Sadly Sings Destiny

1

“Your highness, the time has come.” a muffled voice said from behind the oak door. Nikki Andretti sat on the seal of her window in the Swallow's Nest castle. The castle sat on the bluffs over the Rass River, and on the other side of the river was the city of Rachedale with its large riverside square directly in view of the brown-eyed woman. Nikki Andretti started at the sound of the voice calling for her. She was a slight creature in height, barely managing five feet tall. In build, she made up for what she lacked in height, under her dress she hid the products of constant training in swordsmanship and frequent swims in the river glowing gold in the morning light outside her window. Her hair was dark brown but had stolen a touch of gold and pink from the red-lit sunrise streaming through the windows to her back, and her dark eyes were wide and staring.

“Of course, thank you Vixen,” she replied half yelling to be heard through the thick oak door. Nikki stood and walked to a mirror she had on the far wall with a table and washbasin under it. As she walked she paused at the fire in the hearth and removed the pot she had in the flames. When she reached the mirror she began the last of her preparations. A thick coat of white foundation to hide the freckles society had deemed distasteful. Black ink was taken to line her eyes in an almost raccoonish nature and was liberally applied to her lips as well. Then she took the lid off of her pot. Inside the liquified gallium alloy gleamed in the morning light. With the use of a bush, she applied the metal to her cheeks in floral patterns, then brushed the remainder into her hair, covering the natural color entirely and giving her a windswept look of savage natural beauty, despite the calm air in the room.

Vixen stood outside the oak door waiting on her master. Vixen was a slight creature, four and a half feet tall, with a skeletal build that suggested a starving child of eight years old. The ashen skin and almond eyes with two amber irises and two pupils in each betrayed her age, and the twisting horns of an impala spiraling eight inches from her raven hair betrayed her as a wyvern, a half-human half-dragon creature using magic to conceal its real form. Wyverns in the eastern world were not viewed with favor and the dragon nest in the Mar’Lekash mountains often sold them as slaves to wealthy humans. Vixen was sold into the service of Princess Andretti two years beforehand and had become something of a personal assistant to the then sixteen-year-old girl. On this day, however, following the death of Queen Terisa Andretti, Vixen would watch her master become queen herself.

The oak door opened and Nikki Andretti stepped into the torch-lit hallway, the flame’s light dancing in her gilded hair as she stood wraithlike in her white dress and with her extravagances of style. She gave Vixen a small nod and the two of them began walking down the marble-tiled passageway.

“Are you ready for your coronation?” the wyvern asked looking up at the Princess.

“Of course.” the other replied, “I’ve been ready for this day my whole life. I just wish it didn’t have to come with such a painful beginning.”

“I know, I miss your mother too, but you will make a good queen.” Vixen offered a fanged smile to Nikki and a clawed hand gently grasped the queen-to-be’s forearm in a comforting gesture “Grandmaster Valerian Tretyakov the Fourth has invited you to a private breakfast in his airship on the river, King Charles will also be there if you accept.”

“Have a messenger send a crow telling them to expect me soon.” the Princess replied. Vixen nodded and scurried off with a slight bow. Nikki walked her way through the castle greeting the servants in the traditional fashion as they bowed at her passing. When she reached the ancient elevator that would take her down the bluffs through a shaft to the level of the river, Vixen returned to her side. The two of them entered the carved iron cage and descended in silence a hundred feet to the level of the surrounding countryside. The hallway they exited into was not lavish in any sense and seemed more like a torch-lit cave than the entrance to the seat of power in Lotherania.

The two exited into the dazzling light of a new morning and into the gardens edging a public square broken only by the Rass River. The square was empty of most people though as last-minute preparations for the coming ceremony were hurriedly performed. Princess Nikki Andretti was greeted in the normal manner by the people she passed, and she always replied with a soft smile and a wave of her hand. Vixen led the way from her side to the west end of the square where a large ship sat taking up the entirety of the mooring area on that side of the river. The ship looked like one more fit for open seas than the wide, winding Rass River. In place of rigging on the painted wood ship were two massive balloons that stretched fifty feet beyond the bow and stern, and Andretti couldn’t help but notice the curious way in which the ship was moored, with lines being on both sides to prevent it from floating away.

At the gangway Vixen and Nikki were greeted by two uniformed Sabbistahni guards carrying strange, black guns without a normal flint and firing pan. The guards greeted them respectfully and welcomed them onto the ship. When they had gained the deck, a uniformed guard in the typical Sabbistahni black dress uniform with a strange pistol on her hip greeted them with a salute and offered to lead them to the dining room. Andretti accepted and the black-haired foreigner led them through a doorway on the superstructure of the ship, and down an ornate spiral staircase lit by flameless candles. After traversing a maze of luxuriously paneled and carpeted passages the guard stopped at a door and pounded three brisk knocks into the wood. A voice from inside barked in harsh Sabbistahni, and the guard opened the door.

