Bathed in the blinding light, she was crying over the bodies of her husband and daughter. She was at the edge of the volcano. All her sorrows, all her deeds, came back to her, happening for the first time. She held her newborn daughter, lying in the bed of her family home, and saw her husband looking both happy and worried for his beloved wife. She whispered the names that she had dared not speak for a long time.
Had everything been to prepare her for this moment?
Soon, the column of light obscured Clarios, the fire-dragon, Wilfrid, and the people of Arland, until she could not see them anymore.
40ARIENNE
It had been a chaotic year.
The repairs of Arland’s royal castle were nearly completed, and Arienne had been given a room there with a good view. It wasn’t much more luxurious than the inn she had lived in until then, but it was much better suited for her to focus on her work, away from the well-meaning attentions of others.
Following the battle of the past winter, a people’s council had been formed, and Arienne had been working with them. There were many ongoing issues in Arland aside from the oppression of the Empire, from conflicts between guilds of Kingsworth to irrigation feuds going back centuries between villages, and land disputes between families as well.
The sun was setting. Tomorrow, a new prefect would be taking up position. A reception banquet was planned for tonight. She took out the blue dress the tailor Cedric had made for her for thisoccasion. Cedric had been among those who, along with Arienne, had last seen Loran on that day.
Many on the council had also been in the field that day. Most of the makeshift army returned to their previous lives, while still others, enamored of the soldier’s life, joined the militia. But there was one thing they all had in common. Whenever they got the chance, they would talk about that day.
The story of how King Loran had defeated the Empire’s gigatherion and saved the fire-dragon of the mountain varied from person to person, sometimes by a little, sometimes a lot. Even when it was witnessed by thousands, the discrepancies increased a year after the event. Arienne wondered why so many others were contradicting what they experienced firsthand and so clearly remembered, as each and every one of them did as well.
There was a knock on the door. Arienne gladly ran to open it.
“Wil!”
Wilfrid wore a formal Imperial suit, its black tunic and skirt setting off the accents of golden thread. There was a long scar on her face, a souvenir from the previous year’s battle. Even tired from her long journey, she smiled and embraced Arienne.
“How have you been?”
“The same as always. And how was the Capital?”
“The Senate is filled with old men who keep talking their talk. The Commons is a bit better… But how large the Capital is! You lived there for so long, Kingsworth must seem very small to you. And I never knew there were so many different kinds of people!”
“And the language?”
Wilfrid nodded. “My Imperial is as bad as ever, but the Arlanders of the Capital helped. A man named Cain somehow knew I was arriving and came to see me. We exchanged news. There are many who wish to return to Arland. Especially after hearing of King Loran—”
“Wait, Cain? Did he wear spectacles? About twenty-five?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“He helped me once.”
She couldn’t quite remember his face. Ever since she destroyed her inner room during her battle against Eldred, Arienne had trouble remembering details of her life before coming to Arland.
“A young man with considerable reach among the people. Not just among Arlanders… Even the Ministry of Intelligence agents are said to tip their hats to him. Well, enough of that, I have some things to confirm with the council. Can you look at them before others do?”
“I forbid you from starting work before tomorrow, Prefect Wilfrid.”
Wilfrid grinned. “Well, I’ve nothing to do the day after and the day after that as well. I’m merely a puppet of the council!” She stretched out her arms, pretending to be one. “The important decisions must be made by the council. I will speak when needed, of course… But my first duty is to what the king told me.” Wilfrid brushed her shoulder, where Loran had touched with Wurmath to make her a knight of Arland. “What needs to be confirmed are the requests of the Arlander member of the Commons.”
“And how long is his remaining term?”
“Until summer next year.”
“Then we shall have to think of who will take over.”
Wilfrid handed her a folded document. “Cain made some suggestions to that end.”
“You must be joking? The argument we’ve had with the Empire in allowing us to make that decision!”
