Manifestation: the Coming Dark/Chapter 3

I do not know what I expected the inside of a Drakel city to be like. Certainly, no amount of imagination could have prepared me for the reality of it. My arrival, despite its ostentatious nature, went thoroughly unnoticed by the people. The small, comfortably furnished room into which the king had placed me was unoccupied.

I wondered how I was to establish my authority; would my face alone be sufficient to substantiate it? Jano could vouch for me, but I had no guarantee that he would be with the first group of Drakel I happened to encounter.

I looked about the room considerately and realized from the presence of windows on all four sides that this room, despite the lavish nature of its furnishings, was the entirety of the building. I was struck by the fact, not for the first time, that Drakel sensibilities were quite different from my own. By the standards of my culture, such a small building would have been considered a hovel; here, it was clearly some sort of meeting and resting area.

Tearing my attention from the room and the furniture, I moved toward the sole entrance. The area outside the room was remarkable. Steam-driven carts were guided by wire tracks suspended in the air above. The vast expanse of the K'eld stretched before me. I noted dimly that the entirety of the city was built along the side of a great mountain. Though my view was unhindered, I could not begin to see where the city began. I was somewhere in its midst. I noted that the cabled tracks that served the carts were less tangled near me. This corresponded with a decrease in building density here as well.

I looked around for life and determined that in this area of the city, population was sparse. However, a female Drakel, who was at my exit animatedly talking to another, detached herself upon seeing me and quickly began to cross the distance between us. In a moment, she was beside me and I could take in her full measure. She was beautiful in a way that transcended racial considerations. Her fluid movements spoke both both of lithe athleticism and the grace of a trained dancer. I was reassured by her deferential manner; I was not to be arrested on sight after all.

"I can state my case," I thought with considerable relief.

"Lord Governor," she said melodiously, "I am Kithia. My husband told me he would be sending you directly."

"Your husband?" I asked, more than slightly confused by this announcement. I felt as if I had been cast as a pawn in some unusual play to which I had never been shown the script. Who was her husband? What else did I not know? What else should I have been told before my abrupt transfer to this alien environment? Such were my thoughts in the brief moment it took her to register my confusion and offer an answer.

"Lord Tralin, the king," she supplied.

Given the means of my arrival, I should have expected this answer. Indeed, in the current circumstance, it was the only really sensible interpretation. I was nonetheless taken by surprise. When had Tralin had time to marry? Theirs was not a political marriage, surely. Even state marriages would be involved in the long and elaborate rituals of Drakel courtship. Divorce, from what I knew of Drakel culture, was a nonexistent concept. Monogamy was the norm, but it was not dictated. In the cases where polygamous relationships existed, by Drakel law all of the people were married to each other; it was consensual. Drakel ideas of family obligation were the core of the society. A family would feel the guilt for any of its members' transgressions. A marriage would not be the sort of thing that Tralin would enter casually. The only available conclusion was that he and Kithia were wed before he himself came to Deren nearly 20 years prior. A few seconds later, I realized that though she had not been officially received in Deren's courts, Kithia was its queen.

"Your highness," I stumbled, realizing my lack of appropriate courtesy. "Forgive me. It is just that... Well, Tralin never told me he was married. Even in sending me here, he did not tell me to expect the queen to greet me."

"There are numerous reasons for my husband to have not informed you, Lord Darin. Chief among them is that time is precious. From what I know of you from my husband and Lord Jano, had you been informed, you surely would have pressed for more information. From his brief descriptions of you, I gather you are not only extremely inquisitive but also extraordinarily..." She paused and a smirk crossed her face, eventually broadening into a full smile. "...Eh, persistent."

"What you mean to say is obsessive," I replied with a grin in spite of myself. The queen was not only beautiful but she appeared to be very observant and highly intelligent. More than that, her face was as expressive as her husband's was normally inscrutable. Theirs must have been an interesting courtship, unless of course the king's stoicism was an affectation of age. Perhaps it was a result of his gender; many of the Drakel I had known in my service to the Water Lord showed similar personalities. The deadpan mien was hardly universal, though; I had known Drakel who were extremely expressive.

"If you yourself deem it thus," she quipped, "how can I argue, my lord? I will show you to your estate and then we shall meet Lord Jano. We have much to discuss."

She moved to a still cart and I followed hesitantly, looking out to the expanses of the city. The world into which I had been thrust was thoroughly alien, and at the time completely terrifying. Later, however, I would have cause to reassess the emotion: compared to what was to come, my feeling at that moment was one of mild apprehension.