A Dream of Empire Ch. 014

Tatiana sighed. "I suppose that's a reasonable enough-"

"Hey! Are you two going to talk all night, or will you actually decide to sleep?" a wholly-unamused Alanna shouted from outside the tent. Talos and Tatiana grinned at one another, but Talos blew out the small candle between them.

"See you in the morning," Talos said to her.

"Yes. Good night, Talos."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Talos' mind wandered through time as he slept, as minds were oft known to do. He found himself with only twenty-four years again; his hair was short, his will eager, and his heart was not yet hardened by time. He found himself standing within a forest of spiraling white-and-silver towers, but he wasn't exactly sure how he'd arrived there.

It was a festive day to arrive in Tor Valliya. It seemed the entire country had come out to the streets this day in celebration. Each balcony on every building lining the main street was packed with revelers, and the street itself held so many cheering elves that it was nigh untraversable. Talos himself had never seen such a crowd himself outside of a battlefield, and he seemed to be the only man in Tor Valliya who wasn't aware of the occurrence. Though, he figured he was likely the only man in Tor Valliya in the first place; not many humans were permitted to travel to the ancient city of elves in this day and age, after all.

He turned to the elf standing beside him; a tall and lithe huntress from the northern reaches of Valliya, clad in leather and white furs. She and Talos had only been traveling together for the better part of a season, but had already witnessed enough unbelievable sights together to fuel a lifetime of stories.

"Hey, Anaril. What event has drawn so many?" Talos asked of her. She turned to him wearing her ever-present smirk, a look which he still wasn't quite used to even now. What was there to even smirk about?

"The next child of the King has come of age. This is her celebration," she answered succinctly.

"Mm," Talos mumbled. He scanned the street once more, but couldn't imagine why such a mundane event would rile so many. "She important?"

Anaril chuckled. "Not any more than the other thirty children of the King."

Talos crossed his arms. "So you elves always do this? For every one of the thirty?"

"Every single one."

He groaned indignantly at her reply. To him, the celebration seemed like quite the unnecessary effort for such an arbitrary notion. Talos couldn't even remember what he was doing on his eighteenth name day.

Soon, the procession came close. Near the fore of the parade was a golden chariot, led by six of the whitest horses Talos had ever seen. The dazzling chariot carried a gorgeous elven girl, dressed in flowing white skirts and gleaming white-gold jewelry. She was far fairer than any other being Talos had ever laid eyes upon, and he knew instantly he'd never find one fairer.

"Make way for the Princess Casiama, Fourth of her Name!" a herald shouted to the crowd. Talos and Anaril pushed their way to a less-occupied position as the elves around them crowded close, but Talos' eyes remained fixed on the princess in white.

"Wow. She's stunning," Talos said to Anaril over the din of the crowd. She smirked at him, and placed a hand on her hip.

"She is a princess of Valliya, Talos. You best seek someone of lower status."

Talos rolled his eyes. Admitting the princess was beautiful didn't mean that he was looking to bed her, of course. Perhaps Anaril had seen the wrong side of him, to come up with such an absurd suggestion.

"You sound jealous, Anaril, that she receives my attention at all," Talos jested anyway.

"Ah, my dear, stubborn human. I am only being true to you. The princess Casiama will be married off in a week's time, just like all those before her. And there is no chance that it will be by your hand."

"Well, yeah. I know that," Talos shrugged. "Only saying she's pretty. What's the point of the festivities and the chariot if I'm not supposed to look at her?"

"Bah, sometimes I wonder why I spend all of my precious time with you. This is Elvendom, Talos. If you cannot celebrate a royal family member's coming-of-age, what can you celebrate?"

Talos shook his head. The celebration, Anaril, all of it, were just more pieces to a puzzle that he could never hope to finish in a single lifetime. One thing was for certain, however; that princess Casiama was pretty.

Anaril tugged on his arm. "Come on. The Silver Hall will be impossible to navigate if we remain here any longer."

"Right, yeah. Let's go," Talos acquiesced, turning his gaze from that lovely elf in white atop the chariot.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Talos awoke to the new day in a fog. He blinked his eyes open, hoping to find the elf of his dreams standing before him.

