Revelations
936 A.O.P.
One
EIMARILLE
Two days after the attack on Foxborough found Eimarille taking a tour of the military production factories a two-hour steam train ride from New Haven. Located deep in the forest of Daijal, the military outpost housed numerous military personnel who oversaw hundreds of debt slaves who worked the production floors and the foundry.
It was where Terilyn found her, the Blade having redirected the airship she’d been traveling on. The outpost didn’t have an airfield, but that didn’t stop Terilyn from rappelling over the side and being lowered to the wall below. Eimarille met her on the ramparts, raking her gaze up and down her lover’s body, searching for any hint of wounds Terilyn might have taken while away from her side.
Terilyn swiftly undid the harness and let the gear be hauled back up to the airship. The loud thrum of the airship’s engine changed pitch as it ascended again. Eimarille didn’t watch it leave, all her attention taken up by her Blade.
“Terilyn,” she said, ignoring the military officers and her protective detail arrayed behind her who had escorted her to the outer wall.
Terilyn smiled tightly in the face of Eimarille’s worry, the only hint of her exhaustion being a faint narrowing of her eyes. “I’m all right.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Eimarille closed the distance between them, settling her hands on her lover’s shoulders to study her. Then she leaned in and kissed her softly, sweetly. “I’ve read the reports of what transpired in Foxborough. I’ve been worried.”
“I made it out of the city. Unfortunately, I could not bring the witness with me. The wardens and the Ashion army made everything difficult.”
“Is the witness dead?” Terilyn shook her head, gaze flickering over Eimarille’s shoulder. Eimarille hummed before half turning to address the officers. “We will meet you on the ground shortly.”
The military officers saluted before leaving. Her personal guard were more hesitant to leave, but eventually, they followed her order. Less than a minute later found Eimarille and Terilyn standing alone on top of the wall.
Terilyn reached up and pulled Eimarille’s hands off her shoulders, tangling their fingers together. “I couldn’t get the witness out of Foxborough. We were ambushed by wardens in the city. I meant to bring him with me, but it proved impossible.”
“Perhaps it would have been best if you had killed him.”
Terilyn’s gaze was steady when she looked at Eimarille, all grim determination that made Eimarille want to soothe away the furrow of her brow. “His true name is Blaine, and he is of the Westergard bloodline. You should know he was the one who brought Caris out of Amari during the Inferno. Sheisyour sister. What’s more, the prince might still be alive.”
It was everything Eimarille didn’t want, like a spanner thrown into gears to disrupt it all. “The Westergards were eradicated.”
“Apparently, one was missed.”
“And the prince?”
Terilyn grimaced. “Favored by the star gods as well. It’s how he survived.”
“If that is the case, did Blaine know where they took him?”
Terilyn shook her head. “I believe there is a strong possibility he might be a warden. No Ashion family has come forth with a man who can cast starfire, and there was the issue with the quarry.”
“The wardens do not take any tithes who can cast starfire.”
“True, but what if they didn’t know?”
“Then we can only hope he died on the Warden’s Island.” Eimarille tugged her hands and turned to head for the stairs that led off the wall. Terilyn settled in beside her, keeping pace. “Kote informed me the Ashion army holds Foxborough for now. My spies tell me they’ve removed the mayor whose loyalty was to Daijal and appointed their own from the populace.”
“There are plenty of people in Foxborough who are loyal to you.”
“Yes, and I’m certain they’d be incredibly grateful to be liberated from a false government. Let me show you how we’ll do it.”
They returned to the knot of military officers and royal guards waiting on the ground near several motor carriages. Eimarille and Terilyn were then whisked away to the main production factory, the building towering over the others. They were given protective gear before allowed entry and guided up to the viewing catwalks. It was hot inside the factory, the noise almost deafening as debt slaves worked the production line of war machines.
These particular automatons were based off stolen Solarian designs for their sentinel class, standing three stories tall, the center mass filled in with gears rather than being empty for a driver to sit. Daijalan engineers had reworked everything from the framework out while magicians and alchemists following theKlovod’s teachings had created a clockwork metal heart that powered the automatons, giving life and otherworldly sentience to the creations.
Unlike other designs, no driver was needed to steer them; no orders would ever be disobeyed. These new infernal automatons were capable of reacting to problems and threats in the field without needing to be guided. Equipped with a range of weaponry, they would hold the front line of a war that would reach every border.
