CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Pacifica watched Krayson leave the foyer and felt a small wave of relief. Not that she held anything against him, of course, but she still felt a twinge of awkwardness whenever he was around. Starra's earlier comments about Krayson's desirability had hit a little closer to home than Pacifica preferred, even as they likely flew right over the dratted blood runner's head.

She did not still have a puppy crush on Krayson. That was left behind where it belonged, thank you very much. She absolutely did not. Furthermore, Pacifica wasn't appreciative towards any implication of otherwise.

Starra went to Reyn and took her hand into a tender grip. She looked like she meant to give Reyn a peck on the lips before she stopped herself with a shy smile and released her hand.

Pacifica seethed.

It wasn't until Starra startled and gave Pacifica a look that she realized she'd been burning holes in Starra's dress with a glare.

"Something amiss?" Starra asked.

Pacifica blew out her cheeks and was about to claim tiredness or distraction to explain herself. She stopped before the words reached her tongue. Frustration, like a bubbling kettle ready to spill over from the boil, welled up and made her decide to not let it slide this time. Pacifica opened her mouth to say exactly what had been on her mind for some time now. Months, even. Precisely two and a half months, ever since a certain betrothal was announced.

"Tea!" Reyn cried abruptly.

Pacifica aborted her tirade at the inception as she and Starra both gave Reyn quizzical looks. Their mutual lover looked harried, as if she saw calamity closing in on her.

"Tea?" Starra asked.

"Tea," Reyn affirmed. "I prefer to talk somewhere without the stench of violence."

"Well, alright," Starra said. "As you say, dear one. We can go to my old chambers, that is if the cockroach didn't have it gutted and defiled in my absence."

Pacifica mumbled her acceptance. She didn't like this feeling of stewing when she'd been so close to releasing the pressure valve. Nonetheless, it'd give her the chance to cool her head. Best not to say things she couldn't take back, especially with Reyn there to hear them.

Yes, a calming cup of tea would only be a good thing for her at the moment.

It was another twenty minutes before they settled into Starra's old apartments in the Merovach estate. The decor was a touch surprising, as Starra had never struck her as the sort to be fond of the color pink. Nonetheless, pink was everywhere, from the drapes to the upholstery. The carpeting was a lush shade of fuchsia, and the walls were papered with a gradient of magenta and white. To be honest, Pacifica found it all rather unpleasant. She liked pink as much as the next person, but this was too much.

"The maids will have our tea sent up presently," Starra said while draping herself onto a lounge chair. She looked more at home than she ever had in Shan Alee. "Poor things. One can only imagine the terrors they went through these last few months."

Reyn selected an armchair next to Starra, leaving a long sofa for Pacifica. It was across from the vampire, with a low table in-between. Pacifica sat down primly, ankles crossed with shoulders back and chest out. Even with her spine rigid, she still felt significantly shorter compared to the other two.

As promised, the tea arrived in short order along with a small selection of finger foods. Reyn hurriedly dismissed the maids who brought the trays and poured the tea herself. "I wonder how much longer before Lady Claryss will arrive."

She spoke quickly, like she was trying to turn conversation away from something unpleasant.

"Not much longer, I think," Starra answered in her standard casual tone. It was impossible to say if she was oblivious to Reyn's distress or purposefully ignoring it. "After... Oh, I know." She turned her eyes to Pacifica. "These past few days I've been monopolizing our time. Why don't we put you and Reyn together for the next few tasks, Pacifica? I'll no doubt be busy with whatever the Cabal is brewing, and they need to be kept on task. You two could..."

"Stop," Pacifica snapped.

Starra blinked in surprise at the curt interruption, and Reyn spilled some of the tea meant for Pacifica's cup.

"I... realize I must've been overstepping the bounds of our arrangement lately," Starra said, and there appeared to be genuine contrition in her bearing.

Reyn set down the teapot. She watched Pacifica almost fearfully. "With everything going on, we cannot expect things to go according to plan at all times."

"Still no excuse," Starra said. "Forgive me, Pacifica. I truly don't want to infringe on..."

