Palimpsest

The Domina of Nirali commands no army and passes no law. The office has no enforcement mechanism and no formal authority over the guild that funds the city. What it has instead is the trust of every person inside the walls — not given once at an election and forgotten, but maintained continuously, through every decision the office makes and every decision it refuses to make.

The eastern kingdoms have no word for this because their systems were not built to produce it. Power, in their understanding, flows from above. The Domina's power flows from below, which means it cannot be taken. It can only be lost.

— Red Lantern administrative records, Nirali House. A Survey of the Office of the Domina, compiled internally, year 340.

Chapter 41 Red Dawn

When they moved away from the city walls and entered among the buildings, the first thing that caught nearly all their eyes was how neatly the roads and the buildings had been made. The absence of any trace of earth or mud on the ground had surprised Kaelin greatly, since the back streets and poorer parts of Marialis were made up entirely of dirt roads. Even on its stone-paved central roads and in the harbor district, it was a common enough sight to see the stones caved in and earth and weeds coming up between them. Here, though, there were very neat roads, with green spaces given over to trees and flowers in between. She would never have thought that even the center of a royal capital could be this orderly. What was more, there were a great many water channels running between the streets, and the water looked clear enough for people to drink.

"I've never seen this many waterways running through the inside of a city before," Vaelra said, unable to hide her admiration — all but giving voice to Kaelin's thoughts.

"Ah," Quivar said, smiling with a proud expression. "These channels are, to my mind, the city's greatest blessing, and the secret of its beauty too. Two centuries ago, one of the most magnificent women this city ever saw, Domina Pethwyn, put forward the idea of channels that would carry the meltwater from the snows of Mount Whitecrown through the inside of the city."

"Very clever," Kaelin said, without realizing it, looking at a tiny bridge over one of the channels.

"I agree, but at the time the Red Lantern refused to set aside money for it, since it was a large and expensive project," Quivar replied. "But that didn't stop her. She put an extra tax on the merchants and used the entire budget set aside for the upkeep of the city and certain buildings on it. She even drew up the plans herself."

"Sounds like she took a great risk," Veylith cut in, in a tone of disapproval. At the same time she was looking over the few people passing along this side, quieter road they had taken. She had seen elves, dwarves, even an orc.

"Very much so," Quivar answered. "When the Red Lantern found out, things heated up. They removed her from her post, and one of the Elders came to the city to take charge temporarily. But according to the stories told, even the half-finished state of the project shocked him. Then Pethwyn convinced him as well, and got him to send back reports as though she'd been removed from her post until the project was finished. When it was done, the truth came out, but the Red Lantern still ordered her dismissed. Only the people stood behind her, so they were forced to give her post back. The economy ran into trouble for close to a year, but it recovered before long."

"What an impressive woman," Vaelra added, as if she took pride in it.

"One of my own heroes," Quivar said, agreeing with her. "And what's more, the project's real effects showed themselves growing over the years. Not only was there no more shortage of drinking water, but the channels that ran straight to many of the buildings improved cleanliness enormously. And so they cut down on disease in a way you could see with your own eyes. By many accounts, this place stopped being a brothel city in her time and became the pearl of the guild." Then he stopped them all and pointed to a spot a little way off, among the streets. "There's even a statue of her over there."

Seeing the statue and looking more carefully, Tivver asked, "Is she… a gnome?" — voicing the surprise of all of them.

"Yes, hadn't I said?" Quivar said. "A tiny little woman who stood against the Red Lantern all on her own. The first gnome to become a Domina."

This story had affected all of them, but it had struck Tivver most of all. As the others slowly turned and went on walking, Tivver watched the distant statue a while longer. He didn't move from his spot until Vaelra called to him.

