Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Four: The Future Looks Dim...

"The Sovereign and his Parliament of the Kingdom of Noelle hereby hold that 'Property' is an object or living thing that a Person purchases or trades for ownership of as per the Trade Laws of Noelle. Once a Noelle citizen has purchased or traded for the possession of Property, that citizen owns the object or living thing and may do with it as he or she wishes. Thus, that citizen dictates what the object or living thing does and speaks for it. Furthermore, a Slave is, by definition, Property."

Rein sighed heavily, but slowly all the pieces came together to form a very important picture. At least now she was aware of who was on Nadia's side and who was not. However, revealing whatever plot Ariana and Rallian were concocting could be dangerous depending on who she revealed such information to.

Then there was the case of the Rose Tree. Somehow it changed overnight; the night after Nadia's first day as a slave. Suddenly a realization came over Rein. After having gone over the different observations Polaris and Wendell had made of the Rose Tree, Rein felt excited about the changes. She knew exactly what was happening there, but she still had to learn whom she could trust with such information, or whom she could trust period. Now that she gradually began to understand all these events, it would be nice to have an ally with whom to work, if not to get Nadia to the palace, to at least set her free.

Since the king seemed to be highly emotional and likely didn't respond well to logic, Rein's first thought was to learn about how Polaris's mind worked. Hopefully he didn't make the Rose Tree's transformation a priority over locating Nadia. She found his bedchamber as soon as he left it, which slightly frustrated her as she had just missed him. She was about to follow him to wherever he was headed until she realized that this might be a good chance to search around his room and learn a bit about him that way. Since she had recently overheard that Polaris was pure human, she concluded that he would spend most of his time at his desk studying, so that was the first place she approached.

Rein landed on top of his mahogany desk where she found a black feather quill and inkwell, a decorative dagger, a few books stacked on top of each other, a journal that had been left open, parchment covered with handwritten notes beneath everything, and a glass filled halfway with a foggy liquid. Rein climbed over the clutter and stood in front of the glass to look through it and then attempted to peer into it from the top. Immediately she recoiled, having not expected such a bitter stench of vinegar. What use was a glass full of vinegar?

Rein continued with her investigation and stepped over to the journal, which Polaris had left open to the page where he began his Rose Tree research. At this point, he had mainly written notes on the symptoms of the Rose Tree and hypotheses on what could be happening with it: climate change, fairy magic, typical omen – omen of what? Why? A warning? A warning of what? Clearly Polaris was as lost as Wendell on this one.

Curious, Rein flipped back a page to look over what else Polaris had studied before the Rose Tree: such as the king and queen's dream, which she took the time to read.

"So that's how they knew about Nadia beforehand," Rein said aloud. "Fascinating."

She continued to turn back more pages to find that Polaris had also been studying the Continent Islands, what creatures might live on Bellua, the Monturian Islands and the tribes which inhabited them, such as letmonians: a creature that is quite literally a living skeleton. There was even a name for a specific letmonian whom Polaris had studied: Drake. Rein assumed that the letmonian sketches she observed in the journal must be sketches of Drake. In fact, there were many scribbles in this journal about letmonians. Due to the excessive focus on this creature, Rein desired to learn all she could about them. Unable to resist, she took the time to read about how letmonians are very much alive, mortal, and have quite a short lifespan; how they tend to reside in tropical climates; how they reproduce during a ceremony over a pile of bones and their children possess pieces of the parents' bodies and souls. They consume only liquids such as milk, water, sap, juice, and so forth, simply by touching it in some way since nutrients are absorbed through their bones. Of course, too much of anything is bad, so letmonians cannot bathe for lengthy periods of time or even stand in the rain for too long lest they die by over-consumption.

Once she had read up on letmonians, Rein continued to flip through the journal until she came upon many pages she found to be even more shocking than those on letmonians. Polaris had had the opportunity to study a mermaid? How was this possible? He had sketches of the skeletal structure, where the fish tail morphed into the flesh of the upper-half of a humanoid body, comparisons between fish scales and mermaid scales, he had gone quite in depth! Upon further reading, Rein learned that his specimen's mother was entirely mermaid, and her father was part human and part fire elemental. She was approximately thirty-three years old during the time he studied her, and he was only able to study her for a little over a week. He had failed to record why the studied period was so short, or the identity of the specimen. This frustrated Rein.

Though Rein was learning a lot and could only imagine what other interesting information Polaris's journal beheld, she continued to only scan the remaining pages. These pages contained many more notes and sketches of plants, constellations, anatomies of different species, previously undiscovered animals and much, much more. When she finally satisfied her curiosity for the time being, she returned Polaris back to the page on the Rose Tree and decided to move on to the rest of the chamber. She would finish reading the journal some other time to further quench her thirst for knowledge.

