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Oberon had another squad of fairy warriors assist Serera in escorting us from Tëan Tír, and included a pair of flying mages riding hippogriffs to monitor and, if necessary, purify them, as the only currently available countermeasure against Demonic Blindness.
In the skies of Western Pendor, an escort of Pendorian sea-wyvern-mounted aerial cavalry joined them. Despite being so far from the Southern Sea, their native habitat, and normally being used to patrol the coast and territorial waters, Pendor maintains a squadron of these beasts in the capital, mostly because their adaptation for the wide-open sea gives them a longer range and more strength than their land-dwelling relatives. To make it feasible, my father built a reservoir south of the capital, on the Tain, where they would be more comfortable than in the crowded, somewhat polluted shipping basin.
They’re beautiful beasts, longer and broader than wyverns, with long, scaly tails that looked for all the world like a mad scientist had replaced the usual reptilian tail with a fish. The wide tail fins are horizontal, though, and provide some lift, but their main function is to drive the beast out of the water while it’s taking off, like a dolphin kicking itself out of the water.
While we were on approach to Narses Field, a group of hippalektryon riders joined them, completing our rather large escort. The Ancient Greeks depicted these hippogriff cousins as horses with their rear halves replaced by the body, wings, feet and tail of a rooster, but in reality, everything from the chest backwards is more like an eagle or hawk.
Dilorè set us down on the grassy expanse to the north of the city with the fairies, hippogriffs and hippalektryons landing alongside. The sea-wyverns only made a low pass, then returned to the sky once we were safely on the ground. Although they can land on dry ground, where they brood their young, they prefer the water.
At the insistence of the maids, backed up by Rod, the back half of the control room had become my dressing room during the last hour of the flight, where Terese and Genette could suitably dress me near the end of the flight. They weren’t satisfied with me until we were on the ground. I met Rod near the hatch while the knights and maids were forming up outside.
He still had that conflicted shadow in his eyes when he saw me, but he smiled and nodded.
“It suits you, My Lady,” he told me after surveying me with an appraising eye. He was getting better at not lingering on my bosom, I noticed.
I smiled and nodded. “Your Highness is looking quite handsome as well.”
Rod was resplendent in his black Royal Army dress uniform. I had to admit, he made an excellent accessory as I descended onto the field in my royal blue Mother-designed visiting dress and tiara. Which Matthias had successfully restored to perfect condition, I should note.
He went out ahead of me and held up his hand as if we were exiting a carriage. Reia’s hatch is slightly higher off the ground than a carriage door, so I had to descend one step before I could take his hand, but it worked out.
Rob’s four knights stood on his side, while my two maids on mine, and for some reason Serera and Dilorè had decided to opt in, made up the numbers on mine. Beyond them, a line of Pendorian officers, formidable in their black dress uniforms, stood at attention. On a command barked by a stern voice as I reached the ground and took Rod’s arm, they snapped into a salute together.
As we walked toward them, I quietly asked, “Who gives them the counter-salute, you or me?”
He pursed his lips in thought, then replied, “For now, you’re a royal knight and the local First Daughter. As the incoming general and a prince, I outrank you both militarily and socially. But if you take over as duchess, you’ll become their commander-in-chief and the local head of state, and our positions will reverse.”
Ah, yes, the etiquette mine-field that comes from being a province that is in practice an autonomous kingdom, despite being called a ‘duchy’.
We halted three paces from our reception committee and Rod returned their salute. A handsome middle-aged woman wearing full colonel insignia stepped forward from the line and resumed her salute.
Mother’s design influence hadn’t reached her own military, I noticed. This woman had the same jacket, blouse and tie as the men, except she replaced the trousers with a similarly-colored petticoated skirt that ended roughly mid-calf.
In crisp Dorian, she declared, “Colonel Subil Morgas, at your service, Your Highness. Welcome to Narses and the Duchy of Pendor.”
Rod pursed his lips as he gave her another counter-salute. “Colonel, I’m curious where your commanding general is?”
“At this time, I’m the ranking active officer in Narses, Your Highness,” she stated. “We lost all but one of our general officers in the attack, and Brigadier Kier is still hospitalized. Fairy Amana is currently acting as our commander, but she felt that official personnel ought to receive you. She promised she would apologize if she hadn’t judged the protocol correctly.”
I felt a chill down my spine. All but one of our general officers…
“What you’ve done is sufficient,” he replied, then frowned. “You’re seriously the highest ranking officer after the attack?”
“Fortunately, Generals Provis, Ortas, Lidi and Rase were forward with their adjutants and staff, touring the front, Your Highness. Fairy Amana had them continue their tour to avoid spreading alarm among the troops. But yes, all three generals who were present during the attack were casualties.”
“Did she also order you to hide the severity of the attack from the crown?” he probed. He wasn’t forcefull, but he also wasn’t fully keeping the agitation out of his voice. “This is the first I’m hearing of it!”
“To be frank, Your Highness, she did,” the colonel answered. “We are doing everything we can to keep a lid on things. We are maintaining a news blackout and cordoned off the base. For security reasons, Fairy Amana decided to provide extra security for your travel and to delay informing you until after arrival. I can brief you on the matter on the way to the castle.”
I objected, “Colonel, our destination should be the military headquarters.”
