Chapter 22: A Capital, A Companion
To my neighbour
That land is your home
A comfort, a retreat.
Let me say this
It need not be a prison
— Lynae, Lumber of the Thicket
A View, A Venture
A grand cathedral was being constructed in the capital city, right in the spot where the goddesses' pavilion once stood. It was an eyesore, even from the hills far outside the city's wall. That was new as well. There hadn't been a wall around the Grand Temple before, but the queen and her ilk had taken to making it a prison for its inhabitants.
Each corner of the city was home to a lesser palace, bastardised temples to the goddesses who once used that place to commune with mortals. Five of them total, though the phobward palace was less a grand monument and more a black stain on the beauty that could have been.
My heart burned with the sadness of seeing what it had become.
The queen had even renamed the city that once had been the Grand Temple as a way to mock the goddesses who might still live. Violet's Repose. The final resting place of the violet-haired goddess of balance. Vaelis had fallen easily, trusted too well, and been betrayed by one who loved her.
We'd travelled from Thornwood Hallow over three moons to arrive at the eveward gate into the capital, and our initial view of the place was a spear to the chest. I mourned a beauty I had only ever seen in dreams, and I cried for a sister I had never met.
Three moons was enough time for Micah to finally carry their gear again, and I was almost convinced they were still holding back some on purpose. A glint of sun on their opal eyes, a sly raise of one corner of their mouth. Micah was hiding something, but I knew it was okay.
Afina had covered her hair and donned her hood again, which made entering the city easy. We were nobody, and that was our strength. Why would the queen be looking for nobody? Afina was our only liability so far as I could tell. But she was also our greatest asset.
Second greatest. Eliana's notes were indispensable. There was a map of Violet's Repose, a thorough history of 'myths and mythos' in Lafleur, and one of the inserts painted a terrifying picture of the rise of the Fiend. A series of poems written for the lost sister. The most terrifying from her son.
Following her notes, we made our way around the city's perimeter to a smithy she'd labelled 'Kovar and Iron'. She'd put a tiny heart shape next to it. Goddesses around us I didn't want to know what the heart meant, but we had to go there. Either Kovar or Iron or one of their sisters would help get us settled.
We stepped into the smithy and were immediately greeted by two vast women. Twins from the look. One wore a blue metal flower pinned to her shirt. The other wore a black shield in the same spot.
"How can we help three fine souls new to the capital?" The one with the blue flower stepped forward, offering a hand in greeting.
"Short answer," I said with a smirk, "is that we're here to break things, and we were hoping you could help us find a way to get our hands on those things." I took her forearm in my hand the way the greeting is done in Blue Stone.
"I like your honesty," she replied as we shook hands. "My name is Kovar. The quiet one is Iron." That answered one question. "The hair's wrong, but you wouldn't happen to be from Greywatch Spire, would you?"
Micah giggled again at my hair. "Yes," I said with a grimace, "and the hair's a bit of a sensitive subject. How do you know of us?"
"Lady came in a couple years ago. Said a friend of hers would be stopping in, though she didn't know when." Kovar looked over to the wall where an envelope was tacked up. "She and her immense beau left that for you. Money from the way it jingles. If you don't leave too quick, we can put you to work." She waved a hand toward my shoulder. "Know how to swing those hammers?"
"After a fashion," Micah smirked, then winked at me. "I taught her everything she knows." That caught a laugh from Iron, who'd been fully silent to that point. "Wish I were kidding. The only thing Nyx is really built for is baking. Makes a mean layer-pastry. But she can fight if shove comes to kick."
"Need room and board for three, then?" Iron spoke up.
"Two, actually," Afina said. "I'm going to be dreadfully busy the next sevensun. It would be pointless to waste the space." Mine and Micah's jaws dropped as we stared at the sapphire-haired enigma. "Get them a single room, one bed, at the Sixth Maiden. They're just friends, but they haven't slept a night apart in a long time."
"Plus I'm her bodyguard," Micah said. "At least until my wife shows back up." Their recovery was always impressive.
Both Kovar and Iron laughed at Micah's apparent joke. "And who's to be funding this stay at the Maiden?" Kovar asked with a curious scowl. Afina pulled a large purse from her pack and set handed it to the huge woman. "I suppose that'll cover it. We'll get you to the Maiden before nightfall." She turned her full attention to Afina. "And you, little one. That lady said if you showed up to get your tail to Greywatch Spire. Soon's you're done with business of course."
How had Eliana known Afina would be with us? Goddess I never gave that woman enough credit.
"Perfect. Then it is her." Afina winked at me. "Don't you two go getting yourselves killed. Would be a shame if the Lady Primrose and her husband didn't get to see you again."
"When we see you again, you're telling us that whole story."
"Maybe I will," she smiled one last time before walking toward the door. "But you'll have to make me, Lady Togha."
At Last, A rest
Violet's Repose was disgusting. That was being kind. There was a smell of oil and steel that permeated every corner. People could be found lying about in squalor, barely healthy enough to open their eyes. The few I could, I gave food or coin or even clothes.
