City of Air (Lost Cities Saga 1)
12 Aerie

It only took them half a day to get from New Amsterdam to Colorado, and Leona spent all of that time in the company of the Garnet sisters. Or rather, the three spent the time finalising plans for what they would do when they got to the house while Leona sat off to one side, watching, nodding or smiling when called upon.

At some point, Alphonse arrived, to a chorus of titters from the sisters, and posted himself at the door as their "gentleman-at-arms". He winked at Leona when he said this and she quickly dropped her gaze away, cheeks hot. Mr Diamond stopped in after that to introduce himself and converse with the sisters briefly in Frankish, give Leona a brief smile and then quickly disappeared again. Then finally Cedric appeared, looking much restored to his old self though his cheeks were red and he would not look at Leona. She could still feel the impression of his fingers on her neck. Not for the first time she wondered if one of the gifts of an aether magician was the ability to turn another's power against them, like forcing Cedric to self-immolate on her will alone.

He did not burn, unfortunately, but remained in the doorway beside Alphonse, under the young man's cool but piercing gaze, and made small talk with the sisters. The sisters were cordial to him in turn, though none appeared to notice the tension between the two young men and Leona. It was just as well that they did not though, for Leona was very sure that they could and would not do anything about it.

They were in the midst of a spirited card game then, when one of the humanoid constructs, Leona could not tell which for they all looked the same, arrived at the door and said, "His Lordship would like us all to join him for the landing."

"Oh! We're here!" exclaimed Rose, shooting upright. She immediately upset the cards, which was probably the point of her sudden movement for she was losing, and turning to Leona, said, "Come on! You must see Aerie!"

Then she was off the bed and had snatched Leona's hand and was dragging them out of the room before the others could voice a protest on the destruction of the game. Once again Rose moved through the ship with the confidence of one accustomed to its design. Something about this was unusual, Leona thought. La Sylphide was Captain Marcel's ship, and Captain Marcel was one of Lord Aries' men. How did Rose know the interior so well while Leona had only just gotten used to the path from her bedroom to the dining hall and the exit?

Rose led them down a flight of stairs but in the opposite direction from the landing bay, heading instead to a set of rooms that Leona had never seen before. It took her a minute to realise that this must be the flight deck, judging from the sound of activity within, and that she could hear Captain Marcel's voice loud and clear, "…wind speed is bad but I suspect that we shall have no trouble with the landing."

The doors opened before them and Rose marched them in, acknowledging the men—Captain Marcel, her father, Lord Aries—with only the barest nod as she led Leona to the great windows and said, "There, that is Aerie. Isn't it perfect?"

Perched precariously near the peak of a snow-capped mountain, Aerie glinted at them in the faint mid-afternoon sunlight like a jewelled diadem on the head of some noblewoman. It looked closer in style to the plans for the Garnet's West City than anything Leona had ever seen before: a five-storey structure of glass and steel that looked more than a little like a bird's nest. Leona leaned closer to the window and watched her breath frost the glass, cleared it and noticed then the constructs that lined the roof of the building. It reminded her of cannons at a fortress.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Leona, truthfully. It was chilly here, against the window, colder than she thought possible without the help of water and air elementals. But that was why the mountaintop was white, or so Vincent had once explained, for snow was cold and needed the chill to remain that way.

She let the image of the mansion blur to focus on the glass and in her reflection she saw Lord Aries smiling at her. Then Mr Garnet said, "It is our pride and joy, our greatest achievement. I intend it to be the seat of our family's power from this day on. There is a mining town not too far from here where I own more than half of the mines and the entertainment for the workers. In fact, we have a theatre opening there tonight and I would hope that Miss Ruby would give a repeat performance…though perhaps with a less controversial result?"

Leona turned away from the window to look back at Lord Aries. His smile had fallen away and his gaze was hard. The warning in his look was clear as day: do that again and I will not hold back. She dropped her gaze from his and he said, "Of course, of course. You must forgive her; Miss Ruby is at that rebellious age where the apprentice thinks themselves more capable than the master. She is young and naïve."

