The former gynaecium of Thiers would be Victoria’s last stop. Her work with the Imperatrix finally done, the first of the Jewels retired here to enjoy well deserves years of rest. She would keep a considerable influence in the province of Fir, a fact true well beyond her death, in the year sixty-seven after the Firante war. Of her many achievements in the region: the conversion of this cultural location into a hospital and cult place dedicated to Lebe. Victoria, to this day, stays an emblematic figure of the Fir province, and that is why the Imperatrix is not on the back of gold pieces minted in the region, but is instead a portrait of the woman in her youth, who served the Empire her whole life.

Silver plaque exposed under Victoria’s statue, at the entrance of the gynaecium of Thiers.

Nay was looking at her new sword, a big smile on her lips. She was once again in a carriage, the vehicle looking quite the same as the one she had taken the previous week, but this time, there were no guards accompanying her. Only Trinne watching her wryly.

“You’ll make me jealous.” She grumbled.

Nay peeked up. “What? You said something?”

“…Forget it. Show me the dagger, at least.”

Nay unsheathed her second new weapon from its scabbard and gave it to her friend. “It’s called Bubble.”

“Bubble?”

Nay had been lucky, Toriana had come to deliver the weapons this morning, a mere fifteen minutes before Nay and Trinne had to leave the chambers towards the railway station. At first, the smith had apologized for the delay, saying that the enchanters had taken more care with the enchantments than usual, and as such, had been quite late. She had then explained quickly what the enchantments were all about. There were two on the sword, a rune of sharpness and one of durability, and three on the dagger. The first two were the same as on the sword, and the last was a linking rune, connected to its scabbard. From what Nay understood, as long as she had the scabbard, it would always find the dagger, but according to the smith, it wasn’t working in all cases. She hadn’t had time to explain in more detail though, the Legio’s departure was scheduled without a minute to spare. Nay had had to leave the smith without a proper thank you, and so she decided that she would send them pastries as a gift when she came back from the Hymere.

“Yeah, and I think I’ll call the sword Lake.”

“Lake and Bubble? Why?”

“Because of the wave-like coating on the blades, it makes me think of water. But the waves aren’t big enough to be coming from the sea.”

Trinne stayed silent for a moment, inspecting the dagger meticulously.

“Well, now I’m seriously jealous.” She said as she gave the dagger back to Nay. “Those enchantments should let it pierce through anything like butter, unless it is something protected by a cancelling rune or a durability rune.”

Nay smiled like an idiot. “Who cares! Did you feel how light it was? How the balancing was so perfect?”

“Yes, but, seeing that the blades aren’t even sharpened, without the enchantments, it would just be decorating weapons, so I wouldn’t be so quick to throw away the enchantments.”

“No, you don’t get it!” Nay picked up her dagger back, looking at it with admiration. The blade and the handle were thin, perfect for a throw. Not having a guard could pose problems for some, but not for Nay. The metal had the colour of silver, and with the wave-like patterns, it was the only real decoration on the weapons. But the real beauty of it wasn’t in the flourishes. Nay could feel it, behind the Rreico of the enchantments stood another, not magical in nature, a drive, clear and spoken out loud. This was a piece of the artist, his will. The sword was a simple straight sword with a double-edged blade. It had a horizontal guard and a handle fitting the Legio’s hand perfectly. The dagger was between a regular throwing knife and a war knife, the handle wasn’t covered like the sword, just metal, but the thickness was perfect for her grip as well.

This was a marvel of simplicity. Certainly, thousands of smiths had forged weapons like that thousands of times, but none could compare to what she was looking at right now.

“What am I missing?” Trinne asked, reminding Nay that they were talking.

“I can use them in training. As long as I don’t activate the runes, neither dagger nor sword will be lethal. I can train with them, I can use them while I teach, I can use them to dance the Rreico with no risks. If someone steals them, they won’t be able to use them unless they are God-Touched. But when needs arise, I can just pour a bit of my power inside, and they’ll become deadly.”

Trinne simply nodded. “Can I look at the sword?”

“I thought you weren’t interested?” Nay asked playfully.

“I never said that. I even said that I was jealous. May I remind you that my dream was to become a Virnyl guard! I enjoy a good sword as much as the next brainless soldier.”

Nay handed her Lake over, having to force herself slightly though. The redhead didn’t miss her hesitation, and Nay received a deserved smirk in return.

