The Empress of Beasts, page 38
part #13 of The Wandering Inn Series
“If you’ll allow me to try again, Your Majesty?”
“Very well.”
Flos waved a hand. This time Gazi focused two eyes on the screen. She began tapping. And her bird died again.
On pipe twelve. And it had missed the edge of the pipe by an invisible pixel. Gazi paused, blinked down at the screen. Then Trey saw three of her four eyes focus on the screen. Teres stopped grinning.
The third time she got to thirty nine but ran into a pipe by tapping too fast. Gazi paused, flexed her hand—her fingers were different from a regular Human’s; there were only four, for one thing, and her orange-brown skin was another feature of her mixed heritage. And the eyes, obviously.
“I think I understand. Now.”
She began tapping. And Teres’ smile faded. Flos watched, nodding to himself and smiling. Trey was just incredulous. Because Gazi started tapping and the bird moved through the pipes perfectly.
Tap, tap, tap. Gazi focused three eyes, then two, and then one. She was counting the score. She passed eighty-three. And then a hundred. And then two hundred. Teres threw up her hands.
“How—”
“Shh! She’s beating your score, Teres!”
She glared at him. Trey watched, delightedly, as did Flos, but Gazi’s intent focus began to waver. She began glancing at the screen with one of her eyes, not even watching with that one.
After a score of three hundred and fifteen, the bird ran into a pipe. Not, Trey thought, because Gazi had made a mistake. She’d just gotten bored. She handed the iPhone back to her [King]. Teres was still in a state of shock.
“How did you—but—that’s not fair! You’ve never even played it before! Trey, did you give her your phone?”
“I don’t even have that stupid game!”
Gazi just shrugged, her rust-colored armor moving on her shoulders. She gave Trey her small smile.
“Skills. It’s a game about seeing ahead. And timing. My lord, I don’t think there’s much to it besides an idle moment’s relaxation.”
“You might be right. But I have to at least break a hundred! If you can do it, a [King] should do no less! Thirty, at least!”
Flos began tapping the screen. But he didn’t have Gazi’s incredible sense of timing or patience. He’d tap too fast, or expect the bird to, well, not, move like it did. The twins saw Flos’ brow furrowing, his expression getting more annoyed by the second. Gazi gave Teres another long stare with one eye.
“Uh, Your Majesty. There are other things you can do—”
“I must reach at least thirty! No, forty!”
Flos snapped at Trey. Teres began to look as though she was regretting her prank.
“It’s just a game. And it’s my phone. Here—”
She tried to reach for it, but Flos simply lifted the phone above her reach as he continued to tap and scowl.
“No, Teres. You have thrown down the gauntlet. I must satisfy my pride or I won’t be able to dwell on anything else!”
“See what you’ve done?”
“Shut it! It was funny!”
It was, Trey had to admit. But Teres had misjudged her audience. Flos hated losing. And he began getting more and more frustrated by the comical sound effects and the bird. He started tapping harder, and losing more quickly, despite Teres trying to give him tips so he’d break thirty and stop playing.
“Just stop tapping so hard!”
“I’m not tapping hard. This bird refuses to move properly!”
Flos growled back. Trey saw him stab at the screen to retry. And then it happened.
Tap, tap, crack. Trey froze when he heard the sound. He looked up and saw the iPhone’s screen crack around Flos’ finger. He paused and Teres shouted in horror.
“My phone!”
“What happened? I didn’t tap it too—”
“You shattered it!”
Trey was amazed. He’d seen iPhones break, but never by someone tapping it so hard. But Flos was insanely strong—no, as the King of Destruction lowered the iPhone, Trey saw the metal was slightly bent from where he’d been holding it!
“It’s so weak! What metal is this?”
“I don’t know! How’d you break it?”
“We can fix it. Teres, Ulyse managed to [Repair] it. He can fix the phone. Right?”
Teres was nearly in tears. It was her smartphone, and the screen was shattered. One of her few possessions from earth besides her clothes. Flos took one look at her face and whirled.