"Stop talking," Pacifica hissed. She was angry now, and every word Starra said got her angrier.

Reyn gasped. "Ma belle..."

Pacifica didn't care to have tea right now. She got to her feet and stared down at Starra while ignoring Reyn's protests and pleas for calm. "You've talked enough. It's my turn."

Hesitantly, as if it was the last thing she wanted to do, Starra stood up, also. "I don't blame you for being upset. I can withdraw entirely for a time so that..."

"You don't get it at all," Pacifica said in a raised voice. "You always do this. You make the decisions, you make the plans, and neither of us can get a word in edgewise until after you've already set it all in stone."

Starra's mouth hung open. She even took a step back from the weight of the accusation.

Reyn was lost for words and was left anxiously looking between her two lovers.

"Y-you..." Starra stammered. "You're right. I've been overbearing."

"You've been a fair league more than just overbearing," Pacifica snarled. "You floundering idiot!"

Reyn started to get to her feet to try to impose herself between the two squabbling women, but Pacifica sharply raised a palm to command her to remain seated. Reyn was too astonished to do anything else but obey.

"You still don't get it," Pacifica shouted. "You're so far wrong I don't know how to start telling you how wrong you are!"

Starra averted her eyes and looked away. "I... don't mean to be."

"I know! Because you never stopped to listen! Because you never stopped to think that there's even anything to listen to!" Pacifica stepped around the table and got into Starra's personal space. The vampire shrank from her. "I don't mind you taking your time with Reyn, so stop thinking I resent you for it. I don't, and I'm not so stupid as to think you resent me for taking mine!"

Still not meeting her gaze, Starra gave a single nod. "You just want more of a say of when."

"Stop telling me what I want!" Pacifica shrieked, pushed well past anger and closer to absolute fury. "It's not even that you're making the plans. You're making the wrong ones!"

Finally, Starra met Pacifica's angry glare. She looked bewildered.

"You don't..." Pacifica had to close her mouth and start over again to be sure her voice wouldn't break. "You don't have to leave."

"I don't quite think I..."

"I want my time with Reyn," Pacifica said, "but why does it have to come at the expense of her time with you?"

Starra looked totally flummoxed now. A quick glance revealed that Reyn was faring little better.

Pacifica wasn't explaining herself well enough. She took in a deep breath through her nose as she got her words in order. "This arrangement is new to me. Maybe I'm just not understanding it right, but I know enough to know this isn't what I wanted."

Reyn looked on the verge of heartbreak.

"I want Reyn," Pacifica said. Try as she might, she couldn't stop her voice from cracking this time. "That doesn't mean I don't want you there, too. Why does it always have to be one of us or the other? I miss you when you take off to give us our privacy, and I miss you both when I feel like I have to give you yours. I know you're trying to respect boundaries, but why do the boundaries have to be drawn so strictly?"

Starra blinked rapidly as she tried to understand. "You want... what, then? Group time?"

"The three of us!" Pacifica shouted. "I knew what I was getting into from the start, so stop trying to coddle me. I don't want to pretend I have Reyn all to myself when it's 'my turn' with her. This, what the three of us have, is so different from a monogamous relationship and is so beautiful in its own ways. But you keep making plans like you're trying to shield me from it when I want to floundering revel in it!"

Reyn stood up, and Pacifica didn't try to stop her this time. "Pacifica, we did not mean... I am just as guilty of..."

Pacifica continued to stare Starra down. "Kiss her. Right now, in front of me."

Starra narrowed her eyes.

"You've never once... Well, once when we were teasing Ban... Never once except that one time have you kissed her where I could see you since this all started."

Starra was about to deny it, but she looked off to the side thoughtfully, then her eyes widened in realization. "And you... want me to kiss her where you can see?"

Pacifica gave a single, firm nod. "Because she loves you every bit as much as she loves me. That means I love you, too. I should be allowed to see the people I love being happy together."

Finally, it looked like Reyn and Starra were starting to understand the root of Pacifica's grievance. A look passed between the two of them.

"I am sorry, ma belle," Reyn said. "I hope you know we were not doing so out of disrespect."