Mr Garnet laughed a little at that and said, "My daughters went through such a phase. She shall grow out of it."

Leona glanced at Rose, who was still staring out the window, and then at her two sisters, who stood quietly with their father and the others. She could not imagine any of them as "rebellious"; rather they all looked as if they were too caught up in the plans for the future replica of the West City than anything else. Then Rose said, "Oh, Papa, can Miss Ruby help us in the lab? Oh, and her brother too, she told us that her brother is a Tinker. Can they, Papa, can they?"

Leona turned back to him, just as he started shaking his head as he said, "Now, now, Rosie, you know full well that Miss Ruby is His Lordship's apprentice. We cannot simply ignore that because you wish it." But then he turned to Lord Aries and asked, "Can we? Since we're working together now, surely it would be okay for her to help the girls for a little while. They would be mindful of your time, of course."

Lord Aries looked at Leona and Rose for nearly a full minute before nodding lightly, and said, "I have a glut of apprentices anyway. Noor will observe."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" squealed Rose, delighted, and she pulled Leona into a tight hug. "We shall have such fun!"

Leona let her hands rest lightly on Rose's back, not at all comfortable with the other girl's penchant for invading her personal space. But Rose released her quickly enough and turned back to the window and the fortress mansion they were fast approaching. In a low voice, she said, "We have been waiting a long time for you, Miss Ruby. Thank you for joining us."

She smiled without looking up and Leona wondered if the girl remembered that Master Opal's spirit had practically declared Lord Aries his murderer. Had they forgotten that?

Suddenly, there was a strange, crackling noise and when Leona turned to investigate; it was to replace one of the flight crew with a small metal cup to his ear. A moment later he declared, "We're cleared for landing sir, they're opening the roof now."

Confused, Leona said, "What?"

"Ah, it works!" said Rose beside her. Leona turned around again to the window, noticing now that they were much closer that Aerie had been encased in a gigantic glass dome. It had split open in the middle and the two sides were sliding apart in gigantic wedge segments that fitted neatly into each other and gave the Sylphide a clear landing spot in the wide central courtyard. Clearly used to this, Captain Marcel glided the ship over the courtyard, and then with a warning "Brace yourselves!" engaged the engines to lower the ship to the ground.

Leona was nearly jolted off-balance and then had to grasp hold of the window in front of her as they sank gently to the ground. Still, she was much reassured at the sight of a ground crew, constructs all, their metal bodies gleaming softly in the pale daylight, assembled with ropes to help bring the ship down and anchor it into place. And as soon as they were secured, the crew split into two teams, one of which busied itself with setting up for the passengers to disembark while the other saw to unloading their cargo.

Leona glanced up to the sky, the little of it that she could see from the gondola to replace that the dome was closing over Aerie again, encasing them. But before she could ask Rose about it, the girl grasped her hand and began dragging her out of the room.

"Come on, Leona! Oh I must show you the lab!" she declared.

As before her sisters quietly fell in step behind them, but Alphonse did not. When Leona looked for him, he was standing with his father in a low conversation. Cedric glanced at her for only an instant before going over to Lord Aries' side. She did not miss the way that he smoothed the left breast of his coat before he did it though.

The djinniyeh was waiting for them at the door of the flight deck, and said as they approached, "Per orders, I will accompany you four into the house. Miss Ruby will not leave my presence."

Leona's mouth fell open. Kara had told her once that the djinniyeh spoke, and the creature should have given that George had, but this was the first time that Leona had heard her. Her voice was deep and somewhat throaty, hoarse. Leona wondered if it was an effect of her nature. George had always spoken in a low voice, like a whisper of wind through the trees.

If anyone noticed Leona's astonishment though, they ignored it. The djinniyeh stood aside to let them pass and then followed them into the corridor to the door out of the ship. Rose kept a firm grip on Leona's arm, as if afraid that the girl would run away, and without preamble, pulled her through the door and down the gangplank onto the cobblestone courtyard.

