Chapter 15: Tarnished Ivory Tamed
It burned hotter and cooler than Devouring. It shined brighter and darker than sun or night. It was more than soul, more than stone, more than life itself. The heart of Lafleur was built on Sapphire, and it endured beyond the end, bringing everything back into shape.
Clarity and Accession
Roisin was there, laying in bed, just staring at me. Not exactly smiling, but definitely a positive expression. She didn't immediately move, a fact I would thank her for later, given her state of undress. What was I meant to say?
"I'm hungry, and I'd like to cook, but there are a few issues," she continued speaking like nothing was odd. "First, I'm naked under this blanket, my clothes are by the door, and your husband is staring at me wide-eyed and drooling." I slapped Davian's shoulder, prompting him to turn and catching a laugh from my sister. "Second, I have no idea where in Lafleur I am. I'm still in Lafleur, right?"
I nodded lightly. "In Violet's Repose. In Kovar and Iron smithy." She moved to sit up without grabbing the blanket, so I handed Asha to Davian, stepped into the room, and closed the door. "Davian, go get her. Now. Don't tell her why, just tell her to come up." His steps began down the stairs as Roisin climbed from the bed.
She really was my sister. Very little shame in her body. Covered in those deep sapphire scars I'd seen as she wandered about Violet's Repose before she —
"Do you remember what happened?" I needed to know.
"Jasmin and I went into the throne room," she said as she crossed to her clothes. The same ones she'd been wearing that sun. Not a drop of blood on any of them. "I accused the queen of treason. Hideous woman, by the way. No clue how that made Jasmin." Her trousers went on, but not her shirt or her armour. "Anyway, we fought. And she stabbed me through the heart. And then the next thing I knew I was racing across the city looking for Jasmin. Again."
"And you wound up here."
"I wound up here. I could smell her for miles. This room is filled with her and something else." She sniffed the air. "Is that you?"
There was no way I didn't look insane as I sniffed myself for a few seconds. "Why? What are you smelling?"
"It's like wet earth, sunshine, vaguely sweet like if you put a grain of sugar in a glass of water." She closed the space between us, her warmth washing over me from a foot away. She leaned in and took a deep breath of the air. "Like a flower easily forgotten but forever loved."
Protesting would have to wait. A creak of floorboards alerted us to movement outside the door. Roisin moved from leaned over to standing straight and rushing to meet the arrived guest instantly, sniffing the air along the way. She knew who was at the door. I would've stopped her, had I more time to do so, but before I could reach out, she had thrown the door open and pounced, still shirtless, on her wife.
Jasmin's size was even more apparent with Roisin hanging off of her, covering the woman with kisses and scrambling to get better purchase on any part of her. The expression on Jasmin's face went from concern to terror, then to an odd sort of sorrow, and finally to a frantic itch I assumed was her noble training kicking in. She rushed into the room, enduring Roisin's frantic affections just long enough to cross the threshold and close the door behind them before properly engaging, wrapping the tiny woman in a massive hug.
Two beats. A breath and a half passed before Jasmin released the tension and began the effort of prying Roisin off of her. Once she had a proper handle on the tiny woman, Jasmin tossed her bodily across the room and was immediately back to her noble posture, straightening her clothes while actively staring at Roisin.
"In ten words or fewer, sooner rather than later, explain yourself." She sounded more severe and noble than I'd ever heard. I wanted to believe she'd be happy, but that green fluid depth was leaking into her eyes from the centre outward.
"I got stabbed," Roisin began, counting the words on her hands, "I got better though," she counted twice for 'better', then corrected herself sheepishly, "darling, I'm home." She beamed at Jasmin for a second before clarifying with a deep frown. "I think I died. The next thing I knew, I was trying to find you. Why? How long has it been?"
"A half-moon," Jasmin said, glaring. "It's been a half-moon since you died. And yes, that is definitely what happened." She took one step toward the bed. "I don't know how or why you're here. I couldn't give a slime pigeon's feather about the time lost, if I'm honest." Another step. "So long as it's really you, and you're really here," she began smiling, "nothing else matters, dearest."
"For what it's worth," Roisin stood and moved toward Jasmin. My heart ached for them, and my breath was tight. "I'm pretty sure it worked. Please tell me it worked."
