Chapter VIII | The Lady & the Clouds

Year 694 a.S., Winter | City Pyraleia, the Capital

Claude took a deep breath. “I was only nine when they took my older brother and I from our home. It may come as a surprise to you, but my family didn’t stand at the head of House Morsylis, and so we could not live in Layer 1. The Morsylis Estate was actually empty then, and had been since King Finryd lost the ability to walk, or speak, or eat, and his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren had all passed away without him. It was suspected my father was the closest living descendent of Finryd’s, but a great fire had taken the Library of Luridia years ago, and so any records to confirm it were lost.

“In Layer 2, there were so many nobles that whenever something would go awry, no one ever noticed or even cared. Back then, as those two RINGKNIGHTs hauled us away, I wailed for help, and no one answered. Down the brightly lit neighborhoods of nobility, no one cared at all. I imagined then, just how difficult it would be to find help were I to live in the Midtown, or worse, the Ends, down the layers where millions live without surname or land.

“Supposedly, the Old King spoke of a prophecy. He foretold the fall of House Morsylis.” Claude fingered the bone whistle at his collar and glanced at Lilya through the balusters, who only stared back, entranced by his words. “After more than 300 years of history, of ruling first the Kingdom of Luridia and now the Purilyn Cities, they would fall victim to their own bloated weight and be overthrown by the Church of House Caecilius.” Lilya scraped her fingernails against the cold pavement. “Can’t deny the possibility?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered, clutching her chest so the fabric of her uniform bunched and twisted.

“Well, Finryd somehow spoke it,” Claude continued, “and Morris believed it. To respond to the threat, he initiated an expensive program to create a small unit of super soldiers. There were five candidates. First, the most cherished potential heir, my older brother Alyn. Then myself. Then my cousin, Thera. Finally, two beholden to our house, known as the face-swapping twins, Alex & Lisica Foxglove. Kavesta Technologies had plenty of prototype augments to give us, but dangerous prototypes were not enough for Morris. He had them tested, again and again until he knew they would be safe. Infants, children, teenagers, and adults were all experimented on, and only the children survived. Then of the children that survived, the prototypes were ripped out again from their spines, and they were incinerated with the rest. They were criminals and cripples and the terminally ill, but the thought still fills me with unfathomable rage. This man is my uncle. He still stands beside me. He still advises me.” Claude clamped his hand around his face and squeezed until his nails made marks in his skin.

Lilya stayed silent, the nightly chill setting in her skin.

“The augment surgery took 24 hours, and I had to be conscious for the whole of it. I was told that if I fell asleep, I would never wake again. By some stroke of luck, we all came out exactly as Morris wanted. Perfect. Even when they placed swords in our hands and had us spar with each other, the blades would only spark against our skin, and injuries were extremely rare. When my uncle saw the fruits of his labor, he burned every blueprint to ash and either had the engineers who knew about it executed, or sworn into Morsylis servitude. There would never again rise soldiers of our caliber, he swore.

“They let us go back into the real world in bits at a time. Once a week at first, then once a month, then once a year, and then not again until the program was over. It’s true that I don’t remember much about my time with you, but—”

Lilya reached her hand under the bottom rail to grab his hand and hold it tight. “But you spent those rare few days with me.”

“I did,” he chuckled. “I don’t remember why, but I did. Always back to you, then back to hell again. It was in the third or fourth year, I think. I was a teenager or just about, and we were given our final mission. Once completed, we could leave and come back home. I wasn’t quite sure what home meant at that point. My mother and father had just passed away, and our house was taken up by some priests of the faith, but still I longed to go back. Maybe back to you for good.

“The five of us boarded a ship, stowed away in a cargo container deep in the heart of the vessel. My brother Alyn had no trouble sleeping the days aboard away, his augments setting his muscles in a perpetual state of corded steel. Alex and Lisica seemed to leave their augments off during the journey; Lisica always clung to her brother, crying and seasick, barely able to find sleep. As for Thera, she mostly kept to herself, but I could tell how the life drained from her as the days passed. Gaunt and exhausted, what remained of her youthful beauty had all but left her by the time the ship docked. Something’s wrong, she would mutter to herself. We’re not moving. Why aren’t we moving? Why wouldn’t we? Am I going mad? Have I gone mad?

“Her murmurings unnerved me as well, but I didn’t let it get to me. I should’ve figured something out then. Thera was the only one of us who kept her perception cranked so high at all times, and probably the only one who ever prioritized their perception at all. She felt something the rest of us couldn’t. I still think that if I had only just spoken to her, we could have avoided the horror of the next two years entirely. I think about it every night.”