She wasn't there. Actually, nobody was; he was alone inside the tent, and it was already horribly bright outside. Surely he hadn't slept through Alanna's rest as well?

Talos equipped what gear he'd removed yesternight before leaving the tent, which turned out to only be his leather jacket and sword. He put them both on, and cracked his neck and shoulders before vacating the temporary abode.

He found his two sorceresses outside and awaiting him for travel. The sun - or, what he could see of it through the clouds - was fortunately only at mid-morning. Unfortunately, this meant that Alanna had skipped her sleep entirely for some reason or another. Talos quickly relieved himself, then set to figuring out why she had done so.

Alanna was looking away from him as he approached, staring down the road with his crossbow slung over her shoulder, while her other hand was occupied with stuffing crackers into her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her, and assaulted her neck with his lips.

"Did you sleep?" he asked between kisses. Alanna fought her way free from his grasp with little effort, and twirled about to meet him face-to-face.

"I... didn't," she replied with her gaze cast towards the ground. "I almost did, but you just looked so exhausted, and I couldn't bear to wake you. I'll sleep tonight, honey."

"Alanna."

"Talos, don't you dare-"

"Alanna, I don't care if I looked tired," he gruffly chided her. "You need sleep just as much as I do. How long was I out?"

She shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? We've no sundial or clock tower here. I'd say ten hours, tops."

Not nearly as long as he'd worried. "Alright. Next time, just wake me."

"But, Talos-"

"I don't care. You only think your lack of age allows you to get away with it. On the road, though, you need every advantage you can get, and a defended sleep is one of the most important advantages of all. Promise me you won't do it again."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I promise, honey."

Talos nodded. "Good. Give me the crossbow back."

She did, chuckling. Talos felt fortunate in that it wasn't cocked, so it wouldn't have been a threat to anyone anyway. He didn't waste time in strapping it behind his back, though. "Anything else, your highness?" Alanna teased him.

"Yeah. I want you to make friends with Tatiana again."

"You want me to...? Talos. She's mad at me. How could I be mad at her? Are you mad at her?"

"Well no, of course not."

Alanna remained silent with a hand on her hip, to allow Talos the time to figure the conundrum out on his own through his morning fog.

"But you've been mad at her before?" he reasoned after a moment.

"And you know it's different with her now," Alanna quickly rebuked.

"Okay, fine, I'll talk to her. Sorry. But you really should have slept, love. You're cranky."

"I'm...? Talos..."

"Mm?"

"Give me the crossbow back."

Talos grinned. They could have played this out a thousand times and he still would never have given in to her request. He gave her a kiss instead of a weapon, though she did try to playfully bite his nose as he retreated from her. With a smirk and a wave, he made his way towards the other sorceress.

Tatiana was perched on a rock about forty yards away, pretending to bury her nose in a book while Dusk napped on her feet. Talos strode towards her, but she greeted him first with a smile.

"Good morning. I'm truly impressed by your ability to sleep so well on the ground," she giggled.

"Beats the boat," he curtly replied, sweeping a hand through his greasy hair. "Say, Tatiana, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Yes! Anything," she enthusiastically and immediately replied, shutting her book in the process.

"Please make friends with Alanna again. I can't bear to see you two at odds. I know she's sometimes... direct, but you know as well as I do that she has a good heart. Whatever she did while I was away was probably well-intentioned, or at the very least just in poor taste. Forgive her for me."

Tatiana squinted at him. "Do you know what she did?"

"No," he shook his head. "I usually prefer to be surprised. Was it that bad?"

"She tried to... no, she did kiss me. While we were in our small clothes. After I'd already told her I don't... my desires don't... ugh!"

"Okay, so she kissed you. Is that really something to be mad about?" Talos shrugged. "I mean, I'd understand if she betrayed you, or made you look like a fool in front of others, but a kiss? Really?"

"She betrayed my trust. That's something," Tatiana pouted.

"And, let me guess, you two were drinking before that happened? And perhaps... let's see... she'd probably try the complimenting game with you..." Talos mused with a hand on his chin.

"Yes and yes, but Talos-"

"But nothing. Look, she got the wrong idea about you, and she won't try it again. All I'm asking is for you to forgive her for a single act of stupidity, acts that should be expected of girls with twenty years anyway."

