For a season Lady lay in the bed without stirring. She never spoke or responded to the voices of those she knew, or even opened her eyes with the morning sun. She was listless, and near the end of the season she fell into a fevered state, not unlike the green illness which had taken so many. She remained just functional enough to drink liquids.
When the fever broke she stirred, startling her nursemaid who had been knitting a shawl for her daughter to wear for the upcoming winter months. The nursemaid rushed to the bedside, tossing aside her wool and needles.
“Slowly now, Lady. Don’t strain yourself.” The blanket fell from Lady’s body as she sat up, now of her own volition. The wounds upon Lady’s chest were a red mar against her pale skin, the black thread like insect legs protruding from her flesh. The sight made the woman feel uncomfortable and she pulled the blanket back up, covering her again. Lady seemed unaware as she dropped her hands down into her lap, exhausted and the water bowl empty.
Lady attempted to look around her, but everything was a blur of colors and undistinguishable shapes. She waited for her dizziness to subside, closing her eyes again from the nauseating sight. She decided to keep her eyes shut for now and work on the rest of her body before endeavoring sight again.
“Are you having difficulty, Lady?”
A nod was all that was given from the girl who leaned heavily now on her nursemaid as she struggled to move her limbs. Baffled, the nursemaid attempted to coax the girl to stay in bed, who ignored all of her cautions and was determined to attempt to stand. Eventually she had to give in and help the young woman stand upon her trembling legs.
“To my window…” Lady continued to filter out the nursemaid’s complaints as she focused on moving her limbs, which seemed more suited for sweeping floors now as they dragged along the stone floor and caught the fur rugs. Slowly and carefully the two made it to the window where the sun was sinking into the hills for the evening, but remained high enough to reach her face. A deep sigh left Lady as the warmth reached her cheeks, and she attempted again to open her eyes. Little by little she cracked her eyes open, letting the sun’s rays of light filter through her lashes and stun her vision with colors and white light. As they calmed, her eyes opened more, allowing colors to separate from one another and blurred shapes to become distinguished.
Soon Lady could see the vast hills of her lands stretched out before her beyond the city’s walls, bathed in the setting sun’s light. She knew the terrors of the night would be upon them soon, but she still marveled in the beauty of it all. This moment should not be dreaded by people, but even now she could see those who were still outside hurrying their actions to safely tuck themselves inside. Despite the walls surrounding them, the fear remained.
“Lady, your eyes…they look reddened from the light, let’s get you back to your bed and have a healer look at you.”
Weary from the effort of standing for so long, Lady succumbed to the wills of her nursemaid and only nodded in agreement. She had hardly any recollection of the movement back into her bed and the time lapse between seeing her nursemaid disappear to the man now in front of her. With a candle he illuminated her face, whilst using his thumb and forefinger to hold her eyelids open, peering into her. He looked troubled, but she did not know why, things were becoming sharper now, she could see perfectly fine.
“I pray that this is not an omen,” murmured the healer as he finished checking both eyes. “Let us hope that it is merely a side effect that will clear with time…”
“What,” Lady managed to ask, “what is wrong?”
The healer retrieved a mirror and handed it to her. It was strange as she stared at herself for the first time in the polished surface. Her face was pale and sickly, the vibrant color of her hair a stark contrast for her skin and hanging limply around her face. But it was her eyes that struck fear in her, the blackened rings around her eyes only emphasized the soft bright violet color that had replaced the once ocean colors of her iris. The mirror flew from her hands as she retracted from it, as though it had shown her a horrid visage.
It would be another fortnight before Lady could move on her own again, her robes at first too heavy to bear as she went through the tedious processes of basic movement. But her will never diminished. She was permitted to have counsel attend her in her bedchambers, and she caught up on the events which had passed during her illness. Once she was determined to be of sound mind, the power was relinquished from the counsel and placed back in her hands.
Once the entire clamor had subsided and figureheads had vanished it would be just her and Wolf keeping each other company, Wolf telling his stories of what he had been doing while she was ill and what he had found.
Winter came and was harsh enough that even the monsters fled from the dreary blizzards that swept throughout the lands, giving Lady ample time to recover within the castle walls. But she was restless. She was not well enough to join Wolf out in the harshness of the cold, but enjoyed watching him playing outside from her tower. He made snowmen and adorned them with lumps of coal for buttons, sticks for hands, and with permission took one of the older pumpkins form harvest and carved a face into it. He had made several friends and looked to be talking to them, which brought a weary smile to Lady’s lips.
Sigurther requested a private audience with Lady in her room following a council meeting. Even after the room had cleared he remained silent as he gathered up his thoughts. Watching Lady, who propped herself up in her bed with pillows, he wondered how to start.
“I have never seen you look so serious, Sigurther.” Lady broke the silence, garnering a smile from the older man.
He had been twelve turns of the seasons senior to Lady’s father. They had meet when the Duke provided aid to the Republic of Karnak, a province of the nation of Alephos during their drawn out war against the tyrant Lord Ubmras. Lady didn’t know the details of their encounter, but the Duke had offered Sigurther refuge in Pylos to start a new life, as he had lost everything in the war. And so Sigurther became a familiar face, part of Lady’s earliest memories of the castle.