Pacifica sighed and looked her way. "I know. Waves take me, I know that. I wasn't sure myself why I've been so bothered. Maybe half the reason I even suggested that fool plan to fluster Ban was because... I wanted you to know it's alright for you to love us both openly, and I wanted to know it myself, too."

Starra stepped towards her and hovered her hands over Pacifica's shoulders. "No disrespect meant, but that doesn't mean we were showing respect. I'm so sorry. Of course you're right, and you're not wrong for being upset. We're both sorry, aren't we, dear one?"

Reyn nodded vigorously. "So much, ma belle."

Pacifica leaned forward to force Starra's hovering hands to fall around her. She put her arms around Starra's waist and lay her head against her chest. Quietly, she said something under her breath because it became too difficult to say it louder.

Reyn squinted and leaned closer, but Pacifica could hear how Starra's breath caught in her throat at what she asked.

"Because..." Starra said in response. "I was your teacher for a time. It didn't seem... ethical."

Pacifica couldn't even mutter anymore, so she just shook her head.

"I'm ten years your senior, too."

"Nine," Pacifica whispered.

Reyn came closer, confusion painted across her face. Starra looked at her helplessly. And, Pacifica... Pacifica was through with denying how she felt. She'd seen firsthand how damaging it was to leave things unsaid, and she refused to make the same mistakes herself. Not when she had so much infinite love to give that it hurt to hold it in for even a moment longer.

It was impossible to say who was the more surprised-- Reyn, Starra, or Pacifica herself-- as Pacifica took Starra's face in her hands and rose up on her toes.

"I seek Lady Starra Nolaas," came Jin's voice from out of a sending.

Pacifica and Starra separated with a yelp. At first, Pacifica was sure she'd been the only one to make that kind of sound but quickly realized Starra's had come at a higher pitch. They were both all but in a daze as they looked at Reyn, who was staring at them both in turn with the most profound look of... glee?

"I knew it," Reyn whispered.

"Come off it, you did not," Pacifica protested. "And... and... W-w-what do you think you knew?"

Reyn nodded. "I know what I saw you try to do just now."

Starra brushed at her skirt. Her cheeks had taken on a great deal of color. "Nothing," she mumbled. "N-nothing at all was... Bloody hell."

Reyn shook her head. "I would never jinx such a thing."

"Don't be ridiculous, sila moya," Pacifica said. "I was... obviously not about to do what it looked like."

"Quoi?" Reyn blinked and then got a look of terror on her face.

"Err... Starra?" Jin's sending spell said. "What is going on?"

There was a moment of deathly silence before three women babbled over each other to assure Jin that nothing out of the ordinary or untoward at all was going on.

"Mhmm," Jin hummed, and it had a dubious note to it.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Starra asked while unnecessarily putting her hair into order. She even stood primly as if Jin was right there to make a close inspection.

"I would like to come see you this afternoon," Jin said. "I've heard some of what happened at the estate. I want to make certain you are well."

"We're quite alright here," Starra said, "which isn't to say we're not all anxious to make sure you're alright, too. You are alright, aren't you?"

"I am," Jin replied. "If... all is well... I will come to Lord Ambrose's estate as soon as I can. First, I must attend council with my father and uncle, but I will set out immediately afterward."

"Please do, Jin," Starra said. "We'll be awaiting your arrival."

"Yes, until then." Jin's voice was saturated with suspicion before the sending dissipated. Starra's pink atrocity of an apartment was then silent.

And, terribly awkward.

oOo

Jin stepped out of the steam lift moments after ending her sending. She wore a rueful smirk as she stepped out onto the landing. That Reyn's little harem was in the midst of some developments had been plain as day, and Jin had a notion or two of what was at the heart of it.

Since the winehouse, Jin had an idea simmering in the back of her head, and it was backed up by how Pacifica grew flush and her heart rate spiked whenever Starra drew close. Not to mention that Jin knew the sort of lush Starra was. By Jin's measure, Reyn's paramours had been hurtling towards each other since Starra's arrival in the war camps.