One thing that Rein knew would tell her a lot about Polaris was his bookcase. After all, that was how she had learned everything she knows about the Sweet Suffering Creed: the underground cult on Arcor. There she had spent nearly a month reading the leader's cult book. However, Polaris's bookcase was rather boring to Rein compared to that of the cult leader. He had many atlases, books on animals and species, books on constellations, on water and land navigation, history books galore, books on different religions, books he had written himself, and plenty of personal journals. This only solidified what Rein had already known about Polaris and what she had confirmed on him in his journal. On the other hand, the many journals ignited a spark of excitement within her since they provided her with much more interesting reading material whenever she found the time.

Rein scanned over the rest of the chamber with its mahogany walls and the excessive gold fringing on the furniture, and noticed a piece of parchment pinned to the wall between Polaris's desk and the window through which she had entered. What did he find so important on this paper that it was worthy enough to post next to the spot where he most likely spent the majority of his time? She approached it and was shocked to read its contents. She found it to be the values of the art of Iah-Ra. To Rein's knowledge through rumor, Iah-Ra was a rarely seen or even learned form of combat that was said to be the most difficult to master. In short, it taught one how to make a useful weapon out of virtually anything. There was only one place in all of Xyntriav that taught the art, which was on the peak of the Crystalfire Mountain range located in the country of Roshire. There the Iah-Ra temple was built, where students generally spent ten years of their lives learning the values and techniques of the art. Rein could hardly believe that Polaris was a Iah-Ra practitioner, but here she was looking at a list of those values: discipline of the self, patience of the soul, honor of the mind, persistence of the body, and mercy of the heart. Rein managed to suppress her shock for the time being and figured that she could always further confirm this theory later.

At that point, Rein felt she had learned what she could about Polaris on her own and flew out of his chamber to continue to search for the man himself. So far, he seemed like someone strictly ruled on logic (and perhaps very specific values) and at that moment, this was a good sign to Rein since logic was the only way she knew how to argue a point. Most importantly of all, he seemed to be completely ignorant that Queen Ariana could possibly be involved in Nadia's disappearance, and he appeared to be doing everything he could to find the child. So Rein concluded that Polaris would make a good ally in her situation.

When she didn't find him at the Rose Tree, she peered through every window of the palace until she finally came to a turret made completely of iron-framed windows. The windows looked in to the pale blue walls of the grand library where Polaris sat in a large, lavender velvet wing chair. There, he searched through even more books which were spread out on a large, pale-pink table. Studying with him was someone whom Rein recognized to be Drake, the letmonian Polaris had sketched in his journal. He looked much like the skeleton of a satyr with a skull shaped like that of a raptor dressed in a dark sari jama. Light shone through the tall, stained-glass windows and cast such a bright array of colors on the pages of their research, it was a wonder they could read at all. The bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling and were so entirely full of books, Rein was almost afraid that some of the novels at the very top may tumble down onto Polaris or his assistant. Rein dipped to the sill of an open window. The scent of old parchment and raw binding adhesive didn't help to suppress her desire to join the two men in their research, but she summoned up power from the promise of being able to read all that she desired later – perhaps even later that night. Meanwhile, Rein kept hidden behind the bright yellow curtains while she listened in on their conversation.

"... would be in a book on trees," was the end of Drake's sentence.

"Of course not," Polaris replied. He dropped three books directly in front of Drake on the table. "Try one of these. I believe they discuss unusual happenstances in Atlika."

Drake took the books and flipped one open to its table of contents. "Wouldn't rose trees mostly act natural on Atlika?"

"Wouldn't they act naturally altogether?" There was a pause where Polaris rubbed his face in frustration. "I don't understand it, Drake. I've never felt so confused. Two unexplainable occurrences happen in as many days; you'd think there would be a connection."

"I'm certain there is," said Drake. He took a seat beside one of the windows, figuring he should get comfortable if he was expected to read for a long period of time.

"But there are no similarities between the two events. Except of course if I create one."

"What similarity would you create?"

Polaris was hesitant. "Perhaps somehow the Rose Tree is responding to Nadia's presence? Or her kidnapping? Or both, even."

"What would cause it to react to Nadia specifically?"

Polaris paused again. "I'm not sure. Perhaps since the Rose Tree has a special connection to Gerardo of Liko, Nadia is a descendant of his?"