After walking on a while longer, they had at last drawn close to the great building at the top, and the ground had begun to turn flatter than the slope. The building looked far larger up close, and it had a garden, too, that struck whoever saw it — full of plants in every color, and a small pool, none of which could be seen from below. When they entered the garden, the scent rising from the plants all but shook Kaelin. Because the dominant smell of jasmine had brought with it a great many memories, and a strange feeling of home. And when she put her hand on the smooth white stone railing for support, she saw the whole city from above for the first time.

The walls coming from either side reached down to the sea and, covering a large area out over the water, joined together at last. Under the light of the setting sun, the walls, gone yellow, gleamed like a ring of gold. The channels running from top to bottom spread out like the branches of a tree as they came down, creating many trees and green spaces around them. The neat buildings, made almost entirely of stone, gave the city's relatively scattered layout the feel of something deliberate rather than something that grated on the eye. With its many shades of red, it seemed to have taken over the whole city, and it came forward all the more on the larger buildings especially. Though the crowds weren't very visible from above, the movement in the streets could be seen. At the very bottom were a wide harbor and, drawn up to it, at least ten large boats and a greater number of small ones. The walls — leaving, where they joined out over the sea, a wide gate that could be closed, and creating a harbor that could hold a great many ships and boats — separated the city from the sea. That city whose name she had so often heard glowed before her at last like a picture drawn by hand.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Quivar asked, scattering her thoughts, setting his arms on the railing beside Kaelin. "Even though I see it every day, it never loses its effect."

"I don't think it will, either," Kaelin said, unable to take her eyes off the city. The others had ranged themselves beside her with a similar expression, watching the city.

"You must be tired, I understand that, but," Quivar began, drawing all their gazes onto himself, "before I let you rest, allow me to introduce you to the Domina as well." And he gestured, as if inviting them in, toward the building's entrance.

…

The building's entrance hall was furnished with walls mostly decorated in red velvet, plain carpets, and fresh flowers left in vases in a few corners. Across from them was a spiraling stone staircase that ran both up and down, and — as Kaelin was used to — it was covered with a red carpet. The corridors stretching to either side turned toward the back of the building after a few closed doors. Paintings in which the bodies of women and men were depicted in silhouette, in various poses, adorned the corridors as well.

While they all stood in the middle of the entrance hall, studying their surroundings, footsteps began to be heard from the stone stairs. Before long the source of the sound showed itself on the staircase. Of the woman coming down the steps in an elegant turquoise dress that reached to her ankles, the first thing that drew Kaelin's eye was her turquoise heeled shoes. Then the deep slit, and the dark green skin of the graceful but muscular leg that appeared on each step. When she slid her eyes upward, she saw her graceful shoulders and her arms — muscled and shapely, though not as much as Ravah's. From her long pointed ears and the color of her skin it was plainly clear she was a half-orc. Her dark purple hair was braided in wide curls from the top of her head, gathering at last at a single point and laid over her chest.

"Welcome to the House of Red Lantern," the woman said, approaching them with powerful steps. Her eyes, a light turquoise near to grey, looked as if they would pierce straight through whoever stood before her. Everyone in the room was taken with her — Tivver's mouth had even fallen a little open. "I am Domina Orsillia Gre'koth. Administrator of the city of Nirali, and the face of the Red Lantern in the city. I am at your service," she said, and then, taking the hem of her dress, bowed slightly in a graceful curtsey.

Faced with this graceful woman, the administrator of the whole city, bowing like a servant, Kaelin all but reflexively bowed in the same way. Thanks to her Red Lantern training, she'd managed to give a proper answer to the curtsey. The others tried to imitate her too, but apart from Vaelra, few of them managed it.

"You must be Miss Haln," Orsillia said, taking a step toward Kaelin.

"Kaelin, please," Kaelin said with a bashful smile.

"I'm honored," she said, extending her hand, and taking Kaelin's offered hand in both of hers, squeezed it gracefully. Then, without letting go of her hand, she looked toward the others. "And these must be your brave companions. The Red Dawn."

"The Red what?" Tivver blurted reflexively. But he was at once subjected to a hard poke from Vaelra.

