Valkyria (9 page)

Finally the top two decks consisted of
the cockpit on the lower deck, the open deck on the above and
cannons on both.

Aeon made his way through the luxurious
décor and toward the mess hall, which had been designed to resemble
the dining halls of the noble families in the Alexandria Empire.
After all, the Tıtan I had been Queen Elisa’s personal transport
ship during the initial Ringlands war until the Inquisition took
control of it from within and turned it against the Alexandria
Empire that built it.

Instead of the standard four person
iron or steel table and bench sets that filled most airships, the
Titan I had three long wooden dining tables fit for fifty people
each. The chairs were of dark wood with red velvet cushions and
ornate carvings of a winged horse in the back. However, those had
been covered since with more cushion as it was the insignia of the
Alexandria Empire.

More wooden panelling lined the walls
and even the large open floor and ceiling given the impression as a
manor house or some other similar estate.

Aeon took his place at the head of the
table as everyone in the room stood and waited for him to sit down.
In unison they followed his lead and took their places once again.
It was crowded in the room, with more and more men and women
entering all the time, all of whom saluted Aeon as his wrinkled and
burnt fingers clutched a fork that rattled the food toward his
equally damaged mouth.

“
My Lord,” said a young
woman with golden locks and one blue eye. The other was green. She
wore the night blue pantaloons and shirt of the Inquisitors except
herself was far tighter than others’. “We will arrive in Argent
within two hours.”

“
Very good,” replied Aeon,
gazing up a the woman. “Thank you Selina.”

“
You are welcome, my Lord.
Is there anything else you need of me? Anything I could do after
the food has finished?”

Her tone of voice grew deeper and
seductive as her eyes gazed into his. She put a hand on his and
wrapped her fingers around it. Aeon twisted his head to the left,
his eyes rolling up and down his assistant.

“
Come at the same time as
always,” he said, smiling as he watched her nod in agreement and
walk away. She shook her hips far more than normal as she walked
back to her seat to finish eating.

Aeon continued to stare at Selina as he
finished his meal of roasted lamb and boiled vegetables. The voices
of his advisors and subordinates passed straight through his head
until they mentioned the young Alexia back in her room.

Selina had come over to the same table
to join the discussion as Aeon’s assistant and she glanced at him
when he flinched and turned his eyes away from her at the mention
of Alexia’s name. He looked back at his assistant just in time to
see her red lips mouth the words ‘bring her as well’.

He shook his head and continued the
meeting.

“
My Lord, what will we do
with her?”

“
Alexia will be of no
trouble, I am sure,” he replied to the dark haired man on his left.
“We will continue to have her in that room with the door locked
until we have returned to Norian.”

“
But my Lord, what if she
proves dangerous? She has already tried to escape once when we
brought her food.”

“
She will remain in the
room and you will continue to make sure she is comfortable, do you
understand?”

He stood from the table swiftly,
shaking it ever so slightly. The knives and forks clattered a bit
and Selina jumped up, putting an arm around him.

“
Let me help you,” she said
as she carried him out of the mess hall. Looking back at the others
they spoke with, she continued. “You should know not to make him
stressed!”

Selina helped him walk back to his
sleeping chambers. He was clutching his heart as he walked, hunched
forward as if he had been grown in a box that was too small for
him. He had to keep one arm on the wall and the other wrapped
around Selina just to stop himself from collapsing.

It always made him feel so weak when
this happened. How was he supposed to continue leading the
Inquisition for her if he couldn’t even carry himself from the mess
hall to his room.

Together they reached Aeon’s room, the
door laced with night blue and purple velvet. Inside were candles
in every orifice of the room. A large bed fit for a king or queen
sat in the middle with a midnight indigo quilt and a set of poles
rising up to support the suspended ceiling of the bed as well. The
symbol of the Arcana, an A surrounded by images of each of them,
hung on the wall to the left of the door.

Selina carried him to his bed as he
slowly turned around and sat down on the mattress. Breathing
heavily, he watched as the young and nubile woman slipped off his
shoes before helping him slide up the bed to the pillow.

He found he could not take his eyes off
her, like always, as she began to twist and turn her body in a most
sensual manner, unfastening her shirt and letting it fall to the
floor. Her pantaloons were next, and Aeon could not help but smile
at the fact that she wore no underwear.

In her soft and clear birthday suit she
crawled onto the bed and lay down next to him.

“
I think we need to calm
you down a little my Lord,” she said as her hands began to
explore.

*~*~*

13

EINAR

The streets of Saylae were silent
still. The sun had woken entirely and burnt high in the sky,
scorching Einar’s eyes as he walked along the roadways, water still
pouring from his eyes and down his face.

Yet even in the bright sunshine the
town felt as if it were covered by a pitch black cloud. The
citizens had their heads down as they walked with their hands in
their pockets or behind their backs. The usual sound of clattering
horse shoes had disappeared, and the market was all but abandoned.
It was almost too much for just one murder, or so thought Einar.
Yet he knew it wasn’t just the idea of a murder that caused such a
darkness to come. It was the way it happened.

To have slain a family in such a brutal
matter at a wedding and covered the wedding hall with their blood
was beyond redemption. Such an act was beyond imagination for most
people, and yet it happened.

“
What kind of man could
have done this?”

“
How could someone even
think of such an act?”

Men and women whispered and gossiped
but it was obvious to Einar that no one had actually seen the
murder scene. They were all questioning who had done and how rather
than asking why the Inquisition felt it necessary to kill Rin and
Ari.