“[Repair] fixes most objects. And Ulyse is a master. Gazi, summon Ulyse at once! Run!”
Trey stared in surprise. But the half-Gazer didn’t wait for a second question. She took a running start, ran past Flos, and jumped out Trey’s window.
“Gazi!”
The young man ran to the window. He saw Gazi hit the ground—four stories down. She landed in a crouch, and then sprinted forwards. She was headed towards the streets. Flos was at Trey’s back.
“Ulyse must be down there. Come! We’ll meet him. Make way!”
He suited action to words. He was running down the hallway, holding the iPhone like a broken bird. Servants leapt out of the way, some shouting an alarm. The King of Destruction just bellowed for them to clear the hall and they did. Trey and Teres ran after him, more confused than anything.
Ulyse met Flos at the palace’s entrance. He was panting; he must have sprinted through the city! Gazi pointed and he strode towards Flos.
“Your Majesty, what is the issue?”
“This device. I’ve broken it. Can you repair it with a spell?”
“The phone?”
Ulyse looked alarmed as Flos showed him the cracks and dents. He inspected it.
“I have no idea how it functions, but I can cast the same [Repair] spell, Your Majesty. I have a few others I can try if it fails.”
“Then do so.”
Flos handed the iPhone to Ulyse and stood back. The [Mage] levitated it up, lifting his colorful parasol. Trey and Teres, panting, caught up to watch him slowly tap the phone with the tip of his parasol.
“[Repair].”
The iPhone twirled in the air and then the cracks began to seal. The indented metal pushed outwards, reforming into the original shape. Ulyse caught the phone as it lowered and peered at it.
“It seems normal. But I cannot tell. This spell takes more magic than I would have imagined for such an object. Nevertheless. Your Majesty?”
“Teres?”
Flos didn’t take the phone. Teres took her smartphone with shaking hands and pressed the power button. Nothing happened.
“Hold it down, Teres.”
Trey urged her. She did, and after an agonizing second, they both saw the familiar logo appear. They exhaled. Flos looked at them urgently.
“Is it fixed?”
“Let me check—um—um—yes! It’s back! All my apps, my pictures! It’s even kept the high score! Thank you, Ulyse!”
Teres turned to the [Mage]. He wiped sweat from his brow, smiling.
“My pleasure, Miss Teres.”
“And mine. Teres, I apologize for damaging it.”
Flos inclined his head gravely to Teres. The twins stared up at him. He looked truly contrite. And he’d practically set up half the palace in alarm running to get Ulyse. People were still streaming out of the doors asking Gazi what had happened! It was ludicrous—
Until Trey looked at Flos and thought about what he was thinking. Flos was looking at Teres, the relieved look on her face as she swiped through her photos. And at her iPhone. He saw how much it meant to her.
And—it really was valuable. Unique. Even if Trey had one, Teres’ iPhone had data no one else did. Perhaps only she, in the entire world, had that game on her phone. It was a strange thought. Flos nodded, meeting Teres’ eyes.
“It truly is an irreplaceable artifact. And I will not be tapping on it any more. Clearly, some of the…activities have merit. These pictures and video? I would pay the cost of a hundred scrying orbs for such a device! The bird-thing not so much. Teres?”
“It’s okay. I mean, it’s fine. Thank you, Ulyse, again. And you, Your Majesty.”
Teres looked up. Relieved, Flos turned. He addressed his people, holding up one hand gravely.
“The crisis is over! Mage Ulyse has righted my error. This fantastic little artifact is too fragile for my hands, it seems!”
He laughed, smiling.
“After that fright, I’ve a mind to eat something. Where’s that Yellat? And my people! Have they been settled?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have your meal right here. Would you like to take it now?”
“I’ll dine with my subjects! Lead me to them! Teres, would you come with me? And take more of these…pictures? Yourself, of course.”
“I can do that.”
Teres looked up, nodding. She turned to Trey. He lamely pointed back to the castle.
“I’ll find you—later. Gazi’s making me study and I can’t skip out.”
“Sure. I’ll take all the food photos for you.”
