She had allowed herself a few moments to grieve for her fallen brother, but did not shed so many tears that the process would endanger her water supply. Ignis Glace was an unforgiving world. The first colonists had been idle dreamers, but their surviving descendants were hard-bitten realists. They were inured to danger and always considered their own survival in every equation. They still had room for honorable conduct in that mindset, however, unlike the peoples of other similarly harsh worlds. Where some colonies had descended into barbarism, the people here had become tough-minded and self-reliant, but were still mindful of chivalry. Only those sentenced to existence as a servile mech might have disagreed.
As Nina marched over the rising and falling dunes, leaning into winds and staggering as gusts buffeted her body, she wondered how she would tell her mother of the day’s fateful events. She would have done so already, but her suit’s cpu had mysteriously failed. Could this be related to the disabling of her mech perrupters? Could the renegade mechs have a weapon that disabled technological systems? If so, why had the renegades themselves been unaffected?
That was another thing that bothered her intensely. Were these mechs actual rebels? If that was the case, her entire society was endangered. Only mechs were capable of doing the hard labor required out here in Sunside, and if they’d managed to regain their individual powers of decision-making and cognition-the humans were doomed. The mechs numbered something close to a third of the population of Ignis Glace, but numbers weren’t the only determiner of victory in a struggle. The truth was any mech was more than a match for a human being in combat. They were stronger, faster and more durable.
Perhaps, she told herself, the mechs weren’t true rebels. Perhaps they were under the direction of a group of knight-errants who had somehow figured out how to reprogram them and suborn their loyalty. Even that was a grim thought, but it was less alarming than the idea of a mech uprising.
As she tried to weigh these possibilities, she could not erase from her mind the strange sight of a mech dressed up like a man. Why would a mech don a cape and scarf? Of what possible use might these articles be to him? He had no need of a blanket to wrap up in while sleeping upon the ground at night, which the primary purpose of a nobleman’s cape. Even more unimaginable was any conceivable requirement for a scarf.
Nina trudged for hours before reaching the safety of the shadow cast by Droad Mountain. Almost immediately after she passed into the cool shadowlands, she found herself surrounded by greenery. She relished the sensation as the lavender gloom of her Droad Fief close over her. It was an odd thing, living one’s life in the shadow of a single mountain, but to Nina it seemed like home. The lack of sunlight was not total, of course. The sky and the surrounding lands provided enough ambient light to keep plants alive and was sufficient to read by. The air was warm, but not hot. It was always breezy, especially at the borders where the heat of the desert perpetually met the wetter, cooler air of the shadowlands. There were updrafts and downdrafts. Frequently, swirls of sparkling dust formed dust-devils to wander and dance over the landscape.
As she walked into deepening shadow, the plants swiftly changed in nature. She left behind scrubby, spiky growths such as witch-wort and skitterweed. The interior was lush with first grasses then full-fledged trees. Earthly palms ruled much of the landscape, being well-suited to the steamy heat this close to Sunside. Deeper still in the shadowlands, the growth became pervasive and the palms gave way to true jungle trees such as bezzel, korkholz and huge, hoary mangroves.
The central region was less stormy and more suitable to farming. Nina reached the first huddled village after an hour’s walk through the forest. The town was named Brienz, and squatted at the edge of a still, glassy lake. She followed a path along the rocky shoreline toward town. The lake itself teemed with fish. Unlike earthly aquatic creatures, the fish on Ignis Glace were more intelligent, interactive creatures. As she passed the lake, schools of them poked their bulbous eyes above the surface to observe her. Some varieties cooed at her in greeting. On a better day, Nina might have waved back at them. Today, her brother had died and she wasn’t in the most pleasant of moods. She tossed a small stone in the midst of the watching fish. They hooted in alarm and darted away to the cool depths of their watery home, where they no doubt huddled in fear.