Jasmin's eyes instantly snapped back to that glowing amber, and she turned toward me. "Delia," she said with something like a growl, "may I have some time alone with her? Bring some food up when you have a moment?"
"Of course," I raced to the door, slipping out before anything else could happen. For propriety's sake, I won't describe the sounds that came from that room over the next hour, but I was fairly certain they had found a way to make up.
Suspicion Posed
Davian and I kept quiet about what we found in that room, but with all the noise, the others had guessed well enough by the time Jasmin came down the stairs carrying Roisin like a bride. She announced her arrival from the second landing by calling down to everyone.
"Attention please, ladies, children, Em, and Davian," she called out with a chuckle. Roisin was giggling at the the spectacle, fully ruining the surprise. "May I present to you the Lady of Blue Stone Afina Roisin Thornleaf," when they entered the room, Roisin was wearing, for the first time in her life, a dress, "my beautiful belle," her voice softened as she continued, "and my reason for rebellion."
"Oh, stop it, darling," Roisin was swatting at Jasmin's shoulders ineffectually, but her over wide grin made it clear she was delighted.
Asha and Sage bounded up from their spots between Tal and Nyx and screeched in excitement. "Aunt Rosie! You're here!"
"I am, little friends," she said, climbing out of Jasmin's arms and to the floor, "and we're getting ready for a proper wedding. Will the two of you help? We need a best boy and an honoured girl. Do you know anyone who can?"
The both bounced energetically and nearly tackled Davian and me asking excitedly for permission. At least I think that's what they were asking. Their voices were overlapping too heavily to be certain.
Nyx and Em shrank away from the scene while everyone else moved in and crowded Roisin for attention. I followed them into the shadows silently, not meeting their eyes as I slotted myself into a corner beside them.
"I know what you're thinking," I whispered softly.
Both of them gave a hollow laugh. "You don't, actually," Em said with a rasp.
Adopting a fried voice like Em's, I spoke with a bit too much gravity. "She's just like Afina. That can't bode well for the future. The coming storm of terror will overshadow this."
Nyx's smile told me I got the voice pretty close. She tilted her head a bit to the side. "Close, but not quite." She lit a cold-flame in her hand. "Until I see her control that strength, I'm not making any judgements, but I'm also not quite ready to trust it."
Em nodded wordlessly before lighting their own flame. Not the white flame I'd seen before, but a white and black thing that burned to even look at. "If she is like me, then Nyx and I will have to go. Two in one place is dangerous." The black vanished, and their flame went back to the cool feeling I loved from them. "After Nyx saved me all those years ago, it was permanently like that. It's why I can't keep the cold-flame steady for a long time."
"They hid the Devouring soulfire from me for almost a century after that, just so you know," Nyx didn't sound hurt, just clear in her intent. "After they almost killed me with it, you would think they'd instantly let me know it wasn't gone, just contained."
"In my defence," Em shoved Nyx playfully, "you wouldn't have gone for my plan with the Fiend if I'd told you sooner."
"You'll have to tell me that story later," I said before pointing a thumb at Jasmin and Roisin, the centres of attention. "Those two are happy. Even if the world falls to pieces, those of us who survive will remember this joy."
"And the iron will have turned to rust under the weight of Devouring if it goes that way, Delia," Em grunted my name. "You know that better than most. Deona told me as much."
"The cycles."
"Exactly." They put an arm around my shoulder. "In your defence, if I'd had the power, I would've done the same thing when the first Jasmin Liatris called the queen 'mother', even though I was standing right there."
"I'm surprised Tenebra didn't."
"She has near infinite patience, and she remembered the first cycle, a burden I didn't understand until I read Eliana's journals." Em kicked the wall, pushing themself toward the crowd. "If you don't mind, I'd rather get this test out of the way. I hope my granddaughter doesn't hate me for stealing her bride."
A Quiet Revolution
There really weren't many good places to let Em 'test' Roisin within the walls of Violet's Repose. There was the courtyard around the ruined cathedral, but that was a long walk. The nearest gate was a mile off, so getting out of the city was a pain. We couldn't do it on the roof.
"All I'm saying is there has to be something we can do," Em was frantically looking from person to person, "somewhere we can go for this. An exhibition is the only way."