"Oh!" said Leona, looking up at the walls that encircled the courtyard. There were constructs aligned along the roof here too, more than a few of which turned their animal-like heads towards her as Rose led them through to the house. It was not too chilly out here though, and Leona imagined that the dome acted a little like a greenhouse, making a habitable environment for the people within even as the mountain outside looked anything but.

Rose was back to chattering as they went, barely pausing for breath or to give Leona time to get her bearings. "When Papa was drawing up the plans for the house we declared that the first thing we needed to have was a laboratory, the largest one that we could get. Of course, Papa insisted that he put it in the basement where we would not disturb him when he's trying to rest. I daresay certain inventors would give up their life's work for a room like this. Oh and…."

Leona tuned her out, still trying to gauge her surroundings, marvelling at the number and variety in the constructs they passed in the corridors. The corridors were wide with tall ceilings, much like the Garnet home in New Amsterdam, with wooden walls and steel floors of those on the airship. In fact, if Leona really thought about it, it was as if she had walked into another, larger version of the Sylphide.

The corridor they were on, after two left and one right turn, ended at a pair of steel doors of elaborate wrought iron, a lift. Rose pulled Leona in behind her, followed by the djinniyeh, Lavender and Orchid.

"I suppose they shall send your brother along later. We could always use another Tinker and I'm sure His Lordship would not mind," said Rose as she pressed a button to close the doors. Leona did not suppose that he would either, especially since her brother was only there as a hostage.

Another button and the lift began to descend. "Papa wants you to perform a slightly different summoning tonight, though I suppose His Lordship will have more details than I. But you will have to use one of our constructs so I'm going to show it to you."

There was that feeling again that Leona was nothing more than a pet that could do fancy tricks. Why exactly had Lord Aries brought her to these people? Could they really help him replace the West City? Or maybe she was being mean, Rose seemed kind enough.

The lift stopped with a soft squeal, and a moment later the doors opened. Leona stepped out into the room behind Rose and stopped.

She had entered, without exaggeration, the largest room Leona had ever been in. In fact, she did not doubt for an instant that it could comfortably store five Sylphide-sized airships end-to-end. It had been painted entirely in white, even the floors, and was lit by electric lamps that burned brightly from the ceiling. The glare was slightly blinding, but after a moment Leona's eyes adjusted until she could make out rows upon rows of long, steel tables on which were mounted various parts of hundreds of humanoid constructs. Her mouth fell open, she could not help it, and that was before she realised that some of the parts were for things not at all humanoid in shape.

"What…on Earth…" she began, eyes wide.

She caught Rose's broad grin in her peripheral gaze, and the girl said, "Well, you did not think that the West City could be built and maintained on human power alone, did you? No way, we need all the hands we can get and this is where we're building them. Oh, it's going to be great to have you here. You can summon the air elementals we need."

Leona swept her gaze over the room again and recalculated her earlier estimation. Not hundreds, there were thousands of humanoid and other constructs in varying stages of completion around the room. The finished products too, were lined up at the opposite end to where they now stood, humanoids, some large vehicles that looked far too big to be steam-cars, and even gasbag-less airships. Rather than their construction team, it looked as if the sisters were building their own army.

"Come, come, I will let you have a close-up look at them. Oh, you can even pick one for your Kara," said Rose, grasping Leona's hand again and pulling her along behind her. Leona stumbled after her, still in shock, but at least with her mouth closed. This seemed rather excessive for a city. Surely the Garnets intended to have actual people in their city as well?

Rose led them directly to the lines of completed constructs and said, "Go on, pick one. You can have any one you like."

Leona looked over at the other two Garnet sisters and the djinniyeh. No one objected so she stepped away from Rose and began to walk through the constructs. She doubted that Kara would actually want any of them. The air elemental was not in a pleasant mood at the moment and might take it the wrong way. She made to tell this to Rose then, when her gaze fell on one particular construct that stood apart from the others.