Brienz had ragged steel walls, varying in height from ten feet to thirty. The rivets ran with rust stains down the metal sides and cameras followed her progress as she approached. Before she’d come closer than a hundred yards, the town watchman peeped over the top of the wall and called for her identify herself.
Once the villagers were certain who she was, they gathered around to walk with her. They wailed at the news her brother was dead and embraced her. Nina knew their grief was genuine. She and her twin were popular with the common folk-unlike her mother.
Nina was offered a cart, which she refused. She did take a mount, however, an old model which squeaked, shivered and farted fumes as she rode upon it. She did not complain, knowing it was the best the villagers could provide. She promised to return it, and rode the beastly thing all the way upslope to the castle.
This final leg of the journey filled her with a growing sense of dread. Her mother must have heard by now of her brother’s death. It was no secret among the folk of Droad fief that Leon was her favorite and that Nina was despised. Nina had never understood her mother’s irritation with her. She’d done her best since puberty to avoid the witch, a feat she found was easily done. Mother seemed content to stay at Droad House forever while Nina preferred to roam the borderlands in search of what adventure there was to be had.
Droad House, once a simple affair, was now clad in walls of dark stone. The castle looked far better than Brienz with its rusty metal defenses, but it was also less inviting. Squatting at the top of the slope in the center of the deepest mountain shadows, the light here was forever muted, and the air was forever cool and wet. Birds sat quietly along the crenulated wall-tops, watching her with curiosity. The much noisier fish in the moat cooed or growled up at her as she crossed the drawbridge, depending on their dispositions.
It had been months since she’d dared walk through these gates. As she passed the stone gatehouse, she noted the smooth surfaces looked blue in the dim light, rather than gray. The waters of the moat were likewise inky-black and utterly still, except for the burbling fish. They poked their heads up to sniff for her scent and filled the air with new odd cries when the recognized her.
Inside the gatehouse, the human retainers were nowhere to be seen. There were only perrupters here, one on each side. They were armed as usual, with a cannon and a single gripper free to grab a peasant’s throat or the power-sword that was strapped to their midsections. The mechs made no attempt to greet her. Olivia Droad had ordered them to stay quiet, saying she found their silence preferable to false human voices. Nina found them much more threatening when they did not speak. Perhaps that was her mother’s true intent.
As Nina passed to the inner keep, the gates closed behind her with a rattle of chain-drives and squealing metal. She glanced back in surprise. She could not recall the last time she’d seen the drawbridge pulled up and the gates closed.
Her mother waited for her, sitting stiffly on her throne of reptile skins. She said nothing as Nina approached, but instead stared with burning dark eyes. There was little light in this place, only the flicker of electric wall- torches in the four corners served to illuminate it.
The builders of Droad House had begun with a simple cut-stone farmhouse. But as the power of the family grew, so had their pride and seeking of status. They’d built a medieval replica of an Old Earth castle eventually, some seven decades back. This was stylish at the time and helped garner council votes for advancement into the titled ranks.
Nina fell to one knee, and bowed her head. “Mother-” she began.
“Do not dare address me in that fashion,” Olivia snapped.
Nina paused and blinked. If not mother, then how should she address this woman? Olivia surely wasn’t going to be acceptable. She decided to be as formal as possible, as her mother loved formalities.
“Baroness Droad,” she said. “I beg your forgiveness.”
The customary response would have been a nod at least, but her mother remained motionless. She only stared malevolently.
Tears welled up in Nina’s eyes. Her mother knew the facts, but it was Nina’s duty to report them anyway. She did not know how to officially inform a woman that her favorite child was dead, but she was determined to do just that-it was her duty. “I have grave news to report-” she began.
“Grave news?” Olivia echoed suddenly. She laughed then. It was a strange sort of laugh-there was nothing healthy or mirthful about it. Nina had never heard someone cackle before, but the term fit the sound her mother made.
“Grave news indeed!” Olivia continued. “Such a way you have with words, girl. Is this your conception of a joke? Is this some twisted manner of speech, meant to lighten the mood?”
