— CHAPTER FOUR —

  These Close Walls

  I sat across from Ambassador Bellamy in the east wing's tea room, sunlight streaming through stained glass windows and pooling color onto the white tablecloth. It was protocol in Magnolia for the host to welcome guests with a tea ceremony. And so, Elara placed the ceremonial tea set beside me, and I opened the small wooden box of tea leaves.

  "You'll have to forgive me if I stumble through the steps." I said. "I only perform this ceremony a few times each year."

  "I'm honored to witness it, Your Majesty." he said.

  I took the kettle from Elara and poured it into the warming vessel first, a small, shallow bowl of white porcelain edged in gold.

  "This ceremony dates back to the Age of the Dragon Empire." I explained. "When the Roosen colonists first came to Ynys, they brought these traditions with them."

  "Ah, the Crown Roosens take great pride in preserving their lineage and customs." Bellamy said, watching as I emptied the warming vessel and accepted the tea caddy from Elara. "I understand they've maintained records dating back almost a thousand years."

  I measured the tea leaves with a silver spoon - three for the guest, one for the pot, and one for good fortune. "House Magnolia isn't Roosen, actually. Most noble families of Ynys trace their ancestry to the Roosens, but we come from the Cloudsong."

  "The flying city?"

  I nodded. "Yes, the city of Saint Bramimunde the Navigator." The leaves dropped into the pot. "It ferried the first Roosen colonists above the seas. My ancestors chose to join them in exploring this island continent."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Elara handed me the kettle again, and I began the first pour, moving in the traditional clockwise spiral from the outside in.

  "The other nobles often joke that my restlessness comes from there." I continued, setting the kettle down and covering the pot with its lid. "As if the need to wander is in my blood."

  I waited the required thirty seconds before the second pour. "Sometimes I wonder what life was like aboard Cloudsong. Imagine living on a city that roamed the world, mediating international politics, witnessing the rise and fall of nations, seeing the landscape out your door change day by day - mountains to fields, to seas, to swamps, and the other cities you would pass by!"

  "A magnificent vision. Do you have any family left aboard?"

  "Not that I know of, and the Cloudsong itself hasn't been seen in some decades." I said, beginning the second pour. "Disappeared far over the seas. Where do you think it might be now?"

  Elara cleared her throat softly, and I realized I'd stopped pouring. I quickly resumed the motion.

  "Forgive me, Ambassador." I said, setting the kettle down. "I get lost in these thoughts sometimes."

  "No need for apologies. It's refreshing to meet someone with such curiosity about the world. And please - Raphael's fine; I don't much like putting on airs."

  I shook myself mentally and refocused on the ceremony, counting down the two minutes of steeping time. "Very well. Tell me about the world, Raphael. You've seen so much more of it than I have."

  "It would be my pleasure. Are you familiar with Ceannaithechaladh?"

  I racked my mind. "Ceannaithechaladh SEZ, one of the Roosen Marches."

  "Yes, it's their largest oceangoing port. And it's where the trains that now connect their empire together were first invented. The city is filled with the most advanced runesmithing companies and factories in the world. It's quite the sight to see them at work: Towers of steel and glass lit by neon rainbows - great machines cutting entire rune circuits into appliances - the cranes in the docks moving containers larger than some of the rooms in this very palace."

  I tried to picture it - streets lined with tall buildings, smoke stacks billowing, the air charged with mana.

  "And what of the Kingdom of Venetia? Have you ever been?" I asked as I began the final pour, filling first his cup and then my own. "I've read that, in their capital city, every building is a palace."

  Raphael accepted his cup with a bow of thanks. "I've never been that far west myself, but I'd wager it pales in comparison to Magnolia's splendor."

  "It sounds beautiful." I said. "I'd like to see it one day. But my duties keep me busy at the palace."

  "Perhaps one day you might find time."

  "Perhaps..." I echoed.