Trinne examines the sword a short moment before exclaiming: “Biach. Tell me again, why wasn’t I offered a sword from Vorcan? Without my warning, Hyn would have been dead, no?”

“I do believe that just warning isn’t the same as plunging a dagger in the assassin’s throat.” As she said that, Nay’s mood immediately plummeted, despite only wanting to tease her friend.

“yeah, I guess I didn’t give up much by just shouting.” Trinne switched places, sitting next to the Legio. She took Nay’s shoulder and comforted her for a moment. Nay laid her head on her friend’s.

“Thanks.”

“What for? I just hate sitting the opposite way we’re driving.”

Nay laughed softly.

“Speaking of where we’re driving.” Trinne continued as if nothing had happened. “It seems we’re not going where we should. Henry!”

The coachman opened the little wooden window separating the front of the carriage from the inside.

“Duchess?”

“Where are you bringing us? The rails are to the west, not to the south. We should have taken the previous road to our right.”

“Ah, I apologize duchess, I thought you had been informed. The Im…the Mother of us all is currently in the Cathedral. She will accompany you to the industrial area.”

“Ah?”

“I am sorry, I do not know more than that.”

Now that he said it, Nay recognized the road leading to the Cathedral.

“You don’t think she’ll come with us in Hymere, do you?” She asked her friend once the coachman closed the window shut.

“Hyn? I know she wants to supervise your every move, but she doesn’t have all the powers anymore. Jarl would never let his mother go the Hymere without half the army to protect her. If you want my opinion, either she’s coming with us to give us more advice…”

“More!?”

“I know, I know…or she has to go to Fir for business.”

Nay nodded, initially feeling that the second reason was the correct one, until she realised, they weren’t contradictory. It was probably the first and second reason.

“Oh no, she’ll travel with us until Thiers, is that it?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Nay and Trinne sighed at the same time.

The train was a marvellous invention, but it had its limitations. Notably that a train couldn’t go through a volcano or mountains. As such, the railway couldn’t go directly east from Leïn, it needed to go around first. Because of that, they would first go north, to Thiers, then from there, the direction would change to the south-east, in direction of Giamen. While the travel time to Thiers was short, a few hours at most, it would take a full day to reach the end of the line in the Hymere. At least, if Trinne was correct, Hyn wouldn’t be able to nag them for too long. The ex-Imperatrix’ new title, Mother of us all, was such an appropriate one considering how overly protective she could become.

“You know, as we’re going to the Cathedral, we could have Defin wanting to come with, and he would definitely accompany us the whole way.” Trinne thought out loud.

Nay looked at her in horror. “No.” This was so likely that…

She felt her friend’s Rreico before seeing her smirk.

“Well, it’s unlikely. I heard a weird rumour that he was very busy lately. It seems like there is discontent rising amongst the priests of the Cathedral, that the way God-Touched apprentices are treated goes against Adienha’s teachings.”

Nay gave her a dark look. “You are a true villain.”

“What? Why? What have I done?”

The Legio scratched her head, her next sentence filled with exaggerated desperation. “If you’re ever facing a banshee, don’t be surprised if I hesitate on whether I should protect you or it.”

Trinne laughed whole-heartedly.

Hyn emerged from the Cathedral literally pursued by a dozen priests waving their arms around almost like mad men. Nay watched the scene from the inside of the carriage, which had parked quite illegally right in front of one of the pious place’s side entrances. She couldn’t hear a thing that was being said, the song of the wind going through the plaza obfuscating everything else, but the conversation was obviously quite animated. One of the priests handed a piece of paper to the ex-Imperatrix. Who almost ripped it out of the man’s hands before quickly reading through it. She then raised an accusatory finger to the priests, said a few words, and the man visibly whitened. The others also seemed much less ambitious, and let the most beautiful woman in the Empire pass. She went towards the carriage, closely followed by an Imperial guard. He was a powerful God-Touched, Nay had seen him guard the lift to the chambers a few times. He didn’t follow Hyn all the way though, simply bowing deeply when she reached the carriage. The coachman opened the door for the ex-Imperatrix, and held out his hand to help her climb up.

“I may be old, but not that old!” Hyn refused the extended hand with a bit too much aggressiveness, and gracefully climbed inside. The effort brought a grimace to her face though. By Lebe’s whore, I thought I would never leave alive.”

The coachman closed the door behind her, and Hyn sat in front of the two young Jewels.

“Nay, Trinne, how are you?” She asked more by reflex than true interest.

