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The trip to the train was short, as was the train ride. When we disembarked, it was barely noon, and it would only take an hour to get to the castle itself, an hour of riding through the city. On the ride through Geidy, I inspected it, and found that it was very much like I imagined it being in the Flip Side. The place was full of people, lots of people, some rich by their villas and beach houses, and some not by the few dilapidated houses I saw in the background of this huge city. There were shops, and skyscrapers farther away, and plenty of well-paved roads. People came out to watch us, but they were kept at bay by the royal guards that had come to escort us. Geidy was putting up a show of strength, and they succeeded. Their many guards were well-disciplined, well-groomed, precise, polite, and had a no-nonsense look about most of them.
Unlike Valeria and some of the other countries, Geidy didn’t go for the medieval look. Cars passed in the streets around ours, but the road from the airport to the castle was perfectly clear. The houses were purely modern, and the castle was more of a modern-day palace. It was the only thing that didn’t look like it would fit in the Flip Side with ease.
The castle was white, and had tall columns etched with a wavy symbol that I saw on their people. I wondered if it was supposed to stand for waves or the broken earth after earthquakes. If Linson liked their tornadoes, why not Geidy their earthquakes? Still, I knew that everything about the palace would be able to withstand the strongest earthquakes. The wall outside the magnificent grounds was a good eighty feet tall, and made of the same white material that the palace seemed to be made of. The grounds were big enough to encompass a small town, and I assumed they did by the size of the palace. It put the American White House to shame. This was at least three levels taller, and much wider. It hadn’t been painted white, but was naturally white. The lawns were meticulously cut and flowers were organized and blooming beautifully. I wondered if servants had gone through and removed any wilting petals before our arrival.
We reached another wall inside, a shorter one, but only by thirty feet, and it looked older. I guessed that this had been the original wall, and the outer wall had been placed there when they’d expanded. That didn’t mean this one hadn’t been taken care of. The white stone was a little more cracked and a little smoother with wear, but it was as solid as the outer wall, and the guards stationed on the wall above saluted us in unison. I heard Cathy giggle as we dismounted and knew she was wondering, like I was, how often they’d had to practice that little salute. Stablemen, just as pressed and precise and polite as the guards, collected our horses and led them off to wherever the stables were, and half of the escorting guards disappeared as we now walked to the palace. The remaining guards stayed with us until the king and queen reached the top of the steps, and then they moved to either side. I was a few rows back, so that by the time I reached the top and looked back, I saw that the guards were lining either side of the stairs. As they took their place, they saluted and stayed there with all the dedication and sternness of a British Royal Guard. I couldn’t help but smile, and then we were inside.
The inside was just as lavish and well-tended as everything else. Servants, dressed in the proper livery, stepped forward to take traveling coats, offer quick drinks, and then move back silently as we made our way to the throne room. Our shoes walked on marble. Colorful banners, one for every country, hung from the ceiling on either side. As we reached the doorway, Geidy’s banner was displayed in the middle, a few feet from the door so it wouldn’t hide the gleaming walls that I knew had been cleaned along with everything else, and possibly painted within the year.
The throne room was stacked with people wearing all colors, but the decorations were deep blue and white; Geidy’s colors. Mari and the king and queen were all wearing red and silver, which were Valeria’s colors. I was wearing the guard’s uniform, brown, but for this, we’d all gotten a red jacket to wear over it, which only made it that much hotter. I put up with it knowing appearances were important. The silver stitching on the jackets differed, which showed the differences between ranks. As Mari’s personal guard, which would not be my primary status after these introductions, I had the stitching of a crown on the back. Martin wore his dress uniform and his uniform earned two swords crossing each other in the middle of a crown. He wore his ruby arrow and the Elite Guard all wore their emerald arrows. Some of them had more than one, but I was the only one with the diamond arrow.
Formal welcomes began as we stopped a few yards from the thrones where the king and queen were draped in blue and white. By the rhythm of the words, these greetings and exchanges seemed to be part of the tradition between the bearers of the invitation to the peace conference and the host of the peace conference. While I listened, I scanned through the crowds, recognizing a few faces, and felt a little better.
