When keener eyes could see the top of the strange palace Queen Ava had erected, difficult for them to believe even then, the attentive ones saw the army she had assembled. A line of fairies and some humans stretched between two palisades which ran perpendicular to the line of soldiers, arms ready for an encounter. Overlooking them, a conveyance surrounded by four ogres who may or may not have been brothers rested on a hill.
“I was convinced she did not hear a word I said, but how wrong I was. She simply did not understand it. Ah, but I may not have explained thoroughly the use of walls when I was begging for fairies who knew how to build them.” That Ava had managed to draw up her force in any kind of order impressed Medant, but her formation which was a single rank deep did not.
The lesser officers took more notice of the hill. The trees there shook because of a gale that seemed from its effects to swirl around the palanquin in a circle reminiscent of the whirling watery barrier of a phantom spout. Up to then, they had come to believe fairy magic not to be so versatile and potent as the stories claimed or, more recently, that the strongest were expending it all on gardening. The prospect of a fairy queen adding the terrible power of a nature she herself created to the strength of her underlings was enough to send any military planner to his hometown in order to take up the family business after all. Then again, if the competence she displayed in her deployments carried over, a brisk breeze that mussed their hair might be the worst the invaders suffered.
Rumors of the Greater Enloffenkir parley conventions had spread, and so the meeting was soon arranged. Before it, thinking events might fall out such that he would have no opportunity later, Guard-Captain Medant delivered an inspirational speech to his troops which dwelt on certain key points such as their training that made them invincible in comparison, what they might do with the bonuses for excellent conduct Mr. Atkosol promised, and the difference between excellence in battle and conspicuousness.
The delegation advanced, each of the foreign diplomats under his own power while on the other side the four ogres picked up the conveyance and delivered it to the spear-marked point halfway between armies. A fairy stepped out who rescued appreciators of the wispy, ethereal style of fairy illustration from the despair caused by Queen Ydridd's bountiful presence. The onlookers thenceforth took more seriously local lore about a sprite who leapt into a lake or river and dissolved, thereby lending the water there a peculiar color; academics could say what they wished about mineral deposits and algae. The skeptic might still argue that Queen Ava was unlikely to stain a rain puddle, as little of her as there was.
“You took my general.”
Unsure on account of Ava's emotionless delivery whether to interpret that as an accusation or a plain statement of fact, Atkosol decided to meet her on even ground. “Yes,” he said.
“You did.” Ava tilted her head away as if watching for any magpies that might pick her up and drop her in a nest, doubtless a frequent occurrence for her. She refused to remove her shiny bracelets and necklace though, perhaps since without them she would float away. “I haven't found another. Why are you here?”
The negotiation fared as smoothly as it started. Would she like to cede to Lommad her claim on Ertith Energy?
“No.”
By no means must she surrender her title or her astonishing capitol which the humans admired greatly.
“No.”
They respected the history and culture of fairies exceedingly and hoped to study them. The honor of any discoveries would go to her, in the appendix.
“No.”
The opportunity had come to travel the wider world. She was no longer restricted to her country which, as lovely as it was, suffered the terrible constraints of underground seclusion. Busy streets, lonely valleys, cultivated fields, capricious oceans, and even the desolate Obeneutian wastes were available. Whatever matched her preference at any moment, there she might travel.
“I accept.”
Anyone else would have blinked a few times, looked around for signs of a trap or at least a prank, and then expressed his pure disbelief in an appropriate manner such as falling down on the spot. After four straight refusals, a fifth was to be expected regardless of how favorable the terms seemed to the people who formulated them. Atkosol however accepted her capitulation with the grace he developed during his political career, replete as it was with unforeseeable reactions based on hidden interests. “Excellent. We must arrange your trip quickly, and if there is any particular destination you have in mind already, I am eager to oblige you in that.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“I want to see a desert.” She waved her hand to encompass the entire waste district. “I want to make a desert. I'll never manage another estate as large as this one without the fuel, but the details are all wrong. I saved the wind for last. Isn't it impressive? But it's not a real desert.” With that plaintive wish which inspired sympathy in all the listeners save perhaps Medant Denmarof, Ava's reign ended.
