She finished her careful slices of the plant bulb and wiped her hands on the appropriate rag—one of four set out. Her laboratory was such a dangerous place that even a gesture as small as this, done carelessly, could cause a reaction that might kill her. One of the many reasons why she had been so diligent over the years with poisoning herself and building her immunities.
Coletta tapped on a golden panel embedded in the wall that made up one side of her outdoor laboratory. Not so far away, a discharge point flashed; soon enough, Yeaan appeared on command.
“You summoned?” She gave a deep bow.
“Yes. The Dono has only just returned. Tell the chefs to stop preparing dinner for him. He will need his space before he is ready to eat. They should resume when all light has left the sky. It is possible he will insist he is not hungry. Should he do so, I would like for you to deliver the food personally and inform him it’s at my request.”
“Understood.” Yeaan turned on her heel, quickly departing to execute Coletta’s orders.
Yveun would no doubt go to his tiny claw-scratched room and pace for a while. He would act the child and refuse food, thinking this a reasonable way to avoid his failures. She would give him space, and a peace offering, to show that they still stood together, even if his effort to bring Loom neatly under their rule did not go as well as he’d planned.
Coletta continued to clean and tuck away her laboratory. Everything had its place, and everything stayed in pristine order. Success wasn’t found in mayhem, but a strict maintenance of structure.
She looked up expectantly, her ears picking up the click of the door that led to Yveun’s quarters and the main part of the Rok Estate. Sure enough, Topann appeared from around the corner. Coletta quickly assessed her from head to toe, her eyes falling on the small bound book in the woman’s hands.
“Yveun?” she asked first.
“The Dono is well,” Topann reported. “In a less-than-pleasurable mood. But there were no shots fired.”
“And Loom?”
“He gave them three days to decide if they will agree to peace, or if it will be war, at which point he will wage his first attack.”
Coletta sighed. Yveun was growing distracted by daydreams of fanfare and an arrival on Loom met with love, where they cherished him for all his contributions to their industrial world. He didn’t just want to be the king in function; he wanted to be it in form as well. He wanted the same affection and devotion that he enjoyed on Nova, which, simply, he would never find from an oppressed people.
“Then it shall be war.” She had no doubt.
Loom would fight until the only ones left of their abysmal race were chained in gold and kept in perfect servitude to Dragons who guided them with a firm hand. It’s how it should have been done from the start, but there wasn’t enough space on Nova for all the Fen. The best solution would be for the Dragons to colonize Loom and manage those that remained. But finding Dragons willing to live on Loom may be just as hard as squelching the spirit of rebellion.
Coletta let go of the thoughts, for now. That was all planning, which needed to occur later, when Loom was once more under their thumb. Now, she needed to remain focused on getting matters firmly in hand.
“Is that from our Fen King?” Coletta held out her hand for the journal.
“It is, but it’s . . . odd.” Topann’s voice was hesitant, but she wasted no time imparting the journal to her queen. Coletta knew exactly what her flower meant from the moment she opened to a page at random. “The little man said it was Raven code. Can you read it?”
She couldn’t. Coletta had many areas of expertise, but every manner of language from the Fen was not one of them. She snapped the ledger closed.
“What other information did you get from him?”
“The rebellion is being led by a child named Florence,” Topann began. Coletta knew that Loom was in a dire state, but it must be truly on its final threads if they were appointing children as their leaders. “A very petulant girl. She brandished a weapon at the Dono himself.”
“Did she?” If the name hadn’t been imprinted on her mind previously, it was now. Coletta wanted the satisfaction of orchestrating the girl’s ultimate demise herself.
“As I said, the Dono is fine. He did not step off his glider, so his corona protected him the whole time.”
But the girl no doubt wanted him to. Knowing Yveun, the Fen’s affront had made his kingly blood boil so hot that he was tempted to do so to wring her neck. She could not afford to let Yveun off Nova again, Coletta decided then.
“And Arianna?”
“She was there, but did little.” Topann thought a moment. “I heard the Riders say she actually called off Florence.”
“Interesting . . .” Perhaps the fall back to Loom had knocked the inventor down in more ways than one.
“The king says weapons are scarce since the Revolvers blew themselves up, but I’m not inclined to believe him.”
Coletta wasn’t either. After all . . . She opened the ledger again. Even if she couldn’t understand it, the ledger was a record of where gold was being kept on Loom, moved from secret storehouse to storehouse. If Loom had squirreled away gold, Coletta was certain they’d done the same with weapons, and that meant Yveun should brace himself for a greater attack than anticipated.
“There was one more thing.” Topann summoned Coletta’s thoughts back from the ledger. “The Fen King was grateful for the organs you provided in exchange for the ledger. But he mentioned something new he would be negotiating for: Flowers of Agendi.”
Coletta paused, closing the ledger and setting it aside. Her mind pegged the information as important instantly. It was oddly specific and necessary enough to risk the request. The flowers grew only on Nova, and Coletta didn’t think it chance that the man who had only dealt in organs for years was suddenly asking for something new mere weeks after Arianna had returned from the sky world.
“Why these flowers?” They had no medicinal properties and no poisons—that she knew of. They weren’t even especially beautiful. Some Dragons held that their pollen made their magic feel stronger. But surely that wouldn’t be enough to help Chimeras stand against Dragons?
“He didn’t say.” Topann bowed her head. “Forgive me, my lady, the gliders were leaving and I had to be subtle.”
“Rise, Topann.” Coletta extended her hand and the woman scooped it up, kissing it firmly, no doubt grateful to still be in her queen’s favor. “You have done well to acquire this information. Now we must act upon it.”
Coletta looked out over the leafy foliage that surrounded her outdoor laboratory. “I have none of this particular flower. Head to the fields on the north side of the estate where they grow, and bring me ten.”
“Ten, yes.”
“Then, when you have done this, I need you and Yeaan to collect all offshoots of our great vine.” Coletta herself was the “great vine” and every offshoot was where a tendril crept in the form of one of her flowers. “You will find everywhere this flower grows, and you will destroy them all.”
“How would you like them destroyed?” Coletta appreciated so very much that such was the woman’s only question.
“Uproot them, and take them to some remote place to burn. Do it with as much discretion as you can muster.”