Drake processed the theory for a moment, then shrugged. "Well it's somewhere to begin at least."

"But what I'm suggesting, Drake, is a long shot." Polaris ran his fingers through his hair. "I can understand how it might make sense as Their Majesties never mentioned Nadia's origin, but it's only an assumption based off a legend. There is a complete void of evidence to support any of it."

"The Rose Tree began its transformation the day after Nadia was kidnapped."

"Which could simply be a coincidence."

"However, it's the only explanation we have, Polaris," said Drake. "There's literally nothing more to go on. Perhaps we should look further in to it while we pursue other options."

"But you've missed the greater issue at hand, Drake." Polaris leaned against the table. "We would have so much to prove, and it would distract us from pursuing other options. We would have to prove that Gerardo did indeed survive his plunge into the ocean. We would have to prove that Nadia is in fact his descendent. We would have to prove that she is initiating the changes in the Rose Tree. And then none of this explains how or why the Rose Tree is changing. And

if Nadia is a descendent of Gerardo who did go to live in the ocean, what is she doing here?"

Drake sighed. "Well then let's take it one step at a time and endeavor to prove each point until we come up with a more suitable theory. I'll jot down the points we must prove, and we can check them off the list as we go."

Drake got up from his seat to fetch a quill and parchment.

Polaris chuckled slightly. "Well here's yet another issue: I'm not so sure if I believe any of it myself. Which only makes it even more difficult for me to prove. I'm a man of logic, Drake, and this theory defies it all. I simply invented the notion in a desperate attempt to find an answer. I didn't actually believe you would take it as plausible."

Rein found herself steadily growing infuriated. Polaris had figured it out almost exactly, but he insisted on backing away from it.

"Polaris, you're human!" She tried to keep her voice down. "You're the wisest creature on Xyntriav, listen to the letmonian!"

She collapsed in frustration on the sill behind the curtain and took a moment to think. How could she inform him that he was correct and make him believe it?

"So, then what did you wish to do if not continue down the only path we've come across?" Drake asked Polaris.

Polaris stood straight and thought for a moment.

"We'll handle both problems separately. We'll study the Rose Tree and its changes while also searching for Nadia. I'm certain that after about, say, three weeks, if we haven't already found Nadia, another piece of the puzzle will reveal itself and hopefully it will at least point us in the proper direction. Obviously however, these books aren't offering any help."

Polaris slammed one of the books shut and walked away from the table.

"What are you hoping to find by studying the Rose Tree as a separate issue?" Drake asked.

"I don't know, but I think perhaps we're making this more complicated than it really is. The answer is probably something simple, like weather changes. After all, rose trees are rare and very different from most trees. They're native to Atlika, which has a completely different climate than our own. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise if the tree is responding to the unusual climate. I would even go so far as to say that it wouldn't be able to withstand this weather for an extended period of time." Polaris paused and his eyes widened. "That's it! The Rose Tree is probably dying."

"The tree was planted over three hundred years ago; all of sudden it's reacting to a difference in climate? Dying even?" Drake challenged.

Polaris threw his hands up, almost as if to say he's yielded to the issue. Clearly, he was close.

"You're honestly trying to tell me that climate can explain why tree bark transforms into pearl," Drake went on. "Weren't you just explaining to me a moment ago that you're a man who runs on logic?"

"It's not as outlandish as you make it seem, Drake," Polaris said as he stacked his books. "Strange things occur often, and it still makes more sense than the half-brained theory I previously mentioned about Nadia being related to Gerardo of Liko."

"Very well. I'll let you have that one just for the time being, but I would argue that odd circumstances are often the result of odd causes. On the subject of Nadia, what do you plan to do about her disappearance and the Klaris issue?"

"We'll just have to allow the search parties to do their job," Polaris answered as he folded his arms across his chest. He paused a moment to ponder the events which took place in the throne room. "Speaking of which, the queen was much more active in this matter than usual. She spoke against almost everything I said and deemed the search party 'a waste of time.'"

Drake looked up from his book. "As rulers, it is important to avoid costly expenditures."

"True, but it's also important to avoid war, which she appeared to do the very opposite."

"Well Queen Ariana has always been forward with you, Polaris," said Drake. "Especially with your... controversial history."

"I understand that. However, she seemed much more audacious than normal this time." Drake said nothing. "Forget it. Perhaps she was just in a mood. In the meantime, I suppose I'll ask His Majesty to describe the appearance of the man from his dream. Then perhaps I can find him and gather some answers, if not obtain Nadia herself. I feel certain that he will know who outbid him at the slave auction as I doubt it was at a cheap price."

