Liuz didn't even need the binoculars to see what the fuss was about.
He stood with Harveen on the small ledge cut into the cliffside, a path to their left leading downwards to the base of the waterfall. From here, the whole island spread out before them, past the city and lake to the farmland and forest beyond. All his eyes could focus on was the newly appeared glistening white tower.
"I have no idea what's going on." He passed the binoculars down to Harveen. She climbed up onto the bench, head closer to level with his, raising the device. "I mean, how can an island just appear?"
"Magic?"
"Magic, yes, but when has magic been good?" The only magic he knew of was Elven. Elven magic in the capital was not a pleasant thought.
"I see a Watu ship." She lowered the glasses, frowning. "I know the captain. Don't like him, but know him. He must have seen it."
"We don't need to know THAT badly. We'll hear the rumors soon enough."
She let out a sigh, lowering herself onto the bench, sitting back against the cliff. Liuz sat down beside her.
"He'll come anyway. Hope I say good things about him to my Father."
"Will you?"
"No."
Liuz could not help but smile. He put his arm around her, his friend snuggling against him.
"If he shows up, he shows up. We'll be polite, then send him home."
"Thank you, my Liuz..." She snugged closer.
Why did he enjoy this so much? Liuz wasn't sure. It just felt... nice. Comforting. More so, even, than when he held his sister. That had been happening less and less, now that she had her own room. Harveen was not so much filling that void, as revealing there had been a void there all along. He tightened his grip, the entire length of her body pressed against him. What would it feel like if her fur pressed directly against his skin? If this cloth wasn't in the way?
He didn't know. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
As they sat, a strange scent wafted upward. Liuz frowned. It was coming from Harveen. She was never dirty, certainly no dirtier than he or Kasia. Today, especially, she looked and felt fresh and clean. Not that it was a bad smell. In fact... he sniffed again. He rather liked it. The scent was a strange mix of odors he couldn't place. Was it perfume? No. Harveen would never use something like that. He mentally shrugged. It wasn't important.
His eyes focused on the distant tower. It was still there, mocking reality.
Reality, in his experience, did not like being mocked.
****
Liuz was unsure how long they stayed there, sheltered from the wind and sun. He had no desire to descend, to do work requiring thought. Harveen's body and the mysterious tower dominated his senses. She seemed to be asleep now. Liuz could feel himself heading towards the same state.
A wagon came up the road. Sitting up, slowly, so as not to disturb Harveen, he recognized it as theirs, now filled with crates and casks. Kasia was next to the driver. Her head seemed to rise, looking up in his direction. With a sigh, he shook Harveen.
"Hey."
"Hmm." She slowly pulled away, no embarrassment on her face.
"Kasia's back."
"OK." She hopped off the bench, waiting as Liuz stood and stretched. He felt body parts protest at the interruption of their rest. Taking her paw, they began the walk down.
****
"It's chaos down there."
Liuz nodded as his sister took a long drink of water. He had seen little of it, but could imagine what it was like right on the harbor. Yaa, walking very gingerly, brought a bowl of fruit to the dining table. Kasia took it from her, smiling as she placed it within reach of everyone. Behind her, Liuz saw the Kikker girl's mother watching nervously.
"I mean," Kasia went on, grabbing a blueberry and tossing it into her mouth, "there were soldiers everywhere! I heard people claim they saw a Polish flag on the island, but others said they saw Elves. I don't think there was any fighting, so there can't have been Elves."
"Unless the Queen somehow did it."
"I can't see her doing that to His Grace. This seemed to be a complete surprise."
"True." Neither of them had met the Elf Queen, or her companions, although they had seen them a few times at the more important meetings. His Grace seemed to be keeping them, if not isolated, then at least away from most Poles. Rumor of a skirmish between the Dark Hussar and Elven riders had hit the city the week before. It would not take much for anger at the pointy-eared devils to rise up again.
"It shouldn't affect us, anyway." Kasia grabbed another berry. "We just do our work, and hope another tower doesn't pop up here."
****
Others seemed to disagree.
The rest of the day consisted of friends and family of workers coming to the mill, some with their possessions as if fleeing some disaster. All very silly. Kasia watched as Zarek's parents tried to make the case that they and his grandparents should stay up here near him, and was he sure there wasn't room in that big house there? No, they couldn't sleep in the mill, the younger kids would hurt themselves, and besides that waterfall was so loud! Her respect for the young man increased as he told them they could camp, or go home, but if his mother and grandmother helped in the kitchen they could stay for dinner. The dining room would be crowded that night.