“Ah, well, I was trying to think how your mother, or even my late wife, might have started this conversation. You know, talk about a girl’s future, becoming a woman, and all the gossip that follows. I mean, my opinion on which boys are the most charming is questionable at best, and I wouldn’t look so fine next to you trying on frilly dresses. I’m afraid I’m just not well versed on such things.”
Lady giggled, a feat that few had accomplished as of late. Smiling at his successful banter, Sigurther continued.
“Of course I was hoping I could find someone else to fulfil that role, but I really don’t trust anyone else’s opinion, even if they should wear a dress better than me. So, here I am, talking to you about young men and courtship.” His face betrayed his unease at the topic.
Lady’s smile softened. “I knew it would be brought up at some point. I have thought about it at length, the strength it would provide us, the resources marrying the right ally would give.” Lady’s voice tapered off.
Sigurther waved a hand at her. “It’s more than just strength. I wouldn’t let you wed the wealthiest lad in the kingdom if I thought he would make you miserable. I don’t need the vengeful spirits of your parents bearing down on me. I’m here to remind you of that, despite whatever pressures you might feel when the council brings it up.”
Lady nodded with understanding and was silent a moment. “Did my parents find love for each other easily?” she inquired.
Sigurther sat back in his chair in thought. “No, I’m afraid not. Your father was stubborn and hotheaded. It took considerable patience on your mother’s part to cool his flare-ups. It was the birth of their first child that truly bound them to one another. Through you they learned to love each other. Not perfect mind you, but I think they were one of the happier couples in court.”
Lady smiled at the memory of her parents and tried to ignore the invasive thought of being with someone who she abhorred.
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. “You may enter,” Lady responded.
A guard peeked his head in, “My Lady, there is a visitor for you who has traveled great distance to show you something. We hope that it pleases you. Please dress appropriately for the elements and meet us in the pasture.”
Lady found herself bundled up in many layers of wool and blankets standing in the frozen field with a handful of people. All of which were her guards save for one man and his peculiar contraption that she was unsure of its use.
The man claimed to be an engineer, a mathematician, but most importantly, a man of science. His difficult to pronounce name, Yrzowski, was hesitantly used as they learned that he claimed to have brought with him a technology which would be of benefit to the city. He was dressed in attire that more resembled a man of business rather than science, but none at hand complained as he began to describe the functionality of the red stone and the bundle of red candles that were marked with the label TNT.
“Simply put, it’s a cannon, but derived from the same ingredients found within the bodies of the silent assassins, and therefore, much more powerful than any other black powder currently used.”
“How did you ever extract that from them without complete catastrophe?” Lady asked with awe and slight fear in her voice as she shivered with a gust of wind.
“We have our,” the man hesitated, “methods,” It was apparent that he was not quite ready to give away his secrets. “Rest assured, we can harvest quite a bit in a safe environment. This cannon can also be adjusted. By placing a certain number of TNT bundles in each segment,” he placed live TNT in each of the segments as he spoke, “you can direct the propulsive explosion to the left or right.”
Without warning, the Man of Science pulled a lever at the base of the cannon, lighting the fuses of enough explosive mass to destroy the thickest of walls. Those assembled stepped back, while Lady and the Man of Science remained grounded. With an ear shattering fwoomp, the cannon erupted into a plume of smoke and fire, launching a single package of explosives downrange. A grand tree hundreds of yards away found itself the unfortunate recipient of the package. With a flash of light, and a second fwoomp, the tree evaporated out of existence, clearly showing the devastating power of the cannon.
“I also have something that might be of use to your cities defenses,” the Man of Science continued, barely waiting for the attendants to regain their footing. “We have constructed a contraption that allows us to create cobblestone through smelting of magma and water, indefinitely. Cobblestone is cheap, why would this be of use? Well we apply this with a new technology called the piston, a device used to push and pull on materials.” He allowed those gathered no time to interrupt him, let alone process the information which spewed from him. “This technology has many applications. For instance, in my home city we have constructed a bridge that repairs itself when damage is dealt to it. It does this using a combination of the cobblestone generator, and the pistons. If permitted, I would like to see if I can construct your walls utilizing the same concept. In this way, if TNT is used against your walls, there will be no need to have an engineer risk their life out in the night hours to attempt to repair the bridge. The process is rather swift, allowing the repairs to be made in minutes.”
“What supplies would be needed for this,” asked one engineer, who’s curiosity had peaked at the concept. “I would imagine quite a lot of lava chambers would have to be redirected to the surface, and red stone and iron production increased for the purpose of the pistons main components, trenches dug under the main walls as well as an estimation of depth needed underground so that damage from the explosions above cannot interfere with the mechanics underground.”
“It would be quite a project,” admitted the scientist, “but I have heard that your mines are rich and your Duchess determined to keep her people safe. As I said, I would be happy to design the walls and set up several cannons at the top of them for you but I would need adequate workers and supplies.”
“You shall have it.” Lady spoke up.
“But my Lady,” Her startled guard interjected, “don’t you think you should discuss this with the council before undertaking such a project? We’ve only just heard of the concept and have not seen any demonstrable proof of this concept.”
“What is there to discuss?” She said flatly, turning away from her guards and the scientist, heading back to her chambers. “They want to live, don’t they?”
The scientist laughed. “I like this Duchess of yours.”
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