They weren’t rebels or spies for the
Alexandria Empire. They were just a pair of villagers who were
getting married and planning to become farmers. So why would the
Inquisition need to take their lives? It made no sense to
him.

For now he had to concentrate on
Alexia. After she was safe he would investigate Rin’s
murder.

Approaching the docks of the city, he
was greeted with the sight of six different ships. Four of them
were small fishing boats with oars, almost laughable next to the
two ferries that were docked as well.

Einar walked over to the sailors who
stood near the boats smoking pipes of tobacco. One wore the sign of
Argent, the White Wolf, on his shoulder. The other wore the Dragon
Skull of Kihro. He approached the White Wolf directly, walking past
the Dragon Skull without a second glance.

“
I am looking for a ferry,”
he said directly, glaring at the sailor through his
tears.

“
We’re only going to Argent
and back. If you want to go some other place, find another
ferry.”

“
I am going to Argent. How
much is a single journey?”

“
You not coming back any
time soon? Is that not a bit curious? There’s just been a murder
here, you know?”

Einar’s eyes opened wide and filed with
fire as he glared at the man through the top of his
eyes.

“
I know that very well,” he
said with a voice more suited to a drill sergeant. “Rin was my
friend and now he is dead, killed by the Inquisition as far as I
can tell by their symbol being painted on the wall. My sister is
missing as well, kidnapped and taken to Argent. So you will forgive
me if I do not accept and join in with your little games right now
and rather just ask once again for the price of a single
journey.”

Both sailors stood silent and
motionless for a few seconds before the man from Argent scratched
his head. He stepped back to open the path to the boat and
stretched out an arm as if to say ‘continue’.

“
The price?”

“
This is a gift,” said the
sailor, looking at Einar with eyes distant and half empty, yet
strangely caring. “I apologize for my joke, I did not know your
situation. What has happened to your sister? How long has she been
missing? Perhaps we may have seen her.”

“
She and I were at home
last night. We went to bed at the same time because we share a
bedroom, but when I woke up she was gone.

Our neighbour’s son confessed to
helping a man come into our village and take her. He said the man
was going to Argent. His father is dealing with him now and I will
travel to there to search for her.”

“
What did she look
like?”

“
She had long brown hair
and always wore a purple piece of fabric in it. She would have been
dressed in a brown tunic with a second piece of purple fabric
wrapped around her shoulders.

She is about the same height as my
shoulders and rather thin compared to the woman of
Saylae.”

The sailor paused, his hand open on his
chin as his eyes looked to the sky. He breathed heavily as Einar
waited for a reply. The sailor’s face returned to his level with an
empty expression.

“
I have not seen anyone
like that going to Argent. Which means whoever took her must have
had enough coin to use an airship as it is the only other way
across the seas.

Get on board and we will take you there
as fast as possible. We leave within the hour. Just waiting for the
captain to return.”

Einar smiled to say thank you before
walking along the wooden pier toward the ferry. The boat itself had
three floors. The top deck, exposed to the elements, contained the
crew’s cabin and the helm, as well as a deck area for passengers to
sit on. The deck area was made of whitewashed wood flooring with
wooden chairs resembling beds more than anything else.

The middle floor held the passenger’s
rooms. Each room contained a wooden fold away bed and a bedside
table with candles for light at night. They were plain room at
best, but on a ferry you did not need luxury as the journey would
only take a few hours. There was cafeteria of sorts on the same
floor but it was very small in size.

On the bottom floor was the engine
room, filled with smoke and steam. Men worked constantly to funnel
fuel materials into the burning stove. The engine was far
out-dated, with little in the way of electric heating rods. Instead
it used the now archaic wooden burning method to heat the
water.

Einar made his way to the top deck,
climbing the stairs and passing passengers of all
origins.

There were men and women of class,
strutting around in leather and velvet, as well as children running
around in little more than rags. On the stairs he had to dodge to
the right to avoid a young woman moving far too fast without
looking.

She was calling out a name which Einar
assumed was her child’s. On the deck he found even more people.
Some were drinking fine wine whilst others were gulping down water
as if they had never tasted it. It truly was a perfect example of
life in the Ringlands since the Alexandria Empire came so many
years before. It was, however, getting better under the control of
the Inquisition.

The Inquisition were the heroes of the
Ringlands. They had brought peace and prosperity back, although it
was taking a while to filter to all the citizens. They were heroes,
so why did they murder Rin? Why would one of them take Alexia?
Einar could not understand it.

He gazed out to the sea and the boat
finally began to move. The captain had arrived and made his way to
the crew’s cabin. The roar of the engine increased fourfold and the
water seemed reluctant to give way to the heavy ferry.

“
Alexia,” started Einar,
talking to the ocean. “Where are you? What is going on? Please tell
me something. I need you. You are all the family I have
left.

I will find you. I will find you and I
will learn from this man what is going on. How could the
Inquisition do this Alexia? Tell me something. Where are
you?”

The boat tore through the ocean at ever
quickening speed. He would be in Argent in just a few short hours.
He would be there for the first time in his life.

*~*~*

14

NATE

“
The Valkyria? As if this
could get any worse,” said Charles.

Nate looked at his friend, not really
sure what he meant by that. The engineers and soldiers that
surrounded them moved closer. The man who called himself Irving
stood and faced them, learning on his walking stick.