The palace's central tower was the tallest structure in the City of Althandor-- in the whole of the Continent, even. Side by side, it would tower over the Summit Academy despite the advantage of altitude. So great was its height that there were subtle enchantments layered into its spellwrought stonework to combat the thinning air.

Past the landing for the steam lifts, a cadre of royal guardsmen stood at attention beneath silver and cerulean banners hung on the walls. A grand flight of stairs opened into the immense throne room crowning the spire. Here, the Highest King received his envoys, petitioners, and advisors.

The throne room was an enormous chamber of silver and glass. Four of the five walls were dominated by sectioned glass windows, the last being the passage to the steam lift landing. The windows continued upwards, curving up into a massive dome looking up into the sky. Mist gusted beyond the glass on the whims of the wind, yet it was much thinner this high up than at the lower levels of the city. Long banners hung at regular intervals about the chamber, each bearing the silver star and blue eye of House Algara.

The throne stood atop a circular dais of twenty-five steps in the very center of the room. The entire dais was built upon a clockwork mechanism that allowed the throne to rotate to face any of the five walls. At present, the throne faced the landing, though the chair itself sat empty.

Jin strode into the throne room and acknowledged the bows given to her by the royal guardsmen on duty. She followed their gestures towards the far end of the throne room, where there stood a large map table bearing a representation of the entire known world. She found her father, as well as a select number of advisors and military officials, holding council.

Uncle Gain was present, as was Maya. Queen Maebh, Dashar, Tarlus, and Heron were the other present members of the house. From the king's council of advisors, there was Lord Arkus the Vantalan, the Dothraun, and Lord Fasimar Ulbrecht. Finally, there were a half-dozen generals from the legions Jin didn't know by sight, as well as Captain Falar of the royal guard.

This was a full war council.

Jin was hesitant to approach, yet she didn't allow her steps to falter as they carried her towards the rest. Gain was the first to spot her, and his hand tapped against Father's side to alert him to Jin's arrival.

The king straightened from where he'd been pouring over the maps, the relief plain on his face. All others noted the change in posture and turned to look. Expressions ranged from curious to welcoming, but there was something in what remained that gave Jin pause. Ignoring the flush of indignancy coming from Lord Arkus, a good number of the men at council wore expressions that looked disturbingly close to reverence.

"My daughter," Father said, his voice carrying throughout the throne room. "We are pleased to see you recovered from your actions in Eastrun."

"Her heroics in Eastrun, Your Grace." Lord Fasimar corrected. He bowed so low to Jin that he risked losing his hairpiece. "Sworn testimony from countless survivors name Her Exalted Highness as their savior."

"So they have," Father replied. He gestured to the space at his left side. "We've saved a place for you, Jin. Join us."

Jin's brow furrowed. She was reminded that the last time she saw her father, she had him pinned underneath her with a sword to his neck. Her gaze fell away from him as the shame of that moment returned. Still, she continued towards the table.

The crowd of generals and officials made way for her. Men in armor saluted, nobles bowed, and murmurs of "Highness" left every set of lips as she passed. Jin kept her eyes lowered, feeling excessively out of place.

It was a new feeling, this sense that she didn't belong. Jin never felt like that before leaving to find Enfri, nor has she during her time in Shan Alee. Things were different now, when she had cause to doubt her ability to make sound judgement.

Taking her place at the king's side with Gain on the other, Jin avoided everyone's eyes and instead looked down at the map. Polished metal tokens, lacquered with a variety of colors, lay scattered across the map of the Five Kingdoms, often with paper banners beside them. She noted the positions of the legions within the Spired City's walls, inferred that Father had pulled the majority of Althandor's forces to the capital during her recovery, and sought out the positions of the armies arrayed against them.

"Highness?"

Jin looked up towards the man addressing her. She didn't know him, a younger man with black hair and brown eyes who couldn't have been much older than twenty-five. He wore plate armor lacquered burnt orange and gold, unfamiliar house colors. All she did know of him was that he wore the half-cape of an Althandi general over his left shoulder, and it bore the markings of the Southern Legion.