Andretti led the way into the room, with Vixen behind her by a couple of steps. The dining room was luxurious with a soft carpet and a crystal chandelier that elegantly caught the light of the morning sun streaming through wide windows on the far wall from when the Princess entered. At a table of mahogany sat Grandmaster Valerian Tretyakov IV and King Charles XII. Valerian was tall and lean and wore a strange-looking black silk suit, and with the suit only consisting of a button-down shirt and a jacket he seemed underdressed. He had a strong jaw and shaggy black hair, his skin was pale and his eyes were red, a small detail that made Andretti shiver. King Charles sat across from him, and he was easily familiar in his usual royal blue finery and with a ceremonial saber on his hip. He was a handful of inches shorter than Valerian and had a wispiness to him that belayed his strength, his narrow jaw and golden hair and piercing blue eyes were a welcome sight compared to the subtly chilling nature of the other man.

Both stood to greet Andretti, who had to remind herself that they were not common servants like most men she knew. Valerian greeted her with a handshake that she was not expecting and bid her a good morning in her native language through his thick accent. It was while the unwanted contact occurred that she noticed his boots seemed worn and ragged and out of place on such a fine ship and with such a fine suit. When she turned to King Charles, he greeted her with the traditional raised hand, that she waved off in the normal way. With formalities finished, the three of them sat at the table with Vixen standing near the wall behind her master.

Andretti made it a point to start a conversation with Valerian first, complimenting him on the majesty and queerness of his flying ship. Valerian was the owner and man in charge of the Grand Credit Union, the largest private bank in Lotherania, and the bank was a division of the Grand Credit Union and Investing Firm of Sabbistahn, which made him the equivalent of king in his homeland, where his bank executed all the roles of a normal government. It was important for Andretti to make a good impression with him. Sabbistahn was the largest consumer of raw materials in the world, and they were the largest exporting nation of all goods as well. Sabbistahn also was the largest and richest nation in the world, and it would do her well to be on Valerian’s good side. A quick glance at King Charles seemed to show that he understood this, as Sabbistahn’s branch of banks in both Lotherania and Charles’s Elsideria handled nearly a third of all private banking. As she listened to Valerian stumble through a particularly self-praising rant about his ship in her native language she had to suppress a smile at the memory of her mother half-heartedly suggesting a marriage of convenience between her and him.

In due course, breakfast was brought out in typical Sabbistahni fashion. Liveried servants brought out seemingly endless plates piled with food, from strips of fine steak to fresh fruits and eggs cooked in every manner conceivable, along with bacon and shredded potatoes. Valerian dominated all conversation, seeming not to notice that the other two only suffered him to carry favor. She was thankful, however, that Valerian did not seem to be in a rush to talk about politics or of her future plans as queen. That was one thing she had always liked about him and his father in years past. The Tretyakovs had the ability to drop thoughts of business when desired, and become real people when it served them, and it seemed that Valerian was intent on keeping this breakfast purely social, treating her and Charles as friends rather than fellow world leaders.

When the morning meal was finished and things were winding down Charles excused himself in order to prepare his honor guard for the coming parade. Valerian extended an offer to Andretti to take her on a tour of his ship, and she readily accepted. He walked her through all the common rooms used to entertain passengers and crew on long voyages, and down to the boiler room where massive iron machines turned coal into steam to navigate the ship and power it with something he called electricity. The tour soon came to its conclusion in the library, and Nikki was almost sad to see an end to the wonders of the ship from a country-focused more on technology than continuing the ancient magical arts.

“If you are willing, I would like to be having a private talk,” Valerian said standing before the window in the library.

“Of course,” Andretti said nodding to Vixen who left the room. She stepped forward to join him near the window that looked west, down the Rass River as it snaked along the bluffs on its way to the sea.

“I am sorry to hear about your mother. She was a fine woman.” Valerian said. Andretti replied with the same hollow response she had given to everyone else who had made that comment. She had to remind herself that even if he was powerful, he was still a man and prone to bring up topics she would rather not discuss.

“Today is a big day, it is the first time I have seen the crowning of a new king,” he said, using ‘king’ in place of ‘queen’ as the word ‘king’ meant ‘leader of a country’ regardless of gender to him, “I guess I was around for King Charley, but I was four or so. I want to take a moment to give you advice. I don’t know much about your land, but I do know you are coming into a lot of power. Remember that no one who seeks power is the type who should have it. This is big responsibility, and you are the one who will be held responsible if there is failure. Remember that you serve the people under you, a rich king has only the power that the poorest farmer gives them. You may be a king, not a business owner like I am, but I can tell you this: in my country if people don’t like their service received, they will change provider, whether its for bread or police. It will be the same here too, the difference though is not a loss in profit, it will mean your life. Do you know what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” Andretti said softly after considering his words for a few minutes. Though the twenty-six-year-old Grandmaster had only been on his throne for half a decade, there was wisdom in his words. She didn’t want to give a man as much credit as he had earned, but his point was proved by the history books. Lotherania and Elsideria had once been one empire until a civil war had split it a thousand years ago birthing the northern country of Eslideria, and there had been a dozen coups between the two nations over the course of that millennium where various factions had tried to dethrone queens and kings.