The royalty were all sitting on thrones on either side of the Geidy royalty. Demetri sat alone, with no queen beside him, and although I knew he had to be nervous at being here and the king for the first time, he looked composed and calm. As the greetings between our royalty and Geidy royalty finished, King Alan and Queen Florinda moved forward with Mari and took their places at the only remaining empty thrones.
Now the Geidy royalty would greet us, and I squeezed Cathy’s hand in comfort as I heard her gulp.
“Alan,” said King Irvin of Geidy. “I have heard many tales of a woman from the Flip Side, and I must confess that I am intrigued and would very much like to meet this lady.”
Alan nodded to me and I stepped forward as he said, “Lady Joan Ilion.”
I curtseyed to him, properly and perfectly. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”
“Rise,” Irvin said, eyes alight as he studied me. “The honor is mine, to meet such a unique person. You are the first person in the history of our worlds to be able to see us.”
“So I have heard, Your Highness.” My mouth twitched. “Many times. I have long since stopped being awed by it.”
He smiled as well. “I have heard that it is due largely to you that Lendia and Valeria are able to join us at this peace conference. I’m sure they are glad to have found you.”
My tone was perfectly courteous. “Peace would not have happened without work and cooperation between the two countries. They resolved their own problems and made their peace through their own effort, not because of me.”
“A chivalrous and gracious statement, and one you no doubt see as the truth,” said a man beside the throne. He had white-blond hair that was cut short and spiked and nearly invisible against his pale skin. His eyes were a pale blue, but intense even though his words had been soothing and almost musical to listen to.
I curtseyed to him, running through faces in my head frantically and coming up blank. Hoping he wouldn’t be offended, I said, “I apologize, sir, but I don’t believe I am familiar with you.”
“He is Maxwell, our shaman,” the King of Geidy explained. “With a unique talent.”
The man stepped off the platform and stopped a few feet from me and offered his hand. “If I may,” he said.
I glanced around, trying to figure out what I was getting myself into and if I was allowed to refuse, then took his hand. A feeling of immersion washed over me and my eyes widened.
The man stared into my eyes as he started to speak, his eyes dilating. “You are strong,” he said, voice taking an eerie quality. “Strong of heart and strong of spirit, strong in your convictions and emotions. Much of this is from the trauma of losing so much in your life. You don’t take things lightly and you don’t stop following your beliefs. However, you are afraid of your future and what it holds and you have a deep-set fear of never finding your place. You fear losing everything you have. You don’t want to lose the people you love and the family you claim here, but you will walk away if you think you have to.”
There were murmurs at this but I couldn’t move, staring at this man who was seeing more about me than I’d ever let anyone know.
“You go to any length and will overcome any danger or challenge to complete your goal, and although you sometimes see it as a weakness, it is a great strength to have the dedication and strength of will that you have been blessed with. You may always have questions and doubts about your life and your heritage simply because you can no longer ask questions about your past, but you know that to those that matter to you, it does not matter to them. You show respect to those you think deserve it and you keep honoring them until the trust you have for them is broken.” He squeezed my hand and his voice was warm and not eerie anymore. “It is an honor to meet you, Joan Ilion.”
The room burst into applause as I continued to stare in shock at the shaman. “How...?” I whispered amid the noise.
“Just what I do, Miss Ilion,” the man said. “I read emotions, and I can feel the honor and integrity in you as easily as I can tell your hair color.” He released my hand and turned to Martin. “Captain Gonhiad, if I may.”
Martin glanced at me, then said, “I have heard that it is a great honor to have this done and that you do not offer this lightly.”
“There have been those who refused it,” the shaman said.
“I would not refuse an honor such as this,” Martin said, and took the offered hand.
I saw Martin’s eyes widen as well and knew he was feeling what I had felt. The shaman’s voice became eerie again. “You have lived a hard life for one as young as you, and you are the better for it. You see things in people that others may not, but you are your harshest critic. You love as deeply as Joan, although you have had less to love in your life. Your dedication is strong to those who you feel deserve it and you are relentless in your pursuit of your goals and those you love. You have done your best to live up to the expectations you have put on yourself, and you are rewarded for your work. Yet, for all your accomplishments, you have learned what is important and you would willingly give it all up for what you have now in your life. Or I should say, who you have now in your life.”