The young general looked to his peers and shuffled his feet anxiously before returning his gaze to Jin. "Highness, there has been much rumor about events in Eastrun. Is it true you faced Prince Vintus in combat?"

"He is a prince of Althandor no longer," Gain interjected. "Our brother is dead. This creature using his body is a revenant and nothing more."

"Of course, my prince," the general said, but his eyes landed on Jin again. As if he meant to defer to her over Gain.

"It is so," Jin said quietly. "Death has not claimed him. He is undead."

A low murmur passed among the council.

"And you fought him?" The general pressed.

Jin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "If it could be called a fight. I stood no chance."

"Surely, that's not so," another general said. An older man, House Maddox by the colors displayed on his sashes. "Vintus was long admired for his skill at swordplay, but..."

"You misunderstand his strength," Jin said, her tone taking on an aspect of iron. "Should any of you face him, I advise you to flee."

Father placed a hand on her shoulder, perhaps cautioning her to guard what she said or maybe offering his support to her claims. Whichever it was, the assembled council apparently had their own ideas of how to interpret Jin's warning.

"As you say, Highness," said the younger general. "We shall let it be known that only the royal assassins are authorized to engage the traitor Vintus."

Jin opened her mouth to say that was not at all what she meant, but the council was already voicing their wholehearted agreement that Princess Jin would prevail over her traitorous uncle should they cross paths again. They said Vintus was a coward who took advantage of the chaos in Eastrun to gain dishonorable advantage over a superior opponent.

What bothered Jin most was that no one, not even her family, disagreed with any of that sentiment.

Jin considered which wards she knew would be the most viable method of escape.

It was surprising in a way that the only one to take note of Jin's discomfort was the person she most often disagreed with.

"We need to focus on armies above madmen," Maya said over the commotion. "As it stands, we're outnumbered seven to one. Between the Jades, Teulites, the Altieri, Espallans, and now the Aleesh, there are more than a quarter million soldiers prepared to assault the Spired City."

While murmurs of disquiet gusted among the council, Jin caught Maya's eye and gave her a nod of thanks. Maya winked back. It ticked Jin off that her sister would be so casual while the situation was this grave, but she was grateful nonetheless.

The generals settled and gave the crown princess their full attention.

"With the legions gathered," Maya continued, "we have forty thousand soldiers at the walls and throughout the burroughs. A third of that is keeping the fiends in Eastrun contained, and what remains isn't enough to defend the walls in their entirety."

"The Spired City is too big," Gain agreed. "There's never been a force even a fifth as large that's dared attack the seat of our power."

"Or in such composition," Tarlus said. "Althandor's never faced an aerial assault."

"Ah," Gain said, raising a finger, "but we have a countermeasure. The mistward was made to hold the Jades at bay, but it'll do just as well for the Aleesh dragons."

A look passed between Gain and the king, and Cathis exhaled softly before speaking. "However, Princess Enfri of Shan Alee was briefed on the mistward before she handed her empire over to the new empress. Our enemy is aware of our defenses, and I won't put it past them to figure out what's needed to circumvent them."

Jin felt her bile rise, but she asked the question anyway. "What is required?"

Gain pointed towards Westrun at a specific spire. At the edge of the region devastated by the Sanguine Tower's collapse, a ring of lesser spires surrounded the broken fields of rubble. One of them was specially marked over the others.

Death's Mask Spire.

"Here," Gain said. "The mistward requires flaws in the spellcraft, so there are a few openings where something smaller than an airship can possibly make it through. If a dragon and its crew made it to the artifice topping Death's Mask, they could conceivably shut it down and the entire mistward along with it."

"Flaws?" Jin asked. "This mistward, is it an interdiction?"

"Of a sort," Gain said.

"Our daughter has received less briefing on the mistward than our enemy, husband," Maebh said. She stared at the king from beneath raised eyebrows. "Perhaps it would be of benefit to Althandor to rectify that oversight."

Cathis grimaced at his queen's displeasure and gave Jin an apologetic bob of his head. "And she shall. Jin, the mistward is a theurallurgic construct that utilizes the mist within the Spired City to create a physical barrier. A shield of sorts."

