Architecture & Adversity Read online

  “Before long, you will have what you need, and repay me many times for my gifts,” Polyxene said.

  “I long to repay you. It would fill me with pride,” the voice of Dajazameril said through the third ruby spire. The voice sounded faint yet hopeful again.

  Polyxene glided across the crystal floor to a fourth ruby spire, wherein there was still another swirling blackness.

  “Havatissa! Stand at attention!” Polyxene said.

  The swirling blackness in the fourth ruby spire ceased its movements in response to her words.

  “I have a mission for you,” Polyxene said.

  “I await your ordersss, my lady,” the voice of Havatissa said through the fourth ruby spire. The voice was calm, smooth and compliant.

  “Direct the central bank to finance yet more construction. This will require more diamond mining and transport to provide sailing stones for their ships. Then, you shall see to it that there is a great increase in diamond-laden galleons sailing over the Kazofen Ocean in every direction. Lead the bankers to believe that a new port city should be constructed on an island in these waters to advance that goal. Their so-called greatest architect – a somewhat talented woman, though vastly inferior to me – will be sent to do that work,” Polyxene said. She had ways of watching the world, so she knew of Fantine and the constructor, and wasn’t terribly impressed.

  “I will direct their operationsss accordingly, to meet your demandsss. A new port sssity will be conssstructed,” the voice of Havatissa said through the fourth ruby spire. The voice was calm, smooth and determined.

  Havatissa reached out through the spirit world and summoned lesser spirits, commanding them to do nothing at all. He did not wish to assist Polyxene until – and unless – it was absolutely necessary. It would be some time before she realized what had happened and what had failed to happen.

  Polyxene glided across the crystal floor to a fifth ruby spire, wherein there was another swirling blackness.

  “Matatirot! Stand at attention!” Polyxene said.

  The swirling blackness in the fifth ruby spire ceased its movements in response to her words.

  “I have a mission for you,” Polyxene said.

  “Speak your commands and I shall serve you, my lady. Yet, first, I beg to share with you knowledge that I have received from a minion. By delivering this message, I wish to serve you twice,” the voice of Matatirot said through the fifth ruby spire.

  “You shall serve me many times over, water demon, since I am the one who rescued you from banishment, and gave you this home, where you no longer suffer,” Polyxene said.

  “A reading of futures was done in the Crossroads of Prince Jalvin, and a lesser spirit under my command was present to guide the draw of the cards. The old woman gave the reading to young lovers and then became fearful. The male seduced the old woman while the young female stole from her,” the voice of Matatirot said through the fifth ruby spire.

  “Please tell me why I should care about this matter, water demon,” Polyxene said.

  “They stole the luminary the old woman kept,” the voice of Matatirot said through the fifth ruby spire.

  “Someone is collecting the luminaries – the ones that were stolen from me,” Polyxene said.

  “Shall I follow them and reclaim the luminary?” the voice of Matatirot asked through the fifth ruby spire.

  “Follow the young fools – but do not take anything from them or interfere…just yet. They may know the location of still more luminaries and save me the trouble of finding them myself. The ghost of Elaja is probably giving them guidance, because he stole the luminaries from me in the first age and hid them away. When the Explorers of the Quiet Sea began to find them and light them, he was forced to act, and reveal the rest of the luminaries to trusting idiots, so that they could be relocated before the explorers found and lit them,” Polyxene said.

  “I will send my minions to surveil them and give a report, which I will relay to you,” the voice of Matatirot said through the fifth ruby spire. He then reached out into the spirit world and directed lesser spiritual beings to follow the young couple.

  Polyxene glided across the crystal floor to a sixth ruby spire, wherein there was no swirling blackness to indicate the presence of a demonic spirit, but only the deep red of the crystal. She inspected its low-level crystal structure closely, looking for the slightest flaw or weakness, which would render it catastrophically worse than useless. However, she found no defect within it. Next, she glided across the crystal floor to a seventh ruby spire, which also contained no swirling blackness of a demonic spirit just yet. She inspected it to be sure that it was up to the standards of the others until she was convinced that it was likewise strong and flawless. Lastly, she glided across the crystal floor to the eighth ruby spire. Before examining it, she created another aperture in the diamond-covering around her mouth through which she drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial to be energized further. She closed the aperture to seal the diamond-covering and began inspecting this last ruby spire even more closely. It was designed more cleverly than the seven (7) other ruby spires: far more numerous and intricate changes were made to its low-level structure, so as to hold captive her ultimate target, a demon vastly more powerful than any of the others.

  She then glided across the crystal floor toward the wall of the fortress. She altered the black crystal wall to gaze out upon the Kazofen Ocean once again. After waiting a mere ten (10) days, she decided that it was time enough for some of her demonic servants to have fulfilled their missions.

  “Rivixiled, are the diamonds ready?” Polyxene asked without so much as looking back at the second ruby spire which contained that demon.

  “My beloved queen, some are ready indeed,” the voice of Rivixiled said through the second ruby spire. The voice was infused with passion and loving devotion.