This one had been designed to resemble the Vikings of opera, with their horned helmets, iron breastplates and great shields. It wore a loose flowing dress like those of the Roman statues, made of the same white gauzy material the sisters had been wearing when Leona first met them. It was perfect. Leona turned to Rose and said, "This one. She will love it."

As far as peace offerings went, it was quite unusual but Kara, when summoned and finally appeared after more than ten minutes, loved it. Lord Aries, who had also arrived to oversee the proceedings insisted that the shield was removed, which was done with only a little reluctance. Generous, who had arrived with Lord Aries and spent the entire time gaping at everything in the room, looking very much as if he was going to set up stakes to claim territory, spared them a minute's appraisal to declare it "Okay, if Leona likes it."

Cedric, whose opinion was not asked but provided it anyway, said, "A bit ostentatious for my taste. Kind of like that boy magician's golem, don't you think?"

"Her name is Persephone," said Leona through clenched teeth, then took a moment to marvel at the fact that she remembered. Persephone had been fierce and frightfully strong and the thought of her brought memories of Vincent and made Leona feel terribly homesick. She pushed the feeling away with great effort and turned to Lord Aries and said, "I've never done a binding before…would you show me?"

Lord Aries blinked at her, but then said, "This will require an etching tool."

A construct stepped forward with one in a small, wooden box. "Ah, wonderful," said Lord Aries when he saw it. "Come, Miss Ruby. This is your binding so you will do the work."

Kara drifted closer too, but only just so much for the djinniyeh was there as well. Lord Aries looked over the construct that was to be the sylph's new body, then selected a spot on the upper left arm and said, "Here, make your mark. This is more alchemy than magic so I shall provide the symbols. After this I shall give you some books to read on alchemy and its uses. Now, here."

The etching had to be made deep, so as not to be easily rubbed away, and it took Leona a few tries to get the binding circle to Lord Aries' satisfaction. Then she carved in the runes, taking care that they were correctly shaped, and finally, the sylph's name. Lord Aries did one final inspection and then said, "Now, Miss Ruby, repeat after me: I bind thee to this construct that is now your home, shaped of metal and air."

Leona did so and then the sylph dissolved into a cloud of white smoke that then flowed into the construct. After a moment Kara opened eyes that glowed white and took an experimental step forward. There was only the slightest sound, the hiss of pistons and gears whirring, and then the sylph turned to Leona, bowed and said, "Thank you."

Lord Aries replied, "You have been a stowaway on this expedition for too long. Now then, I am famished after all that work. Dinner?"

This he had directed to Mr Garnet, who smiled and said, "I have some important guests coming over to join us. The news from New Amsterdam has left them impatient for a demonstration here."

"Miss Ruby shall not disappoint," said Lord Aries. "Ah, but Kara remains here in your lab, as will young Generous Ruby."

Mr Garnet started for the door. "Of course, of course," he said. "We have no use for the boy and at least in the lab he will be an extra pair of hands. So…Your Lordship, Miss Ruby, girls, to dinner."

Leona had been given a room beside the sisters' on the second floor. It was small, with only a bed, dresser, desk and chair. There was the one window overlooking the snow-covered mountains. She could see no other homes, and despite Mr Garnet's claim that there was a village nearby, no other signs of civilisation. She stood at the window for a while just staring out, trying to replace even a footpath. There was nothing. Not even birds flew by the dome over the castle. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. If she and Generous tried to escape from here they would never make it.

The door opened behind her and she turned around just as the door opened and the djinniyeh appeared. In her arms she carried a dark gold dress with a matching pair of slippers on top. She said nothing as she laid these on the bed and then went to stand by the door. Leona, feeling peevish, made no move to begin changing but asked, "Where do you get these dresses from anyway? Do you all have some invisible seamstress somewhere in the ship? Or is it Lord Aries? Can he sew?"

The djinniyeh just stared at her. Leona sighed and walked over to the bed. "You know, I think I would be less inclined to run if you were nicer. Lord Aries isn't really a bad person when he isn't killing people or threatening to. We could be great friends."