"A shield?" Jin asked. "Covering the entire city?"

"The work of twenty-five heirarchs that are yet to recover from its creation," Heron said. "At the mistward's core lies a new law placed into the physical world. 'Althandor's skies belong to the wind'."

Jin frowned. "Meaning... You are saying that nothing can enter the Spired City unless on the ground?"

"Or with specific knowledge of where the gaps in the ward are," Maya snarled. "Interdictions require a method to circumvent them, and one this size needs glaring flaws. The Aleesh know a handful, and they will use them to open the way for the armada."

Jin looked over the map. The City of Althandor had never looked so small against the whole of the Continent as it did then. Her eyes moved to the west and to the lands claimed by Shan Alee. Althandor had extensive knowledge of the precise makeup of the Aleesh military and the Arcane Knights thanks to the failed negotiations. While relatively small in number, Jin knew better than anyone at the table how effective they would be.

Her hand reached out to touch the token meant to represent the Opal Knights. Smallest of all the knighthoods, led by the Aleesh princess. It rankled to think of Enfri as anything less than the Dragon Empress.

"Twenty-five hierarchs," she said. "We cannot afford to have arcanists with that much power bedridden for this battle."

"If there was a way to delay the attack," Gain said, "we would have already done so. All scout reports agree that the armada is preparing to leave the Aleesh anchorages within the week. The attack is coming soon."

"And the Altieri will be here sooner," Heron added. "The Lord's Alliance has the full weight of all three Altieri legions behind them, and they're already crossing the Protectorate to reach us."

"What of the Teulites?" Cathis asked.

"No one can say for certain," Maya said. "Vintus gave the Jak'm an open pathway through the Ethereum to our northern walls. The entire Horde can be here whenever they wish to be here."

"None of them will assault the walls without the armada there to back them up," Heron pointed out. "We could easily defend against Altieri. We could defend against the Horde. We could defend against both and contain the fiends to boot. What we can't do is defend against them while holding back an onslaught of over two hundred airships and an equal number of bound dragons."

The murmurs returned after Heron more or less said the battle was a forgone conclusion. Enfri's betrayal turned a difficult and costly fight into an impossible one. The only thing to do then was to do something desperate. Even if it offended Jin to a profound level.

"What are these in Everwood?" Jin asked while indicating the tokens for a small force manning the keep near the settlement.

"Enough to give us another few hours," Gain said. "Callous to sacrifice those soldiers, but we need every second they can buy us."

"Doubtful," Jin said. "The Espallans will range ahead of the armada. They will be the ones to assault Everwood's keep well ahead of the Jade Empire."

"Are you suggesting an alternative?" Gain prompted.

Jin held back from grimacing. She didn't like following through with Hana's plan, but she felt she could trust the formidable old steward. "The keep won't serve to delay the airships. Even if the garrison can hold against the Espallans, the Arcane Knights will provide assistance and make short work of them. There's nothing those soldiers can do there except die. Evacuate Everwood. Have the garrison there pull back to the city to reinforce the walls."

The general for the Western Legion scowled at that. "The Espallans will have the keep without contest, in that case."

"They will have it, then," Jin said. "And we will have five hundred more swords defending the goodfolk of this city. We can worry about retaking keeps once that is done."

Cathis frowned as he considered the matter. After nearly a full minute, he spoke his judgement. "Send word to all settlements to the west. I want every garrison here where they won't sell their lives for little to no success. As for the others, leave the garrisons as they are. They, at least, may meet with some success delaying the Altieri and Teulites."

Jin nodded. The fortifications her father left behind would likely be avoided by the incoming armies in any case, but their presence would force Kadmus the Valdar to alter the path of his march through Althandor. That took time, and it may even make the armada consider holding back from its assault until all allied forces were in place.

Most importantly, she'd convinced her father to allow Everwood to be taken by the Espallans without a fight. She could only pray that Hagen would do what Hana said he would.

If by some remote chance, by the grace of some god, he could succeed, the Glorious Emperor would never reach the Spired City.