She appeared caught off-guard when I spoke. After a slight hesitation, she answered, “My Lady, we have moved all command functions to the castle for now. Recovery operations are still ongoing at Army Headquarters and the surrounding area. I’m afraid we had a high number of civilian casualties in the adjacent neighborhoods.”
I felt a chill. The attack on Langram had effectively annihilated the village of that name. ‘Adjacent neighborhoods’ suggested that the attacked headquarters had been inside the city. If that kind of destruction had occurred there…
“Civilian casualties?” I echoed, looking at Rod.
His frown deepened. “We should visit as soon as possible.”
“Please delay your tour until we can arrange appropriate security, Your Highness,” the colonel answered. “We cannot consider the area secure at this time.”
“It has been a full week since the attack, Colonel!” he objected.
“Your Highness,” I said softly, putting my arm on his shoulder. Rod set his jaw, frowned over at me, then relaxed and nodded.
The colonel was bravely holding her own, but Rod was definitely intimidating her. I could see she was working out of her depth. A woman at her rank in this male-dominated army would almost certainly be a functionary from some support column like communications or logistics who had found herself thrust into the commandant role by the sheer lack of other surviving officers. In order to reinforce her position versus the royal she faced, I decided to step in.
“You said ‘adjacent neighborhoods’, Colonel. I confess I am not well-versed in the local geography. Was Army Headquarters located within the city? If so, the collateral casualties would have been quite high.”
She again seemed taken slightly aback that I was kibitzing a conversation between her and the Second Prince– or rather, now the Royal Prince– of the kingdom.
The remainder of the passengers were not lined up and waiting behind us. Once we had cleared the double line, military personnel had begun leading everyone behind us off to one side, where a line-up of carriages were waiting. It was just me and a couple of Rod’s knight escorts remaining with her.
After her moment of confusion, she answered, “Yes, ah… My Lady… unfortunately the headquarters site is in the upper town, which is quite crowded.”
“We are going to stop siting such facilities anywhere near civilian districts from now on,” Rod declared, sounding annoyed. “Atianus was already bad enough, but this sounds catastrophic.”
“How bad was it, Colonel?” I asked.
Again, that momentary hesitation. She answered, “The Headquarters stood between an older business district made up largely of shops and craftsman’s ateliers and a residential district, so both the damage to businesses and the loss of life have been quite high. I’m afraid we are still tallying the losses, but the civilian casualties numbered at least in the hundreds.”
After a glance back to Rod, she gave me a frank look and stated, “I’m afraid you have the advantage of me, My Lady. You are with His Highness, but…”
She let her voice trail, clearly prompting me to introduce myself.
I gave Rod a side-eye. “Yes, someone has neglected to introduce me.”
Rod, who had been scowling in thought, probably still worrying about the damage, gave a cough of surprise, then pinched the bridge of his nose while wincing. “Right. My apologies, My Lady. I forgot that you’ve never been here before.”
He told the woman, “Colonel, this is my fiancée Lady Tiana. My Lady is your duchy’s princess as the First Daughter of Pendor.”
The woman’s eyes grew and her face paled. She stammered, “Y…. Your Highness, my apologies! I did not recognize you!”
“You need not apologize for that. I understand that my portrait is not widely distributed,” I told her, keeping my voice as conciliatory as I could. I do have a portrait in circulation, created shortly before Tiana’s accolade as a royal knight, but I understand the sales have been very poor.
She continued to look fretful. “I apologize for such a poor reception for you. We were not informed that you were coming.”
“You weren’t?” I looked over to Rod, confused.
He shook his head. “Everything was rushed. Probably a communication mixup.”
“But a sufficient reception for His Highness would surely be sufficient for me, Colonel,” I assured her.
Frankly, this was not sufficient to receive a prince. There should have been a band, banners, honor guards, the works. But she confirmed my guess as to why we only had a line-up of officers.
“We were told to not perform a royal reception, and only follow the protocols for receiving a visiting general officer.”
“Which it seems you did, Colonel,” Rod stated firmly, looking left and right at the lineup. “Please relax. My Lady does not look bothered at all.”
Her eyes went back to me and I tried to give her as reassuring a smile as I could.
“Colonel,” I told her, “We need to allow these gentlemen to return to their posts. We’re keeping them lined up like ordinary troops. Why don’t you brief us in the carriage?”
Which, incidentally, became my first surprise on this trip. Although I guess it wasn’t that big a surprise, since I had already encountered steam locomotives in Pendor.
“Where are your horses, Colonel?” a baffled Rod demanded as we walked toward the waiting convoy of what could only be described as … well, cars. Or rather, primitive buses. Imagine a car from around World War I, but with three couches behind the driver’s seat.
The colonel looked unsure how to explain them, so I took over. I could tell they were steam powered because the engines were having to let off excess steam while the cars idled, so I had a pretty good idea how they would work. And it turned out Rod’s education had included the basic concept of a steam engine, although previously he had only heard of them being used to drive machinery in mills.
“Mother has really pushed hard to develop technology in Pendor,” I told him, noticing as I said it that I felt some serious pride in the fact.
“These roadable steam wagons are still a very new item, Your Highness,” the colonel noted while a Pendorian Army soldier assisted me into the vehicle. “They were only introduced to our streets this year. I’m impressed that you are already so familiar with them.”
That would mean the Pendorian engineers had leapfrogged several decades of development, but I had smelled the presence of reincarnators in the steam trains I had already encountered.
I scratched my cheek. “Well, I try to keep up.”