"I take it you haven't been among many people since you left Marialis," Orsillia replied.

"We were just in a small town about a week ago, that's all," Veylith cut in, wondering where this was going.

"The truth of it is that what you did in Marialis began spreading rapidly across the continent. The people of many small towns and cities, after the memory-seal was broken, remembered their pasts and, naturally, the rebellion. The story of the red light spreading out from the Warden headquarters, and of the group that managed to break out of there with a great commotion, reached even us. A fearless band of rebels, and at their head a sorceress with hair of flame." As she said this, she looked at Kaelin, whose hand she went on gently holding.

"That's how you were all able to recognize me on sight," Kaelin realized at last.

"They see you as the dawning of the new rebellion," Orsillia added, releasing Kaelin's hand and stepping back toward Quivar.

"A red dawn," Darian whispered to himself, having listened in silence this whole time. But in that moment of silence all of them had heard what he said. Kaelin had suddenly begun to feel a pressure settling on her. Elis, seeming more surprised by this than any of them, looked them over, but her eye fixed at last on Kaelin. She had the air of someone waiting for her reaction.

"What's actually happened," Vaelra said, breaking the silence, noticing the discomfort Kaelin felt.

"Forgive my rudeness — we don't have to discuss any of this right now," Orsillia said, courteously cutting her off. "Today you are our guests, and we'll do everything we can to make you feel at home. Since you arrived earlier than we expected, you'll have to wait a few days for the person who will actually speak with you. I hope one of the Elders of the Red Lantern will be able to guide you much better than I can." After saying this she turned to Quivar.

"The meal will be ready in a few hours," Quivar said, taking up the thread. "If you like, let me show you to your rooms so you can rest a little. And in case you'd want to wash, we've had the water made ready in advance," he said, and headed toward the corridor. Whether they wished to or not, the others began to follow him. Before walking off, Kaelin turned once more to look at Orsillia.

Orsillia whispered to her with a smile, "You're safe here, honey. Try to rest a little."

At this Kaelin greeted her with a graceful curtsey, then turned and set off after the others. Orsillia, for her part, watched her go with a faint, indistinct worry.

After turning the corner and going on a little, Quivar turned right and entered a narrow corridor. The cramped corridor, with no doors or windows, opened at its end onto another, wider corridor like the one before. "This is a separate building set aside for guests, beside the main one," he said, spreading his arms to show the surroundings. Then he went up the stairs to the upper floor and stepped into a wide hall with doors spread to either side, small tables full of flowers, and, at the center, a sitting area ringed with couches. As though he knew it all by heart, he showed each person to their room one by one and saw them off in turn. In the end only a single door remained unopened, but Kaelin and Elis still hadn't been shown their rooms.

"And this is your— sorry, your room, Kaelin," Quivar said, opening its door.

Kaelin looked into the room, but instead of heading toward it, she looked at Elis. "And what about her room?" she asked, trying to be polite.

"Since we'd been expecting six of you, we'd set this floor aside for you, so we've arranged an extra room for Aelissara, downstairs," Quivar answered, taking a deferential tone. "Have no doubt that we'll make her comfortable, dear. And besides, I noticed she's somewhat wounded," he said, turning to Elis. "Before you go to your room, I suggest we stop by our healer. Will you join me?" he asked, extending his arm toward her as if asking for a dance.

"Uh, sure. Thanks," Elis said, a little hesitant, and took the man's arm.

"I promise I'll take good care of her," Quivar said, looking at Kaelin. "You see to your rest."

"Thank you," Kaelin said, and smiled. For a short while she watched them move off and disappear on the stairs. Then at last she turned and went into the room.

The room was a little larger than the one she'd had at the Red Lantern; a bed of almost the same dimensions was set against the left side. Right beside the bed, on either side, were two small tables. On each was an oil lamp, waiting for nightfall. Directly across was a wide window, and the evening sun, filtering through the nearly closed shutters, fell across the room and onto the bed as though slicing through it.

