The One King (2)

“Kay!” Mimi and Rose shout in unison.

She ignores them and continues to explain. “We never met him, but were told how to enter his domain in case of emergencies.”

I don’t quite get it, but the rest of the people around us seem surprised.

“I’ll be damned,” Abi says as she strolls up to the meeting.

“I would not have imagined that, but it makes sense,” Kagura adds, followed by similar proclamations by the rest of what remains of the Consulate.

“Good for you all to get off your asses and join us. And you, Old Bat, you are to be resting.”

“Nothing in this world is stopping me from missing this.”

Fennis rolls his eyes and faces the Valkyries again. “So? You are The Three. What does that mean, exactly, to the rest of us?”

Rose sighs. “It means we’ve been granted the pleasure of being the only three people to help the One King in the event that he calls, but he never has.”

“Well, that solves the issue of getting in. Now, you five, go fill your stomachs. You must be famished after your extended night.”

“What?” I get flustered. The others look pretty embarrassed too. The peanut gallery looks at us with judgmental eyes.

Talim’s whistle breaks through the awkward tension. “Hot as that may be, the food is ready.” He calls out from the deck.

Embarrassed, but hungry, I make my way to the dining area with the others. At the “Captain’s Table” everyone starts to swap stories and tales. No one actually questions what went on with us last night, and thinking about it makes my core throb. Just then, a more interesting conversation allows me to distract myself.

“This is amazing, though. How did you find this thing? How is it even flying?”

Mimi is quizzing Kyle on all kinds of subjects related to the boat carrying us through the sky. Ah. I forgot. But to these people, a flying vessel must be akin to magic. Err… extra magical?

“I couldn’t tell you the details. Ninavin was above all of us, even me. The best I could do is figure out how to get things up and running. And even then, that required extensive tinkering on Clive’s side.”

Clive waves away the praise, telling us it was nothing. He blushes at it all, and blushes even more when Kyle reaches up and rubs his cheek.

Ah. So, it’s like that…

The girl’s around the area start to hoot and holler at what just happened, but I’m more amazed by it. I never even thought of… Well, Charlie did say she was actually interested in women, if not in so many words. I peek over at her. She wears a troubled expression. She seems uncomfortable with such openly displayed unconventional romance. I reach under the table and grab her hand. She twitches quickly, but otherwise keeps her cool and holds my hand.

“Perhaps when this is all over, we will have the chance to replicate this. I don’t know why Ninavin left this as a prototype. It clearly works. But I suppose it’s just one more mystery of her enigmatic self.” Kyle states.

Kyle looks over at Clive, then at me. He raises his glass high. “To Ninavin, and those we’ve lost.”

At the mention of Nina, the others seem reticent. Even after losing her life trying to help these people, the stigma attached to her still stands. However, the Valkyries raise their glasses and the rest follow suit. Breakfast ends quickly enough, and barely in time too. A man comes rushing in, telling us the castle is now within view.

We step out onto the dock, and look out at the majestic castle before us. Its spires soar into the sky. Red casings travel in spirals up to the peaks of the columns. It stands as a beautiful testament to a cruel world.

As we land, Fennis tells most of the crew to stay behind and keep the boat safe. The Valkyries, Charlie, Fennis, and I make our way to the massive wooden doors of the castle. Solid, magically enforced wood standing some fifty feet tall are before us.

We look on at the Valkyries who seem to be taking it all in along with the rest of us. They nod to each other and place their hands on the doors. With seemingly nothing more than a small push, the doors give way and splits open.

The dimly lit corridor blazes to life, leading us down a never-ending corridor. Fennis is the first to step through the gateway to the place of our answers.

“Shall we?” I ask the others. They nod, and we enter.

As with the temple in the Hercynian forest, this place seems almost enchanted. The corridor is completely straight with no possible twists or turns.

We march with a tension in the air that I can't quite describe. It feels like we are leaving one world to enter another. Perhaps a world of death and destruction and endings lay before us. Behind us, the worst of times were still the best of times. At least now, I can face whatever it is that I find out, with my head held high.

I love the women at my side. I'm sure nothing will be simple for us and our unique composition. Struggle awaits us, of that I'm sure, but we will see it through because that is who we are to one another.

Fate is a twisted one. She always lays something just outside the possible, always moving the goalpost.

With my attention focused on my girls, I’m surprised all the more to hear what comes next. I can’t believe it; Fennis’ words are what brings my ill-sought despair down around me.

“Domnis Lux?”