Kasia spent most of the afternoon sitting on the bank of the stream. Others occasionally came over, sharing the quiet of the babbling brook. Mostly she was alone.
Two images filled her mind. Natan. Tall, blond, brown eyed Natan. They had talked. Talked in reality, not in her dreams. She hadn't been herself since seeing him months ago, since a part of her who hadn't existed before fixated itself on him. Almost as if her mind was changing along with her body. Breasts and moodiness: parts of the same coin? Who could say.
The other was even more unsettling.
A woman. Blonde. Tall. Regal. Towering over all. Yet... comforting. Loving. Confusing. Who was she? She had never seen her before, not in dream, not in fantasy. Yet...
Harveen plopped down beside her. Kasia automatically put her arm around her best friend. The Watu leaned into her.
"I feel weird."
"Same."
"You do?" Harveen pulled away a touch, looking up at her.
"Probably a different weird. Today has just been..."
"Yeah." Harveen snuggled closer. She so liked to be touched. What were Watu like in their own homes, cities? She had seen them almost sleeping in a pile in the tavern, although that was all males apart from the two of them. Did males and females sleep in one pile as well?
Her body reacted to that thought.
"Oh, no," Harveen groaned.
Kasia followed Harveen's gaze. A perd pulled cart was approaching, a single Watu driving. Kasia had not even known there were any of the slimy four legged beasts in the city, although someone had a breeding herd on the island. She had no idea why.
"Know him?"
"Yeah. He'll expect to stay the night." Harveen rose, offering her hand to Kasia. She accepted, hand going to her friend's shoulder as Harveen bent down to retrieve the crutches. "Could you do me a favor, and hit him with these if he tries to marry me?"
"Sure. Where exactly would you like me to shove them?"
"Oooo. So many options! Let me think!"
****
Captain Simar of the cargo ship Vaha stood before them, bowing. A one piece dress (Kasia did not know what else to call it) covered most of him, it's brown deer hide contrasting with his dark red fur. His speech was a series of growls and whines, neither high pitched nor low. Almost seemingly designed not to offend.
Yet, for some reason it did. Even without Harveen's warning, Kasia felt she would not have trusted this Watu. Would have not wanted to negotiate with him. Which, really, was stupid. Most traders were trying to get a much better deal for themselves than you, the seller, wanted, and to avoid them was to end up with a warehouse full of unsold product. You did what you had to do bring in money.
Kasia heard her name. Harveen was introducing her. She nodded her head, not feeling a curtsy was needed. He acknowledged her politely, a gust of wind sending a shiver through the girls as it passed.
Something changed in the Captain. Kasia probably wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been looking at his face. His eyes widened. Nostrils flared. The Watu stood straighter as he again faced Harveen. His tone seemed to... she shook her head. Maybe it was in her mind. Harveen didn't seem to notice anything, her expression unchanging as she took in his words, replying with short sentences. Eventually, she turned to Kasia.
"He says he was just past when the island appeared behind them. There was billowing mist which quickly vanished. There were Elves on the shore, who were quickly replaced by Polish soldiers in blue, with black breastplates, waving a Polish banner."
Kasia blinked. Elves... maybe it was the Queen. But, black armor...
"The Dark Hussar? Why the hell?"
"Don't know. She's strange."
Kasia laughed at that. Strange the woman was, in ways similar to yet different from the King. She sometimes wondered what it would have been like if the order of their arrival had been different, if the dark skinned woman had become the Polish Queen. She suspected the Kingdom would be quite different.
The Captain was talking again. Kasia noticed he now stood closer to Harveen. Should she use her crutch to brush him back? Harveen did not seem to object. Or, really, notice. She should notice, shouldn't she? Not that he was objectionably close yet. Maybe she didn't want to make a fuss.
Harveen finally sighed.
"He wants to spend the night."
"He can stay for dinner, but we don't have a Perd stable and whoever rented the beast to him probably won't like it just wandering around out here."
"Perd tend not to move much unless you make them, but that's a good excuse." The Captain's face pouted as he heard the news. He moved even closer to Harveen, arm reaching out towards her shoulder. Kasia started to raise her right crutch. He took a step back, arm returning to his side. Harveen didn't notice.
Something wasn't right.
****
Dinner was loud. Chaotic. Everything Liuz didn't like when it came to conversation. Noise, itself, was fine. He lived with the rhythmic noise of nature and machines all day. Pointless babbling was another matter.
For awhile, he tried to keep up with some of the conversations. Some of the observations from both Zarek and Donat's families were insightful. Only some. Foolishness and silly speculation buried what little was useful. The "advice" on how he should run things was also not appreciated, although he did find some of it amusing. He started keeping track of how long it took a new subject to wander back around to giving their son more money and authority.