More silent staring, Leona began to unbutton the back of her dress. Then the djinniyeh's hands joined hers and Leona asked, "Why don't you talk to me?"

There was no answer and Leona asked no other questions but let the djiniiyeh help her change into the dress in silence. By the time they were finished the skies outside had darkened to a deep blue and a gaslight came on overhead. Leona caught a glimpse of herself in the window then, when the fabric caught the light and made it shine. She looked like a statue someone had fashioned out of gold. She stopped and just stared at herself. Had it only been a few days ago that she had been wearing a similar dress and marvelling at her reflection in Master Opal's house? Had she looked this thin? Were her eyes this dark, like bruises on her ashen face? How could anyone who had seen her since her abduction not have noticed?

The djinniyeh's hands swept over Leona's face, breaking her gaze, to secure a black belt around her waist. Leona looked up at her reflection again and the djinniyeh said, "This dress was provided by the Garnet sisters. It is made by a sylph, as most of your clothing has been, and they requested especially that you wear it for this evening's performance. They have a number of investors who you are expected to impress. You must for they are the ones who are funding this expedition. If you fail, His Lordship has informed me that I can have your little brother for a plaything. If you attempt a repeat of your performance in New Amsterdam, I will burn him. Have I made myself clear?"

Leona bit her lip to stop herself from scowling, and nodded. Now she wished that the djinniyeh would never speak again.

"Good, now, it's time for dinner," said the djinniyeh, stepping back.

Leona turned to face the door and the djinniyeh opened it. The hall without was as brightly-lit as the bedroom. Leona followed the djinniyeh down the hall to another and down the stairs to a pair of open double doors. The three sisters were waiting for her in white and silver ball gowns, their long hair braided and adorned with the flowers that gave them their names and long white gloves.

"Ah, Leona at last!" said Rose, smiling. "Come along, the guests are getting anxious. They cannot wait to see what we have planned. We're going to re-enact the Battle at Petersburg."

"The what?" Leona asked. She did not know much of Union or Confederacy history except that until one hundred years ago they were a colony of the Empire and then some eighty years later, they split into two nations.

"It was a decisive battle of the Civil War. If things had turned out differently, like General Grant not being killed, the Union and Confederacy would still be one nation," said Lavender.

Leona considered this and asked, "So why would you want to re-enact that?"

The sisters shrugged and Orchid replied, "The guests requested it. Some of them were once officers in the Union Army and a number have sons who were either killed or now trapped at the border on constant patrol. What we want to do tonight is a play based on the murder of General Grant using the constructs…and you're supposed to resurrect General Grant himself!"

"W-what?" Leona sputtered.

"Don't worry about it," said Rose, waving away Leona's protest. She took hold of Leona's arm and pulled her towards the doorway. "Lord Aries has already done most of the work; all you have to do is summon the general and get his soul into the construct. That shouldn't be too hard now, should it, since Lord Aries showed you what to do earlier?"

"Well, no," said Leona. Actually, Leona had no idea. She could not remember the incantation and she definitely did not know the runes.

"Great, so let's get to it," said Rose.

They slipped into the ballroom unnoticed by most of the guests, as finely dressed as those in New Amsterdam, though a number of the ladies wore dresses with full skirts instead of bustles that made them look like giant fabric bells. There was a waltz in full swing and Leona thought she caught a glimpse of Lord Aries and a woman twirling around the dance floor with some of the other guests. He did not notice her. Then she spotted Cedric staring at her from where he stood on the other side of the room and looked away.

The sisters led Leona off to one side of the room where a stage had been constructed complete with great velvet curtain to separate the performers and their preparations for the audience. But instead of actors going over lines or through last minute fittings or stagehands setting up, there was row upon row of construct soldiers. Leona halted, blinked and stared again.

"Oh, wonderful, they're all here and ready to go," said Lavender, walking through the rows like a commander inspecting troops before deployment. "All they need is their general."