My heart ached as Micah and I moved about the city to handle our business. How could any monarch let her people struggle so desperately.
When we were settling, Micah insisted that we 'go out in style', so of course we put in the work to get new clothes and commission speciality armour. Black and white steel, to match their ivory and obsidian weapon. They were a vision of terror up to the moment they smiled. For myself, we went all white. We wanted the Fiend to recognise her enemy.
Neither was particularly sturdy, but they were more for form than function. The people of Violet's Repose wouldn't recognise Lysandra, but they would understand power. And the Fiend would feel the true terror.
Once everything was in place, Micah and I decided to have a bit of fun at the tavern of the Sixth Maiden. No point in letting ourselves get over-stressed the night before the end. So I set up at a central table in a high traffic part of the tavern and waited. It wasn't long before someone took the bait.
"Well now," the greasy older gentleman said with a sneer, "aren't you a pretty little flower." Playing to his assumption that I was uncomfortable with my size. "You look like you're a bit on the lonesome side. Can a kind man keep you company for a bit?"
"I'm waiting on a friend," not precisely a lie, "but if you want to play a little game with me, I'm sure it'll help pass the time."
"So long as it's not a drinking game," he rubbed the back of his head, probably nursing an injury of some sort, "my sister would toss me out for good if I let myself go too far."
"Not at all!" I smiled broadly, hoping to disarm him a bit more. "It's really simple. I have this hammer," I took my weapon from its harness on my back and twirled it around a bit before setting the head on the floor, "that everyone tells me is super heavy. I don't believe them. As you can see, it moves about like nothing in my hands."
"It does indeed," he said, tilting his head as he stared at the weapon. "So what's the game?"
"Pick it up," I smiled, "that's it. Just pick it up. And you can have any coin in my purse."
He started by putting two fingers on the warhammer and attempting to push it over. The thing didn't move, so he wrapped his fingers around it and tugged. Not even an inch. Both hands, full effort, straining his whole body. He made no progress.
The man's efforts drew attention from others. I set the terms of the bargain, showed how easily the warhammer moved about. And then I sat back and watched as a line formed to try to move it. Meanwhile, Micah sat in the corner waiting for the perfect moment.
We went through a hundred or so people attempting and failing the task. The barkeep, doorman, and serving girls got in on the action. After a time, they offered a free drink to anyone who could manage the job. The bets rose up higher and higher until Micah saw their moment.
Absolutely zero fanfare, no ceremony whatsoever, Micah made their way across the bar. They weren't paying any attention to the crowd, just stepping through. We'd chosen their route so that the warhammer would naturally be in their path. So they casually lifted it, set it out of the way, and kept moving.
They ignored the shouts and cheers as they continued on to our room. This redoubled the efforts of the crowd because 'if someone that size can do it, why can't we', so we wound up with a line of people trying desperately and failing. I collected stories, they embarrassed themselves. It was a delightful trade they didn't know they were engaging with.
"Well folks," I said with a smile just before midnight, "it's getting late. So I'll take this," I lifted the warhammer like it was nothing, "and head to bed. Be good everyone. Have a great night!"
As I opened the same door Micah had entered several hours before, the crowd went wild with hoots and hollers. They clearly figured out it was a scam, but they seemed good spirited about it. Instead of going in immediately, I turned and faced the crowd.
"Yes, we know each other," Micah stuck their head out the door and smiled brightly. "Yes, we cheated," I shrugged innocently. "But no one spent money on our little wager, and everyone had a good time. I'll leave it to you to figure out how it works. If you catch us for breakfast, we'll let you share what you think was the secret."
That night's sleep was the best rest I'd had in ages. It reminded me of the night I met Micah back in Ivory. We'd accidentally discovered how much fun the 'lift the hammer' game could be. The crowd in the Sixth Maiden would either be the last in a long time or the actual final group we got to cheat with it.
In spite of myself, I smiled as I pulled Micah close and we drifted into dreams.
"Nyxara," the voice was far off, but I knew it. Lysandra. "You must know by now you cannot kill her. But you can stop her."
My eyes opened, seeing the world from Lysandra's perspective. I knew the place and time. It was the forest right before she was Devoured by the Fiend. Gormlaith stood at my side, shivering in the cold.
"Flowers." I said looking around at the wild plants around us. "Gold for life, silver for doom, obsidian dreams, ivory tomb, and bloody rest comes soon." Oh. It was Lysandra's fault, I realised as I remembered the terrible poem I'd had Eliana copy so long before.
I took in three flowers in particular. Snowpetal, bloodleaf, silverthorn. Gormlaith walked to the spot I was looking and removed the silverthorn flower from the group. "For when the new Afina arrives," she smiled, "if the current one will ever give up what she took."
"Good girl," I said. "Rest and stasis. Death will come in its own time."
"Well, my Lady," Gormlaith said, "are we ready for the end?"