01
“So… You live here? Really?” Asked Rider Mylene, measuring with her gaze the tall tower that supposedly served as a home for the Royal Sorceress Tora Halfcour.
“Yes, really.” Answered Tora Halfcour herself, measuring with her gaze the Royal Rider Mylene, who was standing in front of the tower that was the Royal Sorceress’ home.
“But are you sure?” Asked again Rider Mylene, measuring with her gaze the Royal Sorceress Tora Halfcour, standing near the entrance to the tower…
“Can we please stop with this measuring contest?”The sorceress said, looking up, as if to the heavens itself. “And yes, Mylene, this tower is where I live. I thought it was common knowledge. Amongst the Riders for the very least.”
“I still can’t believe it… It’s so tall! I thought it was just for show and you were actually living in a palace with the Queen, lady Tora…”
“I thought we were over it already, Mylene?”
“Over what?”
“Over calling me ‘lady’.”
“Oh, it’s just because we were talking to the Master Rider right now… I couldn’t just call you Tora in front of him, right? I had to be official, right?”
“Right…” Tora shook her head. “As for the living in palace… Do you think anyone will allow a mage to be at all times in the vicinity of a person in charge of the whole country? I am allowed audiences on a… rather regular basis. But that’s all.”
“Whoa… So you spend your time in this stone…”
“Don’t worry, it’s quite cozy inside. Well, after you climb all the stairs.”
“All the stairs?”
“Yes, Mylene, all of them.”
“Ugh… Can’t we… I don’t know? Fly up?” Said Mylene, looking at the insides of a tower – a narrow stairway spiralled upwards along the walls, losing itself in the dark at the height unseen from below.
“Fly? No, sadly. It’s complicated, actually… Even if you’d listened to me at the Theoretical magic lessons, which you of course didn’t…”
“Sorry…”
“No need to. But don’t worry, there’s less stairs than meets the eye.”
“Shouldn’t it be ‘more than meets the eye’?”
“It should. Yet it isn’t. Let’s go, Rider.”
02
“There really were less stairs than I’ve thought!” Mylene exclaimed when they reached the top of the tower. The stairway led the Rider and the Sorceress into a windowless, round room, lit up by several arc lamps on its walls. Along the walls there were shelves after shelves after shelves, from the floor to the ceiling, containing all manners of things one would expect to find in a home of a mage – cans, jugs, boxes and jars with mysterious contents, stones and gems of varying sizes and colors, as well as books, folios and scrolls. In the middle of the room, another set of spiralling stairs went further up.
“More stairs?” Mylene asked curiously.
“Yes, there’s my bedroom.”
“...”
“Don’t look so happy all of a sudden… Let me at least play a part of a good host and make us some tea.”
“Ah, yes, tea… How could we live without it!”
“We really could not.” Tora smiled, while she was redying the cups and the teapot. “Though it is nice that it became quite abundant now, with the Great Airway and the Ost Kompanie… At least one good thing came from Federation's raise to power – cheap tea. I remember the time when the leaves were worth their weight in gold.”
“Oh, that was before my birth…” Mylene’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “Wait… You remember? Then… How old really are you?”
“If you want to know, Rider… I’m old… as old as this world in fact.”
“...”
“...”
“Good joke…”
“It isn’t a joke, Mylene.”
“Whoa, seriously? That’s why you know so much! So you should have lot of stories to tell, I would guess… bedtime ones.”
“I know more than just ‘so much’, Rider! I know it all, remember?”
“All the stories, then?”
“All of them!”
“Then I’ll plan on listening to every single one, until you’re tired and fall asleep.”
“I bet you would fall asleep first, Mylene.”
“Challenge accepted! You’ll find I’m a good listener.”
Whilst they were saying this, Mylene wandered around the room, inspecting all the curious and unusual things the Sorceress kept on her shelves. One of the pieces peaked her curiosity and she tried to pick it up to look at it closer.
“Don’t touch anything on the shelves, please” Tora stopped her arm.
“Why? Will it turn me into a frog?”
“Well, no. Kill you, shock you, poison you, burn you, infect you, possess you, explode in your face, give you frostbite, dissolve your skin – yes; turn you into a frog – definite ‘no’.”
“That’s encouraging…” Her gaze wandered for a moment, then stopped on one particular jar, clamped to the wall with brass rings. “Is this something deadly?”