There were murmurs at this too and I felt a smile grow on my face.
“Yet for all your strength,” the shaman continued, “you also have fears of your own. Your biggest fear is making a mistake you cannot repair and the consequences that may result from that mistake. You will forever do your best to make up for your mistakes even when those mistakes have long since been forgiven. Learn to trust and forgive as well. Learn to see that your ability to listen to others and your judgment of others is one of your greatest strengths because your judgment is often right.” He smiled. “It is an honor to meet you as well, Martin Gonhiad.”
The room burst into applause again. Martin blinked and finally let go of the shaman’s hand and moving beside me. I wrapped my hand around his instantly. It took a minute before he realized it, still recovering, but then he gripped my hand and sent a warm smile to me.
“Catherine Ilion,” Maxwell said, looking at my sister.
Cathy gave me a hesitant look and I gestured to the man. She chewed her lip, then walked forward. I saw Cathy ask something quietly but couldn’t tell what it was. Maxwell shook his head and offered his hand, and I saw Cathy reluctantly take his hand. She gave a soft gasp at the contact as the hair on my arms lifted for the third time.
“You are strong of character, much like your sister. You have lost a lot in your life, and you cling to your sister because you are afraid of losing her too. You do whatever you can to keep your sister happy and make things easier for her because you don’t want to hold her back. You worry about so many things and do your best to keep that from showing. However, you are just as strong in your convictions and beliefs as your sister and although you sometimes think you are not as strong as her, you fail to see the inner strength you have and how much you sister relies on that. You are afraid of losing the friends you have here and you fear not being like your sister in her talents and difference. You love those around you here with a strong intensity and have an impressive amount of loyalty towards those in your life. You make friends easily and although you are very different from your sister in some ways, you are similar in how special you are and in how strong your dedication is. It is an honor to meet you, Cathy Ilion.”
The room burst into loud applause again as Cathy beamed and crossed over to me. She hugged me and I hugged her back, keeping my arm around her.
It seemed that Maxwell was done for he nodded to the king and queen and went to stand behind the throne. A few introductions were made, but soon the general greetings began. I gripped Cathy’s hand and went to find Mari. Florinda smiled when I approached. “You’re hoping to get out of one more gathering.”
“Fervently, Your Highness.”
“Unfortunately, you are no longer Princess Mari’s personal guard. You are now a diplomat. However,” she said at the resignation on my face, “I will allow you to go. You must prepare for the ball tonight. After tonight, however, you cannot use Mari as an excuse to escape a social function, which means you must attend them all unless you have another excuse.”
“I didn’t bring Cathy for her looks, Your Highness,” I said, flashing a smile as she laughed. “Thank you, Your Highness.” I held out my hand for Mari and remembered to bow to Florinda before heading towards the nearest exit. When I was almost there, I spotted Martin. “Hold on a minute,” I said to the girls, then I moved over to him. “A moment of your time, sir, please,” I said.
He excused himself for a moment and turned to me. “Yes?”
“White and gold. Pick your color.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek because it felt right. “I’m going to escape with the girls now.”
“I’ll see you tonight, Joan.” He turned back to the guards and I slipped out of the room.
One of the perfectly pressed and perfectly polite servants led us to our room where, of course, our bags were waiting. A dark-skinned woman rose from the chair where she’d been sitting. “May I assist you in unpacking or fetch something for you?” she asked smoothly.
“I would appreciate it if you would assist us in unpacking our formal wear,” I said politely. “We shouldn’t need any help other than that.”
“Of course, my lady,” she said, curtseying to me.
“Mari, Cathy, unpack your things. Don’t make a mess.”
Cathy all but skipped over to her bags. “What dress are you wearing tonight?” she asked Mari eagerly.
“I have to wear red, because I’m from Valeria and the royalty have to wear their colors on the first night,” Mari explained. “What are you wearing?”
“I don’t know. Our country has three colors.” She bit her lip, considering. “Maybe just red.”
“But you’re not royalty.”
“But we are the only diplomats from America,” I reminded Mari. “We need to be politically correct. Cathy, I’m wearing white. Why don’t you wear the blue and white one?”
Cathy brightened. “So I can have two of the three. And I can wear the America bracelet so they know I’m from America.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea.”