Fall

Piper

By late afternoon, the rain had stopped, but the leaves continued the downfall with a steady dripping from their stores.

Piper stood on the platform outside their tree hut. A fine mist rose around them, minimalizing the population of Trene to flitting shadows across the bridges.

Her knuckles were white from gripping the railing in front of her. She leaned back, letting her arms anchor her as she gazed at the thin slivers of sky above.

I don’t know how you can stand the rain, Reine said from inside their hut. Skye had started a fire in the provided stone outlet, and was dozing with the leopard on the wool rug in front of it. It clings, clots your fur with water, and makes you cold.

It’s not raining anymore, I don’t have fur, and I’m wearing a coat. Piper changed directions, and peered over the side of the railing. Far below, groups of gray coats huddled together like misshaped clay, waiting their turn up the slick spiral stairs or conversing in a low buzz. Somewhere in Trene, the agents of King Kayden and Queen Celia were hiding alongside her. Taking refuge under Nell’s wings.

Piper jerked back to an upright position and nearly slipped on the floorboards when a bird landed on her shoulder. Skye yelped from inside, and Reine poked her head out of the door, her claws unsheathed.

Oh. Reine turned her paws into velvet once more. It’s bird-brain. She flicked her tail tip, and headed back to the fireplace. Let me know when you need stuffing for a new pillow.

I might take you up on that. Piper brushed Chip off her shoulder and glanced to Finch on her right. “Hi.”

Finch put his elbows on the railing. “After this business with Nell… Atlas, Milla, and Skye are going to the South. And we…”

It took Piper longer than a moment to realize he was expecting her to finish the sentence. “We are going to Biscay.”

“Biscay.” Creases formed on Finch’s face. “Your hometown?”

Piper’s lips were a flat line. Of course he knew that about her. King Asher had probably fed him everything about her. Or vice versa. “Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

“Must you ask why?” Piper was becoming irritated by Finch’s demeanor. Once he gained the knowledge he needed, he acted as if he knew the full picture. Perhaps that was a survival skill for a spy.

She shuffled further down the railing. “Maybe we can talk about this later.”

Finch did not follow her. “If we are truly on a mission, I deserve time to prepare.”

“We will prepare tomorrow.” Piper stared in dismay at the mist around them. It was dissipating in the weak sunset.

“You weren’t always this stubborn. The battle changed you.” Piper was surprised to hear bitterness in his voice.

“The battle changed me?” Piper guffawed. “The battle changed you.”

In the back of her mind, Piper could feel Reine barring the tree hut door against Skye. Silently warning the other girl that this fight was not for her.

When Finch did not respond, Piper pressed the topic. “It was after the battle you changed. Stopped being nice to me. Became this… this…” She struggled to find the word.

Reine happily provided her with a selection. Pompous fool, snob, worthless spy, king without a castle, Life-forsaken-bird-brain.

Something short. Piper sighed. “The way you are.”

That was shorter than snob? Reine growled.

Finch stiffened. “I see nothing wrong with myself.”

“That’s the problem, Finch.” Piper passed him to go inside the hut. She closed the door softly behind her.

“Um, what was that?” Skye was at the fire, Madoc pecking crumbs on the table at her back.

Reine herded Piper to Skye, and they both settled on the rug. “It’s just Finch.”

“Sounded like more than that through the door.”

A piece of wood popped in the fireplace.

“Not that I was listening closely,” Skye said after a minute. “Reine made sure of that.”

She states the truth, Reine thought sleepily. The warmth was starting to steal her away to the land of dreams.

Piper put her knees to her chest. Should she apologize to Finch? No, she didn’t say anything regretful. Was there anything to make this better? Probably not. The spy was stuck in his ways, at least for the moment. What had made him change anyway? Was it an order from King Asher?

She was about to say, No Reine when she realized the leopard was asleep. Piper had truly been arguing with herself.