“No, not really – but potentially sparkly and tingly.” As if to prove Tora’s words, the contents of the jar bubbled and light blue sparks ran from the bottom to the top of it, disappearing at the lid where two copper wires were plugged in.
“It powers the lights here,” Tora said. “And is a pain to put back in if removed.”
“What? What is it?”
“You don’t remember?” The sorceress raised the eyebrow.
“Should I?”
“You’ve captured it… You and Cai.”
“Wait…” Mylene looked at the sorceress with disbelief. “It can’t be… can it?”
“Yes, it can: you’re looking at Cath Palug in a jar, Rider.”
“Oh…” Mylene gasped. “That nasty thing… That was… quite a long while ago, wasn’t it? I think that was the first time we really met after academy… And you didn’t even asked for our names – only ‘Rider this, Rider that’. You were so scary! And so pretty… Not that you would remember me from back then of course.”
“It is very hard to not remember someone who, when told to create a subtle diversion, jumps on top of a table and screams so loud, they could have heard it over the Sea of Storms -- ‘Who wanna fight!?’”
“That’s what they do in the books, right?”
“You’re not wrong… Actually, you are more right than you can imagine… But! But why would you think that anybody would want to pick a fight with the Royal Rider?”
“I was new! They wouldn’t know I am one!”
“Shouldn’t lit up your Shining Blade then!”
“Look at you! You were posing as a barmaid!”
“So what?”
“Your skirt!”
“My skirt?”
“It was long! Really-really long!”
“...?”
“Don’t you understand? Covering those legs is an offence! A criminal offence! I should’ve arrested you right there, Lady Sorceress!”
“And I should’ve sewn your loud mouth shut, Rider Mylene!”
“You almost did!”
“I did?”
“I spat out threads for the whole day after that!”
“Good times, right?” Tora said, laughing.
“Indeed…” Mylene looked at her and joined in on the laugh.
03
“Oh! A door?” After circling the room for the third time, Mylene finally turned her attention to one of the two doors placed on the opposite sides of it. “Where does it lead to?”
“To the outside… Sort of a balcony there.”
“Sort of?” She opened the door and leaned into it, sticking her head through.
“Careful!” Tora cried out. “Can’t promise there’d be a soft mattress for you to fall onto… If t a mattress soft enough to safely fall on from such a height even exists.”
“Whoa…” The door Mylene opened really did lead outside. Past its threshold there was a ring, a wooden platform, circling the outside of the tower. It could be probably called “a balcony” but only if one was very generous with their words – it was more of a parapet, just wide enough to walk on, without being blown away by the sudden gust of wind.
“Why there are no rails though?” Mylene asked.
“You know us mages: make falling down absolutely impossible, and the dumb wizard definitely will fall.”
“Then why bother with placing it here at all?”
“I just like sitting there on the very edge of it sometimes… Nice view of the Capital.”
“When you think of it… It really is nice.”
“You know what, Rider… Here’s this.” Tora put the saucers and the cups with tea on a silver tray. “Let’s enjoy both the tea and the view.”
“Um…” Mylene let the Sorceress pass through the door and watched her put the tray on the parapet, take off her shoes and sit down right on the edge with her feet swaying high above the Capital. The Rider smiled and settled down on the door’s threshold.
“I'm going to stay here if you don't mind.” She said. “After that… on that airship… I don't like heights all that much.”
“Oh… Oh, I am stu…”
“No, don't worry, Tora, it's alright, alright. You saved me back then… you’ll save me now if anything happens, right?”
“You better believe I'll give it all I can!”
“That's why It's alright, if it's with you.”
The sun was still bright in the clear blue sky – the most ideal conditions to admire the Capital’s colorful rooftops and, of course, the view of the Sorceress’ delicate figure against the background of a cloudless translucent sky.
“Oh, wind’s picking up…” Tora took out the ribbons from her ponytails, letting her hair flow as it wanted. “Should I get it cut short, I wonder… maybe?”
“Please don't.” Mylene gasped, almost as if in terror. “I was so looking forward to combing it for you… Don't take this opportunity away from me, please.”
“Very well, Mylene. If you insist, I can make you my personal Master of the Comb.”
“Lady Tora…”
“Why so official again?”
“You started it first… Master of… nonsense.” Mylene pouted.
“Mylene…”
“...”
“I acquiesce: this head is yours to comb…”
“...”
“Every morning if you wish…”
“...”
“But strictly unofficially.”