"And say no one finds Nadia and a letter returns confirming the first one was from Klaris?"

Polaris sighed heavily. "Then God help us all, Drake."

                                                                  ***

Sueño 11th was Market Day, and Nadia and her friends had successfully run the market stand with the help of Miss Mirriot. At the end of the day, the three children had all rushed in excitement to Nadia's and Garnet's bedroom where they dragged the remaining trunks to a corner of the room and then collapsed onto Garnet's crimson duvet. They couldn't stop talking about how much they had sold and the large amount of money they each had made.

"And there's still more left over for next Market Day!" Garnet exclaimed as she gestured to the trunks in the corner.

"That's right!" Mauro replied, tossing his short brown waves of hair out of his matching brown eyes. "And I bet we'll sell even more of it next time!"

"I wonder if Master found some other things he doesn't want anymore," Nadia added.

"You should ask him," Garnet suggested.

Just then, there came a knock on the door. Everyone stopped in the middle of their conversation and turned to face the door as if on cue. Alik entered the room and his eyes landed on Nadia.

"Lila, your master wishes you in his study."

The excitement on everybody's faces disappeared completely now and the aura quickly grew dim. Nadia sighed and tossed her coin bag onto her bed beside her gold pillow. Without a word, she followed Alik into the study where the count sat reading in a tan wing chair in the sitting area of the study.

"You summoned for me, Master?" said Nadia with a curtsy.

"Yes," Rallian replied as he marked his place in his book and closed it. He stood up and maneuvered around the chair to approach Nadia. "I wish to show you something."

The count led Nadia out of the study and stopped at the entrance to the drawing room where the walls were lined at the base with open crevasses, barely wide enough to fit a single person. He motioned for Nadia to observe before they continued on to pass the lounge. Of course, Nadia had already noticed this the day she was first brought to Aimonbay, but it appeared her master wished for her to examine it further. She wondered why, but the tightness in her stomach told her that she was better off ignorant.

"I'm sure you've been wondering about all the construction taking place on my estate," Rallian began. "I thought I would answer any questions you may have concerning it."

As he spoke, Count Rallian led Nadia slowly along the empty crevasses and down about ten steps into the grand hall. It was as if he guided a tour of his castle. The blue marble floors gave the impression one walked on water, and it stretched across the entire room. It was clear that there had once been a wall which had separated this room from the grand dining room. However, as Nadia had also examined her first day here, this wall had been removed as if to provide guests with a view of whatever show might take place on stage while the count fed them a fine feast. The void in its place was about five feet wide and three feet deep.

"I am building a waterway which will course all throughout my castle and lead to a lagoon in the rear courtyard," the count explained. "Here, I plan to replace the wall with a massive tank. After all, I do require walls of some sort so to keep my company where they belong. I'd rather my guests not roam aimlessly about my estate, of course."

Count Rallian leisurely strolled across the grand hall as he spoke. With Nadia reluctantly following behind, he advanced up the steps to exit the opposite side of the room. Then they continued to walk along yet another crevasse that extended from the edge of the grand hall, twisted and turned through and around other rooms, until it finally reached the back of the castle. Here they withdrew to the rear courtyard, which appeared similar in size to the one inside the front gates. Beyond it lay all the count's crops and aside from the construction, it was equally as beautiful as the main courtyard; perhaps even more so.

"This is to be the lagoon," continued the count. "There will also be a large waterfall right here with the pond and another one inside the gazebo."

Nadia glanced around at the surrounding flowers, trees, rose-bushes, and a couple of elegant marble and soapstone statues sculpted into soft and graceful poses. Regardless of its undeniable beauty, she could only focus on the construction as her master pointed it out to her. She observed where he built a lagoon and small river. There was a ditch which would soon be a pond, and then another larger crater with an enormous gazebo being assembled around it.

"This is my second favorite part of the construction," the count went on. The excitement increased in his voice. "My first favorite is the tank, of course. It will be the largest glass container in the world once it's completed. Can you imagine?"

Nadia felt her stomach turn and she gradually found it harder to breathe. Something felt horrifyingly wrong about this construction, and she prayed that all the thoughts which made their way into her head were untrue.

"It is pretty grand, Master," Nadia managed.

"Do you wish to know why I'm bothering with all this?"

"I thought it was to make your castle look nicer, Master. Which I imagine it will."

