Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Eight - Free Action

“This is my father,” Caprica said. She smiled as she gestured towards an older sylph man. He was a bit shorter than Caprica herself, with greying hair and a thin, almost emaciated visage. He wore a military-esque uniform, though unlike those of the high-ranking officers around him, there were few embellishments on his. He could have passed for a new lieutenant if it wasn’t for the grave look in his eyes and the crown atop his head.

“Ah, so these are the new friends Gabby has been going on and on about,” the king said. He smiled, and with that one gesture his entire personality seemed to change, from gruff and no-nonsense to... well, to a proud dad.

“That’s right,” Caprica said. “This is Amaryllis Albatross. She’ll be representing the harpy today.”

“So young! I imagine you’re quite the talent to be in such a position already,” he said.

Amaryllis bowed with a flourish of her wings. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about you and your family back home.”

“None of it good, I imagine,” he said with a chuckle. I could tell that some of his guards and... flunkies, bristled at the implication.

“I’m afraid not,” Amaryllis admitted. “But so far I think I’ve found that what’s said and what’s true isn’t quite the same. Caprica has become a good friend, and we spent a lot of time with Paladin Bastion on the trip over. He proved a very capable and agreeable travelling companion.”

“Ah yes, Bastion. I think I might have heard a thing or two about him,” the king said. His lips twitched as he glanced to Caprica. She blushed up to her roots, but it left almost as soon as it appeared.

“These are my other new friends,” Caprica continued. “Awen Bristlecone, from Mattergrove, and Captain Broccoli Bunch from, the, ah, Beaver Cleaver.”

“Oh, I never did say where I was from, did I?” I asked. “I’m from Canada.”

“I’ve never heard of Canada, is it a small village?” the king asked.

I nodded. “That’s what it means, yeah.”

“Interesting. You seem to be a diverse-enough group, good folk from all over,” he said. “That's a great way to have a healthy exchange of ideas.”

“And making all sorts of friends is important,” I said. “You can’t just make the one sort, or else that would hardly be any fun.”

The king eyed me for a moment, then shrugged. “I suppose you’re not entirely wrong. I’m afraid that Sylphfree hasn't been graced with as much diversity as you might prefer.”

“That’s okay!” I said. “This whole summit is about listening to each other, isn’t it? I can’t think of a better time to start considering things from other people’s points of view than when they’re literally going to tell you what those are.”

The king laughed, a single bark of good humour that had his shoulder shaking. “I suppose there’s some worth in bluntness. Interesting companions you’ve found, Caprica.”

“Yes father,” Caprica said. “They’re very much interesting.”

“I’d love to talk more, but my life has never not been busy, and today is no exception to that. Good day, ladies Albatross, Bristlecone, and to you, Captain Bunch.”

The king gave us a nod, then turned towards his daughter. He unfolded his hands from the small of his back, then brought them up before him. I knew an invitation for a hug when I saw one.

“Father, not in front of all the guards,” Caprica said.

“Come now, not even before my big speech?” he asked with a gesture to the room around him. There had to be a couple of hundred people gathered in the grand hall already.

“Oh, fine,” Caprica said. She gave her father a very quick and very reserved sort of hug. I giggled, in spite of myself, and she glared at me as she stepped back from her dad.

Once the king and his retinue were off, Caprica turned back to us. “Did anyone indicate where you should go?” she asked Amaryllis.

“No, not so far,” Amaryllis said.

Caprica walked past. “In that case, follow me.”

The grand hall of the old palace was arranged so that there were three big rows of seats all pointing towards a big stage at the back of the room. Little boxes on the floors above also allowed people to look down onto the stage from a position of some safety. A few sylph were flapping their way up to those upper-floor...

“Hey, what are those boxes called?” I pointed to the nooks above.

“Boxes,” Amaryllis said.

“Huh, alright,” I said. “I’ve never been to one of those, they’re fancy.”

“Well, you have one all to yourselves,” Caprica said. “Each delegation has one near the front. Mostly as a position of pride, but also so that the speakers have easier, more discreet access to the stage.”

“I thought this would be less a presentation and more of an open forum kind of thing,” I said.

“Oh, that will be later,” Amaryllis said. “I imagine they’ll rearrange things for that part of the summit.”

“Tables will be brought in, yes,” Caprica said. “And we have sound mages that can ensure that everything spoken at the table will be heard by everyone in the room.”

I nodded along, then glanced at Amaryllis. “You don’t have stage fright, right?”

“Of course I don’t,” she said.

“Oh, good,” I said.

Caprica led us across the very front of the room, just under the lip of the stage. It was a bit emptier up at the front, and there were fewer nobles.

At the side of the sides of the room were large doors--guarded by a pair of sylphs, of course, because the sylphs seem to have as many guards as they did citizens--which we passed through into a luxuriously appointed corridor. There was a stairway at one end, and the corridor continued on in the same direction as the stage in the other.