  “Evethixomar, are the ships in position to receive the diamonds?” Polyxene asked without even looking at the first ruby spire which held that demon.

  “They are ready – seven (7) frigates and eleven (11) galleons have been captured by possessing their crew and captains,” the voice of Evethixomar said through the first ruby spire.

  “Load the diamonds onto the galleons and command the crews of all the ships to sail to me,” Polyxene said.

  After two (2) more days of gazing out upon the Kazofen Ocean, Polyxene saw the approach of the seven (7) frigates and eleven (11) galleons. She modified the structure of the fortress to open it as before, receiving these latest sailing ships through its wall, and those ships disappeared from the sight of anyone outside. When they had fully entered, Polyxene altered the structure of the fortress wall to close it once again. Yet, this time, the captains and crew of each ship were left alive, and they were under the command of spirits who were directed by the demon Evethixomar, who obeyed the commands of Polyxene.

  “Bring the diamonds from your ships to me!” Polyxene said.

  “They will do as you command,” the voice of Evethixomar said through the first ruby spire.

  Evethixomar directed the subordinate spirits to relay the commands to the possessed captains and crewmembers of both the frigates and the galleons. Unable to refuse, they worked together to unload the diamonds from the galleons onto the floor of the crystal fortress while Polyxene watched.

  CHAPTER 10: Navigation across Sea and Stone

  Nestor drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from his vial and was energized so that he could hear the sounds of the stars. The sixty-one (61) year old man earned his way through life by providing navigation services on many ships – both galleons and frigates – using the sounds to chart the solar paths. Serving as navigator, however, was merely a means to achieving his true goal: the acquisition of valuable, arcane knowledge wherever he traveled. On this occasion, the captain of the ship on which he served dropped anchor in the northwestern port of the City of Emeth – in the Medathero Ocean – and Nestor was charged with plotting accurate routes to
various hard-to-reach islands in the Kazofen Ocean, which lay on the western side of the Glivoran Trail land bridge.

  To prepare to chart the ship’s course, Nestor visited the Seventh Hall, found his way to the correct section of the vast building, and began reading historical star charts. By the Atrejan waters flowing through him, he could use the sounds of the stars and learn of their past positions, correlating these to the positions of the stars notated on the star charts. By making some necessary adjustments between perceptual and visual positions of the stars, he could determine the precise geographic location of points at sea or on land as they were in the present day. Serving the immediate interest of his captain was not his top priority, however. Rather, Nestor referenced other star charts and began listening for sounds of the stars that corresponded to more valuable locations along the edges of a different ocean.

  Nestor found an interesting reference related to an observatory located in the Uplifter’s Trail land bridge, on its eastern coast bordering the Gradaken Ocean. The observatory was the source of navigational star charts for ships that transported food crops as well as other materials, such as herbal medicines. Some of these medicines were effective, while some were of dubious value and meant only to induce a sense of euphoria rather than to cure an ailment. Whereas hallucinogenic or other substances seemed like foolishness to him, there was likely something of potentially high value in that region. He noted that the star-readers who resided in that observatory were compensated at a standard rate for the many star charts they made, and that number of charts was high because of the large volume of agricultural cargo ships traveling over the Gradaken Ocean. Nestor could see the standard prices – one (1) platinum coin plus eleven (11) silver coins – because the Chronicler who copied these star charts to be brought to Emeth also indicated the price that the clients paid for them. The standard price was not the interesting bit of information – rather, the few outliers were. For some small number of star charts, as much as three (3) platinum coins were paid, and this was far above the customary amount. He wondered what cargo was being transported that could be so valuable, or if it was the destination that was challenging to reach. Nothing obvious justified this price increase, so his curiosity drove him to investigate. The names of the ships and captains were also indicated, even if the captains might have preferred otherwise, because Chroniclers tend to record whatever they see, as they are sworn to do by their oath.

  In order to better assess the value of the cargo that would have justified the payment of elevated prices for navigational star charts, Nestor decided to visit the Sixteenth Hall and look up the commerce records related to the indicated ships. What he found was that someone – a man known as Major Doctor Randolph – was collecting a wide variety of plant species. That suggested that this Major Doctor – likely both a military commander and a physician – was researching something, such as a new medicine or a poison for warfare. Knowledge was of the greatest value, so this warranted his attention in either case.