“We are ready for the mission given to us, of, Mother of us all.” Trinne answered very respectfully.

“Please, not now. I’ve been through two hours with Dyone representatives. They are more devious and money-loving than the merchant guild itself.”

Trinne gave a glance at the paper that the ex-Imperatrix was still holding in her hands.

“Dyone altar renovation? Wasn’t that done last year?”

“Of course it was done last year! But they brought in cheap workers and pocketed the excess budget given to them, and now, they complain that the renovations are not good enough, and that they need more budget!”

Nay changed subjects. “Are you travelling with us?”

“To Thiers, yes.”

“Why?” Trinne asked.

“A rather indiscreet question, don’t you find?” Hyn answered with a mean smile.

The redheaded young woman shrugged her shoulders. “You asked to skip pleasantries, I skip pleasantries. I am interested in knowing where our ex-Imperatrix goes in these times. It has been years since you left the capital, is it not?”

Nay laid down her hand on Trinne’s leg, hoping for her friend not to overstep, but she didn’t try to stop the conversation. She was interested in the answer as well.

Hyn grumbled, but still answered. “An old personal affair that I couldn’t resolve when I was Imperatrix. Nothing essential.”

It was quite the non-answer, but Nay didn’t feel any lies when Hyn had said it was personal.

The ex-Imperatrix stood a bit straighter. She was out of breath, and slowly regained her endurance. She shredded the paper in her hands, and while trying to find a place to put the pieces away, she spotted the weapons on Nay’s lap.

“Oh, did they arrive? Can I see?”

Nay tensed up a bit, but Trinne’s expression calmed her down. She unsheathed her dagger and word and gave them to Hyn.

She examined them for the rest of the way, her expression almost child-like. She also made a lot of appreciative comments, that only stopped when they reach the railway station, and she gave back the weapons to Nay.

The building was new, it had been constructed in an old plaza in the industrial district. A lot of amenities had been made to accommodate the rails and the new giant warehouse. The whole thing wasn’t finished yet, a few workers currently on the roof, and an artist painting on one of the square building’s walls. There were a lot of nobles and bourgeois in front of the station’s entrance, and almost as many carriages. It was bad enough that their own carriage was stuck in place in the plaza’s centre.

After ten minutes or so, the ex-Imperatrix had had enough.

“We’ll walk the rest, this is ridiculous.” She decided.

“Without a bodyguard?” The duchess asked.

Hyn rose an eyebrow. “Please, Nay is there, and there are guards waiting for me at the entrance. I’m happy you’re worried about my safety, but I am not the Imperatrix anymore.”

Nay grimaced, blocking the way between the Leïn and the exit.

Hyn got angry. “Are you being serious?

“Godmother, at least let me exit the carriage first.”

Hyn’s expression immediately softened up. Nay knew that she really liked when she called her godmother.

“That is a good point, goddaughter, a valid point. Go on.”

Nay put a hand on Lake’s handle, and she exited the carriage. Many curious eyes fell on her, but no one seemed to know who she was. Her performance at the Cathedral had brought the undesirable effect of getting marriage proposals, unfortunately all business, she hadn’t even received a single love letter. They all wanted to get closer to Hyn’s goddaughter, and that was it. Fortunately, she had been too far away from the crowd for them to really get a good look at her, and as such, she was pretty sure no one would recognize her. The Legio scanned her surroundings. There was quite a lot of people, but not enough for her perception of Rreico to be compromised. Not feeling any immediate danger, she let Trinne out next.

The redhead brought many more curious gazes, and those ones stayed much longer too.

Trinne turned to hold out her hand towards the ex-sovereign.

“Are you mocking me?” Hyn was clearly holding back a murderous expression.

“Despite what you said, Mother of us all, you are that old.”

“I can still put a bounty on your head, you know.”

Nay gripped the handle on her sword slightly tighter, but no one spotted her reaction.

Trinne only answered to the threat with a beautiful smile.

When the most beautiful woman of the Empire descended the carriage stairs, helped by the duchess of Gite, Nay felt the surrounding Rreico change completely.

“By Ja, it is the Imperatrix!”

“Look Jeremiah, the Imperatrix!”

“Mom, mom, look!”

The Legio grimaced even more. There was something close to fifty yards between them and the station entrance, and quite evidently now, those yards would be very long.