“What’s that door?” I asked, pointing to one door that seemed a bit different. It didn’t have the same pretty decorations as all the rest.

“I think that’s access to the basement,” Caprica said. She didn’t sound entirely sure.

We climbed up the stairs to the second floor where there were entrances to the boxes set a few metres apart from each other. Ours had a little placard in front of it with ‘Harpy Delegation’ written on it in a nice cursive print that was so fancy it was barely legible.

The box had comfy looking sofas along the edges, as well as some rather tall seats in the middle that allowed us to see over the rails on the edge and into the main room.

I clambered onto one of the cushioned seats, then leaned way forwards so that I could take in the entire hall below. Even though the summit wasn’t going to properly start for another little while, the room was already filling up quite nicely. Some people were at their seats, but it looked like most were just milling around and talking.

I noticed a group of cervid off to one side, with Rowan and Nathan standing tall enough that I could make them out from the rest. No sign of Ellie, but she would be a bit harder to spot.

There were the grenoil too. Even if their delegation was a bit smaller, they still made a good showing. Grenoil gentlefrogs in nice suits talking—or rather conversing since this was a fancy sort of event—with interested sylph while hanging onto goblets of wine or somesuch.

“Whoa, I didn’t realise how high these boxes were from down there.”

“You really make yourself sound like such a competent captain,” Amaryllis said.

I giggled as I leaned back into the seat and away from the edge. “Fine, fine. I’ll just have to be careful not to fall. So, when does it all start?”

Amaryllis glanced up, and following her gaze I noticed a big clock above the stage for the first time. “We have another ten minutes. I imagine that’s why the king left, he needs to prepare his own parts for all of this.”

“Oh, I doubt it,” Caprica said. “He puts on airs of being prepared, but most of the time he leaves whatever speech was written for him behind and just wings the entire thing. Fortunately he’s fairly good at coming up with convincing arguments and riling people up.”

“I suppose he would have to be, being king and all,” Awen said.

Caprica shrugged. “He might be king, but he will always be my rather embarrassing father to me.”

“Sounds like there’s a story or two there,” I said. I was about to tease Caprica some more, but the loud blaring of a horn had my head snapping around towards the stage. The horn was soon joined by strings and flutes as a band started to play a big bombastic piece. “Whoa!” I said.

The music was so loud I almost had to fold my ears back not to be deafened, but even so, it made me grin. I’d never been to an orchestra before.

“I should head out,” Caprica said. “My seat is with my family. Amaryllis, I can show you to the staging area right now. I imagine you’ll be able to find your way back up here?”

“I should be able to manage,” Amaryllis said.

“Wait!” I said. I got up and ran around. “Hug for good luck,” I said.

She rolled her eyes, but raised her arms all the same. I’d trained her well! I gave her a good squeeze, then stepped back and let Awen give her a hug too.

“Kick butt out there, alright?” I asked.

“I’ll do my best to impress,” Amaryllis said.

I waved to Caprica, and we promised that we’d meet again during the intermission in an hour or so. Caprica said that she knew where to find the non-alcoholic drinks.

And then they left, leaving the box with just me and Awen.

“Whelp,” I said as I sat back down, “now we wait, I guess.”

“I suppose so,” Awen said. She didn’t sit down just yet though. “I think I need to use the lady’s room. I don’t want to miss Amaryllis’ part.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. I stood back up, again, then gestured to the door. “I’ll go with you. That way if we get lost, we’ll be lost together.”

Awen giggled, but she didn’t protest.

We slipped back into the corridor, then looked around for signs pointing to the washrooms. Finding none, we started down the corridor and down the steps to the level below. There was a ladies room there, one with barely any line at all. Awen and I stepped up behind an older sylph lady and waited while talking about nothing much.

It was probably because I was both bored and anxious that I noticed the musician. The sylph had the same uniform as the sylph on stage. A large bag hung by his side, seemingly some sort of heavy instrument case.

My eyes skipped over him, then back. Something about his face was familiar.

I saw him glance our way and our eyes met.

I smiled and waved, and I saw him glare for a moment before he slipped past, walking fast. A bit too fast?

What was he doing here? And where had I seen him?

“Broc?”

I turned to Awen. She pointed to the washroom door, which didn’t have a line in front of it anymore.

“Oh, right,” I said. “Sorry, it’s just... Awen, I have a weird feeling.”

“Like a stomachache?” Awen asked. “I have things for that.” She touched her little purse.

“No, not that, I...” I glanced back down the corridor.

I had seen that sylph once before. I was sure of it.

“I think I’m going to go do something illegal,” I said. “Want to come with?”

“Can I use the washroom first?” Awen asked.

“Sure!”

***