The clean clothes carefully laid out on the bed, and a long towel as well, caught Kaelin's eye at last. Wearing the same clothes for so long had begun to bother her now, but when she saw the towel, the clothes immediately fell to second place. Because washing had been on her mind ever since Quivar mentioned it in the hall. On reflex her eyes at once began to search for somewhere she might bathe, and she noticed the large screen standing in the corner on the window side. She let out a short laugh the moment she saw it. Then, smiling, she began to walk toward the screen. Stopping a step short of the window, she looked behind the screen and saw that it was a marble bathtub, more than half filled with water. As always, she thought to herself, still smiling.

When at last she turned to the window and opened the shutters, she saw the whole city stretched out before her again. The sun, off to her right, had begun to set now and had begun painting the city a far redder shade than it truly was. When she set her hands on the windowsill, leaned out a little, and looked up, she saw the giant red lantern burning at the top of a tower at least ten men high. After looking a while at the lantern, which up close seemed nearly the size of a small house, she turned her head back to the city. She let out a deep sigh, then turned and headed for the bed and began taking off her clothes.

…

When there was a knock at the door of the room, Kaelin had been lying in the water for at least an hour. She had used the towel as a pillow and put it behind her head, and given herself over to looking at the horizon, darkening steadily through the shutters she'd left ajar. The sound of the door caught her just as she was about to fall asleep and made her start for a moment. A little water splashed out of the tub, and Kaelin saved the towel behind her head from falling into the water at the last instant.

By the time the door knocked again, Kaelin had come back to herself, but she was still in the water. "Who is it?" she called, reaching toward behind the shutters. At the same time she'd taken hold of the edge of the tub to get up.

"It's me, Elis," said the high voice that came from behind the door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Kaelin answered, still in the tub, trying to wrap the towel around her body.

Elis slowly opened the door and took a step inside, but when she couldn't see anyone, she stopped. She looked at the bed and the ajar shutters, then, step by step, saw Kaelin against the faint moonlight that had only just begun to glow, seeping through the gap. With a short towel wrapped around her body and water dripping from her hair, she was like a silhouette in the moonlight.

"I think I fell asleep in the water," Kaelin said, tucking her towel under her arm, without looking at Elis. Then she added, "Could you light one of the oil lamps? The room's a little too dark."

Elis headed to the table, took up the two small stones, and lit the oil lamp. Then she set the glass cover over the flame and turned around. Kaelin was waiting right behind her and startled her for a moment.

"Oops, I didn't mean to scare you," Kaelin said, taking a step back.

"It's all right," Elis answered, and, taking a step forward, closed the gap between them again. For a while she looked at Kaelin's face, which plainly showed her tensing slightly, then looked away. "I… just came to say thank you," she said, without looking at her. "They've insisted I take medicine and go to bed tonight, so I won't be able to join you for the meal. They're going to bring my food to me in bed."

"I'm glad they're taking good care of you," Kaelin said, smiling. "See that you lie down and rest."

"Actually, in a way I came here escaping from Quivar. There's a chance he'll wound me a little more before he heals me," she said, and looked at Kaelin. Then the two of them suddenly began to giggle at each other. As the giggling slowly began to fade, they went on looking at each other as if afraid for words to come out of either of their mouths. At last Elis broke the silence, saying, "So…" — but without carrying it any further she slowly reached toward Kaelin and kissed her gently at the corner of her cheek, near the lips. "Thanks," she said, without pulling herself back, looking into her eyes. Then, looking away, she drew back and headed straight for the door.

Through all of this Kaelin watched her leave the room with startled eyes, saying nothing. She even went on, for a while, looking at the now-closed door as though someone were standing behind it. When the lamp's flickering light finally brought her back to herself, she realized her whole body had gone numb. She touched the place where Elis had kissed her, suddenly, as if questioning whether it was real. Then she went on looking at the door a while longer.