Roisin was playing with a silverthorn flower. The thorns were gone, removed by someone, an impossibly deadly feat for an untrained hand. Where had she learned that? "Well, if the nobility hadn't taken over the Grand Temple's five great pavilions," she said as she brought the flower to her nose, "Aurelin's is fairly near here. An eyesore under their influence, but still an option."
Everyone stared at Roisin. Some of us confused at the words, others confused that she knew them. I was somewhere stuck between both.
"Am I wrong? Is that not what this place was called before the queendom was established?" She raised her brows and ran through something in her head. "No, I'm pretty sure that's right. And the only thing about the queendom that matters to me is no longer a princess. She officially abdicated when she 'died'."
Tenebra and Em met each other's gaze before looking to Tal, who seemed noncommittal about it. After a while, all three shrugged then looked at me. "I get where you stand," Tenebra said with a weak smile, "but what's your opinion of restoring Aurelin's presence in the Grand Temple of the goddesses?"
"Do I have to do anything?"
"Good enough," Em said, taking Roisin's hand. "Come on, sparkles. You and I are wrecking a palace." They looked to Tenebra, then Jasmin. "Which noble house took that one?"
"Amanita," they answered in unison.
Before the Liatris monarchy, and before the rise of the Fiend, in a time before the goddesses made their pact for peace, there was a Grand Temple at the heart of Lafleur. Miles and miles of pristine land in a five-sided arrangement resembling each of the goddesses' smaller temples scattered across the land.
At each corner of the Grand Temple stood a pavilion that served as court for one of the goddesses. Eveward for Vaelis, mornward for Salora, eve-by-phob was Draethis, deimward was Aurelin, and phobward was the forgotten goddess, the one Nyxara replaced.
The goddesses turned the Grand Temple into a city when the time came to spread peace throughout Lafleur, inviting people to live and commune directly with their holy land. It served well for a time until the first Liatris queen took over.
Devoured goddesses needed no honoured spaces, so four pavilions were granted to the most loyal houses. Amanita, Capsica, Belladonna, and Ricina. The final pavilion was destroyed and rebuilt as a watchtower, keeping its eyes trained on a threat none could understand.
Our procession through Violet's Repose served two great functions. The first was to melt mounds of the snow that had built up during the height of the storm, hopefully freeing some people to help each other. That was my role, and I filled it well. The second was to bring some hope to the people, to let them know Kovar and Fernico survived, so the pillars of the community could begin to rebuild.
It was mostly a secondary result, the humanitarian side of things, that we also brought an extra warmth to the people through what supplies we could spare.
Our arrival at the twisted palace that stood to serve house Amanita was marked by an unease that weighed my stomach down. The structure of it was just wrong. A blight on not just the city, but on Lafleur itself. An offence to my very soul.
· Brace yourself. Cover your ears. ·
I almost breathed a sigh of relief at the Voice's return. It had helped so many times that I had to at least accept it wasn't nefarious. And somehow the tone and timbre of it were comforting, even if the whole experience was somewhat unsettling. My hands went to my ears instinctively just as the main door of the palace flew open, and Lady Amanita screeched something resembling a demand for servants.
"Thank you," I whispered softly to the Voice, still not certain if it could even hear me. The others were recoiling from the sound of Amanita's voice, so it came to me to speak up. "Lady Amanita! Your time has come. The Heroine and her Shield have rid Violet's Repose of the fell-queen's foul plague." Where were the words coming from? "The people long for change, and that includes the deposition of despotic symbols like yourself."
"Don't you dare speak to me, whelp." Amanita's venom was just as powerful as the sun she dragged Briar through the door of Kovar and Iron. "Lest you are here to draw my bath, cook my supper, or —" She interrupted herself and began coming down the steps toward us, her eyes focused sharp on one in particular. "Is that the little courier girl who brought me that vile and treasonous letter almost a moon ago?"
She was in Roisin's face, looking her up and down. It wasn't threatening so much as curiosity, so no one moved to stop it. Roisin didn't flinch, didn't tighten her grip on Jasmin's hand, simply smiled like she had a habit of doing, and stood firm.
"I am she. My mother's name was Omela Thornleaf. My father's name was Tarant Primrose." She spoke like a warrior being deposed by her commanding officer, a resolve I'd never once imagined possible of my sister. "And if you don't remove the rotten, foul, putrid stink of your body, soul, and breath from my personal space, my wife the Crown Princess will personally remove your life from your person." There it was.
