Fragmentation

The sunlight reflected off the bright white walls causing Rhyannon to squint as she looked out over the ocean. She had never been a fan of the ocean, the vastness and uncertainty of its depths always made her uncomfortable. A breeze blew her hair back from her face as she closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle warmness. d’Étoile was a seaside city with high marbled buildings and lengthy beaches. The main focus of the city was its oceans so clear they reflected the stars at night.

“Be careful dozing off, you wouldn’t want to fall asleep and get a sunburn.” Gareth’s deep voice brought her back. She turned around on the small bench to face him, “I’d be more worried about the head injury from falling backward than the sunburn.”

“Fair,” he responded taking a seat on the bench next to her, his tone light and friendly. He handed her a chilled glass.

“What is this?” Rhyannon asked as she took the glass, the cool surface felt refreshing.

“Coffee lemonade. It’s a specialty here in d’Étoile. I had the vendor put in some vanilla since I figured you’d like it sweeter rather than bitter.”

She held the glass for a few moments longer before taking a small drink. The vanilla helped to lessen the sourness of the lemonade with the coffee providing a pleasing bitterness. She was pleasantly surprised.

“It’s not bad. Thank you.”

Gareth seemed pleased with himself. “I’m glad you enjoy it. I figured I could at least try and treat you to some of our local customs, or at least, the more positive ones.”

“What do you mean?”

“My sister. It’s rather…” he went quiet as he struggled to find the words, “d’Étoile has a sort of…I suppose you can call it a pact with the neighboring country, Penbel. They’re so spread out due to the mountains and the conditions their birth rates aren’t the highest.”

“And that means?”

“We send them children. Young maidens, to be exact.” his voice hitched as he tried to speak.

“I’m not following.” Rhyannon sat the glass to the side, the coldness of it becoming uncomfortable.

Gareth looked out towards the ocean in front of them, his hands curling so tightly his knuckles were almost as white as the sand beneath them.

“A few decades back, Penbel’s dragon had begun deteriorating in the mind. As you know, when they begin to become too old, they start to go mad, the flawed creatures that they are. It rampaged and killed a lot of people. The people of Penbel were at their wits end on what to do. They tried to seal it away in its lair but it broke free. They didn’t have the manpower to attempt to slay it. They couldn’t raise an army from outside, no one was insane enough to want to fight a rampaging beast. So then the Children approached my great grandfather with a proposal. If we were to toss a young girl- a sacrifice- to the dragon, it would slowly soothe and become docile again.” He was tensed, the muscles in his neck jutting out, the pulse underneath visible.

Rhyannon remained silent, allowing him to continue on.

“Of course, he agreed. I don’t really think he had much of a choice, honestly. I believe he was afraid of it harming our people or causing our own dragon to rampage. Two beings are capable of total destruction and all that. So we sent them a young girl. A few years after that another girl. As they said, the dragon did eventually go back to a dormant state. I can still remember the first time I attended a selection. The amount of fear in her eyes. The way her parents sobbed as they held her. None of those girls have ever returned after they were picked.”

He stood up and stretched, clenching and opening his hands before rubbing them on the front of his slacks. He turned his gaze towards her, almost pleading.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the full gravity of the situation before. The walls of the mansion aren’t the safest. The Children…they lurk. They’re quite pleased with the setup, aligning with my family has given them a sort of…influence, so any sort of dissent…” he lightly touched the eyepatch he wore.

Rhyannon frowned. “What exactly are the Children?”

“Descendants of the Mother Searnepho. Supposedly the only ones to still hold the original blood of the Mother. A strange cult determined to resurrect her.”

They both sat in silence for a while, the ocean waves in the distance crashed loudly. Rhyannon reached for her glass again, the coffee was watered down but she didn’t seem to notice.

“How would they go about that?”

Gareth didn’t respond, instead, he stood and leaned against the metal gate separating them from the beach. He seemed tense to her, she could see his jaw was clenched tight.

“Anyway, may I show you around the plaza? It’s one of the most beautiful parts of d’Étoile, but I might also be biased.” he turned and leaned his back against the gate, his arms crossed against his chest.

Rhyannon pressed her lips together firmly as she reached for her glass and stood. She had a million questions she wanted to further press him on. Who exactly was Searnepho? Records of the previous war had always been hidden in the details. What would be the purpose of resurrecting her? What would happen after? How would they even do it? She felt it was only fair to get every answer she could out of him, but his expression seemed so pained. The way he had a clear worry line between his brows, the faint under-eye bags, he seemed so pale out under the harsh sunlight. She focused more on the eyepatch, curious about its story but not feeling it appropriate to ask just yet.

Once she stood he gave her a warm smile. Most of the tension in his face faded away but the look in his eye and the stiffness of his shoulders gave him away. He lead her through the streets of the city. Decorative banners hung across fancy-looking shops that showcased fine clothing and shoes, warm bakery scents drifted out of others where people were lined up in front. Along one corner was a busy restaurant where customers sat outside sharing a drink and laughter. A few people they walked past would stop the prince every so often and he’d greet them all with carefree smiles and quick idle chitchat.

It took them longer than he truly wanted to reach the plaza. It was a large, circular area where the more fancy buildings focused on the large fountain in the center. The fountain was made of the same shiny marble as the rest of the city, a large pearlescent aquatic dragon decorated in fancy golds and jewels acted as the spout.

“It’s a tribute towards our patron dragon, Ine.” he answered, noticing her looking towards the fountain. “She’s rather…benevolent, so the people thought it was a fair trade. She mostly allows us to do as we please long as her oceans stay clean.”

“Do you truly believe any of them are benevolent?”

Gareth shrugged, “she doesn’t interfere or demand sacrifice. I’d say she is as close as we’ll get.”

“And your eye?”

“Wasn’t her.”

Rhyannon dropped the conversation at the tense tone of his voice. Silence passed between the two as they both watched the water spill from the mouth of the dragon.

“Does it ever infuriate you?” he asked.

“Does what?”

“Them.” Gareth motioned towards the fountain.

“Of course,” Rhyannon replied.

Gareth was quiet another moment before he nodded.

“Do you want to head back? Or is there anywhere else you wanted to see first? Figured you would like more time to rest up and prepare before we leave tomorrow.”

“Never been the touristy type.” she responded, giving the fountain another look over, “Should really fire whoever made that thing. It’s disgustingly gaudy.”