  Nestor returned to the Seventh Hall and made the necessary star chart for the captain whose ship had brought him here. He then took this to the harbor, turned over the chart, received his payment of one (1) platinum coin and two (2) silver coins, resigned and parted ways. He then asked around and found another ship headed toward the western Gradaken Ocean which could bring him to the east coast of the Uplifter’s Trail, and he made an agreement that he would pay his way with navigational service.

  ~~~

  On board the Resolute Traverser, in his cabin, Fritz held several sapphires in hand and inspected their low-level structures more closely. He found some few flaws and decided that they were significant enough that they needed to be corrected. He drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial to become energized. He then made alterations to the sapphires – molding their low-level structures like clay in his hands – and inspected them again. He then compared what he saw with the instructions he had been given by Fantine before this current assignment. Her requirements for the sapphires were exceedingly precise – with no tolerance for error above a certain size – and they were intricate. She was brilliant and he respected her, but her standards were a bit higher than he could meet in any reasonable amount of time. Perhaps, he thought, the woman was truly what everyone said: utterly focused on all matters of crystal structure to the point of being devoid of any other thoughts or feelings, thus making her truly the best. However, high quality meant low quantity, and the quality she demanded was almost preposterous. He had to conduct another test to make sure that his modifications to the sapphires had truly met those standards.

  Fritz then stood up, took these altered sapphires, left his cabin and approached Massimo on deck.

  “I have corrected some flaws in the sapphires, and they appear to be satisfactory, according to the specifications. However, it is difficult to be sure. There is a refraction test, and I need directed light to conduct it,” Fritz said.

  “I am still the backup navigator. I have to be watchful in case Akylas is distracted,” Massimo said.

  “I’m fine. I haven’t heard the unusual star sound in a while, so I’ve been plotting our course to Baradaxa, while we made our stops at all the different ports to buy from the gemstone suppliers,” Akylas said.

  “The quality of the crystal bending work is essential. There may be even more stops at ports of call if we don’t have enough quality crystal already. We can afford delays, not errors. Massimo will help Fritz conduct whatever tests he needs, and Akylas can continue plotting the course by the star sounds unless he encounters the unusual sound again,” Captain Pradrock said.

  “We may just need to make additional stops. It depends on the results we get from the tests,” Fritz said.

  “Very well, what do you need me to do?” Massimo asked.

  “I need to show you a diagram of light refraction through the sapphire, so that you can bend it along a particular vector. This is something you will need to see in the drawings,” Fritz said.

  Massimo followed Fritz into his cabin and then drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial to be energized.

  Fritz pointed at the diagram etched into a thin slab of granite – a material chosen to preserve its integrity at sea. It seemed that Fantine preferred that even her design diagrams were made to be durable – an utter perfectionist. It was hard not to admire her dedication, if not her personality, which was almost absent.

  Massimo inspected the light ray diagram and then generated a carefully calibrated beam of light using the powers of the waters flowing through him. Each of the sapphires Fritz had altered refracted the light nearly, but not completely, according to the diagram.

  “There appear to be minor flaws in these sapphires. The deviations of the light paths are mall, but definitely present,” Massimo said.

  Fritz made further alterations to the sapphires and said: “That should do it. Let’s test them again.”

  Massimo repeated the test and the light beams were refracted according to the diagram.

  “That appears to have worked,” Massimo said.

  “It took both of us to do this precision work. Perhaps we should be charging more,” Fritz said.

  “The captain sets the price – at least, I believe he does,” Massimo said.

  “Time is valuable – that is the true cost of this kind of precision work, which has to be tested and refined repeatedly,” Fritz said.

  “You’re accustomed to quicker, easier work?” Massimo asked.

  “I’m accustomed to purifying lots of water – and helping plenty of people – quickly. This is a different way of doing business, that’s much slower,” Fritz said.

  “Fantine is a different kind of crystal bender – a different kind of person, even,” Massimo said.

  The cabin door opened and Jolene entered. “You don’t like her, do you?” she asked.

  “Liking her has nothing to do with it. I actually admire Fantine’s dedication. Still, I don’t trust this co
nstructor. I know what it can do, but it’s too sensitive. If these sapphires have to be this perfect – if a tiny flaw is so unacceptable, and I work crystals at a very low level, fixing small flaws – then there’s a risk this constructor could malfunction completely with a flaw that no one notices,” Fritz said.

  “It wouldn’t be professional jealousy, would it? Or envy that a woman is the greatest architect and not you?” Jolene asked. She probed Fritz’s mind and didn’t find any of this. Yet, she suspected latent envy.

  “Not at all. She is working on a level that requires complete dedication to the task at hand – that is its own price. I enjoy the work I do – it’s essential, straightforward and gives many people exactly what they need, quickly,” Fritz said.

  “So does she. That constructor built a forty-four hundred (4400) mile long aqueduct in just a few minutes – helping hundreds of thousands of people. It’s more work upfront, but it more than pays for the effort. Why are you criticizing her?” Jolene asked.

  “I’m not criticizing. This is just not a good use of our time – she needs to have someone dedicated to the task, rather than split between water purification and architecture. Time spent on this is time not helping with that,” Fritz said.

  “You seem personally offended by the questions. Yet, we are all here to pay our way through life. From time to time, we must ask if our work in the moment is the best use of our time. I’ve had to change, and so have you, have you not?” Massimo asked of Jolene.

  “Life is change – I know that. She’s a good person – I can see that. I wish I could do what she did and focus like that,” Jolene said.

  “No you don’t. She’s all business, all the time. If you were like that, you would have no time for love,” Massimo said.

  Jolene was angry at Fritz for his criticism of Fantine’s perfectionism, but she was also angry that Massimo was right about her own emotional needs. Torin was exactly what she needed, and she did love the young man. It was more than physical – he was truly a determined, positive person and he had youthful energy that she craved.