As if to demonstrate the bond, she moved to raise Jasmin's hand, but Lady Amanita didn't bother waiting. So far as she or any of the nobility were concerned, the princess had been dead for eighteen years, so the threat was empty enough, she felt confident in putting hands on Roisin.
Only a simple shove. Not a slap or a punch or a kick. Open-handed, her hands touched Roisin's shoulders and pushed with a force that knocked Lady Amanita backward as Roisin stood firm against the assault. The noblewoman, to her credit, regained her balance before she fell, but her pride was struck by her failure to assault a common girl.
Everyone else jumped at the action, but when Roisin didn't move, we all wound the tension back a measure. We wanted to be ready, but this was her fight. For some reason. Why did that feel wrong to me.
· Because it's a personal assault, her lair. ·
Yes, but why? Also, that confirmed it. The Voice could hear my thoughts at least.
· If you don't see it, you never will. But stand with her. It's your fight, but she's your champion, Delia. ·
My feet carried me the short distance to Roisin's side as Lady Amanita recovered and raised a hand to strike my sister. The emerald-adorned sabre at my waist was up and through her wrist before she could close the gap.
"No one lays a hand on my sister in violence," I growled at Lady Amanita as she stared helplessly at the place her hand should've been. "I was planning to simply kick you out. But you've forced me to do worse. Good luck finding anyone to help you with that." Recalling her behaviour in the smithy, I spit at her feet. "Run fast, or you won't make it far before you fall."
She didn't run. She had maybe a few minutes if she didn't stop the bleeding quickly, and she didn't even move her feet. Lady Amanita stood and watched as her life drained from the stump, and she slowly lost her strength as it left her body on the whole. What was left of her cruelty was just a slumped mess on the ground, still rank with the putrid smell of her vile soul. Even I could smell it, and I had nowhere near Roisin's nose.
"Well, that's one problem down," Jasmin said, nudging the body with one foot, "and only nine noble houses left to bother. The lesser nobility should scatter once the higher nobles are gone." Looking from me to Roisin to Em, she continued, "You three ready to make your mess?"
"Three?" I was busy cleaning the blood from my sabre as I looked up at Jasmin. "I'm just here for support."
"Three," she insisted, "because I know you're itching to tear this thing to pieces and make it look like safety."
"If you weren't my sister-in-law, I might turn this sabre on you for pulling me into their work." I stood and sheathed the thing before looking back up at the Amanita palace. "But you're right. It makes me sick. Do you suppose there's anything of value to salvage before we take it to the foundation."
"Food," Nico said, stepping toward the structure, "and probably clothing. Though I doubt much of her raiment is fit for anyone with taste." She looked back to Kovar. "Come on, Ko. Let's gather supplies and get to handing em out so's not to waste em."
After she and Kovar went through the house and itemised all the value that could be squeezed from it, everyone spent an hour gathering it together outside. Both Em and Roisin were wiggling and fidgeting as they awaited their cue. Rather than let myself fall victim to idle laziness, I helped everyone else, leaving Asha and Sage with the two smallest adults. One might've assumed they were two older siblings watching over two younger siblings while their parents worked.
When at last the palace was stripped bare of anything resembling usefulness, Tenebra bowed and waved a hand toward it, a gift to the rascals so they could finally go play. I kissed Davian softly as I followed them into the mess.
The foyer that served as entry to the thing was an enormous hall with doors on many sides, a grand stairway to the higher levels that split off at each landing, and a gaudy lighting piece that showed wealth more than practicality.
"Rules are simple, Roisin," Em said as she took in the audacious spectacle. "You and I fight. No weapons, only cold-flame. If my cold-flame goes out before you, then we're solid. If you can't last the struggle, then Nyx and I leave the city. I can't trust —" they gestured at the whole of Roisin, "— this."
"Sounds fair," Roisin was stretching and smiling. I'd never seen her excited for a fight, and a pride warmed my heart. "And the conversation about tearing this place to the ground. That was sincere. I can just let loose and enjoy myself?"
Em laughed, shaking the entire building with the sound. "If you don't, then I'll be insulted."