“Very well, I could agree to such terms, if only begrudgingly.”
“Sometimes your ability to pronounce long words frightens me…”
“Me too!” Mylene finally got her smile back.
A small flock of birds flew past them, hoping for biscuits, but discovered there was none and turned away in disappointment, loudly complaining among themselves that times had come when humans don't even bother to have tea properly anymore.
Tora and Mylene in turn smiled cheerfully at the silly birds because they enjoyed the conversation much more than the drink – but then the conversation turned to things more serious and less worthy of a good smile...
“...That's just how it is with us mages. When the only things you can do are the most impossible – the usual, most normal things tend to fall out of your reach. When you constantly doubt yourself and your abilities – you can't help but to doubt everyone else's too. And when you start doubting the reality itself, the very existence of yourself… ...Then your mind does this.” Tora picked up the saucer and with one sharp move of her hand smashed it against the parapet. The saucer exploded into the myriad of porcelain shreds.
“...”
The Sorceress waved her hand and bits of porcelain flew back to her, even those small as dust that were picked up by the wind, spun around and coalesced back into the saucer, shiny as new.
“I wish minds were this easy to restore… Sadly, we mages are much more brittle than porcelain and break up in pieces smaller than even the finest dust.”
“That's terrible…”
“I… I just wanted you to know.”
“What, are you trying to scare me away? That won't work, lady Sorceress!”
“Display of bravery fitting of a Royal Rider. Isn't it foolish though?”
“You tell me! It's only foolish when it's unwelcomed.”
“It isn't. That's for sure.”
“See!”
“Still, that's something we really should talk about… Worst help us, we were circling around it enough already.”
“And what is that?”
“It’s about… us. Or, more precisely… my feelings…”
“Oh, lady Tora… I know what you want to say: ‘it’s all so strange and I need some time to process it’, right? If so… of course… take your time, I’m…”
“No, Mylene, that’s not what I wanted to say…”
“...?”
“That’d be too simple for the Royal Sorceress… And did you just called me ‘lady’ Tora again?... Anyway… Thing is… No matter how much time passes, no matter for how long I will be ‘processing’ it… I… I will know…” The Sorceress punched the parapet she was sitting on with her small fist while looking down with the teary eyes.
“You… Don’t cry, please… What will you know, la… Tora?”
“It isn’t real. Nothing is. Neither you, nor me, nor this tower, nor this whole wide stupid world… All of it, all that we see, all that we say, all… all that we feel… is not real. It’s all made up. Written down by someone, some… Author.” Tora looked up at the sky wiping tears off her eyes. “You have all the right to not believe me, Mylene, but that’s what I know. This is my last secret. Neither you, nor I are real. All that we are – the characters in some story, story that probably nobody will ever read. All we do is dance at the palm of Author’s hand and do as he pleases…”
“...”
“I’m… I’m sorry… no, I can’t even say ‘sorry’ anymore…”
“...”
“...”
“Tora…”
“...”
“Lady Tora…”
“...?”
“Does it matter?” Mylene looked at the Sorceress with her big hazel eyes.
“Of course it does!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’!? Have you listened to me? Or do you think I’m insane now!?”
“I can’t say that thought didn’t cross my mind…”
“Thanks for the honesty, Rider.”
“But… Even if I trust you, even if everything you’ve said, – about this world, about us being someone’s creations, – if everything is in fact true… What does it matter?”
“... Isn’t it obvious?”
“It isn’t! Look, even if everything is just words written by someone unseen – if it is created… written… as being true… then it is true, right? After all, if this made-up reality is all we have, then it is real, no matter how it came to be.”
“That’s certainly… a way to look at things.”
“Mylene’s way is the best way!” The Rider pointed at herself with a thumb. “Don’t you think?”
“I think… What I think… is… complicated.”
“Make it simple then!”
“...”
“...”
“Mylene…” Tora pushed her hands against the parapet and slid herself closer to the door where Mylene was sitting.
“Yes?”
“Hold me...tight… please…”
“Any time, lady Sorceress!” The Rider hugged her from behind – Tora leant back letting her head lie on the Rider’s shoulder.
“Oh, please, don’t ‘lady’ me now… You’re right, I’m in need of something simple. World hard and cold. Mylene soft and warm. Uh-huh.”
“Uh-huh...!”
“...”
“...Lady Tora.”
“Rider Mylene, you’re irredeemable…
“That’s why I love you.”