“Why would you take a picture of food? What a waste! Unless it was a true banquet.”
Flos and Teres headed into the city followed by a bevy of servants and—Trey stared. Was that some kind of glazed Yellat on a little platter? Why just one? And why was it so…? He looked around and jumped as Gazi put her hand on his shoulder.
“Let us return to your room, Trey Atwood.”
“Gazi! You jumped out a window!”
“Does that surprise you? You know I am capable of much more.”
The half-Gazer looked amused as Trey followed her back to his room. They were studying magic; she was his teacher and he her sometimes-reluctant pupil. Trey gloomily sat back down and stared at his desk. A few tiny Sand Golems walked across it; they were his creations. Gazi studied the little Golems.
“You can keep them animated for longer durations. Good. But a waste of magic.”
“They’re just for fun.”
Trey shooed one of the Golems over the edge of the table. It went splat on the ground and reformed, trundling off. Gazi watched it with one eye and then gestured to Teres’ side.
“That phone my Lord broke. You have one too. Show me?”
Trey hesitated, but one of Gazi’s eyes was looking at it. He took it out and handed it to her. At least he had no fear of Gazi breaking his phone. She inspected it, and then turned it on. She even knew his passcode! Her eyes really did see everything. But Gazi paused and just stared at the screen. She frowned, and then pointed at the phone to Trey.
“It hurts my eyes. The little things in the screen. What are they?”
He blinked.
“What? The apps? Er, the icons?”
“No. The little things. This is made up of many, many, tiny things. Almost too small for you to see. But I see them.”
Trey blinked.
“What? Oh! Pixels. You can see them?”
“Clearly.”
“They make the screen by changing color. I think. When you say it hurts your eyes, Gazi—”
She shook her head.
“My eyes are too sensitive. I must unfocus to see the picture. Otherwise I simply see it differently. It…flashes.”
“You mean, the screen?”
“Incredibly quickly. It keeps changing. A picture redrawn many times each second to create…”
Gazi trailed off. Trey realized she was seeing the screen refresh. He stared, amazed. Her eyes were powerful! And those were just her four secondary eyes. She’d told him her main eye could see through almost anything. He’d never seen it—or seen her open her main eyelid, though. Apparently her eye had been damaged in a fight before she’d return to Reim. By someone else from Earth.
“I guess it’s just the screen uh, drawing itself, Gazi. The iPhones were made for Humans. I can’t see a thing, but I’ve seen what you’re talking about on old televisions.”
“Hm. And it can do many things like take pictures, or even moving ones? Will you show me?”
“Oh. Of course.”
Trey sat next to Gazi and began explaining the iPhone’s functions. He felt a bit like a tech salesman, and she was an avid customer. She kept pausing to ask him to demonstrate. Even the calculator doing math made her eyes widen.
“Impressive. What else can it do?”
“I can take videos.”
“Of anything?”
“Yup.”
“Then—record him.”
Gazi nodded out the window. Trey turned and saw she was looking across Reim. Flos was in the main street, visible from their window. He was at the center of a gathering, laughing, touching hands, clasping shoulders with the newcomers. Trey looked at Gazi. Then he slowly raised the phone, zoomed in, and pressed record.
He only took a few seconds of video. When he showed it to Gazi she blinked. It was a bit grainy from a distance; Trey didn’t have the newest model. What version of iPhone was out now he’d been gone for months? But Flos was clearly visible.
“It is a wonder. One my lord doesn’t underestimate, for all he boasts of our magic, I think. Is that forever, Trey?”
“Until you delete it, or the phone breaks. But you can save it other ways, Gazi.”
“I see. May I?”
“Sure.”
Gazi took the iPhone. She had no problem replaying the clip. She smiled at the little video of Flos. It was so genuine that it made Trey feel bad about his casual usage of the smartphone. It was valuable here. And he sat with the half-Gazer for a while.
“It cheered up His Majesty.”
“It did.”
She nodded at last. Trey looked up at her. Gazi offered him his phone back. And then her smile faded.
