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Theocratic-Monarchy: SunSide
22nd Day of Month 6, Year 1628 DG
Unisa feeds her friends morsels of detail, but Kyoko demands mouthfuls. The igni doesn’t appear satisfied until she can close her eyes and picture Alba’s final, violent hour vividly.
A tormenting truth comes to light: only hours earlier, Kyoko and Rafael had been sitting in the back of a carriage, inches from Alba’s killer. It compels Kyoko to request time alone to process, so Rafael escorts her to the bedroom as Unisa turns her attention to a fiery conversation across the table.
“I don’t understand,” Ovida growls with narrowed eyes, “why wouldn’t you come to me?”
“Why would I come to you?” Zalona counters. “Unisa was scared and alone. She needed refuge and safety.”
Ovida throws her arms in the air. “Have you looked outside, Zalona? The Ore Monger now has absolute power. Refuge and safety were assassinated last night.”
She raises a powerful finger at Unisa. “She’s clearly valuable after what she witnessed. You were going to let her fly back to the Library?”
“What was I supposed to do, Ovida? Drag a terrified human barely older than Zakia to your base for interrogation?”
“If that’s what it takes to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else, then yes. Fucking drag her.”
Zalona places her fingers gently on Ovida’s. “I miss Zabeza, too, but we have an example to set for Zakia. She and the others will be home soon. We have to show her that violence cannot eradicate virtue. That injustice cannot butcher integrity.”
Reluctantly, Ovida nods, and the bedroom door creaks open. Rafael winces and limps as he returns, so Unisa reaches to assist him. His embrace transports her back home to where they were safe—far from warfare and wounds and scars.
“We should find you a tub to heal,” Unisa suggests, recalling memories of a bloody Rafael bathing in her apartment after an archery lesson gone awry.
Rafael’s eyes transfix on the twins, catching Naina’s attention.
She turns to him. “Staring tells me you either want to fight or fuck, and I won’t fuck you. Lower the eyes before you lose them.”
“You’re the twins,” he spouts plainly. “The falcon and the wolf.”
A nervous glance shoots between the Doruh sisters.
“How did you know that?” Salessa inquires.
Rafael hesitates. “The TreeKeeper told me.”
“She’s real?” Unisa responds, eyes wide.
“She is. And Hay-Ro’s claims have revealed more truths than even he intended.”
“Hay-Ro’s what?” Zalona says, leaning forward.
Rafael locks eyes with Unisa. “You haven’t told them why you and Alba came to SunSide?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t know who to trust, Rafa.”
“What letter?” Ovida demands.
Unisa inhales. “I uncovered a hidden letter in the Library, written by Hay-Ro. It claimed that many historical details of the MegaParents’ life had been altered or outright fabricated to protect Red-Lo’s legacy and besmirch Drof-Fa’s. Including the details of her death, which he implied was not accidental.”
Rafael continues, “Unisa and Alba were sent here to question the MegaFather and the Braver General about the validity of what was written, while Kyoko and I ventured to find the TreeKeeper, hoping she would provide insight.”
“Isn’t the TreeKeeper a tale told to misbehaving children to scare them?” Ovida asks.
“Evidently not,” Rafael confirms. “We found her.”
Rafael unburdens himself of the TreeKeeper’s tale: Drof-Fa’s new form, the ancient Sprites, Red-Lo’s servitude, his biological inability to produce offspring, and the search for a power source strong enough to forge a changeling and offer it in place of an organic heir.
Rafael’s words spread to every ear, and affect every heart. The knots of their lives have come untangled. Naina and Salessa learn that they’re being hunted so that the Goddess can power the changeling. Zalona and Ovida know the truth behind their loved one’s abduction and murder.
In a few short sentences, Rafael sheds piercing light over years of impenetrable darkness.
“We know everything he does,” Rafael comments through the deep silence clenching the room. “Who he is. Who he serves. What he’s done.”
Unisa’s mind flashes back to the conversation she had with Alba in MoonSide. Knowledge empowers. As long as he knows more than us, he has power over us.
“We know far more than he does,” she replies. “We know his wife is still alive.”
Power, control courses through her veins. “And he’s lost the only eyewitness to eight assassinations.”
“Nine,” Ovida attempts to correct her.
Unisa shakes her head. “No, eight. When Alba and I were ambushed, Saila wasn’t home. She’s still alive.”
Ovida’s hands drop onto the table and she rises to her feet so quickly, her chair falls backwards. “Saila lives?!”
A moist shield envelops Zalona’s eyes and she raises her arms to the Four. “The theocracy survives.”
Unisa nods. “And he doesn’t know her location. But I do.”
“Then we’ll send a messenger,” Ovida suggests.
Her statement unearths a buried memory from the bedrock of Unisa’s trauma. Alba’s final words break free of her chained, damaged psyche and step into the light of her consciousness.
As soon as you’re out of SunSide, send a letter to Saila. She’s with her mother in Eloa, remember?
Unisa frantically recollects every word uttered in Alba’s final moments. “Saila’s in Eloa with her mother. I have to get her to come back to SunSide and challenge the MegaFather.”
“She loved Alba,” grows Kyoko’s approaching voice.
Her eyes are swollen and red, but she holds her chin high. “When Saila finds out what’s happened, she’ll be back in Larso before we even have a plan developed.”
“We?” Ovida asks. “Librarians don’t get involved.”
“Well I can’t speak for every Librarian in this room—”
“Yes, you can, Ambassador,” Rafael says with a reassuring smile.
Kyoko returns it, then turns to Unisa, who nods encouragingly. The igni continues,“We’re not going anywhere until I have Vy-Ro’s head.”
“And I have Red-Lo’s,” Ovida joins in.
Naina smiles a wide-toothed grin, nearly salivating. “And I have the green pixie’s.”
“Unisa leaves for Eloa tonight,” Ovida lays out. “The Revolutionary Forces will be ready for an assault on the Castrum by the time she gets back. Saila will lead the slaughter of the Braver organization, and the end of the Red-Lo Royal Dynasty.”
“The team will be back from Lily Beach soon,” Naina mentions. “The Ore Monger will have no ore left beyond what’s here in Larso.”
“Perhaps I should go to Eloa,” Salessa suggests. “I can take your mentor’s map for guidance. Falcon’s fly faster.”
Unisa ignores the sting of her comment. “I think she should hear about Alba from me. This is my mission.”
“How are you going to get out of SunSide?” Zalona questions. “You’re still wanted.”
Ovida smiles. “Nivyan Hollow. She can take to the skies from there. The canopies will mask her ascent.”
Kyoko nods. “Then it’s settled. Unisa flies for Eloa. Tonight.”