“Good. I know my advice is not worth much, but I hope you heed it, King Nikki Andretti,” he said placing a firm hand on her shoulder in a purely Sabbistahni gesture of camaraderie. Grandmaster Valerian turned and began walking out of the room, leaving Nikki to stand before the window as she thought on his words. As he left he called out “I will be looking forward to the ball tonight, it would be an honor for a dance.” She didn’t respond, and the cadence of his leaving steps had shown that he hadn’t even had the respect to stop and face her when he made his request. When Andretti left the library she was met by Vixen and a liveried servant who guided the two of them from the ship. A quick consultation with the servant showed that there was not much time left before the ceremony.

Forty-five minutes later found Andretti sitting at the head of the square under the bluffs and the Swallow's Nest looking down a lane that extended north to the edge of the city. She was on a simple wooden chair at the foot of the marble staircase that rose up to an empty golden throne, shining brightly in the noon sun. The first to come to her was a priest, robed in purple and with a golden scepter. For an hour he performed the sacred rights over her, praying to the Ever Soul, and bidding the Equinox Bird to send its blind horror hound to take Nikki Andretti’s soul should she not be fit for her position. As was normal, no blind borzoi of legend arrived to carry her away in its tentacled mouth, and the black bird with a thousand eyes in the wrong places and a thousand beaks in the wrong direction failed to carry her into oblivion. With the lack of inexplicable intervention, the priest declared her Queen Nikki Andretti the Silver and instructed her to climb the twenty steps to the gold throne, saying should she stumble for any reason she would not be a legitimate queen.

Within moments, Andretti turned and waved to the crowd that had filled the square, the noon sun glinting in her hair, giving her the impression of being lighted with a shining halo from nature itself. Then the parade began. At its head was the general in command of Lotherania’s army and a thousand of her soldiers. Sher swore her loyalty to Andretti and directed her soldiers to stand guard. Over the next hour, the leaders of all factions of Lotheranian government and social society paraded to her flanked by a healthy number of people belonging to those factions, and all the leaders swore their loyalty and offered her a gift. Most of the gifts were symbolic, but there was a sword from the smiths, a large cake from the bakers, and christening of a new ship in her name from the shipwrights as the ocean liner lazed in the river.

Next came the processions from the foreign powers. King Charles the Angel of the Four Lands of Elsideria rode down the avenue on his white stallion flanked by a thousand of his soldiers and offered to her his ongoing friendship and peace between the two nations, it was nothing more than a traditional speech that had not changed in two hundred years. Next came a fifty person procession from Kayxerstahn consisting of the dark-skinned, dark-haired people of that nation who offered their congratulations and a gift of chocolate, a rare treat. Then came the Cascadians who sent only one representative. The half-dressed man from those tropical islands rumored to be far to the east gifted to her an exotically colored bird who he had taught to say ‘Long live Andretti.’

Finally came Sabbistahn, lead by Grandmaster Valerian. Andretti couldn’t help but feel immediately insulted by the extravagance shown by the procession. It was her coronation, not his parade and not his place to flaunt his wealth, but nevertheless, Valerian led the group from his horseless carriage that ticked with its clockwork mechanics. Behind him marched a band and a large detachment of Sabbistahni soldiers, most only fifteen years old, and timed perfectly to his arrival at the base of her steps, the sky erupted with noise. Twelve machines stunned the crowd by flying overheard on canvas wings with steam engines belching black smoke into the air and drowning out the band with the grinding whir of the clockwork that worked with the boilers to keep the two-seater planes aloft as they opened hatches to drop a shower of rose petals over the area. Valerian approached and announced that his gift was the auto carriage he had arrived in and that the gift from his nation was a forgiving of all debts, stating that a new age deserved a new beginning.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Queen Andretti the Silver. Her day was filled with meeting dignitaries, both foreign and domestic, various spots of age-old tradition, and speeches delivered to every gathering of people from every faction that had greeted her. She was met with endless demands and requests and gave many promises with no real meaning and without committing to anything in particular. As the sun fell, the wires that the Sabbistahni military had strung up above the square came to life with egg-sized flameless lights igniting like a swarm of fireflies frozen above the crowd. Andretti couldn’t help but smile at that, the Sabbistahni chief of foreign relations had insisted on this part of the decorations, and she was glad that she had accepted.

With the weather holding out in fine style, the traditional ball was held outside for the first time in known history. That small detail was Andretti’s idea. Her high profile guests mingled and danced with commoners and foreigners alike. True to his word, Valerian approached her and requested a dance, something that Charles had the decency to avoid doing. Andretti reminded herself for the hundredth time that day that Valerian was from a different country that had different customs, and she took his hand. He surprised her when he was able to gracefully move through a traditional Lotheranian dance, and she was shocked when he didn’t pester her anymore that night after the dance was finished.

Eventually, the night grew old, and the crowds grew tired and the festivities ended. Andretti returned to her chamber in the Swallow's Nest and looked over the square in time to see the electric lights from Sabbistahn die out. She took her time melting the gallium from her hair and face with help from Vixen and proceeded to clean her makeup off of her face. It had been a good day, but now, the easy part was over. Now, she was no longer just a face, she was the new queen and it was time for her work to begin.