The city district became the vacation spot of the day. Ava, before her departure, imparted to Lommad all the tricks, techniques, and mistakes she had conceived and committed over thousands of years of isolation. Unfortunately she had no comprehension of the Ertith Energy aside from how to make a barn out of it, but to blame her for the failure of modern research procedures to be developed in her time would have been a grotesque unfairness. Similarly ignorant of the underlying principles, Lommad decorated her domain with swift and sure decision. Why fall through the guest world and wander around hoping to be kidnapped by fairies when you could take yourself directly to the fantastical realm of Lommad Okliten which combined the best of every city she had visited and added to that the wonder of fairies, the satisfaction of scholarship, and the musk of manual labor?
Several publications put forward reasons. The lover of beauty who praises the sight of a shepherd with his herd at dawn was advised to seek the authentic experience of being grabbed and drafted into an otherworldly servitude. That option was all the more attractive for the traveler on a tight budget, and encouragingly, reports were coming in that some people disappeared while nowhere near Cowsick Point. The impatient and the claustrophobe also had reasons to eschew the city district, since to gain entry, one descended a shaft to an underground reception chamber and there waited on the convenience of a fairy guide for escort to the district. The person who had the freedom to pick up and go roaming, the wealth to make something of it, and a low enough opinion of his time's value to waste it in a chilly cave belonged to an exclusive set consisting of Atkosol Tellanstal and no one else.
That was the stance adopted by editors attempting to grab the contrarian niche, but the standard opinion hewed closer to Baozir Nalna's ebullient reviews of Lommad's realm in Over the Plain. Similar articles excited interest in every sector, whether the archaeological, the fashionable, the engineering, or the financially speculative. Every sort of publication either sent a reporter or rehired Aptezor Ristaofen in a letter his acquaintances in camp judged insufficiently apologetic. He accepted his old position regardless in another demonstration that the inexperienced often fail at assessing their own value.
The tourist population swelled after a delay for news to travel. A more distinguished set began to arrive once worthwhile spectacle was guaranteed rather than rumored. Binferad Honlen, the lead of the previous excavation, went on sabbatical from Oplironmakti University in order that she might wander around wearing an expression which said, “Had there but been more money,” a sentiment understood by everyone except Mr. and Mrs. Atkosol. Another professor of a far different cast came a little later. Shchavlipt Mubbler belonged to one of the king's universities in Chtrebliseu. “Which is to say he's a spy,” veteran reporter Kodol asserted, only raising the man's profile thereby. Nobody worried about the theft of fairy secrets, Atkosol least of all, and therefore the intrigue was enjoyed without guilt. Aside from academic types, people of more general celebrity showed, foremost among them the eminent goslikenar singers Hinparant Denta and Dottinir Klirinstof.
“I won't surprise anyone by declaring I have no idea who those are,” Takki announced to general surprise until Dirant reminded the listeners she was a genuine citizen of Pavvu Omme Os and not merely a head scarf enthusiast of Mabonn extraction.
“Ah, indeed. They are eminent goslikenar singers,” Aptezor explained. “Their careers soared at the same time, and both gained a reputation for daring in their personal lives which enhanced their appeal to a certain crowed. There was even a rumor of a scandalous entanglement between the two until it was learned they had in fact associated since their earliest days and married before they ever left their hometown. You may ask Mr. Kodol for more details.”
“Why is that? Are you a fan, Mr. Kodol?” Takki asked.
“He discovered it.”
“I did. They were mad at me for revealing it. That's normal, but a whole new audience embraced them, so there shouldn't be any resentment.” There was not, but neither did they welcome his company.
As the social scene about Lommad improved, so did the private security force established to advance her interests as determined by her husband. Enrollment swelled for several reasons. Some who had refrained from volunteering because fairy omnipotence terrified them saw the expedition return without casualties and reconsidered the impressions frightening childhood stories had implanted. Others accepted discounts at participating establishments within Lommad City, a name just as subject to revision as Ertith Energy, in exchange for military service of a duration assured to be temporary. Mercenaries eager to add fairy-related abilities to their résumés continued to arrive at Iflarent's Hideout as well.