Nay yawned openly as she laid down on the wooden bench. The train had changed quite a lot since she had taken it illegally the previous year. There were wagons with rooms inside now, with little glass windows letting you gaze at the view outside, and places where you could sit and lay down. It wasn’t exactly comfortable though, there had been cushions brought to them before the train started, but even with those, the wooden bench wasn’t great and had clearly been constructed in a rush. Nay could still smell the sawdust in the air. This was the least of her problems though. Two hours, that was how long those fifty yeards had taken. The Imperial guards had come help with security as soon as they realized the commotion around the three women, but that had only bolstered the Imperatrix in staying longer. She had shown her most friendly smile, and had talked with everyone for two hours. The train captain, or was he called a conductor? Nay had no idea what to call him, was looking very angry when they had finally reached the station, and without Hyn there, Nay was certain he would have insulted them all for the delay. In other words, she was exhausted, and the day had just begun. At least she had nothing to do for the next twenty-four hours. She checked that she had nothing missing in the travelling bag Trinne had given her and put it safely in the cupboard under her bench. She gave one last loving look at her new weapons, then closed her eyes.

She woke up more than an hour later. Trinne was reading in the opposite corner, and Hyn was looking through the window next to her. She seemed…sad. Nay looked outside, coming out of her sleepiness with some difficulty. She felt stiffness in her back muscles; the cushions had barely helped. Nay recognized Thiers from the drawn pictures she had seen of it, and it was true that the sound of the train was relaxing. It didn’t explain the Rreico of the ex-Imperatrix though. Thiers was a city built on many small hills, and its clear dominating colour was white. It reminded Nay of the Vanni plaza in Makaka, but extended throughout the city and without the beautiful red keep. The sun seemed to shine on all the houses, despite the grey and black clouds that were approaching on the horizon. A thunderstorm was approaching. The buildings were all high, multiple stories tall, which Nay knew to be the architectural style of the Fir province. She also knew that the gynaecium was in the city centre, and was saddened at knowing she wouldn’t have the opportunity to visit it. She had heard that it was a very vegetal place, situated in the middle of a park, and was often described as the lungs of the second most populated city of the Empire. Of course, it was almost small in comparison with Leïn, you could actually see both ends from where they were.

“This is where everything began.” Hyn said suddenly, with no preamble.

Trinne peeked over her book, but didn’t say anything.

“What began here?” Nay asked.

Hyn’s answer was filled with emotions. “Us. The Leïns. This is where Lebe gave us a second chance. This is where she saved us, well, saved my mother, from the Hessenior king’s debauchery. Lebe was a formidable woman, full of hope. She stayed with us for a while, but everyone knew it would not last. She was a travelling woman, it was in her blood, she never stayed in one place for long.”

“Is that why you’re here? To honour her?” Trinne asked.

“No. No. Lebe’s gift is forever with me. And my Empire is sufficient thanks, I believe. I came here…I came here to apologize to somebody. I couldn’t when I was still the Imperatrix, but now…Well, it is too late. Much too late. But that is not a decent reason for me to avoid her any longer.” Hyn stopped talking for a moment. “I apologize, I grow nostalgic and seeing the city doesn’t help, forget what I said. It is only the ramblings of a woman who lived for too long.”

Nay gave a quick glance at Trinne, who had gone back to her reading. She wasn’t sure what was happening with the ex-Imperatrix, but it was obvious that the most polite thing to do was to leave her be. Which is what she did.

Ten minutes later, Hyn exited the cabin, immediately shadowed by the two Imperial guard at the room’s door. The most beautiful of women left the two Jewels with a smile, but not until she had reminded Nay to be careful of the plants, the wildlife, the shadows, the air, the water…Nay was firmly clenching her teeth when the woman finally left. She had even had to suffer through the conductor’s hate-filled gaze as they were delaying him again, and he had come to check what was happening. His dark look had lowered the Legio’s mood a bit.

They only saw Thiers station through the window, and it seemed even less finished than the one in Leïn. They only stayed there for as long as the Imperatrix talked, then the train quickly moved away, this time, going south-east. It skipped through the Fir province’s valleys at a dazzling speed.

Nay played comptoy with Trinne, reread a children story that she loved, despite the mocking expression in her friend’s eyes, did some warming up in the corridor outside their cabin, ate, talked a bit with Trinne and some of the workers occupying the neighbouring cabins, then went back to her uncomfortable bench. The sound of rain, wind and thunder accompanied her as she closed her eyes. Maybe it should have scared her, but the unleashed elements only dragged her into a deeper slumber.