Tatiana groaned, "I knew you'd take her side..."

"On the contrary, there are no sides to be taken," Talos explained further with a shrug. "My bond with her apparently doesn't allow her to be mad at you, which means that reconciliation is entirely within your court. I'm only asking for you to forgive her, and to allow her to try and build that trust once more. Please? For me?"

She rolled her head side-to-side. "Fine. For you," she murmured. He wrapped an arm around her for a brief hug.

"Great, thanks. You can get started now; I gotta roll up the tent," Talos smirked with a thumb over his shoulder.

-=-=-

Talos rode far afield for most of the remaining journey to Sarum, a five-hour affair in all. While he'd said the purpose for riding alone was to scout the path ahead, the true reason for doing so was obvious to all. Alanna gave her best attempts to talk to Tatiana when she was given the chance to do so, and Talos gave them their privacy; so, he wasn't entirely sure if she was successful or not in the endeavor. Still, he was fairly confident things were improving. Alanna had that way with people, after all, shielded or not.

He returned to them come midday meal, just before reaching the city of Sarum. They shared a cold meal of jerky and crackers then, and shared stories under the shadow of a lone oak tree. Talos learned the girls had visited Santaria in his absence, where Tatiana not only took Alanna's fashion advice - and learned the color black should only be worn by the mournful and the fat, apparently - but had also played a piano in front of an audience of a hundred and three.

Talos, stunned that the sheepish Tatiana would ever do such a thing, was even more taken aback when Alanna explained the reason for Tatiana's exposition was due to the bard Emmanuel. Apparently they ran across the ridiculous man in Santaria, where he had had an argument with his female pianist at the very last minute, just before a show. Tatiana stepped in, then, and was apparently well-received by the haughty Santarians. The trio had drinks after the show, and Alanna and Tatiana soon retired to a room together; Talos figured this was where the kiss had come in, but he didn't pry. Alanna abruptly finished the story at that point, and telepathically confirmed his suspicions.

It all sounded like a nice time to him. Talos, of course, would never step foot in Santaria again due to his notoriety there, but was content enough with the vicarious travel.

They came upon the walls of Sarum soon after their midday meal. Sarum was the capital city of a Duchy sharing the same name, though it's size was far less impressive than a comparative capital in the Empire. The city itself could be traversed end-to-end in less than ten minutes, due to its tightly-constructed ring wall, and most houses constructed within seemed cobbled together, made of various materials depending on the fortunes of the builders.

Talos had been here before, and none of this was a surprise to him. In fact, he would have avoided the city entirely if the surveyor he sought hadn't resided there. What did surprise him, however, were the rows of mounted-and-mailed knights lined in formation just outside the city's western gate. Banners of all colors flapped overhead, with the black-and-purple checkered flag of the King in the center.

Talos wasn't aware that there was a war going on, which would be the only reason to raise knights in such numbers. Knights were expensive, after all; you're not just paying for a man, his armor, his horse, and his skills, but his retinue as well. Knights, depending on their position, could have a retinue ranging from a single squire to a squadron of dozens of men-at-arms. The formation here appeared about two-hundred strong, which was quite the intimidating force in Solais. Talos rode towards the formation with his sorceresses in tow, hoping to gather more information.

"My man, what event has the lord calling in his bannermen?" Talos asked of one of the mailed knights, who stood below a white-and-blue banner with a black raven emblazoned in the center. The knight sized him up in a matter of seconds, glancing at his crossbow and sword, and answered soon after.

"Another Orc raid to the east, threatening villages all across the Midlands. The King's called in half the banners of Sarum," the knight gruffly explained.

"That's quite the host," Talos replied, looking over the formation. "You said another? Are these a common occurrence?"

"Aren't from here, are ye man?" the knight snubbed.

Talos shook his head. "Nah. Evoran."

"Imperial, more like," the knight begged to differ. "Then you're likely unawares of the Tauric Incursion earlier this year as well. And now there are whispers that the elves are mobilizing to the east. A buddy of mine heard some Corminans-"

"The elves to the south?"

"-yeah. He heard some of them whisperin' to each other, sayin' the Jade Moon only comes about when their savior returns to the world to lead them to glory. Hard to believe, but... you know how whispers go. Anyway, we live in dangerous times, Imperial, and it's not just the fuckin' Orcs."

