance with me?”“Are you saying I couldn’t find someone else to dance with?” she said as she got up.I shook my head. “Of course not. I’m sure there are plenty of eligible bachelors who think that you’re really cute and would love to dance with you. They’d be all noble and prince-like, and talk about how great their clans are, and how you could be a stay-at-home mom...”Amaryllis grabbed my hand and started moving towards the dancefloor, her stomping steps in time with my laughter.I almost felt bad for leaving Clementine behind, but she soon stood up and joined a crowd of older harpies to start talking with them. She didn’t seem all that keen on dancing.The band ended their slow practice song and let everyone join up in twos in the centre of the dance floor. There were so many people that navigating around to find a spot to stand in meant slipping past poofy half-skirts and puffed out wings.The band started playing a waltz, and Amaryllis and I started to step and spin in time with the music.We spun and strutted, and Amaryllis tilted her nose up and started to flap her wings about in her not-quite-chicken dance. I giggled at her motions but followed suit.The ball had been a bit stuffy so far, but the harpies and the few others on the dance floor didn’t seem to care much for that. Sure, they were dancing very formally, but I saw lovers holding each other so close that it was almost inappropriate and friends laughing and giggling along.We ended up next to a pair of young men who strutted quite fancily next to us, clearly trying to get our attention, and succeeding when they both tried to dance the ‘male’ part of the dance at the same time and ended up bumping foreheads.Amaryllis and I just switched back and forth, with increasingly silly and fanciful flourishes to one-up each other.Some time later, maybe only a few minutes, or maybe more, we stepped off the floor, both a little sweaty and warm, but glowing with barely suppressed giddiness.“I need a drink,” I said.“I saw you avoiding the wine earlier,” Amaryllis said. “Want something stiffer?”“Uh, no, I want water. Maybe juice?”She shook her head. “I’m sure they have some around the children’s tables.”“Perfect!” I said.Amaryllis laughed. “You idiot,” she said. “Maybe after you’ve gotten drunk on peach and apple juice, we can find Francisco and his flunkies. I’d rather get that over with.”“Sure!” I said before pulling her along towards the back. “By the way, are there rules to the duel?”“No killing, nothing too extreme. Anything else will be outlined by whomever is the arbiter.”“Alright!” I said.We found a section off to one side of the first floor where the tables were smaller and hidden behind a half-wall. The harpies there were all much smaller and tucked away in cute little dresses and suits that made them look adorably serious, especially with their poofy down feathers sticking out every which way.I found a big punch bowl of juice and quenched my thirst while Amaryllis sipped from a flute she’d grabbed along the way.We were on our way to the back of the ballroom, and towards the spot where duels and other such stuff were taking place-sensibly, it was all done outside and out of the way-when our path was blocked by a familiar face.“Captain Bunch,” Bastion said.I looked the sylph up and down before responding. “Mister Bastion,” I said.“I was wondering if... perhaps we could dance? Just for a moment.”“And accuse her of more nonsense?” Amaryllis asked with some bite.I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mister Bastion, I would love to be your friend, but you were a bit... mean, earlier. It’s kind of strange that you want to dance now.”Bastion ColdfrontDesired Quality: Someone with whom to fight for what is right.Dream: To become a paladin renowned across Dirt“I... merely wish to reconcile our differences,” he said. “If we are to work together, then being anything less than cordial would be a detriment to our teamwork.”I nodded along. “Alright,” I said. “That sounds nice. You don’t mind, do you Amaryllis?”“I’ll be here,” she said, “keeping an eye on you two.” The way she stared at Bastion suggested that ‘you two’ meant him.Bastion reached out a hand to guide me to the dancefloor, and I carefully took it, ignoring the way he flinched a little at the contact.“So, Captain Bunch,” he said as we began to dance along to a slower, more romantic piece of music. “How long have you captained your ship?”It was a bit strange dancing with someone so much shorter than me, but not too bad. “Oh, a day or two,” I said.Bastion missed his next step.I was holding back a giggle when I heard a cry from above.We both looked up, and at that moment, the ballroom exploded.
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