Harveen was not eating. The odor from before was now stronger, yet not offensive. Reaching under the table, he touched her knee.
"You OK?" Kasia shot a glance over from his other side. Harveen looked at him, eyes somewhat glassy.
"Yes."
"You don't look it."
"I'm good, Liuz." Her hand slipped under the table, covering his. "I'm..." She shook her head, eyes returning to normal. Her claws slid over his skin. "I'm OK. I'm just tired."
"You need some air."
She seemed to consider, head slowly nodding.
"Yes. Then bed."
To his surprise, she rose, walking towards the door. The smell as she walked away almost seemed to beckon. Kasia frowned.
"She was outside all day."
"Do you smell that?" he asked his sister, voice lowered. She gave him a confused look.
"Smell what?"
"I don't know. Maybe she is sick."
"She said before dinner she felt weird."
"She did?" He looked towards the door. "Maybe she shouldn't be alone."
A man appeared, dress that of a royal messenger. Harveen must have let him in. All conversation stopped, much to Liuz's relief. He rose.
"Yes?"
"I have a verbal message for Master Liuz."
****
A Royal council meeting.
That didn't surprise Liuz. All of today must have been meetings, messages sent and received. The message flags were probably worn out, needing to be replaced.
He looked at the messenger as he rode away into the darkness, mind drifting onto a tangent. He had to find work for the Kikker woman. Something to fit her talents. Hell, he had to discover if she did, in fact, have talents. What use did they have for a seamstress just then? He knew Kasia was not yet ready to try balloon flight. Maybe Harveen had some ideas.
Harveen. He looked around. Message or no, he shouldn't have let her go out alone. Kasia could have gone with her.
He listened.
The babbling brook.
The wind in the trees.
Whimpering.
His head swung towards a patch of trees. Liuz moved quickly, unsure of what he had heard. It could just be some animal. A trick of the wind. His imagination.
The sound came again.
He ran.
****
Harveen was pressed face down into the grass, the ship captain on top of her, hips thrusting furiously.
Liuz had never seen sex. Never observed animals mating, certainly had never seen his parents engaged in such a thing, at least at an age where he would remember. His first thought was not that this was rape.
All he saw was the tears in her eyes.
"GET OFF HER!"
He grabbed the Watu male, heaving him up and back. Harveen let out a cry of pain as they disengaged, something red and wet now visible between the attacker's thighs. Liuz threw him against a tree, dropping to his knees besides her. The male was forgotten. His hands went to her shoulders, best friend almost impossible to see through his tears.
"Harveen!"
"Sorry!" She was crying, face turning away from him. "Leave me! My fault! Dirty!"
"No!" He pulled her up, body unresisting. She was hot. The scent overpowered him. Liuz pulled her into his lap, hugging her as tight as he could. "It's OK," he whispered. "I'm here. I'm here."
"I'm sorry, Liuz!" Her arms slowly wrapped around him, claws digging into his back. "My fault. Only you. I only wanted you. Now..." Her head buried itself against his neck.
He looked around. The Captain was gone. Well he should be. Soldiers. Liuz had to call soldiers. And Kasia. Kasia would know what to do.
"Let's go see Kasia," he said softly, stroking her back. "Get you inside. Into bed."
"No!" She squeezed him tighter. "I can't be with them! I can't be with anyone! I was only to be with you! I only wanted you! Now I can never..."
"Why?" He kissed the part of her cheek he could reach, right hand going to the back of her head. Her head shot up, grey eyes wide. He smiled. "Why do you blame yourself."
"I'm in heat," she whispered. "It's... it's my first breeding season. Mother... Mother never told me everything. I... I didn't realize how... It's not his fault." Her head buried itself against him again. "I drew him. And I didn't resist. My body didn't resist. I'm sorry..."
"It's over. He's gone, Harveen. You're safe. I'll protect you."
"I'll have his cubs!" She tried to pull away. "I'll have his cubs! You can't understand!"
Cubs. Babies. His friend was going to have that bastard's babies.
No.
She was going to have her babies.
He looked down at her. At the friend he had known for four years. The only person besides his sister he truly trusted. Cared for.
Loved.
"I love you, Harveen." She seemed to try and pull away harder. He forced her back against him. "I love you. I'll love your cubs."
She wailed against him. He held her tight.
"But!"
"But nothing, my friend. I'll always be here for you. Always. Forever."
Her eyes lifted. He saw hope.
"Forever?"
"Forever and a day.”