Just as in their hut before, a thick tree trunk grew through the center of the room. Unlike their past Trene house, it was unmarked. Piper left Skye and went towards it. She felt the rough bark under her fingertips. Cool and rough, strong and growing. If it had a voice, what would it say? Would it speak of its life from sapling to monolith? Complain of the baggage of Trene? Fear for the day of its fall?

Piper stared at the bark even as the door to their hut opened, and Finch hovered in the threshold.

“Nell wants only three people at the signing. Atlas, Milla, and one other. I will go, if that’s okay.”

“Have fun,” Skye chirped from the fireplace. “It’s too muggy out for treaties, I think.”

The door closed. Piper let her head rest on the tree.

If the Finch before the battle could see himself now, what would he say?

Kane

King Asher tented his hands. “I read A Northern History as a student. David Emerson was a great collector of our past. King Rex, my predecessor, had it updated during his reign. I have commissioned my historians to update it as well.”

Kane decided to cut formalities. “But it mentions nothing of Queen Celia, other than her ascension date and a few of her laws. My tutors never answered my questions regarding her, and the libraries are silent on this. Why?”

King Asher rubbed Levi’s ear. “Perhaps we simply lack information about her.”

“Life!” Kane exclaimed. Flint flinched. “My king, this is not time for games. I need to know more about Queen Celia. If she was not at the signing, then where was she? Has she even been seen outside of the East?”

“I am not playing games, Prince Kane.” King Asher’s eyes had hardened. “I wonder if this is just a rabbit-trail to distract you from the larger picture.”

“This is not a rabbit-trail,” Kane half-pleaded. “King Kayden seems to act under the East’s orders. If we have never seen the face of our enemy, the hand behind the strings, then do we truly know who we are battling? Will we ever defeat them if we chase shadows?”

The silence that followed made Flint uneasy. Kane… You may have overheated your case.

The worst he can do is say no, Kane reasoned.

Or potentially take back your crown. Now that would be a first for the history books.

I will not walk on eggshells any longer, Kane said.

King Asher rubbed his chin. “It is true that Queen Celia has not been seen outside of her boundaries, or even by the majority of her people. She does not keep contact with anyone unless for her gain, and speaks with actions… such as her ascension, and this war.”

“What of spies?” Kane asked.

“Out of the five missions I sent there, only one returned, and she was disguised as a messenger and unable to enter the palace gates.”

“We have a Seinish ambassador in Elbe,” Kane countered. “Surely he would know something?”

“She has not used that ambassador since his coming many years ago. Again, she spoke with actions instead of a proper correspondence,” King Asher grumbled.

Surely a country cannot be that secure? Do the natives gossip? Flint said. Kane relayed his thoughts.

“An undercover scouting group was sent to disperse and integrate with the Seinish to discover their secrets. Two weeks later, pelts of their fera were seen hanging from the trees on our boundary side. Like flags.” The king practically spit the words.

Kane wished he could have covered Flint’s ears. His fera lowered his antlers into a defensive position, but caught himself on the table. The bone made a crack, clack sound against the vitrum.

After a second of detangling Flint from the table, Kane composed himself once more. “So… you have gone down this road before the war.”

“I believe every territory has tried to pry the East open since Celia’s rise to power, and I sincerely wonder if Kayden even knows an inch more than we do since his partnership with her.” King Asher’s focus slid to Flint. “What, dear prince, makes you think you can do better?”

“I don’t.” Kane cleared his throat. “But with your help, and a better understanding of the past, maybe we can predict Nora’s next move.”

With a thoughtful mask, the king leaned back in his chair.

He is talking this over with Levi, Flint assumed.

Why should he have to talk it over, when the solution is so clear? Kane thought.

An abundance of caution never killed anyone.

But an overabundance will cripple us all, Kane retorted.

Levi is King Asher’s closest advisor, as he should be, Flint said.

Kane could not argue that, so instead waited as the king came out of his thoughts.

“We will help you.” King Asher rose. “Follow me.”