"Um," said Leona. The sisters turned to look at her. She looked at the constructs and said, "I thought I was going to summon the general, what are all these?"

Rose laughed. "Oh, Miss Ruby, don't worry about them. We only need you for the general. These men are going to be operated by sylphs. They love the theatre almost as much as we do."

"Okay," said Leona, and then she joined the sisters.

None of the constructs moved as they walked through them, though Leona could feel a low hum of energy coming from within. It was good that she did not have to try to summon this many spirits. It had been difficult enough summoning Master Opal.

When they came to the end of the rows of constructs, Mr Garnet was waiting for them with Mr Diamond, of all people.

"Cherie!" he greeted.

"Mr Diamond," said Leona with a short curtsy.

He laughed and said to Mr Garnet, "Isn't she adorable? His Lordship treats her just like a little pet, always putting her in fancy dresses and secreting her away for quiet talks. If I didn't know the man better, I would swear he was trying to court the poor thing."

Leona wrinkled her nose at that and Mr Diamond laughed louder, then he looked around and said, "Ah, I see you girls have managed to get her away from that awful djinni. I don't know why His Lordship keeps that Mohamedan she-devil around."

Mr Garnet chuckled and said, "I did not take you for the envious type." Then he reached into his jacket, withdrew a small box and turned to Leona.

"Now, Miss Ruby, I am so happy that we have this moment alone. I have a gift for you," he said, smiling.

Leona's eyes had been drawn to the box since he took it out. There was a thrum of energy coming from within that pulled on her, as if it were an elemental she had summoned. A chill climbed her spine and wrapped itself around her heart. She took a step back from Mr Garnet and said, "No, thank you. But I don't think I can accept that."

Mr Garnet's expression did not change. He said, "But Mr Diamond is here as Lord Aries' representative. He has inspected it himself. No harm will come to you, Miss Ruby."

She stopped backing away when she walked into the sisters. They made no move to seize her arms but they did not move. Mr Garnet's smile widened and he stepped over and took hold of Leona's hand. "Do not be frightened, Miss Ruby. This is a gift. You are a rare and precious creature; I would never do anything to harm you."

He opened the box to reveal a small gold bracelet adorned with a single red stone. It was like a ring someone had expanded. Mr Garnet slipped it onto Leona's left wrist and said, "There, lovely. How does she look, Mr Diamond?"

"Magnifique, ah ma cherie," said Mr Diamond. He took Leona's hand from Mr Garnet and kissed her palm. "You are going to dazzle them."

Leona said nothing. She had been unable to speak since the stone made contact with her wrist and she fell into a black pit. Or at least, that was how it felt at first. And then Mr Garnet began to glow grey-white. Her mouth opened but no words came out. When Mr Diamond took her hand and she let her gaze follow him, he was also glowing. Is this what the Eastern magicians had talked about when they wrote about seeing auras? He said something to her but she barely heard it. Then one of the sisters took her arm and turned her to face them. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut, they were practically blinding, their auras a brilliant white.

"…not going to hurt her?" asked one of the sisters. Leona turned to the voice and immediately recognised her as Rose.

"Relax, you're fine," said Lavender, massaging Leona's arms.

"Do not let her onto the stage until the last minute. Mr Tolliver must suspect nothing until it is too late," said Mr Garnet.

"Yes, Father," said the sisters in unison.

"I shall keep Mr Tolliver busy; just make sure that you have that army ready. He will not let us take the girl without a fight," said Mr Diamond.

Mr Garnet chuckled and replied, "He lost her the moment he brought her into my household. The Zodiac Society has always underestimated the Order of the Stone."

Leona could do nothing as the sisters led her away. The trance the stone had induced was far too strong. They walked again through the rows of soldiers and now she could see that each had been outfitted with something that had belonged to the person whose soul they intended to summon. She was sure of it because she could feel traces of them still.

And suddenly, through the haze of Leona's trance, everything clicked.

Lord Aries had been betrayed.