Talos wasn't quite aware of the fact he lived in dangerous times. As far as he knew, the world had been a relatively safe place for the past three-hundred years; at least, relative to the historical age of total warfare.

"Dangerous times indeed. Give them hell, knight," Talos gruffly replied.

"And you, Imperial, if you are heading that way. Ladies," he bowed.

"Sir knight," Alanna flourished with a flutter of lashes.

The trio continued on into the city of Sarum on foot, with Talos and Tatiana leading their own horses by the reins while Alanna led hers empathically. Talos took his time digesting the knight's words, feeling a sudden fear in the pit of his stomach that Casiama was-

"The elves think Cass is their savior?" Alanna asked the party aloud.

"Nonsense. Alanna, they've no way of knowing what happened on Dun Aysla," Tatiana hastily denied. "In fact, it's probable that their belief came about after they'd witnessed the Emerald Moon; like, how the Imperial Ecclesiarch declares that every comet is a sign of the Emperor's divine right to rule."

"He does have that right, doesn't he?" the enchantress shrugged.

"So they say. Talos, what do you think?" Tatiana turned to him.

"Well, I think it fits well with your theory, er, hypothesis of Casiama... though, I try not to pay attention to rumors. What we do know is that the elves here in Solais might be a bit more aggressive than we expected, and that our journey through the Midlands might not be as peaceful as originally thought. Nothing we can't handle of course, especially on horseback, though I do intend on letting the army ride out before we do."

"What's your logic?" Tatiana asked.

Talos rolled his smirking gaze her way. "Just a rule of mine I guess, in that it's better to ride in the wake of an army than in it's sights." The sorceress nodded in agreement, and Talos glanced towards the tightly-packed buildings ahead. "Anyway, got the name of a 'Sir Mattias Rende' for our surveyor. Alanna?"

"On it," she softly confirmed, shutting her eyes. Talos wasn't entirely sure how Alanna performed the mass-questioning of those around her, but was well aware that she was capable of doing so. Deciding not to bother the enchantress as she worked, Talos looked to the small market square to his left, hoping to catch a glimpse of a surveyor's shop. Then, he wondered what a surveyor's shop would look like, and decided to halt that plan.

The city of Sarum was shaped in a perfect circle atop a hill, with a dry moat and thick stone walls protecting it's entire circumference. In the center of this circle was another, smaller ring of walls, which had been constructed to protect the Duke's castle. A thinner set of partitioning walls divided the city in two, and it was through that wall's gatehouse that the trio continued to the merchant district of Sarum. Ultimately, it wasn't a very large city; half-a-thousand souls at most.

"Got it," Alanna exhaled after three minutes of walking with her eyes shut. "We're going the right way; second street on the left, a townhouse with dark red banisters."

"Thanks, honey."

Tatiana cynically raised her brow. "Very impressive, Alanna. Which book did you learn that from?" she asked with a hint of contempt.

"Book?" Alanna sweetly replied.

"Behave, ladies," Talos groaned. Tatiana pursed her lips and straightened her posture, while Alanna's honeyed grin held fast. They soon found the residence of Sir Mattias, a larger two-story townhouse with most of it's first-story windows shuttered. They tied their horses to the dark red railings flanking the front steps before Talos gave the door a knock.

He was half-expecting the surveyor to not be home, judging from the shuttered windows, and was half-turned away when he heard the bolt unlatch behind the wooden door. He turned to the now-opened doorway, and tilted his gaze towards the ground.

The man who opened the door was far... shorter than Talos had anticipated, and he hoped he didn't come across as indignant or overbearing by standing so high up. Actually, he wasn't quite sure what the protocol was for dealing with men so small.

"Hail. What can I do fer ye?" the short man said.

"Hail," Talos greeted, extending a hand for a shake. The short man took it, and had a surprisingly strong grip for a man so small. "We're looking for a surveyor who goes by the name Sir Mattias Rende. You him?"

"Aye, that's me," he cheerfully confirmed.

Didn't expect a midget, Alanna playfully thought.

Half-man, Talos corrected. He knew the importance of using politically-correct terms.