The Opposing Shore

When Lavenza returned to the tavern from the acropolis, tugging along a beautiful black mare, she saw Deme waiting for her on the patio, twirling her machete with one hand, weighing her knapsack with the other.

“Did something happen?” Lavenza asked.

“I guess,” Deme shrugged.

“Where are the men? The housewife?”

“Gone. Gone. And gone,” Deme sighed. “Can we just go? Before one of them comes back.”

“Sure,” Lavenza replied. “There’s a view of the harbor from the acropolis on the other side of the city. I’d like you to see it before we depart.”

“Fine.”

Lavenza didn’t ask why the child was sulking. She didn’t have to. The disappearance of their fellow travelers was evidence enough. There were only a few possible outcomes of their trip to Centa Muis, and almost all of them involved the eventual, abrupt dissolution of their traveling band. Sadness over this was natural. Deme would get over it.

“Nice horse,” the child whistled. “Your friend give that to you before she left?”

“Yes,” Lavenza said. “She said I’ll need it more than her. Do you want to ride him?”

“Does he have a name?”

“It’s your horse. You can name him.”

“My horse?” Deme laughed. “Only princesses get horses as presents. What about just Horse?”

“I’m not sure he would like that name.”

“It’s short. It’s to the point. Horse. What’s not to like?”

“Deme?” came a voice from behind them. The child winced at the familiar sound. “Deme, where are you going?”

It was Old Calvin. He had returned alone.

“Deme and I are off to view the acropolis,” Lavenza explained. “After that, we’re leaving Centa Muis.”

“Now?” the old man’s eyes stretched open. “So soon? But you’ve barely just arrived. Why do you have to leave so soon?”

“There’s no Rafta here, Old Calvin,” Deme muttered.

“Rafta again,” the old blacksmith sighed. “How many times do I need to say it, child? You will never find it. You’re wasting your talents staying here in Aparthia to search for it. Come with me across The Great Sea. There’s nothing else for you here.”

“I’m sorry,” Deme shook her head. “I know what you want me to say, but you’re only wasting your time. You don’t understand. I will reforge my father’s armor before the end of this age. Besides, I won’t be alone.”

Deme held onto Lavenza’s hand.

“Apostate,” Old Calvin glowered. “If you leave with her, leave this city, you will be the child killer that the others say you are.”

“I simply told you she would say no,” Lavenza said.

“Goodbye, Old Calvin,” Deme said. “I’ll pray that your westward journey fares well.”

Lavenza and Deme said no more. Old Calvin didn’t stop them. When Deme looked behind her, she saw the old man sag his shoulders and limp into the tavern. She pitied him.

“We could have waited a few days,” Lavenza mentioned, “if you wanted to watch them leave. A few more days isn’t going to make a big difference in the end.”

“I still don’t think you’re right, but sometimes people do find ways to disappoint you,” Deme muttered. “I’ll be okay, Venz.”

Lavenza guided Deme back to the main gate, then up the steps to the top of the acropolis. Unlike the previous day, the garden pavilions there had emptied. The winds that day were quiet and so there emerged this unspeakable stillness beneath the trees that could not be broken even by breath or songbird.

“Is it usually this empty?” Deme asked.

“It’d be a shame if that were the case,” Lavenza replied. “No, everyone’s attending an event at the harbor today.”

“An event?” she replied. “What’s going on at the harbor?”

“Let’s see, shall we?”

There were no guards at the entrance into the main cathedral. Deme marveled at the chapel’s tall ceilings and ornate paintings. Lavenza walked back to the side corridor that led to the empress’s private garden. It was empty there, of course. Seline was long gone.

“A bit of a strange place, don’t you think?” Deme asked. “There’s not much here. The other parts of the garden are so much prettier. And what’s with all the glass?”

“Careful,” Lavenza chuckled. “Maybe the gardener is nearby. You wouldn’t want them to cry now.”

Together, the two walked to the other end of the garden, where the glass dome met with the edge of a cliff. The rest of Centa Muis could be seen from here, but the the vantage point was best used to gaze into the harbor.

That morning, a great crowd had gathered there. At least half the city had assembled. A ship, larger than any of the other vessels at the docks, reeled its anchors from the bottom of the harbor. Silver clad knights formed a ring at the bottom of the onboarding ramp. They encircled a woman who stood on an elevated podium before the ship.

“Who’s that?” Deme pointed.

“It’s Empress Seline,” Lavenza answered.

“The empress? What’s she doing there?”

“She’s leaving,” Lavenza replied.

“You said the empress was boarding the very last ship.”

“I guess she changed her mind.”

From all the way up the cliffs, it was impossible for Deme to know what the empress was saying. The occasional roar from the crowd suggested that she was saying things that appeased the audience. 

Lavenza, on the other hand, remembered Seline’s speech word for word.

She had recited it to her last night, before they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

“Citizens of Centa Muis,” Seline recited last night. “Actually, I should say all of Aparthia, right? Not everyone here is a Centa native. Citizens of Aparthia, I am standing here today because you are afraid. You are afraid that—” 

“Do you want to see her?” Lavenza interrupted. “The child, I mean.”

“What good will that do?”

“I thought you might have wanted to see her before the end.”

“It’ll only confuse her,” Seline shrugged. “I don’t want her asking me why I slept with a blacksmith. Now shush, Lavenza. I need to practice. Citizens of Aparthia, you are afraid because you don’t believe in the word of your empress. I do not take offense to this. It is only natural that actions speak louder than words. To those who claim that I am a liar, I dare them to challenge my resolve. I, Empress Seline of the Crystal Throne, shall disembark today for The Opposing Shore.”

Cheers thundered throughout the harbor. Deme wondered if Old Calvin or even Samuel could hear it. What would they do tomorrow? When would they be boarding one of the other ships in the harbor? Today? Next month? Or would Samuel choose to stay in Centa Muis, spend his last days in the city that now harbored his wife and child?

Empress Seline’s silhouette waved her arms to a loving crowd. There were other men beside her. The robes of Pontifex Calderon among them. They all boarded the ship, and the silver knights followed behind them. The smokestacks along the center of the ship began to spew out charcoal clouds, and a rumbling horn signaled the ship’s final departure.

“Is your friend aboard that ship?” Deme asked.

“Yes.”

“They must be pretty important then,” Deme whistled. “Do you think you’ll see them again? Do you think you’ll ever see The Opposing Shore?”

Seline’s ship slipped out of the bay. As it drifted further out, the details of the ship collapsed into vague lines and blurry details. Lavenza wondered at what distance beyond the sea would a ship even the size of the empress’s become indistinguishable from a mere point on the horizon? 

Was that where the world ended?

Lavenza placed a hand on Deme’s head. She gave her hair a ruffle. She added a bit of extra pressure, to make sure the child could not lift her head and see Lavenza’s tear stained face.

“No,” she smiled. “No, I don’t think I’ll see her ever again. Eco Severin.”