"Oh," Roisin squeaked excitedly, "so it's like that!" She was vibrating. "Delia, I think you will need to wait till we're done. Just watch and try not to get in the way. Once this is done, we can finish the job as a proper team."
Em didn't wait for Roisin to get ready. They just charged across the room in a flash of cold-flame from their feet. Roisin stepped out of the way with a slight giggle.
"Oh, this is going to be so fun." She did a similar thing, pushing after Em and catching them up in a second. Her hands looped in Em's collar and pulled them to the floor, cracking it with the force.
In a second, Em kipped up to their feet and reached up to the ivory ribbon tying their hair. "Good. You learn quickly." They easily moved out of the way of Roisin's next several attacks as they untied the ribbon, braided their hair, and retied the ribbon to keep everything tidy.
Once their hands were free, they pushed a cold-flame out and whipped Roisin across the room, snapping a banister as she flew through it and into the wall. The girl was still giggling as she stood, ran her fingers through her hair, and took off in Em's direction, faster than she had been before.
Roisin was flashes of sickly silver and cold sapphire as she moved to catch up with Em. Meanwhile, the bright pearl-white flashes Em was putting out were a cool breeze from the middle of the room. They weren't even breaking a sweat, but their face was a tight determination.
After several seconds' attack-retreat-regroup-advance cycling over and over, Em did something different. They set their feet and waited, fully snapping the floor beneath them and setting their feet to some manner of stone below it. A bright flash came from the spot, and Em pushed out a cold-flame as Roisin moved in to tackle them.
It nearly blinded me with the flash, but Roisin seemed unfazed. Unfortunately, her impact with Em's midsection was weightless, even at the speed she was moving. Em took that opportunity to lift Roisin and toss her up at the gaudy mass of strings, crystals, and cold-flame amplifiers that was the lighting piece. They were using their cold-flame in every part of their movement.
Roisin figured it out faster than I did, catching herself before becoming tangled in the show-piece and letting herself fall to the floor and softly make contact. She didn't advance on Em. Em didn't move. They just stood and stared at each other as Roisin tested what she'd been watching.
"You're an interesting one, you know," Roisin smiled as she pushed cold-flame into her feet, anchoring then releasing herself from the floor. She pushed it into her arms, punching the air with a more impressive force than even I could manage. "So let's make a secondary deal. You stop holding back. Entirely. Don't worry about me or my safety. If I can't keep up, you can kill me on the spot."
"Roisin, no!" the words slipped out unbidden, but she simply held a hand up to stop me.
· She's fine. Let her be a heroine for a moment. ·
"And if I can keep up," she continued, "then you teach me everything you know about cold-flame."
Em finally stopped, stretched, and smiled at Roisin for real. "I like you, kid. I hope I don't have to kill you this sun. It's a deal. You ready?"
When Roisin nodded, the whole room got hot as Em lit that same black and white flame they'd shown me and covered their whole body in it. Roisin didn't flinch. I think she knew.
"Good. Now I won't feel bad when I win." She smiled and lit herself in that same sapphire and silver flame she'd used against the lizard things. "Judging on how hot that is, I'd say we have three minutes before the whole place goes up in smoke." She moved into a fighting stance. "Good thing I only need five breaths."
"Humour me, sparkles," Em said, adopting their own defensive stance. "If you're so confident, then knowing won't change things."
"Breath one," Roisin didn't move as she spoke, "cross the room. Away from you to the support beam. Breath two, push cold-flame into the thing. You'll have begun your advance by then. Breath three, tense my muscles to strike. Watch. Wait. Hold. Breath four, pounce. Breath five, stand over you, offering a hand to help you to your feet."
"Good girl. Let's go."
It played out just as fast as Roisin said, but the actions were different. She charged straight for Em, who laughed at the misdirect. A shoulder to Em's chest bowled them to the floor. She extended a cold-flame and grabbed Em's leg, burning straight through the Devouring soulfire and pulling Em off the floor before swinging them overhead and back down on the stone Em had revealed a while ago.
The flames went out. Both of them. And Roisin was still standing, leaning down to help Em up.
"Good. That was beautiful." Em was good spirited as they took Roisin's hand. "I'm satisfied for now. What's say we get to the real work."
"Eh, you and Delia can do the thing." Roisin was rubbing her left shoulder. "I think I pulled a muscle. Have fun."