"That isn't even the half of it. I told you already that I believe a lot of my slaves are seapeople." Nadia's heart shot to her throat. "However, I only desire to own one kind of seapeople. I want mermaids. Naiads are too difficult to see in water, as are water sprites, sirens are too dangerous, and selkies are simply not as beautiful. But mermaids – they're perfect. I'm going to place them in this masterpiece. I shall display them and show them to the entire kingdom. They'll be decoration and side-entertainment for all my guests."

Nadia thought she might pass out. She was trapped enough as a slave; she couldn't stand the thought of being further trapped as a mermaid slave. She struggled to appear calm to her master so not to give her emotions away, but she felt herself tremble and she was sure Rallian could see it.

"My God, it'll be wonderful," continued the count with a wide grin on his face. "Just splendid. Don't you agree, Lila?"

"Just splendid, Master," Nadia echoed, working a small smile.

"What do you truly think of this? Be honest with me."

"Oh, I don't know, Master." Nadia gave an awkward shrug. "I guess I'm indifferent about it. I don't really believe in mermaids, but I think it'll look pretty."

Rallian narrowed his eyes at Nadia. "You're a good liar, Child. I don't like that."

Nadia couldn't think of a response. Rallian watched her, heaving. It appeared he, too, could think of nothing more to say. He finally sighed and looked away.

"Return to what you were doing, Lila."

Nadia curtsied and was more than happy to return to her bedroom where Garnet and Mauro continued to discuss Market Day. When Nadia walked in, they paused in their conversation and waited for her to explain what happened. However, Nadia said nothing.

"What did Master want?" Garnet finally asked.

"To show me his construction," Nadia answered.

"Oh! Mauro helps with the construction!"

Nadia glared at Mauro. "He does?" Garnet nodded. "Do you know what Master plans to do with it?"

"Not really," Mauro answered with a shrug. "Nobody talks about it. We just figure he's building some sort of waterway."

"He's building a waterway to trap mermaids in," Nadia explained. "He believes that some of his slaves are mermaids."

Garnet giggled.

"So why was he telling you?" Mauro asked.

Nadia dropped down onto her bed. "He thinks I'm one of the many mermaids he owns."

Garnet snickered some more. "Does he really? What makes him think that?"

"I don't know, but I think that it has something to do with the birth marks on my back. I told him that they're from being part dryad and napaeae, but he doesn't seem to believe me."

"What's a napaeae?" Mauro asked.

"A valley-nymph," Nadia clarified.

"I'm half elf and half limoniad," Garnet said with a smile. "A meadow and flower nymph."

"You have the personality of one," Mauro teased.

"Master told me all about you two while he tried to get me to tell him I'm a mermaid," Nadia said as she took back the coin purse which contained her profit from the market.

"He's just desperate, don't take it to heart," Garnet assured. "As long as you're not a mermaid, which obviously you're not, you'll be fine."

"But what if there are mermaids here?" asked Nadia. "I'm starting to believe they exist."

"Really?" Mauro scrunched his nose at Nadia. "Why?"

"He acts as if he's seen one."

"Well even if some of us are mermaids, I don't know how Master would find them," said Mauro.

"He says he has already. I feel bad for them." Nadia looked back at Mauro. "And I don't like that you're helping out with the construction."

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe in mermaids," Mauro replied with a laugh, though his expression revealed anger at Nadia's implied accusations. He laid down on Garnet's bed and wove his fingers through his hair. "I think Master is crazy and wasting his time. I only help with the construction because I have to."

"He has to do what Master says," Garnet added in Mauro's defense. "It doesn't matter what any of us think."

"Fine," said Nadia. "Then I'm going to sabotage it."

"Sabotage?" Garnet asked, confused.

Nadia examined her friends' faces and realized they didn't recognize the word. She forgot that these two have probably not been given a formal education like she had in the Obsidian Palace.

"Destroy," she clarified.

"What?" Mauro exclaimed.

"Lila, don't be a fool!" Garnet added. "If you get caught, Master will beat the specks out of you!"

"And he'll definitely think you're a mermaid then!"

"Then I'll just make sure that I won't get caught," Nadia said. "And your silence will help with that."

"Lila, listen to me," said Mauro. He leaned closer to Nadia to make sure they made eye-contact. "Mermaids don't exist. It's as simple as that. Master doesn't own any, and all he's really building is a waterway that will have nothing but fish in it. All right?"

"Mauro's right, Lila," Garnet agreed. "This whole thing is silliness. You're acting like he's going to put you in there."

That's when Nadia dropped the subject since it was clear that she wasn't going to have help from these two unless she told them the truth, and fighting with them would either make them think she might be a mermaid or the most unwise being to live. If she was going to sabotage the construction, she'd have to do it alone.