“Your sister did well, Trey. But my lord will still have to face it. Tiqr falls. But until that moment, let us distract him from it. I only wish…we had this decades past. Maybe then he would not have slumbered so long.”
She indicated the iPhone. Trey looked at it.
“Because…?”
“It would have recaptured his memories of her. And him. And Drevish too. All of us, the ones that fell and linger only in memory.”
Tottenval and Queravia. Two of his Seven. And Flos had loved Queravia. He loved all of his Seven; they were his family. But Queravia had been special. Of that, Trey was sure. He looked up at Gazi’s face.
“Aren’t there pictures of her?”
“There were. But he burned them all. Because they couldn’t capture her. I think he regrets it to this day.”
The young man sat in silence, absorbing this. He looked down at his phone and wondered how much more had been left uncaptured. At last, he looked up.
“She’s his old friend, isn’t she? The Empress of Beasts? And Tiqr’s going to fall.”
“Yes. She was a child when he claimed Tiqr. But he swore to guard Tiqr. Now, it falls because of his oath. So yes, Trey. He is waiting. Waiting for her to ask him for help.”
“And if she does? He swore an oath not to interfere as well. Would he?”
Gazi didn’t reply. She only looked out the window. And then she stood up.
“A message is coming. Follow me, Trey. Hurry.”
——
The King of Destruction stood with Ulyse, listening to the [Mage] talk. He was the leader of Parasol Stroll, but in Orthenon’s absence, Ulyse and the other leaders like Gazi had begun filling leadership roles. Among them was settling the new arrivals, all of whom were weary from weeks of travel.
“Many of them are hungry. Most of them have nothing but the clothes they carry and few supplies, if any. They were chased from their homes, sometimes with their possessions confiscated.”
“Wounds? Injuries from travel?”
“Few. There were some casualties. Monster attacks, mainly, but people as well.”
“[Bandits]? On my lands?”
Flos’ brows creased. Ulyse shook his head.
“Not Reim, Your Majesty. But their homeland. They were safe within Jecrass; King Raelt gave them free passage, even allowed them to barter for supplies. But many have become targets.”
“They must arrive safely, Ulyse. They are my people. Send word to the borders; patrols are to escort any claiming my sanctuary.”
The [Mage] nodded. Flos turned and looked at the [Healer].
“How fare my subjects?”
“Well enough, Your Majesty. But some are weak. They will need recovery.”
Flos clicked his fingers.
“Bring out stamina potions!”
“We need not use them, Your Majesty. They can recover in time.”
The [Healer] protested. Flos shook his head.
“What use are potions, if not to be used? Split them, by all means, but give any one in need of them a dose. And send word that we require more [Builders] from Hellios and Germina. Send them to colonize all the old villages and richest farmlands first. Speaking of which, how fares Hellios?”
He addressed that question to Teres. She looked up from taking pictures of some of the refugees.
“Um—Orthenon says the country’s dissidence is mainly taken care of, Your Majesty. Queen Calliope—”
“Former Queen. She abdicated.”
“—Is complying. She’s not happy, but Hellios is supplying…supplies. And Germina’s doing the same. Even better, actually. The Quarass has it all under control. She’s been asking to see you, actually.”
Flos smiled.
“Fair enough. Tell Orthenon I need him free to work elsewhere soon. Have that upstart [Prince] manage his own kingdom, perhaps. Or not, if he cannot be trusted. But I would rather have Hellios supplying resources and soldiers than be a thorn in my side later on. As for the Quarass—no doubt she has her lands under control. She does have the experience of the old Quarasses to draw on. She will seek me out when she is ready. Tell Orthenon to deal with her politely but decline her requests for my audience.”
“I’ll tell him, Your Majesty.”
Teres blushed. She was tasked in keeping in touch with the [Steward]. Flos nodded at her, smiling. And then his head turned.
“What now?”
Someone was riding towards them down the street. Teres looked up and Ulyse turned, twirling his parasol. Gazi and Trey were hurrying from the castle at the same time.
